1 Peter 3:14-17 But and if you suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are you: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;… They are many and obvious. 1. For instance: The man of God should be an embodied conscience. The one endeavour of ungodly men is to drown the remonstrances of conscience. For this they plunge into gaiety, or business, or exploration; for this they hurry from scene to scene; for this they studiously avoid all that savours of God or His claims. But in a holy life they meet with a devout and constant recognition of those claims, coupled with a faithful endeavour to fulfil them. There is an embodiment of righteousness without them, which arouses into instant and unwelcome activity those convictions of their duty which they have done their best to quell. 2. The pride of heart which resents superiority in another. The envy which grudges the influence that goodness always attracts. The malice which broods over the contrast that purity presents to impurity, until the fact of its doing so bulks as a positive injury. All these strong passions of the unrenewed heart, like Pilate and Herod of old, become friends in their common antagonism to the saintliness which intrudes upon their privacy and menaces their peace. 3. Besides, there is always an aggressiveness in true Christianity which arouses strong resistance. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; |
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