BIBLES NET. COM
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible
Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page
|
[Previous] |
Matthew Henry |
S E C O N D P E T E R.
CHAP. III.
The apostle drawing towards the conclusion of his second epistle,
begins this last chapter with repeating the account of his design and
scope in writing a second time to them,
II. He proceeds to mention one thing that induced him to write this
second epistle, namely, the coming of scoffers, whom he describes,
III. He instructs and establishes them in the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ to judgment,
IV. He sets forth the use and improvement which Christians ought to
make of Christ’s second coming, and that dissolution and renovation of
things which will accompany that solemn coming of our Lord,
| Adhere to Words of the Prophets and Commandments of the Apostles. | A. D. 67. |
|
|
|
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both
which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before
by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles
of the Lord and Saviour:
That the apostle might the better reach his end in writing this
epistle, which is to make them steady and constant in a fiducial and
practical remembrance of the doctrine of the gospel, he,
1. Expresses his special affection and tenderness for them, by calling
them beloved, hereby evidencing that he added to godliness
brotherly-kindness, as he had
exhorted them to do. Ministers must be examples of love and affection,
as well as life and conversation.
2. He evinces a sincere love to them, and hearty concern for them, by
writing the same thing to them, though in other words. It being safe
for them, it shall not be grievous to him to write upon the same
subject, and pursue the same design, by those methods which are most
likely to succeed.
3. The better to recommend the matter, he tells them that what he would
have them to remember are,
(1.) The words spoken by the holy prophets, who were divinely
inspired, both enlightened and sanctified by the Holy Ghost; and,
seeing these persons’ minds were purified by the sanctifying operation
of the same Spirit, they were the better disposed to receive and retain
what came from God by the holy prophets.
(2.) The commandments of the apostles of the Lord and Saviour;
and therefore the disciples and servants of Christ ought to regard what
those who are sent by him have declared unto them to be the will of
their Lord. What God has spoken by the prophets of the Old Testament,
and Christ has commanded by the apostles of the New, cannot but demand
and deserve to be frequently remembered; and those who meditate on
these things will feel the quickening virtues thereof. It is by these
things the pure minds of Christians are to be stirred up, that they may
be active and lively in the work of holiness, and zealous and unwearied
in the way to heaven.
| The Cavils of Infidels; Destruction of the World. | A. D. 67. |
|
|
|
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days
scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of
God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the
water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water,
perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
To quicken and excite us to a serious minding and firm adhering to what
God has revealed to us by the prophets and apostles, we are told that
there will be scoffers, men who will make a mock of sin,
and of salvation from it. God’s way of saving sinners by Jesus Christ
is what men will scoff at, and that in the last days, under the
gospel. This indeed may seem very strange, that the New-Testament
dispensation of the covenant of grace, which is spiritual and therefore
more agreeable to the nature of God than the Old, should be ridiculed
and reproached; but the spirituality and simplicity of New-Testament
worship are directly contrary to the carnal mind of man, and this
accounts for what the apostle seems here to hint at, namely, that
scoffers shall be more numerous and more bold in the last days than
ever before. Though in all ages those who were born and walked after
the flesh persecuted, reviled, and reproached those who were born and
did walk after the Spirit, yet in the last days there will be a great
improvement in the art and impudence of bantering serious godliness,
and those who firmly adhere to the circumspection and self-denial which
the gospel prescribes. This is what is mentioned as a thing well known
to all Christians, and therefore they ought to reckon upon it, that
they may not be surprised and shaken, as if some strange thing happened
unto them. Now to prevent the true Christian’s being overcome, when
attacked by these scoffers, we are told,
I. What sort of persons they are: they walk after their own
lusts, they follow the devices and desires of their own hearts, and
carnal affections, not the dictates and directions of right reason and
an enlightened well-informed judgment. This they do in the course of
their conversation, they live as they list, and they speak as they
list; it is not only their inward minds that are evil and opposite to
God, as the mind of every unrenewed sinner is
(Rom. viii. 7),
alienated from God, ignorant of him, and averse to him; but they have
grown to such a height of wickedness that they proclaim openly what is
in the hearts of others who are yet carnal; they say, “Our tongues are
our own, and our strength, and time, and who is lord over us?
Who shall contradict or control us, or ever call us to an account for
what we say or do?” And, as they scorn to be confined by any laws of
God in their conversation, so neither will they bear that the
revelation of God should dictate and prescribe to them what they are to
believe; as they will walk in their own way, and talk their own
language, so will they also think their own thoughts, and form
principles which are altogether their own: here also their own
lusts alone shall be consulted by them. None but such accomplished
libertines as are here described can take a seat, at least they cannot
sit in the seat of the scornful. “By this you shall know them, that you
may the better be upon your guard against them.”
II. We also are forewarned how far they will proceed: they will attempt
to shake and unsettle us, even as to our belief of Christ’s second
coming; they will scoffingly say, Where is the promise of his
coming?
v. 4.
Without this, all the other articles of the Christian faith will
signify very little; this is that which fills up and gives the
finishing stroke to all the rest. The promised Messiah has come, he
was made flesh, and dwelt among us; he is altogether such a one
as in stated before, and has done all that for us which has been before
taken notice of. These principles the enemies of Christianity have all
along endeavoured to overturn; but as these all rest upon facts which
are already past, and of which this and the other apostles have given
us the most sure and satisfying evidence, it is probable that they will
at last grow weary of their opposition to them; and yet, while one very
principal article of our faith refers to what is still behind, and only
has a promise to rest upon, here they will still attack us, even to the
end of time. Till our Lord shall have come, they will not themselves
believe that he will come; nay, they will laugh at the very mention of
his second coming, and do what in them lies to put all out of
countenance who seriously believe and wait for it. Now therefore let us
see how this point stands, both on the believer’s part and on the part
of these seducers: the believer not only desires that he may come, but,
having a promise that he will come, a promise that he himself has made
and often repeated, a promise received and reported by faithful
witnesses, and left upon sure record, he is also firmly and fully
persuaded that he will come: on the other hand, these seducers, because
they wish he never may, therefore do all that in them lies to cheat
themselves and others into a persuasion that he will never come. If
they cannot deny that there is a promise, yet they will laugh at that
very promise, which argues much higher degrees of infidelity and
contempt: Where is the promise, say they, of his
coming?
III. We are also forewarned of the method of their reasoning, for while
they laugh they will pretend to argue too. To this purpose they add
that since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were
from the beginning of the creation,
v. 4.
This is a subtle, though not a solid way of reasoning; it is apt to
make impressions upon weak minds, and especially upon wicked hearts.
Because sentence against them is not speedily executed,
therefore they flatter themselves that it never will, whereupon
their hearts are fully set in them to do evil
thus they act themselves, and thus they would persuade others to act;
so here, say they, “The fathers have fallen asleep, those are
all dead to whom the promise was made, and it was never made
good in their time, and there is no likelihood that it ever will be in
any time; why should we trouble ourselves about it? If there had been
any truth or certainty in the promise you speak of, we should surely
have seen somewhat of it before this time, some signs of his coming,
some preparatory steps in order to it; whereas we find to this very day
all things continue as they were, without any change, even
from the beginning of the creation. Since the world has
undergone no changes in the course of so many thousand years, why
should we affright ourselves as if it were to have an end?” Thus do
these scoffers argue. Because they see no changes, therefore they
fear not God,
Ps. lv. 19.
They neither fear him nor his judgments; what he never has done they
would conclude he never can do or never will.
IV. Here is the falsehood of their argument detected. Whereas they
confidently had said there had not been any change from the
beginning of the creation, the apostle puts us in remembrance of a
change already past, which, in a manner, equals that which we are
called to expect and look for, which was the drowning of the world in
the days of Noah. This these scoffers had overlooked; they took no
notice of it. Though they might have known it, and ought to have known
it, yet this they willingly are ignorant of
(v. 5),
they choose to pass it over in silence, as if they had never heard or
known any thing of it; if they knew it, they did not like to retain it
in their knowledge; they did not receive this truth in the love of it,
neither did they care to own it. Note, It is hard to persuade men to
believe what they are not willing to find true; they are ignorant, in
many cases, because they are willing to be ignorant, and they do not
know because they do not care to know. But let not sinners think that
such ignorance as this will be admitted as an excuse for whatever sin
it may betray them into. Those who crucified Christ did not know who he
was; for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory
(1 Cor. ii. 8);
but, though ignorant, they were not therefore innocent; their ignorance
itself was a sin, willing and wilful ignorance, and one sin can be no
excuse for another. So it is here; had these known of the dreadful
vengeance with which God swept away a whole world of ungodly wretches
at once, they would not surely have scoffed at his threatenings of any
after equally terrible judgment; but here they were willingly
ignorant, they did not know what God had done because they had no
mind to know it. Now therefore we shall proceed to consider the
representation which the apostle here lays down both of the destruction
of the old world by water and that which awaits this present world at
the final conflagration. He mentions the one as what God has done, to
convince and persuade us the rather to believe that the other both may
be and will be.
1. We begin with the apostle’s account of the destruction which has
once already come upon the world
(v. 5, 6):
By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing
out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished. Originally the world was
otherwise situated, the waters were most wisely divided at the creation
and most beneficially for us; some of the waters had proper
repositories above the firmament, here called the heavens (as it is
also
and others, under the firmament, gathered together unto one place;
there were then both sea and dry land, commodious habitation for the
children of men. But now, at the time of the universal deluge, the case
is strangely altered; the waters which God had divided before,
assigning to each part its convenient receptacle, now does he, in
anger, throw together again in a heap. He breaks up the fountain of
the great deep, and throws open the windows (that is, the clouds) of
heaven
(Gen. vii. 11),
till the whole earth is overflowed with water, and not a spot can be
found upon the highest mountains but what is fifteen cubits under
water,
Gen. vii. 20.
Thus he made known at once his terrible power and his fierce anger, and
made an end of a whole world at once: The world that then was, being
overflowed with water, perished,
v. 6.
Is not here a change and a most awful change! And then it is to be
observed that all this was done by the word of God; it was by his
powerful word that the world was made at first, and made in so
commodious and beautiful a frame and order,
Katertisthai. He said, Let there be a firmament,
&c.,
And let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one
place, &c.,
Thus he spoke, and it was done,
Thus, says our apostle, by the word of the Lord the heavens
were, as they were of old (that is, at first creation)
and the earth (as it was at first a terraqueous globe)
standing out of the water and in the water. Not is it only the
first frame and order of the world that is here said to be by the
word of God, but the after-confusion and ruin of the world, as well
as the utter destruction of its inhabitants, were also by the same
word; none but that God who stretched out the heavens and laid the
foundation of the earth could destroy and overthrow such a vast
fabric at once. This was done by the word of his power, and it was also
done according to the word of his promise; God had said that he would
destroy man, even all flesh, and that he would do it by bringing a
flood of waters upon the earth,
This was the change which God had before brought upon the world, and
which these scoffers had overlooked; and now we are to consider,
2. What the apostle says of the destructive change which is yet to come
upon it: The heavens and the earth, which now are, by the same word
are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men,
v. 7.
Here we have an awful account of the final dissolution of the world,
and which we are yet more nearly concerned in. The ruin that came upon
the world and its inhabitants by the flood, we read, and hear, and
think of, with concern, though those who were swept away by it were
such as we never knew; but the judgment here spoken of is yet to come,
and will surely come, though we know not when, nor upon what particular
age or generation of men; and therefore we are not, we cannot be, sure
that it may not happen in our own times: and this makes a very great
difference, though it should be admitted that they were equal in every
other respect, which yet must not be allowed, for there were some,
though very few, who escaped that deluge, but not one can escape in
this conflagration. Besides, we were not in reach of the one, but are
not sure that we shall not be included in the other calamity. Now
therefore to see the world to which we belong destroyed at once–not a
single person only, not a particular family only, nor yet a nation
(even that which we are most nearly interested in and concerned for),
but the whole world, I say, sinking at once, and no ark provided, no
possible way left of escaping for any one from the common ruin, this
makes a difference between the desolation that has been and what we yet
are to expect. The one is already past, and never to return upon us any
more (for God has said expressly that there shall never any more be
a flood to destroy the earth,
Gen. ix. 11-17);
the other is still behind, and is as certain to come as the truth and
the power of God can make it: the one came gradually upon the world,
and was growing upon its inhabitants forty days, before it made an
utter end of them
this other will come upon them swiftly and all at once
(2 Pet. ii. 1):
besides, there were in that overthrow (as we have said) a few who
escaped, but the ruin which yet awaits this world, whenever it comes,
will be absolutely a universal one; there will not be any part but what
the devouring flames will seize upon, not a sanctuary left any where
for the inhabitants to flee to, not a single spot in all this world
where any one of them can be safe. Thus, whatever differences may be
assigned between that destruction of the world and this here spoken of,
they do indeed represent the approaching as the most terrible judgment;
yet that the world has once been destroyed by a universal deluge
renders it the more credible that it may be again ruined by a universal
conflagration. Let therefore the scoffers, who laugh at the coming of
our Lord to judgment, at least consider that it may be. There is
nothing said of it in the word of God but what is within reach of the
power of God, and, though they still should laugh, they shall not put
us out of countenance; we are well assured that it will be, because he
has said it, and we can depend upon his promise. They err,
not knowing (at least not believing) the scriptures, nor the
power of God; but we know, and we do or ought to depend upon, both.
Now that which he has said, and which he will certainly make good, is
that the heavens and the earth which now are (which we are now
related to, which still subsist in all the beauty and order in which we
see them, and which are so agreeable and useful to us, as we find they
are) are kept in store, not to be, what earthly minds would wish
to have them, treasures for us, but to be what God will have them, in
his treasury, securely lodged and kept safely for his purposes. It
follows, they are reserved unto fire. Observe, God’s following
judgments are more terrible than those which went before; the old world
was destroyed by water, but this is reserved unto fire, which shall
burn up the wicked at the last day; and, though this seems to be
delayed, yet, as this wicked world is upheld by the word of God, so it
is only reserved for the vengeance of him to whom vengeance belongs,
who will at the day of judgment deal with an ungodly world according to
their deserts, for the day of judgment is the day of the perdition
of ungodly men. Those who now scoff at a future judgment shall find
it a day of vengeance and utter destruction. “Beware therefore of being
among these scoffers; never question but the day of the Lord will come;
give diligence therefore to be found in Christ, that that may be a time
of refreshment and day of redemption to you which will be a day of
indignation and wrath to the ungodly world.”
| Conception of Eternity. | A. D. 67. |
|
|
|
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day
is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day.
The apostle comes in these words to instruct and establish Christians
in the truth of the coming of the Lord, where we may clearly discern
the tenderness and affection wherewith he speaks to them, calling them
beloved; he had a compassionate concern and a love of good-will
for the ungodly wretches who refused to believe divine revelation, but
he has a peculiar respect for the true believers, and the remaining
ignorance and weakness that the apprehends to be in them make him
jealous, and put him on giving them a caution. Here we may observe,
I. The truth which the apostle asserts–that with the Lord one day is
as a thousand years, and a thousand years are as one day. Though,
in the account of men, there is a great deal of difference between a
day and a year, and a vast deal more between one day and a thousand
years, yet in the account of God, who inhabits eternity, in which there
is no succession, there is no difference; for all things past, present,
and future, are ever before him, and the delay of a thousand years
cannot be so much to him as the deferring of any thing for a day or an
hour is to us.
II. The importance of this truth: This is the one thing the
apostle would not have us ignorant of; a holy awe and reverential fear
of God are necessary in order to our worshiping and glorifying him, and
a belief of the inconceivable distance between him and us is very
proper to beget and maintain that religious fear of the Lord which is
the beginning of wisdom. This is a truth that belongs to our peace, and
therefore he endeavours that it may not be hidden from our eyes; as it
is in the original, Let not this one thing be hidden from you.
If men have no knowledge or belief of the eternal God, they will be
very apt to think him such a one as themselves. Yet how hard is it to
conceive of eternity! It is therefore not very easy to attain such a
knowledge of God as is absolutely necessary.
| Destruction of the World. | A. D. 67. |
|
|
|
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.
We are here told that the Lord is not slack–he does not delay
beyond the appointed time; as God kept the time that he had appointed
for the delivering of Israel out of Egypt, to a day
so he will keep to the time appointed in coming to judge the world.
What a difference is there between the account which God makes and that
which men make! Good men are apt to think God stays beyond the
appointed time, that is, the time which they have set for their own and
the church’s deliverance; but they set one time and God sets another,
and he will not fail to keep the day which he has appointed. Ungodly
men dare charge a culpable slackness upon God, as if he had slipped the
time, and laid aside the thoughts of coming. But the apostle assures
us,
I. That what men count slackness is truly long-suffering, and
that to us-ward; it is giving more time to his own people,
whom he has chosen before the foundation of the world, many of
whom are not as yet converted; and those who are in a state of grace
and favour with God are to advance in knowledge and holiness, and in
the exercise of faith and patience, to abound in good works, doing and
suffering what they are called to, that they may bring glory to God,
and improve in a meetness for heaven; for God is not willing that any
of these should perish, but that all of them should come to repentance.
Here observe,
1. Repentance is absolutely necessary in order to salvation. Except
we repent, we shall perish,
Luke xiii. 3, 5.
2. God has no delight in the death of sinners: as the punishment of
sinners is a torment to his creatures, a merciful God does not take
pleasure in it; and though the principal design of God in his
long-suffering is the blessedness of those whom he has chosen to
salvation, through sanctification of the spirit, and belief of the
truth, yet his goodness and forbearance do in their own nature
invite and call to repentance all those to whom they are exercised;
and, if men continue impenitent when God gives them space to repent, he
will deal more severely with them, though the great reason why he did
not hasten his coming was because he had not accomplished the number
of his elect. “Abuse not therefore the patience and long-suffering
of God, by abandoning yourselves to a course of ungodliness; presume
not to go on boldly in the way of sinners, nor to sit down securely in
an unconverted impenitent state, as he who said
My Lord delayeth his coming, lest he come and surprise you;”
for,
II. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
v. 10.
Here we may observe,
1. The certainty of the day of the Lord: though it is now above sixteen
hundred years since this epistle was written, and the day has not yet
come, it assuredly will come. God has appointed a day wherein he
will judge the world in righteousness, and he will keep his
appointment. It is appointed to men once to die, and after this the
judgment,
Heb. ix. 27.
“Settle it therefore in your hearts that the day of the Lord will
certainly come, and you shall certainly be called to give an account of
all things done in the body, whether good or evil; and let your exact
walking before God, and your frequent judging yourselves, evidence your
firm belief of a future judgment, when many live as if they were never
to give any account at all.”
2. The suddenness of this day: It will come as a thief in the
night, at a time when men are sleeping and secure, and have no
manner of apprehension or expectation of the day of the Lord, any more
than men have of a thief when they are in a deep sleep, in the dark and
silent night. At midnight there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom
comes,
(Matt. xxv. 6),
and at that time not only the foolish, but also the wise virgins
slumbered and slept. The Lord will come in a day when we look not
for him, and an hour when men are not aware. The time which men
think to be the most improper and unlikely, and when therefore they are
most secure, will be the time of the Lord’s coming. Let us then beware
how we in our thoughts and imaginations put that day far away from us;
but rather suppose it to be so much nearer in reality, by how much
further off it is in the opinion of the ungodly world.
3. The solemnity of this coming.
(1.) The heavens shall pass away with a great noise. The visible
heavens, as unable to abide when the Lord shall come in his glory,
shall pass away; they shall undergo a mighty alteration, and this shall
be very sudden, and with such a noise as the breaking and tumbling down
of so great a fabric must necessarily occasion.
(2.) The elements shall melt with fervent heat. At this coming
of the Lord it shall not only be very tempestuous round about
him, so that the very heavens shall pass away as in a mighty
violent storm, but a fire shall go before him, that shall melt the
elements of which the creatures are composed.
(3.) The earth also, and all the works that are therein, shall be
burnt up. The earth, and its inhabitants, and all the works that
are therein, shall be burnt up. The earth, and its inhabitants, and all
the works, whether of nature or art, shall be destroyed. The stately
palaces and gardens, and all the desirable things wherein
worldly-minded men seek and place their happiness, all of them shall be
burnt up; all sorts of creatures which God has made, and all the works
of men, must submit, all must pass through the fire, which shall be a
consuming fire to all that sin has brought into the world, though it
may be a refining fire to the works of God’s hand, that the glass of
the creation being made much brighter the saints may much better
discern the glory of the Lord therein.
And now who can but observe what a difference there will be between the
first coming of Christ and the second! Yet that is called the great
and dreadful day of the Lord,
Mal. iv. 5.
How much more dreadful must this coming to judgment be! May we be so
wise as to prepare for it, that it may not be a day of vengeance and
destruction unto us. O! what will become of us, if we set our
affections on this earth, and make it our portion, seeing all these
things shall be burnt up? Look out therefore, and make sure of a
happiness beyond this visible world, which must all be melted down.
| Solemn Exhortations. | A. D. 67. |
|
|
|
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be
diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and
blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is
salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the
wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which
they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the
other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever.
Amen.
The apostle, having instructed them in the doctrine of Christ’s second
coming,
I. Takes occasion thence to exhort them to purity and godliness in
their whole conversation: all the truths which are revealed in
scripture should be improved for our advancement in practical
godliness: this is the effect that knowledge must produce, or we are
never the better for it. If you know these things, happy are you if
you do them. Seeing all these things must be dissolved, how holy should
we be, that are assured of it, departing from and dying to sin,
that has so corrupted and defiled all the visible creation that there
is an absolute need of its dissolution! All that was made for man’s use
is subject to vanity by man’s sin: and if the sin of man has brought
the visible heavens, and the elements and earth, under a curse, from
which they cannot be freed without being dissolved, what an abominable
evil is sin, and how much to be hated by us! And, inasmuch as this
dissolution is in order to their being restored to their primitive
beauty and excellency, how pure and holy should we be, in order to our
being fit for the new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness! It is a very exact and universal holiness that he
exhorts to, not resting in any lower measure or degree, but labouring
to be eminent beyond what is commonly attained–holy in God’s house and
in our own, holy in our worshipping of God and in our conversing with
men. All our conversation, whether with high or low, rich or poor, good
or bad, friends or enemies, must be holy. We must keep ourselves
unspotted from the world in all our converses with it. We must be
perfecting holiness in the fear of God, and in the love of God
too. We must exercise ourselves unto godliness of all sorts, in
all its parts, trusting in God and delighting in God only, who
continues the same when the whole visible creation shall be dissolved,
devoting ourselves to the service of God, and designing the glorifying
and enjoyment of God, who endures for ever; whereas what worldly men
delight in and follow after must all be dissolved. Those things which
we now see must in a little while pass away, and be no more as they now
are: let us look therefore at what shall abide and continue, which,
though it be not present, is certain and not far off. This looking
for the day of God is one of the directions the apostle gives us,
in order to our being eminently holy and godly in all manner of
conversation. “Look for the day of God as what you firmly believe
shall come, and what you earnestly long for.” The coming of the day
of God is what every Christian must hope for and earnestly expect;
for it is a day when Christ shall appear in the glory of the
Father, and evidence his divinity and Godhead even to those who
counted him a mere man. The first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
he appeared in the form of a servant, was what the people of God
earnestly waited and looked for: that coming was for the consolation
of Israel,
Luke ii. 25.
How much more should they wait with expectation and earnestness for his
second coming, which will be the day of their complete redemption, and
of his most glorious manifestation! Then he shall come to be admired
in his saints, and glorified in all those that believe. For though
it cannot but terrify and affright the ungodly to see the visible
heavens all in a flame, and the elements melting, yet the believer,
whose faith is the evidence of things not seen, can rejoice in
hope of more glorious heavens after these have been melted and refined
by that dreadful fire which shall burn up all the dross of this visible
creation. Here we must take notice,
1. What true Christians look for: new heavens and a new earth,
in which a great deal more of the wisdom, power and goodness of our
great God and Saviour Jesus Christ will be clearly discerned than we
are able to discover in what we now see; for in these new heavens and
earth, freed from the vanity the former were subject to, and the sin
they were polluted with, only righteousness shall dwell; this is to be
the habitation of such righteous persons as do righteousness, and are
free from the power and pollution of sin; all the wicked shall be
turned into hell; those only who are clothed with a righteousness
of Christ, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, shall be admitted to dwell
in this holy place.
2. What is the ground and foundation of this expectation and
hope–the promise of God. To look for any thing which God has
not promised is presumption; but if our expectations are according to
the promise, both as to the things we look for and the time and way of
their being brought about, we cannot meet with a disappointment; for
he is faithful who has promised. “See therefore that you raise and
regulate your expectations of all the great things that are to come
according to the word of God; and, as to the new heaven and new
earth, look for them as God has allowed and directed by the
passages we have in this portion of scripture how before you, and in
to which the apostle may be thought to allude.”
II. As in
he exhorts to holiness from the consideration that the heavens and
the earth shall be dissolved, so in
he resumes his exhortation from the consideration that they shall be
again renewed. “Seeing you expect the day of God, when our Lord Jesus
Christ will appear in his glorious majesty, and these heavens and earth
shall be dissolved and melted down, and, being purified and refined,
shall be erected and rebuilt, prepare to meet him. It nearly concerns
you to see in what state you will be when the Judge of all the world
shall come to pass sentence upon men, and to determine how it shall be
with them to all eternity. This is the court of judicature whence there
lies no appeal; whatever sentence is here passed by this great Judge is
irreversible; therefore get ready to appear before the judgment-seat
of Christ: and see to it,”
1. “That you be found of him in peace, in a state of peace and
reconciliation with God through Christ, in whom alone God is
reconciling the world to himself. All that are out of Christ are
in a state of enmity, and reject and oppose the Lord and his anointed,
and shall therefore be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power. Those whose
sins are pardoned and their peace made with God are the only safe and
happy people; therefore follow after peace, and that with all.”
(1.) Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2.) Peace in our own consciences, through the Spirit of grace
witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God.
(3.) Peace with men, by having a calm and peaceable disposition wrought
in us, resembling that of our blessed Lord.
2. That you be found of Christ without spot, and blameless. Follow
after holiness as well as peace: and even spotless and perfect; we
must not only take heed of all spots which are not the spots of God’s
children (this only prevents our being found of men without spot), we
must be pressing towards spotless purity, absolute perfection.
Christians must be perfecting holiness, that they may be not
only blameless before men, but also in the sight of God; and all this
deserves and needs the greatest diligence; he who does this work
negligently can never do it successfully. “Never expect to be found at
that day of God in peace, if you are lazy and idle in this your day, in
which we must finish the work that is given us to do. It is only the
diligent Christian who will be the happy Christian in the day of the
Lord. Our Lord will suddenly come to us, or shortly call us to him; and
would you have him find you idle?” Remember there is a curse denounced
against him who does the work of the Lord negligently, Marg.
Heaven will be a sufficient recompence for all our diligence and
industry; therefore let us labour and take pains in the work of the
Lord; he will certainly reward us if we be diligent in the work he has
allotted us; now, that you may be diligent, account the
long-suffering of our Lord to be salvation. “Does your Lord delay
his coming? Do not think this is to give more time to make provision
for your lusts, to gratify them; it is so much space to repent and work
out your salvation. It proceeds not from a want of concern or
compassion for his suffering servants, nor is it designed to give
countenance and encouragement to the world of the ungodly, but that men
may have time to prepare for eternity. Learn then to make a right use
of the patience of our Lord, who does as yet delay his coming. Follow
after peace and holiness, or else his coming will be dreadful to you.”
And inasmuch as it is difficult to prevent men’s abuse of God’s
patience, and engage them in the right improvement thereof, our apostle
quotes St. Paul as directing men to make the same good use of the
divine forbearance, that in the mouth, or from the pen, of two apostles
the truth might be confirmed. And we may here observe with what esteem
and affection he speaks of him who had formerly publicly withstood and
sharply reproved Peter. If a righteous man smite one who is truly
religious, it shall be received as a kindness; and let him reprove, it
shall be as an excellent oil, which shall soften and sweeten the good
man that is reproved when he does amiss. What an honourable mention
does this apostle of the circumcision make of that very man who had
openly, before all, reproved him, as not walking uprightly
according to the truth of the gospel!
(1.) He calls him brother, whereby he means not only that he is
a fellow-christian (in which sense the word brethren is used
or a fellow-preacher (in which sense Paul calls Timothy the evangelist
a brother,
Col. i. 1),
but a fellow-apostle, one who had the same extraordinary commission,
immediately from Christ himself, to preach the gospel in every place,
and to disciple all nations. Though many seducing teachers denied
Paul’s apostleship, yet Peter owns him to be an apostle.
(2.) He calls him beloved; and they being both alike
commissioned, and both united in the same service of the same Lord, it
would have been very unseemly if they had not been united in affection
to one another, for the strengthening of one another’s hands, mutually
desirous of, and rejoicing in, one another’s success.
(3.) He mentions Paul as one who had an uncommon measure of wisdom
given unto him. He was a person of eminent knowledge in the mysteries
of the gospel, and did neither in that nor any other qualification come
behind any of all the other apostles. How desirable is it that those
who preach the same gospel should treat one another according to the
pattern Peter here sets them! It is surely their duty to endeavour, by
proper methods, to prevent or remove all prejudices that hinder
ministers’ usefulness, and to beget and improve the esteem and respect
in the minds of people towards their ministers that may promote the
success of their labours. And let us also here observe,
[1.] The excellent wisdom that was in Paul is said to be given
him. The understanding and knowledge that qualify men to preach the
gospel are the gift of God. We must seek for knowledge, and labour to
get understanding, in hopes that it shall be given us from above, while
we are diligent in using proper means to attain it.
[2.] The apostle imparts to men according as he had received from God.
He endeavours to lead others as far as he himself was led into the
knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel. He is not an intruder into
the things he had not seen or been fully assured of, and yet he does
not fail to declare the whole counsel of God,
[3.] The epistles which were written by the apostle of the Gentiles,
and directed to those Gentiles who believed in Christ, are designed for
the instruction and edification of those who from among the Jews were
brought to believe in Christ; for it is generally thought that what is
here alluded to is contained in the epistle to the Romans
(ch. ii. 4),
though in all his epistles there are some things that refer to one or
other of the subjects treated of in this and the foregoing chapter; and
it cannot seem strange that those who were pursuing the same general
design should in their epistles insist upon the same things. But the
apostle Peter proceeds to tell us that in those things which are to be
met with in Paul’s epistles there are some things hard to be
understood. Among the variety of subjects treated of in scripture, some
are not easy to be understood because of their own obscurity, such are
prophecies; others cannot be so easily understood because of their
excellency and sublimity, as the mysterious doctrines; and others are
with difficulty taken in because of the weakness of men’s minds, such
are the things of the Spirit of God, mentioned
And here the unlearned and unstable make wretched work; for they wrest
and torture the scriptures, to make them speak what the Holy Ghost did
not intend. Those who are not well instructed and well established in
the truth are in great danger of perverting the word of God. Those who
have heard and learned of the Father are best secured from
misunderstanding and misapplying any part of the word of God; and,
where there is a divine power to establish as well as to instruct men
in divine truth, persons are effectually secured from falling into
errors. How great a blessing this is we learn by observing what is the
pernicious consequence of the errors that ignorant and unstable men
fall into–even their own destruction. Errors in particular concerning
the holiness and justice of God are the utter ruin of multitudes of
men. Let us therefore earnestly pray for the Spirit of God to instruct
us in the truth, that we may know it as it is in Jesus, and have our
hearts established with grace, that we may stand firm and unshaken,
even in the most stormy times, when others are tossed to and fro with
every wind of doctrine.
III. The apostle gives them a word of caution,
where,
1. He intimates that the knowledge we have of these things should make
us very wary and watchful, inasmuch as there is a twofold danger,
(1.) We are in great danger of being seduced, and turned away
from the truth. The unlearned and unstable, and they are very numerous,
do generally wrest the scripture. Many who have the scriptures and read
them do not understand what they read; and too many of those who have a
right understanding of the sense and meaning of the word are not
established in the belief of the truth, and all these are liable to
fall into error. Few attain to the knowledge and acknowledgment of
doctrinal Christianity; and fewer find, so as to keep in the way of
practical godliness, which is the narrow way, which only leadeth unto
life. There must be a great deal of self-denial and suspicion of
ourselves, and submitting to the authority of Christ Jesus our great
prophet, before we can heartily receive all the truths of the gospel,
and therefore we are in great danger of rejecting the truth.
(2.) We are in great danger by being seduced; for,
[1.] So far as we are turned from the truth so far are we turned out
of the way to true blessedness, into the path which leads to
destruction. If men corrupt the word of God, it tends to their own
utter ruin.
[2.] When men wrest the word of God, they fall into the error of the
wicked, men without law, who keep to no rules, set no bounds to
themselves, a sort of free-thinkers, which the psalmist detests.
I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. Whatever opinions
and thoughts of men are not conformable to the law of God, and
warranted by it, the good man disclaims and abhors; they are the
conceits and counsels of the ungodly, who have forsaken God’s law, and,
if we imbibe their opinions, we shall too soon imitate their practices.
[3.] Those who are led away by error fall from their own
stedfastness. They are wholly unhinged and unsettled, and know not
where to rest, but are at the greatest uncertainty, like a wave of the
sea, driven with the wind and tossed. It nearly concerns us therefore
to be upon our guard, seeing the danger is so great.
2. That we may the better avoid being led away, the apostle directs us
what to do,
And,
(1.) We must grow in grace. He had in the beginning of the
epistle exhorted us to add one grace to another, and here he advises us
to grow in all grace, in faith, and virtue, and knowledge. By how much
the stronger grace is in us, by so much the more stedfast shall we be
in the truth.
(2.) We must grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Follow on to know the Lord. Labour to know him more clearly and more
fully, to know more of Christ and to know him to better purpose, so as
to be more like him and to love him better.” This is the knowledge of
Christ the apostle Paul reached after and desired to attain,
Such a knowledge of Christ as conforms us more to him, and endears him
more to us, must needs be of great use to us, to preserve us from
falling off in times of general apostasy; and those who experience this
effect of the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will, upon
receiving such grace from him, give thanks and praise to him, and join
with our apostle in saying, To him be glory both now and for ever.
Amen.
|
[Previous] |
Matthew Henry |
|
Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download |
Copyright 2008. Bibles Net. Com. All Rights Reserved.