Or it may be so worthily framed and so fitly placed that the skill and power of the artist's work appeal to the most casual beholder. Everybody knows of Livingstone, of Bishop Hannington, of Paten, of Calvert; but the sublime enterprise conducted by these heroes would be impossible if it were not for the self-denying work of labouring men, farm servants, domestic servants, little children who give and collect coppers through the land and through the year. But it is far otherwise with the human species; we are essential to each other; one man in Leeds, one man in Europe, would hardly prosper; it is only in mutuality that the individual can live and come to the fulness of his glory and fruitfulness, that the race can reach its ideal life. We must lay ourselves out to do good; not wait lazily for an almost constraining impulse of circumstances. Now you that hear should certainly agree in this too. There are many good people, sober people in other things, who are very intemperate in their talk. II. And now what practical lessons ought we to learn from the view we have thus taken of ourselves, as dying creatures, and of this as a fading world? It is easy to be generous and tolerant and benevolent when we are sure of the heart of God, and when the little love of this life, and its coldness and its unreturned affections are more than made up to us by the certainty that our Father's love is ours. Remember that you have the very same feelings which led to those faults you usually rail at, to their vices whose vices you condemn. 3. but "what proportion?" Spiritual gifts are such as we receive through our membership with the mystical body of Christ. PERSONAL CHRISTLINESS IS A DIVINE GIFT TO BE SOCIALLY EMPLOYED. Why, the inhabitants of these islands have watched the working of the British Constitution, and they have discovered that they have wants to be relieved, and grievances to be redressed, and think the Commons of England in their wisdom can relieve these wants and sweep away these grievances, and hence the table of the House is being constantly flooded with petitions. Next, we are bidden to watch unto prayer. For this, in truth, is God's own love, the will and the power to give. True charity would lead us to the unfailing fulfilment of all the duties which we owe to our brethren. Nay more, it is better for the business of the world that high attributes should not be so justly blended in the several individuals, called to act an important part, as to constitute what is nearest to perfection; but rather that what is excessive in one should be balanced and corrected by an excess of another kind in his helpmate. G. Barrett.I. An organism is healthy only when all its members perform their functions; and efficiency in the whole is the gross result of efficiency in every part. Free E-mail Bible Study Discipleship Training in Luke's Gospel. )The oracles of GodW. Whatever we have, we have received; whatever we have, we must restore.II. "The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.". And afterwards he signifies, that our powers of speech and action are all to be employed in a holy and charitable manner for the welfare of our brethren, and to the glory of God our common Father, through Christ. THE APPLICATION.1. "This also we wish," said St. Paul, "even your perfection.". 1. 1. Thinking and speaking, keeping silence and hearing, giving and lending, partaking and borrowing, bearing and suffering and relieving, doing and not doing, are so many different methods of serving and being useful to others, and each the best in its proper season, the most productive of beneficial consequences.(G. But there is another side to all this; the poor, the illiterate, the weak, the obscure may also truly minister in many ways to the world's enrichment and blessing. 1. This procures credit while we live, as a good name and memory when we die.6. (Dean Alford. His grace is manifold. The lily in the field is one of a million, but it makes the summer air a little sweeter for all that; the star of the sky is one of a million, but it is not less a thing of glory for that; the dewdrop of the morning is one of a million, yet it leaves a spot of fresh beauty as it exhales into the light. The power once latent in steam and inaccessible is now evoked by the millions of horsepower daily. Whatever man has is a gift from God.2. 3. )The oracles of GodW. And now let each exchange his capacities and endowments and possessions against those of the other; now let every one apply the particular talent entrusted to him, as often as he has the proper motive and opportunity for it; what a blessing would the prodigiously various commutation of kind offices, of assistance and support, of benevolence and beneficence, be to all in general and to each in particular!IV. 4. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 2. Let him ask what that mysterious longing means which we call love, whether to man or God, when he has stripped from it all that is outside and accidental, when he has taken from it all that is mixed with it and perverts it. But we often set thus in dealing with God, using His gifts capriciously and selfishly, forgetting God's absolute authority and life's larger purpose. In the biography of the Earl of Shaftesbury we have an illustration of the ministry of the obscure. There was in the household a faithful old servant, Maria Millis, who had been maid to young Ashley's mother when she was a girl at Blenheim, and who was now retained as housekeeper. Our grand errors on this point arise from our mistaking the effects for the cause; in making no distinction between particular acts of a charitable nature, and that disposition which produces them. Charity also covers the sins of others. when once again the coachman refuses to obey. "Although there was little in the home to foster, while there was much to discourage, the growth of that piety which was to characterise so signally his afterlife, one source of helpful and tender influence was preserved to him. "AND WATCH UNTO PRAYER." But when I was in that country I used to look with much interest on what is generally overlooked — the dwarfed, mutilated, hidden bits of trees, which to a large extent support the clinging vines, and hold them up into the sun. )Mutual obligationsJ. REASONS AGAINST CENSORIOUSNESS AND UNCHARITABLENESS SPRINGING OUT OF THE FEELINGS AND AFFECTIONS OF THE VICTIM. 3. "Through Jesus Christ." Most evil is perverted good. The redeemed are required to be "good stewards of the manifold grace of God." It is not meant for self-gratification, least of all for personal parade. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. What is wanting to the former is possessed by the latter. All persons and all things shall pay this tribute, even they that most wickedly seek to withhold it; but this is the happiness of the saints, that they move willingly thus, are not forced or driven. Want torments them. He saw corruption written everywhere. It was her hand that touched the chords and awakened the first music of his spiritual life." But, in the second place, the apostle says, in the text, that charity "SHALL COVER THE MULTITUDE OF SINS." By and by he will feel them become the habit of his soul. Wherever this benevolent principle is it will discover itself by a readiness to assist and relieve all men, especially those who stand in need of our help, according to our abilities. It understands by sympathy. It is the greatest gift. "Through Jesus Christ." How scant a return does our stewardship yield. (2) This is true in a much higher sense since the Word has become Incarnate, and through His Incarnation reconciled us to God. The oracles of the heathen were mysterious but useless mutterings. They are temporal; they have had a beginning, they shall have an end. I. And now notice THE CHRISTIAN POSITION. I. This is that quality in a thing which causes it to move of itself. The heathen oracles were accessible too, but only under circumstances that forbid universal approach. It applies to its form. In fidelity, it is supposed that a man should have a competent insight and knowledge in the Divine oracles, that first he learn before he teach.2. She desperately longed for someone who would give her love. "As ye have received even so minister." All these have their own great value. And who is able to recount the infinite variations of human capacities and powers and endowments and their analogies to each other? It is incredible the moral power that is lying dormant in the Church. This love is a Divine virtue. Arrived at his counting house, the gentleman orders his cashier to write him out a cheque for £50, but to his astonishment the clerk decisively objects to draw the cheque; he "will not allow the balance at the bank to be disturbed." The first word, Apokalypsis (revelation), gives this book its title. The end of trial and sorrow to the godly is at hand. This procures credit while we live, as a good name and memory when we die.6. "Am I occupying with it, that at my Master's coming He may find it increased and fructified?" The interpretations that the love in question is God's love for man, or Christ's love in His Passion, cannot certainly be accepted, though, of course, true in themselves. Maclaren, D. D.)How Christians may glorify GodA painting that is a work of art may be so inappropriately framed, and hung at such disadvantage as to light and shade, that only a master recognises its merits. Next, the end of our opportunities is at hand. Here is the want of necessaries; there the want of the commodious, the elegant, the agreeable. If 1 Peter was written later still, as many Bible scholars suggest, then the Temple would have already been destroyed at the time of writing, and the words in 1 Peter 2:4-10 would have had even greater significance to the original recipients. Fervent charity of all other things is most beneficial to society, nay, it is absolutely necessary to the good order, peace, and happiness of every society. G. Now I believe that God has distributed His gifts variously for this very purpose among others, to force upon us a partnership in good works. Genuine social benevolence. This is a very powerful consideration when we reflect what He hath done for us, and upon the example which He hath left us for our imitation. He has just before been enjoining the mutual exercise of ungrudging hospitality. 5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. It must be lanced or it cannot be cured. B. Meyer, B. This, I hold, must be so from the necessity of the case; for the man who watches over himself is the man who discovers his own failings, the obstacles that impede his progress in the life of faith, and the number, the strength, and the power of his spiritual adversaries. And in this respect charity well deserves to be called the bond of perfectness. So humble people often make great men possible, although the world knows the great men only, and forgets the lowly helper. We never shall be good stewards, till we know and apply this truth, and carry it out in practice in our own times, and among those with whom we live. It is only the fervent, effectual prayer of the righteous man that availeth much. Thank God that you are the strong, and not the weak; that you are the helper, and not the helped. The near view of eternity peculiarly assists him in this moderation as to worldly enjoyments. But Jesus Christ, who has dwelt forever in the bosom of the Father, has declared Him, has brought out His attributes from their dark obscurity, and has displayed them. But influence over others is not the only matter in which we are to be good stewards of His manifold grace. Prone, however, to be misled by his senses, he feels the necessity of incessant watchfulness. Bible / Our Library / Bible Commentaries / Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete) / 1 Peter / 1 Peter 4; Share Tweet. Our corrupt selfishness makes us dull of sight, coldhearted, and ungrateful. He has made us so necessary the one to the other, that selfish separatism is hardly less consistent with human well-being than with Divine philanthropy. One has ingenuity, an extensive, strong turn for invention; the other has judgment and dexterity in execution. It was given us for influence over ourselves; that our whole body, soul, and spirit might be sanctified wholly — that it might fill us to our utmost capacity with the fulness of God, and render us efficient for promoting His glory. Revenge is almost invariably cloaked under the guise of moral indignation. The sluggishness of our nature is as much to be watched against and overcome as its selfishness. Beard. Your email address will not be published. It was the exercise of a grace, and not merely good temper, upon which he insisted. And therefore our ability, be it ever so small is our stewardship, of which God will most certainly have an a count from us. Now, observe, this rule applies both to the form and the measure of the gift, both to its kind and to its degree. 1. How many classes and descriptions of persons fill up the interval between the monarch or the prince and the meanest of his subjects! )Receiving and ministeringJ. 3. But if unknown He would be forever unappreciated and unloved. All these gifts we have received in promise, and our responsibility lies in seeking and claiming them for our own. make the most of your chances; once lost, they come not back again. God has given us gifts of imagination, knowledge, expression, music, song, that we may plant intellectual flowers in waste places, and make dull, sad lives bright with thoughts of truth and hope. They tend to degrade and sensualise the whole man. Neither can you expect the graces of the soul to flourish if your body is your master. Still we know that God "is good to all." - J.R.T. "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another." 2. How easily is the remaining sin in us drawn out into exercise by tempting objects, and how full the world is of such objects! And having cast his care upon the Lord, he leaves it where it is cast. Now the apostle asserts, in the text, that we are all sharers in God's manifold grace. 3. * 1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same attitude (for whoever suffers in the flesh has broken with sin), 2 so as not to spend what remains of one’s life in the flesh on human desires, but on the will of God. In all cases, our first prayer needs to be, "Lord, teach us to pray. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth (and, of course, in answer to prayer) grace unto the humble. So a Christian heart may be enshrined in such meagre and unworthy human qualities that they detract from the recognition the grace of Christ ought to receive, the impression it should make. A Christian is to commit his way unto the Lord, and all his way — his burden, and all his burden. Concerning this charity we remark two points. Let me now speak of another stewardship of God's manifold grace; that which we ordinarily know as talent; ability of various kinds, wherewith many are considerably, and some few eminently, endowed. Beard. The communion of saints, which we believe, requires it. That our charity may be complete, and deserve to be called fervent charity, it must extend to all men, even to our enemies. to see that it was sent to win every affection, to brighten every smile, to shed fresh interest over every pursuit, to light up new hopes in every prospect — to embrace every variety of human temperament, assist every degree of human capacity? Because St. John was emphatically the apostle of love, it must not be supposed that the inculcation of this virtue was left to him alone. Literally intense, unremitting, unwearied. Jan 10, 1982. Among our natural gifts some are common to all. Here is strength of mind, there strength of body; here the power of beauty, there the power of eloquence; here the command of oneself and the passions, there the authority of the ruler and the commander over his subjects; here impetuous, overwhelming, there mild, insinuating, yet more irresistible force. It seems to have been one of his principal objects to reprove and reform those dissensions and disputes, which, even in those early days, prevailed in the Christian world. "Manifold. "Minister the same. "Granted, that he is now becoming soured and crabbed; but, then, what a glorious man he was in those earlier days, when he stood in the breach." If we are living in the fulness of God, then the promise of Jesus Christ shall be fulfilled in our case — "Out of our belly shall flow rivers of living water." Each clamours because all the rest do. There was in the household a faithful old servant, Maria Millis, who had been maid to young Ashley's mother when she was a girl at Blenheim, and who was now retained as housekeeper. Trapp. But far above all these gifts of God, which we call gifts of nature, are those higher gifts, which we call gifts of grace — the gifts which find their exercise, not in the work of the world, but in the training and perfecting of the soul. The little wheels in an engine, the little stones in a building, and the little gifts in the church, occupy a place for which the larger would be quite unsuitable. To persuade us to exercise fervent charity among ourselves, let us consider that charity is the main part of the Christian religion, and as we shall be found to have or want charity, so must we stand or fall in the great day of judgment. The end of our privileges and opportunities is at hand. In refusing to see small faults. Even here we see this distinction in a limited degree. No Christian in his view gets his natural talents or material possessions, still less his spiritual endowments, for himself alone. Yet who can doubt that the glorious Reformation was better accomplished by two such fellow labourers, than it would have been by the same men, had there been an equal distribution between them of their respective characteristic properties. It is universal. Our gifts increase by using; the more we bestow them, the more we have them. We are prone to view our talent under false and vicious limitations; to confine our notions of the proper sphere of assiduous kindness to one's own immediate connections. Great numbers of ordinary men are made very much by that which they read, or that which they hear, of the sentiments of those who are abler than themselves. Wait for it if it comes not at once; it will surely come, it will not tarry. Life, a sphere of usefulness large or small, health, powers of mind and body. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.You and I can only give large sums of money to God's service, as God makes us wealthy. L. O when will men begin to see that religion is not a separate trade or profession, but the business of life? It was to be some thing very unlike cold propriety. Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Among our natural gifts some are common to all. All persons and all things shall pay this tribute, even they that most wickedly seek to withhold it; but this is the happiness of the saints, that they move willingly thus, are not forced or driven. "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another." Our conduct will, of course, have more or less influence upon the good and the happiness of mankind, according to the circumstances under which we act, and the situation which we occupy in society. It is so in earthly things, and surely it must be so in spiritual things. Apr 17, 1994. THE APPLICATION.1. And now let each exchange his capacities and endowments and possessions against those of the other; now let every one apply the particular talent entrusted to him, as often as he has the proper motive and opportunity for it; what a blessing would the prodigiously various commutation of kind offices, of assistance and support, of benevolence and beneficence, be to all in general and to each in particular! She was a simple-hearted, loving, Christian woman, faithful in her duties to her earthly master, and faithful in her higher duties to her heavenly Master. Here are corporeal sufferings — weakness, debility, mutilation, decrepitude, pain, sickness, lingering death; there are sufferings of the soul — vexation, trouble, anxiety, grief, dejection, doubt, remorse, pangs of conscience, melancholy, despondency, peril of despair. The material universe, in all its beauty, forms but a single link in the plans of that adorable Being who is without beginning of days or end of time; and its whole duration is but a single step in the march of that government which is from everlasting to everlasting. So must we have the glory sink into us before it can be reflected from us.(A. Peter wants to encourage Christians who are suffering for Christ.Although Christians might suffer in this life, they will not suffer for ever.This world is not their real home. One has ingenuity, an extensive, strong turn for invention; the other has judgment and dexterity in execution. These gifts are: (a)spiritual, and(b)natural.1. But there is an additional reason for forbearing uncharitable censures in the multitude of your actual overt transgressions. Now human life, as it presents itself to these two different eyes, the eye of one who sees only evil, and that of him who sees evil as perverted good, is two different things. For in weighing relative guilt circumstances are always to be considered. * Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever – Matthew 8:14,15. Watchers see where others notice nothing, their senses are more acute. 3. THE ORACLES OF GOD ARE OF DIVINE ORIGIN AND ARE THEREFORE OF SUPREME AUTHORITY. In the might of that power He bids His apostles go forth to claim all human souls as His rightful inheritance. For the most part it is the union of great gifts with diligent work which ensures success; but it has sometimes been otherwise. Thinking and speaking, keeping silence and hearing, giving and lending, partaking and borrowing, bearing and suffering and relieving, doing and not doing, are so many different methods of serving and being useful to others, and each the best in its proper season, the most productive of beneficial consequences.(G. We want to raise up the new life within men. Barrett. But we often set thus in dealing with God, using His gifts capriciously and selfishly, forgetting God's absolute authority and life's larger purpose. Arrived at his counting house, the gentleman orders his cashier to write him out a cheque for £50, but to his astonishment the clerk decisively objects to draw the cheque; he "will not allow the balance at the bank to be disturbed." When will they begin to apprehend the grace of God in its manifoldness? Have we, like the unskilful workman, been utterly careless about minutiae? One has understanding; and how various the species of it are! The Priority and Protection of Love – 1 Peter 4:8. Among our natural gifts some are common to all. This is a noble thought. I observe finally, here, that prayer must be constant. Jesus put it this way in the Sermon on the mount: Matthew 6:38-48 “ 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.‘ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. There the want of necessaries ; there the want of the WordAbp the richest land and power! Some few of its aspects only sin may die out of lustful rebellion beings left... By which we receive through our membership with the mystical body of Christ how many classes and of... Error which destroyed the Church, or wealth, the elegant, the possession of talent of... Church, or else self are such as wisdom, knowledge, and speaking tongues! Way and returns all this way and returns all this way. ( W and... Peace to our conscience both in life and death of the Earl of Shaftesbury we have the hand! 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