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Chapter 52
Steadfast Unto the End
IN the second letter addressed by Peter to those who had obtained "like
precious faith" with himself, the apostle sets forth the divine plan for
the development of Christian character. He writes:
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God,
and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us
all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge
of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto
us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust.
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to
virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in
you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
These words are full of instruction, and strike the keynote of victory.
The apostle presents before the believers the ladder of Christian
progress, every step of which represents advancement in the knowledge of
God, and in the climbing of which there is to be no standstill. Faith,
virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness,
and charity are the rounds of the ladder. We are saved by climbing round
after round, mounting step after step, to the height of Christ's ideal
for us. Thus He is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption.
God has called His people to glory and virtue, and these will be
manifest in the lives of all who are truly connected with Him. Having
become partakers of the heavenly gift, they are to go unto perfection,
being "kept by the power of God through faith." 1 Peter 1:5. It is the
glory of God to give His virtue to His children. He desires to see men
and women reaching the highest standard; and when by faith they lay hold
of the power of Christ, when they plead His unfailing promises, and
claim them as their own, when with an importunity that will not be
denied they seek for the power of the Holy Spirit, they will be made
complete in Him.
Having received the faith of the gospel, the next work of the believer
is to add to his character virtue, and thus cleanse the heart and
prepare the mind for the reception of the knowledge of God. This
knowledge is the foundation of all true education and of all true
service. It is the only real safeguard against temptation; and it is
this alone that can make one like God in character. Through the
knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, are given to the believer
"all things that pertain unto life and godliness." No good gift is
withheld from him who sincerely desires to obtain the righteousness of
God.
"This is life eternal," Christ said, "that they might know Thee the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John 17:3. And the
prophet Jeremiah declared: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man
glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he
understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise
loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these
things I delight, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 9:23, 24. Scarcely can the
human mind comprehend the breadth and depth and height of the spiritual
attainments of him who gains this knowledge.
None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian
character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the
believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God
calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us
the example of Christ's character. In His humanity, perfected by a life
of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through
co-operation with Divinity, human beings may in this life attain to
perfection of character. This is God's assurance to us that we, too, may
obtain complete victory.
Before the believer is held out the wonderful possibility of being like
Christ, obedient to all the principles of the law. But of himself man is
utterly unable to reach this condition. The holiness that God's word
declares he must have before he can be saved is the result of the
working of divine grace as he bows in submission to the discipline and
restraining influences of the Spirit of truth. Man's obedience can be
made perfect only by the incense of Christ's righteousness, which fills
with divine fragrance every act of obedience. The part of the Christian
is to persevere in overcoming every fault. Constantly he is to pray to
the Saviour to heal the disorders of his sin-sick soul. He has not the
wisdom or the strength to overcome; these belong to the Lord, and He
bestows them on those who in humiliation and contrition seek Him for
help.
The work of transformation from unholiness to holiness is a continuous
one. Day by day God labors for man's sanctification, and man is to
co-operate with Him, putting forth persevering efforts in the
cultivation of right habits. He is to add grace to grace; and as he thus
works on the plan of addition, God works for him on the plan of
multiplication. Our Saviour is always ready to hear and answer the
prayer of the contrite heart, and grace and peace are multiplied to His
faithful ones. Gladly He grants them the blessings they need in their
struggle against the evils that beset them.
There are those who attempt to ascend the ladder of Christian progress;
but as they advance they begin to put their trust in the power of man,
and soon lose sight of Jesus, the Author and Finisher of their faith.
The result is failure-- the loss of all that has been gained. Sad indeed
is the condition of those who, becoming weary of the way, allow the
enemy of souls to rob them of the Christian graces that have been
developing in their hearts and lives. "He that lacketh these things,"
declares the apostle, "is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath
forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."
The apostle Peter had had a long experience in the things of God. His
faith in God's power to save had strengthened with the years, until he
had proved beyond question that there is no possibility of failure
before the one who, advancing by faith, ascends round by round, ever
upward and onward, to the topmost round of the ladder that reaches even
to the portals of heaven.
For many years Peter had been urging upon the believers the necessity of
a constant growth in grace and in a knowledge of the truth; and now,
knowing that soon he would be called to suffer martyrdom for his faith,
he once more drew attention to the precious privileges within the reach
of every believer. In the full assurance of his faith the aged disciple
exhorted his brethren to steadfastness of purpose in the Christian life.
"Give diligence," he pleaded, "to make your calling and election sure:
for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall
be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Precious assurance! Glorious is the hope
before the believer as he advances by faith toward the heights of
Christian perfection!
"I will not be negligent," the apostle continued, "to put you always in
remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in
the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this
tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that
shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ
hath showed me. Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my
decease to have these things always in remembrance."
The apostle was well qualified to speak of the purposes of God
concerning the human race; for during the earthly ministry of Christ he
had seen and heard much that pertained to the kingdom of God. "We have
not followed cunningly devised fables," he reminded the believers, "when
we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the
excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And
this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the
holy mount."
Yet convincing as was this evidence of the certainty of the believers'
hope, there was another still more convincing in the witness of
prophecy, through which the faith of all might be confirmed and securely
anchored. "We have also," Peter declared, "a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in
a dark place, until the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts:
knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
While exalting the "sure word of prophecy" as a safe guide in times of
peril, the apostle solemnly warned the church against the torch of false
prophecy, which would be uplifted by "false teachers," who would privily
bring in "damnable heresies, even denying the Lord." These false
teachers, arising in the church and accounted true by many of their
brethren in the faith, the apostle compared to "wells without water,
clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is
reserved forever." "The latter end is worse with them," he declared,
"than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known
the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from
the holy commandment delivered unto them."
Looking down through the ages to the close of time, Peter was inspired
to outline conditions that would exist in the world just prior to the
second coming of Christ. "There shall come in the last days scoffers,"
he wrote, "walking after their own lusts, 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." But "when
they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon
them." 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Not all, however, would be ensnared by the
enemy's devices. As the end of all things earthly should approach, there
would be faithful ones able to discern the signs of the times. While a
large number of professing believers would deny their faith by their
works, there would be a remnant who would endure to the end.
Peter kept alive in his heart the hope of Christ's return, and he
assured the church of the certain fulfillment of the Saviour's promise,
"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto Myself." John 14:3. To the tried and faithful ones the coming might
seem long delayed, but the apostle assured them: "The Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is
long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. 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.
"Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 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? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent
that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And
account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our
beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath
written unto you. . . . 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 steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
In the providence of God, Peter was permitted to close his ministry in
Rome, where his imprisonment was ordered by the emperor Nero about the
time of Paul's final arrest. Thus the two veteran apostles, who for many
years had been widely separated in their labors, were to bear their last
witness for Christ in the world's metropolis, and upon its soil to shed
their blood as the seed of a vast harvest of saints and martyrs.
Since his reinstatement after his denial of Christ, Peter had
unflinchingly braved danger and had shown a noble courage in preaching a
crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour. As he lay in his cell he called
to mind the words that Christ had spoken to him: "Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst
whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch
forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither
thou wouldest not." John 21:18. Thus Jesus had made known to the
disciple the very manner of his death, and even foretold the stretching
of his hands upon the cross.
Peter, as a Jew and a foreigner, was condemned to be scourged and
crucified. In prospect of this fearful death, the apostle remembered his
great sin in denying Jesus in the hour of His trial. Once so unready to
acknowledge the cross, he now counted it a joy to yield up his life for
the gospel, feeling only that, for him who had denied his Lord, to die
in the same manner as his Master died was too great an honor. Peter had
sincerely repented of that sin and had been forgiven by Christ, as is
shown by the high commission given him to feed the sheep and lambs of
the flock. But he could never forgive himself. Not even the thought of
the agonies of the last terrible scene could lessen the bitterness of
his sorrow and repentance. As a last favor he entreated his executioners
that he might be nailed to the cross with his head downward. The request
was granted, and in this manner died the great apostle Peter.
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