We continue our consideration
of, and meditation concerning, the significance of the Apostle
Peter and his ministry. As we have seen, and shall continue to
see, he was the one who introduced the new dispensation, and
fulfilled in himself the work of the Lord Jesus in laying the
foundation for the new spiritual, heavenly Israel which was to
supplant and take the place of the old Israel, according to the
word of the Lord. Peter, as we have said, is himself a
representation of that spiritual Israel, which we are, and in his
own person and life he so clearly sets forth the nature of this
new Israel.
There is one thing that I think
will be very helpful to us, and we will mention it here, before
going further.
The
Lord's Travail with Peter
I have already said that I have
collected some forty instances in the life of Peter when he was
with the Lord Jesus, and in many of those instances he did not
show up very well. It was only just occasionally that he came out
brightly. So often he emerged rather - perhaps it is a strong
word to use - dishonourably rather than honourably. I will not
take you through all those forty instances, but if I put my
finger upon a few examples, you will see what I mean.
Take the first, a quite simple
one: Peter coming in from a fishing expedition, and the Lord
standing on the shore, commanding him to let down the net for a
draught. It was the Lord who said that, but Peter
immediately answered: "Master, we toiled all night, and took
nothing" (Luke 5:5), implying, of course, that it would be
altogether contrary to an experienced fisherman's reputation to
let down a net in broad daylight, for it was night when they did
their business. So, although he subsequently obeyed, he did so
with a question, and with some reserve - almost as though he
said: 'All right, you want me to do it, so I will do it'. And no
one was more surprised at the result than Peter was! There is
some weakness here in his attitude.
Then on the lake again, during
the storm, with Jesus asleep in the boat, it is Peter who comes
to Him and wakes Him, saying: "Master, carest thou not that
we perish?" (Mark 4:38). The Lord's answer indicates that
here again Peter has failed to grasp the real significance of the
Lord Jesus: "Have ye not yet faith?"
Again on the lake: Jesus coming
out in the night, walking on the water. This time Peter seems to
begin well: "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon
the waters" (Matthew 14:28), and he stepped out. But then,
seeing the big waves and the wind, he began to sink...
"Lord, save me!" He has broken down again in the
middle.
The Lord Jesus is rebuking the
Pharisees, and Peter as good as rebukes the Lord for doing it. He
is dismayed that the Lord Jesus should rebuke the Pharisees. Why?
Well, obviously, if He gets into the Pharisees' bad books, it
will go ill both for Jesus - and for Peter. 'Keep on good terms
with these people!' You see the principle that is governing him?
He is quite annoyed with the Lord Jesus for taking this attitude
toward the Pharisees.
Then again: Jesus speaks of His
going up to Jerusalem and of what is going to happen to Him
there. He would be betrayed into the hands of wicked men and
crucified. Peter takes Him and begins to rebuke Him: "Be it
far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee"
(Matthew 16:22). Again there is this whole idea of
self-preservation, and Jesus rebukes him: "Get thee behind
me, Satan; thou art a stumblingblock unto me."
Once more: on the Mount of
Transfiguration, with all the wonder of it. Poor Peter!
"Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, I will
make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and
one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4), putting them all on to an
equal basis. Evidently the voice out of heaven which rebuked him
made that point; "This is my beloved Son... hear ye him"
... 'He cannot be put on a level even with the greatest men of
the old dispensation. You hear Him!' Peter is rebuked, for
here is presumption. Yes, he is failing all the way along.
Peter had a quarrel with the
other disciples as to who was to be the Primate, the principal
man in the Kingdom. They were quarrelling for primacy, showing
lack of humility, and, again, ambition. He had a wrong, false
idea of the Kingdom.
On we go. Jesus said: "All
ye shall be offended in me this night: for it is written, I will
smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad" (Matthew 26:31). Peter said: "If all shall be
offended in thee, I will never be offended." ...
"Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." ...
"Even if I must die with thee, yet will I not deny
thee." The point, of course, is so obvious that we need not
mention it: Peter's self-confidence, his pride, his boasting as
to what he could do.
In the Garden Jesus said:
"Abide ye here, and watch with me" (Matthew 26:38). He
went a little way away, prayed His great travail prayer, and then
came back - and they were asleep. He said to Peter: "Could
ye not watch with me one hour?"
Then came the arrival of the
mob and the soldiers, and Judas. That was Peter's rash hour - out
with his sword and off came the ear of Malchus, the high priest's
servant. Rebuked again! Then in the hall, denying Jesus. Jesus
emerging from the trial - so-called - and they all forsook Him
and fled.
Even that was not the end of
things with Peter. We meet with something afterward. You will
remember that Paul had to say: "I resisted him to the face,
because he stood condemned" (Galatians 2:11).
Now why all this? You say: 'It
is a pity to point out the man's faults. Is it fair to talk about
him in this way? Would the Lord Jesus do what you are doing,
pinpointing all these breakdowns in this man's life?' Well, dear
friends, that is not quite the point.
The point is a very glorious,
blessed one. I feel sure, and have no question whatever, that
when the Lord Jesus bent down (if we may speak in this way) and
saw Peter writing his first Letter, and saw what he was writing,
sentence by sentence, and clause by clause, He said: 'It was not
in vain. My patience, forbearance, and longsuffering in all that
I had to put up with in that man, and My loving him unto the end,
were not in vain. This is worth all, and more than what I
suffered from that man.'
When I thought of that, one
little verse of a hymn that we sometimes sing floated into my
mind:
"And oh, that He
fulfilled may see
The travail of His soul in me,
And with His work contented be,
As I with my dear Saviour."
I am quite sure that the Lord
was contented, and satisfied, as He saw the fruit of His travail
in this man.
Now, why? Why, for you and for
me. I think that again and again, in those three years of Peter's
life with the Master, you and I would have said: 'It is no good!
That man is no good. He is a failure, and it is no good expecting
or hoping anything from him. You had better give him up!' I think
that is how we would have felt - for we do feel like that about
people, when they repeatedly behave like this. We say: 'Well,
they are no good. What do you expect? Don't reckon on anything
from that man or that woman!'
Look at Peter now! My, he has
really imbibed the Lord Jesus. All that we have in this first
Letter of his says: No one is hopeless. If such a man can come
through to this, there is hope for me, and for anyone. Is that
not true? Pick out only one of Peter's great failures - and that
is enough to take the heart out of us! - his denying the Lord
three times. If you had done that as vehemently as he had done
(and it is amazing that a man who had been on the Mount of
Transfiguration, and seen all the miracles and wonders, could say
so vehemently: 'I know not the man, I tell you!'), you would say:
'That is the end. There is nothing possible beyond that.' But no:
here he is.
Is that not a word of
encouragement? We sometimes despair of ourselves, but that is in
order that we may learn that our Lord does not despair of us, nor
of any man. And here is such a man inaugurating the new Israel on
the basis of the life, work and teaching of the Lord Jesus - not
as a blueprint, nor as a blue-book of instructions, doctrines and
techniques - but on the basis that that life, work and teaching
have come right into this man's very being.
The
Manner of Life in the New Israel
Now we can, perhaps, go on a
little further with this matter of the new Israel, what it is and
what is its nature. We will read from chapter one of this Letter,
verses 13 to 17, for it seems to me that the next thing that we
should look at is here:
"Wherefore girding up
the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ; as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves
according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance: but
like as he which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy
in all manner of living;
because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy. And if ye
call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth
according to each man's work, pass the time of
your sojourning in fear."
The two clauses for the moment
are: "all manner of living" and "the time of your
sojourning". Peter is now referring to the new realm, and
the new manner of life which the new Israel occupies. He is
saying: 'We, this new Israel of God, are in a new realm
altogether, and therefore in that realm there is a manner of life
which belongs to it - the manner of life which belongs to the
time of our sojourning here. The manner of life, or manner of
living, in this time of our sojourning.' And then, on to the end
of the Letter, he touches upon many practical points in the
manner of life.
I imagine that some of these
points may not apply to anyone here, but I am going to mention
them for one reason: to show how practical is the manner of life
in this new Israel. I used the phrase: 'a new Israel', 'a
spiritual Israel'. That to you, perhaps, is something objective,
something out there, an idea, a conception, as so much teaching
is, but Peter does not leave it there. He brings it right down to
the most practical points in our lives. He makes this new Israel
business relate to so many things which he calls, in this
inclusive phrase, "all manner of living". What a
comprehensive phrase that is!
First of all, you will notice
that he has something to say about women who have to live with
unsaved husbands. I do not know whether that applies to anyone
here. It may be that someone has to live with a not altogether
saved husband - a difficult man. But Peter is speaking about a
marriage relationship which was contracted before one of the
partners was saved, and then the question arises: What should the
woman who has been saved since her marriage do? Because she is
saved, and her husband is not, ought she to get a separation?
Should she find some ground of divorce? Should she live a
separate life altogether and isolate him? What is she going to
do? That is a practical problem, you know. It may not be in your
life, and it is not in mine, but I am constantly presented with
that very problem. I have met it only in recent days - a really
serious case of this very thing: the difficulty in a marriage
relationship because one is going on with the Lord and the other
is not. It sets up complexes, strains and difficulties for the
one who is. So what are you going to do?
Now Peter says that in the new
Israel that saved woman has to live with her husband, and before
her husband, in the grace of God, so that he may be won by
her very manner of life; not driven away from the Lord because
she isolates him, or nags him, or constantly tries to get at him,
letting him know that he is not saved, but just living. Oh, this
is a practical problem, for it is not easy to live before such a
man in such a way that if ever he is going to come to the Lord,
he will do so on this ground: 'Why, I have seen what God can do.
He has done it in my wife. The conviction of my sinfulness has
come by the purity, the patience and the goodness of my wife.'
Now, as I say, that may not
apply to you, but what I am saying is this: This new Israel is no
mere myth, idea or abstract thing. It is very practical, and
comes right down here.
Then Peter goes on with this
marriage relationship, but this time he is not speaking about
unconverted husbands and wives, either or both. He is saying
another thing: 'Husbands, give honour to your wives, as unto the
weaker vessel.' Now, of course, the wife may not think that she
is the weaker vessel. That is the trouble so often! But how does
Peter cover that? He does so in a very beautiful way. You must
know that at the time Peter was writing there was a very big
difference in this relationship between husbands and wives, wives
and husbands, socially, and the wives were looked down upon as an
inferior class, and were not honoured by men. How does Peter
bring in this matter? "As being joint-heirs of the grace
of life." I am always sorry that our English
translation so often fails to give us the real meaning of the
original words. Again and again you just cannot translate, and
that is why we have so many versions. We have a Phillips, an
Amplified, and a Modern English, and so many others - a whole
bookshelf full of translations. Why? To try to get the real
meaning over from the original, and I do not know that they have
succeeded yet.
"Joint-heirs of the grace
of life." The compound Greek word just means: 'Because you
husbands and wives, wives and husbands, have both received the
life of the Lord in your salvation, there is no discriminating in
that life. You are on one basis, one level. You are fellow-heirs.
There is a perfect oneness in life which has been constituted
basically, and to despise one is to despise the life of the Lord
and say that it is lower in one than it is in the other.' Do you
see the point? How impossible it is to put that into English! It
is translated 'joint-heirs' here. Peter is saying a beautiful
thing, and it meant very much in those days with the strong
social differences, especially in the domestic circle. This is a
new realm of things, a different manner of life altogether, that
husbands should honour the wife as the weaker vessel, recognizing
that, after all, whether the man is stronger and the woman is
weaker, they both share one life and have to live on the basis of
that one life which they share. That is beautiful, is it not? But
is it not very practical?
Peter goes on, and our next
point again may not apply to you, but it does apply very much in
Christianity. He has something to say about how the women get
themselves up, and dress. Now, of course, you here are not going
to come under any condemnation about what I am saying: but how
does Peter put it? What a pity that our English fails so utterly
at this very point! Notice that it says: "Whose adorning
(speaking of Christian women) let it not be the outward adorning
of plaiting the hair, and of wearing jewels..." You will see
that the word "adorning" is in italics, and in this
case it does not mean that there is no word there in the
original, as italicized words usually do. It means that the
translators do not know what to do with the word! You will see
their difficulty at once if I point it out. What was the original
word there? 'Kosmos', the Greek word. 'Whose kosmos
let it not be the plaiting of the hair, and the wearing of
jewellery...'. What is 'kosmos'? 'Whose world -
the world in which you live.' What is your world? Peter is not
saying that it is wrong to plait your hair, and I do not know
that he is saying that it is wrong to wear some adornment. That
is not the point. He is saying: 'Is your hair your world in which
you live? Is this jewellery your world?' Is this not a propos
to our time? My word - hair! Well, the least said the
better, I think! And the adornments, the get-up, the make-up, the
what-not in these days! That is the world of many people. They
spend so much of their time on that - how they look, what
impression they make, and so on. Now do not believe that Peter is
saying: 'Be slovenly in your appearance. Be careless about how
you dress.' God forbid! A lot of women, I am afraid, do go to the
other extreme in this matter and let the Lord down by
carelessness, but Peter is saying: 'What is the world you live
in?' 'Kosmos' has several meanings, and one of them is
'manner of life', the world that occupies you and takes you up.
Is this your world?
Peter says that in the new
Israel you are in another realm, and are not living in that
world. That is the world of the world, and where others
outside of Israel live all the time. I sometimes think that if
only some of these people in our time who get themselves up as
they do could have a look at Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, they
would get scared. And yet they are copying Jezebel, with their
eyelids, eyelashes, and everything else. Oh, it is frightening,
for it has come from there. It is that world. Peter knows all
about that and says: 'Dear sisters, don't let that be your world!
The holy women of old who hoped in God did not do that. They did
not behave like that'; and he cites Sarah. The beauty of life is
not the beauty that we try to make. Peter says: 'The ornament of
a meek and quiet spirit, which is priceless.' That is the world
of the new Israel.
When Peter has pinpointed these
various matters (I assume that he takes it that it is not
necessary to distribute his exhortations over a lot of other
practical points), he gathers them all up and says: 'And all of
you.' Whether it be husbands, wives, servants and masters, in
particular, and these relationships in particular, their
particular problems, and their particular manner of life,
behaviour and conduct before the world... he says 'all of you'.
All husbands, all wives, all servants, all masters, all of you,
whatever you are, you all belong to a new realm with new
behaviour and a new manner of life.
Peter gathers it all up in this
way with, mark you, another allusion to the old Israel which
failed and now has to be taken up in the new: "That ye may
shew forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness
into his marvellous light." That is the all-inclusive object
that God has in view, for which the Israel of old was brought out
of Egypt's darkness into the light of God - to show forth the
excellencies of Him who brought them out. So Peter gathers
everything up into this: We have been brought out of all this
darkness into light with one purpose and one object - as the new
Israel which makes good what the Old Israel lost, fulfils what
the old Israel failed to fulfil - showing forth the excellencies
of Him.
This is very exacting and very
testing, is it not? 'I have to be careful how I live in my home
before my family, in the midst of the Lord's people, and before
this world as I pass the time of my sojourning here, in order
that the excellencies of Him who called me out of darkness into
light should not be veiled, not be beclouded, but be seen. That
those with whom I live shall not see too much of me, naturally.
They are bound to see a little before I am perfected, but not
obtruding itself, or forcing itself, so that it is the thing that
they meet, and they say: "That is just her - or him. She has
made up her mind to do that and nothing will stop her" ...
thus veiling the excellencies of Him who called me out of
darkness into His marvellous light.'
I hope there is nothing
depressing about this, but, you know we have to stand up to our
teaching. We have really had so much teaching, and it is
necessary for us to measure up to what has been shown to us. It
is very practical in everyday life and everyday relationships,
and it all amounts to this: 'Are those who are observing me
seeing me naturally, or - if they are at all sensitive to
spiritual values and have eyes to see - are they able to discern
the grace of God in me, neutralising me and making Christ
in His preciousness manifested?' If something of this emerges
from our little time together we shall not have met in vain - it
will have been worthwhile. The Lord make it so!