ould permit all
men to see and know what he thinks in his heart. Let him, then, in
all his walk and conduct, be anxious only to praise God, and serve
his neighbor, and be afraid of no one; and let every one be in heart
what he is in appearance, and not act a feigned part, whereby he
shall make others gape with wonder.

Furthermore, St. Peter says that we should lay aside hatred and evil
speaking. Here he fitly takes up the common vices among men, in their
intercourse with one another. This evil speaking is exceedingly
common and injurious,--is soon done, insomuch that none of us is
aware of it. Therefore he says, be on your guard, if ye already have
a christian spirit, that ye may know what are the fruits of this
spirit.

V. 2. _And desire the sincere milk of the word, as new-born babes._
Here he institutes a comparison, and would say,--ye are like those
new-born babes who seek nothing but the milk: like them, striving for
the breasts and milk, so be ye also eager for the word; endeavor for
it, have an appetite for it, that ye may suck in the intelligible,
sincere milk.

These words are, indeed, figurative; for he did not mean literal
milk, or literal sucking, as he does not speak of a literal birth.
But he speaks of another milk which belongs to the mind, which is
spiritual, which is procured by the soul, which the heart must draw
in. It must be, moreover, sincere (or unfalsified), not as the custom
is, to sell false wares; since there is truly strong obligation, and
great necessity, that to the new-born and young Christian, the milk
should be given pure, and not corrupted. But this milk is nothing but
the Gospel, which is also the same with seed, whereby we are
conceived and born, as we have heard above. Yet it is also the food
which nourishes us when we arrive at maturity; it is also the harness
wherewith we equip and clothe ourselves,--yea, it is all these in
common. But whatever is appended to it is human doctrine, whereby the
word of God is falsified; therefore the Holy Spirit would have it so
that every Christian shall see to it, what he sucks for milk, and
shall himself learn to decide in regard to all doctrines.

But the breasts which yield this milk, and which the babes suck, are
the preachers in the christian Church. As the bridegroom says to the
bride, in Cant. iii., "Thou hast two breasts like two young roes;
they are as though they were hung with a bundle of myrrh;" as the
bride says, Cant. i., "My