THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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men as Abraham , .Moses, David, Peter and P aul in order th a t we may learn holy lessons from such records. We learn what we are and w hat God is. We learn th a t we cannot tru st our selves for a single moment. We learn to tru s t the eternal ’ stability of th a t grace which has dealt w ith the erring ones of. other days. Not one of the evangelists omits the fall of Peter. “Though all shall be offended be cause of thee, yet will I never be of fended.” In these words P ete r lets out th e real root of th e whole m atter — self-confidence. He wab igno ran t of himself. It is well to walk humbly be fo re our God, distru sting self and lean ing on Him. This is th e secret of moral safety a t all times. P eter sleeps in the garden of Geth- semane. He draws his sword and sm ites the high p riest’s servant. P eter followed afar off. P eter sat down among th e enemies of Christ. Peter denied w ith an oath. Luke adds a most touching clause: “The Lord tu rn ed a n d 'lo o k e d upon Pete'r.” P eter went out and wept bit-, terly. Does the reader feel disposed to question th e fact th a t P eter was, t i n spite of all this,, a genuine sain t of God? The Lord ' was watching over His poor, erring servant. “ I have pray ed for thee.” O, th e grace of those words. The fall was indeed deep, te r rible and hum iliating. The resto ra tion was complete and marvelous. The prayer of Jesus sustained th e soul of His erring servant. W hat can Satan do in opposition to th e all-powerful in tercession of Christ for His own? We see P eter restored not only to th e work to which he was called, a t th e first, but to something higher: “Feed my lambs— shepherd my sheep.” Then m ark the closing words of th e Lord: “When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch fo rth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake He signifying by w hat death P eter should glorify God.” W hat a con trast between Simon, young, restless, forward, blundering, boastful, self-confident; and Peter, old, subdued, mellowed, passive, crucified! W hat a difference between a man walk ing w hither he would, and a man fol lowing a rejected Lord along th e d ark and narrow pathway of th e cress, home to glory!— C. H. McIntosh in “Miscel laneous Notes.”
We shall find stumblings, failure, ig norance and sin, bu t und ern eath we shall find a h ea rt tru e to Jesus. A man may make a great many m istakes, bu t if he can say, when challenged by his Lord: “Thou knowest t h a t 'I love th ee,” he is sure to come rig h t in th e end. P eter was a tru e lover of Christ. All this comes out w ith force and fresh ness in his varied confessions of p h rist even before Pentecost. “Whom do' men say th a t I, th e Son of man, am ?” He was told th a t th ere was endless speculation. “P eter answered and said, Thou a rt th e Christ, the Son of th e living God.” There was no vain specu lation here. It was divine testimony flowing from divinely given knowledge. There is nothing so precious to God as a h eart th a t appreciates Christ. Let us never forget this! P eter had much to learn ere he could tak e in th e soul-subduing tru th th a t th is blessed Son of th e living God must die. “Prom th a t tim e fo rth Jesus be gan to show unto them how He must go to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed and be raised.” P eter was not prepared for it. It w ithered up all his Jew ish hopes. P eter began to re buke Him. Such is man. He would fain tu rn th e Lord away from th e cross. He would play into th e hands of th e devil. Poor P eter! The Lord said, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Who would have though t th a t “ Blessed a rt thou, Simon B arjona,” should so speed ily be followed by “Get thee behind me, S atan ” ? He must be led to see not only th a t Christ was the Son of the living God, bu t th a t He was a rejected stone, disallowed of men b u t chosen of God and precious; and th a t all who th rough grace come to Him must share His rejection on earth as well as His acceptance in heaven. We have now to follow P eter into th e darkest, most humbling scene -in his en tire history— a scene which we could hardly account for if we did not know something of th e infinite depths of divine grace on th e one hand and, on th e other, of th e terrib le depths into which even a child of God is cap able of plunging if not kep t by divine power. It seems wonderful to find on th e page of inspiration the record of th e fall of such an em inent servant of Christ as P eter. We, in our wisdom, woHld judge it best to draw th e cur tain of silence over such an event. Not so th e Holy Ghost. He has seen fit to tell us plainly of the, erro rs of such
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