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T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
comp’any of disciples when he said,. “Thou a rt the Christ th e Son of th e living God.” This was th e tru e answer w ithout un certain ty or conjecture. There is nothing more precious in the sight of God th a n a h e a rt th a t ap preciates Christ. Here comes the first direct mention of the church and of the cross. The church is spoken of in the fu tu re tense. - Christ is th e only foun dation bu t He m ust die ere a-sin g le stone could be laid thereon. P ete r’s attem pted dissuasion was characteris tic. Who would have though t th a t “ Blessed a rt thou Simon,” could be fol lowed so quickly by “ Get thee behind me, S atan” ? The stages of P e te r’s decline and fall are clearly marked. F irst, boast ing in his own streng th , second, sleep ing when he should have been praying, third, draw ing his sword when he ought to have meekly bowed his head, fourth, following afar off, when he should have been marching by th e Master’s side, fifth, making him self com fortable in th e m idst of th e enemies of his Lord. There were two tra ito rs among the twelve, th e one th a t betrayed and th e one th a t denied. P eter and Jud as both fell. P eter fell un til he stru ck the prayer of Christ, Luke 22:32. Then he stopped for he could fall no farth er. Judas is still falling for sin is an etern al lapse. Some say th a t they never “ come back.” P eter did. See him at Pentecost, before th e Sanhedrin, in Herod’s prison, a t Samaria and finally in Babylon, Christ’s own appointed shepherd for the flock of God. P eter, th e H elper of Jesus. John 21: 1-17. Memory- V erse.-l||‘He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.” John 21:15. Approach.— Jam es was down a t the beach for a few weeks w ith his father, and he was telling me w hat a fine tim e
P eter was intensely human. We do not need to be assured, as in the case of E lijah, th a t he was a man of like passions as we are. We feel akin to him a t every point of DEVOTIONALi his career. The only COMMENT' parallel in Scripture F . W. F a rr of th e transform ation of th e shaky Simon in to the rock-like Peter, is th a t ■of the supplanter Jacob becoming Israel, a prince w ith God and man. His his to ry may be summarized in such out standing events as his call, conversion, confession, denial and restoration. We are introduced to him in the first chap te r of Jo h n ’s Gospel. He was brought to Christ by his b ro th er Andrew, who simply whispered in his ear his own experience, “We have found th e Mes siah.” There is wonderful power in th e simple testim ony “ I have found Christ. Come, taste and see w h at a gracious Saviour He is.” In, th e fifth chapter of Luke’s Gos pel, P e te r is b rough t in contact w ith the sup ern atu ral power of Christ in the m iraculous d raugh t of fishes and the combined action of grace and power enabled him to see himself in the light of th e Divine presence where alone self can be seen and judged. He takes his tru e place of self-judgm ent, a place from which every one m ust s ta rt if he is ever to do anything for God. Job 42:5, 6; Isaiah 6:5. P atriarch , prophet and apostle have th e same experience. F rom th is moment Christ and his cause became P e te r’s life work. A t Caesarea Philippi Jesus inquired w hat men were saying about him . The answer of the disciples showed th a t men knew nothing and cared nothing about him. Matt.’ 16:14. There was endless speculation which was born of u tte r indifference and heartlessness. Until a man is renewed by Divine grace, he does no t have one tru e thought about Christ nor an atom of affection for Him. P ete r spoke for th e whole
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