September 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
535
Peter
Did God really forsake Jesus? How could He? This was the One in Whom He was well pleased. One could understand Judas being forsaken, the disciples even, and certainly the nation. But how could God abandon His Son? It is an impossible situation unless we accept the answer that the Scriptures give. If the Lord Jesus really took our place and personified sin, and was regarded as the personified sin of the race; and if— not in any stage play, but in reality— He was regarded by God as sin, then we can understand that the Lord did bruise Him. And if God did something to Jesus it was what God did and not what the Jews did that made the atonement. The death that came to the sin of old and' the banishment that was meted out to sin (as symbolized by the ram or bullock) came alike to Christ. He suffered both death and banish ment. And He suffered it not for any sins that He had committed but because He was made sin for us. A M atter F or R evelation Now all this is not a matter that we understand. We are not saved by understanding. This is a place for faith. This is a matter that God has taken in hand. He has done nothing that is unnecessary. There must be some great call for everything He has done. ' In the spirit of little children we believe God knows His business and we do not question His right. He has revealed to us that the whole Sin question has been taken in hand by Him, and our place is just to believe what He has made known. Neither is this a matter of f eeling. ' A deliverance has been wrought for us. beyond the realmi o f ; feeling.! We never saw or felt our danger, and so at this point'-we can not feel salvation, If we were drowning and a friend saved us we should see and feel our rescue. If we were in a burning house, feeling in danger of a horrible death, and some man saved us, we should feel and appreciate our salvation. If we were placed against a wall to be shot, and just in the nick of time a band o f men came and saved us, we should have a wonderful sense of relief. But we have no such sense on this matter. The danger we were in on account o f sin is a danger that has been revealed. We have never seen a soul banished from God’s presence; we have never seen the death that comes as the wage of sin, the death of the soul. This is not fiction, it is something very real, but not real to our consciousness. The danger and the deliverance are alike a matter o f revelation; and we receive the deliverance by faith, not by feeling, not by understanding, not by experience. W e believe God that it is even as He has said. “ He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5 :24). And just as we believe in deliverance so do we believe in access. We are made nigh by the blood of Christ. God grants us audience and listens to our cry. We can draw near to obtain grace and mercy in time of need.
Here is a question that has perplexed many. What was the difference between Peter, the denier, and J u d a s , the be trayer? Why was one saved, the other lost? Why should our Lord have chosen an un regenerate to the office o f an apostle? Mr. Mailley d e a l t with these problems in a direct and helpful way. His discus sion merits thoughtful reading.
and Judas B y J ames M ailley - Retsil, Washington H E G o s p e l record brings
these two apos tles into inevit able comparison. On this fateful night each was guilty o f an offense directly against the person of the Master. We may take their transgressions as the points .of depar ture for a study o f their characters. The necessary back ground is, o f .course, the men themselves, and to fairly measure them we must consider the offenses, the motives, and the circumstances under which the sins were com mitted. Peter denied his Lord; Judas betrayed Him. What, if any, is the difference in turpitude of these sins? To deny his Master in that hour was deplorable, and no one else ever saw the iniquity of his transgression so clearly as did Peter himself. His denial reveals in his makeup something, that is universally, regarded with contempt— cowardice. The most hopeless creature on earth is the! coward. In the, presence of real danger, fear is natural, and the bravest of men have felt it. Cowardice is not in feeling fear, but in yielding to fear. Peter was in real danger. The enemies o f Jesus were in an ugly and indis- criminating mood. To be the friend o f this One at the bar o f Rome, was to reckon with them as powerful ene mies. To acknowledge Jesus was'to defy them, and such defiance by one of Peter’s humble station was a matter so serious as to easily become a question o f life or death; . It is not easy for us in these days, of religious liberty; to truly estimate the power o f these: ecclesiastics and the subjection to them of the common people. For a humble man to throw himself against this group of tyrannical leaders was practically self-destruction, Peter had no delusions as to his situations Whatever charge was made good against Jesus would adhere to his followers; and especially the . charge upon which He was delivered to death, that of treason against Caesar. It is no disparagement of Peter to say that he felt fear. It is, however, the everlasting stain upon his loyalty that he yielded to it. The circumstances must also be taken into account. A peril that under some circumstances may intimidate, may, under others, be met with courage and decision. The soldier in the hot excitement of battle, sustained by the presence of his comrades, may be heedless o f dangers that would, if he were alone or surrounded by enemies, terrify him. Peter was alone, his blood was cold, he was in the very midst of foes, the sense of danger was obscured by no excitement, his courage supported by no friendly face; in short he was braced by not one o f those supports upon which courage may lean in a time of peril. Such were the circumstances under which Peter fell. _Kt W h at W as T he .M otive ?. It was one that sprang from the human constitution itself, a divinely inwrought instinct,— that of self-preser vation. When we connect this with his circumstances we see that Peter’s act was in obedience to a very human im pulse. Human nature was having its way. Peter was moving on the natural plane, and the natural plane is that
Do This Young Fellow a Favor!
Turn to the King’s Business advertise ment on the inside back cover.
Made with FlippingBook Annual report