Dailj) Devotional Home Readings Connected with International Sunday) School Lessons B>> FREDERIC W . FARR , D . D.
THURSDAY, Jan. 1. John 20:1-10. Peter and John Contrasted. Peter was the apostle of action. John was the apostle of love. Peter was practical. John was mystical. Peter is always at the front, right or wrong. John’s self-effacement is seen in his writings. Never once does he name himself. He does not add to John 1:41 that next the other disciple found his own brother James. He never names his brother, father nor mother, nor indeed his other blessed mother committed to him from the cross. In his epistles he is simply the Elder. Peter and John were fellow townsmen and business partners. Of opposite tem peraments their friendship was based on mutual regard and admiration. They had a common faith and the same ideals. They were close enough in years to be congenial. John might have been twenty-five and Peter thirty- five at Pentecost. Their friendship was an important factor in their Christian life and service. Chas. Kingsley was asked the secret of his success in life. He replied, “ I had a friend.” FRIDAY, Jan. 2. Mark 14:66-72. Peter Prior to Pentecost. Mark’s account of Peter’s denial is most vivid and detailed, suggesting Peter’s own oversight as Mark stood in the same relation to Peter as Luke did to Paul. There is no excuse or ex tenuation in the narrative. Peter was a converted man because he had con fessed Christ as Lord. Matt. 16:16. I Cor. 12:3. A marked change is seen at Pentecost. The timid hare has be come a brave lion. The difference and explanation is found in the Holy Spirit.
Hervey, who was an intimate friend of the Wesleys, says that the difference in a minister’s preaching before and after he receives the Holy Spirit may be com pared to shooting with bow and arrows and shooting with a rifle. The shaky Simon becomes the rock-like Peter through the might of the indwelling Spirit. While it may be reassuring to consider Peter so much like the rest of us, let us not forget that we have the same Holy Spirit that he had. What God did for Peter, He can and will do for any one. SATURDAY, Jan. 3. Acts 2:1-4. A Model Prayer Meeting. It was an attended meeting. They were all there. Thomas was present. John 20:24, 26. There are churches today that have more members than seats. The average pastor congratu lates himself if one-tenth of the church membership attends the prayer meet ing. Some prayer meetings have been discontinued for lack of attendance. What a wonderful prayer meeting might be had in any church if every member was present! It was an ac cordant meeting. They all had the same objective and were actuated by a common purpose. It was a promise pleading meeting. They had some thing definite to pray for. Luke 24:49. It was a prayer meeting in which the women took part. Acts 1:14. The only real and Scriptural prayer meet ing is nothing more nor less than a meeting for prayer. SUNDAY, Jan. 4. Acts 2:14-24. Peter Preaches at Pentecost. Peter’s address is a Bible reading in which he quotes Old Testament pas-
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