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T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
A p r il 1927
International Lesson Commentary
Heart of the Lesson—K.L.B. Devotional—Selected Writers Little Folk—Mabel L. Merrill
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“The cock crew.” Luke’s account (22: 61, 62) adds that “the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.”: What sorrow there must have been in those eyes 1 What con viction it must have, brought to the heart of Peter! Yet that look from Jesus and that crowing of the cock undid Satan. “Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). Mark’s account says (v 72) “when he thought thereon.” Peter thinks! Sooner or later we will all have to think. How much better to do it before we have gone to the bottom! We need meditation more than information. Let us not overlook the fact that Peter wept. His tears were the real expression of the shame that wrung his heart. They were the proof of his salvation. The true child of God when in sin will not always have dry eyes. Sooner or later, he will catch the look in Jesus’ eyes; he will hear the voice of the Spirit within and tears of repentance will flow. Go back now and read what Jesus had said to Peter before all this happened (Luke 22:31, 32). He had been upheld by a divine intercessor. If Peter’S crime was great, we should remember it was not premeditated, nor was it of long continuance. Sudden temp tation unhinged his mind and threw him into confusion. As soon as he recovered the power of reflection, he bathed his soul in tears of repentance. He made a quick come-back. God pity the man whose stub born heart refuses to be touched by the look of Christ, and who goes on until, like David, under chastisement his very bones wax old within him (Psa. 32). Clement notes that whenever Peter heard a rooster crow at night, he would be moved to tears and prayer. We need not be ashamed of such tears. We should be more ashamed of having so few. It is not well with us when our sense of sin is so dull that we know not the moisture of repentance. — o — G olden T ext I llustration “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” —1 Cor. 10:12. It is said that a circus attendant tried to lead an elephant across a small bridge. After placing one foot upon the bridge, the elephant backed up and refused to go over. The man knew that the elephant’s instinct had informed him that the bridge would not hold him up. Some strong tim bers were inserted beneath, and the ani mal proceeded across without, a pause. Are we possessed of enough sense to keep us off of the devil’s bridges ? Only by liv ing in communion with Christ can we have such spiritual intuitions. Those who think they can safely cross any bridge without Christ are certain to have a crash. Mr. Spurgeon said, “No one can safely eat at the devil’s mess table though the spoon be ever so long.”
M ay 1, 1927 Peter’s Denial and Repentance Lesson Text—Mark 14:53, 54, 66-71; Luke 22:61, 62
“it is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps." Remember the rock on which Peter made shipwreck. When warned by the Master of his approaching temptation, he boldly replied, “Although all men shall be offended, yet will not I” (v. 29). When we see self-confidence and presumption in a Christian, it is not a promising sign. The very fact that Jesus had warned him should have kept him from the place of danger. Self-confidence drove him on. When surrounded with swords and staves he could swing a wicked sword himself^ but when it came to facing hostile opinion and suffering persecution for Christ, it was another matter. If ever an unassisted mortal might have been expected to stand by his own will power, it was Peter, the rock man. . How many of us have likewise been betrayed by ignorance of our own hearts! If we would avoid having our names recorded as was Peter’s for an everlasting memor ial of human weakness and frailty, we must learn to turn our rash vows into prayers for divine strength. We flatter ourselves too much on our firmness of character. What reason have we for so doing? Many have fallen into sin’s depths from the very heights of self- confidence. The Master knows us better than we know ourselves. Had Peter re flected more on his Lord’s declaration— “Without me ye can do nothing” —boast- itag would have given place to humble de pendence upon Jesus, and he would have won a great victory. “She looked upon him and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.” He denied saying, “I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest" (vv. 67, 68). When one false step has been taken, it is not so easy to recover yourself. His boasted courage all oozed out at the prick of a little girl’s tongue. How subtly the devil gets in his wedge! One sin leads easily to another. We go on rather than back up. Look out for the exhilaration of the down-hill slide. “And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again.” He was on the toboggan. To the bottom he would go. A third time he is accused. “He began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man” (ys. 69-71).. An old fisherman’s habit had been res urrected. For many a day he had not sworn. In his time he had no doubt been a good curser—this headlong man of tem per. Yet there was method in his mad ness. He wanted to prove he was none of Christ’s. What will reveal that quicker than cursing and swearing? It is a strong testimony for Christ that unbelievers ex pect cleanness of speech from His fol lowers.
A S our lesson opens, we have a glimpse ^ 1 of Jesus being led away to the high priest, with whom were assembled all the chief priests and elders and scribes. In
the background of the picture following “afar off” (v. 54) is one of the chief dis ciples, the very one who had made the most pronounced de claration of his loy alty. It is Peter.
Into the palace of the high priest he goes, and we see him sitting with the ser vants warming himself at the fire. It is dangerous business for a Christian to try to get warm at the devil’s fire. No man could be loyal to Christ in such an atmosphere, and be so peaceful as Peter. As one has said: “Had he been loyal, he would have been as popular with those folks as a castor oil bottle in a children’s hospital.” The warmer he got, the colder he got (spiritually). Why cannot we profit by Peter’s expe rience ? The old colored fellow in Ala bama was not far wrong when he said in prayer meeting: “These breddren dat talks about de devil runnin’ after ’em makes me tired. Dere’s so many of ’em hangin’ on de devil’s coat-tails, he aint got time to chase nobody.” Like Peter, many another Christian has been attracted by the devil’s bright warm fire, and gone into a place where he knew he would not have a testimony. As a result, he lost it altogether. Peter heard the false charges against Jesus without a protest. Peter saw them spit on Him and buffet Him and chal lenge Him. When Henry Martyn was in Persia, translating the Bible, a startling question was put to him by the native student he had engaged to write for him. They had come to the account of the officers strik ing Jesus with the palms of their hands. The boy stopped writing and exclaimed: “Sir, did not their hands dry up?” Peter was there, and knew something of what his Lord was passing through. What an instance of human infirmity that the one who had been with the Master on the Transfiguration Mount and in Gethsemane could, because his feelings were hurt, become so hardened as not only to behold such proceedings without pro test, but to flatly disown his Lord when asked by a little maid if he knew the prisoner. Behold what spiritual advantages men may have—what fair appearances they may make in the church—and what depths to which they may fall through self-confi dence and injured feelings! Let it be a lesson to the most eminent Christian that
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