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jealousy of mercenary officials, that vented itself in so scandalous and malignant treatment of Jesus.

It does seem strange that wickedness so bitter and virulent should have been an element in the accomplishment of the plans of infinite love to mankind. Judas, Caiaphas, and Pilate-the denial of Peter, the hatred of the priests, and the fury of the rabble-were all overruled as means of accomplishing the salvation of mankind. "Out of evil educing good" is still the history of God's providential government. Crime does not cease to be crime because out of it God evolves goodness. Judas was a traitor, Caiaphas and Pilate murderers, and the priests and scribes guilty criminals. Jesus voluntarily died for us, and in that death is our everlasting life.

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Peter's Hall and Restoration.

Matt. xxvi. 69-75. Mark xiv. 66-71. Luke xxii. 54-61. John xviii. 25-27.

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HE whole story of Peter's fall is so suggestive, that it may be of use to us to delineate it in detail. The incidents are so remarkable, and each so profitable, however painful, for our instruction, that a full exposition of them may, by God's blessing, prove useful.

Let us see what led Peter into that grievous sin which so stains his memory, the denial of his Lord and Master. In the first place, he either ought to have been sure that he could

stand where the rest could not, or he ought to have fled with them, in cowardice, it may be, but still, shrinking from the bitter possibility of being tempted to deny their Lord and Master. If he decided to remain, it ought to have been with deep, earnest, personal reliance on Divine strength, and fervent prayer for the presence of his blessed Lord. But there is no evidence that Peter recollected the only prescription given by our Lord, "Watch and pray." Jesus wished Peter to foresee the possibility of his fall, and, therefore, enjoins, "Watch and pray." Peter sat warming himself by the fire; but there is no intimation that he suspected peril, watched against its approach, or prayed for Divine strength to enable him to stand.

He sat down in the company of the enemies of Christ. Was this duty? If God's providence places us in such a situation, let us

be watchful and prayerful. You are at the post of duty; but do not forget it is the post of danger. But if your own election, and not God's providence, has placed you there, then you have no right to expect a Divine presence because there is not a Divine commission. We can only expect the blessing of grace where God in his providence has placed us. At the post of duty in God's strength we are mighty; anywhere else we are left to our own strength, and we shall yield to the very first gust of temptation. This does not imply that we are to go out of the world, in order to avoid its perils. If all the good were to leave the world, what a world it would become! The reason why the salt is here, is that it may continue and saturate the mass. The reason why God kindles lights over all the earth is, that they may lead sinners to the Lamb. Therefore, to leave the world, and go into a nunnery or a convent, on the supposition that we thus escape from its perils, is to traverse the plainest will of God, even if a convent were, what it is the very reverse of, a nook of heaven. If you be good people, the world has need of you; if you be bad people, you will be no better in a convent. Monks and suicides belong to the same category. The monk runs away from the world to escape its dangers; the suicide runs away from the world to get rid of its trials; and both run in the face of the clear prescription of Jesus, which is, not to go out of the world, but in the world to watch and pray, protesting against its sins, and bringing the sunshine of a better world into the midst of its darkness.

The first gust of temptation that smote Peter was that of a damsel coming and saying, not at all in uncourteous language, "Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee." That was a very simple remark; but Peter felt he was in the wrong place, and that the first step he had taken to warm himself at that fire, and the first seat he had selected to sit down on in that company, was so far an apostacy from Christ. When sin is in the conscience, a whisper sounds

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louder than thunder, and a shadow is more terrible than the most alarming sights. Peter's conscience being wrong, the simple remark of a damsel who passed by, making it with all the lightness of a merry and a thoughtless heart, "Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee," was enough to awaken the sense of sin; and having done one sin, like fools who still live in Christendom, he thought he might commit another to conceal it, and, therefore, denied, even with an oath, that he knew Him whose apostle he was, and whose beneficence he had so largely, so often, and so liberally shared, and, in the language of the Evangelist, he "began to curse and to swear." "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." If an apostle fell, an apostle's successor has no guarantee for security. "Be not high-minded, but fear." "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Satan may have you for a moment; he may sift you terribly: but still, ultimate and eternal failure will not be your experience; for I have anticipated the temptation, and have already prayed for you, that your faith fail not. Satan's temptation is a reality. It is all very fine for thoughtless and ungodly men to speak of Satan as a figure of speech, a metaphor, a conceit; but Satan is a reality. I freely admit that Satan is often blamed for what he is not guilty of. It is possible to lay to his charge what he has not perpetrated. I do not believe that he is omnipresent. He has myriads of fallen fiends, who are his apostles, and who can and do act upon the human mind; but Satan himself cannot be in two places at once. The very expression, "He goeth about seeking whom he may devour," implies change of locality. The most awful prerogative of Satan is that he can touch the human mind. He can so far do what the Holy Spirit can do touch the conscience. It is with great truth, therefore, that an apostle says, "We wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in

high places." And it is a grand prescription that an apostle gives, but which Peter seems on this occasion to have forgotten, "Resist the devil," for he is essentially a coward,-" and he will flee from you."

Peter denied with an oath. To use a modern expression, this was not perjury on the part of Peter, but rash, violent, and thoughtless swearing. There are some people in the world who swear, as some professing Christians pray; that is, meaning nothing by what they say. Peter, in the excitement of the moment, confirmed his denial with an oath. If a thing be true, assert it; and the God of truth will ultimately prove it. If a thing be false, you need not swear that it is true, for it will soon prove itself to be false. Nothing false is permanent; everything true is lasting as the stars. Peter thought that his rash swearing would make a false statement seem true, forgetful of all his Master said, and of all that his own better conscience knew.

But what is meant by the expression, "Thy speech bewrayeth thee?" Jesus is called in a previous part of this narrative," Jesus of Galilee." Galilee was the place of degradation and contempt, the Boeotia, if I may so speak, of Judea. Peter had some accent, as people have now, Scotticisms or Anglicanisms, that showed that he was a Galilean, and, therefore, a friend or companion of Jesus. This ought not to have offended him. But strange it is, that some men, who will be guilty of the grossest and most scandalous offences, are excessively angry if they are charged with deviating in the least degree from a certain standard of conventional excellence. Some men who will do the most wicked things, will fight a duel if the least suspicion of their honour, justice, or integrity is mooted in their presence. Human nature is an inexplicable phenomenon, except in the light of the Bible; and human conduct the most extraordinary inconsistency, until you learn the secret of it. "The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."

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