Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 189, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 August 1916 — PETER’S DENIAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PETER’S DENIAL

By REV. L. W. GOSNELL

Superintendent at Men. Moody Bible Imtituteof Chicago

TEXT—And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the Word of the Lord, how he had said unto him: Before the cock crow, thou ehalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.—Luke 2:51, 62. Peter never forgot his denial. Speaking to the Jews he says, “Ye

denied the holy one and the just,” and in his second epistle he refers to those who denied the Lord that bought them. At the point where he was supposed to be strongest, he failed. He is noted as the confessor of Christ, yet became his denier. He was the brave man who undertook to defend

Christ in the garden, yet he cowered before the servants in the high priest’s palace. He was not in danger of being killed if he had confessed Christ, but denied him to save himself from being taunted. And all this occurred on the same night in which he had received the bread and wine from the hands of his master, and had submitted to having his feet washed by him! We are only kept from chiding him because we are reminded of our own failures and our denials of Christ.

The Sin of Profanity. Added to the sin of denial was that of profanity, for we are told that he began to curse and to swear, saying he knew not the man. The sin of profanity clings to a man, and the tendency sometimes appears even after conversion. Many have failed at this point, although delivered from other sins. An old writer has pointed out the folly of it in these words: “The devil tempts men through their ambition, their cupidity, or their appetite, until he comes to the profane swearer, whom he clutches without any reward.” There is a melancholy comfort in the fact that Peter seemed to feel they would not suspect him of being a disciple if they should hear him use profane language; the world expects things of Christians. Several elements enter into the story of Peter’s denial. First of all, we notice his self-confidence. “If all shall be offended in thee, I will never be offended.” His failure doubtless revealed to him his weakness, and was used of God in bringing him to a better mind. By such testings we learn our own helplessness and are driven to the strong one for strength, in his epistle, Peter emphasizes the value of meekness and godly fear. “No Business With the Flunkies." Another secret of Peter’s failure is found in the society he kept. He had followed his Lord afar off, and when he came into the palace, sat down with the high priest's servants. As an old Scotch woman said, “he had no business with the flunkies.” It is difficult to maintain a Christian profession even when we must be among the ungodly, but there is great danger when we choose them for our companions.

Again, the element of surprise has to be reckoned with. Peter would have been brave in the garden in open conflict with Christ’s enemies, but he did not expect to be assailed as he sat' by the fire that night. Earnest Christians learn to dread temptations which approach with the stealth of a serpent. The writer recalls the occasion when he first saw a “sensitive plant,” and remembers his surprise when its leaves withered at the approach of his hand. If we are to escape better than Peter did, our souls must be so tender that the very approach of temptation will cause them to shrink in dread and hide themselves in Christ. Yet this man was restored. even after such a failure. There were four steps in his restoration. Steps Back to Christ. First, there was the look of Christ. After the crowing of the cock, we are told the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. What a look of wounded love that must have been 1 Yet we should not forget that the same sad, piercing gaze is turned upon us when we grieve Christ, r Secondly, the Lord sent a special message to Peter on the morning of the resurrection (Mark 16:7). Thirdly, he had a private interview with this apostle on the day he arose (Luke 24:34; I Cor. 15:5). Finally, when he appeared to the seven on the shore Of the Sea of Galilee, he reinstated Peter most fully. The story is told in John 21, and is worthy of careful perusal. Three times the Lord asked him If he loved him, and the apostle had thrice denied, so he was allowed to confess him three times. Poor Peter might have thought he would never again be intrusted with responsibility, but three times the Lord bade him feed his flock. As a climax, this man who had said he would follow Christ to-death, but had failed so shamefully, was tdld he would, after all, have the privilege of dying for his Lord. What comfort here for the backslider! With what new meaning may we sing, “He re* storeth my soul.”