before evening. But Jesus knows all about things before they come to
pass. At the beginning of a day, or week, or month, or year, he has a
clear view of all that can happen to the end of it. Early in the evening
of the night on which he was betrayed, Jesus said to Peter: “Simon,
Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat;
but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” St. Luke xxii:
31, 32. Looking forward through that sad and solemn night Jesus saw
that Satan, the great enemy of souls, had laid a snare or prepared a
temptation for Peter which, he thought, would ruin his soul forever. He
had arranged things in such a way that Peter would be tempted to deny his
Master, and would be most likely to yield to the temptation; and this
was so great a sin that it would seem sure to prevent him from being one
of the apostles, and cause him to lose his soul. And such would have
been the result, no doubt, if Jesus had not seen this temptation coming,
and had not prepared a way of escape in the very midst of it. He prayed
for Peter, “that his faith might not fail.” _And it was this prayer of
Jesus that saved Peter._ For we read in the gospel that as soon as he
had committed his great sin he was sorry for it. “_He went out and wept
bitterly._” And it was just here that the prayer of Jesus secured to
Peter the grace that led him to true repentance; _and this was what saved
him_. It was in this way that he was brought out of his temptation. We
do not wonder, therefore, to find St. Peter using these comforting words
in one of his epistles: “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out
of temptation.” II. Peter ii: 9. He knew very well about this. He could
speak from his own experience here. His history affords a beautiful
illustration of this passage from his epistle. And as we are all exposed
to temptation it will be a great help and comfort to us to remember that
what Jesus did for Peter he can do for us.
“An Illustration from History.” In an old English history, called “The
Chronicles of Froissart,” there is an account given of the escape of
the garrison from a besieged citadel, which illustrates very well this
part of our subject. An enemy’s army had encamped before this citadel,
for the purpose of taking it. They had completely surrounded it. It was
impossible for anyone to go in or out of the place. The day was fixed
for storming the fortifications and putting the garrison to death. The
assault was made. The walls were mounted and the gates forced open; but
no one was found within. What had become of them? On examining the place,
it was found that through the solid rock, on which the fortress was
built, a secret passage-way had been made. It led down under the walls,
far away from the besieged citadel, out into the beautiful country beyond
it. Thus the soldiers and inhabitants of that fortress found “a way of
escape” from the power of their enemies.
“An Illustration from Daily Life.” A gentleman who lived in a small
country town in England obtained a situation for his son, a promising
young man, in one of the banks in the city of London. His father took
him up to London and introduced him to the president of the bank and the
other officers. On taking leave of his son, the father said: “Harry, my
boy, you must be obedient, obliging, civil, and respectful; be attentive
to your business and trustworthy. Above all things, never forget these
four words—‘_Thou, God, seest me._’” Harry promised his father, solemnly,
to do as he had said. And he did so for awhile. He gained the confidence
of all about him, and rose, by degrees, till he held one of the most
responsible positions in the bank. Thousands of pounds passed through his
hands every day. At last, temptation overtook him. The thought came into
his mind how easy it would be to make himself rich by quietly taking some
of this gold and silver, without anyone knowing it. He was frightened
when this idea first entered his mind, and tried to put it away. But
still it would come back to him, again and again, till he ceased to be
alarmed at it. Finally, it seemed to take full possession of him. He made
up his mind to do it.
One evening, when all the others had left the bank, he remained behind,
under pretence of finishing some business. He went to the vault and put
in the keys. The heavy door flew open. But, just as he had reached out
his hands, and grasped the money, his father’s words—“Thou, God, seest
me”—came into his mind. The money dropped from his hands, as if it had
been red-hot iron. He fell on his knees and cried,—“O, God, save me from
this temptation!” And God did save him. He put the money back, and closed
the vault. Then he went to the president, and, with bitter cries and
tears, confessed his fault and offered to resign his situation.
The president was a wise and good man. He said he would keep the secret
to himself; and not allow him to give up his situation in the bank. But
he told him to seek every day the help of that God who had delivered him
from this great temptation.
He went back to his duties, feeling that he had no strength in himself,
but firmly relying on the grace of God to “deliver him from evil,” and
remembering the great truth—“Thou, God, seest me.”
Let us always remember this lesson from the history of St. Peter, about
deliverance from temptation.
_The third lesson we learn from this history is about—OVERCOMING
PREJUDICE._
The word prejudice is made up of two Latin words. One of these means, to
judge, or to form an opinion, or to make up our minds on any subject;
and the other means, beforehand. And a person who has a prejudice, is
one who has made up his mind about something before he understands it.
When Nathanael first heard our Saviour spoken of as “Jesus of Nazareth,”
he asked: “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” He had a prejudice
against it. He had made up his mind that nothing good could come out of
it, before he really knew the place. And so the Jews and the Samaritans
had a very great prejudice against each other. The Jews thought it
impossible that there should be any good Samaritans, and the Samaritans
thought it impossible that there should be any good Jews. But they were
both mistaken. They had made up their minds on this subject before they
understood it.
But perhaps there never was a stronger prejudice than that which the Jews
had toward the Gentiles. They thought it was impossible for them to be
saved; and they would never share any of their religious privileges with
them. And as the apostle Peter was a Jew, he had this strong prejudice
against the Gentiles. And how strong this prejudice was, we see from the
great trouble taken to overcome it. When God wished to have Peter go and
preach the gospel to the Gentiles, his prejudice against them was so
strong, that three miracles had to be performed before that prejudice
could be overcome and he be willing to obey God’s command in this matter.
We read about this in the tenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
Peter was at Joppa, at this time, staying at the house of Simon the
tanner, by the seaside. Here he had a vision. In the vision, he saw a
great sheet, fastened by the four corners, and let down from heaven. In
this sheet were all manner of four-footed beasts, and creeping things,
and fowls of the air. As he gazed on them, he heard a voice saying,
“Rise, Peter, slay and eat.” But many of these creatures were such as
the Jews thought unclean. So Peter declined to do this, for he said that
“nothing common, or unclean, had ever entered his mouth.” The same voice
told him not to call anything unclean that God had cleansed. This was
done three times; and all was taken up to heaven. Here was the first
miracle performed to overcome the prejudice of Peter.
Just as this vision ended, three men came to the house of Simon,
inquiring for Peter. They were sent by Cornelius, a Roman centurion, who
lived at Cæsarea, on the seacoast, more than a day’s journey from Joppa.
Cornelius was trying to find out the way of salvation. He had prayed
earnestly to God for direction. God had sent an angel to tell him to send
to Joppa, and ask Simon Peter to come and preach the gospel to him, or to
tell him how he was to be saved. This was the second miracle wrought on
purpose to overcome the prejudice of Peter.
And while these men were inquiring for Peter, the Spirit of God spoke to
him and told him to go with the men and do what they wanted him to do,
because he had sent them. This was the third miracle that took place on
this occasion. And thus the strong prejudice of Peter was overcome. He
went with these men. He preached the gospel to a company of Gentiles. And
when he saw the Holy Ghost come down on them, in a visible form, as it
had come down on the apostles, on the day of Pentecost, he baptized them,
and received them into the church. And thus Peter had the honor of being
the first minister of Christ who preached the gospel to the Gentiles. He
first opened the door of the Christian church to them. The prejudice of
Peter, if it had not been overcome, would have prevented him from being
useful in this way.
And if we wish to be useful, and do the work God has for us to do, we
must try to overcome our prejudices.
“A Lesson from a Pair of Shoes.” There was a minister of the gospel once,
who had a member of his church who was a shoemaker. He thought no one
could be a Christian who did not think and feel just as he did. This
interfered with his usefulness. His minister had often talked with him on
the subject, but in vain. At last, he concluded to give him a lesson from
his own trade, which he would not be likely to forget, and which he hoped
would do him good. He did it in this way:
He sent for the shoemaker one day, and when he came in, he said, “I wish
you to take my measure for a pair of shoes.”
“I will do so with pleasure; please take off your boot.”
The minister did so; and the shoemaker took his measure, put down the
figures in his notebook, and was going away, when the minister said to
him, “I want a pair of boots also for my son.”
“Very good, sir. Can I take the young man’s measure?”
“That is not necessary,” said the pastor, “you can make my boots and his
from the same last.”
“Please, your reverence, that will never do,” said the shoemaker, with a
smile of surprise.
“O yes, it will do very well. Make my shoes and my son’s on the same
last.”
“That cannot be, your reverence. If a shoe is to fit it must be made on a
last that is just the size of the person’s foot who is to wear it.”
“Is that so?” said the minister. “You say every pair of shoes must be
made on their own last or they will not fit. And yet you think that God
must make all Christians on _your_ last; and if they do not think and
feel just as you do you think they are not true Christians.”
“I thank your reverence for this lesson,” said the shoemaker. “I will try
and remember it, and pray God to help me to overcome my prejudices.”
This is a good lesson for us all to learn.
_The last lesson of which we may speak, as taught us by the history of
this apostle, is about—THE BENEFIT OF TRIALS._
When Jesus foresaw the great trial that was coming on Peter, during the
night of his betrayal, he could easily have saved him from it if he had
thought it best and wisest to do so. Before leaving the upper chamber
in Jerusalem where he kept the Passover for the last time with his
disciples, he could have sent Peter on some errand or could have given
him something to do that would have occupied him till the next day. Then
he would not have been exposed to the temptation of denying his Master.
This could easily have been done. But Jesus did not do this. And the
reason was he knew very well that though the trial would be very painful
to Peter, and would cause him to shed many bitter and sorrowful tears,
yet it would be useful to him in the end, and would help to make him a
better minister than he could have been without it. It would show him
his own weakness, and teach him how to sympathize with others in their
troubles and to be kind and tender in his dealings with them. And this
is what Jesus meant when he said to Peter after telling him about this
coming trial: “And when thou art converted, _strengthen thy brethren_.”
And no doubt Peter had this sorrowful event in his mind, and the benefit
he had derived from it, when, in one of his epistles, he compares the
trials through which God causes us to pass to the fire into which the
jeweler puts his gold when he desires to have it purified. I. Peter i:
17. He was a more useful minister for having passed through this trial
than he ever could have been without it. The benefit of it followed him
through all his life. And this was the reason why Jesus did not save him
_from_ that trial, but saved him _in_ it.
And in the same way God intends to do us good by all the trials through
which he causes us to pass. It is not for _his_ pleasure, but for our
profit that these trials are allowed to come upon us; and the profit will
surely follow if, as Paul says, we are rightly “exercised thereby.”
It would be easy enough to give many illustrations of this important
lesson, but there is room for only one. We may call it:
“The Marble-Block; or, The Sculptor’s Lesson.” “One of my scholars,” says
a Sunday-school teacher, “had a little sister who was lame. Her name was
Annie. I often called to see her, and pitied her as I saw her sitting
by the window watching the other children on the playground. In addition
to her lameness she was sometimes so sick that she could not sit at the
window. One bright spring day I bought for her some oranges and candies
and a pretty picture-book, and hoped to comfort her with these. I gave
her the oranges and candies, and read to her from the little book; but
still she seemed sad.
“‘Why are you so sad to-day, Annie, dear?’ I said.
“‘Oh, ma’am,’ she replied, ‘I don’t see why God should afflict me, and
yet let other children be so well and happy. But if I only knew that God
was not angry with me I shouldn’t care so much.’
“I asked her to take a little walk with me. In the course of our walk I
took her into the room of a sculptor whom I knew. Here were a number of
beautiful marble figures and some blocks of rough marble. The artist was
at work on one of these, and Annie and I watched him with great interest.
Presently I pointed to a great rough, dark block of marble that stood in
the middle of the room, and said: ‘Do you like that, Annie?’
“‘Oh, no,’ she said, ‘why did they bring such an ugly block here?’
“‘That block,’ said the artist, ‘I shall begin to work upon to-morrow.
Come in and see it again.’
“The next day Annie and I went in again. The artist spent most of that
day in simply knocking off the rough places. Day after day we watched
him; and every day the block seemed to grow less ugly. The sharp chisel
cut here, and there, and everywhere. As we watched him we often thought
if the block was alive and could feel how much it would suffer from the
blows of that chisel!
“After a while the artist sent us an invitation to come to his studio. I
took my little friend and went. As we entered, he said: ‘I have something
to show Annie.’ Then he drew aside a thin, white veil, and behold! there
stood before us, white as the driven snow, the beautiful image of an
angel, that had been made out of that rough marble block. Annie shouted
with joy when she saw it.
“‘Now, Annie, dear,’ I said, ‘do you think the sculptor hated that rough
block of marble when he gave it so many hard knocks?’
“‘Oh, no,’ said she, ‘he loved it; and every blow he gave showed his love
for it.’
[Illustration: Jesus, His Work Accomplished, Ascends Into Heaven
And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and
blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted
from them, and carried up into heaven.—And while they looked stedfastly
toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white
apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.—_St. Luke xxiv:
50, 51; Acts i: 10, 11._
_NOTE BY THE ARTIST_
_“And he led them out as far as to Bethany,” passing through the streets
of the city, thronged with busy crowds, who knew not that Jesus of
Nazareth passed by. Over the ridge of Olivet there is a path leading to
Bethany, and following this the traveller reaches a secluded spot on the
further slope of the hill, and within sight of the home that Jesus had
known and loved; and he pauses in reverence, for these silent stones may
have witnessed the crowning scene of the world’s Redemption—Jesus, son
of God and son of Man, received up to Heaven, a cloud of adoring angels
concealing from mortal gaze his entrance through the everlasting doors
into the presence of the Father._
79]
“‘And so, my dear child,’ said I, ‘does God love us. And the trials which
he sends on us are the proofs of his love. As the sculptor was trying to
make this image of an angel out of the marble block, by every blow he
gave it, so God, by all the afflictions of this life, is fitting us to be
like the angels in the heavenly kingdom.’
“‘Now, I shall never feel sad on account of my lameness,’ said Annie. ‘To
think that this is a proof of God’s love will always make me happy.’”
Let us remember these four lessons when we think of the history of the
apostle Peter. The lesson about _self-confidence_—about _deliverance
from temptation_—about _overcoming prejudice_—and about _the benefit of
trials_.
We may close this subject with the Collect for All Saints’ Day: “O
Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and
fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ, our Lord: grant us
grace so to follow thy blessed saints, in all virtuous and godly living,
that we may come to those unspeakable joys which thou hast prepared for
those who unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
ST. JOHN AND ST. PAUL
In the original plan of this work, it was intended to have a separate
chapter for each of these two noble workers in the cause of Christ. But
room for this fails. All that can be done is to give a brief sketch of
each in this closing chapter.
We have now to speak of the apostle John. Most of the pictures that have
been made of this apostle, represent him as looking more like a woman
than a man. But we shall find that there was no authority for this when
we come to see what his real character was.
He is supposed to have been born in Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and
Peter. This town was situated on the western shore of the sea of Galilee,
or the lake of Tiberias, at the upper part of the lake. His father’s name
was Zebedee, and his mother’s, Salome. We know nothing more of Zebedee
than that he was a fisherman, the husband of Salome, and the father of
James and John. Salome, the mother of John, we often read of afterwards,
as one of those good women who followed our Lord through the different
scenes of his ministry, and were a great help and comfort to him. John is
supposed to have been younger than his brother James, who is generally
mentioned first when they are spoken of together. They are referred to,
as “James and John, the sons of Zebedee.” John was probably the youngest
of all the apostles. It is said, that he was younger than the Saviour
himself, having been born in the year four, Anno Domini, or when Jesus
was four years old.
The family of this apostle is supposed to have been better off in regard
to property than any of the other apostles. This is evident from several
things mentioned about him and his family. One thing which shows this is
that when John and his brother James were called from their business as
fishermen, to follow Christ, we are told that “they left their father
Zebedee in the ship with the _hired servants_.” St. Mark i: 20. Andrew
and Peter were too poor to have hired servants. They had to do all their
own work. But Zebedee could afford to hire help for himself and sons.
And then, at the time of our Saviour’s trial, the servants who kept the
door of the judgment hall, in which the trial took place, allowed John to
enter the hall, because they knew he was acquainted with the high priest.
St. John xviii: 16. And then when Jesus left his mother in the charge
of John, while hanging on the cross, we are told, that from that day,
“he took her to his own home.” St. John xix: 27. John had a home of his
own at Jerusalem. From all this, it seems clear that the family of this
apostle were better off in worldly things than were the families of the
other apostles.
Now we may just glance at _what John’s character was by nature_, or
before he was a Christian; and _what it was by grace, or after he became
a Christian_.
From what we read of this apostle in the gospel history, we see that
there were three things in John’s natural character which show that he
was not the weak, womanly sort of man he is represented to have been in
most of the pictures that have been made of him.
For one thing, it is clear that John was naturally _an ambitious man_.
This is evident from the request to Jesus by John and his brother James,
through their mother, that they might have the highest places in his
kingdom. St. Matt. xx: 20-23. Their mother made the request. But she
probably consulted them about it first. And if they had not agreed in
it, she would not be likely to have done it. This shows that they were
all ambitious together. And so we are right in saying that John was
ambitious. He wanted the best place in Christ’s kingdom for himself,
without thinking whether others might not be better fitted for it. Our
Saviour’s reply shows that he was wrong in giving way to this ambitious
feeling. But then this shows that there was a good deal of strength in
John’s natural character. He was ambitious.
And then he was _narrow-minded_, as well as ambitious in his natural
character.
Persons of this character are accustomed to think that all those who
think, or feel, or act differently from what they do, must certainly be
wrong. And this was the way John felt when he first became a disciple of
Christ. He came to Jesus one day and said, “Master, we saw one casting
out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not us.”
Jesus rebuked him for giving way to his narrow-mindedness, or bigotry,
or uncharitableness. It was wrong for him to think that no one could
be doing good, or be serving God acceptably, unless it was done in just
the same way in which he was doing it. This was a wrong feeling to have,
but it shows there was a good deal of decision and strength about John’s
natural character.
And then another thing about John before he became a Christian, was
that he was _an angry, or passionate man_. As Jesus was going up to
Jerusalem on one occasion, in the company of his disciples, they came to
a Samaritan village.
When the Samaritans in the village found that he was going to Jerusalem,
it stirred up all their prejudice against the Jews, and they refused to
receive him. They would not let him stop for rest or refreshment. This
made the disciples very angry, and John and his brother James showed
their anger by saying, “Lord, wilt thou that we call down fire from
heaven, to consume them, as Elias did?” St. Luke ix: 51-57. But Jesus
rebuked them, and showed them that this was not the right spirit for his
disciples to have.
These traits of John’s natural character, although they are not to be
approved or admired, yet show that he was a man of a good deal of force
of character, and very different from what his pictures represent him to
have been. But when we turn from considering what he was by nature, or
before he became a Christian, and think of what he was by grace, or after
he became a Christian, we see a wonderful change. The apostle Paul tells
us, “that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have
passed away, and all things have become new.” And it was so with this
apostle. When he learned to know and love Christ, the old things about
his character passed away, and all things became new. After this we see
no more of his ambition, of his narrow-mindedness, or of his passion.
The one thing that marked his character as a Christian was _love_. He
seemed to get nearer to Jesus than any of the other disciples. And it is
always the case, that the nearer we get to Jesus and the more we learn
to know him, the more we shall love him. John’s love to Christ seemed
to take entire possession of him. It filled his whole soul. And so we
think of him as the _apostle of love_. He is spoken of particularly as
“the disciple whom Jesus loved.” It was he who sat nearest to his Lord
and leaned on his bosom at the last Passover. Peter was great for his
readiness in serving Christ; Paul was great for the learning and the
labor with which he served his Master; but John was great in the love for
that Master, which ran through all he did. And this great love made him
useful both _in his life_ and _in his writings_.
It made him useful in his life. There is nothing that will lead to such
earnest and devoted labor as this principle of love. We know but little
of the life of this loving apostle after the ascension of Christ. We
have no report of his missionary journeys, as we have in the case of the
apostles Peter and Paul. But we know he was so earnest in the cause of
his Master that he was sent a prisoner to the island of Patmos to stop
his labor, but in vain. He was willing to be an exile, a prisoner, and,
as some say, a laborer in the mines, but he was not willing to give up
working for his Master. Tradition tells us that he had to take his choice
between stopping his work for Jesus and being thrown into a cauldron of
boiling oil. He could not cease from his work. He was thrown into the
boiling oil; but came out uninjured and kept on with that work which his
love constrained him to do. He lived the longest of all the apostles, and
was the only one of them who died a natural death. And in the closing
days of his life, when too feeble to do anything else, we are told that
he used to be carried into the church at Ephesus, where his latest labors
had been performed, and, standing up in the midst of the congregation,
would stretch forth his trembling hands and say, “Little children, love
one another.” What a beautiful close to the life of this loving apostle!
Truly his love made him _useful in his life_.