Chapter VII: Part 7

Some souls are converted, or born again, before they are old enough to understand the truth that God has taught us in his holy word. We have two cases of this kind mentioned in the Bible. One is the prophet Jeremiah, chap. i: 5, and the other John the Baptist, St. Luke i: 15. When it says of one of these that he was “sanctified;” and of the other that he was “filled with the Holy Ghost” from the time he was born, it means that the great change, of which we are now speaking, was made in them both, by the Holy Spirit, at that early time. And so it may be now with children, even while they are very young, especially if they have Christian parents to pray for them. But, if they are not converted, or born again, till they grow up to be boys and girls, or men and women, then the word or truth of God is that which the Holy Spirit makes use of in causing them to be converted, or born again. Here is an illustration of one, out of many ways, in which the Spirit does this:

“How a Christmas Card Saved a Soul.” There was a merchant in one of our large cities who had failed in business. He had lost everything that he had. He was not a Christian, and did not know where to go for comfort. His troubles and disappointments made him gloomy and sad. He saw no way in which he could get out of his troubles; and after thinking over them a long time, he finally made up his mind to go to the river and drown himself. He was not married, and had no family of his own; but there were a number of children in the house where he lived.

This happened on a Christmas day. The children had just come home from their Sunday-school festival. In passing through the entry, one of them dropped a beautifully illuminated card, with a text of scripture on it. As the poor man was going out on his sad errand, his eye rested on this card, lying on the entry floor. He stooped down and picked it up, and read on it these sweet words—“Casting all your care on him, for he careth for you.” I. Peter v: 7. Reading these words had a strange effect upon him. Instead of going out to drown himself, he went back to his room, got his Bible, found the passage there, and meditated on it. He thought of the great sin he had just been going to commit in taking away his own life. Then he thought of all his other sins. This filled him with great distress. The burden of his sins soon grew to be heavier than the burden of his losses and cares. He kneeled to pray. With many tears and cries he asked for the pardon of his sins and for grace to make him a Christian. His prayer was heard. His sins were pardoned. His burdens were lifted off. He became a Christian. He was converted by God’s blessing on that text of scripture. And it might truly be said of him that he was “born of water and of the Spirit.”

One part of the work which the Holy Spirit has to do for men is to convert them. And this is a fair illustration of one of the ways in which he does it.

_But another part of the Spirit’s work is to—TEACH—men, as well as to convert them._

When Jesus was speaking to the disciples of the Spirit whom he promised to send, he said, “He shall _teach you all things_.” St. John xiv: 26. But, when our Lord spoke of the Spirit teaching us “_all_ things,” he did not mean those things which we can find out ourselves by diligence in study. We do not need the help of the Holy Spirit to teach us spelling, or reading, or history, or geography. He meant “all things” about himself and the work he has done for our salvation. Sin has closed the eyes of our souls. It has made us blind to spiritual things. One part of the Spirit’s work is to open our eyes so that we may see. David was seeking the Spirit’s help in this matter when he offered the prayer, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” We may be very learned in the things that are taught in our schools and colleges. We may know a great deal about different languages; about botany, and chemistry, and mathematics, and astronomy, and other studies of that kind. But all this will not help us to understand the things taught in the Bible about Christ, and the way to heaven. The knowledge of other things is sometimes a _hindrance_, rather than a help, in trying to understand the Bible. In learning what is here taught, none but the Spirit of God can help us.

Suppose we take a blind man into a large gallery, filled with fine paintings and beautiful statuary. It is a clear day. The sun is shining through the windows, and there is plenty of light there. But that is no help to our blind friend. We point to one after another of the beautiful paintings before us, and describe them to him. But still he cannot see one of them. And then, suppose that we had the power to open the blind man’s eyes, so that he could see them all for himself; what a wonderful change that would make to him! And this is what the Holy Spirit does for us. The Bible is like a great gallery. It is full of beautiful pictures, such as none but God can make. But our eyes are blinded, and we cannot see them. The Spirit’s work is to open these blind eyes so that we may see.

And the great end of all the Spirit’s teaching is to help us to see Jesus, as our Saviour, and the one in whom we must trust for everything necessary to our salvation. Here is an illustration of what I mean. We may call it:

“Jesus Only.” A lady had been trying for some time to be a Christian, but she could find no comfort. The minister of the church which she attended called to see her. Finding that though she went regularly to church, and read her Bible at home, and prayed every day, she yet found no peace; he said to her, “My friend, do you expect to be saved because you are doing these things?”

“Certainly I do,” was the answer.

“Well this is your mistake. You are putting these in the place of Jesus. There is no peace, or comfort, or salvation anywhere but in Jesus only. Now let me give you one verse to think about, and act upon. Jesus said—‘Come unto me—_and I will give you rest_.’ Have you gone to Jesus only for rest and peace and salvation?”

She looked amazed. She thought awhile of what had been said to her, and then burst into tears. New light shone in upon her. It was like opening the eyes that had been blind. She saw that it was Jesus, and _Jesus only_, that she needed. She came to him; that is she trusted or believed in him, and here she found rest and peace and salvation.

When Jesus was speaking to his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit, he said—“he shall _testify to me_.” This was what the Spirit did in the case just mentioned. And this is what he is doing all the time. The end of all his teaching is to show us that “Jesus only” can give rest and peace and salvation to poor lost sinners.

_Another part of the Spirit’s work is to—SANCTIFY—or make holy—all the people of Christ._

He is called—the _Holy_ Spirit—not only because he is holy himself, but because his work is to make his people holy. And this is what we all need to make us fit for heaven. The great law of that blessed world, the law that is written, as it were, over the gate of heaven, is this—“_without holiness no man shall see the Lord_.” And Jesus pointed out the way in which this holiness or sanctification is to be secured when he was praying for his disciples, and said, “Sanctify them through thy truth.” The truth here spoken of, means “the truth as it is in Jesus”; or the things that the Bible tells us about him. This truth is the instrument, or means, which the Spirit employs in making us holy. The best definition of holiness is to say that it means being made _like Jesus_. He is the example, or model, we have set before us, which we must try to imitate. We must ask ourselves what would Jesus think, or feel, or say, or do, if he were in our position? and then we must try to think, and feel, and speak, and act as much like him as possible. And so you see how important it is for us to know “the truth,” or what the Bible teaches us about him, because it is only in this way that we can ever hope to become like him, or to be made holy.

There was a famous artist in Italy many years ago, whose name was Michael Angelo. He was a great painter and a great sculptor. And when he was occupied on any work he always took the greatest pains to finish it as finely as possible. He was once engaged in making the statue of an angel out of a block of white marble. At last it was nearly done; but still, he lingered over it, trying to improve it in every possible way. He was a firm believer in the old proverb, that “whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well.” A person who had been in his studio and had seen him at work upon this statue came back, several days after, and found him busy with it still. “Why,” said he, “I don’t see that you have done anything since I was here before.”

“O, yes, I have,” said the great artist. “It was too full here, and I have reduced it somewhat. I have brought that muscle out better. I have rounded off this arm. I have improved the lip here; and the chin there, and I have put more expression into the face.”

“Well, but these are mere trifles,” said the visitor.

“They help to make my work perfect; and _perfection is no trifle_,” was the great man’s wise reply.

And this shows us exactly what the Spirit’s work is in making us holy. It is trying to make us more and more like the model of perfection we have set before us in Jesus. But there is one point of difference between Michael Angelo’s work on his marble statue and the Spirit’s work upon us. That block of marble was a dead stone. It could do nothing at all to help the sculptor in his work upon it. But we are living stones, in the hands of the heavenly Artist. We can and must take hold, and help in the great work which the Holy Spirit is carrying on, in trying to make us more holy, or more like Jesus. And as we yield ourselves to the blessed influences of the Spirit, we should be lifting up our hearts to Jesus in the prayer:

“Make us, by transforming grace,
Dear Saviour, _daily more like thee_!”

_And then there is one other thing the Holy Spirit has to do in carrying on his great work, and that is to—HELP AND COMFORT—us._

The work we have to do, as the followers of Christ, is what we never can do of ourselves. We need the help of the Holy Spirit here all the time. It is only he who can, in the language of one of our beautiful Collects, help us to “_think_ those things that are good, and then enable us to _perform_ the same.” But he can, as another of the Collects says, both “put into our hearts good desires, and give us grace to bring the same to good effect.” The Spirit is given for this purpose. And if we seek and secure his help, we shall not only be able to do all that God requires, but we shall find comfort in doing it. The work of the Spirit is to give help and comfort to those who are trying to serve the blessed Saviour. And it is because he does this that he is so often called the Comforter. How many illustrations we find of the way in which the Spirit does this part of his work! But we have only room for one.

“Blind Robert.” Robert’s mother was a poor widow. She had a large family of children. Robert was the youngest. His mother took in washing. His brothers and sisters all helped to support the family by working in one way or other. But poor blind Robert could not work. The only way in which he could help his mother was by carrying home the clothes for her when the washing and ironing were over. And it was a touching sight to see him with a large basket on his arm, full of clothes, and groping his way slowly and carefully along. But Robert had been taught by the Spirit to know and love the Saviour; and what help and comfort he found in him appears in the following conversation, between him and a gentleman who met him on the road one day.

After talking with him for a while about his mother and family, the gentleman asked him if it did not make him unhappy to think of being blind. For a moment, he looked sad; then he smiled, and said: “Sometimes I think it hard to have to creep about so. I should so like to look at the bright sun that warms me; and the sweet birds that sing for me; and the beautiful flowers that feel so soft as I touch them. But God made me blind, and I know that it is best for me. I am glad that he did not make me deaf and dumb, too. I am glad that he gave me such a good mother. But, above all, I am so glad that he has taught me to know and love the blessed Saviour; for I find it such a help and comfort to think about him.”

“And how does the Saviour help you?”

“Oh, sir, I pray to him; and then I seem to hear him say, ‘I forgive you Robert; I love you, poor, blind boy! I will take away your evil heart and give you a new one!’ And then I feel so happy; it seems to me as if I could almost hear the angels singing up in heaven.”

“I am glad to hear this, Robert. And do you ever expect to see the angels?”

“Oh, yes, sir! When I die, my spirit will not be blind. _It is only my clay house that has no windows._ I can see with my mind now; and that, mother tells me, is the way they see in heaven. I heard mother reading in the Bible the other day, where it tells about heaven, and it said there is ‘no night there.’ But _here_, it is night to blind people all the time. Oh! sir, when I feel bad because I can’t see, I think of Jesus and heaven, and that helps and comforts me.”

This is a beautiful illustration of this part of the work of the Holy Spirit. It shows us how the Spirit helps and comforts us. It is by testifying of Jesus, or by teaching us to know what a precious Saviour he is and what glorious things he does for those who love him.

And now we have considered the three things about the coming of the Holy Spirit, mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. We have spoken of the _time_ of his coming—on the day of Pentecost; the _manner_ of his coming—_expected_—_sudden_—_startling_—and _abiding_; and we have spoken of the _purpose_ of his coming; this led us to show _what the Spirit is_—he is a divine Person—one of the three Persons in the blessed Trinity; and _what the Spirit does_. His work is to _convert_—to _teach_—to _sanctify_, or make holy,—and _help and comfort_ all the people of Christ.

Jesus left the great work to be done for his church, and by his church, in good hands, when he left it with the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray God to give us a larger measure of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our hearts, and then we shall be holy and useful and happy!

THE APOSTLE PETER

In our last chapter, we saw how the Spirit of God came down from heaven to carry on the work which Jesus left for his people to do after his ascension. And now, before leaving this subject, it is necessary to show what the Holy Spirit did to build up the Church on the foundation which Jesus had laid for it; and to make known to a world of lost sinners, the great salvation which he had prepared for them. The best way of doing this, would be to give a sketch of the lives and labors of the twelve apostles whom our Lord had chosen, and left behind him, to carry on the important work begun by him. But this would take more room than we can spare. There are only two numbers now remaining to finish this work. All that can be done, therefore, is to make choice of three of the principal apostles, and take their histories as fair specimens of the way in which the work of building up the Church was carried on by them and their companions after Jesus, their great Master, had ascended into heaven.

The three selected for this purpose are the apostle Peter, the apostle John, and the apostle Paul. All will agree in regarding these as among “the very chief of the apostles.” We begin then with

THE APOSTLE PETER.

And in considering the life of this great and good man, the two points of view from which we may look at it are _the facts of his history_; and _the lessons which it teaches_.

We begin then, with considering the facts of St. Peter’s history, as mentioned in the New Testament. We shall not attempt to give all the facts woven into this history. It will be enough for our present purpose if the principal facts are stated. The first fact to notice about this good man is that he was a native of the city of Bethsaida, on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, and that his father’s name was Jonas, or Jonah. The next thing known of him is that his occupation was that of a fisherman. It is a fact that he was first brought to Jesus by his brother Andrew, who had been one of the disciples of John the Baptist. Jesus spoke kindly to him, and told him that his name should be changed from Simon, as he was then called, to Cephas, which is the Greek word for a rock, or a stone. The Latin word, that means the same thing, is the word Petrus. And so Cephas, or Peter, is the name by which he was afterwards called. St. John i: 41, 42; St. Matt. xvi: 18. It is a fact that he did not continue to follow Jesus, as one of his disciples, immediately after this first interview with him, but went back, for a while, to his old employment as a fisherman.

It is a fact that some time after this he was called by Jesus to be one of his disciples. It happened in this way:—One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. A crowd of people were pressing around him, to hear him preach. He wanted a convenient place from which to speak to them. Peter was near at hand, in his fishing-boat. Jesus stepped on board the boat, and asked Peter to push it out a little way from the land. He did so; and Jesus made a pulpit of that boat, and preached to the people, as they stood upon the shore of the lake. When the sermon was ended, Jesus told Peter to push the boat out into deep water and let down the net, and he would catch a fine lot of fish. Peter said they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. Still, he did as Jesus told him; and immediately they found more fish than their net would hold. This showed Peter the wonderful knowledge and power of Jesus. He felt afraid of him, and fell down at his feet, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Jesus said unto him, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” St. Luke vi: 1-11. St. Matthew tells us that on this occasion Jesus said to Peter and his brother Andrew, “Follow me; and I will make you fishers of men.” St. Matt. iv: 18, 19.

It is a fact that some time after this, Jesus chose out from the rest of his disciples Peter and eleven others, to be his twelve apostles. They were to be with him at all times, to hear his teachings, in private, as well as in public; to witness his miracles; and be prepared, in this way, to take up and carry on his work when he should return to heaven. We have the account of this in St. Matt. x: 2-4; St. Mark iii: 13-19; and St. Luke vi: 13-17.

It is a fact that in these different lists of the apostles, the name of Peter always stands first. We are not told why this was so. One thing is certain, however, it was not because he was set above the rest of the apostles, or had any power or authority superior to what was given to the others. It was, probably, only because he was quicker to speak and more ready to act than his brethren were. Two occasions are mentioned in the gospels on which he did this. One of them was when some of the followers of Jesus were offended at his preaching. They went away and would not hear him any more. Then Jesus turned to his chosen twelve and said: “Will ye also go away?” Peter, speaking for the rest, immediately replied: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” St. John vi: 66-69.

The other occasion was when the disciples had returned from one of the missionary tours on which they had been sent. Jesus asked them what men said about him. Different answers were given to this question; but none of them were correct. Then he asked them what they thought about him. Peter at once, answering for the rest, said: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This was a noble confession. It showed that Peter had very clear views of the character of Jesus and of the work he came on earth to do. Jesus pronounced a blessing on him for this, and said: “Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” St. Matt. xvi: 18. There has been great difference of opinion among good Christian people about the meaning of these words of our Saviour. They cannot mean that Peter, in his person or in his office as an apostle, was to be the rock, or foundation, on which the Church of Christ was to be built. This is certain; because St. Paul tells us that there is only one foundation on which this Church is built, and that is Christ himself. I. Cor. iii: 11. There can be no doubt, I think, that what Jesus meant here was that the noble confession which Peter made on this occasion was the truth on which his Church was to be built. And this we know is the case.

It is a fact that Peter, with James and John, was present to see and hear what Jesus said, and did, and suffered, on several occasions when the other disciples were not present. One of these occasions was when he raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead. Another occasion was when Jesus appeared in such wondrous glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. And, in striking contrast to this, when he sank to the earth, amidst the gloomy shades of Gethsemane, overwhelmed by the “agony and bloody sweat,” Peter was one of the three chosen witnesses of that awful scene.

It is a fact that when he saw his Master walking on the water, he asked permission to come and meet him, by walking over the surface of the sea. Jesus gave him leave to come. He got out of the ship, and began that watery walk. But, when he saw the rough waves rising and swelling against him, his heart sank, his faith failed, and he was beginning to sink, when Jesus stretched forth his hand and saved him.

It is a fact that, on one occasion, Jesus sent Peter to the seaside with a fishing-line to catch a fish, in whose mouth he was to find the money required to pay the taxes due to the government for himself and his Master.

It is a fact that the night before the crucifixion of our Lord, Peter solemnly declared that he would never forsake his Master, though all the rest of his followers should do so; and, even though he should have to die for clinging to him. It is a fact, nevertheless, that he did forsake him that very night, and three times deny that he knew him; yea, even with oaths and curses. It is a fact that, notwithstanding this, Peter was freely forgiven, on the morning of the resurrection, and restored to the place which he had forfeited, as one of the twelve apostles.

It is a fact that after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, Peter was the first to propose the election of another apostle to fill the place which had been left vacant by the death of the traitor Judas.

It is a fact that when the Holy Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost, Peter was the first of all the apostles to preach the gospel; and that three thousand souls were converted, as the result of one day’s labor; and that, in all the work done in the earliest history of the new church, he was the principal preacher.

It is a fact that the first miracle of which we read in the history of the new church was performed by Peter. It was the miracle of healing the lame man, who was sitting at “the gate of the temple called Beautiful,” when Peter and John were entering the temple, at the hour for evening prayer. Acts iii: 1-9.

It is a fact that when the apostles were forbidden by the Jewish rulers to preach in the name of Jesus, Peter was the first boldly to tell them to their faces, that they must “obey God, rather than men”; and that, in spite of all that might be said, or done, to hinder them, they would go on, and preach “Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Acts iv: 13-23.

It is a fact that as the first miracle of mercy in the early church was performed by this apostle, so was the first miracle of judgment. We read about this in Acts v: 1-10. It was before him that Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for the sin of lying and cheating.

It is a fact that the miraculous power of Peter was so great and so well-known that people laid their sick friends down in the streets along which he was walking, that his shadow might fall upon them, and heal them. Acts v:15.

It is a fact that the first missionary journey undertaken, in the early church, was by this apostle.

It is a fact that in the course of this journey he healed a lame man, who had been confined to his bed eight years, with palsy. He also raised to life a good Christian woman, named Tabitha, or Dorcas. She lived at Joppa, and had spent her time in making garments for the poor. She was the founder of the first Dorcas society of which we have ever heard; and her name has been connected with these excellent charities since then, all over the world. Acts ix: 32-43.

It is a fact that when the time came for the opening of the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles, it was the apostle Peter who had the honor of performing this important act. He was the first minister of Christ who ever preached the gospel to a Gentile, and made to him the offer of eternal life. He did this when he preached to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, and received him into the church by baptism. We read about this great event in the tenth chapter of the Acts.

It is a fact that, after this, Peter was put in prison by Herod, who was persecuting the Christians. He had just put the apostle James to death and intended to do the same with Peter. But his friends united in earnest prayer to God for him; and God sent an angel, who struck off his chains, opened the prison door, and set him free. Acts xii: 1-20.

After this we have no clear account of the ministry of St. Peter. We only know that he spent the rest of his life in going about from place to place, preaching the blessed gospel of the great Master whom he loved so well.

It is a fact, however, that he wrote the two epistles which bear his name and which have been such a comfort and blessing to the church for more than eighteen centuries. And then, the last fact in his history is that he suffered martyrdom, by crucifixion, in the city of Rome. We have no definite information about the time when this event took place, or about the particulars connected with it. It is generally believed that the death of St. Peter occurred about the same time as that of the apostle Paul; and, that they both took place during the persecution that arose under the cruel and bloody emperor Nero. The tradition is that when St. Peter came to the place of execution, he requested to be crucified with his head downwards, because he felt that he was not worthy to suffer in the same way in which his great Master was put to death.

Here we have woven together more than twenty facts that make up the history of the apostle Peter.

_The next thing for us to do is to notice some of the more important lessons taught us by this history._

_The first lesson we may learn from the history of this apostle is, about—THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE._

Solomon says, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” Prov. xxviii: 26. By a man trusting in his own heart, he means, having too much self-confidence. And the folly of this sort of trust is seen in this, that it keeps us from seeking the help of God; and without this help, we are not able to resist temptation when it overtakes us; and then we are sure to fall. We see a striking illustration of this in the case of Peter. When Jesus told the disciples that they would all forsake him, Peter had such trust in his own heart—such confidence in himself,—that he said, “Though all men forsake thee, yet will I never forsake thee.” And, when Jesus told him that, on that very night, he would deny him thrice, Peter, confidently, declared: “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” And, no doubt, he was perfectly honest in saying this. He meant just what he said. The trouble with him was that he did not know himself. He trusted too much in his own heart. His confidence in himself led him to neglect praying for the help and strength he would need when the temptation to deny his Master came before him.

And so, that very night, when Jesus was delivered into the hands of his enemies, and some of those about him said to Peter,—“Thou art one of this man’s disciples,” his courage failed him. He not only denied that he was a follower of Jesus, but even declared, with oaths and curses, that he did not know him. Here we see the folly of self-confidence, of which Solomon speaks.

And how many illustrations of this self-confidence we meet with!

“The Folly of a Soldier’s Self-Confidence.” When the English commander, General Braddock, in the early history of this country, was leading his little army through Pennsylvania to attack the French fort DuQuesne, where Pittsburgh now stands, George Washington, then a colonel, was an officer in the general’s staff. The French had enlisted the Indians on their side. Washington understood the mode of fighting which the Indians adopted. He knew their custom was to hide themselves in trees and fire upon their enemies without being seen.

As the English army was pursuing its march, not far from the fort they were to attack, they came to a dense forest through which they had to make their way. Washington knew that it was in just such a woody region that they might expect to find the Indians. He told General Braddock what he feared and suggested that he should command the army to halt, and send forward some scouts to examine the woods and find out if there were any Indians there before marching through. But the general had so much confidence in himself and in his own way of managing his army that he refused to listen to Washington’s advice.

The army entered the forest; but they had not gone far before they were fired upon from every side. The firing was kept up. The soldiers were falling to the ground, killed, or wounded; but no enemy was in sight, and no one could see where the firing came from. General Braddock and his chief officers were killed. The army was defeated; and Washington, the principal officer left alive, gathered their shattered ranks together; led them out from the woods and marched them back to the place from which they had started. The failure of that military enterprise, stands out on the page of history as a striking illustration of the folly of self-confidence.

“The Folly of a Sailor’s Self-Confidence.” The captain of a ship had brought his vessel to the entrance of the channel that leads to the harbor of one of the principal seaport towns of Scotland. He had often sailed in and out of that harbor. He felt confident that he could take the vessel in himself. When the pilot came and offered his services, he said: “No, I’ll be my own pilot. I know every rock in the channel. I am sure I can take the ship safely in.”

He started on his way. It was blowing a gale at the time. But he had not got far before the ship was dashed against a hidden rock of which he did not know. The vessel went to pieces, almost in sight of the harbor, and the captain and his crew were all lost. Here we see the folly of self-confidence.

But we often see this folly even when it does not lead to such fatal results as followed in the illustrations already given. This is clearly shown in the following fable:

“The Owl That Thought He Could Sing.” “What in the world can bring so many people into the grove to hear the nightingales sing?” said a young owl to his mother.

The old owl didn’t know and didn’t care—she was busy watching a bat.

“I am sure I have as fine a voice as any nightingale and a good deal stronger.”

“Stronger, certainly, my son,” said the owl, blinking her eyes, for the bat had escaped.

“I shall go into the grove to-night, and give them a song,” said the self-confident young owl.

The old owl opened her round eyes very wide, but said nothing.

So, when night came, and the hour for the sweet singing of the birds drew near, he flew heavily along and placed himself in a part of the grove where he could be seen and heard to the best advantage.

But the nightingales did not like the prospect either of his company or his help in their concert; so those of them who were going to sing flew away to another grove, while those who were to be quiet for the night kept snugly at roost.

“Where can the nightingales be?” said one of the people who had come to hear them.

Then the self-confident young owl set up a hoot so long and loud that it startled the people.

“That horrid creature has frightened them all away,” said one. “Where’s my gun? I’ll soon fix him.” The owl took the hint and without waiting till the gun appeared hastened back home.

But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said and unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt _his_ fisher’s coat _unto him_, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.... And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.—_St. John xxi: 4-7, 9, 10, 12-14._

_NOTE BY THE ARTIST_

_Next in order of the recorded appearances is that by the Sea of Tiberius, whither the disciples had returned to await the promised meeting with their Master, the seven who were fishermen resuming meanwhile their former occupation. Disheartened and weary with a fruitless night’s toil, they were returning homeward at dawn, when they perceived in the dim light the figure of one who had seemingly come down to the shore to buy their fish; and supposing from his words that he had noticed indications of a shoal, they readily followed his directions, laying out the net in the manner still in use on the lake. The success of the cast at once suggested its true cause, and Peter, standing naked in the boat after swimming round with the net to “ring” the fish, paused but a moment to gird on his short, striped abba, and once more leapt into the sea, eager to verify the glad surmise that the stranger was none other than the Master himself. The background of the picture is the shore of the lake to the north of Magdala with the Wady Hammâm and Kurn Hattîn in the distance._

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“Your feathers are ruffled, my son,” said the old owl. “Have you been singing?”

Then the foolish young owl told about his disgrace and his narrow escape from death.

“It is just what I expected,” said his mother, “and I’m glad you are safe back.”

“Then why did you let me go?” he asked.

“Because I saw you wouldn’t mind what I said, and that nothing but experience would teach you the folly of thinking too much of yourself.”

That young owl had reason to feel thankful that he had learned this lesson without any greater harm or loss to himself.

The first lesson from the history of this apostle is about the danger of self-confidence.

_The second lesson from this history is about—DELIVERANCE FROM TEMPTATION._

When we rise in the morning we can never tell what will happen to us 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._