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But we shall not obtain the full value of the lessons to be derived from these instructive circumstances to which the text calls our attention, if we fail to observe the secret underplot, so to speak, which is revealed to us in connection with them. I allude to the glimpse which we catch in S. Luke's narrative (xxii. 31, 32), of the unspeakable goodness of our merciful Redeemer on the one hand, and, on the other hand, of the malice of our great Enemy. No sooner had S. Peter uttered his unseemly, and, as it proved, most worthless boast, than the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you' (vμâs, i.e. all the Disciples) that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.' What a depth of mystery is here hinted at rather than displayed! On the one hand, our great Enemy longing to sift as wheat,' i.e. to subject to the test of searching trial and temptation, those who were to be God's chosen instruments for the communication of His Gospel to fallen man-and, as it would seem, permitted, in part at least, to obtain his cruel desire, as he obtained it in the case of the patriarch Job; on the other hand, the compassion

I adopt here the order of the Harmony' of Dr. E. Robinson, of New York.

ate Saviour anticipating that attempt by special intercession for the Disciple, who, He knew, would prove (with the exception of the traitor, Judas) the most faithless of them all; and undeterred by the least feeling of resentment, in view of provocation the most grievous and the most intense, praying that the faith of that Disciple might not eventually fail; but that after his fall, he might, as we know he did, rise again.

Looking back upon what has now been said, we see, in this portion of S. Peter's history, taken in connection with other facts concerning him which are recorded in the Gospels, the character -not uncommon-of a man who oscillated between distrust and confidence in himself-both, alternately, in excess. For example: the self-distrust was excessive when, upon letting down his net, as Jesus had commanded, and having inclosed a miraculous draught of fishes, as soon as he saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' The self-confidence was excessive when, upon Jesus beginning to foretell His own sufferings and death, Peter, as we read,' took Him, and began to rebuke Him: Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto

Thee.' Again, both qualities were exhibited-the confidence when he boldly proposed to walk to Jesus on the sea; and the distrust when, having set out to go, his faith failed him, and he began to sink. And most of all were the same two qualities conspicuous upon the occasion to which the text refers; when, notwithstanding the distinct warning he had repeatedly received of the coming danger, he thrust himself forward into the scene of temptation, sitting down among the servants and officers by the fire in the midst of the hall, and so provoked the circumstances under which he did, again and again, what he had protested so vehemently he would never do. To bring about a cure in a character such as this, is one of the most obvious instances of the operation of Divine grace; for we cannot see how it is to be wrought by any other means. before I go on to speak of the perfect remedy effected in S. Peter's case, it may be useful to say something more, both upon the character itself, and the consequences to which it is apt to lead.

But

'Happy is the man that feareth alway,' is an observation of the wise King in the Book of Proverbs (xxviii. 14); from which it may be inferred that there is no greater enemy to happiness than Luke v. 8; Matt. xvi. 22.

presumption; by which I mean, an undue reliance upon our own sufficiency. There will be no presumption in placing reliance upon ourselves in matters with regard to which we are naturally qualified, and have taken all proper care, to become sufficient; for instance, in regard to historical information which we have taken the necessary pains to acquire; in regard to a mechanical art which we have learned to practise; or a musical instrument which we have learnt to play. And, more than this, a manly self-reliance is not only an indispensable passport to success in every business and profession of life, but it is a quality which it becomes us all to cultivate, provided we do not suffer it to exceed the limits within which its operation is as safe and salutary as it is legitimate. It ceases to be legitimate, and it ceases to be salutary, when it intrudes into the province of moral duty, strictly so called, and of the religious life. In that province we are not sufficient (as the Scripture teaches) of ourselves even to think -much less to do-anything that is good; but our sufficiency must be of God. And if we presume to act in defiance, or neglect, of this revealed truth, nothing can secure us against failure-no determi

12 Cor. iii. 5.

nation, no sincerity, no earnestness. This was proved abundantly in S. Peter's case. What could be more determined than he was? what more sincere? what more earnest ? when he declared to

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his Divine Master, Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee.' It is not enough that we are willing in ourselves; we must gain succour from above. And why? simply because, however 'willing the spirit' of a man may be, 'the flesh,' i.e. our moral nature, as corrupted by the Fall, universally and unavoidably, 'is weak.'' True to his nets, and to his calling as a fisherman, Peter might have been in his own strength, and in the skill which he had gained from the teaching of others, or from his own experience. But true to Christ, true to his profession as Christ's Disciple, he could never be, except in dependence upon the grace of God, and upon his Master's help. This he should have known, as having been taught it by the word of Christ Himself: 'As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in Me, for apart from Me ye can do nothing.' 2 Even in matters which do not appertain to moral or religious duty, though we shall be justified in relying upon

1 Matt. xxvi. 41.

2 John xv. 4, 5,