The Detroit times., 1910-12-01


st. Peter has proven 10 be one of
the most helpful OF Christ's twelve
Apostles. and the secret OF his AS
sistance lies in the Scriptural reyela'
ton OF his human nature. its strength
aud its weaknesses lie was the first
OF the twelve Apostles TO acknow-
ledge the Master as the Messiah. the
Sent OF God: he was the first or the
twelve 10 deny him. lie was the only
one of the twelve who drew his sword
In the Masters defense and the only
one who, later. swore that he never
knew Him BY Divine arrangement,
to him We're given the KEYS WIFE
which TO open the door TO the High
Callins-to the Kingdom. At Pente-
cost he used one of the keys OF pow
er and boldly proclaimed TO the Jews
the opening OF the way TO glory,
honor and immortality
\ little later, at the appointed time,
he opened the door TO the same High
Calling for the Gentiles when, by his
preaching. Cornelius. the first Gen
tile acceptable to God. was received
anu DtGOlltH III iilt IlOil PlJiIi ~ 'aAAo
fact giving evidence that the middle
wall OF partition. previously separat'
ing Jew and Gentle. had been brok'
en- down. Yet after all this know
ledge and special opportunity, this
great man subsequently dssembled
TO the extent OF ignoring Gods grace
10 the Gentiles as being sufficient
discriminating between Jews and
Gentiles and their equality before the
Lord
But in all these experiences St
Peter displayed the fact that his
heart, at it's core, was loyal 10 God
TO truth 10 righteousness, and that
the weaknesses. the faults. the blem-
ishes of his character were OF his
flesh and not of his real heart inten-
ton For his denial OF the Master he
wept bitterly And for his failure 10
recognize the Gentle he made full
Ieparation most humbly.
The same exhibition of human ma
ture which makes the Apostle Peter
attractive is that which made David
the Prophet and King OF Israel, at
tractive. He was not so sanity that
he could NOT make a mistake. He
was not So far above the remainder
of humanity that they could not
realize in him a fellow-creature Vet
withal he was not so debased as 10
make him abhorrent. His weaknesses
We're fully Offset by the abundant evil
dence OF his heart-loyalty TO God and
TO righteousness. His very expert
ences in stumbling and recover
have so saturated his Psalms that
they touch a responsive chord in
nearly every heart which is loyal 10
God and which has had any degree Of
experience with sin and weakness -
its own and those OF others.
HOW Others Saw ST. Peter.
Peter remains even today the most
Fascinating of that band OF men who
surrounded our Lord in the days OF
his earthly pilgrimage. G. c. Morgan
said OF Peter: Now | am convinced
man revealed in the New Tesla
ment | do not say the greatest man
in this achievement or in one particu-
lar capacity OF his being but the most
wonderful revelation of human nature
This man OF intelligence was perpetu-
ally making blunders This man OF
emotions was guilty OF such impulse
that he worked harm in the very
cause he desired to help"
or St. Peter Southhouse saws:
Peter was an average man. and for
this reason he comes nearer 10 us
than some of his colleagues do. But
average men have their splendid mo-
ments. such as when ST. Peter tried
TO walk on the water, for in this &C
ton he tried TO do thing for which
he seemd To have no abilities He
set out to do something of which he
had no experience.
DR.. Davis said about St Peter
Peter was intellectual. He askec
Jesus more questions than any Other