The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-12-03

his life the fair plant Of burning love
and ready reception Of Truth"
"Taks Heed to Yourselves"
One OF the great lessons which the
Master taught his followers, and which
all In the School Of Christ must learn,
Ia that with burning love and zeal for
God and for righteousness, we should
also have mOderation-exercisin the
spirit Of sound mind Christ's fol-
lowers are exhorted to be wise as
serpents and harmless as doves"
Their wisdom is not to be merely the
selfish kind, which would look out for
Its own interests, but Of the generou,
kind which looks out for the interests
OF sl, and particularly for the inter
est, Of the Lords cause and for any
shnre therein which he may entrust
to us.
In the course Of his instructions
Jesus had said to his disciples, in ad-
vance OF the trying hour of his be-
rayal-"An ye shall be offended be-
cause Of me this night; for it Is writ
ten Qn the Prophets), will smite the
Shepherd and the sheep Of the flock
shall be scattered abroad. But after
am risen again l will go before you
into Galilee."-Matt- 1881, 80.
Then spoke the impulsive Peter
Though all shall be offended because
Of thee, yet will 1 never be offended"
V. 33) Alas! how little did this cour-
ageous man understand the nature Of
the trials and difficulties Immediately
before him, or realize the weak points
OF his own impulsive nature. Yet II
We are grieved with his denial Of the
Master, we must rejoice to note his
faith and love and zeal, as manifested
In his acknowledgment Of Jesus as the
Messiah and his later declaration that
nothing should ever shake his loyalty.
However, 1t is the specially loyal and
ardent that the Adversary seeks most
persistently to entrap. Thus Jesus, Oh
this very occasion. explained to st.
Peter, Satan hath desired to have
thee that he might sift thee" duke
22:3D; that he might separate you
from your loyalty to Christ and dis
courage you from discipleship, over
whelming you with fear and with your
own weaknesses. The Master added,
But / have prayed for thee that thy
faith fail not" We may we'll under
stand that the same loving Master still
assists all Of his true, warm-hearted
followers, whatever their weaknesses
Of heredity. We may well understand,
too, that he is able to develop all such
into strong characters, II they abide in
his love, continuing In their zeal.
"Bsfors tho Cock crow~
The Master discerned the danger of
his loving but impetuous follower, and
uttered warning word, that before
cock-crowing he would deny his Mas
ter. How improbable this seemed to
St Peter! How he courageously de-
clared, Though should die with thee,
yet will not deny thee" And 30 said
all OF the even. Their hearts were
good. And the Lord looketh upon the
heart
Our study now passes to verse
CD. The Master had been arrested.
The scattered disciples had fed. st.
John, because Of an acquaintance with
the high priests family, penetrated
further into the palace than st. Peter.
who stood In the courtyard. A maid
OF the palace recognized st. Peter as
one OF Jesus disciples and so declared
publicly. Fearful that he might share
the fate Of the Master, st. Peter denied
his identity, declaring that he knew
nothing about the matter. A little
later another declared the same.
Peter emphasized his denial with an
oath. declaring that he knew not Jesus.
Later the word spread throughout the
courtyard and many took 1t up, declar
Ing that they believed what the malG