The Red Cloud chief., 1910-12-01
PETERS Ss
DENIAL wv
Sunday School Lesson for Dec. e. 1910
Specially Arranged for This Paper

LESSON TENT-Matthew 2G.3l-s5. eo-75
! Memory verses. 74-15
GOLDEN TEXT-"Let him that think.
eth he standcth take heed lest he fall -
| Cor. 1O:1o
TlME-The denials were early Friday
morning, April :. A. ID. 80.
=, ,fLACf'-ln the court of the Palace OF
the High Priest Caiaphas, in the south
west part OF Jerusalem
Ihe first thing Jesus did for Peter
was to set before him i'm his first In.
terview the goal and ideal of his life.
lie was to be changed from the Simon
we nave Just been viewing into Peter
the Rock. His incohesive qualities
/ were TO be unified into one beautiful
Whole; the separate and sometimes
dlscordant notes of his character were
10 De formed into the exquisite har.
monies OF Hallelujah chorus. He was
ike the soft stone In some uuarries.
easily cut and shaped when first taken
! from the quarry, but soon hardening
INTO rock. Peter expresses the posi-
bilities Jesus saw in the nature OF
simon, an ideal which God would
make divinely real"
For three years Peter was an ear.
nest pupil in Chrst's school. He made
many mistakes; he fought many bat
Ties on the battlefield of his heart ::
ne mad some severe reproofs. but he
nad wise, encouraging, patient,
teacher. After time he was advanc.
ed to the highest grade with JamesI
ana John. The first essential for Sue.
cess is a soul" an awakened soul
one OF the most interesting studies
ior teacher, is TO go carefully
through the Gospels, and study,
Christs method of teaching and train.
ing such an unruly but earnest scholary
as Peter was.
Thou shalt deny me thrice. disownj
me as your Lord and Master" Peteri
was sure that he would not fail in thei
hour OF temptation. No one knowsl
what he will do in unexpected circum-l
stances. But Jesus did all he could
to put Peter on his guard.
An interval of some hours. Geth.
semane; Peter, wearicd, sleeps onI
guard. The arrest; Peter ard all thel
apostles desert Jesus. But Peter andl
John follow afar off. The trial beforeI
the Sandhedrin in some room of Caia.i
phas palace. opening into court.
Peter was sitting with the scrvantsI
and Others around fire and he denied
Christ before them all, who were'
gathered around the fire.
The main charge was prominently
made by one, a kinsman of Malchus.
who had seen Peter in the garden and
was known to st. John from his ac,
qualntance with the high priests
household. For thy speech betrayeth
thee, "betrayeth," shows that thou ars
Galilean, and therefore one of his
disciples, or why else art thou here?
Then began he to curse, call down
curses on himself ii he did not speak
the truth. And to swear. to call God
TO witness that II was true. 1t Isl
more than probable that Peter, in his
earlier life as fisherman, before his
conversion. had been in the habit of
using profane language, and now, in
the sudden surprise OF temptation, the
old habit broke forth anew, as the LAM
guage OF youth, long unused, is almosd
certain to be employed In times of
great excitement. 1t Is long and
hard discipline that entirely conquers
the sins or youth.
Il know not the man" And this In!
the very presence of Jesus. The
ways down which the bad ship Wick
edness slides to shoreless ocean
must be creased with lies" "a lie Is
put out to interest, and the interest Isl
compound"
1t was now that Peter was "sifted
as wheat" Part OF what he thought,
was wheat was really chaff, and this,
terrible sitting under temptation blew
away In the toughest manner most
OF the chaff,-his Inconsistency, his,
fiery temper. his self-confidence, but
preserved all the good in his charac-
ter. purified and perfected.
We can be good In spite of falls.
God can bring good out of evil. That
in his glory. and our hope. But he can
do far more with our victories than
by our failures.
Then Jesus looked upon Peter. The
Greek word for looked" occurs but
In one other place in the Gospels.
1t means that "he looked into him.;
into his very heart, with eyes that
went like lightning to the quick of his
conscience" Peter remembered the
warning, and went out and wept the
bitterest tears of repentance.
From this time on Peter was a new
man. The charcoal had become dia.
mond. He describes the effect in his
first Epistle Q:O. That the trial of
your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that persistent, though
it be tried with fire, might be found un.
to praise and honor and glory at the an.
pearing of Jesus Christi" Peter re,
joiced when he could express his love
to Jesus by suffering in his cause. He