The Bossier banner., 1911-01-12
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson x.-Fourth Quarter, For
Dec. a, 1910.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.
yext of the Lesson, Matt. xvi, 31-35,
69-75-Memory Verses, "a, 75-GoId-
en- Text, | Cor. x, 12-Commentary
Prepared by Rev. D. M. Stearns.


AS we read the first part of our les
son and consider the boastful self con
fdence of Peter and his assertion
Though all men shall be offended be-
cause Of Thee. yet will never be Of
night. before the cock crow. thou shalt
deny Me thrice" his further more
emphatic assertion. Though | should
die with Thee, yet will ! not deny
Thee" how do we pity him and all the
disciples, for they all asserted the
same, 1t was as If Peter said: Lord.
Thou dost not know me. Thou canst
surely count on me to be true at any
cost" Do we see ourselves? Have we
ever sung surely the Captain May De.
pend on Me? If so. were we not as
foolishly boastful as Peter? How the
Lord must have pitied him. How He
pities us! None can be saved until they
know that they are lost. for He came
to save the lost. The condition of ev
cry sinner before God is guilty. with
out strength. ungodly. enemies. cnmity
against God. dead in sins. children of
disobedience and wrath, having no
hope and without God in the world
Nom. iii, 10; Y, 6. 10: viii, Z; Eph. II,
1-3. 5. ~. Such helpless. hell deserv-
ing sinners Jesus saves fully and for
ever by His finished work without any
hnl no
we are just as helpless to live Chris
tian life and to serve Him as we were
to save ourselves. So the great lesson
for the saved sinner to learn is the sig
niticance of Not l. but Christi" Not l.
but the grace of God:;" without Me We
10; John XIV, 81, Unless it is God who
worketif in us both to will and to do of
His good pleasure the work cannot
stand. but will prove to be only wood.
hay and stubble We must he ever
watchful, prayerful. submitting to God
and resisting the devil, if we would
walk worthy of Him who hath called
us to His kingdom and glory We have
seen Peter daring to rebuke the Lord
as He spake OF suffering. though the
Scriptures may be said to be full of
predictions concerning the sufferings
of The Messi9h We have heard him
say: I'VE have left all for Thee. What
shall We have. therefore:" We have
also heard him say. Thou shalt never
wash my feet" We have heard his
self confident boasting that he was
ready to die with Christ Yet we have
seen him taking off a mans ear. for
little while forsakins Christ. then fol-
lowing afar off. then in company with
the enemies of Christ and warming
himself at their fire. What can we ex-
pect next from such a man?
The damsel who kept the door as
she saw him sit by the fire warming
himself looked earnestly upon him and
said. And thou also vast with Jesus
of Nazareth. Compare the four ac
counts But he denied. saying. "Wo-
man. | know Him not: neither under
stand what thou sayest" Alas. alas.
how can we account for it? Did the
devil. who led Judas Iscariot to betray
Christ. take possession of Peter also?
Even so, for on previous occasion
Jesus had to say to Peter. Get thee be-
hind me. Satan" Cdatt. xvi. 23,. On the
Passover night the Lord said Simon,
Simon. behold. Satan hath desired to
have you Or. ". asked to have you).
that he may sift you as wheat. but
have prayed for thee that thy faith
fail not" Luke xii. 81, 32,.
After that first denial he went out
into the porch. and the cock crew
Then another maid saw him and be-
gan to say to them that stood by. This
fellow was also with Jesus Of Naza-
reth." And again he denied with an
oath. Il do not know the man" If he
had only left the bad company as soon
as he found himself falling he might
have repented sooner. but it is grow
ing worse-the second denial was ac-
companied by an oath. About an hour
later another confidently affirmed. say
ing to Peter. "Surely thou art one of
them. for thou art a Galilean. and thy
speech agreeth thereto" The kinsman
of the man whose ear Peter cut off
said. did not see thee in the garden
with Him?' Then he began to curse
and to swear. saying. II know not this
man of whom ye speak" And immedi-
ately. while he yet spake. the cock
crew the second time. and the Lord
turned and looked upon Peter And
Peter called to mind the word that
Jesus said unto him. Before the cock
crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice
(Mark xiv. 30-72). And when he
thought thereon he went out and wept
bitterly. This was not like the re-
morse of Judas Iscariot which led to
suicide, but there were tears of true
penitence
How much do we know of the COM
fort of the assurance that "He ever
ilveth to make intercession for us"
tdeb. vii. 25'. Do we lay it to heart
that the same great adversary is ever
seeking to cause the saints to fall
that he may bring reproach upon that
beautiful name by which we arc
called? He does not ask for the un
saved. because they belong to him he
did not ask for Judas Iscariot. but he
had to ask for Job and for Peter Let
us never make light of him. for HI.
Is too formidable an enemy Let us
not be afraid of him. for we have !,
shield to Quench his fiery darts aud
sword with which to conquer hin:
tEph. vi; Rev. xiii.