Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-25
Sunday School Lesson

hesitate to preach the Gospel and well
come the gentiles into the fellowship
of the church.
He had failed Jesus at the trial, but
he had followed him into the court
yard of the home where he was being
tried. The sorrow of that night had
all been wiped out when the Master
restored him to His service at the
lakeside, when He APPLIED to the
apostle, who had failed Him, the three
fold love test Henceforth he did not
finch. His influence. gave added pow
err to all to stand up for Christ and
His church. Under the influence of
the Holy Spirit, the instruction and
association of Peter with Jesus re-
vealed itself. His heart beat in SYM
pathy with his Lord and by means Of
the apostles spiritual development his
life had been changed and corrected
until it conformed unto that Of his
risen Saviour and he had become in
deed and truth the man of rock.
Mastering Opposition Successfully.
The constructive engineer" who
had been left in charge of the work
Of building the church of the living
God was developed personally by the
storms, struggles and sufferings
through which He was forced to pass
He was encouraged by the swift re-
Spouse of the Lord, who in answer to
the prayers of Peter and the church
sent His messengers to liberate the
imprisoned apostle when Herod laid
hold of the apostle with the intent to
take his life after the holy season had
passed. This indicated to the church
the evident high regard with which
Peter was held by the Lord. 1t en-
couraged him to face the perils of
persecution and imprisonment fire.
quently without allowing them to
turn him away from the path of serv-
ice, sacrifice and self-denial. He re-
fused to allow anything to interfere
with his loyalty to Christ and his duty
to preach His gospel, which he did
Peter demonstrated his greatness
by the way he met every emergency
and crisis. He looked over his diff
ferences with others, and Paul con.
sidered him to be an Apostle of
hope" He willingly co-operated with
others in the work of building up the
kingdom and extending the church.
He found that his sufferings. sorrows
and struggles We're all source Of joy
to him and full of suggestions con-
corning the Masters work. He drew
inspiration and instruction from these
experiences that found expression in
his messages to the churches in his
sermons and in the practical advice
he impaired through his epistles to
his fellow Christians in hours of trial
and tribulation. He pointed out their
duty to God and their fellow man,
calling upon them to live lives of ODE
dience to both, championing law and
order. as essential for the progress Of
fatx %o+4 L4i ~fri+,
The timidity of his early life had dis
appeared at the time when he spoke
and wrote with courage born Of
convictions.
In one of his epistles, he referred to
this transformation in an incidental
manner, saying Blessed be God, who
has begotten us into a lively hope
a hope that pervaded his life and la
bors SO that he toiled no longer by
fits and starts, but constantly and
consistently as courageous Christian.
He had objected to Jesus dying, but
he tenderly refers to being redeemed
by the blood of Christ, as the Lamb
without blemish and without spot"
When he expresses the hope that
'the God of all grace" after his
readers have suffered for a short time
should Himself make them perfect,
source of his own transformation and
personal increases in spiritual power.
Looking back upon the trying expert
ences of his own life, he saw how that
they had enabled him to face death
without fear in the hope of meeting
the Master face to face, due to the
influence, instruction. and inspiration
that had transformed him from the
vacillating and changeable Simon into
the consistent and courageous Peter,
who stood like rock for Christ and
His church during the days of his
apostleship, nnolding and guiding the
early church more than any other
member of the Apostolic College. He
had learned from Christ how to take
men alive" and by courageously fol-
lowing His methods and practicing
His principles. Peter had preached
the word and healed men in His name
with great success.