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CONVERSATIONS ON SAINTS' DAYS.

ST. PETER,- -JUNE 29.

"To-day, my dear children," said Mr. Wilson, as he took his place in the School on the morning of St. Peter's day,

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in his Master's

we are called upon to commemorate that Apostle whose history seems to me the most interesting and instructive of all which Holy Scripture sets before us. How much may we all learn from St. Peter's fervent zeal cause, from his self-confidence and fall, from his deep repentance and humiliation, and finally his self-devotedness as a preacher of the Gospel, which devotedness ended only with the glorious death of martyrdom. And now let me hear what you know of the early history of the saint.

"He was born at Bethsaida, a town of Galilee, and was employed in fishing. He was first brought to our Lord by his brother Andrew, as we find in John i. 41, 42."

Mr. W.-Did he at once become a disciple of Christ? "No; but afterwards, on witnessing the miraculous draught of fishes of which we read the account in St. Luke, chap. v.,-he threw himself at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

Mr. W.-How do you know he then became his disciple?

"Because on our blessed Lord saying, 'Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.' We hear that 'he forsook all and followed Him.""

Mr. W.-Yes; he seems to have at once believed, and understood the promise of our Lord, that as he had hitherto drawn fish into his net, as a fisherman, so he should here. after, as a preacher of the Gospel, draw men into the Church

of Christ. What was he called when he first came to our

Lord?

"Simon, and our Saviour said he should be called Cephas or Peter, both of which words signify a rock, or stone."

Mr. W.—True; as we follow the Gospel narrative of our Lord's ministry, we find St. Peter highly favoured by Him, being one of the three who were frequently permitted to accompany Him into scenes from which the other disciples were excluded. Can you tell me on what occasions Peter, James, and John were alone allowed to be present?

"At the raising of Jairus' daughter, at the Transfiguration, and in the garden of Gethsemane."

Mr. W.-Yes; we have not time now to dwell upon these and other circumstances of St. Peter's early history, but will only remark that he seems on all occasions to have been very zealous for the honour of his Heavenly Master, and very eager to serve Him, and so to show his love for Him, as we find in Matt. xvi. 16, 17; John, vi. 68; Mark, ix. 5; Matt. xiv. 28, 29; John, xiii. 8, 9. Let us now turn to Luke, xxii. 31; we here find our Saviour warning Peter of the temptation he would have to endure, and he on his part protesting his determination never to forsake His Lord, but to stand by Him to the last. "Lord, am ready to go with Thee, both into prison and to death," or as John relates it, "I will lay down my life for Thy sake." But He, who alone could see the heart, knew how great would be His servant's weakness in the hour of trial: "I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." How strange must these words have seemed to St. Peter, feeling, as no doubt he did at that

moment, full of love and devotion to his Master!

How im

possible he may have thought it, that they should ever come true! But, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

After this, we find St. Peter, with James and John, accompanying our Lord to the garden of Gethsemane, where, while He was watching and praying in agony, His disciples, overcome by the weakness of the flesh, slumbered and slept. Then, you know, came the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot, and His seizure by the wicked band who accompanied the traitor. Can you tell me how St. Peter acted on this occasion?

"He drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear."

Mr. W.-Yes; and our Lord gently reproved this misplaced zeal, "Suffer ye thus far," and then mercifully healed the servant who had been hurt. Jesus was then led away to the hall of Judgment. Did His disciples go with Him?

"No; they all forsook Him and fled,' except Peter, who 'followed afar off.""

He

Mr. W.-Here, then, his weakness began to appear. had courage enough to fight in his Lord's behalf, but not courage enough to accompany him to the hall of judgment, to stand by Him when accused and arraigned as a malefactor. Instead of boldly going with Him "to prison and to death," as he had boasted he would, he merely "followed afar off." And thus, having once begun to give way to temptation, he soon yielded altogether. God grant, my dear children, that whenever any of you fall into sin, you may be enabled to imitate St. Peter in his sincere repentance and sorrow, may

truly mourn for your transgressions, and like him obtain mercy and pardon! What do we next hear of St. Peter?

"In the 20th chapter of St. John, we read of his being told by Mary Magdalene of the disappearance of the Lord's body from the sepulphre, and of his instantly going there, accompanied by St. John, to assure himself of the fact."

Mr. W.—Yes; and with his usual zeal, he was the first to go inside of the sepulchre. Shortly after we find our blessed Lord appearing to Peter and some of the other disciples as they were fishing on the sea of Tiberias. John, xxi. 1. And here it was that after having dined with His disciples on the shore, Jesus made trial of Peter's faith and love, three times putting to him the question, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ?" No doubt this question, thrice repeated, was graciously intended to remind St. Peter of his former fall, and also that as he had then three times denied his Lord, so he might now have the opportunity of three times affirming his love to Him, who had so mercifully pardoned and received him again into his favour. And how did Peter reply to these inquiries? Not with his former self-confident protestations; he had learnt his own weakness and would not now boast of his attachment to his Master, but on each question merely appeal to Him who could see his heart and judge of the faith and love now firmly rooted there, answering in these touching words, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love Thee." On this occasion, our Lord also delivered to St. Peter his mission as a pastor and teacher of the flock of Christ, He laid on him the injunction-"Feed My sheep,-Feed my lambs." He was to feed the sheep and lambs of Christ's fold, that is,

the members of His Church, with spiritual meat and spiritual drink, to instruct them in the knowledge of the truth, to guide them in the way of eternal life. And this office was conferred not on St. Peter alone, but on the ministers of Christ in all ages, of whom he was the representative What do we hear of St. Peter after our Lord's

and type. Ascension?

"In Acts i. we find him at Jerusalem, proposing the election of another apostle in the room of Judas, and after the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, he preached a sermon to the people and converted three thousand souls, who 'gladly received his word,' and were baptized."" Acts ii. 41.

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Mr. W.-Soon after we read of his healing a lame man at the gate of the Temple, (Acts iii. 6, 7.) and also of his punishing with death the sin of lying, committed by Ananias and Sapphira, (Acts v. 1-11.) In Acts viii. 14, we find Peter and John going down from Jerusalem into Samaria, to visit and confirm the newly converted Christians there. St. Peter then seems to have travelled about preaching and performing miracles, as we read, he passed through all quarters,' (Acts, ix. 32.) At Lydda he healed Eneas, and at Joppa raised Dorcas from the dead. At the latter place he had a vision from God, (Acts x. 9,) by which it was revealed to him that the blessings of the Gospel were not to be confined to the Jews, but extended to all nations. On awaking from the trance in which he had seen this vision, St. Peter found messengers had come to him from Cesarea, sent by Cornelius a Roman officer, who desired to be instructed in the faith of Christ, and had been visited by an angel from God, who had

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