their grace is weak and small. One brother may possess singular giftSj and be a bright and shining light in the Church of Christ. But let us not forget that he is a man, and as a man liable to commit great mistakes. — Another brother's knowledge may be scanty. He may fail to judge rightly on many points of doctrine. He may err both in word and deed. But has he faith and love towards Christ ? Does he hold the Head ? If so, let us deal patiently with him. What he sees not now, he may see hereafter. Like Peter, he may now be in the dark, and yet, like Peter, enjoy one day the full light of the Gospel.
Let us learn, in the second place, from these verses, that t7ie7'e is no doctrine of Scrijoture so deeply lonjoort- ant as the doctrine of Christ's atoning death.
We cannot have clearer proof of this, than the language used by our Lord in rebuking Peter. He ad- dresses him by the awful name of ^' Satan,'" as if he was an adversary, and doing the devil's work, in trying to prevent His death. He says to him, whom he had so lately called " blessed," " Get thee behind me, thou art an of- fence unto me." He tells the man whose noble confes- sion he had just commended so highly, " Thou save rest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." Stronger words than these never fell from our Lord's lips. The error that drew from so loving a Sa- viour such a stern rebuke to such a true discijDle, must have been a mighty error indeed.
The truth is, that our Lord would have us re- gard the crucifixion as the central truth of Christianity. Eight views of His vicarious death, and the benefits
201
resulting from it, lie at the very foundation of Bible- religion. Never let us forget this. On matters of church government, and the form of worshij), men may differ from us, and yet reach heaven in safety. On the matter of Christ's atoning death, as the way of peace, truth is only one. If we are wrong here, w^e are ruined for ever. Error on many points is only a skin disease. Error about Christ's death is a disease at the heart. Here let us take our stand. Let nothing move us from this ground. The sum of all our hopes must be, that " Christ has died for us." (1 Thess. v. 10.) Give up that doc- trine, and we have no solid hope at all.