Bion in the matter. Nothing can account for the rise and progress of Christianity but the direct interposition of God.
We should observe, for another thing, in these verses, tlie different characters of different disciples of Christ, Once more, on this deeply interesting occasion, we see Peter and John side by side in the same boat, and once more, as at the sepulchre, we see these two good men behaving in different ways. When Jesus stood on the shore, in the dim twilight of the morning, .John was the first to perceive who it was, and to say, " It is the Lord ; " but Peter was the first to spring into the water, and to struggle to get close to his Master. In a word, John was the first to see ; but Peter was the first to act. John's gentle loving spirit was quickest to discern ; but Peter's fiery, impulsive nature was quickest to stir and move. And yet both were believers, both were true- hearted disciples, both loved the Lord in life, and were faithful to Him unto death. But their natural tempera- ments were not the -same.
Let us never forget the practical lesson before us. As long as we live, let us diligently use it in forming our estimate of believers. Let us not condemn others as graceless and unconverted, because they do not see the path of duty from our stand-point, or feel things exactly as we feel them. " There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." (1 Cor. xii. 4.) The gifts of God's children are not bestowed precisely in the same measure and degree. Some have more of one gift, and some have more of another. Some have gifts which shine more in public, and some which shine more in pri- vate. Some are more bright in a passive life, and some are more bright in an active one. Yet each and all the members of God's family, in their own way and in their own season, bring glory to God. Martha was " careful