The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 185

"I am read~; not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Ne.me of the JJord Jesus, sounds very much like the language of St. Peter to his Master. "Lord, y,hy cannot I_ follo'.v ~he~ now'? I will lay down my life fo! thy sake." And yet there is the mos~ Vltlll d1st1nct1on between the spirit and tone anc, temper of the two s11.yings, 11~0. t~e difforcn?e comes fully out in the actionR that followed. Self-trusting Peter f~d~d_ rn the te~tmg hour. Christ-trusting Paul ~ent on to win the martyr's crown. '1 l11s 1s the subJect before us ; but in introducin@; 1t there should be some estimate of the blended strength and weakness of Peter's character before hiH fall. The boldness e.nd foi:w~rdness were valuable qualities for one wh? was to b~ e. leading gospel witness and m1ss10nary; but before the humbling expenence of his fall, Peter's forwardness ~eant undue self-reliance. So our Lord had on one occasion to speak more sternly tn him than to MY other of his disciples, even saying, "Get thee behind me. Sa.tan." There should be also a due estimate of the highly wrought condition of Paul's feeling when he uttered the seemingly boastful words of our text. "The intense sensitiveness of St. Paul's nature shows itself in every syllable. It we.s with no Stoic hardness that he resisted their entreaties. 'l'hey were positively crushing to him. He adhered to his purpose, but it was as with a broken heart. In spite of this, however, his martyr-like, Luther-like nature carried him forward. Bonds and imprisonment !-these he had heard of when he was yet at Corinth and Ephesus, before he had started on his journey ; but what were they to one who was ready to face death?" The comparison may take three forms. I. ST. PETER's BOASTING WAS THAT OF INEXPERIENCE, He te.lked about dying with Jesus, but he did not know what dying wa.s. He had not suffered much in his discipleship. Persecutions nor shame had yet touched him. He talked about dying a.s we all do until God has taken us and set us down at the very edge of the border-land. Many of us feel very confident that we can master temptation, endure affliction, and face death; while the truth may be that we know nothing of the force or the subtlety of either, and may well be humble, and look on to untried scenes saying, "Lead thou me on." II. ST. PAUL'S BOA.STING WAS TH.AT OF EXPEB.IENCE. He had fully proved what he could do, and what he could bea.r, for Christ's sake. He had been sick and ill ; he had faced death by shipwreck ; he had been stoned by the mob, and left for dead. He was always bearing about in the body the "dying of the Lord Jesus." He might speak strongly and confidently; for there could be nothing in his coming lot that had not been represented in his past experiences. He knew well that he laboured day by day with his life, as it were, in his hands. There is all the difference between his words and St. Pcter's that we :find between the confident utterance of a youth and the calm expres- sions of the aged. And St. Paul's has really no boastfulness in it. It is but the fixed and settled purpose of his life pressed out into intense language. III. ST. PETER's BO.ABTING WAS TH.AT OF PASSION.ATE FEELING. He did love the Master, and was sincere in expressing his love; but be did not think a.bout his words before speaking, BO they bear the character of the impulsive man that St. Peter was. Under excitement we may easily promise too much. Under self-restraint we shall find that what we would and what we can seriously differ from ea.eh other. When feeling is calmed, judgrnent will not always support what feeling has said. IV. ST. PAUL'S BOA.STING WAS TR.t..T OF SETTLED CONVICTION. The result, not of resolve alone, but of resolve tested, renewed, and established. Sober, settled conviction breathes in that first chapter of the Epistle to the Philippi.ans. It is quiet, calm writing. And it reads thus: "With all boldness, as always, BO now e.Iso Christ shall be magnified. in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." The same tone of settled conviction is on his glowing words so simply written in his letter to Timothy : " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.n Such expre68ions can never be mistaken for boastin_g ; they a.re only signs of a soul tha~ is sublimely uplifted. in the strength of its faith, and in the fulness of its experience. V. ST. PETER'B BOASTING WAS TR.AT OF SELF-CONFlDENOE. '!'hie being the more familiar view taken of St. Peter's words, the mode of treating it may be left. 'l'he point tu impress iB that he spoke rdyinrJ oa himself, and with no question of hit ow11 OH, XXI. 1-4:0,] TliE ACTS O.F 'fllE .APOi)TLES.