yielding. He shows in his own Person how the just man has a fortress impre<TMble to violence. He could have vanished myeterionsly from the midst of his enemies, 8B he had done before; but what would thl\t have advantaged us? We cannot vanish from an oppo~ing world; we must eiWier meet violence with violence, or yield what is merely outward, knowing that the inward is sacred and i.nvulnerable.-Y. Ver. l';".-The folly of fear. Simon Peter, having shown the vanity or violence in his u~eless blow at the high priest's servant, now proceeds to show the folly of fear in a vain attempt to conceal his connection with Jesus. Extremes meet, 'l'he spirit that impels to a reckless, rnndom attack is immediately followed by the -spirit that seeks presrnt i;afety at any oost. 'l'he denial by P<Jter illustrates many truths. We take it here e.s illusl rat.ing the folly of fear. I. PETER MEA.h"T TO BE PRUDENT. He sought to keep safe what he valued most and what he valued most was his own present life. What a man most fears to los~ is his treasure. Peter had not yet gained the true prudence, beca\18e he had not yet found out the most precious thing a man can possess, even an inward union with that which is inward in Jesus. He had to do the best he could for the best he had, and that best led him into a lie. Once be admitted his association with Jesus, he did not know what the admission might lead to. II. THE OKLY PA.TB TO TRUE. COURAGE. The Christian can be the only truly coura;::eous person. For he knows that, whatever may corue from the outside, the best thin;::, are safe. A higher courage is often needed than that in which Peter proved to he l:i.cking, even moral courage. Some would even dare to die, but they would not dare to fly in the f&oe of the world's customs and demands. Peter had harder things to do afterwards than preserve his natural life. He had to turn his back on Judaism. He had to make ready for being laughed at and sneered at, again and again. The wisest fear is a fear of losing living union with Je.~us. If we value that as we ought to do, then the laughter and the threats of men will be robbed of what makes them so dreadful to ma.ny.-Y. , er. 20.-Nothing to conceal. I. A CONTRAST. What religion is there that can bear the light of d11.y as Christianity can.? 'l'he false needs-to· be arranged and beau- tified and kept ever in one particular light. Jesus could expose everything if neces- sary. What a contrast to the life in the temple at Jerusalem I There was not a priest who could afford to have all his doings brought out and set before men. This ought to be part of our power when we are dealing with false religions. 'l'he more they 11re searched into, the more their abominations are exposed. The more Christianity is searched into, the more transparent and attractive it becomes. Not that everything is clear to the intellect, not that there is absence of mysteries; but these mysteries, whatever they are, lie open for everybody to contemplate them and be the better for them. The mysteries of heathendom are only priestcraft when one gets in behind them. Christianity i.J! symbolized by the contents of the ark. That ark was sacred, not to be touched with heedless hands; but once it was opened, nothing lay there but tLe commandments, every one of which uttered forth the condemnation of everything false. II . .AN EXAll!PLE. That openness which was in Jesus must be in all his followers. All true Christian assemblies are perfectly open places, except when, in charity and k.indoess to indi vid ual8, the door i.J! closed ; and even then the closing of the door is known to all, and why it is so. Those entrusted with the propagation of Christianity have nothing to conceal. Their aim is the good of men; their method is by persuasion and appeal ; they draw all their topics and their teaching from a book which is as open to othen! as to theIIlllClves. None of the first apostles needed to conceal anything; there wa.s no false step, no dubious word pf their Master to gloss over or keep in the back(Tround • and similarly we have nothing to apologize for. We need not to pro- c ~ a mer; ideal for the acceptance of men. Our re&! is better than the best ideal our imagination can fancy. III. A CA.UBE :FOB GLOBYTNG. Difficulty is taken out of our way. We feel that aince all i.B open and clear and satisfactory now, it always will Le so. We find nothing t.o be ashamed of, nothing contradictory, in our experience of Christ in time. Aud 011. xvm. 1-40.] THE OOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 415
almjh\r ~rely will be our experience in eternity. "Whatever record leap to li~ht," Clmst will be the same. Whatever testimonies be unearthed, there will be notbin"' awkward to got over.-Y. "