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On Enemy Ground, November 11
Matthew 26:31-35
;
Matthew 26:56
;
Matthew 26:58
;
Matthew 26:69-75
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1
Corinthians 10:12
.
When Christ on the eve of His betrayal forewarned His disciples, “All ye shall
be offended because of me this night,” Peter confidently declared, “Although
all shall be offended, yet will not I” (
Mark 14:27, 29
). Peter did not know his
own danger. Self-confidence misled him. He thought himself able to withstand
temptation; but in a few short hours the test came, and with cursing and swearing
he denied his Lord
Peter had not designed that his real character should be known. In assuming
an air of indifference he had placed himself on the enemy’s ground, and he
became an easy prey to temptation. If he had been called to fight for his Master,
he would have been a courageous soldier; but when the finger of scorn was
pointed at him, he proved himself a coward. Many who do not shrink from
active warfare for their Lord are driven by ridicule to deny their faith. By
associating with those whom they should avoid, they place themselves in the
way of temptation. They invite the enemy to tempt them, and are led to say
and do that of which under other circumstances they would never have been
guilty. The disciple of Christ who in our day disguises his faith through dread
of suffering or reproach denies his Lord as really as did Peter in the judgment
hall
When the crowing of the cock reminded him of the words of Christ, surprised
and shocked at what he had just done he turned and looked at his Master. At
that moment Christ looked at Peter, and beneath that grieved look, in which
compassion and love for him were blended, Peter understood himself. He went
out and wept bitterly. That look of Christ’s broke his heart. Peter had come to
the turning point, and bitterly did he repent his sin.... Now his self-confidence
was gone. Never again were the old boastful assertions repeated....
It was through self-sufficiency that Peter fell; and it was through repen-
tance and humiliation that his feet were again established. In the record of his
experience every repenting sinner may find encouragement
[322]
23
Christ’s Object Lessons 152
.
24
The Desire of Ages, 712
.
25
Christ’s Object Lessons 152-155
.
334