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not.

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Christ's enemies. There he is among Christ's ememies. That is the next step, and at last one comes in and looks at him and says, "You are one of His disciples?" "No, I am not." He denies it. The man that has been with him for three years says, "I am not His disciple. I don't know Him." "I believe you are." Well, I am not." I suppose he thought that was the end of it; that it was all settled. A little while after another came and looked at him, saying: "This man is one of that Galilean's followers." "I am not," says Peter." "I am Don't you accuse me of that. I tell you I don't know anything about it." Well, you look very much like a man I have seen with Him. I was out there in the wilderness when he fed the five thousand, and if you are not one of the men who passed around the bread you look very much like him." And Peter says, "I am not the man. Don't you accuse me of that." Thus Peter denies Him. And by-and-by another man comes up and he, too, recognizes Peter and says, " Surely thou are one of His disciples and Peter denies Him again. The third man comes up and says, "Thou are one of His disciples, for thy speech betrayeth thee." And Peter got full of anger. His

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wrath was kindled and he cried out with an oath and

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swore, I am not." I cannot use his language. Think of Peter swearing and cursing! Undoubtedly, he was in the habit of swearing and cursing before Christ met him and the old sin came back upon him and he swore at Christ and said, "I never knew him." And away out in the street he heard a cock crow, and when the cock crew Christ turned round and looked at him. All he did was to

look at him. He might have said. "Is it true you don't know Me? You have been with Me three years. Have you forgotten when your mother was crying for help you wanted Me to raise her from sickness and make her well. Have you forgotten how you wanted Me to make three

tablets, one for Moses, one for Elias and one for Me? Is it true you have forgotten how, when you walked on the water, you began to sink and cried to me for help that you might not perish?" He might have reminded him of that, but the Lord didn't do that. He did not put the knife in him. All He did was to turn and give him one look, and it just broke Peter's heart. If there is a backslider here to-day may you just catch a glimpse of Christ looking down into your hearts. It broke the heart of Peter, and I can see him springing to his feet and going out and weeping bitterly. No one on earth knows what he suffered that night. I can imagine some of the disciples coming and telling him what had taken place, how Jesus had been condemned to death, and next, he hears that the Saviour is dead and that they have buried His body, and all that night how much Peter must have suffered. I can imagine it in his sleep even. Oh, what bitterness! He was passing through the agonies of Gethsemane himself now. I can see him weeping and wailing, “Oh, that Christ had only forgiven me before He died!" He had no hope of His resurrection. He had forgotten all that Christ said about His coming back. But see how tenderly Christ treated him. When He came out of the grave He said, "Go back and tell My disciples.” No doubt Peter thought he would be counted out. But He leaves a message for Peter: "Go tell Peter that I will meet him in Galilee." I can imagine, when the disciple came to Peter and told him, "The Lord is raised; He sent a message to you," that Peter exclaimed, “What! did He speak my name?" "Yes, He said go and tell the disciples and Peter. He put your name in." 'Oh," says Peter, “thank God for that! I will see Him," and away went Peter to see the Lord. He was eager to see Him, and we are told by Paul here in Corinthians that he met Him alone. No one on earth knows what took place at that interview, but I can imagine the first time Peter saw

no.

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Him he fell at His feet and washed them with his tears, and cried, "Lord, forgive me!" But his self-confidence is all gone. When he met Him there at that breakfast on the sea shore, when Christ prepared the feast-what a feast it must have been !-He called them all around Him and then said, "Peter, do you love Me more than these? Do you love Me more than John?" What does Peter say ? He says, "Lord, you know." And then He says again, "Feed My lambs." "Lovest thou Me more than these, Peter," said He, the second time, and then He said it the third time. It grieved poor Peter, I suppose, because he had denied Him three times; and the last words the Lord said to him after He had fed him were, "Feed My Lambs." And the last words before were, "Follow thou Me."

O, Blessed Saviour! if there is a wanderer from the fold here to-day, bring him back. If there is one following afar off let him come to-day. I wish I had more time to talk about this wonderful character, but may it be a great help to us, and may we be kept from falling.

DECISION.

You will find my text this afternoon in the 27th chapter of the gospel according to Matthew, part of the 22d verse: 66 What shall I then do with Jesus which is called Christ?" Our last Sunday here has come, and I am speaking to many to-day that will probably not be here again. Even if you should all want to come you probably would not be able to; so to-day I want to press this question home upon you. For ten weeks we have been trying to preach to you about Christ, and tell you something about Him. To be sure we have done it very poorly, but now the time has come for us to close. It remains with you to say whether these meetings shall close and leave you out of the ark or in it. A good deal depends upon this afternoon's meeting. A solemn question and a personal one is before you; not what your neighbors and friends are going to do, but "what shall I do with Jesus?" Pilate was in great difficulty. This question had been sprung upon him, as it were, suddenly. He had not heard about Christ for ten weeks as you have, nor, as it may be, for twenty-five or forty or fifty years. He had not been proclaimed to Pilate as He has been proclaimed in this Christian land. We live within sight of the cross and of our Saviour glorified in heaven, and Pilate only saw Him in His humiliation, when He was condemned and cast out by His own nation. He was a heathen man, wakened perhaps suddenly early one Satur

day morning, between the hours of six and seven, called into the judgment hall in great haste to pass sentence upon a man that they wanted to have put to death at once. They wanted him to sign the death-warrant. They did not want any trial or examination. But when Pilate looked at Him, he saw that he was a different prisoner from any he had had before. Pilate asked a few questions: "What do you bring against Him?" They said, "If He was not a malefactor, we would not bring Him to you." So he begins to question the prisoner, and before he had talked with Him long, he was convinced that never was such a prisoner brought before him. His judgment told him to release the man, his conscience told him to release Him. His heart, even his treacherous deceitful heart that was desperately wicked above all things, that very heart said "Release Him." His wife sent word, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered much in a dream concerning Him; " but still Pilate had not the moral courage to stand and release the man. Herein he was not true to his own convictions.

I believe that is the trouble with thousands of people that have been attending these meetings. I believe that if every man and woman that has been here had been true to their convictions, there would have been thousands more saved. Many a man and woman has gone out of this hall convinced that they were sinners, and that they ought to receive Christ, but yet they have rejected Him, just as Pilate did. Pilate was a vacillating character, wayward, and undecided. Reuben is spoken of as "unstable as water;" and that is the character of Pilate. There are hundreds in this city in the same state of mind. Pilate was thoroughly convinced and aroused, knowing down deep in his heart that he ought to receive Christ; but he was not willing to decide. People are vacillating. Another mistake Pilate made was that he was influenced by