"And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. (56) But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. (57) And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. (58) And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. (59) And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean. (60) And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. (61) And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. (62) And Peter went out, and wept bitterly."
The subject of Peter's fall, and recovery by grace, which the sacred historian hath so particularly noticed in those Verses, both merit our most earnest attention. There can be no doubt, but that the Holy Christ meant it should be held forth to the Church, for the special improvement of the Lord's people in all ages; and it would be an unpardonable neglect under such an impression, if we were to pass it by.
The best service, I apprehend, which I can do the Reader, will be by a short commentary to mark under both parts in his fall, and in his recovery by sovereign grace, the striking features contained in the history; looking to the Lord the Holy Ghost to make the review of it profitable to both Writer and Reader.
And here, in respect to the subject of Peter's fall, I would observe the greatness of that fall. everything tended to aggravate it. The person of Peter, so dear to Jesus; the time and place in which this foul denial was committed; the little provocations to it at the instance of a poor servant maid, and such like characters add to these, the peculiar privileges Peter had enjoyed above all the other Apostles, excepting dames and John. He had seen Christ's glory in the Mount. He had been an eye witness to his agonies in the garden. One or two miracles of a private nature, which Jesus wrought, he had been present at; and once, at the command of Christ, his faith had been so strong in the first warmth of his love, that he had attempted to walk to Jesus on the water. And yet, amidst all these distinguishing mercies, and forewarned as he was by Christ, he not only denied Christ, but persisted in the denial, though the first crow of the cock told him of his perfidy; yet on he went, and at length proceeded by oaths to such a desperate state of confirmation to the lie, as took off all pretence that it might have been the effect of surprise or inadvertency. Reader! behold in this instance what man is in his highest attainments! Surely, in the view of so great an Apostle, (for a great Apostle he was), we cannot but learn, that the best of men are but men, and the greatest of men may fall. The corruptions of nature are the same in all. And the only (difference between one man and another, is what grace makes, and not man's merit. Lord Jesus! impress this great truth on my heart, that I may have a full sense of that sweet scripture, and which Peter, in the after stages of life more fully learnt under the Holy Ghost, they are kept are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. 1 Peter 1:5
Let us attend now, in a few words, to the improvements to be drawn from Peter's recovery. From whence we no less learn, that as the best of men cannot keep themselves from falling, so neither, when fallen, can they raise themselves, but their recovery is the sole effect of sovereign grace. In proof of this, in the instance of Peter, we are told, that he heard the first crowing of the cock without manifesting any emotion. But, when at the second crowing of the cock, the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, that look entered his soul. He went out and wept bitterly. That his repentance was true and sincere, all the after events in the Apostle's life proved. But these were the effects, and not the cause. One of the Fathers, (I think it was Chrysostom) hath made a beautiful observation upon the blessings which accompanied the Lord's word with the Lord's power. For, as Peter heard the cock crow, and seemingly unconcerned, so sinners hear the, word of God, and remain regardless. But when the Lord's grace enters the heart, as the eye of Jesus darted upon Peter, then all the blessed effects follow. Reader! do not overlook the gracious, tender, loving, (what shall I call it), forgiving look of Jesus to Peter. Surrounded as Christ then was, with the hell-hounds waiting for his blood, still he forgot not poor Peter! Oh! the compassions of Jesus Lord! manifest them to my soul!