e with thee, I will
not deny thee;' the next, declaring, with oaths and curses, 'I know
not the man.' No wonder that when Jesus turned and looked on him,
Peter went out and wept bitterly, as bitter tears of shame as ever
were shed on earth. For he knew, he was sure, that he loved his
Lord all along: and now he had denied him. He who was so bold and
confident, to fall thus! and into the very sins most contrary to his
nature! the very sins in which he would have expected least of all
to fall! He, so frank and honest and brave--He to turn coward. He
to tell a base lie! I dare say, that for the moment he could hardly
believe himself to be himself.

But so it is, my friends. If we forget that all which is good and
strong in us comes from God, and not from ourselves; if we are
conceited, and confident in ourselves; then we cut ourselves off
from God's grace, and give place to Satan the Devil, that he may
sift us like wheat, as he did St. Peter; and then in some shameful
hour, we may find ourselves saying and doing things which we would
never have believed we could have done. God grant, that if ever we
fall into such unexpected sin, it may happen to us as it did to St.
Peter. For Satan gained little by sifting St. Peter. He sifted out
the chaff: but the wheat was left behind safe for God's garner.
The chaff was St. Peter's rashness and self-conceit, which came from
his own sinful nature; and that went, and St. Peter was rid of it
for ever. The wheat was St. Peter's courage, and faith, and honour,
which came from God; and that remained, and St. Peter kept them for
ever. That, we read, was St. Peter's conversion; that worked the
thorough and complete change in his character, and made him a new
man from that day forth. And then, after that terrible and fiery
trial, St. Peter was ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
which gave him courage with fervent zeal to preach the gospel of his
Crucified Lord, and at last to be crucified himself for that Lord's
sake; and so fulfil the Lord's words to him. 'When thou wast young,
thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when
thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.' By that
our Lord seems to have meant, 'You were strong and proud and self-
willed enough in your youth. The day will come when you will be
tamed down, ready and willing to suffer patiently, even ag