1912 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

Him privation at every step and finally a death most painfuland ignominious. From this course of sacrifice Henever wavered, even for a moment.Our Lord's was a grand character for our imitation."Yes," says one, "but our Lord was perfect and thereforecould do the Father's will perfectly." Very true; we arethankful and rejoice in this, for had He not been perfectHe could never have redeemed us. Yet we needed alsojust such an example; for however imperfectly we, likeschool children, may succeed in imitating the copy, weneed to have a perfect copy.ST. PETER A NOBLE SOLDIERBut while Christ was much more to us than a perfectexample for our imitation, which under our present infirmitieswe cannot fully duplicate, we have other examplesfurnished among brethren of similar infirmitieswith ourselves. Let us mark them and see how they followedthe Master.There was St. Peter, with his quick, impulsive nature,always loving, yet vacillating--now defending his Masterat his own peril, and again disclaiming and denying Him;now boldly contending for the faith, and again compromisingwith Jewish prejudices, calling forth and justlymeriting St. Paul's faithful reproof. Yet, rightly exercisedby reproof and discipline and endeavoring to rulehimself, his Christian character ripened and beautifiedfrom year to year, as evidenced by his grand and nobleEpistles to the Church, written by inspiration and handeddown from generation to generation for nineteen centuries;and he had many evident marks of the Lord's lovingapproval.R5109 : page 305Before St. Peter had time to express in words hisregret of his denial of the Lord, he was assured of forgivenessand of the continued favor of feeding our Lord'ssheep; for the Lord knew the sincerity of his love andrealized that through weakness and fear he had sinned.Mark, too, St. Peter's affection for his "beloved BrotherPaul" (2 Pet. 3:15,16), who had so plainly reproved andrebuked him; and for the Lord, who had said, "Get theebehind Me, Satan [adversary]; thou art an offense untoMe; for thou savorest not the things that be of God, butthose that be of men." (Matt. 16:23.) Poor St. Peter!It was an uphill road for him, but he seemed to considerand appreciate his own weakness and to put his shoulderto the wheel in a more determined effort to overcomethe propensities of his old nature, and to cultivate thegraces of the Christian character.But did he finally overcome? and was he accepted asone of that glorious company which shall constitute theBride of Christ? Yes, truly; for the risen Lord Himselfdeclared that his name is written with the others of the