Ill 



Peter s denial of Christ. 25 



of the incident, has greatly impressed the imagina- 

 tion of men ; though in the light of eternity it was 

 probably less than the smallest sin of calculation. 

 He accordingly gave Peter an affectionate warning, 

 with a promise that he should be sustained ; address- 

 ing him, not as though he were outside the kingdom 

 of God and needed to be brought into it, but as a 

 soldier already enlisted in the service of the King, 

 and beginning an arduous and dangerous warfare in 

 that service. This is sufficiently shown by Christ's 

 words, "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail 

 not " ; implying that he had faith already. And the 

 Apostle must have been already regenerate and 

 brought into the kingdom, when he was one of the 

 three who were permitted to behold the heavenly 

 glory of the Christ on Mount Hermon ; and when, 

 in answer to his declaration, "Thou art the Christ, 

 the Son of the living God," he received the testimony, 

 " Blessed art thou, Simon son of Jonah : for flesh 

 and blood (i.e. the natural understanding) hath not 

 revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in 

 heaven." J This appears to be conclusive proof that 

 in Christ's view it may be necessary and possible 

 for a man to " turn again " after he has been " born 

 anew " and received into the kingdom of God. And 

 if so, to "turn again," or, in the Authorised Version, 

 to "be converted," is not a synonymous expression 

 for to be "born anew." 



Now, we have seen that Professor Drummond 

 1 Matt. xvi. 17. 



