words of our Saviour, spoken at one time to him singly: "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in Heaven."

SECTION III.

PREDICTION III.

"The Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and, when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."-LUKE Xxii. 31, 2,

These words must be considered in the light of a prophecy.

I. Our Saviour signified that a season of distress was coming upon the Apostles. "Simon, Simon', Satan hath desired to have you 2"-all of you, my

from his having been the Apostle, through whose suggestion and persuasion the measure was resolved upon, of which the account is given in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts.

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'The repetition of the name is an expression of kindness. Our Saviour, on other occasions, adopted this language of compassionate regard. "Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and troubled about many things." Luke x. 41. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" Luke xiii. 34. "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Acts ix. 4.

2 ¿Enthoαтo vμãs-hath vehemently desired, and sought, to have you, as objects of his temptation. The exhortation to Peter, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren," implies that Satan was to be allowed to try the Apostles with his

Apostles" that he may sift you as wheat 1;" that he may agitate you with strong temptations, and endeavour to prevail with you to resign your trust in Me.

The experiment was permitted, and the day of trial came. When Jesus was betrayed into the hands of sinners, "all the disciples forsook Him, and fled 2, "

II. It was intimated that Peter, though to be exposed to the severest assault, would not fall finally before the terrors of his spiritual adversary. "I have prayed for thee 3"-for THEE especially, who art most in danger because least sensible to it"that thy faith fail not."

Peter abjured Christ; and his denial may at first appear irreconcileable with the account of the intercession, "I have prayed for thee, THAT THY FAITH FAIL NOT." The prayer of Jesus could not have been unanswered. Yet was Peter, for a time, the

evil suggestions. See Job ii. 1-6. Our spiritual enemy can do nothing against us without God's permission; and he is never permitted to tempt us above the strength, which will be given in answer to earnest prayer. 1 Cor. x. 13.

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τοῦ συνιάσαι ὡς τὸν σῖτον—that he may sift you, as wheat is winnowed, or sifted, in a sieve. It was Satan's design to shake the sieve violently, in the hope that a portion of the wheat might fall through. See Amos. ix. 9, where the Lord says: "I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth."

2 Matt. xxvi. 56.

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περὶ σοῦ,

victim of Satan's malice. This seeming difficulty is removed, if our Lord's expression be rendered, as it may be with strict propriety: "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" utterly, or entirely, or that thy faith die not, be not wholly extinguished 1. Peter did not, like Judas, "with respect to the faith make shipwreck 2." He drew back, but not "unto perdition "." He was surprised, and led away, but not held captive, by the tempter-" cast down, but not destroyed *." The Conqueror of Satan had "The enemy came in like a flood," of the Lord lifted up a standard against him "." His kind and gracious Lord "turned, and looked upon Peter." Instantly was the daring denier changed into the trembling suppliant for mercy and forgiveness.

prayed for him.

but "the Spirit

1

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3. It was prophetically declared, that opportunity

ἵνα μὴ ἐκλείπῃ ἡ πίστις σου. Luke xvi. 9.

ΕΚΛΕΙΠΕΙΝ signifies to die in "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when ye fail"-when ye quit this mortal life—ἵνα ὅταν ἐκλίπητε, sc. τὸν βίον—" they may receive you into everlasting habitations." In this sense the verb is used by the LXX. Gen. xxv. 18. xxx. 29. xlix. 33. Job xiii. 19. Jer. xlii. 17. 22. And this is the frequent signification of EKAEIIIEIN in profane writings. For examples, see Wetstein. 3 Heb. x. 39.

2 1 Tim. i. 19.

4 The Apostles were thrown down, as in wrestling, but, with one exception, not killed by the fall—καταβαλλόμενοι, ἀλλ ̓ οὐκ απολλύμενοι. 2 Cor. iv. 9.

Isaiah lix. 19.

would be afforded to Peter, re-instated, upon repentance, in the favour of God, to establish others in principles of faith and holiness. When thou art

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converted', strengthen thy brethren."

Doddridge thinks that the Apostle's first endeavours to strengthen his brethren immediately succeeded his deliverance from the toil of Satan. He

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questions not, but Peter, after he had lamented his fall so bitterly, applied himself to rally his dispersed brethren, and to prevent their fleeing from Jerusalem till the third day was over, in the morning of which he was up betimes, and at the sepulchre 2."

1 καὶ σὺ ποτὲ ἐπιστρέψας στήριξον τοὺς αδελφούς σου—and do thou, when thou hast turned back again to Me, strengthen thy brethren. Dr. Burton notices the resemblance between the words of Jesus and those of David to Ittai, 2 Sam. xv. 20.— ἐπιστρέφου καὶ ἐπίστρεψον τοὺς ἀδελφούς σου μετὰ σοῦ ; and the similarity also of Peter's answer— "Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and to death"-to the answer of Ittai, in ver. 21, εἰς τὸν τόπον οὗ ἐὰν ᾖ ὁ Κύριός μου, καὶ ἐὰν εἰς θάνατον καὶ ἐὰν εἰς ζωὴν, ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ δοῦλός σου. Gr. Test.

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2 Family Expositor. Could Peter have been in a state of mind, at so early a time as this, to console and animate his brethren? It is, however, to be observed, that Peter's testimony to the Resurrection seems first to have made an impression on the Apostles and their companions. They said, in the presence of the two disciples from Emmaus: "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." Luke xxiv. 34.

Lightfoot supposes (Hor. Hebraic. Mark xvi. 13.) that this saying was occasioned by the entrance of Peter into the assembly of the Apostles, as the companion of Cleopas, on the return from Emmaus. He thinks that, when the women reported the command of the Angel to inform the disciples, and Peter in

Whether Peter entered thus early, or not, upon the duty of strengthening his brethren, we know that

particular, that the Lord was risen, and gone before them into Galilee, Peter immediately set out for that country, having informed the brethren of the object of his journey, and that, after the appearance in the way, he hastened back, to communicate the tidings of it to the Apostles and their company, who, anticipating from his sudden, unexpected return, and the joy and eagerness of his manner, what he had to recount, exclaimed: "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon!"

To this hypothesis the following considerations have been opposed.

If Peter had been the companion of Cleopas, it is not probable that Cleopas would have been the chief speaker. From Peter, when "his heart burned within him," (ver. 32.) we should have expected language, prompted by this holy rapture.-Why should the name of this eminent Apostle have been suppressed by St. Luke, and that of Cleopas been brought forward, in the large and full account of the interview, which his Gospel affords? -Would it have been said, in the discourse with Jesus, "certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre," if Cleopas had been able to point to his companion, as one, who had visited the tomb?-Would St. Mark, the recorder of Gospel facts from Peter's information, have been so brief in his notice of this important appearance, and omitted to mention that Peter witnessed it, if that Apostle had been present?

Pearce says, that neither Cleopas nor his companion could have been Apostles, as appears from ver. 33, where we read that, when they returned to Jerusalem, "they found the Eleven gathered together." But to this it may be answered, that “the Eleven" is, probably, an expression for the body of Apostles, of whom, indeed, at this time, there could have been but ten assembled, as Thomas was absent. St. Paul says: "He was seen of Cephas, then of the Twelve." 1 Cor. xv. 5. But before Christ showed Himself, Judas had fallen from his ministry and apostleship. By the Twelve must here be understood the Apos