SSLS 2017-03-31

2017 2nd Quarter

Lesson 1, March 25-31, The Person of Peter

Friday, March 31

“He who loses sight of his entire dependence upon God, is sure to fall. We are contending with those who are stronger than we. Satan and his hosts are constantly watching to assail us with temptations, and in our own strength and wisdom it is impossible for us to withstand them. Hence, whenever we permit our hearts to be drawn away from God, whenever we indulge self-exaltation or self-dependence, we are sure to be overthrown.
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“Man is too often placed where God should be; man is praised and exalted until he loses sight of his dependence upon divine power; and in order to save him from ruin, God is compelled to let him see his own weakness, by withdrawing, in a great measure, the Holy Spirit from him.
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“O how many are being deluded by their own supposed goodness! When Peter said he would follow Christ to prison and to death, he meant it, every word of it; but he was not conscious that slumbering in his soul were elements which circumstances would fan into life, and which would prove his eternal ruin, unless he was made conscious of his danger. His compassionate Saviour saw in him a self-love, self-assurance that would overbear even his love for Christ; and unless he could be brought to see this, he would be lost.
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“Do not seek to exalt self, but learn in the school of Christ meekness and lowliness of heart. You know what Peter’s character was, how strikingly his peculiar traits were developed. Before his great fall he was always dictatorial and forward, speaking unadvisedly, from the impulse of the moment. He was always ready to correct others, and to express his mind before he had a clear comprehension of himself or of what he had to say. But Peter was converted, and the converted Peter was very different from the rash, impetuous Peter. He retained his former fervor, but now the grace of Christ regulated his zeal. Instead of being impetuous, self-confident, and self-exalted, he was calm, self-possessed, and teachable. He could then feed the lambs as well as the sheep of Christ’s flock.
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“The world will never know the work secretly going on between the soul and God, nor the inward bitterness of spirit, the self-loathing, and the constant efforts to control self; but many of the world will be able to appreciate the result of these efforts.
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“Christ will not undertake to teach the self-righteous, self-conceited, and self-willed. If such come to him with the inquiry, ‘What is truth?’ he gives them no answer. It is only the meek that he will guide in judgment; the meek will he teach his way. Solomon was naturally endowed with good judgment and large reasoning powers; but he acknowledged himself before God as a little child. He sought for wisdom from God with humility, and he sought not in vain.
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“Those who have the deepest experience in the things of God, are the farthest removed from pride or self-exaltation. It is when men have the most exalted conceptions of the glory and excellence of Christ, that self is abased, and they feel that the lowest place in his service is too honorable for them.” (Ellen White, Gospel Workers, 365-367, emphasis added.)