"But he (Peter) denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest ... And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man ... Then began he to curse and to swear, saying I no know the man ... And he ... wept bitterly" ~ Matthew 26:70, 72, 74a, 75b
I [Eugenia Price, the author] am sure this passage belongs among our "red stones" because it shows the effect of the Lord's love upon a hard heart. Peter denied; then he swore and cursed; and then "he went out and wept bitterly." Those of us who have in any way denied the Lord Jesus know something of this kind of weeping. It is the bitterest weeping of all.
It is the kind of weeping I have seen come upon men and women who have loved Christ for many years, but who have fallen into the devil's own trap of condemning a non-believer for "swearing and cursing." When we as Christians do this --- when we expect someone who does not know Christ, to act as though he or she does know Him, then we are belittling His Cross and the very blood He poured out there to save us. When we begin to see our own hardness, we weep.
What is in a man will come out under pressure. Have you never let fly something under pressure which horrified you? It came from something sinful within you or it could not have come out. Peter swore because he was under tremendous pressure, but he would not have done it had there not been something sinful in him at the time.
What was still in Peter came out. But when the Holy Spirit came to dwell within him at Pentecost, when Peter gave himself fully to be possessed by the Spirit of God, the same process took place when he spoke. What was in him came out. Only then God's own life was in Peter and instead of swearing and oaths, there came from the same lips these words:
"... As he which called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
It is the kind of weeping I have seen come upon men and women who have loved Christ for many years, but who have fallen into the devil's own trap of condemning a non-believer for "swearing and cursing." When we as Christians do this --- when we expect someone who does not know Christ, to act as though he or she does know Him, then we are belittling His Cross and the very blood He poured out there to save us. When we begin to see our own hardness, we weep.
What is in a man will come out under pressure. Have you never let fly something under pressure which horrified you? It came from something sinful within you or it could not have come out. Peter swore because he was under tremendous pressure, but he would not have done it had there not been something sinful in him at the time. What was still in Peter came out. But when the Holy Spirit came to dwell within him at Pentecost, when Peter gave himself fully to be possessed by the Spirit of God, the same process took place when he spoke. What was in him came out. Only then God's own life was in Peter and instead of swearing and oaths, there came from the same lips these words:
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