ililllJii CORNELL university; LIBRARY BS2515.M6'r"""'"""^'-"'"'^ Peter:fisherman,disciple,apostle, 3 1924 007 757 697 : PETER FISHERMAN, DISCIPLE, APOSTLE Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924007757697 PETER: FISHERMAN, DISCIPLE, APOSTLE MEYER, F. B. D.D. AUTHOR OF "PAUL : A SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST" ETC., ETC. MORGAN &" SCOTT Ltd. PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS 12, LONDON, MCMXIX E.G. I'^ii'.'tVtid 'i^h ioMi(h FOREWORD PETER comes nearer to us than any of his brother We Apostles. revere James, the brotherof our Lord, for his austere saintliness. We strain our eyes in the effort to follow John to the serene heights, whither his jeagle-wing bore him. But Peter is so human, so like ourselves in his downsittings and uprisings, so compassed with infirmity, that we are encouraged to hope that perhaps the Great Potter may be able to make something even of our common clay. When walking over his farmstead with a friend we came on a field, which on a former visit appeared to be choked with thistles. He had bought it at a cheap rate because of its derelict condition. But it had been carefully drained and enriched. Much care andscience hadbeen expendedonit, andtomyfriend's surprise a rich crop of clover resulted. The long- buried seed had lain starved and hopeless in the soil till the rich culture had called it into evidence. Itneeded the Saviour'sinsight to discover an Apostle in Simon Bar-jona, the fisherman ; and the Saviour's FOREWORD vi patient culture to elicit the dormant qualities of his character, which speak in every paragraph of his Epistles,andfittedhim to be theleaderofthe Primitive Church. But if the Master could'do so much for him, what may He not effect, my reader, for thee and me ? yrxju^iJt^ f, /3.