LET US HOLD FAST TO OUR PRECIOUS FAITH!

ON THE evening before Jesus' death, he said that all his apostles would abandon him.  One of them, Peter, boasted:  "Although all the others are stumbled in connection with you, never will I be stumbled.!" (Matthew 26:33) But Jesus knew otherwise.  That is why he told Peter on that same occasion:  "I have made application  for you that your faith may not give  out; and you, when once you have returned, strengthen your brothers." -Luke 22:32.

Peter, who had become overconfident regarding his faith, disowned Jesus that very night.  Three times he denied that he even knew Christ!  (Matthew 26:69-75)  When he "returned,"  his Master's words, "strengthen your brothers," must have rung in his ears loud and clear.  The rest of Peter's life was deeply affected by that admonition, as is evidenced by the two letters he wrote, which are preserved in the Bible. 

Next time: Why Peter Wrote His Letters

From the Watchtower magazine, 1997