The Tupelo journal., 1903-01-30
A CALL TO SERVICE.
Some Helpful Lessons from the Elk
ssa perience Of Peter.
The Double Nature of the Cnu of the
ApostIe-Sermon by the .High-
way and Byway"
Copyright. 1908. by A. N. Kellogg News.
paper Col

give diligence to make youc calling and
election sure: for If We do these things,
We shall never fall: for so an entrance shall
be ministered unto you abundantly into the
everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ."-II. Peter, ITO
and II.
Advice of a Veteran.-The value of
an admonition or a piece of advice is
measured by the character and the
experience of the one from whom
such admonition or advice emanates.
The old soldier who has been long in
the service is qualified to speak of mat
ters pertaining to the calling to which
he has devoted his life. He fully APP
preciates its dignity, he understands
its hardships and dangers, and in the
school of experience he has learned
faithfulness to its responsibilities.
The story of his life is a living com
mentary on the advice which he gives;
it Eliminates the thought and the les
son he would drive home. AS you
travel back over the milestones in his
life you can read the letterings which
spell out the advice he has given. Take
away the identity of the speaker and,
though the thoughts expressed are
recognized as self-evident truths, still
half of their force is lost. Advice
without an experience behind it is
like a picture without a background.
The coloring may be vivid and the fig
ure perfect in outline. but if the deeper
shades of the artists brush have been
left out the effect of the painting is
to a very great extent lost. Precept
and example go hand in hand, and to
separate the two is to do violence to
both and to mar the individual beauty
of each and destroy their harmonious
blending.
Gods word is an exquisite dovetail-
ing of precept and example, of eternal
truth and living expression of that
truth in the lives of those whose his
tory fills the sacred pages. David's
Psalms are Illuminated by the expert
ences in his life which gave them birth.
The teachings of Christ are reen-
forced and explained by His match
less life, His sacrifcial death, His
triumphant resurrection and His
glorious ascension. The epistles of
Paul and the other apostles take on
new meaning and force as we read
them through the lives lived by their
authors. Tt is a fascinating study to
discover the experiences in the life
of a Paul or a Peter which have re-
spiritual truth and to which they give
expression in their letters. Their let
tiers help to fill out the fragmentary
account which Gods Word gives to
US of their lives, and on the other
hand the incidents in their lives which
God has been pleased to preserve for
our edification are wonderful lenses
through which to obtain a clearer and
better view of the truths to which
they have given expression.
Our text throbs with the deepest
experiences in the life of Peter. When
this aged veteran of the eros ofJesus
Christ penned its words, he was living
over again for you and for me Incl
dents which had stirred his impulsive
soul to its utmost depths. The silver
lining to the cloud of his denial which
came between his Lord and himself
shines forth in our text with rare
beauty as we hear the reinstated dis
eiple pleading'with his brethren in the
faith to give diligence to make their
calling and election sure. The palace
of the high priest, the questioning
damsel, the black lie and foul oath.
the reproachful look of his fettered
and soldier-guarded Lord, and his wall
of heart anguish on the darkness of
the night air, all come crowding on
memory's canvas as he earnestly
points out in the preceding verses the
safe and shining way along which
there could be no such stumbling and
falling as had come into his expert
ence, for" he says, "if We do these
things, We shall never fall" And then
he hears again the words of Jesus:
Feed My lambs. Tend My sheep.
Follow Mel" and he feels anew the
emotion that swelled in his soul that
morning before Galilee's lake as he
realized that Jesus was swinging wide
the doors of His Kingdom to him and
giving him abundant entrance to the
place from which he felt his denial
had shut him out forever. And with
the stirring of his soul, his faithful
hand writes to you and to me that
ian entrance shall be ministered unto
you abundantly into the everlasting
King bm of our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ" Our text issues not
from the bare, narrow walls of the
cloister of a monastery, but it echoes
with the footsteps of Peter as he
walked the streets of Jerusalem on
that dreadful night, as he went with
fearful heart to the tomb on resur-
rection morning, and as he stood in
the presence of His risen Lord and
received His rebuke and His forgive
ness. Surely we may well sit in Pc
ter's school and learn the rue mean
ing of the call to service in the King
dom of Jesus Christ! Let him take
a chapter from his life and unfold to
you the meaning of his words:
wherefore the rather, brethren, give
diligence to make your calling and
election sure; for if We do these things,
We shall never fall; for so an entrance
shall be ministered unto you album
dainty into the everlasting Kingdom
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ"
The Call to Service.-It came to
Peter away back in the early days of
Jesus ministry, when he met Him
and heard His words: "Follow Me-"
1T m to every soul as it meets
Jesus and He quickly calls: Follow