Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-01-19
"PETER'S RENUNClATIONS'
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon By Rev.
DR.. John Humpstone.
Draws Lesson From Chapter In the Life
Of Simon Peter.

! stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church'
preached Sunday morning sermon on
"The Life and Character of Simon Peter,
the special subject being Peters Renum
cations" The text was from Luke v:s.
I 10. IL: "When Simon Peter saw it, he tell
down at Jesus knees. saying. Depart from
me; for | am sinful man, D Lord.
| And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not;
from henceforth thou shalt catch men
| And when they had brought their ships tcc
land, they forsook all and followed Him.
DR.. Humpstone said:
| life of Simon Peter-a day OF destiny
Months ago in Judea he had followed III:
| brother into the presence of Jesus; for the
| first time he then saw and heard the Mes
, siah With Peter, to see and hear was IN
stanty to decide. He became disciple
forthwith. In the interval, Peter has beer
some of the time in company with his Mas
ter; but much of it at his business, to!line
and trafficking; meditation his constant
avocation to testify of the Christ to oth
crs, as he met them in the contacts of the
strand or the market, his habit and his
i pleasure. No laggard, half.hearted dsci
pie would Peter be, we are sure. His yea,
and enthusiasm would lead him rather te
overwork the role Of advocate: to urge
men with heat and energy to accept the
! Messiahship of Jesus, even before they
| Of Peters life as only disciple, which
would be we'll worth the reading, il we had
it. After its perusal we should be less
! disposed than now we are to think that
usefulness in Christ's service is necessarily
connected with ordination thereto as all
exclusive calling. There could hardly be
more effective showing of what mere
disciple can do for his Master and his fel'
| low men than this lost leaf of Peters bio.
II, i, n
| the case you may be sure Jesus never
would have called Peter this dav to the
continuous opportunities of the ministry;
nor. later, to the weightier responsibilities
| of the apostolate.
For an incipient crisis had been precini-
tated in the career of Jesus as Messiah. His
rejection at Nazareth was the cloud no
bigger than a mans hand, that. neverthc'
| less portended the final distant storm
burst of hate unto death. from which
| there would be no escape for Him, Re'
iected by 'His own" after the flesh. it was
time He was gathering "His own. after
! the spirit and preparing them to DO His
perpetrators and interpreters. So He left
Nazareth to take up His residence at Ca
pernaum, that He might be near the most
| prominent and promising of the group of
His early disciples. What though these
were only quartet of fishermen. The
sight of one who knew what was in man,
and needed not that any should testify OF
man." He knew the time had now come
to separate unto Himself and the service OF
His kingdom the founders Of His church.
His eve saw every precious possibility IN
their nature. He Disseminated them one
from another, approaching the individual
ity of each, and yet discerning their com
plmental temperameDts and Quahhca tons.
W feel IN Ia
"hour' had come He never deferred
In the early morning, therefore, He be
took Himself to the lakes Shore. There
He found the multitudes already astr
The people ware abroad, as the manner is
in the East with the break of day; taking
the air, hasting on their errands, following
each his beat. But sool Jesus became the
| centre of their interest and attention. The
! fame of Him was already everywhere. To
see Him was to wish to hear Him, with an
eagerness that would not he refused. Ac'
| companied By continually enlarGlnc
crowd He reached the place where the men
He sought were washing and mcndIng
their nets after night OF unrewarded tod
on the lake The boats were drawn up on
the beach, in the midst. Entering the one
that belonged to Simon Peter, He asked
him ia "thrust out little from the land
that He might use the boat for a pulpit,
from which to address the crowd, 1t was
to Peter He turned His first thought when
He set about the business OF selecting His
future ministers. Whatever pre-emneuCe
afterward belonged to Peter was deter.
mined by the Lord Himself from the be-
ginning, He knew the qualifications for
leadership that were IN him. He knew
also every abatement Of his fitness to be
first. But the elements that indicated his
gift of precedence outnum6erei The weak.
nesses which continually threatened his
primacy, So it was Peters boat He elected
to enter. 1t was around Peters personal.
ity. chiefly. that He chose 10 nucIeate the
incidents OF His calling of the four whom
He would now detach from their business,
that they might henceforth give all their
time and thought to Him and to HIS mis-.
sion.
Two distinct preparations He arranged
for the issuance and acceptance OF the call
itself. The first was a sermon FROM the
boat to the multitude. Alas! that the dis.
course is unrecorded, What a lesson it
would be as to what preaching Is at It's
hest. Sitting in the shadow OF his Master
that day. watching row the Speaker. now
the audience Peter GO rvs first intro luz
ton to the science and the art nj puh''r
discourse for religious ends Nher. by
and by, he became himself r,lCher, we
, may be sure that his discourses te1cct tie
Lords manner and cor His method.
The sermon finished. followed a miracle:
itself a symbol of the aim and end Of
preaching: Launch out ;,tD the deep and
let down the nets for a drdu4Ht,' was The
peremptory word of JESUS to PetCr, when
His discourse was done Then followed
Simon's Characteristic exclamation Peter.
csque to the uttermosD: "Ovcrseer, we
have toilcd all night and have taken moth.
ing; nevertheless at Thy word | will let
down the net" As ii he should have said
Thou, Lord, art the one to command. |
to obey. | have not seen too much of Thy
power and presence to refuse, But | have
my own idea of TIE u4clcssness Of such
proceeding under the conditions. FXpe.
renee is worth something, especially IN
fishing" Over went the net, at last and
in came the fish as i was hauled. So
many were the captives that both Peters
boat and Johns, suddenly summoned to
help, were filled almost to the sinking
point.
The effect upon Simon Peter was instan.
taneous aud oyerpowering. As in fash
Of thought he saw, as he never had seem
felt, as he never ,had, known, the differ
encc between his Lord and himself. Over
against the Masters divine power his own
helplessness and ignorance stood forth as
black blot on a white surface. He who
had but just now assumed that air and
professional superiority, slight though it
was; who had hesitated to trust implicitly
and to follow without question or protest
the wisdom and the precept of his Master
.--how was he fit for discip.eshp? In the
momentary anguish of his spirit, awed by
the vision first of hi, Lord, then of him.
self, he proposed to renounce his peculiar
and personal relation to Jesus Christ. Il
am not worthy that Thou shoudst stay in
my boat or | in Thy fellowship" excIalms
Peter even as lie Clasps his Lords knees
go forth from me, o Lord, for | am
sinful man.
But this is precisely the act of renunca.
ton that Christ will not let any disciple
of His make, though his in6rmities be