The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-01-19
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
ANEtoaUsNT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
'PETER's RENuNclATtoMs,"
The Rev. DR.. John Humpstone Draws
Lesson From a Chapter in the Life of
Simon Perer-He Gave Himself Unre-
servediy TO Jesus Chriat.


servedly TO Jesus Christ.
BROOKLYN, N. Y. - DR.. John Hump-
stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church,
preached Sunday morning a sermon on
s'The Life and Character of Simon Peter,
the special subject being "Peter,s Renun-
cations" The text was from Luke VS.:
10, IL: s'When Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus knees. saying. Depart from
And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not;
from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
And when they had brought their ships to
land. they forsook all and followed Him. -
DR.. Humpstone said:
It was the second decisive day jim the
life of Simon Peter-a day, of destiny.
Months ago in Judea he had followed his
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
stantiy to decide He became a disciple,
forthwith. In the interval, Peter has been
some of the time in company with his Mas
ter; but much of it at his business. to!iing
and traffcking; meditation his constant
ayocation; to testify of the Christ to 9th
ers, as he met them in the contacts of the
strand or the market. his habit and his
pleasure. No laggard. haif-hearted disci:.
and. enthusiasm would lead him rather to
oyerwock the role of advocate: to urge
men with heat and energy to accept the
Messiahship of Jesus. even before they
were ready There is an unwrltten chapter
of Peters life as only disciple. which
would be well worth the reading. If we had
it. After its pernsal we should be less
disposed than now we are to think that
usefulness in Christ's service is necessarily
connected with ordination thereto as an
exclusive calling. There could hardly be a
more effective showing of what mere
disciple can do for his Master and his fel-
low men than this lost leaf of Peters bio
Maphy would furnish. If this were not
The case you may be sure Jesus never
would have called Peter this day to the
continuous opportunities of the ministry;
nor, later, to the weightier responsibilities
Of the aposto.ate.
For an incipient crisis had been preclpl-
tated.in the career of Jesus as Messiah: His
rejection at Nazareth was the cloud. no
bigger than a mans hand. that. neverthe-
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 ellis own" after
the spirit and preparing them to be His
perpetrators and internreters. So he left
!. Nazareth to take up His residence at Ca
pernanm, that he might be near the most
prominent aud promising OF the group OF
Els early disciples. What though these
we're only quartet of hshermen! Ihe
Lord saw not as men saw, but with the IN
seight Of one who tsknew what was in man:
and needed not that any should testify of
man" He knew the time had low come
% 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 vet discerning their COM
pfimental temperameDts and qualifications.
With Him to feel was to act: when His
s flour had come He never deferred:
In the early morning. therefore, He be
took Himself to the lakes shore. There
He found the mnltitudes already astir.
The people were 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 soon Jesus became the
centre OF their interest and attention. The
fame of Him was aireadv everywhere. 10
see Him was to wish to hear Him, with an
ea9erness that would not be refused. Ac-
compapied by q, continually enlarging
crowd BE reached the place where the men
He sought were washing and mendmg
Their nets after night of unrewarded toll
on the lake. The boats were drawn up on
the beach. In the midst. Entering the one
Chat belonged to Simon Peter, He asked
him tn etthruss out little from the land
that He might use the boat for . pulpit,
from which to address the crowd. It was
to3Peter He turned His first though. when
He set about the business of selecting HIS
future ministers Whatever pre-eminence
.afterward belonged to Peter was deter
mined by the. Lord Himself from the be-
:giuning. 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 outnumbered the weak
nesses which continually threatened his
sprimacy So it was Peters boat He elected
to enter. It was around Peters personal
sity. chiefly. that He chose to nucleate the
incidents of HIS calling Of the four whom
He woald now detach from their business,
that they might henceforth give all their
time and thought to Him and to HIS mis-
Ian.
g Two distinct preparatioas He arranged
for the issuance and acceptance of the call
Itself. The first was sermon from the
boat to the multitude. A;as! that the dis
course is unrecorded. What lesson 1t
would be as to what preaching is at It's
best. Sitting in the shadow Of his Master
that day, watching now the Speaker, now
the audience, Peter got his first introduc-
ton to the science and the art Of public
discourse for religious ends. When. BY
and by, .he became himself preacher, we
faay be sure that his discourses reflect the
Lords manner and copy His method.
3 The sermon finished. followed a miracle:
itself a symbol of the aim and end Of
preaching: Launch out into the deep and
let down the nets for draught," was the
Deremntory yyord Of Jesus to. Peter. when
His discourse was done. Then followed
Simon's characteristic exclamation (Peter-
escue to the !utternost): "Overseer, we
have toiied all night and have taken moth.
ing: nevertheless ct Thy word l will le:
down the net" As if he should have said:
Thou, Lord, art the one to command: l
to ooey. ! have not seen too much of Thy
power and presence to refuse. But have
my own Aea.o a: the uselessness of such
proceeding u:ader the conditions. Expe-
riepee is worth something. especially in
fishing" Over went the net, at last, and
IN came the fish as it was hauled. Sc
many were the captives that both Peters
boat and Johns. suddenly summoned to
help. were filed almost to the sinking
point.
The effect upon Simon Peter was instan-
L. .1S,