The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-02-08
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
"PETER'S RENUNclATlCNS."
The Rev. DIR. John Humrstope Draws n
Lesson From a Chapter in the Life of
Simon Perer-He Gave Himself Unre-
seryedly to jesus Christ.

Simon Perer-He Gave Himself Unre-
seryedIy to Jesus Christ.
BRooKLYN. Y. Y. - DR.. John Hump
stone. pastor OF Emmanuel Baptist Church,
preached Sunday morning a sermon on
"The Life and Character Of Simon Peter,
the special subject being Peters Renun-
Citations" The text was from Luke w;
10. II: When Simon Peter saw 1t, he fell
down ut Jesus knees. saying. Depart IRON
me; for I am a sinful man. q Lord.
And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not;
from heneeforth thou shalt catch men.
And when they had brought their SIMS to
land. they iorsook all and followed Him.
DR.. Humpstone said:
It was the second decisive DAY in the
life OF Simon Petcr-a day OF destiny.
Months ago in Judea he had followed his
brother into the presence or Jesus; lot 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 mas been
some OF the time in company with ms Mas
ter: but much OF ii al his business, toiling
and traficking; recitation his constant
avocation; 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. half-hearted dlscl..
ple would Peter be. We are sure. HIS zeal
and enthusiasm would lead hip rather to
overwork the role, OF advocate: to urge
men with heat and energy 70 accept the
Messiahship OF Jesus, even before they
were ready. There is an unwritten CHAPTER
of Peters lie as only a disciple, which
would be well worth the reading. il we had
it. After its perusal we should he 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 a mere
disciple can do for his Master and his fel-
low men than this }ost leaf OF Peters BIO:
graphy would furnish. II this were not
the case you may be sure Jesus never
would have called Peter this day to the
continuous opportunities of tine ministry;
nor. later, to the weightier responsibilities
OF the apostolate.
For an incipient crisis had been preciDi-
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 nv His own" after the flesh. it was
time He was gathering His own" after
the spirit and preparing them to he HIS
perpetrators ard internreters. so, He lett
Nazareth TO CdSP up his ISSluSiSC az "a
pernaum. that He might be near the most
prominent and promising OF the group OF
His early disciples. What though these
were only a quartet Of fishermen! The
Lord saw not as men saw, but with the In
sight OF one who knew what was in man.
and needed not that any should testify OF
man." He knew the time had Eow come
to separate INTO Himself and tie service OF
His kingdom the founders of His church.
His eye saw every precious possibility III
their nature. He Disseminated them one
from another, approaching the individual
itv Of each, and vet discerning their COM
pimental temperanepts and qualifications.
With Him to feel was to act; when His
"hour" had come He never deferred.
In the cary 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 a.rea6v everywhere. To
see Him was to wish to hear Him, with an
eagerness that would not he refused. Ac-
companied bv a continually enIarglng
crowd He reached the nlace where the men
He sought were washing and mending
their nets after a night of unrewarded toll
on the lake. The boats were drawn up or
the beach. in the midst. Entering the one
that belonged to Simon Peter, Fe asked
himNto thrust out a 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
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 outnumbered 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 to nncleate 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 MS
sion. r. a.. .
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 he as to what preaching Is at its
best. Sitting in the shadow of his Master
that dav. watching now the Speaker, now
the audience. Peter got his first introduc-
ton to the science and the art Of pubic
discourse for religious ends. When, by
and by, he became himself a preacher, we
may be sure that his discourses reflect the
Lords manner and CODY His method.
The sermon finished. followed a miracle:
Itself a symbol OF the aim and end OF
preaching: Launch out into the deep and
Jet down the nets for a draught," was the
Deremptory word OF Jesus to Peter, when
His discourse was done. Then followed
,Simon's characteristic exclamation peter
esque to the uttermost): "Overseer, we
have .toiled all night and have taken moth
ing; nevertheless at Thy word I will let
down the net" As if 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 I have
my own idea of the uselessness of such a
proceeding under the conditions. Expe-
rience is worth something, especially in
fishing" Over went the net. at last, and
In came the fish as it was hauled. So
boat and Johns, suddenly summoned to
help. were filed almost to the sinking
point.
The effect upon Simon Peter vas instan'
taneous and overpowering. As in a flash
of thought he saw. as he never had seen
felt, as he never had known, the differ
ence between his Lord and himself. Over
against the Masters divine power his own
helplessness and ignorance stood forth as Q
black. blot on a white surface. He whit
had but Just now assumed that air and
professional superiority, slight though il
was; who had hesitated to trust implicitly
and to follow without question or protest
the wisdom and the precept of mis- Master
how was he fit for dscipleship? In the
m~omentary anguish Of his spirit. awed by
the vision first of his Lord, then of him