The Penn's Grove record., 1905-01-20

OAItOn II DtcE-nG OaV6 Hin sell OnrR~
servediy to Jesus Christ.
BROOKLYN, n. 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 VS..
10, IL: when Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from
me; for / am a sinful man, o Lord. 49,
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:
1t was the second decisive day in 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
stantly 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, toiling
aud trafficking; meditation 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 disei-
pie would Peter be, we are sure. His zeal
and enthusiasm would lead him rather to
overwork the role of advocate: to urge
men with heat and energy to accept the
Messlahship of Jesus, even before they
were ready. There is an unwritten chapter
OF Peters life as only a disciple, which
would be well worth the reading. if we had
1t. 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 an
exclusive calling. There could hardly be a
more effective showing of what a mere
disciple can do for his Master and his fell
low men than this lost leaf of Peters bio.
graphy 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 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
lected by His own" after the flesh. it was
time He was gathering "His owl" after
the spirit and preparing them to be His
perpetrators and interpreters. So He left
Nazareth to TAX up His residence at Ca
pernaum, hat He might be near the most
prominent and promising of the group of
His early disciples. What though these
we're only a quartet of fishermenl 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 row come
to separate unto Himself and the service of
His kingdom the founders of His church.
His eye saw every precious possibility in
fholr nafftro Ho icor,n,.paf tod fhar, Ona
from another, approaching the individual
itv of each. and yet discerning their COM
plimental temperaments and qualifications.
With Him to feel was to act; when His
"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 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 already everywhere. To
see Him was to wish to hear Him, with an
eagerness that would not be refused. Ae-
c%ompanied by a continually charging
crowd He reached the place where the men
He sought were -washingRand mending
their nets after a night of unrewarded toll
on the lake. The boats were drawn up on
III ORdNlhs III IL la nv oAN
that belonged to Simon Peter, He asked
him TO "thrust out a little from the land"
hat 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-eminence
afterward belonged to Peter was deter
mined by the Lord Himself from the be-
ginning. He knew the qualifications for
Ioadorchin that nord IN him He Enavv
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 n~ucleate 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. Alasl that the dis
course is unrecorded. What a lesson it
would be 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-
u L NDC oAA0 kIS - ~ 49,
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 copy His method.
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 a draught," was the
peremptory 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 [ will let
down the net" As if he should have said:
Thou, Lord, art the one to command, l
to obey. | ] have not seen too much of Thy
power and presence to refuse. But l 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
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-
taneous and empowering. As in a fash
of thought he saw. as he never had seen
felt. as he never had known, the differ
/ enee between his Lord and himself. Over
against the Masters divine power his own
helplessness and ignorance stood forth as a
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 discipleship? In the
momentary anguish of his spirit, awed by
the vision first of his Lord, then of him
self, he proposed to renounee his peculiar
and personal relation to Jesus Christ. q
am not worthy that Thou shouldst stay in
my boat o. l in Thy fellowship" eXclaims
Peter even as he clasps his Lords knees;
Ego forth from me. O Lord, for | AM a
sinful man."
But this is precisely the act. of renuneia-
ton that Christ will not let any disciple
Of His make, though his intirmities be
many and his self-will assertiyely strong.
He knows that when, in some time OF SUI
preme illumination, His disciple sees HIM
self in silhouette against the brightness of
his Masters glory and power the sense of
righteous self-depreciation win be overpow-
eringly strong. But never yet did Jesus,
never will He answer accedingly the de-
spairing. desperate cry of a soul thus
eooroleI and crorohad nv fha eanSe of fhe