The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1905-02-24
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED,
PETERS RENUNclATloNs,"
tn Rev. DIR. John Humpstone Draws =.
Lesson From a Chapter in the Life OF
simon Peter-He Gave Himself Unres
servedly to Jesus Chrlat

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 v:8,
10, IL: when Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus knees. saying. Depart from
me; for | am a sinful man, o Lord.
Ana 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"
| DIR. 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, toiing
| and 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 disc-
| pie would Peter be, we are sure. His zeal
| and enthusiasm would lead him rather to
J overwork 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 unwritten chapter
| OF Peters life as only "a disciple, which
! would be well worth the reading if 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 an
exclusive calling. There could hardly be a
more effective showing of what 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 Lever
would have called Peter this day to the
continuous opportunities of the ministry;
nor; later, to the weightier responsibilities
Of the apostolate.
For an incipent crisis had been precipi-
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-
jected by ellis 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
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
ind needed not that any should testify of
ran" He knew the time had now come
y separate unto Himself and the service of
Ills kingdom the founders of His church.
HIS eye saw every precious possibility i'll
their nature. He Disseminated them one
from another approaching the individual
itv of each, and yet discerning their COM
nlimental 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 multtudes already astir
The people were abroad, as the manner is
in the East, with the break of day; taking
the air, hastng 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 Ac-
companied by continually charging
crowd He reached the place where the men |
He sought were washing and mending |
their nets after night of unrewarded toll |
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 to thrust out little from the land'
that He might use the boat for 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
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 ,tnT.
ity. chiefly that He chose to nuceate 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 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 introduce
ton to the science and the art of public
discourse for religious ends. When, by
may be sure that his discourses reflect the
Lords manner ard copy His method
The sermon finished, followed a miracle:
itself symbol of the aim and end of
Launch out into the deep and
let down the nets for a draught," was the
neremptory word OF Jesus to Peter, when
His discourse was done. Then followed
Simon's characteristic exclamation Peter
esQue to the uttermost) "Overseer, we
have toiied all night and have taken moth
ing; nevertheless at Thy w ord 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 Thv
power and presence to refuse. But / have
my own idea Of the uselessuess of such
under the conditions. Expe-
,ience is worth something, especially in
fishing" Over went the net, at last, and
n came the fish as it was hauled. So
many were the captives that both Peters
BOAT and Johns. suddenly summoned to
lelp. were filled almost to the sinking
point
The effect upon Simon Peter was instan-