Let this be a final reminder of the Fellowship Meeting with the Calvary Cross MBC, of St. Louis on November 25th (7:00 P.M.] through the 27th [noon]. Pastor John Coleman and brethren anticipate a good meeting and are hoping that YOU will plan to be with them.
    See you in St. Louis! Lord willing. EG


    Those were the welcome words of the doctor when I went for a five-year check-up last month. For this I PRAISE THE LORD! arid want to thank all of you have remembered me before our Father's gracious throne during this time.
    Would you please continue to uphold me in your prayers. Knowing that I am "not my own"; but that I have been both redeemed, and spared from the dreadful death-dealing power of cancer; I want my remaining days to count for the glory of my wonderful Savior and Lord.
    I want to set a "caring" example for the "little flock" which it is my spiritual responsibility to lead; an example of not only caring for the flock, but of reaching out to precious souls for whom Christ died. How desperately do they need the Savior! and the time is so short! May the Lord help us all to be the kind of witnesses that He can bless. -- Eugene L. Gamer

    One will better appreciate the writings of the apostle Peter if he understands something of his spiritual development under the teaching, counsel, rebuke and encouragement of the Master. Let us, therefore, examine a number of portraits from his life, as set forth in the Scriptures.
    1. Simon Peter was a disciple of John the Baptist; first brought to Jesus by Andrew, his brother, who said: "We have found the Messiah", which is, being interpreted, "The Christ", (John 1:21).
    2. The two brothers were casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee when Jesus said to them: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men", (Matt.4:l8-l9).
    3. According to Matthew 8:14, Jesus went to be a guest at Peter's home where he found his mother-in-law sick with a fever. Jesus healed her so that she arose and ministered to their needs.
    4. Peter was the very first of the apostles chosen by Jesus, (Matt. 10:2).
    5. When, one night, the disciples were greatly frightened at the sight of something walking toward them on the sea, Jesus identified Himself and told them not to be afraid. Peter said: "Lord, if it is really you, bid me come to you on the water", (Matt. 14:28).
    6. It was Simon Peter who asked Jesus to tell them the meaning of His parable concerning

defilement by that which comes out of the mouth, (Matt. 14:28).
    7. At Caesarea-Philippi, when Jesus asked, "Whom say ye that I am?" it was Peter who answered for them all, saying, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God"! (Matt. 16: 16).
    8. When, shortly thereafter, Peter had rebuked the Lord for suggesting that he would soon fall into the hand of His enemies and be put to death, the Master rebuked him, saying: "Get thee behind me Satan"! (Matt. 16:22-23).
    9. He was one of the three that Jesus took with Him to the Mt. of Transfiguration, where they were given a preview of His kingdom-glory, (Matt. 17:1).
    10. On another occasion, a tax collector inquired of Peter: "Doth your Master pay tribute"? (Mati. 17:24).

    II. It was Peter who asked: "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times"? (Matt. 18:21).
    12. "Behold, we have forsaken all, and foljoKed Thee; what shall we have therefore"? (Matt. 19:27). It was Peter again.

13. With James, John and Andrew, he stood admiring the beauty of Herod's unfinished temple and heard Jesus speak of its destruction. With the others, he inquired of Jesus' meaning, (Matt. 24:3-31).
    14. In Matthew 26:33-35, Peter is seen boasting of his unwavering loyalty to the Master; the Lord could count on him!
    15. Luke records that Peter and John were sent, by Jesus, to prepare a place for Him to observe the Passover with His disciples, (Lk. 22:8).
    16. When Jesus girded Himself with a towel and began to wash His disciples' feet, Peter, probably shamed by the fact that he had not rendered this menial service instead of having it ministered to him by the Master, protested: "Thou shalt never wash my feet"! But, when Jesus said: "If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me ", Simon Peter answered; "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head"! (John 14:7-9).
    17. Later that night we observe Peter sleeping while Jesus prayerfully agonizes in the Garden of Gethsemane, (Matt. 26:40-42).
    18. When Judas leads the enemy to arrest Jesus, Peter, ready to defend his Master, swings his sword and cuts off the ear of Malcus, the servant of the high priest, (Jn. 18: 10).

    19. The arrest of Jesus completed, we observe Peter following afar off -- not quite ready to be identified, (Matt. 26:58).
    20. Later in the evening he is heard denying his Lord, (Lk. 22:55-61).
    21. At the sound of the cock's crow, and a piercing glance from the Master, Peter goes out and weeps bitterly over his wretched sin! (Lk. 22:62).
    22. Mary Magdalene tells Peter and John of

the disappearance of Jesus' body from Joseph's garden tomb, (Jn. 20:1-2).
    23. Despondent, discouraged and almost despairing, Peter decides to go back to fishing: perhaps the hard work will take his mind off his utter wretchedness, (Jn. 2 1:3, 7, 11).

    24. Early in the morning the Master's voice rang across the waves: "Children, have ye any meat"? .... "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find"! (Jn. 2 1:5-6).
    25. At some point, following His resurrection, the Lord appeared privately to Simon Peter, (Lk. 24:34).
    26. Beside the Sea of Galilee, Peter was questioned by His Lord: "Simon, son of John, do you love me"? (Jn. 21:15-17). It was on this very occasion that the Lord told him what manner of death he was to die, (Jn. 21:18-19; comp. 2 Pet. 1:14).
    27. Peter was also among those whom, following His resurrection, Jesus instructed for 40 days concering the coming Kingdom of God, (Acts 1:3).
    28. He was also among the group to whom the Master gave the Great Commission, (Matt. 28:18-20).
    29, From the Mt. of Olives, Peter saw his Lord ascend bodily into the clouds of heaven, and heard the angels' inquiry: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner asye have seen him go into heaven", (Acts 1:11).

    30. With the others, Peter obeyed the Master's order to "Tarry in Jerusalem until ye be endued with powerfrom on high", (Luke 24:49).
    31. On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to endue the church with power to execute its commission, Peter came to the forefront

as a changed man. He preached a message concerning the rejected, crucified, risen, ascended, glorified and soon-coming Christ that resulted in 3,000 Jews yielding their hearts and lives under the lordship of Jesus Christ, (Acts 2).
    32. Along with John, there was something about Peter's life and witness that, though the Jews regarded them as "ignorant and unlearned", they still "took knowledge of them that THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS"! (Acts 4:13).     33. Space will not permit our referring to all the incidents in which Peter is mentioned. However, it is interesting to note that he was arrested five times; four times he was imprisoned, and once he was beaten with stripes. According to tradition, he was ultimately crucified for his Ciwistian witness.

     34. One of the most outstanding experiences in Peter's life was the vision that came to him on a housetop in Joppa. There he ledrned that God is no respector of persons, and that he must not call "unclean" anything that God has cleatised.
    35. The Scriptures mention two specific occasions where he was in close contact with Paul: once at the Jerusalem Council; later at Antioch, where Paul severely rebuked him for his hypocrisy in failing to recognize the true liberty of those who are in Chi'ist, (Gal. 2:11-19).
    36. In spite of this rebuff, it is clear that he highly respected the apostle to the Gentiles - though he confessed that some of his writings were a bit difficult to understand, and were of such a nature that unscrupulous men twisted them to their own destruction, (2 Pet. 3:16).
    37. That the Lord was pleased with Peter's life and service is evident in the fact that his name appears on one of the 12 foundations to the wall of the Holy City [New Jerusalem) that John saw descending from God, Out of heaven, (Rev. 21:14).

    Is it possible that the ultimate loyalty of a God-called pastor may sometimes, inadvertently, be committed to the memory of a dead brother over: the voice of the Living God, the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, and a preponderance of Biblical witness that "lives and abides forever" -- waiting to judge us in the last day?
    Worth thinking about? I suspect that it may be worth considerable soul-searching, earnest prayer and a listening ear before the very throne of God. E.G.