The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-01-04
No HarpOOn.

A sailor who had just returned from
whaling voyage was taken by friend
to hear an eloquent preacher When
they came out of church the friend said,
Jack, wasn't that fine sermon?"
Yes, il was ship-shape; the water
lines were graceful; the masts raked
just enough; the sails and rigging
were all right; but l didn't see any
harpoons. When vessel goes on
whaling voyage the main thing is to
get whales. But they won't come to
you because you have fine ship. You
must 60 after them and harpoon them.
Now it seems to me that preacher is
a whaleman. He is sent not to sail
among the fish, but to catch them.
Jesus said to his disciples. will make
you fishers of men, How many such
sermons as that would it take, do you
think, to awaken a sinner as the thou
sands were awakened in the day of
Pentecost, and to make them cry out,
What must do to be saved?'" " But,
Jack, people nowadays don't want to
be harpooned. They want to be inter-
ested Intellectually in the truth. They
like TO listen to such expositions and
illustrations as the doctor gave us this
morning. Did you not see how atten-
tive they were? Surely it is grand
thing to attract such an audience to
hear the gospel" " To hear about the
gospel, you mean. / don't object to
the DOCTORS eXpositions and illustra-
tons. AS said before, they were all
ship-shape. But the trouble was when
he had sailed to the fshing-ground and
the whales were spouting around him
instead of manning his boats and try
ing to catch them he made a polite
bow and said, am glad to see
so many whales. l hope that they
admire my ship and will come and
spout around it again on its next voy-
age Do you think that the ship
owner in New Bedford would send
such captain to Behring's Strait a Sec
ond time? Now read the report in Acts
of Peters first gospel sermon. He be-
gins with an able exposition of the Old
Testament prophecies in regard to the
resurrection of Christ and the outpour-
ing of the Spirit; and then, when he
had gained the attention of the crowd,
he charged home upon them with the
words, Jesus, whom we have crucifed.
are told that it was effectual They
were pricked in their heart and the
gospel catch that day was three thou
sand souls. No, no; fisherman wants
good ship and good boats, and then
he wants sharp harpoons and the skill
and courage to hurl them at just the
right time. The harpoons ought to be
polished, too; the more highly polished
the better. But, after all, the har-
pooning is the main thing. If the
whaleman fails in that his whole voy-
age and venture are failure, and |
can't help thinking that it is so in
preaching Jack was an old-fashioned
tar He did not appreciate the modern
improvements. In some parts of the
country the idea of preaching to save
sinners is obsolete. The aim and effort
is to attract congregations. The sue
cessful preacher is not the man who is
instrumental in bringing men to
Christ, but in bringing them into
the congregation, and thus making
it strong socially and financially
The temptation to labor for congrega-
very insidious. Elders and trustees
often join with Satan in presenting il
to the minister. ave must fill the pews
and the treasury" they cry We
must not repel the impenitent by prick
ing them in their hearts" But Goo
sends his ambassadors not to prophesy
sweet things but to cry, " Except yt
repent we shall all likewise perish
Brethren, don't go whaling without
harpoons.