The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-03-12
THE pRAuoHr OF FISHES.
International Sunday School Lesson 10
March 10, 1890.

Especially arranged from ). >. Quartoriy'l
LESSON TExT-Luke Sill.
GOLDEN TExT-Fear not; for hence
forth thou shalt catch men.-Luke 8: 10.
CENTRAL TRUTH-The blessed duty OF
all to bring men to eternal life.
TIME-April, A. d. 2s. Probably dur
ing the week previous to the last lesson.
PLAcE-On the shore OF the sea OF
Galilee near Capernaum.
PARALLEL AccoUNTs-Inb riefer form,
Matt. 4:1S-22; Mark 1:16-20.
CIRCUMsTANcEs-Jesus, when driven
from Nazareth on the Sabbath He
preached there (see Less. %, went to-
ward Capernaum, and came to the Sea
Of Galilee. Here He taught by the sea-
side, and called four disciples to &C
company Him on His preaching tours.
The next Sabbath He preached in Ca
pernaum, as related in our last lesson.
(See the true order Of evonts in Mark
HELPS OVER HARD PLAcEs-2. And saw
t,eo ships: fishing boats. Standing By the
lake: moored to the shore, or drawn up
on it. The fishermen: Simon, Andrew,
James and John. (See Mark.) 8. He
entered into one, tchich acas Simon's: Simon
Peter. Jesus knew him John 1: $500,
and he would be glad to have Jesus use
his boat. 1t is blessed to have God use
any thing we have as means of saving
men. Prayed: asked. Thrust out a little
from the land: so that the crowds could
see and hear Him better. The place
was probably cove or small bay, and the
people would thus be in circle around
the boat. 4. For draught: of fishes. 5.
Wehare toi1ed all the night: the best time
for catching some kinds of fish. Nerer-
the1ess: Peter believed in the wisdom
and power of Jesus. He had seen some
Of His miracles before, probably that at
Cana John p. 8. And their net brake:
was on the point Of breaking. Z. Their
partners: James and John ". 10). 8.
Depart .from.'me, for I am siayM man:
the greatness and goodness OF Jesus
made Peter feel that he was unworthy
to be near Him or to receive such favors
from Him. 1.-THE goodness Of God
leadeth us to repentance" 10. Thou
shalt catch men,: instead of fish. Having
been faithful in his lower calling, he
was called to q higher and nobler work.
The word ''catch" in the original means
"to take alive" Men are caught in the
Gospel net for life, not death.
FISHERS OF MEN-(1) The fishers are
Jesus and His disciples. This is the
work of every disciple. (2) The sea is
the evil world. (S) The Gospel, with
all its attractions and means of gaining
souls, is the net. az Eternal life in the
soul, here and hereafter, is the shore.
(5) Great skill, patient toll, watchful'
ness and care are necessary. 1.-The
successful use of the hand-net requires
in the fisherman" says DR.. W. M.
Thomson, "a keen eye, an active frame,
and great skill in throwing. He must
too, be patient, watchful, wide-awake,
and prompt to seize the exact moment
to throw" But all these may be &C
quired by practice and perseverance
10y There is ON implied promise, as well
as an illustration of abundant success.
ApPLIcATIoNs-Note the practical ap
plication of the principles that arc
found in the story. The first to which
we call attention is "The blessedness OF
obedience" Peter seems to have hal
thought that the command OF the Mas
ter was not altogether reasonable
especially as coming from one who wa
not fisherman by profession. Yet IL
spite of some misgivings he obeyed, ant
the result was that he did a bette
stroke of business that day than he hat
done in long time. He must hav,
thought within himself: what goot
thing it was that did not adhere to m,
own opinion and refuse to do as tn
Master commanded me to do!' Now a
the disciples grew older they found on
repeatedly that in obedience to Hi
word they always found a blessing. So i
was all through their lives. And so it i
still. If the word of the Lord comes t.
us to do any thing, ours is to obey a
once, even if we do not see the exac
way in which the Master is goin
to bring things out. Whatever w
find laid down in the Word of God as GU
duty, we should carry out. And there
another lesson, namely: Losing an
Gaining" We read in verse II tina
when they came to the land, they fol
sock all and followed Him. 1t probabl
seemed to some of their friends that thi
was very foolish performance
and there were probably many i
Capernaum who laughed at them fo
their conduct. But supposing that o
the Day of Pentecost you had stood be
side Peter, after he had preached hi
great sermon, and had seen three thor
sand souls enter the Kingdom of Goo
and had said to him: "Peter, are yo
sorry that you forsook all and followe
,, the Master?" what do you suppose woul
: have been his answer? Would he no
. . have laughed and have said: "No, tn
very best thing that ever did was when
, stopped fishing for fish, and began to pr,
pare to fish for men? Inevercaught thre
thousand fish in day, and now hay
landed three thousand men safely in tn
.. Gospel net" Yes, the very wisest thin
,, that these men did was when they COZ
sented to be losers for the sake of tn
Gospel. Then it was that they began
, be real gamers. If they had chung
their nets they would have accomplishe
!, but little good in this world, and "
: should never have heard word furthe
: from them. They lost and they fount
a they gave and they got. This is the e:
perience of all true believers. They fin