Connecticut western news., 1891-05-20

amusements. about his dealings after conversion as before conversion2 One half the Gospel nets with which we have been scooping the sea have had such wide meshes that they have been all torn to pieces by the rushing out into the world of those whom tighter net would have kept in. ..I
 The only use of net is to keep the fish from going back to where they were before, and where they could not have been taken by any other means. Alas, that the words of Christ are 90 little needed when he said, "Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple The church is fast becoming as bad as the world, and when it gets as bad as the world it will be worse than the world by so much, as it will add hypocrisy of most appall- ing kind to it's other defects.
 sENEANGiED WITH OTHER NETS.
 Furthermore, many of our nets are torn to pieces by being entangled with other nets. It is a sad sight to see fish, ernen fighting about sea room and pulling in opposite directions, each to get his net. both nets damaged by the struggle and losing all the fish. In city like this of more than eight hundred thousand, there are at least five hundred thousand not in Sab. bath schools or churches. And in this land where there are more than sixty-four million people. there are at least thirty million not in the Sabbath schools and churches. And in this world of more than fourteen hundred million people there are at least eight hundred million not in schools and churches In such an Atlantic ocean of opportunity there is room for all the nets and all the boats and all the fish ermen and for millions more.
 There should be no rivalry between | churches Each one does a work pc culiar to itself There should be no l rivalry between ministers God never repeats himself, and he never makes | two ministers alike. and each one hasa work which no other man in the uni verse can accomplish If fishermen are wise they will not allow their nets to entangle, or if they do accidentally get intertwisted the work of extrication should be kindly and gently conducted What glad spectacle for men and an gels when. on our recent dedication day. ministers of all denominations stood on this platform and wished for each other widest prosperity and use fulness. But there are cities in this country where there is now going on an awful ripping and rending and tearing of fishing nets. Indeed, all over Chris. tendon at this time there is great war going on between fishermen, ministers against ministers l YOU CANNOT FISH AND FIGHT.
 Now l have noticed a man cannot fish and fight at the same time. He either neglects his net or his musket. It is amazing how much time some of the fishermen have to look after other fishermen. It is more than can do to take care of my own net You see the wind is just right and it is such good time for fishing and the fish are coming g in so rapidly that have to keep my eye and hand busy. There are about two hundred million souls wanting to get into the kingdom of God. and it will require all the nets and all the boats and all the fishermen of Christen- dom to safely land them. 's....
 At East Hampton, Long Island, where summer out on the bluffs some morn ing we see the flags up, and that is the signaIfor launching out into the deep. For mile the water is tinged with that peculiar color that indicates whole schools of piscatorial revelry, and the beach swarms with men with their coats of and their sea caps on, and those of us who do not go out on the wave stand on the beach ready to re- ioice when the boats come back. and water with our shoes on to help get the boats up the beach. and we all lay hold the lines and pull till we are red in the face, and as the living things of the deep come tulnbling in on the sand l cry out, Captain, how many7" And he answers. About fifty thou sand" And we shout to the late corners, ''Hurrah, fifty thousandl" We must have an enthusiasm something like that if we are ever to take the hu man race for God and heaven. Aye, we ought to have that enthusiasm of the beach multiplied hundred fold and by so much as an immortal soul is worth more than bluefish. !
 Oh, brethren of ministry Let us spend our time in fishing instead of fighting
 But if angrily jerk my net across your net, and you jerk your net angrfly across mine. we will soon have two broken nets and no fish. The French revslution nearly destroyed the French fisheries, and ecclesiastical war is the worst thing possible while hauling souls into the kingdom. had hoped that the millennium was about to dawn, but the lion is yet too fond of lamb. My friends l notice in the text that James the son of Zebedee and John his brother were busy. not mending somebody else's nets, but mending their own nets, and rather think that we who are engaged in Christian work in this latter part of the Nineteenth century will require all our spare time
 to mend our own nets. God help us il
 the important duty.
 In this work of reparation we neec
 to put into the mats more threads O.
 common sense When we can presen
 religion as a great practicality we will
 catch a hundred souls where now WI
 catch one. Present religion as an in
 teilectuality and we will fail. Out il
 the fisheries there are set across thu