Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-05-22
AMONG THE FISHERMEN.
DR.. TALMAGE DRAWS A PARA
LEI FROM THE TEXT.
Tho Nets OF Modern Religions too Loose
to Hold All tho Catch - Harmony
Among the Ministers OF God of All
Denominations u Necessity.

| Il 90 k-uSnluss CIlcu olInOu ltIcT 10 Ills
comrades, and the most OF the Apostles h AL
hands hard from fishing tackle. The Usher
les OF the world have always attracted at
tenton. In the third century the Queen
Of Egypt had for pin money four hundred
and seventy thousand dollars received from
the fisheries OF Lake MOerics. And il the
time should ever come when the immensely
OF the worlds population could not be fed
by the vegetables and meats OF The land,
the sea has IN amount OF animal life that
would feed all the populations OF the earth
and fatten them with n food that by its
phosphorus would make generation
brainv and intellectual beyond anything
that the world has ever imagined.
My text takes us among the
Galilean fishermen. One half the
Gospel nets with which we have been
scOoplng 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
u tighter net would have keptIn. The only
Use OF net is TO keep the fish from going
back to where they were before and taking
them where they could not have been taken
by any other means. Alas, that the words
OF Christ are so 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 rs the world,
and when IL gets rs bad aS the world it will
be wOre than the world by so much as IL
will add by pocrisy OF most appalling kind
10 its other defects.
Furthermore, many OF our nets are torn
10 pieces by being entangled with other
nets. IL is u sad sight to see fishermen
fighting about sea-rOom and pulling in OPP
posite directions, each 10 get bis net both
nets damaged by the struggle and losing
all tue fish. In city like this OF more than
eight hundred thousand, three are ut least
five hundred thousand not IN Sabbath
schools or churches. And In this land, where
there are more than siXty-four million peo-
pie, 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 nre at least eight
hundred million not in schools and
churches. In such an Atlantic ocean OF OPP
! portunity there Is room for ali the nets and
all the boats and all the fishermen.
and Tor millions more. There
should be no rivalry between churches.
! Each one does work peculiar TO itself.
There should DO no rivalry between minis
| tiers. God never repeats himself, and h.
never makes two ministers alike, and each
| one has "A work which no other man in the
| universe can accomplish. IL fishermen are
wise. they Will not allow their nets TO en-
tRngle; or IL they do accidentally get
inter'twisted, the work OF extraction
! should be kindly and gently conducted.
! What glad spectacle for men and angels
| when on our recent dedication day minis
| tiers OF all denominations stood on this plat
prosperity aud usefulness. 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
! Christendom ut this lime there Is u great
war going on between fishermen, ministers
! against ministers.
Now have noticed a man cannot fish and
! Tight at the same time. lie either neglects
! his net or bis mUsket. 1t Is amazing how
much time some Of the fishermen have 10
| look after other fishermen. 1t Is more than
l can do to take care OF my own net. You
see the wind 10 ust right and it Is such n
! good time for fishing aud tie fish are COM
ing In so rapidly that have to keep my
| eyes and hand busy. There are about two
hundred million souls wanting TO
get into the kingdom of God and IL will re-
| quire all the nets and all the beats aud all
fishermen OF Christenden to safely land
them. At East Hampton, Long Island.
where summer, out on the bluffs some
morning we see the flags up; and that Is
the signal for launching out into tue deep.
Fol- mile the water is tinged with that PEE
| cullar color that indicates whole schools OF
piscatOrial reYelry and the beach Ewarms
with men with their coats off and their sea-
cap on aud those OF W. who do not 20
| out on the wave stand on the
beach ready to rejoice when
the boats como back and
| I'm our excitement we rush Into the water
the beach and we all lay hold the lines and
| pull till we are red In the face ana us the
living things OF the deep come tumbling In
OH the sand, l cry out: Captain, how
msnyI" And he answers: about tfty
| thousand" And we shout to the late com.
ers, "Hurrah, fifty thousandp' We must
have IN enthusiasm something like that il
! we are ever TO take the human race for God
and heaven. Aye, we ought TO have that
enthusiasm OF the beach multiply a hun.
dred fold ard by 30 much rs an immortal soul
rs worth more than blue-tish. O.brethren of
ministry Let us spend our time fishing
instead Of fighting.
When you are menaing your net for this
! wide. deep sea of humanity, take out that
wire thread OF criticism and that horse-hair
thread OF harshness and put In soft silken
thread OF Christian sympathy. In the
house of God let nil tue Christian faces
beam with look that means welcome. Say
'g0Od morning" to the stranger Us be enters
| your pew and at the clc.e shake hands with
> I'M and say How did you like The musicy''
Why, you would be to that man u panel OF
the door OF heaven; you would be to him
note Of the doXoO2y that seraphs sing
when new soul enters. That man IS a
hout and miles from home and he has lust
leard by telegraph that his child is sick
Nth scarlet fever and his boy at
Nlege has got into disgrace and he
ny had business troubles and Is
30 nnmesick he can hardly keep from cry.
ing. just one word OF brotherly Kindness
from you would lift him into small
heaven. l have In other days entered pew
In church aud the woman Mt other end OF
the pew looked at me a. much as to say:
'HOw dare your This Is my pew and 1 pay
the rentP' Well, crouched In the other
corner and made myself rs small ns posi-
ia, and felt as though had been stealing
something. So there are people " ho have
sharp edge to their religion and they act
MS though they thought most people hal
been elected to be damned and they were
glad of 1t. Oh, let us brighten up our
manner and appear in utmost gentlemanll.
ness or ladyhood.
The object OF fly-Gshing Is to throw the fly
f"- out, and then let It drop gently down
and Keep 1t gently rising aud falling with
the waters aud not plunge IL like mun-Of.
wars anchor; and abruptnesS and HARSH
ness OF manner must be avoided in our at.
tempt at usefulness. / know q man In New
York who il more sunshiny and genial
when he has dyspepsia than when he is
not suffering from that depressing trouble.
have found out his secret. When lie starts
out In the morning with such depression
lie asks for special grace to keep from snap
ping up any body that day, and puts forth
additional determination TO tie kindly and
genial, and by the help 81 God, he accom-
plishes It, Many OF orr nets need to be
mended I'm these respects, the black threads