The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-05-27

anybody that day, and puts forth addl-
tional determination TO be kindly aud
genial, and by the help of God he accom-
plishes il. Many of our nets need to be
mended in these respects, the black
threads and the rough threads taken out
and the bright threads and the golden
threads OF Christian geniality woven in.
In addition to this, we need to mend
our nets with moro threads of patience.
1t is no rare thing for fisherman TO spend
ono whole day before he takes a st.
Lawrence pike. or an Ohio salmon, or a
Long Island pickerel, or a Cayuga black
bass, or Delaware catfish, and he does
that day after day without particular dis
enlargement. But what lack Of patience
if We do not Immediately subceed in soul
catching. We are apt to give it up and
say: Il will never try again" Into all
our nets we need to weave all along the
edge, and all through the center, great,
long, stout threads of Christian patience.
How patient God has been with us Can
we not be patient with our fellows?
l had presented me from Scotland a
few days ago, an ornamented inkstand,
the wooded parts of which were made
from piece OF a tree cut down by Mr..
Gladstone at Hawarden and sent by him
to Scotland by request The incident re-
minded me OF the fact that woman who
had long been on Mr. Gladstone's estate
had wavward boy and in her despair
she asked Mr.. Gladstone to take the boy
in hand. While prime minister OF En-
gland, with all the mighty affairs OF the
kingdom in his hands, he took that boy
in his study and counseled him and then
knelt down and prayed with him and the
boy was saved. II we all had hearts OF
sympathy like that, what would be to us
impossible? rs il not delightful that l
can sing so weil?" said Jenny Lind in a
burst of JOY that she could help others.
as il not delightful that | can sing so
well?" And might we not all say in
thankiulness to God lis it not delightful
that we can sympathize with others, and
encourage others, and help others, and
save otners?"
Again, in mending our nets we need,
also, TO put in the threads of faith and
tear out all the tangled meshes of unbe-
lief. Our work is successful according to
our faith. The man who believes in only
half a bible, or the bible in spots; the
man who thinks he can not persuade
others; the man who halts, doubling
about this and doubling about that, will be
failure in Christian work. Show me the
man who rather thinks that the garden of
Eden may have been an allegory, and is
another chance after death, and does not
know whether or not the bible Is inspired,
and / tell you that man for soul-saving is
a poor stick. Faith in God and in Jesus
Christ and the Holy Ghost, and the abso-
lutte necessity OF regenerated heart, in or
der TO see God in peace, is one thread you
must have in your mended net, or YOU
never will be successful fisher for men.
Why, how can you doubt? The hundreds
of millions of men and women now stand
ing in the church on earth. and the hun
drcds of millions in heaven attest the
power of this gospel to save. With more
than the certainty OF a mathematical DEM
onstratlon, let us start ont to redeem all
nations. The rottenest thread that you
are to tear out OF your net is unbelief, and
the most important thread that you are
TO put in il is faith. Faith in God, tri-
umphant faith. everlasting faith. If you
cannot trust the infinite, the holy, the
omnipotent Jehovah, who can you trust?
Oh. this important work of mending our
nets Ii we could get our nets right we
would accomplish more in soul-saving in
the next year than we have in the last
twenty years. But where shall we get
them mended? Sust where old Zebedee
and his two boys mended their nets
where you are. james why don't you
put your oar in Lake Galilee, or hoist
your sail and land at Capernaum or Tibe-
rias, or Gadara, and, seated on the bank,
mend your net? John, why don't you go
ashore and mend your metz" No, they
sat on the guards of the boat, or at the
PROV of the boat. or in the stern of the
boat. and they took up the thread and the
needle, and the ropes and the wooden
blocks, and went 10 work; sewing, sew
pounding, pounding; until the net mend
ed, they push il of into the sea, and drop
paddle. and hoist sail, and the cut-water
went through amid the shoals of fish,
some OF the descendants of which we had
for breakfast one morning while We were
encamped on the beach OF beautiful Cali
lee. James and John had no time to go
ashore. They were not fishing for fun, as
you and | DO in summer time. 1t was
their livelihood and that of their families
They mended their nets where they were,
in the ship. "Oh," says some one, Il
mean 10 get my net mended, and / will 90
down to the public library, and l will see
what the scientists say about evolution
and about the survival OF the fittest, and
| will read up what the theologians say
about advanced thought i will leave
the ship awhile, and ] will 90 ashore and
STAY there till my net is mended." Do
that, my brother, and you will have no
net left. Instead of their helping you
mend your net, they will steal the pieces
that remain. Better stay in the gospel
boat, where you have all the means for
mending your net. What are they, do
you ask2 ] answer, all you need you have
where you are; namely, a bible and
place TO pray. The more you study evo-
luton, and adopt what is called advanced
thought, the bigger fool you will be. Stay
in the ship and mend your net. There is
where James, the son of Zebedee, and
John, his brother, stayed. That is where
all who get their nets mended stay.
/ notice that all who leave the gospel
boat and 90 ashore to mend their nets
stay there. Or if they try again TO fish,
they do not catch anything. Get out of
the gospel boat and go up into the world
to get your net mended, and you will live
to see the day when you feel like the man
who, having forsaken Christianity, sighed
al would give thousand pounds to feel
as | did in 1920" The time will come
when you would be willing to give thou
and pounds to feel as you did in 1891.
These men who have given up their old
religion cannot help you bit. 1t is my
opinion that the most OF those ministers
who gave up the old religion are in search
OF notoriety. They do not succeed in at
tracing much attention. They are tired
of obscurity. They must do something
to attract attention so thew ait down on