Sharp County record., 1891-06-11

is 1aSt becoming as odu dS INV
and when it gets as bad as the world II
will be worse than the world by so
n,uch as it will add hypocrisy OF most
appalling kind to its other defects
Furthermore, many our nets are torn
to pieces by being eiitangled with other
nets. 1t is a sad sight to see fishermen
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 least five hundred thousand
not in Sabbath-sehools 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 four
teen hundred million people, there are
at least eight hundred million not IN
schools and churches. In such an Al
lantic ocean of opportunity there is room
for all the nets and all the boats and
all the fishermen and for millions more.
There should be no rivalry between
churches. Each one does a work pc
culiar to itself. There should be no
rivalry between ministers God never
repeats Himself, and He never makes
two ministers alike, and each one has
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
intertw wtsted the work of extrication
should be kindly and gently conducted.
What a glad spectacle for men and
angels when on our recent dedication
day ministers of denominations stood
on this platform and wished for each
other widest prosperity and usefulness.
But there are citizens in this country
where there is now going on an awful
ripping and rending and tearing of fish
ing nets. Indeed, all over Christendom
at this time there is great war going
on between fishermen, ministers against
ministers.
Now l have noticed man can not
fish and fight at the same time. He
either neglects his net or his musket.
1t is amazing how much time some of
the fishermen have to look after other
fishermen. 1t is more than | can DO to
take care of my own net. You see the
wind is just right and it is such a good
time for fishing and the fish are coming
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 re-
quire all the nets and all the boats and
the fishermen of Christendom to safely
land them. At East Hampton, L. l.,
where | summer, out on the bluffs some
morning we see the flags up; and that
IS the signal for 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 off and their sea-
caps on, and those Of us who do not
90 out on the wave stand on the beach
ready to rejoice when the boats come
back, and in our excitement we rush
into the 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 tumbling In on
the sand, | cry out: Captain, how
many?" And he answers: about
fifty thousand" And we shout
to the late comers: "Hurrah,
fifty thousandw We must have an
enthusiasm something like that If we
are ever to take the human race for
God and Heaven. Aye we ought to
have that enthusiasm of the beach null
tiplied hundred fold, and by so much
as an immortal soul is worth more than
a blue-fish. o, brethren Of ministry!
Let us spend our time in fishing instead
of fighting. But | angrily jerk my
net across your net and you jerk your
net angrily across mine, we will soon
have two broken nets and no fish.
The French revolution nearly de-
stroyed the French fisheries, and eccle-
siastical 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 toe
fond of lamb. My friends, notice in
the text that James the son of Zebedee
and John his brother were busy not
mending somebody else snets, mendng
their own nets, and rather think that
we who are engaged in Christian worl,
in this latter part OF the nineteenth cen,
tuary will require all our spare time &c
mend our own nets, God help us in the
important duty!
In this work Of reparation we need
TO put into the nets more threads OF
common sense. When we can present
religion us u great practically we will
catch hundred souls where now we
catch one, Present religion rs an In.
tellectu0lity and we will fail. Out In
the fisheries there are set across the
waters what arc called gill nets
and the fish put their heads through
the meshcs and then can not with
draw them because they are caught by
the gills. But gill nets can not be OF
any service in religious work. Men are
never caught for the truth by their
| hpndS! IL Ia nv the hpnrt M not M all