Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-05-23

The fittest, AMI I will Rad up what tbs
theologians say about advanced thought
will leave the ship awhile and will 20 ashore
and stay there until my net is meadad.n 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 re-
main. Better stay in the Gospel boat whsra
you have all tia means for mendinr YOUR
net. What are they, do you ask / answer.
all you need you have where you are, namely,
o Bible and plaza 70 pray. The mora YOU
study evolution, and adopt what Is called
advanced thought, the bigger fool you will
be. Stay in the ship and mind your net.
That is where James the son of Zebedee and
john his brother staid That is where all
who get their nets mended stay.
These dear brethren Of all demo limitations
afflicted with theological fidgets, had better
go to mending nets inst aai OF br eaking them.
Before they break up the oh eligion and
try to foist on us new religion let them 70
through some great slcrii;s for Col that
will prove them worthy Tor slci WORK,
taxing the advice OF Talleyrani to a man
who wanted to upset the religion OF Jesus
Christ and start new one, when he said:
go and be crucifisd and then raise yourself
from the grave the third dayp Those VINO
propose to mend their nets by secular skep
tical books are just ike a man WAC has just
one week for fishing, and six Of the days he
spends in reading Issak Walton's ''Compiete
Angler" and Wheatley's Rod and Linen
and Scott's Fishing in Northern Waters
and Pullman's wade Mecum of Fly Fishing
for Trout" and then on Saturday morning,
his last day out, goes to the river to ply his
art but that day the fish will not bite and
late on Saturday night he goes home with
empty basket and disappointed heart.
Meanwhile a man who never saw a big
library in all his life, has that week caught
= 1
his own table and the table OF all his neigh
bors and enough to salt down in barrels for
the long winter that will soon come in. Alasl
Alasi If, when the Saturday night of our
life drops on us it shall be found that we
have spent our time in the libraries of
worldly philosophy, trying to mend our nets
and we have only few souls to report as
brought to GOD through our instrumentah-
TT, while some humble GoSoel fisherman, his
library ms1eup OF a Bible and an almanac,
saau come homs laden with ths results, his
trophies the souls within fifteen miles OF his
log cabin meeting house.
In the time of great disturbances in Naples
in 1549 Massanielho, a bare footed fishing
boy, dropped his fishing roll and by strange
magnetism took command of that city of SIX
hundred thousand souls. He took off mis- fish
ing Jacket and put on a robe of gold in the
presancs OF howiing mobs. He put his hand
on his lip as 8 signal, and they were rent.
He waved his hand away from him, and they
retired to their homes. Armies passed. in re
view before him. He became the nations
idol. The rapid rise and complete supremacy
of that young fisherman, Massaniello, has no
parallel in all history. But something equal
10 taat and better than that is an everyday
occurrence in heaven.
God takes some OF those, who in this world
were fishers of men, and who toilel very
humbly, but because of the way they mended
their nets and employed their nets after they
were nended, and suddenly hoists them and
robes them and scepters them and crowns
them and makes them rulers over cities, and
He marches armies of saved ones before them
in review. MasSaniellos unhonored on earth,
but radiated in heaven. The fisher boy OF
NapIes soon lost his powar. but those people
of God woo kept their nets mendet and
rightly swung them shall never lose their ex-
allied place but shall reign forever and ever
and ever. Keep that reward in sight
But do not spend your time fishing with
ho1z and line Why dill not James, the son
OF 4beiea, sit on the wharf at Cam, his feet
hanging over tho lake AM with a long pole
aad a worm on the hook dipped into the
wave, wait for some mutlet to SWIM up and
be caught2 Why did not Zsosdee spend his
afternoon trying to catch one eel? No; that
worl, was too slow. Thess men wers not
mending hooi AMI line; they were meai-
ins their nets. So let the church OF God not
be contsnt with having here oae soul
AMI next month anobhar soul brought into
the kingdom. Sweep all the seas VITA nets
scoop nets seine nets, drag nets, all elcon-
passing nets-au1 take tue treasures in
By hundreds and thousas is AMI millions, and
nations be born in day ani the hsmisphsres
quake with tue tread of a ransoming God.
Do you know waat will be the two most
tremendous hours in our heavenly existence?
Among ths quadrillions OF ages which snail
roll on, what two occasions will be to US the
GREATEST
The day Of our arrival there will be to us
one of tne two greatest. The second great
est, I think, viii be the day when we shall
have put in parallel lines before us what
Christ did for US AMI what we did for Christ
the one so great, the other 50 little That
will be the only embarrassment in heaven.
Ny Lord an my Go1l What viii We do AMI
wnat will we say whsn on one side are placei
the Saviours great sacrifices for us and our
small sacrifices for Him-dis exle, His
humiliation, His agoniss Oh one hand, and
our poor weak, insult ,iens sacrifices on tbs
other? To make the contrast less over.
whsminy, let US quickly msnl our nets aai
like the Galileln fishermen may we be divine
ly helped to cast them on the right side OK
the ship