Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-05-28

mllllon people tnere 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 peculiar
TO itself There should be no rivalry be-
tween ministers God never repeats him
self, and he never makes two ministers
alike, and each one has a work that no
other man in the universe can accomplish.
II fishermen are wise, they will not allow
their nets to entangle, or If they do acci-
dentally get intertwisted the work of ex-
trication should be kindly and gently con-
Quoted. What a glad spectacle for men
and angels when on our recent dedication
day ministers Of all denominations stood
on this platform and wished for each
other widest prosperity and 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 at this time
there is great war going on between fish
ermen, ministers against ministers.
TOT MUST MIND YOUR OWN NET.
Now have noticed a man cannot fish
and fight at the same time. He either
neglects his net or his musket. 1t is amaz-
ing how much time some of the fishermen
have to look after other fishermen. It is
more than can do 70 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 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 Christendom 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 the deep. For a
mile the water is tinged with that peculiar
color that indicates whole schools of pisca-
torial revelry, and the beach swarms with
men with their coats off and their sea caps
on, and those of us who do not go out on
the wave stand on the beach ready to re-
joice 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 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 corners, 0Hurrah,
fifty thousandp' We must have an en-
thusiasm something like that if we are
ever to take the human race for God and
heaven. Aye, we ought to have that en-
thusiasm of the beach multiplied hun
dred 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 angrily across
mine, we will soon have two broken nets
and no fish The French revolution nearly
destroyed the French fisheries, and &C.
clesiastical 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 the
lamb. My friends, notice in the text that
James the son of Zebedee and John his
brother were busy not mending somebody
elses 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 in the important dutyl
In this work of reparation we need to
put into the nets more threads of common
sense. When we can present religion as
great practicality we will catch hundred
souls where now we catch one Present
religion as an intellectually and we will
fail. Out in the fisheries there are set
across the waters what are called gill nets,
and the fish put their heads through the
meshes and then cannot withdraw them
because they are caught by the gills. But
gill nets cannot be of any service in relig-
ious work. Men are never caught for the
truth by their heads; it is by the heart or
notat all. No argument ever saved man,
and no keen analysis ever brought a man
into the kingdom of God. Heart work,
not head work. Away with your gill netsl
Sympathy, helpfulness, consolation, love,
are the names of some of the threads that
we need to weave in our gospel nets when
we are mending them.
IF THE WORLD WOULD BELIEVE IT WOULD
SURRENDER
Do you know that the worlds heart is
bursting with troubi ,nd if you could
make that world bell. that the religion
of Jesus Christ is a soothing omnipotence
the whole world would surrender tomor-
row, yea, would surrender this hour2 The
day before James A. Garfield was inaugur
ated as president was in the cars going
from Richmond to Washington. A gentle
man seated next to me in the cars knew
me, and we were soon in familiar converse
tion. 1t was just after bereavement and
was speaking to him from an over bur-
dened heart about the sorrow was suffer
ing.
Looking at his cheerful face, said: ~
guess you have escaped all trouble. !
should judge from your countenance that
you have come through free from all mis-
fortune" Then he looked at me with look
shall never forget and whispered in my
ear; "Sir, you know nothing about trouble
My wife has been in an insane asylum for
fifteen years." And then he turned and
looked out of the window and into the
night with a silence was too overpowered
to break. That was another illustration
of the fact that no one escapes trouble.
Why, that man seated next to you in
church has on his soul weight compared
with which a mountain is feather. That
woman seated next to you in church has a
grief the recital of which would make your
body, mind and soul shudder.
When you are mending 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. Yea,
when you are mending your nets tear out
those old threads of Oru ffuacs and woo W.,