The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1892-10-07
DEEP SEA FISHING.
Or. TALMAGs TELLS WHY CHRIST
CHOSE FISHERMEN.


Vigor-Great Congregations Assemble
at the Tabernacle.
BROOKLYN, Oct. 2.-Since his return
from Europe DIR. Talmage has faced
audiences unusually large and enthu-
siastic, who are attracted to the Taber-
nacle no less by the potent eloquence of
the preacher than through desire to
hear from his own lips the message of
thanks intrusted to him by the car to
the contributors of The Christian Herald
famine cargo, which he and Mr.. Klopsch
conveyed to Russia in the steamer Leo.
1t is understood that DR.. Talmagt has
in preparation full account of the mis-
sion to Russia, as well as his own preach
ing tour to Germany, England, Scotland
and Ireland. The text this morning
was taken from Luke v, 4, Launch
out into the deep"
Christ, starting on the campaign of
the worlds conquest, was selecting his
staff officers. There were plenty of stu
dents with high foreheads, and white
hands, and intellectual faces, and refined
! pdolco III lNoiic anu III CcI uSdleIu. SuTlSt
might have called into the apostleship
twelve bookworms, or twelve rhetori-
clans, or twelve artists. Instead he takes
group of men who had never made
speech; never taken lesson in bellies
lettres; never been sick enough to make
them look delicate-their hands broad,
clumsy and hard knuckled He chose
| Hshnp,nap nthar T
because they were physically hardy.
Rowing makes strong arms and stout
chests. Much climbing of ratlines makes
ones head steady. A Galilee tempest
wrestled men into gynnasts.
The opening work of the church was
rough work. Christ did not want
twelve invalids hanging about him,
complaining all the time how badly they
! felt. He leaves the delicate students at
Jerusalem and Rome for their mothers
and aunts to take care of, and goes down
to the ssashore, and out of the toughest
material makes an apostleship. The
ministry need more corporal vigor than
any other class. Fine minds and good
intentions are important, but there must
| DC ply lOlCc W DdCh lllGIls I6
Intellectual mill wheel may be well built
and the grist good, but there must be
enough blood in the mill race to turn
the one and to grind the other.
He chose fishermen also because they
were used to hard knocks. The man
who cannot stand assault is not fit for
the ministry. 1t always has been and
| ol1 will 1,a, J.,
who, at every censure or caricature, sits
down to cry had better be at some other
work. 1t is no place for ecclesiastical
doll babies. A man who cannot preach
because he has forgotten his manuscript
| or lost his spectacles ought not to preach
at all. Heaven deliver the church from
ministry that preach in kid gloves and
from sermons in black morocco coversl
These fishermen were rough and ready.
They had been in the severest of all col
leges.
When they were knocked over by the
main boom of the ship they entered the
Sophomore; when washed off by
great wave they entered the Junior;
when floating for two days without
| iOoo VI vi Ol q palm UlOy CdllC W
the Senior, and when at last their ship
dashed on the beach in a midnight hur-
ricane they graduated with the first
honor.
| JESUS ON SHIPBOARD.
My text finds Jesus on shipboard with
one of these bronzed men-Simon by
name. This fisherman had been sweep
ing his net in shoal water. "Push out"
says Christ; "what is the use of hugging
the shore in this boat? Here is lake
twelve miles long and six wide, and it is
all populated just waiting for the
sweep of your net. Launch out into the
deep"
The advice that my Lord gave to 81
mon is as appropriate for us all in
spiritual sense. The fact is that most of
US are just padding along the shore.
We are afraid to venture out into the
great deeps Of God and Christian ex-
perience. We think that the boat will
be upset, or that we cannot "clew down
the mizzen topsail," and our cowardice
makes us poor fishermen. think hear
the voice of Christ commanding us, as
he did Simon on that day when bright
Galilee set in among the green hills of
Palestine, like water flashing in an
emerald cup, Launch out into the
deep"
This divine council comes first to all
those who are padding in the margin Of
Bible research. My father read the
Bible through three times after he was
eighty years of age and without specta-
cles-not for the mere purpose of saying
he had been through it so often, but for
his eternal profit. John Colby, the
brother-in-law of Daniel Webster,
learned to read after he was eighty-four
years of age in order that he might be-
come acquainted with the Scriptures.
There is no book in the world that de-
mands so much of our attention as the
Bible. Yet nine-tenths of Christian
men get no more than ankle deep They
think it is good sign not to venture too
far. They never ask how or why, and
if they see some Christian becoming in
quisitive about the deep things Of God
they say, ''Be careful; you had better
not go out SO far from shore"
My answer is: The farther you go
from shore the better if you have the
right kind of ship. If you have mere
worldly philosophy for the hulk, and
pride for sail, and self conceit for the
helm, the first squall will destroy you.
But if you take the Bible for your craft,
the farther You go the better, and after
you have gone ten thousand furlongs
Christ will still command, Launch out
into the deep" Ask some such question
as "Who is God" and go on for ten years
asking it. Ask it at the gate Of every
parable; amid the excitement Of every
miracle; by the solitariness of every pa
triarchal thrashing floor; amid the white
faces of Sennscherib's slain turned up
into the moonlight; amid the flying
chariots of the Golden City.
Ask who Jesus is, and keep on asking
it of every Bible lily, of every raven, Of
every star, of every crazed brain cured
of every blind man come to sunlight, OF
every coin in fsh's mouth, of every