Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1892-10-03

and of you present blessings. With Il
sharp blade cut away your past half
and half Christian life, and with new
determination, and new plans, and new
expectations launch out into the deep.
POINTERS TO FISHERMEN.
The text is appropriate to all who are
engaged in Christian work The church
of God has been fishing along the
shore We set our net in a good, calm
place, and in sight Of a fine chapel, and
I've so down every Sunday to see If the
fish have been wise enough to come into
our net. We might learn something
| from that boy with his hook and line.
| He throws lis line from the bridge-no
fish. He sis down on q log-no fish.
He stands in the sunlight and casts the
| line, but TO fish. He goes up by the
mill dam, and stands behind the bank,
where the fish cannot see him, and he
has hardly dropped the hook before the
cork goes under. The fish come to him
as fast as he can throw them ashore.
In other words, in our Christian work
why do we not go where the fish are? It
is not so easy to catch souls in church,
for they know that we are trying to
take them. If you can throw your line
out into the world, where they are not
expecting you, they will be captured. Is
it fair to take men by such stratagem?
Yes. I would like to cheat five thousand
souls into the kingdom.
The whole policy of the church of God
is to be changed. Instead of chiefly
looking after the few who have become
Christians our chief efforts will be for
those outside If after a man is CON
verified he cannot take care of himself
am not going to take care of him. If he
thinks that [ am going to stand and pat
him on the back, and feed him out of an
elegant spoon, and watch him SO that
he does not get into d draft of world
illness, he is much mistaken. We have
in our churches Il great mass of helpless.
inane professors, who are doing nothing
for themselves or for others, who want
us to stop and nurse them. They are so
troubled with doubt as to whether they
are Christians or not. The doubt is set
tied. They are not Christians. The best
we can do with these fish is to throw
them back into the stream and go after
them again with the Gospel net.
$50 into the world and preach the
Gospel says Christ-into the factory,
the engine house, the clubroom; into the
houses of the sick; into the dark lane;
into the damp cellar; into the cold gar
ret; into the dismal prison. Let every
man. woman and child know that Jesus
died, and that the gate of heaven is wide
open. With the Bible in one pocket,
and the hymn book III another pocket,
and a loaf Of bread under your arm,
launch out into the great deep of this
worlds Indebtedness.
The text is appropriate to all the I'M
forgiven. Every sinner would come to
God if he thought that he might come just
as he is. People talk as though the par
don of God We're q narrow river, like the
Kennebec or the Thames, and that their
sins draw too much water to enter it.
No; it is not g river nor bay, but Il sea.
[ should like to persuade you to launch
out into the great deep of Gods mercy. l
am merchant. I have bought cargo
of spices in India. I have, through a bill of
exchange, paid for the whole cargo. You
are a ship captain. I give you the orders
and say, Bring me those spices" You
land in India. You go to the trader
and say, ''Here are the orders" and you
find everything all right. You do not
stop to pay the money yourself. 1t is
not your business to pay it. The ar
rangements were made before you
started. So Christ purchases your par
don. He puts the papers, or the prom
ises, into your hand Is it wise to stop
and say, Il cannot pay for my re-
demption? God does not ask you to
pay. Relying on what has been done.
launch out into the deep.
The Bibles promises join hands, and
the circle they make will compass all
your sins, and all your temptations, land
all your SORROWS. The round table of
King Arthur and his knights had room
for only thirteen banqueters, but the
round table of Gods supply is large
enough for all the present inhabitants
of earth and heaven to sit at, and for
the still mightier populations that are yet
to be.
KEEP AWAY FROM THE REEFS
Do not sail coastwisss along your old
habits and old sins. Keep clear of the
shore. Go out where the water is deep
est. Oh, for the mid sea Of Gods mercyi
'Be 1t known unto you, men and breth-
rem, that through this man is preached
unto you forgiveness Of sins I preach
it with as much confidence to the eighty
year-old transgressor as to the maiden
Though your sins were blood red they
shall be snow white. The more ragged
the prodigal, the more compassionate
the father. Do you say that you are too
bad? The high water mark of Gods
pardon is higher than all your trans
gressions. ''The blood of Jesus Christ
scleanseth from all SIN
Do you say that your heart is hard?
Suppose it were ten times harder. Do
you say that your iniquity is long con-
tinued? Suppose it were ten times
longer. Do you say that your crimes
are black? Suppose that they were ten
Zines hlaclrn1. L. tbor1, lot