The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1893-02-09

II sea rs tho hshtug smack sailed on. how
/ wonderful all this Is iuwrought into the
fib;e imagery an IL leads me to * in which
mole are you and | fishing. for tbs churcd
| Is the boat, aud the gospel IL the net, and
the sea IL the world, an The fish are the
souls and God addresses us as He did Simon
and Andrew. saying. Follow Me. AMI
will make you fishers OF men" Bu. whenis
the best time to fish for souls' In the NIGHT.
Peter. why did you say to Cnrst I've
| have toiled all the night aud have taken
4 nothiugY Why dif YOU not fish In the day
timer He replies. "You ought TO know that
the night is the best tins iot fisainx.'
At Tohyhanns Mills among the noun.
taius OF Pennsylvania, saw friend with
high hoots and As tiug tac tie sssrtliy out
at o'clock nc night. and 1 s,i' "Wher ara
you goincY He answered, 80 ring TO fish,
what in the nightr Heauswsrei. "Yes,
| in the night" So the vast ma ority OF souls
captured for I'D are taken in times OF re-
yival in the night meetings. They might
| Just as we'll come at II O'CLOCK at noon, but
most of them will not. Ask the ev an yelists
OF olien times ask Finuey. ask Nsttlston.
| ask Osborn, ask Diniel Baker. AM then ask
all the modern evaug ,lsts which u the best
time to gather souls, and tney will answer,
"rhe night: by all o Ids, the night MOI
only the natural night, but ths night OF
trouble.
Suppose 60 aroun in this audience aud
| ask these Christians when they were convert
| ei to God. 0ne would answer, "I was at the
| time lost my Guild by membrauous Group.
AMI IL was the night os bersavem ent," or
toe answer would b.. ''lt was just after [
was swindlsd out OF NV property. and IL was
| the night OF bankruptcy or 1t would he,
"lt was during that tim, when was down
with that awful sickness, and II was the nj yht
| OF ph scal suir sring," or IL would be, 1T
| was that time when slander took after me.
aud was malignei AMI abu'et, ani It was
the night OF persecution" Ah, NV hearers,
| that Is the tins for YOU II go after sOuis.
when a night of troubls is on them. Miss
not that opportunity 20 savS asou!, for 1t is
tle best OF all opportunities.
Go up along the Mohawk. o. the Juniata,
or tbs Delaware, or tbs Tonhigoee or ths
st. Liwrsncs right after rain, and you
will lind the flshermin all up AMI down the
lakssy Whyl Bscauss a good time to angle
lis riynt after the rain, an / that IL n good
time to cstch souls, right after shower o.
lmisfortune. right after nDois OF disaster.
Aud as n pool overshudowel with tress is a
grand place for making n fine haul OF fish,
so when the soul is un Ter the long dnrS
shadows OF anxiety and distress IL Is Cool
tims 70 make spiritual haul. People in
the bright sunshine ot prosperity are not 50
easily taken.
But be sure before you start oat to the
gospel fisheries to get the right KIM OF bait.
l"But how" you say, ''am | 10 get it, Ny
answer l., "Dig for it," Where shall I
dig for ity "ln tho rici Bible grounds" +"
We boys brough, up in the country had -
dig for bait betors we star6e | for tn, banks
OF the II iritaU. We put the sharp edge OF
tho spa 10 against tbs ground aud then put
our foot on the spade, aud witu ono trsnon-
dous plunge % our strength OF body aud
will we drove itin up to the hauile AMI then
turnei over the sol.
We had never read Walton's Complete
Angler" or Charles Cotton's "Instr rictions
How TO Angle for Crawling in Clear
Stream" We knew nothing about the mod.
ern red hacklo or the fly OF orange colorel
mohair. but we got the right kind o. bait.
No use trying TO anglo for fish or angle for
souls uules. yon have the right kind OF bait
and there Is plenty OF II In the promises, tho
parallels, the miracles the crucifixiou, the
heaven OF the grand old gospsi.
uss oniy fresh bait. You csunat do any
thing down ut che pond with old angle
worms New views OF truth. New views
: of Col. New views o; the soul. There are
: ali the goa books 70 help you dig, Bui
maize mn Jour mind as TO whether you vii
tcae tLs mint OF HabukkuS aud Isaiah am
Jop and use hook and line. or take the hin
of ... .....'.oew spf Luxe aud Christ end iis
with q net. %
think many lose their tins by wlntin 2
20 fish with net, and they never get place
to swing the net. In other words, they want
to do gospel work on a big scale or thev will
not do it at all. | see feeble minded Chris.
tian men going around with n Bagster' s
Bible under their arm, hoping TO do the work
OF an evangelist and use the net. while they
might be better content with hook and line
and take one soul at a time. They are bad
failures as evangelists. They would he
mighty successes as private Christians II
you catch only one soul for God, that wlll bl
enough 10 ill your eternity with celebration.
! AL hail the fisherman with hook and lne'
| have seen IA man in rou chest corduroy
outfit como back from the wools loaded
down with n string o, tinny treasures hun.
over his shoulder and his gamebas filled,
aud do. with hi teeth carrying the basket
nllel with the surplus OF an afternoon
angling, anl it was all ths result of Il hook
aud line, AMI in the eternal world there will
bs many man aul many "A woman that
was never heard OF outside OF avillage sun
dny.school or a prayer meeting buriei in n
church basement who will coma before the
throne OF Col with a multitu1o OF souls
rlnsomei through his or her instru
mentality, and yet the work all done
through personal interview, one 10y one,
ons by one.
You do not know vino that one soul may
BE-. Staupitz helped one soul into the llghr,
but IL was Martin Lutner. Thomas Bllney
| brought salvation to ons soul, but II was
Hugh Lltimer. An edge tool maker wa-
the means of saving one soul, but IL was
John Summerflsld. Our blessed Lord healed
one blind eye at time, one paralyzei arm
at time, one dropsicai patient at "A time,
and raised from the dead one girl at time,
ons young man at time. Admire the net
that takes in great many at once but do
not despiss the hook aud line.
Got help u3 amid che gospel fisheries.
whether we employ nook or net for the day
cometh wnen we shall see how much de
pended on our fidelity. Christ Himself de
clared "The kingdom OF heaven is like unto
a net that was cast into the sea and gatherei
OF every kin ;, which, when IL was full. they
drew 10 snore and sat down and gathered
the good in the vessels, but cast the bad
away. So shall IL be at the end of thu
world--the angels shall come forth an,
separate the wicked from tho just"
Yes, the fishermen think 1t best to keer
the useful and worthless OF the haul in th'
same net until it is drawn upon tbs beach
and then the division takes place, ani II ID Is
on Long Island coast the mossbankers art
thrown out and the blueish I'm shad pre-
served, or IL il is on the shore OF Galilee the
al al NJ giluroida ara hurlat bocA