Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1893-02-11

/ place IOf making line maui OF HSn, SO
when the soul is under the long dark
shadows of anxiety and distress 1t is q
good time to mako spiritual haul.
People ii the bright sunshine Of pros
pcrity IRE not SO easily taken.
TIE BEST FISHERS OF MES.
But be sire before you start out to the
gospel fisheries TO get tire right kind OF
bait "Dut how" you say "uin | 10 get
liz" NY answer is, dig for it. !" where
shall dig for Il" In the rich Bible
grounds" We boys brought up in tile
country had to dig for bait before We
started for the banks of the Reritan.
We put tho sharp edge Of the spade
against tho ground and thon put our
foot on the spade. and with one trcmen-
dous plunge Of orr strength of body and
will VIC drove it il up to the handle and
then turned over the sod.
NTo had mover read Walton's Com
plete Angler" or Charles Cottons On
s.ructions How 10 Angle For Crawling
Ii Clear Stream" We knew nothing
about tic modern red hacklo or the fly
OF orange colorod mohair, but we got the
right kind of bait. No use trying to ar
gle for fish or anglo for souls unless you
have tho right Kind of bait, and there is
plenty CT it in the promises, the para
bles, the miracles, the crucifxion. the
heaven Of tho grand old gospel.
Yes, not Only must you dig for bait,
! b,t 1sn cnlv fresh bait. You cannot do
anything down at the pond with old
anglcworms. New views of truth.
New views of God. New views Of tho
soul. There arc i'll the good books TO
help you Dig. But make up your mind
as to whether you will take the hint Of
IfabuI1krk and Isaiah and JOB and use
hook and line or take the hint Of Mat
thew and Luke and Christ ard fish with
a net.
think many lose their tiIno by want
ing to FISH with II net, end they never get
ia place to swing the net. II other words,
they want TO Go gospel work on big
scale or they will not do it at all. see
feeble minded Christian men going
around with Bassters Diblo under
their arm, hoping to do the work of an
evangelist and uso the net, While they
might be better content with hook and
line and take one soul 1T tine. They
are bad fixtures as cvangclists. They
would be mighty successes as private
Christians. If you catch OILY one soul
for God, that will DC enough to ill your
eternity with celebration. All hail the
fisherman with hook and lire;
| have seen q man in toughest cordu
roy outfit cone back from the woods
loaded down with string of finny treas
ures hung ovcr his shoulder and his
ganebag filled, and a dog with his teeth
carrying the basket filled with the sur
rlus of an afternoons angling, and it
was all the result of hook and line, and
in the eternal world there will be many
man and many woman that was
never heard of outside of village Sun
day school or prayer meeting buried in
q church basement who will como be-
| fore the throne OF God with multitude
of souls ransomcd through his or her in
strumentality, and yet the work all done
through personal interview. one by ono,
one by one.
You 90 not know who that one soul
may be. Starp;tz helped one soul into
the light, but il was Martin Luther.
Thomas Bilncy brought salvation to ONO
soul, but it vas Hugh Lati1ncr. An
edge tool maker was Nlc means Of saving
one SOUL but it was Join Symmetrical.
Our blessed Lord healed one blind eye
at a time. one pcralyzed arm at tire.
one drcpsical patient ct time, md
raised from tho dead one girl ct 4 time,
enc young man 1T a time. Admire the
net that takes in q great mary ct once,
but do not despise the hook and line.
TIE APPLICATION TO CHRISTIANITY.
God l:clp lis amid the gospel fisheries,
| whether we employ hook or net. for the
div coploth when wo shall see how much
depended on our fidelity. Christ himself
declared: The kingdom Of heaven Is like
unto net that WIS cast into the sea and
gathered cf every kind, which, when it
WINS full, they drew to shore and eat
down end gathered the good in the Yes
scls, but cast tho bad away. So shall it
be Mt the end Of the world-thc angels
shall come forth and separate the wicked
from the just.
Yes, the fishermen think it best to
keep tic useful and worthless of the
haul in the same net until 1t is drawn
uron the beach. ard then the division
takes rlaco, and il it is Oh Long Island
coast the mossbankers are thrown otit
ind the blurfish and siad preserved, or
if it is on the shors of Gallee the fish
classified as siluroids are hurled back
into tho water OF thrown up on the bank
Us unclean, while the perch and the carp
end tho barbel are put into pals to be
carried home for use.
So in the church on earth the saints
and tho hypocrites, the generous and the
mean, tho cnaste and tho ui!clean, are
| kept in the Same membership, but at
death tho division will be made, and the
good will be gathered into heaven, end
the bad, however many holy co1nmun-
ions they may have celebrated, and
however many rhetorical prayers they
may havo offered, and however many
years tl.cir names may have been Oh the
church rolls, will be cast away. God
forbid that any of us should be among
tho ''caat away" But may we 'do our
work, whether small or great, as thor
oughly as did that renowned fisherman,
George W. Bethune, who spent his
summer rest angling in the waters
around tho Thousand Isles aad beating
at their own craft those who piled it all
the year. and who tho rest Of his tine
gloriously preached Christ in Q pulpit
only IS minutes from where I now
stand, and ordering for his Own ohsc-
quies: "Put on me 1ny pulpit gown and
bands, with my own pocket Eiblc in ,ay
right hand Bury me with my mother,
$500 l,o, and ,,,1y fyro,uijr rti1n- s.j.)r