Milford chronicle., 1901-02-01


meshes are too large. If FISH
go, 1t his gills and half his body |
tbrouybt the network he tears and rends /
and works his way out, and leaves the |
nIoco through which he squirmed tango
- broI,ep threads. In our desire TO make |
evervfhinc 81 easy we relax, we loosen, !
NO yviIon WE let men after they are
once il, the .yosD,el net escape into the
world. and 20 into indulgenees and SWIM
! all around Galilee, from north SIDE TO
south side, and FROM east SIDE 10 west
| side, expecting that they VIII come PACK
| again We ought TO make it easy for
! them 70 get into the-l,ingdom of God,
md. rs far as we can. mako ~ imposslple
for them TO get out The poor advice
NOWADAYS to many is: "Go and DO JUST as
you did before you were captured LOT
God and heaven. The net was not IN
tended to be any restraint or any n.y.
drance. What you did before you were
a Christian do now. Go to all styles OF
amusement. read all the styles of books.
engage in all the styles Of behavior as be
fore Won were converted" And So
through these meshes of permission and
laXity, they wriggle out through this
opening and that opening. tearing the net
as they 20. and soon all the souls that we
expected to land in heaven, before we
, know it, are back in the deep sea Of the
= world Oh. when we go a-gOspel fishing,
let us make il as easy as possible for
souls to get in and as hard as possible to
get out.
Is the Bible language an unmeaning
verbiage when it talks about self denial.
and keeping the body under, and about
q walking the narrow way and entering
J. the strait gate and about carrying the
cross? Is there to be NJ way of telling
E whether a man is a Christian except by
. his taking the communion chalice on sac
ramental day? May a man be as reck
- less about his thoughts, about his words
about his temper. about his amusements
ar after conversion as before? Alas, the
y words Of Christ are so little needed wheI
W he said. "0NhOsoever doth not bear hi
&C. cross and come after me cannot be IN!
te disciple" The church is fast becoming
es as bad as the world. and when it gets a
les bad as the world it will be worse tina
in the world by so much. as it will add ny
els pocrisy of a most appalling kind to ii
other defects.
ms Furthermore, many of our nets are tor
Ior to pieces by being entangled with OthC
HIS nets. 1t is a sad sight to see ishPrme
nj fighting about sea room and pulling
in opposite directions, each to get his ne
- both nets damaged by the struggle al
losing all the fish. In this land, whe
there are more than 10000000 peOpl
there are at least 30,0O0,G00 not in Il
- Sunday schools and churches. In SUI
an Atlantic ocean of opportunity there
room for all the nets and all the boa
and all the fishermen and for millio
more. There should be no rivalry
tween churches Each one does a wO
.sfs / oiffne
this country where there is now going
d an awful ripping and rending and teari
Of fishing nets Indeed all over Christie
. dom at this time there is great war
ing on between fishermen, minist'
n against ministers.
Now | have noticed a man cannot
and fight al the same time. He eitl
neglects his net or his musket. 1t
. amazing how much time some of the fl
ermen have to look after other fsherm
s OF It is more than can do to take care
my own net. You see the wind is
NC right, and it is such a good time for
We ing, and the fish are coming in so rap
that l have to keep my eye and b
busy There are about 2OO,OOO,OOO s.
wanting to get into the kingdom Of
and it will require all the nets and all
them. Oh, brethren Of the ministry,
"a us spend our time in fishing instead
~ fighting. But if 1 angrily jerk my
across your net, and you jerk your
low angrily across mine, we will soon
al a two broken nets and no fish. The FIR
revolution nearly destroyed the FIR
fisheries, and ecclesiastical war is
worst thing possible while hauling
into the kingdom. My friends, | n
in the text that James, the son Of
dee, and John, his brother, were bus!
anu mending somebody else's nets, but n
from ing their own nets, and l rather
WIT. that we who are engaged in Chri
INV work in this opening century will re
lmbef all our spare time to mend our own
, ~ God help us IN the important duty!
In this work of repair we need 4
into the nets more threads Of col
sense. When we can present relgi
a great praeticality we will catch a
bred souls where now we c en-
Present religion ss =. s..sell>es:.e =,