Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1901-02-09
MENDING THE NETS.
DR.. 1almsse breaches a Sermon on
the Story of the Fishermen.
Chri~r'- Disciples. ne Fishers OF Men
The Gospel Net and How "a
should ue Kept In
Repair.
Icopyright. 1851. by Louis Klopsch.l
Mnshlncfnn Ian Y

text. Matthew All. James. the son OF
Zebedee. and John. his brother. in
ship with zebedee. their father. mend
ing their nets"
Il 40 a-fshing.~ cried Simon Peter
TO his comrades. and the most Of the
apostles had hands hard from fishing
tackle. The fisheries OF the world have
always attracted attention. In the
third century the queen Of Egypt had
FOR pin money $4,000. received from
the fisheries Of Lake Noeris. And. IL
the time should ever come when the
immensely OF the worlds population
could not be fed by the vegetabl and
meats OF the land. the sea has an
amount CT animal life that would feed
al the population OF the earth an6 fat
ten them with a food that by its phos-
phorus would make a generation
brainy and Intellectual beyond any
thing that the world has ever mag
ircd. Ny text takes Us among the Cali
lean fishermen. One DAY Walter Scott
while hunting in an old drawer. found
among some Ole fishing tackle the
manuscript Of his immortal book
"Waveriey." which he had put awsy
there as Of no worth. and no knows
but that to-day Ne may FIND some un-
known wealth Of thought while 'ook-
ing AZ the fishing tackle in the text.
II is no; a good day for fishing and
three men are In the boat repairing
The broken fishing nets. n YOU are
fishing with q hook and lire and the
fish Will nor bite. 20 Is good tiue to
put the anglers apparatus into better
condition. Perhaps the last fish YOU
hauled in was $50 large that something
snapped. or. IL yCu were fishing with a
net. ;here was mighty fouuCerirv
81 the scales or an exposed nail on the
Size Of the boat which broke some q
the threads and Jet part or ali of the
cspiives ~ the deep escape into their
natural element. And barely any
thing il more provoking shan toueari,
4ano score or hundred trophies
from tife deep and when You are ir the
full giee % hauling in the spotted
treasures. through some imperfccticn
81 the net they splash back into tie
wave. That j. too much OF a trial OF
patience for most fishermen 20 endure.
anc many man ordinarily correct Of
speech in such circum stances comes 20
an intensity OF utterance uniustifiabfe.
Therefore no good fisherman consid-
ers the time wasted that j. spent in
mencing his net Now. the Bible again
and again represents Christian work
ers a. fishers of men. and we are an
sweeping through the sea 90 humanity
some kind % a net Indeed there have
been enough nets ont and enough fish
ermen busy GO have landed the whole
human race in the kingdom OF Cod
-cng before ;his. What Is the uatter2
The Gospel is all right and ii has been
a good time for catching souls for thou
SANDS of years. Why. then. The fail
ures? The trouble is with the nets
snc most ~ them need 90 be mended. 7
propose 20 show You what is the mat
Ter with most Of the nets and how 20
mend them. Ia the text old Zebefec
and his TWO boys. James and John.
were Going good thing When they sat
an The boat mending their nets.
The trouble with many ca our nets
5 that the meshes are too large. II
hsh can get his gins and half his
body through the network he tears
and rends and works his way out. and
leaves the place through which he
squirmed a tangle OF broken threads
In our desire 20 make everything so
easy we relax. we loosen. we wider.
We lei men after they are once in
the Gospel net escape into the world
and go into induigences and swim an
around Galilee. from north side To
south side. and from east side 10 west
side. expecting that they viii come
back again. We ought 10 make II easy
Tor them 10 get into the Kingdom OF
God and. as far as We can. make il
impossible FOR them 20 get out. The
poor advice nowadays 10 many j.:
Go and do just as YOU did before YOU
were captured for God and Heaven
The net was not intended 10 be any
restraint or any hindrance. What Won
| did before you were a Christian do
now. Go 10 all styles Of anus nent
read al the styles q books. enra~e
IN all styles Of behavior as before Won
were converted" And so. through
these meshes 81 permission and laxitv.
! they wrigg-e out through this Omen
ing and that opening. tearing the net
os they go. and soon all the souls that
We expected 10 land in Heaven. be-
fore We know s., are back ia the deem
sea Of she world. Oh. when We 90
a-1osPel fishing. Jet us make IL as easy
as possible for souls TO get in and as
hard As possible to get out.
j. The Bib-e language an unmeaning
verbiaee when il talks about self-ie-
NAL. and Keeping the body under and
about walking the narrow way and
entering the strait gate and about
carrying the cross? Il tAsre 10 be no
way OF telling whether a man is a
Christian except by his taking the
communion chalice on sacramental
day? May man be a. reckless about
4 his fhnnohfa ukft,t