The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1901-03-15

hvics mere ruOul0 ne no rlNdlry De
tween churches. Each one does
work peculiar TO itself But there ar
cities in this country where there il
now going on an awful ripping an,
rending and tearing Of fishing nets
Indeed all over Chrstendom at thii
time there Is a gerat war going OF
between fishermen, ministers agains
ministers.
Now, l have noticed a man cannot
fish and fight at the same time. Fl,
either negiects his net OF his musket
Tt IL amazing how much time some OF
the fishermen have to look after other
fishermen. IL is more than | can dc
TO take care Of my own net. You see
the wind is just right. and it is such a
I good time for fishing, and the fish are
coming in so rapidly that | have to
keep my eyes and hand busy. There
are about 2OO,OOO,OOO souls wanting to
get into the kingdom Of God. and il will
require all the nets and all the fisher
men Of Christendom to safely land
them. Oh. brethren OF the ministry,
let us spend our time in fishing in
stead Of fighting. But if angriiy jerk
my net across your net. and you jerk
your net angriiy across mine. We will
soon have two broken nets and no fish.
The French revolution nearly destroyed
the French fisheries. and ecclesiastical
war is the worst thing possible while
hauling souls into the kingdom. My
friends. notice in the text that James,
the son OF Zebedee, and John. his
brother, were busy at mending some
body e,se's nets, and rather think that
we who are engaged In Christian work
in this opening century will require
all our spare time to mend our own
nets. God help us in the important
duty.
In this work OF repair we need to
put into the nets more threads Of com
mon sense. When we can present reli-
gon as great practically we will
catch a hundred souls where now we
catch one. Present religion as an in
tsiiectuality and we will fail. Out in the
fisheries there are set across the wa
ters what are called gill nets. and the
fish put their heads through the meshes
ard then cannot withdraw them be-
cause they are caught by the gills.
But gill nets cannot be OF any service in
religious work. Men are never caught
for the truth by their heads; il is by
the heart or not at all. No argument
ever saved a man and no keen analysis
ever brought a man into the kingdom
OF God. Heart work, not head work.
Away with your gill netsl sympathy.
helpfuiness, consolation, love, are the
names Of some of the threads that we
need 10 weave in our gospel nets when
we are mending them.
When you are mending your net for
this wide, deep sea OF humanity. take
out that wire thread of criticism and
that horsehair thread Of harshness
and put in a soft silken thread Of Chris
tian sympathy. Yea, when you are
mending your nets tear out those old
threads of gruffness and weave in
few threads Of politeness and geniality.
in the house of God let all Christian
faces beam with a look that means
welcome. Say good morning TO the
stranger as he enters your pew and at
the close shake hands with him and
say: How did you ike the music?'
Why. you would be % that man a panel
of the door Of Heaven; you would be to
him a note of the doxology that ser
apis sing when a new soul enters Heav-
en-. I have in other days entered
pew in church and the woman
at the other end Of the pew looked at
ne as much as to say: How dare you?
This is my pew, and pay the rent for
III" Well crouched in the other cor
ner and made myself as small as pos
sible and felt as though / had been
stealing something. So there are peo-
pie who have sharp edge 10 their re-
ligiou, and they act as though they !
thought most people had been elected |
10 be damned and they were glad of H.
Oh. let us brighten up our manner and
appear in Qentlemanliness or lady |
hood.
Again. in mending our nets we need |
also 10 put in the threads Of faith and |
tear out all the tangled meshes Of un-
belief Our work is successful accord
ing 10 our faith. The man who be /
iieyes in only half Bible or the Bible
IN spots. the man who thinks he can
not persuade others. the man who
halts. doubling about this and doubt
nr about that. will be a failure in
Christian work Show me the man who
rather thinks that the garden Of Eden
nav have had an aliegory and is not
quite certain but that there may be
another chance after death and does
not know whether or not the Bible is
and / tell you that man for
soul saving is poor stick. Faith in
God and in Jesus Christ and the Holy
Ghost and the absolute necessity Of
heart in order TO see God
n peace is one thread you must have
n your mended net. or you will never
be a successful fisher for men. Why,
how can you doubt? The rottenest
hread TO tear out Of your net is unbe
ief. and the most important thread
hat YOU are 10 put in il is fsith-faith
o God, triumphant faith, everlasting
sith.
oh. this important work Of mending
,ur nets! II we could get our nets
light, we would accomplish more in
.oul saving in the next year than We
lave in the last 20 Bu where shall we
ret them mended2 Just where old Zeb-
dee and his two boys mended their