The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-02-08
SNs "a Asfnose, saany of ous aosb AM
tskn TO pieces by Gs,ag shtahglsa With

and pulling in opposlte direct ions, each
to get his net, both meta damaged by
tho struggle aud losing oil the fish,.
TInsathis land where there are moro
i'than 10000 900 people. thero are at
least so, 900. 900 not in the Sunday
! ayMoois and .ohuyohes. IN suOh an At
lantic ocean OF opportunity there is
| foom for@aIl the nets ard all the boats
and all the fishermen and for millions
moro. There should bs no rivalry be-
| tween churches. Each one does q
work peculiar to itself. But there are
cities in this country where there is
now going on an awful ripping and
| rending and tearing Of fishing nets.
Indeed oil over Christcndom ut this
time there is a gerat war going on
between fishermen, ministers against
ministers.
Now, I have noticed man cannot
f1sh aud fight at the sumo time. He
either neglects his net his muslset.
1t is amazing how much time somo Of
tho fshermcn have to look after other
fishermen 1t is more than I can do
| to tako caro- of my own net You see
the wind Is just right, end IL Is such II
| good time for fishing, and the fish are
coming in 30 rapidly that l have to
keep my eyes and hand busy. There
are about 2OO,ooo,oo souls wanting to
| get into the kingdom Of God, and 1t will
| require all the nets and all the fisher
men OF Christendom to safely land
them. Oh, brethren Of tho ministry,
| let us spend our time IN fishing in
stead Of fighting. But if angrily jerk
my net across your net, and you jerk
your net angrily across mine, we will
SION have two broken nets and no fish.
Tho French revolution nearly destroyed
the French fish cries, and ecclesiastical
war is the worst thing possible while
| hauling souls into the Kingdom. Ny
| friends, / no tice in the text that James,
| the son Of Zebedee, and John, his
brother, were busy ut mending some
body elso's nets, and rather think that
wo who arc 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
dntyi
In this work of repair we need to
put into the nets more threads Of com
mon sense. When we can present reli-
gion as n great practically wo will
OopSh " dANlSo oOulo WNCAO uo" w
catch one. Present religion as an in
tellectuality and we will fail. ontin the
fisheries there are set across tho wa
tera what are called gill nets, and the
Fish put their heads through the meshes
and then cannot withdraw them be-
cause they are caught by the gilla.
But gill ncts cannot be Of any service In
| religious work. Men arc never caught
for the truth, by their heads; st is by
the heart or not Ut all. No nrgum ent
ever saved q man and no keen analysis
ever brought man into the kingdom
OF God. Heart work, not head work.
Away with your gill nets! Sympathy,
helpfulncss, oonkolation, love, are tho
names Of some OF tho threads that we
need to weave in our gospel nets when
we are lnending them.
When you aro mending your net Tor
this wide, deep sea OF humanity, take
out that wire thread of criticism and
| that horsehnir thread Of harshness
and put In soft silken thread of Chris
tian sympathy. Yea, when you are
| uending your nets tear out those old
! threads of grutfness and weave in u
few threads Of politeness and geniality.
In tho house Of God let all Christian
faces beam with 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 lilko the music ?''
Why, you would be to that man panel
Of tho door Of i4eayen; you would be to
him note OF tho doxology that SER
apis sing when new soul enters Heav-
/ - 4 I, = 4. =
u pew In church, and tho woman
ut the other end Of tho pow looked at
me as much as to say: "How daro you !?
This Is my pew, and i pay the rent for
! It'll" Well, crouched in the other cor
ncr and made myself as small as pos
sible and felt ms though had been
stealing something. So there are peo-
pie who have n sharp edge TO their re-
ligion, and they act as though they
thought most people had been elected
to be damned and they were glad of it. .
| Oh, let lis brighten up our manner and
| appear in gentlemanliness or lady
hood.
Again in mending our nets we need
also to put in the threads Of faith and
tear out MI the tangled meshes Of un-
belief. Our work is successful accord
ing to our faith. Tho man who be-
licves in only half Bible or tho Bible
In Bpota, the man who thinks he can
not persuade others, tho man who
halts, doubling about this and doubt
ing about that, will DO failure in
Christian work. Show me the man who
rather thinks that the garden Of Eden
may havo had an allegory and is not
quito certain but that thore may be
another chance after death and does
not know whether or not the Bible ia
inspired, and I tell you that man for
soul saving liz poor stick. Faith IN
God md in Jesus Christ and the Holy
Ghost and the absolute necessity OF q
regenerated heart In ordor to see God
in peace is one thread you must have
In your mended net, or you will never
be successful fisher for men, WHY.
how can you doubt? The rottenest
thread to tear out Of your net is unbe.
lief, and the most important thread
that you are to put in ii Is faith--faith
In God, triumphant faith, everlasting
faith.
Oh, this important work of mending
our. notsl If we could set our nets
right, we would accomplish more in
soul saying in the next year than we
have IN the last 20. Blu whore shall we
get them mended? Just where old Zeb-
edso and his two boys mcnded their
nets--where you are. James and John
ho1 lx,in <D