The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1901-02-02

catch one. Present religion 81 ~ u
telieetuality and We viii fail. ontin the
fisheries there are set aeros he We
tiers what are called gill nets, and the
fish put their heads through the mesnes
and then cannot withdraw them be
they are caught by the g1lls'
But gill nets cannot be Of any serHieel IN
religious work. Men are never caught
for the truth by their heads; II Is by
the heart or not at ell. No argument
ever saved a man and no keen analysis
ever hrough. q man into the Kingdom
Of God. Heart work, o head work
Away with your gill netsl sympathy
Aelpfulness, consolation, love, are the
names OF some Of the threads that We
need to weave In IA gospel nets when
we are mending them.
When you are mending your net for
this wide. deep ssa Of humanity, take
out that wire thread Of criticism and
that horsehnir thread Of harshness
and put in 3 soft silken thread Of Chris
tian sympathy. Yea. when you are
msnding your nets tear out those old
threads Of ~gruffness and weave in O.
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 IS he enters your pew and At
the close shake hands with him and
say; "How did you Ike the musicY'
Why, you would be to that man . panel
Of the door Of Heaven; you would be to
him . note Of the doxology that ser
aphs sing when . new soul enters Heav.
en-. / have In other days entered
pew 10 church. and the woman
at the other end Of the pew locked at
me as much as to say; How dare your
This is my pew. and | pay the rent for
i'll, Well, | crouched in the other cor
ner and made myself as small as pos
sibls and felt as though had been
stealing something. SO there are PEG.
pie who have a sharp edge 70 their re-
lIRion, and they act ~ though they
thought most people had been elected
to be damned and they were glad Of II.
Oh, let US brighten up our manner and
appear in gentlemanliness or lady
hood. ht.tp or q
Again. in mending our nets we need
also 20 put in the threads OF faith and
tear out all the tangled msshes Of un'
belief. Our work Is successful accord
ing TO our faith. The man who be-
llsyes In only half a Bible or the Bible
10 spots. the man who thinks be can
not persuade others, the man who
halts. doubling about this and doubt
ing about that. will be q failure in
Christian work. Show me the man who
rather thinks that the garden Of Eden
may have had az allegory and /, not
quite certain but that there may be
another chance after death and does
not know whether or not the Bible Is
Inspired, and ] tell you that man for
soul saving ia q poor stick. Faith 10
God and In Jesus Christ and the Holy
Ghost and the absolute necessity Of a
regsneratsd heart 10 order to see God
In peace is one thread you must have
in your mended net, or you will never
be a successful fisher for men. Why,
how ear you doubt2 The rottsnest
thread to tear ont Of your net ia unh--
lief, and the most important thread
that you are to put In It 10 iaith-iAhh
in God, triumphant faitA--sArlAstiHS
Aun
oh, this important work Of mending
our nets! If we could get our nets
right, We would accomplish more IN
soul saving in the next year than Vs.
have In the last 20, Blu where shall VI
get them mended? Just where old Zeb
edee and his Two boys mended tbeil
nets-where you are, James and JohI
had no time to 20 ashore, They vert
not fishing for fun, as you and | d.
10 summer time. II was their livsli
hood and that Of their families. The!
mended their nets where they we're
In the ship. "oh," says some one, ~
mean TO get my net msnded. and | will
20 down to the public library and
will see what the scientists say aboul
evolution and about the survival of th'
Attest and | will read up what thu
theologians say about 'adyapceS
thought I will leave the ship awhile
and ! will 60 ashore and stay Their
till my net Is n~ended." Do that, M
brother. and youwil have no net left. In
stead OF their helping you mend you
net. they will steal the pieces that re
main. Better stay In the Gospel boat
where you have all the means for mend
ing your net, What are they? do yol
ask. | answer. all you need you hav,
where you ~are-namely. q Bible and
place to pray. The more you stud.
evolution and adopt what Is called ad
vsno.d thought the more useless yo'
will be. Stay In the ship aud men
your net. That Is where James, tn
son OF Zebedee, and john. his brother
s,sid. That Ia where ell who get thei
nets mendsd stay.
! notice that all who leave the Cos
pei boat and 20 ashore to mend thel
nets stay there. Or II they try agai
10 fab they do not catch anything
Get out Of the Gospel boat and go u
into the world to get your net mend
ed. and you win live 10 see the da
when you viii feel like the man whC
Ing forsaken Christianity, sighed. "
would give a thousand pounds to fee
as / did In 1890" The time will com
when you would be willing to give
thousand pounds TO feel as you did 4
1901. These men who have given u
their religion cannot help you = bit.
These dear brethren Of all denomI
: nations, AFFLICTED with theological fdg
cts, had better go to mending nets in
stead Of breaking them. Before the
break up the old religion and try +
foist on us a new religion let them z
through some great sacrifice for Go
that will prove them worthy for sue.
q work, taking the advice OF TanyranI
TO a @ who wanted to upset the re
ligion Of Jesus Christ and start q ne,
! n when be said: go and be cruel
fed and then raise yourself from tn
grave the third day" Those VII
propose TO mend their nets by secr
lar and skeptical books are like III
man who has Just one week for ASh
ing, and six Of the days he spends Il
reading Izaak Walton's "Complst
Angler and WheAtley'S Rod AM
Line" and SCOTS Fishing In Northern
! Waters" and Pullman'1 wade Mscuu
OF Fly Fishing for Trout" and the
on Saturday morning. bis last day ouI
goes TO the river to ply bis art. Blu
! that day the fab will not bite. an
late on Saturday night he goes 10 hl
/ home with empty basket. Alas, alas
II when the Saturday night Of on
HE drops on US II shall be found tina
we have spent our time In the librarie
OF worldly philosophy, trying TO men
our nets, and W. have only a few soul
20 report ~ brought TO God tbroug
u instrumebtality, while some hun
bic fisherman, bis library made vp Q
a Bible and an almanac, shall com
home laden with the results, HI
trophies all the souls within IS mile