Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1901-01-30
MENDING THE NETS.
DR.. Talmage breaches a Sermon on
the Story of the Fishermen.
Christ's Disciples rs Fishers OF Me-
The Gospel Net and How IL
should he E<ept iu
Repair.
lCopyright, 1901. by Louis Klopsch.l


ship with Zebedcc, their father, mend
ing their nets"
IL go 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 100000, received from
the fisheries of Lake Moeris And. if
the time should ever come when the
immensely of the worlds population
could not be fed by the vegetables and
meats of the land. the sea has an
amount of animal life that would feed
all the population of the earth and fat
ten them with a food that by its phos-
phorus would make generation
brainy and intellectual beyond any
thing that the world has ever imag-
ined. My text takes us among the Cali
lean fishermen. One day Walter Scott,
while hunting in an old drawer. found
among some old fishing tackle the
manuscript of his immortal book.
"Waverley," which he had put away
there As of no worth, and who knows
but that today we may find some un-
known wealth of thought while look
ing at the fishing tackle in the text.
1T is not good day for fishing. and
fhree men are in the boat repairing
the broken fishing nets. If YOU are
hshing with Il hook and line. and the
fish will not bite, it is a good time 10
put the anglers apparatus into better
condition. Perhaps the last fish YOU
hauled in was so large that sometime
snapped, or, if you were fishing with a
net. there was mighty floundering
or the scales or an exposed nail on the
side OF the boat which broke some of
the threads and let part or all of the
captlves OF the deep escape into their
natural element. And hardly any-
thing Is more provoking than TO nearly
land score or hundred trophies
from the deep, and when YOU are in the
fnll g!ee of hauling i'll the spotted
treasures. through some imperfection
OF the net they splash back into the
wave. That is too much of a trial of
patience for most fishermen to endure
and many man ordinarily correct of
speech in such circumstances comes TO
an intensity of utterance uniustifiable
Therefore no good fisherman consid-
erS the time wasted that is spent in
mendIng his net. Now, the Bible again
ana again represents Christian work
ers as fishers of men. and we are all
sweeping through the sea of humanity
some kind of net. Indeed there have
peen enough nets out and enough fish
ermen busy to have landed the whole
human race in the kingdom of God
long before this. What is the matter2
The Gospel is all right. and il has been
good time for catching souls for tbou-
sahos OF years. Why, then. the fail
ures? The trouble is with the nets
ana most OF them need TO be mended. I
propose 10 show you what is the mat
ter with most of the nets and how tn
mend them. In the text old Zebedee
and his TWO boys. James and Jobn
we're cong a good thing when they sat
III Ihe BOAT mending their nets.
me trouble with many OIL our nets
Is that the meshes are too large. IF
a tsh can get his gills and half bis
oody through the network he tears
ana rends and works his way ont and
leaves the place through which he
squlrmed tangle Of broken threads
III our oeSire TO make everything so
easy we relax, we loosen. we widen
we Iet men after they are once in
the gospel net escape into the world
ana go into indulgcnccs and swim all
around Galilee, from north side to
south side, and from east side Tn ,,oe.
slde. expecting that they will come
BACK again. We ought to make II easv
lor them TO get into the Kingdom Of
Nou' anu as 1ar as we can. make il
impossible for them TO get out. The
poor advice nowadays 10 many is.
TO and DO just as YOU did before Won
were captured for God and IIeovcr
The net was not intended 70 Inc ary
restraint or any hindrance. What vo,
dlo before YOU were Christian do
now. 90 TO all styles Of amusener,
read all the styles Of books. enoac.
III All styles OF behavior rs before Won
Wer" converted And so. fbrouoL
lhes' Incshes of permission and Iaxftv
thcN wrig2.e out through this OMEN
ln2 and that opening. tearing the rof
US IhrN go. and soon all the souls fb.t
We expected 10 land FIN Heaven Inc.
''re we kn"" DO. are back in the dccp
@'h OF The world Oh. when We CO.
-'"spcl fishing. let us make il as ea.,
rs possible for souls TO pct i'm and ne
hard as possible 90 get ont.
j. the sb.c language au upusear;r,,
reruiaRc when ~ talk. about .ott.,.
NAL. and keeping the body under ana
ABOUT walking the narrow ya, ,r1
entering the strait gate and 'ab,,,,
carry wing Inc cross" r.. there to b. ..,.