The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1901-02-02
DR.. Talmage breaches a Sermon on
the Story Of the Fishermen.
oArtst'. Disciple. as Fishers % HeA
-fAs GasDsl Net sua How u
shsAla Ne kept In
Repair.
copyright i'Ol. BY Loul. KloV.eAl


third century the queen Of Egypt had
for pin money $780, oo. received from
the fisheries Of Lake Moeris. And, II
the time should ever come when the
immendty Of the world'a population
could rot be fed by the vegetables and
meats Of the land. the sea has an
amount Of animal life that would feed
al the population Of the earth and fat.
ten them with : food that BY its phos
phorus would make generation
brainy and intellectual beyond any
thing that the world has ever imag-
iasd. Ny text takes Ne among the Cali
Lean fshsrmen. One day Walter Scott,
while hunting in an old drawer. found
among some old fishing tackle the
manuscript Of his immortal book,
"Wavsrlsy." which be had put away
there 80 Of no worth, and who knows
bat that today We may hnd some IN
known wealth Of thought while look
Tag At thu fishing tackle In the text.
Il is not > good day for fishing. aad
three men are in the boat repairing
tbs broken fishing nets. II you are
ashinR with q hook and line, and the
Ash will no, bite. II Is = good time TO
put The anglers apparatus into better
condition. Perhaps the last fish you
hauled in was 70 large that something
snapped. or, II you were fishing with .
nat. there waa a mighty ~houDdering
- 81. .n.I - - .wun.ad nail An thu
side Of the boat which broke some OF
the threads and let part or all Of the
ehptives Of the deep escape into their
natural element. And hardly any
thing u more provoking than 10 nearly
lAsd . tcors or = hundred trophies
fren the deep. and when you are iu the
full Niss Of hauling in the spotted
treasures. through some impsrfeetion
Of the net thsy splash back into the
wave. That is too much Of a trial Of
patience for most fishermen 10 endure,
and many . man ordinarily correct Of
speech In such circumstances comes 70
an intensity OF uiiersnee unjustihsbls.
Therefore no good fishermen conhd-
srs the time wasted that 10 spent IN
mending his net. Now. the Bible again
and syain represents Christian work
srs ~ fishers Of men. and We are all
sweeping through the sea Of humanity
some kind Of . net, Ihdeed there have
been enough nets out and enough FISH
srmsn busy to have landed the whole
human raee In the kingdom OF God
long before this. What IL the matter?
The Gospel 10 all right, and II has been
aEood time for catching souls for thou
SANDS Of years. Why, then, the fail.
uSss7 The trouble IL with the nets,
and most OF them need to be mended. |
propose to show you what is the mat
ter with most Of the nets and how to
mend thea. In the text old Zebedee
and his two boys, James and John,
were doing q good thing when they sat
IN the boat msnding their nets.
The trouble WIN many OF our NETS
10 that the meshes are too large. II
. fish can get his gills and half hi,
body throogh- aha network. he tAars
and rends and works his way out, and
leaves the place through which hf
squirned a tangls Of broken threads
In desire 10 make everything &C
easy we relax, We loosen. we widen
We let men after they are once II
the Gospel net escape into the world
aud 90 into indulgences and swim 81
around Galilse, from north side t.
south hde. and from east side to wes'
side, expecting that they viii com,
back again. We ought TO make II cas-,
for them to get into the Kingdom o.
God, and. as far as we can. make &
impossible for them to get out. Tn
poor advice nowadays TO many Is
go and do just as you did before yol
were captured, for God and Heaven
Ths net was not intended to be an,
restraint or any hindrance. What yo'
did before you were a Christian d.
now. Go 10 all styles Of amusement
read all the styles Of books. engag
in all styles of behavior as before yol
were converted And 80, througl
these meshes Of permission and laxity
they wriggle out through this open
ing and that opening. tearing the ne
as they 90, and soon all the souls tina
we expected to land in Heaven, be
fore we know II, are back in the dee
sea Of the world. Oh, when we e
s-Gospsl fishing, let us make II as cas-
a. possible for souls TO get in and q
hard - possibls TO get out.
IL ths Bible language an unmeanin
verbiags when II talks about sslf-d,
/. NAL, and keeping the body under an
about walking the narrow way an
entering the strait gate and abou
carrying the oross7 Is there TO be n
way Of telling whether a man 10
Christian except by his taking ii
: communion chalice on sacramenti
% day7 May q man be AZ reckless abol
his thoughts, about his words, abot
V HE temper, about his amusement
!, after conversion as before2 Alas, II
y words. Of Christ are so little heeds
y when He said: "Whosoever doth n,
= bear his cross and come after me cal
% not be my disciple" The church
fart becoming as bad as the worl
"A and when II gets a. bad as the wor
~ II viii be worse than the world by
= much. 20 Il will aud hypocrisy of
= most appalling kind 70 its other q
Y fscta
= Furthermore, many OF our nets a
torn TO pieces BY being entangled wit
. other nets, II 10 a sad sight 10 ~
fshermen fighting about sea roo
10. and pulling in opposite directions, eaS
Tor 10 get his net. both nets damaged |
ell the struggle and losing all the ifs
ID. IN this land. where there are mol
ic, than 7O,ooot0 900 people, there are
least 50,90o,0oO not In the Sunds
a. schools and churches, In such an A
n. lantic ocean OF opportunity there
"a room for all the nets and all the bos.
al and all the fishermen and for million
more. There should be 20 rivalry b
"a. tween churches. Each one does
n. work peculiar 70 Itself. But there n
"a cities In this country where there
=. now going on an awful ripping az
h. rending and tearing Of fishing net
Indeed all over ChrisiendOm at tn
time there 10 a gerat wal going
between fishermen. ministers again
ministers.
Sow, l have noticed a man cam
Agh spd aghi at the same time. ]
!. either neglteis bis net or bis musk'
It Is amazing hoy much time Some
Of the fishermen have to look after 9th.
ny fishermen. 1t is more than can
md 10 take cure Of my v net. You .
ut the wind Is Just right and IL is such
aye good time foT fishing and the fish 8
coming 10 70 rapidly that have
We keep my eyes and hand busy, The
are shout R0o,O 0 0 900 souls wanting
=. get into the kingdom Of God, and II W
' require all the nets and ell the ilShs
men Of ChTigepdom TO safely la
A.. them. Oh, brethren Of The ministr
w. let vi spend our time In fishing (
Alb atAad ~ aOhiino mt 10 anUriiv ie,