Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1901-02-16
MENDING THE NETS.
ChrIss'x Disciples N Fishers OF Men
-rhe Go~p~i Net aud How Ia
should Nc Kept In
Repair.
copyright. 1901. by Louis Kiopsch.l

In this discourse DIR. Tsimage de
scribes the Gospel net and how IL is TO
be repaired after being damaged;
text. Matthew 4:2l. flames. the son of
Zebedee, and John, his brother, in a
shin with Zebedee. their father. mend
ing their nets"
Il 20 a-fishing!" cried Simon Peter
20 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 S470.oo0. 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 food that by its phos-
phorus would make generation
brainy and intellectual beyond any
thing that the world has ever mag
ine6 nv 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 I'M
known wealth OF thought while look
ing at the fishing tackle in the text.
II is not a good day for fishing. and
three men are in the boat repairing
| the broken fishing nets. IL you are
fishing with a hook and line. and the
6sb will not bite. il is a good time TO
| put the anglers apparatus into better
condition. Perhaps the last fish YOU
hauled in was so large that something
snapped. or. II you were fishing with
net. there was mighty laundering
Of the scales or an exposed nail on the
side Of the boat which broke some Of
the threads and let part or al OF the
csptives OF the deep escape into their
natural element. And hardly any
thing Is more provoking than 20 nearly
land a score or a hundred trophies
from the deep. and when you are IN the
full giee OF hauling IN the spotted
treasures. through some mpcrfection
Of the net they splash back into the
wave. That is too much OF a trial OF
patience for most fishermen 20 endure
and many a man ordinarily correct OF
speech In such circumstances comes q
an intensity OF utterauce un justifable
, Therefore no good fisherman consid
ers the time wasted that IS spent II
5 mending his net. Now. the Bible agar
and again represents Christian work
! ers a. fishers OF men. and We are al
sweeping through the sea Of humanit,
some kind Of a net. Indeed there hav
been enough nets out and enough fish
crmen busy 10 have landed the " hol
human race in the kingdom OF &C
long before this. What Is the matter
The Gospel Is all right. and il has bee
good time for catching souls for thou
sands OF years. Why. then. the fai
ures? The trouble is with the net
and most Of them need 10 be mendcd
propose 10 show you what is the ma
ter with most Of the nets and how Z
mend them. In the text old Zebe6s
and his two boys. James and Johi
= were doing good thing when they s.
y in the boat mending their nets.
The trouble with many OF our ne
is that the mesheS are too large
Ash can get his gills and half
body through the network. he tea
and reuds and works his way out. al
leaves the place through which
squirmed a tangle OF broken thread
IN our desire 10 make everything
easy We relax, we loosen, we wide
We let men after they are once
: the Gospel net escape into the worl
20 and 60 into indulgences and swim
- around Galilee. from north side
south side, and from east side 10 we
side. expecting that they will COZ
back again. We ought TO make il ca
for them 10 get into the Kingdom
God. and. as far a. we can. make
Ia impossible for them TO get out. I
poor advice nowadays to many
Go and do just as you did before y
were captured for God and Heav,
he The net was not intended to be a
ct, restraint or any hindrance What '
in did before YOU were a Christian
pa now. Go TO all styles of amuseme
lat read all the styles Of books. engs
is. in all styles OF behavior as before y
uta were converted And so, throu
,er. these meshes Of permission and lax
it'll they wriggle out through this op
on ing and that opening. tearing the
lad az they go. and soon all the souls q
die we expected 70 land in Heaven,
on fore we know IL. are back in the q
MA sea OF the world. Oh. when we
.liy s-Gospel fishing. let us make il az e
and a. possible for souls TO get in and
OF hard as possible 10 get out.
;en IA the Bible language an unmean
we'd yerbiage when II talks about self
ana NAL. and keeping the body under
4 afAf.Mf 4Eaflrfno The ms