The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-01-31
WITH SILKEN CORDS.
DR.. TaImage Says So Should the Fishers
of Men Mend Their Nets.
Christians Warned Against Harsh Criticism.
Gospel Strife DepIored--World's Heart
Is Bursting With Trouble.

Ut. lalmagc describes the gospel net and
how, it is to be repaired after being dam
aged: text, Matthew iv, q, James, the
son of Zebedee. and John. his brother, in
A ship with Iebedee, their father, mend
ing their nets
81 20 a-ishing!" cried Simon Peter to
his comrades and the most of the apos-
tles had hands hard from fishing tackle.
The fisheries of the world have always at
tracted attention In the third century
the Queen of Egypt had for pin money
100000 received from the fisheries Of Lake
Moeris. And, il the time should ever
come. when the immensity of the worlds
population could not be fed by the veqe-
tables and meats of the land, the sea has
an amount OF animal life that would feed
all the populations of the earth and fat
ten them with a food that by its phospho-
rus would make generation brainy and
intellectual beyond anything that the
world has ever imagined. NY text takes
us among the Gallilean 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 to-day we may find some un-
known wealth of thought while looking a
The fishing tackle in the text
II is not a good dav for fishing. and
three men are in the boat repairing the
broken fishing nets. If you are fishing
with n hook and line, and the fish will
not bite, il is good time to put the ang-
lers apparatus into better condition. Per-
haps the last fish you hauled in was so
large that something snapped. Or, il you
were lishing with net, there was
mighty floundering Of the scales or an ex-
posed nail on the side of the boat which
broke some Of the threads and let part or
all of the captives of the deep escape into
their natural element And hardly any
thing is more provoking than to nearly
land y score or Il hundred of trophies from
the deep, and when you are in the full
glee OF hauling in the spotted treasures
through some imperfection of the net
they splash back into the waves That is
too much of trial of patience for most
fishermen to endure, and many man or
dlnarly correct of speech in such circum-
stances comes to an intensity of utterance
unJustiiioble. Therefore no good fisher
man considers the time wasted that is
spent in mendng his net. Now, the
Bible again and again represents Christian
workers as fishers of men, and we are all
sweeping through the sea of humanity
some kind Of net. Indeed there have
been enough nets out and enough fisher
men busy to have landed the whole hui
man race in the kingdom of God long be-
fore this. What is the matter? The gos-
pei is all right, and it has been a good
time for catching souls for thousands of
years. Why. then. the failures? The
trouble is with the nets. and most Of them
need to be mended. propose to show
you what is the matter with most of the
nets and how TO mend them. In the text
old Iebedee and his two boys. James and
John. were doing a good thing when they
sat in their boats mending their nets.
The trouble with many of our nets is
I'm hn 1av~ IL.
can get his gills and half his body through
the network, he tears and rends and
works his way out, and leaves the place
through which he squirmed tangle of
broken threads. In our desire to make
everything so easy we relax, we loosen, we
widen. We let men after they are once
in the gospel net escape into the world,
around Gallilee, from north side to south
side. and from east side to west side. ex-:
pecting that they will come back again.
We ought to make it easy for them to get
into the kingdom of God, and, as far as
we can. make it impossible for them to
get out. The poor advice nowadays to
many is: "Go and do just as you did be-
fore YOU were captured for God and heav-
en- The net was not intended to be any
restraint or any hindrance. What YOU
did before you were Christian do now.
Go to all styles of amusement, read all
the styles OF books. engage in all the
styles of behavior as before you were con-
verted." And so, through these meshes
OF permission and laxity they wriggle out,
through this opening and that opening
tearing the net as they go, and soon all
the souls that we expected to land i'll
heaven before we know it are back in the
deep sea of the world. Oh, when we go
a-gospel fishing. let us make it as easy as
possible for souls to get in and as hard
as possible to get out.
is the Bible language an unmeaning YER
bia9e when it talks about self denial, and
keeping the body under, and about walk
ing the narrow way, and entering the
straight gate, and about carrying the
cross? Is there to be no way OF telling
whether man is a Christian except by
his taking the communion chalicc on sac
ramental day? May man be as reckless
about his thoughts, about his words, about
his temper, about his amusements, after
conversion as beforey Alas, the words of
Christ are so little needed when He said,
"Whosoever doth not bear his cross and
come after Me cannot be My disciple"
The church is fast becoming as bad as the
world, and when it gets as bad as the
world it will be worse than the world by
so much, as it will add hypocrisy Of
most appalling kind to its other defects.
Furthermore, many of our nets are torn
to pieces by being entanged with other
nets. 1t is sad sight to see fishermen.
hghting about sea room, and pulling in
opposite directions each to get his net,
both nets damaged by the struggle and
losing all the fish. In this land, where
there are more than 70,000,000 people,
there are at least 10000 900 not in the
Sunday schools and churches. In such an
Atlantic Ocean of opportunity there is
room for all the nets and all the boats and
All the fishermen and for millions more.
There should he no rivalry between
churches. Each one does a work peculiar
to itself. But there are cities in this coun-
try where there is now going on an awful
ripping and rending and tearing of fishing
nets. Indeed, all over Christendom at
this time there is a great war going on be-
tween fishermen, ministers against minis
tiers.
Now, l have noticed a man cannot fish
and hight at the same time. He either
negleets his net or his musket. 1t is
how much time some Of the fish
ermen have To look after other fishermen.
IL IS more than l can do to take care of
my own net You see the wind is lust
right, and it Is such a good time for fish
ing, and the fish are coming in 30 rapidly,
tnat l have to keep my eye and hand
busy. There are about 200 900 900 souls
wanting TO get into the kingdom of God.
ana I will require all the nets and all the
fishermen of Christendom TO safely land
them. Oh, brethren of the ministry let
ms spend our time in fishing instead of
fighting. But if l angrily Jerk INV net
across your net, an you Jerk your net an.
glilv acrnss mine xva xui1T so,,, -. -.