Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1902-07-28

made l would point you to the tragic
history of the greatest missionary of
the Fiji islands as he personally told
it to me- Many years ago the canni-
balls of those islands killed and ate the
first missionary who had been sent
there by the London Missionary So
ciety. Immediately after that event
this missionary then a young man, ap-
piled for appointment to the post of
danger. He went forth with his young
aide to what most of their friends
thought was certain death. When the
ship dropped anchor in the harbor of
Suya, the native chief sent out word,
"Give us another missionary, and we
will make meal out of him. In the
face of that threat and of all these
dangers the young missionary and his
bride disembarked. For ten long years
they never saw the face of a white
man, except when the missionary sup
ply boat made it's biennial visit The
young missionary's children were born
there, in the woods. Two of his chill
dren died because he had no proper
medicine He lived there alone with
! his heroic wife until he transformed
the whole island. Such is the career of
one heroic gospel fisherman. Are you
and 1 ready to be as brave for Christ
as were that noble missionary and his
devoted wif<R Are we ready to be in
spired with that holy fearlessness and
disregard of ourselves that we may
save souls for Christ wherever we can
find them, which all Christ's fishers of
men should show in his service?
The true gospel fisherman must be
spiritually a strong man. Peter and
Andrew, to whom Christ spoke, were
net fishermen. l think they rarely, if
ever, fished with line or pole. They
were in all probability the kind of
| fishermen you perhaps have seen off
| the Massac husetts coast There the
fishermen fasten their net to stakes
that have been driven into the ground
and the tops of which can be seen
above the surface of the sea. They were
physically strong men, else they could
not have handled and set the nets. or
they may have been fishermen who
watched the surface of the sea, just
as the fishermen used to do along the
Long Island coast. Them as soon as
the sea would be ruff1ed by the schools
of swarming fish, the signal flag would
be lifted, the fishermen would gather
upon the beach, and the lOngboat,
filled with the piled up net, would be
launched. Then the fishermen on shore
would hold rope attached to one end
of the net, and the boat would be
rowed out around the school of fish.
Then, when the whole net had been
paid out" the boat would approach
the shore, the other end of the net at
tached by a rope to the stern Then
the men would begin to pull the ropes
at either end of the net, dragging the
fish nearer and nearer inshore until
at last they would capture the whole
school. Yes, those fishermen had to be
physically strong men. Their nerves
had to be steady, their muscles firm,
or they could never have dragged in
those heavy nets burdened with many
fish
A Strong Spirit Needed.
The true gospel fisherman must be
spiritually, as we'll as physically, a
strong man. The gospel net of faith
is q wide net, long net, heavy net,
and unless supernatural power be
given to the gospel fisherman he will
never be able to handle it. How could
Charles G. Finney have been able to
lead thousands and tens of thousands
of immortal souls to Christ unless he
had f,een spiritually strong man. In
his own strength as a gospel fisherman
| L. Il I,,4 .e,%
he could do oil things. To show how
absolutely Mr. Finney depended upon
divine strength for the handling of the
gospel net, one of my old PittSburg
elders used to tell me of a remarkable
scene he once witnessed in a New
York theater. Mr. Finney was preach.
ing there, and the building was packed
with people. After the noted e>angel
list had been speaking about ten min
uteS. he suddenly stopped and said
J Brethren, the Holy Spirits influence
is nat here today. We must get the re
enforcement Of the divine power, else
we are helpless. Let us pray" With
that he knelt upon the stage, and be
prayed until the audience was melted
to tears. He prayed, and such was
the reinforcement of divine strength
at that meeting that the gospel ne
gathered the sinners in by the score
and by the hundreds, although during
e that entire service Charles G. Finney
. did not preach another word. II,
e simply prayed = pleadingly prayed
: How could JOHN or Charles Wesley, o.
George Whitefeld. or George Muller
= or D. L. Moody ever have handled tn
0 gospel net as he did unless he ha,
: been spiritually inspired and strength
$ ened, unless he had been man of dee
Il faith and fervent prayer?
s The Christian believer must be spil
itually inspired if he is ever to becom
{ a successful fisher of men. My mothe
: used to impress this thought upon m
9 all my life, and especially did she tr