River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-07-01

kets and the lanes proclaimlng the
Gospel to the wicked and irreli-
gious. He opened the gates of heaven,
that he might entice his people into
the Fathers house. He opened the
gates of hell that they might see "the
fire that is not quenched," and 1.-The
worm that dieth not" 1t was Jesus
who did this-not Milton nor some
medieval monk And he did it be-
cause love prompted him to be faith
full and tell the whole truth. He went
into every department of human life,
from the cook mixing the meal in
the kitchen to the king on his throne
inviting to his sons marriage, that he
might get an illustration, handle by
which the people might take hold OF
the truth Let us come after Jesus
in his methods.
In fishing there must be skillful
adaptation. There are fish that you
cannot catch singly. They go in
schools. They do not bite hooks. II
you ever catch a fish of that kind
you have to draw the seine around
the whole school. There are people
crowds. They go together. They will
come to the great assembly, and when
they hear witnesses testify for Christ
they will believe the testimony. When
they see people go into the after
meeting they will go with them; when
they hear them confess Christ
they will be encouraged to confess.
You can reach that class of people
only through the crowd. They are So
cial beings and you must touch them
in their social nature.
There are other fish that do not go
in schools. Like the brook trout, they
hide in out-of-the-way places. They
are timid and wary. A fly out OF sea-
son has no attraction for them. The
fisherman must keep out of their
sight, and if he breaks stick he has
lost his chance of catching that fish.
There are men of this kind. They
dislike the crowd. They are timid.
They do not like the personal ap-
proach. If you go in the open you will
brighten them away. We need the
wisdom of God in tactful approach,
that we may say just the right word
and speak it in the right spirit. Nico-
demus could hardly have been won in
crowd-that meditative, thoughtful,
inquisitive mind. He wanted the quiet
of the midnight hour, and whisper
in the quiet was more to him than a
thunder peal in the turmoil. You
could not have won the woman at the
we'll in a crowd. If Jesus had spoken
to her in the presence of others she
would have been embarrassed and per-
haps embittered. The eunuch had
been in the crowd in Jerusalem. He
had doubtless heard the apostles
preach, but it took the quiet chariot
ride with Deacon Philip at his side,
talking in conversational tone, to win
him to the Lord.
There are others that you must
win in more heroic fashion. Saul OF
Tarsus could never have been won
in quiet way To have mentioned the
fact that you wanted him to become
Christian would have led to your ar
rest. 1t took the light from heaven,
the flash from God; it took the blind
ing and the dark to bring him to con-
slider and make him pray.
Edward Payson, with his tones Of
tender love, put people to sleep. What
they needed was a Jonathan Edwards
with a thunderbolt against sin in
every paragraph. Gypsy" Smith. with
his fascinating gypsiness that has in
it the fragrance of the wild flowers
and the sweetness of the birds song
in the woods, is very attractive to
some, and they are glad to hear the
Gospel as he breaches it. But there
are others land perhaps the larger
number) who need the sledge-hammer
blows of r. A. Torrey and the fiery
zeal of Billy Sunday.
You do not fish for trout as you do
for sturgeon. Try your trout bait on
sturgeon and you will get no fish; try
your sturgeon bait on trout and you
will not fill your basket. So do not
criticise the trout fisher because he
refuses to use the sturgeon method,
and do not criticise the sturgeon fisher
because he refuses to use the trout
method. "By all means save some.
A word as to process. Come ye
after me ana Will udh0 YOU " OS-
come fishers of men," If you are not
a soul winner Christ can make you
one. Just transfer the experience of
your business to the spiritual realm
and see how it works. You are
merchant? Come We after me" says
Jesus. land | will make you a mer-
chant of men. l will help you to deal
in goods that do not perish with the
using-in merchandise better than
gold" Are you carpenter? Come
We after me and I will make you a
carpenter of men, building structures
of character that will outlast marble
and granite" Are you a sculptor?
Come We after me and 1 will make
you sculptor of men, chiseling into
shape that will stand after the mar
BILE of Phidias has crumbled into
dust" Whatever your occupation, let
your experiences in that occupation be
projected into the fishing for men.