Covenanter Witness Vol. 41 - Reformed Presbyterian Historical ...

36 THE COVENANTER WITNESS July 21, 1948
Deep Sea Fishing
It was a swell morning on the shores of Galilee,
swell in two senses ; there was an invigorating
swell on the
breeze going but there was a heavy
sea. This we infer from the fact that Peter said :
night."
"We have toiled all They had toiled all
night but had taken nothing for they had stayed
close to shore, for a recent experience had taught
them that the Sea of Galilee was treacherous in a
stormy time, and they had had the fright of their
lives. Ever since, they had been a little cautious.
Only a miracle had saved them.
How do we know that they stayed close to
shore? Well, they were washing their nets which
had probably dragged on the bottom of the sea;
and Jesus suggested that they "launch out into
the deep", and then it was that Peter objected
and said : "We have toiled all night, even close to
the shore, but we have taken nothing". And that
was hardly surprising since even fish didn't care
to come too close to the shallow beach with waves
beating as they were.
Jesus called. "Launch out into the deep."
Jesus
has always called for adventurous living. "Leave
me"
your nets and follow ; "Take up the
"Whosoever loveth father, mother, brother, or
cross"
;
sister more than me is not worthy of me".
Launch out into the deep regardless of the storms
if you will be fishers of men.
The Covichords have just been in our city. We
have listened to their challenge, the challenge
they will be giving to the young people of the
church. It is a callenge for deep-sea fishing, a
challenge that will demand all your courage, and
it will have a suggestion in it that what the
church has lacked has been this courage to do
and dare.
As the writer waited for his train on last Mon
day morning he met a harvest-hand whose regu
lar occupation was lead-mining, but who had been
a soldier of the recent war. He was a little impa
tient, waiting for a bus to bring his pal so that
they might get started for a northern harvest
field ; but whether impatient or otherwise, every
sentence that he uttered seemed to be marred
with profanity. Something within me said, "Why
mention it to him ; he is just that kind of a fellow,
and nothing you can say will change him", all of
which was probably true : but the question was
not what effect will a kindly rebuke have on him
but what effect will the neglect to speak to him.
have on me. So I launched into the deep. He took
my remark kindly, said that swearing was an evil
habit, that he had nicked it up in the army and
the mines, and that he knew he was profane, and
apparently others had told him so. Now. I am
not gloryinothat
I causrht a laree fish. Rather,
I feel a little ashamed that he eluded mv clutch
and perhaps is swimmi-ncr in the same
seas that he did before. But the point is this, the
fish are not coming to us begging to be caught.
We must go out where they are, we must be will
ing to toil, we must let down the net, we must
listen for the Master's voice. Yea, we must be in
struments in the Master's hand, for catching fish.
Like the disciples of old are not we often say
ing, "There are yet four months and then cometh
harvest"
We are waiting for that "reviving
so easily
time". The time is not yet, but when that reviv
ing time comes, the people will crowd into the
churches and all we have to do is just accept
them and live happily
with them ever after.
"Fishers for men", "harvesters in the Lord's
harvest fields", "laborers in His vineyard", call
ourselves what we will, it takes careful listening
for the going in the tops of the mulberry trees
or you will never hear a sound. The crops are
not gathering themselves into the garner. Fish
are not jumping into the nets that are folded in
the boat. Let down your nets, the harvest is
plenteous, the sea is full of fish, the vineyard is
full of grapes waiting to be pressed. Jesus is
lookng for the laborers who are willing to go into
His harvest, into His vineyards, on the promise
that "whatsoever is right, I will pay
(Continued from page 35)
CURRENT EVENTS
you."
preachers."
there is in the whole body of some
Mr. Wal
lace wants us to put up 25 billion of a 50-billion fund
to rebuild the world, including Russia. (Who will put
up the other 25 billion? No answer.) Mr. Wallace wants
us to sit down at a table with the Russians. We have,
at Paris, at London, and at the U. N. The Russians use
every meeting as an opportunity
to denounce us as
warmongers and to demand that we abolish the freedom
of press and speech so that no one may criticize Russia
or answer the Russian criticisms of ourselves.
GLIMPSES OF THE RELIGIOUS WORLD
(Continued from page 34)
contest, has the approval, in this declaration, of many
Protestants. He called modern beauty pageants "totally
pagan"
and "absolutely immoral."
He futher stated,
"If nakedness were
"the whole thing
eliminated"
would fall to
from beauty contests,
pieces."
There were
some who obeyed and some who defied the Bishop's
warning. So Catholic priests and bishops also have their
disloyal members.
The Presbyterian Folds Up
The Presbyterian, which has been published for 117
years, is being merged with the offical Presbyterian
journal, Presbyterian Life. The editors in their "final
word"
relative to giving up the publication of The Pres
byterian say, among other things: "We believe the Pres
byterian Church is growing top-heavy
and that some of
those dedicated to the Gospel have allowed position,
honor, privilege or power (if not wealth) to lead them
away from the Man who was born in another man's
stable, buried in another man's tomb, and had not where
to lay His head. A D. D. can be a terrible thing! And so
can an ecclesiastical post of honor and responsibility
when its robes give off the swish of pride. The constant
prayer of the mighty should be to be delivered from all
forms of pride, even the pride of great humility. Revision
and renovation is surely needed both in the spiritual
life and in the structure, organization, and functioning
of the Church."
Under the editorship of Dr. S. G. Craig, The Presby
terian stood as a bulwark against the liberal trend of the
age: under succeeding editors it has been less conserva
tive and now it seems to be forced to yield to the pres
sure of the higher powers of the church, to fold up and
depart into the limbo of many other religious papers.
John D. Rockfeller forced others out and created a mon
opoly in the industrial field, and there seem to be many
such successors in the religious field.