A SOLILOQUY ON THE ART OF MAN-FISHING

I.

Ah! Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? This day seems to be a day of darkness and gloominess; the glory is departed even to the threshold of the temple. We may call ordinances Ichabod, and name the faithful preachers of Scotland no more Naomi but Marah; for the Lord deals bitterly with them, in forsaking His ordinances so much at this day. The Lord hath forsaken them in a great measure, as to success attending their labors. They toil all the night; but little or nothing is caught; few or none can they find to come into the Gospel net. So that Jeremiah’s exercise may be theirs—Chap. xiii. 17—”If ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears.”

And thou, O my soul, mayest make this thy exercise, if thou hadst a heart that could mourn either for thyself or others. Though indeed it is no great wonder that God does not countenance with much success the like of me, who (if I may or dare class myself among those that are faithful) am the meanest, the most unworthy of them all, not worthy to take His covenant in my mouth, who am a child in piety and the mystery of godliness, though not in years, who am a poor fool, having a weak heart and a shallow head; who might rather be learning of others than teaching them; who can but wade about the outer parts of that depth, into which others can enter far; who have so little love to Christ, and so little pure zeal for His glory; can say so little for the truth, and so little against error; who am altogether unworthy and insufficient for these things:—no wonder, I say, God does not countenance me, when others, that are as tall cedars in the Lord’s vineyard, do so little good—even others that are great men in the Church for piety and learning. But yet, seeing I am called out to preach this everlasting gospel, it is my duty to endeavor, and it is my desire to be (Lord thou knowest) a fisher of men. But, alas! I may come in with my complaints to my Lord, that I have toiled in some measure, but caught nothing, for any thing I know, as to the conversion of any one soul. I fear I may say, I have almost spent my strength in vain, and my labor for nought, for Israel is not gathered. O my soul, what may be the cause of this? why does my preaching so little good? No doubt, part of the blame lies on myself, and a great part of it too. But who can give help in this case but the Lord Himself? and how can I expect it from Him but by prayer, and faith in the promises, and by consulting His Word, where I may, by His Spirit shining on my heart, (shine, O Sun of righteousness) learn how to carry, and what to do, to the end the gospel preached by me may not be unsuccessful? Therefore did my heart cry out after Christ this day, and my soul was moved, when I read that sweet promise of Christ—Matt. iv. 19—”Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”, directed to those that would follow Him! O how fain would my soul follow Him, as on other accounts, so on this, that I might be honored to be a fisher of men! Therefore, my soul would fain know what sort of following of Christ this is, to which this sweet promise is annexed. I would know it, (Lord thou knowest) that I might do it, and so catch poor souls by the gospel, and that I might know whether I have a right to this promise or not. O let thy light and thy truth shine forth, that they may be guides to me in this matter; and let the meditations of my heart be according to thy mind, and directed by thy unerring Spirit. Grant light and life, O Lord my God!

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of Men. In these words here are two things to be considered:—1. There is a duty, Follow me. Wherein consider, (1). The object, me, even the Lord Jesus Christ, the chief fisher of men, who was sent by the Father to gather in the lost sheep of the house of Israel; who was and is the infinitely wise God, and so know the best may to catch men, and can instruct men how to be fishers of others. (2) The act, Follow (Gr. come after) me: Leave your employment, and come after me. Though no doubt there is a direction here to all the ministers of the gospel, that they have left their other employments, and betaken themselves to the preaching of the Word, viz., that if they would do good to souls, and gain them by their ministry, then they are to imitate Christ, in their carriage and preaching to make Him their pattern, to write after His copy, as a fit man for gaining of souls. 2. There is a promise annexed to the duty. Wherein we may consider, (1.) The benefit promised; that is, to be made fishers of men; which I take to be not only an investing of them with authority, and a calling of them to the office, but also a promise of the success they should have, that fishing of men should be their employment, and they should not be employed in vain, but, following Christ, they should indeed catch men by the gospel. (2.) The fountaincause of this, I,—I will make you; none other can make you fishers of men but me.

Thou mayest observe, 1, then O my soul, That it is the Lord Jesus Christ that makes men fishers of men. Here I shall shew, I. How Christ makes men fishers of men. II. Why unconverted men are compared to fish in the water. III. That ministers are fishers by office.

I. How does Christ make men fishers of men? In answer to this question, consider spiritual fishing two ways. 1. As to the office and work itself: and 2. As to the success of it. First, He makes them fishers as to their office, by His call, which is twofold, outward and inward, by setting them apart to the office of the ministry; and it is thy business, O my soul, to know whether thou hast it or not. But of this more afterwards. Secondly, He makes them fishers, as to success; that is, He makes them catch men to Himself by the power of His Spirit accompanying the Word they preach, and the discipline they administer; 1 Cor. i. 18. “The preaching of the cross—unto us which are saved, is the power of God.” 1 Thes. i. 5—”Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” He it is that brings sinners into the net which ministers spread; and if He be not with them to drive the fish into the net, they may toil all the night and day too, and catch nothing.

1. O my soul, then, see that gifts will not do the business. A man may preach as an angel, and yet be useless. If Christ withdraw His presence, all will be to no purpose. If the Master of the house be away, the household will loath their food, though it be dropping down about their tendoors. 2. Why shouldst thou then on the one hand, as sometimes thou art, be lifted up when ‘thou preachest a good and solid discourse, wherein gifts do appear, and thou gettest the applause of’ men? Why, thou mayest do all this, and yet be no fisher of men. The fish may see the bait, and play about it as pleasant, but this is not enough to catch them. On the other hand, why shouldst thou be so much discouraged, (as many times is the case) because thy gifts are so small, and thou are but as a child in comparison of others? Why, if Christ will, He can make thee a fisher of men, as well as the most learned rabbi in the Church; Psal. viii. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength. Has not God. put this treasure in earthen vessels, that the power might be seen to be of Him? Lift up thyself then, O my soul; Christ can make thee a fisher of men, however weak thou art. Follow thou Him. My soul desires to follow hard after thee, O God. 3. Be concerned then, in the first place, O my soul, for the presence of’ God in ordinances, and for His power that will make a change among people, Psal, ex. 3. When thy discourse, though never so elaborate, shall be but as a lovely song, O set thyself most for this. When thou studiest, send up ejaculations to thy Lord for it. When thou writest a sermon, or ruminate on it, then say to God, Lord, this will be altogether weak without thy power accompanying it. O, power and life from God in ordinances is sweet! Seek it for thyself, and seek it for thy hearers. Acknowledge thine own weakness and uselessnss without it, and so cry incessantly for it, that the Lord may drive the fish into the net, when thou are spreading it out. Have an eye to this power, when thou are preaching: and think not thou to convert men by the force of reason: If thou do, thou wilt be beguiled. 4. What an honorable thing is it to be fishers of men! How great an honor shouldst thou esteem it, to be a catcher of souls! We are workers together with God, says the Apostle. If God has ever so honored thee, O that thou knewest it, that thou mightest bless His holy name, that ever made such a poor fool as thee to be a co-worker with him. God has owned thee to do good to those who were before caught. O my soul bless thou the Lord. Lord, what am I, or what is my father’s house, that thou hast brought me to this!

5. Then seest thou not here what is the reason thou toilest so long, and catchest nothing? The power comes not. Men are like Samuel, who, when God was calling him, thought it had been Eli. So when thou speakest many times, they do not discern God’s voice, but thine; and therefore the Word goes out as it comes in. 6. Then, O my soul, despair not of the conversion of any, be they ever so profligate. For it is the power of the Spirit that drives any person into the net; and this cannot be resisted. Mockers religion, yea blasphemers, may be brought into the net; and many times the wind of God’s Spirit in the Word lays the tall cedars in sin down upon the ground, when they that seem to be as low shrubs in respect of them, stand fast upon their root. Publicans and harlots shall enter into the kingdom of heaven before self-righteous Pharisees. 7. What thinkest thou, O my soul, of that doctrine that lays aside this power of the Spirit, and makes moral suasion all that is requisite to the fishing of men? That doctrine is hateful to thee. My soul loathes it, as attributing too much to the preacher, and too much to corrupt nature, in taking away its natural impotency to good, and as against the work of God’s Spirit, contrary to experience; and is to me a sign of the rottenness of the heart that embraces it. Alas! that it should be owned by any among us, where so much of the Spirit’s power has been felt.

II. But why are unconverted men compared to fish in the water? Among other reasons, they are so. 1. Because, as the water is the natural element of fish, so sin is the proper and natural element of an unconverted soul. Take the fish out of the water, it cannot live; and take from a natural man his idols, he is ready to say with Micah, Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I more? The young man in the gospel could not be persuaded to seek after treasure in heaven, and lay by the world. It is in sin that the only delight of natural men is; but in holiness they have no more delight than a fish upon the earth. Oh, the woful case of a natural man! Bless the Lord, O my soul, that when that was thy element as well as that of others, yet Christ took thee in his net, and would not let thee go, and put another principle in thee, so that now it is difficult for thee to wade, far more to swim in these waters. 2. The fish in a sunny day are seen to play themselves in the water. So the unregenerate, whatever grief they may seem to have upon their spirits, when a storm arises either without, by outward troubles, or within by conscience-gnawing convictions, yet when these are over, and they are in a prosperous state, they play themselves in the way of sin, and take their pleasure in it, not considering what it may cost them at the last. Oh! how does prosperity in the world ruin many a soul! The prosperity of fools shall destroy them. And, O how destructive would prosperity have been to thee, my soul, if God had given it to thee many times when thou wouldst have had it! Bless the Lord, that ever he was pleased to cross thee in a sinful course! 3. As the fish greedily look after and snatch at the bait, not minding the hook, even so natural men drink in sin greedily, as the ox drinketh in the water. They look on sin as a sweet morsel; and it is to them sweet in the mouth though bitter in the belly. They play with it, as the fish with the bait; but, oh, alas! When they take the serpent in their bosom, they mind not the sting, Prov. ix. 17, 18. The devil knows how to dress his hooks, but, alas! men know not by nature how to discern them. Pity, then, O my soul, the wicked of the world, whom thou seest greedily satisfying their lusts. Alas! they are poor blinded souls; they see the bait, but not the hook; and therefore it is that they are even seen as it were dancing about the mouth of the pit; therefore rush they on to sin as a horse to the battle, not knowing the hazard. O, pity the poor drunkard, the swearer, the unclean person, &c. that is wallowing in his sin. Bless thou the Lord also, O my soul, that when thou wast playing with the bait, and as little minding the hook as others, God opened thine eyes and let thee see thy madness and danger, that thou mightest flee from it. And, O be now careful that thou snatch at none of the devils baits, lest he catch thee with his hook; for though thou mayest be restored again by grace, yet it shall not be without a wound; as the fish sometimes slip the hook, but go away wounded; which wound may be sad to thee, and long a-healing;—and this thou hast experienced. 4. As fish in water love deep places and wells, and are most frequently found there, so wicked men have a great love to carnal security, and have no will to strive against the stream. Fish love deep places best, where there is least noise. O, how careful are natural men to keep all quiet, that there may be nothing to disturb them in their rest in sin! they love to be secure, which is their destruction. O my soul, beware of carnal security, of being secure, though plunged over head and ears in sin. 5. As fish are altogether unprofitable as long as they are in the water, so are wicked men in their natural estate—they can do nothing that is really good; they are unprofitable to themselves, and unprofitable to others, Rom. iii. 12. How far must they then be mistaken, who think the wicked of the world the most useful in the place where they live! They may indeed be useful for carrying on designs for Satan’s interest, or their own vainglory; but really to lay out themselves for God, they cannot.

III. Ministers are fishers by office; they are catchers of the souls of men, sent “to open the eyes of the blind, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,” Acts xxvi. 18. Preachers of the gospel are fishers; and their work, and that of fishers, agree in several things. 1. The design and work of fishers is to catch fish. This is the work that preachers of the gospel have taken in hand, even to endeavor to bring souls to Christ. Their design in their work should be the same. Tell me, O my soul, what is thy design in preaching? for what end dost thou lay the net in the water? is it to shew thy gifts, and to gain the applause of men? Oh! no. Lord, thou knowest my gifts are very small; and had I not some other thing than them to lean to, I had never gone to a pulpit. I confess, that, for as small as they are, the devil and my corruptions do sometimes present them to me a magnifying glass, and so would blow me up with wind. But, Lord, thou knowest it is my work to repel these motions. (But of this see afterwards). 2. Their work is hard work; they are exposed to much cold in the water. So is the minister’s work. 3. A storm that will affright others, they will venture on, that they may not lose their fish. So should preachers of the gospel do. 4. Fishers catch fish with a net. So preachers have a net to catch souls with. This is the everlasting gospel, the word of peace and reconciliation, wherewith sinners are caught. It is compared to a net wherewith fishers catch fish.

(To be Continued)

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