The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1889-03-25
THE MYSTERIES.
Continurv, From First Page.

valley OF A1alonl'
Then there is the Bible statement that a
whale swallowed Jonah and elected him
upon the dry ground in three days. II
you will 60 to the museum at Nantucket,
Mass, you will find the skeleton OF a whale
large enough to swallow q man. said to
the %janitor, while / was standing in the
museum, "Why, 1t does not seem from the
looks OF this skeleton that that story in the
Book OF Jonah was so very improbable,
does it?" "Oh, no." he replied; 'it does
not" There is a cavity in the mouth of
the common whale large enough for a man
to live in. There have been sharks found
again and again with an entire human
body in them. Beside that, the Bible says
nothing about a whale. 1t saws, 'The
Lord prepared q great fish," and there are
scientists who tell us that there were sea
monsters in other days that make the
modern whale seem very insignificant. /
know in one place in the New Testament
1t speaks Of tho whale as appearing in
the occurrence | have just mentioned,
but the word may Just as well be
translated sea monster''-any kind of
a sea monster. Procopius says, in the
year $50, a sea monster was slain which
had for fifty years destroyed ships. l sup
pose that this sea monster that took care
of Jo6ah may have been one of the great
sea monsters That could have easily taken
down a prophet, and he could have lived
there three days il he had kept in motion
80 as to keep the gastric juices from taking
hold OF him, and at the end OF three
days the monster would naturally be sick
enough to regurgitate Jonah. Beside
that, my friends, there is one word which
explains the whole thing, II says: 1.-THE
Lord prepared a great fish," II a ship
carpenter prepare a great vessel to carry
Texan beeves to Glasgow, ] suppose ii can
carry Texan beeves; il a ship carpenter
prepare a vessel to carry coal TO one Of
the Noathern ports, | suppose il can carry
coal; II a ship carpenter prepare a vessel
TO carry passengers TO Liverpool, | sup
pose 1t can carry passengers 10 Liverpool;
and IL the Lord prepared a fish TO carry
one passenger, | suppose 1t could carry a
passenger and the ventilation have been
all right.
= So all the strange things in the Bible
can be explained ii you wish to have them
explained. And you can build them into
q beautiful and heallhful fire for your
hearth, or you can with them put your
immortal interests into ~conilagration. But
You had better decide about the veracity
OF the Bible very soon. want this morn
ing TO caution you against putting of
making up your mind about tlis book.
Ever since l772 there has been great dis
cussion rs to who was the author of
Junius's Letters, those letters 80 full Of
sarcasm and yitupcraiion and power. The
whole English nation stirred up with IL.
More than q hundred volumes written to
discuss that question: "Who was Junius?''
"Who wrote the letters Of Junius?" Well,
IL il an interesting question to discuss, but
SIN, after all, il makes but little practical
difference TO YOU aud TO me who Junius
was, whether Sir Philip Francis. or
Lord Chatham. or John Horne Tooke,
or Horace Walpole, or Henry Graf
tan, or any one OF the iorty.four
men who were seriously charged with
the authorship. But IL is an absorbing
question, Il Is n practical question, it is
an overwhelming question 10 YOU and 10
me, the authorship OF thiB Holy Bible
whether the Lord God OF heaven and
earth or a pack OF dup,s, scoundrels aud
impostors. We cannot afford 10 adjourn
that question q week or a day or an hour,
any more than n Bca captain can afford IN
. Say: "Well, this Is n very dark night. /
have really lost my bearings; there IA a
light ont there. | don't know whether Il
j. q lighthouse or a false light on the shore,
] don't know what 10 Is; but III Just 70 20
sleep and IN the morning III find out"
In the morning the vessel might be on tho
rocks anil the beach strcwn with the white
faces OF the dead crew. The time for that
sea captain 10 find out about the light
house Is before he goes to sleep. Oh, my
friends, | want YOU 20 understand that In
90. Ialtl.N.Ht.WH WlsWfNN NhNa nalNa 4. "a .
no. ut calm anchorage, but We are rapidly
coming toward tho coast, coming with all
the furnaces ablazc. coming nj the rate OF
seventy heart throbs n minute, and | must
know whether IL is going TO be hafbor or
shipwrcck.
was 30 glad 10 read In the papers Of
the fact that the steamship Edam had
come safely into harbor. A week before
the Persian Monarch, plowing is way to-
ward the Nartows, a hundred miles out
Elw signals Of distress, bore down upon
the vessel, aud found II was the steamship
Edain. She had Lost her propeller. She
had two hundred passengers on board.
The morciiul captain Of the Persian Mon.
arch endeayorcd 20 bring her In, but tho
tow-line broke. lie fastened Il again, but
the sea was rough and the tow.linc broke
again. Then the night camo on and the
merciiul captain Of tho Persian Monarch
''lay to-" thinking In the morning b.
could give rescue ~ bo passenger Tc
morning came, but during the night The
steamship Edam had disappeared, and the
captain II the Persian Monarch brought
his vessel into Earbor. saying how sad he
felt because he could not give complete
rpscuc 10 that lost ship. ] am glad
fbat aitcrward another vessel siw her
aud brought her into safety. but
whom | saw the story Of that steam
ship Edam, drifting, drifting. drifting,
I DO not know whore, but with nc
mddcr, no lighthouse, no harbor. no
help, | said. THAT is q skeptic, that Il
an inhdel, drifting, drifting, drifting, moi
knowing where he dufiA.' And then.
when | thought Of the Persian Monarch
anchored In harbor, ] said: That Is q
Christian, tbHt 10 q mar who docs all h,
can on the way, crossing the sea 20 hell
others, coming perhaps through a yerl
rough voyage into the harb0r, there sai,
anil safe forever" Would God that ihor,
might be some one today who would &,
forth and bring In these souls that no,
drifting. In this asscmblagc, how many
n scorc shall | say, or a hundred, o. {
thousand2-not quito certain about thi
truth OF the Bible, not certain about any
thing. Drifting, drifting, drifting. oh
how ! would Ike TO tow them M.
throw YOU this cable. lay hold Of thaI
cable Of the Gospel. Lay hold Of Il.
invite you oil In. Tho harbor II widl
enough, large enough Tor oil the shipping
Come In, o You wanderers on the deep