Crawford avalanche., 1891-04-23
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
AN INTERESTING AND INsTRUc-
TIVE LESSON.

Ihe lesson Tor sunday, April 20, may be
found In Jonah 3: lilo.
INTRODUCTORY.
Two lessons must suffice from this inter-
esting book OF Jonah. It Is "A touch OF the
gospel from away back In the enshrouding
darkness OF early times. Travellers climb
ing the glaciers tell US that. sometimes.
near the very summit OF the icy range. far
removed from trees, and all other vegeta-
tion. they find a bit of a flower peeping out
OF the debris; and the sight rarely fails TO
bring tears to the eyes. There Is something
likewise rare and refreshing I'm this intima-
tion OF good things from far back. And the
glimpse that cheers Is a glimpse of God.
Mans conduct is not any more pleasing In
this case than I'm any other. But we read
here In large letter this sweet legend, God
Is love- And this makes us glad.
WHAT THE LESSON SAYS.
Word. Davar. Rendered as OF a COM
mand at JOSH 1: 12 The same word is
used OF the @ten commandments" /. e.. ten
words. Elk. "a: 2S.--Came. Literally,
was. OF. ain the beginning was the word.p
John /: 1.)
Arise, go. Identical terms found in the
first injunction q: 1).-Preach. Same
word as @cryn In 1: I. @Cry against it.n--
The preaching. Hebrew. Cry the cry
i bid thee. The II" is emphatic. The term
"bid" is the same as that translated word In
v. above (Davar).
Arose and went. Same words as In the
and went Strict obedience now.-Ac-
cording TO the word Of the Lord Precisely
So since this was exactly what the Lord
said.-Exceeding great city. Hebrew.
Great to God, expressive of greatness and
majesty, high figure of speech.-Three
days journey The word Is rendered walk
at Eze 40: 4.
Began. First meaning to open up. He
opened his evangelistic campaign by a one
days journey TO the city. Giving procla-
nation as he went. Perhaps he got no
further before they repented or begun to
repent.-Cried. Same word as gpreach,n
v. 2.-Overthrow. From the word Hap
hah, to turn or overturn. a strong word.
People OF Nineveh. Hebrew: Men OF Nine
veh. Believed God. Or, believed In God,
the proposition being found here as also at
Gen. IS; 9, where IL is rendered believed In.
The word is from Aman, to make firm, from
which directly our Amen of prayer
Proclaimed; again the same word In Ie-
brew as preach OF v. 2. (Kara)-Sack cloth;
strangely enough the Hebrew OF this word
is pronounced sack. The reyalia of grief
Word. Better the word or tidings, 4. e.,
the preaching, same as translated the word
(davar) In v. 1, above.-Came unto. Or
reached unto. First meaning, Smite. e
Sam. 5: so uses it, The picture of
rumor or declaration strong enough to fght
its way, even to the king. 1t produced "a
great sensation.--Sat In ashes, or upon
ashes. Oriental expressiveness OF emotion
Proclaimed and published, 1. e., by public
crier Decree First meaning taste, dis
cernment; hence, Judgment, authority
Mobiles. Literally, great ones.
Who can tell? Or, who knoweth?-Re-
pent. Hebrew: Naham Mimetic. like the
breathing OF sigh, significant OF pity
His fierce anger. Literally the glow OF his
anger-That we perish not. Or, And we
shall not perish. Douay.)
Their work. Or, their doings.-That
they turned, !. G., "they showed their
deeds" (Acts 10: 1s).-Repented of the
evil Or, upon the evil-Had said. Or,
given word. Same as in v. above.-He
did it not. Same word as is translated
works at the opening of the verse, 1. e..
they did it not (the evil). therefore he did
IL not. 1t was man that changed not
God.
WHAT THE LESSON TEACHES.
And the word of the Lord came unto
Jonah the second time. 1t is the parable of
the vineyard in early anticipation. The
great king sends and sends q ain, In spite
OF mans perversity. He is passing merci-
ful and kind He is wondrous patient. A
second time. Yea, many times he presses
his gracious overtures. What does IL re-
mind us OF? This, @God, who at sundry
times and In divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets. hath
In these last days spoken unto us by His
Son. God will not let go OF man. He in
finitely desires to save. We call this won
derful love, and it is wonde full for its
condescension and constancy. But, after
all, is Ii not just what we might expect from
such God as ours? Doubtless the old col
ored woman was right about IL: 9Massa,
me no think 1t so wonderful, cause IL is just
like hm.n
The preaching that bid thee. There
was the difficulty with Jonah. He did not
so much object TO the mission. IL we may
so speak, as to the message. He was ready
to take much longer journey, IL would
seem, to far Tarshish. But, oh, that
preaching! And yet just "the preaching
that bid thee" must be delivered. There
are plenty OF men to-day ready TO go-go
the other way. And they preach as they
go. But is IL the preaching God bids? The
going and the preaching are identical in
character. Go, preach Christ the Son Of
God. And there are men who turn their
faces the other way, and as Unitarianism
goes, IL breaches. Go tell of the wrath to
come. And there are men who put their
backs to the truth and Universalism goes
preaching toward dim Tarshish. "The
preaching that 1 bid thee,n says the Lord.
Assuredly we must be in Gods way In order
TO meet Gods messengers and In Gods
mind in order TO preach Gods truth. Pay
son said, 81 never seemed fit to say n word
TO sinner, except when / had a broken
heart myselfn
Cry nightly unto God. Two things the
threatened Ninevites did. This was one
might That Is, they threw the whole heart
and life into the appeal Such prayer never
goes unheard. And for this simple reason.
that IL is born OF God and must, there ore
find God. Dr. Faunce likens true PRAYER TO
a circle whose beginnings are with God, ,9from
whose throne Its vast curve sweeps down.
ward, passing in the lower edge of its cir
conference through the sphere OF our vol
untary petitions" 1t must mount upward
again TO the completion OF itself as by "A law
inviolable and divine. The same thought
ful writer Instances two men conversing on
the subject of prayer, one of whom intimates
that while he thinks It profitable thing for
those who exercise themselves thereby, he
doubts whether there is any one to respond
and listen aat the other end OF the line1
Whereupon his friend responds, alt seems to
me your position is that of the man who be-
lieves in the prayer but not In the answer, ~
which is logically absurd. True prayer
implies two parties. Were these Nlnevites.
think you, praying for merely the exercise
OF it?
Let them turn every one from his evil
way. Repentance was the other step taken
by the awakened Ninevites. And IL was
just as essential as suppllcation. Indeed
the two were conjoined. The repentance
was real because mixed with faith, and the
prayer availed because IL went on 70 n
change OF mind and beart; and the whole
the work of the Spirit OF God. But how
can n man repent and pray at the same
time? IL is asked. Readily. Indeed, as be-
fore intimated, prayer is not prayer with
ance without prayer. What Is it TO repent?
IL is to turn. The best definition of the
term is in the word of Scripture, aRepent
and be converted (turn)n How long does
that take under the influence OF the Spirit?
How long does IL take me to fly the track OF