The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-10-19
JONAH'S DISOBEDIENCE.
DR.. Talmage Draws a Timely Les
son from the Story.
To-Day. as Then. There Are Those Whe
VIII Not Listen to Divine Iniunc-
tions and Are Swallowed Up
in the Waves of Sin.

in the Waves of Sin.
For his latest sermon through the
press Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage chose
for his subject: The Oarsmen De-
feated." the text being from Jonah l..
/ 10, Il: 1.-THE men rowed hard to bring
/ it to land. but they could not; where
fore they cried unto the Lord
Navigation in the Mediterranean
sea always was perilous, especially
so in early times. Vessels were
propelled partly by sail and partly
by oar. When, by reason of great
stress of weather. it was necessary to
reef the canvas or haul it in, then the
vessel was entirely dependent upon the
| oars. sometimes twenty or thirty of
! them on either side of the vessel You
/ would not venture outside your harbor
with such craft as my text finds
| Jonah sailing in: but he had not much
/ choice of vessels. He was running
away from the Lord. and when Il man
is running away from the Lord he has
! to run very fast
God had told Jonah to go to Nineveh.
to preach about the destruction of that
city. Jonah disobeyed. That always
makes rough water. whether in the
| Mediterranean or the Atlantic. or the
| Pacific. or the Caspian sea. 1t is very
/ hard thing to scare sailors. | have
seen them. when the brow of the yes
| sci was almost under water. and they
! v,-oIl-;rrr ha Iaal- ~,
/ the surf. and the small boats bv the
side Of the vessel had been crushed as
small as kindling wood. whistling as
/ though nothing had happened: but the
/ Bible says these mariners OF whom
/ speak were frightened. That which
sailors call "A lump of 4 sea" had be-
/ come binding. deafening. swapping
/ fury. How mad the wind can gee at
/ the water. and the water can get at
/ the wind. You do not know unless you
have been spectators. | have il nv
/ house the piece % a sail of a ship. no
/ larger than the palm Of my hand: that
/ piece Of canvas was ell that was left Of
/ the largest sail OF the ship Greece. that
! yrcut into the storm 2cJ miles of New
/ founlland. Oh. what night that was,
I I suppose it was in some such storm as
/ this that Jonah was caught.
lie knew that the tempest was on his
account. and he asked the sailors to
throw him overheard. Sailors are a
/ =encrous-hearted race. and they re-
solved To make their escape. if possi-
/ BILE without resortinr Il such extreme
measures. The sails are of no Use. and
% they lay hold on their oars. | see
/ the long bank % shining blades on
either side the vessel. oh. how thev
did pull. the bronzed seamen. as they
| laid back into the oars. But rowing
on the sea i very different from row
ing upon a river; and as the vessel
/ hoistS. the oars skip the wave and miss
/ the stroke. and the tempest laughs to
scorn the flying paddles. Il i of no
Use. no Use. There comes = wave that
crashes the last mast, and sweeps the
oarsmen from their places. and tumbles
everything in the confusion Of iInpend-
/ inr shipwrecil. or. a. my text has It.
the men rowed hard to bring it to
land: but they could not: wherefore
/ they cried unto the Lord.
/ This scene is very suggestive to me
and l pray God | may have grace and
strength enough to represent it in
/ diligently to You. Years ago
preached 4 sermon on another phase Of
/ this very subject. and got letter
/ from Houston Tex. the writer saving
that the reading Of that sermon in Lon
/ don had led him to God. And | re-
ceived another letter from SouthAustra-
/ La saving that the reading of that ser
mon in Australia had brought several
souls 70 Christ. And then, | thought.
why not now take another phase of
/ the same subject, for perhaps that God
who can raise in power that which is
sOwn in weakness may now. through
another phase of the same subject.
bring salvation to the people who shall
hear. and salvation to the people who
shall read. Men and women who know
how to pray. lay hold of the Lord
God Almighty and wrestle for the
/ blessing.
/ Bishop Lltimer would stop some
/ times in his sermon. in the midst of his
argument. and say: Now. | will tell
YOU a fable, and to-day would like
/ TO bring the scene of the text as an il
| lustratiOn of n most important religious
truth. As those Mediterranean oars
men. trying TO bring Jonah ashore
were diScona fitted. have TO tell you
that they are not the only men who
have broken down on their paddles
and have been obliged to call on the
I T <.,,- boil. 7 20 ha~ ha
unavailing efforts of those Mediter-
ranean oarsrIen have a counterpart in
the efforts we are making to bring
souls to the shore of safety and set
their feet oil the Rock of Ages. You
have father, or mother. or husband.
or wife. or child. or near friend. who is
not a Christian There have been
times when you have been in agony
about their salvation.
4 minister of Christ. whose wife was
dying without any hope in Jesus.
walked the floor. wrung his hands.
cried bitterly and said: Il believe |
shall go insane for | know she is not
prepared to meet God" And there may
have been days of sickness in your
household. when you feared it would
be a fatal sickness: and how closely
you examined the face of the doctor as
he came in and scrutinized the patient.
and felt the pulse. and you followed
him into the next room and said:
There isn't any danger, is there doc
tor?- And the hesitation and uncer-
tainty of the reply made two eternities
fash before yourvision. And then you
went and talked to the sick one about
the great future. Oh. there are those
here who have tried to bring their
friends to God, They have been unable