The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-10-17
JONAH IN THE STORM.
DIR. TALMAGE on THE NECESSITY OF
PRAYER WITH WORK.
The Mariners at First Relied on Their
Oars. but i'm Their Extremity Called
on God. and SO Must All the SORROW
full and Anxious.

the world tour, has selected as the subject
OF todays sermon through the press The
Oarsmen Defeated" the text chosen being
Jonah i, -, IA. The men rowed hard TO
bring It to the land, but they could not,
wherefore they cried unto the Lord"
Navigation in The Mediterranean sea
always was perilous, especially so in early
times. Vesss Is were propelled partly by
sail and partly by oar When, by reason
of great stress o. weather. II was Deces-
sa-y TO reef the canvas or haul II in. then
the vessel was entirely dependent upon
the oars, sometimes twenty or thirty of
them on either side the vessel. You
would not venture outside your harbor
with such a 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 a man is running away
from the Lord he has 10 run very fast.
"From the Presence of the Lord"
God told Jonah 10 go 10 Nineveh TO
preach about the destruction OF that city.
Jonah disobeyed. That always makes
rough water whether in the Mediterra-
mean. or the Atlantic or The Pacific or the
Caspian sea IL is a Ye-y hard thing TO
scare sailors. / have seen them when the
brow Of the vessel was almost under
water. and they We're walking the deck
knee deep in the surf. and the small boats
by the side Of the vessel had been crushed
as small as kidding wool, whistling
though nothing had happened, but the
bible says thar these mariners Of whom L
speak were frightened.
That which sailors call "a lump Of n
sea" had become a binding. deafening,
swapping fury. How mad the wind can
get at the water. and the water can get at
the wind, You do not know unless You
have been spectators. I have In my house
a piece of the SAT- q a ship no larger than
the palm OF my hand. That piece Of cam
vas was all that was left OF the largest
sail of the ship Greece that went INTO the
storm 200 miles off Newfoundland. On.
what a night Jhat was. 1 suppose it was
in some such storm as This that Jonah
was caught.
He knew that the tempest was on his
account, and he asked the sailors 20
throw him overheard. Sailors are a gen
erous-hea-ted race, and they resolved TO
max their escape II possible without re-
sorting to such extreme measures. The
sails are Of on use, and 50 they lay hold
on Their oars. 1 see the long bank Of
Shining blades on e.-ler side the vessel
on, how they did pull, the bronZed sea-
mon, as they laid back into the oars!
But rowing on the sea is very different
from rowing upon river, and as the
vessel HOSTS ne oars skip the wave and
miss the stroke and the tempest laughs
10 scorl tn flying paddles II is Of no
use, nc use. There comes q wave that
crashes the last mast and sweeps the
OarSmen from tneir places and tumb4eS
evCryth ng in the confusion Of impending
shipwrt tx, or. as my text has it, The
men row q hard TO bring il 10 land. but
they could not, wherefore they cried unto
the Lord
Salvation from the storm.
This scene is very suggestive to me.
land pray God l may have grace and
strength enough to represent IL inteiH-
sermon on another phase of this very sub
jecJ, and / got a letter from Houston,
Tex. The writer saying that the reading
OF that sermon in London had led him
II God. And l received another letter
from South Australia saying that the
reading Of thai sermon in Australia had
brought several souls 70 Christ. And
then / thought, Why not 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 sub
ject bring salvation to the people who
shall hear and salvation to the people
who shall read? Men and women who
know how 10 pray lay hold of the Lord
God Almighty and wrestle for the bless
ing.
Bishop Latimer would stop sometimes
In his sermon In the midst Of his argument
ard say, Now I will tel you fable"
and today / would Ike to bring the scene
OF the text as an i.usJra ton Of a most
important religious truth. As those NIed-
terranean oarsnen trying to bring Jonah
ashore were discounted. 1 have to tel
You that they were not the only men who
have broken down on their paddles and
have been obliged 20 cal on the Lord for
hep. 1 want To say that the unavailing
effects Of those Mediterranean oarsmen
have a counterpart In the effOrTsWe are
making 20 bring souls to the shore OF safe
~ and set their feet on the rock Of ages
You have a father or mother or husband
or wife o. child or near friend who Is
not a Christian. There have been times
when you have been in agony about their
salvation.
sickness and Sorrow.
A minister of Christ whose wife was
dying without any hope in Jesus walked
the floor wrung MS hands, cried bitterly
and said, Il believe shall 90 insane, for
know she is not prepared to meet GodT
And there may have been days Of sickness
IN your household when you feared it
would be 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. d0ctor?" And the hest
tauon and the uncertainty of the reply
made two eternIties flash before your Wis
ION. And then you went and talked 10
the SICK one about the great future Oh,
there are those here who have tried %
u
been unable to bring them % the shore OF
safety. They are no nearer that point
than they were twenty years ago. You
think You have got them almost to the
shore when you are swept back again
What shall you do? Put down the oar?
On, no. l do not advise that, but / do
advise that YOU appeal to that God 10
whom the Mediterranean oarsmen ap-
pealed, the God who could silence the
tempest and bring the ship in safety 10
the port tell you. my friends, that
there has got 70 be a good deal Of pray
ing before our families are brought to
Christ All, It IS an awful thing to have
half a household on one side the line and
the other part Of the household on the
other side Of the line. Two vessels part
on the ocean Of eternity, one going 10 the
rghC and the other u the left, farther
apart and farther apart, until the signals
cease b be recognized, and there are only
two specs on the horizon, and then they
are lost 70 sight forever.
I have 70 tel you that the unavailing
efforts Of these Mediterranean Oarsmen
have a counterpart in the Efforts some Of
Is are making 70 bring our children to the
shore Of safety. There never were so
many temptations for young people as
there are now The literary and the So
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