Connecticut western news., 1894-10-18
THEY CALLED ON GOD
pR. TAlMAok FINDS MANY LESSONS
 lN oNE TEXT OF JONAH.

ON. IAlMAQk FINDS MANY LESSONS
 lN oNE TEXT OF JONAH.
 Inc Attempt to Get Away From Obedience , se God Always Leads One Into storm
 The Kind Hearted sailors-God's Way
 os Giving Help.
 BROOKLYN, Oct 14.-Rev. Dr. Tal. mage, who is.still absent on his round the world tour, has selected as the sub- 3ect of today's sermon through the press ''The Oarsmen Defeated, :" the text eho- sen being Jonah i, IS, 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. 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 1t in, then the vessel was entirely de- pendent upon the oars, sometimes 20 or 30 of them on either side 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 man is running away from the Lord he has to run very fast.
 The Disobedient Prophet.
 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 Med iterranean, or the Atlantic, or the Pa cific, or the Caspian sea- It is very hard thing to scare sailors. have seen them, when the brow of the vessel was almost under water, and they were walking the deck knee deep in the surf, and the small boats by the side of the vessel had been crushed as small as kin ding wood, whistling as though noth- ing had happened, but the Bible says that these mariners of whom I speak were frightened.
 That which sailors call "a lump of 8 sea" has become binding, deafening, swamping fury. How mad the wind can get at the water, and the water can get at the wind, you do not know un- less you have been spectators. have in my house piece of the sail of ship, no larger than the palm of my hand. That piece of canvas was all that was left of the largest sail of the ship Greece, that went into the storm 900 miles of Newfoundland. Oh, what a night that wasi I 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 to throw him overheard. Sailors are gen. erous hearted race, and they resolved to make their escape, if possible, without resorting to such extreme measures. The sails are of no use, and so they lay hold on their oars. see the long bank of shining blades on either side the yes sel Oh, how they did pull, the bronzed seamen, as they lay back into the oarsl But rowing on the sea is very different from rowing upon river, and as the vessel hoists the oars skip the wave and miss the stroke, and the tempest laughs to scorn the flying paddles. It is of no use, no use. There comes 8 wave that crashes the last mast and sweeps the oarsmen from their places and tumbles everything in the confusion of impend- ing shipwreok, or, as my text has it, ''The men rowed hard to bring it to the land. but they could not, wherefore they cried unto the Lord. ''
 Converted by Reading of It.
 This scene is very suggestive to me, and pray God may have grace and strength enough to represent it intelH- gently to you Years ago I preached a sermon on another phase of this very subject, and got letter from Houston, Tex, the writer saying that the read ing of that sermon in London had led him to God. And I received another letter from South Australia, saying that the reading of that sermon in Australia had brought several souls to Christ. And then, I thought. why not now take another phase of the same subject, for perhaps that God who can raise in pow CT 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 wom- en who know how to pray, lay hold of the Lord God Almighty, and wrestle for the blessing.
 Bishop Latimer would stop sometimes in his sermon, in the midst of his argu- ment, and say, "Now, will tell you a fable, and today would like to bring the scene of the text as an illustration of most important religious truth. As those Mediterranean Aoarsmen trying to bring Jonah ashore were discounted, have to tell you that they were not the only men who have broken down on their paddles and have been obliged to call on the Lord for help. want to say that the unavailing efforts of thoee Med iterranean oarsmen have 8 counterpart in the efforts we are making to bring souls to the shore of safety and set their feet on the Rock of Ages. You have a 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.
 Agony of Uncertainty.
 A minister of Christ, whose wife was dying without any hope in Jesus, walk ed the floor, wrung his hands, cried bit terly and said, "I believe shall go in- sane, for I know she Is not prepared to meet God" And there may have been days of sickness in your household, when you feared 1t would be fatal sickness, and how closely you examined the face of the doctor as he came in and scru- tinized the patient and felt the pulse, and you followed him into the next room and said, "There isn't any dan- ger, Is there, doctor?' And the hesita- ton and the uncertainty of the reply made two eternities flash before your vision. 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 Godi They have been unable to bring them to th' shore of safety. They are no nearer that I--A IL n