Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-10-26
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: 'sThe Oarsmen Defeated" :"

fore they cried uuto the Lord. Jonah
t., -, IA.
| Navigation in the Mediterranean Sea al
| ways was perilOus, especially go 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
| nnds 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
Col had told Jonah to 90 to Nineveh to
! preach about the destruction Of that city.
I Jonah disobeyei. That always makes rough
| wafer, whether in the Mediterranean, or the
! Atlantic, or the Pacific. or the Caspian Sea-
| 1t Is very hard thing to scare sailors [
nave seen them, when the brow Of the vessel
| was almost under water, and they were
| walking the deck knee deep In the surf, ani
| the small boats by the side Of the vessel had
| been crushed as small as kindling wood,
! whistling as though nothing had happened,
| ut the Bible says that these mariners Of
! whom | speak were frightened.
| That which sailors call F'a lump of q sea"
! has become a binding, deafening, sWamping
| Jury 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 q piece Of
| the sail Of ship, no larger than the palm Of
my hand. That piece Of canvas was all that
! was left Ofthe largest sail Of the ship Greece
! that went into the storm 200 miles off New
| fOundland. Oh, what night that was [
! suppose 1t was in sOme such storm as this
J that Jonah was caught.
He knew that the tempest was on his ac-
count, and he asked the sailors to throw him
overheard. Sailors are a generous hearted
race, and they resolved to make their es-
cape. il 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 vessel. Oh, how they did pull, the
| bronzed seamen, they lay back into the
oars ! But rowing on the sea Is very differ
ent from rowing upon 4 river, and as the YES
sci hOists the oars skip the wave and miss
the stroke, and the tempest laughs to scorn
the flying paddles. 1t is of no use, no use
There comes n wave that crashes the last
mast and sweeps the oarsmen from their
places and tumbles everything in the con-
| fusion of impending shipwreck, or, as my
text has it, "The men rowed hard to bring
! 1t to the land, but they could not, wherefore
they cried unto the Lori"
This scene is very suggestive to me, and I
pray God may have grace and strength
enough to represent 1t 1ntelligently to you.
Years ago preached a sermon on another
phase of this very subject and got letter
from Houston, Tex, the writer saying that
the reading OF that sermon in London had
led him 20 God. And I received another let
ter 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 Col 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 Latimer would stop sometimes in
his sermon, in the midst of his argument
and say, Now, [ will tell you fable" and
to-day would like to bring the scene of the
text as an illustration of most important re-
liSiOus truth. AS those Mediterranean oars
men trying to bring Jonah ashore were dis
comffted, 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 those Mediterranean
Oarsmen have a 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 q 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.
a minister OF Christ, whose wife was dying
without any hope in Jesus, walked the floor,
wrung his hands, cried bitterly and said, "I
believe I shall go insane, for l know she is
not prepared to meet God" And there, may
have been days OF sickness in your house
hold, when you feared it would be a fatal
sickness, and how closely you examined the
face of the doctor as he came in and scrd-
tinizel 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 the uncer-
nkfN
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 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? Oh, no, I do not
advise that, but l do advise that you
appeal to that God to whom the Mediterra-
mean OarSmen appealed-the God Whe could
silence the tempest and bring the ship in
safety to the port! 1 tell you. my friends,
that there has got to be good deal OF pray
Ing before our families are brought to Christ.
All, it is ar awful thing to have half house
mold on one side the line and the other part
OF the hOushold on the other side of the line'
Two vessels part on the ocean of eternity,
one going to the right and the other to the
the signals cease to be recognized and there
are only two specks on the horizon, and then
they are lost to sight forever!
| have to tell you that the unavail1ng ef-
forts OF these Mediterranean oarsmen have
counterpart in the efforts some of US are
making to bring our children to the shore of
safety. There never were so many tempta-
tons for young people as there are now.
The literary and the social influences seem
to be against their spiritual interests. Christ
seems to be driven almost entirely from the
school and the pleasurable cOncOurse, yet
God knows how anxious we are for our
children. We cannot think of going into
heaven without them. We do not want
to leave this life while they are tossing
on the waves of temptation and away
from God. From which of them could
we consent to be eternally separated?
Would it be the son? Would it be the
daughter? Would it be the eldest? Would
it be the youngest? Would it be the one
that is well and stout or the one that is
sick? Oh, I hear some parent saying to-
night: 81 have tried my best to bring my
children to Christ. 1 have laid hold Of the
oars until they bent IN my grasp, and l have
braced myself against the ribs of the boat,
and have pulled for their eternal rescue,
but can't get them to Christ Then ask
you to initiate the men of the text I'D cry
nightly unto God. We want more i'm
Fortunate praying for children, such as
the father induiged in when he had tried to
bring his six sons to Christ and they had
wandered off into dissipation. Then he got
down in his prayers and said, SO Col, take
away my life, if through that means my
sons may repent and be brought to Christ"
and the Lord startlingly answered the
prayer, and in a few weeks the father was
taken away, and through the solemnity the
six sons fed unto God. Oh, that father
could afford TO die for the eternal welfare OF
his children! He roWed hard to bring them
to the land, but could not, and then be cried
unto the Lord.
There are parents who are almost discour-
aged about their children. Where is your
son tonight? He has wondered off perhaps
to the ends ofthe earth. It seems as if he
cannot get far enough away from your
Christian counsel. What does he care about
the burrows that come to your brow, about
the quick whitening OF the hair, about the
fact that your back begins to stoop with the
L.