The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1895-08-08
JONAHS OF THIS DAY.
THROWN OVERHEARD.
ralmage Draws Lessons From Jonah
and the Whale.

Itkaf tfO1 VIII tUinh uDpu Us. tnuI we perish
|,d Jonah l., o.
God told Jonah to TO to Nineveh on an un-
|,lsasant errand. He would not 20. He
|h,ueht 10 get away from his duty by putting
n, .sa. with pack under his arm find him
H. nj. way TO Joppa, n seaport. He goes
|1aWp among the shipping and saws to the
Fan living around on the docks. (Which of
r.. vessels sails to-day?" The sailors an
.rer "Yonder is vessel going to Tarshish.
|I,hlnk II YOU hurry you may get on board
ksr" Jonah steps on board the rough craft,
|s.ks how much the fare Is. and paws II.
|Ipehor is weighed, sails are hoisted. and the
|ssring begins 10 rattle In the strong breeze
|dthe Mediterranean. Joppa Is an exposed
|barbor. and II does not take long for the ves-
III 10 get ON the broad sea- The sailors like
what they call a spanking breeze" and tho
|runge of the vessel from the crest OF tall
|raya is cxhilarating TO those at home on the
|Jean But the strong breeze becomes n gale.
|tbe gale hurricane. The affrighted passen-
or. ask the captain IL he ever saw anything
EEa this before.
/ aOh. yes." he says. "This Is nothing"
mariners are slow TO admit danger to lands
|-sn But after awhile crash goes the mast.
III the vessel pitches 80 far "abeam's end"
sberr /. a fear she will not he righted. The
I,p,ain answers few questions. aud orders
H. throwing out of boxes and bundles and
LII 50 much OF the cargo a. they can get at.
|Ihe captain at last confesses there IL but lit
IL hope and tells the passengers that they
hsI better 20 to praying. II Is seldom that
|, .ea captain Is an atheist. He knows that
Ebsra i, n God. for he has seen Him at every
|foint of latitude between Sandy Hook and
{Cuean-town. Captain Moody, commanding
|tie Cuba OF the Cunard line Mt Sunday SER
|yica led the music and sang like Methodist.
= IN a.
having set the passengers to PRAYING goes
|around examining the vessel at every point.
Inc descends into the cabin to see whetherin
|ihe strong wrestling Of the waves the vessel
had sprung aleak. and he finds Jonah asleep.
| |Tonah had had wearisome tramp and had
|spent many sleepless nights about questions
|of duty aud he Is so sound asleep that all
|the thunder Of the storm and the screaming
|oithe passengers does not disturb him. The
|captain lays hold of him and begins to shake
him out Of his Inconsistencies with the
|cry "Don't you see that we are all going
|to the bottom2 Wake up and go to praying
|ifyou have any God to go to- What mean
e,t thou. o sleeper? Arise. call upon thy
|Gol. II 30 be that God will think upon US,
|tha, we perish not" The rest Of tho story |
Twill not rphearse. for YOU know IL well. To
|appaa,e the sea. they threw Jonah over
hoard
Learn thnt the devil takes n mans money
and then sets him down in poor landing
place The Bible says he paid his fare to
|Tar.hsh. But see him get out. The sailors
bring him 90 the side of the ship, lift him
over tho guards and let him drop with loud
splash into the waves. He paid his fare all
the way 10 Tarshish, but did not get the
worth II his money. Neither does any one
who turns his back on his duty and does that
(which l. not right.
There is young man who during the past
year has spent II large part of his salary in
carousal. What has he gained by itY A
sOiled reputation, n half starved purse. a
dissipated look, II petulant temper, dis
turbed conscience. The manacles OF one or
two bad habits that are pressing tighter and
tighter will keep on until they wear to the
bone. You paid your fare to Tarshish. but
| you have been set down In the midst OF a sea
|oi disquietude and perplexity.
One hundred dollars for Sunday horse hire.
One hundred dollars for wine suppers.
One hundred dollars for cigars.
One hundred dollars for frolics that shall
| he nameless.
Making four hundred dollars for his dam
nation
Instead Of being in Tarshish now he Is in
the middle Of the Mediterranean.
Here is literary man tired of the faith of
VIVA, is called freethinking He buys Theo-
dore Parker's works for S12. Remains "Life
Of Christ for Sl.50, Andrew Jackson Davis's
works for $40. Goes to hear infdels talk at
the clubs and to see spiritualism mt the table
rapping. Talks glibly OF David. the psalm
1T, aS an old libertine, of Paul as n wild en-
thu'ast and OF Christ as decent kind of a
man, little weak in some respects, but al
most ~ good as himself Talks smilingly of
sunday rs good day to put little extra
backing on ones boots and Of Christians as,
ior the most part, hypocrites of eternity
aS "the great to be" "the everlasting now
or "the infinite what is it," Some day he
gets his feet very wet and finds himself that
night chilly; the next morning has hot
mouth and Is headachy; sends word over to
the store that he will not be there to-day;
bathe' his feet; has mustard plasters; calls
lle doctor. The medical man says aside.
'lhis Is going to be u bad case of congestion
Of the lungs Voice fails. Children must
." Kept down stairs or sent to the
nelghDors to keep the house quiet
lou say, "Send for the minister" But
No. II" does not believe in ministers
You say Read the Bible TO him" No;
ne does not believe in the Bible. A law
yer comes in, and sitting by his bedside
writes a document that begins; "In the
name oi God, amen. |. being OF sound mind.
90 o. make this my last will and testament. "
u i certain where the sick mans body will
~ IN less than week. II is quite certain
VINO will get his property. But what will
oe,ome OF his soull 1t will go into "the
gea' 10 be-" or 'the everlasting now" or
the Infinite what is it," His soul Is In deep
Tfter', andthe wind is "blowing great guns u
peath cries, "Overboard with the un.
believer. splash. He goes to the bot
'yui' He paid 50 for his ticket to Tarshish
mneh he bought the infdel books. He
landed in perdition.
Every iarthing you spend In sin satan will
lNlhule you out of. He promises you shall
nave uh'e thirty per cent. or great dividend.
ne lies He will sink all the capital. You
may pay iull fare to some sinful success, but
'VI VIII never got TO Tarshish.
Learn how soundly men will sleep In the
mus; oi danger. The worst sinner on ship
Ioarl' considering the light he had, was
,rnu. DGndu. lie was "a member OF the church,
nulle they were heather. The sailors were
,,LASaged IN their lawful calling, following
@ 'uo sea The merchants on board, | sup
POSE, were going down to Tarshish TO barter,
euI Jonah, notwithstanding his Christian
procession, was flying from duty. He was
lu ,ounu asleep In the cabin. He has been
,Lo ,LLo''ohless Tor hours-his arms and feet In
Wv sa'ne posture ~ when he lay down-his
pieas' heaying with deep respiration. oh,
wv could he sleep? What II the ship struck
aIOckl What IL IL spranp aleak2 What A