Milford chronicle., 1907-01-25
Ca(naQe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, D. D.


prophet and shows that when our owl
hearts are out Of tune with God ant
nature life is full of discord and dis
satisfaction. The text is Jonah iv, 8
-DOest thou well to be angry?"
Sometimes 1 am inclined to think
that Jonah is the most famous char
acter Of the Bible next to Jesus Christ.
There are many people who know
nothing about Abraham or Samuel or
David or Isaiah who know all about
the wonderful story of Jonah and the
whale. That one Incident in his ca
reer has made him the most famous
of the prophets. His fame is due not
so much to the disciples of Christ as to
the enemies of Jesus. No sooner does
a man brought up in a Christian home
begin to listen to the enemies Of the
Bible and get ready to cut adrift from
all past Christian associations than he
hunts up the book of Jonah and sets
out to prove that the Bible is a pack
of absurdities by holding up the story
Of this recreant prophet to ridicule
1t is very easy to rldicule this story.
Very shallow men devoid of logic or
the power of analysis can do that 1t |
serves as a handle of attack on the |
Bible, which can be used by any man |
who hates the Bible for its uncompro-
missing attitude against sin and dis
aikes 1t for demanding of every man
repentance and faith. Perhaps if Jo-
nah had fold ba oe !
what had happened to him they would
have laughed at that instead of put
ting on sackclOth Do not let us be led
aside into such foOlishness or in any
way to lay stress on this incident. Per
haps if we knew more about the story
and the man who wrote it and Jonah
himself we might find that there was
no difficulty at all in it. 1t is a waste
of time to dwell upon it when the
moral of what the writer wants to
teach is so obviOus-that when God
calls man to a work it is useless to S
evade the duty, and if he does try to t
evade it he will be brought back to it S
by some means, ordinary or extraor- &
binary. i
! Having spoken these few words in
the way OF introduction, I want to L
dwell On one of the most remarkable
characteristics of that obstinate and :,
hayward prophets mind After Jonah
had gone to Nineveh and told the peO-
pie of Nineveh that unless they re-
lpented and turned from their sins they {,
would all be destroyed the Ninevites =
put on sackclOth and ashes and repent y
ed Then God, mercifully noting that -
repentance, said that he would not de- =
stroy them. Then Jonah petulantly =
flew off into a violent rage. There" q
he said, my work of prophecy is all ~
gone for paughtl Thou. 0 God hast ~
made a laughlngstock of me I told - ~
The Ninevites they would perish in for L,
ty days Now thou sayest they can n
live: Who will listen to my warnings ~
in futureF'. So angry Jonah goes Off -
upon the hillside overlooking the city ~
Of Nineveh.and there sulks and sulks a.
and p0qts and pouts. He said Il knew w
it. l kneW God would not destroy "a
them. And now my business of proph- 81
asying is ruined forever. No one will az
believe me-" Then God speaks to Jo- al
nah the words of my text, "Doest thou Se
well to be angry" So l ask you today ~
The same words, "DOest thou well to a.
De angryi" ~
Uut OF harmony.
My friend, you know exactly what =
I'm driving at. You know when you
get out of harmony with God every o., ,'n.
hing that is about you irritates you 10 ~,
Why, only last week you had an illus ~ NJ,
ration of this fact The supper was ~
nded. You were in the midst of the ~ o.
hildren's frOlic and fun. No one was ~
aving a happier time than yourself ~ ~
suddenly the dOorbel rang. An old ~
riend came in and said: Harry, ' 80
ave fine financial scheme. If you ~.
7ill go in with me- Ie can make $4,000 ~
piece" But, Charlie" you say lis So
nat square?" "Boshw answers your SIM
lend Business is not made up of -
unday school ideals. If we do not do 80 =
lis, some other fellow will" well" I rs
Du answer. "all right; go ahead. 10 s
i'll stand by you Your friend hur- WV WV
rs out of the house saying: "All right o'S
Oodby l must clinch the bargain" otl
e is gone in a flash You went back oHu
the sitting room. Everything was 4 .lui
w different. The frolic was now dis ~ NJ
rdant to your nerves. You took out 80
ur watch and snapped it shut and 80 80
id sharply: Children, stop that rack ooli'
1t is time to go to bed" Your wife a. a.
id something, and you answered her - -
lssly. All night long you tossed and 49,
nbled, or when you did sleep it was LIS LIS
troubled sleep NJ
The next morning when you arose 80 80
! sun was shining just as brightly as In ~
II for others, but not for you. There ~
S a dense fog around you. The 4 -
,akfast left a bad taste in your 'H''
nth. When you got into the car you