The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-02-16
R.PRICE SPOKE
To MEN ONLY
Large Audience Listened to
Interesting Lecture on
Sunday Afternoon.

the First Baptist church, his
subject having been Jonah and the
Whale A large audience was pres
ent, his remarks having been lis
tened 10 with undivided attention.
Following is his speech in part:
Jonah and the Whale.
The story OF Jonah and the whale;
that passage, all in all. is to men. God
prepared great fish TO swallow
the fish three days and three nights.
Some people would say that they
would not believe that a whale could
swallow a man. You just ask them
people how many whales they have
ever seen, and see what they tell you.
They don't even know the simple
anatomy of a whale. / don't know that
We must believe that it was a
whale that swallowed Jonah to
believe the word of God. 1t
might nave been a whale, and it
might not have been a whale 1t was
prepared fish, and was in the
Mediterranean Sea. In that day there
were no doubt as many fish as there
are today in that sea. God prepared
fish for a specific purpose. There are
not only whales, but there are several
other monsters of the sea that could
swallow a man. This is not so skSp-
Teal; but how was Jonah 10 stay in
the whales belly three days and
three nights and come out in perfect
condition. 1t was not according to
natural laws; OF course natural laws
are made for natural reasons. We
cannot go beyond natural laws. and
that is the reason We cannot perform
miracles. Anything that is beyond a
natural law is d miracle. God created
T1- I,0sr
fence around us, and that fence is
natural law. But God is a superna-
tUral being and He can do things
which man cannot account for. So
It IS that this was miracle. In ma
tuTal laws a man could not lie in a
fish three days and three nights and
come out whole. Some people say 4
do not believe this miracle. I would
not believe that God raised Lazarus
from the dead, il is not according to
natural law It takes God to raise
the dead. and so it is not a natural but
a supernatural law. believe this
miracle as much as do all the rest
of Gods word, and IL didn't be-
leve any Of Gods miracles, I would
not believe any OF the word of God
But let us take Gods word as a
whole, and not divide il up and take it
as scraps, and not be asked to give a
lecture on each scrap, and as TO how
thu whale swallowed Jonah Let's
take Gods word as a whole and do
His work, and God can say We'll
done, good and faithful servant" Il
IS Gods work. Much of it has moth
ing to do with you or me, but that is
no sign that that part of it which does
not affect me is not Gods word as
much as the part of 1t that does affect
me And when 1t tells me to accept
Christ as the savior, and as a living
example. this is the part upon which
we will be examined at the Judgment
bar of God; not about Jonah and the
whale, but we viii be asked why we
didn't trust Jesus.
What did Jonah do? Jonah prayed
unto the Lord his God out Of the fsh's
belly. And what did the Lord do
when Jonah prayed? Just what He
viii do TO any man who pTays; de-
llveTed him from this monster. And
the Lord spake unto the fish. and it
vomited Jonah upon the dry land.
The whale did not vOmit Jonah into
the sea. To vOmit him into the sea
would have been dumping him into
the tTyinS-pan; but it vomited him out
upon the dry land. where he could
stand on firm foundation. And Jonah
stood there delivered in answer TO
MS prayer. Then the word of the
Lord came unto Jonah a second time.
saying Arise, 90 unto Ninevah, that
great city and preach unto il the
preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah
arose, and went into Nineveh. accord
ing 10 the word of the Lord. Now
Nineyeh was an exceeding great city
of three days Journey And Jonah
began 70 enter into the city Il days
journey, and he cried. vet forty days,
and NineYeh shall be OVerthrOwn''-
this was his text you might sav-'So
the people of Ninevsh believed God,
and proclaimed a fast and put on
SackClOth. from the greatest of them
even 10 the least of them" They had
4 revival. ii was a revival of repen-
lance. They believed God and re-
pented their sins, and turned from
their evil ways. And God saw their
works, that they turned their evil
way; and God repeuted of the evil.
that He had said that He would do
unto them; and He did It not
Jonah was a preacher. and pFOba-
bly, he could preach better than
James. Philip, or Thomas. Jonah must
have been a good man. When Cod
calls man TO preach the Gospel he
has TO be good man. Some men
God don't call. and they put them
selves III the pulpit. but YOU can't
blame the church. You might Just
as we'll blame James, Peter. Philip,
or Thomas, as 10 blame the church
fOE having a hypocTit in the pulpit
They are men who say they believe in
God and give evidence consistent with
it. and the church OTdains them