The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-04-14

nom themselves they cannot escape
lthe sence 81 Cod. With sliall
I,go from Thy spirit, q sald the psalm.
LIST .tor whittier shall ] aee from Thy
presence9s il i ascend up into heaven
Thou are there. II / make my bed IN
hell, behold Thou art there b
sure your sin will find you out ant
the duty left undone. the wrong lef
unrighted, the sin, unforsaken and un
forgiven, like the ghost Of the murder
ed king, will arise at the brightes
banquet and will not down.
HE found the chip goIas to Tar
shish. " It always used to seen
strange to me why God would perm!
sin in the world: Why He did no
compel Us, whether we would or on
to obey. But my later experience, hat
taught me that such obedience, the
result of conpulsion, would make III
mere automatons, without character
Or true virtue. Jesus, in the parable
of the hayward son, said the father
divided unto them his living. YOU
can waste your capital, II youwant to
or your time, influence, opportunh!
or talent; but when it Is gone, 1t Is
gone forever. If you want to go t
Tarshish, you will always find
chance and moreover you will find
plenty of company. But you will have
to pay the fare. whichever way you
so, whether to Nineveh Or to Tar
shish; and Satan always exacts a
heavy price. He is hard taskmas
ter and after Jonah came back to God
you never heard of him having thai
fare paid back. When II once was
gone it was gone forever. And now
note as he went away from God he
went down. Three times this is stat
cd. It IS always so with sin. 1t is
continuous and cumulative. When
the prodigal left home he did not stop
until he had journeyed into Il fai
country.
But the Lord sent out great
wind into the sea, To the last day
Of his life, the disobedent prophet
ought to have been thankful for that
storm. Sometimes it is the only
means the Lord can use To bring us
to our senses and our duty. We have
all thanked God for our roses, but
how very few OF us have thanked him
for our storms. Often our crosses
are really our crowns and the thing
which seemed to promise nothing but
misfortune has proved to be our
greatest blessing. II Jonah had had
calm voyage, the chances are he
would never have come back to God.
That storm was his salvation.
Then the mariners were afraid,
and cried every man unto his Cod"
Fear is often the only thing that will
turn the thought to the need of out.
side aid. In our own day, the mo.
tive of fear in religion has been much
derided as unworthy of consideration.
Jonah had gone down into the in.
nermcst part OF the ship and was fast
asleep. Here we see the tnstnuating
nature Of sin. 1t gets down to tho
very heart of hearts; and furthermore
produces spiritual dOrmuncy. That
is one Of the most dangerous fca.
lures. One of the best evidences OF
growth in grace is deeper sensitive
ness to sin, ana one Of the best evt.
dences CT back.sliding OF heart and
life is lack OF sorrow Tor sin.
And they said every ore to his
fellow. Come let us cast lost that we
may know for whose cause this evil
Is upon us. So they cast lots and the
lot fell upon jonah" One OF the best
evidences OF a spiritual awakening is
I desire for self.examinatlon. A dis.
ease well diagnosed is hal cured. A
wise merchant makes regular inyen.
tory Of his goods; not simply to find
that amount of his wealth but also to
discover deficiencies in his stock.
It might be well for us TO make a
two'fold application OF his truth.
First, as 10 the Jonahs in the churc
and second, in the individual lire
The greatest foes Of Christianity TO
day are not among those openly alhe.
isttc and antagcnistic, but rather the
inconsistent and disloyal disciples be.
longing to the church membership.
One wolf within the fold car do vastly
more damage than twenty outside the
walls 1t Is this class that have sought
connection with the church from the
motive Of policy or position or inau.
ence, social, finalcial Or political, that
are doing more TO keep back a true
revival than all other causes combin.
ed. They are the ones likewise that
are foremost in quarrcis and disturb.
ances within the church and causing
the spiritual sea TO be troubled and