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

In grief and hunt ation That the as
surance Of acceptance and justihca
lion come. Just after the fierce tenn
est in the darkness of the night, when
the lightning has fased and storm
has troken in all its fury, that the
morning has dawned bright and clear,
and the sunshine has lighted up the
rain drops on forest aud prairie
making the entire earth resplendent
in beauty.
So it was In the life of :he despair
ing prophet. It was when his soul
tainted within him that he remem,
bered the Lord. Ii was by reason Of
his. offiction that he crieI unto the
Lord and He heard him, The cructfx'
ion must mecede the resurrection in
our sould II We follow the pathway of
our Master. Had it moi been for
Jonah afRlction, he wogl4 have con;
tinued 10 his doom. In his weakness
he was made strong, and now we hear
no longer the dirge, but tho note OF
praise and the pean OF victory: "Yet
ras thou brought up my lilo from the
pit, Oh Jehovah, my God' Like the
prodfgal in the far country when he
came to want, he came to himself. 81
will arise and go TO my Father" This
is conversion. Most Of us need the
husks and the hunger likewise to
bring us to ourselves Jonah's "l
Will" is the evidence Of hlg sincerity.
81 will sacrifice unto Thee with the
voice OF thanksgiving. I will pay
that which have vowed Now the
sea monster must give up its prey
and the prophets feet are planted on
dry land.
All these lessons and experiences
we're part o fthe schooling of the
prophet in preparing him 10 proclaim
Cod message to the peCRle of Nine
veh. He must first conquer himself
before he could win the city. Deal
ing with the rebellion in It's own soul,
he could more clearly synrpathfze
with the disobedience Of others and
in finding the way out, he was. better
fitted to lead others into the light. AS
in the call OF Isaiah. that prophet had
to be brought to vision Of Gods
greanteness and his own weakness be-
fore he. was fitted to hear the divine
voice. So Jonah had to be brought to
The point OF entire submission before
he could hear and heed the call of the
gospel ministry.
Let us note that it was the same
command that came to him as first
The first lesson must be learned, the
first order executed before we are
prepared for any further mission.
Jonah had 10 go back to the very
point where he had dis9beyed God
Like Elisha's student that lost his axe
the place he found it was where he
lost it. If you are conscious Of a lack
today of a power or peace that you
once enjoyed, go back over the web
of past experiences and you will find
that, at some point, you let drop
thread in your weaving; pick 1t up
and let it lake its righlful place in
the fabric Of your character. If II
we're to give the charge Of ordination I
to every young preacher believe |
would take as my theme Gods mes
sage to Jonah, as he enters upon
his new field of labor: Preach the
preaching that bid thee"
The message that is to be OF help
and blessing to needy hearts is not
human oplniSR. but the Word Of God.
The world do9 not care to know what
You think or think, but il our mes
sage Is to be fraught with power in
arresting attention and producing
conviction and conversion, 1t must
carry with It the sure Indication Of
Thus saith the Lord" II religion Is
merely n matter OF mans opinions
and ideas, then the soul is cast adrift
upon the sea OF life without rudder or
helm, chart or compass. Il is only as
we are Conscious of the guidance OF
Him who knoweth all things that we
can have any abiding hope of gaining
in safety the eternal harbOr.
II is evident that Jonah Aeeded wen
this instruction. That, although ne
went to strange people with all un'
popular message, the proclamation
had its results. This Is tne true test
OF any sermon. Just as %ou wouIu
not jndge a fisherman by the beauty
OF his boat or the elegance OF his roa
Or by the gracefulness Of his cast but
by his string of fish. The world wants
men that can do things and messages
that bring results, No greater COM
pliment could be paid to the prophets
preaching than that they forgot the
messenger in the message, 1.-The peo'
pie CT Nlneveh believed Cod" The