Evening journal., 1916-01-10

is stated. IL is always so WIN SIN.
II is continuous and cumulative. When
the prodigal left home he did not
stop until he had journeyed into far
country
Thank God For ThOrns.
"But the Lord sent out a great wind
into the sea-" To the last day of his
life. the disobedient 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 thorns? Often our crosses arc
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.
The storm was his salvation.
"Then the mariners were afraid,
and cried every man unto his God"
Fear is often the only thing that will
turn the thought TO the need of out
side aid. In our own day, the motive
OF fear in religion has been much de-
rided as unworthy of consideration.
Yet we are told that it is the fear OF
God. not His love, that is the begin
ming OF wisdom. Noah moved with
fear prepared an ark for the saving
of his house and the ark was just as
strong as if that arm had been moved
by love. The old Puritan fathers had
such q fear Of God before their eyes
that il drove out all fear OF man.
knowing the terror of the Lord"
said the apostle, 1--WE persuade men"
II has been a great error to endeavor
70 eliminate this evil from religion.
The statute that carries with il no
penalty for its transgressiOns is ut
terly weak and worthless. We need
more and more to emphasize the truth
that God is on the throne and the
person that violates His law does so
at his peril. No fear of God before
their eyes is one OF the evidences Of
impenitence and doom. True it is
that perfect love casts out fear Each
has its place in the divine economy
Amid the modern inertness and in
difference, both motives must be
brought into use Not until the fact
is more frequently emphasized and
impressed that the life away from
God is lost. opportunity lost, soul lost,
will there be aroused an intense and
widespread anxiety to seek saliva
ton.
Making Terms With God.
"Then the mariners began to cast
forth the wares of the ship into the
sea-" They we're awakened to the
realization that something had to be
done. and they were willing TO cast
overheard anything but the real cause
Of their disaster. How many. when
under conviction of sin. seek at once
to make terms with God? They are
willing to attend meetings. to submit
to the forms and ceremonies of the
faith or worship, to give Of their time
or strength or money for Christian
work, but they desire still to retain
that pet sin that is the real cause OF
their alienation from God.
Jonah had gone down into the in
nermost part or the ship and was fast
asleep. Here we see the insinuating
character of sin. It gets down into
the very heart OF hearts and further
more produces spiritual dormancy.
: That is one of its most dangerous
features. One OF the sure evidences
of back-sliding of heart and life is a
lack of sorrow for sin. But il our
gospel is veiled il is veiled in them
that perish, in whom the god of this
world hath blinded the minds OF the
I unbelieving that the light OF the gos-
pei Of the glory Of Christ, who is the
imagine of God. should not dawn upon
them" 1t is said that when a man
is freezing to death, just before dis
solution takes place. there comes a
numbness stealing over every faculty
so that he has no especial desire for
life and is in no sense troubled about
| his condition. When you find a per-
son troubled about having committed
the objectionable sin, it is good tes-
| timony that he has not. For, in pc
culiar sense, the objectionable sin is
/ the sin that does not want to be par
doned. No man is farther away from
God than the one that has no desire
I to be saved. So long can a soul resist
( the pleadings of love and mercy and
yield himself to evil that at last his
sensibilities become calloused and he
| seems to lose the spiritual instinct
and becomes past feeling.
Diagnosing the Disease.
And they said every one to his
fellow. Come let us cast lots 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 a desire for self-eNamination. A
disease we'll diagnosed is half cured.
A wise merchant makes regular. in
ventory Of his goods: not simply t.
find the amount OF his wealth but
also to discover deficiencies in his
stock.
1t might be well for us to make a
two-fOld application of this truth.
First, as to the Jonahs of the church,
and second. in the individual life. The
greatest foes OF christianity to-day
are not among those openly atheistic
and antagonistic. but rather the in
consistent and disloyal disciples be-
longing to the church membership.
One wolf within the fold can do vastly
! more damage than twenty outside
the walls. II is this class that has
sought connection with the church
from the motive Of policy or position
or influence, social. financial, or po-
litical, that are doing more to keep
back a true revival than all other
causes combined. They are the ones
| likewise that are foremost in quar-
rels and disturbances within the
church and causing the spiritual sea
to be troubled and tempestuous. The
only hope for peace is to cast the
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