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give ourselves no concern on the subject of death, judgment, and immortality."

I know not whether there may be any persons present who actually hold this language, because those who thus reason seldom attend our churches, unless from curiosity; but it is probable that there may be many here who have heard language of this kind, and who may have been grieved that they have not been able to answer it. It is possible, too, that some may be here who have been tempted to reason in this manner, whenever the restraints of conscience have been powerful or galling: and I have therefore thought that it might be useful to select this passage of Scripture for our consideration. I wish to impress upon you, that every portion of the Bible is undoubtedly true, and that those narratives, and histories, and events, which appear to us to be so wonderful, so extraordinary, and almost so impossible, because they are contrary to our experience, would not be considered so, if we were to study thoroughly the times in which they took place, the objects for which they were accomplished, and the consequences by which they were followed. I wish to prove to you, that all the objections which have been alleged against the account of the prophet Jonah are derived from the negligence of those who make them, in not considering the history of the period in which the event took place. I wish to prove to you, that the miracle itself was one of the most appropriate and most useful, the most

convincing and the most effective, that was ever wrought in the dispensations of God to man; and we may infer, too, from the truth of the history of Jonah, that infidelity, if it is not the offspring of wickedness, is uniformly, and without one exception, the result of ignorance; and while good men wish the Bible to be true, because it promises them an immortality of happiness; and while wicked men wish the Bible to be false, because it threatens to them an immortality of misery-both the good and the bad may be assured, that in proportion as they study it more deeply, they will be more convinced of its truth; and the good man may believe and rejoice, while the wicked must believe and tremble.

I shall first make some few observations on the possibility of the event mentioned in this passage, and I will then consider, in their order-the circumstances which preceded the miracle-the design and objects of the miracle-and, lastly, the wonderful effect which it produced upon the sailors in the ship, and upon the people of Joppa, and of Nineveh.

And who, in the first place, will say that the miracle was impossible? Is there not one God, the Creator of the world-and is not this great God, all-powerful, and almighty? If He gave laws to the creatures at first, can He not suspend, or alter them at His pleasure? visible creation itself, but one great, and continued

What is the

miracle, which man may see, and study, but which abounds with things he cannot comprehend? What difficulty can there be to the Supreme Being in suspending the common laws of His creation? Shall we dare to limit the Almighty? Shall we venture to believe nothing but that which is visible to the eye? Nothing is difficult to God-He has done whatever pleased Him, and He will govern according to His own pleasure. The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, were more than once made the instruments of His will-and He who stopped the mouths of the lions when Daniel was cast into their den-He who could provide the tribute money in the mouth of the smaller fish, as we read in the New Testament, could appoint the larger, and command it to preserve the prophet.

This, however, is not the point to which I am most anxious to direct your attention. I mention it only to shew the folly and absurdity of supposing that the Almighty can be limited in the exercise of His power. We are now to consider those points to which I have already referred-the circumstances which preceded the miracle, the object and design of the miracle, and the extensive effect it produced.

Let us first consider the circumstances which preceded this miraculous event.

We learn from 2 Kings xiv. 25., that Jonah had predicted the prosperity of the ten tribes of Israel, and that his prophecy had been fully ac

complished. We learn also, from the same passage of Scripture, that he lived in that part of the country, which was nearest to their Pagan and idolatrous neighbours. The prophet therefore must have been well known, both to his own countrymen, and to the inhabitants of the neighbouring nations. They must all have been aware that he was one of those extraordinary persons, to whom had been granted the power of foretelling future events. Every thing which such men said, or did, was every where known. Every eye was upon them, every action was scrutinized, Isaiah and Joel were prophesying at the same time in Judah; Hosea and Amos were prophesying in Israel: the five prophets were all raised up together to declare the same judgments of God, and if they acted unworthily of their high calling, the believer grieved, and the idolater rejoiced.

While Jonah, then, was living in this remote part of the country, and when every eye observed him, he was commanded by the Almighty to go down, and preach to the Ninevites; he was directed to go, and to declare that God was about to destroy the city for its pride, and wickedness. Now the possession of the power to prophesy did not imply obedience to the laws of God. It was in the days of Jonah, as it was in the days of Christ, many possessed the miraculous gifts, who were not the faithful followers of Christ. Our Saviour, tells us, that in the day of judgment many shall say, in thy name we have done many wonderful

works; that is, we have wrought many miracles, but the answer will be, depart from me, for I never knew you; and our conviction tells us, that we all have a clear knowledge of God, but that our obedience seldom corresponds with it. So it was with the prophets of old: they had the power to prophesy, and they were commanded to do so: but they might resist the Spirit of God, and refuse to obey. Jonah was commanded to go and preach against Nineveh; but that city was many leagues distant; the journey was long and dangerous; the people were licentious and cruel. He might be afraid of persecution, if they did not repent at his preaching; and if they did repent, God might pardon them for a time, and he would then be deemed a false prophet. All these motives acted upon the prophet, and he therefore resolved to disobey the positive command of God. He determined to forsake his country altogether, and to hide himself in a foreign land. With this intent he went down to Joppa, a place at some distance from his own province, to take refuge in Tarshish, in Cilicia, where he might remain unknown and unnoticed, till the day of his death.

Here we must pause, to consider the nature of that idolatry which was established among the nations which surrounded Israel, and especially the idolatry which was established at Joppa. It is best described by St. Paul:-They changed the glory

2 Matt. vii. 22.

Ibid. ver. 23.