Taoth. Miracles are 'inevtricatly interwoven with the record, precept, and promise. E r a se the miracle—.nothing is left to cover our nakedness. • VI. CHARACTER OF THE PROPHET. Prophets were chosen from birth, Jer. 1:4, 5; Gal. 1:15, and cultured by Providence for their special tasks. One thing they had in common— they were "holy men," 2 P e t. 1:21. Elijah was the man for his mission. A Wilderness product'—hard fare, rough rai- ment, rude shelter, he asked no more; hence no flatterer; honest, fearless, no grafter, In- dependent, morally clean, he was the man to confront a voluptuous, licentious, idola- trous royalty. A like. independence of the world, its patronage, and its substance, is (essential to faithfulness and power in all the Lord's witnesses, to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus," 2 Tim. 2:3. VII. CUTTING OFF SUPPLIES. The subjection of an enemy is only a question of time if you cut off his supplies. Impious man dares to "contend with the Al- mighty in whose hand his breath is," Dan. 5:23; Job 40:9. Like the fall of a meteor the rough-clad Bedouin (brown limbed, with streaming Nazarite locks) prophet came upon Ahab, and his word crashed on the apostate's ear, "No dew, no rain, these years, but .by word of my mouth!" 1. Can Baal give rain? Now, we know t h at to whatever a m an devotes his time, his thought, his labor, himself, t h at is his god whom he worships; Time comes when the' long-suffering of God ceases. The comforts, gratifications, satisfactions of his sin have forsaken the worldling. The word has gone forth,. "No dew,, no r.aln, these years." Can Baal save him 7 Can all t h at has been his Strength and delight avail him now? 2. Can Baal stay the ruin of those rainless days? Baal was the Sun-god. His symbol a winged disc. Can the sun quench his f ery beams till rain returns? Can the dire consequences of his sins be stayed when they ho more afford pleasure to the sinner? No; the very gods he served become his scourge.. There is no more satisfaction in his ill-got gains, his "gold is cankered," Jas. 5:3; no more pleasure in'his- cups, •his " w i ne is a mocker," Pro. 20:1; no more gratification in his lusts, "a dairt strikes through his' liver," Pro. 7:23. Baal cannot help, but he can burn. VIII. CARING FOR HIS OWN. The Lord can give at all times more than we can ask or think," Eph. 3:20. But when "His judgments are abroad in the earth," J s a. 26:20; in such crises' He is wont to show Himself faithful and His own faith-full. He supplies their need, Phi. 3:19; they t r u st contented with the necessities; Heb. 13:5: To them the cup of cold water and the daily crust are more sweet and nourishing in pro- portion as they are more grateful t h an the Servants of Baal, with the best the world can give. 1. Elijah drank of the brook, 1 Kgs. 17:6. His drink came by natural means. There is no superfluity of miracle in the Bible. Natural means are to be de- pended on where they exist. 2. He fed the birds. This was miraculous. Natural means will not always avail. For various reasons not here. A miracle was needed to feed the prophet; miracle was needed to prove his mission. He was the true legate of the
foundations of creation mu st give w ay or judgment fall on apostate Nations, Churches v or Christians. Take heed! II. CONFLICT BETWEEN JEHOVAH AND BAAL. The campaign opened with Jezebel's a t- tempt to root out the true worship. She k began to "cut off the prophets," 1 Kgs. 18:4. Multitudes mu st have suffered martyrdom. Many went into "dens and caves of the earth," 1 Kgs. 18:3, 4. The cause of t r u th seemed at an end, 1 Kgs. 19:10. The pe- culiar form of Satanic opposition toflay is * "cutting off the prophets" in the form of the Bible, and in the effort to drive out faithful teachers and replace them with the products of "higher criticism," and "mod- ern thought." Let us not kneel to Baal, 1 Kgs. 19:18. And God bless the men of wealth and influence, the Obadiahs, who stand by us, 1 Kgs. 19:10. III. CHAMPIONS OF JEHOVAH. The principals In the warfare are God and Satan, Job 1:7-12. The fight is "not " against flesh and blood," Eph. 6:12. "Truth forever on the scaffold," but in t he persons of men in the flesh. In every crisis a Noah, an Abraham, a Mqses, an Athanasius, a l.uther, a Carey, has arisen. At this time it was Elijah. His Hebrew name w as "Elljahu": Eli-(God)-Jah-(Jehovah)u, • or hu, (He). T h at is, "God-Jehovah-is-He," or "Jehovah He Is God!" the very battle cry of the age, declaring the t r u th at issue. The enemy himself confessed the f a ct at every mention of the prophet. Bible names preach Bible sermons. Hq who says, "Jesus," friend or foe, proclaims "Jehovah-He- fr! Saves." He who says "Bible," says "THE Book." IV. CALL OF THE PROPHET. The prophetic office was peculiar to Is- rael. To and through chosen men God pt spoke to them and ,to us. From the division of the kingdom the prophet was most con- spicuous as the Legate of the Court of heaven. The kings were rebellious, the Lévites and Priests were "reeds shaken by the wind," Luke 17:24, craven, crawlers at the feet of idolatrous monarchs. The prophet was sent to oall t h em to repentance, to rebukè idolatry; to denounce, and visit judg- ment upon them: From the first, kings found that they could not lay hands on prophets with impunity; prophets, t h at they mu st implicitly obey orders; and all that they did and said was to be what they re- ceived direct from the Lord and not from men, or even an angel from heaven, 1 Kgs. 13:4, 18, 24. There* is much in all this for us. Dig it out. V. CREDENTIALS OF THE PROPHET. Wilfully deaf to the witness of Nature, Providence and Conscience, men mu st be left to their perversity or thundered at by the Supernatural, the Miraculous. God ac- credited His legates by signs and wonders. Miracles mu st not be judged a p a rt from the context, but mu st be viewed as part of thé Wonderful Book, wrought for the world-saving Self-revelatlon of God. They are works of r righteous judgment, or of tender mercy, accrediting holy words of holy men. You cannot say, "This goods is part cotton. I will draw the cotton threads and w e ar the wool." If so you would destroy fr t
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