saking "the Fountain of Living Wa t e r s" see to w h at straits they came. • Provision for man and provender for beasts alike failed. The poor brute shares the curse. In Nineveh they wore the sack-cloth, Jon. 3:7. They "are subject to vanity (Baal), but not willingly," Rom. 8:20. Pity the poor brutes abused by m a n 's brutality. 3. "Be- hold, Elijah," v. 8. Obadiah dreaded the mission. A price was on Elijah's head; would he not lose his own should he allow the prophet's escape? 4. "I will surely shew myself." They need not fear who are sent of God. Luther would brave the powers a t Rheims "though devils were ma ny a s tiles on the house tops." H ad he "business a t Metz" he would go though "it should rain Prince Georges nine days." , V. ELIJAH AND AHAB. 1. "Art thou he?" All sinners dull in sensibility to their sin lay the fault' to oth- ers. 2. Not I, "but thou." So N a t h a n, "Thou art the ma n ," 1 Sam. 12:6. 3. "Send and gather." Elijah commands Ahab. T r u th is not "always on the scaffold." It has al- ways a. voice of authority. And kings at last bow to it wijl they or nil they. VI. ELIJAH AND "THE PEOPLE. 1. "How long do you halt (limp, .hop to a n d fro) between two opinions?" "The peo- ple answered not a word," v. 21. No argu- ment can be made in favor of indecision where God and the soul are in question. 2. One against a multitude, Elijah proposes to abide the issue of a great miracle. It was too reasonable to condemn, and the people confessed "It is well spoken." VII. ELIJAH AND THE PROPHETS OF BAAL. '1. The Baalites. (1) Set up their altar, (if) They prepared their sacrifice. (3) They made their frantic petitions. (4) They whirled in their dervish dances to exhaus- tion. (5) They cut themselves till the blood ran. But there was (6) "no voice," "no an- swer:" "none regarded." They failed while —2. Elijah (1) He taunted t h em as they de- served—"You must- cry louder, he is a god, but a little deaf; or his attention is di- verted by other business; or he is on a journey, or taking a nap." God pity the souls t h at have gods like that when the ordeal comes! (2) He called the people near to test his preparations and the results. (3) He rebuilt the old altar. (4) H e used twelve stones, as later twelve "barrels of water," to show thkt Jehovah ignored the division of the nation. If He is to be known as the One God it shall be of the One people. C5) They slew and cut the bullock into its parts, and drenched the whole with water to (a) show t h at there was no deception-, (b) to greaten the effect of the miracle, (c) - to show (?) t h at God saves by blood and w a t er »rid flre. 1 Jno. 5:8; Jno. 19:34, 35; Acts 2i3. (6) He prayed; no frenzy, no physical demonstration, no cutting or abusing his flesh, just a juiet word with t h e' Lord in desire for the Lord's honor, and corrobora- tion. (7) The fire fell. (8) There was a complete demonstration. (9) F or the obedi- ence of the law, the vindication of justice, the Tm*-i'i1<"iticm of the land,' the preserva- tion of the faith, Baal's prophets were promptly and utterly exterminated. " J e- hovah, He is God," " E l i - J a h - H u ."
t
died,
1 Kg. 17:11.
W as this the reward
for her faith and charity? No; H e - had some better thing for her, Jno. 11:3, 4. 2. * Grief quickened her conscience. Great blessings, Luke 5:8; dangers, Jon. 1:12; griefs, 1 Kgs. 17:17, 18; strongly affect con- science. I saw a mother fling herself over t he coffin of her only son and cry, "O Willie, i Willie, if it had not been for your wicked * mother you would not have . been here!" , 3. The prophet prays with great power and k ' brevity, "My God," "brought evil," "on " widow," "thy servant's" entertainer? 4. "Three times." So the Lord, Matt. 26:44; 4 and Paul, 2 Cor. 12:8. "Men ought always to pray and not faint," Luke 18:1. 5. "The soul of the child came again." The soul lives "absent from the body," 2 Cor. 5:8; 12:2. 6. "See, thy son liveth." H a p py mother. There Will be millions of t h em K bye and bye. 7. "By this I know." The great unequivocal proof is the resurrection. Our never-failing cruse and barrel are silf- c flcient—but "life from the dead" is God 's peculiar signet. * 111. ELIJAH AND JEHOVAH. 1. God remembers His people. "In the third year," "On the third day," ("In the third dispensation"), 1 Kgs. 18:1; 1 Cor. 15:4; Hos. 6:1. 2. "Shew thyself." All times and events are in God's power. On a certain day He shut Noah in, on another He brought him forth, Gen. 7:13; 8:14-16; "in due time He sent forth His Son, "Gal. 4:4; and there is a "day and hour" when He will show Himself. . . ,. 3. ."I . will send rain." " He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever," Psa. 103:9. We see t h at He relents before • Israel" repents. Since He turns to us ere we turn to Him how sure we may bei of a kind reception! Matt. 11:28-30. And God's purpose precedes Elijah's prayer. Praying Is In God's planning. He shall pray at God's Word and God will answer at his word. God moves Elijah to pray and Elijah moves God to act. We may not understand it, b ut so God has planned, and "the foolishness of God is wiser than men," 1 Cor. 1:25. Pray- ers and ploughs are alike in this, t h at bo.th . precede the blessing by the ordinance of the * Lord. 4. "And there was a sore famine In Pamarla." Wh e re was Ahab, the king? Where w as Baal, the god? Kings and gods should prevent famines. In all Samaria WPS there not " a handful of meal in a b a r- t rel," was there not "a little oil in a cruse?" So we must not put t r u st in princes, Psa. "nd idols, arc, nothings, Psa. 96:5. There had been no famine in Cherith; no want at Zarephath's widows. ^ IV. ELIJAH AND OBADIAH. 1 "Obadiah governor of his house." "Oba- diah" means "servant of Jehovah." Ahab preferred a servant of Jehovah to a servant of P a a l: Nebuchadnezzar a Daniel to a prince of Babylon. Ungodly employers are glad of eodly employees. Such should not ¿shore their u n s r d ly deeds. Obedlah "hid" and "fed" whom Ahab meant to kill. Take the n -,ij|p n[ an "Obadiah;" do the deeds of an Oh«d1ah. He "feared God greatly" and dared the wrath of the king bravely, for h« ^ffwred H im more "who when he had Mlled had power" to do worse, Luke 12:5. f o d ly servants are first servants of God. 2" "Find grass to save the horses, v. 6. For- • f •
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