The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-05-17
MIR. MOODY'S SERMONS.
PROPHET AND KING.
Elijah and Ahab-The Fire Called Down from
Heaven Sacrificing Principle to Policy
Elijah Baokslider-A Prayer Answer
ing God-The Translation
PROPHET AND KING.

l want to speak to you of two men tina
You read of in the Bible, one of them
king and the other prophet. mean Aha
and Elijah. Elijah was always ready to d
anything that God wanted him to do, with
out any question or comment. He seems t
have had a motto which he carried througI
life with him, and just as long as he stucl
to it he had no trouble. We find him con
tinually quoting this motto: 'As the Lor,
livcth. before whom | stand" and pref;lcin
his celebrations with it. Elijah was con
quering man all the time, just so long as h
let God USE him. and did not set his owl
will up in opposition. But King Ahab
with whom Elijah had to deal, was yer,
different character. He did not regar,
either the will or the law of God, and con
tinually sacrificed the highest principles, il
order that he might accomplish his owl
selfish ends
PRINCIPLE AND POLICY.
Now, whenever principle is given up fol
policy place is lost, and we need not wonder
to find this crowned mo" arch resting so un
easy in spite of all hi, splendor. Eliial
didn't have anything like the light we have
but he knew the law of God, and that the
nation was wicked and that all blessings
would he withheld from the people as long
as they kept in sin. \ wicked ruler is very
apt to indicate a people already depraved
So we find Elijah standing before the king
as servant of God and cXclaiming, Sc y.
the Lord, God of Israel, liveth, before whom
/ stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these
years, but according to my word" and fin
ishing he turns about and haStens from the
court. 1t may have been that Ahab and his
courtiers thought he was simply crazy, for
| his manner was strange and his dress OF
Camels hair was peculiar. But as soon rs
the king began to find out that the prophecy
was possibly true, as soon as he began to
note when he went beyond the palace for
his morning walk that there was no dew
upon the grass then he gave orders to have
Elijah found and brought before him. But
Elijah could not be found, and the king even
went so far as to send to other nations and
| have them make oath that they We're not
harboring the prophet. The famine and
drought in the land was terrible. Mean
time Elijah, as the Lord had directed linn,
was living by the brook Cherith, near the
Jordan, drinking of its water and being fed
by ravens But after awhile the brook
dried up and he was directed into the city of
Zarephath, but not to any rich mans house,
but to widows humble home, who had
nothing but a handful of meal in a barrel
and little oil iii a cruise, enough for he:-
self and her son. There he lived until in
Heavens own time God said to him: ego
rain upon the EARTH and he did as God
told him. He did not stop to reason about
it, but started at once, and like Il giant we
see him as he moves across the country
staff in hand How he must have felt rs he
looked about him and saw the parched
ground opening in cracks and the dry bones
and carcasses of cattle bleaching in the
sun. No sheen nor kline We're grazing- in
the fields;-1he springs We're all dried up,
there WAS no such thing rs vegetation, and
MEN WORE HAGGARD,
melancholy faces. For three years and six
months there had not been a drop of dew or
rain. Death and lesolation were all through
the land of Samaria. Just at this time King
Ahab, seemingly caring nothing for his dy-
ing subjects, was anxious about his horses
and mules, and with his hosts divitled-One-
half with Obadiah. his prime minister-was
out searching for patches of grazing ground.
While Obadiah was SO engaged he WAS met
by Elijah, before whom he fell on his knees,
exclaming, Art thou my lord Elijah ."
to which Elijah answered, 81 am: 30 tell
thy lord, Behold. Elijah is here" Here
was the man they had all been hunting for
these over three years. What Il spectacle it
was. In those days it was customary for
the king to order his subjects around, but
here was a suhie,. ordering around the king.
We see how Obadiah who was 4 man of
God, behaved when he met Elijah. When
Ahab came, AS he had to come, it was
full of arrogant pride, and his salute was,
" Art thou he that troubleth Israeli" See
the difference. But Elijah very soon told
him that it was he, the King, who was troa-
bling Israel, by serving Baal, and not at
tending to Gods commandments. l think
til It Elijah, rs he stood before Ahab, was
the Modest man | ever heard of. All the
xiv f~hal to say, was, g Gu. III his head,
anaN was OFF, but yet he dared stand there
anu talk rs he did. The fact was, my friends,
L., al Ia. had
nothing to fear. He was in the line of ODE
dience: he was walking in the path of duty,
and rs long as any of us keep in that posi-
ton we can stand for our principles and
assert them boldly. Now, said Elijah, you
are serving Baal, and we will put this mat
ter to a test. Call the four hundred priests
of the grove and the four hundred and fifty
prophets of Blal and let us each have an
altar and sacrifice and pray, and whichever
shall bring down fire from heaven theirs
will be the Lord and God. Ahab, you see,
WAS a RELIGIOUS MAN
in his day. He had four hundred priests
who sat at his tables every day. Very few
of Your religionists now could afford to he
as religious as that. The people all favored
Elijah'S proposition, and what meeting
that must have been on Mount Carmel. 1t
was one of the most interesting meetings the
world has ever known, because it touched
the pockets of Il nation, and meetings are
ALWAYS interesting which relate to money
matters. The people had been over three
years without any business, and as the land
had not produced any thing, of course all
kinds of trade was ut Il Stand-Still. Every
body attended meeting-lawycrS, farmers
,lrovers and all. The earth therrabout was
shaken from its center to its circumference.
"Td just like to see what he looks like,
some were saying, and the general impress
sion must have been, 81 wonder if he'll do
it, What n sight there must have been
on Mount Carmel. Think of so priests,
with their long robes and canonicalS, wind
ing up the mountain side. The king with
all his rctinue in great display, had gone on
before All alone, but grand in his single
ness of purpose. comes Elijah stalking like
a moral giant. The prophets of Baal built
their altar and put upon il a bullock and
began 10 pay lil'lf Stt ~ >tHh 'i'" II iIt.
From nine IL ten o'clock they prayed hut
without effect. They were terribly in earn
est. They even cut themSelve, with knives.
If should jump around this platform the
way they jumped around that altar, you
would think was crazy. At three o'clock
in the afternoon, all exhausted, after six
long hours of excitement, they ceased