The Oskaloosa herald., 1902-06-05

temple and the vail should be rent in
twain, when God would pour out his
spirit upon all flesh. And they shall
teach no more every man his neigh
Dor, and every man his brother, say
ing, Know the Lord, for they shall all
know me, from the least of them unto
the greatest of tnem." And all thy
children shall be taught of the Lord
and great shall be the peace of thy
children"
One of the great arguments in favor
of a salaried ministry is that if a
preacher would make his m
e%ffectual, he must first be educated for
the ministry and then he must have
about all his time to prepare his SER
mons, and, of course, must be excused
from earning his bread by the sweat
OF his face. Now If Tod has made a
practice of choosing men of this kind
to do mis- great works, then we will
have to admit that a preacher ought
not to work.
Noah was the first great preacher of
righteousness, yet he spent the whole
120 years of his ministerial life in
building an ark, to save himself and
his household. The greatest sermon
he ever preached was not the words
of his lips, but the sound of mis-
hammer. 1t showed, that at least, one
man believed the world was In danger
of being drowned by a flood.
Abraham was another preacher Of
righteousness, although very few of
his words have been recorded. But
when he prepared the wood and walked
a three days journey and then built
an altar to offer up his only son, he
; preached the greatest of sermons. He
said by this act that whatever God
! commands is the right thing to do,
! no difference how unreasonable 1t
? looks.
: AS actions speak louder than words
you may say, these are not fair eX-
: amples. Then let us examine some OF
the word sermon of the Bible char
6 acters. In the days of King Ahab, all
; Israel had gone into idolatry. When a
: preacher was needed to cry out
q against this great abomination, God
; did not send one from among the
u learned Doctors of Divinity at Jerus-
alem, but he sent Elijah, a Bedouin
e herdsman from Gilead. Elijah called
the $50 prophets of Baal together and
; gave them this pointed m How
long halt We between two opinions:
If the Lord be God, follow him; but
s if Baal, follow him." He challenged
q the prophets of Baal to prove their
q gods by fire, and they cried unto Baal
: all day. but got no answer. But when
d Elijah called upon the God OF Israel
fire came down from heaven and com
! sumed the burnt sacrifice. and even
; the stones of the altar. Then he
prayed Tor rain seven times, and a
! nally a cloud, the size of a mans
I hand, appeared and soon there was
= sound of an abundance Of rain. The
old reprobate, Ahab, ordered his fleet
est horses and chariot to carry the
c good news to his queen at Jezreel, that
, Baal had given them rain. But Elijah
set cut afoot and outran Ahab for six
teen miles and proclaimed to the
e furnishing people that the Lord, God
Is of Israel. had sent the rain, Then &c
y save himself from the rage OF the
wicked Jezebei, the old prophet had
. to flee to Beer-Sheba and then on &c
'e MI. Horeb, a forty days journey across
"a a desert, over which no other man has
IL ever gone, alone. Elijah was in som
IL respects the most remarkable man thai
re ever lived. He left his hair long anc
n wore only a leathern girdle about hi:
I" loins and a sheep-skin mantle arounC
" his shoulders, in bad weather. In
70 this uncouth garb he appeared before
81 kings and rebuked them for their sins
lie If Elijah were to appear at the dool
u of one of our fashionable up-to-date
e churches as he appeared before Ahat
u and his court, he would be hurried
s away quicker than he was started, by
IT Jezebel, from the gates of Jezreel
X Yet this was the kind of a man the
IL Great King delighted to honor, for
re God sent his chariot down from
heaven and took him straight home
% to glory, and he was one of the dele
N gates sent to meet Jesus on the Mount
10 of TRANSPORTATION.
II When Elijah was sent TO choose a
y successor ne went not to a pampered
re priest but to Elisha, a laboring man
who was blowing with twelve yoke OF
x oxen. This man spent sixty-fve years
like his master, walking up and down
d in the land ~reproving kings ana great
ones for their sins.
e In these dark days of Israel, there
I, was only one other preacher who
d amounted to anything and that was a
5, little slave girl in the house OF
II Naaman, the Syrian. Once when she
was washing dishes, her mistress
n heard her say: ooh! that my master
a would go TO Elisha, the prophet, which
S is in Israel, and he would recover
him Of his leprosy." The influence OF
this sermon was felt throughout an
7 empire.
II is sometimes argued that a
e preacher, to be e~ffectual, must make
0 that his life work to the exclusion OF
everything else, and that a man who
g has to earn his bread by the sweat oil
a his face and bear his share of the
T physical burdens OF life cannot give
e the best thoughts on the subjects OF
religion. II this be true, We should
l look for the Bible writer's among the
priests and those who made a special
business of studying theology. But
let US examine the history OF some
. of these men.
: Moses was the most learned man oil
! his day, yet before he was accounted
? worthy TO even open his mouth In
: the defense of his people and their re
ligion, he must be educated in the
{ school OF manual labor for forty years
l Joshua, the next writer, spent his
: whole life in the hardest kind o.
marching and campaigning. Davic
, was first a shepherd and then a war
rior all the rest Of his life. But, mol
TO be tedious, nine-tenths OF the Ole
Testament writer's were laboring men
{ or men in the active duties OF life
. other than the profession Of theology
: In fact, there was only n regular
{ Doctor of Divinity In the whole loI
. H. go VI. 0AICpnnn He