The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-03-18

show him thankfulness by borrowing
money of him." And, my friends, l go
further than that / assert that / never
found any men or women practical bit
of use In church work or in any spiritual
line unless they not only honored the
ministry but respected ministers when
they stood in the pulpit expounding the
word of God. lone of the fundamental
reasons why old Scotland became the
spiritual power 1t was and is" said John
Mcneil 'fs because old Scotland respect
ed the ministry" May God help us to
honor Gods representatives or messen-
gers or ambassadors or clergymen. as the
Zarepath widow honored Elijah the fish
bite,
An Hour of Anxiety.
Rut as I come to the outskirts of Zare-
phath and feel the hot winds strike my
cheek and look off at the bleak hills and
the grassless valleys and see the bones
of beast and bird bleaching on the dry
sands | see that this eastern drought
had famine within a famine. No sooner
did Elijah appear and give to the Zare-
phath widow her daily supply of meal
and oil than / think ] can hear her
heave a great sigh OF relief. "Ah." she
SAYS now | know my boy is not going
to die She felt just as you felt when
a dear friend was put upon the operating
table. The dreaded morning came. You
were down bright and early TO the hos
ntal She Law in bed a little flushed and
her eye bright. Neither you nor she made
any reference to the danger, but just as
the doctors and nurses came into the
ROOM dressed in white aprons, to give
the anaesthetic she flung her arms
about your neck and whispered: Good
bv dear friend. II / don't wake up. good
nv good by!" Oh, yes: you remember
ri tad her m "a
stretcher The door Of that awful oper-
ating room was shut. You could not see:
YOU dare not go in. You walked up and
down the hall, up and down. You con-
yulsvely clasped your hands. You kept
saving: 20 God. save her. o God. give
me back my darling! o God, save her,
save her! Give her back to me" Then
you remember the thankful PRAYER You
uttered when the doctor opened the door
and put his head out of the room and said:
"she is all right. Everything 10 all
right
This was the feeling of relief and graf
itude of wonder mother of Zarephath
when she knew that her boy was not
going to starve to death. The danger
of starvation was past We can the
boy growing fat and plump. The moth
er's step has become strong and elastic.
AS the lad plays before her door we can
see her smile as she hears his happy
laugh Methnks, perhaps. she has been
growing little careless and forgetfu'
of late toward God, as some of us do
when we are surrounded by many appar-
emily permanent blessings. Suddenly the
long arm of death reaches through the
opened window of this woman's hut. The
arm may not be a skeleton from starva-
ton. but it is the arm of death Within
a few hours the~child is dead. At once
the widow goes to Elijah and begs OF
him, by the power Of God, TO restore
unto her the life Of her boy. Elijah. by
Gods power. does so. What is the prac
teal observation? Cannot you grasp It?
In every drought Of Zerephath there II
a famine within . famine, there Is always
a death within a DEATH temptation with
In a temptation. II you and I are ever
going to be spiritually safe we must al
ways keep living near TO God. else the
second death will be as bad as the first
death.
when the first moral or spiritual dan
eers of life are passed is easykto blind
our eyes 10 the second and the third ana
the fourth and the tenth and the twen-
teth peri. Let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall" Here.
for instance is a man who for years has
been addicted to intoxicating drink. Ha