Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-03-17

Dltt utHuuH'tu tlt Sull'I'lllUUs way
ZONE men have vi looking down upon
and dcspising the ministry. "a per-
son once asked me to lend him So"
said he. "On the ground that he had
long attended my ministry. Possibly
the man richly deserved sovereign
for having done 80. At the same time,
II Is II popular mistake 10 suppose that
the minister Is tie party receiving the
favor. lie gives his hearers his best
thinking his best powers of all kinds,
and il is. therefore, pity to show
him thankfulncss by borrowing money
Dl him" And my friends. go further
than that: | assert that ! never found
amy men or women practical bit OF
use IN church work or In any spiritual
line unless they not only honored the
ministry. hut respected ministers when
they stood in the pulpit expounding
the word of God. One of the funda-
mental reasons why old Scotland be-
came the spiritual power ii was and
u.s." said John Mcneil. sis because old
Scotland respected the ministry" May
God help us To honor Gods representa-
tivcs or messengers or ambassadors or
clcrgymcn. as the Zarephath widow
honOrrd Elijah the Tishbite.
An Hour of Anxiety.
But ms | come to the outskirts OF
| Zarcphaih 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 u famine
within famine. No SOONER did Elijah
appear and give 10 the Zarephath
widow her daily supply Of meal and
oil than think can hear her heave
II great sigh of relief All" she says.
NOW | know my boy Is not going to
die she felt just as you felt when
dear friend was put upon the Operat-
| ing table. The dreaded morning came.
You were down bright and early to the
hospital She lay In bed n little flushed
AMI her eye bright. Neither You nor
she made any reference 10 the danger.
! but lust as the doctors and nurses
came into the room, dressed In white
aprons. to give the anaesthetic she
flung her arms about your neck ana
whiSpered "GoOdby. dear friend. II
don't wake up. goodby. goOdby" Oh,
YES: YOU remember that day, They
carried her ont on the stretcher The
door Of that awful operating room was
shut You could not See You dare not
go in You walked up and down the
hail. up and down You cOnvulsively
claSpcd yonr hands You kept saying:
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 Is all right"
This was the feeling Of relief and
gratitude Of yonder mother or Zare-
plaih when she knew that her boy was
not going Il Starve to death. The dan
ger of starvation was past. We can
see the boy growing fat and plump.
The mothers step has become strong
and elastic As the lad plays before
her door We can see her smile as she
hears his happy laugh. Mcthinks, per
haps. she has been growing little
careless and forgctful Of late toward
God. as some of us do when we are
surrounded by many apparently per-
manent blessings Suddenly the long
arm OF death reaches through the open
ed window of this woman's hut The
arm may be covered with flesh. The
arm may not he Il skeleton from starva-
ton. hut IL Is the I'm OF death, With
in few hours the child Is dead. AT
once the widow goes To Elijah and begs
Of him. 10y the power Of Cod, 10 re
store unto her the life of her boy. ELI
lah. by Gods power. does SO. What Is
the practical observations Cannot you
grasp ~ In every drought OF Lcre-
phath there Is famine within famine,
there Is always death within death.
temptation within n temptation. II
you and | are ever going TO be spiritual
| ly safe We must always keep living near
TO God else the second death will he as
bad rs the first death.
When the first moral or spiritual
dangers of life are past II Is easy TO
blind our eyes 10 the second aud the
third and the fourth and the tenth and
the twentieth peril. Let him that
thinkcth he sta,tlcth take heed lest he
fall" Here for instance. Is a man
who for years has been addicted 10 In
toXlcating drink. lie has f"lsht II and
fought it until at last by the grace OF
God he has triumphed. But though for
years lie has never tasted glass OF
lluuor he has become 50 absorbed In
making money that lac has gradually
drlficd away from walking with God.
one day he has an awful awaken
ing lie finds that his faith in Jesus
Christ is gone or that his only boy. who
Il now more to him than his life, is a
drunknrd Il lihcrtine or thief This
f. n danger hr never dreamed about
or guarded against Famine within
famine: death within death And so,
nv friends. no matter how many dan
,,nrs t.od has rescued us from In the