Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-03-15


and care for his ambassa doris. ms the
Tnrephsth widow cared for Elijah the
Tishbite. Yet 10 hear some men talk
you weuld think they were comforting
an honor upon preacher or a kind.
ness on a pastor merely because they
some to church at all. Joseph Parker
once denounced the supercilious way
some men have OF looking down upon
and despising tho ministry. "A per.
son once asked the TO lend him 81"
said he. ION the ground that he had
long attended my ministry. Possibly
the man richly deserved n sovereign
for having done so. Al the same time,
It is popular mistake TO suppose thaa
the minister is the party receiving the
favor. He gives his hearers his hest
thinking, his best powers Of all kinds.
and it Is. therefore. pity to show
him thankfnness by borrowing money
of HIM" And, my friends. go further
than that; l 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. hut respected ministers when
they stood in tie pulpit cxpoundng
the word OF God zone Of the funda-
mental reasons why old Scotland be.
came the spiritual power it was and
is" said John Mcneil, "is because old
Scotland respected the ministry" May
God help us to honor Gods representa-
tives or messengers or ambassadors or
ciersymen. as the /arcphath widow
honored Elijah the Tlshbitc.
An Hour Of Anxiety.
Rut as | come 10 the outskirts OF
Xareplhath and feel The hot winds
strike my check and look off at the
bleak hills and tho grasslcss valleys
and see the bones of beast and bird
bleaching on the dry sands l see that
this eastern drought" had a famine
within a famine. No sooner did Elijah
appear and give to the Iarephath
widow her daily supply Of meal and
oil than I think can hear her heave
n great sigh Of relief "Ah," she says,
NOW I know my boy Is not going to
die" She felt Just as you felt when
a dear friend was put upon the Ops'at-
ing table. The dreaded morning came.
You were down bright and early to the
hospital. She lay In bed little flushed
and her eye bright. Neither you nor
she made any reference to the danger.
but Just as the doctors and nurses
came TITO the room. dressed In white
aprons. to give the anaesthetic she
flung her arms about your neck and
whispered "Goodhy. dear friend. n
l don't wake up goodhy goodby!' Oh.
yes you remember that day. They
carried her out on the stretcher. The
door Of that awful operating room was
shut. You could not see; you dare not
60 in. You walked up and down the
hall. UP and down. You convulsively
clasped your hands. You kept saying
80 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 il all right.
Everything is all right"
This was the feeling OF relief and
gratitude Of yonder mother OF Iare-
phath when she knew that her boy was
not going to starve 10 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 az she
hears his happy laugh. Methinks. per-
haps. she has been growing a little
careless and forgc'ful Of late toward
God, as some of us do when we are
surrounded by many apparently per
mancnt 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 skeleton from stnrva-
ton. hut ii Is the arm Of death. With
in a few hours the child is dead. AT
once the widow goes to Elijah and begs
Of him, by the power Of God. to re
store unto her the life OF her boy. Eli
jah, by Gods power. does so. What Is
the practical observation? Cannot YOU
grasp It? In every drought of Iere-
phath there Is famine within famine
there IL always death within death
q temptation within Il temptation. II
you and I are ever going to be spiritual
ly safe we must always keep living near
to God. else the second death will he as
bad as the first death.
When the first moral or spiritual
dangers Of life are past it is easy to
blind our eyes 10 the second and the
third and the fourth and tho tenth and
the twentieth peril Let him that
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall" Here, for instance. is man
who for years has been addicted to in
toxicating drink. He has fought it and
fought it until at last by the grace OF
God he has triumphed. But though for
years he has never tasted glass OF
liquor he has become so absorbed in
making money that he has gradually
drifted away from walking with God
One day he has an awful awaken
ing. He finds that his faith in Jesus
Christ is gone OF that his only boy, who
is now more to him than his life. is a
drunkard, Il libertinc or thief This
is a danger he never dreamed about
or guarded against. Famine within
famine; death within death. And so
my friends. no matter how many dan
gers God has rescued US from in the
past. that il no reason why We should
turn our backs upon God now. Like