The Monmouth inquirer., 1907-02-07

QFen. Let no man THINK mat ne is
necessarily a child Of God because he
has done him service. Jehu executed
vengeance on Ahab, but he was muir
derer
a Bad Mans Usefulness.
We can find helpful lessons from a
bad mans life as well as from the life
Of a good man. Thus today. as we see
the revolving wheels of Jehu's chariot
rushing on toward Jezreel, we learn
that when success comes to a great,
strong life it generally comes sudden
ly. 1t is not gradual coming. 1t is a
sudden change A man wins fame, as
a rule, suddenly. a man goes to work
as a youth. He works and labors year
in and year out, for the most part in
comparative obscurity Then, after he
has gathered all the material and dug
the foundations for the temple Of fame,
it seems as though that temple comes
together and takes form in the twin
king of an eye. Opportunity knocks at
the mans door, crying: Wake up! l
am here. Follow me at oncev' The
man leaps from his couch and follows
Opportunity, and, 10, in an hour his
success is wont Such was the meteoric
career of our Jehu.
Let us hunt up this Jehu few days
before he steps into his chariot to ride
to the royal palaces in Jezreel. He
was at Ramoth-gilead fighting the
Syrians. Ramoth-gilead was frontier
town, sometimes belonging to Israel
and sometimes belonging to Syria. At
this time it belonged to Israel, out the
king of Syria was trying to regain it.
Joram, king of Israel, had been fight
ing and had been wounded, so he re-
tired to Jezreel till his wounds healed.
leaving Jehu and other officers in
charge When we enter the officers
quarters we see council of war.
Here are all the generals or chief Off
GERS in earnest conversation. In the
midst of them is a strong, powerful
face with set jaws and physique of
iron. .'Who is that man?'' / ask one
of the soldiers. THAT is Captain
Jehu." why, never heard Of him
before. Who is he? What great bat
ties has he fought and won? Is he
Goliath or a David?" .'Well,' says the
soldier by my side 'he might be if he
had the chance, but he never held any
thing but subordinate position. He
has been doing barrack duty for
long time He is one of those men
whose names are not known by the
world outside of their own company"
Just then some one knocks at the door.
Then this powerful soldier, Jehu, calls,
"Come in" In walks young prophet.
SIS Captain Jehu here?' he asks. 81
would like to see him alone a moment"
No sooner are the twain alone than the
prophet lifts his hand and begins to
pour the amounting oil upon the sol
dier's head as he says: Captain Jehu,
thus saith the Lord God of Israel. /
have anointed thee king over the peo-
pie of the Lord, even over Israel" In
an instant Jshu's opportunity was CIV
en- him. Thus it is with most strong
men. They must labor in obscurity for
years. They must do barrack duty in
Ramoth-g ilead. They must pave their
way for success by the hardest, the
bitterest, the most grinding, work, and
then when the opportunity comes they
must grasp it at the instant, else it will
be gone from them forever.
A Ruthless Ruler.
But as we hear the onrushing wheels
Of this war chariot there Is another
lesson we learn from this furious driv-
er. At every plunge Of his horses 1
see the drivers face become more stern
and set. AS / climb into that chariot
and stand beside him hear Jehu NUT
ter: Eyes, will grasp that throne. l
will get it at once But it will be nee
essary to make it secure. I will kill
the king and his mother. Then must
kill all the princes of the royal blood.
Then will kill all the leading men of
this country who were friends Of the
late king. Yes; I will kill them all!
All who might be menace to my
throne l will STAY" But" one may
ask, "Jehu, is that right? Does God
want thee to do thusT' With that the
flashing eyed charioteer turns upon us
a look of scorn as he answers: "God?
Who is God? God may place me upon
the throne, but 1t will be my right arm
and sword that will keep me there.
Any man who may menace my author
ity must die. I am kingw
Now, what do I learn from the muir
ders and crimes of this ancient Jehu,
who would slay men and women and
children If thereby he thought he could
hold his crown with more ease? Why,
simply tnis--the higher a man goes in
life the greater temptations he has to
bear. Unless we take Christ with US
in our temporal properties we shall
surely fail spiritually. AS far as l can
make out, Jehu was square, true man
until he was anointed king Of Israel,
but no sooner did prosperity come to
him than he was swept by temptation
or his feet o man, you who are now
doing barrack duty in Ramoth-gilead,
beware If you attempt to go to the
royal palaces Of Jezreel without Christ!
Beware when you begin to win fnan-
cial and temporal success! II you do
not cling close to Jesus, your spiritual
fall will be as complete as was that or
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