The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-02-10
IS ANGELES, CAL, February S.-In
IT. .. -. a.. s,,aaen rise Of

US that God sometimes uses strange IN
struments to accomplish his purposes and
that unexpected temporal success is often
the cause of a mans destruction. The
text is II Kings. tx. %, For he driveth
furiously."
The world always makes way for its
intense men. whose hearts are pumping
arterial blood filled with red corpuscles
Robert Hall, Richard Baxter, Douglas
Jerrold, Edward Payson, Robert Nc
Cheyne, John Keats and Alexander H.
Stephens as valetudinarians may have
won immortal fame. but they started the
battle of life with an awful handicap.
The world pities the inmates of its hos
pitfalls. But pity is not the armor bearer
standing by the chariots of war and walt
ing to run to the bidding of It's military
heroes. The stouter the fist, the
broader the lungs, the deeper the
voice and the more flashing the eye of
the king. the more inclined are his sub
jects to kneel down and worship him.
When the lion tanner enters the cage of
the wild beasts his eye must never CULVER
nor his hand which holds the lash trem-
BILE even for an instant or the powerful
beasts will be 1eaping at his throat. The
world has but little use for weaklings. 1t
admiIes chiefly the man who can lead all
his contemporaries in the athletic arena
and strike the hardest blows in the bat
tlefeld and who Is ready to face every
emergency and conquer or die.
Such man was the hero of my text
What he at empted to do he did with
his whole body, mind and soul. Jehu $
spirit was ike noodgate. When he at
tempted to do anything he opened his
flodogate and let all the waters of his en-
ergies rush forth In one terrific onward
effort. When he played he played with
his whole heart. When he worked he
worked in the same way.
This life of Jehu reminds me a great
deal in its intensity of the great English
diplomat Sir Charles Ewan-Smith Some
years ago he represented his queen at
the capital of Fee, in the empire of Mo-
rocco. While there a great Moorish up-
rising against the Christians took place.
movement like the Boxers uprising in
China was about to be enacted upon the
African shores. The Sultan hastily sent
his messengers to the English embassy,
saying, Come quickly. Come to my pal
ace, or l cannot protect you! Then in
the morning l will send my troops to es-
cort you and your family to the coast
Sir Charles calmly replied: II do not
intend to leave; neither do I intend to
come to your palace for protection. IT'S
true l may be killed and my wife and
children may be Killed, but you go back
and tell your Sultan that If [ am killed
within one month there will be another
British minister in the capital of Fee,
and he will be accompanied by a British
army, and when that British army comes
there will be no Moorish Sultan In Fee. !"
The Sultan realized he was dealing with
Tjn ~ 4 q ~
hammedan uprising against the Christians
in Morocco instantly ceased. What Sir
Charles Ewan-Smith did in Morocco, Je-
hu the mighty soldier. did In Samaria.
When Cod selected him as king to sue
coed the infamous Joram, who was the
son of the infamous Ahab, he Immediate
ly entered his chrot. He gather his army.
He swept on to battle. He claimed the
throne, scattering all opposition before
him even IS the winds scatter the chaff
from off the thrashing floors of the east.
Jehu's Energy.
All yes. Jehu was a man of intense
energy. When he attempted to do any
thing he was like an exploding car
fridge burning up every grain of powder
which 1t had stored behind the ball.
Thus today the figure of my text is Jehu
flashing his horses into foam. On comes
the future king toward the royal palace
of Jezreel As he rushes on the watch
man in the royal tower carefully scans
the approaching calvacade. He says to
the anxious king beside him, who is
soon to be murmered, 1.-The driving Is
like the driving of Jehu, for he driveth
furlously.' So the king assembled his
army and went forth to meet Jehu. And
Joram was slain near to the vineyard
of Naboth, which his father had stolen
by conniving at the murder of it's late
| nx4y iS N ctn Of ba I'D
of Jehu to Israels throne. from whose
life we are going to learn our sermonic
lessons of this Lords day
This biographical sketch, in the first
place teaches us that sometimes God
uses a very bad man to work out his
purposes. He sometimes says to his
Jehus: you, o selfish and sinful men,
are to be the agencies by which l will
execute my warnings. You are to carry
my challces even though your hands are
sinful You are to unsheathe my aVeng
ing sword even though you have evil
hearts. You are to run my errands even
though you are answering the calls Of
greed and crime Thus all doors of good
are not necessarily disciples or Gods chill
dren. Though we today find Jehu top
pling over the throne of an infamous
king, yet Jehu himself was just as heart
less, as merciless and as much of a
criminal as Ahab or Jezebel, who slew
Naboth in order that they might annex
his vineyards to the royal domain.
The sinful life of Jehu as a fulfiller of
Elijah's prophecies finds its duplicate in
the lives of many sinful men whom God
at times has used for certain purposes.
Study for instance, the life of Thomas
Paine Most of the present generation
never think of Thomas Paine except as
A blaspremer and an enemy of Jesus.
When we mention his name there rises
before us his book, 1.-The Age of Reason
which has done as much damage as any
book ever penned by man, if not more.
When Mr. Paine went to his friend Ben
jamin Franklin and placed the manu-
script of his book in his hands for him
to critieise before it was published, MIR.
Franklin read the manuscript and thea
wrote to Thomas Paine the following let
ter:
Franklin to Paine.
Dear Sir-I will not enter into any dis
cussion of your principles, though you
seem to desire it. At present L shall only
give my opinion that, though your rea-
sonings are subtle and may prevail with
some readers, yet you will not succeed SO
as to change the general sentiments of
mankind upon that subject, and the con-
sequence of printing this piece will be 4
great deal of odium drawn upon yourself.
mischief to you and no benefit to others.
l would advise you, therefore, not to at
tempt to unchain the tiger, but to bur l
this piece before it is seen by any other
person. If men are wicked with &c
lgion. what would they be without It?
lie that splits against the wind splits IN
his own face b. FRANKLIN.
Reasonable and powerful letter that.
But Paine would not heed the warnns.