The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-05-08

loIn VERSE;
There is something more than his |
tory in that chapter from which my
text is takens; just as there is always |
something more in picture than is
seen at the first glance.
The state of affairs at the time
that my chapter opens was as bad as
it is possible for the human mind to
conceive The country was in an
awful condition because OF idolatry
and adultery, and all the sins that are
associated with a nation that has for
gotten God and given, unbridled, to
all lust and evil desires
Old Ahab and Jezebel were on the
throne, and more vicious, iniquit-
Gus, rotten man or vile woman never
disgraced the earth than Ahab and
Jezebel, and wickedness had the right
of way throughout the kingdom, and
they set a pace and others followed,
for there were no depths of iniquity
and adultery and RIGHTEOUSNESS and
vileness to which old Ahab and Jeze-
bel did not sink, and Baal was wor-
shipped and the true religion was on
the side-track and hell had the main
line.
It's true there were some faithful
ones, like Obadiah and Naboth, that
had not bowed to Baal, but they were
in a sad minority and many had been
compelled to go and hide themselves
in caves and in dens, for if anybody
dared to say they believed in and wor-
shipped Jehovah; if it was a woman,
she was outraged and her children
were murdered; and il it was q man,
he would be subjected to infamies
that no tongue would attempt to de-
scribe.
ldolatry Was
Wide Spread
And so rampant had idoltary and
adultery and Kindred evils become,
that in order to try and stem the
deadly tide, God sent the Prophet
Elijah to shut off the water supply
md bring on the famine; and as we
read the Bible we will always notice
that in dark time God always sends
a prophet to arouse and stir the peo-
pie and call them back to the wor-
ship of the true God.
SO when the situation looked dark,
God sent his messenger to warn them
bringing upon themselves because of
their sins and iniquity, and the old
Tishbite bobbed up before weak
kneed Ahab with all the abruptness
OF thunder clap out of clear sky,
and without banners or bands or fur
bellows or salaams, he spoke out in the
first breath in a way that brought a
deadly pallor upon the cheeks of the
miserable wretch. Ahab.
"As the Lord God of Israel liveth,"
said the prophets.
7 will foil Nrpl1 that talk. had in If
no as it weres, in degree perhaps, or
in measure, or so to speak, connect
ion with it. He didn't qualify it by
any adjectives, and every word had
a ring like chilled steel. and it cut
like a Damascus blade into the putre-
flying assesses of his day.
The Lord God for Whom I stand"
cried the prophet. And that ought to
be the preachers faith every time he
walks into the pulpit. That's the
faith that makes the devil get up and
dust every time it finds him.
Education Helps
Broaden Mind
Such confidence in God as the Pro-
phet had, oh, it would make granite
out of soapstone, as he stood before
Him. And to know God as he knew
Him and have the same unbroken
sense of his presence is a better pre-
paration for a great career in the
ministry than degree from any col
lege that you could name.
am not discounting the value of
education. / consider a mind without
education something like marble in a
quarry, which shows none of the in
herent beauties until the skill of the
polisher fetches out the colors and
discovers every ornamental vein that
runs through the marble. Education
draws out many virtues and perfect
ions which otherwise would never
come to the surface and never be
seen l believe in education with al
my heart and both hands up.
But education alone can never
make character. 1t takes acquaint
ance with God to do that. 1t re
quires purity of heart as well as
brilliancy of intellect to make any mar
great. Absolutely / have no sym
patty with anybody that would try
to exclude anyone. If you want t
know who's on the job, just star
something
And, so, seek first the kingdom O
God, for that's as much in force to
night as it was two thousand year:
ago; and the man who does that will
have a stirring time and give the
devil the best run for his money hi
ever had.
Nothing was so much needed IN Is
rael as sweeping revival and God AL
mighty sent the right man to bring i
about and let's see how he did ii
They required the affairs of the Lore
that were broken down. He did hi
work in a way that was natural an(
unconventional. He had backbone
within himself and he wasn't pinned
down or dominated by the personalit.
of other men. He didn't try to adj
anybodys peculiarities or eccentrici
ties; he had some of his own ant
he had the nerve to use them too ant
to be himself
And the preacher who is afraid t
be like him in this respect will be a
weak in his ministry as Samson wa
with his hair cut; he will have n
power | tell, you, whenever God call
man to preach, he expects him t
do it as naturally as he sneezes o
snoreS. His individuality is to hin
what the steel frame is to a sky
sCraper, and when he surrenders i
he becomes like other people an
down goes his ministerial methods
his candlestick is taken away from
him and God casts him into the dus
of his displeasure.
Lots of US are afraid, my friends
that we will do something sensation
al have no moro