Broken Down Altars # 6

Broken Down Altars # 6

Elijah Expected Results

The next thing I notice is, Elijah went to the mountain prepared for results. He had no doubt about its being God's set time to work. He knew God so well that he was willing to meet the horde for Him. That is why he nagged the opposition to do their worst.

Trust God to give you the great things. Don't be afraid of the devil outflanking the Lord. Never! God has never lost a battle and God will never lose a battle.

Elijah wanted the prophets of Baal to humble themselves. He knew that the more fuss they made, the easier it would be to show that they were a bunch of frauds and humbugs.

It has been computed by naturalists that one mustard plant will ripen and scatter through a season thousands of seeds, and that if they all took root and grew and then scattered their seeds, in ten years all vegetation in the United States would be choked out and killed.

One saloon or beer joint in a community can smoother, choke and kill enough manhood, womanhood and childhood to blight the entire community.

I read of a woman in New York called "Typhoid Mary." She was known by scientists as a carrier of the dreaded disease. After recovering from typhoid fever, a strange phenomenon happened - the germ remained in her. Wherever she went she scattered germs, giving typhoid fever to scores of people To keep from further spreading the germs, she was finally put in a hospital.

The saloon is a germ-spreader, spreading the germ of drunkenness the germ of crime, the germ of poverty, the germ of hereditary mental and physical weakness. Liquor curses and blights the world! Said a fellow to me the other day, "A glass of beer never hurt anybody." Of course he lied. A glass of beer never did anybody any good. It is that first glass that always leads to a drunkard's grave. If a man never took the first one, he would never take the last one.

Now nothing was slighted, and nothing was hurried through. Too many of you are in a hurry to get this meeting over. You pay closer attention to your watch than to the preacher. Men will go fishing and stand up to their knees in water for hours without a nibble, and say they are having a good time. Yet they will fidget around when they go to church like a boy with a hornet in his pants! Don't be in a hurry with God. You can't put the pressure on when you want to get through.

Be Sure You Pray To The Right God!

In their prayer meetings, the prophets of Baal were as much in earnest as anybody else. They called on Baal from morning until evening, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" They tore their clothes, they cut themselves until blood gushed out, thinking that that self-inflicted suffering might appeal to Baal. Elijah said, "Cry louder! You've got on the soft petal. Cry louder! "He's talking or perhaps he's hunting, or he's gone on a journey, or perhaps he's asleep or gone joy-riding! Cry louder!"

Hold on! It's a waste of time to pray to the wrong god. Don't pray to money; don't pray to culture; don't pray to philanthropy; don't pray to social greatness! Baal never heard - never! And he will never hear. Elijah addressed a prayer to the God from whom he expected help. And he had his answer before sundown! The three years that he spent out there in the cave taught him how to get a prayer through to the throne of God in three-minutes - something that has never been taught in any theological seminary!!

Charon and Serapis had their drawbacks, yes; but they also had their advantages. War has both its advantages and its drawbacks. Many of the blessings, which we enjoy today, were bought with blood on the battlefield. There are some thing that you never get without war. Nobody wants war. But there are some things we never get without it. Never! Therefore, out in the cave of Charon and Serapis had their drawbacks as well as their advantages.

I have met a lot of people on my
Journey here below
Who were always discontent, grumbling
About their lot of woe;
Never seemed to know the blessings
that a thrill might secrete,
Or in passing take a lesson from the
Hobo on the street.
But they fancied that the roses should
Be grown without a thorn;
That it ought to rain at midnight and
Be pleasant in the morn;
They never paused to listen, nor to
Reason out alone
That luster of the jewel is due to 
The grinding of the stone!

~Billy Sunday~

(continued with # 7)