[img]https://www.sermonindex.net/images/oldpaths/sunday.gif[/img][b]God Sends A Prophet[/b]AS WE READ THE BIBLE we will notice that always in a dark time God sends a prophet to arouse, stir and call the people back to the true God. So in this instance, when the situation looked dark, God sent His messenger to warn the people of the judgment which they were bringing on themselves because of sin and iniquity. The old Tishbite bobbed up before weak-kneed Ahab with all the abruptness of a thunderclap out of a clear sky, and without banners or bands or furbelows or salaam, 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 of hosts liveth ( I Kings 18:15).As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand cried the prophet. That ought to be the preachers cry every time he walks into the pulpit. That kind of faith makes the devil get up and dust every time![b]Confidence In God[/b]Such confidence in God as the prophet had as he stood before Him would make granite out of soapstone. And to know God as Elijah knew Him, and to have the same unbroken sense of His presence, is better preparation for a great career in the ministry than a degree from any college you can name. I am not discounting the value of education. I consider a mind without education as something like marble in a quarry, which shows none of the inherent beauty until the skill of the polisher fetches out the color and discovers every ornamental vein that runs through the marble. Education draws out many virtues and perfections which otherwise would never come to the surface and never be seen. I believe in education, but education alone cannot make character-never! It takes acquaintance with God to do that.[b]Purity Of Heart[/b]It takes purity of heart as well as brilliancy of intellect to make one great for God. But I have no sympathy with anybody who would exclude anyone, educated or uneducated. Seek ye first the kingdom of God is as much in force tonight as it was two thousand years ago. Any man who does that will have a stirring time and will give the devil the best run for his money he ever had. Nothing was as much needed in Israel as a sweeping revival: and God sent the right man to bring it about. Let us see how Elijah did it.[b]Elijah Was Sensational[/b]He repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. Elijah did his work in a way that was natural but unconventional. He had backbone. He wasnt pinned down or dominated by the personality of other men. He didnt try to add anybodys peculiarities or eccentricities; he had plenty of his own and the nerve to use them, too, and to be himself. The preacher who is afraid to be like Elijah in this respect will be as weak in his ministry as Samson with his hair cut: he will have no power.[i]Billy Sunday (1862-1935) - Brought more then one million souls to Christ. Very bold in his preaching against sin such as Tobacco and Alcohol in his day.[/i]
_________________SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
