Page:The message of the hour - four sermons delivered on the new years' day, and the day of atonement, 5651-1890 (IA messageofhourfou00moseiala).pdf/38

 and preparer of the way. In a New Testament vision he appears by the side of Moses; in Jewish tradition, he comes to every family gathered around the festive board on the eve of the Passover, partaking of the cup of wine specially placed at his disposal; he is present whenever a son is introduced into the covenant of his fathers; he often appears to toiling, care-worn men, giving a coin or a key which change whatever they touch into genuine gold, or teaching them a simple word which, uttered at the right time, turns the tears of grief into pearls of happiness. And still, I hold, were this same Elijah to come among us, living, speaking, acting in accordance with his character, he would find himself confronted by the same difficulties which he found in the days of Ahab. No doubt, to the " gentlemen " in Samaria, the wild preacher from Gilead was a most repulsive sight; to their refined taste, his growling, thundering voice was very unsympathetic; his denunciations coarse and untimely. They preferred the smoother eloquence of the royal prophets, and the sweet, enchanting music coming from the lips of Astarte's priestesses. But, friends, we need have no fear that Elijah will ever come to frighten or to fret us with his presence; he will not intrude upon our well-regulated system of worship, nor offend our culture by his rude speech.

Whether Elijah ever lived at all, is a disputable question among scholars; but if he did, he quitted the scene of life over twenty-seven hundred years ago, and is not likely to be in a position for itinerant preaching. Even should we believe in the literal word of the Bible, that Elijah was taken up by a fiery team and in body ascended to heaven, it is not at all probable that, remembering the sad experiences of the past, and foreseeing the poor result of his work among us, he should leave his serene home, and undertake a new journey to the earth. So let us dissuade our minds from any anxiety on that point. Neither Elijah, nor any of the old thundering prophets, will trouble us to-day.

And yet I assure you, though Elijah is dead, and the prophets that lived after him are dead also, one prophet is here among us who thinks, and feels, and speaks with the soul of Elijah, one who with the courage and fearlessness of the prophets of old, cries to us in accents not to be