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LECTURES 
 
 HISTORY OF ELISHA. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. HENRY BLUNT, A.M., 
 
 RECTOR OF STREATHAM, SURREY ; 
 LATE FELLOW OF PEMBROKE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ; AND CHAPLAIN 
 TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF RICHMOND. 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 J. HATCHARD h SON, 187, PICCADILLY; 
 
 AND HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1840. 
 
MACINTOSH, PRINTER, 
 GREAT NEW STREET, LONDON. 
 
^ 0 . ^ '^v 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In selecting the life of the Prophet 
 EHsha for the subject of the Author's 
 annual lectures, he was chiefly influ- 
 enced by the feeling, that he had not 
 yet commented upon the Scripture 
 biography of a Prophet of the Most 
 High. And if he were to make a 
 selection from among these eminent 
 servants of God, he knew of no one 
 who possessed so many of the common 
 sympathies of our nature, or whose 
 actions and example might be more 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 1 Kings xix. 16. 
 
 Elisha the son of Shaphat.^ of AbeUmeholah^ 
 shalt thou anoint to he prophet in thy room J' 
 Elijah anointing his successor — Elisha and Elijah 
 on the banks of Jordan — Elisha's request- 
 Translation of Elijah o . e . - . Page 1 
 
 LECTURE IL 
 
 2 Kings He 21. 
 
 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters^ 
 and cast in the salt there, and said, Thus saith the 
 Lord, I have healed these rvaters,'' 
 The bitter waters made sweet — Occasional solitude 
 
viii 
 
 CONTENTS* 
 
 necessary to usefulness— Elisha supplies water to 
 the hosts of Israel and Judah — The widow's 
 vessels miraculously filled with oil , . Page 26 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 2 Kings iv. 26. 
 
 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto 
 her, Is it well with thy husband ? Is it well with the 
 child ? and she answered, It is wellT 
 
 The Shunammite's hospitality rewarded — God's best 
 temporal gifts are often the most short-lived — 
 Death and restoration of the Shunammite's 
 child 53 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 2 Kings v. 10. 
 
 " And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, 
 Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy fiesh 
 shall come again to thee, and thou shalt he clean.^' 
 
 Naaman the leper — Standing at the door of Elisha 
 — Refusing the simple remedy — Yielding to the 
 entreaties of his servants — Healed . . . 82 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ix 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 2 Kings v. 26. 
 
 ^'And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with 
 thee^ when the man turned again from his chariot 
 to meet thee ? " 
 
 Naaman returning with gratitude to Elisha — Re- 
 quests pardon for bowing in the house of Rimmon — - 
 Gehazi deceives Naaman — Detected and punished 
 by Elisha — The omnipresence of God Page 108 
 
 LECTURE VL 
 
 2 Kings vi. 17. 
 
 " And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray 
 thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord 
 opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And, 
 behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots 
 of fire round about Elisha,'' 
 
 The omniscience of God — The eyes of Elisha's ser- 
 vant are opened to behold the hosts of heaven — - 
 The different feelings by which the opening of 
 the eyes of saints an4 sinners shall be accompanied 
 on the last great day 138 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE VIL 
 
 2 Kings vii. 18. 
 " It came to pass as the man of God had spoken'' 
 
 The famine in Samaria — Plenty foretold — The 
 unbelieving lord — His punishment . Page 166 
 
 LECTURE VIIL 
 
 2 Kings viii. 5. 
 
 " And it came to pass as he was telling the king 
 hoxv he had restored a dead body to life^ that, behold^ 
 the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried 
 to the king for her house and for her land,'' 
 
 The Shunammite flies from the approaching famine 
 — Returns- — Begs her house and lands of the king 
 — Providential circumstances attending her re- 
 quest — The doctrine of a particular Provi- 
 deiice 187 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 2 Kings viii. 13. 
 " And Hazael said. But what, is thy servant a 
 dog, that he should do this great thing? 
 
 Benhadad's illness — Sends Hazael to Elisha — The 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 xi 
 
 misery of foreknowledge— The comfort of it to ' 
 the Christian — Hazael's self-ignorance— Deceives 
 and destroys his master Page 211 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 2 Kings ix. 36. 
 " This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by 
 his servant Elijah the Tishbife." 
 Elisha's last commission — The privilege of being 
 allowed to work for God — Modern revival of 
 ancient errors— Jehu anointed— Smites Jehoram 
 —God's threatenings as sure as his promises 
 
 Page 234 
 
 LECTURE XL 
 2 Kings xiii. 14. 
 ''Now Elisha had fallen sitk of his sickness 
 whereof he died, and Joash the king of Israel came 
 down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O 
 my father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the 
 horsemen thereof" 
 
 The most thoughtless sometimes momentarily affected 
 by the death of the righteous— Elisha s dying 
 chamber— Visit of king Joash— His grief— Hi« 
 faith— His want of faith— Lukewarm Christians 
 — Elisha s death ...... o^.^ 
 
I 
 
LECTURES. 
 
 LECTURE L 
 
 1 Kings xix, 16. 
 
 « ELISHA THE SON OF SHAPHAT OF ABEL-MEHOLAH 
 SHALT THOU ANOINT TO BE PROPHET IN THY 
 ROOM." 
 
 It has been my endeavour, on former 
 occasions, at this season, to bring before 
 my hearers some of the most striking 
 features in the lives of many of the 
 eminent servants of God. Of these 
 we have reviewed together the history 
 of the father of the faithful, of the 
 most remarkable of the patriarchs, of the 
 most zealous of the disciples of Jesus, 
 of the chief of the apostles, and lastly, 
 of Him, who as far excels them all, 
 
2 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 as the sun in the firmament outshines 
 the lesser lights by which he is sur- 
 rounded, even our Divine Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. There is still 
 one class from which we have not yet 
 selected an example, a class as deeply 
 interesting and as highly instructive as 
 any to which we have referred, viz., the 
 PROPHETS of God. From this, therefore, 
 I have chosen the subject of the present 
 discourses, praying, that while treating 
 upon it, I may be guided by the Spirit 
 of Him, of whom Moses and the pro- 
 phets did write^ and may discover Him, 
 even amidst the dim and shadowy types 
 of the olden dispensation, and present 
 Him to you, in the course of our narra- 
 tive, with all His blessed promises, and 
 His life-giving doctrines, as clearly 
 through the vista of a thousand years, 
 as his disciples once beheld Him amidst 
 the radiance of Mount Tabor, or the 
 last bright parting scene upon Mount 
 Olivet. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 3 
 
 The prophets of Israel were a very 
 remarkable and peculiar race of men ; 
 living, generally, in poor, and mean 
 habitations ; contented with a bare suffi- 
 ciency to supply their daily wants ; 
 rejecting cheerfully an abundance of 
 this world's goods, and yet standing 
 before kings and princes as the accre- 
 dited ambassadors of the Most High, 
 declaring unhesitatingly His counsels, 
 and denouncing unshrinkingly His judg- 
 ments and his woes. 
 
 Perhaps, among them all, there is 
 none who more awakens our sympathies, 
 and interests our hearts, than the Prophet 
 Elisha. He is not indeed ranked among 
 the higher order of seers, who were 
 taught by the Spirit of God to foretel 
 the great events of far distant times. 
 When he speaks, it is not in the lan- 
 guage of sublimity and power, which 
 marks the courtly Isaiah ; neither is it 
 with the tender and affecting pathos 
 which belongs so peculiarly to the priestly 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 Jeremiah ; nor with the deep, vehement/ 
 and fervid eloquence that distinguishes 
 Ezekiel ; very little of what Elisha has 
 said, is recorded ; his life was one of 
 actions, not of words ; and while we are 
 following his footsteps and listening 
 to his voice, we shall much more fre- 
 quently be reminded of our own blessed 
 and divine Saviour, than of any of the 
 saints and worthies who preceded Him. 
 
 Thus, for example, we shall find that 
 Elisha was not insensible to the endear- 
 ments of home, the attachments and 
 ties of friendship, and the pure and 
 hallowed joys of ministering to the con- 
 solation of the mourner, and partaking 
 of the sorrows of the destitute. 
 
 The first mention made of this prophet 
 in Holy Writ, is conveyed in the words 
 of the text. 
 
 The course of that great and extra- 
 ordinary man, Elijah the Tishbite, was 
 drawing towards its close, and the Spirit 
 of the Lord had revealed to him, that 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 5 
 
 before his departure hence, he was to 
 anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and 
 Jehu to be king over Israel ; and then 
 closes this communication from on high, 
 with the words we have read to you, 
 "And Elisha the son of Shaphat of 
 Abel-Meholah shalt thou anoint to be 
 prophet in thy room." 
 
 Perhaps to one, upon whose heart the 
 Holy Spirit of God had shed a less 
 powerful and hallowing influence, who 
 had lived less continually in the service 
 of God, and enjoyed less habitually the 
 closest and most intimate communion 
 with his Divine Master, such a com- 
 mission would have been one of un- 
 mingled painfulness ; but the prophet 
 had too long dwelt among the unseen 
 realities of a holier and a happier state, 
 to feel anything but delight, at the sum- 
 mons, which was to place him once 
 and for ever, in the absolute enjoyment 
 of them. 
 
 That he was to anoint his successor. 
 
6 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 that he was, without delay, to fill up 
 the post which he had so long and so 
 toilfuUy occupied, that he was shortly to 
 hear the words of his Divine Master, 
 saying, Come up hither," were to 
 him but so many calls to gratitude and 
 praise. 
 
 Happy is he among ourselves, brethren, 
 who can realize something of such a 
 feeling. Happy are you who are so 
 living, that if you were told at this 
 moment, to nominate your successor 
 in all that now most engrosses your 
 thoughts, your time, or your affections, 
 could, without a struggle, place in 
 stranger hands the occupations, duties, 
 beings, nearest to your heart, and feel 
 content, and more than content, to 
 resign all at God's bidding, and to 
 forsake all, for God's own presence, and 
 kingdom and glory. 
 
 Although, therefore, this was the last 
 command given to Elijah, it was the first 
 obeyed. For we are told by the inspired 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 7 
 
 historian, " So he departed thence, and 
 found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who 
 was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen 
 before him, and he with the twelfth ; and 
 Elijah passed by him, and cast his 
 mantle upon him." 
 
 How remarkable an interview ! Not 
 a word appears to have been spoken ; 
 the prophet had hastened onward to 
 fulfil his important commission, he had 
 travelled from Mount Horeb, which was 
 about one hundred and fifty miles from 
 Abel-meholah, and when he arrives at 
 the end of this long and wearisome 
 journey, he finds the object of his 
 search, not wearing soft^ clothing and 
 dwelling in kings' houses, but employed 
 in arduous and heavy labour, following 
 the plough. 
 
 How little do those men know of re- 
 ligion who wonder at such an incident. 
 Never are we more likely to hear the 
 voice of God's good Spirit speaking 
 1 Matt. xi. 8. 
 
8 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 effectually to the heart, than when ful- 
 filling conscientiously and industriously 
 the , duties of an honourable and innocent 
 employ. Yet it is astonishing, how 
 much ignorance exists upon this subject ; 
 one man thinks his worldly duties quite 
 incompatible with spiritual ordinances ; 
 another imagines that if he were freed 
 from these impediments, then^ and not 
 till then, he should be enabled to run 
 the way of God's commandments ; how 
 few practically feel, what is unquestion- 
 ably the truth, that a man is never more 
 religiously employed — never, perhaps^ 
 more acceptably to God — than when he 
 is not slothful in business, but fervent 
 in spirit, serving the Lord," and carry- 
 ing out the dictates of inspiration, and 
 fulfilling the high behests of eternity, 
 amidst the anxious cares and duties of 
 time. 
 
 It is recorded in the life of the ex- 
 cellent Philip Henry, father of the Com- 
 mentator, that one day calling upon a 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 9 
 
 tanner in his parish, he found him so 
 busily employed in tanning a hide, that 
 he was not aware of hh approach until 
 he gave him a slight tap on the back ; 
 he started, and looking behind him, 
 blushed, " Sir," said he, " I am ashamed 
 you should find me thus." Philip Henry 
 replied, " Let Christ when he comes, 
 find me so doing." " What," said the 
 man, " doing thus?" " Yes," rejoined 
 his minister, " faithful in the duties of 
 
 ray calling." 
 
 No sooner had Elijah cast his prophet's 
 mantle upon the herdsman of Abel- 
 meholah, than influenced, no doubt, by 
 the silent but all-prevailing voice of the 
 Spirit of God, " made willing in the 
 day of God's power," Elisha understands 
 the significant action, receives it at once 
 as a call to the prophetic office, and 
 hesitates not a moment at the sacrifices 
 it requires, or the duties it enjoins. 
 
 Instantly, as we are told, " he left 
 the oxen and ran after Elijah." Twelve 
 
 B 3 
 
10 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 yoke of oxen were ploughing before him, 
 eleven servants labouring with him in 
 the field, which was in all probability his 
 property, as the oxen and that which 
 pertained to them evidently were, yet 
 is he not for one moment impeded by 
 the abundance of this world's goods ; 
 he remains not even to conclude the 
 work upon which he is engaged, but 
 follows at once his master and his o:uide- 
 Such at least, as regarded every 
 worldly impediment, was the conduct 
 of Elisha ; but there were ties more 
 powerfully binding upon his heart, than 
 the possessions of earth ; ties which 
 Elijah indeed appears never to have 
 known, and which perhaps he could 
 scarcely estimate ; yet were they neither 
 unknown, nor unfelt by Him, whose 
 earthly parent pondered in her heart 
 His earliest sayings, and divided even 
 on the cross, his latest thoughts. Let 
 me, I pray thee," said Elisha, kiss 
 my father and my mother, and then I 
 
LECTURE t. 
 
 11 
 
 will follow thee. And he said unto him, 
 Go back again; for what have I done 
 to thee?" I have done nothing which 
 should break these ties, I have done 
 nothing to fetter thine own free-will, 
 or to force a reluctant compliance. Fol- 
 low as the Spirit of God shall lead thee, 
 the result will be rightly and wisely 
 ordered. 
 
 "So he returned back from him/' 
 and having paid that parting tribute of 
 respect aud affection to his parents, so 
 justly due to them, having shown that 
 the strongest aspirations after heaven, 
 are perfectly consistent with the holy 
 affections of earth, and having feasted 
 the people with the oxen which he no 
 longer needed, to mark, perhaps, the 
 cheerfulness and alacrity with which he 
 was thus surrendering all for God, " he 
 arose, and went after Elijah, and minis- 
 tered imto him." 
 
 The earthly course of this remarkable 
 man, however, was, as we have seen, 
 
12 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 now drawing towards its close, for the 
 Lord had determined to " take up Elijah 
 into heaven by a whirlwind ^ in vain 
 did he, w^hen he felt his departure was 
 at hand, entreat Elisha to leave him ; in 
 vain did he urge him to tarry at each of 
 the different places through which they 
 passed ; the answer of his devoted fol- 
 lower, to the thrice-repeated request, was 
 still the same, As the Lord liveth, and 
 as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee/' 
 So they proceeded together from 
 Gilgal to Bethel, and from Bethel to 
 Jericho, and from Jericho to Jordan, until 
 they stood together upon the banks of 
 that mysterious river, whose stream had 
 separated when touched by the feet of 
 those who in former days had borne 
 the ark of the Lord, and whose waters 
 were now about to be the subject of a 
 second miracle, as wonderful, if not as 
 imposing, as the first. For no sooner 
 did Elijah take his mantle, and wath it 
 ^ 2 Kings ii. 1 . 
 
LECTURE I, 
 
 13 
 
 smite the waters, than they were divided 
 I hither and thither, and they two went 
 over on dry ground. 
 
 The river Jordan, that river which 
 has so often been made a type of the 
 last awful passage from time to eternity, 
 now was crossed, and as the prophet 
 stood upon the opposite shore, waiting 
 only for the chariot of fire which was to 
 conduct him thence, he must have felt 
 almost divested of humanity, and already 
 a member of that heavenly choir which 
 surrounds the throne. Who can read, 
 and who can hear of the position of the 
 prophet, at that moment, without feeling 
 something nearly allied to envy of the 
 fate of him who, of all mankind, was 
 thus alone so highly honoured ? Vv ho can 
 resist the natural petition which arises 
 in his heart, Would that the waters of 
 Jordan might be divided thus for me, 
 that I also might escape this fearful 
 passage; that I might pass over dry- 
 shod, where so many are merged in the 
 deep and rapid stream. But, brethren, 
 
14 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 this is the language of faithlessness and 
 distrust. All, and more than all, that 
 was vouchsafed to Elijah, is, if you are 
 the children of God, promised and en- 
 sured to you. 
 
 The streams of Jordan shall not 
 indeed become dry land at your ap- 
 proach, but there is One who has de- 
 clared, " When thou passest through the 
 waters, I will be with thee ; and through 
 the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.'" 
 There is One who has said, " I am the 
 resurrection and the life; whosoever 
 liveth and believeth in me, shall never 
 die; believest thou this?" If so, be of 
 good courage, your footsteps shall not 
 sink in those deep waters ; though they 
 dry not up at your approach, they shall 
 do more, they shall sustain you, they 
 shall not bend beneath your weight while 
 vou are crossing them in the footsteps of 
 Him, and leaning upon His arm, whose 
 "rod and whose staff shall comfort 
 vou." 
 
 1 Isaiah xliii. 2. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 15 
 
 Never, we may confidently assert, 
 never was any child of God lost in that 
 dark stream ; many have sorely struggled 
 there, many have been called to cross it, 
 in much tribulation ; bodily pain, mental 
 anguish, spiritual darkness, have all 
 combined to cloud and terrify the soul ; 
 yet is the language of one and all of 
 those who have preceded us, as they 
 stand rejoicing on the opposite bank, the 
 voice of victory and triumph, We over- 
 came by the blood of the Lamb." 
 
 Let yours, then, be the humble con- 
 fidence of God's dear children;" do 
 not permit a fear, or a doubt of its ful- 
 filment to intervene, while offering this 
 most touching petition of our Burial 
 Service, which finds a responsive chord 
 in every breast, " Spare us, Lord, most 
 holy, O God most mighty, O holy and 
 merciful Saviour, thou most worthy 
 Judge eternal, suff*er us not, at our last 
 hour, for any pains of death, to fall from 
 thee." 
 
16 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 And now the prophets, having crossed 
 the river, while the few and precious 
 moments remained, before the fiery 
 chariot should appear, engaged in deeply 
 interesting discourse, of which the fol- 
 lowing only has been bequeathed to us : 
 " Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I 
 shall do for thee, before I be taken away 
 from thee." What a test was this of all 
 that was in the new-born prophet's 
 heart! Was worldly ambition lurking 
 there? was his desire to be great, or 
 rich, or noble, or powerful? what an 
 opportunity was now before him ; there 
 was no limit, no exception : " Ask what 
 I shall do for thee." Imagine for a 
 moment, brethren, the question addressed 
 in equal privacy, and with equal unre- 
 serve, to yourselves. God has permitted 
 me to fulfil it, what shall I do for you ? 
 If all hearts here present were laid open at 
 this moment, and their innermost desire, 
 their most secret aspiration exposed to 
 the eye of man, as it already is to the 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 17 
 
 eye of God, how many would be ashamed 
 to see, what they have never yet been 
 ashamed to feel. How many would at 
 once demonstrate that this world, in 
 some shape or other, its profits, pleasures, 
 power, rank, grandeur, nothingness, are, 
 after all, the idols that fill the highest 
 throne, and sit enshrined in the most 
 secret hiding-place of their heart. How 
 many would say. Bestow upon me such 
 a degree of wealth, fulfil to me that long- 
 cherished anticipation, realize this dream 
 of earthly happiness ; how few would 
 petition simply for spiritual blessings, 
 how very few would be content to say, 
 Give me but a larger portion of the 
 Spirit of the Lord, of the mind that was 
 in Christ Jesus, of the image of my God, 
 and I am satisfied. 
 
 Elisha answered and said, I pray 
 thee, let a double portion of thy spirit 
 be upon me. And he said. Thou hast 
 asked a hard thing ; nevertheless, if thou 
 see me when I am taken from thee, 
 it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it 
 
18 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 shall not be so." " Thou hast asked 
 a hard thing!" "Is anything, then, 
 too hard for the Lord?"' It is God's 
 own question to Abraham. Assuredly 
 not; Elijah might feel it hard for 
 him to ask, but certainly he could not 
 feel it hard for God to grant. " A hard 
 thing ! " If it were hard, it was because, 
 as St. James tells us, " Elias was a man 
 subject to like passions," and like in- 
 firmities, " as we are," and had not yet 
 learned to trust God perfectly, for he 
 had not yet shaken off this body of sin, 
 and had not yet got rid of this " evil 
 heart of unbelief." Although his feet 
 were almost upon the threshold of 
 heaven, he still felt and spake but as a 
 stranger there. How widely different 
 was the language of Him, who spake 
 as a Son, " All things, whatsoever ye 
 shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall 
 receive."' Yes, brethren, there are 
 no "hard things" with God; there 
 are no exceptions with the Lord Jesus 
 1 Gen. xviii. 14-. ^ Matt. xxi. 22. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 19 
 
 Christ; when ye are straitened in 
 prayer, ye are straitened in yourselves, 
 but not in God. His own direction is. 
 
 Covet earnestly the best gifts," even 
 the best which God has to bestow ; 
 you cannot go beyond this, and yet 
 He has said, that He will do abun- 
 dantly above all that ye are able to ask 
 or think." 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to relate, that 
 Elisha's prayer was heard. It came 
 to pass, as they still went on and talked," 
 not losing a moment of the few that yet 
 remained to them, that, behold, a 
 chariot of fire, and horses of fire, 
 and parted them both asunder ; and 
 Elijah went up by a whirlwind into 
 heaven."^ Such was the closing scene of 
 that remarkable man ; of all the children 
 of men, with one exception, the only one 
 who has travelled upward to the skies, 
 and escaped the degrading lot of all 
 mortality. In the peculiar characteristics 
 1 2 Kings ii. 11. 
 
20 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 of his life, he seems to have had no pro- 
 totype, as he has had but one* follower; 
 mysterious alike in his entrance upon 
 the scene of his labours, and in his 
 departure thence. Not a trace of his 
 family, or connexions, is handed down 
 to us; not a vestige by which we can 
 clearly or accurately ascertain even how 
 long he ministered ; and whence he 
 came, is almost as little known to us as 
 whither he was carried. 
 
 While, however, we follow, in ima- 
 gination, his fiery chariot, and gaze 
 at the bright traces of its ascending 
 wheels, it is impossible to dwell upon 
 the servant, when we are so strongly 
 reminded of the Master, and of that 
 solemn declaration, once delivered by 
 angel voices upon Mount Olivet, to those 
 who mourned the loss of a far greater 
 prophet, and were the witnesses of a far 
 nobler ascension, " Why stand ye gazing 
 up into heaven 1 This same Jesus, which 
 1 See Matt. xvii. 10—12. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 21 
 
 is taken up from you into heaven, shall 
 so come in like manner as ye have seen 
 him g:o into heaven.*'^ Blessed is that 
 servant whom his Lord when he cometh 
 shall find watching." 
 
 The astonishment and grief so vividly 
 displayed in the exclamation of Elisha, 
 while witnessing the wonderful ascent of 
 his friend, must not be overlooked. 
 " And Elisha saw it, and cried, My 
 father, my father ! the chariot of Israel, 
 and the horsemen thereof. And he saw 
 him no more ; and he took hold of his 
 own clothes," and, in the extremity of 
 his sorrow, rent them in two pieces."^ 
 " The chariot of Israel, and the horse- 
 men thereof." Elisha, therefore, knew 
 what, alas ! few Christians ever dream 
 of knowing, that the devout and holy fol- 
 lowers of God, are the support and safe- 
 guard of their country ; the strongest 
 armaments of Israel were the prevailing 
 prayers of her prophets; and while Elisha 
 5 Actsi. 11. 2 2 Kings ii. J 2. 
 
22 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 mourned, as a child, that his father was 
 taken from him, he sorrowed as a patriot, 
 that the chariot and horsemen of Israel 
 were gone. Here, brethren, is a truth, 
 pre-eminently worth your learning, that 
 the real strength of our beloved country 
 exists not in her fleets, her armies, her 
 wealth, or even in her free and invaluable 
 institutions, and the high intellectual 
 endowments of her senators, but simply 
 and entirely in the blessing of her God ? 
 and this will rest upon her in proportion 
 as her governors are holy and God-fearing 
 men, and her inhabitants a religiously- 
 instructed and praying people. These 
 are " the chariots of Israel, and the 
 horsemen thereof." 
 
 And now the parting scene was over ; 
 Elisha's earthly guide, and spiritual 
 father, was taken from him ; his house 
 was left unto him desolate ; the last 
 worldly tie was severed, and he was 
 called to go forth a houseless and a 
 solitary man, through evil report and 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 23 
 
 good report, to bear the message of the 
 Almighty to the thousands of Israel. 
 Still might he truly say, as his Divine 
 Master, in after ages, said, "Yet I am 
 not alone, because the Father is with me."' 
 
 Then, taking up the mantle which had 
 fallen from the ascending prophet, and 
 once more retracing his steps to the 
 banks of Jordan, he smote the waters 
 with the mantle, and said, Where is the 
 Lord God of Elijah, even he ? (for so it 
 is in the original, but the two last words 
 are not translated,) and immediately the 
 waters parted hither and thither, and he 
 again went over dry-shod, and returned 
 to Jericho. 
 
 Here for a time we must leave this 
 instructive history, thankful if, by God's 
 grace, we carry away with us but this 
 single lesson:— When Elisha's only 
 earthly friend was taken from him, and 
 he had poured forth the first strong 
 wailings of his natural grief, his heart 
 ' John xvi. 32. 
 
24 LECTURE I. 
 
 fled upward from the broken cistern to 
 the Living Spring ; his earnest inquiry 
 was, " Where is the Lord God of Elijah, 
 even He ? " His friend is gone, but the 
 God in whom that friend trusted, still 
 remains; he asks not for Elijah, but for 
 Elijah's God. It was much that he pos- 
 sessed the prophet's mantle, a double 
 portion of his spirit ; but more, infinitely 
 more, that he knew, he felt, that he pos- 
 sessed that prophet's God. 
 
 Brethren, in the darkest hours of 
 nature's trials, when those you love the 
 dearest, and the best, are taken from 
 you, let this be your consolation. In the 
 still deeper darkness of spiritual bereave- 
 ments, when your joy, and hope, and 
 peace are all forsaking you, still seek 
 your surest refuge here ; if you have 
 been enabled, by Divine grace, to say, 
 " This God is our God for ever and 
 ever;"» though frames and feelings 
 change, He in whom you trust shall 
 
 * Psalm xlviii. 14. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 25 
 
 never alter. The waters of your sea may- 
 ebb and flow, and as long as you carry 
 about with you a body of sin and death, 
 they will do so, but your Rock cannot, 
 for it is " the Lord God of Elijah, even 
 He!" " Jesus Christ, the same yester- 
 day, to-day, and for ever." 
 
 c 
 
26 
 
 LECTURE 11. 
 
 2 Kings ii. 21. 
 
 « AND HE WENT FORTH UNTO THE SPRING OF THE 
 WATERS, AND CAST IN THE SALT THERE, AND SAID, 
 THUS SAITH THE LORD, I HAVE HEALED THESE 
 WATERS." 
 
 At the close of the last lecture, we left 
 Elisha at Jericho, whither he had gone 
 after the translation of Elijah, and where 
 there was a school of the prophets. 
 While he tarried there, as the inspired 
 historian informs us, the men of the city 
 came unto him, and said, Behold, I 
 pray thee, the situation of this city is 
 pleasant, as my lord seeth ; but the 
 water is naught, and the ground barren. 
 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and 
 put salt therein. And they brought it 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 27 
 
 to him. And he went forth unto the 
 spring of the waters, and cast the 
 salt in there, and said, Thus saith 
 the Lord, I have healed these waters; 
 there shall not be from thence any more 
 dearth or barren land. So the waters 
 were healed unto this day, according to 
 the saying of Elisha which he spake." ^ 
 How remarkable, and how contradictory, 
 yet, how prevailing and all-powerful, 
 are the means by which God works, 
 whether in nature or in grace. A little 
 salt, a new cruse, and the bitter waters 
 and the barren land are healed. So has 
 it ever been, so is it now ; with the 
 Almighty there is no apparent proportion 
 between the means and the end, the 
 cause and the effect. It pleased Christ, 
 by putting clay into the eyes of the blind 
 man, to restore him to sight again. 
 It pleased God/' says the Apostle, 
 by the foolishness of preaching, to 
 save them that believe." Who will 
 1 2 Kings ii. 19. 
 
 C 2 
 
28 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 venture to assert that the salt, or the 
 cruse, or the clay, or the preaching, 
 bears any proportion to the healed water, 
 the restored eye-sight, the saved soul? 
 It is enough, that thus saith the Lord, 
 " I have healed these waters;" it is 
 enough, that God is the doer of it. He 
 who alone can render any means 
 effectual, is equally able to bring to pass 
 his wonderful designs, either with means, 
 or without means, or by the most con- 
 tradictory of means, as seemeth him 
 best. Remember this, brethren, in the 
 most trying circumstances of your lives ; 
 neglect not the prayerful, and perse- 
 vering use of every mean, which the 
 Almighty has placed within your power ; 
 but having done so, esteem it your 
 highest privilege and greatest comfort, 
 to trust implicitly, and to rest calmly, 
 upon a God, who is entirely above all 
 means, and wholly independent of them, 
 and who not only can, but constantly 
 does, deliver his people, when all created 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 29 
 
 means of safety, or escape, are utterly 
 hopeless. 
 
 But, brethren, we have said, that this 
 is as true in the kingdom of grace, as of 
 nature ; and does not your own spiritual 
 experience corroborate the assertion ? 
 Have you never lamented your great 
 coldness towards God in prayer, your 
 very inadequate feelings of love and 
 gratitude to the Saviour of sinners, for 
 all the unnumbered mercies, of which 
 he has made you the partakers, the 
 general obduracy and hardness of your 
 hearts ? We cannot doubt it ; for what 
 child of God was ever entirely free from 
 these roots of bitterness ? And you have 
 pleaded these deficiencies, anxiously and 
 perseveringly, at a throne of grace, 
 and you have faithfully expected that 
 God would hear your prayers, and send 
 you the promised remedies. He has 
 done so, or is, perhaps, at this moment 
 doing so ; but the means he is using, are 
 those which you neither anticipated, nor 
 
30 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 desired. You have asked him, to teach 
 you to love him more, and, strange 
 reply ! he has taken from you some dear 
 relative or friend. You have pleaded 
 that your heart is hard, and he has sent 
 you some great worldly disappointment. 
 You have earnestly besought him to 
 make you feel the truths which you 
 already know, and he has cast you upon 
 a bed of sickness, or brought upon you 
 some domestic, or mental, or bodily 
 trial ; and you look at these things with 
 wonder, perhaps almost with discontent ; 
 you see no analogy between your petition 
 and God's replies. Take the incident 
 before you as a key to this. God re- 
 serves to himself, the right of conferring 
 his own undeserved blessings, by his 
 own means, and in his own manner. 
 You do not now understand these means, 
 but, nevertheless, you shall one day 
 learn their fitness and propriety, by their 
 blessed and eternal effects. In all these 
 cases, unassisted nature feels nothing 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 31 
 
 more than that God is shaking the tree ; 
 but grace discovers that it is only that 
 he may gather in the fruits of righte- 
 ousness." 
 
 Although, then, we cannot imitate 
 God in the means he uses, we may 
 learn something by the method in which 
 he employs them. He sends not Elisha 
 to the brooks and streams, but to the 
 river head ; ''he went forth unto the 
 spring of the waters/' and there cast in 
 the salt. If the bitterness and barren- 
 ness of our perverse and fallen nature 
 are to be healed, it is at the Spring-head 
 alone, that the remedy can be introduced. 
 It is in vain to rest content with saying, 
 1 will correct this temper; I will re- 
 nounce this habit ; I will forsake this 
 sin ; even if successful, it would be but 
 as if Elisha had healed the single reach 
 of the river that ran through Jericho, 
 and had left all the waters that followed, 
 to retain their original bitterness. No, 
 it is in the heart that all our bitterness^ 
 
32 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 and all our barrenness originate ; there, 
 and there only, can they be cured. 
 " Either make the tree good, and his 
 fruit good ; or else make the tree corrupt, 
 and his fruit corrupt : for the tree is 
 known by his fruit. 
 
 Rest, then, brethren, in nothing short 
 of the renewed heart, the changed nature, 
 the converted soul; seek the Spirit of 
 God, and his blessed and abiding influ- 
 ences, in the well-spring of all your 
 actions, words, and thoughts, and you 
 will no longer have to complain that 
 yours is a life either of bitterness to 
 yourselves, or of barrenness before God. * 
 
 Elisha, having paid his visit to the 
 school of the prophets at Jericho, went 
 up thence unto Bethel, where was estab- 
 lished another of these valuable semina- 
 ries ; his object, in all probability, to 
 communicate the translation of Elijah, 
 and his own appointment as his suc- 
 cessor. Having fulfilled his intention , 
 1 Matt. xii. 33. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 33 
 
 the prophet withdrew to Carmel, a 
 mountain in the tribe of Issachar, about 
 fifty-six miles distant, situated close to 
 the sea-shore, abounding, as travellers 
 tell, with vines and olives, and covered 
 with shady groves, and sweet-scented 
 shrubs. This was once the favourite 
 resort of Elijah. Here he had miracu- 
 lously consumed the burnt-offering, and 
 destroyed the prophets of Baal. Here, 
 also, he had withdrawn, to pray for that 
 rain, which, after three years' drought, 
 in answer to his petitions, again re- 
 freshed the face of the earth.^ Thither 
 now did Elisha retire, that, amidst its 
 solitudes, he might recruit his wearied 
 spirit, and fit himself for the trying and 
 difficult intercourse with kings and 
 princes, in which he was so shortly to 
 engage. Like our divine Saviour, Elisha 
 prepared himself for the more public 
 and ostensible portions of his ministry, 
 by absolute solitude, and the most secret 
 ^ See James v. 17, 18. 
 
 c 3 
 
34 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 intercourse with God. Had Elisha never 
 retired to Mount Carmel, he would, in 
 all probability, have been utterly useless 
 in Samaria. 
 
 " A ministry of power," it has been 
 well said, " must be a ministry of 
 prayer." While the providence of God 
 directs the word spoken, it is the breath 
 of prayer which fills its wings, and carries 
 it to the heart of the hearer, " quick, 
 and powerful, and sharper than any two- 
 edged sword. 
 
 If I may be allowed to speak practi- 
 cally upon this point, as one who for a 
 series of years occupied a post — God 
 only knows how unworthily and imper- 
 fectly—of most incessant employment, I 
 would humbly and affectionately assure 
 my younger brethren in the ministry, that 
 unless there be a resolute apportionment 
 of a certain time every day for entire se- 
 clusion and secret communing with God, 
 and private devotional dwelling upon his 
 » Heb. iv. 12. 
 
LECtURfi 11. 
 
 35 
 
 Holy Word, not with a view to others, 
 but for the improvement of ourselves, 
 there never can be much of real and 
 spiritual nourishment in our ministry, or 
 much of unction in our ministrations, or 
 much of Christ in our own souls. 
 
 And, brethren, is not this great duty 
 of temporary abstraction equally neces* 
 sary to yourselves ? The fault of many 
 professing Christians in our day is, that 
 they live too much in public. We do not 
 mean that they are dissipated, or particu- 
 larly worldly in their habits and associa- 
 tions, although this is true, alas ! of some, 
 but that the work of the heart is post- 
 poned to the work of the head and the 
 hands; committees, schools, charitable 
 meetings, occupy the time, and fill the 
 thoughts, while solitude, and especially a 
 devotional solitude, is a thing almost un- 
 known. Half the errors of the present 
 day may probably be traced to this source ; 
 the facility with which Christians are 
 carried away by every wind of doctrine, 
 
36 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 the low standard of personal holiness, the 
 small amount of self-denying charity ; 
 for these, and such as these, brethren, 
 there is no remedy but walking, like 
 Enoch, very closely with God. 
 
 Elisha having descended from Mount 
 Carmel, returned to Samaria, the capital 
 of Israel, about thirty miles distant. 
 Jehoram, the son of Ahab, was at this 
 time ruler over Israel, and the king of 
 Moab having refused his usual tribute, 
 Jehoram invited Jehoshaphat, the king of 
 Judah, to unite with him against Moab 
 in battle." 
 
 To this, Jehoshaphat, a good man, but 
 apparently not a very wise one, consented , 
 and taking with him his deputy,^ the king 
 of Edom, the three princes proceeded 
 through the wilderness of Edom, towards 
 Moab. Seven days had they continued 
 to advance upon their expedition, amidst 
 the drought and heat of the desert, when, 
 as we are told, There was no water 
 * 1 Kings xxii. 47. 
 
lECTtJRE II. 
 
 37 
 
 for the host, and for the cattle that fol- 
 lowed them." Alas!" said the king 
 of Israel, that the Lord hath called 
 these three kings together to deliver them 
 into the hand of Moab.'" Now, for the 
 first time, they appear to have bethought 
 themselves of God, but as is too often the 
 case with sinners, only to lay upon God 
 himself, the blame of their own miscon- 
 duct. The woman whom thou gavest,"^ 
 said Adam ; " The Lord hath called these 
 three kings together to deliver them into 
 the hands of Moab,"said Jehoram. " But 
 Jehoshaphat said. Is there not here a 
 prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire 
 of the Lord by him ?" Seven days had 
 Elisha been travelling with the host, 
 doubtless at God's command, and seven 
 days had the three kings been entirely 
 ignorant of his presence, and perfectly 
 indifferent whether he were among their 
 followers, or whether he still tarried in 
 Samaria. Now, for the first time, they 
 1 2 Kings iii. 9. ^ Genesis iii, 12. 
 
38 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 inquired, if there were not a prophet of 
 the Lord among them. 
 
 How seldom is either God, or his 
 prophet, thought of, until the day of 
 adversity drives us to Him, Well is it 
 for us, that the day which made this 
 world a world of sin, made it also a 
 world of suffering and sorrow ; for these 
 are the things which instrumentally, in 
 some shape or other, are continually 
 beating off the soul from branch to 
 branch, and from spray to spray, 
 wherever it attempts to settle, until they 
 compel it to take wing, and to mount 
 upward, and to find its only refuge in 
 the bosom of its God. 
 
 And one of the king of Israel's servants 
 answered, and said, Here is Eiisha the 
 son of Shaphat, which poured water on the 
 hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, 
 The word of the Lord is with him. So 
 the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and 
 the king of Edom, went down to him."* 
 1 2Kingsiii. 11, 12. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 39 
 
 The three kings condescend to wait at 
 the door of the tent of the prophet ; even 
 Jehoram, who departed not from the sins 
 of Jeroboam, but worshipped the golden 
 calves which he had set up, ventures into 
 the prophet's presence, when led thither 
 by adversity and distress. But Elisha, 
 who was doubtless instructed by God, 
 that there was no real change in the 
 heart or conduct of the king of Israel, 
 and that such an act of voluntary humi- 
 liation was merely to subserve some tem- 
 porary exigency, immediately addressed 
 to him this indignant remonstrance, 
 " What have I to do with thee ? get thee 
 to the prophets of thy father, and to the 
 prophets of thy mother." ' What a reply 
 was this for the hour of anxiety and dis- 
 tress ! Well-deserved, indeed, but still 
 most cutting and most appalling. 
 
 And think you, brethren, that there 
 are none who may one day receive as 
 cold and forbidding an answer from the 
 ^ 2 Kings iii. 13. 
 
40 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 lips of that prophet's master ? Think you 
 there are none who shall say, upon the 
 great and solemn hour which awaits us 
 all, Lord, Lord, open unto us," and to 
 whom that Lord shall reply, I never 
 knew ye," " get thee to the prophets of 
 thy father, and the prophets of thy 
 mother," and the prophets of thine own 
 choosing ; betake thee to the deities 
 whom ye have served, the world, the 
 flesh, and the devil ; but come not to 
 me whom ye have never sought, or de- 
 sired to seek, until the bridegroom has 
 entered in, and the door has been shut. 
 
 If God's Word be true, there will 
 come such a time, and such an answer, 
 to many who now anticipate it not. 
 
 Because I have called, and ye refused ; 
 I have stretched out my hand, and no 
 man regarded ; but ye have set at nought 
 all my counsel, and would none of my re- 
 proof ; I also will laugh at your calamity ; 
 I will mock when your fear cometh."^ 
 
 1 Proverbs i. 24 — 26. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 41 
 
 These are God's own words, They would 
 none of my counsel ; they despised all 
 my reproof ; therefore shall they eat of 
 the fruit of their own ways, and be filled 
 with their own devices."^ And what is 
 this, brethren ? But, I will send them 
 in the day of adversity, to the gods they 
 worshipped in the day of prosperity. 
 
 Ask yourselves, then, w^ho are the gods, 
 to whom you are paying your adoration 
 now, and tendering your willing service ? 
 Self-interest, pleasure, public opinion ? 
 These are the popular deities of to-day. 
 How much of time, property, conscience, 
 are you sacrificing to them ? How many of 
 your thoughts, words, actions, are regu- 
 lated by them ? They are all-powerful 
 wdth you now, but what will they profit 
 you, when your soul stands naked and 
 alone, before the tribunal of the Lord 
 Almighty ? 
 
 And the king of Israel," continues 
 the history, said unto Elisha, Nay : 
 ^ Proverbs i. 30, 31. 
 
42 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 for the Lord hath called these three kings 
 together, to deliver them into the hand of 
 Moab." But Elisha, perfectly unmoved 
 by what he no doubt knew to be the just 
 sentence of God, replied, " As the Lord 
 of Hosts liveth, before whom I stand, 
 surely, were it not that I regard the pre- 
 sence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, 
 I would not look toward thee, nor see 
 thee."' Such is the power of one de- 
 voted servant of the Almighty ! ten such 
 men as " just Lot," would have saved the 
 cities of the plain ; one holy Jehoshaphat 
 rescued from destruction, the hosts of 
 Israel and Judah. Who among ourselves 
 shall say, that we or our families may 
 not have been spared to be here before 
 God to-day, by the residence among us 
 of one true and sincere worshipper, one 
 converted and holy heart ? 
 
 It was the presence of the wheat alone 
 which preserved the tares that grew in 
 the same field with it, and occasioned 
 1 2 Kings iii. 14. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 43 
 
 the merciful sentence, Let both grow 
 together until the harvest." 
 
 " Were it not for the presence of 
 Jehoshaphat, I would not look toward 
 thee, nor see thee/' Happy for us sin- 
 ners, when endeavouring to approach a 
 throne of grace, that we are permitted, 
 nay enjoined, to venture thither only 
 with the presence of the Beloved, and 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Take him with you in every petition 
 there, and you may find access with 
 boldness " to our heavenly Father. He 
 who could not look toward thee, nor 
 see thee," while drawing near to Him 
 in your own righteousness, will see you 
 and delight to see you in Christ Jesus, 
 His merits for your deficiencies. His 
 worthiness for your guilt, His perfect 
 obedience unto death, for all the unnum- 
 bered transgressions and short-comings 
 of your lives. 
 
 Thus the presence of Jehoshaphat in- 
 sured the services of the prophet ; by the 
 
44 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 command of God, water was miracu- 
 lously supplied, and the hosts of Israel 
 and Judah were preserved. 
 
 Elisha departed with the armies of 
 Israel into his own land. No sooner had 
 he returned thither, than we find him 
 engaged in a work of mercy, probably 
 much more in accordance with his own 
 feelings, than the scenes in which he had 
 lately been employed. 
 
 " Now there cried," says the inspired 
 historian, at the commencement of the 
 fourth chapter, " a certain woman of the 
 wives of the sons of the prophets unto 
 Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband 
 is dead ; and thou knowest that thy ser- 
 vant did fear the Lord : and the creditor 
 is come to take unto him my two sons to 
 be bondmen." ' It is not easy to conceive 
 a case of greater affliction ; a poor woman, 
 just deprived of him who had been the 
 guide and the joy of her life, and owing 
 to inevitable misfortune, left in a state 
 1 2 Kings iv. 1. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 45 
 
 of absolute insolvency and destitution ; 
 widowhood and poverty coming, as, 
 alas ! they too often do, even to a child 
 of God, hand in hand. In the first 
 agonizing hours of her bereavement, her 
 hopes are naturally fixed upon her two 
 sons, as the stay and solace of her de- 
 clining years ; but the relentless creditor 
 seizes ^even these, in strict accordance 
 with the law of the land ; He is come," 
 she says, to take unto him my two sons 
 to be bondmen."^ Her last earthly hope, 
 therefore, is gone, her last earthly prop 
 has given way, and in this hour of 
 nature's extremity, she betakes herself to 
 the Lord, and falls at the feet of his ser- 
 vant, and without presuming to pre- 
 scribe, or even to ask a remedy, simply 
 states her case of utter desolation, and 
 leaves a blank in the hands of her God, 
 to be filled up as His mercy and His love 
 shall dictate. And Elisha," apparently 
 for a moment almost perplexed by such 
 
 ^ 2 Kings iv. 1. 
 
46 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 an accumulation of aggravated woes, 
 " said unto her, What shall I do for 
 thee 1 " how can 1 help thee ? " tell me." 
 The sufferer is silent; she knows the 
 extent of her calamity, but she does not 
 know the extent of God's love ; and she is 
 wisely silent, for in suggesting a remedy, 
 she would probably only have abridged 
 her mercies. The child of G^d can 
 never be so safe as in his Father's hands. 
 " Exceeding abundantly above all that 
 we ask or think,'" is the only measure 
 by which even an apostle could describe 
 the bounties of our God. The prophet, 
 not noticing her silence, thus continues, 
 '• What hast thou in the house? And 
 she said. Thine handmaid hath not any 
 thing in the house," so entirely had her 
 creditors stripped her of the little which 
 her husband had left behind him, " save 
 a pot of oil." " Then he said. Go, 
 borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy 
 neighbours, even empty vessels ; borrow 
 1 Ephesians iii. 20. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 47 
 
 not a few. And when thou art come 
 in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee 
 and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out 
 into all those vessels, and thou shalt set 
 aside that which is full. So she went 
 from him, and shut the door upon her 
 and upon her sons, who brought the 
 vessels to her. and she poured out. And 
 it came to pass, when the vessels were 
 full^ that she said unto her son, Bring 
 me yet a vessel. And he said unto her. 
 There is not yet a vessel more. And the 
 oil stayed. Then she came and told the 
 man of God : and he said, Go, sell the 
 oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and 
 thy children of the rest."^ First, pay thy 
 debts ; though the creditor be heartless, 
 be not thou unjust; the conduct of others 
 to us, makes no alteration in the nature 
 of our duties to them. Enough would 
 still remain to preserve herself and her 
 children from perishing with want. 
 
 Most strikingly illustrative is this, 
 affecting little incident of that consola- 
 1 2 Kings iv. 3—7. 
 
48 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 tory declaration of the Psalmist, I have 
 been young and now am old, yet saw I 
 never the righteous forsaken, nor his 
 seed begging their bread." Rather 
 would God maintain them by a miracle, 
 than that the widow and children of 
 his servant, should perish with hunger. 
 True, vital godliness hath, as the apostle 
 declares, the promise of the life that 
 now is, and of that which is to come,"^ 
 and He who hath not withheld from us 
 His Son, His only Son, how shall he 
 not also with him freely give us all 
 things? daily bread with daily grace, 
 and at least a sufficiency in time, as 
 well as an infinite inheritance when 
 time shall be no longer. Let, then, 
 those among you who are not blessed 
 with a large portion of worldly goods, 
 learn to trust more simply and entirely 
 to our heavenly Father, even hx the 
 supply of this world's necessities. He 
 without whom not a sparrow falleth;, 
 never will, and never can desert the 
 1 1 Tim. iv. 8. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 49 
 
 work of his own hands, and if you go 
 to Him in a spirit of childlike de- 
 pendence and confidence, asking bread, 
 most assuredly He will neither " give 
 you a stone/' nor send you empty 
 away. 
 
 If we may legitimately gather thus 
 much for our support and consolation 
 as regards the things of time, from the 
 narrative before us, surely it ought not 
 to be without its encouragement in 
 reference to the more abiding possessions 
 of eternity. How beautiful a picture 
 does it present to us of God's dealings 
 with the poverty-stricken soul! How 
 plainly can we see in it, the humble 
 approach of such a soul in the depths 
 of its destitution, and in the conscious- 
 ness of its own emptiness, to our great 
 and blessed Intercessor. The same con- 
 fidence in his tender compassion and 
 loving-kindness, which marked the ap- 
 proach of the widow to the prophet; 
 the same humble determination to leave 
 
50 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 all to Christ, to plead nothing before 
 him but poverty and emptiness, trusting 
 for the remedy, entirely to His mercy 
 and love, who alone can know the extent 
 of the disorder, and alone can minister 
 the cure. While to the question, "What 
 hast thou?" every faculty of the truly 
 convinced and converted soul, also must 
 acknowledge in reply, " I have not 
 anything" that I can call my own, but 
 my numberless transgressions, my count- 
 less sins, which have degraded myself, 
 and have dishonoured thee. Again, as 
 we follow this poor and helpless widow, 
 and behold cask after cask, ,and vessel 
 after vessel filled .from the never-failing 
 cruse, the oil never ceasing, never even 
 diminishing, so long as one vessel more 
 remained to be supplied, how power- 
 fully are we reminded of Him " out of 
 whose fulness have all we received, and 
 grace for grace." What encourage- 
 ment for yourselves, brethren ; not one 
 member of the spiritual Church of Christ, 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 51 
 
 and not one grace, one virtue in that 
 member which shall not be filled up, by 
 that adorable Saviour who ' ' filleth all in 
 all." Betake yourselves, then, to Him 
 this day, with a deep feeling of your 
 own utter emptiness and insufficiency, 
 drawing largely upon Him, for all your 
 need ; carry to Him your imperfect 
 prayers, your miserable duties, your 
 defective services, all utterly empty of 
 themselves, all valuable only as w^e are 
 ^' fulfilled with His grace and heavenly 
 benediction."^ Recollect for your com- 
 fort, that so long as one vessel remained 
 empty, the oil never ceased to flow, and 
 the vessels were exhausted, before that 
 cruse had failed. So shall it be with 
 you ; again and again may you find 
 all that you need, and more than all 
 that you can ever need, in the infinite 
 sufficiency of a Saviour's power, the 
 incalculable merits of a Saviour's blood 
 and righteousness, and the unsearchable 
 * Sacramental Service of the Church of England, 
 
 D 2 
 
52 
 
 LECTURE 11. 
 
 riches of a Saviour's love. Time has 
 not seen, and time shall never see the 
 hour when that well shall fail you, when 
 that fountain shall run dry, so long as 
 there is one thirsting heart to be satis- 
 fied, one empty soul to be filled, one 
 penitent and believing sinner to be 
 saved. 
 
53 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 2 Kings IV. 26. 
 
 "RUN NOW, I PRAY THEE, TO MEET HER; AND SAY 
 UNTO HER, IS IT WELL WITH THEE? IS IT WELL 
 WITH THY HUSBAND? IS IT WELL WITH THE CHILD? 
 AND SHE ANSWERED, IT IS WELL." 
 
 In the last discourse, we took occasion 
 to remark upon the advantages of re- 
 ligious seclusion, to qualify us for the 
 more ostensible duties of public useful- 
 ness ; of the truth of this, the life of 
 our blessed Lord, of Elijah the Tishbite, 
 and of the prophet, whose history we are 
 now considering, afford us many and 
 striking examples. Elisha's time, in- 
 deed, appears to have been chiefly di- 
 vided between the solitudes of Mount 
 Carmel, and the thickly-thronged capital 
 of Israel. Upon his road between the 
 
54 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 two, and about five miles from Mount 
 Tabor, stood the city of Shunem, in the 
 tribe of Issachar, through which, there- 
 fore, he was obliged continually to pass, 
 as he journeyed from his scene of public 
 occupation, to his refuge of retirement 
 and repose. 
 
 And it fell on a day," says the in- 
 spired historian, that Elisha passed to 
 Shunem, where was a great" or wealthy 
 
 woman; and she constrained him to 
 eat bread. And so it was, that, as oft as 
 he passed by, he turned in thither to eat 
 bread. And she said unto her husband. 
 Behold now, I perceive that this is an 
 holy man of God which passeth by us 
 continually. Let us make a little cham- 
 ber, I pray thee, on the wall ; and let us 
 set for him there a bed, and a table, and 
 a stool, and a candlestick : and it shall 
 be, when he cometh to us, that he shall 
 turn in thither."^ 
 
 How simple and beautiful a picture 
 1 2 Kings iv. 8. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 55 
 
 of ancient manners! Often, as it ap- 
 pears, had the prophet in his toilsome 
 journey, partaken of the Shunammite's 
 hospitality, although known only to 
 them as a traveller and a pilgrim ; and 
 as often, had he repaid their kindness 
 by his devout and holy conversation, 
 cheering and refreshing their souls, 
 perhaps as palpably by all that he could 
 tell of Israel's God, as they were enabled 
 to recruit his wayworn frame, by the 
 provision they so liberally tendered. 
 Anxious, therefore, to secure the longer 
 tarrying of so holy a guest, the woman 
 proposed to build him a private chamber, 
 that when he pleased to retire from the 
 noise and bustle of so large an establish- 
 ment, he might still remain beneath 
 their roof. 
 
 ^' And it fell on a day," continues the 
 history, that Elisha came thither, and 
 he turned into the chamber," probably 
 after partaking of the hospitality of the 
 house," and lay there/' Pleased with 
 
56 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 SO kind and unexpected an attention, 
 " He said to Gehazi his servant, Call 
 this Shunammite. And when he had 
 called her, she stood before him. And 
 he said unto him. Say unto her, Behold, 
 thou hast been careful for us with all 
 this care ; what is to be done for thee? 
 Wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, 
 or to the captain of the host?" After 
 the miracle, of which Elisha had been 
 the instrument, and by which the lives of 
 the three kings and their armies were 
 preserved, as we saw in the last lecture, 
 it is probable that, for a time at least, 
 the prophet's interest was great at court, 
 and that any request of his, might meet 
 with unusual respect and attention, even 
 from Jehoram. It was therefore no 
 slight favour which he proffered to this 
 wealthy matron, for there are few, what- 
 ever be their possessions, who have not 
 some desire, even as regards this world 
 and its advantages, very near their 
 hearts. Not so, however, the Shu- 
 
lECTUltE ill. 
 
 57 
 
 nammite ; she replies with much dignity, 
 though possibly not without some little 
 feeling of self-complacency, I dwell 
 among mine own people." Intimating 
 that although she did not despise the 
 prophet's offer, happily she felt no need 
 of it. God had blessed her with abun- 
 dance, and he had accompanied it with 
 that far rarer gift, a contented heart. 
 As for this world's advantages, to which 
 it is evident, Elisha's offer was limited, 
 she has no request to make, no increase 
 to desire ; she dwells among her own 
 people, and is satisfied. 
 
 Still the grateful prophet cannot depart 
 in comfort, until he has shown that the 
 cup of cold water only, given to a 
 prophet, in the name of a prophet, shall 
 in nowise lose its reward. And he 
 said to his servant. What then is to be 
 done for her ? Gehazi answered, Verily 
 she hath no child, and her husband is 
 old. And he said, Call her. And when 
 he had called her, she stood in the door. 
 
 D 3 
 
58 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 And he said, About this season, accord- 
 ing to the time of life, thou shalt embrace 
 a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, 
 thou man of God, do not lie unto thine 
 handmaid. And the woman conceived, 
 and bare a son, at that season that Elisha 
 had said unto her, according to the time 
 of life." 
 
 How immeasurably do the gifts of God 
 exceed the anticipations of his people ? 
 The holy Shunammite could not believe 
 that so great a blessing was in store for 
 her. " Eye hath not seen nor ear 
 heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of man, the things which God 
 hath prepared for them that love him."' 
 Equally true as regards the revelations 
 of His, grace here, and of His glory here- 
 after. The natural man, in all the dark- 
 ness and blindness of a fallen and corrupt 
 heart, cannot conceive of those good and 
 perfect gifts of which the spiritual man 
 lives, even here, in the daily and hourly 
 1 Cor. ii. 9. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 59 
 
 enjoyment ; the sense of God's pardoning 
 love, of His sanctifying Spirit, of his own 
 abiding and comforting grace ; and the 
 wisest spiritual man who ever lived, he 
 who has for years dwelt almost within the 
 threshold of heaven, even he who leaned 
 his head upon his Saviour's breast, and 
 lived so near His heart, was probably as 
 much astonished at the unspeakable gifts, 
 of which the first hour in heaven made 
 him the possessor, as the most uncon- 
 scious infant, that ever dropt from its 
 mother's bosom into an eternity of peace 
 and joy. 
 
 Sweet must have been the reflections 
 of the prophet, as he journeyed onward 
 upon his solitary way, that he was thus 
 permitted to add all that was wanting, 
 in that wealthy establishment, to com- 
 plete the happiness of its owners. He 
 knew something experimentally, as we 
 have seen, of the comfort of family aff^ec- 
 tion, and of the ties of filial love. And 
 separated as he now was, by the peculiar 
 
60 
 
 LECTtiRE III. 
 
 obligations of the life to which he had 
 been so remarkably called, from the 
 endearments of domestic enjoyment, he 
 was not ignorant, that if there be one 
 temporal gift more blessed than another, 
 affectionate and holy children constitute 
 that boon. For surely, it is not too 
 much to say, that while they enable us 
 to live over again our own lives, by wit- 
 nessing the happiness of theirs, they 
 bring before our eyes, even amidst all 
 the sins and infirmities of their fallen 
 nature, much of the innocence and joy, 
 the unhesitating trust, and unsuspecting 
 love, which will constitute the happiness 
 of heaven. 
 
 Brethren, while such precious gifts are 
 granted you, remember that they are 
 yours, for higher and for holier purposes 
 than to delight your eyes, and gladden 
 and rejoice your hearts ; that they are 
 yours, to educate for the presence and 
 society of your God. Sad indeed will 
 be that parent's heart, at the great day 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 61 
 
 of account, who shall stand before the 
 tribunal of the Lord, bereft of some once 
 tenderly dear to him, and shall feel, I 
 never laboured, I never prayed, I never 
 strove earnestly and perseveringly to 
 bring my children to the knowl^ge of 
 the Lord Almighty. The world was 
 once the model for my own conduct, and 
 for my children's imitation, I knew no 
 higher, and sought no wiser guide for 
 them ; and although God, in His mercy, 
 taught me better things, and snatched 
 me as a brand from the burning, it was 
 all too late for those who had lived a 
 life of utter worldliness beneath my roof, 
 and died in unrepented sin before my 
 eyes. 
 
 Often, doubtless, as Elisha from time 
 to time, partook of the hospitality of these 
 Shunammites, did he, from his prophet's 
 chamber on the wall, look down with 
 satisfaction upon that growing child, and 
 thank God, that he had been permitted 
 to make the happy parents the possessors 
 
62 LECTURE III. 
 
 of SO dear a gift ; and probably, not sel- 
 dom did he call him aside from the in- 
 cumbrances of wealth, by which he was 
 so early, and so thickly surrounded, and 
 impart to his young mind, the first germs 
 of that immortal knowledge of Israel's 
 ever-present God, and of its coming 
 Saviour, and of the more enduring 
 riches, treasured up for those who 
 love Him, in a far fairer land, than 
 even the happy Canaan in which they 
 dwelt. 
 
 But, alas! the best of God's earthly 
 gifts, are ours only for the shortest 
 periods. The dearest and the sweetest 
 children, are but as flowers from our 
 heavenly Father's garden, which often 
 come but as a summer's loan, and then 
 away again. Happy they who can hold 
 them with so loose a hand, and with so 
 wise a heart, as to restore them thank- 
 fully and cheerfully, when called for, by 
 Him, from whom they came. 
 
 "And when the child was grown," 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 63 
 
 continues the narrative, it fell on a 
 day that he went out to his father to the 
 reapers. And he said unto his father, 
 My head, my head !" 
 
 Observe the instinct of this helpless 
 little one, the first feeling of pain sends 
 him to his father. Brethren, we would 
 inquire, whither does the first trace of 
 anxiety, or sorrow, or disappointment, 
 send yourselves? To the world, to 
 society, to pleasure, or to God ? Ob- 
 serve carefully your spiritual instinct, 
 and learn from it, your spiritual relation- 
 ship. If God be indeed your Father, you 
 will as naturally run to Him in the first 
 hour of nature's suffering, as he, of whom 
 we are speaking, to his earthly parent. 
 Not a pain, not a sorrow, not an anxiety, 
 which can befall you, but will be poured 
 forth, in all the confidence, and all the 
 humility, and all the love, of helpless 
 infancy, into the ears of Him, whom the 
 Spirit hath taught you to call Abba, 
 Father," and from whom, as reconciled 
 
64 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 to you in Christ Jesus, you will expect to 
 find, and assuredly will find, all, and 
 more than all a parent's sympathy, and 
 a parent's love. 
 
 And the father " said to a lad, Carry 
 him to his mother. And when he had 
 taken him and brought him to his 
 mother, he sat on her knees till noon, 
 and then died."^ 
 
 Great, and unexpected, had been that 
 mother's joy, and fearfully sudden and 
 unlooked for, was her present visitation. 
 An hour before, she had parted from her 
 treasured boy in all the fulness of health 
 and vigour, had delighted to see his 
 little footsteps following her husband to 
 the field, to gain the useful lessons of 
 practical knowledge from the father, in 
 addition to the still higher instructions, 
 which are imparted best upon a mother's 
 knee. And now he is brought back to 
 her, a drooping and a dying child, he 
 has been struck with the rays of their too 
 12 Kings iv. 19, 20. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 65 
 
 fervid sun, and lingers an hour or two, in 
 helpless and hopeless agony upon her lap, 
 and his freed spirit returns to God who 
 gave it. 
 
 This is the moment, brethren, to learn 
 rightly to estimate her of whom we are 
 speaking ; great successes and great 
 reverses bring with them powerful de- 
 velopments of human character. We 
 had no doubt from the first that the Shu- 
 nammite was a holy woman, or she would 
 scarcely have coveted so earnestly the so- 
 ciety of the man of God. We had no reason 
 to question that she was a sensible and re- 
 flecting women, or she never would have 
 discovered so clearly the perils of court 
 favour and worldly aggrandisement. But 
 she must be placed in the furnace of af- 
 fliction before the most striking features of 
 her faith can be brought out, or the highest 
 and most beautiful points in her unusually 
 lofty character, can be revealed to us. 
 
 And she went up," to adopt the 
 simple language of Scripture, and laid 
 
QQ LECTURE HI. 
 
 her child on the bed of the man of God, 
 and shut the door upon him, and went 
 out."^ But why so carefully close that 
 door, or why is so minute a circumstance 
 recorded ? Doubtless to mark the 
 strength of her faith, and the reality of 
 her dependence upon God. She fastens 
 the door, lest during her projected ab- 
 sence of some hours, in a climate where 
 the bodies are usually interred before sun- 
 set, her husband should commit the child 
 to 'the silent grave, while she was pre- 
 paring only for his resurrection. ' ' And 
 she called her husband, and said, Send 
 me, I pray thee, one of the young men, 
 and one of the asses, that I may run to 
 the man of God, and come again." ' ' And 
 he said," probably having yet no idea of 
 the fatal termination of his child's illness, 
 " Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day ? 
 It is neither new moon nor Sabbath." 
 She dares not disclose her intention, fear- 
 ful, lest her husband's faith should not be 
 12 Kings iv. 21. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 67 
 
 sufficiently strong to aid her, in what 
 might appear to him, so wild and profit- 
 less an enterprise. She simply replies, 
 It shall be well." " Then she saddled 
 an ass, and said to her servant. Drive, 
 and go forward; slack not thy riding 
 for me, except I bid thee. So she went, 
 and came unto the man of God to Mount 
 Carmel." 
 
 And now the scene changes, and we 
 behold the prophet on his watch-tower, 
 where in close communion with his God, 
 his happiest hours held on the even 
 tenour of their way, not gladdened 
 indeed by the cheering rays of social 
 intercourse, but then not embittered by 
 the thousand crosses of domestic life ; 
 gathering strength for days of greater 
 usefulness, and enjoying such near and 
 friendly access to the Most High, that 
 he seems almost surprised that any- 
 thing should be concealed from him, in 
 which his heavenly Father's hand is 
 traceable. 
 
68 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 An unusual sight breaks in upon these 
 spiritual communings ; he beholds " afar 
 ofF" the afflicted Shunammite, driving 
 in haste through the unfrequented forest, 
 and evidently making for his solitary 
 abode. 
 
 With that quick feeling, which marks 
 the man who is touched the most readily, 
 and most deeply, with another's woe, 
 he waits not until she arrives ; he is 
 anxious to anticipate her wishes, and 
 remembering at once, those objects that 
 must be nearest and dearest to her heart, 
 calls his servant and exclaims, " Behold, 
 yonder is that Shunammite: run now, 
 I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto 
 her. Is it well with thee? Is it well 
 with thy husband ? Is it well with the 
 child V\ 
 
 How closely does the conduct of the 
 prophet, resemble in its anxious solicitude, 
 that of his Divine Master, and yet, like 
 every other human imitation, how infi- 
 nitely does it fall below it. " When he 
 
LECTURE III, 
 
 69 
 
 was yet a great way off/' says our Lord, 
 describing, in his well-known parable, 
 the Almighty's anxiety for the salvation 
 of the returning sinner, his father saw 
 him, and had compassion, and ran, and 
 fell on his neck, and kissed him." We 
 love the prophet, for not coldly awaiting 
 the arrival of the sorrowing Shunammite, 
 we think much of his condescension and 
 kindness, in sending thus quickly to anti- 
 cipate her coming ; and yet how little, 
 comparatively, do we think of the infi- 
 nitely greater love of Him, who goes 
 in person to meet every returning prodi- 
 gal, and to seek as well as to save every 
 repentant soul ! Cold indeed must be 
 that human heart, unquestionably per- 
 verted those feelings, which can hear of 
 all our heavenly Father's daily, hourly 
 displays of preventing grace, as mani- 
 fested towards each of us individually, 
 and not be filled to overflowing with 
 gratitude and love. A great way off*," 
 aye, who shall say how far, were the 
 
70 LECTURE III. 
 
 happiest of the glorified spirits who now 
 surround the throne, when first their 
 Father saw and loved and pitied them, 
 and with the outgoings of His grace, 
 met, and led, and brought them to Him- 
 self. 
 
 In the instructions that the prophet 
 gave his servant, not one object is 
 omitted which he thinks the thoughts, or 
 hopes of his coming visitor are fixed 
 upon, or from which, he imagines it pos- 
 sible that her present sorrow emanates. 
 But the afflicted mother came not thus 
 fast, and far, to speak with the servant. 
 She answers Gehazi at once, when he 
 repeats the inquiry, " Is it well? It is 
 well." 
 
 It has generally been thought that 
 this reply was intended to express a high 
 degree of resignation and holy calmness, 
 and excellent use, for the consolation of 
 the mourner,^ has been made of this 
 interpretation ; but the impression which 
 1 Hill's useful little work, « It is well." 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 71 
 
 it is rather calculated to leave, after a 
 careful perusal of the whole history, is, 
 that it was the passing answer of a 
 subdued, and yet dignified spirit, not 
 choosing to open up the springs of its 
 grief to any, save the prophet himself. 
 Very characteristic of one who could 
 reply to that prophet, I dwell among 
 mine own people and who could lay 
 her dead child upon the bed, and lock 
 the door upon him, and go at once, 
 without receiving advice, and without 
 seeking it, to God's own minister, in the 
 fulness of Abraham's faith, believing 
 that God would certainly restore, what 
 he had so mercifully and unsought-for 
 given. 
 
 However this may be, it is evident 
 that the Shunammite communicated 
 nothing to Gehazi, and slacked not her 
 driving until she reached the hill where 
 Elisha, having descended from his 
 tower, was anxiously waiting her arrival. 
 Her first action was, to throw herself at 
 
72 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 his feet, in all the eloquence of silent 
 woe. "But Gehazi came near to thrust 
 her away." His feelings alive, perhaps, 
 to the little slight, just cast upon himself, 
 by her brief and hurried answer, but 
 partaking not of his master's sympathy 
 and love. " And the man of God said, 
 Let her alone, for her soul is vexed 
 within her ; and the Lord hath hid it 
 from me, and hath not told me." How 
 kind and merciful is the treatment of 
 the prophet. How beautiful a model for 
 us, the ministers of Christ, when dealing 
 with the afflicted, the desolate, the con- 
 victed, the inquiring spirit. " Her soul 
 is vexed within her," is fully sufficient 
 to apologize for all that might be un- 
 usual, or indecorous, in the manner of 
 her address. If we would bind up the 
 broken heart, or heal the trembling 
 and sin-repentant soul, let us never 
 forget that it is to be done with the 
 gentle hand of him who could touch the 
 bruised reed without breaking it, and 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 73 
 
 who with the same look which sent the 
 penitent Peter to tears of bitterness, 
 assured him of his pardoning and 
 abiding love. Then the Shunammite, 
 for the first time, gave utterance to her 
 grief. "Did I desire a son of my 
 lord ? Did I not say, Do not deceive 
 me ?" How singular, yet how touching 
 an address! Here is nothing of the 
 wailing and lamentation of the childless 
 mother. She simply reminds the pro- 
 phet, that the loss for which she mourns 
 was his own gift, unsolicited, unex- 
 pected ; but surely, not intended to be 
 vouchsafed, merely until she had learnt 
 to love and value it, and then to be as 
 suddenly withdrawn. Still, if it were 
 so, " It is well ; " but he who was the 
 bearer of the Almighty's gift, shall not 
 remain in ignorance that it has been 
 resumed. Elisha replies not a word to 
 this remarkable appeal, but, turning to 
 Gehazi, said, "Gird up thy loins, and 
 take my staff in thine hand, and go thy 
 
 E 
 
74 LECTURE III. 
 
 way ; if thou meet any man, salute him 
 not : and if any salute thee, answer him 
 not again: and lay my staff upon the 
 face of the child." 
 
 It was mercifully and promptly done, 
 and, doubtless, had the Shunammite sent 
 to the prophet, no human messenger 
 whom she could have selected, would 
 have expected more ; none who would 
 not have returned with that commis- 
 sioned servant, satisfied and rejoicing. 
 But when God made the Shunammite a 
 mother, he gave her, as he usually does, 
 a mother's heart ; and the inspired his- 
 torian, in recording her behaviour, per- 
 haps intentionally, reminds us of this 
 important clue to her otherwise too 
 pertinacious conduct. He contmues, 
 " The mother of the child said, as she 
 saw Gehazi hastening away with the 
 prophet's staff, to perform the miracle, 
 As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul 
 liveth, I will not leave thee." Elisha, 
 no doubt, duly appreciating a character 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 75 
 
 so like his own — for you will remember 
 that these were the identical words which 
 he himself had made use of, when urged 
 by Elijah to remain behind — ^immedi- 
 ately followed his servant, and accom- 
 panied the mother. Perhaps, also, he 
 had some slight misgivings, whether this 
 were a commission which ought to have 
 been entrusted to another, and whether 
 it would not require more than a 
 prophet's staff, or even a double portion 
 of a prophet's spirit, to perform a 
 miracle, by the mere presence of this 
 servant, which, in Elijah's case, had re- 
 quired the earnest prayers and entreaties, 
 and the personal exertions of the pro- 
 phet. ^'And Gehazi passed on before 
 them, and laid the staff on the face of 
 the child ; but there was neither voice 
 nor hearing: wherefore he went again 
 to meet him, and told him, saying. The 
 child is not awaked." Still the watchful 
 mother is silent. She may have had 
 doubts of the servant's power, but she 
 
 E ^ 
 
76 LECTURE III. 
 
 has none of the master's, or of that 
 master's God. " So they passed on to 
 Shunem together." " And when Elisha 
 was come into the house, behold the 
 child was dead, and laid upon his bed. 
 He went in therefore, and shut the door 
 upon them twain, and prayed unto the 
 Lord." 
 
 And now the mother's faith obtains 
 ^ rich reward ; " the effectual fervent 
 prayer of a righteous man availeth 
 much," even to the recalling of the de- 
 parted spirit, and the restoring the dead 
 child to life again. 
 
 And Elisha "called Gehazi, and said, 
 Call this Shunammite. So he called 
 her. And when she was come in unto 
 him, he said, Take up thy son. Then 
 she went in, and fell at his feet, and 
 bowed herself to the ground, and took 
 up her son, and went out." 
 
 Such is the conclusion of this miracle 
 of mercy ; the happy mother receives 
 ao-ain to her bosom her living child; her 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 77 
 
 heart is too full for utterance to man ; 
 she testifies, in silence, her gratitude to 
 the prophet, and then retires to pour 
 forth her praises and thanksgivings to 
 God, that this her son " was dead, and 
 is alive again ; was lost, and is found." 
 
 And here, brethren, we might con- 
 clude our observations, but there was an 
 inquiry which we would not interrupt 
 the course of the narrative to dwell 
 upon, though we cannot silently pass it 
 by. 
 
 I would repeat it, then, addressing it 
 to every individual among you, not in 
 the spirit of impertinent intrusion or 
 curiosity, but of deep, and earnest, and 
 affectionate solicitude for the best inte- 
 rests of your immortal souls. ''Is it 
 well with thee?" 
 
 How much is involved in that little- 
 question : how much hangs upon the 
 answer. Would that we might say to 
 each of you, as St. John says to ''the 
 well-beloved Gains," Beloved, I wish 
 
78 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 above all things that thou mayest pros- 
 per, and be in health, even as thy soul 
 prospereth." But, alas! we should be 
 afraid, in the smallest congregation, to 
 make such an assumption, to take so 
 vital a truth for granted. We, therefore, 
 urge you to ask yourselves, " Is it well 
 
 with me ? " 
 
 To assist you in the inqxury, consider 
 that you are all of you the baptized and 
 avowed followers of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, pledged, by your own voluntary 
 declaration, to renounce the devil and 
 all his works, the world and all its 
 lying vanities, the flesh and all its 
 polluting lusts. Now, are you fulfilling, 
 or endeavouring, by God's help, to fulfil 
 these baptismal obligations? Are you 
 living to the world, or to God 1 Are 
 you indulging, it matters not how se- 
 cretly, in any known and habitual sin 1 
 Be that sin concealed in the deepest 
 recesses of your heart, from the most 
 searching eye of your fellow-men, it is 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 79 
 
 perfectly known to God ; and if you are, 
 at this moment, conscious of any one 
 such cherished and forbidden feeling, so 
 long as it remains unforsaken, and un- 
 repented of, be assured that it is not 
 ^^ell with thee." The world may smile 
 upon you, friends may flatter you, your 
 own heart may deceive you, but the 
 living God has said, by the mouth of his 
 prophet Isaiah, Woe unto the wicked ; 
 it shall be ill with him,"^ and what God 
 has said, God will one day verify before 
 assembled w^orlds. 
 
 But once more, we would repeat the 
 question, addressing ourselves to you 
 who have reason to believe that you 
 have been so renewed in the spirit of 
 your mind, by the power of the Holy 
 Ghosts that you are enabled to say, with 
 an Apostle, The life which I now live 
 in the flesh, I live by the faith of the 
 Son of God, who loved me, and gave 
 himself for me." Do you feel an in~ 
 
 ^ Isaiah iii. 11. 
 
80 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 creasing: love for God, as revealed to 
 you in the person and character of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ? an increasing hatred 
 of all sin, and desire to avoid even the 
 least deviation from the will of God, as 
 far as you are enabled to understand 
 and receive it ? Do you endeavour to 
 cultivate an unworldly, self-denying, de- 
 votional spirit, fulfilling all your duties, 
 whatever be your rank and station in 
 society, as unto God, and not merely 
 unto man, seeking daily more and more 
 of that close union with the Saviour, as 
 living branches in the true vine, without 
 whom you can do nothing ? 
 
 Then have we the authority of the 
 living God, in answering also for you the 
 inquiry of the text, for has He not said, 
 by the mouth of the same prophet,^ 
 
 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be 
 well with him." 
 
 Yes, beloved brethren, it is well with 
 you. Though at this moment you feel 
 ^ Isaiah iii. 10 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 81 
 
 and acknowledge that you are but un- 
 profitable servants, though you dare 
 hardly take the consolation to yourselves, 
 though your own infirmities and trans- 
 gressions are much more present to your 
 thoughts than any symptoms of spiritual 
 life and holiness, it is well with you now, 
 and your God has said, " It shall be 
 well with you ; " a promise from which 
 no time of future trial, no moment of 
 distant anxiety, is meant to be excluded. 
 It shall be well with you in every season 
 of approaching sorrow, or adversity, or 
 distress ; it shall be well with you at the 
 hour of death ; it shall be well with you 
 in the day of judgment, and in the 
 eternity that shall follow. Heaven and" 
 earth shall pass away, but my word shall 
 not pass away ; " and that eternal Word 
 has said, " Say ye to the righteous. It 
 shall be well with him," even for ever 
 and ever. 
 
82 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 2 Kings v. 10. 
 
 " AND ELISHA SENT A MESSENGER UNTO HIM, SAYING, 
 GO AND WASH IN JORDAN SEVEN TIMES, AND THY 
 FLESH SHALL COME AGAIN TO THEE, AND THOU 
 SHALT BE CLEAN.'* 
 
 After the deeply-interesting narrative 
 which engaged our attention upon the 
 last occasion of my addressing you, w^e 
 find Elisha passing on from Shunem to 
 Gilgal, paying another visit to the 
 school of the prophets there, and again 
 performing a miracle of kindness and 
 mercy. 
 
 He then retired to his watch-tower 
 upon Mount Carmel, returning, neces- 
 sarily, through Shunem, and no doubt 
 occupying once more his prophet's 
 
lECTTJRE IV. 
 
 83 
 
 chamber on the wall, and gladdening 
 his heart yet again with the sight of the 
 happy mother, and her restored and 
 healthful child. While immersed in his 
 beloved solitude, the providence of God 
 w^as preparing for him a second visitor, 
 diifering, indeed, most widely from her 
 of w^hom we have lately spoken, but 
 about to become equally a monument of 
 the effect of the prayers of the prophet, 
 and of the power of God. 
 
 Before we enter upon the considera- 
 tion of the important interview to which 
 we refer, we must take a brief survey of 
 the circumstances that led to the arrival 
 of this new visitor, a native of a foreign 
 country, a man of warlike pursuits, and 
 of idolatrous practices ; high in rank, 
 haughty in demeanour, and altogether, 
 perhaps, one of the last whom we should 
 have expected to find an humble sup- 
 pliant at the prophet's gate, 
 
 Naaman," for it is he of whom we 
 speak, was,'' we are told, ^' captain of 
 
84 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 the host of the king of Syria, a great 
 man with his master, and honourable, 
 because by him the Lord had given 
 deliverance (or victory) unto Syria." It 
 was he, so the Targum informs us, who 
 is spoken of in Scripture as " a certain 
 man who drew a bow at a venture," 
 which killed Ahab, and this, no doubt, 
 had added greatly to his renown : he 
 was " also a mighty man in valour — 
 but he was a leper." What a close is 
 this to the catalogue of his endowments. 
 He possessed every thing that could 
 make this world enjoyable, " but" he 
 possessed one thing which marred the 
 happiness of them all. Probably the 
 whole of Syria envied the greatness, and 
 the prosperity, aud the exploits of 
 Naaman, and yet, in that vast empire, 
 not the lowest slave would have been 
 found willing to have inherited his 
 honours, if his leprosy had been a part 
 of the entail. So remarkably equal, in 
 every age, have been the dispensations 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 85 
 
 of Providence. If we knew the whole 
 of each man's lot, perhaps of all those 
 whom we are now most inclined to 
 envy, there is not one human being in 
 the universe, with whom we should be 
 willing to exchange conditions. How 
 powerful an incitement to follow the 
 apostolical example, " I have learned in 
 whatsoever state I am, therewith to be 
 content." You will observe, that even 
 St. Paul had learned this lesson; he 
 knew it not by nature, and most as- 
 suredly it was never taught him at the 
 feet of Gamaliel. It is only at the feet 
 of Christ that true contentment is ever 
 learnt. The man of the world may be 
 taught, by long experience, theoretically 
 to confess its excellence ; but the man 
 of God alone is enabled practically to 
 realize its truth. He feels that, although 
 in his lot, as in Naaman's, there must 
 ever in this world be some exception, 
 some ''hut;'' still that he has every 
 thing who possesses Christ, for the Word 
 
86 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 of God has said, " All things are yours, 
 whether the world, or life, or death, or 
 things present, or things to come ; all are 
 yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is 
 God's." He no longer, therefore, views 
 his worldly disappointments or his mental 
 trials, or his bodily ailments, as unmixed 
 calamities ; so far from it, that, tracing 
 a Father's hand, and a Father's love, in 
 every visitation, every exception to his 
 lot, he is enabled to feel gratitude even 
 for those very chastenings in which the 
 world can see nothing but unmitigated 
 misery. In advancing years, and m 
 declining health, the most trying of all 
 visitations to the mere man of the world, 
 the Christian is able to look contentedly, 
 and even cheerfully, at the shaking of 
 the walls of that cottage of clay in which 
 his better part is sojourning; and to 
 smile at the thought that yet a few more 
 years, or months, and they shall mingle 
 with their kindred dust, and their freed 
 inhabitant shall wing its way to brighter 
 
LECTURE IV. 87 
 
 regions, and a more enduring home. 
 While he can say with one of the holiest 
 men of our own Church, of the last gene- 
 ration, " Thank God for decay, pain, 
 and suffering; thank God that I was 
 born to die; thank God that I can die; 
 thank God that the time is near ; thank 
 God for the prospect and hope of a better 
 world ; and thank God for strong conso- 
 lation through Christ."' 
 
 "And the Syrians," continues the 
 narrative, " had gone out by companies, 
 and had brought away captive, out of 
 the land of Israel, a little maid, and she 
 waited on Naaman's wife. And she said 
 unto her mistress, Would God my lord 
 were with the prophet that is in Samaria ! 
 for he would recover him of his leprosy. 
 And one went in and told his lord 
 saying, Thus and thus saith the maid 
 that is of the land of Israel. And the 
 king of Sjria said, Go to, go, and I will 
 send a letter to the king of Israel. 
 1 Adam, of Wintringham. 
 
33 LECTURE IV. 
 
 And he departed, and took with him ten 
 talents of silver, and six thousand pieces 
 of gold, and ten changes of raiment." 
 How admirably prompt is Naaman in 
 availing himself of the intelligence . Not 
 a moment appears to have been lost in 
 fruitless procrastinations ; he no sooner 
 hears that there is a prophet in Israel 
 who can heal him, than he enters at once 
 upon the journey, to go in person and 
 seek him. And this excites no surprise 
 in the mind of any individual who reads 
 if that a man suffering under an 
 incurable and painful disorder, should 
 fly to the remedy the moment one is 
 proposed, is too natural even to call for 
 an observation. 
 
 Alas ! how different is it in spiritual 
 things ! Every day, every hour, every 
 moment, souls are passing into eternity ; 
 and of these, who shall calculate the 
 number, that have never intended to 
 re:)ect the offers of salvation, and yet 
 have died unpardoned and unsaved, 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 89 
 
 simply because they have postponed re- 
 pentance until too late to practise or 
 delayed to listen to the things belonging 
 to their peace, until they were hid from 
 their eyes. 
 
 And Naaman brought the letter to 
 the king of Israel, saying. Now, when 
 this letter is come unto thee, behold, I 
 have therewith sent Naaman mv servant 
 to thee, that thou mayest recover him of 
 his leprosy. And it came to pass, when 
 the king of Israel had read the letter, 
 that he rent his clothes, and said. Am I 
 God, to kill and to make alive, that this 
 man both send unto me to recover a man 
 of his leprosy ? Wherefore consider, I 
 pray you, and see how he seeketh a 
 quarrel against me." 
 
 ^^And it was so," continues the histo- 
 rian, when Elisha the man of God had 
 heard that the king of Israel had rent his 
 clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, 
 Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? 
 let him now come to me, and he shall 
 
90 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 know that there is a prophet in Israel. 
 So Kaaman came with his horses and 
 with his chariot, and stood at the door of 
 the house of Elisha." 
 
 Very interesting is it to remark the 
 difference of the prophet's conduct, under 
 almost precisely similar circumstances, in 
 the last and present incident. On the 
 last occasion, as you will doubtless recol- 
 lect, no sooner did Elisha from his tower, 
 behold through the long vistas of the 
 forest, the Shunammite with her single 
 attendant, hastening onward to his soli- 
 tary abode, than he quickly despatched 
 his servant to ascertain the cause of her 
 visit, and as speedily descended himself 
 to greet her, in person, upon her arrival. 
 In the present instance, he beheld, per- 
 fectly unmoved, the long and splendid 
 retinue of the leader of the armies of 
 Syria, as they wound up the hill on 
 which his watch-tower stood, and pa- 
 tiently waited until they had reached his 
 gate, and were looking anxiously for 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 91 
 
 admittance. Even then his conduct is 
 not altered ; he neither invites the great 
 man into his house, nor descends in 
 person to welcome him . Whence is it that 
 the prophet, kind and alFable and hum- 
 ble to all the world, appears harsh and 
 reserved to Naaman ? Elisha's object 
 evidently was this ; he was about to 
 instruct the haughty Syrian in the school 
 of Christ, and the first lesson in that 
 school, is humility. " Except ye be con- 
 verted, and become as little children," 
 as teachable, as confiding, as humble, 
 said our blessed Lord, ye shall in 
 no wise enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." 
 
 "And Elisha sent a messenger unto 
 him, saying. Go and wash in Jordan 
 seven times, and thy flesh shall come 
 again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 
 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, 
 and said, Behold, I thought, He will 
 surely come out to me, and stand, and 
 
92 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 call on the name of the Lord his God, 
 and strike his hand over the place, and 
 recover the leper. Are not Abana and 
 Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than 
 all the waters of Israel ? May I not wash 
 in them, and be clean? So he turned 
 and went away in a rage." What a 
 striking instance of a man retaining his 
 proud heart, and his lofty carriage, under 
 one of the most humbling of the provi- 
 dences of God ! Naaman, the subject of 
 the most loathsome disease of which the 
 Bible tells, is just as proud, as haughty, 
 as unhumbled, as the same Naaman in 
 perfect healthy exulting in his personal 
 endowments at the head of the armies of 
 Syria. The lesson this teaches, is a very 
 useful one ; a sick bed, a dark and trying 
 visitation, even a mortal malady, does not 
 necessarily soften, or subdue the heart. 
 You will be disappointed if you expect 
 it ; you may pass through God's hottest 
 furnace, and come out of its fires as thou- 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 93 
 
 sands do, like the potter's vessel, harder 
 than you entered them. 
 
 If you really desire humbleness of 
 heart, and who that hopes for heaven 
 ought not ? you must not wait to seek it 
 in a chamber of sickness, for it is seldom 
 found there. Strive for it in health, pray 
 for the abiding influences of God's good 
 Spirit now, who can, without any of 
 these means, do for you that which the 
 heaviest chastenings of God's hand, 
 without the operation of His Spirit, 
 never will effect. 
 
 But there is yet another lesson to be 
 learnt from this proud Syrian. Behold, 
 I thought, He will surely come out to me, 
 and stand, and call on the name of the 
 Lord his God, and strike his hand over 
 the place, and recover the leper." No 
 doubt he did. Filled with the idea of 
 his own importance, he expected that 
 the prophet should descend from his 
 tower, and stand humbly beside the 
 
94 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 patient's chariot, and wave his hand on 
 high, and call upon the name of his God, 
 and cure him, with " all the pomp and 
 circumstance" of miracle, and if so, he 
 will accept the boon ; but if it is to be 
 done without any consideration for his 
 preconceived opinions, or any of this 
 , dramatic effect, by secret prayer and 
 simple washing, he will wrathfuUy and 
 scornfully reject it. Brethren, how 
 many among you who can see the 
 folly, the madness of this act of the 
 leper, have imitated, nay, are at this 
 moment imitating it yourselves? You 
 stand convicted of as deeply rooted, as 
 fatal, as incurable, a malady as that of 
 Naaman. For have you not acknow- 
 ledged, since you have been in this 
 house to-day, that you are miserable 
 sinners?" Have you not voluntarily 
 confessed, We have left undone those 
 things which we ought to have done, 
 and we have done those things which 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 95 
 
 we ought not to have done, and there is 
 no health in us ? " All the wisdom of 
 man, and all the devices of man, so 
 the Word of God assures us, are utterly 
 unable to take away sin, to effect your 
 cure. You come to the ministers of 
 God, and you are referred by them to 
 the only fountain ever opened upon 
 earth for sin and for uncleanness ; you 
 are told, for God himself has told you, 
 " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth 
 from all sin." " Wash and be clean ; " 
 
 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 thou shalt be saved." And how many 
 are there among you who have simply 
 and cordially availed themselves of this 
 proffered remedy ? And how many who, 
 from the very simplicity of its nature, have 
 turned scornfully or thoughtlessly away ? 
 What, bathe in Jordan, said Naaman, 
 when " the golden streams" (for so they 
 were called), run through Damascus? 
 What, go in simplicity to the blood of 
 Christ for all my salvation hereafter, and 
 
96 LECTURE IV. 
 
 all my peace and pardon here, and with 
 my own heartfelt exertions and golden 
 duties, my prayers, my uprightness, my 
 charities, be content to take my stand 
 among my fellow-sinners, and be treated 
 as the veriest outcast of them all 1 It is 
 too much for human nature. Yes, 
 brethren, it is too much for nature, but 
 it is not too much for grace. God can 
 enable you to receive even this, deeply 
 mortifying as it confessedly is, that if 
 you would be clean, you must not mingle 
 any thing of your own, whether they be 
 labours of love, or works of self-denial, or 
 tears of penitence, as causes of your jus- 
 tification before Him, with that pure and 
 perfect stream which flowed on Calvary. 
 You must come, the holiest and the best 
 among you, with the most polluted, and 
 the most abandoned, to the same cru- 
 cified Redeemer. That, in the language 
 of our Communion Service, you may 
 evermore dwell in Christ and Christ in 
 you. You dwelling in Christ, by faith, for 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 97 
 
 your justification, and Christ dwelling in 
 you, by his Spirit, for your sanctification. 
 Beware then, I earnestly intreat you, 
 of the thousand errors upon this high 
 subject, with which the devil has in all 
 ages, deluded men to their ruin ; espe- 
 cially be upon your guard against those 
 more refined and subtle, but not less 
 destructive errors, which our own days, 
 in opposition alike, to the concurrent 
 voice of the best ages of the Church, to 
 the blessed light of the Reformation, 
 and to our Articles, and Homilies, have 
 so remarkably revived. Beware of look- 
 ing to any thing in yourselves, even 
 to any " infused inherent sanctification, " 
 to effect your justification, which must 
 ever be the antecedent of the former ; 
 for until there is justification, there 
 can be no sanctification. Beware, in 
 fact, of trusting to any thing out of 
 Christ, for this great and blessed, 
 this free and soul-saving gift. In the 
 simplicity of the Gospel is our safety; 
 
 F 
 
98 LECTURE IV. 
 
 woe to the souls of those who would 
 exalt the Abana and Pharpar, the earthly 
 waters of human holiness, however de- 
 rived, above, or on a level with the 
 heavenly stream of a Saviour's blood ! 
 
 " And his servants came near, and 
 spake unto him, and said, My father, if 
 the prophet had bid thee do some great 
 thing, wouldest thou not have done it 1 
 how much rather, then, when he saith 
 to thee. Wash, and be clean ?" 
 
 How wise an expostulation ! how well 
 were these servants aware of this in- 
 firmity of our common nature. " If the 
 prophet had bid thee do some great 
 thing, wouldest thou not have done 
 it ? "° Who can question it ? And what 
 Naaman would have done cheerfully 
 for the health of his body, the great 
 majority of mankind would as willingly 
 do, the followers of every false religion 
 under heaven, are at this moment doing, 
 for the health of their souls. From the 
 pillar monks of antiquity, who, to obtair 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 99 
 
 the favour of God, stood for days, and 
 nights, and years, upon their columns, 
 exposed to every change of temperature 
 and season, down to the ascetic of the 
 present hour, who hopes, at least in 
 part, to win his way to heaven by the 
 self-inflicted miseries and privations of 
 earth ; men have in all ages preferred 
 ''the great things" of their own in- 
 vention, to the simple remedy of God's 
 revealing. The more appalling the diffi- 
 culty, the more flattering to our proud 
 spirits, is its achievement. The ^more 
 devious the path, . the greater the inge- 
 nuity to walk straightly in it; while 
 there is little to gratify the pride of 
 human wisdom, in finding our road to 
 heaven by that ''king's highway," as 
 the prophet Isaiah calls it, of which he 
 says, ''The wayfaring man though a 
 fool, shall not err therein." Yet, 
 brethren, if you would enter heaven, 
 through this highway alone, can you 
 travel thither ; if you would be healed, 
 
 F 2 
 
100 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 in this fountain alone, can you be 
 cleansed. Happily for Naaman, the 
 expostulations of his servants were not 
 lost upon him, for we read, Then went 
 he down, and dipped himself seven 
 times in Jordan, according to the man 
 of God : and his flesh came again like 
 unto the flesh of a little child, and he 
 was clean." 
 
 While this remarkable miracle affords 
 us another instance of God's power, how 
 instructive an evidence is it also of the 
 mysterious operations of His providence. 
 Our Lord himself pointedly refers to it, 
 as one of the most astonishing proofs 
 of the Almighty's sovereignty, to be met 
 with in the writings of the Old Testa- 
 ment, when he says, " Many lepers 
 were .in Israel in the time of Eliseus the 
 prophet ; and none of them was cleansed, 
 saving Naaman the Syrian."^ The lepers 
 of Israel were past unnoticed by, while 
 this Syrian chieftain, who had often led 
 1 Luke iv. 27. 
 
LECtURE IV. 
 
 101 
 
 his armies against God's chosen people, 
 was selected, amidst his pride and his 
 obduracy and his idolatry, to be the 
 subject of a miracle of mercy ! Even 
 so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy 
 sight," was the reflection of our Lord 
 himself upon a still more astonishing 
 proof of the mysterious working of God's 
 providence, than even the incident before 
 us. 
 
 Brethren, it is well to learn early in 
 the spiritual life, this great truth ; that 
 there are many points in our earthly 
 pilgrimage, where Reason must be 
 content to follow Faith blindfold; that 
 there are depths in religion where the 
 strongest Reason will infallibly be 
 drowned, unless supported in the arms 
 of Faith; that the dearest child in 
 God's redeemed family must often be 
 satisfied when he feels his Father's hand, 
 whether in providence or grace, to be 
 unable to trace his Father's footsteps. 
 Even David was compelled to say. 
 
102 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in 
 the great waters, and thy footsteps are 
 not known." ^ Yet at the very time he 
 said so, he devoutly and beautifully 
 adds, " Thy way, O God, is in the 
 sanctuary."^ Though it be a way of 
 darkness, it is still a way of holiness 
 and truth. So again does the same 
 Psalmist declare of Israel of old, " They 
 wandered in the wilderness in a solitary 
 way; they found no city to dwell in." 
 For forty years was this trial continued 
 to them, yet he adds, " God led them 
 forth by the right way, that they might 
 go to a city of habitation."^ Though 
 the footsteps of the Lord be hidden, they 
 are still within the sanctuary; though 
 the way be long and wearisome, it is 
 still the right way. Such we scruple 
 not to say, in every individual instance, 
 shall we find it ; and when we shall look 
 down upon the road, as seen from the 
 habitations of the heavenly city, and 
 1 Psalm Ixxvii. 19. ^ Ibid. 13. ^ Ibid. cvii. 4,7. 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 103 
 
 trace it from the far distant country 
 from which we came, and observe all 
 its trackless windings, and its now un- 
 intelligible turnings, we shall clearly 
 perceive that none other could have 
 carried us to the many mansions of our 
 Father's house. 
 
 Finally, we would apply spiritually 
 and to ourselves, the completion of this 
 miracle, as we have already done the 
 steps which led to it. 
 
 We may learn from it most distinctly, 
 that ^^God is no respecter of persons 
 but that His mercy and His love, 
 whether in providence or in grace, are 
 open to all who seek them. No diffi- 
 culties of rank, or station, or employ- 
 ment, no deeply-rooted habits of iniquity, 
 no depth of guilt, need necessarily keep 
 us from their unlimited offers, from their 
 unbounded treasures. There is nothing, 
 throughout the whole of God's re- 
 vealed Word, from Genesis to Re vela- 
 tiouj to lead us to question this ; no 
 
104 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 trace of a decree which should prevent 
 one poor suffering sinner who desires it, 
 from flying to the living fountain of which 
 we have this day spoken ; ^' Whosoever 
 will, let him take of the water of life 
 freely," are the words of Him who 
 spake as never man before, or since 
 has spoken. Only resolve, by God's 
 grace, with the Syrian to be immediate 
 in your application, not to hesitate, not 
 to procrastinate, not to wait till you are 
 healed before you come to the physician, 
 but to come unhesitatingly and at once, 
 and Naaman's cure was not more certain 
 than your own. 
 
 Would that God might, at this moment, 
 see some heart here present, which has 
 long been halting between two opinions, 
 long wavering upon the line between God 
 and the world, long listening to, but 
 never yet absolutely receiving the offers 
 of salvation, now by His grace close 
 with them for ever. That he might hear 
 the prayer which man cannot hear, 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 105 
 
 Lord, create my heart anew, enable 
 me from this hour to renounce every 
 sin which has hitherto stood between 
 Thee and me, to give up every idol, 
 however near and dear to me, which 
 has hitherto excluded Thee from my 
 affections, to fulfil every duty which 
 Thou hast commanded, and which I 
 have hitherto evaded or neglected, but 
 above all, and before all, to cast myself 
 as a miserable sinner at the feet of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, seeking there, and 
 there alone, pardon and peace. 
 
 Is there one soul that sympathises 
 with me while I thus speak ? One who 
 has entered this house to-day, it may 
 eyen be, indifferent, thoughtless, sinful, 
 hoping to be amused and interested, but 
 caring little to be profited, and yet w^ho 
 is now, by God's grace, and the power- 
 ful influence of his Spirit, beginning to 
 mourn for sin, to grieve for having 
 offended God, to desire at all cost, and 
 at every sacrifice, to be saved by Christ, 
 
 F 3 
 
106 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 and by Christ alone ? If there be, then 
 blessed be God, for this fresh instance 
 of his sovereign love. No man can 
 come to me except the Father which 
 hath sent me draw him." Praised be 
 God for that one sinner that repenteth, 
 we say to you, Go in peace." Deter- 
 mine, by God's help, to live only accord- 
 ing to the convictions and feelings which 
 are now commencing, and in the service 
 of Him, who has thus sought and found 
 you, and eternity itself shall not reverse 
 the decision of this day. Time shall 
 have run its weary round, and be no 
 longer ; ages as incalculable as the 
 drops of spring, shall have rolled by, for 
 ever, and there amidst the joys un- 
 numbered and untold, at God's right 
 hand, shall you remember the event of 
 this day and hour within these walls ; 
 that here, by God's unbounded grace, 
 was first sown within your heart the im- 
 perishable seed, the germ of a happy 
 immortality ; that here, you were made 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 107 
 
 one with Christ and Christ with you ; " 
 even with Him, who is ''the same yes- 
 terday, to-day, and for ever," and who, 
 has said of the least and lowest of his 
 people, They shall never perish, 
 neither shall any man pluck them out of 
 my hand." 
 
108 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 2 Kings v. 26. (part.) 
 
 ^« AND HE SAID UNTO HIM, WENT NOT MINE HEART 
 WITH THEE, WHEN THE MAN TURNED AGAIN FROM 
 HIS CHARIOT TO MEET THEE?" 
 
 At the commencement of the present 
 lecture, we find Naaman, the Syrian, 
 once more retracing his steps from the 
 banks of Jordan to the hill of Carmel— 
 no inconsiderable journey, to testify his 
 gratitude to Elisha for the miracle of 
 mercy, which formed the subject of our 
 last discourse. To him that hath," 
 says the word of inspiration, " shall 
 more be given." One blessing rightly 
 improved, one mercy thankfully and 
 gratefully acknowledged, often leads the 
 way to far greater and far higher evi- 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 109 
 
 dences of the loving-kindness and com- 
 passion of our God. Of this, Naaman 
 was about to furnish a striking and pro- 
 fitable example. He had come into the 
 land of Israel, only to be healed of his 
 leprosy, and God sent him back into 
 Syria, healed of his corruptions ; cleansed 
 of an evil heart of unbelief, united in an 
 everlasting covenant with the great Je- 
 hovah. 
 
 Continuing the history before us at the 
 15th verse, we read, And Naaman re- 
 turned to the man of God, he and all 
 his company, and came and stood before 
 him." The lesson of humility, there- 
 fore, to which we alluded in the last 
 lecture, had now been learnt. The 
 great man did not again expect the 
 prophet to come down, and stand beside 
 his chariot, while he sat to receive his 
 miraculous benediction. He is willing, 
 with the meek and lowly spirit of a 
 little child, to humble himself, and 
 
110 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 while he acknowledges his temporal 
 mercies, to confess also his spiritual 
 change, his conversion to the God of 
 Israel. " Behold, now," is the language 
 of the lately idolatrous Syrian, I know 
 that there is no God in all the earth but 
 in Israel : now therefore I pray thee, take 
 a blessing," receive a present, ''from 
 thy servant." But Elisha said, ''As 
 the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, 
 I will receive none. And he urged him 
 to take it ; but he refused. And Naaman 
 said. Shall there not then, I pray thee, 
 be given to thy servant two mules' 
 burthen of earth? for thy servant will 
 henceforth offer neither burnt-offering 
 nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto 
 the Lord." In this we trace, probably, 
 some remains of his ancient superstition, 
 although there were clearly none of his 
 idolatry, for he distinctly promises to 
 worship no other god but the God of 
 Israel. Probably he thought, that as 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 Ill 
 
 God hath commanded that altars should 
 be built of earth,^ none was so proper 
 for the purpose as that of the Holy Land 
 itself. However this may be, if it were 
 a superstition, it was clearly an innocent 
 one ; for the prophet leaves him in 
 the possession of it, unreproved : and 
 Naaman thus continues, — In this thing 
 the Lord pardon thy servant, that when 
 my master goeth into the house of 
 Rimmon to worship there, and he 
 leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself 
 in the house of Rimmon ; the Lord 
 pardon thy servant in this thing. And 
 he said unto him, Go in peace." 
 
 There are few points upon which com- 
 mentators have evidently been more 
 perplexed, than in reconciling this 
 apparent reservation of Naaman, in 
 favour of at least a questionable observ- 
 ance, with the silence or permission of 
 Elisha. Some, indeed, have entirely, 
 
 1 Exodus XX. 24<« 
 
112 
 
 LECTURE V% 
 
 overcome the difficulty, by supposing 
 that Naaman is speaking of what is 
 past, and that he asked pardon only for 
 what he had already done, and not 
 for what he still intended to do, trans- 
 lating the passage thus, When my 
 master has gone into the house of Rim- 
 mon to worship there, and has leaned on 
 my hand, and I have bowed myself in 
 the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon 
 thy servant in this thing." If the 
 original would bear this construction, 
 there is no doubt nothing could be 
 more satisfactory ; but the best Hebrew 
 scholars question this, and all ancient 
 versions and translations oppose it. In 
 the face, therefore, of such testimony, 
 we cannot adopt it, but must consider 
 the sentence as presented to us in our 
 own translation. 
 
 If, however, you will only consider 
 how much the new convert had already 
 promised, and how little the prophet 
 
LECT^tJRE V. 
 
 113 
 
 favoufed his reservation of what still 
 remained, we hardly think that any very 
 dangerous lesson can be deduced, even 
 from the most literal interpretation of 
 the passage before us. Naaman had 
 distinctly declared, that he now acknow- 
 ledged no other god in all the earth, but 
 the God of Israel ; he had said more, he 
 had promised that henceforth he would 
 never offer another sacrifice to any but 
 the great Jehovah ; the reservation 
 which he makes, is simply this ; that 
 when the King, his master, takes him 
 into the house of his idol, as a matter of 
 state, leaning on his arm, if he bows 
 himself when his master does so, not in 
 religious worship, for this he absolutely 
 disavows ; not in hypocritical dissimu- 
 lation, for that would be irreconcileable 
 with the character of a man who could 
 thus openly mention it to the prophet ; 
 but as a matter of courtesy and state 
 service, he may find pardon from the 
 Lord in this thing, which, though not 
 
114 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 idolatry itself, would obviously favour 
 idolatry before others. And what is the 
 prophet's answer ? Does he say it shall 
 be so, or is his reply equivalent to this ? 
 We think not; he simply rejoins, ''Go 
 in peace." Do not perplex yourself 
 about this inquiry ; it is not worth our 
 entering upon at present. I neither 
 approve nor condemn ; in the end all 
 will be well. He saw that the new con- 
 vert was sincere ; he saw that the great 
 work, the change of heart, had been 
 effected by the Spirit of God ; and he 
 knew, as his Divine Master in after ages 
 so wisely and mercifully taught, that it 
 was not good to put old wine into new 
 bottles," and to load the tender feelings 
 of the weak disciple with duties, most 
 painful and difficult even to the strongest, 
 or to expose him at once to the most 
 trying of all opposition, the sneers and 
 sarcasms of his companions. 
 
 Elisha foresaw, that the time would 
 come when Naaman would himself see 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 115 
 
 the impropriety of even the slightest 
 conformity to a guilty and an accursed 
 idolatry ; when he would refuse, even 
 for the friendship of his king, to hazard 
 the approval of the King of kings ; when 
 the seed so lately sown, and now scarcely 
 in the blade, would become the strong 
 and powerful tree ; and he was content 
 to wait for this. He therefore treated the 
 tender plant with gentleness, and neither 
 broke the bruised reed, nor quenched the 
 smoking flax. 
 
 Is it, brethren, ^' the day of small 
 things," as the prophet terms it, with 
 any whom I now address ? then may they 
 gather much scriptural encouragement 
 from the narrative before us. They can- 
 not at present receive difiicult doctrines, 
 or fulfil painful self-denying duties, as 
 many of their stronger brethren can. 
 Cases are continually arising, as per- 
 plexing and as harassing to them as the 
 house of Rimmon was to Naaman. May 
 I partake of such an amusement ? May 
 
116 
 
 Lecture v. 
 
 I innocently enter into such society? 
 Will the Lord pardon such and such an 
 act of conformity to the world? It is 
 impossible to lay down any general rule 
 which shall meet all cases, but of this be 
 assured, that if you teally.feel the same 
 anxiety to be guided by the will of God, 
 and the same sincerity as Naaman, you 
 will not long be left in difficulty upon 
 any point of conduct, which is material 
 to your happiness, either here or here- 
 after. Many of these things will at first 
 be doubtful to you, but they will soon be 
 made plain. Resolve only, by God's 
 grace, to act according to your convic- 
 tions, to advance as they advance, to 
 forsake every thing offensive to God so 
 soon as, by prayerful inquiry, you have 
 discovered it to be so, and we venture to 
 say, Go in peace." You will never be 
 left to perish, in unknown, or disregarded 
 sin. Be careful, however, that, while 
 you receive this example to your com- 
 fort, you do not take it to your injury ; 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 117 
 
 that you do not allow it to satisfy you, 
 if in the commission of any known trans- 
 gression, or in the disregard of any 
 positive commandment, or while lagging 
 tardily and carelessly on the Christian 
 course, and ashamed of the Saviour 
 whom you desire to serve. We dare not 
 say to you, Go in peace/' if this be 
 the use you intend to make of the ex- 
 ample before us, for " there is no peace, 
 saith my God, to the wicked ; " and few 
 would more deserve that name than they 
 who should endeavour to wrest such an 
 example to such a purpose, to sin that 
 grace may abound." But it may, and 
 ought to encourage you, whose feet have 
 but lately been planted on the road that 
 leads to Zion, to walk on cheerfully and 
 happily, not being cast down by little 
 failures ; not driven to despair by the 
 slowness of your advances ; not rendered 
 wretched because you perceive duties, 
 which with every desire most conscien- 
 tiously to attend to, you are at present 
 
118 
 
 LECTURE V, 
 
 unable to fulfil : only bear in mind that 
 " the path of the just is," invariably, 
 " as the shining light, that shineth more 
 and more unto the perfect day." Recol- 
 lect, that what might satisfy the prophet 
 in the first few hours of Naaman's con- 
 version, would have shocked him after 
 as many years. That your Lord and 
 Saviour, with all the tenderness which 
 he so remarkably evinced during the 
 whole of his earthly sojourn, for the 
 young believer, made no exception in 
 their favour, when he said, " If any man 
 be ashamed of me and of my words, of 
 him shall the Son of man be ashamed 
 when he cometh in his glory, and with 
 the holy angels;" " and whosoever shall 
 deny me before men, him will I deny 
 before the angels of God." 
 
 Naaman having, as we have seen, 
 obtained the prophet's blessing, de- 
 parted, and no doubt, like the Ethiopian 
 in after ages, " went on his way re- 
 joicing." 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 119 
 
 But the worst portion of our history 
 yet remains to be told. Gehazi, of 
 whom nothing we have hitherto heard, 
 has led us to form any very favourable 
 opinion, appears to have been one 
 among the many instances which mark, 
 alas! that proximity to grace, differs 
 widely from the possession of it ; that 
 you may be the children of the most 
 pious parents, or the servants of the most 
 holy and religious families, or the con- 
 stant attendants upon the most scriptural 
 ministry, and yet remain as utterly desti- 
 tute of all good, as the veriest outcast, 
 before whom the name of God was never 
 named. 
 
 The manner in which Gehazi is now 
 introduced, acquaints us at once with 
 his intentions and thoughts; for the 
 inspired writer presents him, while com- 
 muning with himself. " Gehazi, the 
 servant of Elisha the man of God, said, 
 Behold, my master hath spared Naaman 
 this Syrian, but, as the Lord liveth, I 
 
120 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 will run after him, and take somewhat of 
 him." As the Lord liveth ; " yes, how 
 lightly and how easily do the most 
 solemn asseverations, the most awful 
 oaths, drop from the lips of reckless, 
 ungodly men. What is the nature of 
 the deed which Gehazi so unscrupu- 
 lously calls God to witness? ''As the 
 Lord liveth," he will follow the Syrian, 
 and deceive, and rob him. He was 
 shortly to be taught, that what he thus 
 said in' thoughtlessness, should be im- 
 pressed upon his soul, with an emphasis 
 he little dreamed of ; that he should 
 soon, not only know, but feel that the 
 Lord liveth," and should carry the proof 
 of it in his countenance until his dying 
 day. How many a man shall find, 
 hereafter, that the horrible oath, the 
 thoughtless imprecation, the swearer's 
 prayer," so continually heard in our 
 streets, has been heard also by the God 
 whom it insults, and " as the Lord 
 liveth," it shall have its full accomplish- 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 121 
 
 ment upon the souls of the speakers. 
 " So Gehazi followed after Naaman. 
 And when Naaman saw him running 
 after him, he lighted down from his ' 
 chariot to meet him." 
 
 It is pleasing to observe that the 
 humility of Naaman does not exist 
 merely while standing before Elisha. 
 He is as willing to descend from his 
 chariot to greet the prophet's servant, 
 as he had once been unwilling to 
 humble himself even in the prophet's 
 own presence. And Naaman said, "Is 
 it well?" And Gehazi said, "All is 
 well ; " and doubtless so he thought. It 
 was well that his master had not seen 
 him leave the tower ; it was well that he 
 was received thus courteously, and had ' 
 so fair a hope that he should cheat this 
 Syrian, and grow rich at his expense, 
 and escape detection. And so the sinner 
 says, " All is well," while hiding his 
 guilty practices from those around him ; 
 and so the adulteress, in the Proverbs, 
 
 G 
 
122 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 is represented, " she eateth, and wipeth 
 her mouth, and saith, I have done no 
 wickedness each thinking that no eye 
 has borne witness to the crime. But could 
 Gehazi have seen the leprosy which 
 even then was hanging over his devoted 
 head, could the hardened sinner view 
 the gulf which even now is yawning at 
 his feet, we doubt if either of them 
 would so readily reply, " All is well." 
 No ! all may doubtless be well in the 
 prospect, and often in the committal 
 of sin, but all will not be well, when in 
 the day of righteous judgment, God shall 
 smite the sinner until he destroy him. 
 " The mill of God grinds late, but 
 grinds to powder." 
 
 " My master hath sent me," con- 
 tinues the false-hearted Gehazi, " saying. 
 Behold, even now there be come to me 
 from Mount Ephraim two young men of 
 the sons of the prophets;" inferring, 
 therefore, that they had arrived quite 
 • Prov. XXX. 20. 
 
LECTURE V. 123 
 
 unexpectedly, and since Naaman's de- 
 parture. Give them, I pray thee, a 
 talent of silver, and two changes of 
 garments." The grateful Syrian, no 
 doubt, rejoicing that he could, out of his 
 abundance, make some little return to 
 the prophet, replies, Be content, take 
 two talents. And he urged him," even 
 Gehazi having some hesitation, as it 
 appears, to possess himself of so large a 
 sum, and bound two talents of silver 
 in two bags, with two changes of gar- 
 ments, and laid them upon two of his 
 servants; and they bare them before 
 him." A large and heavy burden, for, 
 independently of the raiment, there were 
 nearly seven hundred pounds sterling in 
 silver. And when he came to the 
 tower, he took them from their hand^ 
 and bestowed them in the house." We 
 can well imagine his anxiety, while 
 conveying his ill-gotten treasures to a 
 place of safety ; how cautiously does he 
 ascertain whether his master had in- 
 
 G 2 
 
124 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 quired for him during his absence ; how 
 carefully does he take them from 
 Naaman's servants, and " let the men 
 go," that there might be no witnesses of 
 his guilt. 
 
 And now " all," certainly, " is well," 
 for his project has thoroughly succeeded. 
 So, " he went in, and stood before his 
 master." What a climax to his duplicity 
 and effrontery! He returned from his 
 robbery and falsehood, as if nothing 
 had happened, and " stood before his 
 master." 
 
 My brethren, we have all voluntarily 
 come to God's house to-day, to stand 
 before our Master ; is there no one here 
 present, whose conscience, while viewing 
 this point in the narrative we are con- 
 sidering, whispers to him, " Thou art 
 the man?" Thou hast come to stand 
 before God, after that act of dishonesty, 
 after those words of falsehood, after 
 those secret, but habitual sins of un- 
 cleanness, of uncharitableness, or of 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 125 
 
 lust. How fearful is the guilt to stand 
 before God, with a countenance un- 
 abashed, but with unforsaken sin within 
 the heart ! God is not mocked ; the 
 habitual falsifier, the hidden thief, the 
 disguised sensualist, the secret adulterer, 
 may all come to God's house of prayer, 
 and stand before their master, as Gehazi 
 before Elisha ; but that God who sees 
 the heart, sees through the flimsy veil of 
 hypocrisy which hangs so loosely over 
 it, and knows the guilt, and corruption, 
 and deceit which are lurking there, and 
 has himself pronounced, in reference to 
 all such, The prayer of the wicked is 
 an abomination to the Lord." Be care- 
 ful, then, that you come not thus before 
 the presence of a ^ holy and heart- 
 searching God ; that you enter 6ot into 
 his house ; that you fall not low before 
 his footstool with any unrepented, un- 
 forsaken sin. For, be ye sure, that so 
 long as one sin is cherished and inten- 
 tionally persevered in, it is deadening 
 
126 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 your prayerSj hardening your heart, 
 ruining your soul ; and, after all, is, in 
 reality, like Gehazi's, deceiving no one 
 but yourself. Attempt not, then, to 
 stand before your Master, until you 
 have deeply sorrowed for your trans- 
 gressions, and earnestly and faithfully 
 sought pardon at the hands of your 
 offended God, through the blood of the 
 
 one Mediator between God and men, 
 the man Christ Jesus. For if our Lord 
 himself could say, First be reconciled 
 to thy brother, and then come and offer 
 thy gift," have not we, the ambassadors 
 of that Saviour, great and urgent cause 
 to say. First be reconciled to thy Master, 
 and then come and offer thy prayers. 
 
 Continuing the history, we read, And 
 Elisha Said unto him. Whence comest 
 thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy ser- 
 vant went no whither. " Miserable man- 
 He attempts to cover his robbery, with 
 a direct and positive falsehood : of all 
 1 1 Ep. Tim. ii. 5. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 127 
 
 sins, at once the most despicable, and 
 we fear we must add, the most common. 
 It was the first sin which entered into 
 the world, and judging by the experience 
 of every succeeding age, will be the last 
 to leave it. Yet if there be a sin which 
 God has marked by the tokens of His 
 Divine displeasure, in the shape of tem- 
 poral judgments, more strongly than any 
 other, it is this sin of lying. To urge the 
 people of the world to forsake it, is utterly 
 hopeless, it forms the very soul of their 
 intercourse, it gives the last polish to their 
 complim ents, the 1 ast gilding to their cour- 
 tesies, the last finish to their politeness ; 
 it is the strong chain, without which their 
 hollow society, as at present constituted, 
 would fall to pieces. For who could 
 tolerate sincerity, where the truth would 
 often be so bitterly distasteful? But, 
 Christian brethren, What have we to 
 do to judge them that are without?" for 
 them that are without, God judgeth."* 
 Let us who make some profession of reli- 
 1 1 Cor. V. 12. 
 
128 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 gion, judge ourselves, and see that this 
 evil cleave not to us. Let us avoid, 
 carefully and prayerfully, every approach 
 to a sin so utterly subversive of true 
 Christian intercourse, and so destructive 
 to our Christian character. I have no 
 greater joy, than to hear that my children 
 walk in truth," is the testimony of the 
 beloved apostle. Wherefore putting 
 away lying," as St. Paul says, endea- 
 vour, as far as you are able, to avoid every 
 equivocation, every trifling evasion, ex- 
 aggeration, or deception, and " speak 
 every man truth with his neighbour : for 
 we are members one of another."* 
 
 If Gehazi supposed iliat he could de- 
 ceive the Spirit of prophecy, and lie 
 successfully unto God the Holy Ghost, 
 a single moment was sufficient to con- 
 vince him of his folly, and to fix upon 
 himself and upon his seed for ever, the 
 due reward of his sin. Listen only to 
 the withering remonstrance of his justly 
 offended master; ''And Elisha said 
 
 1 Ephes. iv. 25. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 129 
 
 unto him, Went not mine heart with 
 thee, when the man turned again from 
 his chariot to meet thee ? Is it a time 
 to receive money, and to receive gar- 
 ments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, 
 and sheep and oxen, and men-servants, 
 and maid-servants?" All of which 
 Gehazi had no doubt intended to pur- 
 chase with the rich booty that he thought 
 he had secured. " The leprosy therefore 
 of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and 
 unto thy seed for ever." How horrible, 
 and yet how just ! The tormenting and 
 loathsome and incurable malady fell at 
 once upon the unhappy culprit. And 
 he went out from the prophet's presence 
 a leper white as snow." 
 
 Brethren, there is not, perhaps, 
 throughout the whole of the eventful 
 history which we are reviewing, a more 
 awakening, or a more instructive fact, 
 than that which led to this detection and 
 punishment of Gehazi. His indignant 
 master's eye had seen, and his heart had 
 
 g3 
 
130 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 accompanied him, through all the tor- 
 tuous road of his dishonesty and false- 
 hood. ' ' Went not mine heart with thee ? ' ' 
 is the language which at once reveals the 
 secret witness of his guilt. Mark well 
 then the lesson which is so plainly taught 
 us. If the prophet had the power, thus 
 to follow his servant into his most secret 
 retirements, and to be witness of his 
 most concealed and guilty actions, what 
 must be the power of that being who 
 could communicate such a supernatural 
 gift to Elisha. And while it magnifies 
 the power, how forcibly does it illus- 
 trate, the omnipresence of our God. 
 " If I ascend up into heaven," says the 
 Psalmist, " thou art there : if I make 
 my bed in hell, behold thou art there. 
 If I take the wings of the morning, and 
 dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea j 
 even there shall thy hand lead me, and 
 thy right hand shall hold me."* 
 
 How awakening a reflection. Go 
 
 > Ps. cxxxix. 8—10. 
 
LEGTUHE V. 
 
 131 
 
 whither you will, you cannot go beyond 
 the presence of God. You never with- 
 drew into the most secret chamber, and 
 shut to the door, to meditate upon a 
 scheme of wickedness, or to perpetrate 
 an act of sin, but one person more was 
 present, than you bethought yourself, 
 and that person was G^d. 
 
 You never entered into scenes of im- 
 morality, or profligacy, however unsus- 
 pected by those whose opinion you 
 valued, or whose displeasure you feared, 
 that there was not one heart present, 
 upon which you little calculated. Went 
 not mine heart with thee?" saith the 
 Lord. 
 
 But while we would thus suggest this 
 consideration, to awaken and convict the 
 sinner, there is also much, very much in 
 it, which ought powerfully and encou- 
 ragingly to influence the people of God. 
 Shall it be, that the thought of an ever- 
 present God is painfully oppressive to 
 the world, and shall it not be sweetly 
 
132 LECTURE V, 
 
 consolatory to the Christian ? Surely, of 
 all God's attributes, none can be selected 
 that is calculated to afford those among 
 you, who are desiring to live in all holy 
 obedience to a reconciled Father, such 
 strong and blessed consolation. Only 
 remember, while you dwell upon this 
 great truth, that God is with you, not 
 merely in any one of His attributes, as 
 His justice, His eternity, or His power, 
 for this would fearfully distress the heart, 
 even of the holiest of his people ; but 
 recollect that wherever God is, all His 
 attributes are gathered together, all His 
 perfections present, as they were in the 
 person of the Lord Jesus Christ. If, 
 therefore, you are in difficulties, think of 
 Him as a God, present in wisdom, and 
 you shall secure a guide ; in weakness, 
 as a God of strength, and you shall not 
 want a supporter ; in sorrow, as a God 
 of consolation, and you shall never need 
 a friend. Bearing this in mind, let us 
 dwell for a few moments practically upon 
 
LECTURE V, 
 
 133 
 
 some of the encouragements of this high 
 doctrine, the omnipresence of our God. 
 
 Are you engaged, and I trust that 
 many whom I now address are so em- 
 ployed, in any good and holy work, in 
 the service of your heavenly Father, how 
 
 strengthening and refreshing" to your 
 souls to hear, ''Went not mine heart 
 with thee," in that labour of love ; in 
 that work of self-denial ; to the house of 
 that poor sufferer, where, while bestow- 
 ing kind and bountiful relief to his tem- 
 poral necessities, thou didst not forget 
 to remind him of my blessed promises 
 and soul-saving truths ? '' Went not mine 
 heart with thee," when thou gavest up 
 hours of domestic comfort, to assist my 
 ministers, to teach in my schools, to 
 instruct the little ones of my flock? 
 
 Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the 
 least of these, ye did it unto me." 
 
 When you retire, and I speak now to 
 the poorest and lowest of my hearers, 
 when you retire to your humble dwell- 
 
134 
 
 Lecture v. 
 
 ings, and take down the book of God, 
 and meditate upon its blessed promises, 
 and pray, perhaps, in utter solitude, over 
 its life-giving doctrines and its holy pre- 
 cepts, and think, that no eye can see, 
 and no heart can sympathize with you, 
 is it not ''a joy, with which a stranger 
 intermeddleth not," to know, to feel that 
 a Father's heart and a Father's eye are 
 there, seeing what the world cannot see, 
 and valuing highly, and hereafter re- 
 warding openly, what the world, if it 
 saw, would only despise and condemn ? 
 Yes, " Went not mine heart with thee ? " 
 is an inquiry as cheering to you, as it is 
 appalling to the sinner. 
 
 Again, when the Christian wife, or 
 mother, watches in faith and patience, 
 beside the sick-bed of a beloved husband, 
 or a dying child, is it nothing to know, 
 and to experience, that there is always 
 present, One who is touched with a 
 feeling of our infirmities," who has 
 declared, In all their affliction, I am 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 m 
 
 afflicted/' and who will not, and who 
 cannot leave you, who will watch with 
 you, through those hours of lonely dark- 
 ness, and give you strength for the most 
 arduous duties, and peace under the 
 most afflictive and trying visitations ? 
 And, at last, when the days of personal 
 trial shall come, as come they must, 
 to the youngest, the healthiest, the 
 strongest among us, ^' Or ever the 
 silver cord be loosed, or the golden 
 bowl be broken, and the spirit re- 
 turns unto God who gave it,"^ who 
 can tell how great and blessed will be 
 the consolation, which this high truth 
 and attribute of our God shall bestow ? 
 At such an hour, perhaps, the memory 
 of many an infirmity and sin, of which 
 we now enjoy every hope that it is par- 
 doned, will be forced back upon the 
 conscience, by the great accuser of the 
 brethren, who is then, almost invariably 
 present, striving to torment, where he 
 Eccl. xii. 6. 
 
136 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 cannot destroy. How comforting will 
 the feeling be, that He also is with us, 
 who has set his foot, as conqueror, 
 upon the serpent's head, and who has 
 said, I have blotted out, as a thick 
 cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud 
 thy sins," ''there is no condemnation 
 to them that are in Christ Jesus," 
 You may be, for many are at such an 
 hour, unable to join together two words 
 of connected prayer, or to give utterance 
 to one holy aspiration : then, again, how 
 blessed is the fact, that He is present, 
 even Jesus the Mediator, " who ever 
 liveth to make intercession for you," and 
 will pray for you, when you cannot utter 
 one syllable of prayer for yourself. And 
 when all is over, and the fainting heart 
 and the closing eye too plainly tell that 
 the last struggle is ending, the last 
 victory to be won, words cannot, for 
 words have never yet described, the 
 blessedness, at such a time, of an ever- 
 present Creator, Redeemer, and Sancti- 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 137 
 
 fier, who has said, My rod and my 
 staff shall comfort thee ; and when thy 
 heart and thy flesh faileth, I am the 
 strength of thy heart, and thy portion 
 for ever. Brethren, be assured that the 
 Christian's highest solace here, will also 
 be his highest joy throughout the ages 
 of eternity; the abiding presence of his 
 God, for it is this, which alone can con- 
 stitute heaven. I go to prepare a 
 place for you ; that where I am, there 
 ye may be also." 
 
138 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 2 Kings vL 17. 
 
 « AND ELISHA PRAYED, AND SAID, LORD, I PRAY THEE, 
 OPEN HIS EYES, THAT HE MAY SEE. AND THE LORD 
 OPENED THE EYES OP THE YODNG MAN; AND HE 
 SAW, AND, BEHOLD, THE MODNTAIN WAS FULL OF 
 HORSES AND CHARIOTS OF FIRE ROUND ABOUT 
 ELISHA." 
 
 In the last incident that formed a 
 portion of the history we are reviewing, 
 we were led, by the astonishing power 
 vouchsafed to Elisha, to dwell upon that 
 most wonderful attribute of the Almighty 
 which it so strikingly illustrated— the 
 omnipresence of God. The narrative 
 which is this day to occupy our attention, 
 will convey to our minds an equally con- 
 vincing evidence of another attribute of 
 the great Jehovah, in which we are, as 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 139 
 
 individuals, as deeply and feelingly inter- 
 ested — the omniscience of the Almighty. 
 May the conviction of this great truth 
 take full possession of our minds, that 
 remembering that all things are naked, 
 and opened unto the eyes of Him with 
 whom we have to do,"* we may learn 
 to live, and speak, and think, as con- 
 tinually within the ken of His all-seeing 
 eye, and the hearing of His all-hearing 
 ear. 
 
 Commencing with the eighth verse of 
 the sixth chapter, we read, ''Then the 
 king of Syria warred against Israel, and 
 took counsel with his servants, saying, 
 In such and such a place shall be my 
 camp. And the man of God sent unto 
 the king of Israel, saying, Beware that 
 thou pass not such a place ; for thither 
 the Syrians are come down. And the 
 king of Israel sent to the place which 
 the man of God told him and warned 
 him of, and saved himself there, not once 
 1 Heb. iv. 13. 
 
140 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 or twice. Therefore the heart of the 
 king of Syria^was sore troubled for this 
 thing; and he called his servants, and 
 said unto them, Will ye not shew me 
 which of us is for the king of Israel? 
 And one of his servants said, None, my 
 lord, O king : but Elisha, the prophet 
 that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel 
 the words that thou speakest in thy bed- 
 chamber." 
 
 What an astonishing power was this 
 which the Almighty communicated to 
 His prophet ! The words spoken in the 
 innermost recesses of the Syrian palace, 
 were made known to a resident in a 
 foreign land, to enable him to frustrate 
 the evil designs of him who spake them. 
 And this, says the narrative, Not once 
 or twice ; " to mark that it was no acci- 
 dent, no mere coincidence, but that all 
 the words, and every word, spoken by 
 the king of Syria, were divulged by the 
 Spirit of God unto Elisha. 
 
 It is merciful, brethren, that God has 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 141 
 
 been pleased to give us such plain illus- 
 trations of some of the most awful, and, 
 at the same time, the most incomprehen- 
 sible attributes of Deity. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no characteristic of 
 the Almighty, so absolutely necessary to 
 our right conception of a God, yet so 
 difficult to understand, and, at the same 
 time, so powerfully influential when 
 justly apprehended, as His omniscience. 
 It is upon the practical effect of 
 this attribute on our own hearts and 
 lives, that I desire to address you this 
 morning. Let me illustrate what that 
 effect ought to be, and what, if this attri- 
 bute is rightly received, it really will be, 
 by an example from the history of our 
 Church . It is related of Bishop Latimer, 
 that when called up for private examina- 
 tion before his Popish persecutors, he 
 was at first not very particular as to the 
 expressions he made use of, in his re- 
 plies, ^'But," added that holy martyr, 
 when narrating the circumstance, " I 
 
142 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 soon heard the pen going behind the 
 arras, and found that all I said was 
 taken down, and then I was careful 
 enough of what I uttered." Such, 
 brethren, will be the eflfect of a sincere 
 belief in this high attribute of the 
 Almighty, upon your own lives and con- 
 versations. If once you can only realize 
 the fact that while you are acting, talk- 
 ing, thinking, upon earth, the pen is 
 going in heaven, that every word and 
 every thought, is known and recorded 
 there, as soon as it is uttered or engen- 
 dered here, we shall have no more care- 
 less, thoughtless, inconsistent walking. 
 No,' the eye of a child would have pre- 
 vented many a deed, of which your 
 heart and consciences are ashamed, and 
 shall the eye of an all-seeing God do 
 less? Can you believe that God knows 
 all, sees all, hears all, that passes, and 
 yet scarcely ever be inHuenced by it for 
 a single moment? It is impossible. If 
 vou are thus indifferent, you do not 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 143 
 
 really believe in an omniscient God. 
 For instance, you affect to be restrained 
 from outward actions lest you disobey 
 God, and yet you do not blush to enter- 
 tain the most unholy, licentious, unchari- 
 table, or ambitious thoughts. If you 
 possessed a real faith in the omniscience 
 of God, there could not be this difference. 
 You might, and you certainly would still 
 offend, both in thoughts and deeds, but 
 you would as certainly exercise at least 
 the same degree of discipline over your 
 thoughts as over your actions, because 
 you would feel that to a God of perfect 
 knowledge, they were synonymous. Is 
 not, then, the true motive, that we are 
 all of us so much more cautious with 
 regard to actions and words, than to 
 thoughts and desires, simply this ? We 
 know that man can take cognizance of 
 the former, and that human laws and 
 conventional arrangements which are 
 violated will be redressed ; while in 
 spite of our disavowal of it, we do not 
 
144 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 absolutely realize the fact, that God is 
 perfectly acquainted with the latter. We 
 can hardly conceive, in the depth of our 
 own minds, that the carrying forth an 
 unholy thought into an unholy action, 
 renders it not in the least degree more 
 palpable, or better known to God. This 
 is practical unbelief, and little short of 
 positive Atheism. We say, that God is 
 all eye, all ear, all knowledge, and we 
 live as if he were absolutely blind, and 
 deaf, and ignorant. 
 
 But, again, as we endeavoured to 
 derive comfort as well as warning from 
 the consideration of the omnipresence 
 of God, so would we also from His 
 omniscience. Perhaps, practically, there 
 are few temptations more besetting, even 
 to the renewed Christian, the sincere 
 worshipper of God, than this, a secret 
 lurking unbelief upon the subject of his 
 prayers. In the great events of life, we 
 all go with some degree of confidence 
 to a throne of grace, but how few are 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 145 
 
 there, who with equal faith and equal 
 confidence carry thither the little events 
 of every day, and hour, which passes 
 over them ? 
 
 But, brethren, consider, could the 
 Almighty make Elisha acquainted with 
 every word spoken by the King of Syria 
 in his bed-chamber, and shall not God 
 himself hear every prayer, and number 
 every petition which ascends from yours? 
 It cannot be otherwise; believe, then, 
 to your unspeakable comfort, that not 
 the faintest sigh, arising from a broken 
 and a contrite heart, although clogged 
 and crowded by the millions of similar 
 aspirations which are perpetually as- 
 cending from a suffering world, but is 
 still known to God, with every particular 
 of the wants and weaknesses of him 
 who utters it, as perfectly, as distinctly, 
 as if throughout the illimitable realms 
 of space that one sigh alone was 
 breathed^ that one petition offered. 
 There is a little incident in our Lord's 
 
 H 
 
146 LECTURE VI. 
 
 life which beautifully illustrates this. 
 When Jesus was upon his way, to one 
 of his many miracles of mercy, sur- 
 rounded by the crowds who on such 
 occasions usually attended him, a certain 
 poor diseased woman, came behind Hira, 
 and touched only the hem of His 
 garment and immediately was made 
 whole; yet at that very moment, hun- 
 dreds of others also were crowding around 
 the Saviour as he passed along ; for St. 
 Peter said, " Master, the multitude press 
 thee and throng thee, and sayest thou, 
 Who touched me?" How perfect must 
 have been the knowledge which could 
 discriminate that single touch of faith ! 
 How perfect the power, as well as the 
 love, by which its unuttered prayer was 
 known and answered ! Who shall doubt, 
 then, that the same wonderful attribute, 
 is at the present hour, exercised with 
 regard to the feeblest petition which faith 
 cal offer, to the faintest aspiration which 
 confiding love can breathe. Surely not 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 147 
 
 one, but shall, through the merits of our 
 ever blessed Intercessor, ascend to the 
 abode, and enter into the ears of the 
 Lord God Almighty. 
 
 The king of Syria, finding that all his 
 plans were frustrated by the supernatural 
 intelligence of Elisha, resolved upon 
 suspending his attack against the king 
 of Israel and turning his arms entirely 
 against the prophet. " And he said. 
 Go and spy where he is, that I may send 
 and fetch him. And it was told him, 
 saying. Behold, he is in Dothan. There- 
 fore sent he thither horses, and chariots, 
 and a great host; and they came by 
 night, and compassed the city about. 
 And when the servant of the man of God 
 was risen early, and gone forth, behold, 
 an host compassed the city, both with 
 horses and chariots." Panic-stricken 
 at the appalling sight, the terrified ser- 
 vant hastened back to his master and 
 said unto him, "Alas, my master ! how 
 shall we do?" Gehazi had, as you 
 
 H 2 
 
148 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 will remember, been lately dismissed 
 in disgrace, and the prophet's present 
 servant had filled the office but a short 
 time; he could not, therefore, have been 
 expected to be very well acquainted with 
 the wonder-working powers of him he 
 served, and this will readily account for 
 his easily awakened fears, and his deeply 
 desponding inquiry, "What shall we 
 do?" Brethren, we can make every 
 allowance for the fear of the new 
 servant, but it would have been dis- 
 honourable to himself, and disparaging 
 to his master, if the same despondency 
 had been manifested, the same want of 
 confidence evinced, after years of ser- 
 vitude had been passed beneath the 
 prophet's roof, and multitudes of mira- 
 cles had been witnessed there. What 
 shall we say, then, of ourselves ? And 
 I speak now to such of you as have 
 not newly been numbered among the 
 servants of God; you who have often 
 received comfort within His house, and 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 149 
 
 long lived happily in His service, and 
 found His yoke easy and His burden 
 light, and are ready cheerfully to ac- 
 knowledge that He is a good, and kind, 
 and merciful master, and who do not 
 and cannot deny the many miracles of 
 which you have been the daily wit- 
 nesses, for surely goodness and mercy 
 have followed you all the days of your 
 life ; and yet the moment that unex- 
 pected difficulties assail, or unthought 
 of dangers threaten you, how^ often has 
 your ''soul been melted because of the 
 trouble," and you are at your wits' 
 end." Is it not too true that even among 
 sincere Christians, we frequently witness 
 this evidence of faithlessness, this un- 
 worthy distrustfulness of God ; as if 
 they had never been in trouble before, 
 or being so, had never been relieved. 
 It seems as if there were almost a 
 stunning efiect produced upon the mind 
 by great and sudden calamities, which 
 for the moment appears to deprive faith 
 
150 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 of its ascendancy, and even prayer of 
 its power. Wave after wave passes over 
 us, and each seems more likely than the 
 former, to wash us from our resting- 
 place, and to carry us out into the dark 
 and dreary ocean of despair. It is not 
 till time for recoUectedness is given, 
 time to call to mind those '^exceeding 
 great and precious promises," the true 
 sustenance of the Christian, that our 
 faith can regain her firm and steady 
 anchorage upon the Rock of Ages. 
 
 And Elisha answered his servant, 
 ''Fear not; for they that be with us 
 are more than they that be with them." 
 It was in vain to tell him this, the 
 young man looked around, and saw 
 visibly enough, the chariots and horse- 
 men of Syria, which were sent to 
 capture them, but he saw no defenders ; 
 Elisha and he apparently stood helpless 
 and alone ; and what were they against 
 so many ? It is useless to assure the man 
 whose eyes are closed to the great and 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 151 
 
 wonderful things which even here, God 
 has prepared for those who love Him, 
 that as his day so shall his strength 
 be ; " but once let him behold them with 
 the eye of a true and living faith, and 
 every fear shall vanish : he sees a hand 
 the world can never see, he hears a 
 voice they cannot hear. 
 
 " And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, 
 I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may 
 see. And the Lord opened the eyes 
 of the young man : and he saw, and, 
 behold, the mountain was full of horses 
 and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 
 Yes, brethren, prayer will succeed, where 
 reasoning fails. When the prophet had 
 prayed, open his eyes," when the Lord 
 had answered, and the young man's 
 eyes were opened, then his defenders 
 were made visible to him, and he who 
 found himself at once surrounded by 
 the hosts of heaven, no longer feared 
 the horses and chariots of Syria. Then 
 he knew with a knowledge which nothing 
 
152 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 could invalidate, that the prophet spake 
 but the truth, when he said, " They that 
 be with us are more than they that be 
 with them." How diflS.cult is it, without 
 a vision, absolutely to realize a promise. 
 
 Blessed are they who have not seen, 
 and yet have believed." It was just as 
 certain, just as true, that the hills round 
 about the city, were occupied by chariots 
 and horses of fire, before the young man 
 saw them, as when his eyes were open 
 and all were visible. And so are the 
 Christian's consolations, and the Chris- 
 tian's safeguards, equally real, equally 
 certain, at the time when the eye of 
 faith is dullest, and her apprehensions 
 the most clouded, as when we are living 
 in the brightest sunshine, and enjoying 
 the clearest vision. Our sight of them 
 may and often will vary, but their ex- 
 istence, and our possession of them, 
 blessed be God, never varies. 
 
 Endeavour to establish this truth, 
 brethren, distinctly and firmly in your 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 153 
 
 hearts, you will find it a remedy for 
 many an hour of nature's keenest 
 anxieties, and most desponding doubts. 
 
 When you feel your temptations 
 crowding upon you, with so resistless 
 a pressure, that you are almost led to 
 fear that you never possessed an interest 
 in the great and blessed promises which 
 you have received ; when your heart, 
 like Israel's of old, is much dis- 
 couraged because of the way," and 
 with David you are ready to exclaim, 
 
 I shall one day perish by the hand 
 of Saul," then turn in peace to the 
 thousand declarations of your Redeemer, 
 which establish this most blessed truth, 
 that though you see them not, the 
 chariots and horses of heaven are there ; 
 that the angel of the covenant," even 
 the Lord Jesus Christ himself, en- 
 campeth around " you, and ''fear not." 
 Sin, Satan, the world, may have their 
 slaves, their votaries, their hosts, all 
 arrayed powerfully against you, but they 
 
 H 3 
 
154 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 that be with you are, after all, more 
 than they that be with them ; you have 
 the felt presence of God the Father, the 
 abiding consolations of God the Son, the 
 uninterrupted fellowship of God the 
 Holy Ghost; the spiritual communion 
 with the church of the first-born, 
 whose names are written in heaven." 
 " When the enemy comes in like a 
 flood,'' it is thus, that " the Spirit of 
 the Lord shall lift up a standard against 
 him." 
 
 Elisha having, as we have seen, en- 
 couraged the sinking heart of his servant, 
 remained calmly in Dothan, awaiting 
 the approach of his implacable enemies. 
 At length, encompassing the city, so 
 that he could neither break through, 
 nor escape, they drew their circle nearer 
 and nearer, until having entirely en- 
 closed him within their toils, they came 
 down upon him as their certain and 
 unresisting prey. And now again was 
 seen the mighty achievement of ''the 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 155 
 
 effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous 
 man, which availeth much." A single 
 heartfelt ejaculation, a single earnest 
 petition, and all the machinations of his 
 foes were frustrated, all their opposition 
 fruitless. Elisha prayed unto the 
 Lord, and said, Smite this people, I 
 pray thee, with blindness. And he 
 smote them with blindness, according 
 to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said 
 unto them, This is not the way," i.e., 
 to find the prophet, neither is this the 
 city," in which you shall see him^ 
 " Follow me, and I will bring you to 
 the man whom ye seek. And he led 
 them to Samaria," the capital of Israel, 
 about twelve miles distant. And it 
 came to pass, when they were come into 
 Samaria," even into the crowded streets 
 of that populous city, that Elisha said, 
 Lord, open the eyes of these men, that 
 they may see. And the Lord opened 
 their eyes, and they saw ; and, behold, 
 they were in the midst of Samaria." 
 
156 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Who can picture their astonishment and 
 dismay ? In the heart of a hostile city, 
 surrounded by their deadliest foes, who 
 only waited the signal to immolate 
 them at once to their fury; whichever 
 way they turned, nothing was to be 
 seen but enemies, nothing to be looked 
 for but destruction and death. With 
 what a remarkable contrast does the 
 answer to the two prayers of the pro- 
 phet for precisely similar blessings, here 
 present us. Elisha prayed that his 
 servant's eyes might be opened, and no 
 sooner was the blessing granted, than 
 every sight which surrounded him was 
 full of encouragement and consolation. 
 He prayed again that his enemies' eyes 
 might be opened, and who can recount 
 the terror and dismay which followed 
 the accomplishment of that petition. 
 We have seen the blessedness of the 
 people of God, as manifested in the 
 Christian's experience, when the eye of 
 faith is opened to its privileges and its 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 157 
 
 rewards. Now let us turn our thoughts 
 to the enemies of God, to those who like 
 the Syrians, are yet walking in darkness 
 and the shadow of death, and mark the 
 contrast, when their eyes shall be 
 opened. 
 
 Are there none, brethren, dwelling 
 around us in the world, none, perhaps, 
 even among ourselves, of whom we have 
 reason to fear that "the god of this 
 world" hath blinded their eyes to the 
 peculiar circumstances of danger in 
 which they stand ? none who are in the 
 midst of enemies and know it not? 
 Can we for a moment doubt it ? can we 
 for a moment question it ? Alas ! is it 
 not too easily demonstrated by the testi- 
 mony of the written Word of God ? 
 
 Let me apply myself particularly to 
 you, if such there be, who are living a 
 life of thoughtlessness upon this high 
 subject ; the consideration, perhaps, 
 never crossing your mind, that there are 
 unseen realities above you, unseen perils 
 
158 LECT0RE VI. 
 
 around you, the very sight of which will 
 one day make the boldest quail, and the 
 strongest tremble ; yet to these things 
 your hearts are closed. For instance, 
 the eternal God has said, " He that 
 believeth not is condemned already, 
 because he hath not believed in the name 
 of the only-begotten Son of God."' 
 
 You believe not; i. e., you are not 
 trusting with a simple, justifying faith, 
 to the Saviour of sinners, and making 
 His atoning sacrifice your only hope, 
 His righteousness your only plea, and 
 His will your only law. Yet you do 
 ' not see that you "are condemned al- 
 ready." No ; you would consider it the 
 very height of uncharitableness, if you 
 were individually told it. And whence 
 is this? Simply because your eyes are 
 not opened. Like the Syrians, of whom 
 we have read, you do not perceive either 
 where you are, or whither you are 
 going. Like them, you are walking 
 1 John iii. 18. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 L59 
 
 cheerfully and thoughtlessly upon your 
 journey^ without a single misgiving as 
 to that journey's end. And yet it is 
 equally certain with you, as with them, 
 that the path you are treading, must, if 
 persevered in, lead down to death. 
 
 Again, the same God who cannot lie, 
 has said, ^'She that liveth in pleasure 
 is dead while she liveth." Do I address 
 none who live in pleasure, no one 
 whose life, and thoughts, and time, are 
 chiefly occupied in self-gratification, 
 self-pleasing ? And do you not see that, 
 according to the scriptural meaning of 
 the term, you are dead ? i. e., dead, while 
 in your present state, to the promises 
 and hopes of the Gospel, dead to the 
 brightest reversions of eternity? No, 
 not an individual to whom I speak, has 
 the slightest belief in such a fact ; 
 though day and night be given to plea- 
 sure, though your whole heart be in the 
 world, and no single power of the mind, 
 or affection of the soul, be fully devoted 
 
160 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 to God, you deny the impeachment, 
 and believe at this moment, as firmly as 
 you ever did, that all this is quite com- 
 patible with being a Christian here, and 
 a glorified spirit hereafter. Yes, though 
 God himself has said, that it shall not, 
 and it cannot be. And why, again, is 
 this? Simply because your eyes are 
 not opened. It is the unquestionable 
 fact ; no man who reads his Bible, and 
 believes his God, can deny it ; but you 
 see it not, and know it not. 
 
 Brethren, God knows that it is deeply 
 painful to me to state these humiliating 
 truths; that I should infinitely rather 
 say to you all, and think of you all, that 
 your eyes are clearly open, and that you 
 are so living in the fear, and love, and 
 service of your God, that no doubt shall 
 agonize your dying bed, no despair 
 sadden the eternity that shall follow. 
 But I dare not do so. There are many 
 among you whom I shall probably never 
 address again; and shall we part with 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 161 
 
 the language of flattery and deceit ? 
 Shall I hesitate to declare, or you to 
 hear, the whole truth, because it is a 
 painful truth ? God forbid ! He has 
 commanded us rightly to divide the 
 word of truth, giving to each his portion 
 in due season ; and yours cannot, while 
 you are living thus, be the portion of 
 consolation and peace. If, by God's 
 grace, we could only reveal to you your 
 own state ; only make you conscious of 
 your mental darkness ; only enable you 
 to feel that you are blind, most assuredly 
 you would not one of you leave this 
 house to-day, without the earnest, heart- 
 felt prayer. Lord, that my eyes may be 
 opened, that I may behold the utter 
 emptiness of these things, to which I 
 am devoting so large a portion of my 
 thoughts, my time, my aftections ; that 
 I may awake before it be too late, and 
 turn with a w^hole heart to the Saviour 
 and his salvation. For, listen to these 
 most solemn words of inspiration, which 
 
162 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 man can neither alter, nor soften, nor 
 evade, " If our Gospel be hid, it is hid 
 to them that are lost." What a word,— 
 "to them that are lost;" and if lost 
 here, never to be found at God's right 
 hand throughout eternity. But mark 
 the continuation of the text, and see to 
 whom it refers. " In whom the god of 
 this world hath blinded the eyes of 
 them that believe not, lest the light of 
 the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is 
 the image of God, should shine unto 
 them." Lost, because they have suffered 
 the god of this world to blind their eyes. 
 Have we not, then, reason to call upon 
 you, until the sound ring in your ears 
 night and day, banishing all rest, all 
 peace, all satisfaction from your present 
 lot, and until this command has been 
 obeyed, this promise realized, " Awake, 
 thou that sleepest, and arise from the 
 dead, and Christ shall give thee light." 
 
 But, brethren, there is yet one con- 
 sideration, connected with this subject, 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 163 
 
 which must not be suppressed. That, 
 blind as we may some of us be at the 
 present moment, the time approaches 
 when every eye shall be open to our real 
 state, and we shall all see, clearly, dis- 
 tinctly, and for ever. We thought the 
 situation of the Syrian host a fearful 
 one, when their judicial blindness was 
 for the first time removed in the midst 
 of an enemy's city, surrounded by foes 
 ready to destroy them. 
 
 But what was that, compared with the 
 first glimpses of returning vision, upon 
 the morning of the resurrection, to the 
 unsaved sinner ? Before his eyes '^the 
 great white throne " of the descending 
 Judge, and Him that shall sit on it, 
 from whose face the earth and the 
 heaven shall flee away. Round about 
 the throne, ten thousand times ten thou- 
 sand and thousands of thousands of 
 the angelic host ; and before the throne, 
 all nations gathered together ; the dead, 
 small and great, standing before God." 
 
164 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 There shall be no blindness then ; no 
 mental darkness shalt outlive that hour, 
 for the Word of God has declared, 
 ''Every eye shall see him." Who can 
 describe the misery of seeing Him for 
 the first time as a Judge, whom we have 
 never seen as a Saviour and a Friend ? 
 How peculiarly solemn is the thought, 
 that this congregation, promiscuously 
 brought together, as it has been, during 
 the present season, and containing, as 
 all such assemblages must, the wheat 
 and the tares, the righteous and the 
 sinner, him that feareth God and him 
 that feareth him not, shall, in all human 
 probability, may we not say with all 
 certainty, never re-assemble until that 
 hour ; that we, brethren, shall not meet 
 again until our ''eyes are opened;" 
 and until we awake to judgment, at the 
 trump of the archangel. 
 
 My beloved brethren, may God pre- 
 serve us from the melancholy fate of 
 that apostate prophet, who " heard the 
 
LECTURE VI. 165 
 
 words of God, and knew the knowledge 
 of the Most High," and who is empha- 
 tically called, ^'the man whose eyes 
 were opened ; " and yet who, speaking 
 of the ''Star out of Jacob," and ''the 
 Holy One of Israel," left this his melan- 
 choly testimony, "I shall see him, but 
 not now ; I shall behold him, but not 
 nigh." Alas ! the wretchedness of seeing 
 the Saviour of sinners, but only afar off, 
 as the rich man beheld Abraham, and 
 no hope, no power of approaching within 
 the circle of his saving grace, of his re- 
 deemed and glorified people. Would 
 you behold Him near, would you see 
 Him on that day with holy joy, then 
 humble yourselves before Him now, 
 close with His offers of grace this day, 
 for they may never be repeated. Pray 
 to be even now cleansed by His blood, 
 sanctified by His Spirit, prepared for 
 His kingdom, and united to Him in an 
 everlasting covenant, never to be for- 
 gotten. Then shall this be the feeling 
 
166 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 of your awakened hearts on that great 
 day, " Lo, this is our God, we have 
 waited for Him, and He will save us; 
 this is the Lord, we will rejoice and be 
 glad in his salvation."^ 
 
 1 This lecture forms the close of the series 
 preached in London, on the Wednesday mornings 
 during Lent, 1838. 
 
167 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 2 Kings vxi. 18. (part.) 
 
 " IT CAME TO PASS AS THE MAN OF GOD HAD SPOKEN." 
 
 We resume the history of the prophet 
 Elisha at a period of great public cala- 
 mity, when the city of Samaria, in which 
 he frequently resided, was visited by 
 famine and the sword. 
 
 The Syrians, who had been taught 
 by former failures, that it was vain to 
 war against the prophet of the Lord, 
 and therefore, as we learn from the 23d 
 verse of the chapter preceding that from 
 which the text is taken, " came no more 
 into the land of Israel" for that purpose, 
 now resolved upon besieging the capital 
 itself; not knowing, probably, that the 
 
168 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 man they most dreaded was within its 
 walls, and evidently not fearing that 
 any Divine interposition should be 
 exerted in its behalf. 
 
 For a time, all things prospered with 
 the enemies of the Lord, and of his 
 people. Samaria was reduced to such 
 extremity of famine, that as in after 
 ages, in Jerusalem itself, the most loath- 
 some food was greedily consumed ; "an 
 ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces 
 of silver, and the fourth-part of a cab, 
 about half-a-pint of dove's dung," (which 
 according to Shaw, the traveller, is a 
 kind of peas or parched pulse eaten by 
 the Jews,) was sold "for five pieces of 
 silver ; " while humanity is unwilling to 
 record the horrible enormities, which 
 necessity forced upon the guilty and 
 perishing inhabitants. 
 
 In this extremity of suffering, all eyes 
 were turned upon Elisha. The king 
 himself, whose better judgment was 
 overthrown for the moment by the 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 169 
 
 horrors around him, and who in the 
 intensity of his anguish had vowed the 
 prophet's death, comes in person to 
 revoke the sentence, and stands as a 
 humble suppliant at Elisha's door. 
 
 " Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word 
 of the Lord ; thus saith the Lord, To- 
 morrow, about this time, shall a measure 
 of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and 
 two measures of barley for a shekel, in 
 the gate of Samaria." 
 
 To-morrow, no further off than To- 
 morrow, the wheat and barley now ab- 
 solutely unknown within the city, shall 
 be sold " in the gate/'i at the prices for 
 which they were usually purchased. 
 
 How extremely improbable ! yet mark, 
 how confidently does this man of God 
 rely upon its fulfilment. 
 
 It is enough for Elisha, that, "Thus 
 saith the Lord : " he was probably as 
 utterly ignorant of the manner in which 
 so remarkable a saying should be fulfilled, 
 ' The accustomed market-place. 
 
170 LECTURE VII. 
 
 as the most uninformed of those around 
 him, and yet, he is as perfectly certain 
 that it should come to pass, as if he had 
 seen the heavens opened, and the golden 
 showers of plenty descend from the ever- 
 lasting garners. And such in every age 
 is, not merely the duty, but the high and 
 holy privilege of the people of God, if 
 we may so speak, to take God instantly at 
 His word ; " Hath He said, and shall He 
 not do it ? or hath He spoken, and shall 
 it not come to pass? that be far from 
 thee, O Lord, that be far from thee." 
 Brethren, a true Christian would rather 
 have, it may be," from God, than, 
 it shall be," from all the kings of the 
 earth. 
 
 Not such, however, was the holy con- 
 fidence of those around the prophet ; the 
 king, perhaps, who had beheld so many 
 proofs of Elisha's knowledge and of his 
 Master's power, might have no doubt ; 
 but there was one unhappy man, who 
 boldly questioned even the possibility of 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 171 
 
 the relief, which Elisha thus confidently 
 promised, and ventured sneeringly to ex- 
 press his contempt of the prediction in 
 the most insulting inquiry. For the in- 
 spired historian relates, then a lord, on 
 whose hand the king leaned, answered 
 the man of God, and said, Behold, if the 
 Lord would make windows in heaven, 
 might this thing be ?" Do you think that 
 it would be possible then? And Elisha 
 said, Behold, thou shalt see it with 
 thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof." 
 Thou shalt live to be convinced of the 
 folly of thy scoff, but shalt never profit 
 by the conviction. 
 
 Would that men would learn by the 
 experience of others ; but alas ! of this 
 there is small hope, since so many do 
 not seek to benefit, even by their own. 
 Else should we say, brethren, are there 
 any of you here present who have often 
 listened, it may be attentively, but per- 
 haps incredulously, or at least ineffectu- 
 
 i2 
 
172 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 ally, to the declarations of God, as re- 
 vealed to us by his Son, our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ ; who have 
 often heard the ministers of God de- 
 clare those exceeding great and pre- 
 cious promises," that the blood of 
 Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin," 
 that whosoever will, may take of the 
 waters of life freely ; " that the heaven- 
 ward path is open, the offers of eternal life 
 fully and freely dispensed, and that all 
 who hear, may live ; that great as may 
 be your present difficulties, the present 
 barrenness and dearth of the soul, there 
 is bread enough and to spare in your 
 Father's house, grace sufficient, and more 
 than sufficient, to supply every need and 
 every necessity, of the most destitute of 
 God's creatures, and yet you believe not 
 these abundant promises ? Yes, brethren, 
 we fear we must say distinctly, that you 
 believe not, for we are addressing those 
 among you who do not accept them, who 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 173 
 
 do not realize them in their own experi- 
 ence, who do not live by them and upon 
 them, as they could not refrain from 
 doing, if they absolutely and entirely 
 believed them. No man ever yet be- 
 lieved that he was heir to a large inherit- 
 ance, to be granted to his petition, and 
 yet abstained from making a single re- 
 quest. No starving wretch ever yet be- 
 lieved that there was bread wdthin his 
 reach, to be given to his application, and 
 yet never stretched out one beseech- 
 ing hand, or offered one entreating 
 prayer. Surely, then, you cannot but 
 confess, that in reality, you believe not 
 these exceeding great and precious pro- 
 mises, for which you never plead. Then, 
 las ! to you, they will be, as if they had 
 never been ; as if they had never pos- 
 sessed any real and tangible existence. — 
 No ! the parallel before us is nearer, and 
 more exact than this ; Behold, thou 
 shalt see them with thine eyes, but thou 
 shalt not eat thereof." 
 
174 
 
 LECTURE VII, 
 
 The promises shall be fulfilled, whether 
 you believe or disbelieve them, whether 
 you receive, or reject them; but, alas! 
 if you continue in your present state, 
 you can only expect to witness, but never 
 to participate in their fulfilment. Or, 
 in the deeply affecting language of 
 Holy Writ, the days shall come, when 
 ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and 
 Jacob, and all the prophets in the king- 
 dom of God, and you yourselves thrust 
 out."^ 
 
 For listen only to the conclusion of 
 the history before us, and you will learn, 
 that although God is, and ever has been, 
 and ever shall be, love, yea, love itself, to 
 every soul that seeketh Him and trusteth 
 in Him, Our God is a consuming fire," 
 to every individual who rejects His pro- 
 mises, and contemns the offers of His 
 word. 
 
 It was in the night, the very night 
 which succeeded the day upon which the 
 
 1 Luke xiii. 18* 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 175 
 
 prediction of Elisha was uttered, that the 
 Almighty prepared its fulfilment, for, as 
 the inspired historian relates, The 
 Lord made the host of the Syrians," 
 which lay encamped before the famishing 
 city, to hear a noise of chariots, and a 
 noise of horses, even the noise of a great 
 host, and they said one to another, Lo, 
 the king of Israel hath hired against us 
 the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of 
 the Egyptians, to come upon us. Where- 
 fore, they arose and fled in the twi- 
 light, and left their tents and their asses, 
 even the camp as it was, and fled for 
 their life." 
 
 It is not within the scope of these 
 lectures to enter minutely into the sin- 
 gular and providential accident by which 
 this desertion was discovered ; my chief 
 object throughout them is, to induce 
 you carefully to search the Word of God 
 for yourselves, while I can do little more 
 than glance at it. 
 
176 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 It is sufficient, therefore, for our pre- 
 sent purpose to record, that intelligence 
 having been brought to the king, that 
 the Syrians had fled, he immediately 
 despatched messengers to ascertain its 
 truth. ' ' And they went after them unto 
 Jordan ; and lo, all the way was full of 
 garments and vessels which the Syrians 
 had cast away in their haste; and the 
 messengers returned and told the king. 
 And the people went out and spoiled the 
 tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine 
 flour," adds the historian, ''was sold 
 for a shekel, and two measures of barley 
 for a shekel, according to the word of 
 the Lord : " and thus, as our text declares, 
 " It came to pass as the man of God had 
 spoken." Most certainly it did, and 
 who that knows anything of the power 
 and faithfulness of our God, could for 
 a moment doubt it. A sudden panic in 
 the enemy's army, a sudden flight when 
 no man pursued, and all the voluptuous 
 
LECTURE VII. 177 
 
 plenty of an Eastern eamp is at the dis- 
 posal of the famished Israelites. How- 
 easy are man's impossibilities with 
 God. 
 
 May we not then truly ask, If God so 
 feed the natural man, who to-day is, 
 and to-morrow is cast into the grave, 
 shall He not much rather feed you, the 
 spiritual children of his love, who are to 
 live for ever ? 
 
 Repose in simple trust upon the 
 declarations of our heavenly Father ; 
 believe that He who hath provided an 
 all-sufficient Saviour, and an all-inviting 
 heaven, hath not provided them in vain. 
 The promise shall be sure to all the seed ; 
 He who hath given us His Son, shall 
 with Him also, freely give us all things. 
 All things needful to the fulfilment of 
 Christ's purchase, the completion of 
 God's covenant, and the salvation of 
 each individual soul, that is led to cast 
 itself unreservedly upon the Lord Jesus. 
 Therefore, let the most timid believer, 
 
 I 3 
 
178 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 provided he be a believer, one who for 
 the sake of Christ is willing to renounce 
 sin, to follow after holiness, and to rely 
 simply upon the Saviour as his all in all, 
 thank God and take courage. Though 
 your enemies be mighty, He who sup- 
 ports and strengthens you is almighty ; 
 though your trials bodil}^', mentally, or 
 spiritually, be great, God's grace is 
 infinitely greater ; though the completion 
 of God's promises to you appears almost 
 impossible, when you consider your own 
 absolute unworthiness, your utter sinful- 
 ness and helplessness ; yet, when you 
 consider God's faithfulness and truth, the 
 Saviour's infinite merits, the Holy Spirit's 
 abounding grace and consolations, you 
 cannot but take courage, and remember, 
 that the same voice which said, " I give 
 unto them eternal life," added in the 
 self-same sentence, " and they shall 
 never perish, neither shall any man pluck 
 them outf o my hand." 
 
 We may not, however, suffer ourselves. 
 
LECTURE yil. 
 
 179 
 
 while dwelling thus upon the certainty of 
 the encouraging promises of our God, so 
 engaging and lovely a theme, to be led 
 too far away from the narrative we are 
 considering. Doubtless there are some 
 among you who would desire to hear the 
 conclusion of that man's story, upon whose 
 infidelity and scorn, we have already com- 
 mented ; some who would desire to know 
 what became of the unbelieving lord. 
 
 Continuing the history, therefore, at 
 the 17th verse, we read, And the king 
 appointed the lord, on whose hand he 
 leaned, to have the charge of the gate." 
 No doubt, highly gratifying to his ambi- 
 tion and self-importance, was so distin- 
 guished an honour. But, now mark the 
 all-present providence of God, and 
 observe how it directs and overrules 
 every, the minutest incident of our 
 lives. 
 
 If we had been asked, how it would be 
 possible most effectually to traverse the 
 
180 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 designs of the Almighty respecting this 
 unbeliever, and to counteract the fulfil- 
 ment of the prophecy, we should, perhaps, 
 have selected the very means for its over- 
 throw, which God appointed for its fulfil- 
 ment. We should have said, ' Place the 
 unbeliever at the gate, his rank and oflBce 
 will secure respect, and he shall not only 
 see, but he shall partake of the very first 
 load of provisions which arrives.' The Al- 
 mighty also says, ' Place him at the gate, 
 where he shall see the plenty in which he 
 disbelieved, but no grain of which shall 
 ever pass his lips.' And thus it happened, 
 for as the famishing multitude pressed for- 
 ward in one dense mass out of the per- 
 ishing city, to avail themselves of the 
 cheap and unexpected market, which the 
 mercy of God had opened for them, the 
 people trampled the unbeliever to death 
 beneath their feet; "and," continues 
 the historian, " so it fell out unto him," 
 as the man of God had said, " Behold, 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 181 
 
 thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but 
 shalt not eat thereof," for the people 
 trode upon him in the gate, and he 
 died." 
 
 " So it fell out unto him." Yes, bre- 
 thren, be ye well assured, that so it 
 always falls out ; even as God has said. 
 There is no doubt, no chance, no proba- 
 bility in any thing which God has once 
 uttered ; though heaven and earth pass 
 away, one jot, or one tittle of His word 
 shall in no wise pass away, till all be 
 fulfilled. 
 
 It is a very solemn reflection for the 
 man who makes light of the denunciations 
 of God, and for him who overlooks or 
 despises them, that every threatening 
 which has once passed the lips of the 
 Almighty, is inscribed upon the same 
 imperishable tablets, on which are en- 
 graven His mercy and His love. One 
 cannot be fulfilled, if the other be falsified. 
 Yet no individual doubts the eternal hap- 
 
182 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 piness of God's people. How certain, 
 then, must be the infliction of the woes 
 which God has pronounced against the 
 impenitent sinner ! They are expressed 
 precisely in the same terms ; if the joys 
 of heaven be certain and eternal, then 
 are the pains of hell equally certain and 
 eternal : if the happiness of the righteous 
 be sure, then also is the fate of the un- 
 righteous irrevocable. " The soul that 
 sinneth, it shall die !" " He that be- 
 lieveth not, shall be damned." " The 
 wicked shall be turned into hell, and all 
 the people that forget God." 
 
 Dear brethren, are any of you living 
 in the daily forgetfulness of God ; we 
 will not say in any open sin, or profane- 
 ness, but simply in the forgetfulness of 
 God, your own ease, your own pleasure, 
 your own business occupying your time, 
 your thoughts, your hearts. Give me 
 your serious attention for a few moments, 
 while I endeavour to set before you the 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 183 
 
 imminent peril in which you stand. We 
 love not to dwell upon the punishment 
 awaiting the ungodly ; no, we would far 
 rather never refer to it; we infinitely 
 prefer beseeching you by the mercies of 
 God. But how can we help applying 
 such a warning as this before us, and 
 how can you refrain from reading in it 
 your own sentence, and your own fate ? 
 
 God is neither mocking nor mocked ! 
 he does not treat you as foolish parents 
 are apt to treat their children, continually 
 threatening them with punishments which 
 they never intend to inflict. What God 
 says, God invariably does. Now God 
 has said, respecting each of us, who 
 is living without Him in the world ; 
 whose chambers witness no secret prayer ; 
 no earnest searching into His revealed 
 and written will ; whose daily life evinces 
 no careful and consistent following of 
 Him in honesty and sobriety, in chastity 
 and charity, in holiness and self-denial ; 
 whose heart, when read by [His all- 
 
184 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 seeing eye, is still clothed in all its 
 natural guilt and darkness and pollution, 
 upon which the light of a Saviour's love 
 has never dawned, and into which no 
 humbling, abasing thoughts of self, and 
 no grateful, confiding thoughts of Christ, 
 have ever entered ; God has said of all 
 such individually, that living thus and 
 dying thus, they can never see his face in 
 righteousness, they can never enter into 
 His eternal rest. 
 
 Surely you do not doubt it 1 Yes, you 
 think that God is too merciful to accom- 
 plish His threatenings, too tender-hearted 
 to inflict the punishment He has de- 
 nounced ; so thought the people in the 
 days of Noah ; so thought the inhabitants 
 of Sodom ; so thought the dwellers in 
 Jerusalem ; so thought the unbelieving 
 lord ; and yet in every case it came to 
 pass, fully, literally and entirely ; as God 
 had spoken, " so it fell out." And be 
 assured, so it must fall out with you. 
 There is no variableness, neither shadow 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 185 
 
 of turning with God. You cannot per- 
 severe in disobedience and unbelief, and 
 yet be saved with an everlasting salvation. 
 You cannot trifle with God's threatenings, 
 and yet escape his condemnation. Ear- 
 nestly, then, most earnestly would I en- 
 treat you, Fly to the stronghold, ye 
 prisoners of hope." For so God has 
 Himself addressed you, to show that 
 though imprisoned in unbelief, there is 
 still hope ; " though the unbeliever is 
 condemned already,"^ there is yet a 
 reversal of the sentence, possible ; though 
 now a prodigal, and at a distance, there 
 is yet room for him in a Father s house, 
 and affection for him in a Father's heart. 
 Again and again, therefore, we invite you 
 to know the things which belong to your 
 peace, before they are hidden from your 
 eyes. " The Spirit and the Bride say. 
 Come. And let him that heareth say, 
 Come. And let him that is athirst come, 
 1 See John iii. 18. 
 
186 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 And whosoever will, let him take of the 
 water of life freely. " For God willeth not 
 the death of a sinner, but rather, yea, 
 infinitely rather, that he should turn from 
 his wickedness and live. 
 
187 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 2 Kings viii. 5. 
 
 « and it came to pass, as he was telling the king 
 how he had restored a dead body to life, 
 that, behold, the woman, whose son he had 
 restored to life, cried to the king for her 
 house and for her land." 
 
 In the early part of the history upon 
 which we are commenting, we were 
 deeply interested in the story of the 
 wealthy Shunammite ; w^ho delighting 
 in Elisha's society, and rejoicing to mi- 
 nister to his comfort, had built him a 
 little chamber," attached to the man- 
 sion in which she dwelt. The prophet's 
 gratitude did not evaporate with the 
 acceptable return which he was at the 
 time enabled to render her, for her 
 considerate kindness^ Years had passed 
 
188 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 away, but probably had only cemented the 
 more strongly, the attachment of Elisha to 
 this Shunammite's husband, her child and 
 herself. And now a season was arriving, 
 when he was again to testify his friendship 
 for this beloved family, by affording them 
 an opportunity of escaping a calamity, in 
 which their country would shortly be in- 
 volved. The Lord was about to bring a 
 famine upon Israel, and He who pro- 
 vided in the day of general destruction, 
 a refuge for holy Noah, would not 
 permit the pious Shunammites to perish 
 beneath the blow which overwhelmed the 
 ungodly. 
 
 " Then spake Elisha unto the woman 
 whose son he had restored to life, saying. 
 Arise, and go thou and thine household, 
 and sojourn wheresoever thou canst so- 
 journ; for the Lord hath called for a 
 famine ; and it shall also come upon the 
 land seven years." She had, it appears, 
 learnt by this time, entirely to trust the 
 prophet's word, we do not now find her 
 replying, as on the former occasion. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 189 
 
 ''Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do 
 not lie unto thy handmaid ; " she re- 
 quires nothing beyond the assertion of 
 Elisha, to convince her of its truth ; and 
 painful and difficult as such an effort 
 must have been, the absolute relinquish- 
 ment of her property, her friends, her 
 home, like Abraham of old, she makes 
 it immediately and unreservedly at the 
 bidding of the prophet. 
 
 And the woman arose," continues 
 the historian, and did after the saying 
 of the man of God ; and she went with 
 her household, and sojourned in the land 
 of the Philistines seven years." 
 
 How astonishing an act of faith ; in the 
 midst of prosperity and plenty, she believes 
 in the coming famine, and without one 
 repining word, or one sceptical inquiry, 
 she betakes herself to the appointed re- 
 fuge. What an admirable contrast does 
 his form to the conduct of the unbe- 
 lieving lord" in the last lecture. 
 
 The Shunammite no sooner hears, than 
 
190 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 she believes; no sooner believes, than 
 she acts. How well does it exemplify 
 the nature of that faith to which we 
 were so lately inviting you. A principle, 
 which as soon as it is received, presses 
 forward into action ; like hers of whom 
 we read in Gospel history, whose new- 
 born faith instantly impelled her to 
 stretch forth her hand to the hem of 
 the Saviour's garment; or hers, who 
 having believed, was forgiven much, 
 and loved much, and found her greatest 
 joy and highest blessedness, in doing 
 " what she could ; "Mn laying the costly 
 offering of her gratitude, the first-fruits 
 of her faith, amidst many misgivings, 
 and many tears, at her Redeemer's 
 feet. 
 
 But, brethren, we need not multiply 
 examples. In all the true children of 
 God, there is the same strong family 
 likeness; now I would entreat you to 
 inquire, whether you have reason to 
 » See Mark xiv. 8. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 191 
 
 believe that you participate in this re- 
 semblance? We do not ask, where is 
 your faith ? but where are the fruits of 
 your faith ? The Shunammite was told to 
 fly, as for her life, from a land doomed 
 to suffer the punishment inflicted by 
 God. You have been told in language 
 as plain, and in warnings as incontro- 
 vertible, to fly from the sinful practices 
 of a world, whose fate is as certain, 
 whose sentence is as sure. The Shu- 
 nammite arose and fled, without an 
 hour's delay, a moment's question. And 
 where are you ? Are you still dwellino- 
 
 • 1 O 
 
 m heart and desires and practice, among 
 those of whom the Spirit of God hath 
 said, " Come out from among them, and 
 be ye separate?"* Though the soul's 
 worst famine is not only threatened, but 
 inflicted, are you content to sympathize 
 with those, whose friendship to you, is 
 enmity with God ? Alas ! how many 
 professing Christians thus make ship- 
 > 2 Cor. vi. 17. 
 
192 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 wreck of their souls. Is there one here 
 present who is conscious of his danger 
 from evils such as these, the society, the 
 friendship, the pursuits of those who 
 know not God ? And does he inquire, 
 what is his duty? We reply, imitate the 
 example of the Shunammite, arise, and 
 fly. Continue not with one companion 
 whose ways are adverse to God's will ; 
 in one habit which is opposed to God's 
 law; in one observance, or pursuit, 
 which is contrary to the precepts, or the 
 spirit of God's Gospel. Nothing short 
 of this is faith, nothing short of this can 
 save you. Had the Shunammite believed 
 the prophet with the most ready cre- 
 dulity, but still, like the sons-in-law of 
 Lot, resolving not to act upon his warn- 
 ing, had remained in the land, while 
 the tempest of God's wrath swept across 
 its surface, though, no doubt, God might 
 have saved her, as easily as her flight 
 could save her, be assured she would 
 have perished with those around her. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 193 
 
 So will it be with every professing 
 Christian, whose faith is not followed 
 out into holy, consistent, persevering 
 action. The faith which saves, is the 
 faith which works, the faith which thus 
 openly and consistently honours God, 
 and which God therefore delighteth to 
 honour. 
 
 Well might an apostle exclaim, ''Shew 
 me thy faith wdthout thy works, and I 
 will shew thee my faith by my works." 
 Be assured, that there is no declaration 
 of the revealed word more true, or more 
 important, than the well-known assertion 
 of the same apostle, that " faith without 
 works is dead;" and dead to all the 
 purposes of his being, and all the hopes 
 of salvation, is that man's heart, which 
 imagines it has received into it a prin- 
 ciple so vital, so influential, so un- 
 ceasingly operative as a true and living 
 faith, and yet contentedly remains at 
 rest, in the midst of God's enemies, and 
 produces no fruit to God's glory. 
 
194 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 Pursuing the history of the Shunam- 
 mite, we next trace her return from the 
 country of the Philistines, after the seven 
 years of predicted famine had passed 
 away, and find her once more a resident 
 in the land of her nativity. 
 
 You will, possibly, remember, that 
 when commenting upon the former 
 portion of her history, we were much 
 struck with the magnanimity of her 
 reply, to the proffered favour of Elisha; 
 " Behold thou hast been careful for us 
 with all this care," were the words of the 
 grateful prophet, " What is to be done 
 for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for 
 to the king, or to the captain of the 
 host? And she answered," with dig- 
 nified contentment, " I dwell among 
 mine own people." 
 
 Perhaps, as we at the time observed, 
 there was some slight feeling of self- 
 complacency mingled with this indif- 
 ference to the offers of courtly patronage 
 and kingly favour ; some little trace of 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 195 
 
 self-satisfaction, while looking round 
 upon her large possessions, and de- 
 claring, that she needed nothing, that 
 the hand of man could bestow. We 
 assert not, that such was the fact, but 
 it is by no means unnatural that it 
 should have been so, and if it were, 
 the time had now^ arrived, which was to 
 teach her, that in this world of strange 
 vicissitudes, no human being is placed 
 so far beyond the reach of accident and 
 change, as to render him independent 
 of the kind offices of his fellow-men, 
 or justify him in being careless of their 
 regards. The very next time we are 
 introduced to the Shunammite, we find 
 her a suitor of that monarch, of whose 
 ^protection she never expected to stand 
 n need. " It came to pass at the seven 
 ears' end, that the woman returned out 
 f the land of the Philistines, and she 
 ent forth to cry unto the king for her 
 ouse and for her land." During her 
 temporary absence, her possessions had 
 
 K 2 
 
196 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 been seized by some encroaching neigh- 
 bour, or some false friend ; and she who 
 but seven years before, is called in 
 Scripture language, " a great woman," 
 might now say with Naomi of old, "I 
 went out full, and the Lord hath brought 
 me home again empty." Happy are 
 they who lay up treasures "where 
 neither rust nor moth doth corrupt, and 
 where thieves do not break through or 
 steal." Blessed are ye, brethren, what- 
 ever be your earthly possessions or 
 advantages, who count them all as 
 nothing, and less than nothing, com- 
 pared with the " inheritance incor- 
 ruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth 
 not away, reserved in heaven for you." 
 That " riches make to themselves wmgs 
 and flee away," is evidenced by the 
 events of every hour which passes over 
 us and yet how few are engaged in 
 endeavouring to fulfil this Divine direc- 
 tion, " I say unto you. Make to your- 
 selves friends of the mammon of un- 
 
LECTURE VIII. 197 
 
 righteousness; that when ye fail, they 
 may receive you into everlasting habita- 
 tions." So employ your wealth, as good 
 stewards of Him, of whom the revealed 
 word hath recorded, " The silver is 
 mine, and the gold is mine, saith the 
 Lord of hosts." ^ It is a duty to which 
 we ought not to require such continual 
 incitements; " freely ye have received, 
 freely give," should be the Christian 
 motto ; and when the claims of the 
 poor, or the wretched, or the ignorant, 
 are urged upon ns, we should not 
 need to have our sympathies awakened, 
 and our feelings excited, and our vanity 
 propitiated, by long and laboured in- 
 tercessions on their behalf. Neither 
 should we too carefully inquire. What 
 have we already contributed ; but what 
 is needed? How greatly has God 
 blessed and prospered me, and what 
 can I bestow out of my fulness, as a 
 proof that at least I am not ungrateful 
 ^ Haggai ii. 8. 
 
198 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 for mercies countless as the sands," 
 with which He has surrounded me. 
 Never did our Divine Master express a 
 truth, with which the heart of every true 
 child of God more entirely sympathizes, 
 than when He said, It is more blessed 
 to give than to receive." 
 
 The Shunammite, as we have seen, 
 was compelled to make application to 
 the king, for the restoration of her pro- 
 perty ; and now observe how remark- 
 ably her suit was prospered, by the 
 superintending providence of God. 
 He, without whom not a sparrow falleth, 
 and by whom the very hairs of our 
 head are all numbered, so appointed it, 
 that the moment of her application 
 should be the most propitious that could 
 have been selected, had she known 
 every movement of the king, and chosen 
 her own hour for an audience. Hear 
 only the simple narration of the inspired 
 historian, and I think you cannot but 
 be struck, by the peculiar providence 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 199 
 
 which attended her. And the king 
 talked with Gehazi, the servant of the 
 man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray 
 thee, all the great things that Elisha 
 hath done. And it came to pass, as 
 he was telling the king how he had 
 restored a dead body to life, that, 
 behold, the woman whose son he had 
 restored to life, cried to the king for her 
 house and for her land." She was thus 
 led by the superintending providence 
 of God, to come into the royal presence 
 with her petition, at the very moment 
 when the cast-off servant of Elisha, was 
 proclaiming the miracle, of which the 
 Shunammite's own child had been the 
 subject. Under such circumstances, who 
 could refuse to do her justice, who could 
 help befriending one, whom heaven had 
 already so befriended ? 
 
 Glad, no doubt, to be corroborated 
 by such an unimpeachable witness, no 
 sooner did the Shunammite enter the 
 presence-chamber, than Gehazi cried 
 
200 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 aloud, " My lord, O king, this is the 
 woman, and this is her son whom Elisha 
 restored to life. And when the king 
 asked the woman, she told him. So 
 the king appointed unto her a certain 
 officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, 
 and all the fruits of the field, since the 
 day that she left the land, even until 
 now." 
 
 Can we refrain from dwelling for a 
 few moments upon the peculiar pro- 
 vidence of God as manifested in this 
 simple history. Some may choose 
 to call it a coincidence, and doubt- 
 less so it is, but when the Christian 
 traces such coincidences throughout 
 the whole of God's revealed word, 
 throughout every passage of his own 
 life, in short, throughout the whole 
 history of man, and when he sees more- 
 over, what incalculably great effects 
 from trivial causes spring, he cannot 
 but acknowledge that all such coinci- 
 dences are the effect of an overruling 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 201 
 
 Providence, directing everything ac- 
 cording to infinite wisdom and infinite 
 power. To believe less than this, to 
 acknowledge, as thousands do, the doc- 
 trine of a general Providence, but to 
 deny that of a particular Providence, 
 to see God's hand in the fall of an 
 empire, but to overlook it in the fall of 
 a sparrow, appears as rational as to 
 believe that the striking of a clock 
 depends upon the hidden springs and 
 wheels and works within, but that the 
 movements of the minute-hand are left 
 entirely to accident and chance. 
 
 No, brethren, be assured, that what- 
 ever view the self-called philosopher 
 may take of these things, the true 
 Christian believes, and delights to 
 believe, that every event, be it great 
 or small (and who shall presume to call 
 any event small, until he has beheld it 
 by the microscopic light of eternity), 
 is directed, or overruled by a Father s 
 superintending care, and ever-watchful 
 
 k3 
 
202 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 love. It is diflflcult, perhaps impos- 
 sible, to prove this to any, but those who 
 have habitually observed, and recorded 
 the providential events, within their own 
 experience, and yet there is one argu- 
 ment which appears so unanswerable, 
 that we cannot refrain from adducing 
 it. If .these coincidences are purely 
 fortuitous, if indeed any circumstances 
 can happen by chance, how is it pos- 
 sible that there should be such a thing as 
 a prediction of future events 1 Would not 
 every prediction be liable to be falsified 
 or frustrated, by any of the ten thousand 
 contingencies which must occur between 
 its utterance and its fulfilment. Surely, 
 this alone, the single fact that all the 
 prophecies of God have been accom- 
 plished to the very day, and to the very 
 letter, is sufficient to demonstrate that 
 what is casual to us, is fore-known to 
 God; that although as regards the 
 secondary causes, they are often and 
 obviously contingent; as regards the 
 
LECTURE VTII. 
 
 203 
 
 primary cause, they are pre-arranged 
 and determined.^ That although ap- 
 parent chances abound, it is only 
 our limited knowledge which occasions 
 them. Take for example the very 
 striking instance of the liberation of 
 the Israelites by Pharaoh. God had 
 predicted that they should tarry in the 
 land of Egypt four hundred and thirty 
 years, and at the end of that period, 
 " even the self-same day," as the his- 
 torian expresses it, " it came to pass, 
 that all the hosts of the Lord went out 
 from the land of Egypt." ^ Pharaoh 
 could not detain them one moment 
 longer, because of God's prediction ; 
 but of this he knew nothing, he would 
 not keep them, because the death of all 
 the first-born in Egypt made him as 
 anxious to speed their departure, as he 
 had been, four-and-twenty hours before, 
 to prevent it. Nothing could appear to 
 the Egyptians, more entirely regulated 
 
 1 See Acts iv. 27? 28. * Exodus xii. 41. 
 
204 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 by chance than the time of this exodus, 
 and yet nothing was, in fact, better 
 known to the faithful Israelites, than 
 that the very day and hour of their 
 departure had been foretold by God to 
 Abraham. Paley has long since, with 
 his usual perspicuity, illustrated, that the 
 appearance of chance always bears an 
 exact proportion to the ignorance of the 
 observer. Thus he says, *'The cast of 
 a die as regularly follows the laws of 
 motion, as the going of a watch : yet 
 because we can trace the operation of 
 those laws through the works and move- 
 ments of the watch, and cannot trace 
 them in the shaking and throwing of 
 the die (though the laws be the same 
 and prevail equally in both cases), we 
 call the turning up of the number of the 
 die, chance, the pointing of the index of 
 the watch, machinery, order, or by some 
 name which excludes chance." Yet the 
 one is as entirely the effect of an estab- 
 lished law as the other, and the result 
 
LECTURE VIII, 
 
 205 
 
 just as certain and iindeviating. What 
 we call chance, therefore, is simply the 
 creation of our own ignorance. For 
 again, ^VOne man travelling to York, 
 meets another man travelling to London. 
 Their meeting is, as we term it, a mere 
 chance, purely accidental ; " and yet it 
 ''was nevertheless hypothetically neces- 
 sary (it could not be otherwise) ; for if 
 the two journeys were commenced at the 
 time, pursued in the direction, and with 
 the speed, in which and with which they 
 were, in fact, begun and performed, the 
 meeting could not be avoided." Thus 
 it is that all which appears accident and 
 chance to us, is regularity and design 
 with God. 
 
 The great lessons we would draw 
 from this view of the doctrine of a 
 particular Providence, are, 1st, To 
 learn to look less to secondary causes ; 
 and, 2dly, To trust God, the Great 
 First Cause, more cordially and more 
 entirely. 
 
206 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 1st. To look less to secondary causes. 
 
 If we indeed believe that our Heavenly 
 Father rules and overrules every event of 
 our lives, are we not ashamed to be so 
 continually distressing ourselves, by re- 
 piningly meditating upon what might 
 have been the result, had the events which 
 led to it, been different from what they 
 were ? Why are we for ever asking our- 
 selves, What would have been the case, 
 had such a course been taken, such a line 
 of conduct adopted; instead of calmly and 
 contentedly, in every event of our lives, 
 after having used the wisdom which God 
 has given us, and committed the event 
 to him, in earnest, faithful, persevering 
 prayer, resting quietly upon his un- 
 broken promise, " Commit thy way 
 unto the Lord, and he shall bring it to 
 
 " 1 
 
 pass. 
 
 2d. The second lesson we would 
 deduce, is to trust God more implicitly. 
 Believing not only that the great out- 
 
 1 Psalm xxxvii. 5. 
 
lecture; VIII. 
 
 207 
 
 lines of our lives are sketched by the 
 hand of our Heavenly Father, but that 
 all the filling up is supplied from the 
 same source, we shall view our position 
 in the world, our station in society, our 
 family blessings and family difficulties, 
 our personal advantages and personal 
 trials, our daily labours and daily com- 
 forts, the trifling events which try our 
 tempers, or exercise our patience, or 
 demonstrate our faith, or call forth our 
 love, as so many little touches, all neces- 
 sary to the completion of the picture, 
 and each put in by the same Almighty 
 hand. 
 
 How eminently comfortable, is the 
 state of mind thus superinduced, even 
 during the darkest and least intelligible 
 of the providences of God. With this 
 belief once firmly established in your 
 mind, you will feel convinced that all is 
 right, and wise, and merciful, in many 
 a dispensation, where you can, perhaps, 
 
208 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 at present see nothing of the intention or 
 design. Attributing all to that God who 
 cannot err, you will follow on in the 
 track which his Providence lays down 
 for you, faithfully and unrepiningly : 
 knowing that it will assuredly issue in 
 good, although when, and where, and 
 how it will terminate, you know not. 
 In this world we are seldom permitted 
 to have more than a side view of a 
 providence, but when we reach the end 
 of our course, and can turn and gaze 
 from the battlements of the celestial city, 
 upon the path we have been traversing, 
 we shall see its face, and be astonished 
 to find, that what we have been following 
 through days of darkness and nights of 
 despondency, as a stranger, and an 
 enemy, has been, indeed, one of our 
 best and dearest friends. 
 
 How will the heart, now broken for 
 sin, and overwhelmed with sorrow, then 
 receive " beauty for ashes, the oil of joy 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 209 
 
 for mourning, the garment of praise for 
 the spirit of heaviness."^ How will the 
 parent, who has grieved over the early 
 departure of those most dear to him, 
 wondering at what he now terms the 
 
 mysterious Providence " which has 
 swept away the young and vigorous 
 branches, while it has left untouched 
 the scathed and feeble stem, then see 
 that the heaviest blasts came laden with 
 the largest portions of love, and were 
 directed by a parent infinitely more 
 tender than himself. 
 
 Could we but now possess one shadowy 
 glimpse of all that we shall plainly see, 
 and perfectly know hereafter, never, 
 never should we repine even at the 
 darkest providence, or harbour one doubt- 
 ful feeling of God's love, even in the 
 most trying, most disappointing moment 
 of our lives. If every earthly hope 
 should fail us, if every friend should 
 deceive us, if every dearly-loved and 
 1 Isaiah Ixi. 3. 
 
210 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 closely-cherished relative lay dead or 
 dying at our feet, the language of our 
 hearts, amidst this wreck of all life's 
 promises, and all its prospects, and all 
 its enjoyments, would still be, It is the 
 Lord, let him do what seemeth him 
 good." ''Even so. Father; for so it 
 seemeth good in thy sight." 
 
211 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 « 
 
 2 Kings viiL 13. 
 
 "AND HAZAEL SAID, BUT WHAT, IS THY SERVANT A 
 DOG, THAT HE SHOULD DO THIS GREAT THING?" 
 
 Continuing the history in which we are 
 engaged, we find Elisha, for the first 
 time, wandering beyond the limits of 
 his native land, and a visitor in the 
 country of the Syrians, his open and 
 declared enemies. 
 
 Benhadad, who was king of Syria at 
 the time when Naaman, the captain of 
 his host, was healed by Elisha, was still 
 the reigning monarch ; but he was at 
 this period suff^ering under great and 
 serious illness. The coming of the 
 prophet into his land, was soon reported 
 
212 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 even in the sick chamber of the king, 
 and he who had witnessed so remarkable 
 an instance of Elisha's miraculous power 
 in the recovery of Naaman, would 
 naturally desire to consult him respect- 
 ing his own. 
 
 Accordingly, we read, that no sooner 
 was it told the king, " saying, the man 
 of God is come hither," than he de- 
 spatched Hazael, one of his chief officers, 
 saying, Take a present in thine hand, 
 and go, meet the man of God, and 
 inquire of the Lord by him, saying, 
 Shall I recover of this disease ?" 
 
 How different a message from that 
 which true wisdom would have dictated. 
 How much more reasonable w^ould it 
 have been to have said, " Go, meet the 
 man of God, and entreat him to heal 
 me." Or, how wiser far, " Go, meet 
 the man of God, and invite him to come 
 and speak to me of the God of Israel." 
 But, alas ! Benhadad possessed not the 
 inclination to be instructed, or the faith 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 213 
 
 to be cured ; he had simply the curiosity ^ 
 to know what would be the result of his 
 malady. Strange, brethren, that it 
 should be so strong a feature in the 
 human mind, to desire to be informed of 
 that which would profit us little if 
 known, and to be indifferent to the only 
 knowledge, which is life eternal." 
 
 Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the 
 kingdom to Israel ?" ''Lord, are there 
 few that be saved ?" were questions from 
 which even the apostles themselves could 
 not refrain ; how many at all times 
 would like to indulge in similar in- 
 quiries ; how few who desire to ask with 
 the same sincerity and earnestness, 
 '' Lord, what shall I do to be saved?" 
 And yet the most explicit answer to the 
 former could only gratify a fruitless 
 curiosity ; while upon the latter, an 
 eternity, yes, absolutely, an eternity, of 
 weal or woe depends. 
 
 Benhadad's messenger departs with 
 the deeply-interesting, but singularly 
 
214 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 unprofitable inquiry of his master. For 
 the historian informs us that Hazael 
 went to meet him (Elisha), and took a 
 present with him, even of every good 
 thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, 
 and came and stood before him, and 
 said, " Thy son Benhadad, King of 
 Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying, 
 Shall I recover of this disease ? " 
 
 " Thy son Benhadad ; " this was 
 widely different language from that with 
 which Elisha would have been greeted, 
 had the bands which this same monarch 
 sent, but a short time since, to arrest him, 
 been successful in capturing the prophet. 
 But Benhadad then was in all the vigour 
 of health, in the full enjoyment of a 
 crown, and with a prospect of its many 
 years' continuance ; a bed of sickness, a 
 strong conviction of the utter insuffi- 
 ciency of worldly help to aid us, a near 
 glimpse of eternity, are powerful cor- 
 rectives, mighty teachers. Brethren, if 
 you would only think of the word of 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 213 
 
 God's ministers, of the duties of God s 
 day, of the importance of God's com- 
 mandments, and, above all, of the in- 
 finite value of God's dear Son, now, as 
 most men think of them upon a sick bed, 
 as, perhaps, you yourselves have there 
 thought of them, the charm of this world 
 would be broken, and, as a bird out of 
 the hand of the fowler, by God's help, 
 your soul would be delivered from those 
 snares by which it is now so fatally en- 
 tangled. Cherish, I beseech you, most 
 prayerfully, most earnestly, the feelings 
 and the resolutions which are implanted 
 in a chamber of sickness. To forget or 
 neglect them with returning health, is 
 one of the most effectual, but, alas ! 
 most common means, of sowing with 
 thorns a dying pillow. 
 
 ''And Elisha said unto him, Go, say 
 unto him. Thou mayest certainly re- 
 cover; howbeit the Lord hath showed 
 me that he shall surely die : " i. e., Ben- 
 hadad may certainly be healed of the 
 
216 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 disease, in which there is nothing 
 mortal, but God hath shown me that he 
 shall die, though from a very different 
 cause. " And he settled his counte- 
 nance steadfastly, until he was ashamed ; 
 and the man of God wept." Hazael 
 settled his countenance in well-feigned 
 regret at this prediction of his master's 
 death, until he quailed beneath the 
 steady gaze of the prophet, who evidently 
 penetrated the flimsy veil of his hy- 
 pocrisy, and made him ashamed of his 
 detected guilt. " And the man of God 
 wept ; " his eye was permitted to foresee 
 the horrors impending upon his native 
 country, and he could no longer refrain 
 from tears. He wept to think of all 
 that Hazael would perpetrate, and all 
 that Israel would suffer. " And Hazael 
 said, Why weepeth my lord? And he 
 answered, Because I know the evil that 
 thou wilt do unto the children of Israel ; 
 their strong-holds wilt thou set on fire, 
 and their young men wilt thou slay with 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 217 
 
 the sword, and wilt dash their children, 
 and rip up their women with child." 
 He wept, therefore, because he foreknew 
 the evil. What a melancholy thing, in 
 almost every case, would be to us a 
 knowledge of the future ! While we 
 dwell in a world of sorrow, sin, and 
 misery, how merciful that God has cast 
 so thick a cloud over the coming hour. 
 None ever yet have been permitted to 
 look beyond it, without dimming the 
 prospect with their tears. Elisha wept 
 over Israel's approaching sufferings ; 
 Jesus himself could not refrain; for, as 
 he descended for the last time from 
 Mount Olivet, his mind filled with the 
 foreknowledge of the desolation of that 
 glorious temple, and the destruction 
 of its wretched worshippers, are we not 
 expressly told, when he beheld the 
 city he wept over it.'* 
 
 Much cause, then, as we have to 
 praise God for our knowledge, we have 
 quite as urgent reason to bless him for 
 
218 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 our ignorance ; for, in a world of suf- 
 fering and of sin, how seldom, how very 
 seldom would prescience and misery be 
 disunited. How often would the mother's 
 heart be filled with sorrow, and her eyes 
 with tears, if, while she pressed her 
 little one to her bosom, she could read 
 in its peaceful and innocent countenance, 
 the trials, the sufferings, and the wretch- 
 edness of the future man ; how often, 
 while the parent watches with joy the 
 first tottering footsteps of the child, 
 would his spirit sink within him, as that 
 dark day passed in sad and sorrowful 
 anticipation before his eyes, when the 
 course of nature should be inverted, and 
 he should follow to the sepulchre the 
 remains of one, whom he fondly hoped 
 would be the comfort and solace of his 
 own declining years; or, even worse 
 than this, when he should live to see 
 him a profligate and a reprobate, every 
 early lesson forgotten, every good ex- 
 ample cast aside ; the fairest prospects 
 
LECTURE IX. 219 
 
 of his youth for ever blighted, and his 
 maturer age dishonoured by a course of 
 reckless dissipation, and hastening the 
 footsteps of those who gave him being, 
 with sorrow to the grave. But why do 
 we particularize ? Where is the festive 
 scene ? where is the social meeting ? 
 where eveto is the domestic and family 
 circle, upon which a knowledge of the 
 future, (we only speak of the future 
 which this world's horizon bounds and 
 limits,) would not cast a deep and 
 gloomy shadow ? Let, then, our praises 
 ascend to God, that all here below, is 
 to us unknown and uncertain ; that if 
 afflictions and distresses, if sorrows and 
 disappointments be gathering around 
 our path, there is no darkening cloud 
 to portend, no ominous howling of the 
 elements to proclaim the coming tempest. 
 But still louder and more heartfelt 
 should be our thanksgivings, that this 
 uncertainty has its boundary, this ig- 
 norance its limit, even though that 
 
 L 2 
 
220 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 boundary and that limit, is the grave* 
 The foreknowledge which would be our 
 bane and curse as regards the events of 
 time, is our highest joy, our strongest 
 consolation, as respects those of eternity. 
 Of the better and nobler things which 
 God has prepared for all who love him, 
 our heavenly Father suffers no ignorance 
 to dull our minds, no uncertainty to mar 
 our prospect; and we, poor children of 
 the dust, whose eye can penetrate but 
 little deeper into the events of the day 
 which passes over us, than the worm we 
 tread upon, can see as angels see, and 
 know with a certainty, that the highest 
 archangel cannot emulate, events which 
 shall befall ns, and blessings which 
 await us, when time itself has ceased to 
 be. Yes, every true child of God is 
 here a prophet, and has inherited the 
 prescience of holy Job, and may say 
 with the same assurance, and the same 
 humble confidence, I also know that 
 my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 221 
 
 stand at the latter day upon the earth ; 
 and though after my skin, worms destroy 
 this body, yet in my flesh shall I see 
 God : while he may, without presump- 
 tion, add with the apostle, Henceforth 
 there is laid up for me a crown of 
 righteousness, which the Lord, the right- 
 eous Judge, shall give me at that day." 
 Here is indeed a foreknowledge, which, 
 God be praised, is offered to all his 
 children, and which consoles, and com- 
 forts, and elevates, while it enlightens 
 and informs. Rest not until it is fully 
 established in your mind, and occupies 
 its proper place within your heart, for 
 nothing short of this can raise you 
 effectually, above the changes and 
 chances of this mortal life," or make 
 you tranquil, cheerful, and resigned, 
 amidst the darkest vicissitudes that may 
 await you. 
 
 Returning to the history, we find that 
 no sooner had Elisha predicted to Ha- 
 zael the enormities of which he should 
 
222 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 shortly be guilty, than with all the 
 astonishment and indignation of sus- 
 pected innocence, Hazael exclaims, But 
 what, is thy servant a dog, that he 
 should do this great thing ? And Elisha 
 answered, The Lord hath shewed me 
 that thou shalt be king over Syria." 
 
 If we can believe, and there is cer- 
 tainly no reason to doubt, that the 
 astonishment of Hazael at this prediction 
 of his own atrocities, was real, what a 
 striking and profitable picture is it of the 
 heart's astounding ignorance of itself! 
 Am I a dog, that I should commit enor- 
 mities, from the mere recital of which 
 my spirit shrinks? Yet this was the 
 man, who, within four-and-twenty hours, 
 was guilty of an act quite equal in horror 
 and in baseness, to any which had so 
 greatly shocked him. Alas ! brethren, 
 how little do we know of our own hearts. 
 And what is the consequence of this? 
 Not only that men are continually falling 
 victims to enemies whom they despise. 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 223 
 
 and temptations which they disregard, 
 but even yet more fatal for their soul's 
 salvation, that they believe not the 
 record which the unerring Word of God 
 gives of them, and thus, a deep con- 
 viction of sin, the very foundation of all 
 true religion, is wanting in their hearts. 
 
 Is the truth of this assertion doubtful ? 
 Then bear with me while I repeat to you 
 some of those humiliating statements 
 which the Bible makes, not of any par- 
 ticular individual, or of any particular 
 class, but of all classes, and of all in- 
 dividuals ; and watch, while I enumerate 
 them, how the recital affects yourselves. 
 Take the well-known declaration of 
 Jeremiah xvii. 9, The heart (speaking 
 of every heart) is deceitful above all 
 things, and desperately wicked." Or, 
 of Ecclesiastes ix. 3, The heart of the 
 sons of men (speaking of all the sons of 
 men) is full of evil." Or, of Christ 
 himself (Matt. xv. 19), " Out of the 
 heart (again referring to every heart) 
 
224 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 proceed evil thoughts^ murders, adul- 
 teries, fornications, thefts, false witness, 
 blasphemies." Or, read seriously from 
 the tenth to the nineteenth verse of the 
 third chapter of the Epistle to the 
 Romans. Now, I w^ould ask you, can- 
 didly. What is the effect upon your own 
 mind, of such declarations as these ? Is 
 it not, in some instances at least, very 
 similar to that produced by Elisha upon 
 the heart of Hazael. Are you not ready 
 to ask with equal surprise and indigna- 
 tion, I a murderer? I an adulterer? I a 
 blasphemer ? Am I a dog, that I should 
 be suspected of atrocities such as these ? 
 
 If the Bible be true, there is no enor- 
 mity of which the unconverted, unrege- 
 nerate man, may not be guilty, when 
 temptation and opportunity are afforded 
 him, and he is left to the uncontrolled 
 domination of his own lusts and appetites. 
 Does your experience contradict this ? 
 Have you never cherished any thoughts, 
 have you never uttered any words, have 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 225 
 
 you never committed any actions, of which 
 you believed yourself incapable, and to 
 every one of which, if predicted, you 
 would have flung out as bold and confi- 
 dent a defiance, as ever Peter did, when 
 he declared in utter ignorance of himself, 
 Though I should die with thee, yet 
 will I not deny thee in any wise," Nay, 
 I would go further than this, and ask, 
 have you never resolved against a temp- 
 tation, and even prayed against it, and 
 yet been overcome by it, within a few 
 hours after you have risen from your 
 knees, in perfect confidence, that you 
 had won the victory ? Sure I am, that this 
 is not merely the experience of an indi- 
 vidual, but of the whole Church of God. 
 If, then, you would be saved from evil, 
 begin by praying that you may know 
 what is evil, by understanding something 
 of the corruption and depravity, the 
 blindness and stubbornness of your own 
 heart. No human being can be ade- 
 quately aware of the extent of these, until 
 
 L 3 
 
 v 
 
 \ 
 
226 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 enlightened by the Spirit of God, to view 
 them as God views them ; not in the 
 horrible maturity of perpetrated sin, as 
 the daily chronicles of crime continually 
 record them, but in the guilty mo- 
 tives, the unholy principles, the tainted 
 thoughts, the impure imaginations from 
 which they flow, and which are all as 
 hateful to God, and as obnoxious to His 
 wrath, as the more frightful, because 
 more ostensible practices, to which, if 
 unrestrained by his Spirit, they are ulti- 
 mately, but surely, tending. 
 
 And may not the people of God find 
 something here, wherewith to profitthem. 
 Do you. Christian brethren, abstain from 
 open sins? Are you unacquainted, prac- 
 tically at least, with gross enormities? 
 Are you able, in some degree, to main- 
 tain a holy consistency, even in the more 
 hidden walk and conversation of the 
 Christian life ? Then, who hath made 
 you to differ from another, or what hast 
 thou, which thou hast not received ? Great 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 227 
 
 indeed will be the outpouring of your 
 gratitude, and zealous and earnest its 
 returns in the sacrifices of praise and 
 thanksgiving, and holy obedience, when 
 you consider what you are, and what you 
 might have been ; nay, what you were, 
 and what you still would be, were it not 
 for God's sovereign grace, to which alone 
 you are indebted for your revival from a 
 death in sin, to a life of holiness here, and 
 of happiness in the eternity which is 
 awaiting you. 
 
 But we must pursue this eventful story 
 to its melancholy close. 
 
 " So Hazael departed from Elisha, 
 and came to his master, who said to him, 
 What said Elisha to thee? And he an- 
 swered, He told me that thou shouldest 
 surely recover." How utterly false and 
 unjustifiable was this reply. Elisha had 
 certainly said that Benhadad might re- 
 cover, but he had never said he should 
 do so; he had distinctly declared that he 
 should surely die." This falsehood, 
 
228 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 however, was only the first step in the 
 downward career of guilt, which the 
 prophet had predicted, and which, as 
 usual, darkened as it advanced. 
 
 No doubt the intention of Hazael was 
 to blind Benhadad to his danger. For 
 had he repeated truly the prophet's mes- 
 sage, in all probability the sick man 
 would have sent, not ''forty camels' load 
 of every good thing in Damascus," but 
 four hundred, if he might but have pre- 
 vailed upon Elisha to do for him, what he 
 had done for Naaman. But Hazael had 
 a very different project, and he must lull 
 his victim into a false security, that he 
 might encounter no difficulty, and lose 
 no time in carrying it into effect. 
 
 How often does Satan, even at the pre- 
 sent hour, practise precisely the same 
 cunning and destructive stratagem. Is 
 the sick man terrified at the thought of 
 approaching dissolution, Satan dreads 
 lest this be followed by a heartfelt cry 
 for mercy, a strong, deep feeling of re- 
 
LECTURE IX, 
 
 229 
 
 pentance, and like Hazael, he whispers 
 in his ear, ''Thou shalt surely recover;" 
 this sickness is not unto death, be not 
 alarmed, all will yet be well. Is the 
 sinner partially awakened to a sense of 
 his own dreadful situation? does he see 
 the opening gulf which his sins have 
 prepared for him? does he fear the justly 
 awakened anger of God which he has so 
 long despised? the same false and delud- 
 ing comforter is present to assuage his 
 fears, and calm his apprehension, '* Thou 
 shalt not surely die, for God doth know" 
 that thou art not so bad as thousands 
 around thee ; dismiss, therefore, thy 
 fears, " eat, drink, and be merry." 
 
 Brethren, beware of the tempter, under 
 what form soever he present himself, but 
 fear him most of all when he counterfeits 
 the Comforter, when disguised as an angel 
 of light he would carry peace and conso- 
 lation to your heart. It is like Hazael, 
 only that he may the easier stifle your 
 cry for pardon, and smother the con vie- 
 
230 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 tions which are perhaps for the first time 
 struggling into life within your bosom. 
 
 Resist the devil, and he will flee from 
 you," Listen to him, and he will destroy 
 you. Be not thus robbed of what may 
 be to you your last, your only hope. Be 
 not, I beseech you, thus fooled out of a 
 soul's salvation. Let your earnest, heart- 
 felt cries ascend to that mercy-seat where 
 prayer was never yet in vain. Ask for 
 that Spirit who can alone convert the 
 heart. Plead powerfully with that Saviour 
 who is the sinner's friend, whose blood 
 cleanseth from all guilt, who ''hath life 
 in himself, and quickeneth whom he 
 will." Nothing can keep you from him, 
 unless you permit Satan to harden your 
 heart, to postpone your repentance, to 
 suffocate your prayers. 
 
 '' And it came to pass on the morrow, 
 that Hazael took a thick cloth, and dipped 
 it in water, and spread it on Benhadad's 
 face, so that he died." 
 
 Hazael's lie, therefore, was abundantly 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 231 
 
 successful. Benhadad's fears were calmed^ 
 his apprehensions quieted, he no longer 
 desired to see the prophet, he no further 
 doubted as to the result ; his anxieties 
 were succeeded by a peaceful and gentle 
 repose; and his friend, the man who was 
 indebted to him for all that he possessed 
 of worldly rank and affluence, the man 
 whom the king delighted to honour, and 
 placed at his own right hand, converted, 
 in one guilty moment, that sleep of 
 peace into the sleep of death. 
 
 " And Hazael reigned in his stead," is 
 the brief and only comment of Holy 
 Writ. The benefactor dies a violent 
 death, and the murderer becomes a pros- 
 perous and successful king. 
 
 Brethren, if it were only for cases such 
 as these, and history is full, and human 
 life, alas, even at the present hour, is not 
 destitute of them, a disbelief in a future 
 state, and in that Saviour who alone can 
 make it, to us, a blessed and a happy 
 one, w^ould " dim the stars above our 
 
232 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 heads, and wither the very grass at our 
 feet." 
 
 But there is a day coming, when all 
 these difficulties will be solved, and all 
 these discrepancies reconciled ; when the 
 great white throne shall descend, and he 
 who sits thereon, shall judge the world 
 in righteousness," every man according 
 as his works have been. The murderer 
 will then again stand face to face with 
 his victim, whose very look will be his 
 condemnation ; the betrayer of innocence, 
 the dishonest, the false, the profane, the 
 Sabbath-breaker, all and each will call 
 upon the rocks to cover them, and the 
 mountains to hide them from the face of 
 Him who sitteth upon the throne. But 
 on that day, they shall call in vain ; it 
 will be a day of unerring judgment, of 
 inexorable justice, of uncompromising 
 retribution. Well might the prophet ask, 
 " But who may abide the day of his 
 coming? and who shall stand when he 
 appeareth?" Blessed be God, that His 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 233 
 
 Word has not left us without an answer. 
 For we may with humble confidence re- 
 ply. Every sinner who has washed his 
 robes and made them white in the blood 
 of the Lamb. Every contrite soul who 
 has fled for refuge to the hope set before 
 him in the Gospel ; every believer who 
 has laid hold, with firm and steady hand, 
 upon the horns of the altar, whence the 
 blood of atonement freely flowed, and 
 whence the offers of salvation are as freely 
 sounded. Saul, the murderer and blas- 
 phemer, did not sue in vain. The guiltiest 
 among ourselves is not excluded ; for 
 with broken-hearted penitence, and living 
 faith, he may seek and find, even now, a 
 pardon there. " Thanks be unto God 
 for his unspeakable gift."^ 
 
234 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 2 Kings ix. 36. 
 
 "THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD, WHICH HE SPAKE 
 BY HIS SERVANT ELIJAH THE TISHBITE." 
 
 At the commencement of the course of 
 lectures ha which we are engaged, we 
 were informed, at the period of the first 
 calling of Elisha, of the objects for which 
 he was chiefly set apart for the prophe- 
 tical office. The words of the Almighty 
 to the prophet Elijah were as follow, 
 " Anoint Hazael to be king over Syria ; 
 and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou 
 anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha 
 the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah 
 shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy 
 room." It was, then, as prophet in the 
 room of Elijah, that Elisha was to fulfil 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 235 
 
 those duties of the elder seer, which his 
 translation into the presence of his Divine 
 Master, precluded him from performing 
 himself. 
 
 Of these high and important beTiests, 
 but one now remained unaccomplished, 
 ''Jehu, the son of Nimshi, shalt thou 
 anoint to be king over Israel and as 
 Elisha was fast sinking into the vale of 
 years, and the fulness of time had doubt- 
 less arrived, it behoved him " to do the 
 will of Him who sent him," and to finish 
 his work, that he might be ready for his 
 own approaching summons into the king- 
 dom and joy of his Lord. 
 
 Seven years had passed away, since.he 
 had journeyed, with all the energy of 
 youth, into Syria, to proclaim to Hazael 
 that the Lord had shewed him that he 
 should be king over Syria. These seven 
 years had made great inroads upon 
 Elisha's strength and activity, and he 
 was no longer able in person to under- 
 take the journey to Ramoth-gilead, but 
 
236 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 remaining quietly in his distant home, 
 perhaps in his prophet's chamber on the 
 wall, deputed a younger and more able re- 
 presentative to achieve the high and im- 
 portant enterprise. Deeply trying must 
 it have been to the prophet thus to trans- 
 act by the hands and mouth of another, 
 what he would doubtless far more will- 
 ingly have performed in his own person, 
 and with his own -lips ; how trying, none 
 can tell, but those who are similarly pre- 
 vented from personally fulfilling the 
 duties of their respective stations, be 
 they what they may. But, brethren, 
 when those duties are, in an especial 
 manner, duties due to God, when those 
 services are peculiarly to be wrought for 
 him, it is difficult to express the feelings 
 of heart-felt sorrow and regret with 
 which we resign them into other, even 
 though we be persuaded, into better 
 hands than our own. It is painful, 
 deeply painful for the Christian, and 
 especially for the Christian minister, to 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 237 
 
 feel, how short the time is, in which, under 
 the happiest circumstances, he can work 
 for God! True, he hopes to spend an 
 eternity in His presence, a sabbath of joy 
 and rest and praise ; but he knows not, 
 he cannot know, but that when his three- 
 score years and ten have terminated — 
 and how much shorter is the period 
 allotted to most, his work-days will be 
 over; never again shall he enjoy the 
 privilege of labouring for God, and of 
 extending his kingdom ; never again shall 
 he find enemies, whom love may soften ; 
 ignorant, whom instruction may teach ; 
 poor, whom benevolence may aid ; bre- 
 thren, whom encouragement may comfort; 
 broken and contrite hearts, which in the 
 name and by the help of his God, he may 
 bind up. These are privileges which the 
 holiest can scarcely resign without a 
 sigh, for they are services in which an 
 angel might delight, and the highest 
 archangel desire to participate. Lose 
 not then the lesson so obviously taught 
 by these reflections, ''Whatsoever thy 
 
238 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; 
 for there is no work, nor device, nor 
 knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, 
 whither thoii goest."' 
 
 "And Elisha the prophet called one 
 of the children of the prophets, and 
 said unto him. Gird up thy loins, and 
 take this box of oil in thine hand, and 
 go to Ramoth-gilead : and when thou 
 comest thither, look out there Jehu the 
 son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, 
 and go in, and make him arise up from 
 among his brethren, and carry him into 
 an inner chamber ; then take the box of 
 oil, and pour it on his head, and say. 
 Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed 
 thee king over Israel." 
 
 There is something very impressive in 
 the thought of this consecrated prophet 
 of the Most High, living in utter ob- 
 scurity, indebted perhaps to the charity 
 of a holy woman, for a roof to shelter 
 him from the inclemency of the weather, 
 and yet thus disposing of crowns and 
 1 Eccl. ix, 10. 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 239 
 
 kingdoms, as if he were among the 
 highest potentates of the earth. 
 
 So does it please the Almighty some- 
 times, openly and unanswerably to de- 
 monstrate the truth of his own declara- 
 tion, '^By me kings reign, and princes 
 decree justice." 
 
 But, brethren, does this astonish you ? 
 You shall see greater things than these. 
 For thus, at all times, God hath 
 chosen the foolish things of the world 
 to confound the wise ; and God hath 
 chosen the weak things of the world 
 to confound the things which are 
 mighty ; and base things of the world, 
 and things which are despised, hath 
 God chosen ; yea, and things which are 
 not, to bring to nought things that are ; 
 that no flesh should glory in his pre- 
 sence."^ The same Almighty potentate 
 who in the olden dispensation, thus dis- 
 tributed temporal crowns and worldly 
 glorieSj by the hands of the most in- 
 1 1 Cor. i. 27. 
 
240 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 considerable of the sons of men, to show 
 that the Lord alone ruleth in the king- 
 doms of the earth ; still continues, even 
 at the present moment, to offer eternal 
 crowns and never-dying glories, through 
 the same weak and feeble instruments, to 
 prove that He alone ruleth in the king- 
 dom of heaven. ' ' We have this treasure 
 in earthen vessels," writes the Apostle, 
 " that the excellency of the power may 
 be of God, and not of us." ^ The feeblest 
 and least honoured among the servants 
 of God, he who dwelling in an ob- 
 scurity from which he desires not to 
 emerge, utterly unknown to the great and 
 wealthy and powerful of the earth, may 
 be and often is, the blessed instrument 
 of assisting in accomplishing the number 
 of God's elect, and in filling up the 
 mansions of the heavenly house, and in 
 preparing the heirs of immortality for 
 crowns of glory, when those of earth 
 shall have faded for ever from our view. 
 1 2 Cor. iv. 7. 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 241 
 
 But, brethren, did Jehu express his 
 gratitude to the prophet for his earthly 
 crown? Will you thank that servant 
 for your heavenly inheritance ? I trow 
 not. For God, and God alone, shall be 
 exalted in that day. You deprive your- 
 selves of the benefit of the lesson, you 
 subvert the very principle upon which 
 the Almighty acts, if you, even for a 
 moment, lose sight of this great scrip- 
 tural truth, or unduly exalt the dignity 
 of the messenger. 
 
 I do not forget that St. Paul says, 
 " Inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the 
 Gentiles^ I magnify mine office."^ But 
 neither can I help recollecting that the 
 same Apostle elsewhere very significantly 
 asks, ''Who then is Paul, and who is 
 Apollos, but ministers by whom ye be- 
 lieved, even as the Lord gave to 
 every man? I have planted, Apollos 
 watered, but God gave the increase. So 
 then neither is he that planteth any- 
 * Rom. xi. 13. 
 
 M 
 
242 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 thing, neither he that watereth ; but God 
 that giveth the increase." The Almighty 
 selects the lowest and the feeblest in- 
 struments, purposely that it may be 
 utterly impossible to measure the 
 apparent causes, by the real effects. 
 The Church, the sacraments, the 
 ministry, what are they all, but in 
 themselves weak and powerless means, 
 and yet absolutely omnipotent, when 
 in the hands of an Almighty God, for 
 the regeneration of a world? Bear 
 this in mind, and you cannot but feel 
 extremely jealous of the great and 
 laborious effort making, at the present 
 day, unduly to magnify these means, and 
 to exalt these instruments. However gra- 
 tifying it may be to natural pride, or to 
 spiritual pride, and in all ages of the 
 Church it has proved itself to be so, thus 
 to magnify the sacerdotal office, I believe 
 it will be found, in the end, to injure 
 even the cause which it is expected to 
 subserve, to debase the Church itself, 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 243 
 
 by endeavouring unduly to elevate it, 
 and most assuredly not to promote the, 
 honour and glory of God. For in 
 proportion as men exalt the outward 
 and visible means, however holy those 
 means may be, they are, perhaps, in- 
 voluntarily, but surely led to depress the 
 inward and spiritual grace. Thus it may 
 be incontestably proved from the history 
 of Romanism, that the natural course 
 is this : by unscripturally exalting sa- 
 craments, we lower the Lord of the 
 sacraments; by exalting authoritative 
 and traditional exposition of God's 
 word, we diminish men's estimation of 
 that blessed word itself; we may begin, 
 as the Romish Church began, by over- 
 estimating the servant, and we shall 
 end, as she has ended, by compa- 
 ratively overlooking the Master; the 
 only mediator, overshadowed and lost 
 amid a crowd of saintly coadjutors, 
 until at length religion becomes a mere 
 code of forms and ordinances, excluding 
 
 M 2 
 
244 LECTURE X. 
 
 all close and spiritual intercourse with 
 the Father of our spirits, all holy fel- 
 lowship and communion with the ever- 
 blessed Comforter, and all personal and 
 sensible union with the only-begotten 
 Son.» 
 
 1 1 am glad to be able to corroborate this view of 
 the effect of the newly-revived opinions, as deve- 
 loped by the writers of the " Tracts for the Times," 
 &c., by the following valuable extract from the 
 last' Charge of the Lord Bishop of Chester :^ 
 « Many subjects present themselves, towards which 
 I might be tempted to direct your thoughts. One 
 more especially concerns the Church at present, 
 because it is daily assuming a more serious and 
 alarming aspect, and threatens a revival of the 
 worst evils of the Romish system. Under the 
 specious pretence of deference to antiquity, and 
 respect for primitive models, the foundations of our 
 Protestant Church are undermined by men who 
 dwell within her walls, and those who sit in the 
 Reformers' seat are traducing the Reformation. 
 It is again becoming matter of question whether 
 the Bible is sufficient to make man wise unto 
 salvation; the main article of our national con- 
 fession, justification by faith, is both openly and 
 covertly assailed; and the stewards of the mysteries 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 245 
 
 I would not, God forbid that I should, 
 by these remarks, lead you to disparage 
 your Church, your sacraments, your 
 ministers, neither did our Lord teach 
 you to disregard the claims of the 
 relative duties, when He hesitated not 
 to say, " If any man hate not his father 
 and mother, he cannot be my disciple ; " 
 but I would, by God's help, lead you 
 to view the holiest of these outworks of 
 religion, but as outworks still, and to 
 use them all, only as approaches to the 
 shechinah which for ever shines within ; 
 that you may there find in close and 
 intimate communion with God, that 
 strength and wisdom for this world's 
 calls upon you, and that purity of heart, 
 and that oneness with the Lord Jesus 
 Christ and resemblance to himself, 
 
 of God are instructed to reserve the truths which 
 they have been ordained to dispense, and to hide 
 under a bushel those doctrines which the apostles 
 were commanded to preach to every creature." — 
 Bishop of Chester's Charge, 1838, p. 2. 
 
246 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 which shall be your surest safeguard 
 here, your highest joy, and greatest 
 blessedness, when you enter into the 
 kingdom of your Father. 
 
 Proceeding with the history, we find 
 that the young prophet, the representa- 
 tive of Elisha, tarried not a moment in 
 fulfilling the important commission with 
 which he was charged. He journeyed 
 at once to Ramoth-gilead, and finding 
 Jehu seated in the midst of his oflftcers, 
 he called him forth into an inner- 
 chamber, and pouring the oil upon his 
 head, said unto him, " Thus saith the 
 Lord, I have anointed thee king over 
 the people of the Lord, even over 
 Israel ; " adding, that the great purpose 
 for which he was thus called to the 
 throne of his master was, that he might 
 execute the justice of the Lord upon the 
 guilty family of Ahab. 
 
 And now, brethren, I must call your 
 attention to one of the most remarkable, 
 and most accurately fulfilled predictions, 
 ever spoken by the mouth of the Lord. 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 247 
 
 God had said, by the word of Elijah 
 the prophet, to Ahab, king of Israel, 
 on the day when he met him walking in 
 the vineyard of Naboth, which he had 
 procured by perjury and bloodshed, 
 " In the place where dogs licked the 
 blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy 
 blood, even thine," ^ and had added after- 
 wards in the hearing of Jehu, ^^And I 
 will requite thee in this plat,"^ in the 
 very vineyard which he had coveted, 
 and taken possession of, Ahab had, 
 however, humbled himself before the 
 threatenings of God, and in conse- 
 quence, God had said, In his son's 
 days will I bring the evil upon his 
 house." It was now about to be shown 
 that God had not spoken in vain. 
 
 Jehoram, the son of Ahab, the king of 
 Israel, having been wounded in a contest 
 with Hazael, king of Syria, was sojourn- 
 ing for a short time in Jezreel, the very 
 town at the outskirts of which lay the 
 fatal vineyard, the plat of ground which 
 1 1 Kings xxi. 19. ^2 Kings ix. 26. 
 
248 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 God had declared should witness Ahab's 
 punishment, as it had aforetime beheld 
 his iniquity and wrong. No sooner, then, 
 had the trumpets sounded in Ramoth- 
 gilead, and the voice of the heralds pro- 
 claimed, '^Jehu is king," than we are 
 informed that the first words he uttered 
 were, If it be your minds, then let none 
 escape out of the city, to go to tell it in 
 Jezreel." It was not enough that he 
 should overcome Jehoram, and put him 
 to death, but it must be there, in the 
 very spot, disgraced by the crimes of his 
 family, and pre-doomed of God. So 
 Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to 
 Jezreel. And there stood a watchman 
 on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the 
 company of Jehu as he came, and said, 
 I see a company. And Joram said. Take 
 an horseman, and send to meet them, 
 and let him say. Is it peace ? So there 
 went one to meet him, and said. Thus 
 saith the king. Is it peace ? And Jehu 
 said. What hast thou to do with peace ? 
 turn thee behind me. And the watch- 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 249 
 
 man told, saying, The messenger came to 
 them, but he cometh not again." Surely 
 this was warning sufficient, and more 
 than sufficient, for Jehoram to have fled 
 from the fate that awaited him ; but it 
 was a warning thrown away. Again he 
 sent another messenger, and again he 
 saw, from the still distant watch-tower, 
 that he returned no more. Yet the 
 second warning passed unheeded by. 
 Then, the watchman, every moment 
 bringing the advancing party nearer to 
 the walls, exclaimed, The driving is 
 like the driving of Jehu the son of 
 Nimshi ; for he^riveth furiously." This 
 third warning also was disregarded. 
 
 The judicially blinded monarch or- 
 dered his chariot to be made ready, but 
 instead of flying in the opposite direction, 
 as all wisdom and all prudence dictated, 
 he actually goes to meet Jehu, and thus 
 rushes upon his predicted fate. And 
 where did he meet him ? In what spot 
 did they encounter? He ''met him," 
 
 M 5 
 
 I 
 
250 LECTURE X. 
 
 says the inspired historian, in the por- 
 tion of Naboth the Jezreelite." Had he 
 proceeded at once towards him, without 
 thus sending messenger after messenger, 
 he would have met him far beyond that 
 portion : had he any longer delayed, he 
 would, like Jezebel, have been found 
 within the city ; but he started, however 
 unconsciously, however to him accident- 
 ally, at the very moment that should 
 bring him to the spot, which the Lord 
 had long since appointed for his place of 
 execution. 
 
 The very instant that he beheld Jehu, 
 ''he turned his hands and fled," but it 
 was then too late. " And Jehu drew a 
 bow with his full strength, and smote 
 Jehoram between his arms; and the 
 arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk 
 down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to 
 Bidkar his captain, Take up and cast 
 him in the portion of the field of Naboth 
 the Jezreelite ; for remember how that, 
 when I and thou rode together after 
 
LECTURE X. 251 
 
 Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden 
 upon him; Surely I have seen yesterday 
 the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his 
 sons, saith the Lord ; and I will requite 
 thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now, 
 therefore, take and cast him into the plat 
 of ground, according to the word of the 
 Lord." 
 
 And as it happened to Jehoram, so 
 also it happened to his mother Jezebel. 
 It appears that she usually resided in 
 Samaria, but she also had come down to 
 Jezreel, probably to attend upon her 
 wounded son. Both, therefore, were 
 providentially in the place appointed. 
 Now it had been foretold as plainly, that 
 Jezebel should die in the town, as that 
 Jehoram should be destroyed in the vine- 
 yard; for God had distinctly said, ''The 
 dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall," or, in 
 the ditch " of Jezreel."^ She, therefore, 
 equally unconsciously, and we may add^ 
 
 1 2 Kings xxi. 23. 
 
252 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 equally against all probability, promoted 
 its fulfilment. She remained in the 
 watch-tower, when her son left it, but 
 she remained only to suffer a still more 
 degrading fate. At the command of 
 Jehu, she was thrown from the window 
 into the ditch which ran round the city, 
 and when a few hours after, they went, 
 by his orders, to bury her, he himself, 
 therefore, apparently forgetful of the very 
 prophecy he was fulfilling, they found 
 no more of her than the skull, and the 
 feet, and the palms of her hands. Where- 
 fore they came again and told him." 
 Now, observe how unconsciously is man 
 the instrument in fulfilling the word of 
 the Lord. And he said (recollecting the 
 prediction only by its accomplishment). 
 This is the word of the Lord, which he 
 spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, 
 saying, In the portion of Jezreel, shall 
 dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel. And the 
 carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon 
 the face of the field in the portion of Jez- 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 253 
 
 reel ; so that they shall not say (or not 
 be able to say). This is Jezebel." 
 
 Such is the close of this eventful story. 
 So accurately, so literally were both these 
 predictions fulfilled. 
 
 Let us inquire, brethren, what is the 
 great lesson to be derived from them ? Is 
 it not this, that whenever, be the subject 
 what it may, we can with truth declare, 
 
 This is the word of the Lord which he 
 spake," that word is absolutely certain of 
 accomplishment, though all the powers of 
 earth or hell conspire against it. 
 
 There is one class of persons, to be found 
 probably in all congregations, although, 
 we trust, forming a very small minority in 
 our own, upon whom we could desire 
 especially to impress this great and 
 powerfully influential truth. They who 
 are living in disregard of the threatenings 
 of the Most High. 
 
 Observe, I entreat you, observe care- 
 fully the incident before you. Years had 
 passed away between the threatening 
 
254 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 and its fulfilment ; yet nothing that had 
 intervened, could avail to traverse the 
 will of God, or disarrange its most com- 
 plete and literal accomplishment. And 
 can you doubt but that God, who if we 
 may so express it, so studiously, so care- 
 fully provided for the fulfilment of his 
 own word, as regarded these threatenings 
 and these individuals, will not as cer- 
 tainly ensure the accomplishment of every 
 threatening and against every individual ? 
 I know not a more fearful or a more 
 painful thought, than the inevitable cer- 
 tainty of God's predicted judgments. If 
 the impenitent sinner could only read 
 the records of days gone by ; if the man 
 who has never yet fled to the Rock that 
 is higher than we, and sought pardon 
 from an offended God through the blood 
 of Jesus, would only observe the manner 
 in which every threatened evil that God 
 has spoken, has infallibly come to pass, 
 he would not be able to rest in his bed 
 this night, until he had sought and found 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 255 
 
 a Saviour. But, perhaps, some are still 
 sheltering themselves under the idea that 
 there is no express malediction, at least 
 no personal denunciation as regards them- 
 selves, and that these, therefore, are not 
 legitimate deductions from the subject 
 before us. Surely, to such persons we 
 may apply our Lord's words and say, 
 Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, 
 nor the power of God." For what can 
 be more strictly personal to ourselves, 
 than such declarations as these : Know 
 ye not that the unrighteous shall not 
 inherit the kingdom of God? Be not 
 deceived : neither fornicators, nor idola- 
 ters, nor adulterers, nor abusers of them- 
 selves with mankind, nor thieves, nor 
 covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, 
 nor extortioners, shall inherit the king- 
 dom of God."^ It is true no names are 
 mentioned here, but characters are names ; 
 and may not this be as personal to some 
 among us, as if our names were as plainly 
 1 1 Cor. vi. 9. 
 
256 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 inscribed as those of Jehoram or Jezebel ? 
 The apostle, while addressing the fearful 
 catalogue to his converts, adds plainly and 
 unhesitatingly, " And such were some of 
 you." It is not for uninspired man to 
 imitate this example. But we may, 
 without any breach of Christian charity, 
 say. And such may be some of us. At 
 any rate, we dare not say, And such are 
 none of us. If there be, then, but one 
 individual who finds himself, i.e. his 
 own character or habits, among those 
 enumerated, let him lay well to heart 
 the incident we have this morning been 
 considering. We would say to him, not 
 harshly, but affectionately ; in denounc- 
 ing these sinners, God has by your own 
 confession denounced you. And God 
 never yet uttered a denunciation that 
 was not, or shall not be, most literally 
 fulfilled. It is then certain, that not an 
 individual whose character is there pour- 
 tray ed can inherit the kingdom of God, 
 for this threatening is the word of the 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 257 
 
 Lord, which he spake by his servant " 
 Paul the apostle. 
 
 Again, God has said by the mouth of 
 the same servant, ''He that soweth to 
 his flesh shall of the flesh reap corrup- 
 tion/' and " If any man love not the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema 
 Maran-atha," — accursed before Him at 
 his coming. Are we all clear from these 
 maledictions ? Is no one among us "sow- 
 ing to the flesh," living only for the gra- 
 tification of the passing hour, cherishing 
 the flesh, instead of crucifying it, with 
 its sinful afi*ections and lusts? so absorbed 
 in obtaining or enjoying the good things 
 of this present evil world, that God and 
 His glory, Christ and his kingdom, our 
 souls and their eternity, are forgotten, or 
 uninfluential themes ? Or, do we all so 
 love, or desire to love, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that not one among us falls under 
 this most solemn imprecation ? 
 
 Brethren, these are no trifling inquiries^ 
 
258 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 when you see, as you have this day seen, 
 the certain punishment of the guilty, that 
 no single threatening which God has ever 
 directed his servants to utter, can fall 
 harmless to the ground. And yet God 
 leaves not the culprit without warnings ; 
 thrice he warned Jehoram, though with- 
 out effect. He warned the old world by 
 the preaching of Noah ; he warned the 
 sons-in-law of Lot bv the words of their 
 father. He warned the impenitent Jews 
 by the mouth of his beloved Son ; and 
 has He never warned or threatened you ? 
 Have you never been laid upon a bed of 
 sickness ? That was a warning. Have 
 you never followed to the grave a be- 
 loved wife, or husband, or parent, or 
 child? That was a warning. Has the 
 Holy Spirit never carried to your heart, 
 it may be but for a passing moment, some 
 striking text, or some solemn discourse ? 
 Then also was that a warning. If you 
 could say, which you doubtless cannot. 
 
LECTURE X* 
 
 259 
 
 that you never were on any previous 
 occasion in your whole life, warned by 
 God, you have been warned to-day, you 
 are warning now. 
 
 Would to God that he might, in 
 mercy, go further still than this, that He 
 might not only warn, but enforce His 
 warning ; not only threaten, but this day 
 induce you to believe His threatening ; 
 not only show you the terrors of His 
 wrath, but this moment reveal to you 
 the unbounded mercies of His love ; 
 opening to every threatened sinner 
 a way to escape, and vouchsafing to 
 every contrite soul an interest in the 
 cleansing blood and justifying righteous- 
 ness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
 may we not hope that He will do 
 so ? For, are the threatenings of the 
 Almighty certain, and can His promises 
 be uncertain ? Shall nothing prevent 
 the fulfilment of the former, and shall 
 anything intervene to hinder the accom- 
 plishment of the latter ? No ; in the Ian- 
 
260 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 guage of an apostle, '^As God is true 
 . . . all the promises of God in him 
 (Christ Jesus) are Yea, and in him 
 Amen ; " fixed, unchangeably, unaltera- 
 bly, and for ever. And one of those 
 blessed promises is, My word shall not 
 return unto me void, but it shall accom- 
 plish that whereto I send it." The blood 
 of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." 
 What would you seek, what would you 
 desire, which is not included here ? The 
 child's first sin in infancy, the hoary 
 sinner's last crime in decrepid age, all 
 are within the range of the promise, all 
 come within the scope of the blessed de- 
 claration. None need doubt, none need 
 hesitate; the very assurance which it has 
 been the object of this discourse to estab- 
 lish, as regards the threatenings of God, 
 applies with tenfold force, yea, with ten 
 thousandfold force to his promises, Al- 
 mighty to destroy, Almightiest to save." 
 If there be one convinced and convicted 
 sinner before God this day, one who is 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 261 
 
 conscious of practices such as we have 
 enumerated, one who is destitute of that 
 knowledge and that love to the Saviour, 
 of which we have spoken, and who is 
 willing now, in the da}' of God's power, 
 to cry for mercy, to ask for God's Holy 
 Spirit, that he may be enabled to seek 
 in heartfelt penitence and faith the Sa- 
 viour of the world ; to him we say, and 
 we say it at God's command and in God's 
 own words, '^Though your sins be as 
 scarlet, they shall be white as snow ; 
 though they be red like crimson, they 
 shall be as wool ; " though you have 
 hitherto been an alien and an outcast, 
 come thus to the blood of Christ, forsak- 
 ing sin, and you shall be received this 
 hour as a welcomed penitent, a pardoned 
 sinner, an acknowledged and adopted 
 son. For this also is among the never- 
 broken promises of our God, Him that 
 Cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast 
 out." 
 
263 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 2 Kings xiit. 14. 
 
 ''NOW ELISHA HAD FALLEN SICK OF HIS SICKNESS 
 WHEREOF HE DIED. AND JOASH THE KING OF ISRAEL 
 CAME DOWN UNTO HIM, AND WEPT OVER HIS FACE, 
 AND SAID, O MY FATHER, MY FATHER I THE CHARIOT 
 OF ISRAEL, AND THE HORSEMEN THEREOF." 
 
 We this day arrive at the close of the 
 eventful history which it has been my 
 endeavour plainly and simply to bring 
 before you. I trust, by the aid of the 
 good Spirit of our God, that the effort 
 has not been utterly in vain; but that 
 some features in the portraiture of so 
 holy a man of God may have made that 
 deep and abiding impression upon our 
 hearts, which was intended by the his- 
 torian who was commanded to record 
 them. 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 263 
 
 The last scene of the prophet's life is 
 very briefly narrated by the inspired 
 penman ; and such is usually the case in 
 the book of God; with the exceptions 
 of Jacob, Joseph, and David, there is 
 scarcely an example in which any par- 
 ticulars of a death-bed are recorded ; 
 there are more than twenty instances in 
 each of which the solemn event is de- 
 spatched in the original in a single 
 word, and " he died as if to teach us 
 that it is comparatively of small import- 
 ance in what manner men die. The 
 question is. How have they lived ? It is 
 not, what are the frames and feelings, 
 often greatly deceptive, which manifest 
 themselves during the last few painful, 
 and it may be, almost delirious hours of 
 mortal sickness, that will, generally 
 speaking, avail any of us ; the serious 
 consideration is, what is the state of our 
 hearts, what are the words of our mouths, 
 the actions of our lives, while health and 
 
264 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 Strength are our own, and the fear of 
 death is distant ? 
 
 If men would only look at these im- 
 portant features now, with the feelings 
 with which they will one day view them ; 
 if they would only examine themselves 
 now, with half the anxiety, the self-suspi- 
 cion, the misgivings, with which they 
 will scrutinize their conduct when the 
 last great enemy approaches, and the 
 veil now hanging between them and the 
 eternal world is slowly drawing up ; how 
 different would be the apprehension of 
 our hearers. How much more agreeable 
 the office of the preacher. Instead of 
 having frequently to remind you of un- 
 pleasant truths, of awful threatenings, of 
 dark forebodings, of a doubtful or a dreary 
 eternity, we should only be, as the apos- 
 tles were to many among their converts, 
 ^' ministers by whom ye believed," and 
 elpers of your joy." Our far more 
 pleasing duty would then be to comfort 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 God s people, to cry aloud, " Lift up 
 your hearts;" to remind you of your 
 privileges; to impress upon you your 
 blessedness ; to endeavour to render you 
 more and more meet for the high, and 
 holy, and glorious inheritance awaiting 
 you. But we shall return to this subject 
 at a later period of our discourse. 
 
 The only particular of the last hours 
 of Elisha, which the historian has be- 
 queathed to us, is the visit paid him by 
 the monarch of the country in which he 
 dwelt. Now Elisha," says the Word 
 of God, was fallen sick of his sickness 
 whereof he died. And Joash the king 
 of Israel came down unto him, and wept 
 over his face, and said, 0 my father, my 
 father, the chariot of Israel, and the 
 horsemen thereof." 
 
 There is something in the departure 
 of the good and wise, which often power- 
 fully affects the feelings, and calls forth 
 the sympathies even of the thoughtless 
 and indiflferent. No very great regard 
 
 N 
 
266 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 may have been paid to their instructions, 
 no very fervent love felt for their per- 
 sons, no particular predilection enter- 
 tained for their society, and yet, when 
 we are assured, that the voice to which 
 we have listened, at least with respect, 
 perhaps occasionally with deep and 
 thrilling interest, is for ever silenced : 
 that the eye which may possibly have 
 beamed upon us with kindness, or even 
 frowned upon us with anxiety, is closed 
 in darkness; that the form which we 
 have been, from our earliest years, accus- 
 tomed to behold with respect, it may be 
 with affection and love, is about to be 
 committed to its narrow dwelling-place ; 
 if there be a latent feeling, either of 
 gratitude or remorse, existing within the 
 breast, such a state of things will often 
 call it forth into sincere and irrepres- 
 sible emotion. While many of the most 
 thoughtless, are, at'least for the moment, 
 struck with regret that they have lost for 
 ever a counsellor, by whom they might 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 267 
 
 have profited ; a guide, whom they 
 might have followed ; a friend, whom 
 they might, with essential benefit to 
 their own best interests, have respected 
 and loved. 
 
 It is necessary to recall the existence 
 of such feelings to our minds, to account 
 for the, otherwise, unintelligible conduct 
 of Joash. He had reigned nearly six- 
 teen years oyer Israel, carelessly and 
 wickedly, and never, that we are in- 
 formed, had paid a single visit to the 
 aged prophet, or asked his counsel, or 
 followed his advice ; while Elisha, past 
 the period usually allotted to man, and 
 now entering his ninetieth year, appears 
 to have spent the close of his life in 
 great neglect and obscurity. The young 
 king hears, however, that the prophet is 
 dying ; and probably very much under 
 the influence of those natural and re- 
 gretful feelings which we have attempted 
 to describe, hastens at once to the sick 
 
 N 2 
 
268 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 man's chamber, and there, in all the 
 agony of woe, increased by the sense of 
 his past remissness and neglect, pours 
 forth his tears, and bursts into the pas- 
 sionate lamentation, " O my father, my 
 father, the chariot of Israel and the 
 horsemen thereof," expressing himself 
 in the very words, with which Elisha had 
 bewailed the departure of Elijah. 
 
 Brethren, it is easy thus to repay in- 
 struction unheeded, and counsels valued 
 only when too late, by a few violent ex- 
 clamations of regard uttered at a death- 
 bed, or a few worthless tears dropped 
 upon the sepulchre ; but these will not 
 obey the forgotten injunctions, or redeem 
 the misspent time, or recall the neglected 
 opportunity. The aged seer might, with 
 perfect truth and propriety, have replied 
 to the youthful monarch, as the Almighty 
 is represented by the prophet Malachi to 
 have answered disobedient Israel, " A 
 son honoureth his father, and a servant 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 269 
 
 his master : if then 1 be a father, where 
 is mine honour ? and if I be a master, 
 where is my fear?"' It is vain now to 
 profess to lament for a father whom you 
 have never honoured, to mourn for a 
 master whom you have never feared. 
 
 My younger brethren, whose hearts 
 have not yet been chilled by the at- 
 mosphere of a cold and unfeeling 
 world, to you I would most solemnly 
 and most affectionately apply this ex- 
 ample. You will one day, in all human 
 probability, be called to follow to the 
 grave, those parents and advisers who 
 are now the kind and affectionate 
 guides of your youth, and your best and 
 wisest counsellors. That day must be, 
 to every feeling heart, a bitter day ; 
 increase not its bitterness, add not to its 
 pangs, by the recollection of advice 
 carelessly disregarded, or admonitions 
 scornfully cast aside. The prevailing 
 habits of the age in which we live, are 
 iMal. i. 6. 
 
270 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 opposed to all obedience ; its popular 
 opinions would induce you to consider it 
 but a light and trivial matter, to neglect 
 what a minister of God may say, or' a 
 parent may urgently and aflfectionately 
 require of you ; but be assured, that 
 when their heads are laid in the dust, 
 and their voices silenced in the grave, 
 deep and painful will be your recollection 
 of every ungrateful return, which you 
 have thus made for the affectionate pro- 
 tection of your childhood, and the love 
 so largely lavished on the days of boyhood 
 and youth. It will be then vain to cry, 
 ^^My father, my father," even though 
 it be amid tears of the sincerest lamenta- 
 tion ; the very name will but remind 
 you, that you have despised the obliga- 
 tions which that relationship implies ; 
 that in disobeying him who is gone, you 
 have disobeyed God, who has com- 
 manded honour to be joined to affection, 
 obedience to be united with love, from 
 the child to its parents, as distinctly as 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 271 
 
 to the Almighty himself ; and who will 
 never recognise among his children, one 
 who scornfully contemns these, God's 
 own representatives upon earth. The 
 habits and sentiments of the age may 
 vary, but God's word is immutable, and 
 varies not ; and the day is not far distant 
 when its truth will be established before 
 assembled worlds ; Heaven and earth 
 shall pass away, but my word shall not 
 pass away." 
 
 Returning once more to Elisha's dying 
 chamber, we find that the time was 
 quickly passing by, the last sands were 
 falling from the prophet's glass, and he 
 kindly accepts the penitential expressions 
 of Joash, although he knew, alas ! too 
 well, that he who uttered them, did," 
 so the Word of God assures us, '^that 
 which was evil in the sight of the Lord ; 
 for he departed not from all the sins of 
 Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made 
 Israel to sin." But God will be no 
 man's debtor : Ahab humbled himself. 
 
272 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 although he forsook not his iniquity, and 
 the Almighty postponed his judgment, 
 although we have no reason to believe 
 that He converted his heart. So Joash 
 honours the closing hours of God's 
 prophet, and the Almighty, in return, 
 permits that prophet to be the vehicle 
 to him of temporal benefit. Thus we in- 
 variably find it ; the smallest movement 
 for good, is recognised and approved of, 
 and often rewarded by the Almighty ; 
 and many are the instances in the Old 
 Testament, in which temporal blessings 
 follow thus immediately upon temporary 
 obedience. How striking a proof of this, 
 do we find in the example at present 
 before us. No sooner had the king ex- 
 pressed himself as we have already seen, 
 than the prophet said unto him, Take 
 bow and arrows. And he said to the 
 king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the 
 bow. And he put his hand upon it : 
 and Elisha put his hands upon the king's 
 hands. And he said, Open the window 
 
LECTURE XI 
 
 273 
 
 eastward. And he opened it. Then 
 Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And 
 he said. The arrow of the Lord's de- 
 liverance from Syria : for thou shalt 
 smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou 
 have consumed them." How touching 
 a picture, and how significant a symbol ! 
 The dying prophet rises up in his bed to 
 lay his withered hand upon that of the 
 young and powerful king ; without this 
 interposition of Elisha, Joash would have 
 drawn the bow in vain ; strong as is the 
 monarch, he must learn that the blessing 
 is simply and entirely from God ; that 
 the prophet's nerveless hand laid upon, 
 his, shall impart a strength, and secure 
 a triumph, which all the vigour, of all 
 the bowmen of Israel, could not have 
 purchased ; so truly had he said, " The 
 chariot of Israel, and the horsemen 
 thereof." God's holiest servants are a 
 nation's best and strongest defenders. 
 May we never for a moment forget, 
 brethren, this important truth, Not 
 
 N 3 
 
274 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 by might, nor by power, but by my 
 Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."' The 
 feeble hand of the prophet, the faintest 
 prayers of God's people, will oftentimes 
 nerve the strongest arm, and give in- 
 creased effect to the most powerful 
 resolutions. The dying prophet's last 
 petitions obtain a victory for his native 
 country, when its chariots and horsemen 
 would have been useless ; and Joash 
 reaps a large reward for his expressions 
 of sympathy, and tears of kindness. 
 
 Still God will make the measure of 
 the king's faith, the measure also of his 
 promised successes. Joash has honoured 
 God in the person of his prophet, and 
 he shall succeed against his enemies ; 
 but the degree of success shall be regu- 
 lated by the warmth of his zeal, the 
 strength of his faith, the energy of his 
 perseverance. 
 
 Observe how the prophet tries them. 
 " He said, Take the arrows : and he 
 
 1 Zech. iv. 6. 
 
LECTURE XI, 
 
 275 
 
 took them. And he said unto the king 
 of Israel, Smite upon the ground : and 
 he smote thrice, and stayed. And the 
 man of God was wroth with him, and 
 said, Thou shouldest have smitten five 
 or six times, then hadst thou smitten 
 Syria till thou hadst consumed it : 
 whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but 
 thrice," What could be the reason that 
 Joash, perfectly understanding, as he 
 must have done, the significant symbol^ 
 anxious as he ought to have been to 
 have triumphed over the enemies of his 
 country, and of his throne, acted thus 
 coldly and listlessly, and excited so 
 evidently the anger, or rather the grief, 
 of Elisha? Brethren, there can be no 
 question, that the cause of it, however 
 undeveloped, even to his own heart, 
 such a motive might be, was simply un- 
 belief ; unbelief, manifesting itself, as it 
 invariably does, in coldness, listlessness, 
 and indifference. Joash did not really 
 and thoroughly believe that his triumphs 
 
276 LECTURE XI. 
 
 over Syria, should be limited by the 
 strokes of his arrows upon the ground. 
 Think you that if he had, he would thus 
 carelessly have smitten, or thus speedily 
 have ceased to smite ? No ; it is per- 
 fectly evident that there was a secret 
 root of unbelief existing in his heart ; 
 not, indeed, strong enough to cause him 
 absolutely to disobey the prophet's com- 
 mand, and yet too strong to permit him 
 fully to reap its intended benefit. 
 
 » Behold in this simple narrative a key 
 to the small achievements in spiritual 
 things, the stunted growth, the slow 
 advancement in the Christian life, and 
 Christian experience of many among 
 ourselves. Our prayers are formal, our 
 efforts are languid, our conflicts with 
 our spiritual enemies, few, and weak, 
 and aimless ; and why is this? Be- 
 cause we do not fully believe in those 
 great and good things which God has 
 promised ; therefore we neither long 
 after them ardently, nor press towards 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 277 
 
 them earnestly, nor strive for them un- 
 ceasingly. We overcome, it may be, a few 
 evil habits, we conquer a few besetting 
 sins, we advance a little way against our 
 spiritual foes, and then we rest contented 
 with our victories, and sit down quietly 
 with the feeling of the man in the Gospel, 
 ''Soul, take thine ease," and never at- 
 tempt with all our heart and mind and 
 strength; to press onward, and attain to 
 the stature of the fulness of Christ. 
 
 How many are there, of whom this is 
 strictly and literally true, so that it 
 might fairly be said of them, as of 
 Joash, they have smitten thrice and 
 stayed." Spiritual indolence is their 
 ruin. They contend just enough with 
 the powers of darkness, to quiet their own 
 consciences, and then stay ; " a melan- 
 choly close to a most hopeful beginning ! 
 ''Their goodness," as the prophet 
 expresses it, "is as the morning cloud, 
 and as the early dew it goeth away." * 
 ^ Hosea vi. 4. 
 
278 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 Brethren, ask yourselves, individually, 
 is it so with me? Have I rested in a 
 slight improvement, instead of seeking 
 the renewal of the whole man? Have 
 I been satisfied with a very limited 
 advancement in Christian sanctification ; 
 conscious that my place in the school 
 of Christ is a very low one, and yet 
 willing to remain there ; have I, in 
 fact, '^stayed;" settled down upon 
 the lees, when I ought to have been 
 striving, struggling, or even ago- 
 nizing ? " for our Lord did not think 
 that too strong an expression, to repre- 
 sent the degree of zeal and energy with 
 which we ought to '^strive to enter in 
 at the strait gate," and to attain to 
 some blessed meetness for His ^eternal 
 kingdom. 
 
 If there are any who feel, that this is 
 too true a representation of their present 
 condition, we earnestly call upon them 
 to rouse themselves from this state of 
 listless inactivity ; no longer to be con- 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 279 
 
 tent with past victories or present at- 
 tainments ; no longer to be satisfied with 
 saying, I trust I am in Christ Jesus, 
 and therefore I am safe but to strive 
 zealously for the filling up of every 
 Christian grace, the performance of 
 every high and holy duty, that so not 
 only an entrance, but as the apostle 
 expresses it, an entrance may be 
 ministered unto them abundantly into 
 the kingdom and joy of our Lord." It 
 is true that to be a mere doorkeeper in 
 the house of our God, would infinitely 
 outweigh the pains and penalties of a 
 thousand lives of labour and of self- 
 denial, but God has freely offered ns 
 the highest glories, and the richest en- 
 joyments, and God is most honoured 
 when we the most anxiously and largely 
 seek them. Open thy mouth wide," 
 are His own words, and I will fill it." 
 This spiritual listlessness and indolence 
 are, we believe, among the most crying 
 sins of our time : there are thousands 
 who are greatly improved by religion, 
 
280 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 but where are the individuals who are 
 with all their heart and soul and strength 
 "following the Lord fully,"' clinging 
 closely to Him, desiring to rest in nothing 
 short of a full, complete, and entire re- 
 semblance to Him? May God of His 
 great mercy add a thousand-fold to 
 their number, may He teach us all to 
 know experimentally, and to exhibit 
 practically, something at least of the 
 feelings of one, who was as certainly a 
 regenerated and converted Christian as 
 any whom I now address, and yet who 
 hesitated not to say, " Brethren, I count 
 not myself to have apprehended;" I 
 think nothing at present done ; "but 
 this one thing I do, forgetting those 
 things which are behind, and reaching 
 forth unto those things which are before, 
 I press toward the mark for the prize of 
 the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 
 
 All that remains to us, of the history 
 of him of whom we have been speaking, 
 is, as we noticed at the commencement 
 > See Numbers xiv. 24;. 
 
LECTURE XI, 
 
 281 
 
 of this discourse, very briefly narrated 
 by the inspired historian, ''And Elisha 
 died, and they buried him/' This is 
 all, that the Spirit of God has to record, 
 of the end of one of the most unble- 
 mished characters to be met with in the 
 volume of inspiration ! He died, and 
 they buried him ! Of his last hours all 
 is silence ; it is enough that he ex- 
 changes his cottage of clay, for a palace 
 of marble ; that he goes from serving 
 God here, to dwelling with him for ever 
 in heaven. Of the manner of this ex- 
 change, of the mode of his departure, 
 not a word is bequeathed to us. He 
 had indeed inherited a double portion 
 of Elijah's spirit, but he did not inherit 
 the chariot of fire which carried him 
 upward to the skies. No, '' Elisha 
 died : " the longest and the holiest life 
 knows no other conclusion. God's 
 dearest servants are not exempt from 
 this, the common lot of all mortality; 
 God's own Son desired not to escape it ; 
 
282 
 
 X.ECTURE XI. 
 
 it awaits yourselves, it awaits us all. 
 This is a mere truism, no one doubts 
 it, but who regards it? who lives as if 
 he gave it credit ? who acts, as if each 
 breath he drew, might be the last ? 
 
 Would to God, brethren, we could 
 but daily, hourly realize, that we are 
 DYING creatures. How would it plead 
 with us to redeem the time ? How would 
 it almost compel us, to live less unto the 
 world, and more to God. How would 
 it drive us to the Rock that is higher 
 than we, and force upon us some feelings 
 of gratitude to Him, whose dying love 
 has purchased an entrance into an 
 eternity of glory. But we dislike the 
 subject, and we banish it. It is a for- 
 bidden topic, and in ordinary society, 
 its very mention excites astonishment, 
 puts a stop to the most lively conversa- 
 tion, and saddens, immediately, the most 
 cheerful countenance. And yet it ought 
 not so to be, if our faith were steadfast, and 
 our hopes clear, and our lives consistent ; 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 283 
 
 there is little, comparatively speaking, 
 of real painfulness in this solemn subject. 
 It is painful, we allow, to think of 
 broken ties, and earthly relationships 
 rent asunder, and friendships buried 
 in the cold and silent grave ; but a 
 Christian knows of something more than 
 these. And is it painful to think of the 
 bris^ht land which lies beyond it, and 
 into which a single step will carry us? 
 Is it painful to think of a country where 
 all is holiness and peace, and where sin 
 and sorrow are alike unknown? where 
 we have already a Father, a Brother, 
 a Comforter, and many, many friends ? 
 Surely this is not painful ; this ought 
 not to be, to any one among us, a subject 
 of unmingled dissatisfaction, nay rather, 
 should it not be one of calm and quiet 
 confidence, if not of subdued and holy 
 triumph? Such, dear brethren, it has 
 ever been and will be, if only we 
 are reconciled to God through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, cleansed by his blood, 
 
284 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 sanctified by his Spirit, renewed into his 
 image. '' It is appointed to men once to 
 die," there is no escaping it ; but then, 
 thank God, it is but once. Over every 
 child in Christ's redeemed and par- 
 doned family, ''the second death hath 
 no power. Once pass the narrow 
 valley, and it shall open into a wide 
 expanse of never-ending glory. 
 
 Fear not, then, the approach of man's 
 last enemy, but, O, see that you be ready 
 for him. See that you have not to con- 
 flict with him alone. " None but Christ, 
 none but Christ," can help you then; 
 without' Him, the best-spent life, will 
 make a shield that will drop into powder 
 before the assault. You must be clothed 
 in celestial armour, to meet uninjured 
 the unearthly attack. You must be ' ' one 
 with Christ, and Christ with you," to 
 pass unharmed through the dark valley, 
 to stem "the swellings of Jordan," to 
 enter within the gates into the city. 
 1 Rev. XX. 6. 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 285 
 
 But if you are thus one with Christ," 
 though you may be the weakest man, 
 the most timid woman, or the feeblest 
 child, you shall be made more than 
 conqueror, over Satan, sin, and death, 
 and over every enemy between time 
 and eternity. All, without a single 
 exception, who are Christ's here, shall 
 be Christ's for ever ; all who suffer with 
 him, shall also reign with him ; " ^ all 
 shall unite in the song of Moses and of the 
 Lamb, and shall say with one heart and 
 one voice, Great and marvellous* are 
 thy works. Lord God Almighty, just and 
 true are thy ways, thou King of saints," 
 For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed 
 us to God by thy blood." '^Blessing, 
 and honour, and glory, and power, be 
 unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, 
 and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." 
 
 1 2 Tim. ii. 12. 
 
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