"And when she came to

is not to be detained by him. the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet; but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. 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 not told me." One word from her reveals the whole, and the prophet at once despatches Gehazi with his master's staff to lay upon the face of the child. Whether the prophet did this under Divine guidance for a lesson to Gehazi as well as to try the Shunammite's faith; or whether, as the case had been hid from him by the Lord, so now he was left to act in his own wisdom and strength without any direct guidance from God, I would not say. It is suggested as an inquiry for the prayerful consideration of brethren in the Lord. In either case the result is plain. The Shunammite can no more be put off with Gehazi and his master's staff than before she could be detained by her husband's expostulations, or Gehazi's inquiries. "And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose and followed her." They meet Gehazi returning from his fruitless journey, one of a cloud of witnesses that the forms and circumstances by which the actings of faith may be attended are all nothing apart from faith itself, and the power of the living God on which faith rests. Elisha's staff in Gehazi's hands is as powerless as any other piece of wood. The prophet's staff without the prophet's faith accomplishes nothing: there was neither voice nor hearing wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, "The child is not awaked.” The Lord grant us to lay to heart the serious lesson which these words convey!

What a scene ensues! There had been enough already to make even Elisha feel that it was no ordinary case, and that through it God was dealing with him as well as with the Shunammite. That it should have been hid entirely from him-that Gehazi's journey with the staff (undertaken at the prophet's instance) should have proved entirely unavailing-was enough to awaken the inquiry in the soul of the prophet, whether God would teach him too that the power was not in him, but in God Him

self. But even if Elisha had to learn this lesson more deeply than he had as yet learned, it was not that his faith in God might be shaken or weakened, but tried and strengthened. Tried it was; but not shaken. "When Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed." The mother's faith had placed the dead body there. "He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord." Brethren, do you know what it is thus to retire, with some matter that can only be settled between God and you? There are times when the presence of the nearest friend, even the most valued saint, is felt to be an incumbrance. He shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. The prophet, a dead corpse, and the living God, the Quickener of the dead! "And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the child." So completely does he identify himself with the one for whom he intercedes. It is as though he would tell God that if the child were not restored to life, he could only lie there with him in death. What faith! What holy boldness! Nor is it left without encouragement" the flesh of the child waxed warm." There were some signs of returning vitality to strengthen the prophet's faith and encourage him to persevere. "Then

he returned and walked in the house to and fro; and went up and stretched himself upon him." What is all this the witness of, but of that agony of prayer, that energy of faith, of which, alas, in our day, and in our poor souls, we know so little? "But the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" "The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes." Prayer was heard; faith was crowned; God showed Himself once more to be in very truth the God of resurrection; and when the mother came in to the prophet into the chamber, he said, "Take up thy son.' Then she went in and fell at his feet [her heart too full to utter a single word], and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out."

The Lord grant us, like her, to know nothing, to

regard nothing, but Himself-privileged as we are to know Him, the Resurrection and the Life, unknown to saints in any former dispensation, in an intimacy of communion. May we acknowledge indeed, and mourn, the sins which have turned our joy into lamentation; but may neither these, nor anything, be allowed to hide from the view of faith "God who quickeneth the dead, and calleth things which be not as though they were."

Y.

PRINCIPLES AND PERSONS.

PETER was an Apostle-the Apostle of the circumcision; he was also a most fervent disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ; one dear to the whole church in his day, as one able to exhort the elders, himself an elder, to feed the flock of GOD-not as being lords over the heritage, but as being ensamples to the flock.

Paul-he, too, was an Apostle-the Apostle of the Uncircumcision. What a character of his discipleship and service do we find in the Second Epistle to Corinth.

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While the Spirit was walked in, by both, and the truth of the gospel (Gal. ii. 14) honoured,-though each of them might have a line and a measure peculiar to himself,-there was no conflict between them. But what if either of them put his apostleship, and the personal influence which attended God's grace and gifts in him, to a use, which neither grace nor righteousness, even in the feeblest saint, could justify and even turned all that attached to himself, as an individual, against God, the Lord, and the Spirit,-so destroying the foundation on which poor sinners (saved by grace alone) were resting? What then? Impossible," many would say: alas, it was possible then, and similar things must therefore be possible now. Peter did so at Antioch, and Paul withstood him. Faith must act as God acts in such cases; and disavow the acts and oppose the course: such a conflict may fairly be said to be one between God and Satan. Yet I may remark, that though the real question was really one of PRINCIPLES, and not of persons, then, as at every time when the flock of God is in danger, principles are exhibited in and illustrated by, men: and so Paul became at Antioch, through grace, the vindicator of grace against the human righteousness, which another lent the sanction of his name to. The question always is, "Where is God, and Christ, and the Spirit in this controversy ?"

No. XVII.

"WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?"

2 Kings ii.

THE chapter under consideration is replete with instruction. The communion of saints and the object of it is unfolded. Two eminent servants of God are introduced to us in circumstances unequalled in interest: the one on the eve of his rapture to God in His glory: the other thirsting for a double portion of God's presence and power upon earth. How glorious the destiny of the one, how perfect the aim of the other-God, the object of fruition to each. Blessed was their fellowship with one another, thrice blessed the bond of their union. On the eve of separation in time, yet bound up in the bundle of life for eternity.

How striking the grace of God in his dealings with the people of Israel. He would not leave Himself without a witness. When His worship was corrupted, the priesthood defiled, the place of His Holiness set at nought; when darkness, gross darkness, covered the land, how suddenly is Elijah introduced on the scene. When darkness was upon the face of the deep, God said, "Let there be light." And now in the worse than Egyptian gloom which hid Him from the eyes of the people, His witness is prepared in the secret of His presence, and burst upon the nation with words of power, and the spirit of power, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand;" He was to the nation as one forgotten. They had thought He was as a dead man, out of sight. The testimony of Elijah was to the living God, in opposition to the formality of ordinances or their superstitious idolatry. So Paul to the Thessalonians, commends them that they had turned from idols to serve the living God. So, writing to Timothy, he exhorts them that are sick to trust in the living God.

An age of apostasy can have much of the shew of religion. "Having the form of godliness, but denying

the power." Such is prophetically announced in the New Testament, as the sign of the last times. But, blessed be God, "when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him." So it was in the work of Elijah, "A man of like passions as we are," yet endued with the Spirit from on high, he stood alone in his testimony borne up in the strength of the Almighty, a swift witness against the evil around him; yet bearing a marvellous testimony to God's grace and faithfulness to a remnant amongst it. "He abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself." Happy resting place for his poor distracted people! The darkness which covered the earth, served but to display the light of His Holiness more strikingly. "The Lord hath made all things for Himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov. xvi. 4).

The path of Elijah in service is not the object of this paper. He was introduced abruptly on the scene of his labours, and makes his exit in a manner equally striking. His mission was in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. His course is fulfilled, and the version of His service attained. Our chapter briefly announces his departure. "And it came to pass, when the Lord would take away Elijah into Heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the Prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace (iv. v. and vi.)

The conduct of Elisha is the subject of our meditation. Perseverance in the pursuit of an object is laudable, or the contrary, according to the character of that which is sought. Just as all the praise of union is in the subject; if good, it is commendable; if sinful, it is of the Devil. Whenever unity is pleaded for, and the truth of God made to bend to it, instead of IT to the truth of God, there is sin. The course of Elisha is striking; The rapture of