Now the prophet Elijah, through the Spirit, saw all this. With the eye

of faith, he penetrated the long, dreary time of Israel's humiliating

bondage, and beheld them in their visible unity, no longer Judah and

Israel, but _Israel_, for the word is, "_Israel shall be thy name_."

His mind was occupied, not with what Israel was, but with what God had

said. This was faith. Unbelief might say, "You are taking too high a

stand; it is presumption to talk about twelve tribes when there are

but ten; it is folly to speak of unbroken unity when there is nothing

but division." Such will ever be the language of unbelief, which can

never grasp the thoughts of God, nor see things as He sees them. But

it is the happy privilege of the man of faith to rest his spirit on

the immutable testimony of God, which is not to be nullified by man's

sinful folly. "_Israel shall be thy name_." Precious promise! Most

precious! Most permanent! Nothing could for a moment interfere with

it--neither Rehoboam's childishness nor Jeroboam's cunning policy; no,

nor yet Ahab's vileness could hinder Elijah from taking the loftiest

position that an Israelite could take, even the position of a

worshiper at an altar built of twelve stones, according to the names

of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now in Elijah the Tishbite we have an example of the power of faith in

the promise of God at a time when everything around him seemed to

stand opposed. It enabled him to rise above all the evil and sorrow

around him, and to build an altar of twelve stones with as much holy

confidence and unclouded assurance as did Joshua when, amid the

triumphant hosts of Israel, he erected his trophy on the banks of

Jordan.

But I must bring this section to a close, having already extended it

further than I had intended. We have seen the principle upon which our

prophet desired to carry out the reformation. It was a sound one, and

God honored it. The fire from heaven at once confounded the prophets

of Baal, confirmed the prophet's faith, and delivered the people from

their sad condition of halting between two opinions. Elijah's faith

had given God room to act; he had made a trench and filled it with

water; in other words, he had made the difficulty as great as possible

in order that the divine triumph might be complete: and truly it was

so. God will always respond to the appeal of simple faith. "Hear me,"

said the prophet, "O Lord, hear me; that this people may know that

Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back

again."

This is intelligent prayer. The prophet is engaged solely about God

and His people. He does not say, "Hear me, that this people may know

that I am a true prophet." No; his only object was to bring the people

back to the God of their fathers, and to have the claims of God

established in their consciences, in opposition to the claims of Baal.

And God harkened and heard; for no sooner had he concluded his prayer

than "the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and

the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that

was in the trench. And when all the people saw it they fell on their

faces: and they said, 'The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the

God.'"

Truth triumphs! The prophets are confounded! The prophet, in holy

indignation, mingles their blood with the waters of the Kishon, and

thus, evil being judged, there remains no further hindrance to the

communication of the divine blessing, which Elijah announces to Ahab

in these words, "Get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of

abundance of rain." How do these words convey to us Ahab's true

character! "_Eat and drink._" This was all he knew, or cared to know.

He had come forth to look for grass, and nothing more; and the prophet

conveyed to him that intelligence which he knew he desired. He could

not ask him to come and join him in thanksgiving to God for this

glorious triumph over evil, for he knew well he would meet with no

response. And yet they were both Israelites: but one was in communion

with God, and the other was the slave of sin; hence, while Ahab found

his enjoyment in getting up to "eat and drink," Elijah sought his in

retirement with God. Blessed, holy, heavenly enjoyment!

But mark the difference between Elijah's bearing in the presence of

man and in the presence of God. He had met Obadiah, a saint in wrong

circumstances, with an air of dignity and elevation; he had met Ahab

in righteous sternness; he had stood amid the thousands of his deluded

and erring brethren with the firmness and grace of a true reformer;

and lastly, he had met the wicked prophets of Baal with mocking, and

then with the sword of vengeance. Thus had he carried himself in the

presence of man. But how did he meet God? "He cast himself down upon

the earth, and put his face between his knees." Thus he carried

himself before God. All this is lovely. Our prophet knew his place

both before God and man. In the presence of man he acted in the wisdom

of the Spirit, as the case demanded; in the presence of God he

prostrated himself in unfeigned and reverent humility. Thus may all

the Lord's servants know how to walk in all their complicated

relations here below.

We must now accompany our prophet to widely different scenes.

_SECTION V._

THE PROPHET ON MOUNT HOREB

There are few who have taken a prominent place in the history of the

Church of God whose course has not been marked, in a special manner,

by vicissitude: of such, as of "those that go down to the sea in

ships, that do business in great waters," it may be said, "They mount

up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is

melted because of trouble." They are sometimes seen on the mount,

sometimes in the valley; at one time basking in the sunshine, at

another beaten by the storm.

Nor is this the case merely with prominent characters; almost every

Christian, be his path ever so retired and noiseless, knows something

of this vicissitude. Indeed, it would seem as if no one could run the

race which is marked out for the man of faith without finding

inequalities in his way. The path through the desert must be rough,

and it is well that is so; for there is no right-minded person who

would not rather be set in a rough than in a "slippery" way. The Lord

sees our need of being exercised by roughness and hardness, not only

that we may find the rest at the end sweeter, but also that we may be

the more effectually trained and fitted for the place we are yet to

occupy.

True we shall have no need for trials in the Kingdom, but we shall

have need of those graces and habits of soul which were formed amid

the trials and sorrows of the wilderness. We shall yet be constrained

to acknowledge that our path here below was not a whit too rough, but

that on the contrary we could not have done without a single exercise

of all those that had fallen to our lot. We now see things

indistinctly, and are often unable to see the needs-be for many of our

trials and sorrows: moreover our impatient nature may often feel

disposed to murmur and rebel; but only let us be patient and we shall

be able without hesitation, and with the full assent of every thought

and feeling, to say, "He led us forth by _a right way_, that He might

bring us to _a city of habitation_."

The above train of thought is suggested by the circumstances of our

prophet in chapter xix. He seems to have had little anticipation of

the terrific storm which was about to burst upon him: he had come from

the top of mount Carmel, and in the energy of the Spirit outstripped

Ahab in his chariot to the entrance of Jezreel; but there he was

destined to receive a check, and that, too, from one who had hitherto

kept herself in the background. This was the wicked Jezebel. I say,

she had kept herself in the background; but she had not been idle

there. She had no doubt influenced her weak-minded lord, and used his

power for her wicked ends. She had opened her house and spread a table

for the prophets of Baal. These things she had done in furtherance of

her master's interests.

Jezebel is not to be looked at merely as an individual: she stands

before the spiritual mind as the representative of a class--yea, more,

as the impersonation of a principle which has from age to age been

working in hostility to the truth of God, and which appears in its

full maturity in the person of the great whore spoken of in the

Apocalypse. The spirit of Jezebel is a persecuting spirit--a spirit

that will carry its own point in opposition to everything--an active,

energetic, persevering spirit, in which satanic vigor appears very

manifestly.

Very different is the Ahab spirit. In Ahab we see one who, provided he

could attain the gratification of his carnal and worldly desires,

cared but little about religion. He troubled himself but little to

decide between the claims of Jehovah and those of Baal. To him they

were all alike. Now it was such an one that Jezebel could wield

according to her mind. She took care to have his desires gratified

while she actively and sagaciously used his power in opposition to the

truth of God. The Ahabs are always found to be fit instruments for the

Jezebels; hence, in the Apocalypse, where all those principles which

have been, are now, or are yet to be, at work, are seen in their full

maturity, we find the woman riding the beast: that is, corrupt

religion wielding the secular power, or the full-grown Jezebel-spirit

making use of the full-grown Ahab-spirit.

All this has a solemn voice for the present generation; and those that

have ears to hear, let them hear. Men are becoming increasingly

heedless as to the interests and destinies of the truth of God in the

earth. Christ and Belial are all alike, provided the wheels of the

vast machine of utilitarianism be not clogged in their movement. You

may hold what principles you please provided you hold them in the

background; and thus men of the most conflicting principles can unite

and hold those principles in abeyance while with ardor and energy they

pursue the phantom of worldliness.

Such is the spirit and tendency of the age, and all that is needed is

that a Jezebel spirit should arise and lead men on along the path upon

which they have manifestly entered--a path which will most assuredly

end in the blackness of darkness forever. Solemn, most solemn thought!

Again I say, "He that hath ears to ear, let him hear."

But we have said it was from Jezebel that the prophet Elijah received

the check which seems so to have overwhelmed his spirit. "And Ahab

told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all

the prophets with the sword." Observe, "Ahab told Jezebel;" he had

neither sufficient interest in the matter to lead him to take an

active part himself, nor, even if he had the interest, did he possess

sufficient energy. To him, perhaps, the abundance of rain seemed to

stand connected with the death of the prophets, and therefore he could

quietly stand by and see them put to death. What was Baal to him, or

Jehovah either? Nothing. Let Ahab and all of that school get enough to

"eat and drink," and all questions of truth and religion will be but

lightly regarded. Gross and unmeaning abomination! Miserable,

infatuated sensualism! Ye children of this world, whose sentiments are

expressed in the words "let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,"

think of Ahab; remember his terrible end--the end of his eating and

drinking. What was it? "The dogs licked his blood." And as to his

soul--ah, eternity will unfold its destinies!

But in Jezebel we see one who lacked neither interest nor energy. To

her the controversy was one of the deepest moment, and she was

determined to act with decision. "Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto

Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not

thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time."

Here then the prophet was called to endure the storm of persecution.

He had been on mount Carmel, where he had stood against all the

prophets of Baal; his course had hitherto been a triumphant one, the

result of communion with God; but now his sun seemed, in his view, to

be about to go down, and his horizon to become dark and gloomy. "And

when he saw that, he arose _and went for his life_, and came to

Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But

he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat

down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might

die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am

not better than my fathers."

Elijah's spirit sinks altogether; he looks at everything through the

dark cloud in which he was enveloped; all his labor seems, in his

view, to have been for nought and in vain, and he has only to lie down

and die. His spirit, harassed by what he deemed fruitless efforts to

bring the nation back to its faith, longed to enter into rest.

Now, in all this we perceive the workings of impatience and unbelief.

Elijah said nothing about longing to depart when he stood on mount

Carmel. No; there all was triumph; there he seemed to be achieving

something--he seemed to be of some use, and therefore he thought not

of his departure. But the Lord would show His servant not only what he

"must do," but also what he "must suffer." The former we like well

enough, the latter we are not so well prepared for. And yet the Lord

is as much glorified in a patient sufferer as in an active servant.

The graces that are developed by one who is enabled to endure

protracted suffering are as fragrant in their perfume as all the

fruits of active service. This our prophet should have borne in mind.

But ah, the heart can well understand and sympathize with him in his

gloom and despondency.

There are few of the Lord's servants who have not, at some time or

other, eagerly desired to put off their harness and cease from the

toils of conflict, particularly at times when all their labor and

testimony would seem to be in vain, and when they are disposed to look

upon themselves as mere cumberers of the ground. Yet we must wait

God's time, and until then seek to pursue our way in patient,

uncomplaining service. There is a vast difference between longing to

get away from trial and sorrow, and longing to be at home in our

Father's house. No doubt the thought of rest is sweet, ineffably

sweet, to the laboring man. It is sweet to think of the time when our

own gracious God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, sweet to

think of those green pastures and living fountains to which the Lamb

will lead His flock throughout the coming ages of glory. In a word,

the whole prospect presented to the view of faith is sweet and

cheering; yet we have no right to say, "O Lord, take away my life."

Nothing but an impatient spirit could ever dictate such language.

How different is the spirit breathed in the following words of the

apostle Paul! "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to

depart, and to be with Christ, which is _far better_. Nevertheless, to

abide in the flesh is _more needful for you_. And having this

confidence, I know that _I shall abide and continue with you all, for

your furtherance and joy of faith_" (Phil. i. 23-25).

These words exhibit a truly Christian spirit. The servant of the

Church should seek the Church's good, and not his own advantage. If

Paul had considered himself, he would not have tarried a moment on

earth; but when he considered the Church, he desired to abide and

continue for the purpose of furthering its joy and faith. This should

have been Elijah's desire too: he should have desired to remain for

the benefit of the nation. But here he failed. He had fled into the

wilderness under the influence of unbelief, and for the purpose of

saving his life, and then desired that his life might be taken away

simply to escape from the trials which his position involved.

In all this we may learn a most profitable lesson. Unbelief is sure to

drive us from the place of testimony and service. So long as Elijah

walked by faith, so long he occupied the place of a servant and a

witness; but the moment his faith gave way, he abandoned both and fled

into the wilderness. Unbelief ever unfits us for the place of service,

and renders us useless. We never can act for God save in the energy of

faith. We should remember this at a time like the present, when so

many are giving up and turning aside. I suppose we may lay it down as

a fixed principle of truth, that whenever a man abandons any

distinctive position of testimony, it is from positive unbelief in the

truth which led him into it.

Thus, for example, at the present day we see many who at one time took

up a very distinct and prominent position from having learnt (as they

stated) that great truth, the presence of the Holy Ghost in the

Church. Now, when this truth is really learnt, and held in power, it

delivers from man's authority in matters of faith, and leads

Christians out of those systems where such authority is acknowledged

and defended. If the Holy Ghost rules in the Church, then man has no

right to interfere, no right to decree and institute ceremonies; for

in doing so he is most presumptuously interfering with the divine

prerogative. If therefore a man sincerely believe this important

truth, his belief will certainly influence his conduct so far that he

will feel himself called upon to bear testimony against every system

in which this truth is practically denied, by separating from it.

It is not a question of what or whom he will attach himself to. No;

this is another, and an after, consideration. A man's first business

is to "cease to do evil," and after that to "learn to do well."

However, many who once professed to see this truth, and to act upon

it, have since lost confidence in it, and as a consequence have

retired from their distinct position, and gone back to those systems

from which they had emerged. Like Elijah, they had not realized all

their expectations; the results which they looked for have not

appeared, therefore they have fled from the scene, and doubtless many

have felt disposed to say, "_It is enough_." Yes, many a heart which

once cherished high and fond expectations respecting the Church is now

bowed down with sorrow and disappointment. Those who professed to see

and act upon the truth of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the

Church, and other collateral truths, have, to say the least, failed

to carry them into practice, and not only failed, but in many

instances have made a most humiliating exhibition of themselves; and

the enemy has not been backward in making his own use of all this. He

has used it especially to discourage the hearts of those who, no

doubt, desired to stand in testimony for Christ, but who, seeing the

failure of everything like corporate testimony on the earth, have

given up in despair. However, let Christians observe this: it was

unbelief that made Elijah fly into the wilderness, and it is unbelief

which causes any one to give up that position of testimony into which

the truth of the Holy Ghost's presence in the Church would necessarily

lead him.

Those who thus retreat prove that it was not with God and His eternal

truth, but with man and his circumstances, that they had to do. If

God's truth be the basis of our acting, we shall not be affected by

man's mutability and failure. Man may, and assuredly will, fail in his

very best and purest efforts to carry out the truth of God; but shall

man's failure make the truth of God of none effect? "God forbid; yea,

let God be true and every man a liar." If those who profess to hold

the blessed doctrine of the unity of the Church should split into

parties; if those who hold the doctrine of the Spirit's presence in

the Church for the purpose of rule and ministry should nevertheless

practically lean upon man's authority; if those who profess to be

looking for the personal appearance and reign of the Son of man

should be found grasping with eagerness after the things of this

present world, shall these things nullify those heavenly principles?

Certainly not. Thank God, truth will be truth to the end. God will be

God, though man should prove himself a thousandfold more imperfect

than he is. Wherefore, instead of giving up in despair because men

have failed to make a right use of God's truth, we should rather hold

fast that truth as the only stay of our souls amid universal ruin and

shipwreck. Had Elijah held fast the truth which filled his soul when

he stood on mount Carmel, he would never have been found beneath the

juniper tree, nor would he have given utterance to such words as "Take

away my life, for I am not better than my fathers."

Yet the Lord can graciously meet his poor servant even asleep under a

juniper tree. "He knoweth our frame, He remembers that we are dust,"

and therefore, instead of granting the petulant request of His

harrassed and disappointed servant, He rather seeks to feed and

strengthen him for further exertion. This is not "the manner of man,"

but it is, blessed forever be His name, the manner of God, whose ways

and thoughts are not as ours. Man would often deal roughly and harshly

with his fellow, making no allowance for him, but acting towards him

in haste and severity. Not so God. He ever deals in the deepest pity

and tenderness. He understood Elijah, and He remembered the stand he

had recently made for His name and truth, and therefore He would

minister to him in the season of his depression. "And as he lay and

slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and

said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was a

cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did

eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came

again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat;

because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat

and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty

nights unto Horeb the mount of God" (chap. xix. 5, 8).

The Lord knows better than we do the demands that may be made on us,

and He graciously strengthens us according to His estimate of those

demands. The prophet wished to sleep for sorrow, but the Lord wished

to strengthen and nerve him for future service. Like the disciples in

the garden, who, overwhelmed with deep sorrow at the apparent failure

of all their fondly cherished hopes, allowed themselves to sink into

profound slumber while their blessed Master would have had them

girding up their loins and nerving their arms for the trying scenes on

which they were about to enter.

But Elijah did eat and drink; and being thus strengthened, he

proceeded to mount Horeb. Here again we have to trace the sorrowful

actings of an impatient spirit. Elijah seems determined to retire from

his place of service and testimony altogether. If he cannot sleep

under the juniper tree, he will hide himself in a cave. "He came

thither unto a cave, and lodged there." When once a man allows himself

to slip aside from the position in which faith would keep him, there

is no accounting for the extremes into which he may run. Nothing but

abiding faith in the word of God can maintain any one in the path of

service, because _faith makes a man satisfied to wait for the end_,

whereas unbelief, looking only at surrounding circumstances, sinks

into complete despondency.

The Christian must make up his mind to meet with nothing but trial and

disappointment here. We may often dream of rest and satisfaction in

some condition or other here; but it is only a dream. Elijah had no

doubt hoped to see a mighty moral change brought about by his

instrumentality; and instead of that, his life was threatened. But he

ought to have been prepared for this. The man who had fearlessly faced

Ahab and all the prophets of Baal ought surely to have been able to

bear a message from a woman. Yet no; his faith had given way. When a

man's faith gives way, his own shadow will deter him. In contemplating

the prophet's position on Mount Horeb, one is disposed to ask, Can it

be the same man whom we saw so recently standing on Mount Carmel, at

an altar of twelve stones, and there so blessedly vindicating the God

of Israel in the presence of his brethren? Alas! what a powerless

creature man is when not sustained by simple faith in the testimony of

God! David could, at one time, meet Goliath in the power of faith,

and afterwards say, "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul."

Faith gets above circumstances and looks at God; unbelief loses sight

of God, and looks only at circumstances. Unbelief says, "We were in

our own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight;" faith

says, "We are well able to overcome them."

However, the Lord does not leave His servant in the cave; He still

follows him, and seeks to bring him again and again back to that post

which he had abandoned in his impatience and unbelief. "And behold,

the word of the Lord came to him, and He said unto him, What doest

thou here, Elijah?" What a reproof! Why did Elijah thus bury himself

in a cave? Why had he retreated from the honorable post of testimony?

Because of Jezebel's message, and because his ministry had not been as

fully owned as he expected. He thought to have reaped a more cheering

harvest from all his labor than a threatening message and apparent

desertion, and therefore he had sought the retirement of a mountain

cave, as a place suited to indulge his feelings.

Now, it must be admitted that there was much--very much to wound the

prophet's spirit; he had come from his quiet retreat at Zarephath to

face the whole nation, headed by Jezebel and a host of wicked priests

and prophets. He had confounded the latter, through God's grace; God

had sent down fire from heaven in answer to his prayer; all Israel had

seemed to acknowledge the truth as proclaimed by him. All these

things must have raised his expectations to no ordinary height; yet,

after all, his life is threatened, he sees no one to stand by him, he

is enveloped in a thick cloud, he abandons the field of conflict, and

hides himself in a cave.

It is much easier to censure another than to act aright, and we must

be exceedingly slow in pronouncing judgment upon the actions of so

honored a servant as Elijah the Tishbite. But though we should not

deal much in censure, we may, at least, draw instruction and warning

from this section of our prophet's history. We may learn a lesson of

which we stand very much in need. "What doest thou here?" is a

question which might justly be put to many of us from time to time,

when, in impatience or unbelief, we leave our proper place of service

amongst our brethren, to sleep under a juniper tree, or hide ourselves

in a cave.

Are there not many at this moment who, aforetime, were powerful

advocates of the principles connected with the unity and worship of

the people of God, to be found either asleep or hidden in caves? that

is, they are doing nothing for the furtherance of those truths which

they once advocated. This is a truly sorrowful reflection. To such the

question, "What doest thou here?" should come with special force. Yes,

what are such doing? or rather, what are they not doing in the way of

positive mischief to the sheep of Christ? A man who thus retires is

not merely harmless, he is noxious; he is really injuring his

brethren. It would be far better never to have appeared as the

advocates of important truth, than having done so to retire; to call

special attention to some leading principles of divine truth, and then

to abandon them, is most culpable. "If any man be ignorant, let him be

ignorant." We can pity ignorance, or endeavor to instruct it; but the

man, who, having professed to see truth, afterwards abandons it, can

neither be looked upon as an object of pity, nor a subject for

instruction.

But it is not merely unbelief and disappointment in reference to

certain truths that drive men into unhappy isolation; apparent failure

in ministry has the same effect. The latter was, perhaps, what more

especially affected Elijah. The triumph on Mount Carmel had,

doubtless, led to much elation of spirit in reference to the results

of his ministry, and he was not prepared for the sad reverse.

Now, the sovereign remedy for both these maladies, that is, for

unbelief in important truth and disappointment as regards our

ministry, is to keep the eye simply and steadily fixed on Jesus. If,

for example, we see men professing those two grand and all-important

truths--the unity of the Church, and the abiding presence of the Holy

Ghost in the Church--professing, I say, to see these things, and yet

failing most sadly in carrying them out, shall we turn aside, and say

there is no unity, and no abiding presence of the Holy Ghost? God

forbid. This would be to make God's truth dependent upon man's

faithfulness, which cannot be endured for a moment by the spiritual

mind. No, let us rather look into the precious word of God, and see

the Church as the body of Christ, each member thereof written in God's

book from everlasting to everlasting.

And, in like manner, when we see Jesus at God's right hand in the

heavens, we see the unfailing ground of the Spirit's presence in the

Church. Thank God for the blessed stability of all this. "The gifts

and calling of God are without repentance."

Finally, if any be tried in the matter of their ministry, if the enemy

would endeavor to make them give up in chagrin or disappointment, let

them try to keep their eyes more simply on Jesus, remembering that,

however depressing the aspect of things here may be, the time is

speedily approaching when all who have served the Lord simply, from

love to Him, shall reap a full reward. We must take care, however,

that we allow not our ministry, or the fruits thereof, to get between

our souls and Christ. There is great danger of this. A man may set out

in unaffected devotedness to his Master, and yet, through the craft of

the enemy, and the weakness of his own heart, he may, ere long, give

his work a more prominent place in his thoughts than Christ Himself.

Had Elijah kept the God of Israel more before him, he would not have

given up in despair.

But we learn the real state of the prophet's soul from his reply to

the divine challenge; "I have been very jealous," said he, "for the

Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy

covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the

sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it

away." How different is this language from that which dropped from his

lips on Mount Carmel! There he vindicated God,--here he vindicates

himself; there he endeavored to convert his brethren by presenting

before them the truth of God,--here he accuses his brethren, and

recounts their sins before God.[19]

[19] It is instructive to observe the order in which Elijah recounts

the sins of Israel: 1st--"they have forsaken Thy covenant;" 2nd--"they

have thrown down Thine altars;" 3rd--"they have slain Thy prophets

with the sword." The ground of all this evil was their having forsaken

the covenant of God, the natural consequence of which was the throwing

down of God's altars, and the abandonment of His worship, which latter

was followed out by killing the prophets. We can understand this

order.

"I have been very jealous;" but "they have forsaken," etc. This was

the strain in which the disappointed prophet spoke from his cave on

Mount Horeb. He seems to have looked upon himself as the only one that

had done, or was doing, anything for God. "I only am left, and they

seek my life to take it away." Now all this was the natural

consequence of his position. The moment a man retires from his place

of testimony and service among his brethren, he must begin to extol

himself, and accuse them; yea, his very act expresses at once the

assumption of his faithfulness, and their failure. But to all who

thus separate from, and accuse their brethren, the searching question

is, "What doest thou here?" "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Our prophet, however, is called forth from his isolated place. "Go

forth," said Jehovah, "and stand upon the Mount before the Lord. And,

behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the

mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord

was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord

was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the

Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire _a still small voice_."

The Lord, by these solemn and varied exhibitions of Himself and His

wondrous actings, would teach His servant most impressively that He

was not to be confined to one agent in carrying out His designs. The

wind was an agent, and a powerful one, yet it did not accomplish the

end; and the same might be said of the earthquake and the fire. They,

by their very terribleness, served but to pave the way for the last,

and apparently the weakest agent, namely, the still small voice.

Thus the prophet was taught that he must be satisfied to be an agent,

and one of many. He might have thought that all the work was to have

been done by him. Coming, as he did, with all the terrible vehemence

of the mighty wind, he supposed he should have carried off every

obstacle, and brought the nation back to its place of happy

allegiance to God. But ah! how little does even the most elevated

instrument apprehend his own insignificance! The most devoted, the

most gifted and the most elevated are but stones in the

superstructure, screws in the vast machine; and whoever supposes he is

_the_ instrument, will find himself much mistaken. "Paul may plant,

and Apollos water, but God giveth the increase." And so Elijah had to

learn that the Lord was not confined to him. He had other shafts in

His quiver, which He would discharge in due time. The wind, the

earthquake, and the fire must all do their work, and then the still

small voice could be heard distinctly and effectually. It is the sole

province of God to make Himself heard, even though He speak in "a

still small voice." Elijah remained in the cave until this voice

reached his ear, and then "he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went

out, and stood in the entering in of the cave."

It is only "before the Lord" that we get into our right position. We

may conceive high thoughts of ourselves and our ministry, until we are

brought into the divine presence, and then we learn to wrap our face

in a mantle; in other words, we learn, in reality, to hide ourselves.

When Moses found himself in the divine presence "he trembled, and

durst not behold." When Job found himself there, "he abhorred himself,

and repented in dust and ashes;" and so has it been with every one who

has ever gotten a view of himself in the light of God's presence; he

has learned his own thorough nothingness, he has been led to see that

God could do without him. The Lord is ever ready to acknowledge the

smallest act of service done to Him, but the moment a man makes a

centre of his service, the Lord will teach him that He wants him no

longer. Thus it was with Elijah. He had retired from the field of

labor and conflict, and earnestly desired to be gone: he thought

himself a solitary witness, a forsaken and disappointed servant, and

Jehovah makes him stand forth before Him, and there, as it were, give

up his commission, and hear the names of his successors in the field

of labor. "The Lord said unto him, Go, return, on thy way to the

wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, 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. And it shall come to pass, that

him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that

escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left Me seven

thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and

every mouth which hath not kissed him."

This statement must have thrown much light on the prophet's mind.

Seven thousand! although he had thought himself left alone. Jehovah

will never be at a loss for instruments. If the wind will not do, He

has the earthquake; and if the earthquake will not do, He has the

fire; and last of all, He has "the still small voice." And so Elijah

was taught that Israel had to be acted upon by other ministry besides

his: Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha had yet to appear on the scene, and as

the still small voice had proved effectual in drawing him forth from

his mountain cave, so would the gracious ministry of Elisha prove

effectual in drawing forth from their lurking-places the thousands of

faithful ones whom he had altogether overlooked. Elijah was not to do

all. He was but one agent. "The eye cannot say to the hand I have no

need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you."

Such, I believe, was the important lesson taught to our prophet by the

impressive scenes on Mount Horeb. He had gone up thither full of

thoughts of himself alone; he stood there filled with the idea that he

was _the_ witness, the _only_ witness; he went down from thence with

the humbling yet wholesome consciousness that _he was but one of seven

thousand_. A very different view of the case indeed. None can teach

like God. When He desires to teach a lesson He can teach it

effectually, blessed be His name. He had so taught Elijah his own

insignificance that he was satisfied to retrace his steps, to come

forth from his cave and down from the Mount, to lay aside all his

complaints and accusations, and humbly, silently, obediently, and

willingly cast his prophetic mantle over the shoulders of another.

All this is most instructive. The silence of Elijah, after he hears of

the seven thousand, is most remarkable. He had learnt a lesson which

mount Carmel could not teach him--a lesson which neither Zarephath

nor Cherith had taught him. In these places he had learnt much about

God and His truth, but on Horeb he had learnt his own littleness, and

as the result of that learning he comes down from the mount and gives

up his office to another; and not merely this, but in so doing he

says, "What have _I_ done?"

In a word, we see in this dear servant the most complete renunciation

of self from the moment he learnt that he was but one of many. He

delivers a message to Ahab in the vineyard of Naboth; a message to

Ahaziah in his sick chamber; then he takes his departure from earth,

leaving the work which he had begun to be finished by other hands.

Like John the Baptist, who, as we know, came in the spirit and power

of Elias, he was satisfied to usher in another and then retire.

Oh that we all knew more of this humble, self-renouncing spirit--the

spirit which leads a man to do the work and think nothing of it; or if

it should be so, to see the work done by others and rejoice therein.

The Baptist had to learn this as well as the Tishbite; he had to learn

to be content to end his brilliant career in the gloom of a prison

while another was doing the work. John too thought it strange that it

should be thus with him, and sent a message to Christ to inquire, "Art

Thou He that should come, or look we for another?" As if he had said,

Can it be possible that He to whom I have borne witness is indeed the

Christ and yet I am left to perish, neglected, in Herod's dungeon?

Thus it was, and John had to learn to be content. He had said at the

commencement of his ministerial course, "He must increase, but I must

decrease;" but it may be he had not just counted upon such a mode of

decreasing: yet such was the divine counsel concerning this honored

servant. How different are God's thoughts from those of man! John,

after having fulfilled a most important mission, even the mission of

ushering in the Son of God, was destined to have his head cut off at

the will of a wicked woman, and lest an ungodly tyrant should break

his oath.

Just so was it with Elijah the Tishbite. His course, no doubt, had

been a most brilliant one; he had passed before the eyes of Israel in

all the dignity and majesty of a heavenly man--a heavenly messenger.

Divine truth had fallen from his lips, and God had abundantly honored

him in his work; yet the moment he began to think of himself as

anything; the moment he began to say, "_I_ have been very jealous, and

_I_ only am left," the Lord taught him his mistake, and told him to

appoint his successor.

May we learn from all this to be very humble and self-renouncing in

our service, whatever it be. Let us not presume to survey ourselves as

if we were anything, or our service as if we had achieved some great

thing. And even though our ministry should be unproductive, and we

ourselves despised and rejected, may we be able _to look forward to

the end_, when everything shall be made manifest. This was what our

blessed Master did. He kept His eye fixed on "the joy that was set

before Him," and regarded not the thoughts of men as He passed along.

Nor did He complain of or accuse those who rejected, despised, and

crucified Him. No; His dying words were, "Father, forgive them."

Blessed Master, impart unto us more of Thy meek, loving, gracious and

forgiving spirit! May we be like Thee, and tread in Thy steps across

this dreary world!

_SECTION VI_

THE PROPHET'S RAPTURE

From the moment that Elijah had cast his mantle upon the shoulders of

Elisha we may consider his prophetic career as almost ended. He

delivered a message or two, as has already been noticed; but as

regards his ministerial connection with Israel, it may be looked upon

as closed from the moment that Elisha the son of Shaphat, of

Abel-meholah, was anointed to be prophet in his room. Indeed, he

abandoned the work himself. "He arose, and fled for his life;" so that

it was, to speak after the manner of men, high time to think of

appointing a successor.

But we must not confine our thoughts to Elijah's ministerial character

when reflecting upon his life and times. We must not only look at him

as a _prophet_, but also as a _man_; not only as a _servant_, but also

as a _child_; not only _officially_, but also _personally_. As a

prophet, the steady continuance and successful termination of his

course would depend, in a great measure, on his own faithfulness.

Hence, when he allowed himself to be carried away by a spirit

inconsistent with the character of a genuine servant, he had to resign

his office into the hands of another.[20]

[20] It may be needful just to notice an objection which may be made

to the view I have taken of the prophet's actings. It may be said that

he was raised up at a special era of Israel's history, and for a

special purpose, and that when that purpose had been effected another

kind of instrument was needed. All this is most true. Yet we can have

no difficulty in perceiving the haste and impatience of Elijah in

desiring to resign his post because things had not turned out as he

had expected. God's counsels and man's actings are very distinct. The

ministry of Elijah had filled its proper place in the nation's

history, no doubt; and moreover, another kind of instrument might be

needed; yet this leaves quite untouched the question of his spirit and

actings in the matter. Joshua might be needed to succeed Moses; and

yet it was for hastiness of spirit that Moses was refused permission

to go over Jordan.

There were, however, better things in store for Elijah. He might be

hasty; he might hide himself in a cave, and from thence make

intercession against Israel; he might impatiently long to depart from

the trying scene in which he had been called to move; he might do all

this, and in consequence thereof be called to resign his place: still

the blessed God had thoughts of grace about him which never could have

entered into his heart.

How truly blessed to allow God to adopt His own manner in dealing with

us! We are sure to sustain loss when we interfere with the divine

method of proceeding; and yet it has ever been man's tendency thus to

interfere. Man will not allow God to adopt His own method of

justifying him, but will ever be intruding into the wondrous plan of

redemption: and even when he has submitted himself, through the

operation of the Holy Ghost, to God's righteousness, he will again

and again, notwithstanding repeated experience of God's superior

wisdom, seek to interfere with the divine method of training and

leading him; as if he could make better arrangements for himself than

God! Presumptuous folly!--the fruits of which, to some, will be

eternal perdition; to others, present forfeiture of blessing in the

way of enlarged knowledge and experience of God's character and ways.

Had Elijah received his request, how much he would have lost! How much

better to be carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire, than to be

taken away in a fit of impatience! Elijah asked for the latter, but

God gave him the former. "And it came to pass, when the Lord would

take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with

Elisha from Gilgal" (2 Kings ii. 1).

It would be foreign to my present design to dwell upon the

circumstances of Elisha's introduction into the prophetic office, his

slowness at first in accompanying Elijah, and his unwillingness

afterward to leave him. We find him in this chapter accompanying

Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel, and from Bethel to Jericho, and from

Jericho to Jordan. All these places were famous in Israel's history.

Bethel, or the house of God, was the spot where Jacob of old had seen

the mystic ladder stretching from earth to heaven, the apt expression

of God's future purposes concerning the heavenly and earthly families.

To this same place did Jacob return, by the express command of God,

after he had cleansed himself from the defilement of Shechem (Gen.

xxxv. 1).

Bethel, therefore, was a spot of deep interest to the heart of an

Israelite. But alas, it had become polluted! Jeroboam's calf had

effectually obliterated the sacred principles of truth taught by

Jacob's ladder. The latter conducted the spirit from earth to

heaven--it led upward and onward; upward to God's eternal purpose of

_grace_; onward to the display of that purpose in _glory_. The former,

on the contrary, bound the heart down to a degrading system of

political religion--a system in which the _names_ of things heavenly

were used to secure for self the things earthly. Jeroboam made use of

_the house of God_ to secure for himself _the kingdom of Israel_. He

was well content to remain at the bottom of the ladder, and cared not

to look upward. His earthly heart desired not to scale those sublime

heights to which Jacob's ladder led; earth and its glory were all he

wanted; and provided he obtained these, he cared not whether he

worshiped before Baal's calf at Bethel, or Jehovah's altar at

Jerusalem. What was it to him? Jerusalem, Bethel, or Dan, was but a

name in the estimate of this politico-religious man--yea, and in the

estimate of every other such man. Religion is but an instrument in the

hands of the children of this world--an instrument by which they dig

into the bowels of the earth; not a ladder by which they mount from

earth to heaven. Man pollutes everything sacred. Place in his hands

the purest, the most heavenly truth, and ere long he will defile it:

commit to his guardianship the most precious, the most impressive

ordinance, and he will ere long convert it into a lifeless form, and

lose therein the principles sought to be conveyed. So was it with

Bethel. So was it with everything sacred that man had anything to do

with.

Then as to Gilgal, the place from whence the two prophets started: it

too was a place of interest. It was there the Lord rolled away the

reproach of Egypt from His people; there Israel kept their first

passover in the land of Canaan, and were refreshed by the old corn of

the land. Gilgal was the rallying-point for Joshua and his men of war;

from thence they went forth in the strength of the Lord to obtain

glorious triumphs over the uncircumcised, and thither they returned to

enjoy the spoils. Thus was Gilgal a place round which the affections

of a Jew might well entwine themselves--a place of many hallowed

recollections. Yet it too had lost all its reality. The reproach of

Egypt had rolled back upon Israel. The principles which once stood

connected with Gilgal had lost their sway over the hearts of God's

professing people. Bochim (the place of weepers) had long since taken

the place of Gilgal in reference to Israel, and Gilgal had become an

empty form--ancient, no doubt, but powerless, for Israel had ceased to

walk in the power of the truth taught at Gilgal.

Again, as to Jericho. There it was that the hosts of the Lord, under

their mighty Captain, gained their first victory in the land of

promise, and exhibited the power of faith. And lastly, at Jordan it

was that Israel had had such an impressive manifestation of Jehovah's

power in connection with the ark of His presence. Jordan was the place

where death had been, in type, overcome by the power of life; and in

its midst, and on its banks, it presented the trophies of victory over

the foe.

Thus were these varied places--namely, Bethel, Gilgal, Jericho, and

Jordan--deeply interesting to the heart of a true child of Abraham;

but their power and meaning were lost: Bethel had ceased to be the

house of God save in name; Gilgal was no longer valued as the place

where the reproach of Egypt had been rolled away. The walls of Jericho

which had been destroyed by faith were built again. Jordan was no

longer viewed as the scene of Jehovah's power. In a word, all these

things had become mere form without power, and the Lord might, even in

Elijah's time, have to speak to the house of Israel concerning them in

the following impressive words: "Thus saith the Lord unto the house of

Israel, _Seek ye Me_, and ye shall live: but seek not Bethel, nor

enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely

go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to naught. Seek the Lord, and

ye shall live" (Amos v. 4-6). Here is an important truth for all those

whose hearts are prone to cling to ancient forms. We are taught by

this striking passage that nothing but the divine reality of personal

communion with God will stand. Men may plead in defense of forms their

great antiquity, but where can we find greater antiquity than that

which Bethel and Gilgal could boast? Yet they failed and came to

naught, and the faithful were admonished to abandon them all and look

up in simple faith to the living God.

Through all the above places, then, our prophet passed in the energy

and elevation of a heavenly man. His destination lay beyond and above

them all. He would seek to leave Elisha behind him while he pressed

onward along his heavenward path; but the latter clings to him, and

accompanies him as it were to the very portals of heaven, and checks

the busy intrusion of his less intelligent brethren by the words "Hold

ye your peace." But Elijah moves on in the power of his heavenly

mission. "The Lord hath sent me," says he; and in obedience to the

divine command he passes through Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and on to

Jordan; leaving far behind him all those ancient forms and sacred

localities which might engage the affections of any who were not, like

Elijah the Tishbite, carried forward by a heavenly hope. The sons of

the prophets might tarry amid those things, and perhaps, too, have

many a hallowed recollection awakened by them; but to one whose spirit

was filled with the thought of his rapture to heaven, things of earth,

be they ever so sacred, ever so venerable, could present no

attraction. Heaven was his object, not Bethel or Gilgal. He was about

to take his departure from earth and all its harassing scenes; he was

about to leave Ahab and Jezebel behind to meet their terrible doom; to

pass beyond the region of broken covenants, ruined altars, and slain

prophets--in a word, to pass beyond the gloom and sorrow, trial and

disappointment of this stormy world; and that not by the agency of

death, but by a heavenly chariot. Death was to possess no power

against this heavenly man. No doubt his body was changed in the

twinkling of an eye, for "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom

of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption;" but death can

have no power over him; he rather stepped like a conqueror into his

triumphal chariot, and thus passed away into his rest.

Happy man! his conflict was over, his race run, his victory secure. He

had been a stranger here--unlike the men of this world; yea, unlike

many of the children of the kingdom. He had come forth from the

mountains of Gilead as the girded witness, and the stern intruder upon

the course of a professing world. He had no home or resting-place here

below, but as a stranger and pilgrim pressed onward toward his

heavenly rest.

Elijah's path from first to last was a unique one. Like John the

Baptist, he was a voice "crying in the wilderness," away from the

haunts of men; and whenever he did make his appearance, he was like

some heavenly meteor, the origin and destiny of which were alike

beyond the reach of human conception. The man with the leathern girdle

was only known as the witness against evil--the bearer of the truth of

God. He had no fellowship with man as such, but in all his ways

maintained an elevation which at once repulsed all intrusion and

secured reverence and respect. There was so much of the sacred

solemnity of the sanctuary about him that vanity or folly could not

live in his presence. He was not, like his successor Elisha, a social

man; his path was solitary. "He came neither eating nor drinking." In

a word, he was peculiar in everything; peculiar in his entrance upon

his prophetic career, peculiar in his passage out of it. He was an

exception, and a marked one. The very fact of his not being called to

pass through the gates of the grave would be quite sufficient to draw

special attention to him.

But let us observe the path pursued by our prophet as he journeyed

toward the scene of his rapture. He retraced the path of the camp of

old. Israel had journeyed from Jordan to Jericho, but Elijah journeyed

from Jericho to Jordan. In other words, as Jordan was that which

separated the wilderness from the land, the prophet crossed it, thus

leaving Canaan behind him. His chariot met him, not _in the land, but

in the wilderness_. The land was polluted, and was speedily to be

cleansed of those who had introduced the pollution; the glory was soon

to take its departure from even the most favored spot. Ichabod might

be written upon it all; wherefore the prophet leaves it and passes

into the wilderness, thus pointing out to the spiritual mind that

nothing remained for heavenly men but the wilderness and the rest

above. Earth was no longer to be the resting-place, or portion, of the

man of God; it was polluted. The Jordan had been divided to allow

Israel to pass from the wilderness to Canaan; it was now to be divided

to allow a heavenly man to pass from Canaan to the wilderness where

his chariot awaited him, ready to convey him from earth to heaven.

Earthly things and earthly hopes had passed away from the mind of

Elijah, he had learnt the thorough vanity of everything here below,

and nothing now remained for him but to look beyond it all. He had

toiled amid Israel's broken altars; he had labored and testified for

years among a disobedient and gainsaying people; he had longed to

depart and be at rest; and now he was about to do so in a way worthy

of God--Jehovah Himself was about to place His everlasting arms around

and underneath His servant to shield him from the power of death. In

his case death was to have no sting and the grave no victory. Elijah

was privileged, as he stood upon the sand of the wilderness, to look

right upward and, unimpeded by the humiliating circumstances of

sickness and death, see heaven open to receive him. Not one of the

circumstances of fallen humanity fell to the lot of our prophet in the

matter of his exit from earth. He exchanged his prophet's mantle for a

chariot of fire. He could cheerfully let his mantle drop to earth

while he ascended to heaven. To him earth was but a perishable and

polluted speck in God's creation, and most happy was he to lay aside

everything which marked his connection with it.

What a position! And yet it is only the position which every heavenly

man should occupy. Nature and earth have no longer any claims on the

man who believes in Jesus. The Cross has broken all the chains which

once bound him to earth. As Jordan separated Elijah from Canaan, and

brought him into the wilderness to meet Jehovah's chariot, so the

Cross has introduced the believer into new ground; it has brought him

into purely wilderness circumstances; it has placed him, too, at the

other side of death, with no other object before him than his rapture

to meet the Lord in the air.

Such is the real, unquestionable portion of every saint, be he ever so

weak, ever so ignorant. The happy experience thereof is, of course, a

very different thing. To attain to this we need to be much alone with

God, and much in the exercise of a spirit of self-judgment. Flesh and

blood can never be brought to understand the rapture of a heavenly

man.

Indeed, we find that the sons of the prophets did not understand it

either, for they say to Elisha, "Behold now, there be with thy

servants fifty strong men: let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy

master, lest, peradventure, the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up,

and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley." Here was their

highest thought about the prophet's rapture--"The Spirit of the Lord

hath cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley." They could not

conceive such a thing as his being carried up to heaven in a chariot

of fire.[21] They still tarried amid the things of earth, and had not

their spiritual senses sufficiently exercised to perceive and

appreciate a truth so glorious. Elisha yielded to their importunity,

but they learnt the folly of their thoughts by the fruitless toil of

their messengers. Fifty strong men could nowhere find the raptured

prophet. He was gone; and it required other strength than that of

nature to travel the same road. "The natural man receiveth not the

things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they

are spiritually discerned." Those who walk in the Spirit will best

understand the prophet's privilege in being delivered from the claims

of mortality, and being introduced in a manner so glorious into his

heavenly rest.

[21] It has been observed by another that the little children who came

out of Bethel, and said to Elisha, "Go up, thou bald head," were

mocking the idea of rapture. If this be so, they afford a sample of

the world in their thoughts about the rapture of the Church.

Such, then, was the end of our prophet's course. A glorious end! Who

would not say, "Let my last end be like his"? Blessed be the love that

so arranged it that _a man_ should be thus honored! Blessed be the

grace that led the Son of God--the Prince of life--to stoop from His

glory in the heavens and submit to a shameful death upon the cross, by

virtue of which, even though yet only in prospect, the prophet Elijah

was exempted from the penalty of sin, permitted to pass into the

regions of light and immortality without the smell of death having

passed upon him! How we should adore this love, dear Christian reader!

Yes; while we trace the footsteps of the remarkable man whose history

we have been dwelling upon; while we follow him from Gilead to

Cherith, from Cherith to Zarephath, from Zarephath to Carmel, from

Carmel to Horeb, and from Horeb TO HEAVEN, we must feel constrained to

cry out, "Oh, the matchless love of God!" Who could conceive that

mortal man could tread such a course? Who but God could bring about

such things? The path of Elijah the Tishbite magnifies exceedingly the

grace of God, and confounds the wisdom of the enemy. The rapture of a

saint to heaven is one of the richest fruits and most magnificent

results of redemption. To save a soul from hell is in itself a

glorious achievement, a splendid triumph; to raise up the body of a

sleeping saint is even a more marked display of divine grace and

power; but to take a living man, in the freshness and energy of his

natural existence, and carry him from earth to heaven, is a finer

display of the power of God and the value of redemption than anything

we can conceive.

Thus it was with Elijah. It was not merely the salvation of his soul,

nor the resurrection of his body; but it was the rapture of his

person--"body, soul, and spirit." He was taken away from the midst of

all the turmoil and confusion around him. The tide of evil might yet

have to flow onward; men and principles might continue to work and

show themselves. The measure of Israel's iniquities might still have

to be filled up and the proud Assyrian enter the scene as the rod of

Jehovah's anger to chastise them; but what was all this to the

raptured prophet? Nothing. Heaven had opened upon him as he stood a

homeless wanderer in the wilderness. He was now to be done with the

land of Canaan, with its defilement and degradation, and to take his

place above, there to await those momentous scenes in which he was,

and is yet, to take a part.

Having thus seen our prophet go into heaven, our reflections on his

life and times might naturally close. Yet there is one scene in

particular in which he appears in the New Testament; and did we not

dwell for a little upon it, our sketch of him would be incomplete. I

allude to the mount of transfiguration, where Moses and Elias appeared

in glory, and spoke with the Lord Jesus Christ of His decease which He

should accomplish at Jerusalem.

The Lord Jesus had taken with Him Peter, James, and John, and brought

them up into a high mountain, apart, in order to exhibit in their view

a sample of His future glory, that thus their spirits might be

fortified against the trying scenes through which both He and they had

yet to pass.

What a company! The Son of God, in white and glistering raiment:

Moses, type of those who sleep in Jesus; Elias, type of the raptured

saints; and Peter, James, and John, who have been styled the pillars

of the New Testament Church! Now it is evident that our Lord designed

to prepare His apostles for the scene of His sufferings by showing

them a specimen of the glory that should follow. He saw the cross,

with all its accompanying horrors, in the distance before Him. Shortly

before His transfiguration He said to them, "The Son of man must

suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and chief priests,

and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day:" but previous

to His entering into all this, He would show them something of His

glory. The Cross is in reality the basis of everything. The future

glory of Christ and His saints, the joy of restored Israel in the land

of Canaan, and the deliverance of creation from the bondage of

corruption, all hang upon the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. His

sorrows and sufferings have secured the Church's glory, Israel's

restoration, and the blessing of the whole creation. No marvel,

therefore, that the Cross should form the subject of discourse between

Christ and His glorious visitors. "They spoke of His decease which He

should accomplish at Jerusalem." Everything hung upon this. The past,

the present and the future all rested on the Cross as upon an immortal

basis. Moses could see and acknowledge in the Cross that which

superseded the law, with all its shadowy rites and ceremonies; Elijah

could see and acknowledge in it that which could give efficacy to all

prophetic testimony. The law and the prophets pointed to the Cross as

the foundation of the glory which lay beyond it.

How profoundly interesting, therefore, was the subject of converse

upon the mount of transfiguration, in the midst of the excellent

glory! It was interesting to earth, interesting to heaven, interesting

to the wide creation of God. It forms the centre of all the divine

purposes and counsels; it harmonizes all the divine attributes; it

secures upon immutable principles the glory of God and the sinner's

peace; on it may be inscribed in indelible characters "Glory to God in

the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." No marvel,

therefore, again I say, that Moses and Elias could appear in glory and

talk of such a momentous subject. They were about to return to their

rest, while their blessed Master had to descend again into the arena

of conflict to meet the Cross in all its tremendous reality; but they

knew full well that He and they would yet meet in the midst of a glory

which shall never be overshadowed by a cloud--a glory of which He, the

Lamb, was to be the source and the centre forever--a glory which shall

shine with everlasting brilliancy when all human and earthly glories

shall be overcast by the shadows of an eternal night.

But what of the disciples during all this wondrous converse? How were

they employed? They were asleep! Asleep while Moses and Elias

conversed with the Son of God concerning His cross and passion!

Marvelous insensibility! Nature can sleep in the very presence of the

excellent glory.[22] "And when they were awake they saw His glory,

and the two men that stood with Him. And it came to pass, as they

departed from Him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to

be here; and let us make three tabernacles--one for Thee, one for

Moses, and one for Elias--not knowing what he said." No doubt it was

good to be there--far better than to go down from their elevation and

glory to meet all the contradiction and trying obloquy of man. When

Peter saw the glory, and Moses and Elias, it instantly occurred to his

Jewish mind that there was no hindrance to the celebration of the

feast of tabernacles. He had been asleep while they spoke of "the

decease;" he had been indulging nature whilst his Master's sufferings

had formed the subject of discourse; and when he awoke, he would fain

pitch his tent in the midst of that scene of peace and glory, beneath

the open heavens. But ah, he knew not what he said. It was but a

passing moment. The heavenly strangers were soon to depart; the Lord

Jesus was to be delivered into the hands of men. He was to pass from

the mount of glory to the place of suffering; Peter himself, too, had

yet to be sifted by Satan--to be deeply humbled and broken under a

sense of his shameful fall--to be girded by another, and carried

whither he would not; a long and a dreary season, a dark night of

sorrow and tribulation, was in store for the Church; the armies of

Rome were yet to trample the holy city in the dust, and lay waste her

bulwarks; the thunders of war and political revolution were yet to

roll, with terrible vehemence, over the whole civilized world;--all

these things, and many more, were to come to pass, ere the fond

thought of poor Peter's heart could be realized on earth. The prophet

Elijah must visit the earth again "before the coming of the great and

dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. iv. 5). "Elias must first come and

restore all things."

[22] It is not a little remarkable that we find these same disciples

asleep during the season of our Lord's agony in the garden. They slept

in the view of the glory, and also in the view of the cross. Nature

can as little enter into the one as the other. And yet the blessed

Master does not rebuke them in either case, save to say to the most

prominent and self-confident among them, "Couldst _thou_ not watch

with Me one hour?" He knew whom He had to do with; He knew that "the

spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Gracious Master, Thou wast

ever ready to make allowance for Thy poor people, and didst say, "Ye

are they who have continued with Me in My temptation," to those who

had slept on the mount, slept in the garden, and who were about to

deny and desert Thee in the hour of Thy deepest need!

How long, O Lord? May this be the continual inquiry of our hearts as

we pass along to that rest and glory which lie before us. "Time is

short," and eternity, with all its divine and glorious realities, is

at hand. May we live in the light of it! May we ever be able, by the

eye of faith, to see the bright beams of the millennial morning--the

morning without clouds--irradiating the distant hills! Everything

points to this; every event that happens, every voice that reaches the

ear, tells of the speedy approach of the kingdom: the sea and the

waves may be heard roaring--nations are convulsed, thrones

overturned;--all these things have a voice for the circumcised ear,

and the voice is, "Look up!" Those who have received the Holy Ghost

have received the earnest of the future inheritance; and the earnest,

as we know, is part of the thing to be received. They have been on the

mount; and although the cloud may overshadow them too,--although they

too may have to come down from the mount to meet the trial and sorrow

below,--yet they have a foretaste of the joy and blessedness which

shall be theirs forever; and they can unfeignedly thank God, as they

journey on from day to day, that their hopes are not bounded by this

world's gloomy horizon, but that they have a home beyond it all.

"Oh wondrous grace, oh love divine,

To give us such a home!

Let us the present things resign,

And seek this rest to come.

And gazing on our Saviour's cross,

Esteem all else but dung and dross;

Press forward till the race be run,

Fight till the crown of life be won."

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Although, in the character of his ministry, Elijah the Tishbite much

resembled John the Baptist, as has been already observed, yet looking

at him personally, and considering his unearthly and pilgrim path, and

specially his rapture to heaven, he stands before us as a remarkable

illustration of the Church, or heavenly family. Taking this view of

him, I think a few observations on the important doctrine of the

Church will not be considered out of place as a conclusion to the

foregoing sketch of his life and times.

It is of the utmost importance that the Christian reader should

understand the doctrine of the Church's heavenly character. It will be

found to be the only preservative against the varied forms of evil and

unsound doctrine which prevail around us. To be soundly instructed in

the heavenly origin, heavenly position, and heavenly destiny of the

Church, is the most effectual safeguard against worldliness in the

Christian's present path, and also against false teaching in reference

to his future hopes. _Every system of doctrine or discipline which

would connect the Church with the world, either in her present

condition or her future prospects, must be wrong, and must exert an

unhallowed influence._ The Church is not of the world. Her life, her

position, her hopes, are all heavenly in the very highest sense of

that word. The calling and existence of the Church are, humanly

speaking, consequent upon the present rejection of Israel and the

world. The garden of Eden and the land of Canaan were successively the

scenes of divine operation; but sin, as we have often heard, marred

them both, and now all who believe the gospel of the grace of God,

preached to them in the name of a crucified, risen and ascended

Saviour, are constituted living members of the body of Christ, and are

called upon to abandon every earthly hope. Being quickened by the

voice of Him who has passed into the heavens, and not only so, but

being united to Him by the Holy Ghost, they are called to occupy the

place of strangers and pilgrims on earth. The position of Elijah the

Tishbite as he stood on the wilderness side of Jordan, waiting for his

rapture to heaven, aptly represents the condition of the Church

collectively or the believer individually.[23] The Church, properly so

called, finds (as another has said) "the termini of her existence to

be the cross and the coming of the Lord;" and surely, we may say,

earth has no place between these sacred bounds. To think of the Church

as a worldly corporation, be it ever so sound and scriptural, is to

sink far below the divine thought about it.

[23] When I say the wilderness side of Jordan, I only speak of Jordan

in reference to the prophet's path. If we look at it in reference to

the path of Israel from Egypt to Canaan, we learn a different truth.

The spiritual reader will understand both.

The doctrine of the Church's heavenly character was developed in all

its power and beauty by the Holy Ghost in the apostle Paul. Up to his

time, and even during the early stages of his ministry, the divine

purpose was to deal with Israel. There had been all along a chain of

witnesses, the object of whose mission was exclusively the house of

Israel. The prophets, as has been already observed in the opening of

this paper, bore witness to Israel, not only concerning their complete

failure, but also the future establishment of _the kingdom_ agreeably

to the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. They spoke

not of the Church as the body of Christ. How could they, when the

thing was a profound mystery, "not revealed to the sons of men"? The

thought of a Church composed of Jew and Gentile, "seated _together_ in

the heavenlies," lay far beyond the range of prophetic testimony.

Isaiah, no doubt, speaks in very elevated strains of Jerusalem's glory

in the latter day; he speaks of Gentiles coming to her light, and

kings to the brightness of her rising; but he never rises higher than

the kingdom, and as a consequence never brings out anything beyond the

covenant made with Abraham, which secures everlasting blessedness to

his seed, and through them to the Gentiles. We may range through the

inspired pages of the law and the prophets, from one end to the other,

and find nothing concerning "_the great mystery_" of the Church.

Then, again, in the ministry of John the Baptist we observe the same

thing. We have the sum and substance of his testimony in these words:

"Repent, for _the kingdom_ is at hand." He came as the great precursor

of the Messiah, and sought to produce moral order amongst all ranks.

He told the people what they were to do in that transition state into

which his ministry was designed to conduct them, and pointed to Him

that was to come. Have we anything of the _Church_ in all this? Not a

syllable. The _kingdom_ is still the very highest thought. John led

his disciples to the waters of Jordan--the place of confession in view

of the kingdom; but it was not yet that character of repentance

produced in them who are made members of the body of Christ.

The Lord Jesus Himself then took up the chain of testimony. The

prophets had been stoned; John had been beheaded; and now "the

Faithful Witness" entered the scene, and not only declared that the

kingdom was at hand, but presented Himself to the daughter of Zion as

her King. He too was rejected, and, like every previous witness,

sealed His testimony with His blood. Israel would not have God's King,

and God would not give Israel the kingdom.

Next came the twelve apostles, and took up the chain of testimony.

Immediately after the resurrection they inquired of the Lord, "Wilt

thou at this time restore again _the kingdom_ to Israel?" Their minds

were filled with the thought of the kingdom. "We trusted," said the

two disciples going to Emmaus, "that it had been He which should have

redeemed Israel." And so it was. The question was, _when_? The Lord

does not rebuke the disciples for entertaining the thought of the

kingdom; He simply tells them, "It is not for you to know _the times

or the seasons_, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye

shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and

ye shall be _witnesses_ unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea,

and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts i. 7,

8).

Agreeably to this, the apostle Peter, in his address to Israel, offers

them _the kingdom_. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your

sins may be blotted out, and the times of refreshing shall come from

the presence (απο προσωπου) of the Lord; and He shall send

Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must

receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath

spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."

Have we here the development of the Church? No. The time had not yet

arrived for this. The revelation of the Church was yet to be, as it

were, forced out as something quite extraordinary--something quite out

of the regular course of things. The Church as seen in the opening of

the Acts exhibits but a sample of lovely grace and order, exquisite

indeed in its way, but not anything beyond what man could take

cognizance of and value. In a word, it was still the kingdom, and not

the great mystery of the Church. Those who think that the opening

chapters of Acts present the Church in its essential aspect have by no

means reached the divine thought on the subject.

Peter's vision in Acts x. is decidedly a step in advance of his

preaching in chapter iii. Still, however, the grand truth of the

heavenly mystery was not yet unfolded. In the council held at

Jerusalem for the purpose of considering the question that had arisen

in reference to the Gentiles, we find the apostles all agreeing with

James in the following conclusion: "Simeon hath declared how God at

the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His

name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of

David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof,

and I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after the

Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, saith the

Lord, who doeth all these things" (Acts. xv. 14-17).

Here we are taught that the Gentiles, as such, are to have a place

with the Jews in the kingdom.

But did the council at Jerusalem apprehend the truth of the Church, of

Jews and Gentiles so truly formed in "one body" that they are no more

Jew nor Gentile? I believe not. A few members might have heard it from

Paul (see Gal. ii. 1, 2), but as a whole they do not seem to have

understood it as yet.

We infer, therefore, that the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles

by the mouth of Peter was not the development of _the great mystery_

of the Church, but simply the opening of _the kingdom_, agreeably to

the words of the prophets, and also to Peter's commission in Matt.

xvi.: "And I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I

will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against

it. And I will give unto thee the keys _of the kingdom_ of heaven: and

whatsoever thou shalt bind _on earth_ shall be bound in heaven; and

whatsoever thou shalt loose _on earth_ shall be loosed in heaven."

Mark, it is "the kingdom," and not the Church. Peter received the keys

of the kingdom, and he used those keys, first to open the kingdom to

the Jew, and then to the Gentile. But Peter never received a

commission to unfold the mystery of the Church. Even in his epistles

we find nothing of it. He views believers on earth; as strangers, no

doubt, but yet on earth; having their hope in heaven and being on

their way thither, but never as the body of Christ seated there in

Him.

It was reserved for the great apostle of the Gentiles to bring out, in

the energy and power of the Holy Ghost, the mystery of which we speak.

He was raised up, however, as he himself tells us, before the time.

"Last of all, He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time."

Things were not sufficiently matured for the development of the new

revelation of which he was made the peculiar minister, and hence he

styles himself one born _before_ the time; for such is the real force

of the original word. And how was he before the time? Because Israel

had not as yet been finally set aside. The Lord was still lingering

over His beloved city, unwilling to enter into judgment; for, as

another has said, "Whenever the Lord leaves a place of mercy, or

enters a place of judgment, He moves with a slow and measured pace."

This is most true; and hence, although the apostle of the Gentiles had

been raised up and constituted the depositary of a truth which was

designed to carry all who should receive it far away beyond the bounds

of Jewish things, yet did he make the house of Israel his primary

object; and in so doing he worked in company with the twelve, although

not a debtor to them in any one way. "It was necessary," says he to

the Jews, "that the word of God should _first_ have been spoken to

you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of

everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts xiii. 46).

Why was it necessary? Because of God's long-suffering and grace. Paul

was not only the depositary of the divine counsels, but also of divine

affections. As the former, he should act upon his peculiar commission;

as the latter, he would linger over "his brethren, his kinsmen

according to the flesh:" as the former, he was called upon to lead the

Church into the knowledge of "a mystery which in other ages was not

made known to the sons of men;" as the latter, he would, like his

Master, with "a slow and measured step," turn his back upon the

devoted city and the infatuated nation.

In a word, as the gospel with which he was entrusted could only be

proclaimed upon the ground of the total abandonment of earth, the

earthly city, and the earthly nation, and as Paul's heart yearned over

that nation and city, therefore it was that he was so slow to make

known publicly the gospel which he preached. He delayed for fourteen

years, as he himself informs us. "Then fourteen years after I went up

again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I

went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I

preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of

reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain" (Gal.

ii. 1, 2). This is a very important passage on the question now before

us. Paul had been raised up quite out of the regular course of things;

his ministry was totally divested of the earthly, human and Jewish

element; so much so indeed as to give rise to numerous questions as to

its divine origin.[24]

[24] There have not been wanting modern teachers who have labored to

deprive Paul's ministry of its peculiarly heavenly character by

placing him among the regular college of apostles, whose aspect and

bearing were manifestly Jewish. This they do by calling in question

the election of Matthias. But to all those who need more than the

exercise of spiritual judgment to guide them in this matter it may be

sufficient to say that the Holy Ghost raised no question as to the

validity of Matthias's election, for He fell upon him in common with

his fellow-apostles. However, we can well understand why those who

feel themselves called upon to uphold human systems should labor so

diligently to reduce our apostle's ministry to a human, or earthly

level.

To him was committed what he emphatically styles _his_ gospel. But, as

has been remarked, it was a question whether things were ripe as

regards the divine counsels respecting Israel, for the public

development of this gospel. The apostle felt this to be a momentous

question: hence his caution in communicating it _severally_ to a few.

He could not, even in the midst of the Church at Jerusalem, speak

openly on this grand question, because he feared that the full time

had not come, and that, should he develop it prematurely, few had

sufficient spiritual intelligence or largeness of mind to understand

or enter into it. His fears, as we know, were well grounded. There

were few at Jerusalem who were at all prepared for Paul's gospel. Even

some years later we find James, who seems to have taken a very

prominent place in the Church at Jerusalem, inducing Paul to purify

himself and shave his head. And what was this for? Just to prevent a

break-up of the earthly thing. "Thou seest, brother," said James, "how

many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all

zealous of the law. And they are informed of thee that thou teachest

all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying

that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk

after the customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs

come together; for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore

this that we say to thee: we have four men which have a vow on them;

them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them,

that they may shave their heads; and all may know that those things

whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing, but that thou

thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law" (Acts xxi. 20-24).

Here, then, we have abundant proof of the fact that the great mystery

was not understood and would not be received by the Church at

Jerusalem.[25]

[25] The circumstance to which allusion is made in the above quotation

occurred some years later than the visit to which Paul refers in Gal.

ii. The latter would seem to have been occasioned by the controversy

respecting the Gentiles. This fact gives additional force to the

expression "Severally to them which were of reputation." Paul could

not communicate his gospel to them _en masse_.

Now, one can well understand how the spirit of James would have shrunk

from the terrible break-up which must have resulted from the public

declaration of Paul's gospel amongst those whose hearts still clung to

the earthly thing. True, it was the privilege of believing Jews to

breathe a purer atmosphere than that of an earthly sanctuary, yet they

were not prepared for the strong meat of Paul's gospel, and moreover

the heart would cling with peculiar fondness to the thought that

Jerusalem was to be a great focus of Christian light and testimony

from whence the rays of gospel truth should emanate to enlighten all

around. But if the mystery which Paul had communicated to them

privately were to be made known to the multitude, "the many thousands

of Jews" would not receive it, and thus the great centre of light

would have become the centre of division.

Moreover, the very same motive which had actuated Paul on the occasion

of his former visit to Jerusalem, when he communicated his gospel only

to a few, lest he should run in vain if things were not ripe for the

revelation--the same motive, we say, might have led him at a later

period to hold his gospel in abeyance, and accommodate himself to the

thoughts and feelings of those who had not as yet got beyond the

earthly order of things. Every affection of Paul's heart as a man and

a Jew would have led him to linger at Jerusalem, and also to hesitate

in the development of a doctrine which would cast Jerusalem and all

earthly things into the shade, and raise the thoughts and affections

into a far higher and purer region than had yet been realized. Paul

knew full well the vanity and emptiness of vows and purifications. He

saw nothing in the temple and its splendid ceremonies save a vast

system of shadows of which the substance was in heaven. Yet his

affectionate heart yearned over his brethren who were still captivated

by it all, and therefore he hesitated to let the full blaze of the

light which had been communicated to him shine upon them, lest it

should dazzle them, habituated as they were to the shadows of bygone

days.

If this be a sound view of the conduct of our apostle in the matter of

the vow, etc., it places him before us in a most truly interesting

point of view, and also brings out very distinctly the two features of

his character, namely, as the participator in the divine affections

towards Israel, and also as the depositary of the divine counsels

respecting the Church. Both these are lovely in their way. His fervent

affection for Israel and his faithfulness to his own peculiar

commission are both exquisite. Some may think he allowed the former to

interfere at times with the latter, as in the matter of the vow; but

it was an interference which we can well understand and account for.

His heart, however, led him to tarry in Jerusalem; yea, to tarry until

the Lord had to compel him to leave it. His commission was to the

Gentiles; and yet, again and again he betakes himself to Jerusalem,

and in his unwillingness to depart from it reminds us of the "slow and

measured steps" with which the glory as seen by Ezekiel had departed

from the temple. But the Lord would insist upon His servant's leaving

Jerusalem. "_Make haste_," said He, "and _get thee quickly_ out of

Jerusalem; for they will not receive _thy_ testimony concerning Me."

Paul's Jewish heart still lingers. He replies, "They know that I

imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on Thee; and

when the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed, I was also standing by

and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew

him."

What pleading is here! "Their unbelief is all my fault; my vileness

acts as the great barrier to their reception of the testimony--only

let me remain." Impossible! "Depart: for I will send thee _far hence,

to the Gentiles_." Yes; the truth must be brought out; the divine

counsels must be fulfilled; the time was come, and it was in vain for

James to seek to stem the mighty current of events, or for Paul to

linger or hesitate any longer: the crisis had arrived, and if Paul

will after all this return to Jerusalem again, he must be carried away

from it in bonds! He does return again. The passage we have just

quoted is Paul's own account of what the Lord had said to him on a

former occasion, to which we have no allusion till now. Thus, although

he had been expressly told to depart from Jerusalem because they would

not receive his testimony, he goes thither again; and we know the

result of this visit. It was his last. The very thing that James

dreaded and sought to avoid came upon them: an uproar was raised, and

Paul was delivered over into the hands of the Gentiles. The Lord was

determined to send him to the Gentiles. If he would not go as a free

man, he must go as "an ambassador in bonds." He could say, however,

that it was for "the hope of Israel that he was bound with this

chain." If his heart had not longed so after Israel, he might have

escaped the bonds. He left Israel without excuse, but he himself

became a prisoner and a martyr.

Thus then, at length, Paul took leave of Jerusalem. He had visited it

again and again, and would have tarried there; but it was not his

place. Jerusalem had been for ages the object of divine regard and the

centre of divine operation, but it was speedily about to be trodden

down of the Gentiles; its temple was about to be laid in ruins, and

the flock of Christ that had been gathered there was about to be

scattered abroad; a few short years, and that spot which had stood so

long connected with all God's thoughts about earth would be laid low,

even with the dust, beneath the rude foot of the Roman.

Now Paul's departure may be looked upon as the immediate precursor of

all this. The peculiar truth of which he was the depositary could only

be brought out in all its fulness and power in connection with the

abandonment of earth as the _manifested_ scene of divine operation.

Hence Paul's journey from Jerusalem to Rome must be viewed with

deepest interest by the intelligent and reflecting Christian.[26]

[26] It is a thought full of interest, in connection with the subject

before us, that Paul's voyage to Rome gives us the history of the

Church as regards its earthly destinies. The vessel sets out in due

order, as a compact and well regulated thing, framed to endure the

violence of the stormy ocean over which it had to pass. After a time

the apostle offers a certain suggestion, which, being rejected, the

ship is dashed to pieces by the waves. There was, however, an

important distinction between the vessel and the individuals on board:

the former was lost, the latter were all saved. Let us apply all this

to the history of the Church in its earthly path. The testimony, as we

know, emanated from Jerusalem, whence Paul started on his way to Rome.

Apostolic testimony was designed to guide the Church in its earthly

course, and preserve it from shipwreck; but this being rejected,

failure and ruin were the consequences. But, in the progress of the

failure, we perceive the distinction between the preservation of the

Church's corporate testimony and individual faithfulness and

salvation. "He that hath ears to hear" will always find a word of

instruction and guidance for him in times of thickest darkness. The

waves may dash in pieces the corporate thing--everything connected

with earth may vanish away, "but he that doeth the will of God abideth

forever." The above picture might be traced far more minutely by those

who feel they have intelligence and warrant to do so.

But we may ask did our apostle, when he turned his back upon

Jerusalem, take leave also of Israel? No; he did not yet despair. True

they had not received his testimony at Jerusalem, but perhaps they

might receive it at Rome: they had not given him a place in the East,

perhaps they would in the West. At all events he would try. He would

not abandon Israel, though Israel had rejected him. Hence we read that

"after three days (from the time of his arrival at Rome) Paul called

_the chief of the Jews_ together; and when they were come together, he

said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing

against the people or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered

prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.... For this

cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with

you; because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this

chain.... And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to

him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom

of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses

and out of the prophets, from morning till evening" (Acts xxviii. 17,

20, 23).

Here, then, we have this blessed "ambassador in bonds" still seeking

out "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," and offering them, in the

first place, "the salvation of God." But "they agreed not among

themselves," and at last Paul is constrained to say, "Well spake the

Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto

this people and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and not understand; and

seeing ye shall see, and not perceive; for the heart of this people is

waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have

they closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their

ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted and I

should heal them. BE IT KNOWN THEREFORE UNTO YOU, THAT THE SALVATION

OF GOD IS SENT UNTO THE GENTILES, AND THAT THEY WILL HEAR IT."

There was now no more hope. Every effort that love could make had been

made, but to no purpose; and our apostle, with a reluctant heart,

shuts them up under the power of that judicial blindness which was the

natural result of their rejection of the salvation of God. Thus every

obstacle to the clear and full development of Paul's gospel was

removed. He found himself in the midst of the wide Gentile world--a

prisoner at Rome and rejected of Israel. He had done his utmost to

tarry among them; his affectionate heart led him to delay as long

possible ere he would reiterate the prophet's verdict; but now all was

over--every expectation was blasted--all human institutions and

associations present to his view nothing but ruin and disappointment;

he must therefore set himself to bring out that holy and heavenly

mystery which had been hid in God from ages and generations--the

mystery of the Church as the body of Christ united to its living Head

by the Holy Ghost.

Thus closes the Acts of the Apostles, which, like the Gospels, is more

or less connected with the testimony to Israel. So long as Israel

could be regarded as the object of testimony, so long the testimony

continued; but when they were shut up to judicial blindness, they

ceased to come within the range of testimony, wherefore the testimony

ceased.

And now let us see what this "mystery," this "gospel," this

"salvation," really was, and wherein its peculiarity consisted. To

understand this is of the utmost importance. What, therefore, was

Paul's gospel? Was it a different method of justifying a sinner from

that preached by the other apostles? No; by no means. Paul preached

both to the Jews and also to the Gentiles "repentance toward God, and

faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." This was the substance of his

preaching. The peculiarity of the gospel preached by Paul had not so

much reference to God's way of dealing with _the sinner_ as with _the

saint_; it was not so much how God justified a sinner as what He did

with him when justified. Yes; it was the place into which Paul's

gospel conducted the _saint_ that marked its peculiarity. As regards

the justification of a sinner, there could be but one way, namely,

through faith in the one offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there

could be numerous degrees of elevation as regards the standing of the

saint. For example, a saint in the opening of Acts had higher

privileges than a saint under the law. Moses, the prophets, John, our

Lord in His personal ministry, and the twelve, all brought out varied

aspects of the believer's position before God. But Paul's gospel went

far beyond them all. It was not the kingdom offered to Israel on the

ground of repentance, as by John the Baptist and our Lord; nor was it

the kingdom opened to Jew and Gentile by Peter in Acts iii. and x.;

but it was _the heavenly calling of the Church of God composed of Jew

and Gentile, in one body, united to a glorified Christ by the presence

of the Holy Ghost_.

The epistle to the Ephesians fully develops the mystery of the will of

God concerning this. There we find ample instruction as to our

heavenly standing, heavenly hopes, and heavenly conflict. The apostle

does not contemplate the Church as a pilgrim _on earth_, (which, we

need not say, is most true,) but as sitting _in heaven_: not as

toiling _here_, but resting _there_. "He hath raised us up together,

and made us _sit_ together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." It is

not that He _will_ do this, but "He hath" done it. When Christ was

raised from the dead, all the members of His body were raised also;

when He ascended into heaven, they ascended also; when He sat down,

they sat down also; that is, in the counsel of God, and to be

actualized in process of time by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.

Such was the thought and purpose of the divine mind concerning them.

Believers did not know this at the first; it was not unfolded by the

ministry of the twelve, as seen in the Acts of the Apostles, because

the testimony to Israel was still going on; and so long as earth was

the manifested scene of divine operation, and so long as there was any

ground of hope in connection with Israel, the heavenly mystery was

held back; but when earth had been abandoned and Israel set aside, the

apostle of the Gentiles, from his prison at Rome, writes to the

Church, and opens out all the glorious privileges connected with its

place in the heavens with Christ. When Paul arrived at Rome as a

prisoner, he had, as it were, arrived at the end of all human things.

He no longer thought of the Church as exhibiting anything like a

perfect testimony on earth. He knew how things would turn out as

regards the Church's earthly path; he knew that it would fare with it

even as it had fared with the vessel in which he had sailed from

Jerusalem to Rome; but his spirit was buoyed up by the happy

assurance that nothing could touch the unity of the body of Christ,

because it was a unity infallibly maintained by God Himself.[27] This

was the spring of Paul's joy as he lay a despised and neglected

prisoner in the dungeon of Nero. He was not ashamed, for he knew that

the Church, though broken in pieces here, was nevertheless held in the

everlasting grasp of the Son of God, and that He was able to keep it

until the happy moment of its rapture to meet Him in the air.[28]

[27] I believe it is of the deepest moment that the believer should

avoid all looseness of thought, or indifference, in reference to the

presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church and the unity of the body of

Christ. The man who holds the former will assuredly seek the latter.

[28] A letter has been put into my hand, from a dear and valued

servant of Christ, from which I extract the following statements,

which are well worthy of attention: "The Holy Ghost came down from

heaven to form one body on the earth; 'for by one Spirit are we all

baptized into one body.' This is the unity we are responsible to

maintain--the unity of the Spirit; the other, final one, God secures

infallibly. If God set in the Church 'healings,' it certainly is not

in heaven. One has only to read 1 Cor. x. 11 to learn that the unity

of the Church on earth is a fundamental, essential, divine

institution--the cardinal truth which will distinguish, I believe,

those who have faith to walk devotedly in these last days, and without

which the expectation of Christ will be only personal deliverance, and

not 'The Spirit and the Bride say, Come.'"

But it may be asked: How can believers be said to be seated in

heavenly places when they are yet in the world, struggling with its

difficulties, its sorrows and temptations? The same question may be

asked in reference to the important doctrine of Rom. vi.: How can

believers be represented as dead to sin when they find sin working in

them continually? The answer to both is one and the same. God sees the

believer as dead with Christ, and He also sees the Church as raised

with and seated in Christ; but it is the province of faith to lead the

soul into the reality of both. "Reckon yourselves to be" what God

tells you you are. The believer's power to subdue indwelling

corruption consists in his reckoning himself to be dead to it; and his

power of separation from the world consists in his reckoning himself

to be raised with Christ and seated in Him. The Church, according to

God's estimation, has as little to do with sin and the world as Christ

has; but God's thoughts and our apprehensions are very different

things.

We must never forget that every tendency of the human mind not only

falls short of but stands actually opposed to all this divine truth

about the Church. We have seen how long it was ere man could take hold

of it--how it was forced out, as it were, and pressed upon him; and we

have only to glance at the history of the Church for the last eighteen

centuries to see how feebly it was held and how speedily it was let

go. The heart naturally clings to earth, and the thought of an earthly

corporation is attractive to it. Hence we may expect that the truth of

the Church's heavenly character will only be apprehended and carried

out by a very small and feeble minority. It is not to be supposed that

the Protestant reformers exercised their thoughts on this momentous

subject. They were made instrumental in bringing out the precious

doctrine of justification by faith from amid the rubbish of Romish

superstition, and also in letting in upon the human conscience the

light of inspiration in opposition to the false and ensnaring dogmas

of human tradition. This was doing not a little: yet it must be

admitted the position and hopes of the Church engaged not their

attention. It would have been a bold step from the church of Rome to

the Church of God; and yet it will be found in the end that there is

no distinct neutral ground between the two; for every church, or, to

speak more accurately, every religious corporation, reared up and

carried on by the wisdom and resources of man, be its principle ever

so pure and ever so hostile to Catholicism, will be found, when judged

by the Spirit, and in the light of heaven, to partake more or less of

the element of the Romish system. The heart clings to earth, and will

with difficulty be led to believe that the only time wherein God

ceases to be manifestly occupied about earth--that the only unnoticed

interval in the history of time--is just the period wherein He, by the

Holy Ghost, is gathering out the Church to form the body of Christ;

and moreover, that when God was dealing publicly with earth, the

Church, properly so called, was not contemplated; and that when He

shall resume His public dealings with the earth and with Israel, the

Church will be out of the scene.

To understand all this requires a larger measure of spirituality than

is to be found with many Christians.[29] The question naturally arises

in the mind of the inquirer after truth, "What is the most scriptural

form of Church government?" "To what body of Christians should I

attach myself?" The answer to such questions is, "Attach yourself to

those who are 'endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond

of peace.'" Sects are not the Church, nor religious parties the body

of Christ. Hence, to be attached to the sects is to find ourselves in

some of those numerous tributary streams which are rapidly flowing

onward into the terrible vortex of which we read in Rev. xvii. and

xviii. Let us not be deceived--principles will work, and systems will

find their proper level. Prejudice will operate, and hinder the

carrying out of those heavenly principles of which we speak. Those who

will maintain Paul's gospel will find themselves, like him, deserted

and despised amid the splendid pomp and glitter of the world. The

clashing of ecclesiastical systems, the jarring of sects, and the din

of religious controversy, will surely drown the feeble voices of those

who would speak of the heavenly calling and rapture of the Church. But

let the spiritual man who finds himself in the midst of all this sad

and heart-sickening confusion remember the following simple principle:

_Every system of ecclesiastical discipline, and every system of

prophetic interpretation, which would connect the Church, in any one

way, with the world, or things of the world, must be contrary to the

spirit and principles of the great mystery developed by the Holy Ghost

in the apostle of the Gentiles._

[29] The reader will, I trust, understand the distinction between

God's _public_ actings and His secret operations by His providence.

The former ceased when Israel was set aside, and will be resumed when

Israel comes again into notice; the latter are going on now. God

controls the wheels of government and the counsels of kings to bring

about His own great designs.

"Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up His bright designs,

And works His sovereign will."

The Church stands in no need of the world's aid in the matter of order

or discipline. The Holy Ghost dwells in the Church, broken and

scattered though it be, notwithstanding all man's unbelief about it;

and if there be any introduction of the earthly or human element, it

can only have the sad effect of grieving Him whose presence is the

very light of believers and the spring and power of ministry and

discipline.

And then, as to the Church's hope, "we look for the Saviour," and not

for the accomplishment of any earthly event. Thank God, believers are

not taught to wait for the revelation of Antichrist, but for the

appearing of the blessed Son of God, who loved them and gave Himself

for them. Christians should understand that they have nothing to look

for save their rapture into the air to meet the Lord. The world may

ridicule the idea, and false teachers may build up systems hostile to

it, for the purpose of shaking the faith of the simple-minded; but

through grace we will continue to "comfort one another" with the

assurance that "the days are at hand, and the effect of every vision."

I must now close this paper. I am deeply conscious of how feebly and

incoherently I have developed what I have in my mind concerning the

doctrine of the Church; but I have no doubt of its real importance,

and feel assured that as the time draws near much light will be

communicated to believers about it. At present, it is to be feared,

few really enter into it. If it were understood, there would be far

less effort to attain a name and a place on earth. Paul, the great

witness of the Church's heavenly calling, must have exhibited a poor

spectacle in the view of the children of this world, and so will all

who maintain his principles and walk in his steps; but he comforted

his spirit with the thought that "the foundation of God standeth sure,

having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His;" and he also

knew that in the very darkest time there would be a few who would

"call on the Lord out of a pure heart." May our lot be cast among

such, in the midst of this sorrowful scene, until we shall see Jesus

as He is, and be made like Him forever!

C. H. M.

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Archaic spelling and variations in spelling, punctuation and

hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of

typographical error.