Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-02-20

Text of the Lesson, ii Kings II, 12-22.
Commit Verses, 12-14-GoIdcn Text,
Zech. Nv, documentary by Rev. ID. NJ.
| Stearns.
| Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per
mission of H. 5. Hoffman, publisher, Philadel
! phia.l
! IL. "And Elisha saw it,"
lie had asked for double portion of the
spirit of Elijah, and the reply was, "If thou
see me taken from thee it shall he so unto
thee' Tvs. 1O). Now we are told that he
saw the chariot and horses of fire, and the
whirlwind which took Elijah to heaven,
and we will expect, therefore, to see in him
the spirit of Elijah.
"And he cried, My father. my father! the
chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof"
L. 10. "And he took hold of his own
clothes and rent them in two pieces. He
took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell
from him. and went back and stood by the
bank of Jordan"
Thus he discards himself, puts himself
off and puts on Elijah. Jesus our Master
has assembled, and has left on earth many
who believe in Him to be His witnesses.
| He has also sent down the Holy Spirit to
! live in us. and be in us the power for ser
vice and testimony, and the work can be
done only as our golden text tells us.
II. "And he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him, and smote the waters
and said Where is the Lord God of kilijahs"
lie now acts in the name of Elijah, using
the mantle of Elijah, and looking to the
Lord God of Elijah. So did Peter and
John when they said to tie lame man. ain
! the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise
| up and walk" acts iii, @. Or to take an
/ older illustration, so did David when he
said to Goliath, 81 come to thee in the
name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the
armies of Israeli q Sam. xvii, 40.
"And when he also had smitten the
waters, they parted hither and thither, and
| Elisha went over"
The same power that had been man.
ifested on behalf of Millions and so re-
Gently on behalf of two men, is now put
forth on behalf of Elisha only. God will
lavish His omnipotence on one man who is
willing to stand for Him; but it was not
simply for the sake of one man, but for the
sake of many that He might be glorified.
Is. "The spirit of Elijah doth rest on
Elisha"
Thus testified the sons of the prophets
ing of the waters
"And they came to meet him, and bowed
themselves to the ground before him"
They worshiped God in Elisha or as
Paul says, '"They glorified God in me"
(Gal. i, 24) Thus Potiphar saw God in
Joseph, and so also did the keeper of the
prison and Pharaoh the king Gen. xxx,
9. 8, %; xii, 49,. Thus the king of Babylon
saw God in Daniel and his companions
dan. ii, Az iii, 2S). And the time is COM
ing when all nations of the earth shall see
God in Israel and bow down to Him and
worship Him (Jer. iii, II; Eek. xxxvi, 90;
Zech. viii, 23).
16. 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"
The sons Of the prophets request that
fifty strong men should go and rescue
Elijah from possible difficulties in which
the Spirit of the Lord might have left him.
II. "They sent him, therefore, fifty men,
and they sought three days, but found him
not"
At first Elisha refused to allow them to
go, but when they urged and insisted he
finally consented, and this is the result.
IS. "And when they came again to him
(for he tarried at Jericho) he said unto
them, Did not say unto you, Go mott"
The energy of the flesh can only be shown
its folly by allowing it to prove its help
lessness These fifty were sure that they
knew better than Elisha, but their vain eff
forts have now done for them what they
would not let his words do, that is convince
them of their folly.
10. Behold, | pray thee, the situation of
this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth; but
the water is naught and the ground
barren"
Pleasant to the eyes, but unfruitfulness
and death was in it; how like the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil in the gar
den of Eden. There is only life and fruit
fulness where the Spirit of God is. and
however pleasant or attractive person or
a work may appear, without the Spirit all
is death and barrenness. Observe how the
people of the city see in Elisha one whom
they believe can help them, because the
Spirit of God was in him. People seldom
go to those who live far from God for help.
90 And he said, Bring me new cruise
and put salt therein. And they brought it
to him"
In Deut. xxx, %; Jer. xvii, 6; Zeph H.
o. salt is associated with desolation and
barrenness, and every Bible reader is famil-
lar with the Salt sea Gen. xiv, 3; Josh. iii
l6, etc., in which it is said nothing can
live. But in Lev ii, ID, we read that every
Offering to the Lord required salt; in Mum.
xviii, 10, we read of a covenant OF salt, and
in Matt V, 10, believers are called the salt
of the earth, while in Col. iv, 6, we are told
that our conversation should be seasoned
with salt. We need not stumble over these
seeming contradictions when we remember
that Jesus Himself is to some a SAVIOR OF
death unto death and to Others a SAVIOR OF
life unto life Oh Cor. ii, 10, l6). salt is
good" Mark tx, SO; Luke xiv, 81, but
neither land nor water is always blessed
thereby. God is good" duke xviii, 49,,
but not all are blessed by Him.
81. and he went forth unto the spring
of the waters and cast the salt in there"
Not the stream, but the fountain whence
the stream flows must be healed. The sin
ner cannot be healed by any mere reforma-
ton of conduct; he must be born again, or
have placed in him an entirely new foun-
tain, born from above John iii, Z, margin)
"Thus saith the Lord, l have healed these
waters"