Arizona republican., 1899-03-12
OUR SUNDAY SERMON
The Chariot Of Israel and inc
 isOrSemeR Thereof.
The Rev. Alexander FfaCIaren of Ox- ford Street Baptist Church, Man. CheSEer, England, Speaks ofDea h as Gods Angel.

4dtuel, hly IdtHGi, tH3 CnaflCC CT Israel and the horsemen thereoft"-II Kings ii, F.
 And Joash, the king of Israel, came
 down unto him, and wept over his face.
 and said, o my father, my father !the
 chariot of Israel and the horsemen
 thereof. III Kings xiii, 14
 The scenes and the speakers are
 strangely different in these two incl
 dents. The one scene is that mysteri-
 GUS translation OF the further bank of
 the Jordan, when q mortal was swept
 up to heaven in fiery whirlwind: and
 the other is an ordinary sick chamber.
 where an old man was lying, his life slowly ebbing away. The one speaker
 is the successor of the great prophet
 Elijah, and on whom the Iatter's spirit in large measure fell; the otber, a young and headstrong king. who had despised EHsha's teaching while he lived, out was now for the moment aWed into something like seriousness and reverence, and moved to tears by the prophets approaching death.
 Now, the remarkable thing is that this unworthy monarch should have strengthened and chee-ed the dying prophet by quoting his own words. spoken so long Ggo-as if he would say to him, All that thou dfdst mean
 when thou didst stand there in rap tuToU5 alteration. watching the as cending Elijah, is as true about thee. dying here of @ common and lingering sickness. My father, my father. the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereofi' Seen or unseen, these were present. The reality was the same, thCUgh the appearances were so differ ent
 1. We have in the first case the chariot and horscmen seen.
 To feel the force of the words as used by leash we must try to make clear to ourselves what the original meaning was. Elisha's exclamation was one Of surprised adoration as he Sazed with wide-oPon eyes on the burning angel-hosts, and saw his mas ter ringed round by these flaming squadrcns, standing unscathed on the floor Of the chariot. and swept with it and all the celestial pomp by the whirl- wind into heaven.
 But why should hc say '.the chariot Of Israel You will remember that Israel was not originally the name of the nation, but of it's prcgenit0r and founder. Jacob, and we get a nobler significdtiOn for the words before us ii. instead of applying the name to the nation, we apply it here to the indi- viduaL When Elijah and Elisha crossed Jordan, they were not far from the spot where that name was given to Jacob, whom discipline and com munion with God had elevated into Israel And they were near another of the sites cCnsecrated by his history, the place where, just before the change cf his name, the angels of God met him and he called the name Of the place Mah2naim.' That means the two camDs-the one Jacobs defenceless company Of women and children; the other, their celestial guards.
 It seems reasonable to suppose that a Teminfscence of that old story of the manifestation Of the armed angels Of God as the defenders and servants of his children breaks from Flisha's lips here. As he looks upon that strange appearance of the chariot and horses of fire that parted him and his friend, he sees once more the chariot Of Is- rael and the horsemen thereof" the ieappearance of the shining armies, whose presence had of old declared that ''the angel of the Lord encampeth Ound about them that fea- him and delivsreth them" And now the same hosts in their immortal youth, unWeak- ened by the ages which have brought earthly warriors to dust and their swords to rust, are flaming and fash ing there in the midday sun.
 What was their er-and, and why did they appear? They came as Gods mes sengers to bear his servant to his pres ence. They attested, the commission and devotion of the prophet Their agency was needfUl to lift a mortal to skies not native to him--guards of honor, not Cnly for tokens of his pro phetic work. but for witnesses of the l unseen world, and, in some sort, suited tG that stage Of revelation, . pledges of life and immogt tality
 How striking is the contrast be- i tween the translation of Elijah and the | ascension of Christ! He who ascended l. up where he was before needed TO no chariot of fire ncr ex- traneOus power to elevate him to his home The him, but-clad no longer in fiery a-mor. but 'in white appaI eI, the emblem of purity and peace-they stood by the disciples and ccmfOrted them with hope. Elijah was carried to heaven. Christ went. The angels disappeared with the prophet and left Elisha to gri2Te alone. They fingered here after Christ had gone, and turned -ea-s into rainbOW5 flashing with tho lues of hope,
 2 We have in our second text the chariot and hor5Cncn present, though unseen.
 When the king young and impress :ibIe, though cn the whole not reliable )r good. came down to the prophets . home and, stending by the pallet of he dying man, repeated the words. So strangely reminiscent of such differ mt eve1t-wh2t do they now mean? Two things plainly. One is this, that he angels of the divine presence are with us as truly in life, when unseen, ( Is if seen.
 So far as we know, it WAS only to Elisha that the vision of that chariot If fire had been granted. We read hat at Elijah's translation there stood. l 1t no great distance eff, Q company of he .-n. of inc n-.nha.s r--,., La-icha T!