The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-03-28

military officers whose Peidiers
threatened to shoot them. if ever they
should get into action. We can only
speculate upon the temperament of
this man who was beloved alike of
king and Of serving maid. !
The woe which is pronounced
against the person who has good
news and withholds it was not merit
ed by the little Hebrew maid. Back
in the dear homeland there was a
woodworking prophet: would God
her master might honor her. The wish
of the little servant maid was soon
being. mentioned in the ear of the
king. With him to think was to act.
No cure must be left untried for the
great Naaman, SO off to Israel's court
he dispatched an embassy.
Probably he thought that this Won
derful propret, Elisha. was a sort Of
court preacher. Unfortunately for
the plans Of states and fathers. great
ness does not always thrive in pal
aces and high places Gods great
men have a way of developing in the
lowly places. There are gifts beyond
the power to bestoW which are visit
ed upon the poor and the humble
There used to be a belief in the kings
touch for scrofula. but now we know
that kings are ikelier to contract the
disease than to cure it. With all his
might, the king of Israel was as help
ISSS as q tifdSSi III y ICSGIl1e VI
leprosy.
The Man Who Was a Helper.
A large part of E1iSha's greatness
consisted in simple h~elpfulness. True,
he was supernaturally aided to give
many attestations Of Gods power and
of his own office. What he did was
not for Elisha's fame, butt for Je-
hCvah'S honor. Humble he was, and
ready to hasten in person to the help
of the Shunanmite woman in her ds-
tfass; but when the proud Syrian
commando came to his 1oWly<door.
he did not even so down in person.
A proper sense of dignity is one Of
the marks Of q great man. h ia
nous Syrian acted condescendingfy 4 to-
wards the God of Israel. IN his heart
he~felt that he was doing a great hon
or to the God of the Hebrews, that he
was almost STOPPING beneath his dig
nifty to make the journey. So the
wise prophet knew his place and his
duty. AS a doughty missionary once
said to a Russian ambassador who OBJ
jected to the opening Of a Protestant
mission in a certain country, My
King and Master, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Will never ask permission of
His gospel preached" Every preach
er may we'll take a leaf from Elisha s
notebook in his attitude toward Naa-
man. No servile trucking to wealth
there. The picture Of the horses and
chariot of the great Naaman stand
ing at the door of the minister of God
is a good one to engrave on the mem
Dry; it is ever better han that OF
Knox before Mary, queen of Scots.
After all. though, the real great
ness Of any prophet is his message;
and Elisha sent word to Naaman how
he might be cured, by bathing seven
times in the Jordan. The oriental
is always keen on any point OF dig
nifty or and, already ruffied
over the failure of Elisha to appear in
person, Naaman's Indignation broke
out when he was told to do SO simple
q thing as to battle in the river of the
Jews.
Religion and Expectations.
Just add a darkened room, and q
few spooks and table rappfngs to re-
ligion, and behold it's vogue with
many. Or put an oriental turba on
it, and let it speak the high sounding
inanities Of q supposed theosophy or
troop to it. The very simplicity OF
Gods great revelation to man, and
hts requirement Of man, battles multi
tudes, even as it baff1ed He
was prepared to do some hard thing
He avowed tina he expected some
hocus-pocus of a mysterious perform
ance at the hands Of to
go battle in the muddy Jordan, and
his home beside the sparkling waters
Of the ALBANIA and Pharphar. Prepos-
ferrous.
The great soldier had yet to learn
how completely the military principle
OF obedience runs through all Gods
dealings with men. 1t was not the
act of bathing in the Jordan tina
counted {althoush tens of Thousands
Of ignorant persons every year make
the ardous pilgrimage to do this YER!
) thing) but the yielding up of his viii
to God. God will not be king at all
) unless he can be king over ALL is thu
) wise word of one Of the old fathers
LLet Naaman show that he accepted
: Jehovah's way and all would be wei
! with him. After all, that is all there
is TO religion-just letting God have
his way. Salvation is not offered OF