LECTURES.

LECTURE I.

1 KINGS Xix. 16.

"Elisha the Son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, shalt thou anoint to be Prophet in thy room."

Of

IT has been my endeavour, on former occasions, at this season, to bring before my hearers some of the most striking features in the lives of many of the eminent servants of God. these we have reviewed together the history of the father of the faithful, of the most remarkable of the patriarchs, of the most zealous of the disciples of Jesus, of the chief of the apostles, and lastly, of HIM, who as far excels them all, as the sun in the firmament outshines the lesser lights by which he is surrounded, even our Divine Lord

and Saviour Jesus Christ.

There is still one

class from which we have never yet selected an example, a class as deeply interesting and as highly instructive as any to which we have referred, viz., the prophets of God. From this, therefore, I have chosen the subject of the present discourses, praying, that while treating upon it, I may be guided by the Spirit of Him of whom Moses and the prophets did write, and may discover Him even amidst the dim and shadowy types of the olden dispensation, and present Him to you, in the course of our narrative, with all His blessed promises, and His life-giving doctrines, as clearly through the vista of a thousand years, as his disciples once beheld Him amidst the radiance of Mount Tabor, or the last bright parting scene upon Mount Olivet.

The prophets of Israel were a very remarkable and peculiar race of men; living, generally, in poor and mean habitations; contented with a bare sufficiency to supply their daily wants; rejecting cheerfully an abundance of this world's goods, and yet standing before kings and princes

as the accredited ambassadors of the Most High, declaring unhesitatingly His counsels, and denouncing unshrinkingly his judgments and His

woes.

Perhaps among them all, there is none who more awakens our sympathies, and interests our hearts than the Prophet Elisha. He is not indeed ranked among the higher order of seers, who were taught by the Spirit of God to foretell the great events of far-distant times. When he speaks, it is not in the language of sublimity and power which marks the courtly Isaiah; neither is it with the tender and affecting pathos which belongs so peculiarly to the priestly Jeremiah; nor with the deep, vehement, and fervid eloquence that distinguishes Ezekiel; very little of what Elisha has said is recorded; his life was one of actions, not of words; and while we are following his footsteps and listening to his voice, we shall much more frequently be reminded of our own blessed and divine Saviour, than of any of the saints and worthies who preceded Him.

Thus, for example, we shall find that Elisha

was not insensible to the endearments of home, the attachments and ties of friendship, and the pure and hallowed joys of ministering to the consolation of the mourner, and partaking of the sorrows of the destitute.

The first mention made of this prophet in Holy Writ is conveyed in the words of the text.

The course of that great and extraordinary man, Elijah the Tishbite, was drawing towards its close, and the Spirit of the Lord had revealed to him, that before his departure hence, he was to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu to be king over Israel; and then closes this communication from on high, with the words we have read to you," And Elisha the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room."

Perhaps to one upon whose heart the Holy Spirit of God had shed a less powerful and hallowing influence, who had lived less continually in the service of God, and enjoyed less habitually the closest and most intimate communion with his Divine Master, such a commission would

have been one of unmingled painfulness; but the prophet had too long dwelt among the unseen realities of a holier and a happier state, to feel any thing but delight at the summons, which was to place him once and for ever, in the absolute enjoyment of them.

That he was to anoint his successor, that he was, without delay, to fill up the post which he had so long and so toilfully occupied, that he was shortly to hear the words of his Divine Master, saying, "Come up hither," were to him but so many calls to gratitude and praise.

Happy is he among ourselves, brethren, who can realise something of such a feeling. Happy are you who are so living, that if you were told at this moment to nominate your successor in all that now most engrosses your thoughts, your time, or your affections, could, without a struggle, place in stranger hands the occupations, duties, beings, nearest to your heart, and feel content, and more than content, to resign all at God's bidding, and to forsake all, for God's own presence, and kingdom and glory.