tailed statement that all the elements and powers of nature yielded loyally to the imperial power of prayer: 'The heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.'

The statement made in this passage, and also in our Lord's address to the people of Nazareth, as recorded by Luke (iv. 25), regarding the duration of the drought, appears on first sight to be at variance with that given in the Old Testament narrative, where we are told that 'the word of the Lord came unto Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab ; and I will send rain upon the earth' (1 Kings xviii. 1). A satisfactory solution of the difficulty, however, is afforded by the supposition, which is in every way probable, that in the specification of time in the passage in First Kings the reckoning is made not from the beginning of the drought, but from the period when the prophet left the brook Cherith and went to live with the widow at Zarephath.

The fact that Elijah prayed to God to withhold rain is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but was no doubt preserved by Jewish tradition, which is here accepted and authenticated by the inspired apostle; just as, for example, the names of the magicians of Pharaoh-the fact that at Mount Sinai, amid the awful splendours of the manifestation of God, Moses said, 'I exceedingly fear and quake'-and the prophecy of Enoch regarding the Lord's coming to judgment,—are known to us only through the New Testament. In the narrative of the incidents preceding the return of rain there is no express mention of the offering up of prayer by the prophet; but every reader feels that, when 'he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,' he was pleading with God with intense fervour, and that here indeed lies the very life of that portion of the history.

1

Before Elijah left Zarephath, he had been told by God, in words quoted a little above, that rain was about to be given to the thirsty earth; and accordingly his petition on Carmel must have been that now Jehovah would fulfil His promise. Substantially, this is the sum of all prayer. The longing, 'Thy 1 See 2 Tim. iii. 8; Heb. xii. 21; Jude 14.

will be done,' is of the essence of all acceptable supplication; and hence no petition can be offered by any intelligent believer absolutely, without reservations, except such as is matter of definite promise. When a wrestling soul would 'bring forth its strong reasons' before the 'King of Jacob,' it turns instinctively to His own declarations of grace. Prayer answers promise, as fulfilment answers prayer. 'Surely I come quickly;' 'Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus.' In regard to the first of Elijah's prayers which James mentions, that for the withholding of rain, it is reasonable to suppose, from the peculiar nature of the petition, that it had been made known to the prophet by revelation that a judgment of this kind would be tributary to the glory of the God of Israel, through the spiritual profiting of His people. Thus he was fully authorized to present his prayer. One may safely say, that without such special revelation of the divine will there can scarcely occur circumstances in which it would be right or wise-in which it would not be signally unwise and wrong-to offer such a petition. To all who, without the peculiar commission and direction of Elias, are disposed, in fancied zeal for the Lord God of hosts, to invoke drought, or to 'command fire to come down from heaven and consume the adversaries, even as Elias did,' Jesus says, 'Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.' Such a disposition has a much closer connection with arrogance and bigotry, with the 'wrath of man,' which 'worketh not the righteousness of God,' than with the wisdom that is from above, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy and good fruits.'

Both of the apostle's references to the history of Elijah obviously illustrate very strikingly his declaration, that "the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.' The second of them has a special suitableness and force in the connection in which it is introduced. He has been enjoining on his readers to 'pray one for another, that they might be healed,' particularly of spiritual torpor and disease. How cheering, then, the thought that, if the energy of Elijah's prayer brought rain to refresh the parched earth and revive a people ready to perish, not less certainly the prayer of faith can bring down

not merely on the petitioning heart, but on many souls besides, the genial showers of the Spirit's gracious influences !—for God has promised, saying, 'I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses.'

XXXI.

ERROR AND CONVERSION.

'Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.'-JAMES V. 19, 20.

THE

HE connection of these words with what precedes is not far to seek. The apostle has recommended to the brethren mutual confession of sin, and that they should ask for each other in prayer forgiveness of sin and spiritual strength. Sin, and desire for the deliverance of others as well as ourselves from sin, being thus the subjects occupying his mind, he very naturally passes on next to impress on his readers how great a thing it is to be the instrument in God's hand of bringing back a sinner to his heavenly Father; and with this he fittingly closes his letter. His own aim, throughout all that he has written, has most obviously and directly been to stimulate Christians to higher attainments in godliness, and to arouse to sincere repentance those who only had 'a name to live ;' and nothing can be more meet than that he should conclude with an appeal to all God's children whom his words might reach, to do similar work in their various spheres, and by the various means that God might put in their power.

The form of this concluding exhortation is a little peculiar, -the peculiarity, as you will see on a moment's consideration, being advantageous to its effect. In the first part, contained in the nineteenth verse, James continues that style of direct address to his readers which has prevailed throughout the Epistle, thus securing that his statement or appeal will have for their consciences and hearts the special force always be

longing to what is distinctly intended for ourselves. Then the second part is in form altogether general. The erring professing Christian, the 'any of you' of the nineteenth verse, is in the twentieth classed under the far wider term 'sinner;' and the expressing of the subject, 'he which converteth,' makes this part a sentence quite complete in itself. Thus we have a truth of the greatest importance condensed into a shape striking and easily remembered: 'He which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.' There are in the New Testament many of these summaries of truth, so drawn out as to be complete in themselves, and thus carrying with them their full significance, or at least a very ample significance, even when quoted apart from the context in which they occur and in these we see an evidence of the watchful care of God, providing for all the wants of His children. Even we in these latter days, though we have Bibles in abundance, find very great advantage in these condensed statementsin such little gospels,' for example, as, 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' It is plain, then, that they must have been vastly more required in the first ages of the church, when copies of even a single Gospel or Epistle could be possessed by only a few persons, and, in the case of the great majority of believers, the bread of life for daily sustenance must have been simply the truth borne in memory from public reading and exposition. In circumstances like these, it must manifestly have been of immeasurable benefit to have such portable statements of truth as that before us. Those given in Scripture, and others provided for the necessities of the time by the inspired teachers, constituted in all likelihood the class known by the special name of 'faithful sayings,' of which Paul in the Pastoral Epistles quotes several, obviously as precious commonplaces of the church's faith, 'familiar in their mouths. as household words.'

One other remark on the form of the passage it seems