_The place where we dwell is too strait for us._ A CHURCH-EXTENSION ENTERPRISE If there was a church in Israel at all, the school of the prophets undoubtedly constituted a part of that church. They were a communion of godly men. I. This church-extension enterprise was stimulated by the principle... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take thence every man a beam._ EVERY MAN A BEAM I. The sons of the prophets procured for themselves what they wanted. The college had become too small. There was not room enough for the increasing numbers who gathered to be instructed at the feet of Elisha. Now in their difficulty these young men... [ Continue Reading ]
_But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water._ THE AXE-HEAD 1. The first thought presented is, when Christ dwells in the hearts of His people there is a deep inward conviction of our own narrowness. The sons of the prophets dwelling with Elisha are conscious of the straitness of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the King of Syria warred against Israel._ ELISHA AT DOTHAN Seeing the invisible! Here is the young business man. He spends his days in a close and musty counting-room, casting up interminable figures, or behind a distasteful counter, selling goods. But he sees something more than the ledger a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see._ THE POWER TO SEE Here is a scene which is worthy of the pencil of the finest artist, but a scene of such simplicity and beauty that no artist could improve it. It represents the triumphal struggle of simple unarmed truth against the massed and mai... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way._ THE GUIDANCE OF LIFE The prophet went boldly into their midst, as Alfred went into the camp of the Danes, and to the confused men he said, “This is not the place, and this is not the city.” He misdirected them, and led them to Samaria, exactly the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there was a great famine in Samaria._ FAMINE, A JUDGMENT OF GOD The language of truth, you perceive, formed the first portion of his words, and the language of despair the conclusion. I. That whatever evil is sent upon a country, is sent by God. This is confirmed by a passage in the prophet A... [ Continue Reading ]