III. GOD'S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE IS ALWAYS REALIZED BY HIS TRUE SERVANTS. The King of Syria did not realize that God's presence was with his people, and he was at his wits' end to know how to circumvent them. Elisha's servant did not realize that God's presence was with himself and his master; and how panic-stricken he was at the danger that seemed to threaten them! But there was one man for whom the armies of the King of Syria had no terror, to whom difficulties brought no dismay, and that was the man who lived near to God, and realized that God was near to him. Hence it is that we find Elisha saying, "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." So it has been with God's true servants in all ages. They have realized that God's presence was with them, and in the strength of that one idea they have surmounted the greatest difficulties, braved the most terrible dangers, met fearlessly the most overwhelming opposition, and accomplished tasks that to the worldly eye seemed almost incredible. Look at Abraham. He went forth from his native land, "not knowing whither he went." And why? Because he knew that God was with him. Look at Nehemiah. An exile from his native land, he undertook the wonderful enterprise of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He had plenty of opposition. But he went on with his work in spite of the ridicule and attacks of Sanballat and his companions. And what was the secret of his determination and perseverance? You have it in his answer to Sanballat, "The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build." This year is the anniversary of two great events in British history—two great deliverances which illustrate in a marvelous way God's presence with his people. It is the three hundredth anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, which took place in 1588. Yet it was not English ships or English power that really turned away that invasion from our shores; but the winds and waves of him who holdeth the sea in the hollow of his hand. It is also the two hundredth anniversary of the revolution of 1688. And while we should never use such anniversaries as the occasion of displaying a vindictive or unchristian spirit towards those who differ from us, yet in the interests of truth, in the interests of true Anglicanism, in the interests of civil and religious liberty, it is most desirable that these two great events should be rightly and piously commemorated. One thing they illustrate very clearly, and that is, that however dark the prospects of God's people seem to be, and however overwhelming seem the forces arrayed against them, he is able to banish every cloud and to give them the victory over all their enemies.
"God is our Refuge and our Strength,
In straits a present Aid;
Therefore, although the earth remove,
We will not be afraid."
One or two practical applications.
1. It is well to be on God's side. In a time of danger or of trouble, a great many people expect God to be on their side, who have never taken any pains to show themselves on his side. If you want to have the unspeakable advantage of God's presence with you in your time of difficulty or danger, the most important question you could now ask yourself is, "Am I on God's side?"
2. A word to those who are God's people. Undertake great things for God. Remember that you have unlimited resources at your command. We should be ashamed of how little we are attempting to do for God, when we have the inexhaustible treasury of Divine grace to help us.
3. Never suffer yourself to be daunted or depressed by difficulties. The greater the difficulties, the greater should be the determination of the Christian. "Let courage rise with danger." Luther sang his most stirring songs of praise and hope and courage in the darkest moments of his life. Those who have God with them can afford to sing amid the darkness.—C.H.I.
2 Kings 6:17-23
Eyes closed, and eyes opened.
I. EYES CLOSED.
1. The young man's eyes were closed. Me did not see the horses and chariots of fire that were round about Elisha. He did not realize that deliverance was at hand. How many like him are blind to the power of God, to the providences of God! How many are quick to see anything that concerns their temporal advantage, but slow to see that which concerns their immortal souls! How many see no beauty in Christ!
2. The Syrians' eyes were closed. This was a judicial act of God in response to Elisha's prayer. So there is a spiritual judicial blindness. "Seeing they shall see, but not perceive; hearing they shall hear, but shall not understand." It is a spiritual law which has its analogies in the natural world. If we neglect to use any of our bodily powers, the power itself is soon lost. Similarly, mental or spiritual powers, if neglected, will soon become useless. Let us be careful that we use the privileges and opportunities and talents which God has given us, lest they be taken from us altogether. "To him that hath shall be given," that is, to him that hath made a good use of his talents; "and from him that hath not"—from him that has so neglected his talents that they are practically not hiss" shall be taken away even that which he hath,"
II. EYES OPENED.
1. The Syrians' eyes were opened to see their true condition. Instead of being a victorious army, with Elisha a captive in their hands, they find that he has them in his power, and has led them into the midst of Samaria and into the presence of the King of Israel. They then saw how defenseless and how helpless they were. That is the first step in the path of salvation. The first step for a sinner is to see his need. So with Bunyan's pilgrim. The first thought that led him to set out on his journey was the feeling of his utter helplessness. "Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment (Hebrews 9:27); and I find that I am not willing to do the first (Job 16:21), nor able to do the second (Ezekiel 22:14)." "Lord, show me myself."
2. The young man's eyes were opened to see that deliverance was at hand. "The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." This is the second step in the sinner's salvation. Having seen his need, he next needs to see the Savior. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world? Have you seen your true condition, your spiritual need? Have you seen your need of Jesus as your Savior?
"When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Savior must be.
"My terrors all vanished before the sweet Name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life-giving and free—
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me."
III. THE POWER OF PRAYER. Elisha's prayers prevailed three times in this short narrative. There may be some one known to us whose eyes are closed, who is spiritually blind. Have we brought the case to God in prayer? Is it a wandering son? "Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see." Is it a wayward daughter? a godless friend? We may not reach them by our words; but we can reach them by our prayers.
IV. THE POWER OF DIVINE GRACE. Elisha did not exult in his triumph over his enemies. He did not take advantage of their helplessness. They had come to take him captive, perhaps to take away his life; but he heaps coals of fire on their head. The King of Israel wanted to smite them. But Elisha reminds him (according to one view) that it was not customary to smite even captives taken in war: how much less should he smite those who had been put within his power, not by any exertions of his own, but by the miraculous interposition of God! On the contrary, Elisha recommends that they should be well treated and well fed. This was done. And what was the consequence? "So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel." This little act of kindness had turned away their wrath. What an example for us to imitate toward those who treat us ill! "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."—C.H.I.
2 Kings 6:24-33
Samaria besieged.
I. A CITY IN DISTRESS. Once more the people of Samaria were in great straits. A besieging army was at their gates, and, most terrible of all, the horrors of famine were within their walls. They were reduced to the greatest extremities. The women were actually beginning to cook and eat their own children. Whichever way they looked, the prospect was dark. To open the gates to the Syrians meant death or captivity. And the longer they remained within their walls, the more certainly death and starvation stared them in the face. See here the evil result of forsaking God. To such extremities they had brought themselves by their own sins. They had forsaken the living God, and now their false gods were not able to help them in the day of their calamity. It is an evil day in a man's history when he turns his back upon God's Word, upon God's commandments, upon God's Son. As it often happens, their calamities had hardened their hearts and blinded their eyes. There was one man in their midst who had often before proved a wise counselor and friend. They had Elisha, the man of God, in their city—the man who, by counseling them to make the valley full of ditches, had delivered the Moabites into their hands; the man, too, who had revealed Benhadad's secrets, and smitten the Syrian army with blindness. But they had forgotten all that. Instead of locking to Elisha for guidance or help, they blame him for all their troubles. How often does it happen that, when people get into difficulties, they throw the blame upon others! When troubles and difficulties come upon us, our first business should be to search our own hearts and lives, and see whether the trouble may not be of our own causing.
II. A PROPHET IN DANGER. The king was a partaker in the wickedness of the people. He encouraged the prevailing idolatry. Now he shares their suffering. But he never thinks of looking to God for deliverance. He never thinks of humbling himself before God, and confessing his sins. On the contrary, he shows a disposition to cast the blame both on God and on his prophet. When the poor woman in her hunger and distress called to him for help, he answered, "If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?" Though he wore sackcloth, the outward sign of mourning or penitence, there was no sign of inward penitence or humility in his heart. How blind and infatuated he is in his anger and defiance! He threatens to take away the prophet's life. Jezebel had once said to Elijah, "So let the gods do to me and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them [the prophets whom she had slain] by tomorrow about this time." So here Jehoram says, "God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day." Even Jezebel's threat had apparently more reason for it than Jehoram's. Elijah had undoubtedly slain the prophets of Baal. But in this case Elisha was innocent of any charge. Jehoram quite gratuitously holds him responsible for the famine in Samaria, and threatens to take away his life. But man proposes and God disposes. Although Elisha is in danger, he is never in dismay. When the king's messenger came to take off his head, Elisha bade the elders to hold the messenger fast at the door till the king himself, who was close behind, should arrive. Elisha had had dealings with Jehoram before. He would hear his sentence from the king himself, if at all. Well for those who, like Elisha, live near to God. "Serve the Lord in fear," said John Knox on his death-bed," and the flesh will not fear death." Dangers do not distress them; death brings no dismay. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."—C.H.I.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
2 Kings 6:1-7
A Church-extension enterprise.
"And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us," etc. If there were a Church in Israel at all, the schools of the prophets undoubtedly constituted a part of that Church. They were a communion of godly men. The brief narrative, therefore, may fairly be regarded as a record of a Church-extension enterprise, and as such four things are observable—things that all who contemplate such enterprises should ponder and imitate.
I. This Church-extension enterprise was STIMULATED BY THE PRINCIPLE OF GROWTH. The old sphere had become too narrow for them, they had outgrown it. "And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us." The numbers who came to listen to Elisha and the increase of students required greater accommodation than the whole place could afford. This is a principle on which all Church-extension, should proceed; but in these modern times it is sometimes not only ignored, but outraged. Although statistics show that the churches and chapels in England fall miserably short of the accommodation necessary for the whole population, it is three times greater than is required for the number of attendants. On all sides empty churches and chapels abound, millions of money contributed for religious purposes lie as the "one talent," wrapped in a napkin, unused. And yet still, almost every religious denomination seems to feel that the building of new churches is its grand mission. The fact is that church-building has, in many cases, become a business speculation. One church should grow out of another; the grain of mustard seed will create its own organism, multiply its own branches, and propagate its vitality.
II. This Church-extension enterprise was CONDUCTED IN A MANLY MANNER.
1. The best counsel was sought before a step was taken. These sons of the prophets went to Elisha and said, "Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan." Though they were young, perhaps with all the stirring impulses of youth, they were conscious of their need of counsel, end they sought it. In these modern times in England—we speak from extensive experience—churches and chapels are often built from ignorant zeal and a spirit of rivalry. How unmanly is this!
2. Each man set to honest work in the matter. "Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell." Matthew Henry quaintly says, "When they wanted room they did not speak of sending for cedars, and marble stones, and curious artificers, but only of getting every man a beam, to run up a plain hut or cottage with." Each man, it would seem, felled his beam, carried and adjusted it. How right, manly, and honest all this! They never thought of putting up a grand place at other people's expense. Ah me! how far we are fallen in spirit from them l To erect modern churches and chapels, what means do we use? Fawning entreaties, addressed to moneyed ignorance and stupidity, bazaars with their questionable procedures, their displays, their raffles, and their flirtations.
III. This Church-extension enterprise ENCOUNTERED DIFFICULTIES UNEXPECTED. "And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed." Why this distress of the woodman? Was it because the axe was borrowed and he had not the wherewith to pay, or because he was checked in his operation? Perhaps both were reasons for his distress. The former I trow the greater. In all worthy enterprises on this earth difficulties crop up unawares. Perhaps the best enterprises encounter the greatest difficulties. "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." But difficulties are in truth blessings in disguise. They challenge the courage and rouse the forces of the worker. They bring out his manhood. They are to the true worker what tempests are to young trees—they deepen the roots and strengthen the fibers. Besides, there is no consciousness of virtue in doing that which involves no struggle.
IV. This Church-extension enterprise OBTAINED SUPERNATURAL HELP WHEN NEEDED. When the man who had lost his axe was crying out in distress, Elisha, the "man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it." Elisha here, by raising the axe and making the iron swim, overcame a law of nature—the law of gravitation. Up to this point in this enterprise there does not seem to have been any supernatural interposition. They prosecuted their journeying, they cut down the timber, they carried their beams, all by their own natural skill and force. They did not require supernatural aid. But now one of them did, and it came. We must not expect any special power from heaven to do that which we have the natural force to accomplish ourselves. "As thy day, so thy strength shall be."—D.T.
2 Kings 6:8-23
The King of Syria and Elisha.
"Then the King of Syria warred against Israel," etc. In these sixteen verses we have four subjects worth looking into—wickedness thwarted, timidity dispelled, supernatural power manifested, and revenge overcome.
I. WICKEDNESS THWARTED. The King of Syria had determined on an enterprise of bloodshed and wickedness. He had made all arrangements, fixed on the place for his camp. "In such and such a place shall be my camp." Bat Elisha thwarted the bloody purpose of the Syrian king by informing the Israelitish monarch, Jehoram, of the very place where the Syrians had determined to encamp. His words are, "Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down." The king attended to the prophet's directions, "and saved himself there, not once nor twice." Terrible was the disappointment of the Syrian monarch. "The heart of the King of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us is for the King of Israel? And one of his servants said, None my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber." Observe:
1. That wicked men are most secretive in their purposes. It would seem that the plans of the King of Syria's bloody enterprise were known only to his most confidential officers, and that they were revealed to them in his bedchamber. There, and perhaps there only, did he detain them, and perhaps with closed doors and soft whisperings. Wicked men, in order to get on in the world, are bound to be secretive. And the more wicked they are, the more necessary for them is this secretiveness. Were dishonest doctors, lawyers, tradesmen, merchants, statesmen, to be open and candid, revealing all that is nefarious in their aims, they would fall into poverty and universal contempt. The good alone can afford to be open and candid; the wicked are bound to be hypocrites if they would live.
2. That none of their purposes are so secret as to escape the notice of Almighty God. How came Elisha to know them? He was far away from the monarch's bedchamber—away in Israel. It was Elisha's God who made the communication to him. Solemn thought. There is One who knoweth what is in man—in every man. He reads all secrets; he "understandeth our thoughts afar off."
3. The revelations of a wicked man's secrets will frustrate his designs. It did so in the case of this king.
II. TIMIDITY DISPELLED. When the Syrian monarch learnt that Elisha was in Israel, he dispatched a spy to find him out; and when he discovered that he was in Dothan, "he sent thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about." All this struck a panic into the heart of Elisha's servant, and he cried out, "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" How did Elisha relieve his servant of this terrible fear? By assuring him that there were more on their side than on the side of their enemies. "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." This assurance he gave not merely with words, hut by ocular demonstration. "And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." It is generally supposed that the reference is here to angels "that excel in strength;" they are in truth the body-guard of the good. They are more in their number than our foes, superior in their power, in their invincible determination, in their authority too. But to see them we must have our spiritual eyes open as the prophet's eyes were now. Faith in the wonderful resources which Heaven has provided for the good will dispel all fear.
III. SUPERNATURAL POWER MANIFESTED. Supernatural power is here manifested:
1. In opening the eyes of the prophet's servant.
2. In bringing under his notice the mountain which was full of horses and chariots of fire.
3. In smiting with blindness the army of Syria. "And when they came down to him [that is, the Syrian army], Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.' These armed legions, whose eyes were glaring with vengeance before, were now in midnight darkness. In this state Elisha becomes their guide and conducts them to Samaria, and when they had come there another supernatural act was performed in the restoration of their sight, and then they beheld their terrible position. "Behold, they were in the midst of Samaria," in the hands of the King of Israel.
IV. REVENGE OVERCOME. The King of Syria, hearing that Elisha had revealed his murderous plan to the monarch of Israel, and had thus thwarted the purpose and the plan of his campaign, was fired with indignation, and sent to Dothan "horses, and chariots and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about." How furiously we may suppose revenge flamed in every member of the army as well as in the soul of their royal master, as they "compassed the city about!" And this feeling would no doubt be intensified when they found that Elisha had betrayed them into the hands of their enemies. They were in the midst of Samaria, within the very grasp of the King of Israel, and at his mercy. How would Elisha advise the King of Israel to treat these revengeful legions now? "And the King of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?" What was the prophet's advice? Did he say, "Destroy them?" No. He answered, "Thou shalt not smite them." Did he say, "Spare their lives, but make them slaves, take them into captivity and make them beasts of burden?" Did he say, "Deprive them of all food, and starve them to death?" No; he said, "Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master." What was the result of this generous treatment? Did they go away with the old passion of vengeance burning in them? Away to reorganize themselves in greater numbers and with greater force to make another attack? No. Here is the result: "So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel." The magnanimous kindness extinguished the flames and paralyzed the arms of revenge, so that they came no more into the land of Israel. This is the Divine way, nay, the only way, of conquering our enemies. Evil can only be overcome by good. The most glorious victory over an enemy is to turn him into a friend.—D.T.
2 Kings 6:15-17
Invincible helpers of the good.
"And when the servant of the man of God was risen," etc. The context illustrates two circumstances too frequently overlooked, but ever demanding the recognition and study of mankind.
1. The value of a good man to his country. The Syrian monarch makes war with Israel; his counsels are formed, his arrangements are complete, and sanguine are his hopes of victory. But there is a good man in Israel—Elisha—who reads the hidden purpose of the Syrian despot, sounds the alarm, puts his country on its guard, invokes Heaven, and thus confounds the wily stratagems and thwarts the murderous purposes of the foe. "So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel." True piety is the source of true patriotism; its prayers and prophecies are the sure "defenses" of nations. This idea is dawning on the world now; and in coming periods will blaze in broad daylight on mankind. We shall one day see that the victories of truth and prayer were the only victories that ever served the interest of any nation, and that many a pious man, who lived in obscurity and died under oppression, conferred greater blessings on the commonwealth than those statesmen and warriors whose patriotism has been emblazoned in history and sung in verse. The context illustrates:
2. The source of a wicked man's weakness. Why did not this Syrian tyrant succeed in his plans? The words which one of his servants addressed to him explain the cause: "Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber." His projects would not bear the light. As a principle, wicked men would seldom, if ever, realize their ends were there a prophet to unveil their hearts, and publish all the selfish, sensual, dishonest, and blasphemous thoughts that transpire in the hidden chamber of their souls. Wicked tradesmen, lawyers, statesmen, and others succeed only as they conceal their hearts from public view. Let some prophet, like Ezekiel of old, break open the barred door of their "chamber of imagery," and expose the hideous forms "portrayed upon the wall," the impious works that are wrought "in the dark, and forthwith they will lose all public sympathy, patronage, and support. O my soul, cherish thou thoughts that shall bear a prophet's fiery glance—principles that will glow, bloom, and look attractive in the daylight; and purposes that will commend thee to the Divine consciousness of brother spirits, and to the favor of the Everlasting. I proceed to state, with the utmost brevity, a few general truths suggested by the incident before us.
I. THAT THE GOOD ARE OFTEN PLACED IN CIRCUMSTANCES TO REQUIRE SUPERHUMAN HELP. Elisha and his servant were, at this time, at Dothan. The Syrian king, enraged with the prophet for frustrating his military designs on Israel, sends "horses, and chariots, and a great host" in pursuit of him. The mighty army "came by night, and compassed the city about." Early in the morning the prophet's servant beheld the armed and ruthless multitude drawn up around the city. Here were enemies, which the prophet himself could not subdue, perils from which his unaided power could not extricate himself. Faint symbol this of the spiritual enemies that surround our dwellings! True, in these days, the antagonists of the good are not so outwardly visible as they were in times that are past. The great enemy does not send forth his host now garbed in the attire of the persecutors. They appear not amongst us in the grim and savage forms of the Julians and the Neros, the Maximins and the Diocletians; they assume an habiliment more consonant with the tastes of this civilized era. Their forms fascinate rather than terrify. They seek to draw rather than to drive. But still, are they any less deadly in their aim, or formidable in their power, because they change their garb, drop the sword, and stretch out the hand of false friendship? It is not the plundering of our property nor the wounding of our bodies that injures us most, but the corrupting of our souls. The awakening within our spiritual natures of an impure suggestion may work a far more fearful ruin than incarcerating us in dungeons, or sending us to the martyr's stake and flames. I call those forces mine enemies that are unfavorable to my spiritual interests. Whatever dims my inner vision, and tends to veil from me the sublimities of the "unseen;" whatever deadens my sensibility to duty, and interferes with the free and vigorous play of my faculties; whatever draws me from the eternal future, and links me to the transient present; whatever cools, materializes, and contracts my sympathies, and keeps me more in connection with the contingent than the absolute; whatever depresses me in my struggles to reach that ideal of perfection dimly portrayed in my soul, but drawn out in abiding loveliness in the life of Jesus; whatever forces act thus, I call, with emphasis, my foes. And do not such foes surround us? Tell me of a period when "sinful lusts," which "war against the soul," were more potent and active than now? Our civilization is little more than a perfection in those arts that minister to the senses, pander to the appetites, and gratify the desires of the flesh. When did worldliness ever wield a more wide and mighty sway? When were the votaries of mammon so numerous and enthusiastic in their devotions? The deepest cry of the age seems to be, "My soul thirsteth for gold." When did corrupt literature scatter over the social soil the seeds of error, impiety, and licentiousness to such an extent as now? We are as truly hemmed in by antagonistic forces as was Elisha by the horses and chariots and hosts than encompassed him at Dothan. As we glance at them, the impression of the prophet's servant comes to us, "Alas, master! what shall we do?" We require the help that Elisha had—help from without—from Heaven.
II. THAT HEAVEN HAS PROVIDED HELPERS FOR MEN SUPERIOR TO ALL ANTAGONISTS. "And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" It is generally supposed that the reference is here to the angels "that excel in strength," and that they were the horses and chariots of fire that came to the prophet's help. Angels are the hosts of God, and "the body-guard of the good"—"ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto the heirs of salvation." This doctrine is so antecedently probable, so clearly revealed in Scripture, and so generally believed, as to require no evidence. It is to their superiority that our attention is now called.
1. They are "more" in number than the foe. If we confine our attention to merely what we see in this world, we shall conclude that the agents of evil are the mere numerous. A wider survey of the general realm of spiritual being, as suggested by philosophy, and as revealed in the Bible, presents an opposite view. As malformations in nature are few compared with symmetrically organized existences, so evil spirits are few compared with the good. The great cities, principalities, and hierarchies of the universe are loyal subjects of the great King, and zealous agents in promoting his will; it is but a little province that has here and there thrown off its allegiance. Hell is but a withered leaf in the waving forest of life—a flickering meteor in the starry vault of being. It is our happiness to know that evil is the exception in the universe; good is the rule. Thus evil exists as a contingency—it might or might not be; but good exists by an absolute necessity—it is and must be, because God is and must be.
2. They are "more" in the instrumentalities they wield. The agents of evil are not only fewer in number, but inferior also in their armor. Falsehood, selfishness, wrong,—these are their miserable weapons; and are they not weakness compared with truth, love, right, the weapons of the good? Ay; they can no more stand before them than "dry stubble" before the raging fire—the gloom of the night-heavens before the rising sun. The history of the world gives many instances of one man, with truth and right on his side, subduing countries under the reign of falsehood and wrong.
3. They are "more" in their invincible determination. The power of a moral intelligence in any operation will not be entirely or chiefly determined by the instruments he employs, but by the strength of the purpose under which he acts. A man with a weak purpose, however great his advantages, will not do much. Now, the agents of evil can have no invincible purpose, for the obvious reason that their consciences—whose sanctions can alone give invincibility—are not on their side. Just as far as any being is under the influence of evil, he must be fickle and fearful. "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."
4. They are "more" in the authority under which they act. The Bible teaches that the angels of evil are under the control of one master-spirit of darkness—"the prince of the power of the air;" but those of the good are under the authority of the Infinite. His Spirit inspires them, his will they obey, his energy is their strength. Satan, the master of the evil spirits, is himself the creature and slave of God. The moral usurper cannot move or breathe but by the permission of him who "maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." Truly, then, my pious friend, however great the spiritual foes, thy helpers are greater. To the eye of sense, indeed, thou seemest to wrestle against fearful odds. Wealth, fashion, customs, influence, worldly maxims, habits, and even numbers, seem against thee; but "fear not: for they that be with us are mere than they that be with them." Open the eye of faith, and look beyond the boundary-line of sense, and thou shalt see that the great "mountain" of universal being is "full of horses and chariots of fire round about" thee.
III. THAT THE SUPERIOR HELPERS OF THE GOOD ARE ONLY SEEN BY SOME. Elisha saw the celestial helpers, but his servant saw them not—saw nothing but the enemy. The one, consequently, stood calm amidst the gleaming and rattling weapons of the Syrian army, the other was all perturbation and alarm. Thus men under similar circumstances receive different impressions. The event which overwhelms one with alarm inspires another with hope and heroism. The reason of this is that some have eyes to see only the evil in things, others to see the good as well. Why is this? Why is it that all men cannot see the spiritual helpers that surround them? Several reasons might be assigned.