impossihle dream, then laughed e.t e.s impractice.ble, and fiue.lly accepted ,vhen it bece.me impo11sible to deny the truth of the one or the usefulness of the other. The impossi- br7ities of to-day turn out to be the possibilities of to-morrow. It is well to remember this, that, because we are unable to conceive of something taking place, it does not therefore follow that it is impossible. The fact is, that when we say anything is "impossible," we just mean thAt we cannot conceive it. Dut, e.s has already been shown, this is no reason why a dnctrine or statement may not be true, or why a carte.in occurrence may not take place. We may have never known anything of the kind to occur before; but that is no proof that a thing is impossible, though in the minds of many people it is the only argument. Vvhat bas never occurred before, may occur ~-et-. There are disco~criCl, in science still undreamed of in our advanced philosophy. There are inventions yet to be conceived which, if to-day we could hear of them, we might pronounce the wild ravings of a fanatic. There are infinite resources in the hand of him wlw rules the world. Who are we, that we should limit God? Who are we, that we should set bounds to bis power? Who are we, that we should set bounds to his justice on the one hand, or to his mercy on the other? Must we not bow in deep humility before all the problems that affect his dealings with men, and say, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth <lo right?" Must we not reverently accept whatever he has been pleased to reveal in his own Word of his Divine purposes and 11lans, no matter what our reason may say? ; III. THE DANGEROUS CHARACTER OF UNBELmF. We have seen bow unreasonable this courtier's unbelief was. Not only so, but it was injw·ious. So unbelief in a professing Christian is injurious to himself and to others. It hinders bis own useful- 11ess. It hinders the progress of the gospel. It hinders the success of Christian work, It is the Achan in the camp, the canker of Christian lifo and power, the chilliug blight of the Christian Church. Wha.t an age of deadness in the Church of Christ in England, Scotland, and Ireland, was the eighteenth century, the age of moderatism, the age of indifference and rationalism l What an absence of missionary enterprise I What an absence of evangelistic effort I As Churches and as individuals, we should pray to be delivered from unbelief, and to be filled with living, working, all-conquering faith. Mr. Spurgeon says, in his remarks on this passage, that if we are hindering God's work by our unbelief, it mRy happen to us as it happened to this nobleman, that God may see fit to take us out of the way. He says that he bas remarked, "that when any truly good man has stood in God's way, God has made short work with him. He bas taken him home, or he has laid him aside by sickness. If you will not help and will hinder, you will be put aside, and perhaJJS yonr own usefulness will be cut short." If you have not faith enough in the power of the gospel, if you have not faith enough in the promises of God, if you have not faith enough in the power of prayer, then be in earnest in asking for more faith-such faith as will stand firm in the day of temptation, of trial, of conflict, of opposition. Never say to yourself about any Chli8tian work, "If the Lord would make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?" An affectionate word to the unbeliever, to the sinner. Unbelief is dangerous. Christ speaks of unbelief as a sin. He says of the Holy Spirit that "be will convince the world of sin, because they believed not on me." Men may call it a hard doctrine, but there it is. "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believeil in the Name of the only begotten Son of God." I~ there anything bard in that? The offer of salvation is made to every one. It is so plain that there can be no mistake about it. If there bad been any other way, any other Saviour, men might plead uncertainty. But they are plainly told, "neither is there salvation in any other." Those who believed not the warnings in the days of Noah, perished. Their day of grace was long, but they neglected it. So with the Israelites whose bones lay whitening in the wilderness, "They entered not in because of unbelief." Oh, how terrible that unbelieving courtier's doom: "Thou sbalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof"l-O. H. L
Vere. I, 2.-.A Divine teacher and a haughty sceptic. "Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus eaith the Lord, To-morrow," etc. Here are two ohjects not only to be looked at, but to be studied. I. A DIVINE TEACHER. "Then Elisha eai,1, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus 11:i.ith the L,,rd, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a OR, VU. 1-20.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS.
shekel, Rnd two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria." Elisha was inspired and commanded by the Almighty God to make a proclamation to a starvino- popul~tion•. The famine wa? still pr~vailing. The sha~ow of death darkened the sky~ and bis freezmg breath was m the air, and men were shivering on the confines of the grave. Thus, when things seemed to be at their worst, Elisha appears as a messenger of mercy from Heaven, declaring that on the next morning there would be an abundance of provision obtaibable in the gate of Samaria. Two circumstances connected with this promise will apply to the gospel. 1. It was a communication exactly suited to the condition of those to whom it was addressed. People were starvino-, and the one great necessity was food, and here it is promised. Mankind are mor~lly lost; what they want is spiritual restoration, and the gospel proclaims it. 2. It was a com- munication made on the authority of the Eternal. "Thus saith the Lord." That the gospel is a Divine message is a truth too firmly established even to justify Jebate. By the gospel, of course, I do not mean all the tracts of which the book we call the Bible is composed, but the Divine biography of Christ as recorded by his four biographers. II. A HAUGHTY SCEPTIC. "Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?" Here is one of the most contemptible of all classes of tllen-a cour- tier, a sycophant in relation to his king, a haughty despot in regard to all beneath him. When he heard the prophet's deliverance, he, forsooth, was too great a man, and thought himself, no doubt, too great a philosopher, to believe it. It was the man's self- importance that begat his incredulity, and this, perhaps, is the parent of all scepticism and unbelief.-D. T.