of mercy to all; and though they admit a special love to some-as I yet think and believe at least-a love which secures special gracious influence, leading them to enter in at that door, yet they have, in a measure at least, practically forgotten it. I suspect they say little about it. The love of God to the world, which led to the provision of an atonement for the sins of the world, is that aspect and display of Divine love which mainly attracts their attention. The love of God to the elect, which in fact secures their salvation, is thrown too much into the background. They take a one-sided view of the subject, as do their opponentsthe limited atonement men; only they look to the other side of the compass, -the Frasers, and Thomases, &c., being prone to restrict their view to the special, and they to the universal love, John iii. 16. This proneness to contemplate the general aspect of the atonement exclusively, seems to me to have governed their views of Divine influence. The Saviour having been given for all, that all, believing, might be saved, the Holy Spirit exerts his influence upon all to "bring them to believe ;" the influence of the Spirit is, consequently, moral suasion; for special, direct, influence is an influence, of course, upon some, not all. "THE AUTHOR OF "STRICTURES UPON DR. MARSHALL ON THE ATONEMENT." "And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. "And Elisha saw it, and cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof." ELIJAH and his disciple Elisha, two of the most eminent of the prophets of God, exercised their ministry chiefly among the Israelites, in the kingdom of the ten tribes. Elijah, especially, was a prophet of extraordinary excellence, and a great reformer of religion, on which account, and in several other respects, he has been compared with Moses, the lawgiver of Israel. But, generally, he is most celebrated as having been translated to heaven with 2 KINGS II. 1, 11, 12. out dying, by the ministry of the angels of God. Elijah was a native of Tishbe, a city of Gilead, east of the Jordan; but we have no information respecting his parentage, his early life, or his education the first notice of him in the Scripture relates to his appearance before king" Ahab, who sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up," 1 Kings xvii. 1, xxi. 25. Ahab's "impious, idolatrous, and blood-thirsty queen," led on her husband to enormous deeds of iniquity; and his atrocious crimes involved the nation in fearful miseries. By her influence, the altars of Jehovah were demolished; his worship forbidden, and his prophets were slain; the idolatry of the Sidonians became the established religion; God was provoked; and the nation brought to the verge of destruction. Under these circumstances, Elijah the Tishbite was commissioned to stand before the king; and, with awful solemnity, to threaten Ahab in the name of the Lord. 66 "These times," says Bishop Hall, were fit for Elijah, and Elijah was fit for them. The eminentest prophet is reserved for the corruptest age. Israel had never such a king as Ahab, for im piety, never so miraculous a prophet as Elijah thus Elijah is addressed to this Ahab. The God of spirits knows how to proportion men to the occasions; and to raise up to himself such witnesses, as may be more able to convince the world: a mild Moses was for the low estate of afflicted Israel; mild of spirit, because he had to do with a persecuted, and yet a techy and perverse people; mighty in wonders, because he had to do with a Pharaoh; a grave and holy Samuel was for the quiet consistence of Israel; a fiery spirited Elijah was for the desperatest declination of Israel."* Elijah's extraordinary ministry, in all its bold and miraculous acts, cannot be contemplated in this place; his calling for drought and famine, at the word of the Lord, as he threatened king Ahab; his subsistence, by miracle, near the brook Cherith, and with the widow of Sarepta; his raising of her dead son to life; his appearance before Ahab and Jezebel; his denunciation of their idolatry; his controversy with the nation regarding their apostasy from God; his miraculous sacrifice, and the slaughter of the wicked priests of Baal; his commission to anoint Hazael, Jehu, and Eli * Contemplations, vol. ii. P. 475. sha; his denunciation of king Ahab, as the murderer of Naboth; his fore telling the death of the king Ahaziah; his calling down fire from heaven on the impious soldiers; his visit to the king by command of an angel; and the circumstances of his translation, would each repay the most attentive consideration. But the present design is limited to the latter event in the life of Elijah. God had revealed his merciful purpose to the prophet, and he immediately made due preparation for his glorious translation to heaven. One of his last acts was a visit of duty to the "And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elisha went with Elijah from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Beth-el. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el. And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el, came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day? and he said Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day? and he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off; and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither; so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me, when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan and he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha," 2 Kings ii. 1-15. Among the many wonderful occurrences recorded in the Old Testament, scarcely any one has been considered more truly interesting than the narrative of the translation of the prophet Elijah. His ministry was exercised at the darkest period in the history of Israel; when the people generally, deluded by idolatry, were extremely ignorant of the revealed will of God. Only a small part of the sacred volume was commonly known in the days of Ahab; and little besides the five books of Moses would be acknowledged by any in the kingdom of the ten tribes; while few individuals among them paid practical regard to the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures. For the purpose, therefore, of convincing infidel idolators, and of consoling the pious in the belief of a future life, and the resurrection of the dead, God ordained the public translation of Elijah, having as witnesses, as many believe, the fifty sons of the prophets, as well as his successor Elisha. Bishop Hall's observations on this translation of Elijah are too appropriate and beautiful to be disregarded; that devout and useful writer remarks:"Long and happily hath Elijah fought the wars of his God; and now, after his noble and glorious victories, God will send him a chariot of triumph. How full of heavenly joy was the soul of Elijah, while he foreknew and looked for this instant happiness! Jordan must be crossed by Elijah in his way to heaven. There must be a parallel betwixt the two great prophets, that shall meet Christ at Tabor; Moses and Elias. Both received visions on Horeb; to both God appeared there, in fire and in other forms of terror: both were sent to kings; one to Pharaoh, the other to Ahab: both revenged idolatries with the sword; the one, upon the worshippers of the golden calf, the other upon the four hundred Baalites both divided the waters; the one, of the Red sea; the other, of Jordan both must be fetched away beyond Jordan; the body of Elijah is translated, the body of Moses is hid; what Moses doth by his rod, Elijah doth by his mantle; he only bids the waters stand aside, and they give way to his last walk; that he might with dry feet mount up into the celestial chariot. : Elijah was going on, and talking, when the chariot of heaven came to fetch him. Surely that conference was needful, or it would have given way to meditation; and Elijah had been taken up rather from his knees than from his feet. There can be no better posture or state for the messenger of our dissolution to find us in, than in a diligent prosecution of our calling. The busy attendance of our holy vocation is no less pleasing to God, than an immediate devotion. Happy is the servant, whom the Master, when he comes, shall find so doing.""* Various opinions have been entertained respecting the peculiar agency by which the prophet Elijah was translated to heaven; some have supposed that it was literally a whirlwind that conveyed him to the blessed presence of God; but others, with evident reason, consider the "chariot of fire, and horses of fire," as only visible manifestations of angelic spirits, whose ministry was used in that glorious translation. Angels are called "chariots," and represented as such in mysterious fire, Psalm 1xviii. 18, Ezek. i. 4—13, x. 6. Thus the Psalmist declares, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." Dr. Gill remarks on this," Angels are meant by chariots, and they are called chariots, because they have appeared in such a form, 2 Kings ii. 17, and vi. 17; and because, like chariots of war, they are the strength and protection of the Lord's people; and because of their swiftness in doing his work; and because they are for his honour and glory: they are the chariots of God, in which he rides about the world doing his will; they are the chariots in which Christ ascended up to heaven, and in which he now fetches the souls of his people at death, and he will make use of them at the resurrection to gather them to him, when their bodies are raised by him."+ Dr. Gill observes on the text, "" 'Behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire; they were angels in human form. See Psalm lxviii. 17, and *Contemplations, vol. ii. pp. 25, 29. eiv. 4, in which they appeared for the glory and honour of the prophet, and as emblems of his flaming love and zeal for the purity of religion, and that his assumption might he conspicuous to Elisha; and, perhaps, by this means seen by the fifty men on the other side Jordan this chariot, drawn with these horses, was not in the heaven, but as running on the earth, and came between the two prophets, and separated them from each other, taking up Elijah into it, by means of a wind whirling about him, and which was no other than the ministry of angels." + Mr. Scott, in his commentary on the same text, says, "Elijah's translation was doubtless performed by the ministration of angels, who caused the appearances and effects here described. The event was a distinguished honour put upon one who had been peculiarly zealous for the honour of God, and had ventured all consequences in his cause, by opposing the idolatry of an apostate and persecuting age and nation. It was the public attestation of the doctrine of a future state of retribution, for the encouragement of God's suffering people; and it was also a prefiguration of the Redeemer's ascension. 66 Many forms have those celestial spirits taken to themselves, in their apparitions to men; but, of all others, most often hath the Almighty made his messengers a flaming fire; never more properly than here. How had the spirit of God kindled the lost fires of zeal in the breast of Elijah! How had this prophet thrice commanded fire from heaven to earth! How fitly now, at last, do these seraphical fires carry him from earth to heaven! “Oh the singular glory of Elijah! What mortal creature ever had this honour, to be visibly fetched by the angels of God to heaven? Every soul of the elect is attended and carried to blessedness by those invisible messengers; but what flesh and blood was ever graced with such a convoy? "There are three bodily inhabitants of heaven-Enoch, Elijah, and our SaIbid, 2 Kings ii. 11. viour Christ-the first, before the law; the second, under the law; the third, under the gospel: all three in a several form of translation. Our Saviour raised himself to, and above the heavens, by his own immediate power: he ascended as the Son; they, as servants: he, as God; they, as creatures. Elijah ascended by the visible ministry of angels; Enoch invisibly. Wherefore, O God, hast thou done thus, but to give us a taste of what shall be? to let us see, that heaven was never shut to the faithful? to give us an assurance of the future glorification of this mortal and corruptible part? Even thus, O Saviour, when thou shalt descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God, we, that are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with the raised bodies of thy saints, into the clouds, to meet thee in the air, to dwell with thee in glory!" * Elijah's removal from this world to his eternal inheritance, and all the circumstances of this translation, are here seen to have been extraordinary and miraculous. While, therefore, they are most peculiarly instructive to us, they cannot be realized by Christians, except, perhaps, in the suddenness of departure from earth to their heavenly rest. From the narrative we may learn, however, the importance of devoted*Bishop Hall's Contemplations, vol. ii. ness to the service of God; of fidelity Where eastern fruits entwine The last dear hour to friendship given, The lurid flame, in all its forms, That beauteous flame, The friends who dearly loved it parted; The prophet wound, Then back to its own heaven it darted; As we to-day Of glory when a Christian dies!" EDMESTON. LINES POETRY. Written on occasion of the lamented Death of the Rev. John Morell Mackenzie, A.M., who perished in the wreck of the steamer, "6 Pegasus," on the morning of July 20, 1843. 'Tis the hour of early morn, Whilst the beauteous gems on high, Heaven's cerulean canopy. Ocean tranquil, smooth, serene, On her bosom paints the sky; Scarce a gentle rippling seen; E'en the balmy zephyrs die. Mark yon bark so gallant, brave, By the watery vapour driven; Often she has plough'd the wave; Lived the gale, though toss'd and riven. 3 D |