Spirit, say to you, as partakers of the same Spirit, "Go in peace?" Hath the grace of God prevailed with you to cast aside pride of heart? and to breathe in sincerity the cry "God be merciful to me a sinner?" Are you not ashamed, in the midst of "a wicked and adulterous generation," to confess Christ? to own, by your daily life and conversation, that His word and precepts are your rule and guide; and that the vain traditions of custom weigh not with you against the truth of God? Have you, at God's command, fled for refuge to "the hope set before you?" Have you gone to the "fountain opened for sin and uncleanness," and there washed? Then is the word of blessing to you" Go in peace!" Are you pressing through the throng of outward difficulties and inward temptations, that you may "touch the hem" of Christ's garment, and tell Him all the truth? Jesus bids such "Go in peace!" Or, are you, once sinning with a high hand against thy God, now brought to know the evil of sin? and are the affections of your soul turned unto Him who is the Saviour of sinners? others may deride you, Christ accepts you; He saith to you, "Go in peace!" Or, once more, are you

with the earnest desire to glorify God, yet in doubt as to your future course in this or that point of interest, and would that all were clear to you? "Commit your way unto the Lord;" the heart looking in simplicity unto Him shall never lack counsel. God Himself will uphold you. He who is the "Wonderful," the "Counsellor" will direct you,-"Go in peace!" But if, on the contrary, there are any who desire to find in Naaman's doubt and Elisha's farewell blessing, excuse for conformity to the world, a yielding to that which is evil in itself, repent of this thy wickedness. Peace is not, cannot be, the portion of such; peace is Christ's gift to His people, not the portion of His enemies. Whilst to the former He saith, under all trials, all dangers, "Go in peace," of the latter it is written" There is NO PEACE, saith my God, to the wicked."2 "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein."

'Isaiah xliii. 1, 2, 3.

3 Hosea xiv. 9.

2 Isaiah lvii. 21.

IX.

GEHAZI.

2 KINGS chap. v. last part of ver. 27.

"And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow."

WHO was Gehazi?--a servant of Elisha, even as Elisha had been the servant of Elijah; the same privileges his, but not the same blessing. The same rays of the sun that soften wax, do but harden clay. A double portion of the Spirit that was upon Elijah came on Elisha; the curse of a foul, a loathsome leprosy clave to Gehazi. It is not enough that we hear the Word, and that we consort with God's people, or even conform outwardly to their habits. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing." Privileges are indeed means-blessed means, they have proved so to thousands; but rest not in these, as though they could of themselves save, but "examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith," whether "the kingdom of God is

L

within you." Let us observe Gehazi's attempt, -the exposure, the judgment, and may the Spirit of God fix the warning on our memory and on our heart!

I. Gehazi's Attempt. Naaman hath already set out on his return, he is perhaps pondering the prophet's somewhat enigmatical reply to his question of difficulty respecting the house of Rimmon, and is driven to prayer for guidance from above, when turning, to take, it may be, a last look at the prophet's abode, he perceives the servant of Elisha running after him. Immediately he stays the chariot, awaits not his approach, but, happy in the free use of his now restored limbs, and anxious to testify his interest in any message from his benefactor, he alights from the chariot to meet Gehazi, and asks, “Is all well? And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver and two changes of garments. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants;

1 Luke xvii. 21.

and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hands, and bestowed them in the house: and they departed," (22nd ver.) Covetousness was the lurking desire of his heart, and when the temptation was presented it broke forth. He had not been an uninterested observer of the interview between Elisha and Naaman, he had probably calculated on his gains, and when he found that, in a spirit which he could not understand, his master had refused to receive any present of the Syrian, he could not brook his disappointment, but impiously exclaims, "As the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him." Brethren, "the covetous man," be he rich or poor, is "an idolater;" he "worships the creature more than the Creator," the gift more than the Giver; he is classed, in the Word of unerring truth, with the adulterer, the thief, the drunkard. Do we desire to carry out that commandment "Thou shalt not covet," we must first learn rightly to estimate "the true riches," we must first learn the only source of strength. "I can do all things," said the apostle Paul, in reference to this very grace, "through Christ which strengtheneth me." Happy that man,

1

1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.

2

* Philipp. iv. 13.