ISTORY now transplants us to Dothan, a small mountain town of Samaria. It is about the hour of midnight, and the whole country around lies sunk in the deepest silence. Only in the forest beneath, at the foot of the mountain, a rustling sound becomes more and more audible. This proceeds from the Syrian host, which has learnt that Dothan contains the prophet who has defeated their plan. At the command whispered forth to them, they form their camp around the small town, as silently as possible, in order to demand, at break of day, the delivering up of Elisha, and which they are prepared to enforce sword in hand, by means of scaling ladders. We will quietly await and see what the morning will produce, which indeed we may with all possible ease of mind. Let us meantime try to gain an entrance into the house where dwells the 'doomed man,' the persecuted, the heavily threatened man. The house is lofty and adjoins the city wall, with its upper storey projecting over. From its windows the eye looks down upon the hill, and beyond it rests upon the open country around. Doubtless it is the hospitable dwelling of a believer, which at that period might be expected to be found in every town and village in Israel. From the situation of the house against the wall, it is to be presumed, as was also the case with that of Rahab in Jericho, that it did not belong to the most distinguished buildings of the place. The honoured house has now received us. Ah, hush, hush! What peace, what happiness do I not feel while in it! Is it not likewise so with you, beloved? If not, it would indeed be no good sign. It is true, the furniture around us is but poor, and the walls present only a bare, tasteless appearance. Perhaps you prefer the purple, the rich and the stately. My taste is of quite an opposite nature. Spiritual beauty in my eyes goes before everything. I love the modest brilliancy of a tabernacle of God amongst the children of men; I am charmed with the unfading wreaths of remembrance therein, reminding of greetings, of surprises and supports, with which He yesterday and to-day still shows

The author of this lecture, Dr KRUMMACHER of Elberfeld, has just lately gone to be with the Lord, whom he served so faithfully here. We would by these extracts recall to our readers both the man himself and his noble testimony.

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Himself, and oh, the heavenly air of true love and brotherhood, how refreshing is that! How peaceful it breathes! O, here is Bethel and Bethania! Here it breathes around me like soft echoes of eternal Sabbath bells.

But see, we have here a small book: the Psalms of David, the immortal lays of the night! And yonder is a parchment bearing upon it the history of the kingdom, the history of the miracles of God to His people, as written for the faithful for their lasting comfort, by the Holy Spirit, by the hand of Moses and other prophets! And under this roof the golden thread of that history is being further spun. We find ourselves in the centre of the chain of the revelations of God, which meet together in the book of life, which are to serve the people of the earth as an everlasting restoration. And am I not to feel comfortable and at home here, where heaven is open, and life, moving in a higher region, already mirrors forth images of the eternal home?

We now open the door of a small chamber. Behold, there reposes the threatened man in soft slumbers. Step in gently, for his sleep appears to be calm and sweet, uninterrupted by anxious dream or scene of terror. A heavenly peace rests like moonlight upon his brow. Sleeping too, the man reposes in God. In the midst of sleep, the promises of his Master breathe like heavenly harptones around his believing soul. You look around in his room anxiously, to see whether or not he may have at his command, for his defence, a sword, or at any rate a shield and breast-plate. But no, nothing of that sort is visible. You only find a pilgrim's staff leaning against the wall. His sword is the word, his armour is his faith. You think, perhaps, that you ought not to let him sleep, and feel it your duty to awaken him without a moment's delay. Ah! no, awake him not. Let him slumber until the morning lay of the birds awakes him, and the rays of the morning sun dawn upon his eye. 'But,' you say, 'let us lock the door and draw the bolt!' O! no, by no means, my friends! He already reposes under lock and bolt. Forget not that here slumbers a man, over whom, like a golden shield, hovers the divine annunciation, 'Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine!' (Isaiah xliii. 1). And whose pillow under his

O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength' (Judges v. 21). Know ye this word of faith and strength? It forms the antithesis to the Alas, my master, how shall we do?' It echoes to you from the song of triumph sung by the prophetess Deborah. The Lord had again given over the disobedient Israelites to the punishment of their enemies. During twenty mournful years they sighed under the iron scourge of Jabin the Canaanite prince, when the prophetess Deborah, awakened by God, summoned all to arms, promising that victory should follow their banners; and surely it did happen, that at the very first attack upon their enemy, of a strength far greater than their own, the terror of God was struck upon the entire host, and thousands were stretched dead upon the field, by the sword of the pursuing Barak. Sisera, the leader of the Canaanites and the terror of Israel, had in the meantime taken flight, and sought refuge in the hut of a Kenite; but there vengeance overtook him also. The nails of Jael penetrated through his temples and completed Israel's victory, and thus it might well merit the sounding of the song of triumph: So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord; but let them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might' (Judges v. 31). O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.' Let the last words, ye co-redeemed brethren, be our device, however the strong may be called, who wish to ensnare us.

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Impelled by the Spirit, you made before the throne of God a vow to sin no more. You did well in doing so, yea, you did what is indispensable for the inheritors of heaven. But I fear you will be forced on the close of many a day to strike your breast and say: We have broken our covenant. You have been guilty of fresh denials of the name of Christ. If again other faults be committed, know that you have to do with the strong, who are not to be trifled with. Do not treat them lightly, nor think in what you have forgotten yourselves, and do not endeavour to excuse your erring by attributing it to your 'good will,' or your weakness.' Otherwise these strong ones will advance upon you, before you are aware of it, will throw themselves upon your conscience, tear up the roots of your peace, will become a mark of branding and banishment within your soul, will deprive you of all desire to pour out your confession to God, will weigh upon your breast, deform your prayer, and render gloomy your relation of child to your heavenly Father. Therefore do not treat your errors like flakes of snow, which are shaken off the clothes without trouble, but acknowledge them as what they are, as abominations in the eyes of God, as fanits against His holy command and worthy

of condemnation. But at this point be also upon your guard, be not over-reached by them, lest they fall upon you like furious hyenas, and with the thunders of awful accusation bring you to desperation. Lose not a moment, therefore, but before these monsters with their damning strength, advance towards your conscience, seize and unfold the standard, and cry out, O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.' Put a check and restraint upon your sins, by frequent meditation upon the grand ransom which was paid for them. Hold them under the feet of your faith, preserve to yourself a perfect conscience. To that you have a divine right, since these sins, even these lie buried under the cross, and, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus' (Romans viii. 1).

Powerful are also the dark guests which are called cares; whether cares about food and clothing, or whatever else may be threatened. These mighty ones make shocking devastation where they find an open field, and in their fury they aim at the most precious of our possessions,-our peace. Therefore get under arms against them before you have received their viper bites! attack them also in the flank with Deborah's watchword! How? you would allow yourselves to be overpowered by these nocturnal spirits; you to whom is said, the hairs upon your head are all numbered; you, to whom it is announced, 'He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things!' (Rom. viii. 32). You, who with the inexhaustible bank of an all-sufficient God have letters of credit to present, such as the word of the birds in the air, and of the lilies in the field, and the apostolical casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you' (1 Pet. v. 7). Ye bosom children of the living God, ye apples of the eye of His eternal fatherly love, you would ask, what shall we eat, what drink, with what clothe ourselves? You would anxiously inquire, how you are to go through the world, and how here and there you may remain preserved? O, remember only, who in truth you are, and how placed, and hunt out with the divine promises, the swarm of hornets from before your threshold! Greet the stinging brood with the watchword of faith: 'O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength!' For in that you sing at the same time to the Lord Jesus the most acceptable hallelujah!

But are these cares our worst enemies? and is there not a greater and more dreadful brood creeping around us? There is the roaring lion, which goes about, seeking whom he may devour! There are the bad spirits, the angels of darkness reigning in the air, and only bent

upon our eternal destruction! Truly, these may above all others, be called the strong! Alas! those fire-darts they shoot forth! those trap-holes that they dig! those chains which | they forge! How, I ask you, do you intend to oppose these powers? Will you only tremble in terror and lose all courage, or prepare for the attack, as if you had now only first to encounter and conquer them? Far from you be either the one or the other. In both cases you would deny the Gospel, and affix a stain upon the Lord Jesus. No, let the onset be one of

triumph, and let a jubilee of victory, through which these mighty ones were long since disarmed for you, were deprived of their destroying power, and exposed to public view, be the first result that is made upon you by their roaring! In the look of faith at Him, meet also the kingdom of hell with the cry, '0 my soul, thou hast trodden down strength!' · This watchword makes devils tremble, and destroys even their most crafty projects and designs.

(To be continued.)