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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I NE S S
and lie d'e’frn in safety. Never a lion or serpent Mil cross it. Chariots of fire are sufficient to keep back Satan himself. (Psa. 3:6) U1 w ill n ot be afraid o f ten thousand o f people that have set themselves agrainst me round about.” (3) FRUSTRATING DANGER, vs. - 18-23. Faith plans and executes for God. Faith bas a helper named “ works” (Jas. 2:20) "But w ilt thou know , O vain man, that faith w ithout w orks is dead?” The hosts of heaven are there; God is for them; they must move forward. Elisha prays again, “ Lord, shut their eyes.” As in Gen. 19:11: “And they smote the men that were at the door of the house w ith blindness, both small and grreat) so that they wearied themselves to find the door.” . The same light which guided Israel, darkened the hosts of Egypt (Ex. 14: 20). God, Who opened the eyes of the servant, closed the eyes of the enemy. Their faculties were darkened. They. did not know what they were doing. .Like blind men they followed Elisha into Samaria. (Luke 24:16) “ But their eyes were holden that they •hould not kn ow him.” The tables were turned. Elisha is out of danger, but the Syrians are in. Jehoram is there with his cleaver, "Shall I smite them?” Had Elijah been there he would no doubt have called down fire from heaven, but Eli sha is the type of Christ: “ If thine enemy hunger, feed him.” “ Father, forgive them.” The law says “ Slay;” grace says “ Forgive.” There was no one to warn Benhadad and he fell into the trap laid for him. He who counts without God, miscounts. Out of seeming defeat God brings vic tory. Every attack upon the man of God, or upon the Word of God, will end in defeat and humiliation. The time is coming when Satan will come no more into the land of Israel.
PRACTICAL POINTS (1) Prayer intensifies the percep tion and increases the power of faith. (2) The heavenly hosts were on guard all the time. (3) The seen is temporal; the un seen is eternal; faith sees the unseen. (4) Every trap of Satan is known to God. (5) Elisha did by spiritual power what he could not have done with the sword. (6) We need no new faculties. We need the Divine touch. (7) Which shall it be, “ What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee,” or “ I will trust and not be afraid?” (8) One, with God, is a majority. v. 8. Took counsel with servants. He who plans without God will find God’s plans athwart his own (Prov. 21: 30).— Frost. v. 9. Man of COMMENTS FROM God. A man of MANY SOURCES God is a danger- Keith L. Brooks ous foe to the wicked. Every Christian ought to be a menace to the devil.—Nicholson. v. 10. Man of God told him. It is a good thing for rulers to have ears for the men of God.— Inglis. v. 11. Heart o f the king. ‘ Wicked men always have heart trouble (Isa. 67:21). The only cure is Jno. 14:1.— Garry. v. 13. Send and fetch him. This is Satan’s aim concerning every Christian. He would take the children of God cap tive and bind them hand and foot (2 Pet. 2:20). He lays snares for them (1 Tim. 3:7) and surrounds them with a threefold host (1 Jno. 5:19).—Halde- man. v. 14. Compassed the city. We can afford to let the devil have the circum ference if God has the center.— Cook. v. 15. Alas, my master! The won der is not that we should sometimes be afraid but that we should ever be free from fear if we look only at visi ble facts. Worse foes ring us round than those whose armor glittered at
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