are written in the Book of Life; and doubly happy they who know that they are written there.

Amen.

VII.-ELIJAH AND THE PEOPLE ON MOUNT CARMEL.

Who among us can be ignorant of the celebrated decision of Solomon, in a remarkably difficult case that was brought before him. Two women presented themselves with an infant, to which they each asserted a mother's claim; the one affirming that the child was her's, and that the child of the other having died, she had taken the living child from her, and placed her own dead child in its place; the other maintaining the exact contrary, and both requesting the king to decide the matter.

But how was it to be done? The wise man did not fail of an expedient. He calls for a sword, and on its being brought, he says, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other." Then spake the woman, whose the living child was, unto the king, for her bowels yearned over her son, "O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it." But the other said, "Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it." You are aware how the king, from the expressions of the two women, settled the dispute and decided the cause. 1st Kings iii. 24-27.

Why do I recall this incident to your minds? To remind you of the tender compassion of our God, who judges of his children as the true mother in this history. He will have no division of his children between himself, and the devil or the world. He will have his children, soul and body, as a whole living sacrifice, or not at all. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." And again, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me;" and once more, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead:" and in another place, "If any man come to me, and hate

not tuther and mother, and brother and sister, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." What a holy jealousy! What it is to be wholly the Lord's, we shall this day learn from the word and deed of that man of God, whose zealous soul was as the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof."

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1 KINGS xviii. 21-24.

"And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks: and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken."

A great and ever-memorable scene is here to be unfolded. The ancient controversy, whether there be a God that rules in heaven, and whether Jehovah or another be that God, the Lord is about to decide himself; and that by a judg ment that can not only be heard with the ears, but also impressed on every faculty of sense. In this passage, however, we see only the preparations for this astonishing deci sion. The sublime spectacle is yet to follow.

We have here a sermon of Elijah, brief, but weighty; and it brings before us, I. His expostulation; II. His challenge; III. His strength of faith.

I. We have in imagination left the city of Samaria behind as, and taken our stand on the lofty summit of mount Carmel. Far beneath our feet roars the sea, which stretches away beyond our vision to the boundless distance. On the other side, our view ranges over the river Kishon, into the wide plain of Esdraellon, where Mount Tabor, and, still nearer, the little town of Nazareth rise before our eyes: farther beyond glimmers the lake of Gennesaret in the blue horizon, and on the extreme north we descry the mountains of Lebanon, with their rounded and cloud-capped summits. A magnificent scene! "The excellency of Carmel," is the

Ecripture description of it; and a short time ago, the phrase was repeated in the letters of a missionary, who had preached the doctrines of the cross on its heights. On this fruitful mountain, there are to be found at present, besides a Christian monastery, a Turkish mosque, and many subterranean chapels, caverns, and grottos, applied to purposes of worship. On the anniversary of the memorable day here recorded, crowds of Mahommedans and Christians flock together to bend the knee before their common saint, Elijah. How would the prophet treat these priests of Baal could he revisit once more the ancient scene of his zeal and conflict?

To-day, then, we find him on the heights of Carmel. There he stands, surrounded by a countless multitude of the people of Israel. Here are four hundred and fifty priests of Baal; yonder, the four hundred priests of the grove, a noisy and profligate crew, who ate at Jezebel's table. Here the idolatrous monarch, in person, with his pompous train of courtiers; and all around the poor, perishing, deluded people, crowded together to the number of many thousands, all awaiting with eager curiosity the coming wonders.

And now, when they are all assembled, the prophet cornes forth before them all into the midst; a plain man, known by his hairy mantle and his leathern girdle. He looks around him with a cheerful and undaunted countenance, and when all is hushed in silence, he opens his mouth before all the people and addresses them, "How long halt ye between two opinions? If Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him." A fearless and solemn appeal! What was its effects? The people make no answer; they are silenced by the power of truth. Elijah, you perceive, blames his countrymen for halting between two opinions; for wavering now to the one side, now to the other, and for dividing with unsteadfast hearts their worship between Jehovah and Baal. With the royal family, the court, and the priesthood, the case was different; they were confirmed idolators, devoted with heart and soul to the profane and impure service of Baal. The people, however, could not yet have quite forgotten the mighty works of Jehovah to

their fathers in former days. They could not therefore, resolve on a complete apostacy, but sought to persuade themselves that they were not in reality idolaters, even in worshipping an idol, as this was but an object through which they adored the one true God. They mingled the service of Jehovah and Baal together, and invented a religion in which they could on the one hand give themselves up to all the foul abominations of heathenism, and yet, on the other hand, preserve the show and the self-complacent feeling of still walking in the steps of the faith of their fathers, at least in substance, though they might depart from it a little in form. What subtlety of self-deception! What strong delusion to believe a lie! What contemptible double-heartedness! These were the people to whom Elijah turned with his appeal.

And let me tell you, were Elijah now preaching among ourselves, we also should be forced to hear many a severe sermon upon halting, wavering, and instability! He would not be able long to bear in silence the double-mindedness and inconstancy that prevail among us in such a multitude of forms. It must be confessed, that in the midst of us there are not wanting decided spirits either; we find them on both sides; in the paths of death, and in the way of light and life. As we have those among us whose motto is in deed and in truth, "All for Christ;" so we have a crowd of others who will know nothing of the Saviour, who have turned their back on his gospel, and renounced his friendship once for all. The golden calf of short-lived pleasure

and honour is dearer to them than the Lamb of God with his blood and sacrifice. They offer incense to Satan, are slaves of the flesh, bid defiance to hell-fire, and will venture in the devil's name to step into eternity—if, indeed, eternity be not all a dream. These are persons of decision, men of character, who know what they are doing, and see what they are aiming at; they do not halt; no, they walk with firm step straight onward to the worin that never dies, and the fire that never shall be quenched. And there is a great multitude of this class, old and young, in all ranks and con

ditions of life, as vessels of wrath, reserved for the manifestation of the righteous judgment of God at the great day. The rock of Jacob shall fall on them, and grind them to powder. But will it fare better in the end with those who have pitched their tent between the two camps, and who would fain belong to Baal with the one half of their hearts, and with the other to Jehovah? Would that this race of waverers did not form the majority among us! But, alas! it is so. Halting, of one kind or other, is the order of the day, and decision in the divine life is a rare jewel. Woe unto thee, thou deceitful generation, that thou thinkest it a possible case to share thy love and service between God and his enemies, that thou waverest to and fro in thy purposes, and bowest the knee this hour to the Lord, only that in the next thou mayest stand as a suitor in the harlot chamber of the world! Who is the supreme good? Is it the Lord? Why then is he not thy all in all? What means, then, this accursed hunting after short-lived gains and perishable jewels? What this idolatrous thirsting after vain honour! and splendours? What this anxious care for riches and ease, this panting after worldly comforts and pleasures, and this pagan lamentation over temporal losses? If the Lord be God, let him be thy treasure and thy care, and let all thy love and longing be towards him. But if the world be the supreme good, if it can save and bless thee, redeem and comfort thee; then, I say, love the world, and lose not thy time in singing and praying, in church-going and Bible-reading, and other routine of holy service. Be at length assured of thy standing, and be something entire in thy life and being. Woe unto you, ye that halt between time and eternity! Ye shall halt yourselves at length into hell, and there is no remedy! Decide ere it be too late! If the life of man be shut up within the bounds of time, and nothing is to be looked for in a hereafter, then, I say, be your watchword, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die;" then make the most of your days, and give free course to your appetites; and do not befool yourselves in losing time with your so-called preparations for eternity. But if you have here no continuing