2 KINGS 2:12-24 Golden Text: – “Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” – 2 Kings 2:9 That Elisha was the son of a wealthy Israelite is evidenced by the fact that his father’s farming was done on a large scale. At the time that Elijah, under divine direction, first approached him and indicated his call to special service by symbolically laying his mantle upon Elisha’s shoulders, the latter was plowing his father’s fields with twelve separate yokes…
ELISHA, IF A TYPE, A DOUBLE ONE. We might here remark that although we are treating Elisha as a part of the type as well as Elijah, yet there is nothing in the Scriptures that positively intimates that this is the case – it is a mere inference. In Elijah’s case, as we have already pointed out in a previous lesson, there is no doubt; beyond peradventure Elijah was a type of the elect Church in the flesh. But if Elisha…
HARVEST SIFTINGS TYPIFIED. There has been considerable speculation respecting this account of the three times and places at which Elijah invited Elisha to part company with him: that Elijah was too modest to desire many witnesses of the final manifestation of God’s favor toward him, or that he wished to spare Elisha the sadness of the later parting; but these suggestions are not satisfactory to us. To our mind these were a feature of the type whose antitype must be…
2 Kings 2:1-11 Golden Text: – “He was not, for God took him.” – Gen 5:24 (R3416) The words, “When the Lord would take up Elijah,” suggest that Elijah had a specially protected life – that it was not subject to the power of his enemies – that he was wholly under divine control. And this is true also of the antitypical Elijah class of this Gospel age. It was true, we remember, of the great Head of this class, Jesus…
CHRIST OUR REDEMPTION, OR DELIVERANCE. Many confound the words redemption and redeem, found in the New Testament, whereas they refer to different features of the work of Christ. The word redeem in its every use in the New Testament signifies to acquire by the payment of a price, while the word redemption in its every New Testament use signifies the deliverance or setting free of that which was acquired by the payment of a price. “We were redeemed [purchased] with the precious blood [the sacrificed life, the death] of Christ.” We…
CHRIST OUR SANCTIFICATION, continued But the exaltation of our Lord, who already was the chief of all creation, was even less remarkable than another feature of the divine plan, foreordained before the foundation of the world (1 Pet 1:2; Eph 1:4); namely, that he would make to some of his human creatures (of the race sentenced as unworthy of any future life, but redeemed from that sentence by Christ’s sacrifice) an offer of joint-heirship and companionship with his beloved Son, in the order of…
CHRIST OUR SANCTIFICATION. The term “Sanctification,” used in this text, means, set apart, consecrated, devoted to, or marked out for a holy use or purpose. Christ by God is made unto us sanctification. That is to say, God through Christ sets apart or marks out for a special share in his great plan “us” – the Church. Many make the serious error of supposing that God is sanctifying the world, – sanctifying sinners. As a consequence of this error, many are seeking to copy…
CHRIST OUR JUSTIFICATION. That Christ is made unto us righteousness or justification implies, – (1) That we are unjust, or unrighteous in the sight of God, and unworthy of his favor. (2) That, in view of our unworthiness, God had in some manner arranged that Christ’s righteousness should stand good for “us,” and thus give “us” a standing before God which we could not otherwise have because of our imperfections – our unrighteousness. (3) This scripture does not imply that Christ’s righteousness covers…
CHRIST, THE INSTRUCTOR, JUSTIFIER, SANCTIFIER AND DELIVERER OF HIS PEOPLE. “Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, [justification], and sanctification, and redemption [deliverance].” –1 Cor 1:30 – CHRIST OUR WISDOM. Since God’s dealings with his creatures recognize their wills, the first step in his dealings with them, therefore, is to give them knowledge, or “wisdom,” as it is translated in the above Scripture. It is for this reason that preaching was the first command of the Gospel…
“It will be noticed that the translators of the Revised Version have usually avoided the use of the word “hell” throughout the Scriptures, substituting therefor in the Old Testament the Hebrew word “Sheol,” and in the New Testament the Greek word, “hades.” Evidently, in view of the meaning attaching to the word “hell” the translators could not conscientiously so render Sheol and hades and, therefore, avoided any translation; – not wishing to translate these words “grave,” for fear, perhaps, that the public should quickly see that they had…