SERMON III.

THE CHILD OF PROVIDENCE.

1 KINGS, XVII. 15, 16.

And she went, and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail; according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

AN attempt to be independent of God is one

of the greatest errors to which man has ever been exposed. It was the first temptation addressed to him:-Ye shall be as gods: and therefore he ventured to break the command of God, and attempted to be independent of him. This is the essence of sin,-of our fall from God.

This, however, was not the temper of Elijah. Though he seems to have been a man of a sanguine constitution, yet you find, from the account given of him, in this chapter, which begins his history, that, when he had, according to the word of the Lord, declared, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word, he went, according to the command, and hid himself by the brook Cherith, and was fed by ravens morning

and evening, and drank of the brook; and, without any sort of complaint that he should be fed in this manner, he seems quite contented with his accommodations. And, when the brook dried up, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. And he arose, and went to Zarephath, in great simplicity: as if he had said, "Let God send me whither he will, and maintain me how he pleases."

A poor woman was gathering of sticks: and Elijah called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And, as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she told him her circumstances, and said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not: go and do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. Mark the power of faith, in true obedience to God. She went, and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her

house did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail; according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

Let us first, contemplate, in this woman, THE CHILD OF PROVIDENCE: and, secondly, endeavour to derive from this history INSTRUCTION for ourselves.

I. Let us contemplate, in this widow of Zarephath, the CHILD OF PROVIDENCE.

In one sense, we are all the children of Providence the very ravens are such; for God feedeth them, and we are sent to them to learn. But some are the Children of Providence, like this woman, in a special respect; because they eye Providence: they trust it, and that with confidence: they see that all things are in God's hand; and that not a sparrow falls to the ground, nor a hair from the head, without his knowledge; since he has numbered all these things, and sustains them according to his pleasure.

The Children of Providence are not only enlightened, not only have their ears opened to hear what God shall speak, and are satisfied with what he speaks, but their hearts are enlivened by faith, hope, and love, by the Holy Spirit's holy impression, and sealing of the word of God upon the soul. Had Elijah been sent to a whole nation of

females in the circumstances under which he came to this widow, with what reception would he have met?" What! Take the only handful of meal in my barrel! the only drop of oil in my cruse! and give to you-a stranger! If you are a prophet of God, will you take my little all away? You can work miracles for your own relief." But she believed that he spake the word of God, and that God was faithful to his word; and that the barrel of meal should not waste, nor the cruse of oil fail: she casts anchor, therefore, on that word: she puts honour on God's prophet; and seems to say, "Let him command what he will; let him but give me faith." Brethren! many sit, and hear a preacher declare the mind and will of God, and then go away and act as if they had not heard it: but do ye depart and say, "I will trust the word of the Lord. He hath spoken: that is enough, I will trust him."

You may remark, too, in this woman, the exercise of that grace which God had given to her. She had endured, probably, much anxiety, and had encountered many afflictions: she had lost her husband, and she was now pinched by the famine. But the faith which she discovered seems even to have exceeded that of the widow who cast her two mites into the treasury: she seems to have hoped against hope: she trusted and obeyed, without any listening to flesh and blood.

You see also, in this Child of Providence, that

she was kept steady: she did not turn aside to crooked paths for meal or oil. The increase of this widow's faith was as great a miracle in grace, as the increase of her oil was in nature.

The Child of Providence, moreover, has communion with God, his leader, while walking in this path. Two men may walk together through the same trial, but in a very different manner. One may quarrel with God every step of his way: "There never was such a case as mine-such losses, trials, hardships!" The other may be taught to say, "It is the Lord! let him do what seemeth him good! my particular path of duty is, to glorify God in the fires!"

This widow appears also as the Child of Provi dence, in the strangeness of the relief which she obtained. We are taught by her history, that they who look to God shall see God. Brethren! all the children of God live too far from God! We limit his Providence. We cannot see: thereYou have heard, no

fore we say he cannot see. doubt, the enthusiastic and fanatical language of some, who pretend to trust God out of the path of duty; and expect miracles, where none need to be wrought, provided they continued in that path: but, because some are enthusiasts, shall we therefore become doubting Sadducees? Shall we talk of God in his Providence, as though we had no relation to God as a Father in Christ Jesus. Shall we forget his appeal to the ravens, the