GRACE REIGNS BY JESUS CHRIST UNTO ETERNAL LIFE

"Go back again: for what have I done to thee?" —I Kings 19:20 [KJV]

It seems marvellous that the simple act of Elijah casting the skirts of his mantle upon Elisha, should cause him to leave oxen and plough, parents and habitation, to run after a stranger. Doubtless there is a mystery of the Spirit under the history of the letter; the outward act of Elijah could not have had this effect, unless the inward power of the strong Lord had accompanied it. So Peter might have cast his net and toiled all his days ere he had taken a fish with a piece of money in its mouth, unless the Lord Jesus had effected this by His power. 

Elijah's passing by Elisha and casting his mantle upon him, and the effect that followed, is a striking resemblance of the Lord, strong in power and wonderful in grace, passing by poor sinners, and casting His mantle of love over us. Call to mind, disciple; endeavour daily to remember that time of love when thy precious Saviour passed by, saw thee polluted in thy blood, immersed in busy care, when worldly hopes and carnal delights engrossed thy whole concern; no eye, no, not thine own, pitied thy precious immortal soul; thou neither saw its misery, nor feared thy danger. 

But, saith thy Saviour, "when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was a time of love."—Ezekiel 16:8. O the mighty charm of divine love! How is the heart attracted and drawn after Jesus, as Elisha to Elijah. So says the smitten soul to Jesus, "I will follow thee:" and, like him, its affections are drawn from worldly objects, and acts as the woman of Samaria when she found the Messiah; she forgot her errand, and left her water-pot behind her. "What manner of man is this," said the disciples of Jesus in astonishment, "that even the winds and the seas obey Him?" 

Surely we may cry out in admiration with St. John, "What manner of love is this?" What a mighty God is Jesus, that the power of His love attracts our stubborn hearts, and causes us to follow Him! What cause ever to admire the power, and adore the freeness of Jesus' love! It found us ere we sought it. Little did Elisha think, in the hour of his ploughing, of being called to the high honor of being the Lord's prophet. Ah, what was thy employ when Jesus first cast His mantle over thee? 

Perhaps, like Saul, sinning with a high hand, employed in the devil's drudgery, in open rebellion against a loving Saviour, and yet priding thyself in the filthy rags of thine own righteousness; but now this is the joy and rejoicing of faith; where God casts the mantle of His love, that soul He clothes with the robe of His Son's righteousness. So "grace reigns by Jesus Christ unto eternal life."—Romans 5:21.

-preacher William Mason (1724-1797 A.D.)

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