Krummacher, of Elberfeld, in the valley of Barmen, Prussia, said, "That Elisha on inheriting this mantle is henceforth called to take the place of his great Master, and to carry on His work." This singular legacy was therefore very significant to Elisha. The mantle came flying toward him heavily laden, but with the commission he received was connected the encouraging circumstance that it came accompanied with such a precious memorial of his paternal Master. It was no longer the robe of his redoubted reformer, but the robe of a blessed heir of Heaven, borne thither on the wings of the cherubin. This circumstance would tend to refresh his spirit in his arduous work; and, at the same time as the messenger of peace, who was to announce to the house of Israel, like the rainbow after the storm, Jehovah's good-will toward men. Oh, that the remembrance of our ancestors, the great, and the good, and the holy ones who have gone before would inspire us to go and do likewise!
I remember once standing in the cemetery of Stirling and gazing upon the monument of two Christian sisters who suffered martyrdom for Christ, and as I read the inscription on the tombstone, I thought of how much we were indebted to those who have borne the burden and heat of the day.
Here is the inscription: "Margaret, Virgin Martyr of the Ocean Wave, with her like-minded sister, Agnes." Then follows this touching paragraph: "Love, many waters cannot quench. God saves His chaste, impearled one! In Covenant true. Oh, Scotia's daughters! earnest scan the Page and prize this flower of Grace, blood-bought for you."—Psalms ix. xix. The elder and younger sister are exquisitely sculptured, seated together with an open Bible on their laps, and a lamb by their side, while an angel is standing behind them gazing intently on the scene. Who can tell but the departed one gazed upon this very scene in the days of her sunny childhood, for the Bible was her daily delight.
Ah! dear friends, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who are heirs of salvation? And are there not many living martyrs that the world knows nothing of among our Bible Readers in this city, who are saying as Paul did: "What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus."—Acts xxi. 13.
A French gentleman, a Roman Catholic, who lived in the same house as sister Knowles for several years, told me that he never met a woman so humble and straightforward as she was in all her deportment.
What was the secret of her power in eliciting this outside testimony? She had companionship with Jesus. She lived near Him; she heard His sweet voice saying: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
The holy McCheyne, of St. Peter's, Dundee, Scotland, says, concerning those who walk with Christ on earth, "That they shall walk with Christ in white, for they are worthy.... Never forget, dear brethren, that you are to walk with Christ. This walk expresses the most real intimacy with Him. You know it is a mark of real intimacy to admit one to walk with us in our solitary rambles. Oh, walk with Him now; walk here with Him, and you shall soon put your head where John put his."
She cultivated a firm and unstaggering confidence in the continued presence of the Holy Spirit in her heart. McCheyne's directions to his flock was, "Pray for the Holy Spirit to uphold you, if sensible of your weakness; then lean upon this proved Comforter.... Pray much for this Comforter that He may enlighten your mind, that He may fill your hearts. Oh, pray for the Spirit of God, for there is no other way of walking to heaven but by the Spirit. Let Him lead you. My dear brethren, in this way, and in this way alone, will you not defile your garments." "Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness."—Psalm cxliii. 10. She had faith in the power of the Comforter, or helper.
In the midst of many privations, and sometimes when the week's earnings of her husband was small, and he would say to her on the Saturday evening, "I have not much money for you to-night," she would cheerfully reply: "Never mind dearest, the Lord will provide." Jehovah-jireh! was her watchword all through her life. She would remark, "That would go further to them with God's blessing, than three times as much without His blessing."
Earthly comforts and pleasures might fail, but the joys that spring from personal piety and firm faith in the Comforter's presence failed her never. She seemed to fully realize the potency of the prophet's words, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' feet."—Hab. iii. 17-19.