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was not the effect of passion, nor of a desire of revenging himself, but of zeal for religion, which was insulted by these boys in the person of the prophet, and of the divine inspiration, God being determined to punish in this manner, the inhabitants of Bethel, the chief seat of the calf worship, who had trained up their children in a prejudice against the true religion and its ministers.
View the great danger of children while allowed by their parents to follow such pernicious practices, as to make game and sport of them that hold up the walls, to keep them from sinking into eternal despair; and I am more astonished while I see men and women call themselves intelligent and of good sense, and in a worse situation than the children, for as the old cock crows so the young ones learn. What would you think if a man was to come and tell a gentleman that his house was on fire, "Sir, arise, or else you will be consumed," and he was to rise in a passion and slay the man, and then go to bed again? Would you not say that that man deserved burning up? Your good reason says yes: so say I. Now the ministers of God call to sinners in tears, and beseech them to awake unto righteousness and sin not, for the wrath of God is kindling their houses—will be soon on fire—and how many have been slain for preaching the word in its purity, and sinners will not awake and have grace, but are trying to stop the gospel of Christ and clog Zion's wheels! But thank the Lord, there is a celestial fire kindled within, thunder cannot step it, deep water cannot drown it, fire cannot face it: so she stands sure: she is chartered by God himself. Come sinners, escape the lamentation of hell and fly to heaven.
We will now consider something of Gahazee, the servant of Elisha, when he was commanded to go and take his staff in hand and salute no man by the way.
He that is to raise to life the sinner who is spiritually dead, be must not suffer himself to be called off or diverted from his enterprise, by the salutation or ceremonies of die world, which is deadly poison, for God sent Moses with his rod, although miraculous, it was not able to raise in life man dead in sin; this was to be done by the master himself, in person, and by his own sacred body. By this we see nothing short of the blood of Christ is able to
