3

3

The son of this woman was dead, which, of course, in the

human sense, is the most hopeless condition of all, in the

human sense. But the prophet comes into it, and he does not

at first find a sympathetic hearing from the woman, although

his desires toward her are of the best.

What is prophetic from God claims attention; God asserts

Himself in it. The bearing of the prophetic word in the

assembly is our education; it is strengthening, uplifting, and

possible of fruitful results in the saints. We shall see that in a

few minutes. But we need to get some sense of the power of it

as God is pleased to come in. He uses His word; it calls for

application, dependently and in power. You can trace some of

the dependence that was needful with Elijah in this scripture.

So Elijah takes the son out of the woman’s bosom; in other

words, this is not a matter where she can intervene. Elijah

takes him up and lays him upon his own bed. Thus he is

brought into the immediate environment of the prophet, to

come into intimate circumstances with the prophet so that

divine power may work upon him.

It says of the prophet in verse 21, “And he stretched himself

upon the child three times”. That is a most interesting

expression, that “he stretched himself”; it is something that

brings a challenge to us, dear brethren, in meeting these

severe conditions. Can I stretch myself? Have I a constitution

morally and spiritually that would enable me to be

stretched?—that is, to reach out to cover the matter in some

sense, to embrace it for immediate attention and activity. I

believe there is a very distinct suggestion in that “he stretched

himself”.

Cases arise where we need to stretch ourselves,

and to have a constitution to stretch ourselves. Do we have

some understanding of the ways in which the enemy’s power

can get to grips at times with men? Do I have some

understanding of the way in which God has come in to resolve