,,men ,,of ,,the ,,bible2 ,,some ,,lesser-,,known ,,characters by ,,george ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 ,,principal ,,walter ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,d4,d4 ,j4 ,,morgan ,,gibbon4 ,h4 ,,elvet ,,lewis4 ,,principal ,d4 ,,rowlands1 ,b4,a4 ,w4 ,j4 ,,townsend1 ,d4,d4 #aijd ,,contents #a4 ,,enoch ,by ,w4 ,j4 ,,townsend1 ,d4,d4 #b4 ,,eldad ,,and ,,medad ,by ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 #c4 ,,barzillai ,by ,,george ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 #d4 ,,adonijah ,by ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 #e4 ,,hiram ,by ,w4 ,j4 ,,townsend1 ,d4,d4 #f4 ,,jeroboam ,by ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 #g4 ,,asa ,by ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 #h4 ,,ahaziah ,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 #i4 ,,gehazi ,by ,j4 ,,morgan ,,gibbon #aj4 ,,hazael ,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 #aa4 ,,manasseh ,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 #ab4 ,,amaziah ,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 #ac4 ,,jabez ,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 #ad4 ,,simeon ,by ,h4 ,,elvet ,,lewis #ae4 ,,pontius ,,pilate ,by ,principal ,,walter ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,d4,d4 #af4 ,,barabbas ,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 #ag4 ,,joseph ,,of ,,arimathea ,by ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 #ah4 ,,philip1 ,,the ,,evangelist ,by ,,george ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 #ai4 ,,ananias ,,and ,,sapphira ,by ,,george ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 #bj4 ,,demas ,by ,principal ,d4 ,,rowlands1 ,b4,a4 ,,enoch1 ,,the ,,deathless ,,by ,,rev4 ,w4 ,j4 ,,townsend1 ,d4,d4 ,enoch was the bright particular star of the patriarchal epoch4 ,his record is short1 but eloquent4 ,it is crowded into a few words1 but every word1 when placed under examination1 expands indefinitely4 ,every virtue may be read into them2 every eulogium possible to a human character shines from them4 ,he was a devout man1 a fearless preacher of righteousness1 an intimate friend of ,god1 and the only man of his dispensation who did not see death4 ,he sheds a lustre on the antediluvian age1 and he shines still as an example to all generations of steady and lofty piety4 ,it is difficult to realise the exact environment of the early patriarchs4 ,human society was then in its making4 ,there were giants in those days1 both physically and intellectually4 ,they lived long1 and unfolded a vigorous manhood1 by which civilisation was developed in every direction4 ,some of them1 also1 were tenderly responsive to supernatural influences1 and thus rose to a spiritual stature which enables them to bulk largely in sacred history4 ,the guiding lines of ,enoch's biography are clear though few4 ,he walked with ,god2 he pleased ,god2 he was translated that he should not see death4 ,these are the pregnant remnants of his history1 from which we may construct a character and career of striking eminence4 ,i4 ,he walked with ,god4 ,therefore he knew ,god4 ,the articles of his creed were not many1 but he was fixed on this foundation-truth of all religion4 ,further than this1 he knew ,god as taking a living interest in ,his creatures1 as one who could be approached by them in prayer and communion1 and who was sympathetically responsive to their needs4 ,he somehow knew ,god1 also1 as being righteous and holy1 and he must have had a rudimentary idea of the ,christ1 as it unfolded itself in the great promise of a deliverer from evil made to our first parents in ,paradise4 ,however scanty in number were the articles of his creed1 they were not scanty in results4 ,they produced a great life and a great name4 ,the results were that he walked with ,god4 ,walking is the habitual exercise of a man's life4 ,a man runs sometimes4 ,under great strain1 or the demand of special circumstances1 he runs1 but finds that exhaustion follows2 or if he runs too frequently1 total collapse is the inevitable consequence4 ,two of the most eminent ministers of our times recently died owing to overstrain and over-exertion4 ,but we have some now living who have done signal service for the ,church during a ministry of fifty years1 and who are still hale and having a green old age4 ,to walk at a steady pace1 fulfilling life's responsibilities and the demands of duty1 is to fulfil the will of ,god and serve our generation4 ,this rule refers to man's religious and spiritual life4 ,to walk onward and upward in the highest things is to grow in excellence and grace4 ,as man is a social being1 he must walk with someone in life4 ,perpetual solitude dries up the springs of existence1 and true manhood is shrivelled up4 ,solitary confinement is the saddest and cruellest punishment that can be inflicted by man on his fellow4 ,the prisoner in the ,bastille1 when his reason reeled through prolonged silence and loneliness1 was saved from mental collapse by the friendship of a rat2 and a similar story is told of an ,english prisoner1 who1 under similar circumstances1 found solace in the company of a pigeon4 ,man craves for fellowship and friendship4 ,happiest is he who has the noblest companion4 ,god alone fills the deep craving of the heart for a congenial and helpful presence1 and ,enoch walked with ,god4 ,the words imply regular1 unbroken1 well-sustained communion with ,him4 ,with a sublime and lofty aspiration ,enoch had risen above shadows1 idols1 and pretences1 and with simple1 manly faith had grasped the unseen substance and reality1 the personal ,god1 the ,father of us all4 ,this walking with ,god may be fairly inferred to have been carried out in all the affairs of life4 ,the statement has no exceptions in it4 ,other saints have their failings and sins recorded with an admirable candour1 but we are left to conclude that this was a saint of pure life and character4 ,in tending his flocks and herds1 in carrying out the barter of the markets in the early world1 in commanding his children and ordering his household1 in preaching righteousness and foretelling judgment1 the great law of his life was here1 walking with ,god4 ,when such unbroken intercourse with ,god is maintained1 all duty and labour have a new meaning1 and are suffused with a new glory4 ,every occupation or profession becomes a transparency by which divine truth and purity are translated to the world4 ,no man is then a menial or a slave1 but a free man1 living in love and by love4 ,he becomes an evangel1 who1 by words of holiness and deeds of sacrifice1 adorns the doctrine of ,god and ,christ in all things4 ,nothing is common1 nothing is unclean2 all life is sanctified and beautiful2 the man is a temple consecrated by and for ,god alone4 ,in such habitual fellowship there is constant growth in familiarity and intimacy4 ,god becomes known more and more in the tenderness and considerateness of ,his love4 ,he unfolds ,himself to the soul of ,his friend in such love-compelling charm as that the believer is constrained to ever-growing reverence1 gratitude1 and devotion4 ,the man is transfigured4 ,his thoughts1 motives1 desires1 actions1 are all inspired by the ,divine ,mind and framed after a ,divine ,pattern4 ,the limitations of human nature are relaxed1 and the man expands into newness of life2 he soars into heavenly places2 he is charged with holy influences4 ,the trivial round1 the common task1 become media to him1 by which he can interpret and make known to all1 the beauty of holiness as revealed to him by communion with ,god4 ,it is a significant fact in the history of ,enoch1 that his piety shone brightest amid family surroundings4 ,he was not an ascetic or an anchorite4 ,he was a husband and a father4 ,it is said that he walked with ,god after the birth of ,methusaleh4 ,with what measure of fervour he served ,god before the coming of a child into his house1 we are not told2 but we are told that after that event he walked with ,god three hundred years4 ,possibly he had not manifested special piety before4 ,his children gathered round him1 for we are told that after ,methusaleh1 he had sons and daughters4 ,but the blessing of children in no wise slackened his course of piety4 ,not infrequently1 family cares and business responsibilities draw men's thoughts and desires from ,god2 and many who in youth were ardent in religious exercises and unfailing in spiritual duties1 in middle life and old age are found to be merely formalists in worship1 and paralysed for useful work in the ,church4 ,the fine gold has become dim1 through the fretting cares or the surging excitements of life4 ,it is awful when such is the case1 when the promise and interest of youth settles into impotence and rigidity1 when the type which once had the die of thought fresh upon it is worn flat by overuse1 or when the shell1 once the home of life and bright with ocean's spray1 lies with faded colour and emptied hollowness4 ,this is melancholy1 indeed1 and many such wrecks of religious life are around us4 ,but with ,enoch1 the increase of life's cares brought an access of fresh devotion4 ,new gifts of ,providence roused new feelings of gratitude1 and he grappled himself the closer in attachment to the ,giver of enlarged blessing4 ,this is as it should be4 ,every gift of ,god should be a call to renewed praise and prayer1 to a more perfect and joyous service4 ,this record of ,enoch's piety teaches that the highest spirituality of nature is not found in avoiding the duties and cares of life1 or in seeking a cloistered and solitary existence4 ,the piety of monkery is not the crown of living4 ,it is neither an experience of healthy joy nor of abundant fruitfulness4 ,the healthful influences of ,christianity are immeasurably more beautiful when manifested in the joys of family and home life1 or in the discharge of honest trade and commerce1 than in the introspective gloom of the recluse1 or the ceremonial round of the ascetic4 ,it is remarkable that the record states that ,enoch's walk with ,god lasted three hundred years after the birth of ,methusaleh4 ,there was no break in his spiritual course2 it was continuous growth and progress until the light of eventide deepened into the glory of heaven4 ,,ii4 ,he pleased ,god4 ,this is to win the highest prize of life4 ,not only because ,god is highest and noblest of beings1 but also because ,his pleasure presupposes great moral and spiritual qualities1 and unfolds itself in blessings of untold preciousness both in this life and that which is to come4 ,the pleasure of the ,lord is graduated to the intrinsic beauty or value possessed by the object which draws it out4 ,it was manifested when the great creation stood in finished order before ,him1 and ,he pronounced it only good4 ,but of a higher kind is that pleasure said to be taken by ,him in ,his only-begotten ,son1 in ,his people1 and in ,his ,church4 ,over these ,he rejoices with singing1 as ,he rests in ,his love4 ,of such pleasure ,enoch was the recipient1 and it was bestowed upon him in a most signal and unique manner4 ,two especial qualities are indispensable to those with whom ,god is pleased4 ,one is faith--,without faith it is impossible to please ,god 7,heb4 xi4 #f74 ,the other is uprightness--,i know also1 my ,god1 that ,thou hast pleasure in uprightness 7#a ,chron4 xxix4 #ag74 ,the former grace is the superlative and distinguishing feature of the people of ,god4 ,it is indeed the foundation quality on which all others rest1 and from which they spring4 ,it is the broad separating act which marks the difference between the saint and the sinner4 ,without it man is in opposition to ,god4 ,the ,divine displeasure rests upon him1 because absence of faith means want of confidence and want of sympathy4 ,the unbeliever distrusts ,god1 and has no fellow-feeling with ,him or ,his ways4 ,there is no more offensive feeling that can be shown by one being towards another than distrust4 ,it irritates our sensibility2 it arrays in opposition all the resentment of our nature4 ,it is the parent of gloom1 dissatisfaction1 pessimism1 and rebellion4 ,it writes discontent on the brow1 and bitterness on the heart4 ,it is the fruitful parent of all ill in human nature4 ,but faith pleases ,god4 ,it draws the human and ,divine into loving association4 ,it leads the human to look to the ,divine for counsel1 to lean upon ,him for help1 to refer all things to ,his decision1 to wait on ,him for guidance in every step and enterprise in life4 ,the faith of the patriarchs seems to have been characterised by entire simplicity and childlikeness4 ,as manifested by ,enoch1 ,noah1 and ,abraham1 all of whom had the pleasure of the ,lord resting on them in a pre-eminent degree1 there was no stumbling or hesitancy4 ,some of them had their faith severely tried1 but it came forth from the test victorious1 as gold tried in the fire4 ,therefore1 if the command of ,god was hard1 faith led to obedience2 if the mystery of life was deep1 faith drew them close to the ,father2 if the sense of sin and guilt was strong1 faith never failed1 but led them to look for the promised ,redeemer1 and they rejoiced to see ,his day and were glad4 ,faith is said to be difficult to exercise in this day of bustle1 excitement1 and pressure4 ,the differences between this day and ,enoch's day are merely accidental and not essential4 ,there were the same inducements and temptations to evil then as now4 ,there were scoffers and cavillers then as now4 ,the doubting spirit in our first parents and in ,cain was felt in all2 but there was also the strong and manly faith which resisted the sin of doubt1 which looked from the seen to the unseen1 from the temporal to the eternal1 from sin and folly to ,god1 and which established itself firmly on ,his promise of unchangeable love4 ,therefore ,enoch pleased ,god4 ,faith presupposes reverence1 love1 obedience1 and man never pays a higher tribute to another than to trust him implicitly and for all in all4 ,such faith ,god accepts and delights in4 ,such faith builds a noble character and a lofty life4 ,,iii4 ,he was translated that he should not see death4 ,that was the crowning evidence and token of the ,divine pleasure4 ,death is the wages of sin1 the harbinger of retribution1 the seal of man's humiliation and defeat4 ,the fear of death is a bondage under which the race of man lies1 save only where ,christian faith and hope alleviate the terror and inspire a superhuman courage before which all fear is banished4 ,the extraordinary nature of ,enoch's piety could not be demonstrated by any fact so imperative as this1 ,he was translated4 ,there are three complete men in heaven4 ,man is threefold in his nature4 ,he is body1 soul1 and spirit4 ,he is not complete without his bodily organisation4 ,the work of faith is not perfect1 nor is the work of sin undone until at the ,resurrection trump man shall stand complete in his threefold being4 ,but of that completeness there are three specimens in heaven2 ,enoch from the patriarchal epoch2 ,elijah from the ,jewish dispensation2 and ,christ from the ,christian4 ,the translation of ,elijah was a marvellously dramatic episode4 ,it was witnessed by ,elisha and the sons of the prophets--and a heavenly equipage1 lambent with supernal glow1 carried him in triumph out of sight4 ,but as to ,enoch there was no such scenic display4 ,he was not found1 for ,god took him4 ,it was a quiet but beautifully fitting end4 ,moonlight rising into sunlight1 the sweet calm light of a starlit sky becoming flushed with the auroral tints of a brilliant morning4 ,translation means promotion1 and also expansion4 ,it is promotion in honour1 in office1 in privilege4 ,the bishop is translated from ,rochester to ,winchester and thence to ,canterbury1 because he has pleased his party and his sovereign4 ,it is a sign that he has won promotion by devoted service4 ,christ says to his follower1 ,occupy till ,i come2 and after a due period of labour well discharged1 he says1 ,come up higher4 ,the rule of the ,divine ,kingdom is1 faithful in that which is least1 then1 ruler over that which is much4 ,translation to ,enoch meant the elevation to higher duties and enjoyments without the wearing agonies of disease1 the sharpness of death1 or the darkness of the grave4 ,it meant also expansion4 ,in the passing from a lower to a higher condition1 we cannot now realise the quick change which would pass over the material framework of the patriarch1 but that it would be etherialised so as to be a heavenly body marvellously endowed with new powers of sense1 of insight and locomotion1 fit to be the instrument of a soul fully redeemed from the consequences of sin1 we cannot doubt2 and for thousands of generations has that soul sunned itself in the brightest fellowships and employments of the highest heaven4 ,,eldad ,,and ,,medad ,,by ,,rev4 ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 ,,numbers xi4 #bd-cj4 ,nothing is known of these two men beyond the incident recorded in the ,book of ,numbers2 but this is so remarkable and significant1 that it well repays careful study4 ,the ,israelites had been once more displaying suspicion and ingratitude4 ,turning with loathing from the manna1 they whimpered1 like spoilt children1 for the fish and flesh they had enjoyed in ,egypt1 and murmured against ,god and against ,moses4 ,the patience of their leader1 under this new provocation1 completely broke down1 so that he went so far as to accuse ,god ,himself of being a hard taskmaster1 who had laid too much upon him4 ,with infinite forbearance1 allowance was made for the manner in which ,divine counsel and help had been asked for1 and the promise was graciously fulfilled1 ,cast thy burden upon the ,lord1 and ,he shall sustain thee4 ,he will never suffer the righteous to be moved4 ,god dealt with his servant as a father at his best will deal with his child who runs to him1 hurt and bruised1 in a passion of tears4 ,instead of beginning with an angry rebuke1 help and relief are first given1 and then in a few calm words the needed counsel is proffered4 ,it was in a spirit of patient love that ,god appointed elders from among the people to help his over-wrought servant and share his heavy burden4 ,moses was1 no doubt1 justified in saying1 ,i am not able to bear all this people alone1 because it is too heavy for me4 ,indeed it was well for him1 as it is for us all1 to feel the need there is for human sympathy and ,divine aid4 ,self-contained1 self-reliant men are not the highest type of humanity1 and they are sometimes for their own good visited by anxieties and responsibilities which compel them to cry1 ,lord help me4 ,thus was it with ,moses4 ,indeed1 our ,lord ,himself shared that experience1 when for our sakes ,he became man4 ,he chose comrades who were a blessing to ,himself1 although ,he was a far greater blessing to them4 ,he took them with ,him when he went forth to confront the crises of ,his life--on the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 and in the ,garden of ,gethsemane1 where ,his sorrow was intensified by their failure to watch with ,him4 ,he had three specially intimate friends4 ,he called twelve to be apostles1 and sent forth seventy as missioners--an arrangement in which we see the ,new ,testament counterpart of the choosing of these seventy-two elders1 to rule and judge the ,israelites1 and thus share the responsibility of ,moses4 ,the account given us of their appointment is singularly interesting4 ,six men out of each of the twelve tribes were summoned to the ,tabernacle1 solemnly set apart and filled with the ,spirit--but two of the men--,eldad and ,medad--were absent ,they were of them written to is the exact phrase--and the fact that they received a written summons denotes a higher and more general culture among that ancient people than is generally imagined to have existed4 ,yet it is what might be reasonably expected1 for they had come out of ,egypt1 the most civilised power then in the world1 a country where the usual writing materials were exclusively made4 ,though the ,israelites had been only slaves there1 they would doubtless be familiar with the art of writing1 for the men of that race have never yet lagged behind any people among whom they have lived4 ,seventy of the men thus summoned came together promptly1 and were ranged in a semicircle before the ,tabernacle4 ,then1 in the sight of all the people1 the cloud descended1 wrapped them all in impenetrable mist1 as a sign that the chosen men were being mysteriously baptised with the ,spirit1 and when again they emerged they began to prophesy4 ,it was the ancient counterpart of the day of ,pentecost1 when the disciples met1 and the ,spirit came upon them as a mighty1 rushing wind1 and they began to speak with other tongues1 as men chosen and inspired by ,god4 ,in the #beth verse of the eleventh chapter of ,numbers1 it is said that the ,lord took of the spirit that was upon ,moses1 and gave it unto the seventy elders4 ,some conclude from this statement that1 as a punishment for his intemperate prayer1 the wisdom of ,moses was thus lessened1 while others were enriched at his expense4 ,but wisdom1 and all gifts similar to it1 are not diminished by distribution4 ,if we impart information1 we do not lessen our own store of knowledge4 ,if we give of our love lavishly1 yet affection is not lessened by such outpouring4 ,the spread of fire over what is inflammable increases its intensity4 ,though we light a thousand candles from one which burned alone at first1 it still burns brightly as before4 ,so is it with the ,spirit of whose fulness we all receive4 ,no ,christian man is poorer because his brother is enriched with grace1 nor was ,moses4 ,there is that scattereth1 and yet increaseth4 ,it is time that we turned to the two men1 ,eldad and ,medad1 who1 although summoned with their brethren1 did not come to the assembly at the ,tabernacle4 ,they may have been absent from their tents when the papyrus letter was delivered1 and would not be quickly found in the vast camp4 ,be this as it may1 what followed is evidence that they did not wilfully disobey the summons1 and that their absence was not due to any bad motive4 ,for some reason unknown to us they failed to put in an appearance at the critical time1 when others of the elect were receiving the mysterious but efficient grace of the ,spirit4 ,yet1 at one and the same moment1 they also were inspired while walking together1 as they probably were doing1 in some far-off part of the camp4 ,to the amazement of the people1 and doubtless to their own amazement too1 they suddenly began to prophesy1 and crowds of listeners quickly gathered round them1 as on ,pentecost they ran together to hear the inspired apostles4 ,this unique experience was given by ,god1 and received by the people as convincing evidence that ,eldad and ,medad were divinely appointed1 and divinely qualified1 equally with their brethren nearer the ,tabernacle4 ,it is true that ,joshua exhibited some jealousy and suspicion1 and would have silenced them because the blessing had not come through ,moses2 but the great law-giver1 with characteristic insight and generosity1 would not heed the request--,my lord ,moses1 forbid them4 ,calmly1 yet decisively1 the answer rang out1 ,enviest thou for my sake8 ,would ,god that all the ,lord's people were prophets1 and that the ,lord would put ,his spirit upon them6 ,in the experience of these two men there is imbedded valuable and permanent truth4 ,we regard it as an evidence1 the more remarkable because given under a ceremonial regime1 that ,god did not intend to institute any order of men outside the limits of which there was to be no liberty of prophesying and no fitness for it4 ,nor is there any exclusively sacred place1 be it tabernacle1 temple1 synagogue1 or church1 where alone such gifts can be conferred4 ,we believe that outside all sacred places1 outside the churches of our own faith and order1 and of any other churches1 there are men1 and women too1 equally called of ,god with those within such limits1 and the evidence that they are so called lies in the fact that in them also the ,spirit of ,god is resting1 and through them the ,spirit of ,god is working4 ,this lesson1 which still needs to be enforced in our own day1 is perhaps best deduced from an incident so early and so simple as this4 ,just as we may learn more of the way in which an engine really works from a simple model--say of ,george ,stephenson's--than from one of the complicated machines of the present day1 so we may gain the more instruction from this incident1 because of its very simple character1 while its antiquity keeps it out of the confusion caused by modern controversies4 ,eldad and ,medad were men called of ,god to undertake holy service for the good of ,his people4 ,in their case the call was manifestly inward rather than outward4 ,though truly chosen1 they were not in the ,tabernacle1 nor were they wrapped in the cloud1 and they received no ordination from the laying on of hands by ,moses and ,aaron4 ,the evidence of their call lay in their fitness for the work1 and their fitness was due to the gift of the ,spirit4 ,yet all this occurred under a dispensation which was far more strict in ceremonial law than that under which we live4 ,what does it teach8 ,it surely confirms our belief that the word of ,god is not bound4 ,the exposition and enforcement of ,divine truth is not to be confined to those who have received priestly ordination by some outward rite4 ,no man therefore has the right to forbid any preacher from exercising his functions on the ground that his orders are not regular1 or because he has not been recognised by an ,episcopate1 a ,presbytery1 a ,conference1 or a ,union4 ,to put the same truth in hortatory form1 ,i would say to any one who has knowledge of ,divine truth1 who has experienced the graces of the ,holy ,spirit1 and who has the gift of utterance3 ,you are called upon1 by the fact of possessing these qualifications1 to serve ,god as opportunity comes4 ,you ought not to be silent on the claims of ,christ1 nor should you refrain from leading others in prayer1 while on every other topic you are fluency itself4 ,neglect not the gift that is in thee1 whether it came by laying on of hands1 or in some other way4 ,every true convert should sometimes feel as the prophet ,jeremiah felt1 when he said1 ,the word of the ,lord was within me as a burning fire shut up in my bones4 ,i was weary with forbearing and could not stay4 ,the work assigned too often exclusively to the minister is really the work of the ,church4 ,happily1 speech is not the only mode in which men can serve ,god4 ,it is clear from the ,hebrew narrative that ,eldad and ,medad1 like their brethren at the door of the ,tabernacle1 did not receive an abiding gift of prophecy1 but a transient sign which seemed adequate to convince the people that they had been chosen and inspired4 ,unfortunately1 the ,authorised ,version gives us a phrase which is the exact opposite of the meaning of the ,hebrew phrase in the twenty-fifth verse1 rendering it thus1 ,they prophesied1 and did not cease4 ,the ,revised ,version sets this right in the phrase1 ,they prophesied1 but they did so no more4 ,in other words1 the singular manifestation of power soon passed away4 ,it was not a permanent possession4 ,this is in harmony with the experience of the early ,christian ,church4 ,the miraculous power given to the apostles1 as evidence of their ,divine commission1 was not always at their disposal4 ,the gift of tongues bestowed on them1 and on others1 soon ceased2 for it was intended to show the supernatural origin of ,christianity until written evidence was available1 and then it was withdrawn4 ,the ,holy ,spirit still remained in the ,church1 and was revealed in a diversity of operations4 ,his presence was proved by the changed characters of converts more effectually than by abnormal gifts--and similarly the religious ecstasy of ,eldad and ,medad and their comrades was soon exchanged for their abiding spirit of wisdom and justice4 ,christians who at one time spoke for ,christ are not always to blame if they speak publicly no more4 ,they may have withdrawn from ,sunday ,school teaching1 for example1 but only to serve ,god in another form4 ,their matured experience may be quite as valuable as their once fervent zeal4 ,the river which near its source noisily rushes over the pebbles1 is not lessened in value when1 full and deep1 it silently glides onward to the sea4 ,happily1 there are diversities of operations1 though they are all under the inspiration of the ,holy ,spirit2 and if we are faithful to our special calling1 we may hope to receive our ,lord's ,well done1 just as did these seventy-two men1 who sustained and aided ,moses1 though they left no record of their steady1 useful work4 ,indeed1 there are those who in actual service can do very little1 whose gracious and benign influence is the best proof of true inspiration4 ,such was he of whom ,cowper sings3 ,when one that holds communion with the skies ,has filled his urn where those pure waters rise1 ,and once more mingles with us meaner things1 ',tis even as if an angel shook his wings2 ,immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide1 ,that tells us whence his treasures are supplied4 ,god calls us to ,himself before ,he calls us to ,his service4 ,the same ,divine ,spirit who qualifies for religious work1 creates men anew4 ,of every one so created1 it may be said he was born of the ,spirit4 ,in this1 also1 neither place nor circumstance is essential4 ,eldad and ,medad were both away from the ,tabernacle1 somewhere in the unconsecrated camp2 yet they received the same blessing which their brethren were enjoying at the door of the ,tabernacle4 ,and we rejoice that some who are now outside a place of worship--outside this or that denomination--outside ,christendom1 do receive the ,spirit who transforms them into the likeness of ,christ4 ,in confirmation of this1 we recall the fact that our ,lord spoke more often in houses1 and fields1 and boats1 and streets1 than in the ,temple4 ,and the apostles who were called to follow ,him were engaged at the time of their calling in their ordinary occupations1 at the toll-office or in the fishing-boat4 ,saul was converted on the road to ,damascus1 the jailor of ,philippi in prison1 ,lydia by the river side4 ,all this reminds us that though our power may be limited by time and place1 ,god's power is not2 though our work is contracted1 ,his is broad4 ,the ,holy ,spirit is no more confined to a place than the wind is1 which bloweth as it listeth over land and sea1 over desert and garden4 ,it is a comfort to remember this when we grieve over some prodigal1 who has gone beyond the reach of religious observances2 who never attends worship1 or reads the ,bible4 ,we may hope about him1 believe in him1 and pray for him still1 because the ,spirit of ,god can reach him as ,he reached ,eldad and ,medad1 who went not up to the ,tabernacle4 ,the old promise is not exhausted yet3 ,i will pour out of ,my ,spirit upon all flesh3 and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy1 and your young men shall see visions1 and your old men shall dream dreams4 ,it is this divine afflatus1 this outpouring of the ,spirit1 which is the great need of the age we live in4 ,the ,church seems to be lying listless as a sailing ship1 due to leave harbour1 but still waiting for a breeze4 ,her masts are firm1 the canvas ready to be stretched1 and her equipment complete4 ,the helmsman stands impatient at the wheel1 and all the sailors are alert1 but not a ripple runs along the vessel's side4 ,she waits1 and must wait1 for a heavenly breeze to fill her sails1 and till it comes she cannot stir4 ,like that ship the ,church is wanting impulse1 and we ought to be waiting for it1 and praying for it4 ,the power we need can only come from heaven1 the breath of ,god must be our real moving force1 and we should be wiser1 stronger1 and more hopeful if we entered into the meaning of the old1 oft-repeated verse3 ,at anchor laid1 remote from home1 ,toiling1 ,i cry1 'sweet ,spirit1 come1' ,celestial breeze no longer stay1 ,but swell my sails1 and speed my way4 ,,barzillai ,,by ,,rev4 ,,george ,,milligan1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,there is nothing1 says ,socrates to ,cephalus in the ,republic1 ,i like better than conversing with aged men4 ,for ,i regard them as travellers who have gone a journey which ,i too may have to go1 and of whom it is right to learn the character of the way1 whether it is rugged or difficult1 or smooth and easy 7p4 #cbh ,e474 ,it is to such an aged traveller that we are introduced in the person of ,barzillai the ,gileadite4 ,and though he is one of the lesser-known characters of ,scripture--and we might perhaps never have heard of him at all had it not been for his connection with ,king ,david--on the few occasions on which he does appear he acts with an independence and disinterestedness which are very striking4 ,the first of these occasions is at ,mahanaim1 in his own country of ,gilead4 ,in the strong fortress there ,david and his companions had taken refuge after the disastrous revolt of ,absalom4 ,owing to their hurried flight1 the fugitives were wanting in almost all the necessaries of life1 and they could hardly fail also to have been a little apprehensive of the kind of welcome the ,gileadites would extend to them4 ,but if so1 their fears were soon set at rest4 ,three of the richest and most influential men in the district at once came to their aid4 ,shobi the son of ,nahash1 and ,machir the son of ,ammiel1 and ,barzillai the ,gileadite of ,rogelim1 brought beds1 and cups1 and wheat1 and barley1 and honey1 and butter1 and sheep--all1 in fact1 that was needed--for ,david1 and for the people that were with him3 for they said1 ,the people is hungry1 and weary1 and thirsty1 in the wilderness 7#b ,sam4 xvii4 #bi74 ,in so acting1 the first of these1 ,shobi1 may have been trying to atone for his brother's insulting conduct when ,david had sent messengers to comfort him on his father's death 7#b ,sam4 x4 #a-e72a and ,machir as the friend of ,mephibosheth 7#b ,sam1 ix4 #d71 was naturally grateful for the king's kindness to the lame prince4 ,but1 as regards ,barzillai1 we know of no such reasons for his conduct1 and his generosity may1 therefore1 be traced to the natural impulses of a kind and generous heart4 ,in any case1 this unlooked-for sympathy and friendship had an arousing and encouraging effect upon the king4 ,he no longer despaired of his fortunes1 black though at the moment they looked1 but1 marshalling his forces under three captains1 prepared for war with his rebellious son2 with the result that in the forest of ,ephraim ,absalom's army was wholly defeated1 and the young prince himself treacherously slain4 ,with the death of its leader1 the rebellion against ,david may be said to have ended2 but to the sorrow-stricken father victory at such a price seemed an almost greater calamity than defeat would have been4 ,and it needed the strong1 almost harsh1 remonstrances of ,joab to rouse him from his grief1 and lead him to think of his duty to his people4 ,at length1 however1 the homeward journey began1 the king following the same route by which so shortly before he had fled1 until he came to the banks of the ,jordan1 where a ferry-boat was in readiness to take him and his household across 7#b ,sam4 xix4 #ah74 ,before1 however1 he crossed1 several interesting interviews took place4 ,shimei1 who had cursed so shamelessly on the day of misfortune1 was forgiven1 and received the promise of protection2 ,mephibosheth was restored to the king's favour1 and his old place at the king's table2 and1 what specially concerns us at present1 ,david had his final parting with ,barzillai4 ,the loyal chieftain1 notwithstanding his eighty years1 had come all the way from his upland farm to bid farewell to his king1 and see him safely over ,jordan4 ,and as ,david remarked the old man's devotion1 and remembered his former favours1 the wish seized him to attach him still more closely to his person4 ,come thou over with me1 he said1 and ,i will feed thee with me in ,jerusalem 7#b ,sam4 xix4 #cc74 ,it was from one point of view a dazzling offer4 ,barzillai had seen enough of ,david to know that what the king said he meant1 and that if he chose to go with him1 honour and position awaited him at the court4 ,but he would not be moved4 ,his grey hairs1 if nothing else1 stood in the way4 ,how long have ,i to live1 he answered1 that ,i should go up with the king unto ,jerusalem8 7verse #cd74 ,i am too old1 that is1 for such a life as would there be expected of me4 ,and1 after all1 why should conduct such as mine meet with so great a reward8 ,no6 let me go a little way over ,jordan with the king1 and then ,let thy servant1 ,i pray thee1 turn back again1 that ,i may die in mine own city1 and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother4 ,but1 he hastened to add1 as if anxious to show that he appreciated to the full the king's generous offer1 and saw the advantages it presented to those who were able to enjoy them1 behold thy servant ,chimham1 my son1 let him go over with my lord the king2 and do to him what shall seem good unto thee 7verse #cg74 ,with a plea so expressed1 ,david could not but acquiesce3 ,the king kissed ,barzillai1 and blessed him2 and he returned unto his own place 4 4 4 and ,chimham went on with him 7verses #ci1 #dj71 to become famous as the founder of a caravanserai1 or halting-place for pilgrims on the road between ,jerusalem and ,bethlehem1 which for at least four centuries continued to bear his name 7,jer4 xli4 #ag7 and which may even1 it has been conjectured1 have been the same which1 at the time of the ,christian era furnished shelter for two travellers with their infant child1 when 'there was no room in the inn4'#b ,round ,barzillai's own name no such associations have gathered4 ,after his parting with ,david we do not hear of him again1 if we except a passing reference in ,david's dying instructions to ,solomon1 to shew kindness unto the sons of ,barzillai the ,gileadite 7#a ,kings ii4 #g71 and the mention1 as late as the return from ,babylon1 of a family of priests who traced their descent to a marriage with the ,gileadite's daughter1 and prided themselves on the distinctive title of the children of ,barzillai 7,ezra ii4 #fa74 ,but in the absence of anything to the contrary1 we may be allowed to conjecture that1 full of years and experience1 surrounded by all the love which his useful1 helpful life had called forth1 ,barzillai died in peace among his own people1 and was buried1 as he had himself desired1 by his parents' grave4 ,such1 then1 is the story of ,barzillai's life1 so far as the ,bible reveals it to us4 ,it is1 as ,i have already said1 as an old man that he is principally brought before us1 and in thinking of his character further1 it may be well to do so from this point of view1 and see what he has to teach us regarding a true old age4 ,four points at least stand out clearly from the ,bible narrative4 ,i4 ,barzillai was evidently by nature a warm-hearted1 sunshiny old man1 himself happy and making others happy4 ,david himself was such a man before the great sin which brought a trouble and a sorrow into his life that he was never again able wholly to surmount4 ,and it may have been the sight of his own lost gaiety and lightness of spirit in the aged ,gileadite that first drew out his heart to him4 ,it may be said1 perhaps1 that it was easy for ,barzillai to be cheerful4 ,the sun had shone on him very brightly3 the good things of life had fallen very freely to his share4 ,he was1 according to the ,bible record1 a very great man 7#b ,sam4 xix4 #cb71 evidently a most successful farmer1 rich in flocks and herds1 looked up and respected in the district in which he lived4 ,but after all1 is it the universal1 or even the general1 experience that wealth and power are associated with simple cheerfulness and happiness8 ,could anything1 for example1 have exceeded the bitterness and the boorishness of the other rich flockmaster whom ,david's youths1 with ,eastern frankness1 had asked1 ,give1 we pray thee1 whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants1 and to thy son ,david ,who is ,david8 and who is the son of ,jesse8 burst out ,nabal in a fury4 ,shall ,i then take my bread1 and my water 4 4 4 and give it unto men whom ,i know not whence they be8 7#a ,sam4 xxv4 #h1 #aj1 #aa74 ,and even if that be an extreme instance1 it will not be denied that outward blessings in themselves1 and considered only by themselves1 are apt to have a hardening rather than a softening effect4 ,it says much1 therefore1 for ,barzillai1 that amidst his great possessions1 he still kept the free1 open1 happy disposition of youth4 ,,ii4 ,that he did so1 is due amongst other reasons to the fact that he was a generous man4 ,his unsolicited assistance of ,david clearly proves this1 while the very length of the catalogue of articles with which he and his friends supplied the fugitive's needs1 proves that when he gave1 he did so in no stinted fashion1 but freely and liberally4 ,it is an excellent example for all who are feeling themselves burdened by the possessions and the opportunities with which ,god has enriched them4 ,let them remember that they hold them only in trust1 and in helping to bear others' burdens1 they will actually1 strange to say1 lighten their own4 ',tis worth a wise man's best of life1 ',tis worth a thousand years of strife1 ,if thou canst lessen but by one1 ,the countless ills beneath the sun4 ,while1 on the other hand1 can there be a sadder thought for the man whose earthly course is nearly run1 than the thought that there will be none to rise up after him and call him blessed1 but that he will die1 as he has lived1 unhonoured1 unwept8 ,if that1 then1 is not to be our fate1 we cannot use too diligently every opportunity of well-doing which ,god has placed within our reach2 we cannot live too earnestly1 not for ourselves only1 but for others3 that from the seeds which we sow now1 there may spring up hereafter a rich and abundant harvest4 ,,iii4 ,barzillai was contented4 ,not many men in his position would have refused the king's offer4 ,it seems rather to be one of the penalties of wealth and greatness1 that their owners cannot rest satisfied with what they have1 but are always desiring more4 ,but ,barzillai felt1 and felt rightly1 that in his circumstances1 the place in which he had been brought up--his own place--was the best place for him4 ,he was a home-loving old man1 and the simple interests and pleasures of his daily life had more attraction for him than the excitements and rivalries of the court4 ,i do not1 of course1 mean to say that either here or elsewhere in ,scripture1 a wise and healthy ambition is discouraged4 ,it is natural to wish to get on1 if only for the sake of a wider sphere of usefulness2 but let us see to it that we avoid that restless longing for change1 simply for the sake of change1 that coveting of positions for which we are not suited1 and which1 if gratified1 can end only in disappointment4 ,it is a great thing1 said one to an ancient philosopher1 to possess what one wishes4 ,it is a greater blessing still1 was the reply1 not to desire what one does not possess4 ,and surely1 in what we do possess1 in the beauties of nature with which we are here surrounded1 in the love of home and wife and children1 in the intercourse with friends and acquaintance1 we have much to make us contented1 much1 very much1 to be thankful for4 ,to watch the corn grow1 or the blossoms set2 to draw hard breath over ploughshare or spade2 to read1 to think1 to love1 to pray1--these1 says ,john ,ruskin1 are the things that make men happy4 ,and these are things that1 in some measure at least1 are within the reach of us all4 ,,iv4 ,there remains still a fourth and a last element in ,barzillai's honoured1 life and happy old age--his attitude towards ,god4 ,though we are never distinctly told so1 we cannot doubt that he was a religious man4 ,and as it was in gratitude to ,god for all that ,he had done to him1 that he first showed kindness to ,god's anointed1 so it was in the same humble and trusting spirit that he accepted old age1 and all that it involved when it came4 ,that is by no means always the case4 ,are there not some1 who1 as they look forward to the time of old age1 if ,god should ever permit them to see it1 do so with a certain amount of dread8 ,they think only of what they will be called upon to abandon--the duties they must give up1 the pleasures1 so dear to them now1 they must forego4 ,but to ,barzillai1 the presence of such disabilities brought1 as we have seen1 no disquieting thoughts4 ,he could relinquish1 without a sigh1 what he was no longer fitted to enjoy4 ,he desired nothing but to end his days peacefully in his appointed lot4 ,enough for him that the ,god who had been with him all his life long was with him still4 ,happy old man6 ,who does not long for an old age1 if he is ever to see old age1 such as his8 ,but1 if so1 it must be sought in the same way4 ,every man's old age is just what his own past has made it4 ,if1 in his days of health and vigour1 he has lived an idle1 careless1 selfish life1 he must not wonder if his closing years are querulous1 and bitter1 and lonely4 ,but if1 on the other hand1 he has devoted himself to good and doing good1 if he has made the will of ,god his rule and guide amidst all the difficulties and perplexities of his daily lot1 then in that will he will find peace4 ,god wilt not forget his work and labour of love 7,heb4 vi4 #aj73 and in him the old promise will be once more fulfilled--,even to your old age ,i am ,he2 and even to hoar hairs will ,i carry you3 ,i have made1 and ,i will bear2 even ,i will carry and will deliver you 7,isa4 xlvi4 #d74 #a;,in view1 however1 of the difficulty of reconciling the two passages1 and of the fact that ,shobi is not mentioned elsewhere1 it has been conjectured that for ,shobi the son of ,nahash in #b ,sam4 xvii4 #bg1 we should read simply ,nahash1 see ,hastings' ,dict4 of the ,bible1 art4 ,shobi4 #b,stanley1 ,history of the ,jewish ,church1 ii41 p4 #aed4 ,,adonijah ,,by ,,rev4 ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 ,it is notorious that the sons of devout men sometimes prove a curse to their parents1 and bring dishonour on the cause of ,god4 ,when ,eve rejoiced over her first-born1 she little suspected that passions were sleeping within him which would impel him to slay his own brother2 and the experience of the first mother has been repeated1 though in different forms1 in all lands and in all ages4 ,isaac's heart was rent by the deceit of ,jacob1 and by the self-will of ,esau4 ,jacob lived to see his own sin repeated in his sons1 and he who deceived his father when he was old and blind1 suffered for years an agony of grief because he had been falsely told that ,joseph1 his favourite son1 was dead4 ,probably few men have known domestic sorrows1 so many and so great1 as those which befell ,david4 ,he shared1 in all its bitterness1 the misery of a parent who sees his best hopes disappointed1 and who is racked with anxiety as to what his wayward boy will do next1 sometimes wishing that before such dishonour had befallen him his son had been laid to rest under the daisies1 in the time of infant innocence4 ,david's eldest son1 ,amnon1 after committing a terrible crime1 was assassinated by his brother ,absalom4 ,in his turn1 ,absalom1 the fairest of the family1 rebelled against his own father1 and was killed by ,joab1 as he hung in the oak4 ,chiliah1 or ,daniel1 died we know not how1 and then ,adonijah1 the fourth son1 the eldest of those surviving1 followed in ,absalom's footsteps4 ,adonijah's sin appears at first sight so unnatural that1 in justice to him as well as for our own instruction1 we should try to discover the sources whence this stream of evil flowed which was so bitter and so desolating in its results4 ,this is not an easy task1 because the full details of his life are not recorded4 ,there are1 however1 no less than three evil influences hinted at in these words3 ,his father had not displeased him at any time1 in saying1 ,why hast thou done so8 and he also was a very goodly man1 and his mother bare him after ,absalom 7#a ,kings i4 #f74 ,taking them in reverse order3 ,heritage1 ,adulation1 and ,lack of ,discipline1 were three sources of moral peril1 and these would tend to the ruin of any man4 ,let us think of each of these1 for they are not extinct by any means4 ,we know very little of ,haggith1 but she was probably a dancing girl who made her way to the front by her ambition and beauty4 ,from her and from his father we may assume that ,adonijah inherited a tendency to ambition and self-conceit such as ,absalom inherited from the union of ,david with ,bathsheba4 ,it is one of the laws of life that like produces like1 ,evidence of this constantly appears in the lower animals1 in the speed of the racehorse1 in the scent of the hound1 and so forth4 ,this asserts itself in men also4 ,we often notice what we call a family likeness4 ,tricks of manner1 and various mental qualities such as heroism1 statesmanship1 mathematical or artistic talent1 descend from parents to children1 and sometimes reappear for generations in the same family4 ,this cannot be due to example alone1 because the phenomena is almost as frequent when the parents die during the child's infancy4 ,similarly1 moral tendencies are transmitted1 and the ,bible gives us many examples of the fact4 ,the luxury-loving ,isaac1 who must have his savoury food1 just as his son1 ,esau1 who would sell his birthright for a mess of pottage1 ,rebekah1 who1 like her brother ,laban is shrewd and cunning1 sees her tendency repeated in her son ,jacob1 who needed a life of discipline and prayer to set him free from it4 ,in more senses than one the evil which men do lives after them4 ,a drunkard's son1 for example1 is often conscious of an inbred craving which is a veritable disease1 so that he is heavily weighted as he starts out on the race of life4 ,this solemn and suggestive fact that the future well-being of children depends largely on the character of parents1 should give emphasis to the adjuration in the wedding service--marriage1 therefore1 is to be honourable in all1 and ought not to be engaged in rashly1 thoughtlessly1 or lightly1 but advisedly1 reverently1 and in the fear of ,god4 ,the law of moral heritage makes parental responsibility a solemn trust1 while1 in so far as it affects those who inherit bad or good tendencies1 we are sure that the ,judge of all the earth will do right4 ,but it must never be forgotten that even a bad disposition need never become a dominant habit4 ,it is something to be resisted and conquered1 and1 it may be1 by the grace of ,him who is faithful1 and will not suffer any of us to be tempted above what we are able to bear4 ,our tendencies are ,divine calls to us to recognise and guard certain weak places in the citadel of character1 for it is against these that our enemy directs his most persistent and vigorous attacks4 ,unhappily1 ,adonijah's natural bias was made the more dangerous by the atmosphere of the court1 where flatterers naturally abounded--for he was a very goodly man1 physically a repetition of ,absalom1 the ,adonis of his time4 ,we may also fairly surmise that his parents were guilty of partiality and indulgence in their treatment of him1 for ,david would love him the more as one who revived the memory of his favourite ,absalom1 the idol of the people1 distinguished for his noble mien and princely bearing4 ,courtiers1 soldiers1 and people all flattered ,adonijah1 and ,joab1 the greatest captain of his age1 next only to the king1 was his partisan1 the more so because he neither forgot nor forgave ,david's reproaches after the death of ,absalom4 ,even ,abiathar1 who represented the younger and more ambitious branch of the priesthood1 joined in the general adulation1 until ,adonijah1 intoxicated by vanity1 set up his own court in rivalry to that of his father1 and when he moved abroad was accompanied by a stately retinue of chariots and horsemen1 and fifty foot attendants gorgeously apparelled4 ,no doubt every position in life has its own peculiar temptations4 ,the ill-favoured lad1 who is the butt at school and the scapegoat at home1 is in serious danger of becoming bitter and revengeful1 and of growing crooked in character1 like a plant in a dark vault1 which will have no beauty because it enjoys no sunshine4 ,but1 on the other hand1 physical beauty1 which attracts attention and wins admiration1 especially if it is associated with brilliant conversational gifts1 and great charm of manner1 has befooled both men and women into sin and misery4 ,many a girl has been entrapped into an unhappy marriage2 and many a lad1 moved by a vaunting ambition which overleaped itself1 has fallen never to rise3 like ,icarus1 when his waxen wings melted in the sun4 ,there must have been sad laxity of discipline in the home of ,david4 ,it is said of ,adonijah that his father had not displeased him at any time in saying1 ,why hast thou done so8 ,in other words1 ,adonijah had never been checked and rebuked as he ought to have been1 and this foolish indulgence was as fatal to him as it had been to the sons of ,eli4 ,there are still such homes as ,david's1 although their inmates do well to draw down the veil of secrecy over them with loyal hands1 and never blazon abroad the grief and anxiety which rend their hearts4 ,in one home a fair1 bright girl mars the beauty of her early womanhood by a flippant disregard of her mother's wishes1 and by an exaltation of her own pleasure-loving disposition as the one law of her life4 ,in another1 a mere child1 hasty and uncontrolled in temper1 is the dread of the whole household1 and at last becomes its tyrant1 because every wish is gratified rather than that a scene should be provoked4 ,in yet another a grown-up son is callous about his mother's anxiety and his father's counsels2 and gladly ignores his home associations as he drifts away upon the sea of vice1 and there becomes a miserable wreck4 ,with each of these it might have been otherwise4 ,if authority had been asserted1 and steadily maintained1 before bad habits were formed2 if firm resolution on the part of the parents had taken the place of indulgent laxity1 if1 instead of being left to chance1 character had been moulded during the time when it was plastic--these might1 with ,god's blessing1 have grown up to be wise1 pure-hearted1 courageous followers of ,christ--who would not only have sweetened the atmosphere of home1 but would have done something to purify and illumine society1 as the salt and the light of the world4 ,the sin of which ,adonijah was guilty1 whose sources we have tried to discover1 was the assumption of unlawful authority and state1 which involved rebellion against his own father4 ,ambition is not always wrong4 ,it is a common inspiration often nerving men to attempt daring and noble deeds4 ,desire for distinction1 with capacity for it1 may often be regarded as the voice of ,god summoning to high effort4 ,the world would soon be stagnant without ambition4 ,the scholar working for a prize1 the writer or speaker resolving to make a name1 the man of business pressing onward past the indolent and the ne'er-do-weel1 are not to be condemned1 so long as they seek lawful objects by lawful means4 ,those who strenuously and hopefully fulfil the duties of their present sphere will be called higher1 either in this world or the next1 for ,god means us to rise by our fidelity where we are1 and not by discontent with what we are4 ,ambition may have conscience in it1 and this will reveal itself in the steady and minute performance of small duties4 ,any who are content1 with tireless hand1 to make crooked things straight and rough places plain1 will ultimately see glory revealed4 ,but if ambition is not ruled by righteousness1 if it is not modified by love and consideration for others1 it becomes a sin1 and will prove to be the herald of disobedience and death1 for it is such ambition which has cursed the world by tyrannies and bloodshed1 and dragged down angels from realms of light4 ,this was the ambition which let ,adonijah exalt himself1 and say1 ,i will be king4 ,it may be said that his conduct was natural enough1 although it was too precipitate1 because he would legitimately succeed his father in due course1 as his eldest surviving son4 ,but this was not so4 ,the law of primogeniture was not law for ,israel4 ,the invisible ,king expressly reserved to ,himself the right of appointing the ruler of ,his people1 as is evident from ,deut4 xvii4 #ad and #ae4 ,the government was theocratic1 not monarchical nor democratic4 ,david himself had been chosen and anointed in preference to ,jonathan1 ,saul's son1 and ,solomon1 ,david's younger son1 had already been designated as his successor through the prophet ,nathan1 partly because he was best fitted to become the man of peace who should erect ,jehovah's temple1 and partly as a sign to ,david that his sin with ,bathsheba was forgiven4 ,it was not as the leader of a court cabal1 but as a prophet inspired by ,jehovah1 that ,nathan had made this solemn appointment4 ,adonijah knew this perfectly well2 he acknowledged it to ,bathsheba in the fifteenth verse of the second chapter1 and therefore1 when he declared1 ,i will be king1 he was deliberately and knowingly setting his will against ,god's1 and this was a sin4 ,the divine choice often differs from the human1 for the ,lord seeth not as man seeth4 ,in his reply to the sons of ,zebedee1 ,jesus declared that ,god is not swayed by favouritism1 nor moved by arbitrary impulse1 but assigns to each his position according to his fitness4 ,this should give us contentment with our lot1 and should emphasise the precept1 ,seekest thou great things for thyself2 seek them not4 ,though it is natural enough to wish for escape from the fret of poverty1 or the weariness of pain1 and to win for ourselves wealth or prominence1 we must be on our guard against the indulgence of defiant self-will1 like that of him who said1 ,i will be king4 ,adonijah's motive in aspiring to the throne was not that he might the better care for the welfare of others1 but that he might selfishly enjoy wealth and honour4 ,he cared much for outward show1 while he failed to cultivate inward worth1 preparing for himself chariots1 horsemen1 and a retinue of servants1 but never displaying a love of justice or ability in statesmanship4 ,and such little motives as his never make greatness4 ,adonijah was not the last to be attracted by glitter and tinsel1 and to live for earthly things which perish in the using4 ,the candidate who cares much for honour and nothing for learning1 the professional man who will sacrifice reputation to win a fortune1 and all who wrong others in order to better themselves1 only gain what is transient and unsatisfying4 ,it would be well for all to learn the lesson 7not least he for whom the ceremony is primarily intended71 which is symbolically taught when a ,pope is crowned4 ,the ,master of the ,ceremonies takes a lighted taper in one hand1 and in the other a reed with a handful of flax fastened to it4 ,the flax flares up for a moment1 and then the flame dies away into thin1 almost imperceptible1 ashes1 which fall at the ,pontiff's feet1 as the choir chant the refrain ,pater sanctus1 sic transit gloria mundi4 ,no earthly honour is worth having except it is the result or the reward of character4 ,even in ,pagan ,rome the ,temple of ,honour could only be reached through the ,temple of ,virtue4 ,and over the gateway of the greatest of all kingdoms in which ,christ ,jesus is supreme1 this motto is inscribed indelibly--,he that humbleth himself shall be exalted1 and he that exalteth himself shall be abased4 ,how often such ambition is accompanied by disregard of the rights of others6 ,what did ,adonijah care for his father's dignity1 or his brother's claims8 ,david was still on the throne1 and ,solomon's right to succeed him had been authoritatively proclaimed1 and yet1 with inbred selfishness1 this ambitious prince declared1 ,i will be king6 ,the lawfulness of any ambition may often be tested by the amount of selfishness which inheres in it4 ,if desire for distinction1 or wealth1 leads one to crush a competitor to the wall without ruth1 or to refuse all help to others in a struggle where every man seems to fight for his own hand1 its lawfulness may well be questioned4 ,our ,lord taught us to love even our enemies1 and surely competitors have a still stronger claim on our consideration1 and certainly all who belong to a church which is based on sacrifice1 and symbolised by a cross1 should even in such matters deny themselves1 and seek every man his neighbour's good4 ,all sin is the worse when it is committed1 as ,adonijah's was1 in defiance of warning4 ,he deliberately repeated his brother's offence4 ,yet he knew the tragic story of his death1 and how his brilliant life had been ended by violence in a wood1 where he perished without a friend2 and he must often have seen his father brooding alone over the trouble thus caused1 as if he was still whispering to himself3 ,o ,absalom1 my son1 would ,god ,i had died for thee6 ,o ,absalom1 my son1 my son6 ,yet the very sin of ,absalom which had been so terribly punished1 ,adonijah boldly committed4 ,history is crowded with examples of ambitious men who died in disappointment and despair1--,alexander1 who conquered a world1 and then wept because there were no more worlds to conquer1 perished in a scene of debauchery1 after setting fire to the city4 ,hannibal1 who filled three bushel measures with the gold rings of fallen knights1 at last1 by poison self-administered1 died unwept in a foreign land4 ,caesar1 who had practically the whole world at his feet1 was stabbed to the heart by so-called friends1 even ,brutus being among them4 ,napoleon1 the scourge and conqueror of ,europe1 died1 a heart-broken exile1 in ,st ,helena4 ,indeed1 it is written in letters of blood on the pages of history1 ,the expectation of the wicked shall perish4 ,happily1 angels' voices are calling us to higher things4 ,conscience whispers to us of duty and love4 ,christ ,himself1 from the ,cross1 which was the stepping-stone to ,his throne1 still cries to every one who will listen1 ,follow me4 ,the false must be displaced by the true--the world by the ,christ--the usurper by the ,divinely-appointed ,king4 ,it was thus that ,adonijah's scheme was defeated4 ,bathsheba1 ,solomon's mother1 and ,nathan1 the prophet1 hurried in to tell ,david of ,adonijah's revolt against his authority1 and that at his coronation-festival1 then begun1 even ,joab1 the commander-in-chief1 and ,abiathar1 the priest1 were present4 ,then ,david's old decision and promptitude reasserted themselves once more4 ,at his command1 ,solomon1 his designated successor1 was seated on the ,king's own mule1 and rode in state to ,gihon1 where ,zadok anointed him in ,jehovah's name2 and when the trumpet was blown all the people said1 ,god save ,king ,solomon6 ,it was the crowning of the new king which proved the dethronement of the false2 and this fact enshrines a principle divine and permanent4 ,false doctrine is overcome1 not by abuse1 but by the proclamation of the true4 ,evil1 whether enthroned in the heart or in the world1 is conquered by greater good4 ,the strong man armed1 only keeps his goods in peace1 until ,one stronger than he comes to bind him and cast him out4 ,christ conquers the devil1 be he where he may4 ,for this purpose the ,son of ,god was manifested that ,he might destroy the works of the devil4 ,in the progress of ,solomon1 as he rode on his mule to ,jerusalem1 amid the acclamations of the people1 we see the ,old ,testament counterpart to the ,new ,testament narrative1 which tells how ,christ ,jesus entered ,jerusalem as its king1 while the people met ,him with welcomes1 and with palms1 and children sang ,his praises4 ,and in both is a symbol of ,his advent to every heart1 and1 if ,he be but welcomed as rightful king1 ,he will take to ,himself ,his power1 and reign4 ,,hiram1 ,,the ,,inspired ,,artificer ,,by ,,rev4 ,w4 ,j4 ,,townsend1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,temple of ,solomon was the crown of art in the old world4 ,there were temples on a larger scale1 and of more massive construction1 but the enormous masses of masonry of the oldest nations were not comparable with the artistic grace1 the luxurious adornments1 and the harmonious proportions of this glorious ,house of ,god4 ,david had laid up money and material for the great work1 but he was not permitted to carry it out4 ,he was a man of war1 and blood-stained hands were not to build the temple of peace and righteousness4 ,solomon was the providential man for such an undertaking4 ,he had large ideas1 a keen sense of beauty1 generous instincts1 a religious nature1 a literary training1 and a highly cultivated mind4 ,he was in peaceful alliance with surrounding nations1 many of whom would be drawn into requisition for the suitable materials4 ,they had to supply the cedar wood1 iron1 copper1 brass1 tin1 gold1 silver1 and the rich fabrics which have made proverbial the sumptuous and beautiful raiment and decorations of those times1 with the rarest marbles that the quarries of ,lebanon and ,bezetha could contribute4 ,so with the thousands of busy builders and artificers1 ,like some tall palm1 the graceful fabric grew1 until it stood complete on ,mount ,moriah1 an inspiration to the people1 a continual benediction to the nation1 and the envy of many a covetous conqueror4 ,the name of one man only has been handed down the ages as having specially signalised himself in the decoration of the temple4 ,solomon must procure the best of human talent and genius for the perfection of the work he meditated4 ,therefore he not only made a treaty with ,hiram1 ,king of ,tyre1 for supplies of material1 but of workmen1 and chief of these1 one whose artistic productions were to be the best adornments of the ,house of ,god for succeeding centuries4 ,he was a tried veteran in decorative work1 an expert in almost every kind of art1 and fit to be placed in the position of chief superintendent of so superb a building4 ,the ,king of ,tyre sent to ,solomon a testimony which was eloquent in his praise3 ,i have sent a cunning man endued with understanding 4 4 4 4 the son of a woman of the daughters of ,dan1 his father was a man of ,tyre1 skilful to work in gold1 and in silver1 in brass1 in iron1 in stone1 and in timber1 in purple1 in blue1 and in fine linen1 and in crimson2 also to grave any manner of graving1 and to find out every device 7#b ,chron4 ii4 #ac1 i#d74 ,another record says3 ,he was filled with wisdom1 and understanding1 and cunning to work all works in brass 7#a ,kings vii4 #ad74 ,it is a significant fact in the history that ,hiram1 this expert artificer1 bearing the same name as his king1 should have had an ,israelitish mother1 and a ,gentile father who had also been a worker in metal4 ,thus he got his artistic taste and training from the father1 his religious knowledge and sympathy from the mother4 ,religious feeling and sympathy he certainly had1 as his magnificent work in the temple fully demonstrated4 ,hiram constructed of bright1 burnished brass1 an immense laver1 called a molten sea1 to be used for the ablutions of the priests4 ,it was capable of containing from fifteen to twenty thousand gallons of water1 and the ornamentation was elaborate exceedingly4 ,under the brim were two rows of balls or bosses1 encircling the laver4 ,twelve oxen1 three looking in four different directions1 supported it1 and the brim was wrought like the brim of a cup with flowers of lilies4 ,beyond this1 there were ten lavers1 smaller in size1 for the washing of such things as were offered in sacrifice4 ,these were carefully decorated with lions1 oxen1 and cherubim on the borders of the ledges4 ,they stood upon bases1 measuring #f feet by #d #a_/b feet1 ornamented carefully on each side with garlands hanging in festoons1 literally1 garlands1 pensile work4 ,each base had brasen wheels attached1 with brasen axletrees1 and brackets which stretched from the four upper corners of the bases to the outward rim of the laver4 ,all the furnishings were also made by ,hiram1 such as pots1 basons1 shovels2 probably also the golden altar1 and table1 with the seven-branched lamp stands1 of which there were ten1 of beautiful construction and ornamentation4 ,but the most glorious work of ,hiram was the construction of the two majestic brasen pillars1 called ,jachin and ,boaz1 ,they were stately in height1 the shaft of each measuring #bg feet1 a base of #ab feet1 and two capitals of #ac #a_/b feet1 thus the whole height of each pillar being #eb #a_/b feet4 ,the decoration was equally graceful and elaborate1 especially upon the capitals4 ,the lower capitals had a fine network over the whole1 and chain-work hanging in festoons outside4 ,there were also pomegranates wrought upon them4 ,the upper capitals1 forming a cornice to the whole pillar1 were ornamented with lily-work4 ,at ,persepolis there still stands a pillar1 the cornice of which is carved with three rows of lily leaves4 ,these pillars were esteemed the most important ornaments in the magnificent temple1 the erection of which was the best feature of ,solomon's reign4 ,they were of such prominent importance that a name was affixed to each of them4 ,one was called ,jachin1 which means1 he will establish1 the other was called ,boaz1 which means in strength4 ,the ideas involved are stability and strength4 ,possibly the ,psalmist had these pillars in his mind when he wrote1 ,strength and beauty are in ,his sanctuary 7,ps4 xcvi4 #f72 strength first1 then beauty2 strength as the foundation of divine work1 then beauty1 graceful finish1 and ornament4 ,hiram was an inspired artist and artificer4 ,he was filled with wisdom and understanding1 and cunning to work4 ,we are told the same as to the great decorative workers of the ,tabernacle1 concerning whom the ,lord said3 ,see1 ,i have called by name ,bezalel1 the son of ,uri1 the son of ,hur of the tribe of ,judah3 and ,i have filled him with the spirit of ,god1 in wisdom1 in understanding1 and in knowledge1 and in all manner of workmanship1 to devise cunning works1 to work in gold1 and in silver1 and in brass1 and in cutting of stones for setting1 and in carving of wood1 to work in all manner of workmanship 7,exod4 xxxi4 #b-e74 ,so also it is written of ,aholiab1 ,ahisamach1 and other ,tabernacle workers4 ,it is instructive to find that in ,scripture1 genius as displayed in literary insight and facility1 in ingenuity and inventiveness as to the various arts1 and even in the conception of instruments of husbandry1 is attributed to ,divine inspiration4 ,it may not be the same order of inspiration by which men spake from ,god1 being moved by the ,holy ,ghost2 ,searching what time or manner of time the spirit of ,christ which was in them did point unto when it testified beforehand the sufferings of ,christ and the glories that should follow them 7#b ,peter i4 #ba2 #a ,peter i4 #aa72 but the fact is clear1 whether it was inspiration of a different nature or in a different degree1 that on men of special gifts in various departments and of the highest order1 wisdom and understanding are a direct gift of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,this truth was acknowledged in earliest times1 and skilled experts in art or handicraft were reckoned to be under the inspiration of ,god4 ,among the heathen this belief lingered long4 ,the ancient poets invoked the aid of their deities when entering on some great composition1 and the devout earnestness of some recorded prayers is remarkable4 ,there should be a line of demarcation drawn in this connection between a man of talent and a man of genius4 ,talent may be a matter of cultivation and perseverance4 ,a man of ordinary intelligence may1 by determined resolution1 push his way to power in many directions1 and the one talent may become ten talents4 ,but genius is not mere cleverness1 however well directed and carefully developed4 ,genius is creative and inventive2 it has insight1 it has imagination1 it bodies forth the forms of things unknown1 and gives to airy nothings a local habitation and a name4 ,isaiah speaks of the inspiration of the inventor of the agricultural instrument3 ,his ,god doth instruct him aright1 and doth teach him 4 4 4 ,this also cometh from the ,lord of hosts1 which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom 7,isa4 xxviii4 #bf-bi74 ,when man required in the old time direct teaching of great religious truths and realities1 ,god inspired prophets and seers1 but the world required also to be educated1 regulated1 civilised4 ,therefore poets1 painters1 litterateurs1 artists1 and artificers were called for1 by deep needs of humanity4 ,god answered the need by giving the marvellous gift in various forms and degrees to men who had understanding of their times1 and who by special insight were able to give impulses to progress in every direction4 ,this truth is powerfully stated by a ,german metaphysician3--,nothing calls us more powerfully to adore the living ,god than the appearance and embodiment of genius upon the earth4 ,whatever in the ordinary course of things we may choose to attribute to the mechanical process of cause and effect1 the highest manifestations of intellect can be called forth only by the express will of the original ,mind1 independent of second causes4 ,genius descends upon us from the clouds precisely where we least look for it4 ,events may be calculated1 predicted--spirits never2 no earthly oracle announces the appearance of genius3 the unfathomable will of the ,creator suddenly calls to it--,be6#a ,the ,apostle ,paul says concerning the ,christ1 ,,in ,,him were all things created 7,col4 i4 #af74 ,everything in the universe became objective1 because they were first subjective in ,christ1 the second ,person in the adorable ,trinity4 ,all things were made from forms and types which were in ,himself before they were impressed on ,creation4 ,the infinite glories of sky1 and air1 and sea1 the beauties of the tree1 the flower1 the bird1 and all forms of life1 the fleeting and recurring grandeurs that paint the seasons and the years1 are all but revelations of the boundless resources and the ineffable beauties and qualities of the mind of ,christ1 our ,master and ,teacher4 ,our craving of genius1 and its never-dying ambition1 is to come ever nearer to the perfection of the ,infinite ,artist and ,architect4 ,the inspiration which filled the soul of ,bezalel or ,hiram may not be so elevated or elevating as that which enabled ,isaiah to soar to the throne of the ,eternal in speechless rapture1 or which enabled ,michael ,angelo to represent in form and colour his vast conceptions of the beautiful and sublime2 but it was as real1 and in some aspects as serviceable in suggestion and realisation1 as these4 ,god fulfils ,himself in many ways4 ,as the ,divine ,spirit plays on the minds of special men1 one is turned to music1 another to painting1 another to sculpture1 another to architecture1 another to mechanics1 and another to a smith's imaginings2 but it is still the same ,spirit that worketh in all and through all1 and each may be perfected instruments by which ,he accomplishes ,his wise and gracious purposes in the uplift of men4 ,what a living force among men is the true poet1 the man who can take words and weave them into forms of perfect rhythm1 rhyme1 and measure1 and then fill them with thoughts so suggestive and burning1 as that they become for ever a force in the hearts of men1 thrilling the souls of men and women with lofty ideals1 prompting them to noble deeds1 nerving them to patience in suffering and courage in battle4 ,what may not the artist accomplish by throwing on the canvas landscapes or seascapes1 like ,turner1 ,scripture scenes1 like ,raphael1 or heroic deeds1 like ,millais8 ,do these things not speak to the heart through the eye effectually8 ,and what refining influences may not be silently absorbed into the nature by the artificer1 who works in metals1 or in pottery1 in glass1 or in wood1 producing shapes of graceful contour1 and decoration of delicate beauty1 so that the articles of the household or the warehouse may be an education to the mind1 and become to it patterns of things in the heavens4 ,the command to ,moses on the ,mount was1 concerning all the furniture of the ,tabernacle1 which ,bezalel and ,aholiab had to construct was1 ,see that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount 7,heb4 viii4 #e74 ,the beautiful things were in the mind of ,god first1 and then had to be produced by the inspiration of the artist1 in the house of prayer by the wisdom and deftness imparted by the ,spirit4 ,it is possible1 we sorrow to think1 to misuse the ,divine gift of artistic inspiration4 ,the poet may devote his genius to animalism1 like ,byron1 or to teach immoral license1 like ,swinburne2 the painter may crowd his canvas with degrading ideas and vulgar representations1 and the artificer may be ingenious in the production of forms of ugliness and degrading grotesqueness4 ,such desecration of great endowments is alike displeasing to ,god and ruinous to the man4 ,of such it may be said3 ,he feedeth on ashes3 a deceived heart hath turned him aside1 that he cannot deliver his soul1 nor say1 ,is there not a lie in my right hand8 7,isa4 xliv4 #bj74 ,thank ,god1 that we may say truly that generally the superlatives might have been found sitting at the feet of ,jesus4 ,the heavy1 dull masses of meaningless masonry which belonged to ,egypt or ,assyria1 flowered into the pure1 delicate1 ideality of the ,greek builders1 and this again developed into the warm1 spiritual1 suggestive style of ,christianity which has covered ,christendom with consecrated buildings like the cathedrals of ,cologne or ,chartres4 ,the art of twenty centuries has been proclaiming the ,christ as perfect in beauty1 in grace and refinement1 as ,he is perfect in love and in sacrifice4 ,the music of the past1 in all its highest reaches from ,gregory to ,mendelssohn1 celebrates ,his grand redemption4 ,the most gifted poets1 from ,dante1 pealing his threefold anthem from the topmost peak of ,parnassus1 to ,shakespeare1 with his woodnotes wild2 from ,milton1 with his sevenfold chorus of hallelujahs and harping symphonies1 to ,tennyson1 with his happy bells1 which ,ring in the valiant man and free1 ,the larger heart1 the kindlier hand1 but chief of all which ,ring in the ,christ that is to be1 are resonant with loyalty and devotion to ,him4 ,thus1 all voices and all gifts1 as they come from ,christ1 and are claimed by ,christ1 should be used for ,him and ,him alone4 ,the lofty reach of genius is called to glorify ,him1 and the humblest gift of the peasant in the cottage1 or the workman in the mill1 or the little child at the mother's knee1 are all due to ,christ1 to be devoted to ,him1 and also to be appreciated and rewarded by ,him4 #a;,gustav ,schwab1 quoted by ,ullmann1 in ,the ,worship of ,genius4 ,,jeroboam ,,by ,,rev4 ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 ,jeroboam1 who did sin1 and who made ,israel to sin4--#a ,,kings xiv4 #af4 ,jeroboam's character is worthy of serious study1 not only because it influenced the destiny of ,god's ancient people1 but because it suggests lessons of the utmost value to ,his people still4 ,he may be fairly regarded as a type of those who are successful men of the world4 ,he was not an example of piety1 for he had none--nor of lofty principle1 for he was an opportunist who made expediency the law of his life throughout4 ,yet he was permitted to win all that he could have hoped for1 and reached the very zenith of his ambition1 though he went down to the grave at last1 defeated and dishonoured1 with this as his record--he was the man who made ,israel to sin4 ,such a life as his throws a flood of light on our possibilities and perils1 showing unscrupulous men both what they may possibly win1 and what they will certainly lose4 ,jeroboam appears to have been a man of lowly origin4 ,of his father ,nebat1 whose name is so often linked with his own1 we know nothing1 although an old ,jewish tradition1 preserved by ,jerome1 identifies him with ,shimei1 who was the first to insult ,david in his flight1 and the first of all the house of ,joseph to congratulate him on his return4 ,all we know with certainty is that he belonged to the powerful tribe of ,ephraim1 which was always jealous of the supremacy of ,judah1 and therefore hated ,david1 ,solomon1 and ,rehoboam4 ,it was this feeling of which ,jeroboam skilfully availed himself when he split the kingdom of ,david in twain4 ,in the ,book of ,kings1 this remarkable man first appears as an ordinary workman1 or possibly as a foreman of the masons who were engaged in building ,fort ,millo1 one of the chief defences of the citadel of ,zion1 guarding its weakest point1 and making it almost impregnable4 ,under the system of forced labour then in vogue1 the workmen would be inclined to shirk their toil1 and among them ,jeroboam stood out in conspicuous contrast1 by reason of his eagerness and industry4 ,solomon the king1 who always had a keen eye for capacity1 saw the young man that he was industrious1 and after making some inquiries about him1 raised him to the remunerative post of superintendent of the tribute payable by the tribe of ,ephraim4 ,it was1 no doubt1 a difficult office to fill1 for the tribe was restive and powerful1 but it would be very profitable1 because the system on which taxes were collected1 as is still usual in ,eastern countries1 gave immense opportunities for enrichment to an unscrupulous man4 ,we may be sure1 therefore1 that ,jeroboam quickly became wealthy4 ,at the same time he won influence with the tribe1 by expressing secret sympathy with his fellow-tribesmen1 and he stealthily fostered their discontent until the opportunity came for asserting himself as a more successful ,wat ,tyler1 in the kingdom which by that time ,solomon had left to his foolish son1 ,rehoboam4 ,little did ,solomon imagine that when he advanced ,jeroboam he was preparing the instrument of his son's ruin1 and that this ,ephraimite would prove to be like the viper ,aesop tells of1 which a kind-hearted man took in from the cold1 but which when roused by warmth from its torpor1 killed its benefactor4 ,i #a4 ,in looking for the elements which contributed to ,jeroboam's rapidly-won success1 we must certainly credit him with remarkable natural ability4 ,no one can read his biography carefully without noticing his shrewdness in seeing his chance when it came1 and his boldness and promptitude in seizing it4 ,he possessed such self-control that he kept his plans absolutely to himself until the critical moment1 and then he made a daring dash for power1 and won it4 ,and these characteristics of his were gifts from ,god1 as ,ahijah the prophet emphatically declared4 ,we are far too timid in the maintenance of our professed belief that physical and mental gifts are divine in their origin4 ,mediaeval theology1 which was largely tinged by ,pagan philosophy1 sometimes went so far as to attribute exceptional beauty1 or talent1 to evil powers2 and we are apt to trace them to a merely human source4 ,but keen perception1 sound judgment1 a retentive memory1 a vigorous imagination1 and1 not least1 good common-sense1 are among the talents entrusted to us by ,god ,himself1 who will by-and-bye take account of ,his servants4 ,this is regarded by many as an old-fashioned and effete theory4 ,they assume that the doctrine of evolution has conclusively shown that no man is a new creation1 but is a necessary product of preceding lives2 that his lineaments and talents may be traced to parentage1 that the brilliance of the ,cecils and the solid sense of the ,cavendishes1 for example1 are simply a matter of heritage4 ,but even admitting this to be largely true1 it does not invalidate the statement that our gifts are of ,god--,he is the ,father of all the families of the earth1 as well as of individuals4 ,he does not rule over one year only1 but over all the generations4 ,time and change1 of which we make much1 are nothing to ,him4 ,the theory of evolution1 therefore1 merely extends our conceptions of the range of ,his power and forethought4 ,whether a child presents a striking contrast to his parents1 or whether he seems to be a re-incarnation of their talents1 it is equally true that all things are of ,god1 and that for ,him and by ,him all things consist4 ,natural abilities are ,divine trusts4 ,there is startling unevenness in the distribution of these gifts4 ,not only do two families differ widely in their talents and possessions1 but children of the same parents are often strangely unlike1 physically and mentally4 ,one is radiantly beautiful1 and another has no charm in appearance or in manners4 ,one is physically vigorous1 and another is frail as a hothouse flower4 ,one is so quick that lessons are no trouble at all1 and another wearily plods over them till ready to give up in despair4 ,evidences of this unevenness of distribution meet us everywhere4 ,one man will make a fortune where another would not suspect a chance4 ,one remains a third-rate salesman all his days1 and would spend even his holidays in looking into shop windows1 for his soul does not rise beyond them2 while his comrade is brimful of talent1 and the world will ring at last with his name and fame4 ,we say it is in them2 but what is in them is of ,god1 and these very differences between men are intended by ,him to elicit mutual consideration and mutual helpfulness2 for we are members one of another1 and the deficiencies of one are to be supplemented by the superabundance of another4 #b4 ,the most brilliant gifts are of no great value apart from personal diligence1 such as distinguished ,jeroboam4 ,he did thoroughly the work which lay to his hand1 whether as mason1 tax-collector1 or king4 ,such diligence often rectifies the balance between two men of unequal ability4 ,the plodding tortoise still beats the hare1 who believes herself to be so swift that she can afford time to sleep4 ,any one who looks back on his classmates will see that the cleverest have not proved the most successful1 but that the prizes of life have usually gone to those who diligently developed to the utmost what they had4 ,scripture is crowded with examples of this4 ,jacob laboured night and day1 and therefore he prospered1 even under ,laban1 unjust and exacting though ,laban was4 ,joseph won his way to the front1 though an exile and a slave1 for he made himself indispensable in prison1 and in the kingdom4 ,seest thou a man diligent in business8 he shall stand before kings1 he shall not stand before mean men4 ,and because this is a ,divine law1 it prevails in higher spheres also4 ,if a ,christian uses1 in the service of his heavenly ,master1 the gifts he possesses1 faith in ,god1 knowledge of truth1 power in prayer1 persuasive speech--his five talents will become ten1 or his two will gain other two4 ,to him that hath1 to him shall be given1 and he shall have abundance4 #c4 ,it may be said that talent and diligence combined do not always win success1 and so far as this world is concerned1 it is true4 ,possibly ,jeroboam would never have come to the front if ,solomon had not happened to notice him4 ,but if we read the interviews which ,ahijah the prophet had with ,jeroboam1 and with his mother1 we shall learn to recognise the control of ,god in this also4 ,if ,god over-rules anything he must over-rule everything1 because what appears to be the most trivial incident1 often has the most far-reaching results on human character and destiny4 ,trifles are often turning-points in one's history4 ,a casual word spoken in our favour may bring about the introduction which leads to a happy marriage1 or to a prosperous business career4 ,it may not have been known to us at the time1 nor thought of again by the friend who spoke about us1 but back of his friendly utterance ,god was4 ,in life we are not infrequently like a passenger on board ship1 who chats to those about him1 but pays no regard to the wheel1 or to the seaman who controls it1 still less to the officer who gives the man his instructions2 and yet the turning of that wheel1 in this direction or in that1 involves safety1 or wreck4 ,god keeps control--unseen--over the lives of men1 and it was more than a lucky chance which led ,solomon to notice the smart1 stalwart worker at ,millo1 and raise him to a higher post4 ,the wise king showed his wisdom in rewarding as he did1 fidelity and diligence4 ,it is because this is often not done in offices and warehouses that there is so little mutual goodwill between servants and masters4 ,an employer will often treat his people as mere hands1 who are to sell his goods and do his bidding1 but directly work is slack1 he will turn them adrift without scruple or ruth2 or if they remain for years in his service1 will give no increase of wage or salary proportioned to capacity and diligence4 ,a ,christian employer1 at least1 should follow a more excellent way1 and advance a diligent servant1 not because he cannot be done without1 or because it is for the good of the firm to retain his services1 but because his promotion is right and richly deserved4 ,it would be a woful thing if ,god treated us exactly as we treat our fellows4 ,but whatever the immediate result1 fidelity and industry are called for from us all4 ,our ,lord ,himself said1 ,it is ,my meat and ,my drink to do the will of ,my ,father in heaven1 and this ,he felt to be as true of ,his work at the carpenter's bench as in the precincts of the ,temple4 ,whether in the business1 or in the household1 or in the ,church1 the ,king is ever watching ,his servants1 and of ,his grace will raise every faithful one to higher service and larger possibilities4 ,the ,father1 who seeth in secret1 shall reward thee openly1 and ,his reward will come not only in loftier position but in ennobled character-- ,toil is no thorny crown of pain1 ,bound round man's brow for sin2 ,true souls from it all strength may gain1 ,high manliness may win4 ,o ,god1 who workest hitherto1 ,working in all we see1 ,fain would we be1 and hear1 and do1 ,as best it pleaseth ,thee4 ,,ii4 ,jeroboam's defects in character1 and indeed his actual sins1 were many and great4 #a4 ,his ingratitude to his benefactor was a disgrace to him4 ,he fostered and used1 as far as he dared1 the discontent which smouldered in the tribe of ,ephraim1 as the result partly of jealousy of ,judah1 and partly of restiveness under extravagant expenditure and increasing taxation1 and this treachery went on until he was expelled the country by ,solomon1 and driven out as an exile into ,egypt1 where1 however1 he still carried out his ambitious schemes1 till his chance came under ,rehoboam4 ,many a man kicks away the ladder by which he rose to fortune4 ,he likes to divest himself of the past wherein he needed help1 for it was a time of humiliation1 and by cutting off association with former friends1 would fain lead people to believe that his success was entirely due to his own cleverness4 ,even his own parents are sometimes neglected and ignored1 and these1 to whom he owed his life1 who cared for him in his helpless infancy and wayward youth1 are left unhelped4 ,cursed is the man who setteth light by his father or mother4 ,but though we naturally cry shame upon such an one1 it is possible that we ourselves are acting an unfilial part towards our ,heavenly ,father4 ,and the more ,he prospers us the greater is the danger of our forgetting ,him1 who crowns us with loving-kindness and tender mercies4 #b4 ,jeroboam's sin against ,solomon was as nothing compared with his sin against ,god4 ,from the first he seems to have been an irreligious man4 ,he regarded religion as a kind of restraint on the lower orders1 and therefore useful in government4 ,priests and prophets constituted1 in his opinion1 the vanguard of the police1 and they should1 therefore1 be supported and encouraged by the ,state4 ,as to the form religion assumed1 he was not particular4 ,in ,egypt he had become accustomed to the ritual of ,apis and ,mnevis1 which was by no means so gross and demoralising as the idolatry of the ,canaanites1 and he evidently could not see why the worship of ,jehovah could not be carried on by those who believed in ,him through the use of emblems1 and1 if need be1 of idols4 ,therefore he set about the establishment of the cult of ,apis1 and made two calves of gold1 and set the one in ,bethel and the other put he in ,dan4 ,this was the sin for which he was condemned again and again with almost wearisome iteration4 ,he was by no means a fanatical idolater1 and this act of his was simply the dictate of his worldly policy4 ,he was engaged in the establishment of the separate kingdom of ,israel1 which for many a long year was to exist side by side with the kingdom of ,judah4 ,but this policy of separation would be impossible so long as there was the old spirit of unity in the nation4 ,and this unity was expressed and fostered most of all by the existence of the ,temple in ,jerusalem1 the common centre to which all the tribes resorted1 and from which all government emanated4 ,if this continued so to be1 it was evident that the nation would sooner or later reassert its unity4 ,the men of ,ephraim were just now exasperated by the taxation imposed by ,solomon1 and increased by ,rehoboam1 and they still resented the precedence and supremacy of the rival tribe of ,judah2 but this feeling might prove transient1 it might be some day dissipated by the statesmanship of a wiser king1 and then the separated kingdom would die out1 and all ,god's people would appear as one4 ,to prevent this was ,jeroboam's aim in the erection of the golden calves4 ,it was a policy which would naturally appeal to the jealous people1 who were told that they ought not to be dependent for their means of worship on ,judah1 nor send up their tribute for the support of the ,temple in ,jerusalem4 ,and they would welcome a scheme which brought worship within easier range1 and saved the cost of leaving business and undertaking a wearisome journey in order to keep the feasts4 ,thus1 without deliberate choice1 they swiftly glided down into idolatry and national ruin4 ,jeroboam thus led the people to a violation of one of the fundamental laws in the ,decalogue4 ,for if the first command was not disobeyed by all the people1 the second was1 and these laws are still obligatory1 nor can they be broken with impunity4 ,with fatal facility those who worshipped ,jeroboam's golden calf became identified with the heathen1 and the kingdom thus set upon a false foundation was at last utterly destroyed4 ,and as surely as the tide flows in upon the shore1 so surely will the laws of ,god bring retribution on all who are impenitent4 ,to every man the choice is proffered between the false and the true ideal of life4 ,on the one side the tempter points to wealth and position1 which may often be won1 as ,jeroboam won it1 by unscrupulousness2 and on the other side stands the ,son of ,god1 who1 though rejected and crucified1 was nevertheless the ,victor over sin1 and who now from ,his heavenly throne exclaims1 ,to him that overcometh will ,i grant to sit with ,me in ,my throne1 even as ,i also overcame1 and am set down with ,my ,father in ,his throne4 ,,asa ,,by ,,rev4 ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,b4 #a ,,kings xv4 #h-bd2 #b ,,chron4 xiv-xvi4 ,asa was the third king who reigned over the separated kingdoms of ,judah4 ,his father was ,ahijah1 of whom it is sternly said1 ,he walked in all the sins of his father1 ,rehoboam1 which he had done before him4 ,a worse bringing-up than ,asa's could scarcely be imagined4 ,as a child1 and as a lad1 he was grievously tempted by his father's example1 and by the influence of an idolatrous court1 which was crowded by flatterers and panderers4 ,the leading spirit of the court-circle was ,maachah1 the ,king's mother1 as she is called--the ,sultana ,valide4 ,she was a woman of strong character1 and held a high official position4 ,she was the grand-daughter of ,absalom1 and was notorious for her fanatical idolatry4 ,in short1 she was the evil genius of the kingdom1 like the ,chinese ,queen-mother of our own times1 although1 happily1 ,asa possessed a force of character which the young ,emperor of ,china seems to lack4 ,it is certainly noteworthy1 that1 with so much against the cultivation of a religious life1 ,asa did that which was right in the eyes of the ,lord1 as did ,david his father4 ,sometimes on a heap of corruption1 which we are glad to hurry past with abhorrence1 ,god plants a beautiful and fragrant flower1 as if in defiance of man's neglect2 and thus ,asa appeared in the family1 and in the court of ,ahijah1 his father--a ,god-fearing1 single-minded lad1 with a will of his own4 ,as there was hope for him1 there is hope for all4 ,whatever a man's parentage and circumstances may be1 he is not forced into sin1 and has no right to say1 ,we are delivered to do all these abominations4 ,amid all his difficulties and discouragements1 if he is earnestly seeking to serve ,god1 and looking to ,him for help and hope1 he may triumph over the most adverse circumstances1 and prove himself to be a true citizen of heaven4 ,if he waits in prayer on ,god1 as ,joseph did in ,egypt1 ,daniel in ,babylon1 and ,asa in ,ahijah's court1 he will not only be endued with piety1 but with an independent spirit1 and a resolute will1 which will make him a power for good in the very sphere where he seemed likely to be crushed by the powers of evil4 ,it is not in vain that the apostle gave the exhortation1 ,be not overcome of evil1 but overcome evil with good4 ,asa was a noble example of obedience to that command4 ,it is clear from the narrative1 in the ,first ,book of ,kings1 that ,asa was rich in noble qualities1 such as manly resoluteness1 political sagacity1 and administrative vigour4 ,but special prominence is given in the ,bible 7as one might expect7 to his religious sincerity1 for it is emphatically said--,asa's heart was perfect with the ,lord all his days4 ,this does not mean that he was sinless1 that he had reached moral perfection1 but that he had completely1 with whole-heartedness1 given himself over to the will of ,god1 to be and to do what ,he ordained4 ,the proof of this was seen in the reformation ,asa daringly attempted4 ,this is the record of it--,he took away the sodomites out of the land1 and removed all the idols that his father had made4 ,and also ,maachah his mother1 even her he removed from being queen1 because she had made an idol in a grove2 and ,asa destroyed her idol1 and burnt it by the brook ,kidron4 ,things must have gone badly in the kingdom before he ascended the throne4 ,although it was only about twenty years since the death of ,solomon1 irreligion and vice had corrupted the nation4 ,the truth is that evil spreads faster than good in this world1 which is evidence that it has fallen4 ,we have embodied this truth in a familiar proverb--,ill weeds grow apace4 ,if we neglect a garden1 we are soon confronted with weeds1 not with flowers4 ,valuable fruit-trees grow slowly1 but a poisonous fungus will spring up in a night4 ,evidence of this often appears in national affairs4 ,a few months of war will suffice to desolate many homes1 to destroy fertile fields1 and to burn down prosperous villages1 but it is long before that waste can be repaired1 confidence restored1 and prosperity and goodwill re-established4 ,the devil will carry fire and sword through the world with the swiftness of a whirlwind1 but ,jesus ,christ patiently waits and weeps over an irresponsive people1 as he says1 ,ye will not come to ,me that ye might have life4 ,the same contrast in the progress of good and evil appears in our own experience4 ,if we yield to evil1 and indulge sinful passions1 we move so swiftly downward that it is hard to stop1--like an ,alpine climber on a snow-slope1 who1 having once slipped1 in a few minutes' rush loses all that he has gained by toilsome climbing1 and becomes less able to make new effort because of his wounds and bruises4 ,among our ,lord's disciples1 we see ,judas swiftly rushing on self-destruction1 whereas ,peter and ,john received years of discipline1 before they were fully prepared to fulfil their mission4 ,no doubt1 in such cases evil may have been1 making slow and stealthy advance under the surface1 though the result appears with startling suddenness1 just as gas will escape without noise1 and creep into every corner of the room2 but when a light comes in1 death and destruction come in a flash4 ,evil is an explosion1 good is a growth4 ,this perhaps accounts for the facts that evil had quickly grown strong in the kingdom2 while1 on the other hand1 ,asa's attempt at reformation was incomplete and transient4 ,he seems1 however1 to have done what he could1 and that is more than can be said of many4 ,if he had been a timid1 half-hearted man he might have been content to worship ,jehovah in his private room1 and thus rebuke1 by his example1 any idolaters who happened to hear of it ,but his was no policy of laissez-faire4 ,he felt that the evils encouraged by the father ought to be put down by the son1 and this he did with a strong hand1 wherever he could reach it4 ,unhappily1 there is a sad dearth of such reforming zeal in the ,church1 and in the world4 ,even among those who in private lament prevailing evils there is a singular contentment and tolerance even of those which might be at once removed4 ,this is grievously common in large centres of population1 where each individual feels insignificant among such vast multitudes1 and loses the sense of individual responsibility in the vastness of the crowd which surrounds him4 ,how many professing ,christians1 for example1 deplore drunkenness and impurity1 while they shrink from any kind of open protest1 and will not even trouble themselves to vote for representatives who will fight these evils2 and if a preacher boldly denounces such iniquities they will even beg him to leave questions of that kind alone1 and to confine himself to doctrinal exposition4 ,we are all too apt to forget that truth and righteousness1 sobriety and holiness1 are of ,god2 and that the mission of ,jesus ,christ was to establish these1 and to put away sin1 even by the sacrifice of ,himself4 ,the religion ,he exemplified was not to be ranged on the shelves of a library1 but to prove itself a living force in politics1 in business1 and at home4 ,what was ,his own doctrine8 ,not every one that saith unto me1 ,lord1 ,lord1 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven1 but he that doeth the will of my ,father which is in heaven4 ,evils outside the ,church1 then1 are to be combated1 and not tolerated1 by all true ,christians--even though in the result they are maligned as renegades to their party1 or jeered at as ,pharisees or ,puritans4 ,the late ,tom ,hughes was quite right half a century ago1 when he thus described to the lads before him the lot of a would-be reformer4 ,if the angel ,gabriel were to come down from heaven1 and head a successful rise against the most abominable and unrighteous vested interests which this poor old world groans under1 he would most certainly lose his character for many years1 probably for centuries1 not only with upholders of the said vested interest1 but with the respectable mass of the people he has delivered4 ,they wouldn't ask him to dinner1 or let their names appear with his in the papers2 they would be careful how they spoke of him in the palaver1 or at their clubs4 ,what can we expect1 then1 when we have only poor gallant1 blundering men like ,garibaldi and ,mazzini1 and righteous causes which do not triumph in their hands2 men who have holes enough in their armour1 ,god knows1 easy to be hit by respectabilities sitting in their lounge-chairs1 and having large balances at their bankers4 ,but you are brave1 gallant boys1 who have no balances or bankers1 and hate easy-chairs4 ,you only want to have your heads set straight to take the right side2 so bear in mind that majorities1 especially respectable ones1 are nine times out of ten in the wrong1 and that if you see a man or boy striving earnestly on the weaker side1 however wrong-headed or blundering he may be1 you are not to go and join the cry against him4 ,if you cannot join him1 and help him1 and make him wiser1 at any rate remember that he has found something in the world which he will fight and suffer for--which is just what you have got to do for yourselves--and so think and speak of him tenderly4 ,those manly words are worth quoting in full1 and they will fitly set forth the service young ,asa rendered to his kingdom1 and to the world at large4 ,i4 ,it may be well to analyse a little more closely the reformation this right-hearted king attempted4 ,he diminished opportunities for sin4 ,the traffic in vice1 by which many were making profit1 he put down with a strong hand4 ,and there are hotbeds of vice to be found in our own land1 where strong appeal is made to the lusts of the flesh1 and where intoxicating drink incites men to yield to passions which need restraint4 ,indeed1 even in our streets moral perils assail the young and innocent1 which no ,christian nation ought to tolerate4 ,we often meet the assertion that we cannot make people moral by ,acts of ,parliament2 but if dens of infamy1 which it is perilous to enter1 are swept away1 if gin-palaces and public-houses which flood the land with ruin are diminished in number1 and in their hours of trade1 it would certainly lessen the evils we deplore4 ,vested interests fight against such a change1 and many on the side of sobriety and righteousness shrink from the contest1 so that we need the inspiration which ,god gave to ,asa1 if we are to win the victory4 ,this kingly reformer not only lessened opportunities for vice1 but certain evil influences in his kingdom he brushed aside with a strong hand4 ,maachah1 the king's mother1 was a potent influence on the side of idolatry4 ,it seemed at first impossible to touch her4 ,the king was indebted to her4 ,she was aged1 and age merits respect1 and1 therefore1 some would argue that she might be tolerated for the few years she yet had to live4 ,but these pleas did not avail her1 for the issues involved were too serious for the nation1 and for the kingdom of ,god4 ,and because ,asa's heart was perfect1 completely devoted to ,jehovah's cause1 he removed her from being queen1 and publicly burnt the idol she had put up4 ,leaders in evil are sometimes found among the leaders of the world4 ,clever1 unscrupulous men succeed in winning power through their want of principle1 and even of scruple4 ,distinguished writers1 gifted with brilliant style1 or poetic power1 exercise widespread influence for evil4 ,young people of singularly attractive personality win to themselves a large following1 and use it for the worst ends4 ,many a golden image1 or beautiful object of adoration1 still stands on the high places of the world2 and even if we cannot pull them down1 as ,asa did1 at least we can say to the evil one1 who set them up1 ,be it known unto thee that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up4 ,the history of ,asa should inspire us to a renewal of war against the evils which ,jesus ,christ died to put away4 ,victory will not come without conflict4 ,in respect to anxiety we are to be quiescent as the lilies1 which neither toil nor spin1 but in respect of moral evil1 within or without1 we must be vigilant and strenuous4 ,lilies have no sin ,leading them astray1 ,no false heart within ,that would them bewray1 ,nought to tempt them in ,an evil way2 ,and if canker come and blight1 ,nought will ever put them right4 ,but good and ill1 ,i know1 ,are in my being blent1 ,and good or ill may flow ,from mine environment2 ,and yet the ill1 laid low1 ,may better the event2 ,careless lilies1 happy ye6 ,but careless life were death to me4 ,,ii4 ,the courage of ,asa had as its root confidence in ,god1 and this is shown more fully in the narrative which appears in the ,second ,book of ,chronicles than in the ,first ,book of ,kings4 ,his reforming work--carried out with ruthless vigour--naturally raised up adversaries on every side4 ,in the court itself ,maachah and her party were implacable4 ,outside it the idolatrous priests1 and all their hangers-on1 whose vested interests were abolished1 were plotting and scheming against the king4 ,but ,asa was imperturbable1 because he had found ,god to be his refuge and strength4 ,the man who really fears ,god finds the fear of his fellows thereby cast out4 ,to ,jehovah1 therefore1 the brave king brought all his difficulties4 ,this was beautifully exemplified when he found himself confronted with an overwhelming force of ,ethiopians1 for then ,asa cried unto the ,lord his ,god1 and said1 ,lord1 it is nothing with ,thee to help1 whether with many1 or with them that have no power3 help us1 ,o ,lord our ,god2 for we rest on ,thee1 and in ,thy name we go against this multitude4 ,o ,lord1 ,thou art our ,god2 let not man prevail against ,thee4 ,prayer was the secret of his strength1 and in it we also may find all the help we need in meeting our discouragements--the ignorance which tries our patience1 the indifference to ,god which nothing seems to stir1 the vice which holds its victim as an octopus1 the sin which is as subtle as it is strong4 ,against them all we have no power1 and may well pray as ,asa did4 ,lord1 help us4 ,then ,he will fulfil the promise1 ,when the enemy comes in like a flood1 the spirit of the ,lord will lift up a standard against him4 ,,iii4 ,after his great deliverance ,asa renewed his consecration4 ,the need for its renewal shows that in character and conduct he was far from being all that he ought to have been4 ,he was not perfect in that sense4 ,his earnestness cooled down4 ,through his carelessness the high places were re-erected4 ,he seems to have been content that the groves1 with their grosser forms of idolatry1 were gone1 and that other forms might be tolerated1 just as some1 who have conquered their vices1 are morally ruined by what the world calls little sins4 ,but1 in spite of these failings1 the judgment of ,god1 who is ever slow to anger and of great mercy1 was that ,asa's heart was perfect--sound1 whole1 and sincere1 though not sinless4 ,how happy it is that ,god judges not as man judges1 that ,he can unerringly read the heart1 and graciously accepts even the imperfect and blundering service which we sincerely offer to ,him4 ,jehu accurately executed ,jehovah's fiat1 whereas ,asa's obedience seemed imperfect2 yet the latter was commended1 and the former condemned1 because ,asa1 unlike ,jehu1 was right in heart4 ,therefore we may be encouraged still to do our little part in ,god's service1 in spite of the failures and imperfections of the past1 if only we can say1 ,lord1 ,thou knowest all things1 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,,ahaziah ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 ,and the destruction of ,ahaziah was of ,god1 by coming to ,joram2 for1 when he was come1 he went out with ,jehoram against ,jehu the son of ,nimshi1 whom the ,lord had anointed to cut off the house of ,ahab4--#b ,,chron4 xxii4 #g4 ,we rarely read this part of the ,bible4 ,and ,i do not wonder at it4 ,for those particular chapters are undoubtedly dreary and monotonous4 ,they contain the names of a number of incompetent and worthless kings who did nothing that was worth writing about1 and who were singularly alike1 so that when you have heard the story of one of them you know pretty well the story of all4 ,it is the good lives that furnish attractive reading1 because there is so much individuality and variety in them1 so many pictorial lights and shadows4 ,a novel in which all the characters are mean1 would be read by nobody4 ,the blackness needs to be relieved by something good1 for darkness is always monotonous4 ,bad men show a dreary sameness in their thoughts and doings1 their rise and fall4 ,the godly are like nature illumined by the sunlight1 manifold and infinite2 the wicked are like nature when the darkness covers it1 uniform and dismal4 ,nearly all that is said in the ,bible about these bad kings1 is that they walked in the ways of ,ahab or ,jeroboam or some other wicked person1 that they closely imitated the doings of their model4 ,the ,bible does not waste space in describing them more accurately4 ,one or two specimens do for all4 ,but certain things are said about ,ahaziah which afford room for reflection1 and may1 perhaps1 be useful to us if we take them in a right way4 ,and first let me give you a lesson in genealogy4 ,these lessons are often very wearisome4 ,let two men get on talking about who was the cousin1 father1 grandfather1 great-grandmother1 and what not of such a person1 and you begin at once to wish that you were out of it1 or that you could quietly go to sleep until they settle the question2 and yet it is not so unimportant as it seems4 ,when a man writes a biography he deems it his duty to go back three or four generations1 and tell you what sort of fathers and mothers and grandmothers and even great-grandsires his hero had4 ,it is very wearisome1 but it is very necessary4 ,the story is not complete without that--for breed and ancestry go quite as far with men as with cattle1 and often further4 ,ahaziah's descent was right on one side1 but it was very mean on the other4 ,he had ,david's blood in his veins1 and ,jehoshaphat's1 and mingled with that1 the venom of heathenism4 ,his mother was ,athaliah1 and ,athaliah was the daughter of ,jezebel1 and ,jezebel was a licentious heathen princess whom ,ahab on an evil day had made his wife4 ,there is nothing in the ,bible more tragical and more infamous than the story of this woman ,jezebel1 and the part which she took in shaping the destiny of the ,jewish nation4 ,she was a ,syro-,phenician princess1 whose father ruled over the powerful and wealthy cities of ,tyre and ,sidon4 ,ahab was caught by her beauty1 and by the attractive political alliance of which she was the pledge4 ,some think that the forty-fifth ,psalm had reference to her1 which speaks of the daughter of ,tyre coming with gold of ,ophir1 splendidly arrayed1 and bringing a handsome dowry with her4 ,ahab thought he was marrying wealth and dignity1 and providing for the greatness of his house1 and1 as often happens in such marriages1 he forgot to ask for a certificate of character1 forgot to ask what sort of mother he was providing for his children4 ,she came with all her meretricious splendour covering one of the most fiendish natures that ever wore a woman's form4 ,she developed1 if she did not bring with her1 all imaginable vices--her vindictive passion revelled in blood2 her religion was the filthiest licentiousness2 her beauty became the painted face of a common harlot4 ,her figure stands forth in the ,bible as the very worst exemplification of the dark possibilities of human nature4 ,tennyson says men do not mount as high as the best of women--but they scarce can sink as low as the worst4 ,for men at most differ as heaven and earth2 but women1 worst and best1 as heaven and hell4 ,and this woman became1 alas1 the mother of kings2 and all who went forth from her inherited her nature1 and forgot nothing of her training4 ,for several generations the taint of her evil influence was felt throughout the whole court life of ,israel1 and the licentious abominations which she had introduced infected the whole national life4 ,ahab married for money and position1 and this was what came of it4 ,her influence extended also to the southern kingdom of ,judah4 ,jehoram1 ,king of ,judah1 must needs marry ,ahab's daughter1 ,athaliah1 who was the exact counterpart of her mother1 ,jezebel4 ,another wedding in which morals and religion were sacrificed on the altar of gain--for by means of it a small kingdom was to be cemented in alliance with a greater1 and another rich dowry to be secured4 ,and the same dreary results followed--a court corrupted with all manner of impurity1 sons and daughters initiated into all the mysteries of wickedness1 demoralisation spreading all around4 ,in this atmosphere ,ahaziah was trained4 ,his mother's name1 says the record briefly1 was ,athaliah1 the daughter of ,omri1 that is1 the direct daughter of ,jezebel4 ,he also walked in the ways of the house of ,ahab1 for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly--wherefore he did evil in the sight of the ,lord1 for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction4 ,what else could result in a home of which ,athaliah was the head1 in which the main training and influence were supplied by one of ,jezebel's brood4 ,the significant feature in all these ,chronicles is the immense influence of women in shaping the lives and characters of kings4 ,the men seem to have little to do with it2 the women are almost supreme4 ,sons do not take after their fathers but after their mothers4 ,again and again we read of a good king who had a wicked father--,josiah1 ,hezekiah1 and others4 ,they shake off their evil inheritance2 they refuse to follow in their fathers' steps2 they destroy idolatry1 and endeavour to redeem ,israel from its iniquity4 ,but whenever this is the case you do not look far without discovering the cause4 ,a good mother has been at work--woman's gracious influence has counteracted against the pernicious example of the father4 ,and1 on the other hand1 we have a long list of vile and idolatrous kings1 whose fathers were either comparatively worthy1 or full of downright godliness1 and then1 invariably1 there is some evil-minded royal consort at the back of it4 ,whenever we can get into the secrets of court life1 we find that the character of the wife determines the moral weight and form of the royal children4 ,it is her training that shapes the men4 ,how could it be otherwise indeed8 ,what time had those kings to spend on home matters1 what with their fighting1 judging1 governing1 and attending to all the affairs of empire8 ,how could they do a father's work and watch the training of the future kings8 ,it was left to the mothers1 and unhappy they who had mothers like ,ahaziah's4 ,and is not this an everlasting story1 true to-day as it was in those old days8 ,it is the mother's hand mainly that shapes men for good or evil4 ,women more than men make the atmosphere of home--the atmosphere which young lives breathe1 and breathing never lose4 ,the wise woman buildeth her house--the foolish plucketh it down with her hands4 ,what time does a father spend in disciplining the moral and spiritual nature of his children8 ,that has to be done in the hours when he is toiling in the warehouse1 or resting wearily after the labours of the day1 or surely it is not done at all4 ,from a mother the child receives all its early religious thoughts4 ,by her the ,bible stories are taught1 and through her lips the good book comes to be loved4 ,none can do it except her4 ,it is her eyes that watch every moral movement in the young life--every sign of change--every incipient error--every beginning of good and evil habit4 ,no eyes can detect these things as quickly and as surely as hers4 ,and if she is too careless to discover them1 they will go unobserved and unchecked4 ,unhappy is the mother who gives to society1 or to friendship1 or to pleasure the time which she owes to her sons and daughters1 for she will have to reap in vain regrets the penalty of her neglect4 ,how rarely do good and true women and men go forth from a home in which a mother has been too busy with the giddy affairs of the pleasurable world to teach and pray with her children4 ,still more rarely do permanently evil and incorrigible lives go forth from a home in which a noble and religious mother has made it the chief business of her life to mould and train her children in paths of pure thought and reverent purpose4 ,there is no religious work which a woman can do that equals this in importance1 and none which secures such sure and blessed results4 ,that1 then1 is the main thought suggested by these chapters--the measureless influence of women in forming lives for evil or for good4 ,then comes the only other thing that we are told about this ,ahaziah--that he was killed because he happened to be found in evil company4 ,he lived badly because he followed the counsels of his mother1 we read1 and he died suddenly and tragically because he endeavoured to be on very friendly terms with his mother's relatives4 ,he was ,king of ,judah1 and ,judah with all its sins still worshipped ,god and was comparatively free from idolatry4 ,but ,israel1 over which ,jehoram1 his mother's brother ruled1 was given up to all the abominations of heathenism4 ,its court was a horrible sink of iniquity1 and ,god's judgment had gone forth against it and all its doings4 ,ahaziah must needs join hands and pledge friendship with his relatives1 and for that purpose visited them--probably he did not intend to do more4 ,it was just to look at the doings of this court1 and have a taste of its pleasures1 and then come back again4 ,but once there he was led on from step to step--found ,jehoram's company very attractive1 entered into his plans1 went out with him to battle1 took part1 no doubt1 in the worship of his gods1 and then while the two were going hand and glove together1 the long-deferred judgment of ,god fell on ,jezebel's house4 ,the soldier raised up by ,god for that purpose swooped down upon the wicked king and his favourites with resistless force1 making no distinction2 and ,ahaziah1 being one of the band1 shared in the general destruction4 ,the destruction of ,ahaziah1 says the ,book1 was of ,god1 by coming to ,jehoram4 ,by his coquetting with evil he was made to pay the last penalty4 ,so runs the story1 and it seems far removed from everything that concerns our lives--yet not so far--things of a similar kind are happening every day4 ,men who tread the ways of sinners1 who enter into any sort of fellowship with them1 often find themselves involved very strangely and suddenly in their shame and their punishment4 ,you cannot go into ways of evil men1 or visit any forbidden scenes1 or lend your countenance in any way to their doings1 even though you have no further intention than just to look on1 but there is ever hanging over you the sword of detection4 ,the policeman appears1 or ,god's light is let down upon the scene1 and you are discovered as having part in it1 and your name is stained and your character gone1 and your life marked with a perpetual stigma of disgrace4 ,when ,god's ,judgment comes on sin it always involves some who are just hovering on the edge of it1 as well as those who are in the thick of it4 ,you ought not to be there4 ,remember ,ahaziah4 ,and there are some evil natures and some evil things which a man cannot touch in even the slightest degree without being led on from step to step1 as ,ahaziah was1 until he was in the thick of ,jehoram's iniquity4 ,a young woman cannot enter a gin-palace and drink her glass at the counter--as ,i see scores do any night--without gradually going further and losing all the modesty and grace of womanhood4 ,a young man cannot touch gambling in any of its forms without almost inevitably being drawn under its fascinations1 as one who is slowly involved in a wily serpent's coils4 ,an ,english bishop thinks and has said that a little betting is allowable1 that if you only indulge moderately in it1 you may do it with impunity4 ,he might as well have said that if you only steal coppers the law will smile upon you1 but if you steal gold you will come in for its stripes4 ,he might as well have said1 ,if you only put your little finger in this fire it will not hurt you1 but if you thrust your whole hand in1 it will burn4 ,there can be no moderation in a thing which is essentially and in all its principles based on dishonesty and corruption1 and evil excitement and evil greed4 ,i am profoundly sorry that such a thing has been said by one whose word has so much authority and influence4 ,it will be taken by thousands as an encouragement to do what they are only too prone and eager to do4 ,who shall curse what a father in ,christ has condescended to bless8 ,we need rather to have all ,christian hands and voices raised in passionate and tearful denunciation of that which is doing more than anything else to demoralise our youth and eat away the very morals of the nation4 ,we need to warn against it and denounce it in whatever form and degree it is practised1 and to say1 ,touch not1 taste not1 handle not the accursed thing4 ,we must keep away altogether from the men who delight in evil paths1 and from the things1 the very touch of which defiles4 ,go not in their way1 pass not by it4 ,if sinners entice thee1 consent thou not4 ,learn the lesson of ,ahaziah's life1 and how his fall came because he consorted with wickeder men than himself1 and was anxious to see their doings4 ,,gehazi ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4 ,,morgan ,,gibbon ,the leprosy therefore of ,naaman shall cleave unto thee1 and unto thy seed for ever4 ,and he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow4--#b ,,kings v4 #bg4 ,elisha and ,gehazi were master and man4 ,they were more4 ,they were almost father and son4 ,elisha calls him my heart1 just as ,paul calls ,onesimus his heart4 ,yet they parted so4--,he went out from his presence a leper4 ,the punishment was terrible4 ,was it deserved8 ,had the master a right to pass this sentence8 ,the leprosy of ,naaman--yes6 but had ,gehazi caught nothing from ,elisha8 ,most commentators fall on ,gehazi with one accord4 ,he is pilloried as a liar4 ,he is branded as a thief4 ,he is bracketed with ,achan1 and coupled with ,judas4 ,they flatter the master1 they are hard on the man4 ,but this is surely a very false reading of facts4 ,by clothing the prophet in spotless white1 and tarring ,gehazi a deep black all over1 we violate the truth of things and miss the lesson of the story1 which1 like the sword-flames at ,eden's gate1 turn many ways4 ,to take but one out of its numerous suggestions1 we have here a story for servants of all sorts1 and for masters and mistresses too1 of all kinds4 ,the section is rich in domestic interiors4 ,servants have always formed important members of the household1 and often their service has risen to be a beautiful and holy ministry4 ,we see here1 for example1 a great ,eastern lady1 ,naaman's wife1 and her little ,jewish maid1 whom the fortunes of war had swept from her home in the land of ,israel4 ,in the division of the spoil1 this human mite had fallen to ,naaman's share1 and drifted into his lady's service4 ,the slave-child has evidently reached the woman1 perhaps the hungering mother's heart1 in her mistress2 and the sorrow of the woman1 for alas6 she is a leper's wife1 has touched the servant's heart4 ,the burning sense of the wrong to herself is cooled and quenched by the pity she feels for her master2 and the expedition that brought health to ,naaman1 and unspeakable joy to ,naaman's wife1 was the outcome of a word she spoke4 ,she knew of ,elisha1 she said what she knew1 and great things came of it4 ,she did this1 not as a slave of ,naaman's wife1 but as a free human soul1 and servant of ,god4 ,no tyranny could extort this service4 ,no wealth could pay for this golden secret4 ,sometimes a character appears but once in the course of a great drama4 ,the man or woman1 comes on the stage to deliver one message1 and then disappears4 ,but that one brief word has its place in the playwright's scheme1 and its effect on the action of the piece4 ,this child was sent to ,syria to utter one speech1 to speak one name1 and because she spoke her little speech1 kindly and clearly1 things went better with ever so many people4 ,a fair day's wage for a fair day's work1 but let there be more than money in the wage1 and more than labour in the service4 ,let no one1 in being a servant1 cease to be a free human soul4 ,do you serve in ,syria8 ,is your lot cast among those that know not the ,prophet8 ,well1 but you are from the land of ,israel2 speak your speech1 tell out the ,prophet's name4 ,be more than servant1 more than clerk1 more than a hand1 an apprentice1 a journeyman2 be a soul1 an influence1 a link with higher things1 a reminder of ,god1 a minister of ,christ4 ,naaman1 too1 was happy in his servants4 ,he was a ,bismarckian1 peppery man4 ,accustomed to command1 he expected miracles to be done to order1 and prophets to toe the line4 ,and because he did not like ,elisha's manner nor his prescription1 he was on the point of returning to ,syria in a rage4 ,but he had servants that knew him through and through4 ,they knew what note to sound1 and they saved him from himself4 ,the expedition had been suggested by a servant who generously paid good for evil4 ,it was saved from defeat by servants who did for kindness what no contract could have specified and no wage could cover4 ,they also were souls who knew at times that man was created for spiritual service4 ,but ,elisha1 too1 though doubtless poor1 had his servant1 and an efficient1 tactful servant he was4 ,a very good book might be written on poor men's servants4 ,for they have had of the very best4 ,the whole world knows ,boswell1 and with all his faults it loves him still1 for he was loyal to a royal soul4 ,well1 most great men have had their ,boswells4 ,when all is known it will be found that the men of the five talents have owed much of their success and more of their happiness to the fidelity and love of men of the one talent4 ,how well ,gehazi served ,elisha6 ,how nobly the servant comes out in that exquisite story of the ,lady of ,shunem4 ,how jealous he is of his master's honour6 ,how dear he was to ,elisha's soul1 my heart6 my other self6 ,and yet1 he did this thing4 ,he lied1 he cheated1 he obtained goods by false pretences1 he lowered the prophet in ,naaman's sight2 and after all his years of noble service1 his master smote him with his curse1 and he went out of his presence a leper6 ,but was ,naaman's the only leprosy that infected ,gehazi8 ,had ,elisha any share in his fall8 ,after all1 it is a sorry business to heal a stranger and send forth one's own friend in this fashion4 ,nothing can exonerate ,gehazi4 ,his lie remains a lie1 say what you will4 ,but our business is not to apportion blame1 but to try to find out how such things came to be1 in order to guard against them in our own homes4 ,if a servant leaves your employ poorer in character than when she came to you1 if a youth leaves your business harder1 colder1 weaker in will1 further from ,god than when you received him from home1 it is a clear case for inquiry4 ,it is our duty to see that young people are not exposed to moral infection in our homes4 ,in the matter of physical infection1 two facts are familiar to us all4 ,the first is1 that mischief enters the system by means of a germ2 and the second is1 that the action of the germ depends very much on the condition of health in which it finds a man4 ,if the man is healthy1 he is often proof against the arrow that fleeth by day1 and the pestilence that walketh in darkness4 ,but if the body is already enfeebled1 the germs find half their work done for them beforehand4 ,well now1 these natural laws are valid in the spiritual world4 ,the rules of moral hygiene are summed up in our ,lord's prayer1 ,lead us not into temptation1 that is to say1 do not breathe the germ-laden air1 and in ,st ,paul's precept1 ,be strong in the ,lord1 cultivate general spiritual health1 safety lies in strength4 ,good health is the best prophylactic4 ,there is no precaution so effective as being well4 ,now what have we in this narrative8 ,when the prophet permitted ,naaman to bow in the temple of ,rimmon he did very right1 say the chorus of commentators4 ,but the common-sense of mankind has taken a different view4 ,bowing in the temple of ,rimmon has become a byword and a reproach4 ,it signifies something which men feel is not quite right4 ,it was1 in fact1 an indulgence4 ,still1 perhaps it was wise not to force the new-born convert4 ,perhaps it did ,naaman no harm4 ,possibly it did ,elisha's soul no injury to be so far complaisant towards idolatry4 ,but surely there was a germ of evil in the thing1 and this germ found a nidus1 found a nest in ,gehazi's soul1 in which to hatch its evil brood4 ,it lighted on ,gehazi at the psychological moment4 ,he had seen the gorgeous equipage4 ,he had gazed on the ingots of gold and the great bars of silver4 ,he had fingered the silks and brocades4 ,elisha had waved them away4 ,to him they were as child's trinkets4 ,but he had other resources than ,gehazi1 and when the cavalcade drew off1 leaving nothing of its treasures behind1 his longing grew into a fever of desire4 ,it was so mad of the master to let all that gold and silver go1 and he so poor6 ,gehazi had to bear the brunt of the poverty1 and tax his five wits to make ends meet4 ,and to think that a gold mine had come to their very door and they had refused to let it in6 ,but it is too late now--and yet why should it be too late8 ,the company moves slowly4 ,one could easily catch up with it4 ,but what to say8 ,pilgrims sometimes knock at ,elisha's door4 ,sons of the prophets from the college on ,mount ,ephraim often come to see the master4 ,there were two last week1 or was it the week before8 ,without doubt we shall have others soon1 for they like to talk to the master4 ,they are miserably poor like ourselves1 but they have good appetites4 ,naaman would be delighted to leave something for them4 ,he would feel easier in his mind4 ,it would be a kindness to let him give something4 ,true1 we have none of them in the house at this moment4 ,but we have had and we shall have4 ,if ,i say we have them now--well1 that will only be making a little bow in the temple of ,rimmon4 ,naaman means to do that4 ,master allows him to do it4 ,we must not be too strict4 ,as the ,lord liveth ,i will run after him and take somewhat of him6 ,elisha was hurt1 shamed1 and angry4 ,the sin was great and terrible4 ,yet1 perhaps1 had ,gehazi met ,elijah this would not have happened4 ,had ,elisha sounded the great ,elijah-note1 if the ,lord is ,god1 follow ,him1 but if ,rimmon1 then follow him1 perhaps the germ of temptation would not have found ,gehazi even quite such an easy prey1 ,mind1 ,i am not whitewashing him or mitigating his crime4 ,i am trying to get at the forces that conspired to make him what he was1 and among these ,i have no doubt at all that his master's complaisant permission of compromise was a very potent force4 ,of course he was wrong1 of course there is no logical connection between what the master allowed in the ,syrian general and the great lie ,gehazi told4 ,and yet there was a sort of ghastly logic in this poor wretch's procedure4 ,there are many commandments4 ,but duty is one thing1 and if you weaken a man's sense of duty by breaking one commandment yourself1 you must not be surprised if you find him breaking another commandment later on4 ,gehazi was cured of the leprosy of ,naaman4 ,the prophet's angry word was not countersigned on high1 and one hopes that he also shook off by ,god's assisting grace the ill-effects of ,elisha's complacency4 ,for the greater danger lay in that4 ,and does it not still lie there8 ,our young people1 our children1 our servants that minister to our comfort1 our assistants and clerks that multiply our personal activities and help to build up our fortunes1 is there no danger to their spiritual life in being exposed as they are to the spiritual influences which we give off every hour8 ,they see the cavalcades of wealth1 they gaze at the ingots of gold and the great white silver bars2 they look with longing eyes at the silks with colours that come and go like the iris on the dove's neck4 ,the luxuries of meat and drink appeal to them4 ,the temptation to live for these things assaults them4 ,and what help does ,gehazi get from ,elisha to-day8 ,what help do young men in offices and shops get from masters and heads of departments8 ,what help do servants in ,london homes get from the daily examples of mistresses8 ,what are the inferences drawn in the kitchen from things heard and seen in the dining or drawing-room8 and what in the nursery8 ,does a young man who sees to the very core of your business say to himself1 ,the master's profession of religion is hypocrisy--all religion is hypocrisy8 ,then may ,god help him1 for he is smitten with the leprosy of ,elisha2 and may ,god help you1 for it is a sorry business to evangelise ,asiatics and send your own servants forth from your presence lepers white as snow4 ,let every master and mistress pray1 ,search me1 ,o ,god1 and know my heart3 try me1 and know my thoughts3 and see if there is any way of wickedness in me1 and lead me in the way everlasting4 ,,hazael ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 ,but what1 is thy servant a dog1 that he should do this great thing8--#b ,,kings viii4 #ac4 ,hazael was the chief minister and prime favourite of ,benhadad1 the ,syrian king4 ,he had been raised from a humble lot and promoted to that high post by the partiality of his sovereign1 who had doubtless discerned his exceptional abilities1 and certainly placed implicit trust in him4 ,just now the king was dangerously ill1 and ,hazael had been sent to inquire of the prophet of ,israel as to the probable issue of the sickness4 ,he put the question with seeming anxiety3 ,will my master recover8 ,he spoke as if that was his dearest wish2 perhaps he did wish it4 ,but there were evidently other thoughts half-formed1 lurking and hiding themselves in the background4 ,suppose the king should die and leave the throne vacant1 what then8 ,may there not be a chance for me8 ,elisha read these hidden thoughts1 and looked the man in the face long and steadfastly1 until the face turned crimson and the head was lowered with shame4 ,and then the prophet said1 ,thy master need not die of the sickness2 nevertheless1 he will die1 and ,i see you filling a throne won by murder1 and ,i have a picture before me of the terrible things which you will do to my dear land of ,israel4 ,and as this vision passed before the prophet's eyes1 he wept4 ,then ,hazael gave the answer which stands at the head of this paper4 ,it is open to two interpretations4 ,the ,authorised ,version gives one and the ,revised ,version the other4 ,according to the first1 it is an indignant denial2 he recoils with horror from the picture of perfidy1 cruelty1 and enormous criminality which the prophet has sketched for him4 ,i am not capable of such a thing1 he says2 ,is thy servant a dog1 that he should do this great thing8 ,according to the other reading it is not the crime that he revolts from1 but the kingship and the greatness that he refuses to believe in4 ,it seems so improbable and all but impossible that he1 a man of obscure birth1 should climb to such eminence4 ,he exclaims against it as a piece of incredulous and extravagant imagination4 ,what is thy servant1 which is but a dog1 that he should do this great thing8 ,now1 ,i doubt not that both readings may be allowed4 ,for certainly both thoughts were in the speaker's mind4 ,he did not believe at that moment that he could ever be brought to commit such infamous deeds1 and he did not believe that he could ever attain such high ambitions and power4 ,there was a dark moral depth predicted for him to which he was sure he would never fall1 and there was a certain grandeur and elevation to which he was confident he would never rise4 ,to both things he said1 ,it is impossible1 and yet the impossible came to pass4 ,now ,i would have you observe that this is one of the prominent lessons of the ,bible2 on many a page does it bring out an unexpected development like this4 ,again and again it is the unlikely that happens in the lives which figure on its pages4 ,they rise or they fall in a way that no one looked for1 and which they1 least of all1 anticipated themselves4 ,we seem to hear them saying with ,hazael1 ,impossible1 and then1 before we get far1 the thing is done4 ,impossible1 we say1 that king ,saul should ever descend so low as to deal in witches2 or that ,solomon1 the wise1 ,god-fearing youth1 should give himself up to the sway of lustful passions and idolatries4 ,yet that comes to pass4 ,impossible1 we say1 that the cunning1 lying ,jacob should ever develop into a man of prayer2 and the outcast beggar1 ,jephthah1 ever grow into a hero-patriot and king4 ,yet we see it4 ,in the ,bible stories greatness always comes to those who have neither marked themselves out for it1 nor deemed themselves fit for it2 and1 on the contrary1 its most infamous deeds are done1 and its most shameful lives lived1 by those who have given promise of fairer things1 and who in their early manhood would have scouted the possibility of descending so low4 ,the men whom it describes have no suspicion1 to begin with1 of the great power for good that is in them1 or the equally great possibilities of evil4 ,tell the shepherd youth1 ,david1 that he has in him the making of a king and an immortal poet1 and he will think you are poking fun at him4 ,tell him that he will one day fall into the crimes of adultery and murder1 and make all ,israel blush for him1 and he will be indignant enough to strike you to the ground4 ,speak to the fisherman1 ,peter1 of the commanding influence which awaits him in some coming kingdom of ,god1 and he will think you are beside yourself3 and then tell him that he will one day deny and curse his sworn ,master and kindest ,friend1 and he will ask you1 ,do you think ,i am a dog or a devil that ,i should do this8 ,impossible6 ,and yet the thing comes off4 ,why do the sacred writers give us so many stories of this kind8 ,surely it is because we need both the warning and encouragement4 ,it is to prove to us that on one side of our nature we are greater than we think1 and on the other side weaker and lower than we believe4 ,it is to inspire the diffident with courage1 and the despairing with hope1 while it pulls up the forward1 the careless1 and the over-confident with the wholesome and humbling word1 ,let him that thinketh he standeth1 take heed lest he fall4 ,these men of the ,bible were strangely mixed4 ,they were conspicuous instances of the contradictions and surprises which are in us all4 ,for that is the point3 the thing comes home to us4 ,believe me1 we are all a riddle to ourselves4 ,each man is to himself1 and each woman too1 the greatest of all mysteries save the one greater mystery1 ,god4 ,none of us know of what elements he is composed1 and how strangely the good and evil mix and mingle and clash and strive in each day's doings1 and through the whole of life4 ,they who believe that the saint is all saint1 and the sinner all sinner1 are blindly and pitiably ignorant of human nature4 ,god has made no man without putting some little bit of the ,divine image in him4 ,the worst has some lingering trace or ruin of it4 ,and the best is not so entirely the temple of the ,holy ,ghost that no fouler spirits ever obtain entrance there4 ,you may say that you do not believe in a devil4 ,well1 that may be2 but there is something like a devil in all of us at certain times1 and ,i would rather believe that it comes from the outside than that it is born and bred and originates within4 ,at any rate1 there are in all of us the strange oppositions1 the darkness and the light overlapping each other1 the evil and the good ever contending1 like ,esau and ,jacob1 in the birth hour4 ,the awful and the blessed possibilities are there1 and which shall get the uppermost depends first on ,god1 and then upon ourselves4 ,i4 ,remember first1 then1 that we have all a lower side4 ,there is in us what ,i may call a lurking1 crouching1 slumbering devil1 which needs constant watching and holding down with the strong hand of self-mastery and prayer4 ,praying always with all prayer1 and watching thereunto1 says the apostle4 ,in every one of us there is the possibility of falling1 however high we stand and however near ,god we walk4 ,bunyan says1 in his immortal story1 ,then ,i saw in my dream that by the very gate of heaven there was a way that led down to hell4 ,no man1 however ripe in goodness1 however firmly rooted and grounded in faith1 love1 and ,christian qualities1 ever gets beyond the need of vigilant sentinel work--watching himself4 ,he must always be buffeting himself1 and keeping under his body1 as ,paul did1 lest he himself should be a castaway4 ,let him grow careless1 presumptuous1 neglectful of prayer1 and all the old tempers and passions slowly steal in1 and bit by bit obtain the mastery1 and the ,christian disgraces his profession1 and the saint becomes a sinner again4 ,every ,christian knows this4 ,he knows the evil powers that are in him4 ,it is the man who has never fought with his temptation1 never prayed1 who especially needs to be reminded of it2 young men and women who have been well brought up1 who have kept themselves moderately straight so far1 and who are full of good resolutions4 ,i hear them say1 ,oh ,i am strong enough4 ,i am not such a fool as to throw myself away in the stupid game of the prodigal1 in drunkenness1 and gambling1 and unclean living4 ,i can hold myself in4 ,i can go just as far as ,i please4 ,i can indulge to a certain extent1 and pull myself up just at the moment ,i please2 and as for prayer and seeking ,god's help1 thank my stars ,i can clear a safe course without all that4 ,i shall not overstep the line you may depend upon it4 ,is thy servant a dog1 that he should do this8 ,and ,i answer1 yes--there is quite enough of the dog in you1 or of the devil1 if you like the word better1 to do this and to do worse things--if you play with the dog and let it loose1 and let it have a free run now and then4 ,in my time ,i have heard scores of young men talk in this way4 ,i have heard them laugh scornfully when danger was mentioned to them1 and ,i have seen a few of them fortunate enough to grow up to manhood with a fairly unspotted character2 a few1 but not many--the greater part have gone wrong1 and some deplorably wrong4 ,there is hardly one of us can keep that dog fastened up and chained down always1 unless we rely upon a stronger power than our own4 ,it gets loose at times with the best of us--it runs wild and plays dreadful havoc with those who are not the best2 there is always in you the baser self--always the dry torches of evil passions which a spark may kindle--always the moral weaknesses and lusts1 half-sleeping1 which some stronger blast of temptation may awaken and bring out2 and if you wish to escape the evil and hold fast to the good1 you will commit your way unto the ,lord1 and put on the ,christian armour1 and strengthen yourselves by prayer4 ,do not presume too much--better men than you have fallen every day4 ,god only can save you from yourselves4 ,,ii4 ,it is just as needful to remember the other side--the side of better possibilities4 ,some of you are tempted to say at times with ,hazael1 ,thy servant is but a dog2 how can he do these great things8 ,you are disposed to underrate your gifts1 your opportunities1 your happy chances in life--in a word1 your possibilities4 ,you despair of finding any opening2 you are sure that you will never hear a call to come up higher2 you think your lives must always be ill-paid drudgery1 with no promotion4 ,it is sad to work with a conviction of that kind4 ,you never work well if there is nothing to look forward to1 and it is cowardly to give way to a conviction of that kind4 ,perhaps you are not specially clever--no1 but there are better things than cleverness in the world1 and things which have more to do with life's real successes4 ,if you have in you some power of plodding1 to do steady work1 doing it always honestly2 if you have perseverance1 self-control1 a sense of duty1 a determination to do always the thing that is right1 all will be well--these are the qualities which lift a man up to the best places1 and one of those places is being prepared for you if you are worthy to fill it4 ,you say1 perhaps1 ,i can never be a good man4 ,i can never be a ,christian4 ,i am not made for these high things2 it is not in me4 ,i answer1 ,it is in you1 or if it be not in you now1 ,god will put it in you if you diligently ask ,him4 ,nay1 truly1 there are the germs of goodness in every one of us4 ,thy servant is something more than a dog1 though he calls himself that1 and nothing else4 ,there is something of the religious emotion in you1 and that means there is something of the ,divine4 ,you have dreams at times of a beautiful life1 you have longings for it1 sometimes you even set out to reach it--and these are all touches of ,god4 ,they all prove that the ,holy ,ghost sometimes pays at least a passing visit to your hearts4 ,you do not know what ,god can make of you until you trust and try ,him4 ,there are greater things by far in you than you have guessed4 ,have confidence in ,him1 and ,he will bring them out4 ,i can see a man of ,god in you1 a pillar in the ,church1 an honour to the town4 ,i can see a ,christian mother in you1 a half-sainted woman full of good works1 bringing children up to noble lives4 ,it is there in many of you1 if you do not despise and neglect the gift that is in you1 but use it and cultivate it prayerfully1 and let ,god bring it to perfection4 ,,manasseh ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 ,manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign1 and he reigned fifty and five years in ,jerusalem4--#b ,,chron4 xxxiii4 l4 ,fifty and five years--he wore the crown a longer time than any other of the house of ,david4 ,of all the kings that reigned in ,jerusalem1 this man's reign filled the largest space2 yet he is the one king of ,judah about whom we are told least4 ,in the modern city of ,venice there is a hall which is adorned with the portraits of all the doges or kings who ruled that city in the days of its splendour--all except one--one who made himself infamous by evil deeds4 ,where his portrait ought to be1 there is a black blank space which says nothing1 yet speaks volumes2 which says to every visitor1 ,do not think of him1 let him be forgotten4 ,in some such way ,manasseh is disposed of by the sacred writers4 ,they hurry over the fifty-five years2 they crowd them into half a chapter1 as if they were ashamed to dwell upon them1 as if they wanted the memory of them and of the man to be forgotten4 ,and that was the feeling of all the ,jews4 ,century after century1 and even to the present time1 ,jews have held the man's name in abhorrence4 ,do not speak of him1 they say4 ,he was the curse of our nation4 ,he denied our faith4 ,he slew our prophets4 ,he brought ,jerusalem to ruin4 ,yet1 strange to say1 the man so hated and cursed was once a nation's hope and joy4 ,when his father1 ,hezekiah1 lay sick unto death1 his greatest grief and the profoundest sorrow of his people was caused by the thought that he was dying childless4 ,they prayed for his recovery mainly on that ground4 ,he recovered1 and married1 and a child was born1 and the glad father called him ,manasseh1 which means1 ,god hath made me forget--forget my sickness and my sorrow2 and all over the land the ringing of bells was heard and shouts of rejoicing1 and the prophet ,isaiah sang of the child's birth in those triumphant words which we have often heard since in another connection1 ,unto us a son is born1 unto us a child is given2 and they thought that all would go well now that there was an heir to the throne1 and they prayed that he might be sturdy and strong1 and get over all the ailments of childhood4 ,they hoped more from the child than they did from ,god4 ,their prayers were granted4 ,god gave them their desire1 and the result was such as to make us doubtful whether we are always wise in pressing such prayers4 ,we are never sure that it will be good for us1 or good for our darling child1 that its life should be spared and prolonged in some time of crisis4 ,often the early death which we dread may be far less cruel than the evil which waits beyond4 ,better to leave these things in ,god's hands1 and say that will be best for all which seems right to ,thee4 ,a whole nation prayed for the birth and preservation of this son4 ,that same nation came to curse the day on which he was born4 ,strange that a father like ,hezekiah had a child like this4 ,hezekiah was1 ,i think1 the best of the ,jewish kings1 wise and brave1 gentle and strong1 full of reverence and faith1 pre-eminently a man who walked with ,god and strengthened himself by prayer1 and fought as earnest and true a battle for religion and righteousness as we have recorded in the ,old ,testament4 ,how came it that the son was in all respects his opposite8 ,did an evil mother shape him1 or what8 ,we cannot tell4 ,these are among the saddest mysteries of human life4 ,the law that a child's training and environment determine the character of the man1 often fails most deplorably4 ,the wisest man may have a most foolish son2 the godliest home may send forth a reprobate2 the child of many prayers may live a life of shame4 ,when a young man goes wrong1 it is often both unjust and cruel to lay it on the home training1 and to say that there has been neglect or want of discipline1 or want of right example there4 ,it is adding another burden to hearts already weighted with intolerable grief4 ,for the most part1 children will follow their parents in what is good1 and those nursed in prayer will grow up praying men4 ,but there are hideous exceptions1 and sometimes the most ,christlike people have this cross to bear2 and it is the most heart-crushing of all to see children turning aside from all that they have held dear1 and by the whole course of their lives mocking the religious ideals and hopes which were cherished for them4 ,god save all you fathers and mothers from this calamity1 and ,god save all our young people from crushing tender hopes in this cruel way4 ,manasseh's life was spent in undoing what his father had done4 ,it seemed to be his great ambition to overturn and destroy the sacred edifice which his father's hands1 with untiring prayer and devotion1 had raised4 ,hezekiah had taught his people to trust in ,god1 and in reliance on ,his help to sustain a noble independence separate from heathen alliances4 ,manasseh hastened to join hands with ,babylon1 and make his nation the vassal of a great heathen empire4 ,hezekiah had swept the land clean of idols4 ,manasseh filled every grove and hillside with these vain images again4 ,hezekiah had restored the ,temple worship and the ,mosaic ritual1 and the moral law1 and laboured to establish a reign of sobriety1 purity1 justice1 and order4 ,manasseh outraged all the moralities1 and delighted in introducing everywhere the licentious abominations of the neighbouring peoples4 ,hezekiah had cultivated and encouraged prophecy1 and gathered about him great and noble souls like ,isaiah and ,habakkuk4 ,manasseh drove them from his presence1 and finally slew them4 ,there were new lights in those days1 as there are now4 ,men who sneered at all the old thoughts and ways1 who swept ,moses aside with disdain1 and thought that ,david's psalms were poor and feeble things1 and that the old-fashioned religion was narrow and provincial1 and that the stories of victories won by faith and miracles wrought by prayer were worn-out fictions4 ,they said that if the nation would prosper1 it must turn its back on all this stuff1 and follow new methods1 and profess a new religion4 ,let them make the great empire1 ,babylon1 their model1 with its advanced civilisation1 and science1 and literature1 and vast stores of wealth1 with its worship1 too1 of the sun1 and stars1 and fire1 its religion full of jollity and license1 which contrasted so happily with the sober and severe worship of ,jehovah1 and did not trouble men with unwelcome moral precepts4 ,see how great that empire had become1 and how stationary and unprogressive was their own little kingdom1 because it clung to the old ways4 ,that was what the new party said4 ,away with the old-fashioned thoughts and the old-fashioned trusts and beliefs and worship4 ,we are wiser than our simple-minded fathers4 ,we know a few things more than these narrow-minded and crazy prophets4 ,we will have all things new4 ,and ,manasseh1 being a young man and as foolish as he was young1 drank in greedily their counsels and made himself their leader4 ,for it is ever the temptation of young life to think lightly of their father's wisdom1 and to despise what they call the narrow religious beliefs1 and the careful moral scruples of the old1 and to fancy that they know all things so much better than those who have gone before4 ,they want to try experiments of their own with life1 and shake off the shackles of old moral laws and religious creeds1 and be free to do and think as they please1 and put the ,bible away on the shelf1 and shove prayer aside as a sort of worn-out heirloom1 and have a merrier and better time than the old folks knew4 ,that was the course which ,manasseh took1 just as headstrong and irreverent youths take it now4 ,then followed that time which the ,jewish people never speak of without shame--a hideous reign of idolatry1 and immorality1 and injustice2 an awful period of persecution for the few righteous and ,god-fearing people who were left when the prophets had been sought out and slain4 ,isaiah sawn asunder1 ,habakkuk stoned to death1 the faithful driven into dens and caves of earth4 ,it is of this time that we read in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 in that graphic account of the martyred faithful3 ,they were stoned1 they were sawn asunder1 were tempted1 were slain with the sword3 they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins1 being destitute1 afflicted1 tormented3 of whom the world was not worthy 7xi4 #cg1 #ch74 ,a few years of this sufficed to pull down the whole fabric of religion which ,hezekiah had so painfully and patiently raised4 ,for it is so easy to destroy2 so easy for folly and irreverence to pull down what wisdom and goodness have taken years in building2 so easy for a vicious and irreligious son to bring shame and ruin upon the house which a godly father and mother have spent a lifetime in rearing with honour2 so easy1 by a few rash acts1 to destroy the character and reputation which the prayers and training of years have sought to establish4 ,it is the easiest thing in the world to undo and overturn2 there is no cleverness and courage required for destroying1 the cleverness and courage are called for in building it up4 ,manasseh succeeded to his heart's content4 ,people followed him greedily1 except the steadfast few4 ,and presently the prophets were all gone1 and the worship of the true ,god was nowhere practised except in secret1 and the sacred names were no more mentioned1 and the land gave itself up to all the foul rites and the shameful indulgences of the heathen world1 ,and then ,god's retribution came swiftly4 ,where the rotting carcase was1 there the eagles gathered together4 ,these same ,babylonians whose ways the renegade ,jews had so much admired and imitated1 swept down upon them with the talons of a vulture1 with cruelty that spared neither tender woman nor innocent child1 and ,jerusalem was burned with fire1 and ,manasseh carried off in chains and flung into a foreign prison to muse in solitude over the end of his projects1 and to find out there that the old ways had been the best4 ,there we are told that he repented1 that he was stricken with shame because of all the evil that he had done1 and turned with prayer and humility to the ,god whom he had defied4 ,and we are told that ,god was merciful and heard his entreaties1 and accepted his repentance1 and brought him back after sorrowful years of imprisonment to his land and throne4 ,this is the part of the story which most people emphasise4 ,that1 they say1 is the main lesson of the story--,manasseh's repentance1 and how ,god accepted the rebellious sinner at the last and forgave him all his iniquities--and they draw from that the conclusion that it is never too late to turn to ,god1 and that all the dark doings of a man's life are swept clean away1 if at any time the heart repents and believes4 ,but this is not the part of the story which the sacred writers dwell upon4 ,in the ,book of ,kings1 where there is another version of ,manasseh's doings1 no mention is made whatever of the repentance1 and here it is only briefly recorded1 and in a somewhat sorrowful tone4 ,he came back humbled and forgiven1 indeed1 but not in a happy state of mind4 ,he came back to a ruined kingdom2 to a sinful and demoralised and destitute people2 to see everywhere the sorrow1 and the evil and the misery and shame which his doings had caused2 to be reminded continually that his life had been a great wicked and foolish blunder1 and that there was no undoing the mischief which he had done4 ,for the sake of his repentance he was spared a little longer1 but there could be little joy in the remaining years of a life like that4 ,i think that that is the experience of most men who turn away in their youth from the example and precepts of godly fathers1 who reject the truths which make life sober and strong1 who betake themselves to thoughts of infidelity and ways of sin1 and fancy that they can live life happily without ,god and prayer4 ,there comes a time when they are made to feel that their life has been a mistake1 that it would have been far better for them to have stuck to the old ways1 that those believing fathers whom they laughed at were right after all2 perhaps they repent and go back to ,god at last1 and ,he accepts them2 but whether repentant or not1 they always carry with them an awful burden4 ,shame is upon them for the evil they have done1 shame for the life that has been spent to so little purpose1 regret and humbling that they cannot undo the blind and guilty past4 ,repentance at the best is a poor business when it comes in the evening hours of life4 ,better then than never2 but better far to have gone with ,god from the beginning4 ,that1 ,i think1 is the lesson which the wise man will find in the story of the evil king4 ,,amaziah ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 ,and ,amaziah said to the man of ,god1 ,but what shall we do for the hundred talents which ,i have given to the army of ,israel8 ,and the man of ,god answered1 ,the ,lord is able to give thee much more than this4--#b ,,chron4 xxv4 #i4 ,amaziah1 ,king of ,judah1 belonged to that numerous class of men who wish to stand well with both worlds4 ,he was what we call in religious matters half-and-half4 ,he wanted to secure the favour and protection of ,god without losing much or anything of the ungodly helps and advantages4 ,one hardly knows whether to describe him as a bad sort of good man1 or a better sort of bad man4 ,he was like those gentlemen in the ,pilgrim's ,progress whom ,bunyan names ,mr ,facing-both-ways and ,mr ,pliable4 ,it depended very much on the company he was in1 whether he showed a religious face or assumed the other character4 ,we have an illustration of this doubleness in the incident recorded here4 ,he was preparing to go to war against the neighbouring nation of the ,edomites1 or probably he had learned that they were about to make war on him4 ,for these neighbours1 like some others you know1 were always ready to pick a quarrel4 ,edomite and ,jew were never long without a scrimmage or a battle4 ,amaziah1 with this business on hand1 took count of his forces1 found that he had three hundred thousand soldiers2 big enough battalions if they had only had a leader with a big heart4 ,david had scattered those ,edomites with an army not one-twentieth part the size of that4 ,but ,amaziah was not a ,david4 ,he must needs have more men4 ,he sent1 therefore1 to the king of ,israel to hire another hundred thousand1 and paid him down an enormous sum of money for the loan4 ,now these men of ,israel and their king had fallen away from ,god1 and become heathen people1 worshippers of ,baal1 foul and immoral as the ,edomites themselves4 ,but ,amaziah thought that was of no consequence so long as he could increase his fighting force4 ,the money was paid1 and the hundred thousand hirelings came4 ,and then suddenly appeared another man whom he had not sent for1 one of those prophets or preachers whom kings and other people find very troublesome at times1 who upset all the nice arrangements1 and stop the business which promises so well1 with an unwelcome ,thus saith the ,lord2 prophets who do not know how to flatter1 who cannot be bought for a hundred talents1 or for any price1 and who say what ,god has given them to say whether the great folk like it or not4 ,this man came uninvited1 and told the king that he must pack off these mercenaries to their own country again1 for ,god was not with them1 and ,god would not be with him if he joined hands with idolaters and paid them to fight his battles4 ,it was an awkward position4 ,amaziah knew that what the prophet said was true1 and he believed1 moreover1 that if ,god should turn against him1 that business with the ,edomites was likely to end badly for him4 ,but1 on the other hand1 to send that goodly array of fighting men away and lose all that gold into the bargain1 was both galling to his pride and a ridiculous waste of treasure4 ,he knew well what was the right thing to do1 but to do it at such a sacrifice1 that was the difficulty4 ,he was in a strait betwixt two1 wriggling and hesitating1 and at last he cries in his bewilderment1 ,what shall we do for the hundred talents which ,i have given to the army of ,israel8 ,and the man of ,god answers1 ,never mind the money1 let that go2 far better forfeit that than lose ,god's help4 ,the ,lord is able to do for thee much more than the hundred talents are worth4 ,and now1 out of this old story1 we learn some lessons for this and every day4 ,i4 ,our difficulties in the way of serving and obeying ,god are often self-made4 ,they are always more or less self-made4 ,this man pleads his own wrong act as a reason why he should not do right now4 ,he himself has raised the obstacle which now stands in the way of obedience4 ,he ought not to have sought the help of an idolatrous king4 ,he ought not to have bargained for these hirelings1 he ought not to have paid the money4 ,god had not put the difficulty in his way2 his own foolish and wicked action had created it4 ,and people are constantly talking as this man talked1 declaring that there are hindrances and immense difficulties which prevent them from doing what is right1 prevent them from doing what they know to be the will of ,god4 ,they talk as if ,god was somehow responsible for those hindrances1 when1 in fact1 their own wrong-doing has caused them4 ,for instance1 some of you know perfectly well that you ought to be ,christians1 avowed ,christians1 that you ought to take the ,lord's side in the great battle of life2 you know that you ought to be ,his servants1 followers1 and soldiers2 you know that that is your duty1 you cannot help knowing it and admitting it1 unless you reject the ,bible altogether1 and deny the whole ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ4 ,you have known from childhood that ,christ has claims upon you1 and that to live the ,christian life is your solemn obligation4 ,it is more than probable that you told your mother1 your teachers1 and yourselves long ago1 and perhaps many a time over1 that you fully intended to give your lives and hearts to ,christ's service4 ,but you have not done it yet1 and the reason is that there are certain self-made difficulties which hold you back4 ,god has not put them in the way--you have built them up yourselves4 ,i hear young men and women say1 in the very tone of this perplexed king4 ,but what shall we do for the hundred talents8 ,if we take up religion1 how shall we bear the loss which it involves8 ,how are we to get on without those pleasures1 self-indulgences1 and dearly-loved habits which ,christ's service would cut us off from8 ,how are we to abandon those very pleasant1 but not very inspiring and pure1 companionships1 with and among which we spend most of our leisure time8 ,how are we to resign all our free and easy and thoughtless ways1 our loose talk1 our vain and sinful imaginations8 ,these are your difficulties1 are they8 ,but who made them for you8 ,heaven did not send them4 ,i am not sure1 even1 that the devil was the author of them4 ,you made every one of them yourselves4 ,it was your own weak yielding that formed those habits so dear to you4 ,it was because you preferred your own way to ,god's that you took to pleasures and self-indulgences which were wrong in ,his sight4 ,it was your own choice that sought out and formed friendships and companionships of the ungodly sort4 ,if you have any joys1 delights1 and associations which ,christ would compel you to resign1 they are only such as you ought never to have entered upon4 ,they are self-made difficulties which ought never to have been made2 and now1 with curious inconsistency1 you are urging them as reasons why you cannot serve ,god4 ,you are using the sinful things which you have done in the past as an excuse for not doing the right and noble thing now4 ,there are hundreds of people who1 if they could begin again1 would join the ranks of the religious--at least they think they would1 and perhaps say it4 ,if we could just start with a clean sheet1 we would be ,christians1 we would walk in the noble and faithful way4 ,but then1 you see1 we cannot undo the years that have been lived in the other way4 ,we have committed ourselves to the irreligious side4 ,we have made all who know us understand that we do not care about religious things4 ,we have talked about them carelessly1 perhaps contemptuously1 as if we put no value upon them at all4 ,we have made a reputation of that sort1 and now it stands in the way4 ,we cannot go back of all our old professions2 the inconsistency would be manifest4 ,no one expects it of us4 ,no one would believe if we did it4 ,there you have the self-made difficulties again4 ,because you did wrong all those years1 you must needs go on doing wrong4 ,because you talked and acted in an unbelieving way1 you must not now change into the higher and prayerful way4 ,because you have robbed ,god and your own souls so long1 there is nothing for you but to continue repeating the offence4 ,yet these1 when you name them1 are so absurd1 that one could almost laugh at them4 ,the conviction that you have hitherto been on the wrong side is the one thing that ought to force you now to the right side4 ,why should you perpetuate blunders1 follies1 and misdoings8 ,why should the evil past chain you8 ,let the dead bury its dead--forget the things which are behind4 ,you have paid the hundred talents to the wrong master4 ,why should you go on paying because you have done it once8 ,let ,god's mercy cover and forgive that4 ,and now pay your vows and give your lives to ,him henceforth4 ,,ii4 ,we are held back from the right thing by the fear of the loss which it will involve4 ,we say with poor1 frightened ,amaziah1 ,but what about the hundred talents8 ,they will be clean gone if ,i obey the voice of ,god4 ,the hundred talents take many forms1 but the principle is always the same4 ,we shall lose a little in the way of business1 if we make up our minds to be scrupulously honest1 and to speak the simple truth4 ,we shall forfeit a little of our present popularity1 if we take the course which conscience dictates4 ,we shall have to forego and neglect certain things1 and suffer loss1 if we undertake ,christian work4 ,we shall have to give up many an easy hour1 many a light and frivolous hour1 many an open and secret sin1 sweeter to us than honey1 if we confess the ,lord ,christ1 and take up the burden of discipleship4 ,the hundred talents block the way1 and rather than let them go1 we let ,god go1 and sacrifice all the sanctities1 and all the precious and immortal things4 ,and this answer comes to all of us--the answer which the prophet gave to the hesitating king as he stood balancing the hundred talents against the duty of the hour3 ,the ,lord is able to give thee much more than this4 ,better to win thy great battle and lose the talents1 than keep the money and lose thyself and everything in the impending struggle4 ,god is not so poor that ,he cannot pay ,his servants as ample wages as they ever get from other masters4 ,it is not the same kind of pay1 but it is always1 in the long-run1 larger and better4 ,no man ever does the right thing at ,god's command1 without receiving eventually sufficient wages for it--joy even in this life4 ,whatever immediate losses he may incur1 there will be more than compensating gains4 ,the man who lives an upright1 conscientious1 pure and kindly life1 wronging no one1 showing justice and mercy to all1 is always the happier man2 richer in all his thoughts and emotions1 richer in friendships and affections1 richer in peace of mind1 in abiding satisfactions1 richer in hopes4 ,he has within him a well-spring of joy which never ceases to flow4 ,righteousness is not a losing business3 it has the best part in this life1 and in that which is to come4 ,whatever you resign at ,christ's call3 whatever ,his service costs you in the way of sacrifice3 however much you must give up in the shape of pleasure1 ease1 and agreeable habits--there will be more given to you in return4 ,when ,christ asked the disciples to leave all things and follow ,him1 ,he said nothing about the rewards--not just then4 ,he told them to take up their cross and come after ,him2 that was all4 ,he spoke often to them about the pains they would have to endure1 the scorn they would meet with1 the tribulation they would have to pass through4 ,when he called the last of the apostles1 ,paul1 ,he even said1 and it was the only promise ,he gave1 ,i will show him how great things he must suffer for ,my name's sake 7,acts ix4 #af74 ,no talk of rewards and gains at first4 ,he knew the men4 ,he knew their eagerness to do what was right and to obey the voice of ,god4 ,men who have the right spirit1 men with some fire of enthusiasm1 do not need crowns held before them to draw them into the true and noble way4 ,they are almost glad to think that crosses and self-sacrifices await them in that way4 ,christ spoke no words at the beginning about gains and rewards4 ,come1 because ,i want you1 and ,god asks you1 and it is your duty3 but afterwards1 when they had obeyed ,his call1 ,he talked to them often about the gains4 ,they had begun to understand them then4 ,there is no man who hath left anything for ,my sake1 who shall not receive a hundredfold in this present time1 and in the world to come1 life everlasting4 ,and we all learn in a measure what that means1 when we have faithfully served ,christ for a little time4 ,you talk about the sacrifices and losses of the ,christian life4 ,yes1 but no man is fit to be called a ,christian who has not found in ,christ ten or twenty times as much joy as he has lost4 ,if there were no hereafter1 no future crowns at all1 it would be a terrible disappointment1 but even1 apart from that1 the present life of every one who believes in ,christ and does ,christ's work1 and loves as ,christ loved1 is richer1 fuller1 wider1 and happier in almost every way than the life which knows ,him not4 ,what about the hundred talents8 you say1 and ,i answer with the prophet1 ,the ,lord is able to give thee much more than this4 ,,jabez ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 ,and ,jabez was more honourable than his brethren4--#a ,,chron4 iv1 #i4 ,this is a curious fragment of biography1 half-hidden in a dreary mass of wholly uninteresting names4 ,we cannot conjecture how it got there4 ,it seems to have no connection either with what comes before or what follows4 ,it is like a sweet little poem in the midst of a dry1 genealogical chart2 or like a real1 living face with the flush of warm colour in it1 speaking amid endless rows of mummies or waxwork effigies4 ,it is indeed the short1 incomplete story of a life with neither beginning nor end4 ,we are not told who his father was1 or who his mother was1 or what tribe or family he belonged to4 ,not a word about origin1 descent1 pedigree4 ,and there seems to be a purpose in this4 ,for the sacred writer at this point is doing nothing else but tracing pedigrees4 ,these four chapters are to us the most useless in the ,bible3 names1 nothing but long-forgotten names4 ,names of everybody's father1 grandfather1 great-grandfather1 back to a remote antiquity4 ,i question whether there are many ,bible readers who have ever laboured through the list4 ,yet these family trees1 as we may call them1 were very precious to the ,jews4 ,they thought as much of long descent as my lord ,noodle does now4 ,it swelled them immeasurably in self-importance if they could trace their lineage back in unbroken line to one of the twelve patriarchs1 or to one of those who came out of ,egypt4 ,and the historian ministers to this prejudice or vanity by diligently recording the whole dry catalogue1 and then1 as if weary of the business1 or1 perhaps1 with just a touch of scorn1 he introduces this one name as something worth talking about4 ,here was a god-made nobleman1 whose heraldry need not be written on earth1 because it is more surely written in heaven4 ,all the rest were their fathers' sons1 and that was about all4 ,this man did not need a pedigree3 he won a name and reputation for himself without the help of a distinguished ancestry4 ,by prayerfulness1 and energy1 and courage1 he fought his way from obscurity to honour4 ,and when that happens1 when a man has fought the fight with adverse circumstances and overcome them1 when he has made his mark in the world by sheer force of work and character1 no one cares to grope through musty fusty parchments in search of his progenitors4 ,what does it matter6 ,god has given him a certificate of noble birth2 that was surely what the historian meant3 ,jabez was more honourable than his brethren4 ,now there are two or three touches in this little story worth noticing4 ,god sends us some of our best joys in the guise of sorrows4 ,i4 ,he came into the world without a welcome4 ,i venture to say1 and ,i thank ,god for it1 that there is hardly one of my readers of whom that can be said4 ,no matter into what home you were born1 there was a welcome awaiting you on the part of one at least4 ,it may be that no one else was particularly glad1 that every one else looked upon you as one too many2 but your mother at least met you with a sweet kiss which plainly said1 thank ,god for this gift4 ,here1 however1 there was not even that2 this child was received with misgivings and fears1 and awoke no joy in the mother's breast4 ,she called his name ,jabez1 which means sorrowful1 because she had borne him in sorrow4 ,of course1 we do not know what lies behind that1 but it was something of a heart-burning or heart-breaking kind2 either the father was dead1 or the home was in a state of terrible poverty and distress1 or the child was a child of shame2 you can only guess1 and all your queries will probably be wide of the mark4 ,but the mother looked mournfully upon him1 and wished he had not come1 and could not believe that a life which commenced so untowardly would ever be anything better than a burden to her1 and a misfortune and misery to himself4 ,she expressed her fears and forebodings in the name which she gave him--,jabez1 the child of sorrow4 ,and while she was gloomily predicting his future with the black colours of her despondency1 ,god was writing the child's story in golden lines which would have set her heart leaping for joy could she have read them4 ,this despised one was to win for himself a noble name1 and build up the house in honour1 and become his mother's pride1 and make her young again in hope and gladness4 ,what fools we are when we set ourselves to forecast the future of our children6 ,they rarely develop on the lines we draw for them2 the most promising of them sometimes flatter us in the bud and blossom1 and mock us in the fruit4 ,where we hope most there comes most heartache1 our favourites are made our burdens1 our pride is humbled by a harvest of sorrow4 ,and where we have bestowed most tenderness we get most ingratitude--the child of many gifts1 the joy of the household1 the flower of the flock1 turns out the nightmare of our lives1 the one unhappy failure which costs us endless tears4 ,and perhaps it is partly our own fault1 because we have pampered1 flattered1 and indulged them too much4 ,ah6 and just as often the reverse is true--the child whom in our hearts we called ,jabez2 the slow1 dull child so hard to teach1 so unresponsive1 or perhaps so wilful and obstinate that we never thought or spoke of him save with secret fears and misgivings--the child who was always to be a burden and a cross to us1 develops by-and-by in beautiful and unexpected ways1 grows into moral strength and religious grace1 becomes honourable in the sight of all men1 and saves our old age from going down with sorrow to the grave4 ,the golden harvest of our lives grows not where we look for it1 but often in the neglected places where ,god bids it grow4 ,where our pride built its palace of content we find emptiness and shame1 and that which we almost cursed ,god for sending us becomes our crown of rejoicing4 ,she called his name ,jabez1 my sorrow1 and lo6 he became her very consolation1 most honourable of all4 ,,ii4 ,faith wins the battle of life against many odds4 ,yes6 this is indeed a romance of faith--faith overcoming the world4 ,this child or youth starts out with all things against him4 ,he is likely to grow up into an ,ishmaelite if he grows up at all4 ,he starts with an ill-starred name--a name that spells misfortune4 ,he starts without his mother's blessing and without a glimmer of hope to cheer him2 no father to give him a helping hand by the way--without endowment1 fortune1 family1 or friends4 ,what chance can there be in the race for one so heavily handicapped8 ,failure is written on his brow by the hand that nursed him4 ,failure is written on all his circumstances4 ,it will be a desperate struggle all through4 ,there will be none of the prizes of life for him4 ,if he gets a bare living wage1 it is as much as he may expect4 ,that is what he has before him1 apparently6 ,well1 for one thing1 he puts on courage1 and starts on his way singing ,nil desperandum4 ,and then1 knowing well that he has few or no human friends1 he falls back on the ,father of the fatherless and the ,helper of those who have no other help4 ,he relies on faith instead of fortune4 ,he will make prayer his main weapon1 and the light of the ,lord his guide1 and duty his pole star4 ,he will pursue a straight course1 avoiding evil1 trying to feel the hand of ,god upon him1 and the watchful eyes of ,god over him4 ,and he will make a brave fight of it day by day1 doing his best1 and leave a higher power to determine what shall follow4 ,that is what we read between the lines of this story4 ,nay1 that is all expressed4 ,he called on the ,god of ,israel4 ,he committed his life to the ordering of the ,almighty4 ,and the ,almighty promoted him4 ,he became more honourable than his brethren4 ,they are poor creatures who complain that the battle is lost before it is even begun1 who groan that the chances of life are all against them before they have made one brave venture and endeavour2 and they are vain and self-deceiving men who fancy that the victory will be easy because somebody has given them a good start1 and they have the backing of family1 social position1 wealth1 and mental gifts4 ,if some of you think because your fathers stand high1 because your education has been well looked after1 because there are unlimited money and plenty of friends to push you on--if you think that because of these things you can dispense with the fear of ,god1 and the daily obligations of duty1 and make pleasure and self-indulgence your main ends1 and do without honest1 persevering1 self-denying toil1 you will be miserably disappointed4 ,god has some hard things to say to you before you get far on in years4 ,it does not matter how promising one's beginnings1 if there is no steady1 conscientious brave self-discipline1 and endeavour4 ,life is always a failure and a disgraceful thing with a downward course1 if there is no serious purpose in it and no great thoughts4 ,and if you are ever tempted to say1 as many do1 that there is no hope for a life which commences heavily weighted2 that all the chances go to those who are clever1 and richly endowed2 that if a youth begins with no money to back him and no friends to push him into promotion1 he must remain chained down to that low condition to the end--then ,i point you to this little bit of biography4 ,i could take you round a certain town and point you to a hundred men who have repeated that bit of biography in their own lives1 and ,i tell you that even now the chances are plentiful3 waiting at the feet of those who tread life's way1 a brave heart within and ,god overhead1 and that no one need despair1 however unpromising his start1 who makes ,god his guide1 and prayer his inspiration1 and duty his chosen companion1 and shuns evil1 and pursues that which is good4 ,faith and loyalty to conscience and a courageous temper are still the weapons which conquer in the fight4 ,jabez1 the child of sorrow and misfortune1 became more honourable than all his brethren4 ,,iii4 ,and now ,i commend this prayer to all of you--the prayer which this youth offered when he went out carrying his unhonoured name and empty hand into the rough places of the world4 ,it is a beautiful prayer4 ,it is on the whole a wise prayer4 ,there are better and more ,christian prayers in the gospels and epistles2 but in the ,old ,testament there are few prayers more worthy of imitation than this4 ,he asked that ,god might bless him indeed1 that is1 above every human blessing and favour1 that he might1 by his life and conduct1 deserve it ,he asked what we may all safely and humbly ask of ,god1 provided that we give a large and not a low meaning4 ,he asked that ,god would enlarge his coast4 ,if that meant broad estates1 you had better drop it out of your prayer4 ,but if it means to have your life enlarged1 your sympathies and interests widened out1 your influence and your power of service increased1 it is such a prayer as ,christ might have taught you4 ,never forget to offer it4 ,he asked that the hand of ,god might be with him2 that every day he might feel the leadings and take no step which was not a step approved by ,god4 ,and he asked that the watchful and restraining power of the ,almighty would keep him from evil4 ,you will do well to offer that prayer at the beginning4 ,you will do well to offer it every day to the end4 ,it is a prayer that will keep2 you will find it fresh each morning4 ,and every day will be a better day which is thus commenced1 and every life will grow honourable in the sight of men1 and beautiful in the sight of ,god1 which develops in the spirit of it4 ,,simeon ,,by ,,rev4 ,h4 ,,elvet ,,lewis ,the ,temple shows to better advantage at the beginning of the ,gospel history than at its close4 ,as we follow our ,lord through the events of the last week1 we meet no winsome faces within its precincts4 ,annas is there1 and ,caiaphas2 ,pharisees too1 blinded with envy2 but there is no ,zacharias seen there1 no ,simeon1 no doctors of the law even1 such as gathered around the ,boy of twelve4 ,if any successors of these still frequented the sanctuary1 they are lost in the deep shadow cast by a nation's crime4 ,perhaps we may consider those whom we meet on the threshold of our ,lord's life as the last of an old regime of prophetic souls1 the last watchers passing out of sight as the twilight of a coming doom thickened and settled on the ,holy ,city4 ,but there he stands1 the gracious1 winsome old man1 whom death is not permitted to touch till the ,star of ,bethlehem has risen4 ,it was revealed unto him by the ,holy ,ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the ,lord's ,christ6 ,he is like a dweller of the spiritual world1 who only returns to visit earthly ways4 ,for him the veil1 though not as yet rent1 has worn thin1 and he is more familiar with the voices from beyond it than with the voices of earth4 ,the priest1 the ,levite1 the ,rabbi1 pass him like shadows3 the ,holy ,ghost is his living companion and teacher4 ,browning's ,rabbi ben ,ezra might well have borrowed his song from the lips of this aged saint3 ,grow old along with me6 ,the best is yet to be1 ,the last of life1 for which the first was made3 ,our times are in ,his hand ,who saith1 ',a whole ,i planned1 ,youth shows but half2 trust ,god3 see all1 nor be afraid6' ,consider his ,,character3 the same man was just and devout4 ,inward and outward are in equipoise2 he does not make frequent prayers atone for equally frequent lapses in duty4 ,he looks upon men in the light which has risen upon him through looking upon ,god4 ,he brought with him1 from the ,throne of ,grace1 the tranquil beams which helped him to perceive what he owed to his fellow-men4 ,he was so subdued to charity1 that his one expectation was the consolation of ,israel4 ,he was no prophet of doom2 perhaps he was even blind to the moral deterioration1 the blight of ideals1 growing more wasteful1 every day1 of the nation's best life4 ,to him1 ,israel was still more in need of consolation than chastisement4 ,alas6 for these gentle-souled patriots1 whose hopes rise from their own heart's goodness1 and not from their nation's worth6 ,so obscure1 so devout3 while the great ones sin1 they pray2 while the popular priests lead in worldliness1 they retire into ,god's hiding-places to intercede4 ,they have private paths into ,god's ,paradise3 they do not always see the cherubim with flaming sword4 ,god often calls them home before the stormy dawn of the evil day4 ,so they live and die1 waiting for the consolation4 ,consider1 again1 his ,,holy ,,fellowship3 the ,holy ,ghost was upon him4 ,his heart became the ark of the ,heavenly ,dove1 wandering over the grey waters2 and to him was the olive leaf brought4 ,he looked past the face of the ,rabbi and the priest1 not contemptuously1 but wistfully1 wondering why he must3 he looked past them1 and beheld in the dawning shadow a diviner ,face4 ,he heard secrets which would be foolishness to others1 even to frequenters of the ,temple and to robed priests4 ,he thought of death peacefully2 but that other ,face always came1 faintly but immutably1 between him and the ,last ,shadow4 ,the ,lord's ,christ first1 death after4 ,what gracious ways ,god has of treating some of these simply-trusting children of ,his6 ,how graciously ,he orders the course of spiritual wants for them6 ,and the evening and the morning are--each day4 ,and he came by the ,spirit into the ,temple4 ,he required no ecclesiastical calendar1 no book of the hours4 ,this obscure denizen of the sanctuary had a dial in his own soul1 and the silent shadow on the figures came from no visible sun4 ,be sure that there are men and women still1 just1 and fearing ,god1 who anticipate the days of heaven1 and almost win their dawning4 ,how often must ,simeon have come1 waiting3 and yet how fresh was his hope each time6 ,he fed on ,god's disappointments2 the unfulfilled was his hidden manna4 ,consider his ,,one ,,great ,,day4 ,an obscure worshipper suddenly becomes the richest1 most honoured man in all the world3 in his arms he holds ,god's ,incarnate ,son4 ,yesterday was a day of earth1 tomorrow also may well be a day of earth3 but this1 a day of heaven6 ,alas6 but only to him4 ,to others this1 too1 is a very day of earth4 ,did some officiating priest watch the little group of peasant parents showing their first-born to an obscure worshipper8 ,and did he look1 without a stain of contempt upon his vision8 ,and yet ,jerusalem1 ,alexandria1 ,rome1 had no such gift and prize as the arms of that humble dreamer held4 ,who would not have taken his place1 had they known6 ,it is well to be reckoned ,god's intimate1 lest we miss the ,child4 ,the sages frowned1 their beards they shook1 ,for pride their heart beguiled2 ,they said1 each looking on his book1 ',we want no child4' ,but ,simeon had dwelt nearer ,god than they--nearest ,god of all that came to the ,temple that day4 ,and so ,god trusted him with ,his ,best4 ,then1 once more1 consider his ,,prophetic ,,prayer4 ,he was now ready to depart4 ,he had arrived at the house where the chamber of peace looks towards the sunrising3 why should he return to the warfare again8 ,he was unfitted for earth1 by the face of that ,child3 he would go where such a vision would not be marred by earthly airs6 ,for mine eyes have seen ,thy salvation1 which ,thou hast prepared before the face of all people3 a light to lighten the ,gentiles1 and the glory of ,thy people ,israel4 ,the sentinel has been long on duty3 now the watch is done1 now lettest ,thou ,thy servant depart in peace4 ,and as he passes from his well-kept post1 his heart's charity overflows1 and ,gentile and ,jew are covered with his blessing3 the ,gentile even coming first1 as though1 perhaps1 he perceived that the salvation of the ,jews could only be realised after the enlightenment of the heathen1 and by this means--,godet suggests4 ,to the darkened souls of the pagan world--light3 to the humiliated ,jewish people--glory4 ,israel had seen and lost many a glory3 it had seen the glory of conquest1 of wealth1 of wisdom1 of ritual1 of righteousness3 but in the little ,child was the sum and essential radiancy of all glory that had been1 the earnest of all glory that was to be4 ,eternally1 ,christ is the hope of glory4 ,consider also his ,,perfect ,,candour4 ,he looked in the ,child's face1 he looked in the mother's face1 with all the tenderness and love that made it half divine2 and then this disciple of the ,spirit1 strangely moved from his wonted calm1 described truth purely as he saw it4 ,he scanned the future1 heard the sound of many a fall1 caught the hiss and cry of uneasy consciences against the sign2 he saw the gleam of the sword1 and the wounded mother's heart2 he saw the revelations of good and of evil which the child would surely effect4 ,one might not unnaturally conclude that these presentiments were of the day--of that very hour4 ,he had hitherto walked and dwelt in the light of consolation2 he had dreamed his tranquil dream beside still waters4 ,but in this moment of contact with ,god1 he was made strong to see the darkness which is never absent from the azure of truth--a deep1 but dazzling darkness4 ,so to young ,samuel came the sorrowful vision of the fall of the house of ,eli2 so to the old prophet-saint now glittered the gleaming arrows of truth4 ,but neither scorn nor wrathful eloquence moves him1 in view of what he saw3 he simply accepts this burden of the ,lord1 and bears it1 without murmuring or exulting4 ,he sees the fall and rising again of many in ,israel2 it is ,god's will3 let ,his will be done6 ,a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also3 bow1 mother-heart1 to the purposes of ,god's heart of love6 ,in peace this servant of the ,lord still stands2 in peace he departs4 ,blessed are they whom darkling truths may grieve1 but not distract2 whom stormy revelations beat upon1 but cannot shake4 ,they live in the house founded upon a rock4 ,what presentiment of his nation's doom came to him in that moment of clearer insight1 of more candid intercourse with truth8 ,the thoughts of many hearts--the uneasy working of the understanding in the service of a bad heart3--how much was revealed1 how much was mercifully concealed8 ,we cannot tell2 but strength was given him to bear the gleam of the vision1 and still wait4 ,o rest in the ,lord2 wait patiently for ,him4 ,he saw the ,child go out of the ,temple2 and if1 for a moment1 a breath as of a chill wind smote his soul1 he retired into the deeper consolations of ,god1 where the sun smites not by day1 nor the moon by night4 ,if it was his last visit to the ,temple1 he had seen what would have made it worth his while to have gone there every day for seventy years or more4 ,and let it not be forgotten that ,god still gives ,his ,child to those who humbly1 faithfully wait for the consolation of ,israel4 ,such a picture as that of ,simeon gives piety its divinest charm4 ,it is not simply that men have wished to be in his place2 but--what is far better and far more practical--they have wished to be in his spirit4 ,he draws them towards him1 and after him4 ,he stands in a glorious company of winsome souls1 who not only lead to heaven1 but attract men on the way4 ,they are1 indeed1 our ,pillar-fires ,seen as we go2 ,they are that ,city's shining spires1 ,we travel to3 ,a sword-like gleam ,kept man for sin ,first out2 this beam ,will guide him in4 ,,pontius ,,pilate ,,by ,,rev4 ,,principal ,,walter ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,d4,d4 ,in spite of the fact that he condemned ,jesus to death1 the ,gospels present us a more favourable portrait of ,pontius ,pilate than that which we derive from secular historians4 ,josephus relates incidents that reveal him as the most insolent and provoking of governors4 ,for instance1 the ,jewish historian ascribes to him a gratuitous insult1 the story of which shows its perpetrator to have been as weak as he was offensive4 ,it was customary for ,roman armies to carry an image of the emperor on their standards2 but previous governors of ,judaea had relaxed this rule when entering ,jerusalem1 in deference to the strong objection of the ,jews to admit the likeness of anything4 ,nevertheless ,pilate ordered the usual images to be introduced at night4 ,when they were discovered1 the citizens protested vehemently4 ,pilate had the crowd that he had admitted to his presence surrounded with soldiers1 and threatened them with instant death4 ,but they threw themselves on the ground1 protesting that they would submit to this fate rather than that the wisdom of their laws should be transgressed4 ,the governor had not reckoned on this4 ,he was only bluffing1 and now he had to climb down1 and the images were removed4 ,on another occasion1 described by the same historian1 ,pilate had seized the sacred money at the ,temple and employed it in building an aqueduct1 a piece of utilitarian profanity which enraged the ,jews to such an extent that a vast crowd gathered1 clamouring against ,pilate and insisting on the stoppage of the works4 ,then the governor sent soldiers among the people1 disguised in the garb of civilians1 who at a given signal drew their clubs and attacked them more savagely than ,pilate had intended1 killing and wounding a great number4 ,although ,josephus does not mention the incident recorded by ,st ,luke 7xiii4 #a71 in which ,pilate mingled the blood of some ,galilean pilgrims with their sacrifices1 this is entirely in accordance with his brutality of conduct in the events the historian records4 ,philo goes further1 giving a story told by ,agrippa1 according to which ,pilate hung gilt shields in the palace of ,herod at ,jerusalem1 but was compelled to take them down as the result of an appeal to ,tiberius ,caesar1 and adding that ,agrippa described ,pilate as inflexible1 merciless1 and obstinate4 ,he says that ,pilate dreaded lest the ,jews should go on an embassy to the emperor1 impeaching him for his corruptions1 his acts of insolence1 his rapine1 and his habit of insulting people2 his cruelty1 and his continual murders of people untried and uncondemned1 and his never-ending1 gratuitous1 and most grievous inhumanity4 ,josephus is not trustworthy1 always writing with a motive1 and ,philo must be considered prejudiced1 since he saw too much of the worst side of the ,roman treatment of ,jews2 and the wholly unfavourable verdict of these two writers should be qualified by what we read in the ,new ,testament concerning the subject of them4 ,the interesting point is that we have to go to the ,christian documents for the more calm and just estimate of the man who crucified ,christ4 ,this fact should deepen our sense of the fairness of the evangelists4 ,they evince nothing of that bitterness of resentment which the ,jews1 quite naturally1 as the world judges1 cherished towards their oppressors4 ,they were the followers of ,one who had taught them to love their enemies1 and who1 when in mortal agony1 prayed to ,god to forgive the men who had inflicted it4 ,but further1 the early ,christians discriminated between the ,jewish authorities1 who planned and purposed the death of ,christ and really compassed it1 and ,pilate1 who was but a weak instrument in the hands of these men4 ,the fact that the evangelists so clearly mark this distinction is a sign that they are in close touch with the events1 and that they faithfully record what they know to have taken place4 ,in a word1 it is clear that we have a more just and accurate portrait of ,pilate in our ,gospels than the representations of him by ,josephus and ,philo1 who are thus seen to be less trustworthy historians than the ,new ,testament writers4 ,the word ,pilate as a proper name has been variously explained4 ,some have derived it from the ,latin pileatus1 meaning one who wore the pileus1 the cap of a freed slave1 and so have regarded the ,roman governor by whom ,jesus was tried as a man who had been raised from the ranks of slavery4 ,the worst condemnation of slavery is1 that it degrades the characters of its victims1 developing the servile vices of cowardice1 meanness1 and cruelty--all of which vices are manifest in ,pilate's character4 ,but such a promotion as this theory implies would be most improbable4 ,a more likely explanation connects the name with pilum1 a javelin4 ,the earlier name ,pontius suggests the family of the ,pontii1 of ,samnite origin1 well-known in ,roman history4 ,it was customary to confine such an office as that which ,pilate held to knights1 men of the equestrian order4 ,nevertheless1 it was not a very dignified office4 ,it is described indefinitely in the ,gospels as that of a governor4 ,but ,pilate is designated more distinctly by ,tacitus and ,josephus as procurator of ,judaea4 ,this official served under the ,legate of ,syria4 ,his proper duty was simply to collect the taxes of the district over which he was appointed4 ,thus he would be likely to come into contact with the chief local collectors1 such as ,zaccheus2 and in this way he may have heard1 and that not unfavourably1 of ,one who was known as the ,friend of publicans and sinners4 ,but in the turbulent districts--such as ,judaea and ,egypt--the procurators were entrusted with almost unlimited powers1 subject to an appeal to ,caesar on the part of ,roman citizens4 ,soldiers were sometimes needed for the forcible collection of taxes1 and the disturbed condition of these parts demanded an official in residence who could act at once and on the spot4 ,the punishment of turbulence was with the rigour of martial law1 which really means no law at all1 but only the will of the man in charge of the army4 ,a subordinate official lifted to a position of almost irresponsible power--such was ,pilate4 ,we can well understand how a man with no moral backbone would succumb to its temptations4 ,pilate was a much smaller man than ,gallic the proconsul at ,corinth1 and that other proconsul at ,cyprus1 ,sergius ,paulus1 whom ,st ,paul won over to ,christian faith4 ,but his pettiness in the eyes of ,roman society would lead him to magnify his importance in the little world he was trying to rule like a king1 though often with consequences humiliating to himself4 ,pilate's headquarters were at ,caesarea1 by the sea coast1 the ,roman capital of ,palestine2 but he came up to ,jerusalem with a troop of soldiers at the ,passover1 to prevent any disturbance among the vast hosts of pilgrims then gathered together in the city1 just as ,turkish soldiers now mount guard at the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulchre during the ,easter celebrations1 to prevent the ,christians from quarrelling and fighting4 ,that is how it was he happened to be present when ,jesus was arrested and brought up for trial4 ,in this fact also we may see why the ,jewish authorities felt it necessary to hand their ,prisoner over to the ,roman governor2 although1 a few years later1 they were able themselves to execute the death sentence on ,stephen in the ,jewish mode1 by stoning1 and still later to do the same with ,james1 the ,lord's brother4 ,all four ,gospels refer to the trial of ,jesus before ,pontius ,pilate2 but the fullest information is to be obtained from the third and fourth4 ,st ,luke throughout both his works seizes every suitable opportunity for setting out the scene of his story on the large stage of the world's history1 and he is especially interested in showing it in relation to the imperial government4 ,thus1 while ,matthew only connects the time of the birth of ,jesus with the reign of ,herod1 a ,jewish note of time1 ,luke also associates it with ,caesar ,augustus and the chronology of ,rome2 and later1 while ,matthew does not say when ,john the ,baptist began his work1 but notes the imprisonment of ,john as the occasion of the commencement of our ,lord's public ministry1 ,luke carefully records that it was in the fifteenth year of the reign of ,tiberius ,caesar1 ,pontius ,pilate being governor of ,judaea 7,luke iii4 #a71 that ,john the ,baptist began preaching and baptizing4 ,it is this same evangelist only who refers to ,pilate's savage slaughter of the ,galileans at ,jerusalem4 ,the author of the ,fourth ,gospel does not mention ,pilate before the time of our ,lord's trial1 but he gives us a much fuller account of that trial than any of his companion evangelists4 ,next to ,john1 our fullest account is in ,luke4 ,on these two authorities therefore we must mainly rely4 ,but ,john's is not only the most ample and fully detailed narrative2 it also furnishes us with by far the most vivid and convincing portrait of the ,roman governor4 ,this is one of the numerous cases of life-like character-drawing with which the ,fourth ,gospel abounds4 ,nicodemus1 the woman of ,samaria1 ,thomas1 ,judas1 ,mary ,magdalene1 and now ,pilate1 are all known to history from ,st ,john's portraits of them4 ,should not this significant fact lead us to attach great weight to his portrait of ,jesus ,christ1 which soars above the ,christ-pictures of the synoptics in the most exalted ,divine glory8 ,jesus had been tried soon after ,his arrest before ,caiaphas and the ,sanhedrin1 the supreme council of the ,jews1 and there ,he had been condemned to death1 not on the charge for which ,he had been arrested--threatening to destroy the ,temple--for the evidence against ,him had broken down1 but for blasphemy during the course of ,his trial1 when adjured by the high priest to declare whether ,he was the ,christ4 ,but the presence of ,pilate prevented the council from executing their sentence 7as doubtless they would have done if he had been away at ,caesarea71 in defiance of the law1 which was entrusted to a weak and capricious governor4 ,accordingly they brought their ,prisoner to the procurator's residence--probably ,herod's palace1 a magnificent building with two marble wings1 containing large rooms sumptuously furnished1 and spacious porticos surrounded by gardens and enclosed in a lofty wall with towers1 situated in the western district of the city1 and approached by a bridge across the ,tyropaean valley4 ,the facts that a later governor1 ,gestius ,florus1 resided here1 and that ,pilate lived in ,herod's palace at ,caesarea when in that city1 and that he hung the shields about which there was so much trouble in the ,jerusalem palace1 make this view more probable than the traditional idea that the trial of ,jesus took place in the ,castle of ,antonio1 the imperial barracks1 close to the ,temple4 ,the ,jews objected to enter this fine palace1 because as a ,gentile residence it was defiled1 and therefore defiling1 and they wished to be clean for the feast they were to eat in the evening4 ,pilate humoured them1 and had his conferences with them outside the building4 ,seeing their object and observing their temper1 he must have discovered at once their miserable hypocrisy4 ,these were the men who affected to be the leaders of the one pure faith on earth1 a faith which looked with scorn on the idolatry of the cultured ,roman4 ,he must have regarded them with immense contempt4 ,if his tone is cynical1 it is but a match for the unmitigated cynicism of their conduct4 ,pilate inquires as to the crime with which the ,prisoner is charged4 ,at first1 the ,jews do not give an explicit reply1 only stating that they have already found ,him guilty4 ,pilate catches at that4 ,his weakness1 so pitiably apparent throughout the whole proceedings1 appears at this early stage4 ,desiring to shirk the responsibility of deciding the case--he would use the first apparent loophole of escape4 ,since the ,jews have taken this case in hand1 let them carry it through1 dealing with it according to their law4 ,they are not to be caught by that flattering suggestion4 ,they know that they have not the power of life and death4 ,pilate would not let them kill ,jesus4 ,his proposal1 which on the surface looks like the granting of a privilege1 amounts to this1 that they may exercise ecclesiastical discipline1 excommunicate their ,prisoner1 or perhaps fling ,him into jail1 possibly scourge ,him4 ,but the worst of these punishments will not satisfy their determined hatred1 or rid them of the haunting fear inspiring it1 that ,jesus will undermine their influence with the people4 ,nothing less than ,his death will put an end to that danger2 so they thought1 although the event proved that it was this very death of ,christ that was to lead to the victory of ,christianity over ,judaism4 ,this1 however1 even ,his own disciples could not foresee1 much less could it enter into the minds of ,his enemies among the ,jews4 ,thwarted in his first attempt to escape1 and compelled to try this difficult case1 ,pilate enters the palace where ,jesus is kept under arrest1 and questions ,him4 ,he has been informed that ,jesus claims to be the king of the ,jews4 ,is that so8 ,is the charge but a piece of malicious slander8 ,if it is1 there is an end of the matter4 ,pilate is not going to lend himself to humour the whim of those hateful ,jews1 whom he affects to despise while in his heart he is mortally afraid of them4 ,there is nothing of the bearing of the violent insurgent in this calm peasant who stands before him4 ,surely this is some stupid mistake1 or there is more ,jewish malice in it than ,pilate can fathom4 ,but the ,roman magistrate soon discovers that he is dealing with no ordinary man4 ,jesus takes his measure in a moment4 ,pilate is a feeble creature1 with no character1 insincere1 dishonest4 ,he must be made to feel his littleness4 ,we can imagine how our ,lord would fix on him a penetrating gaze before which the shallow nature of the man would become apparent1 as ,he asked whether this cross-examination was genuine1 or whether ,pilate was prompted to it2 whether1 as we should say1 it was a put-up affair--,sayest thou this of thyself1 or did others say it concerning ,me8 ,picture the situation--the great marble palace1 the representative of ,imperial ,rome clad in the purple robe of office1 and seated in his chair on the dais1 the surrounding officials and bodyguard2 and then the peasant from ,galilee1 alone1 unattended1 undefended1 come straight from insult and mockery in another court1 and that after a night of mental agony4 ,observe how completely the relative position of judge and ,prisoner are reversed1 at least1 to the eyes of the onlooker4 ,jesus calmly questions ,pilate1 calmly tells him of the limit of his power1 and calmly claims the kinship for himself--there of all places--in the ,roman governor's residence1 speaking to this governor himself1 knowing that it must seal ,his own fate4 ,the two powers are now face to face--the world-power of ,rome1 outwardly so imposing1 but at this moment shrinking to insignificance1 looking so vulgar1 so mean1 so sordid1 so unreal1 so essentially weak1 in the person of the paltry governor2 and the heavenly power1 the power of truth and goodness1 the ,kingdom of ,god represented by the provincial ,prisoner whose inherent dignity of ,presence is seen to be all the more sublime for the contrast4 ,and ,pilate8 ,how does he view this8 ,he is manifestly disconcerted1 but he tries to hide his awkwardness under a mask of ,roman scorn4 ,am ,i a ,jew8 he exclaims1 in a tone of measureless contempt4 ,it is like the contempt of ,agrippa when1 in response to ,st ,paul's enthusiastic appeal and close home-thrust1 he cried1 ,with but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a ,christian6 ,pilate reminds ,jesus that ,he has been given up by ,his own people4 ,jews might be expected to stand by a fellow-,jew under the ,roman tyranny4 ,how comes it to pass that the ,jewish people have brought a man of their own race to the foreign tribunal1 prosecuting ,him before this alien power1 seeking ,his death from the hated ,imperial government8 ,what can ,he have done to bring about so unusual a situation8 ,pilate is perplexed2 and the answer of ,jesus does not clarify the magistrate's ideas4 ,it seems only more mystifying4 ,jesus describes ,his kingdom1 so different from any institution bearing the name that ,pilate has ever heard of4 ,it is not of the order of things in this world4 ,if it were1 of course ,christ's servants would fight1 as do the servants of the claimants of earthly thrones4 ,but they do not resort to violence4 ,the kingdom and its methods of government are both unearthly4 ,pilate is interested1 perhaps amused1 with what now seem to him the fancies of a fanatical dreamer4 ,he pursues the inquiry1 we may suppose1 with a smile on his lips1 ,art thou a king1 then8 he asked4 ,there is no ambiguity in his ,prisoner's reply4 ,he is a king4 ,this strange kingdom1 not resting on any basis of earthly power1 dispensing with fighting1 with all that an army suggests1 with force1 is the very opposite to ,pilate's idea of a state4 ,rome was materialistic to the core4 ,her rule rested on brute force4 ,the ,empire1 the ,imperium1 was the dominion of the ,imperator1 that is to say1 of the commander-in-chief of the army4 ,it was a military despotism4 ,nominally the government was still republican1 and the older and more peaceable provinces were administered by proconsuls1 whose appointment rested with the senate1 or was supposed by a legal fiction to rest with that body4 ,but the newer and more troublesome provinces were governed as conquered territory directly by the emperor as the head of the army4 ,now ,judaea came in this latter division4 ,pontius ,pilate and his superior1 the ,legate of ,syria1 were both directly responsible to ,tiberius ,caesar4 ,pilate was ,caesar's officer under military direction4 ,military methods characterised the procurator's rule4 ,to a man placed as ,pilate1 the notion of a ruler independent of fighting supporters1 and that in territory held down by force of arms1 was simply absurd4 ,our ,lord's further explanation seems to ,pilate still more out of keeping with the notion of royalty4 ,jesus says ,he was born to be a king in order that ,he might bear witness to the truth4 ,a king--truth--what have these two words in common1 the one referring to the most real region1 the other to the most ideal8 ,to ,pilate1 the conjunction is absolutely incongruous4 ,what is truth8 he asks1 as he turns away1 too contemptuous to wait for an answer4 ,this famous utterance has been quoted as a text for the anxious inquirer1 and preachers have gravely set themselves to answer it4 ,jesus did nothing of the kind4 ,evidently it was not a serious inquiry4 ,pilate flung off the very idea of truth--a mere abstraction1 nothing to a practical ,roman4 ,still1 though he was not seeking any answer to his question1 by the very tone of it he suggested that he did not possess that gem which those who hold it prize above all things4 ,the ,scepticism of ,pilate is the title of one of ,robertson's greatest sermons4 ,the preacher traces it to four sources3 indecision2 falseness to his own convictions2 the taint of the worldly temper of his day2 and that priestly bigotry which forbids inquiry1 and makes doubt a crime4 ,pilate is the typical sceptic1 who is worlds removed from the honest doubter4 ,serious doubt1 which is pained and anxious in the search of truth1 is in essence belief1 for it believes in the value of truth1 if only truth can be discovered2 but typical scepticism not only does not credit what the believer takes for truth1 but despises it as not worth seeking4 ,that is the fatal doubt1 a doubt that eats into the soul as a moral canker4 ,nevertheless1 although what is of supreme value to ,jesus is reckoned by ,pilate as of no importance whatever1 the cross-examination has satisfied the magistrate of the innocence of his ,prisoner4 ,his duty1 then1 is plain4 ,he should acquit the innocent man4 ,but he dare not do so immediately4 ,that howling mob of ,jews and those odious priests and ,sadducees of the council are determined on the death of their victim4 ,pilate has made himself well hated by the roughness of his government4 ,nothing would please the ,jews and their leaders better than to have some chance of impeaching him before his jealous master at ,rome1 on the charge of leniency to treason4 ,pilate quails before the terrible possibility4 ,in face of it he simply dares not pronounce a verdict of acquittal4 ,yet he means to do all he can to effect the escape of his ,prisoner4 ,his inbred instinct for justice prompts him to this2 for the ,romans cherished reverence for law1 and even so corrupt a ruler as ,pilate was not independent of the atmosphere of his race4 ,then it would be a bitter humiliation to let his judgment be overruled by those contemptible ,jews4 ,he would be heartily glad to confound and disappoint them4 ,more than this1 he had begun to feel some awakening interest in his remarkable ,prisoner4 ,he had come to the conclusion that ,jesus was a harmless dreamer2 but he had felt some faint shadow of the spell of the wonderful ,personality4 ,if only it could be managed with safety to himself1 he would be glad to have ,jesus set free4 ,accordingly we now see ,pilate resorting to a series of devices in order to escape from his vexatious dilemma4 ,from this point his conduct opens out to us a curious study in psychological phenomena4 ,the ingenuity of ,pilate in resorting to one expedient after another1 is very striking4 ,evidently he has keen wits1 and he uses them with some agility4 ,but it is all in vain4 ,he is pushed from each of the positions he takes up by the same stubborn1 relentless pressure which he invariably finds to be irresistible4 ,the explanation is1 that though he has intellect1 he lacks will-power4 ,on the other side there is not much need for intelligence1 but there is the most obstinate will4 ,the ,jews possess a clear notion of what they want1 and a set determination to have their way4 ,in such a contest there is no doubt which side will win4 ,when will is bitter against intellect1 it is the latter that succumbs4 ,the determined will forces itself through all opposition that rests only on intelligence1 reasoning1 contrivance4 ,intellect does not count for nothing2 allied to a strong will1 as in ,calvin1 ,cromwell1 ,napoleon1 it helps to effect gigantic results4 ,but in the sphere of action1 it is will-power that tells in immediate results4 ,even here1 reason may conquer stupid obstinacy in the long-run4 ,but you must give it time2 and you must have honesty of character4 ,neither condition was present in this case of ,pilate4 ,he had to decide promptly2 and his moral nature was unsound4 ,such a man under such circumstances will never find his most cunning devices a match for the set determination of his opponents4 ,so ,pilate1 feebly protesting1 helplessly scheming1 is pushed back step by step2 and ultimately he concedes everything demanded of him1 and the final issue is more humiliating to himself and more cruel to the innocent ,prisoner whom he is trying to shield1 than it would have been if he had yielded at the beginning4 ,the real victim of this tragedy in the palace is not ,jesus1 it is the soul of ,pilate4 ,we seem to see a weak man being thrust down a steep place1 resisting and catching at the shrubs and rocks that he passes1 but torn from his grasp of them and finally flung over the precipice4 ,pilate's first device was to send ,jesus to ,herod ,antipas1 who happened to be at ,jerusalem at the time4 ,it was a compliment to the frivolous king of ,galilee to remit a ,galilean prisoner to his judgment1 and ,pilate would gladly rid himself of the awkward case by this ingenious device4 ,but it was useless1 for the simple reason that ,herod had no power of life and death in ,jerusalem1 and ,pilate soon had his ,prisoner on his hands again4 ,next he clutched at the custom of releasing a prisoner during the feast4 ,here was a chance for letting off ,jesus without declaring ,him innocent4 ,but this suggestion was hopeless4 ,if the ,jews were set on effecting the death of ,jesus1 they would not give up their right to choose their prisoners to be released1 and take at the dictation of ,pilate the very man they wanted to have done to death4 ,they clamoured for an insurgent1 ,barabbas1 a man caught red-handed in the very crime for which these hypocrites professed in their new-fledged loyalty to ,caesar to be anxious to have ,jesus executed4 ,the cynicism of their choice is palpable4 ,by daring to make it1 they show in what contempt they hold ,pilate4 ,the governor loses ground considerably by this false move4 ,then he tries to throw the blame of the murder of ,jesus1 which he sees he cannot prevent1 on the ,jews4 ,a new motive urges him to escape from the responsibility of committing a judicial murder4 ,his wife had sent a private message warning him to have nothing to do with that righteous man4 ,she had been much disturbed by a dream about him4 ,romans were slaves to omens and auguries1 and the most materialistic of them felt some awe of dreams1 although they had lost faith in real religion4 ,your confirmed sceptic is often slavishly superstitious in the secret of his soul4 ,it is a way the spiritual has of avenging itself on the man who openly flouts it4 ,boldly flung out of the window1 it creeps back into the cellar and vexes the soul with petty tricks played on the subterranean consciousness4 ,the man who expels his good angel is haunted by imps and elves4 ,he who will not believe in ,god and despises truth succumbs to the message of a dream4 ,more anxious now than ever to escape responsibility1 ,pilate calls for water and publicly washes his hands1 telling the ,jews that the innocent blood will be on their heads4 ,they accept the awful responsibility4 ,what do they care for the weak ,roman's scruples8 ,he is doing their will1 and of course no hand-washing can cleanse his conscience from the stain of guilty compliance4 ,yet one thing more ,pilate will do4 ,he will scourge ,jesus4 ,perhaps that may satisfy these savage ,jews4 ,for scourging was a savage punishment4 ,the whip was loaded with lead and sharp fish-bones1 and at every stroke the flesh was cut4 ,men often died under this severe treatment4 ,pilate had it inflicted on ,jesus1 knowing ,him to be innocent2 but hoping that1 if ,he survived1 no more might be required4 ,it was an abominable compromise4 ,if ,jesus were innocent--and ,pilate knew ,he was innocent--,he should have been set free unscathed1 with apologies for a mistaken arrest4 ,if he were guilty1 of course he ought to receive the death-penalty for the crime of treason4 ,justice could allow of no middle course4 ,but ,pilate is not thinking of ,justice4 ,he only wants to escape the onus of killing an innocent man4 ,then he has ,jesus brought forth1 bleeding1 in agony1 ,his lacerated flesh exposed to the view of that heartless multitude4 ,behold the man1 says ,pilate4 ,look at your victim2 is not this enough8 ,if ,pilate thought his appeal ad misericordiam would touch those hardened sinners of the ,sanhedrin1 he was strangely mistaken4 ,the sight of their victim in ,his agony only maddens them4 ,they are like hounds who had tasted blood4 ,like hounds1 they give tongue1 and yell for ,his death4 ,pilate can resist no longer4 ,he has played his last card1 and it has been taken4 ,thoroughly humiliated and quite helpless1 he gives sentence1 and so in spite of the governor's desperate efforts to escape the stigma of his awful crime1 it goes down to all the ages that ,jesus was crucified under ,pontius ,pilate4 ,,barabbas ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4 ,g4 ,,greenhough1 ,m4,a4 ,and they cried out all at once1 saying1 ,away with this man1 and release unto us ,barabbas4--,,st ,,luke xxiii4 #ah4 ,you have heard a crowd of people cry out all at once4 ,it is always impressive1 it is sometimes very terrible1 occasionally it is sublime4 ,it begins in a way that no one can explain4 ,somebody in the crowd utters a name1 or ejaculates a brief sentence4 ,what happens8 ,often nothing at all4 ,men are not in the mood for it2 it drops unnoticed1 or provokes a jeer or two and is then forgotten4 ,but sometimes the word falls like a spark on a mass of dry tinder--ten thousand hearts have been prepared for it--swift as a flash of lightning a sympathetic current passes through the whole throng--ten thousand lips take up the cry4 ,they are all carried away by contagion1 magnetism1 or madness1 and a shout goes up enough to rend the sky4 ,when some great and noble sentiment has laid hold of them1 the shout of a people is one of the grandest things on earth2 when it is some awful prejudice1 unreasoning hatred1 or cowardly terror that sways them1 the shout is the most inhuman and hellish thing on earth2 and that was the character of the shout that was raised here4 ,the world has never forgotten that cry1 and never will4 ,to the very last the world will wonder how it should have come to be raised1 and will condemn and pity the crowd of people who gave themselves up to it1 for they were making a hero of the vilest stuff1 and clamouring for the murder of the world's one ,divine man4 ,there never was a more brutal and insane shout than that2 never again can there be a choice so fatal and so suicidal as the choice they made3 ,away with this man1 and release unto us ,barabbas4 ,if the thing had not happened1 we should say it was impossible4 ,it seems well-nigh incredible that human eyes and human hearts could be so blind4 ,a story of this kind is food for the bitterest cynic4 ,he who has the most utter contempt for the race to which he belongs might find here almost a justification of his scorn4 ,oh what a satire upon human nature1 that a whole city full of people1 men1 women1 mothers and daughters1 had come to this pass that they could not discern which was the nobler of these two--nay1 thought that ,barabbas was more deserving of their honour4 ,one the very flower and crown of humanity1 the express image of ,god2 and the other a gaol bird1 a notorious criminal1 whose hands had been dyed red1 and whose heart had been hardened by the shedding of blood4 ,well might those pitiful lips say1 ,father forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,why did they do it8 ,why did they raise their voices for ,barabbas8 ,the main answer is that men make their heroes as the heathen make gods1 after their own image4 ,there is no doubt that ,barabbas was more to the taste of this people1 more according to their heart1 than ,christ2 or at least they thought he was2 not quite their ideal man1 perhaps1 but certainly nearer to their ideal than the ,christ whom they rejected4 ,it may be that they had had no particular love for him until just now1 possibly they had hardly thought of him at all2 but now it was a question between this man and ,jesus1 and ,jesus they did not want at any price4 ,and their very hatred of the one made the other look beautiful4 ,barabbas is our man1 they said1 and the more they said it the more they believed it2 and each time the name was repeated it sounded sweeter1 until they were all shouting it1 nine-tenths of them because the others shouted it1 and until they really made themselves believe that in this man they had got a veritable hero and hardly less than a god4 ,that is always what happens in such cases1 the greater part begin shouting for no particular reason because a few others have led the way1 and they end by believing that the man whom they are acclaiming is almost divine2 yet it is certain that they elected this man on the whole because of the two he had more points in common with them1 this poor despicable and very unheroic thing was the person whom they delighted to honour because they themselves were very unheroic and somewhat despicable4 ,we cannot see the greatness of a truly great man unless there is just a bit of greatness in ourselves2 ,christ was too big and too divine to be seen and measured by their small and vulgar eyes4 ,barabbas was about their size1 and they raised their voices for him4 ,we have had ,carlyle's words quoted to us a thousand times about heroes and hero-worship--how it is part of human nature to go after heroes and make them--how the world has always been given up to this worship1 and always will be4 ,we all revere and follow great men1 or those whom we deem great1 which is not quite the same thing4 ,and it is a beautiful feature in human nature if it is wisely directed1 if we can only set our hearts on the true heroes and follow them4 ,it is not beautiful at all when we make our gods of clay1 and shout ourselves hoarse in exalting to the skies creatures as undivine and quite as small as we are4 ,heroes are sometimes easily made to-day1 and martyrs too4 ,modern martyrdom of the popular sort is about the least costly thing going4 ,it calls for no tears and blood1 it can be gained on very easy terms4 ,you have only to break a law which you do not like1 or your conscience does not approve1 and to be brought up for it with an admiring crowd accompanying you1 and to have a fine imposed1 which is paid for1 perhaps1 by popular subscription--and lo1 you are a martyr4 ,i am not calling in question the thing itself4 ,it may be both right and ,christian to refuse obedience to a law on extreme occasions2 but to call this martyrdom is extravagant and almost humorous4 ,it was not so in the olden time when the real martyrs were made4 ,no1 those martyrs were not delicately handled1 but stripped and stoned to pieces1 and burned1 and there were no crowds to greet them with bravoes and caresses1 but furious mobs clamouring for their blood4 ,we have changed all that indeed1 thank ,god3 but they were heroes and martyrs indeed1 and it sounds to me somewhat like a desecration of the word to apply it to men and even women who are good1 probably brave in a way1 but who win their crown of glory very cheaply indeed4 ,if we are to have heroes1 let us make sure that they possess some heroic stuff4 ,there is a vast amount of hero-worship to-day which reminds us too much of that shout for ,barabbas4 ,we are glorifying the wrong people2 at least1 most of us are4 ,it is one of the deplorable weaknesses of the times1 or if you like it better1 it is one of the fashions or crazes to which human nature at times gives itself up4 ,the heroes of the crowd1 of the great mass of people1 are not the good men1 not the men of light and leading1 not the men who are morally great or even intellectually great1 not the men who are the strength and salt of a nation1 but the men who minister to its pleasures1 and lead the way in sports4 ,no one can have any doubt of that4 ,no one can have any doubt about the sort of persons whom the vast majority of young people1 and some older people too1 delight to honour4 ,with some it is the star of the music hall or opera4 ,with a great many more it is the winner of a race1 or the champion player in a successful football team1 or the most effective bowler1 or the highest scorer in cricket4 ,the crowd goes mad about these heroes4 ,there is no throne high enough to place them on4 ,money and favours are lavished at their feet1 and all the newspapers are full of their glorious triumphs4 ,mark ,i am not speaking against athletic sports4 ,i like to see a well and honestly played game1 and ,i would join in the clapping when a man makes a clever stroke4 ,what ,i object to is the crazy and almost delirious worship which is given to these champions of the sporting world4 ,it is the excess of the thing that proves a diseased state of mind4 ,there is more fuss made over some youth who scores a few hundreds on the cricket-field1 than there would be over a man who had saved six hundred lives4 ,in hundreds of journals his portrait appears1 and his doings are chronicled as if he had wrought some deliverance for the nation4 ,poor lad1 it is not his fault that he has sprung up suddenly into fame1 it is the fault of the people who love to have these things so4 ,it is because men have gone pleasure-mad and sport-mad1 and in their madness cannot see the difference between a clever athlete and a mental or moral giant4 ,we prove what our own tastes are1 we prove the quality of our own hearts and minds1 we prove our own debasement1 when we exalt physical strength above excellence of character1 when we make our heroes out of muscle instead of soul1 when we worship those who serve our pleasure more than those who set us examples of noble things1 and lead the way in them4 ,it is only another rendering of the old shout1 ,away with this man1 and release unto us ,barabbas4 ,not so wicked1 of course1 but equally foolish and unworthy4 ,who are your heroes8 ,that is the question4 ,or in other words1 ,what sort of men do you admire most8 ,answer that1 and ,i know at once what sort of men and women you are4 ,if you are worshippers of pleasure1 the champions of the pleasure-world will be your idols and kings4 ,if you are rooted and grounded in the love of lucre1 the successful millionaire is the man that you will fawn upon or worship from afar4 ,if your main delight is in intellectual things1 the great thinkers and writers will be the men to whom you look up with reverence4 ,and if you are good men1 with a passionate love for goodness1 and a constant striving to be better than you are1 there are none whom you will admire with all your hearts except the good1 except the best1 and those who are leading in the way of goodness4 ,in a land which is truly ,christian1 the only heroes will be those who most resemble ,christ4 ,if we are truly ,christians1 and ,christian thoughts have taken full possession of our hearts1 we shall recognise no heroes save those who serve as ,christ served1 who live in a measure as ,christ lived1 who deny themselves for others1 and spend their strength for the benefit of their fellow-men as the ,master did4 ,these are the true heroes1 and all the others are more or less cheap imitations of them1 or false substitutes for them4 ,these are the true heroes1 ,i say4 ,the men and women who risk their lives to save other lives4 ,the men who use their strength and ability1 not for pay1 but for the good and the advancement of their fellow-men1 to save men from their sins1 and to lessen the sum of human ill4 ,the brave men and women who venture all things to serve some great and righteous cause1 and to speed on the ,kingdom of ,christ and righteousness in the world4 ,we have no right to count any as heroes unless they have courage1 patience1 self-denial1 great love for their fellow-men1 and strength which they cheerfully employ for something greater than themselves4 ,the men1 in fact1 who have something of ,christ in them2 these are the only heroes whom ,god writes down in ,his book of life1 and they are the only heroes whom we shall exalt in our hearts if we are followers of the crucified ,one4 ,in a ,christian land1 the beginning and end of all true and healthy hero-worship1 is to set ,christ first and above everything else and every one else in our affections4 ,we shall measure all other men truly if we have first of all taken the true measure of ,him4 ,love ,him with all your hearts1 say of ,him1 ,thou art the chief among ten thousand1 and the altogether lovely1 and you will never give much of your hearts again to the things and the men who are morally not worth loving4 ,you will never be carried away again into the worship of that which is false1 common1 or cheap4 ,a man who sees all beauty1 and the perfect beauty in ,christ1 will never say that there is much beauty anywhere else1 except where there is something that resembles ,christ4 ,we have to make our choice to-day1 as those men made it long ago4 ,it is not quite the same choice4 ,it is not ,barabbas against ,christ1 but it is the poor1 coarse1 common1 frivolous things of the world against ,christ4 ,it is the earthly against the heavenly2 it is pleasure and sin against the service of the ,man who was crucified3 it is the love of self1 and things baser than ourselves1 against the love of ,him who died for us4 ,and everything depends upon that choice4 ,to make ,him your ,king is to become kingly yourselves1 and to be crowned at last with the true glory and honour4 ,but it is a terrible thing to say1 ,away with this man1 and release unto us ,barabbas4 ,,joseph ,,of ,,arimathea ,,by ,,rev4 ,,alfred ,,rowland1 ,d4,d44 ,,ll4,b4 ,joseph of ,arimathea1 an honourable counsellor1 which also waited for the kingdom of ,god4--,,mark xv4 #dc4 ,the crucifixion of our ,lord produced strange and startling effects in moral experience1 as well as in the physical world4 ,the veil of the ,temple was rent from top to bottom as if a hand from heaven had torn it1 in order to teach men that the ancient ritual was done with4 ,darkness covered the earth1 suggesting to thoughtful minds the guilt of the world and the mystery of the sacrifice which atoned for it4 ,concurrently with these physical phenomena were spiritual experiences4 ,the ,roman centurion who1 in command of four soldiers1 had the duty of seeing the sentence of the law duly executed1 was so profoundly moved by what he saw of the ,divine ,sufferer and by ,his dying cry1 that he exclaimed1 ,truly this was the ,son of ,god1 and thus he became the first of the great multitude out of all nations who give honour to the ,lamb that has been slain4 ,the women1 too1 who were sometimes despised for weakness and timidity1 proved themselves in this crisis to be heroines4 ,and ,joseph of ,arimathea1 who up to this moment of shame and apparent defeat had been content to remain a secret disciple of our ,lord1 now boldly avowed his love and loyalty4 ,the even had come1 the second evening of the ,jews1 and the last streak of golden light was beginning to fade from the western sky4 ,three lifeless bodies were still hanging on the crosses at ,golgotha1 but according to ,jewish custom they were about to be taken down1 and flung into a dishonourable grave1 when ,joseph went in boldly to ,pilate1 and begged the body of ,jesus1 caring for our ,lord in death as another ,joseph had cared for him in infancy4 ,this man is described as an honourable counsellor1 which doubtless means a member of the ,sanhedrim4 ,he is also spoken of as a good man and a just1 which could not have been said of many of his fellow-counsellors4 ,on this occasion his action was sufficiently important in its relation to prophecy1 and in its bearing as evidence of the reality of the burial and of the resurrection of our ,lord1 to be mentioned in each of the ,four ,gospels4 ,yet neither by this nor by social influence1 nor by brilliant gifts 7if he possessed them71 did he become prominent in the early ,church4 ,probably he was a man of practical sagacity and ready resource1 rather than of great spiritual force4 ,he could not stand on the same level with ,simon ,peter1 the fisherman1 whose honour it was so to hold the key of the ,kingdom as to open the door of it to the ,gentiles2 nor did he ever attain influence comparable to that of ,paul1 who shook the citadel of paganism to its foundations1 and planted amid its fallen defences the seed of the ,kingdom1 even the word of ,god4 ,joseph must be regarded as a common soldier1 rather than as a general in ,christ's army2 but when the officers had fallen1 or deserted their ,leader1 he bravely stepped to the front and proved himself a hero4 ,perhaps all the more on this account some study of his character and conduct may encourage those who are not prominent in the ,church to cultivate his fidelity1 promptitude1 and courage4 ,if we piece together the few fragments of his biography which are scattered through the ,four ,gospels1 we shall gain a fuller and more accurate conception of the man4 ,i4 ,it is clear that ,joseph had already protested against the wrong done to our ,lord by the ,sanhedrim1 though he had been powerless to prevent it4 ,in this protest no doubt ,nicodemus would have sided with him1 but he was probably absent1 for ,joseph seems to have stood alone in his refusal to condemn the prophet of ,nazareth4 ,this was not easy4 ,he would be urged to vote with his fellow-counsellors on the ground that their ecclesiastical authority1 which had been defied1 must be maintained1 and that loyalty to the ,sanhedrim demanded that all members of it should sink their private opinions in its defence4 ,to hold out against an otherwise unanimous council would be the more difficult if ,joseph had but recently attained the honour of membership1 and this is probable1 for the allusion to his new grave seems to imply that he had not long resided in ,jerusalem4 ,it was difficult1 and possibly dangerous1 to assert his independence2 but he did so by vote1 if not by voice1 for he had not consented to the counsel and deed of them4 ,right-minded men are not infrequently placed in a similar position4 ,a policy may be initiated which they disapprove1 and yet their protest against it may wreck the party and even displace the government1 so that they naturally hesitate between party loyalty and enlightened conscience4 ,others who are engaged in business1 or in professional affairs1 have sometimes to confront doubtful practices which1 though sanctioned by custom1 unquestionably tend to the lowering of the moral tone of the nation4 ,their own financial interests1 their fear of casting a slur on some known to them1 who1 though guilty of such practices are in other respects honourable men1 and their dread of posing before the world as over-scrupulous1 pharisaic men1 who are righteous over-much--all urge them to keep quiet1 especially as such a custom cannot be put down by one man4 ,yet is not conscience to be supreme1 even under such conditions8 ,the cultivation of the required moral heroism1 which is sadly lacking in all sections of society1 must begin in youth2 and in this1 elder brothers and sisters as well as parents and teachers of all grades have serious responsibility4 ,occasionally the moral atmosphere of a whole school becomes corrupt1 and practices spring up which can only be put down by some right-minded lad or girl running the risk of unpopularity and social ostracism1 yet it is under such conditions that ,god's heroes are bred2 and books like ,tom ,brown's ,schooldays have done much to foster the development of the heroic temper4 ,the truth is1 that1 wherever we are1 in this world where evil widely prevails1 fidelity to conscience must occasionally inspire what seems an unavailing protest against the practice of the majority4 ,but we must see to it on such occasions that a real principle is at stake1 and that we are not moved by mere desire for self-assertion1 nor by pride and obstinacy4 ,if1 however1 we are consciously free from these1 and bravely protest against a wrong we cannot prevent1 we may at least look for the approval of ,him who carried ,his protest against evil up to the point of death1 even the death of the ,cross4 ,in thus taking up our stand against what we believe to be wrong1 we may be1 imperceptibly to ourselves1 emboldening others1 who are secretly waiting for some such lead4 ,,ii4 ,if ,joseph required bravery on the council1 he needed it still more when he went into the presence of ,pilate to beg the body of ,jesus4 ,the ,roman procurator was a man to be dreaded by any ,jew1 and was just now in a suspicious and angry mood4 ,but ,joseph not only braved a repulse from him4 ,he knew he would have to confront the far more bitter hostility of the priests4 ,theirs was a relentless hate1 before which ,peter had fallen1 and ,pilate himself had quailed4 ,yet this man ,joseph1 brought up though he had been in circumstances of ease1 went in boldly to ,pilate and deliberately ran the risk of their savage hatred1 which would not only bring about as he believed his expulsion from office1 but in all probability cruel martyrdom4 ,it was a bold step2 but no sooner did he take it than another rich man was by his side--,nicodemus by name--who also himself was one of ,christ's disciples1 though secretly1 for fear of the ,jews4 ,the act of ,joseph had more far-reaching consequences on the conduct of others than he expected4 ,most heroic actions are richer in results than is expected by those who dare to do them2 though the immediate effects may seem disappointing4 ,elijah learnt to his amazement that although all the people on ,carmel had not been converted1 more than seven thousand faithful men had been emboldened by his conduct4 ,and when ,john plucked up courage to go right in to the palace of the high priest1 ,peter1 who till then had followed ,jesus afar off1 went in also4 ,the truth is1 that we all have influence beyond the limits of what we can see or estimate--parents over children1 employers over their young people1 mistresses over servants2 for what we are these are encouraged to be1 whether for good or for evil4 ,indeed1 even a child who fearlessly speaks the truth1 a servant who does her work thoroughly and cheerfully1 an obscure lad who in a small situation is faithful to honour and truth1 will effect far more than is imagined4 ,others who are unperceived are emboldened1 and range themselves on the side of righteousness4 ,joseph discovered1 as many have done since1 that when he steadfastly set his face towards duty he succeeded far better then he expected4 ,when he went into the palace of ,pilate he foresaw that he might be asked to pay an enormous ransom1 for that would be only customary2 or possibly his request might be scornfully refused by the procurator1 who was angry with himself and with the ,jews4 ,but1 doubtless to his amazement1 no such thing happened4 ,without delay1 or bartering or abuse1 ,pilate at once gave him leave4 ,history is crowded with similar incidents4 ,how helpless and hopeless the ,israelites were when they found themselves face to face with the waters of the ,red ,sea1 while the army of ,egypt was rapidly overtaking them2 yet they soon discovered that their danger was to prove their means of deliverance2 for the waters which barred their progress to liberty soon overwhelmed their enemies4 ,in other spheres of experience such deliverances have come1 and will continue to come1 to trustful souls3 ,dark and wide the sea appears1 ,every soul is full of fears1 ,yet the word is 'onward still1' ,onward move and do ,his will2 ,and the great deep shall discover ,god's highway to take thee over4 ,peter had a similar experience when in prison4 ,he arose and followed the angel1 and safely passed through the first and the second ward2 but the great iron gate seemed an insuperable barrier1 yet that opened to them of its own accord1 and he stepped through it into liberty4 ,thus it was with the women who as they walked1 while it was yet dark1 towards the grave of their ,lord1 thought of one difficulty which seemed insurmountable1 and asked one another1 ,who shall roll us away the stone at the door of the sepulchre8 ,still on they went1 with faith and courage1 and when they reached their imagined difficulty they found that it had vanished2 for they saw that the stone was rolled away4 ,a similar experience is constantly met with4 ,it is shared by a young man who is expected to undertake some doubtful transaction1 but from conscientious scruple hesitates4 ,he fears what the result of a refusal may be1 but resolves to risk it2 perhaps to find that the order is not pressed1 or that some new incident opens up for him a way of escape4 ,true1 ,god does not always deliver a conscientious man from the special danger before him1 but in the forum of conscience1 and before the judgment-seat of ,christ1 he will be righted4 ,be the result what it may1 we must be true to conscience1 which1 however1 is but another form of saying1 we must be true to ,god2 and instead of peering into the future1 and picturing to ourselves all possible evil results1 we must learn to take the next obvious step in the pathway of duty1 trusting that ,god will make the next step clear1 possible1 and safe4 ,when a tourist is climbing a difficult mountain1 his guide sometimes rounds a corner1 or climbs up to a higher level1 and for a time is lost to sight1 having left his charge behind him2 and he1 unaccustomed to such an expedition1 dares not look down1 and fears to stir another step1 till feeling the rope taut between himself and the guide1 and hearing his cheery voice1 he ventures forward1 to find that the danger was not so great as he imagined4 ,thus made bolder by each difficulty surmounted1 he begins to feel the exhilaration of a mountain climb1 which braces the nerves more than anything besides4 ,if we are really anxious to be in ,god's appointed way1 and boldly take it when it is made clear1 we may be sure that ,he will answer the prayer3 ,hold up my goings in ,thy paths1 that my footsteps slip not4 ,,iii4 ,there are crises in the experience of every one when the whole future is determined2 and such a crisis came to ,joseph of ,arimathea4 ,he had been for some time a disciple of ,jesus1 but had never avowed the fact4 ,but after standing on ,calvary and seeing the death of his ,lord1 sorrow1 shame1 and indignation so stirred him1 that at once he went in boldly unto ,pilate4 ,it was the turning-point in his history1 when obedience to ,god-given impulse decided his whole destiny4 ,the spiritual influences which play upon our souls are not even in their flow4 ,there are times when one is strangely moved1 although in outward environment there is little to account for it4 ,the sermon listened to may be illiterate1 the hymn sung may be destitute of poetic beauty1 the friendly word may be spoken by a social inferior--yet one of these sometimes suffices as the channel of divine power1 which shakes the soul to its very depths4 ,we have known the unexpected avowal of love to ,christ on the part of one obscure scholar set all in the class thinking on the subject of personal responsibility to ,god1 and to ,his ,church4 ,and sometimes the sorrow of leaving home for the first time1 or the death of a dearly-loved friend1 has sufficed to arouse the question1 ,what must ,i do to be saved8 ,we must beware of allowing such opportunities for decisive action to slip away unimproved4 ,when a vessel has grounded at the harbour-bar1 she must wait till the tide lifts her1 or she will not reach a safe anchorage2 but when the tide does flow in1 no sane man will let the chance go by1 lest a storm should rise and wreck her within reach of home4 ,it is noteworthy that ,joseph was moved to decision and confession by the crucifixion of the ,lord2 for this might have been expected to seal his lips4 ,it would seem to have been easier to follow the great ,teacher when listening crowds gathered round ,him1 and multitudes were being healed of whatsoever diseases they had1 than to acknowledge loyalty to ,him when ,he was crucified as a malefactor4 ,yet it was from the ,cross that this man went into the ,church4 ,the light came to him when darkness seemed deepest4 ,it was in the presence of the crucified ,saviour1 of whom even the ,roman centurion said1 ,truly this was the ,son of ,god1 that ,joseph learned to say1 ,because thou hast died for me1 ,i will henceforth live for ,thee4 ,this was one of the earliest triumphs of the ,cross1 in which ,paul gloried1 and of ,him who died thereon--dying for us all1 that we who live should not henceforth live unto ourselves but unto ,him4 ,in the presence of that memorable scene we are called on for more than admiration or adoration1 even for a passionate devotion to ,him who gave ,himself up for us all4 ,it may be that some of ,his professed followers may again fail ,him1 and that others will step in to do the service which ,he requires4 ,in the hour of darkness all ,his recognised disciples forsook him and fled2 and when the tragedy on ,golgotha was over1 it was not ,peter1 and ,james1 and ,john1 and ,andrew1 who rendered ,him the last service1 but holy1 humble women1 and ,joseph and ,nicodemus1 who up till then had not been reckoned as disciples at all4 ,there are times in the history of the ,church when our ,lord seems crucified afresh1 and put to an open shame1 while ,his so-called disciples remain silent and hidden4 ,superstition and sin still join hands to put the ,christ to death1 to bury ,him1 and seal ,his sepulchre4 ,but secret disciples are meanwhile avowing themselves2 coming from the east1 and the west1 from the north1 and from the south1 to fill up the vacant places1 to do the needed services1 and to rejoice in a risen and glorified ,lord4 ,better by far the doing of a simple act of love to the ,saviour who died for us--such as ,joseph did--than loud professions of loyalty1 or accurate knowledge of creeds4 ,hear once more the solemn words of ,jesus3 ,not every one that saith unto ,me1 ,lord1 ,lord1 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven2 but he that doeth the will of ,my ,father which is in heaven4 ,and that voice still soundeth on ,from the centuries that are gone ,to the centuries that shall be6 ,from all vain pomps and shows1 from the pride that overflows1 ,from all the narrow rules and subtleties of ,schools1 ,and the craft of tongue and pen3 ,bewildered in its search1 bewildered with the cry3 ',lo here1 lo there1 the ,church6' poor1 sad ,humanity ,through all the dust and heat turns back with bleeding feet ,by the weary road it came ,unto the simple thought by the ,great ,master taught1 ,and that remaineth still3 ',not he that repeateth the ,name ,but he that doeth the ,will4' ,,philip1 ,,the ,,evangelist ,,by ,,rev4 ,,george ,,milligan1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,philip the ,evangelist must be carefully distinguished from ,philip the ,apostle4 ,and though it is little that we are told regarding him in ,scripture1 that little is very significant4 ,he first comes before us as one of the seven chosen by the early ,church at ,jerusalem to take charge of the daily ministration of charity to the poor widows 7,acts vi4 ,i ff474 ,and when this work is hindered by the outbreak of persecution following on the death of ,stephen1 we find him at once departing to enter on active missionary work elsewhere 7,acts viii4 #d ff474 ,the fact that he should have selected ,samaria as the scene of these new labours1 is in itself a proof that he was able to rise above the ordinary ,jewish prejudices of his time4 ,and this same liberal spirit is further exemplified by the incident in connection with which he will always be principally remembered4 ,in obedience to a ,divine summons1 ,philip had betaken himself to the way that goeth down from ,jerusalem to ,gaza4 ,and if at first he may have wondered why he should have been called upon to leave his rapidly progressing work in ,samaria for a desert road1 he was not for long left in doubt as to what was required of him4 ,for as he walked along he was overtaken by an ,ethiopian stranger returning in his chariot from ,jerusalem4 ,this man1 who was the chamberlain or treasurer of ,candace1 ,queen of the ,ethiopians1 had heard somehow in his distant home1 of the ,jewish religion1 and had undertaken this long journey to make further inquiries regarding it4 ,we are not told how he had been impressed2 very possibly the actual fruits that he witnessed were very different from what he had expected4 ,but one treasure at least he had found1 a ,greek copy of the prophecies of ,isaiah1 and this he was eagerly searching on his return journey1 to see if he could find further light there4 ,one passage specially arrested his attention1 the touching passage in which the prophet draws out his great portraiture of the ,man of ,sorrows4 ,but1 then1 how reconcile the thought of this ,messiah1 suffering1 wounded1 dying1 with the great ,king and ,conqueror whom the ,jews at ,jerusalem had been expecting6 ,could it be that he had anything to do with our ,jesus of ,nazareth1 of whom he had also heard1 and whom1 because of the ,messianic claims ,he had put forward1 the ,jewish leaders had crucified on a cross8 ,oh1 for some one to help him6 ,help was nearer than he thought4 ,prompted by the ,spirit1 ,philip ran forward to the chariot2 and no sooner had he learned the royal chamberlain's difficulties than he opened his mouth1 and beginning from this scripture1 preached unto him ,jesus 7,acts viii4 #ce74 ,we are not told on what particulars ,philip dwelt2 but1 doubtless1 starting from the prophetic description of the ,man of ,sorrows1 despised and rejected of men1 he would show how that description held true of the earthly life of ,jesus4 ,and then he would go on to show the meaning and bearing of these sufferings4 ,they arose from no fault on the part of ,jesus2 but1 ,he was wounded for our transgressions1 ,he was bruised for our iniquities4 ,and yet that was not the end4 ,the life which had thus ended in shame had begun again in glory3 the cross had led on to the crown4 ,and as thus he unfolded the first great principles of the ,christian faith1 ,philip would press home on the eunuch's awakened conscience that they had a vital meaning for him4 ,repent1 can we not imagine him pleading as ,peter had pleaded before1 and be baptised 4 4 4 in the name of ,jesus ,christ unto the remission of your sins2 and ye shall receive the gift of the ,holy ,ghost 7,acts ii4 #ch74 ,the eunuch's heart was touched1 and he asked that he might be baptized4 ,satisfied that he was in earnest1 ,philip agreed to his request4 ,and when they came to a certain water1 they both went down into the water1 both ,philip and the eunuch2 and he baptized him4 ,thus the ,ethiopian changed his skin1 and went on his way rejoicing to his distant home1 to declare in his turn to his countrymen the tidings of great joy4 ,there are many points of view from which we might regard this beautiful incident1 but it is with it in its bearing on the person and character of ,philip that we are alone at present concerned4 ,and in considering it further in this light1 it may be well to confine ourselves to noticing in what way it gained for ,philip his distinctive title of the ,evangelist1 and consequently what it has to teach us still regarding all evangelistic and missionary work4 ,i4 ,the ,evangelist4 ,with regard to the evangelist himself1 one truth stands out clearly from the whole narrative1 his work is given to him to do4 ,he is first and foremost a missionary1 one sent4 ,it is a pity1 perhaps1 that in our ordinary speech1 we have come to limit the name missionary so much to the man who carries the gospel abroad4 ,no doubt he is a missionary in the highest sense of the word2 but still the fundamental idea in every minister or evangelist's position is the idea of one sent--sent for a particular purpose1 with a particular message to proclaim wherever ,god may place him4 ,he has no power1 no authority of his own4 ,all that he has comes from ,him whose servant he is1 and whose truth he has to announce4 ,you remember--to appeal at once to the highest example--how ever-present this thought of ,his mission was to the mind of our ,lord and ,master4 ,his meat1 so ,he told ,his disciples1 was to do the will of ,him that sent ,him 7,john iv4 #cd74 ,the word which ,he spake was not ,his own1 but the ,father's who sent ,him 7,john xiv4 #bd74 ,and so when the time came for ,his sending forth ,his disciples to carry on ,his work1 it was as ,apostles1 those sent1 that the work was entrusted to them2 and in the same spirit ,he prayed for them in ,his great intercessory prayer3 ,as ,thou didst send ,me into the world1 even so sent ,i them into the world 7,john xvii4 #ah74 ,if we keep this view of the evangelist as the missionary1 ever before us1 there is one fact regarding his position we can never lose sight of4 ,he has no new truth of his own to declare1 no new theories of his own to frame4 ,the message which he has to deliver is not his own1 but ,god's2 and it must be his constant endeavour to learn that message for himself1 and then1 as ,god's servant1 to announce it to others4 ,men may receive his message4 ,if they do not1 he dare not substitute any other4 ,,ii4 ,his ,message4 ,in what does the evangelist's message consist8 ,philip1 we are told1 preached unto him ,,jesus4 ,and what that included we have already seen4 ,it was the story of the life1 and the death1 and the resurrection of ,jesus of ,nazareth1 a new story then1 an old story now1 but still the old1 old story for us4 ,the duty of the ,christian teacher must be first of all to proclaim ,christ and ,his salvation1 to announce the glad tidings of mercy and of love to sinful men4 ,this is not1 of course1 to say that every address or sermon is to be occupied with the objective facts of ,christ's life and death4 ,such teaching would soon become monotonous and wearisome1 and fail in the very purpose it set before it4 ,nor have men only to be awakened to the truth1 they must be built up in it4 ,and the practical question for us all is to learn how to apply and carry out in our daily lives1 the truths we have received1 how to make our conduct correspond to our creed4 ,that opens up an endless field for the evangelist's work3 that introduces us to lectures on ,home ,missions and ,foreign ,missions1 to the story of noble lives2 to all1 in fact1 that is likely to deepen and to quicken our moral nature4 ,but still this remains as the fundamental object of the whole evangel1 to preach ,jesus1 to bring those to ,him who know ,him not1 to strengthen and to comfort those who do4 ,when1 then1 men call upon the ,christian teacher to leave the objective facts of the gospel alone1 and to occupy himself with the philosophic and social questions of the day1 they are calling upon him to surrender his special function and duty4 ,he must indeed endeavour so to present the truth so as to meet the peculiar wants of his own time4 ,the form in which the gospel was presented in one age may not be the best form of presenting it in another4 ,at one time it may be necessary to emphasise one aspect of the truth1 at another1 another4 ,but underneath all its changing forms and aspects1 the truth remains unchanged2 and it is that which must be taught4 ,and after all1 has not the simple gospel message ever proved itself the one message that can touch the hearts and meet the wants of men8 ,what was it1 for example1 in the preaching of ,savonarola that so mightily moved ,florence1 the elegant1 refined1 wicked1 pagan ,florence of the fifteenth century8 ,he himself tells us that it was the preaching of ,scripture truth4 ,when he discoursed in a philosophical manner1 the ignorant and the learned were alike inattentive3 but the word mightily delighted the minds of men1 and showed its divine power in the reformation of their lives4 ,or1 to take another instance from nearer home4 ,archdeacon ,wilson describes somewhere the experience of the promoters of a certain evening-class1 which they had instituted for the benefit of some of the more ignorant and degraded inhabitants of ,bristol4 ,all that they could think of they did for the benefit of the men who gathered to it4 ,they read to them2 they sang to them3 they taught them to read and write4 ,yet1 in course of time1 interest flagged4 ,every expedient failed1 and they were on the point of abandoning the work in despair1 when it occurred to them to apply to the men themselves4 ,what would you like us to tell you about next8 they asked4 ,could you tell us something about ,jesus ,christ8 answered one of the men4 ,that was the one thing needful1 the one abiding satisfaction for their deepest needs4 ,and so ever4 ,it may be strange1 but it is true1 that it is the ,man of ,sorrows who has won the love of men2 it is the ,saviour who has been lifted up on high out of the earth1 who has drawn all men to ,himself4 ,christ3 ,christ crucified3 ,christ risen3 that is the message which every ,christian evangelist has to declare4 ,,iii4 ,his ,message of ,glad ,tidings4 ,and is not that good news8 ,beginning from that same scripture1 ,philip preached the ,,glad ,,tidings of ,jesus4 ,philip made the eunuch's previous knowledge the starting-point of all that he had to say1 and1 as he went on1 showed how there was in his message the answer to all his doubts and the solution of all his difficulties4 ,and the gospel has still the same meaning for us4 ,it has a message for the man struggling with the battle of life1 in the example of ,one who has fought that fight before1 who knows its every trial and sorrow1 and who has come gloriously through them all4 ,it has a message for the sinner1 brooding anxiously over his guilty past1 conscious only of his own defilement and unworthiness in the sight of an all-holy ,god1 as it assures him of mercy and free forgiveness1 of sin blotted out in the blood of ,christ4 ,it has a message for the trembling believer1 compassed about with temptations and doubts1 as it tells of ,one who can still be touched with the feeling of our infirmities1 and who1 because ,he ,himself hath suffered being tempted1 is able to succour them that are tempted4 ,and it has a message for the mourner sorrowing over the loss of near and dear ones1 for it points to ,him who is the ,resurrection and the ,life of ,his people1 and gives promise of the ,father's house with its many mansions1 where ,he is preparing a place for ,his children4 ,and yet great and glorious though that message is1 where there are not a hearing ear1 an understanding heart1 and a willing mind1 even a ,st ,philip or a ,st ,paul may preach in vain4 ,but where1 on the other hand1 these are present1 then ,god may use even the humblest and feeblest of ,his servants to speak some word1 to utter some warning1 which may be worth to us more than all we have in the world besides4 ,god grant that it may be so with us1 and that by the power of the ,holy ,ghost the word preached may be welcomed1 not as the word of men1 but1 as it is in truth1 the word of ,god1 which also worketh in you that believe 7#a ,thess4 ii4 #ac74 ,,ananias ,,and ,,sapphira ,,by ,,rev4 ,,george ,,milligan1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,one of the most striking features of the early ,christian ,church was what we have come to know as ,christian ,communism1 or as the historian describes it in ,acts iv1 #cb3 ,and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul3 and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own2 but they had all things common4 ,it is a bright and a pleasing picture that is thus presented4 ,nor is it difficult to understand how such a spirit should arise amongst men whose hearts were full to overflowing with the new ,christian graces of brotherhood and peace4 ,for we must not imagine that there was anything compulsory about this communism4 ,it was entirely voluntary1 and was due to the eager desire on the part of the wealthier members of the ,church to do all that they could for their poorer brethren4 ,in this particular alone1 we can at once see how widely it differed from what is generally known as communism or socialism in the present day4 ,the spirit of much at any rate of our present-day socialism--so the distinction has been cleverly drawn--is1 ,what is thine1 is mine3 but the spirit of those early believers was rather1 ,what is mine1 is thine4 ,at the same time1 we can readily understand that in a large and mixed community like the early ,church1 all members would not think exactly alike1 and that while many1 we may believe most1 would cheerfully obey this unwritten law of love1 and share and share alike1 others would give in to it--if they did give in1 for1 let me again emphasise1 there was no compulsion upon any--more grudgingly and hesitatingly4 ,of these two classes the writer of the ,book of ,acts presents us with individual examples--of the former class1 in the case of ,joseph1 or ,barnabas1 a wealthy ,cypriot1 who having a field1 sold it1 and brought the money1 and laid it at the apostles' feet 7,acts iv4 #cg7--of the latter1 in the case of ,ananias with ,sapphira his wife1 whose melancholy story is now before us4 ,that story is very familiar1 and is often regarded simply as an instance of the sinfulness of lying4 ,and that undoubtedly it is2 but it warns us also against other equally dangerous and insidious errors1 as a little consideration will1 ,i think1 show4 ,for what were ,ananias's motives in acting as he did8 ,if we can discover them1 we shall have the key to the whole story4 ,and here1 it seems to me1 they must1 in the first instance at any rate1 have been of a sufficiently generous character4 ,ananias had seen what was going on around him1 and he had determined that he must not be behindhand in this ministry of love4 ,but--and now we get a little deeper into his character--ambition to stand well with his fellow-members evidently mingled with the pure spirit of charity3 though we do not need to suppose that there was as yet any conscious intention to deceive4 ,acting1 then1 on these somewhat mixed motives of charity and ambition1 ,ananias determined to sell a possession1 some farm or other which he had1 and hand over the money to the apostles4 ,he probably meant at first to hand over the whole price1 but with the money in his hand1 the demon of avarice entered into his heart4 ,and he kept back part of the price1 his wife also being privy to it1 and brought a certain part1 and laid it at the apostles' feet4 ,but ,peter said1 ,ananias1 why hath ,satan filled thy heart to lie to the ,holy ,ghost1 and to keep back part of the price of the land8 ,whiles it remained1 did it not remain thine own8 and after it was sold1 was it not in thy power8 ,how is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart8 thou hast not lied unto men1 but unto ,god 7,acts v4 #b-d74 ,the sin of ,ananias1 then1 lay in this1 that he gave a certain sum as if it were the whole4 ,there was no necessity for his giving either the whole or the part4 ,had he hung back1 when others were selling their possessions1 he would have been pronounced ungenerous in comparison with them4 ,had he brought a part1 making no mistake about it that it was only a part1 when they were giving all1 then he would have been not so generous4 ,but when he brought a part as if it were the whole1 he added to his former selfishness and avarice deceit and hypocrisy4 ,if he did not in so many words tell a lie1 he did what was equally heinous1 he acted a lie4 ,it is only when we thus clearly realise the enormity of ,ananias's sin1 that we can understand the reason of the dreadful doom that followed4 ,and ,ananias1 hearing these words1 fell down1 and gave up the ghost 7ver4 #e74 ,the judgment came not from men1 but from ,god4 ,as it was in ,god's sight--the sight of the living and heart-searching ,god--that the sin had been committed3 so it was by the direct visitation of ,god that it was now punished4 ,nor was the awful lesson yet over4 ,three hours had scarcely elapsed since the young men had carried forth her husband1 and buried him1 when ,sapphira1 not knowing what was done1 came in4 ,and ,peter answered unto her--answered her look of amazement as she regarded the awe-struck faces of those present--,tell me1 whether ye sold the land for so much8 ,yea1 for so much1 she replied1 adhering to the unholy compact into which1 with ,ananias1 she had entered1 and adding deceit in speech to his deceit in act4 ,but ,peter said unto her1 ,how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the ,spirit of the ,lord8 behold1 the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door1 and they shall carry thee out 7verses #h1 #i74 ,it was the first intimation the unhappy woman had received of ,ananias's death3 and to the shame of her own consciousness of guilt1 must have been added the feeling that she had a certain responsibility in what had befallen him4 ,a word of remonstrance on her part might1 at the beginning1 have prevented the crime3 it was too late now4 ,and she fell down immediately at his feet1 and gave up the ghost3 and the young men came in and found her dead1 and they carried her out and buried her by her husband 7ver4 #aj74 ,and as the sacred historian again impressively adds1 showing how deep was the effect produced3 ,and great fear came upon the whole church1 and upon all that heard these things 7ver4 #aa74 ,such is the story4 ,who does not feel its sadness8 ,all before had been so peaceful and happy4 ,the early believers had presented such a beautiful spectacle of brotherly unity and love4 ,and now1 all too soon1 the enemy had been at work1 sowing tares among the wheat4 ,in the very particular in which the ,church most deserved praise--the enthusiasm of its members' charity--sin had appeared4 ,and thus early had the young ,church of ,christ learned that truth1 which it has been the work of nineteen centuries to emphasise1 that her true danger comes not so much from without as from within1 and that then only is she disgraced1 when she disgraces herself4 ,for what may we learn from this tragic incident8 ,i4 ,we learn the sanctity1 the holiness1 which ,christ looks for in ,his ,church4 ,the ,church of ,christ is holy3 it consists of those who have separated themselves from the world and its defilements1 and who have set themselves apart--body1 soul1 and spirit--for ,christ's service4 ,that1 ,i say1 is the ,church's ideal4 ,but we know1 alas6 only too well1 how far short the ,church on earth falls of that--how much worldliness1 and vanity1 and ambition--yes1 and even grosser sins--mingle with our holy things4 ,but we must keep ,god's ideal ever before us1 that ideal which assures us that ,god1 by ,his ,spirit1 actually dwells in ,his ,church1 dwells in the heart of each individual believer4 ,only when we remember that1 can we see how great was ,ananias's sin4 ,he lied to the ,holy ,ghost3 he lied not unto men1 but unto ,god4 ,as by ,god's ,spirit his heart had been enlightened and opened to the knowledge of the truth3 so now against that ,spirit he had deliberately sinned4 ,such a sin could not pass unpunished4 ,had that been allowed1 the false impression would have got abroad that ,god was easy and tolerant of sin4 ,rather it was necessary that men should be taught once for all1 by sudden death treading swiftly on the heels of detected sin1 that the gospel1 which discovers ,god's boundless mercy1 has not wiped out the sterner attributes of the ,judge4#a ,,ii4 ,we learn the reality of the power of ,satan4 ,on this point1 ,peter's question is very suggestive--,why has ,satan filled thine heart to lie to the ,holy ,ghost8 ,there is a constant tendency in those days1 which are so impatient of all that is supersensible and wonderful1 to try and get rid of the personality of the devil1 and to tone down the question of man's salvation to a struggle between two opposing principles within the heart1 instead of regarding it1 as the ,bible teaches us to regard it1 as an actual contest for the soul of man between real persons--the ,spirit of ,god from above1 the ,spirit of evil from beneath4 ,the heart of man is as it were a little city or fortress on the borderland between two nations at war with each other1 and which is liable to be captured by whichever at that point proves itself the strongest4 ,but at the same time with this great difference1 that every man has the power of deciding into whose hands he is to fall4 ,his will is free3 and he is personally accountable for whom he may choose as master4 ,for1 notice how1 in the case before us1 ,st ,peter1 while tracing the fall of ,ananias to the agency of ,satan1 yet prefixes his question with a why3 ,why hath ,satan jilted thine heart8 ,there had been a time when resistance was still possible4 ,ananias might have rejected the suggestion of the tempter3 he was not bound to yield3 but he had yielded4 ,and very suggestive of why he had fallen so low1 is that other word filled4 ,it brings before us the quiet1 gradual manner in which evil takes possession of the heart of man4 ,we have seen already that it was so in the case of ,ananias4 ,ambition to stand well in the sight of others was his first step3 to ambition was afterwards added avarice3 and then ambition and avarice combined led to deceit and hypocrisy4 ,or1 as bringing out the same truth of the gradual progression of sin1 notice how ,ananias apparently first thought over the sin in his own heart3 then spoke of it to his wife1 and agreed with her that it could be done3 and then how together they carried it out4 ,thought1 speech1 action3 how often are these the successive links by which a man is led on from one degree of sin to another8 ,the lesson is surely to resist at the very outset3 so much depends upon the first step4 ,we must not give place to even the first thought of evil3 nor listen to the tempter's whisper1 whisper he ever so softly4 ,how many1 as they look back upon a downward career1 can trace its beginning to some idle or vain thought1 or to some hasty or careless word6 ,,iii4 ,we learn that a divided service is not possible4 ,no man6 said our ,lord ,himself1 can serve two masters3 ye cannot serve ,god and mammon4 ,not that we are not tempted sometimes to try it4 ,what commoner sin is there amongst professing ,christians than the attempt to make the best of both worlds--to lay hold of this world with the one hand1 while we give it up with the other--to seem other than we are8 ,but surely with this old story from the ,book of ,acts to warn us1 we must see how vain all such divided efforts are4 ,we may deceive ourselves or others for a while2 but the deception cannot last1 and in some hour of searching or of trial our true characters will be laid bare4 ,let us see to it1 then1 that we may take this awful example home as a very real and practical warning to ourselves--that we not only hate and abhor lying1 but put away from us whatsoever maketh a lie6 and that the prayer continually on our lips and in our hearts is1 ,from the crafts and assaults of the devil 4 4 4 from pride1 vain-glory1 and hypocrisy1 good ,lord1 deliver us4 #a;,dr ,oswald ,dykes4 ,,demas ,,by ,,rev4 ,,principal ,,david ,,rowlands1 ,b4,a4 ,many a man who figures in history1 is only known in connection with some stupendous fault--some mistake1 some folly1 or some sin--that has given him an unenviable immortality4 ,mention his name1 and the huge blot by which his memory is besmirched starts up before the mind in all its hideousness4 ,take ,cain1 for example4 ,he occupies the foremost rank as regards fame2 his name is one of the first that children learn to lisp2 and yet what do we know about him8 ,very little indeed2 our knowledge1 in fact1 is limited to a single act--an act which is the most horrible of human crimes4 ,his name is suggestive only of violence1 murder1 the shedding of innocent blood--the foulest deeds that man can possibly commit4 ,or take ,judas ,iscariot4 ,we know more particulars about him--we know that he was one of the original apostles1 that he managed their common fund1 that he posed as a strict economist1 and above all1 that he was a consummate hypocrite4 ,yet when we mention his name1 we call up the remembrance of only one vile deed1 one treacherous act--an act that has made his name a curse and a byword throughout the ages4 ,the same remark is applicable to ,demas4 ,his name is familiar enough1 but the story of his life is almost unknown4 ,paul refers to him more than once as a fellow-labourer1 which shows that for a time at least he was an exemplary ,christian4 ,but he failed in the hour of trial--failed through being dominated by an inordinate love of the world--and his memory survives1 therefore1 as a representative of that worldly-mindedness which leads to apostasy4 ,the tone in which the great apostle mentions ,demas1 in his second letter to ,timothy1 is very touching4 ,demas1 saith he1 has forsaken me1 having loved the present world 7#b ,tim4 iv4 #af74 ,we might have expected him to give vent to his feelings in bitter invective--as is customary in such cases--and to denounce the cowardliness of this desertion in language aflame with indignation4 ,it would have been no more than justice to the offender1 and it might have deterred others from stumbling in the same way4 ,but no1 he does nothing of the kind2 his words contain nothing more than the brief1 deep1 pathetic groan of a wounded heart4 ,he had probably built many hopes upon ,demas1 and not without reason4 ,in his arduous labours among the ,gentiles he had found him an efficient helper1 and many were the hours of sweet communion he had spent with him and others1 in discussing the triumphs of the ,gospel4 ,and he was confident that now in his bonds1 waiting the pleasure of the ,roman tyrant1 he would have derived comfort from his companionship and encouragement from his faithfulness4 ,but alas6 these bright hopes had been cruelly shattered2 for in the hour of his greatest need ,demas had abandoned him4 ,the apostle was too grieved to use harsh language--too grieved1 not only at his own disappointment1 but also when he thought of ,demas's own future4 ,unconsciously1 in this unostentatious exercise of self-restraint1 he has left us an impressive lesson in ,christian charity1 and has shown us the way in which those who fall away from their steadfastness ought to be treated4 ,how many of those hapless delinquents might have been reclaimed1 had the high1 noble1 generous spirit which animated the apostle been manifested towards them by those whose confidence they had betrayed1 it is impossible to tell2 but it is certain that not a few4 ,the question that presents itself here is this3 ,in what light are we to regard ,demas's character8 ,was he a cool1 calculating1 determined apostate2 or did he simply give way to weakness8 ,there is an essential difference between the two cases1 and they ought to be judged accordingly4 ,there are men who through sheer perversity renounce their faith1 and are not ashamed to vilify the religion which they once professed4 ,they are generally embodiments of irreverence1 who glory in their atheism1 and talk of infidelity as if it were a cardinal virtue4 ,whenever there is foul work to be done1 they are almost always to the fore2 whenever holy things are to be held up to ridicule1 they are the men to do it4 ,these are deliberate apostates2 men who with their eyes open prefer darkness to light1 who of set purpose deny the truth and embrace error4 ,happily the world contains but few such4 ,to the honour of human nature1 fallen though it be1 it may be said that it instinctively recoils from such characters with a sense of horror4 ,we do not think for a moment that ,demas belonged to this class1 though the terms in which he is sometimes spoken of might lead one to suppose so4 ,there are others who fall away through weakness4 ,they find themselves in circumstances for which they are not prepared--circumstances by which their faith is sorely tried--and1 lacking that strength of conviction1 which alone can give stability1 they recede from the position which they took up with so much apparent enthusiasm4 ,theirs is not that deep spiritual experience which makes its possessor count suffering as a privilege and martyrdom as a crown4 ,they rejoice for a season in ,christ and ,his salvation1 but they have no root in themselves1 so that when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word1 by and by they are offended4 ,we are inclined to think that ,demas belonged to this class4 ,the apostle was now overwhelmed by calamities4 ,his career as a messenger of the ,cross had been ruthlessly cut short4 ,there were unmistakable signs of a coming storm1 when he1 and possibly those around him1 would be tortured and slain1 to gratify the bloodthirstiness of the ,roman emperor4 ,he seems to be fully cognisant of this1 for he says1 ,i am now ready to be offered1 and the time of my departure is at hand4 ,it is probable1 therefore1 that ,demas feared lest by continuing with the apostle he might share his dreadful fate4 ,he pictured himself being carried away in chains by the brutal soldiery1 as he had seen many others1 to the great amphitheatre1 to be thrown into the arena1 and there to be drawn limb from limb by ferocious beasts1 for the amusement of the frivolous thousands who gloated on such scenes4 ,the bare thought of it made him tremble4 ,he loved the present world2 to him life was too precious1 too full of delightful possibilities1 to be thrown away in the prime of manhood--to be thrown away especially in this awful fashion4 ,visions of former days began to haunt him4 ,his early home1 the comrades of his youth1 his loving kindred1 all that he had left when he became a convert1 completely engrossed his thoughts1 and cast over him a fascination that was becoming irresistible4 ,there was nothing else for it2 he must see them once more1 even though it should cost him his hope of heaven4 ,and so he departed to ,thessalonica1 the place where he was bred and born4 ,some suppose that he took this step for the sake of gain--for the sake of engaging in some lucrative trade4 ,it may be so2 but there is no evidence to prove it4 ,these considerations1 though they explain1 do not excuse ,demas's conduct4 ,far from it4 ,he richly merits all the censure that has been meted out to him4 ,he ought to have played the man1 and braved any danger for the sake of his principles4 ,like the ,psalmist1 he ought to have said3 ,the ,lord is my light and my salvation1 whom shall ,i fear8 ,the ,lord is the strength of my life1 of whom shall ,i be afraid8 ,compared with the kingdom to which he belonged1 what was ,rome with all its power8 ,compared with the ,king whom he served1 what was ,nero with all his glory8 ,compared with the joys of holy living1 what was the world with all its attractions8 ,but he failed to realise these great facts1 and hence he acted the part of a weakling2 he bent as a reed1 when he ought to have stood firm as an oak4 ,if all the first disciples had been made of such pliable stuff as himself1 what would have been the condition of the world to-day8 ,how mean and cowardly his action appears when contrasted with the heroic endurance of weak women1 who rather than deny their ,lord faced the violence of fire6 ,weakness in certain situations amounts to a crime4 ,who ever thinks of justifying ,pontius ,pilate8 ,he was not guilty of wilful wrong2 he would have gladly acquitted our ,lord1 had he been able to do so without risking his own safety2 when he delivered ,him to be crucified1 he simply gave way1 through fear1 to the clamour of an enraged populace4 ,nevertheless he stands convicted by after-ages of the vilest act that any judge has ever committed4 ,wrong-doing is not to be palliated by ascribing it to the overpowering force of temptation4 ,the claims of conscience are paramount1 and no inducements1 however plausible1 can justify us in setting them aside4 ,it is sometimes asked1 what became of ,demas eventually8 ,did he1 after wandering in the world1 and finding no rest to his soul1 identify himself again with the cause which he had deserted8 ,we should like to be able to believe this4 ,but the record is silent2 and this silence is ominous2 for when the ,bible describes the fall of a good man1 it generally gives some account of his restoration4 ,peter is a notable instance4 ,amidst the terrors of the ,judgment-hall he thrice denied his ,lord4 ,the evangelists make no attempt to shield him from adverse criticism2 on the other hand1 they mention in detail every circumstance that enhances the baseness of his behaviour4 ,but they are equally careful to dwell also upon the reality of his repentance4 ,john1 in a passage of marvellous beauty1 relates how in a saner mood1 on the shore of the sea of ,galilee1 he thrice confessed his ,lord--confessed ,him with such glowing fervour1 that he was there and then restored into the position which he had so miserably forfeited4 ,but the last word about ,demas is that which points him out as a backslider2 and as such he must be for ever known4 ,the lesson of ,demas's life is clear1 nay even obtrusively clear1 and the need of it has been freely acknowledged at all times4 ,we could almost wish that it were inscribed in letters of fire upon the midnight sky4 ,he was a man who loved this present world1 and we see in his history how loving the world involves separation from ,god1 and how separation from ,god results in the abandonment of ,his cause4 ,it is difficult to discourse to any purpose upon worldliness4 ,you might get a crowd of people anywhere to hear you dilate upon it4 ,they would probably applaud to the echo your most scathing denunciations of its baseness4 ,but after all the probability is that no one would apply those fervid periods to himself4 ,and why8 ,just because this evil principle manifests itself in such a variety of ways4 ,a man who detects worldliness in his neighbour with the greatest ease may be absolutely incapable of seeing it in himself1 simply because his own and his neighbour's are so different in form4 ,it is the old story4 ,david boiled over with indignation at the hard-hearted monster who had taken the poor man's lamb2 but the fact that he himself had taken another man's wife1 gave him no concern whatever4 ,it will be readily conceded that the miser is a worldly man4 ,he loves gold for its own sake2 he hoards up riches1 not with the view of enjoying them1 but in order to satisfy an inordinate greed of possession2 his chief object in life is to die worth his hundreds1 his thousands1 or his millions4 ,though rich1 he is frequently tormented with the fear of ending his days in want1 and is more anxious for the morrow than the poorest of the poor4 ,the only redeeming point in his character is his self-denial--a truly noble characteristic when associated with a generous disposition--which1 however1 in his case1 loses its value through the sordidness of its aim4 ,yes1 he is a worldly man1 beyond the shadow of a doubt4 ,but this is equally true of the man whose manner of life is the very opposite of this--the spendthrift4 ,he values money only in so far as it enables him to make a grand display1 to spend his days in riotous living1 to gain the goodwill of the empty1 useless1 pleasure-living society in which he moves4 ,how totally different the latter from the former6 ,how frequently do they despise and condemn each other--the miser the spendthrift1 and the spendthrift the miser6 ,and yet they worship1 so to speak1 at the same shrine2 they are victims of the same delusion2 they both make this world their all4 ,this love of the world leads in every case to separation from ,god4 ,the story of the ,fall furnishes an apt illustration of this fatal result4 ,stript of its poetic setting1 what have we there depicted8 ,covetousness--the desire of material good--the determination to obtain it at all hazards4 ,it was under this guise that sin made its first entrance into human life--sin1 which in its turn ,brought death into our world and all our woe4 ,now mark the effect of the first act of transgression4 ,we are told that when ,adam and his wife heard the voice of the ,lord ,god walking in the garden in the cool of the day1 they hid themselves from ,his presence amongst the trees4 ,in other words1 the cords of love which up to that point bound man to ,god were rudely severed4 ,before this the thought of ,god filled their souls with joy2 they loved to hear ,his voice in the whisperings of the wind1 to see ,his smile in the merry sunshine1 to trace ,his power in the structure of the heavens2 but now all was mysteriously changed1 things which previously ministered to their enjoyment became a source of terror4 ,why should the love of the world lead to this result8 ,it is because ,god must be all or nothing to the human soul4 ,the first commandment in the law is--,thou shall love the ,lord thy ,god with all thine heart1 with all thy soul1 and with all thy might4 ,this is not an arbitrary enactment1 but it has its ground in the eternal fitness of things4 ,god is the infinitely powerful1 the infinitely wise1 and the infinitely good1 and as such demands the undivided love of man4 ,anything less than this1 not only falls below ,his lawful claim1 but also fails to satisfy our profoundest aspirations4 ,as ,augustine puts it1 ,thou hast made us for ,thyself2 our hearts are restless1 until they find rest in ,thee4 ,but it may be asked1 ,does love to ,god exclude all other loves8 ,by no means4 ,the second commandment in the law1 ,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself1 is inseparable from the first4 ,it is impossible to obey the one without obeying the other4 ,obedience that does not regard both is partial1 and therefore futile4 ,the reason is plain4 ,god is immanent in creation4 ,the ,christian beholds ,god in everything1 and everything in ,god4 ,thus it comes to pass that his supreme love--his love to ,god--intensifies1 ennobles1 and hallows every other4 ,if you would have an example of the highest type of love--love to ,god manifesting itself as love to man--go to a ,christian home1 and you will find it there in all its charm1 uniting husband and wife1 parents and children1 master and servants1 making the house a veritable paradise regained4 ,there is a sense in which the ,christian even loves the world--loves it as no other man can love it--that is1 when the term is applied to the wondrous system of nature4 ,he loves sometimes to wander in the fields1 where innumerable lovely forms1 both animate and inanimate1 reveal their beauty to the eye2 and at other times to meditate upon the illimitable expanse of heaven1 crowded by ten thousand worlds1 which all declare the glory of ,him who is ,lord over all4 ,paul could not have had this meaning in his mind when he spoke of ,demas as having1 through loving the present world1 made shipwreck concerning his faith4 ,he was thinking rather of the sum-total of those pursuits1 pleasures1 and ambitions which bind man to earth1 hamper his spiritual growth1 and lead him to his ruin4 ,the world in this sense is ,god's rival2 to love the world is to hate ,god4 ,what does separation from ,god imply1 and when can it be said to take place8 ,god is everywhere2 who can flee ,his presence8 ,god is a spirit2 who can do ,him injury8 ,these are questions that have always presented some difficulty4 ,it was asked in the days of ,malachi1 ,will a man rob ,god8 as if such a thing were beyond the range of possibility4 ,at the day of judgment1 those on the left hand will ask the ,judge1 ,lord when saw we ,thee an hungered1 or athirst1 or a stranger1 or naked1 or sick1 or in prison1 and did not minister unto ,thee8 as if the things laid to their charge were without foundation4 ,now1 the objectors in the days of ,malachi who asked1 ,wherein have we robbed thee8 were answered1 ,in the tithes and offering4 ,and the objectors at the day of judgment will be answered1 ,verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these1 ye did it not to ,me4 ,evidently1 therefore1 ,god--or ,god in ,christ--and ,his cause are in a very real sense identical2 so that he who forsakes the one1 of necessity forsakes the other also4 ,separation from the world is an inward process2 it takes place in the heart1 and cannot therefore be perceived by a man's most intimate friends4 ,but the forsaking of ,god's cause is the outward expression of this process1 the manner whereby it becomes known to all the world4 ,if it is asked why we assert that ,demas had forsaken ,god1 the answer is evident2 it is because he forsook ,paul1 who was the representative of ,god's cause4 ,this is never the work of a day1 though it may sometimes appear such4 ,a professedly religious man commits a flagrant act of sin--or perhaps a punishable crime--which places him at once among the open enemies of religion4 ,we wonder at it2 we say in our minds1 ,what a sudden change6 yesterday a saint1 to-day an unmitigated villain6 ,but are we right in saying so8 ,certainly not4 ,that rash act was simply the culmination of a process that had been going on through a long period4 ,the man had been sailing towards the rapids for months1 or perhaps years1 only the fact was unobserved2 it was not until he was hurled headlong over the precipice into the foaming gulf1 that the attention of the world was attracted to it4