I. A PROPHETIC CONFIRMATION OF THE GOOD MAN'S EXPERIENCE. "Jahve was with you (has given you the victory) because ye were with him (held to him)" (Keil). So far fidelity to Jehovah had proved to be the condition of prosperity. Under his banner they had marched to victory; while they were true to him, he had been in the midst of them, and had been there to bless them. This is the common, indeed the constant, experience of the good. The service of God is always a success. It means rest of soul at all times; it means calmness and a wise joy in prosperity; it means resignation and comfort in the time of trouble; it means strength for duty and courage for temptation; it means excellency in life and hope in death. To be with God in the sense and spirit of self-surrender to his will is to have his gracious presence with us, shedding light and gladness on our path. This is the testimony of the good.

II. A PROPHETIC PROMISE OF THE GOOD MAN'S HERITAGE. "If ye seek him, he will be found of you." Behind us is a part (larger or smaller) of our life, and we thank God for all that he has been to us as we have held on our way. But before us is another portion; it may be a very serious, it may be even a critical, passage of our life. We shall want not only our own resources at their best, and the kindest and wisest succour of our friends, but the near presence and effective aid of our heavenly Father. We shall want his guidance, that we may know the path we should take; his guardianship, that we may be preserved from the wrong-doings, from the errors and mistakes, into which we shall otherwise be betrayed; his illumination, that we may tightly discharge our duties and rise to the height of our opportunities; his sustaining grace, that we may bear ourselves bravely and meekly in the day of our adversity and defeat. All this we shall have if we seek it truly. And that means if we seek it

(1) in moral and spiritual integrity, our heart being set on the service of Christ;

(2) with our whole heart, earnestly and perseveringly;

(3) believingly, building our hope on his Word.

III. I PROPHETIC WARNING OF THE GOOD MAN'S DANGER. "If ye forsake him, he will forsake you."

1. There is a practical danger of spiritual and, therefore, of moral declension. Such is our nature, that we are apt to let love become cold; to allow zeal to wane and wither; to permit our best habits to be encroached upon by the pressure of lower cares and pleasures; to forsake God. The records of Christian experience contain only too many instances of such departure.

2. We have, then, to fear the withdrawal of God from us; the loss of his Divine favour, of his indwelling Spirit, of his benediction and reward.

3. Therefore let us watch and pray, that we enter not. into the outer shadow of condemnation. - C.

I. A MESSAGE FROM GOD. (Vers. 1, 2.)

1. Its banter. Azarlah, "Whom Jehovah aids," the son of Oded; mentioned only here. Jehovah may, and often does, transmit messages of moment through humble and obscure messengers. What fitted Azariah to be the bearer of the Divine announcements was the coming upon him of the Spirit of Eiohim, the Spirit being the Revealer and Interpreter of the Divine will to the soul of man (Numbers 11:26; Job 32:8; Ezekiel 2:2; 1 Corinthians 12:8). That the Spirit of God came upon a man did not prove him to have been a good man, Balaam (Numbers 24:2) and Saul (1 Samuel 10:10) being witness; though there is no reason to doubt that Azariah was a true prophet of Jehovah. The Spirit came by measure upon him, as upon other holy men of the old dispensation through whom God spoke to his people; on Christ, through whom God's highest and last message has been sent to mankind, the Spirit was poured out without measure (Isaiah 11:2; John 3:34; Revelation 3:1). Hence the supreme importance attaching to the gospel.

2. Its recipients. "Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin." God claims a right to address sovereigns as well as their subjects. Between princes and peasants in his sight is no difference (Acts 10:34; 1 Peter 1:17). God's messages in the Law and the gospel are directed equally to all. The monarch is as much under the Law as the subject; the subject has as valid a title to the provisions of the gospel as the monarch. Asa and his warriors were returning from a victorious campaign, when Jehovah's prophet interposed with notes of warning. These were timely, since the king and his veterans were in danger of self-laudation and serf-confidence - of ascribing their recent splendid exploits to their own skill and prowess, and of trusting to their own valour to protect them in future, without troubling themselves to think about Jehovah, his religion, or his help. So men (not excepting Christians) are never more in peril of forgetting God than when fortune smiles upon them (Deuteronomy 8:13), and never more need to be admonished than when rejoicing in deliverances wrought for them by God,

3. Its contents. A doctrine, a promise, a warning.

(1) The doctrine. That Jehovah was with them, while they were with him. With all God is as to his immanent presence, since he fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 33:24), and besets all individually behind and before (Psalm 139:1-12); but with his people he is, in the special sense of gracious manifestation, to accept (Numbers 17:4), protect (2 Chronicles 20:17; Jeremiah 42:11), assist (1 Chronicles 22:18; Haggai 1:13), and bless (Exodus 20:24). Only his presence with them is ever conditioned by their being with him in the sense of believing in, loving, and obeying him (John 14:23).

(2) The promise. That if they sought Jehovah, Jehovah should be found of them. If they sought him in the way of penitence, faith, love, obedience, he should be found of them in the way of acceptance, grace, assistance. This promise, always true of Jehovah in his relations with Israel (1 Chronicles 28:9; 2 Chronicles 30:19; Psalm 119:2; Jeremiah 29:13; Amos 5:4), is equally true of his relations with believers on Christ (Hebrews 11:6; James 4:8).

(3) The warning. That if they for-sock God, God would forsake them. If they went back from the path of reform upon which they were entered, he also would withdraw his countenance and aid from them. So Moses (Deuteronomy 31:16, 17)and Joshua (Joshua 24:20) had warned their contemporaries and David his son Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:9). The same condition is addressed to all (Jeremiah 17:33; Hebrews 10:38).

II. A LESSON FROM HISTORY. (Vers. 3-6.)

1. The possibility of lapsing into religious apostasy. Such times had formerly existed in Judah, and hence in the future might reappear (Ecclesiastes 1:9; Ecclesiastes 3:15). Whether Azariah's language depicted the condition of Judah then (Grotius), or in the future (Luther), or in the past, in the days of Rehoboam and Abijah (Syriac, Arabic), or in the period of the judges (Vitringa, Bertheau), is open to debate. As the prophet has not definitely stated the time, he may have designed to express truths of force at. all limes (Keil). Of such days as the prophet alludes to, Judah and Israel had both before had experience. The description of them is peculiarly affecting.

(1) No true God; i.e. no knowledge of the true God; or, what is worse, the knowledge of the true God, but not his worship or service. Such times had existed soon after the death of Joshua (Judges 2:10-15; Judges 10:6), and were yet to reappear in Israel under Ahab (1 Kings 18:20, 21), and in Judah under Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:1-6). "Without God" - a correct characterization of the unbelieving world (Job 21:14; Psalm 10:4; Ephesians 2:12).

(2) No teaching priest; i.e. the priests they had either no knowledge of the true God, of his character and requirements, and so could not teach the People; or, if they did, they were satisfied with the mere performance of their altar duties, without caring for the spiritual welfare of the people. If the first, they were disqualified for being priests by reason of their ignorance (Malachi 2:7); if the second, they were chargeable with indolence (Malachi 1:6) or hypocrisy (Nehemiah 9:34), or both. If, under the old covenant, priests were required to instruct the people in the tenets and precepts of religion, much more is it incumbent on Christian pastors to be also teachers (Ephesians 4:11). A ministry that does not preach or teach ipso facto stands condemned.

(3) No Law; i.e. the Torah of Moses, unknown, or forgotten, or disobeyed. When men or nations depart from God, they begin by pulling down his altars, and end by trampling on his commandments. And if there be no God, this is just as it should be. If God is not, to pretend to worship him is a farce, and ministers of religion may be dispensed with; if God is not, there is no Supreme Authority to claim from man obedience, and man may at once assume lordship over himself. But if God is, it will be more prudent to let his altars remain, to see that his ministers teach, and take order that his precepts be obeyed.

2. The certainty that religious apostasy will be followed by national disaster. So it had been in the past, and so it would be in the future.

(1) Social disturbance, danger, and violence had been, and would be, the order of the day. "And in those times there was," or is, "no peace to him that went out or to him that came in." Such had been Israel's condition in the days of Shamgar the son of Anath (Judges 5:6), and under the oppression of the Midianites (Judges 6:2). Irreligion necessarily gravitates towards violence. He that breaks God's commandments without a qualm of conscience seldom scruples about making havoc with man's when opportunity occurs. Exemplified in the age of Noah (Genesis 6:4, 11, 12), in the last days of Greece and Rome, and in the French Revolution of 1798.

(2) Political anarchy had commonly attended these times in the past, and would more than likely do so again on their recurrence. "Great vexations came upon all the inhabitants of the countries, and nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city" - literally, "and they were broken in pieces, nation against nation and city against city;" "for God did," or does, "vex them with all adversity." The language, descriptive of such a reign of terror as commonly accompanies civil war, was verified in a form comparatively mild in the war of the tribes of Israel against Benjamin (Judges 20:20), and in the struggle of the Gileadites with Ephraim (Judges 12:4). Amos (Amos 3:9) depicted such commotions, confusions, tumults, as occurring, or about to occur, in Samaria in his time. In the final overthrow of the two kingdoms, the prophet's words received their most startling illustration (Isaiah 9:18-20). In the ultimate destruction of all peoples hostile to God, they will,obtain their highest and fullest realization (Zechariah 14:13; Matthew 24:7).

3. The only way of escaping from the miseries and horrors of such evil times, viz. by repenting and turning to Jehovah. "But when in their distress," etc. So had it been in the days of the Egyptian oppression (Exodus 2:23), and in those of the Midianite supremacy (Judges 6:6). So had it been in the experience of Asa himself, whose cry unto Jehovah on the field of war had been heard (2 Chronicles 14:11). So would it be again, if in the season of their calamity they remembered God (2 Chronicles 7:14). The doctrine here enunciated holds good of individuals as well as of nations; e.g. David (2 Samuel 21:1; Psalm 18:6; Psalm 34:4; Psalm 138:3), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:4, 10), Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:5). The ear of God is open to every cry of a distressed soul (Psalm 34:15). "Fools, because of their transgression," etc. (Psalm 107:17-19).

III. AN EXHORTATION FROM A PROPHET. (Ver. 7.)

1. The counsel. Action.

(1) Vigorous. "Be strong therefore." Courage in conceiving and doing the right thing was the special demand of the hour. The right thing at that moment in Judah was to adhere to Jehovah, reform the abuses that during the previous reigns had crept into his worship, and exterminate the idolatrous rites that had been introduced by earlier king. More disastrous for the country had these been than Zerah's invasion. Nothing more required of the followers of God and soldiers of Jesus Christ in any age or land than an heroic determination to resist sin and follow holiness, oppose error and defend truth, renounce idolatry and cleave to the worship of the Father (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:7; Psalm 27:14; 1 Corinthians 16:13; 2 Timothy 2:1).

(2) Persevering. "Let not your hands be weak" Not enough to begin well; to continue well is indispensable. Weariness in well-doing a frequent phenomenon, much needing to be guarded against (Galatians 6:9). Steadfastness in the faith and in the maintenance of good works expected of Christians (1 Corinthians 15:58; Philippians 4:1; Colossians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:13; 2 Timothy 3:14; Hebrews 10:23).

2. The encouragement. Recompense. "Your work shall be rewarded."

(1) With inward satisfaction, as being in itself a right work (Proverbs 14:14). This an invariable accompaniment of well-doing, and, apart from further consequences, ample remuneration.

(2) With Divine approbation, as being a work God regards with favour. Already expressed in the Word (Hebrews 13:16), this will eventually be proclaimed by the mouth of God (Matthew 25:21, 23).

(3) With ultimate success, as being a work destined to triumph over every form of evil. The cause of God and truth, of Christ and the gospel, may be long and bitterly opposed, but ultimate victory rests with it (Revelation 11:15). Learn:

1. The superiority of the new dispensation in having God's Son as its Messenger (Hebrews 1:1, 2).

2. The equity of God's dealings with men in providence and in grace (1 Samuel 2:30; Ezekiel 18:29).

3. The miserable state of the heathen world, as destitute of the true knowledge of God (Ephesians 2:12; Ephesians 4:17, 18).

4. The value of affliction as a means of religious improvement (Job 33:17-19; Ezekiel 20:37; Lamentations 3:27; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:11).

5. The secret of national prosperity - righteous-ness (Proverbs 14:34).

6. The duty of persevering in religion (John 15:4; Acts 11:23; 2 Timothy 1:14; 1 Peter 5:9; Revelation 2:27).

7. The certainty that faith shall not lose its reward (Luke 6:35; 1 Corinthians 3:14; Hebrews 10:35). - W.

I. CONSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESS, which is to be borne with rather than to be blamed. Some human spirits are less fully endowed than others; some bring with them sad consequences of their progenitors' sin (Exodus 20:5). It requires tenfold more spiritual courage and exertion on the part of these to be loyal and faithful than on the part of their brethren who are more richly equipped or less heavily weighted. We need to know much before we judge men. Only the Divine Father, who knows us altogether, who knows, therefore, the limitations and the propensities of our nature which we have received from himself or from our ancestors, can say how much we are to be blamed, how much to be pitied. But undoubtedly there is -

II. MORAL WEAKNESS, for which we are responsible, of which we are guilty, "Let not your hands be weak." But how often the hand is weak because the life has been low, and because the heart has been wrong! All vice leads down to weakness. And not vice alone, but all folly; the foolish and blameworthy disregard of the laws of our mind and of our body. Not only excessive indulgence in any one direction (mental or physical), but unregulated and ill-proportioned activity, ends in weakness; so that he who might have been an active and efficient workman in many a good field of usefulness is helpless; his hand hangs down; there is "no strength in his right hand," because there has been no wisdom in his mind.

III. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH, which we are under obligation to acquire. There is much of real, effective strength which it is open to us all to obtain if we will. God is saying to us, "Be ye strong;" and if we do what he gives us the means of doing, we shall be strong. What are the sources of spiritual strength?

1. Christian morality. And this includes

(1) the care of the body - the regulation of its instincts and craving, ministering to its necessities;

(2) the culture of the mind - increasing its knowledge and nourishing its power;

(3) the training of the heart.

2. Sacred service. Our capacity for serving Christ and man depends very largely indeed on our making a continuous effort to serve. "To him that hath is given," i.e. to him that puts out his talent is given another; to him that expends his strength in paths of holy usefulness is given multiplied power to speak and strike for God and truth. Our present strength depends upon our growth in power; and that depends upon the measure of our exercise in the field of sacred work.

3. Divine communication. "Thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul" (Psalm 138:3); "In Christ who strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).. Strength is one of the "good things" our heavenly Father will give to "them that ask him" (Matthew 7:11). - C.

I. THE REWARD OF HIRED LABOUR. Hired labour is rewarded precisely and particularly. So much money for so much work, measured by the hours occupied or the work done. There is a nice calculation of what has been wrought on the one hand, and of what is given in exchange on the other. It is supposed that the one is the equivalent of the other. But our Divine Saviour does not call us into his field on this arrangement. We are not his day-labourers, engaged at a certain price; we are his fellow-workers - employed under him, indeed, but engaged with him in the completion of his great "work." He is not treating us as slaves or even as common servants, but as children and as friends - as those whom he loves and desires to bless with true well-being. We aspire to -

II. THE REWARD OF THE LABOUR OF LOVE. Our Divine Master invites us to stand by his side and work out with him the redemption of our race. He charges us to be as he was in the world; to work as he did, in the spirit of entire self-surrender, of wholehearted love; to put forth our strength in his service and in the cause of righteousness and human elevation; and he tells us that we shall secure a "full reward." We shall find that in:

1. The possession of his good pleasure. The true soldier finds his best reward in the commendation of his commander; the true scholar in the approval of his teacher; the true workman in the smile of him in whose service he is engaged. We, as Christian workmen, look for our deepest joy in the smile and the approval of our Lord. We hope for no moment of keener ecstasy than that when we shall hear him say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" To live in the known and felt possession of Jesus Christ's benediction is one of the purest, as it is one of the most appreciated, rewards, we can receive.

2. The enlargement of our own powers of service. As we work in the cause of heavenly wisdom and of spiritual well-being, our power for action is constantly enlarging, until feebleness becomes strength, and strength becomes might. The more we do the more we are capable of doing (see previous homily).

3. The expansion of our sphere of service. "Thou hast been faithful in a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things" (Matthew 25:21). "I will ask for no reward, except to serve thee still;" or, may we not say," except to serve thee mor "? - to serve thee in that broader sphere, with those nobler opportunities into which thou wilt introduce me. For our Master does thus enlarge us now, as one fruit of our labour; and he will soon reward us by a far more generous enlargement, when he "cometh with his Father" and when "his reward is with him." - C.

I. SERIOUS PREPARATIONS. (Vers, 8-11.)

1. The purgation of the land from idols. Encouraged by the words of the son of Oded - not Oded, as in the text - Asa, on reaching his capital, determined to convene a national assembly, and enter into a solemn league and covenant to carry out the work of reformation so auspiciously begun (2 Chronicles 14:2-5), and so manifestly owned of Jehovah in the splendid victory he had granted over the Cushite invader (2 Chronicles 14:12). As a preliminary, he "put away the abominations," i.e. the idols, "from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim." In the same spirit acted Jacob, before going up to meet with Jehovah at Bethel (Genesis 35:2); and Moses, before the interview of Israel with Jehovah at Sinai (Exodus 19:14); Hezekiah, before he celebrated the Passover (2 Chronicles 30:14); and Josiah, before he renewed the covenant (2 Chronicles 34:3-7). If such preparation on the part of Israel was needful to qualify her for an interview with Jehovah even in external celebrations (Amos 4:12), much more is a similar preparation of the heart indispensable on the part of souls who come before God in any act of spiritual worship (2 Chronicles 19:3; 2 Chronicles 20:33; 1 Samuel 7:3; Psalm 57:7; Luke 1:17). In particular, all known sin must be abandoned (Isaiah 1:16, 17).

2. The renewal of the altar of the Lord. The great brazen altar of Solomon (2 Chronicles 4:1) had probably been defiled by idol-rites during preceding reigns, and required reconsecration (Bertheau); while, after sixty years of service, it almost certainly stood in need of repairs (Keil). Most likely Asa's renovation of the altar was of both kinds - an external reparation and a religious consecration. It is commonly a sign that a Church or nation is in earnest in entering upon religious reformation when it attends to the externals as well as to the internals of religion - when it corrects abuses, repairs defects, and adds improvements in the outward means of grace, as well as endeavours to impart to these fresh attractiveness and zeal Individuals begin not well who neglect to engage all their powers of body, mind, and heart in the work, or to seek for these a new and gracious baptism from above (Romans 12:1).

3. The invitation of the people to a national assembly. Without the hearty consent and cooperation of the people, reforms of no kind can be effected - as little religious as political or social, and just as little these as those. Accordingly, all Judah and Benjamin, with such Israelites as sympathized with the new movement, were summoned to Jerusalem on a certain day to covenant to seek Jehovah. As early as the days of Rehoboam, strangers from the northern kingdom had found their way into the southern (2 Chronicles 11:16); Asa's victory over Zerah having been accepted as a proof that Jehovah was on the side of Judah's king, the number of these immigrants largely increased (ver. 9). What was wanted then in Judah and Israel to rally the pious is demanded still - a leader, who has God upon his side, because he is on the side of God.

4. The gathering of the pious in Jerusalem. It showed the spirit of the people that they responded at once to their monarch's call. Followers that will not follow are a hindrance to those who would lead in reformations in either Church or state, Union is strength, and generally victory; disunion weakness, and always defeat.

II. SOLEMN TRANSACTIONS. (Vers. 12-14.)

1. The presentation of the spoils. These, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep, formed part of the plunder taken from Zerah's army (2 Chronicles 14:14, 15), and were now presented to Jehovah; as Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek on returning from the slaughter of the kings (Genesis 14:20); as the Israelites in the wilderness after the slaughter of the Midianites levied a tribute unto the Lord (Numbers 31:11-47); as Saul said he intended to sacrifice unto the Lord the sheep and oxen he had reserved from the spoil of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:21); and as victorious generals among the Romans were accustomed to dedicate to Jupiter part of the spoils taken from the enemy (Adam's 'Roman Antiquities,' p. 327). As Asa's victory had been achieved solely through Divine help, this was becoming as well as right. Those whom God renders successful in their callings should honour him with the firstfruits of their increase (Proverbs 3:9). Every man as God hath prospered him, a rule of Christian giving (1 Corinthians 16:2).

2. The formation of a covenant.

(1) The object - twofold.

(a) "To seek the Lord God of their fathers," etc. (ver. 12) - a right thing for nations and individuals to do - yea, for all, whether they covenant with and swear to one another concerning it or not. To seek God, a nation's and individual's life (Isaiah 55:3, 6; Psalm 69:32; Amos 5:4), and the only source of true prosperity for either (Psalm 70:4; Psalm 119:2; Amos 8:14; Lamentations 3:25). That the god a nation or an individual seeks is the god of his or its fathers, is no proof that that god is the true God; but, being the true God, he possesses an additional claim on the worship and homage of both individual and nation, from the fact that he is and has been their fathers' God. If God is to be sought at all, it should be with the whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13). Nothing short of this is religion (Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 13:3; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33; Luke 10:27).

(b) To "put to death," etc. (ver. 13). Under the theocracy religious toleration was impossible, for the reason that idolatry was high treason. "A theocratic government is a government of constraint. Freedom of conscience would have been an unmeaning sound under the Jewish economy" (Pressense, 'Early Years of the Christian Church,' vol. 1. p. 36). Church and state in Judah were one. No such identification existed among heathen nations, though approximations towards it were often seen. Nor does such identification exist under the gospel. Hence neither Church nor state now has authority to put to death those who decline the religion prescribed by either. The reformed Churches of England and Scotland were slow in perceiving that the extermination of heretics by the sword of the civil magistrate, however legitimate under the Jewish theocracy, was not permissible in the Church of Jesus Christ. Under the gospel God alone is Lord of the conscience; and to each man pertains the right of choosing his own religion, his own creed, and his own worship, without dictation, not to say coercion, from either king or parliament - being answerable for the choice he makes in the first place to his own conscience, and in the last place to God, whose creature and subject he is. This is the doctrine of religious equality, which should be carefully distinguished from that of religious toleration, which proceeds upon the erroneous assumption that Church and state possess the right, but decline to exercise the power of coercion, and agree to allow, what they might justly put down, diversity of faith and practice in religion.

(2) The form - simple. "They sware unto the Lord;" i.e. bound themselves with an oath to carry out the twofold purpose above described. This they did with enthusiasm (ver. 14), which is always good in a good thing (Galatians 4:18), and especially good in religion (Luke 13:24; John 9:4; Ephesians 5:16; Hebrews 6:11).

(3) The scene - impressive. In more points than one this high transaction under Asa had a parallel in the National Covenant, which was formed by the Scottish people in Edinburgh on the last day of February, 1638, when in the churchyard of Greyfriars, in the grey dawn, a parchment was spread upon a gravestone, and one by one the nobility, gentry, burgesses, ministers of religion, and common people, with uplifted hand and solemn oath, affixed to it their names, engaging with one another to maintain the Presbyterian form of Church government, and, at the point of the sword, to exterminate the prelatical.

III. SIGNIFICANT RESULTS. (Vers. 15-19.)

1. The joy of the people. (Ver. 15.) This proved they had been in earnest. They exulted in the unanimity and heartiness with which the covenant had been made, and in the prospect thus opened up for the attainment of its objects.

2. The zeal of the king. (Vers. 16-18.)

(1) The deposition of the queen-mother, Maachah, the mother of Abijah and grandmother of Asa. High rank, venerable age, and near relationship to Asa had given her at court and in the land commanding influence, which she exercised in the interest of idolatry. Her removal by Asa showed him sincere in desiring to effect a reformation (Luke 14:26).

(2) The destruction of her abominable image. This, which was made of wood, and is supposed by some to have been an obscene figure, pudendum, representing the productive power of nature - which is doubtful (Bertheau and Keil) - was an object of horror and detestation to the Hebrews; its destruction was another indication of the spirit by which Asa was actuated. The only defect in his reformation activity, was that he did not at the same time abolish the high places connected with the worship of Jehovah.

(3) The introduction into the temple of the dedicated gifts of his father and of himself. The former, consisting of the spoils Abijah had taken in the war with Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13:16) - silver, gold, and vessels - had been used by the conqueror either to adorn some heathen temple or to enrich the royal treasury, but were now surrendered by Asa to the house of the Lord. The latter, composed of similar materials plundered by himself in the Cushite war (2 Chronicles 14:14, 15), he also presented to their rightful Owner, Jehovah. To restore the former was as much a duty as to give up the latter. "Asa, like a good son, pays his father's debts and his own" (Bishop Hall).

3. The approbation of Jehovah. Intimated by the fact that for the next twenty years the land enjoyed rest (ver. 19). "When a man's ways please God, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Proverbs 16:7). Were nations to please God by their ways, he would "make wars cease to the end of the earth" (Psalm 46:9). Learn:

1. The stimulus good men derive from God's Word, exemplified in the effect produced upon Asa by Oded's prophecy (ver. 8).

2. The purifying power of true religion on the soul - symbolized by Asa's purgation of the land (ver. 8).

3. The attractive influence upon others of those who have God with them - seen in the rallying of the pious round Asa (ver. 9).

4. The supreme duty of individuals and nations - to seek the Lord (ver. 12).

5. The lawfulness of men covenanting with each other for such a purpose, but not of compelling others (ver. 13).

6. The necessity in religion of proving the heart's sincerity by the hand's activity and liberality (vers. 11, 18).

7. The propriety of being thorough in all undertakings connected with religion - the want of this a defect in Asa (ver. 17). - W

I. THE MISTAKE OF HALF-HEARTEDNESS IN THE SERVICE OF CHRIST. During the reigns of Rehoboam and Abijah, when king and people both showed much abatement of zeal in the worship of Jehovah, we do not read of any record like that of the text. Of Rehoboam we find that "he fixed not his heart to seek the Lord" (2 Chronicles 12:14, marginal reading). Abijah could say nothing more for himself than that he had "not forsaken the Lord" (2 Chronicles 13:10), and his later days, like his grandfather's, were apparently darkened by indulgence. There was no fervour of piety, and there was no fulness of joy in the land. And we find that everywhere and always it is so. Half-heartedness in holy service is a profound mistake. It gives no satisfaction to our Lord himself. It leads to no height of Christian worth, to no marked excellency of character. It fills the soul with no deep and lasting joy. It is very likely to decline and to expire, to go out into the darkness of doubt, or worldliness, or guilt.

II. THE WISDOM OF WHOLE-HEARTEDNESS. "All Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire... and the Lord gave them rest." There was no imaginable step they could have taken which would have caused so much elation of heart and ensured so enviable a national position. Ass and his people showed the very truest wisdom, something more and better than sagacious policy or statecraft, when they sought the Lord with all their heart. They did that which gave them a pure and honest satisfaction in the present, and which, more than any other act, secured the future. And though we certainly are not invited to manifest the thoroughness of our devotion in the same severities that characterized their decision (ver. 13), we do well when we follow there in the fulness of their resolve. For to seek Christ the Lord with all our heart and our "whole desire" is the one right and the one wise thing to do.

1. It secures to us the abiding favour and friendship of the Eternal; he is then "found" of us.

2. It brings profound personal rest; then Christ speaks "peace" to us = - His peace, such as this world has not at Its command.

3. It secures a feeling of friendship toward all around us: "rest round about." The heart is filled with that holy love which desires to bless all who can be reached.

4. It fills and sometimes floods the heart with sacred joy. The full realization of the presence and love of Christ, the fervent worship of the Lord of all grace and truth, earnest work done in his Name and in his strength, - these are a source of enlarging and ennobling joy. The true key-note of the Christian life is this: "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again... rejoice." - C.