1 Kings 14:13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave… That the grace of God may convert a man in the prime of life, ay, and bring even a grey-headed sinner to the foot of the cross, is a truth of which, happily, examples can easily be found. But, while this is true, let it never be forgotten that the great majority of conversions take place in early life. I. THIS DESCRIPTION OF HIS PIETY. "In him there is found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel." What, think you, might this "good thing" be? Certainly, it was not his rank, nor wealth, nor power, nor intellect. And, as this "good thing" was not any mere material endowment, so neither was it any mere moral excellence, It does not mean simply that Abijah was what the world calls good-hearted, "a good-living lad"; that he was amiable and well-behaved; that, in the midst of abounding debauchery, he preserved his virtue unstained. This, indeed, would be much, but it would not be expressed in the peculiar language of the text; the "good thing" was a "good thing towards the Lord God of Israel," a gracious, a spiritual, a Divine, a holy thing. It was a something that sprang not out of nature, nor of the flesh, something that his father did not give him, something that he never learnt from the royal but dissolute court of Israel. 1. There are two things which, when found in a man, are good and acceptable to God. The first Is true repentance, or what the Bible calls the "broken and contrite heart." A second thing on which God specially sets the seal of His approbation is "faith in that one sacrifice which doth for sin atone." Amongst all the princes of the royal house, Abijah alone refused to worship the golden calves which his father had made. Jewish writers tell us that Abijah would not bow down to the idols, but insisted on worshipping the true God at Jerusalem. His faith might have been but a little spark, but that secured his acceptance before God. But without these two things, "repentance from dead works, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, there is nothing m you that God can approve. II. BUT NOW THERE ARE ONE OR TWO SPECIAL LESSONS TO BE DRAWN FROM THE CASE OF ABIJAH 1. Real piety may exist under most adverse and unfavourable circumstances. Here was a youth, all of whose surroundings were of the worst possible character. An ungodly home, an idolatrous court, parents both wicked, every relative he had under the curse of God: why, you would say, piety could not live a day amid such conditions as these. The brightest diamonds have been found in the darkest mines, and the richest pearls in the deepest seas. Satan sometimes outwits himself. Sin is used to secure its own defeat. Even unconverted men are shocked by wickedness which exceeds their own, 2. Even a young and brief life may be fruitful in blessing. Young as he was, the whole nation mourned for him. In the highest view of it, the length of life is not to be judged by the number of its years. It is possible for the longest life to be briefer than the shortest; and the smoothcheeked youth may die older, that is, with more of life crowded into his brief history, than he whose stagnant and profitless existence drags on to an inglorious old age. That life is the longest — however limited the number of its years — in which God has been best served, and the world most benefited. 3. Piety in life is the only guarantee of peace in death. An early departure from this world is not a thing to be dreaded, provided your heart is right with God. (J. T. Davidson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. |
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