The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-01-14

wise man does not set his house
atre 10 warm his hands bat THIS is
practically what Jerohosu did when
he Sc; up the golden calves. He sought
to avoid trouble; he overwhelmed the
land with trouble And Israel never
recovered from It's pi;iful plight 20
the day ~ its captivity.
In judah matters were not turn
ing out much better. Rehoboam made
"a miserable failure, and he was sue
cee5ed by .AhiJah. who walked IN all
the sins of his father.
After reiEning three years. A atJah
died and was succeeded by his son
Asa. who. on the whole. made good
and vs. s.a R4ax The frst thing Asa
did was to~remove the obstacles which
a sinful people had built up between
themselves and God. He took away
the pagan affairs which stood on al
most every hilltop, and DESTROYED the
images. or stone pillars. and also the
groves. or wooden pillars. which stood
lsv the affairs as symbols of the deities
TO whom the affairs were erected.
Then he commanded the people TO
turn anto the true God and TO wor-
shtp Him and TO obey His command
nants. His next step was TO strength
en- his Kingdom. God had given MIN
rest from his enemies, and he believed
that in time OF peace h. should pre-
para for war. Fly and 10y a great
army came up from the south, and
the hearts of the people were filed
with terror And Asa cried unto
Jehovah his God" II was great
prayer and il was gioriously answ
For Jehovah smote the Ethiopians
before Asa and before Judah. and the
Ethiopisns fed
r he Lesson Text In Everyday Dress
Asa had waged var time and again
against idelatry among his people. but
the work was not yet done. And SO
one day "A prophet came to him to
encourage him to greater efforts
Speaking TO him and through him to
the people OF Judah and Benjamin,
he said. Jehovah is with you while
you are with Him If you seek Him
He will he found Of you, but II YOU
forsake Him He will forsake you" In
support of his statement he recalled
the condition OF Israel during the
time of the Judges, when they had
turned away from the true God and
tho Law OF God, In those days there
was no peace. but the land Was over
whelmed with trouble. Yet when in
their trouble they cried unto Jehovah
He heard them. and when they sought
Him He was found of them. BE We
strong therefore" said the prophet
and let not your hands be weak In
the cause of Jehovah. for your Work
shall be rewarded" The king was
greatly encouraged by the words of
the prophet and went to work with
renewed zeal To drive idolatry out Of
the land Not content with this, he
did everything that could be done
TO awaken an interest In the worship
4. .ft yNFf .,r
offering which stood before the porch
OF the temple was renewed, and 4
national conservation meeting was
held at Jerusalem AT this grea
meeting. which was held in the fir
teenth year Of Asa's reign. multitude
from all over the land offered sac
rifices unto the Lord and solemnl,
entered into the covenant which fsrae
originally entered into with Jehovah
at sinai. when Moses read the Law
OF the Lord to them and they re
piled. IAN that the Lord hath sale
we will do and be obedient." Thi
covenant required that they shoult
seek Jehovah the God of their father
with ali their hearts and that thos'
who did not recognize Him as theil
King should be put to death.
The people returned to their HON t
rejoicing for they had entered int
the covenant in all sincerity and hat
surrendered themselves to- the Lore
with all their hearts. and they fel
that He had been found of them
And indeed He was found OF them
for Jehovah gave them rest rount
about
The Heart of the Lesson.
And the Lord gave them reg
round about, .e......... -, ...s
What is the secret of a nation "a
peace? What Is the secret OF a hear
at rest? The lesson tells US.
In the first place, IL there IL to b'
quiet, room must be made for il
Where there are idols there is M
room for peace. II IL characteristic
OF idol worship to make a disturb
ance, to fever the brain with conflict
ing thoughts. and torture the hear
with conflicting emotions. Asa re
moved the cause Of the trouble whea
he took away the affairs OF the strang'
gods, II was utterly impossible fol
people 10 have peace while the,
were playing traitor To the Sovereign
with whom they had made ii solemn
covenant. How could there be quiet
ness and rest in an army that wa
continually disobeying it's command
er and openly welcoming the enem,
into camp? That WAS the state %
affairs in Judah. and that In the stat,
of affairs in the heart OF every MAJ
who turns To- idols. Here In hear
that belongs to God. Gods altar
alone has a right there. While thu
affections are wholly fixed upon Goo
there is peace. But in an evil hour
there IN erected by this altar an altar
10 Mamuon. When Mammon comes
in at the door peace flies out at tbs
window. II is inevitable. When q
man tries to worship God and money
at the same time. he Is on the verge
OF brain fever. When he erects d
third altar--an altar 10 fame or APP
petite---the conflict becomes a cease
less torment. IL is this that keeps
many men tossing at night when they
ought to be asleep. Nothing under
heaven or in heaven can bring peace
into our lives while the strange affairs
remain.
But Is was not enough to remove the
strange alter from the heart. Ma
tgrs abhofs vacuum, SO does the
devil. The devil goes around like a
roaring lion seeking whom he may
dsyour. but he also goes around
stealthy seeking vacant places TO fill
Asa did not make the mistake of Jehu
who expended his zeal In Kidding the
land of Baai-worshippers: he went
farther and Commanded Judah 10 seek
the Lord God OF their fathers" II is not
enought to turn away form this or
that; we, must turn into something
Many man has turned away from
Baai and failing to turn into the Lord