The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1915-11-04

L-aSSoN IENT-D Kings i2t-B
GOLDEN TEXT-God ioveth a cheer,u,
slver-II Cor. 81.
The time Of this lesson was abon,
SIS u. c.. and II follows within a few
years last Sundays lesson. Inaug,.
rated as king and instructed by a
faithful priest, yet Joash discoveries
great lethargy on the part of tho
priestly class with regard TO the house
OF God. lie set himself to arouse great
liberality and to repair the temple.
!. .lethsray. v. a. % Its cause.
We should read In this connection N
Chron. -. From the two accounts
and the previous history OF the m.
ton we conclude that the condition
OF the temple was due, TAI TO thu
weak and frequently vicious charac.
ters OF the rulers Of the nation. tb,
to the evil companions OF both princes
and priests and tc) to the cupidity OF
court and curate. (D The result Of
this lethargy regarding God cause
was evidenced taj upon the temple.
and tb) upon the lives OF the people
OF the Kingdom. C3) The cure. Joash
Instituted great reforms In judah and
In these Jehoiada the priest ". % had
no small part. In this particular les.
son the prince w. y seems TO lead
the priest. Unfortunately the godly
priest did not long survive the crown.
ing OF Joash and hence when he came
under other Influences he soon went
back to the evil practices OF mis- prede-
cessors and his reign ended In an
eclipse OF evil on Chron. 2ti5-2s)
In this lesson we have. however. a
suggestion OF what Is needed TO cure
religious lethargy. Ia A vision Of
the real condition Of Affairs ". I:
also u Chron. 2t:D. Joash saw the
resultant ruin Of the temple after
is years OF misruIe; he also saw
the misconduct Of the priests and
did not hesitate TO call them TO
account. It's no easy task to un.
dertaks reformation and restoration
such as this: witness Moses, Luther.
wesley and Cary. These priests had
aided him to gain his throne and
doubtless had had a part In his boy
hood training. Joash had inaugu.
rated certain reforms before he be-
gan this task which suggests the sec.
ond need of tbJ persistence tsee I
Chron. 2f:5. 81. Such work also de-
mands tc) systematic effort and Civ.
ing. Joash placed himself among Is
raefs best kings by undertaking the
restoration OF the temple and won q
place alongside OF Hexekiah and Jo-
siah. Modern churches are not. strict
ly speaking. a house OF the Lord
such as the Jewish temple. yet tho
condition of many OF our churches
would Indicate great Indifference to
the cause OF the kingdom Our bod.
les are indeed q temple" Cor. 3:
l6: e:lsD and both the body and
church buildings alike should be kept
In proper condition.
u. tiberailty. w. els. The plan to
have the priests gather funds for the
repairs was Scriptural (Exod. rs.
2sD God does not look upon the
measure but upon the motive OF our
gifts I'll Cor. SID The priests did
not hasten the matter" so the king
took II into his own hands ". 81.
In this remissness Jehoiada. as the
chief priest. is held accountable for
all ". ~.
We have in this story n rich sug-
gestion as to Gods plan OF Christian
giving. D The object II was dis
tinctly for the glory OF God and not
To outbid others or to wastefully use
the money for selfish purposes ~
All were to participate voluntarily.
out OF their abundance UI Chron.
zf:10). systematically and faithfully.
CD The results were a house repaired
I'll Chron. 24:i2) beautiful I'll Chron.
"a: l3) with the worship restored I'll
Chron. 2i;lp. Joash seems to nave
laid great emphasis upon the 'taber-
nacle OF witness gao and we need
to recall that each and every part
or that temple was a testimony TO the
truth OF God and had In II a spiritual
suggestion and prophecy. As a whold
Il suggested that God dwelt In tn
midst OF his people. The sons OF
Athaliah tJoash's .grandmotherl had
30 conducted themselves as to cause
I TO need repairing Oh Chron. PAD.
When We turn 10 II Chron PASTA and
read the record OF the restoration OF
The temple. we discover: uD Each
had its part In the work (2l Each
ild a perfect work, e. g., did his
TASK faithfully fully and TO a finish.
CD Each did an orderly work, in ms
state None sought to supplant or
iefraud otherb IN the WORK assigned.
"a Each did a strong work. IL was
strengthened" and not a triiiing work
As men-pleasers or for the moment
Try more prayer and like Joash,
give the people a chance and there
will be no lack.
Again. note that they dealt faith
'ully." We need to exercise faithful
ness In our relations to God and In
he use OF that which ne intrusts to
'ur stewardship.
Man and God alike will have SON
idence In US according TO the method