The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1915-11-06

giver.-II Cor. 80.
The time of this lesson was abou
e's b. C.. and it follows within a few
years last Sundays lesson. Inaugu
rated as king and instructed by 8
faithful priest. yet Joash discovered
great lethargy on the part of tn,
priestly class with regard to the hons,
Of God. He set himself to arouse grea,
l1berality and to repair the temple.
!. .lethargy, v. 4, 8. % Its cause
We should read in this connection L
Chron. "a. From the two account.
and the previous history of the ma
ton we conclude that the condition
OF the temple was due, (a) to the
weak and frequently vicious charac
tiers OF the rulers of the nation; (b)
to the evil companions of both princes
and priests and (c) to the cupidity OF
court and curate. CD The result OF
this lethargy regarding Gods cause
was evidenced (a) upon the temple,
and (b) upon the lives of the people
or the kingdom. 90 The cure. Joash
instituted great reforms in Judah and
In these Jehoiada the priest ". p had
no small part. In this particular les
son the prince ". 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 his prede-
cessors and his reign ended In an
eclipse of evil Oh Chron. 24:15-26).
In this lesson we have, however, a
suggestion Of what is needed to cure
religious lethargy. (a) A vision of
the real condition of affairs ". z;
also ii Chron. 24:D. Joash saw the
resultant ruin Of the temple after
Is years Of misrule; he also saw
the misconduct of the priests and
did not hesitate to call them to
account. 'Tis no easy task to un-
dertake 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.
mood training. Joash had inaugu-
rated certain reforms before he be-
gan this task which suggests tie Sec
ond need OF (b) persistence (see
Chron. 24:5, 81. Such work also de-
mands (c) systematic effort and Civ.
ing. Joash placed himself among Is
raers best kings by undertaking the
restoration Of the temple and won =
place alongside Of HeSekiah and Jo-
siah. Modern churches are not. strict
ly speaking, a house of the Lord"
such as the Jewish temple, yet the
condition Of many Of our churches
would indicate great indifference to
the cause of the kingdom. Our bod
les are indeed a temple" l Cor. 3:
16; GID and both the body and
church buildings alike should be kept
In proper condition.
%. Liberality, W. s-15. The plan to
have the priests gather funds for the
'epairs was Scriptural (Exod Is:
80 God does not look upon the
measure but upon the motive of our
lifts QI Cor. s:12). The priests did
lot hasten the matter" so the king
ook it into his own hands ". 81.
n this remissness Jehoiada, as the
thief priest, is held accountable for
III ". y. -
We have in this story a rich sug-
,estion as to Gods plan of Christian
living. u) The object. 1t was dis.
inctly for the glory of God and not
o outbid others or to wastefully use
he money for selfish purposes. (2)
III were to participate voluntarily,
ut Of their abundance 01 Chron.
4:1O, systematically and faithfully.
81 The results were a house repaired
II Chron. 2I:12). beautiful I'll Chron.
4:13) with the worship restored I'll
,hron. 24:1D. Joash seems to have
aid great emphasis upon the 'taber-
acle of witness" (24:6) and we need
o recall that each and every part
( that temple was a testimony to the
ruth of God and had in it a spiritual
digestion and prophecy. AS a whole,
suggested that God dwelt In the
midst of his people. The sons of
thaliah (Joash's grandmother) had
o conducted themselves as to cause
to need repairing II Chron. 24:O.
1hen we turn to II Chron. 24:8-14 and
cad the record of the restoration OF
he temple, we discover: ID Each
ad its part in the work (2) Each
i'd a perfect" work, e. g., did his
ask faithfully, fully and to a finish.
81 Each did an orderly work. I'm his
tate" None sought to supplant or
efraud others in the work assigned.
- Each did a strong work, 1t was
and not trifiing work
8 men-pleasers or for the moment
81 Each worked economically be-
ause when all bills were paid, money
as returned to the treasury.
What a marked contrast with mod.
m methods of conducting public i'm
There was great Joy in ,
lie hearts of both princes and people
, they brought and wrought. We
,b ourselves by our Withholding. for
here your treasure is. there will ,
our heart be also"
There is sound philosophy IN l
roverbs 11:24, rs. That class. church
. individual that liveth unto itself
iii soon die. II may have a name
lat is great in the earth but that {