Too many Christian workers act like Jehu when he said, "Come with me, and sec my zeal for the Lord." True Christiau. work is far quieter than this. (2) There was ~omething worse than boastfulness in ;rehu's zeal. There was cruel treachery and deceit. When he came to Samaria, he gathernd all the people together and said, "Ahah served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much." Then, under the pretence of ofTering a great sacrifice to Baal, he assembled all the worshippers of Baal in the temple of that false deity, and, having thus unfairly and deceitfully l'ntrapped them, cansed them to be put to death, It was an act of tleceit for which there was no excuse. Matth,iw Henry truly observes, "God's service requires not man's lie." What a contrast to Elijah's honest, outspoken conduct when he, siogle-hande,l, confronted the prophets of Baal, and put their god and his God to the test I No cause will ever prosper, no matter how much zeal may be manifested in it, if it is built up by the treachery and deceit of those who are at the head of it, Let us never so far accommodate ourselves to the false morality of our time as to do evil that good may come. God can, and does, bring good out of evil. But those who do the evil must suffer for it, according to that Divine law of retribution which was so plainly and terribly fulfilled in the case of Ahab and Jezebel. 2. In addition to all this, there was something wanting in all Jehu's zeal. He had not the love of God in his heart. He had indeed obeyed God's command and fulfilled his commission in one particular direction, but the ruling motive in his actions would seem· to have been personal ambition. 1t was no hatred of idolatry as such that caused him to destroy the worship of Ba.al. Perhaps it was because it we.a a foreign worship. It certainly was not his zeal for the pure worship of God, because we read, "Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son ofNebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, e.nd that were in Dan" (ver. 29). And again, "But Jehu took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart" (ver. 31). We may learn here that e. man me.y have the outward form of godliness without the power of it. He may appear to be a foremost worker in the ea.use of religion, and yet have no religion in his own heart. He may even appear to be a great religious reformer, and yet he may be utterly destitute of any personal reformation of character, Jehu was able to pull down, but he built nothing up. Why? Because his own character and life were not founded on the rock. He had not begun at the beginning-the fear of God and the Le.w of God, "He took no heed to walk in the Law of God with all his henrt." See to it that your zeal springs from a right motive, and that it works in ways of which God will approve. III. NOTE HERE SOME LESSONS ABOUT Goo's DEALINGS. 1. God often makes use of even godless men. Perhaps you start at this. Yes; but it is true. He uses them for certain purposes. There are some things which do not require a high kind of character. So God sometimes uses even wicked men to be the executioners of his judgmcnts. The kings and nations whom he used to execute his judgments upon Israel were by no means righteous themselves. Many of them were grossly corrupt. But tliey were the rod in his hand to chasten and punish his offending people. We might give many illustrations from history. 'l'o take one only. King Henry VIII. of England was for from being a model man, yet God in his all-wise providence used his quarrel with the pope to be the means of furthering and establishing the Reformation in England. It was in the time of Henry VIII. that for the first time the papal supremacy in England was overthrown. 2. God gives such agents of his jmtice and providence. their own reward. We find this in the case of Jehu. For the good he bad doae, God rewarded him. He had set his heart on the throne, and God gave it to him. The measure of our desires is very often the measure of our blessings. If we set our ambition on earthly rank, or riches, or honour as our chiof good, we shall very likely get them. But in getting them we shall perhaps lose something that is far better worth having. "What she.II it profit a man, if he shall gnin the whole world, and lose his own soul?" 3. For God's work of salvation, he uses consecrated men. Jehu we.a of use as a destroyer, ns An imago-breaker, but he we.s no national or moral reformer in the true sense. He was of 110 spiritual benefit to others. For such work God uses only those who themselves ha1 ·e received spiritual blessing. There is a limit to the extent and to the ways in which he will use godle.,s men. Even David-God's own servant, who hnd repented of his sins-was not permitted to build e. house to his Ne.me, 222 THE SECOND DOOK OF THE KINGS. [on. x. 1-38.
beca_usc his ban~ were stni?ed with blood; he had ~en a man of war 111\ his days. D,md was permitted to provide and store up the matcnal, but to Solomon, David's son was ~iven the great honour of building a temple to the God of Israel. If we want to b~ of use in God's service, we must be thoroug;hly consecrated to God, We must be vessels meet for the Master's use. " Their hands must be clean, who bear the vessels of the Lord." It is personal character that gives power for God's service. It is personal character t~at gives fitness for God's fellowship here and hereafter. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." " Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."-C. H. I.