The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 343

to wel<'ome desert.era from Jeroboam's Church and kingdom; his action with respect to Ra,mah proves that. But neither of them ever thought of accommodn.ting the worship or polity of Jerusalem to suit the wishes or prejudices of the sohismo.ti a Isro.elites. To neither of them did it occur to allow that calf-worship was right worship; neither would admit that there was any true Church but that of Judah, or any sa.nctuary but that of Jerusalem; neither could or would recognize the orders or ministrations of J eroboam's man-made priests. In fact, it would have been impolitic, as well as unfaithful, to have done so. It was beco.use Judah wo.s true to its convictions, and consistently repudiated the schism, and stood resolutely on the old paths, that such numbers of pious Israelites came over to its side. Even so now, nothing but harm can come of sacrificing one iota of principle for the sake of the lUJ..ion of Christendom. We may be branded as illiberal and bigots if we ask for the credentials of every soi-disant minister of Christ; if we deny the name of " Church " to each of the manifold sects and societies of huma.n origin ; if we repudiate an llllorganic Christianity, a religion of mere emotionalism. But all the same, we have no right to exercise a spurious charity and to give what is not ours ; we have no right to surrender one jot of Catholic truth for the sake of concilia,ting outsiders. That would be indeed to "ma,ke a solitude and call it 0, peace." In that way our religion might soon be watered down so that truth and life and efficacy would all be gone, and the thin residull.Ill would be stale, flat, and unprofit- able. Only the infidel could ultima,tely gain by such a process. Our answer, then, to the separatist must be this: " .All that thou desirest of me I will do, but this thing I may not do." Deeply as we desire unity, we dare not purchase it at such a price. " Amicus Plato, amicua Socrates, sed magis amica veritas.'' IV. THAT THERE MUST BE NO CALLING IN THE AID OF UNBELIEVERS AGAINST SEPARATED BRETHREN. This was done more than once in Jewish history, but the result was always disastrous. If Jeroboam called in the o.id of Shishak against Rehoboam, he suffered himself, as we have seen (note on eh. xiv. 25), from the Egyptian invasion. Nor was Asa's appeal to Ben-hadad less ill-advised. In the first pl.o.ce, it betrayed a lack of faith in God ; then (2) he had to rob the Lord's treasury of the gifts he had recently dedicated thereto ; and (3) the bands of Syria, having once tasted the sweets of conquest, were ever afterwards threatening or ravaging (chs. x:x:., ni.i.; 2 Kings v. 2; vi. 8, &o.) tho Holy Land. Asa's son, Jehoshaphat, found it necessary, as he thought, to join forces with those of Israel against this very power which Asa invoked. And how often have Christians pursued the same policy. How often have the armies of the Ottoma.ns, e.g., been employed by Christians age.inst Christians. The ea.noon by means of which Constantinople was taken were cast by Christian engineers. For four centrn-ies have Mus6Ulman legions been largely officered by Christian renegades, and recruited from Christi.an la.nds-Albania, Wallachia., &c. The "unspeako.ble Turk" has only been tolerated in Europe because of the divisions of Christendom. And is not the same thing being done in another way at the present time ? There are Chris- tians who think it right to make common cause with atheists, secula1ists, &c., against their brethren. If the e:x:a.mple of Asa (2 Chron. xvi. 7-9) is not decisive against such a proceeding, surely that of Jehoshaphat (ib., xi:x:. 2) and Amo.ziah (ib., xxv. 6-10) prove that we should neither help, nor seek help from, the ungodly. 'l'he result of such alliances, as Asa. found to his cost, will be, "From henceforth thou shalt have wars." The mercena.ries we have hi.red against one another will end by doing battle against all who bear the Christian name. The Britons who called in the Saxons to their aid presently found their new allies settled in their homes and themselves driven forth into the wilderness. v. THAT NO OBSTACLES MUST BE RAISED IN THE PATH OJI' REUNION. That this should be done by the sepa,ratists need ea.use us no surprise. Baasha, could not afford to ha,ve the highway to Judah open. His occupation would be gone if the breach were hea,led and the nation or the Church again became one. And, alo.s I there are similar '' vested interests " in the perpetuation of division o.mongst Chris- ~ians. But just as it was Asa's care to pull down the frontier fortress of Ra,mah, Just as the stones and timber were carried away bodily by the lo.bour of all his OH, XV, 1-24.) TIIE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS, 849