The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 187

possession of Jesus Christ's benediction is one of the purest, as it is one of the most e.pprecie.ted, rewe.rds we ce.n receive. 2. The enlargement of our own powers of service. As we work in the C3Use of heavenly wisdom and of spiritual well-beica our power for action is constantly enlarging, until feebleness becomes strength, and st;ength becomes might. The more we do the more we are capable of doing (see previous homily). 3. The expansion of our sphere of service, " Thou hast been faithful in e. few thin<>s I will me.ke thee ruler over many things" (Matt. xxv. 21 ). " I will ask for n~ 'reward, except to serve thee still ; " or, may we not say, " except to serve thee more" ?-to serve thee in the.t broader sphere, with those nobler opportunities into which thou wilt introduce me. For our Master does thus enlarge us now, as one fruit of our labour• e.nd he will soon reward us by a far more generous enlargement, when he "cometh with his Father" and when "his reward is with him." -C. Vere. 14, 15.-The secret of Joy in the service of <Jhrilft. How comes it to pass that the service of Christ should be associated in any mind with austerity and gloom? How is it that every one does not connect that service in his thought with gladness of heart and brightness of life? This misfortune may be attributable to misconception, to a mental error, to the misreading of some words of the Master or of his apostles; or it may be the consequence, physical as much as spiritual, of a particular temperament; but it is most frequently caused by lack of thoroughness in the service of the Lord. I. THE MISTAKE OF HALF-HEARTEDNESS IN THE SERVICE OF CHRIST, During the reigns of Rehoboam and Abijah, when king and people both showed much abatement of zeal in the worship of Jehovah, we do not read of any record like that of the text. Of Rehoboam we find that " he fixed not his heart to seek the Lord" ( eh. xii. 14, marginal reading). Abijah could say nothing more for himself than that he had "not forsaken the Lord" (eh. xiii. 10), and his later days, like his grandfather's, were appa- rently darkened by indulgence. There was no fervour of piety, and there was no fulness of joy in the land. And we find that everywhere and always it is so. Half-hearted- ness in holy service is a profound mistake. It gives no satisfaction to our Lord himself. It leads to no height of Christian worth, to no marked excellency of character. It fills the soul with no deep and lasting joy. It is very likely to decline and to expire, to go out into the darkness of doubt, or worldliness, or guilt. II. THE Wll!DOM OF WHOLE-HEARTEDNESS. "All Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire . . . and the Lord gave them rest." There was no imaginable step they could have taken which would have caused so much elation of heart and ensured so enviable a national position. Asa and his people showed the very truest wisdom, something more and better than sagacious policy or statecraft, when they sought the Lord with all their heart. They did that which gave them a pure and honest satisfaction in the present, and which, more than any other act, secured the future. And though we certainly are not invited to manifest the thoroughness of our devotion in the same severities that characterized their decision (ver. 13), we do well when we follow them in the fulness of their resolve. For to seek Christ the Lord with all our heart and our " whole desire" is the one right and the one wise thing to do. 1. It secures to us the abiding favonr and friendship of the Eternal ; he is then "found" of us. 2. It brings profound personal rest ; then Christ speaks ''peace" to us-his peace, such as this world has not at its command. 3. It secures a feeling of friendship toward all around us: "rest round about." The heart is filled with that holy love which desires to bless all who can be reached. 4. It fills and sometimes floods the heart with sacred joy. The full realization of the presence and love of Christ, the fervent worship of the Lord of all grace and truth, earnest work done in his Name and in his strength,-these are a source of enlarging and ennoblin~ joy. The true key-note of the Christian life is this: "Rejoice in the Lord alway: ana again . . . rejoice."-C. Vere. 1-7.-.A conqueror's welcome. I. A MESSAGE FROM Goo. (Vers. 1, 2.) 1. Its llearer. Aznriah, "Whom Jehovah aids,"the son ofOded; mentioned only here. Jehovah may, and often does, transmit messages of moment through humble and obscure mes- sengers. What fitted Azariah to be the bearer of the Divine announcements w11s the coming upon him of the Spirit of Elohim, the Spirit bein£ the Revealer and Interpreter  188 THE Sli:COND BOO~ OF THE CHRONICLES. [on:. :rv. 1-lB.