No fair hand was doing that week in Jeruse.lem any work of refinement that more graced its owner than did the hands of those Levites as they stripped the false altar of its clothing, or as they swept the accumulated dust from the courts of the sanctuary. Let us not despise any true work of any kind. Even if it is not of a kind that answers t.o our faste or to our training; even if it should be uncongenial to our spirit. If it be that work which the emergency requires of us, or if it be that which Divine providence assigns us at the time; if it be that which our Master himself asks of us in order to serve his cause or to help one of his little ones, it is honourable employment, it should be accounted holy in our esteem. '' Do thy little; though it be Dreariness e.nd drudgery. They whom Christ e.postles me.de Gathered fragments when he be.de." The twelve apostles gathering broken bits of bread and fish, or Paul going about the island of Malta gathering sticks,-in these incidents we have illustrations of the truth that all work which is timely and helpful is work that is honourable and excellent. III. CALL TO OUR AID EVERY WILLING WORKER. It may be taken that those whose names are given (vers. 12-14) were the foremost in offering themselves for the work required. But they did not propose to do it by themselves; they called in all who would join them (ver. 15), and then, as a strong united band, they set about their task. In the work of the Lord we should engage all who have a heart and a. hand to help. We should do so : 1. For the worlc's sake; that it may be more rapidly and more effectually done. 2. For their sake; because they will be blessed in their deed, and after it. 3. For oor own sake; that we may not be overburdened, and may do all that we do more carefully and thoroughly. IV. KNow WHEN TO STOP, AJ,'D WHEN TO PROCEED; when to draw a boundary-line, and when to cross it. These dutiful Levites understood their duty well. 1. They did not intrude into the priests' domain; they stopped short "at the inner pa.rt of the house" (ver. 16). 2. .A.t the so.me time, they went beyond the actual letter of instruction by ·, preparing and sanctifying the vessels which Ahaz had cast a.way," and by bringing these" before the altar of the Lord." It is a great thing to kn'Ow what a.re the limits beyond which it is not right or wise for us to go. But it is a. still greater thing to have so deep an interest in our work and so fervent a. love for our Lord that we are not to be confined to any limits by literal instructions; that we gladly and eagerly go beyond these, if we can only render a larger and fuller service to our Master and to his cause. V. Do oua WORK THOROUGHLY il'D SPEEDILY. "They sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days" (ver. 17). "We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, . . . with all the vessels thereof" (ver. 18). To do all that is required, leaving nothing undone because it is trivial or because it is not likely to be observed; and to do all without delay, losing no time, accomplishing everything within the days expected of us ;-this is the way to do C!hristia!n work, to do our duty as disciples of Jesus Christ. VL HA VE THE DAY OF ACCOUNT IN VIEW. "They went in to Hezekiah the king," etc. (ver. 18). We may not be accountable to any human master; but to a Divine One we a.re (Rom. xiv. 12; 2 Cor. v. 10). Then "every work" will be "brought into judgment." Let us therefore labour, that we may then be "accepted of him."-C.
Vers. 20-24.-Confession, propitiation, consecration. By the sacrifices now offered to Jehovah, by the sin offerings and the burnt offerings, the king and the represen- tatives of the people laying their hands upon the heads of the slain animals (ver. 23), three distinct sentiments were expressed, three several spiritual states were passed through-confession of sin, atonement offered for sin, consecration of themselves to the service of God. Here was made the most public and solemn acknowledgment that could be made of the guilt which the nation had incurred by its apostasy; here was an appeal me.de w the mercy of God in his appointed way of sacrificing the goats and of laying the hand upon their heads ; and here was, through the burnt offerings, a formal and deliberate dedication of themselves to Jehovah for the future. 'l'hese three experiences a.re the radical and essential experiences through which penitent and godly men must always pase, oH. xxix.1-36.J 'l'HE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 353
I. CoNFEBBION, Not always, not often national, as on this occasion (text). Not 11lways, not often now, admission of idolatrous reaction. But always confes.~ion of sin- of depRrture from God, of the neglect of his holy will, of a rebellious exaltin" of our will against his, of unlikeness to him in the spirit we have been breathin" a;d in tho principles on which we have been acting, of doing or saying or bein" that which has grieved bis Holy Spirit. And our confession of sin is likely to be he~rd and accepted, not because it is couched in the most approved language, but because it is the most simple and honest utterance of our hearts. II. PROPITIATION. Not that God asks now of us a sacrifice for sin. There has beer: "one sacrifice [ offered] for sins for ever." He is " the Propitiation for the sins of the whole world." But we come to plead that one Sacrifice as offered for our sins; we come to God to pray that that one Propitiation may be accepted on our behalf. We come to "lay our hand on that dear bead" of Christ, the Lamb of God. We ask that the a hound• ing and abiding mercy of God may, for his sake, cover our guilt and rest upon our soul. And thus, by a living faith, we apply and appropriate to ourselves" the common salva• tion "-that "righteousness which is through the faiLh of Christ." Thus is our sin "borne away" into the land of utter forgetfulness, and we ourselves are "brought nigh by the blood of Christ." III. CONSECRATION. The consumption of the entire animal in the burnt offering symbolized the entire consecration of the offerer to the Lord. This was the significance of those offerings now presented (ver. 24). Hezekiah and his people now offered them- selves anew unto the Lord God of their fathers. Their sin being purged, themselves having been forgiven and accepted, they dedicated themselves to God for the cowing time. With us: 1. Consecration attends our entrance upon the Divine life; when we seek the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, we" yield ourselves unto God as those alive from the dead." 2. Consecration is a spiritual act continually renewed. It should be an act in which we offer to our Divine Redeemer our whole selves; (1) our entire nature (body and spirit); (2) our whole life, thenceforwards-at all times, in every sphere, under all conditions.-C.