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2
Chronicles Chapter Nineteen
2 Chronicles 19
Chapter Contents
Jehoshaphat visits his kingdom.
Whenever we return in peace to our houses, we ought to
acknowledge God's providence in preserving our going out and coming in. And if
we have been kept through more than common dangers, we are, in a special
manner, bound to be thankful. Distinguishing mercies lay us under strong
obligations. The prophet tells Jehoshaphat he had done very ill in joining
Ahab. He took the reproof well. See the effect the reproof had upon him. He
strictly searched his own kingdom. By what the prophet said, Jehoshaphat
perceived that his former attempts for reformation were well-pleasing to God;
therefore he did what was then left undone. It is good when commendations
quicken us to our duty. There are diversities of gifts and operations, but all
from the same Spirit, and for the public good; and as every one has received
the gift, so let him minister the same. Blessed be God for magistrates and
ministers, scribes and statesmen, men of books, and men of business. Observe
the charge the king gave. They must do all in the fear of the Lord, with a
perfect, upright heart. And they must make it their constant care to prevent
sin, as an offence to God, and what would bring wrath on the people.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Chronicles》
2 Chronicles 19
Verse 2
[2] And
Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king
Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD?
therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.
Therefore —
Therefore God will chastise thee for this miscarriage. Which he did partly by
stirring up the Moabites, and others to invade him, chap. 20:1, partly by permitting his eldest son
Jehoram to kill all his brethren, chap. 21:4, and principally by bringing that almost
general destruction upon his grand-children by Jehu, 2 Kings 9:27; 10:13,14, which was the fruit of his alliance
with Ahab.
Verse 3
[3] Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken
away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
Good things —
Good marks proceeding from an honest heart; which God more regards than this
particular error: and therefore though he will chasten thee, yet he will not
utterly destroy thee.
Verse 4
[4] And
Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from
Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their
fathers.
Through —
Through the whole kingdom, whereof these were the two bounds.
And brought —
Such of them as had revolted from God to idols, he reclaimed by his counsel and
example, and by the instructions of the Levites and priests, whom he carried
with him. Many, probably, had revolted to idolatry, when they saw their king so
intimate with idolaters. Therefore he thought himself doubly obliged to do all
he could to reduce them. If we truly repent of sin, we shall do our utmost to
repair the damage we have done to religion, or the souls of others.
Verse 6
[6] And
said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the
LORD, who is with you in the judgment.
The Lord —
You represent God's person to whom judgment belongeth, you have your commission
from God, and not from man only; and your administration of justice is not only
for man's good, but also for God's honour and service.
With you —
Both to observe your carriage, and to defend you against all those enemies whom
the impartial exercise of justice may provoke.
Verse 7
[7] Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it:
for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor
taking of gifts.
Wherefore —
And therefore you who are in God's stead, and do his work, and must give an
account to him, must imitate God herein.
Verse 8
[8]
Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests,
and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and
for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.
The fathers —
Persons of other tribes eminent for their dignity, ability and integrity. But
whether these persons made up one court, called the Sanhedrim, by which all
causes ecclesiastical and civil were decided; or there were two distinct
courts, the one ecclesiastical, consisting of the priests and Levites; the
other civil, consisting of the chief of the fathers of Israel, it is not easy
to determine.
The Lord —
For matters concerning the laws and worship, of God.
Controversies —
For matters of difference between man and man.
When —
When Jehoshaphat and his company were returned to Jerusalem, he made this order
concerning establishing judges there.
Verse 10
[10] And
what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their
cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and
judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and
so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not
trespass.
Blood —
This refers to Deuteronomy 17:8, between the blood of the
person slain, and the blood of the man-slayer. All the cities of refuge, except
Hebron, now belonged to the kingdom of Israel, so that the man-slayer now
usually fled to the courts of the temple, or the horns of the altar. And
therefore the trial of these, was reserved for the court at Jerusalem.
Law, … —
When any debates shall arise about the meaning of any of God's laws.
Warn — Ye
shall not only give a righteous sentence for what is past, but ye shall
admonish the offender, and others, to take better heed for the future.
Verse 11
[11] And,
behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and
Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the
king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal
courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.
Over you —
Shall be your president.
Matters of the Lord — In
Spiritual, or ecclesiastical matters.
Ruler —
The prince, or chief ruler, under the king, of the tribe of Judah.
The king's matters —
For civil causes, or controversies either between the king and his people; or
between subject and subject, which may be called the king's matters, because it
was a principal part of his office to see them justly decided.
The Levites —
Shall be at your command to see your just sentences executed; which work was
fitly committed to the Levites, as persons who might add their instructions to
the corrections, and might work the guilty to an acknowledgement of their fault
and a submission to their punishment.
The Lord —
Shall protect and bless good judges.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Chronicles》
19 Chapter 19
Verses 1-11
And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace
to Jerusalem.
Jehoshaphat’s declension and recovery
I. God makes a difference
between a backslidden child and an apostate.
1. He preserves the life of
the child (2 Chronicles 19:1).
2. God reproves in grace His
backslidden child (2 Chronicles 19:2-3).
3. God commends His
backslidden child for the good he has done.
II. Jehoshaphat exemplifies
the true spirit in which we should receive Divine reproof.
1. He received the Divine
reproof without resentment and with real contrition for his sin.
2. He sought to make amends
for past misconduct by greater personal efforts to promote the spiritual
interests of his people.
III. Jehoshaphat lays down
rules for the judges of the people which are applicable and essential to our
own times.
1. That a true judge must
have reference to God in his decisions (2 Chronicles 19:6).
2. That a true judge should
be a real Christian (2 Chronicles 19:7).
Lessons:
1. Unholy alliances are
fraught with the greatest danger to every child of God.
2. In his backslidden state
the child of God should at once heed God’s warning and reproof through His
servants.
3. God requires personal
efforts for the promotion of His cause from the rich as well as poor; from
those in the highest positions of State as well as from the obscure and lowly.
(D. C. Hughes.)
Shouldest thou help the
ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord?
Entangling alliances
I. The friendship of wicked
men one of the most dangerous temptations to which Christians are subject.
Modern life in cities illustrates this with special force.
1. The wealth of the world is
largely in the hands of men who are not friends of Christ.
2. In many communities
intelligence and culture are possessed mainly by the irreligious.
3. Interests of business
sometimes create similar peril.
4. In a higher circle of life
professional success often tempts young men of aspiring mind to ally themselves
with those who love not God.
II. While Christian principle
requires no narrow or ascetic seclusion from the world, yet it forbids seeking
worldly friendships and alliances for selfish ends and to the peril of
religious usefulness and religious character.
III. The irreligious
friendships of religious men violate the ruling spirit of the Scriptures.
IV. Entangling alliances with
the world often involve immense sacrifice of Christian usefulness.
V. Christian alliances with
the wicked do not command the respect of the very man for whose favour they are
formed.
VI. Loving those that hate God
inflicts a wound of great severity on the feelings of Jesus Christ. It is from
Calvary that the voice comes to each in our solitude, “Shouldest thou love them
that hate the Lord?” (A. Phelps.)
Jehoshaphat’s connection with Ahab
I. What is that intimacy with
the ungodly which God forbids?
1. An alliance with them.
2. A conformity with them.
3. An unnecessary association
with them.
II. Why is it so displeasing
to God?
1. On account of the state of
mind it implies.
2. On account of its
pernicious tendency.
3. On account of its
Opposition to His revealed will. (J. Chapin.)
Associating with the ungodly
It is told of a sweet-voiced canary that it forgot how to sing by
having its cage hung outside where it was constantly surrounded by sparrows. It
gave up its once sweet notes and learned to chatter the meaningless, tuneless
notes of the sparrow. The constant association with the Christless is apt to
make our hearts grow Christless.
Jehoshaphat; or the dangers of indecision
I have to describe to you a man, not lost, but continually
in danger of being lost; a man not wicked, but weak; a man possessing in his
character much that was good, but allowing his goodness to be sullied by
approach to evil and evil men. I have to show you how one ill-considered step,
in the earlier part of his career, embarrassed his whole reign. Affinity with
Ahab’s family affected more or less the whole life of Jehoshaphat. This should
make us cautious.
I. In such serious matters as
forming family connections, or partnerships in business.
II. In what appear minor
things. Observe the man who is over-persuaded to what he believes to be evil;
the man who consents to do what is wrong, and justifies himself by saying some
good will come of it; the man who frequents the society of the vicious, yet
believes that he can escape corruption; the man who enjoys the jest of the
profane, yet supposes that his mind can retain its reverence for holy things;
the man who is silent when he should declare openly his disapprobation of evil;
the man who runs himself into temptation, yet trusts that God will find him a
way out of it. All these persons do, in their measure and degree, expose
themselves to danger--commit acts of indecision--take a step which may
necessitate others, against which they may exert themselves in vain--impress a
stain on their conscience which it may require years to efface--and plant on the soil of
their souls a weed so vivacious, so self-spreading, so absorbent of moisture
and nutriment, that by and by it may choke the growth of all Christian graces
and virtues. (J. Hessey.)
Nevertheless there are
good things found in thee.--
The stimulus of an encouraging word
The Lord will analyse a man’s disposition and a man’s character,
and will assign to him all that is due. What man is wholly bad? Surely in the
very worst of men there are excellences, and it ought to be our delight to
consider these, and where possible, with due regard to justice, to magnify them
and to call the man’s attention to them. A man may take heart when he sees some
of his best points. Here is a lesson for parents, magistrates, and teachers and
monitors of every name and position. Tell a boy that he has done something
well. We are too much afraid of what is called flattery, forgetting that
flattery is a lie; but we are called upon simply to state the truth, and to
state it with affection and emphasis, that it may become an encouragement to
hearts that are very easily cast down. (J. Parker, D.D.)
Good and bad things in moral character
Is a man whose character is good to the extent of six-sevenths to be
pronounced a bad man? Is there not a spiritual arithmetic which looks into
majorities and minorities of a moral kind? Will God, then, at last drive away
from Him men who have had six good points out of seven? As business men,
suppose a man be recommended to you in these terms: This man has seven
qualities, and six of them are really admirable; the only thing about him is
that you cannot trust him with money. Would you take him? Six points are good
out of seven: will you go by the majority or by the minority? Another man is
also good in six points, admirable; the only fault he has is that you cannot
believe a word he says. Will you take him into your business? There is a
minority greater than any majority can be. That is the doctrine which we have
omitted when we have been criticising eternal providence and wondering about
the issues of human action. Amongst ourselves it is right that we should say of
one another, “He is a good man take him on the whole.” But what is the meaning
of the reservation? Is it a grace, a posture that may be taught by a hired
master? Or is it a morality, the want of which turns the whole being into a bog
on which you cannot rest with security? (J. Parker, D. D.)
Jehu’s commendation
We may very well admit that the nearer we get to God and to His
sunlight the more freely and fully we shall admit that there is no good thing
to be found in us. But yet God sometimes allows His angels to say of a mortal
man, “There are good things in him,” without any frown of supreme displeasure.
This should--
1. Comfort us. Our good deeds
are not useless, not forgotten.
2. Encourage us. If God speak
so like an indulgent master to a trying servant, then we need not fear Him. We
need dread no impatient frowns upon our insufficient strivings.
3. Humble us. We are perhaps
not so good as Jehoshaphat. For his one backsliding ours, perhaps, are many.
Lessons:
1. Mutual forbearance. Let us
not set down any of our neighbours as altogether bad.
2. Let us see that our good
qualities are definite and discoverable.
3. Let us pray earnestly,
agonisingly, that the good in us may overcome the evil. Evil must not for a
moment be tolerated. Christ must reign. (S. B. James, M. A.)
And he set Judges in the land.
Good government should be the result of piety in rulers
Alfred the Great was a distinguished statesman and warrior, as
well as zealous for true religion. St. Louis of France exercised a wise control
over Church and State. On the other hand, Charlemagne’s successor, the Emperor
Louis the Pious, and our own Kings Edward the Confessor and the saintly Henry
VI were alike feeble and inefficient; the zeal of the Spanish kings and their
kinswoman, Mary Tudor, is chiefly remembered for its ghastly cruelty; and in
comparatively modem times the misgovernment of the States of the Church was a
byword throughout Europe. Many causes combined to produce this mingled record.
The one most clearly contrary to the chronicler’s teaching was an immoral
opinion that the Christian should cease to be a citizen, and that the saint has
no duties to society. This view is often considered to be the special vice of
monasticism, but it reappears in one form or another in every generation. In
our own day there are those who think that a newspaper should have no interest
for a really earnest Christian. According to their ideas, Jehoshaphat should
have divided his time between a private oratory in his palace and the public
services of the temple, and have left his kingdom to the mercy of unjust judges
at home and heathen enemies abroad, or else have abdicated in favour of some
kinsmen whose heart was not so perfect with Jehovah. (W. H.
Bennett, M.A.)
The origin and right of human judicature
The administration is for the Lord.
I. The power of the judgment
is God’s right.
II. The matter of the judgment
is God’s cause.
III. The issue of the judgment
is God’s end. “Is with you in the judgment.” (Dean Young.)
Verse 7
Wherefore now let the fear
of the Lord be upon you.
Jehoshaphat reproved
I. His sin. This
was--
1. Helping in an ungodly enterprise, against which the prophet had
warned him.
2. Forming an alliance, of which the influence on himself, his
family, and people could only be bad. It fills one with a kind of despair to
see how, among those who profess to regard religion an all-important,
friendships and alliances discussed and fixed without this ever coming into
view.
II. The rebuke which
followed the king’s sin.
III. The king’s
repentance.
1. He received reproof with meekness.
2. He kept aloof from occasions of fresh sin.
3. He did what he could to repair the wrong his example had done.
IV. What made
jehoshaphat so prompt to return to the right path when once he had left it? His
deep sense of God and right appreciation of His character. “Wherefore now let
the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity
with the Lord, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.” Nothing so
controllingly underlies what a man is and does as his cherished thoughts of
God. (Monday Club Sermons.)
Verse 11
Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good.
The blessedness of the good
I. Who are the
good? The Scripture points out two things on this subject.
1. The only way in which men become good--by faith in Christ and the
consequent reception of the Holy Spirit to create us anew.
2. The principal ingredients of the goodness of the regenerate.
II. The meaning of
this declaration and how its truth is supported. “The Lord shall be with the
good.” This means that the Lord will be with them in the supply of His Spirit,
in providing for them in providence, preserving them from trouble, supporting
them in it, or delivering them out of it, and blessing others for their sakes.
This truth is justified--
1. From the purposes of God and the relation in which His people
stand to Him.
2. By the promises of Scripture.
3. By all experience and by all history.
Conclusion:
1. He shall be with the good nationally if they act consistently and
faithfully.
2. He shall be with them individually. Fear not that He will ever
leave His work of grace unfinished in you. (J. Leifchild.)
A tonic promise
Explain what is meant by “good.” The melancholy fact that all men
are not good. The promise of the text justifies three inquiries.
1. Why should the good be fearful? “They that be with us,” etc.
2. How can bad designs finally prevail?
3. How are men
to know that God is surely with them?
The answer involves character: “the good.” God identifies Himself
with all that is good in thought as well as in act; in purpose as well as in
service. Even when the godly man ceaseth God will maintain the cause that is
“good.” This promise, like all the promises of God, is designated not as a
sedative, but a stimulant. Deal courageously! See how the text might have read: The Lord shall be with
the good, therefore sit still; the Lord shall be with the good, therefore let
wickedness have its own way in the world; the Lord shall be with the good,
therefore pay no attention to self-discipline. The text reads contrariwise. The
Lord is with the good, therefore deal courageously. Goodness is not to be
merely passive--it is to be aggressive, defiant of all evil. (J. Parker, D.
D.)
Courage
Probably few of us ever sufficiently consider the value and need
of courage in order to any high condition of character. There are to be found
in one of the letters of one of the most interesting men of modern times these
words, “How rare is it to have a friend who will defend you thoroughly and
boldly! Mr.
missed an opportunity of doing this for me, and has not the courage to do it
now as he ought to do, leaving me in consequence defenceless against a slander,
though I put the proof into his hands. How indispensable strength is for high
goodness-strength moral or intellectual, neither depending necessarily on
physical strength.” Many a man neglects to live a Christian life not because he
lacks Christian sympathies, sentiments, and feelings, not even because he has
no Christian ideas, but simply for lack of courage to put himself where he
properly belongs. This lack of courage denotes, of course, either want of confidence
in himself or want of depth of feeling as to religious truth, or fear of some
man or men, which fear has too much influence over him to allow him to act
conscientiously and in the line of his best sympathies.
1. In speaking of courage let us recognise that there is animal
courage as well as intellectual and moral courage. Animal courage is of the
lowest kind. Oftentimes it is nothing more than bull-dog ferocity. It
oftentimes makes men good soldiers, successful pugilists, stalwart seamen--even
daring adventurers. Men may have it without any intellectual or moral courage.
A little of it is good. An excess tends to brutality. This form of courage--the
courage to take physical punishment without flinching--is of a kind which the
most uncultured and unrefined can appreciate. It will always have an attraction
for the coarse, undeveloped, and unrespectable classes of society.
2. Intellectual courage is of another order, and indicates a superior
type of man. It means practically the ability to think for one’s self, and to
follow out one’s thinkings to their inevitable conclusions. It is necessary,
however, to guard this language. Taking opinions into one’s mind is not
thinking. There is a period in our life when we have more conceit than wisdom,
and more independence than politeness. We say to ourselves and others that “we
mean to do our own thinking,” which often amounts to this--that we mean to
assert ourselves as not agreeing with certain persons who are said to be narrow
and exclusive, and agreeing with those who shake themselves free from everybody
else except a few intellectual rakes and dandies. Alas, how silly it all seems
when we get a little older! Then it appears to us that it was the want of
ability to think which made us so impertinent and ridiculous. Of course all
young birds have to learn to do their own flying, and, after rolling and
tumbling about for awhile, they settle down to do it precisely after the
fashion of the old birds. So, also, with thinking. From the beginning even
until now it has been done in exactly the same way. The process has consisted
of the discernments of comparisons and contrasts, likenesses and unlikenesses,
of induction, deduction, and inference. Every man has to do his own thinking to
some extent, as every man has to do his own sating and his own digesting. There
is no possibility of any one eating our food for us, or digesting it for us.
And no man can possibly begin at the beginning of things, and think out each
problem of life as if no one had been on the earth before him. The present is
so related to the past, as that the past is in it and the future is in it.
Everything is in the present. We inherit the earth, not as it first came out
from the hands of the Creator before man was on it, but as it is, modified by
man’s co-operation with God. So of everything--that which is moral and mental
as well as that which is material. In each department of things there are men
who have thinking power and erudition far, far beyond what is possible to us.
In each department they are our helpers, our instructors; yes, our masters.
That independence which we assume in youth is only ignorance, foolishness,
unthinkingness. The greatest men the world has ever known have been the most
receptive and dependent men; the most diligent students, the aptest learners.
If I am to learn painting it would be folly indeed if I said, “I am going to be
independent of Murillo and Raphael, of Turner and Correggio and Rubens and all
other artists who have gone before me.” So in music the man who thinks for
himself and never appropriates the science of others is idiotic. So everywhere
in all departments. Not less so in theology, the revelation of God and of man,
and of the relation of the human to the Divine. If I set up on my own account,
and did not open my mind to the thinkings of others, the name of “Verdant
Green” would be the only name that could fit me. I would have our younger
people distinguish between two ideas which are very distinct, and yet are often
confounded the one with the other--viz., thinking for one’s self and
cultivating a spirit of truth. The truth is that which corresponds to the fact.
As a fact reports itself to your mind that is the truth for you. By and by as
your mind grows it may report itself somewhat differently, then there will be
something added to the original impression, and that will be the truth. Now,
intellectual courage consists in this perfect truthfulness--this faithfulness
to report what you see and recognise. It may sometimes put you in seeming
inconsistency with yourself. It may subject you to being accused of
inconsistency. But never mind. God does not ask us to be consistent--on that
shallow view of consistency--but to be faithful and true. There is a deeper
consistency--a nobler consistency. If I see a thing very partially in youth,
because of the undeveloped condition of my mind, and see it more completely in
manhood, because I have had more experience and more vision; if I truly say
what I saw then and truly say what I see now, though I see now more than I saw
then, am I not consistent--more nobly consistent--than I should be if I were
afraid, under more experience, to contradict my former self? What is life for
if not to educate us into deeper and larger views of truth? Only we must take
good heed that they are deeper and larger. Many people change, but their change
is not growth. Let us recognise that, in order to be assured of the leading of
the Spirit of God into all truth, we must have intellectual courage--the
courage to follow the truth wherever it leads and to own up to believing that
it is the truth. Often it takes even sublime courage to do it. Every child
ought to read the story of the martyrs of old. It is dreadful to think how
little the religion of some of us means. The loss of the ability to grow deep-rooted
convictions, and the loss of courage to be faithful in owning to them, is,
wherever it occurs, a dreadful loss. It means the loss of that nobility of soul
the possession of which is one of the surest marks of our being children of
God.
3. But of all kinds of courage, moral courage is the noblest. Of
course it enters into intellectual courage. The two are not distinct, and yet
while intellectual courage implies thinking power and faithful following where
the light seems to be, moral courage does not necessarily mean the courage of
the crack thinker, but the courage of character; the courage which acts
conscientiously in trying circumstances. For instance, the liar is always the
coward. A man lies because he has not the courage to speak the truth and take
the consequences. There is one exception to that rule. It is conceivable that a
really truthful man might need courage to tell a lie which he thought would
shelter a friend from injury or harm. My intellect may sometimes stand in
contradiction to my conscience, “but conscience is given me to act by. In
matters of duty, therefore, I am bound to obey my conscience rather than my
intellect.” Hence moral courage amounts pretty much to this--the steady,
persistent following of the light which is in conscience. It involves, of
course, the bringing of the conscience into the light, where it may be
illuminated, for conscience is a light receiver, not a light originator.
Courage, and much of it, is needed to act always and everywhere
conscientiously. Intelligence is needed to distinguish between conscience and
prejudice. Many a man assumes to be acting conscientiously when he is really
acting only from prejudice and feeling. If he quietly took himself to task, he
would recognise his true motive. Conscience represents God’s judgment throne.
The very fact that a man condemns himself in spite of his natural unwillingness
to do it, proves that the voice of conscience is not his own voice.
4. But how are we to get the courage we need--intellectual courage to
follow the truth wherever it leads, to utter it always in love, but to utter
it; and the moral courage to obey conscience? Where did those apostles in the
early Christian days get theirs? Few of them were more than average men. At the
approach of calamity all the disciples forsook Jesus and fled. If there was an
exception it was John. Peter disgraced himself pitifully. Yet within a few
weeks we find men of such sublime courage that we hardly recognise them as the
same men. Not Luther himself at the Diet of Worms, challenging the old
ecclesiastical order of centuries, was braver. Not the Prince de Conde was
braver as he stood before the King of France when given the choice of three
things--first, to go to Mass; second, to die; third, to be imprisoned for life.
He replied with regard to the first, “I am fully determined never to go to
Mass; as to the other two I am so perfectly indifferent that I leave the choice
to your Majesty.” These are illustrations of the noble courage of noble men.
They seem phenomenal and unusual. But there may be here amongst us men and
women, yes, and children, capable of as determined a courage if put in similar
circumstances. None of us can tell what we should do in any condition till we
get there. It requires as much courage to suffer and be quiet and
self-controlled as it does to act. Nothing is more admirable than the quiet
domestic courage which many illustrate. I am inclined to adopt and endorse the
words of one who has written, “few persons have courage enough to appear
as good as they really are.” That is the essence of moral courage. The
religious life of business men is very shy and timid. There are men in this and
every congregation who feel and believe more--far more--than they act. Sydney
Smith has said that a great deal of talent is lost to the world for the want of
a little courage. With more truth still we may say that a great deal of
influence is lost to the Church for want of a little courage. I believe that
few persons have the courage to appear as good as they really are. Courage is
opposed to the spirit of compromise--the spirit of indolence--the spirit of
silence when silence will be interpreted as consent on our part to what we do
not believe. The spirit of fear, of indolence, of compromise, of guilty silence
has to be overcome. How? The Spirit of God is granted to every seeking soul
that the soul may overcome. (Reuen Thomas, D.D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》