"Fill our hearts with thoughts of Jesus,
And of heaven where He is gone;
And let nothing ever please us
He would grieve to look upon."
2 Kings 11, 12; 2 Chron. 22, 23, 24.
2KI 11, 122CH 22, 23, 24THE story of Joash will carry us to Jerusalem. That is a name which I think you have often I heard; it is the name of the city in which David, his son, his grandson and many of his descendants reigned as kings over the people of God.
Jerusalem is the name of the most wonderful city in the whole world, for in it is Mount Zion, which Jehovah loved, and, more than this, it is the city “where also our Lord was crucified." It is a city which the heart of God will never forget, and though it is so spoiled and ruined that Mount Zion does not now appear “beautiful for situation the joy of the whole earth," still, the Lord will yet build up Jerusalem, and "gather together the outcasts of Israel." Jerusalem is a type or pattern city, too; we read of "the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God;" “New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God."
We might soon fill a book with lessons and thoughts about Jerusalem, but this is to be the story of Joash, one of the kings who reigned in that blessed and wonderful city. I am sorry to tell you that, wonderful and blessed as it was, yet some very wicked people dwelt there about the time of Joash. Nearly 300 years had passed away since that night when Samuel, the child-prophet, had heard the voice of the Lord: sad changes had taken place among the people of God; they had provoked Him to anger with their graven images, so that He had forsaken " the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;" the people of Israel themselves, whom God had delivered all together from the bondage of Egypt, whom He had guided as one great company through the wilderness, and whom He had given as one flock into the care of David, had divided themselves into two companies under two separate kings, One king reigned in Samaria, and was called king of Israel; the other reigned in Jerusalem, and was called king of Judah; and the kings of Judah were always, in the eyes of God, the rightful rulers over His people, yet, even among them, there were many who were very, very wicked.
Oh! what a sad dark history is the story of man, even when he has been set in a place of favor by God: the story of king Joash is not altogether a sweet one like that of little Samuel or the infant Moses, but some things not altogether sweet are wholesome for us, and the story of Joash contains a solemn and wholesome lesson for all those children who are enjoying the Tender Care of God, and are being trained in the Subject Place; both these must have been known by the child Joash; and perhaps you will understand the title which I have added to his name — "Heart and Rule," better by reading the whole story, than by any explanation I could give you of it now.
The father of Joash was a very different man from either Amram or Elkanah. His name was Ahaziah. He was one of the kings of Judah, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab, and, dreadful to relate, his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. But that was not an excuse for Ahaziah: he might have read in the proverbs, written by his ancestor Solomon, "My son, if sinners entice thee consent thou not."
How often we are inclined to make an excuse for our sin of the bad advice or bad example of somebody else, but such excuses will not hide our sin from God; only the precious blood of Christ can blot out sin from God's sight. Destruction came from God upon the wicked Ahaziah.
And when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal, that is, she caused the death of all her own grandsons. Not a thought for her son who had died under the judgment of God, not a thought for his unhappy children, her only thought was for self; she reigned in Jerusalem and she fancied her dreadful plan had succeeded, that not one was left who could claim the throne which God had promised to David and to his sons forever.
But "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord:" she made a dreadful mistake. What could the wicked Athaliah, daughter of the idol-loving Jezebel, know of the promises and ways of God?
There was another relative of the dead king's who was not like Athaliah; this was Jehosheba, the sister of Ahaziah, and wife of Jehoiada, the high priest: while the dreadful slaughter of the king's sons was going on, Jehoshabeath, who is the same as Jehosheba, secretly took Joash from among the rest and hid him in a bedroom with his nurse, for he was then scarcely a year old, thus his life was saved, and for six years he lived with his aunt Jehoshabeath and his uncle Jehoiada in the house of God.
It was, no doubt, by faith that the high priest and his wife dared thus to risk the fury of the wicked grandmother Athaliah, and only faith could have made Jehoshabeath bold enough to enter the place where the royal children were being killed and to take Joash away.
But Jehoiada and his wife knew the promise of God, and they also knew what we, too, may be sure of, that
“sooner all nature shall change
Than one of God's promises fail."
And what was the promise that made it impossible for Athaliah, with all her planning and all her strength, to take away the life of this last little son of the wicked king Ahaziah?
God had promised that the throne of Jerusalem should always belong to a son of David. In 2 Sam. 7:1616And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. (2 Samuel 7:16) we read, “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee; thy throne shall be established forever." More than a hundred years had passed away since God had made this promise, but God never forgets what He has said and He never alters it either; “Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven."
In the midst of all the confusion that had surrounded the throne of Samaria, the throne of Jerusalem had passed, without once missing, from father to son, and for two hundred years more after the time of Joash, still this bright line of the promise of God was seen passing from father to son, from father to son; then the people became so wicked that God caused them to be taken captives to a strange land, and the line of the sons of David was no longer seen upon the throne of Jerusalem.
But a child of the royal line of Judah was born generation after generation according to the word. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be," and the promise was there as bright as ever to faith. And of whom was this spoken? with whom was this promised kingly line to end? With Christ, the Son of David, David's son yet David's Lord, the true Lion of Judah, the true king of Israel.
It could not pass to any other; no one could come after the Lord Jesus Christ, for though the Jews refused Him as their king, crying " Crucify him, crucify him," and though He hung upon the cross with a title written over Him, " Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews," and though on that cross, where He suffered, the just for the unjust, He bowed His head and died, yet it was not possible that He, the holy Son of God, should be holden of death. God raised Him from among the dead and now "He ever liveth."
“He who wore the crown of thorns,
He whom men reviled and scorn'd;
Claims exclusively, the words,
King of kings and Lord of lords."
The heavens have received Him until the times of restitution, that means times of setting in order, but God's promise remains; the day is near when He will come forth again, and then His real title will be plainly seen according to Rev. 19:1616And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:16), "He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords."
We cannot see Jesus now, but "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed."
Before that day when He comes forth in power and majesty to judge the earth, He will have come again and taken away from this sinful world all those who have put their trust in Him. “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:16, 1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17).) That voice will be heard by every one who has trusted in Jesus, even the youngest child, and we shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Now faith assures us, as it assured Jehoiada and Jehoshabeath, that, the Lord will not forget His promise. He says to us: “I will come again and receive you unto myself," and so we “wait for the Son from heaven, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come."
Oh! how far safer was the little rescued child, Joash, hid in the hollow of God's hand., and sheltered by the unchangeable promise, than the proud Athaliah who, surrounded by her guards and boasting in her strength and success, sat enthroned upon the brink of destruction!
How far safer is a child whose trust is in God, than the greatest of men whose trust is in the things of earth!
“Happy they who trust in Jesus,
Sweet their portion is and sure;
When the foe on others seizes,
God will keep His own secure.
Happy people,
Happy, though despised and poor."
Six years passed away; quiet years to Joash who lived all that time in his hiding-place in the house, of the Lord; this hiding-place was most likely one of the " little chambers " that stood in rows of three stories, chamber over chamber, around the Temple.
The Temple was quite a different place from the house of the Lord in Shiloh where Samuel had been brought up; that was a curtained. Tabernacle, this was the glorious Temple built by Solomon of costly stones and choice timber.
And six years passed away for Athaliah; the seventh year had come; she had reigned in Jerusalem according to her wish; like the wicked man in Psa. 10, she had "boasted in her heart's desire," like him she had "in secret places murdered the innocent," like him she was "taken in the device which she had imagined:" yes, the day had come when she was to find out her dreadful mistake. A sound reached her ears—a sudden but increasing noise; the people of Jerusalem were running and shouting “God save the King; " trumpets were blowing, soldiers were tramping hither and thither. In haste Athaliah followed the sound.
The courts of the Lord's house were thronged with rejoicing people; the faithful soldiers of the guard stood at every gate, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, and they were armed with the spears and the shields that had once been King David's. And did Athaliah rejoice with the faithful multitude? No, her heart must have been full of fear, but she hurried on until she reached the very threshold of the temple.
A lovely, solemn sight was to be seen there.
There was Jehoiada, the high priest, and his sons; there were Levites, who had been set apart for the service of the Lord, stationed around with weapons in their hands; and in their midst, beside a pillar, wearing the kingly crown, his head anointed with the holy oil, the book of the law in his childish hands, stood the little hidden king, a silent witness to the unchangeable word of Jehovah.
The trumpets sounded; the singers with instruments of music led the praises of the rejoicing people, but Athaliah could not join those songs: she could only rend her clothes and cry Treason, Treason. The day of her punishment had come, and, at the command of Jehoiada, the high priest, the captains seized her, and when they had drawn her away from the holy place, from the holy things, and from the anointed king whom she had hated, they slew her, and she too became thus a witness to the unchangeable word of Jehovah.
For the promise is sure, and “though it tarry wait for it," but the judgment also is sure, and “when they shall say Peace and safety, sudden destruction cometh upon them."
The little Joash was now crowned as king: he had been accepted with joy by the people, who had, no doubt, suffered under the rule of the wretched Athaliah.
It must have been a wonderful moment for the child who had been reared in the secrecy and quiet of those little Temple chambers when, at seven years old, he found himself thus standing crowned in the midst of the people, and he could have understood but little of the blessed and solemn position which he occupied; but his faithful guardian, the high priest, knew that the child was more than the king whom the people were pleased to accept. Jehoiada knew that Joash was also the one chosen and anointed of the Lord, and the people of Jerusalem were the Lord's people, so Jehoiada made a covenant, that is a solemn agreement, " between the Lord and the king, and the people, that they should be the Lord's people; between the king also and the people."
The king and the people undertook to serve and obey the Lord; the Lord on His part would bless them; the king also undertook to rule in justice and mercy over the people, and they on their part undertook to obey Joash as the king whom God had set over them.
Then the captains with their hundreds of soldiers, the people who filled the courts and the streets, began to move, and the little king, accompanied by the faithful Jehoiada and the guard, went out from the house of the Lord, through the gate of the guard on into the king's house from which, in haste and fear, he had been carried six years before, and they seated him upon the throne of the kings.
The child-king had reached the throne of David; his enemy was dead and the city was quiet, but there was much still for his faithful guardians to do.
The aunt Jehosheba, who had rescued him, would yet have to bestow much watchful care and training upon the child, though he was a king, and the high priest would have to teach him all the commandments which had been provided, hundreds of years before, for the direction of those who should rule as kings over the people of God.
In Deut. 17:14-2014When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 15Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. 16But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:14‑20), you may read these commandments; the last was perhaps that which Jehoiada first set before Joash: "It shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them."
Thus the days and years would pass by: how little could those around the young king guess what was to be the sad ending of all this careful instruction! How little could they foresee the return he would make for all this care and kindness!
Joash grew on; he did many right things; he was zealous in repairing the house of the Lord, but alas! his heart was untouched.
Many right things may be taught us, many truths learned, but all that is learned does not reach 'the heart.
Did you ever read of Lydia, the “seller of purple “in Thyatira?
How did Paul's preaching reach her heart?
Look at Acts 16; in the fourteenth verse you will find these words — "Whose heart the Lord opened."
A very little boy once knew how truth could get into the heart: he was a little Scotch boy, and he, lived among lonely hills and in a day when schools were few, so a Christian who, when traveling that way, went to visit him, was surprised to find this little boy full of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and asked where he had learned the precious truths he spoke of. Ah! the truths were not in the little boy's mind only; he answered in his simple, childish language: " I was learned at the Infant School, but God put it in my heart."
How precious to be able to say this—God put it in my heart!
And God delights to put His truth into the hearts of little ones.
He loves the little ones to teach,
And put His truth within their reach;
And not the weakest e'er can say,
I came but I was sent away."
How different was Joash from the little Scotch boy! A rule from outside was all that guided him; he only did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
He was not like David his forefather, who could say: "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee." (Psa. 119:22Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (Psalm 119:2).)
Did you ever hide anything in your heart?
What is hidden in our hearts, no man can take away from us.
This thought once comforted a little Irish boy in a very sad trouble.
I am sure you will be shocked to hear that a very wicked man, who was a Roman Catholic Priest, was very angry with this little boy for reading his Bible, and desired him to leave off doing so; this was a command which the little boy could not obey, for the Lord Himself said, “Search the scriptures."
The priest was much displeased when he found his command disobeyed, and he spoke very cruelly to the child, but still could not persuade him to promise that he would not read his precious book; the very next time the priest came in he found the child sitting with his Bible on his knee.
The priest was enraged.
"You shall not read that Book," he cried, and snatching it from the child's hands, he threw it into the fire.
Oh, how wicked must the man have been who could thus treat the holy word of God!
You may think how bitterly the poor little boy cried when he saw his precious book burnt away, page by page; when all was burnt the wicked priest went away, but the poor little boy kept on crying, and his parents could not comfort him: at last a thought made him dry his tears, and presently he even smiled, though still he saw nothing left of his Bible but a little heap of ashes.
What was this thought?
His parents did not know until at last he said, “I’m thinking that the priest can't burn those chapters which I have learned by heart."
God had given this thought to the poor persecuted child to comfort him; and was not this little Irish boy like David?
The Roman Catholic priest could not take the word of God away from this poor little child, as you will hear that the princes of Judah took it from King Joash.
I am not writing to kings; none of you are, like Joash, wearers of a crown, but like him you are children, growing up under much watchful care and good instruction; and are you like Joash in anything else?
Perhaps, and I hope it is so, you are like him obedient to Rule; you do as you are told; you have good habits, you know many useful and pleasant things, but oh! is it only Rule or is it Heart?
Are the good habits and the right ways and the pleasant thoughts coming from something within?
When the parents or the instructors are away, when you are alone, or with your companions only; left without Rule; do the right ways still go on?
Did you ever see a jelly turned out in the shape of the mold it had been put into?
I have. It had been put into a mold shaped like a Rabbit, and it turned out a jelly the exact shape of a Rabbit.
There was his soft rounded back; there were his legs and his slender feet, his long ears and his little restless mouth; besides the Rabbit I have seen another jelly, and when it was turned out of its mold it fell all to pieces; it was no shape at all.
Where was the difference?
Not in the molds, for they were both away from the jellies.
The difference was in the jellies: there was something in the one that kept it in shape; that something was wanting in the other, and it could keep no shape.
It was very like a child who is kept only by rule; nothing within that answered to the rule, that stored up the rule, alas! such an one is like Ephraim, who was said to be "like a silly dove without heart," and, like him, their "goodness is as a morning cloud and as the early dew it goeth away."
How sadly was this true of Joash, the king who had given good promise all the days of Jehoiada the priest!
But Jehoiada grew old and died, and where was the goodness of Joash then? He was left without the rule of his faithful uncle, and he was without goodness: Jehoiada was gone, and his goodness, like early dew, was gone away also.
How terrible was the end of his story. He and his people left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, the very house which had once sheltered Joash, and served groves and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.
Yet God sent prophets to them.
“He is a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness."
But alas! it was all in vain; they would not give ear. One last instructor arose, Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, the priest; his heart must have sorrowed over the king whom he had seen from childhood upwards, and who had been so precious to his father, but he had to pronounce solemn words of judgment upon him and the people. "Thus saith God; why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord that ye cannot prosper? Because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you; and they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king, in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son; and when he died he said, the Lord look upon it and require it."
This was the sad end of the history of Joash: illness came upon him, and in his weakness his own servants slew him, and the people who once had beheld him with joyful love, and who had shouted " God save king Joash," now refused him so much as a place of burial among the kings of Judah.
Ah, how true of Joash and these princes of Judah were the sad and solemn words which the prophet Isaiah spoke a few years after, " This people draweth near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me."
In my last chapter I spoke of a garden which some children are like; Joash reminds me of a fruit of which travelers have spoken; this fruit was said to grow in a place not very far from Jerusalem.
About 20 miles east of Jerusalem, there is a gloomy spot, a great, silent, lifeless sea; perhaps some of you have already heard of it, it is well named "The Dead Sea;" nothing lives in its lonely waters; a traveler once put a little fish into some of this Dead Sea water which he had poured into a glass; the little fish went in alive, but it was very unhappy in this strange pond of lifeless water, and in half-an-hour it died. The traveler may come thirsting to the shores of the Dead Sea, but he cannot drink of its bitter, unwholesome water; as he looks around he may see what appears like a beautiful ripe plum, it is called the Dead Sea Apple; it looks soft, and blooming, and juicy, but if unwarned he picks it and puts it to his lips, does it refresh him? does it quench his thirst? Oh no, he is almost choked.
The pleasant-looking fruit is filled with a strange and horrible dust.
Oh, how useless, how dangerous is that which is only fair outside!
Would your father and mother be satisfied with obedient hands and feet if your heart were not obedient? No indeed, their hearts are occupied about you; they love you, they think about you, and if their rule did not reach your heart you would never answer to their wishes concerning you; and it is wonderful to remember, but your parents and friends are not the only ones who desire to reach that poor little heart of yours.
God has said, “My son, give me thine heart."
Yes, God, the great God who made heaven and earth, can even stoop to invite you to give Him your heart; and this is because of His love.
But God loves with a holy love. Your heart is that within you which can love, which can hate, which can fear, which can hope, which can trust, which can rejoice; it is like a road or little chamber leading to and from your whole self; “out of it are the issues of life."
God, in holy love, says, Give me your heart; Let me keep that little chamber.
The heart that is given to God is sprinkled with the precious blood of Christ, so that its sin is atoned for and does not appear before God; for by nature “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," and God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, "and He cannot look upon sin."
The word of God, like pure water, washes the heart from its former evil tastes and habits.
God furnishes the heart too with "exceeding great and precious promises," so that it may not long after the corrupt enjoyments of this evil world.
But I cannot tell you all that Light and Love do for the heart; these precious things must be tasted in the heart to be known. “Oh! taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
What answer have you made to all this wonderful love?
“What glad returns can I impart
For favor so divine;
O take me all, and fill my heart,
And make me wholly Thine."
David could say, "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek." Here is another nice little verse for you to remember, Psa. 86:1111Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. (Psalm 86:11), "Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name."
We have come to the end of the sad story of Joash, and I think you will like to hear the story of another little boy who, like Joash, was taught to turn away from idols, but he was not altogether like Joash; his heart received what he was taught Joash lived more than two thousand years ago; this little boy lived only a few years ago.
Would you like to know his name?
It was Kway Chung.
What a strange name!
It sounds very strange to our ears, but to the friends of Kway Chung it sounded no stranger than Charlie or Harry, or many a well-known name does to us.
You will guess by this, that the home of Kway Chung was not England, Ireland, or Scotland, as yours may be; neither was it Canaan, the home of Joash; his home was China, a wonderful country at the east of Asia, of which you may read many interesting things.
China is crowded with immense numbers of inhabitants; the Chinese are very clever people and very industrious, but they are worshippers of idols.
Among all the thousands of the learned Chinese very few have learned anything of “the love of Christ which passes knowledge."
The Chinese call their country The Celestial Empire, that means The Heavenly Empire; but alas! a country where the true God is unknown must be very unheavenly indeed; still, the Chinese admire their own country and their own ways so much that they have, until lately, been very unwilling to allow strangers from other countries to enter China, and thus the Chinese have remained in idolatry and ignorance long after many poorer and less learned people.
We often find that those who are most ignorant think most highly of their own goodness and wisdom. How foolish is such pride!
A child who thinks that it knows better than its parents or other older people is very like these foolish Chinese.
Some Christians went to the place where Kway Chung lived, and opened a school where the poor little Chinese children might learn, not foolish stories about idols, but the sweet Bible stories you have so often heard, and which all teach us one great and beautiful lesson, the love and faithfulness of God.
Kway Chung heard of Jesus, that great gift of God's love; with his heart he believed the blessed news that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life," for it is "with the heart man believes unto righteousness;" and what happened then?
Why, the heart of Kway Chung rejoiced.
“My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation."
The kind friends who had loved and taught the poor Chinese boy also rejoiced as they saw the fruit of their labors: not the dreadful Dead Sea Apple, but the sweet fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace; and perhaps they hoped that Kway Chung would grow up in his turn to proclaim the Savior to other poor Chinese boys.
But this was not the future before Kway Chung: the Lord had that which is “far better" as the portion in store for-him.
He became ill, and day by day, though slowly, his friends could see him growing weaker; he could learn but little now, his strength for study in the school was gone, but he would sit quiet and contented beside his kind instructors.
One day, a lady who had been much interested in him saw a sweet expression of joy on his pale face. “What are you smiling at, Kway Chung?" she said.
How simple, yet how precious was his answer!
He replied, “I was thinking how delightful it would be to be with Jesus when I die."
Ah! while Kway Chung had been too weak to go on studying in the school with the other little Chinese boys, his heart had still been learning and storing up precious things in the school of God: his heart was made glad at the thought of being with Jesus; with Jesus, who had come from the bright glory to this sad, sinful world, to make known the love of God; with Jesus, whose precious blood had washed away all the sins of the poor Chinese boy; with Jesus, who, when down here, went about doing good.
Kway Chung knew Jesus; and he could be happy at the thought of dying; for to him it was to be with Jesus, “absent from the body, present with the Lord."
If Kway Chung had been left among his foolish idols, death must have been terrible to him; leaving his home, leaving all he loved, and going to a place he did not know.
Oh! how terrible is death to all who know not Jesus, the Good Shepherd who giveth His life for the sheep; hearing about Jesus will not do. Have we heard His voice in our hearts by faith? He does not speak in a loud voice from heaven; the voice of Jehovah once shook the earth, but to the heart of a child who says I should like to know Him, Jesus speaks very softly, through His word.
Very softly He speaks, but the word goes into the heart of the one who hears, and that word is life.
He says, “I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me."
He says, "I am the door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture."
He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
“Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."
“By him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."
“How loving is Jesus
Who came from the sky,
In tenderest pity
For sinners to die;
His hands and His feet
Were nail'd to the tree;
And all this He suffered
For sinners like me.
How precious is Jesus
To all who believe;
And out of His fullness
What grace they receive;
When weak He supports them,
When erring He guides,
And everything needful
He kindly provides.
How gladly does Jesus
Free pardon impart,
To all who receive Him
By faith in their heart;
Glory is for them,
Their home is above,
And Jesus will take them
To dwell in His love."
Many of you are not weak and dying like Kway Chung, but if it was sweet to him to die and go to be with Jesus, it is also sweet to live for “Him who died for us and rose again."
But it is only the one who is ready to die, who is able to live for Christ.
If we should tremble to die without Christ, we may well also tremble to live without Him.
I will tell you a story of one who did not die young, as Kway Chung did, but who grew up and preached to some poor heathen.
These were not Chinese but Hindoos, natives of India, which is a country better known to most of you than China.
The preacher had been speaking to a crowd of Hindoos about the helplessness of their miserable wooden idols and about the almighty power of God; the poor Hindoos, who had heard so little of this wonderful message of love, listened eagerly; their brown faces were all turned towards the speaker.
Suddenly, there was a disturbance; one among the crowd hated to hear of Jesus; he liked his foolish idols; he did not like to see so many listening to the word of God; so, with a great club in his hand, he rushed to the preacher and struck him.
The Hindoo meant to have struck the preacher dead, but God did not permit this. He had more work for his servant to do; the preacher had spoken earnest words, but now he was to speak in ways that would be stronger to touch the hearts of the Hindoo listeners. The stroke of the club fell on the missionary's shoulder instead of on his head.
The crowd seized the wicked man who had dared thus to attack the one who spoke to them the Word of Life; they dragged him before the missionary.
"Beat him, beat him!" they cried, “and we will hold him while you do it."
But could the one who had been speaking of His love, who, while we were yet sinners, died for us, beat this poor heathen, and return the blow which had been given him? No, not if that love had touched and bowed his heart.
“I cannot render evil for evil," said the missionary.
Then the Hindoos cried, “Take him to the magistrate."
“The master whom, I serve," replied the missionary, has said — 'Love your enemies,' so I cannot take him to the magistrate to get punished."
The poor Hindoos did not know what more to advise.
Then the missionary, while still smarting under the blow given by the cruel Hindoo, turned to him and said, "Go to your home, and remember that it was the word of the blessed Savior whom you hate that has saved you from the punishment you would otherwise have received for thus attacking me."
The fierce Hindoo was now glad enough to get away from the strong hands and angry looks of the crowd; and they, seeming to find their hearts touched with the love which they had not only heard of but seen, broke out into a simple song of "praise to Jesus."
We, none of us, were ever taught to worship those ugly images of wood and stone that are called idols. How sad it is to think of the hundreds who are thus taught, who never learn the texts you know, who have never heard those words so dear to our hearts, "Suffer the little children to come unto me."
Did you ever feel sorry for the poor little heathen children?
Among the great multitude which no man can number, there will be some of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and how sweet to think that we may help one immortal being to escape from the multitude who are going on the way to destruction and to become one of the multitude who are going on the way to glory! But you yourself must know the love of Christ, and forgiveness of your sins, and the hope of glory, before you can long for others to know these things.
We have no graven images, but have we therefore nothing to cast away? Yes, there are many other wrong things besides wooden or silver idols which our hearts cannot hold together with the love of Christ.
They are strange things to learn about, these hearts of ours! how much pleasure, how much pain, even a child's heart can hold; and pain and pleasure are not the only things known in the heart. Alas! something far worse than the worst pain has a place in the heart of man. It is sin.
Pleasure and pain may pass by turns through the heart; but sin does not pass; it dwells in the heart.
We cannot cast sin out of our hearts; we can only hate it and refuse to listen to its voice.
The child of God learns to hate sin because it was on account of sin that Christ endured the dreadful suffering of the cross. Sin is the parent of all sorrow: no wonder then, that even a child may often have its heart full of sorrow.
Christ was down here the Man of sorrows; it was on account of our sin.
Sin will never be turned out even from the heart of the child of God until the moment when we see Jesus.
“But we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." “And in him is no sin."
Until that bright and blessed moment, it is our privilege to learn of Him and to look at Him, so that out of us may come, not what is according to our own sinful hearts, but what is according to His heart.
“By cool Siloam's shady hill,
How sweet the lily grows;
How sweet the breath beneath the hill
Of Sharon's dewy rose.
Lo, such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod;
Whose secret heart with influence sweet,
Is upward drawn to God.
O Thou, whose infant feet were found
Within Thy Father's shrine!
Whose years with changeless virtue crown'd,
Were all alike divine.
“Dependent on Thy bounteous breath,
We look to Thee alone;
In childhood, manhood, age or death,
To keep us as Thine own."
HEBER