A Few Unrevised Notes of an Address by C. C., Lachute, 1st April, 1897.

1 Kings 11:9-43.

One sometimes meets with some singular and discouraging cases-cases of individuals who seem to be clear as to grace, but who are strangely deficient as to responsibility,-people who, when they have failed, and even when going on in positive evil and wickedness, we are surprised to note how clearly they can speak of the counsels of God and His purposes in grace. So much so that we would think them enjoying greatly these precious things of God. Such fall again and again into sin in various ways, and I believe the explanation is, they are more acquainted with the doctrines of grace than those of responsibility. It ought not to be so, I am sure. If we believe in simplicity the grace of God, we should be able to believe, in the same simplicity, in the responsibilities of our path down here. The lessons of these histories of the Kings will help us, I believe.

In David, God brings out His principles of grace, and at once with these, through his successors, we find how responsibility attaches to this.

God gave promises to Abraham and when his seed 430 years afterward came into the land, did He give it to them? No; He said, "You must fight for every bit of it you possess." His promises to Abraham were unconditional, unqualified promises; but to his seed, instead of that, there was conditional possession. So with regard to David. He was taken up just as Abraham was, and God promised him a throne that was to be his and his seed's after him. Of course, in both Abraham and David, we know God's promises went beyond the present seed, and have their ultimate fulfilment in Christ. But here though Solomon be the type of Christ in a certain character, yet we find when God makes promise to Solomon, He makes condition, and it becomes manifest He is putting him on different ground. It is now responsibility, not unconditional grace. Let us look at this, and see how these two things can be consistent and fit into one another. However Solomon may fail, it does not at all cancel God's promise to David. God can carry that out even if Solomon does fail. In the Church it is the same. The Gospel makes us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. He is going to have the saints with Christ in glory. Nothing of all the failure of the Church will hinder God's purpose in this. The Church is going to reign with Christ. This is God's counsel and purpose. He will head up all things in heaven and earth in Him, and no failure of ours will prevent His accomplishing the thought of His heart in respect to Christ and the Church. Precious grace !

But the Church is also set in the place of testimony and responsibility in this world. Her failure in these positions is one thing:her title to eternal glory and to reign with Christ is another thing entirely. So we see how some see but one side of all this, and it hinders proper enjoyment of heavenly things or a true walk with God. They can see and accept all the purpose of God and His counsels with regard to Christ and the Church, but leave out, alas! their responsibility to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called, and this accounts for all the weakness and failure that abound. Looking at the Church in its responsibility, how little intelligent walking before God there is! how little real faithfulness on all sides, to-day, as well as in the past history of God's people! Let us see about Solomon:-
First. David is the type of Christ as the warrior, a man of war, not only slaying the giant Goliath and delivering the nation, but also putting all enemies under his feet-the Edomites, Amalekites, Syrians, etc. This is characteristic of him. He is a man of war, and thus type of Christ who has met the power of the enemy and wrought deliverance for us, and who shares, as David, the fruit of His victories-the victories of His cross-with His people.

In Solomon's reign we have two distinct divisions. First. As the man of peace, all is quiet and peaceful. Under him the people enjoy their possessions. There is no enemy to disturb the rest and enjoyment, and in this too we have a type of Christ, not as the warrior King, but as the King reigning in peace, which had become his through the victories of David. This enjoyment He shares with His people, who are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, wondrously enriched, and all the power of the enemy broken. Every question that can arise, every charge that can be made by the enemy of our souls, is met for us by the victorious work of Christ. But there is a Second part to the life of Solomon, and it is in this that we have this subject of responsibility taken up.

In Deut. 17:Moses gave instruction for the guidance of a king in Israel. There were four specific things:-

1st.He was not to multiply horses to himself.

2nd.He was not to multiply wives to himself.

3rd. He was not to multiply silver and gold to himself

4th. He was to write himself a copy of the book of the law.

Now here we have outlined what the king was to do, but in Solomon we never hear of his making himself a copy of the law of the Lord or his reading it, suggesting carelessness of the word of God; and Solomon himself the king setting the example for the whole people, in breaking down the place the word of God was to have in his heart and mind. If there be negligence of the word of God, little interest in it, it is an easy thing to take a further step, and the other things prohibited are all done also. He has many wives, goes down to Egypt for horses, and multiples silver and gold to himself. There is positive disobedience in all these things, but it is easy if we ignore God's word, if we do not accept it as the light shining for our path, and make it the man of our counsel.

But disobedience has its fruits and what do we find? Take the matter of his wives:the one who built that wonderful temple and introduced such a happy condition of things into the kingdom, now is seen building groves for idols; and bowing down and worshiping them. But there is more. In the history of Rehoboam, we find what helps us as to Solomon's failure. When Jeroboam came to him, he says:" Thy father made our yoke grievous " (12:4). There was evidently a spirit of discontent and murmuring which had been there before, because of heavy burdens. We can easily see how all this came in. Solomon had neglected the word of God. Then it was easy to multiply wives, and having gone this far in the path of disobedience, it was necessary to gratify and please them. They have claims and make demands :"He must make places where we can worship our gods." He has to yield; and think of the taxes laid upon the people to make suitable places for the gods to the Sidonians and Ammonites and Moabites and perhaps many others. There was no complaint about the building of the temple, but now it is not one grove but many groves, and of necessity this made burdens, heavy burdens upon the people and so the discontent and murmuring. What a picture, beloved, and how it speaks of how possible for a child of God to go far astray.

Neglect of the word of God soon leads into disobedience, and at last getting so far away from God and God's things, it is no more at all what at first was our portion as described in the early part of Solomon's reign. Now there are enemies cropping up. First the Edomite. Edom belonged properly to Israel and refers typically to the flesh in us. We know how God has given us victory over sin in us. Romans shows us how we have the victory over the evil in our own hearts, over the flesh in us.

Under David, a type, this victory was obtained, and in the early part of Solomon's reign we read of no Edomite rising up. But in this second part we have this Edomite stirring up himself. Think of it beloved brethren. How many are worried and perplexed and distressed to find the flesh stirring itself up. But I say there is a reason for it. The word of God has been neglected, and not only so, but we have become disobedient to it perhaps, setting aside its plainest teaching for our path. Then the flesh (the Edomite) says:"Now is my opportunity." Alas! how we expose ourselves to the enemy within us- this Edomite-when faith is thus weakened and enfeebled, because we have not fed it with the manna furnished by the word of God. But there are also enemies without, and Resin of Damascus speaks of the world. He also bestirs himself; and we find then both things, the Edomite and the Syrian, the flesh and the world, combining to hinder and harass. So the world says, when faith is weak and the flesh awake in us, "now is my time."

Next we have the spirit of division. Jeroboam is fostering that. Solomon's practice and life had brought about a favorable condition for the spirit of division, and it follows quickly on the track of what preceded.

Solomon means peace, but now God says to His people in departure from His word, and in disobedience to it, "it can't be peace now."

So Solomon dies and another takes his place,-another sits on the throne in his stead. All this is full of meaning for us. The distinction is surely brought out clearly between the reigns of David and Solomon, grace and responsibility. What loss it was all this turning away from God, this neglect of the Word, and its train of evils. It was loss indeed. It is distinctly stated, "The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice" (ver. 9). It was because of his behavior God raised up these enemies. Neglect and disobedience to His word brings down His hand upon us, but don't mistake it, beloved brethren, the hand of the Lord upon us does not mean He has given up His people and His purposes and counsels concerning them, but it does mean He is not pleased with the condition into which they have fallen, and it is His call to repentance. And it does mean we are suffering great loss. Solomon is warned that after his departure, God will rend his kingdom and his servant shall have the largest part. But there is not one word about his repentance. Don't you think the division might have been averted then if he had repented? I think so. Nineveh repented in a later day and God put off the judgment announced by Jonah two hundred years. Had Solomon repented who shall say God should not have acted in the same mercy to Israel as to Nineveh. These warnings to Solomon are warnings for us, beloved brethren, that we should not go on in self-will. Neglect of the word of God brings a train of sorrow and loss upon us, but who shall say how much disaster might be averted, how great calamity might be escaped from, by repentance and return to God ?

And beloved, if we may not expect general repentance and return to God and His word, yet we may seek it individually and find the greatest blessing. The Lord grant it.