2 Kings 12:4-15 - Homiletics

Church restoration a good work , acceptable to God . David's desire to build God a house is often mentioned to his honor ( 2 Samuel 7:2 ; 1 Chronicles 17:1 , 1 Chronicles 17:2 ; 2 Chronicles 6:7 ; Acts 7:46 ). Solomon's reputation for piety and zeal rests mainly upon the pains which he took to erect for God's worship a noble and suitable edifice (Wis. 9:8; Ecclesiasticus 47:13; Acts 7:47 ). The "repairing of the house of God" ( 2 Chronicles 24:27 ) by Joash obtained him his place among the good kings ( 2 Kings 12:2 ). Josiah's restoration ( 2 Kings 22:3-7 ) helped to put him in the higher category of those who were in no way defective (Ecclesiasticus 42:4). Zerubbabel and Jeshua were long held in honor, because they "builded the house, and set up a holy temple to the Lord" (Ecclesiasticus 49:12). It was the great glory of Judas Maccabaeus that he cleansed and "renewed the sanctuary" (1 Macc. 5:1). If God is to have any outward worship at all, if nations are to honor him openly, if men are to join in common prayer for mutual encouragement and edification, there must be buildings for the purpose; and natural reverence requires that they shall be kept solely for the purpose. He who provides such buildings does a good work; he who repairs them when they need it, or restores them when they have gone to decay, shows the same spirit as the original builder, and deserves scarcely less praise. Of course, we assume that both builders and repairers and restorers do their work in a proper frame of mind, and from proper motives; otherwise church-building, like almsgiving or any other good work, may cease to be pleasing to God, or may even become an "offense" to him. Church-builders and church-restorers should see—

I. THAT THEY DO NOT THEIR WORK OUT OF OSTENTATION OR FOR THEIR OWN GLORY . This their conscience will readily tell them if they honestly consult it.

II. THAT THEY DO IT NOT IN A SPIRIT OF MERE AESTHETICISM , OUT OF A LOVE OF ART . Considering the personal character of those who built St. Peter's at Rome, and the dominant spirit of the age, it is difficult to suppose that the main motive at work among the promoters was not the aesthetic one. And there may be a danger of the same kind at the present day, when art is in such high estimation.

III. THAT THEY DO IT NOT OUT OF STRIFE , OR JEALOUSY , OR EMULATION , BUT , IF POSSIBLE , WITH A SINGLE EYE TO GOD 'S HONOR , OR , AT ANY RATE , WITH GOD 'S HONOR AS THEIR MAIN OBJECT . As some preached the gospel out of strife ( Philippians 1:15 ) in the apostles' time, so it may be that occasionally nowadays the desire of surpassing a neighbor, or outshining a rival, may be at the root of men's munificence in church-building and chapel-building. As "dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to stink" ( Ecclesiastes 10:1 ), so a wrong motive takes away all its sweet savor from a good action.

HOMILIES BY C.h. IRWIN