9<\/strong>. the army<\/em> ] R.V. mg., the troop<\/strong> (so 2Ch 25:10<\/span>; 2Ch 25:13<\/span>). The men in question were freebooters to judge from their conduct (2Ch 25:13<\/span>).<\/p>\n 2Ch 25:9<\/span><\/p>\n And Amarish said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Self-made difficulties<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Worldly pleasure.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Worldly interests.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> A bad business, one you cannot ask God to bless.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> A legitimate business that is not conducted on Christian principles.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Worldly companions.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Bad habits.<\/p>\n God able to remunerate fidelity<\/strong><\/p>\n I <\/em>know a widow whose husband died and left her with a little family to struggle for. She opened a little shop in the suburbs of the city, when one of the agents of a wine-merchant waited upon her to ask her to be an agent for the sale of <\/strong>strong drink. She said, Never a drop shall enter my house. He said It will help you so much. She said, If it helps me some, it will harm me more. I have children around me, and whether I prosper or not, I will not gain anything to the injury of my fellow-creatures. She has done wonderfully. An intimate friend of mine went to see her, and said, I cannot understand how you get on, and why so many come to your shop, for they pass a number of good shops to come to yours. She said to her boy, George, you are fond of ciphering; get down your slate and put down how far off a man must live from my shop that God cannot bring him there. That settled it. God is able to give more than this. (Charles Garrett.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Rigid integrity may stand in the way<\/strong><\/p>\n There can be no doubt that a certain flexibility and elasticity of soul and conscience may make a man get on, as concerns this world, when rigid integrity would stand in his way. Nothing would be easier than to mention striking instances in which men threw away their chance of the highest places by an act of injudicious honesty. A trader who never puffs his wares as better than they really are may not drive such a business as the brazen individual who never spares the trumpet. A preacher who sets forth sound doctrine to people who have not been accustomed to it, and who do not want it, may make himself for a time obnoxious enough. But let us speak the truth and live the truth, no matter what we may lose by it. (Charles Garrett.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What shall we do for the hundred talents?<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It shows us Gods disapproval of union with the enemies of the truth. The children of Ephraim had departed from the Lord, His favour was withdrawn from them: Judah, if he hope for success, must send such helpers away. Yes, truly the friendship of the world is enmity with God. To join affinity with such, as Amaziah did, is to run into temptation and a snare.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>But the command of God thus given leads us to notice, further, that His disappointment of our hopes is in mercy, not in wrath. Perhaps to the mind of Amaziah this only was wanting to ensure victory: his army was strong, and could he but procure this aid from Israel all would be secure; and yet no sooner are they come than the command is given. It is often thus in Gods dealings with our souls. Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Could I but be placed in such circumstances, saith one, Were but this diffficulty removed. is the thought of another, then should I grow in grace, and prosper in my soul. But it cannot be, and you are discouraged. And yet it is in mercy, not in wrath, that your wishes are crossed.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Observe that the command calls for immediate compliance. Not after aid received in the battle, but now in the face of danger, at the risk of injury from those sent away, injury, too, that was not feared without cause (2Ch 25:13<\/span>). Gods command will not bear delay.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Observe–There is no promise of the restoration of the sum. The command of God was the solid ground on which the prophet claimed obedience of the king. And it is even here we too rest our appeal. Thus saith the Lord. In urging on you to yield yourselves unto God, we cannot–we may not–tell you that no difficulties are in the way. We have indeed that overwhelming motive to present, the safety of the soul.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Amaziah is referred to the almighty power of Him whose command he is called on to obey. God is able to give thee much more than this. As though the prophet had said, Thou art ready to sorrow for the hundred talents uselessly bestowed if now to be forfeited, but whose is the silver and the gold? Grudge not, then, this sum at His word, who bids thee yield it for thine own welfare. For is it dignity, the estimation of others, that you fear to give up? are these the hundred talents you are unwilling to part with? What dignity of earth can be compared to that high-sounding and real–not empty–title, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ?–Ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Is it riches, or pleasures, the vanity of life, that seem not vain to you? God is able to give, yea, will give you much more than this. He will give you pardon, that blessed gift–pardon for all thy sins, thy multiplied, aggravated, fearful transgressions–And in the world to come eternal life. (F<\/em>. Storr, M<\/em>.A<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Soul or silver<\/strong><\/p>\n Amaziah seemed to be a soldier, and little else. He was devoured by military ambition and vainglory. He coveted the domains of his neighbors. He was greedy of conquest. He dared not attack Israel, but on the other side lay the <\/strong>lands of the Edomites. He wanted to fight. There was probably no reason why he should, for the children of Seir had evidently done nothing to provoke an attack, or we should have had an account of it. But Amaziah must have more territory, and impelled by such noble patriotism, he disciplined his people into a large army. Desiring to be on the safe side, he bargained for one hundred thousand men of Israel, and, in order to secure them, he laid down a bounty of one hundred talents of silver. With these men of Ephraim, hired with the silver talents, he possessed an army of about four hundred thousand men. All things are in readiness, and he is about to start out on his grand mission of punishing a people who held lands near him, when a prophet confronts with the intelligence that if he takes the troops of Israel with him he shall be defeated. Now comes a struggle in the kings mind. He was bent upon war, and could not brook the idea of defeat, but to insure victory he must send the Ephraimites home. Now, he had given these men a hundred talents of silver! What about them? The command of God had touched his pocket-nerve, and it had sent a sensitive thrill through his whole being. Amaziah is not the only man that has been compelled to choose between obedience and self-denial.<\/p>\n Consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n The subject brought before us in the text is the weighing of consequences.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>In a certain sense it is the doing of a fool to disdain consequences; and it is the glory of a rational being that he can calculate, and weigh, and be guided by, consequences.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>And yet there are cases in which to resolutely refuse to take into view what may be the consequences of our conduct, is heroism; is Christianity in its highest and noblest development. Such was the case with the three Jews in Babylon; Moses; Paul.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Amaziahs history will make it plain to us, when we should weigh consequences and be guided by them; and when we should disregard them, and refuse to take them into account at all. He was not wrong in naming the money loss to the prophet. He was wrong in regarding this difficulty as a fatal objection to his obeying Gods command. He not only states his difficulty, but seems disposed to act upon it.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>This brings us to the great principle which should guide all wise Christian people in regard to the consideration of consequences. Wherever we are sure that duty leads, wherever we are sure God bids us go, then that way we should go, whatever and however painful the consequences may be. In all other cases a prudent Christian man will weigh the consequences of what he may think of doing, and be guided by the consideration of them.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>To disdain consequences is not to be done in a boasting, vainglorious spirit. The true proof of a man disdaining consequences is that he should disdain them, not when they are in the distance, coming, but when they are present realities; when they are come.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>The prophets reply to the kings difficulty is worthy of being laid to heart: The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. This means that it is worth our while to obey Gods will; that though at first we may lose by doing so, we shall gain more than we shall lose. This truly is not a disdaining of consequences; it is a fuller and truer weighing of them. It is to look further on: it is to throw eternity into the scale of duty and interest. (A. K. H. Boyd.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Gods power to remunerate<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Consider the case of the young who are urged to the remembering of their Creator and the setting of their affections on things above. If by entreaty and warning we prevail on them to hesitate ere they launch on a course of disobedience to Gods commands, the thought of all we ask them to surrender comes upon them with great power, and they feel as though it were unreasonable to summon them to such a sacrifice. And therefore their speech is virtually, What shall we do for the hundred talents?<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Take again the case of the tradesman whose interest seems to demand the profanation of the Sabbath. In asking him to close his shop on the day that perhaps procures him more profit than can be wrung from all the rest of the week, you ask him to make what on mere human principles is scarcely a credible sacrifice.<\/p>\n The claims of duty<\/strong><\/p>\n The claims of duty are stronger even than those of affection. The tenderst tie on earth should never induce us to set them aside. The sense of duty which distinguished some of the patriots of ancient Rome was extraordinary. After the expulsion of King Tarquin, a conspiracy was formed for the purpose of effecting his return. It was found out by the authorities; and it was also found that Titus and Tiberius, the two sons of Brutus, the consul, were the principal conspirators. People naturally speculated as to how the consul would act in the matter; but he put an end to all controversy by condemning his two sons to death along with the rest; nay, on the day of execution, he commanded the sentence of the law to be carried out on them first of all. But, you may say, perhaps he did not love his sons as fathers generally do. On the contrary, the crowd who watched his countenance on the occasion could perceive that there was a terrible struggle within; so that they pitied the grief of the father no less than they admired the bravery of the patriot. Here, then, was a man who preferred duty to affection–the safety of his country to the life of his sons. (Henry Melvill, B. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 9<\/span>. The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.<\/B><\/I>] Better lose the money<\/I> than keep the men<\/I>, for they will be a curse unto thee.<\/P> <\/p>\n And Amaziah said to the man of God, but what shall we do for the one hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel<\/strong>?…. They will be lost, there is no demanding them back again; this he spake with some concern, as loath to lose so much money:<\/p>\n and the man of God answered, the Lord is able to give thee much more than this<\/strong>; whose is the earth, and the fulness thereof, the gold and silver, and all the riches of it; and therefore he had no need to trouble himself about the loss of his money, which, if obedient to the will of God, he might expect it would be abundantly repaid him.<\/p>\n (9) What shall we do?<\/strong>Literally, What to do? i.e.,<\/em> What is to be done? what must we do?<\/p>\n The army.<\/strong>The troop<\/em> (gdd<\/em>) of mercenaries.<\/p>\n DISCOURSE: 415 2Ch 25:9<\/span>. And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this<\/em>.<\/p>\n IT is humiliating to reflect, that move attention was often paid to the messengers of the Most High by ungodly men under the Jewish dispensation, than is generally paid to them even by the godly in the present day. At one time we read of a whole army stopped and disbanded by one single declaration of a prophet [Note: 1Ki 12:21-24<\/span>.]. At another time, a great national reformation was effected by the very same means [Note: 2Ch 15:8-15<\/span>.]. In like manner, when Amaziah king of Judah was going with an army of four hundred thousand men against the Edomites, one word from a man of God prevailed on him to dismiss one fourth of their number, because, as being idolaters, they were under the displeasure of the Most High. He was indeed concerned about the subsidy which he had paid them for their assistance: but that only serves to shew more strongly what implicit obedience he was disposed to pay to the commands of God, when he could so easily be induced to sacrifice his temporal interests, and to release from their obligations so large a portion of his army. The difficulty however which he started, and the solution of that difficulty by the prophet, deserve particular attention. Let us consider,<\/p>\n I.<\/p>\n The difficulty started<\/p>\n Amaziah had hired one hundred thousand Israelites as auxiliaries in this war, and had paid the money for their equipment; and, when he was required to discharge them, he naturally concluded that he should lose all that he had advanced. Hence he expressed to the prophet the difficulty that was in his mind. Now, But we cannot suggest a better view of this matter than that which is contained in our text; in which we have,<\/p>\n II.<\/p>\n The difficulty solved<\/p>\n We are contented that men should lean to the side of interest, if only they will consider wherein their true interest consists. If God cannot do more for them than the world can, let them seek the world; or, if he cannot compensate all that they can lose or suffer for him, let them seek the world. But we fear not to say, whatever be the sacrifice which they make for him, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this;<\/p>\n 1.<\/p>\n In this world<\/p>\n [It is a certain truth, that God does often recompense the services or sufferings of his people even with worldly prosperity: Godliness hath in this respect the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come [Note: 1Ti 4:8<\/span>.]. This very consideration is urged by God himself as a motive to charity [Note: Pro 3:9-10<\/span>.]: and our text suggests it as an argument for submitting cheerfully to losses in the path of duty. And it is curious to observe, that the loss sustained by Amaziah in obedience to Gods command, was not only recompensed by present victory, but was restored in a three-fold proportion to his grandson Jotham; the same sum being paid to him for three successive years by the Ammonites, which Amaziah his grandfather sacrificed to the Lord on this occasion [Note: ver. 11. with 2Ch 27:5<\/span>.]. But it is not three, or thirty-fold that we<\/em> are to expect, but an hundred-fold<\/em> of whatever we sacrifice for the Lord [Note: Mar 10:29-30<\/span>.]: and is not this an ample compensation?<\/p>\n It is true, the Israelites whom he dismissed on this occasion did him great injury in their return home [Note: ver. 13.]: and this might almost seem to contradict the promise in our text: but we apprehend that this very circumstance was permitted by God, on purpose to shew Amaziah how great a ruin he had been delivered from; since these Israelites were not hearty in his cause, and would have turned against him when once they saw the Edomites prevail, and would thus have utterly completed his destruction. Other reasons might be assigned for this dispensation: it might be supposed to be a punishment on Amaziah for hesitating to obey the divine mandate, and for placing his interest in competition with his duty: or it might be intended to guard him against the idolatry into which he was about to fall, by suffering the most idolatrous part of his own dominions to participate in the judgments inflicted on the Edomites. But we apprehend, that the reason first assigned, is that which was more immediately in the mind of God, when he permitted to dark and mysterious a judgment to fall on one who was obedient to his command, yea to arise, as it were, out of that very obedience.<\/p>\n But, waving all consideration of temporal recompence, God can infinitely more than counterbalance all temporal losses by the richer effusion of his Spirit on the soul. If he suffer us to be deprived of earthly wealth, are we any losers, if he communicate to us a proportionable increase of spiritual riches? Cannot he, by the consolations of his Spirit, raise us far above all temporal distresses, and, by opening a prospect beyond the grave, make us to rejoice and glory in all the sufferings that can be inflicted on us here? Behold the Apostle Paul, how he took pleasure in infirmities, and reproaches, and necessities, and persecutions, and distresses, for Christs sake, because they tended to his spiritual welfare [Note: 2Co 12:10<\/span>.]: and others, his companions, took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance [Note: Heb 10:34<\/span>.]. Thus may we expect it to be with us in this world: if our afflictions abound, so shall also our consolation abound by Christ; and the very sense of having sought the glory of God will make every pain a pleasure, and every loss a gain.]<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n In the world to come<\/p>\n [If we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with him: and who can declare the full import of that promise? Truly, the reward that awaits the faithful followers of Christ hereafter, no words can express, no imagination can conceive. It will be in vain to attempt any description of the glory and felicity of heaven: but I will ask, Whether one single plaudit from our Judge will not overbalance all that we can either do or suffer in a hundred years? How indignant shall we be in that day, to think that we permitted the things of time and sense to warp our judgment, or embarrass our practice! One glimpse of the Saviours glory will repay whole years of trouble: and no sooner shall we be received into his bosom, than we shall adore him for every trial that weaned us from the world, and for every loss that facilitated our progress towards the heavenly kingdom. Let us only take eternity into our estimate, and we shall instantly say with the Apostle, I reckon (I compute<\/em>) that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us [Note: Rom 8:18<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n Address, Those who are yet undecided in the course they shall take<\/p>\n [Strongly as we have condemned the conduct of Amaziah for hesitating between the calls of interest and of duty, we yet will venture to propose him as an example, changing only the object of your concern<\/em>. Are you tempted to violate a duty, or to draw back from suffering, ask yourselves immediately, But what shall I do for the favour of my God? what shall I do for the peace of my conscience? what shall I do for the salvation of my soul? How can I bear the loss of all these? Let, I say, your hesitation be on this side:<\/em> let the consideration of your eternal<\/em> interests rise in your mind as instinctively and forcibly, as that of temporal<\/em> interests does in the mind of a worldling: and then we shall have no fear but that your obedience to Gods word will be prompt, uniform, and unreserved. You will buy the truth at any<\/em> price, and never sell it for a thousand worlds.]<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n Those who have been enabled to give up all for Christ<\/p>\n [Whatever you may have lost or suffered, have you ever for a moment repented of the sacrifices you have made? No: if your hearts are right with God, you will feel yourselves indebted to God in proportion to the losses you have sustained for him; seeing that the privilege of suffering for him is an inestimable gift [Note: Php 1:29<\/span>.], and the highest honour that can be conferred upon a child of man [Note: Act 5:41<\/span>. 1Pe 4:12-14<\/span>.]. Go on then, Beloved, strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might: and let it be seen in you, that a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth, but that in Gods favour is life; and that, with his love shed abroad in your heart, though you have nothing, you are yet possessing all things [Note: 2Co 6:10<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n 2Ch 25:9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.<\/p>\n Ver. 9. The Lord is able.<\/strong> ] Before he had said, 2Ch 25:8<\/span> , <\/p>\n <\/p>\n God hath power to help and to cast down.<\/strong> ] God’s power is a main prop to faith, and men never doubt of God’s will to do them good, but they do at the same time doubt of his power.<\/p>\n 2 Chronicles<\/p>\n PRUDENCE AND FAITH<\/p>\n 2Ch 25:9 <\/strong> .<\/p>\n The character of this Amaziah, one of the Kings of Judah, is summed up by the chronicler in a damning epigram: ‘He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.’ He was one of your half-and-half people, or, as Hosea says, ‘a cake not turned,’ burnt black on one side, and raw dough on the other. So when he came to the throne, in the buoyancy and insolence of youth, he immediately began to aim at conquests in the neighbouring little states; and in order to strengthen himself he hired ‘a hundred thousand mighty men of valour’ out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver. To seek help from Israel was, in a prophet’s eyes, equivalent to flinging off help from God. So a man of God comes to him, and warns him that the Lord is not with Israel, and that the alliance is not permissible for him. But, instead of yielding to the prophet’s advice, he parries it with this misplaced question, ‘But what shall we do for the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?’ He does not care to ask whether the counsel that he is receiving is right or wrong, or whether what he is intending to do is in conformity with, or in opposition to, the will of God, but, passing by all such questions, at once he fastens on the lower consideration of expediency-’What is to become of me if I do as this prophet would have me do? What a heavy loss one hundred talents will be! It is too much to sacrifice to a scruple of that sort. It cannot be done.’<\/p>\n A great many of us may take a lesson from this man. There are two things in my text-a misplaced question and a triumphant answer: ‘What shall we do for the hundred talents?’ ‘The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.’ Now, remarkably enough, both question and answer may be either very right or very wrong, according as they are taken, and I purpose to look at those two aspects of each.<\/p>\n I. A misplaced question.<\/p>\n <\/strong> I call it misplaced because Amaziah’s fault, and the fault of a great many of us, was, not that he took consequences into account, but that he took them into account at the wrong time. The question should have come second, not first. Amaziah’s first business should have been to see clearly what was duty; and then, and not till then, the next business should have been to consider consequences.<\/p>\n Consider the right place and way of putting this question. Many of us make shipwreck of our lives because, with our eyes shut, we determine upon some grand design, and fall under the condemnation of the man that ‘began to build, and was not able to finish.’ He drew a great plan of a stately mansion; and then found that he had neither money in the bank, nor stones in his quarry, to finish it, and so it stood-a ruin. All through our Lord’s life He was engaged rather in repressing volunteers than in soliciting recruits, and He from time to time poured a douche of cold water upon swiftly effervescing desires to go after Him. When the multitudes followed Him, He turned and said to them, ‘If you are counting on being My disciples, understand what it means: take up the cross and follow Me.’ When an enthusiastic man, who had not looked consequences in the face, came rushing to Him and said: ‘Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest,’ His answer to him was another pull at the string of the shower bath: ‘The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.’ When the two disciples came to him and said: ‘Grant that we may sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom,’ He said: ‘Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized withal?’ Look the facts in the face before you make your election. Jesus Christ will enlist no man under false pretences. Recruiting-sergeants tell country bumpkins or city louts wonderful stories of what they will get if they take the shilling and put on the king’s uniform; but Jesus Christ does not recruit His soldiers in that fashion. If a man does not open his eyes to a clear vision of the consequences of his actions, his life will go to water in all directions. And there is no region in which such clear insight into what is going to follow upon my determinations and the part that I take is more necessary than in the Christian life. It is just because in certain types of character, ‘the word is received with joy,’ and springs up immediately, that when ‘the sun is risen with a burning heat’-that is, as Christ explains, when the pinch of difficulty comes-’immediately they fall away,’ and all their grand resolutions go to nothing. ‘Lightly come, lightly go.’ Let us face the facts of what is involved, in the way of sacrifice, surrender, loss, if we determine to be on Christ’s side; and then, when the anticipated difficulties come, we shall neither be perplexed nor swept away, but be able quietly to say, ‘I discounted it all beforehand; I knew it was coming.’ The storm catches the ship that is carrying full sail and expecting nothing but light and favourable breezes; while the captain that looked into the weather quarter and saw the black cloud beginning to rise above the horizon, and took in his sails and made his vessel snug and tight, rides out the gale. It is wisdom that becomes a man, to ask this question, if first of all he has asked, ‘What ought I to do?’ But we have here an instance of a right thing in a wrong place. It was right to ask the question, but wrong to ask it at that point. Amaziah thought nothing about duty. There sprang up in his mind at once the cowardly and ignoble thought: ‘I cannot afford to do what is right, because it will cost me a hundred talents,’ and that was his sin. Consequences may be, must be, faced in anticipation, or a man is a fool. He that allows the clearest perception of disagreeable consequences, such as pain, loss of ease, loss of reputation, loss of money, or any other harmful results that may follow, to frighten him out of the road that he knows he ought to take, is a worse fool still, for he is a coward and recreant to his own conscience.<\/p>\n We have to look into our own hearts for the most solemn and pressing illustrations of this sin, and I daresay we all of us can remember clear duties that we have neglected, because we did not like to face what would come from them. A man in business will say, ‘I cannot afford to have such a high standard of morality; I shall be hopelessly run over in the race with my competitors if I do not do as they do,’ or he will say, ‘I durst not take a stand as an out-and-out Christian; I shall lose connections, I shall lose position. People will laugh at me. What am I to do for the hundred talents?’ But we can find the same thing in Churches. I do not mean to enter upon controversial questions, but as an instance, I may remind you that one great argument that our friends who believe in an Established Church are always bringing forward, is just a modern form of Amaziah’s question, ‘What shall we do for the hundred talents? How could the Church be maintained, how could its ministrations be continued, if its State-provided revenues were withdrawn or given up?’ But it is not only Anglicans who put the consideration of the consequences of obedience in the wrong place. All the Churches are but too apt to let their eyes wander from reading the plain precepts of the New Testament to looking for the damaging results to be expected from keeping them. Do we not sometimes hear, as answer to would-be reformers, ‘We cannot afford to give up this, that, or the other practice? We should not be able to hold our ground, unless we did so-and-so and so-and-so.’<\/p>\n But not only individuals or Churches are guilty in this matter. The nation takes a leaf out of Amaziah’s book, and puts aside many plain duties, for no better reason than that it would cost too much to do them. ‘What is the use of talking about suppressing the liquor traffic or housing the poor? Think of the cost.’ The ‘hundred talents’ block the way and bribe the national conscience. For instance, the opium traffic; how is it defended? Some attempt is made to prove either that we did not force it upon China, or that the talk about the evils of opium is missionary fanaticism, but the sheet-anchor is: ‘How are we ever to raise the Indian revenue if we give up the traffic?’ That is exactly Amaziah over again, come from the dead, and resurrected in a very ugly shape.<\/p>\n So national policy and Church action, and-what is of far more importance to you and me than either the one or the other,-our own personal relation to Jesus Christ and discipleship to Him, have been hampered, and are being hampered, just by that persistent and unworthy attitude of looking at the consequences of doing plain duties, and permitting ourselves to be frightened from the duties because the consequences are unwelcome to us.<\/p>\n Prudence is all right, but when prudence takes command and presumes to guide conscience, then it is all wrong. In some courts of law and in certain cases, the judge has an assessor sitting beside him, an expert about some of the questions that are involved. Conscience is the judge, prudence the assessor. But if the assessor ventures up on the judgment-seat, and begins to give the decisions which it is not his business to give-for his<\/em> only business is to give advice-then the only thing to do with the assessor is to tell him to hold his tongue and let the judge speak. It is no answer to the prophet’s prohibition to say, ‘But what shall I do for the hundred talents?’ A yet better answer than the prophet gave Amaziah would have been, ‘Never mind about the hundred talents; do what is right, and leave the rest to God.’ However, that was not the answer.<\/p>\n II. The triumphant answer.<\/p>\n <\/strong>‘The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.’ Now, this answer, like the question, may be right or wrong, according as it is taken. In what aspect is it wrong? In what sense is it not true? I suppose this prophet did not mean more than the undeniable truth that God was able to give Amaziah more than a hundred talents. He was not thinking of the loftier meanings which we necessarily, as Christian people, at a later stage of Revelation, and with a clearer vision of many things, attach to the words. He simply meant, ‘You will very likely get more than the hundred talents that you have lost, if you do what pleases God.’ He was speaking from the point of view of the Old Testament; though even in the Old Testament we have instances enough that prosperity did not always attend righteousness. In the Old Testament we find the Book of Job, and the Book of Ecclesiastes, and many a psalm, all of which were written in order to grapple with the question, ‘How is it that God does not give the good man more than the hundred talents that he has lost for the sake of being good?’ It is not true, and it is a dangerous mistake to suggest that it is true, that a man in this world never loses by being a good, honest, consistent Christian. He often does lose a great deal, as far as this world is concerned; and he has to make up his mind to lose it, and it would be a very poor thing to say to him, ‘Now, live like a Christian man, and if you are flinging away money or anything else because of your Christianity, you will get it back.’ No; you will not, in a good many cases. Sometimes you will, and sometimes you will not. It does not matter whether you do or do not.<\/p>\n But the sense in which the triumphant answer of the prophet is true is a far higher one. ‘The Lord is able to give thee much more than this,’-what is ‘more’? a thousand talents? No; the ‘much more’ that Christianity has educated us to understand is meant in the depths of such a promise as this is, first of all, character. Every man that sacrifices anything to convictions of duty gains more than he loses thereby, because he gains an inward nobleness and strength, to say nothing of the genial warmth of an approving conscience. And whilst that is true in all regions of life, it is most especially true in regard to sacrifices made from Christian principle. No matter how disastrous may be the results externally, the inward results of faithfulness are so much greater and sweeter and nobler than all the external evil consequences that may follow, that it is ‘good policy’ for a man to beggar himself for Christ’s sake, for the sake of the durable riches-which our Lord Himself explains to be synonymous with righteousness-which will come thereby. He that wins strength and Christ-likeness of character by sacrificing for Christ has won far more than he can ever lose.<\/p>\n He wins not only character, but a fuller capacity for a fuller possession of Jesus Christ Himself, and that is infinitely more than anything that any man has ever sacrificed for the sake of that dear Lord. Do you remember when it was that there was granted to the Apostle John the vision of the throned Christ, and that he felt laid upon him the touch of the vivifying Hand from Heaven? It was ‘when I was in Patmos for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus.’ He lost Ephesus; he gained an open heaven and a visible Christ. Do you remember who it was that said, ‘I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ’? It was a good bargain, Paul! The balance-sheet showed a heavy balance to your credit. Debit, ‘all things’; credit, ‘Christ.’ ‘The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.’<\/p>\n Remember the old prophecy: ‘For brass I will bring gold; and for iron, silver.’ The brass and the iron may be worth something, but if we barter them away and get instead gold and silver, we are gainers by the transaction. Fling out the ballast if you wish the balloon to rise. Let the hundred talents go if you wish to get ‘the more than this.’ And listen to the New Testament variation of this man of God’s promise, ‘If thou wilt have treasure in heaven, go and sell all that thou hast, and follow Me.’<\/p>\n army = troop. <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 22:8 – General Lev 25:20 – General 2Ch 25:13 – soldiers of the army 2Ch 32:29 – God Job 42:10 – the Lord Mat 6:31 – What shall we eat Mar 10:30 – an hundredfold Joh 6:13 – and filled 2Co 9:8 – God Eph 3:20 – able<\/p>\n COUNTING THE COST<\/p>\n And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? etc.<\/p>\n 2Ch 25:9<\/p>\n The subject brought before us in the text is the weighing of consequences.<\/p>\n I. The great principle which should guide all wise Christian people with regard to the consideration of consequences is this: Wherever we are sure that duty leads, wherever we are sure that God bids us go, then that way we should go, whatever and however painful the consequences may be. The rule is that we are to do right, and as for the consequences, leave them with God.<\/p>\n II. We are to do this humbly; we are not to do it in any strength of our own, but in simple reliance on the promised grace of God.The grand thing is, not that a man should say that he will go on in the path of duty, whatever loss that may bring him, but that those around him should see that he is going on in the path of duty, though that should not be the path of worldly gain.<\/p>\n III. This subject is a most practical one.The time will often come in which we see plainly enough what is the path of duty, but are tempted to ask, What shall we do for the hundred talents? There can be no doubt that in this world honesty is often the very worst policy. But in the long run no man will ever lose by obeying Gods bidding; and, just as assuredly, no man will ever gain by disobeying it.<\/p>\n Illustration<\/p>\n God cannot be in fellowship with us if we can tolerate fellowship with the ungodly. We must choose between the two. If we can renounce all creature aid, and trust simply in the eternal God, there is no limit to the victories He will achieve; but if, turning from Him, we hold out our hand toward the world, we forfeit His aid. Oh, child of God! let not the army of Israel go with thee. Do not adopt worldly policy, methods, or partners. However strong you make yourself for the battle, in alliance with these, you will fail. Indeed, God Himself will make you fall before the enemy, that you may be driven back to Himself. But you say that you have already entered into so close an alliance that you cannot draw back. You have invested your capital, you have gone to great expenditure. But it will be better to forfeit these than Him. Without these and with God beside you, you will be able to rout Edom, and smite ten thousand men. Would that men knew the absolute deliverance which God will effect for those whose hearts are perfect towards Him!<\/p>\n 2Ch 25:9. And Amaziah said, But what shall we do for the hundred talents The money remitted for the hire of the one hundred thousand Israelitish soldiers. He considered, if he sent the men back he should lose that. Such is the objection which men often make against complying with their duty: they are afraid of losing by it. And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more He hath many ways to make up that loss to thee, and certainly will not suffer thee to be a loser by obeying his command. Observe, reader, a firm belief of Gods all-sufficiency to bear us out in our duty, and to make up abundantly all the loss and damage we sustain in his service, will render his yoke very easy, and his burden very light. What is it to trust in God, but to be willing to venture the loss of any thing for him, in confidence that it shall be amply made up to us in the way that he sees will be best for us. This king lost one hundred talents of silver by his obedience; and we find just that sum given to his grandson Jotham, as a present, 2Ch 27:5. Then the principal was repaid, and for interest, ten thousand measures of wheat, and as many of barley, were given him.<\/p>\n 25:9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to {g} give thee much more than this.<\/p>\n (g) He shows that if we depend only on God, we will not need to be troubled by these worldly things, for he will give at all times that which will be necessary if we obey his word.<\/p>\n And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this. 9. the army ] R.V. mg., the troop (so 2Ch 25:10; 2Ch … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 25:9”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>The path of duty was clearly before Amaziah. Send the army of Israel away.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>He hesitated to tread it because there was a self-made difficulty in the way. So with many to-day.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>God recognises the difficulty. The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. When our first missionaries went to India, Dr. Cope died on the voyage. Some letters of introduction to English gentlemen in India had been written. When his friends arrived they went on shore and told how Dr. Cope had died and been buried in the deep sea. As they knew nothing of the language of India they asked advice, and the advice given was, Take the first vessel that sails for England and go home again. One of the young men of the party said, That is out of the question. I came here to preach the gospel, and, God helping me, I mean to do it. They said, If you bring God into the matter, that alters it altogether. Bring God into your pleasure and into your business, and that will alter them altogether. (Charles Garrett<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The command given. Let not the army of Israel go with thee.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>the difficulty started. And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel? With some awe upon his mind, a conviction of the necessity of obedience, Amaziah liked not the cost. This is the difficulty proposed, What shall we do for he hundred talents? There was the divided mind On the one side was his fear of the displeasure of the Lord, without whose help he well knew he could not prosper; on the other side the hundred talents weighed down his purpose–he could not brook the loss of so large a sum. Ah! who would not obey God if he might do it without cost? Who would not be the servant of Christ, if he might be so without pains? Sin must be parted with. What shall we do for the hundred talents? We go to the man that has long yielded to his evil habits. We tell him of the door of mercy yet open. The sigh breaks forth as we speak. He owns it too true. He is almost persuaded to be a Christian. But, no, What shall we do for the hundred talents?<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The unanswerable reply. And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>Consider, then, the fact that mens apparent interests are sometimes opposed by the commands of God. Very frequently mens practices find such opposition; and their desires are fulfilled very often against the clamourings of their consciences. But I have affirmed something beyond this–that a mans wholesome interests, as they appear to his view, are sometimes in direct opposition to Gods commands. I do not think that a man will be allowed to enter upon a course inimical to Gods will who starts out by committing his way entirely to Divine guidance. God looks out for such a man, and orders his ways so that his interests and the Divine will conform. But a great many start out in the pursuit of business without any consideration of God. With the majority of men, when the time comes to meet the question, What shall I do? the answer is prompted more by expediency than by duty. One man argues, I can make more money in dry goods than in groceries, so Ill deal in dry goods. But theres more money in whisky, so I think Ill open a saloon. He looks at trade from his own standpoint. I believe that some men really think that they are justified in such a course; they think that a man ought to look after his own interests; that that is the first thing to be consulted; and there never was a greater mistake made in this selfish world! The truth is, that when a man deliberately marks out a course in life, and determines to pursue it, without any consideration of God or his fellow-men, he is engaged in a very dangerous business. There are some other things to consider besides making money. Soul-culture, helpfulness of his fellows, influence for Christ, the increasing light of a pious life; these things are to be taken into the account, or he may look for some period of his life when the alternative will be between obedience and self-denial, or disobedience and defeat.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Where this is the case apparent interests are to be sacrificed. God looks upon temporal matters as if they were subordinate to a higher good. Men look upon them as if they were the highest good attainable. God puts His service and the duties of religion above everything else. Men regard religion as a secondary consideration. Do you never hear men say, I would engage in religious matters if I had time? You mark a mans absence from the holy Sabbath worship; he complains, I feel so tired when Sunday comes, I must rest. So you see men think more of their hundred talents of silver than of obedience to God. But they have Amaziahs protest: What shall we do for the hundred talents of silver? The answer is plain enough. Let them go. What! cries the overworked business man, leave my store full of customers just because it is the hour of prayer? What! cries the professional man, suspend my important studies for unprofitable religious occupation? Not much! What! cries the mechanic, work hard all week and Sunday too? What shall we do for the hundred talents that are involved? In such embarrassing situations the thing to do is what Amaziah did. He sent home the men of Ephraim, and he lost the hundred talents of silver. If your business stands between you and God, let it go!<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>For I beg you to note that the alternative lies between total defeat and increased good. Amaziah was made to select between receiving the value of his invested money and suffering disaster in the prosecution of his scheme. He might do as he pleased, but he might know what to expect. That is the alternative placed before all men. Disobedience leads to defeat. Men may discard the commands of God, but not with impunity. Obedience to the Divine will is the only safeguard against temporal and spiritual disaster. It is a matter that enters into a mans private life. It does not concern those employments alone which are confessedly unrighteous, it is a law affecting the man who persists in a course when God has called him in another direction, as well as he who persists in iniquitous practices. In either case the safest thing to do is to give up the silver, without one hesitating thought. (Lansing Burrows<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>How commonly the question is urged, What shall we do for the hundred talents? We are not of those who would make light of the sacrifices which must be made by such as would live godly in Christ Jesus. Christ speaks of a yoke, of taking up the cross, of forsaking all, of cutting <\/em>off the right hand, of plucking <\/em>out the right eye. So that the parallel is most exact between the circumstances of ourselves and those of Amaziah.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>How sufficient an answer there is in the statement, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. It is the apparent conflict between interest and duty which often induces disobedience to God. Duty and interest can never be really opposed. The righteousness of Gods moral government requires that whatever He has made it our duty should also be our <\/strong>interest to perform. But still there is an apparent conflict. This world would cease to be a place of probation if it were always manifest that duty and interest lie in the same direction. When tempted to do wrong for the sake of present advantage, let us magnify the remunerating power of God. If David could say, Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee, no text can be more suitable than this one for the talisman of the merchant as he prosecutes the enterprises of commerce, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. (Henry Melvill, B<\/em>.D<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
AMAZIAHS CONFLICT BETWEEN DUTY AND INTEREST<\/strong><\/p>\n
This is a common difficulty in the minds of men
[Circumstances of necessity will sometimes arise, where duty and interest appear to clash with each other. Sometimes they actually exist, as in the instance before us; and sometimes they are only apprehended as likely to exist. It sometimes happens that a person has been placed by his parents in a line of business where he cannot get a livelihood without continually violating the laws of the land and the dictates of his conscience. What is to be done in such a case? His property is embarked; and cannot be disposed of without a considerable loss. And shall that be done? Shall such a sacrifice be made to God? It is desirable indeed to maintain a conscience void of offence; but is it to be done at such an expense?
It sometimes happens also that a person is educated for the ministry, with certain expectation of preferment: but when the time for his ordination arrives, he finds no disposition for the holy employment, no real determination to give himself wholly to the service of the sanctuary. What then shall he do? To go to God with a lie in his right hand, and profess that he is moved by the Holy Ghost to take on himself that sacred function, when he is moved only by the temporal advantages annexed to it, is very painful: and to contract a responsibility for the souls of hundreds and of thousands, when he has scarcely any concern about his own, appears to him a very dangerous step. But what must be done? He has been educated for it: he finds it difficult to turn to any other line: and, above all, the provision designed for him will be lost: and how can these difficulties be surmounted?
When the evils are in prospect only, their operation is exactly the same. One man feels that it is his duty to become a faithful follower of Christ. But his parents will be offended; his friends will be alienated: his prospects in life will be destroyed: and how can he endure to make such sacrifices as these? A few pence he would readily lose; but the loss of so many talents would be ruinous; and he knows not how to combat evils of such magnitude as this.]
But the difficulty referred to would be no difficulty, if only we viewed things in their true light
[If we should suppose an angel sent down to sojourn for a time on earth, would he find any hesitation whether to prefer his interest or his duty? Nor did the Apostle Paul hesitate even when life itself was at stake: I am ready, says he, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Lords sake. Nor should we find any difficulty if we formed a proper estimate of things around us. Should we regard our temporal interests, if we reflected on the extreme emptiness and vanity of every thing here below? Should we hesitate in our choice of evils, if we considered the impossibility of ever being acknowledged by Christ, without forsaking all, even life itself, for him? Above all, would we suffer the whole world to stand in competition with Christ, if we considered what wonderful things he has done and suffered for us? Verily, the loss of all things compared with the loss of his favour, would be only as a feather in a scale against a talent of lead; and, like Paul, we should count all things but loss, that we might win Christ; and instead of repining at the injuries sustained, should regard them rather as grounds of mutual congratulation; saying with St. Paul, If I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all: for the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me [Note: Php 2:17-18<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n
1.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"