2 Kings 17:33

HONORARY CHRISTIANS

‘They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations, whom they carried away from thence.’

2 Kings 17:33

I. This is the reason why so many people have lost the peace of God; like those Israelites they fear the Lord, but serve idols. They are making the awful mistake of trying to serve two masters. Those Israelites had a half-and-half religion, and there is a great deal of such religion to-day. This is the reason why there are so many peaceless, restless, joyless Christians. Such believers are fond of saying that ‘they never go anywhere that they cannot take the Lord with them.’ This is putting things in the wrong order: it is not the place of the disciple to ‘bring the Master.’ They should follow Him. They should never go to places to which He does not lead them. Many such ‘honorary’ Christians are to be seen to-day.

II. God jealously guarded the power of the Holy Spirit.—He could not give the power of the fullness of the Holy Ghost to those who were not faithful. There are those to-day who like to hear the truth preached, who know the truth, perhaps work for God, but there is one thing they do not like, they do not like to yield. Do we know nothing about the world and the Church? How many have got entangled in an unspiritual enagagement! To such I do not say, ‘Break your word,’ but I do say, ‘Do not be yoked yet, till you both get right.’

—Rev. S. A. Selwyn.

Illustrations

(1) ‘These poor Israelites—half-and-half believers as they were—seemed to have had some good points. They knew God, and feared Him to a certain extent; and it was better to fear than to despise. The remedy for such believers is to be found in the last chapter of Hosea: “Return unto the Lord.” Like consumptive patients, the best place for them is their native air, which is the foot of the Cross.’

(2) ‘The Ten Tribes were removed to the mountains of Media, where there was abundant provision for a pastoral people; while races from the neighbourhood of Babylon were settled in the land of Canaan. They gave an outward formal tribute to Jehovah, as they supposed Him to be the local deity, while secretly they worshipped their own deities. Is not this what many among us do still? They attend the outward forms of worship lest they lose caste; but in their hearts they enthrone worldly and unworthy objects of veneration.’