December 1927
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He Built Bethlehem (2 Chron. 11:6). F rom a S ermon by D r . D insdale T. Y oung ( Westminster, Eng.)
We shall all do well to emulate Rehoboam in that sense. Is it not time some of us set about building Bethlehem? Ought we not to endeavor to make permanent and im pregnable historic scenes, where noble men did noble things, where great heroisms were manifested, and great truths enunciated and lived out? You did well, Rehoboam, and though you may not care ,much for our credit, you shall have credit for what you . did. What a need there -is in our day for Rehoboams in this sense. I wish every young man who hears me would make up his mind to do what he can to preserve historic institutions, places that have been the environment and arcana of very pre cious deposits. They are always being threatened. Was Bethlehem ever more threatened- than today? There are modern instances that will occur to us. Take the mighty truths of which Bethlehem today is a type. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. God was incarnated in that little town. Why, they tell us that today there are only something like three thousand folk in the little place that has been called a city. But Bethlehem is more to us than mere stone. To us it is the great fact that God became Man for our salvation. Had you never heard it before, you might say, “My dear sir, it is incredible, it is too won derful to be true.’^ But it is not too good to be true. It is absolutely true. Yet how that truth is assailed today! There are ministers of the Gospel who have their doubts about it. I think if I had any doubts about it I should pre-
HEN one first reads that sentence, one may think there is a mistake somewhere. Reho- boam built Bethlehem? Why, surely Beth lehem was built long before his time. Do we not read of it right back in the days of Jacob? He rebuilt , then. Ah, that is a dif
ferent matter. We may rebuild what we cannot build. We may restore what we cannot institute. We may make permanent that which it was never in us originally to de vise. That was what Rehoboam did.. In that sense he built Bethlehem. Now, why was it he built Bethlehem? It was terribly threatened by invasive foes from the South, therefore he fortified it. I think there' are some suggestions here for us all in these later days.. For instance, this question at once arises: Can we not defend historic scenes? Well done, Rehoboam! He was a poor sort of king, as we shall see preséntly, both in head and in heart. He was a king, but, as has been the case with some kings in the past, he was a weakling. Yet he did a grand work. Evidently he reverenced historic scenes and defended them, Bethlehem among them. What a long and fascinating history Bethle hem has had ! Hardly anybody remembers Bethlehem, except as the birthplace of our Lord. The later glory has eclipsed all the historic glory, and rightly so. But let us take this man’s act at what is called its face value. He de fended historic scenes, and it is an admirable spirit.
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