Jeremiah 1:4-10 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.Seven points in Jeremiah’ s life and call:-- 1. God knowing him. “ I knew thee.”2. God sanctifying him. “ I sanctified thee.”3. God ordaining him. “ I ordained thee.”4. God sending him. “ I shall send.”5. God commanding him. “ I command.”6. God encouraging him. “ Be not afraid.”7. God speaking through him. “ I have put My words in thy mouth.” (C. Inglis.) Childhood prophetic Of Charles Kingsley it is written: “ His poems and sermons date from four years old. His delight was to make a little pulpit in his nursery from which, after putting on a pinafore as a surplice, he would preach to an imaginary congregation. His mother unknown to him took down his sermons at the time, and showed them to the Bishop of Peterborough, who predicted that the boy would grow up to be no ordinary man.” I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Election and mediation The two great blessings of election and mediation are here distinctly taught. God did not speak to the nations directly, but mediatorially He created a minister who should be His mouthpiece. Observation itself teaches us that men are called and chosen of God to do special work in all departments of life. The difficult lesson for some of us to learn is that we are called to obscurity, and yet this is as clearly a Divine appointment as is the choice of an Isaiah or a Jeremiah. If you look at life, you will see that the most of men are called to quietness, to honest industry, and to what is mistakenly called common place existence. What of it? Shall the plain murmur because it is not a mountain? Shall the green fields complain that Mont Blanc is higher than they? If they have not his majesty, neither have they his barrenness. To see our calling, to accept it, to honour it, that is the truly godly and noble life! Every man is born to realise some purpose. Find that purpose out, and fulfil it if you would lovingly serve God. We find no difficulty in persuading a man that he is a Jeremiah or a Daniel, at any rate that, under certain circumstances, he might easily have turned out a Hannibal or a Wellington. The difficulty, on the contrary, is to persuade a man that the lowliest lot, as well as the highest, is the appointment of God; that door keeping is a promotion in the Divine gift; and that to light a lamp may be as surely a call of God as to found an empire or to rule a world. (J. Parker, D. D.) The prophet’ s call and consecration I. The call of jehovah. Not the product of a reflective musing, nor the result of an inward impulse, but a supernatural Divine revelation, an inspiration, a voice from without. II. His Divine consecration. He felt the hand of the Lord touch him: a palpable pledge of His support. Touching his mouth meant endowment. Equipment and qualification for God’ s work must be from God. III. Signs which unveil his mission. These he saw in spirit, God interpreted them to him as confirmatory tokens of his Divine commission. IV. Supernatural assurances of help. God will furnish strength, will make him valiant and impregnable. (C. F. Keil.) Calling to service Like as a sword being committed into the hands of a soldier, by the captain general, he is not to smite before he be commanded to fight, and before the trumpet be sounded to battle: even so, though a man have excellences given him, yet he is not to execute any function, especially publicly, before he receive a particular warrant and calling from God (Revelation 16:1). As the ostrich hath wings and flieth not; so some men have a calling, but they answer it not; they have knowledge, but they practise it not; they have words, but they work not. (J. Spencer.) The ways in which men are called to service It is very remarkable that the ancient prophets always kept steadily before them the exact way by which they were led up to their office, and were always ready to vindicate themselves by a plain statement of facts. It is remarkable, too, that they could trace their heavenly election, as clearly as their earthly parentage; so much so, that, as a rule, they put on record both pedigrees, so to speak, side by side; first, that which was natural; afterwards, that which was spiritual; and the one was as much a living and indisputable fact as the other. Thus Jeremiah said, “ Hilkiah was my father, and the Word of the Lord came unto me,” two things separated by an infinite distance, yet both matters of positive and unquestionable certainty. Jeremiah would have treated with equal indifference or contempt the suggestion that Hilkiah was not his father and that the Lord had never spoken to him. (J. Parker, D. D.) I formed thee Ask what thy work in the world is. That for which thou wast born, to which thou wast appointed, on account of which thou wast conceived in the creative thought of God. That there is a Divine purpose in thy being is indubitable. Seek that thou mayest be permitted to realise it. And never doubt that thou hast been endowed with all the special aptitudes which that purpose may demand. God has formed thee for it, storing thy mind with all that He knew to be requisite for thy life work. I. The Divine purpose. “ I knew thee . . . I sanctified thee . . . I have appointed thee a prophet.” In that degenerate age the great Lover of souls needed a spokesman; and the Divine decree determined the conditions of Jeremiah’ s birth and character and life. How this could be consistent with the exercise of personal volition and choice on the part of the youthful prophet we cannot say. We can only see the two piers of the mighty arch, but not the arch itself, since the mists of time veil it, and we are dim of sight. It is wise to ascertain, if possible, while life is yet young, the direction of the Divine purpose. There are four considerations that will help us. First, the indication of our natural aptitudes; for these, when touched by the Divine Spirit, become talents or gifts. Secondly, the inward impulse or energy of the Divine Spirit, working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Thirdly, the teaching of the Word of God. Fourthly, the evidence of the circumstances and demands of life. When these concur, and focus in one point, there need be no doubt as to the Divine purpose and plan. But in cases where the Divine purpose is not so clearly disclosed, in which life is necessarily lived piecemeal, and the bits of marble for the tesselated floor are heaped together with no apparent plan, we must dare to believe that God has an intention for each of us; and that if we are true to our noblest ideals we shall certainly work out the Divine pattern, and be permitted some day to see it in its unveiled symmetry and beauty. To run errands for God! To be like the angels that excel in strength, and do His commandment, hearkening to the voice of His Word! To resemble the boy messengers in some of our large cities, that wait in readiness to discharge any commission that may be entrusted to them! II. Formative influences. It is very interesting to study the formative influences that were brought to bear on the character of Jeremiah. There were the character and disposition of his mother, and the priestly office of his father. There was the picturesque beauty of his birthplace, the village of Anathoth, lying on the high road three miles north of Jerusalem, encircled by the famous hills of Benjamin; and looking down the ravine on the blue waters of the Dead Sea, gleaming at the foot of the purple hills of Moab. There was the near proximity of the holy city, rendering it possible for the boy to be present at all the holy festivals, and to receive such instruction as the best seminaries could provide. There was the companionship and association of godly families, like those of Shaphan and Maaseiah, who themselves had passed away, but whose children preserved the religion of their forefathers, and treasured as sacred relies the literature, psalms, and history of purer and better days. His uncle, Shallum, was the husband of the illustrious and devoted prophetess, Huldah; and their son Hanameel shared with Baruch, the grandson of Maaseiah, the close friendship of the prophet, probably from the days that they were boys together. There were also the prophets Nahum and Zephaniah, who were burning as bright constellations in that dark sky, to be soon joined by himself. His mind was evidently very sensitive to all the influences of his early life. His speech is saturated with references to natural emblems and national customs, to the life of men, and the older literature of the Bible. Take, for instance, his earliest sermon in which he refers to the story of the Exodus, and the pleadings of Deuteronomy; to the roar of the young lion, and the habits of the wild ass; to the young camel traversing her ways, and the Arabian of the wilderness; to the murmur of the brook, and the hewing of the cistern. His quick and sensitive soul eagerly incorporated the influences of the varied life around him, and reproduced them. It is thus that God is ever at work, forming and moulding us. The purpose of God gives meaning to many of its strange experiences. Be brave, strong, and trustful! III. There was also a special preparation for his life work--“ The Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth.” In a similar manner had the seraph touched the lips of Isaiah years before. And we are reminded that the Lord Jesus promised that the Spirit of the Father should put appropriate words into the lips of His disciples when summoned before the tribunals of their foes. Words are the special gift of God. God never asks us to go on His errands (Jeremiah 1:7) without telling us what to say. If we are living in fellowship with Him, He will impress His messages on our minds and enrich our life with the appropriate utterances by which those messages shall be conveyed to our fellows. Two other assurances were also given. First, “ Thou shalt go to whomsoever I shall send thee.” This gave a definiteness and directness to the prophet’ s speech. Secondly, “ Be not afraid because of them; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.” IV. God vouchsafed a two-fold vision to his child. On the one hand, the swift-blossoming almond tree assured him that God would watch over him, and see to the swift performance of his predictions; on the other, the seething cauldron, turned towards the north, indicated the breaking out of evil. So the pendulum of life swings to and fro; now to light, and then to dark. But happy is the man whose heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. There was a period in Jeremiah’ s life when he seems to have swerved from the pathway of complete obedience (Jeremiah 15:19), and to have gone back from following the God-given plan. Surrounded by contention and strife; cursed as though he were a usurer; reproached and threatened with death--he lost heart, and fainted in the precipitous path. Immediately he had good reason to fear that the Divine protection had been withdrawn. We are only safe when we are on God’ s plan. But as he returned again to his allegiance, these precious promises were renewed, and again sounded in his ears: “ I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.” (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) A call to service “ It was no vision that called me to the foreign field,” said a missionary at Clifton Springs, last summer. “ I read with intense interest ‘ All power is given unto Me, go ye, therefore.’ This was the foundation stone of my call to be a missionary. Later, while I was in the seminary, a letter was read from Dr. Butler, asking for five new men for India, ‘ a chance to put your life to the best use for the Master.’ Though I had no outward vision, the illumination of the heart is the best vision one can have, and from that day I have never been sorry, and I have never doubted that God called me to this work.” (Christian Age.) I cannot speak: for I am a child.-- Fears and comforts in prospect of labour for God:-- I. The fear of God’ s servant in prospect of labour.1. He feels his weakness. (1) Having no influence.(2) Having no experience.(3) Being unstable. 2. He feels his ignorance.3. He feels his unworthiness.4. He dreads the enmity of man. II. The comforts of God’ s servants in prospect of labour.1. The assurance they are called to the work.2. The knowledge of the purpose of God.3. The promise of the presence of God.4. The fact that the message was from God. (R. A. Griffin.) A young preacher’ s oppressive sense of responsibility When I first became a pastor in London my success appalled me; and the thought of the career which it seemed to open up, so far from elating me, cast me into the lowest depths outer which I uttered my “ miserere,” and found no room for a “ gloria in excelsis.” Who was I that I should continue to lead so great a multitude? I would betake me to my village obscurity, or emigrate to America and find a solitary nest in the backwoods, where I might be sufficient for the things that would be demanded of me. It was just then that the curtain was rising upon my life work, and I dreaded what it might reveal. I hope I was not faithless, but I was timorous and filled with a sense of my own unworthiness. I dreaded the work which a gracious providence had prepared for me. I felt myself a mere child, and trembled as I heard the voice which said, “ Arise and thresh the mountains and make them as chaff.” (C. H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography.) A sense of helplessness as a preparation for ministry How many of the greatest men have been broken under a sense of their insufficiency! That passage in the life of John Livingstone comes back to me as I write. He had spoken at the yearly communion at Kirk o’ Shotts on the Sabbath with marvellous power, and had been requested to preach on the following morning, which he promised to do on condition that his friends should spend the night in prayer. But, as he awoke in the morning, he was so overwhelmed with the sense of his incompetence, that he went three and a half miles out of the town, to be brought back, however, and to preach so marvellously that five hundred souls were converted. The writer, years ago, when in great anxiety to learn whether his was a true vocation to the Christian ministry, the Bible opened to this page, and he can bear witness that God has been faithful. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) God achieves His work by seemingly inadequate workmen that the glory may be His In using such ill-adapted tools for the accomplishment of His designs, God shows His own transparent power. That famous well cover at Antwerp, just opposite the cathedral--one of the finest pieces of wrought-iron that was ever known--is said to have been made by Quintyn Matsys with nothing but a hammer and a file, his fellow workman having taken away his tools. If it be so, the more praise to him for his consummate skill. All God’ s works redound to His glory; but when the tools He uses appear to be totally inadequate to the results He achieves our reverence is excited, while our reason is abashed, and we marvel at a power we cannot understand. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Reluctance overcome Farel, alike humble and courageous, had often asked if another would not succeed better than he, and a sort of presentiment had bidden him wait in hope for such a man. Calvin was unwilling to undertake the work, he was not made, he said, for such an office Farel is urgent Calvin educes fresh reasons, and it seemed as though he wanted to deter Farel by exhibiting to him the defects of his future colleague. Once more he asked that he might be left in obscurity to busy himself in studies. Then Farel broke out, “ Thy studies are a pretext. I tell thee that if thou refuse to associate thyself with my works God will curse thee for having sought thyself and not Christ.” Calvin was henceforth prompt and sincere in the work of the Lord. Say not, I am a child.--Jeremiah’ s mission:-- I. His objection not unreasonable.1. Inexperience.2. Insufficient knowledge.3. Modest diffidence.4. Yet his ago and defects time would remedy. II. How God overrules His objection.1. He refers to His preordination.2. He refers to His commission.3. He was to speak God’ s words.4. Divine presence pledged.5. Supernatural communication. Lessons:1. God, not man, arranges the affairs of His moral kingdom.2. God qualifies His instruments.3. God often selects His agents, not as men would do.4. God gives His own message to His messengers.5. The ministry of God’ s servants is mighty for good or evil. (1) Listen when God speaks.(2) Obey when He commands(3) Trust when He promises. (Y. Burns, D. D.) God teaching His prophet I. What it is, in spiritual language, to be a child. This is one of the most comforting of Gospel names, when it unites us with God as our Father, and thus implies that there is the holy principle of a new birth unto righteousness within us.1. A child in this sense, is one who has been translated out of his own unrighteous nature into the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ; and this translation takes him at once from under the dominion of the law, and brings him into the glorious liberty of the Gospel. 2. A child, in scriptural acceptation, because he feels himself to be a sinning child, will bear submissively, every trying dispensation that shall be laid upon him, and in a child-like spirit. 3. Every child of God’ s adoption will study the will of God, and strive to make it his own. II. What influences were operating upon the prophets, when he said, “ I cannot speak, for I am a child.”1. There was the influence of a fallen and diseased nature. It is a great blessing to be able to look into the drowning sea of our own evil hearts, and to know the things we ought to pray for, and the rocks and quicksands it is our interest to avoid. But it is perilous to linger too long in an enemy’ s country, and to roll our meditations overmuch through the defiled places; because the very sight and knowledge of what we are, in our natural weakness and deformity, if they are steeped for too long a time in the bitterness of soul humiliation, will be apt to produce a feeling of darkness akin to despair. 2. There was a distrust of God’ s providence. This is a common sin in very many, who are without a question, children of the covenant. They have a faith, but it is not equal to their emergencies; there is a light in it, but it does not warm them; it staggers and hesitates, when it ought to be going forwards and realising. III. What it was that God intended His prophet to understand, when he replied, “ say not, I am a child,” etc.1. First He taught him that His simple word is the best rock for dependence: “ Thou shalt go and thou shalt speak.” This is the way in which God most loves to teach His children, because it is the simplest, I do not say the easiest lesson, for their faith to embrace. It is a trial for their confidence to improve. 2. But God’ s word to the prophet, “ Say not I am a child,” implies more. Jeremiah was to work for God; but God was to work in Jeremiah, and to supply him with a strength fully equal to what he had to do. Here is another link that binds God in His omnipotence to a covenant child in his weakness. (F. G. Crossman.) The Divine mission of children If we judge by inference and analogy from these words, rather than from the circumstances and person to whom they belong, we reach a truth like this: that by a messenger, incompetent because of his weakness, some messages from God come more forcefully to the ears and heart of men. What the prophet was comparatively many are actually, and the same truth holds good throughout, and so we reach a point which may well occupy our thought: the Divine mission and office of children, what they have to say, what they have to do. Is it not wrong to think of children as incomplete growth, of youth as nothing more than incomplete maturity? Such treatment injures them, for it fosters the idea into strength that today is nothing, and tomorrow everything, that the present is valueless, and the future holds all hope. Such treatment injures us, for we only exist impatiently till this time shall have passed, and miss all the instruction we might gather from the earliest impulses of life. In the home, and in the Church which is the larger home, there is a place for them to occupy, a mission to fulfil. Take two or three points as hints.1. First the meaning and the power of simple faith. It is a word that some of us perhaps for years have been trying to learn the meaning of. Faith, trust. Have you children of your own, or have you seen such, nestling fearless and trustful at their parent’ s knee! Your child believes in you, in something more than the fact of your existence. It lives in your love. It trusts your care. Faith is a belief that leads to the committal of the whole being to the hands of One who is our Father, our Helper, our Saviour; and as we grow up into strength, the highest of all motive impulse, at first it may be fear or expectation of good that induces obedience, but no long time can pass, if the relation be truly sustained, before love is the impulse of every action; and because your child loves you it delights to do your will. As such is the truth which appears in the earliest years of children, can it be a mistake to suppose that God intended the truth to be learned from such illustration of His word? 2. Does there not come to us in this self-same way, too, a hint of the folly and wrong of distractive anxiety? What good could the child do by puzzling its little brain with such questions as belong necessarily to the chiefs of the family? What slight would be cast upon the parents’ love if the child should becloud its life and be sad because no way out of supposed difficulties presented itself! Would you not say or think, my child, I stand higher and see farther; what is an inscrutable problem to you is none to me; my strength removes the hindrance, my wisdom solves the riddle? 3. And this leads us to another thought: that those things which seem to us all-important, upon which our whole interest is often apt to centre, to which, indeed, we look as to the source of our happiness in life, may be the merest trifles after all. What a small matter changes the child’ s light to darkness! In what an instant, by what a trivial cause, is laughing changed to crying, or the reverse! You say the child will grow, that now it speaks, thinks, acts as a child, but when it becomes a man it will put away childish things. God expects the same thing of us, and we well may ask ourselves, Am I growing into a higher life, and is it manifest by my interest in things of superior moment? Spiritually, have we come to see what is the noblest aim that may be set before us? Having learned the principles of the Gospel of Christ, are we going on to perfection, coming closer up to our Father in likeness, reflecting proof of our sonship, ready to follow everywhere He leads, and to be quite sure that as we would give our child all that is good, and not willingly or needlessly cause one pang of pain, so in much intenser and tenderer love does our Heavenly Father deal with us? 4. The last thought is the influence of kindliness and refreshing which is shed from the life of children. Their presence in the home makes the life less artificial, more true; and such may be their influence in the Church. We hold out the hand of encouragement for them to confess the name of the Saviour whom they may love. Let first impulses toward Christ, instinctive they will be, be nurtured. See to it that none be repressed, none discouraged. (D. J. Hamer.) Childlike, not childish Jeremiah learnt to bear testimony without flinching before kings, ay, and, in the name of the Lord, against kings; to be willing to undergo stripes and imprisonment; and to be sawn asunder for his grand defence of the Faith of God. But it was terribly difficult to him, in the beginning of his prophetic ministry, to take even the first steps on that narrow and painful way. The Word of the Lord comes to him, and tells him that from his birth he has been divinely ordained “ a prophet unto the nations.” “ Then said I” (it is an autobiography), “ Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child,” etc. Then the fear of men passed away from the prophet; and he girded up his loins, and arose, and spake unto them all that God commanded him. Now, what strikes us in this is, first, its thorough naturalness; and next, its awakening, encouraging call to each of us. It was so natural in Jeremiah to shrink from the awful ordeal of facing nations and kings. It came to him as such an absolutely new call. Well might he say, I am a mere child: I cannot attempt this. Poor human nature could scarcely have said otherwise. Only the grace of God would empower for such a duty: and that the grace of God was ready for him was proved, alike by the original call and by the rebuke and the encouragement which followed, by the zeal which he was enabled to show, in the face of the greatest possible difficulties, and by the accomplishment, both for good and for evil, of the predictions which God spake by him. And the call and the reproof and the reassuring words, are applicable also, in great measure, to each of us. Each one among us is bound to speak the truth among the brethren, boldly to rebuke vice, and, if necessary, patiently to stiffer for the truth’ s sake. And yet, when we come to real, everyday life, how constantly we fail herein! How often the strong man excuses himself for being weak! how often the soldier, bravo to the death in meeting the enemy, has not courage enough to reprove or admonish a friend! how often the minister of Christ, holds his hand, instead of standing up for his Master! Surely, this backwardness in the Lord’ s work, this miserable fear of men, this distrust of the Divine power committed to us, is found more or less in every class among us. And what is the real name for this? It is our childishness. How different is this from the child-like temper! The greatest and bravest and wisest of men have something of the child in them--the child’ s simplicity, and truthfulness, and implicit obedience, and regard for authority. Wellington had all this eminently; but he was never childish, he had no false fears, “ he never sold the truth to serve the hour.” All who are really great share this character, this holy boldness this valour for the truth upon the earth, this which is described in the picture of the Christian’ s armour as the preparedness of the Gospel--the readiness to go at once on the blessed messages of God.1. Realise the needs of men around you. They are very great. They demand all your energies, all your courageous charity, all possible firmness and decision. 2. Think of the danger of delay, the immense value of present opportunities. Have you never noticed, that the occasion for speaking to a soul to which we feel peculiarly impelled is at times the very last? How bitter must be our regret, if we let such an occasion slip, and allow one for whom Christ died actually to perish! 3. If you hesitate, if the childishness of your nature still wrestles with the mighty angel of God’ s grace, remember that which should constrain us the most to the fearless deeds of Christian faith--the contemplation of Christ crucified, and of the exceeding great love wherewith He loved us, enduring the contradiction of sinners and the shame and agony of death. Take the first step, the first brave, loving step along that way, and He will hold you by the hand, and go with you into the very midst of the battle, into the heat of the day; and you shall thank Him, ere the sun goes down, for enabling you, though you seemed to yourself but a child, to speak and to fight for Him. (G. E. Jeli, M. A.) Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee.-- A portrait of the true servant of God I. He is called to a great work. He is a Divine messenger.1. To go forth on an errand from God.2. To go only where God sends him.3. To speak only what God communicates. Not to speak his own speculations, on the theology of others, but the Word of God. II. He is conscious of self-insufficiency.1. The characteristic of all true servants. Moses, Isaiah, Paul.2. A qualification of all true servants. “ When I am weak, then am I strong.” III. He is strengthened by the Divine (verse 8). A man who has God within need never be afraid. (Homilist.) Jeremiah a servant I. Divine commission. II. Divine authority. III. Divine presence. IV. Divine deliverance. V. Divine power. VI. Divine message. VII. Divine result. (G. Inglis.) The Gospel minister encouraged and instructed 1. An objection overruled. 2. Work and duty prescribed. To bear God’ s message to men. (1) To whom? To all to whom the Lord should send him. He was not to choose for himself. Must obey the call of God, and do his duty, though neglected, hated, and persecuted for his faithfulness. (2) The matter of the message. Not to speak at random whatever came uppermost, or what might be most easy to himself or agreeable to his hearers but only what the Lord commanded. 3. How, or in what manner, God’ s word was to be delivered. (1) Faithfully and fully.(2) Plainly and boldly. I. The office of the ministry.1. It is an ordinance of Divine appointment to be continued in all ages to the end of time. Accordingly, they who slight and undervalue it, or despise those who are employed in it, reject their message, and disregard their salutary admonitions, reproofs, and instructions, greatly dishonour God, and pour contempt upon His authority. 2. It hath pleased God to employ weak and sinful men to dispense His word, and bear His message to sinners and saints. 3. None must intrude themselves into the office of the ministry, or presume to exercise it without a lawful call. Those who run unsent, who take upon them the office of the ministry when they are not called to that sacred function, in such a manner as God hath prescribed in His word, have no reason to expect assistance and success in their work. 4. Those whom God calls to the exercise of the ministerial office, He doth in some measure qualify for discharging the several parts of it. 5. The work of the ministry is very important and difficult work. The honour of God, and the salvation of souls, are nearly concerned in it. 6. Those whom God calls to exercise the office of the ministry have ordinarily a humbling sense of their own weakness, and insufficiency for the work they are called to. 7. Ministers of the Gospel, in performing the duties of their function, do not act in their own name, but in the name, and by the authority of their Divine master the Lord Jesus Christ. 8. Whatever opposition, or difficulties, the servants of Christ may meet with in the exercise of their ministry, they have sufficient encouragement to persevere in it. II. Some of the difficulties and discouragements which they who are called to exercise that sacred function may have to struggle with.1. Their fears and discouragements are sometimes occasioned by a serious consideration of the nature of the work they are called to engage in. 2. By a sense of their own weakness and insufficiency for discharging the duties of the sacred function. 3. When they consider the opposition they are likely to meet with in the exercise of their office. (1) From the world.(2) From lukewarm professors. 4. The cold reception that is usually given to the messages which the servants of the Lord deliver in His name, is sometimes a cause of discouragement. 5. The low and afflicted state of the Church is apt to discourage those who are about to enter upon public work in her. III. Their duty and the work they are called to.1. They must not choose their own let. Have they a call in providence to deliver God’ s message to those who are more likely to persecute them, than to submit to their instructions or pay any due regard to what they declare in the name of the Lord, they must not dispute, but readily obey the orders given them. Nor have they reason to fear any dangers they may be exposed to, through the power and malice of their enemies; for He in whose service they are employed is able to defend them, and frustrate all the designs of their enemies against them. His promise is their protection. 2. They must deliver nothing in His name but what He commands, or what is agreeable to His revealed will. In order to this, the teaching and renewed illumination of the Holy Spirit is necessary; but they need no additional, objective revelation. 3. The instructions given to the prophet, and every other minister of the Word, in the text imply, that those who are called to preach the Gospel should, as there may be opportunity, teach all truths revealed in the Word of God, and urge the performance of all duties required in it. 4. They should urge the diligent observance of all Divine ordinances, as a necessary duty. They must not think it is enough, if persons have the low of God in their hearts, and some experience of a work of grace in their souls, though they neglect the administration of the word and sacraments, or other outward ordinances, and treat with contempt any endeavours to maintain their purity; because, as some are pleased to speak, they are only outward things, and the observance of them hath not a necessary connection with vital piety, and the exercise of grace in the heart. 5. They must urge obedience to all the precepts of the moral law. 6. They should endeavour to accommodate their doctrine to the various conditions of their hearers. Conclusion:1. When those who are about to enter upon public work in the Church have a humbling sense of their own insufficiency, it is a presage of future usefulness. 2. The work of the ministry is not to be engaged in rashly. Count the cost. 3. Such as bear the character of office bearers in the Church, who take upon them to make laws for the members of the Church, contrary to those which the glorious Head of the Church hath enacted, or different from them; or who enjoin the observation of religious rites, devised by men without any warrant from the Word of God, not only transgress the limits of their commission, but are chargeable with great presumption. They teach what God never commanded, and exercise a power which no creature can claim, without invading the prerogative of the supreme Lawgiver. 4. Those who are called to bear God’ s message to the children of men ought to be well acquainted with His written word contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. 5. Ministers of the word must have no partial respect to the persons of men. 6. In order to a suitable discharge of ministerial duties, much fortitude and resolution is necessary. 7. Those ministers of the Gospel who, sensible of their own weakness, are enabled humbly to depend upon the power and grace of God for protection, and support in their work, are most likely to discharge the duties of their office with acceptance and success. 8. They must take care that they do not run unsent, or thrust themselves into the office of the ministry without a lawful call, the call of God and the call of the Church. 9. They are to deliver their message authoritatively, as not acting in their own name, but in the name of God. If ministers, in preaching the Word, act as the messengers of the Lord of hosts, the people to whom they preach ought to receive their message with reverence and submission. If they reject it, or slight it, they put an affront upon Him who sent them. They despise not man but God. (D. Wilson.) Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.-- A reason for bravery Whenever fear comes in and makes us falter, we are in danger of falling into sin. Conceit is to be dreaded, but so is cowardice. Our great Captain should be served by brave soldiers. What a reason for bravery is here. God is with those who are with Him. God will never be away when the hour of struggle comes. Do they threaten you? Who are you that you should be afraid of a man that shall die? Can you not trust Him? Do they pour ridicule upon you? Will this break your bones or your heart? Bear it for Christ’ s sake, and even rejoice because of it. God is with the true, the just, the holy, to deliver them; and He will deliver you. Remember how Daniel came out of the lions’ den, and the three holy children out of the furnace. Yours is not so desperate a case as theirs; but if it were, the Lord would bear you through, and make you more than a conqueror. Fear to fear. Be afraid to be afraid. Your worst enemy is within your own bosom. Get to your knees and cry for help, and then rise up saying, “ I will trust, and not be afraid.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Valiant manhood Just as much as a man drives out fear, marches boldly on, says his say, does his act, by so much is he a valiant man. In the old Norse ballads it was indispensable to be brave. Odin cast out of his heaven, the Valhalla, all who were tainted with cowardice; and over a battlefield the priests taught, went the Valkyries, or choosers of the slain, heavenly messengers who took care only to admit the valiant. The kings when about to die, lay down in a ship with its sails set, drifted out into the ocean, charged with fire too in the hold, so that the king might blaze in his tomb and be delivered to the sky. The valiant is the really valuable man. Courage is ministers The truest way not to be afraid of the worst part of a man is to value and try to serve his better part. The patriot who really appreciates the valuable principles of his nation’ s life is he who most intrepidly rebukes the nation’ s faults. And Christ was all the more independent of men’ s whims because of His profound love for them and complete consecration to their needs. There come three stages in this matter: the first, a flippant superiority which despises the people and thinks of them as only made to take what the preacher chooses to give to them, and to minister to his support; the second, a servile sycophancy which watches all their fancies, and tries to blow whichever way their vane points; and the third, a deep respect which cares too earnestly for what the people are capable of being to let them anywhere fall short of it without a strong remonstrance. You have seen all three in the way in which parents treat their children. I could show you each of the three today in the relation of different preachers to their parishes. Believe me, the last is the only true independence, the only one that it is worth while to seek, or indeed that a man has any right to seek. An actor may encourage himself by despising or forgetting his audience, but a preacher must go elsewhere for courage. The more you prize the spiritual nature of your people, the more able you will be to oppose their whims. These must be the fountain of your independence. (Bp. Phillips Brooks.) Danger regarded from the high ground of faith Fire broke out on a prairie not far from the dwelling of a settler. His son, seeing flames advancing, cried out they would all be burned, but the father took his boy to some high ground, and showed him that all round their dwelling was a wide clearing, too broad for the flames to overleap, and so they were safe. How frequently we worry ourselves because of some threatening danger, whereas, if we took higher ground and looked with the eye of faith, we should see that God has arranged a defence, that it may not hurt us. (The Signal.) See, I have this day set thee over the nations.-- Prophet’ s commission 1. He is made a (paqid), a prefect or superintendent of the nations of the world. A Hebrew term corresponding to “ bishop” of the Christian Church. 2. He has widest scope for the exercise of his powers: he is invested with authority over the destinies of all peoples. If it be asked in what sense it could be truly said that the ruin and renascence of nations was subject to the supervision of the prophets, the answer is obvious. The Word they were authorised to declare was the Word of God, that fulfils itself with all the necessity of a law of nature (Isaiah 55:10-11). 3. What strength, what staying power may the Christian preacher find in dwelling upon this fact, that God’ s Word is fulfilling itself, though that Word may be disowned, and the efforts of the preacher may be thwarted. (C. J. Ball, M. A.) Charge to pastors: their work defined I. Inquire what are the evils against which you must contend and the methods you are to adopt in this opposition.1. By your public ministry root out errors in doctrine. 2. By leading the Church, in the exercise of faithful discipline, root out evil-doers. 3. By rendering your pastoral visits subservient to the purposes of conviction and correction. II. What is that good you are to encourage?1. As a builder-- (1) Be sure you lay a right foundation. (2) See that your materials be fitly framed together. Implying that-- (a) They be hewed and squared. (b) They be formed by the same rule. (c) Every one be put in the situation for which he is formed. (3) So frame the whole as that it may be a fit habitation for God. 2. As a planter. (1) Sow “ wholly a right seed.”(2) Give attention to the plants as you see them grow.(3) Cultivate them by every means.(4) Pray that they may be watered by the Holy Spirit. (Andrew Fuller.) The work of Jeremiah, and that of St. Paul I. Contrast. Jeremiah, the prophet of disaster and despondency, could look back to a holy and happy past--the son of the faithful priest Hilkiah, the friend of the godly king Josiah; he fell upon evil and apostate times. Saul had to turn his back upon his old life--count all things but loss that had been gain to him--thus he was ever looking forward, reaching onward--the apostle of faith and hope. II. Parallel.1. Each is elected by God, and therefore trained by his circumstances for his work. The call of Jeremiah, the conversion of Saul, was to each a revelation of a God that had formed him from the womb for his work (cp. Galatians 1:15-16 with Jeremiah 1:5). 2. The two-fold nature of that work--destructive and constructive. To root out, pull down, destroy; yet to plant and to build. We may almost say this is the work of all whom God has called to labour for Him. This was the type of Christ’ s work. His coming laid an axe to the root of the tree (Matthew 3:10, see also 15:13). Yet was He the Sower. It may be the teacher, like Jeremiah, does not live to see his work grow--yet who can doubt the effect of Jeremiah upon those who returned purified and repentant from Babylon? The two must go together. Root up error and plant truth. Pull down the strongholds of sin, and build up the temple of Christian holiness. (John Ellerton, M. A.) To throw down, to build, and plant.--Destruction and construction conjoined “ To root up, and to pull down.” What a mercy of God to the Church was it that the same day that Pelagius, that arch-heretic, was born in Britain, Augustine the Great, confuter of that heretic, should be born in Africa--providence so disposing that the poison and the antidote should come into the world together. (John Trapp.) Jeremiah 1:9 To whom the Word of the Lord came.The Word of God Words are often used in two ways--one specific, definite; the other general, figurative. Thus, when we use the word “ heart,” we mean specifically that organ which pumps the blood throughout our being; on the other hand, we use it broadly as the seat of the affections and centre of highest being. So it is with the term “ word,” Primarily, it stands for a written or spoken term composed of letters; then we enlarge its content and use it in the sense of a message, “ What word did our friend send?” Then as the Psalmist used it, where the heavens have a word for us, a message. Then we go on until we come to find that any expression of God is called a Word of God. This is the use of “ word” in the Bible. The Word of God is always an expression of God’ s being. I. There is a Word of God for us in nature. The very heavens have a Word of God for us. They tell us that an attribute of His is glory, majesty, far-reaching grandeur. Days and nights all speak of His glory and infinite resource. How many words of God come to us through Nature! How the writers of the Psalms saw it! How Jesus saw in Nature the Word of God’ s care and watchfulness!1. Thus honesty is a Word of God, written on all the face of Nature as an attribute. Nature tells us God is honest, true to Himself, to the laws He has made, to man. The foundation Principle of the physical universe is honesty. The stars swing true to their courses. Suns rise and set and do not deceive us. If we did not know this universe was run honestly, we would not dare enter a new day. 2. As we are reading, in these days, more and more deeply into Nature, we are hearing another great Word of God, namely, that God is a God of purpose. This is a great message. Many people think He is not a God of purpose, but that the universe is being run with no end in view. Nature is full of prophecy, life everywhere throbs with expectancy of greater being; God begins with the simplest and works towards the greatest, He starts with a cell of living matter, and ends with the wonderful human frame, He starts with a spark of life and ends with a spirit in His own image. The best lies before us, the golden age is yet to be. God has great destinies in view for the human soul. II. There has been a distinctive Word of God spoken through prophets and statesmen who have been wrapped up in the progress of nations. We might see this in the history of any nation, of old or of today, but I will take Israel, because we are more familiar with its history and its prophets. One Word of God that came through Israel was justice. God was a just God. He was not like the gods of the Babylonians, fickle, full of whims, acting by impulse, but He was a God who weighed and considered; who looked at motives as well as deeds; who meted out rewards and punishments by desert. Another Word of God that came to Israel was that He was a shield and reward, a defender of His people. “ The Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.” Ah, how well Israel learned that word in all her devious history! And how deeply impressed upon her was the word that God was a jealous God--jealous for the welfare of His people, a present help, a refuge, and a strength. Another word that came through Israel was that God was a patient, long-suffering God. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah were continually giving this Word of God. And every other nation through its people and prophets has some great Word of God to give to the world. For God is not dumb, and His prophets today are not deaf. III. It is through life that God must speak His largest word, make the fullest revelation of His Being. It is life that speaks to life, heart that comforts heart. All the prophets of Israel saying that God is long-suffering will not move a man to see it so much as one soul here exhibiting the forbearance of God. Preachers may preach forever that God is love, and it will not have the force of one God-filled deed of love. So it is with all the attributes of God. They cannot be revealed in their great, Divine reality except as they are manifest in human life. So when the fulness of time had come God spoke to men through a human soul. Then was His true glory revealed, then His nature made manifest. It was when the word, the expression, the character of God became flesh and dwelt among us that we beheld His glory. Jesus is the living manifestation of the Word of God. Now I have seen Jesus I know God identifies Himself with men. For He has come into our humanity. I ask God what word He has for me in my sorrows and loneliness, and the answer comes to me in the life of Jesus that God is love. I see God living as love before me. I see His love going out to wretched men and women. I see Him serving as only love can serve. I see Him gathering to Himself outcasts and sinners, and recreating them in a new atmosphere of love. I see Him taking little children upon His knee and blessing them. I see Him suffering because He loved the world. What is the nature of God? In Jesus see how He is a Father. See how Jesus’ whole life was a living word speaking the Fatherhood of God. How does God treat sinful beings? Look how Jesus treated sinful women who came to Him, and see how God treats sinners. How does God feel over the sins of the world? See Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. Will God suffer to save men? See Jesus giving His rest, and strength, and life, that men may see to what ends God will go to save His children. Let us remember that it was because Jesus was one with the Father that He could be the medium of the Word of God. But when He said, “ I and the Father are one,” He referred to a spiritual oneness. So wherever there is a soul today who is one with the Father, there you will find a living Word of God. There is a very striking scene in George Macdonald’ s “ Robert Falconer” which shows how today a Word of God may come through life. Eric Ericson, a poor Scotch student, tramping on to Edinburgh, stops footsore and weary at the “ Boar’ s Head,” the inn kept by Letty Napier. After resting awhile, he starts to go on, although so footsore he can hardly walk. But Miss Letty makes him go up to a room and take off his shoes, and let her bathe his feet. He expostulates, for he has not a shilling in the world. But Miss Letty makes him stay three days and rest, while she ministers to him, and then starts him off to Edinburgh, a new man, and a couple of pieces in his pocket. Eric had been a sceptic, but as he walks with Robert he says, with the tears welling up in his eyes, “ If I only knew that God was as good as that woman, I should die content.” Robert answers, “ But surely ye dinna think God’ s nae as guid as she is? Surely He’ s as guid as He can be. He is good, ye know.” Eric answers, “ Oh, yes, they say so. And then they tell you something about Him that isn’ t good, and go on calling Him good all the same. But calling anybody good doesn’ t make him good, you know.” Yes, poor Eric was right--calling Him good does not make Him good. But when Eric felt love in this godly woman it set him to thinking about the goodness in God. It was a living word from God straight to his heart. So, every time you do a deed of love, you are speaking a word of God. (F. Lynch.) The call of Jeremiah It is not to be expected that a superficial gaze will discern the special qualifications that attracted the Divine choice to Jeremiah. But that is no wonder. The instruments of the Divine purpose in all ages have not been such as man would have selected. There were several reasons why Jeremiah might have been passed over.1. He was young. How young we do not know; but young enough for him to start back at the Divine proposal with the cry, “ Ah! Lord God! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.” Without doubt, as a boy he had enjoyed peculiar advantages. God has often selected the young for posts of eminent service: Samuel and Timothy; Joseph and David; Daniel and John the Baptist. 2. He was naturally timid and sensitive. By nature he seemed cast in too delicate a mould to be able to combat the dangers and difficulties of his time. He reminds us of a denizen of the sea, accustomed to live within its shell, but suddenly deprived of its strong encasement, and thrown without covering on the sharp edges of the rocks. The bitter complaint of his afterlife was that his mother had brought him into a world of strife and contention. Many are moulded upon this type. They have the sensitiveness of a girl, and the nervous organism of a gazelle. They love the shallows, with their carpet of silver sand, rather than the strong billows that test a man’ s endurance. For them it is enough to run with footmen; they have no desire to contend with horses. Yet such, like Jeremiah, may play an heroic part on the world’ s stage, if only they will let God lay down the iron of His might along the lines of their natural weakness. His strength is only made perfect in weakness. It is to those who have no might that He increaseth strength. 3. He specially shrank from the burden he was summoned to bear. His chosen theme would have been God’ s mercy--the boundlessness of His compassion, the tenderness of His pity. But to be charged with a message of judgment; to announce the woeful day; to oppose every suggestion of heroic resistance; to charge home on the prophetic and the priestly orders, to each of which he belonged, and the anger of each of which he incurred, the crimes by which they were disgraced--this was the commission that was furthest from his choice (Jeremiah 17:16). 4. He was conscious of his deficiency in speech. Like Moses, he could say, “ O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” The best speakers for God are frequently they who are least gifted with human eloquence; for if that be richly present--the mighty power of moving men--there is an imminent peril of relying on it, and attributing the results to its magnetic spell. God cannot give His glory to another. He may not share His praise with man. He dare not expose His servants to the temptation of sacrificing to their own net or trusting their own ability. Do not, then, despair because of these apparent disqualifications. Notwithstanding all, the Word of the Lord shall come to thee; not for thy sake alone, but for those to whom thou shalt be sent. The one thing that God demands of thee is absolute consecration to His purpose, and willingness to go on any errand on which He may send thee. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) In the days of Josiah . . . also in the days of Jehoiakim. Mutations of life When one sea floweth, another ebbeth. When one star riseth, another setteth. When light is in Goshen, darkness is in Egypt. When Mordecai groweth into favour, Haman groweth out of favour. When Benjamin beginneth, Rachel endeth. Thus we are rising or setting, getting or spending, winning or losing, growing or fading, until we arrive at heaven or hell. (Henry Smith.) Jeremiah 1:11-16I see a rod of an almond tree.Tree emblems The Hebrew word for almond signifies the “ waker,” in allusion to its being the first tree to wake to life in the winter. The word also contains the signification of watching and hastening. The word for almond tree is shaked, and the word for “ I will hasten” (Jeremiah 1:12) is shoked, from the same root. The almond was the emblem of the Divine forwardness in bringing God’ s promises to pass. A similar instance in the name of another rosaceous tree is the apricot, which was named from praecocia (early), on account of its blossoms appearing early in the spring, and its fruit ripening earlier than its congener the peach. (Professor Post, F. L. S.) The rod of the almond tree and the seething pot This vision was parabolic, and contains one thought in different stages of development. In looking at any object through a telescope the first look may give a correct impression of the object, but an adjustment of the lens may reveal details not seen before. So in the case of the double vision here. The almond is the first tree to awake from the sleep of winter, and to put forth blossoms. God, in the vision of the almond branch, indicated that the judgments pronounced upon the Hebrew nation were nearing their fulfilment. “ I will hasten My Word to perform it.” The second vision gives more information than the first upon the same subject. In the first only the fact of the speedy retribution is made known, the second reveals whence it is to come. “ Out of the north.” The seething pot also shows the terror and confusion that would fill the city of Jerusalem when surrounded by her enemies. I. Those who have to utter the truth of God to others must first see it clearly themselves. II. Those who can see the mind of God must be prepared to utter the truths they see. Men of genius who see things in secret, and think they see what is worth giving to the world, gird up their loins to put forth what they have seen in word, or on canvas, or in the sculptured marble. Christ instructed His first scholars to do this (Matthew 10:27). So Jeremiah must give out that which he has seen. III. God often makes use of things far beneath us, to make known to us important truths. The boiling pot and the almond branch were common everyday objects, yet God uses them as vehicles to convey to Jeremiah solemn truths respecting His people. So in Christ’ s parables. IV. The times and instruments of national judgment are in the hands of God. V. God’ s chastisements increase in severity with the increase of national sin. God had again and again sent less severe chastisement upon the Jewish nation, but all had failed to stop their moral decay; hence the necessity, if the nation were to continue in existence, of the execution of the judgments foretold in the prophetic vision. VI. The most childlike and humble in spirit see best into divine mysteries. Just before receiving this revelation Jeremiah had confessed his ignorance and inability (verse 6). (Matthew 18:3-6; Isaiah 57:15; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16.) (Sermons by a London Minister.) The almond tree’ s message The almond tree was, as its name indicates, the “ watcher,” the “ hastener” ; as if it lay at the gates of spring, waiting, yearning for their opening; as if it would urge forward the days of sunshine and gladness. It was apparently with some sense of the allegory it taught that the shape of its blossom was adopted as the pattern of the “ cup” for the candles in the golden candlestick in the temple. So, as the candles burnt from sunset to sunrise in the golden cups of the almond blossoms, the symbol out of which they sprang was telling of the watcher and the hastener, and was saying, “ The morning cometh” And the almond branch says through all the dreary winter, “ The spring cometh and also the summer. God watches over His Word to perform it.” Yes, as God watches over the almond blossoms to open their beautiful leaves, and to gladden the eyes of men, so will He open the promises and prophecies of His Word to fill men’ s hearts with joy and peace. Ah, we cannot watch over our word to perform it, save in a very qualified sense indeed. But how calmly the Infinite and Eternal One keeps watch over His from generation to generation till all are fulfilled! Although the symbol of the almond branch was employed to show how certainly God’ s Word will be performed on the grand scale of its application to national life, we may fairly take our crumb of personal comfort from it. There are multitudes of promises, multitudes of assurances of love, multitudes of revelations which are adopted and applied as personal words from God to His children, who build upon them, hope in them, look for their fulfilment. They have associated God’ s love and honour with them as closely as our children bind us up with our words. And they are abundantly encouraged to do so. The promises for man are promises to men. God deals with humanity by dealing with individuals. The race is saved through its units. The secret promise of spring in the branch of the almond tree, which the prophet was taught to apply to the whole nation, has also a meaning for every soul of man. It means that God watches and waits to perform His Word to him. But we turn now to that national and human aspect of the text, which undoubtedly it chiefly had for the prophet, and which it was intended to have for men in all generations. When, then, God performs His Word, does He perform it mediately by the instrumentality of agents, or immediately by an exercise of volition? The almond branch answers our question. Not by the touch of His invisible fingers does He make the flower burst from the stem and open its pale pink leaves to the sun and wind. He does it by the majestic movement of the seasons. The courses of the stars, the rush of the world through space, the heat from the far-off sun, the blowing of the winds, the falling of the rain, the secret chemical action of the soil, the mysterious operation of the laws of life in the tree itself, all combine as God’ s ministers to bring to pass God’ s will and word in the making and unfolding of a flower. And this increases the marvel of His work; this enlarges our conception of His superintending care; this touches our souls with a consciousness of His universal presence. If the Almighty will spend a year of unceasing work to make a flower bloom, if He will lavish the wealth of earth and use the powers of the heavens upon it, then we may fairly assume that He will exercise as great or greater vigilance and effort to perform His Word touching the highest welfare of man. He will not fail to establish His kingdom, and He will do it by using the most vailed forces operating through centuries of time, if need be, through ages of ages. It is, perhaps, not easy for us to remember that He is now operating through ourselves and through the great masses of mankind, all the while watching over His Word to perform it, but so it is. The Old Testament view of God’ s use not only of Israel, but also of heathen kings and nations, should aid us to see that He is still using men to fulfil His purposes. Tyrants as well as patriots have served the cause of liberty by compelling nations to safeguard it by constitutional laws and usages. Atheists have furthered a reverent piety by revealing the coldness of their denials and their incompetence to satisfy the deepest, the best, the most irrepressible of our thoughts and desires. Grasping capitalists, as well as Socialists, are now urging forward the cause of a sound and real equality, by causing men everywhere and of all degrees to think, to inquire, to contrive, and to act in combination, each man subordinating the personal to the general good, and so learning a lesson in unity, in self-control, and in care for others. The very faith of the Gospel has been promoted by much that seemed to threaten its extinction. The very principles and precepts of the kingdom of God have been adopted and confirmed because of experience of the evil of their opposites. We dare not, we would not, say that knowledge of evil has been the necessary introduction to knowledge of good, but this we may affirm, that God works by means of evil to perform His Word, to establish it among us as the admitted counsel of perfect wisdom and perfect love; He uses even our faults and our sins to bring to pass the fulfilment of His Word. (J. P. Gladstone.) Spiritual vision This power of spiritual vision is preeminently the gift of God. This power of parables, making them or reading them, is a deep mystery of the unseen kingdom. Is it not the gift of sight that distinguishes one man from another? The prophet may truly say, “ I hear a voice they cannot hear; I see a hand they cannot see.” How the earth and sky are rich with images which the poet’ s eye alone can see! What a parable is spring, and what a vision from the Lord is summer, laden with all riches, gentle and hospitable beyond all parallel! With the mountains girdling thee round, as if to shut thee up in prison, and suddenly opening to let thee through into larger liberties--what seest thou? I see beauty, order, strength, majesty, and infinite munificence of grace and loveliness. Look at the moral world, and say what seest thou. Think of its sinfulness, its misery untold, its tumult and darkness and corruption, deep, manifold, and ever-increasing. Is there any cure for disease so cruel, so deadly? What seest thou? I see a Cross, and one upon it like unto the Son of Man, and in His weakness He is mighty, in His poverty He is rich, in His death is the infinite virtue of atonement. I see a Cross, its head rises to heaven, and on it is written, “ The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin,” and from it there comes a voice, saying, “ Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? Believe in Me, and live forever.” And far away in the distance, what seest thou? Across the seething sea of time, standing high above all earthly affairs, yet inseparably connected with them, what is that glistening object? It is fairer than the sun when he shineth in the fulness of his strength, and marvellous is its fascination alike for the evil and the good: the evil look upon it until their knees tremble and their bones melt like wax, and the good look unto it, and praise the Lord in a song of thankfulness and hope. What is it? It is a great white throne whence the living Judge sends out His just and final decrees. (J. Parker, D. D.) Natural objects setting forth Divine dispensations In his later days it was the habit of Wm. Wilberforce, before retiring to rest, to seek in the natural objects about him, to be afresh assured of his Father’ s love and presence. “ I was walking with him,” says a friend, “ in a verandah, watching for the opening of a night-blowing Cereus. As we stood in eager expectation, it suddenly burst wide open before us. ‘ It reminds me,’ said he, ‘ of the dispensations of Divine providence first breaking on the glorified eye, when they shall fully unfold, and appear as beautiful as they are complete.’” Jeremiah 1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee. God’ s witness I. Must be quick.II. Busy. III. Bold. IV. Faithful. For--1. He must speak all that he is charged with.2. He must speak to all that he is charged against. (1) Because he has reason to fear the wrath of God if he should be false.(2) Because he has no reason to fear the wrath of man if he is faithful. (M. Henry, D. D.) Service requires concentration The girdle is often yards in length, and is a significant part of a man’ s apparel when in full dress; and the first sign that a man is in earnest about any work would be that he would gather his skirts about him and tuck them into his girdle; so as to be unhampered and free. The idea for us is that Christian service demands concentration. It needs the fixing of a man’ s power upon one thing, and the gathering together of all the strength of one’ s nature until its softest and loosest particles are knit together and become strong. You may take a handful of cotton down and squeeze it tight enough to make it hard and as heavy as a bullet, or you may stretch it out into tissue paper. The reason why some men hit and make no dint is because they are not gathered together, compacted--their loins are not girded. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Jeremiah 1:18I have made thee this day a defenced city, etc.A sure stronghold is God Though thou shalt be exposed to persecutions and various indignities, they shall not prevail against thee. To their attacks thou shalt be as an impregnable city; as unshaken as an iron pillar; and as imperishable as a wall of brass. None, therefore, can have less cause to apprehend danger than thou hast. The issue, in Jeremiah’ s case, proved the truth of this promise; he outlived all their insults; and saw Jerusalem destroyed, and his enemies, and the enemies of the Lord, carried into captivity. (Adam Clark.) Jeremiah 1:19 And they shall fight against thee.Opposition I. The vehemence of our foes.1. Formerly this virulence was manifested in revolting cruelties; lit fires of martyrdom; crowded prisons with sufferers for conscience’ sake; drove thousands into exile; even disturbed ashes of pious dead to emphasise the execrations of the living. 2. Now opposition resorts to more secret, though not less deadly means. Seeks to prison confidence and joys; impede progress, disturb peace, destroy spirituality. II. The certainty of our security. Saints may be weary, maimed, fearful, but cannot be ultimately defeated. False professors will fall a prey: indeed they tempt the tempter; but true men are sure of victory. III. The source of our confidence.1. The abiding presence of the Lord.2. The constant manifestation of the power of the Lord. (R. A. Griffin.) Persistence in spite of opposition As the springs do not cease from giving forth their waters, or the rivers their streams, albeit no man come to take up any, or to sail upon them: so must not the minister cease from preaching, admonition, and reproving, albeit in manner, no man make profit of his doctrine and admonition. (J. Spencer.) . Jeremiah 2:1-3I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth.Youthful religion I. The rich and glowing description of youthful piety here given.1. Ardent affection.2. Union of the soul to Christ.3. A going after God.4. Not discouraged by difficulties and troubles.5. A religion of holiness. II. The aspect which the Divine remembrance of youthful piety may have on different circumstances of life.1. A view of approbation. (1) When you are successfully struggling with the temptations of the world. (2) When you act under the influence of youthful impressions in promoting the cause of truth and holiness. (3) When sunk in deep affliction. (4) When young people come to be old people. 2. A remembrance of regret and displeasure. (R. Winter, D. D.) “ Thy first love” I. God remembers with grace the best things of His people’ s early days.1. I think that it is, first, because all these were His own work. If there was in thee any light, or life, or love, it was the gift of the Spirit of God. 2. God also remembers with pleasure those best things in His people’ s early days because they gave Him great delight at the time. Those first tears, which we tried to brush away secretly, were so precious to the Lord that He stored them away in His bottle. 3. It is very sweet to reflect that, when God says that He remembers the love of our espousals, and the kindness of our youth, He does not mention the faults connected with our early days. Our gracious God has a very generous memory. 4. The Lord so remembers the best things of our early days that He recounts them. He says, “ I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth.” Let us try whether we can recollect how we showed our kindness to our God in our early days. Then the Lord adds, “ I remember thee the love of thine espousals.” Oh, some of us did love God very fervently in our early days! Observe that the Lord speaks in our text of Israel’ s going after Him into the wilderness: “ I remember thee . . . when thou wentest after Me in the wilderness.” Perhaps some of you, when you became Christians, had to give up a situation, or to quit some evil trade. Perhaps you had to run the gauntlet of a workshop where everybody laughed you to scorn. Some of you had hard times in those days; yet I will not call them hard, for you never had in all your life such joy as you had then. When everybody gave you an ill word, then Christ was most precious to you, and your love to Him burned with a steady flame. II. God remembers with a gracious purpose the best things of our early days.1. He remembers them that He may make use of and honour us in our after days. There is many a man, now honoured in the service of God, who would not have been if he had not been faithful to God as a youth; and I believe that there is many a man who has missed his opportunity of serving God through not beginning well. 2. God remembers these early faithful ones, to instruct them, and to reveal Himself to them. 3. The Lord also remembers what we do in our youthful love and kindness, that He may sustain us in the time of trouble. 4. Especially do I think that this must be true in the time of old age. “ I remember how you worked for Me when you could work for Me; and now that you are getting grey and old, and can do but little in your last days, I will uphold you, and bear you safely through.” III. God would have us remember the best things of our early days for our rebuke. Ah, you are not what you used to be, not so decided, not so joyous, not so faithful! What have you been at? Do you not owe more to God now than you did then! You have come a good way on the road since then; ought you to love Him less? He has blessed you; He has preserved you; He has forgiven you; He has manifested Himself to you. You have had some grand times when your heart has burned within you; you have sometimes had a taste of heaven upon earth. Should you not, therefore, love Him much more than at the first? Oh, come back with tears of deep regret, and give yourself again to God! Have you ever seen a water-logged ship towed into harbour? She has encountered a storm; all her masts are gone, she has sprung a leak, and is terribly disabled; but a tug has got hold of her, and is drawing her in, a poor miserable wreck, just rescued from the rocks. I do not want to enter heaven that way, “ scarcely saved.” But now look at the other picture. There is a fair wind, the sails are full, there is a man at the helm, every sailor is in his place, and the ship comes in with a swing, she stops at her proper place in the harbour, and down goes the anchor with cheery shouts of joy from the mariners who have reached their desired haven. That is the way to go to heaven; in full sail, rejoicing in the blessed Spirit of God, who has given us an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.) God’ s remembrance of our covenant with Him I. A solemn dedication to God and entering into covenant with Him.1. A contract founded in love. The soul is under the influence of a supreme love to God, a high esteem of His infinite excellences, and a grateful sense of His innumerable benefits. 2. This contract consists of mutual, unalterable engagements. The soul gives itself to the Lord; enters into covenant to be wholly devoted to His service and interest, and to admit no rival with Him. God avouches such a soul for His; and promises to be its God, its father, portion, and happiness. 3. This covenant, like the marriage covenant, is never to be dissolved. II. The pleasing remembrance which God has of an early dedication to Him. God accepts it as double kindness.1. Because in youth the affections are most warm and lively.2. Because it is rare and uncommon. (Job Orton.) Backsliding reproved I. Remarks.1. Behold in God a disposition to commend, rather than condemn. While we admire this tenderness, let us learn also to resemble it. Let us approve as far as we can; and, in examining characters, let us observe the good more largely than the evil. Let us beware of indiscriminate reflection; of speaking severely of persons in the gross; of branding a whole course of life with the reproach of a particular action. 2. God remembers the past. Our memories soon fail us. Old impressions soon give place to new ones, and we often find it difficult to recall, without assistance, an occurrence that happened a few months ago. But “ a thousand years are in His sight but as yesterday,” etc. 3. It is well to be informed of what we once were, and to be led back to our former experience. It is useful for a preacher sometimes to remind us of our natural state; that we may “ look to the rock whence we are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence we were digged.” We need everything that is favourable to self-examination and self-knowledge. II. Application.1. To Christians under declensions in religion. How dreadful is it that, when everything requires our advancement, we should be stationary! that, when means and ordinances, mercies and trials, unite to urge us forward; that, when our obligations to God are daily increasing, and the day of account every hour approaching so we should not only stand still--but even draw back! 2. To those who promises fair in their youth, and are now become irreligious. Perhaps you say, “ But we are not vicious and profligate.” So far it is well. And oh that this was true of all! but, alas! we have swearers now, who in their youth feared an oath; we have Sabbath breakers now, who in their youth revered the sacred hours; we have sceptics and scoffers now, who from a child knew and admired “ the Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation.” You say, “ We are not like them. But they were not thus drawn aside all at once; they became wicked by degrees. This is always the course of sin. They “ proceed from evil to evil” : they “ wax worse and worse.” 3. To those who in their early days are truly devoted to the service and glory of God. To such the words are applicable--not in a way of reproach, but honour--not in a way of rebuke, but encouragement. (W. Jay.) Failures “ Many a fine morning has been overspread with clouds, and followed by foul weather. Many a tree in spring has been covered with blossoms, which have never settled into fruit.” King George had it in his mind to build a marble palace, and he has left behind him nothing but a marble arch. All failures. (W. Jay.) Changed moral conditions It is difficult to think that the mighty rocks which are as hard as flint were once as soft as the flesh of a little child, and that your finger dent would have left a mark upon them as upon dough kneaded for the next batch of bread. Upon some rocks there is the impression of leaves and ferns. In our great museums there are stone slabs with the marks of raindrops that fell in gentle showers hundreds and hundreds of years ago, while on other rocks may be seen the footprints made by wild birds upon the soft beach by the side of some rushing stream in some remote age. Gradually the clayey soil hardened into stone, and from the tracery and marks upon the rocks it is possible to tell what kind of trees and birds grew and flourished in those early times. As with the hard rock, so with the hard heart. It was once soft and gentle. God said to the children of Israel, whose hearts had become like stone, “ I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth” (Jeremiah 2:2). (A. Hampden Lee.) Jeremiah 2:4-8 What iniquity have your fathers found in Me.The evil nature of sin committed after conversion I. Violation of solemn vows and covenant engagements. At that time we took Christ’ s cause for our cause, His people for ours, His will for our law, His glory for our end, and Himself for our portion. Did we love Him too well then? II. Without any provocation whatever on God’ s part.1. Was He wanting in forbearance when we were in rebellion? 2. Did He act unfeelingly when we were ruined, in that He gave His own Son to die for us? 3. Has He been a hard master since we entered His service? 4. Has He ever been a churlish father to us? 5. When we have returned to Him with our whole heart, has He not always been ready to receive us, and bury all in forgetfulness? (Daniel 9:7.) III. Peculiar and horrible ingratitude.1. He has given, not Egypt or Ethiopia for our ransom, but His own blood. 2. He has redeemed us, not from Egyptian thraldom, but “ from the Power of darkness,” etc. 3. We never were supported by miracles in lonesome deserts of Arabia, but “ having obtained help of God, we continue.” 4. We did not possess Canaan, but “ God hath provided some better thing for us.” IV. Extreme and singular folly.1. It is a foolish exchange--of liberty for drudgery, peace for remorse, joyfulness for anguish, abundance for penury and misery. 2. It is singular folly. The people of the only true God alone prove untrue! (Andrew Fuller.) Heaven’ s appeal to the sinner 1. The sinner is divinely described. 1. Sin is departure from God. Alienation of sympathy and soul. 2. Sin is a progress of vanity. A going from the real to the unreal. (1) The pleasures he seeks are unsatisfactory; all empty, and outside him.(2) The honours he aspires to are unreal; neither enrich nor ennoble the soul. II. The sinner is divinely challenged.1. If iniquity were found in God, there would be some justification for apostasy. 2. The discovery of such iniquity is an absolute impossibility. (Homilist.) God’ s mercies should evoke gratitude Selim, a poor Turk, had been brought up from his youth with care and kindness by his master, Mustapha. When the latter lay at the point of death Selim was tempted by his fellow servants to join them in stealing a part of Mustapha’ s treasures. “ No,” said he, “ Selim is no robber! I fear not to offend my master for the evil he can do me now, but for the good he has done me all my life long.” May not many Christians learn a lesson from Selim? Neither said they, Where is the Lord, that brought us up?--Three shameful possibilities in human life I. The possibility of dishonouring the great memories of life. “ Neither said they, Where is the Lord?” etc. The dark night was forgotten, and Israel did not know who had lifted upon it the brightness and hope of morning.1. The great memories of life are dishonoured-- (1) When the vividness of their recollection fades.(2) When their moral purpose is over looked or misunderstood.(3) When their strengthening and stimulating function is suspended. 2. What would human life be without its hallowed memories? Man must have facts as well as hopes,--something to which he can go back with confidence; back to some place where he met God. There is, however, a possibility of forgetting sacred scenes, and of cheating the soul of reminiscences which ought be a perpetual inspiration. Let each man find the proofs in his own history: Sickness, poverty, danger, etc. II. The possibility of underestimating the interpositions of God.1. Look at the case in the text,--through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt. Viewed prospectively, men shrink from such difficulties; viewed retrospectively, a good many of the terrors are forgotten. Granted that we have not the same outward difficulties, will any man deny that his moral pilgrimage is beset by many perils, and that the grave is constantly open at his feet? Not only was the dark side of history forgotten, but the bright side was overlooked. “ I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof.” What was the result? Did they erect the altar, and bow in long-continued prayer, and unite in the loud, sweet psalm of thankfulness? “ Ye defiled My land, and made Mine heritage an abomination.” 2. If we try our own lives by these historical disclosures, shall we shame Israel by our purity and love? Remember the Deliverer! Remember the Giver! III. The possibility of the leading minds of the Church being darkened and perverted (Jeremiah 2:8). The priests, the pastors, and the prophets, all out of the way!1. In all ages there have, of necessity, been foremost men; men whose capacity, culture, and Divine election have entitled them to leadership; men whom God Himself has acknowledged as the guides of the people. How easy it is for such men to succumb in periods of general corruption is too evident from universal history. What then? (1) Such men should watch themselves with constant jealousy.(2) Such men should never be forgotten by those who pray. 2. The most affecting of all subjects to contemplate is,--God grieved, God complaining! Would He complain without reason? Would He startle the universe for some trifling cause? It is as the cry of one whose heart is breaking; His great deliverances have been forgotten; His heritage has been defiled; His power has been despised, and His mercy been treated as an empty sentiment; what if the throb of His great sorrow should send a shudder of distress through the heavens and the earth! Look at Calvary for the full expression of all this Divine emotion. Seeing that such pain was inflicted by sin, let us avoid it as the abominable thing which God hates. (J. Parker, D. D.) The priests said not, Where is the Lord?. . .the rulers also transgressed . . . and the prophets, etc. The three ruling classes accused 1. The priests, part of whose duty was to “ handle the law,” i.e., explain the Torah, to instruct the people in the requirements of Jehovah, by oral tradition and out of the sacred law books, gave no sign of spiritual aspiration; like the reprobate sons of Eli, “ they knew not Jehovah,” that is to say, paid no heed to Him and His will as revealed in the book of the law. 2. The secular authorities, the king and his counsellors, not only sinned thus negatively, but positively revolted against the King of kings, and resisted His will. 3. The prophets went further yet in the path of guilt, apostatising altogether from the God of Israel, and seeking inspiration from the Phoenician Baal, and following worthless idols that could give no help. (C. J. Ball, M. A.) The corruption and ignorance of the priests and prophets Two centuries ago the religious state of the English-speaking world was bad, and was rapidly becoming worse. Infidelity was fast spreading among the people, and, consequently, there was an open and professed disregard of religion and morals. The secret of this sad state was simple. The clergy, though their lives in general might not be scandalous, were, as a rule, ignorant of all spiritual truth, and in too many cases even devoid of a sound intellectual apprehension of scriptural teaching. As Cowper, referring to those clergy, tersely put it-- “ Except a few with Eli’ s spirit blest, Hophni and Phinehas may describe the rest.” Jeremiah 2:9-13 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? Christian controversy The text may be put into other words, thus: “ Go over to the islands of the Chittim, the isles and coast lands of the far west; then go to Kedar, away in the eastern desert,--go from east to west,--and ask if any heathen land has given up its idols, and you will find that no such thing has ever taken place; but whilst the heathen have kept to their gods as if they bad strong love for them, My people, for whom I have done so much, whose names are on the palms of My hands, have turned away from Me, and have given up their living and loving God for that which can do them no good.” There must be some way of accounting for conduct so clearly unreasonable and ungrateful. We may perhaps find our way to the secret step by step, if we notice one or two things that we ourselves are in the habit of doing. We all know how much easier it is to keep up the form of religion than to be true to its spirit. Say that religion is a number of things to be done, some at this hour and some at that, and you bring it, so to speak, within range of the hand, and make it manageable; but instead of doing this, show that religion means spiritual worship, a sanctified conscience, and a daily, sacrifice of the will, and you at once invoke the severest resistance to its supremacy. Or say that religion simply means a passive acceptance of certain dogmas that can be fully expressed in words, which make no demand upon inquiry or sympathy, and you will awaken the least possible opposition; but make it a spiritual authority, a rigorous and incessant discipline imposed upon the whole life, and you will send a sword upon the earth, and enkindle a great fire. Earnest religious controversy seems to be but the higher aspect of another controversy which has vexed man through all time. The study of God is the higher side of the study of man. It is a singular thing that man has never been able to make himself quite out, though he has been zealously mindful of the doctrine that “ the proper study of mankind is man.” He wants to know exactly whence he came and what he is; but the voice which answers him is sometimes mocking, and nearly always doubtful. Is it wonderful that man, who has had so much difficulty with himself, should have had proportionately greater difficulty with such a God as is revealed in the Bible? On the contrary, it will be found that the two studies--the study of man and the study of God--always go together, and that the ardour of the one determines the intensity of the other. In this view the text might read thus: Pass over the isles of the Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see whether the inhabitants thereof have studied the physiology and chemistry of their own bodies; but the philosophers of Christendom have built themselves upon protoplasm. Kedar cared nothing about humanity, and therefore it cared nothing about divinity. When man is not deeply interested in himself it is not likely that he will be deeply interested in God. In the doctrine that the very greatness of God is itself the occasion of religious controversy, and even of religious doubt and defective constancy, we find the best answer to a difficulty created by the words of the text. That difficulty may be put thus: If the people of Chittim and of Kedar are faithful to their gods, does it not prove that those gods have power to inspire and retain confidence? and if the people of Israel are always turning away from their God, does it not show that their God is unable to keep His hold upon their occasional love? Such a putting of the case would be valid if inquiry be limited to the letter. But if we go below the surface we must instantly strip it of all worth as a plea on behalf of idolatry. Clearly so; for, not to go further, if it proves anything it proves too much; thus--the marble statue which you prize so highly has never given you a moment’ s pain; your child has occasioned you days and nights of anxiety; therefore a marble statue has more moral power (power to retain your admiration) than has a child. Your clock you understand thoroughly; you can unmake and make it again, and explain its entire mechanism down to the finest point of its action; but that child of yours is a mystery which seems to increase day by day: therefore you have more satisfaction in the clock than in the child. So the argument in favour of Kedar proves nothing, because it not only proves too much, but lands the reasoner in a practical absurdity. The foundation of this argument is, that of all subjects that engage the human mind, religion (whether true or false) is the most exciting; that in proportion as it enlarges its claims, will it be likely to occasion controversy; and that, as the religion of the Bible enlarges its claims beyond all other religions, assailing the intellect, the conscience, the will, and bringing every thought and every imagination of the heart into subjection, and demanding the corroboration of spiritual faith by works that rise to the point of self-crucifixion, the probability is that there will not only be a controversy between man and man as to its authority and beneficence, but also a controversy between man and God as to its acceptance; and that out of this latter controversy will come the very defection complained of in the text, and will come also the vexatious human controversies which may really be but so many excuses for resisting the moral discipline of the Gospel. This is the whole argument. Specially is to be noted that the principal controversy is not between man and man, but between man and God; our hearts are not loyal to our Maker; His commandments are grievous to souls that love their ease. The God of grace, rich in all comfort and promise, we do not cast off. We want such a God. But the God of law, of purity, of judgment, terrible in wrath and not to be deceived by lies, our hearts can only receive with broken loyalty, loving Him today, and grieving Him tomorrow. It is in this sad fact that we find the only satisfactory explanation of the slowness of the spread of the Christian kingdom. Evil hates goodness, hates light, hates God; and as truth cannot fight with carnal weapons, or force, itself upon the world by physical means, it can only “ stand at the door and knock,” and mourn the slowness which it cannot accelerate. It is God’ s will that the rock grow slowly, and that the forest hasten not its maturity; but it is surely not the will of the Lord that His children should grieve Him long, and provoke Him to wrath through many generations. We have been speaking of the controversy respecting the Unseen and Invisible God. There is a distinct effort made in our day to turn the controversy out of historical channels, and to fasten it upon abstract speculation. We must resist this effort, for we, at all events, believe that the discussion concerning essential Deity was started from a new centre when Jesus Christ came into the world. No name given under heaven amongst men has occasioned, and is now occasioning, so much controversy as the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Men do not know what to make of Christ. You cannot get rid of Christ: you exclude Him from your schools by Act of Parliament, but He, passing through the midst of you, says, “ Suffer Me and the children to meet; let the flowers see the sun” ; you find Him in statute books, in philanthropic institutions, in literature; you find Him now just as His disciples found Him, in out-of-the-way places, doing out-of-the-way things;--“ they marvelled that He spake with the woman,” --the eternal marvel, the eternal hope! This leads us to remark that how strong soever Christianity may be in force and dignity of pure argument--and in that direction it has proved itself victorious on all fields--its mightiest force for good is in its vital and inexhaustible sympathy. Christianity as a sympathetic religion, tender, hopeful, patient, with morning light forever falling on its uplifted eyes, leaning with all its trust upon the Cross of the atoning Son of God, calling men from sin, ignorance, and death, is a figure the world will not willingly spare in its day of anguish and sore distress. It will be interesting to observe how God Himself meets the controversy which He deplores, for in doing so, we may learn a method of reply. When God answers, His reply must be the best. Look at the Divine challenge: “ What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me?” This sublime challenge you cannot find in all the sayings of heathen gods. And this is the invincible defence of the Christian religion in all ages and in all lands,--you have purity at the centre, you have holiness on the throne! Those who have read Augustine’ s immortal work, The City of God, will remember with what fierce eloquence he scourges the gods of pagan Rome. How biting his tone, how keen his retorts, how broad his sarcasm! “ Why,” he sternly demands, “ did the gods publish no laws which might have guided their devotees to a virtuous life?” And again, “ Did ever the walls of any of their temples echo to any such warning voice? I myself,” he continues, “ when I was a young man, used sometimes to go to sacrilegious entertainments and spectacles; I saw the priests raving in religious excitement, and before the couch of the mother of the gods there were sung productions so obscene and filthy for the ear that not even the mother of the foul-mouthed players themselves could have formed one of the audience.” History, as you know, is full of such instances. Remembering these things, you may see the force of the inquiry, “ What iniquity have your fathers found in Me?” This is the invincible defence of the Christian religion today. Observe how Jesus Christ repeats the very challenge we find in the text,--“ Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” And, later on, “ If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil.” They had accused Him often, but had convicted Him never! We apply this doctrine with timidity, for who would wilfully slay himself, or bring judgment upon a thousand men? Yet the application is this: When the Church is holy, the Christian controversy is ended in universal and immortal triumph! (J. Parker, D. D.) Changing gods The records of all ages exhibit the strange obstinacy with which the heathen usually cling to their superstitions. If we except the triumphs obtained over paganism by the Gospel of Christ from the apostolic age up to the present, some of which even in our own day have been most signal, the idolatrous nations of the world still perpetuate the absurd and unholy practices transmitted to them by their fathers. Most urgent then is it upon all Christians to feel pity for their fellow creatures sunk in the darkness and guilt of heathenism, and by Christian teachers to rescue them from their fearful condition. But there is also another practical consideration connected with a survey of the obstinate blindness and superstition of the heathen, and their devotion to their idolatrous worship, namely, the contrast which it affords to the conduct of too many who consider themselves worshippers of the one true God, and of Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. May it not too truly be said, “ Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” I. We have set before us evil conduct of the people.1. The first step in the career of evil is “ forsaking God.” This is the fountain and root of all other sins. While the prodigal son remained contented under his parent’ s roof he knew nothing of the want, the hunger, which he afterwards experienced. His first sin, and that which led to all the evils which overtook him, was his neglect towards his parent, his indifference to his approbation, his wish to cast off the duties he owed to him. If then we would guard against evil, we must watch over our hearts, and beware of forsaking God. The more gross violations of His law are readily discovered, while perhaps we think little or nothing of that great sin which is the foundation of all others. 2. But this sin leads to another; for we are not content when we forsake God, that our hearts should continue a mere blank; we seek to fill up the void which His absence has made, and to find our satisfaction in other objects, which can never afford us true repose. Having forsaken God, we choose to ourselves idols. In the words of the Almighty in the chapter before us, “ they are gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity, and become vain” ; they even refuse His offers of peace and reconciliation. II. Such is the universal offence of mankind against God: we proceed now to show the sinfulness, the ingratitude, and the folly, which are involved in it.1. Its extreme sinfulness. Persons are apt to speak and to think of these subjects with the most careless indifference. They do not consider themselves as virtually addressed in such words as those in the chapter which precedes our text, where Jehovah says by His prophet, “ I will utter My judgments against them, touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods.” They do not open their eyes to the aggravation of their crime, as pointed out even by our natural sense of obligation to our Creator, of which the very heathen are examples; for, says the Almighty, “ hath any nation changed their gods, which are yet no god?” The light of natural reason taught them that they ought to obey their Creator, their preserver, and their benefactor. But the proof of our sinfulness in forsaking God, and in placing our trust and happiness in the things of this present life, does not depend upon the mere light of natural conscience; for we have in our possession a revelation from Himself, in which He plainly declares to us His own unerring decision upon the subject. “ Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice; and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him.” 2. But the sinfulness of forsaking God, and preferring other things to His service, is greatly aggravated by the ingratitude involved in the offence. The Almighty reminds His rebellious people of the miracles of mercy which He had performed on their behalf; how He had brought them out of the land of Egypt, etc. He gave them His law to guide them, and pastors to teach them; and He challenges them, as it were, to point out any instance in which He had acted unjustly or unkindly towards them: “ what iniquity have your fathers found in Me?” 3. But there is still another consideration dwelt upon by the prophet in reference to this sinful and ungrateful course of conduct, namely, its unparalleled folly. The very heathen would not give up their vain hope of benefit from the supposed protection of their images of wood and stone; yet the professed worshippers of the one living and true God are too often willing to sacrifice the inestimable blessings of His favour for the most trifling gratifications of a frail and sinful life. “ My people have changed their glory, for that which doth not profit.” No! it is the height of folly thus to choose the worldly mammon before the true riches; to forsake God for the creature; and to prefer earth to heaven, and time to eternity. Are we not conscious that we have seen guilty of the sin of forsaking God? (Christian Observer.) “ Hath a nation changed their gods?” Xenophon said it was an oracle of Apollo, that these gods are rightly worshipped which were delivered them by their ancestors; and this he greatly applaudeth. Cicero also saith, that no reason shall ever prevail with him to relinquish the religion of his forefathers. The monarch of Morocco told an English ambassador that he had lately read St. Paul, and that he disliked nothing in him but this, that he had changed his religion, (John Trapp.) Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this. Seven wonders Parents of olden time were wont to tell their eager children of seven wonders:(1) The Pyramids.(2) The Temple of the great Diana of the Ephesians.(3) The Statue of Jupiter at Olympia.(4) The Tomb of Mausolus. What a satire on immortality! Who was Mausolus? We know not, but the mausoleum is with us. He gave his name and glory to his tomb.(5) The Colossus at Rhodes.(6) The Pharos at Alexandria.(7) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. We have to do, however, at this moment with marvels in the province of the spiritual life. There are some things here touching our relations with the spiritual world whereat heaven must wonder. A thoughtful man will find it impossible to explain them. I. An unclaimed crown. God made man in His likeness, with a splendid birthright and glorious possibilities before him. He was of the line royal, the blood of the King of kings flowing in his veins. Where is the man to whom God extends this crown? See him yonder chasing butterflies, pursuing thistle down. He calls this pleasure. See him toiling with a muck rake, his eyes downcast, plucking coins out of the garbage and loading himself with them. He calls this wealth. See him climbing laboriously the rocky side of yonder cliff that he may carve his initials upon its face--and fall. And this is fame! All the while the windows of heaven are open above him and the glory of the celestial realms is unveiled before him. He gives no heed. II. A secret sin. Here we touch the lowest part of our nature. A dog with a bone sneaks off to a corner of the garden and buries it, watching meanwhile out of the corners of his eyes that none may know his secret. So we bury our darling sins; so we flatter ourselves that none shall ever find us out. An Egyptian princess died four thousand years ago, and her body was committed to a company of priests for embalming. They said, “ Let us save ourselves the trouble; it will never be known.” So they dipped the body of a common Egyptian into bitumen and placed it in the princess’ casket. It was a clever trick; but a few years ago, before a company of scientists at Tremont Temple, gathered together to witness the unswathing of the royal mummy, the bands of byssus were unwound, and the fraud perpetrated by those priests, now forty centuries dead and turned to dust, was detected. There is, indeed, nothing hidden that shall not be brought to light, and that which is done in a corner shall be proclaimed on the housetop. III. A reprobate’ s laugh. Not long ago I heard the merry laughter of a girl and looked that way. A carriage was passing by. Through the open window I saw two women, the one old, haggard, bedizened--it was easy to discern her vocation--the other a sweet-faced girl late from some country home, going garlanded to death. God help her! How dare they laugh who are hurrying on unprepared to the judgment bar? Yet they are making merry everywhere. O men and women, let us De safe and then be merry. IV. A Christian’ s groan. We profess to believe that the past is forgiven, all gone like a nightmare, and that heaven is open before us and that Christ walks with us, an ever-present and helpful friend. If a man believes these things, how can he ever hang his head like a bulrush? Surely something is wrong. One night in Newgate prison a man sang cheerily and swung like a boy on the post of his bed. “ Fine shining shall we have tomorrow!” Who is this, and what “ shining” shall there be? This is John Bradford, and tomorrow he is to die at the stake. But what matter, if the day after tomorrow he shall be in the midst of the merry making of heaven? Why, shall he not with gladsome heart be praising God? V. A tattered livery. Our Lord tells of a marriage feast whereat a certain one was found who had not on the wedding gown. His host remonstrated with him, “ Friend, how earnest thou in hither in this garb?” And the man was silent. We are going to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Our heavenly Host has provided for us fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints. To appear in that heavenly presence clad in our own righteousness is to be found arrayed in rags and tatters, for all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. VI. An averted face. A few days ago, at a hanging in a neighbouring State, it is said that twenty thousand people left town and tramped four miles along a country road to see a poor wretch swung from the gallows tree. There is, indeed, something brutal in our human nature. When our Lord was dying on the accursed tree it is written, “ The people stood beholding.” Is it strange that men should look on anguish with a calm delight? Was it strange that men could look at Jesus dying and feel no responsive thrill of sympathy? Ah! a thousand times stranger is it that some of us should refuse to look upon Him! We hide, as it were, our faces from Him; He is despised and we esteem Him not. VII. A waiting God. “ Behold, I stand at the door,” etc. Wonderful patience! Love that passeth knowledge! His arms are loaded with the dainties of the kingdom, apples and pomegranates from the King’ s gardens, and bread of life. Oh, let us draw the bolts that He may come in and sup with us! (D. J. Burrell, D. D.) Sin unnatural There is something unaccountable and unnatural about sin, which, if we were not the victims of its power every day, would startle and make us horribly afraid. If we merely heard of it as existing in some other of God’ s worlds, we should doubt whether the report could be true. We should demand more than the usual amount of testimony before believing so unnatural a story, and when it was proved, should not cease to wonder, and to ask what cause beyond our experience had brought to pass a thing so marvellous. I. It prevents men from pursuing what they own to be the highest good. There is a passage of Ovid where a person in a conflict between reason and desire is made to say, “ Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor” ; and in a like strain we hear Paul, or rather the man made aware of the bondage of sin saying through him, “ That which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that I do.” So true to human nature such words are, that no one ever thought of them as being misrepresentations of the real state of man. Everywhere we see examples of this sacrifice of a higher good to a lower, of acknowledged greater happiness to less, of the improvement of the mind to the enjoyments of the body, of future hopes to present pleasure, of an object of desire felt to be praiseworthy and exalted to one which is base and low and sure to be followed by remorse. We find this cleaving to the best of men and to the wisest: the influences of the Gospel may weaken but never remove this tendency. It belongs to mankind. Is there not, now, something very strange in this fatal proclivity toward the low, in this constant, wide-spread, unalterable folly of choosing wrong within the moral sphere of action. Suppose we found the same obliquity of judgment and choice elsewhere--that, for instance, a scholar, aware what was the right meaning of a passage according to the laws of thought and language, deliberately chose a wrong meaning; or a merchant, acquainted with the laws of trade, undertook an adventure with his eyes open, from which only ruin was to be expected; or a general, patriotic and discerning, adopted a plan of battle which all his experience had condemned as sure to end in his defeat: should we not regard such a person as a kind of moral prodigy, as fit to be put away in a museum of morbid psychology among the deranged men who have believed themselves to he two persons, or that their souls had gone from their bodies? II. It is not dependent on a weak capacity, but the very highest intellects are often employed in its service. It is indeed true, that sagacity and folly will differ in their ways of sinning and of escaping detection. An absurd, or ill-contrived, crime will be committed by a boy or a half-witted person, and not by a man of shrewdness. Whence it may happen that the criminals in a penitentiary may be, in the average, below the ordinary range of intellect. In other words, the vigour of mind will show itself, either by abstaining from certain crimes, or by committing them in such a way that they will not be brought to light. But we do not find that the highest abilities keep men from sinning, from a life of pleasure, from deadly selfishness, from feelings which carry with them their own sting. Great minds lie like wrecks all along the course of life; either they disbelieve against evidence, or give themselves up to monstrous pleasures, or destroy the welfare of society by their self-will, or gnaw upon themselves with a deadly hatred of others. III. Its existence involves the contradiction of the freedom and the slavery of the will. This is but another aspect of the truth which we have already considered--that the soul steadily chooses in some strange way an inferior good before a superior; but it is too important a view of our nature not to be noticed by itself. Mankind, in choosing the evil, have been an enigma to themselves and to the philosophers who have studied human nature. We see our nature exercise its freedom in various ways,--choosing now a higher good in preference to a lower, and now a lower before a higher,--doing this over and over within the sphere of earthly things, yet when it looks the supreme good full in the face unable to choose Him, unable to love Him, until, in some great crisis which we call conversion, and which is as marvellous as sin is, we find the soul acting with recovered power, acting out itself, and soaring in love to the fountain and life of its being. It is as if a balance should tell every small weight with minutest accuracy, and when a large weight was put on, should refuse to move at all. It is as if the planets should feel each other’ s attraction hut be insensible to the force of the central sun. Is not sin then as unaccountable as it is deep seated and spreading in our nature? IV. It has a power of resisting all known motives to a better life. This, again, is only another form of the remark, that we are kept by sin from pursuing our highest good; but under this last head we view man as opposing God’ s plan for his salvation, while the other is more general. Here we see how causeless and unreasonable are the movements of sin, even when its bitterness has been experienced, and the way of recovery been made known. The way in which the Gospel comes to us is the most inviting possible--through a person who lived a life like ours on earth, and came into tender sympathy with us; through a concrete exhibition of everything true and good, not through doctrine and abstract statement. It has been the religion of our fathers, and of the holy in all time. It is venerable in our eyes. It is God’ s voice to us. Where else can so many motives, such power of persuasion be found; and yet where else, in what other sphere where motives operate, is there so little success? Even Christians who have given themselves to the Gospel confess that all these weighty considerations often fail to move them; that they stand still or turn backwards a great part of their lives rather than make progress. So marvellous is the power of sin to deaden the force of motives to virtue, even in the minds of the best persons the world contains. V. It can blind the mind to truth and evidence. Of this we see numberless examples in daily life. We see men who have been accustomed to judge of evidence within the same sphere in which religion moves, that of moral and historical proof, rejecting the Gospel and afterwards acknowledging that they were wilfully prejudiced, that their objections ought to have had no weight with a candid mind. We see prejudice against the Gospel lurking under some plausible but false plea, which the man has never taken the pains to examine, although immense personal interests are involved. We see men rejecting the Gospel unthinkingly, repeating some stale argument scarcely worth refutation, as if a great matter like the welfare of the soul might be trifled with, and made light of. It is strange, too, how quick the change is, when for some reason the moral or religious sensibilities are awakened after long slumber, how quick, I say, the change is from scepticism, or denial of the Gospel, or even hostility, to a state of belief. Multitudes of intelligent men have passed through such a conversion, and have felt ever afterwards that truth and evidence were sufficient, but that their souls were in a dishonest state. Now, how is this? Is this a new prejudice which has seized upon them, at their conversion, and has their candid scepticism given way to dishonest faith; or did sin,--that which in a thousand ways, through hope and fear, through indolence, through malignity, through love of pleasure, blinds and stupefies, did sin destroy their power of being candid before? VI. The inconsistency of sin is marvellous in this respect that we allow and excuse in ourselves what we condemn in others. Men seem sometimes to have no moral sense, so open are their violations of morality, and so false their justifications of their conduct. And yet, when they come to pass censure upon others, they show such a quickness to discern little faults, such an acquaintance with the rule of duty, such an unwillingness to make allowances, that you would think a new faculty had been imparted to their minds. These severe critics of others are all the while laying up decisions and precedents against themselves, yet when their cases come on, the judges reverse their own judgments. They condemn men unsparingly for sins to which they are not tempted, although the radical principle in their own and in others sins is confessedly the same. Marvellous inconsistency! Strange that the same mind balances between two standards of conduct so long. Why does not the man, whose own rules condemn himself, begin to sentence himself, or to excuse and pardon others? Is not this an unnatural state of mind; impossible, save on the supposition that it is effected by some strange perversion of its judgments? (T. D. Woolsey.) Jeremiah 2:13 My people have committed two evils.Two astounding evils I. The force of human freedom. Mightiest rivers cannot break from their source, nor greatest planets from their centre, but man can from centre and fountain of his being.1. This freedom is a matter of personal consciousness.2. It invests human existence with transcendent importance. II. The enormity of human wickedness.1. Ingratitude.2. Injustice.3. Impiety. III. The egregiousness of human folly.1. In withdrawing from the satisfying to toil for the unsatisfying.2. In withdrawing from the abundant to tell for the scanty (Homilist.) The two-fold sin of mankind I. The nature of sin. This will be seen by observing--1. What men leave. God--a “ fountain of living waters” to them. The sum of all excellency, the source of all happiness. 2. What the follow. “ Broken cisterns.” (1) Worldly business.(2) Worldly pleasure.(3) Earthly distinction.(4) Worldly ease. II. How we should regard sin. As God regards it--with loathing and abhorrence. Learn--1. The emptiness of mere outward profession.2. God’ s remedy for man’ s sin. (C. Clayton, M. A.) They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters. The fountain of living waters In a land like this, perpetually green with Atlantic showers, which at once refresh the thirsty soil and replenish the subterranean reservoirs, it is not easy to understand the gratitude, reverence, almost affection, with which men who live under a fiercer sky, and upon a parched earth, look upon a “ fountain of living waters.” Some remnant of the feeling, descending to us from an earlier and simpler time, may be noticed in connection with such a strong outgush of pure waters as, at Wells or at Holywell, springs into the upper air, at once a river: men have thought that there must be some healing efficacy in so bountiful a manifestation of one of nature’ s most beneficent forces; and soon they have imagined a legend, and built a shrine, and to the natural holiness have added a superstitious sanctity. But it is almost the same in the thirstier lands of the East with any rill of water, so it be perennial. A spring becomes a natural landmark of a kind to which expectation points, round which memories are wont to gather. When all the long day the caravan has toiled patiently through the pitiless brightness, and the path has lain for many a weary mile over the sand slopes shimmering in the heated air, or by the mountain pass where the sun-smitten rocks reflect the intolerable rays,--how grateful, as the shadows are lengthening, to descry afar off the fringe of palm trees on the horizon, and to quicken the march, till at last there is a bubbling in the cool grass, and shade overhead, water for the thirsty lips, rest for the tired feet! And how terrible the disappointment, if, when the journey has tended to some less fortunate spot, where the care of man has provided--poor substitute for the bounty of God!--a cistern to catch a precarious and failing supply, the travellers have found at nightfall only a broken reservoir, and the trace of help and refreshment passed away! What resource, but a night as comfortless as the day had been toilsome, and on the morrow, a renewed effort, with diminished strength and a courage sustained by despair, to reach some happier island in the desert, where the waters of God never fail to flow! There is a depth of spiritual meaning in this passage, which, ignorant as we may be of the precise occasion to which it applies, forbids us to interpret it in any but a religious sense. It was, so to say, the nature, the destiny, of the Jewish people to be always committing the two evils of which it speaks. Theirs was indeed a mixed character, in which elements as opposite almost as light and darkness perpetually struggled for the mastery. Their distinguishing mark as a nation was insight into God: they had discerned Him as one; they had learned that He was holy; they had fixed, for all coming time, the true point of contact between God and man in the god-likeness of humanity; and yet in their history, as told by their own lips, they show themselves false, fickle, sensual, cruel, as hardly any other people. In Judah of old, a distracted State, the sport of fierce political passions within and beyond her own borders, falling back now upon a hard Levitical religiousness, now madly rushing upon alien idolatries, now again wakened to better life by the thunder of prophetic rebuke;--in Judah of old it was possible for a man to climb, like Isaiah, to such heights of rapt communion with the all-holy God as human feet have since but rarely trodden, or to find a downward way to abysses of foul sensuality, masking itself in a pretence of religion, such as it is not good even to speak of. It is enough surely to forsake God; to pass through the dry and thirsty land of life as if no fountain of living waters sprang up to cheer and to fertilise it; to choose the sun-smitten sand, to toil up the parched torrent bed, when it is possible to rest beneath the palm trees’ shade, and to drink of the brook that murmurs through the grass. And yet this can hardly be: the thirst for the Divine cannot wholly die out of the human heart: there must be some reaching forth to the unseen, some attempt to find a stay in the Eternal. So the first evil has its natural issue in the second. Those who have turned away from the living fountain bend their wandering steps towards a cistern of their own making, a broken cistern which will hold no water; a cistern which, as the traveller draws nigh, offers to his thirsty lips only the slime, where water was long ago, baking in the sun. This it is to forsake the solemn worship of Jehovah for the wild dance of the devotees of Baal. It may not be easy to expound this passage; but, as it stands, it is impossible not to feel how deep and how vivid it is. It contains all the secret of religion; the secret which it is the object of preaching of every kind to reveal and to enforce; the one truth which prophets present in every form of living and burning words,--that all life worthy of the name is life in, and with, and for God; that life without God is a dream likest death, except that by God’ s mercy it is always possible to awake from it. So I take this particular metaphorical representation of the central truth to indicate that an essential element of human nature is a longing for the Divine, as heat and weariness thirst for cool water: a sense of a higher law, a holier will, to which it would be peace and happiness to conform: a desire to find, amid the perplexity of things, a hand of guidance, and in their mutability and sorrowfulness a heart on which to rest: a yearning after something fixed and changeless, to set against the daily experience of loss and decay and death. The thirst is in us all: when sorrow strikes us down upon the sand; when disappointment bars our way in the mountain pass; when the mirage of earthly affections first allures and then deceives us, we feel it, and all the more keenly that we hardly know where to seek the spring that will refresh us. Would that always we had the courage to listen to the promptings of our nobler nature, and to enter upon the impossible task of quenching the soul’ s thirst for God! Would that always we could recognise the demand of our true need, and bring our parched lips through every desert and over every obstacle to the living spring “ whereof who drinks shall never thirst again” ! (C. Beard, B. A.) The fountain and the cistern Jeremiah was the medium rather than the source of these words; and it is noteworthy that he does not lay claim to them. We find lying between the two verses a clause which invests them with Divine authority, namely, “ saith the Lord.” I. The character which God gives Himself. It is a fact, that all that God has made and sustains speaks to us of God; and it is essential to morality and religion, as well as to our happiness, that God should reveal Himself. Before we can know that He is worthy of our supreme love, reverence, and trust, and that we should obey His will, He must make Himself known. We cannot conceive of God giving Himself a false character. God sets Himself forth as “ the fountain of living waters.” His estimate of Himself is high, but not too high. He does not speak of Himself as a stream or reservoir of water. He is a “ fountain,” and not merely a fountain among other fountains, but “ the” fountain. If there be other fountains, they spring from Him; and He casts them completely into the shade. He is not content with representing Himself as the fountain of waters. He applies the epithet “ living” to the waters that issue forth from Him. He is a fountain that is ever gushing. There is no exhausting of Him. There is an immense difference between the water that is taken from a reservoir and that which is drawn from a fountain. The water which is taken from a fountain is peculiarly fresh, pure, sweet, and wholesome. For ages the angels have been enjoying God. Has He become distasteful to them? The waters that flow from Him never grow stale and fiat. They are living and life-giving. They undergo no change for the worse. This language--“ the fountain of living waters” --is, of course, figurative, and on that account all the more beautiful and expressive. The grand idea which they suggest is--that God alone can satisfy individuals and communities. Creatures are good and useful. As things are, we cannot do without them. Earth is not a superfluous gift. We require light and air; we require bread and human society, and a multitude of other things; but creatures are not absolutely needed. If God chose, He could dispense with them. Assuredly, it is not in creatures to satisfy us. They yield us more or less pleasure; and it would ill become us to despise them; but we have a mind above them. Deal with them as we may, they leave us unsatisfied. We were made for God, and, till we find Him, there is a void within. He is “ the fountain of living waters,” and besides Him there is no fountain. Thirst has an injurious effect upon the body’ s life, beauty, health, and strength, and is a most painful sensation. Well, what do the thirsty need? Lead them to a bubbling fountain, and they are satisfied. II. The two evils with which Judah is charged.1. The first evil is desertion of God. “ They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters.” To forsake God in any physical sense, in the sense in which birds sometimes forsake their nests, and children home, is impossible. We can put local distance between us and our fellow creatures, but not between us and God. The forsaking referred to is departure of a moral kind, or departure in thought and affection. This species of departure from God was possible to the inhabitants of Judah. Like ourselves, they were morally free. They might either think about God or not, either love Him or not, either trust in Him or not, either do His will or not, either seek their happiness in God or not; and how did they act? It seems that the departure from God which we have characterised as possible, became actual. God did not turn His back on them; but they deserted Him, and in deserting Him they “ forsook the fountain of living waters.” They forsook Him as a people, and in forsaking Him they committed an “ evil.” They neither did God nor themselves justice, Morally, they backslided from Him--dismissed Him from their minds and hearts, and lapsed into A state of sin and idolatry. Instead of seeking their happiness in God, they began to seek it in other objects. What God pronounces an evil must be an evil. It is criminal to forsake God; and, as we would expect, it is as injurious as it is criminal. 2. The second evil is attempting to find a substitute for God. “ And hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,” etc. These two evils go together. The one naturally leads to the other. The religious is perhaps man’ s strongest instinct. There is something which men of the world ever supremely fear and love, to which they look and pray in times of danger and distress, and on which they lean for happiness. Accordingly, when we cease to worship God--the right object of worship--there is not with us an end of all worship. There is merely a change of worship. Wrong objects are put in the place of God. Man is not competent to the supply of his own wants, and he knows it. He cannot rid himself of the consciousness of limitation and dependence. Hence, when he departs from God, he precipitates himself on a variety of objects, and devotes himself to a variety of pursuits, with the view of indemnifying himself, Nothing will do for those who renounce God, but trying their hand at cistern making They are driven to exert themselves in order to the discovery of a substitute for God; and are they successful? No. One cistern may be larger than another, or differ from another in shape, or other respects; but the best cisterns are leaky. Water may be poured into them, but, alas! they let it through. Whatever may be thought of them by the maker, they fall infinitely short of God, “ the fountain of living waters.” III. The summons to astonishment addressed to the heavens. “ Be astonished,” etc. Were a fountain of living waters and a leaky cistern put before a person suffering from thirst, it would excite wonder were he to prefer the cistern to the fountain. We would be strongly tempted to call in question his sanity. Were a youth to leave a happy home--to forsake a father well able to provide for, protect, school, guide him, advance his temporal and spiritual interests, how would we feel on being introduced to him as a deserter from home? We would look on him with no small measure of pity and surprise; and how can we help being affected with the profoundest astonishment when with the mind’ s eye we contemplate an intelligent and free creature turning his back upon God? (G. Cron.) The misery of forsaking GodI. What has man substituted in the place of the happiness which might have been found in God?1. Philosophy. They have sought enjoyment in calm contemplation on the relation of things, and on the abstract questions of philosophic inquiry. They have sought to raise themselves above suffering by rendering the mind insensible to the common ills of life, and they attempt to separate themselves from the common herd of mortals by their insensibility to the woes which affect the mass of men. 2. A part, men of leisure and of taste, fly to the academic grove, and look for happiness there. They go up the sides of Parnassus, and drink from the Castalian fount, and court the society of the Muses. Their enjoyment and their solace is in the pursuit of elegant literature. Their time is spent in belles-lettres--in the records of historic truth, or in the world of poetry and of fiction. 3. Another portion have substituted the pursuit of wealth in place of religion, and their happiness is there. This has’ become almost the universal passion of civilised man. Yet is not happiness so much sought in the pursuit of wealth itself as in that which wealth will procure. He looks on to the old age of elegant retirement and leisure which is before him; he sees in vision the comforts which he will be able to draw round him in the splendid mansion and grounds, and in the abundance which his old age will enjoy. II. Has the plan succeeded?1. What is happiness? (1) It must be adapted to the nature of man or fitted to his true rank or dignity. There must be some permanency, some solid basis on which the superstructure is to be reared. (2) There must be a recognition of immortality. This must be, because man is so made that he cannot wholly forget it. (3) True happiness must be of such a nature that it will not be materially disturbed by the prospect of sickness, the grave, and eternity. “ My Athenian guest,” says Croesus to Solon, “ the voice of fame speaks loudly of your wisdom. I have heard much of your travels; you have been led by a philosophic spirit to visit a considerable portion of the globe. I am here induced to inquire of you what man, of all you have beheld, has seemed to you most truly happy.” After one or two unsatisfactory answers, and being pressed still for a reply, Solon said, “ I shall not be able to give a satisfactory answer to the question you propose till I know that your scene of life shall have closed with tranquillity. The man of affluence is not in fact more happy than the possessor of a bare competency, unless in addition to his wealth his end be more fortunate. Call no man happy till you know the nature of his death. It is the part of wisdom to look to the event of things; for the Deity often overwhelms with misery those who have formerly been placed at the summit of felicity” (Herod. 1:24, 32). Our happiness must not be of such a nature as to be disturbed by the recognition of death, and the anticipation of a future world. 2. Can happiness be found away from God? My appeal is mainly to experience; and here the argument need not be long. The experience of the world on this point may be divided into two great parts--the recorded and the unrecorded. Of the recorded testimony of the world, I appeal to the records made on sick beds, and in graves; to the disappointments, and cares, and anxieties, evinced all over the world as the result of the revolt in Eden, and of wandering away from God. Recall for one moment what the forsaking of God has done. Whence is sorrow, disappointment, pain, death? The misery of our world all began at that sad hour when man ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. What might not this world have been if man had never forsaken the fountain of living waters! Alexander wept on the throne of the world. Charles V and Diocletian descended from the throne to seek that happiness in the vale of private life, which could never be found in the robes of royalty. Goethe, the celebrated German author, said of himself, in advanced age, “ They have called me a child of fortune, nor have I any wish to complain of the course of my life. Yet it has been nothing but labour and sorrow, and I may truly say that in seventy-five years I have not had four weeks of true comfort. It was the constant rolling of a stone that was always to be lifted anew.” Who shall record the disappointment of those who seek wealth as their portion? The most instructive part of the history of our world is unwritten--at least is not written among mortals. It is recorded in the book that preserves the memory of human deeds with reference to the judgment, and will be developed only on the final trial It is the record of numberless individual failures and disappointments; the total history of that which makes up the vast experiment in our world to find enjoyment without the friendship of the Most High. (A. Barnes D. D.) Broken cisterns that can hold no water.-- Broken cisterns I. A sinner’ s life is laborious. Have your dreams of ease in sin been fulfilled? Have you not found the life of sin to be a toilsome, thankless drudgery? Be honest to your own heart if you cannot confess it to man. Has not sin been an universal deceiver, a cruel, remorseless taskmaster? Have not all the fairy visions of our fancy been converted into bushes of thorns and barren rocks of desolation? God has made the broad road thus to prevent His children walking therein. II. A sinner’ s work is worthless. Our grandfathers could tell us what a great noise sounded through Europe in the days of their early youth at the strokes of a great cistern hewer. By a series of marvellous steps the mightiest military genres of modern days reached the cold and tottering summit of imperial power. He had devoted almost superhuman energies of body and mind to the task of hewing out a cistern, he had compelled millions of slaves to assist in this gigantic construction. Strong and glorious as the fabric was, God could not be outwitted; His decree went forth against the cistern, by His iron rod it was broken into a thousand shivers, and the exile of St. Helena sat himself down for weary months and years in the chill shadow of his own “ broken cistern which could hold no water,” till his own heart broke, and he passed away, to render his account unto God. Power, glory, fame, are but a broken cistern to the soul of man. You may get it by becoming a vestryman, an alderman, a popular novelist, a member of Parliament, a Cabinet minister, or a hundred other ways, but the end will be the same dissatisfaction and unrest which overwhelmed the great Napoleon. Ah, when will saints give as much diligence to their high and holy calling as the servants of pleasure give to theirs? III. A sinner’ s state is appalling. Shall we witness the blindness, madness of our own friends and neighbours, of our fellow citizens, and have no bowels of compassion for them? Let us fervently, kindly, personally appeal to them; lot us watch for their souls, invent wise contrivances, and lovingly use them till the scales fall from their eyes, and we bring them to the Fountain of living waters. IV. A sinner’ s condition is not hopeless. God is still the Fountain of living waters. In Him abides the fulness which alone can supply all the lawful and infinite longings which rise up within the mysterious nature of man. Do we want knowledge, wisdom, love, life, peace, rest, immortality? They are all in God. From Him is ever issuing a stream bearing upon its bosom the richest spiritual blessings His mercy can provide. The grace of God is wider, deeper, richer, than in the era when the prophet of lamentation poured forth his sorrowful strains over the folly of sinners. (W. A. Esscry.) Broken cisterns Think over these cisterns which have been built, and have been offered to us in our time, and ask whether, after all, they are not broken, obviously broken before our eyes.1. I thought of the immense part that, a few years ago, secularism seemed to play in the thought of London. A cistern offered to us of this kind, that man should confine his attention to the world in which he lives; that we should seek to make the most of our material and intellectual opportunities here; that we should use our time honestly and well, we should instruct one another in the affairs of the world and of life, but we should remit the consideration of religion and thoughts of God to another world if it ever comes, and not trouble ourselves with them here. That cistern of secularism, at which the men of England have been requested to drink, must always be an unsatisfying cistern--a broken cistern indeed. For what reason? Because you never can silence the deep craving of the human soul; you never can bring man within the limits of time and space, and get him quietly to remain there. If secularism could give us, as we wish, a more equal distribution of opportunities, and if every man had all that the world could offer, every man would still remain unsatisfied. Count Leo Tolstoi has told us himself how in his youth he was a nobleman with every advantage of wealth and education and social position, and, moreover, he was a man in perfect health, and there seemed to be not a cloud to cross his sky. And yet he has told how at that time his deep dissatisfaction and misery were such that he was constantly contemplating suicide. 2. And then I thought of that cistern which has been offered to us under the name of socialism. That cistern is so well constructed, and is so attractive, that I would be the last to deny that waters of a satisfying kind might for a time be stored within it. It proposes to make a framework of society in some future day complete and satisfying, but meanwhile it has no message to the millions of human souls that are passing, as it were, in a dull, dead flood, week by week, day by day, into the silent grave. 3. Then it occurred to me how much we had heard in our time of natural science and physical science as cisterns at which human beings were to quench their thirst. And I remembered how, in my earlier ministry, we were constantly told that the discoveries of science would take the place of religion, and that man would learn to live his life in the world, subject to its many limitations, in the clear light that science sheds upon the development of human life and its possible goal. Then I took up the utterance of a great scientific man today, Sir Henry Thompson, who has published his little pamphlet called “ The Unknown God,” in order to show us what the creed of science really is. I turn over the pages of Sir Henry Thompson’ s book and see what a great and candid and earnest scientific man makes of this universe, and of this life in the light of science. When I read his broken and halting conclusions, and see what he offers me as the cup of cold water to quench the ardent thirst of my soul, I cannot hesitate to say, with all reverence to so good, so honest, and sincere a thinker: “ My friend, you have brought me to a broken cistern, which can give no water for the thirsty soul of man.” 4. And then I thought of that which is much commoner than secularism, socialism, and science, as the solution of human life--I mean the widespread and absolute indifference to all higher things into which so many of our unhappy people fall. The men who seem agreed to live as if they were merely animals upon the earth, like the beasts with lower pleasures, like the beasts with lower pains. The men who put aside altogether ideals and dreams. The men who do not ask for either God or life or eternity. The men who do not concern themselves about moral improvement or the benefit of their fellow creatures, but drift along the path of life an aimless crowd, careless of the world, careless of themselves, indifferent to all that makes life truly worth living and significant. And it seemed to me that this was not so much a cistern which is offered, or even a broken cistern, but a dull, flat pool, a mere stagnant pond where men can never quench their thirst, but where they can be and must be poisoned by the malaria that rises from the stagnant waters. What is to happen to these men if the soul thirst should ever awaken within them? And when I thought of all these broken cisterns that can hold no water, I remembered from my text that meanwhile there is a fountain; it rises there in the far-off Galilean hills, and the stream flows through the thirsty centuries, and where it flows the margin of the stream is green and fertile. And today it seems as if it were in a sense easier to get to the spring than in any other day that has ever been. “ If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink.” (R. F. Herren, D. D.) True happiness to be found not in the world, but in God I. The soul of man naturally thirsts after happiness.1. This affords a strong argument for the dignity of the soul, and the certainty of a future state. 2. These inward and insatiable cravings, amidst the high enjoyments of sense and the world, should lead us to God, who alone can felicitate the soul He hath made; should deaden our desires towards the delights of life, and quicken them after those of religion. II. Notwithstanding this native thirst in the souls of men after happiness, yet they are generally mistaken in their choice of it.1. There are many who quite mistake the object of their happiness, and place it in those things which are not only foreign from but opposite to it. Wealth, ambition, pleasure. 2. Some are right in their notions of happiness, but seek it the wrong way. Instead of seeking God’ s favour in the way of righteousness, through the mediation of Christ, by the assistance of His Spirit, they build their hopes of it either on a zeal for speculative opinions, party notions, formal services, modes of worship, voluntary mortifications, impulses of fancy, deep knowledge, rigid faith, or unscriptural austerities. 3. How many are they who have not only right notions of happiness but of the way to it, who yet fall short of it through neglect and indolence; and the fatal influence which the world and the things of it have upon their hearts! whereby they are rendered quite cold, lukewarm, and indifferent, in the things which concern their eternal salvation. III. Mankind are naturally disposed to seek their happiness from this world, where it is not to be found.1. The pleasures of this life are very scanty and confined. They are but cisterns of water--which can hold no very large quantity--not sufficient to answer all the occasions we may have for it, at least not for any considerable time. 2. They are also insipid and unsatisfying; like water in a cistern, stagnated and exposed to the sun; whereby it not only loses its quick taste and freshness, but contracts scum and dirt and foulness. 3. They are at the same time uncertain, and continually wasting away. The vessel that holds them is leaky. 4. They are not to be had without much pains. Even these broken cisterns we are obliged to hew out to ourselves, and be at great labour to procure. IV. Men are naturally backward and averse to seek their happiness from God where alone it is to be found. The folly of this will appear by considering that the pleasures of piety have properties just the reverse of those belonging to worldly pleasures.1. They are most full and capacious. Not contracted and limited, not diminished by successive draughts, as water in a cistern is--but free, and full, and ever flowing, as water at the fountain head. 2. They are the most exquisite and satisfying delights. 3. They are most durable and imperishable. 4. They are easy to be had. Freely offered. (J. Mason, M. A.) The sin of people’ s forsaking God and betaking themselves to the creature in His stead I. Forsaking of God in Christ, and betaking oneself to the creature in His stead, are two signally ill things.1. The forsaking of God in Christ. (1) The object forsaken by the hearers of the Gospel must be considered as--God in our nature, for communion with guilty men (Matthew 1:23). God in our nature, ready to communicate His fulness to us, for making us happy in time and eternity (John 4:10). A God we have professed to betake ourselves to for our happiness (Jeremiah 16:19). (2) How sinners forsake God in Christ. Lowering their esteem of Him, the value and honour they had for Him sinking low (Psalms 50:21). The heart’ s falling off its rest in Him, and turning restless, so that the fulness of God cannot quiet it (Isaiah 30:15). Ceasing to cleave to Him by faith, and letting go believing gripes of the promise (Hebrews 3:12). Looking out some other way, for something to rest their hearts in (Psalms 4:6). Growing remiss in duties, and slighting opportunities of communion with God a form of duties may be kept up, but the heart is away, what avail they? Having no regard to please Him in their ordinary walk (Ezekiel 23:35). Laying aside the Word for a rule, and regulating themselves by another standard (Psalms 119:53). Forsaking His people for their companions (Proverbs 13:20). Forsaking ordinances and the communion of saints therein (Hebrews 10:25-26). Throwing away the form of religion, casting off the mask, and giving the swing to their lusts. (3) Why they forsake Him. There is a natural bent to apostasy in all (Hosea 11:7). Many were never truly joined to the Lord, though they seemed to be so: so having never knit with Him, no wonder they fall away from Him (1 John 2:19). They often have some idol of jealousy secretly preserved when they are at their best; and that upon a proper occasion does the business; like the young man in the Gospel, that went away from Christ grieved, because “ he had great possessions.” Their not pressing it to the sweet of religion, in an experimental feeling of the power of it (Psalms 34:8). The want of a living principle of grace in the heart, that may bear out in all changes of one’ s condition (Psalms 78:37). They cool like a stone taken from the fire, and wither like a branch that takes not with the stock. Unwatchfulness. Thereby men are stolen off their feet (Proverbs 4:23). A conceit of being able to live without Him (Jeremiah 2:31). Ill company carries many away from God (1 Corinthians 15:33). (4) The ill of sin that is in forsaking God in Christ. It is a downright perversion and deserting of the end of our creation. There is in it a setting up another in the room of God. Fearful ingratitude for the greatest mercy and kindness (Jeremiah 2:2; Jeremiah 2:12). Notorious unfaithfulness to our kindest Head and Husband (Jeremiah 2:20). Notorious unfaithfulness to our own interest and folly with a witness. An affronting of God before the world, casting dishonour on Him, bearing false witness against Him (Jeremiah 2:31). A practical commendation of the way of the world, contemning God, and seeking their happiness in things that are seen (Proverbs 28:4). A sinning against the remedy of sin, making one’ s case very hopeless (Hebrews 10:26). An opened sluice for all other sins. The man that forsakes God, exposes himself a prey to all temptations, to be picked up by the first finder (Proverbs 27:8). 2. The betaking of oneself to the creature in God’ s stead. (1) The object taken up with in God’ s stead. (a) It is not God (Deuteronomy 32:21). (i) It cannot satisfy. (ii) It cannot profit. (b) It is the world (1 John 2:15); the great bulky vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2); the passing world (1 John 2:17); the present evil world (Galatians 1:4). (2) How sinners take up with the creature in God’ s stead. Raising their esteem of and value for the creature, till it come to overtop their esteem of God in Christ, like Eve with respect to the forbidden fruit. Bending their chief desire towards the creature (Psalms 4:6) to obtain it, and the satisfaction they apprehend is to be found in it. Embracing and knitting with it in love (2 Timothy 4:10). Seeking a rest for their hearts in it. Trusting in it, and having their chief dependence on it, notwithstanding the curse pronounced against such trust (Jeremiah 17:5-6). Using their chief and most earnest endeavours for it. Rejoicing most in their enjoyment of it, and delighting most in it. Sorrowing most of all for the want of it, under the frowns of it.. Still cleaving to it, under never so many disappointments from it; nor forsaking it, but trying another means, when one misgives (Isaiah 57:10). Following the creature, whithersoever it goes, even quite over the hedge of the law of God. (3) Why sinners take up with the creature in God’ s stead. Because the heart of man is naturally wedded to the creature; and that bond not being truly broken, it is apt to return upon occasion to its natural bias. Because man’ s corrupt nature finds a suitableness and agreeableness in the creature to itself (Isaiah 57:10). Because the creature takes by the eye and other senses; God and His favour is the object of faith, which is rare in the world. Because the creature promises a present good, whereas the greatest things of God are reserved to another world. Because, by the power of a strong delusion, conveyed into the nature of man by the serpent in paradise, they expect a satisfaction and happiness in the creature (Genesis 3:5-6). Because they must needs betake themselves to something within themselves, not being self-sufficient; so, having lost God, they fall of course to the creature in His stead. (4) The ill of this practice, taking up with the creature in God’ s stead. It is an egregious wrong done to God, and His infinite excellency (Jeremiah 2:11). It is a wrong done to the creature, as being a putting it out of its proper place (Romans 8:21-22). It is a wrong done to the whole generation of the saints (Psalms 73:12-15). It is an egregious wrong to the sinner’ s own soul, putting the arrantest cheat upon it that one is capable of (Proverbs 8:36). II. To forsake God in Christ, and take the creature in His stead, is a wretched exchange.1. It is an exchanging of a fountain for a cistern. (1) The water in the cistern is borrowed water; that in the fountain is from itself. (2) The water must needs be sweeter and fresher in the fountain than in the cistern. (3) The water in the cistern is no more but a certain measure in the fountain it is unmeasurable. (4) The water in the cistern is mostly very scanty; the fountain is ever full. (5) The water of the cistern is always dreggy; the fountain clear and pure. (6) The water of the cistern is soon dried up; the fountain, never. 2. It is an exchanging of a fountain made ready to our hand, for a cistern that remains to be hewed out by ourselves. (1) The fountain is always ready for us; the cisterns often are unready. There is access at any time to be had unto God, through Christ, by faith (Psalms 46:1). But the creature is an unready help, so that the man’ s case is often past cure, ere help can be had. (2) The fountain is made ready for us by another hand, the cistern must be prepared by our own (Zechariah 13:1; John 7:37). (3) At the fountain one has nothing to do but drink; but it is no little pains that is necessary to fit out the cistern for us. Hard and sore work (Habakkuk 2:13). Longsome work, that one comes but little speed in. Weary work. 3. It is an exchanging of a fountain for many cisterns. (1) None of them are sufficient, but all defective. (2) There is something disagreeable and vexing in them all (Ecclesiastes 1:14). (3) They enlarge the appetite, but do not satisfy it (Habakkuk 2:5). As one draught of salt water makes the necessity of another, so the gratifying of a lust doth but open its mouth wider; as is evident from the case of those, who having once given themselves loose reins, nothing can prevail to bind them up, till the grace of God change them. They go from ill to worse. Now, this is a wretched exchange; for the access to one fountain is far more ready than to many cisterns. He that has but one door to go to for sufficient supply is certainly in better case than he that must go to many; so he that has the fulness of a God to satisfy himself in, is in circumstances a thousand times better than he who must go from creature to creature for that end. The water is better that is altogether in one fountain, than that which is parted into many cisterns. United force is strongest; and that which is scattered, the farther it is scattered abroad, it is the weaker. It is with greater ease of mind that one may apply to the one fountain, than to the many cisterns. O what ease has the man that goes to God’ s door for all, in comparison of him who begs at the doors of the creatures, ranging up and down among them! Use--Repent then of this folly, and take the one fountain instead of your many cisterns; go to one God instead of the multitude of created things. Motive 1.--This will contract your cares now so diffusive, lessen your labour, and spare you many a weary foot. Motive 2.--Ye shall find enough in God, that ye shall see no necessity of seeking any happiness without Him (John 4:14); more than shall supply the want of the corn and wine (Psalms 4:7); that shall be commensurable to your whole desire (2 Samuel 23:5). (T. Boston, D. D.) Forsaking the fountain for the broken cistern I. The object forsaken.1. Sin is an ungrateful rejection of God. The parental bond is broken, the conjugal tie is dissolved, the oath of suretyship is annulled. 2. We cannot forsake God without forsaking our own mercies. Sin is always the act of a suicide; we cannot reject the counsel of God against ourselves without rejecting His blessings also. 3. What is the fountain which Israel hath thus forsaken? Oh! it is deep as the unfathomed sea; free as the unbought air; more healing than Bethesda’ s pool; fresh as the stream which comes forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb. II. The object preferred.1. The deadening character of all worldly enjoyments. For all the ends of consolation and encouragement and hope the resources of the world are worse than unavailing; The cisterns are not so empty as they are poisonous. 2. Poor as the world’ s enjoyments are, they are to be obtained only at great cost and labour. In drinking of “ the fountain” you will have to stoop much, to kneel long, and to lie low. In drinking from the “ cistern,” you will have to labour hard, to drag heavily, and to climb high. 3. Another characteristic of worldly enjoyments is their instability, their transitoriness, their incapacity for yielding any continued happiness, or for “ giving a man peace at the last.” They are not “ cisterns” only, but “ broken cisterns” ; vessels which let out their contents as fast as they put them in; cisterns “ which can hold no water.” The world not only palls upon its votaries while drinking of its waters, but its tide is always ebbing away. Not only may we write upon it “ Marah” for the bitterness of its taste, but also “ Ichabod” for the evanescence of its glory. (D. Moore, M. A.) Broken cisterns I. The first cistern which attracts our attention is one of sensualism. The youth who is working at it with mallet and chisel, and with hot and fevered face, dreams that the highest enjoyment of life is that which comes through the senses. He will inform you that he regards man as an animal more than anything else, and that it behoves him to listen to the cry of his passions and to satisfy it. He will demand of you why his passions were lodged in his heart, if they were not to govern him. But the sensualist reasons as if he forgets two most important points. He forgets that the passions are no longer what once they were. He reasons as if the soul were still as it was when it came bright and sinless from its Creator’ s hands; as if its original harmony and balance were undisturbed; as if there had been no obscuration of the moral sense and no inflammation of the passions. And he forgets, too, that while the soul has passions they have their due place assigned them in the economy of our constitution, and that that place is not the throne but the footstool. They can never sit in the throne but by revolt, rebellion, and usurpation. Their position is one of service, a service, too, assigned them by a pure conscience and an enlightened judgment. I said the sensualist forgets these two important points rebut does he not forget another? He strives to hew out a cistern of satisfaction by gratifying his passions; but has he not yet learned from observation, if his own experience has not taught him, that from their very nature the passions can never yield a constant happiness? The more they are indulged, the less they can be gratified. The pampered appetite becomes the jaded appetite, and at length becomes the diseased and ruined appetite. And the man who is hewing out for himself a cistern of sensual pleasure is like the dram drinker, who derives less stimulus and delight from the same quantity every day, who has accordingly to increase the dose to supply the same excitement; who at length gets beyond the range of gratification, but finds that the passion holds him fast in its serpent coils even when all its joys are forever fled. II. We find another earnest worker who is hewing out a cistern of wealth. No sooner do we reach him than he begins to pour out his contempt of the man we have just left. He wonders how it is possible for any one with an atom of sense to spend his life and strength at such a cistern as that--a cistern which, even if it could be made to hold water, proclaims the mean and degraded character of the man who could drink it. Then turning to his own cistern he points with evident pride at this monument of his superior wisdom; expatiates on the various powers of wealth; tells us how “ money answereth all things,” how it has ministered to the growth of nations, to the development of civilisation, to the creation and sustentation of commerce, to the advancement of the arts and sciences, to the physical and moral improvement of mankind, and even to the extension of the Gospel itself. Now what shall we say to this man? It will not serve any good purpose to call him hard names. You cannot scold a man out of any sin, still less out of the sin of covetousness. Nor must we bluntly deny all that he has said in praise of wealth. It is when we find men mistaking its functions and properties, and labouring to hew out of it a cistern of satisfaction, that we are constrained to remind them that such a cistern will hold no water. Christ speaks of the deceitfulness of riches. I wonder where the man is who can raise an intelligent and experienced protest against the epithet. Wealth is the feeder of avarice, not its satisfaction. It inflames the thirst, it does not quench it. But, would you learn the weakness of wealth as well as its power, look at the narrow limits within which after all its efficacy is bounded. If there are times when one feels that money answereth all things, there are times when one feels still more keenly that it answereth nothing. When the brain becomes bewildered, or its substance begins to yield and soften, what can a man’ s wealth do for him then? If you travel on the sea, and a destructive storm falls upon your vessel, will the waves that engulph the poor retire in bashful respect for a wealthy man? The digger of this well has said something about the power of wealth: is it not well that he should learn, too, its powerlessness in regard to many of the great needs and sorrows of life? It cannot give you health; it cannot give you talent; it cannot give you the real and abiding respect of your fellow men; it cannot give you peace of mind; it cannot save your wife or children; it cannot avert death and its preliminary horrors and pains from yourself. III. But we must leave this worker, and make our way to another who is hewing out the cistern of intellectualism. He is clearly a higher type of man. There is a refinement about his appearance which shows that his communion has been with the thoughts of poets and philosophers He expatiates on the intrinsic greatness of man; on his immortality; on his reason, that “ vision and faculty divine” ; on the unapproachable supereminence of man over all the universe around him. Knowledge, he says, is the thing for man. For this we were made. It is the element in which we are to live, and without this there is no life worthy of man. And yet, somehow, there seems a shade of sadness upon that face now that his glowing excitement has passed away. Aye, it is even so. He tells us that he is not yet satisfied; that he is hoping to be; that with all his knowledge he feels more ignorant than wise; that if he gets fresh light he seems only to realise more fully the fact that he is standing on the border of a vaster territory of darkness; that if he solves one mystery it serves but to show a thousand more; and that he has been striving, too, for many years at some difficulties which have hitherto beaten him back in hopeless confusion. We assure him that this need not distress him, for with his limited capacities he cannot expect to understand all things at once, and that while it is true that death will for a moment interrupt his speculations and researches, there is eternity before him with its illimitable scope and opportunities. He is paler now than ever, and seizes convulsively his mallet and chisel, and works away with averted face at his cistern, muttering between every stroke, Death, death; ah! it is death which troubles one. What is death?--what will it be to me? Why should I die? and if I must die, why should I fear to die? IV. While thus he muses and mutters, let us visit the cistern of morality. Its owner accosts us at once as follows: “ And so you have been visiting my learned neighbour yonder. He is incurable, and I would fain believe, insane, He has the fancy, that man is nothing but intellect, and that our whole mission in this world is to acquire knowledge. I have told him once and again, that if this were the chief end of man he need not to have had either affections or conscience, and that we are moral creatures as well as intellectual ones. Now, the cistern which I have been working at for years is the cistern of morality and good living, for it is clear that we ought to love God with all our hearts, and minds, and strength and our neighbours as ourselves; and that, in fact, our happiness lies in this, and in nothing else. And it is delightful to have something which one’ s own hands have made, to have a righteousness we ourselves have wrought out, and for which we are indebted to no one.” Thus speaks the man, and while he speaks we have been looking at the cistern, which is not without its beauty, and which shows traces and proofs of long and careful working; and we have seen, or think we have seen, chinks great and small which do not promise well for the serviceableness of the cistern, if it be meant, as it is meant, to hold water. Has it been made exactly according to the pattern which you have specified, namely, that you love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your strength, and your neighbour as yourself? Will it hold any water? And the man, chagrined to have the perfectness of his work called in question, replies: “ I know that as yet it will hold no water, but it is not finished. I am striving to fill up the defects and openings with mortar--with the mortar of sorrow for the past, and endeavours to do better for the future.” But what, we ask, if the mortar be as porous as the stone? What if it will not hold water any more than the cistern? What if future obedience cannot repair the mischief of the past? What if repentance without Christ itself needs to be repented of? What if even an awakened conscience itself refuses to accept the part for the whole? And what if God say, “ By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified” ? And what if there be a special condemnation for those who, “ going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God” ? V. As we retrace our steps and visit the other cisterns, lo! we find that the workers work no more. The end has come to all. And on the cistern of the scholar we find the inscription, as if traced by a mystic hand, “ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” And on the cistern of the worldling we find, “ So is every man that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God.” And on the cistern of the sensualist we find, “ To be carnally minded is death.” And as we look within we find that all is parched and dry as summer dust, and that the description is awfully exact and literal: “ Cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (E. Mellor, D. D.) Broken cisterns Whilst two evils are specified, we are not to suppose they are ever committed separately: no man forsakes the living fountain who does not also hew out the broken cistern--for there is a search after happiness in which all men naturally engage; and if they do not seek happiness in God, where alone it may be found, they will inevitably seek it in the creature, though only to be disappointed. Yet notwithstanding that these truths are attested by universal experience, there is continually going on the same forsaking of the fountain, the same hewing out of the cistern, so pathetically and indignantly denounced in the text. There is something very striking in the expression “ hewed them out cisterns.” What labour does it indicate, what effort, what endurance! Had the cisterns been ready made to their hands, there had not been so much with which to upbraid them. But God has caused that it shall be actually toilsome thing for men to seek happiness in the creature. Witness the diggings, so to speak, of avarice: the painful climbings of ambition: the disgusts and disappointments of sensuality. God makes it an aggravation of the sin of his being forsaken that He is forsaken for that which must demand toil, and then yield disappointment. He sets the “ fountain of living waters” in contrast with “ broken cisterns” --as though He would point out the vast indignity offered Him, in that what was preferred was so unworthy and insufficient. It is the language not only of jealousy, but of jealousy stung to the very quick by the baseness of the object to which the plighted affection has been unblushingly transferred. “ Wonder, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth.” God speaks of His people as offering Him this indignity; but He does not speak to His people. He tells His grievance to the material creation, as though even that were more likely to feel and resent it than the beings who were actually guilty of the sin. And ye who are setting up idols for yourselves, ye who, in spite of every demonstration of the uselessness of the endeavour, are striving to be happy without God, we will not reason with you: it were like passing too slight censure on your sin, it were representing it as less blinding, less besotting, than it actually is, to suppose that you would attend to, or feel the force of, an ordinary remonstrance. It may move you more, ye worshippers of visible things, to find yourselves treated as past being reasoned with, than flattered with addresses which suppose in you the full play of the understanding and the judgment. Ye will not hearken: but there are those who witness and wonder at your madness: the visible universe, as if amazed at finding itself searched for that which its own sublime and ceaseless proclamations declare to be nowhere but in God, assumes a listening posture; and whilst the Almighty publishes your infatuation, He hath secured Himself an audience, “ whether ye will hear, or whether ye will forbear” ; for the accusation is not uttered till there have been this astounding call: “ Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this,” etc. But let us proceed to the case which is perhaps still more distinctly contemplated by the passage before us--that of the abandonment of the true religion for a false. If ever God discovered Himself as a “ fountain of living waters,” it was when, in the person of His own Divine Son, He opened on this earth a “ fountain for sin and for uncleanness.” The justifying virtue of the work of the Redeemer, the sanctifying of that of the Spirit--these include everything of which, as sinful but immortal beings, we can have need: by the former we may have title to the kingdom of heaven, and by the latter be made meet for the glorious inheritance. Nevertheless, can it be said that men in general are ready to close with the Gospel, to partake of it as the parched traveller of the spring found amid the sands? Even where religion is not neglected, what pains are bestowed on the making some system less distasteful to pride, or more complacent to passion, than practical, unadulterated Christianity! What costly effort is given to the compounding the human with the Divine, our own merit with that of Christ; or to the preparing ourselves for the reception of grace, as though it were not grace by which, as well as for which, we are prepared, grace which must fashion the vessel, as well as grace which must fill it. Truly, the cistern is “ hewn out,” when the fountain is forsaken. Let Christ be unto you “ all in all,” “ made unto you of God, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,” and the fountain gives a river which, like the rock struck in Horeb, never ceaseth to make glad the believer. But turn away, though by a single step, from Christ, and, oh, the toil, the dissatisfaction, of endeavouring to make--what? “ a broken cistern,” “ a cistern that can hold no water” --if creature comforts are such cisterns to those who seek happiness, creature systems must be to those who seek immortality. For what shall endure the severity of God’ s scrutiny, but that which is itself of God’ s appointing and providing (H. Melvill, B. D.) A broken cistern The mother of Hume, the philosopher, was once a professor of Christianity. Dazzled by the genius of her son, she followed him into the mazes of scepticism. Years passed and she drew near to the gates of death, and from her dying bed she wrote him the following: “ My dear son,--My health has failed me. I am in deep decline. I cannot live long. I am left without hope or consolation, and my mind is sinking into a state of despair. I pray you hasten home to console me, or, at least, write to me the consolations that philosophy affords at the dying hour.” Hume was deeply distressed at his mother’ s letter. His philosophy was “ a broken cistern” in which was no water of comfort. Jeremiah 2:14 Is Israel a servant?is he a home-born slave? why is he spoiled? Israel a home-born slave Is this a contemptuous inquiry?--Israel a servant, Israel a home-born slave. Is there not scorn underlying the interrogation, as who should say, Thou art a worm, a thing to be crushed by the foot, or a servile thing to be made no account of by the auditor of the universe? Nothing of the kind. There is a tone of tenderness in this inquiry. In Bible times to be a home-born slave was to be next the son of the family; there was a domestic interest in such a slave, full of pathos, and the condition brought with it its own advantages and rights; a slave born in the house took rank almost with the son, certainly immediately after the son; and the Lord seems to say, Is not Israel a servant, a home-born slave,--has he not rights at home, has he not domestic interests and family claims, a status which he can assert and maintain, and the fruit of which he is at liberty to enjoy? Why then is he spoiled; why has he thrown his inheritance away; why does he not seize the possessions to which he is entitled, and live within the light and the security of the privilege which belongs to him in his domestic relations? So there is no scorn in the words “ home-born slave.” The Divine voice infused the pathos of emphasis into the word “ homeborn.” Who can say “ home” in a tone that is worthy of its music? Surely only He who has made the universe a home for His creatures, and offered them the hospitality of His infinite love. God comes after us, and says, Are ye not Mine; do you not belong to My house; are you not in the covenant of My love; is not your name upon the record of My memory; and goes not out after you all the solicitude of My heart? Why then have you spoiled your destiny, perverted your way, gone in a forbidden course, and exposed yourselves to the paw and the teeth of the lion? (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 2:15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled. Dangers outside the Divine bounds That comes of going from home, leaving sacred discipline, taking life into one’ s own hand, assuming the mastership of one’ s own fortune and destiny. Woe betide the man who goes beyond the bounds which God has fixed! Immediately outside those bounds the lion waits, or the plague, or the pestilence, or the pit hardly hidden but deep immeasurable. Luther said: Who would paint a picture of the present condition of the Church, let him paint a young woman in a wilderness or in some desert place; and round about her let him figure hungry lions whose eyes are glaring upon her and whoso mouths are open to devour her substance and her beauty. Is the Church in a much better condition today? That is the natural condition of the Church. The Church always challenges the lion, tempts the devourer, excites the passions of evil men. When an evil generation tolerates the Church, applauds its dogmas, and flatters its ministry, it is because that Church has surrendered her prerogatives and trampled her functions in the dust. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Know that the Church of the living God is alive, and is fulfilling her destiny, when all round about her are men more cruel than ravenous beasts. Israel, the home-born slave, who ought to have walked arm-in-arm with the son of the house, left the precincts of the family and plunged into the way of lions. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 2:18 What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt.Words of expostulation I. Addressing myself to the Christian, I shall use the text in three senses, while I expostulate with you in regard to sin, to worldly pleasure, and to carnal trust.1. O true believer, called by grace and washed in the precious blood of Christ, “ What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of the muddy river?” What hast thou to do with the sins which once delighted thee, and which now find happy pastime for the world? A vision flits before my eye. The Lord God hath made a great feast; armies have met together; terrible slaughter has been the consequence. Men’ s arms have been red up to the very elbow in blood; they have fought with each other, and there they lie strewn upon the plain--thousands of carcasses bleeding. The vultures sniff the prey from far-off desert wilds; they fly, keen of scent. God hath made a great feast to the fowls of heaven, and to the ravenous beasts of the earth. But what is that I see? I see a dove flying with the same speed as the vulture towards the carrion. O dove, what hath brought thee there in dangerous connection with thy fierce enemies? Whither art thou going? Is there anything in that bloody feast that can content thee? Shall thy meek eyes glare with the fires of anger? Shah thy fair white plumage be stained with gore, and wilt thou go back to thy dove cote with thy pinions bloody red? The question then cannot be answered, because when a Christian goes into sin he commits all inconsistent act--inconsistent with the freedom which Christ has bought for him, and inconsistent with the nature which the Holy Spirit has implanted in him. Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? What, man! hast thou forgotten the times of thy conviction? There is yet another light in which to put the sin of the believer. Let me repeat the question once again--“ What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of the muddy river?” There is a crowd yonder. They have evidently assembled for some riotous purpose. They are attacking one man. There are very many of them. They give Him no space to take His breath, no time to rest. Let me press through the throng and look at the man, I know Him at once. He hath visage more marred than that of any other man. ‘ Tis He; it is the Crucified One, it is none other than Jesus, the Son of man, the Saviour of the world. Hark to the blasphemies which are poured into His ears! See how they spit in His face, and put Him co an open shame. Onward they bring Him, and you hear them cry, “ Crucify Him! crucify Him! crucify Him!” They are doing it: they have nailed Him to the tree: yonder is a man with the hammer in his hand who has just now driven in the nail. Look round upon the mob. I can well comprehend why yonder drunkard, why yonder swearer, why the whoremonger, and the like of infamous notoriety, should have joined in this treacherous murder; but there is one man there--methinks I know his face. Ay, I have seen him at the sacramental table, eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ: I have seen him in the pulpit saying, “ God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” : I have seen him on his knees in prayer, pleading what he called “ The precious blood.” What hast thou to do in this counsel of the ungodly, this scene of sin without a parallel? 2. The pleasures of this world do sometimes entice the people of God, and they find some degree of mirth therein. To those Christians who can find pleasure in the common amusements of men, this question may be very pertinently put--“ What hast thou to do to drink the water of that muddy river?” I can never understand that Christianity which alternately goes out to find joy in worldly amusements, and returns home to have fellowship with Christ. In the life of Madame Guyon I have read an anecdote something to this effect. She had been invited by some friends to spend a few days at the palace of St. Cloud. She knew it was a place full of pomp, and fashion, and, I must add, of vice also; but being over-persuaded by her friend, and being especially tempted with the idea that perhaps her example might do good, she accepted the invitation. Her experience afterwards should be a warning to all Christians. For some years that holy woman had walked in constant fellowship with Christ; perhaps none ever saw the Saviour’ s face, and kissed His wounds more truly than she had done. But when she came home from St. Cloud she found her usual joy was departed; she had lost her power in prayer. She felt in going to the lover of her soul as if she had played the harlot against Him. She was afraid to hope that she could be received again to His pure and perfect love, and it took some months ere the equilibrium of her peace could be restored, and her heart could yet again be wholly set upon her Lord. He that wears a white garment must mind where he walks when the world’ s streets are so filthy as they are. 3. We are all tried with the temptation to put our trust in things which are seen, instead of things which are not seen. The Lord hath said it--“ Cursed is he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm,” but “ blessed is he that trusteth in the Lord.” Yet Christians often do trust in man, and then our text comes home--“ What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the water of that muddy river?” “ Some trust in horses and some in chariots, but we will stay ourselves upon the Lord God of Israel.” II. Convinced sinner, you feel your lost estate; God’ s Holy Spirit has kindly looked upon you, and begun a good work in your soul. And yet during the past week you have fallen into your old sin. Ah! smarting and yet sinning! wounded and yet rebelling! pricked with the ox goad, and yet kicking against the pricks! It is hard for thee! And what was the cause of your sin after all? Was it worth sinning for--to grieve your conscience and vex the Holy Spirit? I have heard of a man who had just begun the Christian life, and he had some months of sorrow owing to a hasty temper. His neighbour had let some of his cattle stray into the field; he asked him to fetch them out again and mend the fence; his neighbour would not, and he flew into such a passion with him that afterwards he sat down and cried. Said he, “ Why, if all the cows in the field were sold, and I had lost the money, they were not worth the bother I made about them, nor worth one moment of the grief which I have to suffer.” Oh! what fools we all are! Let us, however, write ourselves fools in capital letters, if when conscience is tender we yet go and do the very thing which we hate, and choose the very cup which was so bitter to our taste, so nauseous to us just now. You are under conviction of sin, and you have been lately--as it is a festive season--you have been frequenting the dancing room, or the theatre. Now these are amusements for worldlings; let them have them; I would not prevent them for a moment; let every man have his own amusement and his own joy. But what is this to you? What hast thou to do with it? III. Lastly, to any who are careless. I have a hard task to bring a reasonable question to unreasonable men. Ye tell me that ye love the vanities of this world, and that they content you. I look you in the face and remind you that there have been many madmen in this world besides yourselves. Yet as there is some spark of reason left, let me see if I can kindle a flame of thought therewith. Sinner, God is angry with the wicked every day. What have you to do with joy? you are condemned already, because you believe not on the Son of God. What have you to do with peace--a condemned man dancing in his cell at Newgate with chains about his wrists? What have you to do with merriment? You! If you were sure you should live a week you might spend six days, if you would, in sin; but you are not sure you will live an hour. What have you to do with sin and its pleasures? God is furbishing his sword today; it is sharp and strong as the arm which shall wield it. That sword is meant for you except you repent. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The believer’ s portion superior to the world’ s Thou hast tasted of better drink than the muddy river of this world’ s pleasure can give thee. If thy profession be not a lie thou hast had fellowship with Christ, thou hast had that joy which only the blessed Spirits above and the chosen ones on earth can know. Hast thou eaten the bread of angels, and canst thou live on husks? Good Rutherford once said, “ I have tasted of Christ’ s own manna and it hath put my mouth out of taste with the brown bread of this world’ s joy.” “ What hast thou to do,” etc. Jeremiah 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee.Sin its own punishment I. In the dealings of God with good men.1. Neglect secret devotion, and God will refuse His blessing on other means of grace. 2. Indulge secret sin, and God will bring that sin into open light and condemnation. 3. Idolise created good, and God will take from us an idol, or make it a plague to us. 4. Act with faithlessness to others, and God will permit us to suffer from the treachery of others. 5. Undutifulness to parents punished by the defiance of our own children. 6. Indifference as to home piety returned upon us in the irreligion of those in the home. II. In the dealings of God with wicked men.1. Those who resent religious persuasions, and strive to stifle conviction, are deprived of godly parents and friends, and left to a fatal peace. 2. Those who repel the Gospel because of its humiliating truths, are allowed “ to believe a lie,” etc. 3. In death and judgment, the punishment of the sinner will reflect his sin. (Andrew Fuller.) The uses made by God of sin I. Precautionary observations.1. Sin, in its own nature, is inexpressibly bad. Not only the negation of all that is good, but the absolute plenitude of all that is evil. It is wrong raising itself against the order, purity, and happiness of the universe. The originating, exclusive, and prolific source of all human woe. 2. If in any circumstances sin appear in a beginning, and good and happiness in the end, the latter will not be, in any sense, the proper conduct of the former. Good comes of evil through causes exterior to evil, independent of evil, hostile to evil, and which turn evil to good account against evil. Imagine a man sleeping in a wood. A serpent strikes its fangs into one of his limbs. The man is stung into consciousness, and starts up from his slumber just in time to escape the pounce of a hungry tiger, whose eyes are glaring in the thicket. The serpent had no intention of saving him. It attacked him for itself; but the sudden anguish of the bleeding wound was the occasion of rescue from the two-fold destruction. So, often, man “ dead in trespasses and sins” is maddened into activity by the remorse of wickedness, and ultimately rushes away from the adjacent coils of Satan and the gaping jaws of hell. 3. To turn evil to good account is one of the sovereign prerogatives of God. It is only through Divine interference and interworking that sin fails, at any time, to effect “ evil, only evil, and that continually.” This is one of the express laws of the Divine conduct in the Bible. Joseph and his brethren. David and Shimei. Preaching Christ out of envy, etc. II. What attitude God actually assumes and maintains towards sin.1. God has surrounded sin by limits and restrictions. The moral sentiments of men--the moral restraints of society--the moral utterances of revealed religion--the moral corrections of the invincible laws of the material economy--have conspired to bind sin hand and foot, in its most monstrous and demoniacal forms. 2. Sin is permitted, but anticipated; defiled, but used; unscathed, but bridled and harnessed, till the reluctant monster shall be firmly yoked to the car of the mighty victor and swell the final triumph. (1) God uses sin to punish sin. When God employed the passion and ambition of hostile monarchs to chastise the apostate Israelites, or when God directed warring kings, raging with the lust of empire, to relieve His afflicted and repentant people--in either case the Jews recognised the operation of an inter-working and over-ruling providence, and recorded the principles which we are explaining. (2) God uses sin to defeat sin. Very often when two persons, two coteries, two nations, it may be, are struggling to obtain a false object, and both the parties or communities are equally profligate in the means which they employ to secure success, the plans of the unprincipled tricksters clash; all are overwhelmed with defeat and disgrace together, and the field is left free for right quietly to triumph. In the history of every kingdom and hierarchy, political and priestly despotism may be seen committing suicide by outdoing its ordinary amount of enormity. (3) God uses sin to reprove sin. God does not turn sins into whips exclusively, by the pains and disappointments of iniquity, merely to scourge the sinner. The element of moral reproof is uniformly associated with the anguish of punishment. We ask not here how sin can at all become the means of moral instruction; we only state the fact. Without seeking the remote or proximate cause of such a phenomenon, it is sufficient for our present purpose to say that one act, or a few acts of sin, and the immediate consequences are often, to a man apparently established in irreligion, the occasion of godly sorrow for the sins of his whole life. (4) God uses sin to promote goodness. The odiousness of sin, when visible in the conduct of the ungodly, is ever felt by Christians to be promotive of piety. It undoubtedly increases their gratitude when they are reminded, by contrast, of the obvious and revolting abominations from which they have been rescued. The daffy sinfulness, too, of which the best are conscious, which they frankly acknowledge, however unaffectedly deplore, becomes a source of sincere and growing humiliation. The transgressions, also, of the past are never remembered without grief; and the spirit is chastened into meekness at the recollection of even bygone and forgiven iniquities. And, beyond this, what salutary spiritual consequences are derived from a conscious proneness to sin in the future! To what self-renunciation does it conduct! what acts of self-consignment to God does it prompt! and how much possible sin does it annihilate! (5) God uses sin to display the matchless glory of His Divine perfections. (H. Batchelor.) It is an evil thing and bitter. The evil of sin I. Inquire wherein sin consists, according to the description of the prophet.1. Every sinner has forsaken God. (1) He does not desire Him as his portion, but other things in preference. (2) He is not mindful of His favour, but esteems the friendship of a fellow creature more than His. 2. As God is not loved, so neither is He feared, at least, not in such a way as to depart from evil. 3. From these two sources proceed all the evils that are in the world. (1) Forsaking God has been the cause of every abomination: hence all the wars, oppression, and injustice, between nations and individuals. (2) From the same source also arises a rejection of Christ and the Gospel; a contempt of religion and of religious people. (3) Hence, also, that hardness and indifference to the Gospel in many who attend upon it. (4) Hence the most solemn warnings and tender expostulations are without effect, and all the mercy of the Saviour is neglected. II. Consider the evil and bitter nature of sin.1. We may “ know and see how evil and bitter a thing sin is,” by the precepts of God’ s holy law, which forbid it; and we must measure it by this rule to see what evil there is in it. 2. We may “ know and see” by the awful threatenings of God’ s Word, by which it stands condemned (Deuteronomy 28:15). 3. We may know and see by the bitter sorrows of true penitents (Psalms 38:1-6; Psalms 51:1-4; Zechariah 12:10). 4. Know by the bitter fruits it has already produced. 5. By the still more bitter fruits it would have produced if God had not restrained it. 6. By the bitter pains of eternal death. 7. Know it also by the bitter sufferings of the Son of God. III. Enforce the exhortation: “ Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing.”1. Unless we know and see this, we can neither know nor see the salvation of God. 2. Without a knowledge of the evil of sin, we shall neither repent of it nor depart from it to any good purpose. 3. If we know and see it not truly in this world, we shall be made to know and see it to our cost in the world to come. 4. If we are brought to know and see it aright, we shall come to Christ; and herein will be the proof of our knowledge being in some measure what it ought to be (John 6:45). (Theological Sketchbook.) The evil and bitterness of sin I. Introductory observations.1. Men in general think lightly of sin. They consider it rather as a failure or infirmity of nature, than as positive transgression, guilt, or vileness. Nay, “ fools make a mock of sin.” 2. The great reason why men think so lightly of sin is, that they think lightly of God. Our judgment of anything is always in proportion to our esteem or disesteem of its opposite. God and sin are two contraries; and we will unavoidably form our estimate of sin, according to that which we form of essential holiness. 3. There is an infinite evil in sin. This may appear impossible, because man, its subject, is a finite being. But although viewed in man, or in any creature, as its subject, it can be only finite; with respect to God, the object against whom it is directed, it is infinitely evil: for it is an affront to His infinite perfections. 4. All sin has an infinite evil in it. The guilt of one sin exposes to eternal wrath. The least sin implies in it ingratitude, unbelief, rebellion, and atheism. II. The evil of sin.1. Because contrary to the nature of God, who is the supreme standard of truth and righteousness. Men may talk as they will of moral rectitude and the fitness of things. But these are terms without meaning, unless we understand them as relating to the perfections of the Divine nature; for there can be no notion of rectitude, fitness, or propriety, abstracted from the nature of God. 2. Because contrary to His holy law. This notion of sin is usually illustrated by the situation of a person under a bodily disease, who not only labours under the want of a proper temperament of humours, but hath a positive disorder among them. So sin, which is a moral disease, not only implies a want of proper conformity to the law, but a real opposition to it. 3. It is an attempt against the moral government of God in the world. This is the necessary result of its being a transgression of the law. 4. It is abominable to God. Nothing else in the universe is the object of Divine hatred, or nothing else but on account of sin. 5. That sin is an evil thing is evident from that malignity which is in its nature. Does the justice of God proclaim the guilt of sin? Do we learn its filth from its contrariety to Divine holiness? Its malignity also appears by its opposition to the alluring perfection of love. 6. Because it makes man the slave of Satan. By the law of his creation, he is the subject of God. To Him he owes his service, and to Him only. Inferences--1. That those who have never seen sin to be evil and bitter have no fear of God.2. The danger of entertaining trivial thoughts of sin.3. The dreadful ingratitude that is in sin.4. The impossibility of delivering ourselves from sin. The necessity of washing in the blood of Christ. III. The bitterness of sin.1. Sin is so bitter in its consequences that it has deprived us of all good. It has robbed us of the Divine image and favour. 2. Sin has subjected us to all penal evil. The curse of the law; afflictions; death 3. Sin has introduced disorder into the whole creation of God. IV. By what proofs sinners may know and see that sin is evil and bitter.1. By the commands and threatenings of the law. It threatens death in all its extent: temporal, spiritual, and eternal. 2. By terrors of conscience. 3. From the complaints of God’ s people, on account of sin. They everywhere, when rightly exercised, represent it as their heaviest burden; and however great their afflictions, they consider sin as greater than any ether. 4. By the punishments inflicted on sinners in this life. Flood: Sodom and Gomorrah. 5. Many see and know the evil and bitterness of sin by their own eternal misery. Hell. 6. In the sufferings of the Son of God. (J. Jamieson M. A.) Sin evil and bitter Many and great are the benefits arising from a proper view of the evil of sin. It teaches us our true relation to God, and the value of Christ’ s salvation. It shows us the necessity of repentance, and serves to form in us that spirit of humility, which so well state, a fallen creature. To promote this necessary branch of Christian knowledge, therefore, I propose to set before you some of the evils contained in sin.1. Sin is an act of rebellion against God, our supreme governor. We all feel it to be right that a master should govern his servant, a parent his child, a king his subjects:--and, in these cases, if obedience be refused, we immediately censure it as wrong. Now, all the relations of father, master, and king, do not confer a thousandth part of the right to rule, and to be obeyed, which centres in God. If authority is attached to property, the world is His, and the fulness of it;--if to high station, He is King of kings, and Lord of lords;--if to natural right, whose claim can be so little liable to dispute as that of the Creator of all things, by whom all things subsist? The language of sin is, “ Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?” Now, when we consider the infinite glory, power, and goodness of God, whose authority is thus trampled upon; the meanness of man--dust of the earth quickened into life by God; the slightness of the motive by which in many cases he is induced to disobey God; and the desperate boldness or unthinking carelessness with which he dares to transgress, often showing neither reluctance, nor apprehension, nor sorrow, surely we shall see in this one view of the subject how “ evil and bitter a thing it is that we have forsaken the Lord God, and that His fear is not in us.” But to all this it may be objected, that guilt lies chiefly in the intention; and that it is not the intention of the sinner to offend God, much less to rebel against Him: his end is only to please himself. This may be true; but is it not rebellion against God not to intend to obey Him? No criminal directly proposes to insult the laws of his country. He intends only to please himself; to serve some selfish end of his own. But when the act which he commits is forbidden by the law, we consider him as justly liable to suffer the penalty of disobedience. But it is pleaded, “ We have no distinct idea, when we sin, of acting against the will of God, but are drawn, by thoughtlessness, to do that which in our more serious moments we condemn.” Is thoughtlessness itself, in respect to God and our duty, no crime? This is to excuse the guilt of the single act, by acknowledging a general principle of evil. Men, for the most part, know that what they are about to do is forbidden by God. Their conscience reproves them; their guilt is placed full in their view, and yet they proceed in their course. 2. The evil of sin will further appear from this consideration, that by every act of sin we do in effect arraign the wisdom and goodness of God. Every one who sins decides against the wisdom and goodness of God. He declares by actions, which always speak more strongly than words, that God would have more promoted the happiness of man had He allowed him to indulge his lusts; that His yoke, therefore, is hard. Now, is it not an unpardonable presumption in us thus to set up our judgment against that of God? 3. The evil of sin appears also from its tendency to defeat the designs of God. It introduces disorder into His dominions. It spreads desolation through His works. It destroys the happiness, harmony, and glory of the world, and fills it with misery and discord. All sin has this tendency. For, be it remembered, we are not to measure the evil of sin by its effects, but by its tendency. If God, by His power, prevents the effects which it would otherwise produce, this does not take away from its proper malignity. 4. The evil of sin will further appear when we consider the ingratitude contained in it. Is there, then, no guilt in sin which injures and insults our best Friend; no evil in that disposition which allows us to be even negligent in our conduct towards Him to whom we owe such obligations? 5. Sin manifests also an abject and grovelling spirit. It proposes to gratify the corrupt appetites of the flesh, and considers only the present moment: for this, reason is dethroned, while the flesh is allowed to rule: for this, honour, conscience, and the fear of God, are trampled under foot: for this, eternity is sacrificed to time. It belongs only to fallen beings; it is the badge of their shame, and the rod of their punishment. 6. Lastly, the evil of sin appears in the injury it does to others. It is the excellence of holiness that it spreads happiness around; but it is the effect of sin, like a pestilence, to spread ruin and desolation. All I have said of sin in general applies, of course, to every act of sin; and yet how very different an appearance does sin usually bear to us from what has been described! Is God, then, an angry tyrant, who marks in secret the weaknesses and follies of His creatures, in order, at length, to pour out His vengeance on them? Far from us be such an idea of our gracious and merciful God. He is slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. (Christian Observer.) Sin 1. The nature of sin. Forsaking the Lord as our God.2. The cause of sin. Because His fear is not in us.3. The malignity of sin. An evil and bitter thing.4. The fatal consequences of sin. Without God.5. Use and application. Repent of thy sin. (Matthew Henry, D. D.) Jeremiah 2:21 How then art thou turned into the degenerate plant.Spiritual deterioration A mysterious action is this of spiritual deterioration. It does not set in with obvious energy all at once, so that in one short week a man ceases to be a healthy and fruit-bearing vine; but little by little he goes down, his tone changes, his prayers are depleted of elements that once made them rich with spiritual significance; a carelessness comes upon all his personal discipline; we say, he is no longer the man he once was; then he falls again, and still further he goes down, until at last we begin to be ashamed of his society, or to say that we never come near him without being chilled: once he was so warm, so cordial, so affectionate, so spiritually-minded, that to touch him was to receive virtue; but now all is changed,--his talk has fallen to a lower level, and there comes now and then a look into his face which means that the better self is being displaced by another identity. “ What I say unto one,” said Christ, “ I say unto all, Watch.” Let us be careful lest whilst we slumber the enemy take an advantage over us. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 2:22 Though thou wash thee with nitre.No self-expiation One of the shortest, but most pregnant, words in our language is sin. And yet it is one of those words least understood. The whole system of the Gospel rests on the fact of sin, and on the dreadful evil of sin, and on the inexpiable character of sin by any human means whatsoever. Our text puts the truth with a very startling clearness. The nitre here mentioned was a mineral substance, and the soap was a vegetable substance, both employed for the purpose of removing spots; and the meaning is, adopt what means you may and all the means within your power, and still your sin will remain, it will strike through again, and be as fresh as the day on which it was committed. This is true of sin in both its aspects of guilt and stain: as guilt or wrong you cannot remove it; and as a blot you cannot remove it. Let us look at it as guilt or wrong. Who can expiate it as a matter of right? If the question be asked, but may not God waive His right? We answer that, if He did this, it would be an act of grace; it would be a voluntary surrender on His part of what He had a right to claim and to inflict. But it does not require much thought to teach us that God could never give to any of His creatures the power of expiation consistent with the stability of His own throne and government. To grant that a man has power to expiate a sin, would be to grant that he has a right to insult God and to sin whenever he desires. Such an engagement would place God in the position of a being who was trafficking in selling the right to do iniquity. You can conceive of a foolish father or mother possessing an imperious nature, and anxious to display supreme authority, incessantly commanding and forbidding their children to do certain trifling things--things which, whether done or left undone, would be of no injury to the children. This is not government. It is irritation. This is not encouraging obedience; it is promoting rebellion. It frets the will by the assertion of needless and unreasonable claims. But surely, the commands of God are not of this character. The commands of God are God Himself in expression, and not merely the power of God or the will of God, but the sense of right and justice and holiness, without which He could have no claim on the obedience and reverence of any creature. But this is not all. Not only do God’ s commands express His own eternal nature, and not only do they appeal to our moral nature, so that we cannot treat them as if they were simply suggestions, or pieces of advice, or matters of taste; but they are commands which contemplate and secure, in so far as they are obeyed, our happiness. In other words, they not only enjoin the right way, but the happy way. To sin, therefore, is not only to disobey, but to derange; it is not only to set at nought a Divine injunction, but to outrage your own nature. If therefore the line of obedience to the Divine will is also, as it most assuredly is, the line of blessedness to yourself, do you not see that there can be no expiation for disobedience? Will punishment for a certain time be an expiation? In no country is it held that imprisonment for theft is as good as honesty; in no country is a fine for drunkenness as good as sobriety. But if punishment is not an expiation for sin in human government, in the sense of being regarded as an equivalent for the offence which has been committed, if it does not restore to a man either the character or the standing which he occupied before, so neither is it an expiation for sin in our relations to God. It is true that He too says, If you sin you will also suffer; but He does not say, Your suffering will stand good instead of your obedience. When God punishes, He says first, I cannot be trifled with, and I cannot have My laws set at nought. The punishment means that in the first instance; it must mean that, whether it means anything else or not. If it be asked whether punishment is not meant to be corrective, and whether it is not meant also to be preventive, by way of example to others who see the suffering which follows sin, I admit that these are among the purposes of punishment; but they are secondary purposes. God says to us, If you sin punishment will follow whether you are corrected by it or you are not, and whether others take warning by it or not. It may be said that suffering is not the only nitre and soap by means of which men seek to wash off the guilt of sin; that there is repentance, and future amendment; and that these are sufficient as a set-off against any amount of transgression. Now, it is impossible for us to determine what repentance can do or what future amendment can do, in reference to past sin, without the light which Scripture gives us. Repentance is a change of mind and heart and life; and in the dispensation under which we live, repentance is connected with faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And it must not be torn from this connection. The parable of the prodigal son teaches us, that as a son must return to his father, and will be received if he returns, so if a man return to God he will be received. But it was not meant to expound the whole Gospel. The great truth is set forth that a returning child is received; but the way of return Christ explains again and again in His other teachings, as for example when He says, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father, but by Me.” The question which we have all to consider is, how is the guilt of our sins to be dealt with that it will not be laid at last to our charge? The answer of the Gospel is not that repentance will stand between it and us. It is that Christ will stand between it and us. Repentance does not bear our sins; Christ bears our sins. (E. Mellor, D. D.) Jeremiah 2:23-30 How canst thou say, I am not polluted. Self-vindicating sinners reproved I. The self-vindicating ways of sinners.1. Direct denial (Genesis 4:9).2. Vain excuse (1 Samuel 15:13-15).3. Hypocritical palliation (Genesis 3:11-13). II. God substantiates His charge against His offending people.1. By an appeal to fact.2. By a most apt comparison. Dromedary and wild ass, when seeking their mate, are so bent upon attainment of desire, that efforts to catch them are vain; no one will weary himself with so fruitless a labour. But when their time of pregnancy has advanced, they fall comparatively an easy prey to the pursuer. So, to little purpose that you are followed with invitations and entreaties: you “ will not hear the voice of the charmer,” etc. (C. Simeon, M. A.) Know what thou hast done. What hast thou Done? Look at thy life in the light of--1. God’ s Divine purpose. 2. Your social position, and the circumstances by which you have been surrounded. 3. The responsibilities of the domestic relationship. 4. Your relationship to the best and tenderest of fathers. 5. The tender dealings of the Holy Spirit. 6. Your relationship with Him who, because He loved you, was content to hang upon the Cross. (W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.) Jeremiah 2:31-37 Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? Divine questions The people were required to answer two questions: “ Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? have I been a land of darkness unto Israel?” Speak out. If you have an impeachment to bring even against God, do not fear to bring it. He asks for it. A wondrous tenderness inspires the inquiry. It seems, indeed, to bring its own answer with it. So the father might plead with his child, “ Have I been a wilderness unto thee, or a land of darkness? have I been deaf to entreaty? have I been without sympathy in the time of affliction? have I but half-opened the door when you have sought to return to my love and my confidence?” The very inquiry is a defence; the very method of the inquiry means, It is impossible to answer this but in one way. Having answered a question respecting God, they have next to answer a question respecting themselves: “ Wherefore say My people, We are lords; we will come no more unto Thee?” Literally, Why do My people say, We will rove at will? That is licence, not liberty. They have lost the centre, and are plunging evermore in chaos, without being able to give an account of themselves or to use what benefit might lie within their power. Why this new cry, namely, We will do as we like? Why this so-called free thought? why this progress which means running round and round and never advancing by one measurable inch? How very early men begin to be free-thinkers! How soon sin says to a man, Rove at will; do what you like: you are a man! Then the poor fool thinks he is a man, and begins to “ play fantastic tricks before high heaven.” He forgets that we have only, liberty to obey. Then the Lord seems to adopt a kind of taunting tone: “ Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?” When did either of them forget a pin, a jewel, a toy, a feather? What, a memory for little things, for dressing, for adornment, for outgoing, for public excitement! What a recollection for dates, when the date is filled up with an amusement, a new sensation! But no memory for sacrifice, for prayer, for holy sacrament, for consecrated day, for revelations from heaven,--a memory that will hold all the fiction that ever was written, but a memory like a sieve in respect of everything that is written in the Bible! What a voice is the Lord’ s! How strident, how mocking! how tender, beseeching, importunate, full of lamentation! “ My people have forgotten Me days without number.” Could the complaint have been stated more pensively? The very voice in which it is uttered adds to the poignancy of the distress. Who likes to be forgotten? Who likes to be the one member of the family for whom no flower is brought, for whose birthday no provision is made, for whose little wants, or great, no one cares? Now the voice changes, and the element of accusation enters into it very sharply (Jeremiah 2:33): “ Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? “ --why this continual invention in incidental reforms? why not go to the root of the matter? A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. It is useless to paint the branches, or hang bird cages upon them, or tie to them fruit gathered from other orchards. Down with the tree, up with the roots, burn them, and in its place let there be a tree of the Lord’ s right-hand planting. But all this trimming and adaptation and partial reform indicates a species of ingenuity and cleverness--“ therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.” The substantive is feminine--“ therefore hast thou also taught wicked women thy ways” : you have been inventive, you have issued new programmes of evil; you have said in effect: See how clever we are: here is a new method of profanity, here a novelty in blasphemy, here a cloak that baffles scrutiny, here an impervious garment--waterproof and fireproof, deluge and lightning cannot get through this covering. No doubt there is a great deal of ingenuity in wickedness. Bad men have wonderful sagacity in some cases, great mental penetration, and quite a striking method of doing their own work in their own way; they are inventive, mentally fertile; as to their fecundity in the way of devising evil methods and evil practices, it is immeasurable. But God knows it, and founds a charge upon it. Mark the hardening process of sin in the thirty-fourth verse: “ Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.” The blood of the prophets was found in the skirts of those who had slain the good men. But “ in thy skirts,” --is not that a term which indicates concealment? God says, I have not found out this blood, or the sin with which it is connected, by secret search--by digging down and finding a hole in the wall, as the prophet Ezekiel found a hole in the wall and entered into the chamber of imagery; this is not a cellarful of blood; this sin is not confined to the basement of the life house: you have advanced beyond that. Cain, who introduced social sin into the world, performed his murder in secret, wiped his lips, and stood before God as an innocent man. We have made advances upon that infantile crime. Now our crime is public. The sin which you are half afraid of today, you will make a boon companion of before very long. The words you now use with blushing and trembling of voice, you will use familiarly by continued practice. We cannot rest at a certain point, saying, I will go no farther than this. Such may be our intention at the time being, but we subtly and imperceptibly advance until we become adept in evil. “ Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria” (verse 36). Literally, Why all these shifting policies? why all these new alliances? why be performing a kind of moral conjuring? Are there not many people who are all things by turns and nothing long--men who are wanting in conviction and thorough persuasion of soul, incapable of enthusiasm, driven about by every wind of doctrine; men who have called at all the hovels of heresy, and have, never settled in the sanctuary of truth? We need not alter the terms; they are simple as our best-known mother tongue, and they will stand for the purposes of scrutiny all the while, not needing change or modification. Be something. Belong to somebody. Do not mistake roving at will for a safe dwelling at home. What was the result of this trimming and gadding about, this changing between Assyria and Egypt? “ Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head,” etc. (verse 37). Observe the expression, “ Thine hands upon thine head.” It was the Oriental sign of dejection and despair. Seeing a man in that attitude, the meaning was: He has no more hope; his spirit is full of chagrin; he has been utterly disappointed, and his soul is dead within him; and his confidences are all battered down; the day of prosperity, even nominal and superficial, is gone forever. There are many confidences, and they look well. What can look better from the outside than golden wealth: the foundations silver, the gates made of precious stones, the front of the house gleaming white marble, the roof of the house one sheet of gold; and behind horses and chariots, and man servants and maid servants, and a retinue endless? What can look better as a confidence than health--rude health, rosy-cheeked health, bright-eyed health: the voice as sound as a bell, the arm as strong as iron, a strength that never knew what it was to be weary--real genuine health of blood and bone and sinew and skin; a man whom death dare not touch? Or the confidence of invention--that fertility of mind which always has a new shift, which can always see a back door out of every difficulty? Or pleasure--sunny, merry, dancing pleasure, with a tune for every hour of the day, and as happy in the night season as in the daytime; bells ringing the whole four-and-twenty hours round; and as for laughter and joke and all kinds of mirthfulness, why here they are? “ The Lord hath rejected thy confidences.” One bolt of lightning, and the whole gold house has gone down. One chill some damp night, and the health house is ruined from attic to basement. One touch by the invisible hand, and the brain that had in it a thousand inventions trembles, and cannot remember. One keen disappointment, and pleasure is struck dead; its face is an annoyance, its rattle is an insult, its invitations are blasphemies, in face of a woe so terrible. There is but one abiding confidence--“ Rock of Ages, cleft for me.” There is but one refuge from the storm--“ Jesus, refuge of my soul,” (J. Parker, D. D.) An unjust imputation repelled by Jehovah To an ingenuous mind God never appears so irresistible, so overpowering, as when He addresses His creatures in the language of tender expostulation. Did all men possess such a disposition, He would seldom address them in any other language, and even now, destitute of it as they naturally are, He condescends occasionally to employ it one instance of its use we have in our text. I. Show when professed Christians treat their God and Redeemer as if he were to them a wilderness, a land of darkness. The mention of a wilderness, especially of a wilderness as it appears at night, when darkness prevails, suggests to us ideas of dreariness, solitude, and gloom; of a place where there is nothing to cheer, to nourish, or shelter us, where numberless obstacles impede the wanderer’ s progress, and through which is no discoverable path. Every declining professor of religion, every one who serves God with reluctance, who does not find pleasure in His service, regards Him precisely in this light, and treats Him as if He were a wilderness, a land of darkness. When a professor becomes slack and remiss in waiting upon God, careless in walking with Him, and negligent in seeking communion with Him, does he not practically say, God is, to me, a wilderness? In the same manner does every one regard it, who in any place of worship, whether private, social, or public, feels as if he were detained there, and as if he would prefer some other situation or employment. Still more loudly does the professing Christian declare that he regards God as a wilderness, when he repairs, in search of happiness, to the scenes of worldly pleasure, or to the society of worldly-minded men. He then says to them in effect, the ways of wisdom are not ways of pleasantness; a religious life is a life of constraint and melancholy; I should die with hunger and thirst, did I not occasionally forsake the wilderness in which I am doomed to live, and refresh myself with the fruits on which you are feasting. II. Apply to all, who have treated him in this manner, the pathetic, melting expostulation in our text.1. The temporal blessings which you enjoy. Look at your comforts, your possessions, your children, your friends, your liberty, your security. Did you find all these blessings in a wilderness, or did they come to you out of a land of darkness? 2. The religious privileges with which you have been favoured. Did you find the Bible, the sanctuary of God, and the Gospel of salvation, in a wilderness? Surely, a wilderness, where such blessings are to be found, must be preferable to the most fertile spot on earth! 3. Those who are professors of religion, we may remind of the spiritual blessings which they have, or profess to have enjoyed. (1) You have found the table of Christ spread for your refreshment. You have enjoyed precious seasons of communion with Him. You have tasted the first-fruits of the heavenly inheritance, celestial fruits, the food of angels, such as earth does not produce. Was it a wilderness which produced the celestial fruits, on which you have feasted? (2) Has God been a wilderness, a land of darkness to this Church, considered as a body? Look back and see what it was twenty years since. Consider how it has been preserved, blessed, increased, during the intervening period. 4. Yet, notwithstanding all that has been said, there are probably some who feel as if, in one respect at least, God has been to them no better than a dark and dreary wilderness. We allude to those who, though they have professedly paid some attention to religious subjects, and have perhaps enrolled themselves among the visible followers of Christ, have found no happiness in religion. Such persons often say in their hearts, We have spent much time in religious pursuits, and have made many endeavours to find that rest and peace and consolation which Christ promises to His disciples, and of which many Christians talk so much. But all our endeavours have been in vain; and we must say, if we speak the truth, that our way has been like that of a man travelling through a wilderness, where he finds no path, no refreshment, but meets with thorns and briars and obstacles at every step. In reply to such complaints, we remark, that the persons who make them compose several different classes, and that the complaints of each of these classes are wholly unreasonable and without foundation. (1) The first class we shall mention, is composed of those who, to use the apostle’ s language, go about to establish their own righteousness, and do not submit to the righteousness of God. That such persons find no happiness in God, in religion, is not wonderful; for to God, and to religion, they are entire strangers. It is only by believing in Jesus Christ, that men are filled with joy and peace. (2) The second class we shall mention, is composed of the slothful. That they should find no happiness in religion, is not surprising; for inspiration declares, that the way of the slothful man is a hedge of thorns. (3) A third class of complainers is composed of such as an apostle calls double-minded men, who are unstable in all their ways. They are engaged in a vain attempt to reconcile the service of God and that of mammon. In making this attempt they wander from God, and lose themselves in a wilderness; and then inconsistently complain, that wisdom’ s ways are not paths of peace, that God is to them a land of darkness. But their complaints are as unreasonable as those of a man, who should bury himself in a dungeon, and then complain that the sun gave no light. Permit me now to improve the subject-- 1. By applying it to the members of this Church, and to all the professed disciples of Christ before me. Let me say to each of them, Have you never treated your God and Redeemer as if He were a wilderness, a land of darkness? 2. In the second place, let me apply this subject to impenitent sinners. (E. Payson, D. D.) God no barren wilderness I. A demand.1. It has the force of a remonstrance or protestation. Men are wrongly opinionated respecting God. (1) Because God is pleased sometimes to suspend and delay the expressions of His goodness to them. (2) Because God does not always reward them as they desire and expect. 2. It has the force of a remembrance or seasonable intimation; i.e., I have been the contrary, I have in reality been a paradise. 3. It has the force of a reproach; i.e., Israel hath rather been a wilderness to Me! And so it represents to us the unfruitfulness of God’ s people. Three things aggravate this. (1) The mercies they enjoy. (2) The means (of improvement, advantages) they partake of. (3) The expectations which are upon them. 4. It has the force of an appeal or provocation to them; i.e., let Israel speak what they know of Me. II. An expostulation.1. The charge is two fold. (1) Their assertion: “ We are lords,” whereby they hold forth their own greatness, self-sufficiency, and independence. (2) Their resolution: “ We will come no more,” etc. 2. The censure, “ wherefore?” signifies that-- (1) It was without reason.(2) Against reason. Consider-- (a) Their relation. “ My people.” (b) Their indebtedness. III. An invitation. By “ generation” He meant the people of the time. There is a reflection in the phrase upon the sinfulness and wretchedness of the age, as if to say, Into what a time and age are we fallen!1. Unto what this generation is invited. To “ see the Word of the Lord,” i.e., mind it and attend to it. 2. The weightiness and seriousness of it. (1) As it respects God’ s own justification.(2) As it respects Israel’ s condemnation. (T. Horton, D. D.) A just challenge You cannot hear such a text as this without feeling greatly solemnised. I do not suppose they said this literally, but practically they said, “ We are lords; we will come no more unto Thee.” Also, how the words impress us with the necessity of a better dispensation,--in other words, of a better covenant, of a better religion, that should take a saving hold of the people, and make them all that which the Lord Himself would approve. I. The just challenge.1. What the Lord was to them. Salvation. Those among them who were spiritually minded, and were taught of God, saw in the Paschal lamb, Christ Jesus; saw in the salvation from Egypt, Christ Jesus; saw in the victory that was wrought for them, Christ Jesus. 2. How it was they failed. They defiled the land. II. The self-exaltation. “ We are lords.” What does it mean? It means that they set their authority above the truth of God. Now it becomes us to see that all the parts of our religion are of Divine authority. So far from the Christian as he goes on finding that he is lord over his own self, and lord over this, and that, and the other, he finds out, as he goes along, more and more of his poverty; he decreases more and more. Ah! he says, If I were black in my own eyes a few years ago, I am blacker now: if vile in my own estimation a few years ago, I am viler now. And thus as we sink the Saviour rises, grace reigns, and we glory in being poor sinners at the feet of Jesus, indebted to God from first to last for our eternal salvation. III. The blind decision. “ We will come no more unto Thee.” I do not apprehend that this means that they would give up the supreme God, but that they would come no more unto Him in that representation of Him which His truth gave, in that representation of Him which His prophets gave. We will thus come no more unto Thee--not in that way. In Isaiah 29:1-24 you have these instructive words, “ This people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me.” They are not conscious of that, You say to the Pharisee in the Saviour’ s day, Do you love God? Of course I do. But is not your heart removed from Him? No;--they were not conscious of it. Every erroneous seeker says he loves God; what, then, is the sense in which their hearts were removed from God? what is the sense in which they would come no more to Him? “ Their fear,” saith Isaiah (29), “ toward Me is taught by the precept of men.” The Saviour comes to the same point when He says, “ Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.” And when He had opened up the beauties of the everlasting Gospel in John 6:1-71, it was not the supreme God abstractedly, but it was God in His own way of saving a sinner that they hated, and they went back and walked no more with Him. (J. Wells.) Jeremiah 2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?yet My people have forgotten Me. The bride and her ornaments: the sin of forgetting God It is a clear proof of the great love of God to His people that He will not lose their love without earnest expostulation. He loves us too well to suffer us to go on in our iniquity. He will scourge rather than abandon; chide rather than lose. I. A very grievous sin. “ My people have forgotten Me days without number.”1. Observe whom they had forgotten: it will help us to see the sin of it. It would not have mattered half as much if they had forgotten their dearest friends--the husband his wife, or the mother her child; but here are favoured men and women who have forgotten their God, their Father, their life, their all. God, the good, the best, who has a chief right to be remembered. There is great evil in our hearts, or it would be so hard to forget God as to be impossible. A friend has gone away from us, and we do not see him; but he has left so many tokens of his goodness that we are reminded of him every day. Is it not so with God? Has He not left us innumerable tokens of His affection for us? Ought we to forget when so many forget-me-nots are round about us? But, supposing that friend has not gone away at all, but is living with us in the house, and enters even into our chamber, what shall we say if we forget one who is constantly with us? No man is so present with his friend as God is with His people. 2. Who were they that forgot God? Not strangers, not heathen; but “ My people.” That is to say, a people not only chosen and redeemed, but brought to know Him, brought into fellowship with Him, brought into relationship with Him, brought absolutely into union with Him,--they have forgotten Me. 3. Observe sadly the space in which they had forgotten: in the case of Israel, it is added, “ days without number.” How long is it since you were in the habit of walking with God? How long is it since you have seen the face of the Well-Beloved? I ventured to put that question once to a professor, and, shaking his head, he replied, “ Don’ t ask me that: if you will ask me whether I have been a drunkard, whether I have been dishonest in business, whether I have done any positive action by which I have degraded the Christian name, I can answer you without fear; but if you ask, How long since I have had fellowship with Christ, I cannot--I dare not--answer you.” 4. How is God forgotten? What are the manifestations of this offence? (1) Some professors evidently forget God by their worldliness They have been fattened with the treasures of the world, but their souls have been starved to very skeletons, for they have not fed upon the things of God. (2) Some have forgotten God by self-seeking. They live unto themselves. (3) Some, too, show that they forget God by the failure of their trust. They are in trouble, and they are very anxious. Why? Because they have forgotten God, though He has promised to help them. (4) Alas, there are some who add to this a forgetfulness of God through neglect of private devotion. Prayers are slurred over; drawing near to God becomes a form and a pretence. (5) And you and I can do it in a very high sense by a breach of communion, by getting out of fellowship with God, by walking contrary to Him, so that He walks contrary to us. It is very bad walking and very bad living when God and ourselves are at cross purposes. 5. If ever we do forget God, it leads to all sorts of mischief. We lose our joy and our comfort; and then we lose our strength and our watchfulness; and then we backslide by little and little; and then, probably, we fall into one sin, and then into another sin, if not into a third more grievous still II. The chiding question which is the very marrow of the text. “ Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?”1. I suppose that question is put, first, because there are many trivial things which occupy minds so that they cannot forget them. How sad it is that the grandest things, the best things, should not equally engross our thoughts! 2. If a bride did forget her attire, or a maid did forget her ornaments, it would be very unreasonable behaviour. But how infinitely more unreasonable it is that you and I should forget God. He is our diadem of glory: He is our beauty of holiness. In Christ we are arrayed in raiment of needlework, and our garments are of wrought gold. Can we, shall we forget Him? 3. It would have been a most unseasonable thing for a maid to forget her attire at her wedding. A bride who forgets her attire would be something like the foolish virgins who forgot to take oil in their vessels with their lamps. And, certainly, it is a most unseasonable thing for me and you to forget our God while we are here. Let the soldier, when the arrow is flying from every bush, forget his armour, but let us not forget our God. Let the hungry man, when famine rages through the land, forget his store of bread, but let us not forget the food of our souls, which is our Lord Jesus. 4. Notice the conduct of the maid or the conduct of the bride, with regard to her ornaments. (1) She labours hard to obtain her ornaments and to gain her attire. Many women in the East save up every coin that they have, and turn all into silver. It is their life’ s work to provide themselves with ornaments against the marriage day. While they do this, let us do better: let us store up the thoughts of Christ, and the words of Christ, and the things of Christ, and let us labour to get more and more of Christ, that we may be adorned with Him and made comely in His comeliness. (2) When the Eastern woman has with great difficulty obtained her ornaments and her attire, then she thinks a great deal of them: she preserves them with much care; she will, if possible, prevent a thief from taking away a ring or gem; she locks them up carefully. Oh, that we did store up every bit we get of our Lord’ s loves and put it by to keep it, never losing any pearl that we find, or any ring that we fashion by experience. (3) How joyfully the Eastern woman puts on her jewels, puts on her attire. She has these things to wear them. I am ashamed of those Christians who are ashamed of Christ. They have jewels: I hope they have; but they are very chary of ever showing them. III. A few words of call to repentance, if we have in any measure forgotten God. I am sure, first, that our God does not deserve to be treated so. “ You use no other friend so ill.” Have you forgotten? Will not the time past suffice for that? A half a minute’ s forgetfulness of God is half a minute too long. Let it not come to be “ days without number.” But, if the number be ever so small, let us weep to think we should have forgotten Him at all. Think, if He had forgotten you--forgotten you in your merriest moment, ay, in your holiest moment, what would have been your portion? (C. H. Spurgeon.) Forgetfulness The Almighty entered this grave charge against His ancient favoured nation, “ My people have forgotten Me days without number.” I. The same charge lies with too great force against all Christendom. The true secret of this lurks in the obstinate ungodliness of the carnal mind. This hinders the recollection of God in the following modes--1. In habitual inattention to Divine truth, when presented to the mind. Some try to excuse their ignorance of God and His inspired Word, pleading, “ I have such a bad memory,” when the memory is quite good enough, if Divine truths were once welt lodged in it by due attention. No memory, however excellent, can retain that which was never allowed to make an impression (Hebrews 2:1). 2. In neglect of reflection on Divine truth read or heard. Where there is little meditation on God and His Word, it is vain to expect a rich experience, or a solid religious character. 3. In the occupation of the mind with comparative trifles. Filling our measures with chaff, we leave no room for good and solid grain. The maid thinks of her ornaments, and the bride of her attire. The young--and not they only, but many to whom increasing years have brought no wisdom--fill their thoughts and conversation with the fashions, the amusements, and entertainments of the season; and so can have, in their foolishly occupied minds, no grave recollection of that God with whom they have to do. It was a judicious answer of Themistocles to Simonides, who had offered to teach him the art of memory, “ Rather teach me the art of forgetfulness; for the things which I would not I remember, and cannot forget the things I would.” 4. In excess of worldly cares. There are grave anxieties regarding success in business, or the attainment of a coveted position, that so press upon the soul as to preclude the earnest recollection of religious truth. Hence it happens that shrewd men, who easily remember whatever affects the markets, cannot remember how to “ buy the truth” ; and readily quoting the stock and share lists of commercial enterprise, cannot accurately quote the verses of the blessed Word of God. II. To show the evil of forgetfulness, let it be considered how much a religiously stored memory tells on the development of the Christian mind and formation of the Christian character. It constitutes knowledge, it deepens repentance, it fortifies faith, it supplies comfort, and moves continual thankfulness. (D. Fraser, M. A.) Jeremiah 2:35-37 Thou sayest, I have not sinned.Obstinate impenitence 1. Blind to its own guilt.2. Blasphemes God by accusing Him of unjust anger.3. Will not escape just punishment. (Naegelsbach.) Denial of guilt At one of our seaside resorts, a cab proprietor was fined £10 and costs for not having licences for twenty-seven carriages. His excuse was that they were relics of antiquity, kept to lend out while others underwent repair. Some make a like plea when their sins are discovered: they do not sin as a regular business, though it is true they keep some of the old relics of antiquity. If we keep the devil’ s carriages, even under such a pretence, we will find them turn into funeral cars ere long. Do not keep wine in the cellar, and you will not drink it. He who has a pistol may shoot. “ Make not provision for the flesh” (Romans 13:14). “ Neither give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). Do not keep even an old stool for him. Away with all his furniture. “ Old things are passed away.” Jeremiah 2:36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way?Living to purpose I. The importance of having an object in life. There is a vast difference between the state of a man when running a race, and when sauntering about to kill time. There is an equal difference between the men who pass through this city on business, and those who come to the metropolis merely to see sights. Plant yourself upon London Bridge, the city side, about nine o’ clock in the morning, and look into the faces of the men who are crossing that bridge. Go into the National Gallery, or into the British Museum, any day when these places are thronged, and look into the faces of the persons who are there. A very different state of thought and feeling you will find revealed by those faces. Now in this difference we see the importance of a well-defined and all-commanding object. An object in life sufficient for a man, brings him out, educates him. The prize calls out the school boy who contends for it; the honours of the university elicit the mind, and the scholarship of the man who wrangles for them--and any object has a similar effect, the pursuit of which fully calls out a man’ s powers. This is education. Instruction is not education. Education, as the very word implies, is the calling forth of what is within a man; and the objects and subjects of pursuit do more in our education than the mere reading and study of books. Desiring a particular end, and determining to obtain it, the man asks, What have I that I can use in order to reach this end? An object calls out a man. And an object keeps the man out. It calls him out, and maintains the manifestation and the development. He is not like the snail, but is like the bee, or as the ant. His powers are never withdrawn--in all working time they are outstretched. Neither is there incessant and useless change in his operations. He who gads about to change his way, having no fixed and definite object, but changing his object almost with the change from month to month, and from season to season, never lays hold of anything that is worth securing. But a man with a good object, with a commanding object, and a sufficient object, cannot afford to be unstable. Now, if a man’ s powers he called out, and kept out amid obstacles and conflicting circumstances, the education of the man is yet further advanced. He is opposed, say, in the pursuit of his object. Well, this opposition keeps the earnestness and the seriousness alive within him. It is a great advantage to be opposed in the pursuit of our object. If men will only take opposition with good temper, and be quiet, and of a meek and patient spirit, they will always be the better for it. Annoyances arise--he feels that if he yields to them he shall be unfitted for his pursuit. What does he? He keeps down his susceptibilities to fretfulness, and he learns quietness of heart. How soon the man learns this, who is in constant intercourse with the Saviour about all the objects of his pursuit, and who tells Him everything that dwells on his mind about everybody, and about every circumstance! He can see the invisible; he can assure his heart of what his hand does not now grasp--and thus he is educated by his object. II. While it is important that every man should have some object, it is more important that the object of pursuit to every man should be good. Say that a man sets out with fame as his end. He means to be known; he means to get into every newspaper. Such a one does everything to be seen and to be spoken of. That which will not tell upon his reputation he will not do. He wishes the trumpet to call attention to everything which he executes; he wishes to be called the best scholar, or the noblest patriot, or the richest merchant, or the most devoted philanthropist of his day. He wishes to be called first; and he pursues that end. Now, such an end will make a man proud and vain. In all matters of morality and religion such a man will be most unsteady. Consider wealth a man’ s object. He plans and labours to get money--to get it for spending or for hoarding; and money is the man’ s goal. This will make him narrow-minded, and selfish in heart. Men will rise and fall in his estimation according to their possessions, and objects will be pursued as they secure to him money. Perhaps this was the goal of Judas; and see what effect it produced upon him. He lost his soul in running to it. Consider power a man’ s end. He lives and toils to subdue others to himself. This makes a man ungenerous, cruel, unjust, and often impious. Admit pleasure to be a man’ s object. This destroys the proportions of the human constitution, and throws out of their right and proper place the several parts of our human nature. Now, put in contrast with fame, money, power, as the chief end of man, the good of others. Say that men are living to effect some object in connection with the well-being of their fellows; then you have such a character as that of John Howard, Wilberforce, Elizabeth Fry, Buxton. Howard’ s object, as you know, was the release and the relief of the prisoner; and while John Howard’ s disposition led to the choice of this pursuit, that disposition to do good grew marvellously under the training influence of his object. Wilberforce was naturally sympathetic, but his efforts for the slave marvellously enlarged his heart. Buxton would have been a noble man anywhere, but his pursuit of the extinction of slavery made him grow like the palm tree, and flourish like the cedar in Lebanon. Many a female culprit would confess their obligations to Mrs. Fry; but Newgate was a school of grace to the prisoners’ friend and teacher: and if she could hear us talking of her now, she would say to us, “ Speak not of anything I did, but rather tell what all this did for me. It was far more blessed for me to communicate, and to give, and to strive in that prison to do good, than it ever was simply to receive.” (S. Martin, M. A.) As to gadabouts The illustration by which this prophet of tears deplores the vacillation of the nation to whom he wrote, is a homely one. Now they wanted alliance with Egypt, and now with Assyria, and now with Babylon, and now they did not know what they wanted, and the behaviour of the nation reminded the prophet of a man or woman who, not satisfied with borne life, goes from place to place gadding about, as we say, never settled anywhere or in anything, and he cries out to them: “ Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way?” Well, the world has now as many gadabouts as it had in Bible times. Gadabouts among occupations, among religious theories, among churches, among neighbourhoods, and one of the greatest wants of the Church and the world is more steadfastness and more fixedness of purpose. It was no small question that Pharaoh put to Jacob and his sons when he asked, “ What is your occupation?” Getting into the right occupation not only decides your temporal welfare, but may decide your eternal destiny. Last summer a man of great genius died. He had the talents of twenty men in surgical directions, but he did not like surgery, and he wanted to be a preacher. He could not preach. I told him so. He tried it on both sides of the sea, but he failed, because he turned his back on that magnificent profession of surgery, which has in our time made such wonderful achievement that it now heals a broken neck, and by the X-ray explores the temple of the human body, as if it were a lighted room. For forty years he was gadding about among the professions. Do not imitate him. Ask God what you ought to be, and He will tell you. It may not be as elegant a style of work as you would prefer. It may be callous and begrime your hands, and put you in suffocating atmosphere, and stand you shoulder to shoulder with the unrefined, but remember that if God calls you to do one thing you will never be happy in doing something else. All the great successes have been gained through opposition and struggle. “ Hard pounding,” said Wellington at Waterloo,--“ hard pounding, gentlemen; but we will see who can pound the longest.” Yes, my friends, that is the secret, not flight from obstacles in the way, but “ who can pound the longest.” The gadabouts are failures for this life, to say nothing of the next. There are many who exhibit this frailty in matters of religion. They are not sure about anything that pertains to their soul or their eternal destiny. Now they are Unitarians, and now they are Universalists, and now they are Methodists, and now they are Presbyterians, and now they are nothing at all. They are not quite sure that the Bible was inspired, or, if inspired, whether the words or the ideas were inspired, or whether only part of the book was inspired. Gadding about among religious theories, and never satisfied. All the evidence is put before them, and why do they not render a verdict? If they cannot make up their mind with all the data put before them they never will. If it is a good book, your eternal happiness depends upon the adoption of its teachings. Once and forever make up your mind whether it is the book of God or the book of villainous pretenders. So, also, many are unfixed in regard to their spiritual condition, and day after day, and year after year go gadding about among hopes and fears and anxieties. Why do you not find out whether you are His or not? There are all the broad invitations of the Gospel. Accept them. There are all the assurances. Apply them. This moment you have all the information pointing to the road that terminates at the gate of the Golden City, and the voyage that anchors in the haven of eternal rest. Why go on guessing when you have all the facts before you? My text also addresses those who in search of happiness are going hither and yonder looking for that which they find not. Let all the gadabouts for happiness know that in kindness and usefulness and self-abnegation are to be found a satisfaction which all the gaieties of the world aggregated cannot afford. Among the race of gadabouts are those who neglect their homes in order that they may attend to institutions that are really excellent, and do not so much ask for help as demand it. One bad habit these gadabouts, masculine or feminine, are sure to get, and that is of scandal distribution. Such gadabouts have little prospect of heaven. If they got there they would try to create jealousy among the different ranks of celestials. Therefore let us resolve that we will concentrate upon what is right thought and right behaviour, and waste no time in vacillations and indecisions and uncertainties, running about in places where we have no business to be. Life is so short, we have no time to play with it the spendthrift. (T. De Witt Talmage.) Jeremiah 2:37 The Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.The danger of false confidences In the state and conduct of Judah we have a picture of the state and conduct of the world, in religious matters, at the present day; and as that nation, by their distrust of God and want of reliance on His power and goodness, wrought for themselves the degradation and the miseries of a long captivity, so those who are seeking for themselves present and eternal peace by any other means than those which God has appointed, and are lulling their souls into security by false confidences, are “ heaping up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” I. The general mercy of God is the ground of confidence with many, but this is a confidence which the Lord hath rejected. The Scriptures are full of declarations which show the utter fallacy of this trust. We may assure ourselves that those who hold to it have ideas of sin very different from those given us in “ that sure Word of Prophecy unto which we do well that we take heed.” Let us ponder the fact, that if man, as the Scriptures tell us, was formed in the image of God, by every act of transgression we must be effacing that image, and spoiling God’ s most glorious workmanship; and if God can look upon such a thing with indifference, and allow it to pass with impunity, He must be reckoned as altogether heedless of the grossest interference with His wise purposes which we can possibly, suppose. Now, is such a thing at all countenanced in the Scriptures? No. “ God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Evil cannot dwell with Him, nor fools stand in His sight.” And so jealous is He of His glory, that in His dealing with the first of our race He annexed the penalty of death to transgression. Adam transgressed, and he died, spiritually and temporally. And where in this is the evidence of a God all mercy? Why did not paradise smile on our first parents as before? Why did the sword of the cherubim keep them out from their first and most beauteous habitation? It was because God is a God of justice, and His veracity stood pledged for the fulfilment of His righteous threatening. And He stands as pledged still with regard to all but those who, being in Christ Jesus, have escaped condemnation. “ Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall he the portion of their cup.” And hath He said it, and will He not do it; hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? II. Many trust to their own righteousness for acceptance with God, but this also is a confidence which the Lord hath rejected. Do and live is the motto of the religion of such persons. They purpose to get to life, and their way to it is by keeping the commandments. God, say they, has annexed the promise of future felicity to obedience, and we obey that that felicity may be ours for a reward. Now, this would do very well, did we retain our original standing with God; but whether man be now that holy being he was when God pronounced him to be very good, let the state of the world, let your own hearts witness. The conscience of every man who knows aught of the law of God, and is at all accustomed to compare his conduct and his feelings with its requirements, will testify, that it is as true now as on the day when it was written that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: But many, who trust to themselves that they are righteous, will endeavour to get rid of these considerations, by saying, that though they have sinned, they have repented: that is, they have felt sorry for their sin, and that God will receive penitence as an atonement. This is trifling with the character of God, and with that righteous government which it is His immutable purpose to maintain throughout the whole of His dominions. Even human legislators have not failed to see how subversive such a principle would be of the good of civil society if put in practice in the world. Would it be right--would it be consistent with good government, that crime should go unpunished, if the criminal, when brought to the bar of justice, should express sorrow for his offence? All know that it would not. And will God fail to vindicate His law, His justice, His veracity because of a few sorrowing tears and sighs? But it is said that Jesus, by His obedience and suffering, has obtained an abatement of the law; that He has softened it down in order to fit it to human infirmity; that it is not a perfect, but a sincere obedience that is required; and that if we fall short in any thing, the merit of Christ comes in to supply the deficiency.1. We observe that Christ came for no such purpose as to temper the law to our infirm circumstances; for if the law was originally right, if that wisdom which enacted it, and which cannot err, saw it to be fit and necessary, it must be immutably so. What! did Christ die that we should not be obliged to love God and our neighbour, so much as we were originally bound to do? Did He give Himself to procure for us a liberty to sin with impunity? No one in soberness of spirit will say so. 2. But, with regard to the merit of Christ supplying only for the little that we may have fallen short, we observe, that it is altogether at variance with every dictate of Scripture on the subject of the sinner’ s salvation. Was not the sacrifice of Christ a full satisfaction to Divine justice? Did He not magnify the law, and make it honourable? And can it be necessary that to His infinite satisfaction and merit we should add our obedience, soiled and imperfect as it must be at best, in order to obtain pardon and acceptance with God? What an unhallowed mixing of the clean and unclean; what a confounding of Christ and Belial would be here! Besides, why will men be so perverse as to seek justification by the law, whether it be abated, as it is not, or whether it stands in its original force, as it does to those who are under it, and as a rule of life to all? Why will men be so perverse, when it is said so pointedly, that “ by the deeds of the law no living flesh shall be justified” ? We apprehend that, to every candid person, the foregoing considerations are sufficient to show how unsafe a foundation, on which to build for eternity, are our own righteousness, and those things connected with it which we have noticed. What, then, is the confidence, by depending on which we may look forward securely to eternity? It is the righteousness of Jesus, made ours by imputation, and received by that faith which is of the operation of God. III. Too many content themselves with a bare speculative knowledge of the true way of salvation and this is a confidence which the Lord hath rejected. There is a form of godliness without the power. In order to a real saving knowledge of the subject of redemption, we must have a deep impression of the truths which the subject involves: the deep depravity of our nature; our alienation from God; the hatefulness and repugnancy of sin to the Divine nature; our inability to rescue ourselves from perdition; the love, the wisdom, the condescension, all infinitely displayed in the plan and the execution of our redemption, and the readiness and ability of Christ to save. (P. M’Guffie.) . Jeremiah 3:1-5 Return again to Me, saith the Lord.The backslider invited to return We have here a wonderful display of God’ s character: forbearance, pity, and love. I. What is inferred. A departure from God.1. The life of an ungodly man is one long departure from God. Every step he takes leads him farther away. 2. What departures we find even in the holiest and best! Secret neglects. Seductions in daily avocations and companions. Tampering with sin. II. What is declared. A returning to God as a promising God, as a forgiving God, as our God and Father in Christ Jesus, in real humiliation of spirit before Him; for “ whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy.” Observe, the return is not a mere turning away from sin; it is finding the way back again to God. The very fruit and work of the blessed Spirit. III. What is displayed. Touching tenderness.1. God Himself speaks.2. He points to the Cross. (J. H. Evans, M. A.) Return to God 1. Let Christian believers behold in these words with whom it is that they have to do. There have been times when the Lord made you rejoice before Him--when your fellowship with Him was delight. And so He would have had you to continue. But your joy changed into sorrow, your light was quenched in darkness; not because you were forsaken, but because you forsook. You did evil in the sight of the Lord, and He delivered you into the hands of the Philistines. But He did not forsake you utterly, nor cast you off forever. He brought you back, and restored to you “ the joy of His salvation.” Soon you forgot it all. You did evil again in His sight. He departed from you, and you were carried captive by your enemies. In the land of Babylon you wept, and hung your tuneless harps upon the willows, for you could not sing the Lord’ s song in a strange land! You remembered Zion, and eagerly longed that your captivity might come to an end. And the Lord ended your captivity and brought you back. Yet, notwithstanding all your sad experiences, you have again and again forgotten and forsaken Him. What should be your feelings when you think of these things? Should there be any sorrow like unto your sorrow? Yet be not afraid; conclude not that your sins must of necessity have separated forever between you and God; say not that for you there is no hope in Israel, and no place left for repentance. Had you to do with man it might be so. Were you to be dealt with as you have sinned, It could not but be so. But the Lord God is merciful and gracious, His love continues as strong as ever. He cannot bear to give you up. He compassionates your weakness. He laments your folly. 2. Let those who are still in the gall of bitterness--alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, be assured that this language is addressed even to them. You are His, although you are now strangers and foreigners; for His hand did form you, and you were not designed to be His enemies. You have chosen to be so; but all the enmity is on your side. Your enemy He has never been; nor is He now your enemy! He is emphatically the friend of sinners. (R. J. Johnstone, M. A.) Backsliding process A church is sometimes astounded by the fall of some professor in it: this is the fruit, not the seed or the beginning of backsliding. So a man is laid on a sick bed, but the disorder has only now arrived at its crisis; it has for some time been working in his system, and has at length burst out and laid him low. So the sin of departing from God and secretly declining has been going on while the profession has still been maintained; the process of backsliding has been working silently yet surely until a temptation has at last opened the way for its bursting forth, to the scandal of God’ s people and true religion. In the sight of God the man was fallen before, we only now have first discovered it. (H. G. Salter.) Therefore the showers have been withholden. God inflicting punishment on those who turn away from Him If God is immanent in the universe, not a Deity immeasurable distances away from His creation; if without Him it could not hold together for a moment, there is nothing unreasonable in the thought that He should sometimes show resentment at the spirit of evil, indicate some emotion at least in the presence of ingratitude. We do the sage ourselves. Parents sometimes give children to feel that the penalty of ill-behaviour is the withdrawment of a privilege, the abbreviation of a holiday, the suspension of a pleasure. Sometimes by deprivation God inflicts punishment upon those who turn away from Him. In this case the penalty was one of deprivation--the showers had been withholden. Sometimes the penalty is positive, and there are too many showers. God drowns the world that denies Him. He does not withhold the showers for want of water; the debt, go is always ready: the river of God is full of water. It may be unscientific and ignorant to think that God interferes with nature, but it stands to our highest reason as a probable truth. If He made it, He may interfere with it; if He constructed it, He may sometimes wind it up, visit it, operate upon it, assert His eternal proprietorship. If the great landlord allows us to walk through his fields freely and joyously, he may sometimes, say, once in twenty-one years, put up a fence or a boundary, which being interpreted means, This path is mine, not yours; the boundary will be taken down again tomorrow, but it is here today to signify that you have acquired no rights by constant use. It is not an unnatural intervention, nor do we see that it is an unreasonable intervention on the part of God if we deny Him, neglect Him, scorn Him, operate wholly against the spirit of His holiness, that He should now and again withhold the shower, or send such deluges upon the earth as shall wash away our seed and make a desert of our garden. (J. Parker, D. D.) The chief cause of calamities Great honour has always been paid by all nations to their supposed gods, and it has always been reckoned a crime to rob them of the glory of which they were supposed to be so jealous. One of the Greek comedians in a stage play asks this question, “ Who was the wicked author of the vines being blasted by the frost?” And he gives the answer, “ He who gave the honours of the gods to men.” This heathen writer teaches us a lesson when we fail to trace our trials to the first cause. Who shall say that some dishonour of the name of God may not be the cause of our afflictions? Sorrow does not come out of the dust. The seeds of disease are not driven about recklessly. The lightning does not strike by chance. There are reasons for what seems evil which we cannot trace, and perhaps one of the chief causes of the calamities which befall men may be found in their want of regard for the honour and glory of the Divine Name. (Quiver.) Jeremiah 3:4 Writ thou not from this time cry unto Me, My Father, Thou art the guide of my youth? The Divine Guide We are all travellers, but are not all travelling in the tame direction. We need a guide. There is only One to be relied upon. I. Why we need a guide.1. Because of our ignorance of the way.2. Because of our liability to take the wrong path.3. Because of our liability to leave the right path after we have chosen it. II. We should take God as our guide.1. Because He knows the way.2. Because He knows the trials that will befall us.3. Because He knows the perils that we shall encounter.4. Because He is our Father, and therefore kind and considerate. III. We should ask God to guide us now.1. Because the present time is the best.2. Because the present time is the safest.3. Because the present may be the only time. (Homilist.) Taking God as our Guide in youth I. It is due to God.1. He is your Maker, who gives you all things; therefore He has a supreme and sole right to you. 2. He has bought you at a vast expense, that you might be delivered from the curse of sin and the wrath to come. If an artist pays a large sum of money to get back his own painting from some one into whose hands it has fallen, and then labours to improve it, would you not say that he has a good title to such painting? Thus with the ransomed children of God. II. It will be good for yourselves.1. You need a guide. (1) Consider your character. Ignorance of the future, and without experience, should you not tremble to go alone? (2) Consider your situation. The road is beset with dangers, infested with robbers, filled with bypaths! (3) Consider the importance of your steps. Begin to wander, and who shall tell the issue? Worn out with fatigue, benighted in that trackless wilderness, you fall a prey to the forest beast, or are dashed in pieces over a hidden precipice. One evil habit may lead you to ruin, must cause you pain and trouble. One false step in youth may mar you forever. 2. God is infinitely the best Guide. That He is a sure and safe Guide, none can doubt. He is wise, knows all things, and can proportion trials to your strength. He never fails. You live in a world of changes; but He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But He is also a pleasant Guide. He is powerful to bring you out of trouble; He is gracious in it. In the day of the east wind He stays His rough wind, and “ tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.” (J. C. Herdman, M. A.) God’ s tender expostulation with the young I. The particulars of the proposal.1. That you should make God your Father; to love honour, and obey. 2. To choose God for the Guide of your youth; to regard His authority, follow His will, and comply with His directions. (1) By His Word.(2) By His Spirit. 3. To do these things instantly, without delay. II. Motives for co-reliance.1. The grace and condescension of the proposal. 2. The reasonableness of such a proceeding. Refuse the offer of His heavenly guidance, and you will be like a vessel in a boisterous sea without a pilot to direct your course. 3. The seasonableness of the proposal. “ From this time.” The time past cannot be recalled. You may deeply regret that you have hitherto neglected to make God your Father, and to choose Him for the Guide of your youth. But regret will not recover the time which is past. Opportunities lost are gone forever. Your business is to improve those which remain. The present time is still your own. (E. Cooper, M. A.) God the Guide of youth I. The proposal.1. It requires penitence. You must feel your depravity and lament your guilt. 2. It includes prayer. A life of communion with God. 3. It implies yielding yourself up to God, to walk in His ways, be guided by His counsel, and glorify His name. II. Your obligations. To whom will you give your affections if you withhold them from Him? III. Advantages to be gained by compliance.1. Safety. While leaning on your own wisdom, and walking in your own strength, you are liable to stray, stumble, fall. 2. Happiness. “ In His favour is life.” “ No peace to the wicked.” 3. Honour. Associated with the servants of God, angels, archangels, etc. Yes, and with Christ Himself, whose meat was to do God’ s will. IV. Combat objections.1. Sins too great for pardon. Christ’ s grace sufficient. 2. So weak. He takes by the hand, helps, upholds. 3. What need for being so religious? But you have no religion at all, if not wholly in earnest. 4. Not yet. This is impious as well as foolish. Every day and hour you are on the brink of death. V. Your reply. Only two answers: will, or will not. Turn not away. (J. Wooldridge.) The importance of early dedication to God I. The assumption. That the person is in a state of unregeneracy. Multitudes are thus. Refusing to listen to God. In the neglect of the claims of God there is an amount of daring of which we can hardly form a conception, especially in the case of the child of many prayers. II. The imitation. Why should you from this time say, “ Thou art the Guide of my youth?”1. The claims of Him who asks it.2. The dangers of delay.3. The final consequences of refusal. (D. E. Ford.) God condescending to be the Guide of youth I. Has not God already acted a most wise and friendly part?1. Review your general privileges. Who formed you from nothing into being? who assigned you a rank among human creatures? who prepared in a parent’ s heart the affections which welcomed and nourished the helpless stranger? who reared you up to youth? who kindled the dawn of mason? whose hand opened for you the warm and widening circle of friendship? 2. You are bound by peculiar obligations. It is no small thing that an heritage has been found for you in Britain. You are not the children of savages, mingling in their barbarous manners. II. Is not God able to fill up, through all future periods, the relations to which He invites your notice? He offers Himself as a Father and as a Guide. His power, His wisdom, and His goodness will support the titles. III. Does not the season of youth need such a Father and such a Guide? What can preserve the morals of youth? Shall the frail bark live in the tempest? Shall flames surround a military magazine, and not produce an explosion? Can a lamb make its way through a herd of wolves? IV. May not the season of youth be the only one that shall display such advantages as are attached to it? You know not that you shall survive this age; that you are under sentence is felt by yourselves, and sometimes lamented. Can you charm death away? Can you obtain a momentary respite? (Evangelist.) An address to youth I. Youth needs a guide.1. We are expressly assured by the prophet, “ That the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” And if this be true of old travellers who have long been moving Zion-ward, how much more of those who are only beginning to start! 2. There is one kind of knowledge in which the young must be deficient--that which is derived from trial, and which we call experience. 3. Now, too, the passions and appetites begin to rage in their violence. These becloud the understanding, and prevent reflection; and rendering them averse to reproof and impatient of control, urge them on, and plunge them into a thousand improprieties and embarrassments. II. God is ready to become your leader, and it is your duty and privilege to place yourselves under His direction. He is infinitely wise, and cannot lead you astray. He has conducted millions; and “ the wayfaring man, though a fool, has not erred” under His direction. He is infinitely powerful. He can support you under the heaviest burdens, deliver you from every adversary, and “ make all things work together for your good.” He is infinitely kind. He will bear with your infirmities, and sympathise with you in all your troubles. And He is infinitely faithful: not a word shall fail of all that He has spoken. III. How you are to engage His attention. “ Cry unto” Him. This familiar expression intends prayer and supplication; and it prevents you from using as an excuse for the omission of the duty--that you are not masters of words, and cannot deliver yourselves in proper language. For what is prayer? Is it not the desire of the heart towards God? If you cannot pray--cannot you cry unto Him? IV. There are particular seasons in which He expects to be sought after by the young, and from which He dates the expostulation--“ Wilt thou not from this time,” etc.1. When they leave the house of their friends, and the wing of their relations. 2. When bereaved of their parents. 3. At the commencement of a new period of life. 4. When the young see friends or companions carried off by a premature death. 5. At times of peculiar convictions and impressions. (W. Jay.) Youth encouraged to seek unto God I. The import of this language.1. Gratitude.2. Confidence.3. Prayer.4. A determined compliance with God’ s will. II. The force of the appeal made by God.1. Tender expostulation.2. Seasonable admonition.3. As arising from events which point out most clearly your need of an interest in the Divine favour. (R. Winter, D. D.) God to be chosen as a Guide by the young I. You greatly need some faithful and effective guidance in the shaping of your lives.1. Because the path of duty and of safety is often exceedingly difficult to find. Often, when determining what you are bound to accept as duty or to receive as truth, you have many circumstances to consider, many probabilities to estimate, many opposing arguments to weigh. While the general direction in which you are to move, if you intend to live wisely, is obvious enough, you may still find perplexities at every point, to extricate yourself from which will try, perhaps baffle, your utmost wisdom, who is sufficient for these things? 2. Because your own strong impulses are likely to mislead you. It is easy to believe that to be right or useful which accords with inclination. It is hard to think that to be obligatory, or best, to which the feelings are averse, and which involves the necessity of self-denial. 3. Because there are many who will studiously seek your ruin. (1) There are found even in the best conditions of society, the openly debased and vicious. (2) Besides these, there are many--corrupt in heart--who will seek to reach you with influences fitted to destroy your virtuous sentiments, and principles, and ultimate well-being. 4. Because so many are continually ruined. Where many fall, there is reason that all should fear. II. The reasonableness, the wisdom, of making God your guide.1. You owe it to God Himself thus to honour Him with your confidence. It is His right. 2. God alone can afford you a sufficient guidance. Where can you find another to whose care and leading you can safely and without anxiety, commit the infinitely precious interests of your being? III. When should God’ s offered guidance be accepted? “ From this time.”1. The present is a practicable time--a time in which without hindrance God may be intelligently” and cordially accepted as a guide. 2. The present is the very time that God Himself proposes. Remember now thy Creator.” 3. It is at the present time that your need of the blessing in question is becoming manifest and urgent. 4. The present may not improbably be the only time in which you will have it in your power to secure the Divine guidance (Proverbs 1:24-29). (Ray Palmer, D. D.) Divine guidance for life’ s journey Rev. Mark Guy Pearse says: “ I have read somewhere of one of our naval officers who sailed from Mexico round the Cape Horn to Rio, a distance of eight thousand miles, and for ninety days neither touched land nor scarcely saw a sail. At last he judged himself to be some twenty miles from Rio, and lay-to for the night. The next morning it was a dense fog, and he came on very cautiously, and when the fog suddenly lifted there in front of them rose the well-known Sugar-loaf Rock at the entrance of Rio Harbour. Thus it is that in spite of the great and wide sea where no landmarks or guide marks are, where are restless tides and currents and changeful winds, yet heaven stoops to teach men if they will be taught. The sun in the heavens gives every day its unerring counsel, the stars come out at night to whisper their cheery assurance. So He bringeth men to their desired haven. Now, if men can believe that, and so believe it as to trust themselves to it, I do not wonder that any can doubt that heaven bends over us to teach us where we are and whither we are going. If it is scientific to believe that heaven can grade us over the great sea, it does seem to be just simple common sense to think that heaven can lead us safe. God the best Guide The sailor, out on the restless sea, has one unfailing star to which he can always look with confidence, knowing that it will always be found at the same place. He may perhaps admire the brilliancy of Venus, or look with wonder at the ever-changing moon, but when he wants to take his bearings he looks at the unfailing, unchangeable polar star. Thank God that we have an unfailing Guide that will remain the same when the heavens have passed away. He, our Lord and Master, is the one absolutely unfailing star of hope to which we can look with implicit confidence. Jeremiah 3:5 Thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.The limitation of evil I. Some of the restraining influences of life. “ As thou couldest.” By many considerations we are restrained from fulfilling the evil impulses and designs of which we are conscious; our potential wickedness is not allowed to become actual.1. There is the restraint imposed by revelation. The possession of God’ s Word was a grand discipline to the people of Israel. To know the moral perfections of God, to discern the moral significance of human life, to possess the moral law expressed with such clearness, fulness, and force, was a rare privilege. This kept Israel back from the things of lust and cruelty and shame which defiled and destroyed their heathen neighbours. Are we not today restrained by the same gracious influence? Our poet speaks of “ the silver streak” that comes between us and the Continent, delivering our nation from fears, wars, and contagions. Is not that revelation which is in our hands a silver streak coming between us and contemporaneous paganism? 2. There is the restraint imposed by grace. The direct Divine action on our mind, will, conscience, feeling. This was the master-restraint of the antediluvian world. As a horse is held in by bit and bridle, as a ship on some rocky coast is held by her anchor, so have we all in dangerous clays been restrained by the Spirit of grace. Let men quench that Spirit, and the disastrous consequence is soon revealed. 3. There is the restraint imposed by society. Our civilisation, which is the grace of God organised, is full of restraining influences to which we owe far more than we sometimes think. The civil law. Public opinion. Social etiquette. Business. Domesticity. If it should be suggested that the laws, institutions, and properties of society which forbid excess are themselves expressions of the moral sense, it will at once be palpable to most that these circumscriptions are dictated by fear, policy, and selfishness rather than by any love of righteousness for its own sake. That one wolf holds another wolf in check must not be construed to mean that we are a flock of lambs. II. Notwithstanding the restraints of life, we discover the wickedness of our nature by going as far as possible in the direction of transgression. Israel hitherto had abstained from the extreme acts of transgression which would have involved immediate retribution, but they showed their disposition by playing with the fire, by trifling on the edge of the abyss. So in these days we show what we really are by going as far as we dare or can in actual disobedience. We go as far as our material will permit. “ As thou couldest.” As thou couldest with impunity. We are intemperate, with a due regard to our health; freer indulgence would destroy us, and that is not what we mean. We are uncharitable, with a due regard to our reputation; we must not infringe the law of libel. We are ambitious and vain; but our ostentation must be limited by considerations of pride and covetousness. As thou couldest with decency. We must not qualify our reputation; we must not be guilty of bad manners, bad form, bad taste. As thou couldest with advantage. Carrying out unrighteousness right up to the point where it ceases to be lucrative, and breaking it off just there. And let none conclude that sins toned down by such considerations are of less malignant quality, or less offensive before God, than are sins of a more violent or exaggerated order. III. Many would at once proceed to greater lengths of wickedness if the restrictive influences of life were withdrawn.1. Note the extent to which men resist these saving influences. As some engineers are wishful to drive a tunnel under the Channel and establish immediate relations with the Continent, so men are busy in all directions ingeniously attempting to evade the silver streaks which heaven has mercifully placed between them and the excesses of passion and appetite. The criticism of the Bible in the literary world, the impatience felt with it in the individual life, are frequently nothing more than a revolt against its noble righteousness. We fret at the narrowness of the way which leadeth unto life. In the name of free thought, of a free press, of free restitutions, the nude m art must be encouraged, outspoken writings protected, sexual life must be unfettered. With what strange infatuation do we rebel against and seek to escape the crystal deep which God has established between us and ruin! 2. The second sign of the irregularity and inordinativeness of our desire is found in the popularity of certain imaginative literature Modern society has put distinct and authoritative limits to many forms of indulgence; but human nature shows its old quality unchanged, for when it can no longer gratify itself in the actual world it betakes itself to the ideal world. Conclusion--1. Let us recognise the glory of God’ s preventing grace. The Dutch call the chain of dykes which protects their fields and their firesides from the wild sea, “ the golden border.” God’ s grace directly affecting our heart, or expressed in the constitution of society and the circumstances of life, is a golden border shutting out a raging threatening sea of evil. (2) Let us confess the folly of our self-righteousness. The consciousness of a self-righteousness often stands in the way of men attaining the righteousness which is of God, but the foregoing reflections show how little our self-righteousness is worth. Looking into our heart, we know ourselves to be worse than the world takes us to be. As Victor Hugo expresses it, “ Our dark side is unfathomable . . . One of the hardest labours of the just man is to expunge from his soul a malevolence which it is difficult to efface. Almost all our desires, when examined, contain what we dare not avow.” (3) We see the necessity and urgency of the grace which converts and perfects. It is by no means wholly satisfactory that we are kept by restraining grace; the grace which converts us into a new self is what we must most earnestly covet and pursue. Christianity brings us a motive of unparalleled grandeur; it fills the soul with the highest visions, convictions, loves, ambitions. And there is a sublime concurrence of forces in its motive. (W. L. Watkinson.) The sinner’ s desperate depravity I. God in His providence has surrounded the sinner with many circumstances operating powerfully to modify human character.1. Education. This makes Christendom differ from the dark places of the earth, which are full of the habitations of cruelty. 2. Human law. Look at some country in a state of anarchy. Look at some city or village where law is suspended. Look at France, while under the reign of terror, when law was abrogated, and see one company after another pass under the guillotine; and the executioners of today the victims of tomorrow; and, tell us, is not character greatly modified by municipal law? 3. The law of God. If men have no other belief in it, but that which may be denominated the faith of history, it still greatly modifies human character. 4. The troublesome supervision of conscience. This everlasting censorship, while it has held men back from sin, has been hated, warred against, scowled upon, by the whole human family. 5. The whole Gospel has modified human character beyond all calculation. It so commends itself to their reason, and applies such power to their consciences, that it becomes exceedingly difficult to understand it. It is so tender, majestic, commanding, and reasonable, that it for a time melts and overawes many who ultimately reject its provisions. 6. All the Gospel institutions--every thing associated with Christian worship operates in modifying human character, and rendering it in appearance better than it is. 7. The desire of heaven has the same effect. None, perhaps, are so abandoned as not to hope that they may, after all, live and be happy after death. 8. The fear of hell 9. The expectation of judgment. 10. Public sentiment. 11. Domestic affection. The silken cords which entwine round the family circle prevent the commission of many a crime. II. By these circumstances every sinner is actually restrained in his wickedness and held down in his downward career.1. Men are uneasy under these circumstances, which shows them to be restraints. Let men be unrestrained, and they will be easy. It is only pain of some kind that renders them uneasy, and willing to change their position. Hence they will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved. 2. Men are constantly trying to alter their circumstances. But they are too indolent by nature to try to alter their circumstances, unless they are circumstances of restraint. 3. When men at length alter their circumstances in any of these respects, they often show out a worse character; manifesting what they would have been before, if they might, if these restraints had been sundered and they let loose upon the world. 4. When these restraints are all removed, men are uniformly far more wicked than if they had not been imposed. III. Every sinner does make the attempt and succeeds as far as God will let him to sunder these ligatures that would hold him fast to reason, hope, and heaven.1. See how he breaks over and breaks through the restraints of education. He Cries to throw off what he knew of God, and all he had learned of the Saviour, and of the operations of the Holy Spirit; all he had learned of the operations of the Godhead, in the history of the Church. And when he cannot forget, he raves at his own recollections. 2. When he has tried for a time, but has tried in vain, to retrace the process of education, he finds himself reined in by human laws. If he cannot forget God, perhaps he can snap asunder the power of human control. He can evade all human ties. He can rise above the law, and tread it down like the mire of the street. Or he can violate its precepts and despise its regulations, and hold on and hold out in despite of all its sanctions, presuming in his heart that God will not know, neither will the Almighty consider it. Thus he blesses himself in his own delusion, and trusts for safety in his own righteousness. But he meets with more disturbance yet. 3. From the law of God. Impenitent and unbelieving, he has read in that law what, if he cannot put down, he is a ruined man: “ Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Thus is dashed, at the first stroke, the whole fabric of a dark and fatal idolatry. If man worships his money, or his merchandise, or his farm, or his friend, or anything but God, or gives anything else his supreme affection, even if he does not professedly worship it, he is condemned of God. And He adds, “ Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” But how unfashionable it would be to care about this commandment, and let the apprehension that God “ will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain,” produce a serious moment, or a pang of distress! 4. Not quite so easily does he dispose of the troublesome supervision of conscience. This vicegerent of Heaven stays often many a month after open war is declared. It sometimes will hold close conference with the heart, although the heart may wish to be alone. It will not go to sleep in the grave: it will watch, even while the wretch is dying, to secure the honour of God, and gather courage for a fresh attack just by the dying pillow And the agony of its first onset in the unseen world, hard by the place of dying, devils cannot know. For they have never spurned a dying Saviour, and they have never died. But all the embrasures that can be opened upon the soul by this moral avenger must be closed, or its eternal thunders will be heard and felt. 5. But still he has a slight conflict with the institutions of the Gospel. Every church-going bell fills his conscience with guilt, and each return of the day of rest reminds him of a mother’ s prayers. He must pervert its holy design, or writhe under the lashes of a guilty conscience. 6. The hardened sinner would dislodge himself from all thought of heaven or fear of hell. And yet these are very powerful ligatures, and often the last to be sundered. When men think of relinquishing heaven, they sometimes forget, that awakening previous question, “ If I abandon the thought of heaven, where shall I then be? What means that worm which never dies? What mean those chains of darkness--and that gnashing of teeth--and that quenchless fire?” 7. The sinner must have broken through all the restraints of public sentiment, before we can know how bad he would be; and this ligature he tries to snap asunder. But he will find that public very populous, before he gets through. After he has gone his round with mortals, and has learned not to care what men think of his conduct, he must cease, too, to care what is thought of his deeds in heaven. 8. There yet remains to be noticed one of the most powerful motives of restraint, the domestic affections. It is impossible to guess what men would be, till they throw off the hold, for instance, that a mother has upon a profligate son. (D. A. Clark.) Jeremiah 3:6-11 Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.Comparative criminality I. State this decision of the Lord.1. Israel, from the time they became a distinct nation, cast off God; therefore, given into Assyrian captivity and divorced by God. 2. Judah had retained the worship of God, but revelled in idolatry. 3. Because of their apparent superiority, Judah would scarcely own her relationship to Israel. 4. Though their sins were ostensibly less, they were committed with tenfold aggravations. Their advantages had been greater; larger number of prophets sent them; enjoyed stated ordinances; presence of God in their midst (in Temple). II. Confirm this decision of the Lord. Specious insincerity is worse than open profaneness, because--1. It argues a deeper depravity of heart.2. It casts more dishonour upon God.3. It does more extensive injury to man. Address-- (1) Those who are careless about religion.(2) Those who profess religion. (C. Simeon, M. A.) Judah hath not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly:--Hypocrisy The word “ feignedly” is literally, with a lie. See the picture: here is one figured as a penitent woman, who comes to pray--in other words, to tell lies in the sanctuary, and to heap up falsehoods upon the altar where the fire has gone out. But is this possible? It is not only possible, it is actual, it is the history of today. Could we but see things as they really are, we should see that the largest figure amongst many competitive figures is that of hypocrisy. That admits of many colours and many definitions and modifications. All hypocrisy is not the same as to external attitude and bulk and colour. How subtle it is! It likes a little prayer; it does not object to go where the music is good, and where the preaching is pointless; it can speak smoothly, when it is full of anger; it can promise musically, and disappoint mockingly and triumphantly; it can sit like a saint, whilst its heart is far away or is plotting mischief. There is, then, a return to God which is no return; there is a going to Church which is not going to church; there is a piety which is impious; there is a calling to God as Father which God Himself replies to ironically, as if men would call Him anything to flatter Him into the suspension of His judgment or the conferring of an immediate favour. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 3:12-15 Return, thou backsliding Israel.The backslider’ s return I. The invitation to return.1. From one who (1) has been wronged (Jeremiah 3:13);(2) might therefore justly be angry;(3) but is “ merciful” (Jeremiah 3:12). 2. To one who (1) has been grossly disobedient;(2) has been equally ungrateful;(3) is reaping consequences of disobedience and ingratitude. II. The condition of return. Confession is the condition of return, because--1. Genuine confession of sin can proceed only from genuine contrition for sin, which is not unfrequently brought about (Luke 15:17) by a comparison of the lamentable consequences of backsliding, with happiness previously enjoyed. 2. “ Godly sorrow” or genuine contrition “ worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of” ; i.e. it finds relief only in that confession which is the condition of return. True repentance involves-- (1) Contrition for sin against God.(2) Confession of sin to God.(3) Return from sin “ towards God” (Acts 20:21). III. Results of the return.1. God’ s anger will be averted (Jeremiah 3:12). 2. God will Himself escort the wanderer home. 3. A happy future. Comprising (1) life under a rule which can commit no errors, legislative or judicial (Jeremiah 3:15); (2) a promise that the restored shall not “ walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:17), the cause of their backsliding. (H. A. Hall, B. D.) Return! Return! 1. It is a fearful thing that a believer should backslide. (1) Such mercy has been shown to him.(2) Such love has been enjoyed by him.(3) Such prospects lie before him.(4) Such comfort is sacrificed by his backsliding. 2. It is a wretched business for the man himself, since by it nothing is gained, and everything is endangered. 3. It is injurious to the whole church to which the backslider belongs. 4. It is mischievous to the outside world. 5. What is the immediate duty of the backslider? the immediate remedy for his backsliding?--“ Return.” I. Wonder awakened by the call.1. The usual jealousy of love.2. The abundance of the sin (Jeremiah 3:2).3. The obstinate continuance in evil, notwithstanding chastisements (Jeremiah 3:3).4. The refusal of tender persuasion (Jeremiah 3:4).5. The perversion of mercy (Jeremiah 3:5).6. The warnings which had been despised (Jeremiah 3:6-11). It is a great increase of iniquity when we perceive the suffering which it causes others, and yet persevere m it ourselves. II. Memories aroused by the call.1. Does it not remind you of other days? (1) When you first came to Jesus.(2) When you were happy with other believers.(3) When you could teach and warn others.(4) When you began to go aside, a little.(5) When you have sinned grievously through this backsliding. 2. Indulge these memories till they affect your heart. III. Reasons urged for obeying the call.1. It is God Himself who utters it.2. Anger will be removed (Jeremiah 3:12).3. Love continues (Jeremiah 3:14).4. Healing will be given (Jeremiah 3:22). IV. Directions given to make obedience to the call easy.1. “ Only acknowledge thine iniquity” (Jeremiah 3:13). What a simple matter!2. Lament the evil (Jeremiah 3:21).3. Own the sad result (Jeremiah 3:25).4. Trust in God for restoration (Jeremiah 3:23).5. Heartily renew allegiance (Jeremiah 3:22). V. Promises made to those answering to the call.1. Special guidance (Jeremiah 3:14).2. Suitable food (Jeremiah 3:15).3. Spiritual insight (Jeremiah 3:16-17).4. Childlike spirit (Jeremiah 3:19). (C. H. Spurgeon.) Backsliding Let us have up the backsliders, and ask them why they slid back. Of course they have excuses. All wrongdoers have. You interview any defaulting bank officer, etc., and they will tell you a tale of sweet and childlike artlessness to account for their weakness, as they will call it.1. I was deluded into being confirmed by the urgent solicitations of the rector, or my parents, or my Sunday school teacher. I was over-persuaded by my wife or my friends. I acted hastily. Now just put this into plain English and look at it. You were deluded into an attempt to rise to a higher plane. You were over-persuaded to strive to be a better: man or woman. You acted hastily in resolving to strive to get the better of evil passions and ugly habits. How does that sound? 2. My rector said that there would be a great comfort in being a communicant, that it would bring a peaceful conscience, and a joy in life, and a satisfaction of heart. Now I did not find it so. After I became a communicant, my old bad feelings returned, and I gave way often to evil thoughts, words, and deeds, and the world did not change, and I was not very different, and so I stopped the whole thing. Now, if you had a very sick friend, and the doctor should leave pills which if steadily taken would bring relief, what would you reply on hearing your friend say after taking two or three, “ I feel no better, I will take no more” ? You would reply: “ The doctor never said a dose or two would answer. He said that if persevered in the pills would bring relief.” Would you blame the doctor or the medicine, if your friend’ s bad symptoms still continued? 3. It was such hard work. Why, there was no end to the care we had to take. We had to watch our words all the time to see that we let out no scandalous or ugly or impure ones, and our steps that we went nowhere which would be likely to peril our Christian profession. We found that to be consistent we had to struggle, and to meet opposition, and to go contrary to our own wishes, and when we fell, it was so hard to get back, we got discouraged and gave up. Young men have told me that, whom I saw, just to keep their places in the store, working like very galley slaves, thinking no self-denial too great to hold on there, rising early, going without sleep, hurrying through their meals, restraining their tempers, bearing patiently with troublesome customers and overbearing employers. Do you not see the awful inconsistency, the poor futility, of this excuse? (C. Locke, D. D.) Israel invited to renew her marriage by repentance I. God sends messengers of mercy and not of judgment (Jeremiah 3:12). II. God requires that they humble themselves before Him (Jeremiah 3:13). III. God urges the most affecting considerations, in order to prevail upon them.1. The merciful disposition He felt towards them.2. The relation under which He still regarded them.3. The benefits which He was still ready to confer upon them. (C. Simeon, M. A.) A proclamation from the King of kings Backsliders are very many. Departing from the living God is no strange thing. Many Christians are one while hot, and another lukewarm, and even cold. They are diligent and fervent today, but idle and indifferent tomorrow. Even the best of believers are not always at their best. Who among us has not had cause to make confession that he has not kept up to his first love at all times; neither has his lamp been always clearly burning? I. The proclamation: “ Go and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith” the Lord.”1. It was to be a proclamation, for God is King; and if His subjects rebel He does not lose the rights of His sovereignty. He sends, therefore, to them a royal message with all the power which belongs to the word of a king. “ Go and proclaim.” 2. This proclamation is sent to the worst of sinners, to the very basest of backsliders. They broke their marriage bonds to the one living and true God, and made themselves loathsome in His sight by the most detestable idolatries. It is sad that there should have been such a race of backsliders; but it is glorious to think that to such as these the message of God’ s mercy was sent. 3. The Israelitish people were not only the worst kind of backsliders, but they had already reaped in a very large measure the result of their backslidings, for they had been carried away captive. They had suffered the loss of all things because they had departed from their God, and yet they had not learned the lesson which affliction was meant to teach It was still needful to call them to repentance, and God bade them return to Him: His proclamation was to them. 4. I see some mercy, and that of no little kind, in the messenger who was sent to deliver this message, for it was Jeremiah, that man of a broken spirit, who could say of himself, “ I am the man that hath seen affliction.” II. A precept. It is a very simple one, and as short as it is clear. It is given in the proclamation,--“ Return, thou backsliding Israel.”1. Return,--be as you were; come back: repent, and do your first works. Hearken this is the precept; return unto your Saviour; just as you are, come back to Him. Come back as you came at first, with your sin acknowledged, looking to His Cross for pardon. Did you grow too great, and think you could live without your Saviour? Return! Did you dream of being so perfect that you did not want His righteousness, for your own would suffice? Away with that glittering bauble, that idle notion of thy perfection, and come back, and beat upon thy breast, and say, “ God be merciful to me a sinner.” Repent of thy pride, and return again to thy Lord Jesus Christ. 2. Return at once. Delays are always dangerous, but never so dangerous as when they are proposed by backsliders. 3. And come thou back with all thy heart. Let there be no mimic repentance; no pretended returning. Thou shalt find the Lord if thou seek Him with all thy heart, and all thy soul. 4. And mind that thou return practically; that is, that thy life shall be changed, thy idols broken, thy omitted duties fulfilled with eagerness, neglected means of grace pursued with fervour; that done which thou hast left undone, and that evil forsaken into which thou hast gone with such headlong folly. III. The promise. “ I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you.” See that anger, like a black cloud, charged not with refreshing rain, but with fire flakes that shall bum as they fall: ay, burn their way into the very core of your being, as with the fires of hell. Not a flake of it shall burn you if you return unto your God. There is full, free, and immediate forgiveness to be had. “ I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins. Return unto Me.” This is a grand motive for coming back: the sin that separates is put away. He will wash you thoroughly from your iniquity, and cleanse you from your sin, and whatsoever you need He will give to you, and He will not upbraid you. I find that the passage might be read, “ I will not cause My face to fall upon you,” meaning this--that if the child of God comes back, God will not look angry at him any more. “ I will not cause My anger to fall upon you. I will not even cause My face to fall at the sight of you; but I will receive you graciously; I will in tender mercy put away your transgressions, and reveal My love to you.” IV. The argument.1. Here is, first, God’ s mercy. Nothing delights God more than to forgive sin: at this blessed work He is at home. He is happy at it; He finds pleasure in man’ s turning to Him, and finding life. Mercy as His last-born attribute. Until sin came there was no room for mercy--the mercy that forgives, and therefore mercy is God’ s Benjamin, the son of His right hand, and He delights to give to it ten times as much as to His other attributes when they feast together. It is the heaven of His heaven to receive a hell-black sinner to His heart, and put away his sin. “ I am merciful,” saith the Lord. Therefore come to Him, and believe in His mercy; and doubt no longer, but lovingly receive what He lovingly gives. 2. As for you who once knew Him, and loved Him, and rejoiced in Him, I want you just to dwell on that second argument, namely, marriage. “ Return, for I am married unto you, saith the Lord.” It is done, and though you do not stand to it He does, the great transaction still stands on His part: though you believe not, He abideth faithful. He has bought you with His blood, and the price will never return into His veins. Wherefore, come back to Him. V. The advice that He here gives as to how we are to return. He says, “ Only acknowledge thine iniquity.” “ Alas, I have so wandered!” Acknowledge it. “ But I have done it so many times!” Acknowledge it. “ But I have wandered against light and knowledge!” Acknowledge it. It is not a hard thing to do, to get thee to thy chamber, and before God confess thy faults. You have, first of all, to have a knowledge of it, and then to acknowledge it. Feel thy sin, and then confess it. Be convinced of it, and then plead guilty at the judgment seat. “ What am I to acknowledge?”1. Your breach of covenant--that you have transgressed against Jehovah your God. 2. Next acknowledge your greedy sin--that thou “ hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree.” 3. Confess also your hardness of heart. God has spoken, and you would not hear; He has entreated, and you would not regard Him; He has come very near to you, and you have turned your back upon Him. 4. Confess also your ingratitude. His voice, which is your Father’ s voice, you have not heard or obeyed. What unnaturalness! (C. H. Spurgeon.) Love of the world I. The ground of the appeal. “ I am married unto you.” A man to have slidden back must at one time have been forward. He cannot have truly wandered from the Lord, unless he has personally known Him. To those, therefore, who are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus is the appeal made, “ Turn, O backsliding children,” etc. II. To whom the appeal is addressed. The Christian who seeks first his worldly advantage, and fails to see that his “ chief end is to glorify God,” is led step by step farther and farther from the Most High. III. The appeal itself.1. The context shows the spirit in which it is to be complied with (verse 13). First must come confession. As the old proverb has it, “ Sensibility to a fault is half-way to amendment.” 2. In the text itself we have the appeal in one word--“ Turn.” 3. The promise associated with this appeal (verse 23). This is a promise of Almighty power. I remember hearing a brother who, when asked who converted him, replied, “ God converted me, who else could do it?” So may we say of the healing of the backslider, “ Who but God can do it?” Blessed be the name of the Almighty, He promises to do it. 4. The language used by the backslider as setting forth the One to whom he returns (verse 22). (W. P. Lockhart.) To backsliders I. The nature of backsliding.1. It is going back. (1) Easily.(2) Gradually.(3) Silently. 2. It is generally preceded by-- (1) Pride (Proverbs 16:18).(2) Vain confidence (Matthew 26:33).(3) Negligence (Matthew 26:58). 3. A man may be-- (1) Enticed by sinful pleasures.(2) Led back by sinful companions (1 Kings 11:1-43).(3) Driven back by sinful fears (Matthew 26:69-74). II. The misery of backsliding.1. Heavy losses. (1) Self-respect.(2) Tender conscience.(3) Sweetest enjoyments.(4) Brightest hopes. 2. Severe disappointment. His holy expectations are lost, of what he might have been and done for Christ, and the after rewards. 3. Terrible disgrace. (1) Before the world, as a hypocrite.(2) Before the Church, as “ the thief” (Jeremiah 2:12).(3) Before God (Psalms 51:3-9). III. The remedy for backsliding. “ Return,” etc.1. Immediately. (1) Delay makes your case worse.(2) God is willing to pardon.(3) The Church is waiting to receive you. 2. Humbly. (1) Confessing sin.(2) Abhorring sin.(3) Forsaking sin. 3. Believingly. Remember-- (1) The love of your espousals.(2) The individuality of your relationship.(3) The love of your husband.(4) Your own duty. (The Study.) The mercifulness of the Divine nature When the Duke of Argyll was taken in rebellion in Scotland, and brought before James the Second, the King said to him, “ You know that it is in my power to pardon you?” It is reported that the prisoner answered, “ It may be m your power, but it is not in your nature to forgive,” --a speech which, whether true or not, cost him his life. He died like a stoic, executed at Temple Gate. What a contrast to the Divine. To err is human, to forgive is Divine. I am married unto you. The relationship of marriage These be dainty words--a grateful anodyne for a troubled conscience. Such singular comfort is fitted to cheer up the soul, and put the brightest hue on all her prospects. The person to whom it is addressed hath an eminently happy position. God speaks to His Church in her most abject estate, and though He does not fail to rebuke her sin, to lament it, and to make her lament it too, yet still in such an estate He says to her, “ I am married unto you.” Oh! it is grace that He should be married to any of us, but it is grace at its highest pitch, it is the ocean of grace at its flood tide, that He should speak thus of “ backsliding children.” I. Consider the relationship which is here spoken of.1. The affinity of marriage, though exceedingly near of kin, is not one of birth. Marriage is not a relationship of natural birth but of voluntary contract or covenant. Such is the relationship which exists between the believer and his God. Whatever relation there was originally between God and man, it was extinguished by the fall. Now, Christian, just contemplate what you were, and the degraded family to which you belonged, that you may magnify the riches of His grace who espoused you in your low estate, and hath so bound Himself with all the pledges of a husband that He saith, “ I am married unto you.” 2. Marriage union is the result of choice. The first choice is with God. That choice was made, we believe, before the foundation of the world. God never began to love His people. He saw them in the glass of His decrees; He foresaw them, with His eye of prescience, in the mass of creatureship, all fallen and ruined; but yet He beheld them, and pitied and loved them. “ They shall be Mine,” saith the Lord. Here we are all agreed; and we ought to be all agreed upon the second point, namely, that we also have chosen our God. 3. Marriage is cemented by mutual love. Where there is not this mutual affection, it deserves not the name of marriage. Need I talk to you of the love of God? It is a theme we are scarcely competent to talk of. 4. This marriage necessitates certain mutual relations. I cannot say “ duties,” for the word seems out of place on either side. How can I speak of the great God making pledges of faithfulness? and yet with reverence, let me word it so, for in my vocabulary I have hardly words to set it forth. When God becomes a husband, He undertakes to do a husband’ s part--to nourish, to cherish, to shield, to protect, to bless those with whom He condescends, in infinite mercy, to enter into union. And now, what upon our side? The wife has to reverence her husband, and to be subject unto him in all things. That is precisely our position towards Him who has married us. Let His will be our will. Let His wish be our law. 5. It also involves mutual confidences. In a true marriage, the husband and wife become one. Henceforth their joys and their cares, their hopes and their labours, their sorrows and their pleasures, rise and blend together in one stream. The Lord our God has said it. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. Now, Christian, just see: you stand in the relation of a spouse, and you must tell your very heart out to Christ. 6. This marriage implies fellowship in all its relations. Whatsoever a husband possesses becomes his wife’ s. She cannot be poor if he be rich; and what little she has, whatever it may be, comes to him. When Christ took His people, He gave them all He had. Now, it is saying but very little when I add, that, therefore, whatever we have, belongs to Him--oh! it is so little, so very little, but one wishes it were more. 7. The very crown of marriage is mutual delight and complacency. The wife of a Persian nobleman, having gone to a feast which was given by the great Darius, was asked by her husband whether she did not think that Darius was the finest man in the world. No, she said, she did not think so; she never saw any one in the world who was comparable to her husband. And doubtless that is just the opinion which a husband forms of his wife and a wife of her husband where the marriage is such as it should be. Now, certainly Christ sets a very high store upon us. He does not see us as we are, but in His infinite grace He sees us as we are to be. The sculptor says he can see a bust in a block of marble, and that all he has to do is to chip away the extra marble, and let the bust appear. So Christ can see a perfect being in every one of us, if we are His people; and what He is about with us day by day is taking off the excrescences, making us to be like Himself. And as for us, who are His people, I am sure we can say that there is no delight which can equal communion with Christ. II. How far do you and I experimentally understand this? Oh! blind eyes, that cannot see beauty in the Saviour! Jesus! they are besotted, they are mad, who cannot love Thee! It is a strange infatuation of the sons of men to think that they can do without Thee, that they can see any light apart from Thee, Thou Son of Righteousness, or anything like beauty in all the gardens of the world apart from Thee, Thou Rose of Sharon, Thou Lily of the Valley! O that they knew Thee! But, Christian, I speak to you. Surely you know something about this, that God is married to you? If you do, can you not say with me, “ Yes, and He has been a very faithful husband to me” ? Well, then, speak well of Him, speak well of Him! Make this world hear His praise! As for you who do not know Him, I should like to ask you this question, and do you answer it for yourselves. Do you want to be married to Christ? Do you wish to have Him? Oh! then, there will be no difficulties in the way of the match. If thy heart goes after Christ, He will have thee. Whoever thou mayst be, He win not refuse thee. Oh! He seeks thee! And when thou seekest Him, that is a sure sign that He has found thee. Though thou mayst not have found Him, yet He has found thee already. The wedding ring is ready. Faith is the golden ring which is the token of the marriage bond. (C. H. Spurgeon.) One of a city.-- One by one The revelation of God to man is progressive. A revelation depends upon the power of the person revealing to give, and equally upon the power of the person receiving to receive. God could not, if He would, reveal the whole truth concerning Himself to the human race at the outset--not because He was unable to impart, but because the human race was unable to accept. The revelation of God in human history has therefore been a gradual and a progressive revelation. The wise men of all nations have always believed in one God. But there was one nation in which the wise men were wise enough to believe that the common people should also be taught that there is one God; and so, while in all the surrounding nations the doctrine of the unity of God was an esoteric doctrine--that is, a doctrine reserved for the few--in the Hebrew nation the prophets took this interior and secret doctrine, and, by many a trope and figure, and by many a direct affirmation, gave it to the common people. And thence they went on to learn and to teach that this God is a righteous God. The gods of the nations about were either unmoral or immoral; but the doctrine of the prophets, of the Old Testament was, God is a righteous God, deals righteously, expects righteousness. Connected with that was the teaching that God stands in relation, not to the whole human race, for that was too large a doctrine for them to accept at first, but in special relation to the Jewish race; and then that He did stand in relation to the other people also, but in the relation to the other people of a judge, and in the relation to the Jewish people of a Father. And so grew up, in the earlier period of Jewish history, the notion that God had chosen one nation, and was dealing with that nation--guiding, guarding, inspiring, redeeming it. Time passes on. This nation sins more and more, and the prophets see the gathering clouds--gathering for its destruction. They see the Assyrians and the Chaldeans on the north and east gathering against the nation, and they begin to say, Although you are God’ s chosen people, God will punish you and carry you away captive; but still Israel is God’ s nation, and God will save Israel; though He carries you away captive, He will so discipline you that He will bring you back as a nation, and as a nation you shall be saved and redeemed. Time went on another hundred years or so, and the prophesied disaster drew near, and Jeremiah came, and he brought another message. He said, No, this nation is not to be saved; but God will gather out of the nation here one and there another; He is married to the nation, but the nation as a nation He has given up as hopeless; nevertheless, He will take one out of a city, and two out of a family, and will bring them to Zion; He will deal with them one by one. When Christ came upon the earth, He met the old impression that Israel was to be treated as a nation, and it almost seems at first as though He shared that hope; but His later message was, God will take away the kingdom from Israel; and will give it to a new people that will bring forth the fruits thereof; this people He will gather one at a time from all the world, gathering them into the one great Israel of God. I. God as a Creator and Ruler over nature deals in individual ways. Mr. Ruskin has called attention with great eloquence to the difference between the old-time workman and the new-time workman. The old-time workman worked individually, himself carved the whole piece, whatever it was, and so put himself into that carving; it was the product of his hand not only, but of his brain and his heart, and was the manifestation of himself. The modern industrial products are the products of machinery They are multiplied and cheapened, but they are no longer individual. Now, men think of God as one who puts a great machinery in operation, and that works out the product. But not so does the Bible represent Him, and not so does modern philosophy represent Him. God is not a first great cause. He is the perpetual, eternal, everlasting, and only cause, the cause that lies beneath all phenomena, so that every product of nature is a new and different manifestation of a God who is in every phenomenon. This is the reason for the infinite variation in phenomena. God never made two faces alike; never made two blades of grass alike; nothing that ever came from God’ s hand, was exactly the repetition of anything else that ever came from God’ s hand. II. As in nature, so in His dealings with humanity.1. He gives to each individual in the Church and each citizen in the nation His personal work. Humanity is not like a great army that is marching along in serried rank, and if one man drops out another man can take his place; nor like a factory in which a thousand men are working, and if one drops out some one else can come in and carry on his work. It is individual and personal work, and God comes to you, and says, “ I have something for you to do, and if you do not do it, it will be left undone; there will be one vacancy, one citizen left out of the assembly, one blank space in the page.” 2. So He deals with each individual in all the discipline of life. He never sends a tear, a heartache, a failure, what men call a disaster, except as He sees the need for it. He knows what each soul wants, and to each one He adjusts the medicine according to the necessity. 3. So, in all the administration of His love, God deals with you one by one. We discuss the question of indiscriminate charity. The phrase is a contradiction in terms. Charity is discrimination. Love cannot be undiscriminating. God does not give His benefits by wholesale. God does not sound a trumpet when He does His alms, to gather the people to receive them. In all His benefactions, He deals with one at a time. “ My God shall supply all your need” --that is Paul’ s declaration. Special providences! There are no other. All providences are special. God does not throw men out to the influence of certain great generic laws and then interfere to help them on special occasions. God’ s loving kindness and tender mercies are over all His works. Every life is guided and directed by the hand of an infinite love, if we only will allow it to guide. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.) Jeremiah 3:15I will give you pastors according to Mine heart. The character and teaching of Christ’ s ministers I. Their character. To be a “ pastor after God’ s heart,” a man must not only theoretically understand, but practically feel the truths he sets forth in his teaching. How describe the burden of a guilty conscience, if he has never felt it himself? How expatiate on the love and unfold the preciousness of a Saviour, whilst himself still out of Christ? How exhort hearers to set affections on things above, when his own thoughts are entirely absorbed by things below? II. Their teaching. What they have found to be, by God’ s blessing, useful to themselves, they will bring before their people. They will not daub the wall with untempered mortar, crying, “ Peace, peace,” when there is no peace; but, will “ cry aloud and lift up their voice like a trumpet,” to warn the unconverted of their danger, and convince them of their guilt. Nor will they show the disease without, at the same time, declaring the remedy. They will prove to their hearers their numberless shortcomings, in order that they may be led the more highly to prize the Saviour’ s merits. Conclusion--1. Seek the increase of such pastors.2. Help to provide for such pastors. (C. Clayton, M. A.) The duty of a pastor I. To feed the Church with knowledge and understanding. This is by preaching the Gospel.1. There is spiritual wisdom in understanding the mysteries of the Gospel, that we may be able to declare the whole counsel of God, and the riches and treasures of the grace of Christ unto the souls of men (Acts 20:27; 1 Corinthians 2:1-4; Ephesians 3:7-9). 2. Authority is required. What is authority in a preaching ministry? It is a consequent of unction, and not of office. 3. Experience of the things preached. 4. Skill to divide the Word aright. 5. The knowledge and consideration of the state of the flock. 6. To be actuated by zeal for the glory of God, and compassion to the souls of men. II. Continual prayer for the Churches over which Christ has made them overseers.1. No man can have any evidence in his own soul, that he doth conscientiously perform any ministerial duty towards his flock, who doth not continually pray for them. 2. This is the way whereby we may bless our congregations. 3. What shall we pray for? (1) For the success of the Word that we preach unto them.(2) For the presence of Christ in all our assemblies. III. To preserve the truth and doctrine of the Gospel that is committed to the Church. What is required hereunto?1. A clear apprehension in ourselves of those doctrines and truths which we are so to defend. 2. Love of the truth. 3. Let us take heed in ourselves of any inclination to novel opinions, especially in, or about, or against such points of faith, as those wherein they who are fallen asleep, found life, comfort, and power. 4. There is skill and ability required hereunto, to discover and be able to oppose and confound the cunning sophistry of adversaries. Great prayer, watchfulness, and diligence are required, that we may be able to attend unto these things. And those who are less skilled may do well to advise with those who are more exercised in them to give them assistance. 5. That we labour diligently for the conversion of souls. (John Owen, D. D.) The true teacher 1. There are some teachers of religion who are teachers “ according to God’ s heart.” 2. All such teachers are the gift of God. (1) He prepares them for their office.(2) He designates the sphere of their ministry 3. They are distinguished by the care and fidelity with which they minister to the spiritual wants of their people. (E. Cooper, M. A.) Pastors according to God’ s own heart I. What those qualifications are which render men pastors after God’ s own heart.1. Their being sent and commissioned by God. 2. Their being thoroughly instructed in the knowledge of God’ s mind and will. 3. Their being exemplary in their conversation of the goodness and purity of their own doctrine (1 Timothy 3:12). (1) In word, that is, in observing a decent gravity in discourse.(2) In conversation; a sweet and obliging deportment.(3) In charity; a hearty goodwill to all men as we have opportunity.(4) In spirit; that is, in an active zeal for the glory of God, and the good of souls.(5) In faith, that is, in an immoveable constancy and fidelity to our religion, in holding fast the form of sound words, and contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.(6) In purity, that is, in abstaining from all fleshy lusts, from worldly mindedness, intemperance, and wantonness. II. How much such pastors do conduce to the glory, and beauty, and perfection of the Church.1. In soundness of faith, to which there is nothing can more conduce than pious and learned pastors; who being not only purged from vicious affections, and inspired with an hearty zeal for truth; but also accomplished with parts and learning to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and to separate the innovations of false teachers from the ancient truths of Christianity, cannot but be highly instrumental to the restoring the faith of their Churches, wherever they find it corrupted and sophisticated, to its primitive lustre and simplicity. 2. In purity of worship; for the end of all Church assemblies being to worship God, and the worship of God consisting in a devout acknowledgment of the infinite perfections of His nature, by such internal and external acts, as right, reason, and revelation directs: all such as are truly devout, and sincerely affected with the Divine perfections, must look upon themselves, as greatly concerned to worship God, in such manner as is most suitable to His will and nature. And this the pastors of the Church are more peculiarly concerned in, being the guides of the public worship. 3. A Church’ s glory and perfection consists also in the vigour of its discipline, in the just and vigilant administration of the power of the keys, in admonishing such as go astray, in excluding them the communion of the Church if they continue obstinate, and readmitting them upon their repentance. 4. A Church’ s glory and perfection consists in unity of communion and affections, so that there be no schisms in the body, but that all its members, being incorporate in the same communion, be knit and fastened to one another by the ligaments of mutual love and charity; to which excellent effect there is nothing in the world can more conduce than learned, prudent, and pious pastors. 5. The glory and perfection of a Church consists also in sanctity of manners; to promote which, also, nothing can be more conducive than pastors according to God’ s own heart. (1) Their being commissioned from God to teach and govern His flock must give their doctrine a very great authority in the minds of all that have any reverence for God, and thereby render it more prevalent and effectual (2) Their doctrine, supposing they are pious and learned, will be throughout holy, and in all points tending to promote the interest of piety and virtue. (3) Their holy doctrine will be enforced by their holy examples, which will preach more effectually than their tongues. (John Scott, D. D.) The constitution, character, and duties of the Gospel ministry I. God is engaged by covenant to provide a perpetual public ministry for His Church.1. A public stated ministry in the Christian Church is a Divine institution. 2. It is the ordinance of God that a public ministry should be continued in His Church unto the end of the world. 3. God hath covenanted with His Church to supply her congregations with a public ministry--“ And I will give you pastors.” (1) Promises, made upon the footing of a permanent relation between God and His Church, which have respect to a benefit of a permanent nature, are to be understood as securing to the Church that benefit indefinitely throughout every period of time. (2) Many promises delivered by the prophets were designed to refer immediately to the New Testament Church; and were so applied by the apostles of our Lord. Some of these refer to the Christian ministry (Isaiah Iii. 6, 7, 10; Romans 10:14-15). (3) The Redeemer, in whom the promises are made, and in whom they are accomplished, has solemnly engaged never to leave His Church entirely destitute of a public ministry. He walks amidst the golden candlesticks. He holds the stars in His right hand. He gives power to His witnesses. II. God hath set distinguishing marks upon the ministry, of which He approves--“ Pastors according to Mine heart.”1. The pastor according to God’ s heart has received a regular call to the ministry. (1) The call of God to ecclesiastical office is inward, when there is a Divine influence experienced upon the mind, inclining and commanding the person to devote himself to the service of the Church. (2) It is outward, when accompanied with external evidence for the satisfaction of the Church. The inward call may satisfy a man’ s own mind; but others must, in order to receive Him, have some external evidence. (a) Ordination constitutes the call of God to the ministry of reconciliation in the Gospel Church (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Romans 10:15). (b) Ordination to the holy ministry is to be performed by imposition of hands (1 Timothy 5:22; 1 Timothy 4:14; Hebrews 6:2; Acts 13:2-3). 2. The pastor according to God’ s heart has a life corresponding to the functions of his holy office. (1) A ministry evidently impious will meet with few advocates. This evil can be tolerated only in a Church which has far departed from truth and holiness. (2) The pious minister is constrained by the love of a crucified Saviour to diligence in his sacred office. He perceives the danger of sinners; and, anxious for their salvation, he warns them of it frequently and fervently. From house to house he visits, examines, exhorts. In afflictions, he soothes; in temptation, admonishes; in sickness, comforts; and in death, resigns their departing spirits into the hands of that God who created both him and them. (3) The pastor, who is near the heart of God, is faithful to God and His Church. He deals plainly with sinners, uninfluenced by their frowns or their smiles. III. The sum of pastoral duty is the edification of the Church.1. The pastor according to God’ s heart preaches to his congregation the Gospel of Christ. This is the food which he diligently provides for immortal souls. 2. The pastor of whom God approves is in duty bound, from time to time, to examine the religious state of his congregation. 3. It is the duty of the Christian pastor to administer the sacraments of the New Testament to the members of his Church. 4. It is the duty of a Christian minister to exercise authority over his flock. This is necessary to their edification, and is implied in feeding with knowledge. The power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven is in the hands of every Christian minister. (A. M’Leod, D. D.) Pastor’ s office no sinecure To a person who regretted, to the celebrated Dr. Johnson, that he had become a clergyman, because he considered the life of a clergyman an easy and comfortable one, the Doctor made this memorable reply: “ The life of a conscientious clergyman is not easy. I have always considered a clergyman as the father of a larger family than he is able to maintain. No, sir, I do not envy a clergyman’ s life as an easy life, nor do I envy the clergyman who makes it an easy life.” The pastor’ s obligation to feed the people The Rev. Robert Hall of Bristol was asked what he thought of a sermon which had been delivered by a proverbially fine preacher, and which had seemed to excite a great sensation among the congregation: “ Very fine, sir,” he replied, “ but a man cannot feed upon flowers.” Jeremiah 3:16 The ark of the covenant of the Lord.The ark of the covenant When inward piety is low the externals of religion are frequently cried up. Those who know nothing of God are the very people to exclaim concerning themselves and their brethren, “ The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.” The more phylactery, the less sanctity. On the other hand, whenever the Spirit of God is largely poured out, although the ordinances of God are carefully attended to, yet as external things they are sure to be put into their proper place, and that proper place is a secondary one. I. The symbol reverenced.1. The ark of the covenant was the object of great reverence, and very fitly so, because it symbolised God’ s presence, the presence of Jehovah, the living God, in the midst of His people. 2. That presence of God meant blessing; for God was with His people in love to them. The Lord abides not with His enemies, but with His chosen. So long as He gave the token of His presence it was a sign that He had not cast them off as hopeless. 3. The ark was held in reverence by the Israelites because it was their leader. When the time came to march through the wilderness the ark went in the forefront. 4. The ark was to the Israelites, after their wanderings were over, the fixed centre of their nationality, even as while they were in the wilderness it had always been placed in the centre of the camp. 5. Marvel not that the men of Judah paid great reverence to this ark when, in so many ways, it was a token for good to them. What they did to this ark is mentioned in the text. First, they recognised it as the ark of the covenant of the Lord. They were wont to say, “ The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” They spoke much of it, and prided themselves upon the possession of it. Nay, they not only spoke of it: but they loved it; for we read, “ Neither shall it come to mind,” or as the margin has it, “ Neither shall it come upon the heart.” In the next place, they remembered it, as the text plainly informs us. If they were captives they prayed in the direction in which the ark was situated; wherever they wandered they thought of God and of the coffer which represented His presence. Next, they visited it. On certain holy days they came from the utmost ends of their land, in joyful companies, singing from stage to stage, and making joyful holiday as they went up to the place where God did dwell between the cherubim. Visiting it, they were accustomed also to speak highly of it; for in the margin of your Bibles you will find, “ Neither shall they magnify it any more.” They used to tell to one another what the ark had done; the glory that shone forth from it, the acceptance of the offering whose blood was sprinkled upon it on the day of atonement, and the testimony which was heard from between the cherubic wings. II. That reverence obliterated. They were to say no more, “ The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” Yet that fact was to be a blessing. They were no more to speak of the ark itself, because they would have that which the ark was intended to foreshadow.1. Our Lord Jesus by His coming has put out of His people’ s thoughts the material ark of the covenant, because its meaning is fulfilled in Him; and this, first, in the sense of preservation. He said, “ Thy law is within My heart.” It was not within His heart alone, but within all. His life; His whole thoughts, words, and acts went to make up a golden chest in which the precious treasure of the perfect law of God should be contained. 2. Next, the ark signified propitiation; for over the top of the sacred box, which held the two tables of the law, was the slab of gold called the mercy seat, which covered all. When God looks down upon His law, He does not see it nakedly, but He beholds it in the person of His Son. He sees it there perfectly preserved, without taint or flaw of any kind, and He rejoices therein. 3. The next word is a very blessed one, and that is covenant. The ark was called “ the ark of the covenant.” Ah, how soon we should lose the sweet things of God if we were under the covenant of works, and how soon we should miss the gentle sovereignty of His shepherd rod! I thank God that in Christ Jesus we have a covenant of grace which can never fail, and never can be broken, and in Him we have all that our souls desire: pot of manna and rod of Aaron, covenant provision and covenant rule we find in Him. 4. Because this ark was the ark of the covenant of God it was from it that He was accustomed to reveal Himself, and so it is called the “ ark of testimony.” We say no more, “ The ark of the testimony,” but we rejoice that God was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, and saw the Father in the Son. 5. This ark also signified enthronement; for the top of the ark was, so to speak, the throne of God. It was “ the throne of the heavenly grace.” If you would see the throne of God, behold the person of the Christ; for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Oh, what a blessing to have such a throne to come to--to Jesus Himself, who is the throne of the invisible God! 6. As it was the place of God’ s enthronement, so it was the door of man’ s approach. You and I need not speak of the ark of the covenant; for we have a blessed way of approach. We do not come to Christ once in the year only, but every day in the year, and every hour of the day. 7. The ark was the place of gracious power. On the top of the mercy seat stood cherubic figures, types of angelic power, and of all the powers of providence which God is pleased to use in the behalf of His people. Yet we will not speak of the ark, neither will we remember it, neither will we visit it; for we see in Christ Jesus that all the power of God is on our side: He is “ God with us,” and if God be with us, who can be against us? 8. The ark was much reverenced by the Jews, because it was the centre of their nationality. Find me a dozen spiritual men, and describe their different modes of thought; but let them sit together and begin to talk of the things of God, and of the covenant of grace, and of the work of the Spirit in the soul, and of the preciousness of the blood of Jesus, and you will see that they are one. There is, there must be, an essential unity among those who are quickened by the Spirit: and I rejoice that the name, the person, and the work of Jesus are at this hour the centre of Christendom. III. This reverence transferred.1. Let us say that Jesus is our covenant. We are told, “ They shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” People must talk, it is natural to them--what else are their tongues for? Let us, then, say concerning Christ that He is the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Say this, say it often, nobody will rebuke you; it is a subject upon which you may be as fluent as you please. This is a kind of note of which the human ear, when once it is cleansed, never grows weary. 2. The text takes you a step further; for it says of the original ark, “ Neither shall it come to mind.” or (I give the margin), “ Neither shall it come upon your heart.” Let Christ come upon your heart and dwell there. Oh, love the Lord, alive His saints! You can love other things too much; but not your Lord. 3. And, next, if we should ever grow dull or cold at any time, let us take the third step in the text, and let us remember the Lord. O memory, leave no other name than that of Jesus recorded upon thy tablets. 4. The next thing is, let us visit Him. We cannot set out on journeys now to go to Jerusalem on foot,--little bands of us together; yet let us visit Jesus. Let us continually come to the mercy seat. No prayer, no power. The ark of the covenant is gone when the people no longer come together to cry unto the Lord. 5. The last thing is, “ Neither shall that he done any more” ; but the margin has it, “ Neither shall that be magnified any more.” Transfer your reverence, then, and as you cannot magnify the literal mercy seat, come and magnify Christ, who is the real mercy seat. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Christ, the true ark of the covenant I. A most alarming and unwelcome announcement. That the ark would disappear, and another not be made. Israel’ s safety and prosperity were connected with the ark of covenant. By some regarded with superstitious awe rather than reverential fear; yet by all as of incalculable value to the nations. II. A bitter and irreconcilable loss.1. Prophecy soon fulfilled. 2. Loss deeply lamented. III. A surpassing compensation predicted.1. Must have seemed incredible at the time; yet afterwards proved consolatory. 2. How was the prediction fulfilled? In the appearing of Christ, the antitype of the ark. IV. The realisation in Christ of the ark symbolised.1. The Divine nearness. 2. The Deity bending mercifully over mere 3. The helpful and healing grace of God. Conclusion--1. Israelites who early became Christians, and enjoyed the presence of Christ on earth, must have readily surrendered and forgotten the ark in the realisation of Jesus and His tender grace. 2. Believers, though now not realising Christ bodily among them, experience His Spirit’ s indwelling, revealing Christ within. 3. Contrite sinners can rejoice in the tenderness, lowliness, and compassion of Christ. (R. Gordon, D. D.) Jeremiah 3:17 The throne of the Lord.The Church Christ’ s throne 1. Jerusalem had been of old the throne of God: the symbol of God rested on the ark. Hence called “ the city of the Great King.” 2. Jerusalem became the throne of God as never before when Emmanuel visited her. Yet she rejected her King. 3. Christ by His death founded a kingdom in which His Church has become the true throne of God. I. In the conversion of sinners the kingly power and authority of Christ is manifested. Each case is a victory of Christ over the “ enmity” of the carnal mind and the resistance of hellish foes. II. In maintaining his ascendency over the lives and affections of His converts. “ Law in their members” at war with Him. The world strives to wrest them from His rule. Satan strives to recover his lost power. But they are held “ in obedience to Christ,” and “ kept by the power of God unto salvation.” III. In governing the world providentially for His Church’ s advantage. Christ reigns as mediator: works all things for our good and His glory; and by, and for, and from His Church He puts forth His power, that shall subdue all enemies under His feet. How does Christ’ s rule affect individual members of His Church?1. To what extent can and may they enjoy personally the presence of their King? Sits enthroned in their heart and affections individually. 2. Christ must hold unrivalled and unlimited sway and sovereignty over their liven His kingship absolute: their affections undivided: they habitually and entirely under the constraining influences of His love. 3. They will recognise that His care extends to every individual believer, sending expressions of His kindness and love to each, and never--save in faithfulness--afflicting them. (R. Gordon, D. D.) Jeremiah 3:19 How shall I put thee among the children.Put among the children I. A most delightful condition of privilege and enjoyment.1. A real and endearing relation, not a mere figure or shadow. Though all worlds wait on His will, God’ s heart is a Father’ s heart; and its home, its place of joy and singing, is “ among the children.” 2. This relationship implies dependence. The two principles of trust and obedience constitute the great requirements which the Head of the redeemed family urges upon all His children. 3. The relation between child and parent implies solemn obligations. The children of God are required to exhibit a character and conduct in harmony with their illustrious relationship. The glory of the Father, the honour of His name; the welfare of the whole household of faith; the furtherance of sacred truth in the world are interests dear to their hearts. They are partakers of the Divine nature, “ each one resembles the children of a king.” 4. This relation implies the possession of privileges--“ If children then heirs,” etc. All that the Jew possessed in Canaan, all that Adam delighted to see in Paradise, falls short of the expectations of the believer. The inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and it fadeth not away. II. Some formidable difficulties in the way of conferring the blessings of sonship.1. This relation between God and man is not natural “ By nature children of wrath,” etc. 2. Justice demands the infliction of the penalty of sire Mercy pleads for compassion and forgiveness. In the courts of earthly sovereigns there is no escape from the dilemma. The sovereign can punish, and thus inflict justice; or pardon and show mercy. But in Christ all the requirements of law are satisfied, while the freest manifestation of mercy is made. 3. The character and condition of the sinner himself. Shall the leper be brought into companionship with the pure and the sound? Shall the outcast and the profligate nestle with the virgin and the holy? III. The solution of the difficulty and the process of attaining the full enjoyment of the privilege. “ Thou shalt call Me, My Father.”1. Prayer is the birth cry of the soul. Like that first welcome sound by which the mother knows she has a living child. Every kind of sorrow and distress have driven men to their knees, but there are no prayers, for their fervour, like those which are the fruit of conviction of sin. 2. The spirit of adoption. “ My Father.” Not by the thunders of Sinai, or the curses of Mount Ebal, are men preserved in Christ Jesus, but by the all-powerful grace of the Holy Spirit. 3. The salvation of a child of God is evinced by the spirit of perseverance. (W. G. Lewis.) Among the children I. A difficult question.1. As to the Holy Lord.2. As to the unholy person.3. As to the family.4. As to the inheritance. II. A wonderful answer.1. It is from God Himself, and is therefore a perfect answer.2. It is in the Divine style: “ Thou shalt” ; and “ thou shalt not.” Omnipotence speaks, and grace reveals its unconditional character.3. It is concerning a Divine work.4. It is effectual for its purpose. III. A matchless privilege.1. We are indeed made children of God, and joint heirs with Christ. 2. We are as much loved as the children. 3. We are treated as the children. (1) We are forgiven as a father forgives his children.(2) We are clothed, fed, and housed as children.(3) We are taught, ruled, and chastened as children.(4) We are honoured and enriched as children. 4. We are placed under filial obligations--to love, honour, obey, and serve our Father. This should be regarded as a high honour, not a burden. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Regeneration is not a change of the old nature, but an introduction of a new nature. Not “ Ishmael changed,” but “ Isaac born,” is the son of the promise. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Adoption Whom God adopts, He anoints; whom He makes sons, He makes saints. (Watson.) A wonderful change One of my parishioners at East Hampton, converted after having lived, through three or four revivals, to the age of fifty, and having given up hope, used to exclaim for several weeks after his change, “ Is it I? Am I the same man who used to think it so hard to be converted, and my case so hopeless? Is it I? Is it I? Oh, wonderful!” (Lyman Beecher.) The true source of salvation I. How the obstructions to the restoration of the Jews shall be surmounted.1. God Himself presents to them the formidable difficulty. Jews always obdurate. How restored to favour of God? (1) Extent of their wickedness forbids it. (2) Honour of God forbids it. To admit rebels to privileges encourages rebellion. 2. These obstacles, though formidable, shall be surmounted. As God spake the universe into existence, so will He form the “ new creation.” II. How alone the difficulties in the way of our salvation can ever be overcome.1. There are immense difficulties. Our wickedness equals or exceeds that of the Jews. 2. But these shall be overcome. God will interfere for us in way of sovereign grace and by the exercise of His almighty power. Conclusion--1. To those who question the possibility of their own salvation. God is able. 2. To those who have entertained no such fears. You think salvation easy; but only Christ’ s blood could atone for such sin as yours; only the Divine Spirit could renew your depraved heart. 3. To those who profess to have been brought into the family of God. Obey and trust Him, as your “ Father” ; let nothing lead you to “ turn away from Him.” (C. Simeon, M. A.) Jeremiah 3:21-25 Return . . . and I will heal your backslidings.Hope for the worst backsliders I. The call from God. “ Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.”1. It is a call to come back to God; and that means, first, remember Him; begin to think of Him; let Him be a living God to you. 2. The next thing is, really turn to Him. 3. There is one word in this call from God which proves that you are invited to come back just as you are, He says, “ Return, ye backsliding children” ; not “ Return, ye penitent children.” I notice also that He does not say, “ Heal your wounds first, and then come back to Me” ; but He says, “ Return, ye backsliding” children,” with all your backslidings unhealed,--“ and I will heal your backslidings.” II. The method of obeying this call.1. He who would return to God, and find salvation, must distinctly renounce all other trust except that which God Himself gives him and sets before him in the Gospel. First, there must be a distinct renunciation of all righteousness of your own. The next thing that you must renounce is, your own strength. With that must also go all trust in your own knowledge and abilities, and even in your own understanding. 2. There must also be a hearty, true-minded acceptance of God alone as our one hope. Notice how the text says, “ Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.” There must be no playing at this acceptance of God as our one hope; there must be no mocking of God by a pretended yielding up of ourselves to Him. It must be a true acceptance of God, to be our God henceforth and forever. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The essence of love I. A kindly remembrance. God, speaking to backsliders, says, “ I remember thee.” II. A shocking calamity. Ye who once were as a lighthouse set upon a rock, to guide men, are now a delusion and a snare. Your light has gone out. What a corruption there would be if it were not for the salt of the ocean. When you were converted to God you were the salt in the ocean of humanity, but now the salt hath lost its power. You are useless, and humanity seethes in the pollution of sin. You live probably in a house where there are wicked ones; you work amongst swearers, and sceptics, and drunkards, but you are powerless. The salt has lost its savour. Oh, backslider, dismantled, ruined, empty, may God rebuild you! III. A loving message. “ Return.” Have you read of the widow whose daughter fell into the pathway of wrong! One night the poor girl returned to her mother’ s cottage. She went up the garden path and stood in the little porchway, and, to her surprise, she saw the door a little way open. She pushed it and entered. She went into the little room which used to be her own, and found a night light burning there, and her bed ready, as it always had been. She lay upon the bed, and was awoke by her mother’ s kiss. “ Mother, how is it that you left the door unlatched and the light burning?” “ It was that you might not have a minute to wait when you came back.” This is just the way in which our heavenly Father treats us. It is the essence of love! IV. A gracious promise. Poor backslider, you are wretchedly miserable; for God’ s message has sunk very deep into your heart. You have drunk from the cup of sin; but you have also been bitten by the poisonous serpent, and the worm of unhappiness is gnawing at your heart. God says, “ I will heal thy backslidings.” He will not let wound keep running. He will heal it; not like the burns and scalds that have left terrible marks upon our flesh. When we return to God He heals the wound; and there shall be no mark left of it, for He says, “ I have blotted out thy transgressions.” (W. Birch.) Backsliding children I. What it is to backslide. In Scripture the word “ backslide” means a turning away from God altogether. It is usually, if not always, the sin of idolatry; it is the wife departing from her husband, as in this chapter (Jeremiah 3:1-2; Jeremiah 3:8; Proverbs 14:14). There may be in a spiritual sense a real though not apparent departing from God. There may be an unfaithfulness, not an act only, but a state. There may be half-heartedness for a time. The once tender conscience may become hardened; the once lowly spirit may become lifted up. With some it shows itself in worldly entanglements, seeking increase of business. In the midst of all this there may be no grossness, but specious arguments for exculpation. But there is woeful neglect of secret transactions with God. Prayer is not wholly omitted, but not conscientiously followed up. Perhaps there may be a lightness of spirit in prayer; perhaps there may be hardness. There may be an expressed value for the doctrines of grace; but they are as opiates to lull to sleep, not as stimulants to rouse to action. But, irrespective of all false notions with respect to the truth, there is oft much backsliding. The comforts of life have acted, it may be, as drags upon the wheels. Perhaps the very trials of life, instead of drawing us as magnets, have acted as repellants, and driven us away from God. Perhaps very weariness of body and exhaustion of mind have led to secret neglectings of God, and what was occasional at last became habitual. It is by the small edge of the wedge the whole wedge is at last inserted. When a river bursts through its embankment, one little spadeful of earth might have stopped the flood. He that despiseth small things shall fall by little and little. But the point is this--there may be fearful backsliding in heart, and not a speck of grossness in the life; and satisfied am I, that if we do not feel this, we shall, if we are God’ s children, be taught it, it may be with many stripes. II. The tender expostulation. “ Return.” Here were idolaters in the grossest sense, and yet were they called to return. Before any symptom of amendment, any humblings of soul, yet “ Return.” So “ Hearken unto Me,” not ye broken-hearted only that walk, or are beginning to walk, righteously, but “ ye stout-hearted that are far from righteousness.” What an aspect of tenderness! and what losers are they that see not this! The first overture was from God. The outstretched hand to an idolater, to a rebel. Oh, how clearly does it show us that if there were no election, there would be no salvation. Nature will reject all providences, all mercies, all overtures, even the outstretched hand of God. III. The answer. “ Behold, we come unto Thee, for Thou art the Lord our God.” See the overcoming power of love. There was reproof of their departures, expostulation with them for their sin, there was displeasure for their iniquities, but there was the most winning display of love in them all, and it was this which overcame. Force may compel, fear may deter, reason may persuade, and the Holy Spirit may use them all, but the great principle that moves the human heart is love. (J. H. Evans, M. A.) An invitation to backsliders The Jews were a people prone to idolatry. Though favoured with peculiar privileges, they were “ bent to backsliding.” At the time when these words were addressed to them, Josiah sat on the throne. He was a pious king and strove to uproot idolatry. His efforts were seconded by Jeremiah; but both king and prophet failed. Many years before, the ten tribes of Israel, for their apostasy, had been carried into captivity. “ And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord” (verse 10). This state of things deeply affected the prophet’ s mind, and caused him to give utterance to the most plaintive and pathetic language. I. The characters addressed. “ Backsliding children.”1. These are undutiful children. They have proved unfaithful to their solemn vows and sacred obligations--to their Christian brethren--to their God and Father. He said, “ Surely they are My people, children that will not lie” ; but they “ turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.” What crime can equal that of rebellion against parental authority? An unfaithful servant or steward is bad enough, but an unfaithful, undutiful child is vastly worse. 2. Ungrateful children. And theirs is ingratitude of the basest kind. It resembles the ingratitude of a freed slave who forgets his emancipator, and sells himself again into bondage. 3. Unwise children. Are they not unwise who forsake their own mercies and follow after lying vanities; who prefer broken cisterns to the fountain of living waters? 4. Unhappy children. They are often unhappy in their circumstances. Others may enjoy the world, but they cannot. Recollections of their “ lost Paradise,” and apprehensions of future wrath, tend to embitter every earthly comfort. 5. Unsafe children. Heaven’ s just wrath is awakened against them. Hell’ s blackest gloom and fiercest flame await them. 6. But children still though they have forfeited the privileges of adoption, and have been deprived of the witness of the Spirit, their relation to God as their Creator is not dissolved, and their former interest in His favour is not forgotten. II. The invitation given. “ Return.”1. By sincere repentance.2. Earnest prayer.3. Evangelical faith--faith in Christ.4. Renewed self-dedication. III. The promise made. “ I will heal your backslidings.” The Lord heals backslidings in many ways,--frequently by restoring.1. Providential blessings. Many men are chastised here that they may not be punished hereafter. The Israelites never departed from God without feeling the effects of His displeasure in their temporal circumstances. 2. Peace of conscience. 3. Purity of heart. How polluted is the heart of a backslider! His last state is worse than his first. 4. Honour and usefulness. (J. Hodgson.) Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God. True repentance I. It proceeds from the inmost heart.1. Weeping (verse 21).2. Shame (verse 25). II. It is free from all dissimulation. Its principle is sorrow at having grieved God by the abuse of His love (verse 21). III. It is made known by the honest fruits of repentance.1. Apostasies healed (verse 22).2. Detestation of evil (verse 24).3. Yearning for the Lord (verse 25). (Origen.) Conversion to God I. What is it for sinners to come to God?1. A relinquishing of everything that is contrary to God, and keeps us at a distance from Him. 2. A making use of Christ as the way to God. (1) There would have been no place for repentance if Christ had not interposed with His blood. (2) There never would have been any principle or exercise of repentance if Christ did not produce it by His Spirit. 3. A giving up of ourselves to God, and resting in Him as our end. II. How should sinners come to God, in obedience to the precept, and upon the encouragement of the promise?1. How must they come in obedience to the precept? (1) Sinners are to come to God humbly; and that in consideration of the command of God, upon two accounts. All acts of obedience to God are to be performed with humbleness of mind. Returning to God after former acts of disobedience requires special humiliation. (2) We are to come to God readily. When God is so kind to admit your return, there is no reason that He should wait for it. 2. How must they come upon the encouragement of the promise? (1) Sinners are to come to God believingly, with regard to the promise: for these two reasons,-- (a) If faith be not the spring of all our motions towards God, they cannot be acceptable to Him. (b) The promise does encourage such a faith, as much as we need or can desire. Besides His gracious entreaties, affectionate offers, importunate pleadings, you have His positive assurances that He will receive you if you return (2 Corinthians 6:17). (2) Sinners must come joyfully to God. The promise is ground of rejoicing, as well as of hope and trust; and God never designed that our sorrow for sin should be so extreme as to stifle or drown the joy of conversion. God who makes the promise rejoices in the performance (Zephaniah 3:17; Luke 15:15). We who have the benefit of the promise must needs be still doubtful of it if we do not rejoice in it. If we had faith suitable to the faithfulness of God, it would transport the soul into an ecstasy, that we who have lifted up our heels so oft against God should be taken into His arms. III. Wherein lies the blessedness of this?1. When a sinner comes back to God he is brought out of a most miserable, wilderness condition, wherein if he had remained he must have perished. 2. When a sinner comes to God salvation comes to him. 3. When a sinner comes home to God, all his fellow creatures shall be some way or other serviceable to him, either willingly and gladly, or by constraint and over-ruling necessity. 4. When a sinner is come to God he must visit God by prayer in all his necessities, and be sure of sufficient relief. 5. A sinner that is come to God may sweetly walk and converse with God, through the residue of his life; and the benefit and sweetness of such communion is not to be imagined by those that have it not; they that are far from God can be no judges of the blessedness of those that are near unto Him. 6. A sinner that is come to God may go to Him with comfort and confidence at death, whether sooner or later. IV. Use. 1. This shows that they who will not come to God are not come to themselves (Luke 15:17). 2. Ministers will have a dreadful and unpleasing account to give of those whom they leave unpersuaded. 3. God will be justified in their condemnation, to whom His precepts and promises avail nothing. 4. The devil can lay no blocks in our way against our coming unto God but what we may easily remove or courageously leap over, if we look no further than this text. 5. How unreasonable would it be if any of the storms we meet with in our way to God should ever drive us back, or shipwreck our faith! 6. How happy would it be if the efficacy of this doctrine were equal to the concernment of it! It extends to all that are born into the world, and therefore should operate upon all. (T. Cruso.) The call of God obeyed I. The state of the persons here addressed. “ Backsliding children.”1. They had forgotten the Lord their God. All sin may be traced to this. God is forgotten by us. We forget the majesty and purity of His nature; His nearness to us; that His eye is ever upon us; and that darkness and light are both alike to Him. We forget His unspeakable love and goodness, and our manifold, increasing obligations. Strange that, amidst innumerable tokens of remembrance, we should be careless and thoughtless! 2. They had perverted their way. This is the natural effect of forgetting God. Have not we perverted our way? In innumerable instances we have struggled against the voice of reason, the voice of conscience, the voice of God; and, against the plainest dictates of His Word, have wandered in foolish, forbidden paths. 3. They were filled with painful regret. “ The high places” were the seat of Israel’ s idolatry: there they committed abomination, and provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. But where they sinned, there they gave vent to their sorrow; and there they supplicated Divine forgiveness and favour. And, truly, if we are the subjects of genuine repentance, we shall do the same: where we have sinned, we shall sorrow too. II. The gracious language of God to these backsliding children.1. A friendly call. “ Return.” Doubtless authority marks this word, and the word of Jehovah is never to be trifled with. It is an invitation given; but it is also a command, which may not be slighted; a solemn charge, which cannot with impunity be refused. 2. A precious promise. “ I will heal,” etc. (1) Backsliding inflicts a disease, a dangerous and fatal disease. But the promise before us implies that God is ready to restore health and cure. (2) The effects of sin are numerous and destructive. Sin not only dishonours God, and wounds the soul, but it creates a thick cloud of mental darkness: it is the fruitful source of trouble and disquietude. But when the Lord promises to “ heal” backslidings, He engages to extract this bitterness, to avert this punishment. (3) The promise here is not indiscriminately given; it is to the sinner that “ returns” to God. “ Return, and I will heal your backslidings.” He does this by an act of sovereign favour (Micah 7:18-19). III. The obedient reply of these people.1. This reply is practical: “ We tome unto Thee.” As the prodigal: he did not spend his time in fruitless wishes or satisfy himself with good intentions and right resolutions: his language was, “ I will arise, and go to my father.” Immediately, “ he arose, and came to his father.” 2. The reply is prompt; made with the utmost readiness, and given without the least demur. The call is, “ Return” ; the answer instantly subjoined is, “ Behold, we come.” It reminds us of the promptness of the Psalmist, in his compliance with the voice of heaven (Psalms 27:8). 3. The reply is deliberate. The note of attention intimates this. “ Behold! we come.” Though the penitent believer is ready, he is not rash; though, under the influence of Divine grace, he soon determines, he does it advisedly; his repentance is of that kind which never needs to be repented of. 4. The reply is unanimous. Here is the prayer and resolution of the Church: she prays as one person, actuated by one spirit draw me: she resolves as many persons, answering, with cheerful concurrence, “ we” will run after Thee. 5. The reply springs from a clear conviction of duty, interest, and obligation. “ Thou art the Lord our God.” It is the language of faith, and hope, and love; especially of gratitude, and self-dedication. (T. Kidd.) Return to God 1. In the first place, we see what a true recovery from this state really is, “ Behold, we come unto Thee.” This is true repentance. It is coming back to God, a returning home. There may be a turning to doctrinal comfort, and no returning to God. Till this, the backsliding continues. “ Behold, we come to Thee,” say all returning backsliders; we come and lay our sins, our idols, ourselves, at Thy feet. And nothing short of this is real repentance, anything short of this is, under fair pretexts, soul deceptions. 2. But what else does it imply? Returning by the right way--faith. There is no real return to God but in the way we first met Him--in Jesus: “ No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” All the tears, all the sorrow and resolutions of amendment, have no power to bring us back to God. But when faith lays hold upon Jesus and His great atonement, it brings me up at once to God. I hang back no more. I hide myself no more. I make no vain excuses now. I hate my sins. I lie low. It is a valley, and it suits the lowly lily well. 3. And who is the author of all this? The same blessed Spirit who first revealed Jesus, and God the Father in Him. And nothing short of this. When sin in any measure regains power, deadening process instantly begins. The soul is commanded to confess; but in proportion to the length of time of the departure, and the degree of power of it, there seems an inability to confess. There is a want of spiritual sensibility. Oh then, how should we beware of the first “ appearance of evil” ! “ Beware, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” 4. Consider the great motive by which it is led back, the motive by which He works. It is the overcoming power of love. There was displeasure. Wounds were inflicted, wounds pungent and trying--wounds full of anguish were they, such as no human balm could assuage; but it was but the varied countenance of love. These wounds did but speak two things--His unsullied holiness, and equally His untiring love. The subject has a two-fold bearing. First, as it regards our treatment of others, then that of our own souls.1. First, others. We are all, as saints, more or less called amid our familiar friends and associates, to deal with those in whom we hope there is a spark of grace, yet little true, spiritual, holy light. 2. And now a few words to the believer in reference to himself. It may be that some one may be conscious--This is my own state. I have been not merely today, nor yesterday, but for many yesterdays, departing from God. Alas! that this should be so common. But, however, trifle not with it. It is not to be trifled with. Seek instant healing. Tarry not. Every instant of delay only increases the disease. Nothing but the blood of the Lamb can heal. Take heard that it be applied by none but the Holy Spirit. (J. H. Evans, M. A.) God forgotten Lady Glenorchy, in her diary, relates her being seized with a fever, which threatened her life, “ during the course of which,” she says, “ the first question of the Assembly’ s Catechism was brought to my mind--‘ What is the chief end of man?’ --as if some one had asked it. When I considered the answer to it,--‘ To glorify, God and to enjoy Him forever,’ --I was struck with shame and confusion. I found I had never sought to glorify God in my life, nor had I any idea of what was meant by enjoying Him forever. Death and judgment were set before me; my past sins came to my remembrance; I saw no way to escape the punishment due unto them, nor had I the least glimmering hope of obtaining pardon through the righteousness of another.” From this unhappy state she was shortly after delivered, by faith in the Lord Jesus. (W. Whitecross.) The call to repentance and its response You may pound a lump of ice with a pestle into a thousand fragments, but it will still continue ice. But bring it beside your own bright and blazing fire, and soon in that genial glow, the living waters flow. A man may try to make himself contrite. He may search out his sins and dwell on all their enormity and still feel no repentance. But come to Jesus with His words of grace and truth. Let that flinty, stony spirit bask in the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, then will it melt. (James Hamilton.) Responding to the call It is as when a man is in court, and is called for, to go into the witness box. He is standing in the crowd, and his name is celled: what happens? As soon as he hears his name he begins to push through the throng to reach his place. “ What are you at?” says one. “ I am called,” says he. “ Stand back; why do you push so!” says another. “ I am called by the judge,” says he. A big policeman demands, “ Why are you making such confusion in court?” But, says the man, “ I am called. My name was called out, and I must go.” If he cannot come, if it is not possible for him to get through the throng, one of the authorities calls out, “ Make way for that man--he is summoned by the court. Officers, clear a passage and let him come.” Such is the kind of response which God looks for as He calls sinners to repentance. “ Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God.” The far-reaching consequences of sin For many years the trees of the forest had been lopped, and now, though the new ownership and laws forbade that any hatchet should be lifted up upon any tree, they could not outgrow the olden days. The drunkard is such a pollarded tree, he may stop drinking, but his body will long suffer. The same applies to all unchastity. Sometimes the mind rather than the body suffers, and memories of sin deform the intellectual powers, even after the sin is discontinued. False teaching is another form of lopping, affecting the soul. What branches of Bible truth some are giving up, with the result of hindered and deformed growth--growth never recovered. Thus in the natural, physical, mental, and spiritual realm lopping is a serious business. Jeremiah 4:1-4 If thou wilt return,. . .and if thou wilt put away thine abominations . . . then shalt thou not remove.The pleadings of God A strange ministry is that of Almightiness. It is almightiness--almost. So we come upon a mysterious “ if” in all the history of God’ s administration. “ If thou wilt return” --why not make them return? Here man is stronger than God. We have seen in innumerable instances how true it is that God, who can handle universes, can do nothing with the heart He has made except with the heart’ s consent. Behold God, then, as a pleader. “ If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto Me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of My sight,” --if thou wilt swear, “ The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness,” --if thou wilt do these things, the issue will be glorious; it will also be beneficent, it will have an evangelistic effect upon the world. The meaning is, the heathen nations round about shall see thy return, and they will begin to own the power of God. That is the converting force that must be brought to bear upon the whole of the nations. The Church must be so beautiful as to attract attention. When Christians do right, pagans will believe; when Christians claim their uniqueness of quality and exemplify it, the men who get up arguments against Christianity will be ashamed of their own ingenuity, and run away from the things their hands have piled, saying, We cannot build fortresses against such quality of character. This is true missionary work. (J. Parker, D. D.) Putting away of sin A great warrior was once persuaded by his enemies to put on a beautiful robe which they presented him. Not suspecting their design, he wrapped himself tightly in it, but in a few moments found that it was coated on the inside with a deadly poison. It stuck to his flesh as if it had been glued. The poison entered into his flesh, so that in trying to throw off the cloak, he was left torn and bleeding. But did he for that reason hesitate about taking it off? Did he stop to think whether it was painful or not? Did he say, Let me wait and think about it awhile? No! he tore it off at once, and threw it from him, and hastened away from it to the physician. This is the way you must treat your sins if you would be saved. They have gone into your soul. If you let them alone you perish. You must not fear the pain of repentance. You must east them from you as poison, and hasten away to Jesus Christ. Do this, or your sins will consume you like fire. (T. Meade.) And thou shalt swear. On swearing I. The command. Did Christ countermand this? (Matthew 5:34.) The Son forbid in the Gospel what the Father bids in the law? God bids thee swear, so thy oath be truthful and needful; Christ forbids swearing which is truthless and needless. II. The form. God bade us swear; now He tells us how. “ The Lord liveth.” It is, then, impiety to swear by creatures. God prevents all evasion by the name He here gives--“ the Lord” ; not any god the swearer would substitute, as some swear by angels, called in Scripture “ Elohim,” and superstition worships them as gods. III. Three particulars.1. “ In truth.” Perjury is impious--makes that which is the sign and seal of truth, the cloak of falsehood. 2. “ In judgment.” Swear not upon guess only. 3. “ In righteousness.” To any act against right or religion bind not thyself, let not any bind thee. (R. Clerke, D. D.) Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.-- Soul agriculture I. Proper attention to the soil.1. Variety of condition.2. Capability of improvement. II. Proper attention to the seed.1. Care in selection of true spiritual seed. The Gospel-- (1) Perfect in itself.(2) Fitted to grow in all climates.(3) It does not sow itself.(4) It is the support of life. 2. Attention must also be paid to its growth. III. Proper attention to the season.1. Youth.2. The season of moral seriousness, when the heart has been softened. (Homilist.) The life of the sinner a foolish agriculture The people referred to as sowing among thorns are those, perhaps, who are endeavouring by religious study and effort to get the seeds of Divine good into them when their hearts remain full of worldly things. I. A grand evil. Sowing precious seed in bad soil involves three things.1. Loss of seed. The precious grain has been thrown away. 2. Loss of labour. All the efforts employed go for nothing. 3. Loss of hope. All the bright anticipations of a glorious future frustrated. II. An urgent duty. “ Break up your fallow ground.” This means in one word evangelical repentance for sin.1. This in moral, as well as material, agriculture is hard work. A skilful ploughman, a strong plough and a vigorous team are necessary. It is hard work to repent. 2. This in moral, as well as in material, agriculture is indispensable work. (Homilist.) The fallow ground broken I. The necessity of fallowing the ground is obvious to all who are practically acquainted with tillage: and such as are experimentally informed on the subject of the evil and barrenness of their own hearts, will admit the absolute requirement of a similar mental process. All your carnal hopes, and criminal opposition to the Divine will, must be completely eradicated. II. The nature of this part of a farmer’ s business will well Illustrate the correspondent toil of a believer. No attempt to cleanse the heart, however disagreeable, is intentionally neglected by the sincere believer--no effort is relied upon; all is subservient to the expected influences of heaven. III. The advantages of this procedure. Those who make thorough work with their own hearts, will find that their religious joys and better hopes, though delayed, shall be most vigorous; their subsequent sufferings from the grieving thorn and pricking brier shall be fewer; and a richer harvest shall at length crown their toil.1. If you desire permanent prosperity and joy in the Holy Ghost, break up the fallow ground--sow not among thorns. 2. Be personal in this labour. Turn your eyes from others to yourself. 3. Remember your own unworthiness, and the poverty of your unassisted endeavours. (W. Clayton.) Ploughing and sowing This season of spring, with its ploughing, and sowing, and opening of life, typifies the time which God has given for forming in us enlightened principles and virtuous habits, holy motives and pure desires, and for becoming possessed of the grace and goodness which Jesus has to impart, in order that we may grow up into the Divine life of God, which shall abide with us through old age as the source of true enjoyment, and as the first beginnings of eternal glory. The ploughshare of the Divine Word must pierce into us, and break up our hardness and indifference, and make us impressible and movable, to fit us for bringing forth the fruits of righteousness. For example, the seedtime of life, like that of spring, regulates and determines the moral results which the future shall unfold, whether in time or in eternity. Our life on earth is the scene of moral causes and operations--the sowing time of our spirit--the period for the earnest cultivation of our moral nature; and it is to us all the more important, because it is far-reaching in its effects, stretching beyond the present earthly existence into eternity, bearing the flowers and blossoms of spiritual beauty and grace, a manifestation of Deity in humanity. And if these moral causes do not operate--if the seed time of life be wasted--if the cultivation of the moral nature be neglected, equally true the effects of such a life are eternal, stretching beyond the present earthly existence, and bearing into eternity the fruits of moral depravity and corruption. Now, this cultivation of our moral nature is no easy task. Even in matters connected with this life, if we neglect any duty from time to time, or if we delay entering upon any employment necessary to our material or social well-being, indolence increases, disinclination to perform the duty strengthens, dislike to the employment springs up, until habit entirely unfits us for action. In the same way, to ignore religious truth in its relation to our heart, and to neglect religious duties, is to deepen false impressions, strengthen ignorant prejudices, and confirm evil habits. This also is certain, that if good seed is not germinating in our hearts, thorns of evil are, do what we will. If, for instance, our mind is not exercised with religious truth, and no effort made on our part to understand intelligently the revelation which God has made of human salvation; or if the heart be unopened to the power of the Divine Spirit and the moral impressions of Divine truth; and if we continue to refuse accepting Christ as the Saviour of our soul; then our mental and moral nature will become as hard-baked fallow ground, almost impenetrable to the ploughshare of heaven. The indifference of the mind to religious truth keeps the heart spiritually cold, and the coldness of the heart induces in the mind a distaste for spiritual things. On the other hand, any powerful awakening in connection with religion or religious truth, whether it affect the mind alone, or the heart alone, or both together, is in the highest sense beneficial to our soul. Whatever acts on the mind so as to turn it in upon itself, whatever makes the soul depend upon God, and believe in an invisible spiritual world as a reality, though accompanied with strong excitement or inward conflict, is good, and leads to spiritual power. Besides, the precise form of treatment that does good to one spiritual nature, is not always successful with every other, even in like circumstances, any more than the same culture would be successful with different soils in the same climate. We cannot, therefore, project our own feelings and experience into the mind and soul of others, as if we were examples of the only way in which Divine grace and power plough all human souls for the seed of salvation. This breaking up of our moral nature is nothing else than the softening of our hearts under the influence of Divine truth--a humble, penitent spirit, a constant sense of the evil of sin, a willingness to be reconciled to God, whom our transgressions have offended, and an earnest desire after a holier life in God. It is only in such a heart as this that Divine truth will take root, and grow up and bring forth fruit. As the ground must be broken before the tiny fibrils of the root can descend into the earth, which they do, as by a sensitive instinct, in search of vegetable nourishment and life; so the spiritual nature must be humbled and made penitent--broken under a sense of sin, and under the operation of Divine law--in order that the seed of the Divine Word may hide itself deep down into the subsoil of the soul, until it establishes itself firmly there. While the tangled threads of the root are shooting themselves downwards, and gathering strength and nourishment from the soil, the blade in spiral form shoots itself upwards to the light, and the leaf opens, then comes the ear, and then the full corn in the ear, ripe for the sickle of harvest. In the same way Divine truth and heavenly principles, spiritual thought, emotion, and life descend and ascend, as by an unchangeable law. In every truly spiritual life there is this two-fold operation--a movement upwards and downwards, a working within and without, a meditative disposition expressing itself in active habits, believing prayer, conjoined with earnest effort in doing good. (W. Simpson.) The duty of moral cultivation Our nature at its largest is but a small farm, and we had need to get a harvest out of every acre of it, for our needs are great. Have we left any part of our small allotment uncultivated? If so, it is time to look into the matter and see if we cannot improve this wasteful state of things. What part of our small allotment have we left fallow? We should think very poorly of a farmer who for many years allowed the best and richest part of his farm to lie altogether neglected and untilled. An occasional fallow has its benefits in the world of nature; but, if the proprietor of rich and fruitful land allowed the soil to continue fallow, year after year, we should judge him to be out of his wits. The wasted acres ought to be taken from him and given to another husbandman who would worthily cherish the generous fields, and encourage them to yield their harvests. (C. H. Spurgeon.) A fallow field Do you know what happens to a fallow field? how it becomes caked and baked hard as though it were a brick? All the friable qualities seem to depart, and it hardens as it lies caked and unbroken; I mean, of course, if year succeed year, and the fallow remains untouched. And then the weeds! If a man will not sow wheat, he shall have a crop for all that, for the weeds will spring up, and they will sow themselves, and in due time the multiplication table will be worked out to a very wonderful extent; for these seeds, multiplying a hundredfold, as evil usually does, will increase and increase again, till the fallow field shall become a wilderness of thorns and briars and a thicket of dock nettle and thistle. If you do not cultivate your heart, Satan will cultivate it for you. If you bring no crop to God, the devil will be sure to reap a harvest. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 4:11-13A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan, nor to cleanse.Untempered judgments The prophet intimates that God will one day send a judgment upon His people comparable only to the sirocco of the desert. The harvestman welcomes almost all the winds of the summer time but this. Their gentle currents lend themselves to the winnowing processes that are necessary to complete the toil of the year. But the sirocco comes with no element of helpfulness or beneficent service in its terrible wings. It is the agent of unmixed ruin, overthrow, death; the symbol of judgment without mercy. The successive invasions that were soon to close in upon the Holy Land were to be of this unmixed character. The flower of one generation was to perish in the overthrow. Whole districts were to be depopulated and re-peopled by alien races. The wind that came from the desert Came to crash and to scorch and to destroy. It was “ not to fan, nor to cleanse.” Some men claim that all judgment must be ultimately puttying. This inspired utterance however assures us that there is such a thing in the Divine economy as punishment that is purely punitive and not disciplinary. I. Let us inquire if this penal element has a place in the best human governments. If we work out to its logical conclusion the theory that all punishment must be disciplinary only, we shall be bound to adopt methods of procedure in our law courts more grotesque than the most audacious caricature has ever imagined. We must have no short sentences if all penalty is to be educating. We have no right to discharge a man, however slight his transgression, till he has given sufficient assurance that his character has been entirely transformed. Judge and jury would no longer need to concern themselves with the particular category into which his crime came. The only question for them to ask would be, how far does the root of evil go down in this man’ s character? and what amount of force will be necessary to pull it up? Some men, who are incapable of amendment through pain, can perhaps be stirred to better desires, or at least taken away from their criminal tendencies, by wholesome excitements. Experts would have to step into the witness box. In some cases it might be found that a garrotter would be more sensibly improved by wholesome excitements than by flogging. Carlyle inveighed from time to time against this unhealthy sentimentalism which would sap the foundation of all human and Divine law alike. In the “ Life of Bishop Wilberforce” reference is made to a party at which Monckton Milnes, Thomas Carlyle, and other distinguished men were present. The conversation turned upon the question of capital punishment. Mr. Monckton Milnes was arguing against death-penalties, on the ground that we could not know how far the offender was responsible and consciously wrong. Carlyle broke out, “ None of your heaven-and-hell amalgamation companies for me! We do know what is wickedness. I know wicked men I would not live with: men whom under some conceivable circumstances I would kill or they should kill me. No, Milnes; there is no truth or greatness in that. It’ s just poor, miserable littleness. There was far more greatness in the way of your German forefathers, who, when they found one of those wicked men, dragged him to a peat bog, and thrust him in, and said, “ There! go in there. There is the place for all such as thee:” II. If this penal element is admitted into human governments, upon what conceivable principle can it be excluded from the Divine? Many causes combine to weaken the sense we have of our own authority to punish wrong-doing. It is a strictly delegated authority. We always feel ourselves bound to greater restraint and circumspection in the exercise of delegated than original rights. We often feel ourselves incompetent judges of all that has transpired. We judge and punish in dim twilights. That tends to make us hesitating and indeterminate. And then the sense of our own authority to judge and to punish is weakened by the recollection we have of our own desert of punishment in many things. Unless the offence is very flagrant, we fear to incriminate ourselves by judging another. And yet, notwithstanding all these things, we are absolutely sure of our clear abstract right to punish even in cases where the punishment has no educating purpose to fulfil to the individual, whatever it may have to the community. How much stronger is God’ s right! His authority is original, and not delegated. He guarantees in every soul He judges the sufficiency of the past training and discipline. He dwells in the perfect light. His judgment can never be unnerved by the fear of error. III. Disciplinary are distinguished from penal judgments, not so much by any quality in the judgments themselves, as by the temper of those who become the subjects of such judgments. The question whether purely penal elements can enter into God’ s government is one that must be looked at from the standpoint of the transgressor rather than that of the Judge. Are there incorrigible elements in human nature? As a matter of fact, judgments very often fail to sober and to purify here. There are men who can never be taught wisdom by the longest succession of business reverses. There are men who, humanly speaking, can never be taught common morality, however heavy the penalties they are made to pay for its breach. There are worldly men whom no number of sicknesses and providential bereavements can discipline into religiousness. Where there are unreformable elements in human character, disciplinary judgment necessarily passes into the purely punitive stage. It is often argued that the keener judgments of the life to come will produce penitence in those who have continued stubborn under the milder judgments of the present life. There is not only no proof of that, but nothing even to suggest that it is probable. We cannot predicate anything from the cumulative power of pain. The wind does not become purifying by mere increase of the force with which it blows. After reaching a certain pitch of violence it can neither “ fan nor cleanse.” IV. The judgment that has passed out of the disciplinary into the penal stage for the individual is still disciplinary in its significance for the race at large. The wind that blows to crush and to scorch and to uproot in one zone of the earth, after it has passed into new latitudes, and been tempered by the seas over which it travels, may become a wind of winnowing beneficence. The penal visitation of one generation may become the saving chastisement of the generation that follows it. We must not get into the habit of supposing that God’ s purposes ever terminate in the individual. That mystery of unending punishment, which seems to frustrate the Divine purpose of mercy to the individual, may fulfil a purpose of gracious admonition to the race. The law of vicariousness pervades the moral universe just as widely as the law of gravitation overspreads the natural universe. There is a priesthood of vicarious judgment as well as of mercy. As great fires are kindled in times of plague to burn up the germs of infection floating in the air, so the atmosphere of God’ s universe may need to be kept pure by the flames of a quenchless Gehenna. (T. G. Selby.) Jeremiah 4:14 Wash thine heart from wickedness.Purity necessary to salvation I. The natural depravity of the human heart.1. This doctrine requires definition. Depravity of the heart includes-- (1) The entire absence of the Divine image.(2) A natural aversion to God and godliness.(3) A universal propensity or disposition to evil. 2. This doctrine demands evidence. (1) Divinely revealed.(2) Practically exemplified.(3) Deeply lamented. II. The spiritual purity which the lord requires.1. The possibility of obtaining purity of heart. This appears from-- (1) The design of redemption (Hebrews 9:13-14).(2) The ability of the Saviour (John 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:30).(3) The promises of Scripture (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 1 Peter 1:3-4).(4) The experience of believers (Romans 6:22; 1 John 1:7). 2. The important duty of seeking purity of heart. III. The absolute necessity of personal holiness.1. A necessary property of religion.2. A necessary meetness for heaven. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.) The heart to be kept pure “ You have seen,” said Spurgeon, “ the great reservoirs provided by our water companies, in which the water to supply thousands of houses is kept. Now the heart is the reservoir of man, and our life is allowed to flow in its proper season. That life may flow through different pipes--the mouth, the hand, the eye; but still all the issues of hand, of eye, of lip derive their source from the great fountain and central reservoir, the heart; and hence there is great necessity for keeping this reservoir in a proper state and condition, since otherwise that which flows through the pipes must be tainted and corrupt.” How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?--Vain thoughts:-- I. Characteristics. Those thoughts are vain--1. From which we do not and cannot reap any good. 2. Which cannot associate in any agreement with useful and valuable ones. 3. Which have to be kept out in order for the mind to attend to any serious or good purpose. 4. Which dwell largely and habitually on trifling things. 5. Which trifle with important things. 6. Which are fickle, not remaining with any continuance on a subject. 7. When the mind has some specially favourite trifle, some cherished, idolised toy. 8. Which continually return to things justly claiming a measure of attention, when the thinking of them can be no advantage. 9. When the mind dwells on fancies of how things might be or might have been, when the reality of how they are is before us. 10. Which men indulge concerning notions and schemings of worldly felicity. II. Corrective.1. Have specified subjects of serious interest to turn to when thought reverts to these vanities. 2. Make a sudden charge of guilt on your mind when vain thoughts prevail. 3. Have recourse to the direct act of devotion. 4. Interrupt and stop them by the question, What is just now my most pressing duty? 5. Have recourse to some practical occupation, matter of business, or a visit to some house of mourning. 6. Constrain your habitual thinking to go along with the thoughts of those who have thought the best, by reading the most valuable books. 7. Think to a certain purpose--towards a purposed end. 8. Reflect on how many things we have to do with which vain thoughts interfere; and also, what would have been the result of good thoughts instead of so many vain. 9. Discipline of the thoughts greatly depends on the company a man keeps (Proverbs 13:20). 10. If the complaint be urged, that this discipline involves much that is hard and difficult, we answer, It is just as hard as to do justice to a rational and immortal spirit placed here a little while by God for its improvement, and then to go where appoints. Hard, but indispensable. (John Foster.) Bad lodgers, and how to treat them I. Here are certain bad lodgers.1. Many thoughts may be called vain because they are proud, conceited thoughts. Thus, whenever a man thinks himself good by nature, we may say of his thoughts, “ Vanity of vanities: all is vanity.” If you are unrenewed, and dream that you are better than others because your parents were godly, it is a vain thought. Every thought of self-righteousness is a vain thought; every idea, moreover, of self-power--that you can do this and do that towards your own salvation, and that at any time when it pleases you you can turn and become a Christian, and so there is no need to be in a hurry, or to seek the help of the Holy Spirit:--that also is a vain thought. 2. Another sort of vain thoughts may be ranged under the head of carnal security. The poet says, “ All men think all men mortal but themselves,” and often as the saying is quoted never was a proverb more generally true. 3. I know another set of thoughts: they are better looking, but they are equally vain, for they promise much and come to nothing: they are vain because they are fruitless. These vain thoughts are like the better order of people in Jerusalem--good people after a sort--that is to say, they really thought that as God threatened them with judgments, they would turn to Him. Certainly they would. They had no intention of being hard hearted. Far from it; they owned the power of the prophet’ s appeal; they felt a degree of awe in the presence of the just God as He threatened them, and of course they meant--they meant to wash their hearts, and they meant to put away all their forbidden practices; not just yet, but by and by. Some men brood so long over their future intentions that they all of them become addled eggs, and nothing whatever is hatched. O man, “ whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it,” do it, do it “ with thy might.” II. Now, let me show what bad lodgers they are.1. First, they are deceitful. The man that says, “ When I have a more convenient season I will send for thee,” does not send for Paul any more: he never intended to do so. A man says, “ Tomorrow” ; but tomorrow never comes. When that comes which would have been “ tomorrow” it is “ today” ; and then he cries, “ Tomorrow,” and so multiplies lies before God. 2. Vain thoughts are bad lodgers, for they pay no rent; they bring in nothing good to those who entertain them. There is the ledger of self-righteousness, for instance: what good does self-righteousness ever do to the man who entertains it? It pretends to pay in brass farthings: it pretends to pay, but the money is counterfeit. What good does it do to any man to harbour in his mind the empty promise of future repentance? It often prevents repentance. 3. The next reason for the ejectment of these lodgers is this: that they are wasting your goods and destroying your property. For instance, every unacted resolution wastes time, and that is more precious than gold. It also wastes thought, for to think of a thing and to leave it undone is a waste of reflection. It is a waste of energy to be energetic about merely promising to be energetic; it is a great waste of strength to be forever resolving to be strong, and yet to remain weak. 4. Worst of all, these vain thoughts are bad lodgers because they bring you under condemnation. There have been times when to entertain certain persons was treason, and many individuals have been put to death for harbouring traitors. Rebels condemned to die have been discovered in a man’ s house, and he has been condemned for affording them a hiding place. Now, God declares that these vain thoughts of yours are condemned traitors. Are you going to harbour them any longer? III. Let us see what to do with these bad lodgers.1. The first thing is to give them notice to quit at once. Let there be no waiting. When a man is converted it is done at once. There is a line, thin as a razor’ s edge, which divides death from life, a point of decision which separates the saved from the lost. 2. Suppose that these vain thoughts will not go just when you bid them begone. I will tell you what to do to get rid of them: starve them out. Lock the door, and let nothing enter upon which they can feed. 3. The best way in all the world that I know of to get rid of vain thoughts out of your house--these bad lodgers that have gone in and that you cannot get out--is to sell the house over their heads. Let the house change owners. When you have dope that, you know, it will be the new owner that will have the trouble of turning them out; and He will do it. I recommend every sinner here that wants to find salvation to give himself up to Christ. Ah, now the stronger than they are has come, and He will bind the strong ones, and He will fling them out of window, and so break them to pieces with their fall that they shall never be able to crawl up the stairs again. He knows how to do it. He can expel them; you cannot. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Vain thoughts Heart compared to house, to entertain and lodge guests; into which, before conversion, all the light wanton thoughts that post up and down in the world have open access; while they, like unruly gallants, revel day and night, and defile those rooms they lodge in. “ How long?” whilst I, with My Spirit, and Son, and train of graces, stand and knock, and cannot find admittance? I. What is meant by thoughts?1. The internal acts of the mind; reasonings, resolutions, consultations, desires, cares, etc. (1) The thinking, meditating, musing power in man, which enables him to conceive, apprehend, fancy. (2) Thoughts which the mind frames within itself (Proverbs 6:14; James 1:15; Isaiah 59:4-7). (3) Thoughts which the mind in and by itself begets and entertains. 2. What vanity is. (1) Unprofitableness (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3). (2) Lightness (Psalms 62:9). (3) Folly (Proverbs 12:11). (4) Inconstancy (Psalms 144:4; Psalms 146:4). (5) Wicked and sinful (2 Chronicles 13:7; Proverbs 24:9). II. The particulars wherein this vanity of the thinking, meditating power of man consists.1. In regard to thinking what is good. (1) A want of ability to raise and extract holy and useful considerations and thoughts from the occurrences and occasions which surround us. (2) A loathness to entertain holy thoughts. (3) The mind will not be long intent on good thoughts. (4) If the mind think of good things, it does so unseasonably; intrudes on prayer and interrupts it (Proverbs 16:3). 2. The readiness of the mind to think on evil and vain things. (1) This vanity shows itself in foolishness (Mark 7:22), which proves itself in the unsettledness and independence of our thoughts. (2) If any strong lust or passion be up, our thoughts are too fixed and intent. (3) A restless curiosity concerning things not affecting us. (4) Taking thought to fulfil the lusts of our flesh. (5) Acting sins over again in our imagination. III. Remedies against vain thoughts.1. Get the heart furnished and enriched with a good stock of sanctified and heavenly knowledge in spiritual truths. 2. Endeavour to preserve and keep up lively, holy, and spiritual affections in the heart. 3. Get the heart possessed with deep and powerful apprehensions of God’ s holiness, majesty, omniscience, and omnipresence. 4. In the morning when thou awakest, as did David (Psalms 119:18), prevent the vain thoughts the heart naturally engenders by filling it with thoughts of God. 5. Have a watchful eye upon thy heart all day; though vain thoughts crowd in, let them know that they pass not unseen. 6. Please not thy fancy too much with vanities and curious flights (Job 31:1; Proverbs 4:25). 7. Be diligent in thy calling (2 Thessalonians 3:11; 1 Timothy 5:13); only, encumber not the mind too much (Luke 10:41). 8. In thy calling and all thy ways commit thy goings to the Lord (Proverbs 16:3). (T. Goodwin, B. D.) Vain thoughts I. What are vain thoughts?1. Unprofitable imaginations.2. Unscriptural opinions.3. Unholy desires.4. Unseasonable ideas. II. The solemn inquiry. “ How long?”1. Shall it be till some temporal judgment be sent to awaken you out of your carnal security? 2. Till habit rivets these vain thoughts, and makes repentance and conversion harder than ever? 3. Till the grieved Saviour forsakes thee, and the resisted Spirit ceases to strive with thee? 4. Till the sentence goes forth, cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground? (J. Jowett, M. A.) The vanity of man as a thinker I. It is the glory of man that he can think.1. Thought brings the outward universe into man’ s soul, and thus makes it his own. 2. Thought enables us to subordinate the outward world to our service. 3. By the power of thought we construct new universes. 4. Thought determines our condition. (1) Even materially, it influences our health, shapes our countenance, tunes our voice. (2) Spiritually, our condition is almost absolutely governed by thought. By thought we can pierce the heavens, enter into the holy of holies, hold fellowship with the Infinite. By thought we can break forth from our own little earthly sphere--make God our centre, and run a wider and brighter orbit than the stars. II. It is the curse of man that he thinks wrongly.1. Vain thoughts find a lodgment in the minds of some. If the thoughts cherished be vain, the life pursued will be vain. In order in some measure to estimate the amount of vain thought cherished by men, let us do three things. Compare the true theory of happiness with the conduct which men pursue in order to obtain it; the true theory of greatness with the efforts which they put forth in order to realise it; and the true theory of religion with their conduct in relation to it. 2. The expulsion of vain thoughts is a matter of urgent importance. (1) They can be got rid of. By consecration of our energies to true work. By companionship with truthful souls. By realising the constant presence of the heart-inspecting God. By a change in the governing dispositions of the mind. (2) The urgent necessity of this. They waste the mental life; corrupt the heart; imperil the soul. (Homilist.) Vain thoughts I. The evil of permitting vain thoughts to lodge within us. By vain thoughts may be meant all unlawful desires, vile affections, wicked tempers, and mischievous imaginations of every kind. If these, or any other evil thoughts to which we are subject, lodge in our breasts, they must render our persons abominable to God, corrupt all our performances, and produce many bitter fruits. II. The necessity of washing our hearts from wickedness. As it would be madness in the husbandman to sow his seed upon ground that was covered with thorns, so it is equally foolish to expect the fruit of good living in any person whose heart lies fallow, unbroken, and overspread with the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, which our Saviour calls thorns. (W. Richardson.) The place of thought in the making of character Anyone who has visited lime stone caves has noticed the stalactite pillars, sometimes large and massive, by which they are adorned and supported. They are nature’ s masonry of solid rock formed by her own slow, silent, and mysterious process. The little drop of water percolates through the roof of the cavern and deposits its sediment, and another follows it, till the icicle of stone is formed, and finally reaching to the rock beneath, it becomes a solid pillar, a marble monument which can only be rent down by the most powerful forces. But is there not going forward oftentimes in the caverns of the human heart a process as silent and effective, yet infinitely more momentous? There in the darkness that shrouds all from the view of the outward observer, each thought and feeling, as light and inconsiderable perhaps as the little drops of water, sinks downward into the soul, and deposits--yet in a form almost imperceptible--what we may call its sediment. And then another and another follows, till the traces of all combined become more manifest; and if these thoughts and feelings are charged with the sediment of worldliness and worldly passion, then all around the walls of this spiritual cavern stand in massive proportions the pillars of sinful inclination and the props of iniquity, and only a convulsion like that which rends the solid globe can rend them from their place and shake their hold. (American National Preacher.) Bad lodgers John Huss, seeking to reclaim a very profane wretch, was told by him that his giving way to wicked, wanton thoughts was the original of all those hideous births of impiety which he was guilty of in his life. Huss answered him, that although he could not keep evil thoughts from courting him, yet he might keep them from making a lodging place in his heart; as, he added, “ though I cannot prevent the birds from flying over my head, yet I can keep them from building nests in my hair.” Vain thoughts A true Christian, who, by experience, knows what it is to deal with his own heart, finds it infinitely more difficult to beat down one sinful thought from rising up in him than to keep a thousand sinful thoughts from breaking forth into open act. Here lies his chief labour, to fight against phantasm and any apparitions, such as thoughts are; he sets himself chiefly against these heart sins, because he knows that these are the sins that are most of all contrary to grace, and do most of all weaken and waste grace. Outward sins are but like so many caterpillars that devour the verdure and flourishing of grace; but heart sins are like so many worms that gnaw the very root of grace. (Bp. E. Hopkins.) Jeremiah 4:19-26I am pained at my very heart.The prophet’ s lamentations over his people’ s doom I. The complaint or lamentation itself.1. The parts affected. The soul and inward man. (1) The secrecy of it, the mind and soul being inward and hidden. (2) The mind receives and digests the thoughts. (3) The mind is the mother of thoughts, conceiving and generating them. 2. The grief of those parts. (1) God need not go far for the punishment of wicked men; He can do it from within themselves; can punish a man with his own affections and thoughts. (2) What good cause we have to regulate and control our affections, avoid passion and excess of emotion, take care to be pacific, and enjoy a sabbatic tranquillity in our spirits. 3. The passage or vent. (1) The speech of discovery. He cannot help revealing these workings of his own spirit. (2) The speech of lamentation. He must bewail and utter complaint, his anguish was so great (Job 7:11). II. The ground or occasion of his lamentation.1. The tidings or report itself. (1) The trumpet of providence.(2) The trumpet of the Word.(3) The trumpet of vision, or extraordinary prophetical revelation. 2. The conveyance of it to the prophet. (1) The soul, through the corporeal organ of hearing. (2) The soul immediately, as being that which had communion with God. (3) The soul emphatically; that is heard, indeed, which is heard by the soul. Hence-- (a) God’ s excellency: He speaks. (b) Man’ s duty: he hears. 3. The improvement or use he makes of it. (1) His meditations aroused his affections. (a) This is the aim of a revelation. (b) We should endeavour to bring revelations for others to our own spiritual advancement and profit. (2) What these affections were which the tidings aroused. (a) An or at his people’ s obstinacy. (b) Fear of the coming judgment. (c) Grief at his people’ s state and doom (T. Herren, D. D.) The alarm of war. War “ The alarm of war.” A dreadful alarm; one that conjures up horrors and miseries that can scarcely be too deeply coloured. It sends a shudder through the system to think of the wealth of faculty and of resource that is expended over the problem how men can most effectually blow up and slay their fellows, and spread ruin and devastation upon the earth. Strip the thing of all the plumage of romance; look at it in its naked literalness, and it is simply horrible. That is true, too true, undeniably true. But let us learn a lesson. What capacities of heroism, of lofty patriotism, of courageous and unstinting self-sacrifice are called forth by the sound of the trumpet! Well, if only this potency of action, this burning enthusiasm, could be transferred to the Holy War that we are called to wage--ay, what then? Who are the real world heroes? An Alexander, a Napoleon? No, not the wakeful conquerors whose path has been as the whirlwind, but the men and women of whom the world often heard little, for the world does not know its best benefactors--the men and women who have broken the chains of the slave; who have lifted the poor from the dunghill; who have spoken the word of truth for which the soul of man was waiting; who have helped their kind to nobler and higher life; and all and only for God and for humanity. To them the statues and the monuments should be reared, and the canvas animated, and the laurel entwined. They are your leaders, O Christian people. Their fight is your fight, and it is His fight who is the Captain of our salvation. If I were to say to you in regard to this highest and noblest warfare, as Marshal Blanco said to the Cuban Spaniards, “ Do you swear to follow in this fight?” would you reply “ Yes, we do” ? I suppose you would. But just pause. Have you ever parted with a single comfort, with an enjoyment, with something that you feel to be good, if not necessary for your well-being; a something to which you are quite entitled; to secure an unselfish end; to better some cause; to get more into the inner place of human soul; to spread the knowledge of God’ s Christ and of your Father’ s kingdom in our world? Oh, that as we raise the vision of one kind of war that is blistered all over with mourning, lamentation, and woe, oh, that there might rise upon our souls the vision of that other war that has no such blisters, that is written all over with the characters of true, noble, glorious life or death! Oh, that this vision might take some shape and some consistency and some solidarity within us. There is no life that is worth anything that is not a fighting life. God made us to fight; He set us in the world to fight. The enemy is around us, before us, without us, aye, and within us. I ask, who of you are ready, humbly, reflecting, but earnestly, to lift up your hand to Him, your risen Lord, who is beckoning you, and say, “ By Thy help, Lord, I will. Here am I. I have been but a laggard; I have been content to fight in the rear. Take me on to the van, and let me have some worthy part with Thee in this great holy war. Here am I, Prince of Peace, send me.” (J. M. Lang, D. D.) The alarm of war I. Of hearing the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war.1. We ought to have our ears open to the voice of God in the dispensations of His providence (Micah 6:9). 2. When we hear the sound of the trumpet, and the alarm of war, we ought to consider the causes of these alarms. The prophets often denounce war as a judgment of God against His people, or against the Gentiles. In publishing such threatenings they, for the most part, speak of the sins that have provoked God to afflict His creatures with this calamity; and when they do not specify the grounds of the Lord’ s controversy, as in chap. 49, they leave no room to doubt that God is justly displeased. God has just reason, for our sins at present, not only to threaten, but to punish us with His vengeance. We ought to wonder at His forbearance, that He has not long since caused the sword to reach unto the whole of the nation, to avenge the quarrel of His covenant. 3. The probable or possible consequences of these alarms of war ought to come under our view when we hear the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war. When we make that preparation which religion enjoins against possible evils, if these evils should not overtake us, we are no losers, but gainers. The fear of evil has often been productive of much good. “ Happy is the man who feareth always,” and especially in times when there is peculiar cause of fear; “ but he who hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.” II. The impression which the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war ought to make upon us.1. Those external scenes of distress which are the consequences of war must give pain to a heart that is not contracted and hardened by a reigning selfishness of spirit. 2. Souls precipitated into an eternal world must awaken awful sensations in those who believe that, when the dust returns to the earth as it was, the spirit returns to God who gave it. 3. The influence that wars may have upon the interests of religion is a source of anxious concern to the lovers of God (Lamentations 1:9; Lamentations 2:6-7; Lamentations 2:9). Amidst the ravages of war, even in our own times, we have too often heard of the alienation or destruction of houses ordinarily employed in the services of religion. Should God, in His wrath, refuse us His help against those who threaten the subversion of our liberties, who can foresee what dismal consequences in the state of religion would ensue? 4. God’ s indignation, apparent in the alarms of war, ought to impress every mind with deep concern. III. What improvement is to be made of the sound of the trumpet and of the alarm of war?1. Let us consider our ways, and inquire how far we are chargeable with those provocations of the Divine majesty which expose us to danger from our enemies. When God threatens judgments, He observes our behaviour. He returns and repents when men are ready to acknowledge their offences, and to forsake them; but woe to those who are at ease in their sins, and never inquire what are the causes of the Lord’ s contendings with them. 2. We ought to humble ourselves before God, on account of our iniquities. Observe in what manner Ezra and Daniel bewailed and confessed their own iniquities, and the iniquities of their people (Ezra 9:1-15; Daniel 9:1-27). What would we think of a child that did not mourn when his father was justly displeased with him? We would think that he was cursed with a disposition that totally disqualified him for enjoying the sweetest pleasures that man can taste. By this similitude the Scripture teaches us how unnatural a thing insensibility to the chastisements of the Divine hand ought to be reputed (Numbers 12:14). 3. Supplications for pardoning and reforming grace ought to accompany our humiliation. We are greatly encouraged to pray by the many examples of successful petitioners for public mercies in Scripture. The ways of God are everlasting. He delights in mercy. He puts words into our mouth for imploring His mercy. He hath left us many promises of merciful returns to our prayers, that we may be encouraged to come boldly to His throne of grace for mercy to ourselves, to our friends and brethren, to the Church, to our king and country. 4. We are warned by the sound of the trumpet and the alarms of war to make God our refuge, and the Most High our habitation. To trust to ourselves is the fruit of atheism. If there is a God, He rules in the army of heaven and amongst the inhabitants of the earth; and He does according to His pleasure. He sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. He bringeth the princes of the earth to nought; He maketh its judges as vanity. “ But the name of the Lord is a strong tower of defence,” some may say, “ only for the righteous (Proverbs 18:10). And we are conscious of so many evils, that we have no reason to hope for protection from the Holy One, who takes no pleasure in wickedness, and will not suffer evil to dwell with Him.” It is true, the Lord our God is holy; but it is true likewise, that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. “ Him that cometh unto Me,” says Jesus, “ I will in no wise cast out.” You have perhaps heard some ridiculous stories of men that, by some magical secret, were rendered invulnerable in battle. You would not be afraid to encounter the most formidable armies if you were masters of such a secret; but, if thou canst believe, “ all things are possible to him that believeth.” “ He that liveth, and believeth in Me, shall never die.” Who is he that can kill those who cannot die? The words, you will say, must be figuratively understood; for who is the man that liveth, and shall not see death? But, however they are to be understood, they are true and faithful sayings of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, of Him that liveth, and was dead, and is alive for evermore, and holds the keys of the spiritual world, and of death. You are called to mourning in days of danger, but not to that kind of mourning which swallows up the soul. You are called to mourn, that you may rejoice; to be afflicted for your sins, that you may flee from wrath to Christ, and find in Him safety, security, and joy. 5. The sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war is a loud call to us to cease to do evil, and to learn to do well. Our faith in God is a delusion if we hold fast our iniquities. Our faith in Christ, if it is genuine, will purify our hearts and lives. We are exposed to danger, not only from our own personal sins, but from the sins of our fellow subjects; and therefore we ought not only to forsake sin, but to use all our influence to turn other sinners from the error of their ways. It is a righteous thing with God, that those who do not duly oppose the prevalence of sin should share in the miseries which it brings. We ought not only to renounce all iniquity, but to live in the habitual practice of every duty which God requires. (G. Lawson.) Jeremiah 4:20 Suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.Sudden sorrow Jeremiah was describing the havoc of war, a war which was devastating his country and bringing untold miseries upon the people. How grateful we ought to be that war is not raging in our own land. Blessed be the Lord, who has given centuries of peace to the fertile hills and valleys of His chosen isle. There are, however, in this land, and in all lands, whether at war or peace, many calamities which come suddenly upon the sons of men, concerning which they may bitterly lament, “ How suddenly are my tents spoiled and my curtains in a moment.” This world at its best is not our rest. There is nothing settled below the moon. We call this terra firma, but there is nothing firm upon it; it is tossed to and fro like a troubled sea evermore. We are never for any long time in one stay; change is perpetually operating. Nothing is sure but that which is Divine; nothing is abiding except that which cometh down from heaven. I. A sudden spoiling happens to human righteousness.1. Let us look at the history of human righteousness, and begin in the garden of Eden, and lament the fall. Adam in his perfection could not maintain his righteousness, how can you and I, who are imperfect from the very birth, hope to do so? 2. A second instance of this very commonly occurs in the failure of the moralist’ s resolutions. See yonder young people, tutored from their childhood in everything that is good: their character is excellent and admirable, but will it so abide? Will not the enemy despoil their tents? 3. Another liability of human righteousness is one which I must not call a calamity, seeing it is the commencement of the greatest blessing: I mean when the Spirit of God comes to deal with human righteousness, by way of illumination and conviction. Here we can speak of what we know experimentally. How beautiful our righteousness is, and how it flourishes like a comely flower till the Spirit of God blows upon it, and then it withers quite away, like the grass in the hot sirocco. The first lesson of the Holy Ghost to the heart is to lay bare its deceivableness, and to uncover before us its loathsomeness, where we thought that everything was true and acceptable. I would ask all who are under conviction of sin to answer this question, “ When thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?” May you reply, “ We know what we will do. We will flee from self to Jesus. Our precious things are removed, and our choice treasure is taken from us; therefore do we take the Lord Jesus to be our all in all.” 4. But there will come to all human righteousness one other time of spoiling, if neither of those should happen which I have mentioned before. Remorse will come, and that very probably in the hour of death, if not before. II. The words of our text are exceedingly applicable to the spoiling of all earthly comforts.1. Sudden destruction to all our earthly comforts is common to all sorts of men. It may happen to the best as well as to the worst. As darts the hawk upon its prey, so does affliction fall upon the unsuspecting sons of Adam. As the earthquake on a sudden overthrows a city, so does adversity shake the estate of mortals. 2. Sudden trial comes in various forms. Here below nothing is certain but universal uncertainty. One way or another, God knoweth how to bring the rod home to us, and to make us smart till we cry out, “ How suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.” 3. Now this might well be expected. Do we wonder when we are suddenly deprived of our earthly comforts? Are they not fleeting things? When they came to us did we receive a lease of them, or were we promised that they should last forever? All that we possess here below is God’ s property; He has only loaned it out to us, and what He lends He has a right to take back again. We hold our possessions and our friends, not upon freehold, but upon lease terminable at the Supreme Owner’ s option; do you wonder when the holding ceases? 4. Since these calamities may be expected, let us be prepared for them. “ How?” say you. Why, by holding all earthly things loosely; by having them as though you had them not; by looking at them as fleeting, and never expecting them to abide with you. 5. Let us take care to make good use of our comforts while we possess them. Since they hastily fly by us, let us catch them on the wing, and diligently employ them for God’ s glory. Let us commit our all to the custody of God, who is our all in all. Such a blessed thing is faith in God that if the believer should lose everything he possesses here below he would have small cause for sorrow so long as he kept his faith. 6. But let us solemnly remind you that in times when we meet with sudden calamity God is putting you to the test, and trying the love and faith of those who profess to be His people. “ When thou art spoiled, what writ thou do?” You thought you loved God: do you love Him now? You said He was your Father, but that was when He kissed you; is He your Father now that He chastens you? III. There may come a sudden spoiling of life itself. In a moment prostrated by disease and brought to death’ s door, frail man may well cry out, How suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment!”1. It is by no means unusual for men to die on a sudden. 2. Not one man or woman here has a guarantee that he or she shall live till tomorrow. It is almost a misuse of language to talk about life insurance, for we cannot insure our lives; they must forever remain uninsured as to their continuance here. “ When thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?” When on a sudden the curtains of our tent shall rend in twain, and the tent pole shall be snapped, and the body shall lie a desolate ruin, what shall we then do? I will tell you what some of us know that we shall do. We know that when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. As poor, guilty sinners we have fled to Christ for refuge, and He is ours, and we know that He will surely keep what we have committed to Him until that day: therefore are we not afraid of all that the spoilers can do. We are not afraid of the spoiler; but, O worldling, when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? (C. H. Spurgeon.) The wailing of the bereaved I. Our first sorrowful theme is sudden bereavements. Alas! alas! how soon may we be childless; how soon may we be widowed of the dearest objects of our affections! Ah! this were a sad world indeed, if the ties of kindred, of affection, and of friendship all be snapped; and yet it is such a world that they must be sundered, and may be divided at any moment.1. Let us learn to sit loose by our dearest friends that we have on earth. Let us love them--love them we may, love them we should--but let us always learn to love them as dying things. Oh, build not thy nest on any of these trees, for they are all marked for the axe. See thou the disease of mortality on every cheek, and write not “ eternal” upon the creature of an hour. 2. Take care that thou puttest all thy dear ones into God’ s hand. Thou hast put thy soul there, put them there. Thou canst trust them for temporals for thyself, trust thy jewels with Him. Feel that they are not thine own, but that they are God’ s loans to thee; loans which may be recalled at any moment--precious benisons of heaven, not entailed upon thee, but of which thou art but a tenant at will. 3. Further, you who are blessed with wife and children and friends, take care that you bless God for them. Sing a song of praise to God who hath blessed you so much more than others. 4. And then permit me to remind you that if these sudden bereavements may come, and there may be a dark chamber in any house in a moment, and the coffin may be in any one of our habitations, let us so act to our kinsfolk and relatives as though we knew they were soon about to die. II. Sudden death, as we view it more particularly in relation to ourselves. There are a thousand gates to death. How many there be who have fallen dead in the streets! How many sitting in their own homes! Well, our turn must come. Perhaps we shall die falling asleep in our beds after long sickness, but probably we shall be suddenly called in such an hour as we think not to face the realities of eternity. Well, if it be so, if there be a thousand gates to death, if all means and any means may be sufficient to stop the current of our life, if really, after all, spiders’ webs and bubbles are more substantial things than human life, if we are but a vapour, or a dying taper that soon expires in darkness, what then?1. Why, first, I say, let us all look upon ourselves as dying men, let us not reckon on tomorrow. Oh! let us not procrastinate; for taken in Satan’ s great net of procrastination, we may wait, and wait, and wait, till time is gone, and the great knell of eternity shall toll our dissolution. 2. And then take care, I pray you, that you who do know Christ not only live as though you meant to die, but live while you live. Oh, what a work we have to do, and how short the time to do it in! 3. And let us learn never to do anything which we should not wish to be found doing if we were to die. We are sometimes asked by young people whether they may go to the theatre, whether they may dance, or whether they may do this or that. You may do anything which you would not be ashamed to be doing when Christ shall come. III. The sudden change which a sudden death will cause. You see yonder Christian man, he is full of a thousand fears,--he is afraid even of his interest in Christ, he is troubled spiritually, and vexed with temporal cares. You see him cast down and exceeding troubled, his faith but very weak; he steps outside yon door, and there meets him a messenger from God, who smites him to the heart, and he is dead. Can you conceive the change? Death has cured him of his fears, his tears are wiped away once for all from his eyes; and, to his surprise, he stands where he feared he should never be, in the midst of the redeemed of God, in the general assembly and church of the first-born. If he should think of such things, would he not upbraid himself for thinking so much of his trials and of his troubles, and for looking into a future which he was never to see? See yonder man, he can scarcely walk, he has a hundred pains in his body, he is more tried and pained than any man. Death puts his skeleton hand upon him, and he dies. How marvellous the change! No aches now, no casting down of spirit, he then is supremely blest, the decrepit has become perfect, the weak has become strong, the trembling one has become a David, and David has become as the angel of the Lord. But what must be the change to the unconverted man? His joys are over forever. His death is the death of his happiness--his funeral is the funeral of his mirth. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Wise to do evil.--Readier to do evil than good This is a mystery, and yet nothing is more palpable and provable. How easily we learn to go down to hell! What a toil it is in all life to climb, until we get into the meaning of it, and become real mountaineers; then we say, Let us go upward, for we feed upon the very wind, we grow strong by the very exercise; we pant to stand upon the highest pinnacles of nature. But how easy it is not to obey! how easy not to go to church! How delightfully easy to throw off the yoke and to terminate the discipline of life! Employers of labour know this; labourers themselves are well acquainted with it; all schoolmasters and trainers of the young would assent to the proposition instantly and without reserve, and every living man would say, That is true. If that is true, the whole point is yielded. Why should it be true? The direct contrary ought to be the case: it ought to be hard to be crooked and rough and foolish and vain and worldly. It ought to be almost impossible for a man made in the image and likeness of God to drink himself to death, to rob his neighbour, to play the fool, to sleep with the devil. Given creation at the beginning, and it never could occur to the finite intellect as a possibility that man should think one ignoble thought, utter one untrue word, commit himself to one dishonourable policy; the exclamation would be, It is impossible! But we have done it I We have broken all the ten commandments one by one; we have shattered them in their totality; we have run away from God. We have done miracles which have astounded the heavens. (J. Parker, D. D.) Godlessness is supreme folly Do you count him a wise man who is wise in anything but in his own proper profession and employment, wise for everybody but himself, who is ingenious to contrive his own misery and to do himself a mischief, but is dull and stupid as to the designing of any real benefit and advantage to himself? Such a one is he who is ingenious in his calling but a bad Christian, for Christianity is more our proper calling and profession than the very trades we live upon; and such is every sinner who is “ wise to do evil, but to do good has no understanding.” (J. Tillotson.) Piety-the truest wisdom If any man’ s head or tongue should grow apace, and all the rest of the body not grow, it would certainly make him a monster; and they are no other that are knowing and talkative Christians, and grow daily in these respects, but not at all in holiness of heart and life, which is the proper growth of the children of God. (H. G. Salter.) Jeremiah 4:30 Though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair. Hypocrisy discovered This renting of the face is, literally, enlarging of the eyes through kohl or antimony--a trick of artificial beauty. And the poor creature has taken out her best clothes, painted herself with the fairest colours, done all she could from the outside, and behold the issue is: “ Thy lovers will despise but after all is over men feel that this is unreal, untrue, utterly rotten at the core; they say this is “ a goodly apple rotten at the heart.” Let us understand the, that whether we be discovered now or then, we shall be discovered. The hollow man shall be sounded, and shall be pronounced void. Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting; and thou, poor fool, hast covered up the hectic flush of consumption with indigo that will wash off, or with some other colour that can be cleansed away; thou hast made thyself look otherwise than as thou art: but all that is external shall be taken from thee, and thou shalt be seen in thy naked hideousness and ghastliness. This is right! The revelation will be awful; but it ought to be made, or heaven itself will be insecure. Oh, what disclosures then! The canting hypocrite without his cloak; the skilful mocker who has lost his power of jesting; the knave who always said a grace he had committed to memory before he cut the bread he had stolen; the preacher who knew the right, and yet the wrong pursued; the fair speaker, who knew the very subtlety of music as to persuasion, and yet decoyed souls down the way at the end of which is hell. Then the other revelation will also be made. There may be men of rough manners who shall prove to have been all the while animated by a gentle spirit; there may be those who have been regarded as Philistines who are God’ s gentlemen; there may be those who have been thought as unworthy of courtesy who shall be set high among the angels. (J. Parker, D. D.) . Jeremiah 5:1-9 Run ye . . . and see . . . if ye can find a man.A man; or, The Divine ideal unrealised I. The Divine idea of a man. One “ that executeth Judgment, that seeketh the truth.” This involves--1. A righteous working out of the Divine will so far as it is apprehended. 2. An earnest endeavour for further knowledge of the Divine will. 3. How different is the Divine ideal of a man from that which popularly prevails. (1) The ideal of the muscular force.(2) That of the secular--wealth.(3) That of the intellectual--knowledge.(4) That of the vain--show. II. The lamentable rarity of a man.1. A sad revelation of the moral condition of Jerusalem in the days of the prophet. Such corruption amongst a people who had such religious privileges, and in the very scene where the temple stood, shows the wonderful forbearance of God and the terrible perversity of the human heart! 2. The condition of our own age. Verily, we are a fallen people. III. The social value of a man. “ And I will pardon it.” For the sake of a man, God promises to pardon Jerusalem. The value of a man to society, to the race, is everywhere represented in the Bible.1. A man is a condition on which God favours the race. Sodom and Gomorrah. 2. A man is an agent by which God improves the condition of the race. He educates, purifies, saves man by man. (Homilist.) The sinfulness of Jerusalem 1. Deliberate and wilful perjury (Jeremiah 5:2). So familiarised with oaths as not to care whether the matter sworn to was true or false. 2. Idolatry. Strange to see how madly this people ran after the lying vanities of the Gentiles, after they had received such manifold and undeniable proofs of the power, wisdom, and goodness of a living God, who was present with them; after so many laws enacted against idolatry, so many signal judgments inflicted on them for falling into this sin, such a hedge set about them to keep them from mingling with other nations, lest they should learn their ways. 3. Adulteries and fornications. This was a crime of a high nature, a complication of sins, and productive of so many sad consequences that death was the just punishment allotted to it. 4. Their shameful prevaricating with God’ s Word, and torturing it to make it speak contrary to its genuine meaning. To this end they encouraged false prophets, who would prophesy smooth things, etc. 5. They were very unthankful to God, and insensible of His blessings conferred upon them. 6. They were very fraudulent in their dealings one with another, both in word and deed. 7. That which portended the extirpation of these Jews was, that not only all the fore cited iniquities were notorious in practice, but were moreover approved of, as it were, and settled among them by common consent. 8. This is enough to prove that it was fit for nothing but the fire, and it hath received that just recompense of reward. And the history of it is recorded for the instruction of all other cities who have the sacred Scriptures to instruct them. They may hear Jerusalem warning them, saying, “ Look upon me, and learn to fear God. Will ye steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, and sacrifice to the idols of your own imagination, and hope to escape the wrath of God better than I have done? Let my calamities conduce to your salvation, and put away those sins from among you which have laid me in ruinous heaps, and turned me into a monument of the Divine fury. Look upon me, and learn to fear God.” 9. Those who are enemies to religion, and help to banish the fear of God out of the world, by denying the authority of His Word, or by putting a wrong sense and construction upon it, are as bad members as can be found in any society of men, because they do what they can to subvert the very foundations of truth, and deprive us of the last remedy which is left to repair the breaches of piety and virtue in a sinful world. (W. Reading, M. A.) A man We all know the two meanings of the word man--the one which distinguishes a human being from a beast, the other which is applied only to those who possess the highest qualities of manhood. Such are the salt of the earth, such would have been the saviours of Jerusalem. Ay, such an one was the Saviour of this world, the man Christ Jesus. A union of qualities is needed to make up a man in this high but true sense. These qualities are partly physical, partly mental, and partly spiritual. We know what false ideas are attached to manliness. It is often entirely associated with brute strength. He is a man, think many, who has the greatest strength of arm and power of body. But though beneficial, and often beautiful, this manly strength does not make the man. In some of the most splendid specimens of bodily physique you have the mind of a child and the weakness of a fool, or, still worse, the unrestrained appetites of the beast, or the desperate wickedness of a fiend. How often, too, are the views of men taken as the stamp of manhood. Too often the youthful ideal of manliness is not self-restraint, but self-indulgence, to abandon duty, to pursue pleasure, to wreck the happiness of others, to be lord of one’ s self, that heritage of woe--how many cherish these as the highest functions of a man! There may be other false ideals, but I wish to come to the scriptural ideal of the man who, if he could be found, would have saved the city and state of Jerusalem. What are the leading characteristics? To do justly, to seek truth. How commonplace, how stripped of the glory and pride dear to young imaginations, how possible for all to reach. I. The first test, whether we are worthy to be called men, is the rightness of our actions, the integrity or justice of our doings. What is our conduct in life? Are we conforming ourselves to the Divine standard? Let us look at detail in right-doing in the different positions which we are called to fill. A deal of our lives is spent in our homes. There, if anywhere, we are genuine. We cannot seem to be what we are not before those who know us best, and who can read us through and through. How often there we fail to be men! The man who does justly is eminently tender, willing to enter into the feelings of others, to deal justly with them, to extend to them the sympathy of his strong nature. He is also helpful. The very presence of some men is helpful; you may not ask their advice, but to know they are near you is in itself a strength; and in the home relationships is it not the special province of the father, the husband, the son, the brother, to be helpful, to lift burdens, to smooth difficulties, to unravel the knots of this tangled existence? Do you not know homes where they who should be helpful only hinder the family life, where they are burdens and disgraces, taxing not only the family love, but wasting means all too narrow, and depriving their own kindred of their due share of life’ s blessings? Such are not men, still less are they men who presume on others’ weakness. Many a husband shelters himself under his wife’ s love from the penalties of his neglect, if not of worse treatment. Many a lad, who, above all, wants to be thought manly, takes advantage of his parents’ fondness, and wastes their hard-earned money in riotous living, while they believe it is being usefully spent on his education or advancement in life. Such men will never save a State, will never rise to such a height of nobility that they can leaven with the true spirit of goodness and righteousness the mass around them. II. The second test of manhood is seeking truth. Truth is, in the Old Testament, not only mental but moral, is not only intellectual knowledge, but the knowledge of God and of His will. We need in this present day men equally ready to seek truth in all spheres of knowledge--in science, in philosophy, in politics, in religion. We cannot be too earnest in seeking all light, wherever it comes from. We should remember the words of the poet: “ Truth is the strong thing; let man’ s life be true,” and we should pursue our search in humility, in reverence, and in faith--above all, in regard to Divine things. That is a duty laid upon us all--to seek God, who is truth; to cleave to Him at all costs; to do His will, whatever it be. We may be mistaken as to what His will is; we may be troubled by doubts and difficulties, moral or intellectual; but we must remember that if we try to do justly we shall know the doctrine whether it be of God. III. In doing justly, in seeking truth, you will be men because you will be followers of the man Christ Jesus. When we think of Christ as man we too often think only of His sorrow, of His persecution, of His death. True man He was in all these points, and nothing soothes us more in our time of trouble than that blessed knowledge. But I wish you to realise Him as man not only in the weakness but in the strength of humanity. I wish you to recognise in Him the ideal man, who did justly and sought truth. Think of His life, of His tenderness to His mother, of His helpfulness to His friends. Think of the ideal which He set before men. “ Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?” is His counsel to the multitude eager for the outward. “ Lay not up treasure upon earth” is His warning to the rich and over-careful. “ One thing is needful” is His reply to the cumbered housewife. Read these Gospels, and tell me if there ever breathed a purer, more righteous, more unselfish spirit. (J. R. Mitford Mitchell, D. D.) The courage of the true prophet “ It is difficult,” says a great historian, “ to conceive any situation more painful than that of a great man condemned to watch the lingering agony of an exhausted country, to tend it during the alternate fits of stupefaction and raving which precede its dissolution; and to see the symptoms of vitality disappear, one by one, until nothing is left but coldness, darkness, and corruption.” Such was the fate of Jeremiah. His writings are among the saddest in Scripture. He was no Elijah, no Isaiah, no John the Baptist, no Savonarola, not a man of mighty thunderings, whose strong spirit can face corrupted nations and never quail. There are some men whose courage seems to rise in proportion as they have to face insensate fury of opposition. Such was the spirit of Phocion. “ Have I said anything wrong then?” he exclaimed, when the Athenians cheered his speech. Such was the spirit of Coriolanus. Such was the spirit of the great Scipio. Christians who believe that Christ really did mean something when He said, “ Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you,” --Christians, a few of them, have also believed that there is a beatitude of insolence and of malediction. “ Heavens! what mistake have I made!” was the answer of a strong governor when told that he was beginning to get popular. But Jeremiah was not naturally a man of this strong fibre. Timid, shrinking, sensitive, he was yet placed by God in the forefront of a forlorn hope, in which he was, as it were, predestined to failure and to martyrdom. In this chapter Jeremiah is striving to bring home to his people that things are not as they should be. Diogenes, in Athens, searched the streets with a lantern at noonday to find a man; Jeremiah, in Jerusalem, says that neither in its streets, nor in its broad places, can he find one man, one just, strong servant of the Lord. He thought, perhaps, that had there been such, God might pardon Jerusalem as He had once pardoned Sodom. But he could not find them. He found profession, but not sincerity; chastisement, but not amendment; remorse, but not repentance. Then he thought, “ I have been too much among the multitude, who are ignorant and foolish; I will go to the upper strata of society; I will get me to the great men, to the priests, the statesmen, the men of culture; they surely have had leisure to learn the way of the Lord and the judgment of their God.” But the prophet was utterly disappointed; the upper thousands were worse and more helpless than the lower myriads; they had altogether broken the yoke and burst the bands, and so he adds--“ Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evening shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities.” What was the exact idea of the threatened punishment we do not know. The general meaning is clear; the days were evil alike among high and low; there were carelessness, unbelief, self-seeking, insincerity, and, amid all, men were completely at their ease; they were quite secure that no evil could happen to them. Jeremiah thought differently; he knew that greed, falsity, unreality, corruption, cannot last. God cannot forever bear with them; men cannot forever endure their burden; they may be long-lived, but doomsday comes to them in the end. Has it not always been so? The great world empires of idolatry--what could once have seemed more secure than they were in cruel strength? Where are they now? In any age, whenever any true prophet has spoken, the world has always been thrown into violent antagonism; it denies him every quality he possesses; he may be the humblest of men, but he will assuredly be charged with pride, Whom makest thou thyself? If he be hopeful, he will be called Utopian and unpractical; if he be despondent, he will be called maudlin; if he feels strongly, he is excited and an enthusiast; if he speaks strongly, he is gushing and hysterical; in the one case he is a Samaritan, and in the other “ he has a devil.” A sneer has been made on the very name of the prophet of whom we are speaking, and the world thinks it has effectually depreciated any warning about present evil or future peril, when it has called it a Jeremiad. Neither the world nor the Church can tolerate a prophet until they have killed him: kings cannot away with him. Ahab imprisons Micaiah, Joash kills Zechariah, Herod slays John in prison, Eudoxia banishes Chrysostom, Sigismund burns Huss. Priests hate him with still more perfect hatred; the priests of Jerusalem ridicule Isaiah; the priest Pashur put Jeremiah into the stocks; the priest Amaziah expels Amos; the priests Annas and Caiaphas slew the Lord of glory; the priest Ananias bid them smite Paul over the mouth. The true prophet, if God ever give us one again, must face all this. He, like St. Paul, must be weak and despised for Christ’ s sake. But, besides this, he will especially have to bear the one charge which has always been brought against all prophets since the world began--that what he says is exaggerated, and that what he says is uncharitable. Doubtless, the impatient Amaziahs and the Pashurs of Jeremiah’ s day said, “ What business has this man to bring such sweeping accusations? Look at our priests, how active they are, how many services they have, how careful they are to burn exactly the two kidneys with the fat; look at the scribes, how accurate they are in counting the very letters of Scripture; look at all the eminently respectable persons who go to church and pay their tithes of mint and of anise and of cumin. And as for danger, that is all hysterical nonsense. This is not the Lord’ s messenger; evil shall not come upon us.” Yes, but it did come before Jeremiah was hurried to his death; it came as with a deluge; it came as with a thunder crash; it came as with a hurricane. On these conventional priests, on these careless aristocrats, on these money-making middle classes, on these immoral multitudes the flash fell, and the glory and freedom of Israel were hurled forever into the dust. Thousands who are not prophets might draw a very flattering picture of this age, which might be represented as nearly all that could be wished; they could point to its placid comfort, its domestic virtues, its slightly expanded egotism, and say there never was an age so respectable; they would point to all the threepenny pieces, and even to all the shillings in the plate, and say there never was an age so charitable; they would point to the endless multiplication of sermons and services, and say there never was an age so deeply religious they would point to the mushroom growth of fussy organisations, and say that the Church never was so vigorously, zealous. I fear that the truth would force the prophet to speak; he would point out the great gulf fixed between true religion and sentimental formalism; he would say that the sums that the nation dribbles in charity are in relation to its wealth no proof of our magnanimity, but the measure of our indifference; he might say that in spite of all our organisation, all the religious machinery in London is put into play on Hospital Sunday with the result of collecting some £20,000, which you will see perhaps in the paper the next day has been given in a two days’ sale for china and bric-a-brac. He might say that sermons and services, day after day, may perhaps only be treading into deader callosity the self-satisfaction of Pharisaic hearts; he might say that the praise of our languid virtues was the best opiate to lull our souls into indifference and let them rot asleep into the grave. (Dean Farrar.) True manhood We are to set before us an ideal of manly character and life, and practically to seek its realisation. Of the elements of true manhood, let us specify the following:-- I. Integrity. There are statesmen who tell us that morals have no place in politics. But the true statesman makes a conscience of politics. Again, there is perhaps a higher moral sentiment developing in business; yet one still hears of an undue advantage being taken of profiting by a man’ s ignorance or necessities, and that even by religious tradesmen. II. Purity. Some men boast of foul passions as the marks of manhood. It is effeminate to be pure. Initiation into vice is the baptism of manhood. But moral determination is altering that. A total abstainer is no longer jeered at. III. Religion. I do not mean the religion of monks, or of ecclesiastics, or of sentimentalists, but the religion of Jesus Christ, a reverent recognition of God, of holiness, of human life. Can anything be more noble than fidelity to the noblest things we know T Has the world any nobleness like the nobleness of holy character? (H. Allon, D. D.) Right kind of men I. In the estimation of God the true excellence of man is moral and religious.1. A strict obedience to the Divine will as far as it is known.2. An earnest endeavour to attain an accurate acquaintance with the Divine Word. II. There are states of society in which men of this description are exceedingly rare.1. They may be removed by death.2. They may be withdrawn into concealment.3. They may be reduced in numbers by the progress of degeneracy. III. In the worst states of society such men are very valuable.1. They avert Divine judgments2. Draw down Divine blessings.3. Promote the work of reformation. (G. Brooks.) Wanted-A man Philosophers in all ages have complained that human creatures are plentiful, but men are scarce. But philosophers made their ideal too high, their conception of what man ought to be too lofty. I have no sympathy with the cynic of whom history informs us, that, being ordered to summon the good men of the city before the Roman censor, proceeded immediately to the graveyard, called to the dead below, saying he knew not where to find a good man alive; or that gloomy sage, that prince of grumblers, Thomas Carlyle, who described the population of his country as consisting of so many millions, “ mostly fools,” and who could speak in praise of no one but himself and Mrs. Carlyle, the latter deserving all the praise she got for enduring him. When anyone complains, as Diogenes did, that he has to hunt the streets with candles at noonday to find an honest man, we are apt to think that his nearest neighbour would have quite as much difficulty as himself in making the discovery. If you think there is not a ,true man living, you had better, for appearance, put off saying it until you are dead yourself. In looking for a man, look for a man with a conscience--a man who, like Longfellow’ s honest blacksmith, can “ look the whole world in the face, and fear not any man.” Look for a being that has a heart. A warm, loving nature is true manliness. In looking for a man, look for a magnanimous man; a broad mind, that not only observes what passes in the limited range of its own sphere, but is not afraid to look abroad; is far-sighted and not afraid of excellence in others. In your search for “ a man,” look for a being that has a soul--the capability of solemn thought. Thousands today worship Bacchus and Venus. Their hearts are set on “ having a good time.” Others apply themselves so intensely to their business that they find pleasure only in worshipping the mighty dollar. The man who so inordinately loves money for its own sake, and becomes insensible to all refined enjoyments, after a while ceases to be a man. Faith in Jesus Christ makes manly men. He is our model--a model containing all the elements of true manhood; a model of sympathy and love; a model of purity and uprightness. Christ-men are wanted. (M. C. Peters.) A man Two things, according to this text, are needed to make a man: practice and principle--principle sought out with a view to practice, practice conform to principle, and both according to what is right and true; both are morally, mutually helpful, both are necessary. You may be as strong as a lion, fleet as a deer, brave as a bulldog, beautiful as a gazelle, clever as Satan, but unless you seek the truth, and do the right first and foremost in the face of day, you have not yet come up to the mark of a man. Is that what the world says and thinks? Oh no. Its heroes, perhaps yours, are too often not the morally good, but daring adventurers, successful soldiers, lithe athletes, quick-witted speculators, fortune-making merchants, subtle-tongued declaimers, gifted writers, skilful artists, politic statesmen, wearers of titles, and so on. These are the men that too often the world takes its praises and its prizes to, heedless of character and principles, pleading its own large-mindedness in putting truthful and righteous men behind and below mere physical and intellectual power and agility. These are the favourites that the base and meaner sort go gaping after and copying, and thus it is that it often happens that real men are comparatively rare and hard to find. (J. S. Drummond.) The value of one true man to the State What have men and women to look to for the defence and prosperity of nations? Astute diplomatists, enlarged navies and armies, and forts and guns, scientific discoveries, commercial treaties, cultivation of art, legislative enactments? Think of these what you please. I tell you that these are not, any nor all of them, the true shields and saviours of nations; these do not form the backbone and centre of a strong body politic. It is not for these that God is sending upon us any blessing; not the providing of such that will lead Him to say, “ I will pardon Jerusalem and scatter the swollen storm clouds” What was it then? It was a man. Goethe says no greater good can happen to a town than for several educated men thinking in the same way about what is good and true living in it. But Goethe’ s standard is insufficient; it falls short of the Divine. The defenders and the benefactors of nations and of their fellow men are the morally and religiously good in them; men whose lives are regulated by the teachings of God; men who seek to act as Christ did are the men that are worthy, and that are looked upon by God as blessings to the nations. Ay, and even one such is a mighty pillar, and on occasion even one such may be the saviour and mainstay of the State. (J. S. Drummond.) Make yourself a man When President Garfield was a boy, and was asked what he would be, his reply was: “ Well, first of all, I must make myself a man; for, if I do not succeed in that, I shall not succeed in anything.” Godly men the preservative of society One of the greatest services which a man can render society is to believe the truths of God sincerely, and maintain them steadfastly. It is the happiest state for a community when there exists within it a vigorous Christianity--a phalanx of strong minds, fully persuaded as to the revealings and requirements of the Most High. Like the willows by the water courses which are not only green, but whose roots, penetrating and interlacing in the soft and spongy soil, prevent it from being swept away by the rushing torrent, these men of gentle manners, but profound convictions, are the living network, the rampart of roots unnoticed and unthanked, who keep society from crumbling piecemeal into the gulf of licentiousness and atheism and crime, which is forever surging and foaming past it Like the metallic clamps and rivets, the bands and girders, which, in a region of earthquake, keep the precarious houses from tumbling to pieces, law and police magistracy are a mere mud masonry, and but for the binding power of such consciences, but for the fastening force of their convictions who believe in God, in the upheavings of man’ s passions, in the volcanic throes of his lust and violence, the framework of society would soon be shaken all to pieces. Like the fragments of iron in a mass of stone, which draw it towards the magnet, it is the “ faith which He finds in the earth,” which at any period draws the earth towards its Maker, or makes a community “ a people near to God.” (James Hamilton, D. D.) A hero is a real man What is it to be a “ hero” ? A “ hero” is simply the English form of the Greek “heros,” which primarily meant a “ man,” a real man, a separate and unmistakable man, as distinct from “ anthropos,” or mankind in general. By a recognition of this very truth, that a man’ s distinctness as a man among men works and measures his exceptional character and capabilities, the Greeks came to call a grand man, or a great or preeminent man, a hero, as another way of saying that he was “ distinguished” man. “ Dost thou know what a hero is?” asks Longfellow and then gives answer, “ Why, a hero is as much as one should say--a hero.” A hero is a man. There is heroism in all real manliness. A real man is a real hero. This it is which gives force to Carlyle’ s question, “ If hero means sincere man, why may not every one of us be a hero?” The answer is, that it requires character, exceptional character, to make one willing to be a man. Most men are afraid to be themselves. They shrink from being “ distinguished.” Their preference is to conform themselves to the common standard of their sphere--to be like others, rather than to be like themselves alone. Where this feeling prevails, heroism is an impossibility. One acting on this preference cannot be distinguished. He who is unwilling to exercise and assert his character, in spite of all the world, cannot be recognised as the possessor of character. He cannot be measured apart from the common standard to which he, of choice, conforms himself. (Great Thoughts.) Manliness Ask a young woman what quality in a man she admires most, and the answer you are sure to get is manliness. The answer is highly creditable to the feminine taste. God also puts a great value on true manhood. I. True manhood. Many spurious standards of manhood are met with in the world. By many young men, unfortunately, it is thought manly to be a proficient in swearing, in gambling, in drinking, in forbidden pleasure Not to “ toe the line” in these evil customs is to be pronounced no man at all According to this breed of youth, piety is held at a considerable discount; it is not a thing for men, however it may suit parsons, Sunday school children, and old women of both sexes. Now look at the type of manhood spoken of in our text. According to our text a man is one who doeth righteousness and seeketh after the truth. Not the man of great muscularity and great physical power. Not the man who has seen much of the world, so called, which too often means a man who has worked for the wages of sin, which is death; neither of these is the true type of manhood according to Scripture. Let no one, misled by a popular confusion of ideas, dislike our text because it brings a man’ s own imperfect righteousness before our attention. It is most true that no measure of human righteousness can ever avail the sinner as a substitute for the righteousness of Christ by faith. A sinner’ s heart resembles Lady Macbeth’ s hands, stained beyond all human cleansing. We cannot and we need not by our own efforts establish a righteousness able to justify and make reconciliation for the ungodly. Yet that does not mean that we may be callous about the sovereign claims of God’ s eternal laws of righteousness. It is of the essence of Christian duty and Christian manhood to love righteousness and hate wickedness. The true man is he that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth. See where the true man should be found, in the broad places, in the streets, in the thoroughfares, the market places; the spot where the struggle of daffy life is fought out. In other words, the true man is contemplated under the character of a man right in the whirl of the stream--a merchant, a craftsman, a trader. And as every varied situation in life has its own special temptations and virtues--as the virtue of the soldier is courage and his temptation faint-heartedness. There are graces and virtues that belong to the home, domestic virtues, cloister graces--gentleness, forbearance, devoutness; and these, too, form part of a true man’ s outfit in life. But the virtue of the marketplace is right dealing and integrity, and he who in the competition of the marketplace, in its barterings and changes, keeps his hands clean, his name honourable, his character honest, is, according to the verdict of Scripture, a true man. From these words it would appear that such men were scarce in Jeremiah’ s day. Are they more plentiful now? Yes, I believe they are. A dreadful state of society. Multitudes of males, but not one mare Multitudes of gentlemen, but not one honest man. Yes, surely we are better today, thank God. Yes, we all know men who would rather empty their pockets of shillings than fill their mouths with lies. And what are they? They are men. They are the saviours of society, they are the salt of the earth. But unrighteousness is still, as it ever has been, man’ s chiefest sin. II. The value of true manhood. The value of true manhood is seen, not in its scarceness, but in the splendour of its reward. What is true manhood’ s reward? God does a wonderful thing, all because a true man or two are found in the wicked city. What is that? He forgives the wickedness of the corrupt and unfaithful city (Jeremiah 5:7-9; Jeremiah 5:23-31). Could it be easy for God to overlook the errors Of such a people? You think so? Easy for God Almighty, though not for us. Well, perhaps you are right. If so, why stand aloof from such a forgiving and merciful God? Let us not fail to see that here in Jeremiah’ s time God expresses Himself willing to pardon the wicked for the sake of the righteous few, as He undertook to do in the time of the patriarch Abraham (Genesis 18:23). See, then, the nature of true manhood’ s rewards. God does not promise that when the true man is found He will honour and reward him. Surely in being a true man he has honours and rewards that cannot be exceeded. Jerusalem is to enjoy the reward. She is to be spared for his sake. Something like this happens in the experience of our great military heroes, our Wellingtons, our Wolseleys, our Robertses. No doubt some of these splendid captains have, at duty’ s call, covered the battlefield with their men and scored brilliant fighting victories that had very little meaning or importance to us as a nation But putting aside these cases--take the case of wars in which both great heroism has been shown and the cause has been worth fighting for when the great captain comes home, what does he find awaiting him: stars and stripes, treasure and titles? Ay, all that, but more than that. Not only has his heroism won all these more or less precious honours for himself, but what is better, because it concerns more people than himself, he has secured for his country a standing, a place, a position, which it may be she never enjoyed before. And that to a true man is reward more sweet and satisfying than all the poor personal honours that can be put upon his head. The worst calamity to a people is not when its trade and commerce decline, but when its supply of true men fails. Our thoughts, when we think of truest manhood, cannot help turning to the Lord Jesus Christ, that man who is our” hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest.” For the sake of this one Man, all our sins are freely pardoned. (H. F. Henderson, M. A.) Jeremiah 5:3-8O Lord, are not Thine eyes upon the truth? Truthfulness The allusion is not to doctrinal truth, or truth in the abstract, but to practical truth as it should exist in the hearts and lives of men. The Lord bade them produce a single truthful man in all Jerusalem, and Jeremiah answers that if truth were to be found the Lord Himself best knew where it was, for His eyes were ever upon it. Look well at this picture of the progress of the deceitful. They begin with being dishonest to their fellow men, and at last they become Satan’ s commission agents, trappers for the devil, fowlers who ensnare men as bird catchers take the winged fowl. This was the state of affairs in Jeremiah’ s time. We have not, I trust, quite such a condition of things among us today, as a plague universally prevalent, but we have much of the disease of deceit in all quarters, high and low, and to what a head it may come time alone can show. I. The utter folly of all pretence.1. Hypocrisy is useless altogether, for God sees through it. The instantaneous imagination which flits across the mind like a stray bird, leaving nor track nor trace, God knows it altogether. 2. Nor is it only useless: it is injurious. You spoil your sacrifice if there be any tincture of the odious gall of hypocrisy about it. Everything about you and me that is unreal God hates, and hates it more in His own people than anywhere else. 3. Moreover, pretence is deadening, for he that begins with tampering with truth will go on from bad to worse. Once begin to sail by the wind of policy and trickery and you must tack, and then tack again and again; and as surely as you are alive, you will yet have to tack again; but if you have the motive force of truth within you, as a steamboat has its own engine, then you can go straight in the teeth of wind and tempest. 4. Falsehood and pretence before God are damnable. I cannot use a less forcible word than that. I have constantly seen almost all sorts of people converted--great blasphemers, pleasure seekers, thieves, drunkards, unchaste persons, and hardened reprobates,--but rarely have I seen a man converted who has been a thorough-paced liar. The heart which is crammed with craft and treachery seems as if it had passed out of the reach of grace. II. The great value of truthfulness. The great value of it is this--that it alone is regarded by God in matters of religion: His eyes are upon that which is truthful about us. For instance, suppose I say “ I repent.” The question is--Do I really and from my heart sorrow for sin! The same holds good in reference to faith. A man may say, “ I believe,” as thousands say their creed,--“ I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” and so on. Ah, but do you trust in God with your whole heart! Are you sincerely believing in God and God’ s Word, and God’ s Son, and God’ s Gospel?--refer, if not, all your professed faith is useless. As to love to Christ, you know how very easy it is to sing sweet hymns about love to Jesus, and yet how few are living so as to prove their attachment to the Redeemer. The same truth bears upon all the ordinances of religion. When we professed to worship God, how much praise was there in the song? As much as the heart made. As to prayer. “ A large prayer meeting.” Yes, but the largeness of the number of attendants is not always a gauge of the quantity and power of prayer. The quantity of heart in the prayer decides its quality. This is equally true of all your private worship. That daffy reading of the chapter is a very excellent thing; but do you read with your soul as well as with your eyes? That morning prayer and that evening prayer, those few minutes snatched in the middle of the day--these are good. I will not wish you to alter the regularity of your devotion, but still it may all be clockwork, godliness with no life in it. Oh, for one single groan from the heart! III. The influence of truthful men.1. It is so great with God that one of them can save a city from destruction. Hence the value of good men in bad localities. When you go into a hamlet or village where there is no religion, do not be so very sorry at your position, for God may have great ends to be served by you. All light must not be stored up in the sun; scatter it over earth’ s poor lands that need it, lest all the trees of the field die in perpetual night. God blesses us to make us blessings. Ask of God that you may be so sincere, so truthful, that He may bless those round about you for your sake. 2. This influence is such that it never was attributed to any man on account of his riches. No. The Lord is no respecter of persons, and He seeth not as man seeth. Sincerity before God is approved; true reliance upon Christ the Lord accepts: and for this He blesses us, and others through us. 3. And, mark you one other thing. If you are upright before God, and you should happen to fall among people that despise you and reject you--it is a sad thing to have to say, but it is true, and a proof of the great influence of truthful men,--your word, when you speak for God, shall be like fire, and those round about you shall be wood, and it shall devour them. If you are not a savour of life to life to men, you will be a savour of death to death to them. IV. The necessity and the means of our being true and sincere before Him whose eyes behold truthfulness.1. These times require it. This is an age of tricks and policies. Oh, the lying puffs you meet with everywhere in books and broadsides innumerable. Meet the prince of darkness with the light; he cannot stand against it. Our times require our sincerity. 2. So does our God also require it. I have already spoken to this, and I need not repeat the solemn strain. 3. So do our souls require it. Our eternal welfare demands it. Oh, there must be no mistake about our being true before God, for when it comes to dying work, nothing will stand us then but sincerity. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved. God’ s chastisements designed for man’ s conversion I. Turning to the Lord presupposes a deep conviction that you have gone astray, both from way of duty and of safety. That all your highest interests have been neglected.1. The exceeding sinfulness of sin. 2. The purity and strictness of God’ s law, the equity and terror of its penalty. 3. Your obligations to Him as Creator, Preserver, Redeemer. II. Turning to God supposes a pull conviction of the necessity of immediate response.1. If you die in your present condition, you will certainly be lost. 2. You have no time for delay. 3. It will wound your heart to think this work has not been done long ago. III. If afflictions should prove the means of turning you to God, they will rouse you to most earnest persevering endeavours that you may truly find Him.1. Pray without ceasing.2. Accustom yourself to solemn meditation.3. Seek the society of those who know the Lord. IV. If afflictions should turn you to God, you will be made deeply sensible of your inability and the necessity of the Holy Spirit’ s grace to your conversion.1. Your endeavours avail to avoid hindrances and seek helps. 2. Yet your own heart is against you, and the disease of sin is irrecoverable but by Divine grace. V. If ever you turn to the Lord, you will realise that Christ is the only way of access to God. You will come as criminals upon the footing of grace, not merit; will renounce all your righteousness; a broken-hearted rebel. Till then, you have nothing to do with Jesus. VI. If you are turned to God, you will experience a great change in temper and conduct.1. Heart and mind will take a new bias; thoughts and affections towards God; aspirations towards heaven; Jesus dear to you; all things become new. 2. Your practices will follow the inward impulse and principle of religion. VII. If turned to the Lord, your mind will habitually retain that turn. Your religion not a transient fit, but permanent and persevering. (President Davies.) Unsanctified affliction I. Some of the forms of unsanctified affliction.1. Insensibility.2. Hardihood. II. Some of the means by which this evil may be kept away.1. By seeking ascertain and to accomplish the design of our affliction.2. By repressing every tendency to murmuring or impatience.3. By avoiding immoderate sorrow. (G. Brooks.) Fruitless chastisement Chastisement is designed by God to bear fruit in a purged and penitent heart; but it may be so neglected, resisted, or abused, as to become fruitless. I. The sign of fruitless chastisement is impenitence.1. Chastisement is the red lamp warning of danger, and urging us to stop in the course we are pursuing. 2. But, that it may serve this purpose, there must be-- (1) Reflection;(2) Sorrow for sin;(3) Return. II. The cause of fruitless chastisement is hardness of heart.1. Insensitiveness. The sufferer may feel the smart of the lash on his back, and yet be dead to the sting of shame in his heart. 2. Wilful resistance. The evil is in the will that refuses to yield to the mercy that comes disguised in bitterness. III. The consequence of fruitless chastisement is an aggravation of future evils. The rebellious sufferer may imagine that he is free to do as he will with his sufferings; but even they are talents for which he will be called to account. For observe--1. God’ s searching watchfulness. “ O Lord, are not Thine eyes,” etc. God searches the heart He chastises. He sees the rebellious thought, the stubborn self-will. 2. Man’ s increased guilt. The more there is done to awaken a consciousness of sin, the more culpable is the indifference still persisted in. IV. The remedy for fruitless chastisement is to be found in the grace of the Gospel. This will give--1. The new heart; 2. The promise of forgiveness. Christ brings love and hope, and thus He brings also the tears of repentance. (W. F. Adeney, M. A.) Unsanctified affliction This might not unfitly be called one of the lamentations of Jeremiah. The words may suggest to us the consideration of a subject more or less belonging to all of us, namely, the danger of unsanctified or unimproved afflictions. The remedies of heaven cannot be inoperative; they must aggravate the maladies which they are not allowed to heal, and will make the face harder than a rock, if they induce not a tender and softened heart. I. Unsanctified or unimproved chastening.1. The first impression in the text seems to set forth that misuse of it which comes of insensibility. “ Thou has stricken them, but they have not grieved; Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction.” The language may be taken to describe, not so much the receiving of correction in the spirit of defiant and avowed contempt, as the act of setting lightly by affliction, of not bestowing upon it the attention it deserves, having no reverence for its Author, and no consideration for its design or end. A calamity may visit us, but we think only of its human author; sickness may lay us prostrate, but science is sufficient to explain how it came,--it is chance or a skilled hand that causeth the shaft to pierce between the joints of the harness, and there is some poison in the atmosphere which has caused the withering of our favourite gourd. Thus, placing secondary agencies before our eyes, we can see no further, and look no higher. We see, then, why God was angry with the Jews, and why He will be angry with us, when His chastisements are received with unreflecting indifference. It is that, whether avowedly or not, such insensibility amounts to atheism. On this view--unavowed, of course--is based the indifference of unconverted men under chastisement: they feel that it is not correction, but the natural result of some law which no one can help. Why should they grieve at that which comes of an unhindered, self-governing, moral necessity 2. But the text adverts to a yet more offending and presumptuous deportment under affliction, namely, when the chastisements of God are received in a stouthearted, rebellious, defying spirit. Not only have they refused to receive correction, but they have made their faces harder than a rock. In this case, as we see, God is net left out of sight. On the contrary, He is believed and felt to be the Author of all permitted sufferings. The awful impiety is, that He is regarded as the unjust Author. We stand amazed at the impiety of that Roman emperor, who, because the lightning flash interrupted the pleasures of his banquet, feared not to hurl his blasphemous reproach against the powers of heaven. But let us consider how much of the spirit of these men is in us, when we indulge in angry chafings at the arrangements of Divine Providence; full of fury, like a wild bull in the net, or fretting as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. How often do you find people under bitter reverses angry and out of humour with everybody about them; with friends who have had nothing whatever to do with their trouble, nay, who perhaps are trying all in their power to lighten them; but the fire of anger is in their bosom, and it must vent itself somewhere; it would vent it on God if it dared, but this is too dreadful to think of; yet it is with Him that they are at anger, and the thought of the heart is as much theirs as ever it was Jonah’ s, that they do well to be angry. Extreme, therefore, as the ease of the text may seem to be, it is an extreme to which any rebellious thoughts may ultimately lead us, if not watched over and prayed against in their first beginnings. II. How these dreadful effects may be prevented and the chastenings of God turned to a sanctified account.1. First, we must he careful to acknowledge the design of God in sending our trials, and do all we can to bring that design about. Our trials may be of different kinds, one man being afflicted with this and another with that. Every heart has its own plague, and every soul its own leprous spot, and the Great Physician mixes our cup accordingly; that is, as pride lifts up the heart, or covetousness enslaves the will, or as vanity fills the mind, as human idols are exalted to Christ’ s throne, or the love of this present world makes us slothful in the ways of God, does He apportion to each His remedial sorrow, to each His purging fire. Now this being so, can it be otherwise than displeasing unto God, if we take the smiting patiently, but still refuse the correction; if we submit to the discipline, but disregard the profit; if we allow the ploughshare of affliction to go over us, and yet cheek the springing up of those peaceable fruits of righteousness which chastisement yieldeth to them that are exercised thereby? The rod has a voice, and you must hear what it says. 2. Again, in order that chastening may be blessed to us, we must have a care that we do not become weary under it, however long it may continue. He who faints under the Divine correction first makes sure that he shall faint, and then, by casting off all effort, brings about the fulfilment of his own prophecy. He makes himself helpless. The feebleness of his graces arises from want of exorcise. He has hung up his shield of faith, he has cast off his helmet of hope, he wields the sword of the Spirit with an unsoldierly and trembling hand, and then he wonders that he faints in the day of battle. Chastisement thus received will yield no peaceable fruits of righteousness. So far from our trials being designed to supersede the exercise of our spiritual graces, the great battle of our faith is to be fought on this field. 3. In like manner we are in danger of losing the benefit of chastening, when, through immoderate grief, we unfit ourselves for the active duties of life. The connection between our bodily and mental states is so intimate, that long-continued disturbance of the one will always be followed by serious derangement of the other. Hence it is that protracted and cherished griefs are found to produce a general disturbance in our active and intellectual powers; duties are neglected, a state of apathy is induced, and all the higher demands of our social position are made to wait on a sinful and unprofitable grief. Conceive rightly of Him from whom that chastening comes, as of infinite holiness to do nothing unjust, of infinite love to do nothing unkind, of infinite wisdom to do nothing unsuitable to your best, truest, everlasting interests. And then conceive rightly of yourselves, as transgressors from the womb, as children of disobedience, as outcasts by nature from light and hope, and enemies by works from truth and godliness. And then consider what God sends trials for, and the certainty that, received aright, they shall all work together for good. The arrows of God can never miss their aim; with Him there are no bows drawn at a venture; His shafts speed home infallibly. Taken from the quiver of infinite love, winged with purposes of unerring mercy, they make no heart wounds which they do not more kindly heal, and kill nothing in us which were not better dead. (D. Moore, M. A.) They have refused to return.--Decided ungodliness I. Who have refused to return?1. Those who have said as much. With unusual honesty or presumption, they have made public declaration that they will never quit their sinful ways. 2. Those who have made a promise to repent, but have not performed it. 3. Those who have offered other things instead of practical return to God--ceremonies, religiousness, morality, and the like. 4. Those who have only returned in appearance. Formalists, mere professors, hypocrites. 5. Those who have only returned in part. Hugging some sins while hanging others. II. What this refusal unveils.1. An intense love of sin. 2. A want of love to the great Father, who bids them return. 3. A disbelief of God: they neither believe in what He has revealed concerning the evil consequences of their sin, nor in what He promises as to the benefit of returning from it. 4. A despising of God: they reject His counsel, His command, and even Himself. 5. A resolve to continue in evil. This is their proud ultimatum, “ they have refused to return.” 6. A trifling with serious concerns. They are too busy, too fond of gaiety, etc. III. What deepens the sin of this refusal?1. When correction brings no repentance. 2. When conscience is violated, and the Spirit of God is resisted. Repentance seen to be right, but yet refused: duty known, but declined. 3. When repentance is known to be the happiest course, and yet it is obstinately neglected against the plainest reasons. 4. When this obstinacy is long-continued, and is persevered in against convictions and inward promptings. 5. When vile reasons are at the bottom: such as secret sins, which the sinner dares not confess or quit; or the fear of man, which makes the mind cowardly. IV. What is the real reason of this refusal?1. It may be ignorance, but that can be only in part, for it is plainly a man’ s duty to return to his Lord. No mystery surrounds this simple precept--“ Return.” 2. It may be self-conceit: perhaps they dream that they are already in the right road. 3. It is at times sheer recklessness. The man refuses to consider his own best interests. He resolves to be a trifler; death and hell and heaven are to him as toys to sport with. 4. It is a dislike of holiness. That lies at the bottom of it: men cannot endure humility, self-denial, and obedience to God. 5. It is a preference for the present above the eternal future. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Refusal to return Lord Byron, a short time before death, was heard to say, “ Shall I sue for mercy?” After a long pause he added: “ Come, come, no weakness; let’ s be a man to the last!” Surely these are poor;. . .I will get me unto the great.-- The ignorance of the poor and the insolence of the great I. The character of many of the poor as here described.1. Their obstinacy in sin was owing to their ignorance. (1) Of religion.(2) Of God’ s providences. 2. Their ignorance was in great measure occasioned by their poverty. (1) This deprived them of education.(2) All their thoughts and cares are about their worldly wants.(3) They absent themselves from God’ s house because of poor attire.(4) They associate with persons like-circumstanced and like-minded, who encourage one another in neglect of religion.(5) They thereby lose all self-respect, sin impudently, and “ glory in their shame.” II. The character of the great as here described.1. They had a better knowledge of religion than the poor.2. They acted as bad as the poor, or worse.3. Their conduct was chiefly owing to their greatness. (1) Lifted up with pride, they resented admonition.(2) They think religion is only to restrain the vulgar, not to bind those in rank.(3) They shrink from showing reverence for God and being exact in religious observances.(4) Worldly things have mischievous influence upon their hearts.(5) Flattered by others, they forget or but formally pay homage to God.(6) They mind earthly things, neglecting the culture and interests of the soul. Application--1. Learn what is the most important and profitable knowledge. 2. The advantages of being placed in the middle condition of life (Proverbs 30:8). 3. What an excellent charity it is to furnish the poor with the means of knowledge. (Job Orton, D. D.) Jeremiah 5:9 Shall I not visit for these things?Unsanctified affliction followed by heavier judgments The physician, when he findeth that the potion which he hath given his patient will not work, he seconds it with one more violent; but if he perceive the disease to be settled, then he puts him into a course of physic, so that he shall have at present but small comfort of his life. And thus doth the surgeon, too: if a gentle plaister will not serve, then he applies that which is more corroding; and to prevent a gangrene, he makes use of his cauterising knife, and takes off the joint or member that is so ill-affected. Even so God, when men profit not by such crosses as He hath formerly exercised them with, when they are not bettered by lighter afflictions, then He sends heavier, and proceeds from milder to sharper crosses. If the dross of their sins will not come off, He will throw them into the melting pot again and again, crush them harder in the press, and lay on such irons as shall enter more deep into their souls. If He strikes and they grieve not, if they be so foolish that they will not know the judgment of their God, He will bring seven times more plagues upon them, cross upon cross, loss upon loss, trouble upon trouble, one sorrow on the neck of another, till they are in a manner wasted and consumed. (J. Spencer.) Jeremiah 5:10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the Lord’ s.Storming the battlements I. I shall regard this text as spoken concerning the Church. The Church has very often gone to king Jareb for help, or to the world for aid; and then God has said to her enemies, “ Go ye up against her; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the Lord’ s. She shall not have them. I am her battlement. She is to have none other.”1. The Church of God has sometimes sought to make the government its battlements. 2. There are churches who make battlements out of the wealth of their members. Now, we do love to have wealth and rank in our own midst; we always thank God when we have brought among us men who can do something for the cause of truth; we do bless God when we see Zaccheus, who had abundance of gold and silver, giving some of his gifts to the poor of the Lord’ s family; we like to see the princes and kings bringing presents and bowing before the King of all the earth:--but if any church bows before the golden calf, there will go forth the mandate, “ Go ye upon her walls; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the Lord’ s.” 3. There are some other churches relying upon learning and erudition. The learning of their minister seems to be a great fort and castle. Never let it be said that I have despised learning, or true knowledge. Let us have as much as we can. We thank God when men of learning are brought into the Church, when God renders them useful. But the Church nowadays is beginning to trust too much to learning; relying too much on philosophy, and upon the understanding of man, instead of the Word of God. 4. But I think that the worst battlement the churches have now is an earthwork of great and extreme caution. It is held to be improper that certain obnoxious truths in the Bible should be preached; sundry reasons are given why they should be withheld. One is, because it tends to discourage men from coming to Christ. Another is, because certain persons will be offended on account of these rough edges of the Gospel. God’ s Church must be brought once more to rely upon the pure truth, upon the simple Gospel, the unalloyed doctrines of the grace of God. Oh, may this Church never have any bulwark but the promises of God! II. We shall now address the text to the Christian--the real child of God. The true believer also has a proneness to build up sundry “ battlements,” which “ are not the Lord’ s,” and to put his hope, his affection, in something else besides the word of the God of Israel.1. The first thing whereof we often make a fortress wherein to hide is--the love of the creature. The Christian’ s happiness should be in God alone. He should be able to say, “ All my springs are in Thee. From Thee alone I ever draw my bliss.” We fix our love on some dear friend, and there is our hope and trust. God says, “ What though ye take counsel together, ye have not taken counsel of Me, and therefore I will take away your trust. What though ye have walked in piety, ye have not walked with Me as ye should. Go ye no against her, O Death! Go ye up against her, O affliction! Take away that battlement--It is not the Lord’ s.” 2. Many of us are too prone to make battlements out of our past experience, and to rely upon that instead of confiding in Jesus Christ. There is a sort of self-complacency which reviews the past, and says, “ There I fought Apollyon; there I climbed the hill Difficulty; there I waded through the Slough of Despond.” The next thought is, “ And what a fine fellow am I! I have done all this. Why, there is nothing can hurt me. No. If I have done all this, I can do everything else that is to be accomplished.” What does God say whenever His people do not want Him; but live on what they used to have of Him, and are content with the love He once gave them? “ Ah! I will take away your battlements.” He calls out to doubts and fears--“ Go ye up upon his walls; take away his battlements, for they are not the Lord’ s.” 3. Then again we sometimes get trusting too much to evidences and good works. We often get a pleasing opinion of ourselves: we are preaching so many times a week; we attend so many prayer meetings; we are doing good in the Sabbath school; we are important members of the Church; we are giving away so much in charity, and we say, “ Surely I am a child of God. I am an heir of heaven. Look at me! See what robes I wear. Have I not, indeed,” a righteousness about me that proves me to be a child of God?” Then we begin to trust in ourselves, and say, Surely of your graces, Christians! III. Now, to bring the text to the young convert, to the man in that stage of our religious history which we call conversion to God.1. In the forefront of the city of Mansoul frowns the wall of carelessness--an erection of satanic masonry. It is made of black granite, and mortal art cannot injure it. Bring law, like a huge pickaxe, to break it: you cannot knock a single chip off. At last a gracious God cries out--“ Take away her battlements, they are not the Lord’ s.” And at a glance down crumbles the battlement. The careless man becomes tender-hearted; the soul that was hard as iron has become soft as wax; the man who once could laugh at gospel warnings, and despise the preaching of the minister, now sits down and trembles at every word. 2. The first wall is surmounted, but the city is not yet taken: the Christian minister, under the hand of God, has to storm the next wall--that is the wall of self-righteousness. How hard it is to storm this wall! it must be carried at the point of the bayonet of faithful warning; there is no taking it except by boldly climbing up with the shout of, “ By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” 3. Thus the double rampart is passed, but another still opposes our progress--Christ’ s warriors know it by the name of self-sufficiency. Oh! blessed day when God directs His shots against that. IV. I take this passage as it respects the ungodly and the sinner at last. How many there shall be at the last great day who will sit down very comfortably behind certain battlements that they have builded! There is one man--a monarch: “ I am irresponsible, says he; “ who shall ever bring anything to my charge? I am an autocrat: I give no account of my matters.” Oh! he will find out at last that God is Master of emperors, and Judge of princes; when his battlements shall be taken away. Another says, “ Cannot I do as I like with my own? What if God did make me, I shall not serve Him. I shall follow my own will. I have in my own nature everything that is good, and I shall do as my nature dictates. I shall trust in that, and if there be a higher power He will exonerate me, because I only followed my nature.” But he will find his hopes to be visionary, and his reasons to be foolish, when God shall say, “ The soul that sinneth it shall die” ; and when His thundering voice shall pronounce the sentence--“ Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire.” Again, there is a company of men joined hand in hand, and they think they will resist the Eternal, yea, they have a plan for subverting the kingdom of Christ. They say, “ We are wise and mighty. We have fortified ourselves. We have made a covenant with death and a league with hell.” Ah! they little think what will become of their battlements at the last great day, when they shall see it all crumble and fall. With what fear and alarm will they then cry: “ Rocks, hide us! Mountains, on us fall!” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Man’ s battlements or God’ s battlements These words show us that if we would ensure safety we must embrace God’ s plan of salvation. I. Man’ s battlements.1. Some build battlements without Christ as the corner stone. To read His history, admire His character, wonder at His miracles; but to leave out all the mystery of the Incarnation, to deny the efficacy of the bloodshedding, to substitute reason for faith, is to build battlements which are not “ the Lord’ s.” 2. Some build battlements with their own merits. As in the former case the foundation was faulty; so here is the superstructure. The “ good heart” and the “ good life” and the “ good intentions” will not bear scrutiny. Salvation is of grace, and not of debt. 3. Others build battlements of external forms and ceremonies. They are like that foreign people who rear walls of painted canvas, guarded by painted sentinels, and armed with painted guns. There is no reality in such a religion. II. What, then, are God’ s battlements?1. Repentance. No one strikes the penitent who confesses error, and asks forgiveness with many tears. 2. The second line of defence is Faith. Repentance does not save. We are saved by grace, through faith. 3. There is a third range, higher still, Holiness. A man may tremble behind the battlements of faith, even as the devils believe and tremble. That man only is safe and happy who is penitent, believing, and holy. (J. Batsman, M. A.) The danger of false confidences Oh, that England would learn that increased wealth and swollen fortunes and material prosperity are no signs of a nation’ s strength. Pagan Rome was never richer than when she had scarce a freeman left. In the Middle Ages, Papal Rome stood raking into chests the countless gold of her jubilee, just before she suffered her most humiliating shame. Spain was dropping to pieces of inward decay when all the gold of the New World was flowing into the treasure of her kings. “ Your glory,” said Oliver Cromwell, “ is the ditch which guards your shores. I tell you your ditch will not save you if you do not reform yourselves.” Some nations have had a false ideal of absolutism, many, and especially modern nations, have had a false ideal of liberty. (Dean Farrar.) The removal of false trusts and defences It was a great mercy for our city of London that the great fire cleared away all the old buildings which were the lair of the plague, a far healthier city was then built; and it is a great mercy for a man when God sweeps all his own righteousness and strength, when He makes him feel that he is nothing and drives him to confess that Christ is all in all, and that his only strength lies in the might of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes in a house of business an old system has been going on for years, and it has caused much confusion and allowed much dishonesty. You come in as a new manager, and you adopt an entirely new plan. Now try if you can, and graft your method on to the old system. How it will worry you. Year after year you say to yourself, “ I cannot work it; if I had swept the whole away and started afresh, clear from the beginning, it would not have given me one-tenth of the trouble.” God does not intend to graft the system of grace upon corrupt nature, nor to make the new Adam grow out of the old. Salvation is not of the flesh, but of the Lord alone. (C. H. Spurgeon.) False refuges I. Worthless refuges trusted in.1. Infidelity. Such a rampart is nothing more than a deliberate closing of the eyes to danger. It is like the sand in which the foolish ostrich hides its head and thinks himself safe. It is like watching an avalanche descending upon us and consoling ourselves that we are only led by a fanciful vision. 2. Personal merit. There are those who exercise far higher thoughts of human nature and of their own particular abilities than the case justifies. And they estimate their good qualities so highly that they think they surely ought to obtain some recognition from the Almighty. 3. Divine Fatherhood. Some think that because God made man He is therefore a universal Father, and they assume that a Father could not, be so unkind to His children as to let justice overpower mercy. II. Worthless refuges denounced. “ Go ye up and destroy.”1. The Author of this destruction. The immediate instrument may be man’ s natural enemies, but the real author is God. He will cast down all false hopes and crush all evil anticipations. 2. The reason assigned--“ For they are not the Lord’ s.” 3. The limitation--“ Make not a full end.” The object is not destruction of the soul, but the taking away the false hopes which lull it into fancied security. God takes away earthly hopes, so that He may bestow heavenly ones. He crushes worthless props, so that He may lay under us His eternal arms. (J. J. S. Bird, B. A.) Jeremiah 5:14I will make My words in thy mouth fire.The potential word Three elements of the power of the Gospel are here found. I. The I will of the Almighty. That will is an ocean deep and wide as eternity and infinity. In that shoreless deep all the mighty orbs, suns, systems floated first by mere will of Jehovah. To that will every line of inspiration becomes either a ray of light, law, and peace, or a thunderbolt of justice. II. “the words of thy mouth.” The language is human, but Divine in its source. In all the dealings of heaven with our race, created instruments have been used. A long line of prophets and patriots have been guided with the authority and power from the eternal throne. So that whether Jehovah will to rouse all the stormy elements of clouds above, and waters beneath, as by a shepherd’ s staff, and styled the rod of God, on the kingdom of Egypt, or drive a broad dusty highway through the waves of the sea,--it is the same glorious God that is present in this sacred book. Ten thousand angels of the lifeguard around heaven’ s throne could not change the heart of the weakest child. But aided by the will of the eternal majestic “ I” of the text, a babe in the manger at Bethlehem will awaken a song that shall ring out in anthem heard far up among the golden spheres of heaven, and echo round and round our redeemed and regenerated world. III. A fire purifies but consumes the chaff. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.) God’ s Word as fire seems to me that the Word of God in our churches is too much like a sight which you not infrequently see in our streets in winter: a heap of coals cast down from a cart in front of a house upon the frosty ground, with the snow lying all around it, and falling upon it from the bosom of the storm. It is a remarkable conjunction when you come to think of it--a heap of coals and a heap of snow. The snow lies upon the heap of coals as cold and unmoved as it could lie over a heap of granite stones; and yet that heap of coal contains a vast quantity of potential heat, heat enough to melt all the snow in the street and convert for the time being the winter around into summer. But so long as the coal is as cold as the snow, so long does it produce no effect. Supposing you were able to apply a burning coal from your kitchen fire to the cold coal outside, what a wonderful change you would produce. You would let loose the potential heat; you would transform that cold inert mass of coal into a fiery furnace, which would melt and evaporate all the snow around it. And more marvellous still would the effect of the Word of God be upon you, coming to your cold, hard, frost-bound heart, with power from on high kindled with the fire of God’ s Holy Spirit. The potential heat in it would be set free, and it would transform your whole nature and life. (H. Macmillan.) Jeremiah 5:19 When ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God these things unto us? In the time of tribulation I. Acknowledgment of God as that Supreme Ruler of all from whose hand afflictions come. It is one great secret of that peace which passeth all understanding to mark the hand of God in all the changes and sorrows of this ever-varying scene of things; the want of this it is which so frequently leaves the men of the world a prey to vexation and despair. Secondary causes are but the links in the chain of providence; follow them by the light of God’ s Word and the guidance of a simple faith, and you will find that chain depending from the very throne of God Himself, held in His own hand; every part of it adjusted as He sees it best to permit, according to the counsel of His own will. II. A conviction that when God sends affliction He has a reason for what He does.1. God often uses affliction for the purpose of correcting His children’ s faults, and bringing them to a sense of their guilt. 2. The promotion of our growth in grace is another reason of God’ s afflictive dispensations. Holy men are by trial weaned from a vain and evil world; are brought more and more to realise experimentally what religion is; and are enabled to enjoy in a peculiar manner the consolation of the Gospel of Christ. III. A wish to know what that reason is. Not that we may be satisfied that God is just in what He does. But that understanding what the reason of His dispensation is, we may ask ourselves, have, then, those dispensations wrought in us the result designed? But how is he to ascertain it? I apprehend that we shall generally be guided to it when depending on the Holy Spirit for direction; we simply look at the nature of the trial, and the state of our own hearts. (J. Harding.) Jeremiah 5:20-25O foolish people, and without understanding.God’ s judgment of self-will The text is part of a message which was to be declared in the house of Jacob, and published in Israel. It shows that three results were produced by self-assertion against the rule of God; will the same cause produce the same effect? Let us see the results of self-will as shown in the text, and compare them with the testimony of our own experience. I. Self-will in relation to the Divine government destroys the natural capacities and faculties of man. “ Foolish people, without understanding,” etc. How different this description to the original portraiture of man! Foolish, blind, deaf--such is man when he has turned his back upon God, and taken life into his own hands. It would seem as if all the faculties of our nature were dependent for continuance upon their religious use; moral paralysis is equivalent to intellectual stagnation; not to pray is to die. Is it not much the same as if a flower should be shut out from the light and dew? The soul is, so to speak, withdrawn from the source of its being--cut off from the fountain of life, and allowed to exhaust its little resources, to languish in loneliness, and to die of hunger. If, then, we leave God, how soon does our poverty come as an armed man, and our want as one that travaileth? We shall most clearly see how the natural faculties of man are impaired, and indeed destroyed, by irreligion, by considering that the same truth holds good in the ordinary business of life,--separation from God means folly, blindness, and general incapacity, even in earthly things. Take the case of our daily bread, and see how the doctrine is sustained. Let any man set aside God’ s plan of obtaining daffy bread, and call upon his own genius to supply it; let the earth remain uncultivated; let the seed remain unsown: can it be doubted that the insane man would soon be taught by famine what he would not learn from reason or infer from revelation? There is no violence in transferring the argument from the body to the soul: on the contrary, such transference would seem to be a logical necessity; for if God is essential to the inferior, is He not essential to the superior? If man cannot do the less, how can he do the greater? A man who would not eat bread because he could not make his own will dominant through every detail of the process of germination would be pitied or despised; yet men who cannot by their own will or power make one grain of corn for the support of the body are often found resenting God’ s offers of enlightenment and guidance of the soul! What wonder that God should call upon the heavens to be astonished and the earth to be horribly afraid? And what wonder, repelled and dishonoured as He is, that He should say: “ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land,” etc. Think of God sending a famine upon the soul,--of minds pining and dying because Divine messages have been withdrawn! We know what the effect would be if God were to withhold the dew, or to trouble the air with a plague, or to avert the beams of the sun: the garden would be a desert, the fruitful field a sandy plain, the wind a bearer of death, summer a stormy night, and life itself a cruel variation of death,--so penetrating, so boundless is the influence of God in nature. Is it conceivable that the withdrawment of God’ s influence would be less disastrous upon the spirit of man? Out of God there is no true being; the spasm, the convulsion, which is mistaken for existence is an impious sarcasm upon life. II. Self-will in relation to the Divine government plunges the soul into irreverence. The “ fear” spoken of (Jeremiah 5:22) may be taken as expressive of homage, veneration, and, in fact, everything that enters into a complete idea of worship. The destruction of veneration may be regarded as the final triumph of self-will. There is a very simple philosophy of spiritual retrogression. It turns upon man’ s self-magnifying power, and his consequent ambition for self-government. He says: “ If there be a God, He is at all events unseen; I am the highest power that comes within the cognisance of my own senses; other beings, such as demons and angels, have been spoken of; but they are fictions of genius, dreams of ill-regulated minds; I am king, I am god.” This is the natural creed of Sight, and it has many virtual subscribers. Now, it is to the senses themselves that God addresses the appeal of the text. He would appoint the ocean as umpire in the great controversy. Look, He says in effect, at the sea: it is bounded by the sand; its great fury cannot prevail against the limit which I have appointed: can you enlarge the decree which determinates the movement of the deep? Can you beat back the waves, or silence the roar of the billows? Stand by the seashore, then, and learn that there is a will higher than your own, a power which could crush your puny arm; listen, and let your soul hear a voice mightier than man’ s; incline your ear, and let the spirit hear the going of God upon the quiet or troubled waves; reflect, wonder, bow down, and worship. III. Self-will dissociates the gifts of nature from the Giver (Jeremiah 5:24). Revolted man will accept the rain because he cannot live without it, but the Giver will not be so much as named; the corn will be gathered, but those who bear the sheaves will have no harvest hymn for God. How rapid, tumultuous, fatal is the course of moral revolt! The purpose of God was evidently to have His Name identified with the common mercies of life, that our very bread and water might remind us constantly of His gentle and liberal care. He was not to be confided to purely spiritual contemplation, to be the subject of the soul’ s dream when lost in high reverie, or to be thought of as a Being far off, enclosed within the circle of the planets, or throned in the unapproachable palaces of an undiscovered universe: He desires to be seen spreading our table in the wilderness, causing the earth to bring forth and bud for our benefit, turning our weary feel towards the water springs, and nourishing us in the time of weakness. Men may eat unblessed bread, and be bodily the stronger for it, but it is a sore and lasting reproach to the soul. The course of moral revolt ends in this, ends in the deposition of God and in the worship of self. Man ploughs, sows, reaps, and considers all the influences which cooperate in the production of results as mere features of inanimate nature existing and working apart altogether from intelligent or moral will. The universe becomes a stupendous machine; they who get good crops have used the machine skilfully, and they whose fields are fruitless have misunderstood or misapplied the machine. The universe was designed to be the temple, the very coveting, of God; but the worship of self has wrought a bad transfiguration upon it, and now the thief, the unclean beast, and the lying prophet prevail on every hand. The demoralisation of man may have a mischievous effect upon nature itself. We sometimes speak of a bad harvest: what if behind it there has been a bad life? When the heart is right towards God, God will not withhold His blessing from the earth: “ Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee: then shall the earth yield her increase.” Physical blessing will follow spiritual worship; no good thing will be withheld from them that walk uprightly. In the light of these statements we have a double view of the unity of the moral and material systems of government. One view is from the human side: when man sins, commits a trespass in the spiritual region, he finds the result of his sin in the physical department; the reflection of his spiritual misrule is seen in dried fountains and fruitless fields, in devastating storms and fatal plagues; the universe takes up arms in defence of law. Another view is from the Divine side. God shows favour upon the earth for reasons derived from the spiritual character of the people, and demonstrates the superiority of the soul over the body by making its condition the measure of His material benefactions. How terrific, how hopeless, then, is the condition of the sinner! (J. Parker, D. D.) Indifference I. What God has done to produce pious consideration.1. He has given powers of mind adapted to it. Eyes--to see, discern, read, etc. Ears--to hearken, messengers of truth. Understanding--to know, weigh, reflect, etc. 2. He has given us the means to answer to these powers. His Word, His servants, His providence, etc. 3. He has given us His Holy Spirit--to strive, convince, etc. II. The indifference men often exhibit.1. The indifference of some is total, without any concern. Live stocks and stones. 2. Others are considerate only of the externals of religion. 3. The consideration of some is only to the intellectual parts of the truth. A mental study; philosophical attention; such as they give to literature. 4. The consideration of others is occasional. Under very arousing discourses, providences, sickness, bereavements, etc. III. The consequences of this indifference.1. It is extremely foolish. Moral insanity. 2. Detrimental to the soul. Makes it blind, deaf; robs it of spiritual food and enjoyment; degrades it. 3. Specially offensive to God. Rebellion. Gratitude. 4. Must end in the soul’ s ruin. No moral fitness without devout consideration. Application--1. Examine and test yourselves.2. Seek the quickening influences of the Divine Spirit.3. Be resolved and wise now, lest you perish. (J. Burns, D. D.) Fear ye not Me? saith the Lord.--Solemn reasons for fearing the Lord I. Argument from God’ s government of the sea.1. Suited to impress man with an idea of-- (1) Infinite power.(2) Consummate wisdom.(3) Special goodness. Two fold-- (a) Negatively, in checking the threatening invasion of the sea; (b) Affirmatively, in giving rain, etc. 2. Man’ s revolting tendencies. (1) God has prescribed the bounds of man’ s actions and thoughts by befitting laws. As the sea has bounds, so there are limits to every finite being. (2) To overstep these limits is rebellion against the Great Lawgiver. (3) Man has revolted, differing in this from the sea. (4) Man can do what the sea cannot. (a) Man has a heart, the sea has not; a will power. (b) This power in man has been prostituted to evil. II. Argument from God’ s bestowment of the harvest.1. Until the Gospel was communicated to the world, attentive observance of the dispensation of providence was the principal means whereby God’ s Spirit drew the Gentiles to Himself, and led them to piety and obedience. (1) It was the religion of nature (Acts 14:15-17; Romans 1:19-20). (2) From God’ s works alone, His being, power, mercy, may be fully and satisfactorily proved, without the advantages of revelation. 2. Although we enjoy the full light of the glorious Gospel, we can never too closely keep in mind the fact that all things we see and enjoy are ordained by God. (1) We have less need than the heathen to learn about God from His outward and visible works. (2) Yet we are beholden to His providence for all essential natural blessings. (3) Nothing in nature could reach maturity but for the fatherly care of God. 3. From the natural events around us we may-- (1) Learn diligence in our spiritual concerns, that the Word of Life may ripen in our hearts. (2) Pray that the heavenly Sower will not pass us by in barrenness. (3) When observing the tender blade, reflect on the weakness of our advance in piety, and entreat Him who tempers all the elements to “ work all things together for our good.” (4) When the harvest hour is nigh, let us think how short our time is, and pray that we may not be found blasted or unfruitful. (Bp. Heber.) Persuasives to the fear of God I. He complains of the shameful stupidity of this people.1. Their understandings were darkened. Possessing intellectual faculties and capacities, they did not employ and improve them. 2. Their wills were stubborn: not submit to rules of Divine law. II. He ascribes this to the want of the fear of God.1. If you keep up awe of God you will be observant of what He says. 2. Because we neglect to stir up our wills to holy awe of God we are so apt to rebel. III. He suggests some things proper to possess us with a holy fear of God.1. We must fear the Lord and His greatness. He keeps and manages the sea. (1) By this we see His universal sovereignty; therefore to be had in reverence. (2) This shows how easily He could drown the world again by withdrawing His “ decree” ; therefore we lie continually at His mercy, and should fear to make Him our enemy. (3) Even the unruly waves obey Him neither revolt not rebel; why, then, should our hearts? 2. We must fear the Lord, and His goodness. (1) Because He is always doing us good.(2) Because these blessings are consequent upon His promise.(3) Because we have such a necessary dependence upon Him. (M. Henry, D. D.) Which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea.--Adoration of God in nature 1. The more blessings they enjoyed, the more thankful they should have been. 2. Having rejected God spiritually, He yet continued to manifest Himself to them in nature. 3. Gratitude to God for the fruits of the seasons is a common ground on which to argue effectually even with the darkest heathen. 4. The heathen are denied excuse for their ignorance and idolatry, because of the marks of God’ s love and power in the world around them. 5. Yet the heathen, in outward forms at least, surpassed Jews and Christians. 6. There was, then, great sin on the part of Israel when, even as natural men, they ignored the mercies of God’ s ordinary providence, and were not softened and converted by His unmerited goodness. 7. A bounteous season ought to awaken love and thankfulness to God. 8. God is exceedingly jealous of the honour due unto His name. 9. The eye is blind to God in natural wonders, and the ear deaf amid His works, because the heart has not embraced Him in the Gospel of His Son. (J. Garbett, M. A.) God’ s government of the sea and man’ s revolting tendencies 1. God is the Author and Governor of the sea. 2. God binds the sea within certain limits by law. 3. God’ s laws are permanent till He wills a change “ by a perpetual decree.” 4. God is ever prevent in His laws and contrivances. 5. God’ s presence in the laws of the sea, as well as in every other law, should have a restraining and reverencing influence upon men. I. God’ s government of the sea. Suited to impress man with an idea of--1. Infinite power.2. Consummate wisdom.3. Special goodness. II. Man’ s revolting tendencies.1. God has prescribed the bounds of man’ s actions and thoughts by befitting laws. Love to God and man. 2. To overstep these limits is rebellion against the great Lawgiver. When thoughts are unholy and imagination irreverent, the soul has overstepped its proper limits, and is in rebellion against its Creator. 3. Man has overstepped his proper limits, and therefore rebelled. “ They are revolted and gone.” Differing in this from the sea. 4. Man can do what the sea can not, namely, overstep his proper limits and transgress the laws of his being. (1) Man has a heart. The sea has not. Man has a will power--a power to act to a great extent as he likes. (2) This power in man has been prostituted to evil. Man, morally, has lost his equilibrium, his heart has become rebellious; and heart rebellion is the source of all rebellions--of hand and head rebellions. Conclusion-- 1. God must govern heart and will by heart and will influences. 2. It is easier for God to rule suns and systems and oceans than one man, because he has a heart, and a rebellious one. 3. Man, as a rebel, contrasts unfavourably with the material creation--the earth and sea, etc. God notices this with a painful emotion. “ Fear ye not Me,” etc. (Homilist.) The sand barrier Take a handful of sand up; and how easily it filters through the fingers. This slippery sand is part of God’ s wall against the sea. By agglomeration it is strong. The restraining of the waters has made the earth habitable. Every coastline, however indented, flat, or rocky, has been traced by that Hand which “ gave to the sea its decree.” I. There are natural laws which are, like the boundaries of the sea, not to be passed. We all know what would be the result if the force of gravitation did not hold us in our place on the earth’ s surface, or if we determined to ignore the law by leaping from a precipice. There are also laws of health which restrain us. We can easily damage our physical frame by neglect. Pains we must then endure, compelling to obedience. II. In society we have limits, bounds and restraints which are of greatest value. The opinions of our fellows are restraints. Laws are the bounds within which the moral would secure the immoral. The good man fears them not, because he has no wish to break them. He values them, because they protect him from the lawless. III. There are in knowledge certain limits and bounds which are of great value. Those who think deeply are the most conscious of this. Let us be thankful for such bounds. Let us remember what ennui and pride would follow if we could know all. Further, where would be the need for faith--that noblest act of the soul? Let us be humble. What is all we know, compared with what God has to reveal to us? Let us seek to become more fitted to pass beyond the limitations of the present, and to appreciate more the widening of our sphere of knowledge in the future world. IV. As the sea has its bounds, so has life its limits. Decay and death must come sooner or later. Hearts can beat only a determined number of times, even as a watch, when once wound up, can go only a certain time. Every tick brings it nearer to the last beat. When the spring runs down, another beat cannot be got out of it. What are man’ s years to immortality? (Job 14:5). There is wisdom in this decree. If men were to live beyond a certain point they would be hindrances; and if there were no death, men would be altogether forgetful of God their Judge. V. We may apply the text to the trials to which man is subjected. God sets bounds to them. He will not allow us to be crushed or swamped. He knows what we can bear, and how much is good for us. Murmur not. Trust in Him. He can deliver, check, remove the restraints, hindrances, and trials, and even bring blessing out of them. (Homiletic Magazine.) God the ruler of the waves God rules the waves, not Britannia. (John Newton.) Sea and soil; Divine providence By the mouth of His prophet, Jeremiah, God upbraids His people for their impiety; but it is worthy of notice that He reproaches them not for their forgetfulness of His miraculous deliverances, but for their heedlessness of His regular kindness to them. It is not that they are neglecting Him who saved them from the wrath of the Egyptians by the marvels of the Red Sea passage; it is that they are failing to honour Him who has always been keeping the sea in its bed. I. God’ s constant kindness to us.1. In keeping in check the destructive forces upon the earth (verse 22). The sea at rest, kept within its bounds, is an object of surpassing beauty; its surface is the great highway of the nations. But when it breaks its bounds, it causes terrible destruction. As with the sea, so with the air. The pure air we breathe is life itself; the soft breeze is refreshment and invigoration; the wind aids us in our industries and carries our ships across the water. But the cyclone, the hurricane, is danger, destruction, death. The occasional storm reminds us of the continuance from week to week of that balance in the atmospheric forces which the wisdom and the power of God sustain, and which makes possible and practicable our pleasant lives. This also holds with the interior of the earth. Beneath a thin crust of rock are stored and hidden great central fires. What if they were loosened! The earthquake and the volcano are the reminders that there are forces beneath our feet and of which we have no control whatever; but a mightier hand than ours has shut them in, and keeps us in safety and in peace. 2. In putting into exercise productive powers (verse 24). God has been fulfilling His promise, and neither seedtime nor harvest has failed from the earth. There have come droughts and storms: our trust and our patience have been tried; our intellectual resources have been developed, and our character has been disciplined thereby; adverse material conditions have been strengthening and quickening our manhood; the culture of the field has been the culture of the race; the method of God’ s giving has greatly enhanced the value of His gift. Divine wisdom has accompanied Divine bounty at every step. II. Our human response. Too often it has been--1. That which is our reproach. Men have taken everything from the God of their life, and they, have-- (1) Denied His existence; or (2) Questioned His interest in His children’ s well-being; or (3) Practically disregarded the operation of His hand, and rendered Him no thanks; or (4) Contented themselves with bare formalities from which all genuine feeling has been left out. But prophet and psalmist and apostle invite us to a response-- 2. Which is becoming and acceptable. (1) Reverence. “ Fear ye not Me?” Have we no adoration for this Lord of all power and wisdom, who keeps the sea in its place and who covers the barren soil with a golden harvest? (2) Gratitude. Shall we not “ bless the Lord,” who “ filleth our mouth with good things” ? (3) Service. He who gives us the bread which nourishes our body has placed us under a far greater obligation in that He has given us the Bread of Life. Eating of the one, we live a lower life for “ a few more years” ; but partaking of the other, we live the larger and higher life for evermore (John 6:58). (C. Clarkson, B. A.) God’ s barriers against man’ s sin The majesty of God, as displayed in creation and providence, ought to stir up our hearts in adoring wonder and melt them down in willing obedience to His commands. The almighty power of Jehovah, so clearly manifest in the works of His hands, should constrain us, His creatures, to fear His name and prostrate ourselves in humble reverence before His throne. The contemplation of the marvellous works which He doth upon “ the great and wide sea,” where He tosseth the waves to and fro, and yet keepeth them in their ordained courses, should draw forth our devoutest emotions, and I could almost say, inspire us with homage. Have these great things of God, these wondrous works of His, no lesson to teach us? Do they not while declaring His glory reveal our duty? Our poets, both the sacred and the uninspired, have feigned consciousness to those inanimate agents that they might the more truthfully represent their honourable service. But if because we are intelligent beings, we withhold our allegiance from our rightful Sovereign, then our privileges are a curse, and our glory is a shame. We might learn, even without the written oracles of Scripture, that we ought to obey God, if our foolish hearts were not so darkened; thus unbelief of the Almighty Creator is a crime of the first magnitude. If it were a petty sovereign against whom ye rebelled, it might be pardonable; if He were a man like yourselves, ye might expect that your faults would easily find forgiveness; but since He is the God who reigns alone where clouds and darkness are round about Him, the God to whom all nature is obedient, and whose high behests are obeyed both in heaven and in hell, it becomes a crime, the terrible character of which words cannot portray, that you should ever sin against a God so marvellously great. The greatness of God enhances the greatness of our sin. I believe this is one lesson which the prophet intended to teach us by the text. But while it is a lesson, I do not think it is the lesson of the text. There is something else which we are to learn from it. God here contrasts the obedience of the strong, the mighty, the untamed sea, with the rebellious character of His own people. The doctrine of the text seems to be this--that without supernatural means God can make all creatures obedient save man; but man is so disobedient in his heart, that only some supernatural agency can make him obedient to God, while the simple agency of sand can restrain the sea, without any stupendous effort of Divine power more than He ordinarily puts out in nature: He cannot thus make man obedient to His will. Now, look back into history, and see if it has not been so. What has been a greater problem, if we may so speak concerning the Divine mind, than that of restraining men from sin? How many restraints God has put upon man! “ But what of this fact?” --you say--“ we know it is true; verified in your own ease. Come, now, I want to ask of you, whether it cannot be said of you truly, “ The sea is bound by sand; but I am one of those people who are bent on revolting from God, neither can any of His restraints keep me from sin.” Let us review the various restraints which God has put upon His people to keep them from sins which, nevertheless, are altogether ineffectual, without the accompanying power of grace.1. Then, remember there is a restraint of gratitude which, to the lowly regenerated heart, must necessarily form a very strong motive to obedience. I ask thee, O saint, viewing thy sins as sins against love and mercy, against covenant promises, covenant oaths, covenant engagements, ay, and covenant fulfillments, is not thy sin a desperate thing, and art not thou thyself a rebellious and revolting being, seeing that thou canst not be restrained by such a barrier of adamant as thy soul acknowledges? Next notice, that the saint has not only this barrier against sin, but many others. 2. He has the whole of God’ s Word given him by way of warning; its pages he is accustomed to read; he reads there, that if he break the statutes and keep not the commandments of the Lord, his Father will visit his transgressions with a rod, and his iniquity with stripes. And yet, O Christian, against all warning and against all precept, thou darest to sin. Oh! art thou not a rebellious creature, and mayest thou not humble thyself at the thought of the greatness of thine iniquity? 3. Again, the saint sins against his own experience. When he looks back upon his past life he finds that sin has always been a loss to him; he has never found any profit, but has always lost by it. Will you put the poisoned goblet to your lips again? Yes, you will; but because you do so in the teeth of your experience, it ought to make you weep, that you should be such desperate rebels against such a loving God, who has put not merely a barrier of sand, but a barrier of tried steel to keep in your lusts, and yet they will break forth; verily, ye are a rebellious and revolting people. 4. Then again, God guards all His children with providence, in order to keep them from sin. Ah! strange things happen to some of us. It was only a providence which on some solemn occasion, to which you never look back without regret, saved you from sin which would have been a scab on your character. Bless God for that! But remember, notwithstanding the girdlings of His providence, how many times you have offended; and let the frequency of your sin remind you that you must indeed be a rebellious creature. 5. Yet, once more let me remind you, that the ordinances of God’ s house are all intended to be checks to sin. Bow down your heads with shame while ye consider your ways, and then lift up your hearts, Christians, in adoring love, that He has kept you when your feet were making haste to hell, where you would have gone, but for His preserving grace. Will you not pray, that God should not cast you away, nor take His Holy Spirit from you, though you are a rebellious creature, and though you have revolted against Him? II. Apply it to sinners. Come, then, sinner; in the first place, I bid thee consider thy guilt. The mighty ocean is kept in obedience by God, and restrained within its channel by simple sand; and thou, a pitiful worm, the creature of a day, the ephemera of an hour, thou art a rebel against God. The sea obeys Him; thou dost not. Consider how many restraints God has put on thee: He has not checked thy lusts with sand but with beetling cliffs; and yet thou hast burst through every bound in the violence of thy transgressions. Perhaps He has checked thy soul by the remembrance of thy guilt. Thou hast felt thyself a despiser of God; or if not a despiser, thou art a mere hearer, and hast no part nor lot in this matter. Dost thou not remember thy sins in the face of thy mother’ s counsels and thy father’ s strong admonitions? Thou knowest the threatenings of God; it is no new tale to thee, when I warn thee that sinners must be condemned. Consider, then, how great is thy guilt; thou hast sinned against light and knowledge; thou art not the Hottentot sinner, who sins in darkness; thou hast not sinned ignorantly, thou hast done it when thou knewest better. Some of you have had other things. Don’ t you remember, some little time ago, when sickness was rife, you were stretched on your bed? Methinks I see you; you turned your face to the wall, and you cried, “ O God, if Thou wilt save my life, I will give myself to Thee!” Perhaps it was an accident; thou didst fear that death was very near; the terrors of death laid hold of thee, and thou didst cry, “ O God, let me but reach home in safety, and my bended knees and my tears pouring in torrents, shall prove that I am sincere in the vow I make!” But didst thou perform that vow? Nay, thou hast sinned against God; thy broken vows have gone before thee to judgment. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 5:23-24 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Israel’ s apostasy Our state of heart and mind toward God is shown, not by those emotions which are kindled in us on receiving any extraordinary mercy, nor by what we do under the influence of those emotions, but by the habitual condition of our hearts and minds toward God as concerned in His everyday gifts and our everyday doings. I. The accusation made. I. God complains of revolt and rebellion against Him. The only rightful ruler over all: whose power is absolute and independent, whose wisdom is unerring, whose justice perfect, and whose goodness infinite: whose “ statutes are” all “ right,” rejoicing the right-hearted, whose commandment is all pure, enlightening the eye that is single.2. And what thought was it in their hearts, which God construed as rebellion against Him? It took in Israel’ s heart the simple and familiar form of mere unthankfulness to God for “ common mercies.” II. The proof of their rebellion and revolt.1. They did not in the gift of a good harvest discern God at all. 2. If, as I feel too much afraid it is, this part of the proof of a rebellious heart be in us, of necessity the other part will not be wanting: and as God saith in the text of His people of old, “ Neither say they in their hearts, Let us now fear the Lord our God,” so neither shall we say the same. The goodness of God is meant to lead men to repentance. (F. C. Clark, B. A.) Sin is revolt and rebellion against Christ-our King One day, over in Australia, at Maryboro’ , an unusually fine-looking man came in and said, “ I want to talk with you. I don’ t know about your preaching. I am a moral, upright man, and nobody can deny it. I should like you to tell me what you have got against me.” I said, “ Are you a Christian? No, sir.” “ Well, then, I charge you with high treason against your King. God made Him so, and I charge you” --and I looked him right in the eye--“ with the crime of high treason against your King.” An awful cloud came over the man’ s face. He got up and walked out of the room. Months passed away. We had been over to Tasmania, and got back to Australia, and were preaching at Ballarat, about forty miles, I think, from Maryboro’ . At the close of one of my meetings, a fine-looking man came and said, “ Do you remember me?” I replied, “ I have seen you somewhere but 1 cannot trace you.” “ Do you remember charging a man with high treason?” I said, “ I have charged many a man with high treason.” He said, “ Do you remember charging a specific man?” and he narrated the circumstances. “ Yes,” I said, “ I do.” He replied, “ I am the man. You will never charge me with it again.” He held out his hand and I held out mine. He took me in his mighty grip, and dropped on his knees and I on mine. He looked up and said, “ Lord Jesus, I hand in my allegiance; I give up my treason and take Thee as my King.” You men ought to do it tonight. (A. Torrey.) Jeremiah 5:24 Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: He reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.The former and the latter rain Such are the climate and soil of Palestine, that all agricultural operations are most manifestly dependent upon the periodical rainfall. Hence the people speak of the weather and the crops with a more immediate reference to God than is usual with us. It is said that the common expressions of the peasantry are such as quite strike travellers with their apparently devout recognition of the Almighty agency. Certainly we may account for a very large number of what may be called the agricultural promises of the Old Testament, from the fact that little of the food of the people was gained by manufacture or commerce, and the whole population depended upon the field, and the field upon the rain. Although our climate does not so immediately remind us of our dependence upon God, yet it would be well if we remembered whence all our blessings come, and looked up to the hand from which our daily bread is distributed. When He giveth seasons propitious for the harvest, let us thank Him for it; and if at any time He restraineth the blessings of the elements, and leadeth the air with blight and mildew, let us fear and tremble before Him, and humble ourselves before His chastening hand. Gratitude for providential mercies is not, however, the subject of this discourse. I intend to use the text rather in a spiritual sense. As it is in the outward world, so is it in the inward; as it is in the physical, so is it in the spiritual: man is a microcosm, a little world, and all weather and seasons find their image in him. The earth is dependent upon the rain from heaven, so are the souls of men, and so are their holy works, dependent upon the grace shower which cometh from the great Father of Light, the giver of every good and perfect gift. I. The work of God as it is carried on without. It is needful, whenever any holy enterprise is commenced, that it should be early watered by the helpful Spirit of God. Nothing beginneth well unless it beginneth in God. It cannot take root, it cannot Spring up in hopefulness, except the Holy Spirit shall descend upon it; it will wither like the grass upon the housetops if the celestial dew of the morning fall not early upon it. The like grace is equally needful after years of growth; there is urgent need of the latter rain, the shower of revival, in which the old work shall be freshened, and the first verdure shall be restored; for without this latter rain, the period of harvest, which is the end aimed at, will be disappointing. II. Apply the text to our spiritual life within us.1. Here note that usually the spiritual life, as soon as it is commenced, experiences a former rain, or a delightful visitation of grace. So blessed was our first conversion to some of us, that those first days are as green and fragrant in our memories as if they were but yesterday; they are as fresh and fair as if they had but just budded in the garden of time. To hear anyone talk of a precious Christ and of pardon bought with blood, and of full and free salvation, was heaven to us. If, in those days, we had to suffer anything for Jesus, we only regretted we could not suffer more. That was the early rain. The seed had just been sown, and the Master to make it take deeper root and spring up faster into the green blade, gave us the sacred shower of His loving presence. There was much tender wisdom in this gentleness, for the newborn soul is very weak then. Besides, our Master at that time gave us the early rain, as it were, to give our young plant a start in commencing our heavenly growth--a growth to which we might look back in after years. How often have we been refreshed since then in our times of sorrow, by recollecting the months past, when the candle of the Lord shone round about our head! Beloved Christian, if thou art now this day in the dark, pluck a torch from the altars of yesterday, with which to kindle the lights of today. The faithful Promiser was with thee then; thou hadst His love to cheer thee then: go to Him yet once more, and thou shalt receive the latter rain of renewed grace from Him who giveth grace upon grace. 2. It is very usual in the life of grace, for the soul to receive in after years, a second very remarkable visitation of the Holy Spirit, which may be compared to the latter rain. Believe me, the life of grace is no dead level, it is not a fen country, a vast fiat. There are mountains, and there are valleys. There are tribes of Christians who live in the valleys, like the poor Swiss of the Valais, who live in the midst of the miasma, where fever has its lair, and the frame is languid and enfeebled. Such dwellers in the lowlands of unbelief are forever doubting, fearing, troubled about their interest in Christ, and tossed to and fro; but there are other believers, who, by God’ s grace, have climbed the mountain of full assurance and near communion. Their place is with the eagle in his eyrie, high aloft. They are like the strong mountaineer, who has trodden the virgin snow, who has breathed the fresh, free air of the Alpine regions, and therefore his sinews are braced, and limbs are vigorous; these are they who do great exploits, being mighty men, men of renown. The saints who dwell on high in the clear atmosphere of faith, are rejoicing Christians, holy and devout men, doing service for the Master all over the world, and everywhere conquerors through Him that loved them. And I desire, oh, how earnestly I desire you to be such men! 3. The text speaks of a third thing. There is the former rain, and the latter rain, and then he says, “ He has reserved for us the appointed weeks of harvest.” Yes, if we shall get this latter rain--and may we have it!--it will then be time to be looking forward to our harvest. Consider well that the harvest begins in the field, though it ends in the garner. Going to heaven begins upon earth; and as the text tells us of weeks, so may I add that going to glory is often a long work. We are like a balloon while it is tied to the earth, it cannot mount; even so our ascent to heaven is delayed by a thousand detaining cords and bands, and the process of setting us free is cutting the ropes one by one. The wheat may well rejoice for the sharp cuts of the sickle, because it is the sign of going home to the garner. After the wheat is cut it stands in shocks, shocks of corn fully ripe, not growing out of the earth, but merely standing on it. The shock is quite disconnected from the soil. How happy is the state of a Christian when he is in the world but is not linked to it! His ripeness drops here and there a grain into the soil, for he is still ready to do good, but he has no longer any vital connection with aught below, he is waiting to be in heaven. Here comes the wain. The corn is put into it, and with shoutings it is carried home. Soon will our Heavenly Father send His chariot, and we who have been ripened by the latter rain, and separated from earth by His Spirit’ s sickle, shall be borne in the chariot of triumph, amidst the shoutings of the angels, and the songs of thrice blessed spirits, up to the eternal garner. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The God of harvest I. Some of the aspects of the operations of the God of harvest. The artist will not be called a painting, or the poet an ode, although it is his production; neither will God allow creation to stand for Himself. But the artist’ s painting, and the poet’ s ode, reveal perception, and genius, and feeling, and inspiration, which lead us to the threshold of their personality. So creation is brimful of the power, wisdom, and goodness of its Maker, and providence teems with evidences of care, beneficence, and tenderness on the part of its Author.1. The God of harvest is the God of life. Take upon the palm of your hand one grain of corn, and examine it. We are told that it is one leaf folded up tightly. Whether it is strictly so or not, there is an outer garment to ward off the severity of the weather, and there is a finer inner garment, with underclothing. But where is life? Is it between the folds, or is there some small particle of matter in the centre which is its secret cell? What is the action which takes place when life springs forth? What are light, and heat, and moisture in relation to life? How does life appropriate to itself substances that have in them no life? And lastly we ask, How does life rise up a hundredfold from the ashes of its own death? These are questions which we cannot answer. To answer them would destroy their very design, for they are there to conduct an inquiry which ends not in themselves but in God. 2. The God of harvest is the God of progress and beauty. There is a process which appears to us to be death, and not any step towards the expansion of life. When the grain has been in the earth some time there is a dissolving of its compactness, as if it could not hold its own against contending forces. It bursts also, as if its girdles were broken. The next step which might be expected to follow is its reduction to the consistency of the clod in which it is lodged. But we are not correct in our estimate of that process. Life has found in the earth what she delights to find at all times--a secret spot to unfold her powers. Silently and unobserved she unfolds the leaf, and sends it forth into the blade and the ear. The process we have alluded to is one of repulsion, without a single comely feature to relieve it. But the fact is, nature is there in her laboratory preparing to send forth life dressed in magnificent beauty. The cornfield, width its golden crop, is one of the loveliest sights in nature. Progressive steps develop the hidden beauties of life. If we further continue our observation, that which we consider to be the termination of all life is its real commencement. The present is the time of ploughing and sowing, the reaping will come by and by. 3. The God of harvest is the God of final and beneficent issues. God works in cycles, but providence is not without intermissions in the turn of the wheel. Periods of action are sharply marked off. Summer and winter may be said to reverse each other, although their revolutions accomplish but one end. These changes prove the existence of a guiding hand, as much as the tacks which the ship makes prove that the man is at the wheel. The thought that all these changes, with a direct and a reversible action, bring about ends transcending in goodness and beauty everything of the kind in the actions themselves, ought to influence us not to seek in labour the joy of harvest. The husbandman does not grind and bake all his corn, but is as careful to keep the best of it for seed, as he is anxious the other part should be wholesome food for his family. So we cannot hope for future joy if no present seed is sown. Good seed cast into good ground--the Word of God sown in the heart--will be watered by His Spirit, Words spoken from the heart, and actions prompted by love, sown in the breasts of others, will grow into a plenteous harvest. The Lord has reserved a period of rejoicing for Christian workers. II. Reverence and gratitude are due to the God of harvest.1. A due regard for His honour. Reverence is a state of feeling produced by a sense of the majesty of God, and is the principal element in true worship. This holy passion is better felt than described. It is not a passion wholly created by a sense of sinfulness, which would be simply a dread of His displeasure, but an intense regard for God’ s glory. His name is never pronounced except with a feeling of awe, and His works with a sense of reverence. His Word is holy, and His presence sought in the deepest humility. “ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” 2. A deep sense of gratitude. Reverence for God does not crush the love of the soul. It has no frowns, but a smile. We worship and look up. We read the heart of the Giver in the gifts. All His servants are loaded with gifts for us. “ The earth has He given to the children of men.” Its magnificence, its attractions, its beauties, its riches, its harvests, are all ours. More than the earth, yea, and more than the heavens, hath He given unto us, “ Who gave His only begotten Son.” 3. An earnest desire for service. The hurry must be fed, and the naked clothed. The widow needs a friend and the orphan a father. Have we nothing to lend to the Lord by giving to the poor? Is there not a holy ambition in our souls to emulate Him who went about doing good? (T. Davies, M. A.) Voices of God in the harvest I. There are voices of God in the yearly harvest. God has mercifully set our lot in an age when the perils of famine and of desolating wars are very seldom known, and in very limited degrees. In past ages the yearly harvest was much more hazardous than it is now that countries are more settled and agricultural science so much farther advanced. Yet in those days God did not withhold His promised harvests from the world, only from parts of it. Not one single year of the world’ s history has passed by without a gathered harvest somewhere; only the imperfect communication between distant countries did not then permit the surplus of one land to supply the deficiencies of another. Can any true soul look upon the “ valleys covered over with corn,” and fail to hear them “ shouting for joy and also singing” of the goodness of God? What merciful care of His creatures is thus displayed! How surely a moment’ s failing interest on the part of God would leave our harvest only “ a heap in a day of sadness and of desperate sorrow” ! There are many who can discern something of the goodness of the God of providence, who yet try to persuade themselves that it is another kind of God who deals with men as sinners--another God, and this God only a God of stern demands, severities, and vengeance. It is not so. The God of redemption is the very God of bounteous nature. His yearly mercy is designed to carry home to our hearts the very call made by Christ, and by the Word--the call to repentance and trust. In the salvation by Jesus Christ we ought to see in sublime glory that very goodness that spreads our fields with waving corn. In the yearly harvest there is also a voice speaking out God’ s faithfulness. Every year He is only doing what He promised our forefather He would do for him and for his descendants; He is only keeping His word. God’ s faithfulness to His promise is painted in splendid colours right across the sky in every sun-glinted shower. God’ s faithfulness to His promise is sung out by every cloud-flecked, waving cornfield, every gathered sheaf, and every loaded barn. II. The special voices of God in this year’ s harvest. III. The voices of God in the scripture use of the harvest.1. In Scripture, and by the Lord Jesus Christ, the harvest is used as an illustration, and employed to impress Christian duty, especially the duty of working diligently and earnestly in Christ’ s work, the ingathering of sinners to His love, salvation, Church, and heaven. 2. Harvest is also used in Scripture to point a call to us to prepare for the judgment day, and the eternal world. (R. Tuck, B. A.) Harvest thoughts The harvest, with its long train of preparatory works--ploughing and seed time, spring and autumn rains, the rest of winter and the heat of summer--is not only the great support of our life in this world--the great business of the year, as far as bodily health and strength are concerned; but it is throughout an instance of our Heavenly Father’ s teaching us, without book, many of the truths which it most concerns us to know.1. He meant us to take notice, first, of His continual presence and power in bringing forward the fruits of the earth. We are not so stupid as to imagine that corn will spring up of itself in our fields, whether it be sown at all or no. When we see a piece of land well stored with it and free from weeds, we do not ascribe it to chance, but we acknowledge that the hand of man has been busy in that place. But consider how much more skilful the work is, to form out of a dry seed, by mixture with a little earth and water, the several parts of an entire plant--the root, the stalk, the blade, the flower, the grain--and be ashamed to recollect how seldom you have thought of that infinite skill and wisdom, in comparison with the notice you have taken of man’ s part, so very fax inferior, in the work of bringing food out of the earth. Man does his portion of labour and goes away, and sets about something else: but the work of God is forever going on, and therefore we may be sure the workman is forever present. 2. It is the more shameful not to take notice of this; because the growth of corn is, from beginning to end, a work of God’ s mercy as well as of His power. It is a sort of token, to our very outward senses, that He has not left us nor forsaken us, for all we have done to provoke Him; and who is there, that has a just sense of his own sin and unworthiness, who will not thankfully receive every thing, both in nature and in Scripture, which encourages him to meditate on so cheering a truth as this? 3. Then, the manner in which the harvest is made available for the supply of our wants may offer abundance of useful instruction although He does so much for us, in forming, watching over, nourishing, and ripening the plant, yet it is not His will we should enjoy the benefit of it without exertion on our own part. “ In the sweat of our face we must eat bread” : we must put it in the ground in the first instance: we must fence, manure, weed, and reap, or all God’ s mercy in giving us the fruits of the earth, will at last be thrown away upon us. It is no otherwise in what concerns our spiritual happiness and eternal salvation. We must do our part by faith and prayer and sincere obedience, or we cannot expect God to do His. We must employ so much common sense, as to look forward to another world, and not to mind trifles any more than we can help, while eternal things are open before us. The cultivation of the earth, like the other employments of this life, is not blessed alike to all; and it very often may happen, that God sends prosperity on a bad man’ s harvest, while the crop of the righteous fails. This, to unbelieving dispositions, is another excuse for irreligious thoughts, and practices; as if God had not warned us beforehand, “ that He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” God does not think so much of the good things of this world, as to account them a sufficient reward for His faithful servants; by them, or by the want of them, He is trying us in this world, to fit us for our real reward in the next: and to murmur because good harvests, or any other worldly goods, are not bestowed on men according to their behaviour, is as if a man on a journey should be angry and discontented, because he does not find all the comforts of repose and home whilst he is moving along the road. (Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times.”) The God of nature I. The doctrine asserted. “ The Lord our God giveth,” etc. He is the immediate bestower of what we call natural benefits.1. The Giver of rain. (1) He provides it in mercy to mankind.(2) He withholds it in judgment upon nations. 2. The Appointer of harvest. “ He reserveth,” etc. Important and interesting season. God has appointed it-- (1) As an immutable ordinance (Genesis 8:22).(2) As a time of rejoicing.(3) As a means of instruction. II. The duty inferred.1. Cultivate continual acknowledgment of God.2. Exercise entire dependence upon God.3. Render perpetual thanksgiving to God.4. Devote ourselves to the faithful service of God. (H. Parr.) Harvest voices Is there not a modern tendency to exclude God from the harvest field, to put an atheistic trust in secondary causes--subsoil ploughing, artificial manures, the rotation of crops and the like? Nature to the seeing eye and listening ear is sacramental. “ Earth is crammed with heaven,” and the air is redolent with a celestial music.1. The prophet would have us cherish that filial, reverent and thankful fear towards the great Giver of all which will save us from perverting His gifts. Without a due recognition of God our temporal prosperity becomes a curse. Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. An engraving by Retseh illustrating a great poem gives us the angels dropping roses from the skies on the heads of denizens in Inferno. Reaching them these fragrant gifts turn to molten lead but to scorch and burn. Is it not thus when the blessings of a kindly providence fall on selfish and ungrateful hearts? The intended boon becomes a bane and the perverted gift a corrosion and a blight. Such is the characteristic sign of worldliness. It is a profanation of life’ s gifts to basest uses, and a missing of the higher good. But the bounteousness of each glad harvest time should remind us that we are pensioners on the lavish goodness of our Heavenly Father in order that we may use it as He alone wills, for we are beneficiaries every one, and, as such, trustees of heaven’ s manifold mercies and gifts. 2. The thought of “ life out of death” is conveyed to the spiritual mind. “ Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” 3. Another suggestion from the harvest is that of cooperation with God. Take a field of corn; it has not come of itself. Geologists never find amid the fossilised remains of primeval vegetation a trace of corn. It is specifically a human product. Wild wheat is unknown. Corn is the product of civilised man. It implies tillage, and this in a sense not true of many other products that minister to man’ s need. So also is it in the development of Christian character. We are “ workers together with God.” We do not attain to eminence by accident, or, as it were, automatically. It is true that “ salvation is of God” ; we are “ saved by grace through faith; and that not of ourselves: it is the gift of God.” But there is sense in which salvation is a process, a diligent culture, a strenuous warfare, a glad but real obedience. We must work out what God works in if we are to come to a real possession of truth and of Christian excellence. The graces of Christian life are not like pictures thrown on a screen by a magic lantern, they are rather like the strands woven in a costly fabric by the weaver at his loom. To change the figure, finished husbandry of soul involves sedulous and patient culture, prayerful self-examination, and a mastery of that inner realm of our being where desire, motive, volition play their determining part in human character. Truth is real, something trowed, when it has become a working and victorious principle in the life. Other than this, it is like so much unused capital locked up in a bank, or so much unworked land on a farm. The Chinese, it is said, discovered the magnetic needle centuries before it was known in the western world. But it was a mere toy. They did not use it for new voyages of discovery or for enterprise in commerce. Its practical utility was nil. May not we commit a similar futility in Christianity? 4. Again, “ Everything in its season,” the harvest seems to say, “ First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.” So each period in human life has its appropriate work. We cannot postpone duty and expect the reward of honest diligence. A pious, well-instructed youthhood should go before the active responsibilities and burdens of mid life, as both of these must precede and determine the mellow ripeness of advanced age. No one period in life can do the work of another period. Each has its own function and opportunity. Religion is a sublime forecast to be made use of in life’ s early season, and not an afterthought darkened only with unavailing regrets when the summer has ended and the harvest we had wished is forever beyond our reaping. “ Know thy opportunity” was written on the temple of Delphos. It is written deep on the face of time. 5. Let us remember that as the grain of one harvest is the seed of the next, so our life is reproductive, and its influence far-reaching and beyond our power to compute. Moreover, there is a wondrously cumulative power in Christian work and influence; the reaping is larger than the sowing. A self-multiplying process is ever going forward, and the results lie beyond our reckoning. We think of the beginning of things, the initial stages of great reform movements, the so-called forlorn hopes of the past, and with grateful wonder we greet today their fruitful, immeasurable issues. It is difficult for even the most sceptical and slow of belief to resist the lesson of history, that moral and spiritual forces rule and shape the destiny of this world, and that humanity and Christianity are meant the one for the other. (Aldersgate Magazine.) Lessons from the harvest I. In reference to God.1. Admiration. (1) We may admire the wisdom of God, in all the means that He uses to ripen our corn, and in bringing each field of the same kind to perfection nearly at the same time, so that all, or at least a considerable part of it, may be cut down together, and yet all be fit for use. (2) The wisdom of God, our preserver, is evident again in bringing the different species of corn to perfection at different times, so that one is not ready till after another is cut down. (3) The same wisdom is also seen in making the harvest at somewhat different times in different parts of the country, so that those who have reaped it in an early part may procure a few weeks’ longer work by repairing to a later district,--an arrangement of Divine Providence productive of greater convenience to the farmer, and longer employment to the labourer. 2. Dependence. We can only lay the seed down in the ground and cover it with the soil. God does all the rest. 3. Gratitude. Remember how many difficulties are in the way of every harvest, and how nicely He must adjust the balance of all the influences required to produce it. Too much rain or too little; too powerful and constant sunshine, or too unfrequent; too violent winds, or too dell and general calm, would render our autumn unfruitful. Consider, also, how many arrests there are which we have seen, and of whose fruits we have partaken. 4. Confidence. The sun may fail to ripen the corn, the seed may lose its germinating power, the rain may spoil it, or the wind may shake it; but God has said we shall have harvest, and we always have it. But nothing can by any possibility deprive the blood of Christ of its purifying and saving efficacy: how much more, then, may we expect that promise to be accomplished which says, “ He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” ? II. In reference to ourselves.1. Activity. Although the corn may be ripe in the fields, it will be useless unless gathered into the barn. So is it with God’ s blessings through Christ. Our Saviour has died; but what will this avail unless we use the means by which we may obtain the benefits He has purchased?2. Death.3. Judgment. (W. Dickson.) Reflections on harvest I. The regular return of harvest is an obvious proof of the existence and providence of God. The fruits of the earth, so necessary to the support of animal life, depend on causes beyond the reach of human power. The whole management of the natural world is in hands superior to ours, in the hands of an invisible, almighty Being. II. The time of harvest naturally calls us to pious meditations and reflections.1. The seasons are so ordered, as to remind us of the shortness of human foresight. From past experience we expect a harvest in its appointed weeks, and rarely is our expectation frustrated. But the event is not always adjusted to the measure of our hopes. It often falls short, and often exceeds them. The management of the seasons, however, is in unerring hands. Rational beings, in the care of infinite wisdom and goodness are always safe, while they proceed in the line of their duty, and never ought they to indulge anxiety. With Him who governs futurity, they may calmly trust all events. 2. Our dependence is apparent, as in many other things, so especially in the return of harvest. If God sends His blessing, none can revoke it. If He withhold His smiles, our toil is fruitless. 3. Scripture speaks of harvest as a season of gratitude and joy. 4. Harvest teaches diligence and frugality. (1) God supplies our wants, not by an immediate providence, but by succeeding our prudent labours. (2) Those precious fruits of the earth which are dealt out only at certain seasons, and which by no art or industry of man can at other seasons be obtained, should be applied to honest and virtuous purposes; not wastefully consumed in criminal indulgences. 5. Harvest inculcates benevolence. Religion consists in an imitation of God’ s moral character, especially of His diffusive and disinterested goodness. 6. Harvest reminds us of the shortness of life, and calls us to the diligent improvement of our time. Food and raiment are needful for the body; seek them you may; but rather seek the kingdom of God, and these things will be added. 7. Harvest should be a season of self-examination. We are God’ s husbandry. Much has He done for us. What could He have done more? Have we answered His cost? The field, which bringeth forth herbs, meet for Him by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God. But that which beareth thorns and briars, is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. 8. Harvest reminds us of our obligation to faith and patience. We have a kind of natural faith, which, standing on the ground of past experience, looks forward with expectation of a future harvest. Let Christians, enlightened by revelation, look beyond this world to things unseen; and, relying on the promise, truth, and grace of God, anticipate the blessings of the heavenly state. (J. Lathrop, D. D.) Lessons from the harvest I. The blessings. Fruitful showers, and brilliant suns, and azure skies, and earth covered with its bright green clothing, are, indeed, in themselves, blessings; but this character is much more emphatically applied to them when we remember that they are not only beautiful spectacles to delight our eyes and to minister to our senses of enjoyment, but that they yield that sustenance, without which, the globe would soon be thinned of the tribes which inhabit it, and there would be no human eye to rejoice in its beauties. Yes, the great blessing is, that human life is to be sustained by the produce which the fruitful seasons have thus secured to us. What blessings, then, are “ the former and the latter rain” and “ the appointed weeks of the harvest,” which supply this food. But it is chiefly on account of our never-dying souls that the fruitful seasons are a blessing. There is this and that person who now, perhaps, are but cumberers of the ground, bus who are upheld in life one year longer, that the seed of eternal life may be now sown in their hearts--that they may, at length, be made fruitful unto God, and become heirs of a glorious immortality. II. The source of these blessings.1. Man, when he would account for any event, in his ungodliness, frequently ascribes is to chance or good luck. But there is no such word in a Christian man’ s vocabulary. We must carefully distinguish between the agency of “ the Lord our God” and second causes. There is a sad tendency in man to put the instruments which God makes use of to bring to pass all His will in the place of God Himself. III. The return which God requires.1. As individuals, let the undeserved goodness of the Lord lead you to fear Him. Ask the gift of the Holy Ghost, to impress your heart with a deep and abiding sense of God’ s goodness, at the present time--to humble you under a sense of your own ingratitude; to lead you to Jesus Christ for pardon, peace, and acceptance with God. 2. As heads of families, “ let us fear the Lord our God.” “ As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 3. As subjects of our beloved Sovereign--as members of the commonwealth--“ let us fear the Lord our God.” The national character is made up of the aggregate of individual character. (H. Caddell, M. A.) Jeremiah 5:26-31 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great and waxen rich.Wicked professors the bane of the Church I. God has a people on earth.1. His creation.2. Called by Him from darkness to light.3. Privileged, pardoned, regenerated, adopted. II. In the Church there is an unhappy admixture of wicked men. This applies to--1. Those religious establishments whose constitution and discipline offer no restraints to the admission of such characters.2. Mere hearers of the Gospel.3. Those who have entered the Church without real conversion. (1) Some professors are secretly wicked.(2) Some professors are deceivers. 4. Those wilfully inactive in the Church.5. Those who interrupt the peace and harmony of the Church. III. This mixture of the wicked with the godly is a fact. “ Are found” --by whom?1. Frequently by themselves (1 John 2:19).2. Persecution has, and so has temptation.3. By Christians, to whom their unholy course is a grief.4. By God (Revelation 3:18). Odious to Him.5. Some will not be found till the day of judgment (Matthew 3:12; Matthew 13:28-30). IV. The injurious influence of the conduct of such professors. 1. They bring reproach upon religion (Romans 2:24).2. The hearts of the godly are grieved and their hands weakened (Joshua 7:12; Joshua 7:25; 1 John 2:7; Philippians 3:18).3. The Church is in danger of being injured by them (Hosea 5:3).4. It frequently prevents accessions to the Church.5. The guilt of such persons is highly aggravated, and their punishment will be awful. (Helps for the Pulpit.) Wickedness rampant in the city We have, in this chapter, a most melancholy set of pictures of untruthful men, which are drawn to the life with a grimly graphic touch which strongly reminds one of the series of Hogarth’ s sketches known as the “ Rake’ s Progress.” They hold the mirror up not only to the life, but to the heart of the men of the times. Jerusalem was rotten at the core: the nation was deceitful through and through. “ As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit.” They had schemes without number, plots without end, and tricks without limit, moving about in their minds like birds herded together in a little cage. (C. H. Spurgeon.) My people love to have it so.--God’ s people love to have it so Earnest people like to believe that the world is growing better all the time. They look upon the bright side of things; they behold the spread of the spirit of Christianity more and more in the affairs of nations; wars are discouraged; a higher standard of personal obligation obtains; the wrongs of the wretched and oppressed are being championed, and in many very important particulars redressed; man everywhere in civilised lands seems possessed of an enthusiasm to make the best of himself.1. All of this sort of thing had its counterpart in the story of Israel in the olden time. We have gone beyond the ancient people of God in all sorts of ways; nevertheless, human nature is strangely akin still to what it was in those days. (1) We have a host of prophets in these days. They begin by enlarging, as they call it, the notion of inspiration, so that it may include every one who fancies he has a bit of wisdom all his own to give to the world. Any bright author, or preacher, or poet may be a prophet, and if he is really bright, as men count brightness, his inspiration will not be gainsaid by many. We all love prophets, men of ideas, or great original thoughts. And they have many pleasant gospels to proclaim. For example, There is good in everything, every system, every creed, every earnest deed. It is a great mistake to suppose there is any absolute good, and that such things as do not square with its declarations are evil. There are many prophets of the good-in-everything doctrine. Another message to the world is that God is all mercy. It is a beautiful doctrine, is it not? It is certainly one most acceptable in these days, that there is no hell. Yet another of the prophecies which we love to hear is that the essence of all true religion is doing good to our fellow men. Charity and philanthropy are going to save souls. We are even told as if it were of direct revelation from out of heaven that God will not ask what a man believed, but only how he lived, when he appears for judgment. And the prophets who proclaim this truth are popular indeed. Still further, we have the gospel of making the most of one’ s self, the gospel of progress, development. Man has in himself all the possibilities of perfection, and if he will but develop himself on sound lines, the future has no limitations for him. All sacraments and supernatural helps of any kind are child’ s play, mythical superstitions, unworthy of thought on the part of strong-minded men. (2) And as it was in Jeremiah’ s time, so also is it true today, that the priests bear rule by the means of these modern prophets. Think of the topics with which our modern pulpits generally deal. The unreality and absurdity of the doctrines of the Christian creed; the falsity of the notion of sin as something to be seriously treated, a moral iniquity, and one to be condignly punished; the nobility of man as a splendid, unfallen creature, called upon to make the most of himself, and so to rise to God-like proportions. What is the explanation of this universal enlargement of the scope of sermon utterance? We are told that preaching of this sort reaches people. Your venerable Gospel, such as the Fathers loved, does not pay in these days; wherever you find it preached you will find dearth of money, dearth of works of mercy. So the pulpit must keep abreast of the times, and the priests can only hope to bear rule, lead their flocks and maintain their influence and position, by heartily accepting the revelations of the new prophets and basing their gospel upon them. (3) Jeremiah added of the men of his time, that God’ s people loved to have it so. No doubt this is the real explanation of the success of the prophets and the priests; they have hit upon the things which appeal to the popular heart. Once in a while the heart of the God-serving community is fired with a revival of earnestness and breaks away from the degrading embrace of the world, and then the popular voice of the believing community demands a high spiritual tone of the clergy. As a rule, however, the unbelieving world is too strong for the professors of religion, and gradually lowers their moral tone towards its own cynical, utilitarian standards. Then the believers refuse to hearken to a gospel of strictness from their preachers, and demand an easier doctrine at the penalty of refusing to listen at all. This threat almost always brings the priests to terms, and they weakly salve their consciences by the thought that it is most important to keep some hold upon the people, and that half the Gospel is better than none. 2. It is a very common temptation to rail at the degeneracy of our own time, at the shortcomings of our own Church. We are all of us apt to fancy ourselves prophets of the Lord when we know that we are in earnest, and the reason we fancy ourselves so strong in that role is because one cannot easily see all sides of a question at one time. Most earnest people are very one-sided, often very unfair in their judgments. So I would not have you fancy for a moment that I wish to pose as a Jeremiah denouncing and endeavouring to reform the abuses of the Church of his time. We have an impersonal Jeremiah to utter the solemn warnings of the Lord in our ears. It is the voice of the Church herself. Well, we are very much concerned with the rest of the verse, “ My people love to have it so.” Is that true? (1) Are we quite powerless to prevent things from being so bad as they are? One need not rush into every controversial fray, and yet one may often speak his mind fairly and clearly and so free his soul from the guilt of silence. One can speak in the company of his fellows and say, “ I do not believe there is good in everything, for all systems of religion and philosophy which do not emanate from God must be wrong. There can only be one true doctrine about unearthly things, and whatever opposes itself to that which God has revealed is false and bad.” There are abundant opportunities in most of our lives for bearing our witness against the fashionable delusion that works of mercy on behalf of our neighbours are the sure passport to heaven, and that nothing else is needed. We can say strongly and firmly, “ Nay, that is but the second commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The first and greatest of all is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. And no one will get to heaven on account of his benevolence to his fellows who neglects to worship and serve his Maker.” (2) It is not to be forgotten, however, that there is more than bearing witness in speech. There is the living of the life. (Arthur Ritchie.) And what will ye do in the end thereof?--What will ye do in the end? I. There is an end. Every step is getting nearer to the termination. II. It would seem to be of great importance at the end, what has been the character of the course. It is not so much a question with God how the man died, as what the man was when he came to die. III. It is the part of a thoughtful and wise man, often to consider the connection between the present and the anticipated result. Every one admits this in matters of worldly experience. IV. This question should be frequently and earnestly entertained by young men. It is most important how you begin, so that as you go on habit may be on your side and become your friend. (T. Binney, D. D.) A question for the beginning A large part of the wise conduct of life depends on grave consideration of consequences. It is a sharp pointed question, that pricks many a bubble, and brings much wisdom down into the category of folly. I. A question which every wise man will ask himself. The consideration of consequences is not the highest guide, or always a sufficient one; or, by any means, in every case, an easily applied one. Do right! and face any results therefrom. He who is always forecasting possible issues will be so afraid of results that he will not dare to move; and his creeping prudence will often turn out the truest imprudence. But whilst many deductions must be made from the principle laid down, that the consideration of circumstances is a good guide in life, yet there are regions in which the question comes home with illuminating force. I believe that, in the long run, condition is the result of character and of conduct, and, for the most part, men are the architects of their own condition, and that they make the houses that they dwell in to fit the convolutions of the body that dwells within them. That being so, there can be nothing more ridiculous than that a man should refrain from marking the issue of his conduct, and saying to himself, “ What am I to do in the end?” If you would only do that in regard of hosts of things in your daily life you could not be the men and women that you are. If the lazy student would only bring clearly before his mind the examination room, and the unanswerable paper, and the bitter mortification when the pass list comes out and his name is not there, he would not trifle as he does, but bind himself to his desk and his task. If the young man that begins to tamper with purity could see, as the older of us have seen, men with their bones full of the iniquity of their youth, do you think the temptations of the streets and low places of amusement would not be stripped of their fascination? “ What will you do in the end?” Use that question as the Ithuriel spear which will touch the squatting tempter at your ear, and there will start up, in its own shape, the fiend. But the main application that I would ask you to make of the text is in reference to the final end, the passing from life. Death, the end, is likewise death, the beginning. Surely every wise man will take that into consideration. Surely, if it be true that we all of us are silently drifting to that one little gateway through which we have to pass one by one, and then find ourselves in a region all full of consequences of the present, he has a good claim to be counted a prince of fools who “ jumps the life to come,” and, in all his calculations of consequences, which he applies wisely and prudently to the trifles of the present, forgets to ask himself, “ And, after all that is done, what shall I do then?” II. A question which a great many of us never think about. “ What will you do in the end?” Why! half of us put away that question with the thought in our minds, if not expressed, at least most operative, “ There is not going to be any end; and it is always going to be just like what it is today.” Did you ever think that there is no good ground for being sure that the sun will rise tomorrow; that it rose for the first time once; that there will come a day when it will rise for the last time? The uniformity of nature may be a postulate, but you cannot find any logical basis for it. Or, to come down from heights of that sort, have you ever laid to heart, that the only unchangeable thing in this world is change, and the only thing certain, that there is no continuance of anything; and that, therefore, you and I are bound, if we are wise, to look that fact in the face, and not to allow ourselves to be befooled by the difficulty of imagining that things will ever be different from what they are? Another reason why so many of us shirk this question is the lamentable want of the habit of living by principle and reflection. They tell us that in nature there is such a thing as protective mimicry, as it is called--animals having the power--some of them to a much larger extent than others--of changing their hues in order to match the gravel of the stream in which they swim or the leaves of the trees on which they feed. It is like what a great many of us do. Put us into a place where certain forms of frivolity or vice are common, and we go in for them. Take us away from these, and we change our hue to something a little whiter. But all through we never know what it is to put forth a good solid force of resistance, and to say, “ No! I will not!” or, what is sometimes quite as hard to say, “ Yes! though” --as Luther said in his strong way--“ there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the housetops, I will!” If people would live more by reflection and by the power of a resisting will, this question of my text would come oftener to them. And there is another cause that I must touch on for one moment, why so many people neglect this question, and that is because they know they durst not face it. What would you think of a man that never took stock because he knew he was insolvent, and yet did not want to know it? And what do you think of yourselves if, knowing that the thought of passing into that solemn eternity is anything but a cheering one, and that you have to pass into it, you never turn your head to look at it? III. A question especially directed to you young folk. It is so because with your buoyancy, with your necessarily limited experience, with the small accumulation of results that you have already in your possession, and with the tendencies of your age to live rather by impulse than by reflection, you are specially tempted to forget the solemn significance of this interrogation. And it is a question especially for you, because you have special advantages in the matter of putting it. We older people are all fixed and fossils, as you are very fond of telling us. The iron has cooled and gone into rigid shapes with us. It is all fluent with you. You may be pretty nearly what you like. You have not yet acquired habits--that awful thing that may be our worst foe or our best friend--you have not yet acquired habits that almost smother the power of reform and change. You have perhaps years before you in which you may practise the lessons of wisdom, the self-restraint which this question fairly fronted would bring. IV. A question which Jesus Christ alone enables a man to answer with calm confidence. As I have said, the end is a beginning; the passage from life is the entrance on a progressive and eternal state of retribution. And Jesus Christ tells us two other things. He tells us that that state has two parts: that in one there is union with Him, life, blessedness forever; and that in the other there is darkness, separation from Him, death, and misery. These are the facts as revealed by the incarnate Word of God on which answers to this question must be shaped. “ What will you do in the end?” If I am trusting to Him; if I have brought my poor, weak nature and sinful soul to Him, and cast them upon His merciful sacrifice and mighty intercession and life-giving Spirit, then I can say: “ As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.) What will ye do in the end thereof This is the message of God to sinful men in all times; and its characteristics are the same now as they were when it was first uttered. I. An unwelcome question. As the bankrupt does not dare investigate his affairs, and the man who is contracting intemperate habits or tampering with his employer’ s property does not dare think of the ruin and disgrace to which he is hastening, so the man whose conscience is not easy, who suspects there is something wrong, dreads to look into the future, and counts that man his enemy who ventures to insist on his doing so. The whisper of this question sometimes comes into the heart of the procrastinator--the worldling--the trifler--the backslider; and, with one horrified glance forward, he too often shrinks back and tries to forget all about it. II. An unanswerable question. The moment a man stands in thought in the midst of the degradation, ruin, and misery he has brought on himself, all his excuses fly; like the man without the wedding garment, he is “ speechless.” How mad to persevere in a course that has such an end! III. An imperative question.1. Because no forgetfulness of consequences will prevent them coming. A man may put to sea in a leaky vessel and refuse to consider the remonstrances of friends--he may even be ignorant of the facts; but that will not prevent his foundering in the storm. 2. Because it furnishes the direct antidote to the seductions of sin. The burnt child dreads the fire. The sailor avoids the sunken rock. 3. Because the end may be avoided. “ Now is the accepted time.” (J Ogle.) Think about the end Lange translates as follows: “ What will they do when the end of the song comes?” --I wonder if you are like some people whom I know: do you ever turn to the end of the book in order that you may see how it finishes? It is not a good method of reading, but this is what the prophet wished the Jews to do: he desired them to think about the end of life. So many people forget all about the end until it actually comes upon them. The farmer does not do so, for while he sows he thinks about the harvest that will end his toil; it is good for us all to consider often what the future will be. In the East there are men who have most wonderful power over serpents. They play music and the snakes remain quite still and obedient all the time that the song lasts; but what when the song is done? While people are well and prosperous in doing evil they do not think much about God, but what will they do when the song is all over? Then they will find that they have been deceived. There were some wicked men who once induced a large number of people to come together. These people paid their money to the men and they came into the hall; but the men ran away with the money. The people found then that they had been deceived. Some people do worse, for they deceive themselves; they hope that they are all right with God, they hope that they shall reach heaven at last, and do no more. Others are deceived by the opinions or books of those who seek to harm them. All sinners, we know, will one day find that they have been deceived, unless they repent at once and believe on Jesus. And then they will also learn that they are unhealed. What a dreadful thing it will be, if, when we die, we find that our hearts are evil still! When people are in very great pain the doctors sometimes give to them medicines that make the sick people sleep. They are not cured because they sleep, but they do not feel the pain quite so much. So business and other things deaden the feelings, but they do not cure the soul, for only Jesus can do that. There is a fable that illustrates what I mean. A piper once played such sweet music that all the children enjoyed it very much. While the piper played upon his pipe the children were delighted. They followed him from their homes until they were enticed into a cavern, and thus the song ended. This is what Satan does: he entices us by his promises, but when the song is done we shall find out that he has led us away from happiness and into suffering and pain. Think about the end when you are tempted, and think also about the end when it appears to be hard to do good. Ask yourselves, what will come after the end? (J. J. Ellis.) . Jeremiah 6:1-9 Arise, and let us go up at noon.Christian effort That spirit-stirring call of the text, so needful to arouse the Chaldeans on their march to the ancient, is as needful for us on our pilgrimage to the new, Jerusalem.1. In other passages, the early years of childhood and youth are pointed out as the special time for God’ s service. While the heart is warm and pliant. Ere the hardening influence of a selfish world, having closed it to the Saviour’ s call, has swept and garnished it for tenantry of evil. 2. “ Arise, and let us go up at noon.” It is midday with you, to whom the text is speaking. It is the period for active endeavour. Now the calls of the world are dinned most loudly into your ears. In the earlier hours, and at the close of your passing day, you were and will be alike incapable of prolonged toil. Now the requirement is made of you, and to what behests does it bid you attend? Make the most of your time. Are you poor? Strive for independence. Are you rich? Strive for place and power. Are you intellectual? Seek a sphere for display, a stage for self-glorification. Thus speaks the world, and were some of its directions pursued in moderation, pursued subordinate to higher and nobler motive, there might be wisdom in our chastened regards. But, alas! how many go to extreme in these observances, and become the slaves of time and sense. Apply those misdirected energies to a nobler cause. The rewards of time are not worth such care as this. In themselves, they are of scarce more value than the withered leaves which crowned the victor in the ancient games. Arise, and go up at noon to seek the incorruptible crown. Ye are soldiers engaged in warfare. The sword is drawn. The banner is spread. Its emblem is the Cross. Your weapons are not carnal. The din of military music shall not spur you to the dangerous assault; but strains of sweetest melody shall speak to you of peace, peace on earth, goodwill to men; peace which the world can neither give nor take away. 3. But have you passed that period of activity, and in your retrospect of its busy hours do you feel how prodigally your energies have been wasted? Have ungodly habits become so confirmed, that now at your journey’ s end, being dead to the enticements of the present, you are not alive to the requirements of the future? Shall an appeal, which might impress a heart yet warm and flexible, fall coldly on the worn and weary conscience of the aged? The gracious and long-suffering Master has still this call to summon you, “ Arise, and let us go by night.” Ye have heard and disregarded the call throughout the day, and therefore may not be as those who, having never been hired earlier, received every man a penny, but whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. Go by prayer and penitence, by sought and found spiritual guidance, or soon the light of life will be extinguished in outer darkness. 4. But ye have been watchful and faithful. Ye arose, and went up at noon. It is not woeful to you that the day goeth away. It is no cause of regret that the shadows of evening are stretched out. “ Behold! I come quickly,” the Saviour says to you; and joyfully ready is your reply, “ Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” All things are yours: love and reverence from all without, peace unspeakable from all within. Ye shall arise and go. The shadows stretched before you shall be dispelled forever, and the brightness of that noon which shall fade no more shall rest upon you. (F. Jackson.) Jeremiah 6:4 Woe unto us! for the day goeth away.“ Woe unto us!” The Babylonians are represented by the prophet as coming to plunder the Holy City, like flocks being led to their feeding ground. They hurry to the work of destruction, yet they are not speedy enough, for work takes time, and time flees fast away. “ Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away,” etc. “ Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.” We have no city to destroy, and it is morning; yet, standing, as we do, almost on the threshold of another year, these words are worthy of consideration. The day of opportunity that tills year contained is going away, the shadows of the evening are stretched out. And with the departure of the day and the deepening of the shadows of the night, some among the bravest hearts may well exclaim, “ Woe unto us!” For all who are Christ’ s servants, as they grow in grace, more clearly come to see the great issues of life, the vast importance of the days and months and years which God has given them to spend to His glory. With this clearer sight comes the consciousness of the awful waste of time for which men are answerable, a waste which can never be repaired. True, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin; but only if there he true repentance. As you really understand the cleansing and accept it, so you will grow most earnest in guarding the gift of time.1. Save time in your work. Surely it is “ woe unto us” that we have been so half-hearted often in our time of work; so ready to lay down the task that is difficult, or so ready to do it lazily and badly. The great characters in history are mostly the indefatigable, who, while they worked, worked hard. 2. Save time in your leisure. Do not spend it all in amusement, which excites, but does not profit. If you have your evenings free, use some to the glory of God, by helping children, by showing acts of kindness, by improving your own knowledge. 3. Again, save time on Sundays. How can men’ s religion be real and true if they spend Sunday mornings in bed? (W. R. Hutton, M. A.) Opportunities for self-rescue I. Heaven granted these men of Judah an opportunity for escaping a great evil; so it has to all unconverted men. The evil to which the Jews were exposed was very great: it was captivity, slavery, utter destruction of the country. But this was only a shadow of the moral dangers to which every unconverted man is exposed. He is in danger of losing his soul. To lose a soul is to lose all true liberty, pure sympathies, harmonious affections, real friendships, self-approving conscience, true hopes, and means of improvement. And when these are gone, the worth of existence is gone, for it becomes an intolerable curse. II. The opportunity which these men of Judah had for escaping their danger was now drawing to a close; so is the opportunity of all unconverted men. The whole day of life scarcely opens before it begins to close.1. This opportunity is constantly departing to return no more. 2. This opportunity is constantly departing though the work be not done. III. The closing of the opportunity of these men of Judah was fraught with terrible calamity; so it will be with all unconverted men. “ Woo unto us,” exclaims the doomed Jew in bitter anguish. “ Woe unto us” ; we have not only lost our country and become the slaves of a heathen despot, bug we have shamefully neglected the merciful opportunities with which providence has favoured us. These words remind us of the language of Christ (Luke 19:41-44). Conclusion--“ Now is the accepted time.” Today is “ the day of salvation.” (Homilist.) The old and the new year The old year is dying, the new year is about to commence. And whether the past has been wasted, or redeemed and used for God; whether the work of the past has been done or left undone, still there is a work for all of us. Each day and each year brings its own proper duties, and our conscience needs to be awakened and stirred to the right performance of them. The day goeth away. And you feel that there is something solemn about this passing from one year to another.1. Some of you are anxious about your spiritual condition. Take the past year as a whole, and perhaps you may be able to hope that some progress has been made. But it has not been all progress. The picture has its dark side. You have had your temptations, you have had your troubles and annoyances; and you have been forced to see how weak your strength is, how poor your best resolutions, how much you have fallen short of what you had intended a year ago. The day goeth away. But if the past has not been what you wished, must you therefore give up in despair? Nay, you may be thankful if you have advanced at all. You could have made no way whatever but for the grace of God. Believe that He who has been with you hitherto will enable you to live more and more to your Master’ s glory. 2. Again, the close of the year may suggest its thoughts to those who, as our fellow labourers in the schools, or among the sick and destitute, are trying to do the Lord’ s work, and to be a blessing to their neighbours in their generation. You look back over the year that is gone, and there are abundant reasons for regret. Opportunities for good have been lost which never will come back again. Some one was lying ill, and you knew of the illness, but you delayed your visit. You would go tomorrow: you had other things to do today. And tomorrow you went, but it was too late. Death had come before you. Or again, you might have taken a bolder and firmer course, had your zeal for God been stronger. You saw some evil done, and you did not protest against it. You heard ill-natured words, and you did not try to check them. You might have spoken for God, and you cowardly held your peace. Yet all has not been failure. Feel as painfully as we may our weakness and want of faith, still we may see and thankfully acknowledge the evident signs of God’ s presence with His people here. (Canon Nevill.) A New Year’ s sermon I. The fact here indicated. The day glides imperceptibly away, from morning to noon, from noon to eve. Does not this strikingly typify our life in this world? Do not our years glide on like the minutes and hours of the natural day? And, ere ever we are aware, do we not perceive that the shadows are lengthening? Are we not reminded of the flight of time by many things which we see around us? The old men, with whose slow step we were familiar, are disappearing from the scene; those whom we knew in their prime now bear the marks of age. But does not this suggest to us one particular in which the analogy between the natural day and our human life signally fails? We know the very hour, we can ascertain the very minute, when the sun will set. But how different is it with the life of man? Who can tell when, in any individual case, that life shall end? Who but He who knows the end from the beginning, and who is the God of our lives and the length of our days? But whether the period of our sojourn upon earth be brief or protracted, it is quickly passing away. Whether we are to be cut down when the shadows have stretched out far, or while they are yet comparatively short, in the case of every one of us they are lengthening; and in the case of not a few, it approaches eventide, and their sun declines to its setting. But surely there arises here another question. When the day declines and nightfall comes, what then? “ After death the judgment.” Death does not reduce us to nothingness, but detaches us from time to land us in eternity. It places us before the tribunal of the Most High to receive the sentence which is to fix unchangingly our final doom. “ We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” II. What effect the consideration of this fact should have upon us.1. It should have this effect, to impress us with the solemn and abiding conviction that it is a fact. We are ever prone to take it for granted that though the end of life is no doubt approaching, it is still distant from us; that though the duration of life is very uncertain to men generally, and to our friends and neighbours around us, we are much less likely to be suddenly removed, and may reassuredly count upon a protracted span being afforded to us is a strange and subtle delusion of the human heart, and sedulously fostered by the enemy of souls, the father of lies. How needful to learn and lay to heart the lesson here taught; how needful to be thoroughly persuaded that it is a solemn fact that our life is a vapour which appears for a little time and then vanishes away; that not with respect to our fellow men merely, but with respect to ourselves also, the days of earth are drawing to a close, and that to any one of us the end may come very soon and very suddenly! 2. But, further, it is of the last importance that we not only really believe this fact, but that we give practical effect to the belief. What are your resolutions for the future? Will you be stirred up to greater diligence and devotedness ere your sun go down! And if you, if any of you, are still far from God, living in carelessness and unbelief, will you not take warning by the lengthening shadows to make your peace with God ere it be too late? (P. Hope, B. D.) Difficulties of old age I. The appointed period of grace is coming rapidly to a conclusion. “ The day goeth away.” It has been enjoyed in the fulness of its privileges. It has been for some, far protracted. But while unimproved, it has tended only to increase the guilt and danger of the soul. For fifty years the Redeemer has called upon some now aged sinner to turn to Him and live. How difficult is it to arouse him to a consciousness, or belief, of the privileges which are yet remaining, and of the duty which yet rests upon him! The recollection of wasted opportunities drives him to despair. II. The short period of grace now remaining. He set out early in the morning to go astray from God. Through the whole day, he has been pressing forward in his course, with unabating rapidity. And now, when the shadows of the evening are stretched out, and exhausted nature is asking for repose; alas, is this an hour in which to commence the journey of a day? Death now stands at the door. The line which separates him from eternity, has dwindled to a hair. And he is tempted to yield to total despair of escaping at all from the ruin which is so close upon him. The difficulty which his own heart presents as thus arising from his shortened remaining period of probation, Satan employs as a temptation to him, to be quiet and careless under his conscious load of sin. III. The increased hardness of his own heart. When young, conviction of sin impressed his mind. His eyes could weep under the preaching of the Gospel. He then often felt strongly excited towards a life of holiness and piety. But now he has no such feelings. The rain which descends to refresh others, seems rather to hasten his decay. The summer and the harvest have passed without advantage, and every succeeding day of autumn seems only to dry, and harden, and seal up the earth against the arrival of a frost-bound and cheerless winter. IV. The pride of character which is always an attendant upon advanced periods of life. The heart may be often moved, the conscience awakened, and the emotions aroused, in the bosom of an aged transgressor, and a strong desire be felt, to lay down his burden, and find peace in believing in Jesus. But an assumed dignity and coolness of manner are drawn over a broken, bleeding spirit, because an acknowledgment of these awakened feelings will be so humiliating to the age and station of the individual concerned. But there remains no other course of safety. To this humbling ground, sinful man must be brought, or he will assuredly perish. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.) Opportunities lost The opportunity for success was lost; the day of action had been misspent, and the result was, captivity and slavery. The day of action was going away; the shadows of the evening which was to cover them with its darkness and sorrow, were already stretched out. Just so it is with multitudes now in reference to the work of their salvation. The Gospel of the Son of God has been preached in their ears, until it has become stale and powerless. They listen to it, but take no heed to its requirements.1. Look at the opportunities which the Church affords to all attendants on her service, not only of learning their duty, but also of practising it to the glory of God. 2. Then, again, look at the opportunities for repentance and faith which God has given you in the daily providence of life. You have been rich, perhaps, and He has made you poor--Why? That He may give you spiritual riches, which moth and rust can not corrupt. You have been poor and He has made you rich--Why? That you might “ remember the Lord thy God, for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth.” You have been well, and He has laid you on a bed of sickness--Why? That you might consider your latter end. You have been sick and He has made you well--Why? That you should love your Divine Healer, and seek for your spiritual healing. Your life is full of the echoes of God’ s voice speaking to you in His daily providence, as well as in the inspired Word and through the ministry of His Church. Yet hour after hour has glided away, and you have hesitated, procrastinated, put off to a more convenient season. Shall life’ s sun go wholly down, shall the night of death wrap you in its starless mantle, without one honest effort on your part to secure your soul’ s salvation? (Bp. Stevens) .An inch of time “ Millions of money for an inch of time,” cried Elizabeth--the gifted but ambitious Queen of England, upon her dying bed. Unhappy woman! reclining upon a couch--with ten thousand dresses in her wardrobe--a kingdom on which the sun never sets, at her feet--all now are valueless, and she shrieks in anguish, and she shrieks in vain, for a single “ inch of time.” She had enjoyed threescore and ten years. Like too many among us, she had devoted them to wealth, to pleasure, to pride, and ambition, so that her whole preparation for eternity was crowded into a few moments! and hence she, who had wasted more than half a century, would barter millions for an inch of time. The shadows of the evening are stretched out. The setting sun There is something at once grand and solemn in a setting sun. It is the sinking to rest of the great king of day; the withdrawing from the busy world the light that has called out its activity, and the covering up with the veil of darkness the scenes that glistened with the radiance of noon. There is, however, in the setting of the sun of life, that which is equally grand, still more solemn, and surpassingly sublime.1. The sun, when it sets, has run a whole day’ s circuit; his pathway has apparently traversed an entire are of the heavens, and slowly, patiently, but surely, it has done its allotted work. And so the aged Christian, when he dies, is described as having “ run his race,” as having “ finished his course.” He has toiled a whole day of life, and has come to his grave in a “ good old age,” having “ finished the work which was given him to do” ; and though all his labours have been imperfectly done, though he himself feels more deeply than he can express his unprofitableness before God, yet he looks for acceptance, not to any merit of his own, but only for Christ Jesus sake, who of God and by faith is made unto him “ wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” We can contemplate with satisfaction, then, the aged disciple, having “ borne the burden and heat of the day,” patiently waiting for the stretching out of the evening shadows and the hour of his own sunset. 2. Another point to be considered is, the fact that the setting of the sun is not always like the day which it closes. The morning may have been bright, and the evening hour dark with tempests; or the rising may have been obscured by clouds and mists, which gradually faded away and left a clear sky at sunset. So the sunset hour of Christian life does not always correspond to his previous day. We have seen the last hours of the believer shrouded in impenetrable gloom, and we have seen them gilded with hope and radiant with the forecast glories of the upper world. The way in which a Christian dies is not always an index of his spiritual condition. He is to be judged by his life, not by his death. Self-denial, the mortification of our passions, the resisting of earthly temptations, the putting into active exercise, and amidst opposing difficulties, the whole class of Christian affections which flow out from the simple principle of loving our neighbour as ourselves, and the manifestation of that life of faith, of prayer, of holiness, of zeal, which necessarily results from the constraining love of Christ in the heart all these qualities and tests of character scarcely find a place on a dying bed, so that persons thus situated have few opportunities to develop the true evidences of the work of grace. The varieties of Christian experience are literally innumerable; but whatever their nature, we must not judge of the validity of one’ s hope, or the genuineness of one’ s conversion, by his dying hour. Yet, when that dying hour accords with a long life of piety, or a true profession maintained in health and strength; when it is but a concentrating within itself of the glories which have been more or less visible in the whole track of his experience, then is it eloquent in its revelations of the riches, and peace, and joy which God generally gives to those who are faithful unto death: and though we cannot order when or how our lives shall close upon earth, yet it should be our aim so to live as to secure, if God pleases, a serene, if not a triumphant exit, that our setting sun may, like the sun in the firmament, grow larger and more resplendent as it declines, until passing away it shall leave behind a trail of glory spread all over the place of our departure. 3. Another interesting thought connected with this subject is, that the sun is not lost or extinguished when it sets. This may seem a very trite remark concerning the natural sun, but it is not so trite when we speak of the soul set in death. For are we not apt to grieve over the going down of our friends to the grave, as if they were to be forever hidden in its dark chamber--as if the bright spark of their immortality had been suddenly quenched? 4. And this leads us to make one final observation, namely, that when we see the sun set, we know that it will rise again; and so when we see the body of our friends borne to the voiceless dwelling of the tomb, we know that they also shall rise again. (Bp. Stevens.) Jeremiah 6:8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest My soul depart from thee. The way to prevent the ruin of a sinful people I. The infinite goodness and patience of God towards a sinful people and His great unwillingness to bring ruin and destruction upon them. How loath is He that things should come to this extremity? II. The only proper and effectual means to prevent the misery and ruin of a sinful people. If they will be instructed, and take warning by the threatenings of God, and will become wiser and better, then His soul will not depart from them, He will not bring upon them the desolation which He hath threatened. III. The miserable case and condition of a people, when God takes off His affection from them and gives over all further care and concernment for them. Woe unto them, when His soul departs from them! For when God once leaves them, then all sorts of evil and calamities will break in upon them. (Archbishop Tillotson.) A warning to the nation I. The caution.1. Whereby are we to be instructed? By the state of affairs, and by the reason of things, or the right of cases. (1) God is a being of all perfection, of infinitely vast comprehension and understanding and power: and therefore He is able to attain those effects, and to teach men by all things that fall under His government. (2) Things managed by Divine wisdom are intensely expressive of notions, because they do partake of the excellency and sufficiency of their cause. (3) God doth nothing in vain, nor to fewer or lesser purposes than the things are capable to promote, or be subservient unto. (4) Because the affairs of mankind are the choice piece of the administration of providence: And God doth in a special manner charge Himself with teaching the mind of man knowledge. 2. Wherein are we to be instructed? (1) In matters of God’ s offence. For we are highly concerned in God’ s favour or displeasure. (2) In instances of our own duty: if we have departed from it, to return to it; if we have done the contrary, to revoke it with self-condemnation and humble deprecation. 3. What is it to be instructed? (1) To search and examine.(2) To weigh and consider.(3) To understand and discern.(4) To do and perform. II. the enforcement.1. An argument of love and goodwill, “ lest My soul depart from thee.” 2. An argument from fear, “ lest I make thee desolate,” A double argument is as a double testimony, by which every word is established (2 Corinthians 13:1). 3. This double argument shows us two things. (1) The stupidity and senselessness of those, who are made to the perfection of reason and understanding, and yet act contrary to it. (2) The impiety and unrighteousness of sinners, who are a real offence to God, cause His displeasure, and bring upon persons and places, ruin and destruction. Sin is a variation from the law and rule of God’ s creation: it is contrary to the order of reason: and when I say this, I say as bad as can be spoken. In sin there is open and manifest neglect of God, to whom all reverence and regard is most due. By sin there is a disturbance in God’ s family: it is an interruption of that intercourse and communication there ought to be amongst creatures; for every sinner destroys much good. By the practice of iniquity we mar our spirits, spoil our tempers, and acquire unnatural principles and dispositions. (B. Whichcote, D. D.) Jeremiah 6:10 They have no delight in it.The impediments to the right celebration of religious ordinances You will readily admit, that the feeling of delight accompanying the performance of anything is, for the most part, a sign and measure of its profitable accomplishment; that that is usually well done which is done cheerfully and with the heart; and that nothing, on the contrary, is more commonly deteriorated in the performance of it, than what is entered on with the apprehension of its being a piece of drudgery, and gone through as a mere task. How true does this remark hold in the department of religion! If we approach the exercises of religion, whether reading or hearing the Word, or the sacraments, or prayer, as formalists come to them--if we take no lively interest in them--if we are actuated merely by the force of custom, the power of example and other motives of expediency, how can they ever profit us? Are we not changing the sources of heaven’ s blessings into empty and broken cisterns? I. In attending to the circumstances that operate to take away from us delight in Christian ordinances, we observe, that an unfavourable change in the frame of mind, as persons are engaged In religious exorcises, often occurs, at least at times occurs, unavoidably, however our desires and endeavours may be set against it. At one time we will be attending with deep earnestness, at another time listening with cold indifference. There is now a great acuteness in receiving instruction, at another time almost a deadness that blunts the edge of the best directed observations. Now, all such changes as these are still, in so far as they are traceable to constitutional temperament, to be ranked among the class of what the Bible calls our infirmities, and when they are met by meditation on the Word of God, and by prayer, in order that we may be cured, they are not charged as criminalities against us. At the same time, take good heed lest you ascribe to those things over which you think you have no control, what all the while springs from sinful negligence. II. First, the state of mind I have described, shows that there has not been with us due consideration before we have come to the public ordinances of religion. We do not consider that the services of the sanctuary relate to God in our adoring, or praising, or supplicating Him whom the universe celebrates as its Maker, whom angels, principalities and powers reverently worship--we do not consider that the services of the sanctuary are the appointed means through which the soul is called to discourse with its own original, with Him who is the source of bliss. We do not consider that the services of the sanctuary present the sublimest objects for the exercise of the understanding, the most splendid for attracting the imagination, the most engaging for affecting the heart. Accordingly we do not in our petitions implore that fixedness of heart which is required in the true and spiritual worshipper; we do not enter the sanctuary cherishing the serious thought that we come hither to seek the blessings which the mercy of the Saviour gives to every one who feels his need of them, and asks them. On the contrary, we come to the sanctuary altogether unconcerned; we sit down without offering in our minds one preparatory petition; we possess a frame of mind that is akin to levity; we are chargeable at least with indifference, which can only be excusable in our waiting on an empty ceremonial. Even allowing that the individual still possesses some desire to receive the benefits of religious ordinances in the sanctuary, they are rendered quite impracticable to him, except where the devotional exercises of every day are preparatory to those of the Sabbath. The want of serious consideration before we come to engage in religious ordinances, leads directly to want of due reflection when engaged in the performance of them; for such trains of thought as we have been cherishing, are not easily broken down, and, in fact, we cannot authoritatively dismiss them--they have fastened themselves by innumerable links to the mind, and though many of these links may from time to time be detached by us, still numbers are left which are quite sufficient to rivet the objects of our affectionate concern to our memories and our hearts. Such objects, through long usage, become great favourites with the mind, and hence, it not only attends to them in the season of disengagement from other things, but strives to get back to them, even when occupied in the ordinances of religion. Then when we think how base and degraded our natural dispositions are, surely it is a most unreasonable expectation that we are prepared for the spiritual exercises of the Sabbath, if we have had no preparatory devotional exercises for such a day. III. Most serious and grievous is the evil of which I am now speaking. Whatever degree of it adheres to us its tendency is to destroy utterly the capacity of religious feeling, and to increase that searedness of conscience which is the forerunner of open profligacy. Let us then be roused to consideration. Let us come to religious ordinances with serious thoughts on their nature, their reasonableness, their awful sanctions, and their inestimable utility; and, having especially in view the example of the serious worshipper who prays for the spirit of prayer, and who is a suppliant in private for the grace of supplication which is to be employed by him in public, let us endeavour when we join in religious ordinances to preserve seriousness of mind. Let us for this purpose devoutly consider the object we have in view, whether engaged in the Word, in sacrament, or in prayer. Let us not give a single moment’ s encouragement to thoughts upon other subjects. Let us withstand the inroads of such thoughts--let us cast them out as of Satan, when they enter, and let us try to prevent them entering at all. Let there be prayer, consideration and serious concern; and thus entering into the great truths, into the sweetness of religion, there will be no longer felt the weariness with which we set out. The satisfaction and delight, so conducive to our improvement, will then take the place of the fatigue and irksomeness of the mere bodily worshipper. The Sabbath will be the most acceptable of all refreshments, the Psalms of the sanctuary will be the sentiments of gratitude and joy, the prayers offered will be as the flame which first ascended in holy ardour to its origin, and the Word will be the principal vehicle of calling into action every good resolution. Religion will then become that very privilege it is intended to be; the elements, set upon the table, will appear as the memorials of all that is dear and precious to our souls; the sentiments of holy love will be awakened in commemorating the blessed Friend who gave His soul for us sinners; and thus the sanctuary and its services will become the pledge to us of the noblest benefits, the scene of the most glorious hopes, and an incitement to devoted obedience. (W. Muir, D. D.) The Gospel unappreciated Alphonse Kerr heard a gardener ask his master’ s permission to sleep for the future in the stable. “ For,” said he, “ there is no possibility of sleeping in the chamber behind the greenhouse, sir; there are nightingales there which do nothing but guggle and keep up a noise all the night.” The sweetest sounds are but an annoyance to those who have no musical ear; doubtless the music of heaven would have no charm to carnal minds, certainly the joyful sound of the Gospel is unappreciated so long as men’ s ears remain uncircumcised. Jeremiah 6:14 They have healed also the hurt . . . slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.Healing our wounds slightly I. What need we all have of healing.1. Asserted in Scripture. 2. Confirmed by experience. II. Who they are that heal their wounds slightly.1. They who rely on the uncovenanted mercy of God, fatally deceive their souls by expecting mercy contrary to Gospel. 2. They who take refuge in a round of duties; no attainments can stand in place of Christ. 3. They who rest in a faith that is unproductive of good works; but the faith that apprehends Christ will “ work by love,” “ purify the heart,” “ overcome the world.” III. How we may have them healed effectually.1. The Lord Jesus has provided a remedy for sin (Isaiah 53:5). 2. That remedy applied by faith shall be effectual for all who trust in it. Address--1. Those who feel not their need of healing. 2. Those who, after having derived some benefits from Christ, have relapsed into sin. 3. Those who are enjoying health in their souls. (C. Simeon, M. A.) False teachers How mischievous is that false kindness which is afraid of telling you honestly the state of the case, if it happen to be dangerous or desperate! Now, in regard of their eternal concerns, men have a willingness to be deceived, though in regard of their temporal concerns, they are keenly alive to attempts at imposition, and eager to resent them. They commonly prefer the moral physician who will make light of their vices, and not startle them by faithfully exposing their danger, though, were they similarly beguiled by one whom they consulted on a bodily malady, they would denounce him as guilty of the most hateful perfidy. And it may be for your profit, if we look into some of the more ordinary cases. First, we would remind you that, if there be truth in the statements of Scripture, there is a distinction the very strongest between the people of the world and the people of God. Yet, here is the respect in which, perhaps, the danger is the greatest of the moral hurt being only slightly healed, and peace prophesied when there is no peace. The worldly are well pleased to have the differences between themselves and the religious made as few and unimportant as possible, inasmuch as they are thus soothed into a persuasion that after all they are in no great danger of the wrath of the Almighty. On the other hand, those who profess a concern for the soul are often still so much inclined to the pursuits and the pleasures of earth, that they have a ready ear for any doctrine which seems to offer them the joys of the next life, without requiring continued self-denial in this life. Thus it is an unpopular thing, opposed to the inclinations of the majority of hearers, to insist upon the breadth of separation between the worldly and the religious, to represent, without qualification or disguise, that the attempting to serve two masters is the certain serving of only one, and that the master whose wages is death. But if we would be faithful in the ministry, this is what we must do. To do otherwise, would be to play with your souls--to lead you into delusion, which, if continued, must leave you shipwrecked for eternity. Take another case, the case of those in whom has been produced a conviction of sin, whose consciences after a long slumber have been aroused to do their office and have done it with great energy. It is no uncommon thing for conviction of sin not to be followed by conversion. Hundreds who have been stirred for a time to a sense of guilt and danger, in place of advancing to genuine penitence have lapsed back into former indifference. Ah, this is amongst the most alarming of moral phenomena. The signs and earnest, as we thought of life, give a melancholy and mysterious interest to death. Let the ministers of religion take heed that they be not accessory to so disappointing an occurrence, and they easily may be. The spiritual physician may be too hasty in applying to the wounded conscience the balm of the Gospel; and thus he may arrest that process of godly contrition which seemed so hopefully begun. It is no time to speak of free forgiveness till the man exclaims in the agony of alarm and almost of despair, “ What must I do to be saved?” Then display the Cross. Then expatiate on the glorious truth, that “ the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” Then point to the unsearchable riches of Christ, and meet every doubt, oppose every objection, and combat every fear by exhibiting the mighty fact of an atonement for sin. But the case suggested by our text is that of a too hasty appropriation of the consolations of Christianity, and this case we cannot doubt is of frequent occurrence. Not, indeed, that whenever conviction of sin is not followed by conversion, the cause is to be found in the premature use of the mercies of the Gospel. We know too well that in many instances the conscience which had been mysteriously aroused is as mysteriously quieted; so that, without a solitary reason, men who had manifested anxiety as to their souls, and apparently been earnest in seeking salvation, are soon again found amongst the careless and indifferent, as busy as ever with chasing shadows, as pleased as ever with things that perish in the using. For a moment they have seemed conscious of their immortality and have risen to the dignity of deathless beings, and then the pulse has ceased to beat, and they have again been creatures of a day in place of heirs of eternity. Still, if there be many instances in which we may not fairly ascribe to a too hasty appropriation of the mercies of the Gospel, the failure of what seemed hopefully commenced, we may justly say that such an exhibition is likely to produce so disappointing a result, and that the probability is that it frequently does. We have further to remark, that the peculiar doctrines of Christianity are strongly offensive to the great body of men, and that on this account chiefly it is that there is so much reluctance to the bringing them forward, and so much readiness to explain them away. You cannot fail to be aware that the offence of the Cross has not ceased, you must be sufficiently aware that these are not days when men are called to join the noble army of martyrs, yet there is an opposition to the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, an opposition which gives as much cause now as there was in earlier days for the Saviour to exclaim, “ Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” So that here is a precise case in which the known feelings of the generality of men place the teacher under a temptation to keep back truth, or of stating it so equivocally that its full force shall not be felt, He cannot be ignorant that if he set forth without reserve, or disguise the corruption and helplessness of man, insist on the perfect gratuitousness of salvation, and refer to God’ s mercy and distinguishing grace as first exciting the desire for deliverance, and then enabling us to lay hold upon the provided succours, he will have to encounter the antipathies of perhaps a majority of his hearers; and he is consequently and naturally moved to the concealing much, and the softening down more; and if he yield to the temptation, then we have that mixed and diluted theology which does not, indeed, exclude Christ, but assigns much to man, which without denying the meritorious obedience and sufferings of the Mediator soothes our pride with an assurance that by our good works we contribute something towards the attainment of everlasting happiness. By encouraging the opinion that men are not very far gone from original righteousness, that notwithstanding the fall, they retain a moral power of doing what shall be acceptable to God, and that their salvation is to result from the combination of their own efforts and the merits of Christ, we maintain that by encouraging such opinions as these, the teacher flatters his hearers with the most pernicious of all flattery, hiding from them their actual condition, and instructing them, how to miss, at the same time that they think they are securing deliverance. Probably enough has been advanced to certify you not only of the possible occurrence but of the grievous peril which must lie in the substituting in religion what is superficial for what ought to be radical. It is on this that we are most anxious to fix your attention. We want to have you satisfied that there can be no falser kindness than that which should hide from men their real condition, and that it is the very extreme of danger when those who are tottering believe themselves secure. It needs no small courage--we ought rather to say, it needs no small grace--to be willing to know the worst; not to be afraid of finding out how bad we are, how corrupt, how capable of the worst actions, if left to ourselves. This is a great point gained in spiritual things, it is a great point gained to be able to pray with David, “ Search me, O God, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me.” We call it a great point gained to be willing to know the worst; for so long as we stop short of this, we shall always be trying half measures, healing the hurt slightly, and therefore never reaching the root of the disease. We counsel you then to be honest with yourselves, honest in observing the symptoms of spiritual sickness, honest in applying the remedies prescribed by the Bible. (H. Melvill, B. D.) False peace I. A false peace, what is it? We do not mean, in describing a false peace, to depict the state of those who are utterly indifferent to religious claims and obligations. We are speaking of another class, in whose minds there has been at some time an anxiety concerning their state in the sight of God. They have felt that sin is within them, that sin is working out terrible results, and, unless some remedy be applied, must work their ultimate ruin. This anxiety has increased upon them; and at length they have found the anxiety soothed; its pressure has been alleviated, and at length it has departed. But it has been soothed by unsuitable means. To be in a state of false peace is to be in a state of composure--not of indifference, but of composure and satisfaction, in a belief that all is well when all is not well. And this may arise from various causes.1. It may be that some are lulled into this false peace from the fact of never having had clear and scriptural notions of the true nature of sin. They have had their attention perhaps drawn rather more to sins and to sinning than to sin; and in their cases it may have happened that the course of sinning has not been a very atrocious course--that the habitude has never manifested itself in any very formidable way. Now, so long as our attention is fixed upon sins, and so long as our minds are drawing distinctions between the greater and the lesser amount of actual transgressions against God, we overlook the scriptural view of sin, as that fatal principle in the nature of man which taints every faculty, and which renders it utterly impossible that man should live in the light of God’ s countenance. 2. But suppose men do entertain scriptural views of sin, as a deadly principle within them, still they may have very inadequate views of the justice of God and of His perfect holiness. Many minds are very apt to measure God, as it were, by a human standard, as if God’ s mode of procedure would be governed on the same principles on which man’ s mode of procedure is usually governed; and the consequence is, that they invest God with a kind of mercy which is altogether unscriptural. If the sinner views God merely as a God of goodness and tenderness and mercy, and thinks His justice is not to have its full and unrestricted exercise, then we ask, what are we to do with those passages of God’ s Word which exhibit all His attributes in their just proportions, and their relations one to another? 3. False peace may also be produced by having obscure notions of the Gospel. If we could sum up the whole Gospel message, the whole of the rich provision of God’ s mercy and justice in Christ Jesus, in one sentence, we should say, it is a remedy for sin; but multitudes hear the Gospel, in all its simplicity and fulness, and yet come to the conclusion that the Gospel system only calls us into a greater familiarity of relation to God, that it sets before us a more spiritual walk than the people who lived under the Jaw were accustomed to, that it calls upon us for a higher moral bearing, and that if we do in the main adhere to that, as if it were a second form of law exhibited to us, then all shall be well; but they overlook the fact that there is in the Gospel a remedy for sin--that it contains a provision for the healing, the true healing of the wound which sin has made. 4. This false peace may arise, moreover, out of an imperfect reception of the true Gospel. The doctrines may be received; the matters of fact upon which the doctrines are based may be received; the economy of the Gospel may be received, as far as the intellect goes; but there may be no surrender of the soul to the Gospel--there may be no yielding up of all the perversity of the natural man to the sweet and precious operations of the Spirit of God, seeking to establish His truth in the heart as a remedy for sin. Now we believe, that wherever these four, or any one of these four causes exist, the result is a false peace. And let it be borne in mind, that most men are very much disposed to be satisfied with a false peace. When the testimony of conscience has been stirring, when the burden of sin has been felt to be a heavy burden, there is a disposition to embrace the first offer of peace that presents itself. And why is it so? Because the burden is heavy to be borne, and the anxiety it occasions is a distressing anxiety, which is to be got rid of in any way. Anything, therefore, that can silence conscience, or that can lessen the severity of its testimony, will be resorted to, and will be regarded as peace. II. The real nature of that only peace which can be relied upon. Let it be remembered, that true peace has relation both to God and to man; that is, it must be a peace on both sides--on the side of a just and holy God, and on the side of man with his “ carnal mind” which is “ enmity against God.” There must be peace on both sides; and the peace on God’ s side must be a peace that shall be in the highest degree honourable to Himself; and in order to be strictly honourable to Him, it must be a peace that shall have magnified His justice, as well as given Him a just occasion for the exercise of mercy. It is plain, therefore, that man himself cannot make and establish such a peace, either by sacrifice or by service. Then the truth is, that God has taken the whole matter into His own hands. He regards man as altogether helpless in this respect; and God undertakes for the establishing a peace that shall be in the highest degree honourable to Himself, and in the utmost degree suitable to man. In graciously revealing Himself, then, in Christ, God has come forth from the light and glory in which He has dwelt from all eternity, and in the person of Jesus, the Eternal Word, has manifested Himself in an attitude of peace--is at peace. “ God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” In that declaration we “ see the attitude of peace. God comes not forth, in the Gospel of His dear Son, as an avenger, but He comes honourably forth as a peacemaker. He comes forth, manifesting the strength and severity of His justice, and magnifying the perfection of His justice. He spared not His own Son.” III. The danger of a false peace. There is present danger, and there is future danger. So long as a false peace is soothing our anxieties in regard to our state as sinners before God, this helps to deaden conscience; it does not always satisfy, but it subdues the activity of conscience, and opens a way for the subtle workings of Satan. Moreover, this false peace disinclines the mind of the deluded one for the definiteness of the Christian state and the Christian character--makes all the peculiarity that marks the Christian and the Christian’ s walk distasteful--makes it regarded as too exact, as too minute, as going too far in its restraints upon the natural freedom of man; and the consequence is, that it is said, as it is sometimes said of some ministers of the Gospel, that their views are a great deal too high, that they expect a great deal more of people than they ought, that they are always raising a standard which makes religion appear so impracticable. Lastly, there is the danger of indisposing us to study the depths of the written Word, and to listen to those depths when they are brought out in the public ministry of the Word. So long as the imagination is pleasantly exercised, and the ministry of the preacher is like the song of one who hath a pleasant voice, and playeth well upon an instrument, there is contentedness; but when the depths of God’ s truth are brought forth, then it is regarded as a dry matter--a matter in which they have but little concern; and whilst this state of mind exists, the false peace makes the sinner to lie in a perilous abode, like a man whose roof is on fire, and who is pressed down by the weight of slumber. But the danger is also future. If we die in a false peace, then in the day of resurrection and in the judgment we meet God as an avenger, and an avenger during all eternity. (G. Fisk, LL. B.) Foundation of peace There is a very true sentence of Lord Macaulay’ s, in which he says, “ It is difficult to conceive any situation more painful than that of a great man condemned to watch the lingering agony of an exhausted country, to tend it during the alternate fits of stupefaction and raving which precede its dissolution, and to see the symptoms of vitality disappear, one by one, till nothing is left but coldness, darkness, and corruption.” It was just such a situation that the prophet Jeremiah was at this time condemned to fill. We feel that there is real agony in the sentence of doom he is compelled to utter. What aggravated his own personal grief was that he saw the remedy that alone could save them, the thorough, searching, radical treatment of their ease that contained their only hope, and they refused it, and with the very grip of death upon them they turned for comfort to those who had the mildest treatment to prescribe, and who cried, “ Peace, peace, when there was no peace.” I. The prophet here lays his finger on the essential error--the formalist has no adequate idea of the significance of sin. To suppose you have healed the corruption of a man’ s nature by the sacrifice of a turtle dove is the merest folly. To suppose that you remove the enmity of a man’ s heart against God by crying “ Peace, peace” is an incredible mockery. Peace with God is the will, and the heart, and the conscience at one with Him. II. This ignorance of the priests as to the very nature of the sin they professed to cure reminds us of the truth of Lord Bacon’ s saying, that that is a false peace which is grounded upon an implicit ignorance, just as all colours agree in the dark. You may cherish the ignominious ambition to have peace at any price. You may escape the problems of thought by declining to think. You may avoid the responsibility of freedom by voluntary slavery; you may escape the pain of repentance by ignoring the reality of sin; yes, you may refuse to acknowledge the obligations of the light by dwelling ever in the darkness; you may prefer to be the victim of error and superstition to being their victor; you may prefer the cowardly acquiescence of surrender to the glad triumph of conquest; but you will surely not delude yourselves into the belief that you have settled anything, healed any hurt, or that the peace you enjoy is a worthy one, with any elements of desirability at all. For let us be quite sure that true peace--moral or mental--is based upon an honest facing of the truth. It was old Matthew Paris, the last of the old monastic historians, who complained somewhat pathetically that the case of historians was hard, because if they told the truth they provoked men, while if they wrote what was false they offended God. The historian’ s art, it appears, must have in it something of the photographer’ s, whose bounden duty is well known to be to make men better looking than they are. It has been urged, that if you can persuade a man that he is better than be really is, he will try to live up to the new revelation. Overlook his faults, and explain his errors away, and he will take heart and grow better. The question comes back to an old one that has been asked and discussed again and again, “ Can there ever be any moral uses in a lie?” Do we believe in that religious homoeopathy that proposes to cure one immorality by another, conceal corruption by falsehood, and cover sinfulness by lying? Can any possible good come out of such a practice? Can there ever be any moral uses in a lie? I think you will agree with me, that even if it were possible to obtain a satisfactory peace by the suppression of conviction on the one hand, or a misrepresentation of fact on the other, we are not at liberty to take it on such terms. To obtain a worthy peace we must face the facts. (C. S. Horne, M. A.) A blast of the trumpet against false peace It is no uncommon thing to meet with people who say, “ Well, I am happy enough. My conscience never troubles me. I believe if I were to die I should go to heaven as well as anybody else.” I know that these men are living in the commission of glaring acts of sin, and I am sure they could not prove their innocence even before the bar of man; yet will these men look you in the face and tell you that they are not at all disturbed at the prospect of dying. Well, I will take you at your word, though I don’ t believe you. I will suppose you have this peace, and I will endeavour to account for it on certain grounds which may render it somewhat more difficult for you to remain in it.1. The first person I shall deal with is the man who has peace because he spends his life in a ceaseless round of gaiety and frivolity. You have scarcely come from one place of amusement before you enter another. You know that you are never happy except you are in what you call gay society, where the frivolous conversation will prevent you from hearing the voice of your conscience. In the morning you will be asleep while God’ s sun is shining, but at night you will be spending precious time in some place of foolish, if not lascivious, mirth. If the harp should fail you, then you call for Nabar’ s feast. There shall be a sheep shearing, and you shall be drunken with wine, until your souls become as stolid as a stone. And then you wonder that you have peace. What wonder! Surely any man would have peace when his heart has become as hard as a stone. What weathers shall it feel? What tempests shall move the stubborn bowels of a granite rock? You sear your consciences, and then marvel that they feel not. Oh, that you would begin to live! What a price you are paying for your mirth--eternal torment for an hour of jollity--separation from God for a brief day or two of sin! 2. I turn to another class of men. Finding that amusement at last has lost all its zest, having drained the cup of worldly pleasure till they find first satiety, and then disgust lying at the bottom, they want some stronger stimulus, and Satan, who has drugged them once, has stronger opiates than mere merriment for the man who chooses to use them. If the frivolity of this world will not suffice to rock a soul to sleep, he hath a yet more hellish cradle for the soul. He will take you up to his own breast, and bid you suck therefrom his own Satanic nature, that you may then be still and calm. I mean that he will lead you to imbibe infidel notions, and when this is fully accomplished, you can have “ Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” 3. I shall come now to a third class of men. These are people not particularly addicted to gaiety, nor especially given to infidel notions; but they are a sort of folk who are careless, and determined to let well alone. Their motto, “ Let tomorrow take care for the things of itself; let us live while we live; let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” If their conscience cries out at all, they bid it lie still. When the minister disturbs them, instead of listening to what he says, and so being brought into a state of real peace, they cry, “ Hush I be quiet I there is time enough yet; I will not disturb myself with these childish fears: be still, sir, and lie down.” Oh! up ye sleepers, ye gaggers of conscience, what mean you? Why are you sleeping when death is hastening on, when eternity is near, when the great white throne is even now coming on the clouds of heaven, when the trumpet of the resurrection is now being set to the mouth of the archangel? 4. A fourth set of men have a kind of peace that is the result of resolutions which they have made, but which they will never carry into effect. “ Oh,” saith one, “ I am quite easy enough in my mind, for when I have got a little more money I shall retire from business, and then I shall begin to think about eternal things.” Ah, but I would remind you that when you were an apprentice, you said you would reform when you became a journeyman; and when you were a journeyman, you used to say you would give good heed when you became a master. But hitherto these bills have never been paid when they became duo. They have every one of them been dishonoured as yet; and take my word for it, this new accommodation bill will be dishonoured too. 5. Now I turn to another class of men, in order that I may miss none who are saying, “ Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” I do not doubt but that many of the people of London enjoy peace in their hearts, because they are ignorant of the things of God. If you have a peace that is grounded on ignorance, get rid of it; ignorance is a thing, remember, that you are accountable for. You are not accountable for the exercise of your judgment to man, but you are accountable for it to God. 6. I now pass to another and more dangerous form of this false peace. I may have missed some of you; probably I shall come closer home to you now. Alas, alas, let us weep and weep again, for there is a plague among us. It is the part of candour to admit that with all the exercise of judgment, and the most rigorous discipline, we cannot keep our churches free from hypocrisy. Oh! I do not know of a more thoroughly damnable delusion than for a man to get a conceit into his head, that he is a child of God, and yet live in sin--to talk to you about sovereign grace, while he is living in sovereign lust--to stand up and make himself the arbiter of what is truth, while he himself contemns the precept of God, and tramples the commandment under foot. 7. There remains yet another class of beings who surpass all these in their utter indifference to everything that might arouse them. They are men that are given up by God, justly given up. They have passed the boundary of His long suffering. He has said, “ My Spirit shall no more strive with them” ; “ Ephraim is given unto idols, let him alone.” As a judicial punishment for their impenitence, God has given them up to pride and hardness of heart. (C. H. Spurgeon.) False security I. How is it persons reach this state of easy confidence?1. There is a disposition to acknowledge in a general way that they are sinners, though also to palliate the enormity of sin, and to gloss it over with the gentle epithet of an infirmity. 2. Then, to make all right, secure, and comfortable, the sentiment is cherished that God is merciful and will overlook our infirmities. But this mercy, so vaguely trusted in, is not the mercy which has been made the subject of an actual offer from God to man. He has stepped forth to relieve us from the debt of sin. II. The evils of such a false confidence.1. It casts an aspersion on the character of God. 2. It is hostile to the cause of practical righteousness, since it tends to obliterate all restraints, on the specious plea of all-availing mercy, and leaves every man to sin just as much as he likes. (T. Chalmers, D. D.) Peace, when there is no peace The value of these Old Testament prophecies for us is that they hold up the mirror to nature. Under different guises we see men grappling with the same problems, encountering the same fears, wrestling with the same difficulties, meeting the same joys and the same disappointments. History is ever repeating itself.1. The same oppression, the same sin, the same corruptions which are causing so much anguish in our midst, were at work there, and from many a heart there went up the cry, “ How long, O Lord, how long?” The means they adopted were not sufficient for the end, and that is just the point at which these Israelites join hands with many reformers in our days. There are fashions in these things as in everything else. With the crowd and with the priests in these far-off days it was sacrifice and burnt offering. With us the favourite nostrums are somewhat different. Let us look at some of them. (1) There is what has been called the doctrine of culture. “ Educate, educate, educate,” some cry, and that will put all right. The exponents of this school are enthusiastic, and talk of great things to be accomplished when the refinement and culture which is fostered in the “ upper ten” has filtered down through university extension schemes and settlements to the working classes. (2) Others, of a more practical turn of mind, think that the world can be set right by legislative means. “ Better laws and greater freedom are what is wanted,” they say, “ to elevate the people.” Life to them consists in the abundance of things which men possess. They laugh at the notion of a happiness which has not plenty, and ridicule the very idea of comfort or contentment in a one-roomed house. (3) Another set think that if we could make the people sober all would be well. They tell us that almost nine-tenths of the crime and mischief in the country comes from drunkenness. 2. There is much truth in a great deal of what has been said by the advocates of each of these different systems, and within certain limits they are right. That they will ever reach the root of the matter is another thing. They are no new doctrines. Long have men tried them. And what has been the result where they have had freest play? A perfect cure? An approach to an ideal State? Alas, no. In some cases one or other of them, or all of them together, may have contributed to render life easier, or more comfortable to individuals here and there; but none of them, nor all of them together, have been able to heal the hurt of humanity. They are but the purple patches with which men seek to hide the festering sores. The trouble is in the heart, in the blood, in the innermost centre of our being, and till it is expelled from that citadel, there can be no hope for us, or the world. They who cherish the supposition that man at bottom is a lover of truth and light, of purity and goodness, fondle a vain conceit. Is there no cruelty, is there no lust in upper circles of society? Is there no impurity, no degradation, no oppression among the learned? Is there no misery, no broken hearts in the homes of the wealthy? Are there no tears, no sighs, no wrinkled brows where intemperance is unknown? (R. Leggat.) Useless doctoring In China they have some queer ways of doctoring sick people, and in Pekin, it is said, they have a brass mule for a doctor! This mule stands in one of their temples and sick people flock there by the thousands to be cured. How can a brass mule cure anybody? do you ask. Sure enough, how can he? and yet these poor ignorant people believe it. If you lived there, instead of in this country, it is likely that when you had a toothache your father would take you--to a dentist? Oh no! That is what they do in this country. In Pekin you would probably be taken to the temple where the brass mule stands, and be lifted up so that you could rub his teeth, then rub your own, and then think the pain ought to go away. If you fell down and hurt your knee, you would go and rub the mule’ s knee, and then your own, to make it well. They say so many have rubbed the mule that they have rubbed the brass off in many places, so that new patches had to be put on, and his eyes have been rubbed out altogether. But a brand new mule stands waiting to take the place of the old one when that finally falls to pieces. It seems a very simple way to cure pains and aches, but, I fear, the pain is not very much better after the visit to the mule; and I am sure all boys and girls who read of the “ brass doctor” will be glad they live in this land, even if dentists do sometimes pull out teeth that ache, and doctors often give medicine that is not pleasant to take. False peace Your peace, sinner, is that terribly prophetic calm which the traveller occasionally perceives upon the higher Alps. Everything is still. The birds suspend their notes, fly low, and cower down with fear The hum of bees among the flowers is hushed. A horrible stillness rules the hour, as if death had silenced all things by stretching over them his awful sceptre. Perceive ye not what is surely at hand! The tempest is preparing, the lightning will soon cast abroad its flames of fire. Earth will rock with thunder blasts; granite peaks will be dissolved; all nature will tremble beneath the fury of the storm. Yours is that solemn calm today, sinner. Rejoice not in it, for the hurricane of wrath is coming, the whirlwind and the tribulation which shall sweep you away and utterly destroy you. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 6:15 They were not at all ashamed. Shamelessness in sin, the certain forerunner of destruction He who has thus sinned himself past feeling, may be justly supposed to have sinned himself past grace.1. Extraordinary guilt. “ Committed abomination.” 2. Deportment under guilt. “ Not at all ashamed,” etc. 3. God’ s high resentment of their monstrous shamelessness. “ Were they ashamed?” 4. The consequent judgment. “ Therefore shall they fall,” etc. I. What shame is and what influence it has upon the government of men’ s manners.1. Shame is a grief of mind springing from the apprehension of some disgrace brought upon a man. And disgrace consists properly in men’ s knowledge or opinion of some defect, natural or moral, belonging to them. So that when a man is sensible that anything defective or amiss, either in his person, manners, or the circumstances of his condition, is known, or taken notice of, by others; from this sense or apprehension of his, there naturally results upon his mind a certain grief or displeasure, which grief properly constitutes the passion of shame. 2. From this, that shame is grounded upon the dread man naturally has of the ill opinion of others, and that chiefly with reference to the turpitude or immorality of his actions, it is manifest that it is that great and powerful instrument in the soul of man whereby Providence both preserves society and supports government, forasmuch as it is the most effectual restraint upon him from the doing of such things as more immediately tend to disturb the one and destroy the other. 3. He whom shame has done its work upon, is, ipso facto, stripped of all the common comforts of life. The light is to him the shadow of death; he has no heart nor appetite for business; his very food is nauseous to him. In which wretched condition having passed some years, first the vigour of his intellectuals begins to flag and dwindle away, and then his health follows; the hectic of the soul produces one in the body, the man from an inward falls into an outward consumption, and death at length gives the finishing stroke, and closes all with a sad catastrophe. II. By what ways men come to cast off shame and grow impudent in sin.1. By the commission of great sins. For these waste the conscience, and destroy at once. They are, as it were, a course of wickedness abridged into one act, and a custom of sinning by equivalence. They steel the forehead, and harden the heart, and break those bars asunder which modesty had originally fenced and enclosed it with. 2. Custom in sinning never fails in the issue to take away the sense and shame of sin, were a person never so virtuous before. First, he begins to shake off the natural horror and dread which he had of breaking any of God’ s commands, and so not to fear sin; next, finding his sinful appetites gratified by such breaches of the Divine law, he comes to like his sin and be pleased with what he has done; and then, from ordinary complacencies, heightened and improved by custom, he comes passionately to delight in such ways. Finally, having resolved to continue and persist in them, he frames himself to a resolute contempt of what is thought or said of him. 3. The examples of great persons take away the shame of anything which they are observed to practise, though never so foul and shameful in itself. Nothing is more contagious than an iii action set off with a great example; for it is natural for men to imitate those above them, and to endeavour to resemble, at least, that which they cannot be. 4. The observation of the general and common practice of anything takes away the shame of that practice. A vice a la mode will look virtue itself out of countenance, and it is well if it does not look it out of heart too. Men love not to be found singular, especially where the singularity lies in the rugged and severe paths of Virtue. 5. To have been once greatly and irrecoverably ashamed renders men shameless. For shame is never of any force but where there is some stock of credit to be preserved. When a man finds that to be lost, he is like an undone gamester, who plays on safety, knowing he can lose no more. III. The several degrees of shamelessness in sin.1. A showing of the greatest respect, and making the most obsequious applications and addresses to lewd and infamous persons; and that without any pretence of duty requiring it, which yet alone can justify and excuse men in it. 2. To extenuate or excuse a sin is bad enough, but to defend it is intolerable. Such are properly the devil’ s advocates. 3. Glorying in sin. Higher than this the corruption of man’ s nature cannot possibly go. This is publicly to set up a standard on behalf of vice, to wear its colours, and avowedly to assert and espouse the cause of it, in defiance of all that is sacred or civil, moral or religious. IV. Why it brings down judgment and destruction upon the sinner.1. Because shamelessness in sin always presupposes those actions and courses which God rarely suffers to go unpunished. 2. Because of the destructive influence which it has upon the government of the world. It is manifest that the integrity of men’ s manners cannot be secured, where there is not preserved upon men’ s minds a true estimate of vice and virtue, that is, where vice is not looked upon as shameful and opprobrious, and virtue valued as worthy and honourable. But now, where vice walks with a daring front, and no shame attends the practice or the practisers of it, there is an utter confusion of the first dividing and distinguishing properties of men’ s actions; morality falls to the ground, and government must quickly follow. And whenever it comes to fare thus with any civil State, virtue and common honesty seem to make their appeal to the supreme Governor of all things, to take the matter into His own hands, and to correct those clamorous enormities which are grown too big and strong for law or shame, or any human coercion. V. What those judgments are.1. A sudden and disastrous death; and, indeed, suddenness in this can hardly be without disaster. 2. War and desolation. 3. Captivity. (R. South, D. D.) The shamelessness of sinners The legend says that, a sinner being at confession, the devil appeared, saying, that he came to make restitution. Being asked what he would restore, he said, “ Shame; for it is shame that I have stolen from this sinner to make him shameless in sinning; and now I have come to restore it to him, to make him ashamed to confess his sins.” Neither could they blush. Blushing (with Ezra 9:6):--“ Just fancy,” said Tom, who had been doing a bit of word study by the aid of his newly-acquired Skeat, “ to blush is, in its origin, the same word as to blaze, or to blast, and a blush in Danish means a torch.” “ And a very good origin too,” said his sister, who got red in the face and hot all over on the slightest provocation. Yes, youth is the blushing time of life. Said Diogenes to a youth whom he saw blushing: “ Courage, my boy, that is the complexion of virtue.” I. There is the blush of guilt. Who broke the window? All were silent; but one boy looked uneasy. His blush was the blast of his red-hot conscience, condemning the dumb tongue. II. There is the blush of shame. It was such a mean thing to tell that lie to one’ s own father. It was a shabby trick I played my chum. And that nasty word I spoke yesterday to a girl, too, it makes me sick-ashamed of myself to think of it. Yes; you ought to think shame. But “ the man that blushes is not quite a brute.” III. There is the blush of modesty. Tom said nothing about his splendid score at the match, until his sister read aloud at breakfast next morning the flattering report given in the newspaper, at which Tom blushed like a girl. He had his revenge, however, when more than one letter came to Shena from Dr. Barnardo, and Tom protested that he knew now why she had no money to spend on sweets, and poor Shena got very red in the face and went out of the room. IV. There is the blush of honest indignation at the meanness of the cheat, the cruelty of the bully, the greed of the glutton, and the indifference of selfish souls. This blush of virtuous anger must have come into the meek face of Christ, when He rebuked the disciples for keeping the mothers from bringing their children to Him. V. Just twice, I think, do we read of blushing in the Bible, and the solemn thing is that the blush in both cases is not before men, but under the eye of God.1. One of the most remarkable prayers in the Bible is the prayer of Ezra, the scribe--the brave, good, holy man who led a company of his Israelite brethren from Babylon to Jerusalem. It rises hot and passionate out of his very heart; for, like all priestly souls, he makes all the sins of the people his own. “ O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God.” He loved his people so dearly that their faults seemed to be his own, and he blushed before the Holy God for shame of them. 2. Quite at the opposite pole of feeling is the other place in the Bible where blushing is spoken of. For Jeremiah, the broken-hearted prophet of the Lord, uses it when he has to describe the utter callousness of the people, in spite of all their sins and sorrows. “ They were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.” That is surely the most hopeless state of all, when one has lost the very power to feel shame and sorrow before God. The Florentines used to point to Dante in the street, whispering, “ There’ s the man who has been in hell.” But hell has come into the heart of the man who cannot blush. Oh, it is better, as Mahomet said in his old age, to blush in this world than in the next. St. John of the eagle eye and loving heart tells us that in the great day of judgment we shall either have the boldness or liberty and confidence of children, or we shall shrink away with shame “ like a guilty thing surprised.” (A. N. Mackray, M. A.) Jeremiah 6:16 Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein. The good old way Were you called together to listen to the present preacher only, courtesy might demand at your hands an attentive hearing for him; but if an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ were the preacher, he would have far higher claims; and if one of the ancient prophets were the speaker, or at any rate, could an angel or an archangel be permitted now to address you, we think you would all admit that to be inattentive to his words would be highly unbecoming: how much more so to be inattentive if the God of the whole earth were addressing you! And is He not? “ Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see,” etc. I. To the way recommended in the text. “ Ask for the old paths, where is the good way.” The words of the text are metaphorical, and represent true religion under the aspect of a pilgrimage or a journey. If, then, you ask me, “ What is the way to heaven?” I refer to the words of the Lord Jesus when speaking to Thomas. “ I,” said He, “ am the way.” “ No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” Christ is the way. He is the way from sin to holiness,--from darkness to light,--from bondage to liberty,--from misery to happiness,--from the gates of hell to the throne of heaven. But how is He the way? By His example: for “ leaving us an example, we should follow His steps.” By His doctrine: for “ we know that He is true, and teaches the way of God in truth.” By His sacrificial death: for “ we have boldness to eater into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.” By His Spirit: when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all the truth. How, then, are we to walk in the way? By “ repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.” “ Except ye repent ye shall all perish.” Believe m the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. “ He that believeth shall not perish.” But what are the epithets by which the way is described in our text? The way is not “ the broad way” that leadeth to destruction; nor “ the hard way,” pursued by transgressors; nor the way that only seemeth right to a man, while the end thereof is death; but it is the good way, and the old path.1. It is an old way. True, there are persons who more than insinuate that the way, as just described to you, is a new thing. They say the way to heaven is not now what it formerly was, if our definition is correct. But what have we said? Have we not affirmed that salvation is by Christ, and through Him only? Have we not said that repentance and faith are the conditions of obtaining it from Him? And is this new doctrine? Why, this doctrine is as old as the days of Wesley and Whitfield, for they proclaimed it in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and America. But go a step further back. What were the leading doctrines of the illustrious Reformers? For what were they traduced, slandered, excommunicated, and martyred, but for this? They asserted that penance was a human prescription--that works of supererogation were a delusion--that images, beads, holy water, crucifixes, and relics were but “ sanctified nonsense” --that Christ was the only mediator between God and man. But we go further still. What did our Lord and the apostles themselves teach? They preached “ repent and believe!” Nor do we stop here. What did the prophets--Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Malachi, and the rest--who flourished from seven hundred to a thousand years anterior to the Christian era teach? Did not they speak of the promised seed, the Messiah, the Redeemer, in whom men should believe, and by whom they should be saved? Go to that splendid treasury of ecclesiastical biography--the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and look at the fourth verse: “ By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead, yet speaketh.” Well, then, some three thousand years elapsed between the time of Abel’ s believing and that of Jeremiah’ s preaching, and the way had been tried during the whole of that long period, and was therefore properly called by the prophet “ the old path.” Oh no; we bring no new doctrine to your ears, no new way before your eyes. We grant you that some of the circumstantials of religion have been changed since the days of Abel; but the essentials have remained the same. A Saviour, a mediator, a sacrifice, an atonement; repentance, faith, prayer, and holy living--thane all abide ever. The way is called new by the apostle, in reference to that fuller and clearer development of it furnished by the life and death of the Lord Jesus; and even when contrasting it with those ritualistic observances on which the Jews had long laid more than sufficient stress: but in all ages Christ has been the Saviour of men, and faith in Him the prime condition of salvation. 2. The text speaks of this way as a good one. “ Where is the good way?” It is not only a good way, but the good way--good emphatically; the only good way, therefore, par excellence, the good way. God is the author of it, and He is good. He is the good Being: His name God implies this, as it is a contraction of the adjective “ good.” Christ is the way, and He is good. Pilate’ s question, “ What evil hath He done?” remains still unanswered. The Holy Spirit recommends this way; and He would not recommend anything evil. The Bible is a good book--all insinuations by scoffers to the contrary notwithstanding,--and it strongly urges us to pursue this way. There have been--and, thank God! still are--some good men in the world, bad as it is; and they have travelled, or are travelling in this way. However vile they may have been ere entering this way, they became virtuous and happy when they began to travel on this path. Men have said the way of salvation by faith in the merits of another is not good, for it will lead to licentiousness--to latitudinarianism. But such men speak without experience. The faith that saves us is not a nominal thing--not merely speculative, but practical, evangelical faith. “ Show me thy faith without thy works,” O objector, “ and I will show thee my faith by my works.” Ah, there it is. This faith of ours works, and has works; “ it works by love, and purifies the heart.” While we repose on the merits of the Saviour, we copy the example of the Saviour; while we believe He died for us, we exhibit the genuineness of our belief by a holy life. II. The duty the text enjoins. “ Stand ye in the ways,” etc.1. “ Stand in the ways, and see.” These words seem to refer to the position of a traveller on foot, who, in prosecuting his pilgrimage, has reached a point where there is a junction of several roads; and who is perplexed by this circumstance, and at a loss which way to pursue. What can he do in this case? The text says, “ Stand,” halt, ere you go astray, and try to ascertain the proper direction, or you may lose time in losing your way, and perchance may haw to retrace your steps, amid the jeers of witnesses, and under the self-inflicted penalty of regretful reproach. He takes from his pocket a book and a map, from which he learns that the road to the right goes to one place, that to the left to another, but the one straight on to the place of his destination. He then, after due examination, prosecutes his pilgrimage with pleasurable satisfaction; having no tormenting doubts as to his course, but a strong assurance of reaching, by and by, the desired end. Now, the traveller to eternity--the man in search of “ the path of life” --has been graciously provided with an “ itinerary” ; that is, God’ s own road book, the Bible. Hence, says the Saviour, “ Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me.” Go, then, fellow traveller, to the ever-blessed book; pore over its lessons; study its precepts; imitate its examples; and realise its promises. 2. “ Ask for the way.” See that man with his map and book; he is still perplexed somewhat; he wants counsel; he needs a guide; let him ask advice of those who know by experience what he has yet to learn. Ah! up comes a person who knows the road intimately, who has travelled along it these many years, and who loves to give his best practical advice to all inquirers. Well, ask him. He is a Gospel minister, or some old weather-beaten pilgrim, who has borne the heat of many a summer, and the stormy blasts of many a winter; he will be right glad to tell thee the way thou shouldst go. And, if he fail, there is a Guide who never will; for, “ when the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all the truth.” 3. “ Walk therein.” Yes, it avails not what we read, how much information we acquire, with whomsoever we converse, or even how often we pray, unless we “ walk in the way.” John Bunyan tells us of a Mr. Talkative, who was very ready and fluent in religious discussions and conversations; but who left the practical part of religion to others. Alas! that the descendants of that personage are not extinct. Remember that no man can get to heaven by looking at maps of the road, or conversing with those who are journeying thitherward; we must all “ walk in the way.” III. To the blessing promised. “ Ye shall find rest for your souls.” The word “ rest” is one of the sweetest monosyllables in our language. Robert Hall said he could think of the word tear till he wept; I could think of the word rest till I smiled. After a paroxysm of pain, how delicious is ease and rest after a hard day’ s toil, how delightful to retire to rest! And if rest of the body be sweet, sweeter still is rest for the soul. “ The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmities, but a wounded spirit who can bear?” Rest for the soul we all long to find; we cannot help it. We must be in quest of rest do what we may. Peace, happiness, mental quietude, rest, every man of all things desiderates. But where may it be found? Secularists and quondam socialists say in gratifying our animal passions; the miser--significant name, literally miserable--hopes to find it among golden gains; the ambitious climbs up the rugged heights of power and fame, and hopes to descry it there; but the Christian is the only man who can exclaim with the exulting Greek, Eureka! Eureka! I have found it! (W. Antliff, D. D.) The ancient paths Transition is easy from an outward physical path to a moral meaning: roads men walk with their feet suggest the road men’ s thoughts habitually walk in, the path in which their feelings are accustomed to move, the way in which their conduct naturally flows. In this secondary sense, use text to point out the necessity, in all who would go right, of keeping upon the old ways, the ascertained ways, which, in the experience of mankind, have been proved beneficial. I. Our boast of novelty, our glorying in our newness, as if we were in advance of everybody and everything else, is a fanciful mistake. Our thoughts, and all the channels of our thoughts, are the result of the thought and experience of thousands of years that are gone by. Political habits and customs, knowledge of right and equity, have been gradually unfolded from ages past. Combinations are new, elements are old. II. The present time is noticeable for an extraordinary outbreak of activity along new lines of thought and belief.1. Men are inclined to doubt generally the social and moral results of past experience, to repudiate long-accepted social maxims and customs. 2. General distrust is being thrown upon religions teachings: not positive unbelief, but uncertainty. And by having confidence in religion its real power is destroyed. Thus thousands are abandoning old paths--old thoughts, usages, customs, habits, convictions, virtues. III. There are certain great permanencies of thought, character, and custom, especially necessary in our time.1. Moral and social progress can never be so rapid as physical developments. Men cannot be changed in their principles, feelings, and inner life in the same ratio as external changes go on. 2. There is danger in giving up any belief or custom which has been entwined in our moral sense. Regard as sacred the first principles of truth. 3. In the transition from a lower to a higher form of belief there is peril. Hence, we are not to think it our duty in a headlong way to change men’ s beliefs simply because they are erroneous. As if changing from one mode of belief to another was going to change the conscience, reason, moral susceptibility, and character. IV. The relinquishment of trust or of practice should always be from worse to better. If you want a traveller to have a better road, make that better road, and then he will need no argument to persuade him to walk in it. If you are teaching that one intellectual system is better than another, and that one religious organisation, church, or creed, is better, prove it by presenting better fruit than the other, and men will need little argument beyond. If a Church breeds meekness, fortitude, love, courage, disinterestedness; if it makes noble men--uncrowned but undoubted princes,--then it is a Church, a living epistle which will convince men. V. All new truths, like new wines, must have a period of fermentation.1. All truths are at first on probation; must be scrutinised, ransacked, vindicated. 2. Guard against wild and unseasonable urgency in throwing off traditional faiths and truths, for those you can discover for yourselves. Accept what other men construct for you. We are so related, by the laws of God, one to another, that no man can think out everything for himself. VI. We do well to look cautiously at new truths and those who advocate them. There is a conceit, a dogmatism, a bigotry of science, as really as there is of religion. Application--1. All the tendencies which narrow the moral sense and enlarge the liberty of the passions are dangerous. 2. All tendencies which increase self-conceit are to be suspected and disowned. 3. Those tendencies which extinguish in a man all spiritual elements, such as arise from faith in God, in our spirituality and immortality, must inevitably degrade our manhood. 4. All tendencies which take away your hope of and belief in another world, take away your motive for striving to reach a higher life. Without this hope men will have a weary pilgrimage in a world of unbelief. (H. W. Beecher.) The old paths I. The old paths are to be distinguished from theological creeds and dogmas. Lifted upon the shoulders of many generations, with opportunities for interpreting the Bible in the light of a developing Christianity, it would be strange if our horizon had not increased. Think as those men thought--not necessarily what they thought. II. A return to the “ old paths” does not call us away from vigorous life. Wherever human thought, in obedience to its best nature, essays to got wherever desire for higher and better things reaches out, there are the paths of the Lord. They are as “ the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Treading them, “ every power finds sweet employ.” III. Some of the characteristics of the old paths.1. They are plain. True, the fogs sometimes hang low upon them as upon worldly ways; but we can always, in the darkest hour, see one step before us, and that taken, we can see another. The engineer cannot see his track all the way from New York to Albany, but in the heaviest night he trusts his headlight and keeps on his way. So let the Christian do. 2. They are unchanging. God’ s paths, like Himself, are “ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” 3. They are paths of righteousness (Psalms 23:3). Old coins lose their royal stamp by much handling. So with some of our grandest words. Righteousness is one of them. It is not formalism, it is not morality. It is right living, with a pure heart as its source. 4. They are paths of mercy (Psalms 25:10). 5. They are paths of plenty (Psalms 65:11). What a struggle men have for mere existence! They rise early and sit up late and eat the bread of affliction. They have left the paths of the Lord. They have chased phantoms. They must endure for the time the fruit of their doings. Yet, notwithstanding these seeming exceptions, the precious promise abides (Psalms 37:3). 6. They are paths of life (Proverbs 2:19). What a path that where Christ is the support of our steps, guide of our way, and the crown of our journey’ s end! 7. They are paths of peace (Proverbs 3:17; Isaiah 26:3). There is no peace but in the narrow way where God gives pardon and reconciliation. 8. They are His paths (Isaiah 2:3). It is not possible, in a spiritual sense, that God should give us anything and not give us Himself. Without Himself the graces of the Spirit are only names. IV. How to find these paths.1. By standing. How hard it is to stop and stand still and think and search! 2. By seeing. With open eyes we may see whether the path be an old path, whether it is macadamised with living truth, whether they who are upon it wear the livery of the Great King. 3. By asking. Men are ever ready to ask counsel in worldly things. Why not of God and His servants in regard to heavenly things? “ Ask, and ye shall receive.” 4. By walking. Having used sight and tongue and thoughts, we are then to act. God has united faith and works, prayer and activity. V. The promise to those who obey. “ Rest.” (E. P. Ingersoll, D. D.) Novelty in religion exploded Novelty is a term which, when applied to man, always involves a degree of previous ignorance. The astronomer finds out new stars, the botanist new plants, the linguist new tongues, the geometrician new modes of proof and illustration, the politician new laws, the geographer new islands, the navigator new creeks, anchorages and havens, the tradesman new articles of commerce, the artificer and mechanic new methods of accomplishing the work of their hands. Each successive generation, in a civilised country especially, makes advancement on the experiments of the former. In religious matters, however, it is different. We am to expect no new Bible, no new ordinances, no new Messiah, no new discoveries in the substance of truth and piety, any more than we look for a new sun, moon, and seasons, in the institutions of nature. We allow, indeed, that in ourselves, as we pass from a state of unregeneracy to that of renewal, “ old things pass away, and all things become new” ; that in the progress of sanctification, there is a succession of discoveries, as we grow in knowledge and grace; that in the pursuit of schemes of usefulness, new modes of operation may be struck out; but as to all the rest, it is established by the Great Head of the Church to be subjected to no alteration until the time of the restitution of all things, when there shall be a “ new heaven and earth,” etc. I. Trace the good old way.1. There is the way of theory. This will be found in its grand and essential elements in the Word of truth; for this is the chart or map in which the path is laid down in which the pious have walked from the beginning. 2. There is the way of experience, or the application of these truths to the mind by such an influence and in such a way as to render them living principles of activity and enjoyment. Repentance for sin, dependence, devotion, etc. 3. There is the way of practice; and this with regard to God and our fellow creatures. II. Show what is your duty with respect to the path which has been described.1. Primarily, to institute a serious, a deliberate and cautious inquiry, that you may ascertain whether you are in the right way. One grand reason why many who profess to make the inquiry “ What is truth?” do not succeed, is, that they indulge in a light, trifling temper of mind, quite unsuited to the character of their avowed engagement, and highly offensive to God. 2. Steadily pursue the path you have ascertained to be right. Aim to be established, strengthened, settled on your most holy faith, and guard against that versatility which will be an effective preventive to sanctification, comfort, and usefulness. With walking we always connect the idea, not of habit only, but of progress. Your knowledge, your sacred virtues, your practical obedience should be always on the advance. Conclusion--1. The lamentable consequences of a refusal to walk in this way. 2. The inestimable advantages of walking in the good old way. (John Clayton.) The old paths Perhaps the chief danger attending modem progress is the neglect of antiquity. This does not apply to literature and art, but to science and religion. A man who aspires to excellence in letters or art must go on pilgrimage to the old paths, and having found them must abide in them. Take the single example of sculpture. What has been gained for this art in the advancement of later times? Nothing has been gained, but much lost which can never be recovered. The most celebrated work of recent artists in stone is little more than an imitation of the masterpieces of Athens executed between two and three thousand years ago. The hope of the learner in this profession is to stand in the old paths. With some qualifications the same is true of literature. The Greek and Roman classics are still our teachers; and there is no prospect of the immediate declension of their authority. No liberal education is supposed to be possible without the languages of antiquity and the compositions that adorn them. Scientific culture has been repaid by abundant fruit in recent years: but the losses sustained by science through our ignorance of antiquity are inconceivable. Students in science will be the first to acknowledge and deplore this loss. But while literature cannot neglect the old paths, and science is devoutly engaged in retracing her lost ways, religion is in imminent danger of drifting from her ancient landmarks. The peril I desire to point out is not new in the history of the Christian faith. There is something in his nature which makes a human being feel after a God; and this act of search would be far more likely to touch the object sought when the race was young, when the impressions received were new, uncorrupted by speculation, unfettered by tradition, than at this time when the race is old and our impressions of the self within us, and of surrounding nature, are unconsciously weighted and often made false by hereditary influences, and by misleading ideas that swarm about us in childhood and are the spring of errors which it is the most difficult task of education to discover and correct. This invariable tendency to look for truth and wisdom and goodness, not to the possibilities of the present, not even to the lessons of the immediate past, but to the records and traditions of a remote age, is a striking confirmation of the biblical history of mankind. That wistful looking back on the part of the nations is a pathetic sign that something is missing which once was ours when heaven and truth were nearer to this earth than they are now. When I bring these problems to the ancient ways of God that, setting out from the creation of man and following the race, converge upon Christ, I discover the clue that leads to their interpretation. The old paths ran into Christ. His attitude towards the men who flourished before Him was neither hostile nor independent. He spoke of them with reverence; He quoted their teaching in support of His own claims; He proved that that teaching when divided from Himself was not only incomplete, but in some cases had no meaning; that He, in fact, was the complement of the older wisdom. He dwelt not only with contemporaries, but in the old paths as the Illuminating Presence of the past. “ Before Abraham was, I am.” He lighted up the parables of the sages; He harmonised prediction with history, and type with the fulfilling event or person. And as the old paths met in Christ--as He was the “ Way” to which all other paths and ways led the traveller, not only thoroughfares defined and laid down in systems of law and belief, but irregular tracks made by earnest but wandering feet in search of the Highway; as He was the “ Truth,” in which all moral intimations, ideas, and aspirations found their fulfilment and satisfaction; as He was the “ Life,” in which all the nobler elements of the heart attained their highest purity and their perfect expression--so He is now the centre and resting place of all doctrine, of all inquiry, and of all faith. What will be the result of the attempt to make the New Testament a modern publication? We smooth a hardness here, we read in a meaning there, we hide the significance of this doctrine behind the assumed importance of that, on the plea of keeping the Book in touch with a scientific age. There will be no end to this recasting until we end the Bible itself. We share the conquests of science, and partake the renown of scientific men; but theirs is the truth of research, ours is the truth of revelation. Their conclusions are necessarily subject to revision; many of them perish outright; but the Word of our God abideth, and shall stand forever. (E. E. Jenkins, LL. D.) The old paths I. Excellent general advice. “ Stand, and see, and ask.” I take these words to be a call to thought and consideration. Now, to set men thinking is one great object which every teacher of religion should always keep before him. Serious thought, in short, is one of the first steps towards heaven. There are but few, I suspect, who deliberately and calmly choose evil, refuse good, turn their back on God, and resolve to serve sin as sin. The most part are what they are because they began their present course without thought. They would not take the trouble to look forward and consider the consequences of their conduct. By thoughtless actions they created habits which have become second nature to them. They have got into a groove now, and nothing but a special miracle of grace will stop them. There are none, we must all be aware, who bring themselves into so much trouble by want of thinking as the young. Too often they choose in haste a wrong profession or business, and find after two or three years, that they have made an irretrievable mistake, and, if I may borrow a railway phrase, have got on the wrong line of rails. But the young are not the only persons who need the exhortation of the text in this day. It is preeminently advice for the times. Hurry is the characteristic of the age in which we live. On every side you see the many driving furiously, like Jehu, after business or politics. They seem unable to find time for calm, quiet, serious reflection about their souls and a world to come. Men and brethren, consider your ways. Beware of the infection of the times. II. A particular direction. “ Ask for the old paths.” We want a return to the old paths of our reformers. I grant they were rough workmen, and made some mistakes. They worked under immense difficulties, and deserve tender judgment and fair consideration. But they revived out of the dust grand foundation truths which had been long buried and forgotten. By embalming those truths in our Articles and Liturgy, by incessantly pressing them on the attention of our forefathers, they changed the whole character of this nation, and raised a standard of true doctrine and practice, which, after three centuries, is a power in the land, and has an insensible influence on English character to this very day. Can we mend these old paths? Novelty is the idol of the day. But I have yet to learn that all new views of religion are necessarily better than the old. It is not so in the work of men’ s hands. I doubt if this nineteenth century could produce an architect who could design better buildings than the Parthenon or Coliseum, or a mason who could rear fabrics which will last so long. It certainly is not so in the work of men’ s minds. Thucydides is not superseded by Macaulay, nor Homer by Milton. Why, then, are we to suppose that old theology is necessarily inferior to new? I ask boldly, What extensive good has ever been done in the world, except by the theology of the “ old paths” ? and I confidently challenge a reply. There never has been any spread of the Gospel, any conversion of nations or countries, any successful evangelistic work, excepting by the old-fashioned distinct doctrines of the early Christians and the reformers. III. A precious promise. “ Ye shall find rest to your souls.” Let it never be forgotten that rest of conscience is the secret want of a vast portion of mankind. The labouring and heavy laden are everywhere: they are a multitude that man can scarcely number; they are to be found in every climate and in every country under the sun. Everywhere you will find trouble, care, sorrow: anxiety, murmuring, discontent, and unrest. Did God create man at the beginning to be unhappy? Most certainly not. Are human governments to blame because men are not happy? At most to a very slight extent. The fault lies far too deep to be reached by human laws. Sin and departure from God are the true reasons why men are everywhere restless, labouring, and heavy laden. Sin is the universal disease which infects the whole earth. The rest that Christ gives in the “ old paths” is an inward thing. It is rest of heart, rest of conscience, rest of mind, rest of affection, rest of will. (Bishop J. C. Ryle.) Standing in the old paths I. The dangers of judging of religion, without long and diligent examination. Happy would it be for the present age if men were distrustful of their own abilities. II. The reasonableness of searching into antiquity, or of asking for the old paths. With regard to the order and government of the primitive Church, we may doubtless follow their authority with perfect security; they could not possibly be ignorant of laws executed, and customs practised, by themselves; nor would they, even supposing them corrupt, serve any interests of their own, by handing down false accounts to posterity. Nor is this the only, though perhaps the chief use of these writers; for, in matters of faith, and points of doctrine, those, at least, who lived in the ages nearest to the times of the apostles, undoubtedly deserve to be consulted. The oral doctrines, and occasional explications of the apostles, must have been treasured up in the memory of their audiences, and transmitted for some time from father to son. III. The happiness which attends a well-grounded belief and steady practice of religion. Suspense and uncertainty distract the soul, disturb its motions, and retard its operations; while we doubt in what manner to worship God, there is great danger lest we should neglect to worship Him at all. There is a much closer connection between practice and speculation than is generally imagined. A man disquieted with scruples concerning any important article of religion, will, for the most part, find himself indifferent and cold, even to those duties which he practised before with the most active diligence and ardent satisfaction. Let him then ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and he shall find rest for his soul. (S. Johnson, LL. D.) On the appeal to antiquity in matters of religion The appeal to antiquity is worth your closest observation, as one which may as well be made in our own days as in those of the prophet Jeremiah. The paths which are to be sought for are “ the old paths,” and it is their age which seems represented as giving them safety. Now it were quite idle to assert that this is in all cases a sound view, or that it will necessarily hold good when applied to the businesses and sciences of life. If we attempted, for example, to introduce into natural philosophy, the principle that the old paths are the best, we should only be urging men to travel back to a broad waste of ignorance, and to settle themselves once more in the crudest and most erroneous of opinions. We are quite ready with the like admission, in matters of civil polity. We hold unreservedly that nothing human can come to its perfection at once; and that whilst there are certain fundamental principles which can never be swerved from with safety, the determination of the best form of government for a community demands many successive experiments; so that one generation is not to hand down its institutions to the next, as not to be violated because not to be improved. The legacy of the fathers should be their experience, and that experience should be carried by the children as a new element into their political competitions. But the principle which applies not to sciences or governments may be applicable, without reservation, to religion. Religious truth is matter of revelation, and not therefore left to be searched out and determined by successive experiments; whereas truth of any other description is only to be come at by painful investigation; and until that investigation has been carried to the farthest possible limit, we have no right to claim such a fixedness for our positions, that those who come after us must receive them as irreversible. Yet we would not have it thought, that even in matters of religion, we yield unqualified submission to the voice of antiquity. We hold that there is room for discovery, strictly and properly so called in theology, as well as in astronomy or chemistry. We ourselves must necessarily be more advantageously circumstanced than any of our fathers, when the matter in question is the fulfilment of prophecy. Prophecy is of course nothing but anticipated history; and the further on, therefore, we live, in the march of those occurrences which are to make up the story of our globe and its tenants, the more power have we to find the foretold in the fulfilled, and thus to lessen the amount of unaccomplished prediction. Now when this exception has been made, we do not hesitate to apply our text to the disclosures of revelation, and to assert that in all disputes upon doctrines, and in all debates upon creeds, it is the part of wise men to appeal to antiquity.1. When we speak of antiquity, we refer to Christianity in its young days, whilst the Church was still warm with her first love, and her teachers were but little removed from those who had held intercourse with Christ and His apostles. It is in this manner, for example, that we introduce the authority of antiquity into the question of infant baptism. Unless apostles baptised infants, and unless they taught that infants were to be received into the Church, it seems well-nigh incredible that those who lived near their times, and must have obtained instruction almost from their very lips, should have adopted the custom of infant baptism. We would advance another illustration of the worth of the witness of antiquity, and we fetch it from a fundamental matter of doctrine. We believe, undoubtedly, that the Bible is adapted to all ages of the world and all ranks of society; and that the Spirit which indited it, is as ready now, as in the early days of Christianity, to act as its interpreter and open up its truths. We are assured, therefore, that the sublime doctrine of the Trinity, if it, indeed, be contained in the Word of inspiration, will be made known to every prayerful and diligent student; and that there will need no acquaintance with the creeds or the commentaries of primitive Christians, in order to the apprehending of this grand discovery of the nature of Godhead. But, at the same time, when all kinds of opinions are broached, diametrically at variance with the doctrine of the Trinity, and men labour to devise and support interpretations of Scripture which shall quite overthrow this foundation stone of Christianity, we count it of no mean worth, that in writings which have come down to us from days just succeeding the apostolic, we can find the Trinity in unity as broadly asserted, and as clearly defined, as in any of the treatises which now professedly undertake its defence. Now you will understand, from these instances, the exact use of antiquity, in matters of religion; and the sense in which it may fairly be expected that the old paths are the right. “ Where was your religion till Luther arose?” is the question broached in every dispute between the Romish Church and the Reformed. The Romish Church prides itself on being the old Church, and reproaches the Reformed with being the new. And we admit, in all frankness, that if the Romish Church made good its pretensions--if it could win for itself the praise of antiquity, and fix fairly on the Protestant newness, Popery would gain an almost unassailable position; for we are inclined to hold it as little less than an axiom in religion, that the oldest Christianity is the best. But we are quite ready to meet the Roman Catholic on the ground of antiquity; and to decide the goodness by deciding the oldness of our paths. We contend, that whatever is held in common by the two Churches may be proved from Scripture, and shown to have been maintained by the earliest Christians; but that everything received by the Romish and rejected by the Protestant, can neither be substantiated by the Bible, nor sanctioned by the practice of the primitive Church. 2. There is not one amongst you, who ought not to know something of this appeal to antiquity. We may make the like assertion in regard to the Christian Sabbath. If asked for our authority for keeping holy the first day of the week, in place of the seventh, you cannot produce a direct scriptural command; but we are in possession of such clear proof, that the apostles and their immediate successors made the first day their Sabbath, that we may claim to the observance all the force of Divine institution. This, however, we must all see, is employing the practice of antiquity where we have not a distinct precept of Scripture; in other words, we prove the right paths by proving the old paths. We are not, indeed, able to appeal to primitive Christians, and to show you this union of Church or State as being sanctioned by apostolical practice. Of course, until the rulers of the kingdom embraced the faith of Christ (and this was not of early occurrence), Christianity could not become established. But, as Milner observes, from the earliest ages of patriarchal government, when holy men were favoured with a Divine revelation, governors taught the true religion, and did not permit their subjects to propagate atheism, idolatry, or false religion. There was, as under the Jewish constitution, an unquestionable authority which the magistrates possessed in ecclesiastical regulations: so that union between Church and State, in place of being novel, can be traced up almost from the beginning of the world. (H. Melvill, B. D.) The old paths I. The denomination.1. “ Old paths.” Way of-- (1) Obedience.(2) Worship.(3) Piety. 2. “ Old,” because-- (1) Ordained from eternity.(2) Herein all the saints haw walked.(3) Tried, and found pleasant and profitable. II. The despot. “ Good way.”1. A path may be “ old,” yet not “ good” ; this is both. 2. When may a path be called “ good” ? (1) When safe.(2) Direct.(3) Frequented.(4) Pleasant.(5) Firm and passable. III. The directions. They who seek this path should bell. 1. Cautious in their observations.2. Earnest in their inquiries.3. Prompt in entering thereon. IV. The destination.1. In the journey many blessings of rest will be enjoyed, as contentment, satisfaction, cheerfulness, security. 2. Afterwards there will be fulness of rest: the path leads to eternal repose, happiness, glory. (Sermon Framework.) The good old path Men are travellers. No continuing city here; no rest. Days upon earth but a shadow; none abiding. Must go on--from earth, with its cares and sorrows and privileges and joys--either to heaven or hell. I. A solemn exhortation.1. We should ascertain what path we are walking in. Men do not think enough about spiritual things. Many a poor misguided traveller would enter the right path and obtain eternal life if he gave heed to the things which make for his peace. (1) This examination of the path should be made immediately. Not a moment to be lost. Next step may plunge you in some deadly pit. (2) This examination should be made faithfully. Not superficially. Our being different from those around us is not enough, for we may still be wrong. Must bring our conduct and habits of life to the standard of God’ s Word, and compare them with that. (3) This examination should be made prayerfully. It is useless for us to make it in our own strength or wisdom; but, influenced and guided by the Spirit of Christ, we cannot err. 2. We must not only ascertain if our way be wrong, but inquire for the right path. (1) It is here termed the old path. The way of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, good and holy of every clime and age. The everlasting Gospel has existed from eternity. (2) It is to be sought out. Eternity depends on the issue. 3. Having found the right path, we are to walk in it. Knowledge alone is not sufficient; there must be practical application of it. II. A gracious promise.1. The rest promised is of the highest kind. For the soul. The soul requires it. Burdened with sin; filled with feverish anxiety; like a ship tossed on a troubled sea. 2. This rest can be bestowed by God alone. It is the fruit of our union with Him, the result of our being His dear children. 3. In what does it consist? In our being forgiven; in our being conscious of the Divine favour; in our having the Spirit of Christ in our souls; in our dependence upon the promises. (H. B. Ingrain.) The good old way I. The nature of the old way from which adam so fatally swerved, and all his descendants with him.1. The way of self-denial. As this principle involves resistance to temptation, control of temper and overthrow of natural inclinations and habits, it is necessarily an important ingredient of true religion; from the nature of the case, from the bare fact of its being amenable to the superior will of the Almighty, an indispensable requisite of finite perfection in all instances whatsoever. 2. The way of implicit dependence upon God. Until the foul spirit of restless discontent took possession of his breast Adam was sufficed to rest and rely for everything upon the wisdom, power, love and benignity of Him who created him content to know no more than what He taught him, and to exercise his mental faculties and reasoning powers in entire subordination to his Superior’ s wish, questioning nothing, but taking everything as perfect that came from Him. The knowledge, service and worship of God were the objects of all he thought, saw, or did. Beyond them there was nothing he eared to desire or know. 3. The way of humility. “ Knowledge” says St. Paul, “ puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” What knowledge? Not the chastened, subdued, heaven-taught and heaven-tempered wisdom which guided the soul and enlarged the understanding of Adam before he fell, but that meretricious counterfeit of it--that now delusive light, whose pride-awakening, man-flattering beams, brought first to bear on his foolish heart by the arch destroyer at the fall, allured him to his destruction. II. How we may obey the command of the text in returning to this way. Whoever in earnest desires to recover his lost innocence, and the forfeited favour of his Creator, and to return to that better land, that state of ineffable bliss and purity, which was the original birthright of us all, are taught in the Gospel of the grace of God that the first step in that direction is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners; which is nothing else than that filial trust or confidence we have already mentioned as displayed by Adam before he fell. III. The necessity and advantage, as well as duty, of obeying the advice given in the text. (S. H. Simpson.) The respect due to antiquity It has been well said by Lord Bacon, that the antiquity of past ages is the youth of the world--and therefore it is an inversion of the right order, to look for greater wisdom in some former generation than there should be in our present day. “ The time in which we now live,” says he, “ is properly the ancient time, because now the world is ancient; and not that time which we call ancient, when we look in a retrograde direction, and by a computation backward from ourselves.” There must be a delusion, then, in that homage which is given to the wisdom of antiquity, as d it bore the same superiority over the wisdom of the present times, which the wisdom of an old does over that of a young man. It is in vain to talk of Socrates, and Plato, and Aristotle. Only grant that there may still be as many good individual specimens of humanity as before; and a Socrates now, with all the additional lights which have sprung up in the course of intervening centuries to shine upon his understanding, would be a greatly wiser man than the Socrates of two thousand years ago. But however important thus to reduce the deference that is paid to antiquity; and with whatever grace and propriety it has been done by him who stands at the head of the greatest revolution in philosophy. we shall incur the danger of running into most licentious waywardness, if we receive not the principle, to which I have now adverted, with two modifications. Our first modification is, that though, in regard to all experimental truth, the world should be wiser now than it was centuries ago, this is the fruit not of our contempt or our heedlessness in regard to former ages, but the fruit of our most respectful attention to the lessons which their history affords. We do right in not submitting to the dictation of antiquity; but that is no cause why we should refuse to be informed by her--for this were throwing us back again to the world’ s infancy, like the second childhood of him whom disease had bereft of all his recollections. And so, again, in the language of Bacon, “ Antiquity deserveth that reverence, that men should make a stand thereupon, and discover what is the best way; but when the discovery is well taken then to make progression.” But there is a second modification, which, in the case of a single individual of the species, it is easy to understand, and which we shall presently apply to the whole species. We may conceive of a man, that, after many years of vicious indulgence, he is at once visited by the lights of conscience and memory; and is enabled to contrast the dislike, and the dissatisfaction, and the dreariness of heart, which now prey on the decline of his earthly existence, with all the comparative innocence which gladdened its hopeful and happy morning. As he bethinks him of his early home, of the piety which flourished there, and that holy atmosphere in which he was taught to breathe with kindred aspirations, he cannot picture to himself the bliss and the beauty of such a scene, mellowed as it is by distance, and mingled with the dearest recollections of parents, and sisters, and other kindred now mouldering in the dust, he cannot recall for a moment this fond, though faded imagery, without sighing in the bitterness of his heart, after the good old way. Now, what applies to one individual may apply to the species. In a prolonged course of waywardness, they may have wandered very far from the truth of heaven. And after, perhaps, a whole dreary millennium of guilt and of darkness, may some gifted individual arise, who can look athwart the gloom, and descry the purer and the better age of Scripture light which lies beyond it. And as he compares all the errors and the mazes of that vast labyrinth into which so many generations had been led by the jugglery of deceivers, with that simple but shining path which conducts the believer unto glory, let us wonder not that the aspiration of his pious and patriotic heart should be for the good old way. We now see wherein it is that the modern might excel the ancient. In regard to experimental truth, he can be as much wiser than his predecessors, as the veteran and the observant sage is wiser than the unpractised stripling, to whom the world is new, and who has yet all to learn of its wonders and of its ways. The voice that is now emitted from the schools, whether of physical or of political science, is the voice of the world’ s antiquity. The voice emitted from the same schools, in former ages, was the voice of the world’ s childhood, which then gave forth in lisping utterance the conceits and the crudities of its young unchastened speculation. But in regard to things not experimental, in regard even to taste, or to imagination, or to moral principle, as well as to the stable and unchanging lessons of Divine truth, there is no such advancement. For the perfecting of these, we have not to wait the slow processes of observation and discovery, handed down from one generation to another. They address themselves more immediately to the spirit’ s eye; and just as in the solar light of day, our forefathers saw the whole of visible creation as perfectly as we--so in the lights, whether of fancy, or of conscience, or of faith, they may have had as just and vivid a perception of nature’ s beauties; or they may have had as ready a discrimination, and as religious a sense of all the proprieties of life; or they may have had a veneration as solemn, and an acquaintance as profound, with the mysteries of revelation, as the men of our modern and enlightened day. And, accordingly, we have as sweet or sublime an eloquence, and as transcendent a poetry, and as much both of the exquisite and noble in all the fine arts, and a morality as delicate and dignified; and, to crown the whole, as exulted and as informed a piety in the remoter periods of the world, as among ourselves, to whom the latter ends of the world have come. In respect of these, we are not on higher vantage-ground than many of the generations that have gone by. But neither are we on lower vantage ground. We have access to the same objects. We are in possession of the same faculties. And, if between the age in which we live, and some bright and bygone era, there should have intervened the deep and the long-protracted haze of many centuries, whether of barbarism in taste, or of profligacy in morals, or of superstition in Christianity, it will only heighten, by comparison, to our eyes, the glories of all that is excellent; and if again awakened to light and to liberty, it will only endear the more to our hearts the good old way. (T. Chalmers, D. D.) Steadfastness in the old paths In what respect should we follow old times? Now here there is this obvious maxim--what God has given us from heaven cannot be improved, what man discovers for himself does admit of improvement: we follow old times then so far as God has spoken in them; but in those respects in which God has not spoken in them, we are not bound to follow them. Now knowledge connected merely with this present world, we have been left to acquire for ourselves. How we may till our lands and increase our crops; how we may build our houses, and buy and sell and get gain; how we may cross the sea in ships; how we may make “ fine linen for the merchant,” or, like Tubal-Cain, be artificers in brass and iron: as to these objects of this world, necessary indeed for the time, not lastingly important, God has given us no clear instruction. Here then we have no need to follow the old ways. Besides, in many of these arts and pursuits, there is really neither right nor wrong at all; but the good varies with times and places. Each country has its own way, which is best for itself, and bad for others. Again, God has given us no authority in questions of science. If we wish to boast ,bout little matters, we know more about the motions of the heavenly bodies than Abraham, whose seed was in number as the stars; we can measure the earth, and fathom the sea, and weigh the air, more accurately than Moses, the inspired historian of the creation; and we can discuss the varied inhabitants of this earth better than Solomon. But let us turn to that knowledge which God has given, and which therefore does not admit of improvement by lapse of time; this is religious knowledge. God taught Adam how to please Him, and Noah, and Abraham, and Job. He has taught every nation all over the earth sufficiently for the moral training of every individual. In all these cases, the world’ s part of the work has been to pervert the truth, not to disengage it from obscurity. The new ways are the crooked ones. The nearer we mount up to the time of Adam, or Noah, or Abraham, or Job, the purer light of truth we gain; as we recede from it we meet with superstitions, fanatical excesses, idolatries, and immoralities. So again in the case of the Jewish Church, since God expressly gave them a precise law, it is clear man could not improve upon it; he could but add the “ traditions of men.” Lastly, in the Christian Church, we cannot add or take away, as regards the doctrines that are contained in the inspired volume, as regards the faith once delivered to the saints. Other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). But it may be said that, though the Word of God is an infallible rule of faith, yet it requires interpreting, and why, as time goes on, should we not discover in it more than we at present know on the subject of religion and morals? But this is hardly a question of practical importance to us as individuals; for in truth a very little knowledge is enough for teaching a man his duty: and, since Scripture is intended to teach us our duty, surely it was never intended as a storehouse of mere knowledge. Little knowledge is required for religious obedience. The poor and rich, the learned and unlearned, are here on a level. We have all of us the means of doing our duty; we have not the will, and this no knowledge can give. We have need to subdue our own minds, and this no other person can do for us. Practical religious knowledge is a personal gift, and, further, a gift from God; and, therefore, as experience has hitherto shown, more likely to be obscured than advanced by the lapse of time. But further, we know of the existence of an evil principle in the world, corrupting and resisting the truth in its measure, according to the truth’ s clearness and purity. Our Saviour, who was the truth itself, was the most spitefully entreated of all by the world. It has been the case with His followers too. The purer and more valuable the gift which God bestows, far from this being a security for the truth’ s abiding and advancing, rather the more grievously has been the gift abused (1 John 2:18; 2 Timothy 3:13). Such is the case as regards the knowledge of our duty,--that kind of knowledge which alone is really worth earnest seeking. And there is an important reason why we should acquiesce in it;--because the conviction that things are so has no slight influence in forming our minds into that perfection of the religious character at which it is our duty ever to be aiming. While we think it possible to make some great and important improvements in the subject of religion, we shall be unsettled, restless, impatient; we shall be drawn from the consideration of improving ourselves, and from using the day while it is given us, by the visions of a deceitful hope, which promises to make rich but tendeth to penury. On the other hand, as we cease to be theorists we shall become practical men; we shall have less of self-confidence and arrogance, more of inward humility and diffidence; we shall be less likely to despise others, and think of our own intellectual powers with less complacency. It is one great peculiarity of the Christian’ s character to be dependent; to be willing to serve, and to rejoice in the permission; to be able to view himself in a subordinate place; to love to sit in the dust. To his ears the words of the text are as sweet music: “ Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths,” etc. The history of the old dispensation affords us a remarkable confirmation of what has been argued; for in the time of the law there was an increase of religious knowledge by fresh revelations. From the time of Samuel especially to the time of Malachi, the Church was bid look forward for a growing illumination, which, though not necessary for religious obedience, subserved the establishment of religious comfort. Now, observe how careful the inspired prophets of Israel are to prevent any kind of disrespect being shown to the memory of former times, on account of that increase of religious knowledge with which the later ages were favoured; and if such reverence for the past were a duty among the Jews when the Saviour was still to come, much more is it the duty of Christians. Now, as to the reverence enjoined and taught the Jews towards persons and times past, we may notice first the commandment given them to honour and obey their parents and elders. This, indeed, is a natural law. But that very circumstance surely gives force to the express and repeated injunctions given them to observe it, sanctioned too (as it was) with a special promise. But, further, to bind them to the observance of this duty, the past was made the pledge of the future, hope was grounded upon memory; all prayer for favour sent them back to the old mercies of God. “ The Lord hath been mindful of us, He will bless us” ; this was the form of their humble expectation. Lastly, as Moses directed the eyes of his people towards the line of prophets which the Lord their God was to raise up from among them, ending in the Messiah, they in turn dutifully exalt Moses, whose system they were superseding. Samuel, David, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, each in succession, bear testimony to Moses. Oh, that we had duly drunk into this spirit of reverence and godly fear. Doubtless we are far above the Jews in our privileges; we are favoured with the news of redemption; we know doctrines, which righteous men of old time earnestly desired to be told, and were not. Yet our honours are our shame, when we contrast the glory given us with our love of the world, our fear of men, our lightness of mind, our sensuality, our gloomy tempers. What need have we to look with wonder and reverence at those saints of the old covenant, who with less advantages yet so far surpassed us; and still more at those of the Christian Church, who both had higher gifts of grace and profited by them! (J. H. Newman, D. D.) Religion an ancient path, and a good way I. The instructive view given of religion.1. It is an ancient path. The Gospel is coeval with the Fall. All the Mosaic rites and ceremonies were typical of the blessings of the Gospel dispensation, and taught the faithful worshipper to look forward to the Saviour. 2. It is a good way. (1) This is the way which God Himself, of His infinite wisdom and goodness, hath marked out for us. (2) Those who walk in it may expect all necessary guidance and direction. (3) In wisdom’ s way we have the best of company. (4) It will afford the purest pleasure, as we advance in it, and will infallibly conduct us to perfect and endless happiness and glory. II. The duty enjoined.1. We are to use every endeavour to become acquainted with the ways of religion. (1) If we are accountable beings, what shall we think of those who seem to have formed a resolution to banish serious reflection from their minds; who plunge themselves into vice, dissipate themselves in pleasure, in vanity, and in every trifle that strikes their imagination; and devote themselves to those things, body and soul, without ever stopping to consider what they are doing, whither they are going, and what the consequences must be of their madness and folly! (2) To self-reflection we add reflection on the Word of God. (a) The way therein marked out is a way of holiness and purity. (b) The superior excellence of the Scriptures, as a rule of life, will be still further evident if we consider their high authority. 2. Our knowledge must be reduced to practice; when we have found the good way, we must walk in it. (1) We should immediately enter upon a religious course, after due information concerning it. (2) We should proceed in a religious course with the greatest care and circumspection. (3) We should endeavour to make continual progress in a religious course. 3. It is our duty to persevere in a religious course, it will not answer a traveller’ s purpose, who has a necessary journey before him, to proceed a little way in it, and then give over, or take a different path that leads a contrary way. So, in the ways of religion, he, and he only, who holds out to the end shall be saved. III. The import of the gracious promise, by which the duty here enjoined is recommended and enforced. The rest here promised consists--1. In our being delivered from those uneasy doubts and anxieties of mind which arise from an uncertainty as to the way in which we ought to go. 2. Those who walk in the good way of religion find rest to their souls, as they are thereby delivered from the great cause of inward uneasiness--the sense of unpardoned guilt; or, in other words, from the terrors of an accusing conscience. 3. They who walk in the ways of religion find rest to their souls, as they are thereby delivered from those sources of disquietude which spring from sinful and unruly passions. 4. This good way infallibly conducts those who walk in it to uninterrupted and everlasting happiness in the world to come. (James Ross, D. D.) Reverence for the old things Jeremiah was the most unpopular of the prophets. First because he was somewhat of a pessimist, uttering predictions which the events proved true enough, but which were painted in too gloomy colours to suit the tastes of the people. Secondly, because he never flattered. And a third, and even greater, reason for the dislike, was that they regarded him as old-fashioned, out of date, an antiquated, obsolete old fogey, with his eyes behind. He was always harping on the old times when people lived simple lives and feared God. And the people sneered at him as a sort of fossil, as a man who had been born a century too late. The people had a disease upon them which might be called Egyptomania. They wanted to form a close alliance with Egypt, and to adopt all their modes of life, their dress, furniture, luxuries, self-indulgences, political ideas, military system, laws, morals, and religion. There was to be a clean sweep made of all that Israel had loved and believed in and by taking heathen Egypt as a model they would speedily attain to Egypt’ s greatness and splendour. This was the craze against which the prophet set himself, and protested in vain. For there are times when a people are determined to destroy themselves. Are the old paths always Divine, and the new ways always as dangerous as this prophet thought them? The answer has to be qualified, and there are more answers than one. The Bible does not always speak in the same voice about it. If Jeremiah looked back with lingering affection, St. Paul, who had seen the higher truth in Christ, had his eyes in front, and advised us to forget the things which are behind. And a greater than Paul has told us that every wise man will bring out of his treasury things new and old. The man who sneers at everything which is old, and fancies that wisdom always wears a brand new face, has precious little of the latter article himself. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 6:20 Your burnt offerings are not acceptable.Waste worship I. The manifest failure of these Jewish offerings.1. By these their consecration was to be furthered. But they were foul. 2. By these their repentance was to be awakened. But they sinned shamefully. 3. By these their minds were to be directed to the Messiah. But, in their arrogance and care for mere externals, they lost sight of spiritual lessons. 4. By these God was to be pleased and propitiated. The text indicates their complete miscarriage in this respect. II. The indignant question and repudiation.1. God thrusts from Himself the offensive temple offerings. He demands the heart. Nothing is sweet to God without love. 2. God stigmatises them as purposeless and waste. 3. Worship that offends God is waste, but also something more. Heart hardening. Judgment. Punishment. Lessons--1. The most important matter about our spiritual things is their acceptableness with God. 2. Our best energies are needed, not for externals, but internals. (W. B. Haynes.) Ostentatiousness of hypocrisy Drones make more noise than bees, though they make neither honey nor wax. (J. Trapp.) Jeremiah 6:29-30 The bellows are burnt.The bellows burnt Apply to-- I. The prophet himself. The prophet was exhausted before the people were impressed. So also with Noah, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Jesus Himself. Nor since, by apostles, confessors, zeal-consuming preachers, has the iron-hearted world become melted; but they themselves have suffered and perished amid their work.1. It is the preacher’ s business to continue labouring till he is worn out. 2. The Gospel he preaches is the infallible test between the precious and the vile. II. The afflictions which God sends upon ungodly men. Sent to see if they will melt in the furnace or not. But where there is no grace in affliction the afflictions are sooner exhausted than the sinner’ s heart is made to melt under the heat caused thereby--e.g., Pharaoh, not softened by all the plagues. Ahaz, “ when he was afflicted, he sinned yet more and more.” Jerusalem, often chastised, yet incorrigible. Sinners, upon whom God’ s judgments exert no melting power. III. The chastisements which God sends upon His own people. The great Refiner will have His gold pure, and will utterly remove our tin. Do not let it be said that the bellows are used till they are worn out before our afflictions melt us to repentance and cause us to let go our sins. IV. The time is coming when the excitement of ungodly men will fail them. Many activities are kept up by outward energies inciting men.1. Excitement in pursuit of wealth. Yet how little will the joys of wealth stimulate you in your last moments! 2. Excitement in pursuing fame. Alas! men burn away their lives for the approbation of fellow creatures; and these fires will die down into darkness. 3. Living for pleasure; but satiety follows, and the flame of joy goes out. 4. Hypocrisy is with some their “ bellows” ; but this feigned zeal and pretended piety will end in black despair. V. Those excitements which keep alive the Christian’ s zeal. In certain Churches we have seen great blazings of enthusiasm, misnamed “ revivals,” mere agitations. Genuine revivals I love, but these spurious things are fanaticism. Why was it the fire soon went out? The man who blew the bellows left the scene of excitement, and darkness ensued. Our earnestness is worthless which depends on such special ministrations. Is the fire in our soul burning less vehemently than in years past? Our obligations to live for Christ are the same; our Master’ s claims on our love are as strong; the objects for which we served God in the past are as important. Should we grow less heavenly the nearer we come to the New Jerusalem? (C. H. Spurgeon.) The prophet’ s consuming zeal and the people’ s unresponsiveness He likens the people of Israel to a mass of metal. This mass of metal claimed to be precious ore, such as gold or silver. It was put into the furnace, the object being to fuse it, so that the pure metal should be extracted from the dross. Lead was put in with the ore to act as a flux (that being relied upon by the ancient smelters, as quicksilver now is in these more instructed days); a fire was kindled, and then the bellows were used to create an intense heat, the bellows being the prophet himself. He complains that he spake with such pathos, such energy, such force of heart, that he exhausted himself without being able to melt the people’ s hearts; so hard was the ore, that the bellows were burned before the metal was melted--the prophet was exhausted before the people were impressed; he had worn out his lungs, his powers of utterance; he had exhausted his mind, his powers of thought; he had broken his heart, his powers of emotion; but he could not divide the people from their sins, and separate the precious from the vile. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The lead is consumed of the fire. Refining fire We mean precisely the same thing as the Hebrew prophet meant when we say, as nowadays we are so apt to say, that life is a school. People still are puzzled by the punishments of life. The discipline is strict. The rules are rigid. Oftentimes we suffer. It is not by any means all play. But there are lessons to be learned, and forbearance to be used, and suffering to be borne. It seems to us narrow and foolish of Jeremiah to have fancied that the Lord raised up those great Assyrian and Babylonian nations simply for the purpose of trying and testing the Jewish people. It was narrow also of the Jews to fancy themselves the “ chosen people,” whom God particularly loved and wished to save. Yet all of us today are similarly narrow in one sense, and we have to be. We cannot free ourselves, you and I and others like us, from the conviction that we, as men and women, by virtue of the very life that is in us, are the centre and meaning of this entire universe. Believe this in some degree we must. Doubt it, and the very heavens are bleak and bare. Every system in philosophy, every article of religious faith, every discovery in science, is based, more or less directly, upon the supposition of this distinct relationship between the outer universe and the life of man. Let us use, for convenience’ sake, the analogy of the prophet. We will suppose that we are placed here as the crude ore is thrown into the furnace, in order to be refined. Along what lines should the process of refinement work? Nothing is more familiar than the claim that sorrow chastens us, and hardships strengthen, and trials test. As Goethe said, “ Talent is perfected in retirement, but character only in the stream of life.” They tell this concerning Wendell Phillips. Whenever the great orator tended to become a little prosy in his speeches, and to lose some of his customary fire, certain young Abolitionists used to get together near the door and start a hiss. The note of disapproval never failed to arouse the lion in the speaker, and he was electrified at once into matchless eloquence. The world’ s agencies of trial and toil and difficulty are indeed in vain, the bellows of life are consumed most uselessly, if you and I are not made more courageous and calm and self-reliant by the process. And yet the hard things of this world ought not to be the only ones to have this refining influence. We are weak and ungrateful, and made of anything but precious metal, if we are not purified by the privileges of life, hallowed by its happiness, humbled by success. In everyday life most of us are not deficient in gratitude. We appreciate the kindness and generosity of our friends. But how few of us in comparison fall to our knees in an hour of newborn joy, or reverently think of life’ s higher meaning, and resolve on a rigider performance of our duties, when success has bathed us in its golden sunshine! There is no much surer test of character than this: What effect has good fortune had? If the person is innately weak to whom some power or privilege has come, he answers it by pride and selfishness and vain indulgence. He feels himself exalted; and, instead of looking up in reverence and humility to his God, he looks down with coldness on his fellow men. Shall I tell you what is to me one of the most inspiring, beautiful sights in all the wide range of human activity and character? It is to see and know of anyone truly great who has been humbled by success, and touched into infinite modesty by the consciousness of superlative ability. It is to find people refined into simplicity and gentle devoutness by the world’ s blandishments and distinctions and honours. And this has been the refining influence to which the noblest and the truest ones have answered. You all know, too, the saying of the distinguished, world-honoured discoverer, Sir Isaac Newton,--that he was nothing but a helpless child gathering pebbles on a boundless shore, with the great ocean of undiscovered truth stretching away beyond him. I have spoken of sorrow and of joy--the two extremes of existence--as having properly this purifying influence on life. Let, me now speak broadly of certain phases of refinement which ought to appear as the result of the world’ s great processes.1. First, there is the refining fire of glory, which is so abundant in the outward world. It is for us to answer it by what is known as reverence. We have not the pure metal which is sought, if we are not so refined by the wonders of the world as to kneel in worship, and uplift our souls in awe. “ This world is not for him who does not worship,” said an ancient Persian sage; and our kindred souls give back the truth across the centuries, “ This world is not for him who does not worship.” 2. Again, there is the burning fact of law. All things around us are done with persistency. Everything is regular. The smallest function is precise. Surely the knowledge of such constancy should have its influence on us. It should take what is pure within us. It should appeal to the clear metal of our better selves, and make us trust. 3. Finally, the fire of utter impartiality surrounds us. The world is laid at each one’ s feet. The Divine bounty is not given to this person, and denied to that one; but all of us receive. And the answering refinement which should come from receptive human beings, who may doubt its nature or its need? A suggestive legend comes to us from Mohammedan writings. Abraham, it is said, once received an old man in his tent, who, in sitting down to eat, neglected to repeat a “ grace.” “ My custom,” he said, in explanation, “ is that of the fire worshipper.” --Whereupon the Jewish patriarch in wrath undertook to drive him from his door. But suddenly God appeared to him, and, restraining the churlish impulse, cried: “ Abraham, for one hundred years the Divine bounty has flowed out to you in sunshine and in rain; and is it for you to deny shelter to this man because his worship is not thine?” Even thus does nature speak a silent yet severe rebuke to our narrowness, our lack of sympathy, our petty distinctions and rivalries in social life. “ Be broad,” she cries. “ Let love control your acts; to those who need, extend a helping hand.” (P. R. Frothingham.) . Jeremiah 7:1-7 Stand in the gate . . . and proclaim.Boldness in preaching Some preachers are traders from port to port, following the customary and approved course; others adventure over the whole ocean of human concerns. The former are hailed by the common voice of the multitude, whose cause they hold, the latter blamed as idle, often suspected of hiding deep designs, always derided as having lost all guess of the proper course. Yet, of the latter class of preachers was Paul the apostle. Such adventurers, under God, this age of the world seems to us especially to want. There are ministers now to hold the flock in pasture and in safety, but where are they to make inroads upon the alien, to bring in the votaries of fashion, of literature, of sentiment, of policy, and of rank? Truly, it is not stagers who take on the customary form of their office and go the beaten round of duty, and then lie down content; but it is daring adventurers, who shall eye from the grand eminence of a holy and heavenly mind all the grievances which religion underlies, and all the obstacles which stay her course, and then descend with the self-denial and faith of an apostle to set the battle in array against them. (Edward Irving.) Enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.--The character required in those the would worship God The heathen had a notion that the gods would not like the service and sacrifice of any but such as were like themselves, and therefore to the sacrifice of Hercules none were to be admitted that were dwarfs; and to the sacrifice of Bacchus, a merry god, none that were sad and pensive, as not suiting their genius. An excellent truth may be drawn from their folly: he that would like to please God must be like God. (H. G. Salter.) Amend your ways and your doings.--Religion, the best security to Church and State I. Religion, and the general practice of it in a nation, is the surest establishment of states and kingdoms.1. This is true in a natural way; because the duties of religion have a natural tendency to those things which are the foundations of that establishment, namely, peace, unity, and order. 2. But besides a natural tendency in virtue and goodness to the establishment of states and kingdoms, as many as believe religion must likewise believe that the general practice of it in a nation will be always attended with a supernatural blessing from God. For this is the result of all the declarations of God, as to the manner and rule of His dealings with mankind, whether persons or nations, that as many as faithfully serve and obey Him, shall be assuredly intituled to His favour and protection. II. In every nation it is the proper business of the civil magistrates, as such, to vindicate and maintain the honour of religion. And when I am speaking of authority, and the vigorous application thereof by the magistrate, I cannot omit one thing, which is a mighty enforcement of it, a good example; which, in its nature, is the most forcible way of teaching and correcting, and without which, neither the instructions of ministers, nor the authority of magistrates, can avail, to the effectual discouragement and suppression of vice. III. Without a serious regard to the moral and spiritual duties of religion, the greatest zeal in other matters, even though it be for the established worship of God, will not secure the Divine favour and protection, either to persons or nations. The external rites of religion are good helps to devotion, and proper means of maintaining order and decency in the public worship; and a zeal to preserve them, with a serious regard to those pious and wise ends, is very laudable: but to believe that zeal for them will atone for a neglect of the moral and spiritual duties of religion is a dangerous error. (E. Gibson, D. D.) The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these. The folly of trusting in external privileges I. We are to show the extreme folly of trusting to any religious privileges, while our hearts remain unrenewed and our lives unholy. On what ground can we rely on the continuance of God’ s favour under such circumstances? Should we, because a friend had conferred many benefits upon us, and forgiven us many offences, be justified in supposing that there would be no limit to his endurance? Yet the Jews--and their case is not singular--seemed to claim a special right to the continued favour of God, in virtue of their religious privileges; not considering that those privileges were a free gift; that they might at any time be withdrawn, without a shadow of injustice; and that while they lasted they were intended to operate, not as inducements to presumption, but as motives to love and thankfulness and obedience. They had in themselves no spiritual efficacy. Neither the character of God, nor His promises, held out any ground of hope on which to build such a conclusion. It would not have been consistent with His holiness, or wisdom, or justice, that the sinner should escape under the plea of any national or personal privileges, however great. And His promises, both temporal and spiritual, were all made in accordance with the same principle. “ If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments and do them . . . then I will walk among you, and I will be your God;. . .but if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments,. . .I will set My face against you.” The whole tenor of God’ s providential dispensations is likewise to the same effect. And accordingly, the Jews, great as were their national mercies, found on numerous occasions that they were not exempt from the just displeasure of their Divine Governor. Yet, with all these proofs of God’ s righteous judgments, their constant cry was, “ The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord” : they caught hold, as it were, of the horns of the altar with unhallowed hands; and, notwithstanding the threatenings of the Almighty, were ever prone to trust in those external privileges. At the very time when they were committing the grievous enormities of which the prophet Jeremiah convicts them, they were zealous for the outward worship of God, and boasted highly of their religious profession. But could any folly be greater than that of supposing that this insincere worship could satisfy Him who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins? The prophet forcibly points out the extreme folly and delusiveness of such expectations: “ Go,” he says, “ unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first; and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called unto you, but ye answered not; therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by My name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.” Having thus considered the extreme folly of trusting to external privileges, while the heart is unrenewed and the life unholy, we are-- II. To show that this folly is too common in all ages; and that we ourselves, perhaps, are guilty of it. How many pride themselves in being zealous Protestants, or strict members of the Established Church, or regular attendants on public worship, while they live in the spirit of the world, and without any scriptural evidence of being in a state of favour with God! How many trust to the supposed orthodoxy of their faith; or to their zeal against infidelity, enthusiasm; while they are ignorant of the scriptural way of salvation, and indifferent to the great concern of making their calling and election sure! How many cherish a secret hope from the prayers of religious parents, the zeal and piety of their ministers. In short, innumerable are the ways in which persons deceive themselves on these subjects; fancying that the temple of the Lord is among them; and on this vain surmise remaining content and careless in their sins, and ignorant of all true religion. Now let us ask ourselves, in conclusion, whether such is our own case. On what are we placing our hopes for eternity? Are we resting upon anything superficial or external; upon anything short of genuine conversion of heart to God? True piety is not anything that can be done for us; it must be engrafted in us; it must dwell in our hearts, and show its blessed effects in our conduct. (Christian Observer.) Jeremiah 7:5 If ye thoroughly amend. Thorough amendment 1. Religion has to do with character and conduct. Religion is that which “ binds,” and it has a tremendous grip. It has to do not only with creeds, and forms, and rites, but with character and conduct. 2. Religion makes little of mere emotion. Some persons delight in the excitation of the sensibilities. The Master’ s word is, “ If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” This is the proof of genuine love. The mother takes her boy’ s kiss as a sign of emotion, but sees in his obedience the proof of principle, which is more than mere feeling. (1) The first characteristic of true religion is a right view of sin. Our prayer should be, “ Wash me thoroughly,” even as the spotted robe was in David’ s day cleansed in a vat with strong acid and alkali, mauled and bruised with mallet, till the stain was gone. God uses powerful methods to purify. Some dread to be born again, because they know that they will be required to thoroughly amend their ways, i.e., “ throughly,” as the word was formerly spelled. True amendment goes through and through to the uttermost end--clear to the furthest limit. (2) There must be not only right views, but a clean sweep of sin. The people of Israel found that those they spared of idolatrous nations were thorns in their sides and pricks in their eyes. If we do not drive sin out, sin will drive us out. What we call little sins accumulate, as do the snowflakes which stop a locomotive. We shall arrest the power and blessing of God by tolerating small transgressions. (3) Thorough amendment comprehends character and conduct--what we are and what we do. It were useless to throw our prayers into a malarious swamp and leave the source, the well head, unclean. Pray that God’ s Spirit may create “ a clean heart.” Then follow conscience. The amendment enjoined in the text is a new life. Christ and the soul are firmly united, and He is the model. A little fibre, just enough to cling to the sacrament, is not enough. That Hamburg grapevine would not have yielded you those rich clusters if the branches had not been closely united to the vine. You are Christ’ s. You will hate sin because He abhors it. You will also heed Christ’ s demands on your time, your income, and your strength. 3. The text promises permanency; not merely a visit, but an abode where one can root and grow, work and worship, till transplanted to heaven. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.) Reformation must be thorough Some men, when they attempt to reform their lives, reform those things for which they do not much care. They take the torch of God’ s Word, and enter some indifferent chamber and the light blazes in, and they see that they are very sinful there; and then they look into another room, where they do not often stay, and are willing to admit that they are very sinful there; but they leave unexplored some cupboards and secret apartments where their life really is, and where they have stored up the things which are dearest to them, and which they will neither part with nor suffer rebuke for. (H. W. Beecher.) Jeremiah 7:9-10 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely . . . and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Fate “ It is my fate,” is the excuse for many a career of shame and sin. I do not think that most persons who practically rest satisfied with this explanation of the evil of their lives put it actually into words. They are content with a vague undefined feeling that some excuse or explanation of the sort is possible. Perhaps we should all escape many perils and evils if we more frequently took care to formulate our undefined thoughts into language, and carefully examine their nature.1. Our idea of God’ s dealings with us is very largely influenced by the condition of the age in which we live. The language of inspiration will be interpreted by us according to the meaning which, in other directions, we already attach to the words which it must employ; and thus the government of communities by laws has so modified our thought of the Divine government that we no longer have the rude conception of a Divine Ruler acting from caprice; we have now rather the idea of a Being who acts through the operation of great universal laws. That conception of God is so far true, and that interpretation of the words of revelation so far accurate; but there has grown up with it the thought that God acts only thus, which is false. We attribute to the action of the All-wise God the imperfections--the necessary imperfections which belong to human institutions. Now, we must not transfer to God our own finality and failure. God’ s laws are universal and general; God’ s dealings with men are particular and individual As, in the physical world, we find that equilibrium is produced by the action of two equal and opposite forces, so in the moral world we have universal irresistible laws, and we have tender loving individualisation, and the resultant of the two is God’ s calm and equable government of men. Everywhere we see man demanding, and by his conduct showing that he possesses that liberty of action and power of control in the material world which, to palliate his sin, he denies to belong to him in the moral world. You know that the application of heat to certain substances will generate a powerful destructive force. You know such to be a physical law, and what do you do? Do you sit down and say, It is a law of nature, and I cannot resist it? No. You say, “ I find it to be a law, and I shall take care either that it shall not come into operation, or if it does come into operation, I shall construct machinery to direct its force, and so make it operate only in the direction which I choose.” You ascertain certain laws of health, that infection will spread a certain disease, and do you say, The disease must spread, I cannot fight against a law? No. You take care to keep the infection away from you, to disinfect, and so prevent the operation of that law; and yet that same man when he finds that there are places which will taint his moral nature with disease, that there are scenes or pleasures which will generate in his soul a destructive force, says, “ I cannot help it, these things will act so; I have no liberty.” You have no liberty to prevent their acting so on you, I admit, no more than you have power to prevent fire igniting powder; but you have power to keep away from them; you have power to prevent those conditions arising under which alone the law will operate. Oh! when we know and feel the evil in the physical world, we take every precaution against its recurrence. How much less zeal and determination do we display concerning our souls! 2. To say that you have a peculiar kind of nature which cannot resist a particular class of sin is to offer to God an excuse which you would never accept from your fellow man. You treat every one of your fellow men as having power to resist the inclination of his natural disposition, so far as its indulgence would be injurious to you. If a man rob you or assault you, no explanation of a natural desire for acquisition or for aggression would be listened to by you as a reasonable excuse. To admit the truth of such principles of uncontrollable natural impulse would at once shake society and destroy all human government. And do you think that such excuses as you would not admit are to be accepted as excuses for, or even explanations of those sins which do not happen to fall within the category of legal crimes, but which, much more than those crimes for which the law imprisons and hangs, are destroying the moral order of God’ s universe, and outraging the highest and noblest principles of truth, and purity, and love? But it cannot be denied that we have strong natural dispositions and passions which we have been given independently of ourselves, and for the possession of which we cannot with justice be held responsible? Certainly--and you never find fault with a man for any faculty or temper which he may have--but you do hold him responsible for the direction and control of it. We can point to countless noble careers to show how the strong impulses of individual natures are indeed irresistible, but their action is controllable. The great heroes whom we justly reverence, who rise above us as some snow-capped mountain towers above the dead level of a low-lying plain, are not those who have destroyed, but those who have preserved and used aright the natural impulses and passions which had been given them. That is the true meaning of such lives as those of St. Paul, or Martin Luther--St. Augustine, or John Bunyan. Ay, and there are many still amongst us who use their natural dispositions and their natural affections, their natural passions--even their natural beauty, which might have been used to lure souls to hell--to win many a one to a nobler and purer life. What a solemn responsibility, then, is the right use of our natural disposition and talents, for others as well as for ourselves. To you, my young friends, especially, I would say, Do try and begin early to recognise the solemnity of life. Do not be downhearted or dismayed if, after you have felt the power of Christ’ s death, and when you would do good, evil is present with you. Do not let such moments harden you. Try and realise then all the love and mercy and tenderness with which the crucified Lord looks upon you, as He once looked on the fallen apostle, and, like him, “ go forth and weep bitterly.” Then it will be well with you. Sin shall not reign in you, though for the moment it seems to have conquered you. (T. T. Shore, M. A.) On necessity I. Men are very fond of ascribing their sins to the temptations of the devil, and in such a way as, in the main, to put the responsibility upon him. It is surely taught in the Word of God that evil spirits do foment wickedness; that they suggest it; that they persuade men to it. It is not taught that they infuse it, and perform it in men. It is taught that Satan persuades men to sin; but the men do the sinning--not he. The power of temptation depends upon two elements: first, the power of presenting inducement or motive on the part of the tempter; and, secondly and mainly, the strength in the victim of the passion to which this motive is presented. No one could tempt to pride a man that had not already a powerful tendency to pride. The chord must be there before the hand of the harper can bring out the tone. No one could be tempted to avarice that had not a predisposition to the love of property. No man could be tempted to hatred, or to cruelty, or to appetites, one or many, unless there pre-existed a tendency in that direction. Hence, the simple fact of temptation is, that you do wrong, while Satan merely asks you to do it. It is your act. It may be his suggestion, it may be his thought; but it is your performance. And you do it with plenary freedom, urged, fevered, it may be, by him. II. Men relieve themselves, or seek to do so, from the sense of guilt and responsibility, by attributing their sins to their fellow men. They admit the wrong, but they put in the plea that the circumstances were such that they could not help committing it. The example and impunity of other men in transgression are pleaded, the persuasions and influences of other men are pleaded, certain relations to other men are pleaded, as if these things were compulsory. Men attribute their sins to public sentiment, to the customs of the times, to the habits of the community. Are they intemperate? Intemperance is customary in the circle in which they walk. Are they unscrupulous in their dealings? Unscrupulousness is the law of the profession which they follow. And when they have been charged with continuous sinning--with the violation of conscience, with the violation of purity, with the violation of temperance, with the violation of honesty or honour--they have still pleaded, “ Yes, we have sinned; but we are not exceptional; we do not stand alone; we are nouns of multitude; all men do these things” --as if the inference was, “ Because all men do them, they are not so culpable in us.” Men may sin by wholesale; but they are punished by retail. There were never such dividends in any bank on earth as are apportioned in the court of conscience. There every man not only is particeps criminis in the transgression which he joins others in committing, but he is responsible for the whole sin, though thousands and millions participate with him in it. It is an exceedingly fashionable habit at present to put upon society the guilt of the transgressions of men. Are men idle, and is there deduced from idleness the accustomed fruit? Society has not made the suitable provisions for these men, or they would not have been idle! Are men insubordinate, and do they violate the laws? Society has not made proper laws for such men! They have not by society been rightly educated, or they would not have been insubordinate! Are men full of vices and crimes that spring from fertile ignorance? Society, as a schoolmaster, ought not to have let them be ignorant! Do men murder? Society is to blame! Do men steal? Society is the responsible scapegoat for thieves! You shall find philosophers on every side that wag their heads and say, “ Now you see that society does not fulfil its duties and functions: society ought to have stepped these things.” I will admit that in society there are many things that men ought to do which are left undone, and many things that they ought to leave undone which are done; but to say that upon society is to be put the responsibilities of the individual characters of all its citizens, is to imply that you give to society power to enforce those responsibilities; and if you give to society that power, you give it a power such as was never contemplated even by the extremest despotic theory of government. Society may in some instances be the tempter, and may in some instances have its individual part in the wrong-doing of its citizens; but it does not take away from any man that does wrong, the whole, undivided, personal responsibility of that wrong. III. The last class of the category of excuses is that of fatality. “ We are delivered to commit sin; we are bound over to do it; we cannot help doing it” --so say some men. On the one hand, men are apt to be jealous of their liberty; but to avoid responsibility for transgression they disclaim their liberties, and plead a want of power to choose; a want of power to do that which they have chosen; or a want of power to reject that which they have determined to reject.1. One class of men regard thought and volition as the inevitable effect of natural causes. They are no more avoidable, they say, than are the phenomena of nature. Effect follows cause as irresistibly in the one case as in the other. And so man is just as helpless as a mill wheel, which is made to turn over, and over, and over, by a power that is not under its control. Against this theory, we oppose the universal consciousness of men in the earlier stages of their moral character. Men know perfectly well that they have no plenary liberty; that they have only limited liberty. It is certainly true that, if blue is presented to my eye, I cannot prevent the impression of blue being made on my mind. It is true that, if light is presented to my eye, I cannot prevent the inevitable effect that light produces. But if, for any reason I prefer not to have light, although when it shines I cannot hinder the happening of its actual effects, I can prevent my eyes from coming where the light falls. There is profound Divine wisdom in that part of the Lord’ s Prayer which seems strange to our youth--“ Lead us not into temptation.” Well might powder pray, “ Deliver me from the fire” ; for if the fire touches it, there is no help for it--there must be an explosion. And there are many circumstances in which, if inflamed passions, inflamed tempers, in the soul’ s warfare in life, subject themselves to certain causes, they will lead a man to sin. Therefore the plea is, “ Lead me not into temptation: let it not come upon me.” Men are responsible for their volitions, and for those conditions which produce volitions--and this is the opinion of men generally. 2. A more frequent and more subtle plea of irresponsibility is founded on the modern doctrine of organisation. One man says, “ I may lie; but I was delivered to do it when I was created with such an inordinate development of secretiveness.” Another man says, “ I may be harsh and cruel; but I was delivered to be so from my mother’ s womb; there is such immense destructiveness in my organisation.” Another man says, “ You that have largo intellectual developments, and are able to see and foresee, may be responsible for falling into sin; but I have no such development; I cannot foresee anything; I have to take things as they find me, and I am not responsible.” At first it would look as though this was very rational; but it is not. It is not phrenological. It is not philosophical. And that is not all; the men that use these pleas do not themselves believe in them. There are abundant proofs of the falsity of the claim which they set up; but for my present purpose it is quite sufficient to say that, when men sin and plead fatalism or organisation as a justification of their wrong-doing, they do not believe the doctrine that they themselves advance. No man will accept an insult from another on the plea that that other man cannot help giving it. If a man deals you a blow in the street, not accidentally, but because, as he says, he is naturally irritable, having large combativeness, and cannot help it, you do not listen calmly to the explanation, and say, “ All right, sir; all right.” No man admits for one single moment any such thing as that men are to be excused for all sorts of misdemeanours, because they happen to be peculiarly organised. The whole intercourse of man with man would be destroyed; the community would be dissolved; society would rush, like turbulent streams in the midst of spring rains, down to destruction, if you were to take away the doctrine that a man can control his conduct, his thought, his will. It does not follow that, because a man follows his strongest faculty, he must follow it to do wrong with it. Here is the fallacy--or one of the fallacies--which men run into. If a man has large secretiveness, it does not follow that he should lie. A man may be secretive, and not transgress. Secretiveness may leaven every faculty of the mind, and that without making one of them commit sin. It has a broad sphere, and a wholesome sphere; and if you say, “ I must follow my strongest faculty,” I reply that it does not follow that you must follow it contrary to moral law--contrary to what is right. Then another thing to be considered is the determining influence. A man is either sane or insane; and the distinction is this: If a man can no longer control his action by the antagonism of faculties; if, for instance, by the antagonism of reason and the affections he cannot control the passions; if the antagonism among themselves of the balanced faculties is so weak that the individual is incapable of governing himself, then he is insane. But if a man is not insane, there is in him a power proceeding from the balance of faculties, by which the erring one or ones may be controlled. So that every man, up to the point of insanity, has latent in him, if he pleases to educate it and exercise it, the power of controlling by other forces in his mind those which incline him to go wrong. Well, now, if there be this antagonistic power, it becomes a question of dynamics. Men say, “ I have such a powerful tendency to go wrong that you ought not to punish me.” It is not to punish you, so much as it is to stimulate the dormant faculty from whose inactivity that tendency proceeds, that you are made to suffer. If when my child is convicted of wrong, he having been tempted by vanity to break down into lies, I severely chastise him, and put him to shame, I inflict pain upon him not only as a punishment, but as a restorative. For I say to myself, if that child’ s conscience is so feeble, I must give him some stimulus. If his fear is so influential in the wrong way, I must spring it in the other direction. In other words, just the opposite of the popular pleading is true. The weaker the child is to resist evil, the more powerful must be the motive that is brought to bear upon him to do well. I remark, in view of these statements and reasonings-- 1. Sin is bad enough ordinarily. I do not refer to its influence upon others, but to its reactionary influence upon our own moral state. Not only is it bad enough, but ordinarily it is made worse by the mode in which men treat it. If men stopped, whenever they did wrong, and measured it, and called it by its proper name, and turned away from it, although the process of recovery would be slow, it would in many respects be salutary, by way of strengthening and educating the mind; but when men commit sin, and institute a special plea, and defend their wrong-doing, and conceal it, and equivocate concerning it, they are corrupted even more by the defence than by the wrong-doing itself. How sad is that condition in which the compass will not point to the polar star! If there be fatal attractions on the ship, and if the shipmaster has steered by a compass that is not true in its directions, it would be better if he had thrown it overboard; because he has perfect confidence in it, and it has been lying all the time. And if the conscience, that is the compass of the soul, is perverted, and does not point to truth and right, and men are guiding themselves by it, how fatally are they going down to destruction! 2. What is the reason of the stress that is laid in the Word of God on the subject of confessing and forsaking sin? “ Let him that stole steal no more,” etc. “ Confess your faults one to another.” This doctrine was the great recuperative element. It was the preaching of John. It was the initial preaching of Christ. It was the preaching of the apostles. It is the annunciation of the Gospel. Confess and forsake your sin. Own that it is sin. Be honest with yourself. Make at last to yourself a full and clear acknowledgment that wrong is wrong. All men fail, and come short of their duty; but some justify, and palliate, and excuse, and deny, while others confess, and repent, and forsake--and these last are the true men. (H. W. Beecher.) Organisation and responsibility That men are variously constituted is a fact not merely profoundly interesting to the speculative philosopher, but of the greatest practical consequence to the Christian philanthropist. While the genus, man, is founded on a common basis, the individual is marked by characteristics singular to himself. Let us look at some special instances of peculiar organisation, and then consider them in relation to personal responsibility. For example, take the man whose dominating characteristic is acquisitiveness. That man’ s creed is a word, and that word is but a syllable: his creed is Get; nothing less, nothing more,--simply Get! With him benevolence is a matter of weights and scales; with him buying and selling and getting gain are the highest triumphs of mortal genius. Ask him why. Instantly he recurs to his organisation. He says, “ God made me as I am; He did not consult me as to the constitution of my being; He made me acquisitive, and I must be faithful to my organisation; and I will go forward to meet Him at the day of judgment, and tell Him to His face that He has me as He made me, and I disclaim all responsibility.” The organisation of another man predominates in the direction of combativeness. The man is litigious, quarrelsome, cantankerous, violent: Ask him why. He says, “ I must be faithful to my constitution; my whole manhood is intensely combative; I did not make myself; God has made me as He made me, and I disown all laws of obligation.” Here is a man with little hope. He sees a lion on every way; he dreads that ruin will be the end of every enterprise; he knows not the sweetness of contentment or the repose of an intelligent hope; he is always mourning, always repining; his voice is an unceasing threnody, his face a perpetual winter. Ask him why. He says, “ God so made me; if He had put within me the angel of hope, I should have been sharer of your gladness; I should have been your companion in the choir; I should have been a happier man: He covered me with night that owns no star; He gave my fingers no cunning art of music; He meant me to look at Him through tears and to offer my poor worship in sighs.” We cannot enter into all the questions which may lie between God and man on the subject of organisation. Let us take one or two such cases as have just been outlined. We found the acquisitive man getting gold, getting at all risks; getting till his conscience was seared and his understanding darkened. In that case ought we to sympathise with the man, saying, “ We are sorry for you; we lament that your organisation compels you to be avaricious: we know you cannot help it, so we exempt you from all responsibility” ? No! we would say as in thunder; No! we do not find fault with the organisation of the acquisitive man; but if he pleads the excuse already cited, we openly charge him with having degraded and diabolised that constitution; he has not used it, but abused it; he has not been faithful, but faithless, and must be branded as a criminal. The man’ s organisation is acquisitive; be it so: that circumstance in itself does not necessitate crime. There are two courses open to the acquisitive man. To him we say, Do be faithful to your organisation, do get, get money by right means, get exaltation by legitimate processes; but with all thy getting, get understanding, “ for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,” etc. The combative man; what of him? Do we sympathise with him? “ Sir, your case demands commiseration, inasmuch as you must be faithful to your organisation, and that organisation happens to be a dreadful one” ? No! to the combative man we say, There are two courses open to you: you can fight with muscle, and steel, and gunpowder; you may train yourself to be pitiless as a tiger; you may be petulant, resentful, hard-hearted: the choice is before you to pronounce the elective word! Or, there is another course open: you may choose weapons that are not carnal; you may resist the devil; you may “ wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” The argument which the fatalist bases upon organisation is self-annihilating when applied to the common relations of life. All human legislation assumes man’ s power of self-regulation, and grounds itself on the grand doctrine of man’ s responsibility to man. At this point, then, Divine revelation meets human reason, and insists upon the same principle in relation to God. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 7:13I spake unto you, rising up early.God’ s call to sinners I. A gracious call. We are utterly undeserving of it. Though we are transgressors, guilty, corrupt, depraved,--yet God calls upon us--to escape--to live--to be saved--to turn unto Him, and be forever blest and happy. II. An affectionate call. The call of a merciful Creator who hath no pleasure in the death and destruction of His fallen creatures: and would rather they should repent and live; the call of a tender Father, who looks with compassion upon the prodigal wanderer, invites and urges him to abandon his wretchedness and want, and come back to his home of plenty, and his Father’ s bosom again, and assures him of a joyous welcome if he will; the call of a Friend--that Friend that sticketh closer than a brother--even of Jesus our best friend, our elder brother. III. A varied call. From every part of the outspread volume of creation, there issues a voice calling upon us, to know, fear, adore, worship, the great Creator. And as well as by His works, we are called upon by His ways--by His dealings with the children of men. The misfortunes and calamities that occur to others; and the bereavements, afflictions, and trials that happen to ourselves--the constant experience we have of the uncertainty of our present existence, and of the instability of all earthly good, by these and many similar things we are addressed and admonished to seek a more enduring substance, a more incorruptible and unfading inheritance. From every page, also, of the book of God there proceedeth a call, exhorting us to depart from iniquity, and follow after holiness,--to supplicate for pardoning mercy and for assisting grace. IV. An oft-repeated--a reiterated call. We are not appealed to once or twice, and then abandoned to our folly. Forbearance is exercised towards us from year to year; “ line is given upon line, and precept upon precept,” --here a little and there a little; so that we may have the last possible opportunity of being saved, and may not be left in despair until the last moment of the day of grace hath expired, and our souls be beyond the region of impression and awakening. V. An earnest call. Men may be light and trifling. God is always serious--always in earnest. He is in earnest in what He does, and in what He speaks. All the appeals and persuasions by which the Almighty follows you, as children hastening madly on to destruction, are embodied in the very terms, and wear the very air of the utmost earnestness; yea, so serious and earnest are they, that, when it is considered from whom they come, and to what they relate, the wonder is, that men are not at once startled by them, and arrested in their downward course, and constrained to hasten to the only safe Refuge from the gathering and impending storm. VI. An urgent call. Its reference is to the present: it demands immediate attention and instant compliance. (C. Cook.) Jeremiah 7:16 Pray not thou for this people.Intercessory prayer forbidden 1. God’ s prophets are praying men. 2. God’ s praying prophets have a great interest in heaven, how little soever they have on earth. 3. It is an ill omen to a people when God restrains the spirits of His ministers and people from praying for those condemned. 4. Those that will not regard good ministers’ preaching cannot expect any benefit by their praying. If you will not hear us when we speak from God to you, God will not hear us when we speak to Him for you. (M. Henry, D. D.) Jeremiah 7:17-18 Seest thou not what they do in the streets of Jerusalem?The streets of the city I. As an index to character.1. The streets are the pulse of commercial prosperity. The man who goes from a dull, sluggish place to a city of great business activity must quicken his pace, or get run over. 2. The street on which a man lives is no index to his character. It does not even indicate the amount of money he has. Not a few proud families stint their table to pay their rent on a costly street, in order to make or keep up appearances. Their fine street, to those who know the facts, is an index of their pretensions. Another man who has plenty of money lives on a cheap street, because he is too niggardly to pay rent for more comfortable quarters. To those who know him the street is an index of his meanness. A Christian man may choose to live on a cheap street, because he prefers to save money with which to do good. His street indicates self-denying liberality. 3. What can be seen on the streets of a city, however, is to a great extent an index of the character of its people. Dirty streets suggest dirty morals. If indecent handbills pollute the streets of a city, it indicates either sinful apathy, or a very low moral tone. II. As a test of character. To walk down one of our streets is to some men like going into a furnace. Their moral courage is tested at nearly every step. There is within them a demon of drink that can be waked from his sleep by the smell of a beer barrel. A deep-sea diver laid his hand on something soft, and curious to know what it was, he took hold of it to examine it. Fatal curiosity! The long tentacles of an octopus reached out and grasped him in its deadly embrace. The friends above, feeling the struggle, drew him to the surface, to find only a corpse still in the clutches of the monster. Many a young man has come from his pure country home to the great city, and, prompted by a curiosity excited by the signs on the streets, has entered one of these homes of the devil fish. Soon its slimy tentacles are wrapped around him, soul and body. (A. C. Dixon, D. D.) The streets and their story The prophet evidently knew what was going on in the city. He had gone up and down the streets by night and by day, and had seen the sins and iniquities of the people. The great city of Jerusalem lay like a putrid sore, filled with all manner of pollution and corruption. The time had come for a warning. Hiding no detail of its iniquity, he catalogued before the sin-laden people the awful record of their sin, and launched against their filthiness and impenitence the sentence of the condemnation of God. It was no pleasant task. To sing in sweeter strains the adoration of God and the beauties of holiness had been a far more gladsome work--but to sing of holiness in such a city had been like singing of springs amid the sands of the arid desert. Moreover, the Word of God had commanded, again and again, “ Cry aloud, spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet,” etc. I suppose an over-cautious but easy-going city cried out against the prophet who left his harp to throttle sin. I suppose its wicked inhabitants had a great many sneers and scoffs for the preacher who ventured to look in upon their wickedness; but he heard God’ s Word and he did it; he called things by their right names, and shook above them the thunderstorm of Divine wrath and the penalties of the broken law. Sin must be assailed in the name of God. Its colours must he shown, clear of the prism tints by which it dazzles and deceives. Its wages, hidden too often behind the screens of shame and misery, must be brought to light, and men warned in the name of facts, in the name of experience, in the name of God, against the man traps of hell. I want to show you sin as it is and it always must be, and from its actual facts of awful misery I want to read a warning. The old legends ten of a dual life that walks the earth; how in the shades of night, when all else is slumber bound and still, another life comes out and fills the night with weird events. The elf folk, hidden all day in earth caves and crannies, now come out and fill the sleeping earth with a weird, unnatural life. The old legend has a sort of awful reality here in our darkened streets, for when the day is spent, and the life of business sinks to rest, and the great buildings darken into shadow, another life comes out and passes to and fro in the darkened streets and plies its concerns in the silent shadows. It is a life of sin and of shame. We pause a moment, and watch and listen. Now and then a belated passer-by hastens with hurried step, but it is almost noiseless--this night life on these silent streets. Here and there, there are figures standing within the shadows. A young man emerges from the building, where late accounts have kept him long after the hours of accustomed toil. A dozen steps, and he is accosted; there is a rustle and a voice, and then maybe a woman’ s laugh ringing out with strange echo in the darkness. They loiter along with slow step, and together are lost to our view, and the night covers up this silent trap of hell, whose snares are spread for unwary feet. A little further and we drive hurriedly across the glare, where the crowds flow along the great night arteries of the city--a motley crowd, vastly differing from the daylight throng. There are hundreds of young men, scores of young women, whose days are spent in shops and behind counters, and whose nights court ruin in the streets. The air is noisy and the lights are dazzling; here and yonder are those brilliantly lighted stairs that lead up into apparent gloom, for all the curtained windows show by their darkness. It is the old story: “ The idle brain is the devil’ s workshop.” The life that simply works to live, and that only six hours, if six hours will keep the body, courts the devil for his master. And yet, go out among the thousands of young men in this city tonight, and let us question them as to the object of life, and you may well wonder at the multitudes who only live to live. No thought of anything above the body, no glimpse of anything beyond the sky--an animal life, serving only appetite and seeking only pleasure. Oh, is that all of life? To spend the day in toil, the night in empty pleasure; our days for nothing, and our future in eternal poverty of soul. Oh, hear me preach the gospel of yourself, your better self; its possibilities, its powers, its future. Think what you may be, and then be it, by God’ s grace, and cheat the devil as you save your soul. I marked most of all in these streets the presence of death. They were full of dead men, of dead women, of corpses, walking, talking, jesting in loathsome death. Do you remember Valjean’ s dream in “ Les Miserables” ? How, conscious of his crime, he slept, and sleep revealed to him the death of sin. He dreamed he was at Romainville, a little garden park near Paris, full of flowers and music and pleasure. But as he in his dream comes to this domain of revelry, the flowers, and the trees, and the very sky, all are of the colour of ashes. Leaning against a wall he finds a man at the corner where two streets meet. “ Why is all so still?” The man seems to hear not and makes no reply. In amazement Valjean wanders on through vacant rooms and courts and through the gardens, all the colour of ashes, and finds everywhere silence by the fountains, in the pavilions, everywhere these silent men and women, who have no answer to his questions. In horror he endeavours to fly from the ashen abode of terror, when, looking back, he finds all the inhabitants of the lifeless town suddenly clustering about him, and their ashen lips open, they cry to him, “ Do you not know that you have been dead for a long time?” And with a cry Valjean wakens and feels his sin. So I saw in these ways of sin dead men all about me. Beneath that silken robe and sparkling necklace, loathsome death; behind that laugh and empty jest, a dead man; walking, talking, drinking, feasting, and yet dead. Dead in sin, helpless in habit’ s chains, snared in the man traps of hell. (T. E. Green, D. D.) Home missions First, glance at the circumstances and conduct of the Jewish people, which gave rise to the language of the text. During the days of Jeremiah, and of all the later prophets, they appear to have sunk into the very depths of national degeneracy. The sanctions of the Divine authority, and the terrors of Divine indignation, were equally disregarded with the promises and protection of the Most High. The prophet would have awakened them to a sense of their criminality and danger; but in vain. He interceded in secret for the reversal of that righteous sentence by which they were doomed to prove the folly and misery of their own ways; but this also was without effect. While his voice was still tremulously pleading for their forgiveness, and the saint and patriot blended in every gushing tear, and every irrepressible emotion,--the mandate of almighty justice, tempted too far and wearied of forbearance, imposed an awful interdict--“ Pray not thou for this people,” etc. How happy that no such solemn prohibition rests upon ourselves; but that we may pour forth our utmost fervour in supplicating for mercy upon those who are ready to perish! How unspeakable the happiness of reflecting, too, that we have an Advocate on high, whose plea can never be thus silenced. What was the particular nature of their idolatry at this season we know not,--or by what offerings they sought to propitiate and honour that mysterious divinity which they worshipped as “ the queen of heaven” ; but that it was a service accompanied with whatever was fitted to inflame the jealousy and provoke the retribution of the God of Israel, the tenor of this book and of their subsequent calamities suffers us not to question. But there is one reflection forced upon our minds by the mention of this subject, which is perpetually arising in the perusal of these sacred documents,--how inveterate and how wonderful is the depravity of the human intellect, as well as the corruption of the human heart! How great, too, is the compassion, of God!--how impressive and encouraging the illustration of His long-suffering! “ He remembered that they were but dust,” etc. This is the compassion and long-suffering which we are called every day to recognise, amidst provocations and unfaithfulness which would have wearied out all other grace but the grace of Omnipotence, and which no might could restrain itself from punishing but that which upholds the mountains and which grasps the thunderbolt. Its very power alone is our security. We cannot meditate upon these facts without one other suggestion,--how great is the necessity for continued zeal and diligence, on the part of good men, to counteract to the uttermost the evils, not only of their own hearts and conduct, but of those among whom they dwell The condition of men at large forces itself on our notice, as one of universal calamity and peril,--“ Seest thou not what they do?” Let us suppose the spectator one from a distant region, an inhabitant of one of the remoter provinces of intellectual being,--acquainted with the character, and reposing with joyful confidence in the presiding power, of the Creator,--but unread in the history of man. He has heard of redemption, and is desirous to explore it; but he knows not yet the state of those for whom it was designed. And he is permitted this momentary inspection of the human system, that he may gather from it the elements of heavenly truth, and “ the manifold wisdom of God.” Alas! how perplexed and intricate would all appear! What numberless anomalies, difficulties, and causes of shame and wonder, would everywhere astonish and overwhelm him! For what end would such a system seem to have been constructed, or wherefore still upheld, or tending to what result, or interpretative of what purposes, or susceptible of resolution into its contradictory phenomena by what reconciling and all-commanding principles, or calculated to excite what other sentiment except the melancholy apostrophe, “ Wherefore hast Thou made all men in vain!” Descending from the contemplation of the whole, he would consider each several particular with the intensity of interest which that stupendous but appalling spectacle had summoned into being. And first, he would probably be arrested with the secular condition of mankind, and their extreme differences in the nature and degrees of social happiness. The effect would be as painful as the scene was intricate. He would shrink and tremble, as if within the boundaries of chaos, or the empire of darkness and of blind misrule. He would next consider their religious state. And now, what would be the agitation of his feelings, or in what explanation of such strange appearances could he find or seek relief? Here, he would sicken at the sight of gross and grovelling idolatries; there, at the bewildering glare of cruel yet invincible delusions; and elsewhere, at the reveries and dreamy visions of a spurious philosophy, neutralising at once every claim of human duty, and every attribute of God. Nothing would seem to him so terrible as our exposure to the jealousy and wrath of our Creator; nor anything so unfathomable as the mystery of His compassion. Outraged, defied, forgotten; His being denied by some, His noblest characters mocked, falsified, contemned by others; His best gifts perverted to the vilest purposes, His gentle inflictions misinterpreted or impiously repelled, His forbearance converted into an argument to set aside His veracity, His glorious mad terrible name, eve where it is not unknown, employed only to add force to blasphemy, or emphasis to imprecation and falsehood:--what could the stranger anticipate but the kindling up of His fury, while its flame should burn unto the lowest hell! Thus prepared--how would he dart his eager eye toward the scenes of men’ s future and everlasting habitation! To what, he would ask himself, can all be hastening onwards? Where must this pilgrimage of sin and folly end? Conceive now of the surprise and the delight with which he would hear of the means provided for the restoration of men. That astonished spectator is no creation merely of the fancy. Many “ a watcher,” and many “ a holy one,” looks down upon the scene, and wonders. All that environs us is revealed, in a light of which we are strangely unconscious, to innumerable witnesses. We walk ourselves, at every step, beneath their gaze. And it is their judgment, not ours, respecting the dependencies and results of moral action, which shall be confirmed in the decisions of the last day. (R. S. M’All, LL. D.) Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood. What can children do for God? I. God is setting up a kingdom in this world. A very glorious and gracious kingdom.1. Righteousness. Teaches us to do justice. 2. Peace--to love and pursue it. 3. Joy. God makes all happy who come into His kingdom. II. God expects us all to work to set up this kingdom. Christ came to set it up; ministers preach and labour for it; missionaries go to heathen; all God’ s people aid. III. Children can do something to set up this kingdom.1. You can pray; that God would make you willing subjects of this kingdom. 2. You can talk; speak to others about Jesus, pardon, God, heaven. 3. You can work; give to missionary society, etc. IV. Children are always happy when trying to set up this kingdom. Why? Because make others happy. Angels are happy, because employed making others happy. God is happy, for He blesses every one. And, when we act like God, we ourselves are happy. V. God will never forget the labours of little children for Him. When children wanted to come to Jesus, He noticed their disposition, and said, “ Never prevent a child from coming to Me” ; then took in arms and blessed. When they sang in temple He noticed their song, and said, “ Hearest thou what these say?” God loves,everything done by children, because it is a proof of their obedience and love. (J. Sherman) Children’ s service “ Queen of Heaven,” i.e., Ashtaroth, or the Moon. The Israelites fell into this idolatry in the time of the Judges. Solomon was carried away by it. Josiah suppressed it. We may learn a useful lesson from these young idolaters. I. They wished to be useful in religion. II. They did what they could. III. What they did was of service. What can you do? For example, in--1. Money.2. Word.3. Effort.4. Prayer. IV. God does not despise children’ s work. This fact is one which should be seriously pondered by children, parents, teachers. (Lay Preacher.) Christians contrasted with heathens It is said that Matthew Wilks, one of the founders of the London Missionary Society, chose this text when he preached the anniversary sermon; and in those days when trite and commonplace remarks from the pulpit were considered orthodox, and anything that was a little fresh and novel was looked upon with suspicion, every eye in the large assembly expressed astonishment at the preacher’ s selection. He had not proceeded far, however, when the feeling of astonishment gave way to pure delight, when all seemed convinced that the text, though uncommon, was by no means inappropriate. I have not seen the sermon; I only know that he dealt with it in the following manner. He said, I will contrast your objects with those of the worshippers of the queen of heaven. I will compare your ardour with theirs. I will muster your agents. And it was this part of the subject, in which he referred to the agents, namely, men, women, and children, which gave rise to the system of auxiliary institutions which now pervade the whole country, and combine in its support young and old, rich and poor. (Eccentric Preachers.) To make cakes to the queen of heaven. On making cakes (A talk with Children):--The people who lived in Jerusalem at this time, alas! worshipped the sun, and called it Baal, also the moon, and called it Ashtoreth,--just as our ancestors did at one time in this country, calling the day upon which they worshipped the sun Sunday, and the day upon which they worshipped the moon Monday. In Jerusalem, at the time referred to in our text, the people used to offer cakes to the moon. These cakes were always made round to resemble the moon. This offering was considered to be a very important one, and all wanted to have a share in making the cakes and presenting them. Now the first thing that had to be done was to get plenty of firewood. You cannot make a cake without fire, and you cannot get fire without fuel. Thus I think I can hear a Jewish mother say, “ Now, my children, I want you to get some good firewood for tomorrow--wood that will burn brightly; I am going to make some cakes for the queen of heaven, and--who knows?--perhaps there may be a few tit-bits left!” Off the children go. That’ s just the work they like; they can stoop easily, or jump over the hedge or fence, and tear their clothes without having much scolding, as they are gathering wood for their mother. Little Hannah gathers her apron full, and Dan or Benjamin as much as he can carry in his arms, and they return home full of glee. They have done their part. But the following morning the fire had to be kindled. It required strong arms to kindle a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood vigorously together. The fathers could do that best; for they had muscular arms, and they gladly did their part. Then there was need of clean and gentle hands to knead the dough, and there were none who could do that as well as the mothers, aunts, and the elder sisters. It was their turn now, and the children would look earnestly on and wonder whether the dough would go far enough to make the necessary number of cakes for the “ queen of heaven,” or the moon, and one or two over. They little knew that the mother or sister had put in an extra handful of meal for that purpose. Then there was the baking and the consumption of the odd cake or two by the little wood gatherers. But beyond all this, there was a great pleasure reserved for them all--the privilege of presenting to the moon the cakes in the making of which they had all had a part, and which were as round and as perfect as a woman’ s hand could make them. Children have their part to do still. Often, as in this case, the work begins with children. They cannot do much; they cannot kindle a fire, or make a cake or a loaf; but they can gather wood, supply the fuel, and others will kindle the fire and provide an offering fit for the altar of God. You cannot as yet, at least, go forth to distant lands as missionaries and Zenana workers, and take the bread of life--not as a gift to God, but as a gift from God--to the heathen; but you can enable others who are older than you to do all this. You can contribute your pence to the missionary society, etc. (D. Davies.) Jeremiah 7:24 Went backward, and not forward.Backward I. Illustrations of going backward in regard to religion.1. From Jewish history. Compare best days of Solomon, when temple was dedicated, with these when jeremiah preached at gate. National mind darkened, conscience enfeebled, heart hardened. 2. Churches. Galatia (Galatians 3:1-3; Galatians 5:7-8), Ephesus (Revelation 2:4), Sardis (Revelation 3:1). 3. Individual life. (1) Brought up in Christian home; back into thoughtlessness, dissipation, infidelity. (2) Awakened by power of truth, and gained a place in household of faith; go backward and “ make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience.” (3) Trod noblest heights of Christian service; back to stagnation and ease. II. Causes of this going backward.1. Negatively. (1) God never causes a human being to go backward from what is pure and good and true. (2) Nor must the charge be laid at the door of men or of Satan. 2. Positively. (1) The primary cause must be sought in man himself, his inclination to the things which are behind. Spiritual feebleness. (2) The secondary causes are temptations; the lusts, pleasures, and gains he desires to enjoy. (3) His weakness in yielding results from neglect of the means of strength, the Word of God, prayer, means of instruction and grace. III. Consequences of going backward.1. Displeasure of God.2. Such as turn back are liable to sink into lowest depths of irreligion.3. Experience of deepest remorse and reproach of conscience. Conclusion--1. Stand fast in the Lord.2. Despair not, but return. (R. Ann.) The backslider defenceless When Christian, in the Pilgrim’s Progress, thought about going back, he recollected that he had no armour for his back. He had a breastplate, he was covered from head to foot by his shield, but there was nothing to protect his back, and therefore, if he retreated, the adversary could spit him with his javelin in a moment. So he thought that bad as it was to go forward, it would be worse to go backward, and therefore he bravely cut a path for himself straight onward for glory. Look at that fact whenever you are tempted: do not endure the idea of turning tail in the day of battle. May retreat be impossible to you! God makes it Impossible by His grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 7:27 They will not hearken to thee.God’ s foreknowledge of the sinner’ s refusal of His Word I. Instances illustrative of the text.1. The original transgression of first parents.2. The old world.3. Pharaoh.4. Jews as a nation. II. How can this be explained and defended?1. Unless God did know results such as described He would be imperfect.2. He is not the cause of the rebellion He foretells.3. He never influences men to do wrong.4. There are many ends to be attained by God. By speaking, though He knows men will not hearken.(1) God exhibits His true desire for their salvation.(2) He treats men as reasonable and responsible beings.(3) He leaves them without excuse. Conclusion--1. Man’ s free agency is his glory.2. God’ s infinite goodness is undoubted.3. Our duty is manifest--to hear, obey, believe.4. Thus men will be finally inexcusable, having had means employed for their restoration to holiness and God. (J. Burns, D. D.) Preaching without effect God has been putting into the mouth of His servant Jeremiah a varied message of reproof and counsel, of promise and blessing. The message contains equal encouragement to those who should repent, and denunciations of wrath on all who, rashly confident in external privileges, should continue to insult by the impiety of their lives. Thus, there is a close resemblance between the sermon which the prophet was instructed to deliver and those which, in our days, the ministers of God must utter. We know it to be our business, in dealing with a mixed assembly of those who make profession of religion and those who make none, to use language very similar to that which Jeremiah here employs; conjuring men that they “ trust not in lying words which, cannot profit,” but that they “ amend their ways and their doings, lest God’ s anger and God’ s fury be poured out and burn, and there be none to quench it.” Here, then, it is, that our text comes in upon us with all its startling and perplexing assertion; that losing sight of the peculiar circumstances of the Jews, we may regard the ministers of the Gospel as commanded to preach, even if beforehand assured that their preaching would be fruitless. We cannot but think, that, determining by human computation what course would be the most fraught with advantage to their hearers, preachers would reckon it best to keep silence if they were certain none would be converted by their message. It admits not of question, that men, who hear the Gospel, and give no heed to its announcements, are disadvantaged by the very circumstance of having been its auditors. Now there was actually given to Jeremiah that information, which, for the sake of argument, we have supposed imparted to ourselves. Yet he was not on this account to abstain from delivering his message. The certainty of rejection was in no degree to interfere with the duty of proclamation. Now if ineffectiveness of preaching in bringing round conversion, supposing it previously ascertained, would be no sufficient reason for abstaining from preaching, there must be ends answered by the publication of the Gospel over and above that of the gathering in of the elect people of God. The way which shall be made by the preached Word in each separate case is necessarily already known to the Omniscient, so that with God it is previously a thing of as much certainty as it afterwards can be with ourselves, who will receive and who reject the proffered salvation. The foreknowledge has no influence on the reception; it lays no constraint on the will, and it gives no bias to the will. And now, allowing only that God’ s foreknowledge, and not God’ s predestination, enters as a prerequisite into such a declaration as that made in our text, the question still remains to be examined, why God should enjoin the preaching of the Gospel in cases where He is assured that this preaching will be ineffective? We think that the grand answer to this question is to be found in the demands of that high moral government which God undoubtedly exercises over the creatures of this earth. Let it be remembered, that each amongst us lives under the moral government of God, which takes its character from the interference of Christ; that we are to be tried before the assembled universe as beings to whom was offered deliverance through a Surety; and is it not clear that, if this our last trial be conducted with that rigid justice which must characterise every procedure of God, it shall be made evident to every rank of intelligence that those that perish might have been saved; and forasmuch as they are condemned for having rejected salvation, salvation had been literally placed within their reach! (H. Melvill, B. D.) . Jeremiah 8:4-7 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding.A great evil and an urgent question I. A great evil. “ Backsliding.”1. It is an evil in its nature; it is a great sin against God, involving the basest ingratitude, the abuse of the greatest mercies, and the violation of the most solemn vows. 2. It is an evil in its influence. (1) Upon self. It arrests the progress of the soul, darkens its prospects, curtails its liberty, and destroys its usefulness. (2) Upon others. It encourages the religious sceptic, it staggers the anxious inquirer, it embarrasses the friends of truth. II. An urgent question. “ Why?”1. Not by the force of circumstances over which they have no control. No power in the universe drives them back against their will. 2. Not by the withdrawal of heaven’ s helping agency. 3. The causes are in themselves. Neglect of the means of spiritual improvement, the study of the Scriptures, and the ministry of the Word; the cherishing of some secret sin; engrossment in worldly pursuits; fellowship with sceptical and ungodly men. (Homilist.) Backsliding tendencies The tendency to the lukewarmness of spiritual life is in us all. Take a bar of iron out of the furnace on a winter day, and lay it down in the air, and there is nothing more wanted. Leave it there, and very soon the white heat will change into livid dulness, and then there will come a scale over it, and in a short time it will be as cold as the frosty atmosphere around it. And so there is always a refrigerating process acting upon us which needs to be counteracted by continual contact with the fiery furnace of spiritual warmth, or else we are cooled down to the degree of cold around us. (A. Maclaren.) To the backslider I. The causes of backsliding.1. The fear of man.2. Inter course with worldly society.3. Presumption.4. Secret sin.5. Neglect of prayer. II. The symptoms of backsliding.1. The absence of pleasure in attending to the secret exercises of religion.2. Irregular and unprofitable attendance on public ordinances.3. Unwillingness to act or suffer for the honour of Christ.4. Uncharitable feelings toward fellow Christians.5. Indulgence in sins once abandoned. III. The forms of backsliding.1. Declension into error.2. Declension into unbelief.3. Declension into lukewarmness, or want of love.4. Declension into prayerlessness.5. Declension into immorality.6. Declension into open rejection of a Christian profession. IV. The evils of backsliding. V. The cure of backsliding.1. Let the backslider remember from whence he has fallen.2. Let the backslider reflect on his guilt and danger.3. Let the backslider return to God, from whom he has wandered.4. Let the backslider live near to Christ.5. Let the backslider forsake the sin into which he has fallen.6. Let the backslider learn to depend on the promised aid of the Holy Spirit. (G. Brooks.) National degeneracy I. What denominates a religious people. The Jews were a religious people in distinction from all other nations who were given to superstition and idolatry. They professed to believe the existence of the only living and true God. All the nations at this day, who profess to believe the truth of Christianity, and who observe the public worship of God and the ordinances of the Gospel, are called religious nations, though the great majority may be totally destitute of vital piety. It is the explicit profession and external conduct of a people that give them their religious character. II. When a religious people may be said to be a backsliding clue. Grace, in the present state, does not entirely destroy nature. Large measures of moral corruption remain in the hearts of the best of men in the most religious nations. So, every people, who profess to believe the Gospel and live under its influence, have something in them that dislikes the character, the laws, and the government of God. On this account they are bent to backsliding from Him. Among every religious people there is a great, if not the greatest part of them, who are under only the restraining, and not the sanctifying, influence of the Gospel. It is when they break over such restraints as ought to keep them from backsliding from Him; and they are perpetually backsliding, while they are constantly breaking over one restraint after another.1. They break over the restraints of His goodness. He promised to make them the most numerous, the most wealthy, and the most respectable nation on earth. 2. A religious people who are perpetually backsliding grow worse and worse under the restraint of Divine authority. He gave His peculiar people His judgments, His statutes, and His laws, which were far superior to those of any other nation. There was another way by which God often laid a restraint upon His backsliding people, and that was by His rod of correction; but they often broke over this restraint, and persisted in their wicked ways. 3. A perpetually backsliding people will hold fast deceit, and refuse to return to God from whom they have revolted, even under the severest tokens of His wrath. III. Why a backsliding people will persist in backsliding. This is owing to some great delusion.1. They delude themselves by backsliding very gradually. They first forget the goodness of God in one smaller favour, and then in another; and this leads them to forget God in greater and greater favours, until Divine goodness loses all its restraining influence over them. In the same imperceptible manner they break over all the restraints of Divine authority and of Divine corrections. Such a gradual backsliding becomes more and more habitual, and, of course, more and more insensible. Every backslider always feels self-condemned for the first instances of his deviation from the path of duty. But one deviation naturally leads to another, and serves to palliate it, till self-regret and self-reproach cease to operate, and men feel as easy and innocent in their gradual declensions as they did before they began to backslide; and, like Ephraim, while they have grey hairs here and there upon them, they know it not. 2. All backsliding consists in men’ s walking in the ways of their hearts, instead of walking in the ways of God’ s commandments. They backslide because they love to backslide; and what they love, they endeavour to persuade themselves is right. If they are reproved, they will justify rather than condemn their backsliding. 3. Backsliders are more or less under the blinding and deluding influence of the great adversary of souls. He is now deluding all the heathen world, and insensibly involving them in fatal darkness, and leading them blindly to destruction. And he is more or less concerned in spreading errors and delusions in all the Christian world, who love and hold fast deceit. Improvement--1. It appears from the description of a religious people which has been given in this discourse, that we in this country deserve that character. 2. If we have given a just description of a perpetually backsliding people, that character justly belongs to us. 3. It appears from what has been said, that our national sins are very great and aggravated. They are of the nature of backsliding, which greatly enhances their criminality. Backsliding is not a sin of ignorance, but a sin of knowledge. Our national vices, immoralities, and errors, have been commited against greater light and stronger restraints than those of any other nation. 4. It appears from what has been said, that no external means nor motives will reform a backsliding people. They backslide so gradually and insensibly, and are so fond of their backslidings, and are under such a powerful influence of the great deceiver, that they will hold fast deceit, and refuse to repent, return, and reform. Their perpetual backsliding is perpetually stupefying their hearts and consciences; for they feel no guilt and fear no danger. They are certainly out of the reach of men and means to save them from ruin. Hence, 5. This people have abundant occasion for fasting, humiliation, and prayer. Their situation is extremely critical and dangerous, and every way adapted to affect every benevolent heart. It is the imperious duty of all the Noahs, Jobs, and Daniels to arise and plead with God to take His own work into His own hands, and bow the hearts of this people to Himself. (N. Emmons, D. D.) They refused to return.--Man’ s backwardness to repent 1. God reasons with us from what we do in other cases. “ Shall they fall,” etc. (Jeremiah 8:4). He makes us judges in our own cause. If a man slips and gets a fall, does he lie where he fell, without making any attempt to get up again? “ Why, then,” God saith, doth this people what no others do? Why do they fall, and rise not? stray, and return not? “ Despair of pardon leads many to continue in sin. But is there cause for this despair? Is it God that is unwilling? No; “ they refused to return.” The Lord, as it were, saith, How often would I have gathered them together, and they would not! My outward calling you by the Word, My inward moving by me Spirit, My many benefits, My gentle chastisements, My long-suffering--all show, that I was willing for your return. 2. God reasons with us from His own anxious desire. He represents Himself to us as hearkening with patient, attentive ear, if He may catch from us the words of repentance. And what does God expect to hear from us? “ What have I done?” These words, said not with the lips only, but from the deep feelings of the heart, may lead to better things. How vile was the act of sin in itself! how full is it of shame and remorse! What have I done, as in the sight of God, so fearful in power, so glorious in majesty? What have I done as for any profit derived, any passing, empty pleasure? How have I injured my body and my soul! 3. God sends us to the birds of the sky; to creatures without reason, that we, reasonable beings, may learn our duty from them. “ Yea, the stork,” etc. These birds have an appointed time for coming back; they know and observe it. There is an “ accepted time,” if we would know it; if, like the birds, we would observe, and take it; and the Scripture tells us, that that time is “ now.” (E. Blencowe, M. A.) Jeremiah 8:5 They hold fast deceit.On the deceitfulness of the heart in stifling convictions These words, as immediately referring to the people of Judah, might denote their preposterous confidence in the assistance of neighbouring nations, or in the testimony of their false prophets, who assured them of peace and prosperity, notwithstanding all God’ s declarations to the contrary; and their refusal to return to Him in that way which He had enjoined, by faith in His pardoning mercy through the blood of the covenant, and genuine repentance. In general, they express the conduct of sinners under the power of deceit, who reject all the calls, invitations, and expostulations of God, turn a deaf ear to all the warnings of conscience, and resist all the common operations of the Spirit. I. Some of the proofs that the heart affords of its deceitfulness, in the methods which it takes for stifling convictions of sin.1. Many drown their convictions in the mire of their lusts. When conscience is, in some measure, awakened because of former sins, they endeavour to overpower it, by making its load the heavier, that, if possible, it may sink under it altogether, and trouble them no more. 2. Many extinguish convictions by flying to the world, multitudes are in this manner ruined for eternity. Even the innocent enioyments of life prove the destruction of myriads. 3. The hearers of the Gospel often quench their convictions by doubting the truth of the doctrine. In this way did sin make its entrance into the world; and all along, it has proved a great support of it. The unbelief of the heart comes in to the assistance of the love of sin. 4. Many stifle their convictions by turning them into ridicule. They try to laugh themselves out of convictions just as a coward endeavours to get rid of his fear, by inward ridicule: not that they really disbelieve the things that give them trouble, but they wish to do so. And by habituating themselves to laugh at the shaking of the spear, like the coward at heart, they may acquire a fictitious courage, and really get the mastery over them. 5. Men overpower their convictions by extenuating sin, or apprehending that they are not guilty in the eye of the law, because free of grosser immoralities. But this is as great folly, in a spiritual sense, as it would be for a thief or robber to imagine that he was in no danger of the sentence of the law of his country, because he had not yet committed murder; or, for a man indulging himself in strong drink, to apprehend that he run no risk of intoxication, because he could still hold the cup to his head. 6. The heart often stifles convictions by representing eternal concerns as of little importance. By far the greatest part of men, although they see a dying world around them, live as if themselves alone were to be immortal. Or, one might be apt to imagine from their conduct, that they altogether denied the immortality of their souls, and believed that they would perish with their bodies. 7. Many endeavour to fly from a wounded conscience, and so hold fast deceit by flying from the means of grace. The only condition on which such persons will submit to the sound of the Gospel, is that they have nothing but smooth things prophesied to them. 8. Others extinguish convictions by magnifying the difficulties of religion. It seems to them a great hardship to perform so many duties, to be instant in season and out of season. They reckon God’ s commandments grievous, and the reward scarcely an equivalent for the labour. 9. Convictions are often stifled by the hope of abundance of time, and the promise of a future consideration. Thousands and ten thousands fall the miserable victims of a false hope. When the concerns of their precious souls intrude themselves on their thoughts, they endeavour to banish them, from the expectation of length of days, and of a continued enjoyment of a merciful dispensation. II. The great danger of stifling convictions.1. This conduct is of the most hardening nature. All sin is so. He who sins today makes the commission of sin easier to conscience tomorrow. There is a progress in sin as well as in holiness. And there is no sin of a more heart-hardening nature than this of quenching convictions. When men make their neck an iron sinew, the brow becomes brass. Obduracy in resisting God is always succeeded by effrontery in sin. 2. He who stifles convictions willingly continues under the sentence of condemnation, consents to it, and seals himself up under it. Convictions are the messengers of incensed justice, sent forth against the transgressor, warning him of the necessity of fleeing into the city or refuge. He who refuses to listen, scorns the refuge provided, and runs his risk of meeting with the avenger. 3. The expected time of consideration may never arrive. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and we have not the least reason to think that he ever returned. 4. God may justly deny heartmollifying grace. They rebelled and vexed His holy Spirit, and He was turned to be their enemy. 5. He may cease to be a reprover. This is often the case. When the sinner continues to stifle convictions, God takes away His messengers. Or, the means may be continued, and yet be altogether blasted to them. The Bible becomes a book that is sealed. The Word is a dead letter. The most awakening sermons leave them as fast asleep in sin as they found them. For the Lord hath said, My Spirit will not always strive with man. 6. He may contend with them in the course of His providence. He hath long fought against them, as He threatens the Church of Sardis, with the sword of His mouth. Now He will fight against them with the sword of His hand. 7. God gives them up to their own lusts. A man needs no other devil to possess him than these. The name of such a possession is legion. Thus he becomes exceeding fierce in sin, and hurries on headlong to destruction, as if it advanced of itself, with too slow a pace. 8. In judgment He may lay occasions of sin in their way. God can tempt no man. He forces no man to sin, because He infinitely hates it. But when He sees sinners determined on iniquity, He sometimes chooses their delusions, as He threatens in His Word: I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them. 9. God may judicially harden their hearts. It is one of the inconceivable mysteries of Divine operation, that God should in righteous judgment give up a sinner to obduracy, and yet be at an infinite distance from the sin. But so it is. 10. God may refuse to hear, although they should call. He laughs at the sinner when trying to break His bands. But His holy scorn will be far more awful in the end. (J. J. Jameson, M. A.) Jeremiah 8:6-7I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? God’ s inquisition 1. That God hath an ear and an eye to our carriage and dispositions, to our speeches and courses. If we had one always at our backs that would inform such a man what we say, one that should book our words, and after lay them to our charge, it would make us careful of our words. Now, though we be never so much alone, there are two always that hear us. God hears, and God’ s deputy in us, conscience, “ hearkens and hears.” God books it, and conscience books it. This doth impose upon us the duty of careful and reverent walking with God. Would we speak carelessly or ill of any man if He heard us? When we slight a man, we say we care not if he heard us himself. But shall we slight God so? Shall we swear, and lie, and blaspheme, and say we care not though God hear us, that will lay everything to our charge, not only words but thoughts? “ No man spake aright.” But what evidence doth He give upon this inquisition? “ They spake not aright,” which is amplified from the generality of this sin When God had threatened judgments, He hearkened and heard what use they made of them, but “ they spake not aright.” In how many respects do we not speak aright in regard of the judgments of God? 1. In regard of God, men speak not aright when they do not see Him in the judgment, but look to the creature, to the second causes. 2. We talk amiss in regard of others, when we begin to slight them in our thoughts and speeches. Oh, they were careless people; they adventured into company, and it was the carelessness of the magistrates; they were not well looked to; they were unmerciful persons, etc. Is it not God’ s hand? 3. We talk amiss of God’ s judgments in regard of ourselves. (1) When we murmur and fret any way against God, and do not submit ourselves under His mighty hand as we should. (2) When we take liberty to inquire of the judgments of God abroad, and never make use of them. So much for the evidence. Come we now to God’ s complaint upon this evidence. “ No man repented him of his wickedness.” They did not repent of their wickedness, and the fault was general: “ No man repented.” The first yields this instruction. That it is a state much offending God, not to repent when His judgments are threatened. The longer we live in any sin unrepented of, the more our hearts will be hardened; the more Satan takes advantage against us, the more hardly he is driven out of his old possession, the more just it may be with God to give us up from one sin to another. The understanding will be more dark upon every repetition of sin, and conscience will be more dulled. Those that are young, therefore, let them take the advantage of the youth, and strength, and freshness of their years to serve God. That which is blasted in the bud, what fruit may we look for from it afterwards? Again, what welcome shall we expect, when we have sacrificed the marrow of our years to our lusts, to bring our old age to God? Can this be any other than self-love? Such late repentance is seldom sound. Our hearts are so false and so dull, we have need to take all advantages of withdrawing ourselves from our sinful courses. And to encourage us to do it, let us consider, if we do this, and do it in time, we shall have the sweetness of the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. You will say, We shall lose the sweetness of sin; ay, but--1. You shall have a most sweet communion with God. 2. It is the way to prevent God’ s judgments, as we see in Nineveh and others. 3. Should we be stricken, if we have made our peace with God, if we have repented, all shall be welcome, all shall be turned to our good. We know the sting is pulled out. “ No man repented of his evil ways.” We see, then, that generality is no plea. “ We must not follow a multitude to do evil” (Exodus 23:2). We must not follow the stream, to do as the world doth. It hath been the commendation of God’ s children, that they have striven against the stream and been good in evil times. If there be but one Lot in Sodom, one Noah and his family in the old world, he shall be looked to as a jewel among much dross. God will single him out as a man doth his jewels, when the rubbish is burnt. God will have a special care to gather His jewels. It shows sincerity and strength of grace, when a man is not tainted with the common corruptions. “ No man repented.” They did not say in their hearts and tongues, “ What have I done?” They were inconsiderate, they did not examine their ways.1. A man can return upon himself; he can try his own ways, and arrest, and arraign himself. “ What have I done?” This shows the dignity of man; and considering that God hath set up a throne and seat of judgment in the heart, we should labour to exercise this judgment. 2. God having given man this excellent prerogative to cite himself and to judge his own courses, when man doth not this, it is the cause of all mischief, of all sin and misery. 3. The exercising of this judgment, it makes a man’ s life lightsome. He knows who he is and whither he goes. 4. Whatsoever we do without this consideration, it is not put upon our account for comfort. When we do things upon judgment, it is with examination whether it be according to the rule or no. Our service of God is especially in our affections, when we joy, and fear, and delight aright. Now how can a man do this without consideration? For the affections, wheresoever they are ordinate and good, they are raised up by judgment. Now if we would practise this duty, we must labour to avoid the hindrances. The main hindrances of this consideration are-- (1) The rage of lusts, that will not give the judgment leave to consider of a man’ s ways; but they are impetuous and tyrannous, carrying men, as we shall see in the next clause, “ as the horse rusheth into the battle.” (2) Too much business, when men are distracted with the things of this life. (3) It is a secret and hard action; because it is to work upon a man’ s self. The world doth not applaud a man for speaking of his own faults. Men are not given to retired actions. They care not for them, unless they have sound hearts. (4) This returning upon a man’ s self, presents to a man a spectacle that is unwelcome. If a man consider his own ways, it will present to him a terrible object. Therefore as the elephant troubles the waters, that he may not see his own visage, so men trouble their souls, that they may not see what they are. “ Every one turns to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.” Every one hath his course, his way, whether good or evil. The course of a wicked man is a smooth way perhaps, but it is a going from God; it leads from Him. And where doth it end? for every way hath its end. It is a going from God to hell. There all the courses of wicked men end. “ As the horse rusheth into the battle.” Here it is comparatively set down. If you would see how the “ horse rusheth into the battle,” it is lively and Divinely expressed (Job 39:19). The horse rusheth into the battle--(1) Eagerly, as in the place of Job. (2) Desperately, he will not be pulled away by any means. (3) Dangerously, for he rusheth upon the pikes, and ofttimes falls down suddenly dead. Herein wicked men are like unto the horse, going on in their course eagerly, desperately, dangerously.1. They go on eagerly. It is meat and drink unto them. “ They cannot sleep until they have done wickedness.” 2. As they go eagerly, so desperately and irreclaimably too; nothing will restrain them. Though God hedge in their ways with thorns, they break through all (Hosea 2:6). 3. As they go eagerly and desperately, so dangerously too; for is it not dangerous to provoke God? to rush upon the pikes? to run against thorns? “ Do you provoke Me to jealousy,” saith God, “ and not yourselves to destruction?” (1 Corinthians 10:22.) No. They go both together. “ Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times,” etc. God confounds the proud dispositions of wicked men by poor, silly creatures--the crane, the turtle, the swallow, and the like. What their wisdom is we see by experience. They have an instinct put in them by God to preserve their being by removing from place to place, and to use that which may keep life. Now, man is made for a better life; and there be dangers concerning the soul in another world, yet he is not so wise for his soul and his best being as the poor creatures are to preserve their being by the instinct of nature. When sharp weather comes they avoid it, and go where a better season is, and a better temper of the air; but man, when God’ s judgments are threatened and sent on him, and God would have him part with his sinful courses, and is ready to fire him, and to force him out of them, yet he is not so careful as the creatures. He will rather perish and die, and rot in his sins, and settle upon his dregs, than alter his course. So he is more sottish than the silly creatures. He will not go into a better estate, to the heat, to the sunbeams to warm him. He will not seek for the favour of God, to be cherished with the assurance of His love, as the poor creature goeth to the sun to warm it till it be over hot for it. The thing most material, is this: That God, after long patience, hath judgments to come on people; and it should be the part of people to know when the judgment is coming. But how shall we know when a judgment is near hand?1. By comparing the sins with the judgments. If there be such sins that such judgments are threatened for, then as the thread followeth the needle, and the shadow the body, so those judgments follow such and such courses. For God hath knit and linked these together. 2. There is a nearer way to know a judgment, when it hath seized on us in part already. He that is not brutish and sottish, and drunk with cares and sensuality, must needs know a judgment when it is already inflicted, when part of the house is on fire. 3. We may know it by the example of others. God keeps His old walks. What ground have we to hope for immunity more than others? We may rather expect it less, because we have their examples; and so they wanted those examples to teach them which we have. 4. General security is a great sign of some judgment coming. There is never more cause of fear, than when there is least fear. The reason is, want of fear springs from infidelity, for faith stirs up fearfulness and care to please God. 5. We may know that some judgment is coming, by the universality and generality of sin, when it spreads over all. As the deluge of sin made way for the deluge of water, so the overflow of sin will make way for a flood of fire. God will one day purge the world with fire. But now for particular sins, whereby we may know when judgment is coming. (1) Injustice. Is not innocency trodden down ofttimes? (2) And so for religion. It is generally neglected. Indifferency and formality. (3) Persecution of religion and religious men. (4) When men will go on incorrigibly in sin, as these here, “ they rush as the horse rote the battle” ; when they will not be reclaimed, it is a forerunner of destruction. (5) Another particular sin whereby we may discern a judgment coming is, unfruitfulness under the means; as the fig tree, when it was digged and dunged, and yet was unfruitful, then it was near a curse. (6) Nay more, decay in our first love is a forerunner of judgment, when we love not God as we were wont (Revelation 2:5). Well, but what shall we do when judgments are coming?1. First, In the interim between the threatening and the execution. Oh improve it, make use of this little time; get into covenant with God; hide yourselves in the providence and promises of God; make your peace, defer it no longer. 2. Mourn for the sins of the time, that when any judgment shall come, you may be marked with those that mourn. 3. Be watchful. Let us shake off security, and do everything we do sincerely to God. We may come to God to make our account, we know not how soon. Let us do everything as in His presence, and to Him. In our particular callings, let us be conscionable, and careful, and fruitful. (R. Sibbes.) Man on earth I. As thy. Special object of Divine attention. Why? We may imagine that--1. Man’ s spiritual infirmities on earth would draw towards him the special notice of his Maker.2. Man’ s critical position.3. Man’ s social influence. II. As the probationary subject of redemptive discipline. Under this system three things are required of him--1. Rectitude of language. In conformity with moral truth.2. Contrition of heart.3. Self-searching thought. III. As the wicked abuser of the system under which he lives.1. Reckless obstinacy. 2. Unnatural ignorance. Yea, the stork, etc. (1) These creatures have remarkable instincts, suitable to the external circumstances of their nature. So have you. They have the instinct of perceiving coming changes, and the instinct of adjusting themselves to those changes. (2) These creatures invariably render obedience to their instincts. You do not. How unnatural! (Homilist.) Interrogating our conduct How attentive God is to us and our actions! He sees His prodigals when yet a great way off; to Him there is music in our sigh, and beauty in a tear. Never do we have a desire towards God, or breathe a prayer to heaven, but God has been watching and hearkening for it: it was but one tear on the cheek, yet the Father noticed it as a hopeful sign; but one throb went through the heart, yet He heeded it as an omen that not quite hardened by sin. I. Words of earnest persuasion, urging all, and especially the unconverted, to ask this question, each for himself, and solemnly answer it.1. Searching yourself can do you no hurt. Little can be lost by taking stock. 2. You may be a great deal better for the process: for, if your affairs are all right with God, you may cheer and comfort yourself; but there are many probabilities that they are wrong; so many are deceived and anything rather than self-delusion. 3. The time for self-examination is short: soon you will know the secret, death will rend off the mask. 4. Though you may deceive yourself, you cannot God. II. Words of assistance in trying to answer the question.1. To Christians: “ What hast thou done?” You reply, “ Nothing to save myself; that was done for me. Nothing to make a righteousness for myself; Christ said, It is finished! Nothing to merit heaven; Jesus did that for me before I was born!” Yes; but say, What hast thou done for Him? for His Church? for the salvation of the world? to promote thine own spiritual growth in grace? 2. To moralists: “ What hast thou done?” You answer, “ All I ought to have done! You may tell me of sins, but I have done my duty: observed Sabbath, said prayers, given to poor, etc.; and if good works have any merit, I have done a great deal!” True, if any merit; but very unfortunate that they have not, for our good works, if we do them to save ourselves by them, are no better than our sins. 3. To the worldly. “ What done? It is very little I do amiss; now and then just a little mirth.” Stop; let us have the right name for that mirth. What do you call it in anyone else? “ Drunkenness.” “ I have been a little loose in talk sometimes!” Write it down, “ Lascivious conversation.” Sometimes you have been out on the Sabbath? “ Sabbath breaking.” You may have quoted texts of Scripture to make jokes of them, and used God’ s name in foolish talk? “ Swearing.” Did you ever adulterate in your trade? “ Stealing.” Wished you could get your neighbour’ s prosperity?” Covetousness, which is idolatry. Ever really prayed? Prayerlessness. Neglected God and Bible? “ Despising Him.” May the Spirit touch your consciences, and convince you of your sins! 4. To the unconverted: “ What done?” By your sins you have destroyed your soul, resisted the Gospel, spurned Christ. Yes; and think what you have done to your children: taught them the ways of spiritual ruin. To your companions: tempted some to take the first stray step into folly, indulgence, iniquity. Doth not your heart quaff within you because of self-ruin and ruin of others? III. Words of affectionate admonition to those who have had to answer the question against themselves.1. Solemn that the years roll on and yet you are unsaved. You, not altogether hardened, yet “ done” nothing to determine for Christ, and lay hold on eternity. 2. There will be a time when you will ask the question, but it will be too late. If you only knew what they feel, and could see what they endure, who have lost opportunity and lost themselves, you would, ere too late, pause and ask, “ what have I done?” As immortal spirits, bound for endless weal or woe, fly ye to Christ, seek for mercy at His hand, trust in Him, and be saved. (C. H. Spurgeon.) God listening The figure is a graphic and vivid one; it is that of the Divine Being stooping from heaven, and with inclined ear listening critically yet hopefully to human speech, if mayhap there be but one bright word, one tone of music, one sigh of contrition. The Lord did not listen generally, promiscuously, as if listening to a confused noise of sound; but He listened specifically, He tried every word, He detained every syllable, if haply He could detect in it one sound or sign that He might construe hopefully. But it was in vain. Even Divinest kindness could make nothing but black ingratitude of all the energetic speech: it was a torrent of iniquity; it was a river black, foul; it was a rain of poison. God does not bring these charges against the human family lightly. God can see flowers if there are any. He can see them before they open their mystery, and proclaim in fragrance their gospel; He knows where they are sown and planted. But He looked, and there was none; He expected, and was struck to the heart with disappointment. “ No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?” There was no self-cross-examination. When men cease to soliloquise they cease to pray. The hardest witness man undertakes to interrogate is his own soul. Yet philosophy has found out the advantages of self-inquest. The Pythagoreans asked themselves once a day, “ What have I done?” The inquiry creates a space in the day for itself, makes one inch of praying ground in the desert of the day’ s life. How few men dare probe themselves with that inquiry! It is a question double-edged. It is recorded of Cicero, in pressing one of his accusations against an adversary, that he told that adversary that if he had but put two words to himself he might have cooled his passion, controlled his desires, and turned his impulses to high utility. Said the orator, “ If thou hadst said to thyself, Quid ego? thou mightest have stopped thyself in this tremendous assault.” That is, What have I done? What do I? What is my course? What are the facts of the case? (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 8:7-8 The stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times.Instinct contrasted with reason in its discernment of times I. The birds of passage show in their periodic migrations, their discernment of seasons, and this both as regards the time of their visiting and the time of their leaving us. Probably some peculiarity in the material structure of migratory birds renders them extremely sensitive to changes of temperature--and as these changes always recur at certain seasons of the year, they observe seasons, and make a corresponding change in their places of abode. So great is their sagacity, so true their instinct. II. Consider the operation of unsanctified reason in discerning times.1. Consider the invitations of this season of grace. (1) The Saviour’ s voice issuing forth from the pages of the written Word, addresses sinners in such soothing accents, and holds forth to them promises so refreshing, that one would think it could hardly fail of winning an entrance into their hearts, and finding a response there! (2) But we believe that in every case in which the sinner has made a nominal profession of Christ’ s religion, and been formally admitted to the participation of Christian privileges, the Holy Spirit seconds, by an inward action upon the conscience, this external call of the Saviour. In the abysmal depths of the consciousness He strives with the reluctant soul, and whispers in accents, which even the giddy whirl of vanity and frivolity cannot entirely drown or shut out, “ Come.” (3) God employs subordinate human agents to herald in the ears of His people His invitations of grace. The bride, that is the Church, says “ Come.” She says so by her ministers, who are her commissioned representatives. (4) God invites us to return in penitence and faith to His bosom by the dispensations of His providence, no less than by more immediate and direct summons (Hosea 5:15; Micah 6:9). 2. But if the majority of sinners be not gently won by the invitations of grace, they will haply be driven by terror to take refuge in those offers. Let growing age and infirmity bring death and judgment very near--the prospect will surely urge the wanderer to return with hurried steps to the sheepfold! When hoar hairs are here and there upon him, he will lay to heart the cheerless desolate prospect which lies before him in the vista of futurity, and fly before the approaching winter of God’ s wrath! (Dean Goulburn.) Migration heavenward When God would set fast a beautiful thought, He plants it in a tree. When He would put it afloat, He fashions it into a fish. When He would have it glide the air, He moulds it into a bird. The prophet was out of doors, thinking of the impenitences of the people of his day, when he heard a great cry overhead. He looks up, and there are flocks of storks, and turtledoves, and cranes, and swallows, drawn out in long line for flight southwards. As is their habit, the cranes had arranged themselves into two lines, making an angle--a wedge--splitting the air with wild velocity; the old crane, with commanding call, bidding them onward, until the towns, and the cities, and the continents slid under them. The prophet, almost blinded from looking into the dazzling heavens, stoops down and begins to think how much superior the birds are in sagacity about their safety than men. I. They mingle music with their work. The most serious undertaking of a bird’ s life is this annual travel. Naturalists tell us that they arrive weary and plumage ruffled, and yet they go singing all the way, the ground the lower line of the music, the sky the upper line of the music, themselves the notes scattered up and down between. I suppose their song gives elasticity to their wings, and helps on the journey. Would God that we were as wise as they, mingling Christian song with our everyday work. A violin, chorded and strung, if something accidentally strike it, makes music; and I suppose there is such a thing as having our hearts so attuned by Divine glory that even the rough collisions of life will make heavenly vibration. Some one asked Haydn why he always composed such cheerful music. “ Why,” he said, “ I cannot do otherwise. When I think of God, my soul is so full of joy that the notes leap and dance from my pen.” I wish we might all exult melodiously before the Lord. The Church of God will never become a triumphal Church until it becomes a singing Church. II. They fly very high. During the summer, when they are in the fields, they often come within reach of the gun; but when they start for their annual flight southward they take their places mid-heaven, and go straight as a mark. The longest rifle that was ever brought to shoulder cannot reach them. We fly so low that we are within range of the world, the flesh, and the devil. So poor is the type of piety in the Church of God at this day that men actually caricature the idea that there is any such thing as a higher life. Moles never did believe in eagles. But because we have not reached these heights ourselves, shall we deride the fact that there are any such heights? I do not believe that God exhausted all His grace in Paul, and Latimer, and Edward Payson. I believe there are higher points of Christian attainment to be reached in the future ages of the Christian world. III. They know when to start. If you should go out now, and shout, “ Stop, storks and cranes, don’ t be in a hurry,” they would say, “ No, we cannot stop. Last night we heard the roaring of the woods bidding us away, and the shrill flute of the north wind has sounded the retreat. We must go.” So they gather themselves into companies, and turning not aside for storm or mountain top, or shock of musketry, over land and sea, straight as an arrow to the mark, they go. And if you come out this morning with a sack of corn, and throw it in the fields, and try to get them to stop, they are so far up that they would hardly see it. They are on their way south. You could not stop them. Oh! that we were as wise about the best time to start for God and heaven. I was reading of an entertainment given in a king’ s court, and there were musicians there with elaborate pieces of music. After a while Mozart came and began to play, and he had a blank piece of paper before him, and the king familiarly looked over his shoulder and said, “ What are you playing? I see no music before you.” And Mozart put his hand on his brow, as much as to say, “ I am making it up as I go along.” It was very well for him; but, oh! we cannot extemporise heaven. If we do not get prepared in this world, we will never take part in the orchestral harmonies of the saved. Oh! that we were as wise as the crane and the stork, flying away, flying away from the tempest. Some of you have felt the pinching frost of sin. You feel it today. You are not happy. There are voices within your soul that will not be silenced, telling you that you are sinners, and that without the pardon of God you are undone forever. Oh! that you would go away into the warm heart of God’ s mercy. The southern grove, redolent with the magnolia and cactus, never waited for northern flocks as God has waited for you. Another frost is bidding you away: it is the frost of trouble. Where do you live now? Oh, you say, “ I have moved.” Why did you move? You say, “ I don’ t want as large a house now as I used to want.” Why do you not want as large a house? You say, “ My family is not so large.” Where have they gone to? Eternity! (T. De Witt Talmage.) Migratory birds (children’ s address):--It is very remarkable that in the whole globe there is no place suitable all the year round for birds of this order; and that these untaught and unthinking creatures should shift their habitation, and make long voyages through the vast empire of the air. God has imprinted upon their nature that wonderful instinct which enables them to determine when to go and which way to take. The prophet, with the deep instinct of a poet, sees, and declares to Israel, the inner meaning and lessons of the laws and habits of these aerial voyagers. I. We must obey the “ call” of God. At “ the appointed time” the birds feel an impulse or moving within them that they must be going, they congregate together, like swallows in autumn, all ready for their long journey. So in the same way, by the movements of conscience and the voice of Divine truth, God is calling us. Abraham obeyed that “ call,” and left his idolatrous surroundings, and so did the fishers of Galilee, they left their nets and followed Christ. In the second part of Bunyan’ s Pilgrim’s Progress, you see how the children left the city of destruction and went on the heavenly journey. II. Do not delay to start. You have noticed the birds preparing: the trees and hedgerows are covered with them, and there is such a chattering! Stragglers are coming in, one after the other, and, at last, the signal is given, wings flutter, and then, like a moving dark cloud, the birds begin their wonderful passage across the pathless seas. But some swallows are too late, they are left behind, and perish in the cold. We read in the Bible that Lot’ s wife lingered and was overtaken by death: the five foolish virgins were all unprepared and “ too late” ; but the Psalmist was of a different character; he said, “ I made haste, I delayed not to keep Thy commandments.” III. Beware of temptations. What is it that makes some of the birds late, so that they cannot start with the others? Perhaps, the sunshine! Everything looked so beautiful, the trees were decked in splendour, like Joseph’ s coat of many colours, and the fat red berries glowed like little balls of fire, and so the birds were tempted to delay their journey until it was too late. It was so with the Jews in Babylon. God called them out of the land of captivity, and opened a way for them through the desert, back to the temple and city of their fathers, but many of them were tempted to remain behind; they had nice houses in Babylon, and there were many pleasant things there, from which it was hard to break away. So the world today will seek to keep you back from God, and prevent you beginning the heavenward journey. Beware of its temptations, and pray God to make you strong to overcome. IV. Like birds, fly high, that is, live near to God. There are two advantages the birds have when they fly high up in the air, they can see farther, and they are a greater distance from the guns and snares of the earth, and the weapon of the enemy. In churches, the lectern, on which rests the Bible, is generally a burnished eagle, as if to say, that just as the eagle soars upward and upward towards the sun, so the Bible, if we daily and prayerfully read it, will bring us into the light of God’ s own presence. Then shall we see the way of life more clearly, and “ escape the fiery darts of the evil one.” God, too, will fit us for our long journey just as He strengthens the birds for theirs, giving to the swallow long and powerful wings, and to the quail and other birds of shorter pinions marvellous strength of body. Cullen Bryant beautifully says of the waterfowl-- “ He who from zone to zone, Guides thro’ the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way which I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright.” (A. Hampden Lee.) Duty of repentance illustrated I. Respecting the nature of the duty; the similitude in the text directs us to consider it as a return, a treading back our steps, as birds of passage return to the country from which they departed. We may then define repentance to be, A change of mind, operating in a change of conduct.1. The leading step in the process must of necessity be conviction. No man will think of returning into the right way, unless he be made sensible that he has wandered out of it. Conviction is produced gradually. Upon some hint given to a man, either from within or from without, he begins to suspect himself in the wrong; and then, if he be honest enough to prosecute the inquiry, discovers at length that he actually is so. Sometimes it is flashed upon the mind at once--he awakes, and the dream is at an end. It is produced by various means, by disappointments, by crosses, by losses, by sickness, by the death of a friend, by a passage in Scripture, or a discourse upon one, by the incidents of common life, or the changes that happen in the natural world; in short, there is hardly a circumstance of so trivial a nature, but that providence, in some instance or other, has been pleased to make it instrumental to this salutary purpose. 2. The next step to conviction, in the process of repentance, is sorrow. The man who has offended his Maker, and is become thoroughly sensible that he has done so, and of the consequences of his having done so, cannot but be grieved to find himself in such a situation. The degree of this sorrow is varied almost infinitely by the different temperaments of mind and body in the penitents, and the different views under which sin presents itself to their several imaginations. And, therefore, the same degree is not to be exacted of all. By enthusiasm it has been, not unfrequently, aggravated even to frenzy and madness. In Scripture it is drawn with an aspect perfectly sober, but yet described, in many instances, as very intense, like that occasioned by the languors of sickness in its last stage, or the pain arising from dislocated or broken bones, and venting itself in complaints and lamentations, in sighs and tears. There are temporal ealamities, which can draw tears plentifully from most persons; nay, a fictitious representation of them can produce the effect. Spiritual ones, perhaps, would do the same, if we felt them as we ought to feel them; as due retirement and meditation would cause us to feel them; and as we shall one day feel them, when death shall be seen levelling his dart at our pillow, and the throne of judgment rising to the view, beyond him. 3. A third step is confession. One of an ingenuous mind, who is heartily sorry for his offences, will not be ashamed or backward to own that sorrow. 4. A fourth step is resolution to amend. 5. One step more remains, and only one, but that very steep and difficult of ascent, which is, to carry what we have resolved into execution. It is this which finishes and crowns all the rest. II. The motives to it. Evil to be avoided, and good to be obtained, are the motives, which influence and produce all human actions. To escape from the rigours and storms of winter, and to enjoy the sweets of a milder and more gracious season, is the instinctive cause, why the heaven-taught monitors, to whom we are referred, migrate from one country to another. It is to avoid the judgments of God, and partake of His mercies, that man is called to repent.1. The evil, then, to be avoided, is “ the judgment of God,” consequent upon sin, and sure to overtake it, if unrepented of Sin, which is the transgression of the law, cannot but be noticed by Him who gave that law; and if noticed, must be punished, either in this life, or that which is to come. Sin is often punished in this life; much oftener than we are aware; indeed so often, that we may say to you as Moses to Israel (Numbers 32:23). It would be in vain, however, to dissemble, that in the present state, as is the offence, such is not always the punishment. Notorious sinners often partake not, to appearance, the common evils of life, but pass their days in prosperity and health, and die without any visible tokens of the Divine displeasure. To take off, in some measure, the force of the objection, it must be remarked, that, besides those judgments of God, which lie open to the observation of mankind, there are others, even in the present life, of a secret and invisible kind, known only to the party by whom they are felt. In the brilliant scenes of splendor, of luxury and dissipation, surrounded by the companions of his pleasures, and the flatterers of his vices, amidst the flashes of wit and merriment, when all wears the face of gaiety and festivity, the profligate often reads his doom, written by the hand whose characters are indelible. Should he turn away his eyes from beholding it, and succeed in the great work, during the course of his revels, yet the time will come, when from scenes like these he must retire, and be alone: and then, as Dr. South says, “ What is all that a man can enjoy in this way for a week, a month, or a year, compared with what he feels for one hour, when his conscience shall take him aside, and rate him by himself?” There is likewise another hour which will come, and that soon--the hour when life must end; when the accumulated wealth of the east and the west, with all the assistance it is able to procure, will not be competent to obtain the respite of a moment. It will still be alleged, perhaps, that instances are not wanting of the worst of men, in principle and practice, going out of life with no less composure than the best. I believe these instances to be very rare indeed. But however, by habits either of sensuality or infidelity, the conscience may be drugged, and laid asleep in this world, let it not be forgotten that there is another world beyond this, in which it must awake, to sleep no more. And if in this world some sins are punished, as we have assurance they are, while others of far greater magnitude and more atrocious guilt are permitted to go unpunished, it will follow, by a consequence which the wit of man cannot gainsay, should he study for a thousand years to do it, that such sins, not being punished here, will most inevitably be punished there. 2. The good to be obtained needeth few words. (1) The light of heaven shining upon our tabernacle, the Divine favour attending us and ours, through every stage of our existence, sanctifying prosperity, and turning adversity itself into a blessing, while it becomes an instrument to rectify the disorders of our minds, to soften the few hard places remaining in our hearts, to smooth and lay even the little roughnesses in our tempers; thus gradually and gently preparing us for our departure hence, and fitting us for the company of “ the spirits of just men made perfect.” (2) The answer of a good conscience, diffusing peace and serenity over all the powers and faculties of the soul, refreshing like the dew falling on the top of Hermon, exhilarating as the flagrance of the holy oil descending from the head of Aaron; sweetening the converse of society, and the charities of active life, and affording, in retirement and solitude, pleasures concealed from the world around us, joys in which “ a stranger intermeddleth not.” (3) The reward in heaven, the glory that shall be revealed, to be known only when it shall be revealed; the bliss without alloy, and without end, which he cannot conceive who has not experienced, and which he who has experienced can find no human language able to express. III. Some short rules for the conduct of our repentance.1. Stifle not convictions. Attend to every suggestion of this salutary kind, from what quarter soever it may proceed: attend and slight it not. It is the voice of God calling you to repentance. Listen, and obey. 2. Be serious. The subject will cause any man to become so, who considers it as he ought to do; who reflects, what sin is in the sight of God, what sorrow it occasioned to the Son of God, what destruction it hath brought upon the world, and is about to bring upon himself, unless prevented by a timely repentance. (Bp. Borne.) Jeremiah 8:11 They have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.Healed or deluded? Which? The people among whom Jeremiah dwelt had received a grievous hurt, and they felt it, for they were invaded by cruel enemies, their goods were plundered, their children were slain, and their cities burned. Jeremiah, with true love to his nation, warned them that the cause of all their trouble was that they had forsaken their God. Today God’ s servants have a task before them sterner even than that of the ancient seers. It is not ours to point to smoking ruins and the carcases of the unburied dead--plain evidences of a grievous hurt; but our work is to deal with spiritual sickness, and to come among a people who confess no hurt. Great multitudes of our hearers do not welcome the news of a heavenly remedy, because they are not aware that they are sick. A physician who has to commence his practice by convincing his neighbours that they are sick has not a very hopeful sphere before him. Such is our work: we have first of all to declare in the name of the God of truth that man is fallen, that his heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, that he is a sinner doomed to die, and such a sinner that there is no reclaiming him unless the Ethiopian can change his skin and the leopard his spots. Truths so humiliating to human pride are by no means popular; men prefer to hear the smooth periods of those who parade the dignity of human nature. Many there are who confess their disease, but the disease of sin has wrought in them a spiritual lethargy, so that they find a horrible rest in their lost estate, and have no longing to rise to spiritual health, of which, indeed, they know nothing. They are guilty, and willing to remain guilty; inclined to evil, and content with the inclination. Ah, me! but we’ must bring them out of this. They will perish unless they are quickened out of this indifference: they will sleep themselves into hell unless we can find an antidote to the opiates of sin. After these things are done, we have but stormed the outworks of the castle, for there still remains another difficulty. Convinced that they want healing, and made in a measure anxious to find it, the danger with the awakened is lest they should rest content with an apparent cure, and miss the real work of grace. I. It is very easy for us to be the subjects of a false healing.1. We might infer this from the fact that no doubt a large number of persons are so deceived. If a large number of persons are so, then why should not we be? The tendency of other men is probably in us also. Why not? Are there not many persons who consider that all is well with them because they have been observant of church ordinances from their youth up, and their parents were observant for them before they actually came upon the stage of responsibility? Too many are reliant entirely upon external religion. If that be attended to carefully they conclude that all is right. I am afraid, too, that many who do not rely upon religious forms yet confide in doctrinal beliefs. They are sound in the faith--orthodox, evangelical. They heartily detest any doctrine that is not scriptural. I am glad to find that it is so with them; but let them not rest in this. To cover a wound with a royal garment is not to heal it, and to conceal a sinful disposition beneath a sound creed is not salvation. 2. Depend upon this, that if there is a chance of our being deceived at all we are always ready to aid in the deception. We are almost all of us on the side of that which is most easy and comfortable to ourselves: the exceptions to this rule are a few morbid spirits who habitually write bitter things against themselves, and a few gracious souls whom the Holy Spirit has convinced of sin, who would comfort themselves if they could, but dare not do so. Take this, then, for granted, that there are many ways of being slightly healed, and we are most of us likely to be pleased with one or other of them. 3. Besides, flatterers are not yet an extinct race. False prophets abounded in Jeremiah’ s day, and they may be met with still. 4. Slight healing is sure to be fashionable among a great many, because it requires so little thought. People will do anything but think according to the Word of God. How few sit down and answer the question, “ How much owest thou unto my Lord?” They would sooner hear a thunder clap than be asked to consider their ways. 5. Superficial religion also will always be fashionable, because it does not require self-denial. Do you wonder that vital godliness is at a discount when it proclaims war to the knife against a lifelong indulgence? 6. Slight healing, also, is sought by men, because it does not require spirituality. 7. But let me warn you with all the energy I possess against ever being satisfied with any of the slight healings that are cried up nowadays, because they will all end in disappointment, as sure as you are living men. Remember that if you pass through this life deceived there will await you an awful undeceiving in the next world. II. Be it ours to seek true healing. But then, as we have already said, this true healing must be radical. Oh, pray to have it so! Oh that we might each one now lie at Christ’ s feet as dead till He shall touch us and say, “ Live.” Truly, I desire no life but that which He gives. I would be quickened by His Spirit, and find in Him my life, my all. Now go a step further. The healing we want must be a healing from the guilt of sin. Every offence you have ever committed must be washed right out, even the least stain of it must vanish, and it must be as though it had never been, and you must be as though you never had offended at all “ How can that be?” say you. It is clear it cannot be by anything that you can do; and this again drives you to the prayer of my text, “ Heal me, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.” How can it be? Only by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Saviour. But you must not only be free from sin, you must be freed from sinfulness: a work must be wrought in you, and in me, by which we shall be clean rid of every tendency to do evil. Does not this make you cry, “ Heal me, O God, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved” ? It ought to do so, and in so doing it will work your safety. In answer to your cry the eternal Spirit shall come upon you, creating you anew in Christ Jesus: He shall come and dwell in you, and shall break down the reigning power of sin, putting it beneath your feet. It is most desirable to be so healed in soul as to stand the test of this present life. I have known friends discharged from the hospital as healed of disease who were bitterly disappointed when they came into everyday life: a little exertion made them as ill as ever. A person had a piece of diseased bone in the wrist; it was taken out by the hospital surgeon, and the arm seemed perfectly healed, but when she began to work the old pain returned, and it was evident that the old mischief was there still, and that a part of the decayed bone remained. Thus some are saved, so they think; but it is only in seeming, for when they get into the world, and are tried with temptation, they are just the same as they used to be. They have not received a practical salvation; and nothing but practical salvation is worth having. A sham cure is worse than none. III. Let us go where true healing is to be had. It is quite certain that God is able to heal us of all our sins: for He who created can restore. Whatever our diseases, nothing can surpass the power of omnipotent love. Blessed be the name of the Lord, no work of grace can be beyond His will, for He delighteth in mercy. The Lord is so fond of healing sin-sick souls, that He had but one Son, and He made a physician of Him that He might come and heal mankind of their deadly wound: and He being made a physician came down among us, and sought out for His patients, not the good and excellent, but the most guilty, for He said, “ The whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Jesus, then, the beloved Physician is able and willing to meet the case of every one of us. His wounds are an unfailing remedy. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Two kinds of peace; the false and the true It was the fault of the Jews, on whom Jeremiah denounced the judgment of God for their sins, that, instead of repenting, they comforted themselves with false hopes of mercy, and cried, Peace, peace, when there was no peace. “ I hearkened, and heard,” saith the prophet, “ that they spake not right: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done!” “ They did not amend their doings; they did not execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; but they still oppressed the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.” And the alarm which might be caused by the awful declarations of the prophet they soon forgot: they healed the hurt slightly; they believed the false prophets, who spake smooth things to them. Too often do we meet with cases exactly similar amongst ourselves. God has denounced judgments upon sinners; the ministers of God proclaim these judgments, and, if possible, to alarm the consciences of sinners. There would scarcely be anything more surprising, were we not so accustomed to it, than the general indifference and fearlessness which is shown in respect to the judgments of God. Is it true that God has actually appointed a judgment seat, at which we must all appear? Is it certain, that a punishment which is eternal awaits transgressors? Still, however, it sometimes happens, where the Word of God is faithfully preached, that an uneasy suspicion of danger will arise, and an alarm be produced in the mind, respecting the judgment to come. Inquiry will then, perhaps, be made as to the way of safety. I wish them to consider the uneasiness they feel, however painful, as a great blessing, for which they have more reason to offer up thanksgivings to God than perhaps for any mercy they ever before experienced. A state of careless ease is the state of danger. Let us not, therefore, stifle such convictions; let us not look upon them as an evil; let us not lament that our quiet has been interrupted; but rather cherish them, as the means used by Providence for our good. Let such persons, however, beware of laying too great a stress upon present peace. It should ever be laid down as a rule, that grace is to be sought in the first place; then peace. But many reverse this. Comfort should never be made our principal or direct end; though it too often happens that doctrines are valued, ministers chosen, and means used, only on account of the degree of comfort which they excite. The bad effects of thus unduly valuing present peace are very serious. That uneasiness of mind which is the parent of humility and the nurse of repentance; that uneasiness, which, if cultivated, would produce a spirit of holy jealousy and watchfulness over ourselves, a just and extensive view of our duty, and a tenderness of conscience, is stifled in its very birth; and the consequence is obvious: superficial convictions produce superficial peace and superficial practice. I. The false ways by which men endeavour to obtain peace. Here I must begin with remarking, that the strength of a person’ s peace is no proof of the soundness of it. It is not unusual to see even notorious sinners dying in peace, and to meet with enthusiasts of various and opposite kinds rejoicing in a peace of mind which is not clouded by a single doubt. For let a person be only firmly convinced that he is right, and peace will follow naturally. Hence it will vary according to a person’ s natural temper, his modesty or his arrogance, his knowledge or his ignorance, as well as according to the doctrines he imbibes. We may learn from this view of the subject the great importance of sound scriptural knowledge and true religious principles. A false peace must be built on error or ignorance, and these are removed by a thorough knowledge of the truths of Scripture. We must examine whether our views are just concerning the terms of salvation, and the necessary evidence of the safety of our state.1. It is far from being uncommon to hear a person declare his religious creed in such terms as these: “ Whatever bigots may affirm, or enthusiasts believe, I am certain that God is our merciful Father, and will make allowance for the frailties of His creatures, He knows what passions He gave us, and will surely consider their strength and our weakness. It is dishouourable to Him to indulge any fear of His goodness. Such cases as those, to which human laws do not extend, Divine justice may reach; but as for those whose lives, allowing for human infirmity, are on the whole respectable, surely they need entertain no uneasy apprehensions.” Let a person receive these sentiments, it matters not upon how slight evidence--it matters not that the Word of God contradicts them--and he will have peace; and this peace he will enjoy so long as he continues firm in these sentiments. It is only some uneasy fear that sin may not be so easily forgiven; some secret suggestion of conscience that all is not right within, which can shake this man’ s peace. Such a peace as this can only be the result of gross ignorance, and neglect of serious inquiry. Where the conscience is enlightened by some degree of scriptural knowledge, there must be something much more than this to serve as a foundation for the peace of the soul. There are persons, therefore who seek peace by the adoption of a new religious system, perhaps a true one. They read the Scriptures, and they attend to religious conversation with much curiosity and desire to know the truth: a complete change perhaps takes place in their religious opinions: their imagination is alive to religion; their thoughts are occupied with it. Now, supposing the system of religion which they have adopted to be the true one, still it may be asked, does the mere belief even of the truth save the soul? Can a mere speculative faith, however true, save a man? Does our Saviour, or do His apostles tell us to depend on our opinions, on the fancies of our minds, or the clearness of our conceptions? 2. Another class of persons build their peace, not upon the declarations of Scripture respecting the character of those who shall be accepted, but upon some secret suggestions, some impression made on the mind, some vision or rome, some uncommon feeling by which they imagine they are assured of the favour of God towards them. God does not give one revelation to supersede another: He does not point out a hope in His Word upon which we may and ought to rely, and then, rejecting that as imperfect, communicate one in a different way. “ We are saved,” saith the apostle, “ by faith” ; in another place, “ by hope.” They both imply the same thing, and both prove that it is not by sight, by feeling, by impressions: for these are not faith; these have not the truth revealed in Scripture for their object, but the truth revealed to ourselves. What a door is here opened for delusion and enthusiasm! How is the attention thus drawn from the Word of God, to follow an unknown guide! How do we leave the promises, to build upon the phantoms of fancy! It must be allowed, indeed, that the Holy Spirit is the great Author of light and peace: but He communicates them, as we learn from Scripture, by impressing the truths revealed in the Bible on our hearts; by removing our prejudices against them; by disposing our hearts to attend to them; by exciting holy affections in consequence of the view we have of them. Thus the Spirit testifies of Christ, not of us; fills us with joy in believing the old, not in receiving a new, revelation; makes known the truths of Scripture, not truths with which Scripture is unconcerned. II. What is the true foundation of Christian peace?1. It is not to be denied, that some good Persons have built their peace on those evidences which I have just laid down as unsatisfactory; but in this case, it has been their error that they have neglected what was truly a good evidence, and dwelt upon what was imperfect and unsound. We are apt to lay too much stress upon what is peculiar to ourselves and to our party, and too little upon what is really important, and what is held to be so in Scripture. 2. We may lay it down as a maxim, that grace in the heart is far more important than light in the understanding, or than comfort and Peace, however founded. The peace of the Gospel has a close connection with sanctification, as well as a manifest influence upon it. And one great evil which arises from all false ways of obtaining Peace is this, that they have no necessary connection with sanctification. Whatever peace, or whatever feelings we have, let us mark their practical influence: if they tend to produce, not a partial, but an universal respect to all God’ s will, so far they are right, and all true Christian peace will tend to produce that effect. It remains now to explain what is the just and proper foundation on which a solid Peace may be built. Here it is hardly necessary to premise that Scripture is our only unerring guide in such inquiries. Now, in his Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul treats of this subject, not indirectly or briefly, but expressly and fully. In the fifth chapter he states the way in which a Christian obtains peace with God, and is enabled to rejoice in hope of His glory. This foundation appears to be faith. “ Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” Peace, I have said, is at first to be obtained by believing. But suppose a person, who fancies himself a believer, still lives in the practice of sin; is he, nevertheless, to maintain peace, to stifle the alarms of conscience, and to look only to his faith in the revelation of Christ? God forbid. His conduct proves that his faith is insincere. He must humble himself before God as a sinner, and pray for true faith; for an influential, purifying view of the Gospel. Thus, then, faith must be the foundation of our peace, but uprightness the guard of it. Faith and peace will then go hand in hand, attending the true Christian in his journey to heaven. Does he fall into sin? His peace will decay. Would he have it renewed? It must be by renewed repentance, and renewed application to the Saviour, who takes away sin and communicates pardon and sanctifying grace. Thus his faith will be strengthened, and his peace restored. Let us examine on what our peace towards God is founded. Is it on our own good life? If so, it is false. Is it on our faith? If so, is our faith sincere? Does it teach us reliance on Christ, and lead us to continual applications to Him for grace? Does the love of Christ constrain us to live to Him rather than to ourselves? Does it produce in us a uniform and sincere obedience to His holy will? If not, we may justly fear that our faith is vain, and that we are yet in our sins. Lastly, let us ever bear in mind, that to Christ alone must we be indebted for salvation. Though the Scriptures speak of our being saved by faith, yet, properly speaking, it is Christ alone who can save us. He has made a full and sufficient atonement for sin. (Christian Observer.) Jeremiah 8:17I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you. Penalty There are countries that are desolated by animals; there have been harvests eaten by locusts; there have been vineyards stripped by insects; there is, therefore, no violence in the figure, and there is nothing of the nature of exaggeration. The animals have one keeper. God can make them live where tie likes. The sight of that cockatrice might make a man almost pray. It would turn many a blustering, blatant sinner in the city into a coward if he could but once catch sight of it on the counting house floor; then any prophet would be welcome who could charm the evil thing. But this cockatrice will not be charmed. It will look with proud disdain upon your traps and snares and all your offered flatteries, and all your bribes to its cruel dignity; it has come to do God’ s judgment work and it will not accept the compromise the sinner proposes. These words are full of sadness, full of horribleness: but we must be horrible before we can be gracious; we must know what the law is before we can know what the Gospel is; we must preach--oh, sad confession, and hurtful to a dainty and irrational sentimentality!--we must preach hell, if haply men may, by the terror of the Lord, be brought to know the meaning of His grace. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 8:19-20 Is not the Lord in Zion?A discourse for a revival season These words, as they stand in the Book of Jeremiah, were probably meant to set forth the sin of Israel. The prophet’ s heart is very full of sadness; he can hear the cries of the people in the streets of Jerusalem. They are moaning for sorrow, because of the oppression of the Chaldeans--the nation that dwelt afar off; and in the midst of their bitterness they remember the God whom they had forgotten in their prosperity: but this remembrance is not a gracious one; they do not remember Him to humble themselves, but to bring accusations against Him. They inquire, “ Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her King in her?” As if they felt, “ The people of the Lord, the people of the Lord are we, and therefore He is bound to send us a deliverance.” They accuse the faithfulness of Jehovah, because He greatly suitors them to be downtrodden for their sins. Then the Lord, speaking by the prophet, tells them the reason why, although present among them, he did not help them: “ Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?” If they believed Him to be present, why did they set up false gods? I. We have in the text a cry.1. Observe the word “ Behold.” The “ behold” here is the mark of astonishment. We are to “ Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of My people” as an unusual thing. So seldom does Israel cry unto the Lord, she is so negligent of prayer, she is so silent when she ought to be incessant in her petitions, that when at last she does cry, her voice is a wonder in God’ s ears. And yet it ought not to be a wonder, it ought not to be a strange thing for God’ s people to be in earnest, or for sinners to feel brokenness of heart. If prayer be the Christian’ s breath, why then, to see a multitude breathing, should never be a spectacle. If to pray unto God be the Christian’ s daffy privilege, then to approach the throne of God with prevalent earnestness, should never be looked upon with astonishment. 2. Notice how this prayer is described. It is a cry: “ Behold the cry.” A cry is the most natural form of utterance. It is a natural expression made up of pain and desire for relief. When a brother merely prays what we call prayer, he stands up and utters very proper words, very edifying, very suitable, no doubt, and then he has done. Another brother comes forward; he wants a blessing, he tells the Lord what he desires; he takes the promises, he wrestles with God, and then he seems to say, “ I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me.” He cannot be satisfied till, with the cry of “ Abba, Father,” he has come before the throne and really obtained an audience with the Most High. 3. Note again, for every word of our text is suggestive, it is Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of My people. It is not enough to be earnest, you must know what you are earnest about; the cry must have a voice which is as far as possible understood by yourself, and a voice which has a meaning in it before God. I must direct my prayer unto God, as David says, pull my bow, direct the arrow, take aim at the centre of the target, and then when the arrow flies it is likely to reach its place. 4. Further, study the matter of the voice--it was “ for them that dwell in a far country.” In what a far country does every sinner dwell! Now, the prayers, I hope, of God’ s people, have been going up for all the far-off ones, that infinite mercy would make them nigh by the blood of Christ. 5. Remark another word in the text--for “ those that dwell in a far country” : there are some of you who make a long abode in a far country. The fact is, you have taken up your dwellings; you have made a settlement in one of the parishes of the city of destruction; you are making out a claim to be enrolled in the devil’ s register; you dwell in the far-off land. If you were uneasy and felt yourselves to be strangers and foreigners in the land of destruction, how would I clap my hands for joy; for you would soon be rid of your old master if you once felt sick of him. 6. The cry is “ The cry of the daughter of My people.” Oh, it is so sweet to think that our prayers, poor as they are, are the prayers of God’ s own people, and therefore they must be heard. You are the Lord’ s children, therefore He will hear you. Would you let your child constantly cry to you and not answer Him? II. We will now turn to the question: “ Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her King in her?” I will answer that question at once in the affirmative. “ The Lord is in Zion: her King is in the midst of her.” Having answered this question, it suggests many more.1. If the Lord be indeed in Zion, and the King he in the midst of her, why do we pray as if He were not? He is with you, ready to answer by fire, if, like Elias, you have but faith with which to challenge His promise and His power. 2. Why do you despond because of your own weakness? “ We have not a sufficient number of ministers; we have little wealth; we have few places of public worship; we have few gifted members,” and so on. So some unbelievingly talk. “ Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her King in her?” What more do you want? “ Oh! we would like to be strong.” Why would you be strong? That you must be disqualified to be used by God? Why, any fool can kill the enemy with a cannon, but it takes a Samson to smite them with the jawbone of an ass. And so, when God has the choice of weapons, and He always has, He chooses the weaker weapon, that He may get to Himself the greater renown. 3. If God be with us, why these great fears about the prosperity of the Church? The God of Zion is here, the King of Zion is here. I grant you, we do not sufficiently recognise His presence; we are not, as we should be, obedient to His commands but I charge you, O ye soldiers of the Cross, believe in the presence of your Captain, and press where ye see His helmet amidst the din of war. His Cross is the great emblazoned banner which leads you on to glory. Press forward! to suffer, to deny yourselves, to bear witness for Christ; for the battle is the Lord’ s, and the King Himself fights in the van. III. Another question. “ Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images and with strange vanities?”1. Here is a question for the Lord’ s people. It becomes a very solemn thing when God is in His Church how that Church behaves herself. Suppose that Church to set up false principles: if her King were not there she might take the kings of the earth to be her head. But dare she do that when her King Himself is there? 2. This text has a particular voice to sinners. You have been saying, “ God is in the midst of His people--how is it I have not had a blessing?” I will ask you this question, “ Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images and with strange vanities?” Do not ask why the Word is not blessed to you; do not ask why you do not enjoy the prayer meeting: answer my question first. Why hast thou provoked Me to anger with thy tricks in trade, with thy Sabbathbreaking, with thy lying, with thy loose songs, with thy miring up with worldly company, with thy profanity? IV. Another cry. I wish I might hear this cry this morning, for then I should not hear it in the world to come, “ The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Manifestations of the presence of God The ancient polity of the Jewish nation was a pure and splendid theocracy. Jehovah was their King. He gave them their laws, selected their judges, appointed their prophets, and He reigned the Lord supreme, having chosen them to be His peculiar people, and special possession. I. It is possible for the members of a professing Church to be deceived concerning the presence of God, and conclude that he is with them, when in reality he is far from them.1. Deceived on this important point are those who conclude God is with them because they have imposing forms and splendid places of worship. If pompous forms of worship and gorgeous temples marked the presence of God with men, the evidence would go to show that God was more with the ancient heathen than with the ancient Jews. It would exalt Mahomet and Mohammedanism over Christ and Christianity. 2. Deceived on this important point are those professing churches who conclude God is with them, because they have creeds and councils in their favour. Were, however, this conclusion correct, it would prove that the presence of God might be found with the mere letter of truth, or even error. 3. Deceived on this important point are those professing churches who conclude God is with them because they have extensive knowledge and numerous gifts. In danger of this error were many who were members of the Church of God at Corinth. An error St. Paul fully exposed, showing that those things which they so highly valued were worthless in comparison with sacred charity, true love to God, and pure love to man. 4. Deceived also on this important point are those churches and individuals who conclude God is with them because He was once with them. Who will question the truth, that He was with the Jews as a people, when Moses sang (Exodus 15:13)? But is He with them now as a nation, as the rod of His inheritance, the Zion wherein He delighteth to dwell? Has not the evil He warned them against come upon them (Jeremiah 6:8)? Then in reference unto individuals, having once been with them, is no certainty that He abides with them. Was He not with Saul when chosen of God to be the King of Israel (1 Samuel 10:7)? Was He not with Solomon when he devoutly dedicated the temple to the Lord, and prayed (2 Chronicles 6:41)? Was He not with Judas when called to the apostleship? Now to say nothing concerning the hour of death, was His presence perpetually with these through life? Then let us net, neither as churches nor as individual members, depend on the past, nor be satisfied with anything short of having God indisputably with us now; bearing in remembrance that His presence is conditional (2 Chronicles 15:2). II. It is possible for the members of a professing Church to be fully assured of the presence of God among them--King in Zion.1. God is where the Word of truth is faithfully preached and believingly received. 2. God is where the ministry of the Gospel is effectual to accomplish the purposes for which it is proclaimed. 3. God is where the members of the Church grow in sacred knowledge, and increase in holiness of heart and life. 4. God is where the discipline of Christ is scripturally observed and maintained. 5. God is where a professing people dwell together in the bonds of Christian charity. To this Christians are called by their name, their profession, and hope of eternal life. III. It behoves the members of a professing Christian Church frequently and faithfully to press on themselves the solemn, weighty inquiry, is the Lord in our Zion, is her King with us? Have we the marks of the Divine presence already stated? Let us examine ourselves as a Christian community on this subject, and that with the sincerity of those who would not be deceived.1. Is the Word of truth faithfully preached by us as ministers? 2. Is the ministry of the Gospel among us successful to accomplish its gracious designs? 3. Are we as people wise in sacred knowledge and intent on full conformity of the will and image of God? 4. Have we a wholesome scriptural discipline? 5. Are we as a professing Church united in the bonds of Christian charity? IV. It becomes a Christian Church, sensible of the Divine presence but desirous of a more special manifestation of God with them and to them, to employ those means which are calculated to promote His more glorious abode in Zion.1. This they should do by a full and constant acknowledgment of the sovereign authority and rule of Christ (Ephesians 1:22). His kingship in Zion is not a supposed character, but a positive possessed office; and weighty must be the guilt and condemnation of these who deny His claim, and reject His rule. 2. This they should do by diligently seeking an increase of personal holiness (Psalms 132:14; Psalms 132:16). 3. The more glorious presence of God should also be sought by the members of the Church, in the exercise of fervent, persevering prayer. (W. Naylor.) The royal presence The great thing is to ascertain the fact of the Lord’ s presence with His people. Now, where the Lord’ s presence is, there are tokens special, peculiar, and infallible, by which it is evidenced. Where the Lord is, everything will go well: the Gospel will triumph, and the righteous will be glad. On the contrary, the Lord’ s absence is marked by wickedness, carnality, darkness, and dissolution.1. An indispensable evidence that God is in the churches, we think to be a united, loving people. The Spirit is the source of love; and it is His first fruit. 2. Where this love is present, and in powerful operation, it will produce another evidence--a consistent, holy deportment. Love and purity are inseparable; but purity of heart will be indicated by purity of life. 3. The Lord’ s presence is always accompanied by special zeal for His glory: a desire to promote His honour, and to extend His kingdom. 4. An invariable accompaniment of the King’ s presence is liberality in the disposition of worldly substance. His people realise the fact that they are not proprietors, but stewards, to whom is committed treasure, which is exclusively His own. 5. The spirit of humble wailing at His footstool, for the lessons of His wisdom, is another indication of His presence. The churches will be teachable, devout, and obedient in all things. 6. A further evidence of the royal presence is, the possession of high attainments in spiritual things: the citizens of Zion will largely enjoy the comfort of love, the patience of hope, and every blessing provided for them. 7. As a rule, another token of the Lord’ s presence will be, that while His people walk in His fear, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, they will be multiplied. The message of love, spoken in love, will operate with melting power on the hearts of men. (The Christian Witness.) Jeremiah 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.Harvest past, summer ended, and men unsaved The passage is full of lamentation and woe, and yet it is somewhat singular that the chief mourner here is not one who needed chiefly to be in trouble. Jeremiah was under the special protection of God, and he escaped in the evil day. Even when Nebuchadnezzar was exercising his utmost rage, Jeremiah was in no danger, for the heart of the fierce monarch was kindly towards him. “ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying, Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.” The man of God, who personally had least cause to mourn, was filled with heavy grief, while the people who were about to lose their all, and to lose their lives, still remained but half awakened; complaining, but not repenting; afraid, but yet not humbled before God. A preacher whom God sends will often feel more care for the souls of men than men feel for themselves or their own salvation. Is it not sad that there should be an anxious pain in the heart of one who is himself saved, while those who are unsaved, and are obliged to own it, feel little or no concern? See yonder man about to be condemned to die, standing at the bar, the judge putting on the black cap is scarcely able to pronounce the sentence for emotion, and all around him in the court break down with distress on his account, while he himself is brazen faced, and feels no more than the floor he stands upon I How hardened has he become! Pity is lost upon him, if pity ever can be lost. I. The language of complaint. These Jews said, “ The seasons are going by, the year is spending itself, the harvest is past, the vintage also is ended, and yet we are not saved.” In effect they complained of God that He had not saved them, as if He was under some obligation to have done so, as if they had a kind of claim upon Him to interpose: and so they spoke as if they were an ill-used people, a nation that had been neglected by their Protector. This complaint was a very unjust one, for there were many reasons why they were not saved, and why God had not delivered them.1. They had looked to the wrong quarter: they expected that the Egyptians would deliver them. The same folly dwells in multitudes of men. They are not saved, and they never will be while they continue to look where they do look. All dependence upon ourselves is looking to Egypt for help, and leaning our weight upon a broken reed. Whether that dependence upon self takes the form of relying upon ceremonies, or depending upon prayers, or trusting in our own attempts to improve ourselves morally, it is still the same proud folly of self-dependence. All trust but that which is found in Jesus is a delusion and a falsehood. No man can help you. Eternal barrenness is the portion of those who trust in man and make flesh their arm. 2. Those people had prided themselves upon their outward privileges; they had presumed upon their favoured position, for they say in the nineteenth verse, “ Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her King in her?” Faith in Jesus is the one thing needful; vain is the fact that you were born of Christian parents, ye must be born again; vain is your sitting as God’ s people sit in the solemn service of the sanctuary, your heart must be changed; vain is your observance of the Lord’ s day, and vain your Bible reading and your form of prayer night and morning, unless you are washed in Jesus’ blood; vain are all things without living faith in the living Jesus. 3. Them was another and very powerful reason why these people were not saved, for, with all their religiousness and their national boast as to God’ s being among them, they had continued in provoking the Lord. Thou must have done with the indulgence of sin if thou wouldst be clansed from the guilt of it. There is no going on in transgression, and yet obtaining salvation: it is a licentious supposition. Christ comes to save us from our sins, not to make it safe to do evil. 4. Another reason why they were not saved was because they made being saved from trouble the principal matter. Was there ever a murderer yet who did not wish to be saved from the gallows? When a man is tied up to be flogged for a deed of brutal violence, and his back is bared for the lash, depend upon it he repents of what he did; that is to say, he repents that he has to suffer for it; but that is all, and a sorry all too. He has no sorrow for the agony which he inflicted on his innocent victim; no regret for maiming him for life. What is the value of such a repentance? 5. There was another reason why these people were not saved and could not be. “ Lo, they have rejected the Word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?” Do you read your Bible privately? Did you ever read it with an earnest prayer that God would teach you what you really are, and make you to be a true believer in Christ? Have you read it with regard to yourself, asking God to teach you its meaning, and to make the sense of it press upon your conscience? Do you reply, “ I have not done that” ? Why then do you wonder that you are not saved? To put a slighter test than the former: when you hear the Gospel, do you always inquire, “ What has this to do with me?” or do you listen to it as a general truth with which you have no peculiar concern? 6. There is a further reason why some men are not saved, and that is because they have a great preference for slight measures. They love to hear the flattering voice whispering, “ Peace, peace, where there is no peace” and they choose those for leaders who will heal their hurt slightly. He who is wise will go where the Word has most power, both to kill and to make alive. Do you want a physician when you call upon him to please you with a flattering opinion? Must he needs say, “ My dear friend, it is a very small matter; you want nothing but pleasant diet, and you will soon be all right” ? If he talks thus smoothly when he knows that a deadly disease is commencing its work upon you, is he not a deceiver? Do you not think you are very foolish if you pay such a man your guinea, and denounce his neighbour who tells you the plain truth? Do you want to be deluded? Are you eager to be duped? Do you want to dream of heaven, and then wake up in hell? 7. All this while these people have wondered that they were not saved, and yet they never repented of their sin. Repentance was a jest with them, they had not grace enough even to feel shame, and yet they made a complaint against God, saying, “ The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” What monstrous folly was this! II. Now, may the Spirit of God help us while we would lead unconverted persons into the consideration of this matter.1. First consideration, “ We are not saved.” I do not want to talk, I want you to think. “ We are not saved.” Put it in the personal, first person singular. 2. Furthermore, not only am I not saved, but I have been a long time not saved. What opportunities I had! I have been through revivals, but the sacred power passed over me; I remember several wonderful occasions when the Spirit of God was poured out, and yet I am not saved. 3. Worse still, habits harden. Harvests have dried me, summers have parched me, age has shrivelled my soul: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer, I am getting to be old hay, or as withered weeds fit for the burning. 4. The last summer will soon come, and the last harvest will soon be reaped, and you, dear friend, must go to your long home. I will apply it mainly to myself: I must go upstairs for the last time, and I must lay me down upon the bed from which I shall never rise again; if I am unsaved my room will be a prison chamber to me, and the bed will be hard as a plank, if I have to lie there and know that I must die,--that a few more days or hours must end this struggle for existence, and I am bound to stand before God. O my God, save me from an unready deathbed! Souls, I charge you by everything that is rational within you, escape for your lives, and seek to find eternal salvation for your undying spirits. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The prophet’ s lament There is no much sadder and heavier burden than that borne by him who is profoundly conscious of evils, and of threatened disaster, in some popular policy--some policy with which all around him are content and pleased, and of the happy issue of which they are confident who, while his friends and fellows are entirely satisfied with things as they are, and flatter themselves that the course pursued will be surely productive of or conducive to good, carries about with him daily a deep conviction of existing serious defects, and of involved mischief and woe. No hope, no hope! That was the peculiar burden of Jeremiah, that was the vision forced upon him, the message he was constrained to deliver, while the people and their leaders were nursing the assurance that all was going well, that a work was being prosecuted which would secure salvation. Few things are more unpalatable and painful, than to feel it incumbent on you to say to any for whom you entertain sentiments of friendship and affection, what is calculated to damp and dishearten, to spoil the dreams of those who are dreaming pleasantly, deliciously, to destroy or disturb fond hopes; than to feel it incumbent upon you, instead of sympathising with the joy of such hopes,--as you fain would, were it possible,--to shake your head and contradict them. There are cases in which upon the whole it may be best to refrain from meddling with hopes, the baselessness of which we perceive with pity, to let the possessors go on indulging them without any interference from us, until they shall awaken at length, in the course of events, to the chill of the disappointing reality. Unfounded and fallacious as their hopes are, and certain ere long to be painfully shattered, they may be less harmful, less fraught with mischief, than our present interruption of them might be. But eases there are, on the other hand, in which the right thing, the wisest and the kindest thing, will be at once to attack and scatter, or endeavour to scatter them, however unwelcome the task, and whatever suffering we may cause. The sooner the subjects of them can be shaken out of their hold, can be made to recognise their falsity, and be set face to face with the severity of the actual, the better. It was thus with the people of Judah in Jeremiah’ s time. Their hope that the reforms in progress were securing them against the rod that had been threatened, was not only a delusion but a snare; it was creating and fostering within them a false spirit, was preventing any true discernment on their part of what was really wanting in them, of their real unwholesomeness and corruption, and was unfitting them to bear the rod when it should fall, with the meek resignation, the humble submission, requisite to render it a purifying and chastening discipline. But this cry of his over his country in the streets of Jerusalem,--by how many has something like it been breathed inwardly, with sorrow and bitterness, concerning themselves, as they have stood contemplating what they have, and what they are, after seasons in their history, seasons that had enfolded golden opportunity or shone bright with promise. Who is there, beyond the boundaries of youth at all, who has not had his seasons of promise, that have left him sighing forlornly over broken hopes? Infinite, in this respect, is the pathos of human life, crying dumbly evermore for the infinite pity of God. Or again, is it not frequently the case that bygone circumstances and situations are recalled with a sorrowful, humiliating sense of our not being the men in moral stature, in moral fibre and feature, which they should have contributed to make us, which they gave us in vain the opportunity of becoming--that remembering them, we feel with a pang of grief and shame, the good thing they might have wrought in us which they have not wrought; how we might have been disciplined by them, or stimulated to larger growth, to culturing action and endurance,--and were not? “ Oh, could we weep,” some are saying to themselves. “ Oh, could we weep as once we wept, when similar situations and circumstances returned. If the recurrence now and again, of former scenes, of former contacts and conjunctures, could but stir in us the transient hopeful emotion which they used to excite, could but set us temporarily sighing, aspiring, resolving, as they used to do, when they always brought with them the promise at least, of our going on to better things; but the promise, alas! was never fulfilled, the transient hopeful emotion faded without producing aught; and now, the recurrence of the former scenes, the former contacts and conjunctures, ceases to awaken the emotion. The birthdays, the anniversaries, the quiet Sunday mornings, the hours of silence and solitude, that once agitated us with rushes of unwonted tenderness, with little wavelets of earnest thought, and higher impulse, which might have led to something further, to something of permanent effect,--they no longer touch us thus as they come and go; they have no longer the slightly quickening influence that they had: our harvest in them is past, our summer in them is ended, and we are not saved.” Is not such the secret cry of some, who yet, however, are not unsalveable by any means, since they are still able to weep that they cannot weep? What is it, in conclusion, with the best of us, but failure? Let the pity of the Lord our God be upon us! And yet may we not believe, do we not feel to our solace, that at the least, something has always been reaped?--reaped for sowing, albeit with tears, in fields beyond; nay, that even in the mere lowly and penitent sense of shortcoming, which seems perhaps almost all that has been gained, we shall be carrying away with us from hence, a gathered seed grain, to be for fruit, perchance for the fruit we have hitherto missed, “ behind the veil.” (S. A. Tipple.) The course of time What different emotions prevail in the mind, through different periods of human life! In our early hours, when health is high, and the heart warm, hope is the feeling that takes the lead; and who, that calls to mind the events of his youth, can fail to remember his train of lively and sanguine opinions. The boy views everything through the magic telescope of an eager fancy. He longs for the future: every day seems to him to go on tardy pinions; keeping him from he knows not what, but still from something which strongly impresses his mind with imaginary beauties, and which he is sure is to make him happier at some approaching period. But as time advances, the spirit of the dream is changed; manhood begins to find out what the world is really made of. When we come to mingle, as interested actors, in its schemes and tumults, its winding and turnings; when we come to perceive its selfishness and its rigour; to mix up in the everyday exertions of its dull routine; and to suffer the various disappointments of its fickle favours,--we then conclude that hope and reality are two different things; and that like the clouds about the evening sun, though at first they are brightly coloured, yet that they are but clouds after all, and that when the light is gone, the tempest often remains. Then it is that another feeling arises in the mind: we fly from hope to memory. It is with these reflections I would desire you to consider the text. What is hope, if it enter not within the veil, sure and steadfast, an anchor of the soul? And what is memory, if it look back on worldly pleasures only, and be not accompanied by that “ looking forward,” and that “ pressing towards the mark,” which will induce us rather “ to forget the things which are behind” in the anticipations of “ that blessed hope,” and that “ glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” ? It often happens to us to walk over those scenes of nature in winter which we had visited in summer; and the contrast is sometimes peculiarly striking. “ Is this the spot that gave us such pleasure? are these all the remains of our former entertainment?” Alas! the same reasoning often comes upon us in the strange realities of a chequered life. Nature in her revolutions is but a model of the existence of man. We, too, have our summer of pleasure, and our winter of sorrows. Let it teach us this--not to value the world at more than it is worth; to use it without abusing it; and to find out a surer refuge for our hearts to fix on. This brings me to another way, less allegorical, of considering the text. “ The earth bringing forth grass; the herb yielding seed; and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself,” all bespeak a design from the great Designer, and the workmanship of a Divine hand. No art can imitate the nicety of nature. The brightest robe of Solomon in all his glory must yield to the lily of the field. The meanest insect that preys upon a fruit tree is the workmanship of Him who made the universe. “ Shall He not take care, then, of you, O ye of little faith?” “ The summer is ended, and we are not saved.” We have not looked from nature up to nature’ s God. We are not led by gratitude and affection to love the Author of all this assemblage of mercies. We cannot yet say to Him with filial truth, “ Abba, Father.” This is what every summer should teach us, and the state it should bring us to. This is what the bounty of God should encourage in our hearts, namely, “ to love Him, because He has first loved us.” This is taking, like Moses, a distant view of the heavenly Canaan, and making the wilderness of earth, while it leads us towards the promised land, “ to rejoice, and be glad, and blossom as the rose.” But we come now to a still more personal sense in which the words of the text may be applied. “ The harvest is past, the summer is ended” : you have had your spring time of youth, with all its hopes; your summer of manhood, with all its bloom; and the autumn of enjoyment, with all its maturities. These seasons have passed from you, and the winter of age is arrived,--that gloomy time which we once shrunk back from even in idea, and which we always determined, whenever it did come, should find us servants of God, and sincere candidates for “ the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Let me ask you, first, how it has found you Has it found you with lamps trimmed, and with oil to burn in the night of the grave? Are you in a state of salvation? As earth retires from before you, does heaven arise the more to your sight? As you grow older, do you grow wiser?--wiser, not in art, or science, or human philosophy, but in the wisdom of the heart, in a knowledge of yourselves, of your own insufficiency, of the power and riches of Christ, of the vanity of the world and its vexation of spirit, of the necessity of resting your all in the ark of a covenant God? But the words of the text by no means apply exclusively to the aged. Their sound is gone out unto all ages; and they utter intelligible language to the young. The winter of age, or the winter of another year, may never arrive to you. Why do you not put on that armour of your Saviour which will carry you unharmed through every change and chance of this mortal warfare? You are as much answerable to God for the talents committed to you, as the oldest man alive. Employ them in the service of Him who gave them, and who gave them also for this very purpose--to redound to His glory, and to work out your own salvation. If pleasure be your aim, Jesus Christ will interfere with no real pleasure, and will give you new ones of the choicest kind. Is tranquillity your object? Christianity has a “ peace which passeth understanding” ! Are sublime and noble contemplations the employment of your mind? What facts are so noble as the eternal truths of the Gospel? Is fancy your delight? what field for imagination can be so brilliant as those bright visions which human eye hath never seen, where the future destinies of the faithful in the Lamb are mysteriously but gloriously pointed out; where every present faculty of the soul shall be expanded and perfected; and new ones and better ones added an hundredfold? And all this accompanied, in the united testimony of God’ s Spirit with our spirit, by a happiness which every converted man must feel in the sacred consciousness that he is justified through Christ, and reconciled in the sight of God. (E. Scobell, M. A.) The harvest past There is scarcely a more painful reflection to the mind of man, than that the season of avoiding great calamities, and of securing great blessings, has been neglected, and is irrecoverably gone. The distress will be heightened in proportion to the magnitude of the evil which might have been avoided, and of the blessings which might have been secured.1. The season of youth passed in impenitence, is to multitudes such a season. The sensibilities of the soul are more easily touched, conscience is more susceptible and faithful, the affections are more easily moved, the soul is capable of receiving more permanent impressions--the whole inner man is peculiarly accessible to the influence of eternal things. 2. The same precious season is often terminated by some single acts of wickedness, or by yielding in some single instance to temptation. Could we draw aside the veil that conceals the providence of God, we should doubtless see, in the history of every soul that is lost, some act, some purpose, some state of heart, some violence done to conscience, which was the fatal step away from the grace of God--the commencement of that downward career, in which mercy was never to reach him--the turning point of life and death eternal--the hour in which his day of grace terminated, and from which the only result of his protracted life, was the accumulation of wrath--the hour when the harvest was past, when the summer ended. 3. The same precious season is often terminated by the abuse and perversion of distinguishing grace. It is related that in a place where Mr. Whitefield preached, and was greatly opposed by many, that not me of his opposers was known afterward to give evidence of piety, and that nothing like a revival of religion was known there, until every such opposer was dead. When, in addition to the more ordinary means of grace, opportunities of hearing the Gospel preached, are multiplied--when religion and the concerns of the soul become extensively the topics of conversation in families and among neighbours--when the professed followers of Christ awake to a faithful discharge of these duties and converse with sinners, solemnly and pungently, about the neglected concerns of the soul--and when these extra opportunities and means are resolutely shunned and neglected, or when, in any way, their influence is resisted, then it is that multitudes put themselves beyond the influence of the most powerful means that will ever be used for their salvation, and live only to “ treasure up wrath against the day of wrath.” 4. This season of mercy often terminates with a season of peculiar Divine influence. There are periods in the life of almost every one when the truths of religion have peculiar efficacy. The Spirit of God carries those truths to the conscience with a power which cannot be wholly resisted. Such intervals of conviction may be longer or shorter, the conviction itself may be more or less pungent, but let the subject resist and grieve away the Spirit of God, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. At such a season, God seems to make His last, highest efforts to save; and those unhappy men who resist them, and still persevere in impenitence, of all others run the most fearful risk of final abandonment of that God who has done so much to save them. It is of such that God says, “ Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.” 5. Death ends the day of grace to all. It ushers the soul that is unprepared into the presence of its Judge to receive its unchangeable doom. “ It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment.” The end of probation must come. The mighty angel standing on the earth and the sea shall lift his hand to heaven, and swear that time shall be no longer. Then all will be eternal, unchangeable retribution. (N. W. Taylor.) The harvest past I. Life is made up of a series of probations. Its various parts are favourable periods for affecting the future. The present may be so used as to be of advantage to us hereafter.1. Life is a probation in regard to the friendship and favour of our fellow men. We do not at once step into their confidence without a trial. Many a man toils through a long and weary life to secure by his good conduct something which his fellow men have to bestow in the shape of honour or office, content at last, if even when grey hairs are thick upon him, he may lay his hand on the prize which has glittered before him in all the journey of life. 2. Especially is this true of the young. Of no young man is it presumed that he is qualified for office, or business, or friendship, until he has given evidence of such qualification. 3. The study of a profession, or apprenticeship, is such a probation. It is just a trial to determine whether the young man will be worthy of the confidence which he desires, and it will decide the amount of honour or success which the world will give him. There is an eye of public vigilance on every young man from which he cannot escape. The world watches his movements; learns his character; marks his defects; records and remembers his virtues. 4. The whole of this probation for the future often depends on some single action that shall determine the character, and that shall send an influence ever onward. Everything seems to be concentrated on a single point. A right or a wrong decision then settles everything. The moment when in the battle at Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington could say, “ This will do,” decided the fate of the battle, and of kingdoms. A wrong movement just at that point might have changed the condition of the world for centuries. In every man’ s life there are such periods; and probably in the lives of most men their future course is more certainly determined by one such far-reaching and central decision, than by many actions in other circumstances. They are those moments when honour, wealth, usefulness, health, and salvation seem all to depend on a single resolution. Everything is concentrated on that point--like one of Napoleon’ s movements at the bridge of Lodi, or at Austerlitz. If that one point is carried, the whole field may soon be won. In the decision which a young man often makes at that point, there is such a breach made on his virtuous principles; there is such an array of temptations pouring into the breach--like an army pouring into a city when a breach is made in a wall--that henceforward there is almost no resistance, and the citadel is taken. II. When a time of probation is passed, it cannot be recalled. If it has been improved aright, the advantages which it conferred in shaping the future life, will abide; if it has been misimproved or abused, it will be too late to repair the evil. A young man is fitting for a profession, or for commercial life. If he suffers the time usually allotted to such a preparation to pass away in idleness or vice, it will soon be too late to recall his neglected or wasted opportunities. There are advantages in preparing for a profession in youth, which cannot be secured at a subsequent period of life. A young man is professedly acquiring an education. If he suffers the time of youth to be spent in indolence, the period will soon arrive when it will be too late for him to repair the evil. In the acquisition of languages; in the formation of industrious habits; in cultivating an acquaintance with past events, he has opportunities then which can be secured at no other time of life. At no future period can he do what he was fitted to do then, and what ought to have been done then. Whatever opportunities there were then to prepare for the future, are now lost, and it is too late to recall them. The period has passed away, and all that follows must be unavailing regret. I need not pause here to remark on the painful emotions which visit the bosom in the few cases of those who are reformed after a wasted and dissipated youth. Cases of such reformation sometimes occur. A man after the errors and follies of a dissipated early life; after he has wasted the opportunities which he had to obtain an education; after all the abused care and anxiety of a parent to prepare him for future usefulness and happiness, sometimes is aroused to see the error and folly of his course. What would he not give to be able to retrace that course, and to live over again that abused and wasted life! But it is too late. The die is east for this life--whatever may be the case in regard to the life to come. III. There are favourable seasons for securing the salvation of the soul, which, if suffered to pass away unimproved, cannot be recalled. The grand purpose for which God has placed us on earth, is not to obtain wealth, or to acquire honour, or to enjoy pleasure here; it is to prepare for the world beyond. On the same principle, therefore, on which He has made future character and happiness in this life dependent on our conduct in those seasons which are times of probation, has He made all the eternity of our existence dependent on the conduct of life regarded as a season of probation. And on the same principle on which He has appointed favourable seasons for sowing and reaping, He has appointed favourable seasons to secure our salvation. For it is no more to be presumed of any man without trial that he is prepared for heaven, than it is that a young man will be a good merchant, lawyer, or physician, without trial. There are periods, therefore, which God has appointed as favourable seasons for salvation; times when there are peculiar advantages for securing religion, and which will not occur again.1. Foremost among them is youth--the most favourable time always for becoming a Christian. Then the heart is tender, and the conscience is easily impressed, and the mind is more free from cares than at a future period, and there is less difficulty in breaking away from the world, and usually less dread of the ridicule of others. The time of youth compared with old age has about the same relation to salvation, which spring time and summer compared with winter have with reference to a harvest. The chills and frosts of age are about as unfavourable to conversion to God as the frosts and snows of December are to the cultivation of the earth. But suppose that youth is to be all of your life, and you were to die before you reached middle life, what then will be your doom? 2. A season when your mind is awakened to the subject of religion, is such a favourable time for salvation. All persons experience such seasons; times when there is an unusual impression of the vanity of the world, of the evil of sin, of the need of a Saviour, and of the importance of being prepared for heaven. These are times of mercy, when God is speaking to the soul. Compared with the agitations and strifes of public life, they are with reference to salvation what gentle summer suns are to the husbandman, compared with the storm and tempest when the lightnings flash, and the hail beats down the harvest which he had hoped to reap. And the farmer may as well expect to till his soil, and sow and reap his harvest, when the black cloud rolls up the sky, and the pelting storm drives on, as a man expect to prepare for heaven in the din of business, in political conflicts, and in the struggles of gain and ambition. But all--all that is favourable for salvation, in such serious moments, will soon pass away, and when gone they cannot be recalled. 3. A revival of religion, in like manner, is a favourable time for securing salvation. It is a time when there is all the power of the appeal from sympathy; all the force of the fact that your companions and friends are leaving you four heaven; when the strong ties of love for them draw your mind towards religion; when all the confidence which you had in them becomes an argument for religion; and when, most of all, the Holy Spirit makes your heart tender, and speaks with any unusual power to the soul. But such a time, with all its advantages, usually soon passes away; and those advantages for salvation you cannot again create, or recall--any more than you can call up the bloom of spring in the snows of December. IV. Various classes who will utter this unavailing lamentation, and the reflections of the soul, as it goes unforgiven up to God.1. Such words will be uttered by the aged man who has suffered his long life to pass away without preparation to meet his Judge. 2. The language of the text will be uttered at last by the man who often resolved to attend to the subject of religion, but who deferred it until it was too late. 3. These words will be uttered by the thoughtless and the gay. Life to them has been a summer scene in more senses than one. It has been--or they have tried to make it so--just what a summer day is to the gaudy insects that you see playing in the rays of the setting sun. It has been just as volatile, as frivolous, as useless. But the time has come at last when all this gaiety and vanity is to be left. The beautiful summer, that seemed so full of flowers and sweet odours, passes away. The sun of life hastens to its setting. The circle of fashion has been visited for the last time; the theatre has been entered for the last time; the pleasures of the ball-room have been enjoyed for the last time; music has poured its last notes on the ear, and the last silvery tones of flattery are dying away, and now has come the serious hour to die. (A. Barnes, D. D.) The goodness of God a motive to gratitude, and an incentive to spiritual activity I. The feelings that ought to be suggested to our minds by the literal harvest.1. The recollection of God’ s faithfulness. We ask for the corn, and the wine, and the oil; we cry to the earth, by which they can be produced; the earth calls to the heavens, by whose genial influences alone the earth can yield them; the heavens look up to God, and God hears the heavens, and the earth receives, and the earth gives us all that we need; and thus we receive it directly from the hands of God Himself. 2. To feel our dependence. All the science and ingenuity of mankind united together, cannot produce one drop of water, or a single blade of grass. 3. The exercise of gratitude. Fears we may have had on account of the apparent unfavourableness of the season, but we have reason to rejoice that these fears have, in a great measure, been disappointed; that God has fulfilled His promise, and given us plenty in our borders for man and beast. 4. God’ s forbearance. Only reflect upon it, that while men are never thinking of God, while they are blaspheming His holy name, putting away His Gospel, finding reasons in this very world He has made in order to deny His existence and providence, while men are doing this, He is pitying them and giving them of His fulness, opening His hand and supplying liberally their wants! 5. We should regard the end that God must be supposed to have in view in all this. Every putting forth of His beneficence, every ray of light that comes on our world, while they furnish us with a beautiful manifestation of the Divine character, are designed as invitations to come to be reconciled to that God who has been giving us all things richly to enjoy. 6. A recollection of the flight of time. What do we mean by the “ harvest” ? That the seasons have again rolled around--that we are so much nearer death, and eternity, and the final destiny of our immortal spirits. It is a solemnising thought! II. Notice some of those uses which are made of the season by the sacred writers, for the purpose of illustrating and conveying religious truth.1. The completion of religion in the soul. Contemplating an individual as the subject of God’ s grace, we have an illustration in the figure before us of the rise, progress, and completion of religion in the soul. We find this very beautifully described by our Lord Himself (Mark 4:26). 2. Another idea is suggested--the secret and mysterious origin and operation of religion in the heart. To this our Lord has Himself beautifully alluded in the parable I have read, “ The seed springs and groweth up, he knoweth not how.” 3. Another thing that is beautifully taught us in this parable is the progressive nature of the advancement of religion in the character. “ For the earth bringeth forth fruit in itself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” 4. The last idea is the termination of all the anxiety which was necessarily connected with the watching of this progress, and the bringing forth of this fruit. The end of the present dispensation of things in the world and in the Church. There will be an end of the preaching of the Gospel, of prayer, of the Saviour’ s intercession. All these things are to come to an end. “ Be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” 5. The appearances of things at that time will be connected with all that is passing now. All the results of the present dispensation of things will be observed. Everything will appear as it really is. III. The figure seems, in this passage, to refer, not so much literally to the harvest itself, as the result of agencies, but rather to the enjoyment of these agencies--the enjoyment of the summer and autumn, when opportunity was given, and improvement might have been made. “ The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” We might take up the property of sufficiency as expressing the particular feature of the harvest to which I wish to advert.1. What a sufficiency of knowledge you have! God hath spoken once, yea, twice; He hath given you line upon line, precept upon precept; He hath taught you to conceive rightly of Himself, of His nature, His designs, His will, in regard to us; He has revealed man to himself, as well as revealed Himself to man. 2. There is a sufficiency of provision. 3. You have abundance of motives and inducements. Think of God’ s exceeding great and precious promises--think of their freeness, their universality, their adaptation to your rotate and circumstances--think of God actually waiting to be gracious, inviting you to come to Him. 4. Do you lack opportunity! Have you no cessation from labour, no hours for retirement? Have you not time--have you really not time to reflect, to reason, to read God’ s Word, to offer prayer to God, to scrutinise and examine the real state of your own character? 5. You have a sufficiency of capacity. God does not require of you to do that by your own efforts of which you are incapable; He does not require you to find a Holy Spirit for the purification of your hearts; but He does require that when He has found these, when He has found this Saviour, when He has provided this Holy Spirit, He does require you to receive His truth, to come to that Saviour, to accept His salvation, to ask for the influences of that Sanctifier. So that “ if ye have not,” says our Saviour, it is for this reason, “ because ye ask not.” (T. Binney.) Seasons of grace I. To promote our salvation from the dominion and consequences of sin, we are graciously favoured of God with an abundance of spiritual blessings.1. The teaching of His Gospel. By it we are instructed concerning-- (1) The necessity of salvation.(2) The provision of salvation.(3) The method of salvation. 2. Warnings of His providence. (1) Jehovah warns by dreadful calamities.(2) By prevailing sickness and disease.(3) By sudden death. 3. Influence of His Spirit. (1) Convincing men of the evil of sin.(2) Drawing men from sin.(3) Reproving men for sin. 4. Labours of faithful ministers. II. To promote our salvation, we are not only favoured of God with an abundance of spiritual blessings, but also with numerous gracious seasons and favourable opportunities.1. A summer season of youth. 2. Summer seasons of affliction. They afford opportunities for solemn thought, holy meditation, serious inquiry, important reflection, and faithful self-examination. 3. Summer season of special visitations of grace. III. It is possible for spiritual blessings and favourable opportunities to pass away, and leave man a stranger to salvation.1. The Word of God asserts the truth. 2. Numerous facts establish the truth. IV. The state of those who are not saved by grace is most deplorable and perilous.1. unsaved state is a state of guilt. 2. An unsaved state is a state of misery. 3. An unsaved state is a state of danger. V. Apply these important truths. In doing so, we would consider the language of this Scripture as the language of--1. Penitential regret--for having abused such precious blessings, and neglected such favourable opportunities. 2. Awakened fear--the fear of a person who discovers his danger, and is concerned about it. 3. Serious inquiry. “ Can I, after abusing so much goodness--after placing myself in such circumstances of jeopardy, yet obtain salvation?” Thanks to the long-suffering grace of God, it is possible. 4. Affectionate warning. Your privileges are passing away--your time is consuming--your careless conduct is inexcusable--and your eternal destiny will soon be fixed. (W. Naylor.) Lost opportunity To understand fully the import of these words it would be useful to consider the state of the people in whose name they were uttered by the prophet, namely, the Jews, who were at this period on the eve of destruction. But there are many situations in the life of every man to which this lamentation may be applied with the utmost propriety and force. I. Every person who still remains in sin may, at the close of a year, or the recurrence of any other marked interval of time, usefully adopt this lamentation. Every passing hour removes the sinner farther from eternal life. Mankind are never stationary in their moral condition, any more than in their being. He who does not become better, becomes worse. Nor is this all. The declension is more rapid than we ever imagine. Blindness is a common name for sin in the Scriptures, and is strongly descriptive of one important part of its nature. Nor is it blindness to Divine things only, to God and Christ, to its duty and to its salvation; but it is also blindness with respect to itself. Hence his state is in every respect more dangerous than he does or will believe, and his declension more rapid than with these views he can possibly imagine. This is true of every period of his life. Of consequence, the loss of a year, a day, an hour, is a greater loss than he can be induced even to suspect. He ought to remember, that he has not only lost that period, but converted it into the means of sin and ruin; that he is more sinful, more guilty, and more odious to God, than at the beginning of it; that all the difficulties which lie between him and salvation are increased beyond his imagination; his evil habits strengthened, and his hopes of returning lessened, far more than he is aware. He ought also to cast his eyes around him, and see that all, or almost all, others, who have, like himself, trusted to a future repentance, have from year to year become more hardened in sin by these very means; have thought less and less of turning back, and taking hold of the paths of life. Such as they are, will he be. Their thoughts, their conclusions, their conduct have been the same; their end, therefore, will be his. God has, with infinite patience, and mercy, prolonged your lives; and, in spite of all your sins, has renewed His blessings to you every morning. The gate of salvation is still open. The Sabbath still smiles with peace and hope. The sceptre of forgiveness is still held out for you to touch and live. In what manner have you lived in the midst of these blessings? Have you solemnly, often, and effectually, thought on the great subject of religion? Are you nearer to heaven, or nearer to hell? To what good purpose have you lived? Is not the harvest, in one important sense, past to you? II. Another situation, to which this melancholy reflection is peculiarly applicable, is that of a dying sinner. Human life is one continued scene of delusion. Present objects too often gain all our attention, and all our care. To them alone we attach importance, and that, an importance far beyond what their value will warrant. They engage, they engross, our labours, our anxiety, our hopes, our fears, our joys, and our sorrows. By such men the health and well-being of the soul are contemned and forgotten; and the soul itself is scarcely remembered amid the vehement pursuit of wealth, honour, and pleasure. But do these things accord with truth and wisdom? The blessings of this world are necessary to the life, support, and comfort of man, while he is here; and they are also means of enabling him to do good to his fellow men, and in this way to benefit his soul. In this view I acknowledge their value. But for what else can they be valuable? They are means, not ends. As means, they are useful; as ends, they are but dross. Future things, on the contrary, have far less value in our eyes than they really possess, especially eternal things. We think them distant, but they are near; we think them uncertain, but they are sure; we think them trifles unconnected with our happiness, whereas they are things of infinite moment and of infinite concern to us. This delusion not uncommonly travels with us through life, and is not shaken off till we appear before the bar of God. On a dying bed, however, it often vanishes; and, if sickness and patience leave us in the possession of our reason, juster views prevail, with respect both to things present and things future, things temporal and things spiritual. Under the influence of this clear discernment, in this new state of the mind, the following observations will show with how much propriety he may take up this despairing lamentation. Among the objects which may be supposed most naturally to arise to the view of a sinner on his dying bed, his youth would undoubtedly occupy a place of primary importance. In what colours will his various conduct during this period appear? He is now on the verge of eternity, and just bidding his last adieu to the present world and all its cares, and hopes, and pleasures. Where are now his high hopes of sublunary good? Where his lively, brilliant spirits, his ardent thirst for worldly enjoyment, for gay amusement, for sportive companions, and for the haunts of festivity, mirth, and joy? These once engrossed all his thoughts, wishes, and labours. Where are they now? They have vanished with the gaiety of the morning cloud, they have fled with the glitter of the early dew. In this precious, golden season God called to him from heaven, and proclaimed aloud, “ I love them that love Me, and those who seek Me early shall find Me. Receive My instruction, and not silver; and knowledge, rather than fine gold. For wisdom is better than rubies, and all things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. I will cause those that love Me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures.” His face was then clothed in smiles, and His voice only tenderness and compassion. Christ also, with the benignity of redeeming love, invited him to come and take the water of life freely. The Spirit of grace, with the same boundless affection, whispered to him to turn from every evil way, and every unrighteous thought, to the Lord his God, who was ready to have mercy on him, and abundantly to pardon him. With what amazement will he now look back, and see that he refused these infinite blessings; that he turned his back on a forgiving God; closed his ears to the calls of a crucified Redeemer; and hardened his heart against the whispers of salvation, communicated by the Spirit of truth and life! Riper years will naturally next offer themselves to his view. The bustle of this period seemed at the time to be of real importance; and, although not devoted to godliness, yet to he occupied by business serious and solid. But now, how suddenly will this specious garb drop, and leave, in all their nakedness, his avarice, his ambition and his graver sensuality! Of what value now are the treasures which he struggled to heap up? On what mere wind did he labour to satisfy the hunger of his soul! How will his boasted reason appear to have been busied! Instead of being employed in discovering truth, and performing duty, he will see it, throughout this most discreet period of life, labouring to flatter, to justify, to perpetrate iniquity; to persuade himself that safety might be found in sin Blind to heaven, it had eyes only for this world. Deaf to the calls of salvation, it listened solely to those of pride. Insensible to the eternal love of God, it opened its feelings only to the solicitations of time and sense. Behind manhood, we behold age next advancing; age, to him the melancholy evening of a dark and distressing day. Here he stood upon the verge of the grave, and advanced daily to see it open and receive him. How will he now be amazed, that, as death drew nigh, he was still in no degree aware of its approach. In all these periods with what emotion will he regard his innumerable sins! How many will he see to have been committed in a single day, a month, a year, of omission, of commission, of childhood and of riper years Among the sins which will most affectingly oppress his heart, his negligence and abuse of the means of grace will especially overwhelm him. How will he now exclaim, Oh, that my lost and squandered days might once more return, that I might again go up to the house of God. “ Oh, that one year, one month, one Sabbath, might be added to my wretched forfeited life! But, ah! the day of grace is past; my wishes, nay, my prayers, are in vain.” Such will be the natural retrospect of a dying sinner. What will be his prospects? Before him, robed in all his terrors, stands Death, the messenger of God, now come to summon him away. To what, to whom, is he summoned? To that final judgment, into which every work of his hands will be speedily brought, with every secret thing. To the judgment succeeds the boundless extent of eternity. Live he must: die he cannot. But where, how, with whom, is he to live? The world of darkness, sorrow, and despair is his final habitation. Sin, endless and increasing sin, is his dreadful character; and sinners like himself are his miserable and eternal companions. (Christian Observer.) At the dose of the year I. The occasion. Jeremiah represents this as the cry of the captive Jews in Babylon. He contemplates them as already in captivity, although it had not yet actually taken place. He forewarns them that it would take place. At the time he wrote, the Jews did not believe his warning of a Chaldean expedition against them. They were filled with vain confidence, boasting that God was their defender and their city impregnable. It is when this doom has overtaken them that they are represented as taking up the language of the text. In the preceding verse the prophet records the tenor of their language in exile, and also God’ s reply: “ Hark the voice of the cry of the daughter of My people from distant land, Was not God in Zion? Was not her King in her?” This would be their complaint against God on finding themselves deprived of their country and overtaken with calamity. They would begin to expostulate as if they had been unfairly dealt with. Why, then, did not God defend the city and protect His people? The Divine reply shows how groundless this charge was. “ I have not forsaken you, but ye have forsaken Me. Why have ye provoked Me with your graven images and your strange vanities!” God had, indeed, promised to dwell in Zion, and to cast His protecting shield over the descendants of Abraham, on condition that they faithfully worshipped and served Him. But they, by their carvings and foreign vanities, had polluted the holy temple, trusting more to the temple than to the God of the temple. Thus they forfeited their right to Divine protection, and are now left to take the consequences of their choice. They see their mistake when too late. The text implies an acknowledgment that their calamities were the just reward of their disobedience, and they accept their doom in desperate agony. II. The meaning.1. Opportunity acknowledged. As a nation we have received privileges greater than ever the Jews enjoyed, but with all these privileges comes a corresponding responsibility. “ To whom much is given, of them also shall much be required.” The temple did not save the Jews, so neither will the mere institution of a religion in our midst save us from national decline without the righteousness which exalteth a nation. But our opportunities as individuals are not less conspicuous than our privileges as a nation, and a mere profession of religion will not save us. To every man on earth there comes, at some time or other, an opportunity sufficient to make him an heir of a better portion if he embraces it; sufficient also to condemn him if he rejects it. 2. Neglect confessed. How apt are we to throw the blame of our wrong-doing on others, to plead the force of circumstances, the pressure of business, and so forth, as reasons for neglect. Such reasons may obscure for a time the real issues, but when memory lights her flaming fires and concentrates thought on the actions of a misspent life, everything will then be seen in its due propertions. Forgotten acts of iniquity, secret sins, will come to light and cluster round the memory. 3. Doom incurred. “ We are not saved.” This is the result of neglected opportunities, the necessary consequence of continued transgression. The Jews, in putting their trust in human allies, neglected the moral defence, and therefore fell before the invader. Carnal weapons cannot be used with impunity by spiritual men. III. The application. The sentiment of the text may be appropriately adopted--1. By those who have been the subjects of deep religious impressions without being led to repentance. There is no greater danger than that of playing fast and loose with one’ s feelings. The original impression may return, but it will return with diminished force. Act while the Godward impressions are strong. 2. By an impenitent sinner at the close of life. This is the saddest application that the words can possibly have. 3. At the close of the year, by every one who continues in sin. Begin the New Year with God. When Christopher Columbus, four hundred years ago, landed on the shores of America, the first thing he did was to plant the Cross on the newly-discovered land. What Columbus did in the New World let us do in the New Year. Let us enter upon it in the name of heaven’ s King, and whatever may be before us, joy or sorrow, prosperity or disaster, life or death, all will be well, for God is with us. (D. Merson.) Soul-restoring seasons neglected I. Heaven vouchsafes to men here seasons for soul restoration. Whole of life a season; day of grace. But periods and moods specially favourable; youth, leisure, association with godly men. Moods of mind too. Soul has its seasons as well as nature--pensive, thoughtful, susceptible, and impressed with moral considerations. All such specially favourable to soul restoration. Hours dawn in a man’ s life specially favourable for the effectuation of certain purposes. II. The departure of these seasons, leaving the soul unrestored, is lamentable beyond expression. “ The harvest is past.” Awful wail in this language. (Homilist.) Harvest time I. God has special seasons for conveying special gifts.1. In nature. Must sow in spring, or season lost. Must gather in harvest time, or fruit spoilt. 2. In the spiritual kingdom. Youth. Sabbath. Days of affliction and bereavement. II. These special seasons ought to be improved.1. Men improve the natural seasons. 2. Spiritual realm. God has done His part: Atonement made; Spirit given. We must repent, believe, abandon evil, fight the good fight, etc. III. These special seasons speedily pass. Life short. Health uncertain. Refusal of mercy today may be irreparable ruin. IV. Special seasons of grace misused end in unspeakable ruin. Past feeling. Conscience seared. (J. D. Davies, M. A.) Harvest home Then there are measured opportunities in life, times of limitation, times of beginning and ending. Even now there are little circles not complete. The universe is a circle, eternity is a circle, infinity is a circle; these can never be completed; they live in continual progress towards self-completion: but there are little circles, small as wedding rings, that can be quite finished,--the day is one, the year is one, the seasons constitute four little circles, each of which can be completed, turned off, sent forward with its gospel or its cry and confession of penitence and failure. “ The harvest is past” ; the barn door is shut, the granary is supplied: it is either full or empty; one or the other, there it is. We cannot get rid of these views of doom. There are those who would try to persuade the young that after all the sun is but a momentary blessing, and when he is gone there will be as good as he come up again. Them is no authority for saying so; experience has nothing to say in corroboration of that wild suggestion. Scripture bases its appeals on a totally different view, saying, Work while it is called day, the night cometh wherein no man can work. The whole biblical appeal is towards immediacy of action: “ Buy up the opportunity” is the Gospel appeal to the common sense of the world. “ The harvest is past.” Then we are or we are not provided for the winter. It is of no use repining now. Harvest finds the food, winter finds the hunger. We know this in nature: we have no difficulty about this in all practical matters, as we call them,--as if spiritual matters were not practical, whereas they are the most practical and urgent of all. Why not reason from nature to spirit, and say, If it be so in things natural, that there is a seed time, and that the harvest depends upon it, there may also be a corresponding truth in the spiritual universe: hear it: “ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” It is his own harvest; he must put into it his own sickle. The harvest may be very plentiful, and yet very much may depend upon the way in which it is gathered. Some people do not know when to gather the harvest in any department of life; they have their opportunities and never see them. Others spend so much time in whetting their sickle that the corn is never cut at all. Others spend so much time in contemplating the golden fields that they forget that the fields were intended to be cut down and the fruits thereof garnered for the winter. God has given us everything we need, and all we want; but we must find the sagacity that discerns the situation, we must find the common sense that notes the beginning, continuance, and culmination of the opportunity. A meditation of this kind brings several points before us that may be applied usefully to our whole life. For example, there is brought before us the time of vain regrets--“ The harvest is past.” The coach has gone on, and we have missed it; the tide flowed, and we might have caught it, but we have waited so long that it has ebbed. We neglected our opportunities at home, we were disobedient, unfilial, hard-hearted, and now we stand at the gate post and cry our hearts out, because we had not a chance of doing something for the father and the mother whom we neglected in their lifetime. Oh, the time of vain regrets that we should have spoken that cruel word; that we should have been guilty of that base neglect; that we should have been lured away from paths of loveliness and peace by some urgent temptation; that we should have done a thousand things which now rise up against us as criminal memories! They are vain regrets. You can never repair a shattered crystal, so that it shall be as it was at first; you can never take the metal, the iron, out of the pierced wood, and really obliterate the wound. A nail cut is never cured. The old may hear these words with dismay, the young should hear them as voices of warning. Such points bring before us also the times of honest satisfaction. Blessed be God, there are times when we may be really moved to tears and to joy by contemplating the results of a lifetime. The hard working author says, I have written all this; God gave me strength and guided my hand, and now when I look back upon these pages it is like reading my own life over again; I do not know how it was done, God taught my fingers this mystery of labour. And the honest merchantman has a right to say in his old age, God has been good to me, He has enabled me to lay up for what is called a rainy day, He has prospered my industry, He has blessed me in basket and in store,--praise God from whom all blessings flow! How are we going to treat our own harvests? We can treat them in three different ways. There are men who treat everything as a mere matter of course. They are not men to be trusted or reverenced: keep no company with them; they will never elevate your thought, or expand and illuminate your mind, or give a richer bloom to your life. There is another way of receiving the harvest which our Lord Himself condenmed parabolically (Luke 12:16-20). What about the barns? what about the stored granaries? The man never said what he would do for the poor, the famishing, and the sad-hearted; he never said, God has given me all these things, and to His glory I will consecrate them. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of My people recovered? Physic from heaven I. The balsam tree is a little shrub, never growing past the height of two cubits, and spreading like a vine. The tree is of an ash colour, the boughs small and tender, the leaves are like to rue. Pliny saith the tree is all medicinable: the chief virtue is in the juice, the second in the seed, the third in the rind, the last and weakest in the stock. It comforts both by tasting and smelling. This Holy Word is here called balm: and, if we may compare spiritual with natural things, they agree in many resemblances. We may call God’ s Word that balm tree whereon the fruit of life grows; a tree that heals, a tree that helps; a tree of both medicament and nutriment; like the “ tree of life” (Revelation 22:2). Neither is the fruit only nourishing, but even” the leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations.” Now though the balm here, whereunto the Word is compared, is more generally taken for the juice, now fitted and ready for application; yet, I see not why it may not so be likened, both for general and particular properties. The tree itself is the Word. We find the eternal Word so compared (John 15:1). He is a tree, but the root of this tree is in heaven at was once “ made flesh, and dwelt among us,” etc. (John 1:14). Now He is in heaven. Only this Word still speaks unto us by His Word: the Word incarnate by the Word written; made sounding in the mouth of His ministers. This Word of His is compared and expressed by many metaphors, to leaven, for seasoning; to honey, for sweetening; to the hammer, for breaking the stony heart (Jeremiah 23:29). It is here a tree, a balm tree, a salving, a saving tree. Albumasar saith that the more medicinable a plant is, the less it nourisheth. But this tree makes a sick soul sound, and a whole one sounder. It is not only physic when men be sick, but meat when they be whole. It carries a seed with it, an “ immortal and incorruptible seed” (1 Peter 1:13), which concurs to the begetting of a new man, the old dying away: for it hath power of both, to mortify the flesh, to revive the spirit (Matthew 13:3). Happy is the good ground of the heart that receives it! The juice is no less powerful to mollify the stony heart, and make it tender and soft, as “ a heart of flesh.” The seed convinceth the understanding; the juice mollifieth the affections. All is excellent; but still, the root that yields this seed, this juice, is the power of God. A tree hath manifest to the eye, leaves, and flowers, and fruits; but the root, most precious, lies hidden. In all things we see the accidents, not the form, not the substance. There are but few that rightly taste the seed and the juice; but who hath comprehended the root of this balm?1. It spreads. No sharp frosts, nor nipping blasts, nor chilling airs, nor drizzling sleet can mar the beauty or enervate the virtue of this spiritual tree. The more it is stopped, the further it groweth. The Jews would have cut down this tree at the root; the Gentiles would have lopped off the branches. They struck at Christ, these at His ministers; both struck short. If they killed the messenger, they could not reach the message. The blood of the martyrs, spilt at the root of this tree, did make it spread more largely. 2. As it gives boughs spaciously, so fruit pregnantly, plentifully. The graces of God hang upon this tree in clusters (Son 1:14). No hungry soul shall go away from this tree unsatisfied. It is an effectual Word, never failing of the intended success What God’ s Word affirms His truth performs, whether it be judgment or mercy. 3. As this balm spreads patently for shadow, potently for fruit, so all this ariseth from a little seed. God’ s smallest springs prove at length main oceans. His least beginnings grow into great works, great wonders. Now, there is no action without motion, no motion without will, no will without knowledge, no knowledge without hearing (Romans 10:14). God must then, by this Word, call us to Himself. Let us come when and whiles He calls us, leaving our former evil loves and evil lives.1. The leaves of the balsam are white; the Word of God is pure and spotless. Peter saith there is sincerity in it (1 Peter 2:2). It is white, immaculate, and so unblemishable that the very mouth of the devil could not sully it. 2. The balsam, say the physicians, is sharp and biting in the taste, but wholesome in digestion. The Holy Word is no otherwise to the unregenerate palate, but to the sanctified soul it is sweeter than the honeycomb. The Word may relish bitter to many, but is wholesome. There cannot be sharper pills given to the usurer than to cast up his unjust gains. 3. They write of the balsamum, that the manner of getting out the juice is by wounding the tree. 1. The balsam tree weeps out a kind of gum, like tears; the Word of God doth compassionately bemoan our sins. Christ wept not only tears for Jerusalem, but blood for the world. 2. The way to get out the juice of balm from God’ s Word is by cutting it, skilful division of it, “ rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). It is true that God’ s Word is “ the bread of life” ; but whiles it is in the whole loaf, many cannot help themselves: it is needful for children to have it cut to them in pieces. Though the spice unbroken be sweet and excellent, yet doth it then treble the savour in delicacy when it is pounded in a mortar. There must be wisdom both in the dispensers and hearers of God’ s mysteries; in the former to distribute, in the other to apportion their due and fit share of this balm. 3. The balsam tree being wounded too deep, dies; the Word of God cannot be marred, it may be martyred, and forced to suffer injurious interpretations. 4. When the balsam is cut, they use to set vials in the dens, to receive the juice or sap; when the Word is divided by preaching, the people should bring vials with them, to gather this saving balm. How many sermons are lost whiles you bring not with you the vessels of attention! Philosophy saith that there is no vacuity, no vessel is empty; if of water or other such liquid and material substances, yet not of air. So perhaps you bring hither vials to receive this balm of grace, and carry them away full, but only full of wind; a vast, incircumscribed, and swimming knowledge, a notion, a mere implicit and confused tendency of many things, which lie like corn, loose on the floor of their brains. How rare is it to see a vial carried from the Church full of balm, a conscience of grace! 5. The balsam tree was granted sometimes to one only people--Judea, as Pliny (Lib. 12. cap. 17) testifies. It was thence derived to other nations. Who that is a Christian doth not confess the appropriation of this spiritual balm once to that only nation? (Psalms 147:19-20.) Now, as their earthly balm was by their civil merchants transported to other nations; so when this heavenly balm was given to any Gentile, a merchant of their own, a prophet of Israel, carried it. Nineveh could not have it without a Jonah; nor Babylon without some Daniels; and though Paul and the apostles had a commission from Christ to preach the Gospel to all nations, yet observe how they take their leave of the Jews (Acts 13:46). 6. Pliny affirms, that even when the balsam tree grew only in Jewry, yet it was not growing commonly in the land, as other trees, either for timber, fruit, or medicine; but only in the king’ s garden. There is but one truth, “ one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” etc. (Ephesians 4:5). Even they that have held the greatest falsehoods, hold that there is but one truth. Nay, most will confess that this balsam tree is only in God’ s garden; but they presume to temper the balm at their own pleasure, and will not minister it to the world except their own fancy hath compounded it, confounded it with their impure mixtures. 7. They write of the balsam tree, that though it spread spaciously as a vine, yet the boughs bear up themselves; and as you heard before that they must not be pruned, so now here, that they need not be supported: God’ s Word needs no undersetting. It is firmly rooted in heaven, and all the cold storms of human reluctancy and opposition cannot shake it. Nay, the more it is shaken, the faster it grows. 8. Physicians write of balsamum, that it is easy and excellent to be prepared. This spiritual balm is prepared to our hands: it is but the administration that is required of us, and the application of you. 9. Balm is good against all diseases. Catholicon is a drug, a drudge to it. It purifieth our hearts from all defilings and obstructions in them. A better cornucopia than ever nature, had she been true to their desires and wants, could have produced: the bread of heaven, by which a man lives forever. A very supernatural stone, more precious than the Indies, if they were consolidate into one quarry; that turns all into purer gold than ever the land of Havilah boasted. A stronger armour than was Vulcan’ s, to shield us from a more strange and savage enemy than ever Anak begot, the devil (Ephesians 6:11). It is a pantry of wholesome food, against fenowed traditions; a physician’ s shop of antidotes, against the poisons of heresies and the plague of iniquities; a pandect of profitable laws, against rebellious spirits; a treasure of costly jewels, against beggarly rudiments. You have here the similitudes. Hear one or two discrepancies of these natural and supernatural balms.1. This earthly balm cannot preserve the body of itself, but by the accession of the spiritual balm. Nature itself declines her ordinary working, when God’ s revocation hath chidden it. The Word without balm can cure; not the best balm without the Word. 2. So this natural balm, when the blessing of the Word is even added to it, can at utmost but keep the body living till the life’ s taper be burnt out; or after death, give a short and insensible preservation to it in the sareophagal grave. But this balm gives life after death, life against death, life without death. II. The physicians. “ Is there no balm at Gilead? is there no physician there?” The prophets are allegorically called physicians, as the Word is balm. So are the ministers of the Gospel in due measure, in their place. To speak properly and fully, Christ is our only physician, and we are but His ministers, bound to apply His saving physic to the sickly souls of His people. It is He only that cures the carcass, the conscience.1. No physician can heal the body without Him. 2. No minister can heal the conscience where Christ hath not given a blessing to it. 1. We must administer the means of your redress which our God hath taught us, doing it with love, with alacrity. 2. The physician that lives among many patients, if he would have them tenderly and carefully preserve their healths, must himself keep a good diet among them. It is a strong argument to persuade the goodness of that he administers. This for ourselves. For you, I will contract all into these three uses, which necessarily arise from the present or precedent consideration--1. Despise not your physicians. 2. If your physician be worthy blame, yet sport not, with cursed Ham, at your father’ s nakedness. 3. Lastly, let this teach you to get yourselves familiar acquaintance with the Scriptures, that if you be put to it, in the absence of your physician, you may yet help yourselves. (T. Adams.) The balm of Gilead Through fifty generations Gilead was famed for its plantations of aromatic and medicinal herbs. The balsam was a lowly tree--little better than a shrub, with scanty foliage and inconspicuous flower. Looking at it, you would scarcely have thought it profitable for any purpose,--for shade, for beauty, or for fruit. But on wounding its stem there flowed a pellucid gum, which was carefully collected, and was considered of all the substances known to pharmacy the most sovereign and wonderful. So early as the days of Joseph, this balm was an object of commerce, and was carried down from Gilead to Egypt. In the days of Solomon, the gardens where it grew were annexed to the crown, and become an item in the royal revenue. So precious were they deemed, that in the days of the Roman invasion a battle was fought for their possession; and among the other symbols of victory which Vespasian carried to Rome,--a balsam tree was borne through the streets in triumphal procession. But being an exotic, and being from that period entirely neglected, it has perished from the face of Palestine, and there is no balm in Gilead now. (J. Hamilton.) Spiritual disease and its remedy I. The melancholy fact that sin prevails. Sin is here, as in other places of Scripture, represented under the figurative character of a disease. And the representation is appropriate; for sin affects the soul much in the same way as disease affects the body. It is a derangement of the spiritual frame, by which its functions are impeded, its strength enfeebled, its comfort impaired, its proper ends counteracted, and its very existence, as a creature destined to immortal felicity, endangered or destroyed.1. It is a hereditary disease--not induced by outward or accidental circumstances, but entailed upon us as an attribute of our fallen nature, and cleaving to us with as much tenacity as if it were a part of our original being. 2. It is a pervading disease--not limited to any one portion of our constitution, but dwelling in every department of it--influencing its intellectual powers, its moral dispositions, its sensitive organs: “ the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.” 3. It is a vital and inveterate disease--not touching merely the extreme or superficial parts of our system, and resisted in its progress by any inherent energies--but corrupting and preying upon our inmost soul, and so congenial to all that is within, and to all that is around us, as to grow with our growth, and strengthen with our strength. 4. It is a deceitful disease--not always accompanied with those violent and decided symptoms which forbid us to mistake the nature or disregard the perils of our condition--but often assuming that gentle form which allays our apprehensions, and flatters us with the hopes of recovery. 5. It is often withal a pailful and harassing disease--filling us with dissatisfaction and fear and trembling--rendering our days gloomy and our nights restless--or piercing us with agonies to which we can find neither utterance nor relief. 6. It is a mortal disease--not inflicting upon us a momentary pang, and then giving place to renovated vigour--but mocking at all human attempts to throw it off--sooner or later subduing us by its resistless, power--and consigning us to the pains and the terrors of the second death. II. “Is there no balm in gilead,” no remedy by which the disease of sin may be cured? “ Is there no physician there,” no physician qualified to apply the remedy and able to make it effectual? Christ is set forth as the great Physician of souls. He has wisdom to devise whatever method may be necessary for rescuing the victims whom He has been sent to deliver. He has tenderness and compassion to induce Him to do, and bestow, and suffer all, whatever it may be, which their circumstances require. He has power to conquer every obstacle that would frustrate His exertions in their behalf, and to render effectual every means that may be employed for their recovery. And He has all these attributes in an indefinite degree; so that He is competent to heal those in whose instance the disease has assumed its most inveterate form, and even to call them back from the very gates of the grave. In the annals of Christianity we read of many who, though sin was preying on their very vitals as a deep seated and mortal distemper, and though they were ready to perish, because they had no ability to stay or to withstand its progress, yet escaped from its destroying power--felt that it had departed from them, manifested all the symptoms of renovated ragout, and rejoiced in the active exertion of those faculties which had been paralysed, and in the return of those comforts and those hopes which seemed to have fled from them forever. And they have testified that this happy change was wrought in their condition--because there “ is balm in Gilead, and because there is a Physician there.” III. Some of the causes of such a melancholy phenomenon in the history of sinful men.1. Many sinners are insensible to their need of a spiritual physician. They shut their eyes against all the light by which they might be made aware of the perils and the horrors of their condition. They palliate or explain away all the circumstances by which we would prove that guilt does attach to them. 2. There are many who, though aware in some measure of the disease of sin, of its inveteracy and of its danger, and not unconvinced of the necessity of applying to Him who alone can save them from its power and consequences, are yet indisposed from doing so, by carelessness, or procrastination, or dislike to the remedies which they know will be prescribed. 3. Sinners are not saved, or have not their spiritual health recovered, because they will not take the remedy simply and submissively as it is administered by Christ. They put their own ignorance on a level with His wisdom--their own weakness with His power--their own depravity with His merit. And thus they defeat the purpose of all that He offers to do for them. They counteract His saving work. They render fruitless the remedies that He prescribes. (A. Thomson, D. D.) Treacle, or like cures like The word treacle is derived from the Greek word therion, which meant primarily a wild beast of any kind, but was afterwards more especially applied to animals which had a venomous bite. By many Greek writers the term was used to denote a serpent or viper specifically. But what connection, it may well be asked, can there be between a viper and treacle? How came such a sweet substance to have such a venomous origin? It was a popular belief at one time, that the bite of the viper could only be cured by the application to the wound of a piece of the viper’ s flesh, or a decoction called viper’s wine, or Venice treacle made by boiling the flesh in some fluid or other. Galen, the celebrated Greek physician of Pergamos, who lived in the second century, describes the custom as very prevalent in his time. At Aquileia, under the patronage of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, he prepared a system of pharmacy, which he published under the name of Theriaca, in allusion to this superstition. The name given to the extraordinary electuary of viper’ s flesh was theriake, from therion, a viper. By the usual process of alteration which takes place in the course of a few generations in words that are commonly used, theriake became theriac. Then it was transformed into the diminutive theriacle, afterwards triacle, in which form it was used by Chaucer; and, finally, it assumed its present mode of spelling as early as the time of Milton and Waller. It changed its meaning and application with its various changes of form, signifying first the confection of the viper’ s flesh applied to the wound inflicted by the viper’ s sting; then any antidote, whatever might be its nature, or whatever might be the origin of the evil it was intended to cure. The fundamental principle that gave origin to treacle was one that was extensively adopted and acted upon in ancient times. Similia similibus curantur--“ Like cures like” --was the motto of nearly all the medical practitioners from Galen downwards. There are traces in the Bible of the principle of treacle as applied in the cure of disease, which are exceedingly interesting and instructive. Some of the most remarkable of our Lord’ s miracles were based upon it. We are told by St. Mark of the healing of a man deaf and dumb in Galilee, by our Saviour putting His fingers to his ears and touching his tongue with His own spittle. Saliva jejuna was supposed by the ancients to possess general curative properties, and to be especially efficacious in ophthalmia and other inflammatory diseases of the eyes. We are not, however, to suppose for a moment that our Lord was misled by this popular notion and that He was here acting merely as an ordinary physician acquainted with certain remedies in use among men. It was not for its medicinal virtue that He made use of the spittle. The application of it was entirely a symbolical action, indicating that as it was the man’ s tongue that was bound, so the moisture of the tongue was to be the sign of its unloosing, and the means by which it would be enabled to move freely in the mouth, and to articulate words. And the use of Christ’ s own saliva in the cure showed that the healing virtue resided in and came forth from Christ’ s own body alone, and was imparted through loss of His substance. All Christ’ s miracles, without exception, were in one sense illustrations of the principle. The effects of the curse in the diseases and disabilities of mankind were removed by Christ bearing the curse while performing the miracles. “ Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.” The evil that He cured He suffered in His own soul. The sorrow that He alleviated cost Himself an equal degree of sorrow. Virtue went out of Him in proportion to the amount of healing virtue imparted. Gain to others was loss to Him. By fasting and prayer He cast out unclean spirits; by groaning in spirit and weeping He raised the dead Lazarus to life. The curse that He removed He came under Himself. In the economy of redemption we find many remarkable examples of the principle of treacle. The rule that “ like cures like” is engraved on the very forefront of our salvation. It is shadowed forth in type and symbol; it is foretold in prophecy; it is clearly seen in realised fact. The brazen serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness to heal those who were bitten by the fiery serpents, as a prophetic symbol that the Son of Man would be lifted up on the Cross to heal those who had been deceived into sin by the old serpent, the devil. And in this type there was a significant fitness. It was not an actual dead serpent that was exhibited; for that would have implied that Christ was really sinful. It was a brazen serpent, formed of the brass of which the brazen altar and the brazen laver were made, in token that though Christ was our substitute, He was yet holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Throughout the whole of our Saviour’ s propitiatory work, we can trace this similarity between the evil and the cure; a similarity indicated very plainly and emphatically in the first announcement of the scheme of redemption to our fallen first parents. The serpent’ s head could only be bruised through the heel of the woman’ s seed being wounded by the serpent’ s fang. By faithlessness and pride, man sinned and fell; by treachery, false witness, and a cross, man is redeemed. It was not as God that Christ wrought out man’ s salvation, but as man. It was in the likeness of sinful flesh that He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So, also, in order that we may realise personally and individually the benefits of Christ’ s redemption, we must be identified with Him by faith; there must be mutual sympathy, partnership, and reciprocity of feeling--“ I in you, and ye in Me.” We must be partakers of His nature as He was partaker of ours. We must take up our cross and follow Him. We must know the fellowship of His sufferings. If we be planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection; if we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him. In medicine, also, the same principle may be found. Homoeopathy was anticipated by the ancient use of treacle. The essential character of Hahnemann’ s famous system is that such remedies should be employed against any disease, as in a healthy person would produce a similar, though not precisely the same disease. The method of administering remedies in infinitesimal doses is not necessarily a part of the system, and it was not originally practised, although in the end it was adopted as a vital article of the creed. The fundamental principle of homoeopathy is that “ like cures like” ; and, to find suitable medicines against any disease, experiments are made on healthy persons, in order to determine the effect upon them. Thus whooping cough and certain eruptions of the skin of a chronic nature are supposed to be cured by an attack of measles; inflammation of the eyes, asthma, and dysentery, are homoeopathically cured by smallpox; arnica heals bruises because it produces the nervous symptoms which accompany bruises; camphor cures typhus fever because in a poisonous dose it lowers the vitality of the system; wine is a good remedy for inflammation because it inflames the constitution; quinine or Peruvian bark is the best remedy against intermittent fever or ague because, when taken in considerable quantity by a healthy person, it produces feverishness and furred tongue; and so on over a long list of medicines. There is a profound philosophy in this principle of treacle that applies to all the relations and interest of life. In the sweat of a man’ s face does he take away the curse that causes his face to sweat. Not by ease and idleness and self-indulgence does a man remove the remediable evils of the world; but by the evils of toil and trouble and care. It is the tear of sympathy that dries the tear of sorrow; the salt of the grief that springs from fellow feeling that heals the salt spring of the grief that flows from human bereavement. We all know the relief to imprisoned feeling with which the heart is bursting--when we can find one whose susceptibilities can take it in as we outpour it all, Who can understand our emotions and take interest in our disclosures. There is no earthly solace like that; and it is only a higher degree of it that we experience when we feel that we have “ a brother born for adversity,” who is afflicted in all our afflictions. That “ Jesus wept,” --that He still sheds tears as salt and as round as ours--when He sees us sorrowing; this is the blessed homeopathy of suffering--this is the balm, the treacle to every heart wound. Then, too, why is repentance bitter? Is it not because sin is bitter? Conviction and conversion, whether on the lower levels of ordinary moral conduct and worldly well-being, or on the higher heights of spiritual life and Gospel experience, must always be attended with acute sorrow; and the measure of the pain in the loss of the soul must be the measure of the pain in its recovery and gain. Look again at love. What does it require? Is it wealth, or rank, or fame, or any of the outward possessions and glories of life? The Song of Songs says, and the experience of every true loving heart echoes the sentiment, “ If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.” Love can only be satisfied with love. (H. Macmillan, D. D.) Jesus Christ the Physician of His people I. To describe your spiritual disease. Sin itself, and all its pernicious consequences, comprehends the whole disease of human nature.1. This disease has infected the whole race of mankind. 2. This disease has infected the whole person of every individual. The members of the body are likewise infected with the disease of sin. 3. What especially renders this disease an object of apprehension and sorrow is, that it is mortal. It has not only entirely deprived mankind of strength but has involved them in death itself. II. To explain and illustrate the nature of the remedy.1. Though this Physician healed the most inveterate diseases of the body with a word, He could cure the distempers of the soul with no other medicine but the balm of His own blood. 2. With this precious balm our Physician heals all manner of diseases. 3. The cures which the Physician performs by the balm of His blood are all forever perfect. 4. This wonderful Physician heals His patients without money and without price. When Zeuxis the Grecian painter presented his incomparable paintings for nothing, his vanity prompted him to give this reason for his own conduct, that they were above all price. So Jesus, our Almighty Physician, who can never be suspected of having indulged a vain-glorious pride, performed His mighty work of healing freely, and without reward, because it was impossible to propose to Him any remuneration that would either merit His favour, or claim His acceptance. The case is precisely the same to this very day. III. Why, then, are there so many diseased souls among us?1. Because multitudes are ignorant and insensible of their real condition. The patient who labours under the violence of a fever may, in a fit of delirium, affirm that he is completely recovered from his indisposition; but this very circumstance is one of the most unpromising symptoms of his disease. 2. Others refuse the Physician’ s grace, and reject His kind offers of assistance, from an opinion that it is so near and easy to be obtained, that they may have it at whatever time they choose to ask it. What greater dishonour can you offer to the Physician? What greater abuse can you make of this precious remedy? 3. A third class continue under the power of their spiritual disease on account of their contempt for the person of the Physician, and their obstinate prejudices against His prescriptions. 4. Another reason why so many remain under the power of their spiritual distemper is, that they spend their all upon other physicians. Application--1. Are you among the “ whole who need not the Physician” ? Awfully dangerous condition! Death approaches, and ye perceive it not! Beseech the Physician Himself to quicken you, and make you thoroughly sensible of your real condition by nature, that finding yourselves guilty, polluted, and condemned sinners, and feeling the plagues of your own deceitful and wicked hearts, you may humbly sue for mercy, and without delay repair to that all-sufficient Physician, whose blood is a balm for every wound of the sin-sick soul, who “ of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.” 2. Are ye among “ the sick who need the Physician” ? Be not discouraged. Of such sickness it may be truly said, that it is not unto death, but for the glory of God. The more heinous your guilt, the more imminent your danger, so much more reason have you to apply for relief. Oh, then, speedily have recourse to this Physician! Thankfully accept of His remedy, and you shall find to your present comfort and everlasting joy that “ He is both able and willing to save to the very uttermost all who come unto God through Him.” 3. Are ye now made whole? “ Go, and sin no more.” Rejoice in the Physician and in His salutary aid. (T. Thomson.) Balm in Gilead I. The all-sufficiency of the salvation provided for our perishing souls.1. The glorious constitution of His person as God and Man in one Christ. He, who has undertaken the office of our great Physician, is “ Lord of lords, and King of kings.” “ All the angels of God worship Him.” He is Himself “ God over all, blessed for evermore.” Yet, wonderful to tell, He is also Man, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, and made in all things, sin only excepted, like unto us; whom He is therefore not ashamed to call His brethren. 2. The wonderful way which He has taken to save us from sin. This way was by giving up to death this Person so gloriously constituted, that by thus dying He might atone for our sins. II. The reason why so many persons, notwithstanding, continue in a perishing condition.1. Some are altogether insensible of their disease. Engrossed with worldly business, sunk in sensual pleasures, they give no thought at all, or no serious thought, to the state of their soul. As to their sin, it gives them no concern. They regard it as light and trifling. 2. Some are too proud to accept or use the proffered medicine. They think that they can heal and cure themselves. The proposition of being saved wholly through the blood and sacrifice of another is too humbling for them. They cannot submit to be thus indebted to grace. 3. Others there are who use not the remedy prescribed because of its holy tendency. They know that, while it brings them to the Cross of Christ, it requires them to take up their cross, to crucify the flesh, and to be crucified to the world. But to these things, these acts of self-denial and godliness, they have no mind; therefore they go not to the Physician to heal them. (E. Cooper, M. A.) The balm of Gilead Appalling as our condition may now be, the spectacle of a world abandoned to the reign of sin, without any corrective or mitigation, would be far more lawful. It is an instance of the Divine mercy for which we can never be sufficiently grateful, that “ where sin abounded grace doth much more abound.” The interrogative form of this statement seems to contemplate, not so much cases of want or woe indiscriminately, as examples of peculiar and signal distress. Such examples every community might supply. There are families here and there whose afflictions have given them a sad preeminence among their neighbours. Stroke after stroke has fallen upon them, until their cup of bitterness seems filled to the very brim. A blessed thing it is to be allowed to go to a family in these circumstances, and say, “ We will not mock you with the tender of such consolations as the world may have to bestow. But rest assured there is balm in Gilead which can soothe your wounds, and a Physician there who knows how to apply it.” It was long ago said, “ the heart knoweth his own bitterness.” And the older we grow, the deeper must become the conviction of every thoughtful person, that the hearts are not few in number which have some secret sorrow.1. Very many of these examples belong to the realm of the affections. Misplaced love, morbid sensibility, disappointed hopes, abused or unrequited confidence,--who can compute the measure of unhappiness in the world which flows from these sources? The world may sneer at the “ sentimentalism” of such experiences. The essential spirit of the world is as coarse and cynical where human affections are concerned, as it is arrogant and impious in dealing with the prerogatives of the Deity. It may very well be that, in many instances, there is an ill-balanced constitution, or that a passion has been cherished in opposition to all reason, or that, in some way, the calamity has been self-imposed. But the consciousness of this only increases the bitterness of the cup; as it may also prompt to a more careful seclusion of it from every eye. It were a mission of Godlike philanthropy could one seek out all these afflicted ones, bowed down with their crushed hearts, and languishing under the weight of griefs too sacred to be shared by any earthly bosom, and say to them, “ Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no Physician there?” Do not repel the suggestion as either unsuited to your state of mind or as unseasonable. What you need is a Friend whose sympathy can avail to relieve you, and whose arm can keep you from sinking; a Friend upon whom you can fix your lacerated affections with a confidence that He will never betray you; and whom you can love with the conviction that your attachment to Him can never become so absorbing as to be an occasion of self-reproach or of sin. Jesus of Nazareth will not disappoint you. Such is the essential perfection of His nature,--such its boundless amplitude,--that in Him all your griefs may be assuaged and all your cravings after happiness satisfied. 2. The moment we pass from the sphere of the affections into the realm of spiritual things, new forms of suffering meet the eye, as diversified in character as they are various in intensity. And here, no less than among the tribes of sickness and sorrow and disappointment, we have but too much occasion to ask, “ Is there no balm in Gilead, and no Physician there?” (1) You have seen individuals under the terrors of an awakened conscience. God has come near to them and set their sins in order before their eyes. How hopeless is it to attempt to minister relief to a soul in this condition with any mere earthly specifics! Something widely different from this you must have before that agitated breast can be tranquillised. And the boundless mercy of God proffers you all that you need. “ Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no Physician there?” Yes, thou heavy-laden sinner. Great as thy sins are, there is a greater Saviour. Ponderous as is thy burden, what will it be to Him whose hand holds up the firmament and guides the spheres in their orbits? Deep as may be the crimson dye of thy soul, the blood which cleansed Manasseh, and the dying thief, and Saul of Tarsus, can cleanse thee. (2) A second glance around the realm we are now traversing reveals another class of sufferers. These are the doubting, the tempted, the desponding,--the bruised reeds and the smoking flax,--who “ desire to follow Christ,” and would “ give worlds” to know that He owned them as His disciples, but who walk in darkness. Long accustomed to dwell on their conscious sins and infirmities, their sense of personal unworthiness forbids them to appropriate the promises, and even restrains them from looking, with any confidence, to the Saviour. These doubts and misgivings have their rooting in unbelief, and in unworthy conceptions of the character of the Redeemer. Conscious ill-desert keeps you from going to Christ. But is there anything either in His character or in the events of His life to justify this feeling? How can you say, as you do practically say, “ There is no balm in Gilead, and no Physician there” ? (3) It is a dark portraiture which the Spirit has drawn of man’ s moral character, when, with a single graphic touch of the pencil, he is depicted as having “ a heart of stone.” The sceptic resents the great indignity. “ A heart of stone! Look at the virtues which cluster around humanity! See the integrity and the truthfulness, the high-toned honour and the magnanimity, which embellish society! Let these testify how gross a libel that is upon the race, which ascribes to man ‘ a heart of stone’ !” Granted all. Make the flattering inventory still more flattering, and its every item shall be acknowledged. The brighter the vestments in which you infold your idol, the clearer do you bring out the demonstration that his heart is “ a heart of stone.” It is of his relations Godward that the Scriptures affirm this quality of him. But we are not now dealing with sceptics. There are those who, so far from cavilling at this representation, freely concede its truth. They have reasoned with themselves on the surpassing folly and impiety of living for this world only. They are convinced that Jesus Christ ought to be in their eyes the chief among ten thousand; that they ought to enthrone Him in their hearts with a grateful and confiding devotion; that they ought to delight in prayer, and to find their happiness in doing God’ s will. They long for this. They would make any earthly sacrifice to accomplish it. They have laboured and struggled to bring themselves into this state of mind. But all in vain. The wayward affections will not relax their hold of earth at the bidding of reason and conscience. Here, at least, is a class of sufferers whom no earth-born philosophy can reach. But are they therefore to be abandoned to despair? Far from it. Your case is not hopeless. That heart of stone can be broken in pieces. That proud will can be subdued. Those intractable affections can be detached from earth and lifted to the skies. The love of Christ may yet burn with seraphic ardour in that breast which has hitherto refused Him its homage. In place of the ingratitude and distrust with which you have requited Him, your joyful protestation may yet be heard, “ Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee.” Be it so, that your sins are of colossal magnitude, and as the stars of heaven for multitude. That is a cogent reason for repentance and contrition; it is no reason for declining to accept “ the balm in Gilead and the Physician there.” You “ have no real sorrow for your sins.” Christ is “ exalted as a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.” One glimpse of Him whom you have pierced, such as the Spirit can afford you, will make streams of penitential sorrow burst from that heart of stone as the waters gushed from the smitten rock. You have no faith. But can you not cry, Lord, I would believe. Help thou mine unbelief? You have no love. Who ever loved Him, except as he was loved by Him? “ We love Him, because He first loved us.” Let Him but reveal His love to you, and that will “ kindle yours” as nothing else can. (H. A. Boardman, D. D.) The balm of Gilead or every wrong there is a remedy. God is Almighty. The prophets of old believed this. The Church of Christ, in all ages, professes to believe this. I. “There is balm in Gilead.” And to Gilead we must go to seek and to find it. That is, the remedy for every wrong must be made the object of our effort to attain. Gilead--as all students of the Bible know--is the mountainous region east of Jordan, forming the frontier of the Holy Land. The name itself signifies “ a hard, rocky region,” and there the fragrant, resinous gum, possessed of such famous healing properties, was to be found--found, however, not by the casual, unobservant traveller who happened to pass by that way, but by the man who clambered up the rocks, scaled the heights, diligently searched among the precious, storm-stunted shrubs, yielding the healing gum. And so, surely, is it the same with that which the balm of Gilead symbolises. The remedy for every, or for any, wrong is not to be found in religious idleness. It must ever be a serious business--a search, requiring an effort upwards, taxing all the strength that is vouchsafed. And does it very much matter by what name they are called, who in sincerity attempt the search? or, indeed, whether the balm they find is all identical in outward appearance? For instance, “ the balm of Gilead,” the remedy for wrong, comes to us in modern times, certainly in one way, in the form of scientific truth. Scientific ignorance is the fruitful cause of how vast a waste of human life!--of disease, and wretchedness, and pain, and bereavement, and idiocy, and drink, and death! God’ s laws and nature’ s laws are one and the same, and the high priests of science serve at the altar of the Most High God. Or, again, the balm of Gilead, the remedy for wrong, comes to us in the form of philosophic thought. Social science, based upon historical research and experience, economic problems, thought out in the light of what has been, and what men are, and need--labelled by whatever name--if they are not self-condemned by insincerity, are all possessed with some healing virtue. So, too, with politics in the true and highest sense; but, alas! not with party “ politicalism,” unless indeed that balm serves the purpose of an emetic. Again, the true “ balm of Gilead,” the remedy for every wrong, is to be found upon the mountain top of revelation. The balm of revealed knowledge, the comfort of the Holy Ghost, the insight into the spiritual, is within the reach of all. II. But who is the Physician qualified to administer the balm, to tell us how, and where, and in what proportion it should be applied? For, indeed, without proper knowledge, a remedy itself may become a poison; the cure may be more fatal than the disease. In matters social and spiritual we have many teachers, and some who seem to be more interested in their own nostrums than in the cures they effect. But is there no true physician, is there none whose direction and advice we may follow with absolute confidence? An answer to that question some will immediately give. “ Our blessed Lord,” they say, “ is the good Physician” (a title which by implication only our Lord applies to Himself), “ and to follow Jesus Christ is to be healed of all that is wrong.” Nothing could be truer, and yet is this all the truth? Does not our Lord Himself point onwards, to the revelation of the Holy Ghost, as the perfect Physician, as the Teacher, and Leader, and Guide, and Comforter of men’ s souls? “ He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” Every spiritual man is a physician qualified, according to the measure of the light which he enjoys, to apply the healing balm to the sorrows and distresses of others. (A. A. Toms, M. A.) A cure for diseased souls I. Mankind universally are in a diseased state.1. Atheism, infidelity, or unbelief of Divine truths. 2. Ignorance of God and Gospel truths, even among those who profess to know Him (Hosea 4:6). 3. Hardness of heart. 4. Earthly mindedness. 5. Aversion to spiritual duties. 6. Hypocrisy and formality in God’ s service. 7. Trusting to our own righteousness. 8. Indwelling corruption. 9. Backsliding. II. There is a Physician who can cure all diseases.1. He is infinite in knowledge, and understands all diseases, with the proper remedies, so that He never can err (John 21:17). 2. He has sovereign authority and almighty power, so can command diseases to obey (Matthew 9:2). 3. He has infinite pity, ready to help the distressed, even unasked (Luke 10:33). 4. He has wonderful patience towards the distressed; bears with their ingratitude, and works their perfect cure. III. The remedy which he applies to effect the cure.1. Principally, His own blood. 2. But Scripture speaks of other subservient means. (1) The Spirit of God, with His gracious operations on the soul.(2) The Word and ordinances of Christ.(3) Afflictions.(4) Faithful ministers.(5) Prayers of pious Christians. IV. His method of applying the remedy.1. He makes sinners sensible that they are sick. 2. He works faith in the soul by His Holy Spirit. 3. He accomplishes and perfects the cure by the sanctifying influences of the Spirit. V. Why so few are healed, notwithstanding there is balm in gilead and a Physician there.1. Many are ignorant of their disease, and wilfully so. 2. Many are in love with their disease more than with their Physician. 3. Many neglect the season of healing (Jeremiah 8:20). 4. Many will not trust Christ wholly for healing. 5. Many will not submit to the prescriptions of Christ; self-examination, repentance, godly sorrow, mortification. Conclusion--1. Let those in a diseased state see their danger, for it is great. 2. Balm of Gilead is freely offered in the Gospel. 3. Consider how long you have slighted this balm already. 4. Those whom Christ has healed, manifest their gratitude by living to His glory. (T. Hannam.) Is there no Physician there?--The Divine Physician I. The physician is Jesus Christ the Son of God, who, being the Son of God, must needs be able and skilful; since He is the Christ, He wants not a call to the office, etc.; as He is Jesus, He cannot but be ready and willing to the work,--who can desire a better, who would seek after another Physician than Him in whom skill, and will, and ability, and authority do meet? II. The patients are those who stand in need of this Physician, and they most need Him who think they have least. III. The disease of these patients is sin--a disease both hereditary, as to the root of it, which together with our nature we receive from our parents, and likewise contracted by ourselves, in the daily eruption of this corruption, by thoughts, words, and works. IV. The medicine or “ balm” which this Physician administereth to the patient for the cure of his disease is “ His own blood,” which He is content to part with for our sakes. V. The method by which the cure is effected is by cleansing; no cordial like this to comfort our hearts and to rid us of the ill-humours of our sins, thereby restoring our spiritual health. (Nath. Hardy.) The balm and the physician A distressed father, that had just left the sick bed of a beloved daughter, and was wandering through the streets in all the dejection of grief, may easily be supposed to have uttered himself in the language of the text. And if we may suppose that she had been long subjected to the want of a physician and a nurse, while death must now ensue as a consequence of that neglect, while there was a remedy at hand, and a physician hard by; but there was none at hand to call in that physician, or to apply that balm, by the application of which she might have been restored to health, joy, and life. One would grieve to hear the solitary moan of such a father, and haste to know if it is altogether too late to call in the kind and timely physician. I. The disease is one of universal application. There has been no nation found that is not totally depraved. They all practised a gross and God-provoking idolatry. They made their idols as stupid and as devilish as they could, practising as gross a perversion of their Supreme Deity as possible, and then they practised upon man all the outrages that a perverted intellect could contrive. II. This disease is, of all others, the most contagious. It has been communicated through the wide world, and gone into every little ramification of every kingdom under the whole heaven. It poisons all the human relations, and mars every human compact; and, first of all, man’ s covenant with his God. The result of this is, that it has filled and loaded him with misery to the full, and all nature “ groans and travails to be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and be brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” III. Why is not the plague healed?1. Sinners are not sensible that they are the subjects of this deplorable disease. The first object of a preached Gospel is to convince them of this fact. 2. If to any extent they are conscious of their condition, they love the very disease that cleaves to them. 3. They do not love the Physician. 4. They do not love the price at which they can be healed. It must be with Christ a mere gratuitous healing. 5. Sinners do not relish the manner of the application. This deep repentance, and this being healed by faith, destroys all human agency and contrivance, and gives God all the glory. (D. A. Clark.) Reasons for the irreligion of the masses I. Our mortal and evangelical resources.1. No country in the world in all respects equal in privileges.2. No age comparable to this. (1) Plenitude of God’ s Word (2) Good books.(3) Evangelical ministry.(4) Rich variety of social institutions. II. The fearful evils which still exist.1. Avowed infidelity.2. General neglect of Divine worship.3. Juvenile precocity and profligacy.5. Overwhelming intemperance. III. The affecting inquiry presented. “ Why, then,” etc. Three classes of reasons.1. In the Church. (1) Prevalence of spiritual indifference.(2) Sectarian contentions.(3) Fewness of workers.(4) Want of spiritual self-denial.(5) Coldness in prayer.(6) Feeble faith. 2. Reasons in the persons themselves. Feel separated from other classes; neglected, despised on account of poverty, etc. 3. Reasons in the world. Seductive temptations, dissipating scenes. Applications--1. We appeal to Church of Christ. Great responsibility.2. Sinners are inexcusable. Every man must give account.3. God’ s mercy and grace are all-sufficient.4. The provisions of the Gospel are freely published. (J. Burnt, D. D.) . Jeremiah 9:1-2 Oh that my head were waters.Christian anguish over spiritual desolation There is a solemn beauty in Jeremiah’ s devotion to the welfare of his fellow countrymen. Blinded as they were by sin, they could not appreciate his anxiety, and when his loving devotion broke into the tenderest words of warning, they regarded him in the light of an enemy instead of a sincere friend. The depth of his feeling, the tenderness of his words, remind us strongly of another scene which took place more than five hundred years after these events: “ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,” etc. The most beautiful sight on earth is unselfish devotion to the social, mental, moral and spiritual interests of humanity. While the less thoughtful may be dazzled by the great military achievements of conquering heroes, the more thoughtful are rather charmed by that self-sacrificing devotion which, losing sight of worldly applause and worldly honour, has thought of nothing but the opportunity of doing good. As the prodigal son, in his ingratitude, profligacy, and sinful wanderings, did not check the pulsations of his father’ s heart, but rather intensified them and brought to light the richness of his father’ s love, so the unbelief, idolatry, and sinful lives of the Jewish people only served to reveal the strength, the sweetness and richness of the prophet’ s nature. The history of the Christian Church is history of men and women who have not counted their lives dear unto themselves, but who have bestowed their warmest affections and divinest endeavours upon those who seemed the least likely to respond to such manifestations of interest and of love. The history of Jewish backslidings, of vows solemnly taken and as readily broken, reminds us in a vivid manner of scenes which have transpired from time to time in the Christian dispensation. For the progress of the Christian Church toward a larger benevolence, a broader charity, a purer morality, and a more intelligent piety has neither been rapid nor uniform. Seasons of great revival have been followed by periods of marked decline. Into the midst of torrid heat comes a wave of arctic cold. A narrow denominationalism has often thrown its dark shadow across the pathway of Christian catholicity. Creeds, catechisms, formulas, confessions of faith have often outweighed sobriety, virtue, benevolence, and all the other graces which adorn the Christian character, while practical unbelief, clothed in the formulas of an accepted dogma, has passed for genuine Christianity without even the semblance of a challenge. As each period of Jewish history was favoured with some that were true and brave--whose words of instruction, reproof, and warning were spoken above the din of the busy multitudes--so each period of the Christian dispensation has been honoured with some John the Baptist, whose earnest words have resounded from valley to valley, from peak to peak, and from land to land, echoing the Gospel of the blessed Lord, and summoning men to self-sacrifice, to holiness, and to purity. Our interest in the human race will depend largely upon our faith in human possibilities. If we see in man simply the possibilities of an animal, possibilities, to be sure, greater than belong to any other earthly creature, but possibilities determined by material conditions, limited to threescore years and ten, possibilities that have no relation to a future world--if we see in man nothing but the ability to trace in the sands of time a few illegible characters, then our interest in his welfare and prosperity can neither be deep nor abiding. But if, on the other hand, we see in man a creature made in the Divine image, with feeling, with thought, with spirituality, with volition, with freedom, with immortal properties, created for a higher sphere and for a better world, capable of companionship with angels, capable of communion with the omnipotent Author of his existence, endowed with power to love and serve the mighty Ruler of the universe, with unlimited capacity for growth and development--if we see in him an intelligent, moral, responsible, and immortal being, then we have an object worthy of our broadest sympathies, our warmest affections and our divinest endeavours. (Ezra Tinker, B. D.) Genuine philanthropy I. Genuine philanthropy melting with earnestness.1. Heart intensely earnest concerning the temporal condition of men. Chaldean army among them, etc. Weeps as patriot. 2. Heart intensely earnest concerning the moral condition of men. Their carnalities, idolatries, and crimes affect his pious spirit more than physical sufferings and political disasters. Think of the soul-- (1) In relation to its capacity of suffering and happiness. (2) In relation to the influences for good or evil it is capable of exerting. (3) In relation to its power of being a delight or a grief to the heart of infinite Love. II. Genuine philanthropy sighing for isolation.1. The sigh of a spiritually vexed soul. 2. The sigh of disappointed love. Nothing is more saddening to generous souls than the discovery of indifference, ingratitude, and growing vice in the very men they seek to bless. Conclusion--1. The vicariousness of genuine philanthropy. It inspires the possessor with the spirit that will prompt him to sacrifice his very being for the good of others. 2. The abuse of genuine philanthropy. The greatest sin in the universe is sin against love. 3. The imperfection of genuine philanthropy. Like the best of everything human, love is not perfect here. Disheartened, Jeremiah sought isolation. (Homilist.) England’ s sorrows Sometimes tears are base things; the offspring of a cowardly spirit. Some men weep when they should knit their brows, and many a woman weepeth when she should resign herself to the will of God. But ofttimes tears are the noblest things in the world. The tears of penitents are precious: cup of them were worth a king’ s ransom. He that loveth much, must weep much; much love and much sorrow must go together in this vale of tears. Jeremiah was not weak in his weeping; the strength of his mind and the strength of his love were the parents of his sorrow. It would seem as if some men had been sent into this world for the very purpose of being the world’ s weepers. Men have their sorrows; they must have their weepers; they must have men of sorrows who have it for their avocation to be ever weeping, not so much for themselves as for the woes of others. I. To begin, then, with actual murder and real bloodshed. II. But I have now a greater reason for your sorrow--a more disregarded, and yet more dreadful, source of woe. “ Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night,” for the morally slain of the daughter of my people. The old adage is still true, One half of the world knows nothing about how the other half lives. Oh, how many of our sons and daughters, of our friends and relatives, are slain by sin! Ye weep over battlefields, ye shed tears on me plains of Balaklava; there are worse battlefields than there, and worse deaths than those inflicted by the sword. Ah, weep ye for the drunkenness of this land! How many thousands of our race reel from our gin palaces into perdition! But there are other crimes too. Alas, for that crime of debauchery! What scenes hath the moon seen every night! Are these the only demons that are devouring our people? Ah, would to God it were so. Behold, throughout this land, how are men falling by every sin, disguised as it is under the shape of pleasure. O members of churches, ye may well take up the wary of Jeremiah when ye remember what multitudes of these you have in your midst men who have a name to live and are dead: and others, who though they profess not to be Christians, are almost persuaded to obey their Lord and Master, but are yea not partakers of the Divine life of God. But now I want, I can, to press this pathetic subject a little further upon our minds. In the day when Jeremiah wept this lamentation with an exceeding loud and bitter cry, Jerusalem was in all her mirth and merriment. Jeremiah was a sad man in the midst of a multitude of merry makers; he told them that Jerusalem should be destroyed, that their temple should become a heap, and Nebuchadnezzar should lay it with the ground. They laughed him to scorn; they mocked him. Still the viol and dance were only to be seen. And now, today, here are many of you merry makers in this ball of life; ye are here merry and glad today, and ye marvel that I should talk of you as persons for whom we ought to weep. “ Weep ye for No!” you say; “ I am in health, I am in riches, I am enjoying life; why weep me? I need none of your sentimental weeping!” Ah, but we weep because foresee the future. Oh, if today some strong archangel could unbolt the gates hell, and for a solitary second permit the voice of wailing and weeping to come to our ears: oh, how should we grieve! Remember, again, O Christian, that those for whom we ask you to weep this day are persons who have had great; privileges, and consequently, if lost, must expect greater punishment. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Why the righteous should weep for the wicked I. Because they are infinite blessings.1. There are many present blessings men lose by rebellion against God. There is a “ peace that passeth all understanding,” and a “ joy” unspeakable and full of glory, attending belief in, and devotion to, His service. The having one’ s passions in subjection gives serenity of mind. But enjoying of God’ s favour, and the light of His countenance, is the source of richest blessings mortals possess on earth. But what peace is there for the cursed? 2. But the eternal blessings they lose are beyond imagination. 3. And not these things matters of just lamentation? How must we pity him who, when there is a rest prepared, and a supper spread for him, in heaven, provokes God to swear that he “ shall not enter in,” nor even taste of that supper. II. Because of the influence woes they entail on themselves.1. How inexpressibly dreadful are the torments which the wicked will endure in hell. 2. And can we view sinners hastening to that place of torment and not weep over them? III. Because of the aggravated guilt under which they perish. Every offer of salvation aggravates the guilt of those who reject it; and every increase of guilt is followed by increase of misery. Infer--1. How little true charity is there in the world. Charity to the soul is the soul of charity. 2. How earnest should men be in seeking the salvation of their own souls. (Evangelical Preacher.) Grief for sinners There is an anecdote told of a careless Sabbath breaker who stumbled into Mr. Sherman’ s chapel one Sunday evening when he was engaged in prayer. He took his stand in the aisle, and, seeing the tears rolling down the minister’ s cheeks and falling on the book as he was pleading for the conversion of sinners, he was aroused, and said to himself: “ This man is evidently in earnest; there must be something in the condition of sinners that I do not understand.” He remained, was instructed and converted, and became a useful and steady member of the congregation. Painful solicitude for the souls of others This concern was incessant with the apostle. “ I have continual sorrow in my heart.” The pain was unceasing. His interest in sinners was not spasmodic; it had become blessedly chronic. There are some of us who every now and then get a passing qualm of conscience and a consequent spurt in the matter, but how long does it last? It is a mere emotion, a transient feeling, a spasm that scarcely suffices to stir us for so much as a single Sabbath. Oh, that there were in the pastor’ s heart, and in the hearts of all his people, a breaking, a yearning that cannot be satisfied, for the salvation of London, and of all who know not Jesus! I find myself weeping, but I weep because I weep so little. I confess myself this morning grieving, but I fear my greatest grief is that I do not grieve as I should. Well, that is a hopeful beginning. Let us all get to this at least, and we shall reach the other by and by. (Thomas Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 9:2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men. Two prayers of Jeremiah (with Jeremiah 14:8-9):--In all the fellowship of, the prophets Jeremiah is by far the most unwilling and reluctant. If Isaiah’ s watchword was “ Here am I--send me,” Jeremiah’ s might have been, “ I would be anywhere else but here--let me go.” It was out of this besetting mood of his that the prayer rose which I have taken as the first of my texts, “ Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people and go from them.” That is not a prayer for solitude. It is some wayside caravanserai or hotel which Jeremiah longs for; and there he would have been far less alone than in his unshared home at Jerusalem. No, it is not a prayer for solitude, but a prayer to be set where a man can enjoy all the interest of life without having any of its responsibility. Oh, to have no other work in life than to watch the street from the balcony window, than to feel the interest and glitter of life, and achieve your duty towards your fellows, by a kindliness and a courtesy that are never put to the strain of prolonged acquaintance! But our prayers often outrun themselves in the very utterance; and Jeremiah’ s wish, too, carried within it its own denial Look at the words, “ That I might leave my people.” Emphasise the last two--“ My people.” They are the answer to Jeremiah’ s prayer. God had not sent him to earth to be as separate from the life of men as a musing man is from the river flowing past his feet; God had sent him, not to watch life from a balcony, but leaping down to share it; not to live in an inn where a man is not even responsible for the housekeeping, but has only his way to pay. God had begotten Jeremiah into a nation. He had made him a citizen. He had given him a patriot’ s lot, with the patriot’ s conscience and heart. So he stayed on where he was in Jerusalem, and the world may have lost certain studies in human life in the great caravanserai of the Lebanon or Arabian desert roads, for wherever he went Jeremiah would not have kept his brain and pen idle. We may even have lost a book, something between Job and Ecclesiastes, but we have gained the book of Jeremiah, the book of the citizen-prophet, and who, because he was a citizen-prophet, and not a caravanserai one, was also a citizen-priest, the first man who entered into the true meaning of vicarious suffering, and therefore stands out clear from all the shadows of the Old Testament--so clear a symbol of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Look now at the main elements of Jeremiah’ s experience as he thus stood to his post of prophet and priest at Jerusalem. I take these elements to be mainly three.1. The first was the reality of sin. A prophet has got to begin there, or he had better not begin at all. And he has got to begin there not in order to satisfy some dogma or another, but because the facts are there. There is a kind of preaching about sin far too prevalent in our day, which treats of it doctrinally and not practically, which lays its strength to proving to a man that he must be a sinner, instead of touching his conscience with the knowledge that he is one. But Jeremiah laid his finger on the actual plague spots of the people. He was very definite with these. But there was another note which Jeremiah sounded equally with that on the reality of sin. 2. It was the note of the swiftness and irretrievableness of time where character and salvation are concerned. Live with men in the city, grow old with the same individuals and groups, and learn things--how inexorable habit is; how irrecoverable are the chances of youth; how short and swift is the summer granted to each man’ s character to ripen in; learn how even the Gospel of the grace of God is just like the sybil of old coming back each time: you have forced him to return with less power of promise and persuasion; and how even repentance--that great freedom of man, that joy of God and the angels--has its times and its places, which, being missed, are not found again, though we seek them with tears. Upon these thoughts the roll of Jeremiah’ s prophecy rises every now and again with a great sob. What distinguished Jeremiah from all the prophets who had gone before him was that he did not stand on the banks while all Israel rushed rapidly past him irretrievably to ruin, but that he was with the people, taking their reproach as his reproach, and sharing the penalty of their sins. 3. This suffering for the sins of others, being the sin-bearer as well as the conscience of his people, is the third element of Jeremiah’ s experience. How did he come to it? It is interesting to watch, for in God’ s providence he was the first forerunner of Christ in this path. Well, first of all he loved his people; he had a very rich, tender heart, and he loved his people with the whole of it. And then God gave him a conscience about them, that conscience of their sin, and of the penalty to which it was leading. It was in the meeting of such a heart and such a conscience that Jeremiah knew how one man can suffer for others. Oh! it is a terrible fate to be the conscience of those you love, to be their only conscience, to feel their sins as you know they do not feel them themselves, and to be aware of the inevitable judgment to which they are so indifferent. Jeremiah often wondered at it. It perplexed him. After clearly stating the causes why God should smite Israel, he would suddenly turn round in his sympathy with the doomed people, and exclaim, like a beaten animal looking up in the face of his master, “ Why hast Thou smitten me?” And again, that strange prayer of his, “ O Lord, Thou hast deceived me, and I am deceived. Thou art stronger than I.” What can we answer to the perplexed prophet except this, that if a man have the Divine gift of a pure conscience and a more loving heart than his fellows, there comes with such gifts the necessary, the inevitable, obligation of suffering. The physical results of Israel’ s sin Jeremiah did not bear for the people. He bore these with the people in the most heroic and self-denying patience, but he did not do so for or instead of his people. But the spiritual distress, the keener conscience, the agony of estrangement from God, the knowledge of His wrath upon sin--these Jeremiah did bear instead of the dull impenitent Israel. And is it too much to say that it was for his sake that in the end Israel was saved from utter extinction? Now, with this knowledge of what Jeremiah came through, look at his second prayer. The two chief words are exactly the same as before a “ wayfaring man” : and “ Oh that I were in a lodge of wayfaring men” ; and the verb “ to spend the night,” is the same word as the noun “ lodge” or “ inn” of wayfaring men--literally a place to pass the night. Jeremiah’ s second prayer, therefore, is just this, that God would be to the people what Jeremiah himself had tried to be. (Prof. G. A. Smith.) Jeremiah, a lesson for the disappointed No prophet commenced labours with greater encouragements than Jeremiah. A king reigned who was bringing back the times of the man after God’ s own heart. This devout and zealous king was young. What might not therefore be effected in course of years? Schism, too, was at an end since Israel’ s captivity. Kings of the house of David again ruled over the whole land. Idolatry was destroyed by Josiah in all the cities. Thus, at first sight, it seemed reasonable to anticipate further and permanent improvements. I. Everyone begins with being sanguine. Jeremiah did. God’ s servants entered on their office with more lively hopes than their after fortunes warranted. Very soon the cheerful prospect was overcast for Jeremiah, and he was left to labour in the dark.1. Huldah’ s message fixed the coming fortunes of Judah: she foretold the early death of the good king and a fierce destruction to the unworthy nation. This prophecy came five years after Jeremiah entered office; so early in his course were his hopes cut away. 2. Or, the express word of God came to and undeceived him. 3. Or, the hardened state of sin in which the nation lay destroyed his hopes. II. Resignation a more blessed state of mind than sanguine hope.1. To expect great efforts from our religious exertions is natural and innocent, but arises from inexperience of the kind of work we have to do--to change the heart and will of men. 2. Far nobler frame of mind to labour, not with hope of seeing fruit, but for conscience’ sake, as matter of duty, and in faith, trusting good will be done though we see it not. 3. The Bible shows that though God’ s servants began with success, they ended with disappointment. Not that God’ s purposes or instruments fail, but because the time for reaping is not here, but hereafter. III. The vicissitude of feeling which this transition from hope to disappointment produces. Affliction, fear, despondency, sometimes restlessness, even impatience under his trials, find frequent expression in Jeremiah’ s writings (Jeremiah 5:3; Jeremiah 5:30-31; Jeremiah 12:1-3; Jeremiah 15:10-18; Jeremiah 20:7-14). IV. The issue of these changes and conflicts of feeling was resignation. He comes to use language which expresses that chastened spirit and weaned heart which is the termination of all agitation and anxiety in religious minds. He, who at one time could not comfort himself, was sent to comfort a brother; and in comforting Baruch he speaks in that nobler temper of resignation which takes the place of sanguine hope and harassing fear, and betokens calm and clear-sighted faith and inward peace. (J. H. Newman, D. D.) Jeremiah 9:3 They are not valiant for the truth.Valiant for the truth I. Inquire what is the truth. It is “ the glorious Gospel of the blessed God.” Without a knowledge of this, oh! how ignorant is the wisest in the things of time!1. “ The truth as it is in Jesus” was at first but obscurely revealed; a veil was cast over it which prophets and righteous men desired to remove. 2. “ The truth as it is in Jesus” is a jewel only to be found in the casket of God’ s Word, not in the traditions of men; and that casket--emphatically called “ the Word of truth” --must be unlocked for us by Him who is “ the Spirit of truth.” II. How we may be valiant for it.1. A cordial belief in it must be the first step to a valiant defence of it. 2. Love of the truth, an unalterable and unwavering attachment to it, must follow a firm belief in it. This principle gives courage to the soldier on the battlefield; patience to the wife amid scenes of sickness and misfortune. 3. Next follows an uncompromising advocacy of it. We fear not to give utterance to that in which we firmly believe, and which we ardently love. 4. Valour for Christ, who is “ the truth” personified, will further display itself by noble sacrifices for Him, for the dissemination of His truth at home, for its propagation abroad. 5. Valour for the truth is most signally displayed by a consistent, prayerful, and persevering obedience to all its requirements. (J. S. Wilkins.) Valiant for the truth I. What is truth, that for it one can be, should be, valiant? Truth is real. Truth is accessible and may be known. Truth is precious. Truth imposes in every direction obligations that cannot be met except by the most genuine and resolute valour. The best philologists of our own generation refer the word to a root meaning “ to believe,” and draw upon the whole group of related languages and dialects to show that truth is “ firm, strong, solid, reliable, anything that will hold.” It should, seem, then, that we ought not to believe anything but what is firm, established, and that truth is what we rightly believe. For this our highest powers can be summoned into action, while nothing but a poor counterfeit of our best activity can be called forth in behalf of that which is known or seriously suspected to be unreal. The sophist may be adroit, dexterous in disposition and argument, and selfishly eager for victories. The pettifogging advocate in any profession may gain brief successes by natural powers and discipline, aided by sheer audacity. This is a result and proof of the world’ s disorder. Man is for truth and truth for man--both real. And truth is accessible and may be known. He who gave us reason and nature, Whose they are, and Whom they should ever serve, has come in pity to the relief of our impotence and bewilderment by the disclosures that His Spirit makes. In the Gospel “ the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men.” Here is truth that is real. Here is truth that may be known. Of all precious truth, truth on which souls can be nourished, truth to which lives can be safely conformed, here is that which is most precious--truth that enters most deeply and permanently into character and takes hold of destiny. Of all truth worthy and suited to stimulate man’ s highest powers, to the most sustained, and most intense sufficiency, here is that which is worthiest and most stated. Of all truth that is of such kind and in such relations to us that it is not only worth our while, but in every way incumbent upon us to put forth our highest valour to gain it and to hold it, here is the most essential. We are bidden, “ Buy the truth and sell it not.” And this is not a mere appeal to our self-interest. Truth, especially this sacred truth, encompasses us with obligations. For this acquisition we do not merely do well to pay the price of toil and struggle; we fail grossly and widely in duty if we withhold the price. And what we have so dearly bought at the price of our humbled pride, at the price of our falling out with the fashion of this world “ which passeth away,” what we win by the surrender of our self-sufficiency and imaginary independence, by our resolute self-mastery, our vigorous effort, and whatever besides the attainment may cost, we are to hold against all seductions and all assaults, “ valiant for the truth.” II. What is the manly valour that can find any fair and proper field for its exercise--its fairest and most proper field in connection with truth? It is not mere boldness, bravery, courage, but moves in a higher plane, and is instinct with a loftier inspiration. These may have their source chiefly in the physical and animal, that which we share with the bulldog and the gorilla; while valour is a knightly grace, and makes account mainly of the ideal. We shall esteem that the truest valour in which there is me fullest consciousness and manifestation of manhood, with the clearest conception and the most persistent adherence to worthy ends of manly endeavour. There can then be nothing forced or unnatural in the phrase of our text, “ valiant for the truth.” For what should a true man be valiant rather than for the acquisition, maintenance, and service of the truth--truth known as real, judged to be important, valued as precious? And what estimate must we put upon the manhood that can be “ strong in the land, but not for truth” --energetic, daring, resolved, and persistent for lower and grosser interests, but not for the truth? II. By what call from without does truth most authoritatively and effectively summon valour to its aid? Truth is imperial, not only in the quality of the authority which it asserts and the richness of the bounty which it dispenses, but also in the breadth of the dominion to which it lays claim. We have made our first obedience when we have yielded ourselves to the truth. We are to go on proclaiming truth’ s rights, and helping it to gain rule over others. We vindicate the rights of the truth, while we secure blessings to our fellow men through truth’ s ascendency over them. And this obligation and opportunity subject our manhood to some of the most searching tests by which we are ever tried. Are we capable of taking larger views of truth than those which connect it with some prospect of advantage to ourselves? Do we esteem it for what it is, and not only for what it brings us? And what is the measure of our discernment of the rights and needs of others, and what is our response? The manly and Christian spirit has large conceptions of right and duty. And then truth, while imperial in its rights, is sometimes imperilled by denial and attack, and that at the hands of the very men whose allegiance it claims. Its rights are contested; its very credentials are challenged. It encounters not merely the negative resistance of ignorance and dulness, of low tastes and sensual and earthly preoccupations; it is met by a more positive impeachment. He who is valiant for truth will no more suffer it to fight its own battles than a true knight would have resorted to any such evasion in a cause to which he was committed. And the response which we make to the summons of assailed truth gives opportunity to display some of the finest qualities that belonged to the old knighthood--unswerving loyalty, courage, endurance, self-sacrifice. But there is another call for valour in behalf of Christian truth higher than that which comes from our fellow men and their claims upon it. What Christ is on the one side to the truth and on the other side to us, and what the truth is to Him, supply a new inspiration and strength, and add a new quality to Christian endeavour--a personal quality that was wanting before. He who is valiant for the truth because of what it is in its reality and reliableness shows his discernment. He who is valiant for the truth because of what it is to manhood shows a wise self-appreciation. He who is valiant for the truth because of the claim his fellow men have upon it, and upon him if he has it in his possession, shows that he knows his place, his obligation, his opportunity as a man among men. He who is valiant for the truth for Christ’ s sake shows that he knows and honours his Lord, and would make Him indeed Lord of all. Consider what Christ is to the substance of the truth; what He is to the authority and efficiency of the truth; and what the truth is to Him in the assertion and manifestation of His Lordship. The truth is not only Christ’ s as its great Revealer; the truth is Christ as its great Revelation. To him who asks, What is the way? we answer, The way is Christ. To him who would know, What is the life? we make reply, The life is Christ. And we proclaim, as that which is of the highest concern to man to know, the truth is Christ. He is the great embodiment of truth--truth incarnate. What He was, over and above all that He said, teaches us what we should seek in vain to learn elsewhere. He was the chief revelation of the nature, the power, the love, the saving grace of God. (C. A. Aitken, D. D.) Valour for the truth I. What is comprehended in this important word, “ the truth” ? It has been remarked that “ truth is a relative term, expressing a conformity between the object and the mind, a harmony between the object and the 1des we entertain of it” : thus, truth becomes one of those terms, the precise meaning of which can only be ascertained by determining the subject of which it may be predicated. I propose to regard the scheme of Divine grace, for the recovery of man--the scheme of which we are ministers,--as that which alone deserves the supreme appellation of “ the truth.” I proceed, then, to consider--1. Man’ s state as a sinner. (1) What saith the Scripture as to sin in its nature? (1 John 3:4.) (2) What saith the Scripture as to sin in its diffusion, its extent? It everywhere, without the slightest discernible qualification, represents human nature as universally and absolutely corrupt (Genesis 6:5; Psalms 14:2-3; Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 2:1). (3) What saith the Scripture as to sin in its consequences? (Romans 6:23; Psalms 9:17; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.) 2. God’ s work as a Saviour. Justice, as one of the attributes of God, is as essentially a part of His nature, so to speak, as His Omnipresence, His Omniscience, His Truth; and, since there is more than a propriety, even a moral necessity, that all the proceedings of the Deity should be such as to bring out the full glory of His entire Name, it is manifest that He can only interpose an arrest of judgment, confer pardon, renovation, and eternal glory, on atonement being made. II. What is required to constitute the character described by the expression, “ valiant for the truth” ? Valour is, strictly speaking, a martial term. We are made to feel and deplore that a contrariety of element exists in connection with the spiritual world. This gives rise to severe conflict. Now to be valiant, even in human estimation, requires something more than bravery; yea, more than courage. There must be a combination of both; or, at least, to be valiant, a man must be preeminently courageous. “ Bravery,” says an eminent authority, “ is a mere instinct; for it depends on mere constitutional temperament.” Courage is a virtue, indeed, for it lies in the mind; it depends on reflection and thought; but he only is valiant, who weighs the whole enterprise deliberately, lays his plans prudently, and follows them out systematically; whom defeat may bow, but cannot break; whilst triumph only stimulates him to renewed effort, inflames him with fresh zeal, and imparts to him a thirst for new glory--a thirst which nothing can satisfy till the last position is taken and the last trophy won! To be “ valiant for the truth,” then, requires--1. That there be a serious and habitual contemplation of the truth. 2. That there be a sincere embracing of the truth, and the practical experience of its power in the heart. 3. That there De active and uniform exertion in our respective spheres, for the spread of “ the truth.” 4. That there be solemn and earnest prayer that the Holy Spirit may accompany, with His power, all our efforts for the diffusion of “ the truth.” III. What are the considerations, which are calculated to stir up to the holy emotions, involved in the expression, “ valiant for the truth” ?1. Let there be serious reflection as to the value of the soul, and the danger which threatens it whilst uninfluenced by the truth. 2. Let us reflect on the awful rapidity with which souls are passing to their eternal destiny. 3. Let us reflect on the responsibility that attaches to the office to which we have been called, and the awful doom that awaits unfaithfulness in its discharge. 4. Let us reflect on the transcendent joy with which ministerial faithfulness will hereafter be crowned. (John Gaskin, M. A.) Valiant for the truth I. What is that which peculiarly merits the appellation of “ the truth” ? The comprehensive title of “ the truth” was applied to revealed religion, alike in its principles and commandments, in order to furnish a broad and emphatic distinction between it and those habits of evil thoughts and practices which had been engendered and fostered by idolatry. By the same appellation of “ the truth,” we find pure religion--whether in Patriarchal, or Levitical, or Christian times--is frequently designated in Scripture, in order to furnish a special recommendation of its character, and to illustrate its aspect and intention in the world. It is a communication respecting the being and character of God, the plan of His government, the authority and the sanction of His law--a communication with respect to the moral circumstances and character of man, the tendency by which he is actuated, and the dangers to which he is exposed--a communication respecting the method of grace, and the restoration of the favour of the Almighty, by which his apprehended miseries may be removed--and a communication respecting the high and sublime consecration of human destiny which is reserved for him in that immortality into which he is to be ushered when existence in this world is terminated. The verities which are proclaimed by the Christian system, on topics such as these, plainly possess a value that is perfectly incalculable, comprehending, as they do, the highest interests of our species. In making the assertion that Christianity is to be considered, emphatically, as “ the truth,” we must not omit to mention that it is confirmed in a manner that is perfectly conclusive and convincing. II. What are the state of mind and course of conduct which the truth, as thus defined, eminently deserves?1. To be valiant for the truth involves a firm adherence to the doctrines it propounds. We well know that many hostile influences are around us, which tempt us to the blighting influence of doubt, and even of positive infidelity; such as the fear of incurring the ridicule and the hatred of others, the personal suggestions of our own in-dwelling unbelief, and, above all, the mysterious, though potent, machinations of him who is the arch-enemy of souls. This of course, at least, requires the exercise of spiritual combat, which must be displayed by a firm and uncompromising resistance to whatever might lead us to impugn, to doubt, and to deny. 2. To be valiant for the truth upon the earth involves a holy conformity to the precepts which it enforces. What holy vigour and boldness are required in order to resist steadily and successfully the multitudinous abstractions from holiness--the accumulated adversaries to the purification of the souls--to repudiate and repel the approaches of Satan--to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, that we may live soberly, righteously, and godly, according to the commandment we have received, to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts--to cultivate, with devout diligence, the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God; and, with all the surrounding faithful, to exhibit the power of the truth by the purity of life. This is to be “ valiant for the truth” ; this is heroism indeed! 3. To be “ valiant for the truth” involves the public advocacy before other men of the claims which it possesses. How many noble examples of this spiritual valour have we met with in the annals of the Church! See them in the case of the prophets who were not afraid, though briars and thorns were with them, and though they dwelt among scorpions, and who yet spoke the word of God boldly to the rebellious people, whether they would hear, or whether they would forbear. See them in the apostles, who “ counted not their lives dear,” etc. See those examples again in the noble army of martyrs, and in the long and triumphant succession of confessors, and reformers, and teachers, and missionaries, who have dared ignominy, and contempt, and wrath, and murder, for the sake of the overthrow of error, and the triumph of the truth as it is in Jesus. III. What are the considerations by which this state of mind, and course of conduct, are specially and powerfully commended?1. A concern for your own personal welfare. “ Them that honour Me, I also will honour.” On the other hand, the want of these elements of the spiritual character, which we have set before you,--to hate put God away--to be reckless of the claims of the truth--and to live in a discipleship of falsehood, is, by a necessary vindication of the Divine equity and justice, to live in an exposure to evils the most fearful which man can ever endure. 2. A concern for the welfare and interests of the Church of God. When valour and boldness among the disciples of the truth is exhibited and augmented, then it is an axiom, a thing that needs no proof, in religion, that the truth which has that exercise will grow mightily, and will prevail. (J. Parsons.) They proceed from evil to evil. Evil begets evil One danger of secret sin is that a man cannot commit it without being by and by betrayed into a public sin. If a man commit one sin, it is like the melting of the lower glacier upon the Alps, the others must follow in time. As certainly as you heap one stone upon the cairn today, the next day you will east another, until the heap reared stone by stone shall become a very pyramid. See the coral insect at work; you cannot decree where it shall stay its pile. It will not build its rock as high as you please; it will not stay until an island shall be created. Sin cannot be held in with bit and bridle; it must be mortified. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Progression in sin In the Rabbinical books of the Jews they have a curious tradition about the growth of leprosy, that it began with the walls of a man’ s house, then, if he did not repent, entered his garments, till at last the tatter covered his whole body. And thus it is with the growth of sin. It begins with the neglect of duty, it may be of prayers; or the warning voice of conscience is unheeded. Habits of sin are formed; till at last the soul that lets God alone is let alone by God. (F. G. Pilkington.) Jeremiah 9:5 And weary themselves to commit iniquity.The uneasiness of a sinful life Though these words were spoken of the Jews more than two thousand years ago, yet I shall endeavour to show that it may be said of all wicked men; that a wicked life is full of weariness and difficulties; that virtue is more easy than vice, and piety than wickedness.1. Vice oppresses our nature, and consequently, it must be uneasy: whereas virtue improves, exalts, and perfects our nature; therefore virtue is a more natural operation than vice; and that which is most natural must be most easy. Thus, when we would express anything to be easy to a person or nation, we say it is natural to them. Moreover, all vices are unreasonable, and what is against reason must be against nature. And why is it that laws are so severe against vice, but because it destroys and corrupts the members of the commonwealth? So that the punishments which public justice in all countries inflicts upon criminals, are a plain proof how great an enemy vice is to nature, under whose ill conduct, and for whose errors, it suffers sometimes the most inexpressible torments. Every vice also has its own peculiar disease, to which it inevitably leads. Envy brings men to leanness; the envious man, like the viper, is killed by his own offspring. Lust brings on consuming and painful diseases. Drunkenness, catarrhs and gouts, and poverty beside. Rage produces fevers and frenzies. It is owned by all, that nature is satisfied with little, and desires nothing that is superfluous; by this rule all these vices are unnatural which consist in excess, or stretch themselves to superfluity; such as oppression, injustice, luxury, drunkenness, gluttony, covetousness, and the like. 2. Vice is more unpleasant than virtue; and therefore it must be more uneasy and wearisome; for we soon weary of anything which is not attended with pleasure, even though it should bring us some advantage. Without pleasure there is no happiness or ease. There are indeed some vices which promise a great deal of pleasure in the commission of them, but then at best it is but short-lived and transient, a sudden flash presently extinguished. It perishes in the very enjoyment, and quickly passes away like the crackling of thorns under a pot. Thus sinners are like the troubled sea, tossed to and fro, and yet can find no rest or satisfaction. They ramble on in one kind of debauchery until they are obliged to try another for a sort of diversion; they go round from one sin to another, so that their whole life is a course of uneasiness, and vanity in the strictest sense. Nor is this all, the pleasure of sin being exhausted in a moment, leaves a sting behind it, that cannot be so soon plucked out; these pleasures wound the conscience, and occasion uneasy and painful reflections. A thousand instances of the unpleasantness of vice are everywhere obvious. Envy is a perfect torment; it cannot fail to make the man whom it possesses miserable, and fill him with distracting pain and grievous vexation. It never leaves off murmuring and fretting, while there is one man happier, richer, or greater than the envious man himself. It is contrary to all goodness, and consequently to pleasure. Revenge is most painful and uneasy, both in persuading us that these are affronts, which of their own nature are none, and then in involving us in more troubles and dangers than the pleasure of revenge can compensate. Hatred and malice are the most restless tormenting passions that can possess the mind of man; they keep men perpetually contriving and studying how to effect their mischievous purposes; they break their rest, and disturb their very sleep. Covetousness is a most painful and uneasy vice, it makes the covetous man sit up late and rise early, and spend all his time and pains in hoarding up worldly things. Covetousness is unsatiable, the more it gets, the more it craves; it grows faster than riches can do. From all which it is evident, that all vicious persons live the most slavish and unpleasant lives in the world, and this every vicious man acknowledges in another’ s case; he thinks the vice he sees another addicted to, most unpleasant and uneasy. 3. The horror of conscience makes vice uneasy. I might show you that no man sins deliberately without reluctancy. But though there were no such disadvantage attending the commission of sin, yet the natural horror which is consequent upon it, is great enough to render it unaccountable, that any man should he vicious. Conscience can condemn us without witnesses; and the arm of that executioner cannot be stopped. And if we consider, that neither the attendance of friends, nor the enjoyment of all outward pleasures, can comfort those whose conscience is once awakened, and begins to accuse them, we cannot but conclude, that vice is to be pitied as well as shunned; and that this alone makes it more uneasy than virtue, which sweetens the greatest misfortunes. The greatest punishment that a wicked man can suffer in this world, is to be obliged to converse with himself. Diversion or non-attention is his only security; he fears nothing so much as reflection: for if he once begins to reflect, and fix his thoughts to the consideration of his by-past life and actions, he anticipates hell himself, he needs no infernal furies to lash him; he becomes his own tormentor. 4. Vicious persons must in many cases dissemble virtue, which is more difficult than to be really virtuous. All men who design either honour, riches, or to live happily in the world, do either propose to be virtuous, or at least pretend it. Now such pretenders and hypocrites have certainly a very difficult part to act; for they must not only be at all that pains which is requisite in being virtuous, but they must superadd to these all the troubles that dissimulation requires, which is also a new and greater task than the other. Not only so, but they must overact virtue, with a design to take off that jealousy, which because they are conscious of deserving, they therefore vex themselves to remove. 5. Vice makes the vicious man fear all men; even as many as he injures, or are witnesses to his vices. (T. Wetherspoon.) The sinner’ s mental war This is a suffering world in more senses than one. We are subject to toil and labour in consequence of the apostasy, and to perpetual vexation of mind, in consequence of our opposition to the Divine will. The sinner, therefore, is compelled, if he will continue in sin, to maintain a mental war which devours and exterminates from his breast all the elements of vital joy. I. The sinner must sustain morality without piety. Disgrace; loss of property; of all real friendship; of domestic affection; of the health and life; of self-respect and elevated companionship; all wait around a course of vice. The vicious man sinks deeper and deeper in the mire. He must be moral or miserable. It is hard work, however, to maintain morality without religion. The passions are strong; the world is full of temptation; the soul is liable to be beat off from its hold on morality, unless recovered by grace; its course will be tremendous, the progress of its depravity vehement, and great the fall of it. II. He must feel secure without a promise. Even the hardest incrustations of sin cannot prepare the soul to look fully at eternal wailing undaunted. There it stands, that never ceasing view; that vivid painting of the future; that dark, shadowy, but distinct, and fearful representation of utter ruin; it is hung out before the soul by the stem truth of God, from behind every scene of guilt, and along every winding of the soul’ s weary path. How can he feel secure? Yet how can he bear to face that vision? If he looks to nature, it warns him; to his companions, they are falling into the arms of the monster. III. He must hope for heaven, while forming a character for perdition. He must hope, and will hope, even if he knows his hope will do no good. Heaven is the only place of final rest; if he miss it he is lost, undone forever. Holy as it is, and much as he hates holiness, he must enter there, or eternally be an undone man. No man can bear the idea of confessed, manifest, public, and hopeless, irrecoverable disgrace. Every man, therefore, clings to the idea of a final heaven, as long as he can. But here the sinner has a hard task. IV. He must resist Christ without a cause. The claims of Christ are not only just, but compassionate and benevolent. If he will sin, he must contend against the Saviour in the very interpositions of His astonishing, overwhelming, agonising mercy. This is hard work for the conscience the wheels of probation drag heavily; their voice grates fearfully; their cry of retribution waxes loud. V. He must try to be happy while guilty. This he cannot accomplish, yet he must try. He will choose a thousand phantoms; he will grasp after every shadow; he will be stung a thousand times, yet will he renew the toil, till wearied, hopeless, and sullen, he lies down to die. VI. He must have enough of the world to supply the place of God in his heart. The heart must have a supreme object; God is able to fill it. On Him the intellect may dwell, and around the ever-expanding developments of His character, the affections, like generous vines, may climb, and gather, and blossom, and hang the ripe cluster of joy forever; but the sinner shuts out God, every vision of His character is torment, and he turns away to fill the demands of his heart with the world. VII. He must arrange matters for deaths while he is afraid to think of dying. He must work to get property for his children when he is gone. He must put his business in a train, so that it may be settled advantageously when he is gone. He must do all this on the strength and under the impulse of an idea at which he trembles. VIII. He must read the Bible, whilst he is afraid to think or pray. This is especially true of the worldly-minded professor. If he keeps up the form of family worship, or attends at the house of God, the Bible, the holy and accusing book, is in his way. Its truths lie across his path. He cannot turn aside, he must trample over them, while he beholds them under his feet. He knows that his footsteps are heard around the retributive throne. If driven to console himself by the promises of error, the sinner has to pervert and wrestle with the Bible. Its denunciations catch his eye, and burn him while he tries to explain them away. Concluding thoughts--1. Have we no compassion for a suffering world? 2. Can we do nothing to relieve this miserable condition of our fellow men? The time for God’ s people to pray, and awake, and endeavour mightily, is now--and with most of us, now or never. (D. A. Clark.) Jeremiah 9:6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit.Strong indictment of Christian countries Who has not felt as Jeremiah? “ This is a Christian country.” Why? Because the majority are as bent on self-pleasing, as careless of God, as heartlessly and systematically forgetful of the rights and claims of others, as they would have been had Christ never been heard of?1. A Christian country? Behold its meaningless shibboleths, its two hundred forms or fashions of Christian belief! How this disunion dishonours Christ. 2. A Christian country? Behold the worship of mammon, the rage of avarice. Look at the wonderful baits which the company monger throws out day by day to human weakness and cupidity! The lying advertisements, the countless quacks, raising hopes never to be fulfilled. 3. A Christian country, and God denied on the platform and in the press! Where atheism is mistaken for intelligence, and agnosticism for logic and reason! Where flagrant lust walks the streets, and gambling reigns! 4. A Christian country: where the rich and noble spend their time in horse racing, hunting, and shooting innumerable birds and beasts; where thousands die of need and starvation in fever dens, while untold sums are spent by the wealthy on whims, toys, and gaiety! 5. A Christian country: where there is more than Egyptian worship of Anubis; where a pet dog is fondled and pampered, and helpless children suffer and die! Oh yes! it is a Christian country--the name of Christ has been named in it for fifteen centuries past; and for that reason Christ will judge it. (C. J. Ball, M. A.) Jeremiah 9:7 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them.God’ s people melted and tried Observe, here, that God represents Himself as greatly concerned to know what to do with His people. But notice, next, the Lord is so resolved to save His people, that He will use the sternest possible means rather than lose any of those whom He loves. Observe, once more, that God’ s concern about His people, and His resolve to use strange ways with them, spring out of His relationship to them; for He says, “ How shall I do for the daughter of ‘ My’ people? My people.” They were His, though they were so far away from Him through their evil ways. When God has chosen a man from before the foundation of the world, and when He has given that man over to Christ to be a part of the reward of His soul’ s travail, He will adopt strange means to accomplish His sacred purpose, and He will carry out that purpose, let it cost Him what it may. I. First, these principles may be applied to the matter of conversion.1. There is a very simple way of being saved; it should be, I hope it is, the common way. It is the simple way of following the call of grace. Without any violence, your heart is opened, as with the picklock of grace. God puts the latch key into the door, and steps into your heart without a word. 2. This is the way of salvation, but there are some who will not come this way. There is the Wicket Gate. They have but to knock, and it will be opened; but they prefer to go round about through the Slough of Despond, or to get under the care of Mr. Worldly Wiseman, who leads them round by the house of Mr. Legality, who dwells in the village of Morality, and there they go with their burdens on their backs, which they need not carry even for a single hour, for they would roll off directly if they would but look to Jesus, and believe in Him. But they will not do this. There are some of whom God has to say, “ How shall I do for the daughter of My people?” Why is this? Well, some of them have a crooked sort of mind, they never can believe anything straight; they must go round about. But some others are obstinate in sin. They are not happy in it; but they will not give it up. Some others are unwilling to confess sin at all. They think themselves wrong; but they try to make excuses. Then there are some people who are not saved, but who are outwardly very religious. They have never omitted going to Church; they have been brought up carefully, and they have said their prayers regularly, and they have had family prayer, too. The robe of their self-righteousness clings to them, and prevents their coming to rest in Jesus. There are some others who will not come to Christ because they are so full of levity and fickleness. They are all froth, all fun. They live like butterflies; they suck in the juices from the flowers, and only flit from one to the other. They are easily impressed one way and another; but there is no heart in them. And withal, there is another class of persons that are insincere. There is no depth of earth about them. They do not really feel what they think they feel; and when they say that they believe, they do not really believe in their heart. 3. Now, having brought before you these characters, or held up the looking glass of God’ s Word so that they might see themselves in it, I want you to notice how God does deal with such people very often. According to my text, they will have to feel the furnace. I have noticed, during a considerable period of time, some of the self-righteous and the outwardly-religious put into the fire and melted, by being permitted to fall into some gross and open sin. I pray God that none of you self-righteous people may be left to go into an open sin; but it may be that the Lord may leave you to yourselves, to let you see what you really are, for you probably have no idea what you are. Some, again, have been melted down by temporal calamities. Oh yes, there are some who cannot be saved as long as they have a silver spoon in their mouths; but when they are brought to poverty, it is the nearest way round to the Father’ s house, round by the far country where they would fain fill their bellies with the husks that the swine eat. At other times, without any overt sin, without any temporal trouble, God has ways of taking men apart from their fellows, and whipping them behind the door. They have told me that their sin haunts them day and night; they cannot hope for mercy; they cannot think that God will ever blot out their transgressions. They are ground down, and brought low. This is all meant to work for their good; they would not come to God any other way. It is by such an experience “ that God is fulfilling His Word, I will melt them, and try them.” 4. In all this God has one great object. It is just this, first, to hide pride from men. God will not save us, and have us proud. Grace must have the glory of it from first to last. Beside that, God means to take us out of our sin, and to do that He makes it to be a bitter and an evil thing to us. Blessed is the blow that almost crushes you if it breaks off the connection between you and sin. II. I want to say something to Christians; for, in the matter of Christian life, God seems to say, “ What shall I do for the daughter of My people? I will melt them, and try them.”1. Some Christians go from joy to joy. Their path, like that of the light, shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Why should not you and I be like that? 2. There are other Christians who appear to make much progress in Divine things, but it is not true progress. Whereas they say that they are rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing, they are all the while naked, and blind, and poor, and miserable. The worst thing about their condition is that some of them do not want to know their real state. They half suspect that it is not what they say it is; but they do not like to be told so; in fact, they get very cross when anyone even hints at the truth. Now, there are such people in all our congregations, of whom God might well say, “ How shall I do for the daughter of My people?” 3. This is what He will do with a great many who are now inflated with a false kind of grace: “ I will melt them, and try them,” says the Lord of hosts. He will put them to a test. Here is a man who has a quantity of plate, and he does not know the value of it, so he takes it to a goldsmith, and asks him what it is worth. “ Well,” says he, “ I cannot exactly tell you; but if you give me a little time, I will melt it all down, and then I will let you know its value.” Thus does the Lord deal with many of His people. They have become very good, and very great, as they fancy, and He says, “ I will melt them.” He that is pure gold will lose nothing in the melting; but he that is somebody in his own opinion, will have to come down a peg or two before long. 4. Now, the result of melting is truth and humility. The result of melting is that we arrive at a true valuation of things. The result of melting is that we are poured out into a new and better fashion. And, oh, we may almost wish for the melting-pot if we may but get rid of the dross, if we may but be pure, if we may but be fashioned more completely like unto our Lord! (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 9:13-16 Because they have forsaken My law . . . give them water of gall to drink.The wages of sin A quaint preacher, addressing miners, drew a picture of two mines. He represented payday at one of the mines, and described the long line of men coming to the cashier’ s desk to receive their wages. Presently some men came up whom the cashier did not know. “ Where have you been working?” he asked. “ We were working in the other pit,” they answered. “ Then that is the place to go for your money.” “ No,” they said, “ we like your pay best; we are tired, and we want rest, and we want peace and plenty. At the pit where we have been working they are treating us cruelly, and we get no pay, but blows and hard words. Won’ t you pay us?” But the cashier says, “ No; you chose to work in the other pit, and you must take the wages they pay; you cannot work for one employer and get your wages from another.” “ That was fair, was it not?” the preacher asked. His hearers answered that it was. “ Then,” said he, “ don’ t you serve the devil unless you want his wages.” Jeremiah 9:21 For death is come up into our windows.Death an invading enemy I. Cruel.1. Strikes at the dearest objects of our affection.2. Robs us of our most useful men.3. Drags us from the dearest things of the heart, occupation, social circles, cherished plans, etc.4. Reduces our bodies to dust. II. Unremitting. Active in every--1. Man.2. Family.3. Community.4. Nation. III. Subtle. Fights in ambush, steals into house, poisons food, makes air pestiferous, etc. IV. Resistless. All that science, art, wealth, and caution can do has failed. V. Ubiquitous. In waves of air, on billows of deep, in valleys, on mountain, river, and brook, forest and flowers; whole earth his dominion. VI. Conquerable. Christ has conquered death--1. In His own resurrection.2. In His power on minds of disciples. (Homilist.) Jeremiah 9:23-24 Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Glorying An idea in this text to which we assign special prominence is this--There is at least so much similarity between the nature of God and the nature of man, that both can take delight in the same thing. The spirit of the text is saying, Take delight in loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness, because I take delight in them; learn the Divinity of your origin, and the possible splendour of your destiny, from the fact that you have it in your power to join Me in loving mercy, righteousness, and judgment. God addresses three divisions of the human family--the wise, the powerful, the wealthy. And is there any other class which may not be placed in one of these categories? Each class is sitting at the feet of its chosen idol--science, arms, wealth; all clad in robes of royalty, if not of godhead. In the hand of each idol is the sceptre of a venerated mastery, and the temple of each shakes with the thunder of heathenish worship. Such is the picture. Now to these temples God comes, and, with the majesty of omnipotence, the authority of infinite wisdom, and the benignity of all-sustaining fatherhood, says, “ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches.” “ Glory!” That is a word which is pregnant with meaning; and it can be better explained by paraphrase than by etymology. Let not man “ glory” in wisdom, might, and wealth, so as to be absorbed in their pursuit, so as to make a god of either of them, so as to regard them as the ultimate good, so as to commit to either his present happiness and endless destiny. “ Wisdom!” That, too, is a word fraught with large significance. The “ wisdom” referred to is not that which cometh from above--beautiful with celestial hues, and instinct with celestial life: it is a “ wisdom” which is destitute of the moral element; the “ wisdom” of an inquisitive, prying, restless intellect; that eyeless and nerveless “ wisdom” by which the world “ knew not God,” and which, when looked at from above, is “ foolishness” ; the “ wisdom” which is all brain and no heart; the “ wisdom” of knowledge, not of character; the “ wisdom” which dazzles man, but which, when alone, is offensive to God. One substantial reason for not glorying in the kind of wisdom which we have attempted to depict, is the necessary littleness of man’ s vastest acquisitions. Science is a race after God; but can the Infinite ever be overtaken? Science, perhaps, never got so close to God as when she bound the capitals of the world together with bands of lightning, and flashed the wisdom and eloquence of parliaments from continent to continent. High day of triumph that; she was within hand reach of the veiled Potentate--one step more, and she would be face to face with the King--was it not so? What was there between science and God in that moment of sublimest victory? Nothing, nothing, but--Infinity! “ There is no searching of His understanding.” Another point will show the folly of glorying in the kind of wisdom we have delineated, namely, the widest knowledge involves but partial rulership. You say you have found a law operating in the universe. Be it so: can you suspend or reverse the Divine appointment? Have you an arm like God? or can you thunder with a voice like Him? The argument is this,--however extensive may be our knowledge, knowledge can only help us to obey; it never can confer aught but the most limited rulership; and even that sovereignty is the dominion not of lord, but of servant, the rulership which is founded in humility and obedience--the rulership whose seat is beneath the shadow of the Great Throne. Is man, then, without an object in which to glory? It is as natural for man to glory as it is natural for him to breathe; and God, who so ordered his nature, has indicated the true theme of glorying: “ But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me.” Here let us rejoin the earnest student of science, supposing now that, in addition to his being ardently scientific, he is intelligently devout. He goes to work as before; the flame of his enthusiasm is not diminished by a single spark; his hammer and his telescope are still precious to him, but now, instead of being in pursuit of cold, abstract, inexorable laws, he is in search of the wise and mighty and benevolent Lawgiver; in legislation he finds a Legislator, and in the Legislator he finds a Father. What we want, then, is personal knowledge of a Person: we would know not only the works, but the Author, for they are mutually explanatory. Know the man if you would understand his actions; know God if you would comprehend nature, providence, or grace. The devout student says he finds God’ s footprints everywhere; he says they are on the rocks, across the heavens, on the heaving wave, and on the flying wind; to him, therefore, keeping company with science is only another way of “ walking with God.” The text, however, goes still farther; it relates not only to personality, but to character: the Deist pauses at the former, the Christian advances to the latter. “ Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.” The idea would admit of some such expression as this: Any knowledge of God, the Creator and Legislator of the physical creation, should be regarded as merely preparatory, or subordinate to an apprehension of God as the Moral Governor: that if you know God as Creator only, you can hardly be said to know Him at all; that if you tremble at His power without knowing His mercy, you are a pagan; if you seek to please Him as a God of intelligence, without recognising Him as a God of purity and justice and love, you are ignorant of Him, and your ignorance is crime. Let him that glorieth, even glorieth in God, glory in knowing God as a moral Being, as the righteous Judge, as the loving Father. There must not be adoration of mere power; we must not be satisfied with utterances of amazement at His majesty, wisdom, and dominion; we must go farther, get nearer, see deeper; we must know God morally, we must feel the pulsations of His heart--His heart!--that dread sanctuary of righteousness, that semi-eternal fount of love. The whole subject, then, may be comprehended in four points.1. God brands all false glorying. Upon the head of wisdom, power, and wealth, He writes, “ Let no man glory in these.” There is a wisdom which is folly; there is a power which is helplessness; there is a wealth which is poverty. God warns us of these things, so that if our boasted wisdom answer us not when we are on the Carmel of solemn encounter between light and darkness, we may not have God to blame. 2. God has revealed the proper ground of glorying. That ground is knowledge of God, not only as Creator and Monarch, but as Judge and Saviour and Father. Reason, groping her way through the thickening mysteries of creation, may exclaim, “ There is a God” ; but faith alone can see the Father smiling through the King. It will be in vain to say, “ Lord, Lord,” if we cannot add, “ Saviour-Friend” 3. God, having declared moral excellence to be the true object of glorying, has revealed how moral excellence may be attained. Is it objected that there is no mention of Jesus Christ in the text? We answer, that loving kindness, righteousness, and judgment are impossibilities apart from Christ; they are only so many names to us, until Jesus exemplifies them in His life, and makes them accessible to us by His death and resurrection. Do we require the sun to be labelled ere we confess that he shines in the heavens? 4. God has revealed the objects in which He glories Himself. “ For in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Let it be propounded as a problem, “ In what will the Supreme Mind most delight?” and let it be supposed that an answer is possible, it might be concluded that the attainment of that answer would forever determine the aspirations, the resolutions, and the ambition of the world. We might consider that every other object would be infinitely beneath the pursuits, and infinitely unworthy of the affections of man. At all events, this must be true, that they who glory in the objects which delight Jehovah must be drinking at pure and perennial streams. (J. Parker, D. D.) What do I glory in What does a man glory in? At what point does his life leave the plane of indifference and rise into a boast? What is it that provides for him the river of his most exquisite delights? The answer to these questions is fruitfully significant. If we catch a man in his gloryings we take him at his height. Some men’ s gloryings are to be found on a purely carnal level; they are sought and proclaimed on the plane of the brute. Other men’ s gloryings are found in spiritual realities, among the things of the Eternal. Unworthy glorying is the minister of stagnancy, paralysis, and death. Worthy glorying is the minister of progress, liberty, and life. Let us look at the unworthy gloryings. “ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.” That is a very surprising negative. I did not expect that “ wisdom” would be banned from the circle of a legitimate boast. Is there not an apparent contradiction between the counsel of the prophet and other counsellors of the Old Testament Scriptures? “ Get wisdom.” “ Fools despise wisdom.” “ A wise son maketh a glad father.” We know, too, how our poets have spoken of the beautiful thing called wisdom. “ Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers” ; blossom comes, but the fruitage lingers! The wisdom here admired is a ripe and matured product, the ultimate issue of a prolonged process. It is not in this sense that the prophet uses the word; he employs it with quite another content. It is the wisdom of the mere philosopher; the product of speculation and theory; a wisdom devoid of reverence, and detached from practical life. Life can be divided into watertight compartments, having no relationship one with the other. We can separate our opinions from our principles, our theories from our practice. Love of the fine arts can be divorced from the practice of a pure life. Our artistic wisdom can be imprisoned as it were in an iron-bound division, and separated from our moral activities. The musically wise can be the morally discordant. The possession of musical technique does not necessarily make an agreeable man. The wisdom of music can be divorced from the other parts of a man’ s life just as the music room in a hydropathic establishment is shut off from the kitchen. A man can be skilled in the decrees of counsel and in traditional lore, and yet he may be morally and spiritually corrupt. The wisdom of a theologian can be a wisdom without influence upon morals. A man may preach like a seraph and live like a brute. “ Let not the mighty man glory in his might.” This is a reference to mere animal strength. It includes a bald athleticism in the individual, and a bald materialism in the State. But surely strength is good? Athletic strength and skill are very admirable. But here, again, the prophet is referring to strength which is devoid of reverence, and therefore strength which is detached from service. All right use of strength begins with a deep reverence for it. So it is also with the material might of the State. A sword may be good if it be reverently regarded. “ The sword of Gideon” ; that is always a curse! “ The sword of the Lord and Gideon” ; that is an instrument of benediction! “ Let not the rich man glory in his riches.” Do not let us relegate this warning to a few millionaires. A man with a small income may regard his money as irreverently as the man with an overflowing abundance. The prophet refers to the spirit in which possessions are esteemed. He refers to riches held without reverence, and therefore not exercised in wise philanthropy. Possessions used irreverently are used blindly, and therefore without a true humanity. But how people do glory in bare and graceless wealth! It is a false confidence. “ But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord.” How far are we away from the brutal, the material, and the merely opinionative! Here is glorying which centres itself in the unseen, and fixes itself upon the Lord. “ Understandeth.” The relationship is reasonable and intelligent. God wants no blind discipleship. We are to be all alert in our fellowship with the Almighty. We are to worship Him with all our “ mind.” “ In malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.” “ Understandeth and knoweth Me.” That is a profound term, suggestive of certainty and assurance. It has about it the flavour of the familiar friend. We are to intelligently use our minds to discover the thought and will of God, then we are to act upon the will, and in our obedience a deep communion will be established. This, then, is the line of individual progress. We begin in exploration; we use our understanding in discerning the mind of God. Then we pass to experiment, and we put to the proof the findings of the mind. From experiment we shall attain unto experience; our findings will be revealed as truth; our knowledge will mature unto wisdom. “ Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord.” What does God want us to know about Him? “ That I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness.” We sometimes say concerning a distinguished man whose presence we have met, “ I rather feared him, but his first words made me feel at home.” And here is the first word of the Almighty, and the word is not “ law” or “ statute,” but “ loving kindness” ! Not only kindness, for kindness may be mechanical and devoid of feeling, but “ loving kindness” ! A dainty dish is served by affection. What else does He want me to be sure about? “ That I am the Lord that exercise loving kindness and judgment.” Do not let us interpret judgment as doom. Judgment is vindication; it is suggestive of sure sequence. When I plant mignonette, and mignonette comes in its season, the sequence is indicative of judgment. Judgment is the opposite of caprice and chance. The Lord is a God of judgment, and all my sowings will be vindicated. All these deeper issues are in the hands of God. The Lord is a God of judgment, and of righteousness. This word is only confirmatory of the preceding word. Judgment is proceeding and the Vindicator is righteous. He cannot be bribed, He is not of uncertain temper. “ He changeth not.” (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) On the unreasonableness and folly of glorying in the possession of external privileges and advantages I. The unreasonableness and folly both of individuals and of communities glorying in the possession of external privileges and advantages. In fact, there is no passion in our nature which so effectually defeats its own end, or so completely mars the accomplishment of its object, as that of pride. Wherever respect is impudently claimed, even where there is real merit at the bottom, it is always reluctantly conferred. Our pride and self-love in turn take the alarm, and are hurt by the boldness of the claim. Competitors and rivals, envious of the merit, feel a malignant pleasure in disappointing the expectations of such candidates for fame. And as most men have a tincture of envy in their composition, it commonly happens that very few regret the disappointment. To obtain real, and, in general, unenvied praise, merit, however transcendent, must not be glaringly displayed, but in some measure exhibited under a veil; at least, it must be so judiciously and delicately shaded, as to moderate its lustre. II. The knowledge and practice of the duties of religion and virtue, while they are the only true foundation of self-esteem and real glory, are likewise, considered in a national view, the only just objects of public respect and confidence. Great intellectual endowments, and the performances to which they give birth, can only be regarded, when abstractly considered without respect to their application, as splendid monuments of human genius; when applied to bad purposes, they justly become the objects of our detestation; but the qualities of the heart, incorruptible integrity, for instance, disinterested benevolence, exalted generosity, and tender pity, irresistibly command the esteem, and conciliate the affection of all who have either seen or heard of such virtues being exemplified. (W. Duff, M. A.) Aims of life Men think too much of themselves on one account or another--either on account of some external condition, or on account of some internal traits and qualities. Now, it is not to be understood from this declaration of the prophet, that a man shall take no thought of, and have no pleasure in, external relations. There is pleasure to be derived from them but there are a thousand secondary things in this life which we are very glad to have, and which we are glad to be known to have, though we do not put our heart chiefly on them. It is a pleasant thing for an artist to have vigorous health; but that is not his power. It is a pleasant thing for a poet to be a musician; but that is not what he glories in. It is a pleasant thing to an orator that he is rich; but there is something that he glories in besides riches. Wealth alone affords a very small compensation of glory. Knowledge is often regarded as the chief and characteristic reason why a man should think much of himself; but here we are commanded not to glory in “ knowledge.” There is great excellence in knowledge; but knowledge is relative. Mathematics will exist after we are dead and gone; but knowledge of spiritual elements, knowledge of the highest realm, knowledge of right and wrong, knowledge of character, knowledge of truth--these are all related to our present condition, and are so far affected by our limitations that the apostle explicitly declares that the time will come when the universe will be revealed to us, and when our notions in respect to it will have to be changed as much as the notions of a child have to be changed when he comes to manhood. Our wisdom in this world is so partial that we cannot afford to stand on that. And when you consider what have been regarded as the treasures of knowledge, the folly of it is still greater. Many a man might just as well have been a grammar or a lexicon, dry and dusty, as the man of knowledge that he is, so useless is he. And yet men are oftentimes proud that they know so many things, without any consideration of their use. Go out and see what men know who know something. Men that have useful knowledge, and the most of it, are the men that usually are the most humble, and are conscious of the mere segment of the vast circle of the knowledge of the universe that they possess. Knowledge is a good thing; but a man is a better thing. A man in his essential nature and destiny is larger than any special element or development in this life. Therefore, let not a man glory in his “ knowledge.” Especially let him not glory in it in such a way as to separate himself from his fellows, and look down upon them. While it may be supposed that these views, derived from the face of Scripture, are applicable to our modern condition, it is very probable that the glorying spoken of by the prophet was that which constituted a peculiarity in the East. In Egypt, and afterwards in many Oriental kingdoms, knowledge was the prerogative of the priesthood. Those who had knowledge became a privileged class, and received honour and respect; and naturally they plumed themselves on it, as men plume themselves on titles today. “ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.” In other words, let not a man because he belongs to the learned class have contempt for those who have not the privileges that he has. There are multitudes of men who have not very much to boast of in the way of kindness and humility and gentleness, but who are proud of their culture. “ Neither let the mighty man glory in his might.” That is, let no man glory in the attributes of strength. In the time of the athlete; in the time of the warrior; in the time when men, being head and shoulders in their stature above all others, as Saul was, gloried in their stature; in the time when men boasted, as David did, of running through a troop, and leaping over a wall; in the time when expertness and skill were in the ascendant; in the time when men were trained to all forms of physical strength and prowess--in such a time men would naturally come to make their reputation stand on these things; and the tendency to do so has not perished yet. Men glory in the fact that they are tall and symmetrical. They glory in their personal beauty. They glory in their grace. They glory in their walking and their dancing. They glory in their riding. These things are not absolutely foolish, although the men who engage in them may be. It is not to be denied that they may be useful, and that they may reflect some credit upon those who practise them. But what if nothing else can be said of a man except that he rides well? The horse is better than he! Low down, indeed, is the man who pivots himself on these inferior and often contemptible qualities. “ Let not the rich man glory in his riches.” We may as well shut up the Bible, then. That is too much! Yet a man has a right to glory in his riches, provided the way of his glorying is through his own integrity as well as skill. Such are the competitions of business, such are the difficulties of developing, amassing, maintaining and rightly using wealth, that a man who organises it organises a campaign, and is a general; and when a man of simplicity and honesty has come out from the haunts of poverty, and has, by his own indomitable purpose, and industry, and honourable dealing, and truthfulness, accumulated property, about no dollar of which you can say to him, “ You stole it” ; when a man by integrity has built up a fortune, it is a testimony better than any diploma. It tells what he has been. The true grounds of glorying are given in the next clause of the text: “ Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me.” The knowledge of God--a knowledge of those supreme qualities or attributes which belong to the higher nature, a knowledge of the great elements which constitute God--this may be gloried in; but men have gloried in their knowledge of gods that were contemptible. There was not a decent god in all antiquity, such that if a man were like it he could respect himself. The passions of men were the basis of their character. Therefore it is not enough that you glory in a god. “ Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” It is as if He had said, I am the Lord that exerciseth loving kindness without any regard to return, and without any limitation. I am continually developing, through the ages, the good and the bad, the just and the unjust. I am a God of lenity, of goodness, of kindness; but the kindness is not merely superficial--it is kindness springing out from the heart of God” That is the glory of God: and who would not-be-known as glorying in it? Now, knowing this, being penetrated with a sense of having such a God, of living in communion with Him, of beholding Him by the inward sight--having this ideal of life constitutes a knowledge that exalts, strengthens, and purifies men. But take the qualities that make the true man, as set forth in Scripture--the man in Christ Jesus. How many men can glory in themselves because they have conformed their lives to these qualities? If a man, being a mineralogist, has a finer crystal than anybody else, he rather glories in it, and says, “ You ought to see mine.” If a man is a gardener, and has finer roses than anybody else, he glories in them. He may go to his neighbour’ s garden, and praise the flowers that he sees there; but he says, “ I should like to have you come over and see my roses” ; and he shows them with pride. Nobody shuts his own garden gate when he goes to see his neighbour’ s garden. He carries his own with him. Men glory in such outward things; but how many glory in those diamonds, those sapphires, those precious stones which all the world recognise as the finest graces of the soul? How many men glory because they have the true, universal, Christian benevolence of love? Have you in yourself any ideal? Are you aiming for character, for condition, or for reputation--which is the poorest of them all? It is worth a man’ s while to be able to answer to himself the question, “ What am I living for?” What is it that incites me? Is it vanity? Is it the animal instincts? Is it the external conditions of life? Or, is it the internal elements of manhood, that take hold upon God and heaven? (H. W. Beecher.) On the insufficiency of human wisdom, power, and riches I. The prohibitions contained in the text.1. “ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.” Men may be wise in their own conceit,--they may be wise and prudent in the opinion of others,--their measures and counsels may be, apparently, wisely devised; yet God can and frequently does frustrate their counsels, and turn the wisdom of man into foolishness. 2. “ Neither let the mighty man glory in his might.” What is man, the strongest man, but dust, turned into dust, crushed by the mighty power of God, as a moth is crushed between the fingers? Just consider upon how little the life of the strongest man depends,--on so trifling a thing as the respiration of a little air; that being stopped, he dies. Nor is the combined power of the many, able to stand at all against the will and the power of God. 3. “ Let not the rich man glory in his riches.” To hear men talk of their thousands, and to observe them pursuing wealth, one might suppose that riches bestowed every happiness and produced every safety. Yet ask the rich man if he is happy; and he will answer, if he honestly answer, “ No.” Is he free from the fear of evil? can he bribe death and prolong his short life? can he redeem his soul from hell? 4. It is not only folly to glory in or boast of wisdom, strength, and riches; but it is also sinful; it is idolatry; it is setting aside the Lord God as our strength and our portion. II. The command in the text. “ But let him that glorieth, glory in this,” etc. That man alone is truly wise in whose heart the knowledge of the Lord is treasured up; and who reduces that knowledge to practice; and that man alone is truly blessed who so far understands and knows the Lord, as to put his trust at all times in the Lord God of Israel. This knowledge and understanding of the Lord God in all His adorable perfections, as revealed in His holy Word, and as He is reconciled in Christ Jesus, are of immensely greater value than all the wisdom, and all the power, and all the riches which this world can bestow.1. The Lord exerciseth loving kindness in the earth. They who through faith in Christ have Jehovah for their Father,--their portion,--have all that can satisfy an immortal soul throughout eternity. Of His loving kindness they have experience; and their experience teaches them that God’ s “ loving kindness is better than life,” and therefore their lips praise Him. 2. The Lord also exerciseth judgment in the earth. While He delights in visiting the humble soul, and the penitent soul, and the believing soul, with tokens of His loving kindness, He also visits the impenitent, the unbelieving, the proud, with His sore judgments: and sometimes in this world He makes them lasting monuments of His awful justice. 3. The Lord also exerciseth righteousness in the earth. For the exercise of righteousness, the Lord’ s omniscience, hatred of sin, love of holiness, power, and faithfulness, fully qualify Him. Conclusion--1. To those who trust and glory in human wisdom, strength, and riches. Know we not that “ the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” ? and “ that power belongeth unto God” ? 2. To those who in some measure know the Lord and glory in Him. Your knowledge is still but small and imperfect: for, “ how little a portion is heard of Him! but the thunder of His power who can understand?” Still, enough of Him and of His ways may be known here for every necessary purpose. Walk “ as children of light.” Seek also an increase of light by studying the Word of God; by earnest and diligent prayer, that the Spirit of truth may open your mind to behold, to comprehend more and more, the truths which are revealed in that Word. (E. Edwards.) On the grounds of pride I. The various forms of pride.1. High birth is one of those external circumstances which give rise to pride. Ever since civil society has existed, a certain respect for antiquity of descent has been maintained. But if we reflect on the origin of this deference we shall find that, so far from affording a foundation for pride, it suggests many reasons for its exclusion. Do you, proud man! look back with complacency on the illustrious merits of your ancestors? Show yourself worthy of them, by imitating their virtues, and disgrace not the name you bear by a conduct unbecoming a man. Nothing can be conceived more inconsistent than to exult in illustrious ancestry, and to do what must disgrace it; than to mention, with ostentation, the distinguished merits of progenitors, and to exhibit a melancholy contrast to them in character. After all, what is high birth? Does it bestow a nature different from that of the rest of mankind? Has not the man of ancient line human blood in his veins? Does he not experience hunger and thirst? Is he not subject to disease, to accidents, and to death; and must not his body moulder in the grave, as well as that of the beggar? 2. Perhaps the proud man is invested with a title. Remember, however, that this is an appellation of honour, and not of disgrace, and the greatest disgrace any person can incur, is the assumption of sentiments unworthy of human nature. Have you obtained your distinction by your own merit? Continue to deserve and adorn it by your exertions for the common welfare, and by a behaviour which indicates that you consider yourself as a member of society. Has your title been transmitted to you from your ancestors? I say to you, as I said to the man proud of his birth: beware lest their honours be tarnished by your contemptible enjoyment of them! 3. Some are proud of office. Were offices instituted for the general benefit, or for the private gratification of the individuals to whom they are severally assigned? This question the proud man himself will not venture to decide in favour of his own pretensions. With what appearance of justice, then, can the man, who is intrusted with the common interest, pretend to look, with a contemptuous eye, on any honest member of the community? 4. Riches, affording a more substantial and productive possession than either birth, titles, or public office, may seem to lay a better foundation for pride. The man who enjoys them is in some measure independent of others, and may command their services when he pleases. He may, therefore, have some ground for treating them with disdain. I must confess that persons who possess an opulent fortune, as well as those who are placed in the higher stations of society, have many opportunities of observing the servile obsequiousness of mankind, and may, therefore, be tempted to despise them. But this is not, in strict propriety of speech, that contempt of others which arises from external circumstances alone. It is a contempt of contemptible qualities. Are you, in reality, proud of your wealth? Show me what title that wealth gives you to deprive your fellow men of their just portion of respect! 5. Corporeal advantages constitute the subjects of that pride with which many are infected. They value themselves on their strength, or on their beauty. Let the strongest man consider that the horse or the ox is still his superior in point of corporeal vigour; that his individual power is of little avail against the united force of his fellow men, whom he affects to brave; and that a fever will make him weaker than the child in the nurse’ s arms. When a man exults in the elegance of his person, although this folly be not uncommon, especially in youth, nothing can be conceived more ridiculous. But this source of pride is more frequent among the daughters of Eve, who seem sometimes to consider personal attractions as the chief distinction of character. Let her, whose pride centres in her beauty, consider what her figure will be in the grave! 6. Sensible of the utter insignificance of external advantages of any kind, as a ground of exultation, there are Who value themselves exclusively on their genius, their erudition, their wit, or even on their religion. Such persons are most ready to laugh at the fool who is proud of anything but mind. The prophet, however, was of opinion, that even wisdom itself is no subject of glory. By the term wisdom, in the text, he understands those mental qualities which attract the admiration of the world. By converting thy abilities into sources of vain-glory, thou displayest thy ignorance of their end, contractest their utility, by limiting them to thy own narrow sphere instead of diffusing their salutary influence through the wide circle of humanity, and subvertest thy own importance by relinquishing the honourable distinction of a necessary part of the great community of mankind. Dost thou boast of thy genius and thy knowledge, abstracted from mildness and benevolence? Reflect that the most miserable and odious being in the universe is also possessed of abilities infinitely superior to those of the most sagacious of the sons of men! 7. Religious pride is, if possible, still more odious and absurd than that just now mentioned. It is a combination of shocking inconsistencies. It unites confession of sin with self-righteousness, humility before God with insolence towards men, supplication for mercy with the assumption of merit, the prospect of heaven with the temper of hell. II. The only solid foundation of self-esteem. He who understandeth God has his soul impressed with all that is grand and sublime, is capable of contemplating Deity, and beholds every terrestrial object sink in comparison. He that “ knoweth” God is acquainted with infinite perfection, and has acquired the conception, though still obscure and faint, of unerring wisdom, of consummate rectitude, of inexhaustible beneficence, of irresistible power, of all that can exalt, astonish, and delight the soul These attributes, brought to his view by frequent adoration, he must admire, and love, and imitate. This is the true dignity of human nature, restored, by grace, to that state from which it had been degraded by sin, nay, raised to higher capacities and expectations than were granted to primitive innocence. The more we aspire after this excellence, the more ambitious of this exaltation we become, the more is our nature improved and our happiness increased and extended. This is the glory of a Christian, of an immortal soul, of an expectant of heaven, of a blessed spirit! (W. L. Brown, D. D.) Of false glorying Such is the weakness of our nature, that if Providence hath conferred upon us any remarkable quality, either of body or mind, we are apt to boast ourselves because of it. In our more serious moments we must condemn such vanity; but pride is so natural to man, that we find it difficult to subdue. I. The natural or acquired endowments of the mind. A great genius, fine parts, and shining talents, are strong temptations to glorying. When a man is conscious that his understanding is more enlightened, his judgment sounder, his invention finer, his knowledge more extensive than that of the rest of mankind, he is in great danger of indulging a little vanity. Yet, still, there is no foundation for boasting. If those accomplishments are natural they are the gift of God, and call Him their Author. If they are acquired we owe them in a great measure to the attention and labour of others, who have contributed to improve them. What a poor figure would the greatest genius have made without books and a master! Like the diamond in the mine, it must have remained in its natural state, rough and unpolished. It is education and letters which enable men to make a figure in life. Besides, is it not Providence which places us in superior circumstances, and enables us to prosecute sciences and arts? After all, what is the so-much-boasted wisdom of the wise? Is it not at best, only a less degree of folly? How shallow is their understanding and how circumscribed their knowledge! Let me add, how liable is the greatest genius and the finest scholar to have his faculties deranged! A fall from a horse, a tile from a house, a fever in the brain, will impair the judgment and disturb the reason of the greatest philosopher. II. The superior qualities of the body. A fine face and an elegant figure are engaging things, and mankind have held them in a certain degree of admiration. Hence the possessors of those properties have sometimes become proud and vain. But what is beauty? A piece of polished earth, a finer species of clay, regularly adjusted by the great Creator! Those upon whom He hath bestowed it had no hand in the workmanship, and contributed nothing to finish it. Instead of being puffed up more than others, they should be more humble, because they are greater debtors to Providence. How little reason such have to be vain, we have many striking examples; an inveterate jaundice, a malignant fever, a rapid consumption, will spoil the finest complexion and impair the stoutest constitution. It were well if the fairest of this world’ s children would aspire after something more durable than looks and dress; even to have the image of God drawn upon the heart, and the life of Christ formed within them. III. The more elevated circumstances of our lot. It is no doubt natural to prefer independence and ease, to straits and toil. Who does not wish to live in plenty, rather than in penury? Yet what is an immense quantity of gold and silver? It is no better than dust, a little more refined, upon which men have agreed to put a certain value. If it is hoarded up it is no better than stone or sand. If it is wasted and spent it is no longer ours, but the property of another; and how quickly riches change masters, we have every day striking examples. Riches are intrusted to men as stewards, and they are accountable for the use which they make of them. If they employ them for the honour of God and for the benefit of their fellow creatures, they are a valuable talent, and shall receive an ample recompense; but if they minister to pride and vanity, to profusion and luxury, to avarice and oppression, they are to be accounted a curse. Honours and titles are no better foundation for glory than opulence. If they have been transmitted by our ancestors, we have derived them from them; if they have been conferred, directly, by the king, we are indebted to him; and we are under greater obligations for such an act of favour. At best, what are they but an empty name? They may procure a person precedence, and a little more respect; but they can contribute nothing to his dignity of character. Again, the voice of fame is a bewitching thing, and numbers have been strangely captivated with it. Hence they have courted it with the greatest servility, and by the lowest means. There is nothing so humbling to which they have not submitted, to gain this empty sound. Have not some sacrificed the principles of honour, of conscience, of integrity, to obtain applause? And what is so precarious and uncertain as the breath of a multitude? It is fickle as the wind, and variable as the weather. IV. The religious acquirements which we may have attained. It is the voice of reason, and the language of Scripture, “ that every good and perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights.” “ In us dwelleth no good thing!” On the contrary, “ we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” If then a good work has been begun in us, it hath been imparted to us by the Spirit of God, “ the fruit of which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” Are your understandings more enlightened, your wills more submissive, your affections more spiritual, your morals more pure, you owe it to a Divine influence. There cannot be a stronger evidence that we are entire strangers to grace, than that of thinking of ourselves above what we ought to think. The very nature of grace is to give all the glory to God. The more of it we receive, the more self-denied will we become. The obvious conclusion from this subject is, “ that pride was never made for man.” It originated in hell, and is the offspring of guilt. Let us tear it from our bosoms as the most unwarrantable and unchristian disposition which we can possibly cherish. (David Johnston, D. D.) Human glorying corrected I. The things in which not to glory.1. Those which to the natural man seem most desirable--wisdom, strength, riches. 2. Those in which these Jews inclined presumptuously to boast--external, carnal advantages. II. Every man must have something in which to glory.1. That which he esteems as his highest blessing and honour. 2. God sets before us the best objects of glorying. (1) “ Me” ; both “ understood” and “ known.”(2) The qualities in which God delights. Mercy, or loving kindness, as opposed to their vaunted strength. Judgment, and righteousness, as opposed to their oppression of the weak and distressed. (J. P. Lange.) A prohibited and a sanctioned glory I. The glorying which is prohibited by God.1. Glorying in wisdom is the glorification of self; therefore forbidden. The mind that knows and the subjects known are both from God. 2. Glorying in strength is forbidden as self-glorification. History shows God’ s repudiation of this boast: in destruction of Sennacherib’ s army, decline and fall of empires founded on mere force, etc. 3. Glorying in wealth is forbidden as self-glorification. Sad to behold a spirit entombed in a mausoleum of gold and silver. II. The glorying which is Divinely sanctioned. To glory is an instinct in man; is right, therefore, where the object is worthy of him. God here presents Himself. There is a gradation set before us:1. Understanding God. Early education calls this into exercise; events of life afford it discipline; profound, spiritual verities may be by it examined. 2. Knowing God. This is more than “ understanding” Him. Eternity will reveal new deeps of God’ s eternal love and being. 3. In the understanding and knowledge of God, the spirit of man glories, and may glory forever. God glories in our glorying in Him. (W. R. Percival.) False and true glory I. What we are not to glory in.1. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Neither in the largeness and compass of his knowledge and understanding, nor in his skill and dexterity in the contrivance and conduct of human affairs. (1) Because the highest pitch of human knowledge and wisdom is very imperfect. (2) Because when knowledge and wisdom are with much difficulty in any competent measure attained, how easily are they lost. 2. Neither let the mighty man glory in his might. (1) If we understand it of the natural strength of men’ s bodies, how little reason is there to glory in that, in which so many of the creatures below us do by so many degrees excel us! (2) Or, if by might we understand military force and power, how little likewise is that to be gloried in, considering the uncertain events of war, and how very often and remarkably the providence of God doth interpose to cast the victory on the unlikely side! 3. Let not the rich man glory in his riches. (1) Riches are things without us--the accidental ornaments of our fortune. (2) At the best, they are uncertain. (3) Many men have an evil eye upon a good estate; so that instead of being the means of our happiness, it may prove the occasion of our ruin. II. What it is that is matter of true glory.1. The wisest and surest reasonings in religion are grounded upon the unquestionable perfections of the Divine nature. Divine revelation itself does suppose these for its foundation, and can signify nothing to us unless these be first known and believed: for unless we be first firmly persuaded of the providence of God, and of His particular care of mankind, why should we suppose that He makes any revelation of His will to us? Unless it be first naturally known that God is a God of truth, what ground is there for the belief of His Word? 2. The nature of God is the true idea and pattern of perfection and happiness; and therefore nothing but our conformity to it can make us happy. He who is the Author and fountain of happiness cannot convey it to us by any other way than by planting in us such dispositions of mind as are in truth a kind of participation of the Divine nature; and by enduing us with such qualities as are the necessary materials of happiness: and a man may as soon be well without health as happy without goodness. (J. Tillotson, D. D.) False and true grounds of glorying I. False grounds of confidence.1. The wisdom here meant is not heavenly, but earthly wisdom; that penetration and sagacity which many naturally possess, and some to a considerable degree; or that knowledge of various kinds about the things of this world, which they acquire by study and experience. Why should not the man who has wisdom, glory in it? Because all such glorying is vain; because he has at last no real foundation for glorying; because, after all, his wisdom cannot secure success, and may prove in the end, and if gloried in certainly will prove, to have been foolishness. It is the Lord who gives success, and whose counsel alone will stand. 2. By might we may understand either strength or power; strength of body, or the power of rank, station, or influence. There is no real ground for confidence in these things. As “ there is no king saved by the multitude of his host” ; so “ a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.” The mightiest empires have been suddenly overthrown, and the most powerful monarchs destroyed in a moment. 3. How continually do we see people trusting in their wealth, and boasting themselves in the multitude of their riches! But how vain is such confidence! It is like leaning on a broken reed. II. Thy true ground of glorying.1. The knowledge of God, here meant, is a knowledge of Him in His true character and perfections. It is a knowledge of Him as being at once a merciful Father and a righteous Judge; a just God, and yet a Saviour; abounding in mercy, love, and truth; and at the same time hating iniquity, and who will by no means clear the guilty. The knowledge spoken of in the text is an inward, heartfelt, experimental knowledge of Him. It is such a belief of Him in our hearts, as leads us to fear and love Him, to rely on and confide in Him. It is a knowledge founded on trial and experience. 2. They who know the Lord, in the manner that has been described, have a sure ground of glorying. They glory in that which will never fail, deceive, or disappoint them. (E. Cooper, M. A.) False and true glorying I. There is a disposition in men to glory and self-confidence on account of the personal accomplishments which distinguish them in the eyes of their fellow creatures.1. Bodily strength inspires the idea of great actions in its possessors, and frequently makes them arrogant and proud. It induces them to assume what does not belong to them, to violate the properties of life, and to carry about with them a spirit of defiance and insult in their intercourse with their fellow creatures. 2. Worldly wisdom inspires confidence more than that which is attached to the grosser qualities of the human frame; and no men are more in danger of being wise in their own eyes than those who possess this quality. 3. Nothing is so calculated to fill men with insufferable pride as the possession of extraordinary riches. It produces a semblance of homage or respect--it commands the services of mankind--it levies a contribution on all nature and society, and gives to those who possess it a sort of universal empire; and it is not at all to be wondered at that these minds are more tempted by pride and glory than those who seek to be distinguished by worldly wisdom. II. The false and erroneous basis on which these sentiments of glory and self-confidence are founded.1. Neither separately taken, nor in their combined form, will they ever teach their possessors their true use; but they frequently turn to hurt, not only to society at large, but to their own possessors. 2. These things are utterly incapable, either separately or combined, of supplying some of the most pressing wants, and avoiding some of the most obvious evils to which our nature is exposed. 3. They are of a very transient duration and possession. III. There is an object which is of such a nature that it will justify the glory, the confidence, the self-satisfaction, which it is declared ought not for a moment to be connected with those which are before enumerated.1. True religion will teach us the proper regulation and employment of all these endowments. 2. There is a perpetuity and pledge of future and eternal felicity in the religion of Jesus Christ; not only that which produces present tranquillity and peace, but that which furnishes the pledge of an enduring and eternal happiness. (R. Hall, M. A.) The Gospel the only security for eminent and abiding national prosperity The Jewish nation had come to rely on their wealth, power, and political wisdom. I. The inefficacy of the common grounds of confidence.1. Reason has been appealed to, but its impotence in the conflict with passion, ignorance, and irreligion is demonstrated on every page of history. 2. Education has been relied upon, but knowledge and virtue are not inseparable. Philosophy, culture, the arts, did not save Rome or Greece from ruin. 3. The efforts of philosophy to reform and elevate mankind have proved signal failures in the past. 4. National wealth is thought to be the perfection of prosperity. But in all ages and lands it has proved the most active and powerful cause of national corruption. 5. Nor is military genius and prowess any safer ground of confidence than wealth, as the history of nations illustrates with solemn and awful significance. 6. Political wisdom, statesmanship, the boast and confidence of nations, is inadequate to secure and perpetuate national prosperity. 7. Our boasted free institutions, bought and maintained at immense sacrifices, and the envy of the nations, are not a guarantee of the future. II. There is efficacy in the Gospel of the grace of God, and nowhere else, to secure eminent and abiding national prosperity. It was devised and bestowed upon mankind for this purpose; and in its principles, provisions, institutions, and moral tendencies, it is eminently adapted to elevate, purify, and bless nations as well as individual man. The proofs of its power to do this are not wanting. See the effect of Christianity on the laws and institutions of the old Roman Empire--on the social and political life of Germany at the Reformation--on our own history and destiny as a nation by means of our Pilgrim Fathers--on the condition of the Sandwich Islands, and in South Africa among the Hottentots. Hence patriotism demands of the Christian Church today earnest prayer and the faithful application of the Gospel. (Homiletic monthly.) False and true grounds of glorying I. The reasons why the wise man should not “ glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty in his might, nor the rich man in his riches.”1. All these things are the gifts of God, and have neither power nor potency without Him. 2. They are all of uncertain continuance. As no man can call them into existence, so no man can command their stay. 3. It ought to moderate our tendency to glory in riches, to remember by what huckstering practices, by what base, material means they are usually got. 4. Further, wisdom, power, and riches are all things which we must leave at death, even if they do not before leave us. II. In what we may safely glory.1. The knowledge of God affords a just ground for glorying, first, because God Himself, the object of it, surpasses all created excellencies. He combines in Himself in a transcendent degree whatever is deep in wisdom, whatever is majestic in might, whatever is rich in goodness. 2. This knowledge of God as being actually all that to His believing people which they can need is worthy of being gloried in, as distinguished from human wisdom, might, or riches, because it places man’ s confidence on an unshaken basis; and because, moreover, it is a kind of knowledge which elevates while it humbles the mind, satisfies its desires while it invites the exercise of all its powers; fills it with pure, noble, enduring excellence, expires not, but only becomes perfected at death, and fits the soul for the permanent occupations and enjoyments of the eternal state. (Stephen Jenner, M. A.) True and false complacencies I. False sources of human complacency.1. It is a false complacency when men prefer a lower to a higher species of good, when they prefer the material to the moral, the external to the internal possessions. If a man makes the culture of his soul the supreme concern of life, a due regard to riches will not injure him, because they become, in that case, a means to a worthy end. But if, ignoring his inward life, he fixes all his trust, and finds his treasure in something external, the passion for riches must lead in the end to the corruption of his character. 2. There is the preference of the physical or natural to the spiritual attributes of being. What is force without conscience? What is will without righteousness? What is might without mercy? It is like the blind fury of the earthquake, the hurricane, or the avalanche, inspiring terror, wonder, and pity, but no true joy to the rational part of the man. 3. There is the preference of the intellectual to the spiritual. While the pursuit of wisdom is of all the noblest to which we can devote ourselves, provided it be inspired by religion, it is, perhaps, of all the most disappointing if that inspiration be wanting. Of what profit this weariness of the flesh, this aching brow, these nightly vigils, this impaired health? How bitterly have such men, from Ecclesiastes downwards, turned in satire upon the wisdom they had spent a lifetime in acquiring. But it is not wisdom, it is the untrue spirit in which wisdom has been pursued, that deserves the satire. Had they from the first yielded up their souls to intercourse with the Father of Lights, had they cultivated wisdom as a gift and emanation from Himself, to be used in the service of His creatures, these disappointments might have been avoided. II. What, then, is the true source of the soul’ s complacency? It is to be found in the knowledge of the eternal God.1. We believe in His just and merciful administration of the world’ s affairs. He exercises loving kindness, justice, and right in the earth. 2. We believe in the essential goodness of God. “ In these things I delight,” saith Jehovah. He governs the world in right and in love, because He is in Himself a righteous and a loving Being. Nowhere does the righteousness of God more impress the conscience, fill the soul with a deeper awe, than at the foot of that cross, where He was made sin for us Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And nowhere do the beams of the eternal mercy break forth more brightly from the parting sky than above that cross. There the grace that pardons sin, that justifies the sinner, that plucks up the love of sin by the roots, that pours the balm of celestial hope and peace into our wounds, the grace that deeply humbles, yet nobly exalts us, is ever revealed. (E. Johnson, M. A.) Duty of a prosperous nation I. What it is for a prosperous nation to rejoice in themselves.1. It is to rejoice in their own national prosperity because it is their own, and superior to that of other nations. 2. A people rejoice in themselves when they ascribe their national prosperity to their own self-sufficiency. II. What it is for nation in prosperity to rejoice in God.1. It is to understand and know that God is the Governor of the world. 2. For a nation in prosperity to rejoice in God implies rejoicing, not only that He governs the world, but that He displays His great and amiable perfections in governing it. (1) There is reason to rejoice in the judgment or wisdom God displays in the government of the world. (2) There is reason to rejoice in the moral rectitude and perfect righteousness which God displays in the government of the world. (3) There is reason to rejoice in the perfect benevolence which God displays in the government of the world. He is continually doing as much good as His wisdom, His justice, His power, and His goodness enable Him to do. III. This is the duty of all mankind, especially of every nation in the day of prosperity.1. Because God has given them all their national prosperity. 2. Because He only, in His governing goodness, can promote and preserve their prosperity. Application--1. We have seen what it is for a people, in prosperity, to rejoice in themselves, and to rejoice in God, and that these two kinds of rejoicing are entirely opposite to each other. The one is right and the other is wrong; the one is pleasing and the other displeasing to God. 2. Have we not reason to fear that our national prosperity will be followed with national calamities and desolating judgments? (N. Emmons, D. D.) Pride of worldly greatness As that is a rebellious heart in which sin is allowed to reign, so that is not a very enlarged heart which the world can fill. Alas, what will it profit us to sail before the pleasing gales of prosperity, if we be afterwards overset by the gusts of vanity? Your bags of gold should be ballast in your vessel to keep her always steady, instead of being topsails to your masts to make your vessel giddy. Give me that distinguished person, who is rather pressed down under the weight of all his honours, than puffed up with the blast thereof. It has been observed by those who are experienced in the sport of angling, that the smallest fishes bite the fastest. Oh, how few great men do we find so much as nibbling at the Gospel hook! (T. Seeker.) Baseless pride Many a man is proud of his estate or business--of the economy, order, and exact adjustment of part to part, which mark its management, who ought, to be very much ashamed of the neglected state of his conscience and heart. Many a woman is proud of her diamonds, who cares little for the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. It is his conscience and heart, not his estate or business, it is her spirit, not her diamonds, which he and she will carry into the eternal world with them; and if God will only induce them to cultivate spirit, and conscience, and heart, by taking their diamonds and possessions away from them, is it not most merciful of Him to take these away, and so quicken them unto life eternal? The true ground of glorying The passage assumes that it is right to glory, and the tendency of our nature is to glory in one thing or another. The heart of man cannot remain empty. If you don’ t fill it with one thing, it will fill itself with another. If you don’ t tell man of the true God to worship, he will worship a false one. I. A solemn prohibition.1. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. (1) Primarily, the reference is to the wisdom of statesmen, to political sagacity, and forethought. These are not to be gloried in, as the only way of escaping from political difficulties, or averting impending disaster and coming judgments. Political sagacity is not a thing always to be trusted. It does not always bring peace with honour. It may be another name for ambition--for the power of outwitting your neighbour, and, under some pretence or other, invading another’ s country, and destroying his liberty. It may have its root near low cunning, cheating, and chicanery. Let us rest assured that in all schemes of political sagacity, whatever their seeming success for a while, unless they are founded on principles of justice and righteousness, disaster and ruin will ensue. For God--who ruleth all the worlds--will do right; and He has said that, while righteousness alone exalteth a nation, sin is the reproach of any people. (2) The text refers, secondarily, to glorying in wisdom of all kinds--the wisdom of the student, the scholar, the philosopher. Men are more apt to be proud of mental gifts and intellectual acquirements than of any other thing. There is an innate splendour, an imperial dignity, about them which does not attach to such worldly possessions as riches, gold, silver, jewellery. The man of great wisdom and intellectual gifts may be inclined from his elevated place, from his eyrie heights, to look with pity, with contempt, on the traffickers in small things--the trader, the handler of tools--while he himself is occupied with thoughts big as the infinite, vast as immensity, and long as the ages. And yet his pride may be checked by the thought of his utter dependence for his thinking power on the Divine hand. No gift comes more directly from the hand of God than mental power. A little clot of blood will paralyse the active brain, and fling reason from its throne. Then, how small after all is the sum of his knowledge and his vaunted wisdom. How men now laugh at the astrology, the chemistry, and the physical theories of other days! And so, as truth is infinite and knowledge advancing, the thought that the time will come when our philosophies shall have passed, when succeeding generations will wonder that we ever believed them, when they shall look on our advances in knowledge and wisdom as the groping of children in the darkness, and estimate our present savants and scientific men as the merest sciolists and drivellers, this thought may well clothe us with humility. Besides, unaided human wisdom could not find out God. Men tried the problem long, but it became the darker and deeper. Didn’ t Paul find the ignorance of the most enlightened nation on earth registered in the public square when he said--“ Whom, therefore, you ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you” ? 2. Glorying in might is prohibited. (1) Military prowess. Other nations might, if they pleased, glory in their vast armaments, but Israel was not allowed to do so. Her strength was in the Lord. Their armaments didn’ t preserve those nations. Assyria is overthrown, her glory is gone, and Egypt is this day in the hands of strangers. Have the nations of Europe nothing to learn here? Napoleon I, at the head of his legions, made the world stand in awe of him. He overthrew Austria at Austerlitz, and then sprang upon the Prussian army, and smashed its power at Jena. But he in turn is worsted at Waterloo, and we see him gnawing his heart on a rock at the equator. Napoleon III, little more than twenty years ago, considered himself the arbiter of the peace of Europe. He gloried in his might. In overweening pride he attacked Germany. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 9:24I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, Judgment, and righteousness in the earth. God and the earth These words teach us-- I. The earth is the scene of God’ s operations. There is a Divine intelligence, a Divine goodness, a Divine hand everywhere visible to the truly scientific eye, and deeply felt by the devout consciousness of men. Then--1. Do not be frivolous. Take your shoes from off your feet: an is “ holy ground.” 2. Do not be indifferent. His eye is on you. 3. Do not be slothful. Be earnest. 4. Do not be sinful. Do not break His laws in His presence. Do not profane His name, when His ears catch every sound. II. God’ s operations on the earth are marked by rectitude and mercy. Because righteousness is here, sufferings follow crime; because mercy is here, the world itself is kept up: the sun shines, the air breathes, etc. III. In the exercise of His “ righteousness and mercy” on this earth, God himself has delight. God’ s happiness is in the exercise of His moral perfections.1. It is therefore in Himself alone. It is in His own self-activity: happiness is not in quiescence, but in action. 2. Therefore participation in His blessedness is a participation in His perfections. (Homilist.) God working on the earth I. God is acting on this earth.1. He is working in natural phenomena. He is in all, the force of all forces, the impulse of all motion. 2. He is working in human history. He works with individual men, His constant visitation preserveth their lives; He works with families, communities, churches, nations. II. God’ s agency on this earth is characterised by rectitude and love.1. Who does not see “ loving kindness,” or mercy, in the continuation and enjoyments of human life? 2. Who does not see “ judgment,” or “ righteousness,” in the miseries that follow sin on this earth? III. In the exercise of these moral attributes the great God is happy. Justice and mercy are but modifications of love; and love in action is the happiness of God as well of His intelligent creation. (Homilist.) Divine government I. The scene of the Divine operations. While there are those who, under the name of science, falsely so called, deny that God exercises any direct control over the forces and circumstances of our earth, we who believe in the Divine Word are prepared to accept this fact as settled. But, while we accept this as a theory, many of us practically deny it. We see the workings of nature around us, and observe the constant and rapid changes that take place in our own and others’ history, and we speak of laws and of chance, of mechanism and of routine, until we forget God, and so leave Him out of our calculations altogether. We have need, therefore, to remind each other now and again, that there is a Divine intelligence and a Divine hand visible in all the operations that are at work in our world.1. Let us realise that God is at hand, and that He is working around us and in us, and it would put an end to frivolity, and destroy indifference. We would then feel that earth is holy ground, and that life is great and solemn reality. 2. If we were to realise day by day that God is near, exercising His power, and putting forth His operations around us and in us, we would feel that life is too solemn and too real to spend in any other way than with earnestness of purpose. 3. We could not live profoundly and earnestly without realising a purifying and ennobling influence. II. The character of the Divine operations. He is here not to frown upon and denounce us, but to “ exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.” In all God’ s dealings with men, love, justice, and fairness of the most perfect kind are blended in the truest harmony. They work one upon the other, so as to maintain the perfect balance of the Divine nature.1. There is nothing He does, there is nothing He can do, that is not the outcome and result of His love. 2. When He sends sorrow or trial upon us, it is in order to take from us something that He knows will injure us if left in our possession, or to inflict upon us that wholesome chastisement that He sees necessary for our future well-being. 3. Retribution is manifest everywhere, but there is mercy equally, and even more, manifest in supporting the criminal, in mitigating miseries, and in the power of the Gospel to overcome crime itself. Let any one of us here this morning read his own history intelligently, and he will find in every chapter and in every verso loving kindness and judgment blended together and displaying perfect and complete righteousness. III. The cause of the Divine operations.1. God delights in exercising these principles Himself. He is love, He is just, He is righteous. He has not therefore to force Himself to their exercise. The spontaneous outgoing of His nature runs necessarily in these channels, and hence He delights in their display. 2. God delights in the exercise of these principles by man. Were we to gather all the teaching of the New Testament upon practical Christian life together we might fairly reduce it all to these elements of “ loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness.” This is to be made a partaker of the Divine nature, and to imitate Christ. But we cannot do this by our own strength. We need the inspiration and the power of Christ. On the Cross of Calvary God has shown us this most blessed combination in its fullest and most perfect light. (W. Le Pla.) . Jeremiah 11:4 Obey My voice, and do them.Obedience of primary import Much is said about the demoralising effects of army life. Perhaps there is a tendency to moral decline in the army, but one thing about army life is good. It is a good thing to learn the lesson of implicit obedience to properly constituted authority. A Christian must learn this lesson. No man can be a Christian who does not obey God. And why should this be thought a difficult thing? Soldiers do not complain because they are required to obey. The hard thing about a soldier’ s life is to be required to obey an unreasonable and incompetent leader. Many officers are superior to the men in the ranks only in official position. In all other respects they are inferior. But the Christian is never subjected to this sort of humiliation. He has but one Leader. The pastor is not the Master. Christians are all comrades, all brethren, all equal before one Lord. One is yore Master. What He says, we will do. Where He sends, we will go. (Christian Age.) Jeremiah 11:5 Then answered I, and said, So be it, O Lord.The soul’ s “ Amen” Jeremiah was naturally gentle, yielding, and pitiful for the sins and sorrows of his people. Nothing was further from his heart than to “ desire the evil day.” Nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to have played the part of Isaiah in this decadent period of his people’ s history. But what was possible to the great evangelic prophet in the days of Hezekiah was impossible now. In Isaiah’ s case the noblest traditions of the past, the patriotic pride of his people, and the promises of God all pointed in the same direction. But for Jeremiah there was an inevitable divorce between the trend of popular feeling led by the false prophets, and his clear conviction of the Word of God. It must, indeed, have been hard to prove that the prophets were wrong, and he was right; they simply reiterated what Isaiah had said a hundred times. And yet, as he utters the terrible curses and threatenings of Divine justice, and predicts the inevitable fate of his people, he is so possessed with the sense of the Divine rectitude that his soul rises up, and though he must pronounce the doom of Israel, he is forced to answer and say, “ Amen, O Lord!” I. The soul’ s affirmation.1. In Providence. It is not possible at first to say “ Amen” in tones of triumph and ecstasy. Nay, the word is often choked with sobs that cannot be stifled, and soaked with tears that cannot be repressed. And as these words are read by those who lie year after year on beds of constant pain; or by those whose earthly life is tossed upon the sea of anxiety, over which billows of care and turmoil perpetually roll--it is not improbable that they will protest as to the possibility of saying “ Amen” to God’ s providential dealings. In reply, let all such remember that our blessed Lord in the garden was content to put His will upon the side of God. Dare to say “ Amen” to God’ s providential dealings. Say it, though heart and flesh fail; say it, amid a storm of tumultuous feeling, and a rain of tears. “ What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter.” 2. In revelation there are mysteries which baffle the clearest thinkers. It must be so whilst God is God. There is no fathoming line long enough, no parallax fine enough, no standard of mensuration, though the universe itself be taken as our unit, by which to measure God. But though we cannot comprehend, we may affirm the thoughts of God. That we cannot understand is due to the immaturity of our faculties. But when He who has come straight from the realms of eternal day steadfastly affirms that which He knows, and bears witness to what He has seen, we receive His witness and say reverently, “ Amen, Lord!” 3. In judgment. God’ s judgments on the wicked are a great deep. Did we know more of sin, of holiness, of the love of God, of the yearning pleadings of His Spirit with men, we should probably understand better how Jeremiah was able to say, “ Amen, Lord!” II. The ground of the soul’ s peace. “ Yea, Father!” When face to face with the mysteries of the atonement, of substitution and sacrifice, of predestination and election, of the unequal distribution of Gospel light, be sure to turn to God as the Father of light, in whom is no darkness, no shadow of unkindness, no note inconsistent with the music of perfect benevolence. III. The triumph of the affirming soul. “ Amen, Hallelujah!” Mark the addition of “ Hallelujah” to the “ Amen.” Here the Amen, and not often the Hallelujah; there the two--the assent and the consent; the acquiescence and the acclaim; the submission to the win of God, and the triumphant outburst of praise and adoration (Revelation 15:3, R.V.). (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Jeremiah 11:8 They obeyed not.Sins of omission I. The great commonness of sins of omission.1. In a certain sense all offences against the law of God come under the head of sins of omission. Every sin is a breach of the all-comprehensive law, “ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself.” How multitudinous our omissions in respect to this command! Too often we have had other gods beside Him. So, too, in regard to our “ neighbour.” What sins of omission daily occur in our various relationships--our neighbours, our children, our household. 2. Sins of omission are seen in all who neglect to perform the first and all-essential Gospel command: “ Repent and be converted” ; “ Repent and be baptized” ; “ Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” 3. Sins of omission in religious duties. Multitudes neglect the outward worship of God. But others show religious regard; yet what omissions as to prayer; how lax in devotion are the most of us! As to the Bible: left unread! As to service: talents wrapped up in napkin! Our omissions lie upon the horizon of memory like masses of storm clouds accumulating for a horrible tempest. II. The cause of this excessive multiplicity of sins of omission.1. The great cause lies in our evil hearts. Absence of clean heart and right spirit is at the root: “ Ye must be born again.” 2. The conscience of man is not well alive to sins of omission. While conscience will chastise men for direct acts of wrong, not awake to sins of neglect. 3. These sins are multiplied through indolence. In the face of eternity, life, death, heaven, and hell, multitudes are simply ruined because they neglect the great salvation, and are absolutely too idle to concern themselves. 4. Ignorance. With many ignorance is wilful; have Bible, conscience; yet sin against light and knowledge. 5. Men excuse themselves so readily about these sins of omission. A more convenient season is anticipated for repentance, faith, prayer. 6. Many neglect because of the prevalence of the like conduct. To omit to love and serve the Lord is the custom. But enlightened conscience warns us that custom is no excuse for sin: it will be no plea at the bar of God. III. The sinfulness of sins of omission. They cannot be trivial, for--1. Consider what would be the consequences if God were to omit His mercies to us for one moment! Suppose Jesus had left an omission in His plan of salvation; the whole would have failed, and humanity left without remedy or hope. 2. Reflect what an influence they would have upon an ordinary commonwealth. If one person has a right to omit his duty, another has, and all have--watchman, judge, merchant, husbandman; society soon collapse, kingdom break to pieces. 3. Think how you would judge of omissions towards yourselves. In the case of your servant, you instantly resent it. So in a soldier. Even in your child: to neglect your command is regarded as equally criminal as to commit offence. 4. Consider what God thinks of omissions. Saul was ordered to kill the Amalekites--not one to escape: he saved Agag and best of the cattle; therefore the Lord said, “ I have put thee away from being king over Israel!” Ahab was commanded to kill Benhadad on account of great criminality: Ahab only captured him; therefore, “ Because thou hast let this man go, thy life shall be for his life!” The man with one talent was condemned because he neglected to sue it. IV. The result and punishment of sins of omission.1. They will condemn us. “ The King shall say, I was hungered and ye gave Me no meat,” etc. The absence of virtue rather than the presence of vice condemned them. “ Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” 2. If persevered in, they will effectually shut against us the possibilities of pardon. “ He that believeth not” --is there pardon, rescue for him? No; he “ is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the Son of God.” Will the mercy of God blot out sins uurepented of? Nay; sins will cling to us as the leprosy to the house of Gehazi. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 11:9 And the Lord said unto me, A conspiracy is found A sad relapse 1. The prophet calls the people’ s relapse a plot or conspiracy; thereby suggesting, perhaps, the secrecy with which the prohibited worships were at first revived, and the intrigues of the unfaithful nobles and priests and prophets, in order to bring about a reversal of the policy of reform. 2. The word further means a bond, which is the exact antithesis of the covenant with Jehovah, and it implies that this bond has about it a fatal strength and permanence, involving as its necessary consequence the ruin of the nation. Breaking covenant with Jehovah meant making a covenant with other gods. If you have broken faith with God in Christ, it is because you have entered into an agreement with another; it is because you have surrendered to the proposals of the tempter, and preferred his promises to the promises of God. (C. J. Ball, M. A.) Jeremiah 11:14 Therefore pray not thou for this people. Futile prayers It is futile to pray for those who have deliberately cast off the covenant of Jehovah and made a covenant with His adversary. Prayer cannot save, nothing can save, the impenitent; and there is a state of mind, in which one’ s own prayer is turned into sin; the state of mind in which a man prays, merely to appease God, and escape the fire, but without a thought of forsaking sin, without the faintest aspiration after holiness. There is a degree of guilt upon which sentence is already passed, which is “ unto death,” and for which prayer is interdicted alike by the prophet of the new and of the old covenant. (C. J. Ball, M. A.) Jeremiah 11:21 Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that thou die not by our hand. Intimidating the prophet Think of Bunyan when he is brought before the judge, and the judge says, “ You! a tinker! to go about preaching! Hold your tongue, sir!” “ I cannot hold my tongue,” says Bunyan. “ Then I must send you back to prison unless you promise never to preach again.” “ If you put me in prison till the moss grows on my eyelids, I will preach again the first moment I get out, by the help of God.” (Life of John Bunyan.) Intimidators put to silence:--There is the story of a conversation between the burgomaster in Hamburg and holy Dr. Ducken when he first began to preach. The burgomaster said to him, “ Do you see that little finger, sir? While I can move that little finger, I will put the Baptists down.” Mr. Ducken said, “ With all respect to your little finger, Mr. Burgomaster, I would ask you another question. Do you see that arm?” “ No, I do not see it.” “ Just so,” said Mr. Ducken, “ but I do; and while that great arm moves, you cannot put us down, and if it comes to a conflict between your little finger and that great arm, I know how it will end.” It was my great joy to see the burgomaster sitting in the chapel at Hamburg, among the audience that listened to my sermon at the opening of the new chapel. The little finger had willingly given up its opposition, and the great arm was made bare. (C. H. Spurgeon.) . Jeremiah 12:1-6 Righteous art Thou, O Lord, when I plead with Thee.Communion with God in affliction I. Why God sees fit to afflict His children by the dispensations of His providence.1. God sometimes afflicts His children to reclaim them from their delusions in religion. They are naturally bent to backsliding. 2. God sometimes afflicts His children to try their sincerity, and give them an opportunity of knowing their own hearts. 3. God sometimes afflicts His children for the purpose of displaying the beauty and excellence of true religion before the eyes of the world. In some cases, at least, we can hardly discover any other important end to be answered by afflicting His peculiar friends, than this, of displaying their superior virtue and piety. II. Why they are disposed to converse with Him under His afflicting hand.1. Because they want to know why He afflicts them. 2. They wish to know how they should feel and conduct themselves in their afflicted state. 3. They desire to obtain Divine support and consolation. III. What methods they take to converse with God in time of trouble.1. By meditating upon the history of His providence. 2. By reviewing the course of His conduct towards themselves through all the past scenes and stages of their lives. 3. By prayer, while they are suffering His fatherly chastisements. For this they are greatly prepared, by musing on His past and present dispensations towards themselves and others. These fill their mouths with arguments, and constrain them to draw near to God, and make known their wants and desires, their hopes and fears. This subject may teach the children of God-- (1) to restrain their unreasonable expectations of outward prosperity in the present life. (2) That adversity may be much more beneficial to them than prosperity. (3) This subject exhibits a peculiar and distinguishing mark of grace, by which everyone may determine whether he is or is not a real child of God. It is the habitual disposition of the true children of God to converse with Him from day to day, under all the various dispensations of His providence. (N. Emmons, D. D.) Let me talk with Thee of Thy judgments. The judgments of God a lawful subject of human study and consideration 1. It is lawful for the saints to enter into the mystery of Divine providence. Providence is the work of God. In its movement we may discern the actings of the Almighty, and if we are properly attentive to it, we may trace the marks of His power, wisdom, faithfulness, goodness, and holiness. 2. The saints are permitted to use familiarity with God in these inquiries. He permits them to state their objections, and to make replies to His answers, to plead with Him, in the language of our text. “ Let us plead together,” says He, “ put Me in remembrance,” state your objections to any part of My conduct, “ declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.” Wonderful condescension! 3. It is of the first importance in the inquiries into the dispensations of Providence, that we retain on our spirits an abiding sense of the essential moral attributes of the Disposer of events. (T. M’ Crie, D. D.) Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?--The reasons why the wicked are permitted to prosper I. It discovers the ingratitude of the human heart, and shows the monstrous abuse which men often make of the Divine goodness. Wealth and influence, power and dominion, are the gifts of God, and if suitably improved, are valuable talents. They give individuals many opportunities of being extensively useful, and of doing much good. But, when influence and power are made subservient to gratify the pride, the vanity, and ambition of the sons of men, they are to be accounted the greatest evil. Yet, it will not be denied, that these are sometimes the sad effects which they have produced upon particular individuals. Have not some been guilty of oppression and tyranny, of plunder and robbery, of cruelty and murder? I acknowledge that it is natural enough to wish for prosperity and affluence, power and influence; but, if these blessings were to have the same effect upon us which they have produced in others, would we not account them the greatest curse with which we could be visited? But, though prosperity may not have so shocking an influence upon us as upon some others, if it should minister to covetousness, is it not to be dreaded? Are not these the dispositions which it sometimes excites? Instead of enlarging the heart, and making it more liberal, does it not render men sometimes narrow and contracted? Is not this defeating the end of providence, and perverting its gifts? II. To be the means of chastising the rest of mankind. They are allowed to gratify their own bad passions, that they may inflict that punishment upon their fellow creatures which their irreligion and wickedness deserve. Though we may flatter ourselves that we do not merit correction at the hands of men, none will maintain that we do not deserve it at the hand of God. Have we not been froward and undutiful children? God hath told us, in His Word, that He doth not willingly grieve the children of men; but, when correction becomes necessary, a principle of affection leads Him to inflict it. He hath often made wicked men the instruments of His vengeance, to bring His people back to their duty, and to make them learn righteousness. III. To aggravate their guilt and to heighten their condemnation. God often setteth the wicked on high and slippery places, that He may bring them down suddenly, and make their fall the greater. They may move heaven and earth with their ambition, and think that their mountain standeth strong; when, lo! their feet are made to stumble upon the dark mountains, and they go down to the silent grave, where there is neither work, wisdom, knowledge, nor device. IV. That we may hold higher in esteem those good men who make their wealth and influence subservient to the glory of God and to the happiness of mankind. Blessed be God, there are not a few, who, instead of abusing their prosperity, employ it for the benefit of their fellow creatures! So far from gratifying their pride, and indulging in luxury, they exert themselves to promote works of industry and charity. They are ready to deny themselves particular enjoyments, that they may contribute to the comfort of those around them. Instead of being selfish and worldly, they are humane and generous. What a blessing is prosperity, when it is the means of doing good! Our goodness, it is true, cannot extend to God, and He can receive no benefit from it; but it may be exercised towards His necessitous creatures, and He considers a kind office done to them as done to Himself. V. That those in inferior circumstances may be thankful and contented with the situation in which God hath placed them. Perhaps you are apt to envy those who live in ease and plenty. But are you aware of the temptations to which prosperous and rich men are exposed, and into which they are too apt to fall? What if affluence should lead you to indulge in pride and vanity, and make you think of yourselves above what you ought to think? What if it should attach you so much to the world, as in a great measure to overlook eternity altogether? Oh, never appear dissatisfied with your condition, or give way to discontent. The very meanest have cause for gratitude, because they have still more than they deserve. Let all of us aspire after being poor in spirit and heirs of the kingdom of God! This is the true riches, of which none can possibly deprive us. (D. Johnston, D. D.) The prosperity of bad men and adversity of good men accounted for I. Wicked men, how prosperous soever their outward condition in this life, are not in reality so happy as we are apt to imagine. The reason why those wicked men that prosper in the world are reckoned happy is, because the generality of men entertain a wrong notion of happiness. They fancy it consists in having abundance of riches. Whatever real satisfaction or comfort riches can afford, we are bound by the frame of our nature to seek after that satisfaction. But in reality do we not often see health of body, tranquillity of mind, dwelling in a cottage, whilst bodily pains and restless anxieties fly daily about the palaces of kings? Which shows that happiness is something distinct from riches, something which riches alone can never give us. II. Supposing the wicked men are more happy, and meet with less trouble than other men, let us inquire upon what accounts God almighty may permit this, consistently with the character of a wise, just, and good Governor of the world. Besides the moral enjoyment which springs from virtue only, there are other delights accruing to us from the possession of riches, honour, and secular power. Of these, many wicked men have a greater portion than the virtuous.1. And the reason is, because some good men are weak in their judgments, and imprudent or indolent in managing their secular affairs; which exposes them to many inconveniences, and hinders their rising in the world. Now, if we ask why the Almighty permits this to the disadvantage of good men, it is the same as if we should ask why He made men free agents. The disadvantages virtuous men labour under at present, will doubtless be recompensed, one day or other, by the just and merciful Governor of the world. In the meantime, the solid pleasure they enjoy as the immediate consequence of their goodness, is surely preferable to any external advantages the wicked may procure themselves by their superior cunning and sagacity. 2. Another reason why God may permit wicked men to prosper in the world seems to be the natural effect of His overflowing goodness. He would give them more time for repentance. 3. Perhaps another reason why the Supreme Being withholds some temporal benefits from good men, which the wicked possess, may be, because He foresees they will prove hurtful to them. Alteration of circumstances often creates a change of manners. And there are some tempers which, I believe, would keep steady to virtue in a scene of adversity, and yet run into open and extreme degrees of vice in a scene of prosperity. II. The objection in the text should not in reason make us entertain any dishonourable thought of the Divine dispensations, but rather teach us to infer the reasonableness and necessity of a future state. To know the justness of any scheme, it is necessary to be acquainted with all its parts, and all their mutual relations. How, then, can we determine every particular in the scheme of Providence, of which we must confess ourselves utterly ignorant? Should a man take upon him to condemn a well wrought tragedy by only reading one of its scenes, without considering how it was interwoven with the main plot and contrivance of the work, would he not be justly blamed for his partiality! And is not he more inexcusably partial, who censures the beautiful drama of the Divine government, without knowing the secret contrivance by which it is carried on? I shall only add one observation more to justify Providence against the objection in the text, which is, that we are frequently mistaken who are really good, and who otherwise; and, consequently, are very incompetent judges when men are equitably dealt by. (N. Ball.) The prosperity of the wicked I. When you are repining at the prosperity of the wicked, and feel a consequent inclination to relax from your faith in Christ, remember that, in the revelation through Jesus Christ, we are nowhere led to expect that the wicked shall not be prosperous here. “ Ye will not come to Me that ye may have life,” was the remonstrance of our Saviour. “ This do, and thou shalt live,” the injunction everywhere implied:--live,--not amidst the joys of this transitory scene, but at the right hand of God forever! The treasures of earth were never mentioned by Him to the faithful, but to guard them against their danger, and remind them of a “ treasure in heaven.” Christ knew the natural opposition of worldly prosperity to the lowly virtues of the Gospel; and, earnest for the everlasting interests of men, guarded them against the desire of things, the possession of which might be fatal:--and, if men would, by ways unwarranted by God, seek what God had forbidden, it was at the double peril of disobeying His commands, and disregarding His counsels. II. The Gospel has not only forbidden us to be surprised, or envious, at the prosperity of the wicked, but has positively shown us that a life of tribulation for Jesus’ sake is the proper passport to heaven. Nothing can be so glorious as the scenes which the Gospel has opened to our faith; but nothing so solemn as those through which we must pass to reach them. We are, in this life, in a state of dangerous apostasy from God: and the glare of prosperity is a light but very ill suited for us to behold. The sufferings of our Lord are held out to our view, that, “ looking unto Jesus,” who “ left us an example, that we should follow His steps,” we might take up our cross to do it. Why, then, do you ask, does the way of the wicked prosper? Why, rather ought ye to ask, should the believer in Christ repine at it? Why should he sigh for a state the very opposite to that in which His Saviour walked, and, if gained by sin, gained by means which brought that Saviour to the Cross, and would now open His wounds afresh? III. Another argument which I would use, to check repining at the outward prosperity of sin, is, that it is, at best, extremely overrated, and its nature very ill understood. It is by no means true that prosperity is confined to “ the treacherous dealer and the wicked.” God has indeed told us, that, to enter into His kingdom, we must meet with opposition, wrestle with contending evils, and pass the time of our sojourning here in fear. But the path, even to temporal blessings, is open to the believer in Christ, though He commands us not to make them the object of our ambition, nor expect them as the consequences of our faith. But, even were this not so, were prosperity confined to sin alone, we surely mistake its nature if its attractions dazzle us, and think but imperfectly of God if we mistrust His goodness. He has not so balanced the good and evil, of this life as to make every attraction and every joy lie on the side of sin. “ There is no peace to the wicked.” “ They may live in affluence,--but it is not peace. They may live in indolence,--but it is not peace.” They may live in thoughtlessness,--but it is not peace. It is not that peace which a God of everlasting mercy can bestow, of which the soul of man, that was made for God, is capable, and for which it unceasingly longs. In talking of that peace of God, we talk of what it is impossible for those who have not experienced it to conceive. IV. But the comprehensive argument, which closes at once all discussion and all doubts, is the disclosure and adjustment of all the ways of God in the great day of general retribution. If there be a subject of contemplation sublimer than another, or completely interesting to the soul of reasonable man, it is surely the thought of being led hereafter to behold all the glorious works of the great and eternal God:--to see how, through all the amazing vicissitudes of time, He has conducted the affairs of worlds on worlds; and kept distinct, through all the crossings and confusions of myriads of foes, the strait and narrow path to heaven:--how from the jarring elements He reared the goodly frame of nature, and settled it in peace; and, uniting the still more jarring passions and infidel contentions of mankind, made all conspire to His eternal glory, and cooperate for the universal good! (G. Mathew, M. A.) Jeremiah 12:2 Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.God comes nearer to the hearts of His people in their duties than He doth to any hypocritical or formal professor By God’ s nearness we understand not His omnipresence (that neither comes nor goes), nor His love to His people (that abides), but the sensible, sweet manifestations and outlets of it to their souls (Psalms 145:18). Note the limitation of this glorious privilege; it is the peculiar enjoyment of sincere and upright-hearted worshippers.1. Sincere souls are sensible of God’ s accesses to them in their duties, they feel His approaches to their spirits (Lamentations 3:57). The heart fills apace, the empty thoughts swell with a fulness of spiritual things, which strive for vent. 2. They are sensible of God’ s withdrawment from their spirits; they feel how the ebb follows the flood, and how the waters abate (Son 5:6). 3. The Lord’ s nearness to the hearts and reins of His people in their duties is evident to them from the effects that it leaves upon their spirits. For look, as it is with the earth and plants, with respect to the approach or remove of the sun in the spring and autumn, so it is here as Christ speaks (Luke 21:29). (1) A real taste of the joy of the Lord is here given to men, the fulness whereof is in heaven; hence called (2 Corinthians 1:22), “ The earnest of His Spirit.” And in 1 Peter 1:8, glorified joy, or a short salvation. (2) A mighty strength and power coming into their soul, and actuating all its faculties and graces. When God comes near, new powers enter the soul; the feeble is as David (Psalms 138:3). (3) A remarkable transformation and change of spirit follows it. The sight of God, the felt presence of God, is as fire, which quickly assimilates what is put into it to its own likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18). (4) A vigorous working of the heart heavenward; a mounting of the soul upward. Infer--1. Then certainly there is a heaven and a state of glory for the saints. 2. But, oh! what is heaven? And what that state of glory reserved for the saints? Doth a glimpse of God’ s presence in a duty go down to the heart and reins? Oh, how unutterable, then, must that be which is seen and felt above, where God comes as near to man as can be! (Revelation 22:3-4.) 3. See hence the necessity of casting these very bodies into a new mould by their resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:41). 4. Is God so near to His people above all others in the world? How good is it to be near to them that are so near to God: 5. If God be so near to the heart and reins of His people in their duties, oh, how assiduous should they be in their duties! 6. What steady Christians should all real Christians be! For lo, what a seal and witness hath religion in the breast of every sincere professor of it! (John Flavel.) Jeremiah 12:5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? The heroism of endurance Jeremiah had to pay the price of singularity. He had to learn not only to do without the sweet incense of popular favour, but also to stand unflinching even when it turned into the hot breath of hatred. He had to submit not only to be without friends, but to see friends become foes. This experience through which the prophet passed is a cruel one It either makes a man or mars him, and nearly always hardens him. It creates an indignation, a holy anger sometimes against men, sometimes against the strange, untoward state of affairs, sometimes against God. Jeremiah here is kicking against the pricks which have wounded the feet of men for centuries: how to account for the fact that in a world governed by a righteous God righteousness should often have to suffer so much. His indignant soul, on fire for justice, cries out that it ought not to be so. Jeremiah’ s wherefore about the wicked is really a why about himself. Why am I bared to the blast in following Thy will and performing Thy command? why are tears and strife my portion? why am I wearied out and left desolate, though I am fighting the Lord’ s battle? That is the prophet’ s real complaint. Notice the answer, surely the strangest and most inconsequent ever given. The complaint is answered by a counter-complaint. Jeremiah’ s charge against God of injustice is met by God’ s charge against Jeremiah of weakness. “ If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? Though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet how wilt thou do (O faint-hearted one!) in the pride of Jordan?” The “ pride of Jordan” means the dangerous ground by the river, where the heat is almost tropical and the vegetation is rank. It is jungle, tangled bush wherein wild beasts lurk, leopards and wolves and (at that time also) lions. The answer to the complaint against the hardness of his lot is just the assertion that it shall be harder still. Does it seem an unfeeling answer? It was the answer Jeremiah needed. He needed to be braced, not pampered. He is taught the need of endurance. Only a heroic soul could do the heroic work needed by Israel and by God; and it was the greatest heroism of all which was needed, the heroism of endurance. Nothing worth doing can be done in this world without something of that iron resolution. It is the spirit which never knows defeat, which cannot be worn out, which has taken its stand and refuses to move. This is the “ patience” about which the Bible is full; not the sickly counterfeit which so often passes for patience, but the power to bear, to suffer, to sacrifice, to endure all things, to die, harder still, sometimes, to continue to live. The whole world teaches that patience. Inch by inch each advance has to be gained, fought for, paid for, kept. It is the lesson of all history also, both for the individual and for a body of men who have espoused any cause. Christ’ s Church has survived through her power to endure. The mustard seed, planted with tears and watered with blood, stood the hazard of every storm, gripped tenaciously the soil, twining its roots round the rocks, reared its head ever a little higher, and spread out its branches ever a little fuller, and when the tempest came held on for very life; and then, never hasting, never resting, went on in the Divine task of growing; and at last became the greatest of trees, giving shelter to the birds of the air in its wide-spreading branches. It is the same secret of success for the individual spiritual life. “ In your patience ye shall win your soul. This method is utterly opposed to the world’ s method of insuring success, which is by self-assertion, aggressive action, force for force, blow for blow. Patience, not violence, is the Christian’ s safety Even if all else be lost it saves the soul, the true life. It gives fibre to the character. It purifies the heart, as gold in the furnace. What do we know of this heroic endurance? In our fight with temptation, in our warfare against all forms of evil, have we used our Master’ s watchword, and practised our Master’ s scheme? Think of our temptation in the matter of foreign missions, for example. We are easily made faint-hearted about it. We say that results are disproportionate to the effort; or rather (for that is not true) we are overpowered by the vastness of the work. If we find our small attempt a burden, how can we face the vaster problem of making the kingdoms of this world the kingdom of God and His Christ? If we are wearied in our race with footmen, how can we contend with horses? We are so easily dispirited, not only in Christian enterprise, but also in personal Christian endeavour. We are so soon tempted to give up. We need some iron in our blood. We need to be braced to the conflict again. We need the noble scorn of consequence. What have we done, the best of us, for God or for man? (Hugh Black.) Testing questions The text may be applied to-- I. Duties. If in the ordinary duties of life you have been wearied, how will you be able to meet the higher and special duties to which you may be called? Manfully and courageously face these, and then you may hope to meet the others with strength equal to their performance. II. Trials. If the trials which are common to man tax your patience, how will you do when called to pass through extraordinary? Do not give way under these, but endure them without shrinking, then when the Job-like trials come, you may bear them as he did. III. Temptations. If those, common to man, have taxed your strength, and led you to complain of their severity, how will you do when special and more than ordinary temptations come upon you? Resist the devil in the first temptation, and you will be better able to resist him in the second, and so on. IV. Troubles. Do the ripples on the waters of the sea of life affect you, then how will you do when the surges of the tempest come upon you? Do the dark clouds of the sky frighten you, then how will you feel when the lurid lightning and terrible thunders fill the heavens? (J. Bate.) Comparative estimate of trials I. The unhappy disposition which shows itself in many persons to disquiet themselves unduly on account of comparatively small trials. That man should, under any circumstances, seek to become his own tormentor is a singular anomaly, and strikingly proves how sin infatuates the human mind. The desire of happiness is a native and universal feeling in the breast. We do not assert that men are required to stifle all natural feeling, and to maintain a stoical apathy in reference to what we term “ inferior trials.” The inconveniences and lighter evils of life must be felt. One person is seen to brood over what is called “ the badness of the times” : another is in trouble, because his mercantile or household affairs are disarranged through the unfaithfulness of servants or dependants: a third is unhappy because the tongue of slander has gone forth against him: and a fourth is out of sorts because he had ardently aspired at something which he has failed to obtain. It is observable, moreover, that persons are often wont to complain in connection with those very points where they have the least possible ground for complaint. This man makes a trial of a bad speculation in trade, though his barns are filled with plenty, and his presses burst out with new wine; and that man makes a trial of certain domestic irregularities, while, in the main, he is thickly encompassed with domestic mercies. II. The bearing which the disposition or propensity of which we have spoken, has upon the real afflictions of life, as well as upon the soul’ s spiritual conflict.1. In the natural course of things we may expect that man to be ill prepared for a season of sorrow, who is wont to fret and disquiet himself on common and frequently recurring occasions. The mind which is not inured to salutary discipline will, sooner or later, be found an enemy to its own peace. 2. But let us take higher ground, and view the subject in a spiritual light. In the case of the true believer, we cannot, for a moment, doubt that God designs every circumstance which befalls him, however minute, and every trial which comes upon him, however slight, to work for his good. Neither can we doubt that this gracious design is answered or defeated, according to the disposition of mind in which either comforts or crosses are received. 3. All the crosses and inconveniences of life should have the effect of sending the Christian to a throne of grace. No circumstance which threatens to harass the mind is too trivial to be carried to God in prayer, with a view to the obtaining of that assistance which is promised for every time of need. It will seldom, however, be found that persons who yield to the habit of magnifying inferior evils, and discomposing their minds with comparatively trifling occurrences, will see fit to pray for a right spirit in connection with these things, and for grace suited to the occasion. The consequence of the omission can hardly fail to be experienced in the darker day of adversity, when large supplies of strength are needed, and when increased exertion is called for. 4. In spiritual as well as in providential dispensations, the lesser has its bearing upon the greater. A propensity to be discouraged or alarmed, if perchance an envenomed dart is, now and then, hurled from Satan’ s quiver, or if a cloud occasionally overcasts the soul’ s experience, is by no means a desirable preparative for that severer discipline of the life of grace, with which few of the Lord’ s people are entirely unacquainted. Lessons--1. The language of Divine reproof should put every Christian upon serious and faithful self-examination. 2. It is well, in a certain way, to anticipate seasons of heavy affliction. Think how soon health may be interrupted, friends removed, schemes defeated, and hopes forever blasted! Such thoughts, if sanctified in answer to prayer, will have a happy effect upon the general character of your experience. 3. Seasons of intense suffering are often made occasions of signal interpositions in behalf of God’ s people. Your emergency shall prove your Heavenly Father’ s opportunity; your heaviest trials shall be made the marked occasions of your realising the greatness of His power, and the intensity of His love. 4. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which imparts to the gloomy foliage of this wilderness world every particle of the radiance with which it is tinged. To see in Christ Jesus, the foundation of our every hope, the source of our strength, the channel of our consolations, the vitality of every spiritual principle and movement in our souls,--this is truly to know Him as “ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (W. Knight, M. A.) The Christian’ s triumph One of the greatest battles on record was fought and won, seven hundred years ago, by the merchants and artisans of Brussels against the arms of France. Reduced by famine to the greatest straits, the city one evening opened her beleaguered gates, not to admit the enemy, but that such as were able to carry arms might march out--to make their last throw in the bloody game of war. The night, which was falling down when they came in sight of the banners and tents of France, was spent by their enemies in riot and carousings. It was spent by these wise, brave burghers in seeking rest for tomorrow’ s fight; and by their leaders, in making the most skilful arrangements. The men of Brussels rose with the dawn, and took what was to some, and might be to all, their last earthly meal. Knowing that they, a few rude townsmen, had no chance against the magnificent host of France unless God helped the fight for home, and wife, and children, and liberty, they cried to heaven for help. Every man made confession, and received the rites administered to the dying. The solemn service concluded, they rose from their knees; closed their ranks; levelled their pikes; and wheeling round so as to throw the glare of the sun in the eyes of the enemy, came down on their lines an avalanche of steel. The charge was irresistible. They bore cuirass and knightly lance before them; and these base-born traders scattered the chivalry of France, like smoke before the wind, and chaff before the whirlwind. This story illustrates a remarkable saying of one who fought many battles, and seldom, if ever, lost any. Asked to what he attributed his remarkable success, he replied, I owe it, under God, to this, that I made it a rule never to despise an enemy. To what warfare is this rule so applicable as to the Christian’ s; to the battles of the faith; to those conflicts which the believer is called to wage with Satan, the world, and the flesh? In spiritual matters we are, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and of the Word of God, to steer right between the two; and, to help you forward in this safe and blessed course, let me explain and answer the question of the text. I. Man is less a match for Satan now than when Satan, at their first encounter, proved himself more than a match for man. The bravest soldiers hang back from the breach, where, as it belches forth fire and smoke, they have seen the flower of the army fall; mowed down like grass. The bravest seamen dread the storm which has wrecked, with the stout ship, the gallant lifeboat that had gone to save its crew; men saying, If with her brave hands and buoyant power she, whelmed among the waves, could not live in such a sea, what chance for common craft? And what chance for us where our first parents perished? how can guilt stand where innocence fell? Hope there is none for us out of Christ. II. If we were overcome by sin ere it had grown into strength, we are now less able to resist it. Fallen though we are, there remains a purity, modesty, ingenuousness, and tenderness of conscience, about childhood, that looks as if the glory of Eden yet lingered over it, like the light of day on hilltops at even, when the sun is down. It has wrung our heart, as we looked on some lost and loathsome creature--the pest of society, and the shame of her sex--to think of the days when she was a smiling infant in a mother’ s happy arms, or, ignorant of evil, lisped long-forgotten prayers at a mother’ s knee; when her voice rose in the psalms of family worship, or of the house of God, like the song of a seraph in the skies. Alas! “ How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed!” Justifying this sad description, “ The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies,” --alas, how soon does sin cloud life’ s brightest dawn! If we were no match for the cub, how shall we conquer the grown lion? If we had not strength to pull out the sapling, how are we to root up the tree? Every new act of sin casts up an additional impediment in our way of return to virtue, and to God; until that which was once only a molehill swells into a mountain that nothing can remove, but the faith at whose bidding mountains are removed, and cast into the depths of the sea. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. III. Show how these difficulties are to be overcome. The Spirit and the flesh, grace and nature, heavenly and earthly influences, are sometimes so fairly balanced, that like a ship with wind and tide acting on her with equal power, but in opposite directions, the believer makes no progress in the Divine life. He loses headway. He does not become worse, but he grows no better; and it is all he can do to hold his own. Sometimes, indeed, he loses ground; falling into old sins. Temptation comes like a roaring sea squall, and, finding him asleep at his post, drives him backward on his course; and farther now from heaven than once he was, he has to pray, Heal my backsliding, renew me graciously, love me freely--For Thy name’ s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. Are we never to grow fit for heaven? is our hope of it but a pious dream, a beautiful delusion? Daily called to contend with temptation, the battle often goes against us; in these passions, and tempers, and old habits, the sons of Zeruiah are too strong for us. Not that we do not fight. That startling cry, “ The Philistines are on thee, Samson!” rouses us; we make some little fight; but too often resisting only to be conquered, we are ready to give up the struggle, saying, It is useless; and like Saul in Gilboa’ s battle, to throw away sword and shield. We would; but that, cheered by a voice from above, and sustained by hope in God’ s grace and mercy, we can turn to our souls to say, Why art thou cast down, my soul; why is my spirit disquieted within me?--rise; resume thy arms; renew the combat; never surrender--Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance, and my God. (T. Guthrie, D. D.) Fearful odds I. The troubles of the mind in this life are often sharp and bitter, enough to tax its powers to the seeming limit of endurance. When the mind looks back upon its past history, views its present state, and anticipates its future destiny, and finds in them respectively occasions of regret, shame, and alarm, it is filled with acute suffering. And if this survey is directed to its moral condition and relations, if it is led to view itself as endowed with a capacity to know and choose good and evil, as having its being under the government of God, bound to obey His laws, and liable to answer at His throne for all its faults and offences, it tastes the bitterness of an accusing conscience, and is stung with keen remorse, and agitated with horrible dread. Yet, in such moments of unwonted moral illumination, we do but guess of that which shortly shall be. What the eye then sees, it sees, after all, but “ through a glass darkly.” And oh! if the glimpse be so horrible, what shall be the naked vision? If such periods be so rich in suffering, what shall be the eternity they foreshadow? For memory is now exceedingly imperfect, and self-knowledge partial, and the horrors of the prospect before us mitigated by the medium of future opportunity and preparation, through which they are seen. Time covers up much of our wickedness from ourselves; and self-love and the “ deceitfulness of sin” so ten the ugliness of our faults; and futurity presents a thousand avenues of escape, and “ convenient seasons” of reformation. Thus we now have resorts and refuges whither we can betake ourselves from the arrows of conscience. Then, oh! “ if in this land of peace wherein we trust,” --wherein there is so much in which the soul may confide, so much to stay it up, and give it quietness in reference to its controversy and reckoning with God,--we find the sense of our sinfulness and the apprehensions of wrath too much for us, a wearisome “ burden too heavy to be borne,” what, oh! what “ shall we do in the swelling of Jordan,” when “ the waters shall overflow our hiding places” ? And if “ a wounded spirit we cannot bear,” now, while there are so many nostrums of our own to soothe its pains, while there is a sovereign balm at hand to heal it, and a good Physician near to bind it up; how, oh! how shall we endure its smart, when “ indignation shall vex it as a thing that is raw” beneath its own eye; and the eye of God, shining into it with an insufferable brightness, shall give it a keen sense of what it has been, is, and shall be, and all the universe cannot afford it a covert, or a balsam to assuage its agony? II. The body has its pains, too, in this life, and they are many and exquisite. We are “ fearfully” as well as “ wonderfully made,” compacted of an infinite number of frail, delicate, and sensitive fibres, which are broken and lacerated by very trivial causes and accidents. What, then, may be the sufferings of which an immortal and “ spiritual body” may be capable? And how intolerable the anguish, of which the refined and exquisite texture of that indestructible and everlasting organisation which awaits us at the resurrection, may be susceptible! III. We are here forced to endure distresses of estate, of outward and relative situation. Here is one who wears the outward paraphernalia of consequence and prosperity, but there is a worm gnawing at the heart of his happiness. There is some hidden mischief that spoils all; some vicious, or sickly, or idiot child, it may be, some wayward spirit in his family, some “ root of bitterness” in his domestic circumstances, which men either do not see, or justly estimate, that poisons all his good things. Yonder is a man who might be happy, if there were not so many above him in society, whose level he cannot reach. A little matter will suffice to destroy the sweetness of a thousand blessings. Now, if we find it so hard to bear the inconveniences and annoyances of this life, where is the strength to endure the discomforts of a situation in a world, where all the society is vile and malignant, “ hateful, and hating one another,” and all the circumstances fraught with nothing but mortification, disgrace, restraint, impotent desire, ineffectual effort, and hopeless resistance? Oh! then, let the exhaustion and vexation wherewith our Omnipotent Antagonist makes known His power in the milder visitings of His displeasure that reach us this side the grave, persuade us to leave off our mad rebellion, and seek a timely peace. (R. A. Hallam, D. D.) Gradations of trial I. To those who are discouraged by trifling difficulties, in the service of God. To renounce Christian service because of its difficulties, is to faint among the footmen, and ultimately to contend with the horses. For how will it be when awakened conscience, with its multiplied rebukes, assails thee? How wilt thou assuage the mourning over lost opportunities, and the deep remorse called up by the retrospect of a wasted life? II. To those who succumb to but feeble temptations. Take the case of one who has recently fallen into the commission of sin--open, known sin. The inducements to commit the great transgression were not powerful in themselves, but the unhappy victim was ensnared almost without resistance; perhaps from want of vigilance, or it may have been through desperate carelessness. The circumstances may even have proved favourable for a triumph over the powers of darkness. A few urgent cries for deliverance would have been successful, escape was close at hand, but the effort, alas! was not made, or feebly made; and now the memory of that sin haunts the conscience, destroys the peace, and embitters all the joys of life. Falling thus easily into the wiles of Satan, what will become of you when he cometh in like a flood? How will you endure when resistance must be unto blood striving against sin? In that hour, unless the heart be established by grace, you will be driven like chaff from the threshing floor. Or, take the case of the young man who, while yet in his father’ s house, surrounded by all the amenities of domestic love, and sheltered by the sanctions of a Christian home, has fallen, nevertheless, into sinful habits. What will become of him when all these restraints are removed? III. To those who sink under light afflictions. It is not insensibility which is required of us, because there can be no courage in bearing what we do not feel; nor are we to sink into despair in the hour of suffering, because that would sacrifice the virtue of the trial. The happy medium is prescribed (Hebrews 12:5). It is, however, a very narrow pathway this, between too much and too little feeling of Divine chastisement. There is too much sensibility when we are rendered incapable of the worship of God, or are thrown out of sympathy with our fellow men, or when we are utterly absorbed in sorrow to the neglect of all the pressing claims of duty. There is too little feeling of Divine chastisement when we are not, by its agency brought to faithful heart searching, and to anxious inquiry respecting the purpose of our Heavenly Father in the correction. Let us look at all our trials as opportunities of personal advantage. The exercise of patience is of itself a grand moral lesson. To be joyous in tribulation is greater grace than to be zealous in the time of strength. It may help us in the season of depression and suffering to compare our condition with that of others. The most accumulated of distresses, the strangest combination of griefs, will not make us the worst off in the world. Least of all can we count our sorrows against His “ who gave Himself an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.” We can also in the midst of all afflictions anticipate the rapidly approaching hour of deliverance. We shall presently cast off all earth’ s calamities as the drops of a summer shower that have scarcely penetrated through our garments. IV. To those who are not profiting by favourable providences. One of the later Latin poets has an apologue on the missing of opportunity worthy of our attention. A visitor to the studio of Phidias having inspected the statues of the different deities, inquired the name of one unknown object. It had winged feet,--to show how swiftly it flies; its features were covered with hair,--because, when approaching the spectator, it is rarely identified; it was bald behind,--because when once gone none can seize upon it;--closely following at its heels was a slavish form. The first is Opportunity,--the last Repentance. Men miss the goddess Opportunity, and fall into the arms of Repentance. “ So are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.” (W. G. Lewis.) The progressive trials in life’ s mission The preceding verses display two things in the spiritual history of the prophet, which good men in all ages have often deeply felt--1. An apparent incongruity between a fundamental article of religious belief, and the common facts of society. The righteousness of God he grasped with the tenacity of an earnest faith, it lay as the basis of all his religious views; and yet the facts of society, everywhere, seemed to contradict it. He saw, on all hands, the wicked prosperous and happy. 2. An incongruity between the fundamental spirit of religion and the passing feelings of the moment. The underlying spirit of religion is love; love to God and love to man--love even to enemies; but the prophet here expresses feelings in direct opposition to this spirit. How does he feel towards these wicked men? Commiseration? No, vengeance! Now, the text must be regarded as a gentle but impressive reproof, addressed by the great God to the prophet, for his want of forbearance and self-control. I. The trials in life’ s mission are of various degrees of power in the history of the same man.1. None ever sailed the sea of mortal life and found every wind and tide propitious, the ocean always calm, and the horizon ever bright. But we are to speak of trials of a certain class, not the trials which come upon a man independent of his conduct, such as physical pain, bereavement, etc.; rather of such as are connected with the prosecution of his duties,--the trials of endeavour. 2. Every man has a mission; and every man who endeavours to fulfil it will meet with trials. (1) There are trials in the endeavour to get knowledge. These obstruct the child in studying his alphabet, and the sage in grappling with the last problem. (2) There are trials in the endeavour to get a living. (3) There are trials in the endeavour to get moral excellence. (4) There are trials in his endeavour to serve his age. What stolid ignorance--what warping prejudices--what base habits--what moral obtuseness--what indifference, ingratitude, and sometimes malignity! II. The man who fails to contend successfully with the lesser trials, will not be able to withstand the greater. This principle is capable of application to all the departments of action to which we have referred: but we shall apply it exclusively to the comparative difficulties of getting religion in different periods of life.1. We apply it to youth and age. With youth there are docility of disposition, tenderness of feeling, and freedom of intellect. As age comes on these disappear, and prejudices, indifference, and confirmed habits take their place. 2. We apply it to health and disease. There is required, especially in adult life and for investigating minds, a large amount of mental abstraction as the necessary means of attaining religion. Disease and suffering are not only unfavourable to such abstraction, but, in many cases, necessarily prevent its exercise. 3. We apply it to life and death. What is religion? The surrendering of our all to God,--the yielding up of ourselves as a living sacrifice. How can the man, therefore, who cannot resign himself to a commercial loss, or who responds most inadequately, if at all, to the claims of benevolence in life, be able, cheerfully, to yield his friends, property, and all he has, and is, to the great God in death? (Homilist.) The less and the greater conflict The Christian life is an exercise; necessarily a trial of strength and scene of discipline. But in the order of nature and providence there is a wise gradation, a benevolent introduction from the lesser to the greater ills of life. Steadfastness, patience, cheerful confidence in the smaller and less dangerous conflicts of life, will discipline and adapt us to bear the fiery assaults of the enemy. I. Ordinary life, common everyday life, is the “ running with the footmen,” is “ the land of peace, where we are secure.” It tries our temper, our patience, our principles. It puts us to the proof whether we honour God most and best. Look where you will, be what you may, life is a trial. Riches, learning, piety, nothing can ward off trouble. It is a condition, not an accident of humanity. II. There is a benevolent preparation and education for greater and more distressing conflicts by accustoming us to those which are common. The unerring eye sees the cup, the strong fatherly hand measures the draught. But we must bear in mind, when we have to tread the winepress alone, that God has a purpose in every vexation of daily life, in every cross, in every baffled enterprise, in every silent tear; and that that purpose is to prepare us by steadfastness in what is little and easy to bear, for confidence in Him under greater perils, in troubles which are hard to bear. The light in the darkness of today’ s disappointment is designed to make us hold fast the lamp against the hour of that “ darkness which may be felt.” Let no one think these lessons of daily life unimportant. “ He that despiseth little things shall perish by little and little.” We must learn the secret of strength while running with the footmen. III. In this Divine remonstrance it is distinctly implied that we shall be called to contend with the horsemen. The future is dark with shadows, but the Lord’ s words will hold good of us all. Prepared or unprepared we must meet the storm, and if a little rain frighten us, how shall we meet it? Our sins, our weaknesses, our temptations, the virulence of the enemy, all render the coming struggles inevitable. Whatever you have gone through in this way is but a preparation for the hour of darkness; you will be called to contend with an enemy stronger than yourself, as a horseman is stronger than a footman; and you will be trodden down unless you are clothed with the strength of Him who is able to make you confident, “ though a host should encamp against you.” (B. Kent.) Trivial trouble We condole with ourselves about troubles which are nothing but passing inconveniences; pin pricks are crucifixions. The fact is we bewail ourselves so continually and piercingly because we have little or no real trouble. Consider the sorrows of your neighbours, the misfortunes and crushing trials of your friends, and, in comparison, your troubles are absurd. Landsmen crossing the sea are full of anxiety and protest if only a slight breeze rock the ship; they are in anguish as if they suffered shipwreck; but the old salt, who has known the wrath of the ocean, smiles at their fretfulness and fear: and our neighbours and friends, who know what trouble is, listen with a compassionate smile to the glib recital of our toy tragedies. Our lamentations over this, that, or the other trifle, are convincing proof that we are well off; one genuine misfortune, one shattering thunderbolt, would hush our woeful tale. In the meantime we make more ado about a crumpled rose leaf than thousands of noble men and women do about a crown of thorns. The age in which we live tends to intensify sensitiveness, and we need to be on our guard against magnifying molehills into mountains and thistles into forests. We are taken care of on every side, our thousand artificial wants are promptly and ingeniously met, we have facilities and luxuries innumerable, until we become hypersensitive, and feel ourselves martyrs if the wind blows a little hot or cold, if we suffer toothache, or are overtaken by “ the pleasant trouble of the rain.” The habit of observing these shallow troubles, nursing them, talking about them, making fax more of them than we justly ought to make, is to be carefully watched. It tends to impair the largeness, strength, and heroism of the soul, and to leave us unfortified against the real trials which most likely await us a little farther on. If the footmen weary us, how shall we contend with horses? A calm, wise, reticent way of bearing ordinary irritations, annoyances, and misfortunes will discipline and brace us to play our part worthily when we must battle with the avalanche, earthquake, and flood. (W. L. Watkinson.) Prepare for greater things If they cannot face the candle, what will they do when they see the sun? (Demosthenes.) Effort easier now than it will be in the future If, in early life, when sin was comparatively weak and conscience was comparatively strong, we were so easily and so often overcome by temptation, what hope for us when this order is reversed; when conscience has become weak and sin grown strong? If we were no match for the cub, how shall we conquer the grown lion? If we had not strength to pull out the sapling, how are we to root up the tree? If it exceeded our utmost power to turn the stream near its mountain cradle, how shall we turn the river that, roaring and swollen, pours its flood on to the sea? If we could not resist the stone on the brow of the hill, how shall we stop it when gathering speed at every turn, and force at every bound, it rushes into the valley with resistless might? Sin gaining such power by time and habit. And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?-- The land of peace I. Expostulation.1. God has appointed to all of us our peculiar trials; some have a heavy burden, and are inclined, on looking upon the events which befall them, to join in the complaint of the patriarch, “ All these things are against me.” “ Deep calleth unto deep,” etc. (Psalms 42:7); while that which has fallen to the lot of others is so slight as hardly to be called trial at all. The point in question, however, is not as to the degree of trial, but as to the way in which it is borne, and the results it is producing. All trials have their own work to perform, their result to produce, which could be produced in no other way; but then let us ask ourselves individually, Are these trials producing that result in my own case? We know what those fruits are; the patience, the bringing under the impatient and rebellious will, and the disciplining it to wait in humble submission upon God, the experience of self, and of the evil within, of God’ s love as exactly suiting the need felt--the hope, not impulsive and uncertain, but sure and steady, and making not ashamed. 2. Similar thoughts may be suggested with regard to our conflict with sin and internal corruption. We are apt to complain of the difficulties of our Christian course. The way of self-denial and cross-bearing is found to be a hard way, the power of indwelling corruption is great, and love is cold. This is all true; but God warned us on our setting out, that the race we were engaging in was no easy matter, but that it would call for every energy, and that at no time could vigilance be laid aside with safety. The question is, then, have those difficulties complained of led to increased distrust of self--more constant watchfulness? There may be greater difficulties yet to be overcome, a greater and more important work to be done for the Master’ s sake, and how can utter failure be avoided in these more difficult contests, unless we are gaining ground in that to which we have already been called? The question is (and this point is a most important one), not what success might you be gaining under other conditions, with temptations less strong, with fuller opportunities of good, and so forth; but in that particular conflict to which you are called, with those very besetting sins, prone to this infirmity or that, are you striving in the strength of the Lord earnestly and unremittingly? 3. There is a thought which may be brought to our minds by the typical idea familiarly attached to Jordan, as the emblem of death. Is there not often too wide a difference between a Christian employed in the active duties of life, and the same man when cast upon a bed of sickness, and knowing that perhaps his end may be near? There is necessarily a difference in the demonstration of feeling, but should there be this difference in the whole tone as it were of our religion? Unless now, while all is peaceful, and matters are going on in their accustomed course, there is the habitual living upon Christ, with a frequent sense of His presence, and delight in communion with Him, how shall we do in the swelling of Jordan? II. Encouragement from the converse thought. If you have been faithful in that which is less, there is room for hope that you will be upheld in that which is greater, that if you have not been wearied and neglectful in the lesser conflict in which you have already been engaged, you will not be suffered to fall or be overcome in any that may yet threaten you. Have you misgivings and doubts as to future attacks of sin, and the strength of temptation under some new circumstances which may hereafter arise? As far as your own strength is concerned there is indeed much reason for that fear, but you know whom you have believed, whose strength has been put forth for you, on whose arm you have leant in the past, and therefore although your race were to become far more arduous than it is now, although hundreds of difficulties now unforeseen should spring up into being, yet you will not doubt His love, or distrust His power. What you have learnt of His past faithfulness and love forbids you to be apprehensive for the future; you will trust and not be afraid, knowing that you can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth you. The question is worthy of serious consideration, especially by those who, convinced of the vanity of earth’ s gratifications, and of the value of the Christian portion, are yet withholding their hearts from Christ, and are yet unwilling to be wholly His. This, indeed, is the land of peace wherein you trust; but is yours indeed a true peace which will abide? Peace is truly offered, reconciliation provided, all ready on God’ s part. Peace will surely follow upon pardon--upon the purging away of sin in the blood of Jesus, but is that peace truly yours now? (J. H. Holford, M. A.) Then how wilt thou do In the swelling of Jordan?-- The swelling of Jordan I. The historical significance and primary meaning of the words. Like many of the names that occur in Old Testament Scripture, that of Jeremiah--“ raised up,” or “ appointed by God,” --has a peculiar significance, if we consider the duties, important, yet hazardous, he was called upon to discharge during successive reigns. Jeremiah was very young when the Word of the Lord first came to him, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, while he was resident at Anathoth, his native city. There, after the prophetic gift was imparted, he continued to live for several years, until the hostility, not only of his fellow townsmen, but of the members of his own family having been aroused, on account, probably, of the holiness of his life, and the fidelity of his remonstrances, he quitted Anathoth, and took up his residence at Jerusalem. The finding of the Book of the Law, five years after he had begun to prophesy, must have had a powerful influence on the mind of Jeremiah, in whom, doubtless, the young and right-minded king Josiah found valuable help in the efforts he put forth with a view to promote national reformation. No sooner, however, was the influence of the court in favour of true religion withdrawn, than Jeremiah became an object of attack, as he had doubtless been long an object of dislike, on the part of those whose anger had been roused by his rebukes. This bitterness of opposition continued during successive reigns, and at various times his life was threatened. At the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, he was “ put in confinement by Pashur, the chief governor of the house of the Lord” ; but he seems soon to have been liberated, for we find that he was not in prison at the time when Nebuchadnezzar’ s army commenced the siege of Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah had severe trials and manifold difficulties and discouragements to contend against. His counsels were rejected, and his voice was lifted up in the name of Jehovah seemingly in vain; his soul yearned with solicitude and tender affection towards those who turned a deaf ear to his admonitory voice, despised his “ counsels,” and would have none of the reproofs he was commissioned to utter. By footmen some understand the Philistines and Edomites, whose armies were composed principally of infantry, and by “ horses” the Chaldeans, who had abundance of cavalry and chariots in their army, and who subsequently ravaged Palestine, at the time of Nebuchadnezzar’ s invasion. But whether such be the force of the allusion or not, the gist of the argument seems to be as follows:--if lesser trials seem hard to be borne; if earthly losses have a sting of bitterness, and often inflict a severe wound; is there not need of holy resolution, based on a sure foundation, when, in addition to minor ills, as in the swelling of Jordan, which periodically overflowed its banks in the time of harvest, men’ s lives might be placed in jeopardy, their flocks exposed to lions driven out of their lairs, and the produce of the harvest fields submerged or swept away; so the more ordinary trials of life, which yet demanded patience and meekness, would be followed by graver emergencies, such as a heaven-derived and supported hope, resting on no insecure or shifting foundation, but upon the Rock, the “ Rock of Ages,” could alone enable men to bear up under; when, so to speak, the heavens grew dark, the waters raged, the banks were overflowed, the lashing hail fell, the earth “ shook and trembled,” the lightning glanced and the thunder rolled, as in the severity of an almost tropical storm? “ How wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” II. Practical lessons, applicable to various classes of persons.1. To those who are careless about religion and its claims. It were almost ludicrous, if it were not also most melancholy, to notice man, who is indebted to God for all that he possesses, thus standing to “ defy the Omnipotent in arms” ; yet such is the attitude assumed by everyone who defies, maligns, insults the Great Benefactor, who, if strong to save, is also mighty to inflict just and condign punishment upon His foes. “ Now, consider this,” says the Psalmist, “ ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” 2. To the undecided. The position resembles that of a man on shifting sand, liable to the encroachment of the swiftly flowing stream. Ah! if at certain times uneasiness could not be banished, but care ate as a canker into the heart of what had the semblance of joy; an angry God, as it were, seen above; the abyss of darkness opening beneath; “ blackness of darkness,” as if around; what need of arriving at a proper and satisfactory decision! Now, while, mercy can be found; while God’ s invitation through Christ is heard, of “ turning to the Stronghold as a prisoner of hope” ; for if lesser difficulties have been perplexing; if grief and disappointment have already planted furrows on the brow, “ what shall be the end of them that will not obey the Gospel of God” ; who will not comply with a Saviour’ s bidding, nor give their minds to the truth, nor allow of the Holy Spirit’ s action upon the heart? 3. To such as are living in antagonism and opposition to God’ s holy mind and will. Judgment may appear to be deferred; it is impending nevertheless--God hath spoken it. 4. To doubting Christians. Pilgrim, come: there “ is bread enough, and to spare.” Tempted one, come: strength shall be given and decision imparted to repel the evil suggestion, as Paul at Melita cast aside the viper that sprang out of the fire, and fastened upon his hand. Mourner, approach; the Friend of mourners can support under earthly blanks and losses. (A. R. Bonar.) The swelling of Jordan I. Certain circumstances which make death more appalling than any other calamity.1. Death must be met alone. 2. Not only the solace of thine accustomed society, but every other temporal result will then fail thee. 3. Death ushers us into a new and strange world. Well may flesh and blood shrink from the prospect of being effectually unhinged from all that is usual and accustomed--effectually divested of every material and earthly association, and of dipping its foot in the brink of that cold river, whose flood is appointed to roll over the head of all flesh. 4. Our great Enemy, as in all our trials so in this especially, will be at hand to improve it to our ruin. II. To every sincere believer in Christ the horror with which the above circumstances invest death is entirely dispelled.1. Although the Christian, in the trying hour of dissolution, cannot, any more than others, fall back upon the sympathy and support of his fellow men, still he is not left in the pitiful plight of the worldling and sinner to encounter death alone (Psalms 23:4). 2. What is it to him, if all earthly stays and confidences be broken up? He has not built his hopes of eternity on refuges of lies. He has “ an anchor of the soul sure and stedfast.” He has first the sure word of promise, assuring him that his Lord will be with him when he passes through the rivers (Isaiah 43:2). And then he has the gracious and glorious work of atonement and mediation, upon which is based the everlasting covenant which God has made with him in Christ, and from the consideration of which he may draw up endless supplies of peace and satisfaction, even in those dark hours of disquietude. 3. It follows next to speak of the acquaintance which the Christian’ s soul has during life contracted with the new sphere into which the swelling of Jordan bears him away. Some regards and respects to things terrestrial he must have entertained as dwelling on the earth--but this home, the home of his affections, has never, since he became a sincere Christian, been situated here below. This is only the house of his pilgrimage, and he accounts it so to be. While walking on the earth he has his “ conversation in heaven.” Accordingly death ushers him into no strange scene, and introduces him to no strange company. No, he is already “ come to Mount Sion,” etc. (Hebrews 12:22-24). 4. The “ Lion of the tribe of Judah” is at hand to wrestle with the lion who “ walketh about seeking whom he may devour,” and to bear away triumphantly from the conflict his own redeemed servant without the loss of a hair of his head, thus asserting his claim to “ divide a portion with the great, and to divide the spoil with the strong.” (Dean Goulburn.) The swellings of Jordan If troubles, slow as footmen, surpass us, what will we do when they take the feet of horses? and if now in our lifetime we are beaten back and submerged of sorrows because we have not the religion of Jesus to comfort us, what will we do when we stand in death, and we feel all around about us “ the swelling of Jordan” ? What a sad thing it is to see men all unhelped of God, going out to fight giants of trouble; no closet of prayer in which to retreat, no promise of mercy to soothe the soul, no rock of refuge in which to hide from the blast. Oh, when the swift coursers of trouble are brought up, champing and panting for the race, and the reins are thrown upon their necks, and the lathered flanks at every spring feel the stroke of the lash, what can we on foot do with them? How can we compete with them? If, having run with the footmen, they wearied us, how can we contend with horses? We have all yielded to temptation. We have been surprised afterwards that so small an inducement could have decoyed us from the right. How insignificant a temptation has sometimes captured our soul. And if that is so, my dear brother, what will it be when we come to stand in the presence of temptation that prostrated a David, and a Moses, and a Peter, and some of the mightiest men in all God’ s kingdom? If the footmen are too much for us, won’ t the odds be more fearful against us when we contend with horses? But my text suggests something in advance of anything I have said. We must all quit this life. Oh, when the great tides of eternity arise about us, and fill the soul and surround it, and sweep it out towards rapture or woe, ah, that will be “ the swelling of Jordan.” Our natural courage won’ t hold us out then. However familiar we may have been with scenes of mortality, however much we may have screwed our courage up, we want something more than natural resources. When the northeast wind blows off from the sea of death, it will put out all earthly lights. The lamp of the Gospel, God-lighted, is the only lamp that can stand in that blast. The weakest arm holding that shall not be confounded; the strongest one neglecting that shall stumble and die. Oh, I rejoice to know that so many of God’ s children have gone through that pass without a shudder. Someone said to a dying Christian: “ Isn’ t it hard for you to get out of this world?” “ Oh, no,” he says, “ it is easy dying, it is blessed dying, it is glorious dying” ; and then he pointed to a clock on the wall, and he said: “ the last two hours in which I have been dying, I have had more joy than all the years of my life.” General Fisk came into the hospital after the battle, and there were many seriously wounded, and there was one man dying, and the general said: “ Ah, my dear fellow, you seem very much wounded. I am afraid you are not going to get well.” “ No,” said the soldier, “ I am not going to get well, but I feel very happy.” And then he looked up into the general’ s face, and said: “ I am going to the front!” But there is one step still in advance suggested by this subject. If this religion of Christ is so important in life, and so important in the last hours of life, how much more important it will be in the great eternity. Alas! for those who have made no preparation for the future! When the sharp-shod hoofs of eternal disaster come up panting and swift to go over them, how will they contend with horses? And when the waves of their wretchedness rise up, white and foamy, under the swooping of eternal storms and the billows become more wrathful and dash more high, oh, what, what will they do “ amid the swelling of Jordan” ? (T. De Witt Talmage.) Are you prepared to die I. This is an exceedingly practical question. How wilt thou do? is the inquiry. There are some subjects which are more or less matters of pure faith and personal feeling; and though all Christian doctrines bear more or less directly upon the Christian life, yet they are not what is commonly meant by practical subjects. Our text, however, brings us face to face with a matter which is essentially a matter of doing and of acting: it asks how we mean to conduct ourselves in the hour of death. Christians may differ from me on some points, but I am sure that here we are united in belief--we must die, and ought not to die unprepared. II. It is undoubtedly a personal question. How wilt “ thou” do? It individualises us, and makes us each one to come face to face with a dying hour. Now we all need this, and it will be well for each one of us to look for a minute into the grave. We are too apt to regard all men as mortal but ourselves. The ancient warrior who wept because before a hundred years were passed he knew his immense army would be gone, and not a man remain behind to tell the tale, would have been wiser if he had wept also for himself, and left alone his bloody wars, and lived as a man who must one day die, and find after death a day of judgment. Each one of you must die. We all come into the world one by one, and will go out of it also alone. We had better therefore take the question up as individuals, seeing that it is one in which we shall be dealt with singly, and be unable then to claim or use the help of an earthly friend. III. It is one of the most solemn questions. Death and life are stern and awful realities. To say that anything “ is a matter of life and death,” is to bring one of the most emphatic and solemn subjects under our notice. Now, the question we are considering is of this character, and we must deal with it as it becomes us, when we investigate a subject involving the everlasting interest of souls. IV. This question was put by way of rebuke to the prophet Jeremiah. He seems to have been a little afraid of the people among whom he dwelt. They had evidently persecuted him very much, and laughed him to scorn; but God tells him to make his face like flint, and not to care for them, for, says He, If thou art afraid of them, “ how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” This ought to be a rebuke to every Christian who is subject to the fear of man. There is an old proverb, that “ he is a great fool that is laughed out of his coat,” and there was an improvement on it, that “ he was a greater fool who was laughed out of his skin” ; and there is another, that “ he is the greatest fool of all who is laughed out of his soul.” He that will be content to be damned in order to be fashionable, pays dear indeed for what he gets. Oh, to dare to be singular, if to be singular is to be right; but if you are afraid of man, what will you do in the swelling of Jordan? The same rebuke might be applied to us when we get fretful under the little troubles of life. You have losses in business, vexations in the family--you have all crosses to carry--but my text comes to you, and it says, “ If you cannot bear this, how will you do in the swelling of Jordan?” When one of the martyrs, whose name is the somewhat singular one of Pommily, was confined previous to his burning, his wife was also taken up upon the charge of heresy. She, good woman, had resolved to die with her husband, and she appeared, as far as most people could judge, to be very firm in her faith. But the jailer’ s wife, though she had no religion, took a merciful view of the case as far as she could do so, and thought, “ I am afraid this woman will never stand the test, she will never burn with her husband, she has neither faith nor strength enough to endure the trial” ; and therefore, one day calling her out from her cell, she said to her, “ Lass, run to the garden and fetch me the key that lies there.” The poor woman ran willingly enough; she took the key up and it burned her fingers, for the jailer’ s wife had made it red hot; she came running back crying with pain. “ Ay, wench,” said she, “ if you cannot bear a little burn in your hand, how will you bear to be burned in your whole body?” and this, I am sorry to add, was the means of bringing her to recant the faith which she professed, but which never had been in her heart. I apply the story thus: If we cannot bear the little trifling pangs which come upon us in our ordinary circumstances, which are but as it were the burning of your hands, what shall we do when every pulse beats pain, and every throb is an agony, and the whole tenement begins to crumble about the spirit that is so soon to be disturbed? V. The question may be put as a matter of caution. There are some who have no hope, no faith in Christ. Now I think, if they will look within at their own experience, they will find that already they are by no means completely at ease. The pleasures of this world are very sweet; but how soon they cloy, if they do not sicken the appetite. After the night of merriment there is often the morning of regret. “ Who hath woe? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.” It is an almost universal confession that the joys of earth promise more than they perform, and that in looking back upon them, the wisest must confess with Solomon, “ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Now if these things seem to be vanity while you are in good bodily health, how will they look when you are in sickness? If vanity while you can enjoy them, what will they appear when you must say farewell to them all? VI. I use the question as exciting meditation in the breasts of those who have given their hearts to Christ, and who consequently are prepared to die whenever the summons may come. Well, what do we mean to do, how shall we behave ourselves when we come to die? I sat down to try and think this matter over, but I cannot, in the short time allotted to me, even give you a brief view of the thoughts that passed through my mind. I began thus, “ How shall I do in the swelling of Jordan?” Well, as a believer in Christ, perhaps, I may never come there at all, for there are some that will be alive and remain at the coming of the Son of Man, and these will never die. A sweet truth, which we place first in our meditation. I may not sleep, but I must and shall be changed. Then I thought again, “ How shall I do in the swelling of Jordan?” I may go through it in the twinkling of an eye. When Ananias, martyr, knelt to lay his white head upon the block, it was said to him as he closed his eyes to receive the stroke, “ Shut thine eyes a little, old man, and immediately thou shalt see the light of God.” I could envy such a calm departing. Sudden death, sudden glory; taken away in Elijah’ s chariot of fire, with the horses driven at the rate of lightning, so that the spirit scarcely knows that it has left the clay, before it sees the brightness of the beatific vision. Well, that may take away--some of the alarm of death, the thought that we may not be even a moment in the swelling of Jordan. Then again, I thought, if I must pass through the swelling of Jordan, yet the real act of death takes no time. We hear of suffering on a dying bed; the suffering is all connected with life, it is not death. A dying bed is sometimes very painful; with certain diseases, and especially with strong men, it is often hard for the body and soul to part asunder. But it has been my happy lot to see some deaths so extremely pleasing, that I could not help remarking, that it were worth while living, only for the sake of dying as some have died. Well, then, as I cannot tell in what physical state I may be when I come to die, I just tried to think again, how shall I do in the swelling of the Jordan? I hope I shall do as others have done before me, who have built on the same rock, and had the same promises to be their succour. They cried “ Victory!” So shall I, and after that die quietly and in peace. If the same transporting scene may not be mine, I will at least lay my head upon my Saviour’ s bosom, and breathe my life out gently there. VII. “ How wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” may be well used by way of warning. You grant that you will die, and you may die soon. Is it not foolish to be living in this world without a thought of what you will do at last? A man goes into an inn, and as soon as he sits down he begins to order his wine, his dinner, his bed; there is no delicacy in season which he forgets to bespeak, there is no luxury which he denies himself. He stops at the inn for some time. By and by there comes in a bill, and he says, “ Oh, I never thought of that--I never thought of that.” “ Why,” says the landlord, “ here is a man who is either a born fool or else a knave. What I never thought of the reckoning--never thought of settling day!” And yet this is how some of you live. You have this, and that, and the other thing in this world’ s inn (for it is nothing but an inn) and you have soon to go your way, and yet you have never thought of settling day! “ Well,” says one, “ I was casting up my accounts this morning.” Yes, I remember a minister making this remark when he heard of one that east up his accounts on Sunday. He said, “ I hope that is not true, sir.” “ Yes,” he said, “ I do cast up my accounts on Sunday.” “ Ah, well,” he said, “ the day of judgment will be spent in a similar manner--in casting up accounts, and it will go ill with those people who found no other time in which to serve themselves except the time which was given them that they might serve God.” You have either been a dishonest man, or else you must be supremely foolish, to be spending every day in this world’ s inn, and yet to be ignoring the thought of the great day of account. But remember, though you forget it, God forgets not. VIII. Before I close I must guide your thoughts to what is the true preparation for death. Three things present themselves to my mind as being our duty in connection with the dying hour. First seek to be washed in the Red Sea of the dear Redeemer’ s blood, come in contact with the death of Christ, and by faith in it you will be prepared to meet your own. Again, learn of the Apostle Paul to die “ daily.” Practise the duty of self-denial and mortifying of the flesh till it shall become a habit with you, and when you have to lay down the flesh and part with everything, you will be only continuing the course of life you have pursued all along. And as the last preparation for the end of life, I should advise a continual course of active service and obedience to the command of God. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 12:9 Mine heritage is unto Me as a speckled bird.A speckled bird Mine (God’ s) heritage is unto Me as a speckled bird. As an owl, say some, that loveth not the light; as a peacock, say others, as oft changed as moved. God, that could not endure miscellany seed, nor linsey-woolsey, in Israel, can less endure that His people should be as a speckled bird, here of one colour, and there of another; or as a cake not turned (Hosea 5:4). (John Trapp.) God’ s people as speckled birds “ Mine heritage (the godly man’ s) is unto me as a speckled bird.” When living at Cambridge Mr. Spurgeon was appointed to preach at a village lust outside the city, and during the day, after much reading and meditation, he was unable to light upon a suitable text, and was, as Bunyan would say, “ much tumbled up and down” in his thoughts. Rising from prayer and the reading of the Scriptures he walked to the window, and, looking out, espied on the other side of the narrow street a solitary canary upon the roof ridge, surrounded by a crowd of sparrows that were all pecking at it. At that moment the verse quoted flashed into his mind, and he started off upon his country walk, restful in heart and mind, and composed his sermon as he journeyed, the main points of his discourse being the peculiarity of God’ s people and the persecutions they suffer in consequence. He thus speaks of the episode himself: “ I preached with freedom and ease to myself, and, I believe, with comfort to my rustic audience. The text was sent to me, and if the ravens did not bring it, certainly the sparrows did.” (Chas. Spurgeon.) . Jeremiah 13:1-11 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, beheld, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. The cast-off girdle In many instances the prophets were bidden to do singular things, and among the rest was this: Jeremiah must take a linen girdle and put it about his loins, and wear it there till the people had noticed what he wore, and how long he wore it. This girdle was not to be washed; this was to be a matter observed of all observers, for it was a part of the similitude. Then he must make a journey to the distant river Euphrates, and take off his girdle and bury it there. When the people saw him without a girdle they would make remarks and ask what he had done with it; and he would reply that he had buried it by the river of Babylon. Many would count him mad for having walked so far to get rid of a girdle: two hundred and fifty miles was certainly a great journey for such a purpose. Surely he might have buried it nearer home, if he must needs bury it at all. Anon, the prophet goes a second time to the Euphrates, and they say one to another, The prophet is a fool: the spiritual man is mad. See what a trick he is playing. Nearly a thousand miles the man will have walked in order to hide a girdle, and to dig it up again. What next will he do? Whereas plain words might not have been noticed, this little piece of acting commanded the attention and excited the curiosity of the people. The record of this singular transaction has come to us, and we know that, as a part of Holy Scripture, it is full of instruction. Thousands of years will not make it so antique as to be valueless. The Word of the Lord never becomes old so as to lose its vigour; it as still as strong for all Divine purposes as when first of all Jehovah spoke it. I. In our text we have an honourable emblem of Israel and Judah: we may say, in these days, an emblem of the Church of God.1. God had taken this people to be bound to Himself: He had taken them to be as near to Him as the girdle is to the Oriental when he binds it about his loins. The traveller in the East takes care that his girdle shall not go unfastened: he girds himself securely ere he commences his work or starts upon his walk; and God has bound His people round about Him so that they shall never be removed from Him “ I in them” saith Christ, even as a man is in his girdle. “ Who shall separate us?” saith Paul. Who shall ungird us from the heart and soul of our loving God? “ They shall be Mine, saith the Lord.” 2. But Jeremiah’ s girdle was a linen one: it was the girdle peculiar to the priests, for such was the prophet; he was “ the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth.” Thus the type represents chosen men as bound to God in connection with sacrifice. We are bound to the Most High for solemn priesthood to minister among the sons of men in holy things. The Lord Jesus is now blessing the sons of men as Aaron blessed the people, and we are the girdle with which He girds Himself in the act of benediction by the Gospel. 3. The girdle also is used by God always in connection with work. When Eastern men are about to work in real earnest they gird up their loins. When the Lord worketh righteousness in the earth it is by means of His chosen ones. When He publishes salvation, and makes known His grace, His saints are around Him. When sinners are to be saved it is by His people when error is to be denounced, it is by our lips that He chooses to speak. When His saints are to be comforted, it is by those who have been comforted by His Holy Spirit, and who therefore tell out the consolations which they have themselves enjoyed. 4. Moreover, the girdle was intended for ornament. It does not appear that it was bound about the priest’ s loins under his garments, for if so it would not have been seen, and would not have been an instructive symbol: this girdle must be seen, since it was meant to be a type of a people who were to be unto God “ for a people, and for a name, and for a praise and for a glory.” Is not this wonderful beyond all wonder, that God should make His people His glory? But now, alas! we have to turn our eyes sorrowfully away from this surpassing glory. II. These people who might have been the glorious girdle of God displayed in their own persons a fatal omission. Did you notice it? Thus saith the Lord unto Jeremiah, “ Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.”1. Ah, me! there is the mischief: the unwashed girdle is the type of an unholy people who have never received the great cleansing. No nearness to God can save you if you have never been washed by the Lord Jesus. No official connection can bless you if you have never been washed in His most precious blood. Here is the alternative for all professors,--you must be washed in the blood of Christ, or be laid aside; which shall it be? 2. The prophet was bidden not to put it in water, which shows that there was not only an absence of the first washing, but there was no daily cleansing. We are constantly defiling our feet by marching through this dusty world, and every night we need to be washed. If you suffer a sin to lie on your conscience, you cannot serve God aright while it is there. If you have transgressed as a child, and you do not run and put your head into your Father’ s bosom and cry, “ Father, I have sinned!” you cannot do God’ s work. 3. The more this girdle was used the more it gathered great and growing defilement. Without the atonement, the more we do the more we shall sin. Our very prayers will turn into sin, our godly things will gender evil. O Lord, deliver us from this! Save us from being made worse by that which should make us better. Let us be Thy true people, and therefore let us be washed that we may be clean, that Thou mayest gird Thyself with us. III. Very soon that fatal flaw in the case here mentioned led to a solemn judgment. It was a solemn judgment upon the girdle, looking at it as a type of the people of Israel.1. First, the girdle, after Jeremiah had made his long walk in it, was taken off from him and put away. This is a terrible thing to happen to any man. I would rather suffer every sickness in the list of human diseases than that God should put me aside as a vessel in which He has no pleasure, and say to me, “ I cannot wear you as My girdle, nor own you as Mine before men.” 2. After that girdle was laid aside, the next thing for it was hiding and burying. It was placed in a hole of the rock by the river of the captivity, and left there. Many a hypocrite has been served in that way. 3. And now the girdle spoils. It was put, I dare say, where the damp and the wet acted upon it; and so, when in about seventy days Jeremiah came back to the spot, there was nothing but an old rag instead of what had once been a pure white linen girdle. He says, “ Behold the girdle was marred; it was profitable for nothing.” So, if God were to leave any of us, the best men and the best women among us would soon become nothing but marred girdles, instead of being as fair white linen. 4. But the worst part of it is that this relates undoubtedly to many mere professors whom God takes off from Himself, laying them aside, and leaving them to perish. And what is His reason for so doing? He tells us this in the text: He says that this evil people refused to receive God’ s words. Dear friends, never grow tired of God’ s Word; never let any book supplant the Bible. Love every part of Scripture, and take heed to every word that God has spoken. Next to that, we are told that they walked in the imagination of their heart. That is a sure sign of the hypocrite or the false professor. He makes his religion out of himself, as a spider spins a web out of his own bowels: what sort of theology it is you can imagine now that you know its origin. Upon all this there followed actual transgression,--“ They walked after other gods to serve them and to worship them.” This happens also to the base professor. He keeps up the name of a Christian for a little while, and seems to be as God’ s girdle; but by and by he falls to worshipping gold, or drink, or lust. He turns aside from the infinitely glorious God, and so he falls from one degradation to another till he hardly knows himself. He becomes as a rotten girdle “ which profiteth nothing.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Nearness to God destroyed by sin I. Nearness to God.1. These Jews were like a girdle bound upon the loins. Should have entwined themselves around God. So nations may be near-- (1) In the great things that God had done for them.(2) In the covenant relation which He had entered into with them.(3) In the privileges which He had conferred upon them. 2. Man is near God. (1) By nature. Created in God’ s image.(2) Near to God’ s heart.(3) Near in God’ s care over him.(4) Near in the privileges of liberty, religion, knowledge, discipline, warning.(5) In a position to become eternally nearer by growing up into Christ.(6) Brought near for God’ s glory. II. His nearness destroyed by sin.1. Sin is the destroyer of nations as well as individuals. The Jews destroyed by idolatry, lust, selfishness, pride. 2. As of nations, so of individuals: sin will destroy them, unless resisted and cast out. 3. This destruction is voluntary. The sinner is a suicide. 4. God is represented as active in this destruction. (1) Not that God deserts the sinner first.(2) But, when measure of sin is full, God removes restraints, and sets in motion the agency of judgment. 5. This destruction will consist in-- (1) Separation from God.(2) Utter corruption and rottenness. Learn--1. The terrible power of sin.2. To guard against it as our chief enemy. (E. Jerman.) Good reasons for singular conduct Good Words contains an excellent story about Professor Blackie by the editor, Dr. Donald Macleod:--“ Professor Blackie frequently stayed at my house when lecturing in Glasgow. He was always at his best when one had him alone. One night we were sitting up together, he said in his brusque way: ‘ Whatever other faults I have, I am free from vanity.’ An incredulous smile on my face roused him. ‘ You don’ t believe that: give me an instance.’ Being thus challenged, I said: ‘ Why do you walk about flourishing a plaid continually? ‘ I’ ll give you the history of that, sir. When I was a poor man, and when my wife and I had our difficulties, she one day drew my attention to the thread-bare character of my surtout, and asked me to order a new one. I told her I could not afford it just then; when she went, like a noble woman, and put her own plaid shawl on my shoulders, and I have worn a plaid ever since in memory of her loving deed!’” The prophet Jeremiah must often have been looked upon as a man of eccentric conduct. But like Professor Blackie with his plaid shawl, he was not actuated by whims, fancy, or vanity. Jeremiah’ s warrant for the singular use to which he put his girdle was the authority and mandate of the Lord. Jeremiah 13:10 This evil people which refuse to hear My words.Rejecters of God’ s word I. Sensational preaching: in what sense to be approved. The style of this teaching of Jeremiah looks sensational. He is bidden to take a fine, new linen girdle--a most important and ornamental part of an Oriental gentleman’ s garments--and bury it for a time near the Euphrates. Taking it up afterwards, he was to exhibit it to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, with all the marks of injury and decay upon it, as a sign and type of the decline and decay that the Lord would bring on them in Babylon, when, parted from Him to whom they had been bound as a girdle to a man’ s body, they should be buried under the oppression and contempt of their proud and domineering captors. II. Rejection of the divine word.1. Even the most highly favoured persons may reject God’ s Word. 2. The transgressors in such cases prefer their own imagination to God’ s revelations. Religion says to God, “ Thy will be done.” The natural heart says, “ My will be done” --“ Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?” 3. The moral influence of such perverseness is bad, progressively bad. Having cast off God, the human nature cannot stand up alone. It needs a support. It must worship. So it goes after other, and of course false, gods. Every sin has three distinct effects, apart from the punishment of the future: (1) It depraves and deteriorates the nature that sins. The brain is not broken, but strained; the marble is not fractured, but the eye of omniscience sees the flaw. (2) It familiarises with evil and goes so far towards making an evil habit. (3) It renders some other sin not only easier, but apparently necessary. “ Having done one thing,” says the sinner, “ of course I had to do the other.” 4. The effect of rejecting God’ s Word is lamentable in the extreme. If the fire of Divine anger burnt up that vine which He had planted, how will it be with the common tree of the forest? III. By whom is the word of the Lord rejected?1. In a certain strict and literal sense every unbeliever is an infidel, i.e. he is without faith. But many are without faith who yet assent to the general truths of God’ s Word. Many infidels have made it their own interest to impugn and deny Divine revelation. A man has broken its precepts--perhaps suffered socially in consequence--has not repented, but only been embittered, begins to count those who censure or condemn him first bigoted, narrow-minded, then pharisaical, and hypocritical or fanatical. They justify their action by the Scriptures, and he begins to transfer his dislike to the Scriptures, feels a pleasure in any doubt cast on them, flatters himself that to weaken them is to strengthen his case, and that contempt poured on them is respect won back for him. Hence the bitterest scoffers have often been the religiously trained sinners. 2. Sceptics are included among the rejecters of God’ s Word. Not that they are necessarily irreligious, or deniers of a Divine Being and of obligation to Him; but they deny the Scriptures as an authoritative revelation from Him and make nature a sufficient teacher. 3. If I include Romanism among the rejecters of God’ s Word, it must be with a qualification. That system admits the inspiration, Divine origin, and partial authority of God’ s Word, and so far as it can appeal to Scripture does so. Its sins in this regard are: (1) Putting up beside the Word tradition, which, like that of the Pharisees, makes the Word of God of no effect. (2) Making the authorisation of the Scripture depend on the Church, and constituting the Church the only expounder of Scripture. (3) And following from this, she withholds the Scriptures from her people. 4. The indifferent and unbelieving reject God’ s Word. You have heard it explained, read it, had it urged on you by beloved ones, now praising God in the rest of the saints. Have you believed it? Received Christ? Are you resting on Him? Doing His will? For if not, your condemnation is doubly sure. (John Hall, D. D.) God’ s girdle I. Israel and Judah clave unto Jehovah as a girdle to the loins of a man.1. Unto His person for favour.2. Unto His Word for direction and teaching.3. Unto His promise for encouragement.4. Unto His worship for devotion. II. Israel and Judah were then a praise and glory to Jehovah. A girdle of strength and honour before the nations.1. As opposed to the idolatries of the world.2. As expressing obedience to Divine law.3. As exhibiting the beneficial effects of true religion. III. Israel and Judah became faithless and disobedient.1. An evil people refusing to hear the Word.2. A stubborn people going their own way.3. A deluded people in vain imaginations.4. An idolatrous people, like the nations less favoured, going after other gods to serve and worship them. IV. Israel and Judah becoming faithless, became also weak and worthless. Went from prominence to obscurity, from freedom to captivity, from privilege to punishment. (W. Whale.) Cleaving unto God In Trinidad there are small oysters to be found that grow upon trees, or rather cluster round the roots of trees, in the river mouths. The little bivalves are so firmly attached that it is usual to saw down the trees in order to obtain the oysters, and such an attachment is typical of the ideal life of a Christian. He should love the Lord his God, and obey His voice, that he may cleave unto Him. God, who is the source of all life, will indeed be his life and the light of his days. As the strength of the tree is placed at the disposal of the oyster, so is the omnipotence of God offered to all who will trust Him. (Christian Commonwealth.) Which is good for nothing. Good for nothing I. Dwell upon a painful fact. All was done for them that could be, and yet good for nothing. II. Point out the cause of their sad condition.1. They refused to hear the Word of the Lord.2. They followed the imagination of their hearts.3. They became idolaters. III. Show what they might have been as a people.1. Separated from the nations as peculiarly the people of God.2. Before the nations for the glory of Jehovah, as opposed to idols.3. Among the nations as witnesses and examples. IV. Proclaim some universal truths.1. Refusing to hear God’ s Word is proof that the people are all evil people.2. An evil people will substitute a false worship for that which is true.3. A false worship will produce and foster an erroneous religious life.4. A people walking according to the imagination of their own hearts must be useless to themselves, to the world, to the Church, or to God. (W. Whale.) The unprofitableness of a sinful life I heard the other day a Sunday school address which pleased me much. The teacher, speaking to the boys, said, “ Boys, here is a watch; what is it for?” “ To tell the time.” “ Well,” said he, “ suppose my watch does not tell the time, what is it good for? Good for nothing, sir.” Then he took out a pencil. “ What is this pencil for?” “ It is to write with, sir.” “ Suppose this pencil won’ t make a mark, what is it good for?” “ Good for nothing, sir.” Then he took out a pocket knife. “ Boys, what is this for?” They were American boys, so they shouted, “ To whittle with,” --that is, to experiment on any substance that came in their way, by cutting a notch in it. “ But,” said he, “ suppose it will not cut, what is the knife good for?” “ Good for nothing, sir.” Then the teacher said, “ What is the chief end of man?” and they replied, “ To glorify God.” “ But suppose a man does not glorify God, what is he good for?” “ Good for nothing, sir.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 13:12-14 Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? Drunk with evil They are supposed to think that the prophet is merely stating what was the plain meaning of the words, and, under that impression, to reply, What great matter is this, to tell us that bottles which are made to be filled with wine should be filled with wine?--not seeking for any deeper meaning in the Lord’ s Word. But, “ thus saith the Lord, Behold I will fill all the inhabitants of this land.” These were the bottles truly spoken of, “ even the kings that sit upon David’ s throne,” etc. Now the drunkenness wherewith they were to be filled was not drunkenness with wine, but drunkenness with an evil spirit, with a mad spirit, with a spirit of discontent, a breaking up of all the bonds of society, a spirit of contempt of God, and of all God’ s ordinances. This was the drunkenness wherewith they were to be filled--in consequence of which they were to be falling against, and crushing each other, as happens to a nation in which all subordination disappears, and all is anarchy and confusion, and the people are, as it were, dashed against each other. And this is said to be the Lord’ s judgment upon them. It is after the manner of God that, when men refuse the Spirit of God, they should be given up to the spirit of Satan; that, when men refuse to be dwelt in of the Holy Spirit, they should be dwelt in by the spirit of madness and of fury; and this was the judgment threatened upon the Jews, that they should be dashed one against another, even the fathers and the sons together; and then, as if he would say, Do not think that I am not in earnest; do not think that, because judgment is my strange work, it is a work in which I will not engage: be assured that it shall be as I say, “ I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy.” Three times God declares that He will not show mercy, but, on the contrary, destroy; because there is a voice which God has put within us to testify that God is merciful; and because there is a bad use which men are apt to make of the suggestions of that voice; and they are apt to feel as if a good and merciful God could not find it in His heart to put forth His hand to judgment. Oh, if men but knew God’ s tender mercy, they would indeed feel that that must be a strong reason which could move Him to pluck His hand from His bosom and rise up to wrath. It is as if God were saying--I have so proved My love to you, My unwillingness that you should perish, that ye may be slow to believe that I, even I, will punish. But be not deceived; there are reasons strong enough to prevail--to shut up even My compassions. I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, but destroy. (J. M. Campbell.) The wine of the wrath of God 1. Every man is being fitted a vessel to honour or dishonour, to good or evil. 2. Every man will ultimately be filled to his utmost capacity by good or evil, according to his spiritual state. 3. The process of adaptation is being carried on by loyalty or disobedience to truth and God. 4. Where all are evil, everyone will be injurious to the others. This will make a hell. The reverse of this is true also. 5. God, who is love, has a time for severity as well as a time for mercy. 6. If God help not, none can aid effectually. (W. Whale.) I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord.--Divine punishments These words should be spoken with tears. It is a great mistake in doctrine as well as in practice to imagine that the imprecations of Holy Scripture should be spoken ruthlessly. When Jesus came near the city He wept over it. I. Divine punishments are possible. If we are not destroyed, it is not for want of power on the part of the offended Creator. The universe is very sensitively put together in this matter; everywhere there are lying resources which under one touch or breath would spring up and avenge an outraged law. Now and then God does bring us to see how near death is to every life. We do not escape the rod because there is no rod. It is of the Lord’ s mercies that we are not consumed. Think of that. Do let it enter into our minds and make us sober, sedate--if not religious and contrite. II. Divine punishments are humiliating (Jeremiah 13:13). Some punishments have a kind of dignity about them: sometimes a man dies almost heroically, and turns death itself into a kind of victory; and we cannot but consent that the time is well chosen, and the method the best for giving to the man’ s reputation completeness, and to his influence stability and progress. God can bring us to our latter end, as it were, nobly: we may die like princes; death may be turned into a kind of coronation; our deathbed may be the picture of our life--the most consummately beautiful and exquisite revelation of character--or the Lord can drive us down like mad beasts to an unconsecrated grave. How contemptuous He can be! How bitter, how intolerable the sarcasm of God! “ I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” The Lord seems now and again to take a kind of delight in showing how utterly our pride can be broken up and trampled underfoot. He will send a worm to eat up the harvest: would He but send an angel with a gleaming sickle to cut it down we might see somewhat of glory in the disaster. Thus God comes into our life along a line that may be designated as a line of contempt and humiliation. Oh, that men were wise, that they would hold themselves as God’ s and not their own, as Divine property rather than personal possession! Then would they walk soberly and recruit themselves in many a prayer, and bring back their youth because they trust in God. III. Divine punishments when they come are complete. “ I will destroy them.” We cannot tell the meaning of this word; we do not know what is meant by “ destruction” ; we use the term as if we knew its meaning,--and possibly we do know its meaning according to the breadth of our own intention and purpose; but the word as used by God has Divine meanings upon which we can lay no measuring line. We cannot destroy anything: we can destroy its form, its immediate relation, its temporary value; but the thing itself in its substance or in its essence we can never destroy. When the Lord says He will take up this matter of destruction we cannot tell what He means; we dare not think of it. We use the word “ nothing,” but cannot tell what He means by the nothingness of nothing, by the negativeness of negation, by the sevenfold darkness, by the heaped-up midnight of gloom. My soul, come not thou into that secret: IV. Divine punishments are avoidable (Jeremiah 13:16). The door of hope is set open, even in this midnight of threatening; still we are on praying ground and on pleading terms with God; even now we can escape the bolt that gleams in the thundercloud. What say you, men, brethren, and fathers? Why be hard? why attempt the impossible? why think we can run away from God? and why, remembering that our days are but a handful, will we not be wise and act as souls that have been instructed? (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 13:15-17 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.Jehovah hath spoken: will ye not hear? I. There is a revelation. “ For the Lord hath spoken.”1. The voice which we are bidden to hear is a Divine voice, it is the voice of Him that made the heavens and the earth, whose creatures we are. 2. It is a word most clear and plain, for Jehovah hath spoken. He might have taught us only by the works of His hands, in which the invisible things of God, even His eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen. What is all creation but a hieroglyphic scroll, in which the Lord has written out His character as Creator and Provider? But since He knew that we were dim of sight and dull of comprehension, the Lord has gone beyond the symbols and hieroglyphs, and used articulate speech such as a man useth with his fellow: Jehovah hath spoken! 3. Moreover, I gather from the expression in the text that the revelation made to us by the Lord is an unchangeable and abiding word. It is not today that Jehovah is speaking, but Jehovah hath spoken: His voice by the prophets and apostles is silent now, for He hath revealed all truth which is needful for salvation. 4. This revelation is preeminently a condescending and cheering word. The very fact that the great God speaks to us by His Son indicates that mercy, tenderness, love, hope, grace, are the burden of His utterance. II. Since there is a revelation, it should be suitably received.1. If Jehovah hath spoken, then all attention should be given; yea, double attention, even as the text hath it, “ Hear ye, and give ear.” Hear, and hear again: incline your ear, hearken diligently, surrender your soul to the teaching of the Lord God; and be not satisfied till yea have heard His teaching, have heard it with your whole being, and have felt the force of its every truth. “ Hear ye,” because the word comes with power, and “ give ear,” because you willingly receive it. 2. Then it is added, as if by way of directing us how suitably to hear this revelation--“ Give glory to Jehovah your God.” (1) Glorify the Lord by accepting whatsoever He saith unto thee as being infallibly true. In all its length and breadth, whatsoever the Lord saith we believe; and we desire to know neither less nor more than He has spoken. (2) We must receive the word, however, in a hearty and honest manner so as to act upon it. We must therefore repent of the sin which the Lord condemns, and turn from the way which He abhors; we must loathe the vice which He forbids us, and seek after the virtue which He commands. (3) But we must go further than repentance and the acceptance of the truth as truth, we must further reverence the gracious voice of God when He bids us believe on Christ and live. He has couched that message of love in so blessed a form that he who does not accept it must be wantonly malicious against God and against his own soul. III. Pride in the human heart prevents such a reception.1. In some it is the pride of intellect. They do not wish to be treated like children. Things that are despised, hath God chosen, and things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are: that no flesh may glory in His presence. Oh, let none of us be so proud as to lift up ourselves in opposition to that which Jehovah hath spoken! 2. In some others it is the pride of self-esteem. It is a dreadful thing that men should think it better to go to hell in a dignified way than to go to heaven by the narrow road of a childlike faith in the Redeemer. Those who will not stoop even to receive Christ Himself and the blessings of eternal life deserve to perish. God save us from such folly! 3. Some have a pride of self-righteousness. They say “ we see,” and therefore their eyes are not opened: they cry “ we are clean,” and therefore they are not washed from their iniquity. 4. In some, too, it is the pride of self-love. They cannot deny their lusts. 5. The pride of self-will also works its share of ruin among men. The unrenewed heart virtually says--“ I shall not mind these commands. Why should I be tied hand and foot, and ruled, and governed? I intend to be a free thinker and a free liver, and I will not submit myself.” IV. Hence there comes an earnest warning. “ Give glory to the Lord your God, before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains.” Listen, thou who hast rejected God and His Christ till now. Thou art already out of the way, among the dark mountains. There is a King’ s highway of faith, and thou hast refused it; thou hast turned aside to the right hand or to the left, according to thine own imagination. Being out of the way of safety, thou art in the path of danger even now. Though the sunlight shines about thee, and the flowers spring up profusely under thy feet, yet thou art in danger, for there is no safety out of the King’ s road. If thou wilt still pursue thy headlong career, and choose a path for thyself, I pray thee remember that darkness is lowering around thee. The day is far spent! Around thy soul there are hanging mists and glooms already, and these will thicken into the night-damps of bewilderment. Thinking but not believing, thou wilt soon think thyself into a horror of great darkness. Refusing to hear what Jehovah has spoken, thou wilt follow other voices, which shall allure thee into an Egyptian night of confusion. Upon whom wilt thou call in the day of thy calamity, and who will succour thee? Then thy thoughts will dissolve into vanity, and thy spirit shall melt into dismay. “ Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends.” Thou shalt grope after comfort as blind men grope for the wall, and because thou hast rejected the Lord and His truth, He also will reject thee and leave thee to thine own devices. Meanwhile, there shall overcloud thee a darkness bred of thine own sin and wilfulness. Thou shalt lose the brightness of thine intellect, the sharp clearness of thy thought shall depart from thee, professing thyself to be wise thou shalt become a fool. Thou shalt be in an all-surrounding, penetrating blackness. Hence comes the solemnity of this warning, “ Give glory to the Lord your God, before He cause darkness.” For after that darkness there comes a stumbling, as saith the text, “ before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains.” There must be difficulties in every man’ s way, even if it be a way of his own devising; but to the man that will not accept the light of God, these difficulties must necessarily be dark mountains with sheer abysses, pathless crags, and impenetrable ravines. He has refused the path which wisdom has cast up, and he is justly doomed to stumble where there is no way. Beware of encountering mysteries without guidance and faith, for you will stumble either into folly or superstition, and only rise to stumble again. Those who stumble at Christ’ s Cross are like to stumble into hell. There are also dark mountains of another kind which will block the way of the wanderer mountains of dismay, of remorse, of despair. V. there remains for the friends of the impenitent but one resort. Like our Lord in later times, the prophet beheld the city and wept over it: he could do no less, he could do no more. Alas, his sorrow would be unavailing, his grief was hopeless. Observe that the prophet did not expect to obtain sympathy in this sorrow of his. He says, “ My soul shall weep in secret places for your pride.” He would get quite alone, hide himself away, and become a recluse. Alas, that so few even now care for the souls of men! This also puts a pungent salt into the tears of the godly, that the weeping can do no good, since the people refuse the one and only remedy. Jehovah has spoken, and if they will not hear Him they must die in their sins. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Attention to God’ s Word I. How should we attend to it?1. With reverence.2. In faith.3. Diligently, earnestly.4. Intelligently.5. Intending to be governed by it.6. Prayerfully. II. There is here an implied neglect.1. Men are filled with other things.2. They do not know its worth.3. They do not apprehend the bearing it may have on their well-being.4. They are not willing to submit to its teachings. III. Why should we attend?1. The dignity and glory of the Lord.2. His wisdom and knowledge.3. His beneficence, interest, and love.4. He speaks to us of matters in which we have the deepest interest. Learn--1. To read the Bible regularly.2. To treasure it in the heart.3. To honour it in your life. (E. Jerman.) Be not proud.--Pride I. Different kinds of pride.1. Race pride--pride in ancestors.2. Face pride--pride in outward appearance.3. Place pride--pride in social position.4. Grace pride--pride in godliness. II. The warning. Be not proud--1. Because we have nothing to be proud of.2. Because it is abhorrent to God.3. Because it is unlike Christ.4. Because it is ruinous. Apply--(1) Some are very proud.(2) Some occasionally.(3) Some are bravely struggling against pride. (J. Bolton.) The warning against pride Many of the inhabitants of the valleys that lie between the Alps in Switzerland have large swellings, called goitres, which hang down from the sides of their necks, like great bags. They are horrible things to look at. And yet, strange as it may seem, the Swiss get to be proud even of these dreadful deformities. They look down with contempt on their neighbours who do not have these terrible swellings, and call them the “ goose-necked” people. And so we see that pride is a sin into which we are all in danger of falling. And here we have God’ s warning against pride. I. Pride brings with it unhappiness. The fable says, that there was a tortoise once, that was very unhappy because he could not fly. He used to look up and see the eagles and other birds spreading out their wings and floating through the air. He said to himself, “ Oh, if I only had wings, as those birds have, so that I could rise up into the air, and sail about there as they do, how happy I should be!” One day, he called to an eagle, and offered him a great reward if he would only teach him how to fly. The eagle said--“ Well, I’ ll try what I can do. You get on my back, and I’ ll carry you up into the air, and we’ ll see what can be done.” So the tortoise got on the back of the eagle. Then the eagle spread out his wings and began to soar aloft. He went up, and up, and up, till he had reached a great height. Then he said to the tortoise: “ Now, get ready. I’ m going to throw you off, and you must try your hand at flying.” So the eagle threw him off; and he went down, down, down, till at last he fell upon a hard rock and was dashed to pieces. Now here you see, it was the pride of the tortoise which made him so unhappy, because he couldn’ t fly. And it was trying to gratify his pride which cost him his life. II. Pride brings with it trouble. We never can set ourselves against any of God’ s laws without getting into trouble. Two masons were engaged in building a brick wall in front of a high house. One of them was older and more experienced than his companion. The younger one, whose name was Ben, placed a brick in the wall which was thicker at one end than at the other. His companion noticed it, and said--“ Ben, if I were you I wouldn’ t leave that brick there. It’ s not straight, and will be likely to injure the wall by making it untrue.” “ Pooh!” said Ben, “ what difference will such a trifle as that make? You are too particular.” “ My mother used to teach me,” said his friend, “ that truth is truth; and that ever so little an untruth is a lie, and that a lie is no trifle.” Now Ben’ s pride was offended by what his friend had said to him. So he straightened himself up, and said in an angry tone--“ Well, I guess I understand my business as well as you do. I am sure that brick won’ t do any harm.” His friend said nothing more to him. They both went quietly on with their work, laying one brick after another, and carrying the wall up higher, till the close of the day. Next morning they went back to go on with their work again. But when they got there they found the wall all in ruins. The explanation of it was this: that uneven brick had given it a little slant. As the wall got up higher, the slant increased, till at last, in the middle of the night, it tumbled over and fell down to the ground. And here we see the trouble which this young man brought on himself by his pride. If he had only learned to mind this Bible warning against it, that wall would not have fallen down, and he would have been saved the trouble of building it up again. III. Pride brings with it loss. The apostle tells us that “ God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.” So if we give way to pride, we are in a position in which God is resisting us, and then it is certain, that we can expect nothing but loss in everything that we do. When we begin to love and serve God, He says to each of us, “ from this day will I bless thee.” And are told that “ the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow.” The way in which God’ s blessing makes His people rich is in the peace, joy, happiness He gives them; the sense of His favour and protection which they have in this world, and the hope of sharing His presence and glory forever in heaven. But if we give way to pride we cannot love and serve God; and then we must lose His blessing--the greatest loss we can ever meet with in this world. (R. Newton, D. D.) God glorified in the fall of pride I. What is it which stops people from hearing the voice of God?1. One form of pride is shame. Many kept from Christ because ashamed to come and give themselves up to Him. For fear of the paltry scorn, the momentary ridicule, the soul will risk eternity! 2. There is the pride of respectability and social position. Hold apart from religion, because in the one way all must go without distinction. Yet what can justify in a lost sinner any high and vain thoughts of self? 3. There is the pride that conceals a wound. God’ s Word has stricken the heart; healing and joy could be had if we humbly go to God, yet hide the grief and unrest within, from man and Heaven. 4. There is the pride of self-righteousness. What say when before the Throne--that you were too good to accept the Gospel? II. Human pride must effectually be broken down.1. When pride humbled and man crushed, God speaks. What say? “ Give glory to the Lord your God.” “ Your” God still, though turned back on Him and grieved Him. 2. The contrite soul cannot realise its inability to glorify God. Broken down, powerless, self-despairing, cast yourself on His salvation. 3. There is a desperate alternative: that you “ will not hear.” By and by your feet will “ stumble on the dark mountains.” The day of disease will come; life will grow dim; the thin grandeur of a fading world will begin to pass away; all around the gloom will thicken, and on a dying world “ gross darkness” of unrelieved despair will cover you. Then the last moment arrives; one terrified “ look for light,” but in vain; the soul is “ carried away into captivity.” (W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.) Jeremiah 13:16-17 Give glory to the Lord your God.I. Counsel. “ Give glory to the Lord.”1. Because the Lord’ s glory is man’ s good.2. Because in them that glory might appear.3. Because by them that glory might be obscured. II. Warning, “ Before He cause darkness,” etc.1. Fading light. No clear vision when God is not glorified.2. Stumbling feet. No power of progress unless for God’ s glory.3. Bewildering night. Captivity. All lost. III. Pleading. “ But if ye will not hear,” etc.1. The counsel of tender love.2. The counsel of utter unselfishness. (J. Fatten.) God glorified by His people I. An exhortation. What is meant by giving glory to God? To ascribe glory to His name, to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, to show forth His glory, to confess Him before men, not only with our lips but in our lives, to believe on Him, to fear Him, to put our whole trust in Him, to call upon Him, to honour His holy Name and His Word, and to serve Him truly all the days of our life. But all these can be traced to two fountains.1. By faith in Christ we glorify God. (1) It is His gift, and God is glorified in His gifts. (2) It is “ the substance of things hoped for,” brought home to the believer’ s mind; and these being things of glory beyond the veil, God is glorified by their manifestation. (3) It is “ the evidence of things not seen, and thus brings glory to God, because it takes God at His word, and “ sets to its seal that God is true,” and glorifies Him in His truth. (4) Through it we are saved; it opens a window in the soul’ s dark dungeon, and lets in the glories of a crucified and an exalted Saviour; it opens a fountain of newborn hope in the mind, and that fountain is “ Christ in us the hope of glory” ; it brings back God’ s image, and restores in Christ what we lost in Adam. It is a lowly faith, and thus brings glory to God. It is a living faith; it comes from a living root, even the “ root and the offspring of David.” It is a loving faith. It is a working faith. It is a watching and a waiting faith--it watches for the coming of the Lord--it watches and “ waits more than they that watch for the morning.” 2. By repentance we glorify, or bring glory to God. The evidence or characteristic mark of this true repentance is holiness; we give glory to God by a holy spirit,--“ Glorify Him,” says the apostle, “ in your bodies and spirits, which are His.” We give glory to God by a holy life--“ Let your light so shine before men,” etc. We give glory to God by holy lips, for the Spirit, speaking by the Psalmist, says, “ Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me.” II. The motive. God never positively causes darkness, for He is not the author of evil--He does so negatively. The clouds and mists ascending from the earth obscure the light of the sun’ s beams from our sight, nevertheless, far above those mists and shadows, though invisible to us, that glorious orb is shining as undimmed and unbroken as before. Thus it is with God and His sinful people--our iniquities go up as a thick mist from the face of the earth, and our transgressions as a thick cloud, and separate between us and our God. What then is this darkness?1. There is a spiritual darkness in man’ s soul--of despair. 2. There is a mental darkness caused by disease of the body affecting and effacing the mind. 3. There is a mortal darkness--the darkness of death. To a believer death has no sting, for Christ has plucked it away--to a believer death has no gloom, for Christ has passed through its dark vaults and left a track of light behind Him; but who can paint the darkness that settles round the deathbed of an ignorant or unbelieving sinner, who dies knowing nothing, fearing nothing, hoping nothing! 4. There is an immortal darkness--the darkness of hell. (R. S. Brooke, M. A.) Giving glory to God by repentance God is the eternal fountain of honour and the spring of glory; in Him it dwells essentially, from Him it derives originally; and when an action is glorious, or a man is honourable, it is because the action is pleasing to God, in the relation of obedience or imitation, and because the man is honoured by God, and by God’ s vicegerent: and therefore God cannot be dishonoured, because all honour comes from Himself; He cannot but be glorified, because to be Himself is to be infinitely glorious. And yet He is pleased to say that our sins dishonour Him, and our obedience does glorify Him. He that hath dishonoured God by sins, that is, hath denied, by a moral instrument of duty and subordination, to confess the glories of His power, and the goodness of His laws, and hath dishonoured and despised His mercy, which God intended as an instrument of our piety, hath no better way to glorify God than, by returning to his duty, to advance the honour of the Divine attributes, in which He is pleased to communicate Himself, and to have intercourse with man. He that repents confesses his own error, and the righteousness of God’ s laws; and, by judging himself, confesses that he deserves punishment; and therefore, that God is righteous if He punishes him; and, by returning, confesses God to be the fountain of felicity, and the foundation of true, solid, and permanent joys. And as repentance does contain in it all the parts of holy life which can be performed by a returning sinner, so all the actions of a holy life do constitute the mass and body of all those instruments whereby God is pleased to glorify Himself.1. Repentance implies a deep sorrow, as the beginning and introduction of this duty: not a superficial sigh or tear, not a calling ourselves sinners and miserable persons: this is far from that “ godly sorrow that worketh repentance” : and yet I wish there were none in the world, or none amongst us, who cannot remember that ever they have done this little towards the abolition of their multitudes of sins: but yet, if it were not a hearty, pungent sorrow, a sorrow that shall break the heart in pieces, a sorrow that shall so irreconcile us to sin, as to make us rather choose to die than to sin, it is not so much as the beginning of repentance. But I desire that it be observed that sorrow for sins is not repentance; not that duty which gives glory to God, so as to obtain of Him that He will glorify us. Repentance is a great volume of duty; and godly sorrow is but the frontispiece or title page; it is the harbinger or first introduction to it: or, if you will consider it in the words of St. Paul, “ Godly sorrow worketh repentance” :--sorrow is the parent, and repentance is the product. Let us, therefore, beg of God, as Caleb’ s daughter did of her father: “ Thou hast given me a dry land, give me also a land of waters,” a dwelling place in tears, rivers of tears; “ that,” as St. Austin’ s expression is, “ because we are not worthy to lift up our eyes to heaven in prayer, yet we may be worthy to weep ourselves blind for sin.” We can only be sure that our sorrow is a godly sorrow, when it worketh repentance; that is, when it makes us hate and leave all our sin, and take up the cross of patience or penance; that is, confess our sin, accuse ourselves, condemn the action by hearty sentence: and then, if it hath no other emanation but fasting and prayer for its pardon, and hearty industry towards its abolition, our sorrow is not reprovable. 2. No confession can be of any use, but as it is an instrument of shame to the person, of humiliation to the man, and dereliction of the sin; and receives its recompense but as it adds to these purposes: all other is like “ the bleating of the calves and the lowing of the oxen,” which Saul reserved after the spoil of Agag; they proclaim the sin, but do nothing towards its cure; they serve God’ s end to make us justly to be condemned out of our own mouths, but nothing at all towards our absolution. Our sin must be brought to judgment, and, like Antinous in Homer, laid in the midst, as the sacrifice and the cause of all the mischief. 3. Well, let us suppose our penitent advanced thus far, as that he decrees against all sin, and in his hearty purposes resolves to decline it, as in a severe sentence he hath condemned it as his betrayer and his murderer; yet we must be curious that it be not only like the springings of the thorny or the highway ground, soon up and soon down: for some men, when a sadness or an unhandsome accident surprises them, then they resolve against their sin; but as soon as the thorns are removed, return to their first hardness, and resolve then to act their first temptation. They that have their fits of a quartan, well and ill forever, and think themselves in perfect health when the ague is retired, till its period returns, are dangerously mistaken. Those intervals of imperfect and fallacious resolution are nothing but states of death: and if a man should depart this world in one of those godly fits, as he thinks them, he is no nearer to obtain his blessed hope than a man in the stone-colic is to health, when his pain is eased for the present, his disease still remaining, and threatening an unwelcome return. That resolution only is the beginning of a holy repentance, which goes forth into act, and whose acts enlarge into habits, and whose habits are productive of the fruits of a holy life. 4. Suppose all this be done, and that by a long course of strictness and severity, mortification and circumspection, we have overcome all our vicious and baser habits; suppose that we have wept and fasted, prayed and vowed to excellent purposes; yet all this is but the one half of repentance, so infinitely mistaken is the world, to think anything to be enough to make up repentance. But to renew us, and restore us to the favour of God, there is required far more than what hath yet been accounted for (2 Peter 1:4-5). We must not only have overcome sin, but we must, after great diligence, have acquired the habits of all those Christian graces, which are necessary in the transaction of our affairs, in all relations to God and our neighbour, and our own persons. It is not an easy thing to cure a long-contracted habit of sin. Let any intemperate person but try in his own instance of drunkenness; or the swearer, in the sweetening his unwholesome language: but then so to command his tongue that he never swear, but that his speech be prudent, pious, and apt to edify the hearer, or in some sense to glorify God; or to become temperate, to have got a habit of sobriety, or chastity, or humility, is the work of a life. (Bishop Jeremy Taylor.) Give glory to God I. The command. One way in which we may obey this command is by confession of sin, the humbling of self before God on account of general unworthiness, and also on account of particular acts of sin. Our natural hearts think but little of sin in this light, as dishonouring to God; they are accustomed and inured to sin; and hence it excites no feeling of aversion, unless exhibited in its grosser forms. By the confession of sin, therefore, God is to be glorified, and how full the promises which God has connected with it! (Proverbs 28:13; Psalms 32:5; 2 Samuel 12:13.) Closely connected with this confession of sin there is a way in which we are called upon to “ give glory to the Lord our God,” and that is, by receiving God’ s offered salvation. The public means of grace have been afforded this year as usual. And yet the fact forces itself upon us, as painful as it is obvious, that there may be an outward participation in these privileges, and at the same time no glory given to God. There is nothing so dishonouring to God as unbelief, for in the solemn words of inspiration, “ He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar,” etc. We may observe, also, that when there is this exercise of faith, receiving God’ s offered salvation, its tendency is not to exalt the pride of man, but to ascribe all the glory to God: see, for example, Ephesians 1:1-23, where the grace of God is so fully set forth, and three times in that one chapter the expression occurs that every step of that salvation is “ to the praise of His glory.” But again, we may obey the command to give glory to the Lord our God by aiming to live according to His will. This can be effected by those only who are obeying the invitations of the Gospel; others have various aims in life, but if Christ is not received into the heart, they cannot live according to God’ s will. The Lord has a right to look for obedience in His professing people. We give glory to God, by simple childlike confidence in Him and in His providential care and love, by the discharge of the ordinary duties of life, conscientiously as in His sight, and by thus acting up to the spirit of that command, “ Whether therefore ye eat or drink,” etc. So, also, by submission to His will we are to give glory to God, that which is so easy when God’ s will runs parallel, so to speak, with our own--so hard when it runs counter to our natural desires. Then to glorify God in the fires, amid the various trials which every year brings in its course, trials which have to do with health, or circumstances, or bereavements; to sin not, nor charge God foolishly; like Aaron to hold our peace in mute submission when the heart is too full for utterance; to receive the gracious assurance given by the lips of our Divine Master, “ Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” to know the loving sympathy of Him who has said, “ I am He that comforteth you” ; one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort thee.” The various other ways in which we are to give glory to God, and live according to His will, may be summed up in the one expression, fruitfulness in good works. II. The time for yielding this obedience is limited. “ Before He cause darkness,” etc. In this figure the present time is compared to the day--the time for work, and for obedience, and for giving glory to God,--the time for guiding us safe through the narrow path that leads to heaven and home. Oh, how solemn is the thought of the uncertainty of life. How fearful that darkness must be when it overtakes the sinner groping about in life’ s byways, instead of being at the gates of the heavenly city, where all is light forever; life’ s work undone, and no more the call heard to glorify God, but the cry which excludes hope, “ He that is unjust,” etc. (J. H. Holford, M. A.) Giving glory to God There are two ways of giving glory to God. I. By giving Him back His own glory. There are three mirrors in which God’ s glory is seen. Now, of these mirrors, some are broken and some stained. The first mirror was stained by the sin of man--creation was stained and lost its glory and its beauty by the first stain on it. Oh! the breath of Adam’ s corruption comes as a thick fog on the face of the glass, and until that thick fog is removed, we shall not see God’ s glory in the creation. The second mirror is the Word. The Word is stained, the steam of our own corruption goes forth, our darkened understandings, our stubborn will, our adulterous affections, our perverse imaginations send forth a filthy effluvia, and the filthy effluvia gathers into a thick and impenetrable mist, and that covers the glass. Besides that, there is the darkness of hell. But when the Holy Spirit removes the cloud and enables you to look into the mirror--into the cleansed and polished mirror,--then you behold the glory of God. Again, there is a third glass, the glass of the Church. This glass is broken, the visible Church now is not presenting the glory of God; the visible Church now is as a mirror shattered into a thousand fragments, and until the Holy Ghost comes and joins together these shattered fragments of the mirror, we never shall see God in the Church. The principal glory of the Church is holiness--there is no glory like that! but there is another glory which the Church has lost--and she ought not to have lost it--she has lost it, however, through unbelief--I mean the glory of power from God. We ought to have the gifts of the Spirit among us now as well as His graces; and I do believe, when you shall be brought to pray for the same--when you shall be brought to expect the promise of the Father, the Lord will respond to your prayer, and all creation shall testify in a moment that He is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God.1. Now, to come more closely, we give glory to God when we see Him as He is--when we see Him as a Father--when we do not see the doctrine about Him as a Father, but see Himself as a Father. 2. We give glory to God when we behold His love in Christ, and are delighted with that love. 3. We give glory to God in a third particular, when we yield ourselves to His Spirit. II. We give glory to God when we give God created glory. The first thing is to catch His own glory and send it back, and the second, to give Him created glory. In giving God created glory, begin with your own heart--that is the centre nearest to you, begin with the hearts of your brethren, the heart of your wife, the heart of your child, the heart of your father, the heart of your servant, the heart of your neighbour, the heart of your landlord, the heart of your tenant, endeavour to get all their hearts given to God, as His throne and dwelling place, and then have the hearts of all you can speak an affectionate word unto, given unto God. Then go out over all creation, and endeavour to give all creation to God; endeavour to take the gold of the world, endeavour to take the fruits and the flowers of the world, and give them to God. You behold the religion of God like the famed river of Grecian song which cannot come to any land without irrigating that laud with golden sands, and you desire to send the stream of God’ s religion, which restrains evil and cherishes virtue, which rescues man from sin, and enstamps on him holiness, you endeavour to mend that over the length and breadth of the moral world, that it may go as a stream of richness, a stream of fertilisation, a stream of refreshing and beauty over every part of the wide world. (N. Armstrong.) God glorified by repentance I. The repentance demanded of us in Scripture differs widely from a mere transient regret at having done wrong, and a passing resolve, that we will abstain for the future from certain grosser misdoings. The repentance which conducts to salvation is a thorough change of the whole man, commencing with new views of the nature of sin, and of its character as committed against a God of unbounded loving kindness, and gradually overspreading the life and conversation, till all around recognise that fresh creation which undeniably attests Divine interference.1. Take the sense which a true penitent has of the nature of sin, and the confession, as well by action as by word, which that sense will dictate. There is nothing which more strikingly distinguishes man in his natural state from man in his renewed state, than the difference in the estimates which the two form of sin. The wonder with the natural man is, why sin should be everlastingly punished; the wonder with the renewed man is, how a thing so heinous can ever find pardon. Then if from the present we pass to the future, and observe the alleged consequences of transgression extending themselves like lines of fire through all the spreadings of man’ s after existence, why, more than ever the stranger to repentance will be sensible of that recoil and jar of feeling which indicates suspicion that God is not just in thus taking vengeance. But how different is it with the renewed--that is, with the penitent man! God appears righteous in taking vengeance; this is the discovery, this the unhesitating conviction of the individual in whose mind are the workings of genuine repentance. But if it be true, according to these showings, that to exhort a man to repent is to exhort him to pass from the condition in which his notions of sin obscure all God’ s dealings, to one in which they illustrate and vindicate those dealings--from the entertainment of the suspicion that the Creator may do wrong, to entertaining the assurance that the Creator does right in exacting everlasting penalties; if this be true, then surely repentance, as including a right sense of sin, may be identified with glorifying God. 2. Consider the confession, as well by action as by word, which a true penitent will make of his sin, and see whether such confession will not give glory to God. “ My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him.” Making confession, you observe, is associated, or rather identified, with the giving God glory. When Achan owned that he had taken of the accursed thing, he publicly proclaimed that God had shown Himself omniscient as having brought to light what no eye but his own had observed. The acknowledgment, moreover, was proof to the nation, that God had not smitten without cause, and that His threatenings always take effect; thus witnessing, so that the whole congregation would understand the testimony, to the justice, authority, and holiness of Jehovah. For he who, moved by the workings of a righteous contrition, falls before his Maker, and confesses himself a sinner, owns to the having forsaken the fountain of living waters, and hewn out to himself cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. When he uses the tongue which is emphatically described as the best member which we have, in testifying to the evil of departure from God, in asserting the truth of what God hath uttered in regard of man’ s fallen estate, and the necessity that we return unto holiness if we would attain unto happiness, this confession of sin carries with it an announcement to all who here try the Word by the test of experience, as it would hereafter to the breathless onlookers as the strange work of judgment goes forward, that there is an ascertained righteousness in God’ s dealings with unrenewed men as with traitors to that government which extends wheresoever there is moral accountableness. In acknowledging myself a sinner, I acknowledge myself a rebel against the Almighty, and thus out of my own mouth the eternal justice would be vindicated if there were pronounced upon me that sentence of banishment which is yet to be heard by an impenitent multitude; and certainly if that confession of sin which is a fruit or element of repentance can in any degree cause God to be justified when He speaks, and clear when He judges, there can be no debate that in this very degree it brings honour to God; in other words, it explains what is done in the text, where, summoning men to repent, the prophet summons them to give glory to God. And oh! there is a confession which is far stronger, and more productive of glory than that of the lip, even that of the life. Repentance, whatever its internal workings, amounts in its outward demonstration, which is known and read of all men, to a complete change of conduct. II. The prophet lays down a limitation as to time. “ Before.” There is a whole volume of intelligence, and that, too, startling and touching intelligence, in this one word. It is as much as to say, You cannot avoid giving it at one time or another; you must give it after if you refuse to give it before. Give it, therefore, while it may be accepted as an offering, and defer it not until it be exacted as a penalty. And certainly it is a truth which but little reasoning would suffice to establish, that glory will finally be won to God from every section of the universe, and from every member of that intelligent family with which its spreadings are peopled. The power of refusing to give God glory will expire with death, when the day of probation has been followed by the day of condemnation; and beyond all doubt, in the punishment of the reprobate as in the happiness of the righteous, there shall be a perpetual harvest of honour unto God. Hell, as well as heaven, must be the scene for the display of the Divine attributes; and wherever these attributes have place of development, there undoubtedly the Almighty is glorified. And therefore, I do not say of the dying sinner, going hence in his ungodliness, that he has outlived all opportunity of giving glory to God; we rather say of him that he has just reached the necessity of giving glory to God. A moment more--oh! even in that moment he might grasp the Cross; but let that moment be another and the last of dishonour done to God, and infinity is before him, paved with the burning tribute which has here been withheld, so that to die in rebellion is only to transfer to eternity arrears which eternity cannot exhaust. We leave the combination in its inexplicable awfulness: we have no language for a state where the fire is unquenchable, and yet the darkness is impenetrable. We thank God we may yet all give glory before our feet stumble, and before the day closes. We are not yet on the dark mountains; it may be, we are approaching them. The old must be approaching them--the young may be approaching them; but if we seem to behold them on the horizon--the gloomy, frowning masses--still the Sun of Righteousness hath not yet gone down on our firmament; still there needs nothing but the looking in faith unto Jesus, “ delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification,” and the beams of that Sun shall edge, as with a line of gold, the dark and dreaded rampart, or rather throw a transparency into the stern barrier, so that it shall seem to us to melt into the garden of hope, the land where the river of life is ever flowing, and the tree of life is ever waving. (H. Melvill, B. D.) The suspension of Divine judgments “ Give glory to the Lord your God before.” We may see a rough image of the suspension of Divine vengeance against sin, and of the real terrors of that suspension, which only a timely repentance can avert, in the mountain torrent swollen by the melting of the winter’ s snow. At first a sudden fuller flow announces to the inhabitants of the valley that the thaw has commenced. But the increasing of the waters suddenly ceases, not to the contentment but to the alarm of the inhabitants of the valley below. It inspires their fear and arouses their energies. Instantly they sally out with axe and hook and cord. Mark how eagerly they climb the rugged slippery hill. They know that the present quietude of the torrent tells of future disaster. It is a plain indication to them that some tree has floated down the current, and by the whirling of the waters in a narrow channel has been forced athwart the stream; that there is being rapidly constructed a natural dam, behind which the flood will gather, and seethe and swell and rage with ever-increasing fury, until it carries all before it, and bursts with devastating volume and force on the farms and fields below; and the purpose of these men who are hastening upwards is to let out the flood before it assumes these dangerous proportions. In like manner the guilty and impenitent have as little reason to be at ease “ because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily.” On the contrary, that very fact should arouse them to an instantaneous repentance; for while in mercy the long-suffering of God as a mighty dam obstructs the forth flowing of His righteous vengeance, when in judgment it is at length removed, the terrors of wrath will be in exact proportion to the space in which they were treasured up. (R. A. Bertram.) Before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains. Darkness and the dark mountains It is difficult to imagine a more perilous situation than that of a man overtaken by darkness among the mountains of the East. The face of the sky has become suddenly blackened with clouds; the serene light of the stars guides his feet no more; the warring elements threaten his immediate destruction; and, without guide to conduct or friend to comfort him, he can do nothing but anticipate ruin. Should he sit down, he may perish under the cold; should he advance, rocks and precipices rise everywhere around; and, to increase his horror, the wild beasts of the forest fill up with their prolonged roar the pauses of the storm. But if he has himself rushed causelessly upon his fate; if, notwithstanding that, toward evening’ s close, he had been assured, by those who knew them well, that all the prognostics of an immediate storm were gathering in the sky, he gave an incredulous ear to the intimation; if, notwithstanding that there were offered to him the hospitalities of a cheerful dwelling; if he still persisted in his own determination; and if, on finding that his purpose was inflexible, an experienced guide was offered to conduct him, whose services he sullenly rejected;--then, indeed, can we easily understand how the remembrance of these things will occasion only additional agony at every moment when his “ feet stumble on the dark mountains,” and that, to the other horrors of his perilous state, there will be superadded the bitterest self-reproach for his own infatuation. Yet all this, as the metaphor under consideration suggests to us, is but a faint emblem of the sinner’ s wretchedness. To him there is a day of grace; but it too, if unimproved, is succeeded by a night of darkness, and thick gloom. If uncovered by that pavilion which God has erected, he must wander as an outcast on the mountains, uncheered by heaven’ s mercy. Hence the earnest counsel of the prophet, “ Give glory to the Lord your God,” etc. I. The darkness of affliction.1. You are now happy, let us suppose, beyond many around you in the world. Your health is unimpaired, and your strength fails not. But where is your security that this state of things shall continue? May not the pestilence that walks in darkness creep silently into your midnight bed? Give now, then, glory to God ere health is taken from you, and you wander on the dark mountains of disease. 2. Or, it may be, your friendships and connections are all blessed of heaven. Now, then, give glory to God; for, sooner than you apprehend, the days of darkness may fall, and your happiness vanish as a dream. Those little ones who now cheer your dwelling may soon go to swell the congregation of the dead; or, worse even than that, some of them, fair as is now their early promise, may fall in temptation’ s hour into follies, or crimes, which shall make you wish rather that they had never been born. 3. Or, once more, your worldly circumstances are fair and flourishing. You have, if not great wealth, what is better, a competent portion of good things; and, while many cry for bread when there is none to give them, you have enough and to spare. But soon, perhaps, your substance shall be dissolved as snow, and your riches take to themselves wings as eagles. Now, then, “ give glory to God,” ere your feet stumble on the mountains of destitution. II. The darkness of insanity. Ye whose reason is now sober, whose judgments are now clear, whose understandings are now acute and comprehensive,--are you sure that so they shall continue to the end? Did you never know any instance of a human creature, once as calm and rational as you, hurried as by a whirlwind into the vortex of insanity? Did you never know a case, where neither hereditary transmission, nor constitutional temperament, nor evil habits, could have made way for reason’ s loss? And where, then, is the security that yours shall not be the lot of those who call truth error, and error truth? That would be darkness indeed, yea, gross darkness, and the very shadow of death. Is it not wise, then, now to give glory to God, lest haply your feet should stumble on that dark mountain? III. The darkness of despair. It is an awful condition that of a human creature at once apprehensive of judgment and incredulous of mercy. Sometimes this mental depression is a constitutional infirmity, and results more from a finely sensitive nature than a habitually depraved heart. Sometimes, too, it is owing to a gloomy system of theology, which would ordain those to be sorry whom God has not commanded to make sad. And sometimes it is the fruit of educational seeds, growing up at length even as the grapes of Sidon. But in the great majority of instances, the cause of the distemper is previous impenitence. The soul, having at length become alive to a sense of its guiltiness and danger, sinks into the depths of despair, says of itself, “ No hope, no hope” ; and to those who would administer comfort if they could, replies only, “ Miserable comforters are ye all!” That which a philosopher has remarked concerning the earthquake, is eminently true of such a state as this. One may escape from pestilence, from famine, and from sword. The storm and tempest may be run from. The cloud that is as yet no bigger than the hand of a man may be seen afar off, and, when discerned, a refuge may be sought from it. The inundation of waters may be escaped by a timely flight; and even the lightning of heaven may be conducted by a safe passage from our dwellings. But the motions of the earthquake arise in a moment, and surprise one into an agony of alarm. Even thus it is with despair, “ that worst enemy of the sinner’ s soul.” The desponding spirit sits down at the gate of death, and refuses to be comforted. “ Give glory then to God, before your feet stumble on the dark mountains.” IV. The darkness of death and the grave. Between that darkness and you there may be only a single step. The eleventh hour may be about to sound its solemn knell, and the sentence may go forth, “ This night thy soul shall be required of thee.” The lamp of life may be well supplied with oil, and yet it may burn only for a brief season. An unexpected breath of wind may extinguish it in a moment; and you know that, in the grave, that cannot be done which has been left undone. Now, therefore, give glory unto God before your feet stumble on the dark mountains. Do bug think how unworthy an offering to Him would be the “ relies and refuse” of a wicked life; and consider that, even although the night of death may, in your case, be preceded by an evening of sickness, it is most perilous to delay commencing the work of religion to a season when the memory may have become treacherous, the moral feelings blunted, and the conscience seared. Think, too, even should you retain the use of all your mental faculties to the last, how difficult it will be for you to assure yourselves that your repentance is of the right sort,--that which is unto salvation, and needeth not to be repented of. V. The darkness of hell. The future torments of the wicked, as well as the felicities of the just, it is far beyond the power of imagination to comprehend. The most calamitous condition in which a human being may be placed on earth admits of some relief: let a man be ever so much afflicted, desolate, or forsaken, there is commonly some comfort to be had. The sympathy of others at least may be extended to him; or, if even this be wanting, he has the prospect of getting his sufferings terminated by death. But in regard to the torments of the wicked in a future life, it is not so. There the misery is unmingled, and the pain undiverted by any soothing application. The fountains of sympathy are there dried up; compassion is unknown; nor can even death itself be looked forward to. Add to this, that all the tormenting passions will then be let loose upon the guilty soul And if even one of these passions, when brought into full action, is maddening here, what shall not the effect be there, when all that is fierce and malignant in its own nature shall war against the soul? Only think what shame does--what sorrow, what despair, what hatred do--in the present life; and then conceive, if you can, what all of them together will do for a condemned spirit in the future state. If this be the end of the ungodly (and that it is so the God who cannot lie has solemnly assured us), give glory to God before your feet stumble on the dark mountains. (J. L. Adamson.) The dark mountains I. Contemplate the wanderers. Darkness is used in Holy Scripture to denote that repugnance to God and spiritual things which sin produces in the mind (Isaiah 9:2; Romans 1:21). Talk to them of these things, and their sealed lips and cold indifference will prove that they have not been taught the way of righteousness by the Spirit of truth. And no wonder (1 Corinthians 2:14). But this condition is not forced upon men by any irresistible power. It is true that they are all born in sin and “ shapen in iniquity” (Psalms 51:5); but the remedy for their blindness is ever at hand, if they would but receive it. Here, then, we see the culpability of their state; it is willing ignorance; they refuse to be enlightened (John 3:20). No wonder, therefore, that they prefer the dark mountains of sin in order that they may pursue, as they list, the forbidden works of darkness (Job 24:13). And this rebellion against the light may be traced up to the depravity of their hearts. They are not only willingly ignorant, and therefore criminally guilty, but their affections are corrupted. Here, again, we have another idea suggested by the term darkness, It implies the moral pollution of human nature, which is opposed to that inward purity which the light of the Holy Spirit communicates. The heart of the wicked is actually depraved and vitiated; and from that source, as from a contaminated fountain, flow the copious streams of ungodliness and worldly lust. II. Expose their danger.1. As we dwell attentively on the scene thus brought before us, we discover that these mountains are overspread with many rough places and pitfalls. No wonder, then, that, encompassed as they are with darkness, without a light or a truthful guide, we see many of those wanderers continually falling. We picture to ourselves that young man, just released from the parental restraints of home, wandering up the side of yonder dark mountain in the depth of night. He does not mean to wander far, and he thinks he can easily retrace his steps at will. But although to those whose eyes are spiritually opened it is dark and sterile ground, it possesses for him a secret and seductive attraction, which leads him on and farther still he goes. 2. They were not happy when they began the dismal journey, and they have never been happy since; but we see them stumbling into greater miseries at every step they take. 3. As we gaze upon these wanderers, we see by the light of the text a thicker darkness overspreading the mountains, and some are rapidly lost to our sight in the impenetrable gloom. At first we see but a comparatively light cloud, the cloud of affliction. That poor wanderer has squandered his health in the service of sin; and now he is brought low, he can enjoy sin no longer. As our vision is still resting on the dark mountains, another cloud arises; see it shooting forth the forked lightnings of God’ s judgments, and many are the victims it brings low. III. Enforce the expostulation of the text. To give glory to God is to honour Him, and God is honoured when we turn to Him with hearty repentance, and submit ourselves in obedience to His authority. (W. D. Brock, B. A.) Dark mountains I. In the onward way of your life dark mountains lie before you, which you must cross for your further progress. We may travel for a time along the pleasant greensward of youth, but as we advance to our middle life and ripest years, we must expect to ascend acclivities, and clamber up steeps unknown to our earlier career. By and by, if we have not before met with them, we shall espy mountainous heights right across our road, and there will be no avoidance of them. These we must traverse, and they will tax all our strength to the utmost. “ Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards.” One of these mountains may be that of worldly adversity, an obscure position in society, the want of a suitable opening, and the toil and sadness connected with insufficient means. Or it may be, whilst you are happily exempt from this, you have a more mountainous obstacle in your delicate and precarious health. Disappointments, too, reverses, losses, may trouble you as they trouble others, and make your life way uphill, stony, and rugged. You may find yourself, moreover, ere you are aware, clambering up to the top of a long and toilsome height, and when you gain the summit there yawns beneath you, on the other side, a terrific precipice, down which, if you fall, your destruction is inevitable. This is the hilltop of temptation, and to each of us there comes at intervals an evil day, when a solitary false step on our part will ruin us for this life and the future. We climb, too, a sharp mountain of sorrow when we stand by the bedside of those whom, though we love, we shall see them here no more, and presently follow the form that embodied them in its passage to the grave that shall hide it. Some, and it may be many, of these mountainous acclivities you will have to traverse. Look, and you will see them; then make ready for the steep ascent. There is one mountain height to which I have not referred, up which, if you have not yet crossed it, sooner or later you must travel. You are a stoner. Sin involves punishment. As surely as you have sinned, so surely you must reap the consequences. There will come a time to you, if it has not yet come, when your sin will cause you grief. This mountain, whether of repentance or remorse, may likely prove a steep and high one. It will be hard work for your soul to get up over it. It is these mountain ranges of our way that invest our life here with such awful solemnity and grandeur. The big sorrows that beset us, give a solid reality to our existence, and stamp it with dignity and worth. God’ s will is, that each of us shall he equal and superior to the life obstacles He has adapted to us. You must climb them; you can’ t help yourself; you must move onward. II. The natural darkness of these mountains will be alleviated or intensified by our relationship to God. If you are right with God, and are giving Him glory in your life, God will be a light to you as you ascend your difficult way. And that light, too, will give you strength. You will see where you are, and whither you are going; the hilltop will not be so far off, the path thitherward, though meandering and tortuous, will be discernible, and the track of footsteps before you will give you cheer. Ay, and with the light of heaven around you, there will be the strength of heaven within you; and as the natural darkness of the mountain will be swallowed up in the light of heaven, so the weakness of your heart will be forgotten in the strength that is imparted. The Holy Spirit will testify that you are a child of God, an heir of the kingdom of heaven, for what son is he a father chasteneth not? And if, for a moment, you should fail, you will feel a hand helping you upward, and hear a voice cheering you onwards; and should it come almost to the worst, as with Jesus in Gethsemane, there will be an express angel from heaven to strengthen you. Should you, I say, when you come to these mountain troubles of your way, be in close relationship to God, giving glory to Him in your life, you will prove His presence and His help; you will see His light and His favour, and will find needful strength to enable you to prosecute your course. But should this not be so; should you, apart from God and alienate from His love, be pursuing your life career merely by the natural force which is derived from your animal and mental vigour; should you unexpectedly find yourself at the base of a mountainous trouble, whose steep sides ascend with a frightful incline, on whose summit, overhangs a portentous cloud, casting its deep shadows all along your appointed way--your situation will be deplorable indeed. III. How may these, evils be avoided? “ Give glory to the Lord your God.” The Lord is your God, your Creator, your Proprietor, your Sustainer, your Provider, your Defender, your Helper, your Governor, your Guide. On Him you depend, and in Him you live. Without Him you are nothing; in Him you are complete and full. You are so constituted by Him, and have such capacities given you, that you can know Him, admire Him, love Him, and serve Him. He expressly made you that you should do this. It is the design of His creation, the intent of your existence. If you achieve this, you answer His purpose and satisfy His mind. If you fail in this, you thwart His intention and disappoint His expectation. (W. T. Bull, B. A.) Jeremiah 13:20 Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?A question for parents and pastors Here is a flock that is being inquired about, not a flock only, but a beautiful flock.1. The question comes into our family life, and asks us where all the children are, those lovely children, that banished the silence of the house and made it ring with music. They were fair, they were charming, they were affectionate; what a sweet, merry little fellowship they made!--where are they? Have they been spoiled into evil, flattered into self-idolatry, neglected into atheism? Have they been over-instructed, over-disciplined, wholly overborne, so that the will has not been only broken but shattered? He is no shepherd, but a tyrant, who does not cooperate with his children, lure them, fascinate them, and give them sacred instruction without appearing to do so, and who when offering religious privileges offers them as if offering coronation, yea, and all heaven. 2. The question enters also into our Church life, saying to every pastor, “ Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?” --not large, perhaps, but so expectant, so sympathetic, so cooperative. What the flock wants is pastoral preaching. The difficulty is to overcome the temptation to preach to somebody who is not there. The preacher must always know himself to be set for the healing and nurture of men. In every congregation there am the broken-hearted, those who are shattered in fortune, feeble in health, spiritually-minded; women who have great home cares; souls that cannot thrive on criticism; lives that need all nourishment and comfort and loving sympathy. (J. Parker, D. D.) God’ s claim on parents I. What is here shown us respecting the flock.1. It is not yours in proprietorship, only in charge. Children are peculiarly and specially God’ s. Authority over them is God’ s gift to parents but He has a claim prior to yours. He continues His work of creation in every child born. Its existence is wonderful. Much more so its capacities--physical, mental, social, spiritual. 2. Christ highly estimates the flock. Christian hospitality to a child is homage to God. II. The responsibility of parents to whom God has entrusted His flock.1. They have to impart religious ideas. At home the first principles are instilled: indeed, the child’ s mind is there made acquainted with the germ of all truth--sin, forgiveness, righteousness, salvation, love human and Divine: all the ideas involved in religion. 2. Parents represent to their children the character of the Invisible God. The Gospel is a declaration of the paternal love. 3. The inquiry for the flock will be addressed to parents. III. The way in which this responsibility should be met. If you would prepare to answer joyfully this question, set it before you as--1. A distinct purpose. The wish for your children’ s salvation is not enough. Register a purpose in the sight of God. 2. Intense devotion is necessary. To have converting power over your own children you must love their souls, and hold them fast for God. (A. Davies.) Where are you What a question this for ministers and for people! For ministers. Where are the few sheep whom He has put under our care? What have we done for them? And for the flock likewise, God’ s people and children. What a question for them! Where are you? I. You are God’ s flock. “ The people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.” He acknowledges you as His sheep, and like the Good Shepherd, He knows you every one. He looks at you as you are, and thinks of the difference between one and another. II. His flock is “beautiful.”1. For what He has made them. Look how beautiful He has made us all in body, mind, and soul. 2. Because of what they are capable of. Look at the wonderful things which man has been enabled to do, and then think what more God may intend him to do. Look at him sailing over the sea, and travelling over land by means of fire and water! And then think what may not man’ s mind and body be capable of doing. But look at man sanctified by the Holy Ghost, his soul filled with grace, and bringing forth fruits of righteousness. How beautiful is a Christian, when he is gentle, forgiving, loving, forgetting himself, and seeking to help others, bearing trials without murmurs, and rejoicing even in sorrow! 3. Because of what they are intended for. You, poor creatures that you are, disappointed and disappointing yourselves so constantly, promising yourselves so much and performing so little--God intends you to be lights in this world, to show the way to those around you, and to be His companions in heaven. III. “ Where are you?” “ Where am I?”1. We are here, whilst so many others have been called away. 2. Judge yourselves where you are in spiritual things. (1) To this end review your opportunities, and see what they have done for you, where they have left you. They are like the wind or steam to a ship, like the carriage or train to the traveller; they are intended to help you on your way, and you ought to find yourself nearer home since you have had the use of them. (2) Judge yourselves about open, plain public sins. What have there been of these in the year? drunkenness, swearing, thieving, cheating, lying, uncleanness, wasting Sunday, slandering your neighbour. Have you done such things as these? (3) Judge yourselves whether you are more in earnest about religion than you were. Are you ever anxious about yourself? Are you taking any pains? (W. H. Ridley, M. A.) Christian responsibility To the minister of Christ, when looking back on the irremediable past, and forward on the dim future, the thought must naturally arise,--How much have we to answer for, and what answer shall we make? But let all seriously minded Christians consider how great is the responsibility of us all, with respect to children and young persons, that they be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Everyone knows that example is more forcible than precept, and especially evil example than good precept. When grown-up persons then, whether parents or others, use themselves to violent and intemperate language, swearing, or indecent expressions, or slander, it is as if they took pains to instruct children in the language of lost spirits. Or, to glance at another case; many there are who, while they preserve a decent exterior of conduct, yet leave their children, or other young persons for whom they are in any manner responsible, to shift for themselves; I mean in religious matters, take no personal care or trouble to give them an education substantially Christian. But I ask, Is not that which is true and good for the parent, true and good for the child? Must not fathers and mothers be answerable for the bringing up of their little flock, the children whom God has given them, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? And can this be true Christian nurture and admonition, to habituate them to those unfixed and unprincipled notions and ways in the great matter of Divine worship, and communion with Christ’ s Church here militant, but in heaven triumphant? This responsibility lies on us all--all grown-up persons--all have an influence either for good or evil on the younger; and happy will they be, who shall be found to have exerted this influence to the honour of our Almighty Lord and Master, and the edification of that flock which He purchased with His own blood. Such persons, if parents, have made it a principal matter of their thoughts and cares that their children should be also God’ s children. (Plain Sermons by Contributors to the “Tracts for the Times.”) Jeremiah 13:21 What wilt thou say when He shall punish thee?A question to the impenitent It was in view of certain threatened calamities that were to come on Judah from the hand of the Lord, that this question is asked of her. I put this question to each individual who is not obeying the Gospel of Christ. What wilt thou say, dying as thou art living, appearing before God in judgment as thou appearest to Him now, continuing impenitent, persisting in disobedience to the Gospel, if the character thou carriest into eternity be that which you are now forming for it? But perhaps you have no faith in future punishment; perhaps you do not believe that you, or any sinner will ever be brought into these circumstances. Then you have no faith in the veracity of God, or in the Bible as His Word. You are fulfillers of prophecy, for it is said (1 Peter 3:1-22) there should be such as you. But you say, the belief is unreasonable; it conflicts with all our ideas of benevolence and justice. What! that a righteous moral Governor should punish incorrigible offenders, rebels that refuse to be reconciled to Him, though often invited, and the meanwhile most kindly dealt with by their injured Sovereign, and when the terms of reconciliation are easy as they could be made, and the whole expense of bringing it about is borne by God! The question is not, what now you have to say, for now you imagine you have a great deal to say. And some can speak long and fluently in a strain of self-exculpation; but then, when confronted with your Maker and Judge; and when all things are seen by the clear and searching light of eternity; then, what wilt thou say?1. You will not be able to say that you were ignorant of the existence of the law, for the transgression of which you are condemned. 2. Nor can you say that this law is unintelligible. Whatever obscurity attaches to the doctrines of the Bible, none rests on its precepts. 3. Nor, again, can you reasonably complain of the character of this law. “ The law is holy, and the commandment holy, lust, and good.” Its spirit is love; its tendency happiness. 4. Nor can you complain of any want of adaptation in this law; that it transcends your capacities, exceeds your natural powers of performance. No; you want no new faculty to obey it perfectly. You want only a rectified heart. You want but the will. 5. You cannot plead ignorance of its penalty. You cannot say that you were not warned of the consequences of disobedience; and that God strikes, before He speaks. What has not been done to deter you from sinning? What obstructions have not been thrown in your way to destruction! But you surmount them all. What then wilt thou say, when He shall punish thee? That you have never transgressed this law, or only once, or but seldom, and then inadvertently, through infirmity? This you will not say; you cannot. Who has not sinned many times, and deliberately? Will you say that your sin did no harm, injured no one, no one but God? But you must allow the Lawgiver to be the judge of that. The consequences of a particular sin He alone is able to trace out. Will you be able to say, that, when you had sinned, God hastened the execution of the sentence against you; waited not for a second offence, and gave you no opportunity to evade the stroke; that as soon as you found you had sinned, you were sorry, and penitently sought His face, but was spurned away; and that, seeing your case to be hopeless, you went on sinning in despair? What will you say? That there was an irreversible Divine decree that stood an insurmountable obstruction in your way to heaven, and even impelled you in the downward direction? You will see by the light of eternity that that was not the case, nor indeed the doctrine of those who were supposed to hold it. What then wilt thou say, when He shall punish thee? I can think of nothing, nothing exculpatory, nothing extenuating. You will be speechless, not through intimidation, but from conviction, not as unable to speak, but as having nothing to say; self-condemned, as well as condemned by your Judge; conscience confirming the decision against you, and your own self through all eternity reproaching you, and thus nourishing a worm gnawing within worse than the fire that shall burn about you. And shall it come to this? Shall this be the issue of life? (W. Nevins, D. D.) Future punishment I. The punishment supposed.1. Sometimes it commences in the present world.2. It will assuredly be inflicted after death.3. It will be consummated at the judgment day.4. It will be proportionate (Matthew 19:27; Romans 2:6; Revelation 2:23).5. That it will be everlasting. II. The interrogation presented.1. Will you say it is unrighteous?2. Will you say it is severe?3. Will you say that you were not warned?4. Will you plead for a further period of trial?5. Will you confess your guilt, and seek mercy?6. Will you endeavour to resist the almighty arm? (Isaiah 27:4; Nahum 1:5)7. Will you endeavour to meet your doom with firmness? (Proverbs 1:27; Revelation 6:17.) Application--1. Future punishment may be averted. Bless God that you are favoured with time and opportunities; with mercy, and with gracious invitations. 2. Timely repentance, and sincere faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, will infallibly preserve you from the wrath to come. (J. Burns, D. D.) The justice of future punishment I. Offer three general remarks.1. All the afflictions to the wicked have the nature of punishment: they are not salutary. Grace turns the serpent into a rod; but sin turns the rod into a serpent. The former turns poison into a remedy; the latter, the remedy into poison. 2. Punishment is the natural and necessary consequence of sin. If we drink of the cup of abominations, God will give us the cup of trembling (Psalms 75:8). 3. Whoever are the immediate instruments of inflicting punitive evils, God is the author of them. II. Consider the solemn inquiry in our text. “ What wilt thou say when He shall punish thee?”1. Wilt thou charge God with injustice, or say that the punishment is undeserved? To admit such a thought betrays the greatest insolence and pride, as well as an entire ignorance of all the principles of truth and righteousness (Romans 3:5-6; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 16:7). 2. Wilt thou say that God is severe and that though punishment be deserved, yet it is too great for the offence? (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10.) 3. Wilt thou say that thou wast taken by surprise, without being warned; and that, therefore, judgments came unlooked for? The very heathens cannot say this; for as the creatures instruct them, so conscience warns them. 4. Wilt thou desire a further time of trial, that judgment may be deferred, and a longer season of probation be afforded thee? Instead of wishing for a greater extension of Divine forbearance, God might say to the dying and desponding sinner, The measure of thine iniquities is already full, and further forbearance would only make it run over. “ Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.” 5. Wilt thou say that thou hast sinned by an inevitable necessity, and that thy ruin was predetermined? But if this be the language of sinners in this world, it will not be so in the world to come. They will then know that if they were the slaves of sin and Satan, they were so voluntarily, and by choice; that if they were sold to commit iniquity, like Ahab, they sold themselves; and that if any spiritual blessing were withheld, it was that to which they had no claim and for which they had no desire (Jeremiah 7:10; Isaiah 63:17; Matthew 23:37 John 5:40; Acts 2:23; John 12:39; John 15:22; Romans 9:19-20). 6. The question proposed in the text implies that the sinner will have nothing to say when he falls into the hands of God. (B. Beddome, M. A.) A serious question I. The punishment referred to. A freethinker once said, “ I am seventy years old, and have never seen such a place as hell, after all that has been said about it.” A child at once replied, “ But have you ever been dead yet?”1. The punishment itself. This is brought before us-- (1) By express declarations.(2) In figurative forms. 2. Its infliction. (1) God, faithful to promises, must also be to threatenings.(2) Graded, in accordance with degree of crime. II. The persons on whom it will be inflicted.1. Atheists.2. Unbelievers.3. Hypocrites.4. Persecutors.5. Backsliders. III. The question, “ What wilt thou say?” Many can talk now, revile, question, sneer. What will you say then? (Homiletic Magazine.) No appeal Advert to the time when, in the order of the Divine government, ungodly sinners will be punished according to law. What wilt thou say in extenuation of thy guilt, and against the justice of the punishment that He shall inflict upon thee?1. Will you say that you did not know the law which you had broken? Whose fault was that? Had you not a Bible as your own? Had you not a law in your conscience which acquitted or accused you in the actions of life? 2. That you meant no wrong in what you had done? Then why do wrong? For pleasure? For profit? Was this any justification of wrong-doing? 3. That your sins had not done such evil as to deserve such punishment? Can you be a judge in this? 4. That God might have prevented you sinning, and the results of your sins, if He had been so disposed? Yes, had He destroyed your free agency. But did not God use means to prevent you, and you would not? 5. That you sinned only a short time in comparison with the duration of your punishment? Punishment is not given in its duration according to the time taken in the act of transgression. The act of murder, and its punishment. 6. That you have only done as others have done? A thousand doing wrong is no justification or extenuation of one doing a similar or the same wrong that they have committed. 7. That you have not been so bad as others? The law knows nothing of degrees in crime, so far as exempting from punishment. Besides, he that offends in one point is guilty of all. 8. That while you have done many things that have been wrong, you have done others that have been right? Doing a right will not save you from the punishment of doing a wrong. 9. That you had great temptations to do as you have done? But there were at your command resources of help sufficient to keep you from their power. 10. That you were led into sin by bad examples? There were good examples to follow as well as bad, why did you not follow them? 11. That you were never educated? Education has nothing to do with moral principles and actions. 12. That you were never warned or admonished against sin? Can this be true? If you were not, whose fault was it? Had you not warnings and admonitions of conscience and of the Spirit of God? 13. That the Spirit of God never strove with you? This is false, or God’ s Word is, and human experience. Perhaps you so quenched the Spirit as to harden your heart. 14. That you were born into the world with a sinful nature, and could not help sinning? But God made every provision to meet your case in this respect. 15. That the inconsistencies of Christians were a stumbling block to you? If one man walk awry, or if he stumble, is that any reason why you should do so 16. That you were preordained by God to do as you have done? This is false, both in reason and in Scripture. 17. That your punishment is too severe? It is no wonder you should say this. Is it undeserved? Is it against law and justice? 18. That your punishment is more than you can bear? You should have thought of this before. Did you in committing sin think of how others could bear the wrong you were doing them? How God could bear your sins? (Local Preacher’s Treasury.) Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?The Ethiopian I. The question and its answer. 1. The difficulty in the sinner’ s case lies-- (1) In the thoroughness of the operation. The Ethiopian can wash, or paint; but he cannot change that which is part and parcel of himself. A sinner cannot change his own nature. (2) In the fact that the will is itself diseased by sin. In man’ s will lies the essence of the difficulty: he can not, means that he does not will to have it done. He is morally unable. (3) In the strength of habit. Practice in transgression has forged chains, and bound the man to evil. (4) In the pleasure of sin, which fascinates and enslaves the mind. (5) In the appetite for sin, which gathers intensity from indulgence. Drunkenness, lechery, covetousness, etc., are a growing force. (6) In the blindness of the understanding, which prevents men from seeing the evil of their ways, or noting their danger. Conscience is drugged into a deep sleep. (7) In the growing hardness of the heart, which becomes more stolid and unbelieving every day, till nothing affects it. (8) In the evident fact that outward means prove ineffectual: like “ sope” and “ nitre” on a negro, they fail to touch the living blackness. 2. For all these reasons we answer the question in the negative: sinners can no more renew themselves than Ethiopians can change their skins. (1) Why then preach to them? It is Christ’ s command, and we are bound to obey. Their inability does not hinder our ministry, for power goes with the word. (2) Why tell them that it is their duty to repent? Because it is so: moral inability is no excuse: the law is not to be lowered because man has grown too evil to keep it. (3) Why tell them of this moral inability? To drive them to self-despair, and make them look to Christ. II. Another question and answer.1. All things are possible with God (Matthew 19:26). 2. The Holy Spirit has special power over the human heart. 3. The Lord Jesus has determined to work this wonder, and for this purpose He came into this world, and died, and rose again (Matthew 1:21). 4. Many such jet-black sinners have been totally changed: among ourselves there are such, and in all places such may be found. 5. The Gospel is prepared with that end. 6. God has made His Church long for such transformations, and prayer has been offered that they may now be wrought. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Evil habits a great difficulty to reformation of life Habit may be looked on--1. As a necessary law. (1) A facility of performing an act in proportion to its repetition. (2) A tendency grows up in us to repeat what we have often done. 2. As a beneficent law. It is because acts grow easier and generally more attractive the oftener they are performed, that men advance in the arts, the sciences, the morality, and the religion of life. 3. As an abused law. The text is a strong expression of its abuse. The words of course are not to be taken in an absolutely unqualified sense. The idea is great difficulty. Our subject is the difficulty of converting old sinners, men “ accustomed to do evil.” I. It is a self-created difficulty.1. Habit is but an accumulation of acts, and in each of the aggregate acts the actor was free. 2. The sinner himself feels that he has given his moral complexion the Ethiopian stain, and painted his character with the leopard spots. This fact shows-- (1) The moral force of human nature. Man forging chains to manacle his spirit, creating a despot to control his energies and his destiny. (2) The egregious folly of wickedness. It makes man his own enemy, tyrant, destroyer. II. It is a gradually augmenting difficulty. Habit is a cord. It is strengthened with every action. At first it is as fine as silk, and can be broken with but little effort. As it proceeds it becomes a cable strong enough to hold a man of war, steady amidst boisterous billows and furious winds. Habit is a momentum. It increases with motion. At first a child’ s hand can arrest the progress. As the motion increases it gets a power difficult for an army of giants to overcome. Habit is a river, at its headspring you can arrest its progress with ease, and turn it in any direction you please, but as it approaches the ocean it defies opposition, and rolls with a thunderous majesty into the sea.1. The awful condition of the sinner.2. The urgency for an immediate decision Procrastination is folly.3. The necessity of the special prayers of the Church on behalf of aged sinners. III. It is a possibly conquerable difficulty.1. The history of conversions shows the possibility of overcoming this difficulty.2. The mightiness of Christ shows the possibility of overcoming this difficulty, He saves to the uttermost. Uttermost in relation to the enormity of the sin--uttermost in relation to the age of the sinner. (Homilist.) Evil habits and their cure If we compare together these words of Jeremiah with other words on the same subject by Isaiah we arrive at a more complete view of the force of evil habits than is presented to us by this single text. “ Come, now, let us reason together, though your sins,” etc. This is the essential message of Christ, that there is forgiveness of sins--that the transgressions of the past can be blotted out and he who has done evil learn to do good. This doctrine was very early objected to. It was one of the arguments that the educated heathen in the first ages of the Christian Church brought against Christianity that it declared that possible which they believed to be impossible. “ It is manifest to everyone,” writes Celsus, the first great polemical adversary of Christianity, who flourished in the second century, “ that those who are disposed by nature to vice, and are accustomed to it, cannot be transformed by punishment, much less by mercy, for to transform nature is a matter of extreme difficulty,” but our Lord has taught us that what is impossible with men is possible with God, and Christianity proved again and again its Divine origin in accomplishing this very work which, according to men, was impossible. Against the sweeping assertion of Celsus to the contrary, we may place the living examples of thousands upon thousands who through the Gospel have been turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God. To trace the steps of such a change in any particular case is one of the most fascinating studies in biography; but no study will ever explain all, for in the work of a soul’ s regeneration there is a mystery which can never be brought into the mould of thought. “ The wind,” said Christ, “ bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit,” but man’ s part in the work can be conceived, and this is what we should strive to understand, so that we may work with God, and there are three chief ways in which we may do so:1. There is resistance. As every yielding to temptation strengthens a bad habit, so every act of resistance weakens it. It was the belief of the North American Indians that the strength of the slain foe passed into the body of the slayer; and in the moral world it is so, for not only does resistance take from the force of habit, it strengthens the will against it, so that in a double way acts of resistance undermine the force of habit. 2. Then there is education. Every man who is not wholly lost to a sense of right-doing feels every time he gives way to an evil habit a silent protest working in his breast, something that tells him he is wrong, that urges him to do differently, that interferes with the pleasure of the sin, mingling with it a sense of dissatisfaction. This protest will generally take the form of urging us towards the good which is opposite to the evil in which we are indulging. And by educating, by drawing out the desire after this good more and more, the evil is more and more put to flight. Thus the way to overcome inattentiveness of the mind is not so much to fix our attention on the fault, as to cultivate and educate its opposite, concentration of mind. 3. Once again, there is prayer. It has been said that to labour is to pray, and that is true in a measure; and those who labour in resisting evil habits and in cultivating good ones are, in a sense, by such actions praying to God; but anyone who has ever prayed knows that that definition does not exhaust the meaning or force of prayer. Prayer is more than labour--it is having intercourse with God. It is one of the chief means by which we are made conscious that we are not alone in the battle of life; but that there is One with us who is our unchangeable Friend, who looks down upon us with an interest that never flags, and a love that never grows cold. (Arthur Brooke, M. A.) Inability to do good arising from vicious habits I. To explain the nature of evil habits, particularly the tendency of them, to render men indisposed to moral goodness. No habit leaveth a man in a state of indifference, it putteth a strong bias upon his mind to act according to its direction, as experience showeth in innumerable instances, and in the most ordinary affairs, and even amusements of life; how naturally and easily do we fall into the beaten track, and hold on the accustomed course, though our reason discerneth no importance in it at all! Nay, by the influence of habit, trifles are magnified into matters of great moment, at least they engage the desire, and determine the active powers as if they were, so that we find it very difficult to break them off. Again, the only rational way of reclaiming men from ill practices is, by convincing them that they are ill, and that they must be attended with unhappy consequences to themselves: but the effect of habits is to darken the understanding, to fill the mind with prejudices, and to render it unattentive to reason. How then shall they that are accustomed to do evil learn to do well, since they are biassed against it, being expert in the contrary practice, and since they have made themselves in a great measure incapable of instruction? II. Consider particularly how we are to understand that disability to do good which is contracted by being accustomed to do evil.1. That the impotence is not total nor equal to that which is natural, will appear from the following considerations. (1) Where there is a total disability, and equal to that which is natural, there can be no guilt. (2) It is very well known in a multitude of instances, that men by strong resolutions, and a vigorous exertion of the natural force of their minds, have actually conquered very inveterate habits, and turned to a quite different way of living. 2. You see then where the difference lieth, that it is in ourselves, and what that impotence is which ariseth from habits, that it is no more than irresolution which is properly the fault of the mind, and to be charged wholly upon it. 3. God waiteth to be gracious to them, unwilling they should perish, if they are disposed on their part to submit to the remedy which His mercy hath provided. (J. Abernethy, M. A.) Habits 1. Everyone remembers how much of his discipline as a child was connected with points of manner; how often he was reproved for little rudenesses, etc. And if by the neglect of others or by his own he formed any such habit, does he not remember too how much pain and effort it cost him to get rid of it, however little pleasure there might be in indulging it, or however easy it might appear, in prospect, to part with it at any moment when it might become troublesome? And I need not remind any of you of the force of habit as shown, in an opposite way, in matters which, though they occupy much of your time and thoughts elsewhere, must yet be regarded as trifling in comparison with the graver subjects which ought to fill our minds here; I mean, in those exercises of bodily strength and skill which form so large a part of our youthful training. 2. But now go one step farther, and observe the effect of habit, for good or evil, upon the mind. If language be your chief subject of study, the repeated sight of certain symbols, which were at first entirely strange and unintelligible to you, makes them familiar, and associates them forever in your mind with the ideas which they symbolise; and the repeated formation for yourselves of words and sentences in that foreign language, according to certain rules, gives you at last an almost intuitive and instantaneous perception of what is right and beautiful in it. This is the reward of the diligent; their reward in proportion to the original gift of mind for which they are not responsible, and to their diligence in the use of it for which they are. And if this be, in intellectual matters, the force of habit for good, need I speak of its influence for evil? Those repeated neglects which make up the school life of an idle or presumptuous boy; the little separate acts, or rather omissions of act, which seem to him now so trifling; the postponements, half-learnings, or total abandonments of lessons; the hours of inattention, vacancy, or wandering thoughts, which he spends in school; the shallowness and looseness and slovenliness--still worse, the too frequent unfairness--of his best preparations of work; these things too are all going to form habits. 3. The soul too is the creature of habit. Have you not all found it so? When you have for two or three days together forgotten your prayers, has it not become, even in that short time, more easy to neglect, more difficult to resume them? When you have left God out of sight in your daily life; when you have fallen into an unchristian and irreligious state of mind and life, how soon have you found this state become as it were natural to you; how much less, day by day, did the idea of living without God alarm you; how much more tranquil, if not peaceful, did conscience become as you departed farther and farther in heart from the living God! But there is another, an opposite, habit of the soul, that of living to God, with God, and in God. That too is a habit, not formed so soon or so easily as the other, yet like it formed by a succession of acts, each easier than the last, and each making the next easier still. 4. I have spoken separately of habits of the body, the mind, and the soul. It remains that we should combine these, and speak a few serious words of those habits which affect the three. Such habits there are, for good and for evil. There is a devotion of the whole man to God, which affects every part of his nature. Such is the habit of a truly religious life; such a life as some have sought in the seclusion of a cloister, but which God wills should be led in that station of life, whatsoever it be, to which it has pleased or shall please Him to call us. One day so spent indeed, is the earnest, and not the earnest only hut the instrument too, of the acquisition of the inheritance of the saints in light. How can we, after such thoughts, turn to their very opposite, and speak of habits affecting for evil conjointly the body, the mind, and the soul? Yet such habits there are, and the seed of them is often sown in boyhood. 5. It is the fashion with some to undervalue habits. The grace of God, they say, and say truly, can change the whole man into the opposite of what he is. It is most true: with God--we bless Him for the word, it is our one hope--all things are possible. But does God give any encouragement in His Word to that sort of recklessness as to early conduct, which some practically justify by their faith in the atonement? Is it not the whole tenour of His Word that children should be brought up from the first in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? 6. I have spoken, as the subject led me, of good habits and evil: there is yet a third possibility, or one which seems such. There is such a thing, in common language at least, as having no habits. Yes, we have known such persons, all of us; persons who have no regularity and no stability within or without; persons who one day seem not far from the kingdom of God, and the next have drifted away so far from it that we wonder at their inconsistency. As you would beware of bad habits, so beware also of having no habits. Grasp tenaciously, and never let go, those few elements at least of virtuous habit which you acquired in earliest childhood in a Christian home. You will be very thankful for them one day. (Dean Vaughan.) Importance of the rigid formation of habits I. How far the influence of habit extends. Habit extends its influence over the body, the mind, and the conscience The body, considered merely as an animal frame, is much under the influence of habit. Habit inures the body to cold or heat; renders it capable of labour, or patient of confinement. Through habit the sailor rides upon the rocking wave without experiencing that sickness which the unaccustomed voyager is almost sure to feel. I might now proceed from the body to the mind, only there are some cases which are of a mixed nature, partaking both of body and mind, in which we neither contemplate the body apart from the mind, nor the mind apart from the body; and habit has its influence upon both. Such is the pernicious use of strong liquors, habit increases the desire, diminishes the effect of them. So all undue indulgence of the body increases the desire of further indulgence. The appetite by constant gratifications becomes uncontrollable; and the mind also grows debauched, is rendered incapable of purer pleasures, and altogether unfit for the exercises of religion. Nor is it only through the body that habit has its effect upon the mind. There are habits purely mental, as well as habits purely bodily. Profaneness may become a habit; a man may contract a habit of swearing, a habit of speaking irreverently of sacred things. So the anger of a passionate man is often called constitutional. Further, the Apostle Paul speaks of those whose mind and conscience is defiled. Habit has its effect on the conscience also. One would think that the more frequently a man had committed a fault, the more severely would his conscience upbraid him for it. But the very contrary is the case: his conscience has become familiar with the sin, as well as his other faculties of mind or body. II. The difficulty of overcoming habits. Even in the case of those who have been soberly and virtuously brought up, and whose life is unstained by a course of profane or licentious conduct, there is a principle of evil which keeps them far from God. They have no love to Him, no delight in Him, no communion with Him. How much more palpably impossible is it for the wretched sinner to break his chains, when sin by long indulgence has become habitual; when the body itself has been made subject to it, the mind polluted by it, and the conscience seared as with a red-hot iron! Does experience teach you to expect that these men will correct themselves! It may be that such men may change one sin for another, a new bad habit, as it acquires strength, may supplant an old one, the sins of youth may give way to the sins of age. But this is not ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well. It is only altering the manner of doing evil. With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible. Divine grace can not only take away the greatest guilt; it can also enlighten the darkest understanding, and sanctify the most corrupt heart. III. Address two descriptions of characters.1. Those who are still walking in their accustomed way of evil.2. Those who have been delivered from it. (J. Fawcett, M. A.) Habits The formation of habits goes on in part by conscious volition or purpose. Men set themselves at work in certain directions to acquire accomplishments and various elements of power. Thus are habits formed. And the same process goes on under a more general schooling. We are living in society at large. Not only are we influenced by that which goes on in our households, but there is the reflection of a thousand households in the companionship into which we are thrown day by day, which influences us. The world of most persons is a microcosm with a small population; and they reflect the influence of the spheres in which they have had their training and their culture. The influences which surround them, for good and evil, for industry or indolence, are well-nigh infinite in number and variety. Every man should have an end in view; and every day he should adopt means to that end, and follow it from day to day, from week to week, from month to month, and from year to year. Then he is the architect of, and he is building, his own fortune. Out of a careless and unarmoured way spring up mischievous habits which at first are not very striking, nor very disastrous. Prominent among them is the habit of carelessness respecting the truth--carelessness in respect to giving one’ s word in the form of a promise. Never make a promise without a distinct and deliberate thought as to whether you can fulfil it; or not; and having made a promise, keep it at all hazard, even though it be to your damage. Do not break your word. Then, aside from that mode of falsifying, men fall into the habit of uttering untruths. The love of truth is not in them. They do not esteem truth for itself’ s sake. They regard it as an instrument, as a coin, as it were; and when it is profitable they speak the truth, but when it is not profitable they are careless of it. Multitudes of persons by suppression falsify and they use so thin and gauzy a veil as this: “ Well, what I said was strictly true.” Yes; but what you did not say was false. For you to tell the truth so that no one shall suspect the truth, and so that it shall produce a false and illusory impression--that has an evil effect upon others, and a still more evil effect upon your own character. The desire to conform your speech to Yea, yea, and Nay, nay; the desire for simplicity of truth; the desire to state things as they are, so that going from your mind they shall produce pictures in another’ s mind precisely as they lie in your own--that is manly. Still more likely are men by extravagance to fall from strict habits of truth. We live in an age of adjectives, Nothing is natural. The whole force of adjectives is exhausted on the ordinary affairs of life, and nothing is left for the weightier matters of thought and speech. Men form a habit in this direction, Frequently it is formed because it is very amusing. When a man has a good reputation for speaking the truth, and he speaks in a back-handed way, at first it is comical; as, for instance, where a man speaks of himself as being a dishonourable fellow when he is known to be the very pink of honesty and scrupulousness; or, where a man speaks smilingly of trying with all his might to live within his income, when he is known to roll in riches. Such extravagances have a pleasing effect once or twice; and not only individuals, but families and circles fall into the habit of using extravagant words and expressions, because under certain conditions they are amusing; but they cease to be so when they are applied to the common elements of life, and are heard every day. They become altogether distasteful to persons of refinement, and are in every way bad. The same is true of bluntness. Now and then the coming in of a blunt expression from a good, strong, honest man is like a clap of thunder in a hot, sultry day in summer--and we like it; but when a man makes himself disagreeable under the pretence that bluntness of speech is more honest than the refined expressions of polite society, he violates good taste and the true proportions of things. Nor is it strange, under such circumstances, that a man feels himself easily led to the last and worst form of lying--deliberate falsification; so that he uses untruth as an instrument by which to accomplish his ends. Closely connected with this obliteration of moral delicacy there comes in a matter of which I will speak, reading from Ephesians, the 5th chapter--“ All uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you,” etc. Where men tip their wit with salacious stories; where men indulge in double entendre; where men report things whose very edge is uncomely and unwholesome; where men talk among themselves in such a way that before they begin they look around and say, “ Are there any ladies present?” where men converse with an abominable indecorum and filthiness in repartee, jesting with things that are fine, and smearing things that are pure, the apostle says, “ It is not convenient.” The original is, It is not becoming. In other words, it is unmanly. That is the force of the passage. And we are forbidden to indulge in these things. Yet very many men run through the whole of them, sink into the depths of pollution, and pass away. I scarcely need say that in connection with such tendencies as I have reprobated will come in the temptation to a low tone of conduct socially; to coarse and vulgar manners, and to carelessness of the rights of others. By good manners I mean the equity of benevolence. If you will take the 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians, and, though it be perverting the text a little, substitute for “ charity” the word politeness, you will have a better version of what true politeness is than has ever been written anywhere else. No man has any right to call himself a gentleman who is oblivious of that equity of kindness which should exist under all circumstances between man and man. I have noticed a want of regard for the aged. Grey hairs are not honourable in the sight of multitudes of young men. They have not trained themselves to rise up and do obeisance to the patriarch. I have observed that there was a sort of politeness manifested on the part of young men if the recipient of it was young and fair; but I have noticed that when poor women come into a car, sometimes bearing their babes in their arms, young men, instead of getting up and giving them their places, are utterly indifferent to them. The habits of our times are not courteous, and you are not likely to learn from them the art of good manners, which means kindness and equity between man and man in the ordinary associations of life; and if you would endow yourself with this Christian excellence you must make it a matter of deliberate consideration and assiduous education. I will mention one more habit into which we are liable to fall, and toward which the whole nation seems to tend: I mean the habit of loving evil. I refer not to the love of doing evil, but to the love of discussing evil. True Christian charity, it is also said in the 13th of 1st Corinthians, “ rejoiceth not in iniquity.” A man ought to be restrained from any commerce with that which is evil--evil news, evil stories, evil surmises, evil insinuations, innuendoes, scandals, everything evil that relates to society. Set yourselves, then, as Christian men and women, to abhor evil and to rejoice not in iniquity, but in the truth. I will speak of one other habit--namely, the growing habit of profanity. Men accustom themselves to such irreverence in the use of words which are sacred, that at last they cease to be words of power to them. Men swear by God, by the Almighty, by the Lord Jesus Christ, in a manner which shocks the feelings and wounds the hearts of truly conscientious people. And they who thus addict themselves to rudeness of speech violate the law of good society. Not only that, but; they do it uselessly. You do not give weight to what you are saying in conversation by the employment of expletives. There is no statement which is more forcible than that which is expressed in simple language. And in giving way to the habit you are doing violence to the Word of God, to your best moral instincts, and to your ideal of the sanctity of your Ruler and your Judge; and I beseech of you who are beginning life to take heed of this tendency, and avoid it. We are all building a character. What that character is to be it doth not yet appear. We are working in the dark, as it were; but by every thought and action we am laying the stones, tier upon tier, that are going into the structure; and what it to be the light of the eternal world will reveal. It is, therefore, wise for every man to pray, “ Search me, O God; try me and see if there be any evil way at me.” It is worth our while to go back to the Old Testament again, and say, “ Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.” The cleanest Book, the most honourable Book, the most manly Book, the truest, the simplest, and the noblest Book that ever was written or thought of is this Book of God. In the Psalms of David, in the Proverbs of Solomon, in the whole New Testament, you cannot go amiss. Them is not one place where you will be led down morally, where the ideal is not noble, and where it does not ascend higher and higher, till you stand in Zion and before God. (H. W. Beecher.) Of the difficulty of reforming vicious habits I. The great difficulty of reforming vicious habits, or of changing a bad course, to those who have been deeply engaged in it and long accustomed to it. This will fully appear--1. If we consider the nature of all habits, whether good, or bad, or indifferent. A rooted habit becomes a governing principle, and bears almost an equal sway in us with that which is natural. It is a kind of a new nature superinduced, and even as hard to be expelled, as some things which are primitively and originally natural. 2. This difficulty ariseth more especially from the particular nature of evil and vicious habits. These, because they are suitable to our corrupt nature, and conspire with the inclinations of it, are likely to be of a much quicker growth and improvement, and in a shorter space, and with less care and endeavour, to arrive at maturity and strength, than the habits of grace and goodness. 3. The difficulty of this change ariseth likewise from the natural and judicial consequences of a great progress and long continuance in an evil course. II. The case of these persons, though it be extremely difficult, is not quite desperate; but after all, there is some ground of hope and encouragement left, that they may yet be reclaimed and brought to goodness.1. There is left, even in the worst of men, a natural sense of the evil and unreasonableness of sin; which can hardly be ever totally extinguished in human nature. 2. Very bad men, when they have any thoughts of becoming better, are apt to conceive some good hopes of God’ s grace and mercy. 3. Who knows what men thoroughly roused and startled may resolve, and do? And a mighty resolution will break through difficulties which seem insuperable. 4. The grace and assistance of God when sincerely sought, is never to be despaired of. (J. Tillotson, D. D.) The difficulty of repentance I. From the nature of habits in general of vicious habits in particular. Concerning habits, we may observe that there are many things which we practise at first with difficulty, and which at last, by daily and frequent repetition, we perform not only without labour, but without premeditation and design. Thus it is with the habits of memory. By frequent practice and slow degrees we acquire the use of speech: we retain a surprising variety of words of arbitrary sounds, which we make the signs of things. Thus it is in the habits of the imagination. When we accustom our minds to certain objects, when we call them often before us, these objects, which at first were perhaps as indifferent as any other, become familiar to us, they appear uncalled and force themselves upon us. Thus it is with the habits of sin. They are acquired like other habits by repeated acts; they fix themselves upon us in the same manner, and are corrected with the same difficulty. A sinner by long offending contracts an aversion from his duty, and weakens his power of deliberating and choosing upon wise motives. By giving way to his passions he has made them ungovernable; they rise of themselves, and stay not for his consent, and by every victory over him they gain new strength, and he grows less able to resist them. His understanding and reason become unserviceable to him. At first, when he did amiss, he was ashamed of it; but shame is lost by long offending. Add to this, that vicious habits make a deeper impression and gain faster upon us than good habits. Sin recommends itself to our senses by bringing present profit or pleasure, whilst religion consists frequently in renouncing present profit or pleasure for a greater interest at a distance, and so recommends itself, not to our senses, but to our reason; upon which account it is more difficult to be good than to be bad. One being asked, what could be the reason why weeds grew more plentifully than corn? answered, Because the earth was the mother of weeds, but the stepmother of corn; that is, the one she produced of her own accord, the other not till she was compelled to it by man’ s toil and industry. This may not unfitly be applied to the human mind, which on account of its intimate union with the body, and commerce with sensible objects, easily and willingly performs the things of the flesh, but will not bring forth the spiritual fruits of piety and virtue, unless cultivated with assiduity and application. II. From experience. There are few who forsake any vice to which they are remarkably addicted. The truth of this may be easiest observed in those faults where the body seems not to be much concerned, such as pride, conceit, levity of mind, rashness in judging and determining, censoriousness, malice, cruelty, wrath, moroseness, envy, selfishness, avarice. These bad dispositions seldom forsake a person in whom they are fixed. Besides, many of them are of so deceitful a nature, that the mind entertains them and knows it not; the man thinks himself free from faults which to every other person are most visible. III. Scripture concurs with reason and experience. When the Scriptures speak of evil habits, they make use of figures as strong and bold as language can utter and the imagination conceive, to set forth their pernicious nature. Persons in that condition are said to be enclosed in a snare, to be taken captives, to have sold themselves to work wickedness, to be in a state of slavery. Even those passages which contain great encouragement and favourable promises to repentance, inform us at the same time of the difficulty of amending. Our Saviour gives a plain and familiar representation of it. A shepherd, says He, rejoices more over one sheep which was lost and is found, than over ninety-and-nine which went not astray. Why so? For this, amongst other reasons, because he could not reasonably expect such good fortune, and had little hopes of finding a creature exposed to a thousand dangers, and unable to shift for itself. IV. Reflections useful to persons of all ages and of all dispositions.1. If the words of the text were to be taken rigorously and in the strictest sense, it would be a folly to exhort a habitual sinner to repentance, and an unreasonable thing to expect from him a natural impossibility; but it is certain that they mean no more than an extreme difficulty. 2. There are persons who sincerely profess the Christian religion, who fear God and desire to be in His favour, but whose lives are not so conformable to their belief as they ought to be, who are sorry for their faults, and fall into them again, who make not the progress in goodness which they acknowledge to be justly expected from them, and who have not that command over their passions which by a little more resolution and self-denial they might acquire. Such persons should seriously consider the difficulty of reforming bad habits, and the extreme danger of that state: for though it be not their present condition, yet if they use not timely caution, sad effects may ensue. 3. These sad examples should be a warning to those whose obedience is so incomplete and sullied with so many defects, whose love of virtue is not equal and uniform, and whose affections are placed sometimes on God and religion, and sometimes on the follies and vanities of the world. 4. There are Christians who abstain from known and deliberate transgressions, who strive to make a daffy progress in goodness, and to perform an acceptable service to God. The difficulty of reforming vicious habits may warn them to be upon their guard, that after they have set out well and proceeded well, they fail not at last, nor lose a reward near at hand. 5. They who have wisely and happily preserved themselves from evil habits ought to be very thankful to God, by whose blessing they are free from that heavy bondage, and strangers to the sad train of evils which attend it. (J. Jortin, D. D.) The sinner’ s helplessness I. If man cannot turn himself to happiness and God, why not?1. Because of the force of sinful habit. The man who has his arm paralysed cannot use it for his own defence; and sin deprives the soul of power, it paralyses the soul. The man thinks he can pray, but when the time comes, he finds that sinful habits are so strong upon him that he cannot. I well recollect, one winter night, when the storm was raging and the wind was howling, being called up to attend one who was in the agonies of death, and who had long been living an avowed life of sin, but he became anxious at the last to know if it were possible for him to find a place of safety; and never shall I forget the answer which that poor man made to me, when I directed him to pray: “ Pray, sir! I cannot. I have lived in sin too long to pray. I have tried to pray, but I cannot, I know not how; and if this be all, I must perish.” A long continued life of sin had paralysed that man’ s soul; and it does so, consciously or unconsciously, in every case. 2. Because of the fault of his sinful nature. You know well, that if the glorious sun in the heavens were to shine upon the face of a man who is naturally dead he would neither see it nor feel its warmth. If you were to present to that man all the riches of the world he would have no eye to look at them, no heart to wish for them, no hand to put forth to grasp them. And so with the man who is unconverted. He may be all alive to sin, he may have all the powers of his mind in full exercise, but his heart is alienated from God; he has no wish for “ the unsearchable riches of Christ” ; he has no desire to become enriched with those treasures which shall endure forever. 3. Because of the enmity of Satan. Do you see that poor man who has been toiling in all the heat of a summer’ s day with a heavy burden upon him? His strength is now gone, and he has fallen into the ditch; and when he tries to raise himself, do you see that tyrant who has got his foot upon his back, and who plunges him again into the ditch and keeps him down? You have them a picture of the enmity and power of Satan. II. If man cannot turn himself, if he be like the Ethiopian who cannot change his skin, why tell him of it? Is it not to pour insult upon his miserable and abject condition? Oh no! It is necessary to tell him of his helplessness.1. Because God commands it. His eye is upon the poor prodigal in all his wanderings: He knows the desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of his heart; He, the Lord, searches the heart; He knows what it is best for fallen man to know and to be made acquainted with; and He tells those whom He sends to be His ambassadors to preach the Word, to proclaim the whole counsel of God, to keep back nothing whatsoever that is contained in the revealed will of God. 2. Because there must be a sense of need before deliverance can be experienced. If a man were to have an idea, when he was in a building surrounded by danger, that whenever he pleased he could get up and take the key out of his pocket and unlock the door and walk out, then he might indeed sit still and laugh at those who would fain arouse him to a sense of his danger; but if you can tell the man that the key which he fancies he possesses he has lost--if you can get him to feel for it, if you can once bring him to the conviction that he has lost it, and that he cannot get out of the building in which he is, then you rouse him from his state of apathy, then you bring him to the point at which he is ready to welcome the hand of any deliverer. 3. God has promised to give us His Holy Spirit. Here the sinner’ s objections are met. If he has no power, yet if he has the wish to be delivered from his dreadful state, God promises to pour out His Spirit; and that Spirit leads to Jesus, convinces of sin, and then takes of the things of Jesus and applies them to the sinner’ s soul III. Inferences.1. Without Christ men must perish.2. Is there not a danger of delay in this matter?3. Think of the responsibility of this present moment. (W. Cadman, M. A.) Custom in sin exceeding dangerous I. The defilement of sin.1. Its inherence. (1) This should humble and abase us in consideration of our vileness; not lead us to excuse our sins. (2) We see here what cause we have to desire that God would change our nature, and bestow a new nature on us. 2. Its monstrousness. (1) It alters a man’ s country; turns an Israelite into an Ethiopian, and thus causes a degeneration there. (2) It also alters a man’ s nature; gives him the quality and disposition even of the beasts, makes him a leopard, and thus makes a degeneration there. 3. Its multiplication. A beast of divers colours, marks, and spots (Galatians 5:19). 4. Its universality. A deformity in all parts and members (Isaiah 1:5; Genesis 6:5). II. The entanglements of sin.1. The qualification or condition of the persons accustomed to do evil. More correctly, “ taught to do evil.” Taught-- (1) By doctrine and instruction. There is a great deal of such teaching in the world (Matthew 5:19; Titus 1:11; Mark 7:7; 2 Timothy 4:3-4). (2) By pattern and example. That which men see to be practised they soon and easily fall into. (3) By practice and use “ accustomed to do evil.” Use makes perfect. 2. The invincible necessity which follows upon custom in sin: they “ cannot do good.” (1) An impotency to good (Galatians 5:17). (2) A precipitancy unto evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11). Conclusion--1. Take heed of having anything to do with sin at first. 2. If any should fall into sin, do not stay in it, but hasten out of it with speed (Romans 6:1). 3. Take heed of relapses, and falling back to sin again (2 Peter 2:20). (T. Herren, D. D.) The alarming power of sin I. The habits of men are strengthened and confirmed by indulgence. Even habits which relate to matters of indifference become inveterate, and are with great difficulty modified and overcome. The longer a man continues in sinful courses, the more fully his mind becomes trained in these habits of resistance to all that is good. He is insensibly led on from one course of wickedness to another, till he is under a sort of necessity of sinning. He has taken so many steps in this downward road, and his progress has become so accelerated and impetuous that he cannot resist it. II. The influence of this world, as men advance in life, usually becomes more perplexing, and a greater hindrance to their conversion. While the eye is pleased, the ear regaled, and all the senses delighted, there is everything to corrupt and destroy. A man in middle life may, now and then, feel powerful inducements to become pious; the grasp of the world may, for a short season, be partially relaxed; and he may withdraw himself for a little from his old companions, to think of the scenes of that invisible world to which he is hastening; but soon his courage and self-denial fail him, and he is soothed or frightened away from his purpose. Some golden bait, some earnest entreaty, some subtle stratagem, some unhallowed influence disheartens him, and he goes back again to the world. The world is still his idol. The concerns of time absorb the attention and exhaust the vigour of his mind. Having thrown himself into the current, he becomes weaker and weaker, and though the precipice is near, he cannot now stem the tide and reach the shore. III. As years increase, men become less interested in the subject of religion, and more obdurate and averse to any alteration in their moral character. The season of sensitiveness and ardent affection is gone by. The only effect which the most powerful instructions or the best adapted means of grace are apt to have upon such a mind, is increasing insensibility and hardness, and greater boldness in iniquity. They cannot endure to be disturbed in their sins. When you urge the claims of piety upon them, they treat the whole matter with neglect and contempt. They have made up their minds to run the hazard of perdition, rather than be roused to the severe and dreadful effort of forsaking their sins. Here, too, is the danger of men accustomed to impenitence. The scenes of eternity to such men have a melancholy and direful aspect. Everything is conspiring to harden, deceive, and destroy them; and there is little probability that these augmented obstacles to their conversion will ever be removed. IV. The thought of multiplied and long-continued transgression is very apt to discourage all attempts at repentance. Not unfrequently they will tell you, “ Once the work might have been performed, but it is now too late; the favourable opportunity is past; human life is but a dream, and the day of hope is gone by!” It is a dark--very dark problem, whether persons of this description will ever repent and believe the Gospel. It is true that God’ s mercies are infinite; that those who seek Him shall find Him; that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin; and that while there is life there may be hope; and yet a more hopeless condition this side eternity cannot easily be conceived, than the condition of such a man. V. There is awful reason to apprehend that God will leave men of this description to perish in their sins. If we look into the Bible, we shall find that most of the prophets and apostles, as well as those who were converted through their instrumentality, were called into the kingdom of God in childhood, or youth, or in the dawn and vigour of manhood. One of the distinctive features of all revivals of religion is, that they have prevailed principally among the young. It has also been remarked, that in ordinary seasons, the individuals who have occasionally been brought into the kingdom of Christ, with few exceptions, have been from those not habituated to impenitence. Almost the only exception to this remark is found in places where men have never sat under faithful preaching, and never enjoyed a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, until late in life. In such places I have known persons brought into the vineyard at the eleventh hour. And this is also true of heathen lands. But even here, there are comparatively few instances of conversion from among those who have grown old in sin. Conclusion--1. Admonition to the aged. What the means of grace could do for you, they have probably clone; and that your day of merciful visitation has well nigh reached its last limits. God still waits that He may be gracious. And He may wait till the last sand of life has fallen. But, oh, how ineffably important to you is the present hour! Your hoary hairs may be even now “ a crown of glory, if found in the way of righteousness.” Let not another hour be lost! This very call rejected may seal our destiny. 2. Our subject addresses those who are in middle life. The period most auspicious to the interests of your immortality is gone. You are now in the midst of your most important designs and pursuits, and probably at the zenith of your earthly glory. Everything now conspires to turn away your thoughts from God and eternity. Better leave every other object unattained than your eternal salvation. Better give up every other hope, than the hope of heaven. Oh, what a flood of sorrows will roll in upon you by and by, when you see that “ the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and you are not saved!” 3. Our subject addresses the young. Yours is the season of hope. If you become early devoted to God, you may live to accomplish much for His cause and kingdom in the world; your influence and example may allure multitudes around you to the love and practice of godliness; and you may be delivered from the guilt of that destructive influence, which will plant thorns in your dying pillow. (G. Spring, D. D.) Habit When in a vacant hour we fall into reverie, and the images of the past come pouring out of the storehouse of memory at their own sweet will, how arbitrary appears the succession of our thoughts! With a rapidity greater than that of seven-leagued boots, the mind passes from country to country, and from century to century. This moment it is in Norway, the next in Australia, the next in Palestine, the next in Madagascar. But this apparent arbitrariness is not real. In reality thought is linked to thought, and for the wildest leaps and most arbitrary turns of the fancy there is in every ease a sufficient reason. You are thinking of Norway; but that makes you recall a friend who is now in Australia, with whom you visited that picturesque country; and so your thought flies to Australia. Then, being in Australia, you think of the Southern Cross, because you have been reading a poem in which that constellation was described as the most remarkable feature of the southern hemisphere. Then the likeness of the name of the cross makes you think of the Cross of Christ, and so you pass over centuries and find yourself in Palestine; and the Cross of Christ makes you think of the sufferings of Christians, and your mind is in Madagascar, where the missionaries have recently been exposed to suffering. Thus, you see, beneath the phenomena apparently most arbitrary, there is law; and even for the most apparently unaccountable flights and leaps of the mind there is always a good reason. I. The origin of habit. Habit may be conceived to arise in this way. When, in the revolution of time--of the day, or the week, or the month, or the year,--the point comes round at which we have been thinking of anything, or have done anything, by the law of the association of ideas we think of it again, or do it again. For instance, when day dawns we awake. We get out of bed because we have done it at that time before. At a later hour we take breakfast, and go away to business, for the same reason; and so on through the day. When Sunday morning comes our thoughts turn to sacred things, and we make ready to go to the house of God, because we have always been accustomed to do that. The more frequently anything has been done, the stronger is habit, and frequency acts on habit through something else. Frequency gives ease and swiftness to the doing of anything. We do anything easily and swiftly which we have done often. Even things which seemed impossible can not only be done, but done with facility, if they have been done often. A celebrated character tells that in a month he learned to keep four balls up in the air and at the same time to read a book and understand it. Even tasks that caused pain may come to be done with pleasure, and things that were done at first only with groans and tears may at last become a source of triumph. It is not only the mind that is involved in habit. Even the body is subdued to its service. Do we not recognise the soldier by his gait, the student by his stoop, and the merchant by his bustle? And in the parts of the body that are invisible--the muscles and nerves--there is a still greater change due to habit. Hence the counsel of the philosopher, and I think it is a very profound counsel: “ Make your nervous system your ally instead of your enemy in the battle of life.” II. Excessive habit. Habit, even good habit, may be excessive. It tends to become hide-bound and tyrannical. There is a pharisaical sticking to opinions once formed, and to customs once adopted, which is the principal obstacle to human progress. Yet, on the whole, there is no possession so valuable as a few good habits, for this means that not only is the mind pledged and covenanted to good, but the muscles are supple, and even the very bones are bent to what is good. III. Desirable habits. I should be inclined to say that the most desirable habit which any young person can seek to have is self-control; that is the power of getting yourself to do what you know you ought to do, and to avoid what you know you ought to avoid. At first this habit would be exceedingly difficult to acquire, but there is an enormous exhilaration when a man can do the thing he knows he ought to do. It is moral strength that gives self-respect, and it will very soon win the respect of others. The second habit I would like to name is the habit of concentration of mind. I mean the power of withdrawing your thoughts from other subjects, and fixing them for long at a time on the subject in hand. I am sure many of you know how difficult that habit is to acquire. If you attempt to think on any particular subject, immediately you will think of other things; but by perseverance your mind will become your servant, and then you are on the way to being a thinker, for it is only to people who begin to think in this way that the secret and joy of truth unfold themselves. I mention, as the third desirable habit, that of working when you are at work. I do not care what your work is, whether work of brain or hand, whether well-paid or ill-paid; but what I say is, do it as well as it can be done for its own sake, and for your own sake. Do it so that you can be proud of it. There is one other habit that I should like to mention that is very desirable, and that is prayer. Happy is that man who at some hour or hours every day--the time which he finds to be most suitable for himself--goes down on his knees before his Maker. I say happy is that man, for his heavenly Father who seeth in secret will reward him openly. IV. The tyranny of evil habit. Evil habits may be acquired through simply neglecting to acquire good ones. Like weeds, they grow up wherever the field is uncultivated and the good seed is not sown. For example, the man who does not work becomes a dissipated loafer. The young man who does not keep up the habit of going to church loses spiritual instinct--the instinct for worship, for fellowship, for religious work, and becomes a prey to sloth on the Sabbath. The tyranny of evil habit is proverbial. The moralists compare it to a thread at the beginning, but as thread is twisted with thread, it becomes like a cable which can turn a ship. Or they compare it to a tree, which to begin with is only a twig which you can bend any way, but when the tree is fully grown, who can bend it? And apart altogether from such illustrations, it is appalling how little even the most strong and obvious motives can turn aside the course of habit. This truth is terribly expressed in our text: “ Can the Ethiopian,” etc. I suppose we all have contracted evil habits of some kind, and therefore for all of us it is an important question, Can these be unlearned and undone? V. How to break bad habits. Moralists give rules for undoing evil habits. Here are some of them.1. “ Launch yourself on the new course with as strong an initiative as possible.” I suppose he means, do not try to taper your evil habit off, but break it off at once. Give it no quarter; and pledge yourself in some way; make some public profession. 2. “ Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is rooted in your life.” 3. “ Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of habits you aspire to gain.” 4. “ Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day.” This writer strongly recommends that every one who seeks moral strength should every day do something he does not want to do, just to prove to himself he has the power of doing it. He would not mind very much whether it was an important thing or not, but he would say, “ Every day do something deliberately that you do not want to do, just that you may get power over yourself--the power of getting yourself to do anything you want.” 5. I do not disparage rules like these. We have to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, but the other half of that maxim is equally true, “ It is God that worketh in you both to win and to do His good pleasure.” (James Stalker, D. D.) Habit 1. To form a vicious habit is one of the easiest processes in nature. Man comes into a world where sin is, in many of its various forms, originally pleasant, and where evil propensities may be gratified at small expense. Nothing is required but to leave man to what is called the state of nature, to make him the slave of habitual sensuality. But even after the mind is, in some degree, fortified by education, and reason has acquired a degree of force, the ease with which a bad habit can be acquired is not less to be lamented. Vice gains its power by insinuation. It winds gently round the soul, without being felt, till its twines become so numerous, that the sinner, like the wretched Laocoon, writhes in vain to extricate himself, and his faculties are crushed at length in the folds of the serpent. Vice is prolific. It is no solitary invader. Admit one of its train, and it immediately introduces, with an irresistible air of insinuation, the multitude of its fellows, who promise you liberty, but whose service is corruption, and whose wages is death. 2. The effects of sinful indulgence, which make its relinquishment so difficult, are, that it perverts the moral discernment, benumbs the sensibility of conscience, destroys the sentiment of shame, and separates the sinner from the means and opportunities of conversion. The moral discernment is perverted. As the taste can be reconciled to the most nauseous and unpleasant impressions, the eye familiarised to a deformed object, the ear, to the most grating and discordant noises, and the feeling, to the most rough and irritating garment, so the moral taste becomes insensible to the loathsomeness of vice. Another effect of habitual transgression is, to banish the sentiment of shame. It is the tendency of habit to make a man regardless of observation, and at length of censure. He soon imagines that others see nothing offensive in what no longer offends himself. Besides, a vicious man easily gathers round him a circle of his own. It is the society of numbers which gives hardihood to iniquity, when the sophistry of the united ingenuity of others comes in aid of our own, and when, in the presence of the shameless and unblushing, the young offender is ashamed to blush. The last effect of vicious habits, by which the reformation of the sinner is rendered almost desperate, is, to separate him from the means of grace. He, who indulges himself in any passion, lust, or custom which openly or secretly offends against the laws of God or man, will find an insuperable reluctance to those places, persons, or principles by which he is necessarily condemned. One means of recovery yet remains, the reproof and example of the good. But who will long bear the presence of another, whose very looks reprove him, whose words harrow up his conscience, and whose whole life is a severe, though silent, admonition? 3. Do you ask when education should commence? Believe me, it has begun. It began with the first idea they received--the insensible education of circumstances and example. While you are waiting for their understandings to gain strength, vice, folly, and pleasure have not waited your dilatory motions. While you are looking out for masters and mistresses, the young immortals are under the tuition of innumerable instructors. Passion has been exciting, and idleness relaxing them, appetite tempting, and pleasure rewarding them, and example, example has long since entered them into her motley school. Already have they learned much, which will never be forgotten: the alphabet of vice is easily remembered. Is it not time to examine, whether there be not in you some vicious habit, which, notwithstanding your caution, frequently presents itself to their greedy observation, thus recommended by all the weight of parental authority? But, though the doctrine of the early operation of habit be full of admonitions, it presents consequences, also, full of consolation and pleasure. God hath set the evil and the good, one over against the other; and all His general laws are adapted to produce effects ultimately beneficial. If the love of sensual pleasure become inveterate by indulgence, the pure love of truth and goodness, also, may, by early instillation and careful example, become so natural and constant, that a violation of integrity, and offence against gratitude, a breach of purity or of reverence toward God, may prove as painful as a wound. (J. S. Buckminster.) The force of habit I. The nature of our habits generally. As we become accustomed to the performance of any action, we have a proneness to repeat it on like occasions, the ideas connected with it being always at hand to lead us on and direct us; so that it requires a particular effort to forbear it, but to do it demands often no conscious act of the will at all. Habits of body are produced by repeated external acts, as agility, gracefulness, dexterity in the mechanical arts. Habits of mind are formed by the repeated exertion of the intellectual faculties, or the inward practical principles. To the class of mental habits belong the moral virtues, as obedience, charity, patience, industry, submission to law, self-government, the love of truth. The inward practical principles of these qualities, being repeatedly called into exertion, and acted upon, become habits of virtue: just as, on the other hand, envy, malice, pride, revenge, the love of money, the love of the world, when carried into act, gradually form habits of vice. Habit is in its own nature therefore indifferent to vice or virtue. If man had continued in his original righteousness, it would have been, what the merciful Creator designed it to be, a source of unspeakable moral strength and improvement. Every step in virtue would have secured further advances. To what point man might at length have reached by the effect of use and experience thus acting on faculties made for enlargement, it is impossible to say, and it is vain to inquire. For we are lost creatures. We are prone to commit sin, and every act of it only disposes us to renewed transgressions. The force of these evil habits lies much in the gradual and almost imperceptible manner in which they are acquired. No man becomes reprobate at once. The sinner at first has difficulties. Shame, conscience, education, motives of religion, example, the unreasonableness of vice, the immediate evil consequences of it in various ways, God’ s judgments on sinners, alarming events in His providence, the admonitions of friends and the warnings of ministers, are all barriers to the inundation. But habits, insensibly formed, sap the embankment. The powerful current works its way, and all opposing hindrances are carried before it. It is, indeed, true, that habit, in many cases, diminishes the enjoyment derived from sin. The sense of vicious pleasure is palled by indulgence. But, unhappily, the same indulgence which lessens the pleasure increases the vicious propensity. A course of debauchery, for example, deadens the sense of pleasure, but increases the desire of gratification. The passive principle is in some degree worn away, but the active principle is invigorated. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 13:27O Jerusalem I wilt thou not he made clean? The necessity of holiness I. The question.1. It is of great importance to be cleansed from the filth of sin, and is what should be sought after with the utmost seriousness (Ezekiel 36:25). 2. Cleansing the heart from sin is the work of God. He that cleanses from guilt, must also cleanse us from corruption; and Christ is made unto us sanctification, as well as righteousness and redemption (Titus 3:4-6). 3. God has much at heart the sanctification of His people (Isaiah 48:18). 4. Our own unwillingness is the great hindrance to our sanctification. When the will is gained, the man is gained; and those who will be made clean are in part made so already. 5. Yet the obstinacy of the will shall not prevent the purposes of grace: God’ s design shall be accomplished, notwithstanding all. II. The various answers which will be made.1. Some are willing to be delivered from the punishment of sin, but not from its power. Those who would have the former without the latter, are likely to have neither. 2. Others would be cleansed outwardly, but not inwardly. No prayers, lastings, pilgrimages, penances, nor any other external performances, can supply the want of internal holiness. The sepulchre, however painted and adorned, is but a sepulchre still. 3. Some would be made partly clean, but not wholly so. 4. Some would be made clean, but they do not like God’ s way of doing it, or the means He uses for this purpose. 5. There are some who would be made clean, but it must be hereafter. Like Saint Austin, who prayed to be delivered from his easily besetting sin, but added, “ Not yet, Lord!” 6. More awful still: some speak out and say, they will not be cleansed at all. They prefer sin and hell to holiness and heaven. 7. Put this question to the real Christian, or the truly awakened sinner, whose conscience has been filled with remorse for his past transgressions, and who has found a compliance with the call of every lust to be the severest bondage Wilt thou be made clean? “ Yea, Lord,” says he, with all my heart! “ When shall it once be?” This very instant, if I might have my wish. It is what I pray for, wait for, and strive after; nor can I have a moment’ s rest till I obtain it. (B. Beddome, M. A.) God is desirous of saving men I. The woes which impenitent sinners have reason to expect. The punishment that awaits sinners is most tremendous. The loss of heaven is one part of it: and who shall declare how great a loss this is? II. How unwilling God is to inflict them. He complains of men’ s obstinacy in rejecting the overtures of His mercy. Long has He waited to no purpose: yet still “ He waiteth to be gracious unto us.” “ He stands at the door of our hearts, and knocks.” Address--1. Those who imagine that they have no need of cleansing. Let none entertain such proud conceits. The best amongst us, no less than the worst, need to be washed in the blood of Christ and be renewed by His Spirit; and without this cleansing, must inevitably perish. 2. Those who are unwilling to be cleansed. 3. Those who desire the cleansing of their souls. It is the blood of Christ alone that can cleanse from the guilt of sin; and the Spirit of Christ alone that can cleanse from the power and pollution of sin. To apply these effectually, we must embrace the promises, and rest upon them, trusting in God to accomplish them to our souls. (Theological Sketchbook.) Soul cleansing 1. The great need of the soul.2. The great helplessness of the soul.3. The great grace of God.4. The great drawback on our part.5. The great work of the ministry. (1) To bring home the feeling of guilt.(2) To ask the question of the text.(3) To direct to the cleansing fount.(4) To urge the importance of immediate application. (W. Whale.) God’ s desire to bless the sinner I. Man’ s uncleanness--1. In heart;2. In life;3. In religion. II. God’ s desire that he should be clean. III. His expostulation with s. IV. Our refusal. V. God’ s condemnation. (H. Bonar, D. D.) A hopeful question It would seem as if the prophet were speaking the language of despair; but a little rearrangement of the translation will show that the prophet is really not giving up all hope: Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? Shall there not at the very end be a vital change in thee? When the day is drawing to a close shalt thou not feel the power of the Holy One, and respond to it? Shalt thou not be born as a child at eventide? So the spirit of the Bible is a spirit of hopefulness. It will not lose any man so long as it can keep hold of him. It is a mother-like book, it is a most shepherdly book, it will not let men die if they can be kept alive. Here is the Gospel appeal: “ Wilt thou not be made clean?” Here is no urging upon Jerusalem to clean herself, to work out her own regeneration, to throw off her own skin, and to cleanse her own characteristic spots and taints and stains. These words convey an offer, point to a process, preach a Gospel. Hear the answer from the leper: “ Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” There is a river the streams whereof receive all our diseases, and still the river flows like crystal from the throne of God. We know what the great kind sea is. It receives all the nations, gives all the empires a tonic, and yet rolls round the world an untainted blessing. The question addressed to each heart is, “ Wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?” Shall it not be at once? Shall it not be at the very end? Shall not the angels have yet to report even concerning the worst, last of men, the festers of moral creation, “ Behold, he prayeth!” The intelligence would vibrate throughout heaven, and give a new joy to eternity. (J. Parker, D. D.) . Jeremiah 14:1-9 They came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.The drought of nature, the rain of grace, and the lesson therefrom I. First, consider that man is a very dependent creature. He is, in some respects, the most dependent creature that God has made; for the range of his wants is very wide, and at a thousand points he is dependent upon something outside of himself.1. Man, as a living creature, is peculiarly dependent upon God as to temporals. On what a feeble thread hangs human life! Water, though it be itself unstable, is needful to the establishment of human life, and without it man expires. Many an animal can bear thirst better than man. Other creatures carry their own garments with them; but we must be indebted to a plant, or to a sheep, for the covering of our nakedness. Many other creatures are endowed with sufficient physical force to win their food in fight; but we must produce our own food from the soil. We cannot produce food from the earth without the dew and the rain. However cleverly you have prepared your soil, however carefully you have selected your seed, all will fail without the rain of heaven. Even though your corn should spring up, yet will it refuse to come to the ear if the heavens be dry. Nor can you of yourself produce a single shower, or even a drop of dew. If God withholdeth the rain, what can the husbandman do? Yes, and life itself would vanish as the food of life ceased. It would be an instructive calculation if it could be accurately wrought out--to estimate how much bread food there is at any time laid up upon the surface of the earth. If all harvests were to fail from this date; if there were no harvests in Australia during our winter, no harvests early in the year in India and the warm regions, if there were no harvests in America and in Europe, I have been informed that, by the time of our own harvest months, there would be upon the face of the earth no more food than would last us for six weeks. God does, indeed, give us bread as we need it; even as, in the wilderness, He gave the manna; but we are every hour dependent upon His generous care. 2. In spiritual things this dependence is most evident. The priceless blessings of pardon and grace: how can we procure them apart from God in Christ Jesus? So is it with the life and the power of the Spirit of God, by which we are able to receive and enjoy the blessings of the covenant; the Holy Spirit, like the wind, bloweth where He listeth, and the order of His working is with the Lord alone. The new life whereby we receive the Lord Jesus: how can it come to us but from the living God Himself? 3. Here is the pity of it: against God, upon whom we are so dependent, we have sinned, and do sin. We are dependent upon Him, and yet rebellious against Him. If pardoned, it must be by the exercise of the sovereign prerogative which is vested in Jehovah, the Lord of all, who doeth as seemeth good in His sight. Provided it can be done justly, sovereignty may step in and rescue the guilty from his doom; but this is a matter which depends upon the will of the Lord alone. If you are executed, the condemnation is so well deserved, that not a word can be said against the severity which shall carry out the sentence. II. Men may be reduced to dire distress. Men, being dependent upon God, may be reduced to dire distress if they disobey Him, and incur His just displeasure.1. To proceed a little in detail with the words of my text: when the Lord causes sinners to feel the spiritual drought, pride is humbled. “ Their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters.” The philosopher grows into a little child, and gladly accepts the cup which aforetime he sneered at. 2. But you observe that when humbled and made thirsty, these people went to secondary causes: they came to the pits, or reservoirs. Thus souls, when they are awakened, go to fifty things before they come to God. It is sad that, in superstition, or in scepticism, they look for living streams. They try reformation of manners--I have nothing to say against it; but apart from God reformation always ends in disappointment. 3. If you read on, you will find that when they went to these secondary supplies, they were disappointed: “ They came to the pits, and found no water.” They thirsted to drink; but not a drop was found to cool their tongues. It is an awful thing to come home from sermon with the vessels empty; to rise from the communion table, having found no living water, and return with vessels empty. To close the Bible, and sigh, “ I find no comfort here, I must return with my vessel empty.” When the ordinances, and the Word yield us no grace, things have come to an awful pass with us. Do you know what this disappointment means? 4. Now upon this disappointment, there followed great confusion of mind; they became distracted; “ they were ashamed and confounded.” Thus have I met with many who, after going to many confidences, have been disappointed in all, and seem ready to lie down in despair, and put forth no more effort. They fear that God will never bless them, and they will never enter into life eternal; and so they sign their own death warrants. Shall I confess that I have been better pleased to see them in this condition than to hear their jovial songs at other times? It is by the gate of self-despair that men arrive at the Divine hope. 5. At last, when these people came to despair, it is very remarkable how everything about them seemed to be in unison with their misery. Listen to the third verse: “ They covered their heads.” Did you hear the last words of the fourth verse? They were the very same: “ They covered their heads.” Surely the second is the echo of the first. It is even so: earth has sympathy with man. Nature without reflects our inward feelings. III. Man’ s only sure resort is his God. “ God is a refuge for us.”1. There is no help anywhere else. The very best of duties that you and I can perform, if we put our trust in them, are only false confidences, refuges of lies, and they can yield us no help. 2. Nay, look; according to the text there is no help for us even in the usual means of grace if we forget the Lord. O tried and anxious soul, the sacraments are all in vain, though they be ordained of heaven; and preaching and reading, liturgy and song, are all in vain to bring the refreshing dew of grace. Thou art lost, lost, lost if a stronger arm than man’ s be not stretched out to help thee! 3. But with God is all power. He is the Creator, making all things out of nothing; and He can create in thee at once the tender heart, the loving spirit, the believing mind, the sanctified nature. 4. Well, then, what follows from this? If God hath all this power, our wisdom is to wait upon Him, since He alone can help. We draw this inference: “ Therefore we will wait upon Thee.” 5. Do I hear somebody say, “ How I would like to pray” ? Yes, that is the way to come to God. Come to Him by prayer in the name of Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Concerning the dearth I. The effects of drought upon inanimate creation.1. The pits were empty. Some of these were natural hollows in the hard rocks and in the caves where evaporation was less speedy. Others were dykes and cisterns, the work of man. But neither nature nor art could afford supplies when God dealt with them in His judgments. 2. The ground was chapt (Jeremiah 14:4). Earth’ s wounds for man’ s sin. Mute mouths crying to heaven for pity. 3. There was no grass (Jeremiah 14:5). The world is complex, man is complex, God is complex. In complex systems harmony is essential to life,--discord is ruin. The shower can do nothing good without the sun. The sun can only scorch if the rain fall not. Earth can produce no fruit unless both sun and shower combine to aid. II. The effects of drought upon the animal creation.1. The hind calved in the field, and forsook it (Jeremiah 14:5). The fact that the hind was in the field proves that pasture had failed on the higher lands. It was not unusual for the hind to drop her calf by reason of fright or grief (Psalms 29:9). The maternal instinct in these creatures being strong, it was very unusual for them to forsake their young, and can only be accounted for by the entire failure of the mother to obtain food or drink. 2. The wild asses were in intense agony on account of hunger (Jeremiah 14:6). These creatures were capable of great endurance, and needed but little to sustain life. III. The effects of drought upon the human creation.1. The husbandmen were ashamed.2. The people generally were languishing.3. The nobles were threatened with death through thirst. IV. The effects of drought on the devout heart of Jeremiah.1. He regarded it as a chastisement for sin.2. He regarded God as their only hope.3. He earnestly prayed for mercy. Application--1. In forsaking God, they forsook the fountain.2. Earth’ s broken cisterns cannot be a substitute for the Divine.3. Jesus says, “ If any man thirst,” etc. (W. Whale.) Jeremiah 14:7-9O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do Thou it for Thy name’ s sake.The prayer of contrite Israel I. A mournful fact acknowledged.1. Even in the case of God’ s own people, sin does not pass away and die after it is committed, no, nor even after it is pardoned. 2. The sins of God’ s people bear testimony against them, an open and public testimony. (1) They witness against them before God. (2) They witness against them to others. They proclaim them to the whole spiritual world to be vile, guilty creatures, undeserving of any one of the many blessings they are receiving; yea, deserving of nothing but Jehovah’ s utmost abhorrence and displeasure. (3) And our sins, the prophet intimates, testify against us at times to ourselves also. And this appears to be the leading idea in the prophet’ s words. 3. Our sins are peculiarly apt to bear this secret testimony against us, when we attempt to draw near to God. A sense of guilt, shame, and self-loathing, takes possession of us, and sometimes well-nigh breaks our hearts. II. A petition offered.1. Its humble boldness. Under other circumstances there would be nothing remarkable in this, but we have here a prayer offered up while sin is accusing and conscience smiting. When our iniquities testify loudly against us, when we feel sin brought home powerfully by the Holy Spirit to our consciences, “ There is an end to prayer,” we are tempted to say: “ with all this guilt and pollution upon us, we must not attempt to go into God’ s presence.” Now one of the hardest lessons we have to learn in Christ’ s school, is to overcome this tendency in sin to drive us from the Lord. God, as He is revealed to us in the Gospel, is the sinner’ s God, and what the sinner has to learn in the Gospel is, that as a sinner he may draw near to Him, and find favour with Him, and be accepted by Him, and pardoned, and loved. If your iniquities are testifying against you, do not aim to silence their voice; let no one ever make you believe that God does not hear the witness they bear, and that you need not heed it; but aim at this--to believe all that your sins say against you, and yet in spite of it all to seek God’ s mercy and trust in it. 2. The lowly submission it manifests. It stands in the original simply, “ Do Thou.” There can be no doubt but that next to the pardon of her sin, deliverance from her troubles was the blessing the afflicted Church most desired at this time; but she does not ask for it. Her mouth seems suddenly stopped as she is about to ask for it. She feels as though in her situation, with her enormous sins crying out so loudly against her, she must not dare to choose for herself any blessing. All she says is, “ Do Thou. Do Thou something for us. Interfere for us. Give us not up. We will bless Thee for anything Thou doest, so that Thou wilt not abandon us.” And in a manner like this does every soul pray, that is deeply contrite. It has boldness enough amidst all its guilt to come to God’ s throne and to keep there, but beyond this it has sometimes no boldness at all. It leaves God to show mercy to it in His own way, and to deal with it after His own will. All it desires is to be treated as His child, and then come what may, it will bless Him for it. III. The plea the prophet urges in support of his prayer. It is the name or glory of God; “ O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do Thou it for Thy name’ s sake.” This prayer then, you perceive, is more than a simple prayer for mercy. The publican’ s prayer in the temple was that. Any really contrite sinner may offer it; he will offer it and offer it often even to his dying hour. But the prayer before us implies a considerable degree of spiritual knowledge, as well as deep contrition. No man will offer it, till he is become well acquainted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ; till he has discovered the wisdom and glory, as well as the grace, of it, and imbibed something of its spirit. (C. Bradley, M. A.) Man’ s iniquities testifying against him I. What it is for a man to find his iniquities testify against him in his addresses to God.1. Sin is not dead when it is committed. The act is transient, but the guilt is of a permanent nature. 2. When the man draws near to God in the exercise of His worship, sin meets him there; appears to him as a terrible ghost (Isaiah 59:11-13). 3. Sin testifies two things for God against the man. (1) Their unworthiness of any favour from the Lord. (2) Their liableness to punishment, yea, to a curse instead of a blessing, so that the soul is often made to fear some remarkable judgment. 4. This witness is convincing. So, in the text, we find the panel denies not the testimony, but pleads for mercy. 5. Upon this, the gracious soul is filled with holy shame and self-loathing. 6. He is damped, and his confidence before the Lord is marred as to any access to Him, or obtaining favour at His hand. II. How comes it that sin is found thus testifying against men?1. It flows from the nature of sin and guilt upon an enlightened conscience. 2. It is a punishment from the Lord for former backslidings and miscarriages. 3. God so orders it, that it may be a mean to humble them, and make them more watchful against sin for the time to come. III. The plea. “ For Thy name’ s sake.”1. We must plead with Him for His Christ’ s sake; and when guilt stares us in the face, we must look to God through the veil of Christ’ s flesh. 2. We must plead with Him for His glory’ s sake. Punishing of sin glorifies God much, but pardoning of sin glorifies Him more. (T. Boston, D. D.) Sin should be fully confessed I warrant thee thou shalt never go beyond the truth in stating thy sin, for that were quite impossible. A man lying on the field of battle wounded, when the surgeon comes round, or the soldiers with the ambulance, does not say, “ Oh, mine is a little wound,” for he knows that then they would let him lie; but he cries out, “ I have been bleeding here for hours, and am nearly dead with a terrible wound,” for he thinks that then he will gain speedier relief; and when he gets into the hospital he does not say to the nurse, “ Mine is a small affair; I shall soon get over it;” but he tells the truth to the surgeon in the hope that he may set the hone at once, and that double care may be taken. Ah, sinner, do thou so with God. The right way to plead is to plead thy misery, thine impotence, thy danger, thy sin. Lay bare thy wounds before the Lord, and as Hezekiah spread Sennacherib’ s letter before the Lord, spread thy sins before Him with many a tear and many a cry, and say, “ Lord, save me from all these; save me from these black and foul things, for Thy infinite mercy’ s sake.” Confess thy sin; wisdom dictates that thou shouldest do so, since salvation is of grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah a wrestler with the Lord in prayer I. In what the Lord is strong against the prophet. The sin of the people. II. In what the prophet is strong against the Lord. The name of the Lord.1. In itself, God’ s name compels Him to show He is not a desperate hero, a giant who cannot save. 2. In that His name is borne by Israel. (Heim.) Prayer has within itself its own reward I. Confession. This fitly begins. It is the testimony of iniquity, and that this iniquity is against God Himself. When we are to encounter any enemy or difficulty, it is sin weakens us. Now confession weakens it,--takes off the power of accusation. II. Petition. “ For Thy name’ s sake.” This is the unfailing argument which abides always the same, and has always the same force. Though thou art not clear in thy interest as a believer, yet plead thy interest as a sinner, which thou art sure of. (T. Leighton.) Pleas for mercy How many there are who pray after a fashion in times of great distress. When they are brought to death’ s door, then they say, “ Send for someone that will come and pray at our side.” What a wretched position is this, that we should only be willing to think of God when we are in our direst need! At the same time, notice what a great mercy it is that God does hear real prayer even if it be presented to Him only because we are in distress. “ He giveth liberally, and upbraideth not.” I. I speak to the church of God at large wherever it has backslidden and to each believer in particular who may have departed from the living God in any measure. Note, there are here pleaders guilty. The pleaders seem to say, “ Guilty, ay, guilty, for there is no denying it. Our iniquities testify against us.” I would that every child of God felt this whenever he has gone astray. In addition to there being no denying it there is no excusing it, for “ our backslidings are many.” If we could have excused ourselves for our first faults, if possibly we might have offered some extenuation for the fickleness of our youth, yet what are we to say of the transgressions of our riper years? Not only is our guilt past denying and past excusing, but also it is past computation. We cannot measure how great have been our transgressions, and the next sentence may well imply it: “ We have sinned against Thee.” Well, now, next to this plea of guilty, what do the culprits say? What plea do they make why they should obtain mercy? I observe, first, that they bring no plea whatever which has fallen from themselves in any degree. They do not plead before God, that if He will have mercy they will be better. But still, there is a plea. Oh, blessed plea l the master plea of all: “ Though our iniquities testify against us, do Thou it for Thy name’ s sake.” Now, here is a prayer which will avail for us when the night is darkest and not a star is to be seen. The first name which the backsliding Church here gives to God has a blessing--“ O the hope of Israel.” Next, observe the Church of God pleads His next merit: “ The Saviour thereof in time of trouble.” God has saved His people, and the name of God is the Saviour in the time of trouble. Then, next, she does not mention the name that is implied in the words. She says, “ Why shouldest Thou be as a stranger in the land?” --one, that is, merely travelling through, who takes little notice of the trouble because He is not a citizen of the country; one that merely puts up for a night in the house, and therefore does not enter into the cares and trials of the family. She does as good as call Him the Master of the house, Lord of the house. But, then, she goes a little further than that, and the plea is this: that He was, whatever they might be, their God. “ Thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by Thy name.” The Church says, “ Lord, if Thou dost not help us now, the men of the world will say, ‘ God could not help them, they were brought into such a condition at last that their faith was of no use to them.’ Why shouldest Thou be as a mighty man that cannot help?” II. I want to speak to poor troubled hearts who do not know the Lord. I cannot take the whole of my text for them, but only a part, and say to them, I am right glad that you want to find peace with God; right glad that you are unhappy and distressed in soul. You say, “ I want peace.” Well, take heed that you do not get a false peace. So begin by confessing your guilt. When you have done that, I charge you next, do not try to invent any kind of plea; do not sit down and try to make out that the case was not so bad, or that your bringings up might excuse you, or that your constitutional temperament might make some apology for you. No; have done with that and come with this one plea: “ Do it for Thy name’ s sake. Lord, I cannot blot out my sins; I cannot change my nature; do Thou it. I have no reason why I should hope that Thou wilt do it; but for Thy name’ s sake.” This is the master key that unlocks every door. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Triumphant prayer I. The mysterious contradiction between the ideal of Israel and the actual condition of things. The ancient charter of Israel’ s existence was that God should dwell in their midst; but things are as if the perennial presence promised had been changed into visits, short and far between. Two ideas conveyed: the brief transitory visits, with long dreary stretches of absence between them; and the indifference of the visitant, as a man who pitches his tent for a night, caring little for the people among whom he tarries the while. More: instead of the perpetual energy of the Divine aid promised to Israel, it looks as if Thou art “ a mighty man astonied,” etc.,--a Samson with locks shorn. II. Our low and evil condition should lead to earnest inquiry as to its cause.1. The reason is not in any variableness of that unalterable, uniform, ever-present, ever-full Divine gift of God’ s Spirit to His Church. 2. Nor in the failure of adaptation in God’ s Word and ordinances for the great work they had to do. 3. The fault lies here only: “ O Lord, our iniquities testify against us,” etc. We have to prayerfully, patiently, and honestly search after this cause, and not to look to possible variations and improvements in order and machinery, etc. III. This consciousness of our evil condition and knowledge of the cause lead on to lowly penitence and confession. We err in being more ready, when awakened to a sense of wrong, to originate new methods of work, to begin with new zeal to gather in the outcasts into the fold; instead of beginning with ourselves, deepening our own Christian character, purifying our own hearts, and getting more of the life of God into our own spirits. Begin with lowly abasement at His footstool. IV. The triumphant confidence of believing prayer.1. Look at the substance of His petition. He does not prescribe what should be done, nor ask that calamity be taken away, but simply for the continual Divine presence and power. 2. Look at these pleas with God as grounds of confidence for ourselves. (1) The name: all the ancient manifestations of Thy character. Thy memorial with all generations. (2) Israel’ s hope: the confidence of the Church is fixed upon Thee; and Thou who hast given us Thy name hast become our hope. (3) The perennial and essential relationship of God to His Church: we belong to Thee, and Thou hast not ceased Thy care for us. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) The sinner’ s plea I. The sinner’ s acknowledgment.1. The prophet’ s confession is precisely such as befits the world at large.2. With too great reason, also, may it be adopted, even by the best of men. II. The sinner’ s plea.1. Open to all. Never urged in vain. Application--1. What should be the effect of sin upon the soul? Conviction of sin should not keep us from, but bring us to God. Sin is a just ground for humiliation, but not for discouragement. 2. What shall surely be effectual to remove it from the soul? Prayer: penitential weeping; humble and contrite, fervent and persevering; offered in dependence on God’ s promised mercies in Christ. (C. Simeon, M. A.) The name of the Lord a plea for temporal blessings I. We begin with temporal good things. None indeed are particularised by Jeremiah. All that he asks is comprised in these words, “ Do Thou.” But anyone who observes the context may see what the prophet would have. He would have dew, and rain, and fruitful seasons, for the preservation of man and beast.1. Temporal good things pertain to the present life. In heaven we shall neither hunger nor thirst, and since we look for a body without animal appetites, duty, interest, and honour call on us to keep these appetites of our present body under subjection. 2. In the present life temporal good things are necessary. Without a competent portion of these men cannot live. The body, which is the workmanship of God, must be fed and clothed; and how great is His goodness in providing for it things that are needful! Let heaven, and earth, and seas, praise the Lord. 3. Temporal good things are promised. Till the purpose of God be accomplished, the present frame of the world, in the riches of His goodness, and long-suffering, must be upheld; and promises of upholding, and of the means of upholding it, are made to Christ, for the sake of His body, the redeemed (Isaiah 49:8; Hosea 2:22-23). 4. Temporal good things are produced by the power and goodness of God, operating in material and secondary causes. The heavens and the earth, the sun, the rain, the dew, and the air, have not the power of vegetation and fertility in themselves. They are merely instruments by which the power of God is exerted. 5. Temporal good things are turned away by our iniquities (Jeremiah 3:2-3; Jeremiah 5:24-26). 6. Temporal good things are benefits for which intercession and prayer should be made. In the prayer which our Lord taught the disciples a petition for these appears: “ Give us this day our daily bread.” II. The plea which appears in the text for temporal good things. It is, you observe, the name of the Lord: “ O Lord,--do Thou for Thy name’ s sake.”1. An honourable plea, and worthy of God, before whom and concerning whom it is used. The glory of His name is the end, and the motive, and the reason of His works; and in doing for it the works like Himself, and independent of considerations of worth in creatures. In the name of the Lord our God every ray of essential and revealed glory meets, and shines forth; and to make this glory the supreme end of His operations and communications, is a perfection which He cannot deny nor give away. This supreme motive He avows, and holds up to the adoration of His people, and jealousy for it is His praise and His honour (Ezekiel 36:22; Isaiah 48:9-11; Psalms 115:1). 2. A prevailing plea. For His name’ s sake great and marvellous works have been wrought (Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 20:14; Ezekiel 20:22; Ezekiel 20:44). When the motive in the heart of the Sovereign is the plea in the mouth of the supplicant, confidence of being accepted and heard, confidence modest, humble, reverential, and submissive, imparts joy to the heart of the petitioner, raises in his soul the expectation of hope, and makes his face to shine as if it were anointed with fresh oil. 3. A continual plea, and good throughout all generations, under all dispensations, among all nations, and in all extremities (1 Chronicles 17:21; Isaiah 63:11-16). 4. The supreme plea under which every other plea is subordinated. In the prayers and intercessions of holy men other considerations often appear. Poverty, reproach, affliction, persecution, necessity, and other things, have been pied at the throne of grace. But the name, or glory, of the Lord our God is the supreme and ruling consideration into which other pleas are to be resolved. III. Our pleading the name of the Lord for temporal good things in the face of iniquity, or when it is testifying against us. In such discouraging circumstances Jeremiah pleaded. The whole body of national evil stood before him; and, with this monster appearing to his eye, and its voice roaring in his ear, he cried, “ Do Thou for Thy name’ s sake.”1. A sense of sin strongly affects the heart and conscience before the Lord. Jeremiah is the mouth of the kingdom, and speaks like a man of feeling. He felt the weight of the public guilt, heard it crying for vengeance, and believed that the Lord was justly offended because the land was greatly defiled. This feeling is not common and natural to man. There were but few in Judah who were suitably affected with the national iniquities, and among ourselves the number of mourners is either diminished or else they are hid in corners and chambers, out of the sight of the public eye and the knowledge of one another. 2. The righteousness of the Lord, in turning away temporal good things because of iniquity, is believed and acknowledged. Of this Jeremiah was persuaded himself, and of this no mean was neglected to persuade the nation. In withering seasons, professions of the equity and justice of Providence are in every mouth; but in the lives of many who make these professions, fruit of the lips doth not appear. Fruit of this kind is found only on a few trees of righteousness, which are grafted in Christ, and raised and trained up by the spirit of holiness. 3. The iniquities which provoke the Most High to withhold, or turn away, temporal good things are acknowledged with humiliation and sorrow of heart. Concerning these Jeremiah is not silent. In his intercessory prayer confession holds a distinguished place. His exercise is exemplary, and in similar circumstances should be followed. Reigning and crying sins breaking out, whether in the higher or lower ranks of society, or in both, ought to be acknowledged to be what they are, provocations of wrath and causes of calamity. But to bring men to this reasonable duty is extremely difficult. Confession gives such a stab to self-righteousness, and such a blow to natural pride, that nothing can bring us effectually to submit to it, except the Spirit of God working by His Word in us mightily. 4. The covenant of grace is apprehended, truly and distinctly, in the light of the Word. To this covenant temporal good things are annexed, and in its administration, promises of these are performed. By the obedience, sufferings, and death of Christ, the condition is fulfilled; and in performing the promises and bestowing the blessings, both of the life which now is and of that which is to come, the justice and holiness of God glorify themselves in the highest. 5. Considerations of the obedience, blood, and intercession of Christ, are presented to the Lord, and opposed to prevailing iniquities. 6. Submission to the will and good pleasure of the Lord of all. Creatures, far less sinners, should never be peremptory in their supplications, nor prescribe to the Sovereign. Pleas for the removal of distress are furnished to us by the Word, and instructions given to use these with reverence and importunity. But beware of limiting the Sovereign, who, by calamity no less than by deliverance, can magnify Himself. IV. Exhortation and instruction. Unto men of prayer we address ourselves in the hearing of all, and through the blessing of God and the working of His Spirit, all will be corrected and instructed.1. In your exercise and practice let a true sense of sin appear. It is not calling sin names, or fixing upon it the epithets, bagful and abominable, but hating and abhorring it, which the Lord requires. 2. Acknowledge the righteousness of God in withholding some temporal good things, which in the ordinary course of His Providence we looked for at this season. Why doth the Sovereign send upon us hail for rain, and heaps of snow instead of clouds of dew? Why doth He draw out winter to an unusual length, and fill our ear with the howling of shepherds, instead of the singing of birds? Why do not applications to His goodness prevail? Hath He forgotten to be gracious? No. Doth His promise fail? No. Is His hand shortened, that it cannot save? No. Is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear? No. But our iniquities, let it be preached in the valleys, proclaimed in the mountains, and sounded in the dwelling places of atheism and irreligion--“ Our iniquities have separated between us and our God, and our sins have hid His face from us, that He will not hear.” 3. Confess unto the Lord these trespasses which are committed against Him in the midst of the land, which provoke Him to withhold good things, and which cause Him to send upon us evil things. Acknowledgment of sin, and supplication for pardon, are always mixed with the prayers and intercessions of His people for temporal good things. 4. In pleading, when iniquities testify against you, keep before you the covenant of peace, to which temporal good things are added. Unless your eye be kept upon this covenant, it will be impossible to understand how God, whose right hand is full of righteousness, glorifies Himself in accepting your persons, sustaining your pleas, fulfilling your petitions, and blessing you with good things. But if the covenant, with its condition, promises, and administration, be considered, and the place which temporal good things possess observed, every seemingly interfering interest, with respect to the perfections and glory of God, will appear to be adjusted and consolidated upon the clearest and firmest principles. 5. With the plea, and every form of the plea, for the benefits of the covenant, introduce the name and office of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having fulfilled the condition, in His obedience unto death, He is constituted, by wisdom and grace, heir, administrator, and dispenser of the blessings. 6. Be submissive and modest in pleading for temporal good things. Of the ways of the Lord we are incompetent judges; and, in all applications upon the name, should submit ourselves to His wisdom and righteousness, and leave to His good pleasure what is to be done. (A. Shanks.) Jeremiah 14:8O the Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble.God and troubled humanity I. What God always is to troubled humanity.1. The Hope. (1) The Inspirer of all true hope.(2) The Sustainer.(3) The Realiser. 2. The Saviour. (1) The redemption system He has given to the world attests this.(2) The experience of all who had attended to His directions testifies this. Every man that has adopted God’ s remedial scheme has been saved. II. What God sometimes seems to troubled humanity. “ A stranger,” etc.1. When Christlike enterprises are frustrated.2. When the most useful men are cut down in the very zenith of their life.3. when prosperity attends the wicked, and adversity the good.4. When enormous outrages are rampant in society. (Homilist.) Why shouldest Thou be as a stranger in the land.--God’ s withdrawings from His people, and their exercise under them I. When it may be said God withdraws and behaves as a stranger to His people.1. When He withholds His wonted acts of kindness to them.2. When He threatens to remove from them the signs and symbols of His presence.3. When, though continuing the ordinances and sacraments, He renders them profitless.4. When the Divine providences are adverse.5. When He denies them access to Himself. II. Why the Lord deals thus with his people.1. When they fall into gross sin and bring reproach on religion.2. When they become earthly minded.3. When they become slothful and formal in duty.4. When they neglect or slight the Mediator, by whom we have access to God.5. When they sin under or after great affliction.6. When they do not cherish and entertain the influences of the Holy Spirit.7. When they grow hardened and impenitent under provocation. III. When it may be said we are properly exercised under such a painful dispensation.1. When we are truly sensible of our loss, and that our sin is the cause of it.2. When we place all our happiness in God’ s favour and presence.3. When we engage all the powers of our souls to seek after God.4. When we diligently embrace every opportunity for finding an absent God, and use every appointed means.5. When we wrestle with Him in prayer to return.6. When we are not satisfied with the best means, unless we find God in them. IV. Whence it is that the Lord, being as a stranger to His people, occasions them so much concern.1. Because of the incomparable happiness arising from the enjoyment of His presence.2. Because of the sad effects attending the loss of His presence. Infer:1. There are but few true seekers of God among us.2. The misery of these who are far from God now, and may be deprived of His presence forever.3. The sad case of those whom God forsakes, never to return again. (T. Hannam.) A welcome for the stranger When the messenger of Mercy was travelling through the world, he asked himself at what inn he should alight and spend the night. Lions and eagles were not to his mind, and he passed by houses wearing such warlike names; so too he passed by places known by the sign of “ The Waving Plume,” and the “ Conquering Hero,” for he knew that there was no room for him in these inns. He hastened by many a hostelry and tarried not, till at last he came to a little inn which bore the sign of “ The Broken Heart.” Here,” said Mercy’ s messenger, “ I would fain tarry, for I know by experience that I shall be welcome here” The Messiah-A stranger among His own people The greatest marvel of all creation is that the Son of God should come to redeem; and next to that is this, that having come, He should be neglected and rejected by those who had so long looked for Him. Here is the greatest wonder in all history: a nation neglecting the realisation of its own dream. Search your histories and see if you can find a parallel case. The old Jewish theocracy aspired to pretensions that Rome, Greece, Persia, and Egypt never dared to dream, to bestow to the world one universal king. And what is that land of Palestine, and what are these Jews who aspire to such pretensions as this?. . .It has no deep thought like India; no genius of stability like China; no sense of beauty like Greece, no high culture like Egypt, no powerful arms like Rome, and yet there is the fact; they speak concerning the kingdom their king should establish. “ The Gentiles shall come to Thy light, and kings to the brightness of Thy rising.” Yet, marvellous to relate, when she had given her King to the world she refused to crown Him. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not (the hope of Israel--a stranger in the land). George Mac Donald tells in one of his stories of a born-blind lamplighter who illuminated the city at night, but had no sense of what he was doing. Thus the Jews closed their eyes to the great light which they gave to the world. (Geo. Matheson, D. D.) Jeremiah 14:9 Why shouldst Thou be . . . as a mighty man that cannot save? God rendered powerless by man A strong man may be rendered powerless by a reel of cotton being wound around him. Each thread so brittle, yet all together is irresistible. So a large number of inconsistencies and insincerities may make God powerless to help you, or to work mightily through you to the salvation of others. He may be in the midst of you, and you may be called by His name; great issues for His kingdom and glory may seem at stake; mighty possibilities within your reach! and yet He is as a mighty man that cannot save. There is might enough in God to save the weakest and sinfullest of His children; and you are unsaved because of the limitations you have placed upon Him.1. You are not absolutely willing to be delivered from your sins. 2. You do not entirely believe in His power and will. 3. You have not definitely handed the whole matter over to Him, and believed that He has accepted the charge. 4. Or--and this is perhaps the deepest reason of all--you have formed your own ideas of Divine truth, and of the possible Christian life. And having formed your own conception of the true ideal of Christianity, you have thenceforth lived within the limitations of your ideal, which is bounded by human wisdom and human thought. And so you never come to a thorough knowledge of the indwelling of Christ, or what He is prepared to do for you; or, catching a glimpse of it from afar, you are not sufficiently delivered from the reasonings and workings of your mind to give Him that opportunity for which He waits and yearns. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) O Lord . . . leave us not. A universal prayer I. For all seasons.1. Times of joy. Our prosperity will ruin us, if God be not with us.2. Times of adversity.3. Times of labour.4. Times of perplexity. II. For all saints.1. All need to pray thus. For all deserve to be abandoned.2. All must pray thus. For all desire continuance of His presence.3. All will pray thus. For all know the bitterness of soul consequent upon His withdrawal III. Always answered.1. For it is according to His will.2. For it honours His name. (R. A. Griffin.) Jeremiah 14:10-16 Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet; therefore the Lord doth net accept them.Jehovah’ s refusal to allow intercession to prevail I. The Lord’ s answer to the prophet’ s prayer.1. He points to the backsliding of the people, for which He now punishes them. 2. He refuses the prophet’ s prayer because He loathes the people’ s soulless fastings and sacrifices. 3. He specifies the means by which He will destroy this backsliding people. Battle. Famine. Pestilence. II. The prophet renews his endeavours to entreat God’ s favour.1. He lays stress on the fact that they had been deceived.2. But they are not excused on that account; for they gave credit to lies. (1) God had not commissioned these prophets.(2) Their easy and willing dupes are condemned to ignoring. 3. Seducers should perish with those they seduced. (C. Keil.) Jeremiah 14:12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry. Pasting rendered offensive I. Pious demeanour is not what God desires, but faith.1. God abominates a double and false heart; and the greater the fervour hypocrites display in external rites, the more they provoke Him. 2. Fasting is observed as giving intensity to prayer. 3. They who fast professedly avow that they deprecate God’ s disfavour. 4. But God values not outward appearance. II. Fasting is not in itself a religious duty, but a mere index to a humble spirit.1. What is intended by fasting? (1) That there may be greater alacrity in prayer.(2) That it may be an evidence of humility in confessing sins.(3) Indicative of a purpose to subdue lust. 2. What is fasting, apart from these intents? (1) A frivolous exercise.(2) A profanation of God’ s worship.(3) A superstition, provoking God’ s wrath. III. No value in fasting to merry God’ s favour. IV. Mocking profanation was intolerable, and should be punished.1. God shows Himself armed with various kinds of punishment.2. He forewarns that they who had provoked Him should surely suffer.3. God does not disregard or reject religious signs; but when what they signify is separated from them, there is then an intolerable profanation. (J. Calvin.) Jeremiah 14:13I will give you assured peace. Assured peace I. Human life wants it.1. Uncertainty troubles our life.2. Delusions embitter our heart.3. Misgivings weary our soul. II. God alone can give it.1. Peace is not a human commodity, but a Divine boon.2. Peace comes only to Divinely-prepared hearts.3. Peace is specifically the Saviour’ s benefaction. III. Lying voices offer it.1. False prophets preach peace still. (1) In our churches, promising ceremonies righteous works it through etc.(2) In pleasure’ s scenes, assuring the gay and frivolous of satisfaction, etc. 2. Beguiled dupes are ensnared still.3. Yet assured peace is available still. May be found by all (Matthew 11:28-30). (W. H. Jellie.) Peace Peace is various and versatile. Peace is not mere pleasure, yet there is a pleasure in peace. When there is no longer any offers to be happy, nor any dread of care, pleasure settles to its repose, as a frame that lolls and turns on a luxurious couch by and by folds itself to motionless and dreamy comfort; or as the mountain peak that shot and shafted to its height sublime falls softly off and folds away into the gentle slope, the nooks where lights and shadows play, the curve that modulates the majestic summit to the meek swell of the landscape lowlands, and invests the valley with the mountain grandeur, and mountain grandeur with the placid secret of the lowly vale; the breast that heaved with pleasure in its confirmed rapture comes to rest. Pleasure is not peace, but in Its realisation and fulfilment there is a peace of pleasure. See a little further. Joy is not peace, nevertheless there is a peace of joy in which the mind and heart take counsel with each other. This is delight arriving at repose. Thus, when a strain of music dies away upon the ear, the harmony thrills memory still--the noise ceases, the notes linger and serenade the silence, the silence returns the serenade. Again, pain might be reckoned as the foe of peace, and still there is a peace of pain. Some tranquilities are gendered by adversity alone. The peace found in pain cannot be otherwise discovered nor elsewhere known. When one has borne excruciating pang or undergone sore struggle, and can say, It is familiar now; I have been through the worst of it, and have survived; or where one can even set out about such an undertaking, and although outwardly the infliction or affliction has yet to be encountered, that moment takes on its own radiance, and the mind has upon effective grounds prepared itself for all, anticipated all, looked through all resolutely, braced now and nerved, knitted and compacted; the resolve is half the readiness, the readiness is all the conflict--the endurance is the victory, as of one whose valour makes his foes to tremble, as the Spartan band or the Royal Guard by their very presence put the enemy to flight. When the heart and soul are set in resolution, like a regiment kneeling with fixed bayonets, and so the onset is taken with a will, and the triumph is anticipated in advance, there ensues a serenity which is of itself a triumph, a fortitude which is in itself a conquest and a coronation. It is thus that there can come into the heart the peace of pain. It has distinct varieties. The peace of suffering in physical endurance must not be undervalued. There is such a thing as is indicated by the words, to suffer and be strong, whereby that which in another would enforce an outcry or insist upon a groan--that which even to the same sufferer, at another time, coming by stealth or startling, would utterly unman the nature, has become a manageable trial, to be confronted, to be endured, and to be looked through and through, it may be with bated breath and set teeth, but still at bay, until the paroxysm faints away into the peace, and the strong mastery of the resolve carries the torture of the flesh, and rules the throb of the nerves by its volition. There is a pain peace not to be despised--it may be the peace of peril. Presence of mind is power of help. The war horse stands motionless while the guns emit their bloody blasts and the carnage overflows. The young hero leaps upon the ramparts, the veteran holds the fort. The peace of peril is the opposite of peril panic. Panic huddled the fleeing, frightened throng, so that none could escape from the blazing building; peace would have found the fire escape; peace would have opened the back stairs. And thus it is in life at large: panic is peril’ s peril, but peace is peril’ s protection--peril’ s safe control. And of pain peace another branch is peace of sorrow, peculiar to itself. It does not neutralise the grief, it softens and enchants it. When sorrow has undergone its first wild shock, when cries are stilled and tears are dried, a hush that sinks to softer sorrow, as a gale dies to a zephyr breeze, comes in upon the gloomy void, and sorrow in its silence, sorrow in its sanctity, can find sorrow peace--the very peace of pain. And so it is that in all these varieties, and under all vicissitudes like these, the grace within enkindles peace without. And when the Finite is in treaty with the Infinite, the creature in reconciliation with his Maker, the soul, possessed of peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, can prove that paradox of life and earth--the peace of God which passeth all understanding. (H. S. Carpenter.) Jeremiah 14:20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness.Frank acknowledgment of guilt Next to the merit of not sinning is confessing sin. A learned man has said, “ The three hardest words in the English language are--‘ I was mistaken.’” Frederick the Great wrote to the Senate: “ I have just lost a great battle, and it was entirely my own fault.” Goldsmith said, “ This confession displayed more greatness than all his victories.” Such a prompt acknowledgment of his fault recalls Bacon’ s course in more trying circumstances. “ I do plainly and ingenuously confess,” said the great Chancellor, “ that I am guilty of corruption, and so renounce all defence. I beseech your lordships to be merciful to a broken reed. (A. T. Pierson.) True repentance avails with God When a man undertakes to repent towards his fellowmen, it is repenting straight up a precipice; when he repents towards law it is repenting in a crocodile’ s jaws; when he repents towards public sentiment, it is throwing himself into a thicket of brambles and thorns; but when he repents towards God, he repents towards all love and delicacy. God receives the soul, as the sea the bather, to return it again, purer and whiter than He took it. (H. W. Beecher.) Jeremiah 14:21 Do not abhor us.Marks of a people in danger of the Divine abhorrence I. The leading indications of a people exposed to that alarming condition which the prophet here so pathetically deprecates.1. Unfruitfulness under the means of religious and moral improvement (Luke 13:6). When the recipients of so many favours, instead of being fruitful, bring forth no good fruit at all, or fruit that is positively bad; when, instead of acting suitably to such high advantages, they shew that they are insensible of them; when, instead of being devout, they are impious; when, instead of standing in awe of God, they profane His holy name; when, instead of regarding His ordinances, they despise them; when, instead of being humble, meek, and merciful, they are proud, overbearing, and injurious; and, instead of ascribing to the bounteous Giver of all good, the glory that is due to Him for His liberality towards them, by a holy, reverential, and submissive deportment, they disregard His authority:--most assuredly, if there is any justice in the Divine nature, and any discernment in the Divine administration, such a people are “ nigh unto cursing,” and are rapidly advancing towards that state which is deprecated in the text. 2. A public and general contempt of religion. All things go well so long as God and Him service are reverenced; because there is a firmness, an energy, and a greatness in every effort put forth for the public weal, which, through the blessing of God, can scarcely fail to render it effectual. But, on the other hand, when God is despised; when His existence and authority are treated as merely ideal; when no influence is produced upon human agency by the greatness and purity of His character, or the rectitude and perfection of His counsels; when it acknowledges no higher principle than self-interest, or the gratification of the inferior appetites of our nature--then all things run into confusion. In confirmation of this, we have the remarkable testimony even of the heathen Polybius, one of the most judicious historians of ancient Rome. “ When the Romans,” says he, “ left off consulting the gods, when they began to disregard the institutions of religion, or to laugh at things sacred, then fell the glory of the empire. The wisdom of the senator forsook him, and the heart of the soldier melted at the face of the foe. The State had no friend, because every man was a friend only to himself, and the gods forsook them because they were despised.” 3. Levity and insensibility under the Divine judgments. How natural to conclude, when a child continues thoughtless, perverse, and obstinate, under the frowns of an indulgent parent, that he is fast approaching to destruction: and how just, as well as natural, is the conclusion; since the parent having tried all means, but in vain, to reclaim him, seems in a measure compelled to throw him off, and since the child himself seems bent on renouncing parental protection, were it even forced upon him. And no less just and natural is it to draw a similar conclusion in the case of nations, when they despise the chastenings of Omnipotence. To these He has recourse, only when all other means have proved ineffectual. If, then, when He strikes they feel it not, and instead of being brought to repentance, obstinately persist in their folly and inconsideration, what is to be looked for but their perdition? II. How suitable the language and temper of the prayer in the text is to us, “ O Lord, do not abhor us for Thy name’ s sake.”1. It is expressive of that temper of mind, which is most suited to the guilt which we have contracted, and the dangers to which we are exposed. (1) It supposes, that as children, who have long resisted the kind intentions of our heavenly Father, trifled with His goodness, and abused His grace, we see ourselves about to be cast off by an awful exertion of His justice; and that, deeply alarmed at our situation, sensible of our unworthiness, and that the very fate which we dread, is what we actually merit, we run to Him at the very moment, and cry, O Lord, abhor us not; cast us not off forever. We deserve it, but stay Thy hand. Foolish, and rebellious, and perverse as we have been, we cannot bear the frowns of Thine indignation, or to be finally excluded from Thy favour. (2) It implies the utmost earnestness, and the very feeling of present and immediate repentance. It supposes that the individuals who use it are actually lying low in the dust, under the sense of immediate danger, and calling out for immediate relief. And most assuredly there is no room for procrastinating. 2. It also peculiarly becomes us, because it is enforced by the only argument fit to be urged by guilty creatures, and the only argument which we can urge with effect. (1) Review all the circumstances in your case. Single out what you conceive to be the most alleviating, and the most favourable--and then say, is there one of these which you can use as an argument why a pure and holy God should not abhor you? (2) But beware of using this language in a cold and formal manner, and without those distressing apprehensions of danger, and those bitter feelings of repentance, which Jeremiah so evidently cherished when he uttered it. This, instead of appeasing the Divine wrath which has gone forth against us, will rather provoke it more than ever; and instead of averting the Divine judgments, will rather accelerate their accomplishment. (J. Somerville, D. D.) Jeremiah 14:22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? Impotence of idols Remember it was a time of dearth. The question turned upon the presence of grass; there was no grass, and therefore the hind calved in the field and forsook its own offspring, that it might abate its own hunger, seeking grass in some far-away place. Natural instincts were subdued and overcome, and the helpless offspring was left in helplessness, that the poor dying mother, hunger smitten, might find a mouthful of green herbage somewhere. And the ground was dust; the ploughmen were ashamed, they resorted to that last sign of Oriental desperation and grief, to cover their heads, because there was no rain, no grass; and now the prophet asks, “ Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles than can cause rain?” What can the idols do? If they can give rain, let them give it now. Can the heavens themselves give showers--the blue heavens that look so kind--can they of themselves, and as it were by their own motion, pour a baptism of water upon the earth? No. This is the act of the living God, the providence of the redeeming Father, the miracle of love. Thus we are driven in various ways to pray. You never know what a man is religiously, until he has been well tried, hungry a long time, and had no water to drink, until his tongue is as a burning sting in his mouth, until it hardens like metal, and if he can then move his lips you may find the coward trying to pray. (J. Parker, D. D.) Rainmakers among the heathen In Burmah the inhabitants have a novel form of the sport that elsewhere is commonly called a tug-of-war. In the Burmese game there is a rain party and a drought party, who pull one against the other, the victory of either party being considered to have immediate results as regards the weather. The drought party, however, obtain few victories, for the kind of weather they represent is commonly not so much desired as rain. In the face, therefore, of a strong public opinion the rain party are nearly always allowed to win, the palpable “ roping,” in the popular notion, being generally followed by a fertilising downpour. Prayer is the most potent means of obtaining rain, as shown in the case of Elijah.. Jeremiah 15:1 Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be towards this people.Righteousness, the strength of nations It is of great importance that we distinguish between communities, and the individuals of which communities are composed. When the whole human race shall be gathered before the tribunal of Christ, every man will receive the recompense due to his actions whilst on earth. But nations cannot be judged or punished as nations; so if God is to mark His sense of the evil wrought by communities in their collective capacity, it must be by present retribution. Accordingly we have full testimony given from Scripture and from experience, that although, in the ordinary course of Divine judgment, individuals are not in this life dealt with according to their actions, yet communities may expect to prosper or decline according as they resist or submit to the revealed will of God. The national character must be determined by the character of the majority; and when this character is so debased that the national punishment can no longer be delayed, there may be numbers influenced by a holy and unaffected piety, and warm love of God. And can these faithful ones be instruments in averting or mitigating wrath? Or if they cannot prevail for the deliverance of others, will they not at least be saved from all share in the coming disaster? These are interesting questions; and the best answer can be drawn from the words of our text. Moses and Samuel are supposed to stand forth as pleaders for the land; they are too late--pleading is in vain. Still it is evidently implied that at a less advanced stage in national guilt the intercession would have been of avail. Then, moreover, a distinction is evidently drawn between a guilty people and such advocates as Moses and Samuel. The people are to be “ cast out” ; but we are left to infer that such as Moses and Samuel would not share to the full extent in the national disaster. Let us look more closely into these points. Call to mind that remarkable portion of Holy Writ in which Abraham is represented as pleading for Sodom. If the city would have been spared had these ten righteous lived within its walls, there is incontrovertible proof that godly men are the salt of the earth, and may often be instrumental in preserving communities from utter desolation. It was not without a very emphatic meaning that Christ styled His disciples “ the salt of the earth.” By their mere presence in the midst of ungodly men, and yet more, by their prayers and intercessions, may the righteous often arrest vengeance and prevent the utter ruin of a country. The wicked know nothing of their obligations to the righteous. In general, they despise or hate the righteous--either accounting them fools, or galled by the reproof conveyed by their example. If they had what they wish, they would remove the righteous from amongst them, reckoning that they should then have greater freedom in pursuing their schemes, or enjoying their pleasures. And little do they think that these very objects of their scorn and dislike may be all the while their best guardians and benefactors; turning aside from them evils by which they might be otherwise rapidly overtaken, and procuring for them a lengthened portion of Divine patience and forbearance. Little do they think that the worst thing possible for their country and themselves is when there is a rapid diminution in the number of the righteous; every good man who dies and leaves no successor being as a practical withdrawal from that leaven which alone stays the progress of the universal decomposition. Now we have reached the point at which piety ceases to have power in averting evil from others. What does it, then, do for the pious themselves? Intercession time has gone--the judgment time has come; and every man must be dealt with according to his own character. But if righteousness then lose its power to avail with God for others, besides its possessors; and if on this account the righteous may well shrink from such seasons, yet it appears certain that righteousness is as acceptable as ever to God, and that therefore the righteous have nothing to fear individually for themselves. Come plague! come depopulation! if thou art indeed a devoted, consistent servant of God, they shall not touch thee till the time has come which has been fixed by thy merciful Father! “ A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.” The funeral procession may wend often from their doors, bearing away (it is melancholy to think) those for whose salvation they have long prayed, and for whom they have daily sought a further day of grace; but they themselves shall be unassailed till the day which, in any case, God had fixed for their entry into rest; and thus shall the pestilence, whose ravages in their households did but fit them for higher glory, do only the part of common sickness in freeing them from a corruptible body. And, therefore, may those in whose hearts is “ the fear of the Lord,” hear without trepidation what God says about bringing His sore judgments on a land. There are two very important considerations suggested by the subject we have thus endeavoured to discuss.1. We wish you to observe that he who serves God, serves his country best. 2. We ask you to observe that whatever the advantages which a man derives from having pious relatives, there is a point at which those relatives can afford him no help. (H. Melvill, B. D.) Intercessory prayer I. Intercessory prayer is an exercise of great value.1. As developing our love to man. Interesting ourselves in his trials, seeking to save him from his sins. 2. As carrying out the Divine precepts. In the spirit of Christ, in the fellowship of life. 3. As following after noble examples. 4. As obtaining great blessings for others. II. Intercessory prayer can be offered only by good men.1. He must not be under the sin against which he prays.2. He should know by experience the value of the blessing he craves for another.3. He must be willing to join effort with prayer. III. Intercessory prayer has some limitations even when offered by the best of men. This is evident--1. From Scripture.2. From observation. IV. Intercessory prayer is a grand distinction and provision of the Gospel. We have--1. The best of intercessors (Hebrews 7:25). In office, sympathy, work, influence.2. Praying for the best of blessings. Salvation, preservation, comfort, glory.3. Taking up the ease of every soul that trusts Him.4. Always successful. (W. Whale.) Intercession rejected The Hebrews had justly a very high opinion of Moses. How proudly they boasted, “ We are the disciples of Moses!” As the late Dr. R.W. Dale has pointed out, “ More than Luther is to Germany, more than Napoleon is to France, more than Alfred, or Elizabeth, or Cromwell, or William III. is to England, Moses was to the Jewish people--prophet, patriot, warrior, lawgiver, all in one.” Yet even so great a servant of God as Moses together with the famous seer Samuel, would avail nothing in intercession for the Jews at this time. My mind, saith the Lord, could not be toward this people. Jeremiah 15:6-9 Thou hast forsaken Me.God forsaking and God forsaken I. A God-forsaking people. Conviction by God Himself of this great folly and sin. In Jeremiah 2:13, the charge is more complete. Creation is called upon to express surprise at a folly so conspicuous.1. “ Thou” --who oughtest to have been unto Me a loyal and loving people, testifying of My power and grace, and proving by separation from the nation your preference for the living and true God. 2. “ Hast forsaken” --not simply forgotten, or disobeyed, but of deliberate choice hast taken other gods, and disregarded Jehovah. 3. “ Me” --who called Abraham, etc. II. A God-forsaken people.1. Always retrograde. Unless they repent and obey God, there is no way forward and upward. 2. Always in danger of destruction. If we forsake the mercy, we inherit the misery. 3. Always exposed to terrors and disasters. 4. Always drifting into languor, premature decline, shame, and death. (W. Whale.) How men forsake God A rule I have had for years is to treat the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal friend. It is not a creed, a mere empty doctrine, but it is Christ Himself we have. The moment we receive Christ we should receive Him as a friend. When I go away from home I bid my wife and children good-bye; I bid my friends and acquaintances good-bye; but I never heard of a poor backslider going down on his knees and saying, “ I have been near You for ten years. Your service has become tedious and monotonous. I have come to bid You farewell. Good-bye, Lord Jesus Christ!” I never heard of one doing this. I will tell you how they go away; they just run away. (D. L. Moody.) Jeremiah 15:9 Her sun is gone down while it is yet day.Beautiful, but brief I. Her life was like the sun in its shining.1. Gloriously bright with faith and joy.2. Blessedly useful in diffusing light.3. Constantly comforting, by its warmth of love and hope.4. Christianly generous, always giving.5. A centre of attraction, in the house, in the class, in the social circle, and in the Church. II. Her death was like the sun in its setting.1. Gradual2. Beautiful.3. Peaceful.4. To rise again. III. Her sunset was early in the day of life.1. In the prime and beauty of being.2. In the midst of work.3. It seems unnatural, and suggests questions.4. It is an interposition of God in His providence, doubtless wise and loving.5. It leads us from the creature to the. Creator.6. It suggests that we be all ready, always ready. (W. Whale.) Premature sunset I. In nature.1. Would be unnatural.2. Would be injurious to all life.3. Would make us less confident as to the unerring regularity of nature’ s law. II. In history. Many cases in which nations have fallen, not with decrepitude of age, but through early and self-wrought ruin. III. In individual life. The young, the immoral, the unprincipled in character generally. Obedience to God gives a long day and beautiful sunset. (W. Whale.) The Christian’ s sun I. The Christian has a sun. A Sun is a globe which keeps other globes in connection with it in their proper spheres and at their assigned work, and which imports light and heat to them and to all the creatures which inhabit them. In a sense, all men have a sun to which they look for present and future good. But it differs with different men. With some it is nature; some, the traditions of their fathers; some, fancied superior morality; and the portion of good to every man, with regard to its character and intent, is determined by the capability and quality of his sun. Oh, how miserably off must be all who depend on the finite! The Christian does not. His sun is Jesus as set forth in Holy Writ. From Him every true believer has the light and heat of spiritual life, and through Him he gets into his place, and is put to his appropriate work in creation (John 1:1-14; John 8:12; John 12:46). Receptivity is the beginning of that state of mind which, if rightly followed up, issues in the likeness, love, and enjoyment of God; and as Jesus, the source to which the Christian looks for lasting, ennobling good, is infinite, his felicity and glory will be forever enlarging. II. The Christian is sunnified by his sun. He is a retainer, as well as a receiver, of its beneficent outflow. All the colours, and all the shades of colours, and every form of animal and vegetable life, are owing to the retention and appropriation of solar rays. The wealth, and beauty, and blessed activity of earth arise in this way. In like manner, the rays of the world’ s spiritual Sun--the divinely inspired record of the history of incarnate Deity--must be kept and fittingly used if His fruits are to be enjoyed. III. The Christian sunnifies others. He is a reflector and spreader of the brightness and goodness of his sun. “ Ye are the light of the world.” The globes which emit light and heat as well as have them, the animals which add usefulness to life, and the flowers which are fragrant besides being beautiful, are highest in the scale of existence and of greatest worth. To those Christians who are active besides being pious, who spread the Gospel in addition to living it, who enrich and bless others as well as seek to be enriched and blessed themselves, are the most like Jesus, the most dear to the Father, the most useful to men, the most honoured in the Church. Their death is a calamity to others, but auspicious to themselves. Apply the subject--1. To sinners. Get spiritual light and life while you can.2. To saints. Prize and make good use of your privileges. Diffuse your light.3. To Christian workers. Be not weary in works of faith and labours of love. The more light you spread, and the more men you illumine, the greater your joy now, the greater your blessedness hereafter. (W. J. Stuart.) Death the setting of the sun I. The sun, in setting, disappears from view. As the great central orb is lost to our part of the world as he sinks beneath the horizon, so man is lost to the view of earth as he descends to the grave. The “ places that knew him know him no more.” II. The sun in setting obeys its law. “ The sun knoweth his going down.” Death is a law of nature. It is as natural for the body to die as for the sun to go down. III. The sun in setting is often gorgeous. Often have we seen the monarch of the day ride down in a chariot of glittering gold. Many a man has died under a halo of moral splendour. Like Stephen, they have seen the heavens open, and reflected the celestial rays as they came down. IV. The setting sun will rise again. So with man in death. He does not go out of existence: he only sinks from view, and sinks to rise again in new splendour. Conclusion--Let us fulfil our mission as the sun does his, move in our little circle in harmony with Divine law, enlightening, vivifying, and beautifying all, and then death need have no terror for us. Our path will be as a “ shining light,” etc. (Homilist.) Sunset at noonday These words are illustrative of death in life’ s meridian. They remind us of-- I. Premature darkness. Sunsetting is the harbinger of night.1. In nature. We do not expect sunset until eventide.2. In morals. The departure of moral integrity. This sun should never set.3. In physical life. Death is sunset to the aged, at night; to the young, at noon.4. Unexpected darkness is unanticipated sorrow to community, family, individual. II. Uncompleted work. “ Man goeth forth unto his work.” Ordinarily, man has work enough to last all day; when called away prematurely, he leaves part untouched. So in life’ s aggregation. In life’ s morning his work is largely preparatory for mightier accomplishments of his post meridian. III. Frustrated design. Man lives in the future--(1) intellectually,(2) socially,(3) religiously. Setting suns of life. Permanently overwrought powers. Commercial disasters. Succumbing to evil. In each case failure to realise the hope. IV. A speedier enjoyment of rest. Darkness suggests night; night suggests repose. As in the physical, so in the soul’ s life. “ Blessed are the dead,” etc. “ There remaineth therefore,” etc. (Homiletic Monthly.) Death in the midst of life I. The sun as an emblem of the saints of God. When we contemplate the great orb of day we are impressed--1. With his greatness and elevation. This greatness and elevation fitly represents the true character of the Christian, contrasted with what he was, with what others are around him. Knowledge makes a man great. Grace of God elevates and lifts up to heaven. “ I will set him on high,” etc. 2. Natural glory and magnificence. The most glorious of all the heavenly bodies. “ The king’ s daughter,” etc. (Psalms 45:13). See this strikingly set forth (2 Corinthians 3:18). 3. As the great diffuser of light and beauty. The Christian is first the recipient of light, and then he is called to shine. “ Arise, shine,” etc. “ So let your light shine,” etc. 4. As the chief source of fertility and fruitfulness. Where Christians live there is knowledge, benevolence, happiness, and life. Look at all our institutions of temporal and moral goodness. II. The setting of the sun as a striking representation of the morality of the Christian.1. The going down of the sun is a usual and therefore expected event. So sure as he arises we know he will go down. Man is born to die, etc. “ I know that Thou wilt bring me to death,” etc. “ The living know,” etc. 2. The period of the going down of the sun is very diversified. Look at the short winter’ s day and the long summer’ s day. So in life,--every age is alike mortal, etc. But the text speaks of the sun going down while it is yet day--prematurely. How often is this the case. 3. The going down of the sun is often peculiarly splendid and beautiful. How characteristic of the good man’ s death! 4. The sun goes down to arise and shine on another horizon. (J. Burn, D. D.) Jeremiah 15:10A man of strife.Men of progress, men of strife I. Because of noncompliance with popular sins. Always some interested in doing wrong, and maintaining evil among the people. Those who will not conform, especially such as speak and labour against sin, are considered men of strife. II. Because they are in advance of the age. They look at all matters from a more elevated standpoint, and seek to bring the people up to their level. III. Because they are earnest and energetic. Some can be indifferent; true souls cannot be. IV. Because all good work causes strife. Evil has to be conquered, the devil to be cast out. No curse will peaceably give place to a blessing. V. Because the field of battle is the path of glory. Salvation is finally for “ him that endureth to the end.” “ Fight the good fight of faith.” (W. Whale.) Jeremiah 15:12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?The northern iron and steel In order to achieve a purpose there must be sufficient force. The weaker cannot overcome the stronger. In a general clash the firmest will win. You cannot cut granite with a pen knife, nor drill a hole in a rock with an anger of silk. We shall apply this proverb-- I. To the people of God individually.1. Many Christians are subjected to great temptations and persecutions; mocked, ridiculed, called by evil names. Persecuted one, will you deny the faith? If so, you are not made of the same stuff as the true disciple of Jesus Christ; for when the grace of God is in them, if the world be iron, they are northern iron and steel. 2. We are frequently called to serve God amid great difficulties. Will you say, there is no converting these dark and obdurate souls? Is the iron to break the northern iron and steel? Look at Mont Cenis Tunnel, made through one of the hardest rocks; with a sharp tool, edged with diamond, they have pierced the Alps. As St. Bernard says: “ Is thy work hard? set a harder resolution against it; for there is nothing so hard that cannot be cut with something harder still.” 3. To labour with non-success, and to wait, is hard work. It is a grand thing for a Christian to continue patiently in well-doing. II. Applicable to the cause of God in the world--to the Church. What power, however like to iron, shall suffice to break the kingdom of Jesus, which is comparable to steel?1. We hear it said that Romanism will again vanquish England; that the Gospel light, which Latimer helped to kindle, will be extinguished. Atrocious nonsense, if not partial blasphemy. If this thing were of men, it would come to nought; but if it be of God, who shall overthrow it? 2. Others foretell the triumph of infidelity. That the gates of hell are to prevail against the Church; that the pleasure of the Lord is not to prosper in His hand. Who but a lying spirit would thus lay low the faith and confidence of God’ s people? III. Apply the principle to the self-righteous efforts which men make for their own salvation.1. The bonds of guilt are not to be snapped by a merely human power. 2. Yet that were an easy task compared with a man renewing his own heart. 3. Do you think you can force your way to heaven by ceremony? Come, sinner, with thy fetters; lay thy wrist at the cross foot, where Christ can break the iron at once. IV. Applicable to all persons who are making self-reliant efforts for the good of others.1. Our preaching--we try to make it forcible--how powerless it is of itself! We plead, reason, seek goodly words, etc., but the northern iron and steel remain immovable. Though all the apostles reasoned with them, they would turn a deaf ear. 2. The best adapted means cannot succeed. A mother’ s tears, as she spoke to you of Jesus; the pleadings of a grey-headed father over you--no power to change your heart! The Gospel, though put to you very tenderly by those you love best, leaves you unsaved still! You have been sick, near death, within an inch of doom; yet even the judgments of God have not aroused you. V. This text has a very solemn application to all those who are rebels against God. Fight against God, would you? Measure your adversary, I charge you. The wax is about to wrestle with the flame, the tow to contend with the fire. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Nothing more to be done It is impossible to explain these words to the satisfaction of all. The general explanation, according to a large consensus of opinion, is that the prayer of the prophet cannot break the inflexible purpose of Jehovah. Jeremiah is still concerned for his countrymen, and he will still pray, though he has been told that if the mightiest intercessors that ever lived were to lift up their heads in devoutest argument they would not be listened to, for heaven was offended, and mighty in just indignation. Now the question is put, not by Jeremiah, but by another: “ Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?” Is there any iron in the south that can stand against the iron of the north? Has not the iron of the north been proved in a thousand controversies, and has it ever failed t Who will smite that northern iron with straw? Who will break it with a weapon of wood? Who will set his own frail hand against an instrument so tremendous? The argument, then, would seem to be--Why pray to me for these people? It is as iron applied to the iron of the north, which has been seen to fail in innumerable instances: all the prayers that can now be offered to heaven would be broken upon the threshold of that sanctuary and fall back in fragments upon the weary intercessor; the day has closed, the door is shut, the offended angel of grace has flown away on eagle pinions, and the sister angel of mercy can no longer be found: pray no more for Jerusalem. Thus the Lord dramatically represents Himself; and in all this dramatic reply to the interrogations and pleadings of earth there is a great principle indicated; that principle is that the day closes--“ My Spirit shall not always strive with men.” These are awful words. If a man had invented them, we should have denied their truthfulness and their force; but when we hear them as from above we confirm them, we say, It is right, we do not deserve to be heard; if we had to assign ourselves to a fate, we dare not plant ha the wilderness of our solitude one single flower; we have done the things we ought not to have done, we have left undone the things we ought to have done; all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 15:15 Remember me and visit me.The desire to be remembered Jeremiah desires many things; but the thing he asks first, as including all the rest, is that God would not let him drop out of sight and thought. I. The perpetually recurring phrase, “ God knows,” expresses a mood of thought common to rational creatures.1. A craving everywhere to be remembered. From the lips of the dying, from friends of whom we are taking farewell, fall the words, “ Remember me.” Ambitious minds, not content that their memorial should be kept in a few hearts, labour that their names may be remembered by multitudes. Oblivion appalls us. 2. The moralist can easily show the vanity of this desire, and the emptiness of the end. What good will it do you, he asks, to be remembered when out amid Australian wilds or on parched Indian plains? or what harm to be forgot? 3. Enough for us, that God so made us that, by the make of our being, we desire to be kindly remembered. II. The prophet shows us the right direction in which to train this desire. Pointing to the heaven above, he bids us seek to be remembered there.1. The thought that such a prayer may be offered to God, teaches us a great deal of His kindliness, condescension, thoughtful care. 2. It was while looking on the kindly human face of Christ, that the whole heart’ s wish of the poor penitent thief went out in the “ Lord, remember me!” 3. It was in special clearness of revelation of God’ s love, that the Psalmist was emboldened to say, “ I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” III. The encouraging view of the hearer of prayer implied in the words of the prophet’ s petition.1. He was not staggered, as he drew near in prayer, by intruding doubt whether the Almighty would listen to his poor words or consider his heart’ s desires. 2. It is not presumption, but faith, that speaks here. 3. Ponder for your comfort that God “ thinketh upon” you “ knoweth your frame,” etc. IV. In such individuality of prayer there is no selfishness. It is not the wish to be distinguished above, but to be remembered even as the other members of the family. It is but that when Christ, the great Intercessor, speaks to Almighty God for Himself and His brethren of mankind, saying, in name of all, “ Our Father,” the poor sinner should not be left out. V. Mark what simple trust in God’ s wisdom and kindness is implied.1. Everything is asked in that. Enough, just to put oneself under God’ s eye, just to get God to think of one at all. 2. It is assumed that if God remembers us, it will be in love. 3. God’ s remembrance is practical. He comes to our help. 4. Doubtless there is a season in the history of the unconverted man in which he can have no real desire that God should remember him: he rather desires to keep out of God’ s sight and remembrance. 5. Yet the prayer expresses the first reaching after God of the awakened soul (A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.) Jeremiah’ s prayer I. The prophet’ s prayer.1. “ Remember me,” O Lord! (1) There is a sense in which God may be said to remember His people so as to take particular knowledge of them, and all that pertains to them. He remembers their persons, knows their exact number, and not one of them shall be lost (Isaiah 44:21-22; Isaiah 49:14-16). He remembers their frailties and infirmities, how unable they are to bear affliction without His support, and hears the gentle whisper and the secret groan with parental tenderness (Jeremiah 2:2-3). He remembers all their endeavours to serve and please Him, however weak and imperfect they have been; and in instances where they pitied and relieved any of His needy and afflicted ones, without the prospect of reward, and from love to Him, He will bring it to remembrance, and return it all into their bosom (Hebrews 6:10). All the prayers of His people are come up as a memorial before Him, and shall not be forgotten. Sooner or later they shall all be answered, whether they live to see it or not; for God sometimes answers the prayers of His people, after they are gone to their graves, in blessings on their connections and posterity. (2) The Lord not only remembers His people so as to know and notice them, as He does His other works; but in a special manner, so as to delight in them to do them good, and feel a satisfaction in them. He taketh pleasure in the prosperity of His servants, and will exert Himself on their behalf. He will so remember them as to direct them in their difficulties, succour them in their temptations, guard them when in danger, and bring them out of trouble. 2. “ And visit me.” This implies that where God graciously remembers anyone, He will also visit them. Of the Lord’ s visits to His people, it may be observed-- (1) They are promised, and He will fulfil His word. Thus it was with respect to that long-expected and much-desired one, at the incarnation (Luke 1:54-55; Luke 1:78-79). The same may be said of all His visits to His people: they are not casual, but determined. And as they are at a fixed time on God’ s part, so they are most seasonable on ours: they are made when we most need them, and when He shall be most glorified by them. (2) They are free and voluntary and on our part wholly undeserved: they are what we seek, but cannot claim. (3) Divine visits are often short and transient, like the sheet that was three times let down from heaven while Peter was praying upon the house top, and almost immediately taken up again. The manifestations of Divine love are often like a land flood--sudden, overflowing, and soon spent; but the love itself is a boundless ocean, an ever-flowing stream. (4) However short the Divine visits are, they are often repeated, and are peculiar to the favourites of heaven. They impart life to our graces, vigour to our services, and comfort to our souls. (5) They are powerful and influential, always bringing peace and comfort to the soul. II. Concluding remarks.1. Though God hath promised His presence with His people, yet He may for a time withhold the manifestation of it (Job 23:8-9; Lamentations 1:16). Such departures are very distressing, though but temporary; and those who have been most indulged with the Divine presence are most affected with its withdrawment; while those who have never experienced the former are insensible and unconcerned about the latter. 2. When God forbears His visits, His people are apt to think that He has forgotten them (Psalms 31:12; Psalms 88:14-15). 3. To be remembered and visited of God is a blessing infinitely to be desired; and those especially who fear they are forgotten by Him feel it to be so (Psalms 73:25). 4. Those who desire God’ s presence must seek it by earnest prayer. (B. Beddome, M. A.) Prayer I. Divine knowledge is no hindrance to prayer.1. “ Thou knowest” -- (1) My character.(2) My condition.(3) My need. 2. Yet, though Thou knowest, yea, because Thou knowest, I pray to Thee. II. Divine condescension an encouragement to prayer.1. Remember me.2. Visit me.3. Vindicate me. III. Human need a stimulus to prayer. Poor, persecuted, and in peril, where could he go for help? He is driven to God by trouble, and drawn by loving kindness. IV. The vicissitudes of life suggest topics for prayer. Poverty, weakness, affliction, persecution, temptation--the sins and sorrows of others. V. Conscious sincerity gives freedom in prayer. “ I have suffered for Thy sake.” VI. The mediation of Christ gives efficacy to our prayer. (W. Whale.) Take me not away in Thy long-suffering. The long-suffering of God I. The nature of this long-suffering.1. It is part of the Divine goodness and mercy, yet differs from both. The Lord is full of compassion, slow to anger. (1) Long-suffering differs from mercy in respect to the object; mercy respects the creature as miserable: patience, or long-suffering, respects the creature as criminal; mercy pities him in his misery; long-suffering bears with the sin, and waits to be gracious. (2) Long-suffering differs also from goodness, in regard to the object. The object of goodness is every creature, from the highest angel in heaven to the meanest creature on earth; goodness respects things in a capacity, or in a state of creation, nurseth and supporteth them as creatures. Long-suffering considers them as already created and fallen short of their duty; goodness respects persons as creatures; long-suffering, as transgressors. 2. Since it is a part of goodness and mercy, it is not insensibility. God’ s anger burns against the sin, whilst His arms are open to receive the sinner. 3. As long-suffering is a part of mercy and goodness, it is not constrained or faint-hearted patience. 4. Since it is not for want of power over the creature, it is from a fulness of the power over Himself. 5. As long-suffering is a branch of mercy, the exercise of it is founded on the death of Christ. II. How this long-suffering or patience is manifested.1. His giving warning of judgments before they are commissioned to go forth. 2. In His unwillingness to execute His threatened judgments, when He can delay no longer. 3. In that when He begins to Send out His judgments, He doth it by degrees. 4. By moderating His judgments. “ He rewardeth us not according to our iniquities.” 5. In giving great mercies after provocations. 6. When we consider the greatness and multitude of our provocations. III. The ground and reason of this long-suffering to us-ward.1. As a testimony of His reconcilable and merciful nature towards sinners.2. That sinners may be brought to repentance.3. For the continuance of His Church (Isaiah 65:8-9).4. That His justice may be clear when He condemns the impenitent.5. In answer to the prayers of His people, His long-suffering is exercised towards sinners. To conclude--1. How is the long-suffering of God abused? 2. Is the Lord long-suffering? How much better, therefore, is it to fall into the hands of God, than into the hands of man; the best of men. 3. We may infer from the Lord’ s long-suffering towards sinners, the value of the soul; He not only died to redeem it, but waits with unwearied patience and forbearance to receive it. 4. If the Lord be thus long-suffering to us-ward, who have so long and repeatedly rebelled against Him, ought not Christians to exercise forbearance and long-suffering one towards another? (Ephesians 4:1-6.) (Pulpit Assistant.) A promise of better things Thomas Scott, the commentator, tells the following incident: “ A poor man, most dangerously ill, of whose religious state I entertained some hopes, seemed to me in the agonies of death. I sat by his bed for a long time, expecting to see him expire; but at length he awoke as from a sleep, and noticed me. I said, ‘ You are extremely ill.’ He replied, ‘ Yes, but I shall not die this time.’ I asked the ground of this strange confidence, saying that I was persuaded he would not recover. To this he answered, ‘ I have just dreamed that you, with a very venerable-looking person, came to me. He asked you what you thought of me.’ ‘ What kind of tree is it? Is there any fruit?’ You said, ‘ No; but there are blossoms!’ ‘ Well, then, I will spare it a little longer.’ This dream so exactly met my ideas as to the man’ s state of mind, and the event so answered his confidence by recovery, that I could not but think there was something peculiar in it. I have since learned that after many backslidings the man became a decidedly religious character--and his case furnishes a most striking instance of the long-suffering and tender mercy of our God!” Jeremiah 15:16 Thy word was unto me the Joy and rejoicing of mine heart.The soul’ s discovery and use of the words of God I. The soul’ s discovery of the words of God. “ Thy words were found.”1. In their truth. “ He that believeth hath the witness” --i.e., the thing witnessed, the testimony--“ in himself.” He feels the reality of the words of God. They are substance, not shadow, to him. 2. In their meaning. The words of God are not designed to act upon us as an ignorant charm. They are necessarily full of the mind of God. Sympathy with the mind of God is therefore indispensable for understanding them. 3. In their immense importance. 4. In their intense applicability. 5. In their impressive power. “ Demonstration of the Spirit.” II. The soul’ s use of the words of God. “ I did eat them.” As the mouth receives food for the body, so faith for the soul.1. The believing soul loves the words. With its regenerated taste it relishes them keenly, finds them to be bread of God, better even than angels’ food. 2. The believing soul dwells on the words; meditates upon them day and night. 3. The believing soul turns the words into the nourishment of the spiritual life. For its appetite is wholesome. It desires the sincere milk of the Word, that it may grow thereby. And it does. III. The delightful effect of the soul’ s discovery and use of the words of God. “ Thy word was unto me the joy,” etc. This is owing to--1. The suitableness and comprehensiveness of its provision. 2. The preciousness of its grace. 3. The grandeur of its discoveries. Of God, His attributes, providence, Church, heaven. 4. The elevated piety and purity of its tone. Conclusion--Would you be able to express yourselves thus? Remember, then, that God’ s words are spread before your eye, and spoken to your ear, like any other words, to be inquired into, if you would understand them; to be attended to and detained in your memory, if you would experience their intended and beneficial effects. But remember also, that they are but the textbook of the heavenly Teacher; and do not fail to implore His gracious teaching. (H. Angus, D. D.) The secret food and the public name It was good advice of a venerable divine to a young man who aspired to be a preacher, when he said to him, “ Don’ t become a minister if you can help it.” The man who could very easily be a tradesman or a merchant had better not be a minister. A preacher of the Gospel should always be a volunteer, and yet he should always be a pressed man, who serves his King because he is omnipotently constrained to do so. Only he is fit to preach who cannot avoid preaching, who feels that woe is upon him unless he preach the Gospel, and that the very stones would cry out against him if he should hold his peace. I. In the description of Jeremiah’ s secret life, which consists of his inward reception of the Word of God (which description will answer for ourselves), we have three points.1. The finding of it--“ Thy words were found.” (1) We read the Word. Here it is: God’ s Word is all here, and, if we would find it, we must read it earnestly. As the habit of having a time for prayer is good, so also is the habit of reading the Scriptures. Yet it is a mischievous practice to read a great deal of the Bible without time for thought; it flatters our conceit without benefiting our understanding. The practice of always reading the Bible in scraps is also to be deprecated. (2) But we have not found God’ s Word when we have read it, unless we add to it an understanding of the Word. Marrow bones, who can feed on them? Split them, take out the marrow, and then you have luscious food. Merely verbal utterances, even though they be the utterance of the Holy Spirit, cannot feed the soul. It is the inward meaning, the truth that is revealed, which we should labour after. (3) To find God’ s Word means sometimes the discovery of select and appropriate words to suit our case. “ Thy words were found.” You know when you have lost your key, and your cupboard or your drawer cannot be opened, you send for a locksmith, and he comes in with a whole bunch of keys. First he tries one--that does not fit; then he tries another--that will not do; and the good man perseveres, perhaps with twenty keys, it may be with fifty. At last he gets the proper key, which springs the lock, and he opens your treasure for you. Now Scripture to us is much of the same nature. We have many promises in the time of trouble, and it is a great blessing to find the promise that suits our case. (4) “ Thy words were found” ; that is, I felt I had got a hold of them; I knew I had got them; I had discovered them--they were Thy words to my inmost soul. They have come to us with a power that no other words ever had in them, and we cannot be argued out of our conviction of their superlative excellence and Divine authority. We have found the words of our heavenly Father: we know we have, for children know their own father’ s voice. 2. A second view of the inner life must now be considered. “ Thy word was found, and I did eat it.” (1) By that term is signified, first, the prizing of God’ s Word. When Jeremiah received a sentence which he knew came from God’ s mouth he prized it, he loved it so that he ate it; he could not lay it aside; he did not merely think of it; he loved it so that he put it into his very self. (2) The term eating implies, moreover, that he derived nourishment from it. It is delightful to sit down and suck the soul out of a text, to take it and feel that not the letter only but the inner vitals of the text are our own, and are to be received into the very nature of our spirit, to become assimilated with it. (3) But the figure of eating means more, it sets forth an intimate union. That which a man eats gets intertwined with his own self, his own personality. The diligent believer when he knows the Word, learns it so well that he assimilates it into his own being. Let me illustrate this by a fact which is notable in a lower sense in certain natural persuasions. When Galileo was convinced that the world moved, they put him in prison for it, and in his weakness he recanted, and said he believed it stood still and that the sun moved, but the moment, he got away from his persecutors he stamped his foot, and said, “ But it does move, though.” And so he who knows the truth as it is in Jesus has even a higher persuasion than that which ruled Galileo. He cannot belie the truth: he has got it so into himself that he cannot give it up. 3. Notice, then, the third glimpse into the inner life. “ It was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” Nothing makes a man so happy as the Word of God. Nothing makes him so full of delight and peace of soul as feeding upon the Word. II. The Christian in his outward life, as he is mentioned here--“ I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts.”1. The condition of Jeremiah was one which he had attained by his conduct. He was so continually preaching about Jehovah, so constantly insisting upon Jehovah’ s will, and going upon Jehovah’ s errands that they came to call him “ Jehovah’ s man,” and he was known by Jehovah’ s name. Now the man who loves God’ s Word, and feeds on it, and rejoices in it, will so act that he will come to be called a Christian. He will not only be so, but he will be called so. Men will take knowledge of him that he has been with Jesus. To be called “ Jehovah’ s man” was an honour to Jeremiah; and to be called by any of these nicknames, which signify that we belong to God, is an honour to aspire after and not to be regretted. May we all win some opprobrious name, and wear it as our title of holy chivalry. 2. But this is a name, in the second place, which is involved in the profession of every Christian. “ I am called by Thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.” Of course you are so called, if your profession be true. Oh, that we remembered always that we are Christians, and therefore must always act up to the name that is named upon us. God grant you, friends, that, in the power of the eating of God’ s Word, you may be constrained to act ever as becometh those upon whom the name of Christ is named. 3. Once more, this word may be used in the sense which arises out of the Gospel itself. “ I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” I belong to Thee. When they gather up the nations, and they say, ‘ This man belongs to Babylon, and that man to Assyria, and that man to Egypt,’ I belong to Thee, and am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts. What a comfort this is--we who believe in Christ belong to God. We are His portion, and He will never lose us. “ They shall be Mine,” saith the Lord, “ when I make up My jewels.” You are poor: but you are Christ’ s. Does not that mitigate your poverty? You are sick: but you are God’ s. Does not that comfort you? The poor lamb lies in the cold field, but, if it belongs to a good shepherd, it shall not die. The sheep is sick, or it has wandered; but, if it belongs to an Omnipotent Shepherd, it shall be healed and it shall be brought back. The name of Christ being named upon us is the guarantee of our present comfort and of our future security. (C. H. Spurgeon.) God’ s Word found and eaten I. What was the prize which Jeremiah describes himself as having found? It was the Word of God. “ Thy words,” says he, “ were found” --just as a man, on digging in the ground, might find beyond his hopes a treasure there; or as a merchantman, seeking goodly pearls, might find unexpectedly one of greater price than any he was looking for. When men find the Word of God, they find also their duty and calling. They make a grand discovery of the will of God concerning them. II. What use he made of this discovery. “ Thy words were found, and I did eat them.” So then he made the words of God his food--he made a meal of them--not only did he “ hear, read, mark, and learn,” but he “ inwardly digested them.” It is dealing with them as the hungry man does with food. It is converting the Word of God into wholesome nourishment. The Word is thus “ hid in the heart,” as the food we eat is in the body, and becomes, as it were, a part of us--the very life blood of the soul. III. The happiness which he acquired in consequence. “ Thy Word was unto me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.” A noble testimony this to the efficacy of God’ s Word. How sweetly it went down (Son 7:9); how blessed its effects upon the prophet’ s heart, when “ joy and rejoicing” were the consequences! David also “ ate” God’ s words; and what is his account of it! (Psalms 119:103; Psalms 19:10.) Hear what is the voice of the whole Church without exception (Son 2:3). Not a single member of Christ’ s Church but is ready to declare with the prophet that the precious Word of God, when fed upon by faith, is “ the joy and the rejoicing of his heart” --his “ songs in the house of his pilgrimage.” (A. Roberts, M. A.) Divine revelation I. As a Divine word. What is the Word? Not the book we call the Bible, that is but the record of the revelation. Jesus Christ is emphatically the Logos. The fullest, brightest, strongest Word of God is this. A true word answers two purposes.1. By it the speaker reveals his own soul.2. By it the speaker exerts his influence. II. As a Divine Word appropriated.1. Something more than to possess its record.2. Something more than the mere understanding of its contents.3. Something more than the mere transfusion of it into the realm of emotions. It is to convert it into the ruling spirit of life. III. As a Divine Word enjoyed.1. The joy of moral satisfaction.2. The joy of renewed strength. Conclusion--Thank God for His Word. Study it in nature, history, consciousness, and especially in Jesus Christ. Peruse, ponder, and prize this wonderful Book, containing the pearl of great price. (Homilist.) The influence of the Bible conducive to personal happiness The Bible may be compared to a medicine: man is the patient, misery is the disease, and the Scriptures are presented to us as a remedy. Are they such? I. The truth of this proposition.1. The Scriptures received into the mind remove the misery arising from remorse and the apprehension of punishment, and introduce into the heart the feeling of delight connected with reconciliation with God, a peaceful state of conscience, and the hope of everlasting life. A missionary was discoursing in one of the South Sea Islands to some of the inhabitants of those benighted regions, and this was his text, “ God so loved the world,” etc. The attention of one of the islanders was arrested: he began to interrogate the preacher. “ What!” said he, “ is that true? Is it so? Read that again!” The missionary read it a second time. (I heard the statement from his own lips.) “ What! God so love us, as to send His Son to die for us! and are we to have everlasting life in the world to come--is that true?” “ It is true,” replied the preacher: “ there is no ground whatever to question it.” The man’ s mind was filled with amazement, and with sensations of repentance on account of sin, and wonder and joy on account of his salvation occupied his breast: he retired to weep, he retired to meditate, he retired to pray to God, and to praise his Creator’ s name. What happiness comes into the soul when the soul is assured of eternal life? 2. The Bible preserves us from the state of misery arising from bad and ungovernable passions, and introduces the delights connected with a holy state of heart. 3. The Bible received into the heart by faith turns the afflictions of life into real mercies, and renders them at once bearable and beneficial. 4. The Bible welcomed into the soul by faith removes the sting of death, and turns the monster from a dreadful curse into a blessing of no small magnitude. I was acquainted with a gentleman, many years ago; he was of a sceptical turn of mind, and, as a consequence, not very attentive to religion. He was following a very lucrative profession, and unexpectedly exhibited the symptoms of a fatal disease. He fully expected he should die in the course of a few months. He found no support in scepticism; none whatever. And the lash of conscience began, for having neglected the Scriptures, and not having fairly and candidly investigated their claims. This filled him with great remorse; for he felt that if the Bible should be true, he would certainly be condemned for his negligence and his want of candid examination. He resolved, as long as life should last, that he would study the sacred volume, and inquire into its claims. His health was restored to him, and after devoting all his leisure time, for about twelve months to reading the Scriptures, and books connected with them, and explanatory of them, and pointing out their claims and their evidences, the result was a firm conviction, that the Bible was from God. He was induced then to begin to act upon it. He went abroad; he was one night in the river Ganges, and suddenly, while fast asleep, a cry was raised that the boat was sinking; and so it was--there were holes in the keel, and the stern of the boat was brought under water in the night season by the men, who went and slept, and the boat was gradually filling, and in a few minutes more all would have sunk like a stone or lead to the bottom of the river. His first impression was, I have not an hour to live. There was a tumultuous feeling in his mind, yet had he sufficient composure to reflect upon the difference of his feelings then, and what they were when he anticipated death some years prior. His impression and conviction was, that he should be in heaven in an hour; and oh! the support of the Gospel in that moment. Subsequently, he was seized with the Asiatic cholera, and life was in suspense. Similar support was again experienced. A Brahmin was by his side; and he took occasion to say, Now you see the support, that the Christian experiences in the season of extremity: my life is in suspense: for me to live is Christ; for me to die is gain.” II. Some objections which stand in the way of its practical adoption. There are some who will not, like Jeremiah, “ eat” the words of God--that will not receive Him into their heart; therefore they do not share in this holy joy. Some will say, “ I cannot wholly satisfy my mind that this book is from God: I have doubts, and doubts which amount to what is considerable; so that I cannot enjoy the book in consequence of these sceptical ideas. How should I get rid of them?” I would say, in order to get rid of these doubts act conscientiously: do not act in a manner inconsistent with what you believe to be the will of God: do not live in wilful sin. “ If any man will do the will of My Father, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.” So said Christ. Act according to your own conscientious views of holiness, and you will find scepticism disappear. Let me entreat you to read the Bible, read the whole of it, if you are troubled with sceptical thoughts. Dr. Johnson said that no honest man could be a deist, if he had had opportunity to study the evidence: if he read through the evidence, and through the Bible, he could not continue a deist, as the evidence was so clear and so conclusive. Hume’ s name was mentioned to him, that he disbelieved the Bible. Dr. Johnson replied, “ Hume, I know, made the confession to a clergyman in the bishopric of Durham, that he had never read the New Testament carefully.” There are some sceptics who read a little here and a little there; but they do not get a complete view of the subject; and they read rather to find something to object to, something they may lay hold of. The conduct of such men has been compared to that of the Athenian, who had a palace to be sold by auction: he took a brick out of one of the walls of the palace, and at the auction mart he said, “ Here is a sample of my palace.” How absurd! A brick out of the wall to be a sample. But so some men take here a text and there a text--a brick taken out of the wall--and what do they know about the entire edifice? Give the Bible throughout a candid and complete perusal; and read books which are explanatory, written in a spirit of candour and intelligence. But let me add, to put your sceptical thoughts to flight, I think you will find prayer to be the most powerful thing of all, and the most rapid way to scatter your doubts. “ He hath the witness in himself.” When a man begins to pray to God, God answers him, if he prays sincerely, and God gives him a new heart and makes him a new man. Then he begins to argue in this way, “ Why the Bible has changed my heart, the Bible has made me holy, the Bible has made me happy; what want I with further witness? (H. Townley.) Hidden manna I. A memorable discovery. What is meant by finding God’ s words?1. A thing found has usually to be sought for. Happy is he who reads or hears the Scriptures, searching all the while for the hidden spiritual sense (Proverbs 2:4-5). 2. To find God’ s Word means that we have been made to understand them (1 Corinthians 3:14). The Bible is a dull book till illuminated; a tantalising riddle till you get the key; but, the clue once found, it absorbs our attention, delights our intellect, and enriches our heart. 3. Means to appropriate it as belonging to yourself. Reading a will is not interesting till you find you have a part in it. II. An eager reception. What is meant by eating them?1. An eager study. Greedy for the truth. My soul hungered even to ravenousness to be fed upon the bread of heaven. 2. Cheerful reception. My soul was in love with the Word. 3. An intense belief. Not questioning it, but living upon it. 4. The language means, besides, both the diligent treasuring up of the truth, and the inward digestion of the same. III. The happy consequences.1. Hold the truth in its entirety and harmony, and then it will be joy to your heart. 2. The Word of God would have given no joy had he not been obedient to it. 3. Yet there are certain choice truths in God’ s Word, especially joy giving: the doctrine of election, to know that you are called and predestinated; and of the immutability of Divine love. IV. A distinguishing title.1. The name of the Lord of hosts was reviled in Jeremiah’ s day, yet he felt it an honour to be associated with the Lord in this contempt. Oh ye who love the Lord Jesus, never shun the scandal of the Cross! 2. Some do not count it a fair thing to bear the name of the Most High. It is a disgrace to any man that his Lord should die for his soul on Calvary and yet he be afraid to wear His livery. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Enjoying God’ s Word I. A high valuation for this Word. Prized as God’ s Word, and sought under that character. Love to the Word of God is a sure sign of a gracious heart.1. It partakes of the Divinity of its Author. 2. It is adapted to the nature of its subject; suited to man. 3. It has produced most astonishing effects. (1) Have you found this Word?(2) Has it found you? II. A personal experience of its power. “ I did eat it.”1. Religion is the life of the soul, as the soul is the life of the body. Truth is the sustenance of the moral man. Divine truth must be incorporated with the elements of the intellectual nature, or we perish. 2. When you come to the Word, remember that Divine influence alone can make it effectual. As you say grace before meat, let your reading be preceded by prayer. III. A conscious participation of the happiness it produces. “ It was the rejoicing of my heart.” How does it promote joy?1. By the light it imparts to the understanding. It gives decision to the judgment; fully occupies the mind upon the noblest subject; engages faculties and powers in God’ s service. 2. By the relief it gives to the conscience. In the hope of pardon and acceptance. 3. By the exercise it affords to the best affections of the heart. The pleasures of benevolence are genuine pleasures; allied to the happiness of God Himself. 4. By the consolations and hopes under sorrow. IV. A sense of consecration. “ I am called by Thy name.” Improvement--It reproves--1. Those who never seek.2. Those who are content with knowledge without experience.3. Those who are strangers to religious peace and joy.4. Those who neither own God’ s name, nor are owned of Him. (S. Thodey.) God’ s Word found, eaten, and enjoyed I. God’ s word found.1. It comes to us through nature.2. It comes also through our own spiritual being, in its instinctive yearnings.3. In the fullest sense, it has come through Christ.4. Also through prophets and apostles--in the written Word. II. God’ s word eaten.1. This is more than to possess its record. To have a full larder will not sustain life nor give strength.2. It is more than an intellectual understanding of the contents of Scripture. The mere analysis of food will not give sustenance.3. Positively, it is to turn it into the principle of life by assimilation. III. God’ s word enjoyed.1. The joy of satisfaction.2. The joy of strength renewed. (John Oswald.) Found, eaten, and enjoyed I. An important discovery was made.1. Words are the representatives of thought. Have great power to move men’ s minds. 2. Words derive much of their power from the mind which utters them. God’ s words are a hammer, a fire, a sword, a balm, a saving and sanctifying power to men who receive and obey them. 3. That which is found must previously have existed. God’ s Word exists, whether men find it or not. He who finds it is wise, rich, happy. II. A peculiar method of appropriation was made.1. It implies soul hunger. Caused by stress of duty, pressure of persecution, and multiplied sorrows. 2. It affirms that God’ s words are soul food. Wholesome, nourishing, savoury, saving. III. A delightful experience was realised. Joy and rejoicing--1. In what the Word revealed of God. 2. In the way that revelation met his utmost need. 3. In the knowledge of salvation there unfolded. 4. In the prospects to which the attention of God’ s servants was directed. IV. An emphatic public testimony was given. “ I am called by Thy name,” etc.1. God’ s name was called upon him. As the saving power, and source of hope and joy, the name of Christ has been called upon us. 2. He was called by God’ s name. We, by Christ’ s. 3. He was strengthened by God in all his works. Application--1. The Word discovered--a treasure.2. The Word in the heart--a joy.3. The Word on the lips--a message.4. The Word in the hand--a weapon. (W. Whale.) Feeding on God’ s truth “ Understandest thou what thou readest?” That is the main point. The butterflies flit over the garden, and nothing comes of their flitting; but look at the bees, how they drive into the bells of the flowers and come forth with their thighs laden with the pollen and filled with the sweetest honey for their hives. This is the way to read your Bible: get into the flowers of Scriptures, plunge into the inward meaning, and suck out that secret sweetness which the Lord hath put there for your spiritual nourishment. (C. H. Spurgeon.) How to make the Bible our own “ Thy words were found, and I did eat them.” In the absence of his father, a little boy attended the Sabbath School of a Dutch Reformed minister. On the father’ s return he went upstairs and finding his son reading the Word of God, he asked him, “ What book are you reading?” He replied, “ The Bible.” “ Where did you get it?” “ In yonder Sabbath School.” He then took the Bible from him and committed it to the flame, saying, “ If you ever go to the Sunday School again, I’ ll give you such a thrashing as you have never had.” Having ascertained that the Bible was burned, his son said to him, “ Father, you have burned my Bible; but you cannot burn out of me those chapters I have committed to memory from the Gospel of John.” (W. Baxendale.) Joy in God’ s Word “ I have many books,” says Mr. Newton, “ that I cannot sit down to read; they are indeed good and sound, but, like halfpence, there goes a great quantity to a little amount. There are silver books, and a very few golden books; but I have one book worth more than all, called the Bible, and that is a book of bank notes.” Jeremiah 15:17I sat not in the assembly of the mockers.Christians delight not in godless company It is better and safer to ride alone than to have a thief’ s company; and such is a wicked man, who will rob thee of precious time, if he do thee no more mischief. The Nazarites, who might drink no wine, were also forbidden to cut grapes whereof wine is made, so we must not only avoid sin, but also the causes and occasions thereof, among which is bad company. (J. Spencer.) The difficulty of maintaining purity in evil company That is a sound body that continues healthful in a pest house. It is a far greater wonder to see a saint maintain his purity among sinners, than it is to behold, a sinner becoming pure among saints. Christians are not always like fish, which retain their freshness in a salt sea; or like the rose, which preserves its sweetness among the most noisome weeds; or like the fire, which burns the hottest when the season is coldest. A good man was once heard to lament, “ that as often as he went into the company of the wicked he returned less a man from them than he was before he joined with them.” The Lord’ s people, by keeping evil company, are like persons who are much exposed to the sun, insensibly tanned. (T. Seeker.) Jeremiah 15:18 Why is my pain perpetual? The function of pain This piteous lament may fitly represent the anguished cry of suffering humanity, from age to age. In all lands, under all skies, in all times, the same mournful wail is heard,--a ceaseless dirge of woe, day and night, from ten thousand times ten thousand hearts, struggling with adversity, battling with disease, staggering under the weight of sorrow or suffering. “ Why is my pain perpetual?” It would almost seem that men had abandoned the attempt to solve these problems; for by common consent, pain and disease, suffering and sorrow, are called “ mysteries,” --“ dark and inscrutable mysteries.” But they are not all darkness and incomprehensibility. These “ mysteries” are also “ masteries” --masterful forces in the education and exaltation of humanity. Have you ever considered what kind of a world this would be if there were no pain here, no sick beds, no sorrow-stricken homes? Have you ever reflected that these “ inscrutable mysteries” are the chosen instrumentalities for fashioning the highest types of character, both in the sufferer himself and in those who minister to his suffering? Pain and disease did, it is true, come into the world as the attendants and servants of sin; but it is pity indeed if we have not learned that the Lord has made them His ministers and His servants, even as He made the thorns and thistles, the labour and the sweat, which resulted from the Fall, the means of the development of the faculties and powers of man, the fountains of progress and civilisation. The earth was once a stranger to pain, and it will be again; but in the former case sin had not entered, and so perhaps pain was not needed; and in the latter, sin will be abolished because the lesson of pain will have been fully learned. Had there never been pain and suffering, what a different world it would have been! All marsh and meadow; all plain and prairie; no towering cliffs and yawning chasms; no heaven-kissing Mont Blanc; no thunderous Niagara; no valley of the Yosemite--a dead-level world! Those lofty heights of heroism and patience which now delight the eye in the retrospect of the past, would sink into monotonous stretches of commonplace lives. Those names writ large by the pen of history, and made radiant by the light of self-forgetting devotion, would disappear with the pain or the suffering or the calamity that made them great. We may, therefore, thank God for pain, for suffering, for sorrow. Whichever has been our lot, depend upon it we arc, or if not, we ought to be, the better, the wiser, the richer, for it. If we take it patiently, as the good will of our good God, then will it prove a blessing. Then will sorrow be the crucible in the hands of the Divine Master, wherein the dross of the soul will be purged away, and the gold refined. But let us not make the mistake of supposing that tribulation--this threshing of the soul--in any of its forms necessarily produces the results which I have described. These are the peaceable fruits which the gracious Father desires and designs that they should bring forth. These are what they are fitted to produce. But we must remember that the material to be fashioned in this case is a free, self-determining human soul, whose freedom cannot be violated without destroying its very essential fibre. The effect, then, of trial and affliction, whether bodily or mental, depends upon the way in which it is received. It may embitter, instead of sweetening, the spirit. It may harden, instead of softening, the heart. And then the gracious purpose of Him who chasteneth not in wrath, but in mercy, will be frustrated and turned aside by the perversity of man. To strengthen our faith, then, let us recall some of the utterances of those holy men of old who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,--passages in which the casual connection between suffering and holiness is distinctly stated. Saith the wise man, “ The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.” Saith the afflicted patriarch, “ Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” “ When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Saith the prophet in the name of the Lord, “ I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined,” etc. Our Lord said, “ I am the Vine, ye are the branches,” and added, “ Every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it,” etc. St. Peter, the foremost of the apostles, writes, “ Though now for a season . . . ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations,” it is that “ the trial of your faith,” etc. St. James bids us etc., giving as the reason, that chastisement produces “ the peaceable fruits of righteousness.” Side by side with their words let us place the deeds, the examples, of these holy men of old. One can see in the mirror of their writings, as well as in the record of their lives, that these chosen ones were, like their Divine Master, “ made perfect through suffering,” or at least that their sufferings and afflictions had led them far up the path whose goal is perfection. The intensity of their conviction glows and burns on every page. When they assert the purifying effect of suffering, we feel that they are testifying out of the fulness of a personal knowledge. They speak that they do know, and testify that they have seen and felt in their own hearts and lives. But not these holy men of old alone. Men and women of our time, too, a noble army, have ascended with Jesus into the holy mount by the same arduous path, leaving us an example that we should follow their steps. How often have we seen the purifying power of pain and loss, of sorrow and trial! How often have we marked in the life of some patient sufferer the gradual unfolding of the Christlikeness, till at length the crown of thorns has been changed into a mitre of glory, on which we could trace the words, “ Perfect through suffering!” You may, therefore, strengthen your wavering faith, O sufferer! in the beneficent purpose of this, God’ s strange economy, by lifting your eyes to the great “ cloud of witnesses” who have trod the same rough and thorny path. Your suffering, whatever its form, whatever its intensity, is not “ without your Father.” You are in His hands. He does not forget you; He will never leave or forsake you; He only designs “ thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.” Look intently, O sufferer! and you will see pain slowly transfigured before your gaze till it takes on the very features of Him of whom the prophet said, “ He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” You are suffering, moreover, it may be, not for your own benefit alone, but for that of others. There is a principle of vicariousness in human suffering. Let me illustrate. A poor traveller falls ill of fever all alone in the South American swamps. There he lies for days in a wretched hut, quenching his thirst with the waters of a pool close at hand. At last this pool dries up; and with extreme difficulty, the sick man crawls to another, half a mile distant. Its water is so bitter he can scarcely drink it; but he must drink it, or die of thirst. That afternoon he could not think why he felt stronger than for many weeks. Next day he drank more abundantly of the bitter pool; and still, the more he drank, the stronger he grew, till he was entirely restored; then he found that a tree had fallen into the water, which gave it its bitterness, and gave it also its power of cure. And this is the way in which one of the most important medicines now in use was discovered,--a medicine which has saved thousands and thousands of lives which must else have perished. Even so hath God appointed that some of us should drink the bitter waters of affliction or of pain, that others may be given spiritual health and salvation. (R. H. M’Kim, D. D.) Uses of pain Some plants owe their medicinal qualities to the marsh in which they grow; others to the shades in which alone they flourish. There are precious fruits put forth by the moon as well as by the sun. Boats need ballast as well as sail; a drag on the carriage wheel is no hindrance when the road runs downhill. Pain has, probably, in some cases developed genius, hunting out the soul which otherwise might have slept like a lion in its den. Had it not been for the broken wing some might have lost themselves in the clouds, some even of those choice doves who now bear the olive branch in their mouths, and show the way to the ark. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Blessing of pain Above all things let us learn this lesson from the example of Princess Alice--the quickening, purifying, bracing power of pain. In every trial that she had to undergo--and perhaps these trials were more than ordinarily severe and frequent--we see how her character developed and strengthened. To her each trial was as an April storm to a young plant or tree, lending new vigour to the roots, new power to its growth, so that when the sun shines the buds are seen to expand and blossom--those same buds which, without the rain cloud, would have shrivelled and died. Every time she was called upon to give up what she most deeply cherished, she counted, with faith and gratitude, the blessings that remained to her. “ Thus do we learn humility,” she said with quivering lip. “ God has called for one life, and has given me back Chronic fain Pascal, the great mathematician and moralist, said, “ From the day I was eighteen, I do not know that I ever passed a single day without pain.” Wilt Thou be altogether unto me as a liar.--God misjudged Here the prophet overfreely expostulateth with God as less faithful, or less mindful, at least, of the promised preservation. This was in a fit of diffidence and discontent, as the best have their outbursts, and the greatest lamps have needed snuffers. The Milesians, saith the philosophers, are not fools, yet they do the things that fools use to do. So the saints do oft as wicked ones, but not in the same manner and degree. (John Trapp.) Jeremiah 15:19-20 If thou shalt take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth.The personal factor in our thought of God and man If Jeremiah at the time he wrote these words had been asked our modern question, “ Is life worth living?” he would have returned a negative answer. For here you have the significant spectacle of a prophet of the Lord cursing the day of his birth. He finds that he is a man of strife and contention to the whole earth; everyone curses him, he says, though he has not given men cause to do so. And God is not keeping His word with him either. “ Why is my pain perpetual?” he cries, “ and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? Wilt Thou,” he says to God, “ be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?” The prophet cries out for revenge upon his persecutors. Let us admit at once that he was plunged deeply into disappointments. The sense of the Divine pressure in life had come to him early. When he first felt that he must do some great work for God he was very young, and he felt his youth as an objection to undertaking the work. The consciousness of duty and the consciousness of unfitness were there together as they have often been in men. Great geniuses have often begun to show themselves very early, but it is also true that in going on they have had much to unlearn and much to cancel, and they have had to bear the shattering of many dreams. A youth inspired from such heights must needs be bitterly disappointed on the planes of practical life. It was so with Jeremiah. What it was that brought him under the pressure of the higher things so early we do not know. It has been conjectured, and Professor Cornill favours the conjecture, that he had descended from Abiathar, the high priest of David, whom Solomon banished to Anathoth. Jeremiah was brought up there, we know, and his father was a priest. If the conjecture is right, the tale of banishment, the story of the hardship, would come down from sire to son, and the old family virtues and heroisms would be told the children of each generation. In young Jeremiah these found responsive soil, and his enthusiasm was kindled. The lad set out to be a reformer; he was going to put the world right! Now it is certain beforehand that he will meet with terrible disappointments, and not at all unlikely that they will sometimes be so severe that he will curse the day of his birth. That is what befell Jeremiah, as it has befallen others since. In these verses he is in the depths of misery. He notes the sins he has not been guilty of: he has not exacted usury, for example; he recalls how zealous he had been for God: he had found the Divine words and eaten them, assimilated them and made them his own, and had found joy in them. But all to no purpose; everybody was against him; everyone cursed him. But now, here is the significant thing: in the midst of all this, just when he was seeing all men and God in the worst possible light, another thought struck him--the thought that, after all, perhaps it was he himself who was most at fault. Thus saith the Lord: “ If thou becomest again Mine, thou shalt be My servant, and if thou wilt separate thy better self from the vile, thou shalt still be as My mouth.” What had Jeremiah been doing in his pessimism? He had been allowing the personal factor too much room. Listen: “ Revenge me upon my persecutors; take me not away in Thy long-suffering” --as if he said: “ Do not be so merciful and patient with them as to let them kill me; take care of me even if they be killed.” “ Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of throttling,” he once said. This was not Jeremiah’ s character, not his better self; this was his mood when stung with disappointment. And this mood was bad; it was what my text calls “ the vile.” The personal factor was so large that it cast men and God into deep shadow. Jeremiah saw so much of himself, his own virtue, his own failure, that he saw men worse than they were, and God almost as a gigantic untruth. But a great character conquers such moods, and Jeremiah conquered them. It was through his better self that the word of the Lord came to him, and Jeremiah saw that he, in thinking so much of himself, had ceased to be his true self, and had lapsed out of God’ s service, and that if he wanted to speak again as the mouth of God, and to do God’ s work, he must separate the precious from the vile, the better self from the baser self in his own nature. Now we are living in an age when pessimism is said to be very prevalent; men take gloomy views of things. I think it is true that when we are pessimistic about things in general the fault is mostly in ourselves. Unreasonable selfishness in some form or other is at the bottom of most pessimism; we allow the personal factor to make a larger claim than the universe is prepared to acknowledge, and we grow sullen at the refusal.1. This may be the case, and often is in the nobler form of intellectual pursuits, and often in the greaser form of material pursuits. Through philosophy we see some men become pessimistic. They think, and think, they tell us, but the mystery increases, and they despair of thought altogether: the universe is a riddle, and no one can guess its meaning. Now, it is a fine thing to see a man in quest after truth, and it is very honourable in him to make the fullest and frankest inquiry into the nature of things. But, nevertheless, the pessimism, the despair, the wretchedness even here is due to an unreasonable claim on the part of the individual. Is it not rather irrational to suppose that you can uncover the final secret? If that privilege were granted to you, what interest would there be in the world to you or to anyone else? “ It is the glory of the Lord,” said an old writer, “ to conceal a thing,” and there was more philosophic insight in the saying than in any number of moderns who whimper and cower before the Great Unknown. Cut down your demands to something like what is reasonable, and then your inquiries will give you much-prized gains--things to rejoice and sing over, and not to break your heart about. There is a peace of mind to be got from knowing what is not possible to us, and accepting the fact like men. Ii man could fully understand God, he would be God. Let him know his own place and fill it like a man. 2. But it is through the material pursuits many grow pessimistic. Many people’ s thought of God and their neighbours is gloomy simply because they claim too much room for themselves in the world. There are men who are very prosperous in money matters, and in getting position and power, and yet who are always dissatisfied, only because self is their God--the greatest tyrant in the world, never satisfied. It is astonishing how much adversity and disappointment men can bear when they are thinking of another, or others, and how little when thinking of themselves. 3. And out of this arises one other truth--namely, that you must take yourself in hand, and separate the precious from the vile, the better from the baser, in order to be again the servant of the living God, and the exponent of Divine truth. Whenever you see all the world in shadow, all men bad, and doubt even God, be sure it is you who need reforming. There is badness in the world, badness in men, and circumstances may be very trying, but if you are rightly minded, and rightly hearted, you can hope and conquer. It would be a good thing for each of us in melancholy or in bitter moods to stop speaking of the faults of others, and the wrongs of the world, and the problems of God, and ask, “ What’ s wrong with me?” Every man’ s biggest problem is himself. Not that the circumstances were not trying--they were very trying; not that others had no faults--they had, perhaps, great faults; but faith in God is possible in the worst of situations, so long as we are humble, and in manly relation to our sorrow. When unworthy feelings come in, separate the vile, release the better self, and you will yet be God’ s servant, and speak for Him. A clean personal life will give you a strong hold on truth, even in the midst of trouble; a pure mind will give you access to Divine reality, though your circumstances might be terribly hard, and though all men reviled you. Mark: Jesus does not say that the circumstances will change; and all that God says to Jeremiah is that he shall be His servant again, and speak for Him. If you separate the better self from the vile, it does not follow that you will create outward success, but you shall go on with your work, and your work shall be a speech for God. I believe that God speaks to us in nature, but I grant that I do not always understand. The notes of the speech are discordant. In the world of man, too, there is much that staggers one. But there is one fact in which I always read the mind of God--this act of separating the precious from the vile in man. Whenever I make an effort to expel something bad, I know I am acting for God; whenever I seek to put down anything that is unworthy, to overcome any animosity or uncharitableness, to make my better nature supreme, I have no doubt of God then. There we find His mind, there we get the beatific vision, and there we equip for the world’ s work. Will you remember that God says to each one of us, “ If thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt again be My servant” ? Pure life is a clear vision of God for you, and a definite speech for God by you. Nothing speaks like it. A clean soul reflects God as a clear river reflects the sky. You will be yourself an exponent of the eternal in separating the good from the bad in your own life. They mingle strangely--the base with the noble, the false with the true; and their persistent separation speaks of the eternal purpose of redemption. And I am glad of another word in this text. It is the little word “ again” --“ If thou becomest again Mine.” We know what it is to lapse--to feel the relation to God gone; indifference holds us in its icy grasp, where all was once enthusiasm. Let me emphasise this little word--“ again.” It opens a door; it marks a possibility; it is a Father’ s voice coming out after you into the darkness. There is a restoring power at work; you may be reunited consciously to God; you may feel Him again to be the Greatest Reality in your life. (T. R. Williams.) The essential distinction between saints and sinners I. There is an essential distinction between saints and sinners.1. The inspired writers divide all mankind into two, and but two classes, and distinguish them by very different and opposite appellations. They call the saints the precious, but sinners the vile. They call saints the godly, but sinners the ungodly. They call saints the children of God, but sinners the children of the wicked one. They call saints the elect, but sinners the reprobate. They call saints vessels of mercy, but sinners vessels of wrath. 2. God does that for saints which He does not do for sinners; He regenerates saints, but not sinners; gives a new heart to saints, but not to sinners; softens the hearts of saints, but hardens the hearts of sinners; and gives a spiritual discerning of spiritual things to saints, but not to sinners; so there must be an essential distinction between them. 3. God has made promises of good to saints, but none to sinners; which proves they are essentially different in their moral characters. 4. God has threatened that evil to sinners, which He has not threatened to saints. II. Why ministers should, in their preaching, constantly exhibit and keep up this great moral and essential distinction between those who have, and those who have not the love of God in them.1. This is necessary, in order to preach the Word of God intelligibly to their people. 2. It is necessary, in order to give pertinent and profitable instruction to their hearers. 3. Ministers must distinguish saints from sinners, in order to preach faithfully, as well as profitably. Application--1. It is utterly a fault in ministers, either designedly or undesignedly, to keep the essential distinction between saints and sinners out of sight. 2. In the view of this subject, we may see how easy it is for ministers to lead people insensibly into great and fatal errors. They may do so, by not mentioning or not explaining the essential distinction between saints and sinners; or by not mentioning or not explaining the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel which flow from this distinction; while, at the same time, they preach some valuable truths. 3. If there be an essential distinction between saints and sinners, then sinners are very liable to be fatally deceived and corrupted by those who lie in wait to deceive and destroy. Saints have an antidote against the poison of error, that sinners are entirely destitute of. Saints are lovers of God and of His Word; they desire the sincere milk of the Word, that they may grow thereby in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The hearts of all good men are attached to Divine truth. But sinners are lovers of their own selves, and haters of God, and equally haters of His Word. 4. The best way the ministers of the Gospel can take to guard their people against every species of error and errorists, is to make and keep up the essential distinction between saints and sinners. 5. The people may easily discover the real sentiments of ministers by their preaching. 6. There may be a great deal of good preaching in the land, and at the same time, a great want of good preaching. How many ministers do not take forth the precious from the vile, nor cause their hearers to see and feel the difference! 7. This subject calls upon saints to walk worthy of their high and holy calling. They are called the precious, the holy, the godly, the excellent of the earth. (N. Emmons, D. D.) Unsullied character The degree of impurity in any precious stone is just the measure of its depreciation. The initial act of their formation is separation. “ The dark drift of the inland river, or stagnant slime of inland pool and lake, divides or resolves itself, as it dries, into layers of its several elements: slowly purifying each by the patient withdrawal of it from the anarchy of the mass in which it was mingled.” Thus begin both the crystallisation of the gem and the life of the Christian. “ Come out, and be separate! Take forth the precious from the vile,” is the call of the Lord to His saints. For our call is to saintliness; and as the unseen foundations of the New Jerusalem are of as precious stones as the dazzling walls, so the part of our life and character which is hidden from the eyes of the world is to be as clear and unsullied as that which all see and admire. Keep thyself pure, thou child of God. (W. Y. Fullerton.) Righteous zeal encouraged by Divine protection I. God’ s direction to the prophet, and in him to all eat do His work in such a season as this described. “ Let them return to thee, return not thou to them.” Plausible compliances of men in authority, with those against whom they are employed, are treacherous contrivances against the God of heaven, by whom they are employed.1. It cannot be done but by preferring the creature before the Creator, especially in those things which are the proximate causes of deviation. Two principal causes I have observed of this crooked walking. (1) Fear.(2) That desire of perishing things, which hath a mixture of covetousness and ambition. II. The supportment and assistance promised. “ I will make thee to this people a brazen and a fenced wall.” Now the Lord will do this--1. Because of His own engagement.2. For our encouragement. III. The opposition which men cleaving to the Lord in all His ways shall find, with the issue and success of it. “ They shall fight against thee, but shall not prevail.” The words may be considered either as a prediction depending on God’ s prescience of what will be; or a commination from His just judgment, of what shall be. In the first sense the Lord tells the prophet, from the corruption, apostasy, stubbornness of that people, what would come to pass. In the second, what for their sins and provocations, by His just judgment, should come to pass. I shall take up the latter only, namely, That it is a commination of what shall be for the further misery of that wretched people; they shall judicially be given up to a fighting against Him. Now the Lord doth this--1. To seal up a sinful people’ s destruction. Eli’ s sons hearkened not, because the Lord would slay them (1 Samuel 2:25). 2. To manifest His own power and sovereignty in maintaining a small handful, ofttimes a few single persons, a Moses, a Samuel, two witnesses against the opposing rage of a hardened multitude. Use--1. Let men, constant, sincere, upright in the ways of God, especially in difficult times, know what they are to expect from many, yea, the most of the generation, whose good they intend, and among whom they live; opposition and fighting is like to be their lot; and that not only it will be so because of men’ s lusts, corruptions, prejudices; but also it shall be so, from God’ s righteous judgments against a stubborn people; they harden their hearts that it may be so, to compass their ends; and God hardens their hearts that it shall be so to bring about His aims; they will do it to execute their revenge upon others, they shall do it to execute God’ s vengeance upon themselves. 2. Let men set upon opposition make a diligent inquiry, whether there be no hand in the business, but their own? whether their counsels be not leavened with the wrath of God, and their thoughts mixed with a spirit of giddiness, and themselves carried on to their own destruction? (J. Owen, D. D.) The ministry of the Word 1. A ministry of Divine authority.2. A ministry of Divine revelations.3. A ministry of wise discrimination.4. A ministry often opposed by those to whom it is sent.5. A ministry requiring much courage.6. A ministry which will be Divinely vindicated.7. A ministry which lifts up Christ as the Saviour of men. (W. Whale.) The power of rebuke I. The Christian ministry includes an office of commination. If the messengers of heaven, when among the outcasts of mankind, who, in ignorance of God, have gone astray from virtue, speak more of virtue than of wrath; when they stand among those who, being well informed in matters of religion, use the grace of the Gospel to palliate their vices, the messages of wrath must be most on their lips. II. The tendency of the Christian ministry is to move down from its remedial functions to become an office of delectation.1. Furnishing intellectual entertainment; uttering, as matters of gorgeous eloquence, the appalling verities of eternal justice. Nature forbids such an incongruity, and the renovating Spirit refuses to yield the energy of His power to the sway of a mere minister of public recreation. 2. Affording spiritual entertainment; by exhibiting the conceits and ingenuities of mystic exposition; by painting in high colours the honours and privileges of the believer, and allowing professors of all sorts to appropriate the fulsome description; or by pealing out thunders of wrath against distant adversaries, rather than at the impure, unjust, rapacious and malicious around. III. It behoves preachers to beware of the indurating effect of accustomed phrases and forms of words. Such conventional phrases conceal from the mind the ideas they should convey; hence preachers should continually endeavour to break up the mental incrustations which are always spreading themselves over the sensitive surface of the sails. This is especially necessary in reference to matters wherein the drowsy formalities of language tend directly to augment the stupefying influence that belongs to all vicious indulgences. IV. It is a pressing duty of the minister of religion to maintain in vigour the spirit he needs as the reprover of sin and guardian of virtue. It is easy to teach the articles of belief, to illustrate the branches of Christian ethics, to proclaim the Divine mercy, to meet and assuage the fears of the feeble and sorrows of the afflicted. But to keep in full activity the power of rebuke, demands rare qualities. To speak efficaciously of the holiness and justice of God, and of its future consequences; to speak in modesty, tenderness, and power of the approaching doom of the impenitent, must be left to those whose spirits have had much communion with the dread Majesty on high. V. Three indispensable qualifications for the vigorous exercise of the Christian minister for this power of rebuke.1. Such a conviction of the truth of Christianity as shall render him proof against assaults from within and without. Fatal to his influence as a refuter of sin must be a lurking scepticism in the preacher’ s breast. The infection of his own doubts will pass into the heart of the hearer, and will serve to harden each transgressor in his impenitence. 2. A resolute loyalty to the Divine administration. Such loyalty will break through the mazes of much sophistry, will support the servant of God when assailed by more fallacies than he can at the moment refute, and enable him to cleave under all obloquies and embarrassments to what he inwardly knows must in the end prove the better cause. 3. An unaffected and sensitive compassion towards his fellow men. The end of all reproof is mercy. If there were no redemption at hand, it were idle or cruel to talk of judgment. (Isaac Taylor, LL. D.) Ministerial obligations My text refers us to three distinct characters of the pastoral office--to be the servant of God; to be the mouth of God; and to be the guide whom the people shall follow. And these involve three several duties, in which the pastor’ s own personal responsibility is closely linked with the solemn responsibilities of his office--that of preparing his own heart to seek the Lord; that of discriminating the “ precious from the vile” in his instruction and conversation; and that of guarding himself and his flock against all declension after the ways of them who depart from God. I. A Divine admonition as to personal religion. “ To stand before,” implies the office of one who stands in the presence of his sovereign, ready to execute His commands. It is the highest order of dignity and of service to which a subject can be called. He enjoys the privilege of constant access to the presence of majesty, a knowledge of the high affairs of government, and a share in the splendours of courtly life. Such is the relation in which a minister of true religion stands to the court of Heaven, in order that he may bring near a people prepared for the Lord, to whom, when they have received his message, he may say, Ye are a chosen generation, etc. See, then, the unspeakable importance of personal religion in one who shall perform such a ministration. He that would cause the people to hear the words of God must habitually listen to the voice of God in his own conscience, as often as he turns aside--and who is not conscious of too frequently doing so?--saying, “ If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before Me.” And then with confidence--the confidence of one who comes from a nearer access to the throne on high--he may go forth to his charge, and say, having the words of God in his mouth, “ Turn ye, turn ye at My reproof.” II. A divine direction. “ If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth.” The prophet may seem to have been charged with having, in some respect, mistaken his duty. In the view he took of his personal trials he had lost sight of the principal object of his ministry, namely, to cause the precious to come out from the vile. In times like the present, there may be an undue regard to the trials of the Church at large. From a just and pious jealousy of the dangers to which it is exposed, or by which it has been affected as a community, we may lose sight of the especial end of our ministry. In our reasonable remonstrance with unreasonable foes, and from just indignation at the treachery or declension of pretended friends, we may overlook the faithful use of the word “ for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” In our zeal to mark an open enemy, or to discriminate an unsound adherent, we may forget the true flock of Christ; or in our eager cooperation with mere defenders of our Church polity, we may put aside from our own view, and obscure from the view of others, the real distinction which must ever be admitted in the doctrine of visible Church communion between the precious and the vile. III. A divine caution: “ Let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.” No object or consideration must induce the prophet to identify himself with their apostasy: he must take a decidedly contrary course. He must so order his life and conversation, his doctrines and his admonitions, that those who desire to return unto God may see in him the way and pattern. In this, as in every age of the Church, no inconsiderable portion of those who profess themselves its members are yet under the influence of that love of the world which is opposed to the love of God. To counteract the tendency of this spirit, rests greatly with the clergy. It is their duty more strictly to define the Christian character by precept and example, and more clearly to exhibit Christian truth, than to allow those who pursue so inconsistent a course to indulge in vain confidence as to their religious state. The clergy at least ought to define the boundary between the world and the people of God. If they are negligent in doing so, it cannot but be obscured. If they pass the boundary, they lead many across it who probably never return. The clergy are preeminently the “ salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost its savour,” woe to the Church, and “ woe to them by whom the offence cometh” ; “ Let them return unto Thee; but return not Thou unto them.” (W. Wilson, D. D.) A ministry of discrimination I. What is supposed.1. The vast importance and responsibility of the work assigned to ministers with a view to the welfare of their people. Ministers are to take the precious from the vile; to separate the wheat from the weeds; to distinguish the dross from the gold. 2. That there are some essential distinctions between right and wrong, good and evil, truth and error. 3. That there is a standard of truth. As the office of a judge is not to make but declare the law, so that of a minister is not to burden the ears of people with his own doubtful disputations, but to declare the whole counsel of God. 4. That these characters are closely intermingled, and that there is a great disinclination in mankind to have the truth fully told them, and to be brought to the decisive test. 5. That it is of the utmost consequence to both parties that the separation should be made. Take forth the precious from the vile, and the most advantageous results will immediately accrue to each. (1) Is it not desirable to the children of God to know that they are so--that they are heirs according to the promise--that they are precious in His sight and honourable? (2) If the distinction be valuable to the precious, it would be scarcely less advantageous to the vile themselves. To be robbed of the cloak of a false profession would be no loss, for we know it does them no honour and brings them no peace. II. What is demanded of ministers with a view to this solemn discrimination?1. A plain and decisive exhibition of the truth as it is in Jesus. We are to contend earnestly for the faith--to vindicate it from the blasphemies of the infidel, the perversions of the worldling, the mistakes of the Pharisee, and the corruptions of the Antinomian. 2. A fearless application of Scripture truth. (1) To the careless and thoughtless.(2) To the apostate.(3) To the young.(4) To the aged.(5) To the precious.(6) To the vile. 3. To point ourselves and our hearers to the only Agent who can make the Word effectual. III. What is promised? “ Thou shalt be as My mouth.” The accredited and approved servant--to speak in accordance with His will--be the organ of His clemency--all His authenticated messages crowned with success. Mighty and blessed such a ministry. (S. Thodey.) I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee.--Divine assistance promised to Church governors I. God’ s qualification of Jeremy to be an overseer in His Church. “ I will make thee a brazen fenced wall.”1. A wall implies enclosure. God did not think fit to leave His Church without enclosure, open like a common, for every beast to feed upon and devour it. Commons are always bare, pilled, and shorn, as the sheep that feed upon them. And our experience has shown us, as soon as the enclosures of our Church were plucked up, what a herd of cattle of all sorts invaded it. It contained, as commons usually do, both multitude and mixture. 2. A wall imports fortification. No city can be secure without it. It is, as it were, a standing inanimate army; a continual defence without the help of defenders. Something must encircle the Church, that will both discriminate and protect it. And the altar must be railed in, not only for distinction, but defence. And such a thing is a church governor, a well-qualified bishop. Which title that he may make good and verify, there are required in him these three qualifications-- (1) Courage, which leads the way to all the rest. A wall, nay, a brazen wall, will not sometimes prove a defence if it is not well manned. Every churchman should have the spirit of a soldier. (2) Innocence and integrity. A brazen wall admits of no cracks and flaws. The enemies of the Church may fear your power, but they dread your innocence. It is this that stops the open sepulchre, and beats back the accusation upon the teeth of the accuser. (3) Authority; it is to be a fenced, as well as a brazen wall. The inward firmness of one must be corroborated by the exterior munitions of the other. Courage is like a giant with his hands tied, if it has not authority and jurisdiction to draw forth and actuate its resolution. II. The opposition that the Church governor, thus qualified, will be sure to meet with in the administration of his office.1. They will assault their governors with seditious preaching and praying. To preach Christ out of contention is condemned by the apostle; but to preach contention instead of Christ, certainly is most abominable. 2. Their second way of fighting against the officers of the Church will be by railing and libels. 3. They may oppose the governors and government of the Church by open force: and this is fighting indeed; but yet the genuine, natural consequent of the other: he that rails, having opportunity, would rebel; for it is the same malice in a various posture, in a different way of eruption; and as he that rebels shows what he can do, so he that rails does as really demonstrate what he would do. III. That, as in all fights, we see the issue and success, which is exhibited to us in these words, “ But they shall not prevail against thee.”1. Moral causes will afford but a moral certainty but so far as the light of this shines, it gives us a good prospect into our future success. For which is most likely to prevail, a force marshalled into order, or disranked and scattered into confusion? A force united and compacted with the strength of agreement, or a force shrivelled into parties, and crumbled into infinite subdivisions? 2. But besides the arguments of reason, we have the surer ground of Divine revelation. God has engaged His assistance, made Himself a party, and obliged His omnipotence as a second in the cause. (R. South, D. D.) . Jeremiah 16:14-15I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Larger providences Thus epochs are made; thus new dates are introduced into human history; thus the less is merged in the greater; the little judgment is lost in the great judgment, and the mercy that once appeared to be so great seems to be quite small compared with the greater mercy that has healed and blessed our life. This is the music, and this is the meaning of the passage. What is experience worth? It is worth exactly what we make of it; it will not follow us, and insist upon being looked at and estimated and applied; it is, so to say, either a negative or a positive possession; we can make it either, according to the exercise of our will and inclination. How often we vow not to forget our experience; yet it is stolen from us in the night time, and we awake in the morning empty-handed, empty-minded, beggared to the uttermost point of destitution. We write our vows in water; who can make any impression on the ocean? whole fleets have passed over the sea, not a track is left behind where the waves were sundered; they roll together again, as if with emulous energy they seek to obliterate the transient mark of the intrusive ships. It is so with ourselves. Let no man think he has sounded the whole depth of God’ s providence in this matter of punishment or of benediction and blessing. History has recorded nothing yet; history is getting its pen ready for the real registration of Divine ministry in human affairs. No judgment has yet befallen the world worth naming, compared with the judgment that may at any moment be revealed. Do not mock God; do not defy Him or tempt Him: what you have had is but the sting of a whip; He could smite you with a thong of scorpions. Rather say, God pity us, God spare us; remember that we are but dust; a wind that cometh for a little time and then passeth away: smite us not in Thine hot anger, O loving One; in wrath remember mercy. We do not know what plagues God could send upon the earth. Be not presumptuous against the Divine government; do not say, God cannot do this, or send down that judgment; if He forbear, it is because His mercy restrains, not because His judgment is impotent. By a natural accommodation of the passage, we may be led into quite another line of thinking and illustration: “ Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said . . . but” ; and between these words we may put in our own experience, and our own commentaries upon life and destiny. Thus: Behold, the days come that it shall no more be said that we have a Creator, but we have a Redeemer. Men shall not talk about creation. There are some men who are content to talk about one infinitesimal speck of creation; they have not learned the higher philosophy, the fuller wisdom, the riper, vaster law. They are gathering what they can with their hands; they are first the admirers, secondly the devotees, and thirdly the victims of the microscope. They have made an idol of that piece of glazed brass; they who mock the heathen for worshipping ivory and stone and tree and sun, may perhaps be creating a little idol of their own. Behold, the days come when men shall no longer talk about the body, but about the soul. It is time we had done with physiology. If we have not mastered the body, what poor scholars we have been! And yet how far men are from having mastered it in the sense of being able to heal it! Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when men shall no more talk about human deliverance, or deliverance from human extremity, but they shall talk about liberation from diabolic captivity; they shall say they have been loosed from their sins, they have been disimprisoned and set at liberty as to the dominion of their passions and desires and appetences; they shall speak about the higher emancipation, and everywhere men shall be eloquent about the Deliverer who drew the soul from Egyptian and Chaldean tyranny, and gave it liberty and joy in the Holy Ghost. The whole subject of human speech shall be changed; men shall not talk about Egypt, but about Canaan; they shall not talk about the law, but about the higher law; they shall not talk about the outward, but about the inward. Thus dates are introduced into human history. The time will come when men will not speak about being born, but about being “ born again.” Your birthday was your deathday,--or only the other aspect of it. Date your born-again day from the beginning, the morning of your immortality. Drop the lower theme, seize the higher; dismiss the noise, and entreat the music to take full possession of your nature. Behold, the day is come, saith the Lord, when men shall no longer talk about prayer, but about praise. The old prayer days will be over; they were needful as part of our experience and education, but the time will come when prayer will be lost in praise; the time will come when work will be so easy as to have in it the throb and joy of music; the time will come when it will be easy to live, for life will carry no burden, and know the strain of no care; the days of anxiety will be ended, solicitude will be a forgotten word, and the companionship of God and His angels shall constitute our heaven. (J. Parker, D. D.) God’ s care over His people A crew of explorers penetrate far within the Arctic circles in search of other expeditions that had gone before them--gone and never returned. Failing to find the missing men, and yet unwilling to abandon hope, they leave supplies of food carefully covered with stones, on some prominent headlands, with the necessary intimations graven for safety on plates of brass. If the original adventurers survive, and on their homeward journey, faint, yet pursuing, fall in with these treasures, at once hidden and revealed, the food, when found, will seem to those famished men the smaller blessing. The proof which the food supplies that their country cares for them is sweeter than the food. So the proof that God cares for us is placed beyond a doubt; the “ unspeakable gift” of His Son to be our Saviour should melt any dark suspicion to the contrary from our hearts. (W. Arnot.) Jeremiah 16:16I will send for many fishers;. . .I will send for many hunters.Fishers and hunters These refer to the successive invaders of Judea. As to “ hunters,” see Genesis 10:9. Nimrod, “ the mighty hunter,” the first founder of an empire on conquest. The Chaldees were famous in hunting, as the Egyptians, the other enemy of Judea, were in fishing.(1) “ Fishers” expresses the ease of their victory over the Jews as that of the angler over fishes. (2) “ Hunters” indicates the keenness of their pursuit of them into every cave and nook. It is remarkable the same image of “ fishers” and “ fish” is used in a good sense of the Jews’ restoration, implying that just as their enemies were employed by God to take them in hand of destruction, so the same shall be employed for their restoration (Ezekiel 47:9-10). So, spiritually, those once enemies by nature (fishermen many of them literally) were employed by God to be the heralds of salvation, “ catching men” for life (Matthew 4:19). (A. R. Fausset, M. A.) Verses 18. And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double. The double effect of sin We may illustrate the evil of sin by the following comparison. “ Suppose I am going along a street, and were to dash my head through a large pane of glass, what harm would I receive?” “ You would be punished for breaking the glass.” “ Would that be all the harm I should receive? Your head will be cut by the glass.” “ Yes! and so it is with sin. If you break God’ s laws, you shaft be punished for breaking them; and your soul is hurt by the very act of breaking them.” (F. Inglis.) Jeremiah 16:19-21O Lord, my strength, and my fortress.What God is to His people One of the Puritans was accustomed to describe prayer as the flight of the lonely man to the only God. There is such prayer here. This man is very lonely. He is like a speckled bird, set on by all the birds of the flock. He looks right and left, but there is no man to care for his soul; then he addresses himself to God in these touching words: I. My strength. The Psalmist spoke of God as the strength of his life. The Apostle of love said that little children could overcome the world, because He that was in them was greater and stronger than he that was in the world. “ God is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” II. My stronghold. A stronghold is what holds strongly. A keep is that which keeps. We keep God’ s deposit, which is His Gospel: God keeps our deposit, which is ourselves. And none, man nor devil, can snatch us away. III. My refuge in the day of affliction. The night darkening the sky drives the chicks to the hen’ s wings; so affliction drives us to God. “ In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” Do you wish to know Him thus? See that you do not burden yourself by your endeavours. Be still and know. Enter into the still and peaceful land of inward spiritual fellowship. Commune with your own heart. Be a child before Him, innocent, unaffected, unrestrained. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Safe from trouble Travellers tell us that they who are at the top of the Alps can see great showers of rain fall under them, but not one drop of it falls upon them. They who have God for their portion are in a high tower, and thereby safe from all troubles and showers. (G. Swinnock.) The Gentiles shall come unto Thee from the ends of the earth.--Heathenism and its prospects I. The confession which the Gentile nations are here prophetically described to make. “ Surely our fathers have inherited lies,” etc. Need I say, that the produce of “ lies” must be “ vanity and things wherein there is no profit” ? It may be granted, that if we only esteem things by the partial and short-sighted standard of this present world, falsehood may sometimes bring its gain; there are pleasures of falsehood and gains of falsehood. But then the pleasures of sin are but for a moment; the day is shortly coming, when falsehood shall be found as a rope of sand, as a quicksand on which any structure may have been based; and therefore if it be true that the heritage of the heathen is a heritage of “ lies,” it follow that it is a heritage of vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. II. The purposes of God respecting these idolaters. You have here the repetition of God’ s purpose. He is not satisfied with stating once, “ I will cause them to know,” but He adds a second time, “ I will cause them to know My hand and My might; and they shall know that I am the Lord.” There is a distinctness and a certainty upon this matter which is most refreshing to a humane and considerate mind. The intimation of this design is here presented to us as the distinct purpose of God. “ Therefore” --since man admits that he has inherited lies, since he sees that he is destitute of any resources in himself, and since the allotment which father has given to son during many an elapsing century, since all the property that could descend from sire to son as ages rolled away was only “ falsehood, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit” --since all that this accumulated mass of human skill and industry bestowed, was based on falsehood--now that the confession is made,--“ I will cause this people to know My hand and My might.” And how was the hand of God to be known? Was it to be the hand of power, crushing to perdition the sinner whose heart was disaffected and his intellect degraded? No; He was to stretch out His hand to heal and to save. There is no power so great, and no power so beautiful in nature, as this hand of God, when it is stretched out to heal. There are needful accompaniments of this wonderful accomplishment of Divine mercy and love to man. There are the ministers of His Gospel. By the instrumentality of these human communications, does the Spirit of God act; and when therefore God says, “ And they shall know that I am Jehovah,” it is meant that to these nations shall be sent the records of the Scriptures; that to them shall go the heralds of peace; that among them shall the voice of mercy be heard; that amidst their thronged population shall the accents of salvation come forth, from lips which He has touched with a coal from the altar, and made to be the bearers of kind sayings to their poor suffering and degraded sinners. This is God’ s declaration. III. The generous consolation which the mind of the prophet derives from this knowledge of God’ s gracious design in favour of these Gentiles. “ O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction.” When beat down by sorrow, when prostrate in calamity, when standing amidst the decay of national comforts, and amidst the manifestation of God’ s righteous judgments, he turned for rest to God; God was his strength, God was his fortress God opened to him an asylum whither the wicked could not follow him, whither Satan could not follow him. (G. T. Noel, M. A.) Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?--God-making Is not that impossible? From a certain point of view it is utterly impossible, and yet from another point of view it is the very thing men are doing every day in the week. Questions cannot always be answered literally. There may be a moral explanation under the literary definition. Who does not make himself gods as he needs them?--not visible god, otherwise they might bring down upon themselves the contempt of observers, and the contempt of their very makers; but ambitions, purposes, policies, programmes, methods of procedure,--all these may be looked upon as refuges and defences and hidden sanctuaries into which the soul would go for defence and protection when the tempest rages loudly, and fiercely. A subtle thing is this god-making. Every man is at times a polytheist--that is, a possessor or a worshipper of many gods. The Lord could never bring the mind of His people directly and lovingly to the reception of the One Deity. It would seem to be the last thought of man that there can be, by metaphysical necessity, only one God. There cannot be a divided Deity. Yet it is this very miracle that the imagination of man has performed. He has set all round the household innumerable idols which he takes down according to the necessity of the hour. He knows he is intellectually foolish, morally the victim of self-delusion, practically an utterly unwise and impracticable man; yet somehow, by force not to be put into equivalent words, he will do this again and again, yea he takes to himself power to fill up vacancies, so that if any clay god or imagined idol has failed him he puts another in the place of the one that did not fulfil his prayer. (J. Parker, D. D.) . Jeremiah 17:1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond.The deep seated character of sin I. What is sin? If you ask the Pharisee of old what sin was--“ Well,” he said, “ it is eating without washing your hands; it is drinking wine without having first of all strained out the gnats, for those insects are unclean, and if you should swallow any of them they will render you defiled.” Many in these days have the same notion, with a variation. We have read of a Spanish bandit, who, when he confessed before his father confessor, complained that one sin hung with peculiar weight upon his soul that was of peculiar atrocity. He had stabbed a man on a Friday, and a few drops of the blood of the wound had fallen on his lips, by which he had broken the precepts of holy Church, in having tasted animal food on a fast day. The murder did not seem to arouse in his conscience any feeling of remorse at all--not one atom--he would have done the same tomorrow; but an accidental violation of the canons of mother Church excited all his fears. Singular, indeed, are the ideas which many men have of transgression. But such is not God’ s view of sin. Sin is a want of conformity to the will of God; sin is disobedience to God’ s command; sin is a forgetfulness of the obligations of the relation which exists between the creature and the Creator. This is the very essence of sin. Injustice to my fellow creature is truly sin, but its essence lies in the fact that it is sin against God, who constituted the relation which I have violated. It is a great and intolerable wrong that, being created by God, we yet refuse to yield to His will. It is right that He who is so good to us should have our love: it is sin that, living upon God’ s goodness, we do not return to Him our heart’ s affection. It is right that, being sustained by Divine beneficence from day to day, we should give to Him constant thankfulness; but, being so sustained, we do not thank Him, and herein lies the very soul of sin. Now, in the light of this truth, let me ask the believer to humble himself very greatly on account of sin. That I have not loved my God with all my heart; that I have not trusted Him with all my confidence; that I have not given to Him the glory due unto His name; that I have not acted as a creature should do, much less as a new creature is bound to do; that, receiving priceless mercies, I have made so small a return--let me confess this in dust and ashes, and then bless the name of the Atoner who, by His precious blood, hath put even this away, so that it shall not be mentioned against us any more forever. II. How is the fixedness of sin which is declared in the text proved? The prophet tells us that man’ s sinfulness is as much fixed in him as an inscription carved with an iron pen in granite. How is this fixedness proved? It is proved in two ways in the text, namely, that it is graven upon the table of their heart, and secondly, upon the horns of their altar. It clearly proves how deeply evil is fixed in man, when we reflect that sin is in the very heart of man. When a sin becomes intertwisted with the roots of the affections, you cannot uproot it; when the leprosy eats deep into the heart of humanity, who can expel it? It becomes henceforth a hopeless case, so far as human power is concerned. Since sin reigns and rules in man’ s affections, it is deep ingrained indeed. The second proof the prophet gives of the infixedness of human sin is, that it was written on the horns of their altars. These people sinned by setting up idols and departing from Jehovah: we sin in quite another way. When you get the unconverted man to be religious--which is a very easy thing--what form does the religion take? Frequently he prefers that which most gratifies his taste, his ears, or his sight. If your heart is touched, that is the worship of God; if your heart is drawn to God, that is the service of God; but if it is the mere ringing of the words, and the falling of the periods, and the cadence of the voice that you regard, why, you do not worship God, but on the very horns of your altars are your sins. You are bringing a delight of your own sensuous faculties and putting that in the place of true faith and love, and then saying to your soul, “ I have pleased God,” whereas you have only pleased yourself. When men become serious in religion, and look somewhat to the inward, they then defile the Lord’ s altar by relying upon their own righteousness. Man is much like a silkworm, he is a spinner and weaver by nature. A robe of righteousness is wrought out for him, but he will not have it; he will spin for himself, and like the silkworm, he spins, and spins, and he only spins himself a shroud. All the righteousness that a sinner can make will only be a shroud in which to wrap up his soul, his destroyed soul, for God will cast him away who relies upon the works of the law. In other ways men stain the horns of their altars. Some do it by carelessness. Those lips must be depraved indeed which even in prayer and praise still continue to sin. The horns of our altars are defiled by hypocrisy. You may have seen two fencers practising their art, and noticed how they seem to be seeking each other’ s death; how they strike and thrust as though they were earnestly contending for life; but after the show is over, they sit down and shake hands, and are good friends. Often so it is in your prayers and confessions; you will acknowledge your sins, and profess to hate them, and make resolutions against them, but it is all outward show--fencing, not real fighting--and when the fencing bout is over, the soul shakes hands with its old enemy, and returns to its former ways of sin. Oh, this foul hypocrisy is a staining of the horns of the altar with a vengeance! III. What is the cause of this? First, we must never forget the fall. We are none of us today as God made us. The human judgment is out of balance, it uses false weights and false measures. “ It puts darkness for light and light for darkness.” The human will is no longer supple, as it should be, to the Divine will; our neck is naturally as an iron sinew, and will not bow to Jehovah’ s golden sceptre. Our affections also are twisted away from their right bent. Whereas we ought to have been seeking after Jesus, and casting out the tendrils of our affections towards Him, we cling to anything but the right, and climb upon anything but the true. “ The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint.” Human nature is like a magnificent temple all in ruins. In addition, however, to our natural depravity, there come in, in the second place, our habits of sin. Well may sin be deeply engraven in the man who has for twenty, forty, fifty, or perhaps seventy years, continued in his iniquity. Put the wool into the scarlet dye, and if it lie there but a week, the colour will be so ingrained in the fabric that you cannot get it out; but if you keep it there for so many years, how shall you possibly be able to bleach it? You must recollect, in addition to this, that sin is a most clinging and defiling thing. Who does not know that if a man sins once, it is much easier to sin that way the next time, nay, that he is much more inclinable towards that sin? I may add that the prince of the power of the air, the evil spirit, takes care, so far as he can, to add to all this. He chimes in with every suggestion of fallen nature. He will never let the tinder lie idle for want of sparks, nor the ground lie waste for want of the seeds of thorns and thistles. IV. What is the cure for all this? Sin thus stamped into us, thus ingrained into our nature, can it ever be got out? It must be got out, or we cannot enter heaven, for there shall by no means enter within those pearly gates anything that defileth. We must be cleansed and purified, but how can it be done? It can only be done by supernatural process. Your only help lies in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became the Son of Man that He might lift the sons of men up from their natural degradation and ruin. How does Jesus Christ then take away these deeply-inscribed lines of sin from human nature? I answer, He does it first in this way. If our heart be like granite, and sin be written on it, Christ’ s ready method is to take that heart away. “ A new heart also will I give you, and a right spirit will I put within you.” Next to that, inasmuch as the guiltiness of sin is as permanent as sin itself, Jesus Christ is able to take our guilt away. His dying upon the Cross is the means by which the blackest sinner out of hell can be made white as the angels of God, and that, too, in a single instant. The Holy Spirit also comes in: the new nature being given and sin being forgiven, the Holy Ghost comes and dwells in us, as a Prince in his palace, as a God in his temple. Do I hear any say, “ Then, I would to God that I may experience the Divine process--the new nature given, which is regeneration, the washing away of sin, which constitutes pardon and justification, and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, which insures final perseverance and complete sanctification. Oh, how can I have these precious things?” Thou mayst have them, whoever thou mayst be, by simply believing in Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The iron pen recording sins When Bishop Latimer was on trial for his life, a trial which ended in his being burned at the stake, he at first answered without duly considering how much a single unguarded word might cost him. Presently he heard the pen of a secretary, who was seated behind the tapestry, taking down every expression which fell from his lips. It would be well for us all to remember that there is a pen now recording behind the curtain of the skies, our every evil deed and word and thought and that for all these things God will bring us into judgment. The iron pen suggests two thoughts.1. The record which it makes is deep and indelible. So, also, with the items which are filling up page after page in the book of God’ s remembrance. A wealthy English landlord was once guilty of an act of tyrannical injustice to a poor, helpless widow, who rented a small cottage from him. The widow’ s son, whose blood boiled with indignation when he witnessed this, grew up to be a distinguished painter, and he portrayed the scene, and placed it where the eye of the cruel landlord must rest upon it. When the hard-hearted oppressor saw it, he turned pale, and trembled, and offered any sum for it, that the terrible picture might be destroyed. 2. The iron pen with its diamond point does not wear out. Be the record of one’ s sins as long as it may, that record will assuredly be made. It is a moment of profound interest in the life of an antiquarian, when he drags forth from the sands of Egypt some ancient obelisk, on which the iron pen has engraved, so many ages ago, the portraits of those who, in the shadowy past, acted their part on the crowded theatre of a bustling world. This, however, is as nothing, compared with the disclosures of that day, when, from the stillness and silence of the grave, shall be brought out into the dazzling light of noon, tablets covered with the sculptured history of the soul; a history which no power nor skill can then erase. And thus the prophet would teach us, by the striking figure of the iron pen with its diamond point, that sin is no trifling thing; that one single violation of the Divine law does not pass unnoticed; and that they who die with the guilt of sins unrepented of, and unpardoned, resting on their souls, have nothing to expect but the outpouring of God’ s terrible wrath. Vainly do we apologise for our shortcomings, on the ground of our natural bias to sin; or that the power of temptation proved too strong for us to resist. Forewarned, we ought to have been forearmed. Alas! who can contemplate his own sins against light and knowledge, against the strivings of conscience and the earnest pleadings of the Holy Spirit; who can count up his broken vows, and his contradictions of solemn confessions before God, and not tremble at the thought of the black catalogue which the iron pen has been writing down against him! When the great plague raged in London, in 1666, it was common to write over every infected house, “ Lord, have mercy upon us!” Should the same inscription now be made over every abode where the plague of sin has entered, which of our habitations would not require to be thus labelled? (J. N. Norton, D. D.) The inward registrar Manton says: “ If conscience speaketh not, it writeth; for it is not only a witness, but a register, and a book of record: ‘ The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond’ (Jeremiah 17:1). We know not what conscience writeth, being occupied and taken up with carnal vanities, but we shall know hereafter, when the books are opened (Revelation 20:12). Conscience keepeth a diary, and sets down everything. This book, though it be in the sinner’ s keeping, cannot be razed and blotted out. Well, then, a sleepy conscience will not always sleep; if we suffer it not to awaken here, it will awaken in hell; for the present it sleepeth in many, in regard of motion, check, or smiting, but not in regard of notice and observation.” Let those who forget their sins take note of this. There is a chiel within you taking notes, and he will publish all where all will hear it. Never say, “ nobody will see me,” for you will see yourself, and your conscience will turn king’ s evidence against you. What a volume Mr. Recorder Conscience has written already! How many blotted pages he has in store, to be produced upon my trial. O Thou who alone canst erase this dreadful handwriting, look on me in mercy, as I now look on Thee by faith. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Sin ineradicable The mind of man has been compared to a white sheet of paper. Now it is like a white sheet of paper in this, that whatever we write upon it, whether with distinct purpose or no, nay, every drop of ink we let fall upon it, makes an abiding mark, a mark which we cannot rub out, without much injury to the paper; unless, indeed, the mark has been very slight from the first, and we set about erasing it while it is fresh. In one of the grandest tragedies of our great English poet, there is a scene which, when one reads it, is enough to make one’ s blood run cold. A woman, whose husband had made himself King of Scotland by means of several murders, and who had been the prompter and partner of his crimes, is brought in, while in her sleep, and continually rubbing her hands, as though she were washing them, crying ever and anon, “ Yet here’ s a spot . . . What! will these hands ne’ er be clean?. . .here’ s the smell of blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” In these words there is an awful power of truth. We can stain our souls; we can dye them, and double dye them, and triple dye them; we can dye them all the colours of hall’ s rainbow; but we cannot wash them white. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten them, all the fountains of the great deep will not wash one little spot out of them. The usurping Queen of Scotland had been guilty of murder; and the stain of blood, it has been very generally believed, cannot be washed out. But it is not the stain of blood alone; every stain soils the soul; and none of them can be washed out. Every little speck of ink eats into the paper; every sin, however small we may deem it, eats into the soul. If we try to write over it, we make a deeper blot; if we try to scratch it out, the next letters which we write on the spot are blurred. Therefore is it of such vast importance that we should be very careful of what we write. In the tragedy which I was quoting just now, the queen says, “ What’ s done cannot be undone.” This amounts to the same thing as what I have written, in the sense in which I am now calling upon you to consider these words. What’ s done cannot be undone. You know that this is true. You know you cannot push back the wheels of time, and make yesterday come again, so as to do over afresh what you did wrongly then. That which you did yesterday, yesterday will keep: you cannot change it; you cannot make it less or greater; if it was crooked, you cannot make it straight. You cannot turn back the leaves in the book of life, and read the lesson you have grabbed over again. That which you have written, you have written: that which you have done, you have done; and you cannot unwrite or undo it. (J. C. Hare.) Sin leaves its marks Even pardoned sins must leave a trace in heavy self-reproach. You have heard of the child whose father told him that whenever he did anything wrong a nail should be driven into a post, and when he did what was good he might pull one out. There were a great many nails driven into the post, but the child tried very hard to get the post cleared of the nails by striving to do right. At length he was so successful in his struggles with himself that the last nail was drawn out of the post. The father was just about to praise the child, when, stooping down to kiss him, he was startled to see tears fast rolling down his face. “ Why, my boy, why do you cry? Are not all the nails gone from the post? Oh yes! the nails are all gone, but the marks are left.” That is a familiar illustration, but don’ t despise it because of that. It illustrates the experience of many a grey old sire, who, looking upon the traces of his old sins, as they yet rankle in his conscience, would give a hundred worlds to live himself back into young manhood, that he might obliterate the searing imprint of its follies. Have you never heard of fossil rain? In the stratum of the old red sandstone there are to be seen the marks of showers of rain which fell centuries and centuries ago, and they are so plain and perfect that they clearly indicate the way the wind was drifting, and in what direction the tempest slanted from the sky. So may the tracks of youthful sins be traced upon the tablet of the life when it has merged into old age,--tracks which it is bitter and sad remorse to look upon, and which call forth many a bootless longing for the days and months which are past. (A. Mursell.) Jeremiah 17:5-8 Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. The difference between trusting in the creature and the Creator I. The folly and evil of trusting in man. To “ trust in man,” in the sense of our text, is to expect that from creatures which can only come from the Creator: to confide in them, not as mere instruments, but as efficient causes; to look to them so as to look off from God; to cleave to them so as to depart from Him.1. Idolatrous in its principle. 2. Grovelling in its aim. It looks no higher than present good, and things altogether unworthy of an immortal spirit. 3. Unreasonable in its foundation. It supposes that man can do what God cannot. 4. Destructive in its issue. “ He shall be like the heath in the desert,” --worthless, sapless, fruitless; “ he shall not see when good cometh,” --shall not enjoy it; “ but he shall inhabit the parched places,” etc. He shall prosper in nothing.(1) The frustration of his projects and hopes.(2) The melancholy state of his soul.(3) The unhappy end of his career. II. The wisdom and benefit of trusting in the Lord. Jehovah is his hope. He seeks and expects his all from Him. To know, love, and enjoy Him,--behold his chief good,--the object of his hopes,--his highest and ultimate end. Now this conduct is the complete contrast of the other.1. It is pious in its principles.2. Elevated in its aim.3. Rational in its foundation.4. Glorious in its issue. “ Blessed is the man,” etc. “ For he shall be like a tree,” etc.(1) The success of his enterprises.(2) The settled comfort and satisfaction of his soul.(3) The loveliness and dignity of his character.(4) The usefulness of his life.(5) His eternal felicity. Application--1. It is a great mistake to suppose the rich and gay happy; the poor and pious miserable. 2. An entire renunciation of creature confidence, and an unreserved dependence on God, can alone secure the Divine favour and our own felicity. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.) Trust-right and wrong I. Man, as a ground of trust.1. In what consists this dependence upon man for the salvation of the soul? (1) In being led by the example of others to the commission of sin and neglect of God. (2) In looking for that rest in the creature which is only to be found in God. (3) In depending on our own good works, in part, for our justification before God. (4) In taking our religion from the opinions of men, instead of the Word of God. (5) In resting in the means of grace. 2. See the consequences of trusting in man. “ Cursed,” etc. He that does so shall be-- (1) Useless “ as the heath in the desert.” (2) Miserable. “ Shall not see when good cometh.” (3) Solitary, or forsaken of God. “ Shall inhabit a salt land not inhabited.” (4) Cursed by Jehovah Himself. “ Lord, is it I?” II. Jehovah, as a ground of trust.1. What is meant by trusting Jehovah? With the light of this dispensation, we may safely say it embraces dependence on the atonement of Christ; and implies-- (1) Knowledge of it, as a fact and doctrine of Scripture. (2) Approval of it, as adapted to our circumstances. (3) Personal reliance on it for salvation;--a “ confident venture” of our souls upon it. 2. The blessedness of trusting in Jehovah. (1) Nourishment. “ Planted by the waters.” A Christian’ s source of strength is out of himself. (2) Stability. “ Spreadeth out his roots.” (3) Comfort. “ Shall not see when heat cometh.” “ Shall not be careful in the year of drought.” (4) Adornment. “ His leaf shall be green.” Beauty of the woods in early spring. “ A Christian is the highest style of man” (Titus 2:10; 1 Peter 3:4). (5) Fruitfulness. “ Neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” (Edward Thompson.) The blessing and the curse Two contrasted types of experience, or laws of life, are brought before us--the one a life of trust in man, and the other a life of trust in God. These two types of experience are contrasted with each other--not primarily, with respect to their outward moral characteristics. The thought that our attention is first of all called to is, that these two lives stand in a contrasted relation to God. The man who lives the first of the two lives that are described here is represented as assuming and maintaining an attitude of independence of God; and the man who leads the second of these two lives is represented as living in a state of consciously recognised dependence upon God. The one finds his resources in self; the other finds his resources in Deity. Now these two lives are not only contrasted with each other, first of all, as to this their essential characteristic, but they are also contrasted as to their result in respect to the personal happiness and enjoyment which belongs to each. The one is represented as a life lived under a curse, and the other as a life lived under a blessing. Either your experience may be described, in the words of Paul, “ The life that I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” ; or else you are living a life of which nothing of the kind can be affirmed, and, therefore, a life in which you are practically cut off from all direct communication with your Maker by sin and unbelief. And if the latter be your condition, you are at this moment, in spite of all your privileges, actually under the ban of God’ s curse and the frown of His wrath: one or other of these two cases you may be sure is yours. You will observe that in the first sentence of our text the prophet utters a curse on the man that trusteth in man; and he says this before he goes on to speak of the heart departing from the living God. This trust in man renders it impossible for the man who entertains it to trust in the living God; and it is, I am persuaded, just because, before we can really and honestly trust in the Father through the Son, it is absolutely necessary for us to turn our back upon all other forms of confidence, that so many lose the enjoyment of this blissful life of faith, and make proof in their own miserable experience of the blight and desolation of a life of practical unbelief. We are not prepared to strip ourselves of our false supports and of our fatal self-confidence, and thus we are not in a position to trust ourselves to the living Father through the Son. Consider some of these various forms of false confidence which it is absolutely necessary for us to abandon before we can enter upon the enjoyment of this life of faith. First, if I am to live by faith in God, I must make up my mind to have done with living by faith in the world. If I am to trust God at all, my trust in God must be exclusive of all other confidence. Or, again, it is possible that our confidence is reposed upon human systems--perhaps it may even be religious systems--which, practically, are allowed to take the place that belongs to God in the heart. How many a man one meets with who will tell us that he has opinions of his own. That may be, my brother, but the point is whether those opinions of yours coincide with God’ s facts; for opinions of our own may be the cause of mortal injury to us, if it should so happen that those opinions of our own are in direct opposition to facts. Or perhaps it is that we base our confidence on the opinions of other people. Some will tell you that they are earnest Church folks, others will state that they are conscientious Nonconformists; some that they are strong Catholics; some that they are decided Evangelicals. God calls upon us to trust to Himself, and to nothing but Himself; and when we substitute for personal trust in the living God confidence in any kind of system, whatever that system may be, or in any mere doctrine, whatever that doctrine may be, we are cut off by that attitude of heart from the possibilities of the life of faith. Perhaps you will ask, “ Well, but why should my trust in doctrine, or my trust in ritual, or my trust in churchmanship, preclude me from trusting in God too?” Just because these things are not God; and, as I said a few moments ago, you cannot trust God and not-God at the same time. But we must consider yet another and still more frequent ease. There are a large number of persons who are strangers to the life of faith--not so much because they are wedded to any particular system on which they have based their confidence, as because they are reluctant to renounce their confidence in themselves. Now, we never really begin with God till we come to an end of ourselves. A considerable number of persons trust in their own quiet, even respectability. They really cannot see that they do anything to be distressed or alarmed about. What means all this hue and cry--this red-hot excitement or attempt to get up a red-hot excitement--these frequent services going on hour after hour all day long--these after meetings--these invitations to earnest inquirers? What does it all mean? The explanation of it all lies in the fact that you ask for an explanation. Let a man be dissatisfied with himself, let a man have a low opinion of himself, and then he will be ready to receive good from any kind of instrumentality, and a very commonplace sort of instrumentality will probably be used to bring that man to the attainment of that spiritual benefit which his ease requires. But let a man be sunk in the sleep of self-complacency--let a man be going on leading a calm, quiet, easy, regular life; but, observe, a life which is not a life of conscious, personal faith in God, but, on the contrary, a life of self-reliance, and therefore a life of self-complacency; and he is as much under the power of the great deceiver as it is possible for a man to be. And of all the undertakings which lie before the Divine Spirit, it seems to me that the very hardest undertaking which even God Himself can engage in is that of penetrating this impervious armour of self-complacency, and of bringing such an one to feel his need of salvation, and to seek and to find that salvation on God’ s own terms. If these, then, are some of the barriers to our leading a bright and happy life of faith, we shall perhaps, by God’ s blessing, be the more disposed to avoid or have done with them as we dwell for a little on the contrast offered between these two forms of life. Let us look at these pictures. “ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is; for he shall be like a tree planted by the waterside, that spreadeth out her roots by the river.” Observe, the tree is dependent, not upon a chance shower, but upon a perennial supply. The river is always flowing, and the tree has stretched out its roots beside the river, and so is in a position continuously to draw for itself from the river all the sustenance and all the moisture which it requires. Christian, if thou art a real Christian, here is thy picture. Thy roots are struck down into God. Thou art dependent upon no mere casual visitation of Divine mercy. It may be very advisable, from time to time, that extraordinary efforts should be made to reach the careless and to awaken the unconcerned, but thou, true child of God, art not dependent upon these for thy life and health. Thou hast struck down thy roots into the river, and there thou standest--uninjured by prevalent drought, unscathed by the fiery rays of the sun, thy leaf green, thy fruit never failing. Is this your ease! Are you drawing your life supplies from God? There are two ways in which the Christian grows. He grows in personal holiness of life and conversation, but he only grows in outward conduct, because he also grows in the knowledge mad love of God. Upon the depth and reality of his relation with God, his moral and religious character will depend. As God becomes more and more to him “ a living, bright reality,” so his personal life and character become more fully developed, and the beauty of the Lord will be exhibited in his conduct. As the result of the establishment of these relations with God, the supply of all the necessary wants of the soul is insured, and it has nothing to fear from the trials and disappointments of life: the tree planted by the waters shall not see when heat cometh. Observe, the prophet does not say that it shall be exposed to no heat, but that it shall not be injured by it. Let us ask ourselves, Are we growing in the knowledge of God? Are we getting fresh revelations of His character and His ability to meet and satisfy our every spiritual need? Oh, how vast is our spiritual wealth in Him, and how many a fear and misgiving might not be saved, if we would only acquaint ourselves with Him and be at peace. And this leads us on to the second feature mentioned here, “ it shall not be careful in the year of drought.” Happy the Christian man who realises his full privileges in this respect, and lives in the enjoyment of them! Happy the man of business on our own Stock Exchange, who, in the midst of all the vicissitudes of a commercial life, can leave himself calmly in the hands of God, and while the year of drought which has so long been affecting our own and other lands fills others with despair, enjoy a blessed immunity from anxiety, because he knows that he is planted by the waterside. Happy the mother who can cast all the cares of her family upon Him who careth for her, and leave them there, not fretting and fuming when things do not go as she would wish them, not cankered by cares or worried by troubles, but trusting Him in whom she finds the true calm of life to draw her ever the nearer to Himself by all its changeful circumstances! But further, the leaf of such a tree is described as being always green. The leaf of the tree shows the nature of the tree, and just so the profession we make should show what our religious character is. Now, it is a grand thing to have a fresh and green profession, so to speak! Once again we read, “ Neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” The Christian will always be a fruitful tree, because he is planted by the water. There will be no lack of fruitfulness when living in full communion with God. Some of us, perhaps, have had an opportunity of looking at that wonderful and famous vine at Hampton Court. A more beautiful sight you can scarcely see in all England than that vine when it is covered all over with the rich, luscious clusters of the vintage. Report attributes its extraordinary fertility to the fact that the roots, extending for a very considerable distance, have made their way down to the Thames, from whence it draws continuous moisture and nourishment. Such a sight is presented to the eyes of God by the Christian who lives in God, planted by the riverside. The fruits of good works will manifest themselves, not one here and another there, but in a rich and lifelong vintage that will not fail. God Himself reaps a harvest from such a life which redounds to His own glory, and is productive of blessed consequences to mankind. Such is the one picture; now let us glance at the other. “ Cursed is the man that trusteth in man.” We have left the grapes of Eshcol behind us now--we have turned our backs upon the land that flows with milk and honey. We are making our way towards the bare stretch of arid, desert waste. The smile of God’ s favour rests no longer upon the miserable being, but the frown of His wrath broods over him; and the thunder of God’ s curse is sounding in his ear, “ Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.” Departeth from God! Ah, it all lies there! As the satisfaction of the saint arises from the closeness of his relations with God, so the want and wretchedness of the sinner arise from his separation from Him. The wilderness begins where conscious fellowship with God ceases. “ He shall be like the heath in the desert.” As you wander over the dreary waste of barren sand, your eye falls upon a poor, miserable-looking, half-withered, half-dead thing, that still struggles to maintain its woe-begone and sickly existence. There it lingers on wretchedly, cut off from all surrounding vegetation, scarcely living and yet not finally dead, but devoid of all the freshness and luxuriance of life, shrivelled and parched and desolate looking in a salt land and not inhabited. Tar away in the distance there you can see the green tree that is planted by the waterside only just in sight; but here there is no kindly river, no kindred forms of vegetation, in solitude and drought it measures out its dreary existence. In this miserable object, man of the world, see a picture of yourself. Solitude and thirst! in those two characteristics of this woeful picture, you have faithfully represented to you the characteristic elements of your own present experience, and the dread foreshadowing of what its end must be. Thirst and solitude, yes, thou knowest something of that even now, for is there not already within thee a desire that nothing earthly can satisfy--a sense of inanity and want? Verily thou dwellest in a parched and salt land. A mighty famine reigns within thy soul, and thou hast begun to be in want. An irrepressible, an urgent desire now goads thee on from one effort to another, if, haply, thou mayest escape from thy own miserable self-consciousness and lose the sense of thy own want amidst the excitements of thy life. But it is there all the time--this inward thirst, and thou canst not escape from it; and remember the salt land which thou now inhabitest is but the way to, and the dread anticipation of, that salt land of doom to which the sinner is to be banished; and the thirst which even now tortures thy agonised heart is but the prelude to the thirst of hell. Thirst and solitude! yes, and thou knowest something of this last also. How solitary and lonesome already is that poor heart of thine. The plain, simple truth is, that in his inner life the man of the world is always alone--the solitude which sin brings with it has already commenced, and already you are shut out from the true enjoyments of social intercourse; you are lonely, even in the very midst of numbers, and desolate even in the very heart of your family. And in that loneliness you have a prelude to the utter loneliness which lies beyond--the desolation, the solitude, the loss of all, when he who has wandered from the love of God is shut out from the world of love, and given over to that dark region where love cannot come; the loneliness of him who leaves the society of heaven behind him, and finds instead only the weeping and the wailing and the gnashing of teeth. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.) The sin of trusting in man I. When we may be charged with this.1. When we fortify ourselves in sin, by human refuges and supports (Isaiah 28:15-16; Isaiah 30:1, etc.; Obadiah 1:3-4). 2. When we look for that rest in the creature, which is only to be found in God (Jeremiah 9:23-24). 3. When we seek to please men more than God. Not as Moses, Daniel, Peter. 4. When we use unlawful means to rid ourselves of trouble (Jonah 1:2-3). 5. When we form our religion by the opinions of men instead of God’ s Word (Matthew 15:1-9; Galatians 2:11-13). 6. When we lean on ourselves instead of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:3-7). II. The wretchedness of such a disposition and conduct.1. God will take out the enjoyment of what he possesses (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2). 2. The object of his hope shall be removed, or turned against him (Psalms 41:9). 3. God will leave him to his own corruptions and Satan’ s temptations (Hosea 4:17). 4. Guilt shall make him a torment to himself. Judas. 5. When blessings come, he shall not perceive them (Luke 19:41-44; Acts 13:38-41). 6. Death shall snatch him from his enjoyments (Luke 12:1, etc.; Acts 12:1, etc.) (H. Foster.) The danger of trusting in man 1. He that trusts in man is cursed in the weakness on which he relies. “ The strong shall be as tow.” In general, God employs weak and inconsiderable ones to break the arm of flesh; thus, the shouts of the Israelites, and the blowing of horns, brought down the walls of Jericho, and reduced it to the dust: the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, lay along the valley of More like grasshoppers for multitude, and yet the sudden display of only three hundred lamps, and the sounding of as many trumpets, put them all to flight: the champion of the Philistines defied the whole army of Israel, yet a shepherd boy overcame him with a sling and stone. So with all earthly strength on which man builds himself up; the moment God speaks the word it melts away. 2. He that maketh flesh his arm is cursed also in the short-lived nature of his ground of confidence. How often does man, in the very noonday of his journey through life, feel his heart sink within him on finding that the distant places, which in the morning of life he had looked forward to as fresh and beautiful, are but as the parched heath or thirsty sand; he thinks of the days of boyhood, when an untried world promised happiness and security, and sighs on learning the hard lesson, that neither is to be had on this side of the grave. 3. Deceitfulness is moreover part of that curse which those may expect to reap, and that abundantly, who trust in man and make flesh their arm. Put God out of the question; let there be no recognition of any other than human obligations, and you have no security in the faithfulness of the nearest or dearest friend. 4. There is a curse also in the bitterness of disappointment. This is what makes the wretched old worldling like the parched heath; friends, or children, or other relatives, have either died or forsaken him, or his riches have slipped out of his hands and flown away; all his worldly plans and schemes have failed; he has no love of God in his heart to bear him up against so many cruel disappointments, and the bitterness of his spirit has therefore increased day by day, till he is completely soured; he feeds on his morose temper, and in turn it preys upon him; the curse eats into his vitals, drying up every little show of better feeling which would have kept his heart still green and salt; he hates and suspects everyone; the world is looked upon by him as one great lie, and of the truth he knows nothing; or the things wherein he foolishly expected to find happiness, have proved incapable of affording it, even while he had them in his possession. (C. O. Pratt, M. A.) The folly of trusting in any creature As a traveller overcome by a storm, having sought the shelter of some fair-spread oak, finds relief for some time, till suddenly, the fierce wind tears some strong branch, which, falling, hurts the unsuspecting traveller; so fares it with not a few who run for shelter to the shade of some great man. “ Had I served my God,” said poor Wolsey, “ as faithfully as I served my king, He would not have forsaken me now.” He shall be like the heath in the desert. The heath in the desert I. Against whom this curse is denounced.1. Those who do not realise their dependence on God for all true happiness, but think it lies in worldly gain. 2. Those who trust in man and make flesh their arm, and neglect to fix all dependence on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 3. Those who depend on a form of godliness without the power, and, excepting a little animal sympathy, remain cold as ever. II. How these resemble the heath in the desert.1. In barrenness and deformity. 2. In being desolate, forsaken, and unblest. 3. While the holy land is refreshed with dew from heaven, the desert remains parched as before. 4. Showers falling on desert heath only promote the growth of deformed shrubs; and the influence of heaven falling on this class calls forth a more fatal resistance of the Holy Spirit. 5. The heath cannot be made fruitful; and all God’ s visitations fall unregarded on many. 6. It is plain that, while many obey the Gospel call, others remain desolate and uncheered by any heavenly influence. (E. Griffin, D. D.) The heath in the desert and the tree by the river The prophet puts before us two highly-finished pictures. In the one, the hot desert stretches on all sides. The fierce “ sunbeams like swords” slay every green thing. Here and there a stunted, grey, prickly shrub struggles to live, and just manages not to die. But it has no grace of leaf, nor profitableness of fruit; and it only serves to make the desolation mere desolate. The other carries us to some brimming river, where everything lives because water has come. Dipping their boughs in the sparkling current, and driving their roots through the moist soil, the bordering trees lift aloft their pride of foliage and bear fruits in their season. So, says Jeremiah, the two pictures represent two sets of men; the one, he who diverts from their true object his heart capacities of love and trust, and clings to creatures and to men, “ making flesh his arm and departing from the living God” ; the other, a man who leans the whole weight of his needs and cares and sins and sorrows upon God. We can make the choice which shall be the object of our trust, and according as we choose the one or the other, the experience of these vivid pictures will be ours. I. The one is in the desert; the other by the river. The poor little dusty shrub in the desert, whose very leaves have been modified into prickles, is fit for the desert, and is as much at home there as the willows by the water courses with their rush vegetation in their moist bed. But if a man makes that fatal choice, of shutting out God from his confidence and his love, and squandering these upon earth and upon creatures, he is as fatally out of harmony with the place which he has chosen, and as much away from his natural soil as a tropical plant amongst the snows of Arctic glaciers, or a water lily in the Sahara. You, I, the poorest and humblest of men, will never be right, never feel in native soil, with appropriate surroundings, until we have laid our hearts and our hands on the breast of God, and rested ourselves on Him. Not more surely do gills and fins proclaim that the creature that has them is meant to roam through the boundless ocean, nor the anatomy and wings of the bird witness more surely to its destination to soar in the open heavens, than the make of your spirits testifies that God, none less or lower, is your portion. As well might bees try to get honey from a vase of wax flowers as we to draw what we need from creatures, from ourselves, from visible and material things. Where else will you get love that will never fail nor change nor die? Where else will you find an object for the intellect that will yield inexhaustible material of contemplation and delight? Where else infallible direction for the will? Where else shall weakness find unfailing strength, or sorrow adequate consolation, or hope certain fulfilment, or fear a safe hiding place? II. The one can take in no real good; the other can fear no evil. (See R.V., verse 8.) “ He cannot see when good comes.” God comes, and I would rather have some more money, or some woman’ s love, or a big business. So I might go the whole round. The man that cannot see good when it is there before his nose, because the false direction of his confidence has blinded his eyes, cannot open his heart to it. You are plunged, as it were, in a sea of possible felicity, which will be yours if your heart’ s direction is towards God, and the surrounding ocean of blessedness has as little power to fill your heart as the sea to enter some hermetically sealed flask dropped into the middle of the Atlantic. Turn to the other side. “ He shall not fear when heat cometh,” which is evil in these Eastern lands, “ and shall not be careful in the year of drought.” The tree that sends its roots towards a river that never fails does not suffer when all the land is parched. And the man who has driven his roots into God, and is drawing from that deep source what is needful for his life and fertility, has no occasion to dread any evil, nor to gnaw his heart with anxiety as to what he is to do in parched times. Troubles may come, but they do not go deeper than the surface. It may be all cracked and caked and dry, “ a thirsty land where no water is,” and yet deep down there may be moisture and coolness. III. The one is bare; the other clothed with the beauty of foliage. The word translated “ heat” has a close connection with, if it does not literally mean, “ naked,” or “ bare.” Probably it designates some inconspicuously leaved desert shrub, the particular species not being ascertainable or a matter of any consequence. Leaves, in Scripture, have a recognised symbolical meaning. “ Nothing but leaves” in the story of the fig tree meant only beautiful outward appearance, with no corresponding outcome of goodness of heart, in the shape of fruit. So I venture, here, to draw a distinction between leafage and fruit, and say that the one points rather to a man’ s character and conduct as being lovely in appearance, and in the other as being morally good and profitable. This is the lesson of these two clauses--Misdirected confidence in creatures strips a man of much beauty of character, and true faith in God adorns soul with a leafy vesture of loveliness. “ Whatsoever things are lovely, and of good report” lack their supreme excellence, the diamond on the top of the royal crown, the glittering gold on the summit of the Campanile, unless there be in them a distinct reference to God. IV. The one is sterile; the other fruitful. The only works of men worth calling “ fruit,” if regard be had to their capacities, relations, and obligations, are those done as the outcome and consequence of hearts trusting in the Lord. The rest of the man’ s activities may be busy and multiplied, and, from the point of view of a godless morality, many, may be fair and good; but if we think of him as being destined, as his chief end, “ to glorify God, and (so) to enjoy Him forever,” what correspondence between such a creature and acts that are done without reference to God can there ever be? At the most they are “ wild grapes.” And there comes a time when they will be tested; the axe laid to the root of the trees, and these imperfect deeds will shrivel up and disappear. Trust will certainly be fruitful. There we are upon pure Christian ground which declares that the outcome of faith is conduct in conformity with the will of Him in whom we trust, and that the productive principle of all good in man is confidence in God manifest to us in Jesus Christ. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord.-- The felicity of Divine trustfulness I. He is blessed with a vital connection with the fountain of life. His soul is rooted in the fountain of life.1. His intellect is rooted in God’ s truths.2. His sympathy is rooted in God’ s character.3. His activity is rooted in God’ s plan. II. He is blessed with moral freshness at all times. He has permanent beauty. There are two reasons why the most beautiful evergreen tree in nature must fail.1. Because it is limited in its own essence. No tree has unbounded potentialities; though it live for centuries it will grow itself out, exhaust all its latent force. Not so with the soul. It has unending powers of growth. 2. Because it is limited in its supplies. The river at its roots may dry up; the nutriment in its soil it may exhaust. Not so with the soul; its roots strike into the inexhaustible fountain of life. Its leaf shall be green,--ever green. III. He is blessed with moral calmness in trying seasons. The position of such a tree is independent; its roots have struck deep into the eternities, and it defies the storms of time. IV. He is blessed with moral fruitfulness without end (Galatians 5:22). A good man is ever useful, an ever productive tree to the hungry, an ever welling fountain to the parched, an ever burning lamp to the benighted. (Homilist.) The blessedness of trust I. Look at man as fitted for trust. He is simply the most dependent creature in the world. In a hundred ways man is more dependent than any other animal that lives. Of all creatures he comes into the world the most utterly helpless, as if his weakness should be impressed upon his earliest being. By far the greater part of all other living things are at once able to take their place and care for themselves. See the child in its mother’ s arms unable to do anything for itself, needing continual care and tenderest pity and constant provision. See, too, how in the case of man this dependence is prolonged immensely beyond that of any other being. The child of three or four years is vastly more helpless than any other creature of three or four months, and for many years after that the child needs to be provided for in a thousand ways. It is not too much to say that of the allotted span of human life one-quarter is spent in complete dependence upon others for food and clothing and shelter and teaching. Again, in the case of every other creature this dependence is quickly forgotten. Nature makes haste to sever the tie that binds the parent to the offspring, but in the case of the man it is prolonged until the reason can perceive it and the memory of it is made imperishable. Why this helplessness? Does it not involve a heavy burden upon the busy and toiling? Where, then, is the compensation? It is this, that out of this dependence grows the Divine relationship of father, mother, and child,--that blessed trinity in unity. So out of his littleness is born his nobility; and he is fashioned in helplessness that he may learn the blessed mystery of trust. Look at a further unfolding of this truth. The dependence of which we have spoken does not end with childhood. Strange as it may seem, yet it would be true to say that the man is more dependent than the child. Increased knowledge brings increased care. Greater strength brings greater need. The dependence of the child becomes the dependence of the man upon his brothers. Contrast man for a moment with the other creatures in his need of organisation, combination, cooperation. What thousands of hands must toil for us that our commonest wants may be met. To how many am I debtor for a crust of bread! And here again, let us ask, What is the purpose of this dependence? Is not man often hampered by it? Does it not open the door for arrogance and pride, for cruel bondage and slavery? But do you not see how by this very dependence man is to learn further the mystery and blessedness of trust? And dependence is to develop the further nobleness that binds men into a brotherhood. But the needs of childhood which are met by the parents, and the needs of man which are met by his fellow man, are not all nor even most of all. Besides these are a thousand wants, deep, mysterious, and pressing more heavily than any others. No other creature has a future. Of all else a present want is the only suffering; a present supply is the satisfaction. But to us the future is ever most of all. The past is gone away behind us; the present is ever slipping from us; the future only seems to be ours. For the very food he eats man is compelled ever to be looking forward. What is reason but a clearer sight of our helplessness? The forward-looking creature, looking whither? Who can help him here? Only man has a sense of death. All roads lead to the grave. Here no parent can help the child: no man can help his neighbour. What then can he make his trust? Again, only man has a consciousness of sin. A whole world’ s altars and temples and sacrifices are its doleful confession: we have sinned! Now for these greater needs, is there no remedy,--no rest? What is the good of all else if here the man is to be forsaken? II. And here is God revealed that He may be trusted. “ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord.” Does trust need power? Here is the Almighty. Lo, He sitteth upon the throne of the universe and all things serve Him. Does trust demand the unchanging, the everlasting? Does trust need wisdom? Here is all that my want can ever desire. But these attributes, whilst trust demands them all and whilst they make trust blessed, do not win my trust. My heart needs more. And blessed be God, a great deal more is given. Trust needs love. And yet one thing more is needful to perfect trust. Trust is born of fear: and fear is born of sin. How can I who have sinned against God draw near to Him? Till that question is answered God is but a terror to me. Love may pity: love may weep: but true love cannot hush up and hide my sin. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. My sin is not hidden. It is brought out into the very face of heaven and hell: and there its penalty is met and satisfied. Have you found this blessedness? (M. G. Pearse.) Trusting in the Lord I. What it is.1. The object. (1) He who always was.(2) He whose being is in and of Himself (Acts 17:25-28).(3) He who gives being and fulfilment to His Word (Exodus 6:1-4; Jeremiah 23:7-8).(4) He who is our kinsman by incarnation (Jeremiah 23:5-6; Isaiah 28:16; 1 Timothy 3:16). 2. The disposition of the heart toward this object. “ Trusteth Me,” i.e.-- (1) Knows.(2) Approves.(3) Relies on.(4) Waits for. II. The blessedness, or privileges, of such a man.1. He shall lay faster hold on God and religion.2. He shall not feel the weight of trials.3. He shall hold fast his profession when others drop off.4. He shall be sustained in old age and death.5. He shall not cease from yielding fruit-- (1) Under trials;(2) In death;(3) To eternity. (H. Foster.) Trust in God I. Trust in God is an honour we owe to the supremacy of the Divine nature, and it is a degree of idolatry to place it on any other being.1. This duty implies positively an entire resignation to the wisdom, a dependence on the power, and a firm assurance of the goodness and veracity of God. 2. Negatively this duty implies that we should withdraw our confidence from all inferior beings; and in order to this we must begin at home, put off all trust in ourselves, our parts, abilities or acquisitions, how great or how many soever they may be. II. Consider when this trust is grounded as it ought to be, or what conditions are required on our part to assure our confidence in the favour and protection of God. The most important qualification for a successful performance of these duties, is a sincere obedience to the laws of God, an unfeigned devotion of the heart to His service, a steady adherence to the faith, and a purity and holiness of life agreeable to the precepts of our religion. III. The blessedness of him who can thus trust and hope in the Lord. He relies on a wisdom who sees the utmost consequence of things, on a power which nothing can obstruct, on a goodness of infinite affection to his happiness, and who has bound Himself by promise never to fail these who trust in Him. If this God be with us, who or what can be against us? But if He be angry, all our other dependencies will profit us nothing, our strength will be but weakness, and our wisdom folly; every other support will fail under us when we come to lean upon it, and deceive us in the day when we want it most. (John Rogers, D. D.) On trust in God I. What is a just confidence in God? This duty implies an humble dependence on Him for that protection and those blessings which His supreme perfections both enable and incline Him to bestow on His creatures; a full conviction of His goodness and mercy; and a steady hope, that that mercy will, on all occasions, in all our dangers and necessities, be extended to us, in such a manner as to His wisdom appears most conducive, if not to our tranquillity in this life, to our everlasting felicity in the next. This duty can hardly be so far misapprehended as to repress the efforts of industry, or be supposed to supersede the necessity of due care and application to the employment and duties of our respective stations. For we have no grounds to expect that God will provide for our interests, if we are improvident ourselves; or that he will, by a particular interposition, favour the idle and the negligent. Let the duty and business of today be our concern; the event of tomorrow we may trust to God. II. When our confidence in God is well grounded. Our confidence must rise or fall, according to the progress or defects of our obedience. Conscious of right intentions, and approved by our own heart, we may approach the throne of grace with superior assurance. If our heart in some degree condemn us, we may have our intervals of diffidence and apprehension; but, if, unreclaimed, we go on still in wickedness, and persist in determined disobedience; should we then trust in God, it were, in the most literal and criminal sense, to hope against hope. Till we repent, and return to duty, we can have no expectations of favour, no confidence in our Maker; nor can we lift up our eyes to heaven with any hopes of mercy and forgiveness there. III. The happiness resulting from a well-grounded dependence on God. He whose conscience speaks consolation, and bids him confide in his God, confides in a wisdom which sees the remotest issues of all events, on a power which ordereth all things, and on a goodness which ever consults the well-being of His creatures. And though this gives him no absolute insurance against evils, no privilege of exemption from calamities and afflictions; yet he feels the weight of them much abated by internal consolations. He acquiesces in all the dispensations of heaven, submits with humble resignation to the severities of providence; assured that God alone can know what is best, what is most expedient in his present circumstances, and what most instrumental to his future felicity. In the darkest night of affliction, some light will spring up, some beam of joy dart upon his mind, from this consideration, that the God whom he serves is able to deliver, and in His own good time will deliver him out of all his troubles, or reward him with joys unspeakable in His own blissful presence. (G. Carr.) Making God our trust I. The soul’ s right and only trust.1. We owe it to the supremacy of the Divine nature.2. Entire resignation to God’ s wisdom and will.3. Entire withdrawal of our trust from all inferior things.4. Sincere acceptance of Christ as our Saviour.5. Sincere effort to live a holy and pious life. II. The blessedness with which godly trust is crowned. This may be seen by contrast with the unbeliever.1. The objects of the unbeliever’ s trust are uncertain and insignificant; the believer’ s, certain and glorious.2. The one inadequate and perishing; the other, all-sufficient and abiding.3. The one bears a burdened conscience and a character ill at ease; the other enjoys peace and rest.4. The one regards God as his foe, and resembles the inferior objects of his trust; the other regards God as his friend, enjoys His protection and fellowship and resembles Him. Learn--1. Not to be deluded by inferior things.2. Seek this blessing by submission to God’ s will in a crucified Saviour. (E. Jerman.) Shall not God be trusted Manton says, “ If a man promise, they reckon much of that; they can tarry upon man’ s security, but count God’ s Word nothing worth. They can trade with a factor beyond seas, and trust all their estate in a man’ s hands whom they have never seen; and yet the Word of the infallible God is of little regard and respect with them, even then when He is willing to give an earnest of the promised good.” It is noteworthy that in ordinary life small matters of business are transacted by sight, and articles valued by pence are paid for over the counter: for larger things we give cheques which are really nothing but pieces of paper made valuable by a man’ s name; and in the heaviest transactions of all, millions change from hand to hand without a coin being seen, the whole depending upon the honour and worth of those who sign their hands. What then? shall not the Lord be trusted? Ay, with our whole being and destiny. It ought to be the most natural thing in all the world to trust God; and to those who dwell near Him it is so. Where should we trust but in Him who has all power and truth and love within Himself? We commit ourselves into the hands of our faithful Creator and feel ourselves secure. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 17:8 Shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green.Verdure in the midst of desolation I. The fact itself. Meets us everywhere in the natural world. So also in the kingdom of grace. Spiritual health depends not only or mainly on our circumstances, but on the temper and state of our souls. In cottage, in palace; in want, in affluence; in retirement, on busy Exchange; in youth, in age; in health, in disease and sickness, God’ s Enochs have “ walked with God.” Look, then, within for source of weakness, decay, low spiritual state. II. The explanation.1. He lives in constant believing communion with God.2. He improves what advantages he possesses.3. He retains the good he receives.4. He sedulously improves and turns to account the grace he has. (Islay Burns.) The continuousness of true progress True religion takes such a thorough hold upon all the deeply seated principles of our nature--so fastens itself upon the entire soul, that the high probability is, that where it has once commenced it will continue. I. The principle of inquiry is an influential force in human nature and true religion is suited to maintain a master hold upon that. Does religion proscribe any field of thought? Does it bolt any of the golden gates of science? No; it throws open the whole domain of truth, and spreads it forth, not only in all its amplitude to the mind, but in lights and colours of special fascination and charm. The mere speculative theist “ looks through nature up to nature’ s God” ; but the truly religious thinker feels that God is both philosophically and emotionally nearer to him than nature, and he looks through God down upon nature’ s mighty realms, and thus increases the charms of nature a thousandfold. Does not the picture appear in new beauties, after love for the artist has risen in the heart of the spectator? And does not the universe burst into new glories upon the vision of that man in whose heart supreme love for the Creator has been produced? But it may be said, granting that religion lays open all the realms of science, and heightens, incomparably, its charms; may it not be, that in the course of time the intellect may become so conversant with all truth, as to have neither need nor motive for future inquiry, and thereby religion would lose this master hold upon man? We think not. Who shall count the number of God’ s works, or describe the vastness of His universe? II. The principle of love is a mighty power in human nature and true religion is suited to maintain a master hold upon that. Love is the spring and spirit of the universe. And, thank God, it is, notwithstanding our depravity, the strongest force in our nature still. Now, religion calls out this powerful element in our nature in its two most powerful forms, namely, gratitude and admiration. How powerfully does gratitude bind us to our benefactors. The language of the heart to such is, “ entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee.” Kindness is might of the highest order; by it we can take hold of men’ s strength grasp their very souls and bind them to us by indissoluble bonds Nor is love, in the form of admiration, a weaker force. When it is directed to artistic beauty, it is powerful; when it is directed to natural beauty, it is more powerful still; but when it is directed to moral beauty, it is most powerful of all. Beauty carries captive the soul. The fine painting is attractive; the magnificent landscape more attractive still; the true hero, the embodiment of the highest moral qualities, is most attractive of all. So long, therefore, as the supreme love of gratitude and admiration are directed to God, the soul must, from its very nature, be vitally allied to Him. And is not this love, where it has once been awakened, likely to continue? III. The principle of rightness is a powerful force in human nature and true religion is suited to maintain a master hold upon that. Men under the influence of conscience have voluntarily braved the greatest perils, endured the greatest sufferings, and made the greatest sacrifices. Looking at the power and history of this element of our nature, there is a high probability that those attachments and enterprises will be lasting which secure its entire sympathy and sanction. And are not such preeminently the attachments and enterprises of a truly religious life? Does not conscience, this monarch energy of the soul, not only sanction supreme love to God, and entire consecration to His service, but imperiously demand it? IV. The principle of hope is a strong force in human nature and true religion is suited to maintain a master hold upon that. The best and choicest blessings are ever in the region of hope--a region all flowers and fruit, and sunshine; across whose beauteous landscapes there never sweeps the withering blight or the furious storm, and whose suns and stars are never dimmed by cloud nor mist. Now, the probability of a man’ s continuance in any enterprise, depends greatly upon its connection with hope. Half the working world toil on in their respective lines of action, not for the sake of present results, but for the sake of what hope has promised them in the future What connection has the religious life with this hope? Does the religious enterprise hold out any bright prospect? If in connection with religion there should ever come a time when there was nothing more to expect, religion would lose much of its power over man, and there would be a strong probability of a relapse. But if the prospect widened and brightened as the man advanced, would not the chances of a retrogression decrease with every” successive step? This is just the fact in a religious life; the more actually attained, the more prospectively appears. V. The principle of habit is a powerful force in human nature and true religion is suited to maintain a master hold upon that. The power of this principle is universally acknowledged, and in some eases is felt invincible. In the history of sin its force is the most striking. All the crimes in the long black narrative of human guilt you may trace, in a great measure, to habit. Every sinful act is another cord woven into that mighty cable of habit, which binds the spirit to the throne of darkness--a fresh momentum added to the falling soul. Now, if habit is so powerful in binding to sin, our position is, that it becomes more powerful in binding to holiness.1. Because, in the one case, the man’ s conscience--the very root of his spiritual nature. is in favour of his present course, and against change; in the other case, the whole force of his conscience perpetually against the present mode of life, and is demanding reformation. 2. Because, in the one case, Divine influence is ever present to stimulate and to cheer the spirit on; but in the other, the whole tide of this influence rolls in powerful opposition. 3. Because, in the one case, there are no unquestionable instances of change; in the other, instances abound on every hand; every conversion to God is an example. (Homilist.) The triumph of trust The laurel, saith King, is never thunderstruck. Sure it is that he who trusteth in God taketh no hurt; his heart is fixed and immovable to endure things almost incredible. True trust will certainly triumph at length. (John Trapp.) Fruit expected from the Church A church is like a great tree in the desert which holds out the promise of fruit, and towards which all the spiritually hungry turn. There can be few sadder things in this world than a church, promising by its very name, by its spire pointing to heaven, by its open doors, by its songs and services, by its bells of invitation, to give food to the hungry, refreshment to the weary, comfort to the sorrowing, and then failing to keep its promises to the souls that come expecting. (J. H. Miller.) Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things.The deceitfulness of the human heart I. We are to consider what is implied in sinners knowing their own hearts. They know that they have hearts, which are distinct from perception, reason, conscience, and all their intellectual powers and faculties. But this knowledge of their hearts is not that which is intended in the text. For in this sense they may perfectly know their own hearts, while they remain entirely ignorant of them in other important respects.1. Their knowing their hearts in the sense of the text, implies the knowledge of their selfishness. Saints love those who do not love them; but sinners love those only who do love them; and all the criminality of their hearts consists in their partial, interested affections. They may love all the objects that saints love, and hate all the objects that saints hate; and yet all their affections be different, in their nature, from the affections of saints. Whether they love or hate good or bad objects, still their love and hatred are entirely sinful, because they are altogether selfish. This they are not apt to know, nor believe. 2. The knowledge of their hearts implies the knowledge of their desperate, incurable wickedness. There is no hope of their ever becoming better from any motives that can be set before them, or from any means which can be used with them. And until sinners see their hearts in this light, they are unacquainted with them, and know not the nature and depth of their own depravity. 3. Their knowing their own hearts implies their knowing their extreme deceitfulness. II. Why it is so extremely difficult for them to gain this knowledge.1. They are unwilling to know their own hearts. This is true of all sinners. “ He that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” 2. Another thing which renders it still more difficult for them to know their own hearts, is what the Scripture calls the deceitfulness of sin. All sin is selfishness, and all selfishness is deceitful. They love or hate all objects, just as they view them as having a favourable or unfavourable aspect, in respect to themselves. In particular-- (1) They love or hate God, just as He appears friendly or unfriendly to them. (2) They love or hate Christ, accordingly as He appears to be their friend or their enemy. (3) They love or hate good men, just as they appear for them or against them. (4) They love and hate one another, just as they appear to promote or obstruct their interest. Herod and Pontius Pilate. (5) They love or hate the world in which they live, accordingly as it smiles or frowns upon them. (6) They love and hate their own hearts, as they appear to promise good or threaten evil to them. (7) Their hearts lead them to love or hate the means of grace, accordingly as they appear to do them good or hurt. (8) They love or hate convictions, accordingly as they appear to have a favourable or unfavourable aspect upon their future happiness. (9) They love or hate heaven according to the views they have of it. When they view it as a place of perfect and perpetual happiness, they love it, and desire to take up their everlasting residence in it. But when they view it as a place of pure and perfect holiness, they hate it, and prefer to run the risk of everlasting separation from it, rather than to enter into the presence--of a holy God, and into the society of perfectly holy beings. Improvement--1. We learn that there is but one way for men to know their own hearts; and that is, to inquire why they love or hate, rejoice or mourn, hope or fear, or why they exercise submission, patience and confidence. 2. We learn that saints may more easily ascertain their true character, than sinners can theirs. They sincerely desire to know their own hearts; and they are willing to take the only proper way to discover their true character. 3. It appears that all the changes that mankind meet with in the course of life, are trials of the heart. All changes in men’ s circumstances, whether great or small, whether from prosperity to adversity, or from adversity to prosperity, try their hearts, and give them opportunity every day to know whether they are in a state of nature, or in a state of grace. 4. It appears from the wickedness and deceitfulness of the human heart, that it is not strange that religious apostasy has prevailed so much in the world. 5. It appears that those are unwise who trust in their own hearts. 6. We learn that sinners are never under genuine convictions until they see the desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of their hearts. (N. Emmons, D. D.) The deceitfulness of the heart The ancients supposed the soul to reside in the heart; and when they spake of the heart, they meant the soul which resided there. In the passage before us the prophet means the thoughts, the will, the desires, the affections of the soul of man. I. The inconstancy of the heart. To a certain extent, the inconstancy of the heart is perhaps natural and unavoidable. Everything around us is shifting, changing. Our judgment, our views, our feelings, our passions seem subject to perpetual vicissitude. A good resolution has been formed; but the fervour has soon abated; and the poor heart, which loves to change, has but too quickly followed its natural inclination. This propensity may be referred, in a measure, to the union of the soul with the body. But the chief reason is to be found in the darkness and uncertainty of the mind as to its real good. II. The unfaithfulness of the heart. Eagerly do we make promises in the hour of affliction--but we forget them in prosperity! In sickness we have made a thousand resolutions--in health, we have forgotten them all! III. The self-love which our hearts exhibit. Here a man is full of what he calls zeal for religion, and sees not that his supposed zeal for religion is only zeal for his own party, and that it is only exercised from a wish to gain attention and respect from men. Another is full of zeal for correctness of opinion and sees not that it is the manifestation of unholy passions. But oh, who can say by how many various methods men cover themselves from themselves! IV. The illusions the heart is capable of practising on itself. It imposes on the understanding: it embellishes the scene around: it arrays every object in deceptive charms. The interest of man sways his understanding, and every object assumes a different shape and colour. And is it not so in religion? (T. F. Denham.) Deceitfulness of the human heart I. The extreme deceitfulness of the human heart.1. Its misrepresentation to us of outward objects. The seductive influence of the world around us is felt by all, and complained of by many; but yet it is to be remembered that this influence is nothing more than the feeling which we entertain in regard to it; it is nothing less, nor more, than our loving these outward things, our delighting in them, as though they were a real good. Now, is such a mew just and right? The influence that is grafted so deep upon us is after all nothing more than a delusion as to the sentiments which we hold in reference to the whole world, its fashions, its pleasures, its joys, and its gains. 2. Its perversion of the truth. How is it that there can be such different sentiments in respect to the Deity of the Messiah; in respect to the reality of free and sovereign grace as the only source and means of salvation; in regard to the truth and reality and necessity of the atonement; of our acceptance before God--the Holy and the Just? Who does not see that there must somewhere lurk some secret wish that the truth should be either as the mind imagines it, or perceives it to be? Who is not aware that there is deception at the bottom? 3. The false estimate which it teaches us to form of ourselves. You need not to be informed how it will magnify our excellences to our own view, and how it will diminish our defects. 4. Its repeatedly enticing us to that which we have so many times condemned and seemed to abhor. The heart may still be in love with that sin from which the conscience recoils. Oh, how sin will undermine the conscience; how sin will dissipate all our holy resolutions and desires! II. The wickedness of the human heart. Let it be remembered that the deceitfulness of the heart, of which we have before been speaking, is a part of its wickedness. The wickedness of the human heart is here spoken of as being desperate. It is a disease which has gone to the last degree, which has spread itself through all the powers of the mind, through all the vitals of the soul. Its desperateness, then, is extreme, and its hopes of improvement from any human remedy, desperate also. As it grows older it will not necessarily grow better; but, if left to itself, it will rather become worse. Nature seems to have some self-rectifying provision within her, so as to subdue some partial disorders of our constitution; but this is not the case in radical defects and fatal diseases. So it is here. There may be some propensities even in human character which may go to counteract the operation of certain others, yet these do not reach the innate character of the heart, and never will they tend to purify it. We shall not, therefore, be improved merely as we advance in knowledge--as we receive merely the chastisements of Divine providence--as we merely come under the instruction of the Word of God. No affliction would sanctify, no outward means would purify--the grace of God alone is adequate to the work. III. Let us endeavour to answer the question, “ who can know it?” This is merely a strong negative in regard to human knowledge. No human being knows the heart of his fellow man, nor his own heart. He knows not the deep recesses of iniquity which are there. Much has been developed through the history of life, but there remains much more. “ None can know it.” We dwell not on this, but we answer according to the intimation of the next verse, God only knows it. God knows it, and He has His eye upon it. All your thoughts have been known to Him, and the effect of all your wilful perversions of the truth, all your attempts to put away from you the power and the effect of the impressions of His Holy Word, all your trifling with the obligations under which you have been laid, the feelings with which you have come to His house, and been listening to His Word; whether there has been a resolution to turn to God, or whether there has still been a wilful continuance in estrangement from Him. He has seen it all; and if He has seen it all, He knows it, and He will deal with it as it deserves. Oh, what an awful consideration, that sinners are in the hands of an Omnipotent Being, who will give to every man according as his work has been! But there is another thought--that is, He can deal with us according to the necessity of the case. He has grace in abundance, and he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. (J. Griffin.) Deceitfulness and wickedness of the heart I. The heart is deceitful.1. The heart denotes the inner man, his thoughts, his will, his inclinations, and his affections; or the human soul with its faculties and operations. (1) It is deceitful with relation to God; for we often promise Him what we do not perform, and endeavour to put Him off with external homage, and with a partial obedience. (2) It is deceitful with respect to other men; we industriously conceal from them what passeth within us, and is not fit to show itself openly, and we study to cheat them with false appearances. (3) It is deceitful with regard to ourselves; and our passions often delude us, pervert our judgment, and impose upon our reason. 2. Many causes may be assigned for it. (1) We are changeable by that connection which the soul hath with the body, and with the state of the body which is subject to perpetual alterations. (2) We are inconstant on account of the connection that we have with external objects by our senses. Everything that presents itself before us makes an impression upon the mind. The manners, the opinions, and the passions of those with whom we often converse have no small influence upon us. They work upon our imagination, and produce the like dispositions in us which we behold in them. (3) Another cause of inconstancy is from the soul itself in its present situation; it loves novelty and variety. II. The heart of man is desperately wicked. To be sensible how men in general are depraved, we need only consult history, and consider the common state of the world. These will give us a hideous representation of human disorders and iniquities, both public and private, national and personal. The desperate wickedness of many is such, that nothing but rigour, nothing but jails and gibbets can keep civil society in tolerable order. Who can number up the sins which men are perpetually committing? and all these proceed from an evil heart, as our Saviour says. To give some check to this inundation of evil, the providence of God hath provided various remedies; as the voice of conscience, the advantages of education, the instructions of the wise, the assistance of human laws, the example of the good, the desire of reputation, the fear of infamy, the light of reason, the profitableness of virtue, the pernicious nature of vice, and, lastly, the revealed Word of God. Yet, notwithstanding these correctives, we see and feel how moral evil abounds, even where the Gospel is professed. III. The heart of man is inscrutable. Who can know it? says the prophet. That is; No man can know it; or rather, It is no easy matter to know it. There is a general knowledge which we have of the human heart, and a way of judging concerning it, which in the main is tolerably sure. The tree, says our Lord, is known by the fruits; and, in like manner, the heart is known by the actions. When a man’ s behaviour is vile, and his conversation profane, we may pronounce his heart to be bad; and we are not obliged to put out our own eyes, and renounce our own senses, and to call evil good, and good evil, rather than to censure such a person, or entertain a bad opinion of him. Yet in judging of others much caution and candour are requisite. But the discernment which each person should have of his own heart is the most important. And here one would think that such skill is easily acquired, and doth in a manner obtrude itself upon us. And yet it is certain that in a religious sense it is often hard to know one’ s self. There are two sorts of self-knowledge, the one a knowledge of feeling and perceiving, the other a knowledge of reflection and discernment. As to the first, we all of us have it without question. It informs us only of what we are thinking or doing, but not of the nature, causes, and effects of our thoughts and deeds. As to the second and true kind of self-knowledge, which is the result of consideration and examination, we have it seldom, and we cannot acquire it without attention and care. It is strange how little we know practically either of our body, or of our understanding, or our heart. As to the body, its defects are usually overlooked by us, unless they be very remarkable, or painful. As to our understanding, we flatter ourselves that we have a due share of it, and observe how deficient our neighbours are in that respect; how one is stupid and silly, another ignorant, a third prejudiced, injudicious, and conceited. Thus he who hath a wrong judgment and a heated imagination decides upon every point with more confidence than persons of a far greater capacity. He who is rough, peevish, and intractable, knows nothing of it, whilst others can hardly tell how to bear with him. So true it is that we know not ourselves. A man owns himself guilty of this or that fault, but, however, he says that his heart is good and honest at the bottom. Weak illusion I since it is from the evil which lurks in the heart that these irregular actions proceed. The difficulty of knowing our hearts appears from those repeated commands in Scripture to consider and search our ways. And, indeed, it is no small task to review our knowledge, our opinions, our judgments, and our beliefs; to recollect our past actions, and the use which we have made of God’ s blessings, and to compare our practice with our duty. This difficulty also appears from the character which God gives to Himself, that He alone is the searcher of hearts. But observe that God, when He calls Himself the searcher of hearts, means two things; that He alone knows the hearts of all creatures, and that He alone knows them without any mixture of error. We know but little of the heart of other men, and, therefore, should be cautious in judging of them; and as to our own, though we shahs never know it exactly, with all our endeavours, yet as far as we can, we are obliged to acquaint ourselves with it. Inferences--1. We should entertain a sober diffidence of ourselves. 2. We should not be much surprised or concerned when men use us ill, or disappoint us. We cannot rely upon ourselves, much less upon others. 3. We should take care to give good principles and a good example to those young persons whom Divine or human laws have placed under our guidance and protection. 4. We should be ready to confess our offences to God, and be as strict in censuring our own defects as we often are in condemning those of others. 5. Since the heart of man is deep and close, we should betimes endeavour to get acquainted with our own. But if it be hard to know ourselves, how can we acquire such skill in a tolerable degree? By humility and consideration, by consulting the Holy Scripture, that lamp of God which will give us light in searching into the recesses of the heart; and by imploring the Divine assistance. (J. Jortin, D. D.) Deceitfulness of the heart That is properly called deceitful which presents objects in a false light, or leads to a misconception of the nature of things within us and around us. And that is properly called deceitful which conceals its own true character, and assumes the appearance of what it is not.1. One of the ways in which the deceitfulness of the heart manifests itself is in its tendency to blind the understanding in regard to religious truth. To have the mind darkened with ignorance, or perverted by error, is inconsistent with the exercise of holiness, or the practice of true virtue. Evidence is always on the side of truth; but that evidence may be overlooked, or so distorted, that the truth may not be perceived, and instead of it error may be embraced and defended as truth. The reason why the minds of men reject the truth is, the depravity of the heart. Infidelity, and every species of dangerous error, may be traced to the deceitfulness of the heart. If men possessed good and honest hearts, they would search diligently for the truth, and would be disposed to judge impartially of its evidence; and, as was said, evidence being on the side of truth, and the truth congenial with the moral feelings of the upright mind, it would always be embraced. Atheism itself is a disease rather of the heart than of the head. And idolatry, which darkens with its portentous shadows a large portion of our globe, owes its origin to the deceitfulness and wickedness of the human heart. 2. The exceeding deceitfulness of the heart appears in the delusive promises of pleasure, which it makes, in the indulgence of sinful desires. This is so uniformly the fact, that it is a common remark that men enjoy more pleasure in the pursuit of the objects of the world, than in their possession. This delusion of pleasure in prospect, particularly affects the young. With them experience is wanting, which serves to correct this error of the imagination; but even experience is insufficient to cure the disease. In this matter, the world does not become wiser by growing older. There is another deception of the heart which has relation to the indulgence of natural desires. The person may be apprehensive at first, from former experience, that some evil to soul or body may arise from unlawful indulgence. A pause is produced, and hesitation is felt; but appetite, when strong, pleads for indulgence, and is fruitful in pleas; among which none is more false and deceitful, than that if gratified in this instance, it will never crave indulgence any more. And this false promise often prevails with the vacillating sinner; and he plunges into the gulf, which is open to receive him. 3. Under the influence of an evil heart, everything appears in false colours. Not only does error assume the garb of truth, but piety itself is made to appear odious. Indeed, there is nothing upon earth which the carnal mind hates so truly as holiness. But as that which appears good cannot be hated, one art of the deceitful heart is, to misrepresent the true nature of piety and devotion. The fairest face when caricatured, becomes deformed, and appears ludicrous. 4. The deceitfulness of the heart is also exceedingly manifest in the false pretensions which it makes, and the delusive appearances which it assumes. And this deceitfulness not only imposes upon others, but upon the person himself. Under this delusion, men persuade themselves that they are not wicked, but that their hearts are good. Their virtues, or semblance of virtues, are magnified, when seen through the false medium of self-love; and their vices are so diminished, that they are either not seen, or appear as mere peccadilloes, scarcely deserving notice. Such persons are also deceived as to their own wisdom. But the most dangerous form of this deceit is, when persons, never converted or renewed, are induced to believe that they are saints. 5. The deceitfulness of the heart is manifest in the good which we promise ourselves that we will do in future. But the true test of character is, what we are actually doing at the present time. Do we now, from day to day, do all the good which is in our power? Do we now improve our time and talents to the utmost? If we do not, then does our heart deceive us, as to its own real disposition? 6. Another way in which our hearts deceive us is, by leading, us to judge of ourselves, not by a strict scrutiny into our real motives, but by viewing our character through the medium of public opinion, or through the favourable sentiments of our partial friends. Reflections--1. If the heart be so exceedingly deceitful and wicked, we should be deeply humbled before God that we have hearts so evil. 2. If the heart be so deceitful, we should place no confidence in it. 3. If the heart be so deceitful, it should be watched with care. 4. From the state and character of the heart here given, we may infer the necessity of a change of heart; and everyone should be led to cry to God for renewing grace. 5. We should come often to the fountain which is opened for sin and uncleanness 6. If any of us have been made sensible of the deceitfulness and wickedness of our hearts, and have, in some degree, been delivered from this great evil of our nature, this change, we are sure, has not proceeded from ourselves. (A. Alexander, D. D.) The deceitfulness of the heart Unless we are affected, permanently and practically, with the corruption of our nature, all other points of Christian doctrine connected with it, supposing we even admit their truth, must be mere speculation, unaffecting in their influence, unprofitable in their results. I. The unparalleled deceitfulness, and desperate wickedness of the heart. This appears from the following considerations: That it is able to evade the most pointed applications of Divine truth, to resist the most powerful convictions of the Divine Spirit, and to violate the most serious resolutions of the awakened conscience.1. One might imagine that the unprofitableness and danger of living in a spirit and temper so much below the spirit and temper of real Christians would, when faithfully disclosed, have the effect of awakening solicitude in the minds of those persons whose everlasting condition is so deeply involved. But how often would these expectations be disappointed! Every person makes the application for his neighbour, saying, “ Thou art the man” ; and with great dexterity evades it himself. 2. When the devotional spirit, the heavenly temper, the holy conduct of the Christian are faithfully described; when his motives and principle, his affections, his objects, and his aims, are disclosed, it is natural to suppose that worldly men, by contrasting all this with their own spirit and temper and conduct, with their own motives and principles and affections, with their own objects and aims so directly the reverse, would be humbled and confounded. But how often are men satisfied with admiring the beauty of holiness, without imitating it; or with pronouncing holiness impracticable, without endeavouring to practise it! 3. In order to give power and efficacy to the Gospel, the Holy Spirit accompanies it to the heart and conscience, and causes men to see its vast importance, and to feel its mighty influence on the soul. Who can think of death, judgment, and eternity; of heaven and hell; of glory, honour, and immortality; and of the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched; in connection with his own sins; with redemption; with that newness of heart and newness of life which are taught as necessary to prepare him for the inheritance of the saints in light, without either believing that all these are idle speculations, or concluding that religion is no vain thing? Who has not had the conviction so natural, so true, and so awful, that if he is not prepared to come to the table of the Lord, he is not prepared to meet his God? Have you not the conviction that your life is inconsistent with the piety required of communicants? But how deceitful is the heart which is able to resist these convictions, and to allow you from time to time to go on in the same course of negligence, disobedience, and ingratitude! 4. How little the heart is to be trusted in the things that belong to our peace, is evident from the many resolutions to serve God, which almost every heart has violated, that has been influenced by the truth as it is in Jesus. When we are most determined against iniquity, most shocked with the idea of committing it, and most persuaded that we are stedfast, then we are most in danger. “ Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing?” is language which is seldom used without being followed by the commission of the very sin of which we thought ourselves utterly incapable. II. The necessity of being aware of its deceitfulness and wickedness.1. It is the most difficult knowledge. There are so many mixtures in the motives of the heart, so many windings, so much duplicity and insincerity, so much false profession and false appearance, that it is impossible thoroughly to comprehend it. Not only can no man trust the heart of another, but no man can trust his own. 2. It is the most disagreeable knowledge. Nothing is so mortifying to our pride. Hence, instead of searching for the deceitfulness and wickedness of our hearts, we feel a strong temptation to let it lie concealed, to shut our eyes against the light, and to avoid the disquietude arising from the discovery of what is so humbling. 3. It is the most desirable knowledge which we can obtain. It is the knowledge of our own deceitful and desperately wicked hearts that renders us careful of our own souls; that humbles us; that leads us to the Saviour; that makes Jesus Christ precious to us; that constrains us to seek the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit; that sends us to our Bible, to the throne of grace, and to the table of the Lord. (M. Jackson.) The central principle in man Few men are acquainted with themselves. With the principles of commerce, political economy, scientific investigation, classical criticism, theologic research, ecclesiastical history, they are more familiar than with the secrets of their own nature, and features and motives of their own character. The source of every evil, the secret of all felicity, is not touched until the heart is reached and scrutinised. I. Unregenerate human nature is entirely untrustworthy. “ Deceitful above all things.”1. It distorts the character of God. “ God is merciful” --often a plea for continuance in sin. 2. It misrepresents the means of human felicity. Young persons flatter themselves that they have but to drink fully of the cup of earthly pleasure to be really happy. No greater mistake. Others seek it in the acquisition of wealth, settling it in their mind that he who has most gold has most happiness. 3. It perverts the way of salvation. Rites, penances, frames, and conditions are piled up until the Saviour is either hid or barely seen. 4. It misrepresents the nature and excellence of true religion. Does religion include humbleness of mind? The deceitful heart declares that it is “ a silly weakness.” Does religion include meekness of disposition? The deceitful heart stigmatises it as foolish fastidiousness. A spirit of forgiveness is despised as unmanly. Tenderness of conscience is condemned as ridiculous precision. Spirituality of mind is designated canting hypocrisy, and purity of heart and life a thing impossible. 5. It disguises the true character of sin. “ Vice is first pleasing, then delightful, then frequent, then habitual, then confirmed; then the sinner is independent, then obstinate, then he resolves never to repent; then he dies, then he is damned.” 6. It deceives itself and endeavours to deceive God (Malachi 1:14). 7. It surpasses in treachery everything else. The mossy swards, the ocean, the desert mirage, the morning bright with sunshine, are all deceitful; but not more so than the human heart. Inconstant as the wind, uncertain as riches, ever betraying and betrayed, who would trust it? II. Unrenewed human nature is fearfully depraved--“ desperately wicked.”1. Its corruption is desperate. “ Wicked to desperation.” Hence the deeds of violence and despair which prevail. 2. Its corruption is unsearchable. “ Who can know it?” Think of Pharaoh insolently rejecting the commands of Jehovah, in spite of plagues and pestilence. Think of Manasseh, Saul, and Peter boasting, then denying his Saviour with oaths and curses. Learn-- 1. The necessity of regeneration. Nothing but “ a new heart” will meet the requirements of the case, Hence David: “ Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Hence the promise in Ezekiel: “ A new heart will I give unto you.” 2. The necessity for self-distrust. “ He that trusteth his own heart is a fool.” Treat it as you would a man who had deceived you in every possible way. Always act upon the supposition that it is concealing something wrong. “ Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” (W. H. Booth.) The deceitfulness of the heart I. Men impose on themselves respecting their own character. The human heart is a great deep: a deep so turbid by sin and agitated by passion that we cannot look into it far; a deep which no line yet has been long enough to fathom. The account in the history of the Bible of the depravity of man is not more humiliating than is the account in Tacitus and Sallust, in Hume and in Gibbon; the account in the Sacred Poets is substantially the same as in Shakespeare and Byron; the account given by Paul is the same that you will find in the books of every traveller who has penetrated the dark regions of the heathen world. You admit the account to be true of the world at large, of other men; you take securities of others; you put padlocks and bolts on your stores; you guard your houses, as if you believed it were true. Others believe the same of you; and the Bible holds all to be substantially alike--all fallen and ruined. And yet it is evident that men do not by nature attribute to themselves the character which is given of the human heart in the Bible. Who will bear to be told, though you may go with all the influence of the tender relations of friendship, and all the influence that you can take with you from any official relation, that his mind is “ enmity against God” ; that “ in his flesh there dwelleth no good thing” ; that he “ is a hater of God” ; that he is a “ lover of pleasure more than a lover of God” ; that he is “ living without God and without hope” ; that his “ heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” ? You will hear it from the desk--for you believe that it is our official duty to make the statement; and the statement is of necessity so general that no one feels himself particularly intended. But would you hear it from me, if I should come to you alone, and if I should make the statement with all the tenderness that I could assume? Is it not possible that your heart has deceived you on this point? Let me suggest few things for your consideration. One is, that if the Bible be true, there is no such native excellence of character as you suppose you possess; for in the most solemn manner the Bible declares the whole race to be guilty, and ruined, and lost; and the Bible has such evidences of its truth and its Divine origin as should lead you to suppose it possible that its account of the human character is correct. Another consideration is, that multitudes of men who once had the same view of themselves which you have, have been convinced of their error, and have been led to accord with the account in the Bible. I allude to those who are now Christians. Another consideration is, that there is nothing easier than to deceive ourselves in this matter. You have certain traits of character which are in themselves well enough, and which may be commendable, and you exalt them in the place of others which God requires. You have a disposition that is naturally amiable and inoffensive. So has a lamb and a dove. Is this the love of God? Is that what the law requires? You are honest and upright towards men. Is this the love of the Creator, and is this to be a substitute for repentance and faith? Are you not deceived in your estimate of your own character in regard to the love of virtue? Let me ask a few plain questions. You say you love truth. Why then resist the truth as designed to bear on your own heart and to show you what you are? You are amiable. Why not then love the Lord Jesus Christ? Has there been anyone among men more amiable or lovely than He? You love purity. Why not then love God? Is there anyone more pure than He? You are aiming to do right. Why then do you not pray in the closet, and in the family, as you know you ought to do? II. Men deceive themselves in regard to their real attachments. You think you have no undue attachment to a child. When the great Giver of life takes this child back to Himself, are you willing to part with it? You think you have no undue attachment to wealth. How do you feel when you are embarrassed and when others are prospered? When wind, and tide, and fire, and tempest are against you, and when others grow rich? When your property takes to itself wings and flees away, while others are enjoying the smiles of Heaven? You think you have no undue attachment to the world, and that in the influence which that world has over you, you are showing no disrespect to the commands of God. Let me ask you, is any pleasure abandoned because He commands it? Is any place of amusement forsaken because He wills it? You suppose you have some attachment to Christians, and to the Christian religion. You admit the Bible to be true, and mean to be found among the number of those who hold that its doctrines are from Heaven. Yet does the heart never deceive you in this? Is not this the truth--for I make my appeal to your own consciousness? You admit the doctrines of the Bible to be true in general; you deny them in detail. You think you have no particular opposition to the duties of religion. But is not this the truth? You admit the obligation in general; you deny it in detail. III. The heart is deceitful in regard to its power of resisting temptation. In the halcyon days of youth and inexperience, we think that we are proof against all the forms of allurement, and we listen with no pleasurable emotions to those who would warn us of danger. We flatter ourselves that we are able to meet temptation. We confide in the strength of our principles. We trust to the sincerity of our own hearts. Professed friends meet us on the way and assure us that there is no danger. The gay, the fashionable, the rich, the beautiful, the accomplished, invite us to tread with them the path of pleasure, and to doubt the suggestions of experience and of age. We feel confident of our own safety. We suppose we may tread securely a little farther. We see no danger near. We take another step still, and yet another, thinking that we are safe yet. We have tried our virtuous principles, and thus far they bear the trial. We could retreat if we would; we mean to retreat the moment that danger comes near. But who knows the power of temptation? Who knows when dangers shall rush upon us so that we cannot escape? There is a dividing line between safety and danger. Above thundering Niagara the river spreads out into a broad and tranquil basin. All is calm, and the current flows gently on, and there even a light skiff may be guided in safety. You may glide nearer and nearer to the rapids, admiring the beauty of the shore, and looking on the ascending spray of the cataract, and listening to the roar of the distant waters, and be happy in the consciousness that you are safe. You may go a little farther, and may have power still to ply the oar to reach the bank. But there is a point beyond which human power is vain, and where the mighty waters shall seize the quivering bark and bear it on to swift destruction. So perishes many a young man by the power of temptation. IV. The heart deceives itself in its promises of reformation and amendment. Permit me to ask of you, how many resolutions you have formed to repent and be a Christian--all of which have failed! How many times have you promised yourself, your friends, and God, that you would forsake the ways of sin and live for heaven--all of which have failed? How often have you fixed the time when you would do this? And yet that time has come and gone unimproved. At twenty, at thirty, at forty, at fifty years of age you may have resolved to turn to your Maker should you reach those periods--but on some of you the snows of winter have fallen, and yet a deceitful and a deceived heart is pointing you to some future period still. It deceived you in childhood; it deceived you in youth; it deceived you in manhood; it deceives you in old age. It has always deceived you as often as you have trusted it, in all circumstances of life--and yet you trust it still. It has deceived you oftener than you have been deceived by any and all other things--oftener than we are deceived by the false friend; oftener than the traveller is deceived by his faithless guide; oftener than the caravan is deceived by the vanished brook; oftener than the bow deceives the hunter; oftener than you have been deceived by any and all other men. There is no man whom you have not trusted more safely than your own heart; no object in nature that has been as faithless as that:--and I appeal to you if it is not deceitful above all things. Conclusion:1. There is danger of losing the soul. 2. The heart of man is wicked. You have a heart which you yourself cannot trust. It has always deceived you. You have a heart which your fellow men will not trust. They secure themselves by notes, and bonds, and mortgages, and oaths, and locks, and bolts;--and they will not trust you without them. You have a heart which God regards as deceitful and depraved, and in which He puts no confidence, and which He has declared to be “ desperately wicked.” I ask whether that heart in which neither God nor man, in which neither we nor our friends can put confidence, is a heart that is good and pure? Is it such a heart as is fitted for heaven? I answer no--and you respond to my own deep conviction when I say it must be renewed. 3. I would conjure you to wake from these delusions to the reality of your condition. I would beseech you to look at truth, and be no longer under the control of a deceived and a deceitful heart. (A. Barnes, D. D.) The deceitfulness of the heart It appears-- I. From men’ s general ignorance of their own character. They think, and reason, and judge quite differently in anything relating to themselves,’ from what they do in those cases in which they have no personal interest. Accordingly, we often hear people exposing follies for which they themselves are remarkable, and talking with great severity against particular vices, of which, if all the world be not mistaken, they themselves are notoriously guilty. In vain do you tender to them instruction or reproof, for they turn away everything from themselves, and never once imagine that they are the persons for whose benefit these counsels and admonitions are chiefly intended. If we trace this self-ignorance to its source, we shall find that it is in general owing, not only to that partiality and fondness which we all have for ourselves, but to the prevalence of some particular passion or interest, which perverts the judgment in every case where that particular passion or interest is concerned. And hence it happens that some men can reason and judge fairly enough, even in cases in which they themselves are interested, provided it does not strike against their favourite passion or pursuit. Thus the covetous man will easily enough perceive the evil of intemperance, and perhaps condemn himself if he has been guilty of this sin in a particular instance. But he is altogether insensible to the dominion of his predominant passion, the love of money. It has become habitual to him. His mind is accustomed to it, so that in every case, where his interest is concerned, his judgment is warped, and in these instances he plainly discovers that he is totally unacquainted with his own character. The same observation applies to other particular vices. II. From men’ s general disposition on all occasions to justify their own conduct. If we cannot justify the action itself, we attempt to extenuate its guilt from the peculiar circumstances of the case. We were placed in such and such a particular situation, which we could not avoid; our temptations were strong: we did not go the lengths that many others would have gone in similar circumstances; and the general propriety of our conduct is more than sufficient to overbalance any little irregularities with which we may sometimes be chargeable. Men even learn to call their favourite vices by softer names. Intemperance is only the desire of good fellowship; lewdness is gallantry, or the love of pleasure; pride, a just sense of our own dignity; and covetousness, or the love of money, a prudent regard to our worldly interest. Besides these single determinate acts of wickedness, of which we have now been speaking, there are numberless cases in which the wickedness cannot be exactly defined, but consists in a certain general temper and course of action, or in the habitual neglect of some duty, whose bounds are not precisely fixed. This is the peculiar province of self-deceit, and here, most of all, men are apt to justify their conduct, however plainly and palpably wrong. To give an example: There is not a word in our language that expresses more detestable wickedness than oppression. Yet the nature of this vice cannot be so exactly stated, nor the bounds of it so determinately marked, as that we shall be able to say, in all instances, where rigid right and justice end, and oppression begins. In like manner, it is impossible to determine how much of every man’ s income ought to be devoted to pious and charitable purposes: the boundaries cannot be exactly marked; yet we are at no loss in the ease of others to perceive the difference betwixt a liberal and generous man, and one of a hard-hearted and penurious disposition. III. From the difficulty with which men are brought to acknowledge their faults, even when conscious that they have done wrong. We wish always to entertain a favourable opinion of ourselves and of our own conduct, and are displeased with those who endeavour in any instance to change this opinion, though it be done with the best, and most friendly intention. But how unreasonable is this degree of self-love! Were we alive to our true interests, we would wish to become better acquainted with our follies and our faults, and would esteem our faithful reprovers our best friends. IV. From the disposition which men discover to rest in notions and forms of religion, while they are destitute of its power. Hence it is that so many are hearers of the Word only, and not doers also, deceiving their own selves. Hence it is that so many shew great zeal about small and unimportant matters in religion, who are shamefully deficient in some of its plainest and most essential duties; that so many are punctual in their observance of religious institutions, who are unjust and uncharitable in their conduct towards their fellow creatures. Hypocrisy in all its forms and appearances flows from the deceitfulness of the heart for in general men deceive themselves before they attempt to deceive others. V. When men overlook the real motives of their conduct, and mistake the workings of their own corruptions for the fruits of the Spirit of God. We are greatly shocked when we read of the dreadful persecutions which in different ages have been carried on against the faithful servants of Christ; yet these men pretended zeal for the glory of God: nor is it improbable, but that many of them might so far deceive themselves as to imagine that they were doing God service, while shedding the blood of His saints. This is indeed the highest instance of the extreme deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of the human heart, and the most awful proof of being given up of God to a reprobate mind. But, in a lesser degree, men frequently practise this kind of deceit upon themselves, ascribing to the Word and to the Spirit of God what is evidently the effect of their own ignorance, wickedness, and depravity. (D. Black.) The natural characteristics of the heart I. The unparalleled deceitfulness of the heart.1. The false views which it leads men very generally to adopt respecting the safety of their state. (1) It leads some to conclude that they are in a safe state, merely because they are free from the commission of gross sins, and not inattentive to the performance of many moral and social duties. (2) If, in addition to the external decorum just mentioned, and which, as far as it goes, is certainly commendable, there be found also a merely formal attention to some religious duties: then, in too many cases, the deceitful heart prompts the idea that there can be no doubt of the safety of the person in question; nay, that assurance is thus rendered doubly sure. (3) The deceitful heart of others will lead them to rest satisfied with a general reliance on the mercy of God; a reliance this, which may be found even in those whose lives are stained with the grossest immoralities. (4) A fourth class is led by the deceitfulness of the heart to rely for safety on the adoption of a new set of religious opinions, and on a bare and empty profession of the real truths of the Gospel. 2. The delusions which it practises upon us in reference to those sins to which we are most prone. (1) If it fail to persuade us that they are no sins at all, though this is an energy of delusion which it is mighty to practise, it will at least represent them to us as sins of a very venial nature. (2) It would represent to us that one single repetition of the indulgence may not be attended with any such dreadful consequences. (3) Notwithstanding the promise of effectual aid to all who sincerely ask for it, and the assurance that the Christian shall be enabled to do all things connected with his duty through Christ strengthening him, it would suggest the idea that resistance to the commission of the beloved sin is utterly vain (Jeremiah 18:12). (4) Before the commission of our favourite sin, it would dreadfully abuse the mercy of God, and lead us to expect that He will never condemn us to all eternity for a little irregular pleasure or gain; but, on the contrary, be ever ready to pardon us: while, after the commission of the sin in question, it would endeavour to secure our destruction by driving us to despair and by representing to us that our opportunity is gone forever, and our day of grace closed. II. Its desperate wickedness.1. Every part of it, every one of its faculties, partakes of this depravity. (1) Even the understanding itself, however equal its powers may be to make progress in every department of literature and science, is yet on the most important of all subjects utterly blinded (Ephesians 4:18). (2) The judgment, however accurate in forming its estimate of matters relating to the present life, is yet so completely perverted in reference to the grand concerns of religion, that even the wisdom of God is unhesitatingly deemed by it to be nothing better than absolute foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14). (3) The will, the faculty by which we make our selection out of the various objects presented to our choice, is altogether averse to what is really good; holiness being the object of its unmitigated aversion: while there is in it a perpetual and violent inclination to what is evil. (4) The affections are set either on unlawful objects; or, if on lawful ones, yet in an unlawful and sinful degree. (5) The conscience is either mistaken in its decisions, or weak in its influence. 2. The seeds at least of every evil are invariably found there. (1) There dwells pride, swelling at the thought of every circumstance which serves in any way to elevate man above his fellow. (2) There is found that impatience which rises against God and man, when our will is crossed by them, or our expectations disappointed that anger, which is ready to break out on the slightest provocation, or even on no provocation at all; that envy, which is ever ready to repine at the superior prosperity or excellence of another; and that hatred, which often conceals its hostile projects under the mask of apparent reconciliation. There are the seeds of that malice which delights in the misfortunes of the objects of its dislike; and of that revenge which, arrogantly assuming the prerogative of God (Romans 12:19), takes the work into its own hands. (3) It is the heart, too, in which among a host of other evils every sin of impurity is conceived and cherished (Mark 7:21-22); and which is the seat also of that unbelief which, disregarding alike the Divine promises and threatenings, is the root of every sin, of every imaginable departure from the living God (Hebrews 3:12). 3. Its wickedness will further appear, if we reflect on the aggravating circumstances under which it will prompt to the commission of our darling sin. (1) A man shall be thoroughly convinced of the sinfulness of the action on the commission of which he is bent; shall be thoroughly convinced that those who do such things are worthy of the Divine condemnation: and yet his heart shall urge him to commit it in defiance of such conviction. (2) It would urge a man to sin, notwithstanding the most solemn vows and resolutions: notwithstanding, as in the case of the profane swearer, his sin be attended with neither profit nor pleasure: in defiance, too, of every means which God in mercy makes use of to restrain him from the commission of it. III. Inscrutable. “ Who can know it?”1. But when we speak of the impossibility of thoroughly penetrating the inmost recesses of the heart, we speak in reference to created beings only. With regard to the omniscient God, He is one who “ searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts” (1 Chronicles 28:9): nay, He understandeth our thoughts “ afar off” (Psalms 139:2), knows them before they are conceived. 2. Neither, when we say that the heart is inscrutable, do we mean to deny that a very considerable knowledge of it, a knowledge which is sufficient for all practical purposes, is attainable by man. With regard to merely worldly characters, indeed, however they may boast of their penetration into the schemes and designs of others, they commonly have scarcely taken the first step in the knowledge of the unparalleled deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of their own hearts: on this subject they know next to nothing. 3. It is the real Christian alone who attains any adequate and useful knowledge of this kind: and who makes this attainment by means of the influences of that Spirit, who was promised by our Lord for the purpose of convincing the world of sin; by means too of the diligent and humble study of that Worn of God which, when accompanied by that Spirit, proves itself to be “ quick and powerful,” etc. 4. Yet even the measure of knowledge which he is thus enabled to attain, is not acquired without the greatest difficulty: a difficulty which arises from the nature of that deceitfulness which he is endeavouring to detect; and from the power of that self-love which would still lead him to view his own heart with a partial eye. IV. Inferences.1. How great the folly of trusting to our own hearts!2. How important the duty of watchfulness!3. The necessity of earnest prayer.4. In what urgent need we stand of God’ s mercy in Christ.5. The indispensable necessity of that great change of heart, which, under a variety of appropriate images, is so repeatedly insisted on in the Bible: which is represented at one time as a being born again; at another as a new creation; at a third, as a spiritual resurrection to a life of holiness. (John Natt, B. D.) The deceitfulness of the heart 1. Man discovers this corrupt principle by adopting or maintaining a profession of religion hypocritically. Those who are conscious of hypocrisy may adopt and maintain a religious profession merely in some degree to pacify conscience. When this is alarmed by a sense of sin, they are fain to lull it, if possible, by the semblance of holiness. Others may assume a cloak of religion, that in this way they may display their natural abilities, and gain the affection or admiration of the religious: or they may design the advancement of their temporal interests. They use religion just as it serves their own purposes. Some throw aside the cloak of a profession as being too cumbersome, as soon as their purposes are served by it; or perhaps when they find themselves disappointed in their expectations. Others continue to wear it to the end, and will never be discovered, till the Son of Man shall send His angels to separate the precious from the vile. 2. The deceitfulness of the heart appears when men discover greater zeal about matters of indifference, or, at least, of comparatively less importance than about those of the greatest moment. They are perhaps regular in the observation of secret, private, and public ordinances, but in a great measure negligent of relative duties. They are undutiful husbands or wives, parents or children, masters or servants. You can have little dependence on their word, or confidence in their uprightness in civil dealings. Perhaps they carry on a practice of deceit, extortion, and oppression in so secret a manner, that although suspected by all around, no one can prove it. There are others who go still farther. They place the greatest part of their religion in scrupulosity about matters of mere indifference. The smallest deviation from a common form, which has no other sanction than that of custom, and it may be, not even that of common sense, will be esteemed a grievous defection. The most innocent and necessary recreations will be reckoned unlawful freedoms. Notwithstanding all this warmth of zeal, you may perhaps find some of this character, if carefully watched, almost strangers to a principle of common integrity. They will make conscience a plea for all their impositions on others. But they more generally arise from the deceitfulness of the heart than from any tenderness of conscience. 3. The short continuance of religious impressions, whether on saints or sinners, is another evidence of this deceitfulness. (1) Unrenewed men, when they have heard an awakening sermon, or been visited with some severe affliction, set about external reformation, and, it may be, endeavour to cleanse their hearts and mortify their lusts by prayer and fasting; but the first temptation that assails them effaces all these serious impressions, and plunges them into those sins that they pretended to forsake. Now, as the leading reason of this is that they have not undergone a saving change in regeneration, it argues the great deceitfulness of their hearts, that all their zeal for God and religion, for the purification of their hearts and reformation of their fives, is dissipated by the first blast of temptation. (2) The deceitfulness that also prevails in the hearts of the Lord’ s people, appears by the short duration of their religious impressions. Often, after enjoying the most comfortable communion with God, and resolving to walk always with Him, they find that the duty in which they have been engaged is scarcely ended ere their warmth of affections and holy resolutions are vanished. 4. This deceitfulness appears by the many delusions of the imagination, in forming great hopes of earthly riches, honour, or pleasure. How often does the poor man build himself up, and regale his fancy with the empty prospect of great riches. How often does the mean man amuse his imagination with the delusive hope--we can scarcely call it hope, for it hath not probability sufficient to constitute hope--with the idea, with the supposition of honour and dignity, to which it is possible he may yet be advanced. If one of his acquaintance has been unexpectedly exalted in his situation in fife, he will consider this as a strong argument for the probability of his own advancement. And is not this vanity of imagination, which all must feel in some degree, because of the natural folly of all, a decisive proof of the deceitfulness of the heart? 5. The extreme reluctance of the heart to believe its own deceitfulness, is a great evidence of its power. So great is this reluctance, that sinners, instead of crediting what they hear from the law and testimony, are apt to take offence at the servants of Christ, when they insist on the evils of the heart; as if they had a pleasure in magnifying the wickedness of man, and in representing human nature as vastly worse than it really is. At any rate, they deny the applicableness of the doctrine to themselves, and proudly say, with the vain-glorious Pharisees, Are we blind also? Learn:1. The origin of hypocrisy in a religious profession. Of this the natural deceitfulness of the heart is the parent. 2. The only cure of hypocrisy. This is the destruction of the principle of deceit. 3. The danger of this course. (J. Jamieson, M. A.) Self-cheating The greatest cheat a man has is his own heart. I. His heart cheats him of a true estimate of himself. It tells him that he is morally what he is not, that he is rich, “ increased in goods,” and needeth nothing; whereas he is “ poor, blind, and naked.” II. His heart cheats him by false promises of the future.1. It promises him a longer life than he will have. 2. It promises him greater enjoyments than he will ever have. To all it paints a Canaan; but most find it, not a Canaan but a painful pilgrimage in the wilderness. 3. It promises him greater opportunities of improvement than he will ever have. It always holds out to him a “ more convenient season” ; but the “ convenient season” seldom comes. (Homilist.) The heart’ s deceitfulness towards itself I. It abounds in contradictions, so that it is not to be dealt with on any constant rule.1. The frame of the heart is ready to contradict itself every moment. Facile now, then obstinate; open, then reserved; gentle, then revengeful. 2. This ensues from the disorder wrought upon our faculties by sin. II. Its deceit lies in its full promisings upon the first appearance of things.1. Never let us think our work in contending against indwelling sin is ended. The place of its habitation is unsearchable. There are still new stratagems and wiles to be dealt with. Many conquerors have been ruined by their carelessness after a victory. 2. The fact that the heart is inconstant calls for perpetual watchfulness. An open enemy, that deals by violence only, always gives some respite; but against adversaries that deal by treachery nothing but perpetual watchfulness will give security. 3. Commit the whole matter, therefore, to Him who searcheth the heart. Here lies our safety. There is no deceit in our hearts but He can disappoint it. (John Owen, D. D.) The deceitfulness of man’ s heart I. A difficult subject to deal with.1. The examination is made by the guilty party into his own character. 2. Nothing more humiliating and painful to man’ s pride. II. No deception like that of the heart.1. It is the fountain of deceit.2. It deceives its owner and best friends often.3. Its deceit is in a large measure voluntary.4. Its deceitfulness is insidious in its growth.5. Will be terrible in its consequences. III. The examples of scripture bear this out (1 Kings 13:11-18; 2 Kings 5:22-27; 2 Kings 8:7-15; Acts 5:5-10). IV. The heart deceives its possessor continually. With regard to--1. Its motives.2. Its inclinations.3. Its safety amidst temptations.4. Its power of reformation. Learn:1. To distrust and watch it.2. To trust in Christ and His Word. (E. Jerman.) And desperately wicked.--Wickedness of the heart 1. The universal prevalence of wickedness in the world, in all countries, and in all ages. A great part of the business of the world has relation to the existence and prevalence of crimes; either to prevent, to guard against, or to punish them. Our laws, our courts, our prisons and penitentiaries, our locks and bars, our munitions of war on sea and land, are all evidences of the wickedness of man. No nation legislates on the principle, or with the expectation, that men will not be found wicked. Indeed, civil government itself owes its origin to the necessity which exists of guarding against and coercing the wickedness of the people. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 17:10I the Lord search the heart.God, the inspector of the heart I. The description given of the human heart.1. “ The heart is deceitful above all things.” There is scarcely a truth, for instance, revealed in the Bible, which it has not, at one time or other, led some men to call in question. But the deceitfulness of the heart appears nowhere, perhaps, so striking as in the case of many who sit under the faithful ministry of the Gospel, or are visited with some severe attack of sickness. How many are there who, in these circumstances, form the most serious resolutions of repentance and reformation! Their goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it passeth away. 2. The heart is desperately wicked. We must take the heart as it is to the Physician of souls, or remain forever without a cure. 3. “ Who can know it?” Its deceitfulness is an ocean which we cannot fathom, its wickedness a worm which we cannot explore. II. The Divine conduct in reference to the heart.1. He “ searches the heart, and tries the reins.” He is acquainted with our principles and motives, our dispositions and affections. However small the measure of good, or the measure of evil, which may be lurking within, He must instantly see it. Though it should be only as a grain of mustard seed sown in a garden, or as a grain of wheat sown in a field, His piercing eye cannot fall to discover it. 2. The object which He has in view in doing this, or the important reason which He assigns for thus searching the heart and trying the reins;--“ even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” (1) The ways of men, in some respects, are various as the leaves of the forest; but in the sight of God they are all either good or bad, righteous or wicked, godly or ungodly and according as their ways answer to this character will men be rewarded or punished by the Judge of quick and dead. (2) There is scarcely anything we do or say but is attended with either a beneficial or an injurious effect upon others as well as ourselves; and in settling our everlasting destiny, God will not fail to take into account the good or the evil which may thus have resulted from our actions: for He will give every man, not only according to his ways, but also according to the fruit of his doings. Conclusion--1. If the heart is deceitful above all things, let us learn to distrust it for evermore. 2. If the heart is desperately wicked, let us see the necessity of having a new heart created within us. 3. Though we cannot fathom all the depths of deceit and wickedness contained in the human heart, we may yet obtain a much more extensive knowledge of these things than we generally possess. 4. Since God searches the heart, and tries the reins of the children of men, let us know the utter impossibility of imposing upon Him. 5. Since God will give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness! (D. Bees.) God searching the human heart Taken by the gardener into a gentleman’ s garden, I saw long rows of beautiful chrysanthemums, preparing for a flower show. “ Each one of those has to be examined every day, said he, lest earwigs get into the tender tops and eat out the young buds.” And while I watched I saw the under-gardener going from one to another, gently opening the top shoots, and seeing that no hidden evil lurked within. “ Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom” (Psalms 51:6). What earwigs of thought, desire, imagination get into the heads of the Lord’ s plants, their best parts! How jealous Paul was of young converts, lest earwigs of false doctrine, or evil practice, should destroy his labour. The head Gardener sees to this. “ I the Lord search the heart” (Jeremiah 17:10). (Footsteps of Truth.) To give every man according to his ways.--God’ s rule of judgment I. The preparation God is making for the future judgment.1. He continually marks the ways of men. (1) Actions.(2) Words.(3) Thoughts. 2. He records everything in the book of His remembrance. II. The rule by which the judgment shall be determined.1. The sentence will be according to every man’ s works (Galatians 6:7-8; 2 Corinthians 9:6). 2. Rightly understood, this strongly declares the equity of God’ s future judgments. Everything that can affect the quality of an action will be taken into account. (C. Simeon, M. A.) Jeremiah 17:11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days.Riches gotten not by right The illustration is taken from natural history. Some think it refers to an ancient practice still maintained amongst the Arabs, of driving the mother birds from place to place till they become exhausted, and are easily captured: in which case, of course, the poor partridge never has the joy of seeing her own progeny. Patiently has she sat for weeks in her nest, over eggs which another than herself is to hatch. I do not think this is the intended idea at all. On looking into the Septuagint, I find the rendering of the verse somewhat different, but practically the same as many of you will find in the margin of your Bibles. “ As the partridge gathereth young which she has not herself brought forth.” That is more plain and natural. The partridge is in the habit of stealing eggs from the nests of other birds of a different species, and of sitting upon them: and then, shortly after these eggs are hatched, the young, forsaking their false parent, and associating with birds of their own order, make the old partridge look very foolish, as all her promising brood desert her. I. The Bible has nothing to say against a man’ s getting rich by just and honourable means. A fine healthy sight it is we may see every morning in London, the thousands of young men pressing in to the city on bus or car, or better still, on their own two feet, eager for business, and determined to get on. Diligence in business is one of the prime virtues of human life upon the earth, but the motive power which impels it is the expectation of gain. To be altogether indifferent to material profit, so far from being a recommendation, betokens an unmanly and defective character. It is all very well to moralize on the duty of being contented with our lot, bug there is a certain “ contentment with our lot” that simply means indolence, and stupidity, and the lack of enterprise. The wish to get riches is not a sinful wish; nay, it may be a most laudable one, and, as I have said, a useful stimulus to industry. Hence, it is by no means a good thing for a man to have been “ born with a silver spoon in his mouth” ; it may, indeed, make him the envy of others, but his moral dangers are enormously increased thereby. I don’ t pity you in the least, my young brothers, if you have had to begin life without a halfpenny; so long as you have good brains, sound health, high principle, and a fair opening, I have no fear of you; stick to your work; push on; go ahead; and may God prosper you! II. Riches unrighteously gotten are no blessing. “ There are many ways in which you may violate the spirit of the eighth commandment, without robbing the till, or forging a cheque, or making a false entry in the cashbook. Do let me entreat you to be straightforward and open in everything; let your conduct and character be above the shadow of suspicion; let truthfulness and honesty be a very law of your being; condescend to nothing which conscience does not thoroughly approve; have an instinctive horror of everything approaching duplicity or equivocation; hate a lie as you hate death; and let your whole action in business be such that you can invite the eye of God to search you through, confident that all is straight and right. Ah! believe me, such a character is the grandest capital in the long run: as John Bright wrote to a young man who applied to him for advice:--“ In my judgment the value of a high character for strict honour and honesty in business can hardly be estimated too highly and it will often stand for more in the conscience, and even in the ledger, than all that can be gained by shabby and dishonest transactions.” It seems to the rogue, wrote Thomas Carlyle, that he has found out a short northwest passage to wealth, but he soon discovers that fraudulence is not only a crime but a blunder. Sin never pays. Said a pawky Scotch farmer to his son, “ John, honesty’ s the best policy; I’ ve tried both ways mysel’ .” There is a great deal of money made in trade, which, it must be confessed, is gotten not by right. Too often there is one code of virtue for the home circle, and another code for the factory or shop. One system of morals for the Sunday, another for the weekday. Violations of rectitude, which would be severely condemned in the family, are winked at in business. When we come to the strict standard of God’ s law, we shall find a vast deal more unrighteousness in the mercantile world than most of us are willing to allow. Strange as it may seem, thousands of men are far more ready to be benevolent than just. Mr. Gladstone, in one of his speeches, sagaciously observed, “ I would almost dare to say there are five generous men for one just; man. The passions will often ally themselves with generosity, but they always tend to divert from justice.” I am quite in a line with the text when I advise you to practise frugality. Don’ t spend all our earnings; cultivate thrift. However small the sum, it will grow; and the tendency will be to develop in you self-denial, economy, and forethought. Then I would also suggest to you the wisdom, nay, the duty, of effecting, at as early a date as possible, an insurance on your life. When Jacob was bargaining with Laban about terms, he showed the sagacity that has ever been characteristic of his posterity; he was not going to remain in Laban’ s service without fair wages; “ and now,” he added, “ when shall I provide for mine own house also?” I would almost go so far as to say that the small yearly sum it will now involve is not your own; if you spend it on unnecessary comforts, you may “ leave them in the midst of your days, and at your end may be a fool.” III. The penalty on the acquisition of unrighteous gain generally follows even in this life. Perhaps this does not hold so markedly in our times as under the old dispensation, because immortality, with its just retribution, is now more clearly revealed. Still, no thoughtful person can fail to see how often a terrible Nemesis pursues the fraudulent man, even “ in the midst of his days,” and how, “ at his end,” even the world styles him “ a fool.” Some unexpected turn comes, some monetary crisis, some commercial disaster, and lo! all his hoarded gains take wing and fly away, and the unprincipled man is left like the silly partridge, to sit disconsolate in an empty nest! But though the money abide with him, there may be wretchedness untold, and he is ready to curse the gold that promised so much happiness, and now yields so little. Ill-gotten wealth will never make its owner really happy. There are plutocrats in this city whose tables are covered with silver plate, who drink their sparkling champagne, and roll along the streets in their sumptuous carriages, whose lives are unutterably miserable. A worm is gnawing at the root. Their fortune has been built upon a basis of deception, bringing with it deep, unutterable remorse; and though friends may flatter, an upbraiding voice from the unseen is ever whispering in their ear one little word of four letters--and two of them the same--“ Fool!” Do not forget that your best possessions, even now, are things which cannot be weighed in a scale, nor measured by a rule; they are treasures which rust cannot tarnish, nor thieves carry away. It was a noble declaration of Marcus Aurelius, “ My dominions are greater within than without” ; and if this was the utterance of a heathen monarch, what ought a Christian to feel? Only let a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ put you into connection with the riches of His grace, and let there burn within you the hope of a glorious immortality; then, I hesitate not to say, your fortune is made; you have the guarantee of peace and plenty here, and the promise of a blessed inheritance hereafter! (J. T. Davidson, D. D.) Riches that escape from a man Allusion is here made to a well-known fact in natural history. If a partridge or a quail or a robin brood the eggs of another species, the young will not stay with the one that happened to brood them, but at the first opportunity will assort with their own species. Those who have been brought up in the country have seen the dismay of the farmyard hen, having brooded aquatic fowls, when after a while they tumble into their natural element--the water. So the text suggests that a man may gather under his wings the property of others, but it will after a while escape; it will leave the man in a sorry predicament. (T. De Witt Talmage.) Commercial morality I. There are many wrong ways of getting riches, or seeking, at least, to get them, even where there is no violation of right or equity in a man’ s transactions with his fellow men.1. What right-minded man would rush into the strife and scramble for them in the headlong way that many do? 2. Can that man be said to be getting riches rightly who is scraping them together, and hoarding them up, without regarding the urgent necessities, not to say anything of the desirable comforts, of others? 3. Is it right to get riches in an irreligious way, by habitually neglecting God and putting our duty to Him out of the account altogether? 4. It is one thing to get riches in a way that is not right--that is, unworthily, hard-heartedly, and irreligiously--and another thing to get them “ and not by right,” --that is, unrighteously, by downright dishonesty, by the violation of the law of equity, by the rupture of the bond of uprightness in the conduct of man to man. It is this latter way of getting riches which is expressly mentioned here, emphatically condemned, and threatened with an inevitable and appropriate punishment. II. There is a remarkable connection between what is said about the human heart in verse 9, and what immediately follows. “ The heart is deceitful,” etc. Here is a challenge. Fathom the depth of depravity, obscured and complicated by the deceitfulness, who can. There is only One who can accept the challenge; and He does. “ I the Lord search,” etc. His judgment is ever according to truth. He stamps all human character with its proper die; calls all human conduct by its proper name; and will infallibly lead all human conduct, be it good or bad, to its appropriate issue. Not by right are riches gotten--1. If by the deceptions of merchandise.2. By the unfair remuneration of labour.3. By the artifices of commerce. Conclusion--Be industrious: seeking, by the hand of diligence, if it be God’ s will, even to be rich. But beware of being carried away from moral principle, from a religious life, by the prevailing furor of business, the almost terrific money rage. “ One thing is needful.” All things are ours, if we are Christ’ s, for Christ is God’ s. (H. Angus, D. D.) Jeremiah 17:12-14A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.Our sanctuary This book of Jeremiah is a very thorny one--it might be called, like his smaller work, “ The Book of Lamentations.” Our text is as a lily among thorns, as a rose in the wilderness; the solitary place shall be glad for it, and the desert shall rejoice. The words sound like sweet music amid the crash of tempest. The bitter tree yields us sweet fruit. The weeping prophet wipes away our tears. I. The true place of our sanctuary. It is not at Jerusalem, nor yet at Samaria; it is not at Rome, nor yet at Canterbury. The place of our sanctuary is our God Himself. “ God is our refuge and strength.” “ Lord. Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.”1. He is viewed under the aspect of a sovereign reigning in majesty--“ A glorious high throne is the place of our sanctuary.” Many refuse to worship God as reigning: they have not yet grasped the idea that the Lord is King, so that they cannot understand the song, “ The Lord reigneth: let the earth rejoice.” For that includes, first, Divine sovereignty, and some men grow black in the face with rage against that truth; they cannot endure it. He will make His own election, and He will distribute His mercy as seemeth good in His sight. Now this God whose sovereignty is so much disputed is our God; a glorious high throne for absolute dominion and sovereignty is the place of our sanctuary. To Him whose sovereign grace is the hope of the undeserving we fly for succour. Besides sovereignty, of course, His glorious high throne includes power. A throne without power would be but the pageantry of vanity. There should be power in the King who ruleth over all: and is there not? Who shall stay His hand, or say unto Him, “ What doest Thou?” 2. Forget not that the Lord reigns in exceeding glory. The excellence of His dominion surpasses all other, for He is the blessed and only Potentate. Every act of His empire exhibits His glorious character, His justice, His goodness, His faithfulness, His holiness. 3. It says, “ A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” It is a very blessed thing to come back to the fact that the Lord has not newly assumed a throne, from which He has newly cast out some former king. As His is the most potent of empires, so is it the most ancient. God is never taken by surprise; He has foreseen all things, and worked them into His grand plan. God is working evermore for a glorious purpose, which shall one day make the universe and all eternity to sing with rapturous joy that ever God determined to do what He is now doing. 4. When the prophet alludes to the place of our sanctuary, our mind is naturally led to feel that there must be some kind of place where God especially reveals Himself. The place where He mainly revealed Himself among men was the temple, to which I have said Jeremiah somewhat alludes. Now, where was the temple built? It was built upon that mountain whereon Abraham took his son Isaac to offer him up as a sacrifice. A ram caught in the thicket was the substitute for Isaac; but there was no substitute for Jesus, the Son of God. He died, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. But there, where the most instructive of all types of the heavenly Father’ s love was exhibited, there must be the temple wherein God would converse with men and make for men a place of sanctuary. The temple itself was built upon that site, and there it was that God dwelt visibly between the wings of the cherubim, above the ark of the covenant, over that golden lid which was called the mercy seat. What was that ark of the covenant, but a type of our Lord Jesus Christ in a most instructive way. The sacrifice of Isaac and the ark of the covenant were only types of that greater sacrifice, when He who is the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, went up to the Cross, and on Calvary “ it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” It is natural that the Lord should meet with us in grace in the place where He put His Son to grief. There, where He made His soul an offering for sin, the Lord becomes well pleased with us. Now, then, the place where we worship is God Himself revealed in the person of His dear Son. I pray you, never try to worship anywhere else. Christ is the one altar, the one temple, the one sanctuary. 5. In addition, the Lord God is our refuge; for a sanctuary was a place to which men fled in the hour of peril Is not Jesus our refuge from present guilt and from the wrath to come? II. I am to speak concerning whose who depart from God. Alas, that there should be such!--men who leave the river for the desert, the living for the dead! Who are they? The text says, “ All that forsake Thee,” and “ they that depart from Me.” See, then, that this text has a bearing upon us, because these people of whom we are now going to speak were not an ignorant people who did not know God, or how could they be said to forsake Him? At one time, evidently, these people had something to do with the Lord, but after awhile they forsook Him. What did they do? They no longer sought unto the Lord as once they did, but ceased to be fervent in their service. At first they ceased to worship Him, they took no delight in His ways; they tried to be neutral, they were lukewarm, careless, indifferent, they forgot God. After thus declining in zeal, and refusing outward worship, they went further; for he says they had departed from Him--they could not endure the Lord, and therefore went into the far country. They said unto God, “ Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” They went into open sin; they disowned their God and broke His commands: some of them even dared to blaspheme Him. The course of sin is downhill. The man who once forgets his God soon forgets himself; and then he throws the reins on the neck of his lusts and goes from sin to sin, forgetting his God more and more. The most hardened of sinners will one day be ashamed, saying, “ I acted unprofitably to myself.” Such shame will come over you forgetful ones one of these days. It may not come upon you till you die, but it is very probable that it will assail you then. When in your dying hours, what a dreadful thing it will be to be filled with shame at the remembrance of the past, so as to be afraid to meet your God, ashamed to think that you have lived a whole life without caring for Him! What will it be to wake up in the next world and to see the glory of God around you--the glory of the God whom you despised! Oh, the shame that will come over the ungodly in judgment! “ They shall wake up to shame and everlasting contempt.” Great men and proud men will be small enough ere long; and careless and profane persons will be miserable enough when that word shall be fulfilled--“ All that forsake Thee shall be ashamed.” And then it is added that they “ shall be written in the earth” ; that is, if they turn away from God they may win a name for a while, but it will be merely from the earth, and of the earth. O worldlings, you have your riches in this poor country which is soon to be burned with fire. Your pleasures and treasures will melt in the fervent heat of the last days. Your life’ s pursuits are a short business, ending in eternal misery. The text tells us that there shall come something besides this: they that forsake God shall one day be sore athirst even unto death, “ because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.” There is for the soul but one fountain of water, flowing, cool, clear, ever refreshing. “ All my springs are in Thee,” said David; and so may we say, for our only source of supply is the Lord our God. If a man turns away from God, then he forsakes the cool fountain, he goes to broken cisterns that hold no water, and he will perish of thirst. III. Let us look at the comers to God. Those who come to God--how do they come? They come away from all the world. O soul, if thou wouldst have peace, come away to your God. Never take your place with those who shall be written in the earth. How did believers come to God of old? Jeremiah came sick and needing to be saved, for he cried, “ Heal me, O Jehovah, save me.” That is the way to come. But come to God with faith. It was grand faith of Jeremiah which enabled him to say, “ Heal me, and I shall be healed.” Sick as I am, if Thou wilt act as physician to me I shall be cured: if Thou save me, lost as I am, I shall be saved. Come along, poor sinner. “ Where, sir?” say you. To God in Christ Jesus. And come with this acknowledgment on your tongue,--“ For Thou art my praise.” We have a good God, a loving God, a tender God, a gracious God, a God full of long-suffering and mercy and faithfulness to us poor sinners. This is good argument in prayer--“ I have made my boast in Thee, O God, I pray Thee let not my glorying be stopped. Be to me as I have declared Thou wilt be.” But suppose you cannot say so much as that, then put it this way--“ Heal me, O Lord; heal me this morning; save me, O Lord; save me at once, and Thou shalt be my praise. Lord, I promise that I will never rob Thee of the honour of my salvation; if Thou wilt but save me Thou shalt have all the glory of it.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) God our sanctuary The godly soul has a sure defence and aid in his living, loving Father and God. In every time of earthly need and trouble this is his chief consolation, and the source of serene and abiding joy I. Thy necessity of a divine refuge. Times come when the hardiest and most self-reliant is made to feel that he is but feebleness, vanity, and dust. Protection, comfort, and settledness for the soul can alone be found in God.1. We are victims of moral evil. 2. Of mental and physical sorrows. II. The nature of the refuge afforded.1. Lofty and glorious in position. There we may obtain-- (1) Mercy.(2) Grace.(3) Pardon.(4) Strength. 2. All-sufficient in resources. Help for every circumstance, need, age. 3. Perpetual and abiding in duration. (James Foster, B. A.) Man’ s refuge-A glorious high throne The word sanctuary at first meant anything separated and set apart for a holy purpose; later it came to designate a place used exclusively for sacred services; and then we find it used to express one chief end of a sacred place--an asylum--a place of refuge to which the guilty may fly and be safe. I. Man’ s refuge. No creature so much needs the shelter and defence of a safe hiding place as man. His sources of danger are more than can be numbered. Beset with foes, he is in constant need of shelter, and often cries out for deliverance. What so welcome to him as a refuge! Physically regarded, as possessed of a body over which disease and death reign, how often does he sigh for some asylum, which may furnish a defence against these invaders of life! How is he to escape the feeling of terrible desertion and unimaginable dangers, how help crying out for some refuge from “ the fightings without, the fears within,” and the foes on every side? And, looking still deeper, when we see that he is the subject of a disease deceitful above every other--a disease which pertains to his whole nature--an “ incurable wickedness,” and when we hear him cry out in anguish of soul, “ O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver into from this body of sin and death,” --who does not rejoice at the very idea of refuge? How hard it is not to complain against God, and to demand “ wherefore He has made man in vain!” How still harder to believe that there is a refuge for man which has been set up from the beginning! But in all times of deepest trouble, when human helpers fail and the hour of extremity comes, the strange thing is that the universal instincts of man’ s nature do lead him to look for help, and though he passes away apparently unhelped, he does so looking for help. You may have stood among a crowd, upon the shore, watching some vessel tossed on the tempestuous billows which threatened to overwhelm her until at length a mighty wave washed over her and swept her clean of every living soul. And as that sea overwhelmed her there arose from the breast of everyone of the gazing crowd, “ God help them!” Was that prayer an unconscious self-delusion in that moment of agony, or is there help for man in all times of his need? Or you may have listened to a judge passing the awful sentence which doomed a fellow creature to death--and whilst telling him there was no longer mercy or hope for him on earth, pointing to heaven and assuring him of hope and help in God. Was that judge dishonouring his judicial robes, and deceiving that poor wretch by this solemn mockery of pretended mercy, or is there an open door of hope in heaven for the poor outcasts from earth? And we have all read of the poor thief upon the Cross, turning, whilst paying the last penalty of the law with his life, in penitence to the Saviour and praying, “ Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom” ; and we know the gracious answer he received, “ This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.” Was our Lord deceived in this promise, or did He knowingly deceive the miserable victim of crime in the moment of his extremity? Oh no--there is help for the helpless, help for the hell-deserving, shelter for the defenceless, a refuge for the outcasts. “ The just God,” who is also a “ Saviour” --oh, how I love that combination--hath said, “ Look unto Me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.” II. Man’ s refuge is a sanctuary. A place which is only a refuge furnishes but a temporary shelter. To the shipwrecked, a naked rock jutting out of the sea would be a glad refuge from the devouring waves; but it would not be a refuge long. But a refuge, which is also a sanctuary, a Divine house, affords not only shelter, but rest, repose, and satisfaction for all we need or can desire. The house of God may well be a home for man. And he who enters such a refuge soon discovers that it will be to him all his desire. III. Man’ s refuge is not only sacred, but royal. “ A glorious high throne is the place of our sanctuary.” The house of God, “ the dwelling place of the Most High” is also the seat and source of all rule, authority, and power. “ Under the shadow of the Almighty,” man finds a sure defence for the whole breadth of his nature, in the midst of every possible circumstance, throughout the whole course of his history. The security and defence vouchsafed to him are of the highest character, and inseparable from the nature of the throne, which has become his refuge. The sanctuary-refuge-throne is holy, and the holiness of the throne is its defence and security. The power of the throne is the defence of man’ s refuge. But the throne, which has become man’ s refuge, is not merely a symbol of power, but also of power surrounded with becoming glory. There is “ the pomp which surrounds a throne.” The throne gathers up and crowns every excellency. IV. This sanctuary-refuge-throne is spoken of as an exalted throne. It is high enough to embrace not merely man’ s individual nature, in all its integrity of body, soul, and sprat, but the whole race--the earliest sons in all the height and might of their experience, together with the latest born in the feebleness of beginning life. And not merely the race of man, for, under its exalted height is gathered together, in one unity of blessed life, all the elect, from the archangel before the throne to the weakest and meanest of the sons of men. V. This exalted throne is glorious in the history of its exaltation. Its exaltation has not been by might but by right. Righteousness has been pleased and the law magnified throughout the holy pathway of ascent from a humble refuge to the glorious high throne. In becoming a refuge for the destitute, the abandoned, the lost, the throne has revealed the charms of the holy order and eternal righteousness by which triumphant conquests are made over every form of disorder and wickedness. Fugitives from the consequences of violated law, as they enter the refuge become obedient to law; the wicked become righteous; the sinful are made holy. VI. It has been set up from the beginning. The provision for the requirements of man’ s fallen nature was no afterthought but a forethought. The refuge was ever latent in the unbroken depths of the throne, and, for the revelation of its fundamental glory, needed to be opened up. The history of man unfolds the eternal purpose, and will be no mean history when complete. It was the joy of the Eternal Wisdom, whose “ delights were with the sons of men” “ ere ever the earth was” ; it will be His joy when the earth is no more. The discords of human history lie between two harmonies, the one in which they have no place, the other in which they have been resolved. In man’ s nature is struck the keynote of those pre-established harmonies, the melody of which is being written out in his history as a fitting song with which to celebrate the close of his earthly career, and the reconciliation of all things. VII. The personality of this refuge. An impersonal refuge could never afford shelter and defence for man against his personal foes. Moreover, the impersonal could never afford rest to, nor become a home for man. Man needs man, a human security, a human joy, a human home, a warm maternal bosom on which to rest; not even God as God, but God as man. Is there such a person? One who is a refuge for man and a sanctuary for God? One who is also a throne, a throne exalted by a glorious history, and yet set up from the beginning? Oh joy of all joys, that God has revealed to us One possessed of all these attributes! We make our first acquaintance with Christ as a refuge. We seek in Him deliverance, shelter, and safety. Having made the experience of Him as a refuge, we begin to find He is more than a refuge, that He is a Divine house, a blessed home, a home in the house of God. Then, as we enlarge our acquaintance with our home, we find it a house of many mansions, opening up out of each other height above height, until a very throne is displayed to us--the throne of God, rising out of the refuge for man--and that the refuge is lost in the throne. And then as we gaze upon the throne which has hidden the refuge in its glory, the humanity in the Divinity, we begin to discover the refuge again in its deeper depth, something human in the depths of the Divine, and that it gives its own lustre to the central glory of the throne. And we perceive that this eternal humanity in the depths of Deity which gives a lustre to the eternal glory is the humanity which is the Alpha and Omega of man’ s earthly history. And seeing this we refuse to it all dates and proclaim it to have been ever from of old, and that it “ became” the eternal Son in the bosom of the Father, nay, “ behoved Him to be in all things made like unto His brethren that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people” ; nay, more, that it “ must needs have been” that He might “ enter into His glory” ! Hallelujah! God has made Himself one with us in our necessities that we may partake of His glory. (J. Pulsford, D. D.) Adoring exclamations of a soul gazing on God I. A wonderful vision of what God is. There are three clauses. They all seem to have reference to the temple in Jerusalem, which is taken by a very natural figure of speech as a kind of suggestive description of Him who is worshipped there. “ The Sublime Porte” is properly the name of a lofty gateway which belonged to the palace in Constantinople, and so has come to mean the Turkish Government--if government it can be called. So we talk of “ the Papal see.” Or, again, the decision of “ the Chair” in the House of Commons. So the prophet takes outward facts of the temple building as symbolising great and blessed spiritual thoughts of the God that filled the temple with His own lustre.1. “ A glorious throne” --that is grand, but that is not what Jeremiah means--“ A throne of glory” is the true rendering. In the Old Testament, where “ glory” is ascribed to God, the word has a very specific meaning, namely, the light which was afterwards called the “ Shekinah,” that dwelt between the cherubim, and was the symbol of the Divine presence, and the assurance that that presence would be self-revealing, and would manifest Himself to His people. The throned glory, the glory that reigns and rules as King in Israel, is the idea of the words before us. It is the same throne that a later writer in the New Testament speaks of when he says, “ Let us come boldly to the throne of grace.” We all can draw near, through the rent veil, and walk rejoicingly in the light of the Lord; this glory is grace; this grace is glory. This, then, is the first of Jeremiah’ s great thoughts of God, and it means--“ The Lord God omnipotent reigneth,” there is none else but He, and His will runs authoritative and supreme into all corners of the universe. 2. “ High from the beginning.” It was a piece of the patriotic exaggeration of Israel’ s prophets and psalmists that they made much of the little hill upon which the temple was set. Jeremiah felt it to be a material type, both of the elevation, and of the stable duration, of the God whom he would commend to Israel’ s and to all men’ s trust. “ High from the beginning,” separated from all creatural limitation and lowness, He whose name is the Most High, and on whose level no other being can stand, towers above the lowness of the loftiest creature, and from that inaccessible height He sends down His voice, like the trumpet from amidst the darkness of Sinai, proclaiming, I am God and there is none besides Me. Yet while thus “ holy” --that is, separate from creatures--He makes communion with Himself possible to us, and draws near to us in Christ, that we in Christ may be made nigh to Him. 3. He is “ the place of our sanctuary.” That is, as though the prophet would point as the wonderful climax of all, to the fact that He of whom the former things were true should yet be accessible to our worship; that, if I might so say, our feet could tread the courts of that great temple; and we draw near to Him who is so far above the loftiest, and separate from all the magnificences which Himself has made, and who yet is “ our sanctuary,” and accessible to our worship. Ay! and more than that--“ Lord! Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.” In old days the temple was more than a place of worship. It was a place where a man coming, had, according to ancient custom, guest rights with God. God Himself, like some ancestral dwelling place in which generation after Generation of fathers find children have abode, whence they have been carried, and where their children still live, is to all generations their home and their fortress. II. The soul rapt in meditation of this vision of God. To me, this long-drawn-out series of linked clauses without grammatical connection, this succession of adorning exclamations of rapture, wonder, and praise, is very striking. It suggests the manner in which we should vivify all our thoughts of God, by turning them into material for devout reverence; awestruck, considering meditation. We should be like ruminant animals who first crop the grass--which being interpreted means, get Scripture truth into our heads--and then chew the cud, which being interpreted is, then put these truths through a second process by meditation on them that may turn into nourishment and make flesh. III. The meditative soul going out to grasp God thus revealed, as its portion and hope. “ O Lord! the hope of Israel.” I must cast myself upon Him by faith as my only hope; and turn away from all other confidences which are vain and impotent. So we are back upon that familiar Christian ground, that the bond which knits a man to God, and by which all that God is becomes that man’ s personal property, and available for the security and the shaping of his life, is the simple flinging of himself into God’ s arms, in sure and certain trust. Then, every one of these characteristics of which I have been speaking will contribute its own special part to the serenity, the security, the Godlikeness, the blessedness, the righteousness, the strength of the man who thus trusts. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) All that forsake Thee shall be ashamed. A backslider ashamed of his conduct A London City missionary writes: “ One Sunday afternoon, when out visiting, I noticed a soldier. He was in a great hurry, but I soon caught him up, gave him a tract, and, walking with him, spoke to him about his soul. In reply he said, ‘ I only wish I was the same as I used to be. For four and a half years I was a Christian. I worked for Christ with all my heart, and was never so happy as when so engaged. I made up my mind to enlist. I thought I should get on all right, but when my companions knew I was a Christian, they made it so hot for me I could not stand it, and gave in.’ ‘ But,’ said I, ‘ what would your country think of you if you were a coward in the face of an enemy? And should you fear to face the foes of Jesus Christ? When the greatest danger surrounds you, then it is your duty to be most faithful, not only to King Edward, but to King Jesus.’ The young soldier was deeply moved, and said, ‘ I do thank God for meeting you. I will give my heart to Jesus again, and by God’ s help I will be true to Him. I will not be a coward again, but will confess Him tonight in the barrack room.’” Shall be written in the earth.-- Where is our name being written Prudentius rightly saith, that their names that are written in red letters of blood in the Church’ s calendar, are written in golden letters in Christ’ s register in the book of life; as on the contrary, these idolaters whose sin was with an iron pen engraven on tables of their hearts (verse 1) are justly written in the earth. (John Trapp.) Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.The Lord’ s healing I. The prophet’ s cry. Sin is the sickness of the soul. It has seized upon all its powers. Not one single faculty has escaped; all are polluted, all diseased. Its very vitals are affected by sin. The understanding is darkness (1 Corinthians 2:14). The will is stubborn; the conscience is impure (Titus 1:15). The very memory is impure. But the chief seat and residence of sin is the heart (Jeremiah 4:18). Oh, how little do we know its deep defilement (1 Kings 8:38). The leprosy of the law was a type of it. It is poison (Psalms 140:3). It is the “ mire” in which the sow wallows, the “ vomit” of dog (2 Peter 2:22). One sin has in it all enmity, rebellion, distance from God, all deceitfulness, hardness; and yet, how slight are our deepest views; how poor and feeble our most heartfelt repentance; how unfeeling our most touching sorrow. Sin is by all human skill and human power incurable (Jeremiah 2:22). II. Is this so? Then no one but Jesus the Lord can heal our spiritual diseases.1. It requires omniscience to know them. There is in all sin, in every one sin, a depth which human wisdom can never fathom--a depth of baseness, ingratitude, contempt (Psalms 19:12). 2. It requires omnipotence to subdue them. It requires the same putting forth of Divine omnipotence to bring light into the darkened soul as to bring light into this darkened world (2 Corinthians 4:6). 3. It requires infinite patience to bear with these soul-diseases. 4. It requires an infinite sympathy, and a boundless love. III. His healing.1. The means whereby He heals are various. Indeed, there is not a single circumstance which He does not employ for this very end. By things pleasant, things painful; comforts and crosses; by what He gives, by what He takes away; by friends, by foes; by saints, by sinners; by the Church, by the world; by sickness, by health; by life and by death; He heals the sin-sick soul. 2. The character of His healing. (1) Most wise healing. How infinite that wisdom which suits His skill to every individual case. Some are confident, He checks them; others depressed, He cheers them. Some love nothing but high cordials, He brings them down to that hunger that makes every bitter thing sweet. (2) Most tender healing. His is the tenderness of Him who in all our afflictions is afflicted, a friend, a brother, a nurse. Is the medicine bitter? He administered it with His own hand. (3) Most mysterious healing. He makes us wise by discoveries of our own folly, strong by unfolding our own weakness. (4) Most efficacious healing. He blesses His own remedies. (5) Most holy healing. All this healing is to conform to the Divine image. Conclusion--1. Our wisdom is to be willing to have our spiritual maladies discovered, yea, thoroughly searched. 2. Our wisdom is to be willing to have them thoroughly cured, honestly to wish this, cost what it may, “ Heal me.” 3. To expect no cure but what is promised. 4. To put ourselves fairly into His hands. 5. Above all, to trust not only in Him, but in the blessed confidence of a simple faith that He is able to heal, and will heal, to come to Him with the prophet’ s cry, “ Heal Thou me.” (J. H. Evans, M. A.) A cry for healing and saving grace I. Sin is the disease of the soul and is so felt.1. Loss of rest.2. Deprivation of taste.3. Loss of sight.4. Loss of hearing. II. Christ is the only Physician.1. The infinite efficacy of Christ’ s atonement, as showing God’ s readiness as well as ability to pardon.2. Since God requires forgiveness without bounds of us, will not He extend the same to sinners?3. The direct statements of Scripture.4. Great instances of mercy. III. Prayer is our only refuge. The appointed means. Has never failed. IV. Praise should be our truest delight. (S. Thodey.) A prayer for salvation 1. These words express a deep concern about salvation, and an earnest desire to obtain it. 2. A firm persuasion that God alone can save. 3. A heartfelt application to God for salvation through the medium of prayer. 4. An unwavering confidence that the salvation which God bestows in answer to prayer will be a salvation suited to the wants of fallen man. (G. Brooks.) The penitent’ s prayer I. As expressing a deep concern about salvation and an earnest desire to obtain it. He not only cherishes a lively aversion to all that stings him with remorse, or that fills him with alarm; he mourns also the loss of those positive blessings of which his apostasy has deprived him, and thirsts for their recovery. II. The true penitent being thus awakened to a sense of his need of salvation, and to unfeigned and anxious concern about obtaining it, he applies for it to Almighty God. “ Save me, O Lord.” The nature and exigency of his situation compel him to have recourse to God as alone able to deliver him. The Divine mercy exhibited in the Gospel encourages him to put his confidence in God, as perfectly willing to bestow the deliverance he is so anxious to attain. Every new proof that he discovers of God’ s kindness gives him a more forcible impression of the heinousness of his guilt and of the folly of his conduct, and shows him still more clearly how much he must lose by remaining in a state of alienation and impenitence, and thus adds a fresh and double impulse to the anxiety that he feels, and the desire that he cherishes, for pardon and reconciliation. III. The true penitent applies to God for salvation through the medium of prayer. “ Save me, O Lord.” The moment that the sinner feels the real burden of his transgressions, and is made fully sensible of his need of Divine mercy, that moment he as naturally, and as necessarily, cries to God, for the requisite communications, as the hungry child craves bread from its bountiful parent, or as the condemned criminal supplicates pardon from his compassionate sovereign. And the penitent transgressor not only feels his heart naturally lifted up to God in prayer, when convinced that it is He from whom cometh his aid, he also applies in that way, in conformity to the Divine institution. He knows that prayer is the appointed method of seeking for and of obtaining the blessings of salvation. IV. The confidence which the true penitent feels, that if the salvation which he asks be granted, it will be altogether such as his circumstances require, and such as will more than gratify his utmost wishes. It is as if the penitent said to God whom he is addressing, “ Were any other being to undertake my salvation, I should not be saved. There would be some imperfection in the achievement. It would be an attempt, but not attended with success. But if Thou Thyself save me, I shall be saved indeed. There will be no feebleness in the purpose; no inadequacy in the power; no deficiency in the means; no failure in the result. The perfection of Thy nature must reign in all Thy works; and that provides a security that nothing can occur to frustrate or to impair the work of my salvation.” (A. Thomson, D. D.) Prayer for healing and salvation These are great biblical words: “ heal” and “ save.” We all know what it is to get a wound healed. The man with the gift of healing is sent for, and he binds up the wound and anoints it with the ointment. But God’ s healing goes far deeper than bodily wounds. Each heart is here its own interpreter. And then, “ save.” That means more than heal. We shall have to wait till the hereafter to know all that is meant by that great word. Now the prayer implies a helpless condition, in which we can only cry to God for healing and salvation. There is a place sometimes called “ the back o’ beyond,” another name for it being “ wit’ s end” (Psalms 107:1-43). With regard to the soul, it is well to find ourselves there, and the sooner the better; for it is not a hopeless place by any means. The Help of the helpless is ready there at the call of distress. He can do little for us indeed till we thus learn that really there is no other help but He. The Earl of Aberdeen tells how on one occasion, going up the Nile in his yacht, he saw a little steamer coming puffing rapidly down. He was told it was Gordon’ s steamer, who was Governor of the Soudan at the time. On hearing that, he was anxious to speak with Gordon, if possible; but the question was how to accomplish it, for in a few minutes the steamer would be past. Suddenly a brilliant idea struck the earl. He gave orders to his men to hang out signals of distress. He was sure Gordon was not the man to pass by heedless a signal of distress. The ruse proved successful. The steamer began at once to veer round, and in a very short time was alongside the yacht. Now we all know that the helpful spirit was very characteristic of Gordon, but where was it he learned it? Just by sitting at Jesus’ feet. And we may be sure that the disciple is not greater than the Master in that readiness to heed and help at the call of need, and that what Jesus was in the days of His flesh, He is now and ever will be. One thing more is implied in the text--the assurance that the help will be all-sufficient. The prophet is sure that God will perfect His work of healing and saving. And that is a great matter, to know that it is something that lasts. Our soul shall be restored and shall bless the Lord who healeth all its diseases. Yea, and so will the world in the good time coming, when all lands shall be healed, and God’ s saving health shall be known among all nations. (J. S. Mayer, M. A.) Thou art my praise. God the believer’ s praise I. The nature of true effectual healing.1. Spiritual healing is a gradual and progressive thing. It begins with a sinner’ s principles, for if the principle of our actions be not a part of God’ s holy teaching, and grafted by the Spirit of Christ into those who are the children of His adoption, it is one of the unsanctified impulses of nature. It is the soul’ s worst enemy, a wandering, faithless state, that will never lead us to Bethlehem, and as the seed of the bond woman must be utterly cast out. When this terribly diseased principle is healed, the Spirit’ s work is in operation; and we begin to apprehend what that unearthly life is, which leads every other life that is worth possessing after it. From the principle the work of healing is carried forwards to the various actions that branch from it; the wild grape is no longer the curse of the vineyard. When the husbandman takes the plant itself in hand, it yields naturally to the superior excellency of the graft, and partakes of its very character and condition. We cannot now indulge the senses as we did; we were once their slaves, they are now our handmaids, and enter freely with us into the liberty of the Gospel. 2. It is free and unpurchaseable by any creature who has the heart and disposition of a sinner. There is no buying the skill and medicines of our Physician. When He heals, it is “ without money and without price.” Nay, He was Himself compelled to purchase at the hands of justice, the power of stopping the ravages of corruption, and drawing a line, beyond which the sin of leprosy should not spread. No one, neither man nor angel, will ever be capable, I say not of estimating, but of imagining, the greatness of that purchase. 3. It is an effectual and everlasting healing. Christ’ s balm goes down to the very depth of the diseased places; He sifts, and tries, and searches the wound before He closes it. II. The distinction between healing and salvation. Both of these blessings are the precious and enduring treasures of redemption; though one of them is but a mean to an end; if I am not healed I cannot be saved; my earthly heart must not only be emptied of its enmity and rebellion, and deceivableness of unrighteousness, but of whatever hinders it, on its way to glory. Yea, and it must be refilled, with that measure of Divine love which will spur it forward, and strengthen and advance it on its journey towards Zion. When I am healed, my bosom glows with delight that I shall not go down in my natural uncleanness to the grave: my self-interest has quite wrapped itself up in the sweet security of the blessing; the depths of a wounded spirit are fathomed by the only hand that can get to the bottom of them. I have lost the distress, and pain, and poignancy of guilt; the scars are indeed mercifully left upon me, to be my remembrancers of what a gracious and loving Jesus has done for my sick soul, but the killing sickness is gone, and I seem to apprehend the wonderful reality of my being plucked as a brand out of the burning. The act of healing may, perhaps, with more propriety belong to the office of the Holy Spirit, than to the incarnate Son,--but salvation is that chariot of fire which exclusively holds the triumphs, the royalties, the priceless riches of Christ. We identify salvation with conquests and suffering, and a vesture stained with blood; it calls us, in special language, to draw near, and kiss the Son, and to support our everyday trials, by giving our thoughts to that surpassingly severe trial which He passed through as a Conqueror upon the Cross. III. In what way the Lord is glorified as the believer’ s praise. It is no question of conjecture in this place, whether God, under every one of His providences, in dark and clouded clays, as well as in clear bright sunshine, is worthy to be praised; for that will admit of no discussion, if we believe that He is the perfection of wisdom, and goodness, and love; but this is a matter for individual, experimental inquiry, and so is limited to a narrower space. Have you, and have I the right apprehension of our God as a Father? and of ourselves as His children? to be able to go down deep into the spirit of the text, and to say, “ Thou art my praise” ?1. If the Lord is your praise, your hearts will be full of desire to honour Him in every act of your lives; and your continual longing will be to plead with Him, that every fresh song you sing to His glory may savour of this unselfish spirit. 2. If God be our praise we shall labour to be conformed to His likeness. 3. If God be our praise, all the heart springs must be so full of it as to throw the precious living water into the life. (F. G. Crossman.) Jeremiah 17:17 Be not a terror unto me: Thou art my hope in the day of evil.Divine wrath an object of fear I. The petition.1. God’ s majesty is in itself an object of fear and dread (Hebrews 12:21; Isaiah 6:5; Habakkuk 3:16; Hosea 3:5). 2. Divine chastisements are to be feared (Jeremiah 10:24; Psalms 6:1; Job 9:34). 3. God’ s wrath is still more dreadful. 4. The prophet prays for support and comfort in the time of trial. II. The expression of confidence.1. The grace exercised is hope. (1) God is the object of His people’ s hope (Psalms 71:5; Psalms 78:5).(2) God is the end of their hope. They need no more (Psalms 16:11; Psalms 17:15). 2. The time when this grace is exercised. “ Day of evil.” (1) Sin and sorrow make every day an evil day; stiff let us hope (Psalms 62:8; Psalms 71:14).(2) Yet there are peculiar days of evil. National calamity; reverses in business; disappointments; affliction; old age (Psalms 73:26; 2 Timothy 1:12). Learn--1. That hopes and fears are blended together in the experience of the godly (Psalms 147:11). 2. If God is sometimes a terror to His own people, how much more to the wicked? (B. Beddome, M. A.) Jeremiah 17:19 Whereby the kings of Judah come in.Courage and fearlessness before kings When King Don Pedro was unexpectedly brought into the hall in Chicago in which Moody was speaking on “ Accepting Christ,” the obsequious usher, after showing the king to a seat on the platform, whispered to Moody, “ King Don Pedro is on the platform.” Moody took no notice, but at the end of his powerful appeal turned to the king and said, “ And that is a question that kings cannot postpone, for on their decision depends what God will do with the king.” The king afterwards spoke of him as “ a man to be heard and believed.” (G. Campbell Morgan.) Preaching before the greatest King Latimer, while preaching one day before Henry VIII, stood up in the pulpit, and, seeing the king, addressed himself in a kind of soliloquy, thus, “ Latimer, Latimer, take care what you say, for the great King Henry VIII is here.” Then he paused, and proceeded, “ Latimer, Latimer, take care what you say, for the great King of kings is here.” Jeremiah 17:22 But hallow ye the Sabbath day.Cheating God out of Sunday An old Christian, living at Salem, was much annoyed by the conduct of some of his neighbours who persisted in working on the Sabbath. One Sabbath, as he was going to Church, his Sabbath breaking neighbours called out to him sneeringly from the hayfield, “ Well, father, we have cheated the Lord out of two Sundays anyway!” “ I don’ t know that,” replied the old gentleman, “ I don’ t know; the account is not yet settled.” The design of the Sabbath The true spirit of the Sabbath appointment is, not that we should condense the religion of the week into the Sabbath, but that we should carry forth from the Sabbath its hallowed impulses and feelings into the other days of the week, to elevate and sustain us amid its wearisome secularities and depressing cares. The Lord has given us the Sabbath, not to relieve us of out religion, but so to revive our religion on that day as to impel its healthy tide into the remotest nook and corner of everyday duty. (Andrew Thomson.) . Jeremiah 18:1-10 Go down to the potter’ s house.The potter and the clay (with Romans 9:19-24):--The potter and the clay! Is not that parable the germ of all that is most oppressive in the “ terrible decree” of Calvinism? Does it not justify the Moslem’ s acceptance of the will of Allah as a destiny which he cannot understand, but to which he must perforce submit? Is not this the last word of the apostle, even when he is most bent on vindicating the ways of God to men, in answer to the question which asks now, as Abraham asked of old, “ Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” “ Why doth He yet find fault, for who hath resisted His will?” I do not purpose entering into the thorny labyrinth into which these questions lead us. We shall do well to trace the history and to note the bearings of this parable. Does it really teach what men have imagined that it taught--the powerlessness of man and the arbitrary sovereignty of God? or does it lead us to acknowledge a wisdom and righteousness and mercy in the history of men and nations? Does it simply crush us to the ground with the sense of our own impotence? or does it rightly take its place in that noble argument which makes the Epistle to the Romans, more than any other art of Scripture, a true Theodicaea, a vindication of the ways of God to man? I. It was in a dark and troublous time that Jeremiah was called to do his work. The purpose and promises of Jehovah to His people Israel seemed to fail utterly. It was in this mood that there came to him an inner prompting in which, then or afterwards, he recognised “ the Word of the Lord.” Acting on that impulse he left the temple and the city, and went out alone into the valley of Hinnom, where he saw the potter at work moulding the clay of the valley into form and fashioning it according to his purpose. The prophet looked and saw that here too there was apparent failure. “ The vessel that he wrought was marred in the hands of the potter.” The clay did not take the shape; there was some hidden defect that seemed to resist the plastic guidance of wheel and hand. The prophet stood and gazed--was beginning, it may be, to blame the potter as wanting in his art, when he looked again and saw what followed. “ So he returned, and made it another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” Skill was seen there in its highest form--not baffled by seeming or even real failure--triumphing over difficulties. And then by one of those flashes of insight which the world calls genius, but which we recognise as inspiration, he was taught to read the meaning of the parable. “ Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’ s hand, so are ye in Mine, O house of Israel.” Did the thought which thus rushed in on his soul crush it as with the sense of a destiny arbitrary, supreme, not necessarily righteous, against which men struggled in vain, and in whose hands they had no freedom and therefore no responsibility? Far otherwise than that. To him that which he saw was a parable of wisdom and of love, working patiently and slowly; the groundwork of a call to repentance and conversion. When he passed from the potter and his wheel to the operations of the great Work-Master, as seen in the history of nations, he saw in the vessels that were being moulded, as on the wheel of providence, no masses of dead inert matter. Each was, as it were, instinct with a self-determining power, which either yielded to or resisted the plastic workings of the potter’ s hand. The urn or vase designed for kingly uses refused its high calling, and chose another and less seemly shape. The Supreme Artificer, who had determined in the history of mankind the times before appointed and the bounds of men’ s habitations, had, for example, called Israel to be the pattern of a righteous people, the witness of truth to the nations, a kingdom of priests, the first-fruits of humanity. That purpose had been frustrated. Israel had refused that calling. It had, therefore, to be brought under another discipline, fitted for another work: “ He returned, and made it another vessel.” The pressure of the potter’ s hand was to be harder, and the vessel was to be fashioned for less noble uses. Shame and suffering and exile--their land left desolate, and they themselves weeping by the waters of Babylon--this was the process to which they were now called on to submit. But at any moment in the process, repentance, acceptance, submission might modify its character and its issues. The fixed unity of the purpose of the skilled worker would show itself in what would seem at first the ever-varying changes of a shifting will. True it was that a little later on in the prophet’ s work he carried the teaching of the parable one step further, to a more terrible conclusion. The Word of the Lord came to him again, “ Go and get a potter’ s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom” (Jeremiah 19:1), and there in their sight he was to break the bottle as a witness that, in one sense, the day of grace was over, that something had been forfeited which now could never be regained. But not for that was the purpose of God frustrated. The people still had a calling and election. They were still to be witnesses to the nations, stewards of the treasure of an eternal truth. In that thought the prophet’ s heart found hope and comfort. He could accept the doom of exile and shame for himself and for his people, because he looked beyond it to that remoulded life. II. The age in which St. Paul lived was like that of Jeremiah, a dark and troublous time for one whose heart was with his brethren, the children of Abraham according to the flesh. Once again the potter was fashioning the clay to high and noble uses. “ To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile,” was the law of all his work. But here also there was apparent failure. Blindness, hardness, unbelief, these marred the shape of the vessels made to honour. Did he for that cease to believe in the righteousness and faithfulness of God? Did he see no loving purpose behind the seeming severity? No, the vessel would be made for what men held dishonour--exile lasting through centuries, dispersion over all the world, lives that were worn down with bondage--but all this was in his eyes but the preparation and discipline for the far-off future, fitting them in the end for nobler uses. III. The history of nations and Churches has through all the ages borne witness of the same truth. Each has had its calling and election. Dimly as it has been given to us to trace the education of mankind, imperfect as is any attempt at the philosophy of history, we can yet see in that history that the maze is not without, a plan. Greece and Rome, Eastern or Latin or Teutonic Christendom--each nation or Church, as it becomes a power in the history of mankind, has been partly taking the shape and doing the work which answered to the design and purpose of God, partly thwarting and resisting that purpose. So far as it has been faithful to its calling, so far as the collective unity of its life has been true to the eternal law of righteousness, it has been a vessel made to honour. Those who see in history, not the chaos in which brute forces are blindly working from confusion to confusion, but the unfolding of a righteous order, can see in part how resistance, unfaithfulness, sensuality, have marred the work,--how Powers that were as the first of nations have had written on them, as it seemed, the sentence passed of old on Amalek, that their latter end should be that they should perish forever. Spain, in her decrepitude and decay; France, in her alternations of despotism and anarchy; Rome, in the insanity of her claims to dominate over the reason and conscience of mankind--these are instances, to which we cannot close our eyes, of vessels marred in the potter’ s hands. Each such example of the judgment of the heavens bids us not to be high-minded, but to fear. We need to remember, as of old, that the doom which seems so far from us may be close at hand, even at our doors, that that which seems ready to fall on this nation or on that, Turk or Christian, Asiatic or European, is not irreversible. “ At what time soever,” now as in the prophet’ s days, “ a nation shall turn and repent,” and struggle over the stepping stones of its dead self to higher things, there is the beginning of hope. The Potter may return and mould and fashion it, it may be to lowlier service, perhaps even to outward dishonour, but yet, if cleansed from its iniquity, it shall be meet for the Master’ s use. IV. The parable bears upon the individual life of every child of man, and it is obviously that aspect of its teaching which has weighed most heavily upon the minds of men, and often, it would seem, made sad the hearts of the righteous whom God has not made sad. Does it leave room there also for individual freedom and responsibility? Did the inspired teachers think of it as leading men to repentance and faith and hope, or as stifling every energy under the burden of an inevitable doom? The words in which St. Paul speaks of it might be enough to suggest the true answer to that question. To him even that phase of the parable which seems the darkest and most terrible does but present to man’ s reverential wonder an instance of the forbearance of God enduring with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. The Potter would fain return and mould and remould till the vessel is fit for some use, high or humble, in the great house of which He is the Supreme Head. By the discipline of life, by warnings and reproofs, by failures and disappointments, by prosperity and success, by sickness and by health, by varying work and ever-fresh opportunities, He is educating men and leading them to know and to do His will. Who does not feel in his calmer and clearer moments that this is the true account of the past chances and changes of his life? True, there is a point at which all such questionings reach their limit. In the language of another parable, to one is given five pounds, to another two, and to another one--to each according to his several ability. But the thought that sustains us beneath the burden of these weary questions is that the Judge of all the earth shall assuredly do right. Men’ s opportunities are the measure of their responsibilities. “ To whom men have committed much, of him will they ask the more.” The bitter murmur and passionate complaint are checked by the old words, “ Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus?” The poorest and the humblest may find comfort in the thought that if his work be done faithfully and truly, if he sees in the gifts which he has received, and the outward circumstances of his life, and the work to which they lead him, but the tokens of the purpose of the great Designer, he, too, yielding himself as clay to the hands of the potter, may become in the least honoured work, a vessel of election. What is required in such a vessel when formed or fashioned is, above all, that it should be clean and whole, free from the taint that defiles, from the flaws that mar the completeness of form or the efficiency of use. The work of each soul of man is to seek this consecration, to flee the youthful lusts, the low ambitions, the inner baseness, which desecrate and debase. Our comfort is, that in so striving, we are fellow workers with the great Work-Master. Our prayer to Him may well be that He will not despise what His own hands have made. (Dean Plumptre.) Man in the hands of God I. Man in the hand of God as morally defective.1. Humanity throughout all ages and climes has been defective-- (1) In moral judgment;(2) In moral affections, and(3) In moral conduct. 2. How this defection occurred is a question that lands us into the mysterious region whence evil sprang. II. Man in the hands of God as morally improvable.1. God can improve the “ marred” vessel of humanity. (1) He can emotionally. He has the heart for it. He is great enough in love to forgive the past, and bless the future.(2) He can magisterially. The mediation of Christ enables Him to do so in a way consistent with the justice of His character, the honour of His government, and the stability of His throne.(3) He can reformatively. He has all the moral instrumentality necessary to reform the soul. 2. The Gospel is the power of God. III. Man in the hands of God as morally free.1. Man is responsible for his conduct. The social history of the world, the universal consciousness of man, and the concurrent teachings of the Bible all show this. 2. Man is responsible for his destiny. Humanity will be “ plucked up,” and “ pulled down” by God, or built up and planted according to its conduct. (Homilist.) The potter and the day I. Every man naturally engendered of the offspring of Adam, is, in the sight of an all-seeing, heart-searching God, only as a piece of marred clay.1. As man was created originally “ after God in knowledge,” as well as righteousness and true holiness, we may rationally infer that his understanding, in respect to things natural as well as Divine, was of a prodigious extent: for he was made but a little lower than the angels, and consequently, being like them, excellent in his understanding, he knew much of God, of himself, and all about him; and in this, as well as every other respect, was, as Mr. Collier expresses it in one of his essays, a perfect major: but this is far from being our case now. Men of low and narrow minds soon commence wise in their own conceits; and having acquired a little smattering of the learned languages, and made some small proficiency in the dry sciences, are easily tempted to look upon themselves as a head taller than their fellow mortals, and accordingly, too, too often put forth great swelling words of vanity. But persons of a more exalted and extensive reach of thought dare not boast. No: they know that the greatest scholars are in the dark in respect to many even of the minutest things in life. 2. This will appear yet more evident, if we consider the perverse bent of his will. Being made in the very image of God; undoubtedly before the fall, man had no other will but his Maker’ s. God’ s will, and Adam’ s, were then like unisons in music. There was not the least disunion or discord between them. But now he hath a will as directly contrary to the will of God, as light is contrary to darkness, or heaven to hell. 3. A transient view of fallen man’ s affections will yet more firmly corroborate this melancholy truth. These, at his being first placed in the paradise of God, were always kept within proper bounds, fixed upon their proper objects, and, like so many gentle rivers, sweetly, spontaneously, and habitually glided into their ocean, God: but now the scene is changed; for we are now naturally full of vile affections, which, like a mighty and impetuous torrent, carry all before them. 4. The present blindness of natural conscience makes this appear in a yet more glaring light. In the soul of the first man Adam, conscience was, no doubt, the candle of the Lord, and enabled him rightly and instantaneously to discern between good and evil, right and wrong. And, blessed be God! some remains of this are yet left; but, alas! how dimly does it burn, and how easily and quickly is it covered, or put out and extinguished. 5. Nor does that great and boasted Diana, I mean unassisted, unenlightened Reason, less demonstrate the justness of such an assertion. The horrid and dreadful mistakes which the most refined reasoners in the heathen world ran into, both as to the object as well as manner of Divine worship, have sufficiently demonstrated the weakness and depravity of human reason: nor do our modem boasters afford us any better proofs of the greatness of its strength, since the best improvement they generally make of it is only to reason themselves into downright wilful infidelity, and thereby reason themselves out of eternal salvation. Need we now any further witness that man, fallen man, is altogether a piece of marred clay? 6. But this is not all, we have yet more evidence to call; for do the blindness of our understandings, the perverseness of our will, the rebellion of our affections, the corruption of our consciences, the depravity of our reason, prove this charge; and does not the present disordered frame and constitution of our bodies confirm the same also? Doubtless in this respect, man, in the most literal sense of the word, is a piece of marred clay: for God originally made him of the “ dust of the earth.” II. The absolute necessity there is of this fallen nature’ s being renewed. Archimedes once said, “ Give me a place where I may fix my foot, and I will move the world” ; so, without the least imputation of arrogance, with which perhaps he was justly chargeable, we may venture to say, Grant the foregoing doctrine to be true, and then deny the necessity of man’ s being renewed, who can. I suppose I may take it for granted that all hope after death to go to a place which we call heaven. But permit me to tell you, heaven is rather a state than a place; and consequently, unless you are previously disposed by a suitable state of mind, you could not be happy even in heaven itself. For what is grace, but glory militant? what is glory, but grace triumphant? This consideration made a pious author say, that “ holiness, happiness, and heaven, were only three different words for one and the self-same thing.” And this made the great Preston, when he was about to die, turn to his friends, saying, “ I am changing my place, but not my company.” To make us meet to be blissful partakers of such heavenly company, this “ marred clay,” I mean these depraved natures of ours, must necessarily undergo a universal moral change our understandings must be enlightened; our wills, reason, and consciences, must be renewed; our affections must be drawn toward, and fixed upon things above; and because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. Christ hath said it, and Christ will stand. “ Unless a man,” learned or unlearned, high or low, though he be a master of Israel as Nicodemus was, unless he “ be born again, he cannot see, he cannot enter into, the kingdom of God.” If it be required, Who is to be the potter? and by whose agency this marred day is to be formed into another vessel? Or in other words, if it be asked, how this great and mighty change is to be effected? I answer, not by the mere dint and force of moral suasion. Neither is this change to be wrought by the power of our own free-will. We might as soon attempt to stop the ebbing and flowing of the tide, and calm the most tempestuous sea, as to imagine that we can subdue, or bring under proper regulations, our own unruly wills and affections by any strength inherent in ourselves. And therefore I inform you, that this heavenly Potter, this blessed Agent, is the Almighty Spirit of God the Holy Ghost, the Third Person in the most adorable Trinity, co-essential with the Father and the Son. This is that fire which our Lord came to send into our earthly hearts, and which I pray the Lord of all lords to kindle in every unrenewed one this day. (G. Whitefield, M. A.) A visit to the potter’ s house I. Mind originates power. The work is a work on the wheels; but the power begins with the workman; it is spirit that presides, it is will that controls; an intelligent being makes use of the power he has set in motion to fashion his design. The perfect type is in the mind of the workman, and he must give it form and shape, and impress it on matter. All power originates with God, and is under His control. II. Divine patience is associated with Divine power. You do not see in the potter at work what God can do if it pleases Him, but what it pleases Him to do; not what He may do with the clay, but what His purpose is. We are taught the intention of the Divine worker to mould men and nations according to a Divine pattern, that there is nothing arbitrary in His procedure; that every act is regulated by a reference to His plan, and that Divine patience is constantly and perseveringly at work. III. Divine patience perseveres in the accomplishment of its design. How often have you been marred through want of submission to a perfect and loving will, manifested in God’ s providential dealings with you or in His Gospel? The clay may be broken so often that it loses all its adhesive properties, and when placed on the wheels may splinter into fragments and become utterly worthless. Conclusion--1. There is a fixed and settled plan, an original idea in the Divine mind, according to which His work is to be conformed. “ Known unto God are all His works from the beginning.” Man is God’ s work. God found in Himself the pattern of this wondrous creation. He made man in His own image, in His own likeness. Man was a failure; the world therefore was a failure, and the flood was brought in, and the work destroyed. There was to be a new manifestation of humanity. Men were to be distributed into families and tribes, into nations and kingdoms. We are “ predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son.” We are to be “ like Him” : our bodies are “ to be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” There is a perfect type of society. There is to be the universal diffusion of truth and righteousness. There is a perfect type of a Church. 2. God does not make anything for the sole purpose of destroying it. See the interest God takes in what is going on in the world, and the effect it has on Him. 3. That there is no waste in life. There is no waste in nature. There was in Christ’ s miracles no waste of power. There is no waste in human life. That part of it which is introductory to the rest, which we call childhood, is not waste; it has its relations to the rest of life. That portion which is tried and tested, which is subjected to many experiments, is not waste. The sorrows and tears of life are not the waste of life--toil, strife, agony, are not lost. All these things that seem to fall from life, are worked up again into new forms. Life may be a marred and broken thing, but God can work it up into a form of Divine beauty. 4. Life is a “ work on the wheels.” Character is in the course of formation: it will come out either marred or perfected, just as you submit to the Divine will, or resist the influences brought to bear upon you. (H. J. Boris.) Pottery Such was the invitation which came to me as I spent a holiday among the potteries of North Staffordshire.1. The preparation of the clay. In my ignorance I had thought very lightly of that. I supposed that the clay was brought from some place or other, and, after being kneaded, would be used for the purpose of the potter. But as we looked over the various processes, several things astonished us very much in this preparation of the clay. In the first place, we were astonished at the materials used. There was, of course, the clay as we understand it, but in addition we found stones of the very hardest description and flints also used. In one factory some eight or ten mills did nothing else but grind to the very smallest powder these hard flint stones mixed with the clay. And then these ground flint stones were further churned with water until it became a fluid mass. Another interesting feature was the straining, and the use of magnets to extract any iron that might be there. At last it was run into bags placed under a press and the water squeezed out, and the clay left behind. It was then turned out as plastic clay for the potter’ s use. We often speak of the potter and the clay, and we are warranted by the Scriptures to use this simile for the sovereignty of God. And, no doubt, we must hold fast the eternal sovereignty of God. But I am not quite sure that we do not see here the process anterior to what we speak of as the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God is shown in the form of the vessel made from the clay, but here we have something anterior to the making of the vessel--the preparation of the clay. And while we believe in the sovereignty of God, we also believe that salvation is perfectly free. Your heart may be as hard as a flint, or without any stamina as that liquid mass, and yet it is quite possible from that hard flinty rock, or from that fluid liquid mass, to make the clay which shall be plastic for the Potter’ s use. Are you willing to be made clay?--willing to be just put into His hands? 2. The making of the vessels. Nothing could be more beautiful than to watch the skilful potter mould the clay upon his wheel until it became a beautiful vessel under his touch. Here I learnt what a great variety of vessels the potter made. Here were vessels which would adorn the tables of the rich, and also vessels necessary for the poor; here were vessels which might only be for ornaments, and others of the greatest practical use. Oh, if you are only willing to be as clay in the Great Potter’ s hands, He is able to make you vessels meet for the Master’ s use. The use may be very varied, and the vessels may differ in form and beauty, but if you are willing to be as clay in His hands, He will fashion you so that you may be a vessel for His glory, and for the benefit of those around you. 3. The varied processes to fix the shape of the vessels. Until the vessel was fired, the potter could break it up, as he did, and throw it back into the mass, but when once the vessel was fired, its shape and form were fixed. Two things about the firing interested me. The one was the gradual preparation that the vessel had to go through. I asked why it was necessary to dry it so slowly by steam first, before it was put into the great oven. I received the reply that if it was put into the oven at once, it would break. There must be the slow process of drying by steam. Ah! and is it not so with our Great Potter? Does He not gently train us? He does not put us into the fiery oven all at once. He prepares us by less difficult temptations for the fiery heat which we must all go through. Every man must pass through the fire in order that the stability of his own character may be brought out. God knows the amount of heat which is necessary, and He will not send one temptation more than we are able to bear. Another interesting thing in the firing was, that every vessel had to be separate from the others. They were packed up in the saggers so that not one single clay vessel should touch another. And the reason, they told us, was that the two vessels would be so fused in the fire that both would be spoilt. Is it not true with the great fiery oven through which the Great Potter passes us? We must pass through the fire alone. 4. Then we came to the decorative process. First, there was the making of the pattern. The pattern was made upon a copper plate, and then taken off upon the tracing paper and placed upon the plate. The pattern in many cases was very similar. One machine rolled off some millions of patterns. The Christian has only one pattern--the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His purpose that we should be conformed to His image. The next thing that struck us was the number of hands through which the pattern had to pass. An ordinary dinner plate had to pass through some ten or twelve different hands--one filling in one colour, and another another colour, until it passed down the whole line; one fining in a little stroke of blue, another red, another colouring a leaf, until at last the whole pattern was brought out upon the one plate. Is it not so with the Christian? The pattern must be the same, but the pattern is variously brought out. It may be a very different colour. We take our pattern from those we mix with day by day, and if we are only upon the lookout we may find many things to colour the pattern of Jesus Christ in our lives. Here we may colour with a little bit of unselfishness, here a little bit of charity, here a little bit of self-sacrifice. You may take from one and another impressions which will bring out the grand pattern. Another interesting thing was the firing in order to fix these colours. The vessel must be put into the kiln to fix the colours. There is intense scorching heat in there. And is it not so with the Great Potter? Does He not often put us Christians into the kiln in order to fix the colour? How many Christians you see who have had their colours fixed by adversity! This one’ s love is brought out by trial; this one’ s charity by temptation. Then came the last process. Once more the vessel is put into the kiln, and the fire brought to bear upon it, and then the colour and pattern come out still more glorious than before. The glaze is now dry, and the work of the potter now finished. And so ofttimes the Christian is plunged into despondency, losing all the evidences of his faith; is plunged once more into the fire; and in the fire he sees that there is One walking with Him, and His form is as the Son of God, and he sees the pattern is being brought out by the great Potter. 5. At last we were taken up to the showroom, and here were displayed all the triumphs of the potter’ s art, and we could have spent hours in admiring the work of the potter. So we look forward to the show room when we leave all the dross of the workshop and the whirl of the factory; and when we ascend up to the showroom where we shall see the triumphs of the Great Potter’ s art, we shall simply wonder that out of these stones and liquid clay it is possible to make such vessels as He has prepared for His glory. (E. A. Stuart, M. A.) The teaching of the potter Divine revelation is a possible thing only because of that great and earliest fact in the record of human history, “ And God made man in His image,” a fact which nothing, not even sin, can destroy. God’ s words to men are made possible and meaningful because of the fact that, in spite of rebellion and fall, there is enough deep, true kinship left to afford resting place for His appeal and interpretation of His speech. As long as spiritual being lasts, this must be true. Now proceed a further step. The method of communication is not a matter of essential importance. So long as I make you understand what I mean, the way in which I do this does not matter much. We meet with those who do not speak our language, or perhaps any tongue that we can speak and understand; but we find that some sufficient things can be said by signs. We can buy this or that by pointing to it, and showing the value in coin. There is one further step to take, and then we shall arrive at the position from which I want to look at the words of this text. The activities and occupations of men are full of resemblances to the activities of God. What we have to do, and are doing every day, illustrates much more fully than, perhaps, we have ever thought, what God is doing around us and within us; so that we may rise somewhat to comprehend His work in its grand patience and victory over hindrance and pauseless triumph, by means of a fuller understanding of our own. And, significantly enough, this is the more completely true of those occupations which are simple and manual, most necessary and least artificial, compelled by the wants which are common to us all, rather than of those which are the creation of empty social custom and artificial routine. The Divine word to Jeremiah, both in itself and in the manner of its communication to him, is strikingly suggestive. What was the word? Jeremiah had been a very faithful minister and messenger, and yet his endeavours had been unavailing to stay the torrent of national disaster. As a rock, staunch in midstream, only adds to the tumult of the waters that dash, and break, and hurry on their way, this man’ s obedient and firm obstruction only made him to suffer the fretful wrath of the people, whose downward rush would not be stayed. It seemed as though he were a protest and nothing more. For the people there was nothing but hopeless ruin. God wants to show His servant that such despair is not true. What the people might have been they refused to be, but they might yet be something. What the potter does with the clay with which he works, the Lord can do with the men with whom He deals. What is that? Well, go down to the workman’ s house and watch him. See the frame, and the wheels, and the mass of ready clay. See the man’ s tutored hands and nimble fingers. He has purpose, ability, design. His power is complete. He can do what he likes. He can take the lump of clay in his hands and say, “ This shall be a fair and stately vase fit to stand on the table of a king” ; or, “ This shall be a thing for common use, one among a thousand like itself, winning no regard or admiration, to be appraised at no appreciable value.” He can bid the clay be what he chooses. Can he? Let us see. Now the workman has put clay upon the wheel, and it begins to whirl; the beginning of the design is manifest, some outline of a shape appears under the touch of his plastic hand. But then comes a pause: something has gone wrong. Where is the fault? Not in the care and genius of the workman? Surely not in the clay? Yes, there is a flaw, a rebellious and intractable mingling of impurities, and the workman cannot do as he had purposed. What will the potter do? Toss the clay away? Clay is plentiful and cheap. No, not if the workman’ s heart is right and his enthusiasm true. A fellow workman may say, “ I would not trouble with it. No one can make anything of that piece; it is utterly useless.” But the right-souled man says, “ I waste nothing, and despise nothing. I can make something of this clay if you cannot; and I shall make what can be made, if not what I hoped, at least the very best that is according to its nature possible.” “ So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it” (Jeremiah 18:4). And so can I do, says the cheery word to the prophet, so can I the Lord do with this apparently hopeless and intractable nation. With them, as with the piece of clay, there is a resolute, rebellious intermingling. They show themselves unworthy. They make themselves incapable of the high destiny among the nations to which My call would lead them. They must lose their crown. My purpose must be fulfilled in other ways, and by other instruments and ministries. But--and here speaks the heart of generous, patient love--I have not done with them. I shall do the very best that can be done with them, and put them in a place which they can fill. This is My pleasure anything short of it would be anguish. But, to do the possible best, even with the most unpromising material, is the object and aim of My redeeming hand. The right-hearted workman is like-minded of God, and, in his sphere, does an identical work. The man who makes two ears of corn grow where only one would grow before; the man who shapes wood, or beats and moulds metal into fashions of use, beneficence, and comeliness, is, besides all the wage-profit that his industry brings, doing a redemptive work that is akin to Divine. Industry, cleanliness, usefulness, beautifying labour--these are far more than means of livelihood, they are means of might and spiritual life. (D. J. Hamer.) The relation of the will to character and destiny The figure of the potter is of frequent occurrence in Scripture; and its meaning is the more easily understood, because there is scarcely any craft of which the principal tools have been less altered in the lapse of the centuries. The purposes for which the figure is used in the Bible may be arranged under two chief heads. In every case the power of the potter over the clay is emphasised. But while some passages stop with that fact,--that the potter’ s power is absolute, without measure or limit, that he can do what he likes with the clay,--others teach distinctly that the potter is not ruled by his fancy or caprice, or by any momentary or arbitrary impulse, but the exercise of his power is itself determined by something, some quality or fitness, within the clay. Of these two lessons, the former is most frequent in Isaiah and in Paul, although other writers adopt or enforce it. That is the most obvious meaning of the figure, to be found in almost every literature, never to be forgotten by the reverent--the potter has complete command over the clay. He, at his wheel, is the symbol of power: the clay, of helplessness and necessary submission. There has probably never been a man who believed that more thoroughly than did Jeremiah. In this very chapter he represents God as saying to the house of Israel, “ Behold, as the clay is in the potter’ s hand, so are ye in Mine hand.” In his account of his own call, the prophet describes a Divine voice as speaking to him: “ Before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” He never hesitates in his ascription to God of the right and power of complete control over man, or to man of the necessity of submission and the obligation of obedience. But according to Jeremiah that is not a complete account of the relation, either of God to man, or of man to God. And in this chapter he uses the figure of the potter to show, on the one hand, that the potter’ s power is not exercised arbitrarily, and on the other, that its exercise is determined, and even in some sense conditioned, by the clay itself.1. With regard to the figure, it is in the particulars of the fourth verse that Jeremiah’ s use of it differs from that of most other scriptural writers. As soon as the potter saw that the clay he was dealing with would not answer the purpose he had in view, with a slight touch of his hand he crushed it down into a shapeless heap of mud, began anew, and made it into “ another vessel.” In other words, the potter’ s treatment of the clay depends upon his knowledge or discovery of its qualities, its capability, or its faultiness. Or, dropping the figure, God does not always act upon and complete His first apparent design with a man; and any change of design on His part is determined by some adequate cause, which is always to be found in the man himself--in the way in which he exercises his freedom of will, or in the attitude in which he puts himself towards conscience, and duty, and truth. There has sometimes been a disposition, amongst nations and amongst individuals, to imagine that some moral character had been stamped indelibly upon them by God, and was permanent and unalterable, whatever they did. So far was Jeremiah from believing that, and so far is the Bible from teaching it, that it represents man’ s will as in a sense entrusted with the supreme control over his spirit and over his destiny. The plastic skill and power of the Great Potter, in themselves immeasurable and without limit, are yet not applied arbitrarily, under the impulse of fancy or caprice, but depend at least for their direction upon the clay itself. 2. That truth is sometimes overlooked, or qualified, or even rejected. Some of the current philosophies deny it in theory, but, when pressed, will reluctantly acknowledge that consciousness can be quoted in its favour, or, as the greatest English psychologist of the day puts it, “ The assumption of the freedom of the will is in a certain sense inevitable to anyone exercising rational choice.” In the Old Testament it is an especial favourite of Jeremiah’ s, though not confined to him; and in this single paragraph he is not contented with the dubious form it assumes in the figure, but recurs to it once and again afterwards. When verse 14 is compared with the preceding verse, it becomes evident that the prophet wanted to point a contrast between the steadfastness of the phenomena and laws of nature, and the apparent fickleness of those of morals. To the one the eternal will of God which knows no change is central; to the other, the uncertain will of man. The forces that seem to play in the cloud forms and the winds, to move with slow rhythm in the solid structures of the ages, or with quick inapparent catastrophe and explosion, the life that modifies the cell and pulsates in a myriad forms through the universe--all simply fulfil their Sovereign’ s will; and the only power, not in the same way subject to His rule, but permitted to rebel against Him, and to check and alter His purposes, is that of the personality or will of man. To that extent the Potter renounces His power over the clay, and the clay is allowed to determine the design of the Potter. 3. The same truth is put in a third way in verses 7-10. The inference evidently is, that neither God’ s threats nor His promises are absolute, in the sense that they are incapable of diversion or of change. Every word that goes forth from His lips is of necessity law; but the nations, the individuals, are left at liberty to choose which of the words shall govern them, and the occasions of choice are more than one. It appears accordingly that men can actually, by their choice of evil or carelessness concerning right, frustrate God’ s purposes or grace, just as by penitence and self-reform they can avert a doom that is impending. That is the word of the Lord by others than Jeremiah (Ezekiel 18:20-24). Nor does the New Testament reject such a lesson, which is in accordance further with the teaching of reason and with the fundamental conception of justice. There is no finality in God’ s design for a man, until the man’ s will has either frittered itself away, or hardened itself into invincibility. But by the attitude towards God into which men put themselves, they determine the pattern according to which His methods mould them, and every change of attitude on their part is quickly followed by its appropriate and necessary change of design. Nor is this modification of God’ s design represented as confined to nations or communities. Jonah himself was called of God to be a prophet, but the action of his own will made him a sacrifice to appease the sea, until, when he willed better things, God’ s plan for him changed back again. There is thus cumulative evidence, in Scripture, in history, in human experience, that God does not always act to the end upon His original design for a man, but that His designs are sometimes changed on account of something in the men themselves. What is that something? This chapter alone, to say nothing of teaching that abounds elsewhere, leaves no room for doubt. “ If that nation turn from their evil,” is laid down with all emphasis in the eighth verse as the one condition upon which the modification of God’ s purpose depends; and the most powerful and essential human factor in every act of moral turning is of necessity the will. The responsibility for a man’ s character rests substantially, it would be hardly too much to say entirely, upon himself. It is a terrible responsibility, of which men have tried to rid themselves in many ways; but so long as human nature remains what it is, free to choose the right or the wrong, it is a responsibility which every man must face and every man must bear. God gives, in the conscience and by His Spirit, a clear revelation of what is right, and in His Son a source of strength that is sufficient for every duty. He gives opportunities, allurements, warnings without number; and having given those, ceaselessly present with us, His part in the formation of character may be said to be done. The man has then to determine, by the action of his own will, whether the law of perfecting or the law of perdition shall work in him. (R. W. Moss.) The potter and the day The whole revealed Word of God takes for granted, appeals to, and proceeds upon two facts: first, that nothing can proceed from God which is not like God; next, that man is a co-worker with God in the shaping out of his own destiny. The Bible is all quick with the great truth that man can escape from evil, and that the work to which the good God has, more than anything else, set Himself is to help him to escape. Even the heritage of misery and disease which a bad parent leaves to his child is--in God’ s world--not so potent but that the child may rise above it. I. Every human life is, first of all, an idea in the mind of God. The potter is an artist, and it is the thoughts of his head he embodies in the vessels he makes. He is thus a likeness to us of God. Such men as Bernard Palissy and Josiah Wedgwood did not spend their instructive lives only to make clayware for human use, but also to reveal to us, and enable us to understand, the working of the Divine Artist in the formation of human lives. Can you recall, you who have read Palissy’ s life, the passionate eagerness with which he sought out beautiful forms in nature? Do you remember how his unresting brain toiled to make new combinations of colour and form? And with what unwearying zeal he sought to bring beauty and strength and polish into the vessels he made? It is all a far-off portrait of God. The human artist who never saw a wonderful conjunction of natural objects, of form and colour, in field or wood, without bringing it in straightway to his workshop in the brain, is but an outshadowing to us of the Divine Artist, and of the thought, the care, the skill, the beauty, which God expends on every life He makes. It is true that the Divine Artist has to work with inferior clay. He has to embody the thoughts of His creative mind in material that has been soiled by sin--flesh that has corrupted its way, and transmitted its taints and diseases and weaknesses to the children. But, all the same, the life and the outshaping of the life are the work of God. The gladsome fact, therefore, in the teaching of the potter and the clay, is that our lives are not shaped by accident; nor are the materials of our life combined by blind chance. My personality, as truly as my body, is the work of His hands. But here is my joy. In this very fact I have a ground of appeal to God. When my spirit is overwhelmed by the mysteries of existence, or my way hedged up by moral difficulties, which I have in myself no strength to overcome, I can go to Him and say: “ O Maker of my being, O Planner out of my lot, Thou faithful Creator, I am poor and needy: wilt not Thou have respect to the work of Thy hands, and make haste to help me?” II. Every human life is shaped for a Divine use. When the potter turns a vessel on his wheel, the first pulse of thought concerning it touches its use. It is the use which determines the shape. And this holds good in the shaping of human life by God. Anterior to the infinite variety of shape in our lives is this grand common fact for all life, We are not driftwood on a tumbling sea. We are created to be vessels for God and of God, vessels of His sanctuary, set apart to His service, and filled with all sweet and wholesome things. This great primal purpose of the Creator seeks to fulfil itself many ways in our lives. But in all ways the Divine intention is that we shall contain and give forth some fair measure of his own life. One is set to fulfil this purpose on one level, another on a level higher or lower. One must do it by work, another by suffering. But for one and all this is the Divine purpose and requirement, that we be vessels of truth and righteousness, embodiments and manifestations--up to the measure of our natural capacities and shapes--of the Divine character and life. It is the sad fact, as we all know, that this primal use intended by our Creator is not fulfilled in all. But our shortcomings do not alter the fact that we were made for this purpose. In the fulfilment of this end our happiness consists. He who made us has linked the right use of life and our personal well-being together. III. Lives tried in one shape are sometimes broken up and reshaped to fulfil themselves in new spheres or different capacities. And He breaks up Joseph the dreamer and the slave, and forms Joseph the wise statesman, administrator, and prince of Egypt. That was a strong well formed vessel who went forth from Jerusalem to Damascus, carrying fiery zeal for God, cruel death for God’ s people. The Divine Artist takes this vessel--formed of good clay, impact of such energies, such zeal--and breaks it up and puts it on the wheel, and reshapes it for higher levels and wider ends. Christian biography is full of such instances. Here is one who was only a timid lad at the outset, shrinking from boisterous companions, retiring to woods for meditation on God’ s Word. The timid lad becomes a fearless preacher, and the founder of the Society of Friends. Here is another, a poor cobbler, piecing together little scraps of different coloured leathers to make a map of the world, and by the black pieces to point out to his friends the extent, of heathenism. The poor mapmaker becomes William Carey, the founder of Missions to India and the translator of the Bible into Indian languages. A third is at first a poor piecer in a spinning factory on the banks of the Clyde. But at last he is the voice of one crying in a wilderness: “ Prepare ye the way of the Lord: make a highway in the desert for God.” And so great in this ministry that black men carry his bones, when he dies, a year’ s journey from the depths of Africa to England; and white men there reverently bury them in the sepulchres of their kings, because he had done good to God and to man. God breaks up the first-shaped clay which has promise in it to make better vessels for His use. Shall we turn aside and look at the Divine Artist at this work of reshaping? Those awful times in the experience of His people when He comes with a succession of trials, when He sends whole tides of sorrow into the soul, are the times when we shall best see God at His work, when He reshapes for higher ends the clay that was shaped for lower ends before. IV. God has left it to man himself to decide whether he will be a vessel of honour or of dishonour. “ Hath not the potter power over the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour?” --that is one side of this mystery. “ If a man purge himself” --from being a vessel unto dishonour--“ he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master’ s use” --this is the other. But the one side does not contradict the other. The Creator has power over the lives He moulds; but it is never so wielded as to quench the power of choice He has given to us. In respect of natural capacity, position in society, function, time and place of birth, joy and sorrow, health and sickness, this power of God is absolute. He appoints the bounds of our habitation. He alone designs the fashion of our personality. He alone fixes the doom on sin. But at those points in the development of life, where the real battle of the soul is waged, where the decisive shocks of the conflict between righteousness and unrighteousness have to be sustained, and the burden of responsibility taken up, we are in a region where God leaves man as absolutely free as He is Himself. The Creator has power over the life; but, as put forth by God, it is a power tempered with justice and mercy, and quick with all the goodness of the Divine character. V. Be true to the Divine intention and shaping of your lives. Do not lower yourselves to evil shapes. Do not suffer yourselves to degenerate into vessels set to vile uses and filled with base, unwholesome things. What the great King desires is that we should all be vessels for Him, vessels to carry and pour forth His love, His life, His purity, in all we do and wherever we go. And what He seeks to fill our souls with is His own life as God, that eternal life which He has poured out for us all in Christ. And this is eternal wisdom to receive that life of God into the heart. This is the one grand, informing, outshaping, abiding power for human life. This will reshape the most unshapely into the very image of God. (A. Macleod, D. D.) The Divine Potter Am I clay in the hands of the Divine Potter? The Bible does not say so: yet apparently this is the very thing that it does say. The context does not teach us that God is speaking about the individual man, or about personal salvation, or about the eternal destiny of the individual soul: the Lord is speaking about nations, empires, kingdoms, vessels which He only can handle. Moreover, He Himself descends into reasoning, and therefore He gives up the arbitrary power or right, if He ever claimed it. He bases His action upon the conduct of the nation spoken about. So His administration is not arbitrary, despotic, independent, in any sense that denies the right of man to be consulted, or that undervalues the action of man as a moral agent. The potter did not reason with the clay: God did reason with Israel. The analogy therefore can only be useful up to a given point; never overdrive any metaphor; always distinguish between the purpose of the parable, its real substance and its accessories, its incidental draperies and attachments. Let us take the inquiry in its crudest and most ruthless form. Can He not do with a man as this man does with the clay? The answer is in a sense Yes, in a larger sense No. As a matter of power, crudely defined, God can do with us as the potter does with the clay: but God Himself has introduced a new element into power; He is no longer in relation to the soul simply and merely omnipotent, He has made Himself a party. In so treating Himself He exercised all His attributes. He need not have done so, but having done so He never shrinks from the conditions which He has created and which He has imposed. Observe, He does not give up any part of His sovereignty. In the first instance He created man, devised a great scheme and ministry of things: all this was done sovereignly; it was not man that was consulted as to his own creation, it was the Triune God that said, “ Let us make man.” The Lord, then, having thus acted from the point of His sovereignty, has Himself created a scheme of things within which He has been pleased to work as if He were a consenting and cooperating party. When did God say, By the exercise of a potter’ s right I will break you, the soul, in pieces, although you want to be preserved and saved? When did Jesus Christ ever say to any man, You want to be saved, but I do not want to save you; I doom you to everlasting alienation from the throne of light and the sceptre of mercy? Never. May not a man, changing the level of inquiry, do what he likes with his own? No. Society says No; law says No; the needful security without which progress is impossible says No. Yet we must define what is meant by can and may and cannot. Then in the use of the word “ can” we always come upon the further word “ cannot” at the same time. You can and you cannot, in one act. Why, how is that? Is not that a simple contradiction of terms? No, that statement, though apparently paradoxical, is one, and admits of easy reconciliation in both its members. If it were a question of mere power or physical ability, as we have often seen in our study of this Bible, we can do many things: but where are we at liberty simply to use ability or power in its most simple definition? Power is a servant; power is not an independent attribute that can do just what it likes: power says, What shall I do? I am an instrument, I am a faculty, but I am intended by the Sovereign of the universe to be a servant--the servant of judgment and conscience and duty and social responsibility. Power stands in an attitude of attention, awaiting the orders of conscience. Mere power therefore is one thing, mere ability, and it is a faculty that never ought to be exercised in itself, by itself, for itself. It must be always worked in consent, in union, in cooperation. I repeat, power--great, self-boasting power--must obey orders. “ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.” May not a man do what he likes with his own? What is his own? Not his child. He says, This child is my own; we say, Yes and No. Once more we come upon the double reply. Every child has two fathers. There is a little, measurable, individual father, and there is the greater father called Society: may we not recognise a third, and say, there is the Father in heaven? Your child cannot speak, and yet you cannot do with it what you like; your child has no will, no opened judgment, and yet you cannot do with the child as you please. Society has taken its name, and its age, and the eyes of Society are upon that child night and day, and if you slew it at midnight you would have to answer for its blood at midday. Here, then, we rest, in presence of this great doctrine of Divine sovereignty in relation to man. We may search the Bible from beginning to end to find that the sovereignty of God ever said to a man, I will not save you when you want to be saved, and we shall find no such instance in the record. With regard to nations, it is perfectly evident from the face of things that there is a Power that is placing nations where they are, and working up the great national unit to great national ends. God has always had, as it were, a double policy, and it is because we have confounded the one policy with the other that we have been all our lifetime subject to bondage through fear lest God may have predestinated us to hell. He never predestined any man to such a place. He predestined unrighteousness to hell and nothing can ever get it into heaven; into that city nothing shall enter that is unholy, impure, defiled, or that maketh a lie. Eternity has never been at peace with wickedness. The infinite tranquillity of immeasurable and inexpressible duration has never been reconciled to one act of trespass, one deed of violence, one thought of wrong. (J. Parker, D. D.) The potter’ s wheel Does God rule the nations of the earth? When men set themselves in opposition to what are believed to be the laws of righteousness, will the nation prosper as it would have done if righteousness had been its aim? That was the question which perplexed the prophet. God’ s work, he believed, was not frustrated by man’ s sin, only the nation which set itself against God was broken. Somehow the human mind came to suspect that each man was in direct and intimate relationship with God, that He was dealing with him as truly as if there were no other being in the universe. Every word of Jesus tended to deepen that impression. “ The very hairs of your head are all numbered . . . Not one sparrow falleth to the ground without your Heavenly Father. Are ye not of more value than they?” I. The first thing which attracts our notice is the clay. It is of different qualities. Some of it is very pure and pliable, other is too soft--“ fat” the potter calls it--to be used in its present state; some is almost white, and will make the finest porcelain, other has such an excess of iron that it will make only coloured ware; some is doubtful,--it will form, but it will twist or crack in the firing. The clay of the potter is human nature, good, bad, and indifferent. Is there any of it so bad that it cannot be used? Not if it be clay. There is no clay that the potter cannot employ. He cannot use stone, and he cannot make a vase of water. There are men so hard that they seem to be stone; there are others so flabby that it seems as if they never could hold together on the revolving wheel; still, if they be men, something can be done. It may not be possible to make poets and statesmen of them, any more than it is possible to make Sevres china of Jersey clay; but they can be moulded and fixed into some form of usefulness as long as they are men. The difficulty, however, which arises in some men’ s minds, even when that is settled, is this: Is not the best what we want? Can we rest satisfied with any dealing with human nature which leaves the large majority of the race on a low plane, and exalts only a chosen few? Now, if we cannot, how can the Creator? Must we not suppose that He too is disappointed in His work, and that He is limited in His operations? How, then, can we believe in One who is omnipotent? Is not He too limited by necessity, and are we not right in saying that that which determines character is the previous condition of the material with which God works? And does not this lead finally to disbelief, in God? It certainly does lead to a disbelief in such a God as we have fancied. But it may lead to a belief in a nobler God than that. The potter puts his hand on a lump of clay. He can never make pure porcelain out of it. Well, who said that he intended to? Who told us that he tried to and failed? Did not the potter bring the clay into the house? Did he not know what he would find there? Not so. The fineness of the pottery is determined by the quality of the clay, and so is its colour, but not its form. That is the work of the potter alone. It is in that that we see the power of his genius. And the coarser the material and the cruder its colour, the more are we led to marvel at the genius and the goodness which was content to embody itself in such material. The more we study human nature, the more we become convinced that God never intended all men to be alike. The more we study sociology, the more we feel convinced that it would be a fatal thing to have a town with but a single industry, a nation with no variety of employments, a world perfectly homogeneous. We all admit that it is not possible for every man to have all the moral qualities in an equal degree. The important thing in life is that each man should be faithful in the employment of those which he has. It is with individuals as with nations. We say that we cannot, and God ought not to be content with anything less than the best. But what is best? Is it best that all the clay in the world should be turned into Dresden china? By no means. What is best is that there should be a great variety fitted for different purposes. There are certain virtues which would be out of place in certain conditions of civilisation--that is, in certain individuals. Refined sensibility would be as embarrassing to a frontiersman as a carriage hung on delicate springs. What is needed is that he should be brave and just. We say that it is not as high a type as the courteous gentleman who would shrink from profanity as from physical pollution. But the test is to be found not in the quality of the virtue, but in the faithfulness with which it is used. Two things, then, ought to be learned from a consideration of the clay in the potter’ s house. The first is, that God is dealing with men as individuals indeed, yet not as isolated beings, but as members of a great family. It is to the advantage of the family that they should differ, and it is to their own advantage too. This difference in the clay, of which we have many theories, such as the law of heredity, or the influence of environment, are the conditions which God Himself has ordained. All creation is self-limitation. God is working in clay. He must make what the clay is capable of expressing; only, there is no clay which is not capable, on a higher or lower plane, of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.2. The second thing which we see in the potter’ s house is the wheel. On it the lump is placed, and the unseen foot presses the treadle, and the wheel revolves. About the wheel, too, men have formed a theory. First they began with the clay--the substance of human nature. And there was evolved many a philosophy. It has produced the spirit of agnosticism. Men, weary with speculations which lead to nothing, have said there is nothing to be known of the constitution of the clay nor the mind of the worker. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 18:7-8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent.Fast sermon I. The being and condition of countries and communities, of nations and kingdoms, are under the control of the Most High. To suppose Him watchful of the operations in the universe, and yet not active in the management of them, would seem irreconcilable with the inefficacy of all laws without His might; with the appearance of design in most events; with the effects of a sublime power which many of them display; and with the existence, on peculiar occasions, of some occurrences which have been departures from the ordinary course of nature. To believe any affairs to be under the guidance of His providence, and yet to imagine that the fortunes of whole countries and people are free from His observation and care, would be inconsistent with the variety and magnitude of the interests which are in those fortunes always involved. But it may be objected, if it is thus certain that the events of time are under the superintendence of God, why are there so great evils both in the natural and political world? To this it would be sufficient to reply, that in us beings of yesterday, who see but a few links of the vast chain in which the Almighty hath connected all occurrences in the universe; who with the utmost effort of our faculties are unable, in this our low position, to perceive the final results of any of His operations; it is vainly presumptuous to attempt to fathom the counsels of His mind; and worse than presumptuous, with the evidences which He hath vouchsafed to give us in His word and works, of His wisdom, goodness, and rectitude, to doubt that all His arrangements will terminate to the honour of His government, and the greatest possible benefit of His creatures. As the objection, however, is plausible, it may be well to observe further, that our estimate of what appears to be evil may often be erroneous. Somewhere I have seen it with striking force and beauty asked, whether the insect whose habitation the ploughshare overturns knows that its motions conduce to that fertility of the earth which is to sustain many intelligent creatures? In like manner, from the convulsions and terrible occurrences in the moral world, there may be educed by the Being who bringeth good out of evil, such results as will advance His purposes, and the general welfare. II. The great cause of perplexities and troubles, calamities and ruin, in any region, is the predominance of corrupt principles and manners. For the evils which the Divine Providence sends upon the world, there can be no other cause than the transgressions of the inhabitants thereof. The Scriptures again and again represent the calamities of a people as the punishment of their sins (Hosea 14:1; Jeremiah 5:9; Jeremiah 5:25; Jeremiah 18:9-10; Habakkuk 3:12-13; Psalms 75:9-10; 1 Kings 9:7-9). Nor is reason less explicit upon this truth than revelation. Upon a little reflection she perceives that the Almighty, being perfectly holy, wise, and good, will approve and encourage virtue. This necessarily implies the condemnation and punishment of vice. In beings destined to exist hereafter, there is extensive opportunity for the fulfilment of the Divine intentions. Their immortality opens a wide field for the display of the justice of God. And hence it is, that in this present state vice does not always in the individual meet its retribution, nor virtue its reward. But nations and communities, as such, are not immortal. It should therefore seem reasonable that they should in their present existence enjoy the rewards due to their virtues, and endure the punishments which their vices deserve. To place the point beyond dispute, experience, weeping as she reviews her venerable annals, declares from them that the indignation of Heaven has frequently been brought upon whole communities by their sins: that debase inert, calamity, and ruin have resulted to them from the predominance of depraved principles and manners. III. By a timely reformation of their principles and lives, communities may avert the displeasure of the Almighty. Contrition is estimable, and acceptable through the Redeemer, in an individual. It has turned away the wrath of Heaven from many an offender. But when a community, as one body, is roused by a sense of danger, or by the calls of the Most High, in alarming occurrences, in foreign examples, or in His holy Word, or by their own consciousness of a relaxed state of religion and morals, to “ consider their ways,” and turn with sincerity to God, to humble themselves before Him, and to express their earnest desire to be made objects of His forgiveness and favour: if ever He may be said to be taken with holy violence, it is by such an act. (Bishop Dehon.) Jeremiah 18:11 Return ye now everyone from his evil way.“ Return! Return!” My text is all about repentance; it is an exhortation from God, very brief and sententious, but very earnest and plain: “ Return ye now everyone from his evil way.” I want you all to notice that this is the call of mercy. God would have you saved, and therefore He cries to you, “ Return,” because He is willing to receive you, and to blot out all your sin. But remember that it is equally the call of a holy God, the God who knows that you cannot be saved except you turn from your evil ways. Thou must be made to hate thy sin, or else, where God is, thou canst never come. I. What does the text say? The picture is that of a man who is going the wrong way. He is trespassing, he is on forbidden ground, he is advancing in a dangerous road, and if he shall continue to go in that direction, he will by and by come to a dreadful precipice over which he will fall, and there he will be ruined. A voice cries to him, “ Return!” What does that word mean? It is very simple, and that I may make it plainer still, perhaps, for practical purposes, let me say that the first thing such a man would do would be to stop. If I was out in the country, on a road which I did not know, and I heard a voice crying out to me, “ Return,” I should certainly stop, and listen; and if I heard the cry repeated, with great eagerness and earnestness, “ Return! Return!” I should pause, and look round, and try to see who it was that had called to me. I wish that all of you who are wandering away from God, would stop, and consider where you are going. In God’ s name, I would arrest thee; as God’ s officer, I would put my hand on thy shoulder, and say to thee, “ Thou must stop; thou shalt pause; thou shalt consider thy ways. I cannot let thee go on carelessly to thy ruin, like a sheep into the slaughter house, or a bullock going to be killed.” Stop, I pray thee. Suppose a man did stop, that would not be returning; it is but the commencement of the return when a man stops, but it will be necessary for him, next, to turn round. The order for him to obey is, “ Right about face.” There must be a total, a radical change in you, ii you are really to obey the command, “ Return.” I think I hear you ask, “ Who can effect this change?” And I am glad to hear that question, for I trust it will lead you to pray, “ Turn me, O Lord, and I shall be turned!” There is something done towards returning when a man stops, there is still more done when he turns round; yet he does not actually return until, with persevering footsteps, the wanderer hastens back to him from whom he had departed. What God desires is that all His prodigal children should come home, that His stray sheep should be brought back to the fold, that the lost pieces of silver should be put into the treasury again; that, indeed, you who have wandered in sin should be as they are whom Christ has washed in His precious blood, whom the Holy Spirit has regenerated, and whom the Father has adopted, and put among His children. II. When are sinners to return? “ Return ye now everyone from his evil way.” The voice of God bids you to return now, and I would urge you to do so, because life is so uncertain that, if you do not return now, you may not live to return at all. He who would have his estate rightly ordered when he is dead should have his will made, everybody says that; and he who would have his eternal estate ordered aright should yield himself at once to the sovereign will of the Most High, for life is uncertain. Return, now, for the calls of grace may not always come to you. Recollect, also, that your sin will be increased by delay. If you keep on in the wrong path, not only will you have sinned the more, but that sin will have taken a more terrible hold upon you. Habits begin like cobwebs, but they end like chains of iron. Moreover, it is well for us to return unto our God now, because the sooner we return to Him the sooner we shall enjoy His favour, and the more delightful will our life become. Peace with God makes even this life to be a blessed life; and he who has it begins, even here, to enjoy the felicities of the glorified. Do you not see, too, that God will have the more service from you? The sooner you are brought to Him, the longer will you have of life in which to serve Him. If any of you have gone past youth, into manhood, and to middle age, or even to old age, then the word “ now” should come to you with a sharp, clear crack, as of a rifle. It comes like a staccato note in music, “ Now! Now! Now!” Yet once more, return now, because, if ever there is a reason for returning, that reason points to the present moment. If there is a hope that a man will leave his sin some time or other, there must be a better hope that he will leave it now than that he will leave it in a year’ s time. Wisdom’ s voice cries, “ Now!” It is folly that says, “ Tarry.” III. Who is the person that is to return? “ Everyone.” Many of you have returned. But every man, every woman, every child who has not returned, should hear the voice of the Lord repeating this message. “ Well,” says one, “ perhaps there will be some people converted through this sermon.” Do not talk so, I pray you. Will you be converted through it? Possibly some of you are like the man we read of in the papers some time ago. He was walking by the seaside, and trod on a large chain, and slipped his foot right through one of the links. When he tried to draw it back again, he could not, for he was held fast. The tide was coming in, and there he was a prisoner. He had to call long and loud before anybody came; and by the time the people arrived, he had very much hurt his foot in endeavouring to extricate himself. He begged them to run for the smith, that he might come, and break the iron. He came, but he brought the wrong tools with him, so he could not accomplish the task. It would be some time before he could be back, and, meanwhile, the tide had come in, and the water was up to the man’ s feet, so he cried, “ Run for the surgeon. Let him come, and cut my leg off; it is the only hope of saving my life.” But by the time the surgeon came, the water was up to the man’ s neck, so the doctor could not get down to where his foot was fast in the iron chain, and there was nothing that could be done for him. There he was, poor fellow, and the tide rolled over him, and he was drowned. Some of you seem to me to be just like that man, held fast by some invisible force; yet, when I try to get at the chain, I cannot find out what it is, it is so far under the water. Perhaps you do not yourself know what it is. I am going to make a dive to try to get at it, as I ask my last question concerning the text. IV. From what are these people to return? “ From his evil way.” Then, each man has a way of his own,--an evil way of his own,--some personal form of sin. What is your own way? Is it some constitutional sin to which you are prone? “ Well,” asks one, “ what do you think is my evil way?” I will answer by putting another question to you, What is the sin into which you most frequently fall? I should think you can tell that, and that is the evil way from which you have most to fear. It is from that one way that you are called upon specially to return. Tonight, if you were tempted, to which temptation would you be most likely to yield? You do not know, you say; well then, let me put another question to you. When do you get most angry if anybody rebukes you? What is it in the preaching that makes you say, “ There, I will never go to hear that man again; he cuts my hair so short, he comes quite close to the skin” ? Well now, that will help you to find out what is your own personal evil way; and it is from that way that you are to return. Again, what sin of yours eats up the other sins? Where does your money mostly go? You could have told that Joseph was Jacob’ s favourite, because he made him a coat of many colours; and there are some sins that wear the coat of many colours, and often, as it were, it is dipped in the man’ s own blood, for everything goes for that particular sin. But I have not hit on your sin yet, my friend, have I? You have an evil way which you will not tell to anyone; it is not as bad as any I have mentioned; it is a very respectable kind of evil way which you have. Your evil way is this, the evil way of self-righteousness. It makes out that the death of Christ was a superfluity; it tells God that He is wrong in charging a man with sin; it raises a clamour against God; it claims as a right every good thing that God has to give; it does, in fact, uncrown the Saviour, bid the Holy Spirit go His way as no longer needed, and throws the Gospel, which is the crown jewel of God, into the mire. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Returning from evil ways There are two things proper to a man that returneth: first, to go a way clean contrary to the way he went before; secondly, to tread out and obliterate his former steps, First, I say, he must go a way clean contrary to his former way. Many men think that the way to hell is but a little out of the way to heaven, so that a man in small time, with small ado, may pass out of the one into the other; but they are much deceived: for as sin is more than a stepping aside, namely, a plain, a direct going away from God; so is repentance, or the forsaking of sin, more than a little coasting out of one way into another. Crossings will not serve; there is no way from the road of sin to the place we seek, but to go quite back again the way we came. The way of pleasure in sin must be changed for sorrow for the same. He that hath superstitiously worshipped false gods must now as devoutly serve the true; the tongue that hath uttered swearings, and spoken blasphemies, must as plentifully sound forth the name of God in prayer and thanksgiving; the covetous man must become liberal; the oppressor of the poor as charitable in relieving them; the calumniator of his brother a tender guarder of his credit: in fine, he that hated his brother before must now love him as tenderly as himself. (Joseph Mede.) Repentance useless without amendment Repentance without amendment is like continual pumping in a ship, without stopping the leaks. (J. Palmer.) Jeremiah 18:12 There is no hope.Hope, yet no hope-No hope, yet hope There are two phases in spiritual life which well illustrate the deceitfulness of the heart. The first is that described in my first text (Isaiah 57:10), in which the man, though wearied in his many attempts, is not and cannot be convinced of the hopelessness of self-salvation, but still clings to the delusion that he shall be able somehow, he knows not how, to deliver himself from ruin. When you shall have hunted the man out of this, you will then meet with a new difficulty, which is described in the second text. Finding there is no hope in himself, the man draws the unwarrantable conclusion that there is no hope for him in God; and, as once you had to battle with his self-confidence, now you have to wrestle with his despair. It is self-righteousness in both cases. In the one ease it is the soul content with self-righteousness; in the second place it is man sullenly preferring to perish rather than receive the righteousness of Christ. I. Considering the first text, we have to speak of a hope which is no hope. “ Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.” This well pictures the pursuit of men after satisfaction in earthly things. They will hunt the purlieus of wealth, they will travel the pathways of fame, they will dig into the mines of knowledge, they will exhaust themselves in the deceitful delights of sin, and, finding them all to be vanity and emptiness, they will become sore perplexed and disappointed; but they will still continue their fruitless search. Carnal minds with all their might earth’ s vanities pursue, and when they are by ceremonies. If you shall addict yourself to the fullest ceremonial, if you should be obedient to it in all its jots and tittles, keeping its fast days and its feast days, its vigils and matins and vespers, bowing down before its priesthood, its altars, and its millinery, giving up your reason, and binding yourself in the fetters of superstition; after you have done all this, you will find an emptiness and a vexation of spirit as the only result. It is only grace that can enable us to follow Luther’ s example, who, after going up and down Pilate’ s staircase on his knees, muttering so many Ave Marias and Paternosters, called to mind that old text, “ Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God,” and springing up from his knees forsook once and forever all dependence upon outward formalities, and quitted the cloistered cell and all its austerities to live the life of a believer, knowing that by the works of the law there shall no flesh living be justified.2. A great mass of people, even though they reject priestcraft, make themselves priests, and rely upon their good works. A poor and wretched man dreamed that he was counting out gold. There it stood upon the table before him in great bags, and, as he untied string after string, he found himself wealthy beyond a Croesus’ treasures. He was lying upon a bed of straw in the midst of filth and squalor, a mass of rags and wretchedness, but he dreamed of riches. A charitable friend who had brought him help stood at the sleeper’ s side and said, “ I have brought you help, for I know your urgent need.” Now the man was in a deep sleep, and the voice mingled with his dream as though it were part of it: he replied, therefore, with scornful indignation, “ Get ye gone, I need no miserable charity from you; I am possessor of heaps of gold. Can you not see them? I will open a bag and pour out a heap that shall glitter before your eyes.” Thus foolishly he talked on, babbling of a treasure, which existed only in his dream, till he who came to help him accepted his repulse and departed mournfully. When the man awakened he had no comfort from his dream, but found that he had been duped by it into rejecting his only friend. Such is the position of every person who is hoping to be saved by his good works. You have no good works except in your dream. 3. Many persons are looking for salvation to another form of self-deception, namely, the way of repentance and reformation. It is thought by some that if they pray a certain number of prayers, and repent up to a certain amount, they will then be saved as the result of their praying and repenting. This, again, is another way of winning salvation which is not spoken of in Scripture. This is a way by which neither law nor Gospel receive honour. To repent is a Christian’ s duty, but to hope for salvation by virtue Of that alone is a delusion of the most fearful kind. Repentance is a part of salvation, and when Christ saves us He saves us by making us repent, but repentance does not save; it is the work of God, and the work of God alone. Now wherefore dost thou weary thyself in this way also? for surely in it “ there is no hope.” 4. Until thou art clean separate from all consciousness of hope in thyself, there no hope that the Gospel will ever be any power to thee; but when thou shalt throw up thy hands like a drowning man, feeling, “ It is all over with me! I am lost, lost, unless a stronger than I shall interpose.” Oh, sinner, then there is hope for you. II. We now turn to the second text. Here we have no hope--and yet hope. When the sinner has at last been driven by stress of weather from the roadstead of his own confidence, then he flies to the dreary harbour of despair. As if there were nobody in the world but himself, and as if he were to measure God’ s power and God’ s grace by his own merit and power. Hopelessness in self is what we want to bring you to, but hopelessness in itself, and especially in connection with God, would be a sin from which we would urge you to escape. If you are sitting down in despair, I want to speak to you first of the God of hope. His name is God, that is good. He delighteth in mercy: it is His soul’ s highest joy to clasp His Ephraims to His bosom. But you say, Wherewithal shall I come before the Most High God? I have sinned, and what shall I bring as a recompense? If I had a mint of merits, if I had godly impressions, if I had high moral excellence, I would come with that to God, and hope to obtain a hearing.” But hearken, sinner, dost thou not know the name of the Second Person in the Trinity? It is Jesus Christ, the Son. Now, if thou wantest merit, has not He enough of it? Oh, sinner, if thou hast no merit, thou needest not wish for any. Take Christ in thy hand, for He is made of God unto thee, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; and all this for every, soul of Adam born who trusts in Him alone. But I hear you complaining again, “ Oh, but I have not the power to repent. You have told me this, and I cannot believe: I cannot soften my heart; I cannot do anything; I am so powerless. You have been teaching me that.” I know I have; but there is another Person in the Trinity, and what is His name? It is the Holy Spirit. And do you not know that the Holy Spirit helpeth our infirmity? A great divine has said--and I think there is some truth in it--that a very great number of souls are destroyed through the fear that they cannot be saved. I think it is very likely. If some of you really thought that Christ could save you, if you felt a hope that you might yet be numbered with His people, you would say, “ I will forsake my sins, I will leave my present evil way, and I will fly unto the strong for strength.” In the first place, would it not be wise, even if there were only a “ peradventure,” to go to Christ, and trust Him on the strength of that? The King of Nineveh had no Gospel message; he had simply the law preached by Jonah, and that very shortly and sternly. Jonah’ s message was, “ Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” ; but the King of Nineveh said, “ Who can tell?” Surely if but on the presumption of “ Who can tell?” the men of Nineveh went and did find mercy, you will be inexcusable if you do not act upon the same, having much more than that to be your comfort. Go, sinner, to the Cross, for who can tell? But, in the next place, you have had many clear and positive examples. In reading Scripture through you find that many have been to Christ, and that there never was one cast out yet. Moreover, you have comfortable promises in the Word of God. “ Your hearts shall live that seek Him.” If you do seek Him your heart shall live. Leap on the back of that promise, and let it bear thee, as the Samaritan’ s beast bore the dying man, to an inn where thou mayest rest--I mean to Christ--where thou mayest have confidence. “ Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Now you do call upon His name. There are many others: they have been quoted in your ears till you know them by heart. “ Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” ; and you know that precious one, “ Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Spiritual desperation One instance of this is related by a well-known religious writer. He says: “ A zealous minister went to the house of an aged respectable man, a man who bore an unstained character, and there addressing him and his family, he told simply of the salvation that is in Christ, and urged those who listened to a hearty acceptance of it. The minister finished what he had to say, and when he left the house, his friend accompanied him; and when they were alone together said something like this: Spend your time and strength upon the young; labour to bring them to Jesus; it is too late for such as me. I know, he said, that I have never been a Christian. I fully believe that when I die I shall go down to perdition.” I. Its causes.1. One is the judgments of God, especially those severer dispensations with which the Almighty sometimes visits us. Their real significance, I need hardly say, is that our heavenly Father still loves us and cares for us--that He has not forgotten us, nor given us over to destruction--that He still thinks there is good in us, and a chance for us; and that He is bound by loud and louder calls to warn us back from ruin, and by heavier and heavier blows, if necessary, to drive us from the perilous paths in which we tread. Nevertheless, with the perversity of a chastised child, we put upon them precisely the opposite construction. 2. The discovery of one’ s sinfulness, and added to it the realisation of the jeopardy in which it places the soul, will often bring on a fit of hopelessness. That was the case with Judas. The author of the “ Pilgrim’ s Progress” has testified to a similar experience. When conscience had turned the light upon his life, and sharply reproved him for it, says Bunyan, “ I had no sooner thus conceived, in my mind, but suddenly this conclusion was fastened on my spirit that I had been a great and grievous sinner, and that now it was too late for me to look after heaven, for Christ would not forgive me, nor pardon my transgression.” 3. Not only does the discovery of our sins produce this effect, but the same is also apt to follow upon long and unsuccessful conflict with them. For instance, if a man has struggled a great while with some besetting fault, with an appetite that has tyrannised over him--like that for strong drink, to give a common example, or with some passion, like a hasty temper or an uncontrollable tongue--if it seems to him that he has never conquered it, and never can, then there begins to spread over his soul that dark cloud of despair our text represents. 4. Finally, this feeling of despair may be sometimes accounted for by supposing it to be simply a satanic suggestion. Dante saw over the portals of hell this terrible sentence, “ All hope abandon ye who enter here.” It is the devil’ s trick, his masterpiece of malice and cunning, to copy that inscription and trace it on the hearts of men--All hope abandon. II. The progress that this disorder of the soul makes when left to run an unchecked course.1. The first stage of it is misery. It must be. There is a very dramatic scene in the life of Bonaparte, depicted by Guizot. It is the moment when “ on that solitary road (to Paris) at the dead of night, the grand empire, founded and sustained by the incomparable genius and commanding will of one man alone, had crumbled to pieces, even in the opinion of him who had raised it.” It is the moment when the officers announce to the great General that his capital is evacuated, and the enemy at its gates; and he realises that nothing is left for him to do but abdicate. The agony that pierced that dauntless soul who can paint! Napoleon, it is said, “ let himself fall by the roadside, holding his head in his hands and hiding his face.” The onlookers stood by, silently contemplating him with heartfelt sorrow, unable to utter a single word. But oh! what is the fall of a kingdom to any monarch--what is his despair, what can it be compared to the anguish which must seize upon one, when the full conviction rushes over him that he is really doomed--that no chance is left him to avert damnation--when he must answer in his heart, There is no hope! 2. The second stage of progress is when insensibility sets in. You know that some diseases occasion excruciating pain at the start. Then after a while all disagreeable sensations cease. The patient has got “ past feeling.” Well, so it is with the soul when attacked by spiritual desperation. From great suffering at the outset it is liable to pass on into a state of numbness and indifference. It is a condition worse and more alarming than the first. The individual I was alluding to a moment since is an instance in point. I mean the one who begged his clergyman not to waste time upon him, because he had become persuaded that he was predestined to destruction. I did not quote to you then all his conversation upon this subject. Let me give it more in detail now. He said, “ I fully believe that when I die I shall go down to perdition. But somehow I do not care. I know perfectly all you can say, but I feel it no more than a stone.” 3. The third and last stage is when one arrives at recklessness. That was the stage reached by those Jews who spoke our text. They said there is no hope. Then they added, “ But we will walk after our own devices,” etc. They sinned yet more and more, until Nebuchadnezzar came and carried them away captive. On the deck of a sinking ship, when rescue is impossible, and the end of all is nigh at hand, a curious scene, it is said, may often be witnessed. Here is a group weeping over their impending fate; there is another knot contemplating with utter apathy a watery grave; and yonder, is the strangest sight of all--men in the very frenzy of despair, cursing and swearing with their latest breath, and preparing, with wine cup in hand, and senses steeped in intoxication, to go to their last account. Most singular and dreadful influence this latter, which unavoidable physical danger exercises over the minds of men. But it is no more singular or dreadful than the influence of spiritual hopelessness at times over the soul. The more terrible the doom hanging over it, the more mad does the soul become to sink itself to lower and ever lower abysses of guilt and shame. III. Is there any foundation in fact for spiritual desperation? Is there any truth in the feeling, there is no hope? No. It is not true of any living soul that there is no hope for it. I was reading the other day of an accident that befell an innkeeper of the Grindelwald. He “ fell into a deep crevasse in the upper glacier which flows into that beautiful valley. Happening to fall gradually from ledge to ledge, he reached the bottom in a state of insensibility, but not seriously injured.” What would you say of that man? Well, you would say of him, if you understood what it was to fall into a crevasse, that it was all over with him--that there was before him only a lingering death. In fact, the man himself was at first, when he returned to consciousness of the same opinion. But no, the event proves you both mistaken. When he awoke from his stupor he found himself in an ice cavern, with a stream flowing through an arch at its extremity. Following the course of this stream along a narrow tunnel, which was in some places so low in the roof that he could scarcely squeeze himself through on his hands and knees, he came out at last at the end of the glacier into the open air.” So we see a man fallen into the crevasse of terrible sins. There he lies, spiritually insensible, at the bottom of the awful abyss of iniquity into which, by careless walking, he has slipped at last. You think there is no help for him, no opportunity or place of repentance and restoration left. You dare to say there is no hope. And in his troubled dreams, mayhap (for sinners dream), the poor unfortunate himself repeats your words, no hope. But it is false. A chance for even him still remains. The fallen sinner may yet wake from his stupor, and like that innkeeper of the Grindelwald, creep out on hands and knees into the open air and sunlight of God’ s forgiveness and eternal love. Once, it is said, the servants of Richelieu refused to obey his dictates. “ Our Father,” they pleaded, “ it is useless, we shall but fail.” The great Cardinal drew himself up, fixed upon them his piercing eye, and in a tone that left no place for further parley, replied, “ Fall! there’ s no such word!” And when I see anyone today, a servant of the living God, perhaps afflicted, conscience-stricken, baffled, and mocked by whisperings of the Evil One, stand up and say there is no hope, I must despair, I hear a voice, loud as the wail of the dying Christ, ring out through the darkness from Calvary and its blood-stained cross, Despair! there’ s no such word!” (G. H. Chadwell.) The sin, danger, and unreasonableness of despair I. To despair of God’ s mercy is sinful.1. The ancient divines were accustomed to call despair one of the seven deadly sins It well deserves this character. It is directly contrary to the will of God. He, we are told, taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, and hope in His mercy. He must, therefore, be displeased with them that refuse to do this. It is also a great insult to the character of God. It calls in question the truth of His word; nay, it gives Him the lie; for He has told us that whosoever cometh to Him He will in no wise cast out. It calls in question, or rather denies the greatness of His mercy. It also limits the power of God. He has said, Is anything too hard for Me? But despair says, It is impossible that He should renew my heart, subdue my will, and make me fit for heaven. 2. Despair is the cause or parent of many other sins. As hope leads all who entertain it to endeavour to purify themselves, even as Christ is pure, so despair leads all under its influence to wander farther and farther from God, and plunge without restraint into every kind of wickedness. II. Despair of God’ s mercy is dangerous. When a man gives himself up to this sin, he does, as it were, give himself up to the power and guidance of the devil; for he voluntarily throws away everything which can protect or deliver him from the adversary. III. Despair of God’ s mercy is groundless and unreasonable.1. It is unreasonable to despair of God’ s mercy, because He continues to you the enjoyment of life, and the means of grace. Will you say, There is no hope, while the walls of God’ s house encircle you, while the light of the Sabbath shines upon you, while the Word of God is before you, and while the Gospel of salvation sounds in your ears! 2. The character of God, as revealed in His Word, shows that it is unreasonable for you to despair of His mercy. 3. The grand scheme of redemption revealed in the Gospel, renders it still more unreasonable to indulge despair. 4. The person, character, and invitations of Christ, show in the most striking and conclusive manner, that despair of salvation is unreasonable. 5. That it is unreasonable to despair of God’ s mercy, is evident from the characters of many to whom it has already been extended. (E. Payson, D. D.) Hopelessness condemned I. Sources of this despair of amendment.1. Indolence. It is the property of that quality of mind to be always seeking an apology for leaving things as they are. Sometimes it imagines difficulties, and sometimes dangers, neither of which have any real existence. There is what may be termed a vis inertiae, a power of indolence, in mind as well as in matter; and perhaps at the great day of account it will be found that where profligacy has slain its thousands, indolence has slain its ten thousands. 2. The secret love of sin. If we wish to be bad, how ready are we to believe that it is impossible to be better! The fallen heart is that marsh of corruption in which all things monstrous and mischievous find their birth and their dwelling place, and from whence they issue to the destruction of the peace of the individual and the injury of those around him. 3. A want of faith in the declaration of God. Will a merciful God command impossibilities? and yet He says, “ Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” : “ Be ye holy, as God is holy.” Will the holy God promise what He will not perform? II. Some of the motives for endeavouring to escape from it.1. This despair of amendment is altogether groundless. Imagine even your case to be as bad as possible. Suppose not only the spiritual health impaired, but the soul in a sense “ dead,” --still I am privileged, on the authority of God, to affirm that this death is not necessarily either final or fatal. It is rather suspension than extinction. It is a state from which your Redeemer is willing to raise you. 2. The despair of amendment is irrational. Right reason in every instance demands an implicit acquiescence in the revealed will of God. But I name the unreasonableness of this despondency of improvement on purpose to touch on a particular point. If it be possible that you may fail by the one process, it is certain that you must fail by the other. If the success of vigilance and prayer be equivocal, the ruin which must follow despair is inevitable. 3. Such despair of growth in grace and holiness is deeply guilty. There is a sort of morbid humility on this subject, which leads men to value themselves on those doubts in the compassionate promises of God, which are in fact nothing short of a capital offence against Him. Is the earthly parent flattered by his children refusing to place confidence in his declarations of pity and love? And can the God of truth and compassion be gratified to find that, in spite of the language of Scripture, of His past dealings with His creatures, and in the constant experience of His Church, we should still presume to question His mercies, and doubt whether He, who spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will with Him also give us all things? (J. W. Cunningham, M. A.) Desperation dangerous I. A desperate conclusion. I. In reference to themselves: despair as to their own amendment or reformation. There are people desperate in this regard because of--(1) An absolute indisposition and averseness to all kind of good (Job 21:11). This proceeds from--a neglect of religious duties and exercises; a persisting in some loose course of life; a walking contrary to light; worldliness and too deep an implunging into secular affairs. (2) An absolute thraldom and subjection to all kinds of evil. Spiritual laziness, unbelief of God’ s promises, carnal confidence, indifference to the thing itself. 2. In reference to Jeremiah and his ministry; despair as to the value of preaching God’ s messages amongst them. There are fortifications to this purpose, which men raise to themselves to hold out against the workings of the ministry. (1) Pride and self-conceit.(2) Cavillings and wranglings against the Word of the ministry.(3) Prosperity and outward welfare. 3. In reference to God Himself. They despair of the grace of God, and call it in question. (1) From the suggestions of Satan.(2) From the infidelity which is in their hearts.(3) From a measuring of God by themselves. II. A peremptory resolution.1. Simply and absolutely they declare that they will walk after their own devices. (1) There is implied here that the nature of man is very prone and subject to evil devices. (2) There is expressed here that there is in men an affection towards these devices. Their obstinacy and perverseness. Grounded upon security and presumption. Proceeding from the power which Satan has over them. They are not persuaded of the truth of God’ s Word. Their conspiracy and combination. Their wilful transgression and sin against knowledge. 2. Reflexively and derivatively, they said this. (1) Expressly in so many words.(2) Practically in that which they did. (T. Horton, D. D.) The terrors of a despairing heart Bunyan very aptly pictures Diabolus when he was attacking the town of Mansoul, as making Captain Past-hope unfurl the red colours which were carried by Mr. Despair, and he also speaks of the roaring of the tyrant’ s drum, which sounded forth terribly, especially by night, so that the men of Mansoul had always in their ears the sound of hell fire. Hell fire and all this to keep them from submitting to their gracious prince. Thus, for once, the devil craftily cooperates with the law of God and conscience; these would drive men to self-despair, but Satan would go farther, and compel them to despair as touching the Lord Himself, so as to believe that pardon for transgression is quite impossible. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The despair of a man who abandoned his belief in God Mr. Quint in Hogg tells a remarkable story of an incident which happened quite recently in a great London club. He was chatting with a friend about a man who had died by his own hand. His friend spoke rather indignantly of such an ignoble termination to life, and characterised it--rightly enough--as a cowardly thing for a man to leave others to meet the troubles and reap the bitter harvest he had sown. A well-known scientific man, who was sitting close by, turned round and said, “ I consider you have expressed a very harsh judgment. I don’ t consider it the action of a coward; and for myself, the only rest I can look forward to is the grave.” Mr. Hogg’ s friend, thinking that perhaps the gentleman had lost some relative by suicide, qualified his remarks by saying that such crimes were generally committed with deranged minds, and that, of course, his words did not apply to a man irresponsible for his acts. “ There is something worse than derangement,” was the reply, “ and that is despair.” Mr. Hogg says that his friend was very much shocked at the words and at the tone in which they were uttered, and began to speak to the scientist as best he could about the love of God. He told him he could not imagine how those who accepted the help of God could ever despair. “ Ah,” was the sad reply, “ I gave up my belief in God long ago, and I have had nothing but a deepening despair ever since. I repeat that the grave is the only rest I can hope for--the only home that remains for me.” (The Young Man.) Jeremiah 18:14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the lock Of the field?Man severed from the inexhaustible resources The idea of the text is that a man will cut himself off from the main, will cut himself away from the eternally feeding snow of Lebanon, and will begin to make himself a little cistern--ah me, a broken cistern, a cistern that can hold no water. Let us think of the suicide of isolation, the madness of amputating our life, of leaving the inexhaustible, the eternal, the infinite--and living little, miserable, self-devouring lives. “ Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon and the fountain that rises from the rock?” You would not allow it in business. Shall I tell you what I have heard some of you business men say? Did not one of you point out a man to me, and say, “ You see that man crossing from the Mansion House to the Bank of England?” “ Yes.” “ Very singular case,” you say; “ that man is living on his capital.” I said, “ What harm is there in that?” “ Why, he is eating himself up, consuming himself. He ought to have his capital so invested that it will bring him in revenue day by day, year by year, and the capital should be kept intact if possible, and still the income should be accruing.” “ I see!” That is the text from a secular point of view. “ This man is living on his capital, he has cut himself off from payable, remunerative, compensative agencies, and he is eating up what he has.” The worst thing that can happen in military operations is for the enemy to get behind and to cut off the supplies. That is the horrible possibility and the dreadful mischief, that the supplies should be cut off. Take care how you dwell upon this as an instance of misfortune. I charge you, in the presence of God and the holy angels, foolish man, with doing this very thing. You have cut off your supplies, you have dismissed prayer, you are trying to live on your own miserable individuality and selfhood. Get back to your supplies--back to God, back to the fountain. Live and move and have your being in God, and then no man can impoverish you, until he has impoverished God. (J. Parker.) Jeremiah 18:17I win scatter them;. . . I will shew them the back.The sinner’ s doom I. The cause of the evil threatened.1. Rejecting the Divine government.2. Guilty of idolatry.3. Rejecting the mercy of God.4. Conduct characterised by the greatest folly.5. A manifestation of basest ingratitude. II. The nature of the evil threatened.1. God sometimes shows His back in a way of mercy (Exodus 33:23; Job 25:2).2. But this threat is expressive of Divine wrath.3. The wrath of God is retributive.4. A final departure. III. The time when the evil shall be inflicted.1. In the time of adversity.2. In sickness.3. When deserted by friends.4. In old age.5. In hour of death.6. At last day. (Helps for the Pulpit.) East winds The east winds referred to by the prophets appear to be a violent form of sirocco. It was the east wind which brought the plague of locusts upon the Egyptians. It was by an east wind that the ships of Tarshish were broken (Psalms 48:7), and the ships of Tyre (Ezekiel 27:26). Jeremiah takes an east wind as the symbol of Jehovah’ s punishment of His people, while references to its withering and scorching properties are numerous; from the seven thin ears of wheat of Pharaoh’ s vision in Egypt to the sultry blast which helped to afflict Jonah outside the walls of Nineveh. The east wind still breaks at times with terrific violence upon the coasts of Palestine, and the records of victims tell of tents that have been blown away by its fury. (H. B. Freeman, M. A.) Jeremiah 18:18 Come, and let us smite him With the tongue. The reformers’ task difficult and dangerous If there were a hundred violins together, all playing below concert pitch, and I should take a real Cremona, and with the hand of a Paganini should bring it strongly up to the true key, and then should sweep my bow across it like a storm, and make it sound forth clear and resonant, what a demoniac jargon would the rest of the playing seem! Yet the other musicians would be enraged at me. They would think all the discord was mine, and I should be to them a demoniac. So it is with reformers. The world thinks the discord is with them, and not in its own false playing. (H. W. Beecher.) . Jeremiah 20:7O Lord, Thou hast deceived me.The arduous character of God’ s service forgotten Too often the servants of God are impatient under present crosses, and give way to the infirmity of their old nature. Like Jeremiah, they complain as if God had done them some wrong, and had not let them know in entering His service what trials were before them. But it is not God who has dealt unfairly with them, but themselves who have lost sight of the appointed conditions of His service. The Lord never allures any to follow Him without plainly telling them the cross that awaits them. (Fausset.) He deals with them as brave Garibaldi did with his recruits. When Garibaldi was going out to battle, he told his troops what he wanted them to do. When he had described what he wanted them to do, they said: “ Well, General, what are you going to give us for all this? “ Well,” he replied, “ I don’ t know what else you will get; but you will get hunger and cold, and wounds and death.” How do you like that? (Revelation 2:10.) The ideal and the real; or, does God deceive? A religious man in the nineteenth century is not accustomed to speak of God as a deceiver. And yet, once we allow for the difference of phraseology and get behind the words, we find that the experience which Jeremiah expressed here is one through which we ourselves have passed, and the problem which he tries to solve is still on our hands. He had now been preaching for several years. He had set out with all the ardour of young enthusiasm. His was no reckless rush into the ministry. Objections and difficulties there were, and he took account of them. But the impulse to preach was too strong to be resisted, and the young prophet had no doubt that that impulse was the voice of God. His obedience involved an expectation. He expected, of course, that his work would tell; the God who called him would be with him, and the “ work of the Lord” would “ prosper in his hands.” After several years’ hard, faithful work, what does he find? A people not only obdurate and disobedient, but revengeful and cruel. He had seen the reformation under King Josiah, and he had seen also the terrible relapse. It grieved his heart to see the fearful idolatrous practices restored in the Valley of Hinnom. He went down there one day to protest against it in the name of God. While he delivered his message he held in his hand a potter’ s earthen bottle, which, at one point in his discourse, he dashed to pieces on the ground, and assured his hearers that so the Lord would break them and their city in pieces. The result of this was not, as he might have hoped, the turning away of the people from sin. On the contrary, Pashur, the chief officer in the house of the Lord, struck Jeremiah and put him in stocks to be jeered at. Though liberated the next day, this treatment caused the prophet seriously to reflect upon the whole question of his mission. He looked upon that mission in the light of results, and he confessed to a great disappointment. That is what he expresses in the words, “ Lord, Thou hast deceived me.” Results seemed to tell him to give up, and he tried to give up. He said: “ I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name.” But what did he find? A burning fire in his heart, and he could not forbear. Here, then, was the prophet’ s dilemma. The language of actualities to him was “ stop,” but there was an imperative in his soul, and he could not stop. Now the practical question to him was--Which of these two conflicting voices was the voice of God? Was it the voice of history, or was it the prophetic impulse of his heart? If the latter, then there was the hard fact for him to face, that “ the word of the Lord” made him a laughing stock, a derision, and a reproach. Jeremiah decided for the latter, spite of the tremendous odds against him, and preached on in the faith that God would some day vindicate his cause. The problem which Jeremiah had to solve for himself is still with us. There does appear to be a contradiction between the world as it is and the world as we feel it ought to be, which is very puzzling. To many minds that contradiction is altogether inexplicable. The so-called moral ideal is an illusion of the mind, and if we call it the voice of God, then God deceives men. There always have been ideals of justice and goodwill, but the real world is all the time in dead opposition to them. Now, which of these expresses the will of God? Is it the world of fact, or the world of aspiration? Is it in our sight of what is, or in our hope of what may be? Shall we learn His character from what He has actually done, or from an ideal which He has always promised but never realised? Does God deceive men? Reformers die with their holms unfulfilled; lives have been given to the cause of righteousness, and yet might remains right, and the tyrant prevails. Do our ideals simply mock us? If these are the voice of God, why do they not prevail? Is God defeated? What shall we say? Let us not try to escape the difficulty by denying it. We may purchase a cheap optimism by blinking the ugly facts of the world. Let us admit to the full that the history of moral reform has its sore disappointments. The world has not only opposed the reformer, but it has always put him in stocks. It changes the kind of stocks as time goes on, but they are stocks all the same. Official religion and real religion are often engaged in deadly conflict, a conflict which frequently results to the reformer, as to Jeremiah, in a sore sense of disappointment. And every man who seeks to do good soon comes upon many discouraging facts. There are times when he says: “ I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought.” Nor is it by ignoring such and similar facts, and dwelling only on the bright side, that we have to support faith. On the other hand, we must beware of the temperament which ever occupies itself with life’ s disappointments, and fails to see its progress and success. Now, I admit that if there were that complete breach between the real and ideal which appears to be, the problem would be utterly insoluble. But it is not so. In the first place, it is not correct to speak of the world of fact and the world of aspiration as separate and distinct, for the aspiration is one of the facts. It is a part of that unto which it aspires. The aspiration after goodness is itself good, and all prayer for spiritual excellence is part of its own answer. There is no clear line between the ideal and the real, for the ideal is a part of man as he is, and he is a part of the world as it is. When we ask whether we shall learn God’ s character from that which He has accomplished in the world, or from the ideal which stirs the soul, we forget that that soul with its ideal is a part of what He has done. Man, with his sense of duty, with all his yearnings for purer and diviner being, is a part of the world as it is; the ideal is partly actual; prophecy is history at its highest range. If only one man desired that society should be righteous and pure, society could not be judged without that man. The power of an ideal may culminate in a great person, find in him an exceptionally brilliant expression, and reach the point at which it commands the world; but he is always a sharer in the conditions he condemns, and the men he condemns have helped to make him what he is. He may be as different from the average society as the blossom is from the stem on which it grows, but that society conditions him as the stem conditions the blossom. This is the fact which the prophet is liable to forget. It was as true of Jeremiah as of Thomas Carlyle, that he made the blackness blacker than it was. Jeremiah was not as lonely as he himself thought he was. If that nation had been utterly faithless, such faith as his could not have been born in it. So, though the prophet must condemn the actual, because he is swayed by the ideal, and is a divinely discontented man, working for progress, yet his very existence proves that that progress has already been the order of God, and has produced him. That there is a contradiction between what is and what ought to be is true, but it is not the whole truth. Strictly speaking, nothing is, but everything is becoming. We are in the process of a Divine evolution in which the ideal is forever actualising itself. The contradiction is not ultimate, nor the breach complete. What cannot we hope, for instance, of a race that counts one Jesus among its members? He is, then, an example of what we may become, and our representative before God. In like manner, surely, when God judges the human race, He does not judge it with its best specimens left out; He takes its highest points into consideration. He does with the race what you and I do with the individual--takes its best as its real self, as that to which it shall one day fully attain. And when we think that Jesus, and all that He was, is a part of the actual history of the world, then we say that the richest ideals that ever sway our souls are justified by the history of our race--God is not deceiving us. Let us try to remember this when we come to bitter disappointments in life’ s work. When the prophet finds, as find he will, that multitudes do not listen, but mock and deride, let him nevertheless be sure that the good and the true must prevail. Some disappointments are inevitable. It is of the very nature of an ideal to make life unsatisfactory; a spirit so possessed can never rest in what is, but will forever press forward to that which is before. To be content with all things as they are is to obliterate the distinction between good and bad, between right and wrong. No high-souled man will settle matters so. But some of our bitterest disappointments come from the fact that the form in which the ideal shapes itself in our mind is necessarily defective, and that our scheme of work is consequently partial and one-sided. This was a constant source of trouble to the prophets of Israel. We get many of our disappointments in a similar way. Here are two men, for instance, whose souls are stirred by the ideal of a renovated world in which righteousness and love shall reign. Each think of bringing it about chiefly in one particular way, the former, perhaps by some scheme of social reform, the latter by a certain type of gospel preaching. Both will be very disappointed; the world will not come round to them as they wish. And yet while these two men are groaning under their disappointments, the fact is that the world is all the time advancing, though not in their way. The man who thinks that his particular gospel is the only thing that can possibly save the world finds the world very indifferent to that gospel, and thinks that it is going to perdition, while all the time it is going onward and upward to higher and better things. But the truth is, that the world’ s progress is far too great to be squeezed into any one creed, or scheme, or ordinance, and you cannot measure it by any of these. Attempt that, and while you bemoan your discouragements and think ill of the world, humanity will sweep onward, receiving its marching orders from the throne of the universe. For practical purposes we must confine our energies chiefly to one or two ways of doing good, but if we only remember that when we have selected our way it is but a small fragment of what has to be done, that other ways and methods are quite as necessary, we shall save ourselves from much personal trouble, and from much ill-judgment of others. But even when we have done our best, there will still be some adverse results. These must not dishearten us. If there be in our heart “ as it were a burning fire,” and we become weary of silence and cannot contain, then let the fiery speech flow, however cold the world. We must obey the highest necessities of our nature. Our best impulses and purest desires are the word of God to us, which we have to preach. With this conviction we can go on with our work, disappointments notwithstanding. Nothing is more evident in reviewing history than the continuity of Divine purpose. It is the unfolding of a plan. It is full enough of evil and of sorrow, and yet “ out of evil cometh good,” and “ joy is born of sorrow.” It is full enough of error, and yet, somehow, even error has been used to preserve truth. Out of mistakes and superstitions have come some of the greatest truths. The greatest tragedy of history was the crucifixion of Jesus, yet Calvary has become the mount of our highest ascensions, and the altar of our best thanksgivings. So often, indeed, has the best come out of the worst, so often has the morning broken when the night was darkest, so often has peace come through war, that no discouragements of today shall weaken our faith, or bedim our hope, or mar the splendour of our expectation. We believe in God. There are dark places in history, tunnels through which we are not able to follow the train of the Divine purpose, but we saw it first on the one side, and then on the other, and conclude it must have gone through--the tunnel, too, was on the line of progress. The history of the world is an upward history. And those who know God are ever looking up; men with a Divine outlook are ever on the march. And, friends, whatever you do, cling to the ideal. Let no discouragement release your hold. Be active and practical; yes, but do not be bound within the limits of any one scheme. Climb the mount of vision, and have converse with God, and you will carry down with you a faith that can stand any disappointment, and hold itself erect amid the rush of the maddest torrent. (T. R. Williams.) Jeremiah 20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of Him nor speak any more in His name. Jeremiah discouraged I. Jeremiah’ s momentary rashness. Oh! it was a rash speech--like the rashness of Job, like the petulance of Jonah. It is useful for us to have set before us the failings of the most distinguished of God’ s people. We learn from these failings, that after all they were mere men, and “ men of like passions with ourselves,” that they were encompassed with the same infirmity, that they carried about with them the same weakness, and that therefore the same grace which was triumphant in them in the result can be equally triumphant in our support and in our ultimate victory. II. His many and great discouragements.1. They arose partly from the very nature of his message. His was not a pleasing burden. The message of God’ s Word is a message of wrath as well as of mercy; there are denunciations in it as well as promises. And we must be as faithful and as earnest in the delivery of the one as we are in the delivery of the other. 2. The unbelief and opposition which that message experienced. 3. Nor were the hearers of Jeremiah satisfied with the discouragement that would be occasioned by their opposition to and unbelief of the message of the prophet; they added to this bitter reproach, misrepresentation and persecution. What though earth meets us with its opposition? What though calumnies are flung against the cause in which we are engaged? We are not looking for earthly honours; we are not seeking the gratitude and encomiums of the world. Our record is with God; our reward is on high. We appeal to His judgment seat; we labour as in His sight. III. The perseverance, by which the course of the prophet was marked, notwithstanding all. Mark, then, it was only a momentary fit of despondency. They are the moments of God’ s people, that are the seasons of their giving way; it is not the characteristic of their entire life. Though they may now and then say, “ I will not make mention of Him nor speak any more in His name,” follow them a little--they are at it again, and again, and again; and on to a dying hour, and with their dying breath, that name is on their lips; and when the tongue is silent, it is still engraven on the heart. (W. H. Cooper.) Pulpit experience I. The power of the outward to induce a godly minister to discontinue his work. I will state a few of the things which often induce this depressing state of mind1. The momentous influences that must spring from our labours. In every sentence we touch cords that shall send their vibrations through the endless future; that shall peal in the thunders of a guilty conscience, or resound in the music of a purified spirit. 2. The incessant draw upon the vital energies of our being. To preach is to teach as well as to exhort and warn; and to teach the Bible requires a knowledge of the Bible, and to know the Bible requires the most earnest, continued, and indefatigable investigation. Physical labour tires some limb, but this labour tires the soul itself; and when the soul is tired, the man himself is tired. 3. The seeming ineffectiveness of his labours. 4. The inconsistent conduct of those who profess to believe the truth. II. The stronger power of the inward to induce a godly minister to persevere in his work. Look at this inner force; it is like a “ fire.” Fire! What a purifying, expanding power! it turns everything to its own nature. So it is with the Word of God. This fire was shut up in the bones of the prophet; it became an irrepressible force. The thoughts that passed his mind about resigning, feel as fuel to increase its force. If a man has God’ s truth really in him, he must speak it out.1. This word kindled within him the all-impelling “ fire” of philanthropy. Many waters cannot quench love. All the waters of ministerial annoyance, disappointment, anxieties, and labour, shall not quench this “ fire,” if the Word of God is “ shut up in his bones.” 2. This word kindled within him the all-impelling “ fire” of piety. It filled him with love to God. David felt this “ fire” when he said, “ I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved.” Paul felt this “ fire” at Athens, when he “ felt his spirit stirred within him.” 3. This word kindled within him the all-impelling “ fire of hope.” The Word of God kindles within us a fire that lights up the future world, and makes us feel that what we are doing, however humble, is great, because it is for eternity. 4. This word kindled within him the strong “ fire” of duty. “ It is giving in trust,” etc. “ I am a debtor,” says Paul. (Homilist.) The soul under discouragement I. The effects of discouragement as a pious soul.1. In our labours for the good of others.2. In our exertions for our own souls. Such apprehension is most enervating. II. The effect of piety on a discouraged soul.1. To shame querulous impatience.2. To resuscitate drooping energies. Conclusion:1. Expect discouragements in every part of your duty.2. Make them occasions for glorifying God the more. (C. Simeon, M. A.) Ministers, their discouragements and supports I. Ministerial discouragements distressingly felt.1. Here is a rash resolution formed.2. An insuperable obstacle presented to his meditated abandonment of his work. II. Popular detraction sensitively deplored.1. Explain the nature of popular detraction.2. Adduce Scripture precepts respecting the evil of popular detraction.3. Exhibit Scripture examples of individuals who have felt the scorpion’ s sting of popular detraction.4. Analyse more particularly the ease of the prophet as exhibited in the text. III. Divine support happily realised.1. From a sense of the presence and power of God.2. Expectation of the future failure and confusion of his opposers.3. From a belief of the omniscience of God.4. From the efficacy of prayer. Learn--(1) To expect detraction.(2) Follow the Saviour’ s rule: speak to the detractor alone.(3) Cultivate habits of circumspection.(4) Lay our cause before God.(5) Anticipate through the merits of Christ a world where there will be no defaming. (J. Redford) The burning fire We have sometimes seen a little steamer, like The Maid of the Mist at the foot of the Falls of Niagara, resisting and gaining upon a stormy torrent, madly rushing past her. Slowly she has worked her way through the mad rush of waters, defying their attempt to bear her back, calmly and serenely pursuing her onward course, without being turned aside, or driven back, or dismayed. And why? Because a burning fire is shut up in her heart, and her engines cannot stay, because impelled in their strong and regular motion. Similarly, within Jeremiah’ s heart a fire had been lit from the heart of God, and was kept aflame by the continual fuel heaped on it. The difficulty, therefore, with him was, not in speaking, but in keeping silent--not in acting, but in refraining. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) A heart on fire But, after all, our main desire is to know how we may have this heart on fire. We are tired of a cold heart toward God. We complain because of our sense of effort in Christian life and duty; we would fain learn the secret of being so possessed by the Spirit and thought of God that we might be daunted by no opposition, abashed by no fear. The source of the inward fire is the love of God, shed abroad by the Holy Ghost; not primarily our love to God, but our sense of His love to us. The coals of juniper that gave so fierce a heat to the heart of a Rutherford were brought from the altar of the heart of God. If we set ourselves with open face towards the Cross, which, like a burning lens, focuses the love of God, and if, at the same time, we reckon upon the Holy Spirit--well called the Spirit of Burning--to do His wonted office, we shall find the ice that cakes the surface of our heart dissolving in tears of penitence; and presently the sacred fire will begin to glow. When that love has once begun to burn within the soul, when once the baptism of fire has set us aglow, the sins and sorrows of men--their impieties and blasphemies, their disregard of God, of His service and of His day, their blind courting of danger, their dalliance with evil, will only incite in us a more ardent spirit. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Jeremiah 20:10-18 An my familiars watched for my halting. Pathetic experiences In these verses we have two distinct aspects of human experience. Within this brief section Jeremiah is on the hill top and in the deepest valley of spiritual dejection. How much depends upon circumstances for man’ s estimate of life! That estimate varies with climate, with incidents of a very trivial nature, and with much that is only superficial and transitory. Life is one thing to the successful man, and another to the man whose life is one continual series of defeats and disappointments. It is well, therefore, that all men should have a touch of failure, and spend a night or two now and then in deepest darkness that cannot be relieved: such experience teaches sympathy, develops the noblest faculties, brings into beneficent, exercise many generous emotions, and in the morning, after a long night’ s struggle with doubt, there may be tears in the eyes; but those tears denote the end of weakness and the beginning of strength. The year is not one season, but four, and we must pass through all the four before we can know what the year is. So with life: we must be with Jeremiah on the mountaintop, or with him in the deep valley; we must join his song, and fall into the solemn utterance of his sorrow, before we can know what the whole gamut of life is. How impossible it is to realise all the conflicting experiences at once, and to be wise. There is an abundance of information, there is a plentifulness of criticism that is detestable; but wisdom--large, generous wisdom, that understands every man’ s case, and has an answer to every man’ s necessity--oh, whither has that angel-mother fled? We need now and again to come into contact with those who know us altogether, and who can speak the word of cheer when we are cheerless, and the word of chastening when our rapture becomes riotous. Consider the vanity of life, and by its vanity understand its brevity, its uncertainty, its fickleness. We have no gift of time, we have no assurance of continuance; we have a thousand yesterdays, we have not one tomorrow. Then how things disappoint us that were going to make us glad! The flowers have been blighted, or the insects have fallen upon them, or the cold wind has chilled them, and they have never come to full fruition or bloom or beauty; and the child that was going to comfort us in our old age died first, as if frightened by some ghost invisible to us. Then the collisions of life, its continual competitions and rivalries and jealousies; its mutual criticisms, its backbitings and slanderings; its censures, deserved and undeserved: who can stand the rush and tumult of this life? Who has not sometimes longed to lay it down and begin some better, sunnier state of existence? And the sufferings of life, who shall number them?--not the great sufferings that are published, not the great woes that draw the attention even of the whole household to us in tender regard; but sufferings we never mention, spiritual sufferings, yea, even physical sufferings; sufferings that we dare not mention, sufferings that would be laughed at by unsympathetic contempt--but still sufferings. Add all these elements and possibilities together, and then say who has not sometimes been almost anxious to “ shuffle off this mortal coil,” and pass into the liberty of rest. Jesus Christ understands us all. We can all tell Jesus, as the disciples did, what has happened. He can listen to each of us as if His interest were entranced and enthralled. He knows every quiver of the life, every throb of the heart, every palpitation of fear, and every shout of joy. Withhold nothing from Him. You can tell Him all, and when you have ended you will find that you may begin life again. In your hope is His answer. (J. Parker, D. D.) Evil watchers “ All my familiars watched for my halting” : the original word does not mean my innermost friends, for true friendship can never be guilty of such treason, but the Hebrew word means, The men of my peace; the men who used to accost me on the highway with, “ Is it peace?” --the men who salaamed me out of civility, but who never really cared for me in their souls: these men, behind their painted masks, watched for my halting; they all watched. Some men take pleasure when other men fall. What is the answer to all this watching of others? It is a clear, plain, simple, useful answer: Watch yourselves; be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. It is not enough that others watch you--watch yourselves; be critical about yourselves; be severe with yourselves; penetrate the motive of every action, and say, Is it healthy? Is it honest? Is it such as could bear the criticism of God? Dare we take up this motive and look at it when the sun burns upon it in its revealing glory? If a man so watch himself he need not mind who else watches him. Watch the secret places; watch the out-of-the-way doors, the postern gates, the places that are supposed to be secure against the approach of the burglar; be very careful about all these, and then the result may be left with God. He who does not watch will be worsted in the fray. He who does not watch cannot pray. He who watches others and does not watch himself is a fool. (J. Parker, D. D.) But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one.--The best Champion (as a mighty terrible one):--As a strong giant, and mine only Champion on whom I lean. Here the spirit begins to get the better of the flesh, could Jeremiah but hold his own. But as the ferryman plies the oar, and eyes the shore homeward where he would be, yet there comes a gust of wind that carrieth him back again; so it fared with our prophet (verses 14, 15). (John Trapp.) Cursed be the day wherein I was born. Existence regretted Job and Jeremiah were alike in wishing they had never been born. They were both men of sorrow. I. A preference alike irreligious and irrational.1. Good men should not for a moment think that non-existence is preferable to life and being. These were both good men, children of God; existence was therefore a blessing to be prized, not an evil to be mourned over. Had they been versed in the design and results of Divine dispensations, as Paul, they would have said, “ Our light affliction,” etc. With such a destiny before them, instead of cursing the day of birth, they would have blessed it as the dawn of an eternal existence, to be hereafter crowned with a glory that fadeth not away. 2. Ungodly men may with some degree of reason prefer non-existence; because in trouble they have no Divine support, in death no good hope, in eternity no expectation but the penalty of sin. II. Non-existence is preferable to existence unless existence possess more pleasure than pain.1. If every ungodly man lived out threescore years and ten, and the whole was spent in pleasure, yet, as that period is but momentary as compared with his eternal existence, and as that existence is to be one of pain, he might curse the day of his birth. 2. Existence, eternal existence, is a blessing to all unfallen ones, and also to such fallen ones as are redeemed by the death of Christ. 3. But perpetuity of existence can be no blessing to “ the angels who kept not their first estate,” nor to those of the human race who by impenitence and unbelief reject the great salvation and bring upon themselves the double condemnation of the law and the Gospel. III. Hell and heaven are two great teachers.1. Hell teaches--the folly of wickedness, the full enormity of sin in the penalty it has entailed, and leads all its victims amid the consequences of their depravity to curse the day they were born. 2. Heaven teaches--the wisdom of holiness, the full benefits of redemption in the felicity it has secured, and leads all the ransomed to bless the day of their birth as the morn of their noontide of glory. IV. God is not willing that any should have occasion for preferring non-existence.1. He has devised and carried out a costly plan by which the existence of fallen ones might be made an eternal blessing. 2. Every man who now wishes for a glorious existence has only to look to Jesus and be saved. (D. Pledge.) . Jeremiah 21:1-2 Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us.A distressed king seeks Divine counsel Of Galba the emperor, as also of our Richard III, it is recorded that they were bad men but good princes. We cannot say so much of Zedekiah. Two things he is chiefly charged with--1. That he brake his oath and faith plighted to the King of Babylon (Ezekiel 17:16). 2. That he humbled not himself before Jeremiah, speaking from the mouth of the Lord. Hitherto he had not: but now in his distress he seeketh to this prophet; yea, sendeth an embassage. Kings care not for soldiers, said a great commander, till their crowns hang on the one side of their heads. Sure it is that some of them slight God’ s ministers till they cannot tell what to do without them. (John Trapp.) Kings have their cares Kingdoms have their cares, and thrones their thorns. Antigonus cried of his diadem, “ O base rag,” not worth taking up at a man’ s feet. Julian complained of his own unhappiness in being made emperor. Diocletian laid down the empire as weary of it. Thirty of the ancient kings of this our land, said Capgrave, resigned their crowns; such were their cares, crosses, and emulations. Zedekiah now could gladly have done as much. But since that might not be, he sendeth to Jeremiah, whom in his prosperity he had slighted, and, to gratify his wicked counsellors, wrongfully imprisoned. (John Trapp.) Jeremiah 21:6 They shall die of a great pestilence.Pestilence In a romance, “ The End of an Epoch,” by A. Lincoln Green, the hero, Adam Godwin, makes the acquaintance of a German professor, bearing the ominous name of Azrael Falk, who comes to London, bringing with him a large quantity of an active and deadly germ poison, which would depopulate any country where it might be turned loose. His idea is to make an enormous fortune by selling it to either Russia or Germany, between whom at the time discords had arisen. The catastrophe is brought on in a simple way. The professor, with his jars in his possession (he is too jealous and suspicious ever to part from them), carries out a long-cherished fancy to see the Derby, and on Epsom Downs is taken for a welsher, and set upon by the mob. His precious jars are broken, and he himself is removed insane and dying to a neighbouring asylum. The death dealing contents of the jars rise in a brown mist and float in the air. Adam Godwin knows that London is in mortal peril, but he has not been told the secret of the anti-toxin, and Falk dies without recovering his reason. The most exciting pages are those in which we watch the slow creeping of the plague over London. It attacks all except aged persons, and there is no remedy. The calamity which in this book is merely fictitious was, in dire fact, to befall Jerusalem Disobedience, stubbornness, and impenitence were the deadly germ poison by which the inhabitants of the city were to be swept away. Jeremiah 21:7 He shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.No mercy in war The exploits of Surrey in Scotland are thus recorded in a letter of Wolsey: “ The Earl of Surrey so devastated and destroyed all Tweedale and March, that there is left neither house, fortress, village, tree, cattle, corn, nor other succour for man; insomuch that some of the people that fled from the same, afterward returning and finding no sustenance, were compelled to come into England begging bread, which oftentimes when they do eat they die incontinently for the hunger passed. And with no imprisonment, cutting off their ears, burning them in the faces, or otherwise, can be kept away.” (Knight’s England.) Jeremiah 21:8I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.God’ s message of life and death I. It is God’ s prerogative to mark the path in which He would have us go for both worlds.1. In His written Word. (1) By doctrinal statements.(2) By warnings and invitations. 2. By providence and mercies: examples and instances. II. The path to life is clothed with many attractions.1. It is a plain way, though narrow. Only difficult and perplexed to those who are reluctant to renounce the burden of their sins and the corruption of this evil world, or would fain invent some method to reconcile the discordant claims of God and mammon, earth and heaven. 2. It is an old way, and well trodden. From Abel’ s time. 3. It is a safe way; for, though much contested, it is Divinely guarded. 4. It is a pleasant way. III. We are daily advancing in one or other of these paths. There can be amidst the diversities to the race but two broad divisions: wise and foolish; wheat and tares. A worldly man is one that has his chief treasure upon earth, while God and eternity are forgotten. Whereas the Christian is one who has been converted from the error of his ways; his mind has been enlightened to discern the evil of sin and the love and loveliness of Christ, and he is anxious to lay up his treasure and hopes in heaven. IV. The doom on the impenitent will be aggravated by weighty considerations.1. The path of life and death was clearly set before you, and rejected by deliberate choice. 2. The solemn providences and warnings you have abused. 3. The vanity and worthlessness of pursuits for which salvation was rejected. 4. The changeless eternity of the state to which you go. (S. Thodey.) Jeremiah 21:12 Execute Judgment ill the morning.Justice must be prompt “ Execute judgment in the morning,” as David your progenitor and pattern did (Psalms 101:8). Be up and be at it bedtime, and make quick despatch of causes, that poor men may go home about their business, who have other things to do besides going to law. It is a lamentable thing that a suit should depend ten or twenty years in some courts through the avarice of some pleaders, to the utter undoing of their poor clients. This made one such (when he was persuaded to patience by the example of Job) to reply, “ What do you tell me of Job? Job never had suits in chancery.” Jethro adviseth Moses (Exodus 18:1-27) to dismiss those timely, whom he cannot despatch presently. (John Trapp.) . Jeremiah 22:3 Do no wrong. Wrong The meaning of the word “ wrong” is, something that is twisted from the straight line. Do you say you have not done wrong? When you set yourself up as a pattern of goodness, and at the same time turn up your nose at your erring acquaintance, it leads one to think that your angelic profession may cover the filthy rags of human sin. Some people profess too much. If they would acknowledge to some fault and confess that occasionally they are common metal like everybody else, we should respect them. People who will not permit you to think that they have ever done wrong, are often very unfeeling in their dealings with a person that has “ made a fool of himself.” The man who feels himself to be a wrong-doer, is the most compassionately helpful to those that have fallen. When I hear anybody speaking harshly or ridiculing somebody who has done wrong and been found out, I fear that the only way to save them is for God to let them also fall into the mire of iniquity. Bear patiently with wrong-doers, and give them time to repent. Had they possessed your light, your education, your good parents and your virtuous surroundings, they might have lived a nobler life. When a man or a woman has done wrong, do not cast a stone at them; let us, if we can, lead them on to the path of right.1. Let me urge that you do no wrong in your intentions. Let us weigh well our motives. Before doing any act, we should consider its intent, and ask ourselves, “ What is my intention? Is it the glory of God, the good of man, or only my own advantage--my own indulgence?” When the intention is wholly selfish it is pretty sure to cause disappointment and misery; but when the intention is unselfish, it is likely to result in happiness both to ourselves and others. 2. It is also a matter of course that every true Christian should do no wrong in his practice. We profess much; let us seek to practise what we profess. I do not suppose that we are at present on such a high level as that shown in the spirit of the life of Christ; but let us aim at it, and though we fall, let us rise and try again. A farmer one day went to his landlord, Earl Fitzwilliam, saying, “ Please, your lordship, the horses and hounds last week quite destroyed my field of wheat. The earl said “ I am very sorry; how much damage do you think they did?” The farmer replied, “ Well, your lordship, I don’ t think £50 would make it right.” The earl immediately wrote out his order for £50 and handed it to the farmer, saying, “ I hope it will not be so bad as you think.” So they parted. Months afterwards, the same old farmer came to the hall again, and when admitted into the library, said, “ Please, your lordship, I have brought back that £50.” The earl exclaimed, “ Why, what for?” The farmer said, “ Well, because I find that the trodden field of wheat has turned out to be a better crop than any of the others. So I have brought the money back.” The earl exclaimed, “ This is as it should be; it is doing right between man and man.” He tore up the order and wrote another, saying, “ Here, my good friend, is an order for a hundred pounds; keep it by you till your eldest son is twenty-one and then give it him as a present from me, and tell him how it arose.” Now I think the honest farmer sets a good example to us all No doubt the tempter whispered in the ear of his soul, “ The earl will never miss that £50. Why, farmer, you don’ t mean to say you are going to give the morley back!” But the honest old John Bull of a farmer replied, “ It would be wrong, you know, for me to keep that £50.” Do no wrong to your neighbour, either in competition of business, or in your social and political relationship. Every man has a weak side to his character, and a tendency to do wrong in some direction. In other words, every man is a spiritual invalid who wants a heavenly prescription to restore him to health. Now, when your body is ill, you send for a doctor who counts your pulse and asks where your pain is, and how you feel. If you do not tell him all the truth, he does not know how to treat you. In the same way, when we are spiritually sick, we should confess all the symptoms of our sin-disease to the Great Physician of heaven. Let us be humble and honest enough to tell Him our sins. (W. Birch.) Jeremiah 22:10-11 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him.The prophet and the exile I. “ The dead,” probably Josiah, for whom a long mourning was kept (2 Chronicles 35:24; Zechariah 12:11). Shallum is Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:33). II. The chapter, even the text, suggests the picture of the disappointment of the prophet and the sympathy of the prophets.1. Jeremiah had begun to work when a better time seemed to dawn (Jeremiah 1:2). His hopes had been baffled, his words neglected, by “ the guilt that scorns to be forgiven.” Could human lot be more sad than thus to foresee the coming ruin, and to be helpless to avert it? 2. The true prophet, in spite of the people’ s sin, sympathises with them (1 Samuel 12:20-22). The Prophet of prophets did so. The king’ s captivity was only a type and foretaste of that of the nation. III. The love of one’ s country is freely recognised in scripture (Psalms 137:1-9; Psalms 102:1-28). National life is an ordinance of nature. National as real as home affections. The sorrows and joys which they bring are alike used for our discipline by Him who knows whereof we are made. IV. The captivities, terrible as they were, served good ends.1. To wean the people from idolatry. 2. To draw them nearer to God. All affliction used aright does so. 3. To turn the people more to prayer, which seems to have become more common after the Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 66:1-2; Daniel 6:10; Daniel 9:3; Daniel 9:19). V. The dead are in the hands of God, beyond our reach. Weep rather for those who are living, torn away from the city of God.1. Those who have been ensnared by their own sins and carelessness. 2. Those who are brought up in vice through circumstances of birth. Slaves of worse than Egyptian bondage (John 8:34). 3. Those of our own countrymen who, from duty or circumstances, are in foreign lands, and away from outward tokens of the Church. But should we merely mourn for these, and do nothing for them? VI. Jeremiah a forerunner of the Lord, and a type of His servants in witnessing to the truth, and in the endurance of persecution and disappointment of hope. (B. Moffett, M. A.) Jeremiah 22:15-16 Did not thy father eat and drink.God’ s expostulation with Jehoiakim I. God remembereth the piety and usefulness of our ancestors, and observeth how far we resemble them. The Eternal Mind cannot possibly forget anything. All things past, as well as present, are naked and open before His eyes. He remembers all the way in which our fathers walked; the secret piety of their hearts; the evidences of it in their lives, and all the service they did for God and their generation. He remembered how piously Josiah walked, and mentions it to his honour. God hath a kind remembrance of His faithful servants, when they are departed out of this world; and is “ not unrighteous, to forget any work and labour of love” which they have performed. Let it be further observed, that God takes notice how far we resemble them. Thus He chargeth it upon Jehoiakim, that he had not trod in his father’ s steps. God can and will make a just estimate, what our religious advantages are, compared with theirs, and what improvement we make of these advantages. He observeth every instance of declension from that which is good, and the principles from which our departures from God and religion flow. II. Young persons often forsake the religion of their fathers, through pride, and love of elegance, pomp, and show. This was the case of Jehoiakim. No doubt it is lawful for persons of rank and fortune to build themselves houses and to beautify them; provided it be suitable to their circumstances, and no injury to justice or charity. But it was pride that led Jehoiakim to covet so much splendour, and practise so much injustice. This is a sin that easily besets the young, and often leads them to forsake the ways and the God of their fathers. They set out beyond their rank and circumstances, and begin where their wiser fathers ended. And this their pride and vanity leads them to forsake the religious profession of their fathers. Thus Jehoiakim, it is probable, turned idolater. He forsook the God of Israel, and persecuted His faithful prophets. Hence so many among us forsake the principles and profession of their ancestors; because the favour and preferments of the world and public fashion are not on that side. Set out in life, young friends, with moderate desires, wishes, and expectations. Be content with your rank and station. Endeavour to cultivate and strengthen religious principles and dispositions. Never compliment any at the expense of truth and conscience. Thus you will be able “ to do justice and mercy,” and will retain that steadfastness in religion which is true politeness, and improve in that humility which is the brightest ornament. III. It is a great dishonour and reproach to any to forsake the good ways of their fathers. Having fully known their manner of life, their devotion, purity, temperance, patience, charity, and love to God’ s house and ordinances, they must act a very mean and scandalous part, if they neglect these virtues, and show themselves blind to the lustre of such good examples. How justly may such be expostulated with, as Jehoiakim was in the text! Did thy father, young man, do justice and judgment, and assist the poor and needy? Was he sober, diligent, grave, and devout? And will it be to thy credit to be giddy, dishonest, idle, extravagant, and an associate with rakes and sots? Did thy mother, young woman, fill up her place honourably? Was she active, prudent, serious, and good tempered? Did she sanctify God’ s Sabbath, and labour to keep thee from pride and levity, and dangerous acquaintance? And wilt thou forget all this, and run into every fashionable folly? Will this be for thy reputation and comfort? But there is a more weighty thought than this, yet to be urged; and that is, if you act thus, you will forfeit the favour of God. There are terrible threatenings, in the context and other places of this prophecy, against this wicked Jehoiakim. All his wealth, pomp, and power could not shield him from the judgments of God. A few years after this prophecy, the King of Babylon seized him, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon; but, being released upon his promise of allegiance, he afterwards rebelled, was slain in a sally out of Jerusalem, and was “ buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:19), and had no child “ to sit upon the throne of David” (2 Chronicles 36:6; Jeremiah 36:30). If you forsake the religion of your pious ancestors, it will be to your shame. IV. The way of religion is the way of wisdom, honour, and happiness.1. The way of religion is the way of wisdom (Psalms 111:10). With this the New Testament agreeth (1 John 2:3-4). Many think themselves wiser than their good fathers; and perhaps they may have juster notions of religion, and be more free from superstition and enthusiasm. Yet, “ while they profess to know God,” they may “ in works deny Him,” and “ love the praise of man more than the praise of God.” And thus they prove that they are not so wise as their fathers. 2. The way of religion is also the way of honour. Josiah was universally esteemed while living, and much lamented when dead. The prophet Jeremiah lamented for him. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him, and “ made them an ordinance in Israel,” that his remembrance should be kept up by some annual form of lamentation (2 Chronicles 35:25). Luxury and extravagance, splendour and show, are not the way to be truly honourable. The just, the generous, the friendly man, he who is strictly religious, and soberly singular, and who studies to do good to others, though he hath a mean house, and dresseth and liveth plain, this man will be held in reputation. 3. The way of religion is the way of happiness. It is the way to enjoy prosperity, and to have comfort in it. While we do well, it will certainly be well with us. If our views extended no further than the present life, it is our wisdom and interest to be steadfastly religious. But when we consider ourselves as in a state of trial for another world, and that our future state will be either happy or miserable forever, according to our present behaviour, it must be the greatest folly and madness to neglect religion, to sacrifice it to anything else, or not to make it the main business of our lives. (Job Orion, D. D.) Jeremiah 22:18-19 With the burial of an ass.Dishonoured in death Jehoiakim was king, and yet not one word of thanks do we find, nor one word of love, nor one word of regret expressed concerning his fate. We should learn from this how possible it is to pass through the world without leaving behind us one sacred or loving memory. He that seeketh his life shall lose it. A man that sacrifices daily to his own ambition, and never sets before himself a higher ideal than his own gratification, may appear to have much whilst he actually has nothing, may even appear to be winning great victories, when he is really undergoing disastrous defeats. What is a grand house if there be not in it a loving heart? What are walls but for the pictures that adorn them? What is life but for the trust which knits it into sympathetic unity? What is the night but for the stars that glitter in its darkness? There is an awful process of retrogression continually operating in life. Experienced men will tell us that the issue of life is one of two things: either advancement, or deterioration; continual improvement, or continual depreciation: we cannot remain just where we are, adding nothing, subtracting nothing, but realising a permanence of estate and faculty. The powers we do not use will fall into desuetude, and the abilities which might have made life easy may be so neglected as to become burdens too heavy to be carried. It lies within a man’ s power so to live that he may be buried with the burial of an ass: no mourners may surround his grave; no beneficiaries may recall his charities; no hidden hearts may conceal the tender story of his sympathy and helpfulness. A bitter sarcasm this, that a man should be buried like an ass! (J. Parker, D. D.) The doom of the defrauder, libertine, and assassin After a life of private or public iniquity, a man’ s death is not deplored. The obsequies may be pretentious--flags, wreaths, catafalques, military processions; but the world feels that a nuisance has been abated; he is cast forth by reason of the contempt of men; figuratively, if not literally, he is “ buried with the burial of an ass.” I. There is the romance of fraud. The heroes of this country are fast getting to be those who have most skill in swallowing “ trust funds,” banks, stocks, and moneyed institutions. I thank God when fortunes thus gathered go to smash. They are plague struck, and blast a nation. I like to have them made loathsome and an insufferable stench, so that honest young men may take warning. II. Next, I speak of the romance of libertinism. Society has severest retribution for the impurity that lurks about the cellars and alleys of the city. It cries out against it. It hurls the indignation of the law at it. But society becomes more lenient as impurity rises towards affluence and high social position, until, finally, it is silent, or disposed to palliate. Where is the judge, or the sheriff, or the police, who dare arraign for indecency the wealthy villain? Would God that the romance which flings its fascinations over the bestialities of high life might be gone! Whether it has canopied couch of eiderdown, or sleep amid the putridity of the low tenement house, four families in a room, God’ s consuming vengeance is after it. III. Next,. I speak of the romance of assassination. God gives life, and He only has a right to take it away; and that man who assumes this Divine prerogative has touched the last depth of crime. Society is alert for certain forms of murder. For garroting, or the beating out of life with a club, or axe, or slung shot, the law has a quick spring and a heavy stroke. But let a man come to wealth or social pretension, and then attempt to avenge his wrongs by aiming a pistol at the header heart of another, and immediately there are sympathies aroused. If capital punishment be right, then let the life of the polished murderer go with the life of the ignorant and vulgar assassin. Let there be no partiality of hemp, no aristocracy of the gallows. (T. De Witt Talmage.) The ignominious burial of the wicked Christ tells the story of a prosperous farmer who was clean intoxicated with success, and could not entertain a thought but of his gains,--how the very night that he had decided on the enlargement of his premises, a voice from heaven called his soul away; and whatever monument with flattering title his friends may have erected over his grave, God wrote his epitaph, in one word of four letters, “ Fool.” “ Buried with the burial of an ass.” No one will for a moment suppose that a splendid catafalque and imposing funeral obsequies betoken the close of a noble and honourable life. Ah! many a man is laid in one of yonder cemeteries with every form of ceremonial pomp, with gilt, and nodding plumes, and long rows of carriages and costly wreaths; and if the truth were told, a nuisance is being got rid of; the world will be better now that he is gone. Well might the artless child, who had been wandering among the tombstones, and reading the epitaphs, turn to its mother and say, “ Mother, where are all the bad people buried?” (T. Thain Davidson, D. D.) A kings humiliating burial Our Richard II, for his exactions to maintain a great court and favourites, lost his kingdom, was starved to death at Pomfret Castle, and scarce afforded common burial. King Stephen was interred in Faversham monastery; but afterwards his body, for the gain of the lead wherein it was coffined, was cast into the river. (John Trapp.) Jeremiah 22:21I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear.Influence of prosperity In heaven, the more abundantly God’ s bounties are dispensed, the more is He loved and adored; but on earth, the richer His gifts, the more will He be neglected and disobeyed. A striking proof of our depravity, that constant prosperity hardens, and is unfavourable to piety. I. Abundant earthly blessings do tend to make the heart rebellious towards God.1. Scripture teachings are emphatic on this matter (Deuteronomy 8:12-14; Hosea 13:6; Proverbs 30:8-9). 2. Experience confirms Scripture. In many instances we see that the highest human virtues and holiest saints of God were unable to withstand the influence of prosperity. They could endure affliction, and profit thereby; as certain liquors ripen in the shade, which under the noonday beams turn to acidity and corruption. 3. It is doubtful whether there ever was a single instance of piety which could pass uninjured through the ordeal of unmingled prosperity. The tone of religion is lowered amid riches and honours. Where simplicity and humility of spirit are preserved amid prosperity, it is owing to some hidden trouble, which like the cord on the feet of the aspiring bird keeps the proud spirit lowly and abased. II. What, then, must be the effect of prosperity on those who have no religious principle to counteract it, and who are avowedly lovers of the world and its pleasures?1. They will not heed the messages of God. 2. Religion, with its sober realities, is despised.” 3. Those favoured of fortune are the most pitiable objects in the world. III. They who have worldly prosperity should be led to self-inquiry as to its effect on themselves.1. Are you the same simple-hearted and sincere follower of Jesus as when you began to lay the foundation of your worldly exaltation? 2. What a caution is here to those who are seeking prosperity! Can you discover a means of preserving a lowly spiritual mind amid prosperity? Unless so, there is no alternative but that you must suffer adversity to keep you humble, or become worldly and spiritually hardened. 3. They who have become more indisposed to hear the voice of God should awake to their peril. 4. Prosperous ones may well regard their ease with apprehension. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.) Prosperity baneful I. The exactness with which God observes all that relates to human character and conduct.1. All our relative circumstances are immediately before His eye; and He notices with tender and faithful scrutiny the various effects which His merciful dispensations have upon the mind. 2. The circumstances of human life, however produced, are undoubtedly under the guidance of providence, and therefore subservient to a wise and perfect design. Each man’ s history is arranged and adapted with utmost precision to the growth of permanent character. II. The tendency of unsanctified prosperity to render us insensible to the claims of religion and separate us still further from God.1. Uninterrupted comfort tends to lessen our confidence in God: to form in the mind a feeling of self-confidence: a security nothing can shake: so much so that religion can make no entrance into the mind. 2. It hardens the heart. God would have every temporal blessing raise the inquiry, “ Lord, what is man?” But wicked and irreligious men are only concerned for enjoyment, and for scope for their ambition. They feed and grovel like swine beneath the oak, without looking up to the boughs that bore the fruit, or the hand that shakes it down. 3. Then comes pride. Nebuchadnezzar. God is forgotten, prayer neglected. 4. Leaves a dulness and lethargy of mind. All Divine threatenings, warnings, promises unheeded. III. Various ways in which God rebukes this tendency and humbles men. God speaks to men in various ways, and He distinctly marks the various impressions produced upon the mind by His communications. He speaks to us by His Word and ordinances, by the instructions we receive in religious education, by the various dispensations of His providence, by affliction, by mercies. (S. Thodey.) The perverseness of prosperity Why is prosperity so perverse? I. Because prosperity often tends to hardness of heart. II. Because prosperity often grows proud and self-sufficient. Religion and the Bible are well enough for the poor, who need comfort, but what do they want with it, who have “ more than heart could wish” ? III. Because prosperity is often immersed in cares or pleasures. There is no room for religion. The voices of the counting house, the mart of commerce, the shop; or the voices of the pleasure takers, who call men to partake of their pastimes, so fill their ear that they will not obey the voice of God. “ I have my nest in the cedars.” (Anon.) The Christian prospering in business The voice of God to the prosperous, which they are in danger of not hearing, concerns-- I. Humility.1. This humility will be shown towards God. There is a natural tendency in wealth to foster a spirit of sinful self-sufficience and independence of God. Many things conspire to this. Wealth is power. Not only the labour of the hands, but the thoughts, the will, and consciences of men may be bought. Wealth not only gives a sort of independence, but a sort of sovereignty. And, thus, it is an object of esteem and reverence. Now, whatever natural religion may teach us, it is certain that the Bible teaches, that “ God giveth power to get wealth,” and that we have nothing “ which we have not received.” Now, how comprehensive is the claim for humility involved in all this! It makes every difference, whether we be the authors of our wealth, or whether it be the gift of God. If we receive all, the more we have, the more we have received. The prosperous Christian should realise this; and, realising this, he will be grateful. The bounty of Providence will endear the thought of God. In proportion to his joy will be his thankfulness. 2. This feeling of dependence will respect the future, will influence the mode of regarding the continuance of good things. He who feels deeply that we are in the hands of God; that we are in a state of probation; that the great purpose of God is to try us, to reveal us, to exercise us, and especially to sanctify us; that we deserve nothing, while we receive everything; and that crosses and afflictions are often among the most gracious methods of Divine discipline; will regard the fluctuations of life as Divine dispensations. He will not say only, “ It is the course of things,” “ It is the lot of man,” “ It must be expected,” “ It can’ t be helped,” but he will say also, “ It is the will of God.” 3. Another aspect of this humility will be towards men. In pleading for humility in the rich Christian, I do not advocate an impossible equality, or a forgetfulness of outward distinctions. But I mean, that the feeling of human brotherhood and of Christian respect and affection should be displayed towards all; and that the favours of Providence should only bind us to a more careful regard to the will of our common Father, and a more delicate respect to the feelings of our brethren. II. Spirituality.1. Spirituality is opposed to extravagance. He who prizes the manliness and integrity of his soul; he who would not render himself unfit for the possible reverses of life; he who would maintain a taste for the most exalted pleasures; he who is duly alive to the perilous corruption within him, ever ready, like a magazine of powder, to ignite from the smallest spark, or, like a river, on the removal of a little portion of embankment, to burst forth with desolating violence; he will err on the side rather of defect than of excess, and “ deny himself” too much rather than smooth the way and strengthen the temptations of “ the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.” 2. Spirituality is opposed to worldliness. He is worldly who “ walks” not “ with God; whose conversation is not in heaven; whose affections are not “ set on things above” ; who has no keen eye for the mysteries of the kingdom, no quick ear for its voices, no delicate sensibility to its impressions. Have you not many before your minds who have become worldly through prosperity 3. Spirituality is opposed to indolence. Prosperity says, “ Take thine ease” ! and men are but too ready to comply with the suggestion. The man well-to-do contributes to societies that perform the works in which he was engaged. He now works by proxy. He assigns his sphere to others. He is not idle; he supports all good things. But, my brother, the power to do this is additional to the powers you used to have, not instead of them. You did good then by personal service. That obligation remains. The ability to give does not destroy the ability to labour, and the purse cannot answer the demand for activity and effort. III. Benevolence. The very means of riches, the common way and method of getting rich, should teach this lesson. Why has God appointed commerce? Why given to men different faculties and spheres? Is it not all designed to impress the doctrine of brotherhood, and to draw out affections and promote deeds in keeping with it? The prosperous Christian should be a liberal Christian. It is not enough that he continue his gifts; he must increase them Proportion is God’ s rule. He estimates what we part with according to what we keep. A healthy saint will delight in being able to relieve his brethren, and one of the chief charms of prosperity, will be the power it gives him to be a minister for good. His first care will be his own, the needy kindred whose trials he may soothe by generous gifts, or whom he may more worthily and wisely serve by enabling them to serve themselves. His next will be the welfare of those by whose assistance he has succeeded. He will not think his duty done by a mere payment of wages; but will seek to promote their physical and mental and moral well-being. (A. J. Morris.) The danger of self-confidence Christians are taught, at least in words, to believe that riches and, indeed, any kind of worldly prosperity are exceedingly dangerous to us--that they prove, very often, too great a trial for men’ s principles; a snare in which they are entangled to their own destruction. “ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God,” to submit himself to the mortifying precepts of the Gospel. The word in the text translated “ prosperity” signifies properly “ calmness, tranquillity, self-satisfaction.” It does not merely mean the possession of money, and other such advantages, but also any state or business of life, which makes a person unwilling to apply to his heart or his conscience those truths of the Gospel especially, which might lessen his confidence about himself, and him spiritual estate. When “ God speaks to men in this their” fancied prosperity, “ how often in the pride . . . of their hearts do they refuse to hear.” They will “ not hear, because they will not consider.” Thus, for instance, when things go well with a man, and he has sufficient to maintain himself and his family comfortably his case is one of great difficulty and danger. There is this which makes prosperity a greater danger to us than adversity, that it renders us less willing to listen to the voice of truth and conscience. When worldly things have gone well with a person, and he has yet neglected his eternal interests, there is still hope that adversity may bring him back to his God. But if things have gone ill with a man, and yet he is still worldly-minded and irreligious, what hope is there that prosperity will effect what adversity could not do? The reason is, because worldly business, especially if it be at an successful, is apt to intoxicate the mind, as a dram, and to make a man unable to collect his thoughts and fix them steadily on any object which is not some way or other connected with his immediate interests. But adversity, and suffering, if the heart be not quite hardened against the convictions of conscience, as they make us feel our frailty and dependency, so they have a natural tendency to make us look beyond this present scene for support and consolation. Let it also be considered, that a life of prosperity, and ease, and freedom from trouble, is the least suited for the exercise of those graces and virtues which are peculiarly Christian, and by which our souls are to be fitted for an entrance into that blessed land where sin and sorrow shall be lab more. It is quite certain and unquestionable, that the Gospel of Christ is uniformly addressed to us, as to persons on their trial and probation for an everlasting reward,--to persona who have it in their power to refuse or to receive the gracious offers made to them,--to persons who are to be through life exercised and disciplined, and led on by degrees towards that perfection of holiness from which our nature was degraded by the transgression of our first parents. Here, then, we may see and acknowledge the great danger of a life of prosperity, ease, and self-satisfaction; and, at the same time, the real benefit of adversity, suffering, and self-distrust. If, then, our gracious God have spoken to us in our prosperity, and we have refused to hear; if He have spoken to us in adversity, and our hearts have been somewhat softened at His gracious chastisement, then let us learn to bless Him for all His dispensations, indeed, but most of all for His punishments. (Plain Sermons by Contributors to the Tracts for the Times.) Man in material prosperity I. Addressed by almighty God.1. Be humble. “ Charge them that are rich,” etc. Through the depravity of the heart, wealth has a tendency to fill the soul with self-sufficiency and pride. 2. Be spiritual. Through the depravity of the heart, wealth is often used so to pamper the appetites as to carnalise the soul. 3. Be generous. There is a tendency in wealth so to feed selfishness. II. Refusing an audience with his Maker. Material indulgence deadens the moral tympanum of the heart. “ I will not hear” though Thou speakest in nature, in Providence, in the Bible, in conscience, in a thousand holy ministries, I will not hear. Why?--1. Because I am happy as I am. I have all that I want; not only to supply my needs, but to gratify my passions, to satisfy my vanity and ambition. 2. Because Thy voice will disturb me. (Homilist.) Sin in prosperity I. The divine condescension. “ I spake unto thee.” What is man that God should notice him at all? It is not so much that man is fallen, but he is rebellious, wilfully ignorant, deliberately sinful, and infinitely beneath God in capacity, duration, power. II. The hardness of man. “ Thou wouldst not hear.” Surely, one would think that when the great God comes down to commune with man, man, out of mere reverence, would stay to listen. On the contrary, he turns away with disdain. The worm turns upon its Maker and King. This hardness is astonishing--1. On account of the disrespect it manifests. So great, so good, so merciful a Being demands our attention, our love, our all. 2. On account of the pain it gives. Could you spurn a loving friend, and not cause him grief? 3. On account of the loss it entails. Why does God speak to man? (1) In order that He may save him from evil--from the evil of sin, of death, of eternal loss. (2) In order that He may do him good--that He may raise his intellect body and soul, and exalt him to eternal life and glory. It is, then, an astonishing fact that man refuses to hear. III. The unnatural reason implied. “ I spake unto thee in thy prosperity.”1. This is a strange assertion. It is strange because-- (1) All prosperity comes from God. The natural thought respecting it, then, would be that it would excite greater reverence and love towards Him who so mercifully bestowed it. (2) All prosperity gives greater prosperity and enjoyment, and demands a greater return in thanksgiving and sacrifice. 2. It is a true assertion, as history and experience infallibly prove. (1) When men have prosperity, they get engrossed with their possessions. (2) When men have prosperity, they get satisfied with what they possess. This makes them refuse the invitations and solicitations of God. (Homilist.) Danger of prosperity The long reign of Philip of Macedon--over forty years--witnessed the great decadence of the Hellenic Empire. When he came to the throne she was still a strong empire, full of fairest prospects. But he was one of those characters that are only kept within the bounds of good sense and justice by the sternest adversity. As soon as he found himself safe, his idleness, his tempers and lusts broke out. It was a misfortune both to himself and the world that he was not obliged, Like his predecessors, to recover by arms the kingdom to which he had succeeded by right. Prosperity enervated him; adversity would have braced him. (H. O. Mackay.) How God’ s voice is drowned On entering a mill the noise of the machinery stunned and bewildered me. The owner of the mill explained the various processes as we went on, but it was a dumb show to me, I heard nothing. Suppose when I came out I had been asked whether the gentleman spoke to me during my visit and I had replied No! would it have been true? Certainly not. He spoke but I did not hear. His voice was drowned in the surrounding noise. And so it is with thousands of those around us. God speaks to them, but His voice is drowned in the hubbub by which they are surrounded. They are awakened in the morning with the postman’ s knock, and before they have time for a though about God or eternity the noise of their own mill is all around them; before the letters are finished the morning papers arrive, and the roar of the world is added to the sound which already existed, and henceforth it is whirl and excitement till evening. (Charles Garrett.) This hath been thy manner from thy youth. Youthful habits retained I. Habits formed in youth generally continue in future life. This applies to those--1. Whose Life is given to the luxury of pleasure. 2. Who pass the season of youth in gross vices. (1) Sabbath breaker.(2) Profaner.(3) Drunkard. 3. Equally relevant to vices of the mind. (1) Selfishness.(2) Pride.(3) Malignity. 4. So also as regards their attitude towards religion. (1) Those who pass their youth in a merely formal regard to the external duties of religion usually become formalists. (2) Those who practise guile and deceit become hypocritical. (3) Those who in youth slight the Gospel, in old age are seen to be unfeeling and hardened. (4) Those who are sceptical frequently become confirmed infidels. II. Custom in any course generally issues in confirmed habits.1. The commencement of a course in life is often attended with a struggle and with difficulties. 2. But continuance in a course renders habits congenial and easy. III. Solemn cautions and exhortations.1. Cautions. Guard against slighting-- (1) Parental instruction.(2) The Gospel.(3) The Sabbath.(4) Avoid ungodly companions. 2. Exhortations. (1) Accustom yourself to consider your accountability to God.(2) Study the sacred Book, by which your future should be directed.(3) Decide early in favour of religion. (Anon.) Jeremiah 22:23O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars.The nest in the cedars The inhabitant of Lebanon, that maketh his nest in the cedars, is an illustration of all those who, in the pride and security of the present, are blind to the uncertainties of the future. I. Why is it that God’ s message takes such little hold of the heart? He pours out all His love in pleading with men. “ Seek ye My face.” Has the answer gone up from your heart, “ Thy face, Lord, will I seek” ? If not, why not? Are you making a nest for yourself among the cedars? dreaming yourself to be secure, and, like the false Church in the Apocalypse, saying to yourself, “ I shall see no sorrow” ? What is the ground of your security? Has the hand of diligence surrounded you with comforts? The cheerful home, the well-spread table, the smiling faces of children,--are these your portion? Oh, how often are these things as the nest in the cedars! Or the nest may be of another kind--framed out of self-righteousness and moral excellence. In short, whatever it be which holds back the heart from Christ, and prompts the vain hope that all will be well at last, though there be no conscious faith, nor any evidence of a converted heart, that is your nest among the cedars. Though now heedless to the call of God, the storm must ere long burst on the cedar, and rive it to its roots, laying in the dust the nest that seemed so safe in its towering branches. Disappointment, loss, disaster, trial, death, the judgment,--what are these in their turn but just the lightning flash which strips the cedar of its foliage, and leaves the nest exposed to the scorching of the summer’ s heat, and the withering of the winter’ s frost? What are they all but God’ s instruments for shivering into ruins the miserable refuges in which men seek shelter and comfort amid the experiences of time, and in the prospect of eternity? II. When the cedars are fallen, how bitter the disappointment! The world, its business, its pleasures, its cares, its struggles, its joys, its sorrows,--all are fast vanishing. Snap the cedars go! and meanwhile there is dismay at the review of the past, and the still darker prospect of the future! Behind, a life spent with the form of godliness, but entirely without God. Before, is death, the sifting of the judgment, eternity. Behind, a life given up to earth and earthly things. Before, an immortality, over the far-reaching expanse of which no star of hope sheds a gleam of life and peace. Can we wonder if the soul shrinks back in alarm, if dark forebodings haunt the spirit, and prayers, and regrets, and vows, and promises blend together as the outward expression of anxiety and fear? III. Where can you build your hopes and not find them shattered and broken by disappointment. Not among the cedars, but in the hollow of that Rock of Ages, which defies the howling of the tempest, and the sweep of the hurricane--which stands forth calm and stately in its strength, amid the shocks of time, and shall lift its head unshaken, even when the earth and all that is in it shall be dissolved and broken up. The memory of guilt and shortcoming, and the record of transgression are terrible, hut to the humble and believing Christian they can bring neither harm nor hurt. “ He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide beneath the shadow of the Almighty.” (R. Allen, M. A.) A sure refuge I. The insufficiency of every human aid, as illustrated by the prophet in the example of the “ inhabitant of Lebanon.” Lebanon was a noble and a stately mountain, the pride and the ornament of the Eastern world. Its summit was crested with eternal snows, while its sides were adorned with forests of the graceful and goodly cedar. Beneath were slopes of rich pasturage, on which were fed unnumbered flocks and herds. Rivulets gushed from the fissures, and separated among the hills, which afforded refreshment to the fainting traveller, and maintained in native purity of freshness the verdure of the mountain side. No image could more expressively convey to the mind of an Israelite all that man most highly esteems of grandeur, magnificence, and beauty. But the idea of security is also implied. In many human ills, money, as the wise man says, “ is a defence” ; and the rich man, in a land of commerce like our own, is as the “ inhabitant of Lebanon,” compared with the dweller in the plain below. The winds may rage, and the storm beat; but his airy dwelling place is unmoved. The enemy may spread themselves over the plain; but his house of defence “ is the munitions of rocks.” How enviable a condition! you will say, But Ah! “ the things that are impossible with men, are possible with God.” Lightning from heaven above may blast the towering cedar; the earthquake muttering from beneath may rend the solid rock: or even when the wave reposes without a ripple or an undulation on the surface of the mountain lake, the stroke of death may come suddenly, the strong man’ s fortress may be powerless in an instant, as a woman in her travail, or as the infant just struggling into birth. II. For all who will seek it there is a sure refuge, whatever may be the danger, and an invincible arm of defence, whoever may be we adversary. St. Paul indeed said, in reference to the times of fiery persecution in which his own lot was cast, that “ if in this life only they had hope in Christ, believers were of all men most miserable” ; but what was then “ the present distress,” has happily passed away, and godliness is now truly “ profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” All creation is redolent of joy and peace to the true believer in Christ Jesus. He knows, that God hath “ made with him an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure” ; that “ all His ways are mercy and truth, unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies” ; and that no truly good thing “ will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” So long, then, as prosperity continues, enjoyment is enhanced by thankfulness; and when adversity comes upon him, suffering is lightened by faith. The “ light affliction,” which is upon him, will, he knows, “ work for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,” etc. (T. Dale, M. A.) Jeremiah 22:24 Though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence.Punishment of the impenitent inevitable and justifiable I. Mention some awful instances in which God has verified this declaration.1. The apostate angels.2. Our first parents.3. The Flood.4. The Jews.5. The Saviour Himself. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He spared not His own Son. And will He then, O impenitent sinner, who by refusing to believe in Jesus Christ crucifiest Him afresh, will God spare thee? No; though thou weft the signet on His right Hand; though thou wert dear to Him as the Son of His love, He would not spare thee, when His violated law and His insulted justice call for thy destruction. II. State some of the reasons why God has formed and enacted such a declaration; or, in other words, why He will sooner give up all that is dear to Him than suffer sin to go unpunished.1. It is needless to remark that, among these reasons, a disposition to give pain has no place. As God has sworn by Himself that the wicked shall die, so He has sworn by Himself that He has no pleasure in their death. 2. Nor has a desire to revenge the insults and injuries which sinners have offered to Himself any place among the motives which induce God to punish sin; for He inflicts punishment, not as an injured individual, but as the Sovereign and Judge of the universe, who is under the most sacred obligations to treat His subjects according to their deserts. 3. It is because the welfare of His great kingdom, the peace and happiness of the universe, require it. It is because a relaxation of His law, a departure from the rules of strict justice, would occasion more misery than will result from a rigid execution of His law. Were sin unrestrained, unpunished, it would soon scale heaven, as it has once done already in the case of the apostate angels; and there reign and rage with immortal strength through eternity, repeating in endless succession, and with increased aggravation, the enormities which it has already perpetrated on earth. We may add, that after God had once surrendered His truth, His justice, and holiness, and laid aside the reins of government, He could never more resume them. Nor could He ever give laws, or make promises to any other world, or any other race of creatures, which would he worthy of the least regard. (B. Payson, D. D.) Jeremiah 22:29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.The treble urgency of the Gospel call I. The Gospel call may well be pressed with threefold emphasis, when we consider the limitation it implies as respects the parties addressed: it is addressed to men and not to angels--it is addressed to “ earth” as contradistinguished from hell. Between these two worlds, behold the Bible, like the cloud between Israel and Egypt, with a side of brightness for the former and a side of darkness for the latter! It is surely a solemnly affecting and suggestive thought that, while the Sun of Righteousness is flinging His splendours over the earth, there is another fallen world very differently circumstanced. Do you not feel your soul, at the very thought, concentrating its energies on the inquiry, What is the Gospel message, and what are the terms it proclaims? Will not the sinking crew turn to the lifeboat that is making directly for them, and that all the more eagerly that they discern around them a foaming sea strown rough with wrecks? Will not the patient turn to the physician that proffers his aid, and grasp at the prepared medicine with all the greater eagerness that he is given to understand that no other physician is within reach, though pestilence stalks all around him? And shall we not ply the Gospel call with treble emphasis, and wilt not thou listen to it with treble interest, that it proclaims a Saviour for men, over the head of angels--that it names our “ earth,” but names not hell? II. Universal as my text is, it carries a limitation as respects time: it is addressed to men in time, not in eternity--to the earth as it is now, not as it shall be hereafter.1. As respects the individual, God “ limiteth a certain day, saying, Today, if ye will hear,” etc. Each has his allotted time of probation, his day of grace. Now is that time, that golden day - the time of acceptance. Come, fellow sinner; come as you are; come now; touch the golden sceptre, and live forever. 2. God has also limited a certain time for our world as a whole. There is a certain hour known to God when He will address the commission to Jesus, “ Thrust in Thy sickle,” etc. Momentous harvest! The earth even now is rapidly ripening. All will be astir and in earnest then; but many, alas! will awake, not to touch mercy’ s sceptre, or the folds of her garment, but to catch the echo of her last farewell. III. This triple emphasis will be still further accounted for if we consider the universality of the gospel call: it is addressed to the whole race, and not to part of it merely. All the seeming limitations in Scripture of the universal call are, in fact, the strongest proofs of its universality. Were I now to press the appeal in my text on different classes--the old, the young, the abandoned, the careless, or the anxious,--every candid man would understand that my specifying one class implied no exclusion of others, but was merely intended to give point and pungency to my appeal by breaking down the universal call into its particular applications, and thus “ rightly dividing the word of truth.” On this obvious principle are we to explain such descriptive phrases as “ hungry,” “ thirsty,” “ weary,” “ heavy-laden,” which some have regarded as denoting incipient spiritual attainments, or subjective qualifying prerequisites, which the sinner must have before he is entitled to believe the Gospel. Far from it. They express not our holiness but our misery, not our riches but our poverty, whether we have caught a glimpse of Christ’ s fulness or not. “ Wide as the reach of Satan’ s rage, doth His salvation flow.” Let us share in our Saviour’ s spirit. Let the universality of the Gospel provision lead us increasingly to realise the wants and woes and claims of the unnumbered myriads of mankind. It is here that the fire of missionary and evangelistic zeal is to be kindled. IV. We shall cease to wonder at the threefold emphasis here imparted to the Gospel call when we reflect on the facts it presupposes as to the condition of the world.1. It supposes the world to be in a state of danger, for a threefold call to the earth, so pointed and energetic, implies that no ordinary catastrophe impends over the world. It is precisely such an impassioned appeal as would be given forth on the outbreak of some public danger, such as fire, or flood, or hostile invasion. 2. But, further, and as a frightful aggravation of the danger, the world is, to a lamentable extent, in a state of insensibility to it. This, too, is implied in the appeal of our text. It represents the world as asleep: hence the call “ O earth” ; and because that sleep is profound, the call is redoubled, “ O earth, earth” ; and because the world sleeps on, wrapped in a slumber deep as death, a third time peals the call, each louder than before. Some years ago, two or three men were seen floating asleep in a boat on the river Niagara, and were already among the rapids. Loud and long were the calls addressed to them by the spectators on the river side; but the unhappy men awoke only to utter a wild shriek of despair as they were borne over the tremendous verge. This, by no means an isolated case, aptly illustrates the sinner’ s danger as he floats down the stream of time, his insensibility thereto, and the loud warnings addressed to him, both by God and man, to shake off the slumberous spell, and turn while he may to the matte of safety. Say not, “ If I am asleep, I am not responsible.” You are not in this sense asleep. You are responsible; for you are an agent rational, intelligent, moral, voluntary, unfettered and free. You are responsible; for, if you believe man, you can believe God; you can give that attention to the Bible which you lavish on the things of time; you can think upon your soul’ s salvation with the same faculties that you exert on your business or pleasures; and if you are reluctant to do so, this is not your misfortune, remember, but your crime. V. The Gospel call may well be urged with threefold emphasis when we consider the quarter whence it comes: it is not of earth, but from heaven--it is not the word of man, but “ the word of the Lord.” The King of heaven gives forth an utterance from His everlasting throne, but the worms of His footstool will not deign to give Him audience. Louder and louder speaks the voice which at first spake us into being--and could at any moment revoke that being,--but men sleep on; they will not consider; they say, “ Who is the Lord that He should reign over us? Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” Disbelieve man if you will, spurn authority, trample on the tenderest of human ties, but oh, address not yourself to a sin that towers in solitary magnitude far above all these--venture not on the supreme blasphemy of making the God of truth and love a liar. VI. The Gospel call may well be plied with treble emphasis if we consider the precious import of the message it proclaims: it is a word of Gospel, or good news, and not of authority merely--when it might have been a word of wrath. Ah, this deepens the dye still further, of the sin of unbelief--a perpetration of which earth, and earth alone, is the theatre. The light of God’ s love in “ the glorious Gospel” makes the darkness of human rebellion the more appallingly visible; and the thought that such mercy is within reach, and yet such wrath is in reserve--that man’ s destination, if not high heaven must be some nethermost abyss: ah, this, considering the magnitude of the interests involved, may well make us to intensify, redouble, and treble the call, “ O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!” (T. Guthrie, D.D.) The Divine appeal to man I. The Characters Addressed “ O earth, earth, earth,!” By “ earth,” we are to understand the dwellers on earth--man the lord of this lower creation; andlooking to its origin, the term is one that is appropriately employed to designate man.”1. When addressed as earth, we are reminded of our native origin. “ Man is of the earth, earthy.” God made man of the dust of the ground. What, then, becomes of the boastings of man? How foolish the pride of pedigree, the pride of descent! The sable sons of Africa, the swarthy Hindoo, the Red Indian of America, the stunted Esquimaux, the tribes of Europe, and of all the islands of the sea, have all of them a common origin: they are all of them of the earth, earthy. 2. When addressed as earth we are reminded also of our true nature. We are not only from the earth, but we are of the earth. “ Dust thou art,” is the true description of every man, of every child of man. Yes, what is that muscular frame but brittle earth? What is that beautiful countenance but tinted earth? What are those sparkling eyes but transparent earth? What are those sensitive nerves so keenly alive to pleasure and to pain, what are they but fine filaments of earth? What is that amazing structure the brain, the seat of the thinking powers, but just a curiously wrought mass of earth? 3. When addressed as earth, we are reminded of the source of our supplies. Not only are our bodies of the earth earthy, but it is from the earth that we derive all that is essential to their sustenance and comfort. It is on its kindly surface that we erect our habitations. It is from its yearly replenished storehouse that we derive the staff of life. It is thence we draw our supplies of corn, of wine, and of oil, while from its copious fountains issue those crystal streams that fertilise our fields and quench our thirst, and in other ways minister to our comfort; and by this, too, we are reminded to moderate our desires. Bread and water are the supplies that the earth most copiously yields, and to these only does the promise extend, “ Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure.” 4. We are reminded, when we are addressed as earth, of the earthly state of our minds, that state which is so aptly expressed in the words of the Psalmist, “ My soul cleaveth unto the dust.” The design of Gospel truth is to draw our affections from the world, to raise our minds above its grovelling pursuits, and to change the current of our desires, our feelings, and our affections; and for the effecting of all this it is perfectly competent, for “ it is the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth.” Why, then, is its success so limited? The reason is that the earthly is more potent than the heavenly, that the material outweighs the spiritual in our thoughts, affections, and desires. 5. We are reminded, when we are addressed as earth, of the tendency of us all. “ Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.” These bodies, full of life and activity, must ere long drop into the grave. Those eyes now sparkling with life and intelligence, must ere long be closed in death. Those tongues, now eloquent with the language of hope and affection, must ere long be silent in the tomb. Upon that countenance, now flushed with the bloom of health, must ere long settle the damp dews of death. Let our thoughts and aspirations, then, be tending heavenward while our bodies are tending earthward. Let it be seen, that if our bodies are ripening for the grave our souls are ripening, for heaven. II. The exercise that is enjoined. “ Hear the word of the Lord.”1. The subject of attention: “ The word of the Lord.” In other words, the subject of that attention is the revealed will of God, the Holy Scriptures, the preached Gospel. It must be listened to, not as to “ a tale that is well told,” not as to “ the voice of one that playeth well upon an instrument,” but listened to with self-application, and with a believing heart. 2. This exercise of hearing “ the word of the Lord” may be enforced by many considerations, especially when you take into account the Being who addresses you. It is God who speaks. It is He whose Word is life or death, which exalts to heaven or sinks to hell. Think of the Word itself, of the subject of which it treats. It is no indifferent theme on which it discourses. It is the Word of knowledge, it is the proclamation of mercy, it is the glad tidings of salvation. It is, too, a Word of judgment and of death, but only to those who contemn and refuse to hear it. And then, think of the universal adaptation of its truths. They are fitted for all, for saint and for sinner alike; for the most learned and the most illiterate; for the king upon the throne and the beggar by the wayside. Think, too, of your dying condition, as yet another consideration enforcing attention to “ the word of the Lord.” Soon you may be beyond the reach of its tidings of mercy. (H. Hyslop.) Jehovah’ s call to the earth We know of persons who rise up early and sit up late, in order that they may accumulate riches, in order that they may follow their trade, or in order that they may enjoy the pleasures of sin; but how few there are who can say they “ prevent the night watches” that they may “ meditate upon God’ s Word” ! I. In meditating upon God’ s blessed Word, notice the authority with which it comes.1. It has no title, save that which distinguishes it from all common communications, from all uninspired books. It is the Bible, which means emphatically the book, in distinction from every other book. 2. If you inquire as to its topics, its index, it is impossible to make a catalogue of these. Who can describe the truths, the doctrines, the promises, the precepts, the predictions that it contains? 3. Then you have to inquire respecting its Author. It is God--He that made us, He that sustains us, He that governs us, He alone that can bless us. The Bible is not anonymous, any more than the sun, the moon, the stars, or the sea, for it bears the impressive signature of the Divine name. It is not a fable. “ We have not followed cunningly-devised fables” when we testify to you the great things of God’ s Word. Oh, the riches, oh, the profundity of this inexhaustible Word! Christians have been drawing upon the resources of its wisdom; mighty preachers have been expounding its contents, scholars have been penetrating into its mysteries, the press has been pouring out dissertations and commentaries upon its mighty theme, and it is still unexhausted and inexhaustible; for it is like its infinite Author. II. How we are to receive this communication, “ O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.”1. If we are to hear the Word of the Lord that our souls may live, our ears must be opened. Closed by prejudice, ignorance, and sin, closed by the imperfection and deceitfulness of our nature, the Holy Spirit must open our ears to hear: then we shall hearken diligently, we shall hear believingly, so that this Word will be the life of our souls. 2. As this Word comes to you there must be spiritual participation. Indeed, the reception of the Word of God is described as “ eating” that Word; and the Word of God is described as bread which we are to eat, and the manna that came doom from heaven and fell around the camps of the children of Israel was understood to be the type of that living bread upon which we are to feed. It is receiving Christ by faith, it is believing on Him, that is eating the Word. Oh, for this spiritual participation of God’ s blessed Word! May God give you a spiritual taste, and spiritual desires. 3. The Word of God is to be received or heard with spiritual joy. Come and take of the most precious things God has given in His Word--let your souls delight themselves in fatness. There are precious promises and precious doctrines, precious prophecies and precious precepts; yea, everything is precious; but the nearer you get to the Cross of Christ and the discovery of God’ s love in the gift of His Son, the more precious, the more nourishing, the more comforting, and the more consoling will Divine truth be to your minds. III. This word comes to different characters and in various ways.1. In the first place, let me address the sceptic--the doubter. There is no discovery in science which does not tend to confirm the inspiration and credibility of God’ s truth; and there is not an evolution of Providence which does not serve to illustrate some portion of God’ s prophetic Word. Keep your eyes upon the movements of Providence, and you will find that God is continually unfurling His truth Recollect eternity, with its weal and its woe, stands upon the decision, whether you receive with reverence, or whether you despise or neglect the great salvation which the Word of God brings. 2. This Word comes a warning to the man absorbed in the anxious cares of time; and, says it, “ What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” This world cannot make you happy. Why spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not! 3. Then the Word of God speaks to the man who assents to God’ s Word with his understanding, but denies it with his heart’ s affection--having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. God cannot be deceived by pretences, God cannot be mocked by external service. 4. The Word of God speaks to the sorrowful. It speaks generally to the mourning, “ Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” It speaks to the widow in her desolateness, and says, “ Thy Maker is thy husband.” It speaks to the orphan and the fatherless, and gives them the assurance of protection. It speaks to the soul half-despairing under a consciousness of its sin, and saying, “ I am a great sinner, I do not know whether Christ will have compassion upon me and save me.” You are a great sinner? Well, then, Christ is a great Saviour. It speaks to the timid believer, who is ready to say, I fear I shall some day fall by the temptations and allurements of the world. Fall! you cannot fall; you walk upon firm ground, and the arms of Almighty grace sustain you whilst you are unreservedly trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. (H. Dowson.) God’ s loud call to a sleeping world ;--On our rugged and water-worn shores you may often see a black wall of stone, as regular as if it had been built by human hands, running across the tide mark from the terrestrial vegetation down to the lip of the water at its lowest. It is a trap dyke, forced up when its matter was molten, through a fissure in the overlying strata, and appearing now a narrow band of rock, totally distinct both in colour and in kind from the surrounding surface. These protruding portions show that the material of which they consist lies in vast masses underneath. So the thin line of our text seems to protrude above a broad field of mingled prophecy and fact. I. The manner of this cry. You may measure the danger which a monitor apprehends by the sharpness of the alarm which he gives. The earth itself, and all the creatures on it under man, have a quick ear for their Maker’ s voice, and, never needing, never get a call so urgent. The alacrity of the creatures that lie either above or beneath him in the scale of creation brings out in higher relief the disobedience of man. Physically, earth is wide awake and watchful. It courses through the heavens without halting for rest, and threads its way among other stars without collision. The tide keeps its time and place. The rivers roll toward the sea, and the clouds fly on wings like eagles, hastening to pour their burdens into the rivers’ springheads, that though ever flowing they may be ever full. The earth is a diligent worker; it is not the sluggard who needs a threefold call to awake and begin. Equally alert are the various orders of life that crowd the world’ s surface. Above our own place, too, angel spirits are like flames of fire in the quickness, and like stormy winds in the power, with which they serve their Maker. The cry of this text is meant for man; he needs it, and he only. When the polar winter threatens to freeze the navigator’ s blood, rendering constant and violent exercise necessary to keep the currents moving, then it is that the man feels the greatest drowsiness. It is only by the vigilance of experienced chiefs that they are prevented from sinking into a sleep from which there is no awakening. This fact, and the law which rules it, constitute in the moral region the saddest feature in the condition of the world. They sleep most soundly who have most need to be wakeful. The guilt which brings upon a man God’ s displeasure, so stupifies the senses of the man that he is not aware of danger, and does not try to escape. II. The matter of this cry.1. The speaker is the only living and true God. It is essential that our belief in the first principle of religion should be well defined and real. Religion may be faint and feckless, for want of a foundation in an actual belief that God is. That Christian education is a tally defective which does not leave upon the mind and conscience a practical sense of God’ s being and presence, as the first principle of all truth and all duty. 2. The thing spoken is the Word of the Lord. It is not enough for us that God is near. He was not far from the men of Athens in the days of Paul, and yet He was to them “ the unknown God.” He has broken the silence; He has revealed His will The Word of the Lord lies in the Scriptures. (1) The Word of the Lord in the Scriptures is Mercy. If the message brought only vengeance, we could at least understand the voluntary deafness of the world. But it is strange that men will not listen to their best Friend; strange that the lost should shut their ears against a voice which publishes salvation. (2) Still further, and more particularly, “ the Word of the Lord” is Christ. The use of the Scriptures is to reveal Christ; if we reject Him, they cannot give us life. 3. The injunction to regard that Word “ O earth, earth,” etc. (1) The earth so summoned, has already, in a sense most interesting and important, heard the Word of the Lord. Christ’ s kingdom is even now more powerful on the earth than any other kingdom. The power that lives in the conscience and links itself to God is, in point of fact, the most persistent and effective of all the powers which mould the character and history of the human race. It is great, is growing greater, and will yet be supreme. (2) The earth through all its bounds will one day hear and obey the Word of the Lord. Saving truth lying in the hearts of saved men has a self-propagating power. (3) When the earth hears its Lord’ s word, forthwith it calls upon the Lord. Those who sail in air ships among the clouds, as others sail on the sea, tell us that every cry which they utter on high is answered by an echo from the earth beneath When the earth, spiritually susceptible, receives from heaven the sound, “ O earth, earth, earth, hear the Word of the Lord,” another cry forthwith arises, “ O heaven, heaven, heaven, hear the petition of sinful men upon the earth.” God delights in that cry. (4) Earth--that is, men in the body--should hear the Word of the Lord, for to them it brings a message of mercy. Now is the accepted time; this is the place of hope. Beware lest the sound that first awakens you be the crash of the gate when it shuts! (5) Earth--the dust of the dead in Christ--shall hear the Word of the Lord, and shall come forth. (W. Arnot, D. D.) The Divine appeal I. The deep and awful concern of Jehovah for the soul of the sinner.1. There is surely something peculiarly affecting and awful in this. Mark the concern of your Creator, deeply anxious about the noblest work of His skill and power. It is the concern of your Preserver, who hath watched you with His eye, led you by His hand, etc. It is the concern of a Saviour God, who spared not His own son, etc. This concern of Jehovah assumes a more amazing character when you think of the persons for whom it is manifested. These are not only creatures of a day, but creatures laden with iniquity, filled with corruption, at enmity with Himself, in rebellion against His law, and hastening unto perdition, without one plea for mercy, or one claim on His pity. II. The strange stupidity and unconcern of the sinners to whom this appeal is made. We are blind and see not God; deaf, and hear Him not; dumb, and speak not to Him. We are, as Paul says, “ past feeling.” Try this truth by a double experience. Try it first by the experience of those who never felt it. How else can you account for the fact that such appeals as this addressed to sinners by the living God, are often as unheeded as if the voice of the Eternal resounded through the charnel house of the tomb, or were lost amid the echoes of the desert? But try it by the opposite experience. Give me the sinner who has been startled by the voice of God, and aroused from the slumber of his carnality; give me the man with a broken spirit, who fears, hates, and mourns his manifold iniquities, and looks back upon his former state with shame and sorrow; and that is the man whose language will be, “ Oh! what a blinded being I was not to see my guilt and my Saviour sooner I what a stupid creature to go on as I have done neglecting my soul! what a hardened wretch to stand out so long against my God and Saviour!” III. An appeal to frail and dying creatures. This is always a melancholy and solemnising reflection;--we are earth. We spring from the dust and we hasten back to it. Old men, we appeal to you, and ask you how few have been the days since you were children? But how speedily now shall you be borne away from your frailties to the tomb! Young men, how rapidly are you and I hastening on to become the old men of our time! As to the children, do you not see how fast they are climbing the hill of life? But who will venture to say that things will take that natural course with us? Who can count upon a day, an hour, a moment? The thread of life is frail as the spider’ s web, and may be snapt by the feeblest breath. It may be now or never. IV. God may be supposed to call the earth to witness that He has offered you salvation, and to be ready to testify that He has spoken to you, warned you, besought you to hear His word, and flee from the wrath to come, so that if you refuse the offered mercy, the very earth will lift up its voice against you to silence every excuse, and you shall stand speechless at the bar of the judgment. Will not heaven, and earth, and seas, and skies thus conspire to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, on that great and dreadful day? Will not the simple fact that He shall summon up our spirits to His bar from every hiding place, turn these places into witnesses? Will not the fact that He shall gather our dust from the four winds, from the bottom of the sea, or from the silence of the grave, turn these elements into witnesses? Will not thus the Omniscient God turn the air we breathe, the light we behold, the dust on which we tread, every object we touch, every scene we visit, into a witness for or against us? V. Apply the text to those who have believed this Word of the Lord. Having felt concern for your own souls, you will feel for the souls of others. You know the preciousness of Christ, and the value of souls. You perceive the danger you have escaped, but to which multitudes are still exposed. You can see yonder long, deep, gloomy phalanx of immortal souls rushing on and rolling over the brink of time into the abyss of eternity. You have entered in some small measure into God’ s own views of their state. Having these views, you will, you must feel deep and distressing concern for them. You will plead for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost to raise up labourers, to qualify and send them, and give them success in winning souls. You will do more. You will put your own hand to the work as God Himself does. Is He to give all, and we nothing? Is He to do all, and we not to be fellow workers with Him? Shall He give the word, and we not publish it abroad? (John Walker.) The earth and God’ s Word I. Earth’ s attention to the divine word is of the utmost importance.1. The earth is under condemnation; His Word can alone gain its acquittal2. The earth is in moral darkness; His Word can alone enlighten it.3. The earth is in bondage; His Word alone can liberate it.4. The earth is in misery; His Word alone can relieve it. II. Earth’ s indifference to the divine word is very stolid.1. This indifferentism has always been awfully prevalent.2. This indifferentism is monstrously irrational.3. This indifferentism cannot always continue. (Homilist.) An exclamation I. The solemn address to the children of men.1. The expression is a metonymy, in which the container is put for the contained; but as man is “ of the earth earthy,” it is also descriptive of his mortality. The expression, “ O earth, earth, earth!” when properly heard, is well calculated to bring down the lofty looks of man, and to produce humility in the place of pride. 2. The repetition of the word “ earth,” is used to command greater attention. This way of arresting the attention was very common amongst the Roman and Grecian orators. 3. When preceded by the interjection O or Oh! the repetition generally expresses uncommon emotion or grief (2 Samuel 18:33). II. The important object to which their attention is called.1. The Word of the Lord demands our attention, because it is the most interesting Book. 2. The “ Word of the Lord” demands our attention, because it contains the most and best information of any book of the size. 3. But “ O earth, earth, earth, hear the Word of the Lord!” for there are the words of eternal life. (B. Bailey.) God’ s voice to man I. Specify some respects in which we should hear God’ s voice.1. In the still small voice of heavenly mercy. 2. In the loud thunder of God’ s providential dispensation. 3. In your personal and relative afflictions. 4. In the ample promises and encouragements addressed to returning penitents. II. Enumerate some reasons why the whole earth is interested in these communications.1. Because the Gospel shows the only plan of salvation. 2. Because the progressive improvement and advancement of the race is connected with this message. 3. Because the success of missionary work shows the practicability of diffusing it. 4. Because the signs of the times are in direct accord with the promises of God. (S. Thodey.) A call to hear the Word of the Lord I. The subject on the address.1. The Word of the Lord is unwritten as well as written.2. It is threatening as well as promising. II. The duty inculcated in the address.1. To hear and understand.2. To hear and obey.3. To hear and make known to others. III. The style of the address; apostrophe.1. The universality of its range.2. The earnestness and affection of its spirit. (G. Brooks.) . Jeremiah 23:3I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries.Home missions As when some beautiful picture which has been put aside and forgotten, hid, it may be, from the enemy in time of invasive war, is found and cleansed and restored, and the eye is delighted with the gradual revelation of colour and of form, the life-like features of the portrait, the characters and incidents of the historical scene, the sunny landscape, or the moon-lit sea: so in that great revival of spiritual life which came by God s grace little more than fifty years ago into this Church of England, the glorious truths of the Gospel, the joy Which we have in the presence of our Lord, in His Sacraments and Scriptures, in our praises and our prayers, in our daily duty done in His name, and in our works of mercy done for His sake, have been again abundantly given to the faith which worketh by love. Oh! blessed be He who of His tender mercy hath visited and redeemed His people. This merciful, marvellous restoration maybe divided into three developments. First, there was the restoration of Faith: Credenda, what we should believe. Then there was the restoration of Hope: Precanda, what we should pray for, and when and how we should pray,--a restoration of worship. Thirdly, there came the grandest development o fall--the restoration of charity, love: Agenda, the things we have got to do for God, our duty to Him and our duty to each other; to love Him with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our strength, and then to love our neighbour as ourself. It is impossible for a Church or an individual to be quickened with spiritual life, and not yearn that others should be saved. It is impossible for your heart and mine to be unfed with the sacred heart of Jesus and not to long that others should share our joy and peace in believing. Jubilant and thankful--thankful for the past, strong and of a good courage in the present, and hopeful of the future--we stand no more by broken cisterns, for God has struck the rock, and the streams are flowing, and our cry is, the Master’ s cry is, “ O every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and drink” Our obedience is that of His mandate, “ Go ye out rote the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the lame, the halt, and the blind; go into the byways and hedges and bring in all--compel them to come in.” Surely we may ask, almost in shame, are we true sons of those forefathers who built such churches as this, are we true sons of the men who built those grand cathedrals, and churches, and hospitals, and colleges throughout England? Was there ever a time when it was so needful that the Spirit of the Gospel should be brought to bear upon the divisions and dissensions which are among us? I mean, for example, the jealousies that exist between the classes, the commercial rivalries, the disaffection which there is. Without going beyond the measure of our knowledge, without presuming to interfere between employers and employed as to wages and those matters which we cannot possibly understand, we have an influence in pleading the great principles of justice, and honesty, and love, which, though it may be resented at first by those who are in the wrong, must in the end prevail and be established. Was there ever a time when it was more needful for men who know that God is no respecter of persons to preach the equality of all souls for whom the Lord Jesus died? It has been well said that the Gospel code, if it could only be enforced by human laws and a human legislature, would produce a condition of security and success of which the most sanguine, the cleverest politician has never even dreamed. But the Gospel is something infinitely higher and better to you and me. To you and me Christianity means all that is brave and pure in our life, all that is bright and happy in our death. It means re-union with those whom we have loved and whom we loved the best. It means--I hardly dare speak the thought--it means that you and I shall be sinless, and shall see God. It is impossible to have such a faith and hope as this, and not to desire that all should share it, and that none should perish. It is impossible for us to love God and not to love our brother also. (Dean Hole.) Jeremiah 23:4I will set up shepherds over them, which shall feed them.God-appointed pastors God, in His wisdom, has most clearly indicated to every man his work. The doer carries within him the fitness for the work to be done. Each has most certainly been made for the other. A law of God brought them face to face at life’ s threshold. The same law unites them, when not interfered with, and stamps the union as Divine. As the vessel from the potter’ s hand, so we from the Divine mind. We and our work move along one continuous line till we scale the golden stairway where we end the now and begin the hereafter. The place to be occupied by us may possibly be of the most humble, but man is not estimated because of the place so much as how he filled it. Move along the line of God’ s plan and you will tap the fountain of Divine help. Each of God’ s intelligent workers has been given a place in the whitened fields, along the line of workers, and no position necessary to the many enterprises of the world has been by the great Creator forgotten. We are not surprised then, in the least, that the children of God should be provided with leaders, and that He would approach His flock and assure them of such provision made in their behalf. The men whom God has touched with a Divine sense of this sacred calling have adaptation to the work. God makes no mistakes in classifying His workers. His divinely appointed shepherds whom He will place over His people carry the evidence of such intention in their physical and spiritual construction. God prepares the shepherd to do the shepherd’ s work, and for him to throw himself out of his Divine gearing is to live an inharmonious life and walk where God could not walk with him, nor furnish him a comforting promise. The world would move as one harmonious whole, if every creature would keep within the laws made to govern him, and wear as his armour the outfit his Creator gave him. Like Moses, many may see from a human standpoint impossibilities in the way; but the same God, now as then, is abundantly able, willing, and ready to remove them. Woe and disappointment have been inevitable to all such as have overpowered this sense of God’ s wish, and have sought to follow some idle suggestion which reached the pride of the heart through the lust of the eye. With a shepherd’ s construction, having head, heart, and hand divinely adjusted to so important a calling, how readily each function reaches out, as the petal for the dew, after every nutritious element adapted to its growth. He who is to minister in holy things, early finds his thoughts running along the line of God’ s thoughts, and if he will yield to the Spirit’ s sweet influence, will gradually as growth gravitate to within the necessary sources for his equipment. While mental culture and literary discipline are necessary, and a holy familiarity with the doctrines of the Bible, the minister’ s wall and roof, yet God’ s ambassadors are expected to feed the flock of the fruit which comes from the bounty these attainments have led them to. The minister’ s knowledge should be principally used as the means to the end. Our peculiar gifts must be called into liveliest action and placed well to the forefront, and whatever else we may possess in the line of mental or spiritual gifts should be made to contribute subordinate, but loyal, help. But it is not enough that the doctrine be sound. While truth can be nothing but truth, and sound doctrine nothing less than sound, yet, the effect produced is all the better for having come from pure lips, and a heart known to be sincere. The man of God ordained to the high office of shepherd, whoso business it is to minister in holy things, and preside at His altar, should, as far as it is possible, live along the line of Christ’ s life. Without this he cannot be the safest counsel for the flock entrusted to his care. He should not only know how to instruct, but how to live, so that his doctrine and his life may not antagonise. Like Christ, he must do as well as teach. His should be a life of simplicity, free from exceptional practices and evil habits. Bold and fearless, yet humble and unostentatious. Mingling freely with the people, but in modest, quiet reserve. His language should always be the most chaste. His business relations with all men should be of the pleasantest character. Pulpit brilliancy may fill the pews and produce applause, but often spoils the preacher and cools the church. With an eloquent pulpit the church falls an easy prey to pride and vanity, losing sight of her humble, but dignified, mission, permitting the undershepherd to use the temple of God for self-glory. Bernard, whose power came from his tenderness and simplicity, on one occasion preached a very scholarly sermon. The learned only thanked him and gave applause. The next day he preached plainly and tenderly, as had been his custom, and the good, the humble and the godly gave thanks and invoked blessings upon his head, which some of the scholarly wondered at. “ Ah!” said he, “ yesterday I preached Bernard, but to-day I preached Christ.” Congregations should arise from their pews more impressed with the power of Gospel facts than with well-rounded sentences and lofty flights of oratory. The Christian hearer should be made to feel the need of greater consecration. The sinner should be made to feel the remorse which comes from a correct estimate of a lost soul for which he has nothing to give in exchange. (A. J. Douglas.) Preachers must feed the people From the deck of an Austrian gunboat we threw into the Lago Garda a succession of little pieces of bread, and presently small fishes came in shoals, till there seemed to be, as the old proverb puts it, more fish than water. They came to feed, and needed no music. Let the preacher give his people food, and they will flock around him, even if the sounding brass of rhetoric, and the tinkling cymbals of oratory are silent. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Food attractive Everybody knows that large flocks of pigeons assemble at the stroke of the great clock in the square of St. Mark: believe me, it is not the music of the bell which attracts them, they can hear that every hour. They come, Mr. Preacher, for food, and no mere sound will long collect them. This is a hint for filling your meeting-house; it must be done not merely by that fine, bell-like voice of yours, but by all the neighbourhood’ s being assured that spiritual food is to be had when you open your mouth. Barley for pigeons, good sir; and the Gospel for men and women. Try it in earnest, and you cannot fail. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 23:5-6 The Lord our Righteousness.Jehovah-Tsidkenu After his conversion the apostle Paul must continually have been meditating on the state of Israel. Much as he loved the Gentiles, and clearly as he saw the disposition of God that now the Gentiles should be brought in, he never could forget Israel. What shall we say then? he exclaims. Look at Israel look at the Gentile nation! Israel for centuries has been striving most anxiously after one thing, to be righteous before Jehovah; they have not attained it. Why then has Israel not attained it? Because they sought it not by faith but by works (Romans 10:3). Why have the Gentiles attained it? Because by the grace of God they have been made willing to receive Jesus as their righteousness.” Now look at the Jews going about to establish their own righteousness. They wish to be righteous before God. They wish to be such men as God approves--to be counted righteous and just so that He may be pleased. Therefore their idea of righteousness before God entirely depends upon their idea of God and of God’ s requirements. God has not left them in ignorance about this. If men who have not the revelation of God form a conception of God according to their own ideas it will be exactly in proportion to their moral condition; therefore the heathen nations made unto themselves gods like unto themselves, as ambitious, as impatient, as self-indulgent, as impure, as changeable as they were themselves. Israel knew the Lord. “ I am Jehovah; I am God, and not man, spirit and not flesh; I am holy, be ye also holy.” And not simply had God revealed Himself unto them, but He had given unto them also the law as a mirror in which they should see what His idea of men was. Israel had the law of God, and in the law of God they had the character of the righteous One described. And now Israel went about to establish a righteousness of their own. In this process those of them who were sincere in themselves and those of them who really sought not merely to be righteous, but to be righteous before God in order that they might have communion with God, very soon came into the knowledge of their sin, and into the most painful consciousness of their defilement, and, therefore, wishing to he righteous before God, they soon began to cry unto God out of the depth, and to know that innumerable sins had taken hold upon them, and that woe is unto them because they are undone and of unclean lips, and unto such through the knowledge of the law there came death under the law, a longing after pardon, and after the power of God’ s Spirit operating on their hearts. But those were always the exceptions, the small minority, the “ remnant according to the election of grace.” The majority of the nation lowered their standard of God, and lowered their standard of the law, and so far did this deteriorating process go on that they not merely came into the idea that they were able to fulfil the law, but they came even to the idea that they were able to do more than the law commanded; that they were able, by extra exertions and by observing precepts which God never has enjoined, to have a treasury of merits, works of supererogation. Curious inconsistency--as long as men go about establishing their own righteousness they are proud before God. But then you would think that if a man is proud, and if he has got the kind of self-consciousness so that he can stand, as it were, before God, that then he would be sure of his salvation. One of their most celebrated prophets, whom they called the “ law of the world,” was on his death-bed, and one of his disciples asked him, “ Rabbi, what sayest thou now?” The Rabbi said, “ Heaven and hell are before me, and I know not whither I am going. If I were to be summoned into the presence of an earthly king I might well be afraid, and yet his displeasure would only last a few years, and his punishment, however severe it may be, must come to an end; but I am now going into the presence of the Lord God Most High, whose wrath is everlasting, and His punishment is infinite, and I know not whether I shall be acquitted.” Going about establishing a righteousness of their own, lowering the idea of God, lowering the standard of the law, proud and unbroken in spirit, and yet without any peace or assurance of the favour of God. Such a one, also, was the apostle Paul before he was converted; he went about establishing his own righteousness, and afterwards he said that he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, according to the law blameless, but now he wishes not to have his own righteousness, which is by the law. There is another righteousness of which both the law and the prophets have continually testified; which is apart from the law, which man does not work out, which is as much given to man as bread is given to a hungry person, and as water is given to a thirsty person. “ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” What is the sad condition of the Jews? They do not see two things: they do not know that Jesus is Jehovah, and they do not know that this is our only righteousness. “ Jesus our Righteousness.” And what is the lamentable condition of Christians who do not know the Lord? Simply the same thing, for if they knew Jehovah-Tsidkenu then they would have the knowledge of salvation, they would put no confidence in the works of the law, they would simply rejoice in Christ Jesus. Then this Jesus is Jehovah When He was an infant He had angels already calling Him Lord, and it was quite right that the wise men of the East worshipped Him. He is Jehovah, but He is “ God manifest in the flesh” There is in all human beings, however far they may be from God, this peculiarity: that without union with God they cannot have life. When we think of this union with God, that God should be all in all, that we should be one with God, unless we go by the Word of God we may fall into great depths of error, and into that which is very ungodly. And here is a very peculiar thing, that you find among all the Eastern nations a striving after this being absorbed in God. You find it in India, you find it in China--almost wherever you go; you find it among the Arabs and the Persians. Mystics in all nations, what do they want? They have a feeling that there is in God the only true existence, the only life and blessedness; that everything else apart from God is transitory, is imperfect, is unsatisfactory; they wish to be one with Him; they wish to be absorbed in Him. But the great error which they commit, the great evil into which they are landed is this, that they do not see that sin is sin, that it is wrong, that it is evil. They imagine that sin is necessary, something through which we have to pass, something for which we are not accountable; and thus they deafen the voice of conscience, and declare evil not to be evil, and that there can be no real difference between good and evil. But round it is the truth which God has taught us, that we are to be one with God; we are to be in such a close union with Jehovah that it may be said, “ We live, yet not we, but Jehovah lives in us.” But how union with God? Because we believe in Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us, and in this faith in Jesus submitting to the righteousness of God there are three elements. “ No boasting.” You can judge any religion, simply by that one point--is all the glory given to God and no glory to man? Secondly, there is no uncertainty, for we have a perfect and Divine righteousness. Thirdly, there is no compromise with sin, because, if we believe that Jesus died for us, we believe that God condemned sin in the flesh. We must depart from all unrighteousness, nay, we are “ crucified unto the world,” and the world unto us. (A. Saphir, D. D.) The Lord our Righteousness If, as it seems probable, Zedekiah had already begun to reign, it is perfectly certain that he could not be the person to whom the prophet referred when he looked forward to the advent of the “ righteous Branch.” If he wrote shortly before the commencement of his reign it would be just possible so to interpret the prophecy. In the former case the very allusion which there might have been to the name of the reigning king would show all the more plainly that it was not in him that the promise was fulfilled; in the latter case, the want of precise correspondence between the two names would only bring out into higher relief the non-correspondence of the prophecy with the fact. As a matter of fact the name of Mattaniah was changed to Zedekiah, and not to Jehovah-Tsidkenu. Neither could it be said that in his days, when the captivity was fast hastening on, and the dark shadow of Babylon must have hung like a thundercloud over the land, Judah should be saved and Israel should dwell safely. We are constrained to infer from the known historical conditions of the writing, that the prophet must have meant to depict circumstances not immediately before his eyes when he wrote. Moreover, this conclusion is forced upon us from the fact that some eight or ten years later Jeremiah repeated this promise, in a slightly altered form, when he was shut up in prison,--“ In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called,” or, “ this is that which men shall proclaim to her” ; or, as Bishop Pearson has it, “ He which calleth her is the Lord our Righteousness.” Enforced as that promise was by the remarkable addition at the very lowest ebb of the national hope, “ Thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before Me to offer burnt-offerings, and to kindle meat-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually” ; it is inconceivable that the same prophet who had declared the seventy years’ captivity of the whole nation as well as the captivity of Zedekiah himself should have spoken in this way, believing that the hopes he cherished for Judah were fulfilled in Zedekiah. His words, therefore, are a standing monument of an onward-looking hope. The main point which we have to grasp firmly, is that here, if anywhere, there is a prophecy of the times of the Messiah, which is known to have been given before the Captivity, and was undeniably not fulfilled for many centuries to come after it. It is insisted, however, that the analogy of similar names in Scripture, such as Jehovah-Messiah, Jehovah-Shalom, and Jehovah-Shammah, and the like, makes it needful for us to render this name, “ The Lord is our Righteousness.” Let us assume, then, that we are to understand it, “ The Lord is our Righteousness.” If that, then, was His name, the name by which He was to be called, I see not how it can be applicable to Him unless He is Himself the Lord Jehovah. The proposition, “ The Lord is our Righteousness,” is to be His name, however awkward and uncouth that may; but if men are to say to Him or of Him, if they are to call Him “ The Lord is our Righteousness,” it is hard to escape from the conclusion that He must be the Lord. But believing, as we do most firmly, that this is the prophetic name of Christ, and of Christ alone, what is it designed to teach us?1. It teaches us that Christ is to us the realisation of righteousness; it is no longer an unattainable conception or an abstract idea which we find it hard to grasp or to fulfil, but in Him it becomes a concrete fact on which we can lay hold, and a thing which we can appropriate and possess. He becomes first “ righteousness,” and then “ our righteousness” ; first, the visible, incarnate and reeled exhibition of righteousness, and then something of which we can claim possession, and in which we can participate. 2. If this is the obverse presentation or positive statement of the truth, it has also its reverse or negative side. If the name whereby Christ is called is “ The Lord is our Righteousness,” that fact is destructive to all other hopes, prospects, or sources of righteousness; it gives the lie to them, and asserts their vanity, for we can have no righteousness but what we find in the Lord. Behold in Him your righteousness; look away from and out of yourselves to Him and be righteous. The apprehension of that blessed fact will be the harbinger of peace and joy and fruition of righteousness in you. Whereas before there was nothing but continual delusive hope and abortive effort, together with painful disappointment and self-reproach, now there is the fulness and the fatness of a satisfied soul, the soundness and strength of a heart that is at peace with God, the quietness and assurance, the blessedness and calm confidence of a mind that is at rest in Christ. To know that “ the Lord is our Righteousness,” is to have and to know that which can alone enable us to contemplate the past with equanimity or serenity; it is to have and to know that which is alone the antidote for care and anguish and remorse, that which can alone take the sting out of sin and rob even the broken law of its just terror. But we have to face the future as well as to look back upon the past, and in that future there sits the shadow, fear of man, and we know not what besides may lurk there. It may be loss, bereavement, sickness, pain, disgrace, infamy; but if the Lord is our righteousness, and if He who is our righteousness is the Lord, the very and eternal God Himself, then, come what may, we must be safe with Him (Prof. Stanley Leathes.) The Lord our Righteousness Man by the fall sustained an infinite loss in the matter of righteousness: the loss of a righteous nature, and then a twofold loss of legal righteousness in the sight of God. Man sinned; he was therefore no longer innocent of transgression. Man did not keep the command; he therefore was guilty of the sin omission. In that which he committed, and in that which he omitted, his original character for uprightness was completely wrecked. Jesus Christ came to undo the mischief of the fall for His people. So far as their sin concerned their breach of the command, that He has removed by His precious blood. Still it is not enough for s man to be pardoned. He of course is then in the eye of God without sin. But it was required of man that he should actually keep the command. Where, then, is the righteousness with which the pardoned man shall be completely covered, so that God can regard him as having kept the law, and reward him for so doing? The righteousness in which we must be clothed, and through which we must be accepted, and by which we are made meet to inherit eternal life, can be no other than the work of Jesus Christ. We, therefore, assert, believing that Scripture fully warrants us, that the life of Christ constitutes the righteousness in which His people are to be clothed. His death washed away their sins, His life covered them from head to foot; His death was the sacrifice to God, His life was the gift to man, by which man satisfies the demands of the law. Herein the law is honoured and the soul is accepted. You have as much to thank Christ for living as for dying, and you should be as devoutly grateful for His spotless life as for His terrible death. The text speaking of Christ, the son of David, the Branch out of the root of Jesse, styles Him, the Lord our Righteousness. I. First, then, He is so. Jesus Christ is the Lord our Righteousness. There are but three words, “ Jehovah” --for so it is in the original--“ our Righteousness.” He is Jehovah, or, mark you, the whole of God’ s Word is false, and there is no ground whatever for a sinner’ s hope. He who walked in pain over the flinty acres of Palestine, was at the same time possessor of heaven and earth He who had not where to lay His head, and was despised and rejected of men, was at the same instant God over all, blessed for evermore. He who did hang upon the tree had the creation hanging upon Him. He who died on the Cross was the ever living, the everlasting One. As a man He died, as God He lives. Bow before Him, for He made you, and should not the creatures acknowledge their Creator? Providence attests His Godhead. He upholdeth all things by the word of His power. Creatures that are animate have their breath from His nostrils; inanimate creatures that are strong and mighty stand only by His strength. Who less than God could have carried your sins and mine and cast them all away? How can He be less than God, when He says, “ Lo I am with you always unto the end of the world” ? How could He be omnipresent if He were not God? How could He hear our prayers, the prayers of millions, scattered through the leagues of earth, and attend to them all, and give acceptance to all, if He were not infinite in understanding and infinite in merit? How were this if He were less than God? But the text speaks about righteousness too--“ Jehovah our Righteousness.” And He is so. Christ in His life was so righteous, that we may say of the life, taken as a whole, that it is righteousness itself. Christ is the law incarnate. He lived out the law of God to the very full, and while you see God’ s precepts written in fire on Sinai’ s brow, you see them written in flesh in the person of Christ. No one that I know of has dared to charge Christ with unrighteousness to man, or with a want of devotedness to God. See then, it is so. The pith, however, of the title, lies in the little word “ our,” --“ Jehovah our Righteousness.” This is the grappling iron with which we get a hold on Him--this is the anchor which dives into the bottom of this great deep of His immaculate righteousness. This is the sacred rivet by which our souls are joined to Him. This is the blessed hand with which our soul toucheth Him, and He becometh to us all in all, “ Jehovah our Righteousness.” You will now observe that there is a most precious doctrine unfolded in this title of our Lord and Saviour. As the merit of His blood takes away our sin, so the merit of His obedience is imputed to us for righteousness. Imputation, so far from being an exceptional case with regard to the righteousness of Christ, lies at the very bottom of the entire teaching of Scripture. The root of the fall is found in the federal relationship of Adam to his seed; thus we fell by imputation. Is it any wonder that we should rise by imputation? Deny this doctrine, and I ask you--How are men pardoned at all? Are they not pardoned because satisfaction has been offered for sin by Christ? Very well, then, but that satisfaction must be imputed to them, or else how is God just in giving to them the results of the death of another, unless that death of the other be first of all imputed to them? I must give up justification by faith if I give up imputed righteousness. True justification by faith is the surface soil, but then imputed righteousness is the granite rock which lies underneath it; and if you dig down through the great truth of a sinner’ s being justified by faith in Christ, you must, as I believe, inevitably come to the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ as the basis and foundation on which that simple doctrine rests. “ The Lord our Righteousness.” The Lawgiver has Himself obeyed the law. Do you not think that His obedience will be sufficient? Jehovah has Himself become man that so He may do man’ s work: think you that He has done it imperfectly? You have a better righteousness than Adam had. He had a human righteousness; your garments are Divine. He had a robe complete, it is true, but the earth had woven it. You have a garment as complete, but heaven has made it for you to wear. You will remember that in Scripture, Christ’ s righteousness is compared to fair white linen; then I am, if I wear it, without spot. It is compared to wrought gold; then I am, if I wear it, dignified and beautiful, and worthy to sit at the wedding feast of the King of kings. It is compared, in the parable of the prodigal son, to the best robe; then I wear a better robe than angels have, for they have not the best; but I, poor prodigal, once clothed in rags, companion to the nobility of the stye,--I, fresh from the husks that swine do eat, am nevertheless clothed in the best robe, and am so accepted in the Beloved. Moreover, it is also everlasting righteousness. Oh! this is, perhaps, the fairest point of it--that the robe shall never be worn out; no thread of it shall ever give way. II. Having thus expounded and vindicated this title of our Saviour, I would now appeal to your faith. Let us call Him so. “ This is the name whereby He shall be ‘ called,’ the Lord our Righteousness.” Let us call Him by this great name, which the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath named. Let us call Him--poor sinners!--even we, who are to-day smitten down with grief on account, of sin. “ I have no good thing of my own,” sayest thou? Here is every good thing in Him. “ I have broken the law,” sayest thou? There is His blood for thee. Believe in Him; He will wash thee. “ But then I have not kept the law.” There is His keeping of the law for thee. Take it, sinner, take it. Believe on Him. “ Oh, but I dare not,” saith one. Do Him the honour to dare it. “ Oh, but it seems impossible.” Honour Him by believing the impossibility then. “ Oh, but how can He save such a wretch as I am?” Soul! Christ is glorified in saving wretches. Only do thou trust Him, and say, “ He shall be my righteousness to-day.” “ But suppose I should do it and be presumptuous?” It is impossible. He bids you; He commands you. Let that be your warrant. “ This is the commandment, that ye believe on Jesus Christ whom He hath sent.” And some of us can say it yet better than that; for we can say it not merely by faith, but by fruition. We have had the privilege of reconciliation with God; and He could not be reconciled to one that had not a perfect righteousness; we have had access with boldness to God Himself, and He would never have suffered us to have access if we had not worn our brother’ s garments. We have had adoption into the family, and the Spirit of adoption, and God could not have adopted into His family any but righteous ones. How should the righteous Father be God of an unrighteous family? III. I appeal to your gratitude. Let us admire that wonderful and reigning grace which has led you and me to call Him, “ The Lord our Righteousness.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Christ the righteousness of those who believe in Him I. Christ becomes the righteousness of those who believe in Him--as their atoning Mediator. Sprinkled with that blood which the Godhead hath enriched, the penitent sinner fears not the wrath of the destroying angel of justice. Covered with that righteousness with which the Godhead hath invested him, the true believer can stand even the searching beams of Divine holiness. Behold, then, both the way by which we are to be justified from our sins, and our encouragement to apply for mercy. In this part of the process of justification, no qualifications are required on the part of man, but a lively sense of his need of mercy, and a full reliance on the propitiation of the Lord his righteousness. But as he is to be fitted for eternal happiness by the love and service of his Maker, a rule of duty must be prescribed and imposed on him. Christ therefore becomes the righteousness of His people-- II. As their Lawgiver--imposing on them a law of evangelical holiness and perfection. The destiny of man which the scheme of redemption is designed to further and to secure, is to be eternally happy in the presence of God. For this presence, holiness is an indispensable qualification. In the justification of those who believe, therefore, Christ acts not only as Mediator, procuring their pardon, but also as Lawgiver, delineating the nature and extent, and enforcing the obligations of the Divine law. In this character, we are to acknowledge, receive, and obey Him, and He thus becomes “ the Lord our Righteousness.” III. As our Almighty Sanctifier who impresses on our hearts the obligations of the Divine law, and enables us to obey it. Thus is complete provision made for our release from the bondage of sin, and our being reinstated in all the graces and virtues of the Divine image. Let us then learn--1. To ascribe our salvation to the free and unmerited grace of God. 2. But while we humbly acknowledge and adore the free grace of God in our salvation, let us remember that there are qualifications on our part. (Bp. Hobart.) Christ, the Lord our Righteousness So could none speak, save God. If man would condense his words, he says too little, or he says it obscurely or untruly. The characteristic of this Divine saying, is, that in the two Hebrew words it contains a summary of the whole supernatural relation of God to man under the Gospel, and of man to God. It contains the whole hidden life of the Christian: it is the substance of sacraments: the unseen spring of self-sacrificing holy action; the fountain of his inward peace; the surest contentment of his soul; the enkindling of burning zeal; the soul of devotion, the fervour of love. It matters little, as to the great outline of the prophecy, whether He, through whom this was to be wrought, is here declared to be “ the Lord our Righteousness” or whether “ the Lord our Righteousness” were simply a title given to designate His character, that this would be His characteristic, His watchword, the centre of His teaching, His life, His being; this the “ end of His toils and tears” ; this “ the passion of His heart” ; this He should labour to bring about, that the Almighty God should be our righteousness. In contrast to the evil shepherds, who, misleading the people, had encouraged them in their sins, and so had brought God’ s judgments upon them, He was to do away God’ s judgments, and outwardly to restore them to His favour; but He was also inwardly to remove the cause of that disfavour, their unrighteousness, and to he their righteousness. The change was to be, not without man, but within. It was to be an inward closeness of relation of God to man, and of man to his God. The words presupposed all the teaching of the law, orally or through ritual, as to sin. “ Create in me a new heart, O God, and make anew a stayed spirit within me. Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” It was the universal cry of our fallen nature; the deepest trace of that original righteousness, wherewith God endowed Adam, as soon as He created him. But, though felt more or less, weakly or mightily, disguised or clearly or corruptly, the belief that it could, that it would, be satisfied, was given, where alone it could be given, among the people to whom God revealed Himself, by those whom He sent to promise what He alone could fulfil. This union Jeremiah spoke of under those two words, “ the Lord our Righteousness.” As unrighteous, we could not be united with Him. God s aweful holiness and man’ s sinfulness are incompatibles. “ Your sins have been abidingly severing between you and your God,” was expressed in act by the whole Hebrew ritual. The truth ever lived before their eyes; it was enforced by the prophets; it was chanted in the Psalms; it was confessed in their prayers. But there was a Deliverer yet to come, a deliverance larger, wider, deeper, more inward, than any before, which should stretch out and encompass the human race, through One despised and rejected by those who were despised of all. He Himself was personally to restore our race, personally to be “ our righteousness.” And has it not been? Is it not? This was the faith of the barbarous nations from the first, written “ not with pen and ink, but by the Spirit of God upon the hearts.” This was the hope and strength of martyrs; this was the virtue of the continent; this was the victory of the young; this, the triumph over the world’ s seductions; this, the peace with God and the full contentment of the soul, “ the Lord our Righteousness.” “ In Christ Jesus,” the Holy Ghost saith, “ we are chosen” ; “ in Christ Jesus we are called to eternal glory” ; “ in Him we have redemption” ; “ in Christ Jesus we are created,” “ are a new creation” “ in Christ Jesus we are alive unto God” ; “ in Christ Jesus we are accepted” ; “ in Him we are justified” ; “ in Him we are sanctified” ; “ in Him we are accepted” ; “ in Christ Jesus we are of God” ; “ in Christ, it is the will of God that we should be perfected” ; “ in Christ Jesus, those who are His, have fallen asleep” ; “ in Christ Jesus they shall be made alive.” This supernatural life antedated our use of reason. Antedating, then, the use of reason, His first act, in our Christian land, is to unite the soul to Himself. As we are really sons of man by physical birth, so are we as really and as actually “ sons of God” by spiritual birth; sons of man, by being born of man; sons of God, by being members of Him, who is the Son of God. Blessed they who so remain, in whom the hidden life in Christ unfolds with the life of sense and reason. But if this has not been so, if the soul have gone away from God “ into a far country,” forgetting Him, squandering in pleasures of sense the gift of God, can such an one be the object of the love of God, can to such an one Jesus be “ the Lord our Righteousness” ? God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost long to communicate Themselves to the creature, which they made for Themselves. They long anew to sanctify him, anew to make him that wherein They may take pleasure; to fit him, by the renewed gift of righteousness, for Their gracious engracing Presence; to make the soul, which has been the abode and sport of devils, the dwelling-place of the Trinity. And whether He works this in those who know no more, by creating in the soul a penitent sorrow, for love of their God, that they had so offended God, or whether He teach the soul, over and above, that He gives superabundant grace through an ordinance of His own appointing, and that He has still “ left power with His Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and turn to Him,” no sooner is His work accomplished, sooner has his Saviour absolved him through His own words, pronounced at His command by his creature s lips, than the dark catalogue of sins is blotted out by the precious blood, the soul is again transfigured with light; it is not forgiven only, it is arrayed anew with the righteousness of Christ. Yet there is a higher closer union still, on which Jesus Himself dwelt with greater fulness and greater complacency of love towards us; which, in different words, He presented again and again; which, when contradicted or misapprehended, He dwelt on the more; which He seems in His love to have been loath to cease to speak of, that mystery whereby He is, above all, our righteousness, because He, who is righteousness itself, comes to “ dwell in us, that we may dwell in Him; to be one with us, that we may be one with Him.” In other sacraments He gives us grace; in this, Himself. By no less condescension could He satisfy His love towards us. They are His own words, “ he that eateth Me.” (E. B. Pusey, D. D.) Christ is our Righteousness I. What is meant by His being our righteousness?1. That it is in Him alone that God the Father is well pleased (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5). Not only with whom, but in whom, I am well pleased, atoned, pacified, satisfied. He is God’ s all in all, and why then should He not be ours? 2. That it is by and through Him alone that we are justified; that is, acquitted from guilt, and accepted into favour, which are the ingredients of justification. 3. It is through His merit and mediation alone that our performances are made acceptable (1 Peter 2:5), 4. It is by Him alone that we have right and title to the heavenly inheritance. II. Call Jesus Christ by this sweet name, the Lord our Righteousness; each one with application to himself---as David. And would you think an Old Testament saint, that lived under that dark dispensation, should have such clearness in this matter? A shame to us that are not clear in it, that live under Gospel light (Psalms 4:1).1. The misery they are in who never yet called Jesus Christ by this name, and the blessed and happy condition they are in that have done so. (1) Till we have called Jesus Christ the Lord our Righteousness, that is, heartily owned Him as such, our condition is a shameful, naked condition, and that is a wretched, miserable condition (Revelation 3:17), because, till clothed with Christ’ s righteousness, our shame appears in the sight of God. (2) Till we have called Jesus Christ the Lord our Righteousness, ours is a dismal, dark condition. When we call the Lord our Righteousness, then He rises upon our souls as a Sun of Righteousness, and that which follows is the light of comfort, and peace, and joy; such joy as none knows but they that feel it. It is hidden manna (Psalms 85:10). (3) Till we have called Jesus Christ the Lord our Righteousness, we are in a perilous, perishing condition. Christ’ s righteousness is to us as Noah’ s ark. 2. The difficulty, nay, the impossibility, of being pardoned and justified, accepted and saved, in any other way, and the facility and easiness of obtaining it in this way. (1) It is impossible we should be accepted of God without a righteousness, one or other, because He is a righteousness God; that is, He is of pure eyes, and, therefore, cannot endure to look upon iniquity (Psalms 5:4; Psalms 11:7). (2) It is impossible that either our own righteousness, or the righteousness of any of our fellow-creatures, one or other, in heaven or earth, should bear us out and bring us off before God. On the other hand, how easy is it to obtain peace, and pardon, and salvation, by the merit and righteousness of the Lord Jesus, by calling Him by this name. Easy, did I say? mistake me not. I mean easy to grace, easy where God is pleased to give a willing mind, as knowledge is easy to him that understandeth (Proverbs 14:6; Matthew 11:28-30; 1 John 5:3). Easy; that is, it is a ready way to justification and salvation, whereas seeking it by our own righteousness is a round-about way. We can never while we live know in any other way that one sin is pardoned, because perseverance to the end is required. Oh, then, be persuaded; and you that have called Him by this name, call Him so still. There are four special times and seasons when this should be done.1. When we have done amiss, and are under guilt, and wrath threatens. And when is it not that it is so? 2. When we have well done, after some good work, and pride of heart rises, and we begin to expect from God as if we were something. No, Jesus Christ is the Lord my Righteousness. I am an unprofitable servant when I have done all 3. When we ask anything of God (John 14:23). 4. When we come to look death and judgment in the face, which will be shortly; when sick and dying. Oh, then, for Christ, and His righteousness--it will be the cordial of cordials. (Philip Henry.) The Lord our Righteousness I. When the people of Christ address Him by this name, it implies a contrite acknowledgment that they have no righteousness of their own,--that they are destitute of all personal righteousness in which to appear before a holy God. II. When the people of Christ give this name to Him, they declare their solemn persuasion that they require a righteousness, though they have none of their own, in which to appear before the Holy One of Israel; they not only confess their entire destitution, but acknowledge their indispensable need, of a true and perfect righteousness. III. When the people of Christ address Him by this name, they express and profess their faith, that Messiah being in one person God and man, has brought in a righteousness in their behalf, which is by God accepted for them, and imputed unto them, for their justification. IV. When the people of Christ call Him by this name, they are seen in the act of embracing, appropriating, and rejoicing in him, as the Lord their Righteousness. “ The Lord our Righteousness.” It is the language of joy and triumph, as well as of reliance and faith. It is not tile spirit only of the drowning man laying hold of the plank, but of the safe and happy, rich and joyful man, realising his safety, and rejoicing in his treasures. “ My Beloved is mine, and I am His.” Conclusion--1. See here how wondrous a provision the Gospel has made for at once humbling the sinner and exalting him,--laying him low in his own eyes, and yet gloriously ennobling him. 2. See what a ground of security, of peace, and of everlasting blessedness, the believer in Christ enjoys. 3. Use the subject in the way of self-inquiry, and of direction, according to the result of it. (C. J. Brown, D. D.) Jehovah-Tsidkenu I. A righteousness that is absolutely perfect.1. It has passed through every test (John 14:30; John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22). 2. It has fulfilled every requirement (Philippians 2:8; Matthew 3:15; Matthew 5:17). 3. It has satisfied the highest claims (Matthew 3:17; Romans 4:25; Philippians 2:9). II. A righteousness that is identified with Christ Himself.1. Christ--God’ s gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17). 2. Christ for us, in the presence of God (Hebrews 9:24). 3. He is made unto us righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). 4. “ The Lord our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6; Isaiah 40:1-31; Isaiah 42:1-25; 1 John 2:1). III. A righteousness that is put to our account.1. Not the reward of our obedience (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16). 2. Not something we have to wait for (Romans 3:22; Romans 10:4). 3. But a righteousness that is ours now by faith (Romans 5:1; Romans 3:28; Philippians 3:9). 4. Christ for us, our righteousness, to be distinguished but not separated from Christ in us, our sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30). (E. H. Hopkins.) The Lord our Righteousness In journeying through a mountain region, we find ourselves, at times, on the top of a gentle hill which will give us a delightful view of the picturesque scenery of the landscape that immediately surrounds us. But, now and then, we may reach the summit of some towering mountain. That lifts us far above all other points of view. As we stand there and gaze, we can look down on hills, and plains, and valleys, and take in the geography of all the surrounding country. In the mountain range of Scripture truth, we reach such an elevated summit in our text. The righteousness here spoken of may be looked at from five different points of view. I. Its author. We see from the connection in which our text is found, that the person here called “ Jehovah our Righteousness,” is the same as “ the righteous Branch, the prosperous King,” promised to be raised up unto David. This proves that the Jehovah of our text is Jehovah-Jesus. Isaiah (Isaiah 11:1), in speaking of Him, says, “ There shall come forth a rod,” &c. Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:29) calls Him “ the Plant of renown” Zechariah (Zechariah 6:12-13), speaking of Him, says, “ Behold the man whose name is the Branch,” &c. When the angel Gabriel foretold His birth, he applied this very prophecy to Him, saying, “ The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever.” And then, to complete the testimony of Scripture on this point, and prove to a demonstration that the Jehovah of our text is Jesus, it is only necessary to turn to a single passage in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 1:13). II. Its foundation. It is spoken of in the New Testament as “ the righteousness of Christ.” And the foundation on which it rests--that of which it is made up--is the active and passive obedience of our Lord and Saviour. It embraces all that He did, to honour God’ s law, when He obeyed its every precept to the uttermost, in thought and feeling, in purpose, word, and action; and all that He suffered, when the tremendous penalties of God’ s broken law were visited upon Him. The righteousness of Christ means simply the benefit of all that He did and suffered. This benefit, or righteousness, belongs to His people. It is made over to them. It is reckoned as theirs. III. Its nature. No miser ever felt half the joy in counting over his hoarded gold, and no monarch ever experienced half the rapture in gazing admiringly on the magnificence of the crown jewelry he inherits, than the intelligent- Christian experiences in dwelling on the nature of that all-perfect righteousness that Jesus, his glorious Saviour, has wrought out for him.1. It is a gracious righteousness. It was of God’ s good pleasure alone, that ever a plan for working out such a righteousness was devised. It is grace alone which makes men feel their need of this righteousness, inclines them to seek it, and makes them willing to cast sin and self, and everything else away, and to rest on this righteousness, on this only, on this now, and on this for ever, as the ground of their acceptance with God. 2. It is a perfect righteousness. God’ s perfect law was the standard by which this righteousness was to be measured; and it came fully up to that standard. It was the scrutiny of God’ s holy and penetrating eye to which this righteousness was subjected. He weighed it in the balances of the heavenly sanctuary, and declared Himself well pleased with it. It is because of His connection with this righteousness that God the Father loves His Son with a love that is unspeakable. This was what the Psalmist meant (Psalms 45:7). And it is because Christ’ s people share in this righteousness that God cherishes towards them the same affection that He entertains towards His only-begotten Son. Nothing less than this will meet our wants. “ A robe I must have,” says an old writer, “ of a whole piece; broad as the law, spotless as the light, and richer than ever an angel wore; and such a robe I have in the righteousness of Christ. It is a perfect righteousness.” 3. It is an uniform righteousness. Where the sun shines at noonday, I have the benefit of his shining, as fully as though there were none around me to share his beams, and he shone for me alone. Yet each of my neighbours has, or may have, the same benefit of his beams that I have. And so it is with the righteousness of Christ. The dying thief who turned in penitence and faith, and was accepted in the last hour, had just the same title to enter heaven that the apostle Paul had, or Peter, or John, or Isaiah, or Elijah, or David, or Moses, or Abraham, or Enoch. 4. It is an unchanging righteousness. If the whole world, with its contents, were given at once to you or me, in fee-simple ownership, of course it would be impossible to add to our worldly possessions. There might be much that was new for us to discover; but there could be nothing new for us to own. We might proceed to lay bare the rich mines in our inheritance, and to search out their hid treasures. But this would only be adding to the knowledge of our possessions; it would not be enlarging them. And so when Christ gives Himself and His righteousness to His people, He gives them a world of spiritual treasures, which it will take all eternity for them fully to explore and find out. But all this is given to them from the start. The soul once justified is justified fully. The righteousness which secures justification will remain without changing what it was at first. 5. It is a glorious righteousness. We see this in the peculiar position which the ransomed people of Christ will occupy among the creatures of God, in possessing this righteousness. They will stand on higher ground in the scale of being than even angels and archangels can ever reach. We have no reason to suppose that there is another tribe or race of creatures in all the boundless universe who will rise to a point of elevation like this. This is what is meant when we are told that Christ’ s ransomed ones are to be “ a peculiar treasure unto Him.” They are to be to “ the praise of the glory of His grace,” as none other of His creatures shall be. Their peculiar, distinguishing privilege will be that Jehovah-Jesus is their righteousness. IV. Its importance.1. It is not possible that we can have the comfort of being Christians, unless we have a clear knowledge of this great truth. Suppose that, in a week from to-morrow, you have a note of a large amount to take up, and you have nothing with which to meet it. Of course, under such circumstances, you must feel very uncomfortable. And suppose that, under these circumstances, a friend should deposit, in your name, at the bank a sum of money more than sufficient to meet all your indebtedness. The fact that the money was there would put you in a position of safety. But unless you have a clear knowledge and a full assurance of this fact, you cannot be in a position of comfort in reference to it. Now, in our natural condition as sinners, we are all overwhelmingly in debt to God. We are liable at any moment to be called to a settlement, and we have nothing to say. But when we are led to repent of our sins, and believe in Jesus as our Saviour, His infinite and all-perfect righteousness is entered in the bank of heaven in our name, and to our account. It is reckoned as belonging unto us. If we are able to understand this truth, and grasp it, in the exercise of a firm faith, we shall have access to the most full and flowing fountain of comfort which the Gospel affords. 2. Our confidence for the future must depend entirely on our knowledge of this doctrine, and our belief in it. It is only by sharing in the righteousness of Christ that any child of Adam ever has entered heaven, or ever will. And the robes which the ransomed wear who entered that blessed abode are robes that have been washed, and made white in the blood of the Lamb. V. Its possession. It is faith in Christ, alone, which can make this righteousness ours. Show me one, therefore, who is exercising simple faith in Christ as his Saviour, and I will show you one who has a gracious, covenant, inalienable right to say, “ This little” word ‘ our’ in the text takes me in. I belong to the company here spoken of. Jehovah-Jesus is my Righteousness.” (R. Newton, D. D.) Jehovah our Righteousness In that day, when we all shall stand before God, there will be a great multitude whom no man can number, perfectly spotless even in His searching sight. He who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, will look on them without offence. Nay, more than this: He will delight in them. These very men came from the world where we live--out of sin and imperfection--out of disease and decay--out of doubts and fears--out of murmurings and backslidings, and a thousand infirmities and errors. And whence came this change? Where nothing approaches that is not perfectly holy, how entered this uncounted multitude of sinners? First, I think we shall be able to make it manifest that such a change cannot come from a man’ s self. We all can do much for ourselves in the way of self-government. But will any one be bold enough to say that self-government will make a man perfectly holy in God’ s sight? Everything human is imperfect; and no imperfect thing will suit our present purpose. We must have a perfect principle of righteousness, a perfect fount of holiness, something into the image of which the saints may be changed, each in his measure and degree, but all without spot or flaw of any kind. I answer that I cannot believe death to bring with it any such radical and total change. On what is the change at death dependent, in the case of God’ s saints? Why, entirely on the reality, and on the amount of progress, of that other change of which we are speaking. According as they are holy here below, so will that change be glorious. Again, what sort of a change is it that death brings about? Not a change of heart--not a change of desires, affections, principles--but merely, great as it is, a change of circumstances. The righteousness of the saints remains after death what it was before, with this difference, that every circumstance which before hindered its development will then be removed, and all will be replaced by circumstances the most favourable possible. Sin and imperfection will have been left behind in the grave; perfection and spotlessness put on in the resurrection. But the spiritual life goes on throughout, before and after death, one and the same in principle, in nature, in acceptability with God. Mankind is a tree tainted at the root. It is not that there are not fair branches--goodly leaves--bright blossoms--vitality and sap in abundance:--but that a taint lies at the root and infects all, so that it brings forth no fruit fit for the Master’ s use. What power can heal this tree? Manifestly, no power from without. All the suns, showers, and dews of heaven will never eradicate that taint from its root. The only conceivable way would be, if by some wonderful process its vital sap could be renewed; if some better and healthier influence could enter into its very root and core, and permeate all its branches with wholesome and fruit-bearing vigour. Such was the state of our humanity. Our race laboured under two disabilities before God: guilt, and powerlessness for good. He that created first, must create anew. By the same power, which made the first man a living soul, must the second Adam become a life-giving spirit. And all this within the limits of our race,--that the God whom man had offended, man might satisfy; that as by the disobedience of one man all were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man might all he made righteous. And this mighty thing was undertaken and achieved by the eternal Son of God Himself. He became man: not an individual human person, bounded by His own responsibilities, accountable to God for Himself and Himself only, which would have done us no good, whatever were the result of His Incarnation: but He took our nature upon Him--our nature entire: as entire as it was in Adam: He entered into its very root and core, and became its second Head. Now mark--He did not take that nature in its sinful development, as it then was, and now is, in each member of the human family; this would have been against His very essence and attributes as God, and was unnecessary for His work, nay, would have nullified that work: but He did take it subject to all the consequences of the state in which He found it--to temptation,--to infirmity,--to bodily appetites,--to decay,--to death. In our nature, He wrought out a perfect righteousness: and He presented Himself before the Father at the end of His course on earth, as the holy and righteous Head of our race, claiming of right, and by the terms of the everlasting covenant, that gift of the Holy Spirit, due by His merits, and become possible by His perfect human righteousness now united to the Godhead. So, then, the Lord Jesus becomes the Justifier of our race,--i.e., our clearer from guilt: and the Sanctifier of our race,--i.e., the giver of the Holy Spirit from the Father, by whom we become holy and changed into the image of God. Now, let us contemplate the effect on those who believe. Entering into Christ’ s finished work, they know Him as “ Jehovah their Righteousness.” In themselves, they are as others. They carry about with them the remnants of a body of sin, and are in conflict with it as long as they are here below. But sin has no dominion over them, nor shall it condemn them in that day. They are accepted in the Beloved. Christ’ s righteousness is their righteousness, because they are living members of Him the righteous Head, and are regarded by the Father as in Him with whom He is well pleased. Do you call Christ, Jehovah your Righteousness? What, then, is your estimate of your own duties, and your performance of them? (Dean Alford.) The Lord our righteousness I. The Lord is “ our Righteousness,” because He is our pardon. “ We have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Our amendment--our often too partial, superficial amendment--is not our pardon; for how can amendment cancel the past? Neither is our repentance our pardon; it neither is nor can be the meritorious cause for which God pardons. In the words of one of our greatest saints: “ Our repentance needs to be repented of, our tears want washing, and the very washing of our tears needs still to be washed over again in the blood of our Redeemer.” II. He is “ the Lord our Righteousness” in the sense of our acceptance with God. It is solely through His merits that we are first received, and are afterwards continued in the favour of God. Just as His righteousness is the meritorious cause of the remission of those sins which we repent of, so His righteousness is the meritorious cause of the acceptance of our service, notwithstanding its imperfections. III. In ordaining His Son to be “ the Lord our Righteousness,” God has also ordained in His wisdom that He should be the source of righteousness in us. He, our great Head, our second Adam, is the Lord, our “ renewal in righteousness.”1. We partake of an evil nature, because we have naturally transmitted to us Adam’ s weak and sinful nature, and those who are savingly in Christ have had, and yet have, supernaturally transmitted to them Christ’ s nature, as the seed in them of spiritual and eternal life. 2. He is “ the Lord our Righteousness,” inasmuch as He is the Lord our strength to serve God and subdue Satan. IV. In what respect Christ is not, and never can be, “ our righteousness.” He never can be our righteousness, so as to supersede the necessity, in any one particular, of our own personal holiness and righteousness. Righteousness is the order, the harmony, of God’ s intelligent creation, just as sin is its disorder, its confusion. “ The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, because He loves order, He loves harmony, He loves to see His creatures truly and permanently happy, which they only can be so long as they understand and fulfil the conditions of the particular place in His creation which He, in His infinite wisdom and goodness, has assigned to them. The love of God is righteousness. It is our inmost heart and affections being disposed towards God, as they should be when we consider who God is, and what He has done for us, and what claims His goodness has on us as spiritual beings redeemed by His Son’ s blood. Reverence to God is another branch of righteousness. It is our souls knowing and realising their place in the presence of so great and terrible a God. Obedience to rulers is righteousness; it is acting in accordance with the requirements of the place in which God has set us in human society. Obedience to parents, honouring and reverencing our parents, loving our brothers and sisters, is righteousness; it is realising the duties of our condition as members of families and households. Feeling for, assisting, judiciously and generously relieving the poor, is righteousness; it is fulfilling our position in a world left by God full of inequalities of estate and condition; which God has left full of these inequalities, in order that those servants of His to whom He has lent some superfluities, may grow in the grace of Christian charity by lessening the misery they see around them. Bearing distress with patience is another branch of righteousness; it is our hearts not revolting under, but submitting to, the dispensation of a God who always orders all things for the very best. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.) The Lord our Righteous I. To whom does this passage refer? It is vain to inquire whether the reference here be to the Jews literally, or to Christians; for the thing comes to the very same result. II. His personal title. “ He shall be called the Lord our Righteousness.” The word is Jehovah. Hence the amazing importance of the preceding inquiry; for whoever the person, intended may be, here is a name applied to Him “ which is above every name.”1. The language is strong; but His perfections allow it. His omniscience allows it. Peter said to Him, “ Thou knowest all things” ; and He said, “ The Churches shell know that I am He who searcheth the reins and the heart.” His omnipresence allows it. “ Where two or three are gathered together,” &c. “ Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” His unchangeableness allows it. He is “ the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” 2. The language is strong; but His operations justify it. “ By Him were all things created,” &c. “ Without Him was not anything made that was made.” 3. The language is strong; but it accords with the worship demanded of Him and received by Him. 4. The language is strong, but the occasion requires it. His greatness must he carried into every of His work as a Saviour. III. His relative character, or what He is to us. “ The Lord our Righteousness.” The former would have filled us with terror; but this softens down the effulgency; this throws a rainbow around His head, and tells us we need not be afraid of a deluge. How is He, then, “ our Righteousness” ? We answer, generally, He is so in two ways: by His making us righteous by a change in our state, and by a change in our nature; for the latter is as really derived from Him as the former. IV. The knowledge of this. For names are designed to distinguish and to make their owners known. Persons, more than things, are always called by their proper names.1. This is considered His greatest work and honour. When a man takes a name from any of his actions, you may be assured that he will do it from the most peculiar, the most eminent, the most glorious of them. 2. It means that He is to be approached under this character. This is always to be the great subject of the Christian ministry. 3. That all His people would own Him as such. (W. Jay.) The Lord our Righteousness I. The law has shut us all up under sin.1. This law having been given, and being expressive of God’ s nature and holiness, He must require that it be perfectly obeyed. He can allow of no deviation from it, no coming short in any one jot or tittle. A lawgiver conniving at the breach of his own laws, though in the smallest particular, would be to make them despicable. 2. Who can declare, that never in thought, word, or deed, he has come short of what he owed to God and his neighbour? Who can say, I am clean, I am pure from sin? Yet the slightest imperfection, though but in thought, exposes us to the curse of God’ s righteous law. 3. But some perhaps will say, “ I have not, it is true, done all I should have done; but I have done my best.” The law replies, “ Tell me not of your best; have you done all? if not, the curse is upon you.” “ But I have repented of what has been amiss.” “ Tell me not of your repentance: you have transgressed; the curse is upon you.” “ But I will do better.” “ Tell me not of doing better: you must do all. Could you render full obedience for the-time to come, the past is still against you. That debt is unpaid: you are under condemnation.” II. How, then, shall man escape? He has transgressed, and he must die, unless he can find one to answer the utmost rigour of its demands, to bear the fiercest vengeance of its curse. But no creature can do this. What hope, then, unless God Himself should find a substitute? What hope, unless God Himself should obey the law which He had given, and suffer in our stead? But is this probable? nay, is it possible? Yes. God Himself has done it. Jehovah has become “ our Righteousness.” God has given His only-begotten Son--In Christ, and in Him only, have we righteousness and strength. III. Apply these truths.1. Has the law wrought in us its convincing humbling work? Have we seen ourselves lost? 2. Have we, under a deep sense of our own undone condition, betaken ourselves to Christ for help? Have we, without reserve, fixed our hope of salvation upon Him? (E. Blencowe, M.A.) The Lord our Righteousness I. An announcement of an important truth.1. The Lord is our Righteousness inasmuch as the purpose and plan of justifying sinners originated with Him. 2. Inasmuch as He Himself has alone procured righteousness for us. 3. Inasmuch as it is through His grace and by his free donation that we receive righteousness. II. An utterance of personal belief and confidence. The language of faith, hope, joy, gratitude. III. A directory to the spiritual inquirer. Anxious sinners wish to know the way of acceptance with God. The text is a brief but satisfactory answer. (W. L. Alexander, D. D.) Christ’ s supreme name I. Exhibit the delightful character under which Christ is here presented.1. His essential dignity.2. His mediatorial office.3. The spiritual relation in which He stands to His people. II. Specify some considerations which put an emphasis and value upon redemption, and heighten our sense of its importance.1. The work of redemption has ennobled our nature and shed a lustre over the annals of our world.2. It eclipses and throws into the shade the greatest of the Divine works.3. It enhances the value of temporal blessings following in its train.4. It forms a permanent bond of union among subjects of grace.5. Judge of the grandeur of the work by the doom denounced against those who despise and reject it. (S. Thodey.) Jeremiah 23:7-8 The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them.Divine persistence Faith, even our own trembling faith, can hold on, perhaps, to the past; it retires upon the past in order to fortify its position. There are its reserves, its supplies. It looks back, and as it looks the big words stand out, the high memories awaken, the ancient story revives again. “ God was a King of old. The works that were done upon earth, He did them Himself.” We can believe it still. God was about in those days, long ago. Men met Him in the way. “ The hand of the Lord was upon me.” Yes! in the past, in days long ago, we are sure of God; and this, not merely out of traditional habit, nor merely because it is far off and remote. No! it is rather because the present is never really grasped or understood in its true significance until it is past. The present disguises its inner glories in a suit of drab; it is busy with small affairs; it has no leisure to sit at God’ s feet and brood. So the present is always being misjudged and misinterpreted by those it holds prisoners in its tiresome meshes. Only as it passes off into some quiet distance from us do the frivolous incidents drop away out of sight and hearing, and the superficial vulgarities fall back into insignificance, and the real heart of the mystery is felt in its work upon us. It is no glamorous illusion which gives wonder to the present as soon as it is past. Rather, it is become wonderful because it has shaken itself free from the illusion which veiled it from our eyes while it was still with us. We see it now in its actual worth as part and parcel of a continuous existence, not as an isolated accident that comes and goes. So it wins dignity and pathos and beauty. So strange--this transfiguration of the common-place by the past: an old brick wall, a garden walk, a turn of a lane--all can become sacred and mystical because of those unknown to us who once walked there before we were born. And this is right. This is their truth. And so, too, our past, as we turn to review it, is really recognised to have possessed an importance which escaped us when it was within our living grasp. We see now how momentous were the issues involved in this or that ordinary and temporary decision which we took as it came along, without anxiety or strain. There lay, we now acknowledge, the parting of the road for us. There and then our souls were indeed at stake. Our whole future turned on what we saw or did that day. A day at the time so unmarked, and dull, and unmomentous. How little we remembered God as we did it! Yet it was He, before whose eyes we were at that moment become a spectacle to men and angels, at that passing moment when we made our choice. Yes! it is no glamorous illusion that the past throws: it is the actuality of things which it discloses. The past reveals God at work in the acts of judgment by which we stand or fall under His searching light. Therefore it is that the Jew, reading out his national past, saw and found God at work everywhere in it. Jewish prophecy was concerned with the past, at least as much as with the future. The prophet looked back and read into the facts their deep inner interpretation. Old events were recognised by him for their spiritual value; now they were lifted into the light of the Divine will. “ When Israel came out of Egypt and the house of Jacob from among the strange people, Judah was His sanctuary and Israel His dominion. The sea saw that and fled. Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like young sheep.” Not at the moment of the deliverance could Israel have sung out that clear song of recognition. The escape out of Egypt was probably sordid enough at the moment; troubled, confused, dismal. Only long afterwards, when it had been clarified by the purifying process of time, could the prophet’ s eye pierce below the surface disarray and see the whole scene as a vivid and unthwarted drama; only after long review with vision purged could the singer pronounce that “ God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran.” Backed by the strong assurance that God was with our fathers, that God brought up His people out of Egypt, Faith must make its great venture and recognise that the God who was alive and active in the past is the same God to-day and for ever. This drab and dismal present which rings men ruefully round with its noisy bustle, with its troublesome futilities, holds in it urgent and supreme the living energies of God. When it has dropped away from them into the past they will see and know it. How disastrous, then, to cry out, when it is too late, “ Surely God was in this place and I knew it not.” Why not wake up at once, in the very heart of stony and forlorn Bethel, and see now the golden stairs laid between heaven and earth? Here is the prophet’ s task, to declare that what God did once, He may yet do again. If He brought up His people out of Egypt, He can yet deliver them out; of captivity in Babylon. Ah! that is the difficult, the impossible thing to believe. That is when and where the ordinary temper of faith collapses and recoils and surrenders. Egypt! They can see it all, feel it all God’ s arm was outstretched to save, and He spake; and His great presence went out to them; and His voice was heard like the voice of a trumpet, exceeding loud. But Babylon, where they now lie in captivity! How hard and grim those iron walls of fact which hold the people fast! How relentless the immense pressure of its tyranny! Day follows day, and all days are the same; and the night comes following the day; and no watchman can tell them any news; and no cry shatters the night! Nor even are the people gathered in Babylon. They are not assembled and compact, as once in Egypt, ready to move altogether if the opportunity ever came. No; they are now hopelessly divided--scattered to the four winds; lost in detachments amid a crowd of swarming cities. Nothing can happen; there is no sign; they see not their tokens. Heaven above them is as brass, and the earth as iron. No God appears. “ Well enough in Egypt! We would have gone out with Moses then with willing feet; but we see no Moses now. Things are too strong for us; they shut us in. We listen, and no voice answers. It is different now; it can never be again as it once was.” So we can fancy what these poor, faint souls to whom Jeremiah is writing must have murmured. As if Egypt had not looked just as hard and just as motionless to those who first heard the summons of Moses; as if it had not all been as grimly incredible then. And therefore, that same chill of despair that now overshadows them beside the willows of Babylon need not prevent another day like that of Moses arising as glorious as in Egypt. Another prophetic epoch will be known and named for ever. So the prophet announces. Once again the faith which is strong enough to face and defy the repellent facts of the present shall see its God rise as of old. We ourselves are sorely aware of conflict between our faith as it gazes back at the past, and our faith as it faces the shill and staggering present. We who can yet hold on to our belief in what happened long ago, find no heart to declare this might happen again to-day. God might be seen as visibly at work; Jesus Christ might be heard calling us with as clear a voice as that which fell on the ears of fishermen washing their nets by Galilean waters. The present wears so horribly material an appearance, and it looks so absurdly remote from Spirit and from God. “ There is no God here,” we cry; “ Christ cannot be alive no angels sing here of peace and goodwill. So everything about us asserts with might and main; it defies us to say our creed in front of it without laughing or without breaking down in sobs. Yes; but was not the present always what it feels to us to-day? Did it not always look as hard and commonplace and godless? The inn at Bethlehem was as noisy and regardless as Fleet Street to-day. The people felt life then as commonplace an affair as it seems to us on Ludgate Hill to-day. The past witnesses through all its long centuries to the actual reality of the living deed done by God in our midst. Again and again in dark days those who believed it to be true have dared to realise it in their own present day afresh, and have found it answer to their appeals. There was a revival, as we say, a revival in the present of what was once for all asserted in the past. As God who had delivered men from Egypt verified Himself anew in the God who can deliver out of captivity, so Christ who rose and lived has quickened a new generation sunk in its sloth; has named a new epoch, has brought in a new day; and men have started from their sleep to find that it was true what they had always dimly believed, Christ is alive, Christ is at work here on earth; the impossible can happen; the incredible change can stir and can transform; it is all true. It shall no more be said merely that God liveth who once raised Jesus from the dead; but God liveth--our own God--who still raises in Jesus Christ those who were dead in trespasses and sins into newness of life for evermore. Why not? Why not now? The old creed is being battered by ruthless attacks on its past records, and there is only one triumphant answer--a revival of its ancient efficacy in full swing here and now. Christ, we feel, may have once raised a dead world into life, but He cannot do it again. Are we going to acquiesce in that? Are we going to try to keep our faith, and yet confine it to a day long dead? If Christ cannot do it now, then He never did it. If we resign the present to its godlessness, then we shall not long retain our belief in God in the past. No; we have but one obligation: to rally first on the past, and in its strength to dare the present. Why should not we take our belief in Jesus Christ as seriously to-day, and let it be done again? Oh, for this outrush of a great revival! We have lingered and languished so long is not the moment near for some reaction from our spiritual lethargy? The night has been so prolonged, there must surely be a streak of dawn. (H. S. Holland, D. D.) Jeremiah 23:14 They strengthen also the hands of evil-doers.Strengthening the hands of the wicked 1. All sin is horrible in its nature, as being contrary to the character and will of God. 2. To strengthen the hands and hinder the repentance of sinners is to oppose the great plan of the Divine government. 3. It tends to the misery of mankind, and is the reverse of that benevolence which ought to govern us in all our conduct. 4. It is to operate with that evil spirit who works in the children of disobedience. 5. It is a horrible thing, because we thus become partakers of their sins. 6. It is directly contrary to God’ s commands, and marked with His peculiar abhorrence. (J. Lathrop, D. D.) Jeremiah 23:21-22I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken them, yet they prophesied.A Divine call indispensable to the success of a minister of the Gospel I. A Divine call is necessary to warrant any man in taking upon himself the ministerial office. First, he ought to be satisfied that, in making his decision, he is not swayed by worldly motives, and should examine himself strictly as to the singleness of his aim, and earnestness of his desire, to promote God’ s glory and the good of souls. But as there may exist this desire on our part, when there is no call on God s, there is a second necessary point in regard to which we must be satisfied, namely, our fitness for the work; and this is a matter which must be determined not by ourselves, but by the proper authorities of the Church. But there is still another security against error in reference to this matter; for we must, in the third place, clearly see a way open in Providence for our approach to the ministerial office; and I can conceive that, not only may a man be satisfied as to the two first points, but his way may be so hedged up, that his vocation may be as clear as if a voice were to address him from heaven upon the subject. II. The man who intrudes into the ministerial. Office without a proper call, has no right to expect the Divine blessing upon his labours, whilst he is uncalled and unsent. There are few things more absurd and thoroughly inconsistent with every principle of propriety, than the grounds on which young men have too often been appointed to the holy ministry. How often have we known young men licensed to preach the Gospel, merely because they had attended the requisite number of years at college, and were able to undergo an examination, whilst decisive evidences of personal religion were neither sought nor given; and then ordained as ministers of Christ upon being presented to a living by a patron, who, perhaps, had little interest in the parish, and still less in the cause of vital godliness! How deplorable that a youth inexperienced in the Christian warfare should be appointed to lead the hosts of the Lord! How deplorable that a person should be ordained to rouse and watch over the souls of others, who never felt any concern for his own; that one should be appointed to deal with persons labouring under the convictions of an awakened conscience, who is altogether ignorant of the matter, and to point out the way of salvation to others when he knows it only by hearsay himself! It is only a converted and divinely-called ministry, whose labours God can be expected to own and render profitable to His Church. However profound the intellect and acute the discrimination and splendid the eloquence of a mere man-taught preacher, though he may gratify the itching ears of his audience, and excite their admiration of himself, so far as the grand ends of preaching are concerned, he is like a man beating the air. III. Though a person may have entered into the sacred ministry without a proper call, there is here a hope held out, that if he is faithful in the discharge of ministerial duty, God may favour him with a call and render his labours at last eminently successful. It would seem from Jeremiah 23:22, that, even though a person to enter the ministerial office from improper motives, and without a Divine call, yet, if he act according to the instructions of God’ s Word, and apply it for the regulation of his own heart and conduct, and be diligent and faithful in the performance of ministerial duty, he will be caught by the truth with which he is brought into contact, and converted and commissioned by God, and made to see the Divine pleasure prospering in his hand. This is certainly a perilous experiment for any man to make, but there are undoubted instances on record of unconverted men intruding into the ministerial office from secular motives, whose presumption has been pardoned, whose souls have been converted, Whose official appointment has been recognised of God, and whose labours have ultimately been abundantly blessed. Oh, what need of intimate and very frequent communion with God, that our graces may be kept in lively exercise, that, when we mingle with our people, coming fresh from the ivory palaces, all our garments may smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; that, being constantly conversant with spiritual things, and having our affections placed upon them, an habitual solemnity may pervade our conduct, so that it may be no effort for us, wherever we go, always to bear in mind that we are the servants of the Lord Jesus. Ah, were we thus always to act, how should our private conduct “ illustrate and enforce our public services! (W. B. Clark.) If they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words. The ideal preacher I. His mental position. “ If they had stood in My counsel.” By God’ s “ counsel” here we understand His written Word. To stand in it implies making His Word the permanent sphere of the mind, the one great subject of study and scene of action. This mental position is--1. Most necessary. God’ s thoughts alone and not man’ s can spiritually and effectively help humanity, and these thoughts are only to be got at by profoundly studying the Scriptures, and thus standing in the counsel of the Lord. 2. Most ennobling. The man who lives in the Scriptures will have an elevation of spirit, a nobility of nature, a dignity of bearing that will give him power over the minds of men. II. His grand work, “ Caused My people to hear My words.”1. This is the most difficult work. Man’ s spiritual ears are so sealed by carnality, worldliness, and sin, that they will not listen Notwithstanding, this is the preacher’ s work. 2. This is the most urgent work. The words of the Lord are a man’ s only light, hope, and salvation. III. His true test. “ They should have turned” their hearers “ from their evil ways,” &c.1. Conversion from evil is the great want of mankind. 2. Conversion from evil is the great tendency of Gods Word. (Homilist.) God’ s ministers must deal faithfully with men Ministers should not be merely like dials on watches, or milestones on the road, but like clocks and larums, to sound the alarm to sinners. Aaron wore bells as well as pomegranates, and the prophets were commanded to lift up their voices like a trumpet. A sleeping sentinel may be the loss of the city. (Bishop Hall.) The effectiveness of faithful dealings with the wicked Dr. Pierson said, that at the funeral of a man who had been very generous but ungodly and dissipated, he felt unwilling to say anything that would be untrue to his convictions, and accordingly spoke to the business men, who were there in large numbers, of the folly of neglecting the soul even for the sake of worldly profit. One of them cursed and swore that he would provide in his will that he (Mr. Pierson) should never officiate at his funeral. Shortly after, he was smitten of an incurable disease, and for months he lingered in great agony, and died. He sent for Mr. Pierson, and begged him to pray for and with him. He also wrote him a letter in which he said, “ Be always honest and true with men; tell them the truth, and even those who at the time may take offence, will afterwards stand by you and approve your cause.” When he came to look into the hereafter, he wanted no shallow quicksand of flattering falsehood on which to rest his feet. Jeremiah 23:23-24 Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?God nigh at hand God is nigh at hand for judgment: the period of judgment, therefore, need not be postponed until a remote age; every man can now bring himself within sight of the great white throne, and can determine his destiny by his spirit and by his action. God is nigh at hand for protection: He is nearer to us than we can ever be to ourselves: though the chariots of the enemy are pressing hard upon us, there is an inner circle, made up of angels and ministering spirits, guarding us with infinite defences against the attacks of the foe. God is near us for inspiration; if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God: what time we are in doubt or perplexity as to the course we should take, let us whisper our weakness into the ear of the condescending and ever-accessible Father, and by the ministry of His Spirit He will tell us what we ought to do. (J. Parker, D. D.) The practice of God’ s presence God is a Mind having all possible perfections, and one of these is Omnipresence. The deepest thought of modern poetry is that of the Divine immanence in nature, and the best modern theology recognises it. Emerson said that “ Nature is too thin a veil, God is all the while breaking through.” Are there not those among us who imagine that God dwells in churches, in certain consecrated places, at certain appointed times, and who rarely think that He is in their houses, unless one lies dead there and prayer is being said by, an open coffin? The Syrian enemies of the Israelites caned the God of Israel the God of the hills and not of the valleys,” believing that Jehovah’ s presence was stationed there, as the Greeks believed that Neptune was confined to the sea. And something of this misconception lingers in us all when we think of God as being somewhere else than where we now are. Such mistakes make worship impossible. If God’ s nature had any bounds, if it were limited to any portion of space, it would be defective in being. If you could conceive of God as confined to any one place, He would immediately be shorn of His glory. In order to be God, He must be everywhere in His perfection. He cannot be restrained and confined by any higher power, for there is none other equally exalted. He would not voluntarily shut Himself out from His dominions, for He would not willingly curtail His own perfections. But, it may be asked, is not God peculiarly present in heaven, in the assemblies of His saints, in the hearts of His loving children? Yes, wherever He reigns without opposition, there He manifests His completer glory. But how can God dwell in heaven, in human temples, and in the hearts of His scattered children, without being omnipresent and without being purely spiritual; that is, incorporeal? God is in my soul, if there at all, in His whole nature, and in yours also; and when you come to realise the presence of God, never think that a fragment of Him is before you. No; the whole nature of the Eternal and Infinite Jehovah, before whose presence angels hide their faces, from whose throne the heavens and the earth flee away, and in whose light in the celestial climes the sun himself dare not shine, the whole essential glory of the Lord, God Almighty, penetrates, sustains, and glorifies our lives continually. God is an infinite Mind, present here in His infinite glory, and present in whatever other part of the universe I may ever dwell. And if you say such a mode of Being as His is mysterious even to inconceivability, I gladly and reverently grant it. God is Light, and as the light of the sun fills a globe of crystal with its splendour, displacing no particle, and yet not becoming identified with that which it illuminates, so God fills all this crystalline universe with His shining presence without becoming identified with that which He glorifies. Thus a rational philosophy justifies the teaching of God’ s omnipresence; but modern science throws even a more dazzling light on this sublime theme. Science, as taught to-day, presents to us four commanding facts, each one of which runs into practical religion. The first of these is the omnipresence of thought and adaptation in the universe. The doctrine of evolution, as Professor Drummond has said, has not affected, except to improve and confirm it, the old teaching that all things have been created on a plan. Now the plan is a complicated one, requiring the fitting together of many parts. It is plain that He who brings in the winter months directs the honey-bee to lay up in summertime its store of food for the season of cold, and teaches it to build of waterproof wax its six-sided cells, wherein the honey may be packed without waste of room. Mind is present, not only in the bee’ s instinct, but in the world which supplies with its blossoms the sweetness on which the bee feeds. The second fact which science presents to us is the universality of motion. It is a mistake to speak of anything as being at rest. The universe is one blazing wheel within another blazing wheel, all rushing with inconceivable rapidity, and testifying, by the omnipresence of motion, to the omnipresence of that Mind that created and upholdeth all things, and without whose continued activity the very thought of universal motion is inconceivable and inconceivably absurd. The third fact that science presents to our attention is the universality of law. There is no caprice in the motions of the universe, but undeviating submission to intelligent regulation. But the proof of the universality of law is the proof of the omnipresence of God. Law is only the method of the Divine activity. Law is inconceivable except as the working of a willing Mind. Law, self-made and self-executed, is an absurdity, as much so as a proposition made to yonder organ that it should compose and then render the “ Hallelujah Chorus.” So that when you extend the domain of law so as to embrace the rushing hosts of the stars, and you find law everywhere executed, you only announce the omnipresence of Him who said to Jeremiah, Am I a God at hand,. . . and not a God afar off?. . . Do I not fill heaven and earth?” And the fourth fact which science presents is the omnipresence of conscience. The moral law cannot be escaped. But this law is not of human origin. It was not enacted, it is not executed by man. It existed prior to all human legislation. It is universal and infallible; and, above all, it is executed by a Power not human. God is behind it and in it: and if we can escape by no possibility from its action, then by no possibility can we escape from the presence of Him who is its Author and Executor. “ Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord.” Neither heaven, nor hell, nor the uttermost part of the sea is beyond the immediate presence of Him who filleth all in all It is sometimes said that God is in the world. It is truer to say that the world is in God. In Him we and all things move and have our being, and thus the universe becomes what Sir Isaac Newton called it, “ The vast sensorium of Deity,” with God vital and throbbing in every part. He upholds all things by the Word of His power. When the question was asked of Basil, one of the Christian Fathers, “ How shall we do to be serious?” he answered, “ Mind God’ s presence.” “ How shall we avoid distraction in service?” he replied, “ Think of God’ s presence.” “ How shall we resist temptations?” “ Oppose to them God’ s presence.” This is God’ s method of perfecting holiness. Enoch, the first saint, is described as one who walked with God. His faith was to him the evidence of things not seen. His loving trust made God a present reality. The Lord said unto Abraham, “ Walk before Me, and be thou perfect.” The secret of perfection is to know God’ s presence. Remember this truth when you are abroad in nature, and nature is everywhere, in your solitary room as truly as among the summer fields. This is God’ s universe, in every part of which He is actively present. Behold Him in the light, as the Persian poets did, for He is there. See Him in the sun, as the makers of the Hindu Scriptures did. Breathe in His life as you breathe the morning air, for it is God’ s atmosphere in which you dwell. Let every created thing be a reminder of the Infinite Father, the Eternal Spirit, who lives in all life, moves in all motion, shines in all splendour, and filleth heaven and earth. And remember this truth when you pray. It will kindle your soul to devotion, it will control rebellious thoughts, it will make prayer a real communion with a personal God. Remember this truth in the midst of sorrow. It brings to the weary and troubled heart the immediate presence of the Infinite Comforter. It brings before the mind the consolation of an omnipresent love, and the sure defence of an omnipotent hand. And remember this truth in your daily toil. God is with you, and you may build a chapel to Him in your heart and sing His praises from morning until night. But if God is everywhere, the Spirit of God, embodied in His people, should go everywhere. There can be no righteous divorce in our best lives from this sorrowing and sinning world. The Church has lived too much apart with God, in meditation and worship. Its business is to enter human life in every division of it, with the Divine Spirit of healing and help. (J. H. Barrows, D. D.) The present God I. The folly and sin of every form of idolatry. When Pompey, the Roman general, had conquered Jerusalem, his curiosity prompted him to enter the temple; and finding no image there of any divinity, he was filled with astonishment, and would fain have called the Jews atheists. The presence of an image seemed to him an essential part, or, at least, an important prerequisite, of Divine worship. As Pompey thought, so all pagans think; hence we term them Idolaters (from ei!dwlon, an image), because they either worship an image as God, or adore their divinities through the instrumentality of an image. This practice both reason and revelation condemn, as being exceedingly senseless, and exceedingly sinful. II. The truth of the text should stimulate us to the cultivation of an incessantly devotional spirit. The whole universe is but one vast apartment filled with the Divine presence, and everywhere, therefore, we may be closeted with God III. Sure consolation to the Christian, amidst the sorrows to which he is exposed. God sees every tear, hears every groan. His seeing is blended with sympathy. “ Like as a father pitieth his children,” &c. With the exercise of sympathy is connected the putting forth of Divine power. He will either deliver us from our sorrow, or give us strength bravely to bear it. IV. What a safeguard against the seductions of sin may those noble words prove, Shall we yield to temptation beneath the gaze of the infinitely Holy One! Shall we dare to oppose the righteous will of Him, “ in whom we live and have our being” ? Shall we dare to break the holy commands of the Divine law-giver, in whose presence we are at all times placed? (Homilist.) The Divine perfections There are three ways of discoursing upon the perfections of God.1. We prove that there is a God, and that He must have these powers and qualities which we ascribe to Him. 2. Supposing that God is, and that He possesses all perfections, we explain them as far as the sublimity of the incomprehensible subject permits, and confute the wrong opinions which have been entertained concerning them. 3. Supposing that they to whom we address ourselves have just and honourable notions of all God’ s perfections, and confining ourselves chiefly to practical truths, we show the effects which such a belief and such knowledge ought to produce, and endeavour to excite in them a behaviour suitable to their faith. I. God’ s omnipresence, unlisted knowledge, and irresistible power.1. God is present everywhere. A proof of this may be taken from the creation. The world is plainly the offspring of one great and wise mind, which produced it, and disposed all its parts in that beautiful order in which they continue, and gave them those regular motions which they preserve, and by which they are preserved. Now God must of necessity be present with the things that He made and governs. 2. He is present everywhere in knowledge. This perfection is united with the former: for, if God be everywhere, everything must be known to Him. 3. God is also present everywhere in power. He is the only independent being, He is before all things, He made all things, He upholds and governs all things; from Him all powers are derived, and therefore nothing is able to resist or defeat His will II. What effects the fore-mentioned truths should produce in us.1. We should endeavour to resemble God in these perfections, and in the manner in which He exerciseth them. 2. This consideration should deter us from sin. 3. This consideration should teach us humility. Pride is a very unfit companion for poverty and dependence; and vain men should remember that they receive all from God, and that they can acquire and preserve neither strength nor skill unless by His blessing, by His appointment or permission. 4. A particular encouragement to reliance and contentment, to faith and hope. (J. Jortin, D. D.) The omnipresence of God I. The doctrine of god’ s omnipresence. The omnipresence of which the Bible teaches us that God is possessed, is that attribute by which He is present everywhere, equally, at all times, in the possession of all His perfections.1. The uniformity of the operations of nature, and of the moral principles by which the universe is governed,--everywhere that we are able to trace them,--leads us to conclude that the same God is everywhere present, as the Ruler and Disposer of all. 2. The possession of this attribute is necessary to the perfection of His other attributes, and the want of this would destroy the analogy and resemblance that otherwise exists between them. 3. The declarations of Scripture regarding the omnipresence of God are both plain and numerous: Job 11:7-9; Acts 7:27-28; Psalms 139:7-11; 1 Kings 8:27; Amos 9:2-3; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Matthew 18:20; Matthew 28:20. II. The practical aspects of the doctrine of God’ s omnipresence.1. God is everywhere present, as the Preserver and Governor of all. 2. God is everywhere present as the object of religious worship, 3. God is everywhere present as the inspector of our conduct. 4. God is always present as the helper and Saviour of His people. In the time of duty he will give them strength to perform, in the time of trial strength to resist, and in the Period of trouble strength to endure. (W. Dickson.) The Divine omnipresence Few things in nature but are mysterious to us. Outward appearances we know, but when we attempt to inquire into the causes of things, we find our researches quickly at an end. Our sensations give us no intelligence of the essence of those material objects which produce them, nor, indeed, immediately of their existence itself: and though we have an inward consciousness of our own existence, our perceptions, and volitions, yet what the intimate nature is of that self-consciousness, we cannot understand. Least of all can we form any adequate notion of the Supreme Being himself. By reflecting on ourselves, on the constitution of our nature, with its various tendencies, affections, passions, and operations, and by considering external objects as perceived by our senses, we are led to a persuasion of His being, power, wisdom, and goodness. By this method of inquiry we are also convinced that God is intimately present with us, and with all beings in the universe: yet still it is only by the means of sensible effects that we attain to this conviction. The Divine nature and attributes themselves, the inward principle of the Almighty’ s various operations, “ no man hath seen at any time, nor can see.” Hence it follows, and we find it so in experience, that the Perfections of God which are the most clearly manifested, and immediately exercised in His works, are the best understood by us. We have much more distinct apprehensions of power, wisdom, and goodness, than of self-existence and infinity. With regard, therefore, to those attributes which it is hardest for us to conceive, we shall still think and speak of them the most usefully, when, as far as it can be done, we consider them in relation to the works of God. God is from all eternity: He consequently exists without any cause; He therefore necessarily is, and it is impossible that He should not be. But it is certain that absolute necessity of existence excludes all relation to any one place more than another: for He who is, by necessity of nature, must be everywhere, for the same reason that He is anywhere; because if He could be absent from any one place, He might be absent also from any other place, and so could have no necessary existence. To necessity of existence all points of space are alike; and, therefore, it is equally necessary in them all. This argument is held to be irrefragable: but there is another, at once more obvious and more convincing. We see, in this vast creation, a power everywhere exerted in pursuing a design that is perfectly uniform and consistent: we see it exerted at all times, and in all places; the same intentions are, by the same energy, advanced from age to age. Now, wherever this power is exerted, there is God; in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath. But if we know that He fills heaven and earth, we know that there can be no difficulty in supposing that He is present in all imaginable worlds, and in all imaginable space. In this kind of reasoning, from obvious and manifest appearances, the mind rests perfectly satisfied. And thus we conceive, that as in man there is one individual conscious self, that sees, hears, feels, and determines for the whole body; so in the universe (but in a manner infinitely more perfect) there is one conscious intelligent nature, which pervades the entire system, at once perceiving in every place, and presiding over all To every good mind this must be a joyful reflection. It is a noted observation, that in the company of one whom we esteem and love, we are sensible of a pleasure which seems to communicate itself to all objects around us. And why should not all nature appear to us delightful, as it is everywhere the seat of the Divine presence; the seat of that presence which contains the perfection of grandeur and of beauty? God is here; and should not everything rejoice as in His presence? So the rising sun displays his beams, and the skies are filled with day; a thousand beautiful objects open to the eye, nature smiles on every hand, and the world appears a grand and delightful theatre. To look on the beauty of opening flowers, gradually growing up to all their pride, is certainly pleasant, even to a superficial observer; but to discern the Creator’ s hand which adorns them in a manner so delightful, and to consider them as the contrivance of the eternal Mind, eloquently displaying His intention to please the children of men, this shows them in a very different, and in a much nobler light. Even the most formidable appearances in nature, considered in this view, become easy to the imagination. If the thunders and the lightnings of heaven are conceived as having the Deity presiding in them; if the wild tempests and the tumultuous ocean are His servants, constantly under His eye, ever executing His pleasure, and having all their force measured by Him; they cease then to be terrible, for they discover a power which must be always tempered with kindness, and directed by love. (A. MacDonald.) The omnipresence of God I. Infinite knowledge. If a being is perfectly acquainted with me--if he knows all I do, and all I say, and all I think--he is, in an eminent sense, present with me. In this sense God is everywhere present; there is nothing hidden, nothing concealed from Him. II. Direct, constant, and universal agency. Wherever a being immediately operates, there He is present. When God created the world out of nothing, He was present at its production: but the same power is requisite to sustain, as to create, the universe. If we imagine the lights of heaven to exist and move, and the processes of nature to be carried on by the laws of this Creator, yet let it be remembered, that there is no binding power in law; it is only the ordinary rule by which creative energy and power sustains the world, and the works He has formed. Thus it is with God’ s power in the laws of nature, not simply by ordination or by appointment, but by a perpetual impartation of mighty energy, which, if for a moment withheld, the world would cease to be. And He is not only employed in preserving His works, but, as far as our knowledge extends, He is perpetually calling new beings into existence and terminating the present condition of others. Both are perpetually passing the opposite barriers of life--entering into existence, and passing out of it: but neither event transpires without the immediate presence of God. III. The accomplishment of his purposes. The world was created for His glory: but if on its production he had retired from it, only sustaining it in being, we might have seen His power in creation; but His wisdom, His might, His goodness in the works of providence, would not have been displayed. But He governs the world which He has made, and His supremacy is so complete that nothing happens without His permission; and every purpose of the Eternal Mind will he fully and perfectly accomplished. “ The purpose of the Lord shall stand, and He will do all His pleasure.” To accomplish these objects He must be everywhere present; not only acquainted with external events, but with the thoughts and the intents of the human heart.1. The grandeur and the incomprehensibility of Jehovah. 2. The nature of all true religion. All religion is founded on correct views of the Deity; it is the state, the habit of mind, which accords with our relation to God and His perfections. If, therefore, God be a Spirit, and by reason of His spiritual nature is everywhere present, then He must be worshipped in spirit and in truth; that is, in sincerity and with the heart. 3. Religion is a habit of mind. It consists not in isolated acts of worship; not in our regular attendance on the Sabbath in the house of prayer: but the conviction that God seeth us at all times should make us religious in all places. 4. Our subject is full of consolation to the good man. Oh, it is a delightful and cheering thought, that my heavenly Father is never absent from me. 5. However forgotten and contemned may be the doctrine of God’ s omnipresence, it is an awful truth to ungodly men. (S. Summers.) The omnipresence of God 1. The proofs of it. It is implied in the idea of an unoriginated Being, that there can be nothing to limit Him. Were His existence determined to one place, rather than to another, it must have been so determined by some prior cause; and, consequently, He could not have been the first cause. 2. That necessity by which the Deity exists, can have no relation to one place more than to another. It must be the same everywhere that it is anywhere. The infinity itself of space is nothing but the infinity of the Divine nature. II. The manner of it. 1. God is to be conceived as present with us in all we think, as well as in all we do. The motives of our actions, our most secret views and purposes, and the inmost recesses of our hearts, lie naked before Him. 2. He is present with us by His influence. His hand is always working to preserve us, and to keep up the springs of life and motion within us. 3. He is present with us by His sense. We feel Him in every effort we make, in every breath we draw, and in every object that gives us either pain or pleasure. 4. It follows, from hence, that He is present with us in a manner in which no other being can be present with us. It is a presence more real, more close, more intimate, and more necessary. III. The practical improvment of this subject.1. Since God is equally present everywhere, we ought not to imagine that our worship of Him can be more acceptable in one place than in another. 2. Since God is the only being that is present with us in the manner I have described, there can he no other being who is the proper object of our prayers. 3. The consideration of the constant and intimate presence of the Deity with us, ought to encourage us in our addresses to Him. He is our benevolent parent, and therefore no pious wish of our hearts, no virtuous breathings of our minds, no desire of bliss that can be directed to Him, can escape His notice, or fail of being properly attended to. 4. A reverential fear should continually possess us, since God is always with us. 5. The presence of God with us should deter us from sin. 6. The presence of God with us should support us in the performance of our duty, and quicken us in a virtuous course. 7. The consideration of God’ s presence with us should encourage and comfort us under every pain and trouble. A present Deity is a present friend, and a present helper in every time of need. (R. Price, D. D.) The omnipresence of God If you were cast out of your country a thousand miles off, you are not out of God’ s precinct; His arm is there to cherish the good, as well as to drag out the wicked; it is the same God, the same presence in every country, as well as the same sun, moon, and stars; and were not God everywhere, yet He would not be meaner than His creature, the sun in the firmament, which visits every part of the habitable world in twenty-four hours. (S. Charnock.) Jeremiah 23:28-29 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully.The word and the dream The prophet here exhibits in contrast Divine teaching and the speculations of men. The former he calls the Word of the Lord. The latter he calls but dreams, the visionary offspring of the human mind, and partaking of the weakness and fallibility of the source whence they spring. Human minds must think. They will clothe truth in forms of their own. Classify, arrange, systematise. It helps memory and clearness of conception. Yet all such speculation needs to be under the restraint of a godly fear, of a solemn sense of responsibility, to be sober, guided by a constant reference to Holy Scripture, carefully restrained from wandering into the dangerous regions of mere invention, and guarded against the spirit of dogmatism and dictation. The moment the dream of man and the oracle of God are put on a footing of equality, and the distinction that separates them is forgotten, mischief ensues; the teacher promulgates error, his teaching degenerates into “ vain babbling” ; and “ the lips that should keep knowledge,” “ cause the people” that seek at them the law of the Lord “ to err through their lies and their lightness.” In that pure word alone Divine energy and efficiency reside. That is the fire whose searching heat few things can abide unchanged, the hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces, that alone can effectually subdue the hardness of the human heart, and conquer the stubbornness of the human will. One step in the process of obtaining scriptural truth from Scripture is interpretation. Scriptural truth is not the letter of the word, but its meaning, the mind of God conveyed to men under its various forms and delineations. Truth lies in the Scriptures as the ore lies in the mine, mingled with foreign substances, disguised by various combinations. Not till it is elicited, disengaged and presented in its simple, unmixed condition, is it moral and spiritual truth, an infallible lesson of doctrine and duty to men. Another step in the process of obtaining scriptural truth from Scripture is to systematise, arrange, and combine the results of interpretation. Truth must be adjusted to truth, so that they may be parts of a coherent whole, and not a confused aggregation of unrelated particles. A separate truth viewed without reference to other truths grows immediately disproportionate and corrupt. Hence the necessity of “ comparing spiritual things with spiritual,” “ prophesying according to the proportion,” that is, the analogy “ of the faith,” “ rightly dividing the word of truth.” Let us next attend to the action of the human mind on the truth thus ascertained. The mind will not receive truth passively. It will think, speculate. For instance, it is taught redemption, viz., that by the suffering and death of Christ, man is relieved from the wrath of God and the punishment legally due to transgressors on condition of becoming penitent and believing. This is Divine teaching. But the mind will not rest there. It will have theories of redemption, and it may have different theories innocently, provided it leaves the truth in its integrity; and any man may tell his theory, his dream, if he do but tell it as a theory, and not put it on a level with the truth which it attempts to explain. There are Scripture hints, again, which we cannot refrain from attempting to expand, to give them form and fulness by conjectures of our own; as, for instance, a spiritual state of being and a future life we seek to clothe with substance and reality by imagining what they are, what are the conditions of such states of existence, what are their sources of enjoyment, what their modes and occasions of action; and we seize upon analogies and symptoms, if we can find any, to help our conceptions. But the teacher must always be careful to distinguish between the explicit announcements of God’ s Word, which are infallible because Divine, and those thoughts of man about them, which are valuable only in proportion to the soundness of the argument and evidence by which they are sustained. But there is a question lower down than all we have yet said--How shall we extract scriptural truth from Scripture,--how shall we derive the meaning from the letter of the Word?1. The natural and apparent meaning is ordinarily the true one. The Bible is God teaching men by human speech. To do this effectually it conforms to the laws of human speech. It is popular teaching clothed in popular phraseology, and not in the technical language of scientific theology. 2. That meaning of any particular passage of Scripture is the true one, which harmonises with the general strain of its teaching. We are not to build doctrines on isolated texts, if there are other texts which, fairly considered, operate to modify and limit their sense. God must he consistent with Himself. What He says in one place cannot contradict what He says in another. And the true sense in either must be that which gives a consistent sense in both. 3. The ancient meaning is to be preferred to any that is more modern. There are no such things as discoveries in Christianity. It is not an improvable system. It has no such thing as growth. Christianity came from the hands of its Author perfect and unalterable. No doctrine that was unknown in early ages is any part of it. We are to remember that the Gospel was taught before it was written, that a definite system of belief and practice was established before the Christian Scriptures were composed. And the Scriptures do but echo and republish this, and with this system in our minds, handed down from the beginning in the Church, we are to read them. The meanings that conform to it we are to embrace, the meanings that contradict it we are to reject. (R. A. Hallam, D. D.) Religious truth and error I. Religious error is a human dream but religious truth is a divine word.1. Let us notice a few of the religious errors that have ever been prevalent in the world. (1) Sacramentalism--the idea that we can discharge our moral obligations, and obtain the favour of God, by attending to certain religious ceremonies. (2) Moritorialism the Pharisaical idea that, on the ground of our own individual excellence, we have a claim to the Divine benignancy. (3) Functionalism--the idea that certain periodical religious services rendered to our Maker, where the life is selfish and worldly, are acceptable worship. (4) Proxyism--the idea that we can be saved through the merits or offices of some priest, or supposed heaven-favoured man. (5) Fatalism--the idea that we can do nothing; that if we are to be saved, we shall be saved, and that, therefore, we must run the risk. 2. These ideas are all human dreams. (1) They imply a partial dormancy of the soul. (2) They are temporary illusions. There is a morning to dawn on every soul, when they will melt away as visions. 3. But while these religious errors are mere human dreams, religious truth is God’ s Word. A “ word” is the representative of mind. God’ s Word is the representative of His all-perfect Mind; it is the “ arm of the Lord revealed.” II. Religious error, as well as truth, is allowed a voice in this world.1. God allows it to speak. He does not seal the lips of the false prophet. This fact indicates-- (1) The superior force of truth. God knows that truth is sufficient to conquer any error, if His prophets will but speak out “ faithfully.” (2) Man’ s inalienable right to free speech. God allows it even to the false prophet. It is not, therefore, for man to interfere with this right. (3) The probability of future retribution. False prophets will not always speak; their mouths will one day be “ stopped” ; they will be “ speechless.” Eternal justice demands this. 2. But whilst the false is allowed to speak, the true is bound to speak. “ He that hath My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully.” My Word, not his own; not the word of others, but Mine, and that “ faithfully.” Though it clash with men’ s tastes, prejudices, and practices, speak it;--though it rouse the bitterest opposition, lead to the sacrifice of property, health, life itself, speak it, and speak it faithfully. III. The relative value of religious truth and religious error does not admit of comparison.1. What are these human dreams, these religions errors, though elaborated into intellectual systems, or organised into gorgeous rituals, compared to My Word? Chaff. 2. But this pithy appeal may be viewed in other applications without violating its spirit. (1) It may apply to ideas and their expressions. There is a man who is exceedingly particular about the garb of thought: all his talk is about style. Mere style is chaff. (2) It will apply to religion and its forms. There is another who is wondrously attached to certain forms of worship; he has but little sympathy with those who adopt not his ritualism. Mere formalities are chaff. (3) It will apply to character and its accidents. There is another who has not much sympathy with a brother, because of his appearance, manners, or connections. These accidents of character are chaff. (4) It will apply to spiritual and secular worth. There is yet another who is striving after worldly wealth; who thinks more about property than principle--the body than the soul. The world is chaff compared with the soul. (Homilist.) The faithful utterance of the Divine Word I. A comparison instituted and illustrated. “ What is the chaff to the wheat?” The comparison is instituted between the pure authorised Word of God, and the vain fancies and delusions of men, called here “ dreams.” Dreams are those vague speculations of men who profess to be trying to find something new in the world of religion about God, man, and the future life,-while at the same time they depart from the truth. Their endeavour seems to be to comfort and cheer those who are anxious about spiritual things, and the future, by throwing doubt upon the old teachings, and they cry, “ Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” But the sure Word of God tends to arouse men, to quicken their consciences, and show them what they are within themselves. Revelation is a light streaming from the throne of God upon our dark world; where its beams shine, the night of pagan darkness retires, the spectres of ancient superstition depart, and errors which had enslaved the mind for ages melt away; there Truth erects her throne and bestows the blessings of her reign; she breaks the iron sceptres of despotism, throws open wide the putrid dungeons of oppression, removes the fetters of the slave, awakens the torpid powers of the mind, erects the prone savage into a man, transforms man into a saint, and fits him to dwell with the angels of God. In the time of sorrow, when life is darkened with affliction and bereavement, what are the dreams of men then when compared with the Word of God? said a man some time ago, who had not gone to the Word of God for his comfort and hope in times of trial, but he had tried to find comfort and hope in the philosophy, falsely so called, of human reason; finding, as he thought, a refuge in agnosticism; but when his beloved daughter died, and when he saw the corpse prepared for its last resting-place, his heart was sad, for he saw nothing beyond; in his philosophy he could find no help, not a ray of light to lighten the gloom, and there was nothing to soothe his sorrow, until from the lips of the man of God standing by the side of the casket he heard words that seemed to drop from Heaven for him: “ Let not your heart,” &c. “ Then,” he said, “ whilst the tears were not dried, and the sorrow for the present loss yet remained, yet through the tears I could see a light breaking through the darkness, and above the sorrow a fountain of joy, which would be eternal, and I rested upon the Word and found peace.” II. An admonition to ministers, urging them to faithfulness in the delivery of the Divine Word. “ And he that hath My Word let him speak My Word faithfully.” Let him maintain its Divine authority. Let him hold to the truth and proclaim the Word that has the “ thus saith the Lord” behind it. Speak it not as the word of men, but as the Word of God. Let the dreams of men be told (if they must be told) as dreams, but let the faithful minister proclaim the Word of God with all faithfulness and earnestness. Let him speak it correctly. Keep close to instruction, neither add to nor take from, bring no corrupt glosses, but receive it at the mouth of God, and deliver it pure and unadulterated to the people. But there is also, I think, in the text a word or suggestion for the hearers, as well as for the preacher. They should take heed how they hear, and should never indulge in the desire for human speculation instead of the Word of God. (John T. Wills, D. D.) Ministerial fidelity I. Explain this ministerial duty. To preach the. Word of God faithfully implies--1. That a minister understands it. “ He that hath My Word,” &c. By having the Word of God is meant having the knowledge of it, in distinction from having a dream, or a mere imaginary idea of Divine truth. It is true that a perfect knowledge of every text in the Bible is not necessary, in order to preach the Word of God faithfully. No man does, nor perhaps ever will, possess such a universal and perfect knowledge of the Scriptures. But yet a clear, a just and general knowledge of the first principles of the oracles of God, is necessary to qualify a preacher for the faithful discharge of his duty. Ministers must have the Word of God in their understandings as well as in their hearts, in order to be able and faithful instructors of the doctrines and duties of Christianity. 2. They must not only understand the Word of God, but know that they understand it. “ He that hath a dream,” saith the Lord, “ let him tell a dream,” and not pretend it is My Word; “ and he that hath My Word, let him speak My Word” ; and speak it as Mine, and not as his own. But if ministers do not know that they understand the Word of God, how can they, with propriety and sincerity, preach His Word as His Word? To do this would be daring presumption. The primitive preachers -of the Gospel knew that they knew, not only the inspiration but the doctrines of the Gospel. They could say, “ We believe, and therefore speak.” They could confidently declare that they did not preach cunningly devised fables. 3. Fidelity requires ministers to preach the Word of God fully, and lay open the great system of doctrines contained in it. The apostle Paul declares that he did not preach the Gospel in a partial and superficial manner, nor shun to declare the whole counsel of God. And if we look into his epistles we shall find that he developed the great plan of salvation as devised by God the Father, as executed by God the Son, and as applied by God the Holy Ghost. He explained the distinct offices and operations of the ever-blessed Trinity, in creating, redeeming, and governing the world. Of course, he taught the doctrine of Divine decrees; the doctrine of human depravity the doctrine of vicarious atonement; and the doctrine of Divine agency in preparing all mankind for their future and final destination. It is difficult to see how ministers can preach the Word of God faithfully, unless they preach it in such a full and comprehensive manner. 4. They must preach the Word of God plainly, so as to be understood; but they cannot be understood by the great majority of their hearers, unless they use proper words, arranged in their usual, natural, and proper order. Christ preached as He conversed, with peculiar perspicuity. Paul imitated His example. He said he had rather speak five words which were easy to be understood, and edifying to common Christians, than ten thousand which they could not understand, and which could do them no good. 5. Fidelity requires ministers to preach the Gospel in its purity and simplicity. They have no right to mix their own crude and confounded opinions with the revealed truths which they are commanded to deliver. Truth mixed with error is often more dangerous than mere error alone. 6. It belongs to the office of those who preach the Word of God, to defend it against its open enemies. They are set for the defence of the Gospel; and charged, in meekness, to instruct those who oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. And to hold fast the faithful Word that by sound doctrine they may both exhort and convince gainsayers, whose mouths must be stopped. 7. The faithful preaching of the Gospel necessarily includes godly sincerity. Christ requires those to love Him supremely, whom He employs to feed His sheep and lambs. II. Enforce the practice of ministerial fidelity.1. God expressly commands those who preach His Word to be faithful in the discharge of their duty. 2. It concerns them to consider, that they have solemnly bound themselves to be faithful in their sacred office. 3. Faithful preaching has a tendency to save, but unfaithful preaching has a tendency to destroy the souls of men. Conclusion--1. If preaching the Gospel faithfully includes so much as has been represented, then ministers have a very arduous and laborious work to perform. (1) It requires much reading and much thinking to acquire that knowledge of the Gospel, and that knowledge of the human heart, and that knowledge of the various ways of preaching and affecting the human heart, which is necessary in order to preach plainly, instructively, and impressively. (2) Besides preaching, they have a vast many pastoral services to perform, which require the exercise of all their wisdom, prudence, zeal, and self-denial. 2. If ministers are bound to preach the truth and the whole truth faithfully, then they are bound to preach against every species of error, whether in principle or practice. They are set as watchmen to espy danger, and warn their people against it. 3. If ministers are bound to preach the Word of God faithfully, then they can have no excuse for being unfaithful Their obligations to fidelity are superior to all the reasons they can possibly urge in excuse for unfaithfulness. The commands of God, their own engagements, the cause of Christ, and the salvation of souls, create obligations to fidelity, paramount to all possible excuses for unfaithfulness, in the sight of God and man. 4. If ministers are bound to preach the Word of God faithfully, then they ought not be afraid to preach it faithfully. (N. Emmons, D. D.) God not in the preacher’ s code Dr. J. G. Paten, when last leaving these shores for the South Seas, was seen off by a good number of friends. Many of his well-wishers were assembled on one of our piers to say farewell, and it occurred to them that a last signal might be sent to the departing vessel. One of the party approached the man in charge of the signal-station, and asked if a message could be sent. On hearing in the affirmative, the visitor wished that the words, “ God-speed to you,” should be arranged, and for that purpose the code-book was consulted. To the astonishment of all, the seaman confessed that the word “ God” did not appear at all in the register; and so, to the general disappointment, a fresh message had to be signalled to the veteran missionary as he passed out from the river to the open sea. Sad, indeed, is it for any of us if we have not the name of God in our code-book. If we will we may all have God’ s name, first in our hearts, then on our lips, to be signalled as a message of peace to all whom we meet. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Chaff or wheat My theme is the superiority of the Divine Word to the merely human dreams by which men have sought to displace it. I refer not to the discoveries of science, but rather to those views regarding God, and the soul, and the hereafter which multitudes in our times are seeking to put in antagonism to the Word of God,--and I say that these “ human dreams” when tested by experience are found to be chaff, while the Word of God, when similarly tried, is discovered to be wheat. I. The human dream is empty; but the Divine Word is substantial. Chaff is a mere husk, but wheat is all grain. So the antagonists of the Bible deal in vague speculations, or empty negations; whereas the Scriptures are positive and satisfying. Try the human dream in the hour of bereavement. What has it to say to the mourner weeping over the casket that holds his dead beloved? I challenge infidelity to utter then a word which has in it a single particle of comfort for the stricken one. If he choose to repress the intuitions of his own nature, and shut his eyes to the evidences of intelligent design which exist in the external world, one may affirm that there is no God. But what comfort is there in that at such a time? The specific in medicine has won its recognition when it is seen to be unfailing. In like manner the power of the Gospel to comfort the mourner establishes its claim to be received as the Divine, specific for his grief, and he will not give it up unless he gets something better in its place; least of all will he part with it for that which is unsubstantial as an airy nothing. II. The human dream is destitute of nourishment for man’ s spiritual nature, while the Divine Word is strengthening, and ministers to its growth. Chaff does not feed; but wheat gives nutriment. So mere speculation has in it no educating and ennobling influence, It occupies the mind without strengthening the character. Scepticism puts an arrest on progress. It stimulates the critical faculty into excess; and, instead of stirring a man up to the formation and development of his own character, it makes him a mere anatomist of the characters of others. The great majority of mere critics have become so through their lack or loss of personal religious faith. What a contrast, in this regard, there is between the lives of the two Frenchmen, Vinet and St. Beuve! They were companions in youth, and, indeed, friends through life. But St. Beuve lost his religious faith and became a literary critic, one of the very best of critics, indeed, yet only a critic, delighting the readers of his Causeries du Lundi with his expositions of the systems of other men and his estimates of their worth; but Vinci, who retained his faith to the last, became a producer himself, added something great to the thought and work of his time, and earned the right to be called the “ Chalmers of Switzerland.” III. The “ human dream” has no aggressiveness in it to arrest or overcome the evils that are in the world, but the Divine Word is regenerating and reforming. “ Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the Lord, and like a hammer,” &c. Where shall we look for anything like similar results from those who are the votaries of the human “ dreams” of agnosticism, scepticism, or infidelity? What has any one of these done to improve the characters of individual men, or elevate society, or bless the world? Let the advocates of infidelity either do more than we have accomplished, or let them for ever hold their peace. IV. The human dream is short-lived, but the Divine Word is enduring. Chaff is easily blown away,, but the wheat remains. And so the “ little systems” of human speculation “ have their day and cease to be” ; but the “ Word of the Lord endureth for ever.” The arguments of the first antagonists of the Gospel are now read only in the pages of the apologists who replied to them. And in more recent times, how many adversaries have advanced to assail it, with haughty boasting that it would speedily be defeated, but with the same result? Voltaire said that it took twelve men to establish the Gospel, but he would show that one man could overthrow it. Yet the Gospel is here studied by millions, and how few now read Voltaire! A certain German rationalist alleged that the Gospel was not worth twenty-five years’ purchase; but half a century has gone since he wrote, and the Gospel is more vigorous than ever, while he is forgotten. Again and again, in the estimation of its adversaries, it ought to have been demolished; but it will not die, for there is deep truth in Beza’ s motto for the French Protestant Church, which surmounts the device of an anvil surrounded by blacksmiths, at whose feet are many broken hammers, and which I once heard Frederick Monod translate thus-- “ Hammer away, ye hostile bands:Your hammers break, God’ s anvil stands.”(W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Winnowing-time Whenever God’ s Word deals with things truthful, be they material objects or living persons, however weak and feeble they are, it always speaks of them tenderly and handles them gently. God Himself has an eye of respect for everything that is real and veritable. He does not quench the smoking flax, nor will He break the bruised reed. But God hates every false thing. He scorns the hypocrite and the dissembler. The words of Jehovah are keen and cutting, sometimes even sarcastic, as He withers the specious lie with a laugh of ridicule. Notice the peculiar sharpness and biting severity of the text: “ What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” Like the edge of a razor it cuts. As a sabre flashing over one’ s head--a sword gleaming to the very point, a fire lurid with coals of juniper--we are appalled as we glance at it. It strikes with implacable resentment. There is no word of mercy towards the chaff--not a thought of clemency or forbearance. He bloweth at it as though it were a worthless thing, not to be accounted of, a nothing that vanishes with a puff. I. In application to all ministries Of God’ s Word, let us first of all face the question, “ What is the chaff to the wheat? “ That ministry which comes from God is distinguished altogether from that which is not of His own sending by its effects. 1. It is sure to be heart-breaking. If thou hast not been made to feel thyself lost, ruined, and undone by the Word, I charge thee by the living God to be dissatisfied with thyself, or else with the ministry under which thou art sitting; for if it were God’ s ministry to thy soul, it would break thy heart in shivers, and make thee cry, “ God be merciful to me a sinner!” 2. Not less also is a God-sent ministry clothed with power by God’ s Spirit, to bind up the heart so broken. Only let a ministry be full of Jesus, let Christ be lifted up and set forth, evidently crucified in the midst of the assembly--let His name be poured forth, like a sweet perfume, it shall be as ointment to the wounded heart, and then it will be recognised as the ministry of wheat, and not a ministry of chaff to your souls. 3. Further, the ministry which God does not send is of no service in producing holiness. Dr. Chalmers tells us that, when he first began to preach, it was his great end and aim to produce morality, and in order to do so he preached the moral virtues and their excellences. This he did, he says, till most of the people he thought honest turned thieves, and he had scarcely any left that knew much about morality practically. But no sooner did Chalmers begin to understand, as he afterwards did so sweetly, the power of the Cross, and to speak about the atoning blood in the name and strength of the eternal Spirit, than the morality, which could not be developed by preaching moral essays, became the immediate result of simply proclaiming the love of God in Christ Jesus. What we all want, is to have less and less of that which comes from ourselves and savours of the creature, and to have more and more of that which comes from our God, who, though we cannot see Him, is still in our midst, the mighty to will and to do; for His power is the only power, and His life is the only life by which we can be saved ourselves, and those that hear us. II. Apply the text, as individuals, to ourselves.1. No doubt, we are all well aware that if we have wheat in us, there is chaff too. Which preponderates, it may be difficult for us to tell. Some Christians are greatly puzzled when we begin to talk about the experimental riddle which the Christian finds in himself; but, if they be perplexed, we cannot help them out of the difficulty except by describing the case. I know in my own soul that I feel myself to be like two distinct men. There is the old man, as base as ever, and the new man, that cannot sin, because he is born of God. I cannot myself understand the experience of those Christians who do not find a conflict within, for my experience goes to show this, if it shows anything, that there is an incessant contention between the old nature--Oh, that we could be rid of it! and the new nature, for the strength of which God be thanked! This suggests great searching of the heart in connection with the question, “ What is” the chaff to the wheat? Oh, let us feel that the chaff is to be all got rid of. Let us feel that it is a heavy burden to moan and groan under, that it is not a grievance we should be contented with. Let us make no provision for the flesh. Let us not ask that any chaff may be spared to us. 2. A great deal of our religiousness is chaff likewise. Do you never find yourselves borrowing other people’ s experience? What is that but chaff? Do you never find yourselves at a prayer-meeting glowing with somebody else’ s fervour? What is that but chaff? Does not your faith sometimes depend upon companionship with some fellow-Christians? Well, I will not say that your faith is chaff, but I think I may say that such growth in faith as is altogether the result of second causes and not immediately of God, is very much like chaff. “ Lord, take from me all the guilt, leave me nothing but the gold; take from me all the paint, the graining and the varnish, and leave me nothing but what is veritable and bona fide.” It is a prayer for every Christian to offer. III. This text may have a very strong bearing upon the Christian Church. Take any of our churches, take this church, and do you suppose that all of yon who now profess to be Christians would be willing to burn at the stake for your Master? I wish we could believe it, but we cannot. I dare not tell you we believe it, because some of you have been put to much smaller tests than that, and what has become of you? The nautilus is often seen sailing in tiny fleets in the Mediterranean Sea, upon the smooth surface of the water. It is a beautiful sight, but as soon as ever the tempest wind begins to blow, and the first ripple appears upon the surface of the sea, the little mariners draw in their sails and betake themselves to the bottom of the sea, and you see them no more. How many of you are like that? When all goes well with Christianity, many go sailing along fairly, in the summer tide, but no sooner does trouble, or affliction, or persecution arise, where are they? Ah! where are they? They have gone. IV. We may use this text, sorrowfully and solemnly, with regard to the whole mass of human society. The whole mass of our population may just be divided into the wheat and the chaff. Both are mixed up together now, and it would be impossible for you or for me to divide them. In courts of law and the houses of commerce, on the Exchange, and in the committee-rooms, in busy thoroughfares with their various shops, and in the open streets among those that ply different callings, here in this tabernacle, and in the many churches and chapels where multitudes are wont to assemble, we are all mixed up together--the wheat and the chaff. And it is wonderful how united the chaff is with the wheat, for see, the wheat once slept in the bosom of the chaff. There is chaff on the best threshing-floor. There are ungodly sons and daughters in the best families. Unconverted persons are to be found in intimate association with the holiest men and women. Two shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken and the other left. Two shall be in one bed, and one shall be taken and the other left. God will make a division, sharp, decisive, everlasting, between the chaff and the wheat. Oh, thou thoughtless, frivolous, light, chaffy, giddy spirit, canst thou bear the thought of being thus separated for ever? (C. H. Spurgeon.) The chaff and the wheat compared I. what are worldly maxims, compared with the Word of God, but as the chaff to the wheat? Regard the conduct of men who call themselves men of the world; by what principles are they governed t what maxims do they follow? to what authority do they defer? To the authority of Him who made them, who sent His own adorable Son to buy lost, guilty offenders with the shedding of His precious blood; or to the authority of him who deceived our first parents, and hath ever since been spreading snares for their posterity? Doth it not encourage the worldling to spend the precious and unreturning season of mercy in laying up treasure to himself, instead of being rich toward God? Doth it not industriously stigmatise all true religion, as the dreams of enthusiasm, or the inventions of hypocrisy? But “ what is the chaff to the wheat?” What is the authority of the world, compared with the authority of Him who reigneth supreme, King of kings and Lord of lords, King over His enemies? What is the ridicule which deters many a feeble-minded professor from seeking Christ, compared with the indignation of Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell? What is the present judgment of man respecting us, compared with God’ s decisions? II. What is the value of that legal righteousness in which carnal man delights, compared with the righteousness of Christ Jesus, as a ground of justification before God? A self-complacent Pharisee may regard himself to be, “ touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” An amiable moralist may gather, and deservedly gather, around him the esteem and love of men, and may ask, in the spirit of presumption, “ What lack I yet?” Let the Spirit shine into his heart, take him as by the hand, and flash the lightnings of an injured law in his eyes; let him see God condemning sin in the flesh, by sending Christ to die for it in the flesh; let him see his own miserable shortcoming of that obedience, which a pure and heart-searching Judge requires, and then “ what is the chaff to the wheat?” III. What is the happiness of the worldling, compared with the happiness of a child of God? What is the chaff of his perishing joys, compared to the happiness of a believer t He hears the joyful sound of Gospel love, receives it through infinite grace into his heart, and walks in the light of his Father’ s countenance. IV. What are the present pleasures of sin, which are for a season, compared with the glory of heaven, which will be forfeited by their indulgence? (R. P. Buddicom, M. A.) Lessons of the harvest field Chaff is of great importance. We mete it out its due quota of praise, but are terribly anxious for fear the praise of chaff and that of wheat be disproportionate to their respective value. If chaff is praised by one sweet voice there ought to be a hundred singing the praises of the grain. Would a farmer be pleased if the net result of his ploughing and sowing, harrowing and reaping, was so many bags of chaff? Do we not see that if chaff has any value at all, it only has such through being the guardian angel of the wheat? It is the golden grain which will be food to men that is the great aim to which all the work of a farmer is directed. Let me apply in one or two ways the analogy of the chaff and wheat. I. Motives and acts hold the relation which chaff and wheat hold to each other. Every act a man performs has behind it a motive. This may be good, bad, or indifferent. The motive determines everything, and however much the world condemn us for our actions, if they are done in the spirit of Christ, this reward will be ours, that our characters will become Christlike. Don’ t despise a man’ s actions, but never forget that it is the motive that made him do these that makes them commendable or condemnable. II. God judges not the acts but the motives. Whilst the world is applauding some men because they have given some money to put a fancy window in some old church, God has written down words of condemnation. The motive in giving the money was as base as base could be. The day is coming when the harvest of God will be gathered. Woeful and sad will that man be who in the threshing day will give abundance of chaff but no wheat. III. The present life and the future hold the relation of chaff to wheat. In answer to the question, What is this life? two extreme answers have been given. Some say that this life is not worth living. Others live in this world as if this world were everything. The truth, as in all extremes, lies between the two. Now, as to life not being worth living, let me say this is throwing stones at the wisdom of God, and is as absurd as saying chaff has no place in this world. The present life is the chaff covering an eternal life. Within each of us there is a precious wheat that needs nourishing and protection. The trials and difficulties of this life are all working together towards its development. Instead of this world not being a help, like chaff it is God’ s appointed means whereby the eternal life may grow within us and spring into full perfection. The chaff may not appear worth all the sunshine and rains bestowed on it, yet it is. It has its purpose to fulfil To-day, as when God made the world, it can be said “ and behold it was very good.” If the one extreme--that life is not worth living--is false, how shall I stigmatise that answer which says in deeds that the present life is everything? How absurd for a man to say chaff--this present life--is all he wants! Fancy a farmer collecting all his chaff in sacks and burning all the golden grain. Would we consider him to be in his sane senses? (J. M. Dryerre.) The chaff and the wheat Divine revelation does not degrade or supersede human reason. It assumes reason on our part; sets before us what is above, though not contrary to reason; aids reason as the telescope aids the eye, and also shows spurious, antichristian counterfeits--the chaff as distinguished from the wheat. Let the dream go for what it is worth. Take the wheat of God’ s Word instead. The text speaks half in irony, half in warning.1. As admonitory to Christian people. Human speculations present themselves at the bar of my taste or judgment. In self-complacency I pass judgment upon them, but when God’ s Word is heard, it breathes authority, and my place is in the dust. Keep, then, the chaff of man free from the wheat of God. 2. As counsel to us who are teachers. (1) Let parents inculcate the thought of God. Endued with His Spirit, their children may be left in confidence, for the promise is to us and our children. (2) Teachers in the Sunday School are to give, not guesses, but Gospel. (3) The clergy need this counsel. They cannot, ought not to stay the current of free thought. Yet, in the wide activity of intellectual conflict, in the bewildering notions and “ refractory egotism” of the age, we must discriminate. Stability is found in loyalty to God s truth. Applying these thoughts 1. We are now better able to estimate what reputation really is. We are not to be indifferent to men’ s estimate of us. It is a useful stimulus, but it needs to be regulated. It is “ a small matter to be judged” by them. What is God’ s estimate? 2. What is success? Many look at pecuniary results. They play fast and loose with conscience. Some affect a supercilious devotion and look down on others above whom they seem to rise. What is God’ s estimate? 3. Finally, we learn to understand the value of the life we are living as compared with that which is eternal. There is no antagonism in the interests of each. Even the chaff envelops and protects the wheat. It has its place and work, though perishable. (John Hall, D. D.) “ What is the chaff to the wheat?” I. What is man’ s word to the Word of God? God’ s Word has its base deep down amongst the eternal things of the mysterious past; and if there be clouds and dimness upon some of its higher peaks, it is because its top rises up amongst the sublimities of a glorious future. Now and then a gleam lights up the awful heights to which revelation towers, and the eye of faith is strong enough to see the rosy tints, which tell that those holier mysteries are near to the beauteous heaven to which they point. At such a time, the believer will say, “ What is the chaff to the wheat?” The fallible comment to the infallible text? The earthly setting to the heavenly jewel? The basket of silver to the apples of gold? II. What is man’ s favour to the love of God? It is pleasant to live in the creature’ s love. There are happy family groups on this our beautiful earth, upon which the loving eye is glad-to be permitted to look. There are satisfactions which come over the soul when pleasures of earth are many, and the hopes for time are bright. The first sip of pleasure’ s cup is sweet. The first climb up ambition’ s hill is sunny. The first burst of hope s young bud is beautiful. Some are so smitten with the loveliness here, that they care not to look for the brighter things which are in store hereafter. But “ what is the chaff to the wheat? “ What is all this to the love of God? Oh, glorious thought! that I am loved by the Father of Lights, the King of uncreated glory! It is the candle of the Lord within my soul. It is the comfort of the Holy Ghost springing up unto everlasting life. To know the love of God, which passeth knowledge: this is peace, this is bliss, this is life. III. What is the body to the soul? We are fearfully and wonderfully made. This mortal body is beautiful in the very ruins by which sin has laid it low. And when the building of God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, shall have been given us,--when our vile bodies shall have been fashioned like unto Christ’ s glorious body, then the beauty of our material part shall be seen in all its glory. But “ what is the chaff to the wheat?” Who can tell of all the value of a human soul? Coated, as it is now, by earthly matter, we see something of the brightness which this gem can wear. What will the soul be, under the light of heaven, in the crown of Christ? In righteousness and true holiness--seeing Jesus face to face--amid the pleasures which are at God’ s right hand for evermore, the spirit of the just made perfect, the soul of the redeemed in the garments of salvation: oh, it must be a glorious thing! IV. What is the water to the blood? No earthly fountain can suffice to wash away sin. After all that civilisation has ever done to wash the outside of the cup and platter, it has never been able to touch, much less to purge, the heart. Man’ s resolution, man’ s effort to reform himself, man’ s contrivance to cure the soul’ s running sore, have all and altogether failed. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. It is the blood of sprinkling which purges the soul and conscience. Turn ye, then, from doing to believing; turn from self to Jesus; turn from earning to accepting; turn from water, which cannot cleanse, to the blood which will make filthy garments white: say in the matter of merit and salvation, “ What is the chaff to the wheat?” What is self to the Saviour? V. What is the form to the life? The words of worship are easily said. The attitude of worship may be soon assumed. But “ what is the chaff to the wheat?” The eye of God is upon the worshipper’ s heart. The ear of God listens to the language of the soul. Put off, spiritually, the shoes from off your feet. Gird up the loins of your minds. Let the holy fire be kindled upon the altar of your heart, and the incense cloud of grateful praise will rise with acceptance before the mercy seat. VI. What are the things of time to the things of eternity? In life’ s endless progress, the earthly is the shortest stage. In the continuous chain of being, the lowest link is the least. When we shall climb up the great hill of eternal life, we shall see how small our earthly dwelling looks at the mountain base. How small earth looks to the eye which can travel over the visible orbs which come even within its limited field of vision. Oh, it is an important thing so to live that we may have life everlasting! Jesus bids us “ seek first the kingdom of God.” His servants say, “ Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come” True wisdom bids a man “ set your affections upon things above, not on things on the earth.” We are all moving, things are all changing: it is madness to cling to these passing things, and say, Here will I dwell for ever. It may not be, it should never be desired. God has found some better thing for His children. He says, “ What is the chaff to the wheat?” (J. Richardson, M. A.) Jeremiah 23:29 Is not My Word like as a fire?saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? God’ s fire and hammer I. The word of God has power in it.1. It is like a fire. (1) You who are the people of God must often have felt greatly comforted, encouraged, and cheered, when you have been hearing the Gospel, just as when, on a cold day, and you are half benumbed, if your eyes arc blindfolded you know when you are coming near a fire by the genial glow which you feel You delight yourself in the Word of the Lord as you warm your hands at a bright cheery fire. (2) But, next, fire is only at work very moderately when it yields us comfort; it has also the effect of paining, awakening, arousing. So, even if you are an unconverted man, if you have as yet no knowledge of the power of the Gospel of God, yet if you come in contact with it, I will warrant you that you will know it. Very likely you will show that you know it by getting very angry, growing very indignant. Men do not like being singed and scorched by the Gospel (3) Fire also has a melting power, and so has the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that we could get the hearts of many hardened ones into the very centre of the blessed flame, till the holy heat should make them flow like melted wax before the presence of the God of Israel! (4) More than that, the Gospel has a consuming power. When it first comes into a district, it finds people indifferent to it; but possibly it begins by burning up some one of their vices. There have been old systems of iniquity that have been hoary with age, but when, at last, they have been attacked by the Church of God, with the sword of the Spirit, and the Gospel of Christ, they have been utterly destroyed. 2. God’ s Word is like a hammer: “ and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.” So that, whenever a minister has the Gospel to use, this simile should teach him how he ought to use it; with his whole might let him strike with it mighty blows for his Lord. Hammer away, then, brethren, hammer away, with nothing but the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The heart that is struck may not yield even year after year, but it will yield at last. 3. Now put the two together,--the fire and the hammer,--and you will see how God makes His servants who are to be instruments for His use. He puts us into the fire of the Word; He melts, He softens, He subdues. Then He takes us out of the fire, and welds us with hammer-strokes such as only He can give, till He has made us fit instruments for His use; and He goes forth to His sacred work of conquering the multitudes, having in His hands the polished shafts that He has forged with the fire and the hammer of His Word. II. Illustrate this statement by noticing certain parts of God’ s Word which have, to our personal knowledge, operated both as a fire and a hammer upon the hearts of men.1. A large part of God’ s Word is taken up with the revelation of His law, and you cannot fully preach the Gospel if you do not proclaim the law of the Lord. Men will never receive the balm of the Gospel unless they know something of the wounds that sin hath made. If the law of God is faithfully and fully preached, what a fire it is! What a hammer it is! 2. But have you not also felt that there is fire-work and hammer-work in the teaching of the Gospel? The Gospel of redemption through the precious blood of Jesus, the Gospel which tells of full atonement made, the Gospel which proclaims that the utmost farthing of the ransom price has been paid, and that, therefore, whosoever believeth in Jesus is free from the law, and free from guilt, and free from hell,--the telling out of this Gospel has made men’ s hearts burn within them, and has dashed out the very brains of sin, and made men joyfully flee to Christ. 3. Above all, what fire-and-hammer power there is in the doctrine of the Cross! Man must yield when the power of the Spirit of God applies to his heart the doctrine of the precious blood. III. Put the statement of the text to a practical test. “ Is not My Word like as a fire, saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”1. Let us, first, try it upon ourselves. When you are sad, do not run into your neighbour’ s house, do not sit down alone, and weep in sullen despair; get you to the Word of the Lord. There is such sweetness in it, there is such power in it, that in a short time you shall have beauty instead of ashes, and songs instead of sighs. You say that you are not sad, but you are very sleepy; you have become very drowsy and dull in the ways of God; you have not the earnest spirit you used to have, nor half the spiritual life and vigour you once felt. Very well, then, come to God’ s Word; read it, study it, listen to it, find Out where that Word is faithfully preached, and go there. Oh, how quickly the Lord has blessed some of us in times of great barrenness! Perhaps another says, “ I have lost so much of my comfort, and assurance, and joy, that I feel as if I had grown quite cold and hard and insensible.” Why need you be cold when God’ s Word is like as a fire? Why need your heart remain like a rock when God’ s Word is like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces: 2. Let us try to use it upon others. I have an opinion that there are a great many persons in this world, whom we give up as hopeless, who have never been really tried and tested with the Gospel in all their lives. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Fire and hammer I. A picture of the human heart.1. It has within it that which requires to be consumed. Who that knows his own soul can gainsay this? There is ignorance, prejudice, error, selfishness, guilt, and ungenerous and pernicious principles of action that must be consumed. They pollute the conscience, they enthral the faculties, they enervate the powers of the soul. Like the luxuriant growth of the prairies, they must be burned down to the root before the soil can be cultivated. 2. It is in an unimpressionable condition. It is like a “ rock,” insensitive, hard, obdurate, and so it verily is in its unregenerate state. II. A picture of the Divine Word.1. It is a fire. “ Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the Lord.” (1) It is a penetrating fire, it burns into the inmost soul. (2) It is a destructive fire, it burns up the wrong. (3) It is a purifying fire, it consumes all that is noxious and vile, (4) It is an unquenchable fire, it cannot be put out; the billows, from the great ocean of worldliness, infidelity and superstition, have been dashing against it for centuries; but it burns as strongly and brightly as ever. 2. It is a Divinely constructed “ hammer,” to break through the stratum of moral rock which covers the soil of the heart, shutting out the sunbeam and the shower, and preventing the germination and growth of the seeds of virtue and religion. Conclusion--Thank God for this fire and hammer! Let the fire burn, let the hammer strike. (Homilist.) Human resistance and Divine power I. The moral resistance of man. “ The rock” --the unconverted heart of man.1. Every rock has a character. There are aqueous and igneous rocks--stratified and unstratified rocks. So with hearts; some are hard and unyielding, others are soft and flexible; some are full of pride and selfishness, others are gentle and benevolent. But they are all “ rock” --hard against God. They all agree in this, though they may differ in other respects. 2. Rocks remain in the same condition for ages. So with sin-hardened hearts. Under the kindly rays of the Father’ s countenance, and the Saviour’ s love, they remain in the same unmoved and unfeeling state. The Lord has called, but they have not answered--they have despised His reproofs. 3. These rocks may be broken. They are composed of blocks of stone. The hardest is formed by the adhesion of minute particles; these may be separated--pieces may be detached, and the whole rock broken. If we now apply this to the heart, we shall see the points of resemblance. Each heart has many parts and many avenues. One part after another is conquered, until the whole soul is subdued, and brought in humble submission to Jesus. 4. These rocks may be made useful Rock is valuable in many ways: it girds the seacoast and stops the encroachment of the waters; it is the best foundation for the friendly lighthouse; it gives us the most solid and the most beautiful of buildings. So with the wicked hearts around us. It is true, that they are not only useless but injurious in their sinful unquarried state; yet from these must come the able and devoted servant of Christ, the loving disciple, the brave defender of the faith, and the real benefactors of a needy world. They need only to be broken to be useful. II. The divine means employed by God to remove this resistance.1. There is adaptedness in the means to accomplish the desired result. The result is to be the broken rock. There is no instrument so adapted for breaking as the hammer. It has weight in a small compass. It has also hardness; it will not yield to the stone; it has a peculiar shape and this gives it power. Thus the Word of God, with all its doctrines, promises, and threatenings--in all its discoveries of truth, and sublime revelations of the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, is fitted to make deep and abiding impressions on the mind, and to subdue the soul. 2. There is a concentration of power. The same part is struck repeatedly,--each stroke tells. It cannot withstand. The hardest rock will yield to this concentrated force. The Word is similarly applied to the heart in order to subdue It. The rays of Divine truth shine upon the heart’ s false refuges until they are seen to be such, and are abandoned. 3. There is the strong arm in its application. There must not only be the means, but these must be applied by intelligence and power. This is seen in other matters. For instance, we may have all the apparatus for taking a correct likeness, but unless the photographer is there to superintend the process, we shall have no likeness. So with the Word. We must have the Divine Spirit, the arm of the Word, to bring it with convincing and saving power to the heart. (W. Darwent.) Fire and a hammer symbolical of the law and the Gospel I. “is not My Word like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces, saith the Lord? “ I place this simile before the other, because it is in the order of human procedure, when a mass of ore is to be submitted to the fire, that its metal may be extracted, to beat it small with hammers, then to carry it to the kiln, and finally to the furnace. Take the case of one whom the Word of salvation hath never influenced, who is alienated from God, and with no other principle of affection, or of action, than his own unsanctified reason, or his own unrenewed desires. Here, then, is the rock. But let the law of God speak to his soul in its power; let it show him the perfection of the Lawgiver, the spiritual character of the law, the withering curse pronounced against “ every one that continueth not,” &c.; let it moreover display his utter inability to do the will of the Being who chargeth even His angels with folly, by letting him into the secrets of his own fallen nature, and proving that he is carnal, sold under sin. And what will be the consequence? The rock, hard it may have been as the nether millstone, will be bruised and beaten to pieces. II. But after the mighty and terrible agency of the law, may we hope that the Gospel call of love will be equally effectual? We surely may. “ Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the Lord.”1. Fire hath a penetrating nature, and finds its way into every part of the substance that may be submitted to its action. And surely thus doth the Gospel of our redemption. 2. Is it the nature of fire to enlighten? Even so doth the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It removes the delusion which overspreads the mind of man until it shines into him, and he learns, by the light which it reveals, that “ other foundation can no man lay, save that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” It exhibits the Divinity of His character, the freeness of His love, the riches of His salvation, the peace that flows into the heart when His kingdom is embraced and submitted to; the holy nature of His law; the sanctifying work of His Spirit; the brightness and grandeur of those hopes which it enkindles, and the duties to which it binds the obedient children of the love of Jesus. 3. Is it the property of fire to warm every object to which it may be applied? And shall we deny a similar power to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when communicated to the heart by faith and in sincerity? 4. Hath the fire a purifying energy? So hath the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The refiner’ s flame may be fierce, the trial of a child of God beneath the discipline of the Gospel may be severe, but it will have an effect the most salutary and gracious. It will separate the gold from the dross. It will consume the one, and make the other meet to be employed even in the noblest uses. 5. Fire hath a property to comfort. And shall we deny this quality to the mercies of the everlasting Gospel, when faith embraces them, and makes them her own? It is that provision which a gracious God hath sent to sustain us in the way to heaven, as the corn ,was given by Joseph to his brethren, for their sustenance through the wilderness that lay between Canaan and Egypt, whither he had invited them. (R. P. Buddicom.) The power of God’ s Word needful for national education The circumstances of Judah were new and strange when this question was put by God into the mouth of Jeremiah. The name of Jehovah was now falsely used to cover those deceits for which Baal’ s was of old the cloak. Against this new form of an old temptation God now warns the people. He bids them winnow the wheat, and cast away the chaff, and not slight necessary truth because falsehood was abroad. “ What is the chaff to the wheat?” The counterfeit cannot have the inner life and power of the original “ Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer,” &c. Here is the mark of My true message: there is a power and might about it which cannot be caught by imitation. The figure is natural and expressive. The custom on which it is founded still prevails in the East. In Madeira, for example, at this day, if a new road is to be carried through a set of rocky obstacles, a fire is lighted on the bed of rock; and when by its action the solid mass is charred and its cleavage loosened, the hammer of the workman soon breaks it thoroughly away. And this same power, says God, is the true credential of My message: as “ the hammer and the fire” against the rock of the wilderness, so shall be My Word and My message against the stoutness of man’ s heart. In this sense, evidently, the “ Word of God” must not be limited to His written Word; in its first application it did not describe the written Word at all: it was the living ministry of the prophet of the Lord, and not the written law, which was to be discerned from that of all pretenders by its possession of this inner power: and it is therefore a strong and impressive assertion of this great truth, that the power of God, and that only, avails for the real subjection and renewal of man’ s heart--that this “ fire,” and that “ hammer” can break it up; and that this is so exclusively their work, that the possession of this power is truly a mark and a countersign of that administration with which God is coworking. Who can watch himself without seeing how far too strong evil always is, and has been, for his own unaided resistance? When did our best resolutions stand long before the hotness of a pressing temptation and the seeming safety of a fitting opportunity? when did the frost-work of the morning stand before the sunshine of the noon? how often do we find old habits of sin breaking out again, when we deemed them long since quenched; showing, like revived volcanoes, that what seemed extinction was but a temporary lull! On the other hand, who that has noted what is passing round him has not marked some instances in which God’ s grace has evidently changed the heart and formed anew the spring of its affections? Who has not seen this heavenly power bow the swelling passions of youth to the pure and peaceable rule of a willing obedience? Who has not seen the proud made humble, the rough-tempered gentle, and the indolent laborious? How broadly too has this truth been sometimes written in the alteration of a nation’ s character, and its submission to the Gospel yoke. Whenever the “ stone cut out without hands” has indeed smitten a people or nation, how have they and all their former manners crumbled into dust before it. Such then is the witness of experience; and right reason would lead us to expect this difference between the work of God and all inferior power. For, if the hypothesis be true; if man’ s nature be thoroughly corrupted to its deepest springs; how can he indeed renew himself to righteousness? That on which he has to work, and that with which he has to work, are both alike defiled; how can the one cleanse the other? From the very nature of things it is impossible. And yet who is there that has closely watched others, or still more himself, who does not know that one of the last and hardest things which we can do, is to bring the mind and soul in very deed to hold this truth? The peculiar attempt of infidelity at present is silently and decently to supersede religion--to speak of it as an excellent thing in its way: but to be always able to do without it. It is the monstrous folly of confessing that God is, and treating Him as if He were not our God. This new form of infidelity might easily be traced as more or less harassing society at present. But what is most to our present purpose, nowhere is it more plainly to be found than in the schemes of education which we hear every day buzzed on every side of us. It is asserted, and with a painful truth, that our people are not now educated as they should be: but what remedy is set before us? A scheme of national education which, more or less, evidently is indeed so framed as to exclude religion. What, then, even for this world, is the object of national education? Doubtless, to form amongst the masses of our population a high-toned character; to make them brave, honest, industrious, and unselfish; and then, to add to this as much of knowledge upon other matters as will enlarge their powers of mind without diverting them from the peculiar duties of their several stations; for this will make them wealthy, powerful, and happy: that is, in one word, you educate your people to give them a higher moral tone; and can mere earthly learning give a man this moral tone? Surely not. The most learned man may, in spite of his learning, continue the most thoroughly depraved. What human understanding can come up in subtlety and power to his who is God’ s enemy and man’ s: who once was, as we deem, second in power and wisdom to none of God’ s highest creatures, and whom spiritual, not carnal wickedness, drew into rebellion and cast down to hell? So that the highest spiritual wickedness may be combined with the greatest mental cultivation. What, then, but God can purify man’ s heart? And is it not, then, the mere naked madness of the infidel to endeavour to do this without religion? Is it not, in very deed, to shut God out of His own world, to believe that other means besides His power can be, in truth, “ the hammer” and the “ fire” to break the heart of man? (Bp. Samuel Wilberforce.) The Word of God compared to a hammer 1. Words are the vehicle by means of which we convey to others the ideas which exist in our minds, making known our wishes, responding to the speech of our friends, and declaring to the world what manner of men we arc. By the medium of words we give expression to the feelings of kindness and of benevolence toward others, by which we are animated. Our desires for help or assistance in times of difficulty and of danger, are made known by means of language addressed to friends, or to those from whom aid may be expected. Our real characters are often made known by the use which we occasionally make of our tongue, more than by the habitual form of our words, and an accidental inadvertence may do more to enable others to form a correct estimate of us than years of dissembling. Words often fly from our lips, without ever being thought about again, but the consequences which flow from them, either for good or for evil, cannot be calculated. Words spoken by our lips may prove us to be God’ s people and animated with love to our fellow-man, or they may brand us as children of the devil, and enemies of religion and of truth. 2. The Word is one of the names by which Christ is known in the New Testament. In the first ages of Christianity a sect arose in the Christian Church, who held some very peculiar opinions, of which the adherents were called Gnostics. They supposed that the world was ruled by one supreme Being, but that under Him there were inferior deities, who presided over departments of creation, to whom were given the names of the Word, the Life, and the Light, and of whom Christ was one. St. John commences his Gospel by declaring the falsity of such an idea, and, instead of denying that Christ was one of these inferior beings, he asserts at once that He was the Word, that He was really God, and that He had existed from the beginning in the bosom of the Father. He is called the Word, because He came upon earth to declare the Father, whom He revealed to man much in the same manner as words make known the desires and intentions of a human being. 3. There is another meaning to be given to the term “ word” in Scripture, differing from the speech by which men convey their thoughts one to another, and from the person of Christ. It must be understood as the revelation of His will, which God has condescended to make to man on various occasions, and the various forms which it has assumed in the hands of different persons. In the New Testament it is equivalent to the Gospel preached by Christ Himself, and afterwards by His apostles. It is a powerful agent in the hands of the Almighty, the idea of which is conveyed by a threefold comparison--to a sword, to a fire, and to a hammer, in order to show its effects when applied to the consciences of men. I. It is manifestly God Himself which is spoken of; for the inquiry is, “ Is not My Word . . . like a hammer?” It is the Almighty who uses the Gospel as His instrument for reaching the consciences of sinners, and awakening in them a sense of the value of the blessings which it is calculated to bestow. The Father, Son, and Spirit planned the scheme of redemption in the councils of eternity, by which a lost and degraded race were to be rescued from ruin and death, and to recover their forfeited inheritance. This great work having been finished, the Holy Spirit employs His power in applying it to the consciences of men, giving them ability to see the efficacy of the blood of Christ to wash away sin, renewing them by the washing of regeneration, and shedding abroad in their hearts the love of God. II. The instrument which the spirit uses in accomplishing this work. It is the hammer of the Word. The age of miraculous manifestations is past, and there is no reason to suppose that God will ever employ miracles to convert men from sin. It is Scripture and Scripture only which He employs to carry home conviction to the soul. God does not speak to man from heaven with an audible voice, commanding him to repent and live, but He speaks by His Spirit, in the words of the revelation which is now in our hands. He does not reveal His will to any, in another manner than by the inspired sentences which contain the embodiment of His gracious purposes of mercy and of love, and which the simplest and most illiterate can understand. The Word is the instrument which Ha always uses, and none other, wielding it like a hammer, to smite the human heart. If you went into the forge of a blacksmith, you would see him, with strong arm, beating a piece of heated iron with a hammer or sledge, in order to form it into some particular shape, either of a nail, a horse-shoe, or a ploughshare. If you went into the shop of a carpenter, you would see him driving home nails into wood with a hammer, as he makes some article of furniture or of utility. Now, in the same manner, the Holy Spirit uses the hammer of the Word, in order to fashion the hearts and characters of the saints, employing particular passages of Scripture for this purpose, by shedding upon them a light, Which, when reflected into the soul, causes them to be felt and experienced in power. He uses the hammer of the Word in order to drive home truth, “ as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.” III. Object upon which the Holy Spirit uses the hammer of the Word. It is called in the text “ the rock” ; this being a metaphor to convey the idea of the hardness and insensibility of the heart of the natural man. The heart of man is compared to a stone by our Lord Himself, in the parable of the sower. Some of the good seed of the Word is represented as falling upon stony places, where there was little earth, and where it was impossible for it to come to perfection, because it could not take root, and soon withered away. Nothing will grow upon stones or rocks, and no good thing can come out of the heart of the natural man; but, on the contrary, very much evil. But, when the human heart is thus compared to a stone, and in our text, to a rock, what do we exactly understand by the comparison? If you saw a stone lying upon the ground, you would see it to be destitute of the power of motion, a hard, irregular, and useless mass. If you saw a rock out in the sea, at a distance from an iron-bound coast, lashed unceasingly by the restless waves of the ocean, you would see that it ever bids defiance to the utmost rage of the tempest, unaffected and unchanged by the ceaseless flow of the briny waters. These illustrations will give us some idea of the senseless nature and the hardened indifference of the heart of the unconverted mail There are persons in the world upon whom no impression whatever is produced by the tale of sorrow or of distress, the spectacle of suffering or of misery, or by appeals to their feelings of compassion or of sympathy. The story of Divine love, surpassing that of a mother for her child, as much as the Infinite surpasses the finite, the spectacle of suffering and of distress endured in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the Cross, when Christ drank to the very dregs the cup of wrath, appeals to men to have compassion on themselves, by accepting the mercy which God offers, exhortations to repentance, motives to draw forth the exercise of the feelings of affection and of love, and calls to manifest gratitude for unceasing favours, fail to extract a tear from their insensate eyes, to stir within the soul a single emotion, or to soften their hard and obdurate hearts. IV. The effects which are produced when the rock is smitten by the hammer. It is said that it is broken in pieces, which conveys to us the idea of destruction. If the human heart be not softened by the ordinary means which the Spirit employs, and if the sinner be not brought to humble himself before God, the only alternative before him is to be broken to shivers. If you went into a blacksmith’ s forge, and struck his anvil with a hammer, it would recoil, damaged to some extent by the blow, while the metal of which the anvil is made would be condensed. If the hammer were strong enough, and if a blow of sufficient violence were struck, it is manifest that the anvil would be shivered into fragments. This will give us some idea of the method of the Spirit’ s operation, when He strikes the conscience with the hammer of the Word. If all efforts are unavailing, and the stone of the human heart still continues impenetrable, then the awful doom is pronounced--“ Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.” The Spirit ceases to strive, invitations to come and drink of the water of life freely are no longer issued, the unpardonable sin has been committed, and nothing remains but the execution of the sentence. The Word is the instrument which we may now turn to account, that we may be saved; but hereafter, if rejected, it will be a witness against us, and a testimony to the justice of the perdition of ungodly men. (J. B. Courtenay, M. A.) Jeremiah 23:35 What hath the Lord spoken?The contents of the Bible I. Impartiality of its contents. Each writer is an “ honest chronicler.” With an unflinching adherence to truth the whole story is told whoever may be unpleasantly involved therein. Such is the undaunted boldness, sterling integrity, and resolute independence of the Scripture scribes that they do not pause to inquire whose faults they are recording. Such is their antipathy to sin in all its forms that they expose the hydra wherever he may be encountered. Ay, the writers even disclose their own faults and infirmities. They unfold their hearts without any reserve. They allude to their own virtuous actions without any ostentation, and do not palliate their vices. They refer to themselves with the same simplicity and fidelity with which they treat of others. Where will you find such a marked feature in any other book? II. The originality of its contents.1. Look, for example, at the disclosures given of the Divine Being--read the sublime language of the holy scribes concerning the self-existence, independence, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, justice, long-suffering, and love of the Deity. Whence were these lordly conceptions derived? They were revealed by God to man, and so made known to mortals. You commend us to the productions of Horace; do you forget that a thousand years before his day the lyric poetry of the Hebrews was famous? Read the books of Grecian or Roman authors of the highest standard, and tell me in which of them can you discover themes so stately, thoughts so surprising, and diction so sublime as you have in the Bible 2. Look, again, at the Scripture teaching concerning Christ. Now, such a Divine Being either lived or He did not. If you grant He lived, then the evangelistic narratives are the authoritative biographies of Jesus. If He did not live, then the narratives are fictitious, and the character is an invention. But was it possible for the New Testament writers to have invented such an original character? It is a moral impossibility that they should have concocted a story such as that the New Testament contains. Nor did they gather the elements of the unique character of Christ from any person or persons then living. A sight acquaintance with the condition of society at the time of the Saviour’ s appearing will suffice to satisfy us that there were no men who could sit as models to the evangelic artists. Nor did they reproduce themselves. Four men of very different temperaments produce a history of one Man in which all four coincide. There is but one way of accounting for this original, peerless, beautiful life in the Gospels, and that is by accepting the declaration of John--“ That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you.” III. The high moral tone of the contents. From first to last the Book of books holds forth the Divine law as the safe and sole standard of morality. It points to God as the supreme lawgiver, and tells us that He, in His spotlessness, demands purity in man. It condemns not merely the overt evil, but the concealed offence; not only the spoken word, but the voiceless emotions; not alone the guilty act, but the hidden thought of its committal. Where was such elevated morality taught before the Bible propounded it? So far back as the days of Abraham, Egypt was sunk in sensuality and unrighteousness. Whence, then, did Moses obtain the morality with which his writings are full? He could not evolve it from his own brain--that were a greater miracle than the act of Divine revelation. And whence did the evangelists and apostles obtain their sublime and stainless sentiments? Not from Rome, not from Greece. In the lands where Homer, Hesiod, Euripides, Plato, Socrates, Virgil, and Cicero wrote--in the countries where philosophers, poets, and orators- of the most distinguished order lived and laboured, idolatry abounded, brutal savageness was patronised, voluptuousness and debauchery were approved. How out of paganism, as it then was, could there have sprung up the noble, beautiful, and blessed system of morality like that we possess in the New Testament? How could the icy, indiscreet, and infamous teachings of heathen philosophy have given birth to the warmhearted, winsome, and wonder-working ethics of our Scriptures? Do men expect figs from thistles? IV. The beauties of its contents. The volume is full of literary splendours. Picture, proverb, parable, and poem arc blended to produce a superb Book. Creation has been ransacked that its choicest works may embellish the page of inspiration. The fairest flowers of nature are woven into this garland for the brow of Immanuel. The beauties of this volume are like the veins of gold beneath the surface soil. Generations of men intellectually cross and recross the hallowed ground, and remain in entire ignorance of a tithe of the hidden glories. Whole armies of mental athletes handle the sword of the Spirit, without ever detecting the jewels which decorate its hilt. Companies of learned men saunter in the gardens of revelation, examine one plant and another, and-pronounce an opinion upon the whole--an opinion dogmatic and defiant---whilst they have never discovered the sweetest flowers which are concealed by the masses of luxuriant foliage. And yet they who have judged simply by the conspicuous features of the volume are enthusiastic in their praises of the Book, even our enemies themselves being judges. V. The prominence given to Christ. It is said that a celebrated artist of ancient times constructed a shield of so remarkable an order that he had worked his name into the device in a manner that it could not be removed. To erase the name you must destroy the shield. Thus is it emphatically with the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation the whole volume points to Jesus. He is the centre and soul of the Book. Take away Jesus from the Book of books, and you have a casket without a jewel, an envelope without a letter, a scaffolding without any superstructure, musical notation without any melody, a frame without a portrait, an assembly without a leader, ages of preparation on the most extensive scale for an event that never happens, centuries of practice for an oratorio that is never performed. From the fatal declension of Adam, He was the subject of promise and prophecy. In paradise He was referred to as the “ seed of the woman.” Abraham “ rejoiced to see His day,” and avowed that the Lord would “ provide Himself a Lamb.” Jacob spake of Him as the coming “ Shiloh,” Moses foretold the rising of a “ Prophet,” Balaam saw Him as a “ Star” and a “ Sceptre,” Job rejoiced in the life of his “ Redeemer,” David described the agonies, death, and resurrection of the “ Holy One,” Solomon ecstatically praised his “ Beloved,” Isaiah graphically dwelt upon the doings of the “ tender Plant,” and the “ precious Corner-stone.” He was Jeremiah’ s “ Branch,” Ezekiel s “ River,” Daniel s “ Ancient of Days” , Hosea’ s “ Lord of hosts,” Joel s “ Latter-day Glory,” Obadiah s Saviour, Jonah s Salvation, Micah’ s “ Peace,” Nahum’ s “ Him that bringeth good tidings,” Habakkuk’ s “ Strength,” Haggai’ s “ Desire of all nations,” Zechariah s “ Fountain,” and Malachi’ s “ Sun of Righteousness.” How can you account for such a marked blending of all writers on one theme--such a manifest gravitation of thought toward one point--such a glorious clustering of hope, expectation, and joy around one centre? How was it that these scribes, separated by ages, and climes, and callings, and capacities, all looked Christward? There is but one answer. All were under the invisible spell of the Saviour’ s attractive influence--all felt the centripetal force of the Cross which was to be erected on Calvary--all were God-guided and God-taught. (J. H. Hitchens.) Jeremiah 23:37-40 Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord.Sins of the tongue Great part of the prophetical writings is occupied with denunciations of vengeance on the Jews, for their obstinacy, ingratitude, and perverseness. Hence the message which a prophet was commissioned to deliver was frequently and appropriately named “ The burden of the Lord,” as being heavy with woes about to fall on the impenitent. But it would appear that the Jews not only gave no heed to the messages which they received, but were accustomed to turn them into ridicule. They were in the habit of coming to the prophet, and asking him if there were any new burden from the Lord; using the word in such a way as to indicate contempt, or to mark that they thought it good material for a jest. In consequence of this, God expressly prohibited the use of the word “ burden.” He forbade any who should come to inquire of the prophet, to put the inquiry into the shape, “ What is the burden of the Lord?” but required a more simple form of speech, “ What hath the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken?” Very probably it appeared to the Jews quite an indifferent thing what word they used; and they may even have said, that as they had not invented the word, but had derived it from God Himself, they could not be much to blame in persisting in its use. But God viewed the disobedience in a wholly different light, and considered it deserving of most severe vengeance. Whatever had been the crime with which God had been charging the Jews, He could not have followed up the accusation with the denunciation of sterner punishment: “ Behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of My presence.” Now, this is our subject of discourse, the using a prohibited word drawing upon a nation the extreme vengeance of God. You must all be aware of the importance which in the Bible is attached to our words, and you may be disposed to wonder, if not to complain, that the utterances of the tongue should be made so indicative of character, and so influential on our portion for eternity. Our Saviour expressly declared, “ By your words ye shall be justified, and by your words ye shall be condemned” ; as though actions might be wholly put out of account, and words might determine our everlasting allotments. God gave Adam his vocabulary, as well as that fine intellectual equipment which might excogitate things worthy of being embodied in its magnificent expressions. We may fairly regard language, the power of expression, as the great distinction between man and the brute. Reason is often spoken of as constituting this distinction; but speech, itself equally an endowment from God, may more justly be regarded as separating the two. There is a much nearer approach to reason in the instinct which an animal often displays than there is to language in the inarticulate sounds which the animal utters. Wonderful power! that I can now stand in the midst of this assembly, and use the air which we breathe in conveying to every one the thoughts which are now crowding the hidden chambers of my own soul; that I can knock therewith at every man’ s conscience and at every man’ s heart--transfusing myself, as it were, into those impenetrable solitudes, filling them with the images that are passing to and fro in my own spirit, or causing kindred forms to rise or stir in hundreds that are around me. Every one condemns the prostitution of reason, because every one regards reason as a high and a palmy attribute, and therefore, when the intellect is unworthily employed, degraded to the ministering at the altars of scepticism or sensuality, there is an almost universal sentence of indignant reprobation; but language might be put before reason. It is reason walking abroad among the myriads of human kind; it is the soul, not in the secret laboratory, and not in its impalpable mysteriousness, but the soul amid the crowded scenes of life, formed and clothed, and submitting itself to the inspiration, and influencing the sentiments of a multitude. And if this be language, I know not why any one should be surprised that so great heinousness is attached to sins of the tongue. God “ will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” It is grievous to think of God irreverently; the soul should be His sanctuary, and to profane Him there is to aggravate contempt of God, by offering it at the shrine which He reared for Himself; but it is yet more grievous to speak of Him irreverently. But now let us further point out to you, that the Jews were guilty of turning solemn things into ridicule; and this of itself might suffice in vindication of the severity of their sentence. It is quite evident that scoffing and sneering were quite common in Jerusalem, and that the word “ burden” was contemptuously used in the way of ridicule or joke. The Jews did not invent the phrase, or devise for themselves the applying it to the messages which God sent through His prophets. God Himself calls some messages burdens--an appropriate title, which well defined their chief subject-matter, for vengeance was the great theme of the prophetic announcements. But such a use of the word burden gave occasion for wicked comments and remarks. It were very easy, if we may use the expression, to pun upon the word; and without any concern for the awful significance which God had attached to the phrase, the Jews diverted themselves with the sayings, and asked the prophets for burdens, that they might turn them into ridicule, or provoke laughter at their expense. Now, let us suppose that jesting with solemn things was the head and sport of the offence. Was, then, the offence trivial? We might judge that it were, if opinion were to be guided by the frequency with which a light thing is done. How often is a scriptural expression ludicrously used! How often is a text, a saying, quoted in some jocular sense, or in some absurd application! There could be no readier way of practically bringing the Bible into contempt, and weakening or destroying its influence upon men, than the making ludicrous applications of its statements, or using its expressions to give point to a joke, or force to a witticism. What helps your laughter will not long retain your reverence. Let not, therefore, the temptation of saying a good thing, or of giving a laughable turn to certain words, prevail on you to use Scripture irreverently: you will hereby harden yourselves more than you can calculate, and you will give an untold advantage to your spiritual adversaries. It is to sharpen all the arrows of the devil, to sharpen your wits on the Bible. Be jocular with what else you will; but revelation, with its statement of everlasting things, be ever serious and reverent with this. (H. Melvill, B. D.) A contemptuous use of the phrase, “ The burden of the Lord.” Ye shall not say, “ The burden of the Lord.” But this was a phrase which the prophets themselves had used, and did use afterwards. They spoke of the burden of Babylon, Moab, Dumah, Egypt, &c. It was not, therefore, the expression itself, so much as the spirit in which these people repeated it, that was the offence. It might perhaps be partly in the way of jeering contempt, turning the office of the prophet to ridicule; representing it thus--“ What is the burden this time? Let’ s hear it.” They did show all this profane lightness sometimes. But probably it was with many of them a deeper, graver feeling. It was to many an expression of grievance in hostility to the will and dictates of God. “ Well, you are here again, in the name of God! a most unwelcome sight you are; what is it you have now to say? Is it to be another solemn aggravated recital of our crimes? There seems to be a very careful register kept in heaven of our sins. We wonder our little failings should occupy such attention there. And you have a strange liking for your office of accuser. If it were something pleasant to be said to us you would not be so ready.” Or, “ Is it that God forbids us some one thing more of the few indulgences to our wills that are left us? We thought we had already a sufficient number of the ‘ Thou shalt not,’ but a complete law is long in making!” Or, “ Is it some additional load to our long list of duties? Already we cannot turn any way, but there is something for us to do we don’ t like.” Or, “ Is there some new threatening of judgment and vengeance?” Now, such a spirit of remonstrance against God is common in ancient time and to our own; frightful as the spirit may seem when it is expressed in plain terms. (John Foster.) . Jeremiah 24:1 The princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths from Jerusalem.The nobility of work I. All labour becomes truly noble regarded as the service of God. To regard labour simply as a stern necessity of human life is to convert the workman into a slave, and his toil into drudgery. The glory of the angels is found in the fact they are messengers of God. And all the work of our hand attains its highest glory wrought out in the love and fear of God. The apostle gives us the true point of view (Ephesians 6:6-8). Here we have God the Taskmaster. “ Doing the will of God.” Not only what we are pleased to call our highest work for Him, but our lowliest toil also, serving Him with two brown hands as Gabriel serves in the presence of the throne with two white wings. Here we have also God the Paymaster. “ Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.” God is a grand paymaster, He is a sure one, and rich beyond all hope are they who do His bidding. In the class-meeting a poor man said to me, “ It was very strange, sir, but the other day, whilst I was looking after my horses, God visited me and wonderfully blessed me; it was very strange He should visit me like this in a stable.” “ Not at all,” said I, “ it is a fulfilment of the prophecy: ‘ In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses Holiness unto the Lord,’” &c. In an old book I was reading the other day the writer laughed at some commoner who had just been made a peer, because he had his coat of arms burned and painted even upon his shovels and wheelbarrows. In my reckoning, that was a very fine action, and full of significance. If a man is a true man he is a man of God, a prince of God; and he ought to pat the stamp of his nobility on the commonest things with which he has to do. II. All labour becomes truly noble regarded as a ministry to humanity. Few men, comparatively, realise the social bearing of their toil, and therefore know it as an insipid thing, when in truth it is their rich privilege to taste in all their work the joy of a good Samaritan, for all conscientious work is an essential philanthropy. With one hand we work for ourselves, with the other for the race, and it is one of the purest joys of life to remember this. Let us be blind workers no more, but consciously, lovingly, do our daily work, rejoicing in the social glory and fruitfulness of it. Princes, smiths, carpenters, let us not forget we too toil for the larger happiness of all men, so shall we prove in our toil some of the sublime pleasure Howard knew when he opened the door of the prison, that Wilberforce felt striking off the fetters of the slave, that Peabody tasted when he built homes for the poor. III. All labour becomes truly noble regarded as a discipline to our higher nature. Many, alas! sink with their work, but the Divine design in the duty of life was the perfection of the worker. Our toil is to develop our whole nature. Our physical being. Our work is neither to pollute nor destroy, but to purify and build up the temple of the body. Sweat does not mean blood, and there is a blessing in the curse. Our work should develop our intellectual self also. Much of our business may become a direct mental education, and it need never hinder the flowering of the mind. But chiefly the work of life ought to subserve our spiritual perfecting. In all true work the soul works and gains in purity and power by its work. The carpenter’ s work tests his moral qualities, and Whilst he builds with brick and stone, timber and glass, he may build up also character with silver, gold, and precious stones; the smith fashions his soul whilst he shapes the iron on ringing anvil; the husbandman may enrich his heart whilst he adorns the landscape; and the weaver at the loom weave two fabrics at once, one that the moth shall fret, the other of gold and fine needlework, immortal raiment for the spirit. The King of glory has consecrated the workshop by His presence and glorified work by His example. (W. L. Watkinson.) Jeremiah 24:2-3 One basket had very good figs.Two baskets of figs I. The same nation may contain two distinct characters, yet both may be equally involved in a national visitation. There are laws of retribution m operation in relation to nations which, so far as the outward condition is concerned-, are no respecters of persons. II. Submission to Divine chastisement will lead, in time, to deliverance from it, while resistance will bring ruin. Two members of a family may be suffering from the same disease; the physician will insist upon submission to his treatment from both his patients. If one refuses, he must not complain of the physician, supposing he grows worse. God desired to heal the Jewish nation of its idolatrous tendencies; for this purpose He had decreed that it should go into captivity. Those who submitted willingly are hem promised that the discipline should be “ for their good,” and that they should be brought again to their own land; while those who resisted, would be “ consumed from off the land that He gave unto them and their fathers.” III. Lessons,1. In this life retribution to nations is more certain than to individuals. God can deal with individual characters in any world, therefore we sometimes find the greatest villains apparently unmarked by Him now. 2. Outward circumstance is no standard by which to judge God’ s estimate of character. Job’ s friends were not afflicted as he was, but God esteemed him far more highly than He did them. 3. Moral crime is commercial ruin to a nation. Israel lost God first, and then her national prosperity and greatness. A body soon decays when the life has departed, and a putrid carcase will soon be visited by the birds of prey. (A London Minister.) What seest thou, Jeremiah?--Reflections on some of the characteristics of the age we live in It is not difficult to see the force and application of this homely but sententious little allegory. Jeremiah lived in those days of declension and disaster in which the invasion of Judea by the King of Babylon was not only threatened, but actually took place. He saw the departure of “ the King of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem,” and these were all “ carried away captive” to Babylon. Nevertheless, many of every class were left behind, and these were placed under the government of that weak and wicked king, Zedekiah. Those who were “ carried away” comprised the best of the population with regard to intelligence, religious feeling, and patriotism. Their sorrows and afflictions humbled them, so that they repented of their idolatries and obtained mercy of the Lord. In due time the way was prepared for the return of the exiles to their own land; and there, under the leadership of such men as Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel, they founded afresh a pious commonwealth, in which the worship of the true God was ever afterwards main-rained down to the time of the coming of Christ. In them was fulfilled the promise contained in verses 4-7. On the other hand, the Jews who remained at home with Zedekiah “ and his princes” revolted against God more and more. They abandoned themselves openly to licentiousness and idolatry. Their temper fiery and mutinous, their language blasphemous, their whole conduct infamous. (See verses 8-13.) These were the evil figs, so evil that they could not be eaten. The point suggested to us by Jeremiah’ s vision is, that there occur periods, or special circumstances, in the religious life of nations, which tend to develop and force the maturation of character with unusual energy and astonishing rapidity. In such times, you do not find people merely good or bad; but the good are very good, and the evil very evil. Now, it is evident that no parallel whatever can be drawn between our position and circumstances in England at the present time and those of Judea in the days of Jeremiah. We are not, as a nation, suffering either from internal anarchy or from external assault. But still it may be, that other influences and conditions of society are at work, producing an exactly analogous result to that at the time referred to in the text. I. Certain peculiarities of our times and position my be noted.1. This is an age of extraordinary intellectual and social activity. The most absolute liberty of speech exists, and men shrink from the utterance of no opinion, the broaching of no speculation. This unusual activity and daring of thought produces rapid and extraordinary changes in both political and ecclesiastical affairs. Amid the astonishment and whirl of such events, it requires a great effort to keep the mind calm, and hold fast in our judgments, utterances, and actions to the sober requirements of sound principle and acknowledged truth (Proverbs 17:27, margin). 2. The very full and clear religious light which we enjoy. 3. The corresponding increase of activity in the Church. All manner of special devices are being tried and carried out vigorously whereby to reach all classes, to instruct the most ignorant and reform the most vicious, whilst ancient and ordinary means of grace are sustained with unprecedented interest and efficiency. II. What do all these things import? and what do they necessitate on our part individually? Truly we find here divers potent and stimulating agencies in operation, calculated to arouse us up to repentance and godly solicitude, and then to prompt us on to vigorous Christian life and action. If we yield to them, how fast and far may we soon be carried in the path of faith, in a career of usefulness! What bold, what firm, what fruitful Christians we must become if we enter fully into “ the spirit of the times,” considered as engaged on the side of Christ and His Gospel! But if we refuse to do so, if we set ourselves to resist these powerful influences, how strenuous must that resistance be! how determined and how self-conscious that action of the will which still fights against God and clings to worldliness and sin! Facts are in harmony with these reasonings. Illustrations abound on every side. In this earnest age you find earnest men both for good and evil. Was ever war conducted on so fearful a scale as we have lately witnessed? In our day, we have also seen such specimens of commercial roguery and robbery, conceived on so magnificent a scale, and executed under so clever and admirable a cloak of hypocrisy, as no previous age has ever presented to the world. On the other hand, look at the men who stand foremost in the van of religion and philanthropy. These are God’ s heroes; men are still living amongst us worthy of comparison with the spiritual heroes of ancient times, in regard to all that is noble in faith, self-denying in zeal, munificent in giving, or abundant in labours. These, indeed, are among the good figs, which by God’ s grace are very good: and to the production of such instances of exalted and matured piety, the present times are not in the least unfavourable. One might speak of books, as well as men. And if, on the other hand, it be true that infidelity and immorality were never so speciously or so boldly advocated as now, in sensational novels, in shallow critiques, or in vulgar serials; so, again, we defy any age to show such noble and masterly treatises as are now written by men of sanctified learning and genius, either in exposition of the Scriptures, or in vindication of their contents. Then there are public institutions and societies to be looked at. If chapels are multiplied, so are theatres. Look at the state of our large towns and cities. Were ever such facilities for evil doing? such criminal attractions for the young? so many places where vice is seductive and sin made easy? The kingdom of Satan is as active and roused up to new exertions as is the kingdom of Christ. It is said that, in the early colonisation of Van Diemen’ s Land, one man took a hive of bees, and soon the island was filled with swarms, and both the trees and rocks dropped with honey; another took a handful of thistle-down, and ere long the country was overrun with prickly and gigantic weeds. Like such actions, are the deeds of all men now. Shall we, then, multiply honey-hives, or scatter thistles in the earth? Let us seek to be good, and do good: and then, behold what glorious possibilities belong to us, of being pre-eminently holy, blest and useful! (T. G. Horon.) Figs good and bad Events are divided. “ What seest thou?” I see two kinds of events, one good, and the other vile: and there they are in life. It is so in families: how do you account for it that one son prays, and the other never saw the need of prayer? The one is filial; the other has a heart of stone. Look at life broadly. What seest thou, O prophet, O man of the piercing eyes, what seest thou? Two events, or series of events, one excellent, the other vile; one leading upward, the other downward. What seest thou? Heaven---hell. The vision is still before us; we need to have our attention called to it. He who deals in singularities, in isolations, never enters into the philosophy of Providence, the method of the sublime organisation which is denominated the universe. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 24:5 Whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.The action of love The Lord says He will send His people into captivity “ for their good.” How marvellous is the action of love! The parent sends away the child he cannot live without for the child’ s good; men undertake long and perilous and costly journeys that they may accomplish a purpose that is good. Jesus Christ Himself said to His wondering disciples, “ It is expedient for you that I go away.” Who can understand this action of love? It would seem to us to be otherwise: that it would be best for Jesus to remain until the very last wanderer is home. Are we not sent away? have we not lost fortune, station, standing? have we not been punished in a thousand different ways-chastised, humiliated, afflicted? have we not been suddenly surrounded with clouds in which there was no light--yea, and clouds in which there was no rain, simply darkness, sevenfold night? Yet it was for our good; it was that our vanity might be rebuked, that the centre of dependence might be found, that the throne of righteousness might be seen and approached. Let us look upon our afflictions, distresses, and losses in that light. (J. Parker, D. D.) Outward circumstances no standard by which to judge of one’ s true state The captives already in Babylon are compared to good fruit, such as is fit for use and sweet to the taste. The party in Jerusalem as yet free, is compared to bad fruit, unfit for use, and nauseous to the palate. And yet if one judged by the mere outward aspect of things, the state of the captives in the enemies’ city seemed a much more undesirable one than that of their brethren in the metropolis of their own land. Hence we see that the good or evil of one’ s circumstances is not to be judged by outward appearances. Often what seems a peculiarly hard and distressing position proves to have been the very best for us. God humbles us, and tries us sorely at the first, in order to do us good in our latter end. (A. R. Fausset, M. A.) Jeremiah 24:6-7 For I will set Mine eyes upon them for good, and l will bring them again to this land. God’ s regard for His people I. The nature of God’ s declaration respecting Himself, “ I will set Mine eves upon them for good.”1. This denotes-- (1) His omniscience over them (Job 34:21, compared with 31:4).(2) His providence for them (2 Chronicles 16:9). (3) His grace to save them (Romans 8:29). 2. It implies-- (1) Divine personality--“ For I” (Ezekiel 34:11).(2) Divine attention--“ Will set Mine eyes” (Psalms 32:8).(3) Personal affection--“ Upon them” (Ezekiel 16:5-6).(4) Great kindness--“ For their good” (Isaiah 54:8). II. A description of the deliverance here declared, “ I will bring them into this land”1. Here we have the idea of distance (Ephesians 2:17). 2. How He brings them back. (1) By the death of His Son (Revelation 5:9).(2) By the obedience of His Son (Romans 5:19).(3) By virtue of His intercession (Hebrews 7:25). 3. This is-- (1) A rich land.(2) A large land.(3) A peaceful land.(4) A land of security. III. The blessings designed fob them on their return.1. Negatively “ Not pull them down.” (1) Not condemn them (Romans 8:1).(2) Not visit their sins upon them (Hebrews 8:12). 2. Positively--“ I will build them up.” (1) The foundation of the building (1 Corinthians 3:11).(2) The dimensions (Romans 11:5).(3) The materials (Ephesians 2:1).(4) The cement by which this building is united (Colossians 2:2-3).(5) The instruments employed in building (2 Corinthians 4:7). 3. These plants had been-- (1) Fruitless.(2) Cumberers.(3) Injurious. Yet God did not pluck them up. 4. But He transplanted them to a superior soil: “ I will plant them.” (1) In a delightful situation (Psalms 48:2).(2) In a good and fertile soil (Psalms 1:3).(3) Where there is plenty of sun and rain (Psalms 84:11). IV. The results of all this.1. “ And I will give them a heart to know Me.” (1) As a gracious God.(2) A covenant-keeping God.(3) A faithful God.(4) A mighty God.(5) And a God of salvation to His people. 2. “ And they shall be My people.” As proved by their-- (1) Studying the Bible.(2) Offering up prayers and praises.(3) Attendance on His house.(4) Living to God.(5) And simply believing on Christ. 3. “ And I will be their God.” (1) By ruling in their understandings.(2) Subduing their wills.(3) And living in their hearts. 4. “ For they shall return unto Me with their whole heart.” (1) Positively-Nothing shall prevent them, for “ they shall” return.(2) Cordially--Their “ heart” shall be delighted in returning.(3) Personality--Each and all shall return in the same person, “ unto Me.”(4) Dissatisfaction--They return from all things sinful to God. (T. B. Baker.) I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord.--Heart-knowledge of God By this great promise of the text is not merely meant that God will lead the converted to know that there is a God, because that may be known without s new heart. Any man possessed of reason may know that there is a Supreme Being, who created all things and preserves the universe in existence. The text promises that the favoured ones shall know that God to be Jehovah. Man fashions for himself a god after his own liking; he makes to himself, if not out of wood or stone, yet out of what he calls his own consciousness, or his cultured thought, a deity to his taste, who will not be too severe with his iniquities, or deal out strict justice to the impenitent. The Holy Spirit, however, when He illuminates the mind, leads us to see that Jehovah is God, and beside Him there is none else. He teaches His people to know that the God of heaven and earth is the God d the Bible, a God whose attributes are completely balanced, mercy attended by justice, love accompanied by holiness, grace arrayed in truth, and power linked with tenderness. When the heart is content to believe in God as He is revealed, and no longer goes about to fashion a deity for itself according to its own fancies and notions, it is a hopeful sign. The main stress of the promise lies, however, in this: “ I will give them a heart to know ME” ; that is, not merely to know that I am, and that I am Jehovah, but to have a personal knowledge of Myself. It is not enough to know that our Creator is the Jehovah of the Bible, and that He is perfect in character, and glorious beyond thought; but to know God we must have perceived Him, we must have spoken to Him, we must have been made at peace with Him, we must have lifted up our heart to Him, and received communications from Him. If you know the Lord your secret is with Him, and His secret is with you; He has manifested Himself unto you as He does not unto the world. He must have made Himself known unto you by the mysterious influences of His Spirit, and because of this you know Him. I the seat of this knowledge “ I will give them a heart to know Me.” Observe that it is not said, “ I will give them a head to know Me.” The first and primary impediment to man’ s knowledge of God lies in the affections The heart is the seat of the blindness; there lies the darkness which beclouds the whole mind. Hence to the heart the light must come, and to the heart that light is promised.1. I understand by the fact that the knowledge of God here promised lies in the heart, first, that God renews the heart so that it admires the character of God. The understanding perceives that God is just, powerful, faithful, wise, true, gracious, longsuffering, and the like; then the heart being purified admires all these glorious attributes, and adores Him because of them. 2. The heart-knowledge promised in the covenant of grace means, however, much more than approval: grace enables the renewed heart to take another step and appropriate the Lord, saying, “ O God, Thou art my God, early will I seek Thee.” All the saved ones cry, “ This God is our God for ever and ever; He shall be our guide even unto death” 3. All true knowledge of God is attended by affection for Him.” In spiritual language to. Know God is to love Him. “ He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.” It is the great passion of the renewed soul to glorify God, whom he knows and loves; knowledge without love would be a powerless thing, but God has joined this knowledge and love together in a sacred wedlock, and they can never be put asunder. As we love God we know Him, and as we know Him we love Him. Admiration, appropriation, affection are crowned with adhesion. To know a thing by heart is, in our common talk, to know it thoroughly, Memories of the heart abide when all others depart. A mother’ s love, a wife’ s fondness, a sweet child’ s affection, will come before us even in the last hours of life; when the mind will lose its learning and the hand forget its cunning, the dear names of our beloved ones will linger on our lips; and their sweet faces will be before us even when our eyes are dim with the shadow of approaching death. If we can sing, “ O God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed,” then the knowledge which it possesses will never be taken away from it. II. The necessity of this knowledge.1. To know God is a needful preparation for every other true knowledge, because the Lord is the centre of the universe, the basis, the pillar, the essential force, the all in all, the fulness of all things. You may learn the doctrines of the Bible, but you do not know them truly till you know the God of the doctrines. You may understand the precepts in the letter of them, and the promises in their outward wording, but neither precept nor promise do you truly know until you know the God from whose lips they fell. The ancient sage said, “ Man, know thyself.” He spake well, but even for this man must first know his God. I venture to say that no man rightly knows himself till he knows his God, because it is by the light and purity of God that we see our own darkness and sinfulness. 2. The knowledge of God is necessary to any real peace of mind. Suppose a man to be in the world and feel that he is right every way except with regard to God, and as to Him he knows nothing. Hear him say, “ I go about the world and see many faces which I can recognise, and I perceive many friends upon whom I can trust, but there is a God somewhere, and I know nothing at all about Him. Whether He be my friend or my foe I know not.” If thoughtful and intelligent he must suffer unrest in his spirit, because he will say to himself, “ Suppose this God should turn out to be a just God, and I should be a breaker of His laws! What a peril hangs over me. How is it possible for me to be at peace till this dreadful ignorance is removed?” He is the God of peace, and there can be no peace till the soul knows Him. 3. That this knowledge of God is necessary is clear, for how could it be possible for a man to have spiritual life and yet not to know God? If you do not know Him you are not a partaker of His grace, but you abide in darkness Into His heaven you can never enter till He has given you a heart to know Him; do not forget this warning, or trifle with it. III. The excellency of this knowledge.1. One of the first effects of knowing God in the soul is that it turns out our idols. God so enamours the soul of the converted man, so engrosses every spiritual faculty, that he cannot endure an idol, however dear in former times; and if perchance in some back-sliding moment an earthly love intrudes, it is because the man has withdrawn his eye from the splendour of the Deity. 2. The second good effect of the knowledge of God is that it creates faith in the soul; to prove which I might give a great many texts, but one will suffice (Psalms 9:10): “ They that know Thy Name will put their trust in Thee.” We cannot trust an unknown God, but when He reveals Himself to us by His Spirit, then to trust Him is no longer difficult; it is, indeed, inevitable. 3. This knowledge of God creates good works also (1 John 2:3). A heart to know the Lord begets and nurtures every virtue and every grace, and is the basis of the noblest character, the food which feeds grace till it matures into glory. 4. To know God has over us a transforming power. Remember how the apostle writes (2 Corinthians 3:18). Every thought which crosses the mind affects it for the better or the worse, every glance is moulding us, every wish fashions the character. A sight of God is the most wonderfully sanctifying influence that can be conceived of. Know God, and you will grow to be like Him. 5. The knowledge of God causes us to praise Him. “ In Judah is God known; His name is great in Israel.” It is not possible for us to have low thoughts of Him, or to give forth mean utterances concerning Him, or to act in a miserly way towards His cause, when we practically know Him. 6. The knowledge of God brings comfort, and that is a very desirable thing in a world of trouble. What saith the Psalmist? “ God is known in her palaces for a refuge.” 7. To know God also brings a man great honour. “ Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because e hath known My name.” Think of it--“ set on high,” and set on high by the Lord Himself, and all as the result of knowing the name of the Lord. 8. The man who knows the Lord will have usefulness given him (2 Corinthians 2:14). We cannot teach others of things which we do not know ourselves. If we have no savour in us there cannot be a savour coming out of us. We shall only be a drag upon the Church in any position if we are destitute of the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus; but if we are filled with a knowledge of Christ, then the sweet savour of His name will pour forth from us as perfume from the flowers. IV. The source of this knowledge. None but the Creator can give a man a new heart, the change is too radical for any other hand. It would be hard to give a new eye, or a new arm, but a new heart is still more out of the question. The Lord Himself must do it.1. It is evidently a work of pure grace. He freely gives to whomsoever He wills, according to His own declaration, “ I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” 2. It is evidently a work which is possible. All things are possible to God, and He says, “ I will give it to them.” He does not speak of it as a blessing desirable, but unattainable; on me contrary He says, “ I will give them a heart to know Me” 3. It is a work which the Lord has covenanted to do (Hosea 2:19; Jeremiah 31:32-34). (C. H. Spurgeon.) A believing knowledge of God The manner of knowing the difference between believers and unbelievers as to knowledge, is not as much in the matter of their knowledge as in the manner of knowing. Unbelievers, some of them, may know more and be able to say more of God, His perfections and will, than many believers; but they know nothing as they ought, nothing in a right manner, nothing spiritually and savingly, nothing with a holy, heavenly light. The-excellency of a believer is not that he hath a large apprehension of things, but that what he doth apprehend, which may perhaps be very little, he sees it in the light of the Spirit of God, in a saving, soul-transforming light: and this is that which gives us communion with God, and not prying thoughts, or curious raised notions. (J. Owen.) To know God-a new, a gladdening experience A touching story is told of the child of a French painter. The little girl lost her sight in infancy, and her blindness was supposed to be incurable. A famous oculist in Paris, however: performed an operation on her eyes and restored her sight. Her mother had long been dead, and her father had been her only friend and companion, when she was told that her blindness could be cured, her one thought was that she could see him; and when the cure was complete, and the bandages were removed, she ran to him, and, trembling, pored over his features, shutting her eyes now and then, and passing her fingers over his face, as if to make sure that it was he. The father had a noble head and presence, and his every look and motion were watched by his daughter with the keenest delight. For the first time his constant tenderness and care seemed real to her. If he caressed her, or even looked upon her kindly, it brought tears to her eyes. “ To think,” she cried, holding his hand close in hers, “ that I had this father so many years and never knew him!” They shall return unto life with their whole heart. The whole heart must be given to God Suppose a mother gave her child a beautiful flower-plant in bloom, and told her to carry it to a sick friend. The child takes it away, and when she reaches the friend’ s door she plucks off one leaf and gives it to her, keeping the plant herself. Has she obeyed her mother’ s command? Then afterwards, once a day, she plucks off another leaf, or a bud, or a flower, and takes it to the friend, still retaining the plant. Did she obey the command of her mother? Nothing but the giving of the whole plant could fulfil the mother’ s direction. Now, is not that a simple illustration of what we give to God? He commands us to love Him with all our heart and with all our being, and we pluck off a little leaf of love now sad then, a little bud or flower of affection, or one cluster of fruit from the bending branches, and give to Him; and we call that obeying. (J. R. Miller.) . Jeremiah 25:6I will do you no hurt.No hurt from God I. The import of the promise.1. Such a promise can apply to none but the people of God. 2. The Lord’ s people are apt to fear He should do them hurt, and hence He kindly assures them of the contrary. We want more of that love to God which beareth all things at His hand, which believeth all good things concerning Him, and hopeth for all things from Him. 3. As God will do no hurt to them that fear Him, so neither will He suffer others to hurt them. If God does not change their hearts, He win tie their hands; or if for wise ends He suffers them to injure you in your worldly circumstances, yet your heavenly inheritance is sure, and your treasure is laid up where thieves cannot break through nor steal. 4. More is implied in the promise than is absolutely expressed; for when the Lord says He will do His people no hurt, He means that He will really do them good. All things to God’ s people are blessings in their own nature, or are turned into blessings for their sake; so that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies to do them (Genesis 50:20; Jeremiah 24:5-6; Romans 8:28). II. The assurance we have that this promise will be fulfilled.1. The Lord thinks no hurt of His people, and therefore He will certainly do them no hurt. His conduct is a copy of His decrees: He worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will, and therefore where no evil is determined, no evil can take place. 2. The Lord threatens them no hurt; no penal sentence lies against them. 3. He never has done them any hurt, but good, all the days of their life. Former experience of the Divine goodness should strengthen the believer’ s confidence, and fortify him against present discouragements (Judges 13:23; Psalms 42:6; Psalms 77:12; 2 Corinthians 1:10). (B. Beddome, M.A.) Jeremiah 25:31 He will plead with all flesh.No excuse needed for faith in God I. God pleads with men chiefly through the Spirit of the life of Jesus Christ. This part of our life is a probation, like being at school; it is an apprenticeship to eternal life, a life in which we are to be journeymen and masters of the work of being good and doing good. We are learners here. Some learn their life’ s lesson thoroughly, and others only partially. God means us to learn; and if a man will not do God’ s will, he can only learn by the bitter pain of experience. There are only two ways of learning--either by doing God’ s will, or by disobeying it; either way will bring us to our senses at some time or other, either in this world or in that which is to come. II. Christianity urges that if we be wise every one will choose the highest aim of life. Unless we have some great object in view, our life is a task which is hard to bear; it is like being rubbed with sandpaper, everything seeming to be in unpleasant friction with us. Yet you cannot get a polish without friction; and so the friction of daily life that vexes and torments us, is an experience which is good for us. It is one of God’ s means of polishing us; but it is unpleasant, like having small pebbles in one’ s boots. It is, however, a needful discipline. But were we humbly and lovingly to do God’ s will, as you would have your little child do your will, life would not be a painful task, nor would it be a state of perpetual friction. III. Christianity also teaches us that God is worthy to be both esteemed and loved. IV. Christianity sweetly teaches us of the other life. Have you ever lived in the country, and after being away for a time felt the joy of returning home? (W. Birch.) . Jeremiah 26:1-24 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah. Afflictions, distresses, tumults Jehoiakim was, perhaps, the most despicable of the kings of Judah. Josephus says that he was unjust in disposition, an evil-doer; neither pious towards God nor just towards men. Something of this may have been due to the influence of his wife, Nehushta, whose father, Elnathan, was an accomplice in the royal murder of Urijah. Jeremiah appears to have been constantly in conflict with this king; and probably the earliest manifestation of the antagonism that could not but subsist between two such men occurred in connection with the building of Jehoiakim’ s palace. Though his kingdom was greatly impoverished with the heavy fine of between forty and fifty thousand pounds, imposed by Pharaoh-Necho afar the defeat and death of Josiah, and though the times were dark with portents of approaching disaster, yet he began to rear a splendid palace for himself, with spacious chambers and large windows, floors of cedar, and decorations of vermilion. Clearly, such a monarch must have entertained a mortal hatred towards the man who dared to raise his voice in denunciation of his crimes; and, like Herod with John the Baptist, he would not have scrupled to quench in blood the light that cast such strong condemnation upon his oppressive and cruel actions. An example of this had been recently afforded in the death of Urijah, who had uttered solemn words against Jerusalem and its inhabitants in the same way that Jeremiah had done. But it would appear that this time, at least, his safety was secured by the interposition of influential friends amongst the aristocracy, one of whom was Ahikam, the son of Shaphan (Jeremiah 26:20-24). I. The divine commission. Beneath the Divine impulse, Jeremiah went up to the court of the Lord’ s house, and took his place on some great occasion when all the cities of Judah had poured their populations to worship there. Not one word was to be kept back. We are all more or less conscious of these inward impulses; and it often becomes a matter of considerable difficulty to distinguish whether they originate in the energy of our own nature or are the genuine outcome of the Spirit of Christ. It is only in the latter ease that such service can be fruitful. There is no greater enemy of the highest usefulness than the presence of the flesh in our activities. There is no department of life or service into which its subtle, deadly influence does not penetrate. We meet it after we have entered upon the new life, striving against the Spirit, and restraining His gracious energy. We are most baffled when we find it prompting to holy resolutions and efforts after a consecrated life. And lastly, it confronts us in Christian work, because there is so much of it that in our quiet moments we are bound to trace to a desire for notoriety, to a passion to excel, and to the restlessness of a nature which evades questions in the deeper life, by flinging itself into every avenue through which it may exert its activities. There is only one solution to these difficulties. By the way of the cross and the grave we can alone become disentangled and discharged from the insidious domination of this evil principle, which is accursed by God, and hurtful to holy living, as blight to the tender fruit. II. The message and its reception. On the one side, by his lips, God entreated His people to repent and turn from their evil ways; on the other, He bade them know that their obduracy would compel Him to make their great national shrine as complete a desolation as the site of Shiloh, which for five hundred years had been in ruins. It is impossible to realise the intensity of passion which such words evoked. They seemed to insinuate that Jehovah could not defend His own, or that their religion had become so heartless that He would not. “ So it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made, an end of speaking all that the Lord commanded him to speak unto all the people,” that he found himself suddenly in the vortex of a whirlpool of popular excitement. There is little doubt that Jeremiah would have met his death had it not been for the prompt interposition of the princes. Such is always the reception given on the part of man to the words of God. We may gravely question how far our words are God’ s, when people accept them quietly and as a matter of course. That which men approve and applaud may lack the King’ s seal, and be the substitution on the part of the messenger of tidings which he deems more palatable, and therefore more likely to secure for himself a larger welcome. III. Welcome interposition. The princes were seated in the palace, and instantly on receiving tidings of the outbreak came up to the temple. Their presence stilled the excitement, and prevented the infuriated people from carrying out their designs upon the life of the defenceless prophet. They hastily constituted themselves into a court of appeal, before which prophet and people were summoned. Then Jeremiah stood on his defence. His plea was that he could not but utter the words with which the Lord had sent him, and that he was only re-affirming the predictions of Micah in the darts of Hezekiah. He acknowledged that he was in their hands, but he warned them that innocent blood would bring its own Nemesis upon them all; and at the close of his address he re-affirmed his certain embassage from Jehovah. This bold and ingenuous defence seems to have turned the scale in hie favour. The princes gave their verdict: “ This man is not worthy of death, for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” And the fickle populace, swept hither and thither by the wind, appear to have passed over en masse to the same conclusion; so that princes and people stood confederate against the false prophets and priests. Thus does God hide His faithful servants in the hollow of His hand. No weapon that is formed against them prospers. They are hidden in the secret of His pavilion from the strife of tongues. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Jeremiah 26:8-16 When Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him, the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.The characteristics of a true prophet I. The true prophet has a stern message to deliver (4-7). If they ally themselves with Egypt, the Temple will be made desolate, as Shiloh had been destroyed by the Assyrians at the deportation of Israel after the fall of Samaria, 710 b.c. Jerusalem will become a curse to all nations (will be recognised by all nations as having fallen by the curse of God). To prophesy smooth things in a sinful world is to be false to God. How often does even our blessed Lord denounce sin, and remind men of the wrath of God for it! (Matthew 11:21-24; Matthew 12:41-42; Matthew 23:31-38, &c.) II. The true prophet may not “ diminish a word” of God’ s message, however unpopular, or unpleasant, or personal.1. This message referred to the public policy of the nation. The morality of a nation as imperative as that of an individual 2. Other messages assail the sins of classes, from the king to the humblest citizen. III. The true prophet will speak fearlessly. IV. The true prophet is promised the support of God. V. The true prophet never was and never can be popular, but must raise up enemies against himself. IV. The true prophet will speak peace as well as wrath if men repent. (J. Cunningham Geikie, D. D.) Prophetic virtues “ The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house.” In this apology of the prophet thus answering for himself with a heroic spirit, five noble virtues, fit for a martyr, are by an expositor observed.1. His prudence in alleging his Divine mission. 2. His charity in exhorting his enemies to repent. 3. His humility in saying, “ Behold I am in your hand.” 4. His magnanimity and freedom of speech in telling them that God would revenge his death. 5. His spiritual security and fearlessness of death in so good a cause and with so good a conscience. (John Trapp.) A Saint’ s resignation, meekness, and cheerfulness in persecution One thousand eight hundred years ago an aged saint was being led into Rome by ten rough Roman soldiers, to be thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. Can you imagine anything more dreary and deplorable? Was he unhappy? Did he count cruelty and martyrdom as evil? No. In one of the seven letters that he wrote on his way, he says: “ Come fire and iron, come rattling of wild beasts, cutting and mangling and wrenching of my bones, come hacking of my limbs, come crushing of my whole body, come cruel tortures of the devil to assail me! Only be it mine to attain to Jesus Christ! What are those words of St. Ignatius but an echo of the apostle’ s, “ What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss that I may win Christ” ? How well the early Christians understood these things by which we opportunists, cringing cowards, effeminate time-servers, as most of us are in this soft, sensuous, hypocritical age, have so utterly forgotten! (Dean Farrar.) . Jeremiah 27:4-5I have made the earth.God and the earth I. God is the creator of all earthly things: “ The man and the beast that are upon the ground.” The earth is not eternal, net the production of chance, not the work of many Gods. It has one Maker. This agrees with all true science. II. God is the sovereign disposes of all earthly things. “ Have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto Me.” He might have built it and left it uninhabited, or He might have populated it with other creatures than those who tenant it now. He has given what He thinks fit of it to individuals, tribes, and nations. (Homilist.) The earth made by God I have in my house a little sheet of paper on which there is a faint, pale, and not particularly skilful representation of a hyacinth It is not half as beautiful as many other pictures I have, but I regard it as the most exquisite of them all My mother painted it; and I never see it that I do not think that her hand rested on it, and that her thought was concerned in its execution. Now, suppose you had such a conception of God that you never saw a flower, a tree, a cloud, or any natural object, that you did not instantly think, “ My Father made it,” what a natural world would this become to you! How beautiful would the earth seem to you! And how would you find that nature was a revelation of God, speaking as plainly as His written Word! And if you are alone, in solitude, without company, desolate in your circumstances, it is because you have not that inner sense of the Divine love and care which it is your privilege to have, and which you ought to have. (H. W. Beecher.) Have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto Me. Meetness before God I. God is the proprietor of all.1. Man’ s forgetfulness of this in daily life.2. The harmony of man’ s being requires a sense of dependence.3. Depression results from stopping short of God. II. Wisdom and sovereignity go together.1. No comfort to know we live under an absolute sovereign.2. God gives not according to seeming fitness. He sees deeper than what seems. III. The unerring mind of God.1. Cultivate an adoring spirit.2. Rest on Him in simple belief.3. Repose in God’ s law of meetness. (P. B. Power, M. A.) The Divine distribution of the earth amongst men I. In it He exercises absolute right. The earth, with all its minerals, fruits, productions, and countless tenants, is His. If He gives a thousand acres to one man and denies a yard to another, it is not for us to complain. II. In it He acts according to His own free choice alone. He gives it not on the ground of merit to any man, for now He gave it to Nebuchadnezzar, one of the worst of men. The only principle in the distribution is His own sovereignty. What “ seemeth meet” to a Being of Infinite wisdom and goodness must be the wisest and the most benevolent. Here let us hush all our murmurings, here let us repose the utmost confidence. Conclusion--The subject teaches us how we should hold that portion of the earth we possess, however small or great it may be.1. With profound humility. What we possess is a gift, not a right. We are temporary trustees, not proprietors. He who holds the most should be the most humble, for he has the most to account for. 2. With practical thanksgiving. This indeed is all the rent that the Supreme Landlord requires from us, thanksgiving and praise. 3. With a solemn sense of our responsibility. It is given to us not for our own gratification and self-aggrandisement, but for the good of the race and the glory of God. 4. With a conscious dependence on His will. We are all tenants at will. We know not the moment when He shall see fit to eject us from His land. (Homilist.) . Jeremiah 28:11 And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.Self in service (with Jeremiah 26:14):--We couple these passages together, because they lead our minds to the same important thought, namely, the laying aside of “ self” by the servants of the Lord. Hananiah takes the yoke from off Jeremiah s neck, and breaks it, and so discredits him and his prophecy in the presence of the people. “ And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.” He left it to God to vindicate His own honour, which He did very soon--very terribly. Before the princes also, in chap. 26., he tells out uncompromisingly all the truth of God; he knew that he did so at the peril of his life. “ As for me,” --he was not insensible to personal suffering, still himself he was as nothing--“ behold I am in your hand, do with me as seemeth meet unto you.” By this complete abnegation of “ self” on the part of the prophet, we are led to consider some matters connected with “ self” in our service. There is a young period in the Christian’ s life, when we are deceived by not seeing “ self” at all; when we have no dread of it; when we never even suspect its existence. At this time, we mistake its energies for spiritual life, and often seek to carry out what is really the Lord’ s work, in the powers and energies of the flesh, i.e. “ self.” There is a period farther on, when we detect “ self” partially. The Spirit of God has led us onward in our education, and raised our standard, making us watchful and distrustful of “ self” to some degree. Then comes a yet more advanced stage, when we see “ self” to such an extent as to make us dread it greatly when we see it ever intrusive, ever substituting motives low and mean for what should be holy and high; and we wage war with this “ self,” fully determined to put it down. There is also yet a more advanced state, when we have attained such a knowledge of the power of “ self” that, while we war with, and repress it, we have come to know that here we shall never have done with it, and look forward to full deliverance only when we reach that land where there is perfect freedom. I. The wrong operations of “ self” in service. Much that we do may be done from the action of mere natural feelings--there may be nothing of God in it at all A man may be gratifying only his own natural energy in all that seems so earnest and true. And when we allow “ self” to influence us, we shall be subjected to disturbing influences. Self-love will be easily wounded in the rough contact with opposers of the truth. And our judgment will be warped. It is very hard to be calm, and judicial, when under the influence of strong personal feelings, and where personal interests are concerned. Self will also drive us on too far. We shall not know when “ to go our way.” We need not go far to detect some of the evil effects which flow from this wrong operation of “ self” in service. It gives the enemy occasion to blaspheme. Satan continually attempts to confound persons and principles; men will look at the imperfect way in which we have manifested the principle, and not at the principle itself. Our infirmities become mixed up with the cause of God, and so far as they can, bring it into disrepute. And thus that saying becomes true--“ religion suffers more from her friends than her enemies.” II. The expulsion of “ self” from service. How can this be done? In the most favourable of cases only by degrees. But what is a man to do?1. He must seek for enlightenment on this subject from the Holy Spirit. 2. Let him seek for a more perfect sympathy with Christ. If we have this, we shall become assimilated with Him--we shall grow like Him; His mind will transfuse itself into our mind--and the principles, on which He acted, will become ours. 3. And then the seeking for a true knowledge of our own insignificance is very important in putting down “ self.” We both think and act sometimes as though we were the first cause; and not only the first cause, but the final object also--as if all were to be by us, and for us--the axe thinks that it is doing all the work, and is independent of the one that heweth therewith. The very learning our insignificance will be helpful; and, when we have learned it in some degree, it will keep us, in proportion as the lesson has been learned, to our proper place. (P. B. Power, M. A.) Jeremiah 28:13 Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. Yokes of wood and of iron To throw off legitimate authority is to bind on a worse tyranny. Some kind of yoke every one of us must bend our necks to, and if we slip them out we do not thereby become independent, but simply bring upon ourselves a heavier pressure of a harder bondage. I. We have the choice between the yoke of law and the iron yoke of lawlessness. Even a band of brigands, or a crew of pirates, must have some code. I have read somewhere that the cells in a honeycomb are circles squeezed by the pressure of the adjacent cells into the hexagonal shape which admits of contiguity. If they continued circles, there would be space and material lest, and no complete continuity. So, in like manner, you cannot keep five men together without some mutual limitations which are shaped into a law. Now, as long as a man keeps inside it he does not feel its pressure. A great many of us, for instance, who are in the main law-abiding people, do not ever remember that there is such a thing as restrictions upon our licence, or the obligation to perform certain duties; for we never think either of taking the licence or of shirking the duties. The yoke that is accepted ceases to press. Once let a man step outside, and what then? Why, then, he is an outlaw; and the rough side of the fence is turned outwards, and all possible terrors, which people within the boundary have nothing to do with, gather themselves together and frown down upon him. I need not remind you of how this same thesis--that we have to choose between the yoke of law and the iron yoke of lawlessness--is illustrated in the story of almost all violent revolutions. They run the same course. First the rising up of a nation against intolerable oppression, then revolution devours its own children, and the scum rises to the top of the boiling pot. Then comes, in the language of the picturesque historian of the French Revolution, the type of them all--then comes at the end “ the whiff of grapeshot” and the despot. First the government of a mob, and then the tyranny of an emperor comes to the people that shake off the yoke of reasonable law. II. We have to choose between the yoke of virtue and the iron yoke of vice. We are under a far more spiritual and searching law than that written in any statute-book, or administered by any Court. Every man carries within his own heart two things, and two persons; the court, the tribunal, the culprit, and the judge. And here, too, if law be not obeyed, the result is not liberty, but the slavery of lawlessness. A great philosopher once said that the two sublimest things in the universe were the moral law and the starry heavens. And that law “ I ought” bends over us like the starry heavens with which he associated it. No man can escape from the pressure of duty, and on every man is laid, by his very make, the twofold obligation, first to look upwards and catch the behests of that solemn law of duty, and then to turn his eyes and his strength inwards and coerce or spur, as the case may be, the powers of his nature, and rule the kingdom within himself. Now, as long as a man lets the ruling parts of his nature guide the lower faculties, he feels comparatively no pressure from the yoke. But if he once allows beggars to ride on horseback whilst princes walk--sense and appetite and desire, and more or less refined forms of inclination to take the place which belongs only to conscience interpreting duty--then he has exchanged the easy yoke for one that is heavy indeed. What does a man do when, instead of loyally accepting the conditions of his nature, and bowing himself to serve the all-embracing law of duty, he sets up inclination of any sort in its place? What does he do? I will tell you. He unships the helm; he pitches compass and sextant overboard; he fires up the furnaces, and screws down the safety-valve, and says, “ Go ahead!” And what will be the end of that, think you! Either an explosion or a crash upon a reef! and you may take your choice of which is the better kind of death--to be blown up or to go down. III. We have the choice between the yoke of Christ and the iron yoke of godlessness. If you do not take Christ for your Teacher you are handed over either to the uncertainty of your own doubts or to pinning your faith to some man and enrolling yourself as a disciple who is prepared to swallow down whole whatsoever the rabbi may say, giving to him what you will not give to Jesus; or else you will sink back into utter indolence and carelessness about the whole matter; or else you will go and put your belief and your soul into the hands of a priest; or shut your eyes and open your mouth and take whatever” tradition may choose to send you. The one refuge from all these, as I believe, is to go to Him and learn of Him, and take His yoke upon your shoulders. But, let me say further, it is better to obey Christ’ s commandments than to set ourselves against them. For if we will take His will for our law, and meekly assume the yoke of loyal and loving obedience to Him, the door into an earthly paradise is thrown open to us. His yoke is easy, not because its prescriptions and provisions lower the standard of righteousness and morality, but because love becomes the motive, and it is always blessed to do that which the Beloved desires. When “ I will” and “ I ought” cover exactly the same ground, then there is no kind of pressure from the yoke. Christ’ s yoke is easy because, too, He gives the power to obey His commandments. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) The two yokes I. Men must wear some yoke. In every stage of life--childhood, youth, manhood; and in every station of life--servants, masters, &c.1. God has made and sustains us, and asks that we submit to His will 2. With our passions and propensities, if we break the yoke it is meet we should wear, and do not serve God, we at once bend our necks to another yoke and serve slavishly our own selves. II. Christ’ s yoke is an easy one to wear.1. The yoke of Christ is a right one. Serve Jesus Christ, and it is found that the Christian law is perfection itself. 2. The yoke of Christ is framed in our interest. To believe in Christ is the highest wisdom; to repent of sin is the most delightful necessity; to follow after holiness is the most blissful pursuit; to become a servant of Christ is to be made a king and priest unto God. 3. Christ s yoke is not exacting. He, in His grace, always gives us of His bounty when He asks of us our duty. 4. It is an easy yoke. Never did a man wear it but he always loved to wear it. 5. The bright example of Christ makes the yoke pleasant to bear. He Himself has carried the very yoke we bear, and we have blessed fellowship with Him in this. 6. All who have borne Christ’ s yoke have had grace given equal to the weight of the burden. Wolsey regretted that he had not “ served God with half the zeal he had served his king,” but none has ever bewailed the zeal with which he followed Christ! 7. Christians who have borne this yoke always desire to get their children into it. Often men say, “ I do not want my sons to follow my trade, it is wearying, its pay is small,” &c. III. Those who refuse Christ’ s easy yoke will have to wear a worse one.1. Turning from the right road, from the cry of rectitude, because it threatens shame or loss, will entail vaster after-losses. 2. Backsliders, by putting off the yoke of Christianity, have not improved their condition. 3. They who refuse the Bible and follow tradition, Do these perverts of the true Christian religion get an easier yoke? No.; there are penances and mortifications, &c, 4. The self-righteous who attempt to work their own way to heaven. Self-righteousness is an iron yoke indeed. 5. Unbelievers, who will not believe the simple revelation of God, presently find themselves committed to systematic misbeliefs, which distract reason, oppress the heart, and trammel the conscience. 6. Lovers of pleasure. Pleasure often means lust, and gaiety means crime; and self-indulgence brings beggary and degradation, In the last tremendous day of Christ’ s coming to judgment, the Christian’ s yoke will be as a chain of gold about his neck; but sin, pleasure, will be as an iron yoke, a burden of enslaving woe. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 28:16 This year thou shalt die. Thoughts on death 1. Let men live ever so many years, some one year will be the year of their death. 2. Every year is a year of death to many; there never was a year since the abbreviation of human life, since the extensive propagation and dispersion of mankind over all countries on the face of the earth, which has not been a year of death to tens of thousands, 3. Last year was a year of death to very many. 4. This year, very probably, will be a year of death to some of us. This or the other tree may be cut down; this or the other branch may be lopt off, and fall to the ground. Let us see then that we be ready, that if cut down, it may be in mercy, not in wrath; that if plucked up by the root and transplanted, it may be to be transplanted in a far better soil, where the air is more genial, where the fruits are always ripe. 5. No one of us knows but God may be saying to him or her, “ This year thou shalt die.” Futurity is wisely hid from man; we know not the year or day of our death we need therefore constantly to watch. 6. It may be in mercy or in wrath that God is saying to this or the other one, “ This year thou shalt die.” It was in wrath that this was said to Hananiah. 7. The year of one’ s death is a most eventful year to him. This dissolves our connection with the present world; it issues us into the world of spirits. If we are the Lord’ s people, it associates us with God, Christ, angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect in the state of glory and blessedness. 8. There is no outliving the appointed year of one’ s death. No distinction of rank, no worldly pre-eminence, no degree of riches, influence, or power, no plea of necessity, no supposed usefulness in civil or sacred society, can prevent death. 9. The year of one’ s death may come very unexpectedly. (Anon.) Solemn thoughts I. This sentence is doubtless expressive of the decision of God concerning many this year.1. The page of history affords no record of a single year in which death desisted from his work of destruction. 2. The last year of many is now commended. 3. Various are the means by Which God’ s design will be executed. II. No individual can be certain that this does not express God’ s decision concerning himself. 1. Utterly impossible for us to know who are, or are not, included in God’ s appointments. 2. The circumstances of some render it most probable that this year will be their last. 3. Doubtless those who think least of death, and confidently reckon on future years, will find this sentence fulfilled. III. It is the duty and interest of all to use wisely the gracious hours they enjoy.1. What is it to die? To pass from this state of being into the immediate presence of our Maker and Judge. 2. Am I prepared to die? 3. Begin the year with earnest preparation. (J. Bunter.) A sermon on the New Year It is highly probable, that if some prophet, like Jeremiah, should open to us the book of the Divine decrees, one or other of us would there see our sentence, and the time of its execution fixed, “ Thus saith the Lord, This year thou shalt die.” There some of us would find it written, “ This year thou shalt enjoy a series of prosperity, to try if the goodness of God will lead thee to repentance.” Others might read this melancholy line, “ This year shall be to thee a series of afflictions: this year thou shalt lose thy dearest earthly support and comfort; this year thou shalt pine away with sickness, or agonise with torturing pain, to try if the kind severities of a Father’ s rod will reduce thee to thy duty. Others, I hope, would road the gracious decree, “ This year, thy stubborn spirit, after long resistance, shall be sweetly constrained to bow to the despised Gospel of Christ. This year shalt thou be born a child of God, and an heir of happiness, which the revolution of years shall never, never, terminate.” Others perhaps would read this tremendous doom, “ This year My Spirit so long resisted, shall cease to strive with thee; this year I will give thee up to thine own heart’ s lusts, and swear in My wrath thou shalt not enter into My rest.” Others would probably find the doom of the false prophet Hananiah pronounced against them: “ Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die.” I. This year you may die.1. Your life is the greatest uncertainty in the world. 2. Thousands have died since the last New Year’ s Day; and this year will be of the same kind with the last; the duration of mortals; a time to die. 3. Thousands of others will die: it is certain they will, and why may not you? 4. Though you are young; for the regions of the dead have been crowded with persons of your age; and no age is the least security against the stroke of death. 5. Though you are now in health and your constitution seems to promise a long life; for thousands of such will be hurried into the eternal world this year, as they have been in years past. 6. Though you are full of business, though you have projected many schemes, which it may be the work of years to execute, and which afford you many bright and flattering prospects. 7. Though you have not yet finished your education, nor fixed in life, but are preparing to appear in the world, and perhaps elated with the prospect of the figure you will make in it. 8. Though you are not prepared for it. 9. Though you deliberately delay your preparation, and put it off to some future time. 10. Though you are unwilling to admit the thought. Death does not slacken his pace towards you, because you hate him, and are afraid of his approach. 11. Though you may strongly hope the contrary, and flatter yourself with the expectation of a length of years. II. What if you should? If you should die this year, then all your doubts, all the anxieties of blended hopes and fears about your state and character will terminate for ever in full conviction. If you are impenitent sinners, all the artifices of self-flattery will be able to make you hope better things no longer; but the dreadful discovery will flash upon you with the resistless blaze of intuitive evidence. You will see, you will feel yourselves such. This year you may die: and should you die this year, you will be for ever cut off from all the pleasures of life. Then an everlasting farewell to all the mirth, the tempting amusements and vain delights of youth. Farewell to all the pleasures you derive from the senses, and all the gratifications of appetite. Then farewell to all the pompous but empty pleasures of riches and honours. The pleasures both of enjoyment and expectation from this quarter will fail for ever. But this is not all If you should die this year, you will have no pleasures, no enjoyments to substitute for those you will lose. Your capacity and eager thirst for happiness will continue, nay, will grow more strong and violent in that improved adult state of your nature. And yet you will have no good, real or imaginary, to satisfy it; and consequently the capacity of happiness will become a capacity of misery; and the privation of pleasure will be positive pain. If you die this year, you will not only be cut off from all the flattering prospects of this life, but from all hope entirely, and for ever. If you die in your sins, you will be fixed in an unchangeable state of misery; a state that will admit of no expectation but that of uniform, or rather ever-growing misery; a state that excludes all hopes of making a figure, except as the monuments of the vindictive justice of God, and the deadly effects of sin. III. Is it possible to escape this impending danger?1. Your case is not yet desperate, unless you choose to make it so; that is, unless you choose to persist in carelessness and impenitence, as you have hitherto done. 2. You all know that prayer, reading, and hearing the Word of God, meditation upon Divine things, free conference with such as have been taught by experience to direct you in this difficult work; you all know, I say, that these are the means instituted for your conversion: and if you had right views of things, and a just temper towards them, you would hardly need instruction or the least persuasion to make use of them. (S. Davies, D. D.) . Jeremiah 29:1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent.Messages to exiles I. The very fact that a message was sent to them under an express Divine appointment was consolatory. Wherever God’ s children are scattered, the written Word is to them a source of permanent encouragement. In the severest ways of justice God does not forget His own children, but has in reserve ample consolations for them, when they lie under the common judgment II. The particular providence of God, appearing on their behalf under all their calamities, was a source of consolation.1. He is the Lord of hosts, of all the armies above and below, and yet is the God of Israel; and though He permits their captivity, He does not break His relation to them--their covenant-God still, though under a cloud. 2. He assumes the active agency in their dispersion. “ I have caused them to be carried away.” Certainly it must be a great sin which induces a loving father to cast his child out of doors. But sin is a great scatterer, and is always followed by a driving away and a casting out. Yet the fact of God’ s being the agent in their dispersion is referred to as a ground of consolation; since it reconciles us to our troubles to see the hand of God in them, and to trace an all-gracious and merciful design in them. III. The promise of the stability and security of their social and domestic interests was given. IV. The prospect of a certain and favourable issue to their trials (verse 11). (S. Thodey.) Jeremiah 29:7 Seek the peace of the city.The best Christians the best citizens 1. They know that the prosperity of the whole is their own prosperity. They o not, therefore, selfishly seek their own advantage. 2. They actually labour with all diligence for the furtherance of the common good. 3. They employ for this end the power of Christian prayer. (Naegelsbach.) The duties of Christians to their country I. What are the things absolutely necessary to the security and prosperity, the true glory and happiness, of our country?1. The true honour of a nation, like that of the individual, lies in character. 2. The security and prosperity of our nation are inseparably associated with the advancement of religion among the people. II. What are the best means for securing those things which are essential to our country’ s highest welfare?1. General diffusion of education. “ Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.” 2. Equally essential that the people be virtuous. Knowledge is power, but unsanctified power is power for evil. 3. The general distribution of the Bible--the great instrument for enlightening the conscience and purifying the heart. 4. Preaching the Gospel Our nature is a wreck, a chaos, which the Cross of Christ alone can adjust. 5. Prayer (2 Chronicles 7:13-14; Psalms 106:23; Exodus 32:10). III. What arguments may enforce the duties of personal and combined activity in seeking the highest good of our land?1. Because our own individual good is intimately connected with its general happiness and prosperity. “ For in the peace thereof ye shall have peace.” 2. We shall thereby recommend the religion we profess. 3. The work of supplying our land with the preached Gospel, and with religious institutions, is the most important work to which Christians can devote their energies. (Samuel Baker, D. D.) The civil obligations of Christian people When a man becomes a Christian does he cease to be a member of civil society? Allowing that he be not the owner of the ship, but only a passenger in it, has he nothing to awaken his concern in the voyage? If he be only a traveller towards a better country, is he to be told that because he is at an inn which he is soon to leave, it should not excite any emotion in him, whether it be invaded by robbers, or consumed by flames before the morning? “ In the peace thereof ye shall have peace.” Is not religion variously affected by public transactions? Can a Christian, for instance, be indifferent to the cause of freedom, even on a pious principle? Does not civil liberty necessarily include religious, and is it not necessary to the spreading of the Gospel? (W. Jay.) Jeremiah 29:8-13I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.The thoughts of God to His people, peace and not evil These words were addressed to the Jews, when they were captives in Babylon. It is very delightful when we have kind thoughts of our fellow-men; for suspicion is always a great misery. But it is especially delightful to have kind thoughts of God, when we possess enlarged and noble conceptions of His excellency and glory. I. The ground and reason of our suspicion respecting God, that He has unkind intentions or evil thoughts towards us. The chief, if not the only cause, is sin. Wicked men know that the wages of sin is death; that sin must be cancelled, or God is against them, and they are ruined. But what is the evil which men anticipate from God, and in respect to which they entertain suspicions? There is the evil of affliction. This is the sense in which the text is to be taken. It relates to temporal evil, the evil of calamity, losses, changes, and disasters. And why should men fear or anticipate evil in this form? We are not to forebode anything. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Take no thought for the morrow. We hear often of pleasures disappointed, and of hopes unrealised. Might we not speak of evils anticipated which never come? Then there is an ulterior evil; that which is far off, or apparently more remote. Are you afraid of death, or of dying? Are you afraid, when Christ has said, He that believeth in Me shall never die; I am the resurrection and the life; I will raise you up at the last day? Are you afraid of eternity, of which we hear so much, and know so little? I ask, is the bird afraid, when the shell opens, and he begins to feel the soft sweet plumage grow? Is the newborn child afraid, when it comes into this world of sin and sorrow? And shall you be afraid to awake and emerge, anywhere in God’ s great empire, anywhere or at anytime, in His unbounded and infinite dominion? Are we afraid of the love of God? God is love. Christ is love. God invites you and me in love. He says, Come, and I will bless you. Come, and I will pour My Spirit upon you. Come, and I will make you happy, and call you sons and daughters. Come, and I will save you, and I will soon put you in possession of heaven. II. The manner in which it pleases God to contradict these suspicions, and to deny that there is any truth in them. Suppose you are a wicked man: what does God say? Forsake your evil ways. I will multiply to pardon. Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? I desire not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn and live. God thinks no evil: if so, could He not crush and extinguish thee, O man, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye? His thoughts towards thee are thoughts of peace, and not of evil. Then to the backsliders He says, Return, O backsliding children; I will receive you graciously, and love you freely. Are you penitent? He will give you beauty for ashes; the oil of joy for mourning; the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. You say that you are sinful, and not worthy of being called a child. What does God say? Bring the best robe. Take off the filthy garments. Put the fair mitre on his head. O God of peace! how peaceful, how pacific Thou art! You may have had changes. You may have passed through storms; but the darker the cloud, the brighter is the rainbow of promise that is stretched across it. And God intends to give His people everlasting peace. III. The expected end. What is it? To the Jews in Babylon, it was restoration to the temple and the altar, to the priests, and to the sacrifices; and by the Jews this “ end” was realised. To the Hebrews of later times, the expected end is recovery to greater blessings. They are forsaken for a small moment; but with great mercy they will be gathered in again. The expected end, both to Jews and Gentiles, is the millennial light, repose, and happiness. The expected end is the end of all sin. It is to endure no more conflicts, to undergo no more labours; to be wise by intuition; to possess boundless knowledge, and perfect purity, derived immediately from Him who is the source and fountain of all purity and all perfection. They who go in, shall never go out again. (J. Stratten.) God’ s thoughts of/ peace, and our expected end I. The Lord’ s thoughts towards His people.1. It is noteworthy that He does think of them, and towards them. Observe that this Scripture saith not, “ I know the thoughts that I have thought toward you.” It would be possible for you to have thought out a plan of kindness towards a friend, and you might have so arranged it that it would henceforth be a natural fountain of good to him without your thinking any more about it; but that is not after the method of God. His eye and His hand are towards His people continually. It is true He did so think of us that He has arranged everything about us, and provided for every need, and against every danger; but yet He has not ceased to think of us. His infinite mind, whose thoughts are as high above our thoughts as the heavens are above the earth, continues to exercise itself about us. “ The Lord hath been mindful of us,” and He is still mindful of us. The Lord not only thinks of you, but towards you. His thoughts are all drifting your way. This is the way the south wind of His thoughts of peace is moving: it is towards you. A person may happen to do you a good turn; but if you are sure that he did it by accident, or with no more thought than that wherewith a passing stranger throws a penny to a beggar, you are not impressed with gratitude. But when the action of your friend is the result of earnest deliberation, and you see that he acts in the tenderest regard to your welfare, you are far more thankful: traces of anxiety to do you good are very pleasant. Have I not heard persons say, “ It was so kind and so thoughtful of him” ? Do you not notice that men value kindly thought, and set great store by tender consideration? Remember, then, that there is never a thoughtless action on the part of God. His mind goes with His hand: His heart is in His acts. 2. The thoughts of God are only perfectly known to Himself. It would be a mere truism for God to say, “ I know the thoughts that I think toward you.” Even a man usually knows his own thoughts; but the meaning is this: when you do not know the thoughts that I have towards you, yet I know them. “ Truly the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” God alone understands Himself and His thoughts. We stand by a powerful machine, and we see the wheels moving this way and that, but we do not understand its working. What does it matter? He who made the engine and controls it, perfectly understands it, and this is practically the main concern; for it does not matter whether we understand the engine or not, it will work its purpose if he who has the control of it is at home with all its hands and wheels. Despite our ignorance, nothing can go wrong while the Lord in infinite knowledge ruleth over all. The child playing on the deck does not understand the tremendous engine whose beat is the throbbing heart of the stately Atlantic liner, and yet all is safe; for the engineer, the captain and the pilot are in their places, and well know what is being done. Let not the child trouble itself about things too great for it. Leave you the discovery of doubtful causes to Him whose understanding is infinite; and as for yourself, be you still, and know that Jehovah is God. 3. The Lord would have us know that His thoughts toward us are settled and definite. Sometimes a man may hardly know his own thoughts, because he has scarcely made up his mind. The case is far otherwise with the only wise God. The Lord is not a man that He should need to hesitate; His infinite mind is made up, and He knows His thoughts. With the Lord there is neither question nor debate. “ He is in one mind, and none can turn Him.” His purpose is settled, and He adheres to it. He is resolved to reward them that diligently seek Him, and to honour those that trust in Him. 4. God’ s thoughts toward His people are always thoughts of peace. He is at peace with them through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. He delights in them; He seeks their peace, He creates their peace, He sustains their peace, and thus all His thoughts toward them are peace. Note well the negative, which is expressly inserted. It might have appeared enough to say, “ My thoughts are thoughts of peace.” Yes, it would be quite sufficient, when all things are bright with us; but those words, “ and not of evil,” are admirably adapted to keep off the goblins of the night, the vampires of suspicion which fly in the darkness. 5. The Lord’ s thoughts are all working towards “ an expected end,” or, as the R.V. has it, “ to give you hope in your latter end.” Some read it, “ a future and a hope.” Goal is working with a motive. All things are working together for one object: the good of those who love God. We see only the beginning; God sooth the end from the beginning. He regardeth not only the tearing up of the soil with the plough, but the clothing of that soil with the golden harvest. He sees the after consequences of affliction, and He accounts those painful incidents to be blessed which lead up to so much of happiness. Let us comfort ourselves with this. II. The proper attitude of God’ s people towards their Lord.1. You will all agree with me when I say that our attitude should be that of submission. If God, in all that He does towards us, is acting with an object, and that object a loving one, then let Him do what seemeth Him good. 2. Next, let our position be one of great hopefulness, seeing the end of God, in all He does, is to give us “ a future and a hope.” We are not driven into growing darkness, but led into increasing light. There is always something to be hoped for in the Christian’ s life. 3. Our relation to God should, next, be one of continual expectancy, especially expectancy of the fulfilment of His promises. “ I will perform My good Word toward you.” His promises are good words: good indeed, and sweetly refreshing. When your hearts are faint, then is the promise emphatically good. Expect the Lord to be as good as His good Word. 4. Again, our position towards God should be one of happy hope, as to blessed ends being answered even now. Affliction is the seal of the Lord s election. I remember a story of Mr. Mack, who was a Baptist minister in Northamptonshire. In his youth he was a soldier, and calling on Robert Hall, when his regiment marched through Leicester, that great man became interested in him, and procured his release from the ranks. When he went to preach in Glasgow, he sought out his aged mother, whom he had not seen for many years. He knew his mother the moment he saw her; but the old lady did not recognise her son. It so happened that when he was a child, his mother had accidentally wounded his wrist with a knife. To comfort him she cried, “ Never mind, my bonnie bairn, your mither will ken you by that when ye are a man.” When Mack’ s mother would not believe that a grave, fine-looking minister could be her own child, he turned up his sleeve and cried, “ Mither, mither, dinna ye ken that?” In a moment they were in each other’ s arms. Ah, the Lord knows the spot of His children. He acknowledges them by the mark of correction. What God is doing to us in the way of trouble and trial is but His acknowledgment of us as true heirs, and the marks of His rod shall be our proof that we are not bastards, but true sons. (C. H. Spurgeon.) God’ s thoughts I. God thinks of His people. That seems a very simple thing to say, does it not? It is as sublime as it is simple! God thinks of His people. Though so occupied--I had almost said, “ though so busy,” --God finds time and opportunity to give thought to His children. He numbers the hairs of our head; He knows every inch of our path; our sorrows and our joys are all calculated and catalogued by Him. He knows our uprising and our downsitting, our going out and our coming in. What is there of which He has not perfect cognisance? What is there in which He is not interested? Oh, wonder of wonders, that this busy God of ours knows us, loves us, cares for us, enters into the petty details of our fleeting life, and counts no grief too slight for us to take to Him in prayer. The current of His thoughts sets our way. Like a great warm gaff-stream, the loving thoughts of God lave the shores of every believing soul, and bring life and verdure to the full, by means of their helpful influences.1. This is the more wonderful, when we remember how sinful we are. He sees and knows all about you, and you He loveth still. 2. I learn hence, also, that God thinks very definitely and deliberately about His people. 3. Best of all is it He thinks so tenderly about us. “ Thoughts of peace.” It is He who has made peace possible ’ twixt God and man, for He longs to have us reconciled to Him. It is Jesus who has made peace by the death of His Cross. It is the Holy Ghost who speaks peace to troubled hearts and consciences. It is His kind providence that keeps us in perfect peace, our minds being stayed on Him. II. God’ s thoughts concerning His people are often of a private nature. The emphasis of this verse should come upon the personal pronoun. “ I know the thoughts that I think towards you.” They are hidden from you. “ My way,” says God, “ is not yet discovered.” My purposes remain unrevealed. None can know perfectly the mind and will of God. How can we reach to such an awful height? How can we plunge into such abysmal depths?1. Let the fact that God Knows His thoughts satisfy our curiosity. It is childish in the extreme to lift the plant that has been lately put into the ground, and it will fail to grow if treated thus. It is childish--is it not?--to break the drum-bead, in order to discover whence the music comes. But we are not less childish who want to know what God has not revealed, and who are not content to do His bidding without saying, “ But why?” The why and the wherefore may not concern us. But the duty does concern us. Let us hasten in the way of His commandment. 2. This, also, should calm our restlessness. Let the spirit of patience possess you. Wait, wait, wait, till God sees fit to bless. 3. Meanwhile, let there be no distrust. It is fear that misconstrues the purposes of God. It is unbelief that misinterprets the words and ways of Jehovah. Even when things appear to be against us, let us trust and not be afraid. III. When god thinks, he thinks to purpose. “ To give you an expected end.” God always works to an end, and with a motive. Here He speaks about the people’ s dreams. They were mere dreams--“ the baseless fabric of a vision.” But God has no dreams. His thoughts are honest, earnest, fruitful, resultful. Moreover, His works ever agree with the thoughts from which they spring. God does not leave His people to haphazard, nor does He do anything by halves. Trust Him in all His works and ways, and you will see that “ as for God, His way is perfect.” When He sets Himself to make a world, He rests not till He has made it perfectly, and can pronounce it good. When He sets Himself to destroy sinful men, He makes a clean sweep of them, whether it be with flood or flame. And when He comes from heaven to redeem a sinful race of men, His tears do not stop, nor does His blood cease flowing, till He can cry, “ It is finished.” (Thomas Spurgeon.) God’ s thoughts God’ s thoughts are like God,--they are wonderful as Himself, and worthy of Himself. His ways are the results of His thoughts, and their revelation to us. Creation, in all its vastness and completeness, is the thought of God,--a thought that embraced not only the great outlines, but all the details of the work of His Word,--a thought that did not require to be supplemented or enlarged. Providence, in its heights and depths, its lengths and breadths, is His thought,--a thought that takes in the entire history of our race, and is ever at work to bring about one great purpose, one glorious design. Redemption, in all its surpassing glory, is His thought,-a thought of which the whole Gospel is the revelation. I. God’ s thoughts must be revealed. They are known only to His Spirit, “ for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” These deep things are known to us, for God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. We are permitted to know the thoughts of God that have had reference to ourselves; we are assisted in our conceptions of these thoughts, and it is wonderful to be told that they come into our minds, that they dwell in our hearts, and that we have communion with the thoughts of God. God is ever at work in the world, not only on its great stage, but on the narrow platform of our own dwellings; and we are permitted, in our brief lives, to see the impressions that are thrown off from the mind of God, the thoughts of God, in the dispensations of His providence. “ Many, O Lord my God, are Thy wonderful works, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward.” God has spoken to man. He spake unto the fathers by the prophets, but He hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. All that God has to say cannot be spoken; all that He has to reveal cannot be told us in words. We must have the death as well as the life of Jesus. II. God’ s thoughts are revealed, and they are thoughts concerning us. However wonderful these thoughts, they might not concern us, they might not be about us; they might be about angels, and not about men,--about other worlds, and not this small province in God’ s empire. But these thoughts become to us of the greatest moment, when we are told that they are about us--that God thought of us long ago--that before the world began, the thoughts of God were concerning us. How is man magnified by this very fact! III. What is the character of these thoughts concerning us1. Sometimes we think God’ s thoughts towards us are evil, because His ways are so full of mystery. We see the means to the end--we do not see the end. But the way to it is dark and sorrowful, and the events by which it is to be brought about, we baptise by the name of evil. 2. God’ s thoughts are eminently practical They are thoughts to an end. God is “ wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.” God alone could originate the thoughts that fill His mind; He only can accomplish them. He does not merely think,--He speaks, He works, and fulfils His designs. IV. God has the most perfect acquaintance with his own thoughts, and with their character.1. “ I know the thoughts that l, think toward you.” The Infinite Mind knows no change. God’ s thoughts are the same to-day as yesterday; and hence His promises are like thoughts that have just been breathed in our world; and His gifts and calling are without repentance. 2. Let us acquaint ourselves with these thoughts. We have the record. We have the words of Him who spake as never man spake. Let us get these Divine thoughts into our minds, that our thoughts may be quickened and strengthened, that we may think the thoughts of God, that we may have communion with the mind of God. V. If God has placed His thoughts before our minds, let us place our thoughts before God. Let us not only think about Him, but to Him. Let us thus have fellowship with Him. VI. Let us so act and live, as to carry out and exemplify God’ s thoughts. “ The grace of God has appeared to us, teaching us that we should deny ungodliness.” Let us profit by its teaching; let us act out its teaching by living Godlike. (H. J. Bevis.) To give you an expected end. God’ s future and hope for human race I. The human race is under Divine training for a blessed and glorious future. God cannot create a single creature to hate and to leave in sin and misery, and if He could, how could He be God? II. Let us with reverence and humility try to learn something of God’ s great thoughts respecting the future of fallen men. Try to think of the future of God’ s lost children in the light of what He has done for them. If we consider it in the light of the Incarnation of the Son, His heavenly teaching, His mighty works, and His voluntary sufferings, we shall never despair. Think further of what God is doing through His Spirit; for He is through His Spirit enlightening men’ s minds, leading them to the truth, convincing them of sin, and purifying the nature and perfecting the character of believers. If earthly fathers are so anxious for making a worthy and honourable future for their children, is it likely that the Divine Father will be heedless about the future of His children? No; that cannot be. In all the sufferings, trials, and discipline of the present, He has their future perfection, happiness, and glory in view.1. Holiness of nature.2. Perfection of character.3. Perfection of service.4. Perfection of joy. (Z. Mather.) Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. Divine purposes fulfilled in answer to prayer I. A certain danger declared (Jeremiah 29:8-9). We have here the same caution which the Redeemer subsequently gave, to “ beware of false prophets.” In all ages have they appeared, and most disastrous have been the effects produced by their teaching (Ezekiel 13:10-14). II. A blessed deliverance promised.1. The grounds on which it rested. “ For thus saith the Lord.” 2. The time of their return is expressly declared (Jeremiah 29:10). God’ s time is always the best. 3. In their restoration the Divine faithfulness would be strikingly manifested. “ I will visit you,” &c. 4. The procuring cause of their deliverance was the boundless compassion of Jehovah (Jeremiah 29:11). III. An important duty enjoined. Prayer.1. It is a duty Divinely ordained. 2. It is a duty to the observance of which the greatest encouragement is afforded. “ I will hearken unto you.” 3. This duty, in order to be successful, must not be attended to in a formal and lifeless manner. (Anon.) Captivities and how to improve them I. We may describe every real affliction which comes upon the christian as a captivity. To be in a condition which we never should have voluntarily preferred, or to be held back, by the power of something which we cannot control, from that which we eagerly desire to do,--is not that the very thing in an experience which makes it a trial? Take bodily illness, for example, and when you get at the root of the discomfort of it, you find it in the union of these two things: you are where you do not want to be, and where you would never have thought of putting yourself, and you are held there, whether you will or not, by the irresistible might of your own weakness. The same thing comes out in every sort of affliction. You are, let me suppose, in business perplexities. Well, that is not of your own choosing. If you could have accomplished it, you would have been in quite different circumstances. But, in spite of you, things have gone crooked. You have been carried from the Jerusalem of comfort to the Babylon of perplexity, by no effort of yours, nay, perhaps, against the utmost resistance on your part, and now you can do nothing. So sometimes, also, our providential duties are a kind of affliction to us. We had no choice in determining whether we would assume them. They came to us, unbidden, at least, if not undesired, and they have chained us to themselves, so that when we are asked to take part in some effort for the benefit of others we are compelled to say “ No.” II. Every captivity of which the Christian is the victim will have an end. “ Time and the hour run through the roughest day.” “ Be the day weary, or be the day long, at last it ringeth to evensong.” It is but a little while, at the longest, and we shall be where “ sorrow and sighing shall for ever flee away.” This state of limitation, this conflict between our aspirations and our abilities, is not to last for ever. Not for ever shall we be in bondage to the weakness of the body, hampered by its liability to disease, and hindered by its proneness to fatigue. Not always shall we be at the mercy of the unscrupulous and dishonest. Not continually shall we be held down by the encumbrances that overweight us here on earth. For in the fatherland above we shall work without weariness, and serve God without imperfection. But, while there is much in this view of the case to sustain us, we must not lose sight of the moral end which God has in view in sending us into our captivity. Ah! how many of our idolatries He has rebuked and rectified by our captivities! We had been worshipping our reputation, and lo! an illness came which laid us aside, and our names were by and by forgotten, as new men came to the front; and then, learning the folly of out false ambition, we turned from the idolatry of self to the homage of Jehovah. Or, we had made an idol of our business; but now it is in ruins, and as we see the perishableness of earthly things, we turn to Him who is unchanging and eternal. Or, we had made a god of our dwelling, and by some reverse of fortune it is swept away from us, just that we might learn the meaning of that old song of Moses (Psalms 90:1). How many portions of His Word, also, have been explained to us by our trials! There is no commentator of the Scriptures half so valuable as a captivity. It unfolds new beauties where all had appeared to be beautiful before; and where formerly there was what we thought a wilderness, it has revealed to us a fruitful field. III. If we would have such results from our captivity, there are certain important things which we must cultivate.1. A willing acceptance of God’ s discipline, and patient submission to it. The impatient horse which will not quietly endure his halter only strangles himself in his stall. The high-mettled animal that is restive in the yoke only galls his shoulders; and every one will understand the difference between the restless starling of which Sterne has written, breaking its wings against the bars of its cage, and crying, “ I can’ t get out,” “ I can’ t get out,” and the docile canary that sits upon its perch and sings as if he would outrival the lark soaring to heaven’ s gate, and so moves his mistress to open the door of his prison-house and give him the full range of the room. He who is constantly looking back and bewailing that which he has lost, does only thereby unfit himself for improving in any way the discipline to which God has subjected him; whereas the man who brings his mind down to his lower lot, and deliberately examines how he can serve God best in that, is already on the way to happiness and to restoration. 2. Unswerving confidence in God. If we doubt Him we at once become the prey to despondency, impatience, and rebellion. Confidence in your physician is itself more than half the cure, and trust in God is absolutely essential if we would gain benefit from His discipline. Yet because a change in men’ s conduct toward us is usually the indication of a difference in their disposition toward us, we think that God has ceased to care for us when He puts us into trial or sends us into captivity. But it is not so. To-day the medical man gives his patient liberty to take anything he chooses; to-morrow he cuts off all indulgence, and uses severe and painful remedies; but does he care the less for him because he thus changes his treatment, or has his purpose regarding him undergone an alteration? Not at all In both cases he is equally earnest to have his health restored. And it is quite similar with God in His dealings with His people. 3. Fervent prayer. No calamity can be to us an unmixed evil if we carry it in direct and fervent prayer to God, for even as one in taking shelter from the rain beneath a tree may find on its branches fruit which he looked not for, so we, in fleeing for refuge beneath the shadow of God’ s wing, will always find more in God than we had seen or known before. It is thus through our afflictions that God gives us fresh revelations of Himself; and the Jabbok ford, which we crossed to seek His help, leads to the Peniel, where, as the result of our wrestling, we “ see God face to face,” and our lives are preserved. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Finding God To search after God is really to educate oneself. To know God requires that we should be educated in the Divine qualities. The knowledge of God is not something outside of us, and far removed from us. It is revealed in us, and by some quality that is within us. Now, to search after God has always been considered or spoken of as a work involving the expenditure of great zeal and intensity; and the question arises, Is it so difficult for men to know God? Fellowship and a knowledge of God are the food of the soul; they are the conditions of a true and large manhood; and axe we pushed so far from Him by the intrinsic difficulties of knowledge that we cannot know Him? We surely can know God by the use of our ordinary senses so far as He is made manifest in the exterior world, as the Maker, as the Sustainer, as the Architect, and the Engineer; we behold what He is by what He has done; and yet, we have thus approached but a very little way toward Him. Can we, then, by sitting down to contemplation, can we by any such method as that of the laboratory, or that analysis which the philosopher employs, draw out a more perfect knowledge of God? Only in after stages, and only in a subsidiary sphere, can men gain knowledge by the internal philosophical method. It succeeds other methods, and methods of more importance. So the difficulty of searching after God is real; but it is not the kind of difficulty which men suspect. It is not that God is purposely hidden. It is because the overruling of our lower nature, the subjugation of pride, the restraint of vanity, the putting down of avarice, the overcoming of the fever of ambition, and the regulation of the passions--it is because these things are so difficult, that the strife and the seeking are made necessary by the required formation of a God-like nature in ourselves; for we shall see God only through so much of the impartation of the Divine nature as is given to us and received by us, The Divine qualities--the qualities of truth, justice, mercy, long-suffering, love, kindness, self-sacrifice, disinterested benevolence--these can be appreciated only by those who have something of them in themselves; and when we seek after God to know Him, we are seeking really to know ourselves, and to fashion ourselves. It is a work of self-education through which we come to a knowledge of the supreme Being; and this does require searching. How, then, do men seek after God? They have been told that the knowledge of God, that the presence of God in their souls, is quite necessary for their safety in death, and for their remission from hell in the life that is to come; and out of the most selfish or the most superstitious feeling they often make a languid and feeble search after God purely for protective purposes--not from honour; not from love; not from conscious weakness to be impleted; not from a sense of their inferiority and a desire of aggrandisement by things that make nobility in the soul; not from any worthy purpose, but that they may have a barrier to keep off the avalanche of death. There are others who join with me in denouncing folly upon such, who are scarcely better, although they are frivolous in a higher mood. There are many who seek after God as poets seek after conceits. They love God as they love music; they love Him as they love the chant of the singer, or the effusion of the smooth-rhymed poet; and only thus do they seek after God. To them He is a vision; He is a floating cloud; He is a spring morning; He is a thundering sea; He is a landscape; He is a poem; but He is not Jehovah; He is not Father; He is not Governor, or Judge, or Rewarder. Well, there be others that seek after God, as a philosopher seeks after a proposition, disentangling intellectual conceptions, framing new ideas in some collected form into a speculative and philosophic God--a God of propositions; a God of attributes; a God of syllogisms; a logical God; a rhetorical God; a demonstrative, conceptional God. Whatever may come through the moulds of the intellect they employ in building up a bloodless God, a soulless God, a God of abstractions; and they think when they have hedged Him in with one and another and another distinction sharply drawn, and have clearly rounded out their conception, that they have sought after God, and that they have found Him--and God laughs. For who by such searching can find out God; as if a man who never talked with you, who never walked with you, who never worked with you, who never lived with you, and who was never loved by you; as if one that had no personal acquaintance with you could ever out of his own consciousness deduce a correct idea of what you are! Searching for God with one’ s heart is the way to find Him out; for God is discerned by the heart. That is the temple in the soul of God; and only they that enter into the searching of God by the heart can come near to Him or know Him. All they who seek after God then, irresolutely, occasionally, with fluctuating zeal, for selfish ends, dreamily, imaginatively, poetically, or by speculation and the lines of a dry philosophy--all such come short. They never can reproduce God. Only they who have framed in themselves some conception of high moral qualities, and have learned out of their own experience to frame a notion of God for the sake of making that notion their governor, their schoolmaster--only they can reproduce God. Frame a conception of God as of a Father full of pitifulness, full of tenderness, full of gentleness, full of wrath, but wrath that protects; full of severity, but the severity of a father for the cleansing of his son; frame a conception of God as reigning not to destroy but to recover, not to beat down but to lift up, not to shut men in prisons but to open the prison-doors, not to weld shackles or to impose them, hut to break them; frame a conception of God which is eminent in characteristics of motherhood, and give to it the magnitude of infinity; and then when these moral qualities are once established in thy sympathy and in thy thought, and magnified by the imagination, and lifted into the heavenly sphere, and thou mayest bow down before it, and say to it, “ Thou God of reason, Thou God of compassion, Thou God of infinite love, Thou God whose thoughts rain bounty, Thou God who livest not for Thyself but for Thy creatures, Thee I behold; to Thee I submit, because Thou art infinitely good beyond all conception- Thee I worship and Thee I obey.” And then, having framed some such initial conception of God, be thou trained into the same likeness, and develop in thyself whatever is in harmony with this image of the Creator. You find portrayed in the Gospels the mind and will of God. That men may know Him personally, four lives are given of the Lord Jesus Christ, besides the interpretations and comments that are found in the letters and epistles. Study earnestly that slight yet wonderful sketch and portraiture of this superior Being. Keep it before your mind until you have a distinct conception of the personality of the Lord Jesus Christ. The critical and determinative question with you is this-Wilt thou have such an One to rule over you? Are you willing to lift, in your conception, into the heavenly places, such an idea of God as you derive from the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you willing to say, “ Thy will, and not mine, be done” ? Are you willing to take this oath and covenant of allegiance, never to be broken, “ I dedicate my life to the fulfilment of Thy commands, and to the development in myself of Thy disposition” ? If you are, you have found your God. The moment you have this conception of a loving Being, with a determinate moral character, who requires of you a corresponding moral character, and the moment there is in you a genuine volition and purpose to love and obey such an One, the work is begun, and you have been introduced to your Master. Now, after that, the very first step which you take in your attempt to act justly, you will be environed by the bands and hoops of society; by its imperfections; by the injustice which custom always imposes; and you will have a conflict with the prevailing tendencies by which you are surrounded. Your large and Christian conception of justice will stand in marked contrast with the contracted and worldly conception of justice which is prevalent; and you will become a reformer; and you will feel, “ I must take up my cross; and if I follow Christ I must suffer.” Yes, you must suffer if you would enjoy. Not that you are to suffer as if religion itself were a suffering, for religion itself is just the opposite; but you are coming out of a state of ignorance and bondage into a state of knowledge and freedom. You are going toward the right; and having once come to the right, it will be a blessing; for the right is s reward in over-measure. Your first impulse should be to act beneficently; and there is to be a power of beneficence in your soul. You should have a feeling that you are not your own. You that are strong should bear with the weak. You should carry one another’ s burdens. You should manifest towards your fellow-men the disposition of love. Working out, then, your conception of God little by little; gathering conceptions of the Divine Being from all that is good and high and noble in practical life, and bringing back to yourself as motives in your own soul corresponding qualities, that your nature in its measure may become like God, growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will find that your sense of the Divine Presence purifies itself, cleanses itself, augments itself, makes itself more and more powerful, until the time comes in which you can say, literally, “ I walk with God. My God made the heavens and the earth He is a God of force, and a God of tranquillity. My God is father and mother to my thought. He is all that is transcendent in patience and meekness and goodness; and not because He is inert; not because He is weak; for He will by no means clear the guilty. He upholds the right. He stands for the oppressed. He is a God who is determined that good shall prevail as against evil. But He works with a mother-heart, by tears, by groans, by death itself. He gives Himself for the poor, and the outcast, and the sinful, and the needy. He bore our sins in His own body; and by His stripes we are healed.” (H. W. Beecher.) Seekers directed and encouraged I. To the unconverted. Our text has a word for you. You have lost your God: you m e at a distance from Him; your sins have separated you from your Maker, and nothing will ever be really right--till you get back to your God. The prodigal said, “ I will arise and go to my father,” and some such spirit must be in you, or we cannot hope well of you. You must search after the Lord. You are allowed to search for Him, and what a privilege that is. When Adam sinned, he could not go back to Paradise, for with a flaming sword in his hand there stood the mailed cherub to keep the way that he might not touch the tree of life. But God, as far as the garden of His mercy is concerned, has moved that fiery sentinel, and Jesus Christ has set angels of love to welcome you at mercy’ s gate. You may come to God, for God has come to you. He has taken upon Himself your nature, and His name is Emmanuel, God with us. Search for Him, and you must find Him, for so stands His own Word, “ Ye shall seek Me, and find Me.” The text, however, demands that our searching after God should be done with all our heart. There axe several ways of seeking God which must prove failures. One is to seek Him with no heart at all. This is done by those who take their book and read prayers, never thinking what they say; or who attend a dissenting place of worship, and hear another person pray, but never join in it. If any of you have fallen into a formal religion, and seek the Lord without your heart, your seeking is in vain. Some seek God with a false heart. Their piety is an affectation of feeling, and not deep soul-work; it is sentimentality, and not the graving of God’ s Spirit upon the heart. God grant us to be saved from a lie in the heart, for it is a deadly canker, fatal to all hope of finding the Lord. Some seek Him, too, with a double heart--a heart and a heart, as the Hebrew puts it. If one oar pulls towards earth and the other towards heaven the boat of the soul will revolve in a circle of folly, but never reach the happy shore. Beware of a double heart. And some seek God with half a heart. They have a little concern, and are not altogether indifferent; they do think when they pray, or read, or sing, but the thought is not very intense. Superficial in all things, the seed is sown in stony ground, and soon it is withered away, because there is no depth of earth. The Lord save us from this! Now, ye that are seeking Christ, remember that if you would find Him you must neither seek Him without heart, nor with a false heart, nor with a double heart, nor with a half heart, but “ Ye shall find Me,” saith the Lord, “ when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” What did Jesus say?--“ The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Heaven’ s celestial bastions must be stormed by downright importunity. But why is it that when men search with all their heart they do find God? I will tell you. The only way in which we can find God is in Jesus Christ. There He meets with men, but nowhere else, and to get to Jesus Christ there is nothing on earth to be done but simply to believe in Him. The saving Word is near thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, and that is why when men seek the Lord with their whole hearts they find Him, for before they called the Lord was ready to answer. Jesus was always ready; but other wishes and other thoughts made the seeker unready. Sins were there, and lusts of the flesh, and all manner of hamper to hinder the man. When a man comes to seek God with all his heart, he lets those things go, and soon sees Jesus. Then, too, a man becomes teachable, for when a man is in earnest to escape from danger he is glad enough to be told by anybody. I charge you, then, you that seek the Lord, to be whole-hearted in it, for you cannot expect peace and joy in the Holy Ghost till all those straggling affections and wandering desires are tied up into one bundle, and your entire being is eager in the search for God in Christ Jesus. II. The backslider. Backsliders, you have left your Lord. Oh, you who once made a profession of religion, I cannot understand how you can dare to think of the judgment day, for you will not be able to plead ignorance, for you knew the truth and professed to believe it. If a prince of the blood were sent to a common gaol, what a misery it would be to him. I pity every man who has to work upon the treadmill, so far as he can deserve pity, but most of all the man who has been delicately brought up and scarce knows what labour means, for it must be hard indeed to him. Ah, you delicate sons and daughters of Zion, you whose mouths were never stained with a curse, and whose hands have never been defiled with outward sin, if your hearts be not right with God, you must take your place with the profane and share with them. What say you to this? Do you say, “ I would fain return and find acceptance in Christ” ? To you the text speaks expressly. Then shall you “ find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” III. My last word is to you, the members of this Church. Thus saith the Lord, “ Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Heart searchings 1. Man, through all the ages of time, has been influenced by a principle of reform. The pathway of the generations has been trodden amidst the Babel-tongued shouts of “ Progress!” True progress has ever been characterised by diligent research. So we may well-nigh estimate the excellence of acquirement by intensity of endeavour to attain, and calculate worth by the economics of moral labour. 2. This searching is the child of necessity. For possession begets desire; the perfecting of one design reveals the incompleteness of another, or the converse; the failure of one scheme throws into bolder relief the success of another. 3. The searching, to be successful, must also be thorough: “ with all your heart.” The discoveries of insincerity are accidental. “ Heart searchings” are illumined by the light of heaven. 4. Application-- (1) The ultimate and inevitable object of search, “ Me.” (2) The certainty of success assured, dependent only upon the one condition named, i.e. earnestness, “ Ye shall find Me.” (3) “ Searching” is not always strenuous exertion; study the might of systematic inaction. “ Canst thou by searching (alone) find out God? Wait patiently for Him.” “ Stand still and see the salvation of God.” (4) Note the individual reference of the text: “ Ye shall seek Me, and find Me,” &c. (Preacher’ s Analyst.) Searching with all the heart Kepler, first in fact and in genius of modern astronomers, deservedly called “ the legislator of the heavens,” sought with all his heart to solve astronomical problems. With agony he strove to enter the straight gate and narrow way that led to the secret chamber of science, and explain the enigmas of six thousand yearn Vainly did the secrets of planetary and stellar worlds seek to elude him. He forged key after key, that he might unlock the doors of these mysteries. His courage and patience transfigured even failure into success. If one theory proved inadequate, there was at least one less to try, and so the limits became narrower within which truth would be found. He exhausted eight years of toil, only to prove worthless nineteen successive experiments. At last, driven to abandon the circular orbit, he founded his twentieth hypothesis on the curve which is next to the circle in simplicity, namely, the ellipse, and as all the conditions were met, the problem was solved. Bursting with enthusiasm, he cried: “ O Almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee!” Pressing his research further, he established his second and third laws, and, almost wild with triumph, exclaimed: “ Nothing holds me! I will indulge my sacred fury! The book is written to be read either now or by posterity; I care not which! It may well wait a century for a reader, since God has waited six thousand years for an observer.” If Kepler was the minister of science, Agassiz was her missionary. He had no time to make money; but was found wandering alone on Pacific slopes, a pilgrim, to gather specimens of flora and fauna, minerals and metals, shells and pebbles, for the cabinets of science. What would not such zeal accomplish in religion! (A. T. Pierson.) Concentration of heart A broken heart is a great blessing, when it is broken by contrition for sin; but a divided heart is often a fatal disease. One secret of success in life is concentration; and many of our young men find it out too late. The founder of the Vanderbilt family bent his whole powers upon money-making, and left the richest family on the Continent. Sir Isaac Newton’ s famous explanation of his splendid success was, “ I intend my whole mind upon it.” Prof. Joseph Henry, of Washington, our great Christian scientist, used to say: “ I have no faith in universal geniuses: my rule is to train all my guns on one point until I make a breach.” In these days of hot competition there is no room on the street for any man who puts only a fraction of himself into his business. Jeremiah 30:7 It is even the time of Jacob’ s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.Jacob’ s trouble There is not a malady in human life, but we find its antidote in the Bible; not a wound, but we find its balm; not a spiritual sickness, but we find its remedy there. If there is no time of trouble to Jacob, what deliverance could Jacob want? Of what use is a promise of rest to the weary and heavy laden, unless a man finds himself burdened and oppressed? A promise of salvation is only of value for those who feel their need of it; and an assurance of deliverance is only precious to such as are made sensible of their danger. The language of our text relates primarily and literally to the languishing state of the Church--to the captivity of Israel’ s tribes--to Jacob’ s trouble on account of the desolation of their city, and the destruction of their temple; and it is not only promised to them that their trouble should be blessed to them, but also that they should be saved out of it. We notice, first, the time of Jacob’ s trouble; secondly, the timely deliverance promised, “ He shall be saved out of it” ; and thirdly, the evidence and display of the truth and faithfulness of God towards Israel and Jacob.1. Some may inquire why the truth and faithfulness of God should be brought forward. I do not intend to present you with a catalogue of Jacob’ s troubles; they are too numerous. I will, however, mention a few. (1) The trouble here spoken of is of a public nature. In its literal sense, it was the distress, calamity, degeneracy, of the Lord’ s people--the scattering and desolation of His inheritance by captivity. I have but a sorry opinion of that man’ s spirituality who is not troubled for Jacob’ s, not grieved for Joseph’ s, not afflicted for Zion’ s low, degenerate, sunken, miry condition. It is to my mind, amid all the enjoyments of my soul in Christ, a source of daily trouble. But this degeneracy is not the worst feature in Jacob’ s trouble. There is such an awful determination evinced to unite the Church and the world, to amalgamate two whom God has separated in His Word, purposes, and dispensations, with the highest and broadest wall of separation. (2) But Jacob’ s trouble is not only of a public character; it is also of a personal nature. There is spiritual trouble when a man is first awakened--when the Lord Jesus convinces him of sin, and discovers the spirituality and extent of the Divine law. This is, indeed, a time of trouble; but here is the mercy--he shall be delivered out of it. He that melted your heart will form Christ there, the hope of glory. He that gave you the knowledge of your sins will also give you the knowledge of His Son. Again, it is a time of trouble when the soul is in legal bondage. What a time of trouble, of fear, sorrow, anxiety, dread, gloom, and dismal forebodings do souls in legal bondage pass through, till the Son of God comes Himself and makes them flee. Again, it is a time of personal trouble when the soul is led into the field of battle, and foiled by the enemy. Again, it is a time of personal trouble when we are called to walk in darkness. (3) Again, there is a time of providential trouble. It was a time of providential trouble to Joseph when sold by his brethren, falsely accused by his mistress, thrown into a dungeon by his master. It was a time of providential trouble to David, when he was hunted by Saul, betrayed by Doeg, threatened to be stoned by his own people, when Ziklag was burned, when driven into the wilderness as a fugitive, and expelled from his throne, family, and palace by his wicked son--but he shall be saved out of it. There were times and troubles to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Paul, and all the apostles. 2. The timely deliverance. He shall be saved out of it. There is a threefold method in which God saves Jacob out of his trouble. Sometimes by causing his troubles to terminate with a word. He speaks the word, “ Peace, be still,” and not s wave rolls, nor s wind breathes. Sometimes He causes their troubles to terminate by taking the sons of Jacob out of them to glory, and raising them above the reach of them for ever. Sometimes by teaching them how to trust and triumph in Himself; as David says, “ Though I walk in the midst of trouble Thou wilt revive me.” What a marvellous deliverance God effected for His people in the days of bloody Mary. Then there were multitudes of godly men in prison, under sentence to the fire, and expecting the faggots every moment to be kindled, when God suddenly summoned that cruel queen into His presence. Elizabeth succeeded, and His people were rescued Remember, whether trial is domestic, personal, spiritual, temporal, or circumstantial, a Father’ s wisdom directs it, a Father’ s love superintends it, and a Father’ s word will scatter it. And remember, whatever method God may adopt to save you out of your trouble, you, as a son of Jacob, will be enabled to say, “ It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” Sometimes He delivers them by teaching them how to trust Him, and triumph in Him in the midst of troubles. Look at Gideon and his conquest over the Midianites, without a spear, a bow, dart, javelin, sword, arrow, lance, or any weapon of war--with nothing but lamps and pitchers he overcomes them. How different are the troubles of Jacob and Esau, of Isaac and Ishmael, of the Christian and the worldling, of a child and an enemy. The troubles of the worldling are not few. He is liable to all the calamities of life. He has no God to flee to, no sympathising High Priest. Place a Christless man in my circumstances, despair and anguish will be his portion; but s man that shall be saved if he has my God. Is there any relation to, any likeness to, Jacob’ s sons to be found in you? Is there any distinction between you and Esau? Is there any personal, spiritual difference between you and the world? Can you give an affirmative answer to these questions? If so, the promise and oath of God are on your side; and, however deep or long your troubles may be, you shall be saved out of them. (J. Iron.) Jeremiah 30:11I will correct thee in measure.Correction in measure I. The text gives us God’ s law of correction; and remember, first of all, that it is a law. It is not a passion; it is not a surprise on the part of the Ruler Himself: it is part of His very goodness; it is quiet, solemn, inexorable, everlasting. The steadfast law of the universe is, that though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished. This is s law, it is not a caprice; it is a necessity of goodness, and not a burst of passion. All things fight for God; they are very loyal to Him. The stars in their courses utter His testimony; the winds as they fly are vocal with His name; the earth will open her mouth with eager gladness to swallow up the populations that lift their hands against Him. Let us begin with things known, with the patent and indisputable facts of life,--and amongst those facts you will find the hell which follows broken law, the earth that casts out the sour that is not holy,--and thence proceed step by step into the holy place where the altar is, and the speaking blood, and the Father, and the strange light of eternity. There is but one true line of progress: it begins with Moses, it ends with the Lamb--Moses and the Lamb: Law and Grace; and in the last eternal song we shall find in one grand line, “ Moses and the Lamb,” a marvellous harmonisation, the up-gathering and reconciliation of all things; the old ark built again; the law within, the mercy-lid covering it. Law and Mercy--Moses and the Lamb--these combine the whole purpose of the movement of the Divine mind and love. II. So far we have looked at the stern fact of law: we now come to what is said about it. It is a law of measured correction: “ I will correct thee in measure.” At this point grace gets hold of law and keeps it back. Law can never stop of itself. The law is the same at the end as at the beginning. It cannot palter, it cannot compromise, it cannot make terms; it grinds, bruises, destroys. If a sinful world were left absolutely to the operation of law, it would be crushed out of existence. But the law is under mercy. We are spared by grace, by grace we are saved. The grace was accomplished before the sinner was created. The atonement is not the device of an afterthought: the Lamb was slain from before the foundation of the world. Have we penetrated the gracious meaning of that astounding mystery? Before we can understand anything of the atonement, we must destroy the very basis and the relations of understanding, as it is too narrowly interpreted; we must think ourselves back of time, of space, of foundations, worlds, sinners. Great is the mystery of godliness--God manifest in the flesh. “ Correction in measure” is God’ s law now. May the time not come when the measure will be withdrawn and the correction will take its unlimited course? That will be hell, that will be destruction. III. What is the meaning of this “ measure”? It is the Gospel. There is a higher law than the law of death. The law of life is not changed: it is enlarged over all the sins and shortcomings and crimes of life. “ Where sin abounds, grace doth much more abound.” Grace says, “ There has been great sin: now for my enlargement.” And she enlarges her offers of mercy, and her signs of pity, and her opportunities of return, until the sin flee away--that which is great becomes little. Life is more than death, as the heaven is high above the earth. Death is only a partial law; the universal law is life, and it is for God to set that infinite law in motion. Here we enter upon the mysteries of Deity; here we touch the altar of the atonement. I will accept my chastening; I deserve it. This is my sweet, great faith--that no punishment ever overtakes me that is not a sign of God’ s watchfulness, and of God’ s care over my life. I have never suffered lose, social dishonour, inward compunction, without being able to say, “ This is the Lord’ s doing, and not man’ s. The man did not know what he was doing to me; he was seized by God and set to do this work for my punishment--my education.” Let us have no whining, no complaining, no retaliation. The man that smote you was sent to smite you. Avenge yourself by deeper confession, by larger, loftier prayer. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 30:17-19I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord. God’ s love in restoration Most times in Scripture the voice of God is the voice of love. The sterner words come forth as of necessity, on compulsion. How wonderful in the text is the tenderness with which God speaks, what marvellous considerateness for natural human feelings, for the peculiarities, if I may so speak, of human feelings, when, in promising to renew and to restore, He speaks not only of restoration, but of restoration on the very spot, restoration with the least possible loss, the least possible wrench to natural feeling,--restoration of the city on the ruinous heap, on the old foundation; not merely life again, but life where they had lived of old, the hearth to be raised where the hearth had burned of old, and home where home had been, not one joy or sorrow of association being lost, no change of place, no severance of old ties and thoughts, but all the round of life to begin again on the very site where the days had gone round before. Great mercy would it have been, if the decayed city, with its palaces and homes, had been rebuilt at all, and on other spots, in other places not known or loved before; but as there would have been a certain sorrow in changing the place of habitation, in making a new home, and on looking back on the bare desert plots where the city had once stood, so God, promising restoration, so promises it, that there should not be one cloud upon the heart in seeing the walls again built, not one touch of sorrow and regret to mingle with the joy. And how has it been with the Church of Christ, of which these words of the prophet, in a second and a spiritual sense, doubtless speak? There is no branch of the Church, alas! which has not failed at times in its high part, which has not at times sunk down into listlessness and sloth, which has not at times had an evil activity and an unwise zeal, which has not at times wasted its high gifts, spilt them as it were like water on the ground, suffered its lamp to burn low or to glare with an unhealthy light, which has not at times grudged alms, or been faint in prayer, or worshipped the world, or dressed itself out in gorgeous robes of worldly greatness, or been self-indulgent, or lax in its view of Christian verities. And yet no branch of the Church has been without its calls and recalls, its revival, whether of its spiritual life or of its form and order, its gracious renewings, its waterings from on high with the heavenly dew, that it might again look strong, again battle with the world, again bear noble witness, again do noble deeds, again shew the power of a living faith, again unite itself with heaven by its warm and frequent prayers, again preach Christ crucified by its own crucifixion of all earthly affections, and the manifestation of all saintly ways and tempers. (Bishop Armstrong.) Blessed promises for dying outcasts The promises of this verse will be exceedingly sweet to those who feel their personal need of them; but those who boast that they are neither sick nor wounded will take no interest in this comfortable word. I. Taken in connection with the verses which precede it, our text describes a class of men and women who are in a serious plight. These people suffer under two evils. They are afflicted with the distemper of evil, and also by dismal disquietude of conscience. They have broken God’ s commandments, and now their own bones are broken. They have grieved their God, and their God is grieving them.1. They are sick with sin, and that disease is one which, according to the fifth and sixth verses, brings great pain and trouble into men’ s minds when they come to their senses, and know their condition before God. Sin felt and known is a terrible kill-joy: as the simoom of the desert smites the caravan with death, and as the sirocco withers every herb of the field, so does a sense of sin dry up peace, blast hope, and utterly kill delight. This disease, moreover, is not only exceedingly painful when the conscience is smarting, but it is altogether incurable, so far as any human skill is concerned. Neither body, soul, nor spirit is free from its taint. At all hours it is our curse and plague; over all places it casts its defiling influence; in all duties it injures and hinders us. To those who know this there is a music sweeter than marriage-bells in these words,--“ I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds” The incurable shall be cured; the insatiable malady shall be stayed. How gracious is it on God’ s part to pity a creature infected with this vile distemper! How good of Him to regard our iniquity rather as a sickness to be healed than as a crime to be punished! 2. I told you of a double mischief in this plight, and the second mischief is that this person has been wounded for his sin. His wounds are of no common sort, for we are told in the fourteenth verse that God Himself has wounded him. There is such a thing as cruel kindness, and the opposite to it is a loving cruelty, a gracious severity. When the Lord brings sin to remembrance, and makes the soul to see what an evil it has committed in transgressing against God, then the wound bleeds, and the heart breaks. The smart is sharp, but salutary. The Lord wounds that He may heal, He kills that He may make alive. His storms wreck us upon the rock of salvation, and His tempests drive us into the fair havens of lowly faith. Happy are the men who are thus made unhappy; but this for the present they know not, and therefore they need the promise, “ I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord.” The blows are not only on the conscience, but when God is in earnest to make men flee from their sins, He will smite them anywhere and everywhere. He takes away the delight of their eyes with a stroke; the child, the husband, the wife, or the friend is laid low; for the Lord will fill our houses with mourning sooner than leave us in carnal security. II. A special interference. The poor creature is in desperate dolour; but the God of pitying love comes in, and I beg you to notice the result.1. This interference is, first of all Divine. The infinite Jehovah alone can speak with that grand Ego, and say, “ I will,” and again, “ I will.” No human physician who was worthy of the name would speak thus. He would humbly say, “ I will attempt to give you health; I will endeavour to heal your wounds” ; but the Lord speaks with the positiveness of omnipotence, for He has the power to make good His words. 2. Note, that since this interference is Divine it is effectual. What can baffle the Lord? Can anything perplex infinite wisdom? Is anything difficult to almighty power? He speaks, and it is done; He commands, and it stands fast. When therefore God says, I will restore health unto thee,” health will visit the wretch who lies pining at death’ s door. When He says, “ I will heal thee of thy wounds,” the deep cuts and gashes are closed up at once. 3. Observe that this interposition performs a work which is most complete, for it meets the two-fold mischief. He will heal both disease and wound. 4. Notice, too, how sovereignly free this promise is. It does not say, “ I will restore health unto thee if” --No, there is no “ if” ; and there is no mention of a fee. Here is healing for nothing. Jesus comes to give us health without money and without price, without pence or penance, without labour or merit. 5. Notice that, although it be thus free and unconditional, yet it is now a matter of covenant certainly, for God has made the promise, and He cannot turn from it. To every guilty sinner, conscious of his guilt, who will come and confess it before God, this promise is made to-day, “ I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds.” III. A singular reason. He says, not “ Because you were holy,” or “ Because you had good desires” ; but “ Because they called thee an outcast.” Who were they? Why, the mockers and blasphemers: the Lord actually transforms the venom of asps, which was under the tongues of the malicious, into a reason for His mercy. This clearly shows how God hates the very notion of merit; but it also shows that He will find a reason for mercy somewhere.1. This roused the Lord’ s pity. “ Oh,” He said, “ has it come to this? Have they dared to call My Beloved ‘ an outcast,’ and say that no man seeketh after her! I will seek her, and heal her, and restore her, for I cannot endure such tauntings.” Now, if there is a poor sinner in the world, upon whom other sinners, who are just as bad in their heart, begin to vent their scorn, and say, “ She is an outcast” ; then the God of mercy seems to say, Who are you that you should talk like this? You are as vile yourselves, and yet you dare to look down upon this poor, selected one, as if she were so much worse than you. Therefore, I will save that despised one, and will have mercy upon the rejected.” 2. God’ s jealousy is aroused against those who despise His people and speak ill of them. It is one thing for a father to chasten his boy; but if, when he is out in the streets, a stranger begins to kick him, his father declares that it shall not be. He arouses himself to defend his child, the same child that just now he smote so heavily. That is a fair parallel to the case of our God. He will chasten His people in measure, but the moment that their enemies call them outcasts He turns His anger another way and releases His people. Oh, how blessedly does good come out of evil! How graciously He causes the wrath of man to praise Him. He restores health to Zion, and heals her wounds because she is called an outcast. IV. A little suitable advice. I will suppose that I have those before me who have felt their disease and their wound, and have been healed by the God of mercy. I would recommend them to attend to certain matters.1. Take care that you live very near your Physician. I notice that patients come up from the country when they are suffering with serious complaints, and they take lodgings near a medical man who is in high esteem for such cases as theirs. Now, the Lord has healed your wound, and restored health to you, therefore abide in Him; never leave Him, nor live far away from Him, for this old disease of yours may break out on a sudden, and it will be well to have the Healer close at hand. It will be best to entertain Him constantly beneath your roof, and within your heart; for His presence is the wellspring of health to the soul. 2. I recommend you often to put yourself under His searching examination. Go to this great Physician, and ask Him to look into your hidden parts, to search you, and try you, and see what wicked way may be in you, that He may lead you in the way everlasting. 3. I recommend you from personal experience to consult with this Doctor every day. It is a wise thing before you go downstairs into the world’ s tainted atmosphere to take a draught of His Elixir vitae, in the form of renewed faith in Him. I am sure at night it is an admirable thing to purge the soul of all the perilous stuff which has accumulated through the day by full confession and renewed confidence. 4. Lay bare your case before Him; conceal nothing; beg of Him to deal with you according to His knowledge of your case. Make a clean breast that Christ may make a sure cure. 5. Then I should very strongly recommend you always to obey the prescriptions of the great Healer. “ Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” The Lord Jesus must be received as a whole, or not at all 6. Take care also to exercise great confidence in this Physician. Your cure is working wondrously when you trust in Jesus heartily. Distrust is what you have to fear; faith is your strength. 7. When you are healed, as I trust you are already, speak well of your Benefactor. When you were restored from sickness the other day, you were quite able to inform your friends as to that new medicine which acted like a charm, and you found a tongue to speak well of your doctor; and I am sure you have ability enough to declare the wonderful works of the Lord in your case. “ Oh, but I could not embellish the tale!” Do not attempt to embellish it; for that would only spoil it. Tell the story as simply as possible. I think it is of Mr. Cecil that I have read the following incident. A friend came from some distance to inform him of a medicine which was to relieve him of his disorder. This friend told him all about it, and having done so, entered into conversation upon the current matters of the day. The result was that Mr. Cecil was greatly interested in the talk, and when his friend was gone, he quite forgot every ingredient of the wonderful medicine. Beware of allowing the many things to drive the one thing needful out of your friend’ s mind. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 30:18-20I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.The Church’ s encouragement in times of depression I. A representation cf the Church in a state of great depression and affliction.1. Consternation and dismay are evinced. There is “ the voice of trembling,” and the agitation of “ fear,” at the apprehension of approaching calamities. “ Every man” is represented “ with his hands upon his loins,” the symptoms of agonising pain; and “ all faces are turned unto paleness,” the effect of extreme alarm. 2. Desolation and ruin are also intimated. Their “ bruise was incurable, and their wound was grievous” ; for they were “ wounded” by the hand of “ an enemy,--with the chastisement of a cruel one.” II. The encouraging promise here given to the Church of her restoration to peace and prosperity.1. Tranquillity and protection; or, “ peace in all her borders” (Jeremiah 30:10). 2. The renewal of her religious privileges (Jeremiah 30:18; Jeremiah 30:22). 3. The increase of her converts (Jeremiah 30:19). 4. The joy of her members is next promised;--and this follows as a matter of course. 5. The destruction of her enemies. (R. Bond.) Jeremiah 30:21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them.The choice of their rulers the privilege of the people 1. The power of choosing their own rulers is a privilege which but very few of mankind have ever enjoyed. There is not one nation in all Asia and Africa which enjoys the power of electing its own rulers; and scarcely one in all Europe which enjoys this privilege in its full extent. 2. The power of choosing their own rulers is a privilege which all nations who are destitute of it wish to enjoy. 3. It must be a great privilege to any people, to have the power of choosing their best men to rule over them. Rulers who understand the genius and disposition of their people, who are acquainted with their laws and constitutions, who have a comprehensive view of their various interests and connections, and who are men of tried integrity, are well qualified to fill every department of government. No people can desire better rulers than these; and such as these, the power of election gives them the best opportunity of appointing to office. 4. It is a great privilege for a people to have a power of choosing their own rulers, because good rulers are a very great blessing. They are the guardians of all that a people hold most dear and sacred; and so can do them greater service, and more essentially promote their temporal good, than any other men in any other public or private stations of life. Reflections--1. No nation which chooses its own rulers can be enslaved without its own consent. The privilege of election is the grand palladium of civil liberty. 2. If a people who choose their own rulers have not good rulers, it must be owing to their own fault. If they choose their best men, there can be no doubt but their rulers will be good. 3. A people who choose their own rulers, cannot reasonably expect to have better rulers than themselves 4. This subject directs us where to look for the origin of the political distresses and embarrassments in which we have been, and still are, involved. They have originated from the abuse of the power of election. 5. This subject suggests to us the best, and perhaps the only possible way of alleviating present, and of preventing future calamities. The way is, wisely and faithfully to improve our important privilege of election, and commit the direction of our national concerns to greater and better men. (N. Emmons, D. D.) The blessing of freedom Our subject is the blessing of freedom; the advantages of that political condition in which we are placed. There are various causes in operation which tend to lesson in us the due sense of these advantages. Extravagance of praise; asserting too much with regard to any principle; overdrawn statements of its nature, and perpetual boasting of its effects, are likely in all cases, sooner or later, to bring about a reaction. The abuses of the principle of liberty also; the out-breakings of popular violence, mobs, and tumults, prostrating the law under foot; and the tyranny, moreover, of legal majorities; and, withal, the bitter animosities of party strife, and the consequent incessant fluctuations of public policy, constantly deranging the business of the country; all these things are leading some to say, but with more rashness than wisdom, “ I must think, that even political oppression and injustice, which should make all strong, and firm, and permanent, would be better than that state of things in which we live.” Add to all this, that the blessings which are common, like the air we breathe and the light of day--blessings which are invested with the familiar livery of our earliest and most constant experience--are apt to pass by us unregarded; while the evils of life, calamities and concussions of the elements, shipwrecks, and storms, and earthquakes, rise into portentous and heart-thrilling significance; and we see another and final reason why the advantages of our political condition are liable to be undervalued. The first step which I shall take in defending the ground which we as a nation have taken, win be carefully to define it. What is the principle of a democratic or representative government? It is, that no restraints, disabilities, or penalties shall be laid upon any person, and that no immunities, privileges, or charters shall be conferred on any person, or any class of persons, but such as tend to promote the general welfare. This exception, be it remembered, is an essential part of our theory. Our principle is not, as I conceive, that no privileges shall be granted to one person more than to another. If bank charters, for instance, can be proved to be advantageous to the community, our principle must allow them. It is upon the same principle that we grant acts of incorporation to the governors of colleges, academies, and hospitals, and to many other benevolent and literary societies: it is upon the ground that they benefit the public. And what is government itself, but a corporation possessing and exercising certain exclusive powers for the general weal? Again, I maintain that our democratic principle is not that the people are always right. It is this rather: that although the people may sometimes be wrong, yet that they are not so likely to be wrong, and to do wrong, as irresponsible, hereditary magistrates and legislators; that it is safer to trust the many with the keeping of their own interests, than it is to trust the few to keep those interests for them. Let me now proceed to speak of liberty as a blessing, and the highest blessing that can appertain to the condition of a people.1. I value our political constitution because it is the only system that accords with the truth of things, the only system that recognises the great claims and inalienable rights of humanity. 2. I value our liberty, and deem it a just cause of thankfulness to Heaven, because it fosters and develops all the intellectual and moral powers of the country. 3. I value political liberty because of that which a free and unfettered energy obtains, it gives the freest and amplest use. What is the effect, nay, what is the design of a despotic Government, but to deprive the people of the largest amount that it can, or dare, of the proceeds of their honest industry and laudable enterprise? Under its grossest forms, it levies direct contributions; in its more plausible administration it levies taxes; but in either case its end is the same--to feed and batten a few at the expense of the many. Let me not be told, that differences in the form of government are mere matters of speculation; that they have very little to do with our private welfare; that a man may be as happy under one form as another. I think it was on occasion of our revolution that Dr. Johnson put forth some such oracle as this; but it is not true; it may pass for good-nature, or for smooth philosophy, if anyone pleases so to call it, but it is not true. What more obvious interest of human life is there, than that a man’ s labour shall produce for him the greatest possible amount of comfort; that he should enjoy, as far as it is compatible with the support of civil order, the proceeds of his toil? Labour, honourable and useful as it is, is not so very agreeable that a man should recklessly give it for that which is not bread. And that he emphatically does who gives it for pensions, sinecures, and monopolies, and establishments, and wars, which benefit him not at all. 4. I should not exhaust the subject, even in this most general view of it, if I did not add one further consideration in behalf of freedom; a consideration that is higher and stronger than any reason--I mean, the intrinsic desirableness of this condition to every human being. In this respect, freedom is like virtue, like happiness; we value it for its own sake. God has stamped upon our very humanity this impress of freedom; it is the unchartered prerogative of human nature. (O. Dewey, D. D.) Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto Me?-- Who is this? I. The question of our text is asked to direct attention to this glorious person. “ Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto Me? saith the Lord.” The person who must draw near to God must be one of ourselves. It is clear that a fit representative for men must be himself a man. In Adam we transgressed and died to God: in another Adam must we be restored. Now, where is this man to be found? “ Who is this?” If he is to come of ourselves, where is he? Not among this assemblage; nor if all the myriads that dwell on the face of the earth could be gathered together would there be found one who could undertake this enterprise,--“ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Nor is it merit alone that is needed, for he that would approach unto the Lord as mediator must be prepared with strength to suffer. Who can sustain the load of human sin? Who can endure the indignation of the Lord against iniquity? Assuredly none of us could do it: the fire would consume him as stubble. Oh, for an interposer; but where can he be found? Now look at the context, and you will see that the person who must approach to God for us must be a prince-priest; for He is called “ their glorious One” and” their Governor,” and yet it is said of Him, “ I will cause Him to draw near,” which work of drawing near is in other places ascribed to priests, for these God had set apart for the service of His sanctuary. The person, then, must be a priest, and yet a prince. Who is He, and where is He? You know Him--the true Priest of God, not of the order of Aaron, and the King eternal, immortal, invisible, King of kings, and Lord of lords. It is He that engaged His heart to draw near to God on our behalf. The question, however, may be answered in another way, so as to bring out more clearly the matchless Person whom our hearts adore. It was necessary that He who should draw near to God should be chosen to that office by God Himself, and should be qualified for it by Divine power. “ I will cause Him to draw near, and He shall approach to Me.” Now, is there any one among us all that God has ever chosen to represent our fellow-men as their mediator, acting as the head of the race, and as such entering into the immediate presence of God on his own merits? We have not, I hope, the presumption to imagine such a thing. “ There is one Mediator between God and man, the Man, Jesus Christ.” Moreover, to close this description, He was not only appointed of God and qualified, but He was one who was willing to undertake the task and ready to pledge Himself to it. He voluntarily covenanted to do it, as it is written, “ Lo, I come; in the volume of the Book it is written of Me, to do Thy will, O God: yea, Thy law is My delight.” II. To excite admiration of His matchless work. If Jesus Christ is to approach to God for us, it is clear that He must come down into our condition, for He must first descend or He cannot ascend. He descended into our depths to engineer a way from the lowest to the highest, to come back from Bashan, and from the depths of the sea, leading the van of the armies of His chosen as they return unto God with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. This lowly place being taken, behold our Lord actually approaching unto the offended Majesty on high. Though found in fashion as a man, and by reason of His becoming a curse for us, denied the presence of the Father, so that He cried in anguish, “ My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” yet He did approach unto God: He did come near; nay, He remaineth near, able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. Our Lord with all His heart desired to do this: He “ engaged His heart” to perform it. But why this readiness, this eagerness? Love is the one reply. His heart was occupied with love to God and love to man, and He could not rest till He had restored the broken concord between these divided ones. With all the forcefulness of His Divine nature, and with all the energy of His perfect humanity, He was resolved to bring men back to God. Having thus determined that He would approach unto God on our behalf, He took all the consequences. A correct reading of the passage would be, “ Who is this that hath pledged his heart or his life to approach unto Me? saith the Lord.” If you take the meaning of the word “ heart” to be life, since the heart is the source of life, then we read that our Lord pledged His life, put His life in surety that He would approach unto God, the Judge of all, and bring us near to Him. When He came as the representative of sinful men--then vengeance with its sword must smite Him, and He was willing to be smitten. And now to-day, beloved, Jesus Christ rejoices to think that He has approached unto God on our behalf, and made eternal amity between God and man Let us rejoice with Him. Let us become happy in fellowship with our God. III. To arouse your interest in the sweet results of Jesus Christ’ s having approached to God for us. The first result is found in the chapter. Read that twenty-second verse. “ Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto Me? saith the Lord. And ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.” That is, because our royal High Priest approached unto God for us, therefore we who were called outcasts, we whose wound was incurable and grievous, we that were utterly ruined and undone; we, believing in this Jesus, shall in Him become the people of God. I seem to see in my spirit that old legend of Rome worked out in very deed. So saith the story: in the Roman Forum there gaped a vast chasm which threatened the destruction of the Forum, if not of Rome. The wise men declared that the gulf would never close unless the most precious thing in Rome was cast into it. See how it yawns and cracks every moment more horribly. Hasten to bring this noblest thing! For love of Rome sacrifice your best! But what, or who is this? Where is a treasure meet for sacrifice? Then Curtius, a belted knight, mounted his charger, and rightly judging that valour and love of country were the noblest treasures of Rome, he leaped into the gulf. The yawning earth closed upon a great-hearted Roman, for her hunger was appeased. Perchance it is but an idle tale: but what I have declared is truth. There gaped between God and man a dread abyss, deep as hell, wide as eternity, and only the best thing that heaven contained could fill it. That best thing was He, the peerless Son of God, the matchless, perfect man, and He came, laying aside His glory, making Himself of no reputation, and He sprang, into the gulf, which there and then closed, once for all One great result of Christ s having died is to leave us a way of access, which is freely opened to every poor, penitent sinner. Come. Are you using that way of access? Do you use it every day! Having used it, and thus having drawn near to God, do you dwell near to God! Do you abide in God? Is God the main thought of your life, the chief delight and object of your being? (C. H. Spurgeon.) . Jeremiah 31:1 At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.Religion in the home The family is a primal and universal institution, which stands alone distinct and apart from all others. Men voluntarily create States or Churches, but God putteth men in families. The relations of husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, are altogether different in origin and character from those of the ruler and the ruled, whether in civil or religious society. They began when men was created. They cannot and will not cease until the race ceases to exist. They are recognised, therefore, and they are the only associations which are so recognised in the announcement of those fundamental precepts of moral law, which we properly separate from all the other rules given to the children of Israel through Moses, and call the Ten Commandments. But it is not even in these solemn commands that the sacred and impressive character of these relations is best gathered. It is rather their frequent employment in one form or other to illustrate the relation which the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ sustain to us, which invest them with peculiar sanctity and suggestiveness. As we find the mother’ s self-oblivion and undying love to her babe used to set forth the yet more enduring tenderness of God to us; so is the pity with which the father regards even his sinful children made the type of that inexhaustible compassion which pardons all human transgressions. As we hear our blessed Lord addressing us as His brethren, and are taught that in order to make His brotherhood complete He was tempted in all respects like as we are, or have the ineffable love with which He regards His Church, and binds it to Himself in loving fellowship represented by the union of the bridegroom and the bride, so is the family the image of that glorious fellow-ship to which all true souls belong--the family in heaven and earth called after the name of Christ. I. The importance of the family relation. It is in the wise ordering of the home, the purifying of the affections in which all its relations and influences have their root, the upholding of the authority which ought ever to be maintained within it, that States and Churches alike have the best security for their peace and prosperity.1. The feelings which are cultivated in well-regulated households and make men good sons, husbands, and fathers, are those which, when exercised in a different direction, make them good citizens and true patriots; whereas on the other side the selfishness which brooks no restraint, listens to no voice but that of its own passions, and seeks no end but their indulgence, is not more hostile to the peace and purity of the home than it is fatal to the order and progress of the nation. The most absolute collapse of a State which modern times has seen was preceded by a weakening of family ties and obligations, and the most extraordinary national development is that of a people whose loyalty to their country is not less remarkable than their devotion to their homes, and among whom, from the Emperor on the throne to the meanest of his subjects, attention to domestic duties is placed among the cardinal virtues, and the enjoyment of home happiness is esteemed one of the choicest blessings. 2. While the home is the best training-ground for the citizen, even more, if possible, ought it to be the best nursery for the Christian, and its teaching and discipline the right preparation for the Church. At all periods and in all countries where there has been any strong manifestation of the power of godliness, the family has been one of its centres It is not suggested that religious feelings can be transmitted. But it is manifest that the traditions, the associations, the beliefs and practices, and the reputation of a family may--where there is anything marked and distinctive--certainly will, materially affect each of its members. The piety of Lois and Eunice could not become the possession of Timothy, but who can doubt that he was affected by it? It must have done much, to say the least, towards creating the atmosphere by which his early life was surrounded, and so far have influenced his subsequent career. To be born into a family, where the love of God reigns is itself no small privilege. From the very dawn of intelligence one thus situated is in the midst of circumstances all tending to produce in him sentiments of reverence and devotion. He will not believe in Christ because father and grandfather believed before him, and if he were, on this account alone, to adopt a Christian creed and name, his faith would be as idle as the words in which it might be professed. He does not, caroler become a man eminent for goodness because the world or the Church looks to him thus to uphold the honour of the family name, and if he sought to do so inspired by no other motive, his life, with all the outward excellence he might discover, would be nothing more than a hollow pretence, himself no better than the whited sepulchres of the old Pharisaism. But with all this, who will undertake to deny the power which even the family traditions Of goodness, and still more the associations of the house set apart to God, must, in many cases, exert? They are as a chain of forts, which defend the acid against the assaults of sin. They are influences which predispose a man to listen to the truth, and if they may be resisted, even if by some they are hardly felt at all, they must surely place a man in a more favourable position than, if his first ideas of religion were of a tyranny to be resisted, a fanaticism to be pitied, or an hypocrisy to be despised, in every case a power which the soul should steadily resist. They are voices speaking to the heart, and appealing to many of its strongest motives and best affections. II. The way in which family piety is to be cultivated.1. Its foundation manifestly is parental influence. The influence which a parent exercises over his children may be composed of many elements, but the predominant one in the majority of cases must ye personal goodness. I met some time ago one, now himself the head of a household and the son of an excellent father, whose praise, as I personally know, had long remained in the church in which he was an office-bearer. As we were conversing of him, the son addressing me with strong feeling, said, “ It was my father’ s life which saved me from being drawn away from the faith. I was, while yet a youth, throw into the society of those who made a practice of sneering at religion as a folly or a delusion, and at all its professors as hypocrites. I thought I knew my father better, but they talked so confidently that I resolved to watch. For two years I did watch with an anxious and ever-observant care, and in what I saw of my father’ s holy life I found an answer to the taunts and doubts of my companions.” It was a high testimony, and the truth of it was confirmed by the consecration of a large family to the service of Christ. The thought it suggests, indeed, may, in one aspect of it, be disquieting enough to parents. If the eyes of their household are thus continually upon them, and if its judgment on the Gospel be formed on the ground of what it sees in them, what reason is there for anxiety, even for trembling, lest the impression given be such as to prevent the truth from having its rightful power on the hearts of their children and servants! Children, of all others, are quick to detect a contrast, if such there be, between the outward deportment, especially in the presence of Christian friends or on religious seasons, and the predominant temper of the life; and the parent who thinks to atone for a prevailing worldliness by occasional outbursts of religious emotion, may at least be sure that his family will not be imposed on by these periodical fits of devotion. But if they will not give credit for a high degree of piety because of a few manifestations of spirituality which are out of accord with the general tenor of life, neither will they be led by occasional imperfections, and even inconsistencies, to ignore the evidence of spirit and character, supplied by daily conduct. 2. It must be manifested, however, in the whole conduct of the family, and perhaps in nothing more than in the ambitions which are cherished in relation to it and the means adopted for their realisation. Professions of supreme love to God, even though supported by many acts which are in accordance with them, will tell for very little if there is abundant proof that what a man desires, first and above all, for his children is not that they should be true Christians, but that they should be rich, or fashionable, or famous. Here is the secret of many failures, which at first seem almost unintelligible. There are parents who, to outward appearance, and to the best of their own belief, have trained their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; but the teaching has not been successful, and those who are disappointed in its results complain, or, at least, wonder, that the promise is not fulfilled. They have given instruction in the doctrines of the Gospel; they have led their children to the house of God; they have sought by precept and entreaty to influence them on God’ s behalf--but without success. What can be the cause? If they would look deeper and with less prejudiced eyes, it would not be hard to find. Their children are what they have made them. I have heard of some who have been more anxious about the manners and deportment of their children or pupils; others more concerned about the society into which they can get admittance; others more intent on their outward prosperity than their religion. Ought they to be surprised if the young learn the lesson and act accordingly? 3. I include under one point family influences, whether in the way of instruction, or discipline, or worship. Two remarks only will I throw out. (1) There should be a religion of the household; not only should the individual members personally recognise and seek to meet the claims of Christian duty, but there should be religious service rendered by the family as a whole. There should be the family gathering for daily worship, and the household, as a body, should present itself before God in His house. (2) There comes a time when the authority of the parent can be enforced only by moral suasion, but in those earlier and more tender years, when children are not simply to be advised, but ruled, the wise head of a household will feel that he is but exercising the right which God Himself has given, or rather, let us say, discharging the trust which God has committed to him as a steward, when he gathers his children around him, whether at the family altar or in the family pew. But this raises the question of that parental rule which it was never more necessary to maintain than at the present time. If the Son of God Himself learned obedience by the things which He suffered. He has, by that submission, taught a great lesson, which neither parents nor children should forget. (J. G. Rogers, D. D.) Jeremiah 31:3I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.Everlasting love I. Our once desolate and miserable condition by nature. Were we not captives? yea, bond-slaves? All our happiness consisted in forgetting ourselves. Everything marked us as, in the worst sense, slaves. Some of us professed to despise the opinions of men, and yet, what were we but the slaves of men? What did we pursue? Nothing but the applause of men. What were we afraid of? Nothing but their censure. How afraid of singularity, when we first perhaps had some thoughts concerning our souls. What was this but slavery? Look at the lives we led. We lived but for ourselves. Self was our Nebuchadnezzar, who took possession of the city, our walls, and got all for himself. Self, perhaps, in some decent, moral form, but still self; the fleshy, unregenerate, corrupt, carnal self. Was not this the greatest slavery? And who was the master, the grinding tyrant of this slave? To whom had we sold ourselves for nought? Who was it that led us captive at his will? (2 Timothy 2:25-26.) II. The love which God has towards His true Israel. And what is its peculiar character? It is Sovereign and Distinguishing.1. It is a Love bounded by His Will. His most wise, righteous, and holy Will, (Exodus 33:19). 2. It is” personal and individual. “ I have loved thee. Thee, a poor sinner, a prodigal; thee, a poor, unprofitable servant thee, a poor backslider in heart too oft; thee, too much, too frequently ungrateful;--yet have I loved thee--yes, thee, notwithstanding all; thee, singly and alone, as if there were no other; thee, as one of the innumerable family, the many sons whom I will bring to glory. 3. It is effectual and overcoming. “ With lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Ah, how gently, how tenderly, how silently, sometimes mysteriously, but ever in love. 4. This love is everlasting. Time never knew its beginning, eternity shall never know its end. Closing remarks:-- 1. All religion consists in individuality. Religion is a personal thing. (1) It is so in our confessions (2 Samuel 12:13).(2) It is so in our standing before God (Luke 18:13).(3) So is it in the consolations of the Spirit (Galatians 2:20). 2. All the blessings of present salvation spring from God s everlasting love. (J. H. Evans, M. A.) Secret drawings graciously explained I. God’ s dealings with us are never understood till He Himself appears to us. He must speak, or we cannot interpret His acts. Though all things in the field and the garden show what the sun doeth, yet none of these “ fruits put forth by the sun” can be perceived till the sun himself reveals them. For first, man is not in a condition to perceive God till God reveals Himself to him. By nature we are blind Godward; yea, deaf, and in all ways insensible towards the great Spirit. The Lord said of Cyrus, “ I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me” ; and even so may He say of many an unconverted man, “ I warned thee, and aroused thee, and drew thee when thou wast not aware of Me.” Besides this, we are so selfish that, when God is drawing us to Himself, we are too much absorbed in our own things to notice the hand which is at work upon us. We crave the world, we sigh for human approbation, we seek for case and comfort, we desire above all things to indulge our pride with the vain notion of self-righteousness. And, therefore, we look not after God. Moreover, God must explain His dealings to us by revealing Himself to us, because those ways are in themselves frequently mysterious. He does not usually begin by giving the man light, and peace, and comfort. No, but he sorely plagues him with “ darkness that might be felt.” He makes sweet sin to become bitter; He pours gall into the fountains of his carnal life till the man begins to be weary of the things which once contented him. Full often the Lord fitteth the arrows of conviction to the string, and shooteth again, and again, and again, till the soul is wounded in a thousand places, and is ready to bleed to death. The Lord kills before He makes alive. But I say again, how could we expect unspiritual men to see the hand of the Lord in all this? God must reveal Himself to the man, or else he will not discover the hand of the Lord in the anguish of his spirit. This appearance of the Lord must be personal. “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me.” True knowledge of God is always a Divine operation, not wrought at second-hand by instrumentality, but wrought by the right hand of the Lord Himself. “ No man can come to Me,” saith Christ, “ except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” ; and no man understands those drawings except the same Father shall come unto him, and manifest Himself to him. Till we know the Lord by personal revelation, we cannot read His handwriting upon our hearts, or discern His dealings with us. This appearance needs to be repeated. The text may be read as a complaint on the part of Israel. Israel says, “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me” --as much as to say, “ He has not appeared to me lately.” Of old He was seen by brook, and bush, and sea, and rock; when Jacob met Him at Jaddok, and Moses in the wilderness at the burning bush; but now His visits are few and far between. “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me.” Oh, that He would appear now! I pray at this time that those of you who are mourning after that fashion may be able to rise out of it. It is not the Lord’ s desire that He should be as a stranger in the land, or as a wayfaring man that tarrieth but for a night. He is willing to abide with us. His delights are with the sons of men. This appearance is ever an act of mighty grace. The text might be read, “ The Lord appeared from afar to me.” So He did at the first. What a great way off we were from God, but behold the Beloved came, like a roe or a young hart, leaping over the mountains, skipping upon the hills! He came to us in boundless love when we lay at death’ s dark door, the fast-bound slaves of hell. He can and will come again. If He came to us from far, He will surely come again now that He has made us nigh. Expect Him to come to you on a sudden. Pray for the immediate revelation of God Himself to your spirit in a way of joy and transport that shall set your soul in rapid motion towards the Lord. Should the Lord return to you in gracious manifestation, take care that you do hot, lose Him again. If the Bridegroom deigns to visit you, hold Him fast. II. When the Lord does so appear, we then perceive that He has been dealing with us. “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” What exceeding love the Lord showed to us before we knew Him! Let us now look back and remember the love of long-suffering, which spared us when we delighted in sin. The Lord did not cut us off in our unbelief; therein is love. The next admirable discovery is the Lord’ s restraining grace. We now see that the Lord held us back from plunging into the deepest abysses of sin. Blessed be God for those crooks in my lot which kept me from poisonous pleasures! So, too, we now see the preparations of grace, the ploughing of our hearts by sorrow, the sowing of them by discipline, the harrowing of them by pain, the watering of them by the rain of favour, the breaking of them up by the frosts of adversity. These were not actually grace, but they opened the door for grace. We now see how in a thousand ways the Lord was drawing us when we knew Him not. The text chiefly dwells upon drawings. I beg you to refresh your memories by recollecting the drawings of the Lord towards you while you were yet ungodly. Often these were very gentle drawings: they were not such forces as would move an ox or an ass, but such as were meant for tender spirits; yet sometimes they tugged at you very hard, and almost overcame you. Drawing supposes a kind of resistance; or, at any rate, an inertness; and, truly, we did not stir of ourselves, but needed to be persuaded and entreated. Some of you will recollect how the Holy Spirit drew you many times before you came to Him. The Lord surrounded you as a fish is surrounded with a net; and though you laboured to escape you could not, but were drawn more and more within the meshes of mercy. Do you remember when at last the Holy Spirit drew you over the line; when at last, without violating your free will, He conquered it by forces proper to the mind? Blessed day! You were made a willing captive to your Lord, led in silken fetters at His chariot-wheels, a glad prisoner to almighty love, set free from sin and Satan, made to be unto your Lord a lifelong servant. III. We perceive that loving-kindness was the drawing force. “ Therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” At first we think God has dealt sternly with us, but in His light we see light, and we perceive that the drawing power, which has brought us to receive mercy, is the Divine loving-kindness. Love is the attractive force. What multitudes of persons have been drawn to the Lord first by His loving-kindness in the gift of His dear Son! The loving-kindness of God as seen in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus draws men from sin, from self, from Satan, from despair, and from the world. Next, the hope of pardon, free and full, attracts sinners to God. “ Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee,” makes a man run after Christ. I have known others drawn to the Lord by another view of His loving-kindness, namely, His willingness to make new creatures of us. The prayer of many has been, “ Create in me a clean heart, O God” ; and they have been charmed by hearing that whosoever believes in Jesus is born again, to start on a new life, ruled by a new principle, and endowed with a new nature, sustained by the Holy Spirit. Oh, the loving-kindness of the Lord! You may measure heaven; you may fathom the sea; you may plunge into the abyss, and tell its depth; but the loving-kindness of the Lord is beyond you. Here is an infinite expanse. It is immeasurable, even as God Himself is beyond conception. It is everywhere about us, behind, before, beneath, above, within, without. Every day the Lord loads us with benefits. IV. Then we learn that the great motive of the Divine drawings is everlasting love. Lot your spirit lie and soak in this Divine assurance: “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Take it up into yourself as Gideon’ s fleece absorbed the dew. Notice, the Lord has done it. It is an actual fact, the Lord is loving you. Put those two pronouns together, “ I” and “ thee.” “ I,” the Infinite, the inconceivably glorious--“ thee,” a poor, lost, undeserving, ill-deserving, hell-deserving sinner. See the link between the two! See the diamond rivet which joins the two together for eternity: “ I have loved thee.” See the antiquity of this love: “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” I loved thee when I died for thee upon the Cross, yea, I loved thee long before, and therefore did I die. I loved thee when I made the heavens and the earth, with a view to thine abode therein: yea, I loved thee before I had made sea or shore. There is a beginning for the world, but there is no beginning for the love of God to His people. Nor does that exhaust the meaning of “ everlasting love.” There has never been a moment when the Lord has not loved His people. There has been no pause, nor ebb, nor break in the love of God to His own. That love knows no variableness, neither shadow of turning. “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” You may take a leap into the future, and find that love still with you. Everlasting evidently lasts for ever. We shall come to die, and this shall be a downy pillow for our death-bed, “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” When we wake up in that dread world to which we arc surely hastening, we shall find infinite felicity in “ everlasting love.” When the judgment is proclaimed, and the sight of the great white throne makes all hearts to tremble, and the trumpet sounds exceeding loud and long, and our poor dust wakes up from its silent grave, we shall rejoice in this Divine assurance: “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Roll on, ye ages, but everlasting love abides! Die out, sun and moon, and thou, O time, be buried in eternity, we need no other heaven than this, “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love” ! (C. H. Spurgeon.) Three wonders I. A great wonder.1. The object mentioned. “ Thee.” Most unworthy.2. The attribute displayed. Love. What is it?3. The person speaking. “ I,” whom ye have-- (1) Doubted.(2) Despised.(3) Disregarded. II. A greater wonder. “ With an everlasting love.” Wonderful to love us at all. More wonderful to love us with such a love. This love is everlasting in its--1. Counsels.2. Conquests.3. Continuance.4. Consequence. III. The greatest wonder. “ Therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee” To send food to the hungry, is gracious in the wealthy; but to bring the hungry in the kindest manner to the royal table--this is wonderful indeed. We shall see here--1. A wonderful display. “ I have drawn thee.” Here is inferred our helplessness and unwillingness to come. God draws by many means. 2. A wonderful instrument. “ Loving-kindness.” The heavenly magnet. Kindness does not always go with love. God saves us. Here is kindness. But He does so in the best possible way. In the tenderest, most gentle manner. 3. A wonderful reason. “ Therefore.” God’ s reason is in Himself. Our salvation the fruit of everlasting love, and nothing else. Should we not love Him? (W. J. Mayers.) Divine philanthropy before all time I. Uncreated men are the objects of Divine love. Men in actual existence are not everlasting; they are only creatures of a day, mere shadows passing upon the earth. But in the mind of the Infinite they are eternal.1. Because He loved them He created them. 2. Because He loved them He created them what they are. He made them capable of enjoying every kind of happiness of which we have any conception. II. Created men are the subjects of Divine love.1. God’ s love in nature has a power to draw men to Him. His love in nature appears in two forms. (1) In the form of utility. Nature ministers to man’ s necessities and gratifications. (2) In the form of beauty. What is beauty, but the costume of love, the pictures and statues of love, nay the voice, the winning music of love? 2. God s love in mediation has a power to draw men to Him. The incarnation of Christ is at once the effect, the channel, and the instrument of Divine love, and the Divine love that draws with a moral magnetism of the highest measure. (Homilist.) Constraining love I. The love of God towards us. “ From everlasting to everlasting” is the love, like the existence, of the living God. Simple, childlike faith in this grand truth is an essential element in all personal religion (1 John 4:16). The life of the newborn soul may be said to begin with the uprising of this knowledge, this faith. II. The practical expression of God’ s love.1. An external revelation (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9). Open your heart to the influence of the Cross of Calvary, comprehend in some measure the sacred sorrow of Him who there took the burden of our sins upon Him that He might bear them all away, and you can never doubt the “ everlasting love” wherewith the Father loves you. 2. An internal force. Even in his Divine relations man is not a being to be compelled by resistless force to move in any path chosen for him, but one who is endowed with the wondrous power of yielding in response to persuasive influence a free and willing service (Hosea 11:4). That is the noblest kind of persuasive influence which appeals not so much to our fears as our desires, which awakens not terror but love. (Homiletic Magazine.) God’ s love for man I. His love for man is personal. “ I have loved thee.”1. The distinguishing constitution He has given him. He has endowed him with more faculties of enjoyment than any other creature in the universe possesses. He has given him intellect, by which be can enjoy the pleasures of meditation; social affection, by which he can enjoy the blessings of friendship; religious affinities, by which he can have sympathy with the source of all life and blessedness. 2. His wonderful mercy in the mediation of His Son. II. His love for man is eternal.1. Humanity had nothing to do with exciting it. 2. Christ had nothing to do with procuring it. Christ’ s mediation was the effect, not the cause of God’ s love for man. His mediation was no afterthought. The Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. III. His love for man is attracting.1. How attracting it is in its nature! Kindness is always attractive; and its attracting power is always in proportion to its spontaneity, disinterestedness, and magnanimity. 2. How attracting it is in its manifestation! Look at it-- (1) In nature. The world overflows with Divine kindness.(2) In revelation. (Homilist.) Everlasting love revealed This startling remembrance came to Israel at a time when her sorrows were very great, and her sins were greater still. She dwelt with hope upon that Divine assurance of irrevocable favour: “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” When earthly joys ebb out, it is a blessed thing if they make room for memories of heavenly visitations and gracious assurances. When you are at your lowest, it may happen that then the God of all grace comes in, and brings to your remembrance the love of your espousals, and the joy of former days, when the candle of the Lord shone round about you. At the same time, it was not merely a time of inward sorrow, but a period of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; for Jehovah was speaking in tones of sovereign grace, and pouring forth great rivers of promises, and seas of mercy. Sometimes you pour water down a dry pump, and that sets it working so that it pours forth streams of its own; and so, when our gracious God pours in His love into the soul, our own love begins to flow, and with it memory awakes, and a thousand recollections cause us to bring to mind the ancient love wherein we aforetime delighted, and we cry, “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me.” I. The marvellous appearing. “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me.” Here are two persons; hut how different in degree I Hers we have “ me,” a good-for-nothing creature, apt to forget my Lord, and to lira as if there were no God; yet He has not ignored or neglected me. There is the High and Holy One, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, and He has appeared unto me. Between me and the great Jehovah there have been communications; the solitary silences have been broken. “ The Lord hath appeared,” hath appeared “ unto me.” Do I hear some asking, How is this? I understand that God appeared to Israel, but how to me? Let me picture the discovery of grace as it comes to the awakening mind, when it learns to sit at the feet of Jesus, saved by faith in the great sacrifice. Touched by the Spirit of God, we find that the Lord appeared to each one of us in the promises of His Word. Every promise in God’ s Word is a promise to every believer, or to every character such as that to which it was first given. Furthermore, “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me,” in the person of His Son. God came to each believer in Christ Jesus. Say, “ Yes, eighteen hundred years ago and more, the Lord in the person of His dear Son appeared unto me in Gethsemane, and on Calvary as my Lord, and my God, and yet my substitute and Saviour.” Since that, the Lord has constantly appeared unto us in the power of His Holy Spirit. Do you remember when first your sin was set in order before your tearful eyes, and you trembled for fear of the justice which you had provoked? Do you remember when you heard the story of the Crucified Redeemer? when you saw the atoning sacrifice? when you looked to Jesus and were lightened? It was the Holy Spirit who was leading you out of yourself; and God by the Holy Spirit was appearing unto you. Now, we hold this appearance in precious memory: “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me.” Many things are preserved in the treasure-house of memory; but this is the choicest of our jewels. How gracious, how glorious was the appearance of God in Christ Jesus to our soul! This appearance came in private assurance. To me it was as personal as it was sure. I used to hear the preacher, but then I heard my God; I used to see the congregation, but then I saw Him who is invisible. I used to feel the power of words, but now I have felt the immeasurable energy of their substance. God Himself filled and thrilled my soul. I cannot help calling your attention to the fact, that the Lord came in positive certainty. The text does not say, “ I hoped so,” or “ I thought so” ; but, “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying.” To me it is bliss to say, “ I know whom I have believed.” My soul cannot content herself with less than certainty. I desire never to take a step upon an “ if,” or a “ peradventure.” I want facts, not fancies. II. The matchless declaration. “ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.”1. Here is a word from God of amazing love. Jehovah saith, “ I have loved thee.” Think it over. Believe it. Stagger not at it. If the husband should say to his wife, “ I have loved thee,” she would believe him: it would seem only natural that he should do so. And when Jehovah says to you, a feeble woman, an unknown man, “ I have loved thee,” He means it. 2. Note, next, it is a declaration of unalloyed love. The Lord had been bruising, and wounding, and crushing His people, and yet He says, “ I have loved thee.” These cruel wounds were all in love. 3. This statement is a declaration of love in contrast with certain other things. What a difference between the false friend-ship of the world and sin, and the changeless love of God! You have provoked Him to jealousy by gods which were no gods, but He has never ceased His love. What a miracle of grace is this! How sweetly does immutability smile on us as we hear it say, “ Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love” ! 4. Thus, our text is a word of love in the past. “ I have loved thee.” We were rebels, and He loved us. We were dead in trespasses and in sins, and He loved us. We rejected His grace, and defied His warnings, but He loved us. The matchless declaration of the text is a voice of love in the present. The Lord loves the believer now. Whatever discomfort you are in, the Lord loves you. The text is a voice of love in the future. It means, “ I will love thee for ever.” God has not loved us with a love which will die out after a certain length of time: His love is like Himself, “ from everlasting to everlasting.” This is a declaration of love secured to us--secured in many ways. Did you observe in this chapter how the Lord secures His love to His people, first, by a covenant? Further, this love is secured by relationship. Will you dart your eye on to the ninth verse, and read the last part of it? “ I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” A man cannot get rid of fatherhood by any possible means His love is pledged again by redemption. Read the eleventh verse, “ For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.” Would you see the indenture of God’ s covenant love? Behold it in the indented hands and feet of the Crucified Redeemer. This is a declaration of love Divinely confessed. The Lord has not sent this assurance to us by a prophet, but He has made it Himself--“ The Lord hath appeared.” Notice, that it is love sealed with a “ yea.” God would have us go no further in our ordinary speech than to say “ ,yea, yea” ; and surely we may be content with so much from Himself. His “ yea” amounts to a sacred asseveration: “ Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” III. The manifest evidence. “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” Here are drawings mentioned. Have you not felt them? These were drawings resulting from love. He drew us because He loved us with an everlasting love. Other drawings of Divine goodness are resisted, resisted in some cases to the bitter end, and men justly perish; but the drawings of everlasting love effect their purpose. Here are drawings mentioned: these were drawings from God. How sweetly, how omnipotently, God can draw! We yield to the drawings because they come from the Lord s own hand, and their power lies in His love. As the drawings come from God, so are they drawings to God. Blessed is he whose heart is being drawn nearer and nearer to the Most High. The Lord assures us that these are drawings of His loving-kindness. However He draws, it is in love; and whenever He draws, it is in love. These drawings are to be continuous. “ With loving-kindness have I drawn thee” ; and He means to do the same evermore. Such a magnificent text as ours ought to make us consider two things. The first is, Is it so? Am I drawn? If God loves you with an everlasting love, He has drawn you by His loving-kindness: is it so or not? Has He drawn you by His Holy Spirit, so that you have followed on? Are you a believer? Do you carry Christ’ s cross? You have been drawn to this. Then take home these gracious words: “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” If you have not been so drawn, do you not wish you were? But, child of God, if you know these drawings, and if it be true that God loves you with an everlasting love, then are you resting? “ I have a feeble hope,” says one. What? How can you talk so? He who is loved with an everlasting love, and knows it, should swim in an ocean of joy. Not a wave of trouble should disturb the glassy sea of his delight. What is to make a man happy if this will not? (C. H. Spurgeon.) The Christian drawn unto God I. “ I Have Loved Thee.” The love of God differs from ours, and this in two respects1. It is more abundant. Our love partakes of this narrowness of our nature--it can embrace but a few objects and it cannot travel far. But God is an infinite Being. He fills all space with His presence; there is no limit to His capabilities. His love is accordingly an infinite love. Our love is a taper, shining on a few objects only and on those dimly; the love of God is a sun, throwing its light wide as it is His good pleasure to throw it, pervading His universe, brightening and warming and gladdening millions on millions of objects as easily and effectually as one. 2. It is also a free, self-moving love. It rises spontaneously in His mind, as water rises in a fountain. It requires nothing in any object, no merit or amiableness or beauty or anything else, to call it forth. II. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” There never was a period when God did not live and did not love you. He loved you before your father or mother or any one else loved you; He loved you before you were born; He loved you before the earth or the heavens were created; He loved you in the very first moment He loved at all. Would you tell how old His love to you is? You must first tell how old the Ancient of days Himself is. Would you measure His love to you? It must be with a line which can stretch to the beginning of eternity on the one hand, and reach to the end of it on the other. III. “I have drawn thee,” the Lord says; and this is very naturally and beautifully said here. Real love, we know, is always of a drawing nature. Its tendency ever is to bring near to us, or to lead us near to the object we love. “ Give me my infant,” the tender mother says. “ Let me if possible have my children around me,” says the affectionate father. So the Lord says here, “ I have loved you, and therefore, because I have loved you, I have drawn you, drawn you to Myself.” When the soul at last turns to Christ and through Christ to God, it is because God in some way is working on that soul, and attracting and drawing it. IV. The Lord tells us in the text how He draws His people to Him. “ With loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” “ My love to thee is so strong, that it not only impels Me to draw thee to Me, but it influences Me in all My conduct while drawing thee.” We may assign a twofold meaning to the words, regarding them as descriptive both of the means which the Lord employs to bring His people to Him, and of the manner in which He deals with them while bringing them. He will draw them by His loving-kindness, and He will draw them by that lovingly, most kindly and tenderly. (C. Bradley, M. A.) New revelations of old truths I. A revelation has been made to us of Divine truth. In a strange land, when the shadows of evening come on, the traveller has sometimes the consciousness that he is passing through the fairest scenes, he instinctively feels that the darkness is hiding from him the most wonderful revelations of nature. So we sometimes feel that we are in the presence of great truths, that have yet to be revealed to us. We feel, long before we understand. Our hearts burn within us, when we listen to words, the full meaning of which we do not comprehend. How strange it is, that when we have listened to the words of truth, we sometimes feel as if visions we had dimly seen were realised, or our confused thoughts were put into shape, and expressed in words, as if this was what we had heard before, or were on the point of thinking out for ourselves. Truth seems like the language of childhood, as if we were familiar with its tones, and had lived a former life, where we had heard its voice before. The heart recognises it as Divine. II. We have new revelations of an old truth. With every Divine appearance came a revelation. He who appeared of old to the Church breathing words of love, hath in these last days spoken unto us. That last appearance was the most perfect expression of love, that last revelation left nothing unsaid that even Divine love could say. How much has love said in this world--how much it says to you this day. You have not found out yet the depth, the full significance of its revelations. You know something, you may know far more. The more you love, the more you will be capacitated for manifestations of love. We need new, constant assurances of the Divine love. We cannot live in the past alone. Do you ask why are new revelations necessary? Why is it not enough to be told once that God loves us? Why must we be told again and again? I answer, we should require assurances of love from a friend if we felt that our affinities with his pure nature were anything but entire, that we often pained him by our recklessness, and prevented his intercourse with us by our indifference; and surely, with all my frailties and sins, with the deep consciousness of my unworthiness, I need God to tell me that He loves me, and I want Him to repeat the assurance. There is, moreover, a peculiar sensitiveness about love; it craves for fresh utterances, for strong, unequivocal assertions, just as Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him as his own soul; so the love of God is so essential to us that we cannot live without it, we prize it above all things, and hence we long to hear, in the depths of our souls, the words, “ Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” III. The love of God is ever new. It is an everlasting love. God loved you long before you realised His love. You have, perhaps, sometimes thought that He loved you because you loved Him; it is quite the reverse; you love Him because He first loved you. God will still love through all changes--in sorrow, in sickness, in old age, in death. God will love us for ever. His loves is always fresh; it is the same to-day as yesterday, and to-morrow it will be as to-day. IV. It is God’ s love that attracts men. This love draws. Men yield to this Divine power. This is the power of the Gospel; this subdued, this won you. What melted that heart of ice,--what, but the warm breath of love? What drew you, but the cords of love that were entwined about your heart! (H. J. Bevis.) Love everlasting What is love? Is it not delight in an object, and is it not desire to promote the well-being of an object? The love of God answers to these definitions. Some resolve love into self-love. We delight in what we love, therefore, say some, we love for the delight. But this is a serious error which may be refuted by a thousand facts. Just think of the facts by which you may refute this error. And let me here make two remarks concerning love generally,--First, its existence is universal, except as sin reigns and checks it; and, secondly, its work and its service are multiform and extensive. Men love, angels love, and God is love, We feel, and observe, and mark its existence on earth; we hear of it in heaven; and we know that there is but one place tenanted by beings capable of love who do not love, and that place is hell; and we also know that there is but one class of human beings from which it has departed, namely, souls that are lost. Love! It gushes forth from the throne of God, flows round the universe, and rises again to the level of its source. Like an inverted tree, it roots in heaven, and yet drops its fruit upon this wide world, and upon beings in the lowest terrestrial estate. Nor is love, to drop our figure, inactive or useless among the children of men even in their low estate. It unites, as in conjugal life, two streams of being and makes them one,--it causes the mother to forget her anguish and to make her bosom the refuge and the strength of helpless infancy--it makes parents ministering angels, and children bright morning stars in the household firmament--it creates all that is meant by home--it impoverishes itself to enrich others, and exposes itself to danger to protect and otherwise to serve others--it feeds the hungry; clothes the naked; shelters the homeless; takes charge of the orphan; attends at the sick-bed in the face of contagion; visits the captive in prison; weeps at the grave; builds hospitals; erects almshouses, asylums, and places of worship--it instructs, warns, entreats, reproves, consoles, and in ton thousand forms ministers to the creature while it worships the Creator--it renders benefits to the sinner and serves the Saviour; it intercedes on earth and it offers praise in heaven; it weeps here, it rejoices in the world above. Thus love, sanctified and directed by the Saviour of man and by the Spirit of all grace, makes God dwell in the man, and it causes the man to dwell in God. Such, speaking generally, is love. And love is everlasting. It is eternal--it ever will be, as it always hath been. As a principle it is eternal. It will never die. It will never die from the human heart. In all redeemed human spirits love will live an eternal life. Some emotions will pass away as the clouds; others will abide as the blue firmament itself; and among these love in redeemed humanity will have the pre-eminence. Now, connect these ideas of love with the everlasting love of God. Jehovah here says, “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Only the love of God is from everlasting. The love of unfallen angels and of redeemed men hath immortality--it is to everlasting, but not from everlasting. God’ s love alone hath eternity--eternity embracing past, present, and future. There are four things which we would notice here concerning the everlasting love of God.1. It is not derived, or imparted, or excited by us in the sense of being awakened by us. We are the occasion in part of its being aroused and expressed, but it is not a derived or imparted love. Ours is a love that is as a spark from the great fire that burns in God’ s heart, fire of love that is underfeed, self-existent, independent. 2. It is perfect, it is impossible to add anything to it, nor could anything be taken from it without rendering it imperfect, it is as complete as love can be found. 3. Instead of being divorced from the other attributes and affections of God, it is allied with them all--love and self-existence, love and independence, love and omnipotence, love and boundless wisdom, love and unspotted purity, love and undeviating righteousness. 4. In all respects is the love of God, Godlike--equal with God. Verily, that man is loved whom God loves. What though no creature may care for him, if God loves him he is loved for ever, and infinitely loved; he is loved with all the strength of the Divine affection; on the other hand, he knows not what it is to be loved in perfection, who does not know and believe the love of God for us. Just look further, at the love of God when embracing sinful men, and notice three things about it.1. It is personal in its objects. He loves you individually; and His loving a large number is by His loving each one in that number. 2. Although embracing sinners, the love of God is discriminating, and pure, and righteous love. It delights where it can delight, and seeks the good of its object in every form, and in the highest degree. 3. The love of God follows those whom it embraces. It was prolonged to the seed of Abraham beyond numerous apostasies and spiritual adulteries; it is prolonged to us beyond seasons of declension and of backsliding. The love of God goes after us. It follows us into every new relationship, into every new duty, into every new trial, into every new temptation, into fresh provocation, and claims upon God’ s forbearance; it follows us through life into death, and through death into immortality. (S. Martin.) Divine love I. Divine love is a fact; there can be no doubt of the teaching of Scripture on this subject. The God of the Bible is a God of love, He is a Father in heaven, He cares for men, watches over them, guides them, saves them. What more beautiful symbols of Divine love and watchfulness can there be than that of the Good Shepherd in search of those who have wandered away from Him--of the lost sheep; and when He finds the lost one He lays it on His shoulder rejoicing. This attitude of Divine love is the very core of the Gospel; and it is surely a blessed truth for us, although it is sometimes hard for us to realise it.1. It may seem strange, yet it is true, that there are hearts who can more readily feel that God is angry with them than that God really loves them. The instinct of conscious guilt is fear, and when the sense of sin is strongly awakened, we are apt to turn away from God and to feel as if God must hate us. 2. We feel, as it were, in other moments that the human heart is strangely inconsistent. We feel as if the powers of nature were strong in us, and the sense of sin dies down; we feel as if God would overlook our sins, and that we are not so sinful after all; we feel as if we might trust to His goodness, as if it were, so to speak, good nature. But this is equally inconsistent with true spiritual experience. To all that is evil in human life and human history, whether in Gentile or in Jew, God is a consuming fire. II. God loves us everlastingly. The fact of Divine love is not only sure in itself, it is never uncertain in incidence. Whatever appearances there may seem to the contrary, it is still there. No cloud can extinguish it, however it may obscure it; no misery, born of the depths of human despair, no tragedy of human agony or of human crime, can make that love doubtful; it is still there, it is around us, it is with us; its everlasting arms are holding us even when we cannot feel it, and grasping us in its soft embrace although our feet may be bleeding and sore with the hardness of the road along which we travel. All sorrow is a gift, and every trouble that the heart of man has, an opportunity. You may not know this now, you may never know it, and yet it is true. God’ s love knows no relenting. “ My will for you is a will of good without variableness or shadow of turning.” “ Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Just a few words only as to the last point--“ I have loved thee; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” III. The love of God is individual; it is personal; it is the love of one loving heart to another; it is no mere impersonal conception of supreme benevolence; it is the love of a father to a child, the love of a mother to a daughter; it would not be love otherwise, for it is a distinguishing idea of love that it discriminates its object. How personal always was the ministry of our Lord! “ Come unto Me.” “ Take up My cross.” “ Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?” (Principal Tulloch.) The love of God I. A declaration of god’ s love. God is love; that is His nature--love in the abstract; not simply loving, kind, tender, benevolent, good, but love. This love displays itself in Christ. The fatherhood of God is nowhere seen in its royalty, but it is in its exhibition in Jesus Christ. This love He declares has this peculiarity--that it is everlasting.1. It had no birthday. Go back through a past eternity, still you find no date for its commencement. Find out a day when the Lord Jesus was not loved by the Father, and you have the day when the Church was not loved by Him; you will arrive at the time when His love first began to the Church, for He says, “ Thou hast loved them as Thou hast loved me, and Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. It foresaw all the rebellion, backslidings, frailties, sins, infirmities--everything that would characterise the individual upon whom that love rested; and yet the Lord loved you, because He would love you; and that is the only reason that love itself can assign, because He would keep the covenant which He made with His own Son for you. 2. As it had no birthday, so it has no changing day. Like its Author, it is immutable, unvarying. There is nothing that can occur in reference to the objects on whom God s love is fixed that He did not foresee, and there is no change that can occur in the Divine mind as to any improvement in His plan and order of government, or manifestation of mercy to man. (1) This love bestowed upon you the greatest blessings before conversion. Strange to say, and yet it is a great and solemn truth, that while you were an enemy it gave you Christ-gave you the Spirit to regenerate you. Love, ere you were born, was manifested towards you--made the covenant, formed the plan of mercy by which you might be saved. (2) This love changes its dispensations, not its nature. Who questions a father’ s love when he corrects a rebellious son? Who doubts the teacher’ s love when he compels his pupil to apply his mind to the subject of instruction? So God acts. If it be necessary to make you diligent in His service, to overcome temptation, to draw you away from the world and its vanities and its corruptions, He may deprive you of property, He may remove an idol, He may stain your pride, He may bereave you of one who is as your own soul, He may prostrate your honour in the dust, He may suffer your own family to rise against you; and the very spring of all this is love. 3. It has no dying day. Love is a golden chain, one end of which is fixed to God s throne in eternity past, and the other end to His throne in eternity to come. This love of God is a bond not to be dissolved, a union never to be broken, a depth which cannot be fathomed, a height which can never be scaled, a length which can never be traversed, a breadth which cannot be measured, a science that passeth all knowledge, a fire which many waters cannot quench, a flame which the floods cannot drown, a sovereign stronger than death, a constrainer which cannot be overcome, a breastplate which cannot be pierced, a safeguard which casts out all fear, an inhabitant that can never be removed, a preventive to every evil, a catholicon for all woe. “ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,” &c. II. The manner in which this love is displayed, or the evidences by which we may ascertain that we possess it.1. See how with loving-kindness He has drawn you in the paths of providential arrangement! Begin with the earliest dawn of memory: why were you drawn to such a school? Why did you form such friendships? Did not that love draw you to a situation, a locality as foreign co your thoughts as can well be, give you prosperity, make you influential, happy and blessed, and a blessing to others? What a constraint, often inexplicable, has it put upon your inclinations to accomplish an object which, had it been granted, you afterwards saw would have been your ruin! But the cord stayed you, the love was thrown around you to keep you back. Afflictions, too, have been some of the most beneficial cords of love that have visited you--cords which confined your aspirations and checked your vanity, taught you to pray, taught you to sympathise with others, taught you to love. 2. In the progress of regeneration this is wondrously manifested. 3. In the experimental enjoyment of His favour we see this Divine discovery. Your life has consisted of so many steps from one manifestation of Divine love to another. 4. Practical remarks. (1) Every soul who hears me may be interested in this love. (2) How humbling the contrast of our love to God! How inconstant, how feeble, how spiritless is our level (3) Let us imitate God in His dealings with us. If we would prevail with others, we shall find that the cords of love are better than the rod of Moses. Neither ministers nor private Christians can scare men into the ways of godliness; no threats will frighten a man to be holy. (J. Sherman.) Everlasting love I. The great source of redemption--“ everlasting love” --love without beginning, love without change, and love without end.1. Everlasting love is love without a beginning. The eternity of Divine love is a subject which we cannot fathom, but we may look at it in relation to our own being. Go back behind creation, before the Divine will had generated a single atom of matter, and in that very we discover ourselves in a perfect, living, actual conception, subjective being was embraced, nourished, and delighted in by “ everlasting love.” The love of God is not an emotion of delight created by the appearance of comeliness, but delight itself; not an emotion excited by beauty, but beauty itself. There is a tendency in the human mind to thrust itself behind the birthday of time, and fall--where? Into the arms of “ everlasting love.” 2. “ Everlasting love” is love without change. Man, in relation to the eternity of God, must be regarded as a whole. “ Everlasting love” embraces that whole. Our first impulse is to regard it as encircling the pure and the innocent, but turning aside from the disobedient and simple. It is not so, for the Word says, “ God so loved the world.” Sin has transformed a paradise into a wilderness, a heaven into a hell, but sin cannot change “ everlasting love.” That explains it all. 3. “ Everlasting love” is love without end. On every Mohammedan tombstone the inscription begins, “ He remains,” i.e., God. To-day we will write on every gravestone, The love of God remains. Ah, there are many gravestones besides those in the churchyard. You may imagine inscriptions like these: “ To the memory of friendship” ; “ To the memory of parental and filial affection” ; “ To the memory of marriage sacredness and devotion.” But those fires, which once burnt brightly, have gone out for want of fuel, or for something that is worse. Should there be an aching void or bitter disappointment because former sources of affection have dried up, let us not turn to the devil to supply their places, but let us turn to the “ everlasting love” of God. II. The method of redemption. “ Therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” We sometimes think that our Heavenly Father deals with us harshly, or unkindly. Yes, why the cross and not the crown? You see the child running in from the garden full of tears, and saying, “ Something has hurt me.” On examination it is found that a thorn is in one of the fingers. Then the gentlest of hands will endeavour to extract it. When she is doing so, the child will cry out, “ Oh, mother, you hurt me.” Ah, it is not the mother that hurts, but the thorn. When God takes out the thorn, we think that He hurts us. Not so, it is the thorn. Even God cannot take sin out of the heart but that it will give pain.1. In dealing with the attractions of “ everlasting love,” we must bear in mind the fact that we can only be saved by attraction. Grace begins its work by transforming the heart into the image of the Son of God. One grain of the Saviour’ s love in that heart will leaven the whole. The sinner must be made willing to part with his sin. The power to effect this comes from God, but it can only be applied when the willing cry rends his heart, “ Lord, save, or I perish.” 2. Consider the particular form which God’ s loving-kindness has assumed in order to attract man to virtue. Under what aspects has mercy appeared unto men? We look back, and see an altar, and a victim, and a priest. But we soon learn that these are only types, yet, God’ s mercy pursued man in times of yore, and does now, and everywhere. To-day, it is not altar, victim, or priest; but the Son of God, in a body like our own, and bearing up under the vicissitudes of life. In Christ Jesus we have the picture of loving-kindness. Sometimes that picture is in words of sympathy, of love, of encouragement, and inspiration. “ Never man spake like this Man.” At other times the picture is in deeds,--the most gracious and marvellous. The sick are healed. The blind see. The deaf hear. The dead live. Is the picture overdrawn? (T. Davies, M. A.) The place of love among Divine attributes According to the Catechism of the Westminster Assembly, “ God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth” A very comprehensive and noble definition, no doubt I yet did it never strike you as strange that there is no mention of love here? This appears a very remarkable omission, as remarkable as if an orator, who undertook to describe the firmament, left out the sun, or an artist in painting the human face, made it sightless, and gave no place on the canvas to those beaming eyes which impart to the countenance its life and expression. Why did an assembly, for piety, learning, and talents, the greatest perhaps that ever met in England, or anywhere else, in that catalogue of Divine attributes, assign no place to love? Unless we are to understand the term “ goodness” as comprehending love, the omission may be thus explained and illustrated. Take a globe, and observing their natural order, lay upon its surface the different hues of the rainbow; give it a rapid motion around its axis, and now the colours vanish. As if by magic the whirling sphere instantly changes into purest white, presenting to our eyes a visible and to our understanding a palpable proof that the sunbeam is not a simple but a compound body, thread spun of various rays which, when blended into one form light; so all the attributes acting together make love, and that because God is just, powerful, holy, good, and true, of necessity, therefore, “ God is love.” (T. Guthrie, D. D.) The wonder of Divine love Is it not an unheard-of wonder that so strong a stream of infinite love should run underground for so many years, and that so many rebellions all that while should not dam it up, but that it should hold on its course uninterrupted, and work out all that had obstructed the current of it, and at last bubble up at a time designed, and save, and wash, and purify the wretched, defiled creature? (T. Goodwin.) The love of Christ perennial They tell us that the sun is fed by impact, from objects from without, and that the day will come when its furnace flames shall be quenched into grey ashes. But Christ’ s love is fed by no contributions from without, and will outlast the burnt-out sun, and gladden the ages of ages for ever. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) The love of God suggested by human love Would that we might understand the meaning of the expression, “ The love of God.” It is hinted at in this world. Passing along the streets, one hears the words of a song or catches the strains of a piece of music being played, and he says, “ That is from Beethoven or Mozart, I recognise the movement.” So in this life, we catch strains of the love of God. We behold it in the mother’ s disinterested, self-denying love; we see it in the lover’ s glow and in the little child’ s innocent affection; but these things are only hints. The magnetic influence of God’ s loving-kindness What a delightful thing it is to be drawn. Scarcely anybody likes to be driven, but there are very few who don’ t in their hearts enjoy the drawing process. Cast round about the heart those mysterious cords of love, as soft as silk, and yet as strong as steel; ah! they can’ t be resisted, and the wonder of it is that there is any desire to resist them. Love has conquered us. These cords have been let down from heaven to encircle us and lift us up out of the pit, just as was done to Jeremiah when he was in the pit; they let ropes down, and presently he was drawn up to life and liberty again. Ah, yes, it was the Cross that drew most of us. What a magnet is the story of the Cross! The power of the atonement has been felt by all of us who have believed, so that we were made willing to enter into the blessing of God. Some of us scarcely know how, but we found ourselves beneath the blood-stained tree. We turned our back upon it for many a year, but it turned us round at last. Blessed be the name of our loving Saviour! these cords are still drawing men to Jesus. I wonder how any one can resist the love of God in Jesus Christ! I saw some little children in a Brixton street the other day playing with a magnet. It was evidently a new toy, and they found much pleasure in this little instrument. What amused me was, that one child ran and brought a stone, another a piece of glass, to see if the magnet influenced them. You know, of course, the result; but the children did not know--they were experimenting. It seems as if we ministers are too much like those dear little ones. We have a magnet, but oh, how few there are who yield to the attracting power! The fault is not with the instrument, for Christ has said, “ I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” Your hearts need changing; there is not as yet in you anything that responds to the call; nothing that answers to the message of His love. Oh! I pray you, ere you rest to-night, fall on your knees and implore God to touch your heart till the story of the Cross moves it and Jesus wins it. (Thomas Spurgeon.) The attractive power of kindness A new teacher came to the little school district, who was the beginning of a new order of things to others as well as Dwight L. Moody. She opened the exercises the first morning with prayer, and that made s great impression upon the boys. But they were still more astonished when she told them that she intended to have good order, and yet have it without whipping any one. Ere long, Dwight had broken one of the rules, and was asked to remain after school. He supposed she had decided to whip him in private, and expected the usual punishment. To his surprise, as soon as they were alone, the teacher began to talk in the kindest way to him, telling him how it grieved her to have him disobey. This was harder on Dwight than a whipping. Finally she said, I have made up my mind that if I cannot rule the school by love, I will give it up. I will have no punishment. If you love me, try and keep the rules, and help me in the school” This was too much for Dwight, and he surrendered at once. “ You will never have any more trouble with me,” he answered, “ and I will whack the first boy that makes you any trouble!” And “ whack” him he did, the very next day, to the surprise of his companions and the consternation of the teacher. Jeremiah 31:6 Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.The watchman’ s message to Israel I. The message of the watchmen.1. The Jewish people had been overthrown, taken captive, and dispersed. They were therefore to all appearance a forsaken people, their land bereft of its inhabitants was desolate, and they were removed from all they held most dear to them on earth, from the glory of their former national independence, and from the temple in which they and their fathers had worshipped through many generations. But they were to be restored to their old places, to the land of all others they held most sacred, to their former worship with all its wondrous beauty, and to the national distinctions and privileges which had so long marked their history. Some effort on their part was however necessary, they were to arise and then go up to Zion unto the Lord their God. And in Him too we find the motive of all our efforts to arise from thoughtlessness and folly, and the object worthy of our life’ s battle and of our life’ s journey. We pray you to think upon this. When you are asked to awake out of spiritual sleep,--when you are told the night is far spent and the day of God’ s judgment is fast coming,--when any public or private duty is urged upon your attention,--when we utter warning voices, in the midst of homes and friends, at the most gladsome times,--it is that you also should arise, and go--not unto the priest alone, not unto the altar alone, not unto the Church alone, but that you first and chiefly should go unto “ the Lord your God.” 2. It is true this message may be regarded in a prospective point of view. “ For,” it is said, “ there shall be a day,” &c. To us the message is a present one. At the birth of Christ a new era of life and liberty commenced for the Gentiles and for all the families of earth. We live amid the ruins of our own inherent depraved nature. We have the evidence within and around us that we are in bonds. But the cry of the watchman is sent to us now: and if we will be only wise enough to exercise our common senses, and rouse ourselves up from our spiritual lethargy, and seek for God’ s help and mercy, we may arise, and go up among the congregations of His people, and realise in our hearts the great blessedness of His personal favour and presence of love. II. Lessons.1. One lesson to be inferred is the groundwork for the present aspiration of the Jew, and we may add, in another sense, the present aspiration of the Christian. The testimony of the prophecies of the Old Testament is supported by the testimony of providence. Even if the Jew should care but little, if anything, about the ancient prophecies, yet he is moved by “ the signs of the times.” And more, he is influenced by feelings which he cannot account for, but which, when examined by the light of prophecy, receives an explanation in God s interposition by some means either direct or indirect. The Christian knows in a thousand ways that this earth, with all its gold, and honours and pleasures, is not our rest, and therefore how natural, like the Jew, that he should turn the eye of his faith to the city of his love, even in the heavens, the place which God has promised him for evermore. It is but reasonable that he should long for that. 2. Another lesson we are taught by the text is, namely, that the Almighty and Eternal Saviour of His people is to be found in the use of the ordinances of His Church. (W. D. Horwood.) Jeremiah 31:9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them.The penitent sinner returning to his God I. Some of the first steps by which a sinner returns to his offended God.1. Contrition; a heartfelt sorrow and grief on account of his sins. Many causes may conspire to awaken the sinner; but, as soon as the natural blindness of his heart begins to be removed, fear and alarm will be among the earliest effects. The apprehension of God’ s future judgment stops him in his course; fills his heart with terror, and his eyes with tears. He has also a more immediate cause of alarm, in the state of his own mind and heart. Beginning now, for the first time, to abhor iniquity, he is confounded on discovering its power and dominion within him. Something more than this is required, in order to make a true and lasting penitent. After trembling under the condemnation of the law, and mourning over your corrupt nature, you must look upon Christ, and behold in Him the effects of your guilt. 2. From penitent tears, the next step is to fervent prayer. II. Abundant aid is promised to those who are setting out on their return to God.1. God will help the repenting sinner by holy influences; by inspiring him with holy desires, and restraining the corrupt inclinations of the natural mind. 2. He will come to your aid with His refreshing consolations. These are the rivers of waters, by which He will cause you to walk. 3. The repentant sinner is assured of instruction, sufficient to guide him on his way, and easy to be comprehended and followed. 4. He, who leads the sinner into the way of light and consolation, will also uphold him therein. (J. Jowett, M. A.) Christian pilgrims I. Their character.1. There is no discouragement which God will not enable us to surmount. 2. God has chosen those who arc in the most discouraging circumstances on purpose that His own power may be the more displayed and glorified. II. Their journey.1. Its commencement 2. Its progress. Address-- (1) Those who yet are in a state of bondage.(2) Those who are travelling towards Zion. (C. Simeon, M. A.) In a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble. A beaten track Here there is a well-beaten track under our feet. Let us keep it. It may not be quite the shortest way; it may not take us through all the grandeur and sublimity which bolder pedestrians might see: we may miss a picturesque waterfall, a remarkable glacier, a charming view: but the track will bring us safe to our quarters for the night. (R. W. Dale, M. A.) Jeremiah 31:10-11 Hear the Word of the Lord, O ye nations.God’ s Word I. The word of the Lord.1. The sublimity and mystery of the doctrine it reveals.2. The purity and spirituality of its doctrines.3. The harmony of its different authors.4. The fulfilment of its predictions and promises.5. The enmity that is in the carnal mind against it.6. The power that it has upon the human heart. II. The preacher’ s word.1. To be preached wholly. Doctrine, experience, and practice.2. To be preached freely.3. To be preached affectionately and warmly.4. To be preached constantly. III. The duty of the hearer--to hear.1. To prepare in the closet for hearing.2. To believe what is heard.3. To reduce what is heard to practice. (G. J. Till.) He that scattered Israel will gather him. Development by crises This is an entirely reassuring message for a nation passing through an ecclesiastical crisis. It tells us that vast upheavals of thought and life have their place in the plan of God, advance under His sovereign leadership, and are compelled to contribute to the carrying-out of His purpose to redeem, remake, and reunite with Himself, the whole race of man. It is a rigid truth, “ God scatters Israel” ; the Israel He Himself called and created; and his an infinite solace to know that the “ scattering” is His and not another’ s. It is an equally indisputable fact that the God who scatters Israel gathers him again and keeps him as a shepherd his flock. He gathered before He scattered, and He will gather again after He has scattered. Israel will not perish. Never! The social and ecclesiastical moulds in which her life is cast may be broken again and again; but the life endures. God is the God of salvation. He is always mindful of His own. Hope in Him, and hope for evermore! That swift upleap of faith and hope to the summits of clearest vision is vindicated by the whole story of the Exile. The joy that was set before the strong soul of the seer in these days of crushing disaster was realised in the experiences of the succeeding centuries. The prophecy was fulfilled. The crisis was educational, purifying, expanding, uplifting, and unifying; divisive for the day and the hour, but uniting on purer principles and for broader and higher ideals for evermore. As men are educated by their mistakes, and even their sins become as staves in a ladder by which they climb to God, so the Israelites “ rose on stepping stones of their dead selves to higher things.” The sevenfold blessing of the Exile stands written in the unimpeachable Chronicles of Israel, and the world. But, a greater than Jeremiah, describing the facts of His own day and ministry, says, “ The wolf scattereth the sheep.” For again, nearly six hundred years after the time of the prophet, mere was another “ crisis in the Church” of Israel, and another exile was at the doors. Once more the holy city was to be trodden under foot of men, and the holy people were already seized by the “ wolf,” and about to be “ scattered” to the ends of the earth! The significance of the first exile was forgotten. The lessons of experience were unheeded by the leaders of the Jewish people. Priest, and scribe, and Pharisee had corrupted religion again; taught that the outward rites of worship were of more importance than keeping the commandments of God; substituted ceremonialism for obedience, and the use of the sacraments for loving service of man. And so the sheep were scattered. But this is exactly the same spirit which broke the heart of the prophet Jeremiah until he saw it overtaken by the Divine punishment; and then, passing by the iniquity of the leaders of the people, and looking at the penalty which, because it was inflicted by God, had in it an element of recuperation and of hope, he said, God scatters; but “ He that scattered Israel will gather him.” These are, then, two ways of regarding two similar crises, and both are necessary to a just and full interpretation of their meaning. Jesus, speaking to the authoritative religious leaders of Israel, who have, sincerely enough, it may be, but mistakenly, made themselves the foes of God and men, seeks to lay bare their guilt, and therefore fixes upon and exposes the wolf-like ravages wrought on the religious life of the people by their absolute want of the veriest shreds of real religion. His aim is to convict these leaders of the wrong they are doing to their God and to their country. Not so Jeremiah: he is anticipating the great word, “ Comfort ye My people; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; that she hath received of the Lord’ s hand double for all her sins.” But the richest draught of consolation in Jeremiah’ s Gospel is in the assertion of the principle on which these national and institutional changes proceed. God’ s goal, he says, is always constructive, not destructive; the gathering together in one the children of God that are scattered abroad, and not the driving them away from home and fatherland. He shatters the social form of Israel’ s life for the sake of the more perfect and adequate rebuilding of the nobler Israel on the basis of His original redemptive idea. This law is older than all Churches, more fundamental than all States, and as wide and deep as our human life. It is the vital condition of progress. God is at war with the obsolete. He is the living God, and seeks life, and promotes life. The Churches are secondary to the kingdom. They exist for religion, and not religion for them. As words are to ideas, tools to service, so are Churches to the kingdom of God and the service of man, and therefore “ the crisis in the Church” is not likely to be inimical to religion in the end. It will promote real religion, expand it, clear it of the accretions of the past, set it free of the false alliances into which it has entered, convert it from its paganisms, and restore it to its original purity and vigour. And now, what is to be our attitude to these crises in the religious life of our country? Surely, not merely one of silent acquiescence in and gratitude for the work of God, but rather of intelligent, prayerful, large-hearted, and wise co-operation. We are called to be co-workers with Him, to fall in with His laws, to take part in the furtherance of His beneficent work of scattering and gathering His Israel. Our first business is to get on the side of His laws, of His justice and righteousness, at all costs; not to seek the pleasant paths of neutrality and indifference, but to accept boldly the responsibilities placed upon us by our subjection to Christ, and by the exposition and application of His Gospel to the manifold needs of our time. We must begin with ourselves. He who would free others must himself be free. (J. Clifford, D. D.) God’ s grace shown to Israel I. God’ s dealing with them in the past.1. Redeemed them (verse 11).2. Remembered them (verse 20).3. Loved them (verse 3).4. Drew them (verse 3). II. God’ s promise to them in the future. He will forgive them (verse 34). He will forget their sin (verse 34). He will gather them out (verse 8). He will keep them near (verse 10). He will lead them on (verse 9). He will prosper them in the way (verse 12). He will satisfy them fully (verse 14). He will watch over them continually (verse 28), (C. Inglis.) Jeremiah 31:12 Their soul shall be as a watered garden.The watered garden; or, the possibilities of soul life The watered garden has three characteristics. I. Its freshness. Rapid evaporation in hot, dry seasons in the East. Unwatered surface; hard, dry, crusted over, and perhaps cracked. In the watered garden, vegetation continues to spring fresh and joyous. So a Christian man may be fresh and vigorous in soul in the midsummer heat of business life, and in seasons of spiritual drought in the Church. Even when the hot winds of temptation blow directly from the burning desert of sin, his leaf shall not wither, and the manifestations of his spiritual life shall not shrink nor be corrupted (Psalms 1:3). II. Its fertility. Water is always a fertiliser. It contains some sediment. The Nile has spread from thirty to forty feet of alluvium over the surface of Egypt. In England, artificial fertilisers are distributed to the soil by irrigation. It is therefore a fine figure by which the increased fertility of a watered garden represents the possible fruitfulness of a Christian soul. If it be objected that the illustration will not hold, since fertilisers increase the capacity of a soft to bring forth weeds as well as grain, it is answered, A watered garden is always a cultivated garden. Abundance of grace in the heart will both increase and insure faithfulness. III. Its beauty. It is said when the Spaniards invaded Mexico they were astonished at the beautiful gardens of the Aztecs. These western people had constructed a finer system of irrigation, and brought horticulture to a degree of perfection unknown to haughty Spain. The religion of Christ develops the finest, strongest, noblest capacities of our being. (J. C. Allen.) A watered garden To make a good garden four things are necessary. See what they teach about soul culture. I. Good soil. A minister in London was conducting a series of special religious services for young people. At the close of one of them a young lady, the daughter of one of the church officials, came into the inquiry room in great trouble. He was surprised to see her, as he had always thought her to be a good girl. “ Oh, sir,” she said, “ I have such a wicked heart; how can I be saved?” The Holy Spirit had shown her the first necessity. II. Good seed. Sow nothing ugly, harmful, or useless. Be fragrant like the rose, humble like the lily, useful like the myrtle. III. Well watered. Souls need refreshing. If we would keep them alive for God, we must use the means of grace.1. The Bible.2. Private prayer.3. Public worship. IV. Well weeded.1. Early.2. A little every day.3. By the roots. (W. H. Booth.) Spiritual prosperity I. Some ideas suggested by the comparison of the soul of the righteous or godly to a garden.1. A garden is a spot of ground upon which extraordinary cultivation is employed; it is usually separated and enclosed from common ground, and much labour and attention are employed to improve its soil, and to enrich it with those fruits and vegetables which are pleasant and profitable; and such is spiritually the state of every pious soul. Every real Christian is “ a garden walled around-chosen, and made peculiar ground.” 2. A garden is generally stored with various kinds of those vegetable productions that are either useful or ornamental. So out of the soul renewed by grace, does the Lord cause to spring up and grow every Christian virtue and heavenly grace that is either pleasing to God, or useful to man. 3. A garden does not arrive at its full perfections and glory at once. So it is with the Christian’ s graces; at first they are weak and small. His knowledge is very contracted and confused, he “ sees men as trees walking” ; his faith is unsteady and wavering, his love is limited within narrow bounds, and his hope too often droops and hangs its head. II. Those Divine influences by which this spiritual garden is watered.1. The influences of the Spirit of God are imparted to every real Christian, and produce effects that resemble those which warm and refreshing showers have upon the productions of a garden (Isaiah 64:3). 2. These influences are enjoyed and conveyed to the soul by the means of God’ s Word and ordinances. III. How much this happy state and these enriching influences are to be desired by every immortal soul,1. Till we attain these, we are in a most desolate, wild, barren condition; yea, in an accursed and ruined state. 2. It is only by attaining this state, that we can arrive at true happiness either here or hereafter. 3. Unless we are in this state we cannot glorify God, nor be useful to our fellow-creatures as we ought. Learn from the whole, the need, the abundant need, we have daily to ask for Divine influences; and we should seek these influences sincerely. Ask evangelically; that is, according to the Gospel method of approaching unto God; with entire dependence upon the mediation of Jesus Christ. Ask importunately; that is, persevere till you obtain the blessing, and the more you have wrestled for it, the more you will value it when obtained. Ask believingly; that is, in constant expectation of obtaining; do not question His power, His goodness, or His faithfulness. (J. Sewell.) Soul culture The prophet is predicting the time when Israel’ s captivity shall end and prosperity shall crown adversity and want and poverty shall be no more. The prospect describes not only material, but also spiritual abundance, and both conditions are to be realised through painstaking diligence. The soul--what is it? That which is the highest and noblest part of our nature; which is the seat of reason, affection, conscience, and will; which gives us affinity with things unseen and Divine. We are strangely indifferent at times to the interests of this valuable possession. We have gymnasiums and systems of calisthenics and rules of diet and habit for the body; we are very eager to devise the most expeditious methods of promoting the education of the mind; but we do not give a commensurate emphasis to the discipline of the spiritual. But as a man cannot have a sound and well-grown body or a mature and well-equipped mind without training, so is it impossible for him to have a healthy, thoroughly developed soul without process of cultivation. Let us inquire as to what means are necessary for the unfolding of the spiritual nature.1. First of all we may mention the need of religious thinking. He is the best business man who can not only adapt himself to the routine and mechanism of his work, but can also discern the underlying principles of it, appreciate its wider relations and foresee its possibilities, who is not only the business actor, but the business thinker. Likewise one must consider religious facts and principles and truths in order that he may appropriate them and become wisely, fundamentally religious. Theology is, as it always has been, the most commanding of sciences; for it is man’ s thought about God, and man is always restlessly inquisitive in his attempts to search out the secrets of the Infinite. If one is to be large minded he must think large thoughts, and the greatest ideas that can enter the mind are the religious ideas. Again, it is to be urged that this religious intelligence is important for the sake of religious conduct. We hear it said that it matters not much what a man thinks, provided he does what is right, a statement which is entirely lacking in wisdom, because there is an inevitable sequence of cause and effect between thinking and doing. To give a single instance, whatever righteousness there was in the Jewish life was the reflection of the Ten Commandments--the Jewish conception of righteousness. We must see that our religious thinking has its basis in Scripture. We must take our start in the accepted record, if we would be true and wise, for Christianity is, first of all, not a philosophy, but a history. And the stimulus which the Bible gives us will come not only from being acquainted with its facts and principles and truths, but from breathing the atmosphere which emanates from its pages. It is a book instinct with life. 2. Another means of religious culture is prayer. No man can be truly religious if he does not pray, for religion is a personal relationship between man and God; and prayer is the one supreme act by which the door is opened, and one stands in the conscious presence of his Maker. 3. Still another means must be adopted in the cultivation of the spiritual life, and that is public worship. 4. To all other means implied in the spiritual culture there must be added rightness of action. No man can be truly religious whose devoutness is not rooted in integrity. There is a religiousness which easily lifts itself into ecstasies, which has no connection with the life. “ A new commandment I give unto you,” Christ declares, “ that ye love one another.” Oh, to live out of ourselves; to spend and be spent; to plan and work that we may do good to our homes, to our Church, to our community, and to all our fellow-men--that is to make our spiritual life real and abundant. May we ever be refreshed by that Divine presence, that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, and that our souls may be luxuriant and fruitful as a watered garden. (H. P. Dewey.) The garden of the soul A “ watered garden” suggests the idea of-- I. A fragrant freshness. What a difference there is in the plants of a garden after they have been watered by the dews or showers, or by the hand of the gardener! The flowers lift their drooping heads; the leaves, set free from dust, put on a brighter aspect; the plants look as if they had taken a “ new lease of life,” and you might almost fancy that they were entering with new zest into the enjoyment of their existence! Now, the characters and lives of the people of God ought to be marked by a similar freshness. There ought to be a certain fulness of life in the soul of the Christian, making itself felt by those around him. Godliness tends to keep the soul from withering, and replenishes the springs of the deepest life. There is a perennial freshness in unselfish affections and unworldly aims. The “ eternal life” never grows old. Each new day is a new gift from the Father’ s hand, and brings with it new opportunities of serving the Master and helping the brethren. The faith of the Gospel tends to produce the childlike heart; and to the childlike all is not “ vanity and vexation of spirit.” Oh! if we would only look at this human life of ours in the light of God, it could scarcely ever lose the freshness of its interest; and if we ourselves were only saturated with the love of God and the love of man, our own souls would be ever full of life, and fresh as a “ watered garden.” And this freshness of the Christian life is a fragrant freshness. It is a freshness which may co-exist even with physical weakness, sometimes even with disappointed expectations. There are souls which, like the thyme, give out their sweetest perfume when they have just been bruised. And how refreshing it is to see an aged Christian manifesting a fresh and kindly interest in the welfare of others, and especially in the pleasures of the young, and rejoicing in a daily sense of the presence and love of God! II. A varied beauty. In a well-kept garden there is beauty of colour and of form; beauty of order and of tasteful arrangement; beauty of stem, and leaf, and flower; and amongst the flowers themselves a varied beauty, resulting from manifold varieties of form and colour. Flowers do more for people--and especially for some people--than they themselves are aware of; and the blossoming of Christian character has its own subtle influence in the world. There are times when a man may get more good from the flowers of the garden than even from its fruits. And there is a kind of good which a man may get from the sight of a daisy, which he cannot get from the sight of the sturdiest oak. And, even so, the lovelier features of the Christian character have their own peculiar charm and peculiar power. “ See how these Christians love one another!” was the admiring cry of the heathen, as they watched the flowering of brotherly affection in the early Church. And certainly there is no beauty to be compared with that of moral and spiritual character. It is said of Linnaeus that the first time he saw the gorse in bloom he knelt down upon the ground in grateful rapture, and gave God thanks for the sight. And have not we ourselves sometimes--after hearing of some chivalrous and generous deed, or after enjoying the company of the pure-minded and the tender-hearted--gone home to thank God upon our knees for the grace which can clothe human character with so much beauty? No rose of the garden is so beautiful as human love when it is both passionate and pure. No geranium, with its contrast of scarlet and green, is so lovely as an open frankness associated with a quiet modesty. No apple-blossoms are so fair as the kindly sympathy which is the natural forerunner of the fruits of well-doing. No lily of the valley is so beautiful as the sweet dignity which half hides itself in humility and tenderness. III. A rich fruitfulness. Even the beauty of spiritual character has, as we have just seen, uses of its own, and is, therefore, in a sense, fruitful of good. But, over and above all this, Christians ought also to be putting forth practical endeavours for the promotion of Christ’ s kingdom, and for the welfare of human hearts and lives. If only you were more generous with your time or with your money, or if only you were more consistent in your conduct out in the world, or if only you were more earnest in the training of your children, or if only you took a deeper interest in the cause of Him who died for you, would not your life be much more fruitful of good (T. C. Finlayson.) Jeremiah 31:13I will turn their mourning into Joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. Transfigured troubles In one of the German picture galleries is a painting called “ Cloudland.” It hangs at the end of a long gallery, and at first sight it looks like a huge, repulsive daub of confused colour, without form or comeliness. As you walk towards it the picture begins to take shape. It proves to be a mass of exquisite little cherub faces, like those at the head of the canvas in Raphael’ s “ Madonna San Sisto.” If you come close to the picture you see only an innumerable company of little angels and cherubim. How often the soul that is frightened by trial sees nothing but a confused mass of crushed hopes! But if that soul, instead of fleeing away into unbelief and despair, would only draw up nearer to God, it would soon discover that the cloud was full of angels of mercy. In one cherub face it would see, “ Whom I love I chasten.” Another angel would say, “ All things work together for good to them that love God.” In still another sweet face the heavenly words are coming forth, “ Let not your heart be troubled: in My Father’ s house are many mansions.” (T. L. Cuyler.) Jeremiah 31:14 My people shall be satisfied with My goodness.A promise for God’ s people I. Ascertain the right application of the promise. “ My people.” The term is restrictive. Only the people of God. And it is universal: all, everywhere, in every age. Who, then, are they? The phrase denotes covenant relationship. As man is alienated, it implies reconciliation,--acceptance. The covenant by which this is effected is that of mercy in Christ. As children of the covenant, we have received its visible seal,--have been instructed in its obligations and blessings. Repentance and faith required. These produce continued obedience,--and so we become, so we continue to be, the people of God. II. What is the promise made to them? “ They shall be satisfied,” &c.1. There is “ the goodness of God.” The phrase sometimes refers to His essential goodness; He is good. But here, to its bestowments;--He doeth good. (1) The condescending manifestation of pardoning mercy, and adopting love to the conscience. (2) The various gifts of grace, and blessings of providence, all flowing from paternal love. (3) The blessings of glory, future, and to be waited for; but brought near by good hope, given by God who hath loved us. 2. With this they are “ satisfied.” (1) The effect of manifested mercy is true satisfaction--peace, joy, delight. We possess what we feel is our true portion. (2) And, preserving this feeling,--living as penitent, pardoned believers,--we rejoice in the ordinary gifts of providence; even in chastenings we joy, knowing, their source and object; we rejoice in the overflowing fountain of grace; we joy in the foretastes of glory. Lessons--1. See the inestimable value of religion Other gifts vain without this. This of itself all in all. 2. Oh, the unutterable folly of sin! You refuse bliss; choose misery; and for what ? The fountains of living waters,--for broken, even empty cisterns. 3. Seek religion now. Live in full possession of it. (G. Cubitt.) God’ s people satisfied with His goodness I. My people. Who are now God’ s people? All, whether of Jewish origin or of Gentile extraction, who--1. Have repented of sin, and turned to the Lord with weeping and supplication (Zechariah 12:10; Jeremiah 31:9; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19). 2. Have received Christ, and believed on Him to the salvation of their souls (John 1:11-13; John 3:18; John 3:36). 3. Have been regenerated by the Spirit and the truth of God (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:3-7; 1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 1:9; 1 Peter 1:23). 4. Have the assurance of their adoption into the family of God (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:4-7). 5. Who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24; Philippians 3:3). 6. Who keep His commandments, and are zealous of, and careful to maintain, good works (John 14:21; John 14:24; Titus 2:14; Titus 3:8; James 2:14-26; Revelation 22:14). 7. Who have their thoughts and affections set on things above, and who are ever looking for the coming of their Lord (Colossians 3:1-4; Philippians 3:20-21; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 3:10-14; Revelation 22:20). My people-- II. Shall be satisfied. Satisfaction is the rest of the desiring faculties. To be satisfied is to be filled, contented, and gratified to that degree, that nothing more is, or can be desired. “ The primary idea” of the Hebrew word “ lies in abundance of drink, although in the common usage of the language this verb is more frequently applied to food than to drink. Thus of one sated with food, Deuteronomy 31:20; Rth 2:14; Isaiah 44:16; Jeremiah 31:14. It is spoken of the Spirit, Ecclesiastes 6:3; and metaphorically of the eye, as not satisfied with seeing, Ecclesiastes 1:8. Compare Isaiah 53:2; Psalms 17:15.” --Gesenius’ s Heb. Lex. Our spiritual need is often set forth in Scripture by our bodily necessities; and our spiritual supplies are spoken of in similar terms, to the supplies of our temporal wants (Isaiah 25:6; Isaiah 55:1-3; Isaiah 66:10-14; Zechariah 9:15-17; Matthew 5:6). They shall be satisfied; for 1. Their minds shall be filled with knowledge, confidence, and hope, in reference to Divine, Spiritual, and eternal things. They shall be free from perplexity, doubt, and fear. They shall have “ the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Colossians 2:2). They shall to God draw near in full assurance of faith, having their hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and their bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22). And they “ shew the same diligence unto the full assurance of hope unto the end” (Hebrews 6:11). These three full assurances satisfy the saints. 2. Their souls shall be filled with holiness. 3. Their hearts shall be filled with love (1 John 4:16-19). 4. Their lives shall be filled with good deeds (Philippians 1:10-11; Philippians 2:14-16; Matthew 5:13-16). Shah be satisfied-- III. With my goodness, saith the Lord. The goodness of God here means His kindness, benignity, and beneficence, as it does in Psalms 25:7; Psalms 27:13; Psalms 31:19; Psalms 145:7, and in many other places.1. They shall be satisfied with God’ s favour. “ O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 33:23). “ In His favour is life” (Psalms 30:5). In His favour there is pardon and peace, purity and hope, love and joy, protection and honour (Romans 5:1-5; Psalms 4:7-8; Psalms 5:12; Psalms 32:1; Psalms 23:2; Psalms 89:15-18; Psalms 106:4-5). 2. They shall be satisfied with His goodness in their meditations on God (Psalms 63:5; Psalms 36:6; Psalms 104:34; Psalms 119:14-16). 3. They shall be satisfied with God’ s goodness in His worship and service (Psalms 65:4; Psalms 36:7-9; Psalms 36:34). 4. They shall be satisfied with God’ s goodness in fellowship and communion with Him (1 John 1:3-4). Fellowship with God and His Son Jesus Christ consists in our being partakers of the Divine nature; in constant intercourse and communion with the Divine being; in community of interest; and in mutual possession. In this blessed fellowship we are satisfied; for we are “ filled with all the fulness of God,” and are “ blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ.” 5. They shall be satisfied with God’ s goodness in heaven for ever and ever (Psalms 17:15). Then shall we be satisfied, fully satisfied, eternally satisfied (Revelation 7:14-17). 6. The certainty that God’ s people shall be satisfied with His goodness. We have no ground for doubt; for God says it, whose word cannot fail. Are we God’ s people? If so, we shall be satisfied with His goodness; but if not, we cannot be satisfied. Literature, art, and science cannot satisfy the soul. Wealth, honour, pleasure cannot satisfy the immortal mind. Believe me, nothing can satisfy us but the goodness of God. (H. O. Crofts, D. D.) Jeremiah 31:15-17A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children. Innocents’ day Undoubtedly it seems strange, that one of the earliest consequences of the incarnation of Him, who afterwards declared that He came not to destroy men’ s lives, but to save them, should thus have been the murder of so many unoffending little ones. A few days ago we assembled around the cradle of the newborn King, and now the ground round about us is strewed with the bodies of the young ones, slaughtered, as it were, in His stead. Well might He afterwards declare, that He came not to send peace, but a sword upon the earth; seeing that, while yet a nursling in His mother’ s arms, He is the occasion of the sword being fleshed in numbers who least deserved to die. And the thing most remarkable in this transaction appears to us to be, that the permission of the slaughter was in no sense requisite to the safety of Christ. Joseph, and Mary, and the Child had departed for Egypt, before the fury of Herod was allowed to break out. How easy does it seem that Herod should have been informed of the flight, and thus taught the utter uselessness of his cruel decree. Let us see whether there be really anything in the facts now commemorated at variance with the known mercy of God. If, indeed, we were unable to discover that the slaughter of the innocents was a means to ensure wise ends, we shall be confident, from the known attributes of God, that there was such an end, though not to be ascertained by our limited faculties. This, however, is not the ease. And they who think at all carefully will find enough to remove all surprise that Herod was not withheld from the slaughter. Let it be first observed, that prophecy had fixed Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Christ, and had determined, with considerable precision, the time of the nativity. It were easy, therefore, to prove that no one could be the Messiah who had not been born at Bethlehem, and about the period when the Virgin became a mother. How wonderfully, then, did the slaughter of the innocents corroborate the pretensions of Jesus. If no one could be Messiah unless born at Bethlehem, and at a certain time, why, the sword of Herod did almost demonstrate that Jesus was the Christ; for removing, perhaps, every other who could have answered to the test of time and place of birth, there seems only Jesus remaining in whom the prophecy could be fulfilled. Besides, it should be carefully marked, that Jesus was to live in comparative obscurity, until thirty years of age; He was then to burst suddenly upon the world, and to amaze it by displays of omnipotence. But, brought up as He had been at Nazareth, it was very natural that when He emerged from long seclusion, He should have been regarded as a Nazarene. Accordingly we find so completely had His birthplace been forgotten, that many objected His being of Nazareth, against the possibility of His being the Messiah. They argued rightly, that no one could be the Christ who had not been born at Bethlehem; but then they rashly concluded, that Jesus wanted this sign of Messiahship, because they knew Him to have been brought up in Galilee. And what made them inexcusable? Why, the slaughter of the innocents. They could not have been uninformed of this event; bereaved parents were still living who would be sure to tell the story of their wrongs; and this event marked as with a line of blood the period at which the Christ was supposed to have been born. A moment’ s inquiry would have proved to them that Jesus was this Child, and removed the doubt which attached to Him as a supposed Galilean. And, therefore, not in vain was the mother stirred from her sepulchre by the cry of her infant offspring; the echo of her lament might still be heard in the land, and those who listened not to the witness of the birthplace of Jesus stood self-condemned, while rejecting Him on the plea, “ Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” There are yet more obvious reasons why God should have allowed this act of cruelty. We may believe that God was leaving Herod to fill up the measure of his guilt. Add to all this, that God was unquestionably disciplining the parents by the slaughter of the children. There was at this time a great and general expectation of the Messiah, and the Jewish mothers must have more than ever hoped for the honour of giving birth to the Deliverer: but of course such a hope must have been stronger in Bethlehem than in any other town, seeing that prophecy was supposed to mark it as the birthplace. Hence we may readily believe that the infants of Bethlehem were objects of extraordinary interest to their parents--objects in which their ambition centred, as well as their affection. And, if so, we can understand that these fathers and mothers stood in special need of that discipline which God administers to parents through the death of their children; so that there was a suitableness in the dispensation as allotted to Bethlehem, which might not have been discoverable had another town been its subject. Now all this reasoning would be shaken, if it could be shown that a real and everlasting injury were done to the innocents themselves. Let us now, then, consider the consequences of the massacre, so far as the innocents themselves were concerned. There is much here to require and repay your careful examination. We have an unhesitating belief in respect of all children, admitted into God’ s Church, and dying before they know evil from good, that they are saved by the virtues of Christ’ s propitiation. We never hesitate to tell parents sorrowing for their dead children, who had been old enough to endear themselves by the smile and the prattle, but not old enough to know moral good from moral evil, that they have a right to feel such assurance of the salvation of their offspring, as the best tokens could scarcely have afforded had they died in riper years. And however melancholy the thought, that so many of our fellow-men live without God, and therefore die without hope, it is cheering to believe, that perhaps a yet greater number are saved through the sacrifice of Christ. For as a large proportion of our population die before old enough for moral accountableness; how many of the Christian community are safely housed ere exposed to the blight and tumult of the world! Oh, the “ magnificent possession” would not want inhabitants if all, who could choose for themselves, chose death, and not life; heaven would still gather within its capacious bosom, a shining multitude, who just descended to earth that they might there be grafted into the body of Christ, and then flew back to enjoy all the privileges of membership. And we may believe of this multitude that it would be headed by the slaughtered little ones of Bethlehem--those who, dying, we might almost say, for the Saviour, won something like the martyr’ s crown, which shall, through eternity, sparkle on their foreheads. Who, then, shall say that Herod was permitted to do a real injury to those innocents, and that thus their death is an impeachment either of the justice or the mercy of God? We may be assured that they escaped many cares, difficulties, and troubles, with which a long life must have been charged; for, had the sword of Herod not hewn them down, they might have remained on earth till Judah’ s desolation began, and have shared in the worst woes which ever fell on a land. The innocents of Bethlehem have always been reckoned by the Church amongst the martyrs; for, though incapable of making choice, God, we may believe, supplied the defect of their will by His own entertainment of their death. And it is beautiful to think, that as the spirits of the martyred little ones soared toward heaven, they may have been taught to look on the Infant in whose stead they had died; to feel that He for whom they had been sacrificed was about to be sacrificed for them; and that they were mounting to glory on the merits of that defenceless Babe (as He seemed then), hurrying as an outcast into Egypt. (H. Melvill, B. D.) Rachel weeping for her children The death of young children is among the saddest bereavements of life. The sight of a suffering, dying child is painful. The mystery distresses us. Affection yearns in vain. The death of a young child is a sore disappointment. The fond parents cling round it through life, “ like bees about a flower’ s wine-cup.” What dreams of long life, and rich fortune, and untold happiness beguile their days! Their cherished hopes are blighted, and the future is a scene of clouded prospects and changed plans. The death of young children is often one of the hardest things to endure. Like the weeping Rachel, the bereaved parents are inconsolable. What bitter words of rebellion are sometimes spoken, instead of words of sweet resignation! Never is the weakness of all earthly props more manifest than under such circumstances. No considerations save such as the Bible supplies can give to the soul strength and peace. Still you remember your dead. Your experience ripens into that of Vaughan-- “ They are all gone into a world of light,And I alone sit lingering here;Their very memory is fair and bright,And my sad thoughts doth clear.”Although the death of young children is such a sore loss, there are sources of comfort--considerations which constrain us to say, “ Thy will be done.” I. In the early removal of children God acts as a Father. In one of our English churchyards there is this inscription on a child’ s tombstone: “‘ Who plucked that flower?’ cried the gardener, as he walked through the garden. His fellow-servant answered, ‘ The Master,’ and the gardener held his peace.” There is an Eastern story of a rabbi, who, having been absent all day, returned home in the evening, and was met by his wife at the door. With her first greeting she told him how she had been perplexed during the day, because a friend, who years ago had entrusted some rare jewels to her care, had that day come for them from her long possession of them they seemed almost her own, and she felt loth to give them back. “ They were only lent,” replied her husband; “ be thankful that you have had the use of them so long.” “ Your words are good,” said she; “ may we now and always follow them!” Then, leading him into an inner chamber, she showed him, stretched upon one bed, their two children who had that day died. Forthwith he knew the jewels which God had lent him, and now resumed, and his heart said, “ The Lord gave,” &c. II. Children who die young are removed from all possible sorrow and harm to live the perfect life above. Their sufferings, perhaps, were great, and you would fain have suffered in their stead; but their day of suffering was short. There was mercy in their death. Had they lived, some wild and withering anguish might have sered their summer’ s earliest leaf; the sickness of hope deferred might have given them a disgust of life. They have escaped these and all other woes--escaped them for ever. They are, moreover, taken away from all possible sin. They might have lived to be a curse to their parents and to the world. We know little of their future life; but we know as much as this--that all which can make life worth living is theirs. Your fondest love could not wish more for them than they enjoy. Selfishness might desire their return; love never can. All that was imperfect in them is left behind; and they are as the angels of God for ever. III. The death of young children is often a ministry of blessing to the bereaved parents. Just as we make idols of other objects that we regard with undue affection, so we are in danger of making idols of our children. If we allow them to estrange our affections from God, to interfere with our religious duties--to withdraw our sympathies from the poor and suffering around us, then our love is of the nature of idolatry; and it is a proof of God’ s love that He removes the idols. In one of his letters, Dr. Judson writes thus: “ Our only darling boy was, three days ago, laid in the silent grave. Eight months we enjoyed the precious little gift, in which time he had so completely entwined himself around his parents’ hearts, that his existence seemed necessary to their own. But God has taught us by afflictions what we would not learn by mercies, that our hearts are His exclusive property, and whatever rival intrudes He will tear it away.” Edward Irving exclaimed, after his child’ s death, “ Glorious exchange! God took my son to His own more fatherly bosom; and revealed in my bosom the sure expectation and faith of His own eternal Son.” Dr. Bushnell once said, “ I have learned more of experimental religion since my little boy died than in all my life before.” The shepherd of the Alps who cannot get his sheep to climb the higher ascents of the mountains, will take the lambs and throw them up to the shelving rocks, when their dams soon spring up after them. By somewhat similar methods the Shepherd of Israel gathers His flocks on the hills of glory. He removes your children to heaven, that you may follow them thither. IV. Consider, further, the joy your children gave you while they lived. Of course, the memory is touched with sadness; but there is room for gratitude. Be thankful that they were yours so long. You were rich in their possession; and you are all the richer for them, even though God has taken them away. Your heart has been enlarged. A fount of feeling has been opened in your nature that never can be dry any more. You are richer in sympathy and in hope; richer towards society and God. In a deep and true sense, your dead children are with you still (W. Walters.) Jeremiah 31:16-17 Refrain thy voice from weeping. Bereaved parents comforted I. It is not sinful for parents to be grieved and sorrowful for the death of their children. If we do not grieve when we are thus stricken of God, it is an evidence that we do not feel the heavy calamity which His providence hath inflicted, and how can there be any probability that we shall be profited by it? It is by the sadness of the countenance that the heart is made better. It is in consequence of the affliction being for the present not joyous, hut grievous, that, through the Divine blessing, it bringeth forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness in them that are exercised thereby. II. Parents should refrain from immoderate and excessive grief for the death of their children, when they consider that this event flows from God’ s wise and sovereign appointment. If our children be interested in that covenant which is ordered in all things and sure, let no one say that their death is premature or unseasonable. God hath a method, which we cannot explain, of ripening those for heaven whom He gathers into it in the beginning of their days. III. Disconsolate parents should moderate their grief for the death of their children, when we consider that our loss is their unspeakable gain. Infant children, born as it were into this world only to suffer and to die, are striking evidence of the dreadful effects of sin. They are objects of compassion to the human heart, much more to the Father of mercies. It is natural, when our children are taken away, if their faculties have begun to unfold themselves, to review the little history of their lives, and to reflect with melancholy pleasure on many passages unheeded by others, but carefully marked and remembered by parents; and if any good thing towards the Lord was found in our child, the remembrance is full of comfort. If we found their hearts grateful and affectionate for our care, and submissive to our will, these were the seeds of an amiable and humble spirit. If they had a tenderness of conscience, so far as they knew good and evil, and stood in awe of offending; if they loved and hearkened to instruction; if they had a deep veneration for the Bible, as containing the revelation of God’ s mercy and goodness to His children; if they had some views, however faint, of a state of blessedness into which pious and good children enter after death; in a word, if to the last they grew in favour with God and man, this is an anchor of hope to disconsolate and afflicted parents. IV. Parents should moderate their grief for the death of their children, when they look forward to a joyful and blessed resurrection. Our children shall “ come again from the land of the enemy.” The husbandman doth not mourn when he casteth his seed into the ground, because he soweth in hope. He commits it to the earth with the joyful expectation of receiving it again with great improvement; so when we commit the precious dust of our relations to the earth, we are warranted to exercise a joyful hope that we shall receive them again unspeakably improved at the resurrection. V. Parents should moderate their grief for the loss of their children, when they consider what beneficial effects this is calculated to produce in their own souls. David thankfully acknowledges it is “ good for me that I have been afflicted.” God deals with us as a wise parent deals with froward and undutiful children. When counsels and admonitions produce no effect, He finds it necessary to correct us with the rod; and when the strokes of providence inflicted on other families have been slightly regarded by us, He finds it necessary to smite us in our own bone and flesh. It would be highly ungrateful, then, to murmur against God when He acts a father’ s part toward us, and is chastening and correcting us for our spiritual profit and advantage. The impatience with which we bear the stroke, is an evidence that our affections were rooted many degrees deeper in the creature than we were aware of. Our merciful Father doth not measure out one drop from the cup of affliction, nor inflict one stripe with His correcting rod, more than He sees indispensably necessary for His children’ s profit and happiness. We should take in good part every trial with which we are visited, as coming from a parent’ s hand and a parent’ s heart. Conclusion--1. Let us learn resignation to Divine providence under our affliction. 2. From the death of our children, let us learn to exercise a lively faith on that state of life and immortality which is brought to light by the Gospel. 3. The death of our children should teach us to live mindful of our own death. (J. Hay, D. D.) There is hope in thine end, saith the Lord. Good hope There are some who cannot endure the thought of looking forward to the end; and this in a great variety of particulars. None but Christians contemplate with delight the end of their woes, and the reason is, that they have no well-grounded hope as to the end. If a hope exists, it becomes us closely to examine on what it is founded. I. If I were asked what constitutes my hope as a child of God, as a Christian, as an heir of glory, I should not hesitate for one moment to state that it consists of three things--the constancy of my Father’ s love, the official faithfulness of my Elder Brother to His engagements, and the ministerial operations of the Comforter, pledged for the eternal salvation of my soul II. Notice how this is owned by Jehovah Himself. “ Saith the Lord.” This is a phrase of personal importance. He hath not only said it here in the volume of inspiration, but He saith it repeatedly, continually, powerfully unto the souls of His people when He speaks to them. What paternal tenderness is here! what paternal condescension! There are numbers of little children in different families who would, in many instances, be disposed to disregard a great deal that a servant might say, or that a stranger or a visitor might say; but when the father speaks, his voice has some weight and authority. Moreover, when Jehovah thus speaks with paternal tenderness, there is hope in His name. Suppose the case of crosses and cares, trials and anxieties, difficulties and perplexities, threatened ruin or discomfort, or the loss of domestic harmony; only let the Lord speak, and “ there is hope in the end, saith the Lord.” In the next place, just mark, that when Jehovah speaks, when Jehovah Himself comes with His “ Thus saith God,” it is by revealing the hope of Israel. This is the express business and ministry of God the Holy Ghost, to reveal the glorious Person of the Redeemer, under the appellation of “ the hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble.” I beseech you to mark one more point in connection with the Lord’ s owning this hope to exist in reality in the soul; I refer to the testimony of the internal witness of the Holy Ghost. “ The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.” His testimonies have always a sanctifying tendency. (J. Irons.) Jeremiah 31:18-21I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself.Repentant Ephraim The real turning-point in man’ s spiritual history is when he begins to accuse himself and to justify God. From self-accusation the soul is led on by the Spirit of God to self-condemnation. Mark, in the first place, what it is that Ephraim bemoans. It is “ himself.” To mourn sinful acts is one thing, and may be done by even a Judas. To mourn over a sinful nature, an evil heart dwelling within, of which the act is only an expression, is quite another. The one may be the work of the natural conscience unenlightened by the Spirit of God: the other is the genuine mark of a soul that has been under the leading of that Spirit, and has “ passed from death unto life.” Mark it in the case of Ephraim. “ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself.” It is no mere surface work. It is Ephraim under conviction of sin. It is Ephraim taking up the prophet’ s words, “ Woe is me, for I am undone.” Mark the three times the word “ surely” occurs here. “ I have surely heard Ephraim” ; “ surely after that I was turned, I repented” ; “ I will surely have mercy.” These are “ the sure mercies of David,” given to the soul under the training of the Spirit of God. There is the sure ear of God, the sure repentance of the soul, and the sure mercy to meet it. Why is this? Because the work is God’ s. It is a thorough work. Observe, next, how God often brings the soul to the knowledge of itself. “ Thou hast chastised me.” It is through the sharp strokes of trial and discipline. Ah! these do God’ s work often when nothing else will. Let God draw near and lay His hand upon us, then the true character of the heart will display itself. That character is unchangeable--“ enmity to God.” Blessed be God when we are brought to see and feel it! Then, like Ephraim, we say, “ Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned.” And what is the ground on which this is urged? “ For Thou art the Lord my God.” What a plea! What sweet assurance! What trust! What knowledge of Him these words imply! Oh, to draw near at all times with this on the lips! Then will the bow of peace span the darkest cloud, and light and peace and joy be the heritage of the soul. Observe the next clause. God “ turns” the soul, then there is true repentance. Then He “ instructs” that soul by His Spirit. It goes on learning deeper lessons of Him and of His wondrous grace. But mark the direction which this “ instruction” takes, and the spirit it begets in the soul. “ After that I was instructed,” &c. How the instruction increases humility! How the soul begins with smiting, and goes on to shame and confounding! Mark, next, the Lord’ s language to the returning child. “ Ephraim, My dear son; a pleasant child; for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore My bowels are troubled for him: I will “ surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.” How beautifully the history of the prodigal son confirms this! “ Set thee up way-marks; make thee high heaps.” Make thee finger-posts to guide thee to heaven. How many a thing the believer may set before him each day to help him onward. How many a passage of Scripture stored up in memory may preserve the soul in danger’ s hour, and send it on its way more than conqueror! How many a secret prayer sent up to God has been a way-mark, leading the soul into a right path when all was perplexity and darkness! Yes, not only “ set thee up way-marks,” but “ make thee high heaps.” A high heap is one that can easily be seen. Oh! it is a great thing when we come to some perplexity in life, when we come to some turning-point in our history, to have something ready to hand. It is a blessed thing not to have to search about for it, not to be hindered in the course by delay, but to see the path plainly and clearly before us! And what is the last word in this passage to Ephraim? “ Turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.” It is a prophetic word, bidding that exile from her long-lost home look back again in hope. It is the climax of all that has gone before. It is “ that blessed hope,” the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious prospect awaits the despised and downtrodden nation of Israel! What a glorious prospect awaits the Church of the living God--the Bride of the Lamb! (F. Whitfield, M. A.) The picture of a true penitent I. The picture of a true penitent. The piteous lamentations,--the bitter self-accusations, the tears and prayers of the broken-hearted are delineated with a force and accuracy which transport us to the scenes described.1. His position is solitary, “ bemoaning himself.” It is not an easy, but it is an indispensable process, that all sources of relief should be forsaken but those which are in God Himself, when man is seeking the pardon of sin and the salvation of the soul. 2. Self-reproach. Shame at having acted so unworthy a part,--so contrary to one s own best interests,--so ungrateful to the Heavenly Benefactor, so derogatory to His glory,--so injurious to the welfare of others,--so morally bad in its defilement,--so insufficient in its motives,--so degrading in its results. 3. The true penitent refers his state to God. If the events of life are in our esteem only the outcome of fixed laws, altogether detached from an intelligent and personal control, they yield us no profit. If, on the other hand, we trace them to God, they become luminous in the instruction which they furnish, and the whole discipline of life resolves itself into a system in which goodness and mercy, wisdom and power, are most effectively taught. 4. It is a favourable sign of this true penitent that he mingles with his self-reproaches the language of childlike interest in God. “ For Thou art the Lord my God.” II. The process of restoration. In the case of Israel it was as it is often now; by means of affliction God awakened him to spiritual things. The discipline of affliction is not, however, limited to that part of the Christian life which precedes conversion. They have a most important office to perform in the training and perfecting of the sons of God.1. They are employed as preventive. The condition of life may be very limited, but its limitation is to a godly man a source of security. The suffering in which he is involved may be very acute, but it makes prayer exceeding real, the Bible very sweet, and the consolations of Christ abound as the sufferings of Christ abound (2 Corinthians 1:6). “ It is better,” says an old divine, “ to be preserved in brine than to rot in honey.” 2. The treatment which God adopted with Ephraim He still employs with His people, inasmuch as He makes their sorrows and trials restorative in their character. The scalpel may cause the patient to wince, but it will cut away incipient corruption and death. The sharpest winters are followed by the most fruitful summers. 3. All the trials of the present world are employed by Divine wisdom as preparatives for the future of the Christian. (W. G. Lewis.) Ephraim bemoaning himself I. A sinner bemoaning himself.1. Bowed down with a peculiar grief. Inward sorrow. True repentance. 2. Well-founded sorrow. Over guilt, outrage on God’ s goodness and grace. 3. Humble sorrow. Not excusing or flattering himself, or making new resolutions; but “ bemoaning.” 4. A thoughtful sorrow. 5. A hopeless yet a hopeful sorrow. II. The lord observing him.1. God heard all Ephraim had to say. It may be but a stammering cry. Broken prayers are the best. 2. God delights in the broken and contrite spirit. 3. God is full of compassion. III. The lord working in his effectual grace.1. The only turning in the world that is saving and Divine, is the turning of the heart. 2. The Lord’ s way of turning men varies in each case. (1) A distinct sight of wrath to come stops a sinner.(2) Or the awakened conscience is led to see the real nature of sin.(3) The grand turning-point is the sight of Christ on the Cross.(4) One of the most blessed ways by which God makes a sinner turn is, He manifests His everlasting love to him. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The cry of the penitent Amidst all the confused and discordant sounds that are for ever rising from this fallen world of ours into the ears of the Most High God, there is one to which He can never be indifferent; and that is, the voice of a stricken and contrite sinner bemoaning himself. He finds that “ from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot there is no soundness in him.” He is out of heart with himself altogether, and despairs of being able to improve his position. “ O wretched man that I am!” he exclaims, “ who will deliver me from the body of this death?” And thus by his very perplexity and helplessness he is drawn to look out of himself for assistance. Oh, you who are bemoaning yourselves, here is comfort for you. You never would have come to that point, you would have been even now either excusing or endeavouring to amend yourselves, but for the blessed influence of the Divine Spirit, who has shown you your true condition and brought you to an end of yourself, and thus put you m a position to begin with Him. Oh, thank Him for it, and since He has brought you thus far, trust Him to bring you farther. “ Come, let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.” But here I want you to observe one feature specially of the perplexity and distress which leads Ephraim so to bemoan himself. He makes the humiliating discovery that not only has his past life been full of sin, but that his very efforts to repent and turn to God have also been characterised by a strange and fatal perversity. His repentance itself has to be repented of. This attitude of moral perversity is illustrated in our text by a remarkable and suggestive metaphor. “ Thou hast chastised me,” exclaims Ephraim, bemoaning himself, “ and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke” --a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke--an unbroken bullock! Of all the perverse things to be found in the world, where will you find anything more unmanageable than this? Here Ephraim sees a picture of himself, and here also too many an awakened sinner finds himself represented. How often does such a one adopt a course exactly the reverse of that which God would have him take! How often does he insist on adopting the course of action least appropriate to his spiritual condition, and as a result he has to feel the chastening goad, and only by stern discipline of sorrow has he to be brought to the obedience of faith and the submission of the will, to see and acknowledge his own folly, and to yield himself to God. At last, Ephraim does the wisest thing that he could do, and what he should have done long before. Having reached the point of self-despair; having seen the folly of his own attempts to better himself, and having repented of his own perversity, he just puts the whole thing into the hands of God. “ O Lord, I have tried my best, and my best has failed me: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised; but still, like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, I have continued to make mistakes and to do the wrong thing; now in my helplessness I must make the whole matter over to Thee. Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned: for Thou art the Lord my God.” Ah, that is the only true solution of the difficulty. Here is the turning-point in our experience, here is the moment of victory for the helpless. Let a man once put himself thus unreservedly into the hands of his God, and all the devils of hell cannot keep him from the blessing. His present salvation is at once secure, because the honour and truth of the everlasting God are pledged for the safety of the man who trusts himself to God. O God, cries the penitent and self-despairing sinner, I cannot turn myself, I cannot change my own nature, but I believe that Thou canst, so I put myself completely in Thy hands to do it for me. How often have I hindered Thy work by endeavouring to do for myself what only Thou canst do; how often in my very efforts to turn myself have I, as it were, turned the wrong way. Lord, if I am to be saved at all, Thou must save me, for I cannot save myself. “ Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned: for Thou art the Lord my God!” And who is there that God cannot turn when he is thus submitted to Him--who so far gone, so deeply sunk, that God cannot change him? The things impossible with men are possible with God; and often when the change has been beyond all human hope, God has done it to the glory of His own great name. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.) The inner side of conversion There are turning-points in most lives. We go on in a straight line for a certain distance, but suddenly we come to a place where we must make a choice of roads. All the rest of our journey may depend upon what we do at those particular points. Character often hinges on a day’ s resolve. An interesting book has been written upon “ Turning-points in life,” and it is capable of indefinite extension. According to a man’ s station and disposition, those turning-points take place at different periods; but whenever they are before us, they call for special prayer and trust in God. There is, however, one turning-point, and one only, which will secure salvation and eternal life; and that is what we call conversion, which is the first apparent result of regeneration, or the new birth. The man being renewed, the current of his life is turned: he is converted. I. First, here is man at the turning-point as God observes him. Is not that a wonderful word of the Lord, “ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself” ? Of a certainty the Lord hears all the sorrowful voices of men. The Lord hears “ surely” : that is to say, He hears the sense and meaning of our wordless moans: He puts into language that which no words of ours could express. The Lord understands us better than we understand ourselves.1. Concerning the man here described, we note that he is in a state of great sorrow about himself. The grief is within. All the water outside the ship is of small account; it is when the leak admits the water to the hold that there is danger. “ Let not your heart be troubled” : it matters something if your country or your house be troubled; but to you the trying matter is if your heart be troubled. “ The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” This is what the Lord tenderly notes about the sinner at the turning-point, that he bemoans himself. 2. This bemoaning was addressed to his God. This is a very hopeful point about it: he cried to Jehovah, “ Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised.” It is a blessed thing when a man in his distress turns to his God, and not from Him. 3. Notice how Ephraim in the text has spied out his God as having long ago dealt with him. He tells the Lord that He has chastised him. “ Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised.” The man had not before observed the hand of God in his suffering: but he does now. I have hope of that man who sees God’ s hand, even though he sees only a rod in it. 4. But the mourner in our text means more than this by his bemoanings: he owns that the chastening had not set him right. “ Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised” ; and that was all. He had smarted, but he had not submitted. He had not obeyed, but had still further rebelled. 5. Yet there is something better than this; the mourner in our text despairs of all but God. He cannot turn himself, and chastisement will not turn him; he has no hope left but for God Himself to interpose. “ Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned.” 6. To all this confession poor bemoaning Ephraim adds another word, whereby he submits to the supreme sway of Jehovah his God, “ For Thou art the Lord my God.” He does as good as say, Man cannot help me. I cannot help myself. Even Thy chastenings have not availed to turn me. Lord, I appeal to Thee, Thyself! Thou art Jehovah. Thou canst do all things. Thou art my God, for Thou hast made me; and therefore Thou canst new-make me. I pray Thee, therefore, exercise Thine own power, and renew Thy poor, broken and defiled creature. II. Man after the turning-point. Here you have the description in the nineteenth verse. It begins with “ Surely.” Is it not very remarkable that each of these verses should be stamped with the hall-mark, and each one bear the word “ surely” ? The Lord said He had “ surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself” ; and here Ephraim says, Surely after that I was turned, I repented.”1. See, before us, prayer mixed with faith soon answered. Not many moments after Ephraim had said, “ Thou art the Lord my God,” he felt that he was turned. My friend, do you remember when you were turned? Do you know your spiritual birthday, and the spot of ground where Jesus unveiled His face to you? Some of us do, although others do not. The main point is to be turned; to know the place and time is a secondary matter. 2. Yet I say some of us know when we were turned; and here is one reason why we remember it, for repentance came with turning. “ After that I was turned, I repented.” He that is truly turned turns his face to the wall to weep and pray. Thou canst not make thyself repent; but when God hath changed thy heart, thou wilt repent as naturally as the brook flows adown the valley when once its bands of ice are thawed. “ After that I was turned, I repented.” 3. Deep sorrow followed upon further instruction. The Holy Spirit does not leave the convert, but gives him further instruction; and out of that comes a sorer regret, a more complete self-abasement. “ After that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh.” Want of knowledge tends to make men hardened, unfeeling, self-complacent, and proud; but when they are instructed by the Divine Spirit, then they are ready to inflict wounds upon themselves as worthy of buffetings and blows. “ God be merciful to me, a sinner” is a fit prayer for the instructed, and the lowliest posture well becomes such a one. 4. To this deep sorrow there followed shame. Ephraim says, “ I was ashamed, yea, even confounded.” This man knew everything before; now he knows nothing, but is confounded. Once he could dispute, and dispute, and dispute; but now he stands silent before his Judge. He stands like a convicted felon, who, when he is asked by the judge if he has anything to say in stay of sentence, lays his hand on his mouth, and, blushing scarlet, confesses by his silence that he deserves to die. This is the man with whom mercy can work her will. 5. Lastly on this point, memory now comes in, and revives the reproach of youth Memory is a very terrible torture to a guilty heart. “ Son, remember!” is one of the voices heard in hell. “ I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.” I can only compare the sinner with a quickened memory to one who is travelling across the plains of Russia dreaming in his carriage, and on a sudden he is aroused by the sharp bark of a wolf behind him; and this is followed up by a thousand cruel voices of brutes, hungry, and gaunt, and grim, all eager for his blood. Hearken to the patter of those eager feet I the howls of those hungry demons! Whence came they? You thought that your sins were dead long ago, and quite forgotten. See, they have left their tombs! They are on your track. Like wolves, your old sins are pursuing you. They rest not day nor night. They prepare their teeth to tear you. Whither will you flee? How can you escape the consequences of the past? They are upon you, these monsters, their hot breath is in your face; who can now save you? Only a miracle can rescue you from the reproach of your youth; will that miracle be wrought? May we dare to look for it? We have something better than a mere hope to set before you. Jesus meets these packs of wolfish sins. He interposes between us and them! He drives them back! He scatters them! There is not one of them left! III. Now we will turn, and hear God at this turning-point. “ Is Ephraim My dear son? is he a pleasant child?” Does this look like a question? The answer has been already given in the ninth verse: “ I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” The gracious Lord sees Ephraim sore with chastisement, spent with weeping, pale with shame, and moaning with agony, and then his sonship is acknowledged. He bends over the crushed one, and cries, “ This is My son. This is My dear child.” How gracious on God’ s part to acknowledge the guilty rebel as a son! See here is love acknowledging the object of its choice, love confessing its near relationship to one most unworthy and most sorrowful. Then behold the same love well pleased. The Lord does not merely say, “ Ephraim is My son; yea, he is My child” ; but He calls him “ My dear son, a pleasant child.” A pleasant child! Why, he has been full of rebellion from his birth! Yes; but he confesses it, and mourns it; and he is a pleasant child when so much holy sorrow is seen in him. Love takes delight in repenting sinners. Notice, in this case, love in earnest. The Lord says, “ Since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still” God in earnest--that is a great conception! God in earnest over one moaning sinner! God earnest in thoughts of love, even when He bids the preacher tell the offender of the wrath to come. Notice, next, love in sympathy. Ephraim is bemoaning himself, and what is the Lord doing? He says, “ My bowels are troubled for him.” God’ s heart is wounded when our hearts are broken. Then comes love in action: “ I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.” I am so glad to think that the “ surely” is found again in this place. “ Surely” God heard Ephraim bemoaning; “ Surely” he said that he was turned, and now God says, “ Surely I will have mercy upon him.” The Lord God puts His hand and seal to it. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Presumptuous sins call for profound repentance The will of man is a sour and stubborn piece of clay, that will not frame to any serviceable use without much working. A soft and tender heart, indeed, is soon rent in pieces, like a silken garment if it do but catch upon any little nail; but a heart hardened with a long custom of sinning, especially if it be with one of these presumptuous sins, is like the knotty root end of an old oak that has lain long a-drying in the sun. It must be a hard wedge that will enter, and it must be handled with some skill too to make it do that; and when the wedge is entered, it will endure many a hard knock before it will yield to the cleaver, and fail in sunder. And indeed it is a blessed thing, and to be acknowledged a gracious evidence of God’ s unspeakable mercy to those that have wilfully suffered such an unclean spirit to enter in and to take possession of their souls, if they shall ever be enabled to out him again, though with never so much fasting and prayer. (Bp. Sanderson.) Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised.--Chastisement resulting in penitence I. An acknowledgment.1. Inefficacy of former corrections. 2. Though corrections are calculated to produce amendment, it is evident, from observation and experience, they often fail in accomplishing the effect. 3. Ephraim is here represented as reflecting upon it. (Proximate causes of the inefficacy of correction by itself.) 4. Inattention to the hand of God, and, as a natural consequence, their neglecting to pass from the contemplation of their sufferings to their sins. Religion begins with consideration. 5. In the serious purpose of a religious life, formed under afflictive dispensations, too many depend entirely upon resolutions formed in their own strength. To such purposes may be applied the beautiful image of Nahum: “ And as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known.” II. The prayer.1. The plea of necessity. There is no other resource. 2. To entreat God to turn is not to ask an impossibility. The residue of the Spirit is with Him. 3. It is worthy of His interposition. The turning of the heart is a fit occasion on which Omnipotence may act. 4. The plea may be enforced by precedents. It implies no departure from His known methods. 5. We may force it by a reference to the Divine mercy. (Robert Hall, M. A.) To the penitent. I. The soliloquy of the penitent.1. He reflects on his misimprovement of the dealings of God with him.2. He prays for converting grace.3. He describes the working of his mind.4. He assigns special prominence to his youthful sins. II. The address of God to him.1. He owns him as a son.2. He declares that he has a place in His memory.3. He expresses His sympathy with him.4. He promises him mercy. (G. Brooks.) The cause and design Of affliction I. God is to be acknowledged as the author and dispenser of all afflictions. He consented to all those disarrangements of the creation that inflict numberless ills and distresses, that He might have materials ever at hand for the affliction of the children of men for sin, in a state of probation, and for urging them to use the means provided for their recovery. He dispenses all the particular causes of affliction, in their movements and operations: they are all His servants, and obey His orders, however complicated their movements, however long or short the series in which they are connected with each other, and made dependent the one upon the other: they are all a large army, whose movements, individually and collectively, are according to His plans and His will.1. This truth approves itself to our reason. It follows from the fact of His sustaining care over the world, as necessary for its provision: for all created things depend on Him; they could do nothing without His permission. 2. This truth is further confirmed by the consideration of the meritorious cause of affliction, which is sin. For sin is originally committed against God: it violates His law, contemns His authority, and despises alike His favour and HIS frown. Who, then, is to dispense affliction as the punishment of sin, but He who is its supreme avenger? 3. This is a truth, which when once confirmed by our reason, is recognised throughout Scripture. There you find that the afflictions of the children of men are dispensed to them in number and in measure. II. The designs of God in afflictions are very merciful and beneficent. Afflictions never sow the seed of religion in the soul; they cannot do this: but they may soften the soil to receive it, and subserve the growth and the expansion of the seed when sown. They are lessons of instruction to the mind through the senses; corroborating those lessons of truth from revelation to the mind alone; and which are responded to by the conscience.1. Afflictions are to bring men to become the people of God. (1) That this is their design will appear from their nature. For what is the obvious drift of that disappointment through the whole course of life, in finding happiness from the world--what is the drift of it but to cure us of that mistake, to direct our attention from that object, and to lead us to Him in whose favour is life? What is the apparent design of certain miserable effects to certain sins, but to breed in us remorse for those sins, and wean us from them? Again, what is the obvious design of those particular evils that belong to our individual condition? What are they, what can they be, but a thorn planted in our earthly nest, to make us arise and go out of it, and seek for happiness in some higher quarter? (2) That such is their design, is evident from the result of them in many cases. 2. When men become the people of God, afflictions do not cease; on the contrary, there are new reasons for the continuance of the former ones, and even for the addition of others to them. But these reasons are all wise and good, and the ends they have in view are so benign and gracious, as far more than to reconcile us to them. (1) They are to prevent them from degenerating, so as to settle in a state of declension and backsliding from God. And this they do by bringing their sins to their remembrance in a timely way, before they can make head against them. (2) They are employed to recover man from a state of backsliding. (J. Leifchild.) Discipline There are chastisements in life which cannot be classed amongst great afflictions. There are little checks, daily disappointments, irritations, defeats, and annoyances shadows which cherquer what else would be a sunny way--things which themselves cannot be treated with dignity, yet they tease and wear the heart. I. Human life is established upon a disciplinary basis. There is a “ yoke” everywhere--in sin, in repentance, in grace. No one can have everything just as he wants it. Man is made to feel that there is somebody in the world besides himself. We are made to feel that our very life is a vapour, and that every respiration is but a compromise with death. We should ask ourselves the meaning of these things. Discipline touches the whole scheme: boy at school, going from home, bodily affliction, oversights and miscalculations, losses, &c. II. The value of discipline depends upon its right acceptance.1. We may become desperate under it: “ as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke.” Men may mourn, complain, rebel; they start arguments against God; they justify themselves; they become lost in secondary, agencies and incomplete details. 2. Then there is a better way. “ Ephraim bemoaned himself,” repented before God, and said, “ Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned.” In this state of mind see-- (1) Self-renunciation.(2) Devout and joyful confidence in God’ s sovereignty and graciousness. Application--1. There is a yoke in sin. “ The way of transgressors is hard.” 2. There is a yoke in goodness. It is often difficult to be upright, noble, holy. 3. God helps the true yoke-bearer. We must bear a yoke; say, shall it be the bad yoke, or the yoke of Jesus Christ? (J. Parker, D. D.) Sanctified affliction I. The acknowledgment made by the people of God in times of trouble.1. That the affliction is from the Lord. (1) It is this circumstance--this perception of God, as connected with affliction--which imparts to the afflicted an air of something more than solemnity and seriousness, as if the man had sustained a loss--were deprived of what was agreeable to him. It invests him, in some measure, with a character which inspires awe. He knows that God has been dealing with him. And yet, on this part of my subject, let me offer a word of counsel to the people of God. It is true that you believe that all afflictions come from the Lord. (2) Beware of resting satisfied with this as a part of your creed. Take care lest you do no more than in words acknowledge that the Lord is the author of your trouble. 2. That there is a necessity for improvement. This is the direction which the gracious soul takes, when its afflictions are in the way of being sanctified. It is submissive: it cannot question the act of the Lord: it is solemnised. But it is more than all this. There is a disposition and desire to make the dispensation an instrument of spiritual benefit and glory to God. To this spirit and exercise believers are brought by several considerations. (1) That the Lord does nothing in vain. (2) That this is the declared purpose of the Lord in the visitations of trouble. He calls His afflictions chastenings. (3) That improvement and reformation have been the effects produced by chastisement upon many. (4) There is a felt necessity for improvement, as well as experience derived from affliction in the past. II. Some of the uses of sanctified affliction.1. Thus do believers become intimately acquainted with their God. God is then set before them in various aspects. (1) In the character of a Sovereign.(2) In the character of a Comforter. 2. Believers, when in affliction, know experimentally the value of their Saviour. 3. By affliction believers are weaned from the world. This is the result of their consideration of the Lord’ s dealings with them, and the work of His Spirit in them. Affliction of itself will not wean us from the world. Some it only glues more closely to that which is left. But when the solemn question upon a trial or a bereavement is, “ What meaneth the Lord by this?” the effect is necessarily happy and useful. The meditation leads to the conclusion, that these objects we have lost are but creatures--that as creatures they must be regarded--and that God must have the first place in our affections and hearts. 4. By affliction believers are quickened in the performance of duties. (1) They are quickened in the duties which they owe peculiarly to God. (a) They are quickened so as to be more serious and frequent in their thoughts of God. (b) They are quickened so as to inquire after Him in His Word. (c) They are quickened in prayer. They pray after another fashion. They pray as the needy to the God who hears. (2) They are quickened in their duties to others. Sanctified affliction creates a tender feeling for others. (J. Thorburn.) Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou art the Lord my God. A pattern prayer for the penitent I. A confession of moral inability. God’ s words and man’ s thoughts both declare this: the difference lies here that God does not let it be any reason for our despair. Comp. Jeremiah 13:23; Jeremiah 17:1; Jeremiah 17:4, with the saying of George Eliot, “ The world does not believe in conversion, and the world is mostly right” ; and with this of Cotter Morrison, “ The sooner it is perceived that bad men will be bad, do what we will (though, of course, they may be made less bad), the sooner shall we come to the conclusion that the welfare of society demands the suppression or elimination of bad men and the careful cultivation of the good only There is no remedy for a bad heart, and no substitute for a good one.” II. A prayer for Divine help. There is no hope for the sinner but in God. The more absolute seems our own helplessness the more earnestly must we cry to Him. God requireth that “ we do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with Him” ; but He must give what He asks. III. An all-prevailing plea. “ For Thou art the Lord my God.” Our confident appeal is to God’ s own nature as revealed by His Word, and with so much the more assurance as His revelation is now more perfect (Hebrews 1:1-4). In Christ crucified and risen is the supreme unfolding of God’ s heart. As we look at Him we learn godly sorrow for sin, and heart-trust in the abundance of the Divine pardon, while we are quickened with His life given for us, and kindled by the flame of His love. (C. M. Hardy, B. A.) The stubborn sinner submitting to God I. The feelings and conduct of an obstinate impenitent sinner, while smarting under the rod of affliction. In this situation he is like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke; wild, unmanageable, and perverse. That such is the natural temper of man, must be evident to parents and all others who are concerned in the education of children. How soon do they begin to discover s perverse and stubborn temper, a fondness for independence, and a desire to gratify their own will in everything! and what severe punishments will they often bear, rather than submit to the authority of their parents and instructors! This disposition, so strong in us by nature, grows with our growth and strengthens with our strength; and to subdue it, is the principal design of all the calamities with which we are in this world afflicted by our Heavenly Father. Sometimes He afflicts sinners by taking away their property and sending poverty, as an armed man, to attack them. At other times He corrects us by depriving us of our relatives, who rendered life pleasant, by sharing with us its joys, or helping to bear its sorrows. If these afflictions do not avail, He brings the rod yet nearer, and touches our bone and our flesh. Then the sinner is chastened with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones are filled with strong pain; so that his life abhorreth bread and his soul dainty meat. All these outward afflictions are also frequently accompanied with inward trials and sorrows, still more severe. Conscience is awakened to perform its office, and fills the soul with terror, anxiety, and remorse. Now when God visits impenitent sinners with these afflictions, they usually murmur, struggle, and reluctate, like a stubborn bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, or a wild bull entangled in a net. This perverse and rebellious temper manifests itself in a great variety of ways, as persons’ circumstances, situation, and dispositions vary. Sometimes it displays itself merely in a refusal to submit, and sullen, obstinate perseverance in those sins which caused the affliction. At other times, impenitent sinners manifest their rebellious dispositions under the rod by flying to the world for comfort, and plunging with increased eagerness into its pleasures and pursuits, instead of calling upon God agreeably to His command, and repenting of their sins. With others this disposition displays itself in a settled formal endeavour to frustrate the will of God by sinning against Him with a high hand, in open contempt of all His inflictions and threatenings. But the perverse, unreconciled disposition of impenitent sinners most frequently appears in the increase of hard thoughts of God, and proud, angry feelings towards Him, as if He were severe, unmerciful, or unjust. II. The new views and feelings which, through Divine grace, His afflictions were instrumental it producing.1. We here find the once stubborn and rebellious, but now awakened sinner deeply convinced of his guilt and sinfulness, and deploring his unhappy situation. He still complains indeed, but it is of himself and not of God. He acknowledges the goodness, condescension, and justice of God in correcting him. Perhaps more are convinced of sin, and brought to repentance, by reflecting on their impious, unreconciled feelings under affliction, than by reflecting on any other part of their sinful exercises. 2. We find this awakened, afflicted sinner praying. Convinced of his wretched situation, and feeling his need of Divine aid, he humbly seeks it from his offended God. 3. We find this corrected, mourning, praying sinner reflecting upon the effects of Divine grace in his conversion. Surely, says he, after I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. It is worthy of remark, my friends, how soon the answer followed the prayer. In one verse, we find Ephraim calling God to turn or convert him. In the very next, we find him reflecting upon his conversion and rejoicing in it. And what were the effects of this change, thus suddenly produced by Divine grace? The first was repentance. The second was self-loathing and abhorrence. III. A correcting, but passionate and pardoning God, watching the result of His corrections, and noticing the first symptoms of repentance, and expressing His gracious purposes of mercy respecting the chastened, penitent sinner. In this description God represents Himself--1. As a tender father solicitously mindful of his penitent, afflicted child. 2. As listening to his complaints, confessions, and petitions. Certainly nothing in heaven or earth is so wonderful as this; and if this language does not affect us and break our hearts, nothing can do it. 3. God declares His determination to pardon him: I will surely have mercy upon him. (E. Payson, D. D.) Surely after that I was turned, I repented.--Evangelical repentance I. The constant way and manner wherein true grace discovers itself, when once it is implanted in the heart. “ I repented, surely I repented.” Agreeable to this is the language of the prodigal (Luke 15:18). Old things are passed away with the man that is born of the Spirit; his face is turned Zionward, and his eager steps show how desirable and delightful are wisdom’ s ways to his renewed soul. II. The only spring from whence this amazing change doth always proceed. “ Surely after that I was turned, I repented.” Grace first enters the heart, before it can be discovered in the life and conversation. The God of all grace first of all draws us, or else we shall never move towards Him (John 6:44). Had not the same mighty power which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, been exerted toward us, we should still have continued in the same conversation which we had in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. But quickening grace opens the way to godly sorrow, and this always issues in evangelical repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). III. An account of the progress of this great work in the hand cf the Spirit; wherein the true nature of repentance unto life is clearly described. I. What are the things in which the soul is instructed by the Spirit, when a principle of grace is wrought in the heart?(1) The Spirit begins His work, with leading the soul to the knowledge of sin. (a) The Spirit shows us the nature of sin, as attended with guilt, whereby we are obnoxious to the curse of the law. (b) The Spirit shows the sinner the defiling nature of sin, as opposed to the holiness of that God with whom he hath to do. (c) The Spirit shows the sinner the many heinous aggravations wherewith his sins in particular have been attended. (2) The Spirit instructs the soul in the nature of pardoning grace and mercy, which is the sweetest sound that an awakened conscience can ever hear; the most agreeable message a self-condemning sinner can ever receive. (a) The Spirit instructs the sinner that the privilege is attainable; that there is forgiveness with God, that He may be feared. (b) The Spirit instructs the sinner in the only way through which His grace and mercy is to be attained; lets him know that an absolute God is a consuming fire; and directs him to Christ Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. (c) The Spirit instructs the sinner into the way through which pardon is communicated to him. That it was obtained by Christ; that it is received by faith; and that whosoever will, may take of the water of life freely. (d) The Spirit further instructs the sinner who the persons are to whom this pardoning grace and mercy are applied. This He teaches, by the absolute promises of the Word, which reach the case of the most rebellious criminals. 2. What are the various actings of the soul in consequence of these instructions? (1) The soul thus instructed “ sorrows after a godly sort.” This is the first thing in which Gospel-repentance discovers itself to be genuine and of the right kind; of which “ smiting upon the thigh” is very expressive. (2) The soul thus instructed is filled with shame and confusion of face, attended with an utter hatred of the sins he hath been guilty of. “ was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.” (3) The soul thus instructed hath an abiding sense of these things. He is not weary of his rags to-day, and pleased with them again to-morrow; humbled for sin now, and wallowing in the same mire and dirt anon: No, “ I did bear (saith Ephraim) the reproach of my youth.” (4) The soul thus instructed is most sensibly affected with those sins to which he hath been most addicted. Heart sins are bewailed by the sincere Christian, and youthful transgressions are never forgotten by him. (5) The soul thus instructed always applieth to the blood of Christ for pardon. (J. Hill.) The repentance of the truly converted 1. We notice this about the cry of the wanderer of the Old Covenant, resembling herein the prodigal son of the New Testament--it is not like the utterance of the heathen who had never known God. The powerlessness of man is indeed brought out; for the words are, “ Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned” ; but there is the remembrance still of a Father, of a Divine promise, a heavenly home though long despised. 2. The text goes on to speak of the effect of this conversion, of the result of this homeward journey: “ Surely after that I was turned, I repented.” It is not a sign of the truly converted heart, to spring at a bound from the rebelliousness of a sinner to the rejoicing of a saint. Those who go most frequently to the Holy Communion know best the gulf which separates the two--they know in that nearness to Jesus Christ how far off they have been, how unworthy they are. 3. It takes much teaching, much fatherly correction and chastisement, many humble approaches to that altar which reveals the greatness of our burden, ere the soul can thus fully and heartily repent. Most of us, like Ephraim, are so unaccustomed to the yoke, through the easy, careless life we lead, that we need much application of doctrine to ourselves, much reproof of our personal faults, much instruction in righteousness. 4. It often happens that contrition of heart is granted long after maturity is reached--so that much recollection is needed ere the whole life can be reviewed before God. What is it which then disturbs us most? The remembrance probably of those precious years wherein the character was being formed--those priceless years, which might have witnessed the moulding of our yet pliant will into the thorough obedience of Christ, but which have been marked, instead, by a growing hardness and indifference and selfishness, scarcely to be altered afterwards. “ I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.” 5. God means us to feel the weight of these old chains: He speaks against us in our wonderfully responsive conscience, writes the most painful truths concerning us in His heart-piercing Word--and why? Exactly for the opposite reason to that which makes Satan stand at our right hand to resist and accuse us. God smites on purpose that He may Himself be troubled for us, Himself have mercy upon us, Himself create a new thing in the earth, the Incarnation of His own Eternal Son, to be the propitiation for our sins, the renewer of our wasted youth and misused talents, the restorer of paths to dwell in. (Canon Jelf.) Repentance I. Repentance is an abiding characteristic, or principle of the new heart. The heart itself is, by nature, impenitent. It has a natural fitness to sin, without shame or ingenuous sorrow. The heart itself, by grace, is penitent, broken, contrite. It has a fitness to repent, an aptitude to mourn ingenuously over sin. This is a permanent principle, or source of sorrow for sin, and of turning from it unto holiness. II. Repentance is the gift of God.1. The mind, to which God has granted repentance unto life, has a just sense of its sins. 2. Another trait of the mind to which God has granted repentance, is an appreciation of His mercy through Christ. 3. Another characteristic of the penitent man is, that he turns from sin. 4. Another particular in this state of the penitent man, is a constant endeavour to obey God. III. What are the evidences of repentance unto life? There are individuals who seem to suppose that a serious attendance on the duties of private and public prayer--a diligent reading of the Scriptures--a reverent hearing of the Word--and a celebration of the ordinances appointed by God--are an evidence that they are born of the Spirit. This is ample evidence of their love to the forms of religion, but no proof of its power. It has dwelt in thousands whose hearts were not right with God. There are others who seem to suppose that the abandonment of some external vice is to be regarded as evidence of repentance unto life. Repentance unto life is, indeed, attended by a reformation of morals, in all those who spiritually mourn over their sins. But this reformation is the effect of an internal change. The soul of the penitent man is careful to discriminate between good and evil--between light and darkness. It struggles against every unholy propensity, and every sinful habit, and toils through grace to extirpate them from the bosom. He exercises himself to have a conscience void of offence, both towards God and man. These powerful principles in the penitent heart diffuse their odour through the whole man, and cause him to be widely different from what he was previously. Nor is this a temporary change in his life. The whole course of an individual who is brought into the kingdom of God, is a course of repentance. So permanent is it in this life, as not to be completed till the saints are made perfect in glory. (J. Foot, D. D.) Mercy to penitents I. The favoured objects of Divine mercy. True penitents; men whose hearts are humbled under a deep sense of sin; and who, by the Spirit and grace of God, are brought to their right minds. II. The abundant exercise of Divine mercy.1. In bestowing pardon. 2. In promoting peace; that rest of conscience which is the close attendant of pardon, and accompanies the scriptural hope and evidence of it. 3. In affording preservation. III. The absolute certainty Of Divine mercy.1. The greatness of God secures it. 2. The goodness of God secures it. 3. The faithfulness of God secures it. (1) He is faithful to His covenant; to His own solemn and voluntary engagement to save guilty man, according to a prescribed method; and this method is all of mercy, of abundant mercy, especially to the broken-hearted penitent. (2) He is faithful to His Word. This is the revelation of His covenant; its statement to us in direct promises and positive assurances. (3) He is faithful to His Son. (4) He is faithful to Himself. The whole scheme of Divine mercy is adapted and intended to display the glory of the Divine perfections; and can we suppose that this end will be frustrated? From the whole--1. Let the impenitent tremble.2. Let the humble hope.3. Let the believer rejoice. (T. Kidd.) Set thee up way-marks.--Spiritual way-marks Here is an invitation-- I. To follow an ancient custom. Not all old customs bad, the good filtrates through all time. It is a holy duty to follow in the good, tried paths of the “ just men made perfect.” II. To keep alive our spiritual experiences.1. While faith obeys implicitly, aids are not rejected. 2. To recount becomingly our experiences serves two ends: we put God in remembrance; we keep Him in remembrance. 3. Our experiences may be such as-- (1) Past grace received. (a) The grace to know, (b) And the grace to love. (2) Past strength renewed.(3) Wonderful deliverance from fears.(4) Help in trouble.(5) Times of sweet communion. Thus we put in practice the word, “ forget not all His benefits.” III. To put up lasting memorials.1. All our spiritual privileges may be as way-marks set up. 2. Blessed hours of devotion and times of sweet communion. 3. The Gospel of a holy life in the common lot for ever. IV. To have a regard for posterity. Sinners will need directing, saints will require comforting, workers with flagging energies must be stimulated. Then set up your “ way-marks.” The records of our experience will stand out like milestones, and all shall be as inspiring testimony to the faithfulness of Him who has promised neither to “ leave us” nor “ forsake us.” (John Jones.) I did bear the reproach of my youth.-- Sin the reproach and shame of youth I. Sin is of a reproachful nature.1. It flings an unrighteous reproach on God and others. (1) Let us begin with others. Friends and families are often disgraced by the sinners that belong to their houses: They are frequently ashamed of them, and reproached for them; they are ashamed to think, speak, or hear of them, to see or own them; and many are apt to reflect, sometimes indeed with too much reason, but at others without cause, as if their parents, their masters, or their other relations and friends, who have been most conversant with them, and might have had the greatest influence over them, have not taken proper care to counsel, caution, and restrain them. (2) But what is still infinitely worse, is that their iniquities throw the most vile and unrighteous reproach upon the holy and blessed God Himself, as if He were not what He is, and were not to be treated with the reverence and honour that are His due. Sin reproaches God’ s perfections, His name and His image, as if they were not worthy to be maintained with honour; it reproaches His workmanship in man, as if a creature had come out of His hand unworthy of Himself to be the author of; and it furnishes occasions to other sinners to reproach and blaspheme His blessed majesty. 2. It is a just reproach upon sinners themselves. It is the disgrace of their nature, it disrobes it of all its glory, defaces the beauteous image of God in which it was at first created, and debases it into the odious likeness and deformity of the devil, and of the brute. II. The sins of young persons must needs be the reproach of their youth. Youth is indeed the most amiable age of life. It is the time for beauty and ornament, for activity and vigour, for gathering and improving in all that is excellent and desirable, and for pursuing after everything that is honourable and glorious. It is the time of expectation and hope, and the time of their own chief delight, and of others delighting in them. But sin stains all this glory of their youth, it sweeps away their lovely bloom, it depraves and perverts their vigorous powers, and makes them only so much the more capable of becoming despicable and vile; they are thereby daily heaping to themselves infamous and destructive things; they glory in their own shame; sport themselves in their own vain and foolish deceivings; and give melancholy prospects of growing up, the shame and torment of their friends, and the pests, instead of the blessings, of the rising generation; and they arc in the direct way of entailing all misery, for this world and the next, upon themselves. III. A time is coming, when, one way or other, they will bear this reproach.1. There is a bearing it, in the fruits and effects of their sins. They are the source of many sorrows; they often bring great and numerous distresses upon sinners in the way of God’ s righteous judgment, and by the natural operation of their iniquities themselves. 2. There is a bearing the reproach of youth, in being reproached by others for their sins. Some sins bring such a reproach upon young men and women, as they can never get rid of all their days (2 Samuel 13:12-13; Proverbs 6:32-33). 3. There is a bearing the reproach of youth, in the reflections of their own consciences upon their sins. IV. When they come to bear the reproach of their youth, they will be ashamed, yea, even confounded at it.1. Young people will be ashamed, yea, even confounded at the reproach of their youth, when they come to bear it in the way of God’ s mercy to them. 2. Young people will be ashamed, and even confounded at the reproach of their youth, when they come to bear it in the way of God’ s wrath against them. Reflections--1. Let young and old think seriously with themselves, which of these is, or is like to be their condition. 2. How should Christ and His Gospel be prized and improved, to take away the reproach of your youth! (John Guyse, D. D.) Is Ephraim My dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still.-- A pleasant child Within one circle, one limited circle, a pleasant child is always a centre of the most engrossing interest and delight. Nor is the blessing of such a child confined exclusively to the home circle. The neighbourhood, the community, the Church of God are sharers in it. Along the street, in all the modest duties and interchanges of daily life, in the hour of play, and wild exuberance of youthful feeling, in the Sunday School and sanctuary--everywhere and in all places, s pleasant child is a perpetual comfort. “ Heaven lies about him.” I. Cheerful obedience is a conspicuous trait in a pleasant child. Cheerful, in distinction from compulsory obedience. It will not be a sacrifice, forced out of him by overstrained prerogative, or rigorous compulsion, but rather the spontaneity of a loving, loyal heart. It will be a high sense of what is due from the offspring to the progenitor--a willing and cheerful consent to the known precepts and principles established at home. It not only yields readily to each expressed and absolute command, but goes beyond and acts continually upon what is implied, and expected, under the parental rule. It anticipates the audible prohibition: it waits not for the check or caution, for the law once revealed is thenceforth written on the mind and heart. Knowing that to do right, is the measure of that law, the constant aim will be to do right, whether it is expressly required or not. What a contrast there is--what a vital and tremendous difference--between such a child and his opposites son whose nature revolts at all the proper constraints of home, and puts scorn upon its holiest claims of honour and duty; a petulant, self-willed, wrongheaded son, who lives in his father s house, like a wild beast in a cage; who files in the face of authority, and bursts into uncontrollable fits of rage at the slightest reproof, and dares to turn upon those who support and cherish him, with words of abuse and malediction; a son who can look into the pleading face of the mother that bare him and laugh at her counsels, or the father that begat him with open contempt and loud dispute, and oh, the difference, who can measure it? Often have agonized parents been known to declare, that to have laid the child in his grave, would have been far easier than to have borne the daily inflictions of his wilfulness and evil behaviour (Proverbs 22:25). Nor is this without an impressive lesson for parents. Remember this solemn truth--the obedience due to you is enshrined in a universal and unqualified law. What is your example--what is your course of life? Your children are commanded to honour you, and they will usually do so, by adopting your practice. What is it? II. Reverence is a principal feature in the character and deportment of a pleasant child. It is not servility of which I speak, or an abject, self-distrusting spirit, which shrinks and cringes in the presence of authority or age. I would rather define it to be a due and noble appreciation of what belongs to parents and all superiors, including also a chastened respect for whatever is sacred or august. The true filial sentiment, as an excellent writer has said, will show itself in the tone of manners. You may detect the grace of this living sentiment, in the unnumbered offices that diminish a father’ s or a mother’ s care, or relieve their troubles. What exceeding beauty is there in the gentle, modest kindnesses that childhood and youth may throw around the hearthstone--the refined address--the unobtrusive attentions--the willing proffers of service! Do you ask if this be reverence? Yes--and but one rivulet from the fountain-head, for children have it in their power, if they have it in their hearts, not only to sweeten home with their courteous demeanour and ready will, but to be like attending angels there, in all that contributes to household peace and order: and when amidst the uncertainties of this mortal life, adversity or sickness invade their circle, and a shadow falls, what a blessing may arise from their hushed solicitude and consideration--what relief, more potential than all the arts of medicine, may they bring to the aching pillow, or the chamber of convalescence, by their tender assiduities. But more than this, a truly reverent child will ever be glad to adapt himself to all the varying circumstances and conditions of his father’ s house. If the sun of prosperity cease to shine upon it, or a necessity for frugal expenditures suddenly arise, he will not deepen the trial by a murmuring reluctance. The habit of obeisance and affectionate respect thus cultivated at home, will be displayed abroad and upon all occasions. Reverence will beautify all the ways of a pleasant child, and become his characteristic mark. III. Early piety. Hitherto your attention has been drawn only to the branches and specimens of the fruit--this is the root of the tree. If the trunk is vigorous, if the boughs are luxuriant and well laden, hanging over the wall of the domestic garden, so that even the wayfarer may delight in their shade, it is altogether traceable to a spring of fatness, a hidden life beneath the ground. In like manner, the mind and affections of childhood, nurtured by godly counsels, quickened and enlightened beneath home culture, pleased and persuaded by the gentle tones of a mother’ s voice, and freshened by the ever-descending dews of heavenly grace, will steal forth upon the outward life in visible forms of fruit and flowers, and manifold attractiveness. We shall see that conscientiousness--that sense of the Divine presence--that shrinking from sin, because it is offensive to God--that love of purity and truth, which is so much to be admired--that interest in whatsoever things are lovely and honest, and of good report--that trusting, prayerful, guileless temper, which looks upward for help, and would not willingly go astray. Who can express the comeliness and beauty which rest upon such a child? (W. F. Morgan, D. D.) The Divine mercy to mourning penitents The text naturally resolves itself into three parts. First, we find the careless, resolute, impenitent, reduced by chastisement to a sense of his danger, and the necessity of turning to God; and yet sensible of his utter inability, and therefore crying for the attractive influences of Divine grace. The attractive influences of Divine grace are granted, and he is enabled to return; which introduces the second branch of the text, in which the new convert is represented as reflecting upon the efficacy of converting grace, and the glorious change wrought in him by it. While the returning prodigal is venting himself in these plaintive strains in some solitary corner, his Heavenly Father’ s bowels are moving over him. The third part of the text represents the blessed God listening to the cries of His mourning child. I. The returning sinner under his first spiritual concern, which is generally preparatory to evangelical repentance. Where shall we find him? What is he doing? He is not congratulating himself upon the imaginary goodness of his heart or life, or priding himself with secret wonder in a rich conceit of his excellences; but you will hear him, in his sorrowful retirement, bemoaning, condoling himself. He sees his case to be really awful and sad, and he, as it were, takes up a lamentation over himself. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 31:29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’ s teeth are set on edge.The bequethment of the ungodly There is this great difference between moral and physical evil--that men will use all their carefulness to avoid the one, while every imaginable prohibition is ineffectual to deter them from the other. It is quite evident that there is not in our nature a principle of what we may call a moral self-preservation. Hence it is that, whilst the Governor of the universe has not thought it necessary to interpose the precepts of the statute-book that we may be warned against physical evil, He has heaped together edicts and motives which all bear on the avoidance of moral evil. We know, indeed, that such is the desperate proneness of man to misdoing, that all this mighty instrumentality is practically of no effect; but it is singular to observe how every motive by which our nature can be plied is brought into play, so that the Divine Legislator has left nothing untried in order to save us from iniquity. If a man be wrapt up in selfishness, why, he is told that health, and peace, and reputation will be best consulted by his “ seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Then, if he care only for himself--if he would not hate his own flesh, and mar his own happiness, let him cultivate that godliness which hath the promise of the present life, as well as that which is to come. And if a man be inaccessible to this kind of attack--if he can be contented, for the gratification of his senses and the indulgence of his passions, to brave the penalties of the law of the Almighty, the Bible will open upon him another battery, and seek to move him by his affection for others. Those yet unborn may be sufferers by your sin; for the days spoken of in our text are assuredly not yet come--the days in which “ they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’ s teeth are set on edge.” Yes, you may say, it is not to be denied that God doth visit on the children the iniquity of the fathers; but is this just? The innocent seem made to suffer for the guilty. Can this be right? No, it cannot be just that the innocent should suffer for the guilty. If you can show the children to be innocent, and therefore deserve nothing of what they receive, you will make good your point--that the visitation is unjust; but to maintain the thorough innocence of the children would be to maintain the purity of human nature. If in themselves they deserve not to be visited with calamity, they must be exceptions to the rule that men are “ born in sin and shapen in iniquity.” It is certain that every one born into the world is born in a state of wrath and condemnation: the child, whether of believing or unbelieving parents, has not a particle of right to one solitary blessing; and if, therefore, whatever be His reasons for making a distinction, God withholds many blessings from this or that child, He withholds nothing to which the child has a claim; and if He permits many calamities to fall on the child, He permits nothing which is wholly undeserved. Wherein, then, can lie the violation of justice if nothing be kept back to which there was right, nothing inflicted but in the way of retribution? But still if you allow the strict justice of the measure, yon may profess to think it hard that the child should have to endure what, but for the parent’ s offences, it would have escaped. Let us not, however, be carried away by appearances. The child, for example, is of a diseased constitution, of a dishonoured name, of broken fortunes; these constitute that “ setting the teeth on edge,” which you think it so hard that “ the fathers’ eating the sour grape” should have caused. But who can prove to me that the child is injured by the visitation? Nay, who can prove to me that the child is not really advantaged? Are penury and affliction never overruled for good? Is it necessarily an evil to have been born poor in place of rich--to be of weak health instead of strong--to struggle with adversity, in place of being lapped in prosperity! No man who feels himself immortal, who is conscious that this confined theatre of existence is but the school in which he is disciplined for s higher and nobler, will contend for the necessary injuriousness of want and calamity. We are poor judges of injuries. What seems to be injurious, is so capable of being overruled for good, that it may turn out beneficial. There may be many a tongue which would never have been tuned to the high praise of God, had not “ the teeth been set on edge” by the sin of the father. Now there would seem no more important and practical application of this subject, than the pressing home on parents the duties which they owe to their children. Fathers of the present day will “ rise early and late take rest,” they will ply without ceasing at laborious occupations, and the strength of intellect, and the powers of muscle shall be devoted with a like prodigality; and the animating thing throughout the unwearied enlistment of every talent and every moment in one engrossing pursuit shall be the upholding of a family in sufficiency and obtaining the means of future independence. And it may never occur to these fathers that if they so indulge the passion of accumulation as to become the slaves of covetousness, or if they so engross themselves with the wharf and the exchange as to leave comparatively no time for the Church and the closet--or if the resolve to be rich induce them to depart from high-toned rectitude, and to carry on trade with those shuffling and underhand tricks by which it is often deformed--it may never, we fear, occur to them that in their zeal for their children’ s welfare they may be storing up for them calamity, and that with every pound they lay by, they may lay by a worm which, if it sleep till their own death, shall then struggle into life and gnaw at the core of their family’ s happiness. Yet, if then be truth in the text, the father s sin goes down to his posterity: and where shall be the profit of a large bequeathment of land or consols if there be fastened to it the entailment of the Almighty’ s displeasure? God has ordained that wickedness shall defeat its own end; He may allow you to heap up wealth, but He puts the stamp of His anger on the silver and the gold; and the nothing which s pious beggar has to leave were a better inheritance than the coffers of ingots on which were impressed the stamp of the Lord’ s indignation. The days are not yet come, in which it shall no longer be mid, “ The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’ s teeth were set on edge.” But the days shall come when the prophecy shall be accomplished, even as will be that which asserts the universal extinction of war; though nation is as yet ready to “ rise against nation,” and no signs appear of “ the sword being beaten into the ploughshare.” Prophecies like these are commands as well as prophecies; and their being fulfilled as predictions may greatly depend on their being obeyed as precepts. Here is a clear practical lesson for parents. Would you save your children from the having “ the teeth set on edge” ? Take heed, then, that you “ eat” not “ the sour grape” yourselves! You may be sure that you then consult best for the interests of your families when you consult most your own souls. (H. Melvill, B. D.) The hereditary principle in God’ s government of humanity I. Man has been subject to this hereditary principle of government through all past ages.1. Its necessary working is secured by the connection existing between the members of our race. (1) How close is the tie of physical relationship subsisting between men and generations! We are all made of the “ one blood,” all descendants from the same stock. Our parents transmit to us not merely their natures, but their idiosyncrasies, their diseases, their characteristic propensities. (2) How close, too, is the tie of social interdependence. Every man is dependent upon his brother. One has something to impart which the other requires. 2. It is registered in the everyday experience of humanity. (1) You see it written in a man s history as the lineal descendant from a particular family. Some inherit a princely fortune, and some a crushing penury, from their ancestors. Their social status, too, is often ruled by the position and conduct of those of whom they were born. (2) You see it written in his history as the offspring of past generations. The human plant does not grow up in its wild luxuriance and unassisted strength, but is trained against the walls and espaliers of law and government, and pruned by the hand of public customs and manners. II. This hereditary principle of the Divine government is to man no just ground of complaint.1. No man is made to suffer more than he actually deserves on account of his own personal sins. The method is for the Judge of all the earth to determine and no one else. In sooth, since suffering must come to the sinner, I would sooner have it through parents than in any other way; for that medium seems to afford some alleviating considerations. Love modifies suffering, cools its fires on the nerves, and lessens its pressure on the heart. 2. The evil which thus descends to us from our ancestors is not to be compared with that which we produce ourselves. With evils that are transmitted to you there can be no remorse. You bear them as calamities; and you have the grace of heaven, the sympathy of the good, and the smiles of an approving conscience to enable you to bear them with calm magnanimity, and even with triumphant exultation. 3. Whilst this hereditary principle of the Divine government entails evil, it also entails good. Whence came our political constitution, which, notwithstanding its defects, affords a better guarantee of personal liberty, social order, and human progress, than any other government under heaven? Did we elaborate it ourselves? No. It is the production of days. It has grown out of the enlightening instructions, the importunate prayers, the patriotic sacrifices and struggles of the best men of the generations that are gone. 4. This hereditary principle tends to restrain vice and stimulate virtue. What sacrifices will not parents of the ordinary natural affection make to serve the interest of their children! Now the hereditary principle of government brings this mighty impulse in the world’ s heart to act in the restraint of evil and in the development of good. III. The time will come when men will cease entirely complaining of this principle. In “ those days” of universal knowledge, virtue, and blessedness, not a solitary man will be found to complain of this hereditary principle in the Divine government. Every man shall have such an insight into the nature of God’ s administration that he shall see the wisdom and feel the beneficence of this principle. In “ those days” the successive generations of holy and happy men will clearly see that the good, that will then have come out of this principle to humanity, will far out-measure all the evil that has ever grown out of its operation, through all the past history of man. In “ those days,” parents, through many a circling age, down to the solemn day of doom, will transmit nothing to their offspring, but halesness of constitution, elasticity of intellect, purity of felling, nobleness of soul, and honour of name, knowledge, and blessed example, on which it shall leave its successor to lay another, and thus on for centuries; until humanity shall find itself on that rich and lofty soil, where the choicest productions of paradise will bloom for ever.1. This subject serves to show the right which every reformer has to protest against the sins of individuals. 2. It serves to show the solemn responsibility of the parental character. 3. It serves to show that the best way to elevate the race is to train the young. 4. It serves to throw some light upon what is called “ original sin.” A deterioration of our nature, and a disturbance of our moral relations, is a fact palpable to every eye, incontrovertible to every intellect, conscious to every soul 5. It serves to indicate the philosophy of Christ’ s incarnation. (Homilist.) Jeremiah 31:31-37I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.The new covenant The old and new covenants are placed in opposition to each other. The latter is represented as being-- I. More effective in its provisions.1. Spiritual.2. Loving.3. Cheerful.4. Diligent.5. Persevering. II. More comprehensive in its range.1. An important truth implied. It is the duty of those who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to be zealous in instructing those around them. 2. A cheering assurance given. “ They shall all know Me,” &c. 3. A striking reason adduced. “ For I will forgive their iniquity,” &c. To know God savingly, is to know Him as a sin-forgiving God, and that the enjoyment of His pardoning mercy is an evidence of our interest in all the other blessings of the Gospel covenant. III. More secure as regards its stability. “ Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun,” &c. The carnal and hypocritical He would indeed cast off; but for the encouragement of the spiritual seed of Israel, the most stable things in the universe are referred to as a pledge of the immutability of His gracious purposes. (Expository Outlines.) The new covenant I. The Christian religion is described as a new covenant. This covenant would be new, for it had predecessors, and God is said to have made a covenant with Noah when He promised that a judgment like the flood should not be repeated, and with Abraham when He promised Canaan to his descendants for an everlasting possession, and imposed the condition of circumcision. But by the phrase “ the old covenant” is meant especially the covenant which God made with Israel as a people when Moses descended from Mount Sinai. At later periods in Israel’ s history this covenant was again and again renewed--as by Joshua, at Shechem; as by King Asa, at Jerusalem; as by Jehoida, the priest, in the temple, and by the priesthood and people together, under Hezekiah, and under the auspices of Ezra and Nehemiah in later days still, after the great captivity. It was renewed and it was continually broken. It was a Divine work, and yet, through man’ s perverseness, it was a continuous failure. The new “ covenant” : it is a phrase which sounds somewhat strange to the ears of Christians, who have been accustomed all their life to talk of the New “ Testament.” A covenant is a compact or agreement, and it implies something like equal fights between those who are parties to it. Monarchs make covenants or treaties with monarchs, nations with nations. Even when, as sometimes happens, the government of a great Power enters into contracts with a house of business, or with an individual, this is because the firm or the person in question is for the purposes of the contract on terms of equality with the negotiating government, as having at disposal some means of rendering it a signal service, which, for the moment, throws all other considerations into the background. And this general equality between parties to a covenant may be further illustrated by the case of the most sacred of all possible human contracts, the marriage tie--that marriage tie which, by the law of God, once made, can be dissolved only by death, and in which it is the glory of the Christian law--I do not speak of human legislation in Christian times--to have secured to the contracting parties equal rights. It is, then, a little startling to find this same word employed to describe a relation between the infinite and eternal God and the creatures of His hand. He wants nothing when He has everything to give. Man needs everything, and can do nothing that will increase the blessedness that is already infinite, or enhance a power which, as it is, knows no bounds. But here are covenants between God and man, covenants in which there seems no place for reciprocity, covenants in which indulgence or endowment is all on one side, and acknowledgment, or, rather, failure, on the other; covenants in naming which language seems to forget its wonted meaning, and to betray us into misconceptions, which bring, to say the least, bewilderment and confusion; and yet, in reality, when God speaks of making a covenant with man, He is only giving one more instance of that law of condescension of which the highest results appeared when He, the Infinite, took on Him a human form, when He, the Eternal, entered as a man into fellowship with the children of time. A covenant, then, is a contract or compact, and the question cannot but occur to us, “ Might the covenant which God makes with His people not come to be called, as it is called, a testament? for the words covenant and testament” represent in our English Bibles a single word in each of the original languages. The Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria, who some 200 years or more before our Lord turned the Old Testament, bit by bit, from Hebrew into Greek, as it was wanted for use in the service of their synagogue, and then made of these fragments the great version which we to-day call the Septuagint, used the Greek word for “ will” to translate the Hebrew word for “ covenant,” because they observed that the old covenant of God with the patriarchs and with Israel did involve actual bequests such as was the possession of Canaan, which could only be inherited in a distant future. And thus the Hebrew word meaning a contract was strained, if you please, by its actual use to mean a testament, and the Greek word meaning primarily, although not exclusively, a will acquired by its associations the sense of a covenant or contract. He who by His providence controls the course of human events and the currents of human thought does also most assuredly take human speech so that it may do His work, and it is His doing and not any chance irregularity that the original word in the New Testament has thus come to mean both covenant and testament, for that which it was intended to describe answered to both meanings. Religion as such, and the religion of the Gospels especially, is at once a compact with God and a bequest from God. The Gospel, I say, is a compact or covenant, because its blessings are provisionally bestowed. They must be met by faith, hope, love, repentance. And it is also a will or testament more obviously than was the Mosaic covenant, for it was made by our Divine Lord when His death was in full view, and when He, who alone could use such words without folly or without blasphemy, took the cup into His blessed hands, and when He had given thanks He gave it to His followers, saying, “ Drink ye all of this; for this is My blood of the New Testament, which is being poured out for you and for many for the remission of sins.” And yet this very testament is so conditioned as to be a covenant too, and the solemn words to which I have just referred were but an echo in an after age of the saying in the prophets, “ Behold, I make a new covenant.” II. Of this new covenant in the gospels there were according to jeremiah to be three characteristics. We cannot suppose that he is giving us an exhaustive description. He selects these three points because they form a vivid and easily understood contrast between the new covenant and the old, between Christianity and Judaism.1. In those who have a real part in the new covenant the law of God was not to be simply or chiefly an outward rule, it was to be an inward principle. The law was to be no longer an outward rule condemning the inward life or even rousing the spirit of rebellion: it was to be an inward operation, not running counter to the will, but shaping it and claiming obedience, not from fear but from love, and from love heightened to enthusiasm. It was to present itself, not as a summons from without the will, but as an impulse from within the soul; not as declaring that which has to be done or foregone, but as describing that which it was already a joy to forego or to do; in short, a new power, the Spirit of Christ, giving Christians s new nature; the nature of Christ would be within the soul and would effect a change. 2. The second token of a part in the new covenant is the growth of the soul in the knowledge of Divine truth. In ancient Israel, as now, men learned what they could learn about God from human teachers, but the truths which they learned, though inculcated with great industry, were, in the majority of cases, not really mastered, because there was no accompanying process of interpretation and readjustment from within. It was to be otherwise in the future. In the new covenant the Divine Teacher, without dispensing with such human instruments as we are, would do the most important part of the work Himself. He would make truth plain to the soul, and would enamour the soul with the beauty of truth by such instruction as is beyond the reach of human argument and human language, since it belongs altogether to the world of spirits. “ Ye have an unction from the Holy One,” said St. John to his readers, “ and ye know all things.” “ Listen not,” cries St. Augustine, “ too eagerly to the outward words: the true Master sits within. 3. A third characteristic of the new covenant was to be the forgiveness of sins. This, although stated last, is really a precedent condition of the other two. “ This is a true saying., and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save stoners,” and this salvation of His must begin with pardon, and this pardon is the crowning triumph of the new covenant between God and man. (Canon Liddon.) The new covenant This particular portion of the chapter is the only clear evangelical declaration in the Book. It reads more like Isaiah than Jeremiah. It must have been a great gladness to that sad-hearted and sorrowful prophet to have this glimpse of coming restoration and grace for his sinful and sorely afflicted people. He was all the more glad to pour in this balsam because he had hitherto been giving them salt for their wounds and wormwood to drink. I. The new plantation. Hitherto it had been his sad and sorrowful duty to declare to the people God’ s purpose to “ root out, to pull down, and to destroy and throw down” ; but now the time has come to fulfil his task of declaring God’ s purpose to “ build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). The devastation of the lend of Israel end Judah had been complete, the slain of the people vast in numbers; the utter taking away and dispersing of the ten tribes had left but a remnant even before the captivity of Judah. The promise of a restoration of Judah to the land would be, even when fulfilled, but the return of a mere handful of people and cattle. So small, indeed, that the land would still seem to be desolate for want of inhabitants, and in poverty for want of cattle. In view of this very discouraging outlook the prophet speaks this most comforting promise.1. The sowing--“ I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.” The same promise was made to Israel and Judah by Ezekiel 36:9-11, and by Hosea 2:23. This promise seems to include the gathering in of the Gentiles as well, just as the same covenant promise is made to them as to the returned Jews. The figure is one of the greatest encouragement. The remnant of the people and cattle are as the handful of seed for the ground, but God will so bless them that they shall increase like seed sown before s great harvest that shall fill the land. The same thought is expressed in Psalms 72:16. This prophecy was scarcely realised in the return from Babylon, but it had the beginning of its fulfilment then. There is a suggestion here of the method of multiplication of the people; as seed sown in the ground multiplies into a great harvest, so shall living Christians multiply themselves in those whom they are the means of converting to God. How Andrew multiplied himself when he found Peter, who after was the means of winning three thousand souls at one preaching! Stephen multiplied himself through Saul of Tarsus. In this latter case seed was literally sown in the ground, and out of the martyr blood sprung the apostle of the Gentiles. 2. The watching--“ And it shall come to pass that like as I have watched over them to pluck up,” &c., “ so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord.” The growth of God’ s kingdom in the earth among men is not a mere process of nature. It goes on in the power of God’ s special and supernatural gifts of grace, and is carried forward under His watchful eye and fostering care. Not one least convert makes his appearance in the world but that God watches over him to protect and defend. His promise is that “ their soul shall be as a watered garden” (verse 12). It is comforting to know that God’ s promise of grace and favour is as true as His threats have proved. If sin has abounded to our ruin, let us know that grace doth much more abound to our salvation. 3. The new individual relation between God and the people. The saying which the prophet alludes to: “ The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the children’ s teeth are set on edge,” shall no longer be in vogue when that day of grace of which the prophet speaks comes. He condemns the saying, as does Ezekiel 18:1-3. There was a certain truth in the saying, but it had been perverted, and the entire proverb had been quoted in such a way as to cast a reproach of injustice upon God. As a matter of fact, there is a law of heredity, both physical and moral, to which every one must submit. It is impossible to shut one s eyes to the fact; but then according to God’ s law, and especially according to His grace, moral responsibility does not attach to this hereditary transmission of consequences unless the heir consents to the father’ s sin and walks in his way. Any individual descendant may break the heredity at any point he pleases by turning to the Lord. It is also true that in former times God dealt with the nation as such, rather than with individuals. The nation’ s sin brought their present calamities upon them, in which many individually righteous men suffered; but in the days to come the national will give place to the individual relation. This for two reasons. First, the nation as a whole will have learned righteousness in that day, and so it will come to pass that the individual transgressor will be so conspicuously by himself, that it will be seen at a glance that his suffering or judgment will rest upon the fact of his own sin. Hitherto the individually righteous man had been so rare in the nation that he was overlooked and swept away in the tide of the nation’ s punishment, just as Caleb and Joshua were carried back into the wilderness for forty years with the whole unbelieving nation. But, second, there is s distinct advance in thought by the prophet in the direction of that individuality of relation which characterises the new covenant in distinction from that which was so apparent in the old. Under the law the oneness and entirety of the nation was maintained; under the Gospel the individual soul is brought before God. “ Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). Nothing could more mark the great advance in thought than this prophetic declaration. II. The new covenant. As if to explain and justify his new doctrine, he announces the fact of a new covenant. This is the first distinct announcement of the new dispensation under this title. This covenant is to differ radically in terms and contents from the old covenant which God made with the children of Israel when He brought them out of Egypt. Reference is clear to the New Testament dispensation, as may be seen from Hebrews 8:1-13. By a covenant is meant an appointment by God. We are not to understand that God entered into a contract with man. He appointed certain things, promised certain things, upon certain conditions which the people were to perform. But the covenant or agreement was wholly of His own making. The old covenant, so far as the blessings were concerned, had failed utterly because of the utter failure of the people to “ do the things” which God commanded. Therefore He has taken it away and substituted another covenant, based upon better promises--one in which He not only proposes blessings, but undertakes to fulfil the conditions upon which they shall flow in to us.1. Some contrasts. The old covenant was broken by the disobedience of the people, though in the administration thereof God had acted throughout as a forgiving husband who was constantly compounding the sins of an unfaithful wife. But this new covenant is kept and secured by the performance of all its conditions by God Himself, acting in and through Christ (Hebrews 8:6). The old covenant was a faulty one, never intended indeed to be the means of their salvation, but only to remind them of their sin and show them their helplessness. Not faulty in the thing it was intended to accomplish, but in its final ability to save; whereas the new covenant, made in and with Christ for our sakes, is a perfect covenant in terms and in fulfilment, and so does secure our salvation (Hebrews 8:6-13; Hebrews 10:1-22; Romans 8:3-4). The old covenant had a complicated and elaborate ceremonial, which could not be understood or administered except by priests and ministers, and then but imperfectly; the new covenant is simply based on the one complete offering which Jesus Christ has made for all time and for all people; He being at once tabernacle, priest, altar, offering, and minister. We simply, as sinners, go to God by Him, confess that we are stoners, acknowledge that we are helpless either to get rid of sin or maintain righteousness, and call upon Him to save us. This He does fully, freely, and eternally by His grace, without any merit of our own. Under the old covenant the provisions for the cancelling of sins were not only imperfect but utterly futile, every offering made by man through the priests being in fact but a remembrance of sin, not a removal of it; whereas in this new covenant there is perfect provision (Hebrews 10:1-39.). Therefore on its basis the forgiveness of sins is freely proclaimed (verse 34; Hebrews 10:17-18). 2. Chief characteristics. The prophet mentions three-- (1) Inwardness. “ I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” The terms of the old covenant, indeed its whole contents, were written first on tables of stone and then all its detail in external laws, which the people were compelled to bind between their eyes, on their wrists, and fix them on the door-plates of their houses and the posts of their gates. The whole relation was as between an outward law and an outward obedience. The law commanded and the subject had to obey. The law of Moses did not take account of thoughts or motives, only of actions. The action was not that of faith, but of works. But this new covenant is not so proclaimed and written. Jesus shows in the Sermon on the Mount that true righteousness extends to thoughts and motives, and so the true life of God is not in externals, but in heart relation to God. Therefore we are God’ s children, not by national or family relation, but by a new birth, by faith in Jesus Christ. We obey the law not because of outward pressure, but from inward conviction, not by the fear of external punishment, but by the constraint of an inward love. In the new creation which comes to believers under the new covenant (2 Corinthians 5:17), they are not bound by a multitude of statutes and minute rules, but constrained by a personal love to and for Jesus Christ. It is now an affectionate loyalty to a Divine Person; no longer a fearful obedience to an external, cold and pitiless law. An old writer says, in answer to an anxious inquiry as to what a Christian may and may not do: “ Love God and do what you please.” That is, if the heart is controlled by the love of God, if the law is written in the heart, then the Christian will know what is right and wrong by the instinct of the law of righteousness in him, and will only desire to do that thing which heart and conscience teach him. Christ in us the hope of Glory is the best law a Christian can have. This is to walk with God, and to walk with God is certainly to walk in paths of righteousness. (2) Knowledge. “ And they shall teach no more every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.” I think the sense of this passage is that, under the new covenant with the law in the inward parts and written in the heart, the system shall not be dependent on intellectual training or culture. Philosophical or scientific knowledge must be painfully taught and more painfully learned. The young child is often as enlightened in the things of the Spirit as the aged scholar; the ignorant negro as intelligent in spiritual things as his cultured master. This knowledge is for the least as well as the greatest, and is dependent not so much upon teaching and learning as upon spiritual apprehension (1 Corinthians 1:13 -end, 2:1-10). So also John declares that, with this law in our hearts and the Spirit of God for a teacher, we are not dependent upon anyone to teach us the essential truth of the Gospel (1 John 2:27). (3) Universality. “ From the least to the greatest is an expression which carries with it the idea of universality as to the race. The old covenant was confined to the Jewish people, the new covenant, or the Gospel, is “ for all people.” The terms of the covenant of grace are the same to all; the masses of heathendom are to be dealt with just as the so-called Christian nations. There is no difference” now, for as all have sinned, all have been brought under the provisions of grace. Let the covenant, then, be published abroad. 3. The contents of the Covenant. These are three-- (1) “ I will be their God.” This was a promise under the old covenant; it shall be more than confirmed under the new. They had forfeited the right of having Him for their God by their breach of His covenant, but now that which could not be theirs by law comes to be theirs by Grace. After His resurrection, Jesus sent this message to His disciples (John 20:17). This is the relation now. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the same close and blessed way He is our God and Father. (2) “ They shall be My people.” Not an outward and earthly people, but an heavenly and spiritual. Every one shall be born of the Spirit, and each one is so an offspring of God. This promise is often emphasised in the closing Book of Revelation (Revelation 21:3-4). (3) The forgiveness of sin. “ For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Matthew 26:28). This is the great promise which the apostle held out to the people: “ Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 13:38). We might multiply passages innumerable to show this great blessing, and how it glows in the forefront of all those of the new covenant. Not only does He forgive our iniquities, but He utterly forgets them (Psalms 32:1). III. Assurances. The wonderful covenant promises are now guaranteed by such assurances as must satisfy any people or any soul. God appeals to the heavens, where He has set the sun, moon, and stars for lights by day and night, whose permanence is accepted; He appeals to the ocean, which obeys some mysterious power, and never fails. As long as they endure, so shall the terms of this covenant stand. When heaven and earth can be measured and searched out, and the ordinances of heaven and earth fail, then shall the seed of Israel fail, but not till then (verses 36, 37). (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.) Jeremiah’ s prophecy of the new covenant 1. Of two things we may be sure beforehand. (1) The prophet’ s hope of permanent well-being in the future wilt not be based on any expectation of the people doing better, but rather on the faith that God in His grace will do more for them and in them. The action of Divine love may, nay, doubtless will, transform human nature so as to make the people of the new covenant veritable sons of God; but the initiative will lie with God, not with men; and just on that account the new covenant will be stable as the ordinances of the sun and moon and stars. (2) Since the new constitution is to be introduced on the express ground of dissatisfaction with the old, its provisions will be found to have a pointed reference to those of the latter, and to be of such a character as to supply the needful remedy for their defects. 2. Looking now into the prophecy itself, we find that the description which it gives of the peculiarities of the new covenant exactly answers to these expectations. (1) God appears most conspicuously throughout as the agent. He is the doer, man is the passive subject of His gracious action. He is the giver, man is but the receiver. The old covenant ran, “ Now therefore, if ye will obey,” &c. (Exodus 19:5). In the new covenant there is no “ if,” suspending Divine blessing and favour on man’ s good behaviour. God promises absolutely to be their God, and to regard them as His people, and to insure the relation against all risk of rupture by Himself making the people what He wishes them to be. (2) There is an obvious reference to the defects of the old covenant in the provisions of the new. Whereas, in the case of the old, the law of duty was written on tables of stone; in the case of the new, the law is to be written on the heart; whereas, under the old, owing to the ritual character of the worship, the knowledge of God and His will was a complicated affair in which men generally were helplessly dependent on a professional class, under the new, the worship of God would be reduced to the simplest spiritual elements, and it would be in every man’ s power to know God at first hand, the sole requisite for such knowledge as would then be required being a pure heart. (3) Whereas, under the old, the provisions for the cancelling of sin were very unsatisfactory, and utterly unfit to perfect the worshipper as to conscience, by dealing thoroughly with the problem of guilt--of which no bettor evidence could be desired than the institution of the great day of atonement, in which a remembrance of sin was made once a your, and by which nothing more than an annual and putative forgiveness was procured--under the new, on the contrary, God would grant to His people a real, absolute, and perennial forgiveness, so that the abiding relation between I-lira and them should be as if sin had never existed. 3. We must enter a little into detail by way of further explanation. (1) That the contrast is rightly taken in the first of the three conditions will be disputed by few, if any. One cannot read the words, “ I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts,” without thinking of the tables of stone which occupy so prominent a place in the history of the Sinaitic covenant. And the writing on the heart suggests very forcibly the defects of the ancient covenant, in so far as it had the fundamental laws of life. The slabs on which the ten words are inscribed may abide as a lasting monument, proclaiming what God requires of man, saying to successive generations, Remember to do this and to avoid doing that. But while the stone slabs may avail to keep men in mind of their duty, they are utterly impotent to dispose them to perform it; in witness whereof we need only refer to Israel’ s behaviour at the foot of the mount of lawgiving. Manifestly the writing on the heart is sorely wanted in order that the law may be kept, not merely in the ark, but in human conduct. And that, accordingly, is what Jeremiah puts in the forefront in his account of the new covenant, on which restored Israel is to be constituted. How the mystic writing is to be achieved he does not say, perhaps he does not know; but he believes that God can and will achieve it somehow; and he understands full well its aim and its certain result in a holy life. (2) Dispute is most likely to arise in connection with the second condition, referred to in the words, “ They shall teach no more every man his neighbour,” &c. The primary lesson we take to be, that spiritual knowledge in the new time will take the place occupied by ritual under the old. Spiritual knowledge is a kind of knowledge which can be communicated to each man at first hand, and which indeed can be communicated in no other way. God, as a Spirit, reveals Himself to each human spirit, to each individual man who has a pure heart and who worships in spirit and in truth. On the other hand, the knowledge of positive precepts, such as those contained in the ritual system, can be only obtained at second hand. One man, who has himself been taught, must teach others. The reason, the conscience, or the heart could never reveal God’ s will as embodied in such carnal ordinances. And only on supposition that a tacit reference to the ritual system is intended can the full force of the words “ They shall teach no more every man his neighbour” be perceived. For what was it in the Sinaitic covenant that made men dependent on their neighbour for the knowledge of God? Surely it was the ritual system. The priest s lips kept knowledge, and men had to seek the Torah, the needful instruction in religious ritual, at his mouth. And it was a grievous bondage, a sure index that the old covenant could not be the final form of God’ s relation with men, but was destined one day to be antiquated and replaced by a better covenant with better promises. For these reasons, we find in this part of the oracle concerning the new covenant the prediction that the ritual law would form no part of the final covenant between God and His people, and that in the good time coming men should not be kept dependent on priests and far from God by an elaborate ceremonial; but, taught of the Spirit, should worship God as Father, offering unto Him the spiritual rational service of devout thoughts and gracious affections. So it was understood by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who gives prominence to the ritual of the old covenant as one of the things most urgently demanding antiquation (Hebrews 9:1). (3) The third blessing of the new covenant, the complete and perpetual forgiveness of sin, is so clearly defined that no dispute can arise as to its nature; the only point open to debate is the feature of the old covenant, to which it contains a tacit reference. We assumed that the mental reference is to the provision in the Levitical system for the cancelling of sin, especially the great day of atonement. Jeremiah evidently speaks as one who feels that the old Sinaitic covenant, at this point as at others, was seriously defective. It made elaborate arrangements for cancelling the sins of ignorance and precipitancy committed by the people, so that these might not interrupt their fellowship with God; and yet there was no real effective forgiveness. For many of the more grievous offences there was not even an atonement of any kind provided. The Levitical forgiveness was thus both partial and shadowy; the problem of human sin was not thoroughly grappled with. All this Jeremiah felt; and therefore, in his picture of the ideally perfect covenant, he assigns a place to a forgiveness worthy of the name--a forgiveness covering the whole of Israel’ s sins: her iniquities as well as her errors; and not merely covering them, but blotting them out of the very memory of heaven. 4. But on what does this free, full, and absolute forgiveness of the new covenant rest? The Levitical forgiveness was founded on Levitical sacrifices. Is the forgiveness of the new covenant to be founded on the sacrifice “ of nobler name” ? That is a question which the student familiar with his New Testament will very naturally answer in the affirmative; and we all know the answer given in the Epistle to the Hebrews. But if it be asked, What is Jeremiah’ s answer to the question? we must reply, None. The glorious thought that the ideals of priesthood and of sacrifice can then only be realised when priest and victim meet in one person, does not seem as yet to have risen above the horizon. And yet one may well hesitate to make an assertion when he reads Isaiah 53:1-12, or even those significant words of Jeremiah himself, “ I was like a lamb that is brought to the slaughter.” The idea that a man, and not a beast, is the true sin-bearer is struggling into the prophetic consciousness. If the sun of this great doctrine is not yet risen, its dawn may be discerned on the eastern sky. (A. B. Bruce, D. D.) A new covenant I. The blessings of the new covenant.1. God undertakes to write His law in our hearts.2. God undertakes to establish a relation between Himself and us.3. God undertakes to give us the knowledge of Himself.4. God undertakes to pardon all our iniquities. II. The difference between the old and new covenants.1. In the freeness of their grants.2. In the extent of their provisions.3. In the duration of their benefits. (G. Brooks.) Jeremiah 31:33I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.The newness of the covenant A covenant is a contract or agreement between two parties, binding each to the other, and equally binding on both. The eligibility of any such covenant depends on the fitness of the parties concerned to carry out the terms, the conditions of it,--when on both sides equally, there is alike the will and the power to act upon it, to adhere to it. The two parties to the covenant referred to in the preceding verse, were “ the God of Israel,” and “ the house of Israel.” It was made “ with their fathers in the day that He took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.” That was the date of it. It was a covenant of mutual friendship or goodwill, and of mutual service. He was “ an husband unto them (Jeremiah 31:32), and it was something equivalent, in respect of sacredness, to the marriage vow by which, as His chosen bride, their fidelity was pledged to Him. Which covenant, however, they brake. Their idolatry was “ adultery.” The only claim which Israel had thereafter was to “ get a bill of divorcement, and to be put away.” Her merited doom would have been final rejection,--to have had “ a full end made” of her, as there was to be, as there has been, of the other nations, such as Babylon, whither the Lord scattered her. Instead of this, however, a wondrous announcement, prefaced by the word “ Behold,” is here made (Jeremiah 31:33). The former covenant having come to nought, through the failure of one of the contracting parties, God Says, He will make another,--He will make another with the same “ treacherous house of Israel” He will bind Himself to them anew. But He Will so make it this time, as to ensure its being kept. He will become bound for both the parties, He will undertake for the fidelity of His partner, as well as for His own. It is the “ covenant of grace,” of which the text speaks, as the presently existing regime, the basis of the constitution, under which,-as the subjects of God’ s moral government, we now live; the covenant, one and alone, without a second, like the one bow in the cloud,” in the day of ram, spanning the world in its embrace. It is new in form, though not in substance. It was new to Adam, the first covenant-transgressor, when, instead of doom, he found in it deliverance. It was new to Abraham, when his faith in it was counted to him for (or unto) righteousness, when he received the seal of his acceptance with God, not after, but “ before he was circumcised.” It was new to as many of Abraham’ s posterity, under the law, as had faith enough to discern its newness through the haze, and amid the shadows of that comparatively dark economy,--devout men like Simeon, and devout women like Anna, who waited for the “ consolation of Israel.” It was new--a new revelation to the world--when that new thing was created in the earth of which the prophet speaks (Jeremiah 31:22), the sinless humanity of Christ, when “ God sent forth His Son,” &c. It is new still to every newly awakened sinner, when he first gets a sight of it, reads it with his own eyes, and finds out that there is a place in it for him. It is new in this respect, that it shall never be “ old,” or become obsolete, or go out of date, or lose its charm, or disclose all that is wonderful in it, never, even in eternity! There are four clauses, or articles, in it, setting forth the fourfold provision which He has made for carrying it into effect, i.e., for carrying out what has been His invariable purpose, in all His transactions with men as His creatures, from the beginning, even to “ bless them,” by making and keeping them obedient to Himself--to make them happy, in their being obedient and holy.1. Clear understanding. “ I will put My law into their mind.” God does this when He lets us see ourselves as the breakers of it, and Christ as the keeper, the fulfiller of it,--when He reveals to us the length, the breadth, the spirituality, the beauty of the law,--in Christ’ s living and dying, obedience to it,--how it was “ magnified” by Him! 2. Permanent Impression. “ I will put My law into their mind,” --to dwell there. I will “ write it in their hearts,” so as to be indelible, and so as to be ever at hand, available, as a rule of duty, a standard of appeal. 3. There is, however, something more engaged for on our behalf than mere acquiescence or approval. There is pleasure and delight. What is “ written in the heart” is the object of thy heart’ s esteem, love, complacency. And this is true of God’ s law; when He writes it, then He makes its very strictness look beautiful, its severity seem “ sweetly reasonable.” Its perfection becomes its charm. 4. Where there is clear intelligence, and constant remembrance, and cordial choice of the law, there will also be--there cannot but be--an abiding, practical influence,---a loyal subjection to it, such as the legal, carnal mind, that is so fond of making a bargain with God, will not, cannot yield. (J. G. Burns.) Means of the world’ s conversion I. What instrument will be employed to bring about the blessed condition of the human family predicted in the text. This instrument is Divine truth, most expressively called in the text, knowledge of the Lord: that is, the exhibition of the Divine character, more than any other truth, before all consciences, is to be the mighty engine by which heaven will work out the moral revolution of the world. What is the moral law itself, but God’ s character--a catalogue of His perfection, written out in the form of precepts? The soul that knows what God is, sees intuitively what itself ought to be. To know Him, is to know His character, His government, His rights, His claims on us, and our duties to Him. It is to know His plan of mercy,--His Son, and His Spirit--His pardoning and sanctifying grace. II. By what methods and agency is this grand instrument to be applied to the renovation of the world? How is this knowledge of the Lord to be spread all over the earth, and to be brought in contact with every human heart? In this stage of the Church’ s history at least, it is evidently the Divine arrangement that men shall be themselves the instruments of saving their own race. That this is the way to do a great work, we learn from the analogies of the natural world. How are the coral isles of the ocean made? Not by being upheaved, by some great convulsion, from the bosom of the deep; but by the ceaseless labours of little insects, each of which works in its own place, and adds its mite to the accumulated mass. It stops not to form combinations and lay plans, but labours in its sphere. How is the huge globe watered, and made productive? Not by great seas, but by little streams, or, rather, by single drops of rain and dew, each refreshing a single leaf, or blade of grass. How is bread produced for the millions of mankind? Each stalk of corn becomes responsible for a limited number of grains. And, in the moral world, we see the same results produced in the same way. How is it that vice is propagated? How are drunkards, gamblers, and infidels made? Not by wholesale, but by individual contact. One corrupt heart infects some other heart: one polluted soul taints some other soul with the infection of its own depravity; and thus recruits are ever multiplied for the host of Satan. Let it be so in the work of salvation. Let each Christian labour to rescue his neighbour and his brother, and how soon will the world “ be filled with the knowledge of the Lord” ! Nor will such benevolence be restricted to its own immediate circle. A genuine concern for the salvation of one soul is of the nature of the most enlarged philanthropy. From this subject we learn--1. The true remedy for all our social and political evils. It is by spreading the knowledge of the Lord. 2. The excellence of those methods of doing good, which exercise the conscience on questions of personal duty. Hence the excellence of all those forms of effort in which teaching is employed: the mother amid her children--the teacher of a Sabbath School, or Bible class--the faithful distributor of tracts--and, pre-eminently, the pastor and the missionary. 3. The mode in which revivals of religion may be promoted. A revival that shall penetrate the mass of the community, must be carried into it by the living agents, who are accustomed to mingle with the mass; and who will go hither and thither, attaching themselves to individuals. (C. Hall.) The law written on the heart I. This tablets upon which God writes His law. “ I will put My law in their inward parts.”1. Thus, you see, the Lord has selected for His tablets that which is the seat of life. It is in the heart that life is to be found, a wound there is fatal: where the seat of life is, there the seat of obedience shall be. 2. Observe next, that not only is the heart the seat of life, but it is the governing power. It is from the heart, as from a royal metropolis, that the imperial commands of the man are issued by which hand and foot, and eye and tongue, and all the members are ordered. Ii the heart be right, then the other powers must yield submission to its sway, and become right too. 3. But before God can write upon man’ s heart it must be prepared. It is most unfit to be a writing-table for the Lord until it is renewed. The heart must first of all undergo erasures. It must also experience a thorough cleansing, not of the surface only, but of its entire fabric. Truly, it was far easier for Hercules to purge the Augean stables than for our hearts to be purged; for the sin that lies within us is not an accumulation of external defilement, but an inward, all-pervading corruption. In addition to this, the heart needs to be softened, for the heart is naturally hard, and in some men it has become harder than an adamant stone. Nor would the softening be enough, for there are some who have a tenderness of the most deceiving kind. They receive the Word with joy: they feel every expression of it, but they speedily go their way and forget what manner of men they are. They are as impressible as the water, hut the impression is as soon removed; so that another change is needed, namely, to make them retentive of that which is good: else might you engrave and re-engrave, but, like an inscription upon wax, it would be gone in a moment if exposed to heat. In a word, the heart of man needs to be totally changed, even as Jesus said to Nicodemus, “ Ye must be born again.” II. The writing. “ I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” What is this writing?1. First, the matter of it is the law of God. God writes upon the hearts of His people that which is already revealed; He inscribes there nothing novel and unrevealed, but His own will which He has already given us in the book of the law. Observe, however, that God says He will write His whole law on the heart, this is included in the words, “ My law.” God’ s work is complete in all its parts, and beautifully harmonious. He will not write one command and leave out the rest as so many do in their reforms. Mark, again, that on the heart there is written not the law toned down and altered, but “ My law,” --that very same law which was at first written on the heart of man unfallen. 2. But to come a tittle closer to the matter: what does the Scripture mean by writing the law of God in the heart? The writing itself includes a great many things. A man who has the law of God written on his heart, first of all, knows it. God’ s Spirit has taught him what is right and what is wrong: he knows this by heart, and therefore can no longer put darkness for light, and light for darkness. This law, next, abides upon his memory. God has given him a touchstone by which he tries things. It is a grand thing to possess a universal detector, so that, go where you may, you are not dependent upon the judgment of others, and therefore are not deceived as multitudes are. This, however, is only a part of the matter, and a very small part comparatively. The law is written on a man’ s heart further than this: when he consents unto the law that it is good; when his conscience, being restored, cries, “ Yes, that is so, and ought to be so. That command by which God has forbidden a certain course is a proper and prudent command: it ought to be enjoined.” But, furthermore, there is wrought in the heart by God a love to the law as well as a consent to it, such a love that the man thanks God that He has given him such a fair and lovely representation of what perfect holiness would be; that He has given such measuring lines, by which he knows how a house is to be builded in which God can dwell Thus thanking the Lord, his prayer, desire, longing, hungering, and thirsting, are after righteousness, that he may in all things be according to the mind of God. 3. If anybody should inquire how the Lord keeps the writing upon the heart legible, I should like to spend a minute or two in showing the process. He enlightens by knowledge, convinces by argument, leads by persuasion, strengthens by instruction, and so forth. So far also we know that one way by which the law is kept written upon a Christian’ s heart is this,--a sense of God’ s presence. The believer feels that he could not sin with God looking on. Next, the Christian has a lively sense within him of the degradation which sin once brought upon him. But a sense of love is a yet more powerful factor. Let a man know that God loves him, let him feel sure that God always did love him from before the foundations of the world, and he must try to please God. Another very powerful pen with which the Lord writes is to be found in the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Besides that, God actually establishes His holy law in the throne of the heart by giving to us a new and heavenly life. Once more, the Holy Ghost Himself dwells in believers. III. The writer. Who is it that writes the law upon the heart? It is God Himself. “ I will do it,” saith He.1. Note, first, that He has a right to indite His law on the heart. He made the heart; it is His tablet: let Him write there whatever He wills. 2. Note, next, that He alone can write the law on the heart. This is noble work, angels themselves cannot attain to it. “ This is the finger of God.” As God alone can write there and must write there, so He alone shall have the glory of that writing when once it is perfected. 3. When God writes He writes perfectly. No holiness can excel the holiness produced by the Holy Spirit when His inward work is fully completed. 4. Moreover, He writes indelibly. I defy the devil to get a single letter of the law of God out of a man’ s heart when God has written it there. Written rocks bear their inscriptions long, but written hearts bear them for ever and ever. IV. The results of the law being thus written in the heart.1. Frequently the first result is great sorrow. If I have God’ s law written on my heart, then I say to myself, “ Ah me, that I should have lived a law-breaker so long! This blessed law, this lovely law, why I have not even thought of it, or if I have thought of it, it has provoked me to disobedience. Sin revived, and I died when the commandment came.” 2. The next effect of it is, there comes upon the man a strong and stern resolve that he will not break that law again, hut will keep it with all his might. 3. That strong resolve soon leads to a fierce conflict; for another law lifts up its head, a law in our members; and that other law cries, “ Not so quick there: your new law which has come into your soul to rule you shall not be obeyed: I will be master.” 4. But does not something better than this come of the Divine heart-writing? Oh yes. There comes actual obedience. The man not only consents to the law that it is good, hut he obeys it; and if there be anything which Christ commands, no matter what it is, the man seeks to do it,--not only wishes to do it, but actually does it; and if there be aught that is wrong, he not only wishes to abstain from it, but he does abstain from it. 5. As this proceeds, the man becomes more and more prepared to dwell in heaven. He is changed into God’ s image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (C. H. Spurgeon.) And will be their God-God in the covenant I. How Is God Especially The God Of His Own Children? We answer, that in some things God is the God of all His creatures; but even there, there is a special relationship existing between Himself and His chosen creatures, whom He has loved with an everlasting love. And in the next place, there are certain relationships in which God does not exist towards the rest of His creatures, but only towards His own children.1. First, then, God is the God of all His creatures, seeing that He has the right to decree to do with them as He pleases. He is the Creator of us all; He is the potter, and hath power over the clay, to make of the same lump, one vessel to honour and another to dishonour. He is the God of all creatures, absolutely so in the matter of predestination, seeing that He is their Creator, and has an absolute right to do with them as He wills. But here again He has a special regard to His children, and He is their God even in that sense; for to them, while He exercises the same sovereignty, He exercises it in the way of grace and grace only. Again, He is the God of all His creatures, in the sense that He has a right to command obedience of all But even here there is something special in regard to the child of God. Though God is the ruler of all men, yet His rule is special towards His children; for He lays aside the sword of His rulership, and in His hand He grasps the rod for His child, not the sword of punitive vengeance. Again, God has an universal power over all His creatures in the character of a Judge. He will “ judge the world in righteousness and His people with equity.” Our loving God is the Judge who shall acquit our souls, and in that respect we can say He is our God. So then, whether as Sovereign, or as Governor enforcing law, or as Judge punishing sin; although God is in some sense the God of all men, yet in this matter there is something special towards His people, so that they can say, “ He is our God, even in those relationships.” 2. But now there are points to which the rest of God’ s creatures cannot come; and here the great pith of the matter lies; here the very soul of this glorious promise dwells. God is our God in a sense, with which the unregenerate, the unconverted, the unholy, can have no acquaintance, in which they have no share whatever. First, then, God is my God, seeing that He is the God of my election. If I be His child, then has He loved me from before all worlds, and His infinite mind has been exercised with plans for my salvation. If He be my God, He has seen me when I have wandered far from Him; and when I have rebelled, His mind has determined when I shall be arrested--when I shall be turned from the errors of my ways. He has been providing for me the means of grace, He has applied those means of grace in due time, but His everlasting purpose has been the basis and the foundation of it all; and thus He is my God as He is the God of none else beside His own children. Furthermore, the Christian can call God his God, from the fact of his justification. A sinner can call God--God, but he must always put in an adjective, and speak of God as an angry God, an incensed God, or an offended God. But the Christian can say “ my God” without putting in any adjective except it be a sweet one wherewithal to extol Him. Again, He is the believer’ s God by adoption, and in that the sinner hath no part. II. The exceeding preciousness of this great mercy. “ I will be their God.” I conceive that God, Himself, could say no more than that.1. Compare this portion with the lot of thy fellow-men! Some of them have their portion in the field, they are rich and increased in goods, and their yellow harvests are even now ripening in the sun; but what are harvests compared with thy God, the God of harvests? Or, what are granaries compared with Him who is thy husbandman, and feeds thee with the bread of heaven? Some have their portion in the city; their wealth is superabundant, and in constant streams it flows to them, until they become a very reservoir of gold; but what is gold compared with thy God? Some have their portion in this world, in that which most men love--applause and fame; but ask thyself, is not thy God more to thee than that? What, if a thousand trumps should blow thy praise, and if a myriad clarions should be loud with thine applause; what would it all be to thee if thou hadst lost thy God? 2. Compare this with what thou requirest, Christian. To make thee happy thou wantest something that shall satisfy thee; and come, I ask thee, is not this enough? Will not this fill thy pitcher to its very brim, ay, till it runs over? But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction; thou desirest, sometimes, rapturous delight. Come, soul, is there not enough here to delight thee? Put this promise to thy lips; didst ever drink wine one-half so sweet u this, “ I will be their God” ? Didst ever hear harp or viol sound half me sweetly as this, “ I will be their God” ? But then thou wantest something more than present delights, something concerning which thou mayest exercise hope; and what more dost thou ever hope to get than the fulfilment of this great promise, “ I will be their God” ? O hope! thou art a great-handed thing; thou layest hold of mighty things, which even faith hath not power to grasp; hut though large thine hand may be, this fills it, so that thou canst carry nothing else. I protest, before God, I have not a hope beyond this promise. “ Oh,” say you, “ you have a hope of heaven.” Ay, I have a hope of heaven, but this is heaven--“ I will be their God.” III. The certainty of this promise; it does not say, “ I may be their God” ; but “ I will be their God.” Nor does the text say, Perhaps I shall be their God; no, it says, I will be their God. Oh! cries the sinner, “ I will not have Thee for a God.” “ Wilt thou not?” says He, and He gives him over to the hand of Moses; Moses takes him a little and applies the club of the law, drags him to Sinai, where the mountain totters over his head, the lightnings flash, and thunders bellow, and then the sinner cries, “ O God, save me!” “ Ah! I thought thou wouldst not have Me for a God?” “ O Lord, Thou shalt be my God,” says the poor trembling sinner, “ I have put away my ornaments from me; O Lord, what wilt Thou do unto me? Save me! I will give myself to Thee. Oh! take me!” “ Ay,” says the Lord, “ I knew it; I said that I will be their God; and I have made thee willing in the day of My power.” “ I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” IV. Make use of god, if He be yours. It is strange that spiritual blessings are our only possessions that we do not employ. There is the mercy-seat, for instance. Ah, my friends, if you had the cash-box as full of riches as that mercy-seat is, you would go often to it; as often as your necessities require. But, you do not go to the mercy-seat half so often as you need to go. Most precious things God has given to us, but we never over-use them. The truth is, they cannot be over-used; we cannot wear a promise threadbare; we can never burn out the incense of grace; we can never use up the infinite treasures of God’ s loving-kindness. But if the blessings God gives us are not used, perhaps God is the least used of all. Though He is our God, we apply ourselves less to Him, than to any of His creatures, or any of His mercies which He bestows upon us. Have thou not a God lying by thee to no purpose; let not thy God be as other gods, serving only for a show: have not a name only that thou hast a God. Since He allows thee, having such a friend use Him daily. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The Christian’ s portion in God Christian! here is all thou canst require.1. To make thee happy thou wantest something that shall satisfy thee; and is not this enough? Desire is insatiable as death, but He who filleth all in all can fill it. The capacity of our wishes who can measure? but the immeasurable wealth of God can more than overflow it. 2. But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction; thou desirest rapturous delight. Come, soul, here is music fit for heaven in this thy portion, for God is the Maker of heaven. Not all the music blown from sweet instruments, or drawn from living strings, can yield such melody as this sweet promise, “ I will be their God.” Here is a deep sea of bliss, a shoreless ocean of delight; come, bathe thy spirit in it; swim an age, and thou shalt find no shore; dive throughout eternity, and thou shalt find no bottom. 3. But thou wantest more than present delights, thou cravest something concerning which thou mayest exercise hope; and what more canst thou hope for than the fulfilment of this great promise, “ I will be their God” ? This is the masterpiece of all the promises; its enjoyment makes a heaven below, and will make a heaven above. Live up to thy privileges, and rejoice with unspeakable joy. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 31:34 They shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them. Good things to come A blessed season is here spoken of, very unlike what the world has hitherto seen. Such acquaintance with God is meant, as brings the power, the justice, the mercy, the holiness of God before the mind, and applies them so closely to the heart, that it may be ruled and actuated by that knowledge. And if it is this, and nothing less than this, then may we justly say, The time is not come, of which the prophet speaks, when “ all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest, saith the Lord.” And it were a vain speculation to inquire when it shall be. These are among “ the times and the seasons, which God hath reserved in His own power.” But it is not a vain speculation, and by God’ s blessing it may prove “ good to the use of edifying,” if we inquire how it might be--how this blessed consummation may be obtained, and the promise brought to its fulfilment. Looking, then, at the fulfilment of the prophecy, I first observe, that we have no ground for expecting that “ all will know the Lord,” because mankind will bring another nature into the world--a nature which of its own accord shall turn towards God and righteousness. “ That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and the time will never cease, when they who are taught of God to understand themselves will be forced to confess, “ I know that in me (that is, in my flesh, my original nature) dwelleth no good thing.” Neither have we any right to expect that they shall know Him by any fresh or more general revelation This was not needed even by the Jews, to whom the promise was addressed. Our Lord declared that the knowledge of God was sufficiently Within their reach, if their hearts had not been closed against it. “ They had Moses and the prophets--let them hear them” ; they would teach them to “ know the Lord.” How much more, then, is it true of those on whom the Sun of Righteousness has risen--“ the brightness of the Father’ s glory, the express image if His person,” in whom dwelleth “ all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” ! The agency, therefore, to which we are to look for the accomplishment of the prophecy, is no other than that from which whatever is good in man has been derived from the beginning. “ Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the God and Father of lights.” If the patriarchs served God “ in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” --if Enoch and Abraham were governed by His laws--it was because His Spirit wrote them in their hearts; if they possessed the knowledge of God, it was because that knowledge was implanted in them by His Spirit. And so, when “ all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest,” it will be the same Spirit which worketh all in all. But “ there are diversities of gifts, though the same Spirit; and there are differences of administrations, though the same Lord” ; and there are differences of results, even in the same administration. The means producing the abundant harvest will be no new means; the Spirit will “ take of the things of God,” and write them in the heart by the instrumentality already in operation; the difference will be, that the instrumentality will be, first, universal, and secondly, more successful. It will be more universal. “ All shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest” ; from the youngest to the eldest, from the richest to the poorest. All, therefore, shall know Him from their youth; all shall be “ brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” “ They shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord” ; this shall be no longer needful. And why is it needful now? Partly, and for a first reason, because too many grow up without that knowledge; and they who from their years and experience in earthly things ought to be teachers in spiritual wisdom, are often children in real understanding. How few are accustomed to hear the knowledge of God treated as if it were “ the one thing needful” to be acquired, and “ the one thing needful” to be retained! How few parents use this language to their children--“ Seek knowledge, acquire learning; but first learn to know the Lord!” --“ the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and the knowledge of Him, that is understanding.” No wonder, then, that the impression made upon their tender minds, in regard to the God in whom they have their being, is like the footprint in the sand, washed away by the first wave of temptation, and quickly obliterated by the daily inroads of the world. But there are other classes, of which the larger part of human society must ever be composed. Shah we, then, leave the rich--reverse the prophet’ s course, and now betake ourselves to the poor? Do they “ know the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God” ! Alas! they have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bands. Multitudes spring up from youth to manhood, with no more knowledge of the Lord than they might have possessed if the Lord had not revealed Himself to the world. If they hear His name, it is to hear it blasphemed; if they learn that the Lord has spoken to men, it is to learn that His message is despised. Whenever, then, the destined time shall arrive, when “ all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest,” all “ from the least to the greatest” will be nurtured in the faith and fear of God. Christian instruction will be universal. Now it is rare--now it is partial--now it is imperfect, and marred by inconsistency; then it Will be general and complete. But further, Christian instruction, as it will be universal, so also it will be efficient and successful. I say not that it is unsuccessful now; I believe that it is greatly honoured of God, and that they bring a false report of the land of promise who reproach it as vain and unprofitable; but its effect is now impeded by so many hindrances. Its rarity is a hindrance. Those who have been taught to “ know the Lord,” are encompassed on every side by those who know Him not. Take the most favoured case; the child who has hitherto “ sat beside the still waters,” and drank of the pure fountain of piety and holiness, must soon be launched on the wide ocean of the world--must take his course among those who have gone with the stream of the multitude, and are guided by no scriptural direction; the parent who has sown good seed in his son’ s heart, and prays for its growth and fruitfulness, looks round after a while, and sees (we trust he sees) the wheat appearing--but he cannot help seeing that it is surrounded by tares, and how must he fear lest the tares should prevail and overspread it! In proportion, therefore, as education in Divine knowledge will become general, we may believe that it will become effective and permanently influential, If each one in his own household, and each one in his own neighbourhood, made this their chief and earnest care, that those in whom they are interested and by whom they are surrounded should know the Lord from their youth, the prophet’ s words might be fulfilled, and the whole community become one well-ordered family, “ walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost” ; “ all, from the least to the greatest,” might be taught of God, blessing the pious endeavours of His people, and giving effect to the means which, in dependence on His grace, they would employ; all might “ walk with God,” as Enoch--might trust in Him, as Abraham--might fear Him, as Joseph--might submit to Him, as Eli--might set Him before their eyes, as David--so that, “ living and dying, they might be the Lord’ s.” (Archbishop Summer.) The duty of extending religious knowledge I. The existing ignorance supposed. The impression that there is a God is seldom obliterated from the human mind. But this persuasion subsisting alone, or in connection with the grossest error, comes far short of making wise unto salvation. Oh! how lost is the immortal mind to all true apprehensions of Deity, when it can stoop to the worship of stocks and stones, the works of men’ s hands. Yet the heathen are not alone ignorant of God. It would be some relief if the eye, after surveying pagan lands, and compassionating these dark places of the earth filled with the habitations of horrid cruelty, could retreat securely to the nations of Christendom, and there soothingly repose on pervading spiritual intelligence. But, alas! there are multitudes in these favoured countries whose religious tuition has yet to be commenced, who have all the ignorance of heathens, wanting only its palliations. Nor does this remark apply only to the illiterate. A vast proportion of the learned themselves have still to acquire the veriest rudiments of this heavenly science. The list of the ignorant is not yet completed. To attain its completion, we must go to Christian sanctuaries. Yes, even of those who attend in the house of God, numbers seem as little instructed by their attendance as if they were frequenting heathen or Mohammedan temples. Their ears are inured to the sound of the Gospel, and this familiarity with its accents they are apt to mistake for acquaintance with its import. Thus wide are the realms of ignorance, and I need not tell you that its sway is most destructive. Without knowledge there can be no faith, for how can we believe what we do not know? And without faith, we are Divinely assured, it is impossible to please God. II. As incumbent on us while ignorance lasts, the duty of teaching every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. You will readily admit the propriety of teaching every man his brother. You will own at once that Andrew, finding his brother Simon, did right in bringing him to Jesus, and that all Christian members of families would do well to imitate this commendable example. But, alas! the interval is often wide between a verbal acknowledgment of duty and its vigorous performance. And is it not so here? Are not Christians themselves too sparing in expostulation with careless, unawakened relatives? You would stand between them and temporal destruction, and the more they were bent on such ruin, the more you would remonstrate. And will ye give place to them, then, and facilitate their progress when they are madly encountering eternal destruction, and hastening to the gates of the second death? You observe, however, that you are required, moreover, to teach every man his neighbour. Here many will at once understand us to speak of missionary agents, not deeming themselves at all qualified for personally instructing a benighted neighbourhood. But this conclusion we cannot reach so hastily. It is often adopted as self-evident when it has no evidence, when it is on the contrary most erroneous and criminal. There are now Tract Societies and Christian Instruction Societies, which employ many members of our Churches in diffusing through the streets and lanes of our city the knowledge of the only true God. Why may not others join their number? Change of labour is sometimes rest; and if the maxim ever apply, it must surely hold good, when we pass from anxious wasting tasks to those scenes and subjects which prove all affliction to be light and momentary, and elevate the soul to a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. One hour a week, where more cannot be conceded, may be space enough for great usefulness. Yea, it were presumptuous to limit the happy effect of a single visit, for a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. It must be allowed, however, that all have not equal facilities for the personal prosecution of such works and labours of love; and even though they had, it would still be their duty to engage others in this service as well as themselves. Some are willing to devote their lives to the extension of Christ’ s kingdom, if you will devote a portion of substance to their support. The proposal is most reasonable surely, and assigns you the easier department of the treaty. By adopting it, and reducing it to energetic practice, you may teach your neighbour and brother in the largest and noblest acceptation of the terms. III. The ultimate prevalence of knowledge by which such obligations shall be superseded. The phrase, “ from the least of them unto the greatest of them,” may be differently understood, but in every view it is delightfully significant. Does it refer to age? How beautiful on the one hand to see little children entering the kingdom, to see God, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, perfecting praise; and to witness on the other hand maturity of years and grace identified, to see the grey hairs a crown of glory being found in the way of righteousness How affecting to see these extremes of life united in devotion, the infant and the ancient joining the tender and the wrinkled hand to approach in fellowship the Father of mercies! Again, does the language refer to station? How attractive to see the degraded rising in character, and comfort, and piety, and the exalted humbly stooping from their loftiness to acknowledge and embrace the lowliest followers of the Lamb! to see all envy on the one hand, and all disdain on the other utterly lost and swallowed up in fraternal endearment. And these shall not be verdant spots in the desert as infrequent as lovely; the whole earth shall be such a paradise, for righteousness and peace shall spring forth before all the nations. And how shall this consummation be attained? Doubtless by God fulfilling His promise of putting His law in men’ s inward parts, and writing it on their hearts. But will He do so directly and independently of His revealed Word? No; we as the instruments in His hand must disseminate that Word, and then He will open men’ s understanding to understand the Scriptures. How honouring to be employed by such an Agent in such a work and for such ends! (D. King.) The Church’ s duty to the world, and the promised result of its performance I. The church’ s present duty.1. The knowledge of God is essential to the well-being and happiness of man for time and for eternity--in other words, that it is essential to his salvation. It matters not in what region they may dwell, it matters not under what other circumstances favourable to their advancement in civilisation or commerce or the arts they may or may not be placed; such must be the lamentable result in every case where men live and die without the knowledge of God, while the guilt of such ignorance and the misery which it entails are only heightened and aggravated by the circumstance, when the ease occurs in a Christian land where the fight of the Gospel is wisely diffused. 2. A destitution of this knowledge is the natural condition of mankind. 3. The knowledge of God is that kind of knowledge which above all others we should be anxious to diffuse. 4. The way in which this knowledge is to be communicated is suggested in the text and adopted by this institution. We are to “ teach.” We must exhort men to the attainment of this knowledge, as to an imperative duty. We must admonish them of the melancholy consequence of remaining in ignorance. We must warn them of their danger, whilst they continue thus ignorant of God and alienated from Him. We must reason with them, and remonstrate with all possible earnestness and affection, “ if peradventure God may grant them repentance to the belief of the truth.” II. The glorious prospect unfolded to the Church in connection with this duty, as a reward for its performance--and which, when fully realised, will render the performance of this duty no longer necessary; for then “ they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord,” for there shall be no more necessity, the work shall have been done, and “ they shall know the Lord” each and every one, “ from the least of them” through all the grades of society “ unto the greatest of them,” from the meanest to the most exalted.1. The nature of the blessing which is thus assured. It is the possession and enjoyment of the knowledge of God. 2. The extent to which this blessing shall be diffused. It shall be universal. Riot and disorder, debauchery and drunkenness, robbery and fraud, assassination and murder, shall no more be known; for all those vile lusts and furious passions in the human breast, whence these enormities proceed, shall be eradicated and subdued, and men shall be bound together in one common bond of brotherhood and love. Then uprightness and integrity shall be the prevailing principles of commerce and of trade. Then the office of the judge shall become a sinecure, and the prison a solitude, and the criminal and the felon a name and a character belonging to a former state of things. Then “ Holiness to the Lord shall be written upon the bells of the horses” ; and men shall learn to combine diligence in business and honourable industry in their lawful callings, with the fervour of an ardent piety and supreme devotedness to God, while none shall undermine or overreach, none shall tyrannise or oppress, none shall slander or traduce, “ none shall hurt or destroy in all God’ s holy mountain.” (T. Raffles, D. D.) Knowing the Lord through pardoned sin If we regard this passage as instructive in its order, the knowledge of God follows close upon the application of the law to the heart. The work of grace usually begins, so far as we can perceive it, by the Holy Spirit’ s bringing the law into contact with the inner man. The law outside of a man is forgotten; he may profess a reverence for it, but it does not affect his desires and thoughts. But when the Holy Spirit begins to put the law into the inward parts, the immediate result is the discovery of our shortcomings and transgressions, law-work is grace-work in its darker dress. It is the axe which rough hews the timber which grace goes on to fashion and smooth. By the operation of the law upon the conscience, convincing the man of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, the Holy Spirit works towards the transforming of the heart. He takes away the stone out of it, and makes it to be a fleshy, tender, sensitive thing. Then with His own finger He writes the Divine law upon the mind and the affections, so that the Divine commands become the centre of the man’ s life, and the governing force of his action. The man now loves that law which before he, at his very best, only feared: it becomes his will to do the will of God. I. The one essential knowledge. “ This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” To know God is to live in the light. This knowledge brings with it trust, peace, love, holiness, and acceptance.1. This knowledge is emphatically the knowledge of God. “ They shall all know Me.” They may not know everything about God. Who could? Only the infinite can comprehend the infinite. The regenerate, however, know the Lord, though they do not, and cannot, understand His incomprehensible glories. “ They shall all know Me, saith Jehovah.” Believers can say, “ Truly our fellowship is with the Father” ; can you say that? Were you ever conscious of the presence of God? Has He ever manifested Himself to you in any special way! One said to a Christian lady that he did not believe in the Scriptures, and she replied that she believed, in them, and delighted to read them. When asked her reason, she replied, “ Perhaps it is because I know the Author.” Personal acquaintance with God turns faith into assurance. The knowledge of God is the basis of a faith of the surest and sweetest kind: we know and have believed the love which God hath towards us. Knowing God, we believe in the truth of His words, the justice of His sentences, the goodness of His acts, the wisdom of His purposes, yea, and the love of His chastisements. 2. Note, next, that it is a personal knowledge. Each renewed person knows the Lord for himself. You cannot see God with another man’ s eyes; you cannot know God through another man’ s knowledge. Ye must yourselves be born again! Ye must yourselves be made pure in heart, or you cannot see God. 3. Next, this knowledge is one which is wrought in us by the Spirit of the Lord. It is the duty of every Christian man to say to his neighbour, and to his brother, “ Know the Lord.” God uses this effort as His instrumentality for saving men. But the man who really knows the Lord, does not know Him solely by such instruction. All Zion’ s children are taught of the Lord. They know God by His revealing Himself to them. 4. Note, carefully, that this knowledge of God becomes manifest knowledge. It is so manifest that the most earnest workers who desire the conversion of their fellow-men no longer say to such a man, “ Know the Lord,” for they perceive most clearly that he already possesses that knowledge, so as to be beyond the need of instruction upon that point. 5. Next, this knowledge of God is universal among the regenerate. The regenerate man with one talent knows the Lord; the man with ten talents boasts not of them, but rejoices that he knows the Lord. 6. This is the distinguishing mark of the regenerate, that they know the Lord. The knowledge of God lies at the bottom of every virtue and grace. The Lord is no more to us a stranger of whom we have heard--of whom a report has come to us through many hands. No; the Lord God is our friend. II. The one grand means of obtaining this knowledge of God. “ For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”1. Without the pardon of sin it is not possible for us to know the Lord. The thought of God is distasteful to every guilty man. It would be good news to him if he could be informed, on sure authority, that there was no God at all Darkness covers the mind, because sin has blinded the soul to all that is best and holiest. While sin lieth at the door, there is a difficulty on God’ s part, too. How can He admit into an intimate knowledge of Himself the guilty man, as long as he is enamoured of evil? Beyond this, an awful dread comes over the guilty mind, even when it begins to be awakened. Conscience testifies that God must punish sin. 2. In the pardon of sin there is made to the pardoned man s clear and unmistakable revelation of God to his own soul The knowledge of God received by a distinct sense of pardoned sin is more certain than knowledge derived by the use of the senses in things pertaining to this life. 3. This personal manifestation has about it a singular glory of overwhelming self-evidence. How a man sees God when he comes to know in his own soul the fulness of pardon intended by this matchless word, “ Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” ! Can this be so? Does the Lord make a clean sweep of all my sins? Can it be that the Lord has cast them all behind His back? Has He blotted out the record which accused me? Has He cast my sin into the depths of the sea? Hallelujah! He is a God indeed. This is a Godlike act. O Jehovah! who is like unto Thee? Mark, also, how freely, out of His mere love, the Lord forgives, and herein displays His Godhead! No payment on our part, of suffering or service, is required. The Lord pardons for His own name’ s sake. 4. When the soul comes to think of the method of mercy, it has a further knowledge of God. In the extraordinary plan of salvation by grace through Christ Jesus, all the Divine attributes are set in a glorious light, and God is made known as never before. Oh, the splendour of redeeming love! 5. The immutability of Divine pardon is one of the most brilliant facets of the diamond. Some think that God forgives, but afterwards punishes; that you may be justified to-day, but condemned to-morrow. Such is not the teaching of our text. “ Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Our debts are so fully paid by our Lord Jesus that there is not an account upon the file of omniscience against any pardoned one. (C. H. Spurgeon.) I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. God’ s forgetfulness of sin One of the appalling obstacles between sinful men now, and their eternal blessedness hereafter, is the indestructible fact of the memory of sin. The poet Dante, as he wandered through the forest of the terrestrial paradise, came to a stream which on the one side was called Lethe, and on the other Eunoe, for it possessed the double virtue to take away remembrance of offence, and to bring remembrance back of every good deed done. Immersed in Lethe’ s wave he forgets his fault, and from Eunoe’ s stream he returned “ Regenerate,E’ en as new plants renew’ d with foliage new,Pure and made apt for mounting to the stars.”Where flows, then, the stream of happy forgetfulness? A poet’ s dream may not beguile us;--what are the facts, the stem, unchangeable facts of memory? Is memory an unalterable record of life? Shall the shadow of this earth always lie before us upon our path? The facts of memory are these. The mind of man is a chamber of memories--a hall of echoes--a gallery of endless whispers--a house haunted by shades of the past. The mind is one labyrinth of memories--like a catacomb of the dead. Recollection is as the torch in the traveller’ s hand through this endless labyrinth of memory; but memory itself is the receptacle of all our past. There is a place in it for all the deeds done in the body. All that the mind has been used for remains a memory wrought into its own structure and form. No ingenuity of human art has ever invented to watch the watchman a self-registering machine so accurate, so constant, so unalterably true, as is the human brain--God’ s register of the deeds done in the body. Carry now this truth one step further. If in the present physical basis of life there m provision made for memory; if matter so gross as the brain can become the register of the mind; much more may memory be continuous and comprehensive in the spiritual embodiment of the soul; much more shall it be made perfect in the resurrection. The form shall be broken up, and they shall be distributed, dust to dust, and earth to earth; but the soul shall have taken, before this bodily form is broken up, the copy of this mortal life and its deeds, and hence shall continue with the impression of it stamped upon it for ever. But this is not all. Not only do we have in our own organisation a memory of ourselves which we cannot tear from us, but also the universe has a memory of us. The memory of men’ s lives is a part of the universe. The record of our life is a line written in the book of things. It belongs to nature. We cannot blot it out. And if we carry this truth of memory still further and higher, we rise to the conception of the unalterable memory of the Eternal. Can God forget? Can God put our sin out of His eternal remembrance? This is not simply a question of power over will. It is not simply a question as to what an Almighty God can do; but what God as an infinitely perfect moral Being will do. There are those who tell us that God out of His mere benevolence van forgive sin, and open the heaven of His holy presence to the sinner who would return. Yes, so might a kind human friend say to one who had done him wrong, “ I do not care; you may come back at any time and sit at my table if you please; I will not speak of the offence; I am willing to let it pass” ; but still, although unmentioned, the wrong also would be there, sitting at the same table with the two who sit down together again. The wrong once done shall be always as a shadow between them, until something be done to put it away; until something be done to enable both to forget it, something that shall cost some sacrifice, some suffering, some reparation for the wrong, some humiliation, and some manifestation of the evil really inflicted and the pain really felt on account of the sin which is to be forgiven. Something must be said and done once for all of the nature of an atonement for the sin which separates those two, in order that each may experience the joy of a restored friendship, and that full reconciliation in which the wrong done is to be henceforth morally forgotten as well as forgiven. Surely, then, it is not good theology to imagine God to be reconciled to this world at a less effort and at a less cost of sacrifice and suffering than is required for the perfect binding up of a broken human friendship. Reconciliation does cost humiliation, suffering, self-vindication, at least through sorrow and pain for the sin committed, on the part of the person who would forgive, and then the recognition also of this effort and cost of forgiveness on the part of him who is to be forgiven. Otherwise the forgiveness does not reach to the bottom of the wrong, and the healing is only on the surface of life. And shall the infinitely perfect One be less human in His forgiveness than we? How can the Holy One forgive and forget our sin? Heaven’ s answer is the Cross of Christ! Through His work of atonement for sin is opened the Divine way of forgetfulness of the sin of the world. God remembers man henceforth as he stands before Him in the nature and grace of Christ. Hence He can forget man as he was without Christ. Justification is God’ s covering the knowledge of what we once were in our sins by the blessed and all-transfiguring thought of what His own love in the suffering Redeemer has done and always is for us. And this is no mere act of power or violence over memory. It is no arbitrary act of forgetfulness. It contradicts no ethical principle of memory, human or Divine. It is a moral hiding from the Divine remembrance of the sin of the world, which has been already and once for all condemned in the same suffering for it by which the Divine willingness to forgive was made manifest. Our sin, which God always would forgive, can be sin forgiven and forgotten, because it has been at last perfectly confessed before God, and God’ s necessary pain over it has been realised and revealed in the sufferings in it, and for it, of the Son of His love, and its condemnation, once for all, has been visited upon it in the death of Him who prays in God’ s pure will that His enemies may be forgiven. If, then, God has made such a morally sufficient atonement for sin that He can forgive it, as He would forgive it, and can forget it without denying Himself, it follows also that we ourselves shall be able to put hereafter our own sin of this life out of mind, and all other pure beings shall be able to let it pass as a dream of the night. (Newman Smyth, D. D.) God’ s non-remembrance of sin (with Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12; Hebrews 10:17):--These texts are all alike in their declaration that the Lord will not remember His people’ s sins. “ In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” Here, then, you have Isaiah and Jeremiah, two Old Testament saints affirming the same thing: is not this enough? Added to these you have the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and these three agree in one. Their united testimony is that Jehovah, the Lord God, will forgive the sins of His people, and do it in so complete a way that He will remember their iniquities no more. Does any unto generate person believe in the forgiveness of sin? I trow not. No man in sincerity believes it until God the Holy Ghost has taught him its truth, and has written it upon his heart. When a man’ s sins are set before him in the light of God’ s countenance, his first instinct is to fear that they are altogether unpardonable. He looks to the law of God, and while he looks in that direction he will certainly conclude that there is no pardon, for the law knows nothing of forgiveness. It is, “ This do, and thou shalt live; disobey, and thou shalt die.” What the law asserts, the understanding also supports; for within the awakened man there is the memory of his past offences, and on account of these his conscience passes judgment upon his soul, and condemns it even as the law doth. Meanwhile, many natural impressions and instincts assist and increase the clamours of conscience; for the man knows within himself, as the result of observation and experience, that sin must bring its own punishment; he perceives that it is a knife which cuts the hand of him that handles it, a sword that kills the man who fights therewith. Meanwhile the devil comes in with all the horrors of the infernal pit, and threatens speedy destruction. Thus, for once, the devil craftily co-operates with the law of God and with conscience; these would drive men to self-despair, but Satan would go further, and compel them to despair as touching the Lord Himself, so as to believe that pardon for transgression is quite impossible. With the desponding I shall try to deal at this time, and may the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, help me to console them. I. There is forgiveness. Our four texts all teach us that doctrine with great distinctness.1. This appears, first, in the treatment of sinners by God, inasmuch as He spares their forfeited lives. Assuredly the Lord meant pardon when He tarried to inquire, “ Adam, where art thou?” In the morning of human history the Lord’ s long-suffering displayed itself and gave promise of larger grace. The like is true of you and of me. If God had no pardons would He not long ago have cut us down as cumberers of the ground? 2. Why did God institute the ceremonial law if there were no ways of pardoning transgression? Why the bullocks and the lambs offered in sacrifice? Why the burnt-offerings in which God accepted man’ s gift, if man could not be accepted? Assuredly he could not be accepted if regarded as guilty. Why the peace-offering in which God feasted with the offerer, and the two united in feeding upon the one sacrifice? How could this be unless God intended to forgive and enter into fellowship with men? 3. Further than this, if there were no forgiveness of sin why has the Lord given to sinful men exhortations to repent? 4. If you will think of it you will see that there must be pardons in the hand of God, or why the institution of religious worship among us to this day? Why are we allowed to pray in secret if we cannot be forgiven? What is the value of prayer at all if that first and most vital favour of forgiven sin is utterly beyond our reach? Why are we allowed to sing the praises of God? God cannot accept the praises of unforgiven men; worshippers must be clean ere they can draw near to His altar with their incense; if, then, I am taught to sing and give thanks to God it must be because “ His mercy endureth for ever.” 5. What assurance of pardon lies in the ordaining, sealing, and ratifying of the covenant of grace? The first covenant left us under condemnation, but one main design of the new covenant is to bring us into justification. Why a new covenant at all if our unrighteousness can never be removed? 6. Furthermore, why did Christ institute the Christian ministry, and send forth His servants to proclaim His Gospel? For what is the Gospel but a declaration that Christ is exalted on high to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins! 7. Why are we taught in that blessed model of prayer which our Saviour has left us, to say, “ Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” or, “ Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us” ? A star of hope shines upon the sinner in the Lord’ s Prayer in that particular petition; for it seems to say, “ There is a real, true, and hearty forgiveness of God toward you, even as there is in your heart a real, true, and hearty forgiveness of those who offend against you.” 8. The best of all arguments is this: God has actually forgiven multitudes of sinners. II. This forgiveness is tantamount to forgetting sin.1. You know what we do when we exercise memory. To speak popularly, a man lays up a thing in his mind: but when sin is forgiven it is not laid up in God’ s mind. Of course the Lord remembers their evil doings, in the sense that He cannot forget anything; but judicially as a judge, He forgets the transgressions of the pardoned ones. They are not before Him in court, and come not under His official ken. 2. In remembering, men also consider and meditate on things; but the Lord will not think over the sins of His people. The great Father’ s heart is not brooding over the injuries we have done: His infinite mind is not revolving within itself the tale of our iniquities. 3. Sometimes you have almost forgotten a thing, and it is quite gone out of your mind: but an event happens which recalls it so vividly that it seems as if it were perpetrated but yesterday. God will not recall the sin of the pardoned. The transgressions of His people are dead and buried with Christ, and they shall never have a resurrection. “ I will not remember their sins.” 4. Furthermore, this not remembering, means that God will never seek any further atonement. The apostle saith, “ Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” The one sacrifice of Jesus has made an end of sin. The Lord will never demand another victim, nor seek another expiatory offering.5. Again, when it is said that God forgets our sins it signifies that He will never punish us for them. How can He when He has forgotten them? 6. Next, that He will never upbraid us with them. “ He giveth liberally and upbraideth not.” How can He upbraid us with what He has forgotten? 7. Once more, when the Lord says, “ I will not remember their sins,” what does it mean but this--that He will not treat us any the less generously on account of our having been great sinners! III. Forgiveness is to be had.1. Why does God forget our sin! Is it not on this wise? He looks upon His Son Jesus bearing that sin. 2. Next remember that this forgetfulness of God is caused by overflowing mercy. God is love: “ His mercy endureth for ever” ; and He desired vent for His love. 3. How does God forget sin? Well, it is through His everlasting love. He loved His people before they fell; and He loved His people when they fell. “ I have loved thee,” saith He, “ with an everlasting love” ; and when that great love of His had led Him to give His Son Jesus for His people’ s ransom, it made Him also forget His people’ s sins. 4. Again, God forgets His people’ s sins because of the complacency He has in them as renewed and sanctified creatures. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 31:35 Thus saith the Lord, which giveth.., the stars for a light by night. Stars at midnight (with John 16:32):--“ Two things,” said Kant, “ fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above, and the moral law within.” Certainly there are few sights more impressive than the starry heavens. But the stars, in addition to the influence they produce upon the mind of the beholder by their number and magnitude and beauty, serve a practical and a useful purpose in the system to which they belong. They help to guide the mariner to steer his course, and the traveller to discern his way. The darkness is never overwhelming so long as the stars are visible. The sailor who has come within sight of the lights which skirt the coast knows that he is not far from hospitable shores. So the stars convey to us the intimation and the assurance that we are not far from home. Between the dark side of nature and the dark side of human life is there not a striking analogy? Are not our lives a succession of days and nights? Do we not spend our existence partly in the sunshine and partly in the gloom? That He who has done so much for the dark side of nature, kindling those “ soft fires” which enlighten the prevalent gloom and shed their benign influences upon the world beneath, should have done nothing to brighten the dark side of human life so as to preclude despair is a suggestion against which all our spiritual instincts rise in quick and emphatic revolt. But our Creator has not, we repeat, left us in unrelieved darkness. So the dark side of human life is never utterly dark, for there are stars shining somewhere in the darkness. It was into the deepening gloom that Christ passed as He drew nearer Calvary. And yet, midnight as it then was with Jesus, there were stars shining overhead. What were the sources of illumination and strength of which Christ availed Himself?1. The power of communion with God “ I am alone, and yet not alone, for the Father is with Me.” The Father was with the Son in approval of His work and in an identity of purpose. A consciousness of a deep underlying agreement with the Supreme will was a source of never-failing strength to Christ in the sacred task which He had undertaken. And never was Christ more conscious of the Father’ s smile than when the world was most emphatically hostile. And so, no matter how dark it is if only we can maintain our communion with God--if only we have continued to us the Divine fellowship. Should the world forsake us, we shall be able to stand alone if the Father is with us. 2. The power of persevering prayer was another source of light and strength to Christ. The stars are always visible from the high vantage-ground of prayer. The heavens are never wholly dark to him who can repeat the hallowed name. And this was partly the secret of the strength which animated Christ as He passed through the thick darkness, that “ He ofttimes resorted thither.” He had accustomed Himself to pray. “ I have meat to eat,” He said, “ that ye know not of.” It is well to learn to pray if it is only that we may learn how to stand alone. The time will come when the things upon which we have leaned will no longer afford us any support; when our health will fail us; when the ties which bind us to friends and loved ones will be severed. But he who has learned to pray has found a companionship in solitude which shall avail him in all the lonely crises of his life. It is not that, having found God, we can afford to part with everything else. But it is that, having found Him, we have found the true basis and guarantee of life. The darkness that overtakes us, be it what it may, is only temporary and precedent to the dawn. We have found the pathway of the stars. 3. The power of faith’ s great anticipation was another source of light and strength to our Saviour. He anticipated the Cross? Yes. But He anticipated the Crown also. To the eye of sight the Cross was a repulsive object; to the eye of faith it was the tree of life in the midst of the garden. He said to Himself, “ The Cross will not be the end, but the beginning of My influence and power for good in this world, and through the sacrifice which I am about to make I shall transform the very gates of death into the gates of life!” These, then, were the great hopes, the high anticipations, shining like stars in the midnight sky, which sustained Christ in the darkness in which He found Himself. Have faith in God, and that faith, like a great pilot-star, shall light you over the roughest sea and in the darkest night. (T. Sanderson.) . Jeremiah 32:1-15 Buy my field, I pray thee.Jeremiah’ s faith I. Faith is here illustrated as resting exclusively upon the word of God. All that Jeremiah did in this matter he did just because he had a command from the Lord. Whilst he was in prison, God told him that his cousin should come and offer him the redemption of a part at least of the family inheritance. The man came, and he “ knew that this was the Word of the Lord” ; therefore he bought the field. It is not to be supposed that he was rich. The probability is that he may have had to get the money for the purchase from his friend Baruch. Neither had he any expectation of himself obtaining any personal benefit from the purchase, for he believed that the city would be given into the hands of the Chaldeans, that the people would be taken for seventy years as exiles to Babylon. This is the very nature of true faith; it does the thing, or it receives the thing, it fears or it hopes, as the case may be wholly because God has spoken. If it embraces a promise, it rests its hope upon the Word of the Lord. If it is moved by fear, it is because God has denounced an impending punishment. If it acts in a particular way, it follows exactly the path which God has marked out. Resting as it does entirely upon the Word of God, it is altogether independent of reason, although it does not refuse to listen to its voice. Faith receives testimony; our faith in men leads us to receive the testimony of men. We often receive that testimony although we have no other evidence whatever of the facts we believe. Nay, we receive it although we have found the very persons whose testimony we are now relying upon to have been, in some instances, at least, mistaken. Faith in men goes thus far; it must go thus far; we are compelled to act in this way, or we should cut ourselves off from mankind and the activities of life. But if this be so, if we find it necessary and reasonable to act in this way, receiving the testimony of men, shall we not receive the testimony of God? When He speaks it is for us simply to listen. How wondrously has God spoken! “ In the beginning” “ God created the heavens and the earth. Going on from that primary revelation, He has revealed more and more of His truth; and in proportion as our minds rise, in proportion as our moral sense is cultivated, in proportion as we get free from the degrading power of evil which perverts our moral judgment, we find the revelation to be in accordance with everything we might expect. He speaks to us of things which are far beyond the reach of human knowledge and experience, testimony or deduction. He sets before us His own dear Son incarnate in our nature, and tells us of the great purpose for which He came. II. This passage teaches us also that faith takes account of difficulties and improbabilities only so far as to refer them to him. We must pass on to a later portion of the chapter to illustrate this. When Jeremiah had purchased the field, and subscribed the deeds and sealed them, and they were deposited in the custody of Baruch in an earthen jar to be kept for a considerable time, he seems to have experienced what we all know, some kind of reaction Of feeling; and then, as if he almost felt that he had done something that he was hardly warranted in doing, he goes and lays the matter before God (verses 17-25). This must certainly have seemed strange to any person who did not understand that it was God’ s Word. That a man who was in prison should buy an estate, believing as he did that before long the country would be in the hands of the Chaldeans, who would recognise no title-deeds whatever; that he should carefully go through the forms of Jewish law to acquire the estate, really appeared a most foolish thing. It seems as if those thoughts, so natural to us, came back upon Jeremiah’ s mind, and he began to think of the difficulties and the probabilities of the case. You see that this is not a prayer for a blessing upon what he had done; it is not a prayer that the matter in which he had been engaged should be successful; but it is an utterance of wavering and distracted feeling; and that wavering and distracted feeling is rightly uttered to God. We all know perfectly well that faith as it exists in us is not complete in its power. Sometimes we can look over, we might almost say, the boundaries of our earthly horizon and see the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem and the hills of the celestial city, but at other times the depths of the valley of the shadow of death seem to hide it all from our view. Sometimes we can hold firmly to the truth which God has been pleased to set before us with unequivocal assertion, and with demonstration of power to our believing heart; but at other times our grasp upon it seems to relax, and it appears almost as if it would slip through our hands. When there is anything of this, what will a person who really has faith do, although that faith may not be in the most perfect state and in the fullest exercise? He will take all his difficulty to God. Do we find any difficulties about the way of salvation? Let us go and ask God to throw light, as far as that light is necessary, upon the truths whereby we are to be saved. Is there any question about my own connection with, or interest in, the work of Christ? Let me go and spread it before God, and ask Him to make my salvation clear to me. God never said that there should be no difficulty in the Christian’ s path. God never told us that there should be nothing hard to understand in the truth that the Christian has to believe respecting Himself. III. Again, we have this illustration of the nature and the power of true faith:--it joins obedience prompt and full with reliance implicit and abiding. Why does the inspired writer tell us the little particulars of the transaction? Would it not have been enough to say, “ I bought the field” ? No, because the object was to show that, in the full confidence that what God had said would come to pass, Jeremiah had left nothing whatever undone. There was no flaw in the document; all legal forms were complied with exactly; the two kinds of deeds that were always used, the one sealed and the other open, were provided; the earthen jar was obtained; the deeds were put in it and intrusted to a man of rank and standing; the money was paid; and all was done in the presence of witnesses, just as if Jeremiah had hoped to take possession of the little estates the very next day. This shows that the obedience of faith will be prompt and full and will omit nothing. Jeremiah never expected to get possession of that estate personally. He himself spoke of seventy years as the period of the captivity, and he did not therefore expect that he should ever be put in possession of the little piece of land, the reversion to which he had purchased. Faith does not bind its expectations to the present; it does not limit them to a man’ s own life here; it looks beyond. And the faith of a Christian looks farther still than Jeremiah’ s. It does not look merely to a deliverance at the end of seventy years, and a possession by some of our descendants or representatives at that time of a little spot in the earthly Canaan. It looks to the close of this mortal life, to the day of resurrection, and to glory with the risen Saviour throughout eternity. (W. A. Salter.) Jeremiah’ s purchase I. The reasons for this purchase.1. We may perhaps suppose that kindness to a kinsman, as Matthew Henry suggests, had something to do with it; for kindness is kinnedness, and it is very hard if we cannot show kindness to our kith and kin when they are in need. If Jeremiah has no need of the land, we may still infer, under the circumstances of Jerusalem in a state of siege, that his cousin Hanameel has great need of money. Some of us, perhaps, who maintain that business is business, and should be conducted always on the strictest business principles, may think that as to this matter of kindness to a kinsman, about the most inexpedient way of showing it is by mixing it with matters of business. As nearest kinsman his was the right of redemption, and it was already his in reversion in case of the death of his cousin; this cousin being, as we assume, in straits for want of money, and Jeremiah being a considerate, reasonable, and kind-hearted man, concedes to his cousin’ s proposal, buying the land for what it is worth, and perhaps for something more. And if the opportunity should occur to us of helping a needy relative in some such way--if with anything like a reasonable prospect of success we can give him another chance, a new start in life, helping him to help himself--then, looking at the example of Jeremiah, I think we may all hear a voice speaking to us, and saying, “ Go thou and do likewise.” 2. We may suggest, as another reason for this purchase, Jeremiah’ s interest in future generations. Anathoth was one of the cities of the priests, and this field was ecclesiastical property. It might well be, therefore, that, unless Jeremiah bought it, it might in those confused times pass into other hands, by which it would become alienated from its sacred purposes, and so the law of Moses suffer violation. He was a Jew, and we know how the Jews looked on to the future and backward to the past, linking the past to the present and the present to the future, finding in the present a focus in which both past and future met, and so in the nation’ s unity finding its immortality. We know how that great national anthem, that prayer of Moses the man of God, begins, “ Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations” ; and we know how it closes, “ Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children, and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.” We have a more sure word of prophecy, we anticipate a more glorious future, and we also know that even as to this life the best that we can do for those who are to come after us is not by making “ purchases,” not buying fields or houses, not saving fortunes for our children, but by living godly, devout, Christ-like lives, shall we leave to them the best inheritance. 3. Let us assume, again, that Jeremiah, magnifying his prophet’ s office, would have it made plain that he himself believed in his own predictions. The land was indeed to be desolate for seventy years, to have its Sabbaths, and to lie fallow; but after that time the people were to return from their captivity, take joyful possession once more of houses, and fields, and lands: and this particular piece of land, Jeremiah believed, would then revert to its rightful owners, the priests and Levites. For ourselves, making no pretension to the prophet’ s office--that is, in the sense of foretelling--yet let us take care that our practice shall not conflict with our theory, that we practise what we preach, and so adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. “ Let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ.” 4. Lastly, as summing up all, we may say that Jeremiah evidently believed it to be the will of God. I marvel much how anyone calling himself a Christian, can ever hesitate as to doing what he believes to be the will of God, especially when the question is of something simple and easily done. I am asked sometimes, Is baptism necessary to salvation? and I answer, No, a thousand times, no. Salvation precedes baptism, and is in nowise a consequence of it; but surely, if we once admit that it is the will of God, that we have for it at once the example and precept of the Lord, that should be enough for us. II. Jeremiah’ s doubts and difficulties as to this purchase. No sooner was it completed than he seems to have been oppressed as with a burden, his brain clouded, and his nervous system rendered irritable by it. 1. Perhaps he is beginning to doubt whether after all he had rightly interpreted the vision, and the subsequent visits of Hanameel, as making it quite certain that he was to accept his kinsman’ s offer. He still thinks so, as it would seem, upon the whole, but yet his mind is opening to a doubt, and he is in sore perplexity of spirit. 2. It may be also that he is distressed at the thought that perhaps his very confidence in the promises of God, and his wish to show that he believed in his own predictions, may be turned against him. The sneering, who understand so well the motives of others, may be saying, “ Don’ t tell me that this man is so unselfish as to part with his money for a piece of land that somebody else seventy years hence is to enjoy! He knows better than that, and fully expects before very long to take possession of it himself” ; and possibly, hearing such things, he might be in the confused condition of Bunyan’ s Christian in the valley of the shadow of death, when the foul fiend whispered into his ear those terrible thoughts which he could hardly distinguish from his own. There is nothing at all unusual, moreover, in such an experience as this, that when a man, acting by such light as he has, has done what seems to him a wise thing and a good thing, there comes for a time a sort of morbid reaction, by which he sinks into despondency and gloom. And herein lies the difference between those who fall away and those who, enduring to the end, are saved: not that either is exempt from doubts, conflicts, and temptations; but that in the one case these are yielded to, and in the other, faith ultimately gains the victory over them. III. How Jeremiah overcame and solved his doubts and difficulties. “ I prayed unto the Lord.” Whether or not he prayed to the Lord about his purchase before he made it we are not told. Perhaps he did not. There are some things that seem so plain to us as matters of duty and of daily habit, that there is no need to pray for Divine direction concerning them. As the Lord said to Moses when Israel’ s duty was so plain, “ Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” But in any case we are sure that the spirit of prayer, the continued lifting up of the heart to God, was in all that Jeremiah had done. But when we find him bringing this matter of the “ purchase” specially before the Lord, seeking as he does for help and strength and grace, in weakness, perplexity, and trouble, we are encouraged by his example to bring all our affairs to the throne of the heavenly grace, however commonplace, mechanical, and routine they may be. (J. W. Lance.) A patriot’ s faith in the future This was bravely done, to make a purchase at such a time, when the enemy was seizing upon all. That Roman is famous in history who adventured to purchase that field near Rome wherein Hannibal had pitched his camp. But the Romans were nothing near so low at that time as the Jews were at this. A striking parallel to this confidence of Jeremiah, in the midst of near and present troubles, as to the ultimate glory of his nation, is furnished in the recently published Memoir of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, whoso father, Gabriel Rossetti, an Italian patriot who sought asylum in this country, yet never lost faith in the future of his native land. His biographer says: “ When he died in 1854, the outlook seemed exceedingly dark; yet heart and hope did not abate in him. The latest letter of his which I have seen published was written in September or October 1853, and contains this passage, equally strong-spirited and prophetic: ‘ The Arpa Evangelica . . . ought to find free circulation through all Italy. I do not say the like of three other unpublished volumes, which all seethe with love of country and hatred for tyrants. These await a better time--which will come, be very sure of it. The present fatal period will pass, and serves to whet the universal desire Let us look to the future. Our tribulations, dear Madam, will not finish very soon, but finish they will at last. Reason has awakened in all Europe, although her enemies are strong. We shall pass various years in this state of degradation; then we shall rouse up. I assuredly shall not see it, for day by day--nay, hour by hour, I expect the much-longed-for death; but you will see it.’” Into the ground to die Whilst shut up in the court of the prison, perhaps fastened by a chain that restrained his liberty, Jeremiah received a Divine intimation that his uncle would shortly come to him with a request for him to purchase the family property at Anathoth. This greatly startled him; because he had so clear a conviction, which he cherished as divinely given, of the approaching overthrow of the kingdom, and the consequent desolation of the land. He gave, however, no outward sign of his perplexities; but when his uncle’ s son entered the courtyard with his request, the prophet at once assented to the proposal, and purchased the property for seventeen shekels (about £2). In addition to this, Jeremiah took care to have the purchase recorded and witnessed with the same elaborate pains as if he were at once to be entering on occupation. The two deeds of contract--the one sealed with the more private details of price; the other open, and bearing the signatures of witnesses--were deposited in the charge of Baruch, with the injunction to put them in an earthen vessel and preserve them. They were probably not opened again until the return from the captivity. But Jeremiah was not a sharer in that glad scene. He did as God bade him, though the shadow of a great darkness lay upon his soul, for which he could only find relief, as the Lord on the Cross, in recourse to the Father. He fell into the ground to die, as the seed does, which holds at its heart a principle of life, that can only express itself through death, and can only bless men when its sowing, amid the depression and decay of autumn, has been complete. I. Hours of midnight darkness. It is only in service that anything reaches its fullest life. A bit of iron is condemned to solitude and uselessness till it becomes part of a great machine. A man who lives a self-contained life, of which the gratification of his own ambition and selfhood is the supreme aim, never drinks the sweets of existence, nor attains his full development. It is only when we live for God, and, in doing so, for man, that we are able to appropriate the rarest blessedness of which our nature is capable, or to unfold into all the proportions of full growth in Christ. In the deepest sense, therefore, Jeremiah could never regret that he had given the strength and measure of his days to the service of others. But none can give themselves to the service of others except at bitter cost of much that this world holds dear. This will explain the privations and sorrows to which Jeremiah was subjected. Death wrought in him, that life might work in Israel, and in all who should read the Book of his prophecy.1. He died to the dear ties of human love. “ Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place,” was early said to him. What he held in his heart belonged to the race, and might not be poured forth within the narrower circle of the home, of priestly temple-duty, or of the little village of Anathoth. 2. He died to the goodwill of his fellows. None can be indifferent to this. It is easy to do or suffer, when the bark of life is wafted on its way by favouring breezes, or the air thrills with expressions of love and adulation. Then a man is nerved to dare to do his best. It was his bitter lot to encounter from the first an incessant stream of vituperation and dislike. “ Woe is me, my mother,” he cried sadly, “ that thou hast borne me a man of strife and contention to the whole earth. I have not lent on usury, neither have men lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.” 3. He died to the pride of national patriotism. No patriot allows himself to despair of his country. However dark the louring storm clouds and strong the adverse current, he believes that the ship of State will weather the storm. He chokes back words of despondency and depression, lest they should breed dismay. But Jeremiah was driven along an opposite course. A loftier patriotism than his never hazarded itself in the last breach. His belief in Israel was part of his belief in God. But he found himself compelled to speak in such a fashion that the princes proposed, not without show of reason, to put him to death, because he weakened the hands of the men of war. 4. He died to the sweets of personal liberty. A large portion of his ministry was exerted from the precincts of a prison. Repeatedly we read of his being shut up and not able to go forth. 5. He died, also, to the meaning he had been wont to place on his own prophecies. Up to the moment when Jehovah bade him purchase the property of Hanameel, he had never questioned the impending fate of Jerusalem. It was certainly and inevitably to be destroyed by sword, famine, pestilence, and fire. But now the Word of God, demanding an act of obedience, seemed to indicate that the land was to remain under the cultivation of the families that owned it. II. Jeremiah’ s behaviour. But amid it all he derived solace and support in three main directions.1. He prayed. Take this extract from his own diary: “ Now, after I had delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, saying, Ah, Lord God!” There is no help to the troubled soul like that which comes through prayer. 2. He rested on the word of God. The soul of the prophet was nourished and fed by the Divine word. “ Thy words were found,” he cries, “ and I did eat them: and Thy words were unto me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.” 3. He faithfully kept to the path of duty. “ And I bought the field.” It does not always happen that our service to men will be met by rebuff, ill-will, and hard treatment; but when it does there should be no swerving, or flinching, or drawing back. The fierce snow-laden blast, driving straight in your teeth, is not so pleasant as the breath of summer, laden with the scent of the heather; but if you can see the track, you must follow it. To be anywhere off it, either right or left, would be dangerous in the extreme. Such are the resorts of the soul in its seasons of anguish. III. Compensations. To all valleys there are mountains, to all depths heights; for all midnight hours there are hours of sunrise; for Gethsemane, an Olivet. We can never give up aught for God or man, without discovering that at the moment of surrender He begins to repay as He foretold to the prophet; “ For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will Bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron.” Nor does God keep these compensations for the new world, “ where light and darkness fuse.” It were long to wait, if that were so. But here and now we learn that there are compensations. The first movement from the selfish life may strain and try us, the indifference of our fellows be hard to bear; hut God has such things to reveal and give, as pass the wildest imaginings of the self-centred soul. So Jeremiah found it. His compensations came. God became his Comforter, and wiped, away his tears; and opened to him the vista of the future, down whose long aisles he beheld his people planted again in their own land. He saw men buying fields for money, and subscribing deeds and sealing them, as he had done. There was compensation also in the confidence with which Nebuchadnezzar treated him, and in the evident reliance which his decimated people placed in his intercessions, as we shall see. So it will be with all who fall into the ground to die. God will not forget or forsake them. The grave may be dark and deep, the winter long, the frost keen and penetrating; but spring will come, and the stone be rolled away; and the golden stalk shall wave in the sunshine, bearing its crown of fruit; and men shall thrive on the bread of our experience, the product of our tears, and sufferings, and prayers. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Jeremiah 32:8 Then I knew that this was the Word of the Lord.Missed opportunities No person who understands, and still less he who values, life as a sacred opportunity of doing something for the world before he dies, but has often wished that he could overleap the bounds of the present and understand what the result of his action shall be, so that, with the larger experience of the future, he might go the better armed against the perplexing problems and conditions of duty which beset him in the present. If only we had the education which will come in the future, how we should be protected against the mistakes of the present! And thus we feel a certain impatience against time. Now, the incident recorded in this chapter suggests to us exactly that thought of the way in which time may rebuke our rashness and rebuke also our dulness. The incident which is recorded is a very simple one, but it is suggestive and significant. A certain sort of dream, as we might call it, passed through the mind of Jeremiah, then in close imprisonment because of the jealous anger of the king. Whatever else he was, he was a Jew at heart, and he had that capacity which was singularly, I suppose, possessed by the Jew--the tenacious love of the soil which gave him birth. It was a joy for him to think that the land which was given by God to his forefathers belonged in succession of family inheritance to his own kinsman of that day; and the dream crossed his mind that perchance that moment might come when he would have the opportunity of becoming the possessor of his ancestral heritage. That was his thought. It came to him as a dream; he describes it afterwards as the direction of the Word of the Lord coming to him. But it was not, I imagine, realised as the Word of God at the first moment of its approach: it was only a later circumstance an actual incident which occurred in his life--which enabled him to see that the first suggested thought was, indeed, the Word of the Lord. Now, the first thought which naturally arises from a thing like that is this. We may act upon our first impressions, our impressions may be very strong, and they may be ready to link themselves with our natural ambitions, but it is not every impression that is the word of light, still less the Word of the Lord. Religion divides itself very often, if we were to classify it, into two families or types. It has often been made the subject of mere mental impressions. The presence of the Spirit, the consciousness of a spirit working within, that has been emphasised to such a degree that at last men, driven by their impulse or suggestion of some passing impression, have committed deeds of violence and wrong which the common conscience of humanity condemns. That is to say, early impressions, strong impressions, even impressions which jump with the spirit of what we believe to be right, impressions which wed themselves to our darling dreams, however much they may justify themselves by the exercise of our imaginative conscience, are not in themselves to be accepted as truly Divine suggestions. We must wait for the light of other circumstances. Authority in religion is never on the one side or the other; authority is never wholly within, nor yet wholly without. If it is wholly within, it is open to the declaration of being a mere subjective impression; if it is wholly without, it lays no weight upon the spiritual nature of man, and receives no response from his conscience. But, when there comes to us this which, on the one hand, links itself with our inner nature, and by its own commanding presence makes us feel that it is true, and brings to it also the verifying evidence of providential opportunity--then duty leaps up and can draw her sword, because she knows that she is not the victim of a passing impression alone, but that two things, the law without and the law within, have been combining within his life--then he may know that this also is the Word of the Lord. But if, on the one side, an accident like this may be taken to rebuke the rash impulsiveness of men who would act upon their own subjective impressions, it also, and I think still more strikingly, witnesses against our dulness, which fails to perceive the true significance of the incidents of life as they occur. It was an impression on Jeremiah’ s mind, and it was only afterwards, when the light of that later circumstance of Hanameel’ s visit occurred, that he perceived its full significance. “ Then I knew that this was the Word of the Lord.” Now mark that this experience is very true in our ordinary life. How often it happens that we have failed to realise the full value of our opportunities till later circumstances flash new light on their meaning! To take the simplest illustration which might come to our minds, you are in the midst of a crowd; you are anxiously looking out because it is a crowd where many of the celebrities of life are gathered; and after you have passed some one suddenly says to you, “ Did you see him?” and immediately there flashes upon you the thought, you have been close to one whose name you have heard, whose works perchance you have read, of whom you have had the greatest desire to have some knowledge. Just then the after circumstance of the utterance of your friend flashes upon you the true meaning of this; you have been close to that greatness which you have worshipped, you have massed the opportunity. Or there are incidents in your own life. Have you never had some friend who in early life was your familiar companion? You played with him, studied the same tasks with him; and now life has diverged, and he has risen to greatness, and we remain where we were on the commonplace level of life. People meet us and say, “ You knew him; tell me some incidents of his early life.” But now the dimness of the past comes upon your memory, and all the anecdotes have dropped away; the multitude of other affairs has obscured your recollection. But then, by the light of this after greatness, you know you have been by the side of one who was possessed of conspicuous genius, one of whom you would say, “ Would that I had husbanded those stories of the past; would that I had observed him, for his life would have a further meaning to me had I been one who had noted carefully the characteristics, the features of his talent, of his life.” In other words, later circumstances are constantly forcing upon us the dulness with which we have confronted the incidents of life as they have occurred. And surely that is the common witness of history. What is the history of all human progress? What is the history of literary life? “ Who killed John Keats?” has often been asked. To the men of his day he was but a raw youth, full of a kind of rude desire for poetic fame; but now we recognise the genius which lay there; we go back and say how true it is that the men of their day failed to recognise the glory of these men, have persecuted them, and let them starve, and afterwards have built their monuments. It is the same in the history of our Lord. You are not surprised that the same thing should be fulfilled in His life who was in all points as we are--tempted, yet without sin. We say, “ If we had lived in those days our hand would not have been lifted up against that sacred life, we should have torn the crown of thorns from His brow, we should have welcomed His mission, we should have adored Him.” But the men of that day did not see the beauty that they should desire Him. “ Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil,” were the words with which He was greeted. John the Baptist pointed out their dulness--“ There standeth One among you Whom ye know not.” But we forget that this may be true in us. Even in our midst Christ stands, and we fail to recognise Him. Why is it we are perpetually visiting with our severe criticism the dulness of the past, when we may be dull ourselves--dull to duty, dull to opportunity, dull to the meaning of the age in which we are living, dull to the very call of God, dull to the presence of Christ? Every duty, every opportunity of kindness, every incident of our life, if we are alive to see it in its brighter light, in its true significance, would never be deemed to be trivial and insignificant at all. When we begin to see light, when the light shall flash upon it, when the grave is opening upon us, this very flash of the circumstance which we call death may shine so back upon the trivial incidents of our life, that we shall realise for the first time that those commonplace things, those duties which I shirked, those things from which I turned away, thinking them of no moment at all--those also were the Word of the Lord. May I, then, ask you to observe the application of that truth, that time reveals to us our dulness in relation to certain aspects of our life?1. First, the circumstances of the presence of God. We are often disposed to say that our lot in this century is cast in what we may call unfavourable circumstances for faith. Splendid miracles no longer happen. May not the presence of God be as real amongst the ordinary conventional aspects of our daily life--in the sun that rises and sets, in the harvests that are sown and reaped? And may it not be also that the hour might come upon us when the light from some new combination of circumstances might so flash upon our present or our past life as to reveal to us “ God was there indeed” ? 2. Or take it with regard to what we may call the providential circumstances of life. Have you never felt that your burden in life is a larger one to bear than your neighbour’ s? We think that others who go cheerily through the world have less affliction than we; we wish we could change with them. But suppose the Lord Almighty did meet you, who understands exactly the conditions of flesh and blood, who knows those special conditions which you have inherited through the long succession of your ancestors, if He were to come to you and say, “ I am about to bring upon you this sorrow you will lose pecuniarily, or you shall have this illness, or that true one shall be swept from your side; I ask you to bear for My sake, My child, this burden; and if that measure your strength, I know exactly what you can bear; and I know also the sweet and the glorious bounty of grace which shall come to you in the bearing of it.” Not one amongst us with the face of God’ s strength looking into ours, and the smile of God encouraging us to patience and fortitude, would ever bear to shrink from the burden; we would gird up the loins of our mature to bear whatever it was--sorrow, bereavement, loss. But that which we would do if God so spake to us is surely that which we might lucre the faith to do--seeing that later circumstances may just flash upon us this revelation--“ It was God, indeed, who brought that burden upon me.” That loss, that bereavement, that sickness--were brought by the loving hand of God, who sought to help you through the discipline of life into a better and truer faith and spirit. 3. Lastly, I would ask you to see the light which that thought throws upon the suggestions of duty--duty, stern daughter of the voice of God. If that has any meaning, it has a claim upon your life and mine. But what I ask you to observe is this. We never realise the splendour and the significance of the duties which are laid upon us, when measured by our own small life; they seem so trifling. Look for a moment at the prophet. That which he did might, from one standpoint, be said to be merely the desire of a man to possess some landed property, merely the wish of a man that he may be in the possession of his ancestral heritage; but when the opportunity came he said, “ This suggestion is the Word of the Lord.” For his action was no longer a commercial action done between himself and his kinsman; it became then a great action, typical, representative, manifesting to Israel the real attitude of strength with which Israel should confront its dangers. Like the old Roman, it was the purchase of the land while the enemy was in possession which gave dignity to his action. The Roman by his action said, “ Though the enemy be at the gates, I do not despair of the welfare of the republic.” Jeremiah’ s action said more: “ I do not believe that one rood of the sacred soil shall ever permanently be in the possession of the enemies of God” ; and it was the splendour therefore, the significance, of the action which was flashed upon him at the moment when the opportunity of the purchase came; and that which was once a dream is become a reality. And he could therefore prove to the people the reality of his faith in the hope and in the destiny of Israel. The meaning and the significance of that action none of his countrymen could gainsay, because he was ready to venture his money. That is the spirit of it. Every duty costs something: it costs some trouble, some pains, some thought, some money. Duty, whatever is in your life, is not always an easy thing, unless your nature has been celestialised, and duty has become a delight. But that, after all, belongs rather to the higher levels of life than that commonly apportioned to humankind. Would duty be less noble if duty were easy? Is it not precisely because the steep up which you climb is rocky; because you must sometimes fall, and climb on hands and knees ere you can get to the height where the light of God is shining; because it means the expenditure of fame, money--whatever it is; because the duty is shirked--that therefore the duty is noble? It does cost something; and the man who talks glibly about duty, but is never ready to pay the price of his duty, to purchase his duty by the laying down of some present price, either of money or of time--that man, whatever else he may say, does not believe in the splendid imperative of duty, he does not believe in the voice of God behind it. If I want now to correct the dulness of my eyesight and be illumined by that light which will enable me to perceive that the Divine light is there, which will enable me to hear in every call the voice of the Lord, what shall be my best means of achieving this? Let the past illumine the present; go back on your life and observe it. You now can perceive exactly where it was you missed your way, because you now know that, if you had done this or omitted to do that, if you had not been the victim of that delusion, you would have been in a different position- You see now that that voice at your side was indeed the voice of the Lord. Let the past illumine the present. Do not treat duties as trivial and commonplace, because as your present life illuminates your past life, and shows you how God’ s voice has been in it, so the future may illumine the duties which appeal to you to-day. We often say that the dead are canonised in our memory. When they pass away with their greatness, they seem to move from the crowd of men and march with stately steps, and take their place in the great banquet-halls of those whom memory holds illustrious and dear; and from out those banquet-halls they look down with eyes brimming with reproach, because we do not value them as we might. So our duties, canonised by the light which the present throws upon them, march stately before us; they take their place high above, and there are reproaches in their eyes; and the future will have reproaches like this, if we do not perceive the voice of the Lord at our side. The real thing which dims our eyes is the limited light we bring, measuring all the incidents of life by self. Bring in the larger light. Why, that old Roman brought in the larger light, when he saw in the purchase of the land not his own private gain but the welfare of the republic. He saw his duty in the larger light of the well-being of the men and women about him. Let in the light of other men’ s interests, let in the light of the welfare of those about you, and then you cannot say that the duties are insignificant, then their voice will be to you the voice of humanity’ s need, and you will see a dignity in obeying it. Look upon every action of your life, not in relation to self or to the men and women about you, but in relation to God. Let in that larger light. Then every action of yours has its transcendent significance; then His Divine voice appeals to you; then you say, Every habit I contract, every word I speak, every opportunity I miss, may be a Divine opportunity slighted, the Divine voice turned back upon.” (Bp. Boyd Carpenter.) Jeremiah 32:14 Take these evidences,. . . and put them in an earthen vessel.Sealed and open evidences I am going to make a parable, not to bring out what the text teaches, but to use it parable-wise. When Jeremiah bought this piece of land, it was transferred to him by two documents. The first was a title-deed, drawn up and signed by witnesses and then sealed up, not to be opened any more unless required to settle a dispute. That was his real title-deed. Then there was a counterpart of this transfer made, and signed by witnesses. This was not rolled up, and not sealed; but left open, so that Jeremiah might refer to it, and that, when desired, the open deed might be read and examined by others. Now, with regard to our redemption, our inheritance which Christ has bought for us, at a price immense, we, too, have two sets of evidences. The one is sealed up from all eyes but our own; in part, too, I might say that it is sealed up from our own eyes. The other, the counterpart of that, equally valid, is open to ourselves and open to others.I. The Sealed Evidences Of Our Faith, the evidences which are sealed, at least in a measure, from our fellow-men.1. And, first, I would say, among the sealed evidences is this: the Word of the Lord has come to us with power. If anyone asked himself, “ Have I a right to the covenant of grace, and to the ‘ all things’ which are ours if we are in that covenant? Have I a right to the purchased possession? Have I a right to the Lord Jesus Christ, and all that comes to believers in Him?” --in part, the answer must be, “ Has the Word of the Lord come to you with power, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the Word of God?” There is a mystic influence, a Divine unction, which really goes with the Word of God, in many cases, so that it enters the heart, sheds a radiance upon the understanding, pours a flood of delightful peace and joy upon the soul, and affects the whole mental and spiritual being m a way which nothing else does. You cannot explain this to others; do you know it yourself? If so, that will be to you the sealed evidence that the eternal heritage is yours. The Lord has given you the spiritual perception of these things. 2. The next one of these sealed evidences is this, if indeed this heavenly heritage is ours, we have a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “ As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” 3. Another sealed evidence of our interest in Christ is that we have life in Jesus. You have risen from the lower sphere of mere soulish life into the higher condition of spiritual life, and now you consort with God, you speak with Christ, you have become familiar with heavenly things, and are raised up to sit in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus. 4. This leads me to the fourth evidence, which is that now we have communion with God in prayer. The prophet Micah said, “ My God will hear me,” and if you can truly, from your soul, say the same, you have a blessed evidence that you are an heir of heaven. 5. I rank very highly among the sealed evidences of our inheritance the fact that we have the fear of God before our eyes. That holy awe of God, that consciousness of His majestic presence, that dread of doing anything contrary to His will, that tender, loving, filial fear, which love does not cast out, but rather nourishes and cherishes, he that has this holy fear is a child of God. 6. Another evidence is this: we have secret supports in the time of trouble. “ Underneath are the everlasting arms” ; you are sustained when enduring awful pain, comforted under deep depression of spirit, strengthened for the work for which in yourself alone you are quite unequal, borne upward with holy joy in the midst of cruel slander; surely that is enough evidence for you. 7. Another sealed evidence is the secret love which the child of God has to all others of the children of God “ We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. As to the love we have to Jesus, We love Him because He first loved us,” and our love to Him is one of the evidences of His love to us. We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 8. Those inward conflicts which you now have, that struggling in your soul between right and wrong, the new man seeking to get the victory over the old corrupt nature, all these are your sealed evidences. So, also, are the victories which God gives you, when He treads evil passions beneath the feet of the new-born Man-child, who is the image of Christ within you, when you conquer yourself, when you subdue anger, when you go forth to do, by the strength of God, what else your nature would shrink from; all these are blessed evidences, signed, and sealed, to be rolled up, and put away, to be seen by no eye but your own, and the eye of the Most High. II. The open evidences of our faith.1. The first of such evidences that we are the children of God must be the open Word of God itself. I read the Bible, and I say, “ Well, if this Book be true, I am a saved man: if this is really a Divine revelation, then I am saved.” Beloved, have you that open evidence of your salvation? That is the best evidence in the whole world. 2. Next to that, the open evidence of our right to the inheritance is a thorough change of life such as other people can see. Is it so with you? Has there been a distinct crisis in your being? Have you been turned from darkness unto light? Have you been brought from the power of Satan unto God? 3. Another open evidence is separation from the world. A man who is really a child of God cannot, after his conversion, consort with his old companions. 4. The next open evidence is found in union with the people of God, making them your companions, taking a delight in them. 5. One very clear open evidence is strict honesty, uprightness, and integrity in business. Your word must be your bond, and you must sooner fail in business than do the smallest thing that would be contrary to the strictest integrity. 6. One very open evidence of a change of heart, and of our possession of the inheritance, is a readiness to forgive. 7. Another open evidence is one which we often get, and do not like, that is, the opposition of the world. Thank God, Isaac, when Ishmael mocks you; for it is a mark that you are of the true seed, and that Ishmael is not. 8. Another open evidence, and one that is very sweet, is a holy patience in time of trouble, and especially in the hour of death. III. The uses to which we put these evidences. 1. One of them is that they often yield us comfort. It takes the sting out of every trouble when we know that the heavenly inheritance is surely ours. 2. Then again, these evidences answer the unjust charges of Satan when he comes and says, “ You are not a child of God.” 3. And above all things, I think that we ought to value these evidences because they will be produced in court at the last day. That is the most solemn thing of all. “ I was an hungered and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink” : and so on. He produces this evidence of a work of grace in their hearts, and says to them, “ Come, ye blessed of My Father,” &c. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 32:17 Thou hast made the heaven and the earth. Creation-an argument for faith I would to God we had in the religion of these modern times a more potent infusion of this heroic faith in God. When Edward Irving preached that memorable sermon concerning the missionary, who he thought was bound to go forth without purse or scrip, and trusting in his God alone, to preach the Word, a howl went up to heaven against the man as a fanatic. They said he was visionary, unpractical, mad, and all because he dared to preach a sermon full of faith in God. If once again we could, like the world, be hanged upon nothing but the simple power and providence of God, I am sure we should find it a blessed and a safe way of living, glorious to God, and honourable to ourselves. I. To stimulate the evangelist. And who is the evangelist? Every man and woman who has tasted that the Lord is gracious. Here is your encouragement: the work is God’ s, and your success is in the hand of Him who made the heaven and the earth.1. Remember that the world was created from nothing. He spake and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The case of the sinner is a parallel one. You say there is nothing in the sinner. Ay, then, there is room here for a re-creating work; for the Eternal God to come, and with His outstretched arm to create a new heart and a right spirit, and put His grace where there was none before. 2. But you have none to help you or go forth in your work with you. When God made the world--and the same God is with thee--He worked alone. 3. But you reply, “ My sorrow lieth not so much in that I am alone, as in the melancholy fact that I am very conscious of my own weakness, and of my want of adaptation for my peculiar work. I am not sufficient for these things; but rather I feel like Jonah, that I would flee into Tarshish, that I might escape from the burden of the Lord against this Nineveh.” Ay, but cast thy thoughts back again upon creation. The Eternal needed no instruments in creation. He sayeth not by man’ s strength, nor by human learning, and eloquence, and talent. It is His strength, and not the strength or weakness of the instruments to which we must look. 4. Dost thou still complain, and say--“ Alas! it is little I can say! When I speak, I can but utter a few plain words--true and earnest, but not mighty. I have no power to plead with souls with the tears and the seraphic zeal of a Whitfield. I can only tell the tale of mercy simply, and leave it there.” Well, and did not God create all things by His naked word? At this day, is not the Gospel in itself the rod of Jehovah’ s strength? Is it not the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth? 5. Another pleads, “ You are not aware of the darkness of the district in which I labour. I toil among a benighted, unintelligent, ignorant people. I cannot expect to see fruit there, toil as I may.” Ah! brother, and while you talk so you never will see any fruit, for God giveth not great things to unbelieving men. But for the encouragement of thy faith, let me remind thee that it is the God that made the heavens and the earth on whom thou hast to lean. 6. “ Ay,” saith one, “ but the men among whom I labour are so confused in their notions, they put darkness for light and light for darkness; their moral sense is blunted; if I try to teach them, their ears are dull of hearing and their hearts are given to slumber. Besides, they are full of vain janglings and oppose themselves to the truth; I endure much contradiction of sinners, and they will not receive the truth in the love of it.” Did not the Holy Spirit brood with shadowing wings over the earth when it was chaos? Did He not bring out order from confusion? 7. “ Ah,” say you, “ they are all so dead, so dead!” Ay, and remember how the waters brought forth life abundantly; and how the earth brought forth the creeping thing, and the cattle after its kind; and how, at last, man was made out of the very dust of the earth. 8. See how fair and glorious this earth is now! Well might the morning stars sing together, and the sons of God shout for joy! And dost thou think that God cannot make as fair a heart in man, and make it bud and blossom, and teem with hallowed life? II. To encourage the inquirer. Many really desirous to be saved are full of doubts, and difficulties, and questionings.1. Your mind is so dark. “ I cannot see Christ,” says one; “ I feel benighted; it is all darkness, thick as night with me.” Yes, but then there is the question, Can God roll this night away? And the answer comes, He who said, “ Let there be light,” and there was light, can certainly repeat the miracle. 2. Another of your doubts will arise from the fact that you feel so weak. You cannot do what you would. You would leave sin, but still fall into it; would lay hold on Christ, but cannot. Then comes the question, Can God do it? And we answer, He who made the heavens and the earth without a helper, can certainly Bare thee when thou canst not help thyself. 3. “ Ay,” sayest thou again, “ but I am in such an awful state of mind; there is such a confusion within me; I cannot tell what is the matter with me; I know not what I am; I cannot understand myself.” Was not the world just so of old, and did not all the beauty of all lands rise out of this dire confusion? 4. There is more hope in thy case than there was in the creation of the world, for in the creation there was nothing done beforehand. The plan was drawn, no doubt, but no material was provided; no stores laid in to effect the purpose. But in thy case the work is done already, beforehand. On the bloody tree Christ has carried sin; in the grave He has vanquished death; in resurrection He has rent for ever the bends of the grave; in ascension He has opened heaven to all believers; and in His intercession He is pleading still for them that trust Him. 5. Yet again, God has done something more in thee than there was done before He made the world. Emptiness did not cry, “ O God! create me.” Darkness could not pray, O Lord give me light.” Confusion could not cry, “ O God! ordain me into order.” But see what He has done for you. He has taught you to cry, “ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” 6. It was in God’ s power to make the world or not, just as He pleased. No promise bound Him; no covenant made it imperative upon Him that His arm should be outstretched. Sinner, the Lord is not bound to save thee except from His own promise, and that promise is, “ He that calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” He cannot withhold saving thee if thou callest upon Him. 7. It is certain that there is more room in your case for God to glorify Himself than there was in the making of the world. In making the world He glorified His wisdom and He magnified His power, but He could not show His mercy. III. To comfort believers. You are greatly troubled, are you? It is a common lot with us all And you have nothing on earth to trust to now, and are going to be cast on your God alone? Happy trouble that drives thee to thy Father! Blessed storm that wrecks thee on the Rock of Ages! Glorious billow that washes thee upon this heavenly shore! And now thou hast nothing but thy God to trust to, what art thou going to do? To fret? Oh, do not thus dishonour thy Lord! Show the world that thy God is worth ton thousand worlds to thee. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The power of God I. Look at the power of God in what He has made. A little child can take a grain of wheat, and drop it into the earth; by the aid of the earth, the air, the sun, the rain, and the dew, it grows and fills the carol wheat. By a lithe grinding at the mill, the coarse and fine parts are separated, and you have flour. By a little adding of water, and by baking, you have bread. You eat the bread, and it becomes flesh, and blood, and bone. But suppose you had to do all this. Could you make the grain of wheat? Could you make it grow when made? Could you make it turn into blood, and bone, and flesh? What power of God is seen in every grain of wheat! You can bring two drops of water together, and you might, by great digging, and much hard work, turn the channel of the small brook, and make the brook run in a different place; but could you make a basin of waters, ton thousand miles across its top, and so deep, that no man can measure it even with the longest rope? Could you make such basins again and again, till all the oceans on the earth were made? Could you dig great channels, some of them many miles wide, and fill them all with waters, and thus make all those great rivers which pour their waters on towards the great ocean, and which will thus run as long as the world lasts? No, you cannot. No man can. But God can do all this! Men can shoot a bird on the wing; they can subdue the horse and the elephant; they can spear the fish, and crush the insect with the foot. But who has power to make the smallest insect that creeps or flies, or the most tiny fish that swims? God can do all this. Suppose you could see a chain held in the hand of God, which holds every weed and flower, every insect and creature that lives, every mind that thinks, whether in this or in any other world, would you not feel that the hand of God was strong, to hold all up, every moment, from the morning of creation to the end of all things? “ He fainteth not, neither is He weary.” “ There is nothing too hard for the Lord.” Men are born and die; trees grow up and fall away; nations grow and perish; but all the works of God continue as they were from the beginning, because from age to age God remains the same, almighty in power, unaltered, undiminished, untired, unceasing! What a being God is! II. Look at the power of god as he governs the world. God made the body, and the spirit in the body, and knows just how to reach and guide the spirit. Herod and Pilate may lay their plans just as will please themselves; and the wicked in hell may curse and swear day and night for ever, if they wish; but God knows how to make all this wickedness turn, so as to bring honour to His own name.1. He can make great joy to come from great sorrows. 2. The power of God can keep His people when in danger. 3. The power of God is seen in turning the plans of Satan, the greatest sinner, against himself. III. Having proved that god has almighty power i infer some things.1. I infer that He can aid us to carry the, Bible to all people. 2. That the power of God gives us faith in His government. 3. That the power of God is terrible to wicked people. What an eye God has! No darkness can hide from it: no cave shut it out! 4. That the power of God should make His people feel happy. (John Todd, D. D.) The Creator’ s regard and provision for man I see a mother that, as the twilight falls and the baby sleeps, and because it sleeps out of her arms, goes about gathering from the floor its playthings, and carries them to the closet, and carries away the vestments that have been cast down, and stirring the fire, sweeping up the hearth, winding the clock, and gathering up dispersed books, she hums to herself low melodies as she moves about the room, until the whole place is once again neat and clean, and in order. Why is it that the room is so precious to her? Is it because there is such beautiful paper on the walls? because there is so goodly a carpet on the floor? because the furniture in the room is so pleasing to the eye? All these are nothing in her estimation except as servants of that little creature of hers--the baby in the cradle. She says, “ All these things serve my heart while I rock my child.” The whole round globe is but a cradle, and our God rocks it, and regards all things, even the world itself, as so many instruments for the promotion of our welfare. When He makes the tempest, the pestilence, or the storm, when He causes ages in their revolutions to change the world, it is all to serve His own heart through His children--men when we are walking through this world, we are not walking through long files of laws that have no design; we are walking through a world that has natural laws, which we must both know and observe; yet these must have their master, and Christ is He. And all of these are made to be our servants because we are God’ s children. (Christian Age.) Jeremiah 32:19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work.The greatness of God’ s wisdom, and the abundance of His power I. Consider the subject speculatively.1. My first proofs shall be taken from the nature of God. The nature of God proves that He is great in counsel. Consider the perfect knowledge that He hath of all possible beings, as well as of all the beings which do actually exist. The knowledge of all possible beings, diversified without end by the same intelligence that imagines them: What designs, or, as our prophet expresseth himself, What greatness of counsel doth it afford the Supreme Being? But let us not lose ourselves in the world of possible beings; let us confine our attention to real existences. I am willing even to reduce them to two classes. Let each of you imagine, as far as his ability can reach, how great the counsel of an intelligence must be, who perfectly knows all that can result from the various arrangements of matter, and from the different modifications of mind. The Supreme Being perfectly knows what must result from every different arrangement of the parts of bodies infinitely small; and He perfectly knows what must result from every different arrangement of the parts of bodies infinitely great. What treasures of plans! What myriads of designs! or, to use the language of my text, What greatness of counsel must this knowledge supply! But God knows spirits also as perfectly as He knows bodies. If He knows all that must result from the various arrangements of matter, He also knows all that must result from the different modifications of mind. Human spirits, of which we have but an imperfect knowledge, are thoroughly known to Him. He knows the conceptions of our minds, the passions of our hearts, all our purposes, and all our powers. But what is this object of the Divine knowledge? What is this handful of mankind, in comparison of all the other spirits that compose the whole intelligent world, of which we are only an inconsiderable part? God knows them as He knows us; and He diversifies the counsels of His own wisdom according to the different thoughts, deliberations, and wishes of these different spirits. We have proved then, by considering the Divine perfections, that God is great in counsel, and we shall endeavour to prove by the same method that He is mighty in work. These two, wisdom and power, are not always united; yet it is on their union that the happiness of intelligent beings depends. In God, the Supreme Being, there is a perfect harmony of wisdom and power: The efficiency of His will, and the extent of His knowledge are equal Carry your thoughts back into those periods in which the Perfect Being existed alone. Sound reason must allow that He hath so existed. What could then have been the rule or model of beings which should in future exist? The ideas of God were those models. And what could cause those beings, that had only an ideal existence in the intelligence of God, actually to exist out of it? The efficiency of His will was the cause. The will of the same Being then, whose ideas had been the exemplars, or models, of the attributes of creatures, caused their existence. The Supreme Being therefore, who is great in counsel, is mighty in work. This being granted, consider now the ocean of God’ s power, as ye have already considered the greatness of His counsel. God not only knows what motion of your brain will excite such or such an idea in your mind, but He excites or prevents that idea as He pleaseth, because He produceth or preventeth that motion of your brain as He pleaseth. God not only knows what objects will excite certain passions within you, but He excites or diverts those passions as He pleaseth. God not only knows what projects your passions will produce, when they have gained an ascendency over you, but He inclines you to form, or not to form, such projects, because, as it seems best to Him, He excites those passions, or He curbs them. 2. Let us take another method (and here I allege the second proof of the truth of my text, that is, the history of the world, or of the Church): Let us take, I say, another method of proving that God, who is great in counsel, is also mighty in work. What counsel can ye imagine too great for God to execute, or which He hath not really executed? Let the most fruitful imagination exert its fertility to the utmost; let it make every possible effort to form plans worthy of an infinite intelligence, it can invent nothing so difficult that God hath not realised. (1) God hath the power of making the deepest of His children’ s afflictions produce their highest happiness. (2) God establisheth His Church by the very means that tyrants use to destroy it. (3) God turneth the victories of Satan to the ruin of his empire. Here fix your attention upon the work of redemption, for the perfections of God, which we celebrate to-day, are more illustriously displayed in it than in any other of the Creator’ s wonders. II. Consider the greatness of God’ s counsel, and the omnipotence of His working, in a practical light. When we have proved that God is great in counsel, and mighty in work, in my opinion, we have sufficiently shown, on the one hand, the extravagance of those madmen who pretend to exercise wisdom and understanding, and counsel against the Lord: and, on the other, the wisdom of those who, taking His laws for the only rules of their conversation, commit their peace, their lives, and their salvation, to the disposal of His providence. Only let us take care that we do not flatter ourselves into an opinion that we possess this wisdom while we are destitute of it: and let us take care, while we exclaim against the extravagance of those madmen, that we do not imitate their dangerous examples. But what! Is it possible to find, among beings who have the least spark of reason, an individual mad enough to suppose himself wiser than that God who is great in counsel, or, is there one who dare resist a God mighty in working? But who then, ye will ask me, who are those men, who presumptuously think of overcoming God by their superior knowledge and power? Who? It is that soldier, who, with a brutal courage, defies danger, affronts death, resolutely marches amidst fires and flames, even though he hath taken no care to have an interest in the Lord of hosts, or to commit his soul to His trust. Who? It is that statesman, who, despising the suggestions of evangelical prudence, pursues stratagems altogether worldly; who makes no scruple of committing what are called State crimes; who, with a disdainful air, affects to pity us, when we affirm that the most advantageous service that a wise legislator can perform for society is to render the Deity propitious to it; that the happiest nations are those whose God is the Lord. Who? It is that philosopher, who makes a parade of I know not what stoical firmness; who conceits himself superior to all the vicissitudes of life; who boasts of his tranquil expectation of death, yea, who affects to desire its approach, for the sake of enjoying the pleasure of insulting his casuist, who hath ventured to foretell that he will be terrified at it. Who? It is that voluptuary, who opposeth to all our exhortations and threatenings, to the most affecting denunciations of calamities from God in this life, and to the most awful descriptions of judgment to come in the next, to all our representations of hell, of an eternity spent in the most execrable company, and in the most excruciating pain; who opposeth to all these the buzz of amusements, the hurry of company, gaming at home or diversions abroad. Let us abhor this disposition of mind; let us entertain right notions of sin; let us consider him who commits it as a madman, who hath taken it into his head that he hath more knowledge than God, the fountain of intelligence, more strength than He beneath whose power all the creatures of the universe are compelled to bow. When we are tempted to sin, let us remember what sin is. Let each of us ask himself, What can I, a miserable man, mean? Do I mean to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Do I pretend to be stronger than He? Can I resist His will? (J. Saurin.) For Thine eyes are upon the sons of men.--Perfect observation and estimation of character In the course of a discussion in a society of artists, a singular fact was mentioned about a well-known painter. It is that he paints beyond the “ skin-deep” beauty and expression of his sitters, and where the character has warranted it, he has brought out all of the latent beauty and portrayed almost the very soul of the person. He sometimes has made enemies of his sitters because of his conscientious efforts to portray character. There is the story of a society beauty, who, when she received her portrait from this artist, took it to her room, studied it for a while, recognised the fact that the artist had laid bare her true character on the canvas, and in a moment of fury cut out the face and destroyed it. She did not want that peculiar nature of hers staring her in the face from the walls of her room. Yet an unerring portrait of character is really being painted of every one, and will at last be exposed. Jeremiah 32:23 They have done nothing of all that Thou commandedst them to do.Sins of omission Omissions cannot be trivial, if we only reflect what an influence they would have upon an ordinary commonwealth, if they were perpetrated as they are in God’ s commonwealth. If one person has a right to omit his duty, another has and all have. Then the watchman would omit to guard the house, the policeman would omit to arrest the thief, the judge would omit to sentence the offender, the sheriff would omit to punish the culprit, the government would omit to carry out its laws; then every occupation would cease, and the world die of stagnation; the merchant would omit to attend to his calling, the husband-man would omit to plough his land: where would the commonwealth be? The kingdom would be out of joint; the machine would break down, for no cog of the wheel would act upon its fellow. How would societies exist at all? And surely if this is not to be tolerated in a society of men, much less in that great commonwealth of which God is king. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 32:26-27 Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for Me?“ Is anything too hard for the Lord?” This method of questioning the person to be instructed is known to teachers as the Socratic method. Socrates was wont, not so much to state a fact, as to ask a question and draw out thoughts from those whom he taught. His method had long before been used by a far greater teacher. Putting questions is Jehovah’ s frequent method of instruction. Questions from the Lord are very often the strongest affirmations. He would have us perceive their absolute certainty. They are put in this particular form because He would have us think over His great thought, and confirm it by our own reflections. The Lord shines upon us in the question, and our answer to it is the reflection of His light. I. Consider the wonderful question of our text which the Lord put to the prophet, viewing it as necessary.1. It was needful to tell the prophet this, though he knew it. He never doubted that the Lord is almighty, and yet it was needful for Jehovah Himself to speak home this truth to his mind and heart. It is often necessary for the Lord Himself to drive home a truth into the mind of His most faithful servant. We learn much in many ways, but we learn nothing vitally and practically till the Spirit of God becomes our schoolmaster. The God of truth must teach us the truth of God or we shall never learn it. 2. It is necessary for us to be thus specially instructed, even though we know a truth well enough to plead it in prayer, as Jeremiah did when he cried, “ There is nothing too hard for Thee.” That man is no mean scholar in the classes of Christ who has learned to handle scriptural truths when pleading with the Lord. Oh, that we used more argument in prayer! Prayers are weak when they lack pleadings. 3. It is necessary for God thus to reveal truth individually to each of our hearts even though we may have acted on it. Jeremiah had acted on the fact that nothing was too hard for God. After his obedience, he began to look back on what he had done, and to be considerably bewildered, while trying to make out how God would justify what he had done. The best of men are men at the best. If the Lord lifts you up into the purity and dignity of a childlike faith, yet you will have your moments when you will cry, Lord, speak to me Thyself again, even though it be out of the whirlwind; and let me know that I have done all these things according to Thy Word, and not after my own fancy.” Even the practice of truth does not raise us above the need of having it again and again laid home to the soul. 4. Another necessity for this arises out of further manifestations with which we are to be favoured. God had caused Jeremiah to know His omnipotence so far, but he was to see still more of it. Faith has led you into marvellous places; but there are greater things before you, and the Lord presses truth upon you that you may receive more of it. II. Look at the text regarding it as decisive.1. For the argument is fetched from the Lord Himself. When we look to God alone, and think, by the help of His Spirit, of who He is and what He must be, then we realise that nothing can be too hard for Him. Meditate much upon the Divine Father, Creator and Preserver; upon the Divine Son, the risen Redeemer, who hath all power in heaven and in earth; upon the sacred Spirit, of whom the rushing mighty mind in the tornado is but a faint symbol, and you will feel that here is the source of all might. 2. But He means us also to see the argument as founded on His name, “ I am Jehovah.” The name brings out the personality of God. It also signifies self-existence. God does not exist because of His surroundings: He draws nothing from without, His life is in Himself. All things were made by Him, and He sustaineth all things by the Word of His power. The name of Jehovah reminds us that He has within Himself sufficiency for all His will; He hath adequate power of performance for all His purposes and decrees; Jehovah wills, and it is done. Moreover, the name sets forth the truth that He is immutable: He is “ I am that I am.” Time does not affect Him, nor change come near Him. He is never less than Jehovah; He cannot be more. 3. The argument is also founded on the Lord’ s relation to man. “ I am the Lord, the God of all flesh.” How is the worm linked to the immortal! Happy men who have such a God! Not that flesh and blood, as they are, can inherit the kingdom of God, nor that corruption can dwell with incorruption; but for believers in the Lord Jesus there is a resurrection which shall lift us into a body of a nobler sort. The argument is that, since Jehovah is the God of all flesh, He can effect His purposes by men, and work among them things which seem impossible. 4. The argument is so great that it puts all other arguments out of court. Is anything too hard for Jehovah? Come, Jeremiah, rake up your difficulties; set in order the discouraging circumstances; call in your friends, who all shako their heads at you, and point their fingers to their brows, as much as to insinuate that you are a little gone from your senses; and then, answer them all with this, “ Nothing is too hard for Jehovah.” This clears the deck of every doubt that would board your vessel. Blessed argument which answers every difficulty, and sets faith upon a rock from which it cannot be removed! “ My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.” III. Applying it in detail.1. Apply this question to the justification of your obedience. If you do what God bids you, the responsibility of your conduct lies with Him, and He will bear you through. He will bring forth our judgment as the light, and our righteousness as the noonday. 2. Apply this glorious truth to the sure fulfilment of all the Divine promises. Consider a great one to begin with. This chapter evidently shows that the Jews are one day to be converted and restored. They that crucified the Lord of Glory shall look on Him whom they pierced, and shall mourn for Him. “ Is anything too hard for the Lord?” 3. Apply this to any case of great sin. Select any one whom you know to be especially hard-hearted, and pray for him earnestly and hopefully. 4. Apply this to difficult truths. I will put before you a problem. If man acts freely in his sinful actions how can predestination be a fact? If every man acts after his own will, how, then, does God foreordain all things? I answer, “ Is anything too hard for Jehovah?” The solving of this great problem constrains me to worship the Lord; for He does solve it in actual history. Consider another hard case--the hardest of all: human salvation. How can it be possible for God to exercise the fulness of His mercy, and yet discharge the necessities of His justice? All men and all angels put together would have made but one fool in trying to solve that difficulty. The Lord has answered it. He gave His Son to bear our sin. “ Is anything too hard for the Lord?” 5. Bring hither your own little problems. You are always getting into tangles and snarls. Prudent friends try to help you, but the tangle grows worse. Bring your hard cases to one who is wiser than Solomon, and He will draw out a clear thread for you. IV. Treat the text as using it with delight.1. Use the text as a preventive of unbelieving sin. Do God’ s work thoroughly, heartily, intensely, and God will reward you in His grace. 2. Use it next for consolation in the time of trouble. Jehovah hath delivered those who trust in Him, and He will yet deliver us. 3. Next, use the text as a window through which you look with expectation. The Lard’ s blessing is coming upon the Churches: look for it! 4. Let this text be a stimulus to you to engage in great enterprises. Launch out into the deep. Fall back upon omnipotence, and then go forward in the strength of it. 5. Let the text be a reason for adoration. O Thou to whom nothing is hard, we adore Thee! We worship Thee with all our hearts, and this day we believingly link our weakness with Thine omnipotence. (C. H. Spurgeon.) God above us all In one of his letters to John Sterling from Scotsbrig, Thomas Carlyle says, “ One night, late, I rode through the village where I was born. The old kirkyard tree, a huge old gnarled ash, was nestling itself softly against the great twilight in the north. A star or two looked out, and the old graves were all there, and my father and my sister; and God was above us all.” What comfort in this for the soul bewildered by life’ s sudden changes! He is watching: He knows: He will not fail us. Above the graves where His saints are sleeping, above the homesteads where His children are weeping, God is above us all. (Quiver.) Faith’ s work There are three particulars connected with the wording of the text, to which it is desirable to direct attention. You observe the notice of time, “ Then came the Word of the Lord unto Jeremiah.” The context shows you that this was in answer to Jeremiah’ s prayer. In the next place, we notice that Jehovah claims to be the “ God of all flesh” ; an expression which evidently answers the question, whether the Scriptures of the Old Testament, such as this with which we have to do, are confined to the Jewish people? Then, thirdly, we observe the question, “ Is there anything too hard for Me?” We have before us, then, Jeremiah as an example of faith--as one who possessed and exercised that faith for which Abraham was so remarkable. Let us consider how faith deals with mysteries. Jeremiah’ s faith was tried by what was a great mystery to him upon this occasion, in connection with God’ s providential dealings. What use was there in purchasing land which was in possession of the enemy? And yet God told him to do it. Then, if God told him to do it, why give the whole of the land into the possession of the enemy? Here was a mystery. Jeremiah’ s faith had to grapple with that mystery, and to persevere, as he did, in that holy consistency by which he had an opportunity of testifying both to Israel and to Israel s foes concerning the honour and the truth of the God of Israel. Now, we too have, in the course of our lives, to meet with mysterious dispensations in God’ s providence. There are difficulties before us. There are two clear convictions in our minds; first of all, we can have no doubt, as believers, that God directed us to pray, and heard our prayers; but then, on the other hand, we can have no doubt that God is permitting, in His providence, these difficulties that now perplex us. And these two plain facts coming together at the same point of time do not harmonise with each other; but they come, as it were, into collision, and they clash; and we say, “ How can this be? How mysterious this is, that it should be God’ s will that I should seek Him in prayer, and yet God’ s will that, notwithstanding my prayer, there should be this difficulty connected with this matter, or these circumstances should arise!” It is a blessing when, under such circumstances, you are enabled still to hold fast to the confidence of faith. Some persons may say, “ Why does God permit mystery?” An answer may be easily given. Bring common sense to bear upon this question. How is it that a father deals with the children of the family of which he is the head? There are many things which the father must necessarily say and do, that must occasion perplexity to the children who listen to what he says and observe what he does. Those children will have recourse to their father again and again, to ask for an explanation of what they cannot understand. Sometimes the parent will give the explanation, but at other times the parent declines to explain; he knows that the subject is beyond the present capacity and intelligence which his children possess; and, therefore, he points them into the way of duty, but tells them to wait until they can more fully understand before they ask anxiously for reasons to account for things that now are difficult and perplexing to them; and their confidence in their father, their faith in their father s word, promotes the proper discipline of such a well-regulated family. Now, we are all of us children with reference to our Heavenly Father’ s dealings with us. “ Why do you say so much of faith?” some people ask. The simple answer is, that the creature that is happy must be dependent upon the Creator, and that dependence can only be felt or maintained by the exercise of faith. God in Christ has manifested Himself in such a way that we, His poor sinful creatures, may approach Him; and if we are enabled to rest upon that Saviour who is almighty, whatever mysteries there be around us, or connected with our own experience, faith in the Lord Jesus--that feeling of the soul which leads us to rest upon Him as our Saviour and Friend, though it cannot solve the mysteries, will be contented to wait until time shall so bring things to light, and eternity shall so manifest the purposes and counsels of God, that the Saviour’ s assurance shall be fulfilled. “ What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” But now take the ease of impossibilities, and see how faith deals with them. Jeremiah might have argued, “ Why should I go and purchase this piece of land? it can never be mine; it is impossible.” Now, how did Jeremiah’ s faith deal with this? He simply did what God told him; and he left the solution of the difficulty with God. Now, this obedience of faith is that to which we need give attention. There can be no difficulty about duty, though there may be difficulty about the reasons why God calls us to that particular duty. We may have this plainly before us by an illustration. I may say to my child, “ Go and fetch me that book” ; the child may not know my reasons for asking him to fetch that book; it might be possible that I could not explain my reasons to the child, or if I did explain them, that the child would only be puzzled, and his difficulty increased. It might be utterly impossible for the child to understand why I asked him to do this particular act of obedience; but there is no difficulty at all in the child going and fetching the book. The path of duty is quite plain, but the reasons in the parent’ s mind for commanding the duty at a particular time might be unintelligible and inexplicable. And so with reference to our position with God; the path of duty which He calls us to tread is always plain to him that seeks understanding and wisdom from Him. It is only when we begin to ask the why and wherefore that difficulties spring up; when we ask, “ Lord, why art Thou doing this?” then we come into the presence of impossibilities. But when we ask, “ Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” then the path of duty lies before us, and with our hearts set at liberty we run in the way of God’ s commandments. But now we have to consider the promise of faith in connection with the difficulties of our daily experience; and here, too, the example of Jeremiah is instructive. We have seen that he maintained the exercise of faith and resisted temptations, notwithstanding mysteries; that he went forward in the path of simple obedience, notwithstanding seeming impossibilities; but was he not severely exercised and tried with all this mystery, and difficulty, and seeming impossibility? Certainly he was. But faith led him to prayer. And this is the way in which faith deals with difficulty--it takes men to God. (W. Cadman, M. A.) The infinite capability of God It is the glory of God, that there is nothing “ too hard” for Him but wrong. The fact of God’ s infinite capability should lead us-- I. To render Him supreme homage. Surely, before Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His will, all should bow with profoundest reverence and awe. II. To place in Him unbounded confidence. Confide in Him--1. To supply all wants. He can do “ exceeding abundantly,” &c. 2. To fulfil all promises. There are wonderful promises--the conversion of the whole world, the resurrection of the mighty dead. He is able to fulfil them all; and He is” faithful that hath promised.” III. To expect from Him wonderful manifestations. He is always at work. He has done wonders, is doing wonders, and will continue to do wonders through all ages. He “ fainteth not, neither is weary.” With such a God, what wonderful things await us! (Homilist.) Jeremiah 32:33 They have turned unto Me the back, and not the face Human wickedness I.As condemning Divine authority. To turn the back upon any one, not only indicates an utter lack of interest in him, but a dislike. To turn the back upon God means--1. An ignorement of His existence. The language of wickedness is, “ Depart from me, I desire not a knowledge of Thy ways.” The wicked are “ without God in the world.” They shut their eyes to the greatest fact of facts. God is not in all their thoughts. 2. A repugnance to His presence. What a monstrous sight is this, man turning his back on God. II. As regardless of Divine instruction. God is constantly teaching men early and late--teaching them--1. In the operations of nature.2. In the events of their history.3. In the monitions of their consciences.4. In the declarations of His Word. (Homilist.) Though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. Disregard of God’ s teaching I. God’ s merciful instruction is given to man according to man’ s capacity and present situation; and is of that special and particular nature that no one need mistake it; and is so simple and yet so full and impressive in itself that a child even may comprehend it.1. We have no cloudy pillar resting over our churches, no fire from heaven blazing forth upon an altar of sacrifice, no voice of prophecy attended with signs and wonders, no mysterious “ Urim and Thummim” sparkling on the breastplate of a high priest, nor do we hear the voice of God speaking to us audibly from the summit of a mountain encircled with fire and with loud peals of thunder: but the Deity nevertheless teaches us by means equally potent. We have gathered into one source of Divine instruction the accumulated experience of many centuries--the Bible, and this carries with it the evidence of its own Divinity. We have the Church with her solemn sacraments, her public forms of worship, her large assemblies of believers, and her glorious history of martyrs and confessors of the faith. We have the Divine Spirit entering the hearts of the humble, and by the glory of His light piercing the darkest abodes of ignorance, and leading the teachable disciple of Christ into all truth. We have the providence of God showing us in many ways how quickly the sands of life drop away, how uncertain and how frail it is, how like the flower of the field we look for an instant bright and joyous, but the next, droop from the blight of disease, and crumble away into the ashes of the grave God teaches us also through our own everyday feelings, and the very common concerns of our daily existence 2. The words of Jeremiah express an earnestness in the Divine teaching. God is spoken of as “ rising up early and teaching them.” He is the first among teachers. He is so desirous that His people should be guided by His counsels that He will be with them in the earliest dawn of their existence, both nationally as well as personally. II. Man’ s disregard of the Divine instruction. “ They have turned unto Me,” saith the Lord, “ the back and not the face” : and again, “ they have not hearkened to receive instruction.” The Jews stand not alone in this matter. We may see some such strange manifestations in our own day. The same spirit of practical infidelity is abroad now, and the same infatuation which makes the most sublime subjects of religion matters for scorn and mockery, may be witnessed in our own land of freedom and enlightenment. We are happy to say the good sense of society and the spread of intelligence keeps this spirit down within narrow boundaries; but nevertheless it may be observed publishing itself with the godless jest, with the boast of independence, and with the mocking contempt of all which bears the stamp of religious profession. (W. D. Horwood.) Jeremiah 32:39I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me for ever.Whole-hearted religion In reference to the heart, one of the earliest works of Divine grace is to unite it in one. Strange to say, I should be equally truthful if I said that one of the first works of grace is to break the heart; but so paradoxical is man that when his heart is unbroken it is divided, and when his heart is broken, then, for the first time, it is united; for a broken heart in every fragment of it mourns over sin, and cries out for mercy. Every shattered particle of a contrite spirit is united in one desire to be reconciled to God. There is no union of the heart with itself till it is broken for sin and from sin. I. Unitedness of the heart.1. It is naturally divided. Sin is confusion, and at its entrance it created a Babel, or a confusion, within the heart of mare The lusts crave for that which the intellect condemns; the passions demand that which the reason would deny; the will persists in that which the judgment would forego. To many a man it is given to admire things that are excellent, and still to delight in things which are abominable. His conscience bids him rise to a pure and noble life, but his baser passions hold him down to that which is earthly and sensual. Frequently, too, there is a very great division between a man’ s inward knowledge and his outward conduct. Men are often wise in the head and foolish in the hand: ,they know the right and do the wrong Man is a puzzle, and none can put him together but He that made him at the first. He is a self-contradiction, a house divided against itself, a mystery of iniquity, a maze of folly, a mass of perversity, obstinacy, and contention. 2. If our heart be not whole and entire in following after God we cannot meet with acceptance. God never did and never will receive the homage of a divided heart. Alexander, when Darius proposed that the two great monarchs should divide the world, replied that there was only room for one sun in the heavens. What his ambition affirmed that God declareth from the necessity of the case. Since one God fills all things there is no room for another. It is idle to attempt to serve two such masters as holiness and iniquity. It was once proposed to the Roman senate to set up the image of Christ in the Pantheon among the gods, but when they were informed that He would not agree that any worship should be mingled with His own, the senate straightway refused Him a shrine. In this they acted in a manner consistent with itself; but those are altogether inexcusable “ who swear by the Lord and swear by Malcham.” 3. It must be united for sincerity: a divided heart is a false heart. Declare that thou wilt serve Belial ever so little, and I know that thy service of Christ is but Judas’ service--mercenary, temporary, traitorous. 4. Our heart must be united, next, for intensity of life. True religion needs the soul to be ever at a fervent heat. None climb the hill whereon the New Jerusalem is built except such as go on hands and knees, and laying aside every weight give themselves wholly to the Divine ascent. 5. The heart must be united to be consecrated. Will God be served with broken cups and cracked flagons, and shall His altars be polluted with torn and mangled sacrifices? 6. We must have our heart united, or else none of the blessings which, are to follow in covenant order can possibly reach us. For, look, “ I will give them one heart,” and then it follows, “ one way” ; no man will have a consistent, uniform way while he has a divided heart, Read next, “ That they shall fear Me for ever” ; but no man will fear God for ever unless fear has taken possession of his whole heart. The convert may profess to follow the Lord for awhile, but he will soon turn aside; he who does not begin with his whole heart will soon tire of the race. 7. God will give His chosen this unified heart. “ I will give them one heart.” This the Lord does in part by enlightenment through the light of His Holy Spirit. He shows us the worthlessness and deceptiveness of everything that would attract our hearts away from Jesus and from our God; and when we see the evil of the rival, we give our heart entirely to Him whom we worship. The Lord works this also by a process more thorough still; for He weans us from all idolatrous loves. II. If we have this we may now advance to the second blessing of the covenant here mentioned, which is consistency of walk. “ I will give them one way.”1. Without this unity there can be no truth in a man’ s life. If he spins by day, and unravels at night, he is acting out a falsehood. 2. We must have one walk, or else our life will make no progress. He who travels in two opposite directions will find himself no forwarder. 3. We must choose and keep to one way, or we cannot attain to usefulness. If a man speak for God to-day, and so lives to-morrow that he virtually speaks for the devil, what power has he over those around him? How can he lead who has no way of his own? 4. No person can come to any true personal assurance while his life is of a double character. But if I know that I have one heart, and that my heart belongs to my Lord, and that I have one way, a way of obedience to Him, then may I be assured that I am His. A plain way will make our condition plain. This unity of way is a covenant blessing: it comes not of man, neither by man, but God gives it to His own elect as one of the choice favours of His grace. “ I will give them one heart and one way.” III. Notice the next covenant blessing, steadfastness of principle. “ That they may fear Me for ever.” Get the heart and the way right, and then the spiritual force of the fear of God will abide in us in all days to come. Notice the basis of true religion,--it is the fear of God: it is not said that they shall join a church and make a profession, and speak holy words for ever; but that “ They may fear Me for ever.” When God has given us a true spiritual fear of Him it will abide all tests. Outward religion depends upon the excitement which created it; but the fear of the Lord lives on when all around it is frost-bitten. Persecution comes, Christians are ridiculed in the workshop, they are pointed out in the street, and an opprobrious name is hooted at them; now we shall know who are God’ s elect and who are not. Then, perhaps, comes a more serious test, the trial of prosperity. A man grows rich, he rises into another class of society. If he is not a real Christian he will forsake the Lord, but if he be a true-born heir of the kingdom he will fear the Lord for ever, and consecrate his substance to Him. A heart wholly given to God will stand the wear and tear of life in all conditions, whether in honour or in contempt. With some of you old age is creeping on; but I rejoice to know that your grace is not decaying. Oh, what a mercy it is to have within us a fear of God, which is not to last for a period of years, but for ever! IV. Personal blessedness. “ For the good of them.” Where God gives us one heart and one way, and steadfast principle, it must be for our good in the highest sense. Tell me who are the happiest Christians. They will be found to be whole-hearted Christians. Plunge into the river of life; let body, soul, and spirit be immersed into its floods, and you shall swim in joy unspeakable. Lose sight of the shores of worldliness and you shall see God’ s wonders in the deeps. In intense devotion to the Lord, you will find the rare jewel, satisfaction. V. The last is a relative blessing. “ And for their children after them.” Wholehearted Christians are usually blessed with a posterity of a like kind. Be thorough and true, and your family will respect your faith. The almost inevitable consequence of respect in a child towards his parent is a desire to imitate him. It is not always so, but as a rule it is so: if the parents live unto God in a thorough, hearted way, their sons and daughters aspire to the same thing. They see the beauty of religion at home around the fireside, and their conscience being quickened they are led to pray to God that they may have the like piety, so that when they themselves commence a household they may enjoy the like happiness. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 32:40I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I win not turn away from them, to do them good. The application of the covenant of grace I. It is all of grace. Its grand end seems to be, to glorify all God’ s attributes, indeed, but especially to manifest “ the exceeding riches of His grace.”1. God was under no necessity of making such a covenant. Man, as fallen, guilty, and depraved, might most justly have been left in the destruction into which his sins had brought him. He could have no claim upon God for a second covenant, merely because he had ruined himself by his breach of the first. God is indeed merciful and gracious, but He is not thereby laid under any necessity to show His goodness in the way of saving sinners of the human race, any more than He was obliged to save the angels who fell. Grace and mercy are, and must be, absolutely free, and spontaneous, and self-moved. God, too, is infinitely independent of all His creatures--self-sufficient, yea, self-satisfied. Though all sinners had been left to perish, His happiness and glory would not have been thereby diminished. 2. God is the party contracting in the covenant for both sides. God the Father engages for the Godhead; and God the Son, as the God-man Mediator, engages for sinners. Moreover, it is an absolute covenant of the richest and the freest promises; for, so far as we sinners are personally concerned, there are no meritorious conditions or prerequisite qualifications. 3. If you consider the character of those persons to whom the covenant is fulfilled, that they are not only all heinous sinners, but that, very often, they are the oldest and the vilest sinners that burden and pollute God’ s earth, who are brought to enjoy it; you will see another proof, that it must be a covenant of the freest grace, since it embraces such hell-deserving sinners. “ It begins at Jerusalem.” “ The publicans and harlots are brought into the kingdom,” while, generally, “ the scribes and Pharisees,” the decent, moral, respectable men and women, are left out. “ Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight.” II. It is very kind and beneficent. It is all about doing us good, especially by making us good, holy, and happy. Coming from God, the infinitely good one, “ the author of every good and perfect gift,” it is just one great promise of ceaseless and unmixed love to us. It is just a constellation of blessings. Observe, too, their certainty. Nothing will provoke God to turn away from thus doing His people constant good; and even with regard to afflictions and temptations, they shall be enabled to say, “ It was good for us that we were afflicted.” You will observe that there is no limitation upon the good here promised, and why should we restrict? We must view it in its universal comprehensiveness. It includes all good--good temporal, spiritual, and eternal--good for the body, the mind, and the soul--all true happiness in time, at death, and through eternity--grace and glory--all the good that God can bestow, or that we can receive. It includes good in three distinct periods of time. Good before our conversion--to bring us into being--to preserve us alive notwithstanding all dangers--to prevent our committing the unpardonable sin, or in any other way putting a tombstone upon our souls, and sealing them over under the curse--and to bring about an effectual calling at the appointed time. Good after conversion and union to Christ, comprehending all the blessings of grace. And glory in eternity. In the first period, eternal life is only coming certainly towards them, and as yet they have no personal title to or enjoyment of it; during the second period, they have the title, and a begun but still an imperfect enjoyment; and during the last period they have both the perfect title and the perfect enjoyment, and that for ever, too! III. It is very full and comprehensive. The three following ideas will illustrate its amplitude and completeness.1. First, you will observe that it not only provides for all on the part of God, but that it also secures everything on the part of the sinner with relation to his enjoyment of it, which, strictly speaking, is all that he has to do with it. Hence, it is so suitable to our helpless spiritual condition, who, of ourselves, could do nothing but just sin on, and so deserve fresh wrath, and the upbreaking of the covenant, if that were possible. 2. Again, you will notice that God here provides for the making of this covenant with each and all of His people in the way of their being brought to close with it. The application of it is as much God’ s work and promise as is the decreeing of it or the fulfilling of its conditions. “ I will make,” and who will or can prevent Him? Neither the devil, nor guilt, nor their own wicked and unbelieving hearts shall. 3. Once more, you will observe that the line of this covenant runs through all time. It is from everlasting to everlasting, like its parties--as endless as the soul of the sinner on which its blessings are to be bestowed. How ample then--how all-comprehensive is God’ s covenant! There is no redundancy, but there is no deficiency. IV. It is personal and particular. It is made or fulfilled with each and all of God’ s people individually and separately, and not merely with the whole Church as s corporate body. The persons with whom it is actually made, are not all men without exception. The countless heathen never so much as hear of its existence or offer. It includes, then, only all God’ s elect people--all those given to Christ as Mediator by the Father, and accepted by Him as such--all Christ’ s mystical members--His spiritual seed--God’ s true spiritual Israel. Their names are all enrolled in the book of life, and engraven on Jesus’ breastplate. They are constantly in His eye, and in His breast, and so they are in His prayers, and in His working, and in His dying. “ The Lord knoweth them that are His,” directly and unerringly. We again can ascertain them only in so far as we can see this covenant fulfilled to them, enjoyed by them, and exemplified (extracted as it were) in their lives. But when we see the Lord thus doing good to any soul, and putting His fear into any heart, then and there we see God’ s seal and mark, and behold His election realised in their sanctification. V. It is very holy. God, the maker of it, is holy in all His works, and peculiarly so here in this, the glory of them all. Hence, we find Zecharias calling it (Luke 1:72), “ God’ s holy covenant.” Two observations will show its sanctity. First, it preserves unsullied, yea it peculiarly displays the righteousness and holiness of God’ s character and government in at all saving sinners, only through the infinite and vicarious sufferings, death, and obedience of the God-man Mediator, in their room, and on their behalf. Secondly, it secures the personal holiness of all who are brought into the covenant. God here engages to do them good, and especially in the way of making them really and spiritually good. It gives to each a twofold righteousness, corresponding to the twofold unrighteousness he inherited from Adam--the imputed righteousness of Christ for justification, and the inwrought righteousness of the Spirit for sanctification of heart and life; and it never gives the one without the other. VI. It is everlasting. It would be comparatively valueless, if it could ever end. Oh, how tantalising it would be to be stripped of the enjoyment of its blessings after we had enjoyed them for a period, and so had just come to know their incalculable value l Deprivation of such blessedness would be torture, exquisite just in proportion as we had tasted its sweetness. The reminiscence and the contrast would then make the loss all the more agonising. But it is “ everlasting “ --“ a covenant of salt” --which can never fail, or change or intermit, or end. It must be so; for you will remember that the condition of the covenant has been already performed by Christ, and accepted by the Father. Now, God will not--indeed, He cannot,--alter or reverse what has been already done, for that is an impossibility. Moreover, the condition being the infinitely perfect, unchangeable, and everlasting righteousness of Jesus, the covenant founded thereon must be absolutely unalterable and eternal The very holiness, justice, and truth of God are all pledged to Christ to secure its permanency and everlasting continuance. VII. Faith in Christ is the only way of our being brought into the enjoyment of it. Faith is just a receiving and resting upon Christ fist and upon all the promises as in Him yea and amen to the glory of God. Nothing more is requisite in us. The fidelity and omnipotence of the promises ensures their fulfilment to, the soul that believes and rests on them. There is nothing left for us to do but thus just to receive and rely upon these promises, and Christ in them, by the empty hand of faith. And even this faith, and its act of closing with the covenant, is here previously secured. It is included in the “ good” to be done to us. Faith is God’ s gift--one of His promises and one of the operations of His Spirit. Faith and repentance, and new obedience, are all blessings in the covenant, and not conditions of it. At the very most, they are only conditions of connection and of order in the enjoyment of its various and well-regulated blessings. (F. Gillies.) I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me. Perseverance in holiness I. The everlasting covenant. “ I will make an everlasting covenant with them.” In the previous chapter, in the thirty-first verse, this covenant is called “ a new covenant” ; and it is new in contrast with the former one which the Lord made with Israel when He brought them out of Egypt. It is new as to the principle upon which it is based. Brethren, take care to distinguish between the old and the new covenants; for they must never be mingled. If salvation be of grace, it is not of works, otherwise grace is no more grace; and if it be of works, it is not of grace, otherwise work is no more work. The new covenant is all of grace, from its first letter to its closing word; and we shall have to show you this as we go on. It is an “ everlasting” covenant, however: that is the point upon which the text insists. The other covenant was of very short duration; but this is an “ everlasting covenant.”1. The first reason why it is an everlasting covenant is, that it was made with us in Christ Jesus. He is, both in His nature, and in His work, eternally qualified to stand before the living God. He stands in absolute perfectness under every strain, and, therefore, the covenant stands in Him. 2. Next, the covenant cannot fail because the human side of it has been fulfilled. The human side might be regarded as the weak side of it; but when Jesus became the representative of man that side was sure. He has at this hour fulfilled to the letter every stipulation upon that side of which He was the surety. Since, then, that side of the covenant has been fulfilled which appertains to man, there remaineth only God’ s side of it to be fulfilled, which consists of promises--unconditional promises, full of grace and truth. Will not God be true to HIS engagements? Yes, verily. Even to the jots and tittles, all shall be carried out. 3. Furthermore, the covenant must be everlasting, for it is founded upon the free grace of God. Sovereign grace declares that He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy, and will have compassion on whom He will have compassion. This basis of sovereignty cannot be shaken. 4. Again, in the covenant, everything that can be supposed to be a condition is provided. If there be, anywhere in the Word of God, any act or grace mentioned as though it were a condition of salvation, it is in another Scripture described as a covenant gift, which will be bestowed upon the heirs of salvation by Christ Jesus. 5. Moreover, the covenant must be everlasting, because it cannot be superseded by anything more glorious. The moon gives way to the sun, and the sun gives way to a lustre which shall exceed the light of seven days; but what is to supersede the light of free grace and dying love, the glory of the love which gave the Only-begotten that we might live through Him! II. The unchanging God of the covenant. “ I will not turn away from them, to do them good.”1. He will not turn away from doing them good, first, because He has said so. That is enough. Jehovah speaks, and in His voice lies the end of all controversy. 2. Still, let us remember that there is no valid reason why He should turn away from them to do them good. You remind me of their unworthiness. Yes, but observe that when He began to do them good they were as unworthy as they could possibly be. Moreover, there can be no reason in the faultiness of the believer why the Lord should cease to do him good, seeing that He foresaw all the evil that would be in us. He entered into a covenant that He would not turn away from us, to do us good; and no circumstance has arisen, or can arise, which was unknown to Him when He thus pledged His Word of grace. Moreover, I would have you remember that we are by God at this day viewed in the same light as ever. We were undeserving objects upon whom He bestowed His mercy, out of no motive but that which He drew from His own nature; and if we are undeserving still, His grace is still the same. If it be so, that He still deals with us in the way of grace, it is evident that He still views us as undeserving; and why should He not do good towards us now as He did at the first? Moreover, remember that He sees us now in Christ. Behold, He has put His people into the hands of His dear Son. He sees us in Christ to have died, in Him to have been buried, and in Him to have risen again. As the Lord Jesus Christ is well pleasing to the Father, so in Him are we well pleasing to the Father also; for our being in Him identifies us with Him. 3. The Lord will not turn away from His people, from doing them good, because He has shown them so much kindness already; and all that He has done would be lest if He did not go through with it. When He gave His Son, He gave us a sure pledge that He meant to finish His work of love. 4. We feel sure that He will not cease to bless us, because we have proved that even when He has hidden His face He has not turned away from doing us good. When the Lord has turned away His face from His people, it has been to do them good, by making them sick of self and eager for His love. 5. I close with this argument, that He has involved His honour in the salvation of His people. H the Lord’ s chosen and redeemed are cast away, where is the glory of His redemption? III. The persevering people in the covenant. “ I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.” The salvation of those who are in covenant with God is herein provided for by an absolute promise of the omnipotent God, which must be carried out. It is plain, clear, unconditional, positive. “ They shall not depart from Me.”1. It is not carried out by altering the effect of apostasy. If they did depart from God, it would be fatal If the Holy Ghost has indeed regenerated a soul, and yet that regeneration does not save it from total apostasy, what can be done? 2. Neither does this perseverance of the saints come in by the removal of temptation. No, the Lord does not take His people out of the world; but He allows them to fight the battle of life in the same field as others. He does not remove us from the conflict, but “ He giveth us the victory.” 3. This is affected by putting a Divine principle within their hearts. The Lord saith, “ I will put My fear in their hearts.” It would never be found there if He did not put it there. What is this fear of God? It is, first, a holy awe and reverence of the great God. Taught of God, we come to see His infinite greatness, and the fact that He is everywhere present with us; and then, filled with a devout sense of His Godhead, we dare not sin. The words, “ My fear,” also intend filial fear. God is our Father, and we feel the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, “ Abba, Father.” There moves also in our hearts a deep sense of grateful obligation. God is so good to me, how can I sin? He loves me so, how can I vex Him? But if you ask, By what instrumentality does God maintain this fear in the hearts of His people? I answer, It is the work of the Spirit of God: but the Holy Spirit usually works by means. The fear of God is kept alive in our hearts by the hearing of the Word; for faith cometh by hearing, and holy fear cometh through faith. Be diligent, then, in hearing the Word. That fear is kept alive in our hearts by reading the Scriptures; for as we feed on the Word, it breathes within us that fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom. This fear of God is maintained in us by the belief of revealed truth, and meditation thereon. Study the doctrines of grace, and be instructed in the analogy of the faith. Know the Gospel well and thoroughly, and this will bring fuel to the fire of the fear of God in your hearts. Be much in private prayer; for that stirs up the fire, and makes it burn more brilliantly. In fine, seek to live near to God, to abide in Him; for as you abide in Him, and His Words abide in you, you shall bring forth much fruit, and so shall you be His disciples. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Bible religion The world abounds with religions. There is but one true religion, that of the Bible. It is sometimes spoken of as “ trust” in God, sometimes as “ love” for God, sometimes “ obedience” to God; here it is spoken of as the “ fear” of God. It is the fear of not pleasing in all things the object of the affections. The fear of not coming up to the Divine idea of goodness. I. As having its seat in the heart. “ Fear in their hearts” There is something in man’ s spiritual nature analogous to the heart in his physical organisation. The heart of the body is the most vital of all its organs; it sends the life-blood through all the parts. What in man’ s spiritual nature is like his heart, and which the Bible calls his “ heart” ? It is the chief liking of the soul. The chief liking is the spring of human activity; it works and controls all the faculties of man. Bible religion takes possession of this, inspires this, makes goodness and God the chief objects of liking, so that the soul feels that God is its all in all.1. Bible religion is in the heart, not merely in the intellect.2. Not merely in the sentiments.3. Not merely in occasional service. II. As imparted by God. How does He put this priceless principle into the heart? Not miraculously, not irrespective of man’ s activities.1. By the revelation of Himself to man.2. By the ministry of His servants. III. As a safeguard against apostasy. IS it possible for man to depart from his Maker? In a sense, no. No more than from the atmosphere he breathes, no more than from himself. But there is a solemn sense in which men can and do depart from Him. It is in sympathy of aim. All unregenerate souls are far off from God, vagrants, ever wandering, settling nowhere. To depart from Him is to depart from light, health, harmony, friendship, all in fact that makes life worth having. What can prevent this, the chief of calamities? God s fear in the heart. This is that law of moral attraction that will bind the soul for ever to God as its centre. (Homilist.) Jeremiah 32:41I will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole soul The whole-heartedness of God in blessing His people I. consider our text for instruction.1. God blesses His people heartily. “ With My whole heart.” Notice, in passing, that word “ assuredly” ; for it confirms the word as full of truth and certainty. He is slow to wrath, but He is swift to mercy, for He delighteth in it. When He deals out His grace to His people, then you see the loving God, for “ God is love” ; and you see the living God, for He blesses you with His whole soul. 2. He does this work of blessing His people thoughtfully, for it is added, “ and with My whole soul.” Not only the affections of God, speaking after the manner of man, but the great mind and life of God is thrown into the work of saving and blessing His people. His essence, His soul, is here at home. The design argument, when brought to bear upon nature, proves the existence of God. Much more when that argument is brought to bear upon the works of grace do we see the Lord; for in the transactions of grace them is design in everything. 3. We notice, next, that if that be so, then He employs all His resources to bless His elect. The Lord our God--I speak as a man, and with deep reverence--is absorbed in doing good to His people: there is nothing that He is, there is nothing that He has, but what He will bring it to bear upon the design upon which He has set His whole heart and His whole soul. Behold ye, what God hath done for His people! He has given them His all: all the wisdom of His providence shall be theirs while here, and all the glory of His heaven hereafter. God has His abode in heaven; behold, He makes it the abode of His chosen for ever. Angels are His courtiers--they shall be ministering spirits to His elect. The throne of His Son they shall sit upon with Him. The victories of God shall furnish them with palms, and the delight of God shall find them harps. But stop, there is something more than all! It was little for God to give earth and heaven, but He must needs give His Son, the express image of His glory, His other self. 4. The Lord subordinates all other works to that of His love. Everything, whether of creation or destruction, mercy or judgment, shall work, like the wheels of some vast machinery, to produce good to those who are the people of the living God. 5. The Lord gives to His people and for His people without stint. When He feeds His children, though once they would have been thankful to eat the crumbs from His table, He sets them among princes, and gives them to eat of the king’ s meat. He lays eternity under contribution to provide for the needs, nay, for the desires, for the joys of His people. 6. Another point sets forth most plainly that the Lord blesses His people with His whole heart and with His whole soul, for He perseveres in it. Are you not surprised with the variety of His favours towards you? An old writer says that “ God’ s flowers bloom double,” for He sends two blessings where there seems but one; but I would say they are like the light: they are sevenfold, even as in every ray from the sun we have seven colours blended in harmony. What sevens and sevens of infinite love are contained in every beam of mercy that comes to the redeemed! 7. As the Lord Perseveres in His work, so He succeeds in it. God is determined to make something of His People, and He will. 8. God delights in all that He does for His own. We are happy when God blesses us, but not so happy as God is. Our God has all the instincts of motherhood and fatherhood blended in one; and when He looks upon His Church He calls her “ Hephzibah” --“ My delight is in her.” He does not rejoice in the works of His hands so much as in the works of His heart. II. Consider the text with the evidence. In order to prove that God doth thus bless us with His whole heart and with His whole soul, I would remind you that the whole Trinity is engaged in the blessing of the chosen.1. First comes the Father. It was He that chose us--chose us, not because He must choose us or none, but freely with “ His whole heart.” Wisdom from her throne determined the way in which God would lead His People, and bless His people, and sanctify His people, and perfect His people. 2. In reference to the ever-blessed Son of God, whom we worship as most truly God, we have the same truth to state. He loved us ages before He came to earth am man. 3. I must not omit the Holy Spirit, “ to whom be all honour and glory.” When we were mad with sin, and ravenous after the pleasures of it, He followed us, to check us in our headlong career, to beckon us to better things, to draw us thither, and to help us when we began to incline to the right. He gave us life, and light, and liberty. III. Consider the inferences which flow from the text.1. The first inference is one of consolation. Does God bless us with His whole heart and with His whole soul? Oh, then, how happy we ought to be! 2. Another inference, and I have done: it is one of exhortation. Let us love our God with our whole heart and with our whole soul. Trust Him for the past, the present, and the future; trust Him completely, implicitly, unhesitatingly. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The enthusiasm of God Who can but admire a man who speaks thus? Enthusiasm quickens life. It is salt and light for common days. It makes earth flash with heaven. But was it a man who said this? No. This voice came from heaven. Then of Cod. Well may Calvin annotate my text, saying, “ The words are indeed did some strong and radiant angel thus avow himself? No. This is the voice singular.” God is telling His people the great things He purposes to do for them, and He declares He will accomplish all with His whole heart and with His whole soul. Here we are brought face to face with the kindling fact that God is a God of enthusiasm. In one sense, Calvin’ s remark on the singularity of these words is very pertinent. But surveying them from another view-point, the Divine declaration is not “ singular.” Enthusiasm is an impressive element of Bible theology. Scripture gives us peeps into God’ s nature. Only peeps. The open vision would blind us. And assuredly we frequently behold in the Holy Book the outflashing of the Divine enthusiasm. Isaiah uses the wonderful phrase, “ The zeal of the God of hosts.” It is God’ s quenchless enthusiasm which is to establish in triumph the ever-increasing kingdom and peace of Emmanuel. This quality of God is one Isaiah delights in. Isaiah on the enthusiasm of God is a stimulating study. He says of a wonderful and apparently impossible deliverance of God’ s people from their iron oppressor, “ The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.” Courage, sad-hearted and foe-encircled brother! The enthusiasm of God is pledged to thy deliverance! In another place the poet-theologian describes God as a warrior, and cries, “ He . . . was clad with zeal as a cloak.” Grand is the vision of God as He appears in ruby-red robe of zeal. Ezekiel, “ his feet on earth, his soul floating amid the cherubim,” represents God’ s enthusiasm in its vengeful form when he declares how the wrath Divine shall bruise impenitent transgressors, “ and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it in My zeal, when I have accomplished My fury in them” If enthusiasm be a quality which Old Testament theology ascribes to God, it is also emphatically accredited to Him by the theology of the new covenant. It is revealed as an outstanding feature of Him to have seen whom is to have seen the Father. “ With My whole heart and with My whole soul,” was the motto of His incarnate life. Holy enthusiasm was the temper of His words and deeds. “ The zeal of Thy house will eat me up.” Thus our Lord fulfilled the scriptural ideal of enthusiasm as He fulfilled all scriptural ideals. God in Christ is always a God of enthusiasm. How intense He is! How He prays! The fervour of His prayers is never chilled. How He meditates! His inexplorable thoughts breathe themselves through eternity. The Christ of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the Old Testament, in white-hot enthusiasm, as in everything, august, and gentle, and lovely. Enthusiasm must surely be an essential of a true theology. One cannot conceive of an impassionate God. An apathetic God would depress the universe. An ancient Greek finely described enthusiasm as “ a God within.” And such all grand enthusiasm is, and must be evermore. How attractive is our God by reason of His enthusiasm. Who would not love Him with his might who is ready to bless with His whole heart and with His whole soul? Such a God allures us. Who are they for whom God promises to labour so enthusiastically? Notice the repetitions “ them” in this verse. Equally recurrent is the “ them” in the previous verse. In verse 38 the “ them” is indicated. It refers to “ My people.” God will do wonderfully for His people. He prizes His people beyond compare. Nothing is too great for Him to do for those who are in His sight so lovely. And no enthusiasm is too lavish to expend upon their interests. Is there caprice in this wealthy enthusiasm over His people? By no means. God’ s “ people” represent character. And God’ s enthusiasm for character is shown in His enthusiasm for His people. God’ s enthusiasm is evoked by character. Our poor unworthy enthusiasms are often pitifully raise directed. The zeal of God never misses the true mark. God is enthusiastic to help men of character. See how in the neighbourhood of this text He rains golden showers of promises upon such. “ I will not turn away from them, to do them good” (verse 40). “ I will rejoice over them to do them good” (verse 41). “ I will plant them in this land” (verse 41). “ I will bring upon them all the good that I have promised them” (verse 42). “ And fields shall be bought in this land” (verse 43). The enthusiasm of God runs forth in temporal helpfulness to men whose ways please Him. He cares even for “ fields” which belong to His people. Lay tide to heart, burdened business man, if thou art one of God’ s people! Consider this, depressed agriculturist, who art a man of God! God makes your interests His own interests. God is enthusiastic in respect of the creation and development of character. How abundantly that can be demonstrated from the context! “ I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them” (verse 39). “ I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.” What do these golden words portend? That with all His heart and with all His soul God will perfect the character of His people. The fact is, nothing in man creates such enthusiasm on God’ s part as the instituting and enhancing of character. Your soul is that in you in which God is most interested, and He is interested in everything about you. He is enthusiastic in incomparable degree for your salvation. The supernatural rectification of the will and of the being which we commonly call conversion draws forth God’ s intense enthusiasm. With His whole heart and with His whole soul He proposes to develop the good He has already created. He pines to perfect His servants. He has splendid ideals for them. He strongly yearns to make their to-morrows better than their yesterdays. There are those whose so-called enthusiasm is self-centred. Certain “ intense” people are intensely selfish. Some have ineffectual enthusiasms. No altruism irradiates them. Nobody is anything bettered for them. They are “ fruitless” fires. Not so the enthusiasm of God. God’ s zeal is to help, to bless, to enrich men. To illumine what is dark in men. To raise what is low. To glorify what is sordid. Temporally and spiritually beneficent is the enthusiasm of God. He delights to help us. Nor can the strong years conquer His enthusiasm. In this, as in respect of all the qualities of the Divine character, we are to be “ imitators of God, as beloved children.” An enthusiasm is contagious. Throbs thrill. The awful peril is that we imitate evil enthusiasms. Souls of men, be admonished against such devil-born enthusiasm. God’ s enthusiasm is the true ideal for man. “ Be ye imitators of God.” Be ours enthusiasm for holy living. What a rebuke to our tepidity is the enthusiasm of God! What is more remote from God than moral and spiritual coldness? Oh, this Divine enthusiasm is the crying need of modern religion! It is very instructive to study the Bible teaching concerning the enthusiasm of God. It is even more impressive on the negative than on the positive side. God has no spark of enthusiasm for much that man burns about. What discordance there often is between God and man! This is apparent in the objects of their respective enthusiasms. God has no enthusiasm for self-centredness. God has no enthusiasm for worldliness. No matter what form it assumes, He cares not for it. It is all “ vanity” to Him. God has no enthusiasm for indifferency. Some are zealous for nothing but apathy. They have dead hearts, and there is no death so deadly as the death of the heart. Stoicism is not sanctity. God is quick with sympathy. The omissions from the revealed enthusiasms of God are intensely significant. Take heed lest thou art enthusiastic where thy God is not. A God who, with His whole heart and with His whole soul, seeks man’ s highest good, is a God who constrains our devotion. He attracts us. He captivates us. Were He a cold, unresponsive God, I should shrink from Him. But being an enthusiastic God, my heart is His. Here is a ground of trustfulness--the enthusiasm of God. Can I fear for the morrow when this God is mine? Here is a ground of hope--the enthusiasm of God. All shall always be well, seeing such a God is mine. Here is a ground of service--the enthusiasm of God. Too much one cannot do for such a God. When He declares, “ With My whole heart, and with My whole soul,” He prefixes another delectable word, “ assuredly.” The margin renders it “ in truth,” or “ in stability.” So the good Lord assures us of the perpetuity of His kindly enthusiasm. It will never fail His people. Whoever cools toward us, the enthusiastic God of grace will be faithful and fervent still (D. T. Young.) Jeremiah 32:42 All the good that I have promised.The religion, of the promise (with Numbers 10:29):--Obeying a true instinct, the Church of Christ has from the beginning understood the whole story of the transfer of the chosen people from the land of bondage to the land of promise as possessing, over and above its historical value, the preciousness of a divinely-planned allegory. For us, to-day, just as really as for them in days of old, the stimulus continues to be simply this--a promise. Heaven cannot be demonstrated. We merely take God’ s Word for it. Not enough, in our times, is said--soberly and intelligently said, I mean--about heaven. Very “ many people have the feeling that the old-fashioned heaven of their childhood’ s thoughts and hopes has been explained away by the progress ex discovery. It seems to them as if heaven were pushed farther and farther off, just in proportion as the telescope penetrates farther and farther into space. The gates of pearl recede with the enlargement of the object-glass, and the search for tee Paradise of God, like that for the earthly Eden, seems to become more hopeless, the more accurate our knowledge of the map. The primitive Christians found it comparatively easy to think of heaven as a place just above the stars. To us, who have learned to think of the sun itself as but a star seen near at hand, and of the stars as suns, such localisation of the dwelling-place of the Most Highest is far from easy. Another, and a very different reason for keeping heaven, as it were, in the background, holding the mention of it in reserve, comes from those who believe that there is such a danger as that of cheapening and vulgarising sacred things by too much fluency in talking about them. It cannot be denied that there is a certain amount of reason for this fastidiousness, some strength in this protest. An indulgent rhetoric may throw open the gates with a freedom so careless as to make us wonder why there should be any gates at all; and lips to which the common prose speech of the real heaven would perhaps come hard, were they compelled to try it, can sing of “ Jerusalem the Golden,” and of the Paradise for which “ tis weary waiting here” with a glibness at which possibly the angels stand aghast. This is a second reason, a very different reason from the first, but still a reason, for observing reticence about heaven. And yet, m the face of both of these reasons, I think it is a sad pity, our hearing so little as we do about the hope of heaven as a motive power in human life. For after all that has been said, or can be said, these two facts remain indisputable; they stare us in the face: first, that this life of ours, however we may account for it, does bear a certain resemblance to a journey, in that the one is a movement through time, as the other is a movement through space; secondly, that any journey which lacks a destination is, and must of necessity be a dismal thing. Human nature being what it is, we need the attractive power of something to look forward to, as we say, to keep our strength and courage up to the living standard. Christians are men with a hope, men who have been called to inherit a blessing. Nor is the Old Testament lacking in this element of promise. It runs through the whole Bible. What book anywhere can you point to so forward-looking as that Book? As we watch the worthies of many generations pass in long procession onwards, from the day when the promise was first given of the One who should come and bruise the serpent’ s head, down to the day when the aged Simeon in the Temple took the Child Jesus into his arms and blessed Him, we seem to see upon every forehead a glow of light. These men have a hope. They are looking for something, and they look as those look who expect in due time to find. If this be true of the general tone of the Old Testament Scriptures, doubly, trebly is it true of the New Testament. The coming of Christ has only quickened and made more intense in us that instinct of hope which the old prophecies of His coming first inspired. For when He came, He brought in larger hopes, and opened to us far-reaching vistas of promise, such as had never been dreamed of before. A solemn joy pervades the atmosphere in which apostle and evangelist move before our eyes. They are as men who, in the face of the wreck of earthly hopes, have yet no inclination to tears, because there has been opened to them a vision of things unseen, and granted to them a foretaste of the peace eternal. “ The glory that shall be revealed” ; “ the things eye hath not seen,” prepared for those who love God; “ the house not made with hands,” waiting for occupancy; “ the crown of righteousness, laid up” --you remember how prominent a place these hold in the persuasive oratory of St. Paul. The complaint that the progress of human knowledge has made it difficult to think and speak of heaven as believing men used to think and speak of it, is a complaint to which we ought to return for a few moments; for, from our leaving it as we did, the impression may have been conveyed to some minds that the difficulty is insuperable. Let me observe, then, that while there is a certain grain of reasonableness in this argument for silence with respect to heaven and the things of heaven, there is by no means so much weight to be attached to it as many people seem to suppose. For after all, when we come to think of it, this changed conception of what heaven may be like is not traceable so much to any marvellous revolution that has come over the whole character of human thought since you and I were children, as it is to the changes which have taken place in our own several minds, and which necessarily take place in every mind in its progress from infancy to maturity. The really serious blow at old-time notions upon the subject was dealt long before any of us were born, when the truth was established beyond serious doubts that this planet is not the centre about which all else in the universe revolves. But the explanation of our personal sense of grievance at being robbed of the heaven we were used to believe in is to be sought in the familiar saying, “ When I was a child, I spake as a child,” &c. We instinctively, and without knowing it, project this childish way of looking at things upon the whole thinking world that was contemporary with our childhood, and infer from the change that has come over our own mind that corresponding change has been going on in the mind of the world at large. This fallacy is the more easily fallen into, because it is a fact that, if we go back far enough in the history of thought, we do find even the mature minds seeing things much as we ourselves saw them in our early childhood. But let me try to strike closer home and meet the difficulty in a more direct and helpful way. I do it by asking whether we ought not to feel ashamed of ourselves, thus to talk about having been robbed of the promise simply because the Father of heaven has been showing us, lust as fast as our poor minds could bear the strain, to how immeasurable an area the Fatherhood extends. Instead of repining because we cannot dwarf God’ s universe so as to make it fit perfectly the smallness of our notions, let us turn all our energies to seeking to enlarge the capacity of our faith so that it shall be able to hold more. What all this means is, that we are to believe better things of God, not worse things. It may turn out,--who can tell?--that heaven lies nearer to us than even in our childhood we ever ventured to suppose; that it is not only nearer than the sky, but nearer than the clouds. The reality of heaven, happily, is not dependent on the ability of our five senses to discover its whereabouts. Doubtless a sixth or seventh sense might speedily reveal much, very much of which the five we now have take no notice. Be this as it may, the reasonableness of our believing in Christ’ s promise, that in the world whither He went He would prepare a place for us, is in nowise impugned by anything that the busy wit of man has yet found out, or is likely to find out. There is no period of life from which we can afford to spare the presence of this heavenly hope. We need it in youth, to give point and purpose and direction to the newly launched life. We need it in middle life to help us cover patiently that long stretch which parts youth from old age--the time of the fading out of illusions in the dry light of experience; the time when we discover the extent of our personal range, and the narrow limit of our possible achievement. Above all shall we find such a hope the staff of old age, should the pilgrimage last so long. But let us not imagine that we can postpone believing until then. Faith is a habit of the soul, and old men would be the first to warn us against the notion that it is a habit that may be acquired in a day. Those of us who are wise will take up the matter now, at whatever point of age the word may happen to have found us. (W. R. Huntington, D. D.) . Jeremiah 33:1-9 The Word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison.A Divine message sent into a prison I. A true child of God and an honoured prophet in disgrace and affliction (verse 1). Let not the child of God think that his sorrows are always because of his Sins. II. Though despised of man, the prophet was honoured of God (verses 1, 2).1. To receive communications from the Divine mind is the highest honour. 2. He whom God honours and owns as His child need not fear what man can do. III. Divine consolation to an afflicted servant (verse 3).1. The most precious of all privileges, that of prayer: “ Call unto Me.” 2. The most marvellous of all assurances: “ And I will answer thee.” 3. The most encouraging of all promises: “ I will show thee great and mighty things.” IV. The adversity and prosperity of nations are under the control of God (verses 4-7).1. It is impossible properly to construe the history of a nation without reference to the moral government of God. 2. National prosperity or adversity has always been in the line of national virtue or vice. V. The essential conditions of national as well as individual healing (verses 8, 9).1. It is essential that God come to do the work. “ I will cleanse,” &c. 2. It is essential that God work upon our moral natures. “ I will cleanse them from all their iniquity.” 3. It is essential that God work upon our moral natures by the assurance of the forgiveness of sin. “ I will pardon all,” &c. 4. This moral and spiritual cleansing and pardon are essential for the appreciation of the Divine goodness: “ And they shall fear,” &c. 5. This spiritual healing shall manifest forth the glory of God: “ It shall be to Me a name,” &c. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.) The method of Divine procedure The prophet, when the Word of the Lord came unto him, was in a good hearing place, “ shut up in the court of the prison.” Shut up unjustly, it was no prison to him, but a sanctuary, with God’ s altar visibly in it, and God Himself irradiating the altar with a light above the brightness of the sun. How hardly shall they that have riches hear the Gospel. Their ears are already filled; their attention is already occupied. What keen ears poverty has I What eyes the blind man has!--inner eyes, eyes of expectation. We should have had no world worth living in but for the prison, the darkness, the trouble, the blindness, the sorrow, which have constituted such precious elements in our lot. There would have been no poetry written if there had been no sorrow. Jeremiah heard more in the prison than he ever heard in the palace. God knows where His children are. There are a thousand prisons in life. We must not narrow words into their lowest meanings, but enlarge them into their broadest significance, He is in prison who is in trouble, who is in fear, who is in conscious penitence, without having received the complete assurance of pardon; he is in prison who has sold his liberty, is lying under condemnation, secret or open; and he is in prison who has lost his first love, his early enthusiasm that was loaded with dew like a flower in the morning. Whatever our prison is, God knows it, can find us, can send a word of His own directly to us, and can make us forget outward circumstances in inward content and peace and joy. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto Me, and I win answer thee.An invitation a promise-a revelation I. A gracious invitation--“ Call unto Me” implies all the constituents of successful prayer.1. Penitence.2. Contrition.3. Humility.4. Importunity.5. Restitution.6. Faith. II. A precious promise--“ And I will answer thee.” The invitation accepted, its conditions complied with, always brings the answer.1. God’ s word pledged.2. God’ s nature pledged.3. Confirmed by the experience of His saints. III. A glorious revelation--“ And will shew thee,” &c.1. The greatness of God’ s love.2. The power of Jesus to forgive sin.3. The worth of the soul.4. The joys and comforts of religion.5. The victory of faith in death. (J. T. Davies.) Prayer I. The invitation to prayer.1. Whose is it?2. To whom is the invitation addressed?3. What is the tenor of the invitation? II. The promise.1. It is general.2. It is special. Apply (1) Reprove the prayerless.(2) Encourage the prayerful. (G. Brooks.) The golden key of prayer God s people have always in their worst conditions found out the best of their God. Those who dive into the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls. I. Prayer commanded.1. This is great condescension. So great is the infatuation of man on the one hand, which makes him need a command to be merciful to his own soul, and so marvellous the condescension of God on the other that He issues a command of love. 2. Our hearts so despond over our unfitness and guilt that but for the command we might fear to approach. 3. It is remarkable how much more frequently God calls us to Him in Scripture than we find there our sinfulness denounced! 4. Nor by the commands of the Bible alone are we summoned to prayer, but by the motions of His Holy Spirit. II. An answer promised.1. God’ s very nature, as revealed in Jesus Christ, assures us that He will accept us in prayer. 2. Our own experience leads us to believe that God will answer prayer; e.g., the conversion of many a child has been an answer to parents’ pleadings with God. 3. Yet God does not always give the thing we ask. Lord Bolingbroke said to the Countess of Huntingdon, “ I cannot understand, your ladyship, how you can make out earnest prayer to be consistent with submission to the Divine will.” “ My lord,” she said, “ that is a matter of no difficulty. If I were a courtier of some generous king, and he gave me permission to ask any favour I pleased of him, I should be sure to put it thus: ‘ Will your majesty be graciously pleased to grant me such and such a favour; but at the same time, though I much desire it, if it would in any way detract from your majesty’ s honour, or if in your majesty’ s judgment it should seem better that I did not have this favour, I shall be quite as content to go without it as to receive it.’ So you see I might earnestly offer a petition, and yet might submissively leave it with the king.” III. Encouragement to faith.1. Promised to God’ s prophet, this specially applies to every teacher. The best way for a teacher or learner in Divine truth to reach the deeper things of God” is to be much in prayer. Luther says, “ Bene orare est bene studuisse” --To have prayed well is to have studied well 2. The saint may expect to discover deeper experience and to know more of the higher spiritual life, by being much in prayer. 3. It is certainly true of the sufferer under trial; if he waits on God he shall have greater deliverance than he ever dreamed of (Lamentations 3:57). 4. Here is encouragement for the worker. We know not how much capacity for usefulness there is in us. More prayer will show us more power. 5. This should cheer us in intercession for others. 6. Some are seekers for your own conversion. Pray, and see if God will not “ show you great and mighty things.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Prayer encouraged The text belongs to every afflicted servant of God. It encourages him in a threefold manner. I. To continue in prayer. “ Call unto Me!”1. Pray, though you have prayed (see Jeremiah 32:16, &c.). 2. Pray concerning your present trouble. In Jeremiah 32:24, the prophet mentions “ the mounts” which were raised against Jerusalem, and in Jeremiah 32:4 of this chapter the Lord answers on that very point. 3. Pray though you are still in prison after prayer. If deliverance tarries, make your prayers the more importunate. 4. Pray; for the Word of the Lord comes to you with this command. 5. Pray; for the Holy Spirit prompts you, and helps you. II. To expect answers to prayer. “ I will answer thee, and shew thee.”1. He has appointed prayer, and made arrangements for its presentation and acceptance. He could not have meant it to be a mere farce: that were to treat us as fools. 2. He prompts, encourages, and quickens prayer; and surely He would never mock us by exciting desires which He never meant to gratify. 3. His nature is such that He must hear His children. 4. He has given His promise in the text; and it is often repeated elsewhere: He cannot lie, or deny Himself. 5. He has already answered many of His people, and ourselves also. III. To expect great things as answers to prayer, “ I will shew thee great and mighty things” We are to look for things--1. Great in counsel; full of wisdom and significance 2. Mighty in work; revealing might, and mightily effectual. 3. New things to ourselves, fresh in our experience and therefore surprising. We may expect the unexpected. 4. Divine things: “ I will shew thee.” (1) Health and cure (Jeremiah 32:6).(2) Liberation from captivity (Jeremiah 32:7).(3) Forgiveness of iniquity (Jeremiah 32:8). (C. H. Spurgeon.) Prayer and its answer A young engineer was being examined, and this question was put to him: “ Suppose you have a steam-pump constructed for a ship, under your own supervision, and know that everything is in perfect order, yet, when you throw out the hose, it will not draw; what should you think? I should think, sir, there must be a defect somewhere.” “ But such a conclusion is not admissible; for the supposition is that everything is perfect, and yet that the pump will not work.” “ Then, sir,” replied the student, “ I should look over the side of the ship to see if the river had run dry.” Even so it would appear that if true prayer is not answered the nature of God must have changed. Instant in prayer Sir Walter Raleigh one day asking a favour from Queen Elizabeth, the latter said to him, “ Raleigh, when will you leave off begging?” To which he answered, “ When your Majesty leaves off giving.” Ask-great things of God. Expect great things from God. Let His past goodness make us “ instant in prayer.” Prayer the soul’ s wings Thomas Brooks, alluding to the old classical myth of Daedalus, who, being imprisoned in the island of Crete, made wings for himself, by which he escaped to Italy, says, “ Christians must do as Daedalus, who, when he could not escape by a way upon earth, went by a way of heaven.” Holy prayers are the wings of the soul’ s deliverance. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Calling unto God What is this calling unto God? Is it a verbal exercise? Is it a mere act of exclamation! Nothing can be further from the meaning. It is a call that issues from the heart; it is the call of need, it is the cry of pain, it is the agony of desire, it is enclosure with God in profound and loving communion. If we have received no answers, it is because we have offered no prayers. “ Ye have not because ye ask not or because ye ask amiss,” you have been praying obliquely instead of directly; you have been vexing yourselves with circumlocution when your words ought to have been direct appeals, sharp, short, urgent appeals to Heaven: to such appeals God sends down richness of dew, wealth of blessing, morning brighter than noonday. God will shew His people “ great and mighty things.” There is nothing little. The bird in the heavens upon its trembling wing is only little to us, it is not little to God. He counts the drops of dew, He puts our tears into His bottle, He numbers our sighs, and as for our groans, He distinguishes one from the other; these are not little things to Him, they are only little to our ignorance, and folly, and superficiality. God looks at souls, faces, lives, destinies, and the least child in the world He rocks to sleep and wakes in the morning, as if He had nought else to do; it is the stoop of Fatherhood, it is the mystery of the Cross. As to these continual revelations, they ought to be possible. God is infinite and eternal, man is infinite and transient in all his earthly relationships; it would he strange if God had told man everything He has to tell him, it would be the miracle of miracles that God had exhausted Himself in one effort, it would be incredible that the eternal God had crushed into the moment which we call time every thought that makes Him God. Greater things than these shall ye do; when He, the Paraclete, is come, He will guide you into all truth; grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; add to your faith, until you scaffold yourselves up into brotherly love and charity, for from that pinnacle the next step is right into heaven. The question is, Are we in need of further revelation? Do we call for it? We may call for it speculatively, and no answer will he given; we may ask for it for the sake of mere intellectual delectation, and the heavens will be dumb and frowning: but if we try to outgrow God, then we shall know what God is in reality; He challenges the sacred rivalry, He appeals to our emulation to follow Him and study Him, and try to comprehend Him, and then how like a horizon He is, for we think we can touch Him in yonder top, but having climbed the steep the horizon is still beyond. To cleverness God has nothing to say; to vanity He is scornfully inhospitable; but to the broken heart, to the contrite spirit and the willing mind, to filial, tender, devout, obedience, He will give Himself in infinite and continual donation: To this man will I look, for I see My own image in him, My own purpose is vitalised in his experience--the man who is of a humble and contrite heart, and who trembleth at My word, not in servility, but in rapture and wonder at its grandeur and tenderness.” (J. Parker, D. D.) God’ s gracious answers to our prayers When poor men make requests to us we usually answer them as the echo does the voice; the answer cuts off half the petition. We shall seldom find among men Jael’ s courtesy, giving milk to those that ask water, except it be, as this was, an entangling benefit, the better to introduce a mischief. There are not many Naamans among us, that, when you beg of them one talent, will force you to take two; but God’ s answer to our prayers is like a multiplying glass, which renders the request much greater in the answer than it was in the prayer. (J. Reynolds.) Answers to prayer should be eagerly expected One of the heathen poets speaks of Jupiter throwing certain prayers to the winds,--dispersing them in empty air. It is sad to think that we often do that for ourselves. What would you think of a man who had written and folded and sealed and addressed a letter, flinging it out into the street and thinking no more about it? Sailors in foundering ships sometimes commit notes in sealed bottles to the waves for the chance of them being some day washed on some shore. Sir John Franklin’ s companions among the snows, and Captain Allen Gardiner dying of hunger in his cove, wrote words they could not be sure anyone would ever read. But we do not need to think of our prayers as random messages. We should therefore look for a reply to them and watch to get it. (J. Edmond.) And shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.--Prevailing prayer There are different translations of these words. One version renders it, “ I will shew thee great and fortified things.” Another, “ Great and reserved things.” Now, there are reserved and special things in Christian experience: all the developments of spiritual life are not alike easy of attainment. There are the common frames and feelings of repentance, and faith, and joy, and hope, which are enjoyed by the entire family; but there is an upper realm of rapture, of communion, and conscious union with Christ, which is far from being the common dwelling-place of believers. We have not all the higher privilege of John, to lean upon Jesus’ bosom; nor of Paul, to be caught up into the third heaven. There are heights in experimental knowledge of the things of God which the eagle’ s eye of acumen and philosophic thought hath never seen: God alone can bear us there; but the chariot in which He takes us up, and the fiery steeds with which that chariot is dragged, are prevailing prayers. Prevailing prayer is victorious over the God of mercy. “ By his strength he had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto Him: he found Him in Bethel, and there He spake with us.” Prevailing prayer takes the Christian to Carmel, and enables him to cover heaven with clouds of blessing, and earth with floods of mercy. Prevailing prayer bears the Christian aloft to Pisgah, and shows him the inheritance reserved; it elevates us to Tabor and transfigures us, till in the likeness of our Lord, as He is, so are we also in this world. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 33:6 Behold I will bring it health and cure.This passage, in its more immediate application, relates to the city and people of Jerusalem, and conveys a promise to the unhappy nation of the Jews of blessings which are yet in store for them. The Great Physician I. The visit which this Good Physician pays to the poor patient who has need of Him. The patient is a wretched being, who, in a spiritual point of view, is diseased from head to foot, and hath “ no soundness in him.” He has the disease of human nature, the disease which you and I have--sin. He has become painfully alive to the humiliating fact that there is no good thing in him--that all his doings have been evil--and that the sentence of death eternal hangs over his soul. He cannot heal himself. His fellow-sinners cannot heal him. Is not then his case desperate? It would be so indeed were it not for a voice from heaven which saith of this poor sinner, “ I will bring him health and cure.” Every word is a word of comfort to that sinner’ s soul. There is comfort in the first word “ I” --I will do it. For who is it that speaks? It is Jesus, the great, the mighty Saviour of the soul--that famous, that renowned Physician who hath healed already such a multitude of sinners, and hath never lost a single patient. There is comfort in the next word, “ I will bring” --for, alas! this sinner cannot fetch his cure. But look at the last words of the sentence, and behold still more abundant comfort for this perishing transgressor. “ I will bring,” saith the Lord--What? A medicine? A healing application that will be likely to avail--that may conduce towards recovery? No, but--Oh, bold words! words only fit for an Almighty Saviour!--I will bring him health and cure--something so sovereign in its virtue, so sure, so swift in its effects, that, the moment it is tried upon the patient, he is well; not only in part restored; not only altogether freed from his disease; but well--in full, in perfect health. The balm which the Physician brings to cure the sinner with is the blood which He hath shed for them, the life which He hath given for them, the full, the perfect and sufficient sacrifice which He hath offered up for them. And this balm, is not medicine only--for that may heal or not heal; that is a mere experiment upon a broken constitution, and may be ineffectual; but the balm which Jesus brings the sinner may well be styled “ health and cure” ; for it is everything at once which the sinner’ s case requires. This precious blood “ cleanseth from all sin.” But we have not yet attended this Good Physician to His patient. We have not yet ascertained, I mean, how He may be said to “ bring” this “ health and cure” to the poor sinner’ s soul. It is when He opens that sinner’ s eyes to view Him as a Saviour--when, by His word or by His ministers, He sets His love before that sinner’ s soul, and by His Holy Spirit makes him see it. II. Observe the Good Physicial actually curing the poor patient He attends. There is a difference between a remedy brought near, and a remedy applied; and there is a difference again between Christ’ s “ bringing health and cure” to the sinner, and that sinner’ s being cured. “ The grace of God that bringeth salvation” is said to “ appear unto all men” ; but we know that all men to whom it appeareth are not saved by it. Many men perceive that Christ is their Physician, yet will not take His remedy; and many men believe that they have used the remedy when they have only done so in appearance. The patient we have endeavoured to describe is a really humbled and awakened soul, and the Lord, who brings him health, gives him faith also, to be healed. He believes in Jesus as a Saviour. He casts his soul on Him for pardon and righteousness. III. Now proceed to the blessings my text describes Him as bestowing on the poor patients He has healed. “ I will reveal to them,” says He, “ the abundance of peace and truth.”1. We may regard this peace and truth as the privileges of the redeemed sinner. When our poor sick bodies are recovered unexpectedly from a painful and a dangerous disease, how do we rejoice in our newly acquired health! How are our fears calmed and our anxieties removed! but these natural emotions are not to be compared for a moment with the spiritual feelings and experiences of the pardoned sinner; no sooner hath the Good Physician healed the soul than what doth He reveal to it? “ The abundance of peace and truth.” Peace--for “ being justified by faith, he hath peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Christ “ revealeth” also to him “ the abundance of truth.” He enjoys, through the Spirit which Christ sends him, a glorious and most comfortable apprehension of the truth of God--of the truth of His grace, of the truth of His covenant, of the truth of His promises. 2. Consider this “ abundance of peace and truth” as referring also to the character acquired by the believer in consequence of his faith. Christ may be said to have revealed to His people the “ abundance of peace” in that He hath given them a peaceful spirit--in that He hath sent that Dove-like Messenger to rest upon their souls who is “ first pure, then peaceable,” and who makes the hearts He enters like Himself. And Christ may be said also to have revealed to him “ the abundance of truth,” by enabling him to walk in truth. He is “ an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile,” no crooked policy, no artful management. His aim is, on all occasions, to be “ a child of the light and of the day” --“ sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ” --“ having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reproving them.” (A. Roberts, M. A.) Health for the soul I. The patient and his disease. The patient is man; the disease is sin. We see the disease equally in the most refined as in the most ignorant. It stares us in the face when we read of an African negress sacrificing a fowl to her little image; and it shows itself equally when we read of a Grecian philosopher proposing before his death the sacrifice of a cock to Esculapius. We see the ignorance of the true God; we see at the same time such a consciousness of sin that something must be done to appease the apprehension which they have of the reality of a God. But we need a closer application of the subject. You may all of you say perhaps, “ I have never been guilty of idolatry; I am neither Mohammetan, nor Socialist, nor Communist, nor an infidel.” Let us look, then, at some of the peculiar features of the disease of sin, and see whether it is not preying upon you as it is upon other men in the world. Now, it is well illustrated by the effect which sickness produces upon our body. For instance, sickness produces languor through the whole body; and this is exactly God’ s account of the effect of sin (Isaiah 1:5-6). Take the faculties of man. Take his understanding. The understanding, we are told, “ is darkened,” so that man is no longer wise to do good; he is only wise to do evil. Again, look at his will. The will of man has a wrong bias. Once, I cannot doubt, it was true of Adam, as spoken of our Lord in the fortieth Psalm, “ I delight to do Thy will, O God; yea, it is within my heart.” I cannot doubt there was a time when that was the natural expression of Adam’ s heart; but now it is not the expression of any man’ s heart until he is renewed by the Holy Ghost. But again: sickness takes away our desire for what is wholesome. So it is with sinners. They “ put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” ; they call darkness light, and light darkness, and evil good, and good evil: whereas the spiritual man delights in the law of God after the inward man renewed by the Holy Ghost. Another effect produced by sickness upon the frame is, that it takes away the comfort of life. There is no enjoyment in anything put before the sick man enfeebled by disease, anything in which he was once able to take delight. Yea, life itself often becomes a burden. Now, what is the burden? Why, sin is the burden; it is this, only you do not know it; it is this which at times poisons the joy even of the most thoughtless--the consciousness of sin, the consciousness of your opposition to a holy God. II. The physician and the cure. “ Behold I will bring it health and cure” --“ I” --Jesus. And it has been Jesus always. The remedy may have been stated more distinctly under the Gospel than under the law, but not more really. It was Jesus always, it was the precious blood of Jesus always, pointed at in the very first premise that was made by God, that “ the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’ s head.” And salvation has always been shut up in that seed. It may have been expressed sometimes as being Abraham’ s seed, sometimes the seed of Isaac, and sometimes the seed of Jacob, but it had only one meaning; as the apostle said in the third chapter of Galatians, “ Not unto seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” There is the Physician that God has always revealed. And what is His character? I cannot give you a better picture of Him than He has given of Himself in the parable of the good Samaritan. The wounded man had no charges; he had nothing to pay; the good Samaritan paid for all It is so with Jesus. The only fee, if I may so speak with reverence of Jesus, is--all He asks of us is, that we should trust Him, that we should believe in Him. He holds out to us in the Gospel perfect cure of all our disease, whatever it may be, and however aggravated; and He only says, “ Let Me cure you.” And when I point you to this Good Samaritan as a Physician, I would have you remember that He is the only One. I call this another inexpressible mercy, that the poor sinner’ s mind, anxious for relief, is not distracted in the Gospel by choosing between physicians. As the sun is clear in the firmament of heaven at noonday, so does Jesus shine forth as the Sun of Righteousness “ with healing in His wings “ to every poor sinner. And observe how He brings this before you. He says, “ Direct your attention, ‘ behold,’ take notice, ‘ I will bring you health and cure.’” Here is purpose, here is determination, here is sovereign will. “ I will cure, I will heal, I will reveal abundance of peace and truth.” We may ask, then, if the way be so simple, “ why is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered!” “ Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” Yes, there is balm, there is the blood of Jesus; there is a Physician, there is Jesus Himself. Then “ why is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered!” I will put before you some reasons. Some are not healed because they do not know they are sick. There is often very great mischief going on in our frames without our knowing it. That is the way in which mortal diseases get hold of a man. Then some are not healed because they love their disease. Yea, they love sin. We read of a very celebrated man, St. Augustine, that there was a time when his conscience was so harassed by the oppression of sin, at the same time that his affections were set upon the enjoyment and indulgence of it, that he declared he was afraid his prayers should be heard when he prayed for deliverance from sin. Now I would ask whether that is not the ease with many. Some, again, are not healed because they are not willing to be healed. Our Lord says, “ Ye will not come to Me that ye might have life.” Again, some hearts are not healed because they will not take the Gospel remedies. What are the two great remedies that Jesus proposes? Repentance towards God, and faith towards Himself. But these are bitter and nauseous draughts to the natural man. There is one other reason which I would give why some are not healed--because they put no confidence in the Physician. Here is the root of all the evil--a want of faith. If they trusted Him, they would trust His word; and if they trusted His Word, they would take His remedies. (J. W. Reeve, M. A.) Jeremiah 33:8I will cleanse them from all their iniquity. Our Cleanser (with Psalms 19:12):--Many think that Jesus came into the world to forgive our sins; which is true, but it is only a part of the truth; for the New Testament reveals that He came to save us from our sins. Forgiveness is a great thing; but cleansing from sin is greater. Any kindly hearted man can forgive an injury; but only an omnipotent God can wash the love of sin from our nature. The Bible reveals that God has both the will and the power to give a clean heart. I. It is a needful prayer. “ Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.”1. Do not our secret thoughts need cleansing? 2. Our secret imaginations need to be cleansed. Children build fairy castles in the air, and tenant them with the pure, the brave, and the true; but as we grow older, our airy castles begin to be peopled with those whose actions are tainted with sin; and when we arrive at manhood, the unconverted soul builds castles in its imagination in which iniquity abounds without any obstacle to hinder it. 3. Our secret desires need cleansing. If there were no desire for sin, there would be no transgression; and we, therefore, need to pray continually, “ Lord, cleanse my sinful desires! Let my longings be washed from their bias to transgression!” 4. Our secret habits need cleansing. When a man yields to a sinful habit it is difficult to break it off. You need superhuman power; and that power shall be granted to all who sincerely ask of God. The sculptor who forms a figure in marble does it gradually by thousands of chisel strokes; and in the same way, when you are forming your soul either for goodness or badness, it is a gradual work. As no man is made an angel in a moment, so no man is made a devil in a moment. It is a work of time. It is first a thought, then a picture in the mind, then a desire, then a hesitating step, and afterwards the boldness of habit. It is hard work battling against a world inclined to sin; it is more difficult to resist a loved one who tempts us; but the hardest battle ever man can fight in this world is when he struggles against his soul’ s inclination to think or do evil. And I feel persuaded that no man can cleanse his secret faults without the help of God. But however bad your secret sins may be, you can be purified. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Christ has unfurled the flag of liberty, and His Spirit now calls on every man who is bound by sin to cry to Him for life! II. Unbelief hinders us from being cleansed. Some men say, “ Nobody can be saved from all their secret faults!” But if the Lord say He will cleanse us from all our iniquity, is it not a wicked thing to doubt it? Perhaps, somebody remarks, “ Well, I used to think I might be cleansed from sin, and I tried, but failed every time.” Now let me ask you a question. Were you not a great deal happier when you were seeking to ,conquer your secret faults than you are now? You reply, “ Yes, I was happier; but why did I not succeed?” A man who is trying to crush down the sin of his heart is happier than he who is content with the slavery of sin. If he do not succeed, the reason is that he is trying to do for himself what cannot be done without God. Ask the Lord to cleanse. It is your work to bring your soul in faith and prayer to Him, and it is His work to cleanse it. III. How does the Lord cleanse us? The Jews in times of old were cleansed by being sprinkled with the blood of a beast. But this is not the way in which we are cleansed from secret faults. The Spirit of Christ can enter our souls and can cleanse us from sin. (W. Birch.) A threefold disease and a twofold cure Jeremiah was a prisoner in the palace of the last King of Judah. The long, national tragedy had reached almost the last scene and the last act. The besiegers were drawing their net closer round the doomed city. The prophet never faltered in predicting its fall, but he as uniformly pointed to a period behind the impending ruin, when all should be peace and joy. His song was modulated from a saddened minor to triumphant jubilation. The exiles shall return, the city shall be rebuilt, its desolate streets shall ring with hymns of praise, and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride. The land shall be peopled with peaceful husbandmen, and white with flocks. There shall be again a King upon the throne; sacrifices shall again be offered. That fair vision of the future begins with the offer of healing and cure, and with the exuberant promise of my text. The first thing to be dealt with was Judah’ s sin; and that being taken away, all good and blessing would start into being, as flowerets will spring when the baleful shadow of some poisonous tree is removed. I. A threefold view of the sad condition of humanity. Observe the recurrence of the same idea in our text in different words. “ Their iniquity whereby they have sinned against Me.” . . . “ Their iniquity whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me.” You see there are three expressions which roughly may be taken as referring to the same ugly fact, but yet not meaning quite the same--“ iniquity, or iniquities, sin, transgression.” Suppose three men are set to describe a snake. One of them fixes his attention on its slimy coils, and describes its sinuous gliding movements. Another of them is fascinated by its wicked beauty, and talks about its livid markings, and its glittering eye. The third thinks only of the swift-darting fangs, and of the poison-glands. They all three describe the snake, but they describe it from different points of view. And so it is here. “ Iniquity,” “ sin,” “ transgression” are synonyms to some extent, but they do not cover the same ground. They look at the serpent from different points of view. First, a sinful life is a twisted or warped life. The word rendered’ “ iniquity,” in the Old Testament, in all probability, literally means something that is not straight; that is bent, or, as I said, twisted or warped. That is a metaphor that runs through a great many languages. I suppose “ right” means the very same thing--that which is straight and direct; and I suppose that “ wrong” has something to do with “ wrung” --that which has been forcibly diverted from a right line. We all know the conventional colloquialism about a man being “ straight,” and such-and-such a thing being “ on the straight.” All sin is a twisting of the man from his proper course. Now there underlies that metaphor the notion that there is a certain line to which we are to conform. The schoolmaster draws a firm, straight line in the child’ s copybook; and then the little unaccustomed hand takes up on the second line its attempt, and makes tremulous, wavering pot-hooks and hangers. There is a copyhead for us, and our writing is, alas! all uneven and irregular, as well as blurred and blotted. There is a law, and you know it; and you carry in yourself--I was going to say, the standard measure, and you know whether, when you put your life by the side of that, the two coincide. This very prophet has a wonderful illustration, in which he compares the lives of men who have departed from God to the racing about in the wilderness of a wild dromedary “ entangling her ways,” as he says, crossing and recrossing, and getting into a maze of perplexity. Ah! is that not something like your life? All sin is deflection from the straight road, and we all are guilty of that. Let me ask you to consult the standard that you carry within yourselves. It is easy to imagine that a line is straight. But did you ever see the point of a needle under a microscope? However finely it is polished, and apparently regularly tapering, the scrutinising investigation of the microscope shows that it is all rough and irregular. The smallest departure from the line of right will end, unless it is checked, away out in the regions of darkness beyond. The second of them, rendered in our version “ sin,” if I may recur to my former illustration, looks at the snake from a different point of view, and it declares that all sin misses the aim. The meaning of the word in the original is simply “ that which misses its mark.” Now, there are two ways in which that thought may be looked at. Every wrong thing that we do misses the aim, if you consider what a man’ s aim ought to be. “ Man’ s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.” That is the only aim which corresponds to our constitution, to our circumstances. And so, whatever you win, unless you win God, you have missed the aim. Anything short of knowing Him and loving Him, serving Him, being filled and inspired by Him, is contrary to the destiny stamped upon us all. Then there is another side to this. The solemn teaching of this word is not confined to that thought, but also opens out into this other, that all godlessness, all the low, sinful lives that so many of us live, miss the shabby aim which they set before themselves. I do not believe that any man or woman ever got as much good, even of the lowest kind, out of a wrong thing as they expected to get when they ventured on it. If they did they got something else along with it that took all the gilt off the gingerbread. The drunkard gets his pleasurable oblivion, his pleasurable excitement. What about the corrugated liver, the palsied hand, the watery eye, the wrecked life, the broken hearts at home, and all the other accompaniments? There is an old story that speaks of a knight and his company who were travelling through a desert, and suddenly beheld a castle into which they were invited, and hospitably welcomed. A feast was spread before them, and they each ate and drank his fill. But as soon as they left the enchanted halls they were as hungry as before they sat at the magic table. That is the kind of food that all our wrong-doing provides for us. “ He feedeth on ashes,” and hungers after he has fed. And now, further, there is yet another word here, carrying with it important lessons. The expression which is translated in our text “ transgressed,” literally means “ rebelled.” And the lesson of it is, that all sin is, however little we think it, a rebellion against God. That introduces a yet graver thought than either of the former has brought us face to face with. Behind the law is the Lawgiver. When we do wrong, we not only blunder, we not only go aside from the right line, we lift up ourselves against our Sovereign King. Sins are against God; and, dear friends, though you do not realise it, this is plain truth, that the essence, the common characteristic, of all the acts which, as we have seen, are twisted and foolish, is that in them we are setting up another than the Lord our God to be our ruler. We are enthroning ourselves in His place. Does not that thought make all these apparently trivial and insignificant things terribly important? Treason is treason, no matter what the act by which it is expressed. It may be a little thing to haul down a union-jack from a flagstaff, or to tear off a barn-door a proclamation with the royal arms at the top of it, but it may be rebellion. And if it is, it is as bad as to turn out a hundred thousand men in the field, with arms in their hands. II. The twofold bright hope which comes through this darkness. “ I will cleanse . . . I will pardon.” If sin combines in itself all these characteristics that I have touched upon, then clearly there is guilt, and clearly there are stains; and the gracious promise of this text deals with both the one and the other. “ I will pardon.” What is pardon? Do not limit it to the analogy of a criminal court. When the law of the land pardons, or rather when the administrator of the law pardons, that simply means that the penalty is suspended. But is that forgiveness? Certainly it is only a part of it, even if it is a part. What do you fathers and mothers do when you forgive your child? You may use the rod or you may not; that is a question of what is best for the child. Forgiveness does not lie in letting him off the punishment; but forgiveness lies in the flowing to the child, uninterrupted, of the love of the parent’ s heart. And that is God’ s forgiveness. Do you need pardon? Do you not? What does conscience say? What does the sense of remorse that sometimes blesses you, though it tortures, say? I know not any gospel that goes deep enough to touch the real sore place in human nature, except the Gospel that says to you and me and all of us, “ Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!” But forgiveness is not enough, for the worst results of past sin are the habits of sin which it leaves within us; so that we all need cleansing. Can we cleanse ourselves? Let experience answer. Did you ever try to cure yourself of some little trick of gesture, or manner, or speech? And did you not find out then how strong the trivial habit was? You never know the force of a current till you try to row against it. You may have the stained robe washed and made lustrous white in the blood of the Lamb. Pardon and cleansing are our two deepest needs. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Our sins swallowed up You see the Thames as it goes sluggishly down through the arches, carrying with it endless impurity and corruption You watch the inky stream as it pours along day and night, and you think it will pollute the world. But you have just been down to the seashore, and you have looked on the great deep, and it has not left a stain on the Atlantic. No, it has been running down a good many years and carried a world of impurity with it, but when you go to the Atlantic there is not a speck on it. As to the ocean, it knows nothing about it. It is full of majestic music. So the smoke of London goes up, and has been going up for a thousand years. One would have thought that it would have spoiled the scenery by now; but you get a look at it sometimes. There is the great blue sky which has swallowed up the smoke and gloom of a thousand years, and its azure splendour is unspoiled. It is wonderful how the ocean has kept its purity, and how the sky has taken the breath of the millions and the smoke of the furnaces, and yet it is as pure as the day God made it. It is beautiful to think that these are only images of God’ s great pity for the race. Our sins, they are like the Thames, but, mind you, they shall be swallowed up--lost in the depths of the sea, to be remembered against us no more. Though our sins have been going up to heaven through the generations, yet, though thy sins are as crimson, they shall be as wool, as white as snow. (W. L. Watkinson.) I will pardon all their iniquities. The pardon of sin I. The pardon of sin which Almighty God, in infinite mercy and grace, is now offering to sinners in the Gospel, is a full pardon--that is, it comprehends and extends to every sin, however sinful, and includes all sins, however numerous. It was foretold in ancient prophecy that when the Messiah should come “ to make His soul an offering for sin,” He should, by His atoning death, “ finish transgressions, make an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness.” Our blessed Saviour having come, as it wee thus written of Him, and having suffered the “ just for us the unjust,” the Gospel testimony of His vicarious sufferings declares that His expiatory death has made a full and perfect atonement for all the sins of His people--that He has thereby fully reconciled them to God--that “ His blood cleanseth them from all sin” --that “ He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God through Him.” II. The pardon proclaimed in the Gospel is free--it is vouchsafed by an infinitely gracious God, suspended on no condition whatever to be performed by the sinner as the meritorious ground of its bestowal. It is this absolute freeness of the forgiveness of sin proclaimed in the Gospel that makes it worthy of an infinitely gracious God’ s bestowal, and good news to poor, miserable, and wretched sinners. Were it otherwise, it could be no rest to an awakened and alarmed conscience--to a weary and heavy sin-laden soul. III. The pardon proclaimed to sinners in the Gospel is Everlasting. This makes it a complete pardon. (A. M‘ Watt.) Jeremiah 33:9 They shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. Chastened happiness Our text suggests at the outset the remark that all the good things which make up prosperity are to be traced unto the Lord. These benefits are not from beneath, but from above; let them not be passed by in ungrateful silence, but let us send upward humble and warm acknowledgments. He who forgets mercy deserves that mercy should forget him. Remark next, that temporal mercies are always best when they come in their proper order. Blessed be God if He has given to us first the fruits of the sun of grace, and then the fruits put forth by the moon of providence. The main thing is to be able to sing, “ Bless the Lord, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases,” and after that it is most pleasant to add, “ Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things.” What shall I say of the happiness of those persons who have spiritual and temporal blessings united, to whom God has given both the upper and the nether springs, so that they possess all things needful for this life in fair proportion, and then, far above all, enjoy the blessings of the life to come? Such are first blessed in their spirits and then blessed in their basket and in their store. In their case double favour calls for double praise, double service, double delight in God. And yet, and yet, and yet, if we are very happy to-day, and though that happiness be lawful and proper, because it arises both out of spiritual and temporal things in due order, yet in all human happiness there lurks a danger. There is a wealth which hath a sorrow necessarily connected with it, and I ween that even when God maketh rich and addeth no sorrow therewith, yet He makes provision against an ill which else would surely come. The text speaks of goodness and prosperity procured for us, and then tells us that all danger which might arise out of it is averted by a gracious work upon the heart. The Lord sends a chastened joy. “ They shall fear and tremble.” I Let us think a little about the toning down of our great joys.1. In the cup of salvation there are drops of bitterness, and so must it be, for unmixed delight in this world would be dangerous. When the sea is smooth the ship makes poor sailing. Men are bird-limed by their rest and ease, and have small care to fly heavenward. We are apt to lose our God among our goods, Is it not so? If the world’ s roses had no thorns should we not think it paradise, and forego all desire for the gardens above? 2. Unmixed joy would be fallacious, because there is no such thing here below. If a man should become perfectly contented with the things of this world, it would be the result of a false view of things. This is an error against which we should pray; for this world cannot fill the soul, and if a man thinks he has filled his soul with it, he must be under a gross delusion. As to spiritual joy, I say that in no man’ s experience can it be long without admixture and yet be true. Never at any moment can a Christian be in such a position that he has not some cause either for dissatisfaction with himself, or fear of the tempter, or anxiety to he faithful in service. 3. Unmixed delight on earth would be unnatural. When the Dutch had the trade of the East in their hands they were accustomed to sell birds of paradise to the untravelled people of these realms. These specimen birds had no feet, for they had craftily removed them, and the merchants declared that the species lived on the wing and never alighted. There was so much of truth in the fable that had they been really and veritably “ birds of paradise” they would not have found a place for their feet upon this globe. Truly, birds of paradise do come and go, and flit from heaven to earth, but we see them not, neither can we build tabernacles to detain them. While you are here expect reminders of the fact that this is not your rest. II. The feelings by which this sobering effect is produced. “ They fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.” Why fear and tremble?1. Is not this in part a holy awe of God’ s presence? “ Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. The argument for fear and trembling is the work of God in the soul. Because God is working m you there must be no trifling. If the eternal Deity deigns to make a workshop of my nature, I too must work, but it must be with fear and trembling. 2. But next to that there arises up in the mind of every favoured Christian a deep repentance for past sin. Have you not felt as if you could never open Four mouth any more because of all your unkindness to your heavenly Friend? Such penitent, reflections keep the Lord’ s people right, by creating a fear and trembling m the presence of His overflowing goodness. 3. Has not your deepest sense of unworthiness come upon you when you have been conscious of superlative mercy? We tremble and are afraid, because of the unutterable grace which has met our utter unworthiness, and rivalled it, until grace has gotten unto itself the victory. 4. Have you never noticed how the Lord brings His people to their bearings, and keeps them steady, under a sense of great love, by suggesting to their hearts the question, “ How can I live as becometh one who has been favoured like this? “ Did you ever feel that the glory of the palace of love made you afraid to dwell in it? 5. And have you never felt a fear lest God’ s goodness should be abused by you? He who has never questioned his own condition had better make an immediate inquiry. He who has never felt great searchings of heart needs to be searched with candles. No man’ s hell shall be more terrible than that of the self-confident one who made so sure of heaven that he would not take the ordinary precaution to ask whether his title-deeds were genuine or no. 6. One more thought may also occur to the most joyous believer. He will say, “ What if after rejoicing in all this blessedness I should lose it?” “ What,” cries one, “ do you not believe in the final perseverance of the saints?” Assuredly I do, but are we saints! There’ s the question. Moreover, many a believer who has not lost his soul has, nevertheless, lost his present joy and prosperity, and why may not we? III. The measure in which you and I can enter into this experience. We have hundreds of us perceived the benefits of the dark lines and shadings of life’ s picture, and we see how fit and proper it is that trembling should mingle with transport. As the fruit of experience I have learned to look for a hurricane soon after an unusually delightful calm. When the wind blows hard, and the tempest lowers, I hope that before long there will be s lull; but when the sea-birds sit on the wave, and the sail hangs idly, I wonder when a gale will come. To my mind there is no temptation so bad as not being tempted at all. The worst devil in the world is when you cannot see the devil at all, because the villain has hidden himself away within the heart, and is preparing to give you a fatal stab. Since there is an everlasting arm that never can he palsied, since there is a brow that knows no wrinkle, and a Divine mind that is never perplexed, we go forward in hope, and cast ourselves upon our eternal Helper once again. You have heard of the ancient giant Antaeus, who could not be overcome, because as often as Hercules threw him to the ground, he touched his mother earth, and rose renewed. Such be your lot and mine, often to be cast down, and as often to rise by that downcasting. “ When I am weak then am I strong.” Let us glory in infirmity, because the power of Christ doth rest upon us. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 33:10-13 The voice of Joy, and the voice of gladness.Joy after desolation We are called upon to realise the fullest meaning of desolation. Think of a forsaken city, think of being afraid of the sound of your own footfall! Even in that desolation there comes an overpowering sense of society, as if the air were full of sprites, ghostly presences. What s singular sense there is too of trespass, encroachment, of being where you have no right to be--as if you were intruding upon the sanctuary of the dead--as if you were cutting to the life some spiritual ministry, conducting itself mysteriously but not without some beneficent purpose. You have broken in upon those invisible ones who are watching their dead; you want to escape from the solitude--in one sense it is too sacred for you, wholly too solemn; you would seek the society of your kind, for other society is uncongenial, unknown, and is felt to be a criticism intolerable, a judgment overwhelming. Yet if you do not fasten your attention upon the possibilities of desolation, darkness, forsakenness, loneliness, how can you appreciate what is to follow? May we not then hasten to inquire what is to follow? Can God work miracles here? It is just here that He works His grandest miracles; it is when all light dies out that He comes forth in His glory; it is when we say, There is no more road, the rock shuts us out, our progress is stayed,--it is then that a path suddenly opens in rocky places, and footprints disclose themselves for the comfort and inspiration of the lone traveller. Notice how exactly God’ s miracles fit human circumstances. They overflow them, but they first fill all their cavities and all the opportunities which they create and present. Thus God displaces darkness by light; thus God does not drive away the silence with noise but with music: it is no battering of rude violence that brings back human intercourse into plains that have been swept with human desolation; it is a festival, a banquet, a wedding scene, and already the forsaken valley vibrates as if under the clash of wedding bells. What was the quality of the joy that was wrought? It was profoundly religious. The voices that were uplifted were to say, “ Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.” There are times when men must praise the Lord. The heart leads the judgment; the uppermost feeling, elevated and sanctified, tells the whole man what to do, uses the understanding as one might use some inferior creature to help him in carrying out the purposes of life. What is this highest faculty, what is this mysterious power, that takes to itself understanding, imagination, conscience, will, and all elements of energy? It is religious emotion; not sentimentalised and frittered away into mere vapour, but high, intelligent, noble feeling, glowing, passionate enthusiasm, a consecration without break or flaw or self-questioning, a wholeness of consent and devotion to the supreme purpose of life. When this desolation is banished, when this wedding feast is held, by what picture is the safety of the people represented? By a very tender one. We had in England shepherds who long ago spoke of taking care of their flocks under the idiom of “ telling their tale” counting the flock one by one. There shall be no hurrying, crowding into the fold, but one shall follow another, and each shall be looked at in its singularity; there shall be nothing tumultuous, indiscriminate, promiscuous; every process of providence is conducted critically, individually, minutely: so there is no hope for a man getting into the fold without the Shepherd seeing him; every sheep of the flock has to pass under the hand of him that telleth his tale. Until we realise the personality of the Divine supervision we shall flounder in darkness and our prayers will be mere evaporations, bringing back no answer, no blessing, no pledge from heaven. This is the picture presented by the prophet. Not one tittle of this providential order has been changed; the whole mystery of human life is to be found within its few lines. Consider what desolation good men have been called upon to realise. Never let us shut our eyes to the suffering aspect of human life. On the contrary, let us dwell upon it with attentive solicitude, that we may wonder, and learn to pray and trust. Say nought to the mocker, for he is not worth heeding, but say to the poor suffering heart itself, Wait: joy cometh in the morning: it is very sore now; the wind is very high, the darkness is very dense; our best plant poor heart! is to sit down and simply wait for God: He will come we cannot tell when, in the early part of the night, or not until the crowing of the cock, but come He will; it hath pleased Him to keep the times and seasons wholly to Himself, without revelation to narrow human intellects; let us then wait, and there is a way of waiting that amounts to prayer: poor heart! we have no words, we could not pray in terms, because we should be mocked by the echo of our own voice, but there is a way of sitting still that by its heroic patience wins the battle. Consider what changes have been wrought in human experience. You thought you could never sing again when that last tremendous blow was dealt upon your life, yet you are singing more cheerfully now than you ever sung in any day of your history; you thought when you lost commercial position that you never really could look up again, for your heart was overpowered, and behold, whilst you were talking such folly, a light struck upon your path, and a voice called you to still more strenuous endeavour, and to-day you who saw nothing before you but the asylum of poverty are adding field to field and house to house. You have been raised again from the very dead, you have forgotten your desolation, and you are now sitting like guests invited by heaven’ s own King at heaven’ s great banqueting table. Hold on; the end will judge all things. Hope stead lastly in God; prayer is sweetest in the darkness; when there seems to be no road over which to travel up to heaven, then it works its miracles, it finds a pathway in the night-cloud. What is the joy that is depicted in this text? It is religious joy. The joy created by religion is intelligent. It is not a bubble on the stream, it has reason behind it; it is strengthened and uplifted, supported and dignified, by logic, fact, reality. Religious joy is healthy. It is not spurious gladness, it is the natural expression of the highest emotions. Religious joy is permanent. It does not come for a moment, and vanish away as if it were afraid of life and afraid of living in this cold earth-clime; it abides with men. Let us know by way of application that there is only one real deliverance from desolateness. That is a Divine deliverance. Let us flee then to the living God; let us be forced to prayer. (J. Parker, D. D.) And of them that shall bring the sacrifice Of praise. In what sense praise is a sacrifice If I wanted to use, which I do not, mere theological technicalities, I should talk about the difference between sacrifices of propitiation and sacrifices of thanksgiving. But let us put these well-worn phrases on one side, as far as we can, for a moment. Here, then, is the fact that all the world over, and in the Mosaic ritual, there was expressed a double consciousness--one, that there was, somehow or other, a black dam between the worshipper and his Deity, which needed to be swept sway; and the other, that when that barrier was removed there could be an uninterrupted flow of thanksgiving and of service. So on one altar was laid a bleeding victim, and on another were spread the flowers of the field, the fruits of the earth, all things gracious, lovely, fair, and sweet, as expressions of the thankfulness of the reconciled worshippers. One set of sacrifices expressed the consciousness of sin; the other expressed the joyful recognition of its removal. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Thanksgiving unstinted The sacrifice is thanksgiving. Then there will be no reluctance because duty is heavy. There will be no grudging because requirements are great. There will be no avoiding of the obligations of the Christian life, and rendering as small a percentage by way of dividend as the Creditor up in the heavens will accept. If the offering is a thank-offering, then it will be given gladly. The grateful heart does not hold the scales like the scrupulous retail dealer, afraid of putting the thousandth part of an ounce more in than will be accepted. “ Give all thou canst--high heaven rejects the loveOf nicely calculated less or more.”(A. Maclaren, D. D.) Praise to Christ should be spontaneous and unrestrained If there is in us any deep, real, abiding, life-shaping thankfulness for the gift of Jesus Christ, it is impossible that our tongues should cleave to the roof of our mouths, and that we should be contented to live in silence. Loving hearts must speak. What would you think of a husband that never felt any impulse to tell his wife that she was dear to him; a mother that never found it needful to unpack her heart of its tenderness, even in perhaps inarticulate croonings over the little child that she pressed to her heart? It seems to me that a dumb Christian, a man that is thankful for Christ’ s sacrifice, and never feels the need to say so, is as great an anomaly as either of these I have described. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Jeremiah 33:15-16 This is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.The justified Church It is no slip of the pen--“ She shall be called” : it is no mistranslation, or unguarded statement, as might be imagined. It is a deliberate name, based on a great and an everlasting principle; and it is just as true, “ she shall be called the Lord our Righteousness,” as it is true that “ He,” that is, Christ, “ shall be called the Lord our Righteousness.” Why? Because there is a spiritual and yet real identity between Christ and this redeemed and believing throng. He and they are one in time, and will continue one in eternity. Nay, so completely is the Church knit to its Head, that it is said she is “ the fulness of Christ” ; as if Christ were not complete in heaven, complete in His mediatorial glory, complete in His happiness, until there be added to Him those He has ransomed by His blood, prepared by His Spirit, and at last brought, as the fruits of His grace, to the triumphs of His throne. You will also recollect, that in Scripture, the relationship that subsists between Christ and His Church, is represented as being the relationship which subsists between the husband and the wife. Her responsibilities He has assumed Himself, that they may be absorbed, and disappear before His Cross. It is thus, that a transfer, an exchange, takes place between Christ and His Church--by concentrating all her responsibility on Him; He being answerable for her sins, answerable for her defects, answerable to a perfect law and to a holy God; and she receiving from Him that glorious and everlasting name, which is the Open Sesame at the gates of heaven, and which shall he heard loudest in the songs and hallelujahs of the ransomed around the throne. Whatever name, I would observe next, is given in Scripture to anything, is a reality. Therefore, when it is said, “ This is the name by which she,” the Church, “ shall be called,” it does not imply that it is the investiture of that Church with a mere empty and evanescent honour, but the stamp, the imprimatur of an everlasting and indelible reality; so that the Church, in herself all rags, is made in Christ “ the Righteousness of God.” In discussing the subject matter of this name, I would lay before you the following facts, in order to show you the absolute necessity of our being “ called,” or being made, “ the Lord our Righteousness,” before we can ever expect to see God in happiness. Let me observe, then, there has been, is now, and ever will be, what is called a law. The law of God is just to God Himself what the sunbeam is to the sun--what the rivulet is to the fountain--what the effect is to the cause--what the blossom or the leaf is to the stem or the root. God’ s law is indestructible,--the everlasting stereotype, which can no more be destroyed than the Eternal Himself can be dethroned from the supremacy of the universe. Setting out, then, with the postulate, that there is, and must be, such a thing as God’ s moral law,--the language of which is, Do, and live,--Do not, and die,--we proceed, in the second place, to notice, that every member of this justified Church, with every child of Adam, has broken and violated that law. The next inquiry is, How can man be saved, and this law retain its unbending and awful strictness? Shall the whole race perish? for the whole race have broken God’ s law. Blessed be God, His love and mercy would not suffer this. If not, shall God’ s holy law be abrogated and annulled in whole or in part! His justice, His truth, His holiness cannot suffer that. Here, then, is the question, which no earthly OEdipus can solve; the labyrinth, which no human wisdom can unthread. Ancient philosophers, who saw dim and shadowy the attributes of the Eternal, even they were perplexed with difficulty here; and Socrates himself admitted, that it was extremely difficult to see how God could possibly receive to heaven them that His holiness must see to be sinful. Having thus noticed the impossibility of finding anything that could meet our case, let me ask again, Shall God be unjust, in order that sinners may be saved; or shall God be unmerciful, and this, in order that His law may remain just? God so loved us, that He would not let us perish; and yet God is so just, that He would not let His law be violated; how then can it be, how shall it be, that God shall remain infinitely just, infinitely holy, infinitely true, and yet that His love shall rush forth, and fill men’ s souls with its fulness, and the wide world with the multiplication of its trophies? The answer is given, “ This is the name by which He” (Christ) “ shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness” ; and “ this is the name by which she” (the Church) “ shall be called,” through an interest in Him, “ the Lord our Righteousness.” By that atonement which Christ consummated on the Cross, and in virtue of that righteousness which Christ achieved by His life, it now comes to pass, that God may be just whilst He justifies the ungodly that believe. This righteousness of Christ, which constitutes the only title of the believer, is called in Scripture by various names. It is called “ the righteousness of Christ,” because He perfected and consummated it. It is called “ the righteousness of God,” because He devised it, and it is His mode of justifying the sinner. It is called the righteousness of faith, because faith receives it; and it is also called our righteousness, because it is made ours by the free and sovereign gift of God. 1. Let me now observe of this righteousness that it is a perfect righteousness. When Christ exclaimed on the Cross, in the language partly of agony, and partly of triumph, “ It is finished,” He announced in these accents that that moment there was provided a perfect robe, of perfect and of spotless beauty, for every sinner under heaven, who would put forth the hand of faith, and appropriate it “ without money and without price.” 2. This righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Death shall not tarnish it, the grave shall not corrupt it, the wear and tear of life shall not destroy it. 3. This righteousness is ours, to the exclusion of all other whatever. Christ says to the queen on the throne, and to the meanest beggar by the wayside, “ Ye must both be saved by putting on the same perfect righteousness, or ye must be lost for ever.” 4. This righteousness is ours by imputation. Our sins were transferred to Him, and He endured the consequences of them; His righteousness is transferred to us, and we realise the fruits of it. 5. This righteousness is received by faith, and by faith alone. There are three things to be noticed; first, the spring; secondly, the water; and thirdly, the pipe that conveys the water. The spring, in this instance, is the love of God; the element, that justifies us, is the righteousness of Jesus; and faith is the channel, or the conduit, by which that righteousness is conveyed to us and made ours. It is the mere medium, not the merit; it is the mere hand that receives; and in no sense has it any part or share of the merit or glory. 6. I would observe of this righteousness that it insures, wherever it is, everlasting glory. “ Whom He justifies,” “ He glorifies.” Where He begins, He finishes; what He commences by grace, that He consummates and creams in glory. The Church’ s glory, derived from her Lord, is the righteousness of Christ; her beauty is that moral and spiritual beauty, which derived from heaven, defies the assaults of earth and hell, making its heirs the meet companions of Christ at heaven’ s high festival. 7. This Church, thus justified in the righteousness of Christ, is, in the next place, free from all condemnation. All things minister peace and blessedness to her who is at friendship with God, and identified with Jesus. For “ this is the name by which she shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness.” 8. This way of salvation excludes all boasting. Just because man is saved wholly through grace--wholly through the righteousness of another, and his very name is the name of another, therefore, this redeemed, elect, ransomed Church will east her crown before the throne of God and of the Lamb, and say, “ Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,” &c. 9. I observe that this mode of justification does not make void the law of God. “ Nay,” says the apostle, “ we rather establish the law.” You have in this fact clear and decisive evidence that it is the elevation of the Cross that makes all the moralities rise and cling and coil around it, and bloom and blossom. The Gospel alone in fact can give true and high-toned morality. 10. This righteousness is that alone in which we may glory. There is nothing but the Gospel that is worth glorying in. There is a moth in the fairest robe--there is a worm in the goodliest cedar--there is disease in the healthiest frame and rust on the purest gold. None of these things can satisfy men’ s souls with happiness. There is no glorying but in the righteousness of Christ, that is bright, pure, enduring, the prolific source of all that is good. (J. Gumming, D. D.) Christ, the perfection of righteousness Matthew Arnold, one of the prominent leaders of modern Agnosticism, thus speaks of Christ in his Literature and Dogma: “ Christ came to reveal what righteousness really is . . . Nothing will do except righteousness; and no other conception of righteousness will do except Christ’ s conception of it; His method and secret.” And in another part of the same book he writes: “ For our race, as we see it now, and as ourselves we form a part of it, the true God is and must be perfect.” (Great Thoughts.) Jeremiah 33:20-26 If ye can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night . . . Then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant.God’ s great day-and-night engine, as a witness against skepticism “ Day and night in their season” are God’ s perpetual challenge to unbelief, His sublime witnesses to the perpetuity of His Church. The doubters in Jeremiah’ s time saw, or thought they saw in the captivity of Israel already accomplished, and that of Judah foretold as nigh at hand, the complete breakdown of all God’ s plans and promises as to His people and His Church. They said: “ The two families (Judah and Israel) which the Lord did choose, Tie hath even cast them off.” “ There’ s an end of all our fine expectations! Prophecy breaks down! God can’ t keep His contract! Religion is a failure! We told you so!” But what does God say to them in reply? “ Thus saith the Lord If My covenant of day and night stand not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David My servant,” &c. Thus God reminds the sceptic and the doubter that His covenant with His Church is as firm as that with day and night. We of to-day are in the midst of a sceptical age, and some good people are alarmed at the growth of doubt, and at coldness and troubles in the churches. They firmly believe in the truth of Christianity, but they seem to have lost something of their faith in its conquering power. “ What does God mean by His covenant of day and night” ? It was equal to saying: “ If you can stop the daily rotation I have given to this earth, then you may stay the onward rolling wheels of My Messiah’ s chariot from the conquest of the world!” That’ s what God meant, and He has thus far made good His word. Judah, like Israel, for her sins, went into captivity. But unlike Israel, Judah was brought back to do God’ s work for ages longer; and perhaps for more work in the future than we now understand. The Church lives and grows. Tier ministers are thousands of thousands. “ As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured,” no more can her people. The earth rolls onward, bringing “ day and night in their season,” and the sun hears the missionary Angelus chiming around the globe. Let us study this sublime illustration. Look at the daily rotation of this globe, and imagine the power necessary to produce and maintain this rotation. Suppose we see what God’ s oath of day and night means when represented by steam mechanics. Let us build our engine and run this revolving globe a while by steam power. The earth is not a fiat fly-wheel set upon its edge, but a massive sphere, 8000 miles in diameter. So, by the ratio of size of shaft to size of paddle-wheel on a large steamboat, the earth must be slung on a steel shaft about 250 miles in diameter and 10,000 miles long. It must be driven by an engine whose cylinder should measure 1200 miles bore and 2000 miles stroke, having a piston-rod 100 miles thick and 2500 miles long, working by a connection-rod 3000 miles long on a crank of 1000 miles arm, with a wrist 200 miles long and 50 miles thick. The piston of this engine will make but one revolution daily; but to do that it will travel 4000 miles, at an average velocity of nearly three miles a minute. The working capacity of this engine will be about fourteen thousand million (14,000,000,000) horse-power. It must be controlled by an automatic governor of infallible accuracy, and supplied with inexhaustible fuel and oil; and so run on, day and night, never starting a bolt, nor heating a journal, nor wearing out a box, age after age. The iron bed-frame for this machine must be 10,000 miles square and 4000 miles high, and not tremble a hair under the stroke that drives the equatorial rim of this fly-wheel globe up to a steady velocity of seventeen and one-half miles a minute, twenty times the velocity of a lightning express train! Who’ ll take the contract to build and run this engine? The vast mass must fly through space in the earth’ s orbit around the sun, with a velocity of more than 1100 miles a minute. The Armstrong 100-ton steel rifle sends its 2000-pound steel projectile at the rate of 1600 feet per second clean through a solid wrought-iron plate 22 inches thick. But God fires this globe, 8000 miles in diameter, through space with 60 1/2 times the velocity of the monster projectile, and 2000 times that of an express train at 34 miles per hour. And our engine that gives it its day-and-night rotation must fly with it at that speed, and never lose a stroke! And these are very slow among the velocities of the starry worlds. And yet these velocities only represent what God does every moment by the abiding force of that first impulse He gave to this silent spinning globe when He shot it from His creating hand like a top from a boy’ s finger! Now, imagine the infidel trying to seize, in its mighty sweep, the flying crank that runs this globe, to stop its revolution! What then? Did you ever see a man caught and whirled and mangled on a little factory shaft, reduced to a shapeless pulp in a moment? Even so it has ever been with those who have tried to stop the engine of Christianity. (G. L. Taylor, D. D.) Divine plans of action unalterable I. The Almighty both in the material and spiritual departments of His universe acts from plan.1. The text speaks of a “ covenant” with material nature as well as with David. 2. The Infinite One acts evermore from plan. (1) A priori reasoning would suggest this. (2) The constitution of the creation shews this. The laws of nature about which philosophers talk are only parts of His plan which they have discovered. (3) The Bible teaches this. It speaks of Him appointing everything in nature (Genesis 1:1-31; Genesis 8:21-22; Isaiah 4:10-11; Psalms 104:1-35. &c.). II. The plan on which God conducts the material universe is manifestly beyond the power of His creatures to alter. 1. This is a blessing to all. If men could alter the order of nature what would become of us! 2. This is an argument for the Divinity of miracles, if miracles are changes in the order of nature. III. The unalterableness of His plan in material nature illustrates the unalterableness of His plan in the spiritual department of action. It is not impossible for God to reverse the order of nature, but it is impossible for God to act contrary to those principles of absolute truth and justice which He has revealed (Homilist.) . Jeremiah 34:17 Ye have not hearkened unto Me, in proclaiming liberty.The liberty of sin The Word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah that all bondservants in Israel should be forthwith emancipated. At first the princes obeyed, and the enslaved were allowed to go free. But eventually the princes played falsely, and once more brought their old servants into bondage. Then comes the text with its terrible irony. I. The mutiny against the law. In the first instance the governors felt the reasonableness of the commandment, they agreed to it, but at length they resisted it, violated it. And this spirit of revolt against the higher law is ever working in us and displaying itself in some form of disobedience.1. There is a theoretical repudiation of the law. Literary men are ever urging upon us that the moral law as given in revelation is unphilosophical, and the sooner it is renounced by all educated people the better. One by one they ingeniously find us a way out of all the ten great precepts. In our simplicity we thought the Saviour taught us that heaven and earth might pass away, but that the moral commandments should persist in absolute authority and force, but eloquent writers affect to show that the commandments are mere bye-laws, ripe for repeal. 2. And if there is a theoretical repudiation of the law on the part of the literary few, is there not a personal, practical mutiny against it on the part of us all? In manifold ways we criticise the law, fret at it, evade it, violate it. We spurn the circumscriptions which deny us so much, and in blind passion break into forbidden ground. And yet how gracious and beautiful is the law! How generous is the law referred to in the text enjoining upon the rich and great mercy and brotherliness! And the whole of the moral law as expressed in revelation is equally rational and benign. The “ commandments are not grievous.” No, indeed, they are gracious. Every commandment is an illumination, a light shining in a dark place to guide our feet in a dim and perilous way. Every commandment is a salvation. The commandment enjoining love is to save us from the damnation of selfishness; enjoining meekness to save us from the devil of pride; enjoining purity to save us from the hell of lust. Every commandment is a benediction. Scientists are always descanting on the grandeur of natural law, the law which builds the sky, which transfigures the flower, which rules the stars. The scientist, the mathematician, the musician will tell you that law is good, that the secret of the world’ s beauty is to be found in the wonderful laws which God wrote in tables of stone long before Moses came. And ii natural law, which rules things, is so sublime, how much does that moral law, which rules spirits, excel in glory! And yet how blindly do we mutiny against the great words of light and love! Some time ago it was told in the paper that a herd of cows was being driven through a long, dark, wooden tubular bridge. Here and there in the woodwork were knotholes, which let in the sun in bars of light. The animals were afraid of these sun-bars; they shied at them, were terrified at them, and then, leaping over them, made a painful hurdle-race of it, coming out at the other end palpitating and exhausted. We are just like them. The laws of God are golden rays in a dark path, they are for our guidance and infinite perfecting and consolation. But they irritate us, they enrage us, we count them despotic barriers to our liberty and happiness, and too often we put them under our feet. “ So foolish was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast before Thee.” II. The liberty of licence. “ Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord.” These nobles wished to be free themselves in enslaving their brethren, but in doing this they gave themselves away into servitude; they wished to enrich themselves, and they lost everything; they sought personal indulgence at the expense of their neighbours, and they suffered sword and famine and pestilence. Disobedience always means bondage, disgrace, suffering, death. A liberty to the sword, the famine, and the pestilence! Most awful is the liberty of unrighteousness; who can express the fulness of its woe! Some of you have visited the Castle of Chillon on the Lake of Geneva. In that castle is a dungeon which contains a shaft, at the bottom of which you see the waters of the lake; that shaft is called the way of liberty. Tradition says that in the old days the jailor in the darkness of the dungeon would whisper to the prisoner, “ Three steps and liberty,” and the poor dupe, hastily stepping forward, fell down this shaft, which was planted full of knives and spikes, the mutilated, bloody corpse finally dropping into the depths. That is precisely the liberty of sin. The dupe of sin takes a leap in the dark, he is forthwith pierced through with many sorrows, and mangled and bleeding falls into the gulf. “ There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”1. I want you to feel the madness of contending with God, for that is exactly what sin means. 2. I want you to believe that only through self-limitation can you find the highest liberty and blessedness. All civilisation is the giving up of liberty to find a nobler liberty. 3. If you are to keep the law, you must seek the strength of God in Christ. Born of God, living in fellowship with Him, full of faith, of love, of hope, we shall find the yoke of the law easy, and its burden light. The inner force is equal to the outward duty. (W. L. Watkinson.) . Jeremiah 35:1-19 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. The Rechabites Did the Lord make a proposal to total abstainers to drink wine? Did he send for them to a kind of wine festival? Is this the meaning of the Lord’ s Prayer, “ Load us not into temptation” ? Is not the Lord always thus leading men into temptation?--not in the patent and vulgar sense in which that term is generally understood, but in a sense which signifies drill, the application of discipline, the testing of principles and purposes and character? Is not all life a temptation? The Lord tries every man. There need be no hesitation in offering the prayer, “ Lead us not into temptation.” People have tried to soften the words. They have said instead of “ lead” “ leave us not in temptation” ; but these are the annotations of inexperience and folly, or superficiality. We are not men until we have been thus moulded, tried, qualified. We can do little for one another in that pit of temptation. We must be left with God. There is one Refiner; He sits over the furnace, and when the fire has done enough He quenches the cruel, flame. Think it no strange thin that temptation hath befallen you; yea, think it not strange that God Himself has given you opportunities by which you may be burned. He never gives such an opportunity without giving something else. Alas, how often we see the opportunity and not the sustaining grace! The drinking of wine in this case was to be done in “ the house of the Lord.” Now light begins to dawn. Mark the limitations of our temptation. The Lord is never absent from His house. Let God tempt me, and He will also save me; let Him invite me into His own house, that there, under a roof beautiful as heaven, He may work His will upon me, and afterwards I shall stand up, higher in nature, broader in manhood, truer in the metal of the Spirit. Observe the details of this mysterious operation. The men who were taken were proved men (verse 3). When the Lord calls for giants to fight His battle and show the strength of His grace, they are chosen men. All these men were conspicuous witnesses for the truth: they were identified with the faith of Israel; they were the trustees of the morality of society. It is so in all ages. There are certain men whom we may denominate our stewards, trustees, representatives; as for ourselves, we say, it is not safe to trust us; we are weaker than a bruised reed; we cannot stand great public ordeals; we were not meant to be illustrations of moral fortitude: spare us from the agony of such trial! There are other men in society whom God Himself can trust. What did the sons of Rechab say? Herein is a strange thing, that children should obey the voice of a dead father. Yet this is a most pleasing contention; this is an argument softened by pathos. The men stood up, and did not speak in their own name; they said, We be the sons of a certain man, who gave a certain law, and by that law we will live, and ever will live. The trial took place in the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah. The father of Maaseiah was Shallum, who was the husband of Huldah the prophetess, who had taken an active part in the reformation wrought in the reign of Josiah. So all these were so many guarantees of probity, and strength, and success. There will be no evil wrought in that chamber I Not only are the Rechabites there, but their fathers are with them in spirit. Though our fathers, physical and spiritual, be dead, yet they may live with us in the spirit, and may go with us and sustain us in all the trials and difficulties of life. “ We will drink no wine.” Note the definiteness of the answer. No inquiry is made about the kind of wine. Men are saved by their definiteness. A strong, proud, decisive answer is the true reply to all temptation. An oath that strikes as with a fist of iron, a denial that is like a long, sharp two-edged sword,--these must be our policies and watchwords in the time of danger. The reason is given (verse 6). It is a filial argument. Good advice is not always thrown away; and men should remember that though exhortation may be rejected for a long time, yet there are periods when it may recur to the memory and come upon the whole life like a blessing sent from God. The argument is a fortiori. The Lord has shown how the sons of Jonadab can refuse wine: now He will take this example and apply it to the whole host of Judah, and He will say, See what one section of your country can do; if they can do this, why cannot you be equally loyal and true? why cannot you be equally obedient to the spirit of righteousness? for three hundred years this bond has been kept in this family; never once has it been violated: if one family can do this, why not a thousand families? if one section of the country, why not the whole nation? This was God’ s method of applying truth to those who needed it. Thus we teach one another. One boy can be obedient; why not all boys? One soul can be faithful; why not all souls? God in His providence says: See what others can do, and as they toil and climb and succeed in reaching the highest point, so do ye follow them: the grace that made them succeed will not fail you in the hour of your trial and difficulty. (J. Parker, D. D.) We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us. The Rechabites St. Austin says of the Syrophenician woman, who was both hardly spoken of by our Saviour at first, and anon commended highly before her face; she that took not her reproach in scorn, would not wax arrogant upon her commendation; so these Rechabites who lived with good content in a life full of neglect, may the better endure to have their good deeds scanned, without fear of begetting ostentation. And therefore I will branch out my text into four parts, in every of which they will justly deserve our praise, and in some our imitation. First, when the prophet Jeremiah did try them with this temptation, whether they would feast it and-drink wine, they make him a resolute denial, a prophet could., draw them to no inconvenient act. Some are good men of themselves, but easily drawn aside by allurements; such are not the Rechabites. He that will sin to please another, makes his friend either to be a God that shall rule him, or a devil that shall tempt him. Three things, says Aristotle, do preserve the life of friendship.1. To answer love with like affection.2. Some similitude and likeness of condition.3. But above either, neither to sin ourselves, nor for our sakes to lay the charge of sin upon our familiars. No, he is too prodigal of his kindness, that giveth his friend both his heart and his conscience. I may not forget how Agesilaus’ son behaved himself in this point toward his own father: the cause was corrupt wherein his father did solicit; the son answers him with this modesty: Your education taught me from a child to keep the laws, and my youth is so inured to your former discipline, that I cannot skill the latter. Here let rhetoricians declaim Whether this were duty or disobedience. But let us examine the case by philosophy. I am sure that no man s reason is so nearly conjoined to my soul as my own appetite, although my appetite be merely sensitive. And must I oftentimes resist my own appetite, and enthral it as a civil rebel: and have I not power much more to oppose any man’ s reason that Persuades me unto evil, his reason being but a stranger unto me, and not of the secret council of my soul! Yes, out of question. How it pities me to hear some men say, that they could live as soberly, as chastely, as saintlike as the best, if it were not for company! Fie upon such weakness: says St. Austin, If thy mother speak thee fair, if the wife of thy bosom tempt thy heart, beware of Eve, and think of Adam. The serpent was a wise creature (Genesis 3:1-24), and Eve could not but take his word in good manners. Fond mother of mankind, so ready to believe the devil, that her posterity ever since nave Dean slow to believe God. Never can there be a better season for nolumus, for every Christian to be a Rechabite, than when any man reacheth out a cup of intemperance unto us, to say boldly, We will not drink it. Now I proceed to the second part of my text, which hath a strong connection with the former; for why did they resist these enticements, and disavow the prophet (verse 8)? Their obedience is the second part of their encomium, they will obey the voice of Jonadab their father. The name of father was that wherewith God was pleased to mollify our stony hearts, and bring them into the subjection of the fifth commandment. Surely as a parricide, that killed his father, was to have no burial upon the earth, but sewed in an ox hide and east headlong into the sea; so he that despiseth his father deserves not to hold any place of dignity above others, but to be a slave to all men. For what are we but coin that hath our fathers’ image stamped upon it? and we receive our current value from them to be called sons of men. And yet the more commendable was the obedience of the Rechabites, that their father Jonadab being dead, his law was in as good force as if he had been living. Concerning this virtue of obedience, let us extend our discourse a little further, and yet tread upon our own ground. Obedience is used in a large sense, for a condition, or modus, annexed unto all virtues. As the magistrate may execute justice dutifully under his prince, the soldier may perform a valiant exploit dutifully under his captain; but strictly, and according to the pattern of the Rechabites, says Aquinas. It is one peculiar and entire virtue, whereby we oblige ourselves, for authority’ s sake, to do things indifferent to be done, or omitted; for sometimes that which is evil may be hurtful prohibito to the party forbidden: as the laws forbid a man to murder himself: sometimes a thing is evil prohibenti, so treasons, adulteries, and thefts are interdicted: but sometimes the thing is no way in itself pernicious to any, but only propounded to make trial of our duty and allegiance, as when Adam was forbid to eat the apple; and this is true obedience, not to obey for the necessity of the thing commanded, but out of conscience and subjection to just authority. Such obedience, and nothing else, is that which hath made the little commonwealth of bees so famous: for are they not at appointment who should dispose the work at home, and who should gather honey in the fields? they flinch not from their task, and no creature under the sun hath so brave an instinct of sagacity. Let us gather up this second part of my text into one closure: we commend the Rechabites for their obedience, and by their example we owe duty to our parents, natural and civil, those that begot us, those that govern us. We owe duty to the dead, after our rulers have left us in the way of a good life, and changed their own for a better. We owe duty to our rulers in all things honest and lawful; in obeying rites and ceremonies indifferent, in laws civil and ecclesiastical. But where God controls, or wherein our liberty cannot be enthralled, we are bound ad patiendum, and happy if we suffer for righteousness’ sake. Now that the obedience of the Rechabites was lawful and religious, and a thing wherein they might profitably dispense with freedom and liberty, the third part of my text, that is their temperance, will make it manifest, for in this they obeyed Jonadab. To spare somewhat which God hath given us for our sustenance, is to restore a part of the plenty back again; if we lay hands upon all that is set before us, it is suspicious that we expected more, and accused nature of frugality. And though the vine did boast in Jotham’ s parable, that it cheered up the heart of God and man, though it be so useful a creature for our preservation, that no Carthusian or Caelestine monk of the strictest order did put this into their vow to drink no wine, yet the Rechabites are contented to be more sober than any, and lap the water of the brook, like Gideon’ s soldiers. Which moderation of diet did enable them to avoid luxury and swinish drunkenness, into which sin whosoever falls makes himself subject to a fourfold punishment. First, The heat of too liberal a proportion kindles the lust of the flesh. Lot, who was not consumed in Sodom with the fire of brimstone, drunkenness set him on fire with incestuous lust in Zoar. What St. Paul hath coupled (2 Corinthians 6:1-18.), let us not divide; lastings go first, then follows pureness and chastity. Secondly, How many brawls and unmanly combats have we seen? Thirdly, Superfluity of drink is the draught of foolishness. Such a misery, in my opinion, that I would think men had rather lose their right arm than the government of their reason, if they knew the royalty thereof. Lastly, Whereas sobriety is the sustentation of that which decays in man, drunkenness is the utter decay of the body. The Rechabites had encouragement to take this vow upon them for three reasons:1. As being but strangers to the true commonwealth of Israel.2. To make the better preparation for the captivity of Babylon.3. To draw their affections to the content of a little, and the contempt of the world. Now I follow my own method to handle the second consideration of this vow, that these circumstances were not only well foreseen, but that the conditions of the thing vowed are just and lawful. Not to tumble over all the distinctions of the schoolmen, which are as multiplicious in this cause as in any; of vows, some are singular, which concern one man and no more, as when David vowed to build an house unto the Lord, this was not a vow of many associated in that pious work, but of David only. Some are public when there is a unity of consent in divers persons to obtest the same thing before the presence of God. And such was this vow in my text, it concerned the whole family of the Rechabites. That this vow was of some moment in the practice of piety, appears by God’ s benediction upon them. For as it was said of Socrates’ goodness, that it stood the common wealth of Athens in more stead than all their warlike prowess by sea and land, so that religious life of the Rechabites was the best wall and fortress to keep Judah in peace and safety. And almost who doth not follow Christ rather to be a gainer by Him than a loser. Behold, we have left all and followed Thee; that was the perfection of the apostles, that was the state of the Rechabites; not simply all, everything that belonged to the maintenance of a man, and so to live upon beggary, they have learned to ask nothing but a gourd to cover their head, a few flocks of sheep to employ their hands, the spring water to quench their thirst. They that must have no more, have cut off superfluous desires, that they can never ask more. And so piety and a godly life were chiefly aimed at in the vow of the Rechabites. The end and last part of all is this: That forasmuch as God was well pleased with these abstemious people that would drink no wine, therefore promise unto the Lord, and do the deed; for that is my final conclusion, that a vow justly conceived is to be solemnly performed. When we have breathed out a resolved protestation before God, it is like the hour we spake it in, past and gone, and can never be recalled. Says David, “ I have poured out my soul in prayer,” as if upon his supplication it were no longer his, but God s for ever. Surely if our soul be gone from us in our prayers, then much more in our vows they are flown up to Heaven, like Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham, they cannot, they should not return to earth again. He that changed his sex in the fable is not so great a wonder, as he that changeth any covenant which is drawn between God and his conscience. He that hath consecrated himself to God, doth, as it were, carry heaven upon his shoulders. Support your burdens in God’ s name, lest if you shrink the wrath of God press you down to the nethermost pit. I will give a brief answer to one question. Is Christ so austere that He doth reclaim against all dispensation? no, says Aquinas, you are loose again, if the thing in vow be sinful, nay if it be unuseful, nay if it cross the accomplishment of a greater good. This is good allowance, and well spoken. The careful pilot sets his adventure to a certain haven, and would turn neither to the right hand nor to the left, if the winds were as constant as the loadstone, but they blow contrary to his expectation. Suppose a Rechabite protesting to drink no wine, had lived after the institution of our Saviour’ s Supper, when He consecrated the fruit of the grape, and said, Drink ye all of this, would it pass for an answer at the Holy Communion to say, We will drink no wine? No more than if he had sworn before not to eat a paschal lamb, or any sour herbs, quite against the institution of the passover. There is enough in this chapter to stride over this doubt if you mark it. Jonadab indented with God, that he and his seed should live in tabernacles for ever; and in tabernacles they did live for three hundred years. Then comes the king of Babylon with an army into the country to invade the land. It was dangerous now to live in tabernacles; there was no high priest, I assure you, to absolve them; no money given to the publicans of the Church for a dispensation: but they said, “ Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and Syrians, and let us dwell at Jerusalem.” The vow was unprofitable, tabernacles dangerous, and so the bond is cancelled. Yet, do not take all the liberty due unto you, if I may advise you: there are two things which you may choose to untie the knot of a vow. The peremptory rejecting of a bad vow, and that is lawful, and the changing thereof into some other vow, and that is more expedient, that God may have some service done unto Him, by way of a vow. (Bishop Hacket.) Obedience to parental authority The first and principal commandment of the moral law, Honour thy father and thy mother, begins with obedience to parents; but must of course be interpreted in a wider sense so as to apply to all who have a right to obedience--the persons to be honoured in that famous and excellent summary of the Catechism are the King, and all in authority under him, my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors and masters, and last of all “ my betters” ; the falling into disuse of such an instructive word is a fact of very great significance and needs no comment. But duty to parents comes clearly first, which an old writer has called “ the band and firmament of Commonwealths” ; for society is near its dissolution when this obligation is loosened or weakened in any way. The stability of an empire like that of China is an illustration in point, and I was struck some time ago by hearing a missionary of long experience select this one virtue of reverence for parents as that which has for so many centuries preserved the cohesion of that people. Affection may indeed be missing, but obedience and respect for authority are, I believe, universal. So it has come to pass that a nation that we despise outdoes us in the discharge of one of the most elementary moral duties; not that Confucius is a better teacher than Moses, or made any advance upon him, but that we are somehow drifting from a commandment of God, and seem powerless to enforce it. To arrest the widespread mischief we must go back to first principles, and seek to re-establish authority in the family, in the elementary schools, in places of higher education, and perhaps in the university itself. Authority must be taught to be a trust delegated by God to some for the good of the whole body, and the applications of the Christian precept: “ All of you be subject one to another,” in its several relations, must be laid down fearlessly and with distinctness by teachers and preachers as the safeguard of society. To revert to filial reverence. It was once, I believe, a characteristic of Englishmen, for even as late as the last century sons would address their fathers by the reverential title of “ sir.” The virtue is not exotic, it can stand our rude climate, and it must not be thought for a moment to be a poor sickly plant, that has no root in strong and masculine natures. On the contrary, take a specimen of it from the most robust of our own countrymen. To most of us is known the compunction of Dr. Johnson which has formed the subject of an historical picture. He has related of himself, how when a young man he refused to stand at his father’ s stall to sell books; it was, he says, through pride he disobeyed, a trivial circumstance to a less sensitive man, but it was a burden to him for fifty years, until on the very day he went to the very spot where his father’ s stall used formerly to be, and on a day of business stood in Uttoxeter market, bareheaded, for an hour exposed to the gibes of the passers-by, and the inclemency of the weather. “ This was a penance by which I trust I have propitiated heaven for the only instance I believe of contumacy to my father.” Upon which Mr. Leslie Stephen, by no means a sentimental writer, remarks: “ The anecdote cannot be read without emotion, and if it illustrates a touch of superstition in Johnson’ s mind, it reveals too that sacred depth of tenderness which ennobled his character.” To both parents we are debtors. Mothers are to be esteemed as highly as fathers, and dutiful obedience rendered to them. Take care you despise them not in their old age or in lonely widowhood. Value them all the more if they are alone. Do not think that you have outgrown their wisdom, for in his mature years Solomon could stamp his own maxims with the authority of his mother’ s mint, and give them currency as the words which his mother had taught him. The wishes of parents are also to be attended to, for wise fathers dealing with grown-up children will not burden them with commands, but will leave them to act upon what their sons know they would wish done. In a book that furnished my vacation reading I lighted upon a passage in the undergraduate life of Dr. Corrie that will interest some of us. “ When he first came up, his father, knowing his son’ s great love for horses, and fearing the scenes of temptation into which this taste might lead him, expressed a strong desire that he would not go to Newmarket. This injunction was faithfully respected. Though he was fully aware that his father would never ask him whether his wish had been observed, his loyalty would not permit him to trifle with the confidence thus placed in him.” A characteristic anecdote of a man who was known as the soul of honour, who if he lacked sons of his own, was looked up to and reverenced by hundreds of pupils and others, who felt their own principles of duty strengthened by his unswerving fidelity to old traditions. Obedience to a father’ s law is the whole idea of the incarnation. Not to please Himself at all, but to surrender Himself wholly to the Divine will, runs through all Christ’ s life. When He cometh into the world He saith, “ I am come to do Thy will, O God,” and when He is about to leave the world in that great fight of conflicting emotions the thought of submission alone rules His prayer, “ Not My will, but Thine be done.” Not only as a son, but as a citizen, as a member of the Jewish synagogue and nation, He is obedient to the law, to every ordinance of man, for His Father’ s sake. Conscious of His Divinity, of His real relation to God at twelve years old, He goes meekly home to be subject to earthly parents and to learn His trade. When the time of His manifestation has come, He allows John to baptize Him, to fulfil an ordinance of God, and by His obedience He approves John’ s commission in the eyes of the people. Though, as Son of God, He is free from the temple tax, yet He works a miracle to pay the due, that He might give no offence to the rulers who sat in Moses’ seat. He even acknowledges that the civil power of the Roman Governor is of God. Under the terms of the new covenant we are no mere slaves but sons, and can claim the spirit of adoption, the will to wish all things in conformity with God’ s will, and the power to perform the same. I have heard myself from the lips of those whose whole life has been most wilful and contrary such a confession as this, “ I love now as much to do things for God as at one time I did everything against God,” for the love of Christ converts and subdues a stubborn temper, which to its harm would kick against the pricks into a service where there is no heavy burden, no galling yoke, but all is perfect freedom. (C. E. Searle, D. D.) The obedient Rechabites I. The authority of the family. The power of human descent and family tradition in moulding a career is well illustrated in the case of the Rechabites.1. It controlled the natural tastes. Its members must renounce pleasure, comfort, and fixed habitation; their inheritance was the loss of those very things which sons expect, and parents delight to bequeath. But with the loss came a better gain,--health of body, purity of morals, loyalty of conscience. They had that best possession,--noble character. 2. The authority of the family also controlled their external alliances; those entering it by marriage must accept its obligations. A man may leave father and mother to cleave unto his wife, but may not leave truth and virtue. 3. In the same way the family tradition proved superior to surrounding influences. They were as faithful in the city as in the country, as loyal among strangers as where well known. So from lonely farmhouses among the hills, young men and young women have gone to seek an easier fortune in the great city, or in the lawless West, and been delivered from evil by the abiding influence of their sanctified homes. 4. The faithfulness of the Rechabites displays the normal influence of the family in transmitting a tendency to virtue, and confirming that inherited disposition by congenial surroundings and careful training. This is what God means the family to be,--His surest and mightiest agency for spreading righteousness on the earth. II. This higher authority of God. If human descent and family tradition exert authority over the individual, the Divine Creator and Governor holds a far higher claim upon him. Whatever depravity sin may breed into the race, virtue is always its normal life, holiness its ideal. The Scriptures describe man as directly connected with God in his origin. “ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” When the clay was shaped, He “ breathed into his nostrils thy breath of life, and man became a living soul.” The characteristics of our Divine origin are as discernible as the marks of our human descent. Our intellect is made after the likeness of the Divine mind, else the universe would be to us an insoluble mystery. In our tastes we can trace kinship with Him who has adorned the earth with beauty. Pure human affection gives us our worthiest conception of the Divine love. Misfortune cannot turn it, ingratitude cannot chill it, death itself cannot overcome it, The Heavenly Father uses this earthly tie to symbolise His own regard; the Saviour describes His fostering care and close union with the Church by naming it His “ bride.” Our moral nature is plainly Divine in origin. Conscience is the voice of God in man. He who obeys it is lifted to the plane of Divine action, is made a co-worker with God. Over this lordly realm, crowned its regent by the Creator Himself, is the Personal Soul, the “ Self,” the “ I.” Self-consciousness is its throne, self-determination its sceptre. By this solemn conviction “ I am,” “ I will,” man separates himself from all the universe around him; through this he balances his soul against the whole world and weighs it down; with it he faces eternity. He is his own, something for which the Infinite asks, and he may give. It is here that man’ s Divine origin finds its explanation; for the glad choice of God, all the dignity of human nature was given; to this end converge the constant teachings of the revealing universe, the open instructions of the inspired Word, the solemn persuasions of the Holy Spirit. Lessons--1. The responsibility of parents. One writer on heredity declares that the dispositions of Bacon and Goethe were formed by the simple addition of the dispositions of their ancestors. We know that passionate temper, fretfulness, and despondency may be inherited. Let a parent beware how he sins. 2. The responsibility resting upon the child of godly parents. When one who has had a virtuous ancestry seeks out vice and courts godlessness, he has not long to wait before every red drop in his veins will turn against him and curse him traitor. There is something back of his own will,--an authority he knows not how to resist and cannot defy. 3. The ultimate responsibility of each soul to God. When Samuel J. Mills was struggling against the convictions of the Spirit, he exclaimed, “ I wish I had never been born!” His mother replied, “ But you are born, my son, and can never escape your accountability to God.” The glad choice of the holy God is the highest exercise of the created will. (C. M. Southgate.) The obedience of the Rechabites I. Wherein it resembles christian obedience.1. It was total. They did not consult their preferences or their “ affinities.” They did not proceed upon any law of “ natural selection.” They did not show punctilious fidelity with reference to one commandment, and great laxity concerning another. This is one essential characteristic of Christian obedience. It is total. If we can make choice of such commands as we feel like obeying and disregard the rest, what are we but masters instead of subjects, dictating terms instead of receiving orders? 2. It was constant. It kept an unbroken path. It bore the stress of storms and tests. And herein it was marked by another essential characteristic of Christian obedience--a beautiful constancy. Enlistment in the Lord’ s army is for life, and there is no discharge in that war. II. Wherein this Rechabite obedience was unlike Christian obedience.1. The Rechabites obeyed Jonadab: Christians obey God. This is a substantive difference. And we must not confound things that radically differ. The source of a command has a great deal to do with the value of obedience to it. The lower relation must give way to the higher when the two conflict. 2. Jonadab’ s commands, so far as we know, were for temporal and material ends, in the interests of a rugged manhood and a sturdy independence. God’ s commands are for spiritual ends, for good of soul, and they stand vitally connected with those higher interests that relate not only to the life that now is, but to that which is to come. Rechabite obedience, therefore, conserves temporal good; Christian obedience conserves eternal good. 3. Rechabite obedience was not necessary to salvation; Christian obedience is indispensable. III. Wherein it shames Christian disobedience.1. These Rechabites are obedient to their father Jonadab, a mere man who had been dead nearly three hundred years, while Judah is in open and flagrant disobedience to the Most High God. 2. Jonadab commanded but once, and he had instant and constant heed, generation upon generation, for centuries. “ But I,” saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel--“ I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking. I have also sent unto you,” &c. 3. Obedience to Jonadab was at a cost, and it brought at the best only power to endure and the spirit of independence. It left the Rechabites poor and homeless. Obedience to God was also at a cost, but it gave His people assured possessions, peace of conscience, protection from their enemies, and all the exceeding riches of an eternal inheritance in God’ s kingdom of grace and glory. Yet the Rechabites obeyed Jonadab with a beautiful constancy, while Judah hearkened not to the voice of the Lord. Practical suggestions--1. The very essence of Christian fidelity is obedience. 2. A true obedience has two infallible signs. It will have no reservations, and it will never cry “ Halt!” 3. See the shame and guilt of disobedience under the Gospel. 4. In respect to one particular in this Rechabite obedience, namely, abstinence from wine--three things are clear. (1) Abstinence from wine is not here made obligatory.(2) Abstinence from wine is not wrong.(3) Abstinence from wine for the sake of the stumblers is lifted by the New Testament to the sublime height of a duty, and made imperative (Romans 14:21). Wine-drinking is a sin “ for that man who drinks with offence” (Romans 14:20). Wine-drinking is a sin for that man who by it “ puts a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in a brother s way (Romans 14:15). When wine-drinking wounds a weak conscience” it is “ as in against Christ” (1 Corinthians 8:12). (H. Johnson, D. D.) The obedience of the Rechabites Jonadab saw that his people were but a handful among a more powerful people, and likely soon to be swallowed up by their neighbours, and he hit upon a happy method of preserving their independent existence. He enjoined them “ not to drink wine” ; this was to save them from luxury and intemperance, which would prey upon them from within, and make them ripe for destruction; and he also commanded them “ not to till the ground, nor to have any houses, nor to dwell in cities” ; this was in order that they might have no riches to tempt others to make war upon them; and thus, to use his own words, “ they might live many days in the land wherein they were strangers.” Luxury and wealth are the bane of nations, and by keeping his tribe a simple, pastoral people, pure in their habits, and destitute of property, he accomplished his wishes for them. I. The obedience of the Rechabites contrasted with the disobedience of Israel to God. An ancestor of that family, who had been dead nearly three hundred years, had issued his commands, and they were still obeyed; but the living God had spoken repeatedly to Israel, by His prophets, yet they would not hear. The commands of Jonadab, too, were very arbitrary. There could be no sin in cultivating the fields, or in living in houses, whatever moral worth there may have been in the precept to drink no wine: but still, because Jonadab commanded it they obeyed. The complaint of God has still an application. It is a fact, that among sinners, any and every law, precept, or tradition, of mere human authority, is better obeyed than the laws of God Himself. See, in a few instances, how this has been verified. Mahomet arose, a sensualist, an adulterer, a breaker of treaties, and a robber, and issued his commands, which for centuries have been religiously obeyed. At the cry of the muezzin, and the hour of prayer, every follower of his, whether in the desert, on board the ship, in the city, or the field, suspends his labour, his pleasures, and even his griefs, and casts himself upon his knees in prayer. But the blessed Jesus, pure, peaceful, and glorious, speaks, and even those who acknowledge Him as Lord over all, and own the goodness of His commands, can listen to such words as, “ This do in remembrance of Me,” and obey them not. The founder of some monkish order, again, has enjoined upon all his fraternity certain rules and austerities, and he is obeyed. Day after day, and year after year, the same tedious round of ceremonies is gone through with, as though salvation depended upon it, and the deluded ones will rise at the midnight hour to inflict stripes upon themselves or to offer prayer. But Christ may enjoin the reasonable duty of praying to our Father in spirit and in truth, and multitudes can suffer days and years to pass, and pray not. The commander of the order of Jesuits can place his inferior priests in any country of the world, and whether the mandate be to act as father confessor in some palace, or to Penetrate to China or Paraguay, there is no more resistance for apparent regard for the sacrifices to be made than in the machinery which is moved by mechanic power. Christ commands His disciples to “ go preach the Gospel to every creature,” but only here and there one goes forth. The heathen priest bids the worshippers of idols to cast their children rote the fire or the water, and it is done. Jesus says, “ Suffer little children to come to Me,” and has appointed a sacrament in which they may be received, but men will admit the duty, and yet neglect the baptism of their children. The Rechabites of modern times, and Sons of Temperance, may institute a vow of temperance, and it is kept; or command one of their number to minister to the sick, and it is done; or provide well for their poor; but Christ says, that “ no drunkard shall enter heaven,” and enjoins charity to the sick and the destitute, while many heed Him not. II. The rewards of obedience. Modern travellers, moreover, state that the Rechabites are still in existence. Mr. Wolf, the famous Jewish missionary, asserts this as his belief. “ And another traveller who visited a tract to the south of Judea, which has been unexplored for centuries, met there a native who claimed to be a Rechabite, and when an Arabic Bible was shown to him, turned to this chapter and read from it the description of his People, and said that it was still true of them, and that they still kept the precepts of Jonadab, their father. Over three thousand years have passed away since that family of the Kenites came with Israel into Canaan, and for two thousand years no traces of them were preserved; but now, after so long a lapse of time, recent discoveries have brought them to light, retaining their name, and glorying in their independence. Though surrounded by Mohammedan Arabs, they conform to the law of Moses yet maintaining that they are not Israelites; and are much hated by the Mussulman.” This account was given by a traveller so late as 1832, and is confirmed by English residents at Mocha, and from other sources. No doubt every promise of God’ s Word is as abundantly fulfilled. We may not always be able to trace out the literal accomplishment of every one as strikingly as in this case, but we never could prove one promise in all the Bible false; and the more light we have the more abundantly do we see that all have been yea and amen. Let us rest upon God’ s Word. Exceeding great and precious promises are given to us in the sacred book. They are like good notes from a prompt paymaster, falling due at different times. We may sometimes question their worth, or may even forget in the multitude of cares that we have such securities treasured up, but the time of their payment will come, and we shall find all redeemed. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.) The Rechabites Their record was an honourable one, and reached far back into the early days of Hebrew history. When Israel was passing through the wilderness of Sinai, the tribe of the Kenites showed them kindness; and this laid the foundation of perpetual friendliness between the two peoples. They seem to have adopted the religious convictions of Israel, and to have accompanied them into the Land of Promise. Retaining their integrity as s pastoral people, the Kenites maintained these friendly relations with Israel during the intervening centuries; and it was of this tribe that the Rechabites, for such was the name of this strange tent-loving people, had sprung (Judges 4:17-24; 1 Samuel 15:6; 1 Chronicles 2:55). About the time of Elijah, and perhaps largely influenced by him, the sheikh or leader of one branch of the Kenites was Jonadab the son of Rechab. He was dismayed at the abounding corruption of the time, and especially of the northern kingdom, then under the fatal spell of Jezebel’ s and Ahab’ s influence; and resembled some rank jungle in whose steamy air, heavy with fever and poison, noisome creatures swarm, and foul pestilences breed. In his endeavour to save his people from such a fate, this noble man, who afterwards become Jehu’ s confederate in extirpating idolatry, bound his people under a solemn pledge to drink no wine for ever; neither to build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyards, but to dwell in tents. I. Jeremiah’ s test of the Rechabites. So soon as their arrival was noised abroad, and had come to the ears of Jeremiah, he was seized by a Divine impulse to derive from them a striking object-lesson for his own people. With an inventiveness which only passionate love could have suggested, the prophet caught at every incident, and used every method to awaken his people to realise their true position in the sight of God. Probably a little group of Jews, arrested by the prophet s association with these strange-looking men, followed them in to watch the proceedings. They were curious witnesses of the prophet’ s action, as he caused bowls of wine to be set before the tribesmen, and cups to be offered them, that they might dip them in and drink. They also heard the blunt unqualified refusal of these quaint old-fashioned Puritans, “ We will drink no wine,” followed by an explanation of the solemn obligation laid on them centuries before. The moral was obvious, Hero were men loyal to the wish of their ancestor, though he was little more than a name to them, and refusing the offered sweets in which so many freely indulged. How great a contrast to the people of Jerusalem, who persistently disregarded the words of the living God perpetually remonstrating against their sins! The prohibitions of Jonadab were largely arbitrary and external; whilst those of Jehovah were corroborated by the convictions of conscience, and consonant with the deepest foundations of religion and morality. The voice of Jonadab was a cry coming faintly from far down the ages; whilst Jehovah was ever speaking with each new dawn, and in the voice of each fresh messenger whom He rose early to send. Such devotion to principle; such persistent culture of simplicity, frugality, and abstinence; such literal adherence to the will of the father of their house--not only carried within them the assurance of perpetuity to the people who practised them, but must receive the signature and countersign of the Almighty. “ Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me for ever.” This phrase had a very profound significance. It suggested, of course, obviously, that the tribe should not cease to exist. The phrase is often used in Scripture of priestly service. And may we not infer that where we meet that devotion to principle, and that detachment from the world, which characterised these men, there will always be a strong religious tone, a knowledge of God, a power in prayer and intercession, which are the essential characteristics of the priests? II. This elements of a strongly religious life. Oh, to stand always before Him, on whose face the glory of God shines as the sun in his strength! But if this is to be something more than a vague wish, an idle dream, three things should be remembered, suggested by the words of the Rechabites.1. There must be close adhesion to great principles. Many superficial reasons might have suggested to the Rechabites compliance with the prophet s tempting suggestion. The wine was before them; there was no sin against God in taking it; the people around had no scruples about it; and the prophet himself invited them. In contrast to this, it is the general tendency amongst men to ask what is the practice of the majority; what is done by those in their rank and station; and what will be expected of them. We drift with the current. We allow our lives to be settled by our companions or our whims, our fancies or our tastes. We make a grave mistake in supposing that the main purpose of our life is something different from that which reveals itself in details. What we are in the details of our life, that we are really and essentially. The truest photographs are taken when we are unprepared for the operation. And, indeed, when we consider the characters of the early disciples of Jesus, or those of saints, martyrs, and confessors, must we not admit that they were as scrupulous in seeking the will of God about the trifles of their life, as the Rechabites were in consulting the will and pleasure of the dead Jonadab? The thought of God was as present with the one as of Jonadab with the other. And was not this the secret of their strong and noble lives? What a revolution would come to us all if it became the one fixed aim and ambition of our lives to do always those things that are pleasing in His sight! 2. Abstinence from the spirit of the age. It was an immense gain in every way for the Rechabites to abstain from wine. Wine was closely associated with the luxury, corruption, and abominable revelries of the time (Isaiah 28:1-8). Their abstinence was not only a protest against the evils which wore honeycombing their age, but was a sure safeguard against participation in them. In these days the same principles apply. Surely, then, we shall do well to say with the Rechabites, whoever may ask us to drink, “ We will drink no wine.” But wine may stand for the spirit of the age, its restlessness, its constant thirst for novelty, for amusement, for fascination; its feverish demand for the fresh play, the exciting novel, the rush of the season, the magnificent pageant. It is easier to abstain from alcohol than from this insidious spirit of our time, which is poured so freely into the air, as from the vial of some demon sorceress. 3. We must hold lightly to the things around. The Rechabites dwelt in tents. They drove their vast flocks from place to place, and were content with the simple life of the wandering shepherd. It was thus that the great patriarchs had lived before them (Hebrews 11:9; Hebrews 11:13). It is difficult to say what worldliness consists in. What would be worldly to some people is an ordinary part of life’ s circumstances to others. But all of us are sensible of ties that hold us to the earth. We may discover what they are by considering what we cling to; what we find it hard to let go; what we are always striving to augment; what we pride ourselves in. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) The Rechabites I. Their principles are tried. Three features mark this trial.1. They were offered wine. After s family record of three hundred years’ abstinence, the evil thing is set before them, free of cost. As they fortunately had no experience of its power by reason of former habits of intemperance, they could look upon the enemy without fear or danger. 2. Wine was offered them by a good man. Jeremiah was the generous host. Surely God’ s prophet would not offer them an evil thing, or tempt them to do wrong! A great many well-meaning people place the tempting cup before their guests, and their guests are not the sturdy sons of Jonadab, and much evil is wrought. 3. Wine was offered in the Lord’ s house. They were in the chamber of good men, on “ holy ground,” and in strict privacy. Under such circumstances, might they not suspend their stringent rules of life? They had broken one vow in coming into Jerusalem, might they not yield another point, and adopt one of the ways of city people? Life is full of opportunities for testing principles and character. II. Their principles are triumphant.1. It was prompt and definite. They reasoned not “ with flesh and blood,” nor did they offer any compromise. 2. It was complete. Their pledge was a comprehensive one, involving dwelling in tents, and living a very unworldly life (verses 6-10). Total abstinence, was not enough. Their father’ s commandment, was broad. Sobriety is not salvation. 3. It was general. “ We, our wives, our sons, our daughters” (verse 8). The domestic peace had not been broken by faithlessness and sin. A blessed unity in principle and in practice. 4. It was constant. Three hundred years had passed since they received these injunctions, and they still regarded them as binding and sacred. III. Their actuating motive.1. It was filial love. “ For Jonadab our father commanded us” (verse 6) was the only defence they cared to offer for their singular conduct. A pious ancestry is an invaluable blessing; but the filial spirit must turn that boon to practical account. 2. Men live after death. “ He being dead, yet speaketh.” Time cannot impair the power of a good life. IV. The exemplary meaning of their conduct. They were not tried for their own sake, but for the good of others.1. Conduct makes personal influence. “ No man liveth unto himself.” The end of our trials may concern others more than ourselves. The Jews were to be instructed by the behaviour of the Rechabites. 2. The sobriety of one condemns the drunkenness of the other. If one life can be good, other lives can too. 3. It was a contrast of privilege. In obedience to an earthly father, who had been dead three centuries, the sons of Jonadab had kept their pledges. The Jews had received Divine commands, all the prophets had spoken to them, and yet they disobeyed (verses 14, 16). 4. It justified Divine judgment. “ Therefore . . . I will bring upon Judah,” &c. (verse 17). The abstinence of Rechab condemns inebriate Judah. 5. National intemperance is a swift destroyer. 6. Personal drunkenness makes up the national sin. The units make the million. V. The rechabites reward.1. Divine approval Jeremiah assured them of God’ s benediction. 2. Divine preservation. Jonadab promised his sons long life, “ many days in the land where ye be strangers” (verse 7), and that promise God ratified. Medical and statistical science have come to Jonadab’ s view. 3. Divine honour. “ Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me for ever” (verse 19). Standing before God has reference to a priestly relationship and service. (R. W. Keighley.) A reason for total abstinence The late Frances E. Willard once asked the greatest of inventors, Thomas A. Edison, if he were a total abstainer; and when he told her that he was, she said, “ May I inquire if it was home influence that made you so?” and he replied, “ No; I think it was because I always felt that I had a better use for my head. Who can measure the loss to the world if that wonderful instrument of thought that has given us so much of light and leading in the practical mechanism of life had become sodden with drink, instead of electric with original ideas! Obedience to human authority 1. Premise that complications are apt to arise, unless we remember-- (1) That the authority of any particular superior is limited to its own sphere. (2) That all human authority is subordinate to God’ s, so that in submitting to human authority we are submitting to God’ s, in resisting we are resisting God’ s (Romans 13:1-2; Ephesians 6:5-7; Colossians 3:20; 1 Peter 2:13). (3) That authority, even within its own limits, is to be used with discretion, not pressed beyond reason, or vexatiously. 2. What right had Jonadab to enjoin upon his descendants the observances specified? His injunctions were those of a founder and legislator. 3. To proceed, then, we have-- (1) Obedience to the laws of our country, a branch of which is obedience to magistrates. This to be rendered “ for conscience’ sake,” and therefore even in cases in which (as the payment of taxes) evasion might be possible (Romans 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13-15). (2) Obedience to the rules of the Church, a branch of which is obedience to ecclesiastical superiors (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Timothy 5:17). And by the rules of the Church are to be understood the rules of that branch of the Church in which God has cast our lot. (3) Obedience to authority in the family. To masters. To husbands. To parents. (C. A. Heurtley, D. D.) I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto Me.--The aggravated nature of disobedience I. Look at the authority of God--the right He has to be obeyed and hearkened to. “ I have spoken unto you,” saith God. We must lay a stress upon that “ I.” We must contrast it with the name of Jonadab. It is as much as to say, What is Jonadab compared with Me? What is his authority compared with Mine? II. We must lay a stress also upon the manner in which the Lord hath given His directions to us. “ I have spoken unto you,” saith He--how? “ rising early and speaking.” Oh! wonderful expression! spoken, indeed, in accommodation to man’ s language; but how affecting! how significant! Jonadab, perhaps, laid down his rules but once, and was readily obeyed. But again and again hath the Great Jehovah sent abroad His invitations, and renewed His offers, and repeated His commands. III. The nature of the Lord’ s directions. Look over Jonadab’ s injunctions, and assuredly you will pronounce them harsh and strict in the extreme. He laid an embargo on the very gifts of providence, and bade his family abstain from them. Now contrast with this the gentle, gracious precepts of the Gospel of Christ Jesus--surely His yoke is easy and His burthen is light! But before He gives His precepts He sends His invitations (Matthew 11:28). Pardon and grace are first proposed before duties are required. (A. Roberts, M. A.) The reasonableness of hearkening to God’ s voice and submitting ourselves to Him 1. As we are His creatures (Malachi 1:6; Hebrews 12:9). 2. As He is our benefactor (Isaiah 1:2-3; Romans 12:1). 3. As He has engaged Himself to support and deliver such (Romans 8:28, &c.). 4. As He forbids only what is hurtful, and commands only what is good (Romans 7:12; Deuteronomy 10:12-13). 5. The wisest and best of men have acted thus (Hebrews 12:1). 6. It is its own reward (Psalms 19:11). 7. The reward He sets before us is infinitely great (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). 8. Disobedience exposes to His wrath (Romans 1:18; Romans 2:8-9). (H. Foster.) Disobedience to God condemned I. Let us consider this complaint. There is at this day--1. The same regard for the commands of men.2. The same disregard for the commands of God. But let us consider the complaint more minutely-- II. With its attendant aggravations.1. The authority from which the different commands proceeded.2. The commands themselves.3. The manner in which they were enforced. Address-- (1) Those who regard man, and not God.(2) Those who regard God, and not man.(3) Those who feel a united regard for both. (C. Simeon, M. A.) Return ye now every man from his evil way.-- Sinners admonished to return to God I. What the exhortation presupposes.1. That there has been a departure from God.2. This departure is universal (Romans 3:10; Romans 3:19-23).3. This departure is flagrantly wicked. “ Evil way.” Evil in its nature, in its influence, in its consequences. II. To what reforms the exhortation points.1. Deep conviction of the evil and dangerous nature of a wicked career.2. Contrition of heart, and confession of sin to God.3. The renunciation of every evil way.4. Supreme love and loyalty to God. III. Compliance with this request is urgent.1. Life is short and uncertain.2. Sin is hardening and deceitful.3. You will escape the greatest evils and realise the most exalted pleasures.4. The longer you delay the less probability there is that you will ever return.5. The present is the only time in which we are authorised to tell you you can be saved. IV. The happy result of returning to God.1. The Israelites entered Canaan--a faint type of heaven to which believers are called.2. “ Ye shall dwell” there in fulness of joy, and at God’ s right hand. Your “ sun shall no more go down.” (Helps for the Pulpit.) Amending one’ s ways a great work Sir Thomas Burnet, the third son of Bishop Burner, led at one time a dissipated life. At last he took a serious turn, and one evening his father observing him to be very thoughtful, asked what he was meditating. “ A greater work,” replied he, “ than your lordship’ s ‘ History of the Reformation.’” “ Ay,” said the bishop, “ what is that?” “ The reformation of myself,” said the young man. He fulfilled his promise, and he afterwards became one of the best lawyers of his time; and in 1741 one of the judges in the Court of Common Pleas. Jeremiah 35:16-17I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.Condemned by our virtues How did the obedience of the Rechabites prove inexcusable, and therefore worthy of the severest punishment, the disobedience of the Jews? Their obedience was the obedience of children to their father, and sufficiently showed that even in a matter which crossed their natural inclinations men were capable of acting on a parental command and practising self-denial. The Jews then could not plead that they had no power of hearkening unto God. The Rechabites were witnesses against them. If Jonadab were obeyed because he was a father, had not Jehovah a right to expect to be obeyed, seeing that He was a father unto Israel? If the Rechabites could obey, obey as children, the Israelites might have obeyed, obeyed as children. Thus the instance or example of the Rechabites rose up in the sternest condemnation of the Jews, and in the clearest vindication of the judgments with which God was about to visit their transgressions. Now let us extend the argument, and exhibit it in such shape as may make it applicable to ourselves. It is a very hard doctrine which we have to enforce, when we press on your attention the utter worthlessness, so far as our procuring favour with God is concerned, of those virtues and excellences which are so much admired in society. There is something so graceful, and beautiful, and beneficial around a man of unblemished morals, of high rectitude, of large generosity--the dutiful son, the affectionate husband and parent, the loyal subject, the staunch friend--that you seem to shrink instinctively from statements which go to the bringing him to a level with those whom you abhor as the hardened and the injurious, and to the declaring him possibly as far off from the kingdom of heaven as though he lived a dissolute life, or were dishonourable in his dealings. But the statements are not the less true because they may jar with your feelings; and the minister cannot,, without the worst dishonesty, soften down facts on which Scripture is most explicit, and which even experience sufficiently establishes--the facts that there may be as thorough enmity to God beneath the aspect which is most attractive, as beneath that which is most repulsive, and that the virtues which shed a blandness over domestic life, and a dignity over commercial transactions, and a strength over political relations, may as well coexist with complete want of the religion of the heart, as those vices which break up the peace of families, and outrage all the decencies of a neighbourhood. But the principle involved in the text requires us to go even further than this, and to maintain, not only that there is no justifying power in these virtues, hut that there is even a condemning power--that they may be brought up as witnesses against their possessors, and used as proofs of their being without excuse in their neglect of God and disobedience to His Gospel. The man of great native kindliness of heart has evidently even less excuse than one of worse nature for withholding from God the offerings of thankfulness. Where there is a fine generosity, a gushing sensibility, a quick appreciation of what is noble and disinterested, what shall extenuate indifference to the Gospel, with all its holy story of love and condescension and conquest? We have thus engaged you with the general argument, rather than with the particular case presented by our text. You will, probably, however, understand the argument better, if we now confine ourselves to the relation which subsists between parent and child; for it is on this that God grounds His complaint against the Jews. Now there is no more beautiful and graceful affection of our nature than that which subsists between parents and children. We cannot but admire this affection, even as exhibited amongst inferior animals; and no passage in natural history is so attractive as that which tells how tenderly the wild beast of the forest will watch over her young, or with what assiduousness the fowls of the air will tend their helpless brood. But with the inferior animals the affection is but an instinct which lasts for a time, just long enough to ensure attention to the offspring whilst yet unable to provide for themselves; when this time is past, the tie is for the most part altogether broken; there is no keeping up of the relationship; however exquisitely the beast of the field and the fowl of the air may have nourished their young during their weeks of helplessness, they become afterwards as strangers to them, and seem not to distinguish them from others of their tribe. There is for a time a great exhibition of parental affection, but comparatively little of filial; there is apparently no reciprocity, for when the offspring has reached an age at which the kindness might be returned, the connection seems at an end, and the offspring goes away from the parent, though, becoming a parent itself, it displays the very instinct of which it has been the object. But in the human race the connection goes beyond this; if not so very intense at the first, it is abiding and reciprocal; the love of a parent for a child does not terminate when the child has grown into strength and asks no further help--it continues through life, increasing, for the most part, rather than diminishing, so that though the child may have been long absent from his home, wandering in foreign lands, or domesticated among strangers, yet can he always reckon that the hearts of his father and mother are beating kindly towards him, and that he has only again to present himself at their door, to unlock a tide of rich sensibilities, and be folded in an ardent embrace, and welcomed with deep gratulations. But whilst parents are thus abidingly and profitably actuated by affection for their children, children entertain an affection towards their parents which is scarcely less graceful and scarcely less advantageous. Of course there are exceptions, but they provoke unmingled reprobation, as though all the feelings of a community rose up against that unnatural being, a thankless child, and prompted the fitness of ejecting him from its circles. It is comparatively but seldom that children show themselves void of affection towards a father and a mother, when that father and that mother have done their part as parents; on the contrary, whether it be in the highest or the lowest families of the land, there is generally a frank yielding to its heads of that respect and that gratitude which they have a right to look for from their offspring. And from this fact, illustrated in the particular case of the Rechabites, God proceeds in our text to justify His complaint against the Jews. We stay not to demonstrate to you the paternal character of God; it is the character which pervades the whole of revelation, and is outlined by the whole of providence. The question is not as to whether God acts towards us as a father--it is only whether we act towards God as children; and here comes the melancholy contrast between men as members of particular families, and men as members of the universal family. The very beings who can recognise most cordially the claims of earthly parents, who can manifest themselves a reverence and a homage which give to the domestic picture an exquisite moral beauty, and who would show themselves monstrously indignant at any tale of filial disobedience or unthankfulness, have only to be viewed as children of God, and presently they would be convicted of all that unnaturalness, all that ingratitude, and all that baseness, on which they are so ready to pour unmingled reprobation. You cannot for a moment profess to deny, that in the heart which is all alive to filial emotions, and which beats with so true an affection towards a father and a mother, that the whole strength is gathered in the showing them respect and ministering to their comfort, there may be an utter indifference towards the heavenly Parent--ay, no more practical remembrance of Him “ in whom we live, and move, and have our being,” than if it were the heart of one of those blots upon our race, in which all the family charities appear to have been extinguished, or never to have grown. Then do ye not further perceive how thoroughly self-condemned must all of us stand, if we act faithfully the part of a child toward an earthly parent, but utterly fail to act that part towards a heavenly? It will be demonstrable from our own actions that we were quite without excuse, as members of the universal family; we shall be put to shame by our very excellence as members of individual families. (H. Melvill, B. D.) A wilful rejection of salvation Mr. Spurgeon has said, “ To me it is especially appalling that a man should perish through wilfully rejecting the Divine salvation. A drowning man throwing away the life-belt, a poisoned man pouring the antidote upon the floor, a wounded man tearing open his wounds--any of these is a sad sight. But what shall we say of a soul refusing its Saviour and choosing its own destruction?” (R. Venting.) Jeremiah 36:3 It may be. It may be I. This word shows us the heart of God. Displeased because of sin, but longing to show mercy to the sinner. All His counsels and warnings, promises and threatenings, are for good (Deuteronomy 5:29-33; Deuteronomy 32:44-47; Isaiah 1:18-20; Jeremiah 8:7-11; Ezekiel 12:3; Ezekiel 18:31; Hosea 11:1-8; John 3:16-17; Luke 19:10; Luke 19:41-42). II. This word reveals the grand possibilities of human life.1. Earnest attention (Jeremiah 36:3).2. Penitential prayer (Jeremiah 36:7).3. Moral reconciliation. The hindrances to peace are not with God, but with us. III. This word holds out encouragement to all true workers for Christ.1. Prayer.2. Holy endeavour.3. Missionary enterprise. (W. Forsyth, M. A.) Jeremiah 36:4-7I am shut up.Jeremiah in prison 1. Jeremiah’ s age was one of great political troubles.2. It was also an age of signal religious privileges.3. It was an age of great moral corruption. I. His imprisonment suggests the sad moral character of his age. The prisons of an age are often criteria by which to determine its character. When prisons are filled with men of signal excellence of character, force of conscience, and self-denying philanthropy, you have sad moral proofs of the deep moral corruption of the age that could tolerate such enormity. II. His imprisonment suggests God’ s method of raising humanity. Heaven’ s plan embraces the agency of good men. The agency is twofold, primary and secondary. There are spiritual seers and spiritual mechanics.1. Jeremiah may be regarded as a type of the primary human agents whom God employs. They are frequently in the lowest secular condition; yet in that condition God communes with them, and gives them a message for the world. 2. Baruch may be regarded as a type of the secondary agents. In this age the Baruchs are numerous. Men abound who will take down the thoughts of great thinkers; but the Jeremiahs are rare. Thought power, rather than tongue power, is wanted now. III. His imprisonment suggests the inability of the external to crush a holy soul.1. He is free in his communion with heaven. From the dungeon he cried, and God heard him (Lamentations 3:56-57). 2. He was free in his sympathies with the race. He could not go out in body to the house of the Lord, but he went out in soul. Walls of granite, massive iron bars, chains of adamant, cannot confine the soul; nor can the densest darkness throw on it a single shadow. (Homilist.) God’ s servant imprisoned When Henry Burton, two centuries ago, was persecuted for the name of Christ and put in prison, “ I found,” he said, “ the comforts of my God in the Fleet Prison exceedingly, it being the first time of my being a prisoner.” Go thou, and read in the roll. The prophet and the roll:-- I. The solicitude of Jeremiah--(verses 4, 5). II. The command of Jeremiah (verse 6). III. The hope of Jeremiah (verse 7). If Divine mercy could not woo them back to righteousness, he hoped that Divine justice might drive them. Alas! he was disappointed. The national heart, with a few rare exceptions, hardened into granite. And then they were overwhelmed with calamities. (E. Davies, D. D.) The utility of Holy Scripture See here the utility of the Holy Scriptures and the excellent use that may be made of reading them. A man maybe thereby doubtless converted, where preaching is wanting, as divers were in Queen Mary’ s days, when the Word of God was precious; as Augustine was, by reading Romans 13:1-14.; Fulgentius, by the prophet Jonah; Franciscus Junius, by John 1:1-51., &c. (John Trapp.) Jeremiah 36:6 The fasting-day. Symbolism of a fast I. It exhibits the duty of a wise self-restraint or self-denial, in receiving the good gifts of heaven. What could more exactly typify this than the temporary withdrawing from innocent pleasure, and even from the proper nourishment of the frame? It is temporary, and not absolute; an occasion, and not a permanency; a suspension, and not a renunciation. It admonishes us by an example, and does not crush us by a law. It reminds us of the obligation of sobriety in the use of the world s offerings. It bids us reflect that it is good for us to break away at times from what is plentiful, contenting ourselves with what is scanty; and to interrupt the course of the enjoyments that only do not reproach us, in order to make room for higher satisfactions. It exhorts us to be frugal, to be watchful, to be provident. It enjoins to be temperate in all things, and to let our moderation be known to all men; to learn how to lack as well as how to abound; and to show to others and prove to ourselves how well we can resign what we would fain keep, and refrain from what we desire to do, controlling tongue and hand, wish and passion, at the call of any holy commandment.2. It typifies our weak and subject condition. When we pause in the midst of our blessings, and put them at a distance for a while that we may see them the better, we remember how precarious is our hold upon them, and how easily what we dispense with for a day may be withdrawn from us for ever. Fulness may shrink. Strength and activity may be crippled. Resources heaped up ever so high may be scattered to the winds. Opportunity and desire may perish together. It is good to be impressed with this at intervals, though it would not be good to dwell upon it perpetually; for you make a man none the better by making him habitually sad. 3. It presents an image of the sorrows of the world. These are a part of our subjection, and a peculiar part. While it is foolish and ungrateful to anticipate trouble, every day having enough to do with its own; and it is one of the worst occupations we can engage in, to torment ourselves with unarrived calamities, and paint the white blank of the future with woe; yet it becomes thoughtful persons, and has no tendency to make them less thankful, to consider She evils of humanity. They may be thus preserved from presumption, thus guarded against surprises, thus furnished with a fellow-feeling for the sufferings of others, and thus better prepared for their own trial when God shall send it. 4. Fasting represents penitence. It does so on the principle already mentioned, since penitence is one kind of grief. It does so on another ground. When a man is thoroughly stricken with the sense of sin, and seeks to express that consciousness, he describes his unworthiness to receive the bounties of heaven by declining to partake of them. (N. L. Frothingham.) Jeremiah 36:20-26 He cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth until an the ton was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth The burnt roll I. The incidents connected with the text. II. A few observations upon them.1. The piety of the parent is no assured guarantee for the religion of the son. The life of the Spirit can alone come from God, and it is given and withheld in a way to us past finding out. There are many instances in which we should not be justified in attributing any neglect to the parent, though the child may not by any means have walked in his steps; and, where this does occur, men not unfrequently become monsters of iniquity; for it has been well remarked that none are more abandoned than those who become wicked after a religions education: they cannot have quietness in vice till they have stupefied their consciences; and the greater the obstacles before men can fully indulge their lusts, the more depraved they are afterwards. The testimony of the Spirit, respecting Josiah, the father of Jehoiakim, is this, “ that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David.” 2. However men may slight and pour contempt upon the threatenings of God, they can in no way prevent their fulfilment. Jehoiakim and his princes mocked at the message of God, despised His gracious warnings, and purposed the infliction of punishment upon the prophet and scribe concerned in their delivery; but by so doing they did but provoke the wrath of the Lord till there was no remedy: God at length brought upon them the King of Babylon. And all this, we are told, took place, that “ the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.” The destruction of the world in the time of Noah was long delayed; but it came at length, and that when men were little expecting it. And, if men will not be prevailed upon to flee to the refuge which God hath in infinite mercy provided, this warning must be fulfilled in their destruction. 3. Those who slight God’ s warnings increase their condemnation. It was declared by the Lord through Huldah, the prophetess, to Josiah, the father of Jehoiakim, Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God when thou heardest His words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before Me, and didst rend thy clothes and weep before Me, I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord: behold I will gather thee to thy fathers; and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace” (2 Chronicles 34:27). III. The applicability of this subject to present times. Are there not those in this our land who endeavour, by the keen knife of wit and sarcasm, to cut the Bible in pieces, and thus bring it into contempt, and cause it to be neglected? And why do they act thus? They hate the Bible because they perceive that its threatenings are pointed at them and their sins; they are against the Bible because they see that the Bible is against them; they Know very well that, if the Bible be true, if it be indeed the Word of the living God, they are in a very awful case--in danger of feeling the wrath of God for ever in another world: this they cannot bear to think of, and therefore they first begin to wish that it may not be true; next, indulge a faint hope that it is not; and, lastly, are led on by. Satan to believe that it is nothing else but a cunningly-devised fable, fitted to frighten and alarm the minds of the weak; forgetting that the very circumstance which makes it so distasteful to themselves, namely, that it forbids the indulgence of every sinful desire and the practice of every wicked act, is of itself one of the very strongest proofs that it is not the Word of man, but of God. IV. Some lessons of instruction. 1. The duty of reverencing God’ s Word. 2. The duty of making it known according to our ability among others. 3. The duty of dealing ,faithfully with those who live in disobedience to God’ s commands. (T. Grantham.) The burnt roll and the Scriptures I. The words in the roll were inspired by God; so are the Scriptures.1. Christ appealed to and taught out of them (Matthew 4:4; Mark 12:10; John 7:42; Acts 1:16; Hebrews 3:7; 2 Peter 1:19; 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16). 2. Further proof-- (1) Their harmony and agreement.(2) The perfect moral scheme they unfold. (3) Their power over men’ s hearts.(4) Their wonderful preservation. II. The words in the roll contained Divine threatenings against sin. So throughout the Scriptures. III. The words in the roll were intended to produce penitence and result in forgiveness (verse 3). “ To the Lord our God belong--mercies,” &c. IV. The words in the roll are despised by the hardened and rebellious (verses 22-24). Burning was merely the outward and visible sign of contempt, neglect, and disdain. V. The words in the roll are, nevertheless, reverenced by some (verse 25). (Homiletic Magazine.) Rejection of God’ s message I. Deep and varied interest of the Book of Jeremiah.1. Divine truth of doctrine and promise (Jeremiah 17:1-27; Jeremiah 30:1-24; Jeremiah 31:1-40, &c.).2. Views of a prophet’ s inner life of anguish and faith (chaps. 1, 9, 10, 12).3. Passages of vivid narrative (this chapter). II. A strange scene. III. A searching lesson for the soul. The possibility of complete indifference to the most urgent warnings from God, even without open rejection of religion. Let us take the case of Zedekiah thus in some few respects.1. His act as a specimen of the soul’ s acts now.2. His excuses.3. His doom. IV. Zedekiah hears a message from one whom, on the whole, he owns as God’ s messenger, and, by way of reply, he burns it. Countless souls own the Bible, as, on the whole, God’ s Word. Perhaps in a time of distress, like Zedekiah (chap. 38.), they will anxiously turn to it. But in their hour of security, when grief or conscience is silent, the Bible may warn mere, but in vain. Church lessons, sermon texts, family portions, private reading, all bring them God’ s warnings. The soul, while it dares not say it is false, can yet cast the unfelt truth aside. V. Zedekiah, perhaps, explained his act in some vague way to himself. “ Jeremiah is a prophet; but cannot a prophet be prejudiced and exaggerate?” So Bible readers will let sceptical depreciation off the Bible so far warp them as just to take the edge off the reality of its warnings. “ Ye shall not surely die.” VI. But much more than this: Zedekiah positively rejected the message from wounded pride. He did not want it: he was well enough as he was. This blinded him in great measure to the question whether it were from God or not. So self will rise against the very words of Jesus, till it has seen its need and misery as it is (Revelation 3:17). VII. Zedekiah, for all this security and indifference, was on the verge of a real and dreadful doom. Ruin, captivity, blindness, bereavement (chap. 39.). So now, indifference to Divine warnings is no disproof of their truth. The Judge of all the earth will act, not on our view of things, but on His own. VIII. He who threatens is He who atones, saves, and loves. He sends His real threatenings to drive us to His real mercy (Revelation 3:19). (H. C. G. Moule, D. D.) Jeremiah’ s roll burnt The history with which our text is connected is soon told. It appears that Jeremiah the prophet, at the command of the Lord, had instructed Baruch the scribe to write, in a roll of a book, an abstract or an abridgment of all the sermons which during the last three-and-twenty years he had preached, as well as an account of the various judgments which the Lord had denounced against Judah by reason of their sins. This was done that the king and his people might be put in remembrance of what they had heard, and that they might the better understand it, when they had it all before them at one view. I. The importance of the written word. Our Lord and His apostles speak to us by their written words in the New Testament; and they attest the inspiration of the written Old Testament by the numberless quotations from its various hooks. These Scriptures we are commanded to “ talk of, when we walk by the way, and when we sit in the house.” We are also especially to heed them when they are read or explained to us in the sanctuary of public worship. II. The value of Divine ordinances. We should come up to the house of God, my brethren, “ to ask those things that be necessary as well for the body as the soul.” We should come up “ to set forth God’ s most worthy praise.” We should also come up to hear “ His most holy Word.” III. The Lord’ s object in the Scriptures. The object which God has in view in giving us His Word, is to save our souls. He therein tells us, first, of our danger, and then of our refuge. The Scriptures, therefore, when rightly received, issue in our salvation. This was the Lord’ s object in reference to Judah. Judah had sinned; and the Lord had threatened, by Jeremiah, to punish those sins. Mean-while, however, he tried once more to bring them to repentance. He therefore commanded Jeremiah to commit to writing all the evils he had pronounced against that nation, in the hope that, when they read what was written, they might be alarmed at their danger, and seek pardon from their God before their destruction came. IV. The rebellion of the carnal mind. “ The carnal mind,” we are told, “ is enmity against God.” It on this account opposes God’ s Word, and hates and persecutes God’ s faithful servants. V. The folly of destroying God’ s word. Those men destroy God’ s Word who will not receive its sayings. It matters not, however, my brethren, whether you receive the whole Word of God, or not. By it you must be one day judged. The judgment will be set, and the books will be opened. If you could get together and burn all the Bibles in the universe, that flame would never destroy God’ s truth. Hell would be the same: eternity would be the same: death and judgment would be unaltered. Reject not, then, the inspired Word. Receive it most thankfully. Pray, over it most earnestly. (C. Clayton, M. A.) The rash penknife Jehoiakim s last opportunity was now to come. The Spirit of God comes upon the prophet Jeremiah, and inspires him with a message from Heaven. Baruch, the scribe, is summoned to take it down in writing from his lips. I see him coming to the prophet’ s chamber with ink and pen and sheets of parchment. The people are awed and amazed. One of them, named Michaiah, instantly hastens off to the palace, and, finding a number of the princes gathered together, acquaints them with what has taken place, and gives them the substance of the prophecy. Presently one of these is commissioned to go into the monarch’ s presence and inform him. Jehoiakim, professing great indifference, has yet his curiosity aroused, and wishes the document itself to be brought to him. So Jehudi runs and fetches the roll, telling of the awful judgments that are about to descend upon the throne and upon the land, and proceeds to read it aloud to the king. The tragic sequel you already know, So Jehoiakim’ s day of grace closed. In that moment the door of mercy was shut against him for ever! His doom was sealed. The Spirit of God was quenched. The man was given up. Not, observe, that his life was ended; he lived at least four years after this; but he had sinned away his day of grace, and never more was God to ply him with the offers of mercy. His soul’ s ruin was now complete. I. Those who, in their early days, have resisted holy influences, generally turn out the most wicked of men. I hardly know an exception to this rule. Nor can you much wonder that it is so. It is just what we might expect. When a man deliberately tramples on conviction, and resists the dealings of God’ s Spirit, he uses the most effectual means to sear his conscience and harden his heart. If, in early days, you have been hedged round with Christian influences, and loving counsels, and bright examples, and fervent prayers: and you have withstood all these things, you are just the person most likely to make a rebound to the other extreme, and plunge headlong into gross iniquity. II. If a man’ s religion is not genuine and heart-deep, it often happens that troubles and calamities only drive him farther away from God. Do you remember what is written of King Ahaz? It might be written of many a one besides him. “ In the time of stress did he trespass yet more against the Lord.” Yes, with some men the more they suffer the more they sin. Adversity angers them against God. It is well known that times of pestilence, whilst they have brought out an unwonted religious earnestness on the one side, have brought out an unusual amount of wickedness on the other. The plague of London developed the vices of the metropolis to a frightful extent. Men patrolled the streets singing ribald songs beside the dead cart. When a ship is wrecked, and about to go to the bottom, if some fall on their knees and pray, others fly to drink and cursing. Nothing is a truer touchstone of character than the way in which a man treats the chastenings of God. III. As the heart gets hardened in sin, there is a growing unwillingness to listen to the voice of God. As soon as a young man begins an evil course, and resolves to take his fill of sinful pleasure, he acquires a hatred of his Bible, and a disinclination to attend the house of God. If he cannot silence God’ s ministers, he will keep as far as possible from them, and shut his ears against all good counsel I know a man to whom the sound of the church bells is so hateful, that in the warmest day in summer he will close all his windows, if possible, to keep it out. He was once a very different man, but now the devil has got such possession of him, that he abhors every vestige of religion; and I verily believe that were you to put a Bible into his hand, he would cut it in pieces with his penknife, and pitch it into the fire. If I want to know something of your state of heart, I ask, what value do you put on, and what use do you make of the law of God? (J. T. Davidson, D. D.) The Bible disposed of, what then? Were the Bible proved to be quite unworthy of confidence, were it shown to be dotted everywhere with error as thick as a leper with his loathsome scales, what advantage would it be to godless men? I. God would still remain. The Bible does not make God; it does not even demonstrate the being of God. It assumes Him. Its opening words are, “ In the beginning God created.” The simplest argument in all the world is that which phrases itself thus: Design supposes a designer. Were I to say that John Milton made Paradise Lost by jumbling letters in a bag and tossing them forth, all reasonable men would laugh at me; but this would be no more preposterous than is the allegation that our universe is a fortuitous concourse of atoms. All men know that back of law is the Lawgiver, back of order the Arranger, back of design an Infinite Contriver. But while the world would retain its belief in God, it would, in the absence of the Scriptures, know nothing of His Providence or of His Fatherhood. II. The sense of sin would remain. The Bible is not responsible for the sense of sin. If there were no Bible, our consciences would still speak to us. When Prof. Webster was lying in prison awaiting his doom he made formal complaint that he was affronted by his keepers, who shouted at him, “ Oh, you bloody man!” and by his fellow-prisoners, who pounded on the walls of his cell, shouting, “ Oh, you bloody man!” A watch was set, but no voice was heard; it was his guilty conscience that was crying out against him. It is not the Bible that gives us Ixion on the wheel, or Sisyphus vainly rolling the stone up the mountain-side, or Tantalus up to his lips in the ever-receding waters. No, in any case conscience would remain; but in the absence of revelation we should know no remedy for its sting. III. Were the bible destroyed, our sense of duty would still remain. The moral law is set forth in the Scriptures in the Decalogue and the Sermon on the Mount. The Decalogue, however, was written in the human constitution long before it found expression in Scripture. It is interwoven with the nerves and sinews of the race. The Sermon on the Mount is simply a broad and glorious exposition of the Decalogue. There is nothing new or original here. We are reminded that the Golden Rule itself did not originate with Christ. The ethical system of the Bible is merely an authoritative statement of certain laws which are written in the soul of man. God here places His imprimatur on those otherwise anonymous precepts which the whole world recognises as right. So, were the Bible to vanish, the moral distinctions would remain, and a man would know his duty while, alas! ever sensible of not doing it. IV. The bible gone, death would still remain; death-and judgment following after. It needs no revelation from on high to tell us that, as Abd-el-Kader says, “ the black camel kneels at our gate.” That admonition is written on the grave-stones that line the journey of our life. “ The air is full of farewells to the dyingAnd mournings for the dead.”But without the Scriptures we should have no hope of triumph over death. V. The dream of immortality would still remain. This is quite independent of Scripture. The Greeks put an obolus upon the tongue of the dead to pay their ferriage across the Styx because there might be a happy land beyond. The Indian chic was buried with his bows and arrows at his side, because, if there should by chance be a happy hunting-ground, he would need them there. Thus immortality has always been a fond dream--a dream only. When Cicero lighted the lamp in the grave of his daughter it was with the thought that possibly her life, though extinguished for a time, might be rekindled. When Socrates put the cup of hemlock to his lips, he said, “ I go; whether to perish or to live again I know not.” The old fable of the Phoenix expressed the fondest of pagan hopes. No, no, we should not lose the dream but we should lose the certainty, for in the Gospel life and immortality are brought to light. The twilight vanishes, the dream becomes a splendid reality. The Bible is our noonday sun. Its glories are far away from the multitude who will not receive it. There are mysteries, vast and incomprehensible here; but burn the Book, or what is the same, let the world lose its confidence in it, and all that makes life worth living goes from us. But the Bible is in no danger; it has come to stay; it will glorify life and illuminate the valley of death until the last penitent sinner has gone through heaven’ s gate. Voltaire said that he would pass through the forest of the Scriptures and girdle all its trees so that in a hundred years Christianity would be only a vanishing memory. The hundred years have expired; Voltaire is gone, and “ none so poor to do him reverence,” but Christianity is still here, and the trees of the Lord are full of sap. The brazier of Jehoiakim is a golden altar, the fumes of which, like frankincense, have gone through all the earth. (D. J. Burrell, D. D.) The mutilated Bible 1. Consider the object which God has in view in writing His Word and sending His written messages to mankind. This object is most pathetically set forth (verse 3). That is why God has given us the Bible! Not to bewilder us, not to start us on courses of intellectual speculation, not to tempt our curiosity, not to found rival sects, but to bring us to Himself to obtain forgiveness of iniquity and sin. 2. Man is so unwilling to hear anything unpleasant or disagreeable about himself that lie gets into a wrong temper before he actually knows what God s object is. Jehoiakim did not hear the whole roll. Did any man ever destroy the Bible who knew it wholly? The difficulty is in the “ three or four leaves.” There are men to-day who having heard three or four leaves of Genesis have cut it with the penknife. They cannot get over the six days and the talking serpent, so they cut the roll with the penknife. Or if they begin another book, they are offended by the extraordinary numbers of people killed in war, and the romantic ages of the patriarchs; so they cut the roll with the penknife. Or if they begin elsewhere, they are offended by the descriptions of human nature, its depravity, its helplessness, its horrible sin; and having heard three or four leaves, they cut the roll with the penknife. Now the Bible must be read in its entirety, that all its parts may assume their just proportions and their appropriate colour. 3. Though Jehoiakim cut the roll and cast it into the fire, the words were all rewritten, and the impious king fell under the severe and fatal judgment of God (verse 30). Men have not destroyed revelation when they have destroyed the Bible. “ The Word of the Lord abideth for ever.” The penknife, cannot reach its spirit, the fire cannot touch its life. The history of the Bible is one of the proofs of its inspiration. 4. The desire to cut the Bible with the penknife and to cast it into the fire, is quite intelligible because in a sense profoundly natural. The Bible never lures human attention by flattering compliments. What wonder if the leper should break the mirror which shows him his loathsomeness? 5. This desire to mutilate the holy Word shows itself in various ways, some of them apparently innocent, others of them dignified with fine names and claiming attention as the last developments of human progress. (1) Look, for example, at the use made of the sectarian penknife. (2) Look at the use of the philosophical penknife. The letter is cut down to nothing, and revelation becomes a question of consciousness, so that the inquiry is not so much, What is written? as, What do you feel? From these reflections we may well learn to hold the roll as inviolable, holy, sufficient, final. (J. Parker, D. D.) The indestructible Book There are thousands of Jehoiakims yet alive who cut the Word of God with their penknives; and my object is to designate a few of them. The first man I shall mention as thus treating the Word of God is the one who receives a part of the Bible, but cuts out portions of it with his penknife, and rejects them. Jehoiakim showed as much indignity toward the scroll when he cut one way as when he cut the other. You might as well behead Moses as to behead Jonah. Yes, I shall take all the Bible or none. No; you shall not rob me of a single word of a single verse of a single chapter of a single book of my Bible. When life, like an ocean, billows up with Rouble, and death comes, and our barque is sea-smitten, with halyards cracked, and white sails flying in shreds, like a maniac’ s grey locks in the wind--then we will want God’ s Word to steer us off the rocks, and shine like lighthouses through the dark channels of death, and with hands of light beckon our storm-tossed souls into the harbour. In that last hour take from me my pillow, take away all soothing draughts, take away the faces of family and kindred, take away every helping hand and every consoling voice--alone let me die, on the mountain, on a bed of rock, covered only by a sheet of embroidered frost, under the slap of the night-wind, and breathing out my life on the bosom of the wild, wintry blast, rather than in that last hour take from me my Bible. Stand off, then, ye carping, clipping, meddling critics, with your penknives! I can think of only one right way in which the Bible may be divided. A minister went into a house, and saw a Bible on the stand and said, “ What a pity that this Bible should be so torn! You do not seem to take much care of it. Half the leaves are gone.” Said the man: “ This was my mother’ s Bible; and my brother John wanted it, and I wanted it; and we could not agree about the matter, and so each took a half. My half has been blessed to my soul, and his half has been blessed to his soul.” That is the only way that I can think of in which the Word of God may be rightfully cut with a penknife. The next man that I shall mention as following Jehoiakim’ s example is the infidel who runs his knife through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and rejects everything. Men strike their knife through this Book, because they say that the light of nature is sufficient. Indeed! Have the fire-worshippers of India, cutting themselves with lancets, until the blood spurts at every pore, found the light of nature sufficient? Has the Bornesian cannibal, gnawing the roasted flesh from human bones, found the light of nature sufficient? No! I call upon the pagodas of superstition, the Brahminic tortures, the infanticide of the Ganges, the bloody wheels of the Juggernaut, to prove the light of nature is not sufficient. A star is beautiful, but it pours no light into the midnight of a sinful soul. The flower is sweet, but it exudes no balm for the heart’ s wound. All the odours that ever floated from royal conservatory, or princely hanging gardens, give not so much sweetness as is found in one waft from this scriptural mountain of myrrh and frankincense. All the waters that ever leaped in torrent, or foamed in cascade, or fell in summer shower, or hung in morning dew, gave no such coolness to the fevered soul as the smallest drop that ever flashed out from the showering fountains of this Divine Book. The light of nature is not sufficient. Infidels strike their penknife through this Book because they say that it is cruel and indecent. There are things in Ezekiel and Solomon’ s Song that they don’ t want read in the families. Ah! if the Bible is so pernicious just show me somebody that has been spoiled by it. Again, they strike their penknife through the Bible because it is full of unexplained mysteries. What, will you not believe anything you cannot explain? Have you finger-nails? You say, “ Yes.” Explain why, on the tip of your finger, there comes a nail. You cannot tell me. You believe in the law of gravitation; explain it, if you can. I can ask you a hundred questions about your eyes, about your ears, about your face, about your feet, that you cannot answer. And yet you find fault that I cannot answer all the questions you may ask about this Bible. I would not give a farthing for the Bible if I could understand everything in it. I would know that the heights and depths of God’ s truth were not very great if, with my poor, finite mind, I could reach everything. Again, the infidel strikes his penknife through this Book because he says, if it were God’ s Book, the whole world would have it. He says that it is not to be supposed that if God had anything to say to the world He would say it only to the small part of the human race who actually possess the Bible. To this I reply that the fact that only a part of the race receives anything is no ground for believing that God did not bestow it. Who made oranges and bananas? You say, God. I ask, How can that be, when thousands of our race never saw an orange or a banana? If God were going to give such things why did He not give them to all? If all the human race had the same climate, tile same harvests, the same health, the same advantages, then you might by analogy argue that if He had a Bible at all He would give it to the whole race at the same time. Again, the infidel strikes his penknife through the Book by saying: “ You have no right to make the Bible so prominent, because there are other books that have in them great beauty and value.” There are grand things in books professing no more than human intelligence. The heathen Bible of the Persians says: “ The heavens are a point from the pen of God’ s perfection.’’ “ The world is a bud from the bower of His beauty.” “ The sun is a spark from the light of His wisdom.” “ The sky is a bubble on the sea of His power.” Beautiful! Beautiful! Confucius taught kindness to enemies; the Shaster has great affluence of imagery; the Veda of the Brahmins has ennobling sentiment; but what have you proved by all this? Simply that the Author of the Bible was as wise as all the great men that have ever lived put together; because, after you have gone through all lands, and all ages, and all literatures, and after you have heaped everything excellent together and boiled it down, you have found in all that realm of all the ages but a portion of the wisdom that you find in this one Book. Take it into your heart! Take it into your house! Take it into your shop! Take it into your store! Though you may seem to get along quite well without this Book in your days of prosperity, there will come a time to us all when our only consolation will be this blessed Gospel. (T. De Witt Talmage.) The written Word Jeremiah continued to prophesy close up to the time of the first captivity. The days were evil, the cup of the nation’ s iniquity was filling rapidly, as rapidly, indeed, as the cup of its predicted desolation and sorrow, yet the people discerned not the signs of the times. I. The circumstances which led to the preparation of this roll. Jeremiah had now been a preacher to the people for three-and-twenty years, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and warning the nation” every one night and day with tears.” The effect of these spoken addresses, however, had been utterly disappointing; under Divine guidance he must now have recourse to another expedient. He must prepare a summary of all his sermons, revive upon the minds of the people the warnings which seemed to have passed away; must enable them to read, each in the solitude of his secret chamber, words which, as heard with the outward ears, had neither moved them to repentance nor kindled in them any sense of alarm. “ And the word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.” It is worthy your noting how frequently in the Old Testament the Almighty gives instructions to have His words committed to writing; to Habakkuk it is said, “ Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables.” The commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai must be preserved on two tables of testimony,--tables of stone, written with the finger of God; and the commission given to Ezekiel shall be contained in “ the roll of a book, written within and without.” Of all this, no doubt the design is to make us appreciate the value of a written revelation, of a written rule of faith, of a written charter of salvation, of a written and inspired record of the mind and will of God. In a matter so vital to man’ s happiness, God would not leave us at the mercy of man’ s memories--to the fidelity with which oral traditions might be handed down. But let us see what this history teaches us is the avowed purpose of the Most High in giving us this written revelation. “ Write all these words, for it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them” ; and the same thought is repeated in the seventh verse, where Baruch is instructed to go and read the writing to the assembled people. “ It may be, they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return every one from his evil way.” But how striking is this language on the part of Almighty God. “ It may be” that such and such effects will follow on the use of certain means. In the infinite prescience of the everlasting mind we know there can be no such thing as a “ may be” ; gathering into its sweep as that mind does the issues of all being, chance, time, space, every circumstance with regard to every soul, is an inevitable must be. While still further, with regard to this very people of whom it is said, “ It may be that they will turn,” we know it was a settled fact, in the order of the Divine omniscience, that they would not turn, but would “ deal very treacherously.” Too humble we cannot be in dealing with those apparently conflicting difficulties of moral state, nor too thankful either. They teach us that in relation to the acts and purposes of an infinite mind there are things which are too high for us; that however much two statements may seem to cross each other, if they are clearly revealed we must accept both. “ An intellect to which nothing would be paradoxical,” says Bishop Horsley, “ would be an infinite intellect.” It is a bad way of reconciling two Scripture doctrines to ignore or overlook or hide under a bushel one of them. The denial of the doctrine of the Divine predestination, of a knowledge on the part of God of how you or I shall act at any given moment of our future history, is simple atheism; the dethronement of God from the rule of the universe, and a passing of the sceptre to the hands of a thousand wild contingencies, that each may contend for it as it will. And yet with all this “ must be” in the Divine purposes, room should be left for the “ may be” in the human volition and acts. I bid you take a practical example. Look at the apostle Paul and his companions in the storm. All the men in that ship were to be saved; he knew that, as an absolute purpose of God, which nothing could prevent. It was “ a must be” ; but the sailors did not believe in this assurance. Hope was gone, the ship must be abandoned. “ Down with, the boats instantly, and let each for himself take his chance of deliverance.” Now, how did Paul act, with his foreknowledge that all the passengers should be saved? Did he sit quietly? Just the reverse; with all the earnestness and solemnity of one who felt that on the assistance of these sailors he and all that sailed with him were dependent for their life, he cried out, “ Except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved.” I have told you that there shall be no loss of any man’ s life among us and I believe that It shall be even as it was told. He seems to add, God s predestinations are accomplished not by the superseding of human efforts, but by the employment of them; not by forcing our moral liberty, but in harmony therewith. The end is fixed; but for the fulfilment of it my earnestness is necessary, your submission to my directions is necessary; the labour and skill of these seamen to lighten the ship, to take up the anchor, to loose the rudder-bands, to hoist up the mainsail to the wind are necessary. There is a sense in which it “ must be” that you shall be saved, and there is a sense in which it may be that you shall perish. You have, to do, not with the certainty, but with the contingency, and it hangs upon this, “ Except these abide in the ship.” And it is under like limitations that God uses the expression, “ it may be,” in regard to the effect which the writings of Jeremiah might have upon the minds of those who should read them,--whether the Jews or ourselves. But, in our case, the putting of the Bible into our hands is, so to speak, a moral experiment. To us, His ministering servants, God says, “ Here is a book fitted by the nature of its discoveries to commend itself to every man’ s conscience; calculated by its discoveries of a Saviour’ s love, and power, and tenderness, to win the most hardened heart to repentance, and accompanied, moreover, with such piercing and persuasive energy, through the influences of the Spirit, that only on the supposition of the most resolved obduracy and pride can any conscience remain unconvinced of its guilt, or any sinner continue in the error of his ways. I, in My infinite foresight, may know that in the case of this man, or of that, the message will fail, but I will have the experiment tried with all. Thou shalt speak My word unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear.’” You must preach upon contingencies; “ Take thee a roll of a book, ‘ it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them.’” But let us look at this “ may be” --this merciful contingency that God, in condescension to our forms of thought, is pleased to speak of. These possible results, which it is in the heart of God to do, should be produced by our taking the Book of Scripture into our hands. First, God hopes thereby to excite in us a holy fear of His just displeasure--“ It may be that they will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them.” Yes, will hear it and believe in it--will not suppose that I speak parables, will not think that I have just menaced merely to humble, or have drawn pictures of calamity only to terrify, but will be persuaded of a truth that if My message be not accepted these results will follow. I will leave men to themselves, I will withdraw from them the influences of My Holy Spirit, I will bid the great High Priest offer up no more prayers for them, I will even suffer them to delude themselves into a false peace. Oh! ye who despise the Word, will ye hear all the evil which God purposes to do unto you? But see, God has better hope of His work. He trusts it may produce amendment of life, accompanied with earnest desires for forgiveness--“ It may be that they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Do not fail to note here the import of that expression. “ That I may forgive.” It touches upon another of God s deep things, namely, upon what God is able to do, what are the limits imposed upon Him by the nature of His own attributes, upon some things which cannot be done by Him, to whom, nevertheless, we are accustomed to say that “ all things are possible.” Sins of longest life I can forgive, and sins of the blackest dye; I can forgive infirmity, forgive years of despised grace and despised opportunity, but it is beyond the power of My holy nature, beyond the reach of the great propitiation, to forgive where there is no returning, where the heart is still in love with evil, enslaved under the uncast-off yoke of sin. “ It may be that they may return, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” I must note one other of these contingent results which God hopes for through His written Word, put by the Spirit into the mouth of Jeremiah; namely, that it will set the people upon much earnest prayer. “ It may be,” he says to Baruch, in the seventh verse, “ that they will present their supplications before the Lord, and will return every one from his evil way.” Very beautifully does this come in, for none of the other results were to be expected without this the sense of spiritual danger, the heart to turn from sin, the desire for experimental assurance of the Divine forgiveness, are, it is true, not things that we could ever obtain by ourselves, but are the gifts of God, promised to earnest and persevering prayer. You are told to pray, told that it is the will of God that you should pray. There you have something; use that, and then God will give more. You pray that you may know how to pray; if the heart so turned to God be not yours, yet you desire that you may have that heart, and all hinges upon your honest use of God’ s kind” contingencies. This merciful experiment He is making with you as to the use of His written Word, “ it may be they wall present their supplications before the Lord.” If they do, the next step will follow, “ they will return every one from his evil way.” Such is the design of a gracious God, in ordering Jeremiah to prepare the roll; such were His ends in restoring it after it was destroyed, and presenting it, with all its subsequent enrichments, for the use of us and of our children unto this day. II. The roll destroyed. Jeremiah, as we learn from the narrative, was at this time under restraint; not in prison, where he was not placed until afterwards, but only forbidden by Jehoiakim to exercise his prophetic functions, or even to be present at the services of the temple. Accordingly he gives it in charge to Baruch, a man who had taken all the Lord’ s words in his mouth, to go up and recite all the words of the Lord in the ears of the people who would assemble in the Lord’ s house on the fast day. Whether there was no congregation assembled, or in obedience to some unrecorded instruction, the first reading of the roll seems to have taken place in the hearing of a single person only, in one of the side courts in the entrance of the gates of the Lord’ s house. This noble hearer was Michaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the scribe, who was so arrested by the words he had heard that he lost no time in going to tell them, as well as he could remember, to the princes at the time resident in the court of Jehoiakim. Interested in this second-hand recital, the princes thought they should like to hear for themselves, and they accordingly sent for Baruch to the palace, that they might have a private hearing of the words of this roll. And here it concerns us nearly, to watch what effect the reading of this roll had upon the princes. Well, in the first instance, it produced in the minds of these princes sentiments of deep emotion. “ It came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid, both one and the other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king all these words.” Easily can we conceive how encouraged Baruch would be by this first fruit of a faithful message; he had stirred up the dormant activities of conscience; the arrows of conviction were rankling sharply in the soul, a sudden fear had evidently taken hold of the men,--“ they trembled.” For this, as we know, is the sequel: the princes tell the matter to the king, the king sends for the book, commands one of his servants to read out of it, and is so irritated at its disclosures, that at the end of the third or fourth leaf he takes the roll from the hand of Jehudi, and having cut it up to pieces that no part of it might be recovered, waits with awful deliberation until all the roll is consumed in the fire on the hearth. The marvel of the sacred writer seems to be less at the burning than at what followed the burning, or rather at what did not follow the blasphemous hardihood that could go so far and not tremble at the mischief itself had wrought, “ yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words.” It is just here that an important practical lesson comes in for us, for it tells us what despised religious conviction may lead to; what a soul-hardening tendency there is in warnings which we have felt once, and felt keenly too, but which we resolved afterwards we would put aside and try to forget all about; and the danger is the same to this day. Show me a man who has never been the subject of one serious or solemn thought, whom the Word, whether read or preached, has never penetrated with a sense of sin or danger, and of that man, I say, I have hope. The arrow is yet on the wing, it may pierce him yet. But when we come to the case of a man who, like Judah’ s princes, has trembled under the power of the Word, or who, like Jehoiakim himself, has felt it to be so pointedly addressed to his own heart that he could bear its presence no longer, then I say there is room for nothing but the most distressing apprehension, and fearful standings in doubt. Ay! better had it been for Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah never to have seen that roll at which their consciences trembled, than having seen it and having trembled at it, to have relapsed into their former indifference, and even to stand by whilst its dishonoured pages were blazing on the hearth. III. The roll restored and replenished with more awful judgments. Who ever hardened his heart against God and prospered? Who ever kicked against the pricks of an accusing conscience and did not live to mourn in bitterness his folly? The anger of Jehoiakim against the roll was great, because it told him that the king of Babylon should certainly come and destroy the land. And so, like the foolish Brahmin who crushed the microscope with a stone because it showed him insects in his food, he thought to be revenged on the roll by burning it in the fire. Well, what are the consequences? Why, the new roll Jeremiah was to write contained not only the former things, but some worse, even the utter ruin of the royal house, the condemnation of Jehoiakim’ s posterity to captivity and shame, and the exposure of his own body to the burial of an ass, as an eternal monument of God’ s displeasure against all who despised the warnings of His written Word. Not only was Jeremiah to rewrite all the words of the Book which had been burned in the fire, but, says the sacred historian, “ There were added besides unto them many like words.” And what is the great practical lesson I wish you to derive from this part of the history? That the Word of God is imperishable. A singular and wonderful Providence, as we all know, has watched over that Word. Every jot and tittle shall have its complete fulfilment, for indeed there is something beyond the mere writing. Oh, suffer me to remind you of its double aspect, its double lesson, its double tendency, either to strengthen the mind and hopes of the righteous, or to cover with overwhelming hopelessness the prospects of the ungodly and the sinner. Let me say a word first to those who feel that they do not belong to Christ, have no part in the covenant, know well enough they are not washed, not sanctified, not justified by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God. Must I not in all faithfulness say to them, even as Baruch would have said to Jehoiakim when he threw the strips and shreds of heavenly truth into the flame, “ Be thou well assured that all the words written in this roll shall come to pass, yes, and there shall be added unto them many like words” ? The neglect of the preached Word can but aggravate the condemnation. “ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” More grateful, however, is it to the minister of the Gospel of love and peace to approach this imperishableness of the written Word from its other side, and see what are the promises to them that fear God. And to them I say, even to all that are in Christ Jesus, to all that have found peace, this unfailing certainty of all that God hath written in His Word is like a footing on the everlasting rock. Yes, it is yours to live in a world of change, changes in nature, changes in Providence, changes in the Church of God, changes in the rolling seasons, changes in your own frames and feelings, and desires and spiritual experiences; and what protection and refuge against your own inconstancy, your own fluctuations of purpose, and will, and power, is it to be able to fall back on the unchanging, eternal, indefeasible Word of promise of the Most High God, of Jesus “ the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” (D. Moore, M. A.) Bible-burning We read in the first lesson this morning the earliest instance of Bible-burning on record, and also the uselessness of the experiment. On this page of the Bible we have two extremes brought into juxtaposition--there is the extreme of utter obedience, as illustrated by the Rechabites, in the preceding chapter, and the extreme of disobedience, recorded here. Between these two cases lies the life conduct of the men and women of our generation. Few are so obedient as to follow out to the very letter the duties enjoined on us by God’ s holy Word. We like to shirk the more disagreeable, and to modify others so as to justify a partial obedience; and yet, though we may try to find loopholes through which to escape distasteful duties, I question much whether any would go to the extreme of defiance, represented by Jehoiakim’ s conduct in burning the Book itself. Whether the teachings of the Book are followed out as they should be, or disregarded, people generally admit their duty to obey and yield honour and respect to the Book itself, if not from proper motives, then from a superstitious, unreasoning veneration. The holy Bible ought to be treated by us with respect at least; the Book ought not to be treated as any other book, but should occupy a place peculiarly its own, and that because it is the gift of God to man, the gift which shows us the way of salvation, which tells us of God’ s relationship to us as our Father, which tells the story of a Saviour’ s love and compassion. Jehoiakim is a beacon to us to warn us of the danger of hardening our hearts and resisting holy influences. Sins persisted in bring sorrow and reverses, and the effect of reverses is either to bring us to God or to drive us far away from Him into the outer darkness of misery and ruin. Unless the heart is illuminated by the light of true religion, man will rebel when God chastens; misfortunes will but drive him into evil excesses, and, instead of quickening within his breast the sense of sin and inciting to repentance, he will go from bad to worse, he will be unwilling to hear the voice of God, will shut his eyes to his danger, and will, in effect, dismiss those whose duty it is to recall him to his better self, with the old answer of Felix to Paul. (M. P. Maturin, M.A.) Rejected blessings Time is the material of our lives, but do not those people out it with a penknife, and cast it into the fire, who talk of “ killing time,” and put their words into practice? But if it perishes it is recorded, and an hour will come when they would give all that they possess for a moment of it. Youth is one of the precious opportunities of life--rich in blessings if we choose to make it so, but having in it the materials of undying remorse if we out it with a penknife, and cast it into the fire. Health is another of God’ s most precious gifts which is too often cut with a penknife and thrown into the fire of passionate sin. “ Never treat money affairs with levity--money is character.” This is a wise precept, for money is a power lent to us by God, not for our own use only, but for the good of others. There is then such a thing as conscientious money-spending, and it is very sinful to cut money, so to speak, with a penknife and cast it into the fire. If we are to be saved, we must use the means of salvation which God gives to us as He gave this roll of a book to Jehoiakim. Above all, we must not treat with contempt the gracious invitations of our Saviour to come unto Him. If we despise or neglect so great salvation, we shall kill our souls. No doubt Jehoiakim fancied when he burned the roll upon which God’ s threatenings against his sins were written, that these would somehow be prevented from taking effect. But the truth of God is not so easily destroyed. Jeremiah caused another and a longer roll to be written. From this we may learn the often-forgotten fact that the truth of God does not depend upon men. They may believe or they may not believe, but though this matters to themselves it cannot destroy truth. It is well to remember this fact, which, when stated, seems so obvious, for many men have a contemptuous patronising way of talking about religion as if it would perish if they ceased to believe it. And as it is with truth, so is it with our responsibilities. We do not get rid of them by simply ignoring them and treating them with contempt. (E. J. Hardy, M. A.) Jehoiakim’ s penknife A homely writer says, “ Jehoiakim’ s patent has expired, and a whole army of followers of his are fond of cutting at God’ s Word.” God gives very sharp, earnest, forcible warnings. He gives them in Scripture; He gives them in our daily lives. Do not let us handle Jehoiakim’ s penknife to pare down the long dark columns of warning against sin and heedlessness and godlessness, which are written in His book. Shall I tell you how this absurd childish folly comes about? It comes of small pieces of heedlessness, gentle warnings not heeded, then stronger ones are sent, and they too are soon tossed aside. I cannot believe that Jehoiakim became such a downright fighter against God by any sudden visitation; he probably went on from smaller neglects to greater; from neglects to rejections; from rejections to defiance, till at last he thought as little of cutting God’ s Word into fragments, as he once would have thought of putting off a serious thought to a more convenient season. (J. Kempthorne, M. A.) Burning the roll I remember, when on a mission, coming down from a pulpit where I had been pleading with souls, and going up to a respectably dressed man, one on whom my eye had rested more than once while preaching. I saw the tear was in his eye; I knew that the Word had gone home to his heart. I entreated him then and there to give himself up to the Lord. I daresay I talked with him for a quarter of an hour, till at last I found he too seemed to burn the roll. He began by listening to me politely and civilly, but as I went on earnestly pleading with him, pressing him to surrender himself to God, I saw he was resisting and hardening his heart, till at last he said something to the effect that he wished I would not talk to him any more. So after offering a short prayer I had to withdraw. A few weeks after, that man was struck on the head in a drunken broil, and never had time to say, “ God save my soul.” His day of grace ended in that church, he too had burned the roll. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.) Unbelief does not alter facts Jehoiakim made the other mistake of thinking that he had removed the danger when he had destroyed the roll that told of it. He could burn the parchment, but did that arrest the tramp of Nebuchadnezzar’ s army? Putting out the lighthouse lamps does not blow up the reef. Its merciless fangs are as sharp as ever, and all the more surely fatal because they are hid in the darkness. We do not alter facts by refusing to believe them, or to attend to the statement of them. As Bishop Butler says, “ Things are as they are,” and burning Jeremiah’ s roll changed nothing. Only it was the throwing away of one more possibility of escape, and made the king a more hopeless victim of the fierce conqueror. (A. Maclaren.) Jehoiakim’ s wickedness We have before us one of the most tragic acts of wickedness recorded in the history of the kings of Judah. It is in striking contrast with the act of the good King Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:15-33), who, when the lost book of the law was found, humbled himself and gave instant heed to its warnings and precepts; all the more so because the good king was father of this wicked and defiant one. Truly grace does not run in the blood. The chapter before us relates how Jeremiah had written out a summary of the prophecies concerning the impending captivity, and caused it to be read to the people assembled at a great and special fast in the Temple, and afterward to the princes in private, and finally to the king (verses 1-19). The object of the special message was one of compassion and pity on the part of Jehovah (verses 3, 7). It is wonderful how, in the midst of His wrath, God always remembers mercy. The reading of the prophecy to the people evidently made a deep impression, for the news of it was carried to the princes, who sent for Baruch and had him read it to them. They in turn were deeply affected, and said it must be brought before the king. They, however, knew his tyrannical temper, and took two precautions. First, after hearing from Baruch s lips how he came to write this prophecy of woe, they warned him to go with Jeremiah, and both to secrete themselves from the wrath of the king; then they laid the writing up in the house of the scribe (verses 15-19), and lastly went in to report the matter to the king. These princes seemed favourable to the prophet and to the Word of God, but they feared the king. An evil king can suppress the good that is in his people and prevent a whole nation from repentance or reformation. Men in authority have great privilege, but also great responsibility. I. The Word of God destroyed. The burden of the word of Jeremiah, which was a summary of all his prophecies on this point, was that Judah should be carried away captive by the King of Babylon (verse 29). This was not the first warning, but the gathering up of all past threats; it was God’ s final word to the king and the people. As it was read, he ordered it bit by bit to be cut away and thrown into the fire until all was consumed. In this action the following points may be noted--1. The contempt of the king. The princes had put the writing away in the house of the scribe (verse 20) before they went in to the king. This was a testimony of their respect for a message sent by a prophet of the Lord, and of their fear for its safety. The king, however, had no such feelings of reverence for God’ s Word. He did not even dignify the document by sending a proper official to bring it; but showed his contempt by telling a page or under-secretary to fetch it. This act was a suggestive prelude to what followed afterward. The Bible, of all books, is entitled to the place of highest honour, and it is a bad sign when this due respect ceases to be manifest. 2. The rage of the king. As the book was being read, the king overlooked the message, which undoubtedly was incorporated, that God hoped that the reading of it might induce them to turn from their sins and claim His promised mercy. Many people, who declaim against what they call the hard and bitter denunciation of sin and of the judgments of God, seem persistently to forget that the Book which condemns sinners to death and hell is mostly taken up with earnest and loving entreaties to repentance, with promises of life and salvation. God was beyond his reach, but” His Word being within his grasp, he poured out his wrath against that. He ordered it to be cut to pieces and burned with fire. This was not a hasty and impulsive action on the part of the king, but deliberate and premeditated. He perseveres in his evil work, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his princes. He was a “ proud and haughty scorner, who dealt in proud wrath” (Proverbs 21:24). There are times when remonstrance ceases to be wise, and a wilful sinner must be given up to his chosen way. The reason for his wrath was the evil tidings which the prophet’ s words brought him. Yet how foolish was his wrath--how impotent his rage! For what did he destroy? Only the parchment on which the Word of God was written; not the Word of God itself. It is related of a heathen princess of hideous countenance, that on looking into a mirror which a missionary had, and seeing her ugliness, she destroyed the glass in rage, and ordered that no more mirrors should be brought into her kingdom. I once saw a man in a railway carriage to whom a leaf of the New Testament had been given, crumple it up in his hand, fling it on the floor, spit on it, and grind it under his heel. This action was as ridiculous as it was impotent. The rage of the hater of God’ s Word was evoked, but the Word of God was not destroyed. 3. The attitude of the witnesses. There were two classes of witnesses present. (1) The king’ s servants; his pages and immediate attendants. “ Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words.” This implies that the message not only failed to bring about any repentance or desire that the evils threatened might be averted (compare 2 Chronicles 34:19), but that the servants were not even horrified at the action of the king in ordering the writing to be destroyed. They became parties to the act of the king in his wilful unbelief, in his contempt and deliberate defiance of Jehovah. When we join ourselves either in service or companionship with unbelieving men, we must be prepared either to go with them or break from them, when a crisis comes by reason of God’ s Word. We may serve an ungodly king, like Daniel, if we have the courage to take God’ s part when occasion comes, or we may have social and business relations with unbelievers, if we are prepared to act in a like loyal manner. But how often a timid Christian finds himself overborne by his wicked companions when they warm themselves at their fire, as with Peter in the High Priest’ s palace. (2) On the other hand, there were three princes present who “ made intercession to the king, that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear them.” They had, however, cleared their skirts and washed their souls from the iniquity. Are we as faithful in all such like emergencies? 4. The baffled king. Having destroyed the writing, the king began to reflect that he had not avoided God’ s Word or put himself beyond the further reach of it, so long as the scribe and the prophet were at large. He therefore sent to have them arrested. Probably he contemplated their murder, thinking thus he would get rid of the Word. This is an old method with the haters of God. “ But the Lord hid them.” Let us suppose he had succeeded in getting hold of the prophet and had killed him; would he next seek to destroy God too? This would be the logical course. How men forget that when they have destroyed the outward revelation they have not destroyed the Word of God; and when they have killed the prophets they have not baffled the Spirit by whom the prophets speak. God hid His prophet and His scribe. Man is immortal till God has no further need of him. Let all God s witnesses know of a truth that God can deliver His servants from any manifestation of the wrath of man, if it is best for them and for His cause; and let them know when He does not deliver, it is neither for want of love, faithfulness, nor power, but because all round it is best that they should seal their testimony with suffering or death. II. The indestructible Word. The facts in this incident bring out clearly the truth, that man’ s hatred and rage against God’ s Word are as impotent as is the broken wave that falls back in spray from the rock against which it has spent itself. In this conflict of man against God’ s message, we see that it is neither a book nor a man against which the enemies of Christ fight. God can reproduce His Word, either by the same prophet, as He did in this case, or by another. Before the world can get rid of the Gospel it must kill all the believers in the world, and then they must not be too sure that God has not hidden His Word as He hid His prophet, to come forth unexpectedly, as the law came forth in the time of Josiah. Millions of Bibles may be destroyed, and the preachers and witnesses of the Word burned and put to the sword, but it only serves to both increase the Word of God and multiply the witnesses. When will the world learn that they cannot fight against God? Look only at the impotence of men in this conflict in the past. One Herod destroyed the little children, but God hid His Christ; another Herod beheaded John the Baptist, but failed utterly to destroy his testimony. The world crucified Christ; but God raised Him from the dead. The world imprisoned the apostles, stoned Stephen, put James to the sword, persecuted the young Church, but this only served to increase the number of believers and multiply the revelation. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 36:24 Yet they were not afraid.The hardening power of sin Is it conceivable that men who believed Jeremiah to be a prophet of God should despise his words? Is it credible that, after preaching for twenty years, those who listened to him should think him a prophet, and yet throw his sermons in the fire? I am afraid this is very conceivable and very credible: I see nothing in it a whir more incredible than in this, that men who dare not deny the Bible to be the Word of God, should know what is right and not do it, that they should have warning of a far more fearful captivity than that which was coming on the Jews, and yet should never tremble. The king of Judah and his people were not in the condition of men who had been sinning in ignorance, and to whom a sudden message had come from God to warn them to repent; they had no excuse of this kind, they had been deliberately disobeying God in spite of the warnings of Jeremiah, they had sinned against light, as we say, and so they had become blinded and hardened. At first probably, when they heard the prophet, they felt that they were living wickedly and made resolutions to amend, but by and by temptation came again and they gave way; then once more they would hear the warning voice, but somehow it would not this time be so terrible. Is it difficult to find examples of the like thing now? of men who by little and little fall from one sin to another, who have been taught as children the way of God and have been told of heaven and hell, and so are scared at first when they think that “ the wages of sin is death” ; but by and by this truth seems to lose its edge, sin has gained more hold, and Satan has said as he did to Eve, “ Ye shall not surely die” ; one sin leads to another, and each seems easier than the one before it; things which once appeared frightful now seem simple and familiar, and thus after a time the man becomes hardened. This is what the confession of many criminals confirms, they trace their wretchedness hack to some much smaller sin committed when young: a boy disobeys his parents, and perhaps would not believe you if you told him that he had taken one step towards the gallows; and let this may be true. This I understand by the deceitfulness of sin, to which the apostle refers its hardening power (Hebrews 3:13); it is deceitful, because what we call a small sin appears trifling, because we judge of sins merely in themselves, without considering to what they lead. If in a war a general were to see a few of the enemy’ s soldiers straggling over the hills, he might say that they were so few that they were not worth considering, but would he say so? or would he not rather look upon them as the forerunners of a great army, would he not prepare at once to resist the host of enemies which he must know lurked behind? In like manner the sins of childhood are the forerunners of the great army of the world, the flesh, and the devil, which comes up in maturer years, and the only safe course is to look upon no sin as trifling, but to root out every enemy whether small or great, lest perhaps we allow our enemy to gain such strength as shall end in our overthrow. We will consider first the ease of a man who seldom or never goes to church. Now I suppose the reason such a man would give is, that he does not see the use of it. Did he always think so? Most probably he had been taught differently when a child, he had been taught that God is with His people gathered together in His Name, that our Lord Jesus Christ is there; he was taught this, and he once believed it, but now he thinks he is as well at home: how has this change come about? has he reasoned about it? probably not at all: has any one for whom he has any respect told him so? certainly not: then what has changed him? it is the effect of habit; he has been “ hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” What I have just said will apply almost without change to the case of a man who never prays. He was taught to pray as a child, and perhaps he continues the practice, till at length, because he does not act up to his prayers, he finds the practice tiresome, and so he finds an excuse to omit prayer occasionally; then he grows more careless and more irregular, and yet the omission costs him less and less pain, till at last the time comes when he forgets God altogether, and so starves his soul to death. Or again, what shall we say of those who continually hear of their duty, and do not do it, or at all events do it in a very stinted degree? One man is just and kind and liberal, being scarcely aware of it himself, and another is niggardly and churlish, not because he thinks it right to be so, but because he has become hardened. It is a thing for every one of us to think over and pray over, whether we are in all things following God without reserve, and whether there may not be some point in which we are falling very grievously short, but to which habit has hardened us. (Bishop Harvey Goodwin.) Afraid of the Bible A celebrated infidel once said, “ There is one thing which mars all the pleasure of my life.” “ Indeed,” replied his friend; “ what is that? I am afraid the Bible is true,” was the answer. “ If I could know for certain that death is an eternal sleep, I should be happy--my joy would be complete. But here is the thorn that stings me--this is the sword that pierces my very soul: if the Bible is true, I am lost for ever.” This is the Bible upon the truths of which many have lived, and in the belief of which many have died. Oh, how terribly afraid would they have been if anyone had been able to show that it was untrue! For upon its truths all their hopes are built. An untrue Bible would mean an untrue Christ; and a Christless death would be a death of doom to them. (Quiver.) A foolish bravery I. It is a foolish bravery to ignore facts. Just that did Jehoiakim. It was a fact that he had sinned. It was a fact that Jeremiah was God’ s prophet. It was a fact that God, by the mouth of Jeremiah, had spoken doom for the sin of Jehoiakim unless he should repent. But Jehoiakim would have nothing of these facts. He cut the roll to pieces and threw it in the fire, &c. This did not change the facts.1. It is a fact that good is what ought to be. 2. It is a fact that God is the good. 3. It is a fact that evil is what ought not to be. 4. It is a fact that the good which ought to be must be against the evil which ought not to be. 5. It is therefore a fact that God, who is the good which ought to be, must be Himself against the evil which ought not to be. 6. It is, therefore, a further fact that if I choose the evil which ought not to be, the good God, who must be against the evil which ought not to be, must be against me. II. It is a foolish bravery to imagine yourself an exception from the working of the Divine law. Have you never been subdued into a vast awe, as the absolute irreversibleness of natural law has been pressed upon you? It is because natural law is so unchanging that we may build our cities, and send our ships, and plough our fields, and reap our harvests. But there is another and a fearful side to this irreversibleness of natural law. When, for any reason, man stands athwart one of these great natural laws, the penalty for violation is sure to smite. And this is as true in the moral realm. It is a foolish bravery to think yourself an exception to God’ s law. He said it--there am many who think it who do not so plainly say it--that young man, whom I was seeking to dissuade from courses of dissipation. “ Oh,” he answered, “ it may hurt other fellows, but it won’ t me; I am an exception.” How crammed with folly such temerity! III. It is a foolish bravery to refuse truth which you dislike. IV. It is a foolish bravery to go on heedlessly, saying, “ i don’ t care.” V. It is a foolish bravery to refuse repentance. (W. Hoyt, D. D.) The guilt of indifference to Divine threatenings 1. The man who hears God’ s threatenings without being afraid, and His kind invitations and promises without being melted, does in effect say to His face, I consider nothing which Thou canst utter as of sufficient importance to excite the smallest emotion; neither Thy favour nor Thy displeasure is of the least consequence to me; I dread not Thy threatenings, I regard not Thy promises; after Thou hast said all that Thou canst say, I remain perfectly unmoved, and prepared to execute, not Thy pleasure, but my own. And if this does not express the utmost contempt of God, what can express it? 2. This sin also involves and indicates the highest degree of unbelief, of that unbelief which makes God a liar. When a man brings us intelligence of most important events, of events in which, if true, we are deeply interested, we cannot tell him more plainly that we disbelieve everything which he has said, than by remaining perfectly unaffected. He then who is but in a small degree affected by God’ s Word, has but little faith in it, and he who is not at all affected by it has no faith in it at all. He is as completely an infidel as anyone who ever gloried in the name. 3. Those who hear or read the Word of God without being affected, display extreme hardness of heart. They show that their hearts are absolutely unimpressible by any motives or considerations which infinite wisdom itself can suggest; that they are of so much more than flinty hardness, as to resist that Word which God Himself declares to be like a fire, and a hammer, that breaketh the rock in pieces. (E. Payson, D. D.) Jeremiah 36:26 But the Lord hid him.Hidden, but radiant “ The Lord hid him.” What that precisely means it is impossible to say: Was there a John of Gaunt for this Wycliff, an Elector of Saxony for this Luther? Did Ahikam, who had before interposed on his behalf, or his sons--Gemariah, who lent Jeremiah his room in the Temple for the reading of his roll, and Gedaliah, who became Governor of Judah after Zedekiah’ s deportation--take the prophet under their care? Or was this hiding something more Divine and blessed still? These Divine hidings are needed by us all. We must obey the voice that cries to us, as it did to Elijah, “ Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself.” We are too prominent, too self-important, too conscious of ourselves. And God must sometimes hide us in the sick-chamber, the valley of shadow, the cleft of the rock. He calls us to Zarephath, or Carmel, to the privacy of obscurity, or of solitude. It is stated that on one occasion when the dragoons of Claverhouse were scouring the mountains of Scotland in search of the Covenanters, a little party of these godly folk, gathered on the hillside for prayer, must have fallen into their hands had not a cloud suddenly settled, down, effectually concealing them from their pursuers. Thus the Son of God still interposes for His own. II. He re-edited his prophecies. To this period we may refer the Divine injunction: “ Thus speaketh the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book” (Jeremiah 36:2). It may be that throughout, this period Baruch continued to act as his faithful amanuensis and scribe. He, at least, was certainly included in the Divine hidings (Jeremiah 36:26-32). It was at great cost to his earthly prospects. He came of a good family, his brother being Seraiah, who held high office under King Zedekiah, and he cherished the ambition of distinguishing himself amongst his compeers. “ He sought great things for himself.” But he was reconciled to the lot of suffering and sorrow to which his close identification with Jeremiah led him, by a special revelation assuring him of the speedy overthrow of the State; and that, in the general chaos, he would escape with his life (45). By the aid of this faithful friend, Jeremiah gathered together the prophecies which he had uttered on various occasions, and put them in order, specially elaborating the predictions given in the fourth year of Jehoiakim against the surrounding nations. The word of the Lord came to him concerning the Philistines, and Moab, and the children of Ammon and Edom, Damascus and Kedar. This time of Jeremiah’ s seclusion was therefore not lost to the world. It was fruitful as Bunyan’ s in Bedford Gaol; Luther’ s in the Wartburg; Madame Guyon’ s in the Bastille. Unseen, the prophet busied himself, as the night settled down on his country, in kindling the sure light of prophecy, that should cast its radiant beams over the dark waters of time, until the day should dawn, and the day-star glimmer out in the eastern sky. (F. B. Meyer,. B. A.) Jeremiah 36:27-32 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words.The Word of God cannot be burnt I. The Word of God is imperishable. The truth is not pen and ink, parchment and words, but a force of an unchangeable character. It borrows material forms for garments, and uses outward methods for expression; these change, but truth never. Changes are observable in nature, but its laws remain firm. The process of destruction and restitution is ever on the march. The lily will fade, and the rose will perish, but the law of their life will say to the elements, “ Take thee another roll,” and write another lily and another rose. The pattern is never destroyed. Truth, law, symmetry, beauty, and life are emanations from the Eternal Mind, abiding immutable in the midst of change. Revelation has assumed aspects, many of which have passed away. The centre of all religious truth is the Saviour--“ Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” Whatever talents we possess, or whatever circumstances affect us, if there is a straight line from the heart to Jesus--if we are bound to Him by the radius of love--our lives will express the old truths, and present the old faith which animated patriarch, prophet, priest, apostle, and martyr. II. Opposition to the Word of God will not avert the consequences of sin. Why did the king precipitate the destruction of the Book before its contents were examined? If the moral condition of the people was wrongly described, facts would have disproved the fiction; if the threatened invasion by the King of Babylon was a myth, time would have revealed it. Evidently Jehoiakim found that the entrance of God’ s Word brought with it light, and that the spectacle it discovered was too frightful to contemplate. Either he must burn the roll, or the roll would burn him. Sin prevailed, and the roll was burnt. Was it a victory? Three months before the destruction of the city, Jehoiakim died a miserable death. The Florentine philosopher declined to look through Galileo’ s telescope, fearing he might see in the heavens some movement which would contradict his old view that the sun revolved, and the earth stood still Sinners fear to look at themselves through the Word of God. Dr. South wrote many years ago those words, “ Truth is so connatural to the mind of man, that it would certainly be entertained by all men, did it not by accident contradict some beloved interest or other. The thief hates the break of day; not hut that he naturally loves the light as well as other men, but his condition makes him dread and abhor that which, of all things, he knows to be the likeliest means of his discovery.” God is not in all the thoughts of the wicked, but there is another roll, and God is there. Impressions of sin, of death, and of a judgment to come have suffered violence, and have been wiped off human recollection, at least for a time, but they are written in the other roll. The last vision which terrified the soul of Jehoiakim was the other roll The authority of truth is inviolable, which no penknife can cut, and no fire burn. Let the Word of God shine into our heart, expose its follies and impurities, and the blush on the cheek will be the dawn of a better day. III. There is a gracious purpose in the reiteration of the Word of God. Jeremiah and Baruch retired to re-commit to writing the contents of the first roll This was done to give Judah another chance of escape from the impending storm. Although the roll was fun of denunciation and warning, yet the terms of peace are included in the declaration of war. Prophet after prophet brought to Israel the re-written message. This is set forth in the parable of the barren fig-tree; the end of all God’ s dealings is fruit unto life everlasting. What have we done with the second roll? Nature has re-written her message. Providence speaks again in terms of mercy. Gospel truths come up afresh, like the flowers in the garden. True, we have turned a deaf ear; but is it so still? Do we persist in unbelief? IV. All attempts to frustrate the Word of the Lord must ignominiously fail. The Word of God has been assailed by every conceivable opposition. The learned, with the sharp penknife of criticism, and the unlearned, with the fire of raillery, have made the attempt to destroy the authority of God’ s written Word, but they no more succeeded than if they had dug a grave in which to bury the law of gravitation. Julian the apostate, and Gibbon the historian, cut and burnt the roll, but they were as grass, “ The grass withereth,” &c. There was once a printing-press used solely to manufacture penknives to cut the roll; that press was afterwards used to print Bibles. The house in which Hume wrote against miracles was converted into a committee-room for the promotion of religious truth. Conviction of sin is the voice of God in the soul. Drown it you never can. Close the covers of the Bible, and fasten them with a clasp, but its very silence is louder than thunder. Messages and messengers come anew to remind us of our duty towards God and man. Let us bear in mind that the Word of the Lord is a hammer to break the rock; a fire to consume the stubble. Its wisdom is unbounded, backed by infinite power. Heaven and earth will dissolve before one iota of the Word will fail. Let us surrender our hearts to its power. (T. Davies, M. A.) The sacred oracles I. The committing of the mind and will of God to writing. This is important.1. Because the knowledge of them must be preserved and extended. 2. Because there was no way of preserving and extending this knowledge to be compared to this. II. What think you of those who would destroy the Scriptures?1. The enemies who deny its authenticity. Surely those precious pieces of antiquity which are found in the Book of Genesis--who would not wish to admire and preserve them? But the Vandalism of infidelity would fling them all into the fire, and fix our eyes on the darkness and dreariness of two thousand years ago. 2. View these men as to their patriotism, or their regard to public good. What benevolence was seen in the pagan world? Produce one instance in which the philosophy of Greece or Rome ever established an infirmary or an hospital. 3. View the enemies of the Bible, with regard to their charity and compassion. What do you think of the human being that would take away the Bible, dash this only cup of consolation from the parched lip--that would pull down the only refuge to which the polluted sinner can escape from the storms of life--that would deprive him of a resource to which, by and by, there will be an entire enjoyment, and that gives him the consciousness of present support? What can you think of a man that would do this, while he knows that he has nothing to substitute in the room of it, and that if the thing be a delusion, it is a solace which can be obtained in no other way? 4. View these men once more as to their guilt. This may be fairly determined from their doom. “ Oh,” say some, “ we are not accountable for our belief!” To which we answer that if we are not accountable for our belief we are accountable for nothing; for all our actions spring from belief; and infidelity does not arise from want of evidence, but from want of inclination. III. Some things which seem likely to injure revelation, and which yet prove its advantage.1. The attacks of the infidel on its divinity. What has been the consequence of all his opposition? Why zeal in its diffusion; and able articles brought forth in its favour; for inquiry is always friendly to truth, as darkness and concealment are friendly to error. 2. The sufferings of its followers by persecution. The periods of suffering have been always the most glorious for Christianity; the brethren have been united and endeared the more to each other; the Spirit of glory and of God has rested upon them; their sufferings have arrested attention and induced sympathy; the witness of their sufferings has been found to be impressed, and they have been led to inspire the principles that would produce such effects. 3. The divisions and parties that have sprung up among its professors. The differences which subsist amongst all those who hold the Head do not affect the oneness of the Church; they are only so many branches which form one tree--so many members which form one body. By these they have always proved stimulations to each other: they have awakened and increased emulation and zeal; and religion has always been upon the whole a gainer by them. 4. The failings of its members. It would seem impossible any good should arise from these to the cause of the Gospel. And yet what is the fact? No thanks to themselves--even these scandals have been overruled for good. These scandals were foretold by the Scriptures; and, therefore, they are pledges of their truth; these have shown that the Gospel is Divine and almighty--because it can bear to be betrayed from within as well as assaulted from without. The excommunication of these persons has always strikingly shown the purity of the Church, and that they cannot bear those that are evil; while the true professors have been led, by these instances, to fear, and tremble, and pray. IV. Admonitions.1. Be persuaded of the stability of the cause of revelation. 2. Apply Scripture to your own use, and apply it to the purposes for which it has been given. 3. Be concerned for the spread and diffusion of it. (W. Jay.) Cutting up and burning his Bible True, those were very anxious times. Party feeling ran high, and we may find this much excuse for the foolish king, that party feeling carried him away. The last days of the kingdom of Judah had come. Two rival nations were seeking her alliance, each as a protection against the other. The good Josiah had favoured Babylon, and even fought against Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt. In the great battle of Carchemish, Josiah lost his life, but the party favouring alliance with Babylon was strong enough to secure the election of his son Shallum as king, rather than the elder son, Jehoiakim, who seems to have favoured the Egyptians. Shallum, however, only held the throne for three months, and then Jehoiakim succeeded. Now Jeremiah, as the prophet of God, had distinctly, and over and over again, advised alliance with Babylon. He was consequently in disgrace when Jehoiakim came to the throne, and the Egyptian party gained the upper hand. He was no longer able to declare the Divine message freely in the streets, and at the court. But what is to be done with the roll? It was a great fast day; a national humiliation on account of the national peril. The people were crowding in from the district round, and were assembling for solemn services in the Temple courts. There the roll must be read. Baruch knew the peril, and shrank from the task, until comforted by an assurance of personal protection. They felt the news of all this must be taken to the king. They knew his impulsive willfulness so well that they feared to take the roll into his presence. Jehudi began to read, and the king began to grow angry at the Divine disapproval of his plans, and presently he seized the scribe s knife, as it lay on the ground, stripped a piece of the skin off, and threw it on the fire; and then, emboldened by his wilful act, proceeded to cut strip after strip, until the entire roll was consumed. What a daring act! And what a foolish act! More foolish than wicked, for he could not silence God’ s Word, or alter God’ s will in that way. It is very important that we should recognise the distinction between the revelation of God’ s will to a man, and the particular form in which that will may be made known to him. It is not the mere wording of the message that is our chief concern, it is the message itself. Men nowadays are finding so much to complain of in the mere form and wording of the Bible, that there is grave danger of their failing to heed that Bible as it comes closely up to each one of them, saying, “ I have a message from God unto thee. And is our message to be refused because the form of its setting is unpleasing to fastidious tastes? I. God’ s message to us may be an offence to us. It is when it opposes our inclinations. It is a wholly wrong attitude in which to stand towards God’ s Word, if we think to judge it by our inclinations and preferences, approving it only if it accords with them. God’ s will and Word are the standard by which we must test our inclinations, and they are stamped as wrong if we cannot gain the Divine approval. But so often our condition of approving the Bible is, that it shall comfortably allow us to “ follow the devices and desires of our own hearts.” We shut it up, we put it on the upper shelf, out of reach, when we have a half fear that it will-speak with an arresting voice, and say, “ What doest thou here, Elijah?” And the Bible is an offence when it convicts us of our sins. The sin of our day is this--we are attempting to judge God’ s Word instead of to receive it. We conceitedly criticise it, instead of reverently listening to it. We are making ourselves the standard for ourselves; and are determined that we will have nothing in the Bible that we do not like. II. Our offence may end expression in injury to the Word. That injury is not always coarse and vulgar like the injury done to the roll by Jehoiakim.1. In subtle ways we injure it, nowadays, by making it out to mean what it suits us to think it means, and by picking out bits here and there which are of doubtful authority; and so creating a general suspicion of the authority of the whole. (1) Generally undermining its authority. Men begin at the Old Testament. They cut strips out here and there. They would persuade us that the early chapters of Genesis are only legends, and the history of the patriarchs only uncertain traditions. Oh, poor Bible of our fathers! (2) Evaporating or changing its meaning. If anything strikes hard against sin, explain it away. If any dark shadows are thrown on the eternal future of impenitent sinners, exaggerate your representations of the love of God, be quite unqualified in your statements, and boldly declare that you would not punish sinners so vigorously, and therefore you are sure God will not. If you hardly dare cut a piece out of the Word, use the knife to scratch out what you do not like, and write over what you think would be suitable. (3) Refusing to admit the applications of the Word to ourselves. 2. How utterly foolish all this is! We cannot change one declaration of Holy Scripture. We cannot prevent the execution of one threatening. We cannot, by any of our devices, secure a comfortable arrangement for impenitent sinners in the next life. III. God’ s will can never be frustrated by any injury we may do to His messengers, or to His message. Because though it is in a message, it exists apart from the message. Jeremiah can soon write it all over again. Moreover, the attempted injury cannot fail to rouse further vindications of God’ s outraged majesty. Kings never pass lightly by the insults that are offered to their ambassadors. And the Word of God does but tell of providential workings that go on, in spite of anything that may happen to the message that reports them to us. To destroy the Word is as foolish and as useless as for the ostrich to hide her head in the sand, and convince herself that there is no danger, when the hunters are every moment nearing her. (The Weekly Pulpit.) Burning the Scripture The 98th annual report (1902) of “ The British and Foreign Bible Society” contains the following experience of Colporteur Galibert: “ Calling at a handsome house, he explained his object to madame. ‘ How much do you ask for your whole load of books?’ she inquired. ‘ Nine francs,’ he answered, supposing that the lady wished to make a free distribution of the Scriptures. She paid the price and then called the servant, ‘ Take all these books and throw them into the fire.’ ‘ Madame’ said Galibert, ‘ here is your money; give me back my books.’ ‘ No!’ said the lady. ‘ I have paid you, and you may go. But when you pass this way again, don’ t forget to call; I’ ll buy your books again.’ ‘ Madame,’ says Galibert, ‘ I will go; but let me tell you that the very Word of God which you have destroyed will rise up to judge you at the last day.’” Hatred of the truth teller Macaulay tells of a rich Brahman who saw a drop of sacred Ganges water under the microscope, and bought the instrument and dashed it to atoms that it might not by its revelations rebuke his superstitious practices. In a similar way did Jehoiakim treat God’ s Word because it revealed his character in its true light, and set in array the judgments for sin which were gathering about him. (C. Deal.) The indestructible power of God’ s Word It was burned, but Jeremiah lived, and Jeremiah’ s God lived. Therefore to burn it was not to destroy it. Another spell of work for Baruch, and the loss was repaired. Like the fabled blood-stains on some palace floor where murder has been done, and all the planing in the world will not remove the dark spots, God’ s threatenings are destroyed, as men think, and presently there they are again, as plain as ever. It is true of the written Word, which men have tried to make away with many a time in many a way, but it “ liveth and abideth for ever.” It is true of the echoes of that Word in conscience, which may be neglected, sophisticated, drugged, and stifled, but still sometimes wakes and solemnly reiterates its message. And all that Jehoiakim made by his foolish attempt was that the new roll had added to it “ many like words.” The indestructible Word of God grows by every attempt to silence it. Each warning neglected increases guilt, and therefore punishment. The fabled sibyl came back, after each rejection of her offered books, with fewer volumes at a higher price. God’ s Word comes back after each rejection with additions of heavier penalties for darker sins. We but draw down surer and more terrible destruction on our own heads by refusing to listen to the merciful voice which warns us that the floods are out, and the ruin of the house impending, and bids us floe from it before the crash comes. (A. Maclaren.) Efforts to destroy the Christian books in Madagascar The purpose to extinguish Christianity was firmly determined on. The week after the Queen Ranavalona’ s message had been delivered, every person who had received books was ordered to deliver them up, without retaining even a single leaf, on pain of death. This order was severely felt; few obeyed it literally, and in the distant provinces scarcely any obeyed it at all (Jacox.) . Jeremiah 37:9-10 Thus saith the Lord, Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. The punishment of evil The great teaching of the text is that we must not allow appearances to mislead us respecting the fact and certainty of the law of retribution. God has threatened the transgressor with severe penalties, and we may be sure that these penalties will be inflicted, however unlikely such retribution may sometimes seem, and however long it may be delayed. By wonderful ways God brings His judgments to pass. I. We mark some illustrations of the law of retribution furnished by the history of the nations. Very memorable was the retribution that Israel brought on Egypt. At the other end of their national history, Israel itself furnishes a most striking illustration of the working of the law of retribution through all improbabilities. When the Christ was crucified through weakness, the people cried, “ His blood be upon us, and upon our children.” How unlikely did it seem that the Victim of Calvary could ever be avenged upon an unjust nation! And yet that “ wounded Man” rose up invested with strange powers, and burned their city with fire. And let us not think that these instances of retribution are to be placed in the category of the miraculous; they were the natural consequences of great denials of truth and justice. Men unjustly “ pierced through” are terrible avengers in all ages and nations. For centuries did the kings and nobles of France oppress the peasantry; it is impossible for us to think adequately of the vast hopeless wretchedness of the people from the cradle to the grave. When Louis XVI. came to the throne it seemed incredible that the long-suffering people would ever avenge themselves upon the powerful classes by whom they were ground to the dust, and yet by a marvellous series of events the wounded men arose in awful wrath, burning palaces with fire and trampling greatness underfoot. “ Pierced through” were those hungry hopeless millions; but the day of doom came, and every bleeding wretch arose invincible with torch and sword. For generations the African was wronged by the American; the negro had no military, political, or literary power; he was bought and sold as are the dumb driven cattle, and it seemed as if the fetters of a shameful degradation were riveted upon him for ever. “ Was there a shied or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?” As late as 1854 Wendell Phillips wrote despairingly, “ Indeed, the Government has fallen rote the hands of the slave power completely. So far as national politics are concerned, we are beaten--there’ s no hope The future seems to unfold a vast slave empire united with Brazil, and darkening the whole West. I hope I may be a false prophet, but the sky was never so dark.” And yet immediately after this the “ wounded men” arose, deluging the land with blood, and burning the cities of the great Republic with fire. Some of our writers argue that retribution does not follow on national wrong-doing, because territory gained by cruelty, treachery, bloodshed, is not as a matter of fact torn away from its guilty conquerors, but such ill-acquired territory remains a permanent portion of their splendid empire. But there are other ways of inflicting retribution upon a nation than by immediately depriving it of provinces. There is something very like irony in the government of God, and He sometimes punishes the victors through the spoil. Our Indian Empire is said to have been ill-gotten, and yet we retain it, that country being to Britain what the tail is to the peacock--our glory and pride. But the gilded train, it will be remembered, has been already splashed with blood, and the end is not yet. Retribution may not come in the form of specially inflicted judgments, but it will come. No pestilence, war, earthquake, or famine marks the Divine displeasure, but the retribution arises out of the iniquity. With great injustice and cruelty the French drove out the Huguenot, but in expelling these sons of faith, genius, industry, virtue, the French fatally impoverished their national life, and they are suffering to-day from these missing, elements which none may restore. Retribution may not be revealed in material disaster, but it will come. As Mommsen, one of the greatest of historians, declares, “ History has a Nemesis for every sin !” It may seem that all might and majesty are with an unjust nation and that “ wounded men” only are on the other side; but at God’ s call wounded men are Michaels wielding flaming swords. The foolishness of God is wiser than men.” Sometimes we are greatly amazed and perplexed at the way in which history unfolds itself--it would seem as if the diplomacy of evil were too much for the Ruler of the world, as if Providence made hesitating moves, weak moves, fatal moves; but we have only to wait a while to know that God’ s foolishness is wiser than men. “ He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” ; “ The Lord shall have them in derision.” “ The weakness of God is stronger than men.” The sun is sometimes weak, but its earliest ray in the dawn is more than all our electric lights, the first faint beam of the spring is infinitely more than all the sparks of our kindling; the sea is sometimes weak--it is a mill-pond, we say--but in its softest ripple is a suggestion of power that fills us with awe; the wind is sometimes weak, but in the gentlest zephyr is hinted the majesty of infinite strength. Nature shows how the weakness of God is immeasurably stronger than men; so does history with equal clearness. The oft-quoted saying, “ Providence is always on the side of the big battalions,” is one with an imposing sound, but it is disproved by history over and over again. The world’ s Ruler defeated Pharaoh with frogs and flies; He humbled Israel with the grasshopper; He smeared the splendour of Herod with worms; on the plains of Russia He broke the power of Napoleon with a snowflake. God has no need to despatch an archangel; when once He is angry, a microbe will do. II. We note the law of retribution as exemplified in the individual life. The great law works infallibly in the personal history as it does in the national life. God has wonderful ways of confounding us, and we may be sure that our sins will find us out.1. Let us not permit ourselves to be deceived by flattering prophets. Loudly does revelation declare the obligation of righteousness, and grievous are the judgments that it pronounces against transgressors, but this in our age has been accepted in quite a modified sense. Men will now hardly allow such a word as, “ wrath” ; they will not permit a man to suffer simply as a punishment for his sin; the violation of laws human and divine must be condoned and passed over with the ]east reprobation and vengeance. Let us rejoice in the growth of the sentiment of humanity, but we must shut our ears to the effeminate and sentimental teaching which will inevitably relax and destroy a noble morality. God is merciful, but fire does not forget to burn, teeth to tear, water to drown, and no transgression of the law can pass without detection and punishment. “ And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay.” God’ s complex system of retribution permits not the cleverest sinner to slip through. 2. Let us not deceive ourselves because appearances seem to promise immunity. Our modem knowledge of science, of the unity and interdependence of all things, of the continuity and persistence of force and “ motion, of the inviolable integrity of all organisms, ought to make it easy to us to believe that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap, however appearances may promise otherwise. Let us not be beguiled by the immediate aspects of life and circumstance. God’ s blind men watch us; His lame men run us down; His deaf men filch our secrets; His dumb men impeach us; His wounded men arise, every man a messenger of revenge. 3. Let us not deceive ourselves because judgment is delayed. In contending with God we are plotting against a Wisdom that seems sometimes to hesitate and fail; but never is that Wisdom more profound than in the moments of seeming perplexity, and if we yield to flattering hopes of victory, our final overthrow will only be the more complete and irreparable for these protractions of the conflict. In contending with God we are warring with a Power that ever and anon seems baffled and beaten; it seems to retreat, it allows us to win skirmishes here and there--only the more conspicuously to crush us in the decisive battle, if we persist to fight it out to the bitter end. In contending with God we are provoking a Justice which sometimes seems incapable of asserting itself; but inveterate perversity discovers in the event that all such hesitations and delays were the whettings of a sword which needs not to smite twice. Slowly it may be, but surely, do we ripen for judgment; and when once ripe, how little a thing is necessary to precipitate the calamity! As the Hindoos say, “ When men are ripe for slaughter, even straws turn into thunderbolts.” 4. Let us improve the gracious respite. Many rebel altogether against the doctrine of grace, sternly insisting on inexorable law, justice, retribution; they utterly reprobate the ideas of repentance, forgiveness, and salvation. But mercy is a fact as much as justice is. Within that great system of severities we call nature there are ameliorative arrangements softening the rigours of broken law; in human life and government, too, which is nature still, only on a higher plane, mercy and forgiveness assert themselves, and society greatly prizes the gracious quality; and it is therefore a mistake, judged by the light of nature, to make an antithesis of equity and grace, as if these qualities were mutually antagonistic and eternally irreconcilable--they both exist side by side in this tangible human world with which we are so familiar. Now, the grand burden of the Gospel is to bring into fullest light that doctrine of mercy hinted by nature, and to show us that grace is not arbitrariness, the negation of law, the neglect of justice, but that the fullest and most splendid revelation of grace may take place on the basis of eternal truth and justice. (W. L. Watkinson.) Jeremiah 37:11-21 And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem.Jeremiah persecuted After the captivity and death of Jehoiakim, his brother Zedekiah, another son of Josiah, sat upon the throne. He seems to have been of weak and superstitious rather than of vicious character, though it is said that neither he nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened unto the words of Jeremiah. They Seemed to be infatuated with the idea that Jerusalem had, with the help of their Egyptian allies, strength to resist the assaults and siege of the Chaldeans. False prophets had persuaded the king that he would break the Chaldean yoke, and as this event was more favourable to his own wishes than were the stern words of Jeremiah, they had been accepted as truthful, while the true prophet was discredited. Jeremiah seems to have been at liberty in the meantime. The king had sent a message to him to pray for the deliverance of the city from the besieging Chaldeans. Jeremiah had again told the king plainly that the city was doomed. The Egyptian army had in the meantime come up, and the Chaldeans had withdrawn. Yet the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah to tell the king that this was but a temporary withdrawal of the enemy; that they would return again; and, moreover, that even though the Chaldeans should be reduced to a few wounded men, even they should rise up and burn the city. When God was for Jerusalem, He could make them victorious over their foes, though they were but a handful, and without weapons; but when He was against them, He could make their foes, however small a company of wounded men, to have complete victory over them. I. Jeremiah imprisoned. The advent of the Egyptian allies had compelled the Chaldeans to raise the siege; and the gates of the city were opened so that the people could go in and out again at will. This opportunity was seized on by Jeremiah to leave the city for the country, which action led to his arrest and imprisonment.1. Jeremiah goes forth. The question of what was the object for which the prophet left the city, has given rise to much discussion. The reading of the authorised version simply is that “ he went” (or purposed) “ to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.” This is not very intelligible. It has been supposed that there was a new allotment of land in the tribe of Benjamin, and that Jeremiah had gone up to secure his portion. The simple fact is that, having left the city or been observed in the act of so doing, suspicions as to his purpose were aroused in the mind of the keeper of the gate, and so he was arrested. Jeremiah was perfectly free and within his rights as a citizen to depart from the city if he chose, and to go up into the land of Benjamin, where he belonged; but whether he was wise under the existing circumstances is a question 2. Accused and arrested. As the prophet was departing from the city by the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard being there and recognising him, either suspected him of desertion to the enemy, or hating him for his prophecies against Jerusalem, feigned suspicion, charged him with the treason of intending to desert the city and go over to the Chaldeans, and arrested him. The times were critical, and suspicions were rife on every hand. Jeremiah had persistently declared that the city would fall into the hand of the Chaldeans; had advised the king and the people quietly to accept the situation and surrender; had warned them again and again that resistance was not only useless, but would bring worse calamities upon them. All this, of course, irritated the people, and made Jeremiah very unpopular. Though he was free in the city, he was the object of universal execration and hatred. Under these circumstances it would have been wiser for Jeremiah to have remained in the city and taken his part with the inhabitants; certainly it was unwise to lay himself open to a suspicion of desertion by leaving the city at such a time, just after the delivery of his last message to the king. Possibly he did not think that his visit to the country would be misconstrued. Innocent men are not always men of prudence. Jeremiah’ s visit to the country may have been perfectly justifiable and harmless, yet it had She appearance of evil to those who were of suspicious inclinations. It is not always wise to do the lawful things which lie before us, even though there be no actual harm in the action. The prophet’ s business to the country seems to have been entirely of a private character. Perhaps he was disgusted with the king and people, and just left the city in that state of mind. In any case he should have taken counsel of God and considered the circumstances before exposing himself to the suspicions and malice of his enemies. In times of excitement and contention between God and an evil-thinking generation, His servants have need to walk with the greatest circumspection. On the other hand, the action of the captain of the guard was most reprehensible, and illustrates the injustice with which unbelieving and wicked men are commonly disposed to treat God’ s people. He had no real ground for suspecting Jeremiah of treachery and desertion to the enemy. But enemies who wish to find an occasion against God’ s people can readily do so. Unbelievers are apt to judge the actions of God’ s people by their own method of procedure. I heard an officer in the English army say last autumn that all missionaries in India were the merest mercenaries; that their only motive in coming out here was salary. I asked him why, and on what ground he made such a charge. His reply was that he could conceive of no other motive, and admitted that nothing would induce him to devote his life to trying to convert heathen but a good round salary. I immediately denounced him as a mere mercenary soldier and not a patriot. 3. Jeremiah’ s denial. Upon being charged with treasonable intentions m leaving the city, Jeremiah indignantly denied that he had any such purpose. He met the charge with a simple sharp word. “ It is false” ; or, as the margin has it: “ A lie; I fall not away to the Chaldeans.” He was both indignant at his arrest, and, perhaps, from the heat of his denial, more so still at the charge of treachery. To defame a man’ s good name is often more intolerable than the prospect of endurance of any amount of physical suffering. Joseph in Egypt thus suffered, being innocent; Moses suffered in like manner; David seemed to care more that Saul could think him capable of conspiring against his life than for the persecution with which he was pursued, and sought more earnestly to clear his name than to save his life. The first question that arises out of this part of the story is: How should we meet such false charges as this, under which Jeremiah was arrested? That must depend on circumstances. Paul defended himself by an elaborate argument. Jesus adopted more than one method. Oftentimes He refuted the charges which the Jews brought against Him, by showing them how absurd their statements were, as in the case when they charged Him with being the agent of the devil. Again, when He was under the cruel and awful charge of blasphemy, when death was hanging over Him, He met the judge and false witnesses with perfect silence. Silence does not always give consent. There are circumstances when it is better to suffer both in reputation and body rather than attempt a defence. There may be higher interests involved even than the preservation of a good name and life itself. While it is perfectly right to assert innocence if one be innocent, sometimes silence is a more effectual answer than denial. Time often proves the best vindicator. I once heard Mr. Spurgeon say that he never attempted to brush off mud that was thrown at him, for he was sure that to attempt to do so would only result in smearing himself with the filth; but that he always waited till it was dry, and then he could deal with it as dust, and get rid of it without a stain being left behind. It has been truly said that if we only take care of our characters, God will in the end vindicate our reputations (Matthew 5:11-12). Though Jeremiah indignantly denied the charge, the denial did him no good. It was not the truth which his enemies were seeking, but only an occasion to persecute him. So we are told that the captain “ hearkened not to him,” but carried him to the princes. 4. He is imprisoned. Irijah took the prophet to the princes. These were not the same who befriended him in the previous reign and took measures to conceal him from the wrath of Jehoiakim, but another cabinet who were in authority under Zedekiah. They were as willing to believe the charge of treason against Jeremiah as was the captain to prefer it. We have, however, learned that to suffer for Christ’ s sake is a part of the privilege which is accorded to every disciple. There seems to be a double necessity for this. First we must ourselves, even as did Jesus Himself, learn obedience by the things which we suffer, and so to be “ perfected through suffering” (Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 2:10; comp. 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 Peter 5:10). Besides, it is a matter of clear demonstration that suffering for the truth has always been the most powerful testimony thereto. II. The king and Jeremiah. After the prophet had been many days in prison, the weak king sent for him secretly, and brought him out of prison to make inquiry of him. This was a triumph for Jeremiah and a humiliation for the king. In the long-run, the highest and haughtiest enemies of God will have to bow to the lowliest of His friends. There are many instances where men who have scoffed at religion and mocked at His messengers have, in moments of great fear and extremity, sought out the very people whom they have despised and persecuted to beg for intercession with God on their behalf. The city was apparently re-invested by the Chaldeans, and in great straits for food (verse 21), and the king hoped that at last the prophet would relent and secure some favourable word from the Lord. He seems, like all unbelievers, to have had the curious idea of God, that He might be brought round to favour if only the prophets could be won over first (Numbers 22:23.).1. Is there any word from the Lord! This was the king’ s question put to Jeremiah. The Lord had previously given to the king a very sure word (verse 10), but he still vainly clung to the hope that the word of God would be altered, though there was not the least evidence that the king or the people had altered their lives. There are many persons in our day expecting that in the end, notwithstanding that the word of God, finally communicated to us in the Bible, is God’ s last word to this world, the Almighty will change His mind and not punish persistent sinners. Yet there was a word from the Lord. It was very brief, and exactly to the point. “ And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said He, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” Now this was a very brave and courageous action on the part of Jeremiah. If ever a man might have been tempted to temporise and prophesy smooth things, this was the time. There is nothing more sublime in this world than a clear and undisguised declaration of the truth under any and all circumstances. 2. Jeremiah pleads his own cause. Having first delivered the message from the Lord, wholly regardless of what might be the effect upon the mind and disposition of the king, he now ventures to plead for his own release from prison. It is a great testimony to Jeremiah’ s loyalty to God that he suffered his own private and personal interests to be in the background until he had delivered the Lord’ s message. He put his plea on two grounds: First, his absolute innocence of any wrong done to either the king or the people. Why had he been cast into prison? The only thing that could be said against him was that he had delivered the Lord’ s word as he had received it. Could he do less than that? (Acts 4:19.) Would the king have had him speak lies to please the princes and the people, which must ultimately have brought them much damage? Secondly, he appeals to the truth of his predictions, and asks the king to produce the false prophets who had flattered him and the people with pleasant lies (Jeremiah 28:1, &c., 29:27-32). Had their false prophecies done the king any good? Was it not now manifest that they were false friends as well as false prophets? He therefore pleaded with the king not to add to his already heavy account of iniquity by keeping him unjustly in prison. 3. The prophet’ s sufferings mitigated. The king was evidently moved by the prophet’ s plea; but he was afraid of his princes, and did not dare to grant the full petition of the prophet, but he so far ordered a mitigation of his imprisonment, that he was taken out of the stocks and the dungeon and simply confined in the gaol court. Jeremiah was, as we have said, a shrinking and retiring man by nature, and keenly sensitive to physical pain. His imprisonment was very severe, though there was worse in store for him (see the next chapter). He felt that to stay in that dungeon and in the “ cabins” would end in his death. The king softened his imprisonment and ordered the prophet to be fed with a piece of bread from the baker’ s street as long as there was bread to be had in the besieged city. In this incident we see how God tempers the severity of suffering even when He does not entirely deliver us from it. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.) Jeremiah 37:17 Is there any word from the Lord?. . . There is. Is there any word from the Lord? The man who asked this momentous question belonged to the class of solemn triflers. He came with the right question in his mouth, and sometimes to get a right question is to be half-way on to the answer. To get the question rightly stated is ofttimes already the answer half-given. And he came with his question to the right quarter. He had come to the man that had a living connection with God. Yet we know from the way he treated the answer to the question that he came in the wrong spirit. Not that there was any gaiety or carelessness about his manner. He was as solemn as solemn could be when he asked this question of the prophet of God, “ Is there any word from the Lord?” But he went away to show that he had been merely trifling with the question. And what was possible for Zedekiah is possible for you and for me. We may come to the Word of God with the right question in our mouth, we may come with a solemn reverent manner about us, we may pride ourselves that we are not of those who make jokes about the Word of God, or treat the ordinances of God’ s house with any levity, we may pride ourselves that we are not of those who turn the house of God into a theatre or place of amusement, we have the conviction that the institution of God’ s house is meant to get us into a closer connection with God, we believe that the Word of God which lies before us is a very message from God to man, and we come to the open Bible Sunday after Sunday with this question professedly, “ Is there any word from Jehovah?” any word from Jehovah about my duty for to-day, about my duty for to-morrow--is there any word from Jehovah? We have got the right question, and we come in a reverent manner. God forbid that we should be triflers as Zedekiah was, and mistake solemnity of manner for obedience to the Word of God. By his sword on the field of battle the King of Babylon had won this right--the right to put on the head of whomsoever he would the crown of Judah. He offered it to Mattaniah; he offered it, accompanied by one condition. The King of Babylon could not afford that Judah should form an alliance with Egypt, that great rival power to him. He was in a gracious mood, and though he had conquered Israel, he was willing that an Israelite--one of the seed royal should yet hold the throne of David. And in that gracious mood he offered to Mattaniah the throne of Judah, accompanying his offer with this simple condition: he asked him to swear loyalty to the King of Babylon, and take an oath of allegiance to the King of Babylon. It was meant to keep the King of Judah from forming an alliance with a hostile power, from forming an alliance with Egypt. And Mattaniah had sense to see it was a grand offer that was made him. He knew that this king had power to take him away in chains to Babylon, and to take his people with him. He knew that human nature was frail, he knew that this new-made king had much reason to keep him walking in the path of gratitude. But knowing that human nature was frail, he wanted to fence him in by the continual remembrance of that oath, and he changed his name from Mattaniah, “ the gift of Jehovah,” to Zedekiah, “ the justice of Jehovah.” And ever afterwards when that king’ s name was mentioned, it would take his mind back to that oath when he sware by the justice of Jehovah that he would be loyal to the king who had so befriended him. At first he felt no inconvenience from his vow, but as the years passed on his gratitude seemed to melt away. The King of Egypt made overtures to him, and his people were inclined to listen. He had prophets in great number, and they urged him to accept the overtures of the King of Egypt. There was one prophet in his city that warned him that he could not do a dishonourable thing and prosper. There was one prophet who reminded him that the man of God was a man who, though he swore to his hurt, would keep his oath. We may suppose that Jeremiah pleaded with Zedekiah even with tears “ Do the righteous thing.” What will the heathen nations say, what will outsiders say, if the people of God break their bargain and lightly hold their oaths? Will not they, blaspheme the God of Israel? An honourable heathen man will keep his oath. So spoke Jeremiah, as he pleaded with his king, but his warning voice fell unheeded on that deaf ear. By and by came the army of the Chaldeans and besieged Jerusalem. They were closely shut up for a while, and still the prophet of God was allowed to remain in the prison. The king had secret hopes that the King of Egypt would come to his help, and so long as he had hope from another quarter he would not trouble the messenger of God. By and by the army of the Chaldeans removed from the city. They went away to fight the army that was coming from Egypt to help the besieged. The general that was at the head of these forces knew well how to conduct a campaign. He had no desire that the army that was coming to help Israel should get the length of Jerusalem. He would rather deal with them separately. He went and met the army and turned it aside the way that it came, and then he came back to the city and closely invested it on every side. Then, when all hope of Egypt was shut off; then, when Zedekiah had proved that they who lean on Egypt lean on a broken reed which enters into the heart of man and pierces him; then it was that the old, old story was told. When death is thundering at the door the scoffer takes down the Bible from the shelf. So was it with Zedekiah. So long as he had one single hope from men, of being himself able to overcome, or of getting help from Egypt--so long he left the prophet of God to pine in the prison cell, and did not feel it necessary to go and seek help from him. But when at last all hope of being saved in any other way was taken away, then he secretly came to the messenger of Jehovah as the scoffer secretly takes out the Bible and tries to find out what the Word of the Lord is. Then he came and asked this question, “ Is there any word from the Lord?” Zedekiah had made God the last shift, and God had a good excuse for withholding any light from the king who had acted so dishonourably. But He is long-suffering, He is patient, even though we make Him the last shift. Even from the bed of death ofttimes He hears the cry for mercy and reveals His will. “ There is,” said Jeremiah, “ there is word from the Lord to thee. Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon.” An honest, kindly, blunt, definite statement. “ Thou shalt delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon.” Ah, sometimes we have seen it in the individual, that deceitful disease consumption has laid hold on him, and the prophets of smooth things say, “ You will get better” ; and they feed his hopes upon this; and the prophet of God comes his way and tells him he is a dying man, that there is no escape for him. It is felt to be impend. The prophets of smooth things would not have plainly said, “ Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the King of Babylon.” They would have hid that. But this is the kinder way of the two. Yet Zedekiah did not act upon the light that he had received. Somehow he had a hope that he would escape. Even though the walls had a breach in them there was that private way of escape. That was his last resource, and so long as he thought there was the least possibility of escape he was scarcely prepared to receive the Word of the Lord, this message that God had sent to him, so that he did not act upon it. He bore no grudge to the prophet for speaking so plainly. He had no unkindly feelings towards him, but the opposite, he had very kindly feelings towards him, and was willing to run a serious risk of difficulty with his cabinet rather than not do kindness to the prophet of Jehovah, the faithful servant of king and country. And thus it came to pass that they were again brought together in friendly conference. He had done an act of kindness to the prophet of the Lord. The cup of cold water that is given to a disciple never loses its reward. After that deed of kindness done there was a fuller revelation of the will of God. At first it had only been, “ Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon,” and the second time Jeremiah pointed to the way of salvation. “ Escape there is none if you are to trust to your own power to fight or to trust to Egypt. There is no escape; thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon. The simple question is whether you are going just now to give yourself into his hands or are going to wait until you are dragged by force by his servants into his presence.” “ Go forth now.” he says, “ and surrender to him, and though thy sin has been great he will pardon thee. Surrender to him, lay down thine arms, yield to him, and thou shalt live, and thy city shall be saved.” It was a double-sided message this. The first part of it was, “ Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon.” That was certain. The second part was, “ If thou surrender now thou shalt find salvation.” This is a message for us to-day. Have not we acted as that ungrateful king acted? Although rebellion was in our blood, has not God treated us with grace and given us this fair earth, and life on such an earth as this is a blessing not to be lightly esteemed. And our King, when this race rebelled, might easily have swept it off. Instead, He gave us another chance also. And though He treated us so kindly, allowed us with rebellion in our very hands to love and enjoy the benefits of life on this fair earth, have not we done just what Zedekiah did, forgotten allegiance to our gracious King and listened to the overtures of His enemy, and gone and done what Satan wanted us to do? And our city, what is it but the city of destruction? We see that death is coming nearer, escape there is none, and we come to the Prophet of God, not to Jeremiah, but to Jesus, who is the Mediator of the new covenant, and we say to Him, “ Is there any word from Jehovah?” And He says, “ There is.” “ Thou shalt surely die, thou shalt surely be delivered into the hands of God.” We cannot escape. We will be delivered into the hands of the King against whom we have rebelled. That is one fact there is no blinking of. And we say, “ Is that all the message?” Thank God it is not all. Jesus says, “ There is a way of salvation.” Don’ t wait until you are taken and dropped by force into His presence by that servant of His that is called Death. But go forth now and yield to Him, surrender to Him, and all will be well. Let us mark well the penalty that followed Zedekiah for his disobedience to the Word of Jehovah. He went away clinging to that hope that he would yet escape. He did not act upon the light that he had been given. He still had the hope that he would escape by that private path, by the way of the king’ s garden, and so he had not courage to go out and put himself into the hands of the princes and the King of Babylon, the princes that were at the head of the army. He did not act upon the light he had received when Jeremiah pleaded with him to do it. “ Obey,” said he, “ the voice of the Lord, and it shall be well with thee and thy house.” All that Zedekiah could say was, “ I am afraid the Jews will mock me if I do--mock me, they will mock me.” He had not a doubt that Nebuchadnezzar would pardon. He knew there was pardon awaiting him out there, he knew there was life awaiting him out there, but he knew that he would be mocked if he did it. Many a one has been laughed into hell; I never knew of any one being laughed out of it. Ofttimes the young seeker feels that it has come to a point, and, just when he is taking the step, it is the jeer of the companion that comes in. “ I am afraid my companion will mock me.” A godless companion will mock you. What of that? Are you not manly enough to be laughed at? “ They will mock me,” said poor Zedekiah, and he had not courage to be mocked. That cursed pride had scared him past the gate that led to salvation. And by and by there was a breach in the walls, and the princes of the King of Babylon s army were in the breach, and when Zedekiah saw that, he took the secret way of escape; and by night he made for the hills away down through the ravine that led to Jericho, escaping away to the hills of Palestine. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after him and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, and brought him before the king. Then he saw his two sons put to death before his eyes; then they came to him and put his eyes out--be was only thirty-two years of age; then they loaded him with fetters, and condemned him to this awful imprisonment for life. And the bitterest pang in the torment of all, he had this knowledge, that he might have escaped it if he had only done what the Lord had wanted him to do. “ Had I only obeyed the voice of Jeremiah I might have had my two sons yet; I would have had my eyesight; I would not have had these chains.” It was the sting of the scorpion in his torment, this memory of what might have been, had he only taken the step--a single step of surrender. (James Paterson, M. A.) . Jeremiah 38:1-4 The words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people.Unpatriotic in appearance Rays of hope had arisen in the clouded sky of the, nation. An Egyptian army was on its way to the city. Thus, it was believed, the Chaldeans would be compelled to raise the siege, which had been growing ever closer, so that first hunger and then starvation stared its inhabitants in the face. An escape from their horrible position seemed possible through an alliance with the Egyptian king. These hopes were dashed to the ground by the emphatic word of the prophet: This city shall assuredly be given into the hand of the army of the King of Babylon.” He even went beyond this, and urged desertion to the enemy: “ He that abideth in the city shall die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live.” All this seemed, not only unpatriotic, but treasonable. It has been well said, “ No government conducting the defence of a besieged fortress could have tolerated Jeremiah for a moment. What would have been the fate of the French politician who should have urged the Parisians to desert to the Germans during the siege of 1870?” Jeremiah seemed a veritable Cassandra, and Cassandras, even if, as in this case, their warnings are but utterances of the inevitable, can only expect to be met with resentment and persecution. (W. Garret Horder.) Patriotism True patriotism is love of one’ s native land. A good deal of modern “ patriotism” is love of some one else’ s land, coupled with an unchristian hatred of other countries. Sometimes people ask whether Christianity and genuine patriotism can go together. For a sincere Christian will love all mankind. Racial hatred is a crime in the eyes of Christ, who teaches us that “ One is our master, and all of us are brethren,” and that we are to love our neighbour as ourself. A Christian can be a most sincere patriot, indeed the only true patriot. Christians are to love the whole world, as Jesus did. Yet, by natural association the soil of our fatherland is endeared to us by a thousand hallowed memories, which the soil of another land cannot recall. I think the limestone hills of Galilee, and the lap of the waters on the shores of Gennesaret were dearer to Christ than the seven hills of Rome, or the flow of the golden Tiber. Our Lord broke His heart over Jerusalem, the city of His love, as He saw “ the doom from its worn sandals shake the dust against that land.” Christ was a patriot, and the thing that cut His heart most painfully was not so much the coming destruction of Jerusalem, as the national sin which caused that national ruin. So, too, a Christian patriot will love his country’ s honour even more than its wealth and material greatness. He will value the good name of his fatherland, and the moral and intellectual elevation of his countrymen, far more than mere additions to its territory or additions to its wealth. And a true patriot will love his own land without hating other countries. The Christian must love other lands too, and seek their highest welfare. Charity begins at home: but it is a poor charity that ends at home. Love for other lands prompted the founders of missionary societies, which have been of such incalculable blessing to the civilisation of mankind. A true patriot will stand up for his fatherland; if others seek to enslave it he will make sacrifices for the home of his birth, as England did when the Spanish Armada threatened our liberty and our religion. But a Christian patriot will not do anything to cause hatred of another country. He will aim at making all the nations love one another. If he finds others trying to sow the seed of wicked hate, or if he sees his own land doing wrong, the Christian patriot will dare to speak the truth. When Lord Chatham urged England not to make war on the United States he was howled down by the bastard patriots of the day. But history stamps him as the true patriot, his opponents as the false ones. When John Bright spoke against the folly of the Crimean War he was made the butt of newspaper gibes, and nine-tenths of his countrymen laughed at him or sneered at him. But history shows that John Bright was right. He was the true patriot. The false patriot holds that you must never criticise your country’ s dealings with other lands. Perhaps the hardest duty that ever falls on a man who loves his fatherland is to point out that his country is doing wrong. That heavy duty fell often to the lot of Jeremiah. The Jews had so long persisted in idolatry that God’ s marvellous patience could bear with them no longer. After repeated warnings, all in vain, God told the people, by His prophet, that they would go into the land of bondage as a punishment for their sin. God also told Jeremiah to inform his fellow-countrymen that it was useless to struggle against the troops of Nebuchadnezzar. God had sent that monarch to chastise the rebellious Jews, to take them into captivity, and to bring ruin to the nation, because of its sin. This painful duty of urging the Jews not to resist, not to persist in a hopeless struggle, was heartbreaking to a true patriot like Jeremiah. The princes, who had no real faith in God, naturally thought Jeremiah’ s action most unpatriotic. Disbelieving in God, disbelieving in religion, disbelieving in Jeremiah’ s prophecies, no wonder they said, “ This man seeketh not the welfare of the people, but their hurt,” Poor Jeremiah! The bastard patriots of Jerusalem sneered at him, called him a Little Palestiner, said he was in the pay of the Chaldeans. Poor Jeremiah! He had no love for the Chaldeans in preference to his own nation. Nay, he loved the Jews with all their sins more than the heathen Chaldeans, who were only instruments in God’ s hands for punishing the guilty Jews. But he knew it was no use to resist. He knew that he had received a message from God. He knew he must deliver that message, though at the risk of his life. Like a brave hero and a true patriot he told his people of their folly, of their sins, and of their approaching doom. He met with the usual brickbat argument, brute force; he was put into a well, put into captivity, and ill-treated in various ways. But every word he spoke came true. And when the Chaldeans had utterly destroyed the city and crushed its inhabitants, the captain of the guard set Jeremiah free and said, “ Will you return with me and find a comfortable home in Babylon?” Jeremiah was a true patriot, therefore he chose to share the sufferings of his people, though they had so grievously wronged him. The comfort and luxury of Babylon were rejected by the simple, honest patriot, who preferred to dwell in poverty among the people of the land. If those false patriots, who cried him down, had had a chance of the ease and comfort offered to Jeremiah, how they would have jumped at it! They would have preferred Babylon’ s fleshpots to Palestine’ s poverty and want. But Jeremiah chose to share his people’ s abject poverty and utter wretchedness. The intense, broken-hearted patriotism of Jeremiah stands out for all time in the magnificent Lamentations that he wrote, with his pen dipped into his heart’ s own blood. They are the saddest writings in the world. And what made the Jews’ ruin so intensely sorrowful to Jeremiah was the fact that it was so richly deserved. Therein was the sting. And he knew that there could be no improvement in their lot till their lives became better. He is the ideal of a patriot. Some false teachers have been and are trying to breathe into England a spirit of defiance to other lands, and an unbounded lust for territorial extension of our Empire. These teachers are attempting to stir up racial hatred. A very recent author declares that Germany must be blotted out by England, because she is our great rival in trade. As readers of history we know the curse of the racial hatred that existed between England and France in the time of the first Napoleon. And as Christians we know how fiendish is the advice to cut the throat of a neighbouring nation because she is a commercial rival. Christians do not advocate doing away at once with all soldiers and sailors. Like policemen, they are necessary at present. And we know that our sailors and soldiers will always do their duty bravely. The Christian Church protests against this modern bastard patriotism, which is much the same as piracy, against this glorification of brute force, against this reversion to savageism, against this contempt for all that is gentle, spiritual, Christ-like. Such principles work--1. Mischief in the social and political world;2. Mischief in the realm of literature, and all that leads to the higher development of man;3. Mischief to religion. These principles work mischief in the social and political world. At the end of last century and the beginning of this, how deplorable was the condition of the workers of this land. Why? Because of our incessant and unnecessary wars with France. These principles of false patriotism work much evil in the realm of literature, and all that leads to the higher development of man. The “ patriotism” which means lust for other people’ s land, and hatred of other nations, may produce a “ Soldiers’ Chorus,” but it will produce no Tennyson, no Shakespeare. Since the German Empire became cursed with militarism it has produced no great writers. The essence of the highest literature is to be cosmopolitan for all the world. The Republic of Athens was a commercial, a scientific, an artistic city. The kingdom of Sparta was military to the highest degree. Military Sparta has left us no literature. Civic Athens has left us a literature which even to-day is a wonder of the world. That is natural. The habitual practice of blind obedience, necessary for the soldier, is the greatest foe to thought, and prevents men from learning how to form judgments and pass opinions. Militarism must be for the masses of the soldiery unintellectual. Our literature during the last few years has in some respects deteriorated sadly. One of the aspects of its decadence is its excessive glorifying of the military spirit. Swarms of books for boys have been published the last twenty years, and they are very largely glorifications of physical force. That is a reversion to the savage. The principles of this false patriotism work deadly mischief to religion. This spurious patriotism is not love of one’ s country so much as love of more country. It is hatred of other men’ s patriotism. It cannot understand that foreigners may and ought to love their fatherland even as we do ours. Such teachings lead to bitter hatred instead of love. Racial hatred is as ungodly as it is idiotic. Nelson used to say to his sailors, “ Fear God, honour the king, and hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil.” How could they fear God if they hated God’ s children? Every Frenchman was as much loved by God as every Englishman was loved. The business of the Christian Church is to spread love and not hate, to tone down animosities, not to stimulate them. Though the student of history sees how insane and utterly unnecessary most wars have been, war may sometimes be a stern necessity. But the glorification of war is earthly and unchristian. The only argument for militarism worth anything is that it develops pluck. Well, so did gladiator fights. Shall we reintroduce them? Pluck may be learned on the football-field as well as on the field of slaughter, where the animal passions of savageism are let loose. If we are Christians we will turn away from this bastard patriotism which ends in hate of other lands. We will love our country dearly. If occasion comes, we must make great sacrifices for her. But we will ever preach the gospel of love against the badspel of hate. We will preach the superiority of intellectual pursuits to the pursuit of war. We will preach the blessedness of elevating mankind to the spiritual rather than drag humanity down to the animal. (F. W. Aveling, M. A.) Jeremiah 38:5 For the king is not he that can do anything against you.Zedekiah weakened and ruined through fear of man Zedekiah was one of those unfortunate characters, frequent in history, like our own Charles I. and Louis XVI. of France, who find themselves at the head of affairs during a great crisis, without having the strength of character to enable them to do what they know to be right, and whose infirmity becomes moral guilt. The princes of his court had him completely under their influence (Jeremiah 38:5). “ The king is not he that can do anything against you.” This view of his character is the key to Jeremiah 38:17. The king had some sympathy with the imprisoned prophet. He had also a desire to hear the Word of the Lord; but he was afraid of the princes. He did not dare openly to show his sympathy, openly to declare his reverence for the Divine message; so he had a secret interview with him. Jeremiah’ s address to the king may be divided into three parts-- (1) A prophecy,(2) A personal defence,(3) A request. He declared that the King of Babylon should be victorious; he also declared his own innocence of any design against king or people, and compared his own conduct with that of the prophets who, to please the people, had spoken smooth things unto them; and he asked for some alleviation of his treatment. Jeremiah 38:7-13 Ebed-melech the Ethiopian.Ebed-melech the Ethiopian A slave from the Soudan, an eunuch in the household of Zedekiah, King of Judah, is by the side of the great Jeremiah, a humble servant yet an efficient protector. The slave and the prophet in our thought abide together. I. the circumstances which brought the two together and caused the strange conjunction. The prophet is cast into a dungeon, deep and loathsome. Into the slime of its unfloored depths he sinks, and there he lies. Left to die and rot in the dungeon’ s mud! No. One man’ s voice is raised, one man’ s hand works. But no son of Israel is he; only a slave of the royal household, a heathen from a far-off land, with a black skin but a pure heart. II. The deliverer. What his own name was we know not, for among the royal servants he was known only as Ebed-melech, “ the king’ s slave.” Whether he was of the original Hamitic or of the invading Semitic stock we cannot conjecture, save that, from his position, there is an inherent probability that he was of the former. We are at liberty, then, to conceive of him as a black, though probably not a negro, torn from his home, either as a boy or youth, to meet the demands of the market at Meroe; and then, in the way of traffic, passed on through Egypt, till at last he passed into the palace of the King of Judah. We can next conceive of him, by the exercise of the qualities of intelligence, fidelity, and prudence, promoted to the important post of superintendent of the royal harem. He would thus come into contact with Jeremiah, who, as “ the last of the prophet statesmen of Judah” (as he has been called), had for many years compelled for himself a place in the councils of the nation The simple nature of the Ethiopian, uncorrupted by the vices of palace life, would recognise the moral and spiritual elevation of the prophet, and would yield a homage and a love of which the heartless courtiers Who despised him were incapable. His position brought him into frequent intercourse with the king; perhaps gave him a free access to his presence. None could know better than he his weaknesses and his vices; hut he would also know, as most could not, that in his debased mind were certain possibilities of justice and generosity to which an appeal might be made. Hopeful or hopeless, the brave heathen resolves that appeal there shall he. And after a right honest and straightforward fashion he sets him to his task. Well done, slave! Bravely spoken, Soudanee! Was there another man in all Jerusalem man enough to have done thy work! I trow not. But it is an ill turn thou hast done for thyself! Where is thy prudence, man? Who is this Jeremiah for whom thou art pleading? The lost and almost the last advocate of a lost cause. Who are “ these men whom thou art arraigning? The magnates of the realm, in whose hands the king is but a feeble, though it may be a well-meaning puppet. What supports canst thou expect to secure? None, unless it be the secret friendship of a few frightened men, whose favour is nought. What enemies canst thou not fail to make? The princes of Judah, whose frown may be death. But “ fear not, thou king’ s slave! Chariots and horsemen are upon the hills round about thee. There is an unseen Friend whose favour is life; and there is an immortal Church to call thee blessed.” The king’ s better nature is roused by the appeal. Rising for the moment above the unkingly fear of his nobles, he exercises his royal prerogative, and commissions Ebed-melech, to take a sufficient force and release the prophet from the dungeon. Speedily, tenderly, and joyfully it is done. The forethought displayed, the various precautions to secure the exhausted victim from further danger or discomfort, are minutely and gratefully detailed. III. Thoughts which such an incident arouses in the mind. It would be easy to descant upon the moral lessons which the incident teaches, to make Ebed-melech the peg on which to hang edifying reflections. He might easily be made into a lay figure to do duty for the showing off of such thoughts as these: that God uses instruments selected from among the lowly as well as the lofty; that the faithful discharge of the offices of commonest humanity is noted, approved of, and will finally be owned by the God of providence; that in most unlikely places, among most unlikely classes, God’ s servants, His because servants of righteousness and humanity, are to be found; that He has His “ hidden ones” where the eye of man suspects not; and that the faith that God desires to see in men is that trust in Him and that supreme homage to the claims of charity and truth which will cause them to do right, and leave the issues to work themselves out as they may in subjection to His will. But I do not desire the man to he lost in the meditations. I want us to see men under the influence of motives that may he ours, to enter into the human feeling, to sympathise with the human surrender, and to behold in these that which God loves to behold in His creature-children. Jehovah says, “ Thy life shall be for a prey unto thee, because thou hast put thy trust in Me.” A thought of comfort, quickening, and strength is here suggested; those who do right, follow charity, work humanely--not because these things will pay, but because they are what they are, leaving consequences to come as come they may--these are trusting God, these are His worshippers, even though they have never learned His name. (G. M. Grant, B. D.) Deliverance from an unwonted quarter Strange, too, was the quarter from which deliverance came to the prophet. Not from the company of priests to which he belonged; not from that of the prophets of which he was the greatest member of that age; not even from his “ brethren according to the flesh,” but from an alien to the commonwealth of Israel--an Ethiopian, a son of the despised Ham. It is very curious and beautiful to find these Scriptures--Jewish though they be--studded over with bright examples of goodness from the nations around. One of its noblest prophecies is from the mouth of Balaam the Midianite. Deliverance came to its greatest prophet (so far as action goes) from “ Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon,” from “ a woman that was a widow.” What Thomas Carlyle called the grandest thing in all literature is from Job, who probably was not of the seed of Abraham. And when we come to the New Testament, in a Roman soldier Christ found faith nobler than that of any in Israel, and in a Samaritan woman He found His first missionary. The Jew might stand aloof in proud isolation, but the Book he reverenced called “ nothing common or unclean.” (The Quiver.) Ebed-melech, the model of kindness I. It is easy to show kindness. Some things are very hard to do. We know for how many years the Government of England, of our own country, and of other nations, have been trying to find the way to the North Pole. How much money has been spent, and how many valuable lives have been test in these attempts! And vet they have never succeeded. Getting to the North Pole is a very hard thing to do. Some things can only be done by those who have plenty of money. But it is very different with the work of showing kindness. There is nothing hard about this. We do not need much money to do it. The poor can show kindness, as well as the rich. Ebed-melech was a poor coloured man--the slave of King Zedekiah; yet he managed to show real kindness to the prophet Jeremiah. He wag the means of saving his life. II. Kindness is useful. Ebed-melech’ s kindness was useful to Jeremiah, because it saved his life. He lived for years after this, and was the means of doing a great deal of good to the people of Israel who were living then. Jeremiah has been useful to the Church of God, ever since that day, by the prophecies which he wrote. And a large portion of those prophecies was written after the day in which Ebed-melech saved his life. And this shows us how great the usefulness was of Ebed-melech’ s kindness. And in learning to show kindness to others, there is no telling how much good we may do. III. Kindness is profitable. God sent word to Ebed-melech, by Jeremiah, that when Jerusalem should be taken by the Assyrians, He would put it into their hearts to show kindness to him by sparing his life. And so it came to pass. (R. Newton, D. D.) Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine arm-holes under the cords. Gentleness in doing good I. The example of Ebed-melech should be followed by those who wish to show real kindness to the poor. When “ poverty cometh as an armed man” (Proverbs 6:11), blighting hope, and bringing wretchedness in his train, a heart must be harder than stone, which is not moved with compassion. To show kindness to the needy, at the right time, and in the best way, should be the study of those who would be followers of Jesus. Experience has shown that it is generally far better to put people in the way of getting employment, than to make them feel their dependence by directly relieving their wants. II. A lesson for those who are anxious to rescue perishing sinners from going down to the pit. Harsh words are quite out of place, even to the most depraved; and we can hardly claim to be disciples of Him who will not “ break the bruised reed,” nor “ quench the smoking flax” (Isaiah 42:3), if we venture to speak them. It is far better to lower the silken cords of Divine love, and the soft cushions of the promises, and to address words of encouragement to those who are groping in darkness. “ He that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). The word “ winneth” is the important one. It suggests something besides labour and painstaking. Winning implies gentleness, and a sincere interest in the souls of others. No one will be made better by scolding, or sarcasm; but he who will imitate Ebed-melech, in his thoughtful tenderness, will be successful in his work. III. The example of Ebed-melech deserves to be remembered by those who would bring others into the fold of Christ’ s Church. Very little is ever accomplished for the Master by harsh and uncharitable controversy. (J. N. Norton, D. D.) The captive rescued Here we see tenderness and compassion. There is much in doing a kind action in a kind way. A charity may be so given as to wound the recipient; and a good deed, accompanied by kind words, is like a gem set in pure gold. Let us ever be careful that when we try to help others, we do our task with tenderness to the feelings and prejudices of those we would aid. But the events of old times were full of foreshadowings of the great central fact of the world’ s redemption.1. In Ebed-melech, therefore, we may behold a type of One who comes forth from the palace of the Great King to loose the captive’ s chains. Our Saviour stoops down to help us. The cords of His love and compassion lift us up, and restore us to that “ service which is perfect liberty.” 2. But again, in this narrative there is a very good illustration of the too often forgotten truth that in man’ s redemption he has his own part to do. If it was Ebed-melech who let down the cords, yet Jeremiah had to fix them under his arms to such a position that he might safely be drawn up. “ Work out your own salvation” is the plain direction of the apostle. 3. Again, there seems to be a lesson of instruction in this point--that the rags and castaway fragments of garments were made useful in the way of making easier the deliverance of Jeremiah, things which were worthless in themselves used for a good and excellent purpose. So many things, at which men scoff, saying, “ How can they save souls?” are, by God’ s blessing, made of use. 4. Lastly, let us take Ebed-melech for an example. Can we not strive to rescue some soul! Cannot we, like the thirty servants of the king, aid in letting down the cords, or protect those who are doing so? We may at least lower down the cords of prayer and entreaty. (W. Hardman, LL. D.) Ropes and rags The story is an illustration of the way God saves men. Jeremiah’ s danger and deliverance were very real. In that dungeon he is, indeed, in “ an horrible pit.” No hope of escape. No light, no firm standing, every prospect of death, and in no long time either. Would to God that we preachers could see the real danger to which sinners are exposed! Jeremiah was delivered, brought up out of the miry clay. But the prophet’ s salvation was only a feeble picture of what God’ s grace does for those who take hold on Jesus. He remained in the courts of the prison. “ Whom the Son makes free are free indeed.” We who rest in Jesus may walk about the courts of the King’ s palace. I. Mark you, help always comes from above. Jeremiah found it so. It was useless to try to climb out of the dungeon, it was only to fall deeper into the mire. “ Salvation is of the Lord.” You cannot save yourself. The effort will only exhaust you. Cry unto the Lord. Say, “ O Lord, deliver my soul.” He is sure to hear your cry. Ebed-melech is only a very poor picture of Jesus. The Saviour does more than send down a rope. He comes Himself and lifts us up. Although Ebed-melech may be a very poor type of Jesus Christ, he is a very good picture of the style in which one man may help another. II. He had sympathy. Now, sympathy is the mother of help. III. Ebed-melech did not allow difficulty to deter him. Some men can work hard so long as there are no difficulties; opposition to them is like a hill on a jibbing horse; they must stop now: they “ did not look for this sort of thing, you know.” Just so, the eunuch found it was not easy--it never is--to undo wrong. “ A stout heart to a stiff brae,” is common sense as well as right. If you mean to help others, you will have to pull hard against the stream. IV. Ebed-melech teaches us to spare the feelings of those we help. He lowered down the old rags and clouts he had gathered, and bade the prophet put them under his armpits, so as not to have them cut by the ropes. The rope of deliverance should not cut the flesh of those we save. This is not always thought of. We may wound men in helping them, and they may like the remedy less than the disease. We should think of the feelings, as well as the wants of those we help. Shall we not imitate Him of whom it is said, “ He will not break the bruised reed” ? When we take the rope, let us not forget the old rags as well. V. Among the practical lessons of this story, there is the great truth that one man may set others going. Ebed-melech went to the king for help, and he gave him thirty helpers. In the thirteenth verse, we read, “ So they drew up Jeremiah.” How many times this happen! Robert Raikes had no idea how many wheels his would set in motion. Muller of Bristol has many imitators, and thousands of orphans are fed and clothed that he will never know of. If you will only begin, others will follow you. Do not wait for others to start with you; be content to go alone. It was David Livingstone that set Stanley and Cameron to work, and the end of that lonely traveller’ s work will be seen when “ a highway shall be there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, and sorrow and sighing shall nee away” ; but if Livingstone had waited for others, he would have died, in comfort, it may be, but could not have had a grave in Westminster Abbey, nor have set in motion the plans which are sure to issue in Africa’ s deliverance. VI. Let, us learn the value of despised and cast-off things. The prudent chamberlain had seen “ under the treasury the old cast clouts, and old rotten rags.” No one else saw any value in them, but he put them to a good use. What a number of things are cast aside, like these old rags! Do you see yonder woman in such dismay? She has been upstairs looking at some old dresses, and finds that the moth has been there before her, and they are useless. Would it not have been better to have given them to her poor relations, or to that widow who has such difficulty to find clothes for her little ones? Have you not old magazines that would gladden the heart of some of those intelligent paupers who never get any lively reading, or save from ennui some convalescent in the hospital? Look and see what you have “ under the treasury.” (T. Champness.) The tenderness of Ebed-melech Negro though he was, Ebed-melech was a gentleman. He is not so bent on delivering the prophet that he cares not how it is done. He will not bruise the prophet’ s skin in saving the prophet’ s life. These old cast clouts and rotten rags do not present a very savoury picture; but the feeling that prompted their use is both pleasant and thoughtful. Many a good deed is spoilt by the manner of its doing. Some people pride themselves upon their roughness; they think it a sign of manliness. Their idea of manliness wants revision. Do such ever think of the meaning of the very name they claim--gentleman? Do such realise that it is not only manlike, but Godlike, to be gentle! Did not one of the psalmists exclaim, “ Thy gentleness hath made me great” ? Ebed-melech’ s deliverance of the prophet from the mire was a great deed, but the tenderness with which it was done makes it many times greater. (The Quiver.) Jeremiah 38:19-20I am afraid of the Jews.Fatal timidity I remember very well, when I first went out to Australia, that one fine evening a little bird was seen to be following the ship, evidently a land-bird driven out to sea. When the little thing got tired it tried to alight on some portion of the rigging, though it seemed afraid to do so. On one occasion the captain stretched forth his hand and tried to take hold of the little bird, but it eluded his grasp and went back far away into the darkness of the night, falling upon the waves without the hope of rescue. (T. Spurgeon.) Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord. Obedience I remember, years ago, entering the bed-chamber of an eminent saint, one autumn morning, whose diminishing candles told how long he had been feeding on the Word of God. I asked him what had been the subject of his study. He said he had been engaged since four o’ clock in discovering all the Lord’ s positive commandments, that he might be sure that he was not wittingly neglecting any one of them. It is very sad to find how many in the present day are neglecting to observe to do the Lord’ s precepts--concerning His ordinances, concerning the laying-up of money, the evangelisation of the world, and the manifestation of perfect love. They know the Lord’ s will, and do it not. They appear to think that they are absolved from that “ observing to do,” which was so characteristic of Deuteronomy. As though love were not more inexorable than law! (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) . Jeremiah 39:1-10 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.The downfall of Judah The siege and sacking of Jerusalem under Nebuchadrezzar is the most tragic story in history. The second destruction of the city under Titus, the Roman general, was analogous, but did not equal the first in horror of detail. The siege was more prolonged under the king of Babylon, the resistance by the Jews more desperate, and the determination with which the people held out more stubborn, preferring starvation to surrender. During those eighteen months the city presented an awful spectacle; delicately reared princesses were seen clawing over dung-heaps and street refuse to find a morsel of food; the once snow-clad Nazarites walked the streets in filthy garments; the fairest and best-looking of the people were reduced to the merest skeletons; desperation of hunger forced fond mothers to boil and eat their own children. The horrors depicted even in outline by the sacred writers almost beggar the imagination. The king of Judah was the vassal of the king of Babylon, but being deceived by false prophets he rebelled against his foreign sovereign, and sought, through an alliance with the king of Egypt, to throw off the Chaldean yoke. Hearing of this attempt at rebellion, the Chaldeans had sent a strong detachment of their army to reduce Zedekiah to obedience, when an Egyptian army making its appearance forced them to raise the siege. Subsequently the Egyptian army was defeated, and then, with his entire army, Nebuchadrezzar came up and besieged Jerusalem for eighteen months, and took it. Jeremiah had persistently warned the king that it was folly to contend with Babylon, for the Lord had determined upon their captivity. So the king and the princes not only rebelled against the king of Babylon, but set themselves in defiance against God Himself. I. Jerusalem taken and sacked. The prophet does not dwell on the details of the siege, as it was no part of his plan to detail the military processes by which the holy city was at last put into the hands of the Chaldeans. His purpose was simply to record the fact, and thus mark the fulfilment of God’ s word. After eighteen months, in which the city had been completely invested, a breach in the walls was effected, and the Babylonian army was in full possession. The princes of the Chaldean king entered the city and took up their headquarters in the middle gate. This was probably the gate through an inner wall within the city which surrounded the citadel. At any rate, the presence of these Babylonian princes in that place showed that the city was entirely in their hands. For further details, compare 2 Kings 25:1-30. with our present text, and Jeremiah 52:1-34. These three accounts are substantially the same. For details of the horrors and sufferings of the inhabitants of Jerusalem during the siege, compare Lamentations (especially chap. 4.), in which the heartbroken prophet pours forth his sorrow over the downfall of the city, and especially over the woes which had come upon his people. See also Ezekiel 4:5; Ezekiel 4:12; Ezekiel 21:1-32., where minute prophecies of the downfall of the city are recorded. After the subjugation of the city, and the flight, capture, judgment, and imprisonment of the king, under the command of Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, the Babylonian soldiers burned the city, including the Temple, king’ s palace, and all the houses of the princes and chief men; the walls were razed; the whole city was turned into a waste and ruinous heap (verse 8; 52:13, 14). Jeremiah laments the destruction of the glorious city of God in these sad and pathetic words: “ How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people; how is she become a widow, she that was great among the nations . . . She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies . . . And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed . . . How is the gold become dim; how is the most fine gold changed; the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter” (Lamentations 1:1-2; Lamentations 1:6; Lamentations 4:1-2). The great lesson to be deeply pondered from this awful judgment upon Jerusalem is the certain retribution of God upon persistent sin. No honest and thoughtful man can read these prophetic and historic records without being profoundly impressed with the longsuffering mercy of God toward sinners, and the certainty of retribution following upon unrepented and persistent sin. God’ s judgment may be slow in coming, but it is as sure as it is slow. How long He had borne with Judah and Jerusalem before He began to pour out His fury upon them! Long God postpones His judgment, when once it sets in, it goes on to the end, though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small. What a culmination of calamities at the last! There is no stopping or turning them back. All the skill, the courage, and the endurance which Jerusalem brought to bear in order to avert this awful judgment, availed nothing. When the time for judgment comes it is too late for prayer and entreaty. When will men learn this lesson? We have not to do with the judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem, but with that which is coming upon all men who, like this apostate people, despise God’ s Word, and believe not His prophets. No amount of theory or argument will prevent the doom of the persistent sinner. Men may say that death ends all; but the resurrection of Jesus proves that it does not; men may say that God is too merciful to punish sinners according to the declaration of the Scriptures; but is He? Let the story of the flood; the overwhelming fate of Pharaoh; the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; the terrible calamities that came upon Israel and Judah, be our answer. After God’ s mercy has been ruthlessly trampled under foot, then His righteous retribution comes, and proceeds to the bitter end. II. The flight and capture of the king. When the king saw the city in the possession of the enemy, he hastily gathered his army and family, and by night fled from the city by a secret way through his garden, and between two walls which concealed his movements (verse 4, 52:7; 2 Kings 25:4). His flight, however, was of no avail; for though he nearly effected his escape, having reached the borders of the Jordan, his absence was discovered, and the Chaldeans pursued after him; and, while his army was scattered abroad, probably on a foraging expedition, the king and his family and the princes that were with him were captured. Too late the king sought safety in flight. It was not to be. God had decreed his capture, and no precaution could prevent it. Had he heeded the warning of Jeremiah, who brought him the word of God, and surrendered to the king of Babylon, his own life would have been spared, his children’ s lives would have been spared, his princes’ lives would have been spared, and the glorious City of God would have been spared (Jeremiah 28:17-17). The king was a weak man, and hesitated to do the word of God because he was afraid of being taunted with cowardice by his nobles and the people. How many men are cowards before their fellow-men, and yet bravo before God! They fear the reproach of weak, feeble, and sinful men, but fear not the Word of God. Surely the sorry flight of the wretched king from his ruined city, a fugitive from God and the king of Babylon, was infinitely more humiliating than an honourable surrender to Nebuchadrezzar. How many will seek salvation wildly when it is too late! Let it be remembered again that, when once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, then flight or petition is of none avail. When once Jesus ceases to be the Advocate of sinners, and becomes their Judge, then repentance is too late, and no man may flee the judgment. What unutterable miseries are added to the main consequences of our sins, when we think of what “ might have been,” had we not been too late!1. Prophecy and its fulfilment. In connection with the flight, arrest, condemnation, and punishment of the king, we have a most remarkable series of prophetic fulfilments. Ezekiel, under the command of God, had before this final calamity, by means of pantomime, as well as by clear and unmistakable words, depicted every detail of the king’ s flight, capture, and punishment. Read Ezekiel 12:1-13. Thus have we seen the king laden with his valuables, fleeing at night, digging through a wall to escape the Chaldeans; we have seen God spreading His net, catching and delivering him over, to be first blinded, then loaded with chains, carried to Babylon and thrust into prison; there we have seen him die. How impossible to have understood Ezekiel’ s prophecy until it was fulfilled; how then does it appear to have been the very letter of subsequent fact! 2. Arrested, condemned, and punished. The details are briefly but graphically told. When the soldiers arrested the flying king, they brought him to the king of Babylon, who (1) “ gave judgment upon him.” Zedekiah was, according to the law of nations, a traitor to the king of Babylon, who had set him upon the throne of Judah as his vassal, and against whom Zedekiah had rebelled. So while the Chaldean king was carrying out God’ s decree against Zedekiah for his persistent sin and equity, he was also executing his own law upon him as a rebel. God’ s providence ever fits in with the ordinary workings of human history. (2) The first part of the judgment was that the sons of the king should be butchered before his eyes. What a horrible thing this was! Alas for that poor king! He had brought this upon them. What may be the agonies of a sinful father who, through precept and example, has encouraged his own sons to infidelity, and the final loss of their souls! Then followed the slaughter of the nobles before his face; this too was in part his doing; for, though the king s action in holding out against the king of Babylon, contrary to the counsel and entreaty of Jeremiah, was due to his fear of the nobles, yet as king it was his duty to have asserted his authority and saved them and the city in spite of their mockeries of God’ s word. (3) Finally the king of Babylon ordered Zedekiah’ s eyes to be put out, then loaded him with chains, sent him to Babylon, and there cast him into prison, until death released him into the other world. Let us hope that a gate of repentance was opened for him before he passed thither. But what an awful punishment for a king and a father! The last impression on his brain from this world was the awful sight of his butchered sons and nobles. Who can tell the horrors of his lonely confinement, shut up with these memories for ever haunting his dark soul? Men choose the ways of sin in this life, counting them to be “ good things,” but they forget that in the hereafter the “ evil things” which they contemptuously denied will be their portion, soured with memory’ s poisoned sting. III. The blessed poor. Only one ray of light penetrated the dark cloud of doom that hung over and burst on Jerusalem. The city burned with fire, the Temple destroyed, her fair stones scattered, the king and his family, the princes and nobles, and all the city’ s inhabitants carried away, slain, or held in a wretched captivity, which brought them nought but sighs and tears; what exception was there in all this misery? Just this; and it is not unsuggestive. The wretchedly and miserably poor were left behind; and more; for the captain of the guard, acting for the king of Babylon, gave them fields and vineyards. In the general judgment that overwhelmed Jerusalem, the sparing of these poor people and the gift to them of fields and vineyards suggest to us the blessings that are in reserve for those on earth who, though “ poor in this world, are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to them that love Him” (James 2:5). It also suggests the beatitude of Jesus: “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “ Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3; Matthew 5:5). God will not forget such. Here is seen God’ s reversal. The rich and great of Jerusalem, who had grown so by grinding oppression of the poor, are carried away captive, slain with the sword and cast into prison, while those whom they oppressed are now inheriting their lands and vineyards (Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 66:2). Till the captivity the poor were only a portion of the people, but now they were the whole. This event, therefore, would seem to indicate that the poor, meek, and contrite in spirit are the whole sum of those who shall constitute the people of God in the day of judgment. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.) He put out Zedekiah’ s eyes. Non-acceptance of chastisement We sometimes act as though we thought that dispensations of light and joy were made to draw us to God; those of darkness and sorrow the reverse; but that is our mistake; our thought must be “ God in all.” And here God makes the announcement of the chastisement in a manner worthy of Himself--in the midst of judgment He remembers mercy. He commissions Jeremiah to promise circumstances of alleviation and gracious dealing; even though the trouble remain. The trouble and its alleviations were to exist side by side. But now, what are the speakings of this “ moreover” to us? 1. It says to us, Reject not bounded chastisement or trial, for you know not how wide God may remove those bounds, when it comes upon you as something rejected by you, but inflicted, whether you will or no, by Him. 2. It says, Be sure that God will carry His own way. Look upon all resistance of His will as madness, as full of mischief for yourself. 3. If we reject what God thus ordains, we may rest assured that we are laying up for ourselves a long period of sad thought, peopled with sad memories. 4. Though the chastisement or the trial God announces be heavy, still let us be assured that it is the lightest possible under the circumstances. 5. Let us believe that God has terrible reserves of chastening dealings. We think that each trial, as it comes, is the worst that can be; sometimes a man in folly and desperation feels as though God could do no more to him; but the reserves of the Lord in this way, as in blessing, are illimitable--take care, “ lest a worse thing come upon thee.” 6. We may, and must leave it to God to take care of us, when leading us into either discipline or chastisement. 7. Instead of fretting and troubling ourselves unduly, and setting our minds upon finding out fresh and fresh elements in our trial, let us count up some of the “ moreovers” of what might have come upon us; some of the “ moreovers” of the mercies which are bestowed. 8. Let us be careful to keep ourselves well within the line of God’ s action with us, and not to subject ourselves to man’ s. It is not God’ s purpose to make a full end of us; He means to deal wisely and admeasuredly with us; He means us to taste that He is gracious; to have reason to believe that He is so. (P. B. Power, M. A.) Jeremiah 39:15-18I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fan by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the Lord’ s hidden ones It is strange that, amongst all the tracts and biographies and scriptural stories which the press sends forth, one never meets the name of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. It shows that Scripture history is either little read or little understood. It makes one doubt whether those whom either the world or the Church is admiring be those whom He that looketh not on the outward appearance, and seeth not as man seeth, will delight to honour in the day when He maketh up His jewels. Although, for aught we know, he never was a member of any church upon earth, being a poor heathen, brought from a land that the light of God’ s revelation had never reached, he is held up in the Book of God to our admiration and imitation, in contrast with the whole Church and nation that was in covenant with God in ancient times; and even under the New Testament, if we honoured saints at all, his name should hold a conspicuous place in our calendar of worthies and illustrious confessors of the faith, for he was, like ourselves, a Gentile man, and it was by faith he obtained a good report from God Himself. Jerusalem was to fall, but Ebed-melech the Ethiopian would stand in the evil day. As he had delivered the prophet from his dungeon, and from the cruelty of the princes his persecutors, and the danger of a horrible death, he himself would be delivered in the day of danger, and the men of whom he was afraid would not have it in their power to take his life, or injure a hair of his head. God would be his saviour, and shows him beforehand the certainty of his salvation. I. What a blessed providence is that of God, over the least as well as the greatest men and things, especially over the good without respect of persons.1. No one is forgotten before God, and nothing that concerns the least left out of the regard of the Father of all. The one who was the object of special care to the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts, in the day of Israel’ s final overthrow, was one of these who were least regarded by men upon earth, a slave, a eunuch, an Ethiopian, an uncircumcised heathen, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger to the covenant of promise. Who then is forgotten by the God of Israel? 2. God is far from confounding the righteous with the wicked in His judgments. 3. So far from confounding the righteous with the wicked, God contrasts them with one another. What brighter display of Divine righteousness can there be than the salvation of the least of saints in the midst of the destruction of a whole nation, or church of sinners, like the Jews here, or like Christendom, to whose doom we are to look forward? II. What encouragement to the lowliest to work out their salvation with cheerfulness and patience, as well as with fear and trembling, after the example of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian!1. Why are such actions as this of Ebed-melech those which in the sight of God are of great account? Because they are acts of self-denying love and self-sacrifice; because they are thus, God Himself in the text expressly says, the fruits of a living faith in God. 2. It is not his circumstances that prevent any man from becoming great before God, great as Ebed-melech, for it is not his circumstances that prevent any from becoming good, from having the same character, and manifesting in his place the same heroic and holy spirit. 3. Woe to us if we are not like Ebed-melech in unselfishness, or in self-denying love, the fruit of faith! Church membership, Church privileges, Church knowledge and advantages of whatever kind, what will they prove but the condemnation of those who are not like Ebed-melech in character? III. What blessed hope for the future does Ebed-melech bring to many of whom the world is not worthy, and who are by the world and by the Church unknown!1. Kindness to those whom the world despises, or the worldly and ungodly church reprobates or persecutes, is not the least part of the duty of Christians, or those who would be saved in the day of wrath, like Ebed-melech. 2. How different is public opinion in a corrupt church or age from the judgment or truth of God! (R. Paisley.) . Jeremiah 40:1 Being bound in chains. Jeremiah in chains There is sadness In a shackle and bitterness In bonds. Many men part with life rather than liberty. Speaking humanly, Paul’ s lot In chains would have been intolerably irksome; but his soul was free! They could not chain his spirit. It is melancholy to watch the attitude of a caged eagle; its eye is dull, its plumage droops. The chain is round the spirit of the creature of the skies. Not so with the Christian soul. “ It is not the shackle on the wrist that constitutes the slave,” said Robertson of Brighton, “ but the loss of self-respect.” In Christian service we learn to reverence self. Our only bonds are the bonds of love. Our manhood is exalted, our service is liberty. (Christian Commonwealth.) Jeremiah 40:3 And have not obeyed His voice.Unheeding warnings lead to ruin If I were in a boat on the river in the rapids, it would not be necessary to insure my destruction that I should enter into violent controversy with those who would urge me from the shore to take heed and come to land. All I should have to do would be to shut my ears to their entreaty, and leave myself alone; the current would do the rest. Neglect of the Gospel is thus just as perilous as the open rejection of it. Indeed half the evils of our daily life in temporal things are caused by neglect, and countless are the souls who put off the seeking of the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof. (W. Bates.) Jeremiah 41:1-10 Then arose Ishmael.Devils incarnate 1. If ever there was such a one, this Ishmael was of whom these verses tell. His atrocities remind us of the Indian Mutiny, its leader, and the well at Cawnpore (cf. Verse 9). Treachery, ingratitude, murder, massacre, greed, cowardice,--all are gathered in this detestable character (cf. Mr. Grove’ s article “ Ishmael,” Smith’ s Dictionary of the Bible) 2. And such men are permitted to be. So clearly seen is this, that every drama has its villain; they are recognised as having definite place and function in this poor life of ours. 3. Can we explain this permission? Wherefore are such men created and preserved? It is s part of the great question of moral evil, for the full solution of which we must wait. But the existence of such men as this Ishmael is but one out of the many terrible facts in God’ s providence, such as plague, famine, earthquake, &c. In regard to such men, we can see some purposes that they subserve.1. They make evident the hideous capacities of evil which are in our nature, and the need, therefore, for God’ s restraining grace. 2. They are warnings to increased watchfulness on the part of those in whom the tendencies to like evil exist. 3. They are God’ s scourges for men’ s sin (cf. Attila, the Scourge of God). 4. They weld together the people they oppress in one common league against them, and thus out of scattered tribes a nation is formed. 5. They clear out much that is evil (cf. French Revolution; Napoleon). But, sometimes as here, we cannot see what good they do; and then we can only wait. (W. Clarkson, B. A.) Jeremiah 41:8 So he forbare, and slew them not among their, brethren.Sin hindered by sin Ishmael would have killed these men but for his greed of the wealth they had. It is satisfactory to think he never gained possession of it. Nevertheless, his greed made him guilty of one sin less. This story suggests that-- I. God has many ways of hindering sin. There is--1. The best way of all. By granting a true repentance and His Holy Spirit, creating the clean heart and renewing the right spirit. 2. But there are other ways. By keeping the opportunity and the will apart. How much of our freedom from sin do we owe to this blessed providential severance! By fear of present evil consequence of our sin. 3. And sometimes, as here, by one sin getting in the way of another. Thus pride holds back not a few; not love of God, gratitude to Christ, love of holiness, hut pride. And covetousness checks the sinner in many sins he would be guilty of but for this. Anger, breaking up the alliances of transgressors; as when, in the days of Jehoshaphat, the Ammonites who were coming against him fell out one with the other (2 Chronicles 20:22). “ When thieves fall out, honest men come by their rights.” (W. Clarkson, B. A.) Sensual self-indulgence The vilest Roman emperors were those who least persecuted the Church--Tiberius, Commodus, &c. They were too absorbed in their own indulgences to trouble about the Christians. II. But these other ways leave men as great sinners as before. The question is not as to your freedom from transgression so much, but--what kept you free? Only the first and best way is accepted of God. III. Nevertheless, let us be thankful that sin is self-destructive in its very nature. It is a blessed anarchy, for it protects many who would otherwise suffer. IV. But for ourselves let us seek that sin may be destroyed by Christ. (W. Clarkson, B. A.) Jeremiah 41:17 And dwelt in the habitation of Chimham.Too near the edge This is one of the reflections that come to us as we read of the place whither Johanan led his followers, and as we see the events that happened immediately after. This chapter is a record of disappointments. First the hopeful prospects of Gedaliah’ s governorship, which seemed starting so fairly and happily for all, these are shattered and overthrown by the villainous conduct of Ishmael. Then it is a grievous disappointment that we do not hear of Ishmael’ s death, only of his escape. That such a wretch should escape with his life seems a reflection upon that justice which generally follows on the track of wrong-doers such as he was, and metes out to them their due. Escape seems too lenient a dealing with them. And now here is another disappointment that Johanan, instead of seeking to follow in Gedaliah’ s footsteps, should be for leading the people down into Egypt. “ At the caravanserai of Chimham, in Bethlehem--the natural halting-place on the way to Egypt--Johanan held a council of war, and then, against the prophet’ s advice, finally determined to abandon their homes, and to make for the refuge, to which the worldly Israelite always had recourse, across the Egyptian border.” It was a bad place to halt at; it was too near that beguiling land, the witchery of which not a few of them had long been feeling and would now feel more than ever. Whenever Israel went thither, it was always a “ going down into Egypt.” This was, more true morally and spiritually than even geographically, to which the word down, of course, refers. And the present was no exception. Looking at them there at Chimham, we note-- I. The resemblance they offer. Are they not like all those who tamper with temptation? They know, as Israel knew, that they are in a forbidden path, and yet they do not keep clear of it. Like moths fluttering around the flame, so men will dally with sin. They know that to yield would be both most wrong and ruinous, and yet they go close to the border. II. The reasons which governed them. The Jews came to Chimham because their will had already consented to go further--on and down into Egypt. For like reasons men come to such places. There has been already the secret yielding of the will. There was no need of the Jews being at Chimham. It was not the way back from Gibeon. It was a deliberate going into temptation. So those who act like them have, as they, already consented in heart. And the causes of that consent are akin. They falsely feared what the Chaldeans might do, though there was no ground for such fear; and they falsely hoped for good--freedom from war and want--which they never realised. And such persons will ever magnify both the difficulties of the right path and the looked-for pleasures and advantages of the wrong. Thus would they persuade themselves that the right is wrong and the wrong is right. III. The resistance they seemed to make. The Jews did not yield all at once. They appeal to the prophet. They ask his prayers. They, make repeated and loud--much too loud: “ Methinks he doth protest too much” --professions. They wait patiently the prophet’ s message. And yet all the while (verse 20) they were dissembling in their hearts, “ regarding iniquity” there (history of Balaam). They would have God on their side, not themselves on God’ s side. All this is most melancholy matter of fact with those who, of their own accord, go too near the edge. IV. The results that followed. Of course they went over the edge; such people always do. They showed the insincerity of their prayers by their anger when they were denied (Jeremiah 43:2, &c.). They escaped none of the evil they dreaded; they gained none of the good they expected. “ So disastrous did this step appear to the next and to all subsequent generations of Israel, that the day of Gedaliah’ s murder, which led to it, has been from that time forth and to this day observed as a national fast. It seemed to be the final revocation of the advantages of the Exodus. By this breach in their local continuity a chasm was made in the history, which for good or evil was never filled up.” Yes; they who will go so near temptation will go into it, and be borne down by it to their sore hurt and harm. V. The remedy recommended. Jeremiah urged them to return to their own land and stay there (Jeremiah 42:8, &c.), promising them the blessing of God if they obeyed, and threatening His sore anger if they did not. This counsel ever wise. Get away from the border-land back into safety. Think of what will follow on your conduct--the blessing or the curse. “ Stay not in all the plain, but escape for thy life.” As “ the angels hastened Lot” so would we hasten all those who have foolishly and wrongly chosen to go too near temptation’ s edge. (W. Clarkson, B. A.) . Jeremiah 42:1-6 All the people . . . came near, and said unto Jeremiah the prophet.The people and the prophet I. Prayerfulness. “ Pray for us.” The prophet was implored to intercede with God on behalf of his countrymen. That which prosperity had failed to teach, was quickly learned in the day of adversity. God is honoured when His people cast themselves on His all-sufficiency; and He will repay their confidence by revelations of enlarged, and ever-enlarging, favour. II. Teachableness. “ That the Lord thy God may show,” &c. Matthew Henry well says, “ In every difficult and doubtful case our eye must be up to God for direction: we cannot be guided by a spirit of prophecy, which has ceased; but we may pray to be guided in our movements by a spirit of wisdom, and the hints of providence.”1. A teachable spirit is not a credulous spirit. It does not believe, except on evidence; as the preacher is to persuade men, so is he ever to re-echo the first words God addresses to His rebellious creatures, “ Come, now, and let us reason together.” 2. A teachable spirit is not a captious spirit. 3. A teachable spirit is not a reluctant spirit. (W. G. Barrett.) The Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto you.--Portrait of a true preacher I. The true preacher seeks his message for the people from Heaven. “ I will pray,” &c. There are preachers who seek their message from the theories of philosophy, from the works of literature, from the conclusions of their own reasoning. But a true teacher looks to Heaven. In his studies his great question is, “ What saith the Lord” ; in his ministration his language is, “ Thus saith the Lord.” We cannot render the spiritual service to humanity, of which it is in urgent need, by endeavouring to instruct it with human ideas, even though they come from the highest intellects of the world. The ideas of God can alone renovate, spiritually enlighten, purify, ennoble, and save the human soul. II. The true preacher delivers his message to the people full and faithfully. “ I will keep nothing back from you.”(1) Though it strike against your prejudices.(2) Though it enkindle your indignation. (Homilist.) Jeremiah 42:20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us. The hypocrisy of desiring the prayers of others without a suitable conduct I. Consider on what principles desiring the prayers of others is grounded. They are these; that it is our duty to pray for one another; that God hath often shown a gracious regard to the intercessions of His servants for others; and that it is very desirable, especially in some particular cases, to have an interest in them. II. When they who desire the prayers of others may be said to dissemble in their hearts. They do so when they desire them without sincerity; when they will not pray for themselves; when they will not use proper means to obtain the blessings they desire; and especially when they will not do what God by His Word and ministers requireth. III. The hypocrisy and evil of this conduct. It is an affront to the all-seeing and holy God; it is likewise deceiving their friends; and prayers offered for such persons are not likely to be of much avail. Application--1. We may hence learn, with what dispositions of mind we should desire the prayers of others. Whenever we ask the intercessions of others, let it be in sincerity; with a firm persuasion of the power of prayer; that it is not in vain to seek God; and that it is our duty to engage the assistance of our friends, by their application to the throne of grace. Be solicitous that you concur with them by praying yourselves without ceasing in the best manner you are able; and with your chief dependence for acceptance, not on your own prayers, nor those of your friends, but the mediation of Jesus Christ. 2. That we should be ready to pray one for another. Whenever we think of an absent relation or friend, or hear of him, or receive a letter from him, let us lift up our hearts to God for him in a short petition, as his circumstances may require. But we should be particularly mindful of those who desire our prayers. 3. It is peculiarly wicked to dissemble in our hearts, when we profess dependence on the intercession of Christ. (Job Orion, D. D.) Dissembling with God I. Consider, what was that great and general duty, against which the Jews, on the occasion before us, rebelled. “ Ye disembled,” said Jeremiah, “ in your hearts.” Dissimulation, like other sins, admits of degrees. The heart may dissemble radically and entirely, so as to be wholly hypocritical; so as not to feel any portion of that love to God, of that faith, of that gratitude, of that sense of duty, of that purpose of obedience which the tongue expresses. Or it may dissemble partially; feeling weakly and insufficiently those sentiments towards Him, which dwell with parade and seeming warmth upon the lips. The doom which awaits the complete hypocrite, cannot be doubted. Let the partial hypocrite beware, lest he at last come to the same place of torment. II. Consider, each for himself, how strong is the probability that you may be guilty, in a greater or a less degree, of dissembling in your heart before God. We have in our hands the Word of God, which describes the character of a true Christian. We have before our eyes the practice of the world. When we compare them, we cannot but perceive how vast is the number of professed Christians who evince little of the spirit of true Christianity in their principles and conduct: and therefore stand self-convicted as dissemblers in their hearts before the Most High. When you call to remembrance the multitudes even among those who styled themselves the followers of God, which in ancient times the sinfulness and deceitfulness of the heart betrayed into hypocrisy: when you survey the multitudes of His professed followers, which in this your day the same sinfulness and deceitfulness render hypocritical before Him: have you not reason for serious dread that you may yourself be found a dissembler in His sight? III. A scriptural rule, which may assist you in discovering whether, if the Son of God were now to call you to judgment, you would be found dissemblers in your hearts. “ Where your treasure is,” saith our Lord, “ there will your heart be also.” In other words, Whatever be the object which you judge and feel to be the most valuable; concerning that object will your heart snow itself to be the most steadily and the most deeply interested. Apply this rule to yourself. Thus you may discover with absolute certainty whether your heart is fixed upon God, or whether it dissembles before Him.1. Compare the pains which you employ, the vigilance which you exercise, the anxiety which you feel, concerning worldly objects, on the one hand; on the other, concerning religion. 2. When you receive a kindness from a friend, you feel, I presume, warm and durable emotions of gratitude, and an earnest desire to render to your benefactor such a return, in proportion to your ability, as may be acceptable to him. You are receiving every day from God blessings infinitely superior to all the kindnessess which can be conferred upon you by any of your fellow-creatures. Do you feel then still more lively and durable emotions of gratitude to Him? 3. Your worldly prosperity is an object which you pursue with industry and solicitude. Are you still more diligent, more anxious, in pursuing the welfare of your soul? 4. You have various occupations to which you resort, as opportunities offer themselves, from inclination and choice. Among these is religion to be found? Does religion stand at the head of them? 5. When you are informed of the events which befall another person, you rejoice, if they are such as promote his worldly advantage; you lament, if they impair it. Do you experience greater joy when you are assured of his advancement in religion? Do you experience greater sorrow if you learn that he has gone backward in the ways of righteousness? (T. Gisborne, M. A.) Insincerity in prayer Rarely do men come to Christ, says Leighton, “ as blank paper--ut tabula rasa--to receive His doctrine; but, on the contrary, all scribbled and blurred with such base habits as malice, hypocrisy, and envy.” Jeremiah 43:8-13 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln.Jeremiah hides the stones in the brick kiln I. They preached of the historic past.1. From the soil in which they were found. They were stones of Egypt. 2. The place where they were buried--the brick kiln--must have carried their thoughts back to the hard labour of their ancestors under the lash of the taskmasters (Exodus 9:8). 3. The burial of the stones beneath the ground might have suggested the past condition of Israel in this same land; they were buried under the oppressive tyranny of the heathen monarch and his people, and had been raised, as it were, from a grave of degradation and lifted into a new life as a free people by the mighty hand of God. II. They prophesied of the future.1. The only refuge from the displeasure of God is to be found in God Himself. 2. Unbelief in the Divine Word will not prevent the fulfilment of it. 3. The true minister of God will not be deterred by opposition from declaring the judgments, as well as the mercies, of God. (A London Minister.) . Jeremiah 44:4 Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. The thing which God hates I. What sin itself is. II. God hates it.1. Because it is contrary to His own nature. 2. Because it is unnatural in His creatures. 3. Because it transgresses holy, just, and good laws. 4. Because it defiles and injures the entire human nature. It brings a withering curse upon every stage of life, and upon every development of life, and upon every phase of life, and upon every department of life. 5. Because it makes men curses to each other. 6. Because it ignores or it rejects the Divine government. 7. Because wherever sin exists, except as it is checked by God’ s mercy, it has the dominion. 8. Because wherever it is introduced, it spreads. 9. Sin requires God to inflict upon men of every class and kind, that which He assures us, upon His oath, He has no pleasure in. 10. Their continuing in sin tramples under foot the blood of Jesus. (S. Martin.) The popular estimate of sin I. What is sin? Theology is determined by the answer. “ Sin is only negation as cold is the negation of heat; darkness, of light; disease, of health.” So we are told. Well, I know that I shiver to-night under the “ negation” of heat. I grope under the negation of light, and feel a very positive “ thorn in the flesh.” Away with this juggling of words! Sin is a fact and must be dealt with. II. What do you mean by the new life? If Sin be easy to control, no helplessness is felt, no great change of being is accepted, no outside help is needed. If you fancy that one bad deed is cancelled by another good one, and that you are “ all right at heart,” although often wrong in action, you will not seek salvation. III. What disclosure does Scripture make? “ An abominable thing.” What does sin propose to do? It defies God and would usurp His throne were it possible. The smallest infringement of the principle of honesty in social life breaks up the confidence of man in man and introduces destructive tendencies. The greater the transgression, the more destructive are the results. IV. What about the remedy of sin? We know not all the counsels of God, but we know enough of the covenant He made with His Son Jesus Christ to say that by His vicarious atonement we are freed from the penalty of sin, and by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Ghost we are made pure--the past and future are covered by His meritorious work. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.) God’ s expostulation with sinners I. The description of sin here given by God.1. We call those objects abominable which excite in us the sensations of loathing and abhorrence. That such is the nature of sin, even in its most agreeable forms, may be learned from the various figures under which it is represented in the Word of God. Whatever is revolting in corruption, loathsome in uncleanness, or hideous in deformity, is there brought forward, in order to give us some idea of its abominable nature. 2. It must be considered not only as loathsome to God, but as exciting in Him the desire of its destruction, and an inclination to execute vengeance upon all to whom it is an object of delight. From an abominable object we naturally turn away; but what we hate we seek to destroy. (1) Sin is hateful to God, as it is the very reverse of His nature.(2) Sin is hateful to God, as it is a transgression of His law.(3) Sin is hateful to God, as it opposes His designs.(4) Sin is hateful to God, as it is an expression of enmity in the heart against His very being. II. The manner in which God beseeches us to abstain from sin.1. We are naturally prone to wickedness. 2. God hath designs of mercy towards our guilty race. 3. The salvation of sinners is accomplished in a way perfectly consistent with their freedom as moral agents. 4. God is deeply concerned for the salvation of sinners. III. Some considerations that ought to induce us to hearken to the voice of God, and do what He requires. 1. It is God why, expostulates with you,. and beseeches you to abstain from sin. 2. The extreme folly of sin is another consideration, that may induce you to abstain from it. 3. The fatal consequences of continuing in sin, especially after we haven been called to repentance, is a consideration that ought to induce you to hear, and do what the Lord requires. (G. Campbell.) Argument against sinning I. God denounces sin with abhorrence. He calls it “ an abominable thing.” Sin is represented in the Bible as a loathsome, odious, revolting, execrable thing. All kinds of sin are an abomination. “ Lying lips” (Proverbs 12:22). “ Pride” (Proverbs 16:5). “ Wicked thoughts” (Proverbs 15:26). “ Wickedness in all its forms” (Proverbs 15:9). Sin is essentially an abomination. Three things show this:--1. The misrepresenting conduct of the sinner. Sin has a self-hiding, self-dissimulating instinct. 2. The universal conscience of mankind. Injustice, falsehood, self-seeking impiety, with all their kindred sins, the conscience of the world abhors. 3. The history of the Divine conduct towards our world. (1) Look at the judicial inflictions recorded in the Bible: expulsion from Eden, the deluge, the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of Jerusalem, &c. (2) Merciful interpositions. How has mercy wrought, through all past ages, to sweep abominations from the world! through patriarchs, prophets, apostles, holy ministers, and Christ Himself. He came to “ put away sin:” II. God hates sin with intensity. He says, “ I hate it.” The Infinite heart revolts from it with ineffable detestation.1. He hates it, for it is deformity, and He is the God of beauty. How offensive to the artist of high aesthetic taste and culture, are figures introduced into the realm of art, unscientific in their proportions, and unrefined in their touch! 2. He hates it, for it is confusion, and He is the God of order. “ Order,” says the poet, “ is Heaven’ s first law.” 3. He hates it, for it is misery, and He is the Cod of love. Every sin has in it the sting of the serpent, which, if not extracted, will rankle with fiery anguish in the soul for ever. God hates this evil, for He desires the happiness of His creatures. III. God prohibits sin with earnestness. “ Oh, do not this abominable thing.” What depths of fervid loving solicitude are in this “ Oh!”1. Do it not; you are warring against your own highest interest. 2. Do it not; you are warring against the well-being of the creation. 3. Do it not; you are warring against Me. Every sin is a war against My ideas, My feelings, My plans, My institutions. (Homilist.) Life’ s lameness: the character of sin The church bells were ringing out a merry peal of welcome as a bride and bridegroom left the church after the marriage service. The bride was given some flowers as she passed to her carriage, and a small drop of water fell from a flower on to the bride’ s light dress. Soon after, a slight stain was noticed there, and the remark was made: “ A spot of sin as small as this would shut either of us out of heaven.” That remark was perfectly true. A little speck of dust on the lens of a telescope will mar its powers of vision. A tiny hair in the mainspring of a watch will suffice to stop the machinery, So one little sin, secretly cherished and wilfully indulged, will choke up our soul s communion with God and destroy our spiritual comfort. What, then, is sin? Sin is rebellion against God. Self-love is the secret of sin. The hidden principle of all sin is rejection of the will of God. None of God’ s commands are grievous, and therefore the question of our obedience is made to turn precisely on the will of God. God alone is independent. He has made us for Himself; and the more we seek to bring our wills into subjection to His, and our lives into complete dependence upon Him, the happier and the holier shall we become. As a train was speeding along the railroad in the north of England the other day, a spark from the engine set fire to a shrub in a plantation near the line, and then the fire spread to a forest, where it raged for two days, doing immense damage. Who would have thought that such a result would arise, from a little spark? Yet so it is in the world of life--great results spring from the most trivial causes. Our hearts are, like those dry trees, ready to burst into a blaze when touched by the spark of sin. Therefore we must beware of sin. When Canova, the great Italian sculptor, was about to commence his famous statue of the great Napoleon, his keenly observant eye detected a tiny red line running through the upper portion of the splendid block of marble which had been brought from Paros at enormous cost. Others saw no flaw, but the great sculptor detected it, and he refused to lay chisel upon it. The very perfection he aimed at compelled him to reject the marble block. Now if there is a flaw in your life, others may not see it, but God most assuredly will. And that there is such a flaw God declares. His Word asserts, “ All have sinned” (Romans 3:23). “ There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psalms 14:3). During a naval engagement off Copenhagen, Admiral Parker signalled the ships to cease action. Nelson did not wish to retire his ship. When informed of the Admiral’ s signal, he looked through the telescope with his blind eye, and exclaimed, “ I see no such signal” He persistently deceived himself in order that he might continue the fight. “ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). But we deceive no one else. It is no excuse for a man to say he does not steal, does not lie, does not swear, does not covet. Neglect of known duty is sin. Man has a duty to God (Matthew 22:37). Not to love God is sin. And the Bible not only charges man with not loving God, but it speaks of man as being in a state of “ enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). Therefore he cannot restore himself. It is a stormy night by the sea-shore. The wind is howling and moaning, and ever and anon with boisterous gusts threatening violence to the shipping in the harbour. The sea is lashed into a seething foam. On the beach are scattered groups of people--men hurrying to and fro with excited determination, and women wringing their hands in mute agony and mingled prayer. You look out to sea. In the darkness of the night you can see nothing, but you can tell by the whirr and rush of the rocket apparatus, by the cries of the life boatmen, that a vessel is in danger. You know there is a ship in distress by these signs, though you may not know the extent or reality of her danger. So, when I see the Lord Jesus Christ leaving His throne in glory, living a life of anguish, and dying a cruel death, I learn that sin is a terrible reality. Oh, what a hideous, fiendish monster is sin, when it turns its cursed enmity against the blessed Son of God, and imbrues its cruel hands in His precious blood! The Emperor Arcadius and his wife Eudoxia had a very bitter feeling towards St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople. One day, in a fit of anger, the Emperor said to some of his courtiers, “ I would I were avenged of this bishop!” Several then proposed how this should be done. “ Banish him and exile him to the desert,” said one. “ Put him in prison,” said another. “ Confiscate his property,” said a third. “ Let him die,” said a fourth. Another courtier, whose vices Chrysostom had reproved, said maliciously, “ You all make a great mistake. You will never punish him by such proposals. If banished the kingdom, he will feel God as near to him in the desert as here. If you put him in prison and load him with chains, he will still pray for the poor and praise God in the prison. If you confiscate his property, you merely take away his goods from the poor, not from him. If you condemn him to death, you open heaven to him. Prince, do you wish to be revenged on him? Force him to commit sin. I know him; this man fears nothing in the world but sin.” Is there no lesson here for you and me? (A. Finlayson.) Divine pleading If anyone suffers very keenly from nervous exhaustion, it seems sometimes almost impossible for him to bear the noise of a child who persists in running heavily overhead. He will adopt a pleading rather than an angry tone: “ My child, do not do this again; I cannot bear it.” Let us think of God’ s holy nature as more sensitive to sin than the most highly-strung nerves to noise, and hear Him saying, whenever we are on the point of committing sin, “ Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.” (F. B. ,Meyer, B. A.) Jeremiah 44:16 As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will net hearken unto thee. The ministerial message and its reception I. It devolves on ministers to speak to sinners in the name of the Lord.1. They represent to them their deplorable situation; they describe to them the horrors of the pit wherein there is no water, in which they lie; the miseries of that prison in which they are closely confined; the unprofitableness of the drudgery in which they are engaged; and the tribulation and anguish which they have to expect. “ Knowing the terrors of the Lord, they persuade men” ; and sensible that, if they are unfaithful, the blood of souls will be required at their hands, they are “ instant in season and out of season,” if by any means they Could persuade them to flee from the wrath to come. 2. They do all this in the name of the Lord. (1) They speak in obedience to His command.(2) They speak in perfect agreement with the Divine word.(3) They preach in the hope of promoting His glory. II. The unpleasant reception with which their message often meets. “ We will not hearken.”1. We hope that there are but few who would plainly say this in words; who are so hardened as to glory in their shame; or so incorrigible as to tell God’ s ministers that they cast His words behind their back, as unworthy of attention, and beneath their notice: yet we are persuaded that there are many professors who say this in their hearts, and who will not see when the hand of God is lifted up; for if this were not the case, would ministers so often have to lament over them, saying, “ Oh, that they were wise” ; and, “ Oh, that there were such a heart in them, to keep His commandments and do them” ? Careless hearers all say, “ We will not hearken unto Thee.” And oh, how few are there that will hear believingly! The word does not profit, “ not being mixed with faith in them that hear it” ; men often “ reject the counsel of God against themselves,” and disbelieve the record that God has given of His Son. Their conduct shows that they believe not in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. 2. What is the reason that they will not attend to those things, which, it is evident, belong to their peace? (1) Because they are in league with sin.(2) What your ministers preach loudly speaks your condemnation. I would say, by way of inference, In what an awful state are those persons who are making the resolution contained in the text. They are evidently exposed to the loss of their privileges; to hardness of heart, and contempt of God’ s Word and commandments; and to utter and eternal destruction. (T. Spencer.) . Jeremiah 45:5 Seekest thou great things for thyself?seek them not. Seeking great things Baruch, the companion of Jeremiah, to whom these words were addressed, was a young man of learning, who had probably formed large expectations of distinction, which were sadly disappointed by the calamities which befell his country. The prophet checks his aspirations in the strong language of our text: “ Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.” It is the selfish seeking of the great things of this world and the eager pursuits of them, as if they were of supreme importance, which is censured by the prophet.1. They who thus seek them are least likely to attain them. It is said there is a fiery light which appears in marshy places, floating just above the surface of the earth, so volatile in its nature that the least breath moves it, and consequently those who rush towards it most eagerly, create a current of air which drives it from them, and it thus leads them on to miry places for their destruction; while, if they would quietly sit down it might float near them, or rest upon them when there was no agitation in the atmosphere to repel it. So is it with the great things of this world, they often fly from those who pant in the chase after them; they frequently rest upon those who reach after them more quietly. One of the wealthiest individuals in a distant city, who spends immense sums for benevolent purposes, was heard to say, that he hardly knew how his property came to him; it seemed to increase without effort on his part, and whether he would or no. The reason may have been because he was not selfishly eager in the pursuit of it, and because he consecrated it to good objects, and therefore God blessed him as He did Solomon. 2. They who selfishly and eagerly “ seek the great things” of the world, are apt to have some sore trial coupled with success, if they are successful. Look at all history; when were its great men so wretched, as when they had attained the highest point of exaltation! “ He has gained everything,” said a companion of Napoleon, when he was in the zenith of prosperity, “ and yet he is unhappy.” So true is this, that one almost dreads entering upon a state of great worldly aggrandisement, or to see others entering upon it, lest something should happen to mar all. We feel as we do when one is on a lofty spire, admiring his elevation, but almost afraid to look at him lest he should fall God has wisely connected such checks with worldly greatness, to teach us not to set our hearts upon it, and to enforce the prophet s warning, “ Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.” 3. The thought of death should teach the vanity of the selfish and eager pursuit of worldly greatness. How one severe fit of sickness will change the aspect of all the glitter of the world! In health it is like the panoramic view where splendid palaces and cities pass before our delighted eyes; in sickness the glass is taken away, and a little painted daub is seen, no bigger than one’ s hand. And death shuts out even that from our sight. “ Millions for an hour of life,” was the dying exclamation of one of England’ s proudest queens. It is further humiliating to all worldly aspirations to see how small, a vacancy one makes among the living by his death. Think of any person, however great he may have been, who has been two years dead, how little is he missed! how everything goes forward just as smoothly without him! What then, in conclusion, is the view of the great things of this life to which such reflections lead? The proper view seems to be, not to despise the things of this world, but to be sure that our supreme affections are on those of another and a better; not to reject the good gifts of this life, but neither to toil for them as if they were all in all to our happiness, nor to use them, when gained, for our own selfish gratification. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.) Seeking for “ great things” We wish, so to speak, not to annihilate the passions of human nature, which sin disturbs and perverts; but, if possible, to convert them, and turn them into another direction. You love pleasure, and we wish you to have pleasure; only we would draw you off from “ the pleasures of sin for a season,” to the joy of God’ s salvation; we would draw you from the filthy puddle to the “ water of life, clear as crystal, which proceedeth from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” You love wealth; we wish you to love it, and to obtain it; but not “ the deceitful riches,” as the Scriptures call them, but the “ true riches,” the “ unsearchable riches of Christ.” You are ambitious, and we wish you to be so; you wish to rise, and we wish you to rise; you wish to be great, and we wish you to be great; and therefore we would open a career of glory and grandeur, in pursuing which you will be placed far above philosophers, and politicians, and heroes, and kings; “ dwelling on high,” and being “ quickened together with Christ,” “ raised up, and made to sit with Him in the heavenly places.” There are four reasons why you should not “ seek great things” for yourselves on earth, and four reasons why you should “ seek those things that are above.” I. The one is uncertain in acquisition--the other sure. A great deal of what is called earthly greatness is placed beyond the reach of many, whatever they may do. Many are poor, and they have not the opportunities and the means of becoming affluent. Many cannot fill the seats of learning and of science; they have not capacities to acquire the needful treasures. But here is a reason why you should “ seek those things which are above” ; for these are always sure in their attainment. In the work of the Lord the servant may become equally great with the master; for moral greatness does not consist in doing great things, but in doing little things with a great mind. And these are accessible to all. II. The one is fleeting in possession--the other durable. What is all history, but a relation of the revolutions to which all worldly things are liable--of the rich despoiled of their wealth, of nobles stript of their honours, of princes dethroned, exiled, imprisoned, put to death--Pharaoh in the Red Sea, Nebuchadnezzar eating grass like an ox, Belshazzar the conqueror and the conquered, Napoleon the emperor and the captive! These instances, perhaps, are too peculiar, and too remote, and national, to impress many of you: look therefore nearer home; look at those things which will touch you. What is honour, but a noise of airy breath? What is popularity? It hangs on the wavering tongue of the multitude, who are like the waves of the sea, driven to and fro and tossed; now rolling towards one shore, and now towards another, according to the gale; now crying “ Hosannah,” and now “ Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Yes, wherever on earth you lay up treasure, you must lay it up where “ moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” And here is another thing to be taken into the account too. Allowing that these things could be perpetuated in your possession to the end of life, they can be possessed no longer. You have only a life interest in any of them. Shall I set my heart on that which is not, and that from which I am so soon to be removed? But now this is a reason why you should “ seek those things that are above” ; for he that succeeds here (and we have shown that you will succeed if you seek them), has “ chosen,” as our Saviour says, “ that good part, which shall never be taken away from him.” He has seized a blessedness which is independent of external accidents, independent of the revolutions of states, independent of the vicissitudes of time, independent of the ravages of death, independent of the conflagration of the last day: so that when “ the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up,” he can stand upon the ashes of the universe and say, “ I have lost nothing” ; “ I look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” III. The one is unsatisfactory in enjoyment--the other satisfying. Take the “ great things” you would here seek after for yourself; allowing that you attain them (and you have heard that the attainment is uncertain)--allowing that you could retain them (and you have heard that the retention is impossible)--yet there is no real contentment in them. Ahab was king of Israel Was he satisfied with his dominion? No; he covets Naboth’ s little vineyard; and because he cannot obtain it, he is sick forsooth and takes to his bed and can eat nothing. Some of the Roman emperors, who strode over the world, were the most wretched of all beings; they were burdens to themselves. I was one day walking with rich individual over his estate; his mind was in a serious mood, and I endeavoured to avail myself of it; and he made this very wise remark, “ Sir,” said he, “ those who have not succeeded in the world always impute their dissatisfaction to their want of success; they are not aware of the insufficiency of these things themselves. ‘ Oh!’ say they, ‘ could we obtain them, we should be happy.’ But those of us who have succeeded, and have obtained them, and find ourselves no nearer happiness than before, are the men who know that the fault lies in the things themselves.” But this is a reason why you should “ seek those things which are above.” They are satisfying. IV. The one is dangerous and injurious in influence--the other safe and beneficial. Yes; the “ great things” you seek here for yourselves, owing to our depravity, are full of peril. “ Who is the Lord,” says Pharaoh, “ that I should obey Him?” “ How,” says our Saviour, “ can ye believe, who receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh from God only?” Even good men, with regard to these “ great things,” as they are called in our text, want peculiar grace, or they will not be proof against their evil influence. Hezekiah could not bear the notice taken of him by the ambassadors of Benhadad; “ his heart was lifted up; therefore was wrath upon him and all his people.” I never yet saw a Christian improved by his rising in the world: I have seen many who have been injured by it: I have seen many who have been less constant and regular in their attendance on the means of grace, though they had more leisure, and could command a vehicle: I have seen those who have given less afterwards--not less comparatively, but less absolutely; some of them who gave gold, then gave silver, and some even copper. Wherefore, once more, “ Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not” ; but “ seek those things which are above.” There safety is. These are not only blameless; but they are profitable--“ profitable unto all things; having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” These, instead of polluting the mind, will purify it; they will draw you off from earth, instead of allowing you to settle here. Instead of elevating you, they will clothe you with humility; instead of leading you away from your God, they will connect you with Him; they will prepare you for every condition in which you can be found. Therefore you cannot have too much of these. (W. Jay.) The folly of ambition I. The first reason for not seeking the great things of earth and time is, that they will not be attained. We do not deny that the energy and perseverance of an ambitious man will accomplish great results, but we affirm confidently that he will never attain what he desires. For his desires are continually running ahead of his attainments, so that the more he gets the more he wants. He never acquires the “ great thing” which he is seeking in such a way as to sit down quietly and enjoy contentment of heart. Alexander, we are told, having conquered all the then known world, wept in disappointment because there were no more worlds for him to overrun and subdue. In this way, it is apparent that he who is seeking great things here upon earth will never obtain them. He is chasing his horizon. He is trying to jump off his own shadow. As fast as he advances, the horizon recedes from him; the further he leaps, the further his shadow falls. His estimate of what a “ great thing” is continually changes, so that though relatively to other men he has accumulated wealth, or obtained earthly power and fame, yet absolutely, he is no nearer the desire of his heart--no nearer to a satisfying good--than he was at the beginning of his career. Nay, it is the testimony of many a man, that the first few gains that were made at the beginning of life came nearer to filling the desires of the mind, and were accompanied with more of actual contentment, than the thousands and millions that succeeded them. II. If they could be attained they would ruin the soul. It is fearful to observe the rapidity with which a man’ s character deteriorates as he secures the object of his desire, when the object is a merely earthly one, and the desire is a purely selfish one. Take, for illustration, the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. He aimed at a universal empire in Europe. And just in proportion as he approached the object of his aspirations, did he recede from that state of mind and heart which ought to characterise a dependent creature of God. We always associate him with those pagan demi-gods, those heaven-storming Titans, who like the Lucifer of Scripture are the very impersonation of pride and ambition But such a spirit as this is the worst species of human character. It is the most intense form of idolatry--that of egotism and self-worship. It is the most arrogant and defiant form of pride. It would scale the heavens. It would dethrone the Eternal. The same effect of mere worldly success is seen also in the walks of everyday life. Cast your eye over the circle in which you move, and select out those who are the most greedy of earthly good, and are the most successful in obtaining it, and are they not the most selfish persons that you know? It is here that we see the moral benefit of failures and disappointments. Were men uniformly successful in their search after “ great things” ; did every man who seeks wealth obtain wealth, and every man who grasps after power obtain power, and every man who lusts after fame become renowned, the world would be a pandemonium, and human character and happiness would be ruined. Swollen by constant victory, and a sense of superiority, successful men would turn their hands against one another, as in the wars of the giants before the flood. There would be no self-restraint, no regard for the welfare of others, no moderate and just estimate of this world, and no attention to the future life. III. “Great things,” so far as they are attained at all in this world, are commonly attained indirectly. Saul, the son of Kish, was sent out by his father to find the asses that had strayed, but he found a kingdom instead. Look into literary history, and see how this is exemplified. The most successful creations of the human reason and imagination have rarely been the intentional and foreseen products of the person. The great authors have been surprised at their success; if, indeed, success came to them during their lifetime. But more commonly their fame has been posthumous, and their ears never heard a single note of the paean that went up from the subsequent generations that were enchanted with their genius. Shakespeare and Milton never read a single criticism upon their own works; and to-day they neither know anything of nor care for the fame that attends them upon this little planet. Look, again, into the circles of trade and commerce, and observe how often great and lasting success comes incidentally, rather than as the consequence of preconceived purposes and plans. The person simply endeavoured to provide for the present and prospective wants of those dependent upon him, with prudence and moderation. He obtained, however, far more than he calculated upon. Wealth came in upon him with rapidity, and that which he did not greedily seek, and which he never in the least gloated upon with a miser’ s feeling, was the actual result of his career in the world. Seekest thou, then, great things for thyself? seek them not. They will not come by this method. Seek first of all the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and then all these minor things, which the world and the deluded will be likely to attain even by the most engrossing and violent efforts devoted to the sole purpose of obtaining them. IV. Great sorrow springs from great aspirations, when those aspirations are unattained. There is only one species of aspiration that does not weary and wear the soul, and that is, the craving and cry of the soul after God. Humboldt, who had surveyed the cosmos, and who had devoted a long existence to placid contemplation of the processes of nature, and had kept aloof from the exciting and passionate provinces of human literature, said in his eightieth year, “ I live without hope, because so little of what I have undertaken yields a satisfactory result.” This is the penalty which ambitious minds pay for seeking “ great things.” There is an infinite aspiration, and an infinitesimal performance. The hour of death, and the failing shadows of an everlasting existence, and an everlasting destiny, bring the aspiration and the performance into terrible contrast. Go down, once more, into the sphere of active life, and see the same sorrow from the same cause. Look at that man of trade and commerce who has spent his life in gigantic, and, we will suppose, successful enterprises, and who now draws near the grave. Ask him how the aspiration compares with the performance. He has generally accomplished, we will assume, what he undertook. The results of his energy and capacity are known, and visible to all in his circle and way of life. His associates have praised him, and still praise him; for he has done well for himself, and for all connected with him. But he writes vanity upon it all. When he thinks of all the heat and fever of his life, all his anxious calculation and toil by day and night, all his sacrifice of physical comfort and of mental and moral improvement, and then thinks of the actual results of it all--the few millions of treasure, the few thousands of acres, or the few hundreds of houses--he bewails his infatuation, and curses his folly.1. In the light of this subject and its discussion, we perceive the sinfulness of ambition. 2. We see in the light of this subject, the complete and perfect blessedness of those who are free from all ambitious aims and selfish purposes; who can say, “ Whom have I in heaven but Thee?” &c. (G. T. Shedd, D. D.) Seek not great things for yourself I. Seek not great things for yourselves, for self ought never to be an ultimate object. The glory of God is the only legitimate aim. The glorification of God is not to be sought as a mean to the good of the creature, but the reverse--man would be exalted above God. Even great spiritual things arc not to be sought for our own purposes and exaltation--“ name’ s sake.” There is no hardship in this, for if we seek the glory of God, our own enjoyment will follow. II. Seek not great things for yourselves, for you thereby render them the objects of idolatrous worship. III. Seek not great things for yourselves, for to do so is to subordinate the discharge of duty to their acquisition and enjoyment. IV. Seek not great things for yourselves, for by doing so you will involve yourselves and others in much positive suffering. V. Seek not great things for yourselves, when the Church of Christ requires your sympathy and your efforts. Baruch. (Jas. Stewart.) A dissuasive from ambition I. When we may be said to seek great things for ourselves.1. When we seek a larger portion of worldly good than is necessary. But still the question returns, How much is necessary? If men were to answer this question, they would soon prove that few or none are guilty of violating the command in our text; for they all pretend that they seek no more than is necessary. But by this term they usually mean all that would be necessary to gratify their sinful inclinations and desires. Now man’ s chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him for ever; or, in other words, to obey God’ s will and receive His everlasting favour. More than this no man needs; more than this no man ought to seek. 2. When we seek them for ourselves only, or seek them merely with a view to self-gratification or self-aggrandisement. II. Some of the reasons why we should not seek great things for ourselves.1. Because it is the sure way to multiply our disappointments and sorrows. In the lottery of life there are few prizes, and many blanks. He, then, who seeks great things for himself, engages in a pursuit in which it is exceedingly probable he will be disappointed; and the more ardent are his desires, the more eager his pursuit, the more keen will be the sufferings which his disappointment will occasion. But this is not all. The man whose pursuit is crowned with success, will be no less disappointed than his unsuccessful neighbour. After he has obtained great things, he will find himself as far from happiness, find his desires as unsatisfied, his mind as discontented as before. His desires will increase with his success. Nay, they will increase much faster than his success. 2. Another reason may be drawn from the nature and situation of the world in which we live. Might we not as easily employ our time and exertions in building upon a quicksand, or upon ice which the summer’ s sun will melt away! 3. Another reason may be found in our own character and situation. We are ourselves sinful, dying, and accountable creatures. We have, therefore, a great work to do, no less a work than securing the favour of God, and obtaining the salvation of our immortal souls, a work which demands our time, our attention, our utmost exertions. And can we, in such a situation, find leisure or inclination to seek great things for ourselves here? to seek them while death is at the door; while the Judge is at hand; while eternity draws near; while our souls, unprepared, are in momentary danger of sinking beyond the reach of hope or mercy? 4. Another reason is, that seeking them is incompatible with the duties which we are required to perform; and of course incompatible with our best interests. Man has but one soul, but one heart, but a certain limited portion of time, strength, and energy. He cannot, then, give his heart to God and to the world at the same time. (E. Payson, D. D.) Ambition I. The evil denounced. It may be viewed under three aspects.1. There are some who pursue worldly objects that are far above them. 2. There are some who pursue with undue eagerness worldly objects they might reasonably hope to attain. 3. There are some who pursue all classes of worldly objects in a selfish spirit. II. The reasons why it is denounced.1. Because it attaches excessive value to worldly objects. 2. Because it misapprehends the comparative advantages of the different ranks in the social scale. 3. Because it overlooks the duties which arise out of the relations we sustain to our race and our Maker. 4. Because it ignores all the facts, and objects, and interests, and blessings of the spiritual world. Address-- (1) Worldlings.(2) Christians. (G. Brooks.) A great missionary’ s self-effacement When Stanley found Livingstone in the heart of Africa, he begged the old heroic missionary to go home. There seemed to be many reasons why he should go back to England. His wife was dead; his children lived in England; the weight of years was pressing upon him, and the shortest march wearied him. He was often compelled to halt many days to recover strength after his frequent attacks of prostrating illness. Moreover, he was destitute of men and means to enable him to make much practical progress. But like the great apostle to the Gentiles, none of these things moved him, nor counted he his life dear to himself. “ No, no,” he said to Stanley; “ to be knighted, as you say, by the Queen, welcomed by thousands of missionary enthusiasts, yes--but impossible. It must not, cannot, will not be. I must finish my task, and do what I can to bring Africa to Christ.” Thought self mars the finest work Every artist longs to have his work thought well of. But the higher artist seeks first truth and beauty, and hopes for praise as the meed due to them. The lower artist is so thirsty for praise, thinks so much more about himself than about his work, that he turns aside to make a display of his strength or skill. He is not wholly given to bringing forth truth and beauty, but he is hankering to strike the beholder s eye with his originality or power. This I take to be the secret of--’ s aberrations. His pictures show wonderful force of painting; but what spoils them is that, instead of calmly striving to raise his painting to the highest, he has itched to amaze you by his boldness. (Charles Buxton, M.P.) The folly of self-seeking in Christ’ s service Spurgeon in a late sermon hits off a very common fault noticeable among Christian workers: “ The hen in the farmyard has laid an egg, and feels so proud of the achievement that she must cackle about it; everybody must know of that one poor egg till all the country round resounds with the news. It is so with some professors: their work must be published, or they can do no more. ‘ Here have I,’ said one, ‘ been teaching in the school for years, and nobody ever thanked me for it; I believe that some of us who do the most are the least noticed, and what a shame it is!’ But if you have done your service unto the Lord you should not talk so, or we shall suspect you of having other aims. The servant of Jesus will say, ‘ I do not want human notice; I did it for the Master; He noticed me, and I am content. I tried to please Him, and I did please Him, and therefore I ask no more, for I have gained my end. I seek no praise of men, for I fear lest the breath of human praise should tarnish the pure silver of my service.’” How to lose thought of self When a dog is not noticed, he doesn’ t like it. But when the dog is after a fox he don’ t care whether he is noticed or not. If a minister is seeking for souls he will not think of himself. Self is forgotten in a single aim to save others. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Ambition true and false It is related of the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon that at the commencement of his ministry, when he was beginning to feel conscious of the wonderful powers with which God had endowed him--like most young people, I suppose, for he was but a boy, or little more than a boy at the time--he was one day walking across a common and seemed to hear, as it were, a voice speaking to his innermost consciousness in the terms of my text, “ Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.” Mr. Spurgeon accepted the text which flashed into his mind as a Divine message and monition, and from that moment made a fuller consecration of himself, his life, his opportunity, his power to the service of the living God. We know the result, and looking back upon it we know, much better, I venture to think, than he did even on the day of his death, but not better than he knows it now, he chose the good part, which was not taken from him. He set his affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Mr. Spurgeon deliberately renounced worldly ambition. That is what I want you to do. But do not make any mistake and think that I mean you to renounce ambition in the truer sense, because Mr. Spurgeon certainly did not. I want you to see what is the difference between ambition false and ambition true, and to endeavour, if I can, to clear away some confusion of thought which clings around this particular subject. What is ambition, as commonly understood? You will gather it, I think, from such familiar phrases as “ that last infirmity of noble mind,” or “ by this sin fell the angels.” It takes many forms. If one wished to suggest a name or a life in which ambition had freest and most unrestricted reign, I think you would name Napoleon. He is the classical, outstanding instance; not that, I am quite sure, he is any more guilty than thousands of persons before him and since. But in Napoleon ambition, insatiate and unconcealed, had undisputed sway. He waded to his throne, as has been said, through the blood and tears of millions. I never care to be too hard on a conventional type of a particular failing for fear one should happen to be wrong, but Mr. Gladstone said of Napoleon that perhaps he had the mightiest intellect that was ever packed into a human skull. Judged by the facts as they appear to us, that intellect was prostituted. It never was exalted as it might have been, and, as I believe sincerely, God meant it to be. Yet another type is Cecil Rhodes. Here, again, I speak somewhat diffidently, because it is possible that very different opinions in regard to the worth and work of Cecil Rhodes obtain in this congregation. But this is my view of his life. He had a great idea as to the position and place of England in the world. More than that, he believed in the mission of the Anglo-Saxon race. But he was not too scrupulous in his attempts to realise his ideal, if we may judge by the facts as they appeared to us. It was a form of ambition not so despicable as Napoleon’ s, because it was less self-centred, but I venture to think it was materialistic and mistaken, and now that the great man has gone there are thousands upon thousands of us who, looking upon his career, pronounce those saddest words of the tongue or pen, the saddest of all, “ it might have been.” Cecil Rhodes was a great empire builder, we are told. He might have been more than that. He sought great things, and he saw himself associated with them. Do you feel, you young men, that his is the highest ideal and the type to which you would like to conform your character? I trust to he able to show before I close that it was not. You men of the world know perfectly well how you weigh each other up. You see a good thing done for which a man is receiving an amount of public credit, and you promptly ask, “ What is his aim? What axe has he to grind?” You can scarcely bring yourself to believe in disinterestedness at all, because, so far as you have been able to see, people who were apparently disinterested, really had some ulterior motive that would not hear the light. You know among your associates, for example--in the business house, it may be--the difference between the man of modest ambition and the man of vaulting, unscrupulous ambition. You prefer the former, but you never believe that he has no axe to grind at all. In most cases you are right, but beware of general statements. I think the chief danger of to-day is not that men are too ambitious, but that they serve the wrong form of ambition. There are fellows in your business--perhaps a good many of those who are here present could be included in the category--who are at fault not because they have too much ambition, but because they have not enough of the right sort. The man who will not work, the man who will not aspire-and there are plenty of them in our country--the man who never wishes to be any better or more powerful, or to live his life more completely than now, is of no benefit to society, and his selfishness is as real as the selfishness of any Napoleon You owe something to God, you owe something to men. There is not one among you who is an isolated unit. I have with me here an extract from Carlyle, which I think can put more clearly than I can the distinction between the true ambition and the false. “ Let me say that there are two kinds of ambition, one wholly blameable, the other laudable and inevitable The selfish wish to shine over others, let it be accounted altogether poor and miserable.” “ Seekest thou great things for thy, self? seek them not.” This is most true. “ And yet I say,” continues Carlyle, “ there is an irrepressible tendency in every man to develop himself according to the magnitude which Nature has made him of, to speak out and to act out what Nature has laid in him. This is proper, fit, inevitable; nay, it is duty, the duty of duties. For man the meaning of life here on earth might be defined as consisting in this--to unfold yourself, to work what thing you have the faculty for. It is a necessity for every human being, the first law of our existence.” I am going to try and spiritualise, if I can, that wonderful principle set forth by Carlyle. True ambition is to live out what is in you for the sake of Him who gave you life. It is a wonderful, it is even an awful, thought that God Himself finds fulfilment through what you are. God’ s work is being done, God s thoughts and purposes are being realised by these commonplace men and women that I see around me, and every one of you is the embodiment of the Divine. Would you shrink and shrivel that Divine which God has given you? It is to be manifested not only for your own sake, nor chiefly so, but for the sake of Him who gave it and to mankind. I want to warn you against misusing God’ s great gift, your own soul. You are a unique product in the universe, and there are unmeasured possibilities before every man here. Each of us, all of us are citizens of eternity. The true ambition is that of a man who is not afraid to endure, not afraid to sacrifice, not afraid to spend his soul, for in giving he is gaining, and he shall have more abundantly. Now, young men, I want to warn you before I go on against possible disappointment even in your endeavour to live up to your ideal. It may be that while I have been speaking in these terms to you some old and wise man m this assembly may have been thinking to himself, “ That preacher will change his tone in a few years when he knows how sadly life can disillusion and can trample upon our ideals.” Oh, the tragedies of life, the hopes blighted, the old men who are just doing their day’ s work in patience that no longer one can expect. Well, you are only saying what has been said before. That poor, wayward genius, Percy Bysshe Shelley, saw a little farther than the disappointment when he told us in so many words that it is never possible for the soul to live itself out completely here. How should it be? Because here is not the close of our destiny. It will take all eternity for you to live out what God has put in. Never think that you are going to live out all, but I think you will save yourself from disappointment if you will only say, “ It is possible for me to get on the right track now and be living out in time that which I shall live out better when eternity comes.” It is possible for you to give a whole-hearted, unselfish allegiance “ to a great ideal, and that not for your own sake. There is a Divine idea pervading the visible universe, the spirit of truth and beauty and good. We are called to service, every one of us is called to reveal and express it in some fashion. For us it is embodied in Jesus Christ. I cannot but halt there. The Christ contains for me all that humanity is able to aspire to or understand, the great Divine ideal. The life that is given to Christ is well invested. It has produced the best results in the history of human character. What a man was Paul! The Christ crossed his path, and this ambitious, zealous, burning soul changed to something else, Saul the persecutor became. Paul the apostle, lived a suffering life and died an obscure death in a Roman prison; and this was his verdict when the evening came--“ I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith . . . I am now ready to be offered.” Paul knew that his life was hid with Christ in God. He knew that this is the shadow time, the other side is the reality. The Master’ s comment on the choice is this--“ I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name’ s sake.” Young men, I strongly urge you, choose the life wherein you can throw your best energies for God. Have a purpose therein. Do not fear to give it Him back. Beware of seeming to drift into a destiny. Let your choice be rational, let it be strong, let it be pure. By and by you shall do greater things than these. In time be faithful to the little that you can do, that in eternity you may do the more for God. Believe that you have a vocation, a vocation for God. You will not live out all that is within you here. You cannot. But if you live only for yourself here you will be a wretched man. Give the best to God. We have all read that psychological novel, John Inglesant, with its too self-conscious hero. One character drawn therein, that of a Jesuit, who for s time is spiritual adviser to John Inglesant, seems to me to be a remarkable one. I know not whether such a Jesuit ever existed, but you know this, the Jesuits by their system of training manage to squeeze out of every man upon whom they get their grip any thought of living for his own self-interest. He becomes the bond-slave of the society. They have great strength from the fact that they can thus obsess a man, as it were, de-self him, and make him work for the great organisation. Here is the Jesuit’ s verdict to John Inglesant upon his own life, an exhortation for his pupil: Choose your side or your lot; when you have chosen it be true to it all the way. It matters comparatively little what a man chooses as his course of action provided it be a worthy one and his conscience tells him so, but when he has chosen, no looking back. Go straight on, be faithful to the uttermost, cost what it may. A grand and a glorious ideal for the twentieth century, as well as for the seventeenth. And there is a Divine principle within us which urges us to do our best to make the world better than we found it. I have often been struck with the fact that very ordinary people, who make very small profession of religion, somehow will do this at some part of their career, in some one of their interests. They feel they must even at a cost do a little to make the world gladder and to make the world better. I remember the utterance of the bishop in Victor Hugo’ s Les Miserables. As the convict stands at the door of the house, proclaiming what he was by his dress and his demeanour, thus spoke the servant of God, “ This house is not my house, it is the house of Jesus Christ. This door does not demand of him that enters it whether he has a name, but whether he has a grief.” Oh, I feel that if our bodies were made the temples of the Christ as the bishop’ s house was made the tabernacle of his Lord; if our interests, our opportunities were consecrated to Him, oh, what a difference, majestic, far-reaching, redemptive it would make to the world to-morrow. And, if I could, I would like to fill every young soul before me to-night with that Divine ideal. What can we do, you and I, to bless the world? Just what these noble ones in times past have done, the Pauls and the Luthers and the Wesleys, not merely ambition, but the consecrating of everything they possessed to their Lord, and the counting all but loss if they might win Him. Let us do the same as these. “ Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.” Seekest thou great things for God? Go on. Live out all that God has given you as His trustee. Seekest thou joy and blessedness and victory and power in the highest sense of that word? Would you come to the full stature of your manhood? Then “ seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (R. J. Campbell, M. A.) Self-seeking vetoed This short chapter embodies the history of Baruch, the secretary of Jeremiah. I. The very excusable moan (verse 3), “ Woe is me now!”1. He was probably pained for his master’ s sake. 2. Probably grieved on account of the unhappy national outlook. 3. Was evidently distressed on his own account. Possibly weary of being secretary with dangerous duties attached. II. The very decided veto on his ambitious design.1. God interpreted his aspiration, whatever its nature. 2. Decidedly nipped the project in the bud. 3. Suggesting by implication that he seek great things for others--Jeremiah, to wit. To be identified with him was true greatness. Men are engrossed in themselves, their family, their party, their “ ism.” III. The compensating guarantee. “ Thy life will I give unto thee.”1. The nation at large would pass through great tribulation. 2. Baruch and his master would be hurried hither and thither. 3. But the secretary’ s life would be given him as a reward. Baruch lived through all the dire experiences that followed. Escaped from Egypt to Babylon, and wrote the Book of Baruch. Who has not enjoyed the compensations of selfishness? Every surrender of selfhood helps to enrich the soul. (W. J. Acomb.) . Jeremiah 46:17 Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise.Religious judgments How the Bible can torment its adversaries!--mock them, contemn them, dash them in pieces like a potter’ s vessel. Yet it is never mere contempt. The contempt of the Bible is the penal side of a profound philosophy. Its contempt is as necessary as its Gospel--nay, more, its Gospel renders its contempt necessary. Our God is a “ consuming fire,” “ God is love,” “ the wrath of the Lamb.” So when Pharaoh-Necho--mighty man--is called by the contemptuous term of “ noise” no mere sneer is employed. This is a righteous judgment, a moral estimate, a correct representation of things as they are in reality, not of things as they appear to be. In all judgments we must have regard to distance, proportion, perspective. Pharaoh king of Egypt, with horses, chariots, swords, spears, hosts of men, is a terrific power; but to a man standing in the quiet of the Divine sanctuary, “ Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise” --a waft of wind, a curl of smoke dying whilst it rises. If men would but consider this law of proportion the whole estimate of life would undergo an instantaneous and complete reversion. The text brings before us the great subject of religious judgments--by religious judgments I mean estimates. We must call religion into the house if we would take a true appraisement of what we possess. Only religion, as interpreted in Holy Scripture, can tell you what you are and what you are worth.1. With regard to those religious estimates or judgments, note how fearless they are. They are not judgments about personal manners, social etiquette, little and variable customs; they challenge the whole world. We are moved by their heroism. Religious judgments do not fritter away our time and patience in discussing little questions and petty problems: they summon kings to their bar and call nations to stand back and be judged. There is a national entity as well as a personal individuality. Blessed is the voice that, fills a nation; grand is the Gospel that spreads itself over the whole world. We cannot do without the heroic element, the heroic judgment, the broad estimate, the complete arbitrament, that takes within its purview and decision everything concerning individual life and general civilisation. You must have the great call, the sublime challenge, the heroic appeal, the white throne that stretches itself from horizon to horizon, and before which kings are as little men and little men as kings--the grand astronomical pomp and majesty before which all else settles into its right relation. That you have in the Bible, and nowhere else. 2. The judgments of the Bible are rational as well as fearless. Under all contempt there is a rock of logic. Why does the Bible contemn things? Because of their proportion. It knows the exact proportion which everything bears to the sum-total of things and to the sovereign purpose of the Divine government. Then the judgments of the Bible are rational because the matter or element of duration is continually present to the minds of the inspired writers. The inspired writer has been locked up with God, and turning away from that glory all other things become as the baseless fabric of a vision. If we could see God we should be filled with contempt regarding all things, in so far as they affected to hinder us by their greatness or overpower us by their solidity. 3. Then the judgments of the Bible are also critical. They are very dainty in their expression: they take the right word with an inspired ingenuity. “ Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise.” You cannot amend that comment. Try to amend anything Jesus Christ ever said. As well amend a dewdrop; as well paint the lily. And the nations, according to the biblical estimate, are but “ a wind” that cometh for a little time and then passeth away; and our life is but “ a vapour,” dying in its very living. These are the condensations of Omniscience; these arc the sharpened points whetted in eternity; these stand incapable of amendment. 4. But “ fearless,” “ rational,” “ critical” --is there no word that comes nearer to my own necessity? Yes, there is a word that touches us all to-day: these religious judgments are inspiring. Man wants inspiration every day. The Bible was not inspired once for all, in the sense of having its whole meaning shown in one disclosure. Inspiration comes with every dawn, distils in every dew-shower, breathes in every breeze; it is the daily gift of God. How are these judgments inspiring? Because they enable a man who is right in his spirit and purpose to say, “ If God be for us, who can be against us?” (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 46:18 As I live, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.The oaths of Jehovah I. The Divine oaths recorded in Scripture exhibit and declare the glory of the Divine character.1. As they show forth the infinite condescension of God. He has addressed us not only in the language of authority and goodness, but also actually condescended to confirm His own true sayings by the most solemn oaths, and this He has done, not only upon some one particular occasion, but in numerous instances, and in every variety of form. Sometimes, Jehovah swears by one or the other of His natural perfections. The Lord hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength. At other times He swears by one or the other of His moral perfections, as, “ Once have I sworn by My holiness.” At other times by His great name, but the most expressive, as well as the most usual form is that in the text, “ As I live, saith the Lord God.” 2. The Divine oaths furnish a sublime and awful manifestation of the sincere earnestness of the Divine mind in what He declares unto us in His Word, with such an attestation. 3. The Divine oaths exhibit also the benevolent solicitude of God for the welfare of the unworthy creatures whom He thus addresses; or as the apostle expresses it, “ the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man.” 4. The Divine oaths intimate the unchangeableness of the Divine mind in relation to those arrangements in His natural and moral government which were in that manner established and confirmed. II. The Divine oaths also serve to illustrate the moral character of man, and to exercise a powerful influence on his moral and spiritual interests.1. They strongly corroborate the fact that the human heart is corrupt and alienated from God. In speaking to His holy angels, “ who excel in strength,” and are swift to do His will, an oath in confirmation of His Word is altogether unnecessary. They know His character too well ever to entertain the slightest suspicion of His truthfulness; but in dealing with fallen and apostate man, He knew it was necessary to confirm His own faithful words by most solemn oaths, pledging His own eternal existence on their truth. 2. They serve also as fearful warnings of the perilous condition of the impenitent and unbelieving soul. Could not an angel have reasonably supposed that in the face of all the declarations and oaths of Jehovah, recorded in the Bible, unbelief on the part of man would have been a moral impossibility? After all, unbelief is the most common sin in the world, and the sin on account of which men generally feel the least compunction; the sin on account of which the Son of God marvelled and was grieved,--men neither marvel nor grieve. Just as if it was a thing of no moment to treat the eternal God as a liar and a perjurer! Be not deceived, God is not mocked. 3. They afford the strongest encouragement to believers in their onward progress to heaven. Christians, during their earthly pilgrimage, have to contend against many things in themselves and in the world, which are calculated to exert a most depressing influence upon their hearts. But they are, nevertheless, favoured with abundant sources of consolation in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, and in the great and precious truths and promises of the Gospel “ God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promises the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” The firm stability of the ordinances of the covenant made with Noah, is employed to illustrate the stability and unchangeableness of the covenant of redemption. The mountains and the hills are referred to as fit emblems of its eternal immutability. (W. Rees, D. D.) Jeremiah 46:28 But correct thee in measure. Chastisement duly proportioned Correction is like physic, not to be given without good advice and caution. We use a difference when we go about to hew a rugged piece of timber, and to smooth a little stick, which you can bend as you please. A fit season must be observed. Cut your trees at some time of the year, and you kill them; prune them at other times, and they thrive much the better. Horses too straight reined in are apt to rise up with their forefeet; when they are allowed convenient liberty with their heads they go better. (G. Swinnock.) . Jeremiah 47:5 How long wilt thou cut thyself?The tender inquiry of a friend Travellers in the East tell us that among the most melancholy scenes they witness is the following:--Men inflict upon themselves very grievous, voluntary wounds, and then exhibit themselves in public. They even disfigure themselves with gashes m me presence of excited throngs. I am speaking of what has occurred even within, the last few years among the Moslems. When some great prophet or emir is coming that way, a certain number of fanatical Mahometans take swords, spears, and other sharp instruments, and gash themselves terribly therewith, cutting their breasts, their faces, their heads, and all parts of their bodies. Frequently they have taken care to dress themselves in white sheets, in order that, as the blood flows copiously from their bodies, it may be the more clearly seen, that they may become the more ghastly spectacles of misery, or the more fully display the religious excitement under which they labour. As everything in the East remains for ever the same, thin Moslem superstition carries us back to the olden times whereof we read in the Old Testament, when the priests of Baal, having cried in vain to their idol, cut themselves with lances and with knives. Our translators were probably afraid to write the harsher words, and so they translated the passage “ knives and lances,” but they might have written swords and spears sharp instruments of a desperate character. Thus they displayed their inward zeal, and thus, perhaps, they hoped to move the pity of their god. The Lord expressly forbade His people, the Jews, to perpetrate such folly. They were not even to shave the corners of their beards, or to hack their hair, as the Orientals do in the hour of their grief; and then they were further prohibited from injuring their bodies by the command (Leviticus 19:28). Men in Eastern lands, not only in connection with fanaticism, but in reference to domestic affairs, will cut themselves to express their grief and anguish, or to make other people believe that they are feeling such grief and anguish. We may congratulate ourselves that we are free from at least one foolish custom. The prophet here speaks to the Philistines who were about to endure the tremendous judgments of God, and, indeed, to be crushed Out as a nation by the Egyptians and the Chaldeans; and he says to Philistia “ How long wilt thou cut thyself?” How long would they continue to bring upon themselves such terrible judgments? I. I shall ask this question very despairingly--“ How long wilt thou cut thyself?” --for many are cutting themselves very terribly, and will have to feel the wounds thereof for a long time, neither can we induce them to cease therefrom.1. I allude, first, to some professors of religion who have been Church members for ten, twenty, or more years, and yet have practically done nothing at all for the Saviour. If they were really to awaken to a sense of their neglect, I do not know how long- they would be in anguish, or how deep would be their distress; for if Titus mourned that he had lost a day when he had done no good action for twenty-four hours, and he but a heathen, what would happen to a Christian if he were really to see his responsibility before God, and to feel that he has not only lost a day but a year--perhaps many years? Have not some of you well-nigh lost a whole lifetime? 2. The same may be applied, and applied very solemnly, too, to those who backslide--who, in addition to being- useless, are injurious, because their example tends to hinder others from coming to Christ. Oh, if any of you that name the name of Jesus, and have been happy in His service, and have enjoyed high days and holy days in His presence, turn aside, I shall use this lamentation over you! You will do yourselves terrible injury, and I shall shudder as I see the edged tools of sin in your reckless hands. Every sin is a gash in the soul. The Lord will bring you back and save you, as I believe; but oh, how long will you cut yourselves? 3. There is one thing which comes after these, and comes in connection with them. If you and I should know that souls have been lost--lost as far as we are concerned--through our neglect, how long- shall we cut ourselves on that account? Fathers, if you have never sought to bring your children to repentance, how will you excuse yourselves? If you have never prayed with them, or wept with them--if you have never even instructed them in the things of God, what flattering unction will you lay to your guilty consciences? What will you say, mother, if your daughter passes into eternity unforgiven, and you have never tried to lead her to Jesus? 4. One other most solemn use may be made of this question” God grant that it may never be so, but if any one of you should die in his sins, how long will you regret it, think you? Oh, thou who hast lost eternal life, how long wilt thou cut thyself? If thou shouldst miss Christ, and miss mercy, and miss heaven, and miss eternal glory, if there were naught else, how long wilt thou bemoan thyself? With what depth of anguish wilt thou smart to have lost all this--to have, in fact, lost all which makes up life and joy! II. i shall ask this question hopefully, trusting that in many their sorrow is nearing- its end.1. This text may be very profitably and prudently applied to those who have been bereaved, and who, being bereaved, sorrow, and sorrow to excess. “ How long wilt thou cut thyself?” Is not thy child in Jesus’ bosom? Has not thy friend gone among the angels, to join the sweet singers of God? Is it not a gain to the departed, though it be a loss to thee, that they are translated to the place of everlasting bliss? 2. Turning to quite another character, I would use the same expression for another purpose. There are some persons with whom God is dealing in great love, and yet they are very rebellious. “ How long wilt thou cut thyself?” Already they have met with great disasters and misfortunes: they will meet with many more when the dogs are out hunting, they run in packs. The plagues of Egypt are ten at least, and every one who plays the Pharaoh may expect the full number. 3. I might use this expression even to the Jewish nation itself. Ah, God, through what seas of trouble have they had to swim since the day when they said, “ His blood be on us, and on our children” ! 4. But, now, all this has rather kept me from my main design, which is to speak to those dear friends of ours who are afflicting their souls with needless fears. No good can possibly come by a continuance in their unhappy moods: they are cutting themselves quite needlessly. They might at once have peace, and rest, and joy if they were willing to accept the Lord s gracious way of salvation. Despairing and desponding are not commanded in the Gospel, but they are forbidden by it. Do not cultivate these gross follies, these deadly sins. Do not multiply these poisonous weeds--this hemlock and this darnel--as if they were fair flowers of paradise. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 47:6 Put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. War overruled for God’ s glory Notwithstanding all the boasted improvements of modem times, in knowledge and refinement, wars have not been less frequent than formerly, when mankind were in a rude and barbarous state. In making this reflection, the philosopher may profess his astonishment, but the genuine Christian will weep. Such are the mournful and ruinous effects which sin has produced in the world. Not only has it filled men’ s minds with enmity against God, but also with implacable enmity and revenge against one another. I. Whence it is that the sword of war may be called the sword of the Lord.1. Because the seasons in which this sword is drawn are governed or appointed by the Lord. The kindling of war, or the settling of peace, are appointed by the providence of that God who ruleth over all the earth. The direction of cabinets, the ambition of princes, of governors, of statesmen, are only the instruments which God employs with a powerful and a holy hand, to execute His will. 2. Because it receives its direction from the Lord. When God gives the commission, when He opens the brazen gates of destruction, no country, no city is secured against the ravages of war; and when His providence forms a wall of protection around a country, no army can prevail, no weapon formed against it can prosper, for the Almighty God Himself is its fortress, its pillar, and its strength. 3. Because the execution done by it is of the Lord. It is a saying of King William, who had himself been in many battles, that “ every bullet had its billet” ; intimating that it was under God’ s direction whom to miss and whom to strike. 4. Because God sanctifies and glorifies Himself in its operation. In the management of war, the reputation of kings and statesmen, of generals or soldiers, is considered, but this is only a secondary consideration. The glory of the Lord, whom the Scriptures call a Man of War, is illustrated and made conspicuous in the eyes of the world. The slayer and those who are slain are His creatures and subjects, and the instruments which defend the one and kill the other are His sword. II. The reason why all God’ s people so ardently long to see the sword of war sheathed and at rest.1. Conviction that the wrath of God bringeth upon man the punishment of the sword, will cause the saints to long earnestly for its being sheathed and at rest. 2. All God’ s people will earnestly long to see the sword of war in -its scabbard and at rest, when they reflect what multitudes of men are hurried by it into eternity without thought or preparation. 3. God’ s people earnestly long to see the sword of war sheathed and at rest, when they reflect on the unparalleled distresses and miseries inflicted on those countries which are the seat of war. Gracious persons are deeply affected with the miseries of their fellow-creatures, even though they he enemies. 4. God’ s people earnestly desire to see the sword of war sheathed and at rest, that Christ’ s Gospel may be propagated throughout the whole world, and its Divine power and influence felt by all nations. (James Hay, D. D.) The sword of the warrior the sword of the Lord As patriots, prophets felt the miseries which they denounced; as mourners, they lamented the sins which brought on these miseries; and as men, they wept over the graves of the enemies by whom their country had been harassed and wasted. I. The sword of the warrior is the sword of the Lord.1. The seasons in which the sword is drawn and sheathed are appointed by the Lord. The direction of cabinets, the ambition of princes, and the caprices of statesmen in these affairs, are subordinated by His invisible influence to His own will, without violating the order of second causes, or breaking in upon the freedom of rational agents. 2. The sword of the warrior is put in commission by the Lord. 3. The direction of the sword of the warrior is from the Lord. The seat of war is marked out, and its bounds circumscribed, in the purpose of the will of God; and thither the warrior marches without mistaking his way, whether it he to the shore of Tyrus, the valley of Jehoshaphat, the plains of Blenheim, the heights of Saratoga, or the mountains of Armageddon. 4. The execution done by the sword of the warrior is of the Lord. “ A sparrow falleth not to the ground without our heavenly Father,” and in the day of battle, no soldier loses his life without His knowledge and predetermination. 5. By the sword of the warrior the Lord sanctifies and magnifies Himself. According to the states of the sufferers wars of conquest and extirpation are corrections and punishments, and whichever of the sides gains or loses the victory, the supremacy of Jehovah over all is main, rained, and the glory of His justice and holiness displayed and magnified. The cause in which the sword is drawn is always sinful on one side, and frequently sinful on both sides. But whatever be the quality of the cause, the views of men, or the issues of the contest, the Lord will not lose His end. He rules in the seat of war, and commands on the day of battle. II. The reasons for which mourners in Zion long to see this sword sheathed.1. Compassion for those who are delivered to the sword, or subjected to the insolence and rage of fierce and lawless men whose tender mercies are cruelty. 2. Knowledge of the consequences of driving men unprepared into eternity. 3. The peace of God, which rules in the hearts of mourners in Zion, inclines and constrains them to cry for the sheathing of the sword of the warrior. 4. Convictions that the wrath of God bringeth upon men the punishment of the sword, dispose mourners in Zion to long for its being put up into the scabbard. (A. Shanks.) The means of terminating war I. The evils of protracted war.1. War is a tremendous evil.2. Well might the prophet desire its speedy termination. II. The reason of its continuance.1. War is one of those judgments with which God punishes the sins of men.2. Till He has effected His purposes by it, no human efforts can bring it to a close. III. Means of its termination.1. The intention of God’ s chastisements is to bring us to repentance.2. On the attainment of this end He will instantly remove HIS judgments from us. IV. Some hints respecting those heavy judgments which God has denounced against sinners in another world, and respecting the best means of averting them from our souls. (C. Simeon, M. A.) . Jeremiah 48:6 Flee, save your lives.The Christian’ s flight Such was the warning addressed to Moab by the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. The Chaldeans were about to lay waste the land of the Moabites--a punishment which they justly deserved for their iniquities and for their long-continued opposition to the people of God But even “ in wrath the Lord remembers mercy” ; or, to use the beautiful language of the prophet, “ He stayeth His rough wind in the day of the east wind.” Though Moab shall be punished, her cities overturned, and the country laid waste and desolate, her princes, people, and priests carried into captivity, yet an opportunity is afforded for at least a remnant to escape. “ Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.” I. From what are we to flee? In a word, from everything that would wean his heart from God and endanger the safety of his soul, the Christian is to flee--“ from all evil and mischief, from sin, from the world, the flesh, and the works of the devil, from hardness of heart and contempt of God’ s Word and commandment.” II. For what are we to flee? The life of your soul is concerned; and unless you flee from what stands in your way to God, and blocks up your return to Him, the wrath of God will assuredly overtake you, and you will become a prey to your enemies, to those who seek your life. It is for glory, and honour, and immortality we should flee--blessings of infinite value, prizes beyond all price--nay, far beyond the power of human tongue to tell of their inestimable preciousness; we should flee for the favour of God, the forgiveness of our sins, the worth of our souls, the love and glory of Christ, and the beauty and happiness of holiness. And we should hasten our flight, for the time is short, and death advancing. III. Where should we flee? “ Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe,” &c. Such was Simon Peter’ s declaration. Such is the confession of God’ s people still. To the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, must the sinner flee. He must go as he is, and “ he like the heath in the wilderness,” destitute of fruit or value, fit only for fuel, and seek to be engrafted in the living Vine. For Moab, we may observe, was commanded merely to “ flee.” Whatever would oppose their progress should be put away. (C. A. Maginn, M. A.) Flee for your life I. Whence you are to flee. II. where you are to flee. III. How you are to flee. IV. When you are to flee V. Why you are to flee. (H. Macmillan, D. D.) Jeremiah 48:10 Cursed be he, that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully.The sin of lukewarmness in acquiring, and advancing, a knowledge of Christ I. As it concerns our religious belief and resolution. Some, professedly earnest in their search of truth, make no other use of the light that is given them than to dispute and philosophise about it. Others, acknowledging the testimonies advanced in favour of it, are discouraged by the difficulties which it presents: consulting, yet dreading to be instructed; the slaves of their appetites, more than of their errors, rejecting truth manifested to them, because it would break the fetters which they love. Others again, still more deceitful in their work, convinced, in a great degree, of religious truth in their own minds, yet judge not of it by the light which it leaves there, but by its effect on the rest of mankind. The knowledge of Divine truth must spring from penitence and humility. Cease to have an earthly interest in wishing to find religion false, and you will soon perceive it to be true. Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God; His grace shall then be sufficient for you, and will lead you into all truth. But cursed is he that doeth any work of that God deceitfully, who, whilst He giveth His grace to the humble and sincere, has always scorned the prevaricating and the proud. II. The silence which we observe in defence of Christ, amidst the clamours of the profane against Him. God wants not your aid to support His truth. But He wants to see His pretended servants not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: and, although He actually wants not your aid, if He choose to adopt any other method of preserving His truth in the world, yet it appears to be the method, which in His wisdom He has adopted, to disseminate it by means of man to man. Your silence will be taken advantage of by the enemies of your Saviour: and they will think that he, who says nothing, has nothing to say. He, that is not with Me, saith our Saviour, is against Me. Let it not be said that the world has its defenders, and that Jesus Christ has none. III. An accommodation of the solemn truths of the Gospel to the wishes or prejudices of those with whom we are concerned. Thousands are the miseries that might have been spared this world if the professed believers in God had all been true to their trust. How many a brother might have been prevented from imbruing his hands in a brother’ s blood, if they, to whom the cause of dispute was referred, had been firm to the dictates of truth. But the false notions of honour which their friends felt in the moment of anger, they in their cool moments will sanction and applaud: and, palliating, by every modification, the sin of murder, will deliberately second a black and wicked passion, and calmly behold two fellow-creatures, who trusted to their decision, attempting to hurl each other into the presence of their eternal Judge! (G. Mathew, M. A.) Of lukewarmness and zeal I. Here then is the duty of us all.1. He that serves God with the body without the soul serves God deceitfully. “ My son, give Me thy heart” ; and though I cannot think that nature was so sacramental as to point out the holy and mysterious Trinity by the triangle of the heart, yet it is certain that the heart of man is God’ s special portion, and every angle ought to point towards Him. (1) For to worship God with our souls confesses one of His glorious attributes; it declares Him to be the searcher of hearts. (2) It advances the powers and concernments of His providence, and confesses all the affairs of men to be overruled by Him; for what He sees He judges, and what He judges He rules, and what He rules must turn to His glory; and of this glory He reflects rays and influences upon His servants, and it shall also turn to their good. (3) This service distinguishes our duty towards God from all our conversation with man, and separates the Divine commandments from the imperfect decrees of princes and republics. (4) He that secures the heart, secures all the rest; because this is the principle of all the moral actions of the whole man. (5) That I may sum up many reasons in one: God, by requiring the heart, secures the perpetuity and perseverance of our duty, and its sincerity, and its integrity, and its perfection: for so also God takes account of little things; it being all one in the heart of man, whether maliciously it omits a duty in a small instance or in a great; for although the expression hath variety and degrees in it, in relation to those purposes of usefulness and charity whither God deigns it, yet the obedience and disobedience are all one, and shall be equally accounted for. 2. He that serves God with the soul without the body, when both can be conjoined, “ doth the work of the Lord deceitfully.” Paphnutius, whose knees were cut for the testimony of Jesus, was not obliged to worship with the humble flexures of the bending penitents; and blind Bartimeus could not read the holy lines of the law, and therefore that part of the work was not his duty; and God shall not call Lazarus to account for not giving alms, nor St. Peter and St. John for not giving silver and gold to the lame man, nor Epaphroditus for not keeping his fasting days when he had his sickness. But when God hath made the body an apt minister to the soul, and hath given money for alms, and power to protect the oppressed, and knees to serve in prayer, and hands to serve our needs, then the soul alone is not to work. 3. They are “ deceitful in the Lord’ s work,” that reserve one faculty for sin, or one sin for themselves; or one action to please their appetite, and many for religion. We reprove a sinning brother, but do it with a pompous spirit; we separate from scandal, and do it with glory, and a gaudy heart; we are charitable to the poor, but will not forgive our unkind enemies; or, we pour relief into their bags, but please ourselves and drink drunk, and hope to commute with God, giving the fruit of our labours or effluxes of money for the sin of our souls: and upon this account it is, that two of the noblest graces of a Christian are to very many persons made a savour of death, though they were intended for the beginning and the promotion of an eternal life; and those are faith and charity. 4. There is one deceit more yet, in the matter of the extension of our duty, destroying the integrity of its constitution: for they do the work of God deceitfully, who think God sufficiently served with abstinence from evil, and converse not in the acquisition and pursuit of holy charity and religion. Many persons think themselves fairly assoilzied, because they are no adulterers, no rebels, no drunkards, not of scandalous lives: in the meantime, like the Laodiceans, they are “ naked and poor” ; they have no catalogue of good things registered in heaven, no treasures m the repositories of the poor, neither have t e poor often prayed concerning them, “ Lord, remember Thy servants for this thing at the day or judgment.” 5. Hither are to be reduced as deceitful workers, those that promise to God, but mean not to pay what they once intended; people that are confident in the day of ease, and fail in the danger; they that pray passionately for a grace, and if it be not obtained at that price, go no farther, and never contend in action for what they seem to contend in prayer; such as delight in forms and outsides, and regard not the substance and design of every institution; that pretend one duty to excuse another; religion against charity, or piety to parents against duty to God, private promises against public duty, the keeping of an oath against breaking of a commandment, honour against modesty, reputation against piety, the love of the world in civil instances to countenance enmity against God; these are the deceitful workers of God’ s work; they make a schism m the duties of religion, and a war in heaven worse than that between Michael and the dragon; for they divide the Spirit of God and distinguish His commandments into parties and factions; by seeking an excuse, sometimes they destroy the integrity and perfect constitution of duty, or they do something whereby the effect and usefulness of the duty is hindered: concerning all which this only can be said, they who serve God with a lame sacrifice and an imperfect duty--a duty defective in its constituent parts--can never enjoy God; because He can never be divided. II. The next inquiry is into the intention of our duty. “ Cursed is he that doeth the work of the Lord negligently,” or remissly: as our duty must be whole, so it must be fervent; for a languishing body may have all its parts, and yet be useless to many purposes of nature. And you may reckon all the joints of a dead man, but the heart is cold, and the joints are stiff and fit for nothing but for the little people that creep in graves: and so are very many men; if you lure up the accounts of their religion, they can reckon days and months of religion, various offices, charity and prayers, reading and meditation, faith and knowledge: catechism and sacraments, duty to God, and duty to princes, paying debts and provision for children, confessions and tears, discipline in families, and love of good people; and, it may be, you shall not improve their numbers, or find any lines unfilled in their tables of accounts; but when you have handled all this, and considered, you will find at last you have taken a dead man by the hand, there is not a finger wanting, but they are stiff as icicles, and without flexure as the legs of elephants.1. In every action of religion God expects such a warmth and a holy fire to go along, that it may be able to enkindle the wood upon the altar, and consume the sacrifice; but God hates an indifferent spirit. Earnestness and vivacity, quickness and delight, perfect choice of the service, and a delight in the prosecution, is all that the spirit of a man can yield towards his religion. The outward work is the effect of the body; but if a man does it heartily and with all his mind, then religion hath wings, and moves upon wheels of fire; and therefore, when our blessed Saviour made those capitulars and canons of religion, to “ love God,” and to “ love our neighbour,” besides that the material part of the duty, “ love,” is founded in the spirit, as its natural seat, he also gives three words to involve the spirit in the action, and but one for the body: “ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” and, lastly, “ with all thy strength.” If it be in motion, a lukewarm religion is pleasing to God; for God hates it not for its imperfection, and its natural measures of proceeding; but if it stands still and rests there, it is a state against the designs, and against the perfection of God: and it hath in it these evils: (1) It is a state of the greatest imprudence in the world; for it makes a man to spend his labour for that which profits not, and to deny his appetite for an unsatisfying interest: he puts his moneys in a napkin, and he that does so, puts them into a broken bag; he loses the principal for not increasing the interest. (2) The second appendant evil is, that lukewarmness is the occasion of greater evil; because the remiss easy Christian shuts the gate against the heavenly breathings of God’ s Holy Spirit. (3) A state of lukewarmness is more incorrigible than a state of coldness; while men flatter themselves that their state is good, that they are rich and need nothing, that their lamps are dressed, and full of ornament. These men are such as think they have knowledge enough to need no teacher, devotion enough to need no new fires, perfection enough to need no new progress, justice enough to need no repentance; and then, because the spirit of a man, and all the things of this world, are in perpetual variety and change, these men decline, when they have gone their period; they stand still, and then revert; like a stone returning from the bosom of a cloud, where it rested as long as the thought of a child, and fell to its natural bed of earth, and dwelt below for ever. 2. It concerns us next to inquire concerning the duty in its proper instances, that we may perceive to what parts and degrees of duty it amounts; we shall find it especially in the duties of faith, of prayer, and of charity. (1) Our faith must be strong, vigorous, active, confident, and patient, reasonable and unalterable, without doubting, and fear and partiality. (2) Our prayers and devotions must be fervent and zealous, not cold, patient, easy, and soon rejected; but supported by a patient spirit, set forwards by importunity, continued by perseverance, waited on by attention and a present mind, carried along with holy, but strong desires; and ballasted with resignation, and conformity to the Divine will; and then it is as God likes it, and does the work to God’ s glory and our interest effectively. (3) Our charity also must be fervent: “ He that follows his general with a heavy march, and a heavy heart, is but an ill soldier.” But our duty to God should be hugely pleasing, and we should rejoice in it; it must pass on to action, and do the action vigorously; it is called in Scripture “ the labour” and travail of love.” He that loves passionately, will not only do all that his friend needs, but all that himself can; for although the law of charity is fulfilled by acts of profit, and bounty, and obedience, and labour, yet it hath no other measures but the proportions and abundance of a good mind; and according to this, God requires that we be “ abounding, and that always, in the work of the Lord.” (Bp. Jeremy Taylor.) Cursed laziness These words form a scriptural bomb which might with advantage be thrown into the midst of a great many of our Churches, where everything pertaining to the service is gone through in a precise and proper manner, but where there is an utter absence of zeal, enthusiasm, and Christlike earnestness. In the A.V. this passage does not attract much attention. That a curse should be hurled at the head of the traitor who does “ the work of the Lord deceitfully” surprises no one. But to find a curse aimed at the merely negligent worker makes us pause, and think, and ask ourselves questions. The persons here referred to are amongst those who are doing “ the work of the Lord.” --They profess and call themselves Christians. They have entered the kingdom of God, and by so doing they have enrolled themselves as servants of Christ, and are pledged to do His will. For be it never forgotten, the two must go together--namely, salvation and service. When in the sixteenth century Martin Luther blew the reveille of the Reformation, the slumbering Churches were roused and rallied by the call; and breaking off the fetters of delusion and superstition which had previously bound them, they joyously inscribed on their banner “ Salvation by faith.” And for three centuries that blessed truth has been floating before the eyes of reformed Europe. But “ Truth” though it is, it is not the whole truth. The time has more than come for the uplifting of another banner with an inscription completing and explaining the first, by declaring that “ Faith without works is dead.” Soul-saving faith makes soul-saving men. I do not think that any man is ever saved except by the direct or indirect intervention of some other man. Christ alone can call the Lazarus forth, but there is a stone to be rolled away before, and there are wrappings to be removed after the miracle is wrought. And hence God is but working out His own economy in demanding that every member of His kingdom shall be a servant and a worker. Through all time the test of saintship is service. But this is not all. The Divine claim is not exhausted by the mere demand for work. It is declared again and again that no service is acceptable unless it be rendered with the whole heart. Partial, perfunctory, half-hearted service He sternly rejects; and upon those who mock Him by offering it He pours His righteous wrath. What think you is the greatest of all the obstacles which impede the progress of the kingdom of Christ? It is the negligence or laziness of its members. To be an idler in the world is bad enough, but to be an idler in the Church is ten thousand times worse. It is an act of impious and audacious hypocrisy, and he who is guilty of it stands before God and man self-branded as an impostor. We often Bear and speak of “ Church work,” but if we would speak correctly that phrase must be discarded. There is no such thing as “ Church work.” The work in question is God’ s work, and as such if for no other reason claims our best energies. If any of us were commissioned to do work for the king would we not tax our powers to the very uttermost in order to present it as perfect as possible? Much more should we do so when the commission comes from the Court of heaven. “ The King’ s business requireth haste,” and all who are engaged in it must acquit themselves as servants of “ the Most High God.” Dull sloth must be shaken off, and with hearts aglow with zeal and eyes aflame with earnestness we must give ourselves to the task committed to our care. Remember also the intrinsic importance of the work itself. Have you ever been present at a critical surgical operation? What earnestness, what concentrated attention, what careful precautions against the dreaded possibility! How is all this tension of faculties brought about? It is created by the importance of the work in hand. It is a case of life or death, in which negligence would mean murder. Ay! and when the Christian worker is alive to his duty, and all that it involves, negligence is impossible. It is fraught with possibilities which cannot be told. Its issues belong not to time but eternity. Look around you and see how active and earnest are the forces arrayed against us. From centre to circumference the kingdom of darkness thrills and throbs with earnestness. Every subject is a soldier, and being s soldier he fights. Every subject is a servant, and being a servant he serves. There is no dilly-dallying or make-believe in the enemy’ s camp. Then why should there be any in ours? Has the Cross no longer its power? Has the sacred passion exhausted its inspirations? Does the love of Christ no longer constrain and the Holy Ghost no longer energise? (Joseph Muir.) Half-and-half religion If you are not to make religion the principal thing in your lives, don’ t go in for it. It is better, and much easier, to go in for it entirely, than half and half--merely flirting with it. It was the saying of a shrewd thinker: “ If it is worth while being a Christian at all, it is better to he a downright Christian” Jeremiah 48:11-12 Moab hath been at ease from him youth, and he hath settled on his lees.The shrill trumpet of admonition For a considerable season the country of Moab had been free from the inroads of war and the terrors of pestilence. The nation had, therefore, become so conceitedly secure, that the lord said, “ We have heard the pride of Moab (he is exceeding proud), his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.” The people became vain, hectoring, and boastful, and mocked at their afflicted neighbours the Israelites, manifesting ungenerous joy in their sorrows. “ For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.” From this pride sprang luxury and all those other vices which find a convenient lair in the repose of unbroken prosperity. The warriors of Moab said, “ We are mighty and strong men for the war” ; as vainglorious sinners, they defied all law and power; trusting in Chemosh, they despised Jehovah, and magnified themselves against the Lord. The prophet compares that country to wine which has been allowed to stand unstirred and unmoved: it settles on its lees, grows strong, retains its aroma, and gathers daffy fresh body and spirit. “ But,” saith he, “ the day shall come when God shall shake this undisturbed liquor, when He shall send wandering bands of Chaldeans that shall waste the country, so that the bottles shall be broken and the vessels shall be emptied, and the proud prosperity of Moab shall end in utter desolation.” The fact that continued prosperity breeds carnal security, is not only proved by the instance of Moab, but is lamentably confirmed in the history of others. I. I shall first speak to the unconverted, the godless, the prayerless, the Christless.1. The bold offenders who are at ease in open sin. They began life with iniquity, and they have made terrible progress in it. They go from iniquity to iniquity, as the vulture from carcass to carcass; they labour in the way of evil, as men dig for hid treasure; “ And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” “ And if He doth know,” say they, “ what care we? Who is Jehovah, that we should obey Him? Who is the Almighty, that we should tremble at His word?” Yet, Oh, ye haughty ones, take heed, for Pharaoh, who was your prototype in the olden days, found the way of pride to be hard at the end. 2. A far more common form of that carelessness which is so destructive, is that of men who give themselves wholly up to the world’ s business. Such men, for instance, as one whom Christ called “ Fool.” Gain is the world’ s summum bonum, the chief of all mortal good, the main chance, the prime object, the barometer of success in life, the one thing needful, the heart’ s delight. And yet, Oh, worldlings, who succeed in getting gain, and are esteemed to be shrewd and prudent, Jesus Christ calls you fools, and He is no thrower about of hard terms where they are not deserved. “ Thou fool,” said He, and why! Because the man’ s soul would be required of him; and then whose would those things be which he had gathered together? 3. A third case is more common still, the man who forgets God and lives in slothful ease. It is not enough to abstain from outward sin, and so to be negatively moral; unless you bring forth fruits unto righteousness, you have not the life of God in you; and however much you may be at ease, there shall come a rough awakening to your slumbers, and the shrill sound of the archangel’ s trumpet shall be to you no other than the blast of the trumpet of condemnation, because ye took your ease when ye should have served your God. 4. There are many in the professing Christian Church Who are in me same state as Moab. They have the virgin’ s lamp, but they have no oil in the vessel with their lamps; and yet so comfortable are these professors, that they slumber and sleep. Remember, you may think yourself a believer, and everybody else may think so too, and you may fail to find out your error until it is too late to rectify it; you may persevere for years in “ the way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Be ye not, Oh, ye professors, like Moab, that had settled upon his lees! 5. Equally true is this of the mass of moral men who are destitute of faith in Jesus. “ I have no doubt but what it will be all right with me at last. I pay my neighbours their own; I give a guinea to a hospital, when they ask me for it; I am a first-rate tradesman. Of course, I have sown a few wild oats, and I still indulge a little; but who does not? Who dares deny that I am a good-hearted fellow?” Do you envy him? You may sooner envy the dead in their graves because they suffer no pain. II. We speak to the believer. A Christian man finds himself for a long time without any remarkable trouble: his children are spared to him, his home is happy, his business extremely prosperous--he has, in fact, all that heart can wish; when he looks round about him he can say with David, “ The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” Now, the danger is that he should think too highly of these secondary things, and should say to himself, “ My mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved.” He has not been poured from vessel to vessel; he has not been sternly tried by Providence, or sorely tempted by the devil; he has not been led to question his own conversion, he has fallen into a profound calm, a deep dead peace, a horrible lethargy, and his inmost heart has lost all spiritual energy. The great disease of England is consumption, but I suppose it would be difficult to describe the causes and workings of consumption and decline. The same kind of disease is common among Christians. It is not that many Christians fall into outward sin, and so on, but throughout our Churches we have scores who are in a spiritual consumption--their powers are all feeble and decaying. The rapid results of this consumption are just these: a man in such a state soon gives up communion with God; it is not quite gone at first, but it is suspended. His walk with God is broken and occasional. His prayers very soon suffer. By degrees, his conversation is not what it used to be. He was once very earnest for Christ, and would introduce religious topics in all companies. He has become discreet now, and holds his tongue. He is quite ready to gossip about the price of wheat, and how the markets are, and the state of politics, and whether you have been to see the Sultan; but he has no words for Jesus Christ, the King in His beauty. Spiritual topics have departed from his general conversation. And now, strange to say, “ the minister does not preach as he used to do” : at least, the back-slider says so. The reason why I think he is mistaken, is, that the Word of God itself is not so sweet to him as it once was; and surely the Bible cannot have altered! After a while the professor slackens a good deal in his liberality; he does not think the cause of God is worth the expense that he used to spend upon it; and as to his own personal efforts to win souls, he does not give up his Sunday-school class, nor his street preaching, nor distributing of tracts, perhaps, but he does all mechanically, it is a mere routine. He might just as well be an automaton, and be wound up, only the fault is, that he is not wound up, and he does not do his work as he should do; or, if he does it outwardly, there is none of the life of God in what he does. Very much of this sluggishness is brought on by long-continued respite from trouble. It were better to be in perpetual storms, and to be driven to-and-fro in the whirlwind, and to cling to God, than to founder at sea in the most peaceful and halcyon days. The great secret danger coming out of all this is, that when a man reaches the state of carnal security, he is ready for any evil. We have heard of two negroes who were accustomed to go into the bush to pray, and each of them had trodden a little path in the grass. Presently one of them grew cold, and was soon found in open sin; his black brother warned him that he knew it would come to that, because the grass grew on the path that led to the place of prayer. Ah! we do not know to what we may descend when we begin to go down hill; down, down, down, is easy and pleasant to the flesh, but if we knew where it would end, we should pray God that we might sooner die than live to plunge into the terrors of that descent. I must pass on to observe God’ s cure for this malady. His usual way is by pouring our settled wine from vessel to vessel. If we cannot bear prosperity, the Lord will not continue it to us. We may pamper our children and spoil them; but the Divine Father will not. Staying for a while in the valley of Aosta, in Northern Italy, we found the air to be heavy, close, and humid with pestilential exhalations. We were oppressed and feverish--one’ s life did not seem worth a pin. We could not breathe freely, our lungs had a sense of having a hundred atmospheres piled upon them. Presently, at midday, there came a thunder-clap, attended by big drops of rain and a stiff gale of wind, which grew into a perfect tornado, tearing down the trees; then followed what the poet calls “ sonorous hail,” and then again the lightning flash, and the thunder peal on peal echoing along the Alps. But how delightful was the effect, how we all went out upon the verandah to look at the lightning, and enjoy the music of the thunder! How cool the air and bracing! How delightful to walk out in the cool evening after the storm! Then you could breathe and feel a joy in life. Full often it is thus with the Christian after trouble. What ought we to do if we are prospering? We should remember that prevention is better than cure, and if God is prospering us, the way to prevent lethargy is--be very grateful for the prosperity which you are enjoying; do not pray for trouble--you will have it quickly enough without asking for it; be grateful for your prosperity, but make use of it. Do all you possibly can for God while He prospers you in business; try to live very close to Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Ease injurious to Christian character I have somewhere read the following incident in the life of a distinguished botanist. Being exiled from his native land, he obtained employment as an under-gardener in the service of a nobleman. While he was in this situation, his master received a valuable plant, the nature and habits of which were unknown to him. It was given to the gardener to be taken care of; and he, fancying it to be a tropical production, put it into the hothouse (for it was winter), and dealt with it as with the others under the glass. But it began to wither away and decay. And the strange under-gardener asked permission to examine it. As soon as he looked at it he said, “ This is an Arctic plant; you are killing it by the tropical heat into which you have introduced it.” So he took it outside, and exposed it to the frost, and, to the dismay of the head-gardener, heaped pieces of ice around the flower-pot; but the result vindicated his wisdom, for straightway it began to recover, and was soon as strong as ever. Now, such a plant is Christian character. It is not difficulty that is dangerous to it, but ease. Put it into a hothouse, separate it from the world, surround it with luxury, hedge it in from every opposition, and you take the surest means of killing it. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Emptied from vessel to vessel. The blessing of disturbance The illustration is taken from the manner in which wine is prepared. The juice of the grape, at first thick and impure, is allowed to ferment. Then it is left for a time undisturbed, until a sediment, here called “ lees,” is precipitated. After that it is drawn off into another vessel so carefully that all the matter so precipitated is left behind, and this emptying of it “ from vessel to vessel” is repeated again and again, until the offensive odour that came at first from the “ must” is gone, and it becomes clear and beautiful. Now, by the analogy of this process, familiar even to the common people of a vine-growing country, the prophet accounts for the character and condition of Moab as a nation. In the providence of God nothing had come to unsettle that people. No external enemy had attacked them. No great national disaster had ever fallen on them. We have here explained to us the reason why we are, as we phrase it, so frequently “ upset” in life. We complain that we are never allowed to become “ settled.” Ever, as we think we have reached some place of rest, there comes a new upheaval to shake us up and out, so that we cry, “ Is there to be no end of these changes?” As well talk of a ship as settled in the midst of the ever-restless, ever-changeful ocean, as talk of a man being settled in life. But, in the light of this verse, such repeated disturbance is recognised as a blessing. I. What there is in these “ emptyings” that fits them to promote our spiritual advancement.1. Such dispensations have in them an influence which is well calculated to reveal us to ourselves. Sudden emergency is a sure opener of a man’ s eyes to his own defects. He may contrive to get on, in seasons of prosperity and outward calm, without becoming conscious of the weak points of his character; but let him be thrown, all at once, upon his own resources by the coming upon him of some crushing calamity, and he will then find out whether he has that within him that can stand the strain that has been put upon him. It was a shrewd remark of Andrew Fuller, that “ a man has only as much religion as he can command in the day of trial” ; and if he have no religion at all, his trouble will make that manifest to him. Just as the strain of the storm tells where the ship is weakest, and stirs up the mariner to have it strengthened there, so the pressure of trial reveals the defects of character which still adhere to the Christian. One affliction may disclose an infirmity of temper; another may discover a weakness of faith; a third may make it evident that the power of some old habit is not yet entirely broken; and thus, from this constant revelation to him of the evils that still remain in him, he is led, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, to the attainment of a higher measure of holiness than other-wise he could have reached. 2. The frequent unsettlements which come upon us in God’ s providence have a tendency to shake us out of ourselves. We find that where we thought ourselves wise we have been supremely foolish. Where we imagined that we had taken all possible contingencies into the account, we discover that we had left no place for God. So our most matured schemes have been abortive, our most cherished hopes have been blasted; yea, just when we conceived that now at length we had reached our ultimatum, and were beginning to congratulate ourselves on the prospect of repose, there came a sudden reverse, which emptied us out again, and we were compelled to begin anew. Thus we are brought to distrust ourselves. We find that it will not do to “ lean” always “ to our own understanding.” By many bitter failures we are made to acknowledge that “ it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,” and then by the Spirit of God we are led up to confidence in Jehovah. We have heard enough of the success of the millionaire; let us hear more now of the success of the unsuccessful--yea, of the success of soul that sometimes comes through the ruin of earthly fortune and the blighting of our fondest plans. Character is nobler than riches or position, and the growth of that in holiness and stability ought to be the highest aim, as it will be the noblest achievement of life. 3. These frequent unsettlements have a tendency to keep us from being wedded to the world, or from thinking of rooting ourselves permanently here. Some years ago, while rambling with a friend in the neighbourhood of Windermere, we came upon a house surrounded by the most beautiful shrubs I ever saw, and I was naturally led to make some inquiry concerning them. My companion informed me that, by a judicious system of transplanting, constantly pursued, the proprietor was able to bring them to the highest perfection. I thought at once of the manner in which God, by continuous transplanting, keeps His people fresh and beautiful, and prevents them from becoming too closely attached to the world. To be weaned from earth is one of the means of making us seek our spiritual food from heaven; and the trials of earth, transplanting us from place to place and from plan to plan, tend to prepare us for the great transplanting which is to take us from this world altogether, and root us in the garden of the Lord above. II. The particular qualities of character which providential unsettlements are most calculated to foster.1. Purity of motive and conduct; and where shall we find a better illustration of that than in the history of Jacob? He began life as a supplanter. He out-bargained Esau. He imposed on Isaac. He out-generaled Laban. We cannot admire him, and we are not drawn to him then. But when he lay on his death-bed, no characteristics strike us more than his honesty in dealing with his sons, and his sincerity in dealing with God. And how was that transformation wrought? “ By the Spirit of God,” you answer, and you answer well; but I would supplement your statement by putting it thus, “ By the Spirit of God, through and in connection with the frequent unsettlements to which he was subjected.” 2. They tend to foster strength, either for endurance or for action. Take for example, here, the case of Abraham. He was tried in Canaan and in Egypt; he was tested by the long delay in the fulfilment of the promise in regard to Isaac, and by the domestic discord that arose concerning Ishmael; and his wrestlings with these afflictions developed in him, by the grace of God, that spiritual might in which he conquered on the mount of the Lord, when he earned for himself the title of “ the father of the faithful.” 3. The recurrence of these “ emptying” processes deepens the sympathy and widens the charity of the Christian. Indeed hazard the assertion that no man can be called complete in character who has not been subjected to them. It is in this very relation that our Lord Himself is said to have been “ made perfect through suffering,” and each of us has doubtless had an experience of his own which enables him to understand what seems at first so strange. Experience is thus the mother of sympathy and charity. The older a Christian grows he learns to feel for others more, and to condemn them less, and he is a true “ son of consolation” only in the proportion in which be is able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith he himself is comforted of God. What I have been saying, then, all tends toward these two propositions, namely, that unbroken prosperity would be a curse to a man, and not a blessing; and that providential unsettlements, when rightly interpreted and improved, are really favours, though they do come draped in sadness. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) The discipline of sorrow I trust it is the wish of each of us that God’ s will be done in us and about us: I trust it is our daily prayer, not so much that God would give us what we wish, as that He would teach us, simply and completely, to submit our will to His, and that He would give us grace and strength to bear whatever He may send. Let us seek that the utterance of our hearts may be that of the blind Galileo; who said, “ It has pleased God that it should be so; and it must please me too.” And yet it is natural to us to wish that it might please God to lead us by as easy and pleasant a way as may be: that it might please God to appoint us as peaceful and happy a life as possible, and to send us just as little evil and sorrow as may suffice to work upon us the wholesome results of evil and sorrow. God has made us so, that we wish for what is pleasant, and shrink from what is painful. But it does not follow that the thing we like best is the best thing for us. And the text tells us that a life of unbroken ease, a life in which all goes well with us, is a most perilous thing. The kingdom of Moab had enjoyed long tranquillity, though there were troublesome neighbours near, and though it was a state of no great power: it had pleased God to order it so. “ Moab had been at ease from his youth.” Then comes the comparison to wine: Moab had not been subjected to captivity, nor to other changes and troubles which are to a nation what pouring from one vessel to another is to wine: thus he had remained standing upon the lees, losing no part of his original strength and flavour. The suggestion is, that Moab was not good to start with: and he had not been tried with processes which might indeed have been painful, but in which he would have got rid of a good deal of the evil that was in him at the first. Moab had been secure in prosperity: and so he had remained the same as at the beginning,--all his bad qualities being only confirmed by time and use. Now the great lesson from all this is, that there is spiritual danger in the quiet lot, and in the quiet heart: that it is not God’ s purpose that those He loves should enjoy entire worldly tranquillity; that there is something good for you and me, in care, unrest, disquiet, sorrow, bereavement, disappointment, perplexity--in all that breaks up that perilous calm, in which we grow too well satisfied with this world, and in which we feel ourselves too little dependent on our Saviour and our Comforter; and in which we come too much to feel as if things went on in their own way, forgetting that God directs them all; and in which we fail to realise it, that the one thing needful is something quite different from worldly enjoyment or worldly gain. So you see, how in love and mercy, and tender consideration for our best good, our Father sends us trouble. Philosophers vex and bewilder themselves in trying to explain how there is such a thing as evil in this world: we do not pretend to understand that, but one thing we do know perfectly, we know why evil and sorrow have been sent into our own lot and heart. They have come to make sure that we shall not “ settle on our lees” : they have come to keep this world from engrossing our affection: they have come to wean us from this world by making us feel its bitterness: they have come to teach us the grand, all-comprehending lesson, that if we want what will satisfy our souls, we must go to Christ and find it there. Yes, it is not good for us in this world to be evenly at peace: and thus sorrow is God’ s discipline, and disappointment, and bereavement,--in short, everything that is painful and disquieting,--all being sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God. And here is a truth we cannot remember too seriously. In all our troubles we cannot too earnestly and constantly pray for the presence and influence of the Holy Ghost. For sorrow does not necessarily sanctify; it is just as likely to sour, if left to its natural tendencies. You who have known many trials: you who have watched by the dying bed, and bent over the grave: you who set your heart on things which God said were never to be: you whose sensitive nature makes the little worries of daffy life sit very heavily on you, and whose quick heart and fancy eat the enjoyment out of your life by suggesting a hundred anxieties and fears: let me ask, Have all these things been sanctified to wean you from this world, and make you feel that your portion must be in Christ and seek it there: or do you still cling to the earth, and refuse to profit by your Heavenly Father’ s teaching through all these trials and cares? Every grief that these hearts have ever known was a sharp lesson given by the best Teacher: and was meant to show us that this world will not do; and that if we want peace and rest for our souls, we must look for them in our Saviour. Now, do you accept that lesson heartily? (A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.) Spiritual dislodgments Observe--1. How God manages, on a large scale, in the common matters of life, to keep us in a process of change, and prevent our lapsing into a state of security such as we desire. The very scheme of life appears to be itself a grand decanting process, where change follows change, and all are emptied from vessel to vessel. Here and there a man, like Moab, stands upon his lees, and commonly with the same effect. Fire, flood, famine, sickness in all forms and guises, wait upon us, seen or unseen, and we run the gauntlet through them, calling it life. And the design appears to be to turn us hither and thither, allowing us no chance to stagnate m any sort of benefit or security. Even the most successful, who seem, in one view, to go straight on to their mark, get on after all, rather by a dexterous and continual shifting, so as to keep their balance and exactly meet the changing conditions that befall them. Nor is there anything to sentimentalise over in this ever-shifting, overturning process, which must be encountered in all the works of life; no place for sighing--vanity of vanities. There is no vanity in it, more than in the mill that winnows and separates the grain. 2. That the radical evil of human character, as being under sin, consists in a determination to have our own way, which determination must be somehow reduced and extirpated. Hence the necessity that our experience be so appointed as to shako us loose continually from our purpose, or from all security and rest in it. The coarse and bitter flavour of our self-will is reduced in this manner, and gradually fined away. If we could stand on our lees, in continual peace and serenity, if success were made secure, subject to no change or surprise, what, on the other hand, should we do more certainly than stay by our evil mind, and take it as a matter of course that our will is to be done; the very thing above all others of which we most need to be cured. It would not even do for us to be uniformly successful in our best meant and holiest works, our prayers, our acts of sacrifice, our sacred enjoyments; for we should very soon fall back into the subtle power of our self-will, and begin to imagine, in our vanity, that we are doing something ourselves. 3. That our evils are generally hidden from us till they are discovered to us by some kind of trial or adversity. What good man ever fell into a time of deep chastening who did not find some cunning infatuation by which he was holden broken up, and some new discovery made of himself? The veils of pride are rent, the rock of self-opinion is shattered, and he is reduced to a point of gentleness and tenderness that allows him to suffer a true conviction concerning what was hidden from his sight. Nor is anything so effectual in this way as to meet some great overthrow that interrupts the whole course of life; all the better if it dislodges him even in his Christian works and appointments. What was I doing, he now asks, that I must needs be thrown out of my holiest engagements? for what fault was I brought under this discipline? 4. That we are prepared in this manner for the gracious and refining work of the Spirit in us. Under some great calamity or sorrow, the loss of a child, the visitations of bodily pain, a failure in business, the slanders of an enemy, a persecution for the truth or for righteousness’ sake, how tender and open to God does the soul become! 5. Too great quiet and security, long continued, are likely to allow the reaction or the recovered power of our old sins, and must not therefore be suffered. Suppose a man is converted as a politician--there is nothing wrong certainly in being a politician--but how subtle is the power of those old habits and affinities in which he lived, and how likely are they, if he goes straight on by a course of prosperous ambition, to be finally corrupted by their subtle reaction. When he is defeated, therefore, a little further on, by untoward combinations, and thrown out of all hope in this direction, let him not think it hard that he is less successful now in the way of Christ, than he was before in the way of his natural ambition. God understands him, and is leading him off, not unlikely, to some other engagement, that He may get him clear of the sediment on which he stands. In the same way, doubtless, it is that another is driven out of his business by a failure, another out of his family expectations by death and bereavement, another out of his very industry and his living by a loss of health, another out of prayers and expectations that were rooted in presumption, another out of works of beneficence that associated pride and vanity, another out of the ministry of Christ, where, by self-indulgence, or in some other way, his natural infirmities were rather increased than corrected. There is no engagement, however sacred, from which God will not sometimes separate us, that He may clear us of our sediment and the reactions of our hidden evils. Application--1. It brings a lesson of admonition to the class of worldly men who are continually prospering in the things of this life. “ Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.” I commend it to your deepest and most thoughtful attention. 2. Others, again, have been visited by many and great adversities, emptied about from vessel to vessel all their lives long, still wondering what it means, while still they adhere to their sins. There is, alas! no harder kind of life than this, a life of continual discipline that really teaches nothing. Is it so with you, or is it not? There is no class of beings more to be pitied than defeated men, who have gotten nothing out of their defeat but that dry sorrow of the world which makes it only more barren, and therefore more insupportable. 3. It is necessary, in the review of this subject, to remind any genuine Christian what benefits he ought to receive in the trials and changes through which he is called to pass. Receive them meekly, rather, and bow down to them gladly. Bid them welcome when they come, and, if they come not, ask for them; lift up your cry unto God, and beseech Him that by any means He will correct you, and purify you, and separate you to Himself. (H. Bushnell, D. D.) Alternations in religious experience Transitions from elevation to depression of soul, from “ joy and peace in believing,” to spiritual anxiety, arc beneficial as disturbing perilous security, as leading to such critical scrutiny of conduct and of the motives which underlie it, as reveals shortcomings which there would be no effort to detect were spiritual enjoyment to continue unbroken, In such ease of soul the feeling of security--though not, perhaps, finding audible expression in the words, “ I shall never be moved, Thou, Lord, of Thy goodness, hast made my hill so strong,” might find in them a fitting description. Then, a season comes when God, for a time, hides His face and causes trouble, when the chastened soul is taught humility, and mercifully roused from a dangerous state of over-confidence. To be left, Moab-like, “ at ease,” so as never to be subject to apprehensions and doubts, would indeed be detrimental to the health of the soul, and therefore, by wisely contrived changes, alternations experienced in that life which “ is hid with Christ in God,” the Christian is experimentally taught that salvation is not promised to the experience of feelings, however ardent, but to “ patient continuance in well-doing,” to “ endurance unto the end,” to gradual progress in conformity to the will of Him who has made obedience to His commandments the test of the genuineness of professed discipleship. In the way by which heaven is to be reached, there are salutary changes from one kind to another of spiritual experience, and by their means invaluable lessons are conveyed to the soul. If there be a tendency to become less vigilant, to “ restrain prayer before God,” to grow remiss in religious exercises, public and private, there is a change to the experience of some humiliating conviction. If, on the other hand, there be a tendency to spiritual dejection, which if too long dominant, would have the effect of paralysing effort, there is a change to an experience animating and consolatory. Whether God manifests His power in the soul by gladdening it with tokens of His favour, or depresses it with a painful sense of their withdrawal, He is, all the while, educating it for immortality. But further. For all who carefully observe it there is spiritual teaching in what the Church terms, in one of her comprehensive prayers, “ the sundry and manifold changes of the world.” Evidences of mutability and uncertainty in the world external to us, are set before us in order that we may be disciplined for that “ life immortal,” which is promised to those who “ walk by faith.” The present state is designed to be one of pupilage for a higher and a nobler, and no sadder aspect of it can be imagined than when it is viewed as a season of opportunity wasted, a life in which nothing has been learned which is of profit to the imperishable soul. Of momentous import, therefore, is the consideration, whether you be really advantaged by the teaching of those mutabilities. The manner in which prosperity and adversity are borne, the effect which these opposite experiences produce upon character, the spirit in which benefits upon the one hand, and trials upon the other, are received--it is to that you must look if you be desirous of arriving at a reliable conclusion as to whether or not you be spiritually disciplined under God’ s providential dispensations. May the mutable nature of all sublunary things be so impressed upon you, as an influential conviction, that the result may be the sure fixing of your hearts “ where true joys are to be found.” (C. E. Tisdall, D. D.) Divine plan in changes Why these constant removals from town to town; from church to church; from situation to situation? Why this perpetual change and revolution in our plans? Why this incessant going into captivity to irksome and trying circumstances? All this is part of God’ s manufacture of the wine of life. We must be emptied from vessel to vessel, else we should settle on our lees, and become thick and raw and unpalatable, when the next change comes in your life, do not fear it. The blessed God will see to it that no drop of the precious fluid shall be spilt on the ground. With the tenderest care He conducts the whole operation. Perhaps there is a counterpart to this incessant change from place to place in the perpetual flux of our emotions. We never feel the same for long together. We are constantly being emptied from one blessed frame into another, not quite so joyous or peaceful. We have to hold the most heavenly emotions with a light hand, not knowing how soon they may have passed. And it is well. Otherwise we should never lose the taste of our proud self-complacency. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Jeremiah 48:17 How is the strong staff broken.The strong staff and the beautiful rod I. The purposes of our Heavenly Father in great bereavements. 1. To teach us that we should not misplace our trust.2. To convince us of our sins and to sever us from them.3. To teach us His own independence of the instruments He employs.4. To remind us of the sovereignty of God.5. To exhibit His wise and watchful providence. II. The duties to which we are, and such scenes, specially called.1. We are to exercise submission. 2. That we should profit by the example of those who have died in the Lord.3. That we should cease from man and put our trust in God. (W. R. Williams.) Jeremiah 48:25 The horn of Moab is cut off. The history of Moab The first charge brought against Moab is self-confidence, self-trust, self-sufficiency (Jeremiah 48:7). This makes us contemporaries of the Moabites. We thought they were an ancient people, but behold how human they are, how English, how like ourselves and our children! They were so pleased with the stone wall they had put up; they measured it, and admired it, and said that it would save them from the high wind and the mighty storm. It was enough--high enough, broad enough, impenetrable, invincible. Now that is the kind of reasoning which God will not allow in human life. He demands that human life be lived in Himself, and not in things that our own hands have made. We are to be taught distinctly that we do not live in ourselves; that in ourselves we have actually no life; that we have nothing that we have not received, and in that spirit alone we are to hold life and to live. It would seem to be easy to put our whole trust in the living God, and yet it is the most difficult of all lessons. We will persist, even in opposition to many theories of our own to the contrary, that we are self-contained, self-consisting, and self-managing; and herein arises God’ s perpetual controversy with mankind. There is, too, so much to favour the temptation. It looks as if we could do most things; that as we have so much we might easily have more. God says to us in every day’ s providence, You are here for a purpose; you are here for a little time; you now but begin to be; every lesson you must learn, and every commandment you must keep. It is against that arrangement that we chafe, just as the little child chafes against parental authority and loving restraint. From the history of Moab we see that even blessings may be perverted, and sacred privileges may be turned into occasions of self-destruction (Jeremiah 48:11). Too much ease, too little upset, too little anxiety, too little trouble will kill any soul. To come into a business made to your hands, to have a fortune left you, and to have everything prearranged, is to be exposed to very peculiar and urgent temptation. Thank God for the rough places in your lives. They are unpleasant, but they are disciplinary. They are like steep hills, but remember that great temples and blessed sanctuaries stand at the top of them. When discipline is not endured gradually it is brought to bear upon the life as an overwhelming judgment. This is the burden of the text. Two classes of persons should consider this. First, those who have daily discipline; they should say, Better have discipline a little at, a time, as we are able to bear it. “ Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” “ No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” These daily chafings and frettings are nard to bear, these daily disappointments are sharp thorns thrust into the very eyes; yet who knows what the judgment would be were it all to come at once? I will rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him: no temptation has happened unto me but such as is common to men; by and by the explanation will come, and then I shall be able to say, He hath done all things well. Then the lesson should be well considered by those who seem to escape discipline of God. The volcano is a long time in gathering all its fiery energy, but the outburst is momentary, and who can measure the destruction which follows? Christ may well say, “ What I say unto one, I say unto all, Watch,” --even those who have apparently least necessity to watch, should not relax their vigils for a moment. “ Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall See how frightful m the humiliation to which God can bring a man or a people. Look at the picture of Moab--horn cut off, the arm broken, the man drunk but not with wine, and reeling in helplessness, the proud one wallowing in his vomit and laughed to derision! We cannot, however, rest here: for the mercy of the Lord endureth for ever. Mercy triumphs over judgment. The destruction, therefore, was not arbitrary, but moral, being based upon an assigned reason. “ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” We should say, therefore, that this verse was the concluding verse in the whole history of Moab. What can there be after destruction? With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. The chapter does not end with the forty-second verse, but with the forty-seventh, and this is how it reads, “ Yet will I bring again,” &c. One would fain construe these words into a hopeful omen. Out of what extremities cannot God deliver mankind? Let the most desponding rekindle their hope, and the most distant prodigal hear his father’ s voice. Who can set bounds to the mercy of God? Yet must there be no trifling, even with a Gospel of hope. (J. Parker, D. D.) Jeremiah 48:28 Dwell in the rock, and be like the dove.Dove and rock I. God shows much compassion not only to friends but to foes.1. It is for Moab--guilty, apostate, persecuting Moab--that God expresses all this compassionate concern. 2. The New Testament is filled with warnings, invitations, and promises, addressed to those who are farthest off from God, intermingled with signal instances of the conversion of hardened transgressors. II. God would have us forsake false refuges and avail ourselves of the true. The wild doves and pigeons of the East delight in cool and inaccessible places. They build their nests in cliffs and caverns, overhanging fearful precipices, where man cannot tread. Learn the importance of shunning false confidences, and of resting our hope of salvation where alone it can be safe. God would have human weakness rely on almighty strength; human ignorance on almighty wisdom; human sinfulness on almighty mercy. The finite needs the Infinite; the sinner, the Saviour. III. Contemptuous neglect of warnings and mercies aggravates final consequences. This was the case with Moab.1. We may not presume on God’ s mercy and forbearance. The longer the judgment delays, the heavier its weight of woe. 2. Despair is to be banished. The atonement is all-sufficient. 3. Delay must be avoided. God’ s voice is always “ To-day” ; Satan’ s. To-morrow.” 4, We must not be satisfied with our own safety, but aim at leading others to flee as doves to “ the Rock.” (Homiletic Magazine.) Jeremiah 48:36 Because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.Riches are ever liable to perish Prosperity is not to be deemed the greatest security. The lofty unbending cedar is more exposed to the injurious blast than the lowly shrub. The little pinnace rides safely along the shore, while the gallant ship advancing is wrecked. Those sheep which have the most wool are generally the soonest fleeced. Poverty is its own defence against robbery. Who would snake those trees upon which there is no fruit? (T. Secker.). Jeremiah 49:8 Dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan.Dwell deep, O Dedan We do not quite know who these inhabitants of Dedan were, but in all probability they were some Arabian tribe or tribes. The text intends one of two things--either to inform these inhabitants of Dedan, that however deep in the cavernous rocks they should hide themselves, they would certainly be destroyed; or else it was a gracious warning to remove from Edom, strike their tents, and retreat into the depths of the wilderness, and so escape from the invaders. I. Let us take it sarcastically. It is as though the prophet said to these Edomites, and those that dwelt with them, “ You think you never can be destroyed, for your city is situated in a rocky defile, where a handful of men can hold the pass. You suppose that the mightiest armies will fail to conquer you, and therefore you are very proud; but your pride is vain.” “ Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill:” though thou shouldest, make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord.” That word has been terribly fulfilled, for the ancient rock-city stands as a wonder to all travellers, and when they ride through it, which is not often, for it is with great difficulty that you reach the place at all, they find the city standing, but the houses desolate, and without inhabitants. Edom is a perpetual desolation, because of her sins:1. From the text I hear a cry, like the stern voice of Elias, to every profane stoner who thinks that he will ultimately escape the wrath of God. Thou mayest dwell deep, O transgressor, but God shall find thee out. Thou sayest, “ How shall He reach me?” The hand of death has only to be stretched out, and thou art HIS captive at once: and a little thing will do it--the wind has but to pass over thee, and thou art gone. A drop of blood may go the wrong way, a valve may refuse to open, a vessel may burst, a band may snap, and there thou liest, beneath God’ s avenging hand, like a stag smitten by the hunter. Thou art dust, and a breath wilt scatter thee to the four winds. Thy spirit will be equally unable to escape from God. When it leaves this body, whither will it fly? 2. The same solemn warning may be applied to those who are self-righteous, and who think that they are forming a hiding-place for themselves You think that you will save yourselves by your works Ah! labour mightily; for hard must be your toil if you think to finish a righteousness of your own. In the very fire must you labour. You would make a dwelling for yourself as secure as the Rock of Ages? You had need build anxiously. I do not wonder that you are ill at ease. I wonder you have any peace, for the labours which you propose are more stupendous than those of Hercules! You would work miracles without the God of miracles! Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! 3. The same text, in the same way, might be applied to those who are hypocrites, and are practising secret sins while they yet wear the name of Christ, and are numbered amongst His people. Where are the deep places which can afford refuge to religious pretenders? Where shall liars conceal themselves? O hypocrite! it may be you have planned your sin so cleverly that the wife of your bosom does not know it: your scheme is so admirably cunning that you carry two faces, and yet no Christian sees other than that Christian mask of yours. Ah, sir! but you are a greater fool than I take you for, if you think you can deceive your God. Cast off your double-mindedness. “ Cease to do evil, learn to do well,” for it is time to seek the Lord, and may God grant you His effectual grace that you may do so at once, ere He condemn you to the lowest hell. II. But now we will use the text instructively, in which view, the first and natural sense would be, that the prophet warns the tribe of Dedan, who had come to live among the Edomites, to go away from them, and dwell in the depths of the wilderness; so that when the destroyer came, they might not participate in Edom’ s doom. It was the warning voice of mercy, separating its chosen from among the multitude of the condemned.1. The people of God, like the tribes of Dedan, to some extent, dwell in Edom. Your business, your duty, is to come out from among them. “ Be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing.” Better go to heaven alone, than to hell in company. Better be true to God, with Abdiel, “ faithful among the faithless found,” than win the applause of the crowd by great liberality and equal inconsistency. More important still, however, is the separation of every Christian from worldly habits, customs, and ways. Wherever you are, dear friend, though you must be in the world, take care that you be not of it. Dwelt deep in the solitudes where Jesus dwelt--in the lonely holiness which was fostered on the cold mountain’ s side, and then shone resplendent amid temptation and persecution! Commit yourself unto no man; call no man master; lean on no arm of flesh; walk before the Lord in the land of the living, and so dwell deep, as did your Lord. 2. My earnest desire is that every saved soul among you may dwell deep, that is to say, that none of you may be superficial Christians, but that; you may be deep believers, well rooted plants of grace, thorough, downright, out-and-out Christians--that you may not only dwell in the Rock of Ages, but dwell deep in it. To this let me call your attention. (1) It is highly important, beloved, that every one of us should have a deep sense of sin, and a profound horror of it. Oh, to loathe iniquity and see with self-abhorrence its heinous character; for so shall we prize the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love which thought it, the blood which bought it, and the grace which wrought it out! (2) Should your convictions of sin be already deep, then seek to dwell deep as to your faith in Jesus Christ. The nearer to Jesus the more perfect our peace. The innermost place of the sanctuary is the most Divine. (3) So would I have you dwell deep an the matter of Christian study. An instructed Christian is a more useful vessel of honour for the Master, than an ignorant believer. (4) Above all things, and beyond all things, would I earnestly impress upon my beloved friends the need of deep living unto God. There is such a thing as flimsy living, in which you pray, and pray,--yes, but it is a superficial, routine exercise. Those who live only upon outward ordinances, and do not practise private devotion, and are not abundantly with God in secret communion--these do not dwell deep. Get to the roots of things. The gold mines of Scripture are not in the top soil, you must open a shaft; the precious diamonds of experience are not picked up in the roadway, their secret places are far down. Get down into the vitality, the solidity, the veracity, the divinity of the Word of God, and seek to possess with it all the inward work of the blessed Spirit. 3. If any inquire what are our reasons for bringing forward at this time such an exhortation as this, I will briefly answer them. (1) It is well for us to dwell deep, because trials will surely come. (2) Again, there is a necessity that you should dwell deep, for in these days many errors have gone abroad in the world, and many teachers of heresy and infidelity; and if you do not dwell deep, they will shake you terribly. (3) Dwell deep, for there are seasons coming when all your grace will be wanted. I have never heard of a man coming to mischief through having too much grace. Presumption brings a thousand evils, but holy carefulness brings very few, if any. (4) Dwell deep, because those who live near to God, and are substantial in godliness, are the happiest of people. The top of the cup of religion may be bitter, but it grows sweeter the deeper down you drink. (5) While this deep living gives a man more happiness, it also endows him with more strength. (6) Dwell deep, for you will glorify God most. The nearer you get to the sun, the brighter you will be. The nearer you live to Christ, the more like Him you will be. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Dwell deep I. Dwell deep in the peace of god. God’ s peace is so deep and blessed that it cannot be fathomed or explained; the fugitive into its sacred secrets cannot be followed or dragged forth to perish by the merciless pack of the wolves of care. Men of the world cannot understand that mystery of peace; but the believer knows the way into it, and makes it his hiding-place and pavilion. II. Dwell deep in communion with God. Get away from the rush and strife around, and go alone into the clear, still depths of His nature. The Rhone loses all its silt in the deep, clear waters of Geneva’ s lake. A few hasty words of prayer will not avail for this. A day’ s climb is often necessary before one can reach the heart of the mountains. III. Dwell deep in stillness of soul. Get within. God awaits thee there. Centre thyself. When the world is full of alarm and harassments, study to be quiet. The soul’ s health cannot be maintained apart from the observance of times of waiting on God in solitude. The great importance of perseverance in the exercise of prayer and inward retirement may be sufficiently learnt, says one, next to the experience of it, merely from the tempter’ s artifices and endeavours to allure us from it, and make us neglect it. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Deep dwellers The plants which grow in the Alps are, as a rule, firmly and largely rooted. An authority on this topic says: “ The roots of some plants enter so far into the gritty soil as to defy the tourist to bring them out, while others simply search farther into the heart of the flaky rock, so that they are safer from any want of moisture than if in the best and richest soil.” So in many lives, the very strength and beauty of Christian character are a proof that the roots of the soul have struck deep into the everlasting truth and love, the granite truths of the Divine Being and attributes. “ Dwell deep! O Dedan!” (H. O. Mackey.) Jeremiah 49:11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me. The compassion and beneficence of the Deity No subject is more open to general observation, or more confirmed by manifold experience, than the goodness of God. In Scripture it is most frequently presented to us in the light of compassion to the distresses of mankind (Psalms 102:17; Psalms 10:17; Psalms 58:5; Psalms 69:33; Psalms 146:7; Psalms 22:24, &c.). I. The discoveries of Divine compassion were purposely intended to furnish to us particular ground for trust in God amid all the vicissitudes of human life. Compassion is a principle which we all feel and know. We know that it is the strongest of all benevolent instincts in our nature, and that it tends directly to interest us in behalf of those who need our aid. We are taught to believe that a similar attribute belongs to the Divine nature; in order that, from that species of goodness which we are best acquainted with, and which we can most rely upon, we may be trained both to love our Almighty Benefactor, and, as long as we are in the practice of our duty, to trust to His protection amid every distress. Compassion to the unfortunate, as it is exerted among men, is indeed accompanied with certain disturbed and painful feelings, arising from sympathy with those whom we pity. But every such feeling we must remove from our thoughts when we ascribe an affection of this nature to the Deity. His compassion is such a regard as suits the perfection of the great Governor of the universe, whose benignity, undisturbed by any violent emotion, ever maintains the same tranquil tenor, like the unruffled and uninterrupted serenity of the highest heavens. II. Such discoveries of the Divine nature were designed, not only to administer encouragement and consolation, but also to exhibit the pattern of that disposition which we are bound, in our measure, to imitate and follow. That hardness of heart which renders men insensible to the distresses of their brethren, that insolence of prosperity which inspires them with contempt of those who are fallen below them, are always represented in Scripture as dispositions most opposite to the nature of God, and most hateful in His sight. In order to make this appear in the strongest light, He has turned His goodness chiefly into the channel of compassionate regard to those whom the selfish and proud despise (Psalms 12:5; Psalms 10:17-18). III. In the course of human life innumerable occasions present themselves for all the exercises of that humanity and benignity to which we are so powerfully prompted. The diversities of rank among men, the changes of fortune to which all, in every rank, are liable, the necessities of the poor, the wants of helpless youth, the infirmities of declining age, are always giving opportunities for the display of humane affections. (Hugh Blair, D. D.) The God of orphans and widows The Rev. J. Brown of Haddington, said that his epitaph might appropriately be: “ Here lies one of the cares of providence, who early wanted both father and mother, and yet never missed them.” Jeremiah 49:16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart On the deceitfulness of the heart, in the abuse of prosperity The words afford us the following doctrine, That worldly prosperity is often abused by the heart, as the occasion of self-deceit; or, that the heart often discovers its deceit in the abuse of prosperity. All that is intended here is to illustrate the actions of this corrupt principle in abusing prosperity.1. By ingratitude. (1) Sinners receive all God’ s mercies with an unthankful heart. They sit down to their table and rise from it, they eat and drink like the brutes that perish; without considering, that whether they eat or drink, or whatsoever they do, they should do all to the glory of God. Many are the spiritual mercies which the unregenerate receive from God. He gives them His Word and ordinances, wherein the Bread of Life is exhibited. He warns them by His servants. He strives with them by His Spirit. They reject and despise the heavenly manna. Their souls loathe this light food. (2) Ingratitude is a sin eminently chargeable even against the children of God. When they are anxious for any mercy, they resolve, and perhaps solemnly vow, that if God will be pleased to bestow it, they will ever retain a grateful sense of His kindness. He condescends to grant their request. But often they remember not the multitude of His mercies, but provoke Him, like His ancient people, at the sea, even at the Red Sea. This conduct towards our gracious Benefactor is productive of bitter consequences. Our ingratitude for mercies received often provokes Him to deny us others which He would otherwise bestow, sometimes to recall those already given, and frequently, to blast them in the enjoyment. 2. By disposing us to make a God of our mercies. The deceitfulness of the heart, so violent is its opposition to the living God, works by contraries, and often by extremes. If it do not tempt us to despise His mercies altogether, it will excite us to put them out of their proper place. By either of these methods, although directly opposite, it gains its wicked purpose, in making us forget the God of our mercy. He will suffer no rival in thy heart, O Christian, for it all belongs to Him; and when thy love to worldly comforts ceases to be secondary and subordinate, it is an encroachment on His prerogative. Therefore must the usurper of the throne of God be cast down, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence. When precious comforts are thus converted into severe crosses, how great is the trial! There is a double bitterness attending it; not only that of the distress presently felt, but the painful recollection of the happiness formerly enjoyed. 3. By consuming Divine mercies on lust. The wicked ask that they may consume it on their lusts. They neither desire mercies, nor improve those which are bestowed, for the glory of God; but only as making provision for their inordinate or unlawful affections. 4. By ascribing their prosperity to some other cause than God. Even the Lord’ s people, from the prevalence of deceit, are in great danger of ascribing their mercies to some other cause than God, or to something besides Him. They will not wholly deny the praise to the God of their salvation; but they do not ascribe it entirely to Him. When they receive signal mercies from Him, they are apt to imagine that these are in some degree deserved by their holiness and integrity of conversation; that He could not justly deny them such tokens of His favour, when they are so faithful and diligent in His service. 5. By denying God the use of those mercies which He hath Himself bestowed. When, in the course of His providence, He confers on one a greater portion of common blessings than on another; it is for this end, that he may use them for His glory, and in the manner of laying them out, return them to the Lord. No talent is to be laid up in a napkin. According to the measure of temporal benefits received from God, we are stewards for Him. 6. By unsatisfied desires and immoderate longings for a greater degree of temporal prosperity. When the heart hath tasted of mercies of this nature, it is not satisfied; it craves more. If its desires be fulfilled, instead of being content with these, it flatters itself, that if such another mercy were bestowed, it would ask nothing further. But this only argues its deceit; for even though this be granted, it is still as importunate as ever. The more it receives, its desires are enlivened and enlarged the more. 7. By hardening itself under prosperity. No mercy whatsoever can leave us as it finds us. It must either prove a blessing or a curse. It will either have a mollifying, or a hardening influence on our hearts. (J. Jamieson, M. A.) Deceitfulness of pride How nimbly does that little lark mount up, singing towards heaven in a right line, whereas the hawk, which is stronger of body and swifter of wing, towers up by many gradual compasses to its highest pitch. That bulk of body and length of wing hinder a direct ascent, and require the help both of air and scope to advance his flight; while the small bird cuts the air without resistance, and needs no outward furtherance of her motion. It is no otherwise with the souls of men. Some are hindered by those powers which would seem helps to their soaring: great wit, deep judgment, quick apprehension, send about men, with no small labour, for the recovery of their own incumbrance, while the good affections of plain and simple souls raise them up immediately to the fruition of God. Why should we be proud of that which may slacken our way to glory? (Bishop Hall.) Jeremiah 49:23 There is sorrow (as) on the sea; it cannot be quiet.Life on the ocean That which was true of the cities spoken of in our text, is also true, though in a different sense, of every voyager on the sea of life. “ There is sorrow (as) on the sea.” I. Sorrow as on the sea is divinely predicted. Voyagers you all must be. Out on that wide mysterious ocean which is swept by storms untold, and which teems with dangers innumerable, you must sail. Many of you axe as yet but as landsmen lying in the docks. You are admiring your vessel, and putting on nautical airs, and wondering when you will be freed from the trammels of the shore. Some of you are just dropping down the stream, your breasts big with hope, and your imagination painting glowing pictures of the ocean life beyond. ‘ Mid the songs of the sailors, and the music of the passengers, bright visions are rising of sunny seas and blue skies, of mirth and boundless happiness. With all my heart I wish you God-speed. I would not unnecessarily becloud that fair prospect. May the sunbeams which begild the waves around you follow you abundantly. And yet, though at the risk of being charged with unkindness, I must warn you that “ there is sorrow on the sea.” I would not, I could not, prevent your sailing; but I must remind you of that which should not be always forgotten, that in life’ s voyage troubles will come. II. Sorrow as on the sea is universally experienced.1. From the mutability of life. I have no wish to play the misanthrope, to paint you a leaden landscape under a lowering sky, where no break of sunshine ever comes to chase the shadows from an ebon sea. There is sunshine! Though all life has its clouds, life is not all sorrow. But while life’ s joys may be many and real, it will have its sorrows by reason of its changes. To-day the sea may he calm, and the sky may be without a cloud, but even while we speak the glass is falling, and the calm sea will soon be lashed into foaming fury, and the cloudless sky will soon be overcast with messengers of coming woe. 2. From the uncertainties of life. Which way to steer--what to do--whether to enter into this speculation or to avoid that transaction--how to meet this engagement, or how to be relieved of that responsibility--often drives men to their wits’ end. Business goes wrong, markets are unsteady, panics are abroad, and fogs and thick darkness so enshroud the mercantile world, that with dangers and uncertainty everywhere around, the perplexed tradesmen often just throws up the helm in despair, and allows the vessel to drift whithersoever the current will take her. And in his spiritual voyage the Christian is not always free from similar sorrow. With the Psalmist, we have sometimes to lament that “ we see not our signs.” 3. The disappointments of life. (1) Think of life’ s friendships! Where we anticipated most consolation, there, in the day of our need, we were most bitterly deceived. (2) Look at life’ s prospects! You remember how hard you toiled to secure that position which you thought would consummate your joys, and be the very climax of your every earthly ambition. You remember how bright your prospects seemed to be. You know that towards the end everything was so apparently propitious that you never for a moment entertained a doubt of success. But you were disappointed l III. Sorrow as on the sea may be greatly mitigated.1. A good ship. Let a sailor be persuaded of the soundness of the ship in which he sails, and “ it may blow big guns” --he is comparatively at ease. We want similar faith in the grand old Gospel ship. We want the unswerving confidence which will inspire us ever to say, “ I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” Classed A1 for ever in the heavenly register, this “ everlasting Gospel” can never fail. In this good ship millions have reached the “ desired haven” in peace; on her deck millions are sailing thither now; and there is room for millions yet unborn. 2. A reliable chart. Without this a man may well be anxious. By what chart are you steering? Is it the Bible, or is it the “ Age of Reason” ? Blessed be God, we know whom and we know what we believe. 3. Sufficient provision. Lacking provision, what can the sailor do? There is often such “ sorrow on the sea.” Want often stares men in the face when they are far from port, and when they can by no possible means obtain supplies. This can never happen on board the ship of the Gospel. This vessel is stored abundantly with the choicest provisions of free eternal grace. (W. H. Burton.) The sea, a parable of human life The ocean is, and always will be, so long as man keeps the faculty of imagination, a mournfully suggestive parable of human life. The restlessness of the sea, its constant alternations of storm and calm, its treachery, for ever deceiving us by false appearances, the atmosphere of mystery that broods over it, all these contribute to make it the natural symbol of man’ s condition here in this world. Take only one of those characteristics--mysteriousness. David had been visited by this thought also. “ Thy judgments,” he says, while pondering the strange confusion of good and evil in the world, “ are like the great deep.” The sea does suggest, with wonderful power, the mysteriousness of God’ s providence in the affairs of men. “ Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known.” The human mind is by nature prone to the misgiving that fate rather than providence orders the procession of our life. Events, so the temptation whispers, fall out according to an iron law of necessity. There is no loving Father who notes the sparrow’ s fall, and gives His children their daily bread; neither is there any blessed consummation, any final victory of the good over the evil towards which history may be supposed to move. These hopes are delusive; they rest on no foundation. The only thing of which we are certain is that effect follows upon cause in uniform succession, any given human life being as powerless to quicken, or retard, or alter the movement of this endless chain, as if it were only a tiny bubble molten in the fibre of the iron of one single link. This is what we understand by such words as “ destiny,” “ fate.” “ necessity,” and this is the idea which the sea, looked at as a parable, most easily suggests. You sit upon some rocky promontory and watch the incoming tide. You note how wave after wave dashes itself against the hard face of the cliff, and perishes in the act. You observe that every now and then a larger wave comes in, and seems to make a braver effort; but that also, like its predecessor, falls back and is gone. Meanwhile the general level of the water rises and rises, until a predetermined point is reached, and then, as gradually, the tide recedes, sure to return again as soon as a few hours have past, and to make its mark a little higher, or a little lower, according to rules which the astronomers wrote out long ago, which you might have found all calculated for you in their books before you started on the walk. Surely, if there be anywhere in nature a vivid emblem of the idea of destiny, it is here. And, if anything were needed to heighten the impression which the eye has already carried to the mind, the ear might find it in the monotonous, melancholy music of the breaking waves, a sound which possibly suggested to the mourner among the prophets his pathetic cry, “ There is sorrow on the sea.” What is the relief for a mind oppressed, weighted down with thoughts like this? “ The sea is His, and He made it.” “ Have faith in God,” said our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples, when they found themselves in perplexity. Have faith in God. He who made the sea is greater than the sea. He who ordained the strangely tangled scheme of providence, is greater than His scheme. He who is responsible for the mystery of human life, holds the key of that mystery in. His hands. Do you ask for proof of this? There is no proof. If there were proof, Christ need not have said, “ Have faith in God.” Where knowledge leaves off, there faith begins. At the outer boundary of demonstration, belief lifts up her voice and sings. Do you say, Convince me that the idea of destiny is false, and that the idea of providence is true? No, I cannot convince, I can only, by God’ s help, persuade you; and yet, when once persuaded, you will be as certain as if you had been convinced; for what a man believes with all his heart, he holds as firmly as he does that which he knows with all his mind. “ We know,” says St. Paul, grandly asserting his faith in a doctrine the opposite of destiny, “ that all things work together for good to them that love God.” How did he know this? Had it been proved to him by strict processes of reasoning in which his keen intellect had been able to detect no flaw? Was that the ground of the confidence with which he spoke? Far from it. The foundation of his certainty was what he elsewhere calls the “ assurance of faith.” And who is the teacher of this glad faith? To whom shall we go that we may learn to believe that God is love? I know not, if not to Him who, standing once upon the deck of a tempest-tossed ship, rebuked the wind, and said unto this same sea, “ Peace, be still.” Did not He, the Redeemer, come into this world, and take our nature upon Him, and suffer death upon the Cross, for the very purpose of freeing men from the bondage of their fears, for the very purpose of breaking up this evil dream of destiny and enfranchising us with the liberty of the sons of God? Has He not made for us, as for Israel of old, a pathway through the dreaded sea, and having overcome the sharpness of death, has He not opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers? Well may He ask, Where is your faith? One who has done so much for us has at least the right to expect that we shall trust Him; having at so great a cost purchased us this freedom, He has at least the right to expect that we shall be thankful for it, and use it as His gift. (W. R. Huntington, D. D.) Jeremiah 49:30-31 Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the Lord.Dangers to the Church What is called “ Underground Jerusalem” is largely the space from which the stones were taken for the building of Solomon’ s temple. That space, according to Josephus, was afterwards honeycombed with passages, canals, and secret galleries, not for sanitary purposes, but as places of refuge for women and children in times of war. These passages were all connected with the forts and towers of the city, and were a secret means of escape when the city was besieged. When Jerusalem was surrounded by the Romans under Titus large numbers of the Jews fled for refuge to these underground hiding-places. Before the Romans knew of these hiding-places, they were often astonished, and sometimes startled, by seeing persons rising as from the ground and making their escape by the towers, when at length they entered the city, and had passed from Moriah to Mount Zion, they thought that their work of destruction was ended; but they only then learned that thousands of the Jews were living beneath the ground. It is alleged that more than a hundred battles were fought underneath the city, and that more than two thousand dead bodies were taken out of the tunnels and secret chambers of what is now called Underground Jerusalem when the prophet enjoined the inhabitants of Hazor to flee, and dwell deep, he may have had some such invisible cities of refuge in view. But even in such hiding-places they were only comparatively safe. Their enemies often sought them, and found them, and put them to death. I. One of the dangers to which the Church is exposed in modern times is shallowness of thought. Many seem to be satisfied with as little of Christianity as possible. Shallowness of thought means want of heart, want of understanding, want of principle, moral purpose, and power. The Church can outlive pagan conspiracies, tyrannical laws, and cruel persecutions; but she cannot outlive thoughtlessness. “ Dwell deep” may be regarded as synonymous with Solomon’ s injunction, “ With all thy getting, get understanding.” It means that we should get beneath the surface and find out the true meaning of things. We are to know things not as they may have been perverted, or as they seem, but as they are who that is wise would estimate the value of a chronometer by its cases, or of a picture by its frame, or of a book by its binding? We would sooner expect a man to tell us all about the growth and development of a tree without reference to sunshine and showers, or the soil in which the tree was planted and in which it grew, than we should expect him to understand all about salvation without any reference to sin, or all about God without any reference to Jesus Christ. Things can only be known thoroughly and satisfactorily as they are studied in their proper connections. Take the letters of the most precious word you know, and transpose them, and they cease to convey thought to your thought. Separate the Old Testament from the New, or the first Adam, in his federal relationships, from the second Adam, and you will fail to understand one of the deepest doctrines of the Bible. But unite these as Paul does in his Epistle to the Romans, and you have the key to understand much of the great mystery of godliness. II. Another source of danger to the Church in these days is superficiality of character. In the course of our voyage to America, some years ago, the motion of the ship was on some days very disagreeable to the passengers. She pitched and lurched and rolled Among the waves so constantly as to render it impossible for us to rest or be at peace in any position. The sea on the surface being comparatively calm, some of us wondered why the vessel was so unsteady, and on making inquiry were informed that it was owing to her light cargo. The ship had no grip of the water, and the water had no grip of her, and hence her unsteady movement. Men of superficial character are somewhat like this ship, not very steady. Superficial Christians remind you of those shopkeepers who make the most of their limited stock by putting it all or nearly all in the windows. In all substantial buildings there is much invisible mason work. The foundation of every palatial edifice is not only deep and solid, but it has been laid with a view to sustain the structure that rests upon it. It is also well known that there is a fair proportion between the roots of a tree in the ground and its height and breadth above it. It is even so with respect to human character. Those who grow up to Christ in all things cannot be strangers either to the depths from which the Psalmist cried, “ Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord!” or to the secret place of the Most High, when the soul resides under the shadow of the Almighty. III. Another source of danger to the Church in modem times is her apparent acquiescence in pious frauds. “ The greatest obstacle,” says Archbishop Whately, “ to the following of truth is the tendency to look in the first instance to the expedient. Pious frauds,” he says, “ fall naturally into two classes--positive and negative: the one refers to the introduction and propagation of what is false; the other refers to the toleration of it. A plant may be in a garden from two causes, either from being planted designedly or being found there and left there. In either case some degree of approbation is implied. He who propagates a delusion, and he who connives at it when already existing--both alike tamper with truth.” (J. K. Campbell, D. D.) . Jeremiah 50:4-5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward.Travelling Zionward To return to one’ s land of nativity after a long absence is one of the most pleasant experiences of human life. We are all pilgrims and strangers in this land. We have wandered from our Father’ s home. Let us follow the example of these two tribes, who were now united and returning to their own land. I. Consider the first act of this liberated people. They asked the way to Zion. This was wise of them, for many try to go there without knowing the way. They did not inquire through mere curiosity, but with a determination to put their knowledge to practical use. There is not a ransomed soul around the throne to-day but who has asked this question. II. The second act of Israel and Judah after they received their answer was to turn their faces thitherward. Their faces are Zionward now. They had been travelling in a wrong direction, and so long as this was the case it would be impossible for them to reach their destination. Satan is always trying to persuade Christians to take a slidetrack, or a side-view, and turn their backs on Zion, but so long as they keep their faces toward the city of God they are invulnerable. III. After turning their faces toward Zion they moved on. How? “Weeping and rejoicing.” Weeping now and rejoicing then. Here again the life of the Christian is typified. The Christian often weeps as he marches on, but will rejoice when he obtains the crown of life at the close of the day. IV. They decided to bind themselves in an everlasting covenant unto the Lord, having one purpose, one object, one desire in life--a perpetual covenant unto the Lord. There is no coercion in this covenant, because they said to each other, “ Come, and let us join ourselves unto the Lord.” The word “ come” is one of the gems that shine in the Word of God. Not do or die, but “ come” and live. It is like the flower that blooms in the desert, or the evening that comes after the hot and weary day. V. Some reasons why we should join ourselves unto the Lord in a perpetual covenant.1. Because the sinner separated from the Lord misses the end of his creation. 2. Because of the everlasting relationship into which you enter. 3. Time develops strength, and the longer you put off the harder it becomes to break the chains that bind you. 4. The pleasures and benefits of a life with Christ infinitely outweigh the brief pleasures of sin. (M. C. Cameron, B. D.) Mourners, inquirers, covenanters The previous part of this chapter declares the overthrow of Israel’ s cruel oppressor. “ Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces.” The Assyrian and Babylonian power had been the great tyrant of the ages, and the Lord had employed it for the chastening of His people, until at last Israel and Judah had been carried away captive to the banks of the Euphrates, and the land of their fathers knew them no more. When, therefore, the Lord deals with Babylon in a way of vengeance it is that He may deliver His own people. See how the two things are joined together in the eighteenth and nineteenth verses. When Pharaoh is drowned, Israel is saved; when Sihon and Og are slain, the Lord’ s mercy to His people is seen to endure for ever. To-day the power of the adversary is broken, and we may flee out of the Babylon of sin. A greater than Cyrus has opened the two-leaved gates, and broken the bars of iron in sunder, and proclaimed liberty to the captives. We may now return to our God and freely enjoy the holy and happy associations which belong to the city of our God. Every one who is really seeking the Lord desires to be sure that he is seeking aright; he is not willing to take anything for granted, since his soul is of too much value to be left at hazard. He inquires, “ Are my feelings like those of the truly penitent? Am I believing as those do who are justified by faith? Am I seeking the Lord in a manner which will be pleasing to Him?” They have so long been as lost sheep, going from mountain to hill, that they have forgotten their resting-places, therefore in their confusion they are afraid of going wrong again, and so they inquire with eager anxiety. Perhaps we may show them from this Scripture how others sought and how others found, and this may be a guide and a comfort to them; for albeit there are differences of operation, and all do not come to Christ with equal terrors, or with equal joys, yet there is a likeness in all the pilgrims to the holy city. I. To begin at the beginning, the Lord’ s restored ones during the processes of grace were first of all mourners.1. Oh, after all your sins I will not believe that you are truly coming to God if there is not about you a great sorrow for sin and a lamenting after the Lord. Some seekers are made to drink of this bitter cup very deeply; their sense of sin is terrible, even to anguish and agony. I know that there are others who do not taste this bitterness to the same degree; but it is in their cup, for all that. The clear shining in their case so soon follows the rain that they scarcely know that there has been a shower of grief. Surely, in their case the bitterness is passed; yet is it truly there, only the other ingredient of intense delight in God’ s mercy swallows up all its sharpness. Oh, you cannot imagine the Jews returning from captivity without bewailing the sins which drove them into the place of their exile. How could they be restored to God if they did not lament their former wicked estrangement? While the heart feels no compunction concerning its wanderings, no mourning over its guilt, no grief at having grieved the Lord, there can be no acceptance with God. There must be a shower in the day of mercy: not always a long driving rain causing a flood, but the soft drops must fall in every case. There must be tenderness toward God if we expect reconciliation with God. 2. Observe that this mourning in the case of Israel and Judah was so strong that it mastered other feelings. Between Judah and Israel there was an old feud. Yet now that they return unto the Lord, we read, “ The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together.” Oh, happy union in a common search for God! One of the first results of holy sorrow for sin is to cast out of our heart all forms of enmity and strife with our fellow-men. When we are reconciled to God we are reconciled to men. A penitent sense of our own provocations of God will prevent our being provoked with men. As Aaron’ s rod swallowed up all other rods, so a sincere sorrow for sin will remove all readiness to take offence against our fellow-sinners. 3. Keeping close to the text, we notice again that the exiles on their return were mourning while marching. Observe the words, “ going and weeping.” A true heart that is coming to God takes the road by Weeping-Cross: it feels its sin, its guilt, its undesert, and it therefore mourns. The closet is sought out and prayer is offered; but in the supplication there is a dove’ s note, a moaning as of one sorrowing for love. 4. Turning the text round, we read not only of “ going and weeping.” but also of weeping and going. The holy grief here intended does not lead to sitting still, for it is added “ they shall go.” That word “ weeping” is sandwiched in between two goings going and weeping; they shall go and seek the Lord. To sit down and say, “ I will sorrow for my sin, but never seek a Saviour,” is an impenitent pretence of repentance, a barren sorrow which brings forth no cleansing of the life, and no diligent search after the Lord. The way to repent is with your eye upon the sacrifice, viewing the flowing of the sin-atoning blood, marking every precious drop, gazing into the Redeemer’ s wounds, and believing in the love which in death opened up its depths unsearchable. All the while we must be saying, “ My God, my God, I groan within myself that such a sacrifice should have been required by my atrocious transgressions against Thee.” 5. We must not pass over that last word, “ They shall go and seek the Lord their God.” This shall be a guide to you as to whether your present state of feeling is leading you aright. What is it you are seeking? “ I am seeking,” says one, “ I am seeking peace.” May you soon obtain it, and may it be real peace; but I am not sure of you. “ I am seeking,” says another, “ the pardon of sin.” Again, I pray that you may find it; but I am not sure of you. If another shall reply, “ I am seeking the Lord; for I desire above all things to have Him for a friend, though to Him I have been an enemy; then I have good hope of him. Here is a little child, picked up from the gutter, diseased and filthy, unclad, unfed; and if you ask me to make out a catalogue of what the child wants you must give me a sheet of foolscap paper to write it all down, and then I fear I shall leave out many things. I will tell you in one word what that poor infant requires--it wants its mother. If it gets its mother it has all it needs. So to tell what a poor sinner wants might be a long task; but when you say that he wants his Heavenly Father you have said it all. Oh, souls, you are seeking aright if you are seeking your God. Nothing short of this will suffice. II. Secondly, these mourners became inquirers. “ They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward.” They knew within a little the quarter in which Zion lay, and they looked that way; but they did not know all about the road: how should they?1. The saving point about them was that they were not ashamed to confess their ignorance. Minds that the Lord has touched are never boastful of their wisdom. There are many persons in the world who would be converted if they could but consent to be taught by God’ s Word and Spirit; hut they are such wise people, they know too much to enter the school of grace. 2. It is clear from their asking their way that these inquirers were teachable. “ They shall ask the way to Zion” : they shall therefore be conscious of ignorance, and they shall be willing to be taught; these are good characteristics, such as God accepts. 3. More than this, they will be anxious although they are right. “ They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward.” They are travelling in the right direction, and yet they ask the way. He that has never raised a question about his condition before God had better raise it at once. The fullest assurance of faith we can ever attain will never excuse us from the duty of self-examination. 4. At the same time, note concerning those that are coming to the Lord and His people, that they are questioning, but they are still resolved. They ask how they can be right with God, not as a matter of curiosity, but because they mean to be at peace with Him: by God’ s grace nothing shall turn them aside from their God and His temple, and hence their anxiety to be surely right. True penitents will have Christ or die. 5. Though they ask the way, we may remark further that they know whither they are going. They ask their way, not to somewhere or other, but to Zion; not to some imaginary blissful shore that may be or may not be, but they seek God’ s own dwelling-place, God’ s own palace, God’ s own sacrifice. They ask boldly too, for they are not ashamed to be found inquiring; and when they are informed, their faces are already that way, and therefore they have nothing to do but to Go straight on. May God grant us myriads of such inquirers! III. These inquirers become covenanters, for they said one to another, “ Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” Oh, that word “ covenant” ! I can never pronounce it without joy in my heart. It is to me a mine of comfort, a mint of delight, a mass of joy. The doctrine of the “ covenant” is a kind of Shibboleth by which we may know the man of God from the false prophet. Let the people of God take no delight in the man who does not delight in the covenant of grace.1. These inquirers become covenanters, for we read that they seek to be joined unto the Lord. “ Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord. Is not this the one thing you long for, that you may be so at peace with God through Jesus Christ that you may be joined with Him? You are a right-hearted seeker, in fact, you have found the Lord already, or else you would not find it in your heart to use such an expression as seeking to be joined unto the Lord. 2. Next, notice for how long a time this covenant is to be made. “ Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant.” In our English army of late they have enlisted “ short time” men. A good brother came to join the Church last week who is in the Reserve, and I said to him, “ You are not coming to unite with us for two sixes, the first six with the colours, and the other six as a reserve man,--you have come, I hope, to fight under the colours as long as life lasts.” “ Ay, sir,” he said, “ I give myself up to the Lord for ever.” No salvation is possible except that which saves the soul for ever. A real man of God has his religion interwoven into the warp and woof of his being; he could not be other than he is whatever his circumstances might be. The covenant of life requires a life-long covenant. We do not take grace upon a terminable lease; it is an entailed inheritance, an immortal, eternal possession. 3. Note, further, that this joining to God these covenanters intended to carry out in a most solemn way. “ Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual” --agreement? or promise? No. “ Covenant” is the word. It is a profitable thing for the soul to covenant with God. In the ordinance of baptism we have the best visible setting forth of that covenant. Circumcision set forth the taking away of the filth of the flesh; but baptism sets forth the death and burial of the flesh itself; we see in it the emblem of our death and burial with our Lord. The believer thereby says, “ Now I am come to an end of my old life, for I am dead and buried,” and he becomes henceforth as one who has risen with Christ, to walk in newness of life. 4. Those who came mourning and inquiring, when they became covenanters, felt that they had a nature very apt to forgetfulness of good things, and so a part of what they desired in their covenanting with God was “ a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” God will never forget, yet may you pray, “ Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” The fear is lest you should forget. What is your view of that possibility? Would it not be terrible? (C. H. Spurgeon.) Marks of genuine repentance I. It is said, “the children of Israel shall come, they and the children on Judah together.” In other words, these two people, who, though members of the same family, had so long lived in a state of the most deadly hatred and hostility, when touched by a feeling of genuine contrition, shall “ come” “ together” ; shall amalgamate; shall forget their former subjects of contention, and approach in one body the throne of love and compassion And such is the constant effect of genuine religion. Vice, by increasing our selfishness, by sharpening the natural irritability of the temper, by filling us with a feverish anxiety about the objects of time and sense, “ separateth even chief friends.” In like manner, a merely speculative and ceremonial religion rarely fails to disunite its followers. But on the contrary, serious, heartfelt, spiritual scriptural religion binds and consolidates. Never, till the temper of real contrition, with all its train of accompanying graces, enthrone itself in the mind; never, till real Christianity take the place of that which is nominal; never, till we love God better than we love ourselves; never, till we choose rather to sacrifice our interest and indulgences, than to disturb the peace of the Church, and rend the seamless garment of our Redeemer. II. It is here said of the people of Israel and Judah, that “they shall come weeping.” As the tenderest parent sees with joy the tear of penitence steal over the cheek of his guilty child; as no pang is deeper than that inflicted by the discovery that a state of separation from himself costs the child of his bosom neither fear nor anguish; thus our Father, which is in heaven, expects in us, the prodigal children of His family, sorrow and anguish of soul, till our reconciliation with Himself is accomplished. But how is it possible to reconcile with language such as this, the conception, so prevalent in the world, that the proper object of life is amusement, and our reasonable and legitimate temper of mind thoughtlessness and a spirit of almost ceaseless dissipation? It is indeed true, that the temper of mind becoming the man who is reconciled to God is peace, and cheerfulness, and joy:--“ Rejoice in the Lord; and again I say, rejoice.” But peace of mind before reconciliation--peace, when the Lord has a “ controversy” with us--peace, this is not the peace sanctioned by Scripture, but a state of repose leading to almost inevitable destruction. The true penitent is there described as “ going and weeping.” It is not, indeed, my intention to affirm that tears are the necessary, or the only sufficient, expression of grief for sin. Many a sad heart would delight to weep, but cannot. III. These returning penitents are described as “Seeking the Lord their God.” Here is one of the grand distinctions between true and false repentance. That sorrow of the world which “ worketh death,” ordinarily evaporates in a few unmeaning words or tears. The real penitent, on the contrary, is not merely startled by his danger; he detests his offence. His soul longs for emancipation from its corruptions, and for a full and free entrance into the presence of the Lord. IV. It is said of the returning penitents in the text, “they shall ask the way to Zion.” It is something in religion to have discovered that we are out of the way. The next mark of genuine repentance is a lively, persevering anxiety to be put into the way. But this anxiety will not discover itself in blind and random efforts to search out the path by our unassisted powers; but in humbly and earnestly availing ourselves of every appointed channel by which safe and sure intelligence on this all-important subject may be conveyed to the soul. The penitents in the text “ ask their way.” Distrusting a heart which has often misled them, they go for instruction to the servants of the Lord, and especially to Him who loves to “ go before” his sheep, and lead them to the pastures of their proper happiness. And, observe, the place which they are said to seek is Zion,--he “ city of their solemnities” ; the holy city; the city in which dwelleth the Great King; where His temple arises; where, having laid aside the thunders of His just indignation, He sits between the cherubim, to dispense mercy and love to His guilty creatures. The real penitent never stops till he reaches the city of God. And however bright the sunshine, and clear the fountains, and extensive the prospects, which cheer him on the journey; and however wise and strong and compassionate the Guide who goes with him, and delights to succour, to defend, and to bless him, he neither puts off his armour nor rests from his labour till he sits down in eternal tranquillity in the paradise of God. V. It is said of these penitents in the text, they ask their way to Zion “with their faces thitherward.” In other words, they are really bent on discovering the city which they profess to seek. Their eye is upon its towers; and their hearts are honestly impelling them in the right line of direction. Their inquiry has no alliance with the empty curiosity of the man who has no intention of adopting the advice which he solicits, and follows one path when his guide directs him to another. But, hearing a voice behind them, saying, “ This is the way, walk ye in it,” they implicitly follow the leadings of providence and the suggestions of the Spirit. VI. The individuals in the text are described as saying, “come, and let us join ourselves to the lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” Such is uniformly the desire of the true penitent. Are we not the sworn enemies of sin, the world, and the devil? And how have we fulfilled our engagements to God? Will any single man venture to lay his hand on his heart and say, I have fulfilled them as I ought? And, if not, what is our duty to-day? Is it not to say, as in the text, “ Come, and let us join ourselves,” &c.? (J. W. Cunningham, M. A.) Young Christians congratulated, encouraged, and exhorted to trust in God I. Jehovah, as a reconciled God in Christ Jesus, is the object of their inquiry. God and the light of His reconciled countenance, in opposition to the delights of sense, the gains of merchandise, the discoveries of science, and the felicities of friendship. It is the Divine favour they seek supremely, though not exclusively; for no one enjoys, with a keener relish, the productions of nature and the bounties of providence, than a true believer. II. It is usual with inquirers to associate with those who are like-minded with themselves. III. This inquiry after God and happiness is frequently accompanied with tears. “ They shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping.” They weep over the times of their former ignorance. “ To how little purpose have we hitherto lived,” will they say; “ our lives have been little better than a complete blank. And now that we have at length awaked to some sense of our danger, and desire for spiritual blessings, how little do we know of God and of ourselves, of sin and the method of salvation!” They weep over their numerous and aggravated transgressions. And they will weep frequently at such a time because of strong temptations, from the great enemy of souls. What a mercy is it when we are disposed to weep for sin! Many weep for pain of body, or because of the disappointments they have met with in business, but never grieve on account of their offences before God. They lament the difficulties of the times, but heave not a sigh over the hardness of their hearts IV. Mount Zion is the place to which they will repair for instruction and comfort. V. Devout and sincere inquirers will gladly avail themselves of the direction and counsel of christian ministers, and of other pilgrims, who have made some advances in the way to the celestial city. VI. Young converts, having found god, to their unspeakable satisfaction, will do well to join themselves to the lord, in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten They must do this, by pleading and laying hold for themselves on the blessings of the covenant of grace;--by publicly professing faith in the Redeemer’ s name; for having first given themselves to the Lord, they should give themselves up to the Church, according to the will of God. (Essex Remembrancer.) God proper object of human pursuit I. God should be our supreme object of pursuit. God’ s will is in everything; we should find it out, and act accordingly. II. The supreme pursuit of God requires earnest endeavour. What of that? We should see to it that in everything we do and attend to, thought should apprehend, feeling embrace, will regard, and aim terminate in, God. III. This seeking of God should be continuous. For what reason? The mind is susceptible of indefinite enlargement in acquaintance with God. Religion admits of eternal progress. IV. The constant, earnest, seeking of God is, in this world, ever more difficult, and sometimes grievous. Why? Because of past neglect and failure; and because of existing contrary influences, agencies, attractions, and allurements. V. The sincere, intelligent pursuit of God will issue in a satisfying conviction of the rightness and blessedness of subordinating everything to entire, unswerving, ever advancing allegiance to God in creation, providence, and redemption. VI. True seekers of God, help and urge one another to abide with God in truth, and love, and deed. (W. J. Stuart.) The Israelites returning from Babylon I. The state of the Jews in Babylon.1. The captive Israelites were obviously in a degraded state. And what is the state of man, but a state of degradation? He boasts of the dignity of his nature, but an angel might weep over its baseness. He has brought himself almost to a level with the brutes that perish. 2. The condition of the Jews in their captivity was as wretched as it was degrading. We too arc a suffering people. Once indeed the world was a paradise, but sin has entered it, withered its beauty, and robbed it of its happiness. 3. Our state, like that of the captive Jews, is also a guilty state. It was sin which caused them to be delivered into the hands of their enemies; and it is sin which has made us base and wretched. Our first father transgressed and died; but the vengeance which followed his transgression, deterred not his children from treading in his steps. To say nothing of the follies of our childhood and the sins of our youth, how many iniquities have we willingly and daringly committed since we attained the age of manhood! 4. The enslaved Jews were in a helpless state, or in one that appeared helpless. And what power have we to rescue ourselves from that state of guilt and wretchedness into which we are fallen? The law we have violated, denounces misery on our heads, a misery as great and lasting as our guilt; and who can resist its authority or repeal its curse? II. The deliverance of the Israelites.1. It was effected for them by the power of another. Cyrus was a type of Christ, the great spiritual Deliverer; and if we are ever brought out of our spiritual bondage, we must be content to owe our liberty to Him alone. He beheld them in thraldom to sin and Satan, and trembling under the power and fear of death; He came and overthrew their enemies, and burst their bonds. He made an end of sin; He destroyed death; He bruised Satan underneath their feet. Their degradation too was not overlooked by Him. They were in exile, and they were wretched there; but He raised them up from their low estate, and recovered for them the blessedness they had lost. He is now employed in restoring them to their forfeited inheritance. 2. The deliverance of the Israelites was also openly proclaimed and freely offered. To this proclamation St. Paul alludes in Romans 10:1-21., and speaks of it as a representation of the preaching of the Gospel to the enslaved nations of the earth. III. The feelings with which this journey was commenced.1. As we behold the Israelites leaving in a body the land of the Chaldaeans, the first circumstance which arrests our attention is their penitence. But why do they weep? The mercy they have received has softened their hearts. It has shown them the tenderness of their heavenly Father. This godly sorrow is, in every instance, one of the first fruits of genuine religion. By nature our hearts are hard, so hard that the most awful judgments can make no abiding impression on them; but when we are roused out of our spiritual unconcern by the Spirit of God, and begin to look with the eye of faith on the great Saviour of sinners, a train of new and deep emotions is excited within us. 2. Notice also in these liberated Jews, their, anxiety lest they should mistake the way that is to lead them to Jerusalem. “ They shall ask the way to Zion.” And is not this anxiety, this spirit of inquiry, found in all who have fixed their heart on heaven? There was a time when they were destitute of all care on this subject. They thought themselves sufficiently acquainted with the way to God. They deemed it broad and plain, and looked on him as an enthusiast who bid them ask what they must do to be saved. But now all this self-confidence and imaginary security are come to an end. They know too that mistakes in this matter are not trifling errors; that there is but one way in which they can obtain the salvation they need, and that to seek it in any other way is to be for ever undone. 3. We may notice also the decision of these returning captives, the earnestness and resolution with which they seek the Lord. And no man ever arrived at the heavenly Zion without possessing such a mind as this. (C. Bradley, M. A.) God’ s deliverance of us from spiritual bondage I. God, before He sees fit to loose the spiritual bonds of those whom He intends to deliver, is first pleased to bring them to feel their chains, and to mourn over their distance from Zion. II. Under this painful concern of mind, they shall anxiously inquire after the means of recovery. “ They shall go and seek the Lord their God.” The poor captives are here represented--weeping. Though depressed with their perfect thraldom, though weeping, they go; they sit not down in despondency. They set their faces towards Zion; and let them but find the Lord their God, let them but perceive His gracious intentions towards them, and they can wait His time and way of a full and final deliverance, and commit everything else to Him. III. Animated by this Hope, they shall vigorously press towards Zion; “ they shall ask the way with their faces thitherward.” In the ordinary affairs of life, when men have a particular object in view in which they are deeply interested, and that hope or object is merely probable, they exert every nerve; they toil by day and wake by night; they encounter dangers with resolution, and suffer hardships without complaint. And is it possible to believe that temporal considerations, which can fall under no certain calculation as to She certainty of acquiring them, should engage our affections, and employ all our active powers; and that considerations of infinitely greater moment confessedly, and certain as to their attainment and duration, should have less influence, or no influence at all, upon us? It is impossible; the idea is absurd. What mighty effects, then, it may be asked, will the Christian’ s hope produce? They are, no doubt, various in degrees, and correspond to that hope as it is more or less vigorous; but they are the same in kind; and they may in general fall under one view,--a change of the objects of his affections and pursuits. The bonds in which he was held formerly by his passions and sensual appetites, restrain him no longer; he is no longer under their tyranny and blind impulse. He feels himself overawed by a superior authority; and he perceives objects presented to him which he had formerly viewed with indifference, or had been wholly unnoticed by him, which by a new energy seize his soul,--captivate his affections, and fix his choice. Again, animated by this hope of salvation, the soul rises superior to the world; and feels a Divine elevation that cannot stoop to it, when courted by its most flattering forms, as its ultimate object. This hope of salvation inspires the soul with a Divine zeal, a holy impatience after further attainments. The higher this hope rises, the more it enlarges the heart. IV. In order to confirm and strengthen their resolutions, they will bind themselves by a solemn deed and covenant. “ Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, that shall not be forgotten.” A personal covenant with God is inseparable from genuine closet-devotion Every prayer, every pious purpose, every devout meditation, is virtually a covenant with the Lord. And there may be certain occasions wherein devout souls may see cause to be more explicit to express at large their sense of Divine things, their present feelings, their past experiences, and to commit to writing their solemn purposes and engagements, and, to impress the whole the stronger upon their minds,--to append their names. But this I only mention, the words leading me to speak, not of a personal or closet transaction, but of a public bond of union, the common act of a religions society. Single resolutions slip easily out of the mind, and lose their hold of us; but in a public transaction, where the great God is supposed to stand on the one part, and His poor dependent creatures on the other, there is something so awful and solemn, as must leave upon a mind, not wholly hardened and insensible, some suitable impressions; especially where the transaction is accompanied and confirmed by sensible and expressive symbols. (Thomas Gordon.) A test for true seekers By nature all are captives under the power of Satan, sin, and death. Now, just as Israel found comfort and hope, and had an expectation of getting back to the promised land, when the might of Babylon was broken, so there is comfort for every sinner who desires to escape from the power of sin and Satan, in this great fact, that Christ has broken the power of the old dragon. He has snapped in sunder the iron yokes that His redeemed might go free. Thus Babylon’ s destruction is Israel’ s salvation. Notice, next, these words in verse 4: “ In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together,” --from which I gather that, when men’ s hearts are set upon seeking the Lord, it is wonderful how neigh-hourly they become. Attend to this hint, then, you who are seeking the Saviour. You are encouraged by the fact that the power of Satan is broken, take care that you make up all quarrels, and put an end to all envyings and disputes, for thus you will be helped in seeking the Lord. Notice, next, that the right way for a sinner to return is, first to seek the Lord, and then to seek Zion,--that is, the Church, or heaven, whichever you understand Zion to be. “ They shall go, and seek the Lord their God” ; and then follows our text, “ They shall ask the way to Zion.” Another remark arising out of the context is this, that many who seek the Lord seek Him weeping: “ The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping.” Notice that combination, “ going and weeping.” Some are weeping, but never going; and some are going, but never weeping; it is a blessed thing when we have the two together,--practically drawing near to God, and passively feeling deep sorrow for sin. There are two kinds of tears, and I think that they who truly seek the Lord shed both of them; the one is a tear of sorrow because of sin, the other is a tear of joy because of pardon. I. There are some persons who neither ask the way to Zion nor set their faces thitherward. Their relationship to Christ is that of utter indifference. They regard eternal things as though they were mere trifles, and they look upon temporal things as though, these, were all-important. They call this “ minding the main chance,” and “ looking after the principal thing” ; but as to their souls and God, and heaven, and eternity, they are utterly indifferent. Let ms think of what it is to which they are indifferent. They are utterly indifferent to God. You know how many there are who live as if there were no God at all. This is a terrible thing, because God will require all this at their hands. It is no slight thing to be utterly indifferent to Christ, to Him who loved mankind so much that He could not abide in heaven, and let them perish, but must needs come here and be a lowly, suffering, despised, crucified man, that He might redeem men Yet, after all that He has done, which must have astonished the angels in heaven, and which ravishes the heart of every gracious man on earth, these people do not care. They are utterly indifferent also with regard to themselves. They expect to have troubles in this life; but as to that which comforts many of us under these troubles, they do not wish to know about it. They see many of God’ s people calm and quiet under pain and bereavement and sorrow, and they are sometimes curious to know what the secret is; yet their curiosity is not strong enough to stir them out of indifference. Often, when a man is indifferent about Divine things, it is because he vainly imagines that he is wise. I do not think that you and I ought to meddle with everything; there are some things we may as well let drift, but this will never do about God and eternity. I may be indifferent to God, but He is not indifferent to me. I may forget Him, but He has not forgotten what I do, and think, and say. Another thought that ought to come home to many is that this indifference is so foolish. When a man is indifferent to his own happiness, then he is a fool. If a man were miserably poor, although he might be rich, but he was indifferent about it, yea would think him insane. Now, there is no joy like the joy of salvation in Christ; there is no bliss under heaven that can parallel the bliss of the man who has committed himself into Christ’ s hands, and is resting calmly in Him; yet these indifferent people do not care about it. II. There is another set of people who ask the way to Zion with their faces turned away from it. It is a very strange thine that any should say, “ Tell us the way to heaven,” and yet, when we have told them, that they should set off walking the other way. “ Go due east,” you say; but they go due west directly. Now what can be the reason for that? A man is secretly a drunkard, or he is unchaste, or a woman is living in secret sin, yet always found listening to the Gospel. Why is this? Do you wish to increase your own condemnation? Do you? I cannot think that it is so. I hope that you do not come in order that you may hear of things to quarrel with and quibble over. I remember one, who was afterwards an eminent saint, who first went to hear Mr. Whitefield, because he was a great mimic, that he might take him off, and he afterwards went to the club which they called the “ Hell Fire Club” to spend the evening. “ Now, my mates,” said he, “ I am going to give you a sermon that I heard Mr. Whitefield preach yesterday” ; and the man repeated the sermon, but he himself was converted while he preached it, and so were several of his mates who had met for blasphemy. So, come, even if you do come for such an evil purpose as that. Still, it is a sorrowful business that there should be men who ask the way to Zion, and turn their faces in the opposite direction. III. There is a third class of people who ask the way to Zion, but turn not their faces. What is the meaning of their conduct? Is it an idle curiosity? Do they want to understand theology as others wish to understand astronomy or botany? That is almost like drinking wine out of the sacred vessels, as Belshazzar did; and you know how that night he was slain. Why do such people ask about salvation? Do they dream that mere knowledge will save them? You may get a clear head, but if you have not a clean heart, it will not avail you at the last. Peradventure, however, some of those who are seeking their way to Zion, but have not set their faces that way, are asking with a view to quiet their consciences. It makes them feel better to hear a sermon. Oh, you are strange people! There is a man who is very hungry; does it make him feel that his appetite is appeased when he smells the dinner, when he sees the plates arranged upon the table, and hears the clatter of the knives? Is it that you are trying to store up some little knowledge to use by and by? Are you asking the way to Zion that you may run in it when it becomes convenient to you? Ah, sir! are you making a convenience of God? Do you intend to make Him stand by while you attend to more important things? IV. There is a fourth set of people who have their faces thitherward, but they do not ask the way. Do they fancy that there are many ways? How many roads are there to heaven? This Book declares that there is only one. Do you ask, “ Where are we to enquire?” Well, first of all, inquire of the Book. When you have inquired of the Book, then go on your knees, and inquire of the blessed Spirit who inspired the Book. If you cannot understand the Bible, ask the Author of it to explain it to you. He giveth wisdom, therefore ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to manifest Himself unto you as He does not unto the world, and to lead you in His way. I may also say, but quite secondarily, inquire of His servants. And I may also add that you will do well to ask about the way from many of God’ s people. Although they do not preach, they will be glad to tell you what they do know, and many godly men and women can explain to you just what you want to know. V. Those are the best inquirers who turn their paces toward Zion, and yet are willing to ask the way. Is that your condition, dear friend? Well, then, let me say two or three things for your encouragement, and the first is, Thank God that your face is thitherward, and that you are asking the way. Set a high value on this little grace, for it is no small thing, after all; and, as you think of it, bless God for it. Remember, next, that you must act as far as you know how to act. If the Lord has shown you the right pathway, go in that pathway. Perhaps you say, “ There are many difficulties there.” Never mind the difficulties; cross each bridge as you come to it. “ Oh, but there are some things that I do not understand!” No doubt there are; and there are many things that I do not understand; and there are some things that I do not particularly want to comprehend. If I understand what really concerns my eternal welfare, and the good of my fellow-men, and the glory of God, it is enough for me. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The way to Zion Like these Israelites--we have been going “ from mountain to hill,” that is, from one form of idol-worship to another, till we have forgotten our resting-place. There is but one resting-place for the creature, and that is the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ, apprehended by the soul, fled to, clung to, trusted to. But we thought we could find another rest, some enjoyment, some indulgence, some pursuit, some ambition, some affection, some passion, something which would be all our own, something that would fill the empty chamber, mind, heart, soul, and make us independent of all and everyone except itself. From mountain to hill we ran or we wandered; the last new idol reigned for its hour; then another showed itself in the horizon, and we thought that surely will be the real rest, the true home of this footsore, this wind-lashed and storm-tossed being. “ They have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place.” Well, then, inquiry must be the dawn of hope. We must “ ask the way.” I. There is always something beautiful in the spirit of inquiry. The very face of the inquirer shines. That kindling of the eye as a man listens--the man who has a thirst for knowledge--the man whose soul is set on finding its way into some new region of science, or into some new joy, is a touching sight to the looked-on, and it is an inspiring influence to the teacher who feels that he has a message. It is very delightful, indeed, to feel that inquiry is abroad. But of all inquiries the way to Zion is first and foremost. It lies at the root, I believe, of all this questioning. Whatever form inquiry takes this is its meaning. Even intellectual inquiry is often either the escape from, or is a substitute for, this. Some men say, and some men encourage the saying, “ Religion is all doubtful, let me enjoy myself in the study of the certain; revelation may be insoluble, let me interrogate nature, whose very mysteries are substantial. “ The way to Zion,” such men say, “ has no signposts and no landmarks; I cannot guess in such matters, of doubt I am impatient; God in nature shall be my God; if there be a hereafter we will study it when we can know.” And then others have no idea of any method of knowing save what they call intellectual. It is not that they profess indifference to revelation; on the contrary, they would rather call themselves inquirers into its documents and into its pretensions; they treat it just as they treat a science or a philosophy--dissect, discuss, dispute over it, and lecture upon it with all the freedom and with far more than all the positiveness which they would think becoming if the matter in hand were either geology or botany, either the telescope or the microscope. If anyone were to say, “ Are you aware that religion is the knowledge of a person, and that you may just as well expect to become acquainted with your friend by arithmetic or algebra, as hope to learn the way to Zion by processes of pure intellect,” they would turn round and accuse you of wanting to throw in an element of romance or feeling, and so to disturb every calculation and invalidate every result. And yet, can any word be truer than this, that they who would inquire into the truth of revelation must inquire with the whole man? Intellect is one part of the man--by all means bring intellect with you--but there are other parts as distinctive, as characteristic, and far more vital. If God has spoken, be quite sure He has spoken to all parts of us, and to the sum of all--the willing, acting, feeling, Judging, reflecting, resolving, loving, and living man. Many answers might be given, all true, and all hopeful, to this question as to the way to Zion. We will suggest one. The latest chapters of the Bible tell us one or two things like this--that the glory of God enlightens that world, that “ the Lamb” (our Lord Jesus Christ) is the “ Light thereof” ; again, that the “ Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” ; and, once again, that the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, that “ His servants shall serve Him,” that they “ shall see His face,” that they shall, as it were, have His name in their foreheads. The desire of every soul surely must be to endeavour to anticipate that kind of life, to live now in the life of God, to see Him now by faith, to follow Him now whithersoever, by His prophets, by His Word, by His Spirit, by the example of Christ, He leads. This surely must be something of the way to Zion. II. The spirit of inquiry must be also a spirit of resolution and determination. For there is an inquiry about the way which is all speculation. We can fancy some of those captives in Babylon busying themselves with conjecture as to the shortest and best way home. They sit there with a map on their knees, and discuss the Lebanon route, and the desert route, with great eagerness, with much ingenuity, with many arguments both ways, yet without an idea but that they themselves will have to end, their days as they began them, in exile. There is an asking of the way to God s Zion which is of this character. This is the case of all who can discourse about the scheme of salvation, argue for it, quarrel for it, condemn and execute for it, yet forbear altogether the “ weeping,” which this passage tells us of, for their own sins; the “ going,” which this passage tells us of, in the path of duty; the “ seeking,” which this passage tells us of, as always preliminary to the finding. Their faces are not thitherward, whatever be the talk or the profession. Let each inquiry be a determination. If we hear in a sermon, if we read in the Bible, that “ without holiness no man can see the Lord,” then let us instantly say to ourselves, “ What is that sin which is hindering holiness in me at this moment?” and let the day not end without a struggle against it, without some special indulgence foregone in the might of prayer, some trial made of God’ s promise, that whensoever we call upon Him an enemy shall be put to flight. If we hear that watching and praying can alone guard us against temptation, then let us instantly wake up the drowsy powers of earnestness and devotion, keep our loins girt, and our lamp burning, lest, perhaps, after much serving, we be found without the one thing needful; lest Satan, watching his moment, get an advantage; lest Christ, coming suddenly, find us sleeping. (Dean Vaughan.) Seeking after finding The singularity of the passage lies in the face of the inquirer being towards Zion, whilst he is yet forced to ask what road he ought to take. “ They shall ask,” &c. They are in the right road, or at least are advancing in the right direction; but, nevertheless, whether through ignorance, or through fear of even the possibility of mistake, they continually make inquiries as to the path to be followed. We think that this circumstances indicates such honesty of purpose in the inquirer, such vigilance, such circumspection, such anxiety to be right, and such dread of being wrong, as should distinguish every Christian, though too often we look for them in vain. And, at the same time, we evidently learn that persons are not always fair judges of their spiritual condition; they may be asking the way like those who are in ignorance and darkness, and all the while their faces may be towards Zion. Let us consider first the case of those who, though going right, suppose themselves going wrong; and secondly, that of those who believe themselves right, but yet desire further assurance; for of both classes it may equally be said, “ They ask the way,” &c. Now it is the object of such parables as that of the tares and the wheat, or that of the net which gathered of all kinds, to teach us that there is to be a mixture in the visible Church, and that it is not men’ s business to attempt a separation. We are all too much disposed to exercise a spirit of judgment, to pronounce opinions on the condition of our fellow-men, whether the living or the dead, just as though we had access to God’ s Book, and could infallibly read its registered decisions. But there is everything in the Bible to warn us against this spirit of judgment, and to urge us, on the contrary, to a spirit of charity. A very comforting remembrance it is, that we are not to stand or fall by human decision, that our portion for eternity is not to be settled by what men think of us here. But not only are men likely to deliver a false judgment upon others, and therefore bound to confine their chief scrutiny to themselves, it is further very possible that they may form a wrong opinion of their own spiritual state, not only, as you all know, in concluding themselves safe whilst in danger, but, as is perhaps less suspected, in concluding themselves in danger whilst safe. They are downcast because faith seems weak, or elated because it seems strong; whereas it is not faith which is to save them, but Christ; and whilst faith, whether in itself or its evidences, may change from day to day, Christ changes not, but is “ the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” And we always think it safe to tell those who are spiritually depressed, that their very depression is no mean argument of their safety; for so unnatural is it to man to feel anxious for his soul, that, wheresoever there is the anxiety, we recognise a higher agency, even a Divine, as having wrought to excite the solicitude. And over and above these cases of depression, in which one cause or another weaves darkness round a man, so that, whilst his face is towards Zion, he cannot perceive that he is on the road to the heavenly city, we nothing doubt that there are many instances of parties who have begun in true religion, and nevertheless think that the first step has not been taken. It is not always, nay, it is not, we believe, often, that conversion is suddenly effected, nor through some special instrumentality which fixes, as it were, the date of the change. In the majority of cases, the change, we are inclined to believe, is gradual, imperceptibly effected, so that, although the man becomes at length conscious of a great moral alteration, he cannot tell you when it commenced, nor by what steps it went on. Regarding conversion as a gradual work, a work in which “ one soweth and another reapeth,” we do not look on those who are evidently confirmed believers, as the only travellers towards the celestial city: we rejoice in thinking that there are numbers in whom the moral change is not yet distinctly marked, but who are nevertheless in the act of passing the strait gate. But let us pass on to the case of men, in regard of whom there can be no doubt that they have made a beginning, and let us see what our text may indicate as to these more advanced characters. Let it first be observed, that a Christian should never be too confident; that he should never take for granted, as a point on which there could not be doubt, that he is indeed “ a new creature,” and on the high road to the kingdom. Do you find an increasing delight in secret prayer? does sin seem to you more and more odious? are you more and more penetrated by the exceeding great love of God in giving His Son to die for your sakes? is holiness becoming your happiness, duty your privilege, and heaven the very home of your affections? These, and the like questions are those which you should be frequently proposing to yourselves. On the answer to these, an answer given as in the sight of a heart-searching God, should rest your answer to the most momentous of all questions, “ Are we on the way to Zion?” And if the answer to this last question can only be come at through the answer to a series of inquiries, each of which may be said to need, from its very nature, the being dally proposed, it necessarily follows that you ought to be imitating the children of Judah and Israel, asking as to the road to Zion, however you may hope that your faces are already thitherward. Can this be the way to Zion in which I am? Ask the dead, who have reached that heavenly city: with one voice they will tell you, that, if it be the right way, it is a way of self-denial, leading you through mortified lusts, and over subjugated affections; and then judge ye whether or not it be such a way in which you are found. Ask the living, of whom you have best cause to believe that they are heirs of the kingdom: they will assure you that the way is one of faith and obedience, every step of which is an advance in the knowledge of your own depraved hearts, and in the sense of the worth and sufficiency of Christ; and then judge ye whether or not this can be the way in which you are walking. Ask the Bible, on whose pages the Holy Spirit hath mapped out the path, and it will tell you that the way is a narrow way, which will not admit of your encumbering yourselves with perishable things, but which can be traversed only by those who lay aside every weight; all then judge ye whether ye have obtained the description of a path which ye yourselves are pursuing. And ask ye, yet further, of God. By diligent and fervent prayer make inquiry of God as to the road which conducts to the place where He dwells. And the answer to this inquiry, an answer, which, if there be sincerity in the inquirer, shall certainly not be withheld, will expose to you the deceitfulness of all hope of reaching Zion which is not founded on the appropriation of the merits of the Redeemer, the reality of that appropriation being proved by the produced fruits of righteousness; and then determine whether such answer ought to leave you assured that you are not self-deceived, when concluding yourselves in the heavenward path. We do not wish you to be always uncertain as to whether or not your faces are turned towards Zion; hut we wish you to understand that their being so turned is a reason in favour of, not a reason against, your frequently inquiring the heavenly path. It is not sufficient that they be turned; the great matter is, that they be kept turned; and whilst such is your nature, that, without constant vigilance, the direction may be gradually changed, and yet appear to you the same--even as the eyes of a well-drawn portrait follow you as you move, and so might persuade you that you had not moved at all--it is evidently bound on you, by your regard for your safety, that you be always ascertaining the landmarks, in place of judging by your apparent position. Is my life the life of a believer in Christ? is faith producing piety, humility, charity, patience? What is this mountain before me? is it on the map? what is this valley which I have to cross, this stream which I have to ford? are they what I was to meet with, or do they show that I have wandered? And here the road divides--which turn am I to take? what is to decide me in this perplexity? Let me be firm on one point--that it is the direction of the road, not its quality, by which I will be determined. The road which leads to heaven, that is my road, be it, or be it not, strewed with the rocks, and swept by the torrents. Other paths may look more inviting: but I have nothing to do except with their termination: if they conduct not to Zion, I would not venture to follow them even a solitary step, though they might lead me to riches, or honours, or pleasures. This it is to imitate the emancipated Jews. But there is yet more to be gathered from this description, when considered as that of a believer in Christ. We will now suppose him certified as to the direction in which he is proceeding, certified that his face is towards Zion, and nevertheless busying himself with inquiries as to the way. And what would this mark? Christianity is that in which no man can be too advanced to study the alphabet. The simple and fundamental doctrines of our holy religion,--the doctrines of human corruption, of the renewing power of God’ s Spirit, of the incarnation of the Eternal Word, and of the atonement effected by a Mediator,--these, which may be said to show the way to Zion, present continually new material for the contemplation and instruction of the Christian. There is a sense in which- there is no getting beyond the very alphabet of Christianity; that alphabet will always be beyond us; any one of its letters being as a mighty hieroglyphic which the prayerful student may partially decipher, but the most accomplished scholar never thoroughly expound. By this, then, amongst other tests, let those who think themselves advanced in Christianity try their spiritual condition. What ear have they for simple truths simply delivered? In their private studies, what pleasure have they in meditating the first principles of the Gospel? do they find those first principles inexhausted, inexhaustible? or is it always to deeper doctrines that they turn, as though it were only when quite out of their depth, that they gain a resting-place for the soul? But there is yet one more particular on which we wish to insist. We would direct your attention to what we may call the honesty of purpose displayed by the Jews, and hold it up for imitation to all who profess to be seeking the kingdom of God. The Jew had his face turned towards Zion, whilst he was inquiring the road: if he did not know the precise path, he knew the direction in which the city lay; and he was looking in the direction, when he asked what way he should take. We have a right to require and expect a similar conduct from all those who ask of us the way to heaven. There is such a thing as asking the way to Zion with the face towards Babylon; and if there be this dissimulation--for no milder word will express the precise truth--in vain will the preacher point out the road, and urge the traveller to decision and dispatch. We would have you distinctly understand that there is a certain part which the unconverted man has to perform if he hope for conversion; and that whilst this is undone, he has no right to look for the visitations of grace. It may not be in his power to find for himself the pathway of life; still less to take a step on that pathway when found. But he may ascertain the direction in which Zion lies, and he may be looking in that direction, if not advancing. It is quite idle to say that he knows not the direction: he knows it to be the exact opposite to that in which he naturally looks; to turn his eyes from the world is, as he must be thoroughly aware, to turn them towards Zion. (H. Melvill, B. D.) Question and attitude Inquiry and attitude should correspond. You should look as if you meant your questions. Do not let us have any discrepancy in the man himself; no asking of questions about one way whilst we are looking over the shoulder towards another. Do not mock kind heaven. “ Thitherward” : literally, hitherward. Jeremiah is writing in Judah, and he says the time will come when the returning ones will face this way; and they will he asking from step to step, Which is the road to Zion? Sometimes we look our prayers; sometimes we are on the right road and do not know it. Questions about a certain kind of knowledge seem to be born in every soul; love for certain kinds of intelligence is inborn. Here is a little creature three years old who cannot be kept away from the piano. He will be there when you are not looking; he will rise early in the morning and grope his way towards the musical instrument. Why this, thou little Mozart? I cannot help it. Would it not be more in your way, poor little child, to have hoop, or humming-top, or bagfuls of marbles? He does not answer in words, but he goes back to the piano as if he had left it in some other world and was delighted to find it again; it talks to him, and he talks to it, and if you will allow the little soul to tarry there he wants no other heaven just now. Others are fond of language or science or history; there is a predestination that settles us if we will listen to it. The Lord has not turned any one of us into a pathless world. He says to every traveller, I want you to go down this road; do not turn to the right or the left; you must be trained in the way you should go, the predestined, foreordained road; you will find walking smooth down there, but if you get upon any other path your feet will be pricked with sharp thorns. When the soul is really alive with interrogation it will know how to put its own questions, and it will give the Church no rest until those questions have been answered substantially. If the Church cannot answer the great questions of the soul, then it is no Church, though its spire be high as heaven. Nor must we think that only the nominally great can answer the soul’ s questions. Sometimes a little child might guide a king. What are the great questions that men should ask? Men must answer that inquiry themselves. Why be so anxious about details and trivialities and frivolities? Why hold the letter in your hand and ask a score of questions about the sealing of it? You are not going to be saved by the seal; break it, open the letter, read it. If you are really in earnest, if your souls be aflame with Divine sincerity, you will know what questions are important and what are trivial There shall come a time when the only questions worth asking will be religious questions. Where is Zion? Where is God? What is truth? Where is peace? What do all your inquiries amount to when set side by side with the possibility (let us use no firmer term at this moment) of knowing and realising the spiritual and the Divine? Now suppose you know all about the strata, how they were built, and how they were piled, and how their were coloured, and can trace every line, and discourse with eloquence upon every lamination,--now how do you feel after all that? Are you at peace? are you at rest? I see your fingers going out after other worlds to clutch them because you have exhausted the little volume of the earth. But the universe is just as little to God as the earth is to you and the universe. There is nothing great beside God--that is, in comparison with Him, in relation to Him. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/bi/ Jeremiah 50:6 My people have forgotten their resting-place.Cannot you rest? God has made Himself the resting-place for the human soul; and unless we fix our heart upon Him we may rest, but it is only for a time. The rest which God provides for us is a rest which satisfies us, and it is a rest which we can always have, a rest which “ remaineth,” and which cannot be taken away from the people of God.1. Many people are weary and very far from restful on account of business cares. You see continually in the newspapers that not only are there many bankruptcies and liquidations, and such like unpleasant occurrences, but the market reports tell us that trade is very unprofitable. Whatever happens, make the best of it. Don’ t wear away your soul in mourning and repining as if your soul were chained to a perpetually revolving grindstone. Look to the bright side of things. Do the best you can, and do not fear the worst is sure to happen. Remember that God still lives and cares for you. “ Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” It is a severe trial of faith in God when death removes the bread-winner from a family. Ah: at such a time of bereavement there is no consolation excepting from trust in God’ s providential care. He is the Father of the fatherless and the Friend of the widow. Likewise, many a Christian man is ready to say in the desolateness of his sorrow, “ I have to tread my path alone!” He does not say that God is dead, but be acts as if he thought so. To doubt the superintending care and consolation of God is practical atheism. When we are in trouble, that is the very time we ought to cast all our care upon Him, for “ He careth for us.” 2. Then, some may be much troubled because of something going wrong in your family. You may have an undutiful and wicked son or daughter. A man said to me some time ago, “ My heart is almost broken!” I asked, “ What is the matter?” He answered, “ My son--has become an infidel! I would rather have given my life!” Is there no resting-place in such a time of trouble? Yes; there is. Take up your Bible again, and read what God did “ for David’ s sake,” how the children of David and their descendants were blest and kept from great evil “ for My Servant David’ s sake.” “ The prayer of faith shall save the soul.” 3. Some of the sharpest troubles experienced in this troublesome world come from misplaced or unrequited affection--what Shakespeare calls in his forcible way “ the pangs of despised love.” Our only course in this, as in every other heartbreaking matter, is to” take it to the Lord in prayer,” trusting in Him, and leaving in His care all the responsibility of one’ s life. 4. It may be that your trouble is a sinful disposition. You feel that you cannot help yourself. But God can give you relief and rest if you trust in Him. As Jesus restored to health the man who was sick of the palsy, so God can restore your soul by heavenly grace. Lastly, I wished to give you an assurance of rest in God’ s paradise. (W. Birch.) The soul’ s resting-place I. The human soul needs a resting-place.1. This is true of the soul in innocence. As a creature he could not but be dependent. Without unquestioning trust in God, safety and happiness were impossible to man even before the fall. 2. How much more true is this since man has become a sinner. His nature is utterly weary. The cares and anxieties of life are wearing away his strength, and there is nothing binding him to earth but the fear of death The past is guilty, the future is hopeless, and so the present is restless. II. Jesus Christ is the resting-place the soul needs.1. In Christ we have full redemption. No anodynes of earth can give the soul the rest that the blood of Christ can. 2. In Him we also have regeneration. “ If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” A new centre has been given to his heart, a new aim to his life, a new joy to his experience. 3. He gives repose to the intellect. Christ is “ the truth,” and through confidence all mysteries are accepted as unquestioningly as a child accepts the statement of its parent. Jesus Christ alone brings to the soul the element of certainty, and, worn out by vain flights, it folds its weary wings and rests with quiet thankfulness on this tree of knowledge, which is also the tree of life. 4. He also gives repose to the affections of the soul. Earthly objects prove disappointing or fall away from us, or are torn from us and leave the soul all palpitating with agony, but no power can separate from the love of God in Christ Jesus. III. This resting-place of the soul is sometimes forgotten even by those who have known and enjoyed it. A Christian may frequently have his peace in Christ” disturbed. At moments he may be walking through darkness. Job was a true man of God even when he was crying out, Oh, that I knew where I might find Him!” True, a Christian is not justified in being in this distressed state of mind. He ought to know better, &c.1. When he falls into perplexity, doubting whether he is forgiven or not. 2. When he depends upon merely human and earthly resources. 3. When he loses his confidence in the midst of affliction. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Jeremiah 50:17-20 Israel is a scattered sheep.I. View God’ s people, the spiritual Israel, as scattered sheep (Jeremiah 50:17).1. They were sheep going astray. Scattered over the world. 2. Marked, noted, contemplated by the Divine eye, the Divine foreknowledge, the Divine purpose. 3. Found in different regions of the earth, yet advancing to one heavenly home--the better country. II. View the people of the Most High, the spiritual Israel, as a forgiven people (Jeremiah 50:20).1. Divine forgiveness. 2. A forgiveness dependent upon a Divine redemption. 3. A forgiveness is righteousness. 4. A complete forgiveness. 5. A forgiveness, and more than forgiveness. Inseparable from justification, acceptance in a righteousness of God, unto all and upon all them that believe. 6. A forgiveness never separate from sanctification. III. View the chosen of the Most High, the spiritual Israel, as assailed and persecuted by lion-like foes (Jeremiah 50:17).1. They who are effectually called, and set apart for God, are exposed at once to special enmities. All the enemies of Gospel truth, holiness, spirituality, godliness are their enemies. 2. The enemies of the spiritual Israel are formidable, but vincible. 3. The days of open persecution have emphatically illustrated the ferocity of anti-Christian persecution. 4. The foes of the spiritual Israel are vanquished foes. Christ hath already overcome them. They have all been vanquished in principle. 5. The spiritual Israel hath mighty resources engaged, mighty friendship and support pledged on its behalf. In Isaiah 31:1-9. Jehovah compares Himself to a lion in the succour and defence of His Zion (Isaiah 31:4). IV. View the spiritual Israel as a reserved inheritance for Christ (verse 20).1. Purchased and redeemed in order to be reserved.2. Effectually called and regenerated in order to be reserved.3. Separated from the world in order to be reserved.4. Reserved, that the Saviour may take delight in them.5. Reserved, as the gift of the Father to the Son.6. Reserved to be witnesses for God and His Christ.7. Reserved as first-fruits to God and to the Lamb.8. Reserved to inherit exceeding riches of grace, and ultimate riches of glory. V. View the people of the Most High, the spiritual Israel, as feeding in the pastures of grace under the “ Great Shepherd of the sheep” (verse 19).1. The Shepherd of this fold is mightier than all the devouring lions that can threaten His redeemed. He can curb them at His pleasure. The Shepherd of this fold is wiser than all the opponents of His Church. Neither might nor craft can defeat the purposes of His grace. (D. R. Morris.) The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none.--Sin completely removed I. Sin is completely removed, in that the guilt of it is all forgiven, and the punishment due to it entirely remitted. II. Sin is completely removed, in that the sinner is perfectly restored to the love and favour of God. III. Sin is completely removed, in that the pardoned sinner obtains a blessed restoration of character, state, and hope. IV. The way in which so complete a pardon and restoration of guilty sinners is effected. V. This complete forgiveness of sin is alone worthy of God, and sufficient for man. VI. This complete forgiveness is necessary for us all, and ought to be most earnestly sought by us all. (Essex Remembrancer.) Jeremiah 50:34 Their Redeemer is strong, the Lord of hosts is His name.The kinsman Redeemer Among the remarkable provisions of the Mosaic law there were some very peculiar ones affecting the next-of-kin. The nearest living blood-relation to a man had certain obligations and offices to discharge, under certain contingencies, in respect of which he received a special name; which is sometimes translated in the Old Testament “ Redeemer” and sometimes “ Avenger” of blood. What the etymological signification of the word may be is, perhaps, somewhat doubtful. It is taken by some authorities to come from a word meaning “ to set free?” I. The qualifications and offices of the kinsman-redeemer. The qualifications may be all summed up in one--that he must be the nearest living blood relation of the person whose God he was. He might be brother, or less nearly connected, hut this was essential, that of all living men, he was the most closely connected. That qualification has to be kept well in mind when thinking of the transference of the office to God in His relation to Israel, and through Israel, to us. Such being his qualification, what were his duties? Mainly three. The first was connected with property. One great purpose steadily kept in view in all the Mosaic land laws was the prevention of the alienation of the land from its original holders, and its accumulation in a few hands. The obligation on the next-of-kin to buy back alienated property was quite as much imposed on him for the sake of the family, as of the individual. The second of his duties was to buy back a member of his family fallen into slavery. (Leviticus 25:39). The last of the offices of the kinsman-redeemer was that of avenging the blood of a murdered relative. The law of blood-feud among the Hebrews was all in the direction Of restricting the “ wild justice of revenge,” and of entrusting it to certain chosen persons out of the kindred, of the murdered man. The savage vendetta was too deeply engrained in the national habit to be done away with altogether. All that was for the time possible was to check and systematise it, and this was done by the institution in question, which did not so much put the sword into the hand of the next-of-kin as strike it out of the hand of all the rest of the clan. II. The grand mysterious transference of this office to Jehovah. This singular institution was gradually discerned to be charged with lofty meaning and to be capable of being turned into a dim shadowing of something greater than itself. You will find that God begins to be spoken of in the later portions of Scripture as the Kinsman-Redeemer. I reckon eighteen instances, of which thirteen are in the second half of Isaiah. The reference is no doubt mainly to the great deliverance from captivity in Egypt and Babylon, but the thought sweeps a much wider circle and goes much deeper down than these historical facts. There was in it some dim thought that though God was separated from them by all the distance between finitude and infinitude yet they were nearer to Him than to anybody else; that the nearest living relation that these poor persecuted Jews had was the Lord of hosts, beneath whose wings they might come to trust. Therefore does the prophet kindle into rapture and triumphant confidence as he thinks that the Lord of hosts, mighty, unspeakable, high above our thoughts, our words, or our praise, is Israel’ s Kinsman, and, therefore, their Redeemer. How profound a consciousness that man was made in the image of God, and that, in spite of all the gulf between finite and infinite, and the yet deeper gulf between sinful man and righteous God. He was closer to a poor struggling soul than even the dearest were, must have been at all events dawning on the prophet who dared to think of the Holy One in the Heavens as Israel’ s Kinsman. III. We have the perfect fulfilment of this Divine office by the man Christ Jesus. He is nearer to each of us than our dearest are. He loves us with the love of kindred, and can fill our hearts and wills, and help our weakness in better, more inward ways than all sympathy and love of human hearts can do. Between the atoms of the densest of material bodies there is an interspace of air, as is shown by the fact that everything is compressible if you can find the force sufficient to compress it. That is to say, no particle touches another in the material universe. And so in the spiritual region there is an awful film of separation between each of us and all others, however closely we may be united. We each live on our own little island in the deep “ with echoing straits between us thrown.” The solemn consciousness of personality, of responsibility unshared by any, of a separate destiny parting us from our dearest. Arms may be twined, but they must be unlinked some day, and each in turn face the awful solitude of death, as each has really faced that scarcely less awful solitude of life alone. But “ he that is joined to the Lord is one flesh,” and our kinsman, Christ, will come so near to us, that we shall be in Him, and He in us, one spirit and one life. He is our nearest relation, nearer than husband, wife, parent, brother, sister, or friend. He is nearer to you than your very selves. He is your better self. This is His qualification for His office. Because He is man’ s kinsman, He buys back His enslaved brethren. The bondage from which “ one of his brethren” might “ redeem” the Israelite was a voluntary bondage into which he had “ sold himself.” And such is our slavery. None can rob us of our freedom but ourselves. The world and the flesh and the devil cannot put their chains on us unless our own will hold out our hands for the manacles. And, alas! it is often an unsuspected slavery “ How sayest thou ye shall be made free? We were never m bondage to any man,” boasted the angry disputants with Christ. And if they had lifted up their-eyes they might have seen from the Temple courts in which they stood, the citadel full of Roman soldiers, and perhaps the golden eagles gleaming in the sunshine on the loftiest battlements. Some of us are just as foolish, and try as desperately to annihilate facts by ignoring them, and to make ourselves free by passionately denying that we are slaves. But “ he that committeth sin is the slave of sin.” Did you ever try to kill a bad habit, a vice! Did you find it easy work? Was it not your master? You thought it was a chain no stronger than a spider’ s web that was round your wrist till you tried to break it; and then you found it a chain of adamant. Many men who boast themselves free are tied and bound with the cords of their sins. Dreaming of freedom, you have sold yourself, and that “ for nought.” Is that not true, tragically true? What have you made out of sin? Is the game worth the candle? Will it continue to be so?--“ And ye shall be redeemed without money, for Jesus Christ laid down His life for you and me, that by His death we might receive forgiveness and deliverance from-the power of sin.” And so your Kinsman, nearer to you than all else, has bought you back. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Another pleads for us Says Charles Garrett: “ During the cotton famine I went to many a man m need and said: ‘ Why don’ t you go to the committee and get what you require?’ And the reply was, ‘ I can’ t, I have never asked for help in my life If I were to try to speak for myself I should be choked. I can’ t do it; I’ ll starve first.’ And I have said, ‘ I don’ t want you to speak. I only want you to come. I will do all the talking,’ and at the appointed time he has come, and I have said, ‘ This is the person of whom I spoke,’ and they at once relieved him.” . Jeremiah 51:1 Let Jerusalem come into your mind.Sacred memories The captives in Babylon are charged to remember Jerusalem, because the temple of their God was there; to keep them from settling down in Babylon. I. There is a Jerusalem here below which should come into our mind. The Church of the living God is our holy city, the city of the Great King, and we should have it in mind--1. To unite with its citizens. Join with them in open profession of faith in Christ, in Christian love and mutual help, in holy service, worship, communion, &c. 2. To pray for its prosperity. Our window, like that of Daniel, should be opened towards Jerusalem. 3. To labour for its advancement. Remember it in the allotment of money, use of time, employment of talents, exercise of influence, &c. 4. To prefer its privileges above earthly gain. Consider these privileges in our choice of our residence, occupation, &c. 5. To act consistently with her holy character. God’ s people must not degrade His name and cause by living in sin. 6. To lament its declensions and transgressions (Luke 19:41; Philippians 3:18). II. There is a Jerusalem above which should come into our mind.1. Let the believer’ s thoughts often go thither, for Jesus is there, our departed brethren are there, our own home is there, and thither our hopes and desires should always tend. It should be upon our minds-- (1) In our earthly enjoyments, lest we grow worldly.(2) In our dally trials, lest we grow despondent.(3) In our associations, lest we idolise present friendships.(4) In our bereavements, lest we grieve inordinately.(5) In old age, that we may be on the watch for the home-going.(6) In death, that visions of glory may brighten our last hours.(7) In all seasons, that our conversation may be in heaven. 2. Let the unconverted permit such thoughts to come into their mind, for they may well inquire of themselves thus-- (1) What if I never enter heaven?(2) Shall I never meet my godly relatives again?(3) Where then must I go?(4) Can I hope that my present life will lead me to heaven?(5) Why am I not taking the right path?(6) Unbelievers perish: why am I one of them? Do I wish to perish?(7) How can I hope to enter heaven if I do not so much as think about it, or the Lord who reigns in it? (C. H. Spurgeon.) Longing for heaven It may be a sin to long for death, but I am sure it is no sin to long for heaven. (Matthew Henry, D. D.) Blessed are the home-sick, for they shall come at last to the Father’ s house. (Heinrich Stillings.) Heaven neglected John Eliot was once on a visit to a merchant, and finding him in his counting-house, where he saw books of business on the table, and all his books of devotion on the shelf, he said to him, “ Sir, here is earth on the table, and heaven on the shelf. Pray don’ t think so much of the table as altogether to forget the shelf.” (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jerusalem to be enshrined in memory and heart But these captive Jews were not to be despairing Jews. In seventy years their captivity was to end. Meantime, as a resource against discouragement, against the infecting Babylonian evil with which they were to be surrounded, Jeremiah commands these Israelites, “ And let Jerusalem come into your minds.” Think of what she has been; think of what restored Jerusalem is to be; remember that you are really citizens, not of this Babylon, but of God’ s Jerusalem; and as citizens of this Jerusalem, even though you be in Babylon, endure, hope, live. Everywhere in Scripture the earthly Jerusalem is the symbol of the heavenly. We have right to generalise. From the fact that whatever God says is to be in this world comes to be, we have reason to believe that whatever God says concerning the other world certainly is. When the Scriptures tell me that the earthly Jerusalem points to a heavenly Jerusalem, because I find God s Word so true about everything in this world, I have right to believe it true about things in that; I have right to believe that there is a heavenly Jerusalem. So let the heavenly Jerusalem come into your minds.1. Let Jerusalem come into your mind when it seems to you as though life were not worth the living. There is a better life beyond, for which this is preparation. 2. Let Jerusalem come into your mind when you seem to yourself specially baffled. 3. Let Jerusalem come into your mind when the fight with sin is sore and weary. 4. Let Jerusalem come into your mind when death seems complete victor. This is the greatest of questions for each one of us, Have we any title in that Jerusalem? Can we let it come into our minds as our own? (Homiletic Review.) Quickened memories for God’ s house and worship Jerusalem should come into our mind so that we should prefer its privileges to earthly gain. Whenever we are about to make a settlement in any place, and have the choice of residence left to ourselves, the first matter we have to consider is the religions advantages and disadvantages. I admire the action of that Jew who, when he was about to select a city in which he would pursue his business, asked his friend the rabbi, “ Is there a synagogue in such and such a place?” The rabbi replied, “ No.” So the Jew said, “ Then I will not go to live there, for I will” not settle in any place, where there is no synagogue, for I must gather with my people for the worship of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The first place in our thought to be given to Christ’ s Church The Church of God should come into our minds as spontaneously as the recollection of our wife or mother. When we look at a map of any country, we should think of how the cause of God prospers in that region. If we make a profit in business, one of our first thoughts should be, “ Now I can do something more for the work of the Lord.” When the newspaper is read, it should be in relation to the progress of the kingdom of God. This one thing should tinge all other things with its own colour, and draw all other thoughts into its net. The cause of Christ should be an all-absorbing maelstrom, into which all our thoughts and pursuits should be drawn. A man of one idea aces thy universe by the light of it, and he who loves the Church of God with all his heart will do the same. How can we say, “ Lord, remember me,” to Christ in heaven, if we do not remember His Church on earth? Looking heavenward These words were addressed to the exiled Jews in Babylon, in view of their enfranchisement, and their return to their own country. A four months’ journey lay before them, a road infested by savage men and marked by many discomforts had to be trodden, and hence this counsel was given to hearten and comfort the pilgrims. Let the dear place shine before your eyes, let its spell be upon your hearts, and this will relieve the tedium of the journey, make you brave to face the foe, keep you from fainting, and secure the success of your journey. The text is relevant to all times, and especially if we think of the heavenly instead of the earthly Jerusalem. Jesus was always reminding His hearers of the upper universe. Paul admonishes us to “ Seek those things which are above.” And again and again we are reminded of our fugitive life in this world--we are “ strangers,” “ sojourners,” “ pilgrims,” and are urged to look upward. In recent years there have been those who have disparaged everything in the nature of other-worldliness. I think it was George Eliot who set this modern fashion of condemning attention to the celestial world, but her life was a sad, suggestive commentary on her loss of faith. But George Eliot has had not a few followers in her anti-heavenly propaganda. Rationalists, Agnostics, and Socialists have vetoed the other-worldly life. There was little need for this adjuration. Heaven is one of the most neglected subjects in present-day preaching. The Sunday is not more restful and healing because given up to the consideration of secular subjects; character is not more refined, ethereal, and blessed because men look down instead of up; the world is not richer but poorer for ignoring the Ideal, the Mystical, the Transcendental, the Divine. The grandest souls of the past--noble-tempered, fine-charactered men and women of majestic mien--are thus described: “ They looked for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.” There are three or four reasons why we should earnestly cultivate this other-worldly disposition. I. It is necessary for our salvation. The Christian life is one of perpetual peril. We are menaced from every quarter. The microbe is ever on our track, and we need to be on our guard to ward off our foes. But the perils of our body are as nothing compared with our soul-perils. Our danger arises from this present evil world. It is always near us, appealing to us, setting its snares, offering us its bewildering and beguiling baits. It comes, too, in such subtle forms, in the form of a fair-faced friend; it can make use of such attractive things, and sometimes souls are ensnared before they are aware of it. Think of a man living daily in some social circles with their artificialities, their unrealities, white lies, lamentable hypocrisies; or in the world of politics with its “ understandings,” trickeries, untruths; or in the world of business with its corners, monopolies, injustices, sharp practice! What does it mean? Full often the dulling of the mind, the paralysis of the conscience, ay, it means the heart loses its freshness, and the life its whiteness. And, mark you, it is not that one need voluntarily yield himself up to these blighting phenomena not to resist is to suffer. Then, what can be done to break the spell of this present world, and ensure our salvation? Let Jerusalem come into your mind, suffer the better world to overshadow the worse world, get into God’ s own climate, cultivate the heavenly vision. Fetch heaven’ s light down to earth. Fetch the fresh air of the eternal hills down to this stifling, stagnant scene. Fetch the music of heaven down to this terrestrial sphere. The better saves from the worse. Its glory will be glory no longer, its unreality will be sighted, and he will be saved. It is the far-off look that is needed, a vision of the eternal things which is our salvation. Sir Redvers Bullet has told us that in the late war the Boers fought better than our own soldiers, because they had better eyesight, and could see much farther, and no doubt the reason why many Christians are overtaken by spiritual calamities is because they cannot see afar off, they do not lift up their eyes on high. Let us accustom our eyes to see the glories of the New Jerusalem. II. It is necessary for our amplification. Familiarity with the world does not broaden men, but narrows them. “ Born a man and died a grocer,” says the epitaph, and the shrinkage of a soul is one of the painfullest features of life. Many people feel they are sadly caged up, with no poetry, romance, interests, change in their lives. Well, what are we to do? How to make life broader? Thank God, we have an answer--annex heaven. “ Reinforce,” says one, “ this world with the world which is to come. What do they do in an inland state that is surrounded by other countries, and cramped in on every side? They fight to get down to the sea. Give a country only a few miles, and it is satisfied. Why? Because it will build a harbour there, and it will make ships there, and the enterprising spirits of the nation will man the ships, and the ships will go to the ends of the earth, carrying out such poor things as they have to send, but bringing home untold treasures. That single harbour holds the whole earth in its grasp.” It is even so in our spiritual life. When I am linked with the skies, when I do commerce with heaven my life cannot be petty, narrow, insignificant. I am not lost in my trade, business, profession, nor does my soul undergo any shrinkage. Nay, I do my buying and selling, my getting and spending, in the eyes of heaven. A literary lady who went to consult an oculist about her eyes was told that her eye-weariness and brain-jadedness would pass away if she would now and then pause from her work, and sight the glorious hills in the distance, and she found it so. Is not this what we sorely need to save our life from getting cramped by what is sordid and petty--pauses to look away from life’ s manifold engagements to the bright-topped hills of immortality? It is ours, like the apostle at Patmos, to see the fair city of our King, to fraternise with the denizens of the skies, to consort with God Himself, and to do this is to find the grandest emancipation. III. It is necessary to our consolation. He was a wise professor who used to say to his students when going to preach, “ Never fail in any service to have at least a word of comfort.” There is a sore, ii not a broken, heart in every religious assembly. Existence were a poor mockery if this world were all. To how many life is just one long bitter struggle. Think of those, the bruised and broken, who are on their back all their days; think of those who, through no fault of their own, are face to face with poverty most of their time; think of those who have been overtaken by a black bereavement with tragic suddenness; think of these who are left orphans when young, and are at the mercy of an unfeeling world; think of those who have secret trials--trials of which they never whisper even to their dearest friends; think of those who, in trying to live the Christian life, are sorely, buffeted! Where is the compensation? This: “ Let Jerusalem come into your mind. Think of it as the place where all life’ s wrongs will be ended, where the weary-footed will lay aside their sandals, and the weary-hearted will find sweet rest, where the homeless will find a home, where the broken circles will be re-formed, and where the miseries of a lifetime will be forgotten in the first moment of hallowed bliss. IV. It is necessary to our inspiration. One of our primary needs is inspiration, we so soon begin to flag and lose heart. It is needful for the maintenance of our ideals, for the shaping of a holy character, to keep us steadfast in the midst of strife and sorrow. It is painful to note how that when men forget the heavenward look, they drift from the golden life, part with their noble dreams, sink beneath their troubles, and fall into bondage to a sensuous life. There are wrecks on all sides of us--Demases who have loved this present world. “ We surmount the flesh by ascending with Christ to the realm of the spirit. In those who are occupied with Christ and His kingdom, who ‘ set their mind on the things above where Christ is,’ carnal passions cease to be nourished, the former channels of thought and desire are left bare and dry, the man’ s soul is caught by a keener excitement and a mightier current, he is drawn into the orbit of the Sun of Righteousness. He is absorbed in the great and entrancing things of God, and the old frivolities can no longer divert him.” The same is true of every other phase of our earth-life. This was the temper of Moses, and it heartened him for the most prodigious tasks. “ He looked for the recompense of the reward.” This was the temper of the old-world pilgrims, “ they desired a better country, that is a heavenly.” The saints of God, the men for whom duty, religion, faith, love, character, possess their full meaning, are known by this far-away look, this detachment of spirit. At the bottom of their souls is a Divine home-sickness for the Eternal--and this made them spiritual stalwarts. This, also, was the temper of Jesus. Never for a moment did He forget the Father, the will, the home, the friendship and fellowship of the Father, “ I speak unto you the things that I have seen with the Father.” “ I go to My Father.” And a share of His glory He assured to all His faithful followers. I have read somewhere of a bewildered party on a mountain. Pressing on in the blinding snow, the track lost and the cold increasing, one of them at last in sneer fatigue sank flown to die. His friends coaxed him, urged him, expostulated with him so as to get him forward, but all to no purpose. But some one took from his pocket a picture of wife and children, and showed it to him. That was enough; what coaxing and threats failed to effect was done in an instant by that vision of the far-off home. He at once threw off the death-drowse that was so surely embracing him, and rousing himself with the new power that came from that vision, he pushed forward with his friends to a place of safety. And our Divine Leader, when we are flagging and wearying, gives us pictures of the heavenly home to hearten us. (J. Pearce.) . Jeremiah 51:5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God.Israel and Judah not forsaken You would think, according to the teaching of some, that Christ s members kept lopping off something like the limbs of lobsters, and that new ones were constantly growing. There is nothing in Scripture to warrant such a notion as that. You remember Mr. Bunyan’ s parable of a child who is in a room, and a stranger comes in, and says, “ Come hither, child, I will cut off thy finger.” “ No,” says the child. “ Yes, but I will; I will take off your little finger. Here is a knife, I will cut off your little finger.” “ No,” again says the child, and begins to cry. “ Oh, but,” says the stranger, “ that is a poor little finger that you have. I will cut it off and I will buy you a gold finger, such a brave gold finger. I will put it on your hand instead of your little finger.” “ Oh,” says the child, “ but it would not be my finger; I cannot lose my little finger.” Whereupon Mr. Bunyan says, “ If Christ could have better people than those He has, He would not make the change,” for, saith He, “ they are not My people; they are not a part of My own living self.” So the Lord Jesus would not change you for a golden saint, for one much better than you axe. That new finger would not be what the Father gave him, nor what He bought with His precious blood. “ Thou shalt not be forgotten of Me,” means that God will never cease to love His servants. (C. H. Spurgeon.) God’ s people not forgotten or forsaken Before the siege of Paris Gustave Dore had nearly finished one of his greatest paintings, one of the finest pictures which has ever been produced. Having to fly from the city, on a sudden, as the Germans were coming up, he hid his picture in a cellar, down under a heap of rubbish. When the siege was over, Dore came back to Paris, and of course when he returned he had forgotten all about his picture, had he not? Not he; he had taken too much trouble with it to forget it. He knew the value of it, and he knew where he had put it. He did not have to go up and down the house and say to the people, “ Do you know where my picture is?” No! he never forgot where he had himself put it, so he found it where it was hidden, brought it out to the light of day, and finished it. Now, in a far higher sense than that, God will have respect unto the works of His own hands. The very bodies of the saints, though they were hidden away for a while in the rubbish of the earth, He will fetch out, and He will complete the works of grace which He has begun upon each one of them. The Lord hath formed us to be His servants, we shall not be forgotten of Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Jeremiah 51:6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon.Fleeing from the city of destruction And now the trembling pilgrim, with fixed resolution, having a glimpse of the light and a definite direction, begins to run; it is unutterable relief to his perplexities to run towards Christ, though as yet he sees Him not. But now the world clamours after him, yea, the dearest ones in it try to stop him, but the fire in his conscience is stronger than they; he stops his ears and runs without looking behind, and stays not in all the plain, but runs as swiftly as his burden will let him, crying, “ Life, life, eternal life!” (Lectures on Pilgrim’ s Progress, G. H. Cheever.) Jeremiah 51:15 He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom.The being of God proved from the frame of the world The attentive observation of this world, or visible frame, is not only a worthy employment of our thoughts, but even a considerable duty not to be neglected by us. For it is that which affords most cogent and satisfactory arguments to convince us of, and to confirm us in, the belief of that truth which is the foundation of all religion and piety, the being of one God, incomprehensibly excellent in all perfections, the maker and upholder of all things; it also serves to beget in our minds affections toward God, suitable to those notions; a reverent adoration of His unsearchable wisdom; an awful dread of His powerful majesty; a grateful love of His gracious benignity and goodness.1. View we first, singly, those things which are most familiar and obvious to our senses. First, those plants we every day do see, smell, and taste: Have not that number, that figure, that order, that temperament, that whole contexture of parts we discern in them, a manifest relation to those operations they perform? Whence, then, I inquire, could that fitness proceed? from chance, or casual motions of matter? But is it not repugnant to the name and nature of chance, that anything regular or constant should arise from it? Are not confusion, disparity, deformity, unaccountable change and variety, the proper issues of chance? It is not, therefore, reasonable to ascribe those things to chance: to what then? will you say, to necessity? If you do, you only alter the phrase; for necessary causality is but another name for chance; they both are but several terms denoting blindness and unadvisedness in action; both must imply a fortuitous determination of causes, acting without design or rule. These effects must therefore, I say, proceed from wisdom, and that no mean one, but such as greatly surpasses our comprehension, joined with a power equally great: for to digest bodies so very many, so very fine and subtile, so divers in motion and tendency, that they shall never hinder or disturb one another, but always conspire to the same design, is a performance exceedingly beyond our capacity to reach how it could be contrived or accomplished; all the endeavours of our deepest skill and most laborious industry cannot arrive to the producing of any work not extremely inferior to any of these, not in comparison very simple and base; neither can our wits serve to devise, nor our sense to direct, nor our hand to execute any work, in any degree like to those. And ii we have reason to acknowledge so much wisdom and power discovered in one plant, and the same consequently multiplied in so many thousands of divers kinds; how much more may we discern them in any one animal, in all of them? Who shaped and tempered those hidden subtile springs of life, sense, imagination, memory, passion; who impressed on them a motion so regular and so durable, which through so many years, among so many adverse contingencies assailing it, is yet so steadily maintained? Thus doth commonsense from these sort of beings, whereof there be innumerable exposed daily to our observation, even singly considered, deduce the existence of a wisdom, power, and goodness unconceivably great; and there are probably divers others (stones, metals, minerals, &c.) no less obvious, even here on the earth, our place of dwelling, which, were our senses able to discern their constitution and texture, would afford matter of the same acknowledgment. 2. But if, passing from such particulars, we observe the relation of several kinds of things each to other, we shall find more reason to be convinced concerning the same excellent perfections farther extending themselves. Is there not, for instance, a palpable relation between the frame, the temper, the natural inclinations or instincts of each animal, and its element or natural place and abode; wherein it can only live, finding therein its food, its harbour, its refuge? Is not to each faculty within an object without prepared, exactly correspondent thereto; which were it wanting, the faculty would become vain and useless, yea sometime harmful and destructive; as reciprocally the object would import little or nothing, if such a faculty were not provided and suited thereto? As for example, what would an eye signify, if there were not light prepared to render things visible thereto? and how much less considerable than it is would the goodly light itself be, were all things in nature blind, and uncapable to discern thereby? What would the ear serve for, if the air were not suitably disposed in a due consistency, and capable of moderate undulations distinguishable there-by? The like we might with the same reason inquire concerning the other senses and faculties, vital or animal, and their respective objects, which we may observe with admirable congruity respecting each other. So many, so plain, so exactly congruous are the relations of things here about us each to other; which surely could not otherwise come than from one admirable wisdom and power conspiring thus to adapt and connect them together; as also from an equal goodness, declared in all these things being squared so fitly for mutual benefit and convenience. Well, then, is it to a fortuitous necessity (or a necessary chance) that we owe all these choice accommodations and pre-eminences of nature? must we bless and worship fortune for all this? did she so especially love us, and tender our good? was she so indulgent toward us, so provident for us in so many things, in everything; making us the scope of all her workings and motions here about us? Oh, brutish degeneracy! Are we not, not only wretchedly blind and stupid, if we are not able to discern so clear beams of wisdom shining through so many perspicuous correspondences; if we cannot trace the Divine power by footsteps so express and remarkable; if we cannot read so legible characters of transcendent goodness; but extremely unworthy and ungrateful, if we are not ready to acknowledge, and with hearty thankfulness to celebrate all these excellent perfections, by which all these things have been so ordered, as to conspire and co-operate for our benefit? 3. Yea, all of them join together in one universal consort, with one harmonious voice, to proclaim one and the same wisdom to have designed, one and the same power to have produced, one and the same goodness to have set both wisdom and power on work in designing and in producing their being; in preserving and governing it: for this whole system of things what is it, but one goodly body, as it were, compacted of several members and organs; so aptly compacted together, that each confers its being and its operation to the grace and ornament, to the strength and stability of the whole; one soul (of Divine providence) enlivening in a manner, and actuating it all? We may perhaps not discern the use of each part, or the tendency of each particular effect; but of many they are so plain and palpable, that reason obliges us to suppose the like of the rest. Even as a person whom we observe frequently to act with great consideration and prudence when at other times we cannot penetrate the drift of his proceedings, we must yet imagine that he hath some latent reason, some reach of policy, that we are not aware of; or, as in an engine consisting of many parts, curiously combined, whereof we do perceive the general use, and apprehend how divers parts thereof conduce thereto, reason prompts us (although we neither see them all, nor can comprehend the immediate serviceableness of some) to think they are all in some way or other subservient to the artist’ s design: such an agent is God, the wisdom of whose proceedings being in so many instances notorious, we ought to suppose it answerable in the rest; such an engine is this world, of which we may easily enough discern the general end, and how many of its parts do conduce thereto; and cannot therefore in reason but suppose the rest in their kind alike congruous, and conducible to the same purpose. If the nature of any cause be discoverable by its effects; if from any work we may infer the workman’ s ability; if in any case the results of wisdom are distinguishable from the consequences of chance, we have reason to believe that the Architect of this magnificent and beautiful frame was one incomprehensibly wise, powerful, and good Being; so that “ they are inexcusable, who from hence do not know God” ; or knowing Him do not render unto Him His due glory and service. (Isaac Barrow, D. D.) Jeremiah 51:27 Thus saith the Lord: Set ye up a standard in the land.The standard of the Cross, a rallying-point for the people “ Set ye up a standard,” plain, obvious to be seen; a standard, high, on a mountain top, so as to be a rallying-point for the people in the battle of the Lord. A message, this, to fire the hearts of men, to steep them to the full in the sense of life s solemnity. The appeal of the prophet had reference, in the first instance, to the assault of the Persian armies upon the fortress city of Babylon. Cyrus was employed (to use the language of the prophet elsewhere) as the very “ battle-axe” of God; who was to do God’ s work in delivering the Jews from their captivity, and rebuilding for their use His Temple at Jerusalem. It is the commission of the Lord God to His Church in every age; to lift up the ensign of the Cross, the banner of Christian conflict, the talisman of victory, the rallying-point of all true hearts in the battle of the Lord, against the power of evil that is abroad in our midst. If there is one lesson more emphatically taught than any other by the facts of our present-day experience, it is the lesson that in Christianity alone lies, after all, the true and ultimate hope of the world; that the standard of the Gospel is the only true measure of our social reforms and of our personal or political ideals.1. There is a power in our midst to-day--a power so imperious that a man may well be excused for holding it to be well-nigh irresistible--the power of public opinion. Are we not apt to forget that this potent engine of our modern life is one whose motive force may, and should be, in a Christian country, spent always in the cause of God, and of His Christ? It is an engine which, if it be informed by hearts aglow with the Spirit of Christ, and guided by hands that are exercised in deeds of truth and love, may well work miracles before our eyes. Then, may not our Church expect of all her sons that each one of them should realise his personal responsibility in this respect? 2. What a motto is this for our national and imperial politics! What a “ programme” is here set forth for any Government, under whatever accidents of political party! “ Set ye up a standard in the land” ; a standard of righteousness and of good faith in matters of international law, or the observance of international treaties. 3. May not this be taken, again, as a potent watchword at our parliamentary elections? Can we not, each one of us, deal at any rate with our own vote as with a serious trust? Can we not raise over our polling-booths a standard of principle rather than party? Can we not muster courage to demand fair play for all; to denounce the use of unworthy weapons in the process of electioneering--the weapons of declamation and mob-flattery, of slander and personal abuse, of mere brute force, obstruction, and of secret bribery, boycotting, or cowardly intimidation? “ Set up a standard in the land.” What nobler principle for our legislation itself? A standard of mercy and unselfishness, of wise and intelligent sympathy in dealing with the needs of the many; a standard of absolute impartiality, strict and entire justice, in legislating for the uneducated and the helpless classes of our population. 4. So, too, with respect to other matters of less distinctly political interest. There is room, surely, for a higher standard in questions of pressing social gravity, such as, for example, the subject of national education. Here, at any rate, the Church is pre-eminently bound to hold aloft the ideal of that which alone is worthy of the name of education. Or, turning again to such facts as are revealed by our criminal statistics, in view of the open sore of our national intemperance; or of the not less terrible though secret cancer of our national impurity, can we not, as carrying the Cross of our dear Lord’ s self-denial on our foreheads, can we not do something towards setting up a standard in our homes, in our streets, in our business, and in our amusements,--a standard of sobriety and of purity? 5. So, again, in our very amusements. It rests with you, of the English Church laity, to “ set up a standard in the land.” It is for you, who are the patrons of the English stage, to pronounce with no faltering accent that the drama--whether grave or gay--no more necessitates the stimulus of an immoral plot, or the adjuncts of a vicious art, than the pen of a Macaulay, a Tennyson, or a Browning, need defile itself with the innuendoes of a Wycherley or the coarseness of a Congreve. 6. And once again, in reference to those forum of sin to which as a great commercial people we arc especially prone. Have we not enough knowledge of a sound political economy to see that all the remedies which Parliament can propose will never touch the root of the evil we deplore? that what is wanted is not so much the mere readjustment of taxation, still less the forcible redistribution of our wealth, as the introduction of a higher standard into our commercial transactions; the standard of a fairer co-operation between the capitalist and the workman--of a more just and upright dealing between tradesman and customer--of a closer sympathy between master and servant, between producer and consumer: a standard of hard, but not slavish, honest, and conscientious work--a standard of fair working hours and fair working profits; a standard of just prices and honest weights and measures; a standard of thrift and temperance and industry, that will condemn idleness and dishonesty in the workman, the producer, but which will not excuse indolence and selfishness and unbridled luxury in the consumer; a standard which denounces all trade adulterations, all lying labels, all imitation brands, all false advertisements, and other similar forms of commercial ostentation and inequity; a standard, moreover, which declares such sins to be as sinful among the warehouses of the city as in the village shop, and pronounces the vices of the west to be at least as criminal as the crimes of the east. Lift up your hearts, then, comrades in the sacred battlefield of right and wrong! Look to that warrior Christ who leads us on. (H. B. Ottley, M. A.) Jeremiah 52:11 He put out the eyes of Zedekiah.Zedekiah the prisoner Here is no mystery. A wicked man, unfaithful to a very sacred trust, ending his days in darkness and a prison (Psalms 37:35). The son of the good Josiah, whose name suggests thoughts of early piety and godly patriotism, degenerate, idolatrous, and in the end eyeless and captive, pining away years of monotonous misery in a Babylonish dungeon--it is all according to that law which God has stamped on the world, “ Your sin will find you out.” It has been said of him that he was a man “ not so much bad at heart as weak in will.” “ He was one of those unfortunate characters,” it has been said, “ frequent in history, like our own Charles I. and Louis XVI. of France, who find themselves at the head of affairs during a great crisis, without having the strength of character to enable them to do what they know to be right, and whose infirmity becomes moral guilt.” That he was weak in will and purpose we see in the manner in which he surrendered Jeremiah to the princes who sought his life (Jeremiah 38:3). But he was “ bad at heart” likewise. His heart was not right towards the Lord God of his father--self and the world and idols were the objects of his affection, and after them he would go. Warning succeeded warning in vain. For eleven years the struggle lasted between this wicked prince and the voice which came to him from the God of heaven. And the Jerusalem of his day may be described as the Sodom of an earlier day-- Long warned, long spared, till her whole heart was foul,And fiery vengeance on its clouds came nigh.Vengeance came in another form than that in which it fell on those cities over whose ashes the waves of the Dead Sea now roll, and yet scarcely less terrible. The Babylonian siege lasted sixteen months (53:4), and the miseries of Jerusalem were only less than those endured in the siege by the Roman Titus, seven centuries after. The calamities which befell the royal family are recorded with an undisguised bluntness (verses8-11). What a catalogue of horrors! But all in keeping with the character of the people. They had been described to the very life at an earlier stage of the ministry of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 6:22-23). This witness is true. The very stones, stones carved with their own hands, have been disinterred from the grave of ages, to bear testimony to the truth of the histories and prophecies of the Bible. Instead of being ashamed of the barbarities in which they indulged, the Assyrians (and in this we need make no distinction between the Assyrians and the Chaldeans) gloried in them, and employed the arts of sculpture and painting to perpetuate the memory of their cruel deeds. On the relics of their civilisation, now exhibited in our own museums and places of public resort, we find cities which have surrendered represented as given up to indiscriminate slaughter and the flames. The kings themselves took part in perpetrating the cruelties which are brought to light by recently discovered sculptures. On one of these sculptures a king is represented as thrusting out the eyes of a kneeling captive with his own spear, and holding with his own hand the cord which is inserted into the lips and nostrils of this and two other prisoners. The spirit which possessed the Assyrians and Babylonians may be traced through later ages in the same lands. One of the best of the Roman emperors, Valerian, was taken prisoner in battle in the third century by a Persian king, who detained him in hopeless bondage, and paraded him in chains, invested with the imperial purple, as a constant spectacle of fallen greatness, to the multitude. Whenever the proud conqueror mounted his horse, he placed his foot upon the neck of the Roman emperor “ Nor was this all for when Valerian sank under the weight of his shame and grief, his corpse was flayed, and the skin, stuffed with straw, was preserved for ages in the most celebrated temple of Persia.” Would that such things as these could he told only of Eastern lands! But Western story is full of them likewise. The conflicts of the Moors and so-called Christians in Spain, from the eighth century, the age of Moorish conquest, to the sixteenth, the age of their final expulsion from Europe, contains histories of cruelty, perhaps, to be rivalled nowhere else--cruelty in which the so-called Christian luxuriated as much as his Moslem enemy. This spirit attained its highest point of intensity and barbarity in the same land in the Inquisition, strangely called the Holy Office, by which sheer torture was invoked to root out Judaism, and every form and shade of Christianity except that of the Roman Church. The appliances of rude barbarians, like American Indians, and of civilised barbarians, like Assyrians and Chaldeans, are not to compare with the appliances which the Inquisition perfected through its ages of murder. But to return to the Babylonish cruelties on the person and family of the Hebrew king. “ The King of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes.” How many or how old they were, we are not told. The father being now only two-and-thirty years old, his sons must have been boys. And ungodly as the father was, there is no sign in his life of any want of natural affection, while there is sign of his sensibility to the sufferings of others. To put his sons to death before his eyes was an act of wanton cruelty, designed to give him the utmost possible pain. Then were put to death the princes of Judah, who must now recall with bitterness, if not with repentance, their long and obstinate resistance to the Divine counsels, and their own hard-hearted attempt on the life of the prophet Jeremiah. His sons dead, and the princes dead, the king himself must now submit to the cruel sentence of his conqueror--a sentence more barbarous than death itself. His eyes were put out. The process is revealed to us in a bas-relief, to which I have already referred, in which the conquering king is digging out the eyes of the conquered king with a spear. The King of Babylon may have done this with his own hands to the King of Judah, or by the hands of another. In either ease the conquered had no alternative but to submit. And thus blinded he is carried to the prison on the banks of the Euphrates in which he must end his days. Two predictions were thus fulfilled--one by Jeremiah 32:5, addressed to the king m person, and one by Ezekiel 12:13, who was with the captives which had been carried to Babylon some years before. The Word of the Lord was not broken. The King of Judah saw the King of Babylon’ s eyes with his eyes, but it was the last vision which his eyes saw. The city of Babylon he saw not, though he was doomed to be imprisoned in it and to die there. When Zedekiah reached Babylon, there was already a King of Judah imprisoned there. His nephew, the son of his elder brother Jehoiakim, had been dethroned, as we have seen, after a brief reign of three months and ten days, and had been carried into exile with many of his princes and subjects (Jeremiah 29:1-32.). That he was still alive when his uncle and successor, blind and childless, arrived in the city of their enemy, we know--for the last sentences of the Book of Jeremiah tell us what befell him many years later. One wonders whether the two dethroned Kings of Judah, uncle and nephew, ever met in the land of their imprisonment, and had opportunity of talking over the events which had involved them in so great a disaster. If they had, did they curse the God of their fathers, or did they learn, as some of these fathers had done in the day of their adversity, to humble themselves and seek forgiveness? Their great predecessor, Solomon, in dedicating the temple which Babylon had now ]aid waste, had prayed (1 Kings 8:46-50). Imagine Jehoiakim reading these words out of the book of the law to his blind uncle Zedekiah. Imagine them recalling the history of the great-grandfather of the elder of them--how Manasseh had done evil exceedingly; how the King of ‘ Assyria had bound him with fetters and carried him to Babylon; and how, when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord (2 Chronicles 33:12). Thus encouraged to repent and seek forgiveness, the royal prisoners may have bent the knee together before the throne of the heavenly grace, and pied the promises which had been given so often to the penitent. And if they presented thus the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart in their prison-house, we know that mercy was not withheld. We find one little word which encourages hope. “ There shall he be till I visit him, saith the Lord” (32:5). God visits men with judgment; but this He had done to Zedekiah before he reached his prison in Babylon. God visits men with favour, with compassion, with restoring mercy: was it thus He said He should visit Zedekiah in Babylon I doubt not that the words “ until I visit him” were meant to be indefinite and obscure, but were meant at the same time to give assurance to the king that in Babylon he should not be beyond the reach of God, whether for good or evil. “ Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide in secret places, that I shall not see him, saith the Lord?” (Jeremiah 23:23-24.) Jehovah was a God at hand in Jerusalem, but equally a God in Babylon afar off. The throne of Judah was exposed to His eye, but equally so the most secret place in the Babylonish prison. And God would visit Zedekiah in his exile and prison. This assurance might be a terror or a joy. If the king hoped that, being in Babylon, he was now away from the presence of Jehovah and under the rule of other gods, and had nothing more to fear, let him know that Jehovah should visit him even there. If he feared that, being in Babylon, he should be beyond the reach of the mercy of the God of his fathers, let him know, to his heart’ s joy, that Jehovah should visit him even in that far-off land. (J. Kennedy, D. D.) Jeremiah 52:31-34 Lifted up the head of Jehoiachin.Jehoiachin’ s change of fortune What changes may occur in life: who can tell what we may come to? After thirty-seven years there arose a king who took a fancy to Jehoiachin, and made quite a favourite of him in the court. Good fortune is often tardy in coming to men; we are impatient, we want to be taken out of prison to-day, and set among kings at once, and to have all our desires gratified fully, and especially at once. See what has befallen Jehoiachin. For the first time for seven-and-thirty years the man of authority has spoken kindly to him. Kind words have different values at different times; sometimes a kind word would be a fortune--if not a fortune in the hand, a fortune in the way of stimulating imagination, comforting disconsolateness, and so pointing to the sky that we could see only its real blue beauties, its glints of light, its hints of coming day. When we have an abundant table, what do we care for an offered crust? that crust may be regarded by our sated appetite as an insult: but when the table is bare, and hunger is gnawing, and thirst is consuming, what then is a crust of bread, or a draught of water? More men hunger for kind words than for bread. There is a hunger of the heart. Here is an office we can all exercise. Where we cannot give much that is described as substantial we can speak kindly, we can look benignantly, we can conduct ourselves as if we would relieve the burden if we could: thus life would be multiplied, brightened, sweetened, a great comforting sense of Divine nearness would fall upon our whole consciousness, and we should enter into the possession and the mystery of heavenly peace. See what fortune has befallen Jehoiachin! After thirty-seven years he is recognised as king and gentleman and friend, and has kind words spoken to him in a kind of domestic music. Was not all this worth living for? What have we been doing in thus dwelling upon the good fortune of Jehoiachin? We have been playing the fool. We have been reckoning up social precedences, better clothes, and abundance of food; and we have been adding up how much the man must have worn and eaten and drunken within the twenty-four hours, and all the while the king looking at him benignantly, speaking to him as an equal, dealing out to him kind words,--the whole constituting an ineffable insult. Yet how prone we are to add up circumstances, and to speak of social relations as if they constituted the sum-total of life. Now look at realities. Jehoiachin was in his heart a bad man. That is written upon the face of the history of the kings of Judah, and not a single word is said about his change of heart; and bad men cannot have good fortune. He has been taken out of prison in the narrow sense of the term, his head has been lifted up, a place of precedence has been accorded him at the royal table, and his bread and water have been made sure for the rest of his days: what a delightful situation! No. Jehoiachin at his best was only a decorated captive; he was still in Babylon. That is the sting. Not what have we, but where are we, is heaven’ s piercing inquiry. Not how great the barns; state the height, the width, the depth, the cubic measure of the barns; but, What wheat have we in the heart, what bread in the soul, what love-wine for the spirit’ s drinking? (J. Parker, D. D.) A captor’ s magnanimity and generous dealing At the battle of Poitiers the Black Prince defeats and captures the French King John II. That night the Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) made a supper in his lodging for the French king and to the great lords that were prisoners. “ And always the prince served before the king, as humbly as he could, and would not sit at the king’ s board, for any desire that the king could make, and exhorted him not to be of heavy cheer, for that King Edward, his father, should bear him all honour and amity, and accord with him so reasonably that they should be friends ever after.” . . . This scene, so gracefully performed by him who, a few hours before, was “ courageous and cruel as a lion,” was in perfect accordance with the system of chivalry. (Knight’ s England.) And spake kindly unto him.--Kindness To be kind is “ to be disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy” ; and kindness is “ that temper or disposition which delights in contributing to the happiness of others.” I. Much depends on our spirit and disposition--well-nigh everything; for a kindly spirit or disposition will always be finding ways of showing itself. II. Be kind in your thoughts one to another. To have pure streams you must have a pure fountain; and if we think unkindly of people, we shall not be likely to speak or act kindly towards them. Some people rob their own hearts of peace and sweetness, and destroy in themselves all nobility of character, because they have got into the sad, sinful habit of always looking for the faults and failings of others, and attributing to them wrong motives. III. Be kind in your speech one to another. Words are little things and soon spoken, but they carry much with them. They have power to give great joy or bitter sorrow; they may nestle in the heart a very benediction, cherished to the dying day as an inspiration to all that is good; or they may rankle in the breast, fostering a bitterness which goes down to the grave. “ Kind words can never die.” IV. Do kind acts one to another. Every day brings opportunities. Keep a look-out for them. (R. M. Spoor.) Every day a portion. The daily portion If the King of Babylon did thus for a captive king, his prisoner, will your Heavenly Father do less for you? He created you to need the daily portion, and cannot be oblivious of His own constitution of your nature. You wind up your watch each day, because you know that otherwise it will stop; and God win not be less thoughtful of your constant need of reinforcement. His faithfulness guarantees that there always will be the portion of good for the body; always the portion of love and light for the soul; always the portion of Holy Spirit quickening ,for the spirit. It is easier to die once than to live always. It is not easy to meets the continual demand of recurrent duty; not easy to live a full and strong life, that never dips below the horizon, or sinks in the fountain-basin. But it is possible, when the soul has learnt to leave all care with God, waiting on Him for the supply of all its needs, and esteeming that He is the only really satisfactory portion we need. “ Neither prison walls, nor locks, nor the cruelty of man,” said some imprisoned suffering soul, “ can obstruct the issues of the Lord’ s love nor the manifestation of His presence, which is our joy and comfort, and carries us above all sufferings, and makes days and hours and years pleasant to us; which pass away as a moment, because of the enjoyment of seeing Him with whom a thousand years is but as one day.” Those who can trust God in these directions are not only abundantly satisfied of His great goodness, but are able to send portions to others. Like the disciples, they share out their slender supplies and get twelve baskets full in return. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) All the days of his life.--A good income for life This paragraph describes the providential dealings of the Lord with Jehoiachin by the instrumentality of Evil-merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, who was then King of Babylon; yet the successive items of those dealings are so expressive that they seem almost to force themselves upon the mind in a spiritual form, and therefore I shall accommodate those items to spiritual things. I. The dealings of the Lord as here set before us, with Jehoiachin, king, as he should have been, of Judah, but for thirty-seven years a captive. Now, however, the time came for him to be released. First, then, “ Evil-merodach, King of Babylon, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin,” that is, gave him a hope of deliverance, This is the first item. Now it is sin” which hath brought us down,” and when a sinner is made acquainted with his state as a sinner, he feels then that his heart and soul are bowed down, and he can in no wise lift up himself. Faith brings in the Redeemer in His perfection; there is an end to our sin and our folly; by faith in Him we may lift up our heads and meet the smiles of heaven; we shall meet, by faith in Him, the approbation of heaven, the light of Jehovah’ s countenance; we shall thus meet our great Creator as our covenant God, dwelling between the cherubim, and He will shine forth. Here, then, we may say with David, “ Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” If, then, we would lift up our heads, it must be by Jesus Christ; that is, by His wisdom, not by our own; except that our wisdom consisteth in the feeling our foolishness, and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as that way in which we may rise, and do at times rise as eagles; run, and are not weary; walk, and shall not faint. Second, he brought him forth out of prison. Here we have another Gospel blessing to go with us all the days of our life. Jesus Christ came into the prison of our law responsibility; He became a debtor to do the whole law; and He hath preceptively, actively, and passively magnified the law. He has gone to the end of our law responsibility, and has suffered all that sin has entailed. He has done a great deal more spiritually than Evil-merodach, King of Babylon, did literally. He brought forth Jehoiachin out of prison, but our Jesus Christ has destroyed our prison; there is no prison left. The Son of God has made you free; let us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and that all the days of our lives. So, then, He lifts up our heads, and we are free. The next thing the king did was a very wonderful thing, an extraordinary, out-of-the-way, uncommon thing--an unheard-of, an unseen thing almost. And what was that? Why, “ spake kindly unto him” all the days of his life. So our God. He spake kindly unto us when He called us by His grace, and He has spoken kindly unto us ever since, and He will speak kindly unto us all the days of our life; and there will be no danger afterwards, because no manner of cause win exist after the end of this life for there to be anything but kindness. The law of kindness is the mightiest power in existence; it will do what nothing else can. But, fourth, Jehoiachin s throne was set “ above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon.” How expressive is this! The Christian has a higher throne than the highest men in this world. Then, fifth, he changed his prison garments. So the Lord has promised to give His people the oil of joy for mourning; the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But in the last place--and all these things put together seem to amount to perfection itself--“ he did continually eat bread before the king all the days of his life.” So we are brought before God and into the presence of God, and as long as Jesus Christ remains in the presence of God, so long shall His people remain. Jehoiachin was associated in eating with the king; that is to say, he partook of the same food, or he delighted in the same things, the same provisions, the same pleasant fruits. Now the things the people of God live upon are the testimonies of the Gospel in Christ. II. The duration of these blessings. First, then, his head was lifted up all the days of his life. Look at it, Christian, what a good life you have before you! You have the Holy Spirit to keep you believing in Jesus Christ; the day will never come when you shall not lift up your head to God. You have before you Jesus Christ, the lifter up of your head; the day will never come when He will cease to love you. “ Having loved His own, He loved them unto the end.” You have God the Father, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Ah, then, let me say, if circumstances of affliction or adversity should be such that you can lift up your head nowhere else you can lift up your head there; there is a God that will sustain, that will bear, that will carry to old age, to hoar hairs, and will deliver. And so he was brought out of prison; and we are made free all the days of our life. There never will be when we shall not have liberty in Christ; there never will be when we are not free there. There we may lift up our heads, because the Saviour has put down into eternal silence everything that is against us. And the king spake kindly unto him all the days of his life. Circumstances are like the clouds--not in one shape, nor in one form, nor one height, nor one colour, nor one position, for a day, or half a day, or half an hour sometimes; but the glorious truths of the Gospel--His kindness--still the same. And he set his throne above the kings of Babylon all the days of his life. I want a religion that places my foot upon the lion, upon the adder, upon the young lion, upon the dragon, and enables me to trample the whole under foot. Here, then, is a God that lifts up your head for life, that sets you free for life, speaks kindly to you all the days of your life, will keep you enthroned all the days of your life; you shall reign like a king, and your throne unshaken stands; you shall wear the royal robe all the days of your life, and be sustained all the days of your life. What more can you want? III. Several Scriptures by which these things are very strikingly and beautifully exemplified. I will notice three different Scriptures where we have the words of our text named, “ All the days of his life.” David upon this subject saith, “ Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” What goodness and mercy? First, pastoral goodness and mercy. “ He maketh me to lie down,” not in dry, but “ in green pastures,” new covenant promises; “ He leadeth me beside the still waters,” the deep mysteries of His wondrous kingdom; pastoral kindness, and restorative and directive goodness and mercy. “ He restoreth my soul.” I am sick, wretched, and miserable; He restores me to health; cast down, weary, everything against me; He restores me again. “ He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness,” paths of faith, righteousness of faith; “ for His name’ s sake” ; directive and restorative goodness and mercy. Also accompaniment goodness and mercy. “ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” And then comes provisional goodness and mercy; “ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Go from the 23rd to the 27th Psalm. “ One thing have I desired of the Lord” ; “ that will I seek after.” To be so good and pious that all the world should admire” you? No, that is self-righteousness, no, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” Well, what are you going to do? “ To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion” ; His royal pavilion, the place of His royal authority; and if I have God on my side in His sovereign authority, who can be against me? “ In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me” ; where the mercy-seat is, that is where I like to be, He shall set me upon a rock. And what then? “ Now shall mine head be lifted up above wine enemies round about me; therefore I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.” One more Scripture upon this subject. Zacharias, in the 1st of Luke, saith, “ That we might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” Here carefully note how Zacharias comes into possession of that holiness and that righteousness by which he knew he should serve the Lord acceptably all the days of his life. He saith, “ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people,” “ and bath raised up an horn of salvation.” Oh, then, if you are going to get this holiness by faith in Christ’ s eternal redemption,” I will come with you. “ As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began. So here is redemption, and here is salvation. Well, that redemption brings holiness, and brings in everlasting righteousness. Salvation brings holiness, and brings in everlasting righteousness. “ To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; the oath which He aware to our father Abraham,” saying, “ In thee and in thy seed,” Christ Jesus, “ shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” So, then, Zacharias got this holiness and righteousness by faith in the redemption, salvation, mercy, and covenant of Christ, and the oath of God. Now, in conclusion, if you lose sight of all the rest, do pay attention to the spirit in which Zacharias desired all the days of his life to serve God. I do not think there is any Scripture more expressive of the feeling of the right-minded than that there given. “ That He would grant unto us,” &c. How different this from the spirit in which people suppose that they do God a great favour, and that they merit great things at His hands, by a little formal service! But Zacharias looked at being admitted into the faith, the service of faith, the service of that faith that receives Christ as the end of sin, and thereby you serve God in Christ as your sanctification and your justification--Zacharias looked upon that as a Divine grant; “ that He would grant unto us to serve Him in holiness and in righteousness all the days of our life.” (Jas Wells.)