HOMILETICS. Yer. !.-Forgiveness for many through the righteousness of one, I. GoD IS GREATLY DESIROUS TO PARDON HIS CHILDREN, 'l'he command is giv.in to" run to and fro" and search for the one righteous man. God thus expresses his anxiety ,o forgive. "He 1raiteth to be gracious." The first movement towards exercising pardon comes from God even before men desire it. He will lay hold of the smallest ground for forgiveness. If tJ,e one righteous man can but be found, God will forgive the city. II. S01tIE RIGHTEOUSlIESS IS NECESSAilY AS A GROUND FOR FORGIVENESS, If the righteous man cannot be found, t.he condition of the city is hopeless. There is a pro- pitiatory power in righteousness. Good men are priests, and their lives sacrifices of value for the advantage of others. The righteousness of Christ is an essential element in the atonement (Heb. x. 9, 10). It was not possible for the sin of man to be forgiven except on condition of this. Pardon is offered to men only through this (Acts xiii. 38). III. THE nIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH AVAILS WITH GOD 111:UST BE SOLID AND PBACTIOAL, A vain, religious boast counts for nothing (ver. 2). 1. The goodness to be sought for is not devoutness of demeanour, but the exercise of justice and the effort to keep good faith. 2. This is to be looked for, not in the temple, but in the streets and lanes and places of public concourse, i.e. in daily life. The best evidences of character are to be seen in home life and conduct in business. When the domestic and commercial morality of a city is corrupt, the condition of that city is ruinous, whatever may be the assiduity and decorum with which religious observances are maintained. IV. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ONE 111:AY BE EFFICACIOUS FOR THE SECURITY OF 111:ANY. Sodom and Gomorrah would have been spared for the sake of ten righteous men (Gen. xviii. 32). Lot we.s the providential means of saving Zoar (Gen. xix. 21). The one man Christ secures salvation for the whole world (Heb. vii. 24, 25). 'fbere is much that is mysterious in the principle of Divine grace which is here revealed-much that we cannot explain. Still, there are truths entering into it which may be discerned, e.g. injustice cannot be done by God in the smallest respect; the righteous are" the salt of ihe earth," they preserve by preventing complete corruption; there is hope for the city in which but one righteous man lives, since he may be the means of leading others back to righteousness-this principle is one on which God acts in forgiving, not in distributing bare rights; all that he requires is a safe and justifiable ground on which to exercise pardon, not a fund of merit such as could constitute a claim on his grace.
Ver. 3.-Fruitless chastisement. I. THE PUBPOSE OF CHASTISEMENT IS CORREC'fION. 1. It is to lead men by outward suffering to inward grief(" they have not grieved "). No more hopeless condition can be found than pleasure or indifference in sin. The tears of penitence are the first preparations fol' reformation. 2. It is to lead men, through outward suffering and inward grief, to e. genuine conversion of character (God looks for a restoration of "good faith''), and to bring them baclc to God (" they have refused to return"). It is no end in itself, no good except as leading to a further good, It is not given in vindictive rage nor to satisfy the claims of abstract justice. Though it springs directly from the wrath of God, that wrath is base~ on his eternal l~ve. Because God loves his children he must be angry when they srn. Because he demes their good be must not spare his rod (Prov. iii. 11, 12). The purpose of chastisement is not so mysterious as is commonly supposed. People often exclaim vaguely, "These troubles must be sent for some good purpose." The purpose is not all hidden. It is mainly that we may be brought nearer to God. JI. TrIE COilRECTION Anrnn A'l' IN CIIASTlQEMIINT Ill NOT J,J,WAYS ATTAINl!jD. ~ CH. V, 1~31.] 'l'HE nooK OF 'l'llE PROPHET JEREMIATI. 117
terriblo delusion possesses mulmudes of suffering people. They have faith cnon"h to 0 believe that trouble is sent for their good, but not spirituality enough to see how to use it for that end. Such people assume that it must benefit them, however thev behave under it. Some suppose that if they suffer in this world they will certainly receive compensation in the next. Such ideas imply tliat chastisement cannot be deserved, or that the mere endurance of it is meritorious, or that, if not exactly punishment for sin, it must be a necessity t-0 be borne now or hereafter for its own sake or to satisfy some strange will of God. But chastisement is a." means of grace," and, like other" means of grace," may be frustrated. We may receive this grace in vnin (2 Cor, vi, 1). Consider the causes of the fruitlessness of chnstisement. i. Stoical hardness. We may be stricken, but not grieve. 2. Thoughtles.,ness. We may feel inward grief, but not reflect on our condition and need. 3. Pride, which suffers pangs of grief but no contrition for sin, 4. Impenitence. We may " refuse to receive correction," harden our wills against submission, and rebel in impatience and complaining against God, instead of returning to him. III. FRUITLESS OHASTISEMENT IS WHOLLY AN EVIL TilINO. Like every other grace, if abused it works injury. Sent to bless, it is converted into a curse. 1. It is wasted suffering. As such it must be reckoned as an evil. Pain in itself is not a good thing. If it works no good, natural instinct is right in regarding it as bad. 2. It leads to an aggravation of wickedness. The very abuse of it is a sin. The wrong temper in which it is received is so much more wickedness added to the long catalogue of unrepeated sin. One more call from the Father is spurned by his children. 3. It leaves the heart harder than it finds it. Sorrow, if it does not soften the sufferer, will harden him, as friction, which abrades the tender skin, renders the tough skin more thick and horny.