Ver. 18.-Sparing mercy. The judgments described as about to be inflicted are very fearful, but they were amply deserved. The wickedness of ihe people was such as to justify their complete destruction. Yet they were spared ere they were tot.ally extinct I Why this unlooked-for restraint? I. IT BAB CHARACTERIZED ALL Goo's JUDGMENTB OF MANKIND OY E.!.BTB. The Fall, the Flood, the Exodus, etc., the sparing of the remnant of Benjamin, etc. II. THERE 1B BUT ONE EXPLANATION FOB IT, It is the possibility of some turning to him truly in the first instance; and, secondly, through them, of the race being saved in the future. God has never utterly cut off even the most sinful. Love, and not mere vengeance, behaves in this way. 1. Has h8 not spared us 1 2. He has never abandoned his purpose of saving" the whole world."-M. Ver. 22.-God's powet' in restraining the forces of nature. An old, yet ever nelV, illustration of his power. The tiny grains of sand, the " Portland Beach" of shingle or pebbles, is enough to hold back the mighty ocean. It is but one of many impressive illustrations of his restraining power and goodness. l. !T 18 CALCULATED TO INSPIBE REVERENCE AND LOVE, II. OUR HELPLESS DEPENDENCE UPON HIM IS THUS SHOWN, III. THE POWER OF Goo IN THE SPHERE OF MORAL mFLUENCE AND II.AVINO GRACE II! thereby suggested. 1 " Thus far and no fw·ther,' when addressed To the wild waves, or wilder human breut, Implies authority tbnt never can And never ought to be the lot of man." It is God's 11rerogative. Let us not defy him or arrogate to ourselves that which :s hie. Let us rather yield ourselves to his gracious dealings nnd fatherly purpose.-M.
Ver. 1.-l'an a righteous man be fottnd in Jerusalem? God's warnings still go on concerning the snme thing-the deeply seated, the deeply destructive wickedness of the people. llut though the same subject has to be Si)oken of, there is no monotony in the treatment of it. It can be looked at from fresh points of view, and put into fre.,li lights. A careful reading of eh. iv. will show how many different things can be sal,i concerning wickedness; and now, with eh. v. 1, the reproaches and appeals still cc;n- tinue. Note- I. THE INDIVIDUALIZmG ASPECT OF THE APPEAL. The nation and Jerusalem and the leaders in it have _all been referred to; but as long ns thero are generalities and nothing more individuals will think they can get away from blame under cover of them, Here, then, is a bold challenge which fnstens up in e. corner every dweller in Jerusalem. The challenge, of course, is not to be taken literally. 'l'he true state of things may be known, and known very distinctly, without any running to nnd fro at all. Let every oue take a glance at those whom he knows, and thcu come home to a candid inquiry concerning the lire within his own breart. It is an easy thing to blame others, tc, throw the fault of disaster upon those who occupy prominent positions. Followers are tu blame as weil as leader~. The iniquity of Jerusalem, deep, turbid, incessant as the stream of it is, is made of many contributions which, individually considered, may seem very slight. A few men in every nge are called to toil for the removal of C\'ils 122 TITE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAJt. [err. v. 1-31.