HOMILIES BY VA.RIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-3.-Keeping the temple gate. It was probably not the outer gate, but one of the gates which led from the outer to the inner or upper court (cf. eh. xix. 14; xxvi. 10; xxxvi. 10). "From this point the prophet .could view the whole assembly of the people in the outer court, as well as the gates leading from without into it" (Lange). Ghrist seems to have stood thus at time~. I. 'l'BE PBEA0HEil OF TRUTH DOES WELL TO CHOOSE THE MOST lllPBESSrvE POSITIONS, O00ABIONB, AND CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THE DELIVERY OF HIS MESSAGE. 'l'he great aim of the preacher is to get a hearing for what he has to say. Tact (to a certain degree), artistic juxtaposition and arrangement, sympathy with the spirit of the times, etc., are indispensable qualities to him who would give the Word of God bold and e!Iective expression. Public occasions may, therefore, frequently be utilized for special services, etc. Passing movement and contemporary events may give fresh interest to perma- nent truth. A curious ingenuity is sometimes exhibited in making the preacher inconspicuous and reducing his office to a matter of routine. He ought always to feel that his message is an extraordinary one, rcq uiring all the earnestness and effort of which he is capable to convey it with due effect. And even then it must have suffered at his hands, and in much he will be an unprofitable servant. II. RELIGIOUS ODSERVANCE HAY DE VERY FASillONADLE, AND ALL DUT UNIVERSAL, WIIERE THERE 1s LITTLE nEAL nELIGION. One has to distinguish between the outwanl and the inward, the religion of rite and ceremony and that of the heart. Here apparently the representatives of "all Judah" were assembled, and yet it was no sign of national piety, but rather the contrary. Iustead of tho carnal nature being checked and corrected, it was directly fostered by such worship. Public worship is a phrase which often includes elements that have nothing to do with the worship of God. That the services of God's house should be chaste and attractive will be generally admitted. llut architectural atlornmeuts, musical accessories of an ornate or merely artistic nature, disiiln.ys of rhetoric, and similar a.<l<litions to the c,scntial character of the w0rnhip, may THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [en. vn. 1-34.
prove l)Opu1ar and entertaining, and yet be spiritually pernicious. In the case of Judah the whole worship was on a low intellectual and spiritual key. The gods of heathenism and Jehonh were worshipped alike, and the licentious rites of idolatry mingled witl1 the sacrifices of the Law. This had resulted in the temple being polluted and becoming a" den of thieves." Our aims in worship, the purity and concentration of our hearts, the moral relation between our every-day life and our temple service, have all very intimately to do with the question of the value of public religious observances. III. RIGHTEOUSNESS OUGHT TO DE PRELIMINARY TO WORSHIP. .. Amend your ways nnd your doings" is the demand the prophet makes in proof of the genuineness of their worship. Religion is a matter of life, and not of showy observances and empty protestations. The best proof that we intend serving God is that we have already begun to do so in business and morals. This duty, although difficult, is the best prepara- tion for exalted spiritual experiences and sincere adoration. Men are not fit to appear before God when their misdeeds are still being repeated and their moral habits are not under the influence of his Spirit. IV. UJs"'REAL WORSHIP OF Gon IS CERTAIN TO BE DETECTED AND EXPOSED. We can imagine the shame of the nobility and people whom the prophet from his unlooked-for vantage-point so sharply rebuked.-M.
Vers. 4-7.-Who shall dwell in the house of the Lord P I. AN UNWARRANTABLE ASSUMPTION, They arrogate to themselves, not only the exclusive possession of a meeting-place between God and man, but they speak of themselves as in a special and peculiar sense the temple of God. 1. There is an argument latent here. 'l'he temple is looked upon as a permanent and immovable building-a. place of intercourse between Jehovah and his people. It is the only place of the kind, and it will stand for aye. But the Jews are so related to the temple, so bound up with its existence and maintenance, that they esteem themselves identified with it, a11d therefore partaking of its attributes. By an easy transition, to which language affords many parallels, they come to say, "The temple of the Lord is this [i.e. are we]." 2. And yet this very pretension, when spiritually interpreted, expresses a gracious and mysterious truth. 'l'hat is the intention and aim of man's creation. Every man, as man, is made to be a temple of the Holy Ghost. This is his purpose and obligation; but, instead of this, how opposite is the actual condition of most men I Not, therefore, as a matter of course, inde- pendently of moral resolve and Divine inspiration, but as something to be striven after and earnestly realized in holiness of life, is man the" temple of the Lord." 3. And as is often the case, the illegitimate narrowing and monopoly of this Divine indwelling is the very sign of its absence. They who rest upon other than moral grounds for the claim to the presence of God within them are usurpers. It is the universal pril'ilego of those who serve God acceptably in spirit and in life. That which has a moral con- dition cannot be confined to local or sectarian limits. II. A COIIIMA.NDMENT WITII PROMISE. A rehearsal of common duties enjoined by the Law of Moses. It is terse, prosaic, detailed, and altogether opposed to the absurd pretension it is meant to correct. Just those duties, too, a.re mentioned which the prophet was well aware had been neglected by Judah. '£here is nothing brilliant or magnificent about the catalogue of deeds. They are just such actions as a.re obligatory upon all men. It was not even necessary for a man to be a Jew to do them; for when the Gentiles do these things it shows that there must be a law written upon their hearts by nature or grace. And yet the greatest in Jerusalem could not, any more than the heathen, do the least of them perfectly. How gracious that to them, therefore, is attached this promise of temple consecration l So the grand human duties and merciful dispositions, without which life would be so hard, are recommended and enforced by that comprehensive promise, to be immediately realized in personal blessing and consecration, to be completely fulfilled when " the tabernacle of God shall be with men."-11!.. Vera. 13, 25.-" Rising up early." A striking expression concerning Jehovah. In ver. 25 it is strengthened: '' Daily rising up early." It speaks to us- I. OF THE ANXlE'rY OF JEHOVAII FOB HIS PEOPLE. He who has important business Dll ha11d, or dear ones in trying circumstances, or great results dependent upon imme• cH. vn. 1-84.J '!'HE IlOOK OF THE l'IlOPHE'l' JEREMIAH. H)3