Their ,iolent actions are often unchecked and produce fatal results. How s it that these e,il thin~s nre not frustrated before they ripen to perfection? That wi kcd men should plot evil, should attempt evil, we can imagine; but that they should 1-,e allowed to carry it out-often only because many accidents are favourable-this is hard to understand. " Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?" 2. The security of the wicl~ed. After they had succeeded we should expect that they would di~cover the vanity of their most prosperous efforts. But they not only attain their obj ts, They find these to be satisfactory, and are able to enjoy them with calm self-complacency, Here is the greater mystery: after completing their bad deeds the wicked are left in undisturbed enjoyment of the fruits of them. "Wherefore are all they secure tha,t deal very treacherously? " 3. The Divine blessing apparently enfoyed by the wicked. Not only does their own work succeed, but Providence. bestows favours upon them. Outside events of life over which they have no control minister to their prosperity. Here is the greatest element of the difficulty. God Las planted them, and they enjo,, fruitfulness through his help. II. THE WAY TO TREAT THE DIFFICULTY, 1. Face it. Jeremiah boldly confronted his troublesome thoughts. People often try to hush up their doubts. 'l'he result is that a subtle spirit of scepticism spreads unconsciously through all their ideas, and its disintegrating influence undermines all solid faith. Suppressed doubt is fatal to sin- cerity. It begets indifference to truth. We cannot bold firmly the tr ths we know till we distinctly separate these from those we doubt. The suppressi n of doubt is cowardly. Doubt can only be conquered by being boldly confron d. 2. Do not charge God foolishly. Jeremiah did not accuse the justice of God. We are dim- sighted and weak in our judgmeot. Much of this great world must be a mystery to us. We must not assume that, because we cannot justify the ways of God, they admit of no justification. It is foolish as well as rebellious to presume to be the judge of God. 3. Bring the difficulty to God. Doubt should drive us to prayer. God only can enlighten our darkness. God graciously permits his children to plead and debate with him (Isa. i. 18). Doubt is not necessarily a result of any misconduct, But, how- ever it arises, it is best to confess it to God. III. THE DIRECTIONS IN WHICH TO LOOK FOR A SOLUTION OF THE DIFFICULTY, 1, The righteousness of God. Jeremiah sees the difficulty, but it does not drive hi n from faith in the justice of God. Religion makes constant demands on faith-the personal faith of trust in the charact€r of God where appearances are against what we believe that character to be. Confidence in the unwavering righteousness of God will help us to look for certain indications of a solution of the difficulty occasioned by the prosperity of the wicked. Right must and will be done, and if it is not yet accomplished it will lie ultimately. From the character of God we may thus reason to his certain action (Gen. xviii. 25). 2. Hence we have an argument in favour of future rectification. Jeremiah expects it to come even in this life, though it is long deferred (ver. 3). The Christian looks for it in the great judgment, and the fruits of this in the life to come. 3. The difficulty may be lessened even for the present by the reflection that material prosperity is not real properity. It may be well for a good man to suffer. Prosperity may be an evil. True welfare consists not in success, not in security from calamity, but in inward peace, in progress in the Divine life. Ver. 2 (last clause).-God near to the mouth but far from the life. I. IT IS POSSIBLE TO HA VE THE NAME OF GoD ON OUR LIPS WHlLE THE THOUGHT OF Gon 18 ABSENT FROM oun MINDS. 'l'his is the case with mere formal worshippers, who use the language of dernlion without realizing to themselves its meaning. 'l'he danger of it besets us all. Words come to be handled like coins, without any distinct recognition of what they represent. '!'his applies especially to words which refer to God, since it requires a high act of abstraction to keep constantly before us the ideas of the unseen Object of suoh language. Understand that these empty words are worse than wasted breath; they are a mockery to God, a decerJtion to men, and a source of self-delusion to the speaker of them. II. IT 18 POSSIBLE TO RAVE THE NAME OF GoD ON OUR LIPS WHILE TRFl J.OVE 011' Gon JB ABRENT FROM ouR HEARTS. We may not fall into the first mistake. The language may not be empty words. The thought of God may be present. Yet this may be a en. XII. 1...-17.] THE BOOK OF 'rHE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 317
mere thought-a cold and barren idea, having no influence on our affections. Thie religion of words and notions is a vain thing. Indeed, it is not a religion at all; it is only a theology. Religion does not begin till the heart opens to receive God. It consists not in the intellectual recognition of God, but in the love of God (Dent. x. 12). Ill. lT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE THE NAME OF GOD ON OUR LIPS WHILE THE POWER OF Goo IS ABSENT FROM OUR CONSCIENCES. God may be spoken of, thought of, approached with a certain affection, though not the true love of our hearts, and yet be practically disregarded. His will may still be of no account to us. We may still not make our lives subservient to his Law. There is then no evidence of God in our conduct. Though our thought may be religious, our life is godless. IV. IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE THE Nurn OF Goo ON OUR LIPS WHILE THE SPIRIT OF GoD IS ABSENT FROM OUR BPmITS. The deepest fact of religion is the indwelling of the Spirit of God-the real presence of God. God inhabits the soul as a temple. We may have much religiousness without this. The Name of God may be inscribed on the portals of the temple while the shrine is empty of his presence. V, IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE THE NAME OF GOD UPON OUR LIPS AND TO BE VERY WICKED. If the Name be only on our lips, this is no sign of moral and spiritual good- ness. The wicked contemporaries of Jeremiah were many of them religious precision- ists; yet their moral guilt was none the less for all their language of devotion. VL IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE THEN AME OF Goo ON OUR LIPS AND TO SUFFEP. ULTIMATE BUIN. Formalism and hypocrisy may prosper for a time. 'rhose men who had the Nnme of God on their lips were the wicked who prospered (ver. 1). Yet they were doomed to ultimate punishment. It is import.ant to remember this constantly, since we are too ready to be deceived by professions and appearances.