herald of the dawn ; but they are mistaken-it is the portend of• the night. The mingled lights and shadows will melt into the blackness of midnight. The mixed joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, of this life, which some sanguine souls suppose to be the worst condition they will be in, and likely to give place to rest and joy hereafter, will end to the sinner in the terrible darkness of a much worse future retribution. 4. The present light is no guarantee that the darkness is not approaching. The brightest day may be followed by the blackest night. II. THE PROSPECT OF THIS DARKNESS SHOULD WARN MEN TO AVERT IT. 1. It is not inevitable. It has not yet come. There is still time to escape. If there were no remedy, all warnings would be useless. The very utterance of warnings implies that the terrors to which they refer may be avoided. 2. The contemplation of its approaching advent should urge men to seek an escape. The prospect is gloomy, and many will not face a gloomy prospect. They dislike allusions to unpleasant subjects. But it is necessary to contemplate such sad tmths, that men may be roused by selfish fear when they will not be moved by the love of God. 3. The way of escape is to be found in "giving glory to God." It is returning from rebellion to the service of God, humbling ourselves, rejecting the pride which clings to the old sin, and regarding God alone as worthy of honour, and so submitting to his will and obeying his co=ands as to glorify him by our acts. To the Christian all this is implied in faith in Christ which involves the humbling of ourselves before him, and our trust in his grace which glorifies his love, and loyalty to his will which honours his rights of royalty. •
Ver. 18.-Royalty humbled. I. GoD IS THE JUDGE OF KINGS. They are as far beneath God as are the meanest beggars. Their rank is no protection against the execution of Divine justice; their power no security against the consequences of the wrath of God. No earthly honour or power will serve men when they stand before the great throne of judgment. II. WICKED KINGS Wil,L MEET WITD SEVERE PUNIBHM.ENT. The greater the privileges they have had, the more have they been able to abuse them, and therefore the greater their guilt. The larger their influence has been, the more harm have they done in using that influence for evil purposes. All who are entrusted with exceptional power should remember that this incurs exceptional responsibility. III. 'l'nE PRIDE OF KINGS WILL BE PUNISHED WITH HUMILIATION. Every sin will have its appropriate retribution. ",vhatsoever a man soweth, that sl:.all he also reap," not on1y in the main characteristics, but in particular features. Pride thus naturally sows the seed of shame (Prov. xxix. 23). !V. '£HE GREATNESS OF THE PRESENT PROSPERITY OF WICKED KINGS WILL ENHANCE THE BUFFERING OF THEIR FUTURE RETRIBUTION. They who stand highest can foll lowest. Poverty is felt more keenly by people who were once in aflluence than by the children of the poor. The memory of his former luxuries must have added keen- ness to the sufferings of Dives in Hndes. We are not to infer from this that future retribution is only o. compensation for the inequality of the joys and sorrows of this life, that kings will suffer for their very greatness (for the wicked poor will be wretched here- after, while the good and great will be blessed in the future with heavenly treasures), but that if we are unfaithful, the measure of future distress will necessarily oo partly determined by that of present enjoyment. We need not, therefore, be envious of tho prosperity of the wicked. Rather it should fill us with horror, grief, and pity as we consider what a fool's paradise they live in-what_anguish will grow out of the contrast of it with tho certain retribution of all sin I
Ver. 23.-77ie Ethiopian's skin and the leopard's spots. I. Sm DECOlIES INHERENT IN THE NATURE OF MEN. The black of the Etbiopian's skin rmd the spots of tho leopard are natural. Sin is, of course, originally unnatural. Yet it is so ingrafted into the very life of men that it becomes part of their nature. 1. Men inherit tendencies to evil; e.g. the child of the drunkard is likely to feel strong temptation to intemperance, etc. We are not to blame for what we inherit; but we do suffer through it. The degraded moml nature is a fact, and one for which tho possessor of it suffers, although he will not be responsible for ih nor punish9d simply for having it, but only for the JEilEmAU, Z 338 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEHElllIAH. [cu. xm. 1-27.
~my in which, with his free-will, he yields to it, and, on his own account, makes it st.ill more corrupt-. 2. Men hal,ituate themselves to sin. Ha.bit is second nature. The sin which is wilfully chosen becomes a tyrannous habit. We a1·e colouring our very being Ly the tone of our thoughts and actions. What we do to,day, that we will be to-morrow. We are the result of our own past deeds. He who speaks or acts a lie becomes a liar; he who indulges in impurity becomes an unclean being; he who follows srltisli impulses becomes a creature of selti1>hness. Thus every man is building up a hahit.'ltion for his soul by his own deeds. What shall this house be? A temple of divinity? a palace of pure delights? a ch.e.rnel-house of corruption? or a prison of gloom? ll. THIS INHERENT CONDITION OF SIN MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE l!'OB ANY MAN TO IBRADI· CATE IT, 1. Seif-reformation is impossible. Sin is not a mere defilement to be washed ulf. It is ingrained. It is in the blood, in the life, in the nature. Action is according to character. If the character is corrupt, so must be the action. It is true we are free to do as we will, but so long as our nature is corrupt we shall will to do evil, because the will is part of the nature. But apart from the vexed question of the freedom of the will, every man is conscious of the difficulty of overcoming. opposing habits, cveu when his will is roused against them. When he would do good evil is pre- sent with him, and this evil is so strong that it can only be regarded as a law of (corrupted) nature (Rom. vii. 21-23), 2. Perfect reformation must .be sought from God. This must be regeneration (John iii. 3). Man can do much with .himself, but only God can " create" in him" a clean heart" and make him" a new creature." Therefore, to be born again, we must be born "from above." Regeneration must be the work of the Spirit, which is the brooding source of all life. But this is possible for all (Matt. xiii:. 26). '.!.'he impossibility for self-reformation should not leave us in sullen indifference, but should rouse us to seek the one sure means of renewal in c1·ucifixion of-the old life and spiritual resurrection to a new life, through yielding ourselves up to the influence of the grace of God in Christ J csus.