The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 365

day (Matt, vii, 15 ; xxiv. Z4). . St. John spoke of ,their uprising as a characteristic of the "last time" (1 John ii. 18; iv. 1). Our own age is certainly no exception. Men may n9t cht,iQl ])ivine inspiration in the old prophetic sense, but never were there bolder claims to deep spiritual insight, never such adventurous flights into the realms of mys- tery, never so many dogmatic remedies for the intellectual restlessness or the moral diseases of human nature. Note, here- I. THAT FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND OF SPEECH WHICH WOULD BEEM TO BE A FJXF:D PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNMENT. There was nothing to prevent the false prophets from speaking; the people were only forbidden to listen to them. Though it be nothing but a vision of their own diseased fancy, a conceit of their own distempered brain, that men have to deliver, they are allowed to deliver it. Better so, that the false should come out to the light of day, confronting the truth, rather than that it shouhl. be suppressed by an external force ,that may at another time be enlisted on its si,le. 'l'he truth has nothing to fear from public conflict with error and all its forces. A marvellous change, as regards the openness of the conflict, has taken place since the days when Milton wrote his 'Areopagitica' and Jeremy Taylor his 'Liberty of Pro- phesying.' 1-ro doubt it is full of danger to the weak and wavering, to those whose mental eagerness is not tempered by humility and whose hearts are not "established with grace." But this is God's way of leading the world on to fuller, clearer light. And is it not in hanI\ony with his whole moral administration of human affairs? lfo put~ awful, de,structive powers into men's hnnds, and he holds each one responsible for the way in which he wields them. '.l'here are boundless possibilities of evil around us all, moral as well as physical, and our case would be sad indeed if there were not eqnnl and still greater possibilities of good. It is well that the false prophets should tell on t t,heir "dreams," if only that the light of God may expose their emptiness and the bre.ath of God may scatter them. II. THE NEED OF A BURE CRITERION OF JUDGlllENT. How shall we discern between the false and the true? These supposed prophetic utterances of old were subjected to certain ,tests. 1. Their verity. If they were falsified by the facts of history or the inner consciousness of the people, they could not be of God. 2. Harmony with Divine Law. 'l'hey must be favourable to the cause of virtue and morality; could not promiso prosperity apart from repentance, or cry," Peace, peace," when there was "no peace." 3. The personal character of the teacher. The messengers of a holy God must needs be themselves holy. The quality of their message would be reflected in their own life. The same principles hold good now. Such an essential connection exists between truth in thought. and truth of feeling, character, life, that every form of doctrine must bo judged by its moral influence, both on the teacher and the taught. " Ily their fruits ye shall know them." Moreover, Christianity refers us to a testing principle of still higher quality and completer efficacy-the presence of the Spirit of truth and grace i,~ our own sotda, "He that is spiritual," etc. (1 Cor. ii.15). "Ye havo an unction from the Holy One," etc. (1 John ii. 20, 21), There is no safeguard against error but this Divine faculty. As regards an external standard, the Scriptures of eternal truth are the touchstone. "'l'o tho Law and to the testimony," etc. (Isa. viii. :CO). 'l'ho voice, the Law, the life of God in your own soul, is a touchstone of still more delicato quality and ready application, If what you read or hear will not bear this test, it is but thti "dream" of a fals,e prophet, "the deceit of his own heart," and no true "burden of the Lord." III. Gon'e BURE VINDICATION OF THE CA.UBE OF ms OWN TRUTH, WHATEVER FORCES MAY ABBA.II,. IT. (Seevers. 15, 16.) The ministry of the true prophets was a mar- vellous revelation of the Divine power that sustained them and nrificJ their words. They were seldom called to do battle with the false prophets on their own ground, directly to assail their errors by argument and disproof. 'l'hey were simply called to proclaim the truth, leaving it with God to make it victorious. '!.'he apostles of Christ dealt with the abounding theoretical and practical evils of their day on very much the same principle. '!.'he thing that is false gains its influence over men's minds by reason of its resemblance to the true. The counterfeit circulates because it seems like the real coin, There is no way in which we can so effectually rebuke it as by setting forth the ~Jory of that of which it is the ~ervcrsion or the mocking shadow. In the full, cle:u light and tho spreading powor ot tho truth error nrnst, sooner or later, wtthcr and d10. 368 THE BOOK 01!' 'rHB PROPHET JEREMIAH. [en. xiv. l-:J2.