The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 442

TRYING TIMES, The remarkable fact about tho mountain snow is that it is perpetual. It is nothing that there is snow on the hills in wintor; are not the plains then equally snow-clad? The Christian who only remains faithful under favourable circumstances is but superficially religious, The difficulty is to be true when all things are adverse, in the heat and h'urden of work, under the fierce onslaught of temptation, while the &pirit of the age is against us, when Christianity is out of fashion, out of season. Yet we are to be instant out of senson as well as in season (2 Tim. iv. 2), to be independent of the weather, of.the social atmosphere, in the changeless purity of a spiritual life. Ill.. THE CAUSES OF THE PERSISTENCE OF. MOUNTAIN SNOW ABE SUGGESTIVE OF THE OAUSEB·- OF THE PRESERVATION OF THE FRESHNESS AND PURITY OF THE SPmITUAL LIFE, How is it that we find snow in the tropics, snow in summer? 1. Great elevation. A few thousand feet in height will produce climatic changes equal to those caused by a distance of many degrees of latitude. The Christian must find his fidelity preserved by elevation of life. , He must live on high, a risen life, with affections above the earth, with a treasure. in heaven, and his heart there also. By constant communion with heaven constant puri~y on earth may be maintained, as the silent solitudes of snow remain through the summer in the cool regions of their great elevation. 2, Co11stantly renewed supplies. The snows melt under the sun and send roaring torrents down the hillsides, and in course of time they would disappear unless they were renewed. But clouds gather round the mountain• summits and descend in fresh snows, and winter on its return makes up for the partial loss of snow in summer. So the Christian must maintain his ,spiritual life, not only by the elevation of his own thoughts, but by receiving .repeated supplies of heavenly grace. He may be thankful that he is favoured by" times of refreshing·" when·the fierce heat of trial is abated, and strength is accu- mulated fo,r the time of need. Ver, 18.-The opposition of officials. I. IT IS COMMON TO BEE OFFICIAL PERSO!'!S RESISTING THE WORK OF GOOD AND GREAT MEN. The prophets usually met with this opposition, and it forced them to become nonconformists. Christ receil'ed the most bitter enmity from the official classes. This opposition may be traced (1) to pedantry -the official only believes in what comes in the regular way of officialism; (2) to jealousy-the official is jealous of the greater influence of the unauthorized teacher; (3) to conviction of unfaithfulness-the trne prophet exposes the faults of his official con- temporaries.' The inevitable result is discredit and shame to them, rousing a spirit of revenge. II. 'l'HE OPPOSITION OF OF'FIOIALS FINDB EXCUSE IN OFFICIALISM. Have they not their appointed office? Are they not discharging their regular functions? They have been so accustomed to the unbroken routine that this seems to them part of the eternal order of things. • They can believe in nothing better. '!'hey cannot conceive the pos- sibility of any alteration in it. True, the spirit of the Law has evaporatell from the service, but the droning of the letter of it shall not depart from the priest. The wisdom of spiritual insight is no longer enjoyed by the wise man, but there is no end to his casuistical pleading with old worn rnax_ims. Prophecy in its higher flights is denied to the professional prophet, but there seems to be no abatement of the power to echo the cries of the day and win the popular favour by flattery and hollow rhetoric. WIiy, then, listen to'the disturbing words of the new teacher? Thus officialism is alway:; excusing its opposition to new good movements on the plea of its own self-sufficiency. III. 'l'HE ,OPPOSITION OF OFFICIALISM IB POWERFUL FOR HARM. For how many scenes of martyrdom is it responsible! It was this that crucified Christ. It has peculiar weapons of its own. It carries the weight of prestige. It is very effectual with tho thoughtless, who are ready to submit to the voice of the recognized authorities, partly out of indolence, partly out of fear, partly out of ignorance. It needs independenco of thought and courage to recognize that this may be all wrong, and truth and right with the irregular minority-the peasant apostles rather than the haughty Sanhedrim, the plain German monk rather than the cardinals of Rome, the simplo teachers of truth rather than the recognized masters of the world. 448 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [an. xvm.1-23.