The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 527

begins to blow, and the first ripple appears upon the surface of the sea, the little mariners draw in their sails and betake themselves to the bottom of the sea, and you see them no more. How many arc like that I When all goes well with Christianity many go sailing aloug fairly in the summer tide, but no sooner does trouble, or affliction, or persecution arise, than where are they? Ah, where are they? They have gone." Let us see to it that we esteem the wheat,- however poor its surroundings, above all chaft~ however richly it may be endowed. And above all, let us by our own loyalty to God, our sympathy with Christ, our love to our brethren, our cheerful self-sacrifice, our daily obedience, show that we are of those whom the Lord will own at the last, and not as the chaff which he will despise and destroy. IV. To Gon's FINAL ESTIMATE OF us ALL. For the· great question which conce:-11s every man who reads or hears these words is-Which am I, chaff or wheat? Ar.d that question is to be decided, not according to man's estimate, but God's. It i.8 what he will judge, not what we may. Here in this world we are all mingled together, in every Church, family, town, village, society, or community whatsoever. In all places, under all circumstances and in all ways in this world, this commingling of the evil and the good is found; the chaff is ever closely associated with the wheat. "Let both grow together until the harvest," is our Lord's command, and no endeavour of ours can sever the two completely. But the very word "until" which our Saviour employs shows that there shall be a separating time; the two shall not for ever be conjoined as they are now. " Then two shall be in the field ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left." In the same church, sitting side by side in the same pew, there may be found both chaff and wheat. Anticipate that awful separating time. It will come upon us as it came upon those ten virgins, five of whom were wise and five were foolish, but which was which none knew until the cry was heard, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh!" And so, though now none of us can tell what those are who gather with us, and join in the same holy service, listen to the same gospel, and unite in the same prayers, praises, and confessions, though outwardly we are all as the wheat of God, yet whether we be so or no God alone can tell. But do any ask-How can I, though consciously worthless as tho chaff, yet become as the wheat? Blessed be God, such a great change is possible. Go to the Lord Jesus Christ; tell him how poor, wrotched, evil, you know yourself to be. Cast yourself down at his feet. Call upon him for his a.id. 'l'hou shalt become a new creature in Christ, old things shall pass away, all things shall become new. The chaff shall be changed into the wheat, death shall be exchanged for life, and now, worthless once, thou art in Christ precious for ever, and the garner of the Lord shall be thine everlasting home. Come unto Christ in faith and lovo, for the heart so yielded is alone God's wheat; but if when the great separating day comes thou seekest to find safety in aught else, however precious yo11 and others may deem it, he will spurn both it and you. For " what is . . . Lord."-C. Vers. 6, 6.-Jehovah-Tsidkenu. It is in his kingly character that the uprising of the Messiah is here predicted. The shepherds that destroyed and scattered the flock of God were the corruft rulers of the line of David. God was visiting upon them one nftor another " tho evi of their doings; " and after them he would raise up men of a nobler sort-men like Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Maccahees, who should be true leaders and commanders of the people (ver. 4). But these, again, would but prepare the way for One far greater. Beyond an these changes the eyo of the prophet is fixed on Iho time when out of the seemingly withered root of David a snpling shall arise, "the righteous Branch;" One who shall perfoctly realize the Divine idea of "a ruler of men" (2 Sam. xxiii. 3, 4)-the King who shall "reign in ri~hteousness,'' and of the "increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end" (Isa. ix. 6, 7; xi. 1-6; xxxii. 1 ; Zech. ix. 9). Towards him the hopes of loyal hearts through every previous age reached forth. In him the "desire of all nations" finds its glorious fulfilment. "And this is the name whereby he shall be called, 'l'he Lord our Righteousness." In unfolding the full significance of this name, consider (1) the personal righteousness of Christ, (2) the way in which that righteousness becomes ours. I. RIB PERSONAL RIGHTEOUBNESB. He is emphatically" Jesus Christ the Righteous," ~he one only absolutely righteous being ever born into the world, Our human nature, 534 'l'IIE DOOK 01'' THE rnorr-rnrr JEREMIAU. [cu. xxur. 1-10.