HOMILETICS. Vcrs. 1-10.-Two baskets of figs. I. MonALLY MEN ARE DIVISIBLE INTO TWO DISTlliCT CLASSES. The two baskets of figs represent two classes of Jews: the basket of good figs,_ J':con)ah and his followers; the basket ,of bad figs, Z~dekiah and his party. 'Ihe great d1stmct10n between these was moral. 'I here were princes in both classes, yet the one stood far higher in the sight of God than the other. 1. The deepest line of cleavage which runs down through all sections of mankind is moral; all other sepa- rnting marks are more superficial. 2. There are in the main but two classes-the aood and the bad-though, of course, within each of these great varieties occur. 3. Both of these classes tend to grow extreme. The good figs are very good, the bad are very bad. Character is tendency. As character develops it moves further on along the lines on which it is founded. Good men incline to grow better and bad men worse. Like the ri,·ers which flow down the two sides of a great watercourse, lives that begin in similar circumstances and are near together for a season, if they once diverge, are likely to separate more widely as the years pass. H. THE BEST MEN MAY BE THE GREATEST SUFFERERS. 'I'he good figs represent the Jews who suffered most severely from the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, who were torn from their homes, robbed of their property, driven into captivity; the bad fig~ represent the seemingly more fortunate Jews over whose head the tide of invasion passes, leaving them still in their homes and in quiet, and also those who escaped from it entirely by a. flight into Egypt. We may often notice that very good people are not only not spared, but suffer the most severe calamities. The sinless One was a "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." No greater mistake can be made than that of the three friends of Job. Great misfortunes are certainly not indications of great guilt ; often of the reverse. 1. Hi~h character may directly invoke trouble. It rouses the opposition of the wicked; it feels called to dangerous tasks and to a mission which e"-cites enmity; it maiotains a fidelity that excludes many avenues of escape which woulrl. be open to me □ of lower moral principles. 2. God may bless and honour bis better children l·y ~ending to them tbe severer trials. "Whom the Lord lovcth he chasteneth." 'l'hero- fore chastisement is an evidence of God's !ol"e. Good men should understand this, a:ul 1wt Le surprised at the advent of trouble, but expect it; not be dismayed at the incon- ,, ruity of it, !Jut recognize its fitness; not despair of themselves, and think that Lh,:y ~,ust be hypocrites after all, nor doubt and distrust God, but submit to what is clearly foretold and wisely arranged. III. GOD LOOKS l!"A VOURADLY ON THOSE WHO SUBMIT TO HIS CIIASTISEMENTS, The good figs represent those Jews who obey the messago of Jeremiah and submit to the invasion of the Chaldeans as to a Divine chastisement; the bad figs stand for thoso Jews who resist. It requires faith to recognize the wisdom and duty of submission. On the face of it snch conduct would appear unpatriotic and cowardly, while resistnuce would seem noble and brave. It may take more courage, however, to submit than to resist. There is a yielding which iij calm and reasonable and really brave, sineo it h,volves the curbing of instinctive combativeness nni the pursuit of nn unpopular on. xx1v. 1-lU.] 'l'BE llOOK OF THE PROPHET JETIEMI.AH. 543
cou!'se-one SUl'O to be misunderstood and to provoke calumny. The sole gui,le must be sought in the question of what is right, what is God's will. \Ve arc not called to a. fatalistic passiveness, 'l'here are circumstances in which self-defence or flight may be evidently right. What we arc to submit to is not all opposition, all possible trouble, but God's will, the trouble which we know be has sanctioned. All the good fruit of chastisement will be lost if we rebel against it. No greater proof of faith in the goodness of God and loyalty to the majesty of God can be found than a quiet, unmur- muring acceptance of his hardfr requirements. IV. THE HARDEST SUFFERING MAY LEAD TO THE HAPPIBST RESULTS, The captives are to be restored. Those Jews who remain in the land are ultimately to be clrirnu forth as" a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a. curse." 'l'he short, sharp snITering will end in ultimate good, The krnpora.ry escape will be followed by final ruin. 1. God's chastisements are temporary; they will give place to la.sting blessedness. The present affliction is light just because it endures "but for a moment" (2 Cor. iv. 17). Even if they outlast the present life, what is this brief span of earthly trial compared with the blessedness of an eternity? 2. God's chastisements work our good. They directly tend to produce the happier future. The tearful sowing is the cause of the joyful harvest. 'fhe spiritual improvement wrought in the soul by the discipline of sorrow is at once a. source of future blessedness and a justification for it. "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." 3. ..1 culpable avoidance of Divine chastisement is highly dangeruus. 'l'he escape from temporary trouble must incur greater future trouble; for (1) it prevents the chastisement from working the good in us which would have led to a happier future, and (2) it adds a new offence of direct rebellion against God which must invoke upon the head of the offender a terrible judgment.