Vers. 6, 7.-Prosperiey resloi·ed. I. AFTER CHASTISEMENT HAS BEEN RIGHTLY RECEIVED, GoD LOOKS FAVOUHADLY ON ms CHILDREN. He sets his "eyes upon them for good." Men shrink from the eyes of God as from a keen and fatal scrutiny. But Gou is not always looking as the Judge. He beholds his children with love. There is a wonderful tenderness in this gaze, like that of a mother fondly watching over her suf- fering infant-a deep pity for sorrow, an earnest ea.re to ward off harm, a kindly will to bestow all real good, It is blessed indeed to be so beheld by. God. There are rueu possessed of such great power 1md influence that some consider a favourable look from them sufficient to make their fortune. What must be the effect of God setting eyes on a man for good? II. WHEN Goo LOOKS FAVOUIIADLY ON HIS OII1LDREN HE MAY SECUl\E TilEffi TEM- PORAL PROSPERITY, This will not always happen, for it will not always be for the real good of men. Still, it does often occur. Wo are too ready to confine the recognition of God's action in our lives to the sterner sides of it. God sends prosperity as well as adversity, If he banishes, he restores; if he pulls dowu, he builds up a.gain. And the joy of tho restoration and the glory of the latter buildin~ exceed those of earlier times. If earthly prosperity comes from God. it is real autl. solid. God can maintain it aflcr he has bestowed it. He will build. so that none shall pull down. 'l'he man wh1J is innocently enjoying a prosperity sent by God. need have no superstitious frars of a jealous N ernesis. He is not securo from trou hie ; but he has no special ground for apprehending it simply because he is happy at present, III. WHEN Goo LOOKS FAVOURABLY ON HIS CHILDREN HE WJLL CERTAINLY SECURE TilEin SPIRITUAL PROSPEilITY. 'l'his is seen in a restoration of a true knu\\' ledge of God. 1. It is good for us to know God. The knowledge of God. is here represented not so much as a subject of duty as in the light of a form of spiritual blcssc<lncss. The loss of this knowledge leads to the darkness of a godless life, The enjoyment of this know- ledge is eternal life (John xvii. 3). 2. A trne knowledge of GoJ is the recognition of God as he is-quite another thing from our common conception of his nature. Thon we see and feel tho grandeur, the mystery, the glory of" the eternal." 3. 'l'his knowle,lgo of God depends on the condition of our hea1·ts. 'l'hc "heart" represents the wholo inner life. When this is rightly disposed we can know God, rmd only then, Whut we need, therefore, is not a new revelation, but a change of heart. When our soul is in sympathy with God, when our spiritunl Yision is open, we can sec indications of Gull's l,lresencc and cliaracter which wouhl otherwise be obscure. 4. The right comlition of 544 THE DOOK OF THE PROPHll,T JEREMIAH. [OH. XXIV, 1-10.
heart for knowing God must be pi·odnced by God. God promises to give them a heart t-0 know him. He only can create the heart anew. The greatest bicssing of redemption is that he will do this. IV. THE WELFARE OF GoD's CHILDREN IS RESTORED BY THE RESTORA'l'ION OF THE CLOSE RELATIONS BETWEEN HIM AND THEM. "They shall be my people and I will be their God." This relation is twofold. God exercises paternal influence~ they engaae in filial duties. 1. God takes them under his cai·e. They are his people, to be guard:d and blessed by him. So Christians are God's peculiar people (1 Pet. ii. 9). 2. They take God for their portion. He is their God-theirs to worship, serve, love, rejoice in. V, THE RESTORATION OF TRUE PROSPERITY DEPENDS ON THE GENUINE RETURN OF Gon's PEOPLE TO THEIR FIDELITY TO HIM. The restoration was not a mere compensa- tion for the troubles of the exile. Happiness does not necessarily follow trouble. The father runs to meet the prodigal son when he returns, but cannot reaard him favour- ably before this. 1. 'I'his return must be with the heart. Repent.;nce, of all acts, must be genuine and heartfelt. A formal acknowledgment of God without a chanae of heart is a mockery and an insult to him, which can bring us no good. 2. This return 11111st be with the whole hea.rt. A partial return to God is no true return. He claims the ~ hole heart or none of it.
Ver. IO.-Swoi·d,famine, and pestilence. I. TROUBLE BEGETS TROUBLE. War devas- tating the fields, checking industry, rubbing stores, etc., leads to famine; famine and ,rnr create horrible causes of pestilence. Trouble does not tend to relieve itself, but the reverse. The poor become poorer, the wretched more miserable. Hence the need of a salvation outside ourselves. II. TROUBLE rs CUMULATIVE. The full force is not often felt at first, One by one the blows foll upon Job. Thus each is felt most acutely. Though we can bear present calamities unaided, we still need a refuge for the future. Ill. TROUBLE IS VARIOUS IN FORM-sword, famine, pestilence. If we are not touched by one kind of trouble, we may fall under another. Of what avail is it to escape the sword, only to perish of the pangs of hunger or to fall a victim to the ravages of pesti- lence? Future punishment will probably be various in kind, yet so adapted to all varieties of character and condition that none of the impenitent will be able to escape. IV. TROUBLE MUST BE CONQUERED BY REDEMPTION, NOT EVADED BY FLIGHT, \Ve may flee from some trouble, but cannot from all. When this is judicial it is searchiug and penetrating, so that none can elude it. It is vain to rest in the assuraace that we have been able to devise means for resisting many troubles. 'l'he army of them is so vast that no victory over scattered detachments can affect our ultimate condition. This fact should not induce despair, but urge us to turn to the full deliverance of Christ's redemption (Rom. viii. 1).