Ver. 13.-Seeking God with the whole heart. I. Goo MUST BE FOUND BEFORE DB CAN BE KNOWN AND ENJOYED. "He is not far from each one of us : for in him we live and move, and have our being." Yet this natural nearness of God m11,y be unrecognized by us, and may not be sufficient to bring us into the spirit.ual communion with him. The God of nature may be "the unknown God," or he may be recognized and yet not enjoyed as the "Portion" of the soul. 1. Sin hides the vision of God, and drives the soul into remote spiritual banishment from God, even though it cannot affect his physical presence. 2. Our natural limitations of thought and experience surround the idea of the Di:Vine with mystery, and make us feel that though God is part.ly known there are still ways of 01:>d that are far beyond our ken, so that we exclaim in bewilderment and distress, " Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself!" (Isa. xiv. 15). II. To BE FOUND, GOD MUST BE SEARCHED FOR WITH TBE WHOLE HEART. 1. He must be searchedjO'l'. God does discover himself to men unexpectedly, as to Hagar in the desert and to Moses on Horeb, though we may rest assured that even such exceptional revelations were made to souls whose habit it was to seek after him. Nevertheless before such experience, God draws near to those who do not seek him, to urge them to search and find him (Isa. !xv. 1). He seeks us before we seek .him. Our search is the response of our hearts to his invitation (Ps. xxvii. 8).. But this search must be made. The promise of finding is attached to the condition of seeking (Matt, vii. 7). The prodigal must return to his father before he can receive the welcome home. Men are waiting for God to visit them, reveal himself. to them, do something that will bring them back to him. They may wait for ever, and in vain. God is waiting for us. It is our part to arise and seek him. 2. This search must be with all the heart. The reason why we are disappointed of the answers of our prayers is often that our prayers are so insincere, so cold, so half-hearted. It is reasonable to expect God, the all-seeing, to answer our prayers, not according to the vigour of the language, but according to the fervency of our desires. If we value the knowledge and communion of God aright, we shall seek him with all the heart: (1) with the heart, i.e. siucerely, spiritually, inwar<lly, not with mere formal inquiries; and (2) with the whole heart, i.e. with singleness of purpose, intensity, earnestness. fil THE BEWABO OF SEEKING GoD WITH ALL THE HEART WILL CONSIST IN FINDING HIM. 1. The search will be successful. God may not be found at first, or, being found, may not be recognized in the way expected. But Scripture and experience both testify to the utility and fruitfulness of the soul's search after God. If we have not yet found that may be because (1) we have not sought with "all the heart;" or (2) have not ~ought in the right way as far as our light and knowledge have indicated it-- i.e. humbly, penitently, and as Christians through Christ. 2. The success of the search will be its own reward. The finding of Go\\ is described as a blessing of the restora- tion. It will bring other and lower benefit., in its train (ver. 14), but it is itself the greatest boon. "Blessed are they that s~ek God with all the ~eart, for they ~hall find him "-that is enoucrh 0 for a perfect beat1tud.i. To find God 1s to find our hgbt, our rest' our home. To know him is life eternal; to commune with him is the joy of ' heaven. Vers. 20-32.-Shemaiah. I. HIB ACTION. 1. He is irritated at the letter of Jeremiah. From Babylon be writes back in a rage. It is foolish to be thus angry with those who tell us unpleasant truths, but it is very common. 2. He describes Jeremiah as mad. People often depreciate the intelligence of those who differ from them. Weak men set down strong words to the excitement of the speaker because they have not the imagination or the nerv~ to receive them as true. 3._ Be urges the temple officials to arrest and punish Jeremiah. We have here another instance of the common effort to suppress those whom we are unable to answer. II. His MORAL coNuucT. 1. He usurps the name of a prophet, though he is not sent hy God. His pretence to speak in the Na~e of God is unwarranted. A prophet is ~ne who acts as God's messenger, as an apostle 1s one who acts as the messenger ~f Chnst. No man has a right to enter the ministry of Christ unless he is called to 1t, nor to OH. XXIX. 1-32.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 593
speak as God's ambassador unless he is convinced in his conscience that he is sent by God. 2. He deceive, the Jews into "trusting in a lie." It is not only that he falsely claims to be a prophet; bis prophetic message is also false. Truth is sacred; to iamper with it is a sin, but to deceive others to their hurt increases the sin. 3. He instigates revolt against God. If it is wrong to utter a falsehood to serve a good end, it must be more wrong to do so with a bad intention. But all false religious teaching tends to induce disobedience to the will of God. III. His DOOM. 1. He is to be punished. The evil that be discredits shall fall upon him. This is a severe but an appropriate punishment for a deceiving prophet. 2. His children are to share his doom. '!'here is a great mystery in the hereditary character of punishment, and it is increased in some respects by the fact that tendencies to sin are also hereditary. But the fact is as clearly visible in nature as it is revealed in Scripture. 3. He is not to see the foy of the restoration. They who refuse wholesome chastisement cannot receive the happy fruits that follow it. It is natural and reasonable that the wilful rejection of Divine warnings should be followed by a severe judgment.