stances merely becimse we find them hard; but this we may always be sure of, that he will enable us to make the very best of them. II. Gon's ASSERTION OF ms PART IN BRINGING THIS CAPTIVITY ABOUT. He had caused his people to be carried a.way from Jerusalem to Babylon. The place of their present abode was by his arrangement. It was their own fault as a. nation that they had had to leave Jerusalem; but it was in God's own wisdom that they were planted in Babylon rather tha.n another place. Clearly to perceive that the omnipotent God was disposing their outward relations, would enable them to listen all the more attentively to what instructions he had to give them for making the best of their present circum- stances. Ill. Gon's PLAN FOB 'THE PROFIT A.ND COMFORT 011' THE PRESENT GENERATION. The people are plainly told that they are to be there for seventy years. No energy of their own can get them away a year sooner; and no might of their captors can keep them a year later. Hence it is the true wisdom to accept the divinely settled position. No man among them was to neglect the possibilities of his brief temporal life by reason of a baseless expectation that he might soou return to his own land. He might indeed say, " If I show signs of settling down here, I shall be reckoned a very poor patriot." . And so over against all temptations to restlessness and utter waste of existence there is this explicit direction from Jehovah, If any Israelite lives a wasted life in Babylon it will be his own fa.nit. So to speak, God makes Babylon, for the time, a sort of substitute for the promised land. If the Israelite has only sufficient of the spirit of true faith and obedience in him, he may make even the land of captivity a place of blessing. For the nation Babylon was a mere place of sojourning, but for the indi- vidual it was to be his chief abode on earth. Hence the loving-kindness of God is manifest in telling him he might build a house_ and make a home and plant fields, thus settling down to a useful a.nd cheerful life. IV. Gon's WILL WITH BEGABD TO TBE RELATIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND BADYLON. Israel was to seek the peace of Babylon. It was to support everything that promoted peace and security. Naturally Israel would expect to find its chance in the difficulties of Babylon. If any formidable foe threatened the country, or the equal danger of civil war, it might only too easily seem to Israel that this would_ give the chance for liberty, But so far from this being really the case, God assures his people that Babylon's peace is their peace. This sets before us a principle of action. which Christian people cannot too diligently observe. While it is true that we are not of this world, but must con- stantly rise superior to its habits and maxims, yet at the same time we cannot do too much to maintain the stability of governments and the public order of the !arid in. which we live. While Christ would have us turn away from the cant of what is called patriotism, he would also have us to abhor everything that tends to anarchy. While the Spirit of God promotes the highest individuality, he also promotes the greatest order (1 Tim. ii 1-4).-Y, •• HOMILETICAL INDEX TO
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH.
VOLUME L THD[B P .a.en: ORAPTER I. Jehovah's Indictment age.inst Israel 36, 39 TIIBIIE PA.GE The Sinner's Attempt to wash away The External Surroundings of the Life his Sin 37 of Jeremiah 4, 9 A Dread Snare of tho Devil 37 Predestination 5 The Restlessness of Sin 37 Diffidence overcome 5 God's Estimation of his People's Love 38 The Power of Prophecy 6 First Love to God 38 The Almond Rod... •.. 7, 17 Guilty Instruments of Divine Judg- The Seething Pot ... 8, 17 ment ... 38 Encouragements to Fidelity 8 The Marvel of Unbelief 40 Introductory Statements concerning The U nrcasonableness of appealing to Jeremiah'e Parentage, eto. 10 Worldly Assistance in Spiritual The Dread Commission 11 Enterprises 40 The Ministry for a Corrupt Age 13 Go,l's Method of punishing Apostasy 41 Jeremiu.h's Visions 13 The Shameless Shame of Idolatry ... 41 Jehovah calls Jeremio.h, eto. 15, _19, 20 "Lords many nnd Gods many" 41 The 'VllBt CompllBs of the Prophet's Rejecting the Chastisements of God 41 Work... •• 16 The Plea of Innocence II Culminating A Protracted Ministry 18 Sin 41 "What eeest thou ? " 20 Israel's Desertion of Jehovnh viewed Haatening Ills 20 in the Light of the Past... 41 Heathendom gives an Unconscious CHAPTER II. Rebuke to Apostate Israel 42 Iteoolleotione of the Happy Pu.et 28 Forsaking the Fountain of Living The Ingratitude of Sin 29 Waters H Wickedness in lea ling Men 30 A Shame to be ashamed of 45 Broken Cisterns .. . 30 Why the Confidences of Men do not Bin Self-Corrected 31 prosper 46 The Staine of Sin 32 The People's Sin ... 47 False Oon:fldence .. , 38 A Sweet Remembre.noe embittered 83 CHAPTER III. The Divine Ideal, how lost and re- pined 85 Filial Reminieceocee of God Insincere Repentance ... 11