152 THE BOOK OF THE PUOPHBT JEUEMIAH. [ch. xxxix. 1—18,
Yes, no doubt ; but will he ? If he has got so into tlie habit of saying " No " to Ood will ht — is it likely?— at the last turn and say, "Yes"? Death-bed repentancesi — are there any such things ? That which determines a soul's destiny is not death, but this law of habit. Long before death it may have been settled whether that soul shall be saved or lost. And death may come, as it does to the young, and the matter be not seltlerf, the law of habit not having had time to declare itself whilst life in the body lasted. The law of habit, not the hour of death, is that from which we have most to hope and most to fear. 3. The gambling apirit that is in all men. The trusting to chance, the hope in good luck, in regard to things secular; the hope for a nioru convenient season in regard to the things of the soul. U'here is this spirit in us all. It has its uses, for there are " ventures of faith " as well as all too many ventures ol a very different kind. Read this history of King Zedekiah; and see how he gambled away his crown, his kingdom, his life, his all.
IV. Safequards against this evil. Under God, this same law of habit of which we have spoken. Eesolve, and strengthen your resolve by prayer, that you will not put off till to-morrow what you should do to-day. Act on it, and to-morrow you shall act on it again, and, the next day, and so the blessed habit shall be formed of practically remembering that "now is the accepted time," and for you or by you the miserable verdict of " too late "' shall never have to be pronounced. — 0.
Ver. 10. — " Blessed are ye poor," The Chaldean invasion, which wrought such niin on princes, nobles, and all tlie great in Judah and Jerusalem, had far other and happier effect on the poor. The stoiiu which tore dovm the lofty tree left the lowly flowers that nestled amid the herbage untouched. This veise recalls —
I. OuB Lobd's words, " Blessed are te poor." The poor do not excite the wrath of the great. They are least affected by outward change. They are dealt kindly by when the rich and great are cast down. "He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted," etc. But, chief of all, because they are "rich in faith." So said our Lord ; and it can only be that the poor have an undying conviction of the love of God, an unquenchable faith therein, that they so patiently endure the ills of their present lot. Let that faith die out, as it has in some places and generations, and murderous revolution and anarchy burst forth. Our Lord distinctly encouraged this belief in the love of God towards the poor. He said his misiiion was "to preach the gospel to the poor." In the parable of the rich man, Lazarus, for no other reason than that he was poor, receiving here, as is the lot of the poor so often, only " evil things," was "carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." And we may well believe that they who here have been unable by reason of the misery of their condition to see that God is love— as Israel in Egypt could not believe in it by reason of the bitterness of spirit which their bondage caused them — shall in some blessed Abraham's bosom hereafter see it clearly, and then shall their hearts go out towards God in that faith and love which are the conditions of the kingdom of heaven, but which have been scarce possible to them here. Therefore are the poor blessed. But this verse teaches also the sure truth —
II. " He that is down need fear no fall." Here it was lowliness of position which saved the poor of the land. But the proverb is yet more true where the lowliness is of the heart and mind — that yoke of Christ which, if we take, then rest, the undisturbed peace of the soul, is our reward.
III. The common peovebb, " It ib an ill wihd that blows no one an¥ good." The prince's ruin was the poor man's riches ; the noble's downfall his uprising. There- fore in our own troubles let us remember that we are never as a target at which the arrows of God's judgments are aimed, and in the hittina of which their purpose is fulfilled ; but rather are we the channels of blessing, which by and through us shall flow on to do good to others, perhaps many others. Cf. Paul's allegory, the castin" out of the natural branch, the Jew, and the ingrafting of the wild branch, the Gentile° And illustrations are innuuiirable.
IV. God's law of compensations. If he takes away on the one side, he gives on the other. These poor people were favoured.
V. The first beatitude, " Blessed are the poob in spirit: fob,'' etc. These poor had lands in Judaea ; the poor Christ speaks of shall receive " the kingdom of heaveik''
OH. Sim. 1—18.] THE BOOK OF THE PEOPHET JERBMIAa 153
It ia not always trae that the literal poor are dealt with in the way told of here, but the recompeaae of the poor in spirit never faib. They hare an earnest of it in the rest and peace of Eioul it is theirs to enjoy now amid all the cares and distractions of thiti life. But no man makes himself poor ; he must he made so. God's providence sends the literal poverty, God's Spirit that spiritual condition to which is promised the kingdom of heaven. But if we place ourselves in the hands of Christ, surrendering ourselves to be dealt with as he sees fit, he will, by his Spirit, bring us to that blessed mind without which none enter the kingdom, but with which we assuredly shall. — C.