n. But there is peril, whatever the work bb, of doiko it deceitfully Now, the work of the Lord is done deceitfully : 1. When it is not done thoroughly. When we shirk our work ; do no more than we can help ; get away from it as fast as we can. And how much of the " work " is thus done! Alas that it should be so! Evidently counted a drudgery rather than a delight. Do we not all know that there is danger of our thus working ? 2. Whet. H is not done sincerely. Huw varied and how questionable often the motive which leat». men to engage in the work of ihe Lord ! — custom, ostentation, fear of reproach, sting of conscience, hope of gain, fashion, etc. I'hese and such as these may crowd out the only right and sincere mntive — the love of Christ. All others make us more or less hypocrites, and can find no acceiitance of the Lord in the great day. But is there no peril from such motives ? We know thcie is. 3. When it is not done earnestly. When our heart is not in our work. When it is laid hold of not, as it should be, "with both hands earnestly," but, as it were, with one of the fingers. Some thus work ; others as with one hand ; other.s, in<'ec.l, with both hands, but slowly, loosely, not earnestly. " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might." Only such as obey that Word are sincere workers. 4. When it is done hypocritically. In the days of sore persecution there was but little peril of this ; but when and where religion goes, as it is said, in silver slippers, there is real peril of men taking up with the Lord's work in order to further, not the work of the Lord, but their -own poor worldly well-being. What they do is all a pretence, a kind of deception. God keep us all therefrom I For note —
III. The severity with which the Lord looks upon his work done deceit- fully. " Cursed be he," etc. (ver. 10). Now, wherefore this severity? 1. It is ar. itifultto Ood. h is as good fks saying to him that his work dnep n(>' .i«sRrvK trui
OH, XLVui. 1— 47.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 23Sj
labour; that it is of so little imioitance that anything will do for it — the parings ol your time, your energy, your thought, your means, your stiength. Wljat could be a greater affront to God ? 2. The work is so great and urgent that it is traitorous thua to engage in it. What do we say of the watchman skeping at his post (cf. Ezek. xxxiii.)? of all who betray their irust or neglect it? 3. Such deceit/ulness is con- tagious. How many a yiung servant of Christ is checked and chilled by tlie evil influence of professeH servants of Christ like himself, but older, less fervent, and who are guilty of that which is here denounced ! Such di moralize many in the aimy of the Lord. 4. It renders the work itself/ar more difficult. For the world sees clearly and judges keenly those who say they do the woik of the Lord. They know what that work is, what it professes to aim at, what the interests involved in it. But they who do that work deceitfully cause men to laugh at all such work, to disbelieve all its claims, and to decline more stoutly than ever to surrender their hearts to it. 6. buch deceivers harden their own hearts, and steep themselves in a fatal slumber, from which there is no waking. Never has Satan a firmer hold on a man than when he can get him to do the work of the Lord deceitfully. The man is fully persuaded that he is all right, and dies with a lie in his ri,>;ht hand, and is not undeceived till, to his awful amazement, he hears the Lord say to him and to all such, "I never knew you ; depart from me." That thus it may not be with us, not* —
IV. Our bafbguaeds against such sin. 1. Solemn recollection and pondering of Gtod's severe anger against it. 2. And chiefly by continually seeking and cherishing in your. hearts that love of Christ which the Holy Spirit created and maintains there, and which alone, but ever, makes all our work sincere, acceptable, effectual, and true. — C.
Ver. 11. — Much ease, much peril. " There is a reference here to wine, or to the pro- cess by which it is prepared and finished. It is first expressed from the grape, when it is a thick discoloured fluid or juice. It is then fermented, passing through a process that separates the impurities and settles them as lees at the bottom, Standing thus upon its lees or dregs in some large tun or vat, it is not further improved. A gross and coarse flavour remains, and the scent of the feculent matter stays by and becomes fastened, as it were, in the body of the wine itself. To separate this and so to soften or refine the quality, it is now decantered or drawn off into separate jars or skins. After a while this is done again and then a^ain ; and so, being emptied from vessel to vessel, the last remains of the lees or sediment are finally cleared, the crude flavours are reduced, the scent itself is refined by ventilation, and the perfect character is attained." Now, the prophet afSrms here that Moab had been at ease from his youth. It is dif&cult in the face of the somewhat checkered history of Muab to see the exact mean- ing of this. Probably he refers to the long lapse of time since their great and awful defeat told of in 2 Kings iii. 21. Some two centuries and a half had rolled away since that dread day, and in that interval Moab regained all, and more than all, of its former prosperity. For the land was beautiful and rich in the extreme. Its pastures were covered over with sheep and its valleys with corn. The very name " Moab" is thought to mean the land of desire, that is, the desirable land. Now, during these long periods, the description here given is applicable. They had enjoyed much ease, and the natural evils engendered by their cruel idolatrous system had become more fixed and settled ; "their scent had not changed." The truth, therefoie, which is here taught is that prolonged and abundant ease, however coveted by men, is full of peril to their higher nature, and tends continually to the deterioration of character and the haideuing of the habit of evil. Now, we note that —
L God is kveb teachino us this teuth. 1. In his Word. Cf. Ps. Iv. 19, " Because they have no changes," etc. Cf. also Heb. xii., where the writer urges the acceptance of the Divine chastisements on the ground that no child of God is without them. " For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ? " And as we go over the roll of names of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, saints, and above all the Son of God — ^aot one was without chastisement. Of Christ it is said, " The chastisement of our peace was upon him " (Isa. liii.). And so in the history of the chosen people. How they were moved from vessel to vessel ! What changes and adversities, what agitation and tossing ibout by wars, rebellions, invasions, captivities, etc., they had to endure 1 And so of the
240 THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh. xlviii. 1— 47