III. The Christian's fliqht from the oitt of Destbitotiom uust bb BFiBTnTAL. Jews were to flee bodily from Babylon and Christians from Jerusalem. But the flight we need i^ wholly different in character. Monks and hermits thought to flee &om the world by hiding within still cloisters or far away among desert solitudes. But they made a double mistake. They neglected their duty to the world and yet they did not escape from the evil of it. We may carry the world into the wilderness, for it is in our hearts. While we have bodies and live on tlie earth no change of place will be an escape firom the world. Then we have a misdon to fulfil, and no pretence of care for our own souls can excuse us for shirking the work of life ; certain views of salvation are often put forth according to which Christianity is supreme selfishness — the saving of one's own soul even though others suffer. These are false. The great duty of the Christian is to live for the good of his fellow-men. To do this he must be in the world. Intercourse with the world for such a purpose is right. It is foolish to visit an infected locality for pleasure, but divinely charitable to do so to minister to the sick. The flight from the world must be escape from its spirit, its evil influence, its sinful delights. Christ prays, not that we shall be taken out of the world, but that we shall be saved from the evil of it. Through him we may have this deliverance, because he has " overcome the world."
Ver. 60. — The duty and encouragement of the saved, I. The duty. " Stand not still." 1. Why the duty is requisite. Past deliverance is no security for the future. The first arrow missed the mark, but the second may strike. The tide advances ; though the waves have not yet reached us, they will overwhelm us if we remain where we are. (1) It is possible to avoid one earthly trouble and succumb to another — to escape the sword and fall a prey to the pestilence. (2) It is possible to escape much distress in this world and then to fall under a terrible doom in the next world. (3) It is possible to be safe now from the terrible effects of sin and to yield to future temptation and so bring upon our heads ruin in the future. 2. How the duty is to he performed. (1) We must be prayerfuL As the danger is ever renew^ so nmst the grace be. Therefore we need to be always seeking aid from heaven. (2) We must be watchfuL New dangers may arise at any moment. (3) We must be anxious to flee from evil. Our whole course must be with the back to the city of Destruction. (4) We must be diligent. The attainments of the past will not suffice. Forgetting those things which are behind, we must press forward. The Christian's safety is not in indolent reliance upon Christ, but in trustful obedience.
II, The knooubaoement. " Remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerus&lem come into your mind." 1. God's grace in the past is an encouragement for the future. Past deliverances will not secure us against future danger, but they will furnish reasons for seeUng safety again in God. 2. The chief reason for pressing diligently and hopefully forward is to be found in the contemplation of God. His holiness should make us fear sin ; his love should make us trust in his helping grace. That we may not stand still, we should " remember the Lord." 3. Our very remoteness from God should urge us not to stand stiU. We may have wandered far from God in sin, or have forgotten him among the crowd of woildly distractions. But when we realize our condition, irhen we come to ourselves, we shall see that our only safety will be in arising and going to our Father. We can never be too far to return by Christ " the Way." Tho futhei
298 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [ch. ll 1—64
we are from God the greater is our danger, the nearer we approach liim the more of his grace and help shall we enjoy. 4. Thoughts of our mission and destiny should induce us not to stand still. The Jews are to remember Jerusalem, their ancient home, the seat of their future destinies. If there weru no such city they might despair in their exile. The tliought of Jerusalem suggests a centre of union and an aim for the future. If a man loses all hope, he loses himself. When we think of our possible future and of our mission, we are roused to take up the tangled threads and weave our life's work with patience according to the pattern of God's will.
Vers. 52 — 64. — The book cast into the river, I, Men do not sdtfeb fob theib 8IN8 WITHOUT WARNING FEOM GoD. Seraiah was to go to Babylon and see that he read there the words of the prophecy concerning the city. God has warned us of the doom of sin, and he has sent the warning to us. We have not to search for it. It sounds in our ears. It is written large in the Bible. It is repeated in the lessons of providence.
II. If a Divine warnino is disregarded it is useless to the doomed. The prophecy seems to have had little or no effect on the people of Babylon. No doubt it was sent in mercy like Jonah's preaching against Nineveh, to lead the people to repent- ance. But if they failed to repent, the Divine message could afford no pretection. Unless we are influenced by the Bible, it will be useless for us to hold it in our hands. It can be then only a witness against us. Neither the mere possessor of Scripture, nor the reader, nor the student of it finds a way of safety in its teachings, but only he who follows its truths in practice. He who hears Christ's sayings and does them builds on the rock.
III. When a Divdje warnino is proved to be iNBFFECTirAL, it mat be with- held. The book, no longer of use, is to be cast into the river and sunk with a stone attached to it. The voice of conscience grows silent from being long unheeded. While men neglect to obey the teachings of Scripture, they harden themselves against the reception of them. If there is no more warning, they may grow careless as though there were no more danger. They should rather take this silence as ominous of the approaching destruction which the warning has been ineffectual in urging them to eacapOi
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS.
Ver. 6. — Divine love not to he severed from its ohfect. A marvellotis statementi A down-trodden, sinful remnant of his people, who had broken every engagement of his covenant, is still owned and cared for.
I. A PROOF OP THE FAITHFULNESS AND LONO-SUFFEBING MERCT OF GoD. 1. Having