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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
September, 1935
and in every instance the work is to be accomplished by the Word of God. The Word will always fulfill the purpose for which it is sent (cf. Isa. 55:11: 2 Cor. 2: 14-17). III. T h e C onsequences for J eremiah (26:8-15). . The prophet’s arrest followed his tes timony ( vs. 8, 9). For Jeremiah’s sup posed crime of delivering the message that the Lord had given, “the priests and the prophets and all the people” would put him to death. With similar contempt, the peo ple treated the Lord Jesus. And the faith ful minister today should not be surprised if he is received in like manner. The accusation was brought against Jeremiah by the prophets and priests and was delivered in the presence of the princes of the nation (vs. 10, 11). The complainants accused Jeremiah of pro phesying against “this house” (v. 9) and “against this city”—a crime which they said was punishable by death. They ac cused him of being a traitor to his coun try because he would not close his eyes to the wrongs that prevailed. The world wants to hear nothing but smooth words, no matter what the conditions may be that are described. Jeremiah’s reply to the unjust accusation follows (vs. 12-15). He defended his ac tion by declaring that he spoke not his own words, but God’s (v. 12). The necessity for the reproof was found in the evil ways of the people and' in their lack of obedience to God (v. 13). Desiring their safety, Jeremiah exhorted the people to amend their way, giving the promise that, if they would do so, the threatened dis-t aster would be averted (v. 13). Finally, the prophet solemnly warned the people that their treatment of him, the Lord’s representative, would be accepted as their dealing with the Lord Himself (vs. 14, 15). Jeremiah pressed home the truth that he had acted only as the mouthpiece of the Lord, and that the matter of which he spoke was now one that rested solely be tween the people and the Lord. Well would it be today if teachers and preach ers could boldly declare that their message was not their own but the Lord’s, and would urge upon their hearers the impor tance of individual responsibility. Points and Problems 1. “Behold, I cannot speak : for I am a child" (v. 6). We have here an expres sion of the feeling with which every true minister of God approaches his divine call. From Moses to Paul, we find in the great men of the Bible a feeling of utter in sufficiency for the task before them. “Who is sufficient for these things ?” is their cry— not, “I am sufficient for these things.” In itself, a mere feeling of insufficiency is worth nothing. But when this feeling leads us to throw ourselves completely upon God, it becomes the occasion of spiritual sufficiency. 2. The answer of God to Jeremiah’s insufficiency is found in what God promises to do. “I shall send thee” (v. 7). “I command thee” (v. 7). “I am with thee” (v. 8). “I have put my words in thy mouth” (v. 9). “I have this day set thee over the nations” (v. 10). Doubtless, Jeremiah was a man of some personal ability. He came of a good family. And he probably was well educated. But in the face of his need, God reminds him of none of these things. It is enough to remind
him that God, the eternal God, is on his side. All our personal abilities and excel lencies are worth exactly nothing unless we are “sent of God.” 3. Verse 9 has some bearing on the doctrine of Biblical inspiration. Modern authorities tell us that in the Bible it is the ideas, not the words, that are inspired. But they are wrong. God does not say to Jeremiah, “I will put My ideas in your head,” but, “I have put my words in thy mouth.” There is no way to know the “ideas” of God except as we have His “words.” 4. “This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city” (26:11). The prophet had a difficult choice to make in his ministry. He had to choose between blind patriotism and1the voice of God. We today must make the same choice. The world will hate you, as it hated Jeremiah, if you prophesy against its godless civili zation. In more than one nation today,- you will be counted worthy of death if you lift up your voice against the ”sins of its rulers. Golden T ext Illustration When John McNeill, the Scottish evan gelist, landed in France for Y.M.C.A. duty during the World War, he was introduced to the general in command, who said that he would like to give him suggestions about his preaching to the men. Mr. Mc Neill’s biographer, Alexander Gammie, de scribes the incident: “What the general wanted him to do was to instruct the men that, when they went over the top, if they fell, it would be all right for them in the next world—they had died for their coun try. Mr. McNeill . . . replied: ‘General, if one of the men under your command were to win the_ Victoria Cross for valor, and I were to belittle the deed by which the decoration was won, you would not like it. And I want to tell you, General, that you are cheapening my Lord’s sacrifice.’ ; The incident ended at that point.”— S elected . Memory Verse: “Be not afraid . . . for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord” (Jer. 1:8). Approach: I imagine that the people who listened to the message which Isaiah had for them were very happy to hear it, don’t you? They were having lots of The Story of Jerem iah J eremiah 38 :l-20
begged God not to send him. Jeremiah said: “Behold, I know not how to speak; for I am a child.” But God answered: “Say not, I am a child; for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid because of them; for I am with thee to deliver thee.” And God was with Jeremiah. The peo ple didn’t listen to his message, and they tried to kill him. They said something like this to the king: “This man Jeremiah should be killed. He has prophesied against this city.” And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon in the middle of the prison. But the king heard of it, and had his men tie old rags together and draw Jeremiah out of the dungeon. But still the king would not listen to Jere miah’s message, and Jeremiah saw the very things which God said would happen, for the punishment really did come upon the people.
Object Lesson SlGNBOARBS AND LETTERS
Objects: A letter, addressed and stamp ed, and an imitation signboard, cut from cardboard, with the name of a local town on it. Lesson: Who can tell me what this is? Yes, it is a signboard. It reads, “Los An geles, 10 miles.” (Substitute a local town.) The arrow on the signboard tells the di rection of the town. All of you know that this is a letter I hold in my other hand. It, too, has the name “Los Angeles” writ ten on it. Letters and signboards are very differ ent, although they may have the name of the same town written on them. What is the difference? “The signboard tells you which way to go, and the letter goes for you.” Yes, that is a good answer. The sign board says, “You go,” and the letter says, “I’ll go.” Signboards and letters are like people. There are many people in the world who, when there is a hard task to be done, say, “You go. I will stay here.” They may point the way correctly, but they never go themselves. They are good at telling oth ers what to do, but they never do the thing themselves. Now look at this faithful letter. It is properly addressed and stamped. All I need to do is to drop it in a letter box, and it will go to deliver my message. An other thing which should be remembered about this letter is that it will deliver every word I give it. It will not add to or take from my message. As I look at this faithful letter, I am re minded of Jeremiah the prophet. God said to him: “Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I com mand thee thou shalt speak.” How much like this letter he was! He had to go to deliver the message of God, his Master. Often it was difficult for him to do his task, but he was true under all circum stances. God is looking for people who are willing to be “letters” for Him, faithfully delivering His message.
trouble at that time. Other people were fighting with them, many of. their people were carried away captive, and, besides that, many of their own people were liv ing s i n f u l lives. They m u s t h a v e been glad to hear Isaiah remind them that God still loved
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them and was sending them His Son. You would think, wouldn’t you, that they would get themselves ready to receive this Gift? But they didn’t; they went right ahead in their old way. Then God sent them another prophet. His name was Jeremiah. Lesson Story: Jeremiah lived about one hundred years after Isaiah, and Jeremiah’s home, too, was in the city of Jerusalem, but his message was a very different one! Nobody likes to be told how bad he is, but that is what Jeremiah had to tell the peo ple about their sinful lives.. He knew that they would not want to listen. At first he
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