Jeremiah 36:20-26 And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe… The history with which our text is connected is soon told. It appears that Jeremiah the prophet, at the command of the Lord, had instructed Baruch the scribe to write, in a roll of a book, an abstract or an abridgment of all the sermons which during the last three-and-twenty years he had preached, as well as an account of the various judgments which the Lord had denounced against Judah by reason of their sins. This was done that the king and his people might be put in remembrance of what they had heard, and that they might the better understand it, when they had it all before them at one view. I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WRITTEN WORD. Our Lord and His apostles speak to us by their written words in the New Testament; and they attest the inspiration of the written Old Testament by the numberless quotations from its various hooks. These Scriptures we are commanded to "talk of, when we walk by the way, and when we sit in the house." We are also especially to heed them when they are read or explained to us in the sanctuary of public worship. II. THE VALUE OF DIVINE ORDINANCES. We should come up to the house of God, my brethren, "to ask those things that be necessary as well for the body as the soul." We should come up "to set forth God's most worthy praise." We should also come up to hear "His most holy Word." III. THE LORD'S OBJECT IN THE SCRIPTURES. The object which God has in view in giving us His Word, is to save our souls. He therein tells us, first, of our danger, and then of our refuge. The Scriptures, therefore, when rightly received, issue in our salvation. This was the Lord's object in reference to Judah. Judah had sinned; and the Lord had threatened, by Jeremiah, to punish those sins. Mean-while, however, he tried once more to bring them to repentance. He therefore commanded Jeremiah to commit to writing all the evils he had pronounced against that nation, in the hope that, when they read what was written, they might be alarmed at their danger, and seek pardon from their God before their destruction came. IV. THE REBELLION OF THE CARNAL MIND. "The carnal mind," we are told, "is enmity against God." It on this account opposes God's Word, and hates and persecutes God's faithful servants. V. THE FOLLY OF DESTROYING GOD'S WORD. Those men destroy God's Word who will not receive its sayings. It matters not, however, my brethren, whether you receive the whole Word of God, or not. By it you must be one day judged. The judgment will be set, and the books will be opened. If you could get together and burn all the Bibles in the universe, that flame would never destroy God's truth. Hell would be the same: eternity would be the same: death and judgment would be unaltered. Reject not, then, the inspired Word. Receive it most thankfully. Pray, over it most earnestly. (C. Clayton, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king. |
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