"Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. Sermons
I. CONSIDER THE ILLUSTRATION BY WHICH IS SHOWN THE EXTENT OF JEHOVAH'S MERCY TO THE LOST, By an illustration drawn from the power allowed to the Israelite husband, Jehovah shows how great is his spirit of mercy and his desire that the deserting wife, so terribly described in the preceding chapter, should return. The reference is evidently to Deuteronomy 24:1-4. There the husband is invested with an authority which almost seems arbitrary, although from Numbers 5. it also appears that an accused wife had a right of appeal to ordeal, which ordeal would infallibly certify either innocence or guilt. The essential point here, however, lies in this, that there was an ordained inability for the wife to return to her first husband. The marriage tie, in spite of all the apparent facility of divorce, was not a thing to play fast and loose with. The way of departure might seem comparatively easy, but the way of return was altogether hedged up. We behold a curious mixture of indulgence and severity - indulgence for a time because of the hardness of the people's hearts; severity, in order that society might be kept together at all. For a husband to take back such a wife was ordained a ceremonial pollution, which needed to be cleansed away. But if such a return was impossible, still more evidently impossible was the return of one who had lived as a harlot. Yet thus did Israel, once the loving, devoted spouse (Jeremiah 2:1), now appear to Jehovah. Her life of desertion from Jehovah is described as one continuous, shameless exhibition of the harlot's lust. And it is just in the light of all this terrible impurity that the word comes to her, "Return again to me, saith the Lord." II. CONSIDER HOW IT COMES THAT GOD CAN ADDRESS SUCH AN INVITATION. It is the old story of God's power to do things which man, however loving and merciful he may be in disposition, finds to be quite beyond his reach. Man, with the best intentions, with the most sympathetic heart, is limited in his resources to the outcast by the necessities of human society. To put one who has been an habitual thief in a position of serious trust, is a thing so hard as to be practically impossible. The victims of vicious inclinations may be deeply pitied, and yet the moment one tries to give them any large measure of help, the claims of others somehow come in to forbid. But God, as he rises far above man in his love and mercy and insight into the sinning human heart, so he rises - if one may thus put it - higher still in his power to give an amply sufficient help. God can bring back into the privileges and possibilities belonging to his Church, he can bring under all the penetrating potencies of his grace, the very worst apostate. What creature can be thought of more defiled than the harlot? Human reclaiming agencies can do nothing to serve her or save her, except as they put in their forefront the loving-kindness of God in Christ Jesus. It is well for us when we have to consider the impure, the degraded, the despairing slaves of vice, to consider also these encouraging words of God, "Return to me." Think much of him who spoke them, and then of the sort of people to whom they were spoken. Those who are most of all suffering in social outlawry may read all the horrible descriptions of abandonment to impurity found not only in this prophet but in others, and then say with the most joyful hope, "If Israel, being such, was pressed to return, I also may return." Hosea gives the appropriate words for such, "I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now" (Hosea 2:7). And to keep up the 'figure, what will the end of such a Divine invitation and such a human resolution be? It is found in Revelation 21., where we read the following request, "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." The first Israel sank into an indescribable shame; the second Israel will rise into an indescribable glory. - Y.
How shall I put thee among the children. I. A MOST DELIGHTFUL CONDITION OF PRIVILEGE AND ENJOYMENT.1. A real and endearing relation, not a mere figure or shadow. Though all worlds wait on His will, God's heart is a Father's heart; and its home, its place of joy and singing, is "among the children." 2. This relationship implies dependence. The two principles of trust and obedience constitute the great requirements which the Head of the redeemed family urges upon all His children. 3. The relation between child and parent implies solemn obligations. The children of God are required to exhibit a character and conduct in harmony with their illustrious relationship. The glory of the Father, the honour of His name; the welfare of the whole household of faith; the furtherance of sacred truth in the world are interests dear to their hearts. They are partakers of the Divine nature, "each one resembles the children of a king." 4. This relation implies the possession of privileges — "If children then heirs," etc. All that the Jew possessed in Canaan, all that Adam delighted to see in Paradise, falls short of the expectations of the believer. The inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and it fadeth not away. II. SOME FORMIDABLE DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF CONFERRING THE BLESSINGS OF SONSHIP. 1. This relation between God and man is not natural "By nature children of wrath," etc. 2. Justice demands the infliction of the penalty of sire Mercy pleads for compassion and forgiveness. In the courts of earthly sovereigns there is no escape from the dilemma. The sovereign can punish, and thus inflict justice; or pardon and show mercy. But in Christ all the requirements of law are satisfied, while the freest manifestation of mercy is made. 3. The character and condition of the sinner himself. Shall the leper be brought into companionship with the pure and the sound? Shall the outcast and the profligate nestle with the virgin and the holy? III. THE SOLUTION OF THE DIFFICULTY AND THE PROCESS OF ATTAINING THE FULL ENJOYMENT OF THE PRIVILEGE. "Thou shalt call Me, My Father." 1. Prayer is the birth cry of the soul. Like that first welcome sound by which the mother knows she has a living child. Every kind of sorrow and distress have driven men to their knees, but there are no prayers, for their fervour, like those which are the fruit of conviction of sin. 2. The spirit of adoption. "My Father." Not by the thunders of Sinai, or the curses of Mount Ebal, are men preserved in Christ Jesus, but by the all-powerful grace of the Holy Spirit. 3. The salvation of a child of God is evinced by the spirit of perseverance. (W. G. Lewis.) 1. As to the Holy Lord. 2. As to the unholy person. 3. As to the family. 4. As to the inheritance. II. A WONDERFUL ANSWER. 1. It is from God Himself, and is therefore a perfect answer. 2. It is in the Divine style: "Thou shalt"; and "thou shalt not." Omnipotence speaks, and grace reveals its unconditional character. 3. It is concerning a Divine work. 4. It is effectual for its purpose. III. A MATCHLESS PRIVILEGE. 1. We are indeed made children of God, and joint heirs with Christ. 2. We are as much loved as the children. 3. We are treated as the children. (1) (2) (3) (4) 4. We are placed under filial obligations — to love, honour, obey, and serve our Father. This should be regarded as a high honour, not a burden. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Whom God adopts, He anoints; whom He makes sons, He makes saints.(Watson.) One of my parishioners at East Hampton, converted after having lived, through three or four revivals, to the age of fifty, and having given up hope, used to exclaim for several weeks after his change, "Is it I? Am I the same man who used to think it so hard to be converted, and my case so hopeless? Is it I? Is it I? Oh, wonderful!"(Lyman Beecher.) I. HOW THE OBSTRUCTIONS TO THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS SHALL BE SURMOUNTED.1. God Himself presents to them the formidable difficulty. Jews always obdurate. How restored to favour of God?(1) Extent of their wickedness forbids it.(2) Honour of God forbids it. To admit rebels to privileges encourages rebellion. 2. These obstacles, though formidable, shall be surmounted. As God spake the universe into existence, so will He form the "new creation." II. HOW ALONE THE DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF OUR SALVATION CAN EVER BE OVERCOME. 1. There are immense difficulties. Our wickedness equals or exceeds that of the Jews. 2. But these shall be overcome. God will interfere for us in way of sovereign grace and by the exercise of His almighty power.Conclusion — 1. To those who question the possibility of their own salvation. God is able. 2. To those who have entertained no such fears. You think salvation easy; but only Christ's blood could atone for such sin as yours; only the Divine Spirit could renew your depraved heart. 3. To those who profess to have been brought into the family of God. Obey and trust Him, as your "Father"; let nothing lead you to "turn away from Him." (C. Simeon, M. A.) People Jeremiah, JosiahPlaces Assyria, Jerusalem, ZionTopics Acts, Arab, Arabian, Awaiting, Bare, Defiled, Defilest, Desert, Evil-doing, Fornications, Harlotries, Harlotry, Hast, Heights, Hills, Hilltops, Lain, Lewdness, Lien, Lift, Lifted, Loose, Lovers, Nomad, Open, Places, Polluted, Prostitution, Ravished, Roads, Roadside, Sat, Seated, Unclean, Vile, Violated, Waiting, Waste, Wayside, Waysides, Whoredoms, Wickedness, WildernessOutline 1. God's great mercy to Judah the polluted land6. Judah is worse than Israel 12. The promises of the gospel to the penitent 20. Israel reproved, and called by God, makes a solemn confession of their sins Dictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 3:2Library Gregory the Patriarch and the Society at Kunwald, 1457-1473. A brilliant idea is an excellent thing. A man to work it out is still better. At the very time when Peter's followers were marshalling their forces, John Rockycana,5 Archbishop-elect of Prague (since 1448), was making a mighty stir in that drunken city. What Peter had done with his pen, Rockycana was doing with his tongue. He preached Peter's doctrines in the great Thein Church; he corresponded with him on the burning topics of the day; he went to see him at his estate; he recommended his works … J. E. Hutton—History of the Moravian Church Stanzas by the Warden Concerning the Ministry. "The Heritage of the Heathen" How the Impudent and Bashful are to be Admonished. How those are to be Admonished who have had Experience of the Sins of the Flesh, and those who have Not. Conversion of all that Come. The Saints' Privilege and Profit; Assurance Sign Seekers, and the Enthusiast Reproved. The Call of Matthew - the Saviour's Welcome to Sinners - Rabbinic Theology as Regards the Doctrine of Forgiveness in Contrast to the Gospel of Christ Backsliding. The Covenant of Grace Bunyan's Last Sermon --Preached July 1688. Mr. Bunyan's Last Sermon: Concerning Justification. Messiah's Easy Yoke "They have Corrupted Themselves; their Spot is not the Spot of his Children; they are a Perverse and Crooked Generation. " The Divine Jesus. Jeremiah Links Jeremiah 3:2 NIVJeremiah 3:2 NLT Jeremiah 3:2 ESV Jeremiah 3:2 NASB Jeremiah 3:2 KJV Jeremiah 3:2 Bible Apps Jeremiah 3:2 Parallel Jeremiah 3:2 Biblia Paralela Jeremiah 3:2 Chinese Bible Jeremiah 3:2 French Bible Jeremiah 3:2 German Bible Jeremiah 3:2 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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