Homilist Jeremiah 5:1-9 Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man… I. THE DIVINE IDEA OF A MAN. One "that executeth Judgment, that seeketh the truth." This involves — 1. A righteous working out of the Divine will so far as it is apprehended. 2. An earnest endeavour for further knowledge of the Divine will. 3. How different is the Divine ideal of a man from that which popularly prevails. (1) The ideal of the muscular force. (2) That of the secular — wealth. (3) That of the intellectual — knowledge. (4) That of the vain — show. II. THE LAMENTABLE RARITY OF A MAN. 1. A sad revelation of the moral condition of Jerusalem in the days of the prophet. Such corruption amongst a people who had such religious privileges, and in the very scene where the temple stood, shows the wonderful forbearance of God and the terrible perversity of the human heart! 2. The condition of our own age. Verily, we are a fallen people. III. THE SOCIAL VALUE OF A MAN. "And I will pardon it." For the sake of a man, God promises to pardon Jerusalem. The value of a man to society, to the race, is everywhere represented in the Bible. 1. A man is a condition on which God favours the race. Sodom and Gomorrah. 2. A man is an agent by which God improves the condition of the race. He educates, purifies, saves man by man. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. |
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