Jeremiah 26:14

‘READY TO BE OFFERED’

‘As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good.’

Jeremiah 26:14

After Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded, he suddenly found himself in a whirlpool of popular excitement, and there is little doubt that he would have met his death had it not been for the prompt interposition of the princes.

I. Such is always the reception which the natural man will give to the words of God.—We may, indeed, gravely question how far we are His ambassadors, if people accept them quietly and as a matter of course. The Word of God to those that hug their sin can only be as a fire, a hammer, and a sharp, two-edged sword. That which men approve and applaud may lack the King’s seal, and be the substitution on the part of the man of tidings which he deems more palatable, and therefore more likely to secure for himself a larger welcome.

II. God, however, vindicated his faithful servant.—The weapons that were formed against him did not prosper, and the tongues that rose against him in judgment were condemned. The princes reversed the passionate judgments passed by the priests and the populace. ‘This man,’ said they, ‘is not worthy of death, for he had spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.’ And their decision was confirmed by elders who had come from all the cities of Judah. Thus the hearts of men are in the hands of God, and He can turn them as the rivers of water. When a man’s ways please Him, He makes his enemies be at peace with him. The main thing in life is to go straight onward, following the inner voice, and doing God’s work with a single eye to His ‘Well done,’ and He will care for you.

Illustration

‘Here is this timid man standing alone for God against this surging multitude, in which priest and people are merged. Though his life is in the balance, and it might seem necessary to purchase it by absolute silence, he refuses to hold his peace; he insists that God has sent him, and calls on the maddened crowd to amend their ways and return unto Jehovah. Had John the Baptist spoken thus, or John Knox, we had not been surprised. But for this sensitive, retiring man to speak thus is due to the transforming power of the grace of God. There is hope here for those who are naturally reticent and backward, reserved and timid. Take your nature to God, and ask Him to encrust it with iron and brass. Above all, seek a vivid realisation that God is with you. Then open your mouth and speak. Greater is He that is in and with you than he that is the world.’