Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1752
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, November 25, 1883
“In those days and in that time, says the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces toward it, saying, Come, and let usjoin ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” Jeremiah 50:4.
THE previous part of this chapter declares the overthrow of Israel’s cruel oppressor—“Babylon is taken, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is broken in pieces.” The Assyrian and Babylonian power had been the great tyrant of the ages and the Lord had employed it for the chastening of His people, until, at last, Israel and Judah had been carried away captive to the banks of the Euphrates and the land of their fathers knew them no more. This was the mournful song of the exiles, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.” What a turn would come! In the day when God would reckon with Babylon and punish the haughty people for their cruelties and oppressions, then should Israel and Judah come to their own again.
“In those days, and in that time,” there would be hope for the downtrodden—the Lord would keep His appointments of Grace to the hour and, at the determined time, Israel would be free. “Surely the least of the flock would draw out the enemy” and escape from his power. God devises means for bringing back His banished ones and among those ways we usually see the overthrow of their conquerors. When, therefore, the Lord deals with Babylon in a way of vengeance it is that He may deliver His own people. See how the two things are joined together in the 18th and 19th verses— “Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. And I will bring Israel again to his habitation and he shall feed on Carmel and Ba-shan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.”
When Pharaoh is drowned, Israel is saved! When Sihon and Og are slain, the Lord’s mercy to His people is seen to endure forever! The destruction of Amalek is the salvation of Jacob and the overthrow of Babylon is the restoration of Jerusalem! It was a very amazing thing that a nation so crushed and scattered as the Jews were, should come back from captivity—it was a very marvelous instance of Divine power and faithfulness, as it is written—“For Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of Hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”
I will not talk much with you concerning the Chaldeans and the Jews, but I would speak concerning ourselves. We, too, by nature are in banishment, far off from our God and the abode of His Glory. We are not what we ought to have been, for the Lord did not make us to be sinners, but to be His happy and obedient creatures. Our present lost estate is not our true state. We are banished through coming under the power of our great adversary. Sin has carried us into captivity and we are in the far country, away from the great Father’s house. It is a great blessing when the times come—and they have come—when there is an opportunity and an invitation to return. Today the power of the adversary is broken and we may flee out of the Babylon of sin. A greater than Cyrus has opened the two-leaved gates, broken the bars of iron in sunder and proclaimed liberty to the captives! We may now return to our God and freely enjoy the holy and happy associations which belong to the City of our God.
not, therefore, restored to the Father’s house at once—they may have to persevere through months of weary pilgrimage before they come to their desired abode. As I have said, returning times are anxious times. Men wander thoughtlessly, but they do not return without grave thought and serious consideration. I earnestly desire to be the means in the hand of God of answering questions, removing fears and clearing the way for those who have begun to seek the Lord. They mourn and I wish to comfort them. They ask the way and I would gladly direct them. They long to join themselves unto the Lord and I would, by His Grace, help them.
Last Lord’s-Day morning was given to the fathers of the Church. Let this be given to the beginners in the Divine Life. May the Holy Spirit give us thoughts and words which may lead the seeker into the way of peace. Everyone who is really seeking the Lord desires to be sure that he is seeking aright. He is not willing to take anything for granted, since his soul is of too much value to be left in danger. He does not even believe in his own judgment of himself, but when he thinks his face is towards Zion, he still asks the way. He inquires, “Are my feelings like those of the truly penitent? Am I believing as those do who are justified by faith? Am I seeking the Lord in a manner which will be pleasing to Him?” They have so long been as lost sheep, going from mountain to hill, that they have forgotten their resting places and, therefore, in their confusion they are afraid of going wrong again—and so they inquire with eager anxiety.