Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2297
“Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel; Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, which is sealed, and this deed which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.” Jeremiah 32:14.
THE discourse of this evening is suggested by the transaction of Jeremiah with his uncle’s son in the purchase of a field at Anathoth which he conducted in a business-like and legal way. I will begin with just a few remarks upon the transaction itself.
Jeremiah was called to forego the comforts of the present for the blessings of the future. He was a poor man and he was shut up in prison. A little money must have been a very great thing to him at such a time—even food could not be purchased during the siege except at fabulous prices—and his allowance was very small. Yet he paid down 17 shekels of silver—not a great sum in itself, but very great to him in such circumstances—to buy the field which, as I said in the exposition, he could not go and see, for he was a prisoner, and which he could not have reached even if he had been free, for it was in the hand of the Chaldeans and laid desolate by the invading army. He was commanded by the Lord to buy a field which, speaking after the manner of men, was on the moon! It was what we call, “an estate in Spain,” which Jeremiah could not possibly visit, but because he had God’s orders to buy it, he did buy it and he paid the purchase money right cheerfully.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, this is exactly what we have to do—we have to pawn the present for the future! We must be satisfied to give up anything which Christ may require of us for the sake of that which is yet to come. Our inheritance is not on this side of Jordan. Our joy is yet to be revealed. I grant you that we have much thrown in, for the Lord is a good Paymaster, but on the road to Heaven He gives us only our spending money. Our inheritance is in the land of the hereafter, in the regions of the blessed—and we must not look for it here—this is not our rest! It is worth while to give up a great deal that belongs to the present for the eternal inheritance which is yet to be ours. “There remains a rest to the people of God.” And if ever it should come to this, that your present comfort, yes, and your present life, must be given up for the sake of the land of promise and the Covenant heritage, make no delay. Do not hesitate for a moment, but yield everything up, that the greater blessings of the future may be assuredly yours.
My second remark is that, when a man acts by faith, he ought still to act in a clear, business-like way. We who believe in God are no fools. Some may think that we are; but they would not find us to be so if they had to deal with us in matters requiring judgment and consideration. Jeremiah buys the field in the presence of witnesses, weighs the money, and has the purchase deed drawn up, and the counterpart of the deed, all after a legal manner, just as Abraham did when he bought the field of Machpelah from the sons of Heth. That passage in Genesis is an ancient legal document, containing just such words as you would find in an Oriental purchase deed of the present day. The man of God counts things, which to others are dreams, as realities, and he treats them as such.
Faith is sanctified commonsense. It believes in God—is that stupidity? It believes in God’s promises—is that foolishness? It believes that God will keep His Word—is that a folly? If so, we purpose to be more foolish, still, but, knowing that it is not folly, but truest wisdom, we act in this case as we act in other matters and we make sure as far as we can. “Fast bind, fast find,” says our proverb and, therefore, we exercise in the things of God that discretion and prudence which we use in the things of men. Faith is not folly—and the Believer must not, in anything, act like a fool!
Perhaps you might wonder why Jeremiah, whose business it was to prophesy, should be set to buy land? There is nothing like division of labor. Let the politician attend to politics, let the keeper of a theater supply amusement to the people who want it—and let the Christian minister keep to his preaching. Yes, but Jeremiah was commanded by God to do this because he was really preaching by what he did! The preacher must believe in what he preaches and it may be that he will be called to do something which will be, to his people, the best possible proof that he really does believe it. Jeremiah believes that the city, though it was to be destroyed, would afterwards be rebuilt and that land would be valuable, trade would be restored and agriculture would again flourish. He has said this—he has now to prove it. The few shekels that he has, he must invest in a bit of land which is worth nothing, today, but may be worth a good deal, if not to himself, yet to his heirs. He must buy the field to prove his sincerity!