Jeremiah 6:16 Thus said the LORD, Stand you in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein… Were you called together to listen to the present preacher only, courtesy might demand at your hands an attentive hearing for him; but if an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ were the preacher, he would have far higher claims; and if one of the ancient prophets were the speaker, or at any rate, could an angel or an archangel be permitted now to address you, we think you would all admit that to be inattentive to his words would be highly unbecoming: how much more so to be inattentive if the God of the whole earth were addressing you! And is He not? "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see," etc. I. TO THE WAY RECOMMENDED IN THE TEXT. "Ask for the old paths, where is the good way." The words of the text are metaphorical, and represent true religion under the aspect of a pilgrimage or a journey. If, then, you ask me, "What is the way to heaven?" I refer to the words of the Lord Jesus when speaking to Thomas. "I," said He, "am the way." "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." Christ is the way. He is the way from sin to holiness, — from darkness to light, — from bondage to liberty, — from misery to happiness, — from the gates of hell to the throne of heaven. But how is He the way? By His example: for "leaving us an example, we should follow His steps." By His doctrine: for "we know that He is true, and teaches the way of God in truth." By His sacrificial death: for "we have boldness to eater into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh." By His Spirit: when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all the truth. How, then, are we to walk in the way? By "repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." "Except ye repent ye shall all perish." Believe m the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. "He that believeth shall not perish." But what are the epithets by which the way is described in our text? The way is not "the broad way" that leadeth to destruction; nor "the hard way," pursued by transgressors; nor the way that only seemeth right to a man, while the end thereof is death; but it is the good way, and the old path. 1. It is an old way. True, there are persons who more than insinuate that the way, as just described to you, is a new thing. They say the way to heaven is not now what it formerly was, if our definition is correct. But what have we said? Have we not affirmed that salvation is by Christ, and through Him only? Have we not said that repentance and faith are the conditions of obtaining it from Him? And is this new doctrine? Why, this doctrine is as old as the days of Wesley and Whitfield, for they proclaimed it in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and America. But go a step further back. What were the leading doctrines of the illustrious Reformers? For what were they traduced, slandered, excommunicated, and martyred, but for this? They asserted that penance was a human prescription — that works of supererogation were a delusion — that images, beads, holy water, crucifixes, and relics were but "sanctified nonsense" — that Christ was the only mediator between God and man. But we go further still. What did our Lord and the apostles themselves teach? They preached "repent and believe!" Nor do we stop here. What did the prophets — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Malachi, and the rest — who flourished from seven hundred to a thousand years anterior to the Christian era teach? Did not they speak of the promised seed, the Messiah, the Redeemer, in whom men should believe, and by whom they should be saved? Go to that splendid treasury of ecclesiastical biography — the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and look at the fourth verse: "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead, yet speaketh." Well, then, some three thousand years elapsed between the time of Abel's believing and that of Jeremiah's preaching, and the way had been tried during the whole of that long period, and was therefore properly called by the prophet "the old path." Oh no; we bring no new doctrine to your ears, no new way before your eyes. We grant you that some of the circumstantials of religion have been changed since the days of Abel; but the essentials have remained the same. A Saviour, a mediator, a sacrifice, an atonement; repentance, faith, prayer, and holy living — thane all abide ever. The way is called new by the apostle, in reference to that fuller and clearer development of it furnished by the life and death of the Lord Jesus; and even when contrasting it with those ritualistic observances on which the Jews had long laid more than sufficient stress: but in all ages Christ has been the Saviour of men, and faith in Him the prime condition of salvation. 2. The text speaks of this way as a good one. "Where is the good way?" It is not only a good way, but the good way — good emphatically; the only good way, therefore, par excellence, the good way. God is the author of it, and He is good. He is the good Being: His name God implies this, as it is a contraction of the adjective "good." Christ is the way, and He is good. Pilate's question, "What evil hath He done?" remains still unanswered. The Holy Spirit recommends this way; and He would not recommend anything evil. The Bible is a good book — all insinuations by scoffers to the contrary notwithstanding, —and it strongly urges us to pursue this way. There have been — and, thank God! still are — some good men in the world, bad as it is; and they have travelled, or are travelling in this way. However vile they may have been ere entering this way, they became virtuous and happy when they began to travel on this path. Men have said the way of salvation by faith in the merits of another is not good, for it will lead to licentiousness — to latitudinarianism. But such men speak without experience. The faith that saves us is not a nominal thing — not merely speculative, but practical, evangelical faith. "Show me thy faith without thy works," O objector, "and I will show thee my faith by my works." Ah, there it is. This faith of ours works, and has works; "it works by love, and purifies the heart." While we repose on the merits of the Saviour, we copy the example of the Saviour; while we believe He died for us, we exhibit the genuineness of our belief by a holy life. II. THE DUTY THE TEXT ENJOINS. "Stand ye in the ways," etc. 1. "Stand in the ways, and see." These words seem to refer to the position of a traveller on foot, who, in prosecuting his pilgrimage, has reached a point where there is a junction of several roads; and who is perplexed by this circumstance, and at a loss which way to pursue. What can he do in this case? The text says, "Stand," halt, ere you go astray, and try to ascertain the proper direction, or you may lose time in losing your way, and perchance may haw to retrace your steps, amid the jeers of witnesses, and under the self-inflicted penalty of regretful reproach. He takes from his pocket a book and a map, from which he learns that the road to the right goes to one place, that to the left to another, but the one straight on to the place of his destination. He then, after due examination, prosecutes his pilgrimage with pleasurable satisfaction; having no tormenting doubts as to his course, but a strong assurance of reaching, by and by, the desired end. Now, the traveller to eternity — the man in search of "the path of life" — has been graciously provided with an "itinerary"; that is, God's own road book, the Bible. Hence, says the Saviour, "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me." Go, then, fellow traveller, to the ever-blessed book; pore over its lessons; study its precepts; imitate its examples; and realise its promises. 2. "Ask for the way." See that man with his map and book; he is still perplexed somewhat; he wants counsel; he needs a guide; let him ask advice of those who know by experience what he has yet to learn. Ah! up comes a person who knows the road intimately, who has travelled along it these many years, and who loves to give his best practical advice to all inquirers. Well, ask him. He is a Gospel minister, or some old weather-beaten pilgrim, who has borne the heat of many a summer, and the stormy blasts of many a winter; he will be right glad to tell thee the way thou shouldst go. And, if he fail, there is a Guide who never will; for, "when the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all the truth." 3. "Walk therein." Yes, it avails not what we read, how much information we acquire, with whomsoever we converse, or even how often we pray, unless we "walk in the way." John Bunyan tells us of a Mr. Talkative, who was very ready and fluent in religious discussions and conversations; but who left the practical part of religion to others. Alas! that the descendants of that personage are not extinct. Remember that no man can get to heaven by looking at maps of the road, or conversing with those who are journeying thitherward; we must all "walk in the way." III. TO THE BLESSING PROMISED. "Ye shall find rest for your souls." The word "rest" is one of the sweetest monosyllables in our language. Robert Hall said he could think of the word tear till he wept; I could think of the word rest till I smiled. After a paroxysm of pain, how delicious is ease and rest after a hard day's toil, how delightful to retire to rest! And if rest of the body be sweet, sweeter still is rest for the soul. "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmities, but a wounded spirit who can bear?" Rest for the soul we all long to find; we cannot help it. We must be in quest of rest do what we may. Peace, happiness, mental quietude, rest, every man of all things desiderates. But where may it be found? Secularists and quondam socialists say in gratifying our animal passions; the miser — significant name, literally miserable — hopes to find it among golden gains; the ambitious climbs up the rugged heights of power and fame, and hopes to descry it there; but the Christian is the only man who can exclaim with the exulting Greek, Eureka! Eureka! I have found it! (W. Antliff, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. |
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