Homilist Jeremiah 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good… The world abounds with religions. There is but one true religion, that of the Bible. It is sometimes spoken of as "trust" in God, sometimes as "love" for God, sometimes "obedience" to God; here it is spoken of as the "fear" of God. It is the fear of not pleasing in all things the object of the affections. The fear of not coming up to the Divine idea of goodness. I. As having its SEAT IN THE HEART. "Fear in their hearts" There is something in man's spiritual nature analogous to the heart in his physical organisation. The heart of the body is the most vital of all its organs; it sends the life-blood through all the parts. What in man's spiritual nature is like his heart, and which the Bible calls his "heart"? It is the chief liking of the soul. The chief liking is the spring of human activity; it works and controls all the faculties of man. Bible religion takes possession of this, inspires this, makes goodness and God the chief objects of liking, so that the soul feels that God is its all in all. 1. Bible religion is in the heart, not merely in the intellect. 2. Not merely in the sentiments. 3. Not merely in occasional service. II. AS IMPARTED BY GOD. How does He put this priceless principle into the heart? Not miraculously, not irrespective of man's activities. 1. By the revelation of Himself to man. 2. By the ministry of His servants. III. AS A SAFEGUARD AGAINST APOSTASY. IS it possible for man to depart from his Maker? In a sense, no. No more than from the atmosphere he breathes, no more than from himself. But there is a solemn sense in which men can and do depart from Him. It is in sympathy of aim. All unregenerate souls are far off from God, vagrants, ever wandering, settling nowhere. To depart from Him is to depart from light, health, harmony, friendship, all in fact that makes life worth having. What can prevent this, the chief of calamities? God s fear in the heart. This is that law of moral attraction that will bind the soul for ever to God as its centre. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. |
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