Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-05-25
SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON
..,. For May 28. Jer. rs
BY DIR. MARI ON NEcH. HULL:

mentS In his deI1VeranCo Goa llau
promised him when He called him
publicly, and had repeated it. twice
afterwards (Ch- 6 and 20), that he
would be a defenced. city and that
the people should not prevail against
him. (Read CHI 1:17-19o Jeremiah's
life might be lonely one, and a
hard one, but it had to be a pro-
tected one because God had prom
ised it; therefore, Jeremiah, though
naturally tinid and shrinking was
as bold as a lion; he was as an iron
pillar, or brazen walls. ',- $50
d. . Right Spirit -. ,,n.
What was it in Jeremiah's ser
mon that so angered the crowd?
What word was it that struck home
to their hearts and laid bare their
sins so openly that they desired his
death? 1t was his plainness Of
speech with regard to their outward
ly religious lives while at the same
time they were inWardly rotten to
the core. jeremiah was not speak
ing now to the confessed idolaters
although there were plenty of these
in Jerusalem, but to the protested
ly religious people of Judah. His
message was delivered in the gate
of the temple to the people who had
come there to worship. 1t was to
the priests, to the prophets; to the
people who came as. worshippers.
Remember this as we note, what
he charged them with doing and be-
ing and called upon them to amend
their ways and obey the voice of
the Lord, lest He make this very
temple, which Josiah had made the
centralized place of worship, a deS-
olation as He had done to Shiloh
years before. -, ''
They, were trusting in lying words.
These very priests and prophets
were saying to them, "The temple of
jehovah, the temple Of Jehovah, the
temple of Jehovah, are these" In
other words, you can do as you
please so long as you come here and
observe this place as the true place
of worship and keep, these. sacrifices
Therefore the people were punctilious
in their performances of all the rites
Of the temple, and then would go out
ana Cypress the poor, cheat their
neighbors, take the very bread of
the orphan and the widow out OF
their mouths; steal, murder, commit
adultery, swear falsely, and burn in
cense to other gods, They made the
temple of God a den Of robbers. And
out in The Streets Of the city, WED
with each other nm worshipping the
"queen of heaven" -" s':f* -
Briefly, they had been told that
they could do as they pleased so long
as they observed certain ceremonies.
1t was against this eXternalism, this
outward form with its inward mol
Elowness; that. &Jefemiahi spoke in the
plainest speech The prophets were
|liars, the priests were: corrupt, the
people were ungodly though very re-
ligious, the PRINCES were politicians
who trusted in man rather than In
God The kingdom was tottering to
|destructtef, aid gthey Wer e sbhssfully
ignorant sfofs their i1nnaiBent danger
Therefore Jeremiah .spolle,th the word
that God sent him to speak and di'
minished not word: and only re-
peated it when they arrested him for
heresy and would have taken his lie
Is a jeremiah needed to-day? Are
we, the so-called religious people OF
America trusting in lies? Have the
prophets been speaking to us other
than the whole truth Of God? Are
the priests-and remember that COG
has made His people priests now
|currup? 2. Does. external form. eKis'
without the inner reality? Do we
worship according to form on Sun.
day, and then cheat, and steal, ant
lie, and Cypress, and Worshi Other
gods on Monday? Goa send us rI1er
like JerenIiahs who have beidness ITO
speak the whole truth Of God, who
love God so much that. they: will
dare to offend those who are. not true
to God, who have faith enough to
buy land when the enemy is in pos
session, who can See deeper than tile
outside, and wlro1 demand truth in
the inward parts; men who, like. Jere
miah, are like Christ, and who are
willing to lay down their lives if nee
eSsarV for the truth,