The Washington herald., 1922-05-20
BRYAN PRAISES
PROPHET FOR HIS
DEATH DEFIANCE
Declares Nation Needs
Men Able to Break
Restraints.

] We have peen thrliled by the
words and soul stirring experiences
Iof Eiisah. Elisha and Isaiah. We
come now to one who shares with
them the reverence bestowed by ,the
children Of Israel upon the great
"meh of God
Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah.
probably the Hilkiah. the high
priest, who. In the reign Of King
Josiah of Judah found the book of
the law Of God In the temple in Je-
rusalem. after II had been lost
through long ldoiatrous years and
thus restored the Bible to the world.
He was also a relative of Huldah.
the prophecies. He was brought
up among the priests and OBLIGATED
| in the temple. He was unmarr' ed,
being. by Gods command. kept free
from family obligations that he
might devote his entire time and
strength to his prophetic work.
| rJeremlah's Heavy Task.
Jeremiah was designated for the
| Lords work before he was born and
was called when he was quite young.
lin his ,modesty he protested: Il can
not speak. for ] am a child" The
Lord replied that he should speak
whatever Jehovah commanded and
that he should not be afraid. for
God promised to deliver him and
put words in his mouth.
Then his work was outlined. See.
] have this day Get thee over the
nations and over the Kingdoms. to
root out, and to pull down, and to
/ n :
build and to plant"
1t was not a pleasant task etc
which jeremiah was assigned. To
| be "set over the nations and over
! the Kingdoms, to root out and to
pull down, and to destroy" would
necessarily arouse antagonism and
create strife. But Jeremiah was to
do more than that: be was ito build,
and to pfant"-much more enjoy
able work than merely pulling down.
Our talk takes up the work of the
prophet after the death of Judsh's
good King Josiah, he who cleansed
the king dom OF idolatry and re-
stored Solomon's temple. turning
the nation once again, back to the
living God.
Jehoiakim departed from the ways
OF his father and his conduct stirred
the heart of the great Jeremiah,
who was commissioned by the Al
mighty to make a fnal appeal to the
king and to warn him and his peo-
pie that the temple would become
like shiloh" and Jerusalem. "a
curse to all the nations of the
EARTH Shiloh. the ancient relis-
ious capital of the Jews. had be-
come q ruin. and its very name was
a reproach.>-
An Example Of superb Courage.
The warning. uttered with all the
earnestness of Jeremiah's nature,
aroused the priests, the prophets
and the peoples to frenzy. They
seized him and said, Thou shalt
surely die"
1t was a perilous thing to speak
for God among a people who had
turned away from Him They In
yoked the form of the law after
having disregarded its spirit. 1t
was the duty of the prophet TO
convey to the people any message
which. God communicated to him.
but the authorities thought it was
a thing worthy OF death to proph-
esy against the city as jeremiah
had done.
Here we have the holiness that
becomes. the man who is the
spokesman Of God. Standing un-
afraid before. his accusers. he is in
different as to himself. Il am in
your hand: do with me as seemeth
good and meet unto you"
jeremiah was less concerned
about his own safety than he was
about the fate of Jerusalem and
his people. whether they shed his
blood or not meant little to him.
but to bring innocent blood upon
themselves and upon the city was
a matter of greater moment. But
know We. for certain that II ye put
me to death We shall bring inno-
cent blood upon yourselves and
upon this city" God had sent him
to speak His message and had
warned him. Diminish not a
word" and he performed his duty
faithfully.
No Excuse for Duty Neglected.
The result was what it usually
is. 1t is hard for even the wicked
to resist the courage of an earnest
man.
II jeremiah had shown weakness
or betrayed fear, his life would no
doubt have paid the penalty. But
when he faced them, willing to
suffer death. but unwilling to be
disloyal to God or unfaithful to his
fellow men. he triumphed over his
enemies. Then said the princes
and all the people unto the priests
and to the prophets, This man is
not worthy to die: FOR he hath
spoken unto us in the name of the
Lord our God"
THE application of the lesson is
very plain. There can be no eva
sion of duty. One can waive his
rights. it is sometimes wise. to do
so, but there is no excuse that
anyone can give for failure to per-
form a duty.
In the olden days God called men
by voice that was audible or
through an agent who was visible;
today the call is often as unmis-
taxable, even though the ear hears
| not the message and though the
messenger may not be seen. We
have the prayer route between
Gods children and the Fathers
throne. We can seek guidance and
VS. can feel spiritual urge to the
doing of the things that should be
done. The heart that is open to
divine suggestion will be led
aright-".Seek and We shall find
knock, and it shall be opened unto
you"
There is no doubt as to Gods
doing His part; the only question
is, will man be faithful? will
those. who have convictions, found
al t1nap a nf