Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

... Bechild."mouth."Jeremiah,the Heroic ProphetProf. J. B. Willson, D.D.OPENING LECTURE OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARYYoung men of the Seminary classes, we welcome you at the opening of the Seminary year of1954-1955. We trust that all of you will bring a blessing with you. Our earnest hope is that you will finda blessing in this year of study. We of the facultypledge ourselves to do our best to help you find it.We welcome you friends of the Seminary and ofthe Church. We hope you will be with us again forthe preaching by the students in November and inFebruary, for the Thanksgiving reception, and forthe closing exercises early in May. We need your interest and help. We would like all our congregationsto be Seminary-conscious, keeping track of ourschedule, expecting our public meetings, prayingfor us constantly through the year.Giving God's message to men has never been aneasy task. Abel's witness cost him his life. Noah,preacher of righteousness, met with almost completerebuff from those about him. Elijah became utterlydisheartened. Zechariah, son of faithful Jehoiada,was stoned to death. Jesus went to the cross. Theearly Christians were persecuted and scatteredabroad. John Huss died by fire at Constance in 1415.Our Covenanter forefathers suffered much for theirfaithful testimony to the crown rights of our LordJesus Christ. Our own missionaries in Manchuriaand in South China were driven out some years ago,and so far as we know, the work in our churcheswas largely closed. Yesterday morning's paper toldof a Baptist church in Spain because of its "publicproselytizingof RomanCatholics."Present conditions do not give us much encouragement. The ecumenical movement offers littlehope. There can be co-operation without surrender.But the usual basis of church union is the least common denominator of spiritual truth. This is directlycontrary to Paul's instruction in Philippians 3:16:"Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, letus walk by the same rule, let us mind the samething."The way of liberalism in religion is distressing. It resembles the way of communism in that itseems to approve a leveling off process by the elimination of the highest and best. It is unlike the wayof helping others in material things which is generally commended. The effort is to bring poorer homesup to the level of the better homes, not to bring thelevel of better hemes down. The effort is to bring thestandard of livingof the poorer fed and clothed people up to the level of the better fed and clothed. Wetalk of a full bread basket. But if I understand thespirit of Church union movements correctly, there isnot much talk of full spiritual bread basket for all.To mention only one truth dear to the hearts of alltrue Covenanters, a central theme in the Bible is theauthority of the Lord Jesus Christ over the complete life of every believer, over his social and political life as well as over his personal and ecclesiasticallife ; and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ overthe nations. What denomination of Christian peopleis willing to come out with us openly and firmly forthis great truth? Our nation goes on heedlessly,July 20, 1955though war clouds threaten and the great windswhich ravage our coasts give us faint indications ofthe possibilities of a future atomic war. Recently theSenate Judiciary Committee did not approve the billfor the Christian Amendment to the Constitution.The witnesses who went to Washington to give theirtestimony for the rights of Christ were heard mostcourteously. But they were not heeded.Jeremiah was a faithful witness. The first chapter of his book gives us the background of our studythis evening, centering in verses six to ten, especially in verse eight : "Be not afraid of their faces : forI am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord." Oursubject is: JEREMIAH THE FORLORN YETFAITHFUL PROPHET.Some might say, only forlorn. The shadow of agreat tragedy is over his heart, and over and in allhis writing. But he did his work.We do not call him a coward who with chattering teeth and trembling knees advances steadilythrough shot and shell. Nor do we give the name ofcoward to a prophet who through grief and sorrowstill carries on. He was forlorn, but he was faithful.I. First, HIS EQUIPMENT FOR HIS TASK1. He had a call that was clear, He was the sonof Hilkiah, of the priests in Anathoth, a priestlycity in the territory of Benjamin, about three milesfrom Jerusalem. There the word of the Lord cameto him, apparently first in the thirteenth year ofking Josiah.He did not seek his office. We may view him asa preacher's son who did not want to be a preacher.He felt his insufficiency for the calling. "Ah, LordGod! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a ButGod had called him, and there was no mistake. God'splans were laid before Jeremiah's birth. Jeremiah isone of three men mentioned in the Scriptures whowere regenerated before they were born.It is a great thing to be sure that we are in thework to which God has called us. Do you have thatassurance ?2. He had a message supplied. "The Lord said. . .Say not I am a child : for thou shalt go to all thatI shall send thee, and whatsoever I command theethou shalt speak . . . Then the Lord put forth hishand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said untome, Behold I have put my words in thy It ishard sometimes to know exactly what message togive. God told Jeremiah what to say and when tosay it.If we speak truly for God today, it is not ourown message that we give, but His, from His bookand from Him. As you study in this Seminary, is ityour purpose in all your future ministry to speakHis message, not your own ?3. He had power assured. "Say not, I am a childnot afraid of their faces : for I am with theeto deliver thee, saith the Lord." "See, I have this dayset thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, toroot out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to35