Jeremiah 9:9 - Homiletics

A visitation of God.

I. CHASTISEMENT IS A VISITATION OF GOD . The phrase "a visitation of God' has been too much confined to calamitous events. God visits us every hour in gentleness and mercy. Still, it is important to recognize that he also comes in chastisement. He comes , does not simply order, but himself executes chastisement.

1. We should recognize the Divine visitation. Outwardly the trouble may have a human origin. The calamities of the Jews arose out of a Chaldean invasion, but the prophets saw above and behind that invasion a Divine purpose. God was in those armies from Babylon. God is in our troubles.

2. This fact should make us dread to incur chastisement. We cannot resist it, for if God is in it, all his might and majesty are there.

3. This fact should make us submit to the chastisement when it comes as just and good . Its origin is not Satanic, but Divine. If God is in it he must ever be true to his character; his fiercest anger can never break the bounds of what is just and fair; he must always be ready to show mercy when this is possible ( Habakkuk 3:2 ).

II. CHASTISEMENT IS DETERMINED BY THE PERSONAL RELATIONS BETWEEN GOD AND MEN . It is God's soul being avenged. God's vengeance is quite unlike ours; it is never cruel or intemperate; it is always governed by justice and consistent with unchanging love. It is, however, more than judicial punishment. It is an action arising out of personal feeling and determined by our personal offences against God. Sin is more than transgression of Law,—it is ungrateful rebellion against God; and punishment is more than the cold vindication of Law, it is the result of the provoked anger of God. Such anger is right, for it is not kindness but weakness that allows a father to receive insult from a child unmoved. The greater the love, the greater will be the righteous anger when this is wronged.

III. CHASTISEMENT IS NECESSITATED BY THE CONDUCT OF MEN . It is "for such things" and "on such a nation." God does not love vengeance. He does not send punishment as an arbitrary exercise of sovereignty. Therefore our chastisement is virtually in our own hands. Even after meriting it, we alone are to blame if the full force of the blow falls upon us. For God has provided a way of escape, and offers forgiveness to all who repent and submit. Therefore it is foolish for men to complain of their hard lot in falling under the storm of a visitation of God in wrath.

IV. THE NECESSITY FOR CHASTISEMENT MAY BE RECOGNIZED BY OUR COMMON INTELLIGENCE . The text is an appeal to reason, a question which unbiased minds could answer only in one way. If chastisement is not seen to be reasonable, it must be either

V. THE PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHASTISEMENT INVOLVE PERSONAL ELEMENTS IN REDEMPTION . Hence the necessity for a "propitiation." Thus Christ redeems us by becoming a Propitiation for our sins ( 1 John 2:2 ).