Jeremiah 5:1 - Homiletics

Forgiveness for many through the righteousness of one.

I. GOD IS GREATLY DESIROUS TO PARDON HIS CHILDREN . The command is given to "run to and fro" and search for the one righteous man. God thus expresses his anxiety to forgive. "He waiteth to be gracious." The first movement towards exercising pardon comes from God even before men desire it. He will lay hold of the smallest ground for forgiveness. If the one righteous man can but be found, God will forgive the city.

II. SOME RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NECESSARY AS A GROUND FOR FORGIVENESS . If the righteous man cannot be found, the condition of the city is hopeless. There is a propitiatory power in righteousness. Good men are priests, and their lives sacrifices of value for the advantage of others. The righteousness of Christ is an essential element in the atonement ( Hebrews 10:9 , Hebrews 10:10 ). It was not possible for the sin of man to be forgiven except on condition of this. Pardon is offered to men only through this ( Acts 13:38 ).

III. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH AVAILS WITH GOD MUST BE SOLID AND PRACTICAL . A vain, religious boast counts for nothing ( Jeremiah 5:2 ).

1. The goodness to be sought for is not devoutness of demeanor, but the exercise of justice and the effort to keep good faith.

2. This is to be looked for, not in the temple, but in the streets and lanes and places of public concourse, i . e . in daily life. The best evidences of character are to be seen in home life and conduct in business. When the domestic and commercial morality of a city is corrupt, the condition of that city is ruinous; whatever may be the assiduity and decorum with which religious observances are maintained.

IV. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ONE MAY BE EFFICACIOUS FOR THE SECURITY OF MANY . Sodom and Gomorrah would have been spared for the sake of ten righteous men ( Genesis 18:32 ). Lot was the providential means of saving Zoar ( Genesis 19:21 ). The one man Christ secures salvation for the whole world ( Hebrews 7:24 , Hebrews 7:25 ). There is much that is mysterious in the principle of Divine grace which is here revealed—much that we cannot explain. Still, there are truths entering into it which may be discerned, e.g. injustice cannot be done by God in the smallest respect; the righteous are "the salt of the earth," they preserve by preventing complete corruption; there is hope for the city in which but one righteous man lives, since he may be the means of leading others back to righteousness—this principle is one on which God acts in forgiving, not in distributing bare rights; all that he requires is a safe and justifiable ground on which to exercise pardon, not a fund of merit such as could constitute a claim on his grace.