Jeremiah 16:2 - Homiletics

Forbidding to marry.

I. CELIBACY IS NOT A SCRIPTURAL VIRTUE . Marriage is a Divine institution. It is natural, and God is the Author of nature; it is recognized and regulated by inspired teaching and blessed by Christ; it is a means of human welfare.

II. CELIBACY MAY BE WISELY OBSERVED IN CIRCUMSTANCES OF PECULIAR TROUBLE . Such were the circumstances of Judah in the clays of Jeremiah; such, in the opinion of St. Paul, were the circumstances of his own time ( 1 Corinthians 7:26 ). Those were not times for wedding festivities; the married would be encumbered and hindered from doing their best for the public weal, and children born then would be born only to a heritage of misery. Similar circumstances may recur.

III. CELIBACY MAY BE WISELY OBSERVED BY MEN WHO ARE CONTEMPLATING TASKS OF PECULIAR LONELINESS DANGER OR DIFFICULTY . There are risks that a man may encounter for himself which he should avoid if others would be seriously involved in his fate. There is work which precludes the enjoyment of domestic life. It is not right to undertake obligations to another that cannot be fulfilled. The pioneer of dangerous travel, the John the Baptist of wilderness missions, is better unmarried.

IV. CELIBACY IS A DUTY FOR ALL UNTIL THEY ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A SUITABLE MAINTENANCE FOR A FAMILY . It is not heroic but selfish to bring a family into a life of certain hardship and misery. The principle which applied to the public circumstances of distress in Jeremiah's age applies to the private circumstances of distress which are met with in every age.