As a matter of fact, the prophets of the Old Testament were all
prophets of evil. They were watchmen seeing the sword and giving
warning. No one ever spoke more plainly of the penalties of sin than
did Christ. The authoritative revelation of the consequences of
wrongdoing is an integral part of the gospel.
It is not the highest form of appeal. It would be higher to say, 'Do
right because it is right; love Christ because Christ is lovely.' The
purpose of such an appeal is to prepare us for the true gospel. But the
appeal to a reasonable self-love, by warnings of the death which is the
wages of sin, is perfectly legitimate. Dehortations from sin on the
ground of its consequences is part of God's message.
Further, the warning comes from love. Punishment must needs follow on
sin. Even His love must compel God to punish, and to warn before He
does. Surely that is kind. His punishments are made known beforehand
that we may be sure that caprice and anger have no part in inflicting
them, but that they are the settled order of an inviolable law, and
constitutional procedure of a just kind. Whether is it better to live
under a despot who smites as he will, or under a constitutional king
whose code is made public.
Surely it is needful to have clearly set forth the consequences of sin,
in view of the sophistries buzzing round us all and nestling in our own
hearts, of the deceitfulness of sin, of siren voices whispering, 'Ye
shall not surely die.'
God's prophecies of evil are all conditional. They are sent on purpose
that they may not be fulfilled.
II. The loving warnings disregarded and disliked. Jehoiakim's behaviour
is very human and like what we all do. We see the same thing repeated
in all similar crises. Cassandra. Jewish prophets. Christ. English
Commonwealth. French Revolution. Blindness to all signs and hostility
to the men that warn.
We see it in the attitude to the gospel revelation. The Scripture
doctrine of punishment always rouses antagonism, and in this day
revolts men. There is much in present tendencies to weaken the idea of
future retribution. Modern philanthropy makes it hard sometimes to
administer even human laws. The feeling is good, but this exaggeration
of it bad. It is a reaction to some extent against an unchristian way
of preaching Christian truth, but even admitting that, it still remains
true that an integral part of the Christian revelation is the
revelation of death as the wages of sin.
We see the same recoil of feeling operating in individual cases. How
many of you are quite indifferent to the preaching of a judgment to
come, or only conscious of a movement of dislike! But how foolish this
is! If a man builds a house on a volcano, is it not kind to tell him
that the lava is creeping over the side? Is it not kind to wake, even
violently, a traveller who has fallen asleep on the snow, before
drowsiness stiffens into death?