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Proverbs
Chapter Twenty-three
Proverbs 23
Commentary on Proverbs 23:1-3
(Read Proverbs 23:1-3)
God's restraints of the appetite only say, Do thyself no
harm.
Commentary on Proverbs 23:4,5
(Read Proverbs 23:4,5)
Be not of those that will be rich. The things of this
world are not happiness and a portion for a soul; those that hold them ever so
fast, cannot hold them always, cannot hold them long.
Commentary on Proverbs 23:6-8
(Read Proverbs 23:6-8)
Do not make thyself burdensome to any, especially those
not sincere. When we are called by God to his feast, and to let our souls
delight themselves, Isaiah 25:6; 55:2, we may safely partake of the
Bread of life.
Commentary on Proverbs 23:9
(Read Proverbs 23:9)
It is our duty to take all fit occasions to speak of Divine
things; but if what a wise man says will not be heard, let him hold his peace.
Commentary on Proverbs 23:10,11
(Read Proverbs 23:10,11)
The fatherless are taken under God's special protection.
He is their Redeemer, who will take their part; and he is mighty, almighty.
Commentary on Proverbs 23:12-16
(Read Proverbs 23:12-16)
Here is a parent instructing his child to give his mind
to the Scriptures. Here is a parent correcting his child: accompanied with
prayer, and blessed of God, it may prove a means of preventing his destruction.
Here is a parent encouraging his child, telling him what would be for his good.
And what a comfort it would be, if herein he answered his expectation!
Commentary on Proverbs 23:17,18
(Read Proverbs 23:17,18)
The believer's expectation shall not be disappointed; the
end of his trials, and of the sinner's prosperity, is at hand.
Commentary on Proverbs 23:19-28
(Read Proverbs 23:19-28)
The gracious Saviour who purchased pardon and peace for
his people, with all the affection of a tender parent, counsels us to hear and
be wise, and is ready to guide our hearts in his way. Here we have an earnest
call to young people, to attend to the advice of their godly parents. If the
heart be guided, the steps will be guided. Buy the truth, and sell it not; be
willing to part with any thing for it. Do not part with it for pleasures,
honours, riches, or any thing in this world. The heart is what the great God
requires. We must not think to divide the heart between God and the world; he
will have all or none. Look to the rule of God's word, the conduct of his
providence, and the good examples of his people. Particular cautions are given
against sins most destructive to wisdom and grace in the soul. It is really a
shame to make a god of the belly. Drunkenness stupifies men, and then all goes
to ruin. Licentiousness takes away the heart that should be given to God. Take
heed of any approaches toward this sin, it is very hard to retreat from it. It
bewitches men to their ruin.
Commentary on Proverbs 23:29-35
(Read Proverbs 23:29-35)
Solomon warns against drunkenness. Those that would be
kept from sin, must keep from all the beginnings of it, and fear coming within
reach of its allurements. Foresee the punishment, what it will at last end in,
if repentance prevent not. It makes men quarrel. Drunkards wilfully make woe
and sorrow for themselves. It makes men impure and insolent. The tongue grows
unruly; the heart utters things contrary to reason, religion, and common
civility. It stupifies and besots men. They are in danger of death, of
damnation; as much exposed as if they slept upon the top of a mast, yet feel
secure. They fear no peril when the terrors of the Lord are before them; they
feel no pain when the judgments of God are actually upon them. So lost is a
drunkard to virtue and honour, so wretchedly is his conscience seared, that he
is not ashamed to say, I will seek it again. With good reason we were bid to
stop before the beginning. Who that has common sense would contract a habit, or
sell himself to a sin, which tends to such guilt and misery, and exposes a man
every day to the danger of dying insensible, and awaking in hell? Wisdom seems
in these chapters to take up the discourse as at the beginning of the book.
They must be considered as the words of Christ to the sinner.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Proverbs》
Proverbs 23
Verse 1
[1] When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider
diligently what is before thee:
Ruler — With a great man.
Verse 2
[2] And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to
appetite.
Put a knife — Restrain thine appetite, as if a
man stood with a knife at thy throat.
Verse 3
[3] Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful
meat.
Deceitful — They do not yield thee that
satisfaction which thou didst expect from them.
Verse 4
[4] Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Thine own wisdom — From worldly wisdom,
which persuades men to use all possible means to get riches.
Verse 5
[5] Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for
riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward
heaven.
Set thine eyes — Look upon it with earnestness and
desire.
Is not — Which has no solid and settled being.
Eagle — Swiftly, strongly, and irrecoverably.
Verse 6
[6] Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,
neither desire thou his dainty meats:
Evil eye — Of the envious or covetous man.
Verse 7
[7] For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and
drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
So is he — You are not to judge of him by his words, but by the
constant temper of his mind.
Verse 8
[8] The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,
and lose thy sweet words.
Vomit up — When thou perceivest his churlish disposition, his
meat will be loathsome to thee.
Sweet words — Thy pleasant discourse wherewith
thou didst design to delight and profit him.
Verse 9
[9] Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the
wisdom of thy words.
Of a fool — Cast not away good counsels upon
incorrigible sinners.
Verse 10
[10] Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the
fields of the fatherless:
Enter not — To possess their lands.
Verse 11
[11] For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause
with thee.
Redeemer — Heb. their near kinsman, to whom it belongs to avenge
their wrongs, and to recover and maintain their rights.
Verse 13
[13] Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou
beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Shall not die — It is a likely way to prevent his
destruction.
Verse 16
[16] Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right
things.
My reins — I shall rejoice with all my soul.
Verse 18
[18] For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall
not be cut off.
An end — An expected and happy end for such as fear God.
Verse 19
[19] Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in
the way.
Guide — Order the whole course of thine affections and
actions.
In the way — In God's way.
Verse 23
[23] Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and
instruction, and understanding.
Buy — Purchase it upon any terms, spare no pains or cost.
Truth — The true and saving knowledge of God's will.
Sell it not — Do not forsake it for any worldly
advantage.
Verse 26
[26] My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe
my ways.
Give me — Solomon here speaks in God's name.
Verse 30
[30] They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek
mixed wine.
Mixt wine — Either mixed with water, or with
other ingredients to make it strong and delicious.
Verse 31
[31] Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it
giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Red — Which was the colour of the best wines in that
country.
Aright — When it sparkles, and seems to smile upon a man.
Verse 34
[34] Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of
the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
Lieth down — To sleep.
Sea — In a ship in the midst of the sea.
Verse 35
[35] They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not
sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek
it yet again.
Sick — I was not sensible of it.
Again — At present my condition requires sleep to settle
myself, and when I am composed, I purpose to return to my former course.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Proverbs》
23 Chapter 23
Verses 1-35
Verses 1-3
Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
Moderation
This virtue the people of God ought to practise in everything.
They should exercise self-government in the desire, the use, the enjoyment, and
the regret of all that pertains to the present world. Here is commended laying
restraint on the animal appetites.
1. There are few things, if any, more disgusting and degrading than the
studied and anxious indulgence of these appetites. It is particularly loathsome
when the man appears to catch with extraordinary avidity the occurrence of a
feast, and to be resolved on making the most of his opportunity.
2. There are on such occasions temptations to over-indulgence and
excess. And then our self-jealousy and watchfulness should be proportioned to
two things--the strength of propensity and the amount of temptation. Eat as if
a knife were at thy throat. Eat in the recollection and impression of thine
imminent danger. Or the expression may mean, “Otherwise thou wilt put a knife
to thy throat if thine appetite have the dominion.”
3. A man’s conduct on such occasions is marked, especially if he be a
religious professor. He may in this way bring reproach upon religion, which
ever ought, and which, when genuine and duly felt, will impose a restraint on
such indulgences.
4. We should also be on our guard against the ostentation of
abstinence and plainness--the affectation of extraordinary abstemiousness.
5. There should be special vigilance if there be reason to suspect
any snare, any intended temptation for answering a selfish or malicious
purpose. Worldly men sometimes do, very wickedly, lay snares for the godly. (R.
Wardlaw, D.D.)
Verse 4
Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Mammon
All the precepts of Scripture have their origin in the benevolence
of God. Man labours
to be rich because he is voluntarily ignorant or forgetful of the requirements
of his nature.
I. Labouring to be
rich implies the consecration of our powers to that one object in particular.
But this is not the end for which we are endowed with an intellectual faculty
and all the susceptibilities of a moral nature. The accumulation of riches as
an end is no more worthy the noble powers of man than building a pyramid of
sand. Infinitely beneath the dignity and Divine origin of man is the labouring
to be rich.
II. Whatever tends
to widen the distance between God and man must be regarded as an aggravation of
our fallen and ruined condition. We are so constituted that we cannot be
engrossed with the successful pursuit of two objects at once. You cannot be
labouring to be rich, and to be wise unto salvation at the same time. By our
own wilful act to alienate the heart from God must be the most inconceivable of
all misfortunes, since the highest object of man’s existence is to hold
communion with God. For this his nature was originally framed, and in this
alone will his nature ever find contentment or repose.
III. The ruinous
effects that the passion under notice occasions in all the moral powers of its
victim. People imagine that riches confer greatness. A man is honoured
according to the abundance of his capital. The tendency of this is to inflate
the mammon-worshipper with personal vanity. But the greatness which is the
exclusive offspring of opulence is a hollow, spurious, and mere visionary
greatness. Unsanctified riches tend to render their possessor vain, proud,
impatient of restraint, forgetful of the sources of true greatness, and
insensible to the wants or respect that is due to others. And the pursuit of
riches always ends in disappointment. “Godliness with contentment is great
gain.” The true riches, like an overflowing stream, irrigate the heart, and
make it bear fruit for eternity, but avarice of gold rushes like a torrent of
scorching lava--it may excite the wonder and attract the common attention of
mankind, but it leaves behind its devastating march a solitude, and barrenness,
and ruin, and death. (W. H. Hill, M.A.)
Verse 7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
The importance of a man’s thoughts
1. A man is as his thoughts.
2. A man has control over his thoughts.
3. God helps him in the exercise of that control.
“We are that really, both to God and to man, which we are
inwardly.” (Matthew Henry.)
Thoughts
I. The infinite
importance of men’s thoughts. This text, in counselling for a particular case,
and bidding us test the sincerity of one who invites us, asserts a principle of
wide application. You do not know a man until you know his thoughts. God knows
him perfectly, because He knows his thoughts.
1. You cannot know a man merely by listening to his words or watching
his actions. There is always more, and often better, in men than comes into
expression.
2. The revelations of close and trustful friendships are revelations
of the thoughts.
3. The claims of God reach beyond right action, and demand right
thought. The law of God searches the secret intents of the heart.
4. The redemption that is provided includes in its scheme the
sanctification of the very thought.
5. All sin is represented as springing up out of, and finding
expression for, lust in the sphere of thought. Show, by appeal to Christian
experience, the difficulty found in the restraining of thought. In the
unrestrainedness of thought often comes to us the feeling and the mastery of sin.
II. The amount of
control man has over his thoughts. If he had no control over them his moral
responsibility would be gone. We cannot help the evil thoughts coming to us. We
have control--
1. Over the material of our thoughts. The materials are the sum of
past impressions. Thinking is the combining, comparing, and rearranging of the
actual contents of the mind. We can direct ourselves away from the evil and
towards the good. We can fill our minds with good suggestions and associations.
Illustrate from going into scenes suggestive of vice; reading questionable or
immoral books, etc.
2. Over the processes of thought. There may be the nourishing of the
evil. There may be the swaying of the mind through the power of the renewed
will, and with the help of the indwelling Spirit. Apply to wandering thoughts
in the house of God. Do we make the mastery of such evil the subject of real
effort?
III. The help God
renders man in the exercise of such control. An attempt to regulate thoughts
will bring the conviction of human helplessness. When a man has mastered
conduct he cannot say that he has mastered himself. When he thinks he has
mastered “thoughts” he will surely find that he needs to cry unto God, saying,
“Try me and know my thoughts . . . and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Robert
Tuck, B.A.)
The thoughts of the heart the best evidence of a man’s spiritual
state
The knowledge of ourselves is one of the most noble and excellent
attainments in human life. He that knows himself stands fair for immortal
felicity. Doctrine: The thoughts of men’s hearts do evidence what their
spiritual state is. These do ordinarily give the best and surest measure of the
frame of men’s minds. What thoughts, then, evidence the spiritual state of men?
Not occasional thoughts. Not such as arise from strong convictions, that come
on us suddenly. Not such as arise from apparent Divine desertions. Despairing
thoughts are no sure evidence of the condition of souls. Not such as arise from
violent temptations. Not such as arise from men’s particular calling and manner
of life. Not such as arise from attendance upon, and the performance of,
religious duties. The religious discourse of others may produce pious thoughts
in an unregenerate person. A man may read God’s Word and be yet far from the kingdom.
So he may attend the preaching of the Word, and even pray, without having more
than surface thoughts. Answering the question affirmatively, mention may be
made of voluntary thoughts, such as the mind is apt for and inclines towards.
Four qualifications must attend them if they are to be a complete rule and a
perfect standard of trial. They must be natural, numerous, satisfactory, and
operative. Let us each see to it that our thoughts be such as evidence us to be
holy persons. Practise frequent, serious, and close examination. (Nathanael
Walter.)
The heart-state
The body is not the man. Our bodies die. Neither are a man’s words
himself. Words are often used to conceal, to misrepresent, to counterfeit.
Neither is it possible, universally, to discern the essence of character in
action. What good man is there who has not again and again failed to do himself
justice in his life? Often, on the other hand, actions are much more beautiful
than the thoughts of the heart. The essence of human character is found in the
heart. It is the disposition, it is the heart-state, which is the true man.
This test of human character is a just one, for our life is a progress, is in
the direction of the realisation of this heart-state. Action is but
heart-expression. The heart-thought, or purpose, is the true man. Not only is
human progress towards the realisation of this heart-state, but the separation
of the man from this full expression and realisation of his inner desire is not
a matter of his own choice or creation, and therefore cannot enter as an
element into his character. The field open, covered by the human choice, is
only this, present desire. It often happens that a man is to a certain extent
kept under the power of religious truth who is in heart utterly disloyal to the
Divine law. When the life differs from the heart the latter, not the former,
must be regarded as the true man. Sooner or later the full coincidence between
the external and internal is inevitable; the full expression of the heart is
sure to come.
1. Tendency is everything in the moral world.
2. Explain the different destinies of the Christian and un-Christian
life.
3. Abstain from all judgment of your fellow-men.
4. Encourage those who are true and good at heart. (S. S.
Mitchell, D.D.)
Thought the index of character
I. This is the
Hebrew way of telling us in a casual word about feasting that a man’s inmost
thinking is the true index to his character. Talk is superficial. The lip gives
a smiling welcome whilst a lofty disdain is in the heart. Mellifluous speech
often comes from a malign spirit, whilst “groanings that cannot be uttered” are
signs of a yearning supremely Divine. To the perfect ear of God, who catches
the faintest quiver of hypocrisy in our devotion, and the lightest tone of
insincerity in our song, our “words” justify or condemn us; but to our dull and
insensitive organs they are unreliable signs, and our conclusions from them
require to be corrected and qualified by the study of other data. We are,
therefore, driven back upon the Hebrew teaching that a man is built up from
within; that as he does his inward work--all his inward work--so he is in
character, being, and power. He must be a whole man in his thinking in order to
be to all intents and in all respects a man; for manly thinking, according to
our ancient Scriptures, lies at the basis of manhood.
II. Christianity
accepts and endorses this inward and broad basis of manhood, and employs its
fact and revelation, impulse and inspiration, to secure a thorough regeneration
of man’s inmost life. It seeks to re-create him as a thinker, refuses to look
on the mere “scholar” as the full man, and works on the Hebrew idea, lately
re-announced by Emerson, that the true notion of manhood is “man thinking; not
man the victim of society and a mere thinker, or still worse, the parrot of
other men’s thinking”--but man, thinking “in his heart,” with all his inward
forces, conscience and will, fancy and emotion, hope and experience--thinking
in the whole of him, and with the whole of him, and for the whole of him and
his race, and so making speech the clear, full, and indivisible echo of his
thought, and deed the visible garment of his inward life. God means us to be
men, and He evokes the forces of an inward life by compelling us to wield the
sword with our full strength against the enemy. For as a man battles for truth
in his heart, so is he.
Cowardly thinking makes a weak and poor life. Christ creates inward courage,
heroic daring for reality and right, and renews the manliness of the world.
III. This is a
thinking age. The sluggard intellect has received an unparalleled awakening,
and thinking of nearly all kinds is proceeding with astonishing celerity and
productiveness. The manliest thinking is done with the heart, i.e.,
with the whole of the inner forces of the life.
IV. Modern
thinking, ignoring the Biblical
rule, is smitten with the blight of cowardice, falls a victim to unreality, and
lacks, notwithstanding its pride, Lutheran courage, holy daring, and
self-devotion. Young men, do not be misled by the syren of a false peace. Truth
is a prize to be won by strenuous battle with the shows and pretences of error,
and the shock of downright attack with the foes of faith ought only to whet
desire, quicken appetite, and concentrate your forces so that you may become
masker of the situation. Give to your thinking the courage of the heart, the
force of a resolute energy, the patience of an inflexible will, and as sure as
you are true to your whole self God will be found of you in Christ Jesus, and
become the sunshine of your life and the joy of your heart.
V. Another form of
this mistake is that we expect too much to be done by mere thinking. Science
thinks everything out, and we want to make all life scientific, and so we take
out of it our personal trusts, and the subtle ministry of the reflex action of
deeds on our thoughts. Convert thought-out truth into loyalty to Jesus Christ,
and obedience to His laws. Courageous deed, following intrepid thinking, made
the Reformation.
VI. No thinking is
manly which fails to take adequate account of the force of intense moral
enthusiasms. It is provable that only in the white heat of a glowing passion
for an ethical goal have we the clearest vision of eternal fact.
VII. Again, the
thinking that is of the brain only and not of the heart is in serious danger of
passing over the “unseen” order and treating it as though it did not exist. It
ignores the invisible forces which somehow or other, and from somewhere or
other, undeniably find, move, and educate men.
VIII. But, above all
things, do not let us be alarmed at any of the mistakes and mischiefs that
cause disobedience to the Christian law of manly thinking. We need have no
misgiving about the future. Man is essentially a thinker and a unit, and he
must think towards unity, and truth, and perfection. Be his mistakes
numberless, he cannot stop. He is made for God. “God is his refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble”; therefore, after every temporary
eclipse, the Sun of Righteousness will break forth and reveal again the way to
the Father. (J. Clifford, D.D.)
Thought
The capacity of thinking is a most wonderful thing. Here lies
man’s supremacy ever all the visible world about him. All great undertakings,
the glorious enterprises of men for men’s salvation, were once only thoughts.
The character of a man’s thoughts determines the character of his life. His
actions are inspired from within. Every product of the soul, whether it be an
action or a purpose, is first a germ. Sin lies in the soul in germs--in germs
as well as in actions. The moral success of life consists in killing evil
thoughts in the germ. There are few purer and richer pleasures in this world
than the enjoyment of sweet thoughts, happy thoughts, holy thoughts. The heart
determines our everlasting destiny. A heart without holiness never shall see
the Lord. Christ is the only purifier of the heart. (Theodore L.
Cuyler, D.D.)
Verse 10-11
Their Redeemer is mighty.
Social injustice
I. Social
injustice indicated. “Remove not the old landmarks.” What are the landmarks?
The rights of man as man.
1. Every man has a right to personal freedom.
2. To the produce of his own labour.
3. To freedom in religion.
II. Social injustice
perpetrated on the helpless. “Enter not into the fields of the fatherless.”
Orphans have their rights. There are villains in society who perpetrate
outrages on orphans.
1. This is cowardly.
2. This is cruel.
3. This is common.
III. Social
injustice judicially regarded by God. “Their Redeemer is mighty.” Redeemer here
means “next of kin.” The mighty God is the protector of the helpless. (D.
Thomas, D.D.)
The fatherless
These are taken under God’s special protection; with Him they not
only find mercy shown to them, but justice done for them. He is their Redeemer,
their God, their near kinsman, that will take their part, and stand up for them
with jealousy, as taking Himself affront in the injuries done to them. He is
mighty--almighty; His omnipotence is engaged and employed for their protection,
and their proudest and most powerful oppressors will not only find themselves
an unequal match for this, but will find that it is at their peril to contend
with it. Every man must be careful not to injure the fatherless in anything, or
to invade their rights. Being fatherless, they have none to redress their
wrongs, and, being in their childhood, they do not so much as apprehend the
wrong that is done them. Sense of honour, and much more the fear of God, would
restrain men from offering any injury to children, especially fatherless
children. (Matthew Henry.)
Verse 12
Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of
knowledge.
Spiritual knowledge
I. Because of its
own worth. A knowledge of the creation, its elements, laws, objects, extent, is
valuable, but a knowledge of the Creator is infinitely more valuable. “This is
life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent.”
II. Because man is
prone to overlook the importance of this knowledge. It is sad, that that which
man requires most he cares least for, that the most priceless treasure is least
valued.
III. Because to
attain it there must be personal application. “Apply thine heart unto
instruction.” It is a knowledge that cannot be imparted irrespective of the use
of man’s own faculties. He must apply persistently, earnestly, devoutly. (Homilist.)
The heart and the ears
Observe the connection between the application of the heart and
the ears. The heart open to sound advice or moral precept is yet shut to Christ
and His doctrine. It is closed up in unbelief, prejudice, indifference, and the
love of pleasure. A listless heart, therefore, produces a careless ear. But
when the heart is graciously opened, softened, and enlightened, the attention
of the ear is instantly fixed. This, indeed, is the Lord’s creative work; yet
wrought by a God of order in the use of His own means. Awakened desire brings
to prayer. Prayer brings the blessing. And precious then is every word of
knowledge. (C. Bridges, M.A.)
Verse 15
My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
The happy parent
I. The attainment
required. A pious youth is said to be wise in heart.
1. To show us that religion is wisdom.
2. That this wisdom is not notional, but consists principally in
dispositions and actions. Religion has to do “with the heart”; and a knowledge
that does not reach the heart, and govern the heart, is nothing.
II. The consequence
anticipated. Pious children afford their parents pleasure on three principles.
1. A principle of benevolence.
2. Of piety. God is particularly pleased and glorified by the
sacrifices of early religion.
3. Of self-interest. Distinguish between self-interest and
selfishness. The piety of children affords parents evidence of the answer of
their prayers and the success of their endeavours, and so delights them. It
becomes a means of their usefulness. By such children parents hope to serve
their generation. It ensures to parents a proper return of duty. And it will
free them from a thousand bitter anxieties, such as are caused by children’s
removal from home; taking any important step in life; or being bereaved of
their dearest relations.
Conclusion:
1. Address those who, instead of a joy to their parents, are only a
grief.
2. Address parents. Have you conscientiously discharged your duty towards
your children? If you have, and nevertheless find your “house not so with God
“as you desire, yield not to despair. Never cease to pray and to admonish. Some
shower of rain may cause the seed, which has long been buried under the dryness
of the soil, to strike root and spring up. (W. Jay.)
Religion, true wisdom
I. Why religion
may be described as true wisdom.
1. As it involves the possession and right application of knowledge.
2. As it gives the first attention to the most momentous concerns.
3. As it adopts the most likely means for securing these great ends.
4. As it secures the greatest amount of good both for the present and
the future.
II. The importance
of this to young people.
1. Because of their necessary inexperience.
2. Because of the countless perils which surround them.
3. Because the future circumstances of life depend much upon the
course adopted in youth.
III. The certain
means of its atttainment.
1. There must be a deep conviction of its need and value.
2. There must be the hearty and simple application of faith, for its
realisation.
3. Let this resolution, and application of devout earnestness and
faith, be adopted now.
In conclusion, present the subject to your serious attention--
Parental wishes
Persons may form a judgment of their own dispositions from their
wishes about their children. Worldly men make it their great work to provide
those things for their children which they account their own best things.
Saints desire above all things that the hearts of their children may be richly
furnished with wisdom, and that their lips may speak right things; for the
heart is the throne of Wisdom, and by the lips she discovers her possession of
that throne. (George Lawson, D.D.)
Verse 17
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the
Lord all the day long.
Envy of sinners forbidden, and the fear of God enjoined
I. Some of the
reasons why men very frequently are induced to envy sinners.
1. They perhaps see them possessed of wealth, in the enjoyment of
many outward comforts, and encircled with the means of gratification; and these
are things after which human nature hankers. The idea of happiness is commonly
connected with the possession of them. But, surely, to envy these fleeting
possessions little becomes a wise man. Surely his lot is not to be desired who
lives here under the Divine displeasure, and who must very shortly endure the
righteous judgment of a justly offended God.
2. But we find men sometimes disposed to envy sinners on account of
the apparent freedom from care and anxiety in which they live. But that gay
unconcern about eternal things which is attributed to them we ought to
commiserate rather than envy.
3. But whatever circumstances in the condition of the sinner men may
admire, unbelief is the source from which all envy of his lot must proceed.
II. The nature and
effects of the fear of the Lord.
1. It is not a fear of Him as an irresistible and implacable enemy;
but it is a fear grounded on a just perception of the excellency of the Divine
character, connected with love to Him, and with an expectation of the largest
blessings from His hand.
2. But what are the effects which the fear of God will produce?
The cure for envy
The cure for envy lies in living under a constant sense of
the Divine presence, worshipping God and communing with Him all the day long,
however long the day may seem. True religion lifts the soul into a higher
region, where the judgment becomes more clear, and the desires are more
elevated. The more of heaven there is in our lives, the less of earth we shall
covet. The fear of God casts out the envy of men. The death-blow of envy is a
calm consideration of the future. The wealth and glory of the ungodly are a
vain show. This pompous appearance flashes out for an hour, and then is
extinguished. What is the prosperous sinner the better for his prosperity when
judgment overtakes him?
As for the godly man, his end is peace and blessedness, and none can rob him of
his joy; wherefore, let him forego envy, and be filled with sweet content. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
The nature and advantages of the fear of the Lord
Scarcely anything has a more immediate influence upon our duty or
comfort than the due government of our passions. Hence the wise and virtuous, in all ages,
have employed themselves in forming rules for their regulation. But it is found
more easy to prescribe, than to reduce these rules to practice. The religion of
Jesus provides the assistance requisite to enable us to comply with rules.
I. What is it to
be in the fear of the Lord all the day long? Fear is a passion of the human
mind, and stands opposed to hope. It always has for its object some evil, real
or supposed. Here its object is the evil and danger of sinning against God, and
the just displeasure of God, in consequence of offending Him. To fear these is
to fear the Lord in the best sense of the phrase. We should live under the
habitual influence of this holy temper, and carry it with us into all the
duties of the religious and social life.
II. Why should we
study to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long?
1. It is an excellent guard against the commission of sin. The man
cannot knowingly and deliberately sin against God who has a suitable sense of
His being, perfections, character and government.
2. It really assists us in the right performance of duty. It greatly
tends to invigorate the graces of the Spirit in the soul, and to call them
forth into lively exercise.
3. It excites us to the important duty of watchfulness, and greatly
assists us therein.
4. God recommends this duty to our study and practice, by His Divine
authority. Then if you would be in the fear of the Lord--
Of the duty of fearing God
The fear of the Lord is sometimes the whole duty of man; sometimes
the devotional duties of religion.
I. The true notion
of fearing God.
1. It must be such a fear as includes in it a high degree of love.
Then we shall make a difficulty of nothing He commands. Then our service of Him
will be rendered more acceptable.
2. It includes it in a generous hope and confidence. Hope is the
spring of industry.
II. The influence
this fear has to suppress in us all envious and disquieting thoughts. By a holy
fear we secure to ourselves an interest in His special providence and protection
and grace here, and in the promises of glory and eternal life hereafter.
III. Proper motives
and arguments to enforce this duty of fearing God.
1. From the consideration of His infinite power and majesty.
2. From His intimate knowledge of all our thoughts, words, and
actions, and of the secret springs of them.
3. The consideration of God’s justice. He hath appointed a day
wherein He will judge the world in righteousness. This is an irresistible
argument to excite us to the practice of piety. (R. Fiddes, D.D.)
The principle by which each person is to be perpetually governed
Many mistake by viewing religion as separate from common life, and
as hardly to be made to accord with it.
I. The principle
which is to actuate us. “The fear of the Lord.” The fear attends the whole of
religion.
1. As a quality, to temper the whole; to bind doctrine and knowledge;
to keep confidence from growing up into rank presumption, and liberty from
degenerating into licentiousness.
2. As a quickener, to excite and to enliven the whole.
II. The
extensiveness of its influence. To be in the fear shows the frequency of its
exercise, and of its invariable constancy. See the attributes of this fear as
regards--
1. Devotions, regular and ejaculatory.
2. The business of the day.
3. The trials of the day.
4. Its relaxation, recreation, and refreshment.
5. The company of the day.
6. The opportunities and occasions of the day.
III. The advantage
of its habitualness.
1. It will render religion more easy and pleasant.
2. It will render your religion more obvious and certain. It
furnishes the best evidences of its reality. Then be concerned to exercise
diligence.
The wicked not to be envied
I. What is it in
sinners that we are apt to envy?
1. Many sinners have much money. Riches are not necessary to any man.
Still, human nature is so weak and so corrupt that but few men can look at the
wealthy without envying them.
2. Sometimes the wicked seem to have a great deal of pleasure. Take
their word for it, and no people are so happy. Those who have not health, or
money, or time thus to live at ease, are very apt to envy these lovers of
pleasure.
3. Some sinners seem to get many of the honours of life. They seek
the honour that cometh from man, and they have their reward. Silly people stand
off and admire and envy.
4. Some envy the wicked for their apparent freedom from restraint.
The law of God does not bind them any further than suits themselves. To a
carnal mind this looks like a fine way of getting through the world, and the
foolish envy these lawless ones.
5. Sometimes sinners seem to be, and for a long time are, free from
afflictions, which so much distress the righteous.
II. There is no
good ground fob preferring the state of sinners. There is really no Divine
blessing permanently resting on the wicked, as there is on the righteous. There
is also a sad amount of alloy mixed up with all that sinners have. The passions
of sinners are at war with each other and with mankind. The devices of the
wicked will ruin them. The wicked are not without smitings of conscience. All
nature is armed against the wicked. Instead of envying sinners, pity them and
pray for them. Let the righteous show that they are pleased with the choice
which they have made. (W. S. Plumer, D.D.)
Divine providence
The text is a persuasive to contentment and satisfaction with
Divine providence, which permits wicked men to flourish for awhile, enforced
with this reason, that there is a reward laid up for all such as trust in God
and meekly submit to His will.
1. Let the times be never so perilous and dangerous, yet God’s
providence ought not to be questioned by us, whatever its unequal distributions
be. Answering the objection that, if God’s providence governs all the issues
and events of things, virtue should never go unrewarded, plead that there is no
man but has grievously sinned against the Lord. Therefore they can have no
cause to question His justice in their suffering. Besides this, it may be urged
that affliction is a proof of God’s tender love and kindness; that the
prosperity of the wicked often turns to their hurt and disadvantage; and that
the day of judgment will set all things right.
2. Show how we are to demean ourselves under the actual oppressions
of prosperous wickedness. The best course for a man to take is to hold himself
to God, to trust in Him, and order himself according to His will.
3. We must not go out of the road of duty, and do as the wicked do,
because we see them prosper.
4. The flourishing condition of the wicked is but short-lived, and
therefore not to be envied.
5. There is an assured reward, if ye have patience awhile, and meekly
submit to the will of God in His providential administrations. Then seek to
live so that God may bless you with the continuance of His blessings. (T.
Knaggs, M.A.)
All the day long
I. The prescribed
course of the believer “Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.” We
must be in the fear of the Lord before we can remain in it. The fear is for all
the day, and for every clay. Some have a religion of show, others a religion of
spasms. Ours must never be a religion that is periodic in its flow, like
certain intermittent springs. Beware of the godliness which varies with the
calendar. Note the details which are comprised in this exhortation. Remember
not merely to associate religion with the routine of life, but also with
special occasions. There are excellent reasons for being in the fear of the
Lord all the day long. He sees us all the day long. Sin is equally evil all the
day long. You always belong to Christ. You can never tell when or how Satan
will attack you. Your Lord may come at any hour.
II. The probable
interruption. It has happened to godly men in all ages to see the wicked prosper,
and they have been staggered by the sight. There is no real cause for envying
the wicked; and envying them will do you serious harm. Envy helps in no way,
and hinders in many ways.
III. The helpful
consideration.
1. There is an end of this life.
2. There is an end of the worldling’s prosperity.
3. God has an end in your present trouble and exercise.
4. There will be no failure to your expectation. The promise of God
is in itself a possession, and our expectation of it is in itself an enjoyment.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
A caution against envy and a call to piety
I. A serious
caution. This should be regarded--
1. Because envy is a disposition of mind whose influence can never be
justified.
2. Because to envy sinners is absurd.
II. The admonitory
precept. This implies--
1. To be in possession of correct and spiritual ideas of His holy and
exalted character.
2. To cultivate suitable dispositions of heart towards Him.
III. An encouraging
assertion. “For surely there is an end,” etc.
1. There is an end to that prosperity with which the efforts of
sinners are crowned.
2. There is an end to the tribulation of the saints.
3. The expectation of those who continue in the fear of the Lord
shall not be cut off. Human expectations are cut off by slothful and indolent
habits, and by unforeseen occurrences. Instead of envying sinners, saints
should pity them, pray for them, set them good examples, and try to save them.
(Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Verse 18
Surely there is an end.
The end
Let religion be the very atmosphere in which you live and move and
have your being; and the reason for this is, “surely there is an end.”
I. The solemn
certainty which nobody can deny.
1. All our actions, thoughts, feelings, capabilities, everything
about us, relations and all the rest of it, will come to a close, and leave
behind them consequences that never come to a close. Behind everything
something else lies, and that afterwards is made by the present, and is an
outcome of it. The fleeting events and fugitive thoughts and feelings and actions
of our daily life, that pass away and are forgotten, all leave behind them
consequences which grow and grow for ever and ever.
2. Everything we do here will mould our character and help to make
ourselves, and will spring up after many days. That is true of life and of the
great hereafter beyond life.
II. The bright
possibilities which go along with this text. The hereafter to which the end of
life is the narrow portal shall more than fulfil all thy expectations. Take
Christ for your Saviour, and Master, and then swift-footed time may work His
will; when this wide earth and all its fleeting scenes will change, you will be
brought to the fulfilment of all your hopes, receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
Duties and reasons
The words of the text contain--
I. Duties.
1. The avoidance of envy. Envy is that affection which causes grief
at the happiness and prosperity of others. It is associated with maliciousness.
It is derived from a Latin word signifying “not to see.” The name is therefore
characteristic. Why should not sinners be envied? Because it is foolish to do
so. It is a false supposition that they are happy because they possess temporal
advantages. Because it is unjust. Because it is un-Christian. We are taught by
God to pity and pray for sinners.
2. A reverence for God. This fear is not slavish, that urges us to
flee from danger, but filial, Divinely wrought in the soul.
II. Reasons. All
obligations are founded on reasons.
1. There is an end to the sinner’s prosperity. There is an end to
every Christian’s trials.
2. God here promises to realise the expectations of those who fear
Him. What do they expect? Their temporal wants supplied. Deliverance from
dangers. Help in trouble. Grace to restrain from sin, to sanctify their souls,
and to prepare them for heaven. These expectations shall not be cut off. (T.
Harland.)
The afterwards and our hope
The Book of Proverbs seldom looks beyond the limits of the
temporal, but now and then the mists lift and the wider horizon is disclosed.
Our text is one of these exceptional instances, and is remarkable, not only as
expressing confidence in the future, but as expressing it in a very striking
way. “Surely there is an end,” says our Authorised Version, substituting in the
margin, for end, “reward.” The latter word is placed in the text of the Revised
Version. But neither “end” nor “reward” conveys the precise idea. The word so
translated literally means “something that comes after.” So it is the very
opposite of “end “; it is really that which lies beyond the end--the “sequel,”
or the “future”--as the margin of the Revised Version gives alternately, or,
more simply still, the “Afterwards.” Surely there is an afterwards behind the
end. And then the proverb goes on to specify one aspect of that afterwards:
“Thine expectation”--or, better, because more simply, “thy hope”--shall not be
cut off. And then, upon these two convictions it builds the plain, practical
exhortation: “Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.”
I. The certainty
of the hereafter. My text, of course, might be watered down and narrowed so as
to point only to sequels to deeds realised in this life. And then it would be
teaching us simply the very much-needed lessons that even in this life
“whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” But it seems to me that we
are entitled to see here, as in one or two other places in the Book of
Proverbs, a dim anticipation of a future life beyond the grave. Now, the
question comes to be, Where did the coiners of proverbs, whose main interest
was in the obvious maxims of a prudential morality, get this conviction? They
did not get it from any lofty experience of communion with God, like that which
in the seventy-third Psalm marks the very high-water mark of Old Testament
faith in regard to a future life. They did not get it from any clear definite
revelation, such as we have in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but they got
it from thinking over file facts of this present life as they appeared to them,
looked at from a standpoint of a belief in God, and in righteousness. And so
they represent to us the impression that is made upon a man’s mind, if he has
the “eye that has kept watch o’er man’s mortality,” that is made by the facts
of this earthly life, viz., that it is so full of onward-looking, prophetic
aspect, so manifestly and tragically, and yet wonderfully and hopefully,
incomplete and fragmentary in itself, that there must be something beyond in
order to explain, in order to vindicate the life that now is. You sometimes see
a row of houses, the end one of which has, in its outer gable wall, bricks
protruding here and there, and holes for chimney-pieces that are yet to be put
in. And just as surely as that external wall says that the row is half-built,
and there are some more tenements to be added to it, so surely does the life
that we now live here, in all its aspects almost, bear upon itself the stamp
that it, too, is but initial and preparatory. You sometimes see, in the
bookseller’s catalogue, a book put down “volume one; all that is published.”
That is our present life--volume one, all that is published. Surely there is
going to be a sequel, volume two. What is the meaning of the fact that of all
the creatures on the face of the earth only you and I, and our brethren and
sisters, do not find in our environment enough for our powers? What is the
meaning of the fact that lodged in men’s natures there lies that strange power
of painting to themselves things that are not as though they were? So that
minds and hearts go out wandering through eternity, and having longings and
possibilities which nothing beneath the stars can satisfy, or can develop? The
meaning of it is this: “surely there is a hereafter.” God does not so cruelly
put into men longings that have no satisfaction, and desires which never can be
filled, as that there should not be, beyond the gulf, the fair land of the
hereafter. Every human life obviously has in it, up to the very end, the
capacity for progress. There may be masters in workshops who take apprentices,
and teach them their trade during the years that are needed, and then turn
round and say, “I have no work for you, so you must go and look for it
somewhere else.” That is not how God does. When He has trained His apprentices
He gives them work to do. “Surely there is a hereafter.” But that is only part
of what is involved in this thought. It is not only a state subsequent to the
present, but it is a state consequent on the present, and the outcome of it.
To-day is the child of all the yesterdays, and the yesterdays and to-day are
the parent of to-morrow. The past, our past, has made us what we are in the
present, and what we are in the present is making us what we shall be in the
future. And when we pass out of this life we pass out, notwithstanding all
changes, the same men as we were. And so we carry ourselves with us into that
future life, and “what a man soweth that shall he also reap.” “Oh! that they
were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their ‘afterwards.’”
II. Now, secondly,
my text suggests the immortality of hope. “Thine expectation”--or rather, as I
said, “thy hope”--“shall not be cut off.” This is a characteristic of that
hereafter. What a wonderful saying that is which also occurs in this Book of
Proverbs, “The righteous hath hope in his death”! Ah! We all know how swiftly,
as years increase, the things to hope for diminish, and how, as we approach the
end, less and less do our imaginations go out into the possibilities of the
sorrowing future. And when the end comes, if there is no afterward, the dying
man’s hopes must necessarily die before he does. If when we pass into the
darkness we are going into a cave with no outlet at the other end, then there
is no hope, and you may write over it Dante’s grim word: “All hope abandon, ye
who enter here.” “The righteous hath hope in his death.” “Thine expectation
shall not be cut off.” But, further, that conviction of the afterward opens up
for us a condition in which imagination is surpassed by the wondrous reality.
Here, I suppose, nobody ever had all the satisfaction out of a fulfilled hope
that he expected. The fish is always a great deal larger and heavier when we
see it in the water than when it is lifted out and scaled. But there does come
a time, if you believe that there is an afterwards, when all we desired and
painted to ourselves of possible good for our craving spirits shall be felt to
be but a pale reflex of the reality, like the light of some unrisen sun on the
snowfields, and we shall have to say “the half was not told to us.”
III. And now,
finally, notice the bearing of all this on the daily present. “Be thou in the
fear of the Lord all the day long.” Why, if there were no future, it would be
just as wise, just as blessed, just as incumbent upon us to “be in the fear of
the Lord all the day long.” But, seeing that there is that future, and seeing
that only in it will hope rise to fruition, and yet subsist as longing, surely
there comes to us a solemn appeal to “be in the fear of the Lord all the day
long,” which, being turned into Christian language, is to live by habitual
faith, in communion with, and love and obedience to, our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Surely, surely the very climax of folly is shutting the eyes to that future
that we all have to face, and to live here ignoring it and God, and cribbing,
cabining, and confining all our thoughts within the narrow limits of the things
present and visible. “Surely there is an afterwards,” and if thou wilt “be in
the fear of the Lord all the day long,” then for evermore “thy hope shall not
be cut off.” (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
Verse 19
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Three important precepts
The words are very
direct and personal.
I. The precept
contained in the word “hear.” I take it to mean, “Hear the gospel.” “Take heed
what ye hear.”
1. Take care that you hear with a view to obtaining faith in the Lord
Jesus.
2. Hear without prejudice.
3. Hear for yourself.
4. Hear when the sermon is done.
5. Hear the gospel as the voice of God. He that hath an ear towards
God will find that God hath an ear towards him.
II. The precept
contained in the words “be wise.”
1. Try to understand what you hear. Try to know saving truth.
2. Believe the gospel as it comes from God. This is an age of doubt.
But it does not take any great quantity of brain to be a doubter.
3. Be affected by what you have heard.
4. Take care that you do not wander into evil company.
5. Take care to do what you hear.
III. The precept
contained in the words “guide thine heart in the way.” There is but one “way.”
The “way” is often described in Scripture. It is the way of faith; of truth; of
holiness; of peace. It is a narrow way. Then put your heart into your religion.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The self-discipline suitable to certain mental moods
In our course through life our minds are liable to be placed in
certain states of feeling, strongly marked, and for the time strongly
prevailing. And this by causes, by influences and circumstances, independent of
our will. We might call them moods--by some they are denominated frames. These
states of feeling should be carefully turned to a profitable account; we should
avail ourselves of what there is in them specially adapted to afford
improvement. The states of feeling to which we refer are such as are not
essentially evil. They may be called a kind of natural seasons in the soul.
These varied feelings are of the two great classes, the pleasing and the unpleasing;
the latter being felt oftener and more sensibly. Take the image of a person in
a high state of exhilaration; his soul over-running with delight, his
countenance lighted up with animation. What will be the benefit of this if he
do not exercise reflection, if he do not “guide his heart”? It may lead to
direct evil. At the best, he will just indulge himself in the fulness of his
satisfaction. He will have no use of his delight but to enjoy it. One point of
wisdom in such a case may be, somewhat to repress and sober such an
exhilaration of the heart. Some of this exhilaration should be directed into
the channel of gratitude to God. It should lead a man to watch narrowly to see
what kind of nature he has to be acted upon; a sad nature, truly, if he finds that
the more its wishes are gratified the worse it becomes, if left to itself. The
spring and energy of spirit felt in these pleasurable seasons of the heart
should be applied to the use of a more spirited performance of the Christian
duties in general, but especially to those that are the most congenial. How
much time is passed by mankind collectively in a state of feeling decidedly
infelicitous, as compared with their experience of animated pleasure! And how
small a portion of this painful feeling is turned to any good account! There
are occasional states of darkened, gloomy feeling, in which sensibility becomes
pensiveness, and gravity sadness. The immediate cause may have been some
untoward turn of events; some painful disappointment, or death of friends, or
constitutional tendency, or defective health. But this infelicitous season of
the soul may be turned to lasting advantage. When the disorder is mainly due to
bodily conditions, expedients of alleviation may properly be sought. But at
such times opportunity is given for serious consideration. Are there no great
and solemn questions which you have hitherto left undecided? This is reasonable
pleading. It is but requiring that a man should not be willing to come out from
a temporary and special state of feeling without having availed himself of that
advantage which it has specially offered him. Apply to another state of
feeling--an indignant excitement of mind against human conduct. (John Foster.)
Verse 23
Buy the truth, and sell it not.
A domestic homily on buying the truth
When the wise man counselled his pupil to “buy the truth,” he had
the whole range of truth before his mind: truth in history, in science, in
social economics, in morals, and in religion. It is a slander that revelation,
or the religion which accepts revelation as its guide, seeks the shade of
ignorance and demands to lead its devotees blindfolded through the universe.
Revelation demands light, and ever more light. The words of the text are a
warrant for all investigation that has truth for its object. But it more
especially refers to moral and religious truth.
I. The truth is an
eminently desirable possession. Truth is capable of becoming much more intimately
and inseparably the possession of a man than any of those things which men
usually call their possessions. The truth bought secures to men the great end
of all possessions--blessedness. The truth restores conscience to an active and
undisputed sovereignty, harmonises the will and the reason, and casts out the foreign elements
which have disturbed the movements of the inner life.
II. It is our duty
to secure the truth as our possession. “Buy.” Do not stand chaffering about it;
promptly make it your own.
1. We must go in quest of it. A man must be assiduous, painstaking,
persevering in his search. And he must be cautious.
2. We must approach Truth, and live with her, trustfully. The
intellect may assent, while the soul remains sceptical, and stands aloof.
3. The truth must be obeyed. She enters the soul as a queen. She
demands to dictate every action, to shape every plan, to control every feeling.
There is, perhaps, no utterly conclusive evidence of what is strictly moral or
religious truth, but that of the inward witness, which speaks in the soul of
the man who is living in the truth; that is, cordially and spontaneously
obeying it.
4. We must be ready to make sacrifice for the truth. Prejudices must
be sacrificed. Tastes, appetites, and passions, which the truth cannot
sanction, must be sacrificed. If we are to get and hold the truth we must
search, trust, obey, and make sacrifice. (Alex. Hannay, D.D.)
Buying the truth
To be said of all truths, but especially of the highest.
I. How is truth
bought? In one sense it is free as air, but in seeking and keeping it we make
surrenders. Labour and search may need to be paid. Prejudice, pride of heart,
illusions broken. Sins of heart and life forsaken. Esteem of friends and of the
world may need to be parted with.
II. How truth may
be sold. Not when it is communicated; thereby we buy more. But when it is not
communicated, when it is betrayed from fear or allurement, when it is held in
unrighteousness, selfishness, treachery, inconsistency, we sell the truth.
III. Why, when
bought, it should never be sold. It has a value beyond all you can get for it.
Its value grows the longer you keep it. It buys all other good things at last.
When sold, it is hard to be bought back. (John Ker, D.D.)
Buy the truth, sell it not
I. Inquire what
truth is. Of truths there are many kinds.
1. Those proper to the studies of great scholars.
2. Those concerning the preservation of our bodies.
3. Those concerning the making and executing of laws.
4. Those relating to husbandry, tillage, and business. The truth here
is “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.”
II. The nature and
quality of this merchandise. It containeth all those precepts and conclusions
that concern the knowledge and service of God, and that conduce to virtue and
integrity and uprightness of life. This truth is fit and proportionable to the
soul of man, which is made capable of it. As it is fitted to all, so it is
lovely and amiable in the eyes of
all, even of those who will not buy it.
III. The truth must
be bought. It will not be ours unless we lay out something and purchase it. We
do not stumble on this truth by chance. If men’s faith cost them more, they
would make more use of it than they do.
IV. What is it to
buy the truth? The price is yourselves. Ye must lay down yourselves at the
altar of truth, and be offered up as sacrifice for it. You must offer up your
understandings, your wills, and your affections. Give up your prejudices. Cast
away all malice to the truth, all distasting of it, all averseness to it. What
helps does the God of truth afford us for the obtaining of the truth?
1. Meditation, or fixing of our thoughts upon the truth.
2. Prayer, which draweth down grace.
3. Exercise and practice of those truths we learn. (A.
Farindon, B.D.)
Buying the truth
Truth is but one, and it is in God, and of God; nay, it is God
Himself. This truth is from Him conveyed into divers things, which are
therefore termed true. The Word is the truth, because God is the author of it;
because inspired men wrote it; because Christ confirmed it; and because the
Spirit of Truth interprets it. Buying includes a desire of the commodity; a
repairing to the place where it is set to sale; a skill to discern and know the
goodness of it; giving a price proportionable to the value of it; and a storing
of it up for necessary uses. (S. Hieron.)
The birthright of truth
I. Truth is a
matter of purchase. Truth is, in itself, one, perfect, and eternal. To us it is
a growing and increasing treasure. The truth we consider is that which has been
delivered down to us through the Scriptures. We get truth by having the eye
ever open to observe it; by reading, meditation, and conversation.
II. Truth must not
be sold. Amongst other shrines at which we shall be tempted to sell the truth
is--
1. The commercial spirit of the day. We are tempted by the mode in
which the arrangements of the kingdom of Christ are compelled to make way for
the arrangements of this world. This absorption of mind by the spirit of
earthly gain gives little time for religious exercises, and breeds an
inclination to extol certain business virtues.
2. Men sacrifice the truth on the altar of narrow-minded
exclusiveness in the application of the privileges and blessings of truth.
Truth is lost in sectarianism.
3. There is peril for truth in the spirit of rationalism that is
abroad. (E. Monro.)
The price of truth
I. What it costs
to know truth. By truth we mean, an agreement between an object and our idea of
it. We want to know, What is moral truth? What is universal truth? To attain
it, take seven precepts. Be attentive. Do not be discouraged at labour. Suspend
your judgment. Let prejudice yield to reason. Be teachable. Restrain your
avidity of knowing. In order to edify your mind, subdue your heart.
II. The worth and
advantages of truth.
1. It will open to you an infinite source of pleasure.
2. It will fit you for the various employments to which you may be
called in society.
3. It will free you from many disagreeable doubts about religion.
4. It will render you intrepid at the approach of death. (E.
Monro)
The sale of truth
“Sell not the truth” means--
1. Do not lose the disposition of mind, the aptness to universal
truth, when ye have acquired it.
2. It reproves those mercenary souls who trade with their wisdom and
sell it, as it were, by the penny.
3. By selling may be understood, betraying truth. To betray truth is,
through any sordid motive, to suppress, or to disguise, things of consequence
to the glory of religion, the interest of a neighbour, or the good of society.
There are six orders of persons who may sell truth--
1. The courtier.
2. The indiscreet zealot.
3. The apostate.
4. The judge.
5. The politician.
6. The pastor. (E. Monro.)
Buy the truth
The meaning of the exhortation seems to be, that we should
endeavour to acquire that happy disposition of soul which will make us give to
every question the time and attention it deserves; to every proof its due
force; to every difficulty its full weight; and to every advantage its true
value. But this disposition cannot be had for nought; it must be acquired by
attention and toil: it must be bought by the sacrifice of dissipation and of
indolence. We can easily observe in what narrow bounds the mind of man is
confined; how defective its powers are, and how limited their operations. If,
therefore, when it is necessary to consider some combined proposition, we do
not bestow upon it proportionable attention, we shall infallibly overlook some
of its properties, and, consequently, our conclusion will be partial and
absurd. This reasoning is confirmed by invariable experience: for every man may
remember some things which have appeared false or true, certain or doubtful,
according to the hurry or the attention with which he examined them. To acquire
this habitual attention is commonly a toilsome work, and therefore demands the
sacrifice of our indolence. The labour of the mind is evidently more wearisome
than that of the body: for we may see the greatest part of mankind submitting
without repugnance to the heaviest bodily toil, rather than suffer that which
is mental. This labour, however, is surmountable; and, like all others, by
custom, may be rendered easy. Exercise is therefore necessary to acquire the
faculty of continued attention, which, when once acquired, will enable us to
compare the most sublime ideas, and to investigate the most abstruse parts of
knowledge. Then shall we reckon as nothing the sacrifices we have made; and the
truth, when we have obtained it, will never be deemed too dear. It will open to
us a fruitful source of pleasures; it will form us to fill with propriety our
different employments; it will rid us of all troublesome scruples; and render
us intrepid at the approach of death. The placid and serene pleasures of the
intellect are beyond comparison sweeter than those which are excited merely by
the gross organs of sense, or by the more turbulent passions of the soul. And
if the pleasure of advancing in human knowledge be very great, as it is
universally allowed to be, what charms must accompany the attainment of that
knowledge which concerns the things of immortality! It is in retirement that
our attention can exert its full force, and consider religion in all its views.
Truth will enable us, besides, to fill with propriety the different employments
to which we are called in society. A man who has cultivated his mind will
distinguish himself in every station; and a man whose way of thinking is
erroneous or futile, will in every station be pitied or despised. Truth will,
moreover, free us from every importunate and troublesome scruple. “To be tossed
about with every wind of doctrine” is a most violent situation; and yet it is a
situation which none can avoid, except those who are seriously engaged in the
study of truth, or those who are utterly insensible. Finally, the value of truth
appears in the serenity which it procures at the approach of death. The famous
story of Cato Uticensis is well
known. Having resolved to quit this world, he wished much to be assured that
there was another. For this purpose he read over attentively Plato’s book
concerning the immortality of the soul; and the reasonings of that philosopher
satisfied him so fully, that he died with the greatest tranquillity. He saw
beyond the grave another Rome, where tyranny could have no dominion, where
Pompey could be no more oppressed, and Caesar could triumph no more. So long as
the soul fluctuates between light and darkness, between persuasion and doubt;
so long as it has only presumptions and probabilities in favour of religion; it
is nearly impossible to behold death without dread; but the Christian who is
enlightened, confirmed, and strengthened, being raised above its power, is
secure from all its terrors. If Cato the heathen could brave this terrible
king, what would not Cato the Christian have done? (A. Macdonald.)
Buy the truth
I. The value and
importance of truth. Were it a matter of equal and unavailing indifference
whether we embraced truth or error, what advantages could be derived from the
culture of education, from the progress of learning, or the discoveries of
knowledge? Were this maxim once admissible, the untutored heathen, and the
enlightened Christian would be completely on a level. Were truth of no
importance to the security, the welfare, and the happiness of mankind, what
occasion is there for the deep researches of philosophers, for the ardent zeal
of theologians, and for the wearisome labours of the real student? But in the
awful concerns of religion, where the salvation of the soul is at stake, the
value and importance of truth rises in an infinite proportion!
II. In what manner
we must buy it. Solomon does not intimate in my text at what rate we must buy
the truth, because we cannot buy it too dear. We may be said, then, to buy the
truth when we devote our earthly riches to the attainment and diffusion of
Christian knowledge. For it has been well remarked, “Riches should be employed
for the getting knowledge rather than knowledge for the getting riches.” We
also buy the truth when we pay attention to the means of obtaining it. Thus,
when we diligently search the Holy Scriptures, and make them our chief study,
when we pray to God in secret, and when we strictly regard the ordinances of
the gospel, we then bestow some pains to know the truth.
III. The danger and
guilt of selling it. (John Grose, M.A.)
The practical value of opinions
There is hardly anything so plain in respect to human duty, that a
wrong state of moral feeling may not cause it to be doubted, or even to be
denied. It is an every-day occurrence to hear the value of truth disputed. The
usual form is this--“It is no matter what a man believes if his life is only
right.” The assertion sounds familiar and trite, yet on examination it will
appear to be one of the most glaring and self-evident of falsehoods. To act
right without knowledge is hardly less a practicable thing than to see without
the proper organs. Consider what is necessary to be done in order to prove the
position true that it is no matter what a man believes on religious subjects if
his life be right. It must be shown either--
1. That there are no certain truths pertaining to religion; or else--
2. That these truths have no necessary connection with the conduct of
men; or--
3. That the consequences of their conduct, whether right or wrong,
will be the same. Our conclusion is, that it is not to be expected that the
conduct, the lives of men, will be materially better than their opinions; by
opinions understanding the actual living convictions of their minds. It is
therefore an imperative duty to set a high value upon truth in our religious
thinking. Religious opinions should not only be firmly fixed; they should also
be right opinions. (R. Palmer, D.D.)
Buy the truth, and sell it not
In every subject there is a “truth” somewhere. The original of
“truth”--the mould in which it is all first cast--must be the mind of God. But,
how do these great archetypes of the mind of God reach and impress themselves
upon the mind of man? First, God has given us revelation to be their reflector.
But because the most important “truth” of all truths to us is how a sinner can
be saved--how a just God can forgive a rebel--therefore, as Christians, we
generally call the gospel “the truth.” And well it deserves the name! But the
teaching of one who had a right to speak, from the largest experience, perhaps,
that any man had, is, that “truth” is hard to get and difficult to retain. “Buy
the truth, and sell it not.” And what is the cost of “truth”? You must get out
of the littlenesses and narrownesses of party feeling. You must go high enough
to have large views of things. Next, you must feel and act as an infant in
intellect, being conscious of weakness and ignorance--even in your strongest
point; willing to be taught. Whatever your talent may be, you can never
purchase “truth” but by fag. There must be a real expenditure of hard work. And
you must build up carefully, accurately, systematically; taking nothing for
granted. And your prayers must not be easy, common-place things. But now, I
would suppose that the contract is complete, and that, with the necessary expenditure--much
effort and much prayer--you have bought the “truth,”--some “truth”--little it
may be, but real and genuine. Let me give you a caution. “Truth” is a precious
treasure. But where there is, a treasure there the robbers will come! And they
will come very deceptively. Not by force, but by artifice. And they will
pretend to “buy.” But the bargain is ruinous! For it is one thing to “buy,” and
it is another thing to “sell”; and men often will give us very little for that
for which we have given a great deal! It will be a bad bargain if you sell
“truth” at any price. But many things will lure you. It may be a little love of
making an excitement, which will tempt you to exaggerate the “truth”; and if
you exaggerate it, you have well-nigh lost it. Or it may be a love of
popularity, which makes you wish to please every one with whom you are, and
therefore to accommodate your views to everybody; and you pare off a little on
the one side, and you add a little on the other side, till the whole shape and
character is changed, and the “truth” comes out no “truth” at all. Or it may
happen that “truth,” which you feel to be “truth,” stands in the way of your
worldly interest, and you are tempted to sacrifice it on the altar of fame or
mammon. Or the prejudices of your social position, or your professional ideas,
lead you to view and present “truth” under such a medium as shall altogether
misrepresent and well-nigh pervert it. Or mere indolence may creep over you,
and you may give away to carelessness what you once obtained by so great an
outlay! And it often takes as much to keep “truth” as it does to get it. A
little worldliness, a little frittering of pleasures, will enervate the very
fibre of “truth.” And still more and more solemnly, one vice can emasculate all
“truth.” If a man continue in sin, the “truth” must go. (J. Vaughan,
M.A.)
Bartering for eternity
Some of the characteristics of a wise spiritual merchant.
1. He will not neglect to take an account of stock.
2. He will be on his guard against burglars.
3. He will watch the state of the markets.
4. He will be careful to get a profit out of everything that passes
through his hands.
5. He will not take any unnecessary risks. (T. De Witt
Talmage, D.D.)
The preciousness of the truth
This statement is not to be understood in a literal or commercial
sense. Following the figure that is here used, see--
I. That the truth
ought to be carefully examined. No wise man buys an article without looking
very closely into it. There is no good thing but has its counterfeits and
imitations. The article we are here advised to purchase is admitted to be the
most valuable of all things, and
it is therefore the last thing that should be taken on trust.
That it is liable to be perverted and debased we all know. The great Teacher
did not require His hearers to take His declarations upon trust. He courted and
even demanded inquiry. The principle of private judgment may be abused.
II. The truth has
to be appraised. A careful estimate of its value has to be formed. It is
offered only on one condition--the sacrifice, or at least the free surrender of
all we have.
III. To complete the
transaction we must close with the terms on which article is offered. The truth
is a system of doctrine and discipline, which needs to be carefully studied,
thoroughly grasped, and diligently improved.
IV. The truth can
never be sold, except at a serious loss. It may be sold or sacrificed--
1. From a spirit of mere cowardice.
2. From a feeling of false charity and selfish complaisance.
3. By being accommodated to what is called “the spirit of the age.” (Walter
M. Giloray, D.D.)
The important purchase and prohibited sale
I. The commodity
recommended. “The truth.”
1. There is doctrinal truth.
2. There is experimental truth.
3. There is practical truth.
II. The counsel
given. “Buy the truth.” To obtain the truth we must--
1. Come to the mart of truth.
2. Sacrifice the hindrances to truth.
3. Employ the means truth recommends.
III. Let this
purchase be urged by several considerations.
1. From your absolute need of it.
2. From the free and easy mode of its acquisition.
3. From its essential worth. When possessed it must be retained.
IV. By whom is the
truth sold.
1. By the mercenary minister.
2. By the temporising professor.
3. By the false speaker.
4. By the flatterer.
5. By the backslider.
V. Reasons why we
should not sell the truth. (J. Burns, D.D.)
The cost of religion
The Bible contains the truth which we have to buy. He that has a
religion that has cost him nothing has a religion that is worth nothing. You
cannot be religious without some sacrifice. It costs less in early than in
later life. (E. Birch, M.A.)
The nature and importance of truth
I. What truth is.
By truth, I mean a right apprehension of all those things which tend to promote
the happiness of mankind. This includes the idea of all virtuous and religious
obligations. Truth, in its utmost latitude, relates to a variety of things
which are matters of mere speculation only; and these may afford some pleasure
to men of deep thought and learning. But that truth which is the object of all
men’s concern has a more immediate respect to happiness. And this consists in a
right knowledge of religion and virtue. This shines in practice more than in
speculation. Other truths may please the ear, and soothe the fancy; but this
improves the judgment, and mends the heart.
II. We should use
all proper means to obtain the knowledge of truth. It is absolutely requisite
that a man should first know, before he can rightly do, what is good; and
therefore if the soul of man be ignorant of truth, it must at the same time be
destitute of virtue; and if it be destitute of virtue, it is utterly incapable
of happiness. Nor is the search after truth less pleasant than profitable. For,
in the course of our inquiry, we must contemplate God, nature, and ourselves.
In contemplating the Divine Being, what a spacious field of pleasure lies open
to the mind! What noble transports must the soul feel from a view of Him, who
is the fountain of perfection; in whom dwells beauty, knowledge, truth, wisdom,
virtue, and all moral excellence! In the contemplation of nature, we see as it
were in perspective an infinite variety of beautiful appearances, and relations
of things to each other; all which serve to fill the mind with the most
pleasing ideas of beauty, order, and harmony. And in the survey of ourselves we
may observe a curious machine consisting of various springs and movements, each
of which contributes some pleasure or advantage either to ourselves or others.
Again, truth is the most beautiful, as well as pleasant. For all “beauty is truth. Thus, in
architecture true proportions make the beauty of a building. In music, true
measures make the beauty of harmony; and in poetry, which deals so much in
fable, truth still is the foundation: for all fiction is no longer pleasing
than while it bears a resemblance with truth.” And so, in like manner, the beauty
of actions, affections, and characters arises from honesty and moral truth. For
what can be more beautiful than just sentiments, graceful actions, regular
passions, and agreeable behaviour? Thus nature itself leads to virtue, and
truth has a kind of moral magic in it which charms irresistibly. Who, then,
would refuse at any rate to purchase the knowledge of truth, which is so
pleasant, so beautiful, so advantageous? But in this honest way of
merchandising truth, and in all our researches after it, great care must be
taken that we are not imposed upon either by ignorant or designing men.
Falsehood often courts us under the appearance of truth, as some sort of
glittering stones will counterfeit true diamonds. Thus, among some professors
of Christianity, superstition counterfeits the name of religion, and many idle
ceremonies pass current instead of pure substantial virtue. To prevent this, we
should study human nature, and the nature of God, so far as He is discovered to
us by the light of reason and revelation.
III. When by our
faithful endeavours we have gained the truth the text suggests to us, we should
upon no consideration part with it. “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” If truth
be of so great importance as to have virtue, religion, and even happiness
depend upon it, what wise man would ever part with it? For can any equivalent
be given for the loss of it? And why should we exchange a greater for a lesser
good? In our journey through this world we meet with many rugged ways and
difficulties. But truth will lead us safely through all into the wished-for
haven. All worldly goods are imperfect and of short duration; but truth is
eternal in its original, and will never fail to give complete satisfaction to
all who persevere in it. But you will ask, When may we be said to part with the
truth? We part with it whenever we let any interest, prejudice, or passion
prevail over us, contrary to the dictates of right reason. As, therefore, we
value our greatest interest, let us honestly endeavour to know the truth; and
let us apply ourselves to all proper means for this purpose, such as reading,
conversation, and prayer to God. The same honest diligence which is used in
learning other arts and sciences will bring us to the knowledge of all that
truth which is necessary for any to know. And God requires no more of us than
what our respective capacities and opportunities will allow. (N. Ball.)
The merchandise of truth
I. The valuable
commodity requisite for human life. Truth is that commodity which feeds the
moral life.
1. It is of universal comprehension.
2. It is of common necessity and fitness.
3. It is a thing of common end in life.
4. It is the crown and complement of life.
II. The commerce of
truth.
1. One compartment in the market of truth is acquaintance and fair
dealing with ourselves.
2. Communion with the Father of our spirit.
3. Study of the works and words of God.
4. Acquaintance with humanity.
5. Christian means and provision.
Truth is cheap at any cost. One condition in the pursuit of truth
is a high and holy motive. Another is right use of our powers and
opportunities. A third is seeking and following the best. A fourth is
submission to the Divine will. Another is perseverance; and another faith.
III. The
conservative Duty. It is easy in the sale, but difficult to buy. Nothing can
compensate for its absence. The sale of truth always means an unjust bargain. (T.
Hughes.)
Truth should be purchased, but never sold
I. The truth is a
precious thing. “Buy the truth.” What is truth? It is reality. In
contradistinction to all that is fictitious and false.
1. Reality in relation to the chief good. What a number of false
theories there are concerning human dignity and human happiness. Truth is the
reality of these.
2. Reality in relation to personal conduct. There are hollow men,
sham men. Truth makes men real. Brings their conceptions into perfect accord
with eternal facts, and their personal conduct into perfect accord with their
conceptions. Christ is embodied truth. The preciousness of this truth may be
estimated by the influence it has exerted on the race. Intellectual truth is
precious, moral truth is more precious, redemptive truth is more precious than
all.
II. Truth to be
obtained must be purchased. It can only be purchased by--
1. Study.
2. Devotion.
3. Labour.
4. Self-surrender.
III. Truth once
purchased should never be sold. “Sell it not.” Truth can be sold. Judas sold
it. It can be sold for power, for fame, for worldly pleasure, etc. “Sell it
not.” If you sell it, you sell your moral usefulness. You sell your
self-respect. You sell your power of conscience. You sell your dignity. Hold it
as Daniel, Stephen, and Paul held it. (Homilist.)
The highest commerce
I. The importance
of acquiring the truth.
1. We should make diligent search for it.
2. We should be willing to sacrifice and surrender all for it.
3. Again, truth must be obeyed in order to be made our own.
II. The importance
of retaining the truth. “Sell it not.” We should not part with it.
1. Because of its intrinsic value.
2. Because it does not rise and fall in value like other things. The
markets of this world are for ever fluctuating, etc. Truth is ever the same.
3. Because it can be appropriated or made our own as nothing else
can. “A man’s life (well-being) consisteth not in the abundance of the things
which he possesseth.” Worldly goods are of no value to a man when the last hour
comes. But true religion will go with him into adversity, into affliction, and
will comfort him even in death. (D. Morgan.)
Truth cannot be disposed of without injury
Truth is not like a watch-seal, which a man can dispose of without
any injury to his character. It is a vital element of character, and thus of
happiness; and he who barters it for anything, will soon realise that he has
not only sacrificed the greater for the less, but given up the chief thing in
human nobility and joy. (T. Carlyle.)
Verse 25
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee
shall rejoice.
Filial piety
Respect and love for parents are not, indeed, the motives which
operate with the greatest force upon minds renewed by the Spirit of grace and
truth. With such the most powerful incentives to action are those which derive
their origin from the relation we sustain to God, the author of life and
salvation. It is sometimes the case that an ingenuous youth is more influenced
by the recollection of the counsels of a departed father or mother than he
would have been by the same counsels had that father or mother not been taken
from him; and never, in any circumstances, does filial piety appear more lovely
and attractive.
I. Cultivate a
reverence for parental counsels and authority. At no period of their lives are
young persons so tempted to disregard parental authority as when they are
passing from boyhood to manhood. They are desirous to be thought independent,
and capable of directing themselves. They become impatient of restraint, and
the advice even of parents whom they both reverence and love is often irksome.
Better show your claim to be considered youths of a truly noble and independent
spirit by always daring to do what is right, and by always yielding due
obedience to parental commands. Despise not a mother’s fears, however unfounded
they may be. Be it your aim to remove them, not by maintaining that there is no
ground for them, but by reverently receiving her admonitions, and conforming
yourself to them.
II. Seek with all
earnestness after truth. To how many a father and mother it would be as life
from the dead could they be assured that you were all earnestly seeking the
pearl of great price, ready and desirous to purchase it at any cost--at any sacrifice!
But do not be indifferent to other truth, truths of physical, ethical, or
political science. And always keep to truth as opposed to falsehood,
dissimulation, and hypocrisy. The commands of God, the social interests of men,
the very existence of civil society, call for an unwavering adherence to truth.
Attend also to truth in the sense of fidelity, sincerity, and punctuality in
keeping promises.
III. Seek after
“wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” These different terms were employed
not so much for the purpose of exact discrimination, as to indicate the
earnestness with which they should be sought. Be it your aim to make all
possible advances in both human and Divine knowledge, but especially in the
latter.
IV. Seek the
company of the wise and good, selecting for associates only those who are
distinguished for sobriety of conduct. Your associations, of whatever kind they
be, cannot fail to exert an influence over you. If your companions be the wise
and good, you cannot but receive advantage from the connection.
V. Be careful in
your choice of books. Such is the constitution of our minds that everything we
read makes an impression upon them. As is your reading so are you.
VI. Cherish
virtuous sentiments and virtuous habits. That your sentiments may be virtuous,
you must give yourselves to the study of virtue. (John Maclean, D.D.)
Verse 26
My son, give Me thine heart.
The heart a gift for God
I. Love prompts
this request of wisdom.
1. Only love seeks after love. We care not to be loved by those whom
we do not love. When God asks human love it is because God is love. It is an
instance of infinite condescension that God should say, “My son, give Me thine
heart.” The Great Benefactor becomes Himself the petitioner. It must be because
of the great love of God that He condescends to put Himself into such a
position.
2. It can only be supreme love which leads wisdom to seek after the
heart of such poor things as we are. Wisdom must be of a most condescending
kind. Only infinite love would come a-wooing to such hearts as ours. For what
has God to gain? He is too great for us to make Him greater, too good for us to
make Him better, too glorious for us to make Him more illustrious. He can gain
nothing--we gain everything by the gift. Yet He does gain a son.
II. Wisdom
persuades us to obey this loving request. To take our hearts and give them up
to God is the wisest thing that we can do.
1. Many others crave our hearts, and our hearts will surely go one
way or the other. It is well to guard your heart with all the apparatus that
wisdom can provide.
2. Wisdom urges to immediate decision, because it is well to have a
heart at once occupied and taken up by Christ.
III. Let us be wise
enough at once to attend to this admonition of wisdom. When? At once. How?
Freely. Do it thoroughly. You cannot give Christ a piece of a heart, for a
heart that is halved is killed. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The heart for God
Here thou art a giver, God the petitioner, thy heart the gift
which He claimeth by the name of a son. Once God required offerings and
sacrifices which men were unwilling to give, because it was a dear service of
God; but now He saith that the heart is more than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices.
Thy alms to the poor, thy counsel to the simple, thy inheritance to thy
children, thy tribute to Caesar, but thy heart to God. Not a piece of thy
heart, not a room in thy heart, but thy heart. Some have a double heart, but
God acknowledgeth only one heart. God doth not require the heart as though He
required no more but the heart. The heart carrieth the whole man with it. There
is much strife for the possession of man’s heart. Unless we feel that we owe it
to God we shall but give it against our will. The wise man, picking out the heart
for God, spake as though he would set out the pleasantest, and fairest, and
easiest way to serve Him, without any grudging or toil or weariness. Touch but
the first link, all the rest will follow; so set the heart a-going, and it is
like the poise of a clock, which turns all the wheels one way. God’s requiring
the heart showeth that all the things of this world are not worthy of it, or
even a piece of it. We should serve God for Himself, and not for ourselves, as
he which gives his heart doth all for love. God challengeth the heart by the
name of a Son. Therefore now ask your hearts whose they are, and how they are
moved with these words. What shall become of hearts when He who craves them now
shall judge them hereafter? (H. Smith.)
The Divine request
I. The nature of
this request. “Heart” is another term for “soul,” or the immortal part of man.
The soul of man possesses certain powers or faculties, by which he is enabled
to reason, judge, remember, choose, determine, and perform all the acts of
rationality. To render the heart to God is--
1. To give the understanding to know and contemplate the Divine
perfections. The understanding is the leading faculty in the human soul.
2. To offer Him the will. Every man possesses a self-determining
power.
3. To surrender the affections to Him. This giving of the heart must
be done, in an entire dependence on Divine aid; promptly, cheerfully, entirely,
perpetually.
II. The reasons for
complying with the request.
1. Gratitude.
2. Fidelity. You have promised to do it, resolved to do it.
3. Justice. Every human being is emphatically the property of the
Most High. God is the absolute, unalienable proprietor of all. In demanding
your heart He asks for that to which He alone has right.
4. Safety. This depends on being in the holy keeping of God.
5. Self-interest. Here your duty and interest go hand in hand.
Inferences:
God’s appeal to man
I. The human heart
is not by nature in God’s possession. This fact is sustained--
1. By man’s actions. Man’s actions in his unregenerated state prove
that his heart is not under the control of the Divine. Man in this condition
has no sympathy with the truths, realities, principles, and pleasures of the
blessed gospel of God.
2. By the experience of the good of all ages.
3. By the testimony of God’s Word.
II. God desires
possession of the human heart. This desire of God--
1. Is founded on judicial ground. It is only right that God should
have the heart. We are not our own; He who made us has an inalienable right to
all we have and are. “He bought us with the precious blood of Christ.”
2. Is founded on filial relation--“My son, give Me thine heart.” God
and man are near
relations; man is the offspring of the Divine.
3. Is founded on God’s love to man. God’s love to man prompted Him to
make this appeal. He desires his heart that He may enlighten it with His
Spirit, cleanse it with the blood of His Son.
III. God desires a
willing possession of the human heart--“My son, give Me thine heart.” God says,
“Give Me thine heart” wholly, voluntarily, unreservedly, gratefully, and
believingly.
1. That God does not exercise compulsion on man’s will--“ Give Me
thine heart.” God recognises man’s free agency.
2. The dignity of man recognised by God. Man’s consent is necessary.
3. The glory of the Divine character. If God would compel man to
serve Him and surrender to Him his heart, his service would not render any
glory to God; the service would be void of virtue. (J. O.
Griffiths.)
God’s request and man’s duty
Take the words as those of a greater than Solomon.
I. Why does God
make any request of man? God loves a voluntary offering, a willing surrender
from such a creature as man. A man is able to disobey. God is pleased when man
yields Him a hearty and willing obedience.
II. What is the
request God makes of men. “Give Me thine heart.” Heart is another name for the
affections, and the affections are as essential a part of every man as his
intellect or his will. God says, “Give Me thy supreme love.” Here is a demand
which few men comply with, which none in their natural state comply with. Men
will give God everything except their hearts. This is a request concerning
which some people stand in doubt whether they ought to comply with it.
III. Why does God
make this request of man?
1. Because the heart is the most valuable thing we have.
2. Where the heart is
given, everything else will follow.
3. The heart can never be happy until it is given to God. So that God
makes this request not for any selfish reason, but in the greatest goodness,
and the most God-like loving-kindness.
IV. How does God
make this request of man? In various ways. He does it by all the comforts of
our present life. He does it by experience of the sorrows of life. In the Cross
of Jesus this request is uttered. (Francis Tucker, B.A.)
Giving the heart
I. The command.
1. Its nature. “Thy heart”--the centre of thought and life.
2. Its extent. Includes the will, strength, love.
3. Its reasonableness.
II. The obstacles.
1. Its singularity.
2. The tendency of human nature--to flee from, instead of drawing
nigh to Him.
3. The world’s temptations.
4. The influence of Satan.
III. Encouragements.
1. God’s love.
2. God’s invitation.
3. Our desolate condition.
IV. Helps.
1. Earnestness.
2. Carefulness.
3. Jealous regard.
4. Prayer, and the means of grace. (Homilist.)
The Divine requisition
I. Explain the
text.
1. Men do not naturally give their hearts to God.
2. God will not force us to comply with the demand.
3. To give the heart implies--
II. Enforce the
text.
1. It is just and right.
2. Our interest requires it.
III. Now, what
answer will you give my Lord to the text?
1. “Oh,” say some, “I gave it long since. I am only sorry I did not
give it before, and sorry I have so often backslidden in heart; but to whom
shall I go?”
2. “Yes,” says another, “I desire and endeavour to do it; but what a
struggle for life!” Do not despair; lift it up as thou art able, and “if
darkness endure for a night, joy shall come in the morning”; the Lord is nigh
thee; He can loosen thy heart. Look up--the day of redemption draweth nigh.
3. “Yes,” says another--“my heart? Do you desire that? Ask for my
money, my tongue, my voice, my feet, my hands, anything and everything but
that. It is otherwise engaged.” My Master has not left a power in my commission
to compromise it; He will not take aught else.
4. “Yes,” says another, “by His help I will; it is right. I cannot be
safe without, and it is kind He seeks it. But when? Tomorrow--to-night is
impossible; in a very short time I will.” I doubt thou wilt perish for ever! (J.
Summerfield, M.A.)
The surrender of the heart to God
I. The reason why
the surrender of the heart is indispensably required.
1. Nothing less is worthy the acceptance of Him who knows the most
hidden purposes of the mind.
2. God alone can satisfy the heart.
3. None but God can renew or sanctify the heart, and thereby prepare
it for the holiness of heaven.
II. In what manner
this necessary command can be complied with.
III. The happy
effects that will follow from a prompt and universal obedience. The morality of
the gospel is founded on the basis of gratitude and the efficacious principle
of love to God. A sense of His pardoning love and favour will be the completion
of our wishes, the source of our joys, and the very foretaste of heaven. (John
Grose, M.A.)
On giving the heart to God
I. What is meant
by giving God our heart. “Give Me all thine affections. Let Me be their object,
let Me be the centre where they all meet. Give Me thy hope, thy fear, thy joy,
thy desire, thy love, thy delight. Hate that which I hate; love what I command;
desire what I promise. Rejoice in hope of My favour; fear My wrath; delight to
do My will. Let all the powers of thy mind, under the influence of these
affections, be given to Me. Let thine understanding be employed in comprehending
and admiring My works, and ways; thy conscience in approving and disapproving
according to My holy will; thy will in yielding an implicit conformity to Mine;
thy memory in retaining the instructions and consolations of My Word.”
II. How reasonable
it is to give God our heart. If a fellow-creature is entitled to our affections
because of his moral excellences, how much more God, who possesses these
excellences in infinite perfection!
III. How blessed it
is to give God our heart.
IV. How important
it is to give God our heart. Without giving the heart to God all our works are
only varnished sins, splendid vices, pleasing abominations. And further, it is
the giving of the heart to God that prepares us for a better world.
V. How we may be
enabled to give God our heart. (Miles Jackson.)
The surrender of the heart to God
God is to exercise lordship over all the capacities and volitions
of the soul; over all our spiritual, moral, and intellectual powers.
I. The nature,
extent, and reasonableness of this command. It implies a clear and enlightened
understanding of the things of God, especially the gospel method of salvation.
The command is reasonable in view of the relations of God to us.
II. Difficulties in
making this surrender. Such as affect the young. Temptations of young manhood.
Trials and evils of school experience. Entering business. Forms of recreation.
Directions:
1. Be in earnest.
2. If you have given God your heart take care what goes in and what
comes out of it.
3. Look well to whom beside you give any share of your heart.
4. Beware of carelessness in secret devotion.
5. Keep up attendance on holy ordinances. (Daniel Moore, M.A.)
The gift of the heart to God (to young men)
The heart is never truly ours until we have given it away. Until
we have put it in some hand, or laid it upon some altar, we never fully realise
its possession, never feel its power, never know its capacities, never
understand how profound are its wants, nor how sublime are its aspirations. No
man can live an earnest, social, or spiritual life, and keep his heart unto
himself. And sooner or later the heart will be given either to some purpose, or
to some object, or to some idol, or to God. Because of this necessity in the
heart to belong to some object, the clamour for it is great. The applicants
positively throng up the path of life. Fashion is there, and Pleasure is there,
and Fame is there, and Knowledge is there, and all that fascination and
subtlety and loud-sounding promises can do they import into their appeals. But
a voice of tenderness and authority speaks to us from above, “My son, give Me
thine heart.” This appeals to us by the simple majesty of right. God’s right to
the heart lies in this--
1. He created that heart. And His request tells us at once of God’s
right and of man’s freedom.
2. He has bestowed, and is bestowing, continually upon it His care.
Home and friendships, and the myriad bright hopes of life, testify that we have
a Father in our God. God has been watching over your life, arranging with His
wisdom and forethought and love the interests of your soul, and for all this
care and anxious fatherhood, He asks this return, “My son, give Me thine
heart.”
3. He has provided redemption for it. We are not our own, we are
bought with a price. In asking for the heart God asks for that which controls
the life--for your love, your supreme love, your undivided love. God does not want your service
without your heart. Reasons why your heart should be given to God now:
God requires the heart
I. The relation.
“My son.” He speaks here, and not to a stranger--to a son (Ephesians 2:19). A son, not a slave. A
son; thou wert not always so (Ephesians 2:1-4; Ephesians 2:13; 1 John 3:2). A son; therefore, in a
way of gratitude and mutual affection, give thy heart to thy Father.
II. The manner of
yielding up the heart to God. It is here expressed by a way of giving.
1. Give it cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7).
2. Presently (2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 4:7).
3. Give it; do not lend it only. Many lend their hearts under a
sermon, like those in Ezekiel 33:32. God is pleased to call
that a gift which indeed is a debt (Romans 8:12; Romans 12:1).
III. To whom the
heart must be given.
1. Not to the creature (Matthew 10:37).
2. Not to the world (2 Timothy 4:10; 1 John 2:15).
3. Not to Satan (Ephesians 2:2).
4. Not to sin (chap. 1:10).
5. Give it to Him who gave Himself for thee (Galatians 2:20).
IV. The gift
itself. “The heart.”
1. Not the outward man only, not the body only: God dwells not so
much in these temples as in broken and contrite spirits. He doth not here ask
for the shell, but the kernel; not for the casket, but for the jewel.
2. Not in appearance, but in reality.
3. Not a part, but the whole. God is like the true mother (1 Kings 3:26).
4. Give thine heart, i.e., all the powers and
faculties of thy soul.
To conclude:
1. Because it is His due. He is the maker, the purchaser (1 Corinthians 6:20); the spouse (Hosea 2:19).
2. It is pleasing and acceptable to Him. He asks it; it is all thou
canst give Him. It is a comprehensive gift. He that gives the heart will give
all things (Romans 8:32).
3. All performances without the heart will be rejected (Amos 5:21-22).
4. Give thine heart to God: if it be a hard heart, He will make it
new (Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 36:26). (T. Hannam.)
First give the heart to God, and then delight will follow
Would it not be much more natural to reverse the order? First,
learn to delight in God’s ways, and the more we rejoice in them the more easily
we may learn to love Him, to give Him our heart. So it would seem love will
grow out of delight. But how wise is God’s order! First the heart, then
delight. For the second is, in reality, only possible when the first has been
accomplished. Thousands strive to find pleasure in the ways of God, but because
they have not yet given their heart to Him, because they still go their own
ways, and God crosses those ways again and again, they only get as far as to
bow their heads in a kind of dull resignation under some Divine visitation; but
they never delight in all God’s ways; they never attain to a comforting hope
which even in dark days does not cast away its confidence, and which has so
great a reward. Oh, examine thyself, whence comes it that thou hast so often
murmured at God’s ways, hast felt thyself hardly dealt with, and couldst not
forgive Him that He did not lead thee by another way, that He took this away
from thee and left that, when thou wouldst have chosen the contrary? It comes
from this--thou hast not given thy whole heart to God! Only when thy heart
shall rest in Him, and in His peace, will it be contented with all His
dispensations. (T. Christlieb, D.D.)
Giving the heart to God a reasonable duty
Mankind are reasonable creatures, and the religion which God enjoins
upon them is a reasonable service. But it has always been found extremely
difficult to reason with men upon religious subjects. God here speaks with
paternal affection and authority.
I. Explain the
precept in the text.
1. It implies the exercising of love to God. To love, and to give the
heart, signify the same thing.
2. It implies loving God for what He is in Himself. Men may love God
for His favours, without loving His true character.
3. It implies loving God supremely. He is the Supreme Being, He
possesses supreme natural, and moral excellences; and to love Him for these is
to love Him supremely.
II. The
reasonableness of complying with this Divine injunction. Consider--
1. That we are the offspring of God.
2. He is infinitely worthy of the love of all mankind.
3. The conduct, as well as the character, of God makes giving Him our
hearts reasonable.
4. This will afford us the highest happiness that we are capable of
enjoying.
5. There is really nothing to hinder us from thus giving our hearts.
Improvement:
The hearts of young people demanded for God
The subject to consider is not the giving of your hearts to God,
in opposition to hypocrisy and mere devotion, but the giving your hearts, that
is, yourselves, to Him, preferably to all other competitors for your affection.
Many will be courting your youthful affections, and endeavouring to engage your
hearts to them--the world, the flesh, the devil, vain and wicked companions.
I. Who has the
greatest claim to your hearts? Consider the equity and reasonableness of the
demands of God, your Creator and Redeemer. Contrast with the pretensions of the
devil, the world or the flesh.
II. Where may you
bestow your hearts with the greatest advantage?
1. Suppose that the world and the flesh are able, at present, to make
good their specious promises, what will come when the transitory pleasures are
passed away?
2. Even with regard to this life, the advantage is far from being so
much on their side as they would make you believe. The insinuations that
religion will make you unhappy are mere calumnies that stand confuted by a
thousand experiences to the contrary. The devil, the world, and the flesh
promise you indeed riches, honour, and abundance of pleasures, but they promise
what it is not in their power to give.
Motives urging to the immediate surrender of the heart to God
are--
1. This will be particularly acceptable to God and the Redeemer.
2. It will be singularly comfortable and advantageous to yourselves.
3. If you refuse God your hearts now, perhaps hereafter it will be
too late to offer them.
4. Consider what the refusal of your hearts to God implies in it.
5. Think how you will answer your refusal at the great day. (John
Oakes.)
The gift of the heart
If we would have any of our offerings find favour in the
eyes of God our hearts must go with them. It is the heart which is challenged
and demanded; withhold that, and you withhold all. The wise man uses the word
“heart” in its fullest sense. Sometimes it only denotes some one particular
faculty of the soul, the understanding or the will or the affections. Here it
includes the whole mind, spirit, and soul. All these the Lord claims. This is a
very comprehensive claim. The best way to comply with it is to identify God
with everything which will bear contact with Him. Nothing will bear this
contact but what He has constructed and ordained. A life thus controlled and
regulated would be indeed a blessed and a model life. Nothing could take one
whose life was thus regulated by surprise. God demands your heart that He may enlighten,
convince, pardon, sanctify, keep, dignify, and save you. We press for this
surrender on the ground of right, for your heart belongs to Him who challenges
the surrender; on the ground of reason, for your heart was formed for Him who
claims it; on the ground of gratitude, for no other has such claims on you. We
might press it on the ground of self-interest. God is ready to take possession
if you are ready to yield. Then give your heart to Him humbly, believingly,
unreservedly, cheerfully, irrevocably. (A. Mursell.)
The gift for God
(to the young):--
I. What it means
to give God our hearts.
II. Why we should
give our hearts to God.
1. Because He has the best right to them.
2. Because He can make the best use of them. He can make them new. He
can make them clean. He can make them happy. (R. Newton, D.D.)
A gift God asks
(to the young:--
I. God asking
something. God who is continually giving to us all, is here asking for
something.
II. From whom he
asks it. Not from any’ one great, but from us.
III. What he asks.
We could not give Him the things we have, for they are His already. He asks for
yourself.
IV. Why he asks it.
This you may learn from the name He gives you. “My son.” You are even by nature
precious to God. (C. A. Salmond, M.A.)
Heart in religion
In this text God speaks to man and asks for his heart.
I. The Divine
request.
1. Sincerity. A man is said to be sincere when he engages his heart
in any work. And God asks for sincerity. He will not be satisfied with a bare
profession.
2. Earnestness. When a man is in earnest about anything we say his
heart is in it. So when God asks for the heart He means us to be in earnest. He
hates indifference.
3. Entire devotion. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart,” etc.
4. Delight. Whatever a man engages his heart in he is said to delight
in. Some men set their heart upon earthly things, and find in them their chief
delight.
II. The nature of
the request. “My son, give Me.”
1. It is an affectionate request. All God’s wooing breathes forth an
air of affectionate regard for the welfare of man.
2. It is a reasonable request. (Homilist.)
Characteristics of a great love
1. It likes to be with the object of its affection.
2. There is the presence of a desire to serve the object of its
affection. Love is tireless in ministry. It is always giving itself away.
3. It desires union with its object in thought, if not in body. Love
never journeys
unaccompanied by love.
4. The chief characteristic of love is its unselfishness. Is your
love for God unselfish, or do you love Him only as a means of securing His
favour? Your duty is to set yourself to apprehend God. To know Him is to love
Him, and your not loving Him shows that you do not know Him. The question which
concerns your highest happiness, here and hereafter, is not touching
technicalities of creed, of ceremony, of intellectual interpretation of
selected passages out of God’s Word. The supreme question is, Do you love God?
(W. H. H. Murray.)
The heart given to God
I. Consider the
question of right and justice. God demands you for Himself; the Lord Jesus
Christ claims your heart. In opposition to them are ranged sin and Satan, the
world and the flesh, the vain, the worldly, and the profligate. Can you
hesitate as to the justice of these opposing claims? “Behold,” saith God, “My
hands have made thee and fashioned thee. My visitation hath since preserved thy
soul in life. Thou hast lived on the provisions of My bounty. Thou hast indeed
provoked Me with thy sins, yet have I borne with thee. Nay, I have sent My only
begotten Son to redeem and save thee.” Hear, also, the Lord Jesus Christ urge
His claim upon you. “I left the bosom of My Father, and united Myself to flesh
and blood, that I might suffer and die for thee, when thou wast lost beyond
recovery by any human power.” And now what are the pretensions which the devil,
the world, and the flesh can make to your affections that will admit for one
moment to be set against these powerful claims? What have they done; what can
they do for you? They deceive, they ensnare, they corrupt, they defile, they
trouble, they ruin you; but they neither will nor can promote your real good.
II. Consider on
whom you may bestow them with the greatest advantage. And here I must confess
that the world and the flesh have more to say for themselves than under the
former head. Right and title they have none at all; but they promise you much
in the way of interest and advantage. Under their guidance, they tell you, you
will enjoy a life of pleasure and ease, free from the restraints of religion;
you will have unbounded liberty of conduct, and withhold your eyes from no joy;
whereas religion is an irksome and melancholy service.
1. I will suppose, for the sake of argument, that the world and the
flesh are able to
make good all their promises. Delightful prospect! Yes, but how long is it to
last? You are to enter into another world, and to appear at the bar of God,
there to give an account of your conduct. Had you given your hearts to God, He
would now have opened the kingdom of heaven to you, and given you a share in
its everlasting pleasures. Your choice has been different, and you now reap the
fruits of it. Is it, then, worth while to purchase the short-lived pleasures of
sin at so dear a rate as this?
2. Supposing, therefore, that the world and the flesh were able to
make good those promises by which they estrange your hearts from God, even then
it would be the height of madness to listen to them. But this is far from being
the case. On the contrary, the ways of religion will be found to be eminently
ways of pleasantness, as well as its end peace. There is nothing truly
desirable, even in this life which the servants of God are not as likely to
partake of as any other persons whatsoever. Religion is friendly to health,
and, generally speaking, to reputation. The idea, therefore, that religion
tends to make men unhappy is a mere calumny. The truth is, the devil, the
world, and the flesh promise you what it is not in their power to give. For
even the good things of this life are distributed by the providence of God, and
without His leave you cannot enjoy the meanest comfort. But if you give your
hearts to God, He will certainly bestow as much of those things upon you as His
wisdom knows to be best for you. Since, then, the cause of piety has thus plainly the
advantage, you will be inexcusably blind to your own interest if you give not
your hearts to God. Thus, if God spare your lives, you will be fitted to be
eminently useful in the world; or if you die at an early age, you will be
prepared to meet death, and to bid it welcome. Consider what the refusal of
your hearts to God implies. You in effect say, “I dislike His service; I disown
His title to me; I can place my affections on better objects; I desire to have
nothing to do with God.” This is the plain language of your conduct. (Christian
Observer.)
And let thine eyes observe
My ways.--
Observation
Observation is the earliest preceptor of infants, and the grown-up
man’s every-day guide. The infant learns to prattle, and to utter those sounds
so endearing to its parents, by hearing those around it repeat them; it
observes the sounds, and imitates them. We cannot learn from nature except by
observation. She has indeed a voice which speaks loudly and continuously to the
ears of all who will listen. She has a school in which all who will may learn.
It was observation in Newton which led to the discovery of the laws of
gravitation. He observed the apple fall, and reasoned on it. But, had he not observed the falling
body, he might never have discovered what is so useful for us to know. It was
observation on the part of Galvani’s wife which led to the knowledge of
galvanism and electricity. She observed the legs of some frogs to twitch, on
which her husband was experimenting. She marked the fact and the result was the
discovery of that useful and all-pervading agency, electricity. The value of
the discovery has of late been more forcibly impressed on us by the successful
laying of the Atlantic telegraph, by which distant countries, separated by seas
of vast extent and great depth, are brought into almost momentary connection.
It was observation which led to the discovery of glass. Sand and flint were
accidentally melted together on the seashore, and the result was a transparent
substance which we call glass, and which in cold countries like our own is so
invaluable in lighting our homes, while the chilly air is kept outside. It was
observation on the part of the architect, Smeaton, which led to the successful
building of the Eddystone lighthouse. Two buildings had been previously erected
on that fatal rock; the one was burnt, and the other blown down. He observed
that the form of the oak-tree seemed the strongest in nature. He acted on this,
and built the lighthouse after the model of an oak-tree’s trunk. Its continuance
for so many years proves the truth of his deduction. (Church of England
Magazine.)
They that tarry long at
the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
The woes of the drunkard
The ugly sketch given here
should be enough to warn all young people against tampering with a vice which
may make it a portrait of them. The questions, six in number, fall into three
pairs, which deal respectively with the man’s feelings of discomfort, his
relations with others, and his physical sufferings. Who is the original of this
foul picture of degradation and misery? The answer is keenly sarcastic. It is
the man who “lingers long over
the wine.” The loss of the power of self-control is indicated in the term. If
we would only realise the “afterwards” of any vice, we should turn from it with
dread. The misfortune is, that we do not look an inch beyond the present
pleasure. Note three degrading effects of drunkenness.
1. The effect in deceiving the senses and lowering the moral tone.
2. The common sense, the instinct of self-preservation, ordinary
prudence, and the sense of the fitness of things, are suspended.
3. The last piece of degradation is given, for greater liveliness of
impression, in the form of the drunkard’s
own soliloquy. He feels himself all over as he begins to rouse from his tipsy
sleep, and pities himself that he has been so badly handled. He is waking, but
he is not yet himself. As he staggers back into consciousness, the first thing
that he thinks of is a renewal of his debauch. The awful tyranny of the evil
habit, which has become a diseased second nature, is only too well known. (A.
Maclaren, D.D.)
Returning from evil ways
The first difficulty in
the way of return for the intemperate, who have got on the wrong tack, is the
force of moral gravitation. It is easier to go down than it is to go up. The
next thing is the power of evil habit. If a man wants to return from evil
practices, society repulses him. How may these obstacles be overcome?
1. Throw yourself on God.
2. Quit all your bad associations.
3. Seek Christian advice. If you have a Christian friend, go to him.
(T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.)
Against intemperance
As implied in this passage
this indicates the tendency of human nature.
1. The moral degradation of intemperance. It is the destruction of
everything manly and noble in human nature.
2. The physical degradation. Corruption in the heart works out its
marks upon the face and in the manners. A distinguished German authority has
given the scientific degradation resulting upon the generations succeeding the
victim of the drink habit.
3. The social degradation. Intemperance as an evil reaches the state.
Nine-tenths of the crimes of society result from, or are abetted by, drink.
This theme is a warning. Directly and indirectly, the appeal is made to all who
come within the sound of its voice. (D. O. Mears.)
Drunkenness
I. The evils of
drunkenness.
1. Sorrow (Proverbs 23:29). Drink has probably broken more hearts than any other thing. It
is taken to drown sorrow, but, alas! it creates it.
2. Folly. “Babbling”--a profanation of the sacred gift of speech, and
as such is to be
avoided (1 Timothy 6:20).
3. Disease. “Wounds.” Look in at the hospitals. Read the medical
reports.
4. Disfigurement. “Redness cf the eyes.”
5. Waste of time. “Tarry long.”
6. Dissatisfaction. “Yet again” (Proverbs 23:35). Drink creates an insatiable appetite for itself.
7. Insensibility. “Felt it not” (Proverbs 23:35). The nerves of the drunkard are benumbed, and nature’s monitors
are impaired. Physical insensibility is followed by moral insensibility (Ephesians 4:19).
8. Uncleanness. Drink fires the passions, and gives the “strange
women” (Proverbs 23:33) their best opportunities.
9. Exposure to danger (Proverbs 23:34).
II. The remedy for
drunkenness (verse31). It is very simple. Abstain from strong drink--don’t even
look at it. Temptation sometimes enters through the eye. But beyond and above
all look to Jesus for deliverance from this and every other form of evil. (H.
Thorne.)
Pleasant vices dangerous
Gas is a great spoiler of
the air; but it has the merit of giving timely warning of the danger by the
horrible smell which accompanies its escape. This smell is perceptible when
there is only one part in a thousand parts of air; becomes very offensive when
the proportion Isaiah 1:1-31/750 or 1/500, and is almost insupportable as the proportion
increases. If the gas has escaped from a crack in the pipes, and been allowed
to mingle with the air in which a free circulation by ventilation is possible,
so that the proportion of gas amounts to 1/11, it explodes on the introduction
of a candle. But the reason why this catastrophe so seldom occurs is because
the smell of gas is so utterly offensive that the evil demands and receives
proper attention long before it reaches danger point. This fact illustrates
very well a great truth in the moral world, namely, that when evil is offensive
in itself its danger to the community is slight. In exact ratio to the
pleasantness of vice is the danger to be apprehended from it. (Scientific
Illustrations.)
A temperance topic
1. The use of intoxicating drinks is financially unbusinesslike. It
keeps men in poverty, and they keep their families is the deepest want.
2. It destroys self-respect.
3. It defiles the body.
4. It destroys life.
5. It enfeebles the mind.
6. It breaks down the will.
7. It obliterates heart and conscience.
8. It destroys souls. Let us use our every influence to correct this
evil. (G. B. F. Hallcock.)
On the sin of drunkenness
I. The causes
which lead to it.
1. Example. Seeing others in this state, and imitating them without
being aware of the results which will follow.
2. Evil associations. We cannot be too careful in selecting our
associates.
3. Afflictions of a peculiar kind, especially mental, and those
produced by disappointment.
4. The ease with which liquor is procured.
II. Some of the
evils attendant upon drunkenness.
1. Babbling. Owing to temporary deprivation of the use of reason.
2. Contentions. The man acts like a madman.
3. Wounds without cause.
4. Redness of eyes.
III. The
consequences resulting from this sin. Woe and sorrow.
1. From the consumption of his property.
2. From the loss of his reputation.
3. From the decay of his health.
4. From the injury done to his family.
5. From the loss of his immortal soul.
IV. The duty of
avoiding the sin of drunkenness. Think not that it will do you good, but
reflect on the consequences to which it leads, so abominable in the sight of
God, so injurious to yourselves and those around you, and so hateful in the estimation of all those
who truly reflect. (E. Miller, M.A.)
Drunkenness
The Bible considers
intemperance in all its phases, and shows that, with all other sins, it springs
from a sinfulness which is common to mankind, and shows that the true remedy
for it, as for all sins, lies in the deliverance Divinely provided for the
sinfulness which is their root.
I. The drunkard’s
condition is described. Woes and sorrows, strifes and anxieties, wounds and
diseases, deadened perceptions and a destroyed will, mingle in this awful
picture. Here is disclosed a general wreck of manhood.
1. Physical evils. Alcohol vitiates the blood and fills it with
poisonous humour. The changes produce gross and enfeebled bodies, diseases of
the heart, lungs, and other organs, and a constant waste of physical powers.
2. Mental evils. Alcohol directly affects the brain. It creates an
unnatural brilliancy of intellect. But this brief advantage is purchased at the
cost of the mind itself. Other effects on the mind seriously deteriorate a
man’s progeny. Drink destroys not only the mind of the drunkard, but also the
mind of his offspring.
3. Moral and spiritual evils. Drunkenness inflames the passions. It
leads to contentions. It is the great cause of crime. It destroys self-control
and thus overthrows the citadel of manhood.
II. The steps by
which men become drunkards. Alcohol is first taken in its simplest, as wine,
beer, cider. At first it is taken only occasionally, and at the invitation of
others. Literature lends its voice to enticing temptations. Those who allow
themselves to acquire the habit of drinking make that which they hate a part of
themselves.
III. The way to
avoid being a drunkard. Let alcohol alone. Keep in view that the woes of drink
come from an indulgence that was moderate in the beginning. No temptation to
drink is more dangerous than that which makes it a sign of good-fellowship.
Total abstinence is the only safe ground to stand upon. But the Christian will
do more than hold himself in safety. The Christian must give all the weight of
his influence, by example, word, and action, as a Christian, a neighbour, and a
citizen, against this evil. (Monday Club Sermons.)
Against intemperance
I. The
delusiveness of this sin. Call no pleasure pleasurable until you have asked
what the cost is to be.
II. The traits of
disposition resulting from wine-drinking.
1. The drunkard is contentious.
2. He is a discontented man.
3. He loses his mind.
4. He is a reckless man.
III. The results of
drinking are in part suggested.
1. The speech of the drunkard is bad.
2. The body is harmed by drink.
3. The drunkard tends to become possessed of all evil desires.
IV. This way of
living becomes permanent. In its origin drunkenness is but an episode; in its
conclusion it is a character. What a man does once he tends to do again.
1. This permanence is shown in the deliberateness of the drunkard’s
full-grown folly.
2. And so the habit fastens itself more and more firmly upon him,
until at last, even when he is grovelling in the lowest depths, he still calls
ever for more of that which has brought him there. The more a man drinks, the
more he does not want to stop. (D. J. Burrell.)
The woes of the drunkard
Is it not Shakespeare
himself who says, by the mouth of the disgraced and ruined Cassio, “O thou
invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee
Devil”? What does drink cost in human misery? Ah, how can I tell you? Can I
count the leaves of the forest, or the sands upon the shore? And the sounds of
this misery are like the sighing of the leaves of illimitable forests, and the
plashing on the shores of unfathomable seas. For it is the horrible fact that
the drink which we, as a nation, are drinking, not from the necessities of
thirst, but from the mere luxuries of appetite--drink often adulterated with
the vilest and most maddening ingredients--yes, this rubied and Circean cup
which we sip, and smile while it is converting thousands of our brethren into
swine--this subtle, serpentine, insidious thing which we cherish in our bosoms,
and laugh and play with its brightness, while it is stinging thousands of our
brothers into raging madness--costs us millions of money, myriads of criminals,
thousands of paupers, thousands of ruined women, hundreds and thousands of men
and women goaded by misery, into suicide and madness, with every blossom in
what might have been the garland of their lives blighted as by a fury’s breath.
(Dean Farrar.)
Safety imperceptibly
passed by the drinker
Who can detect the line of
demarcation that separates the colours of the rainbow, where the yellow tint
blends into the deep orange colour, and that deep orange colour into the deeper
red! What mind, however disciplined or practised, can tell the line of
demarcation that shades off the varying sentiments of men, and separates the
schools of theological opinion? And if the human eye, aided by the most
powerful lenses, cannot discern any line of demarcation in the tints of the
rainbow, and the skilled theologian cannot pronounce as to where or what is the
dividing line between one school of theology and another, how can we expect the
dulled, darkened, blunted brain of the drinker to be able to detect that
imperceptible line in his progress, at one side of which is safety, and beyond
it danger? Or, suppose he could, would it be ethically right for a man to push
forward designedly to the furthest verge where he supposed that moral innocence
merged into guilt and sin? The rainbow tints may indeed thus meet and blend;
phases of thought and opinion may shade off into each other; but it surely can
never be that moral innocence and moral guilt could ever stand in such close
proximity together as that the one should merge into the other. (R.
Maguire.)
The warning against
intemperance
We should mind this
warning against the serpent
of intemperance, because--
I. Its sting is a
costly sting.
II. Its sting is an
injurious sting.
III. Its sting is a
disgraceful sting. (R. Newton, D.D.)
The drink serpent
Drink is like the
serpent--
I. Because it is
poisonous. Alcohol is primarily a brain-poison, but there is not a tissue nor
an organ of the body
which it does not injure.
II. Because it is
subtle (Genesis 3:1). As a rule men glide into drunkenness unconsciously to
themselves. Probably the drunkard is the last person to know that he has become
such.
III. Because it is
like the devil. In the Scriptures the serpent is the symbol of Satan. Drink,
like the devil, leads men into all kinds of sin. The connection of drink with
unchastity is set forth in this passage. (G. A. Bennetts, B.A.)
Description of drunkenness
An inferior master in the
art of moral painting gives us a just picture of drunkenness in these words.
“Drunkenness is a distemper of the head, a subversion of the senses, a tempest
of the tongue, a storm in the body, the shipwreck of virtue, the loss of time,
a wilful madness, a pleasant devil, a sugared poison, a sweet sin, which he
that has, has not himself, and he that commits it, doth not only commit sin,
but is himself altogether sin.” (George Lawson, D.D.)
The drunkard’s picture
1. His sensual indulgence.
2. His offensive garrulousness.
3. His bloodshot face. The habits of the man come to be marked by
their effects upon his looks.
4. His wretched condition.
5. His easy temptability. He is ripe for the crimes of adultery,
falsehood, blasphemy, and other enormities.
6. His reckless stupidity.
7. His unconquerable thirst. However bitter his reflections upon his
awaking, and his remorse, his thirst remains unquenched. (D. Thomas,
D.D.)
Woes of intemperance
The Assyrians had a fancy
that, if a demon saw his own face in a mirror, he could not bear the ugly
sight, and would vanish. Unfortunately, vicious men are not so easily
frightened, for many a drunkard knows perfectly what a degraded creature he has
made himself, and yet is not restrained. But the photograph may deter others
from beginning so suicidal a course. The appeal to consequences may not be the
highest, but it is legitimate, and ought to be powerful with all rational
beings. The consequences here appealed to are exclusively personal ones, there
being no reference to the drunkards’ miserable homes, to wrecked family
blessings, nor even to blasted prospects, and the havoc wrought by drink in
pauperising and bringing to rags. What it does to the man himself in body and
soul is the portrait painter’s theme here. The torrent of questions with which
he begins brings out the mental discomfort and bodily mischief consequent on
intoxication. The two questions in verse 29B repeat the substance of the’ three
in A. “Complaining” seems to include “woe” and “sorrow,” and “wounds without cause”
are the natural results of the “contentions” equally without cause. According
to the best and most recent authorities, the bodily symptom here noticed is
dulness, not “redness,” of eyes, the glazed, unperceiving stare so sadly well
known as a sign of intoxication. There are far more grave physical consequences
of the habit than that--shattered nerves, shaking hands, knotted livers--but
the painter here is thinking rather of the act than of the habit. His answer to
his questions comes with emphasis, and has a dash of sad irony in it. What an
epitaph for a man: “He was a connoisseur in wines; he did not know much about
science or history or philosophy or theology or art or commerce or morality,
but he was a perfect master at blending whisky!” A solemn warning follows the
etching of the drunkard, which is bitten in on the plate with acid. The wine
appeals to the sense of sight, as it gleams in golden cup or crystal goblet,
and it appeals also to the sense of taste as “it goeth down smoothly.” But it
is not done with when it is swallowed, and, like all delights of sense, it has
an “afterwards” which is not delightful. “Violent delights have violent ends.”
In Proverbs 23:33 we see him in
the height of his excitement; in Proverbs 23:34, in the stupor that follows; in Proverbs 23:35, in his waking. The first stage is marked by hallucinations and a
torrent of vile speech. “Thine eyes shall behold strange things,” by which are
meant the absurd delusions of the drunkard. Imagination is stimulated, and the
senses befooled, by the fumes; the man reels about in a world of his own
creating, which has nothing corresponding to it in reality. There is a still
more terrible meaning possible to this part of the picture, though probably not
the one intended--namely, the frightful visions accompanying delirium tremens,
which dog the drunkard’s steps, and drive him into paroxysms of terror.
Further, his loss of self-control is signalised by the loose speech in which
the rank heart pours itself out in “perverse things.” There is a strange and
awful connection between intoxication and foul words from the depths of the
“evil treasure” of the heart. The second stage is that of collapse and stupor.
The excitement, of course, ends in that, and the drunkard flings himself down
anywhere, utterly careless of danger, and utterly unconscious of his
surroundings. He is like a man that “lieth down in the midst of the sea,”
neither a comfortable nor a safe bed, “or as he that lieth upon the top of a
mast,” where there is neither room to lie, nor security as the ship rolls, and
the uneasy couch rolls still more. He sleeps out his heavy slumbers, and, when
he does, he discovers for the first time the bruises and wounds which he has
received. But these do not curb the tyrannous appetite which brought them on
him. Undeterred by them, he wishes for the complete return of sober
consciousness, only that he may renew his debauch. Christ’s solemn saying,
“Whoso committeth sin is the slave of sin,” has no more tragical
exemplification than in the miserable drunkard, who can no more resist the craving
for drink than he can stop Niagara. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
Verse 35
They have beaten me and I felt it not: when shall I awake?
I will seek it yet again.
Satan’s anesthetic
1. The application of anaesthetics to surgery is one of the most
beneficent discoveries of the present age. One shudders at the very thought of
the surgical operations of the olden days, executed without the merciful drug
that makes the patient unconscious of his agony. But almost every good thing in
the kingdom of God is travestied in the kingdom of Satan. Satan has therefore
his own anodyne which he uses to the ruin of the bodies and souls of men. It is
evident from the proverb that alcohol was known to be an anaesthetic three
thousand years ago. Modern science corroborates the ancient saying. Most people
know that a man in liquor often appears insensible to wounds which otherwise
would cause intense pain. Medical men occasionally use alcohol as an anesthetic
when chloroform is inadmissible. The practical result of this property of
alcohol is that the intemperate man--and many a regular “moderate” drinker,
too--is unconscious of the gradual deterioration of his bodily frame. The vital
organs are becoming diseased and their functions deranged; but meanwhile the
process is most rapidly going on in the brain. Hence all the perceptions are
dulled, and the painful sensations, that otherwise would give timely warning of
the growing mischief, are to some extent unfelt. One of the purposes of pain is
to sound a warning note, to give a signal that something is wrong, that some
part of the complex mechanism of the body is out of gear. Our duty is,
therefore, not to be contented with allaying the pain, but if possible to cure
the disease which causes the pain.
2. The moral anaesthesia to which alcohol gives rise is even more
terrible than the physical. Acting as a subtle brain-poison, it works sad havoc
with the moral perceptions. All delicacy of conscience is quickly lost, the
distinctions between right and wrong become blurred, and the man once honoured
and trusted becomes a liar, a thief, and an ingrate. The loving, dutiful son
becomes selfish, morose, and attacks his mother with murderous violence. Now,
in such cases as these (which are, alas! only too common) we cannot believe
that the honest man wilfully takes to lying, the affectionate father wilfully
becomes the savage brute, or the dutiful son is filled wilfully with a fierce
hatred of his mother. Evidently the mind, conscience, and will become diseased.
Alcohol not only dulls the sense of pain in the physical system; it is an
ansesthetic that dulls the mind so as to produce unconsciousness of the moral
havoc that is being made. The unhappy being loses his power of truthfulness,
and yet is hardly conscious that he is a liar. It should be remembered that
absolute drunkenness is not always necessary to produce such results. The free
and regular use of alcoholic beverages, though stopping short of intoxication,
will assuredly produce more or less injury to the body and degradation of the
mind and will, both in the drinker and in his children. Let us beware lest we
even in the least degree impair these God-like qualities with which we have
been endowed.
3. The last words of the text express what we are accustomed to call
the “drink crave.” When intoxication is over, and all the misery and depression
that are the after-results of excess are felt, then the unhappy victim of the
drink-habit says in effect, if not in the actual words of the text, “I will
seek it yet again.” The man who is always strictly moderate in his use of
alcohol then steps in and says, “But why are you so foolish as to seek it
again? Has it not done you enough harm already? Why not leave it alone?” But if
he knew into what a state the poor drunkard had fallen--a state of both
physical and mental degradation--he would not talk so glibly. First of all, the
drink-crave has a physical basis. Certain of the vital organs are so affected
and in such distress that the overpowering crave for drink is as natural, under
the circumstances, as the craving of an excessively hungry man for food.
Inebriety becomes, in fact, an actual and terrible bodily disease, not easily
to be cured. Further than that, the mind of the inebriate is so obscured that
he does not realise his fall as do those about him. The horror of his position
does not appear to him. Strange and sad to say, this mental blindness, often
extends to the near relatives.
4. Probably many moderate drinkers would agree with what has been
said, and would give thanks that they are not as other men are. Yes, by all
means let them give thanks for God’s protecting grace. But let them also ask
themselves whether their example as moderate drinkers is helpful to their
family and friends, whether the edifying spectacle of their self-restraint is
likely to diminish the number of drunkards or to lessen the peril to which so
many are exposed. (J. E. Crawshaw.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》