Proverbs 11:18

“The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.”

To a superficial observer the wicked appear to have a far better portion than the righteous; for it is certain, that, in respect of earthly things, the wicked have the larger share; while the righteous, whether poor or not in this world’s goods, are objects of general hatred and contempt. But if we examine more attentively, we shall find that the advantage is decidedly and universally on the side of the righteous; for the wicked man, however prosperous he may be, “works a deceptive work,” but to the righteous, however depressed he may be for a season, shall have a sure reward.

I. See the contrast between the righteous and the wicked, in their characters.

Though “the wicked” are not distinguished in this place by any appropriate description—yet they are sufficiently marked by standing in contrast with the righteous, whose characters are accurately defined. The one “sow righteousness,” which the other neglect to sow.

1. Let us consider this distinction.

The sowing of righteousness imports that the person so engaged deliberately and with diligence, endeavors to fulfill the will of God; and that he does so with a view to a future harvest. The great “commandment” under the Gospel being, “that we believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God, 1 John 3:23″—he makes his first concern. The godly man comes to Christ daily as a self-ruined sinner, and looks to him as the appointed Savior of sinners. He seeks to be washed in Christ’s blood from all his sins, and to be renewed by His Spirit after the Divine image. In a word, his daily consolation is, “In the Lord I have righteousness and strength! Isaiah 45:24.”

The aim of his soul is to “walk in all things just as Christ walked,” and to cultivate altogether “the mind that was in Him,” thus approving himself to God in the whole of his conduct, that in the last day that testimony may be given to him from the lips of his approving Judge, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Lord!”

To the contrary, the wicked man has no such thoughts and no such desires. A saving interest in the Savior is not of any great importance in his eyes, because he feels no need of it; he concludes that he already possesses all that is requisite for his acceptance with God. As for “mortifying his earthly members,” and “crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts”—that is a work to which he is utterly averse! He rather studies to gratify himself, and to follow the bent of his own carnal inclinations. He may not indulge in gross sins; but his mind and life are altogether earthly. And whatever he may have of religion, it is a mere form, which does not engage his heart. Nor is genuine piety in any respect the delight of his soul.

In a word, the righteous man looks forward to a future harvest, and sows with a view to that. The wicked man looks no further than to this present world, and has all his desires bounded by the things of time and sense.

2. Let us see how far the above distinction is confirmed by the Word of God.

This is the very distinction which Paul himself makes between the carnal and the spiritual man, “Those who are after the flesh, mind the things of the flesh; and those who are after the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit, Romans 8:5.” The one “seeks his own things, and not the things that are Jesus Christ, Philippians 2:21;” the other “lives not unto himself, but unto Him who died for him and rose again, Romans 14:7-8.”

It is here particularly to be noticed, that the Scriptures do not make the main distinction of the righteous and the wicked, to consist in outward acts—but in the inward habit of the mind. The wicked is not necessarily distinguished by open irregularities; but he makes self the end, and aim, and object of his life; while “the righteous lives altogether for, and to, his God.”

II. See the contrast between the righteous and the wicked, in their end.

The wicked man follows a mere shadow, which eludes his grasp.

He seeks for happiness, and hopes to find it in the path which he has marked out for himself. But “he works a deceptive work,” which invariably disappoints his hopes. Whatever be the gratification afforded him, it is transient, and brings no solid satisfaction with it. Whether his pursuit be more sensual, or more refined—it still leaves an aching void in the bosom, which the world can never fill! Solomon tried everything that was within the reach of mortal man, intellectual as well as sensual; and, after a full experience of it all, declared it all to be “vanity and vexation of spirit.” And if there is a man in the universe who is able from experience to give any other testimony respecting it, we will be content that that man shall walk in his own ways, and not in the ways of God. But we have no fear that this concession will be productive of any evil; for there is not a man in the whole world that will presume to avail himself of it, since there is no man whose conscience does not tell him that the creature altogether is a broken cistern, and that no true happiness can be found apart from Christ the fountain of living waters.

On the contrary the righteous have a sure reward.

The seed he sows may lie a long time under the clods, and may seem as if it were buried forever; but it shall spring up in due season, and bring with it a harvest of solid joy. The Scripture attests, that “the work of righteousness is peace, Isaiah 32:17,” and that “in keeping of God’s commandments there is great reward, Psalm 19:11.”

And so it is invariably found. This “reward is sure” on two accounts; one is, that his success is independent of all contingencies; and the other is, that it is secured to him by the promise of God himself. Happiness as arising from earthly things may be altogether destroyed by disease or accident, or pains either of body or mind; but spiritual happiness is independent of all these things, and often derives a zest from those very things which seem most calculated to subvert it.

If we look to a future state, where the wicked, notwithstanding all their neglect of heavenly things, hope to have a portion with the righteous—then we shall see the text fulfilled in all its extent.

What surprise and anguish will seize hold upon the wicked the very instant he opens his eyes in the eternal world! Conceive of “the Rich Man” summoned from his carnal indulgences into the presence of his God; how little did he imagine but a few days before in what such a life would issue! Luke 16:23. How deceitful had his work been, and how delusive all his hopes!

But the righteous is sure to find his hopes realized, and his highest expectations infinitely exceeded; for God’s express determination is, that “whatever any man sows, that shall he also reap; he who sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; and he who sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting, Galatians 6:7-8.”

See then,

1. The wisdom of true piety.

Wisdom consists in pursuing the best ends by the fittest means. Now I would ask: What end is to be compared with eternal life? And by what other means can it be sought, than by those mentioned in the text? Let me then entreat you to “walk, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time;” for now is the seed time; and you will to all eternity reap according to what you sow! “If you sow iniquity, you will reap vanity! Job 4:8. Proverbs 22:8.” “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind! Hosea 8:7.” But if you “plow up your fallow ground, and sow in righteousness, you shall reap in mercy,” both in this world and the world to come! Hosea 10:12.

Let me however add, that you must not be sparing of your seed; for, “if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly; but if you sow bountifully, you shall reap also bountifully!! 2 Corinthians 9:6.”

2. The folly of neglecting the immortal soul.

Men will deride piety, because it is cultivated by few; and applaud worldliness, because its advocates are many. But the broad road is not at all the safer, simply because it is trodden by so many, nor the narrow way the less safe because it is trodden by so few. Each path will have its proper termination, and issue in the state that God has assigned to it! Matthew 7:13-14.

Can anything then be conceived more foolish, than to put our eternal happiness on such an issue, that it cannot possibly be attained but at the expense of God’s veracity? Truly if such conduct were pursued in reference to this world, it would be accounted not only folly, but madness itself! It is represented by Solomon as a “laying in wait for our own blood, and lurking privily for our own lives! Proverbs 1:18,” yes, and as a “being in love with death itself! Proverbs 8:36. Let me then urge all of you now to seek “the one thing needful;” and let me encourage you to it by this consideration, that, “if you sow in tears, you shall reap in joy; and if you now go on your way weeping, bearing precious seed—you shall surely come again with rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you! Psalm 126:5-6.”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 10:22

“The blessing of the Lord makes rich; and he adds no sorrow with it.”

Amidst the lessons of practical wisdom which we are taught in the Book of Proverbs, we find a continual reference to God as the source and the end of all.

If we attempt to spiritualize the different moral axioms, we in fact pervert them, and apply them to a use for which they were never intended.

If on the other hand, we regard them solely in a moral view, without any relation to God, we fall exceedingly short of their true import.

In explaining them, therefore, a proper medium must be observed; that we neither strain their meaning, on the one hand; nor enervate it, on the other.

To unfold to you the passage before us, I will show:

I. In what respects “the blessing of God” may be said to “make us rich”.

This effect may well be ascribed to “the blessing of God,”

1. Because the blessing of God is in reality, the only source of all wealth.

Men are apt to ascribe their success in life to their own industry, and to the wisdom which they have exercised in the management of their affairs. But this is to rob God altogether of the glory due to him. The people of Israel were guarded against it by God, who particularly cautioned them not, when they should be established in Canaan, to arrogate anything to themselves; or to “say in their heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth;” for that “it was God alone who had given them power to get wealth, Deuteronomy 8:17-18.” We see how often men fail even in their best-concerted efforts! Success depends, in fact, on so many contingencies, which it is altogether beyond the power of man to control, that the wisest and most industrious of men must of necessity rely on God alone; even as the gardener, who, though he can plough and sow his land, can command neither the clouds to water it, nor the sun to fructify it with his invigorating rays.

No man therefore, however successful, should “sacrifice to his own net, or offer incense to his own drag, Habakkuk 1:16;” but all must give glory to God alone:
“who makes poor, or makes rich;
and brings low, or lifts up;
who raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit a throne of glory! 1 Samuel 2:7-8.”

2. Because the blessing of God is itself the greatest of all wealth.

What can be compared with the blessing of God upon the soul? If we succeed in life, it is that which constitutes our chief joy; or, if we fail in our earthly pursuits, it is that which will compensate for the loss of all.

The poorest man in the universe is rich, if he has the salvation of God in his soul. In the same way, the richest man in the universe is poor, miserably poor, if he is destitute of God’s salvation. Behold Paul and Silas in prison, their feet fast bound in the stocks, and their backs torn with scourges; and yet singing praises to God at midnight! Were they poor? No! They were rich, truly rich!

In the same way were the Hebrew youths, when, in the fiery furnace, the Lord Jesus Christ came and walked with them! Daniel 3:25.

To the eye of faith, Lazarus was rich, though he subsisted only on the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. And had he been offered an exchange of condition with his opulent benefactor, he would have disdained the offer, and called himself incomparably the richer man!

So, in having God for our portion, we are truly rich. Paul, under such circumstances, accounted himself the richest man in the universe; and so he was; for, “though he had nothing—yet he possessed all things! 2 Corinthians 6:10.” And in like manner of us also, even though we are at this moment destitute of bread for the morrow, it may with truth be said, that “all things are ours, if we are Christ’s! 1 Corinthians 3:22-23.”

Thus, if we can say, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup, Psalm 16:5,” we may account ourselves richer than those who have crowns and kingdoms at their command!

But we are especially informed by Solomon what is,

II. The peculiar happiness of the person so enriched.

With all other riches there is a mixture of sorrow to embitter them.

As for riches obtained by iniquity, the curse of God is upon them! Jeremiah 17:11. Habakkuk 2:6-11. But where there has been nothing of rapacity or dishonesty in acquiring them—yet, if the blessing of God is not upon the soul, there is:
much care in the preserving of them,
much grief if they are lost, and
little but disappointment and dissatisfaction in the use of them!

In truth, they are entitled to no better name than “vanity and vexation of spirit! Ecclesiastes 2:26.”

Let the whole state of mankind be candidly surveyed, and it will be acknowledged that the most wealthy are far from being the happiest of men; for, partly from the tempers generated in their own bosoms, and partly from the collision into which they are continually brought with people envious, or proud, or dishonest, or in some way disobliging—it may well be doubted whether the pain occasioned by their wealth does not far exceed any pleasure which they derive from it. It was a wise petition which was offered by Agur, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; but feed me with food necessary for me, Proverbs 30:8.”

But there is another view, in which riches are far from affording any solid satisfaction; and that is, on account of the responsibility attached to them. They are talents to be improved for God; and, whether wasted in extravagance, or hidden in a napkin—they will bring down nothing but a curse in the day of judgment.

To those, on the other hand, who have wasted their money on personal gratifications, James says, “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter! James 5:1-5.”

But where God gives his blessing with wealth, “he adds no sorrow with it.” There is then:
no conscious guilt in the acquisition of it;
no anxiety in the preservation;
no disappointment in the use;
no grief in the loss; and
no dread of the responsibility attached to it!

On the contrary, “God has given to his people all things richly to enjoy, 1 Timothy 6:17;” and they have a rich enjoyment of everything, because they enjoy God in it. They receive it all as his gift; they taste his love in it.

They consider it, also, as a means of honoring God, and of doing good to man. A benevolent steward, who should be sent by his master to dispense his bounties to a famished multitude, would feel great delight in all the comfort which he was thus empowered to bestow; he would view his master as the author of the benefits, and himself only as the instrument; but his pleasure would still be exquisite, yes, and the more exquisite because his master was honored in all the good that was done. Such a steward the true Christian feels himself to be; and his final account, also, he contemplates with joy; assured that his stewardship shall be both approved and rewarded in that day.

From this subject I would take occasion to suggest two important lessons.

1. Learn in what spirit to address yourselves to every duty in life.

Do not be contented to perform a duty; but look for the blessing of God upon everything you do. Without his blessing you will have but little comfort in your own souls. I will not hesitate to say that in every duty whatever, from the highest to the lowest, the man who acts to God and for God will be the happiest man. Others, it is true, may exceed him in wealth; but he will have no reason to envy them; for they have sorrows which will not come near him, Psalm 91:7; and he will have “a joy with which the stranger intermeddles not, Proverbs 14:10.”

2. What to look for as your chief portion.

Earthly things are not to be neglected. Your worldly calling, whatever it may be, should be diligently followed. But the blessing of God should be the one object to which all others should be subordinated. Nothing, either on earth or in Heaven, should, in your estimation, bear any comparison with that, Psalm 73:25.

If the question be put, “Who will show us any good?” your unvaried answer should be, “Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us! Psalm 4:6.” Then will you have “durable riches! Proverbs 8:18.” And while those who seek any other portion will, “in the midst of their sufficiency, be in straits, Job 20:22,” you, in whatever straits you are, will have a sufficiency for your support and comfort both in time and in eternity.

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 10:4

“He who has a slack hand (that is, an idle or lazy hand) becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

It is certainly true, that men’s circumstances in life depend on their own exertions, so far at least, as to justify the declaration in the text. Sometimes indeed God is pleased to raise men to opulence by labors not their own; and sometimes to withhold success from the industrious. But though this inequality is sometimes found in the dispensations of his Providence, we never see it in the dispensations of his grace. After the first communications of grace to the soul, men’s progress or decay will always be proportioned to their own care and vigilance; the propositions in the text may be advanced without any exception:

I. Spiritual sloth will impoverish the soul.

There are many who work with “a slack hand”.

This may be said of men when they improve not the means of spiritual advancement. God has appointed:
Scripture reading, Colossians 3:16,
and Scripture meditation, Psalm 1:2,
and prayer, 1 Thessalonians 5:17,
and self-examination, Psalm 4:4; Psalm 77:6 and 2 Corinthians 13:5
—as means of furthering the welfare of the soul. But, if we are remiss in these, we resemble a man who neglects to cultivate his fields; nor can it be expected that we should ever prosper in our spiritual concerns.

It may also be said of them, when they shun not the occasions of spiritual decay. God has mercifully guarded us against:
the cares, Matthew 13:22; Matthew 6:21,
the pleasures, 1 Timothy 5:6 and 2 Timothy 3:4,
the company of the world, 2 Corinthians 6:14-17;
and against the indulgence of any secret sin, Proverbs 4:23. Hebrews 3:12.

See the examples of Job, Job 31:1. David, Psalm 141:3; Psalm 139:23-24. And it is of the utmost importance that we attend to these beneficial cautions. But if we are unmindful of them, we certainly show a very culpable remissness, and give advantage to our enemies to prevail against us.

Under such circumstances they will infallibly “become poor”.

1. They will lose their joy and confidence.

People living in habitual spiritual watchfulness:
are often full of the most lively joy, 1 Peter 1:8,
and can look up to God as their Father, Romans 8:15,
to Christ as their Savior, Galatians 2:20,
and to Heaven as their home, 2 Corinthians 5:1.

But these divine impressions are tender plants, which, if not duly watered, will soon wither and decay! Galatians 4:15.

2. They will also lose their spiritual health and strength.

There is a health of the soul, as well as of the body; and as the one cannot be maintained in strength but by proper food and exercise, so neither can the other. The graces of the soul, if not duly cultivated, will soon languish. The faith will become weak, the hope faint, the love cold; and whatever good “things remain in us, they will be ready to die.” So poor will every one become, who deals with a slack hand.

While the soul is exposed to such evils from remissness, we are assured, on the contrary, that,

II. Spiritual diligence will enrich the soul.

Christian diligence comprehends far more than a mere attention to outward forms, however regular.

It imports a seasonable attention to all spiritual duties. There are some duties which, in comparison with others, are easy; but Christian diligence makes no distinction on this account; nor does it make the observance of some an excuse for neglecting others; but endeavors to do every work, whether public or private, civil or religious, in its season. Psalm 1:3.

It includes also a conscientious improvement of all talents. Various are the talents committed unto men. Time, money, influence, together with every mental endowment, are among those which a Christian will feel himself more especially bound to improve. He considers them as given to him for the purpose of honoring God with them, and of rendering them subservient to the good of men. He therefore will not wrap any one of them in a napkin, but will so trade with them as to deliver them up with interest whenever he may be called to give up his account, Matthew 25:15-18.

Such diligence will infallibly enrich the soul.

The exertion of our powers does not command success; but God invariably puts honor upon it, and makes it both the occasion and the means of communicating his blessings. Our diligence in cultivating the land cannot ensure the crop; yet it is by that, for the most part, that God replenishes our barns, and supplies our returning spiritual needs. Thus the diligent hand makes us rich:
in grace,
in peace,
in holiness,
and in glory.

“To him who has (that has improved his talent) shall more be given; and he shall have abundance.” Every grace is improved by exercise, Matthew 25:29, from that improvement arises a “peace which passes all understanding, Isaiah 32:17,” the whole man is thus progressively renewed after the divine image, 2 Corinthians 3:18, and an increased weight of glory is treasured up for the soul, when it shall receive its full reward, 2 Corinthians 4:17. 2 John, verse 8.

INFERENCES.

1. What a pitiable state are they in who never labor at all for the salvation of their souls!

If spiritual slackness alone will prove fatal, and that to people who were once diligent—then surely they must be poor indeed who have never entered on their work at all! Let the mirthful and thoughtless well consider this; for every man shall receive according to his own labor. Nor shall it be sufficient to say at the last day, “I did no harm;” the question will be, “What improvement did you make of your talent?” And if we have buried it in the earth, we shall be condemned as wicked and slothful servants.

2. What reason have all of us for humiliation and contrition!

If we consider the greatness of our work, and how little any of us have done in it—we shall find reason to blush and be confounded before God. Yes; while the world condemns us as “righteous overmuch,” we should be condemning, and even loathing ourselves for doing so little.

What might we not have attained, if we had labored from the beginning with the same concern and diligence as others manifest in their temporal concerns? How low are the attainments of the best of us, not only in comparison with what they might have been, but of what we once expected they would be! Let us then trace our poverty to its proper cause, our own slackness; and “whatever our hand finds to do, let us henceforth do it with all our might.”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 10:3

“The Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish.”

God, who is the author and giver of all good, dispenses his blessings no less to the evil and unjust, than to the good and just. But he promises to those who seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, that all other things shall be added unto them. To this effect he speaks also in the passage before us. But though this is the primary import of the text, we must not exclude its relation also to the concerns of the soul.

To elucidate this blessed promise, we shall show,

I. What reasons the righteous have to apprehend that their souls may famish.

A sense of weakness and of guilt may greatly discourage them; for,

1. The righteous cannot secure provisions for themselves.

The Word of God, and Christ in the Word—is the proper food of the soul; and, if a person can read, he need not be wholly destitute. But it is by the public ministration of the Word that God principally confirms the souls of his people. Now in many places where Christ should be preached, his name is scarcely heard; and, instead of children’s bread, little is dispensed besides the husks of heathen morality. Even where some attention is paid to Christian doctrines, there is often much chaff mixed with the wheat; and “the trumpet that is blown, gives but an uncertain sound.” Those therefore who by reason of distance, or infirmity, or other insurmountable obstacles, cannot have access to the purer fountains of truth, have great reason to fear that their souls will famish.

2. The righteous cannot, of themselves, feed upon the provisions set before them.

Where all the treasures of the Gospel are fully opened, it is God alone that can enrich any soul by means of them; even “Paul may plant, or Apollos may water, but it is God alone that can give the increase.” The very same word is often made a peculiar blessing to one, that was altogether useless to another. God reserves the times and the seasons in his own hands; and “gives to every one as he will.” When therefore the righteous hear of the effects wrought on others, and feel conscious that they themselves reaped no benefit from the Word, they are ready to fear that their souls will famish even in the midst of plenty.

3. The righteous well know that they deserve to be utterly abandoned by their God.

It is not only for their sins in general, that the righteous find occasion to humble themselves before God, but more particularly for their misimprovement of divine ordinances. Perhaps there is not any other more fruitful source of self-condemnation to the godly than this. When therefore they see how many opportunities of improvement they have lost, and how much guilt they have contracted by their deadness and formality in the worship of God—they are sensible that God may justly “remove their lampstand,” and leave them to experience “a famine of the word.”

But lest a dread of famishing should oppress the minds of the righteous, we shall proceed to show:

II. What grounds the righteous have to hope, that God will never allow such a melancholy event to happen.

However great the grounds of fear may be which the righteous feel within themselves, they have abundant reason to “encourage themselves in the Lord their God.”

1. God has bountifully provided even for the ungodly.

The Gospel is “a feast of fat things full of marrow, and of wines on the lees well refined;” and God has “sent out into all the highways and hedges to invite the poor, the halt, the lame, and the blind,” and has commissioned his servants to compel men, by dint of importunity, to accept his invitation. Now has he shown such concern for the wicked, and will he disregard the righteous? Will he not rather “cause the manna to fall around their tents,” and “the water to follow them” through all this dreary wilderness? Yes, he would rather send a raven to feed them, or sustain them by a continued miracle, 1 Kings 17:6; 1 Kings 17:14, than ever suffer their souls to famish.

2. God is especially interested in the welfare of the righteous.

The righteous are God’s “peculiar treasure above all people;” they are even “his sons and daughters.” If they were left to perish, Jesus would lose the purchase of his blood, and the very members of his body. And can we imagine that God will be so unmindful of them as utterly to forsake them? Did he not on many occasions grant mercy to his chosen people for his own name sake, when their backslidings had rendered them fit objects of his everlasting displeasure? Thus then will he still be actuated by a regard for his own honor, and “not forsake his people, because it has pleased him to make them his people, 1 Samuel 12:22.”

3. God has pledged his Word that they shall never lack anything that is good for them.

“Exceeding numerous, great, and precious are the promises which God has given to his people.” He “will supply all their needs, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus; he will give them grace and glory; and will withhold no good thing;” their souls “shall be even as a well-watered garden;” “bread shall be given them; and their water shall be sure.” And will he violate his Word? he may leave his people in straits, as he did the Israelites of old; but it shall be only for the more signal manifestation of his love and mercy towards them. Let them only trust in him, and he “will never leave them, never, never forsake them Hebrews 13:5.”

We shall conclude with a word:

1. Of reproof.

It is certain that many do not “make their profiting to appear” as they ought. To such therefore we must say, “Why are you, being a king’s son, lean from day to day, 2 Samuel 13:4.” Why are you crying continually, “Woe is me! my leanness! my leanness, Isaiah 24:16.” When you should be “growing up as the calves of the stall, Malachi 4:2.” Some part of the blame perhaps may attach to him who dispenses the ordinances among you, as lacking more life and spirituality in his ministrations; yet even this would be no excuse to you, since if your hearts were more spiritual, God would render your mean fare as nutritious as the richest dainties, Daniel 1:12-15. If God should even “give you your desire—yet would he also send leanness into your souls, Psalm 106:15,” while you continued to loath the heavenly manna. Learn then to come with a more eager appetite. Be more careful to digest the Word afterward by meditation and prayer; And look, not so much to the manner in which the Word is preached, as to Christ in the Word; since He is that bread of life which alone can nourish your souls; and which, if eaten by faith, will surely nourish them unto life eternal, John 6:51.

2. Of consolation.

Some may put away from them this promise, under the idea that they are not of the character to whom it belongs. Now, though we would by no means encourage any to apply the promises to themselves in a presumptuous manner, and thereby to deceive their own souls with ungrounded expectations—yet we would not desire that any should refuse the consolation that properly belongs to them. Suppose then that any cannot absolutely number themselves among the righteous—yet, “if they hunger and thirst after righteousness, they are blessed, and shall be filled, Matthew 5:6.” This is the Word of God to their souls; and we would have them expect assuredly its accomplishment in due season. Let them “desire the sincere milk of the word, and they shall grow thereby, 1 Peter 2:2.”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 9:1-6

“Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her food and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. “Let all who are simple come in here!” she says to those who lack judgment. “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”

In the New Testament, parables abound. In the Old Testament, they are comparatively rare. But this comes commended to us by peculiar authority, in that our blessed Lord repeatedly borrowed it, if I may so speak, and adopted it on different occasions, for the elucidating of the truths which he wished to convey. See Matthew 22:1-4. Luke 14:16-17. In order to unfold it to you, I shall notice separately,

I. The feast prepared.

In the Holy Scriptures, the term Wisdom is generally used to signify true religion; but sometimes it is a name given to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is, with good reason, supposed to be characterized by it in the chapter that precedes my text, Proverbs 8:1; Proverbs 8:22-31, and who, I think, is intended by it in the parable before us. He is “the Wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1:24;” and “in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Colossians 2:3;” and, beyond all doubt, he is the person who, in the parables which he himself has founded on this, both furnishes the feasts and sends forth the invitations.

1. By Wisdom, the banqueting-house is built.

Solomon elsewhere speaks of a “banqueting-house,” where he had been accustomed to meet his Savior, Song of Solomon 2:4; and such buildings have been raised by the great and opulent in all ages, for the entertainment of their guests. This edifice, which was built by Wisdom, was supported by “seven pillars;” which I suppose to intimate, that it was constructed with perfect stability, and adorned with the perfection of beauty. And what is this banqueting-house, but the ordinances of divine grace, which are appointed altogether for the setting forth of this feast, and for the accommodation of all who attend upon it? In them there is room for all; and God will not fail, when they are attended as they ought to be, to manifest himself in the midst of them.

2. The feast, too, is prepared by Wisdom.

“The beasts,” the sacrifices, “are killed;” and “the wine,” for the purpose of rendering its flavor more exquisite, is “mingled.” The entertainment is, in reality, a feast upon a sacrifice. And what is that sacrifice on which the whole world may feast, but the sacrifice of Christ, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world?” Precisely such a feast was the Passover, which Hezekiah kept unto the Lord. He kept it for the space of fourteen days; during which time not less than two thousand bullocks and seventeen thousand sheep were sacrificed, and all Judah were feasted, 2 Chronicles 30:22-26. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Passover, is sacrificed for all, and will afford an ample feast for all, not for a limited time only, but through the endless ages of eternity. As for the wine, which is so essential to a feast, what is that but the consolations of the Spirit, of which all shall partake who eat of this divine repast? For “Christ’s body is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed, John 6:55;” and in the ordinances of divine grace, both the one and the other are offered to every man. In fact, this is the very feast which the Prophet Isaiah spoke of as to be established under the Christian dispensation, “In this mountain shall the Lord Almighty make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined, Isaiah 25:6;” and in the ministration of the gospel is this now set forth more amply than if “all the beasts upon the mountains were slain for us, or the cattle upon a thousand hills.”

Let me, then, without further delay, announce to you,

II. The invitation given.

For the preserving of the propriety of the parable, Wisdom, as a Queen, is said to “send forth her maidens.” But Christ, whom wisdom represents, sends forth his ministers to call men to the feast.

The people invited are, “the simple, and those who lack understanding”.

This, I grant, is a humiliating description; and it seems to designate the poor only and the ignorant. But, permit me to say, that it comprehends those also who stand the highest in their own estimation for wisdom and prudence. For who, in the whole universe, betray their folly more than those who “seek to fill their belly with the husks that the swine eat of, while in their Father’s house they might find bread enough and to spare?” Yet this is the very state to which the learned, no less than the illiterate, reduce themselves, while seeking their happiness in the world rather than in God, and in the perishing vanities of time and sense rather than in the substantial blessings of eternity. I appeal to all of you, whether this be not the conduct of all by nature, and whether experience do not prove to all the folly of it? This is well represented in Scripture, as “filling our belly with the east wind, Job 15:2;” and I ask of all, whether such conduct do not merit the imputation cast upon it in my text? I ask, too, whether, to people of this character, the invitation be not most fitly sent? You cannot but confess, however successful you may have been in your pursuit of earthly objects, “in the fullness of your sufficiency you have been in straits, Job 20:22.”

To you, then, is the invitation given.

To you, says Wisdom, “Come and eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.” Your past conduct has involved you in guilt and misery; both of which shall be removed by partaking of the feast provided for you. The sacrifice of Christ was expressly offered as an atonement for your sins; and if you partake of it in faith, your iniquities shall all be blotted out as a morning cloud. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood,” says our blessed Lord, “has eternal life! John 6:54;” yes, he has both a title to it, and the very beginning of it in his soul. As for “the wine that is mingled” for you, not all “the wine in Lebanon” can afford you such consolation and refreshment as the Holy Spirit will to those who receive his gracious communications.

But, of course, you must forsake those habits which you have hitherto indulged, and separate yourselves from those associates who would divert you from Wisdom’s ways. For, “what fellowship can righteousness have with unrighteousness, or what communion can light have with darkness? There is a necessity for you to come out from the ungodly and be separate—if you would have God for your father, and enjoy the privilege of his sons and daughters, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.” The whole course of your life must be changed; you must not only “forsake the foolish,” but “go also in the way of understanding,” approving yourselves worthy disciples of our blessed Lord.

In fact, your whole taste must be changed; you cannot “savor the things of the flesh and of the Spirit” too, Romans 8:5, “you cannot serve God and Mammon” too, Matthew 6:24; or “be the friends of the world and of Jehovah” too, James 4:4. If you come to the Gospel-feast, you must “desire only the things which are above, Colossians 3:1-2,” on which you shall “feast in the presence of your God forever and ever! Matthew 26:29.”

APPLICATION.

Let me now address myself to you, my beloved brethren. I am sent as Wisdom’s servant, as the minister of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, with a message of mercy to every one of you. Let it not be offensive to you to be addressed under the character of those who are here invited. You surely will not deny, that you have sought your happiness in the world, rather than in God. Even though you were the greatest philosophers in the universe, this charge would be as applicable to you as to the lowest of mankind. And, if at this present moment you feel averse to range yourselves under the humiliating terms here accorded to you—then be assured the time is not far distant when you will designate yourselves by this name with bitter emphasis, and, contrasting yourselves with the Lord’s guests, will exclaim, “We fools, counted their life madness, and their end to be without honor; but now they are numbered with the children of God, and their lot is among the saints! Therefore have we erred from the way of truth.”

Let me entreat you now to humble yourselves before God, and to welcome, as especially suited to your state, the invitation which I now bring to you. But that I may be sure to address you in Wisdom’s own words, I will adopt the language of an inspired prophet, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David! Isaiah 55:1-3.” You will find, at the close of the chapter from whence my text is taken, that folly also has her messengers: A foolish and abandoned woman will cry, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here; for stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knows not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of Hell! verse 13-18.” Yes, these invitations are soon and widely followed; while the invitations of Wisdom are scornfully rejected. Truly this is greatly to be lamented; and bitter will be the consequences to those who persist in their folly. Accept the invitations that are gratifying to flesh and blood, and nothing but everlasting destruction awaits you; but accept that which now in Wisdom’s name I deliver, and you shall “live;” “forsake the foolish, and live!”

Gladly would I prevail with you, my friends, before it is too late, and the door of her banqueting-house be shut against you. I have it in commission to “compel you to come in! Luke 14:23.” O, resist me not, but let me by holy importunity prevail with you; so that the blessings of salvation may be yours, when the despisers of our message are wailing in everlasting darkness and despair.

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 8:35-36

“Whoever finds me, finds life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he who sins against me, wrongs his own soul. All who hate me, love death!”

It is common in the prophetic writings to find expressions which really relate to the Messiah, while they apparently speak only of some other person or thing; and while other expressions in the same passage have no proper reference to Him at all. It is impossible not to notice this in the 22nd and 69th Psalms, and in many other places which are quoted in the New Testament as referring to him. The same mode of speaking may be observed in the chapter before us. In some parts of it, true religion seems to be characterized under the term “Wisdom;” but in others, Christ himself. From the 22nd to the 31st verse, the language cannot well be interpreted as designating religion, nor even an attribute of God; it can only be understood of God’s eternal Son, who lay in the bosom of the Father, and before the foundation of the earth rejoiced in the prospect of becoming an inhabitant of this globe, for the salvation of sinful man.

Yet, on the whole, we apprehend, that the exhortation to Wisdom at the beginning of the chapter speaks rather of piety as the proper object of our pursuit. We are sure that this is the general import of the term throughout the book of Proverbs; and that piety, as personified under this name, frequently addresses us. We rather lean therefore to the safe side in our interpretation of the text, than ground upon it any observations which may appear forced, or unwarranted by the text itself.

Two things then we shall be led to notice:

I. The benefit of seeking true wisdom.

Wisdom, whether relating to temporal or eternal things, is never found by chance; it must be sought by persevering inquiries, and be obtained as the fruit of diligent research. To those who do find it, it will be productive,

1. True wisdom produces present happiness.

By “life” we may understand happiness; and then the first clause of our text will exactly correspond with what is more diffusely stated in the third chapter, Proverbs 3:13-18. In this sense the term occurs elsewhere. See Proverbs 22:4. 1 Thessalonians 3:8. Until we have attained true wisdom, we know not what real happiness means, “There is no peace,” says God, “to the wicked.” As for the mirth which the men of this world enjoy, it is only “like the crackling of thorns under a pot;” it blazes for a moment, and then goes out. He who knows perfectly what is in man, says, “Even in mirth their heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness, Proverbs 14:33.”

But when once they have just views of Christ, and are truly devoted to him, they are filled with “a peace that passes all understanding,” and, at times, with “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Now they begin to know what life is, “they truly pass from death unto life.” Their former was little better than a state of mere animal existence; but now they see the true end, and taste the true enjoyment, of life; they participate in a measure, the blessedness of Heaven itself.

We appeal to those who have ever known what it is to “live by faith in the Son of God,” and to feel the constraining influence of his love, whether one hour of “fellowship with the Father and the Son” does not outweigh whole years of fellowship with sin and sinners.

2. True wisdom produces future happiness.

“No favor can we find with God,” until we are brought to the possession of true wisdom, Isaiah 27:11. But instantly on our embracing his dear Son as he is revealed in the Gospel, we are numbered among “his peculiar people,” whom “he has set apart for himself,” and esteems as “his jewels.” Then there is no favor that he will not show them; he will come down and “make his abode with them, and sup with them.” He will “keep them with all the care and tenderness with which we keep the apple of our eye;” and he will administer to them, in every hour of trial, whatever shall be most suited to their necessities, Psalm 5:12.

In the hour of death especially, “when they are going, as it were, through fire and water, he will be with them;” and, on the instant of their release from this mortal body, he will transport them on the wings of angels to his blessed abode, there to behold and participate in his glory to all eternity. But who can form any idea of the blessings he will then bestow! It is sufficient for us to know that his Word is pledged, and that what he has promised, he is able also to perform.

If such is the value of true wisdom, what must be,

II. The folly of neglecting true wisdom.

Sin of every kind is an act of hostility against sound wisdom; and, if the sin is willful, it is an evidence that our hostility proceeds from a rooted hatred of vital godliness. There is the same mutual opposition, and irreconcilable enmity, between sin and holiness, as between darkness and light; they cannot consist together, nor can the love of both find room to dwell in one bosom.

1. If we allowedly neglect true wisdom—then we “wrong our own souls”.

The soul has strong and just claims, which every sinner resists. As being of a higher nature, and endued with larger capacities, than the body, it claims that the body should submit to its authority. As being the only seat of intelligence, it claims that the body follow its guidance. As being immortal, and doomed to spend an eternity in inconceivable happiness or misery—it claims that the body consult its interests.

But when the voice of wisdom is silenced, and sin is permitted to rule in our mortal body—then is the soul wronged in every respect:
its authority is slighted;
its counsel is rejected;
its interest is sacrificed;
it is even made the drudge and slave of the body, to execute its devices and to gratify its lusts!

Who does not see, that if any man, for the gratification of avarice, should resist the natural claims of the body for food and clothing—that he would be justly and universally condemned? And does he act less foolishly, who, in the manner before mentioned, wrongs his soul? Yes rather, is not his folly greater in proportion as his soul is of greater value? Truly this is a just picture of one who sins against true wisdom.

2. If we allowedly neglect true wisdom—then we “love death!”

Can anyone, it may be asked, love death? We answer. No, not for its own sake; but, as connected with sin, he may. There is an inseparable connection between life and holiness on the one hand, and sin and death on the other. Could sin and Heaven be allied, and enjoyed together, surely every sinner would prefer it. But that is impossible. A specific and unalterable option is given us; and every man is perfectly free to choose the one and refuse the other, to adhere to the one and renounce the other. The sinner determines for himself; and by his determination declares his preference; he practically says, “If I cannot have the gratifications of sin without death—then welcome death, welcome damnation! For sin I will have, whatever be the consequence!”

Mark strongly here God’s own appeal. “Why will you die? Ezekiel 33:11 compared with Acts 13:46 and Proverbs 15:32.” Now can one reflect a moment on such a choice as this, and not stand amazed at the folly that determines it? Will it bear an argument? Are not the excuses with which it is veiled—mere vain and empty delusions? And does not every one see the folly of them, the very moment he sets himself to serious consideration? Yet this is the conduct which men call wisdom; but which, if it obtained in relation to worldly affairs, they would call downright madness.

“Suffer now, brethren, a word of exhortation,” while I address myself,

1. To the despisers of true wisdom.

Consider a little more attentively, what it is that you despise. The thing to which you are exhorted is, to seek acceptance with an offended God; to embrace the salvation which he offers us in the Son of his love; and to devote yourselves to him in a way of holy obedience! Is there anything in this that merits hatred and contempt? Is there anything that should make a man choose damnation rather than submit to it? What if an ungodly world has agreed to call it folly—is it therefore folly? Has not God said, “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom?” Is there a saint in Heaven, or on earth, that does not account it wisdom? Yes, is there a soul even in Hell itself that is not now of the same mind?

We go farther still, and ask: Whether those who most deride religion now, will not be convinced of its excellence the very moment that their soul is required of them? “How long then, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?” “Turn at my reproof,” says God, “O you simple, understand wisdom; and, you fools, be of an understanding heart! Proverbs 1:22-23; Proverbs 8:5.” Do not say: “It is too soon for me to seek the Lord.” It is never too soon to be wise; and they who seek the Lord in their youth, have peculiar encouragement from him to do so, “I love those who love me; and they that seek me early, shall find me verse 17.”

2. To those who profess to have found true wisdom.

Men will judge of saving religion, not by what the Bible says of it, but by what they see in those who profess it; and one instance of folly in the Lord’s people will do more to prejudice them against religion, than a thousand good actions to recommend it. I would therefore strongly urge those who profess godliness, to bear in mind how much the interests of religion depend on them.

Real piety consists not in talkativeness or eccentricities of any kind, but in a devout regard to God’s honor and authority, and a wise, prudent, circumspect deportment before men.

It does not approve us in an officious assumption of the duties of others, but in a punctual performance of those which belong to our own place and station, “I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence, verse 12.” The not attending to this declaration has caused much offence in the world; and it befits us to be very careful of casting stumbling-blocks before men, or “causing the way of truth to be evil spoken of.” Let us then “walk in wisdom towards them that are outside;” “giving no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” And while we adopt the resolution of David, “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way, Psalm 101:2,” let us remember by whose strength alone we can effect this; and pray with him, “O give me understanding in the way of godliness!”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 8:27-31.

“I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.”

The Proverbs of Solomon are a rich compendium of moral precepts, suited to men in all the various situations of civil, social, and domestic life. Some intimations indeed there are of Evangelical doctrines; but they are neither numerous, nor distinct; the scope and intent of the author having been, not so much to enlighten the minds of men with respect to principles of religion, as to supply them with a code of sacred ethics, for the regulation of their conduct.

Yet, in the chapter before us, the language is so peculiar, as to have induced the most able commentators to think, that there was in the author’s mind an intentional departure from his accustomed plan, and a designed reference to Christ, the Savior of the world. It is not our object to decide this point, but, rather, to exhibit the passage in such a view, as may render it most conducive to our spiritual improvement.

Let us consider then,

I. What is that wisdom which here addresses us.

The two leading views of it will come under our consideration, if we interpret it as importing,

1. Wisdom personified.

It is evident that, throughout the whole chapter, Wisdom is represented as a person, and it must be spoken of as a person, in order to give scope for such a representation of it as is contained in our text. We beg this to be particularly noticed; because it is the sole ground of the following statement; which, if that circumstance were overlooked, might appear fanciful.

Wisdom was then ever “with God, as one brought up with him.” It is an essential perfection of his nature, attendant on him on all occasions as a counselor, without whose advice nothing was ever transacted from all eternity. God has never done anything from the mere impulse of his own sovereign will and pleasure; whatever he has predestined, has nevertheless been “wrought according to the counsel of his own will, Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:10. Wisdom has presided in all his councils; nor has anything ever been carried into effect without having previously received her sanction.

Wisdom’s deliberations have been very mainly conversant about the affairs of men. God foresaw that man would fall, and, if left to himself, would perish like the fallen angels. But he greatly desired to save man, if only it might be accomplished consistently with his own perfections. Every one of his attributes concurred in the wish; but with some of them there seemed to be claims, which interfered with that object, and which could not by any means be set aside.

Holiness required that its hatred of sin should be fully known.

Justice required satisfaction for the violations of God’s law, and could never be induced to relax its demands.

Truth also desired that its honor should not be compromised.

It had no objection to the exercise of mercy, if only the sacred Word of God might be kept inviolate; but it could never consent, whatever object were to be attained thereby, that the immutable God should be “made a liar, 1 John 5:10.”

In this difficulty, all looked to Wisdom, to know whether she could devise any way, whereby the exercise of mercy might consist with the rights of all the other attributes of God. Wisdom intimated that she had a plan to propose; a plan, whereby Mercy might have free scope for exercise, not only without invading or injuring the rights of any other attribute, but to the great advantage of them all, insomuch that all should be honored to an infinitely greater extent than they ever could have been, if their demands had been satisfied through the destruction of the whole human race.

It proposed that the Son of God himself should take upon him the sins of men, and suffer, as man’s substitute, all that Truth and Holiness had denounced against him, and all that the most rigorous justice could require. Such a sacrifice made to law and justice, to truth and holiness, would put on all of them an honor, which they could never by any other means obtain.

Her proposal, made with infinite delight to herself, was heard with infinite delight by Almighty God. While she was thus, by anticipation, “rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth and her delights were with the sons of men. she was daily God’s delight, and rejoiced always before him.” We may be assisted in our meditations on this subject, by considering a philosopher occupied with the deepest investigations, and crowned with unexpected success; what joyous exultation fills his bosom! how is he ready to proclaim to all the world, “I have found it! I have found it!”

Or perhaps we shall approximate nearer to the point, if we conceive of a physician, on whose skill the life of thousands is depending, discovering an antidote that will arrest the progress of the plague, and a remedy that will restore to health all those who are already infected with it—what pure and holy joy will animate his soul!

But the Scripture itself furnishes us with various illustrations of this important idea; the woman finding the piece of money which she had lost, and the shepherd his sheep that had strayed from the fold, are each represented as calling for the sympathetic joys of their friends and neighbors; and, as these are intended to elucidate the joy which our Redeemer feels in the successful execution of his office, they may well serve to illustrate the ineffable delight which the proposals of Wisdom are represented as exciting in her own bosom, and in the bosom of God.

But we have said that Wisdom may also be interpreted as signifying:

2. Wisdom incarnate.

Most Commentators think that the expressions in our text refer to Christ, who is called “the Wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:24;” and who, as the Logos or Word, declares to men the hidden counsel of the Father.

Of him it is distinctly said, that He “was with God, and was God John 1:1-3 with Hebrews 1:10;” that “He made all things; and that without him nothing was made that was made.” Here then we have the precise language of our text applied to the Son of God, who was from all eternity “in the bosom of the Father John 1:18,” concurring with him in all that ever he planned or executed, John 5:19; John 10:38.

How he was occupied in the concerns of men, is familiar to all our minds. Truly “his delights were with the sons of men,” whom he determined to rescue from perdition, and to “redeem unto God by his own blood.” This was “the joy that was set before him, for which he engaged to endure the cross, and despised all the shame that should ever be poured upon him, Hebrews 12:2.” No sacrifice was too great for him to make. Was it necessary that satisfaction should be made for all the breaches of God’s law; and that the very nature that had sinned should suffer? Jesus willingly engaged to lay aside his own glory, and to assume our nature, in order that he might suffer, and, by suffering in our stead, “make reconciliation for our iniquities.”

In understanding this mysterious office, he was filled, as his Father also was, with ineffable delight. What joy the thought of ransoming our fallen race excited in his bosom, we are told by the Psalmist; for when it was declared by the Father, “with whom the council of peace was held, Zechariah 6:13,” that all creature-sacrifices would be insufficient for the occasion, he instantly replied, “Lo, I come; (I, your co-equal, co-eternal Son, come:) I delight to do your will, O my God! yes, your law is within my heart, Psalm 40:6-8 with Hebrews 10:5-9.”

A corresponding joy sprang up also in the Father’s bosom; as the prophet Isaiah tells us; for in the contemplation of the future accomplishment of this mystery, the Father, looking with infinite delight on his Son who had undertaken the office, and on his people as accepted in and through him, said, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights! Isaiah 42:1.” And, at the time when he bore an audible testimony to his Son from Heaven, it was in these words, “This is that my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased! Matthew 3:17.” Thus, in reference to this great event, it is said in our text, “I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;” and in reference to the same we must understand that declaration of our Lord himself, “You loved me before the foundation of the world! John 17:24.”

Thus, whether we understand the address as made to us by Wisdom personified, or Wisdom incarnate—we cannot but feel a deep interest in all that it has spoken to us, and set ourselves carefully to ascertain,

II. Our duty in reference to it.

Doubtless we should “hearken to its voice,” and with child-like simplicity receive its loving instructions. We should,

1. Delight ourselves in the contemplation of wisdom.

Wisdom generally, wisdom universally, should be the object of our continual pursuit, “through a desire of attaining it, we should separate ourselves, and seek all wisdom, Proverbs 18:1.”

The works of creation should, as far as we have a capacity for such subjects, be investigated by us, in order to excite our admiration of that wisdom by which they were framed.

The order and harmony of the heavenly bodies,
the beauty and richness of this terraqueous globe,
the exquisite workmanship of the human frame,
together with the powers and faculties of our immortal souls, all open to us such inexhaustible stores of wisdom and knowledge, as, if duly explored, will strike with reverential awe the humble inquirer, and fill with devoutest gratitude the admiring soul.

The works of Providence also, if once we are enabled to view them in their mutual relation and dependence, will transport the soul with wonder, and overwhelm it with the deepest sense of gratitude.

No book in the universe, except the Bible, will convey half so much instruction to the mind, as may be gathered from a man’s own experience of God’s dealings with him, especially in the concurrence of his providence with the operations of his grace; and the man who has learned to read this book, and become conversant with its contents, has acquired “secrets of wisdom, which are double, Job 11:6,” yes, which are tenfold greater than any which are known to the merely natural man.

God has said, that “he has abounded towards his people in all wisdom and prudence, Ephesians 1:8;” but “his secrets are with those alone who fear him, Psalm 25:14. Hosea 14:9;” none others are at all able to appreciate his love; that “knowledge is plain only to him who understands, verse 9.”

Our chief attention however must be directed to that adorable Savior, who “spoke as never man spoke.” and in whom his most inveterate enemies could not find a flaw John 8:46. In him we have such lessons of wisdom as the whole universe besides does not afford. In tracing all the circumstances of his life, we should do well at every step to inquire: What answer should I have given? What conduct should I have pursued? And, from such examinations frequently repeated, we shall learn at last, how far we are removed from true righteousness, and how much “folly is bound up in our hearts!”

In a word, we should sit at the feet of Jesus, as Mary did, drinking in, with insatiable avidity, the instructions of Wisdom, and applying our hearts to them as the clay to the seal. “In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! Colossians 2:3.” In Him is revealed to us “the mystery that was hidden from ages and generations,” and “which the angels themselves desire to look into, 1 Peter 1:12;” and the mystery, at the first intimation of which, long “before the worlds were made, the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God, the holy angels, shouted aloud for joy, Job 38:6-7.” No sooner was the commission given to make this known to men, than a host of the heavenly angels left their bright abodes, and came down to earth exulting, “Glory to God in the highest! and on earth peace; good will towards men! Luke 2:13-14.”

These are contemplations worthy of our exalted powers, worthy of our high destinies; and to delight ourselves in them is the wisdom, and the happiness of man.

2. Surrender up ourselves to wisdom’s dictates.

In every duty of life there is need of the suggestions of wisdom. Even good men often act a very foolish part, for lack of a well-regulated mind. Many have no idea of that important truth, “I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence, verse 12.” To “walk in wisdom towards those who are outside, 1 Colossians 4:5,” and to “give no offence either to the Jews, or to the Gentiles, or to the Church of God, 1 Corinthians 10:32”. These things do not come into the contemplation of many, any more than if no such things were required of us, and no such example had been ever set us. But our determination, through God’s help, should be, under all circumstances, like that of David, “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way! Psalm 101:2.”

In fact, there is no true wisdom but that which is practical. The very end of knowledge is practice; and, however deep or exalted our speculations may be, “if we do not walk wisely, we are fools, Ephesians 5:15.” But, in order to carry into effect the lessons of Wisdom, we must “watch daily at her gates, and wait at the posts of her doors, verse 34.” We must bring our views, our desires, our motives, to the strictest scrutiny of the Word. We must apply to everything “the line of judgment, and the plummet of righteousness;” and, above all, we must beg of God to give us “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and to make us quick of understanding in the fear of the Lord Isaiah 11:2-3.” Without this, we shall continually err; without this, we shall inevitably fall. “Hear then the voice of Wisdom, O you children!”

1. Hear the voice of Wisdom, you children in age.

You can never begin too early to listen to the counsels of Wisdom. It is by them alone that you can avoid the snares of a corrupt heart, and of a deceitful world. O! think what dangers are before you! See “what multitudes are walking in the broad road that leads to destruction, and how few there are that walk in the narrow path that leads unto life!” And remember, that “you must reap according to what you sow; if you sow to the flesh—then you must of the flesh reap corruption; but if you sow to the Spirit—then you shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting, Galatians 6:7-8.”

Do not say that you are too young to receive wisdom’s lessons; for she particularly encourages you by expressing a more than ordinary solicitude for your welfare, “I love those who love me,” says she, “and those who seek me early, shall find me verse 17.”

2. Hear the voice of Wisdom, you children in understanding.

The poor, whose intellectual powers have never been expanded by the aid of education, are ready to imagine that it is in vain for them to explore the depths of heavenly wisdom. But be it known to all, that divine wisdom enters, not by the head, like earthly knowledge, but by the heart. Be it known also, that divine wisdom is not acquired by deep laborious research, as human sciences are, but by the teaching of the Holy Spirit; for “the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding, Proverbs 2:6;” and so far are the poor from having any reason to despair of attaining it, that they are by far the most likely to obtain it, because they are more willing than others to be taught of God.

Hence our Lord himself says. “I thank you, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight! Matthew 11:25-26.” Pray then to God to “give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, Ephesians 1:17-18,” and be assured “it shall be given to you, James 1:5,” and you shall be made “wise unto salvation through faith in Christ.”

3. Hear the voice of Wisdom, you children in grace.

You have begun to know the value of wisdom; you have a little glimmering view of those great mysteries, of which we have been speaking. “The day-star has arisen in your hearts,” and you have found “the ways of Wisdom to be ways of pleasantness and peace.” But you must “go on unto the perfect day,” even until Christ himself, “the Sun of righteousness, arises upon you with healing in his wings.”

O seek to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!” Be constant in your attendance on the ordinances of God. Search the Scriptures, and treasure them up in your hearts. Above all, “be instant in prayer” for fresh supplies of the Spirit of Christ; then shall you be guided into all truth; and “the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-fold, as the light of seven days!”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 7:1-4

“My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman.”

Throughout the book of Proverbs, we are strongly reminded of that expression of Paul to Philemon, “Although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love.”

There is an exquisite tenderness in the exhortations of Solomon, addressed as they are by a father to a son. Not that we are to suppose that they were intended only for Rehoboam; they were intended for the people of God, in all ages; and to us, no less than to Rehoboam himself, is the affectionate language of our text addressed.

But indeed a greater than Solomon is here! As mild as the expressions are, they are addressed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is Wisdom itself incarnate, Proverbs 8:22-32,” and his are the counsels which we are so earnestly entreated to treasure up in our minds.

In discoursing on the words before us, we will show,

I. The respect which we should pay to the counsels of Divine Wisdom.

By comparing our text with similar language in the New Testament, we see that by the terms here used we have to understand, not the Decalogue only, but the whole revealed will of God.

1. To whatever the counsels of God relate, they should be treasured up with diligence.

Whatever is of more than ordinary value in our eyes, we lay it up with care in a place of safety; and the more of it we can amass, the richer we feel ourselves to be.

Now there is nothing in the whole universe to be compared with the Scriptures of truth—nothing that will so enrich the mind, nothing that will so benefit the soul. In the great mystery of redemption “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” The precepts too, and the promises, and the histories, and the examples, O! who can estimate them as they deserve? To treasure these up in our minds should be our daily and most delightful employment! Not a day should pass without adding to this blessed stock. We should always furnish ourselves with some fresh portion of scripture on which to ruminate. Not that it is merely in the mind and memory that we are to store up this wealth, but, as Moses tells us, in our heart and in our soul, “You shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul! Deuteronomy 11:18;” this is the proper seat of Divine knowledge; and here should we endeavor to amass the only true wealth, “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

2. To whatever the counsels of God relate, they should be watched over with care.

Nature has made peculiar provision for the eye, so that, by an involuntary and instantaneous motion of the eye-lid, it is preserved from innumerable injuries which it must otherwise sustain. Now with the same care that we guard “the apple of our eye,” we should watch over and preserve the treasures of wisdom, which we have accumulated in our hearts.

Satan is ever laboring to “take out of our hearts the word of life,” as our Lord has told us in the parable of the Sower; and it requires the utmost vigilance on our part to defeat his efforts.

Indeed the heart itself is but too prone to lose its riches through any apertures by which the world has entered; so that we need to “give the most earnest heed lest at any time we should let them slip, Hebrews 2:1.” Besides, if we are not constantly on our guard against “the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,” and other foolish and hateful lusts, we shall find to our cost, that these “weeds and thorns will choke all the good seed that has been sown in our hearts, and will render it unfruitful.” Our care and watchfulness therefore should be incessant, that nothing is permitted to rob us of our good principles, or to weaken their influence on our souls. If, as we are told, God “himself keeps his people as the apple of his eye, Deuteronomy 32:10 and Zechariah 2:8,” surely we should exercise all possible vigilance to keep his counsels, and preserve inviolate his holy commandments.

3. To whatever the counsels of God relate, they should be kept ready for use.

It is not sufficient that we have reduced the counsels of God, as it were, to certain heads, and made memorandums of them in our books, so as to be able to refer to them when occasion requires. We should have them “inscribed on the tablet of our hearts,” so that they may be always at hand, ready to direct and regulate our ways. Conscience, by looking inward, should be able to see them in an instant, and to suggest the line of conduct conformable to them.

Moreover, we should have them “bound also upon our fingers,” so as both to be reminded of them at all times, and be ever ready to carry them into execution. To this effect Solomon explains his meaning, “My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life! Proverbs 6:20-23.”

4. To whatever the counsels of God relate, they should be guarded with the tenderest affection.

With people standing in near and dear relation to us, we are accustomed to live in habits of intimacy, consulting them on any occasions of difficulty, paying considerable deference to their judgment, and easily influenced by their opinions. Now in this light:
we should view the counsels of our God;
we should be familiar with them;
we should consult them on all occasions, and
yield them a willing ascendency over our hearts.

Instead of standing aloof from them as strangers, we should claim, and glory in, our relation to them. We should “say unto Wisdom, You are my sister; and call Understanding our kinswoman.” We should, by our conformity to the dictates of Wisdom, prove, and manifest, our relation to her; and constrain all who behold us to acknowledge that God is our Father, and that Christ, “the Wonderful Counselor,” is our Friend!

To encourage this acquaintance with the Divine counsels, we will proceed to state,

II. The benefits which we shall derive from a due attention to the counsels of God.

In our text itself, the great benefit of complying with the exhortation is stated, in short but comprehensive terms, “Keep my commandments and live!” But in the verses following our text, a particular advantage is insisted on, namely, the being delivered from the snares and temptations to which we are exposed. That we may comprehend both, we would observe, that by our attention to the Divine counsels,

1. We shall be delivered from evil.

“From the way of the evil woman” is particularly noticed, both here and in the preceding chapter; and surely an attention to the counsels of Wisdom will eventually secure us against those temptations which lead captive so great a portion of mankind!

But we need not confine our views to iniquities of one kind only; the advice here given is equally useful in preserving men from snares of every kind. From the inspired volume we learn the folly and malignity of every sin.

The temptations of the world,
the lusts of the flesh,
and the devices of Satan,
are all there exposed! And armor is provided for us, that we may successfully maintain the combat against them.

Our blessed Lord himself, in whom was no sin, drew from this armory the arrows and the shield with which he vanquished the tempter in the wilderness; and from the same source must we also be furnished. Thus David tells us, “How shall a young man cleanse his way? Even by taking heed thitherto according to your word!” “Your word have I hidden within my heart, that I might not sin against you!” Would you then be kept from evil tempers, and evil passions, and evil habits of every kind? Study the sacred records; treasure up in your minds the terrors of God’s wrath as there revealed, and the declarations of his mercy as there promulgated. There see the wonders of redeeming love unfolded to your view, and the blessedness of those who have been monuments of converting and saving grace.

Let every part of God’s Word have its proper bearing on your hearts and consciences, and it shall be effectual for your salvation. Whatever lusts you have hitherto indulged, you shall, through the influence of the Word, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, be sanctified; as our Lord has said, “Sanctify them through your truth; your word is truth!” “Now you are clean through the Word that has been spoken unto you.”

2. We shall be carried forward in safety to everlasting life.

So says our text, “Keep my commandments, and live.” So also says our blessed Lord, “I know that your commandment is life everlasting! John 12:49-50.” We must remember, that it is not of mere morality that we are now speaking, but an impartial attention to the whole revealed will of God. And where this is, God will surely pour out upon the soul his richest blessings. Hear what our blessed Lord says respecting this, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me; and he who loves me, shall be loved of my Father; and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him!” “We will come to him, and make our abode with him! John 14:21; John 14:23.” What unspeakable benefits are these! Favored with such communications, what can we lack?

But it is not in this world only that such people are blessed; for to them are secured all the blessedness and glory of the world to come; according as it is written, “Blessed are those who obey his commandments, that they may have a right to eat of the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city! Revelation 22:14.” This right indeed is not founded on any merit of their own; but solely on the promises of God made to them in Christ Jesus. It is Christ who, by his obedience unto death, has purchased these blessings for us; but it is to his obedient servants only that these blessings shall ever be given. They however shall inherit them; nor shall all the powers of darkness be able to rob them of their promised inheritance. Only “let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, Colossians 3:16,” and you shall never be straitened, Proverbs 3:21-23; Proverbs 4:12, “nor ever fall; but have an entrance ministered unto you abundantly into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! 2 Peter 1:10-11.”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 6:6-11

“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest–and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man!”

Foresight in relation to temporal concerns, though not universally practiced, is universally approved; and it is a ground of thankfulness that those classes of society who have hitherto scarcely known how to secure any little sums which they might save, have now, by the establishment of Banks, encouragement to provide for themselves against the day of adversity.

Happy would it be if a similar zeal were now exerted in relation to the concerns of eternity. But here, alas! there is still a sad indifference among us. The needs which we are sure to feel in the eternal world are not anticipated; nor is the importance of providing for them generally felt. In relation to these things, all around us are cast, as it were, into a deep sleep, from which they need to be roused by the most solemn warnings. This address therefore of Solomon to the sluggards of his day may well serve as as a foundation for a similar remonstrance with those who are yet sleeping in security and sin.

Addressing ourselves to people of this description, we will speak:

I. In a way of humiliating reproof.

Justly does Solomon observe, that “a sluggard is wiser in his own conceit, than seven men that can render a reason! Proverbs 26:16.” The more careless men are about their souls, the more confident they are of their eternal safety. But however confident they may be, they may go and learn wisdom from the lowest insect.

There is scarcely anything in the whole creation from which we may not derive the most valuable instruction. The ox and the donkey, the crane and the swallow, are brought forward by God himself to teach and reprove us, Isaiah 1:3. Jeremiah 8:7; and here we are referred for instruction to the ant. She collects in summer the food that is necessary for her subsistence in the winter. She does it with incredible labor, dragging to her cell grains of corn, that one would scarcely conceive she would be able to move. And this she does “without any guide” to direct her, or “overseer” to watch her, “or ruler” to call her to account. And, that her labor may not ultimately prove vain, she bites off, we are told, the ends of every grain, to prevent it from rotting in the ground.

Go now to the ant, you sluggard, and consider her ways:

1. Consider the ant’s wise foresight.

Has she a time approaching, against which it is needful for her to provide—and have not you? Is there not a time coming, when you must stand in the presence of your God, and give an account of everything that you have done in the body, whether it is good or evil? And have you not now to obtain a righteousness wherein to appear before God, even the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein alone you can ever stand in the presence of a holy God? Have you not a new nature also to obtain, in order to fit you for the enjoyment of the heavenly world? And is not the present, the only time when this provision can be made? If you neglect the present opportunities, will you find them in the eternal world? Is there “any work or device to be executed in the grave, where you are going? Ecclesiastes 9:10.”

If the ant’s work, which relates only to the short transient life of the body, is important—then is not yours, which relates to the eternal interests of the soul, much more important! Go then to the ant, and learn wisdom from her.

2. Consider the ant’s voluntary labor.

She has none to direct her; she is guided by instinct alone. But you have reason to guide you, and to assure you of the certainty and importance of those things which you have not yet seen with your eyes. You have God himself also inspecting everything that you do, and pledged to call you into judgment for it, and to assign you your everlasting portion according to it! Should not you then exert yourselves with all diligence? Are you not convinced, that to prepare for eternity is “a reasonable service”? Yes, that it is, in fact, “the one thing needful?” Will you then grudge your labor? Will you not put forth willingly and habitually all the powers of your souls in this blessed work?

3. Consider the ant’s prudent care.

Is she careful to prevent her labors from ever proving abortive; and should not you prosecute your work to a successful outcome? Yet Solomon justly observes, that “the slothful man roasts not that which he took in hunting, Proverbs 12:27.” Yes, that “his very desire kills him, because his hands refuse to labor, Proverbs 21:25.”

Some kind of pains we all have taken in attending ordinances, and in complying with outward forms; but there we have rested, without any persevering efforts to render those means effectual for the salvation of our souls. We feel somewhat of a general desire after eternal happiness; and with that consciousness of desire we are satisfied, without pressing forward for the attainment of the things desired. Thus is fulfilled in us another declaration of Solomon, “The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, Proverbs 13:4.” If good desires would suffice, the sluggard would get to Heaven as well as others; but if great and persevering exertions are necessary, he will rather forego the prize, than use the diligence necessary for the attainment of it.

In a word, instead of “looking to himself that he lose not the things that he has wrought, but that he receives a full reward, 2 John verse 8,” he allows Satan to take out of his heart the seed that has been sown in it, and to keep him, like the foolish virgins, from providing oil for himself, until it is too late. Say, you sluggard, whether these things be not true of you, and whether you have not need to go and learn wisdom of the diminutive and despised ant?

We will yet further prosecute our address,

II. In a way of solemn warning.

As a man who has no provision independent of his labor, and no disposition to exert himself, must soon feel the pressure of poverty and need—so, sluggard, shall you feel these evils in relation to your soul.

1. Reflect on the dreadfulness of your eternal state.

The consequences of your sloth are coming upon you; they are coming gradually indeed, but irresistibly. “A traveler” comes not to his journey’s end all at once, but gradually, and almost imperceptibly, by many successive steps. So neither will you find the fatal consequence of your sloth all at once; but every day and hour brings them nearer towards you; and that too so clearly, that, if you would stop to examine—then you should see evident symptoms of their approach.

Who has not found, that the longer he lives in any sin, the more he becomes addicted to it, and enslaved by it? The truth is, that as a man by indulging sloth, whether of mind or body, becomes daily more unfitted for exertion. In the same way, the man who is remiss and negligent in his spiritual concerns becomes daily more alienated from God, and more averse to those efforts that are necessary for his salvation, Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 19:15.

The curse which is denounced against him seems so distant, that it will never come; but it is advancing as fast as the wings of time can carry it; as Peter says, “Their judgment now of a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not! 2 Peter 2:3.”

O sluggard! remember this: you may “linger, like Lot in the plain;” but “your judgment lingers not! You may slumber on yet a little while, but your damnation slumbers not!” The time is fast approaching when God will say to you, as to him who hid his talent in a napkin, “You wicked and slothful servant!” and will give orders concerning you, “Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, where shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth! Matthew 25:26; Matthew 25:30.”

These judgments too shall come upon you irresistibly. You well know how entirely a man unarmed and sleeping is at the mercy of “an armed man” who seeks his life. And such will be your state, in the day that God shall deal with you, and visit you for your sins. You may call on the hills to fall upon you, and the rocks to cover you, from the wrath of your offended God; but they cannot perform for you this friendly office. No creature in the universe can help you, “though hand join in hand, you cannot pass unpunished.” Reflect on this, you sluggard! Now you may “puff at God’s judgments;” but before long you will bitterly regret that you did not improve the opportunities afforded to you to escape from them.

2. Reflect also on the vanity of your excuses.

There are none so hardened as to avow a fixed determination never to seek after God; on the contrary, there is in almost all an indistinct purpose to turn unto the Lord at some more convenient season, which they hope is at no very great distance. Hence to those who would rouse them to exertion, they say: “A little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to sleep.” They acknowledge in general terms the propriety, and even the necessity, of exertion; but they wish a little more time for indulgence to the flesh, before they set themselves in earnest to mortify and subdue it.

But what has been the consequence of indulgence hitherto? Are you at all more disposed for exertion now, than you were when first you were bidden to arise? Is your ability for God’s service at all increased by deferring your attempts to serve him? Have you not found, invariably, that procrastination has increased your difficulties, at the very time that it also enfeebled your powers? Do not say then any longer, “There is a lion in the way,” nor plead any longer for delay; but arise and call upon your God, if perhaps time may be yet afforded you to “work out your salvation,” and to “flee from the wrath to come!”

ADDRESS.

1. Those who have never yet been awakened.

Have you no work to do? Or is it a matter of small importance whether it is done or not? Is not the present life the only time for doing it? “How long then, will you sleep, O sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?” Don’t you know, that if you sleep on until this short life be past, you will assuredly awake in Hell? What then shall I say to you? Shall I say to you, as Christ did to his sleepy disciples, “Sleep on now, and take your rest?” No! God forbid. Let me rather say, “Awake you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light, Ephesians 5:14.”

Truly, if you would now, even now, call upon his name, it would not be too late. Whatever you lack, it should be given you. God would give you:
the light of truth to shine into your heart;
the light of joy in his reconciled acceptance;
the light of holiness to attest your acceptance with him;
and the light of glory to perfect your felicity.

While you have the light then, walk in the light, that you may be the children of light.

2. Those who, though in part awakened, are yet disposed to give way to slothful habits.

This, alas! was the case both with the wise and foolish virgins, “they all slumbered and slept.” But let me affectionately guard you against yielding to sloth. It is said, and the very best among us know the truth of it by bitter experience, that “the idle soul shall suffer hunger, Proverbs 19:15.” Who has not heard of the vineyard of the sluggard, where, through inattention, nothing was produced but nettles and thorns? To him is the same warning given as to the sluggard in the text, Proverbs 24:30-34.

Guard then against the excuses which you are ready to make. See the excuses made by the Bride in the book of Canticles; how injurious to her welfare! how destructive of her peace, Song of Solomon 5:2-7. “Watch then, and pray always.”

Had the disciples watched, when they were directed to do it by their Lord, they would never have forsaken him as they did in the hour of his deepest trial. But, if you do not watch and be sober, depend upon it that Satan will prevail against you, and “sift you as wheat.” “Be sober then, and vigilant.” Give not way to drowsiness in your spiritual calling; but “give all diligence to make your calling sure.” And, seeing that you look for a period when God shall come to judge the world, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless. And “What I say unto one, I say unto all, Watch!”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 5:22

“His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.”

The force of habit is well known; it operates as a second nature—so constant is it in its exercise, and so imperious in its demands. There is this difference however in habits of piety—and habits of sin:

Habits of piety are easily lost; but
habits of sin are with great difficulty overcome.

Nor is this difficult to be accounted for:
piety is against the course of nature, and
sin conformable to all of man’s innate propensities.

The motion of piety is a continual ascent;
the motion of sin is downward on a descent.

But it is not merely as a natural consequence that sin, when indulged, has so great a power; there is an additional influence given to it by God himself, as a judicial act, and as a just punishment for indulging it; so that in a judicial, no less than in a natural sense, our text is true, “His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.”

Let us consider,

I. The declaration itself.

“His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.”

In a two-fold view it may be noticed:

1. As a judgment inflicted.

This judgment is inflicted on the whole human race. There is not a sinner in the universe who cannot from his own experience attest the truth of it. Every sin has a power to enslave the mind, and to lead captive him who has indulged it. But we will instance this in some particulars.

The man addicted to drinking previous to the formation of his habit, had perhaps no particular love to strong drink, or desire after it; but he has been drawn into company, he has there acquired a taste for conviviality, and at last, by repeated excesses, he has contracted such a thirst for intoxicating liquors, that he cannot deny himself the use of them, or use them in moderation. He can see his character sinking in the estimation of all the sober part of the community, his health impaired, his fortune injured, his family suffering, and his eternal interests sacrificed; and yet he cannot cast off the wicked habit which he has contracted; his soul is bound with it as with a cord, and he cannot burst his bonds.

In a similar plight is he who has given himself up to the gratification of his lusts and passions. They, at least as far as the mind is concerned, are increased by indulgence, so that every object calls forth desire, and “their eyes are full of adultery, and cannot cease from sin, 2 Peter 2:14.” His very soul, as it were, is sensualized, and, whether sleeping or waking, his imagination roves after the gratification of his sinful appetites.

Nor must I omit to mention the gamester, in whom the text is most awfully verified. Nothing can induce him to abandon his ruinous pursuits. Domestic ties of wife and children have no influence at all. The ruin of himself and family are all suspended on a card or dice. Not even the experience of ruin will reclaim him. Let his losses be repaired again and again—and again and again will he return to the fascinating object, like the moth, and hover round it, until he is consumed!

I have mentioned these instances, as being more obvious and acknowledged; but the declaration is equally verified in the mirthful, the worldly, the profane; yes, and in the superstitious and self-righteous also. They all “feed on ashes; and a deceived heart has turned them aside, so that they cannot deliver their souls, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Isaiah 44:20.”

2. As a warning given.

“His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.”

In this view more especially the declaration in our text is introduced, to guard young men against the temptations to which they are exposed, verse 20. And a most awful warning it is; it shows us how earnestly we should guard against our besetting sins. Every man has some “sin which more easily besets him, Hebrews 12:1,” and by which he is more in danger of being enslaved. Now every man should find out what this peculiar temptation is; and should watch and pray against it; lest, by yielding to it, he provokes “God to give him over to a reprobate mind, Romans 1:28,” and to say, “He is joined to idols; let him alone! Hosea 4:17.”

We should labor to say with David, “I have kept myself from my iniquity, Psalm 18:23;” and, with Job, “You know I am not wicked,” that is, not deliberately and habitually wicked, Job 10:7. We should dread lest that be inflicted on us which is spoken in the text—a judgment far heavier than any other that can be inflicted on us even by God himself, as long as we continue in this present life; because it is a certain prelude to everlasting misery, and the means of augmenting it every day and hour; for, if we are delivered over to our own lusts, we do nothing but “treasure up wrath against the day of wrath,” and accumulate mountains of guilt to sink us deeper and deeper into everlasting perdition! Romans 2:5.

Our employment will be like that of those mentioned by the Prophet Isaiah, who “drew out iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as a cart-rope, Isaiah 5:18;” for, as a rope is spun out continually to an indefinite length by the constant addition of fresh materials, so will our sin be drawn out to an endless extent, until death shall cut it short, and the deserved punishment be given to it.

It would be improper to pass over such a declaration as this without drawing your attention to,

II. The reflections which it naturally suggests.

1. How thankful should we be for the Gospel of Christ!

Heathen are in the bondage above described, and have no conception of any way of deliverance from it. But in the Gospel a Savior is proclaimed; who came on purpose to “preach deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, Luke 4:18.” His power, no lusts can withstand. As Jesus delivered Peter from prison, causing his chains to fall off, and the prison doors to open of their own accord—so he can liberate the slaves of sin and Satan from their bondage, and bring them forth into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Diseases, devils, elements—all obeyed his voice in the days of Jesus’ life; and at his Word the most deep-rooted lusts shall be plucked up, and the most inveterate habits changed! The day of Pentecost sufficiently attests the truth of this assertion. The hands of the men who had crucified him were yet reeking with his blood—yet in an instant were their hearts renewed, and they became altogether new creatures, “the wolf being as harmless as the sheep, and the lion as gentle as the lamb! Isaiah 11:6.”

However inveterate then your habits may have been, despair not; but look to “that Mighty One on whom your help is laid,” and who is able to save “to the uttermost all who come unto God by him.”

2. How watchful should we be against the first incursions of sin!

As we know not “how great a matter a little fire will kindle,” so we know not what evils one sin may introduce. Every evil habit originated in one sin. Judas little thought in what his first act of dishonesty would issue. In the same way, millions, who are now gone beyond the hope of redemption, once thought as little to what a state they should be ultimately brought, as we now do.

Do not say: This angry temper is a light evil. No! It is murder in the seed and embryo; and may terminate in the very act of murder much sooner than you imagine.

Do not say, This impure thought or look is trivial. No! It is incipient adultery; to which it lends, and in which, before you are aware of it, it may soon outcome.

The same I would say of envy, hatred, malice, covetousness, ambition, and the whole catalogue of spiritual lusts! The admission of them into the heart is as is leak in a ship, which will sink it ultimately, if it is not stopped in time. A mariner will not neglect that leak, though it is but small; because he knows the consequences; he knows that if it is neglected, his efforts to preserve the ship will before long be vain and ineffectual.

It is not possible to look around us without seeing, in numberless instances, what dominion the evil tempers of men have gained, and what misery they diffuse throughout their respective families and spheres. Had they been checked in their commencement, how much sin and misery would have been prevented!

If then we would not forge chains for our own souls, let us guard against the first risings of sin. For, whatever we may think, “we shall reap according to what we sow; he who sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting! Galatians 6:7-8.”

3. How constant should we be in waiting upon the Lord Jesus Christ, both in his public ordinances, and in secret prayer!

None but Christ can afford us any effectual help; for “without him we can do nothing, John 15:5.” To him we must carry our every trial, and every temptation; and we must plead with him for help, as the Apostle did, until he answers us, and says, “My grace is sufficient for you! 2 Corinthians 12:9.” Let us never forget that it is in vain to resist sin in our own strength. None but God himself can subdue it in us. “Our sufficiency even to think a good thought, must be from him, 2 Corinthians 5:5.” If he helps us, it is well. “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, Philippians 4:13.”

But if we address ourselves to the purifying of our hearts in our own strength, we shall fail, as the Apostles did, when in self-confidence they attempted to cast out a devil, which “could only be ejected through the influence of prayer and fasting, Matthew 17:21.” Let us look simply to Christ to purge us both from the guilt and power of our sins; and then we shall find that “according to our faith it shall be done unto us, Matthew 9:29.”

Charles Simeon