Proverbs 30:1-2

“The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy; the man spoke unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal, Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man!”

The sayings of the wise and good have in all ages been regarded with veneration, and been treasured up in the minds of men as a kind of sacred deposit, for the enriching and instructing of future generations. We have here a very remarkable saying of Agur the son of Jakeh; to which I would now call your attention. It does indeed, we must confess, appear, at first sight, a rash expression, savoring rather of intemperance than of sound discretion.

But as it was delivered to “Ithiel and Ucal,” who were probably his disciples; and as it was introduced with the word, “Surely,” which marks it as the result of his deliberate judgment; and, above all, it being called “a prophecy,” which determines it to have been inspired of God; we should calmly inquire into it, and examine its import. That such an expression may be uttered by people widely differing from each other in their moral and religious habits, I readily admit; and therefore, in order to prevent any misapprehension, I shall consider the text,

I. As the language of passion.

Sin, however fondly cherished in the heart of fallen man, is no other than folly and madness! So it is described by Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “I applied my heart to know and to search, and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things; and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness, Ecclesiastes 7:25.” And again, “The heart of the sons of men is full of evil; madness is in their heart while they live; and after that they go to the dead, Ecclesiastes 9:3.”

When a person, who has been led captive by sin, comes to discern somewhat of its true character, he is apt to feel indignation against himself, and to reproach himself in strong terms for the folly he has committed. We may well conceive of him as saying, in the language of our text, “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.” But this indignation against himself may be the mere language of passion, and not of genuine humiliation; and it may be distinguished from that which is the fruit of piety,

1. In its object.

An ungodly man may feel strongly, while he has no real humility; he may hate his actions and himself on account of them. But it is not sin that he hates, so much as the consequences of his sin! Nor does he hate all its consequences; he hates it not as defiling to his soul, as offensive to his God, as injurious to his eternal interests; but as destructive of his peace, as degrading him in the eyes of his fellow-men, and as ruinous to his present welfare.

A gamester, who has staked his all upon the cast of dice, and has thereby reduced himself and his family from affluence to want, curses his folly with the most indignant feelings; and so hates himself for it, that he can scarcely endure his very existence. But, if his money were restored, he would do the same again; or, if taught wisdom by experience, he would not refrain from his former habits on account of any regard for God or his own soul, but only on account of the injury that was likely to accrue from them in a temporal view.

The same may be said respecting the votaries of dissipation. When their fortune is wasted by extravagance, and their constitution ruined by excess, they may be strongly impressed with the folly and madness of their past ways; while, if they could be restored to their former affluence and vigor, they would run the very same career again.

Under all the painful consequences of his licentious habits, the debauched can scarcely avoid those reflections which Solomon represents as arising in his mind, “At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly! Proverbs 5:11-14.”

Nor can we doubt, but that in Hell those reflections will be both universal and exceedingly bitter; for the “wailing and gnashing of teeth” which will be there experienced, will arise, in no small degree, from the consideration of the opportunities once enjoyed, but now irrecoverably and forever lost! Matthew 13:42.

2. In its operation.

The indignation of an ungodly man is sudden and transient; and is always accompanied with an incrimination of those who have been in any measure accessary to the evils that have come upon him.

But, in a man of piety, they are the fruit of deep reflection, dwelling habitually in the mind, and always attended with self-reproach.

We may see in the prodigal son a holy exhibition of that which arises from genuine repentance. He does not, under the pressure of his distress, cry out with vehement exclamations, designating his conduct by every term that an embittered spirit can suggest; but he adopts a resolution to return to his father’s house, and there, in measured and contrite language, confesses, “I have sinned against Heaven and before you; and am no more worthy to be called your son!”

Generally speaking, the more violent the expressions are, the less genuine is the contrition from which they flow. The exercise of deep and just feeling is rather in a way of temperate humility, than of vehement and fluent exaggeration. The two kinds of indignation may be easily distinguished by their attendant feelings:
the one is the fruit of wounded pride, and the root of everything that is unhallowed, whether in word or deed;
the other is the offspring of deep contrition for his sin; and either the parent or the child of genuine conversion to God.

Having discriminated, we hope, sufficiently between the expressions of our text as used by people of opposite characters, and shown how to distinguish them when uttered as the language of passion, we proceed to notice them,

II. As the language of piety.

We know assuredly that indignation is a fruit of godly sorrow; for Paul says to the Corinthians, “See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done, 2 Corinthians 7:11.”

And we have seen it operate precisely as in the text, when, according to common apprehension, there would appear to be but little occasion for it. David, seeing the prosperity of the wicked, and not duly adverting to their end, had envied them; and in the review of his conduct he exclaims, “So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was even as a beast before you! Psalm 73:3; Psalm 73:17; Psalm 73:22.”

Nor are such views uncommon to the saints; or rather, I should say, there is no true saint who does not on some occasions apply them to himself.

If it is asked, ‘How can such expressions fall from the lips of a real saint?’ I answer, they necessarily spring:

1. From a view of the holy law under which we live.

While ignorant of the spirituality and extent of God’s Law, we take credit to ourselves for our external conformity to its precepts; and are ready to imagine, that, “concerning the righteousness of the Law we are blameless, Philippians 3:6.” But when we come to see how “broad the commandment is, Psalm 119:96,” that it reaches to the inmost thoughts of the soul, prohibiting even so much as an inordinate desire, and requiring us to “love and serve our God with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength,” we are struck dumb; our towering “imaginations are cast down;” and, like the Apostle Paul, we feel the sentence of death gone forth against us, Romans 7:9, and attaching to us no less for our best deeds, than for the most sinful action of our lives! Job 9:2-3.” Then we become observant of our defects; and, O! how loathsome are we then in our own eyes, Ezekiel 36:31, in the view of that very obedience of which we once thought so highly! It is no wonder, if, with this augmented new of his own deformity, the saint speak of himself in very humiliating and degrading terms.

A person coming into a room at night with a lighted candle, would see but little; if he returned at the dawn of day, he would have a clearer view of all the objects that before were scarcely visible; but, if he entered when the sun was shining forth in its strength, he would discern the smallest specks of dirt, and even the very motes in the air. But would he then conclude that all the dust and dirt which he now beheld had been cast in since his first entrance? No; he would know to what he must ascribe the change in his views, even to the increased light by which he was enabled to take the survey. And so a clearer view of God’s holy Law will give us a deeper insight into our own deformity, and turn the gloryings of self-esteem into the mournings of humiliation and contrition!

2. From a view of that holy God against whom we have sinned.

The least knowledge of God is sufficient to abase us before him; but the more we behold his glorious perfections, the more shall we stand amazed at the coldness of our love to him, and our lack of zeal in his service.

Job, previous to his troubles, was considered as “a perfect man” even by God himself. But when God had revealed himself more fully to his soul, how base did this holy man appear in his own eyes! “Behold, I am vile!” says he. “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes, Job 40:4; Job 42:5-6.”

This will be the effect of all God’s manifestations of himself, whether in a way of providence or of grace. It is impossible to behold God’s goodness, his patience, his forbearance, and not stand amazed at our own sinfulness. “The ox and the donkey” do not appear so brutish as we, Isaiah 1:3; nor “the stork or crane or swallow” so unobservant of the things which we are most concerned to notice, Jeremiah 8:7; and our only wonder is, that it should be possible for God to endure with such patience our great and multiplied iniquities!

3. From a view of the obligations we lie under.

Our love to God will bear proportion to the sense we have of the extent of his mercy towards us in forgiveness, Luke 7:47. But, when we reflect on the means he has used, in order to open a way for the exercise of his mercy towards us, what shall we not account his due? When we consider that he has “not spared even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,” what bounds will there be to our gratitude; or rather, what bounds will there be to our humiliation for the lack of gratitude? It will be impossible for us then ever to satisfy our own desires. If we had a thousand lives, we should devote them all to him who loved us and gave Himself for us, and at his call be ready to sacrifice them all for him. The services which we once thought sufficient will then appear little better than a solemn mockery; so entirely will our souls be absorbed in wonder at the thought of an incarnate God, a crucified Redeemer.

4. From a view of the interests we have at stake.

If only the life or death of our bodies were at stake, we would feel deeply interested in the event; but, when Heaven and all its glory, or Hell and all its misery, are the alternatives before us, one would suppose that every temporal consideration should be swallowed up, and vanish as the light of a star before the meridian sun. But the saint is not always so indifferent to the things of time and sense as he would wish to be. There are times when everything below the sun is in his eyes lighter than vanity itself; but there are, also, times when he finds his heart yet cleaving to the dust, and when his heavenward progress is slow and imperceptible. On such occasions he is amazed at himself; he can scarcely conceive it possible that, with such prospects before him, he should be so stupid and brutish as he feels himself to be. Truly, at these seasons the language of our text will be often in his heart, and in his mouth too, especially if he finds an Ithiel, or an Ucal, who is capable of understanding it.

After viewing this subject, we shall be at no loss to understand,

1. Why it is that saints are often dejected in their minds.

None are at all times alike joyful. Paul says, that “they who have the first-fruits of the Spirit,” no less than others, sometimes “groan within themselves, being burdened, Romans 8:23. 2 Corinthians 5:4.” And so it ought to be.

In the review of their past lives they should be humbled, even as Paul was, when he designated himself as “a blasphemer, and injurious, and a persecutor, and the very chief of sinners! 1 Timothy 1:13; 1 Timothy 1:15.”

And under a sense of their remaining infirmities, it befits them to lie low before God. Behold Paul, when he had preached the Gospel for over twenty years—yet felt so much corruption within him, that he cried out, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death? Romans 7:24.” The image which he here uses is that which has often been realized. He refers to a punishment sometimes inflicted on criminals, by chaining them to a dead corpse, and constraining them to bear it about with them, until they died through the offensiveness of its noxious odors. Such was his in-dwelling corruption to him, even at that advanced period of his life; and such it should be felt by every saint on earth. In truth, there should not enter so much as a ray of comfort into the soul, but from a view of the Sun of Righteousness. It is He alone that can, or ought, to “arise upon us with healing in his wings.” And therefore the Apostle, after the lamentation just mentioned, adds, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:25.”

Do not let this, then, prove a stumbling-block to any; nor let it be supposed, that, because a pious person uses, in reference to himself, terms which a worldly person would not deign to use, he must of necessity have committed any greater sin than others. His humiliation, as we have seen, arises out of the views which he has obtained of holy things; and the nearer his fellowship with God is, the more ready will he be to exclaim with the Prophet, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” That is: I am a leper, in the midst of a leprous and ungodly world! Isaiah 6:5.

2. How far they are from piety who are filled with self-exalting thoughts.

People who have been exemplary in their conduct, and punctual in their religious observances, are, for the most part, filled with a conceit of their own goodness, and confident of their acceptance with God on account of it. But little do they know how odious they are in the sight of God, while they are righteous in their own eyes. It is the Publican, and not the Pharisee, who will be justified before God; and “the sick, not the whole,” that will experience “the Physician’s” aid.

Christianity is not a remedial law, lowered to the standard of our weakness; but a remedy, by which the soul that is sick unto death may be effectually healed. Christ is a Savior; but he is so to those alone who feel themselves lost, and renounce every other hope but him. Bear this, then, in remembrance.

Bear in remembrance, that there are no terms too humiliating to express the state of your souls before God. You have lived as without God in the world, unconscious of his eye upon you; and his address to you is, “Understand you brutish among the people; and you fools, when will you be wise! Psalm 94:8.” This may be offensive to our proud hearts; but it is such an address as we merit, and such a one as it becomes a holy God to deliver.

The particular ground of Agur’s self-abasement was, that “he had not learned wisdom, or attained the knowledge of the Holy One, verse 3.” And have not many among you the same ground for self-abasement? Yes, “There are many among you who have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame! 1 Corinthians 15:34.” Many among you have never yet walked in the ways of true wisdom. Humble yourselves, therefore, for your more than brutish stupidity; and now, as the Psalmist says, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him! Psalm 2:12.”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 29:25

“The fear of man brings a snare; but whoever puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe!”

Our blessed Lord, at the very first introduction of his religion into the world, told his followers, that he had not come to send peace on earth, but a sword, and to set at variance with each other the nearest and dearest relatives. We are not however to suppose that this was the proper end of his religion; it was not the end, but the effect; and it is, and must be, the effect, as long as there shall be a carnal and unregenerate man upon earth!

What, then, must be done by the followers of Christ? Must they draw back, because their carnal friends forbid them to proceed? or must they put their light under a bushel, lest it should offend the eyes of those who behold it? No! They must dismiss from their minds all fear of men, and be faithful to their God at all events; for “the fear of man brings a snare;” which they can only avoid by giving themselves up faithfully to their God.

I. From the words before us, we learn our great danger.

The fear of man is far more general than we are at all aware of.

Ungodly men, who, in relation to all other things, set at defiance the whole world—are yet, almost as much as others, in bondage, in reference to religion. They can set at nothing all religion, without any fear at all; but, to show respect for it, and especially a desire to become acquainted with it, they dare not. They see that there are people whose ministry would prove instructive; but they fear to avail themselves of such a ministry, lest a suspicion should attach to them as leaning towards a holy life, and as inclined to opinions which are generally decried. And, as for cultivating an acquaintance with one of strict piety, however much they may wish, they dare not do it, lest they incur ridicule from their ungodly companions!

People who begin to feel any concern about their souls are immediately beset with this evil principle. They are conscious that the change which is taking place in them will, of necessity, offend their former companions; and therefore they desire to conceal their feelings, and to avoid the rupture which they foresee. Hence they make many compliances contrary to the convictions of their own conscience; and expose themselves to many temptations, which their better judgment would have taught them to avoid. So common is this bondage, that scarcely anyone is free from it. Whatever men’s rank in life is, they are still in subjection to their fellows; yes, the higher their station, the greater, for the most part, is their cowardice.

Nor are established believers free from this thraldom! They do indeed disregard the world; but they are as much enslaved by the maxims and habits of their associates in the church, as ever they were by the world around them. They dare not think for themselves, or act for themselves, according to the convictions of their own minds. They take not their faith and practice from the Scriptures of Truth, but from a standard which rules among them, and from which they are afraid to deviate.

Who would think that Peter himself, bold and intrepid as he was by nature, and still more fortified by grace, should yet yield so far to the prejudice of his Judaizing brethren, as even to endanger the utter subversion of the Gospel, which he had been the honored instrument of first opening both to the Jewish and Gentile world? Yet so he did, through fear of their displeasure.

Who, then, has not cause to acknowledge himself in danger of erring, through the operation of this evil principle?

To all who yield to the influence of the fear of man, it brings a fatal snare!

Thousands it keeps from coming within the reach of spiritual instruction. The fear of that expostulation, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him? John 10:20,” is quite sufficient to intimidate the generality of men, whom curiosity at least might otherwise bring within the sphere of spiritual instruction. And in those of whom better things might have been hoped, the fear of man has wrought, in unnumbered instances, to the production of the most tremendous evils—moral, spiritual, and eternal!

Behold in Peter a dissimulation, which led even Barnabas astray. They, through mercy, were recovered; but many it has led to utter apostasy, and involved in everlasting ruin! In the days of our blessed Lord many were “afraid to confess him, because they loved the praise of men more than the honor that comes from God;” and many who had followed him “went back, and walked no more with him!” In the same way, every age, even to the present hour, have many been turned aside by the dread of persecution! Matthew 13:21, and have “made shipwreck of their faith.” And what the outcome of this is to their souls, we are told; for “the fearful and unbelieving,” no less than “murderers and whoremongers, have their portion in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death! Revelation 21:8.” In truth, our adorable Savior warned his hearers respecting this, from the very beginning; declaring to them at all times, that those who would be ashamed of him, and deny him—would assuredly find him ashamed of them, and would be ultimately denied by him in the presence of his Father and of the whole assembled universe!

Seeing, then, that we are all exposed to this danger, it will be expedient that I point out to you,

II. From the words before us, we learn the only proper effectual antidote to the fear of man.

There is nothing but a regard to God himself that can ever overcome the fear of man; on which account our blessed Lord says, “Do not fear man who can only kill the body, and after that has no more that he can do; but fear him who can destroy both body and soul in Hell, Matthew 10:28.” The same truth is suggested in my text, only in somewhat of a more gentle form, “Whoever puts his trust in the Lord, shall be safe.”

Would we then be delivered from the foregoing snare:

1. Let us put our trust in God, for happiness.

A man who is dependent on the world for his happiness, must of necessity be in bondage to its maxims, its habits, and its votaries. But one whose heart is fixed upon God, and who looks up to God as his portion, feels himself at liberty. It is to him a small matter whether the world frowns or smiles. All that he is anxious about, is, to retain the favor of God, and to have the light of his countenance lifted up upon him. His interest, his reputation, his life may be endangered; but he smiles at the vain attempts of his enemies. They may shut him up from all access of earthly friends; but they cannot deprive him of communion with God; on the contrary, his communications from God are, for the most part, enlarged, in proportion as man’s efforts to distress him are increased. “When God gives quietness, who then can make trouble Job? 34:29.”

2. Let us put our trust in God, for support.

A man, when threatened by earthly enemies, is driven to the Lord for support; and, O! what strength does he find communicated to him in the hour of need! Assured of strength according to his day, the believer disregards the utmost efforts of his persecutors. The furnace may be heated seven times more than usual, or the lions have their appetites whetted for their prey; but his mind is in peace, because he “knows in whom he has believed, and that God is able to keep that which has been committed to him.” Whether he shall be delivered by God from his trials, or be supported under them, he knows not; but he is assured, that whatever be done by his enemies, shall “work together for his good;” and that, in the outcome, he shall “prove more than a conqueror, through Him who loved him!”

3. Let us put our trust in God, for recompense.

To Heaven the believer looks, as his final rest; and in the prospect of that, all the transitory events of time become of no account in his estimation. The crown of victory and of glory is ever in his view; and he knows the condition on which alone it will be bestowed; we must “be faithful unto death, if ever we would obtain a crown of life.” Hence he finds no difficulty in renouncing all that the world can give, and in enduring all that the most bitter persecutors can inflict; because, like Moses, he “looks unto the recompense of the reward;” and, like the “women who refused to accept deliverance from their tortures, he expects a better resurrection.”

Whatever tribulations he may pass through in his way to glory, he feels no doubt but that the glory which awaits him will amply make amends for all! Romans 8:18.

For an improvement of this subject, I will add,

1. A word of caution.

The foregoing opinions, if not received with a befitting spirit, are liable to abuse. Indeed we have often seen, in young and inexperienced people especially, conceit and self-will assuming the garb of religion; and exerting themselves, without control, in opposition to all sound advice, and in defiance of all legitimate authority.

Let me, therefore, be well understood in this matter. Though we are to be on our guard against the fear of man, we are not to set at nothing the counsels of the wise, nor the injunctions of those who are over us in the Lord. In matters of indifference, it is well to consult the judgment and the wishes of those who are in authority over us. It is only when the counsels and commands of men go counter to the commands of God, that we are authorized to set them at nothing; and even then we must conduct ourselves with meekness and modesty, and must not give way to a rude, unmannered, refractory spirit.

This is of exceeding great importance. We cannot too strictly watch against the indulgence of any unhallowed character under the pretext of religion; and if at any time we are constrained to oppose the wishes of our friends, we must order ourselves with such kindness and love, as may leave them in no doubt but that our perseverance is the fruit of real piety, and not the offspring of obstinate conceit.

2. A word of encouragement.

However careful we are, we must expect to incur the displeasure of those who wish to retain us in bondage to the world. But if, as we have reason to expect, our greatest foes are those of our own household—then let us consider how much better it is to have the frowns of men and the approbation of God, than the smiles of men and the displeasure of God. If all the men in the universe were to applaud us, it would be a poor recompense for the loss of a good conscience, whose testimony in our behalf would repay us for the loss of the whole world. In fact, if we inquire into the state of those who uphold each other in iniquity, we shall find that no one of them has peace in his own soul; for, how should they have peace who seek their happiness in the world rather than in God?

Compare, then, your state with theirs; and you will have reason to bless God, even though the whole world is against you. For them nothing remains but “a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation;” for you is prepared an eternal weight of glory, which will be augmented in proportion to the trials which you sustained for God, and the services you rendered to him. Be of good cheer, then; for your trials do, in fact, “turn unto you for a testimony;” and “if you suffer with Christ,” you are assured, by the voice of Inspiration, that “you shall also be glorified together with Him!”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 29:18

“Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he who keeps the Law, happy is he!”

[The following brief sketch is given as a useful subject for a Mission Sermon. The contrast between Heathen in an ignorant and in a converted state would be very striking.]

Throughout the whole Scriptures, we have one unvaried testimony respecting man. We see, in every part:

I. The deplorable state of those who know not the Gospel.

Revelations to the prophets were often made in visions; and hence the subject-matter of the revelation was called their “vision.” Now, where no revelation is, or where, though given, it is not attended to, “the people perish!”

This is the unhappy state of the heathen world, who are constantly represented as dead in trespasses and sins, and as under the dominion of Satan! Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:11-13. Romans 3:19. 1 John 5:19. We have no authority to depart from the plain declarations of Holy Writ.

Still more is this the state of God’s ancient people, while they reject the Messiah, Isaiah 27:11. Hosea 4:6. John 8:24.

But far worse is the state of those who hear, without obeying, the Gospel, John 15:22. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8. Hebrews 2:3. 1 Peter 4:17.

II. The blessedness of those who hear and obey the Gospel.

Our Lord pronounces them supremely blessed, Luke 11:28. And there is somewhat very emphatic in the declaration of it contained in our text.

Those who truly believe in Christ, and live altogether by faith in him, “are happy.” They are happy,
as restored to God’s favor, Romans 5:1,
as enjoying his presence, Psalm 89:5,
as inheriting his glory, Revelation 22:14.

Observe from hence.

1. The importance of missionary exertions. Romans 10:13-15; Romans 10:17.

2. The importance of improving our present privileges.

On the due improvement of them depends both our present and eternal happiness!

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 29:1

“He who being often reproved, hardens his neck,
shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy!”

Awful, most awful, is this declaration; yet is it most beneficial, and worthy of the deepest attention. Many indeed imagine that it is suited only to the dispensation of the Law; but it is no less suited to us under the Gospel. The Gospel does not consist of promises only, but of threatenings also; and Paul himself tells us, that “the day of the Lord will so come as a thief in the night; and that when men are saying, Peace and safety, then will sudden destruction come upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape! 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3.”

But in discoursing on such a subject, we would exercise all imaginable tenderness; and we entreat all who are here present to lift up their hearts to God, and to implore the effectual assistance of his Spirit, that they may be enabled to “tremble at his Word,” and to “receive it with meekness, as an engrafted word, which is able to save their souls.”

There are two things here to which we would draw your attention;

I. The character described.

With much patience, God reproves lost sinners.

In a variety of ways he administers reproof:

At all times he speaks, silently indeed, but powerfully, to men in his Word. Every sin is there depicted in its proper colors, and marked as an object of his righteous indignation. There especially we hear him denouncing his judgments against impenitence and unbelief, “Unless you repent, you shall all perish!” “He who believes not, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him!” There too do we find him requiring of us, that we become “new creatures in Christ Jesus;” and declaring, that “unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” In short, everything that is necessary for us either to know or do, is there revealed; and in every part of it God himself is addressing us day and night.

He reproves us also by his Providence. Every one of his dispensations towards us has a voice, to which we should give heed, and from which we may gain the most valuable instruction. Does he summon to his tribunal a neighbor, a friend, a relative? He says to the survivors, “Prepare to meet your God!” Does he make a severer inroad on your domestic circle, by cutting off the olive branches that were round about your table, or by “taking away the desire of your eyes with a stroke?” He bids you to seek all your happiness in him alone. By every change of whatever kind, he tells you that “this is not your rest.” Nor does he speak less by mercies than by judgments. Every gift is sent to draw you to him as the Giver; and every instance of “his goodness and patience and forbearance is intended to lead you to repentance.”

Further, he reproves us also by his Spirit. Who among us has not often heard his still small voice, saying to us, “Repent?” Who has not felt many checks of conscience, when he was tempted to commit iniquity? These have been no other than the motions of God’s Holy Spirit within us, testifying against sin, and inviting us to serve our God! Genesis 6:3.

But against his reproofs how often have we obstinately “hardened our necks!”

Many will not endure reproof at all; and, if the Word which is ministered to them by the servants of God disquiets their minds, and especially if it strikes at their besetting sin, they will vent their indignation against the faithful messenger who thus disturbs their slumbers.

The reproof given to Amaziah was so reasonable, that one would imagine it could not possibly give offence; yet behold, what resentment it kindled in the infatuated monarch! “Are you mad at the king’s counsel? Forbear. Why should you be smitten! 2 Chronicles 25:15-16.”

Nothing could be more just than the reproof which Jeremiah was ordered to administer to the Jewish people; yet the only effect it produced was, to excite their wrath, and to make them threaten him with instant death, “When Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, then the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, took him, saying, You shall surely die! Jeremiah 26:2-8.”

Herod went further still, and actually put the greatest of all the Prophets to death, for no other fault than that of telling him that he should not persevere in his adulterous relationship with his brother Philip’s wife, Matthew 14:3-10.

Thus it is at this day. Men indeed cannot proceed to such extremities against their reprovers now as they did in former times; but the world’s enmity is the same against all who “testify of it that the works thereof are evil;” and it is owing to the protection of the laws, rather than to any diminution of men’s hatred against the truth, that contempt only, and not death, is the portion of God’s faithful servants!

But it is not only in a way of outward opposition that men manifest their obduracy. Many who externally approve of the faithful ministry of the word, are in reality as averse to it in their hearts. They hear the Word perhaps even with pleasure, as Ezekiel’s hearers did; but they will not do it! Ezekiel 33:31-32.

Say whether this is not the case with many among you; you have had the whole counsel of God declared unto you; but have you complied with it?

Are you truly brought to the foot of the cross, in deep humiliation, in earnest prayer, and in a simple reliance on the death of Jesus as your only hope?

Have you also taken his yoke upon you, so that you are daily and hourly fulfilling his will, and regarding his service as perfect freedom?

Are you dying daily to the world, and living as pilgrims and sojourners, having your citizenship in Heaven, and looking forward to the second advent of your Lord as the consummation and completion of your bliss?

If you are not thus brought to live unto your God, you have not yet complied with his reproofs; and if you are speaking peace to yourselves in such a state, then are you hardening your necks against him. In words indeed you call him Lord, Lord—but while you do not obey the things which he says, you are still among the number of those to whom he will say, “Depart from me! I never knew you, you workers of iniquity!”

Having then seen the character that is described in our text, let us consider,

II. The judgment denounced against him.

What but destruction can await such a character, even “destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power?” Yes, this is the judgment denounced against him; and his destruction.

1. The destruction of the obstinate sinner shall be sudden.

Frequently does God mark by some signal judgment those who have obstinately withstood his warnings and invitations.

The Ante-diluvian infidels, who would not be reclaimed by the ministry of Noah, were swept away, as soon as ever their day of grace was ended.

Likewise were Pharaoh and all his host, when they proudly set themselves in array against the Majesty of Heaven.

Ananias and Sapphira were also made examples of God’s indignation against willful and deliberate sin.

But though death should come upon us gradually, as it respects the body, it may, as far as it respects our preparation for it, be altogether instantaneous. The effect of willful sin is to harden the heart, and to render us more and more indisposed for repentance. It also grieves the Holy Spirit of God, and provokes him to withdraw those gracious influences which he has hitherto given. When delaying our repentance, we are apt to imagine that we shall in a time of sickness have such a favorable opportunity for spiritual exercises, as will abundantly make up for all the time that we have lost; but when sickness comes, we find that we cannot realize all our fond expectations; the state of our bodies perhaps unfits us for exertion; and the indisposition of our mind for holy things in become more deeply rooted, no that we cannot relent, or humble ourselves before God. The Word of God, when we look into it, is only as a sealed book. The instructions we receive, produce no effect. Even during their full enjoyment of bodily health many are given over to final impenitence, so that the ministry of the Word serves only to harden them, and the Gospel itself becomes to them only “a savor of death!” See Isaiah 6:9-10, which is quoted six times in the New Testament. See also Jeremiah 7:23-27.

God gives them over to judicial blindness, and leaves them to harden themselves in order to their more aggravated condemnation. Thus he dealt with the sons of Eli, 1 Samuel 2:25; and thus he has declared he will deal with us, if we willfully reject his tender solicitations, Proverbs 1:24-31; Thus may death come in its most gradual and protracted form, and yet, as far as respects our souls, be as sudden, as if it visited us like a thief in the night.

2. The destruction of the obstinate sinner shall be irremediable.

If once God says to his Holy Spirit, “Strive no longer with that man; he is joined to idols; let him alone! Hosea 4:17″—then the man is in fact left to irremediable destruction. He will live only to “fill up the measure of his iniquities,” and to “treasure up wrath against the day of wrath!”

But at all events, the very instant that death arrests us, our day of grace is terminated!

There is no repentance in the grave.

There is no possibility of passing the gulf that is fixed between Heaven and Hell.

The worm that gnaws the conscience will never die.

The fire that torments the body will never be quenched.

The wrath to come will ever be the wrath to come.

What a fearful thought it is, that of those to whom the Word of salvation is now preached, many will “come at last into that place of torment,” and many, who, like the foolish virgins, once had the lamp of outward profession, and associated with the wise virgins, will, instead of being admitted to the marriage supper of their Lord, be “cast into outer darkness, where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth!”

May the Lord grant that none of you may ever experience this doom! yet it is certain, that if you harden your necks against either the precepts of the Law or the promises of the Gospel, this will be your state forever!

To put you more effectually on your guard, let me ADDRESS:

1. Those who will not submit to God’s reproofs.

The word delivered to you, so far as it accords with God’s revealed will, is God’s, and not ours. We are his ambassadors; and it is He who speaks to you by our mouth. Indeed, whoever he is that gives you the counsels of true wisdom, he is God’s representative to you. Think then, you who have rejected the counsels of your friends, and the admonitions of your ministers, what will be your reflections in the last day; when you call to mind the instructions once given by your parents, the advice offered by some pious friend or relative, the warnings delivered by God’s servants in the public assembly—how distressing will it be to see that they were only the means of aggravating your eternal condemnation! Oh! let me prevail with you, before it is too late. Consider, I beg you, “Who ever hardened himself against God, and prospered?” Today then, while it is called today, harden not your hearts, lest you provoke God to swear in his wrath, that you shall never enter into his rest!

2. Those who are inclined to obey his will.

Truly this disposition is of the Lord, “it is he who has given you either to will or do.” Bless him, then, that the destruction which has come suddenly and irremediably on so many millions of mankind, was not permitted to come on you in your unawakened state. And now let your hearts be right with him; let every word of his sink down into your ears, and be obeyed without reserve. Seek an entire conformity to his mind and will. “Forget all that is behind, and reach forward constantly to that which is before.” Seek to “grow up in all things into Christ, your living Head.” Make more and more use of that remedy which is in your hands. Apply the precious blood of Christ more and more to your souls, to purge you from your sins; and seek more abundant supplies of the Spirit of grace, to transform you into the Divine image. So shall you be happy now in the prospect of your inheritance, and be progressively rendered fit for your full possession of it.

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 28:26

“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
but whoever walks wisely shall be delivered.”

The Holy Scriptures speak plainly, and without reserve; they know nothing of that squeamish delicacy that keeps men from designating things by their appropriate names. They declare sin to be sin, and folly to be folly, without considering what the pride of man will say to the fidelity that is expressed.

Now this gives an exceeding great advantage to ministers; for though it does not sanction rudeness, or indelicacy, or inattention to the feelings of mankind—it does authorize a “great plainness of speech” in all who deliver the messages of God to a sinful and self-deceiving world. Indeed, by universal consent, a greater freedom of speech is admitted, even by the most fastidious in our public addresses, than would be palatable in private converse; nor will any be offended with us, if we declare authoritatively, and without any palliating modifications, what God has said, and what we know to be true, and what therefore we must affirm—that “he who trusts in his own heart is a fool.”

In confirmation of this plain and solemn truth, I will show,

I. What is the conduct here reprobated—trusting in our own heart.

Man, when he fell from God, renounced not only his allegiance to him as his Maker, but his trust in him as his God. Since that time, man desires to be a god unto himself, and places his reliance rather on his own inherent powers, than on the Majesty of Heaven.

1. Fallen man relies on his own wisdom and understanding.

This is true, especially in reference to all that concerns the soul. Every person conceives that he knows what saving religion is, and how he is to obtain favor at the hands of God. The most careless of men stand, in this respect, on a footing with the most thoughtful and serious; every one is alike confident that his opinions are just; and he holds them fast, with a degree of assurance which the most studious habits would scarcely warrant.

Some, however, will admit the Scriptures to be the only true standard of religious sentiment; but then they suppose themselves to be perfectly equal to the task of extracting from them the mind of God. Unconverted men feel no need of divine teaching. They are not conscious of the blindness of their minds, and of the bias that is upon their hearts on the side of error. Hence they will take some few particular passages which favor the prejudices they have imbibed; and on them they will build, as securely as if it was impossible for them to err!

2. Fallen man relies on his own purposes and resolutions.

Every man has, at some time or other, thought with himself, that it was desirable for him to be prepared for death and judgment; and most people have formed some faint purposes at least, if not a fixed resolution, that they will amend their lives at some point in time, and prepare for their great account. In some imminent danger, or under some distressing occurrence, the purpose may have been formed with a view to a speedy change; but, in general, the convenient season is looked for at somewhat of a distant period.

But the power to turn to God is doubted by none. The sufficiency of man to execute his own purposes and resolutions is never questioned. Every one supposes that he shall be able to effect whatever his judgment shall direct, and his necessities require. As for any need of divine assistance for these things, men have no idea of it. Their own strength is equal to the performance of all that they judge necessary for their salvation; and therefore they may safely defer the great work of their souls to any period which it may suit them to assign.

That I may dissuade you from such vain confidence, I proceed to state,

II. The folly of trusting in our own heart.

Even in relation to earthly things a proud confidence in our own judgment and strength is a mark of folly; but in reference to the concerns of the soul it is folly in the extreme. For,

1. Trusting in ourselves robs us of the benefit we might receive from trusting in God.

This is particularly intimated in the words immediately connected with my text, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool; but whoever walks wisely shall be delivered.” Now here the “walking wisely” is put for trusting in God, rather than in ourselves; and the person who so conducts himself, “shall be delivered” from those evils into which the self-confident must fall.

Indeed the very honor of God is concerned to leave us, that we may reap the bitter fruits of our own folly. If we succeeded in effecting our own deliverance, we would become proud and ascribe all the glory to ourselves. But God has warned us, that, if we provoke him thus to jealousy, we shall lose the benefits which, by trusting in him, we might have obtained; and bring on ourselves the very evils which, by trusting in him, we might have escaped, “This is what the LORD says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD (to trust in ourselves is a departure of heart from God). He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit!” Jeremiah 17:5-8.”

2. Trusting in ourselves ensures beyond all doubt, our ultimate disappointment.

If ever any man was authorized to trust in himself, methinks Peter and the other Apostles were, in relation to their desertion of their Lord, in his lowest extremity. In the fullness of his own sufficiency, Peter said, “Though I die with you, I will not deny you. And so likewise said they all.” Yet, behold, no sooner was their Master apprehended, than “they all forsook him and fled!” And Peter, the most sell-confident of them all, denied him with oaths and curses.

Thus will it be with all of us; however firm our resolutions are, they will prove only as wax before the fire, if they be made in our own strength. We need, indeed, only look back and see what has become of the resolutions we have already made, that:
“we would turn from this or that sin;
we would mortify this or that propensity;
we would give up ourselves to God in newness of life.”

Alas! alas! how have these purposes vanished, as smoke before the whirlwind! And though we may think to profit by experience, and to become more steadfast in consequence of our former disappointments, we shall only live to prove with still greater evidence, the folly of our own ways, and the truth of that inspired declaration, that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked! Who can know it?”

3. Trusting in ourselves will keep us from discovering our error, until it is past a remedy.

Tell people what God says of their ways, and they will not believe it. Every one thinks himself safe; and holds fast his persuasion, in spite of all the admonitions that can be given him. The Rich Man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day, would have deemed anyone very uncharitable who would have warned him of his approaching end. He would have found an abundance to allege in his own defense; and would not have believed that so inoffensive a life as his could ever issue in such misery as was denounced against him! His five brethren, who succeeded to his wealth, and followed him in what they esteemed so befitting their situation in life, were equally secure in their own minds, and equally averse to think themselves liable to God’s displeasure; nay, so averse were they to admit such an idea, that, if their deceased brother’s wish had been granted, and one had been sent from the dead to warn them of their danger, they would not have believed his report. Hence, like him who had gone before them, they held fast their delusions, until, one after another, they all came into the same place of torment! Each, at the instant of his own departure, saw the danger of those who were left behind; for, as they would not believe Moses and the Prophets, their ruin was inevitable, and their misery sure.

Precisely such is our state and conduct. We will trust in our own hearts, and deny the necessity for trusting in the Lord alone for salvation; and the probability is, that we shall never be undeceived, until we come to experience what now we will not believe. And are not they who pursue such a course justly denominated fools? If a man would not be persuaded that the leaping down from a lofty precipice would hurt him, and would desperately put it to the trial, and break all his bones—would anyone be at a loss to assign an appropriate name to him? Yet would he be wise, in comparison with one who, in defiance of all the warnings of Holy Writ, will trust in himself rather than in God!

See, then, from hence:

1. How desirable is Scriptural knowledge of one’s self.

Respecting gross offences, men cannot be ignorant of their condition before God; but respecting the state and habit of their minds, especially in relation to the object of their trust and confidence—they are almost as ignorant as new-born babes. People will not inquire; they will not examine; they will not even suspect that they may be wrong. In truth, they will not believe that their self-confidence is so criminal as the Scriptures represent it, or that any danger can await them on account of it.

But, my dear brethren, I beg you to remember, that the declaration in my text is the Word of the living God, and shall surely be found true in the end. I charge you, therefore, to examine carefully into this matter.

See whether you have just views of the deceitfulness of the heart. See whether you feel so fearful of its delusions, that you determine never to take its report of anything without comparing it with the sacred records, and imploring direction from God that you may not err.

Be assured, that, until you are brought to renounce all dependence on yourselves, and to depend only on the Lord, you are not, you cannot be, in a state of acceptance with God; for, if he pronounces you to be fools, he will surely deal with you according to your proper character.

2. How necessary is a saving knowledge of Christ.

Until we come to know what provision God has made for us in the Son of his love, we shall of necessity continue guilty of the folly which is here reprobated. But when once we are assured that there is another in whom we may trust, and who possesses in himself all the fullness of the Godhead, we are encouraged to look beyond ourselves, and to place our confidence in him. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is that person, who is sent of God for that very end, and “is of God made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” Here, then, we have all that our necessities can require. By this, all temptation to creature-confidence is cut off; for who would lean upon a broken reed, who has Omnipotence for his support? Or who would build upon the sand, who can have for his foundation “the Rock of ages?”

Seek, then, I beg you, the knowledge of this Savior. Beg of God to show you what an inexhaustible fullness is treasured up for you in him; and how impossible it is that you should ever fail, if only you trust in him. Once begin in truth to “live by faith in the Son of God,” and you “shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end!

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 28:20

“A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.”

The apostle Paul has told us that “the love of money is the root of all evil; and that many, while coveting after it, have pierced themselves through with many sorrows! 1 Timothy 6:10.” In truth, the effects of this principle on the people in whom it dwells, and on all connected with them, are beyond all conception bitter and injurious. On the other hand, an indifference to the love of money greatly elevates and ennobles those in whom it is found; and conduces, in a very eminent degree, to their happiness both in this world and the next.

This appears to be the precise import of our text, as it stands connected with the words which follow it. But we need not so limit its use. It contains a general truth, which will afford us much profitable instruction. Taking it in this more enlarged sense, I will endeavor to show,

I. Who are they that answer the description here given us.

Nehemiah, speaking of his brother Hanani, says, “He was a faithful man, and feared God above many;” and he assigns this as his reason for appointing him to superintend the repairs of the city of Jerusalem; since he might be fully depended on for a conscientious discharge of his high office, Nehemiah 7:2. From hence, then, we see who they are that are entitled to the character of “faithful men.”

1. The godly are faithful to their convictions in things relating to God.

There is in every man, under the Christian dispensation, a conviction that he is a sinner who stands in need of mercy; that God has revealed to us in his Gospel the way in which alone he will dispense mercy; and that, as responsible beings, who shall soon stand at the judgment-seat of Christ in order to be judged according to our works, it is our duty and our happiness to be seeking for saving mercy in God’s appointed way.

Now, if a man is faithful to his convictions respecting these things, we may justly call him a faithful man; but, if he neglects God, and pours contempt upon the Lord Jesus, and disregards his eternal interests, and labors in every possible way to silence the remonstrances of his own conscience—is he faithful? No indeed! He is a traitor to God and to his own soul. If he is truly upright before God, he will give to the concerns of his soul and of eternity the attention they demand.

2. The godly are faithful to their engagements in things relating to man.

Without supposing any express compact voluntarily entered into between man and man, there is of necessity a mutual obligation lying upon every man to perform the duties of his place and station. As husbands or wives, parents or children, masters or servants, magistrates or subjects—all of us have some line of conduct prescribed to us; and, as members of one great body, are bound to perform our proper office for the benefit of the whole. Every person feels this in relation to others; and would account himself very injuriously treated, if any should violate towards him the duties of their station; and, consequently, every one must owe to others the treatment which he himself claims at their hands.

Now, a faithful man considers this, and will labor to do unto others as he, in a change of circumstances, would think it right that they should do unto him. But if a man consults nothing but his own interests and inclinations, and makes his own will the only rule of his conduct, can he be called “faithful?” Is he not as much bound to observe the commandments of the second table as those of the first? His obligation to both the one and the other of them is unalterable; nor can either the one or the other in any wise be dispensed with. Piety towards God, and morality towards man, must go hand in hand. Neither of them can supersede the other; nor can either of them exist without the other; and he who is faithful in one, must of necessity be faithful in both.

For the encouragement of such characters, I will proceed to state,

II. What are the peculiar blessings reserved for the faithful.

Truly “the faithful man shall abound with blessings!”

I might here enumerate thousands of blessings, if time would admit of it; but I will specify only three:
the approbation of God;
the testimony of a good conscience;
and a blessed hope of immortality and glory!

But how shall I describe these blessings?

1. The approbation of God: “In God’s favor is life; and his loving-kindness is better than life itself, Psalm 30:5; Psalm 63:3.”

2. As for the testimony of our own conscience, and the witness of God’s Spirit with ours, that we are upright before him, man can have no greater joy on earth than that! 2 Corinthians 1:12, Romans 8:16.

3. And who can adequately declare the blessedness of a soul that apprehends God himself as his portion, and all the glory of Heaven as his inheritance!

But it is the peculiarity and exclusiveness of this portion which we are chiefly called to notice.

To the faithful man these blessings are given; but to him also are they limited; for they are peculiar to him, “and a stranger intermeddles not with his joy, Proverbs 14:10.” Let the man who is unfaithful to his convictions or to his engagements say what he knows of these blessings? If he speaks the truth before God, he has no experience of them whatever in his own soul. Indeed, it is impossible that he should have any sense of them as already imparted to him; since, if God is true, no one of them belongs to him, “he has no part or lot in anyone of them;” they belong to the faithful man—and to him alone!

Application:

1. What is the proper scope and tendency of the Gospel.

It is surely intended to effect a change, yes, an exceeding great change, both in the characters and states of men.

But what does it effect in their character? Does it make them hypocrites? No; but faithful both to God and man.

And what does it effect in their states? Does it deprive them of comforts, and make them melancholy? No; but it makes them to abound with blessings, both in time and in eternity.

O that you could be prevailed upon to view the Gospel in its true light, and to embrace it with your whole hearts!

2. What bitter self-condemnation awaits the impenitent and unbelieving man.

You have now the blessings of time and sense. But what are they, in comparison with those that await the faithful man? Even here your portion is far inferior to his; but what will they be in the eternal world? Truly, you will all find, before long, that to gain the whole world with the loss of your own souls is a sad exchange! May God make you wise in time, that you may not have to deplore your folly to all eternity!

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 28:13

“He who covers his sins shall not prosper; but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy!”

The subject of repentance offers nothing for the gratification of “itching ears.” But it must not on that account be overlooked; since, if less interesting than some other subjects on the score of novelty, it yields to none in point of importance.

Repentance is the first act whereby a sinner returns unto his God; and it is an act for which the most eminent saint has occasion from day to day; insomuch that in him it assumes rather the character of a habit than an act. In the more grown Christian, it is the warp, while every other grace is the woof; whether the colors interwoven with it is grave or mirthful, this pervades the whole piece, and is, as it were, the foundation of all the rest!

For the advancing of this work in all our souls, I will show,

I. The folly of covering our sins.

To conceal our sins from the all-seeing eye of God is impossible!

Yet there are various ways in which men attempt to cover their sins.

Sin, though it cannot be hidden from God, may be covered from ourselves:
by denial,
by excuses,
by forgetfulness.

Sin may be covered by denial.

Many, though walking in the habitual violation of the plainest duties, will deny that they commit any sin at all. As “the adulterous woman,” of whom Solomon speaks, “eats, and wipes her mouth, and says, I have done no wickedness! Proverbs 30:20;” so these, in gratifying their sensual appetites, think that they commit no more evil than if they had merely satisfied the demands of hunger and thirst; and, in their minds, one sinful indulgence is but a prelude to another, whenever opportunity and inclination concur to call for it.

People of this description, if they receive only a distant intimation of their state, are ready to reply, even against God himself, just as Cain did, after murdering his brother Abel, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I know not; am I my brother’s keeper! Genesis 4:9.”

Thus, rather than they humble themselves before God, they will deny their accountability to him, saying, “Our lips are our own; who is Lord over us? Psalm 12:4.” But this denial of their guilt will avail them nothing. God will reprove them as he did Israel of old, Jeremiah 2:23-24. This is a fine image to illustrate the insatiable avidity with which the wicked follow their own lusts and passions; and will surely visit them with his heaviest indignation! Jeremiah 2:31; Jeremiah 2:35.

Sin may be covered by excuses.

Others cover their sins by endeavoring to mitigate the guilt of them.

Thus did Adam and Eve in Paradise.

Thus also did Saul, after sparing the king of the Amalekites, and the spoil which he had taken, instead of destroying them utterly according to the direction which he had received from the Lord. He first of all asserted that he had executed the divine command; and that being disproved by the lowing of the oxen, he vindicated himself, asserting, that, in as far as he was implicated in the affair, he had acted under the influence of the people, whom he could not restrain, and dared not to resist! 1 Samuel 15:13-15; 1 Samuel 15:20-21; 1 Samuel 15:24.

Thus it is also that the generality are acting all around us. They cannot actually deny that what they are doing is contrary to God’s revealed will, but they are quick to offer excuses:

they are so circumstanced, that they cannot on the whole act otherwise than they do;

the current of the world is so strong against them, that they cannot resist it;

and, if they err, the fault is rather in those who have led the way, than in themselves, who have only gone with the stream.

Sin may be covered by forgetfulness.

But perhaps the most common way of covering sing is by letting them pass altogether unnoticed. Many are not altogether satisfied that their ways are right; but they go on without much thought, and presently forget anything which may have made a slight impression on their minds. Forgetting their sins, they suppose that God has forgotten them also. Of such people God complains, “They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness! Hosea 7:2.” Very beautiful is the description which God gives of such people, by the Prophet Jeremiah, “I hearkened and heard, but they spoke not aright; no man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle, Jeremiah 8:6.” The horse is unconscious of his danger; and so are the mass of ungodly men, “it is a sport to them to commit iniquity;” and, provided it is not of such a heinous nature as to violate the usages of the place wherein they live, they say, “No evil will come unto us! Jeremiah 5:12.”

But all who thus attempt to cover their sins are guilty of the extreme folly.

They “can never prosper.” They may have temporal prosperity as much as others; but in their souls they cannot prosper, Job 31:33.

They cannot prosper in this world.

They can have no peace with God or in their own consciences; for God has said, “There is no peace to the wicked!”

They can have no victory over sin; for God will not interpose to deliver them from bonds, which they themselves are pleased with.

They can have no delight in holy ordinances, either in the public assembly, or in their secret chamber. They may, like Ezekiel’s hearers, be pleased with hearing a man that can play well upon an instrument, Ezekiel 33:31-32; but they can have no fellowship with God; for “what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness, or light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14.”

They can have no bright and cheering prospects of the eternal world; for they have no evidence within themselves of their acceptance with God, nor any “fitness for the inheritance of the saints in light.”

Much less can they prosper in the world to come.

There the impenitent and unbelieving will meet their deserved recompense. No joy awaits them there.

They did not seek heavenly glory, and therefore they shall not find it!

They came not weary and heavy laden unto Christ; and therefore they have no part in the rest which he alone can give.

They did not humble themselves before God; and therefore they can never be exalted by God.

Let us now contemplate, on the other hand,

II. The benefit of true repentance.

True repentance consists of two parts:

1. A confessing of our sins.

Confession is of absolute and indispensable necessity. We never can humble ourselves aright without it. Nor ought we to rest in mere general acknowledgments; we should search out our sins; we should say, “Thus and thus I have done!” We should go farther, and enter into the particular aggravations of our sins, in order the more deeply to affect our own hearts, and to fill our minds with self-loathing and self-abhorrence.

Not that God needs to be informed; he knows all our iniquities, and all the circumstances with which they have been attended. But by spreading them all before God, we give the more glory to him as a God of infinite mercy and compassion; at the same time that we prepare our own minds for a due reception of mercy at his hands.

2. A forsaking of our sins.

If we hold them fast, it is a clear proof that our repentance is not genuine. Nor must we forsake them merely as a man parts with a limb, which, if not amputated, would destroy his life. We may indeed take into our consideration the danger arising from them, as our Lord tells us in the case of “a right hand or right eye,” which, if retained, would plunge us into everlasting perdition! But we must regard them as odious, and hateful, and abominable; and long for deliverance from them as we would for deliverance from the most loathsome disorder.

These two, a confessing, and forsaking of sin, must go together. Supposing we could put away our sins for the future, it would still befit us to bewail those which are past; and, if we bewail them ever so bitterly, still must we not rest without gaining the victory over them, it is the union of them both that marks true penitence.

Where such repentance is—there God will bestow his richest blessings.

It is said in a subsequent part of this chapter, that “a faithful man shall be blessed.” And this is true of all who deal faithfully with their own souls and with their God, in bewailing and mortifying their most secret corruptions. This is strongly asserted by all the inspired writers. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon! Isaiah 55:7.” To such both the faithfulness and the justice of God assure a perfect remission of all sin! 1 John 1:9-10. Nor will God delay to manifest his love, when once he sees our souls truly humbled for sin. The self-condemning publican was justified even before he left the spot where his confessions were made, Luke 18:14.

David speaks of the same truth as realized also in his experience. While he forbore to humble himself, he was kept in a state of darkness and misery; but “as soon as he began to confess his sins unto the Lord, the Lord forgave the iniquity of his sin, Psalm 32:3-5.”

And need we say what “mercy” God will grant to penitents in the last day? Surely all the manifestations of his love which he gives to them in this world, are but as a twinkling star compared with that full splendor of the Sun of Righteousness, which in that day every contrite soul shall enjoy. The joy of the Father over the returning prodigal, with all the music, and feasting, and dancing—are but faint images of what shall be realized in Heaven over every true penitent through all eternity!

From hence we may learn,

1. Why it is that men know so little of spiritual prosperity.

Repentance is a work to which we are very averse! If we did but occasionally set apart a day for solemn fasting and prayer, and set ourselves more diligently to the great duty of humiliation before God—we would have more delightful visits from him, and richer communications of his grace to our souls.

2. How painful will be the self-condemnation of all who perish!

The promise in our text will then be remembered with unutterable shame and sorrow. What a reflection will it be: “I might have obtained mercy, but would not seek it;” God said to me, “Only acknowledge your iniquity, Jeremiah 3:12-13;” but I would not deign to acknowledge it. Truly, the easy terms on which salvation might have been obtained, will form the bitterest ingredient of that bitter cup which the impenitent soul will have to drink to all eternity!

3. What obligations we owe to the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is through him, and through him alone, that repentance is of any avail. There is nothing in repentance that can merit forgiveness; all the merit is in Christ Jesus—even in his obedience unto death; it is that which cancels all our guilt; it is that which purchases our title to the heavenly inheritance. While therefore we confess and forsake our sins, let our eyes be directed to Him as our only hope, even to him, “in whom all the seed of Israel shall be justified, and in whom they shall glory.”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 28:11

“The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that has understanding searches him out.”

Proverbs are, for the most part, very obscure; they are intended to convey an abundance of instruction in a small space; and the truths contained in them are almost always such as escape the observation of unthinking men, and such as militate against their most received opinions.

That the rich have greatly the advantage of the poor in reference to knowledge in general, must be confessed; for they have leisure time, which the poor cannot command; and instruction, which the poor cannot obtain.

Hence it is generally supposed that the rich have the same advantage in reference to divine knowledge. But this is by no means true. On the contrary, the poor have, in reference to divine knowledge, the advantage over them. And this is what Solomon affirms, in the words before us, “The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that has understanding searches him out.”

In support of Solomon’s assertion, I will show,

I. That the poor have really the advantage of the rich in reference to divine knowledge.

Elihu, intending to incriminate Job, observed, “Great men are not always wise, Job 32:9.” And if this is true in relation to the affairs of this world, much more is it so in reference to the concerns of eternity Nor indeed are the poor always wise in this respect; yet have they, on the whole, the advantage of the rich.

1. They had the advantage in the days of old.

Look at those who received the testimony of our blessed Lord. It was said with a kind of triumph, “Have any of the rulers and of the Pharisees believed on him? John 7:48.” Whereas we are told, on the other hand, that “the common people heard him gladly, Mark 12:37.”

And such was also the experience of the Apostles; it was chiefly among the poor that their ministry was attended with success; as Paul observes, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him! 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.”

2. They have also the advantage at this day.

It was to be one mark of the Messiah’s advent, that “to the poor the Gospel should be preached, Matthew 11:5.” By them, too, was the Gospel to be received, while by the rich it should be rejected and despised. Nor did our blessed Lord merely affirm this, but he accounted it a fit subject of praise and thanksgiving, “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! Matthew 11:25-26.”

And now look around, and see if it is not thus at this day. Who are they that value the Gospel? Who are they that attend it, wherever it is preached with effect? Some, indeed, there are of the wise and rich; but very few in comparison; so few, that if a man of wealth and learning show a decided love to the Gospel, he is regarded almost as a phenomenon; and that, too, no less by the Church than by the world itself.

The great mass of religious people are of the poorer class; so that at this day, no less than in the apostolic age, when that appeal of the Apostle James is made to us, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him, James 2:5,” there is but one answer that can be given to it; we must say: It is even so; it is from among the poor, and not from among the rich, that God has formed his Church; it is “of unhewn stones that his altar is made, Exodus 20:25;” and “of these very stones that he has raised up children to Abraham, Matthew 3:9.”

Seeing, then, that what we have asserted is an unquestionable fact, let us,

II. Account for it.

We might be satisfied with referring it, as our blessed Lord does, to the sovereign will of God, “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight, Matthew 11:26,” should be quite sufficient for us. But we may trace the fact to natural causes.

The rich, from the very circumstance of their elevation in society, are under considerable disadvantages, beyond what are experienced by the poor:

1. The rich are more blinded by prejudice (preconceived opinions).

Into the minds of the higher orders of society prejudices are instilled from their earliest infancy. Religious people are kept at a distance from them; religious books are taken out of their hands; and religious opinions are branded with every epithet that can render them odious. For one word that would lead them to God, a hundred are spoken to draw them away from him. Let them betray a love to earthly trifles, and no one will offer a sentiment to turn them from such an evil way; but let them betray a decided love to heavenly things, and multitudes will exert themselves in every possible way to divert them from so dangerous a path. Hence their prejudices are all on the side of evil and of the world.

And how great the effect of prejudice is, may be seen in the adherents both of Judaism and Popery. One would imagine that the superstitions both of the one and of the other must give way before the light of the New Testament; but prejudice, as has been said, has neither eyes nor ears. Truth has no force, and argument has no power, when set before one whose mind is filled with preconceived opinions. The Apostle says of the Jews, that “to this day a veil is upon their hearts; so that, when Moses is read to them, they cannot see the true scope of his instructions, 2 Corinthians 3:14-15.”

And precisely thus it is also with the rich, when the Gospel is preached to them, “Their eyes are blinded; and they cannot discern” the truth of those things which are proposed to their consideration, 2 Corinthians 4:4.

But the poor are, comparatively, but little subjected to this influence. People take not so much pains to prejudice the minds of the poor; and they are left more to think and act for themselves. Hence, when truth is proposed to them, they are more open to conviction, and more easily brought under its power. And this is one reason why even the “publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom before the Scribes and Pharisees!”

2. The rich are more enslaved by cultural customs and etiquette.

The rich, amidst all their boasted liberty, are the truest slaves that the world contains. If negroes are afraid of the scourge of their masters, so are the rich afraid lest they should be subjected to the lash of censure among their equals. Let an opportunity of spiritual instruction be afforded to them, they would be afraid to avail themselves of it, if it were offered at a place not frequented by the rich, or by a person not approved among them. Even though in their hearts they would be glad to hear the instruction, they dare not go over the line prescribed by custom and fashion, lest they should bring upon themselves some reproach. They would be ashamed to be found reading the Bible; and would be in perfect horrors if they were discovered weeping for their sins. True, a rich Papist would not blush at being known to follow the superstitious usages of his Church, because other rich people both approve and follow the same superstitions; but a rich Protestant would not dare to spend a day in fasting and prayer, because the rich of his own community pour contempt on piety, and on the means by which piety is advanced in the soul.

But the poor are more free to follow the dictates of their conscience; and when they “have a spiritual understanding,” they will follow them; they will not be content to “continue in the broad road, because of the many who walk there; or to desert the narrow path, because there be but few who find it, Matthew 7:13-14;” they are more independent of the opinions of the world; and are prepared to say with Joshua, “Let others think or act as they please, I will serve the Lord! Joshua 24:15.”

3. The rich are more deluded by pride.

The rich, on account of their wealth and influence, have great deference paid to their opinions. The flattery which they receive is extremely pleasing to them; and they soon begin to think that they are indeed as wise as their fawning sycophants represent them to be. Hence they become very confident in their own opinions, and cannot bear contradiction upon any subject. They suppose, too, that they are as competent to judge of religion as of any other subject; and will lay down the law upon the subject of divine truth as confidently as if they had the wisdom of Daniel or Paul.

But the poor man, who has been taught of God, sees at once how ignorant these people are on those subjects on which they presume to dogmatize with such unblushing confidence. The proud rich man will tell us how erroneous it is to represent our fallen nature as so depraved; and what a licentious doctrine that of salvation by faith alone is; and that a life of entire devotedness to God is no better than wild fanaticism or puritanic hypocrisy.

But “the poor man, that has understanding, searches him out;” he has within himself the evidence of those truths which the conceited man decries. John says, “He who believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself, 1 John 5:10;” and this internal evidence is more to him than all the assertions which conceit can dictate or arrogance maintain.

He knows his own depravity;
he feels his need of the Savior;
he tastes the sweetness of true religion;
and from God he inherits a blessing, Matthew 5:3.

While the rich despiser of his faith receives nothing but woes at the hand of his offended God! Isaiah 5:21.

Improvement.

1. Do not envy those who are rich in this world.

Truly they are encompassed with snares, and exposed to great dangers.

The advantages which they possess are very trivial; (what necessities has the richest man beyond food and clothing, which the poor possess as well as they?)

But their disadvantages are very great; so great, that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” Remarkable, in this view, is that advice of Solomon, “Labor not to be rich; cease from your own wisdom, Proverbs 23:4.” The errors here pointed at are almost inseparable from each other; and every one who is truly wise will be on his guard against them both.

2. Seek to be “rich towards God!”

That is true wisdom; and the more you possess of spiritual riches, the more truly humble you will be before God. Indeed, a poor pious man is, in God’s estimation, as high a character as exists on earth! When God’s only-begotten Son became incarnate, this was the character he assumed. Seek to be conformed to him, and you need not desire anything beyond. Nothing is of any value without piety; nor can anything add to piety, when it fully occupies the soul! Philippians 3:7-8.

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 28:5

“Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand all things.”

There are, in the Holy Scriptures, broad, and, if I may so call them, sweeping expressions, which, if taken in their strict and literal sense, have not so much as even the semblance of truth. Yet they are not liable to be misunderstood, because every sincere reader will of necessity supply the restrictions which are necessary for a just interpretation of them. For instance: no one who read the words of the above verse, would suppose that Solomon ever intended to assert that all who sought the Lord were at once brought to the knowledge of all arts and sciences, and to an acquaintance with all the languages of the earth.

As we do with all Scripture, every expression must of necessity be restricted either by the subject of which it treats, or by the context in which it stands.

The words before us are used in a way of contrast with those which precede them. The writer has just said, that “Evil men do not understand justice;” that is, they do not understand what they are doing, or what they ought to do, or the true end and scope of God’s dealings with them. But those who seek the Lord are well instructed in these things; they may be as ignorant of worldly things as any other people; but of things relating to their spiritual and eternal welfare they have a discernment which no ungodly man either does, or can, possess. Taking the word’s with this restriction, I shall,

I. Confirm the sentiment.

Here I might enumerate a great variety of particulars, such as the evil of sin, the beauty of holiness, the glory of Christ, which a spiritual man alone can truly apprehend. But, as the expression is broad and comprehensive, so shall my illustration of it be; so that the contrast between the spiritual and carnal man may more forcibly appear. Of those, therefore, who seek the Lord, I will say:

1. The genuine Christian understands the true state and character of the world around them.

That everything bears the appearance of some great change that has been wrought upon it, is obvious to all. The very elements bear this stamp upon them; as does also the whole creation, animate and inanimate, rational and irrational. No one can conceive of the world, or anything in it, as having preserved that degree of perfection in which it was originally created. The ungodly therefore, as well as others, are sensible that there is a great deal of disorder in the world.

But the godly man alone sees this in any degree according to its real extent. He sees that the whole universe is up in arms against Almighty God, under the command of that wicked fiend, who, having himself rebelled against his Maker, is laboring to bring every creature into a participation of his crime; and who, having succeeded in this enterprise, is justly called, “the god of this world.” He sees that this contest is carried on, not by those only who are sunk in open profligacy, but by the most moral and sober of mankind; who, in fact, are as much “alienated from God” as others, and have their own “minds as much at enmity with him” as any other people upon earth.

He sees, in a measure, what men ought to be, and what they are; and that all, without exception, are “living unto themselves, and not unto their God.” The different orders of men are, in his eyes, only like different parts of one great army; differently dressed indeed, and differently employed; some under the very garb of friends, while others are arrayed as open and determined foes; but all are acting, in their respective places, for the establishment of Satan’s kingdom, rather than of Christ’s.

This, I say, the godly man sees, in perfect correspondence with what Paul has declared, “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understands; there is none that seeks after God; they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one! Romans 3:10-12.”

2. The genuine Christian understands the real happiness of man.

The world at large conceive of this as consisting in temporal enjoyment. Pleasure, riches, and honor are looked upon as the great sources from whence happiness must flow; and where these are not eagerly coveted, there is something of a temporal nature substituted in their place; some fond conceit, or a mere state of carnal ease, devoid either of any strong emotions, whether of pain or pleasure.

But the godly man knows that there is no genuine happiness but in God:
in a sense of his acceptance by God,
in a performance of his will,
in a prospect of his glory.

There is in his views, and those of an ungodly man, a most perfect contrast with respect to this matter; each coveting what the other despises, and each regarding as contemptible what the other desires. Our blessed Lord’s words will put this matter in the clearest light. See Luke 6:20-26.

The rich, the mirthful, the honored—are by the ungodly regarded with admiration and envy; by the godly, these things are regarded with pity and compassion.

The poor weeping and persecuted saint, on the contrary, is by the ungodly despised; while the godly desires the experience of such a one with the fondest delight.

In a word, while to the inquiry, “Who will show us any good?” the ungodly man says, ‘Give me a supply of food, and wine, and oil;’ the godly man pours out his soul in that petition of the Psalmist, “Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon me! Psalm 4:6.”

3. The genuine Christian understands the proper tendency of all that God is doing in the world.

God is seen both in his Word and works; and both in the one and in the other he appears to an ungodly world—to obstruct, rather than to advance, the happiness of his creatures. The Word is too strict in its requirements to suit our fallen state; and the dispensations of his Providence are calculated only to embitter life by continual troubles or bereavements.

Far different from these, however, are the opinions of a godly man. The whole inspired volume, whether it promises or threatens, prohibits or enjoins, is in the godly man’s eyes a fountain of good, springing up to everlasting life! And all the diversified afflictions which arise, are regarded by him as blessings in disguise; as messengers sent to “humble us, and to do us good at our latter end,” by weaning us from things visible and temporal, and stimulating us to lay hold on those which are invisible and eternal!

As an ignorant novice may dread a cross-wind, as calculated only to retard the vessel in which he is embarked—the experienced mariner will welcome it, as filling all his sails better than a wind that is the most direct. In the same way, while the ungodly man sees afflictions only as calamities which he would most avoid—the godly man welcomes them from God’s hands, in the assured hope that “his light and momentary afflictions will work out for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory! 2 Corinthians 4:17.”

Thus, to go no further, it sufficiently appears how much clearer insight the godly man has into God’s Word and works, than the ungodly man can pretend to. And now let us,

II. Account for this fact.

I readily concede, that, in point of natural talent or acquired learning—the godly man may be inferior to others. But in spiritual discernment—he is superior to the wisest philosopher on earth. Does anyone inquire how this should be! I answer:

1. The genuine Christian has God himself for his teacher.

All God’s people “are taught by him;” and it is in consequence of their “having heard and learned from the Father,” that they attain to a knowledge which no other person can possess, John 6:45. Were I to say that “the Spirit of God opens the eyes of their understanding,” and “brings them out of darkness into marvelous light,” I would say enough to justify all the assertions which I have made; nor would anyone have a right to ask from me an explanation of the process by which this mysterious work is accomplished.

Yet I think that the mode of divine teaching may be in some little measure comprehended by means of a suitable and familiar illustration. There are different ways in which an object which is obscure may be rendered visible:
one way is, by bringing it nearer to us;
another is, by removing intervening obstacles;
another, by shining stronger light upon it;
and another, by strengthening the organs of vision to behold it.

In the same way, without entering into a minute consideration of all these particulars, we may observe, in general, that God’s methods of instructing us by his Spirit are somewhat analogous to these; in that he brings home with power to our souls the truths which we hear, and inclines our hearts to embrace them. The telescope, which brings distant objects to our view, and the microscope, which enables us to discern things which are too small to be seen by the naked eye—make no difference whatever either in the objects themselves or in the organs whereby we perceive them. The things themselves, and our faculties also, all remain the same, whether the instruments are used by us or not. In the same way, there is no difference in the truths which are heard by different people, or in the capacity of those by whom they are perceived; the difference is in the manner in which the truths are presented to the mind; and if we, by instruments of human contrivance, are able thus to bring to the sight of men things that are invisible to the naked eye—then we may well suppose that God is able to bring home to the souls of men truths which the unassisted mind is unable to apprehend.

But I think we may get a juster view of this, by considering how it is that the imperfections of our sight are remedied in common life. When we have an indistinct vision of objects before us, it is for the most part owing to this; through an excess or defect of convexity in our eye, the object before us either falls short of the retina, or goes beyond it; and the use of glasses is, by a suitable medium to bring the object on the retina, so that it may be distinctly impressed thereon, in all its just symmetry and proportions.

In the same way, the Spirit of God, by giving to us “an honest and a good heart,” imprints upon the tablet of our souls the truths, of which, without his aid, we could have no just perception; and thus we are enabled to understand what others are not able to discern. And thus is fulfilled what John has said, “The spiritual man judges all things; yet he himself is judged of no man; for who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ,” and therefore are qualified to judge both ourselves and others! 1 Corinthians 2:15-16.

Now, I the rather dwell on this, in order to remove from the minds of objectors the idea that we lay claim to anything like miraculous inspiration. We do indeed say, that God alone can enable us to discern the things of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 2:12; but we say, also, that he does this through the use of our own faculties, under the direction and influence of his Spirit; and thus “he reveals to babes and sucklings the things which he has hidden from the wise and prudent! Matthew 11:25.”

2. The genuine Christian has an inward experience of the things which he knows.

The apostle John affirms this very thing, “He who believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself, 1 John 5:10;” that is, he has in his soul a distinct perception of those truths which he has received through the medium of his understanding. And this also, I think, may, through a familiar illustration, be made perfectly intelligible to our minds.

We know that our senses are given us for the purpose of discerning the distinctive excellencies of everything around us. It is not sufficient that one faculty alone be brought to bear upon the object that is set before us; we must exercise upon everything that very faculty which is pre-eminently formed to discover and appreciate its excellence.

Suppose we see, for instance:
the sun, without feeling its beams;
or a flower, without having our smell regaled by its fragrances;
or honey, without tasting its sweetness;
or a singing bird, without hearing his melodious notes.

It is obvious that we can form but a very inadequate notion of these things, for lack of an acquaintance with their chief excellencies. In like manner, we cannot judge of a diamond by the touch, when its brilliancy has never been submitted to our sight. It is through the apprehending of everything by its appropriate sense, that we attain just and adequate perceptions of it.

In the same way, the Apostle tells us, that the godly man “has all his senses exercised to discern good and evil, Hebrews 5:14;” and hence it is, that having within himself a perception of them which no other man can enjoy, he possesses also an evidence which no other man can attain.

Now this test may be applied to everything that is of a spiritual nature; and the perception arising from it is fitly called “a spiritual discernment, 1 Corinthians 2:14.” And by this, I say again, “we understand all things;” as John also has told us, “You have an anointing of the Holy One, and you know all things, 1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27.”

Here is contained all that I have spoken; namely, the extent of the knowledge possessed by God’s people, and the means by which they are enabled to attain it: “We know all things,” because God himself is our teacher; and by the unction poured out, that is, by the “eye-salve which he puts upon our eyes,” he gives us the actual perception of everything in our own souls, Revelation 3:18, and, consequently, the clear and proper understanding of it.

Methinks you are now ready to inquire,

1. How shall I attain this spiritual understanding?

I answer: Not by mere study, even of the Scriptures themselves; but rather by “seeking after God” in spirit and in truth. This is the particular point suggested in my text, “Those who seek the Lord understand all things.” You will remember what our Lord has said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God, John 7:17.” This is that which I have spoken of before; it supposes that there is in us that “honest and good heart,” which alone receives the Word aright, and alone enables us to “bring forth fruit with patience, Luke 8:15.”

I would not depreciate books of human composition, and still less the Scriptures of truth; but we must never forget, that “though Paul should plant, and Apollos water—but it is God alone who can give the increase! 1 Corinthians 3:5-7.” In fact, this is the reason why many hear the Gospel for years without any saving benefit to their souls; they will not humble themselves before God, and seek for mercy through Christ, and give themselves up unreservedly to God; and therefore they remain forever without any true understanding of the word, and any sweet experience of its power. You must first be melted by it; and then you will be “poured into its mold,” and attain, by means of it, that knowledge of God which is life eternal!

2. How shall I manifest my spiritual understanding to the world?

If “God have given you an understanding to know him, 1 John 5:20,” then show it, not by a fond conceit of your own attainments, or a contemptuous spurning of others as blind and carnal; but by a holy life and conduct, such as none but those who are taught of God can maintain. If you know more than others, you should be prepared to answer that question, “What do you do more than others? Matthew 5:47.”

“The tree must be known by its fruit;” and, if you have received a superior illumination in your mind, you must “walk worthy of that high distinction,” and “shine as lights in a dark world.” If the Lord, by his Spirit, have written his Word upon your hearts—then must you show forth that Word in your lives, and be in the world as “epistles of Christ, known and read of all men! 2 Corinthians 3:2.”

Charles Simeon

Proverbs 28:4

“They that forsake the Law, praise the wicked; but such as keep the Law, contend with them.”

Man, as a social being, has an influence on those around him; and his actions should be considered, not merely as they affect himself, but, in their social aspect, as tending to make an impression upon the minds of others. In this point of view, a great measure of responsibility attaches to us, far beyond what, at first sight, we would be ready to imagine. Our good or evil conduct operates as an example, and approves a similar conduct in others; so that, in our daily actions, we, though unconscious of it, are doing good or evil to an unknown extent. This is proclaimed in the words before us, “They that forsake the Law, praise the wicked; but such as keep the Law, contend with them.”

From these words I shall be led to show the effects of piety and impiety on the surrounding world.

I. The effects of IMPIETY on the surrounding world.

Whatever be men’s line of conduct, they must, of necessity, “have pleasure in those who pursue the same, Romans 1:32.” Those they will of course choose for their companions; and if for no other reason—yet in their own vindication they will approve of and applaud their ways. The proud will commend the proud, and “call them happy Malachi 3:15;” as will the worldling also “bless the covetous, whom God abhors Psalm 10:3.”

Indeed, it may be laid down as a general rule, that if only you “do well to yourself,” by studying your own ease, interest, and honor—then “all men will praise you” as wise, and worthy of imitation, Psalm 49:18. It is a matter of course that “the world will love its own John 15:19.”

This, however, is a very partial view of our text; the true sense of which lies much deeper. The praise which an ungodly man will give to those who are like himself, is bestowed not only occasionally with the lips, but uniformly and without intermission in the life. A man who refuses submission to the will of God, and “forsakes his Word,” does by that very act clearly declare to all around him:

1. That obedience to God’s Law is unnecessary.

He will acknowledge the Scriptures to be a revelation from God; and would be greatly offended, if his belief in that revelation were questioned. But his faith in Scripture is nothing more than a speculative assent; he regards not the authority of God in it; and by his contempt of that authority he says, in fact, that a submission to it is unnecessary.

The language of the heart and of the life is interpreted in this way by God himself, “You have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord Almighty! Malachi 3:14. “And this construction is just; for what a man avows to be unnecessary for himself, he must be understood as maintaining to be unnecessary for others.

2. That not even the Gospel itself entails any obligation upon us.

Many who profess to believe the Gospel, and to make it the ground of their hope towards God—yet feel no constraining influence from all its wonders of love and mercy. They practically say, ‘True, the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, and “died the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, 1 Peter 3:18.” But what has this to do with the regulation of our lives? We need not be “brought to God” in this world; it will be quite sufficient to be brought to him in the world to come; and we may be sure, even from this very mercy given unto us, that God will accept us, even though no change shall have taken place in our hearts and lives. He has sent his Son indeed, as we are told, “to bless us, in turning every one of us from our iniquities, Acts 3:26;” but we need not be anxious about experiencing any such effect of the Redeemer’s mission; we may live to ourselves, and obtain his favor, as effectually and as certainly as if we lived entirely for him.’

3. That the way of wickedness is preferable as it respects this present world.

Finding pleasure only in the things of time and sense himself, he encourages the same worldly taste in others. For, for what end “has God given us all things richly to enjoy,” if we are not to enjoy them?

As for a compliance with the precepts of Scripture:

It is obvious that it must require continual self-denial; and what happiness can there be in that?

It must detach us, also, from those who are most able and willing to administer to our happiness; and how can that operate, but to our disadvantage?

As for repentance, and holy exercises of every kind—they may be very good in a dying hour; but to a person in health they can be a source of nothing but gloom and melancholy.

Thus he sanctions the ungodly in the whole of their conduct, and encourages them in all the delusions by which they are misled.

4. That there is no punishment from God in the world to come.

This necessarily follows from all the rest; for, if he really thought that God would execute his threatenings against the violators of the Word, he would be more attentive to his own ways. But he persuades himself that God is too merciful to punish anyone in the eternal world; or, at all events, for such slight offences as he commits; and, by his open contempt of God’s threatened judgments, he says to all around him, that they have nothing to fear, since “the Lord will do neither good nor evil. Zephaniah 1:12.”

The exact description of these people is given by the Psalmist, when he says, “In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies. He says to himself, “Nothing will shake me; I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.” His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue! Psalm 10:4-7.”

The very reverse of this is the influence of the godly.

II. The effects of PIETY on the surrounding world.

The man who forsakes the Word, praises the wicked; but the man who keeps the Law, contends with them. He does this,

1. By the silent testimony of his life.

A godly man is like “a light shining in a dark place.” However unobtrusive his conduct may be—it forms a contrast with that of all around him, and especially with that of those who move in his sphere of life.

If he is young, his sobriety is a reproach to all the giddiness and folly of his youthful acquaintances.

If he is of a more advanced age, his zeal for God reproves the worldliness and indifference of his most respected neighbors.

Whether we view his abstinence from sin, or his practice of holiness—he equally casts reflections on the great mass of mankind.

“They are of the world, and speak of the world. He is of God, and both speaks and acts for God, 1 John 4:5-6.”

“He is not conformed to the world” in any of its vanities, Romans 12:2.

“He comes out from the world, and is separate; and will not so much as touch the impure thing! 2 Corinthians 6:17.”

He endeavors so to walk in the world, as to “keep his garments clean, Revelation 16:15,” and undefiled with any of the world’s abominations.

He is even “crucified to the world, and regards it as a man would who was suspended on a cross, and looking for a speedy death, Galatians 6:14.”

At the same time he gives himself to holy exercises; and determines, with God’s help, to fulfill every duty, as in the presence of his God. He shows:
that he has other views, other desires, other pursuits, than the world has any conception of;
that he belongs to another world;
that his citizenship is in Heaven; Philippians 3:20;”
and that, “though in the world, he is not of the world, even as the Lord Jesus Christ was not of the world! John 17:16.”

Now all this, of necessity, attracts notice, and constrains all who behold him to say, “If he is right—then we must be wrong.” The effect of his conduct is precisely like that of Noah’s, when he built the ark. It is said of Noah, that “being moved with fear, he prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, Hebrews 11:7.” How did this act of his condemn the world? He was, it is true, “a preacher of righteousness;” but it was not so much his preaching, as his practice, which was here said to condemn the world.

His faith condemned their unbelief;
his fear condemned their security;
his obedience condemned their disobedience.

He needed not to say anything; his conduct spoke sufficiently; and the consciences of the beholders made the application.

Thus it is, in a measure, with every godly man; he is “an epistle of Christ, known and read of all men, 2 Corinthians 3:3.” The ungodly world may shut their eyes against the light of God’s written Word; but they are forced to see the life of the godly man, whether they will or not; and in him they see what is the line of conduct which God requires, and how far they are from walking according to it.

That the world consider themselves as condemned by the godly, is evident, from the indignation which they manifest when the light of God’s truth is made to shine before them. They instantly endeavor, by every possible means, to extinguish the light, or at all events to induce the godly to put their light under a bushel, and to hide it from their eyes. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed! John 3:19-20.

They will reprobate the opinions of the godly; but they would never concern themselves about the opinions of the godly, if they could but induce them to alter their conduct. It is their conduct that reproaches them, and that forms the real ground of their indignation against them. “If you were of the world,” says our Lord, “the world (whatever your opinions might be) would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you! John 15:19.”

Let piety enter into any family among us, and we shall see a fulfillment of that word, “Do you think that I came to send peace on earth? I came not to send peace, but a sword! Matthew 10:34-36.”

2. By the open avowal of his opinions.

A faithful servant of God, in whatever line he moves, will not be ashamed of Christ, but will “confess him openly before men, Matthew 10:32.” This he feels to be a bounden duty. He does not wish to make a parade of his religion; but he is commanded to “let his light shine before men, Matthew 5:16;” and not only “not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but, when opportunity occurs, to reprove them, Ephesians 5:11.” Hence, though he is cautious “not to cast pearls before swine, who would only trample them under their feet, Matthew 7:6,” he is “ready to give to every inquirer a reason of the hope that is in him with meekness and fear, 1 Peter 3:15.” Nor will he be afraid to reprove sin, where he has any hope that his admonitions will be well received.

“We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition! 1 Thessalonians 2:2.” Not fearing the face of man, but declaring, before all, and without reserve, “the whole counsel of God! Acts 20:27.”

Though he moves in a private sphere, he will exert his influence, so far as it extends, for the suppression of evil, and for the diffusion of piety through the world. This indeed will raise up enemies against him; for men will “hate him who reproves in the gate, Isaiah 29:21.” They hated our blessed Lord principally on this account; as he himself told them, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil!

John 7:7.”

It was Micaiah’s reproofs which incensed Ahab against him, “I hate Micaiah because he does not speak good concerning me, but trouble! 1 Kings 22:8. And it was the faithfulness of John, in reproving Herod’s adultery with his brother Philip’s wife, that brought down Herod’s vengeance upon him, Mark 6:25-27. But, notwithstanding all the odium that such fidelity will bring upon him, the true Christian will exercise it as occasion serves, declaring candidly his conviction, that “the broad road of the world leads to destruction, and that the narrow way alone will issue in eternal life! Matthew 7:13-14.”

From this subject we may clearly learn,

1. How much guilt attaches to us all.

I will not now speak of those who have lived in open and flagrant sin; though, of course, all that I shall say will apply with double force to them. But I will speak of those who, though moral and discreet, have not given up themselves sincerely to God; or who grew up to maturity before they fully embraced the Gospel.

Look back to your early childhood; your example even at that time had an influence on your youthful companions; and said to them, in language which they clearly understood, that there was no occasion for them to seek after God.

As you grew up towards manhood, your influence became proportionably extended, and proportionably more injurious also. Go now to your different companions, and to the thousands who, unknown to you, derived from your example encouragement in sin; go, tell them how you regret the injuries you have done, and how anxious you are to repair the evil, by making known to them the way of life and salvation. Thousands, alas! are gone beyond the reach of any effort, and are already enduring in Hell the miseries which you contributed to heap upon them! But of those to whom you may gain access, how many, do you suppose, would listen to your advice? There would scarcely be found one among them all that would not laugh in your face, and account you either a fool or mad.

King Manasseh, by his influence and example, did evil to as great an extent as any man who ever lived; but when he exerted his royal influence to reclaim the people he had seduced to sin, he could not prevail; they would still, notwithstanding all his edicts, and all his example too, continue to “offer sacrifices on their high-places,” instead of conforming themselves to the commandments of God, 2 Chronicles 33:15-17.

Thus, even supposing that we are now walking in the ways of God, the influence of our former lives will continue to operate to the ruin of many souls, and to the unspeakable augmentation of our own guilt! Contemplate this, I beg you, my brethren; and remember, that though you may never have committed one single sin that should expose you to shame before men, you are guilty in the sight of God, to an extent that no language can paint, and no imagination can conceive!

Nay, as strange as it may seem, the very blamelessness of your conduct before men, inasmuch as it has attracted a greater measure of their admiration, has unhappily contributed, even beyond the example of the generality, to deceive their minds, and to ruin their souls! I must then say to every one among you, that the injury which in your days of thoughtlessness you have unconsciously done to the souls of men—should be a ground of the deepest humiliation to you, to the last hour of your lives.

2. What a pre-eminent measure of guilt is contracted by the backsliding professor.

While others, by their ungodly lives, encourage sin in all around them—you do it with far greater effect! For you are understood as speaking from experience; while others deliver only, as it were, a hasty and ill-formed opinion. You are considered as proclaiming:
that there is no excellency, no reality, in Christ;
that the ways of the world, from which for a season you had departed, are not either so dangerous or so sinful as you had ignorantly supposed;
that, in fact, there is no sincerity in those who profess godliness;
and that, if all were as honest as you, they would, like you, throw off the religious mask at once!

Ah! think what a stumbling-block you lay in the way of others; how you “crucify the Son of God afresh;” and what cause multitudes will have to curse your very name forever, while they call for vengeance on your souls for contributing so largely to their eternal ruin!

And here let me speak to those who do not indeed draw back to open sin, but only so far as to conceal their principles in order to fit in with the world. You may account this prudence—but God will account it treason; and the Savior, whom “you thus refuse to confess, will refuse to acknowledge you in the presence of his Father! Matthew 10:32-33.” Consider this; and know assuredly on what terms your sentence shall be passed in the last day, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself, 2 Timothy 2:12-13;” but will assuredly execute judgment, in perfect conformity to this rule.

3. What an incentive we have to cultivate piety in the highest possible degree.

The more our light shines before men, the more shall we put to shame the wickedness of the ungodly, and encourage the exercise of all that is good in the world. And who can tell how far our influence may extend? If we are the means of leading one sinner to repentance, “we save a soul from death, and cover a multitude of sins! James 5:19-20.” And what may be the ultimate effects on that person’s family, or even on his remotest posterity, who can tell? Let this then operate as an inducement with us to “shine as lights in the dark world! Philippians 2:15-16.” The saving of our own souls may be our first motive; nevertheless, a strong additional motive we may find in the subject before us. Nor ought it to have light weight on our minds; for, while we benefit the world, we greatly honor our God; who is most glorified in those who most reflect his image, and most advance his kingdom in the world.

Charles Simeon