Ecclesiastes 7:14 Sermons: In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.

Bible > Ecclesiastes > Chapter 7 > Verse 14

◄ Ecclesiastes 7:14 ►

In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

Sermons

Compensations for a Poor Harvest	W. G. Herder.	Ecclesiastes 7:14
Considerations	Homiletic Review	Ecclesiastes 7:14
Hard Times	F. H. Marling.	Ecclesiastes 7:14
Prosperity and Adversity	J. Jortin, D. D.	Ecclesiastes 7:14
Sunshine and Shadow	Thomas Spurgeon.	Ecclesiastes 7:14
Crooked Things	Homilist	Ecclesiastes 7:13-14
Resignation to Providence	J. Willcock	Ecclesiastes 7:13, 14
The Crook in the Lot		Ecclesiastes 7:13-14
The Crooked in Life	W. Jay.	Ecclesiastes 7:13-14
The Irremediable	W. Clarkson	Ecclesiastes 7:13, 14
The Power of God, and the Duty of Man	P. Roe, M. A.	Ecclesiastes 7:13-14
The Perplexities of Life	D. Thomas	Ecclesiastes 7:13-15

Pulpit Commentary Homiletics

The Perplexities Of Life

Ecclesiastes 7:13-15

D. Thomas

The Book of Ecclesiastes raises questions which it very inadequately answers, and problems which it scarcely attempts to solve. Some of the difficulties observable in this world, in human society, and in individual experience appear to be insoluble by reason, though to some extent they may be overcome by faith. And certainly the fuller revelation which we enjoy as Christians is capable of assisting us in our endeavor not to be overborne by the forces of doubt and perplexity of which every thoughtful man is in some measure conscious.

I. A SPECULATIVE DIFFICULTY: THE COEXISTENCE OF CROOKED THINGS WITH STRAIGHT. The philosophical student encounters this difficulty in a more definite form than ordinary thinkers, and is best acquainted with the apparent anomalies of existence. It may suffice to refer to the coexistence of sense and spirit, nature and reason, law and freedom, good and evil, death and immortality.

II. A PRACTICAL DIFFICULTY; THE JUXTAPOSITION AND INTERCHANGE OF PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY. "God hath even made the one side by side with the other." The inequality of the human lot has, from the time of Job, been the occasion of much questioning, dissatisfaction, and skepticism. Opinions differ as to the effect upon this inequality of the advance of civilization. Riches and poverty, splendor and squalor, refinement and brutishness, exist side by side. And the observation of every one has remarked the startling transitions in the condition and fortunes alike of the wealthy and the poor; these are exalted, and those depressed. At first sight all this seems inconsistent with the sway of a just and benignant Providence.

III. A MORAL DIFFICULTY: THE EVIDENT ABSENCE OF A JUST AND PERFECT RETRIBUTION N THIS LIFE. The righteous perish, and the wicked live on in their evil-doing unchecked and unpunished. There are those who would acquiesce in inequality of condition, were such inequality proportioned to disparities of moral character, but who are dismayed by the spectacle of prosperous crime and triumphant vice, side by side with integrity and benevolence doomed to want and suffering.

IV. THE DUTY OF CONSIDERATION AND PATIENCE IN THE PRESENCE OF SUCH PERPLEXING ANOMALIES. The first and most obvious attitude of the wise man, when encountering difficulties such as those described in this passage, is to avoid hasty conclusions and immature, unconsidered, and partial judgments. It is plain that we are confronted with what we cannot comprehend. Our observation is limited; our penetration is at fault; our reason is baffled. We are not, therefore, to shut our eyes to the facts of life, or to deny what our intelligence forces upon us. But we must think, and we must wait.

V. THE PURPOSE OF SUCH DIFFICULTIES, AS FAR AS WE ARE CONCERNED, IS TO TEST AND TO ELICIT FAITH IN GOD. There is sufficient reason for every thoughtful man to believe in the wisdom and righteousness of the eternal Ruler. And the Christian has special grounds for his assurance that all things are ordained by his Father and Redeemer, and that the Judge of all the earth will do right. - T.

Biblical Illustrator

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider.

Ecclesiastes 7:14

Prosperity and adversity

J. Jortin, D. D.

The life of man is made up of prosperity and adversity, of pleasure and pain, which succeed one another here below in an eternal rotation, like day and night, summer and winter. Prosperity and adversity usually walk hand in hand. The Divine providence hath joined them, and I shall not put them asunder, but offer some remarks upon them both.

I. I begin with the latter part of the sentence; IN THE DAY OF ADVERSITY CONSIDER. In the day of adversity we should consider whether we can free ourselves from it. For it happens sometimes that whilst we complain, we have the remedy in our own hands, if we had heart and the sense to make use of it; and then we cannot expect that men or that God should assist us, if we are wanting to ourselves. But most commonly adversity is of that nature, that it is not in our power to remove it; and then we should consider how to lessen it, or how to bear it in the best manner we can. We should consider that adversity, as well as prosperity, is permitted or appointed by Divine providence. God hath so ordered the course of things that there should be a mixture and a rotation of both in this world, and, therefore, we ought to acquiesce in it, and to be contented that God's will be done. Submission, patience and resignation are of a calm and quiet nature, and afford some relief, composure and peace of mind; but repining and reluctance only irritate the pain, and add one evil to another. To tell an afflicted person that it must be so, may be thought a rough and an overbearing argument, rather fit to silence than to satisfy a man. Therefore we should add this consideration, not only that adversity is proper because God permits it, but that God permits it because it is proper. Perhaps we have brought the adversity upon ourselves, by our own imprudence and misconduct. If so, it is just that God should suffer things to take their course, and not interpose to relieve us, and we ought to submit to it, as to a state which we deserve. Nature, indeed, will dispose us in such a case to discontent and to remorse; but religion will teach us to make a good use of the calamity. God may suffer us to fall into adversity by way of correction for our sins. If so, sorrowful we should be for the cause, and sorrowful we may be for the effect; but we have many motives to patience, resignation and gratitude. It is much better that we should receive our punishment here than hereafter; and if it produce any amendment in us, it serves to the best of purposes, and ends in peace and joy and happiness. God may visit us with adversity, by way of trial, and for our greater improvement, that we may correct some frailties and faults into which prosperity hath led us, or of which it could never cure us, that we may look upon the transitory vanities of the present world with more coldness and indifference, and set our affections on things above, that we may be humble and modest, and know ourselves, that we may learn affability, humanity and compassion for those who suffer, and likewise that we may have a truer taste for prosperity when it comes, and enjoy it with wisdom and moderation. Upon all these accounts adversity is suitable to us, and tends to our profit.

II. One of the ends of adversity is to make us better disposed and qualified to receive the favours of God, when they come, with prudence and gratitude, and, as Solomon directs us in the other part of the text, to REJOICE IN THE DAYS OF PROSPERITY.

1. We ought to be in such a temper as to be easily contented, and to account our state prosperous whenever it is tolerable.

2. We ought to remember that prosperity is a dangerous thing, that it is a state which often perverts the judgment, and spoils the understanding, and corrupts the heart, that it is never sincere and unmixed, that it is also of a precarious nature, and may leave us in an instant. By being sober and sedate, it will be more easily preserved, and the less liable to pass away, and to be turned into sadness. The truest joy is an even cheerfulness, pleased with the present, and not solicitous about the future.

3. We ought to consider what Solomon, who exhorts us to rejoice in prosperity, hath represented as the most important point: Let us hear, says he, the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this concerns us all. This is what every man may do, and this is what every man must do, and whosoever neglects it cannot be happy.

4. If we would rejoice in prosperity, we must acquire and preserve, cherish and improve a love towards our neighbour, an universally benevolent and charitable disposition, by which we shall be enabled to take delight not only in our own prosperity, but in that of others; and this will give us several occasions of satisfaction, which selfish persons never regard or entertain.

III. THIS SUBJECT WHICH WE HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING IS CONSIDERED IN A VERY DIFFERENT MANNER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND IN THE NEW. Solomon, as a wise man, recommends it to his nation to be cheerful in prosperity and considerate in adversity. Further than this the wisdom and religion of his times could not conduct a man. But St. Paul, when he treats the subject, exhorts Christians to rejoice evermore, and consequently in adversity as well as in prosperity; our Saviour commands His disciples to rejoice and to be exceeding glad when they should be ill used for His sake; and it is said of the first believers, that they were sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, and that they had in all circumstances an inward serenity, of which nothing could deprive them.

1. Christianity represents God as a God of love and goodness, and removes all gloomy and superstitious apprehensions of Him.

2. It represents Him, indeed, as a God of perfect purity, holiness and justice, which must raise in mortal minds a dread proportionable to their imperfections and offences, that is, to those imperfections which are indulged, and to those offences which are wilful; but by the gracious doctrine of forgiveness to the penitent it allays all tormenting terrors and excludes despondence and despair.

3. It gives us rules of behaviour, which, ii carefully observed, have a natural and necessary tendency to secure us from many sorrows, and enliven our minds, and to set before us happy prospects and pleasing expectations.

4. It promises a Divine assistance under pressures and dangers, and losses and afflictions, which shall raise the mind above itself and above all outward and earthly things.

5. It promises an eternal recompense of well-doing, which whosoever believes and expects must be happy, or at least contented in all times and states: and without question, to a want of a lively faith, and of a reasonable hope in this great point, and to a certain degree, more or less, of doubt and diffidence, is to be principally ascribed the want of resignation and of composure.

6. When to these Christian considerations are also added reflections on the days of our abode here below, which are few, and on the world which passeth away, a sedateness and evenness of temper will ensue, which as it is patient and resigned under changes for the worse, so it is pleased with prosperity, accepts it as a Divine blessing, and uses it soberly and discreetly.

(J. Jortin, D. D.)

Considerations

Homiletic Review.

in adversity: —

I. THE DESIGN OF THE VISITATION. It includes —

1. Correction.

2. Prevention.

3. Trial or testing of character.

4. Instruction in righteousness.

5. Increased usefulness.

II. THE RELIEF WHICH GOD IS READY TO BESTOW.

1. Your afflictions are not peculiar. It is not "a strange thing that has happened unto you."

2. They happen not by chance. God's wisdom plans, and His love executes, them all.

3. They are not unmixed evil. "It is good for me that I have been afflicted."

4. They are not to endure always. Only for "a moment," and then heaven!

5. We are not asked to bear these afflictions alone.

(Homiletic Review.)

Compensations for a poor harvest

W. G. Herder.

More than one person has said to me, in relation to the services we hold to-day, "There is no harvest worth being thankful for this year." We are like children, ready enough to find fault with their parents' arrangements, but not so ready to be thankful for the daily care and love around them in the home. These they take for granted. There is, if we have only eyes to discern it, a wonderful law of compensation running through all things. It may be discerned even in the recent harvest, failure though it seems to be. We may see this if we remember that what is usually called the harvest is, after all, only a part of the harvest of the year. The autumn is not the only harvest time, though that may be specially the time of ingathering. All the year is, in greater or less degree, productive. And this year, though a poor one in respect of the harvest of hay and corn, is, if I mistake not, an exceptionally good one in respect of grass and roots on which the cattle so largely depend for sustenance. There is another aspect of the present year's weather which should not be overlooked. We have grumbled at the continuous downpour of rain; but let us not forget that the rain which frustrated so many plans and caused so much anxiety, has replenished the springs which, through the drought of last year, had become so low that more than one English city came very near to a famine of water. And this leads me to say that very often weather which is good for one part of the country, and for one kind of crop, is anything but good for another part and for another kind of crop. And sometimes we must be content to suffer that others may prosper, whilst when we prosper others must be content to suffer. We can't have it always our own way. Unbroken prosperity is not good for us men who are so disposed to settle on our lees, and to cry, "I shall never be moved." For let us not forget that the Divine arrangements in the lower and material world have reference to man's higher nature. They are intended to be a means of moral and spiritual discipline. And if it be so, and that it is, few who have carefully observed life, will deny; then harvest disappointment will be often counterbalanced by a more enduring spiritual gain. Ii earthly loss force us to lift our eyes to the hills from whence cometh our help, then the gain is greater than the loss. But this principle of compensation — that one thing is set over against another — has wider applications. It seems to run through all the Divine arrangements. It applies to the different positions and callings among men — e.g. the rich seem to be the people to be envied; their lot seems to have no drawbacks; they seem to have everything that heart can wish. But riches do not ensure happiness; indeed, they too often lead men and women to so purposeless a life, to such a neglect of work, that life becomes a burden, and time hangs heavy on their hands. The poor man's condition, on the other hand, seems to be without any compensations — one utterly to be pitied. But, as a matter of fact, except in extreme cases, the very necessity for labour brings with it no small measure of happiness, for work has more of pleasure in it than idleness. The happiest people are those who work, whether such work be compulsory or voluntary. Nor is it otherwise with the different callings of life. Those in which men have to work with the brain seem the easiest and pleasantest, and those in which men have to work with their hands the least to be desired. But work with the brain has its drawbacks. It develops the nerves at the expense of the muscles. It brings a weariness of its own. Whilst, on the other hand, work with the hand develops the muscles at the expense of the nerves, and has its own kind of weariness. Then, too, the same remark applies to the various ages. Youth longs for manhood, that it may escape restraint; but when the restraint goes, responsibility begins. Manhood longs for rest from toil; but when the time for rest comes, the vigour of life usually wanes. In each season one thing must be set over against another — the youth's freedom from responsibility against the restraint under which he lives; the vigour of manhood over against its toil; the rest of old age over against its feebleness. There are very few conditions of life which have not their compensations; and no estimate can be fair which does not take them into account. , in his "Gorgias," says to Callieles, "I exhort you also to take part in the grave combat, which is the combat of life, and greater than every other earthly conflict." And if it is to be that, it would not do for life to be without drawbacks, disappointments, trials, changes. A life sheltered from all these would be a poor affair. But though these abound, yet there are always, or nearly always, compensations, which show a gracious design even in the midst of the discipline;that it is the order of One "who doth not afflict willingly, or grieve the children of men." The laws under which we live look stern and hard; but in the heart of them is a loving purpose.

(W. G. Herder.)

Hard times

F. H. Marling.

"Hard times!" That is the cry we hear, all the week long, wherever we go. And this, strange to say, in face of crops of unparalleled abundance!

1. We ask ourselves, what is the cause of these hard times? "Over-production," say some; others, "under-consumption." One party blames a "high tariff": the other, "free trade." I will not attempt to discues here the purely political or economical aspects of the case. But there is a moral cause at work, which it is the province of the pulpit to point out. At this moment, while commerce and manufactures are nearly stagnant, the money market is glutted with funds that cannot be used! Why? One answer is, for want of confidence. Monstrous frauds, disgraceful failures, outright robberies, and numberless rascalities, small and great, have paralyzed credit, and made sensitive capital shrink into itself. We want more plodding and patient industry, more incorruptible honesty. No man can revolutionize a community. But every good man has a certain power, more, perhaps, than he thinks. It is the honest men who keep society from going to pieces altogether.

2. Under cover of the proverb, "Desperate diseases require desperate remedies," certain wild proposals are put forward by professed "friends of the working man," who are really his worst enemies, whether they mean it or not. Take, for example, the Socialist idea of abolishing private property in land or anything else, making the State the universal proprietor and the universal employer, and all men's conditions equal. It is only under the maddening pressure of hunger that just and reasonable men can entertain such schemes. In dragging down "bloated monopolists," we bury the day-labourer in the common ruin. It is like setting fire to the house to get rid of the rats!

3. What a light is east by our present condition on the Bible sayings, "We are members one of another": "No man liveth unto himself!" We live in a vast system of cooperation and interdependence. And this, whether we wish it or not. The ends of the earth are ransacked to furnish food and clothing. Sailors cross the seas, miners delve in the earth, woodmen hew down the forests, farmers sow and reap, mechanics ply their tools, merchants buy and sell, physicians study diseases and remedies, teachers instruct, authors write, musicians sing, legislators make, judges administer and governors execute laws — all for your benefit and mine. God has bound us up together, so many wheels in a vast machine, different members of one body. You cannot break away from it. It is as foolish as it is wicked to try to live apart, for ourselves alone, to take and not to give, to expect good only, and to complain of suffering through those around us.

4. That is a good time to "consider" what use we have made of past times of "prosperity" in preparing for days of "adversity." We must learn the old-fashioned virtues of saving and "going without." And these hard times are sent, among other things, to drive that lesson home. Those who came from the old and crowded lands of Europe are showing us examples in this that we should be wise to follow.

5. We do well to ask ourselves at this time how far the words of God by Malachi apply to our case: "Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed Me."... "Wherein? In tithes and offerings."

6. Not all of us feel the full pressure of hard times. If you are not thrown out of employment, if your pay is not reduced, if your investments yield as much income, if your business is nearly or quite as profitable, what special duties devolve upon you? First, great thankfulness to God. By the sharp sorrows of your less fortunate neighbours learn how good He has been to you. Do not think that if is because of your superior worth. One duly is to see that His cause of the Gospel does not suffer — to give double because others can only give one-half. Another is, to relieve the wants of deserving sufferers.

7. May I say a brotherly word to those who do feel the pressure of the times? If is a hard discipline you are passing through, very hard. But "your Father knoweth." Money and goods are not everything. "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he poseesseth." Your character, your soul, is more to you than your earthly condition. That is what God is training, and the wide sweep of this providential dispensation, affecting whole nations, also includes your individual case. Receive the chastening. Submit without murmuring. Exercise your heart in the strong virtues of patience and fortitude. "Hope thou in God." "Walk by faith, not by sight."

(F. H. Marling.)

Sunshine and shadow

Thomas Spurgeon.

I. First, concerning THIS TWOFOLD WORD OF EXHORTATION. "In the day of prosperity be joyful." Prosperity then is not in itself an evil thing. Undue prosperity is not to be coveted. "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me." But prosperity which is obtained in honest fashion, accepted with a thankful heart, and employed for the glory of God, is surely one of the best boons that Heaven itself can send. Further, gladsomeness is by no means to be prohibited. Alas! for those who would stop our laughter. God Himself is glad, His Gospel is glad; it is the Gospel of the glory of the happy God. Christ Himself is joyous. Let your hearts have their sacred outpourings; let your souls rejoice before the Lord in the land of the living. "Be joyful in the Lord." Spiritual prosperity is best of all. Be thankful and bless His name. But the other part of the exhortation is not less necessary, and is, perhaps, more appropriate to the most of my hearers. "In the day of adversity consider." What are we to consider? Not the adversity only. "Consider the work of God." So this adversity is the work of God. He may have employed agencies, but He is at the back of them. Even the devil works in chains, and can do nought apart from permission from the throne. "Consider the work of God." Look away to first causes, trace the stream to its source. When you think of this adversity as being the work of God you come to the conclusion that it is all right, that it is the best thing that could happen. It is better than prosperity if it is the work of God.

II. Now we turn to the second point, As OBSERVATION. "God hath even made the one side by side with the other." Oh, what mercy there is here. If you had prosperity all the days of your life it would be the ruin of you. He has woven our web of time with mercy and with judgment. He has paved our path of life with mingled colours, so that it is a mosaic, curiously wrought; sunshine and shadow have been our lot almost from babyhood till now, and April weather has greeted us from the cradle, and will be with us till the tomb. If this is true in daily life, it is true also of religious experience. You must not be surprised that your way is up and down. So far as we are responsible for it it should not be so. Spiritual experience is of the switchback order after all, up towards heaven and down into the deep, but it matters little if we are going onward all the time, and upward to the glorious end. The Lord sets the one beside the other.

III. This word of EXPLANATION as we end. Why has God allowed it thus to be? Why does He give us joy to-day and grief to-morrow? It is that we may realize that His way is not of a set pattern; that He works according to a programme of His own choosing; that though He is a God of order, that order may be very different from our order; that we may come to no conclusion as to the probabilities of our experiences to-morrow, that we may make no plans too far ahead; that we may not peer behind the curtain of obscurity and futurity.

(Thomas Spurgeon.)

People

Solomon

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Adversity, Anything, Bad, Beside, Consider, Discover, Enjoy, Evil, Future, Gladness, Happy, Intent, Joy, Joyful, Nothing, Over-against, Prosperity, Wealth, Yea, Yes

Outline

1. remedies against vanity are, a good name
2. mortification
7. patience
11. wisdom
23. The difficulty of wisdom

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Ecclesiastes 7:14

     1424   predictions
     5874   happiness
     9130   future, the

Library

Finis Coronat Opus
'Better is the end of a thing than the beginning.'--ECCLES. vii. 8. This Book of Ecclesiastes is the record of a quest after the chief good. The Preacher tries one thing after another, and tells his experiences. Amongst these are many blunders. It is the final lesson which he would have us learn, not the errors through which he reached it. 'The conclusion of the whole matter' is what he would commend to us, and to it he cleaves his way through a number of bitter exaggerations and of partial truths …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Preservative against Unsettled Notions, and Want of Principles, in Regard to Righteousness and Christian Perfection
Ecclesiastes 7:16 -- "Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?" To all the Members of Christ's Holy Church. Dear Fellow Christians, The great, and indeed the only motive which prompted me to publish this sermon, was the desire of providing for your security from error, at a time when the deviators from, and false pretenders to truth, are so numerous, that the most discerning find it a matter of the greatest difficulty to avoid being led astray …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

What the Scriptures Principally Teach: the Ruin and Recovery of Man. Faith and Love Towards Christ.
2 Tim. i. 13.--"Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Here is the sum of religion. Here you have a compend of the doctrine of the Scriptures. All divine truths may be reduced to these two heads,--faith and love; what we ought to believe, and what we ought to do. This is all the Scriptures teach, and this is all we have to learn. What have we to know, but what God hath revealed of himself to us? And what have we to do, but what …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Eusebius' Accession to the Bishopric of Cæsarea.
Not long after the close of the persecution, Eusebius became bishop of Cæsarea in Palestine, his own home, and held the position until his death. The exact date of his accession cannot be ascertained, indeed we cannot say that it did not take place even before the close of the persecution, but that is hardly probable; in fact, we know of no historian who places it earlier than 313. His immediate predecessor in the episcopate was Agapius, whom he mentions in terms of praise in H. E. VII. 32. …
Eusebius Pamphilius—Church History

Sources and Literature
Acacius, the pupil and successor of Eusebius in the bishopric of Cæsarea, wrote a life of the latter (Socr. H. E. II. 4) which is unfortunately lost. He was a man of ability (Sozomen H. E. III. 2, IV. 23) and had exceptional opportunities for producing a full and accurate account of Eusebius' life; the disappearance of his work is therefore deeply to be regretted. Numerous notices of Eusebius are found in the works of Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, Athanasius, Jerome, and other writers of his …
Eusebius Pamphilius—Church History

The Outbreak at Benares.
At no place was the shock felt more severely than at Benares, where I was residing with my family. In no place was the danger greater. We were living in the suburbs of the most superstitious and fanatical city in the land. Again and again during the eighty years of our rule there had been riots in the city, professedly to avenge religious wrongs--riots so formidable, that they were quelled by military force. A very few years previous to 1857 the city was thrown into violent commotion, in consequence …
James Kennedy—Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877

Of the First Covenant Made with Man
Gen. ii. 17.--"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."--Gen. i. 26.--"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." The state wherein man was created at first, you heard was exceeding good,--all …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Covenanting Adapted to the Moral Constitution of Man.
The law of God originates in his nature, but the attributes of his creatures are due to his sovereignty. The former is, accordingly, to be viewed as necessarily obligatory on the moral subjects of his government, and the latter--which are all consistent with the holiness of the Divine nature, are to be considered as called into exercise according to his appointment. Hence, also, the law of God is independent of his creatures, though made known on their account; but the operation of their attributes …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Adam's Sin
Q-15: WHAT WAS THE SIN WHEREBY OUR FIRST PARENTS FELL FROM THE ESTATE WHEREIN THEY WERE CREATED? A: That sin was eating the forbidden fruit. 'She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband.' Gen 3:3. Here is implied, 1. That our first parents fell from their estate of innocence. 2. The sin by which they fell, was eating the forbidden fruit. I. Our first parents fell from their glorious state of innocence. God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.' Eccl …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Letter xxviii (Circa A. D. 1130) to the Abbots Assembled at Soissons
To the Abbots Assembled at Soissons [45] Bernard urges the abbots zealously to perform the duty for which they had met. He recommends to them a great desire of spiritual progress, and begs them not to be delayed in their work if lukewarm and lax persons should perhaps murmur. To the Reverend Abbots met in the name of the Lord in Chapter at Soissons, brother Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, the servant of their Holiness, health and prayer that they may see, establish, and observe the things which are …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Sin Charged Upon the Surety
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. C omparisons, in the Scripture, are frequently to be understood with great limitation: perhaps, out of many circumstances, only one is justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our Lord says, Behold, I come as a thief (Revelation 16:15) , --common sense will fix the resemblance to a single point, that He will come suddenly, and unexpectedly. So when wandering sinners …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Columban.
THE wild districts of Ireland were occupied with convents, after the example of Patrick, and cultivated by the hard labour of the monks. The Irish convents were distinguished by their strict Christian discipline, their diligence and their zeal in the study of the Scriptures, and of science in general, as far as they had the means of acquiring it. Irish monks brought learning from Britain and Gaul, they treasured up this learning and elaborated it in the solitude of the convent, and they are said …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Sanctification.
VI. Objections answered. I will consider those passages of scripture which are by some supposed to contradict the doctrine we have been considering. 1 Kings viii. 46: "If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near," etc. On this passage, I remark:-- 1. That this sentiment in nearly the same language, is repeated in 2 Chron. vi. 26, and in Eccl. …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

How the Impatient and the Patient are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 10.) Differently to be admonished are the impatient and the patient. For the impatient are to be told that, while they neglect to bridle their spirit, they are hurried through many steep places of iniquity which they seek not after, inasmuch as fury drives the mind whither desire draws it not, and, when perturbed, it does, not knowing, what it afterwards grieves for when it knows. The impatient are also to be told that, when carried headlong by the impulse of emotion, they act in some …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

How to Make Use of Christ for Taking the Guilt of Our Daily Out-Breakings Away.
The next part of our sanctification is in reference to our daily failings and transgressions, committed partly through the violence of temptations, as we see in David and Peter, and other eminent men of God; partly through daily infirmities, because of our weakness and imperfections; for, "in many things we offend all," James iii. 2; and, "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us," 1 John i. 8; "a righteous man falleth seven times," Prov. xxiv. 16; "there is not …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Christian Man
Scripture references: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7; 9:6; Job 33:4; Psalm 100:3; 8:4-9; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Acts 17:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Hebrews 2:6,7; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Corinthians 2:9. WHAT IS MAN? What Shall We Think of Man?--Who is he? What is his place on the earth and in the universe? What is his destiny? He is of necessity an object of thought. He is the subject of natural laws, instincts and passions. How far is he free; how far bound? …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished; …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

An Essay on the Mosaic Account of the Creation and Fall of Man
THERE are not a few difficulties in the account, which Moses has given of the creation of the world, and of the formation, and temptation, and fall of our first parents. Some by the six days of the creation have understood as many years. Whilst others have thought the creation of the world instantaneous: and that the number of days mentioned by Moses is only intended to assist our conception, who are best able to think of things in order of succession. No one part of this account is fuller of difficulties, …
Nathaniel Lardner—An Essay on the Mosaic Account of the Creation and Fall of Man

A Believer's Privilege at Death
'For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' Phil 1:1I. Hope is a Christian's anchor, which he casts within the veil. Rejoicing in hope.' Rom 12:12. A Christian's hope is not in this life, but he hash hope in his death.' Prov 14:42. The best of a saint's comfort begins when his life ends; but the wicked have all their heaven here. Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.' Luke 6:64. You may make your acquittance, and write Received in full payment.' Son, remember that …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 13, 8-10. 8 Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; love therefore is the fulfilment of the law. CHRISTIAN LOVE AND THE COMMAND TO LOVE. 1. This, like the two …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

"And we all do Fade as a Leaf, and Our Iniquities, Like the Wind, have Taken us Away. "
Isaiah lxiv. 6.--"And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Here they join the punishment with the deserving cause, their uncleanness and their iniquities, and so take it upon them, and subscribe to the righteousness of God's dealing. We would say this much in general--First, Nobody needeth to quarrel God for his dealing. He will always be justified when he is judged. If the Lord deal more sharply with you than with others, you may judge there is a difference …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Now the God of Hope Fill You with all Joy and Peace in Believing," &C.
Rom. xv. 13.--"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing," &c. It is usual for the Lord in his word to turn his precepts unto promises, which shows us, that the commandments of God do not so much import an ability in us, or suppose strength to fulfil them, as declare that obligation which lies upon us, and his purpose and intention to accomplish in some, what he requires of all: and therefore we should accordingly convert all his precepts unto prayers, seeing he hath made …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Necessity of Actual Grace
In treating of the necessity of actual grace we must avoid two extremes. The first is that mere nature is absolutely incapable of doing any thing good. This error was held by the early Protestants and the followers of Baius and Jansenius. The second is that nature is able to perform supernatural acts by its own power. This was taught by the Pelagians and Semipelagians. Between these two extremes Catholic theology keeps the golden mean. It defends the capacity of human nature against Protestants and …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

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