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1994-03-02
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24504
#6-11 Diligence in business is every man's wisdom and duty; not
so much that he may attain worldly wealth, as that he may not be
a burden to others, or a scandal to the church. The ants are
more diligent than slothful men. We may learn wisdom from the
meanest insects, and be shamed by them. Habits of indolence and
indulgence grow upon people. Thus life runs to waste; and
poverty, though at first at a distance, gradually draws near,
like a traveller; and when it arrives, is like an armed man, too
strong to be resisted. All this may be applied to the concerns
of our souls. How many love their sleep of sin, and their dreams
of worldly happiness! Shall we not seek to awaken such? Shall we
not give diligence to secure our own salvation?
24510
#12-19 If the slothful are to be condemned, who do nothing, much
more those that do all the ill they can. Observe how such a man
is described. He says and does every thing artfully, and with
design. His ruin shall come without warning, and without relief.
Here is a list of things hateful to God. Those sins are in a
special manner provoking to God, which are hurtful to the
comfort of human life. These things which God hates, we must
hate in ourselves; it is nothing to hate them in others. Let us
shun all such practices, and watch and pray against them; and
avoid, with marked disapproval, all who are guilty of them,
whatever may be their rank.
24518
#20-35 The word of God has something to say to us upon all
occasions. Let not faithful reproofs ever make us uneasy. When
we consider how much this sin abounds, how heinous adultery is
in its own nature, of what evil consequence it is, and how
certainly it destroys the spiritual life in the soul, we shall
not wonder that the cautions against it are so often repeated.
Let us notice the subjects of this chapter. Let us remember Him
who willingly became our Surety, when we were strangers and
enemies. And shall Christians, who have such prospects, motives,
and examples, be slothful and careless? Shall we neglect what is
pleasing to God, and what he will graciously reward? May we
closely watch every sense by which poison can enter our minds or
affections.
24534
* Invitations to learn wisdom. (1-5) The arts of seducers, with
warnings against them. (6-27)
#1-5 We must lay up God's commandments safely. Not only, Keep
them, and you shall live; but, Keep them as those that cannot
live without them. Those that blame strict and careful walking
as needless and too precise, consider not that the law is to be
kept as the apple of the eye; indeed the law in the heart is the
eye of the soul. Let the word of God dwell in us, and so be
written where it will be always at hand to be read. Thus we
shall be kept from the fatal effects of our own passions, and
the snares of Satan. Let God's word confirm our dread of sin,
and resolutions against it.
24539
#6-27 Here is an affecting example of the danger of youthful
lusts. It is a history or a parable of the most instructive
kind. Will any one dare to venture on temptations that lead to
impurity, after Solomon has set before his eyes in so lively and
plain a manner, the danger of even going near them? Then is he
as the man who would dance on the edge of a lofty rock, when he
has just seen another fall headlong from the same place. The
misery of self-ruined sinners began in disregard to God's
blessed commands. We ought daily to pray that we may be kept
from running into temptation, else we invite the enemies of our
souls to spread snares for us. Ever avoid the neighbourhood of
vice. Beware of sins which are said to be pleasant sins. They
are the more dangerous, because they most easily gain the heart,
and close it against repentance. Do nothing till thou hast well
considered the end of it. Were a man to live as long as
Methuselah, and to spend all his days in the highest delights
sin can offer, one hour of the anguish and tribulation that must
follow, would far outweigh them.