(No. CCLXX.)

HUMAN LIFE.

"He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity and the rod of his anger shall fail."-Prov. xxii. 8.

THE words present three subjects:

1. THE INEVITABLE WORK OF HUMAN LIFE. What is the work? It is that of moral agriculturesowing and reaping. Every man in every act of life is doing this. Every volition, whether it takes the form of a thought, a word, or a muscular act, is a seed. There is a germ of imperishable life in it. No frost is cold enough, no fire is hot enough, no weight is heavy enough to destroy this germ. It is essentially incorruptible. What seeds men sow every day. What bushels they deposit in the moral soil of their being.

But they reap as well as sow What was sown every day. yesterday they reap to-day. Men are living in the fruits of their doings." The law of causation is inviolate and ever operative within them. Out of our moral yesterday has grown our moral to-day, and thus on for ever. We are sowers and reapers all of us. The words presentII. THE RETRIBUTIVE LAW OF HUMAN LIFE. What you sow

you'll reap.

First: What you sow in kind you reap. "He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity." Job says, "They that plough in

equity and sow wickedness reap the same." (Job iv. 8.) Paul "Be not deceived; God is

says, not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also For he that soweth to reap. his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting." (Gal. vi. 7, 8.) The man whose actions are carnal, selfish, profane, ungodly, will reap a terrible harvest of misery. It cannot be helped. God will not reverse the law. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap."

are all co-working to convince men of this mistake, they blunder

on.

Thirdly: This is a mistake whose ultimate consequences will be terriffic. "And the rod of his anger shall fail;" or as in the margin, "With the rod of his anger he shall be consumed."

Perhaps this expression refers to the tyrannic power exercised by wealthy men, as referred to in the preceding verse. "The rod by which he oppressed and smote the poor, for his own selfish ends, that rod "shall fail."

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Death shall wrest it from his hands. God shall break it in pieces; and his tyranny and iniquity shall leave him nothing but shame, remorse, and the fruits of divine vengeance. Such, says Mr. Bridges, "was Sennacherib in olden time, such was Napoleon in our own day. Never had the world so extensive a sower of iniquity, never one reaped a more abundant harvest of vanity. The rod of anger was he to the nations of the earth. But how utterly was the rod suffered to fail, when the purpose was accomplished! despoiled of empire, shorn of greatness, an exiled captive."

(No. CCLXXI.)

GENUINE PHILANTHROPY. "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor."-Prov. xxii. 9.

SINCE philanthropy in England the last few years has become a profession, its name is fast losing its divine significance and its soul-captivating charms. There are birelings and charletans itinerating the land, and canting in every town of the empire

in its sacred name. They wrap

themselves in its robes, and use its sacred language, in order to gratify more effectually their ambition and their greed.

The text leads us to notice three things concerning genuine philanthropy

I. THE KINDLINESS OF ITS DISPOSITION. "He that hath a bountiful eye," &c. In the Hebrews, says Wardlaw, the expression is " He that is good of eye." The opposite phrase

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an evil eye”—is frequent in Scripture, and is used in various senses. It is applied, for example, in a general way, to duplicity of principle, in which sense it stands opposed to what our Lord calls "having the eye single," &c. (Luke xi. 34). It is applied also to a perverted state of the affections towards any of these objects-supposed, of course, to be indicated by the looks. (Deut. xxviii. 54, 56.) It is further used for envy (Matt. xx. 15; Mark vii. 22); and further still for a principle closely allied to envy-covetousness— eagerly looking at the object desired, and grudging at every expenditure of it. (Prov. xxiii. 6; xxviii. 22; Deut. xv. 9.) This meaning is illustrated by the use of the corresponding expression, in the verse before us,

a good eye." It means the eye of compassionate and generous tenderness,-that looks, with a desire to relieve the wants and woes of others; and that, at the same time, does not merely weep-shedding unavailing tears but, affecting the heart, opens the hand"for he giveth of his bread to the poor." As the heart looks out through the eye, it appears in the eye. Man's dispositions are reflected in his looks. What a blessed thing to

have a bountiful heart! A thousand times better to have a bountiful heart with scanty provisions, than a niggardly heart with boundless affluence. The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things he shall stand."

The text leads us to notice

II. THE BENEFICENCE OF ITS ACTIVITY. "He giveth of his bread to the poor." Genuine philanthropy is practical. It does not live on mere sentiment or speech. It goes out in useful deeds. The true philanthropist is ready to distribute and willing to communicate. He gives not as a duty, but as a privilege.

The text leads us to notice

III. THE REWARD OF ITS SERVICE. 'It shall be blessed." "Blessed is he that considereth the poor."

First: He shall be blessed with the commendation of his own conscience.

Secondly: With the grateful affection of the poor.

Thirdly: With the approbation of his God. "If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday; and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a wartered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not." (Is. lviii. 10, 11.) "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matt. xxv. 40.)

(No. CCLXXII.)

THE SCORNER.

"Cast out the scorner, and contention. shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease."-Prov. xxii. 10.

THE scorner is a character which Solomon has frequently called our attention to in preceding chapters. Few characters in society are more despicable in spirit or pernicious in influence. He is profane, contemptuous, insolent, flippant, and splenetic. He deals in jeers and gibes, in sneers, satire, and lampoon. Himself the most contemptuous to others, the most contemptible in himself. He sneers at the sacred, he mocks at the momentous. The text presents him

I. AS A SOCIAL DISTURBER. "Cast out the scorner and con

tention shall cease." "Implying

that he is the breaker of harmony, the creator of ill-feeling and confusion. (1.) He is a disturber in the family. The

sure

domestic circle to which he belongs, or with which he has any connection, he is to agitate with heartburnings and jealousies. (2.) He is a disturber in the church. If he happens by hypocrisy to have gained admission into any christian community, the community will almost inevitably feel his pernicious influence. His irony will create wounds, his jests shock the serious, his inuendos shake confidence and create suspicions. (3.) He is a disturber in the nation. If he takes up with politics, aspires to popularity, and has oratoric power, he is a demagogue, a fire-brand. His object will be to disparage his superiors, to undermine authority, to set class against class. He is, in

fact, a disturber in all his social relations.

The text represents him—

II. AS A SOCIAL OUTCAST. "Cast out the scorner." Excommunication is his righteous doom. If he has gained great influence as a polititian, governments sometimes, instead of casting him out, take him into office, and bribe him by voting him a princely income. Thus silences the miserable hireling, and rids the country of his mischievous agitations. The spirit, however, is still there.

It is only pampered into plethoric indolence. The duty, however, of society towards the scorner is to expel him. He should be cast out from all places of public trust, from all confidential intercourse. He should be treated as a social pest. Society should throw on him the eye of dignified contempt. If he is the member of a family, cast him out; member of a Church, cast him out; a member of the cabinet, cast him out. Place no confidence in the man of a scoffing spirit. He is a canker worm in the social garden, and he must be crushed. He is a Jonah on the social bark, and the sea will "not cease from its raging" until he is thrown overboard.

(No. CCLXXIII.)

THE GOOD MAN.

"He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge; and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor."-Prov. xxii. 11, 12.

THIS passage leads us to consider the heart, the speech, the influence, and the blessedness of a good man.

I. THE HEART OF THE GOOD MAN. “He loveth pureness of heart." Not merely does he love the pure in language, in manners and habits, in outward deportment, but the pure in heart. Pureness in the very fountains of moral life and action. Pureness of heart in man's case implies

First: A moral renewal. All men in an unregenerate state are defiled by sin. The very well-springs of their life are polluted. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and dreadfully wicked.” It implies—

Secondly: An urgent necessity. Without pureness of heart there is no true knowledge of God, or fellowship with him. “ Blessed,' said Christ-"are they that shall see God."" Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." A good man is then a man who loves pureness of heart, who possesses and promotes it. For this heart David prayed, "Create within me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within

me.

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II. THE SPEECH OF THE GOOD MAN. "For the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend." By the grace of his lips we are to understand something more than grammatic accuracy, or elegant diction-something more than logical correctness or strict veracity. It means speech that is morally pure-pure in sentiment, pure in aim. It is said of Christ that the people wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. The man of a pure heart will have lips of grace.

"If

the tree is made good, the fruit will be good." "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh his speech well seasoned with salt, and he will

minister grace unto his hearers. Gracious speech is the antithesis of untruthful, malicious, and unchaste language.

III. THE INFLUENCE OF THE GOOD MAN. "The king shall be his friend." Solomon here speaks probably of his own determination. He meant to say that he would give his friendship to such men. "This," says Mr. Budges, "had been his father's resolution" (Psa. li. 6, cxix. 63). This character smoothed the way to loyal favour for Joseph (Gen. xli. 37-45.) for Ezra (Êz. vii. 21– 25), and Daniel (Dan. vi. 1—3, 28.) Nay, we find godly Obadiah in the confidence of wicked Ahab. (1 Kings xviii. 3, 12; 2 Kings xiii. 14). So powerful is the voice of conscience, even when God and holiness are hated! Yet this choice of the gracious lips is too often rather what ought to be, than what is. (Chap. xvi. 12, 13.) Well is it for the kingdom when the sovereign's choice is according to this rule. (Chap. xxviii. 2; xxv. 5.) Such alone the great King marks as His friends. Such He embraces with his fatherly love. (Chap. xv. 9.) Such He welcomes into His heavenly kingdom. (Psa. xv. 1, 2; xxiv. 3, 4.) 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God " (Matt. v. 8.)

III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF a

have been given to the expression, "the eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge.

First: That the Lord vigilantly watches over His truth in the world. This is a truth, although we are not disposed to accept it as an interpretation of the passage. It is a glorious and elevating truth-That the Great God has ever exercised a watchful care over His truth in the world.

Secondly: That what the eyes of the Lord see He remembers for ever. "The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge." He retains His knowledge. What we see often passes away from our memory. We do not preserve our knowledge. We forget far more than we retain. Not so with the Lord. He observes everything, and everything he observes remains with Him for ever. But we are not disposed to accept this as the idea of the passage.

Thirdly: That the Lord exercises a protecting superintendence over those who possess His knowledge. That it means, in fact, the same as the expression elsewhere. "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous." This we accept as the true idea. It, therefore, expresses the blessedness of a good man. He has an all-wise, an all-constant, allmighty keeper. "Whilst the Lord keeps the good man, He overthroweth the words of the transgressor.