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![Knocked on my sullen heart in vain:—
Lord, Thy most pointed pleasure take
And stab my spirit broad awake;
Or, Lord, if too obdurate I,
Choose Thou, before that spirit die,
A piercing pain, a killing sin,
And to my dead heart run them in!1 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Underwoods.]
And if pain fails to waken my heart fully to God, let me cling humbly and continuously to prayer. Let me not fail of
prayer so that at the end my spirit may be attuned to God’s, and my life be not in vain.
2. But St. Paul, when he wrote these words, addressed them to the Christians of the Roman Church for whom he
foresaw persecution in the near future, even if they were not suffering from it at this very time. And he would have
them practise hope and patience and prayer in their persecution, and all at the same time.
The old physicians tell us of two antidotes against poison, the hot and the cold, and they dilate upon the special
excellence of each of these; in like manner the Apostle Paul gives us first the warm antidote, “rejoicing in hope,”
and then he gives us the cool antidote, “patient in tribulation.” Either of these, or both together, will work wonderfully
for the sustaining of the spirit; but it is to be observed that neither of these remedies can be taken into the soul
unless it is mixed with a draught of prayer. Joy and patience are curative essences, but they must be dropped into a
glass full of supplication, and then they will be wonderfully efficient.1 [Note: C. H. Spurgeon.]
3. St. Paul’s primary meaning in the word which is translated tribulation in our English version was persecution. But
let us take tribulation in its usual sense of every kind of trial through which a man may have to pass. With this
meaning let us see the dependence between the clauses and the possibility of the Christian following the three
injunctions at the same time.
(1) “Rejoice in hope; be patient in tribulation.” This is an utter impossibility to the man whose hope is of this world,
and who looks for mere ordinary happiness. To him tribulation is the supreme obstacle to hope and joy. If he suffers
he cannot be joyful; he loses his hope. But for the man who is full of Christ’s hope all is different. “Hope, which
comes to all, outwears the accidents of life, and reaches with tremulous hand beyond the grave and death.” The
Christian’s hope alters his idea of tribulation. Poverty, that is tribulation enough. But the monk embraces a life of
poverty and self-denial of his own free-will.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-5-320.jpg)
![Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cells.
Poverty has lost its grimness. It wears a smiling face. But, further, though the tribulation may remain very real the
Christian accepts it—nay, welcomes it—as helping him on his way. And because of his great abiding hope the
tribulation is dwarfed.
People may lay down their lives with cheerfulness in the sure expectation of a blessed immortality; but that is a
different affair from giving up youth, with all its admirable pleasures, in the hope of a better quality of gruel in a more
than problematical, nay, more than improbable, old age.1 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Crabbed Age and
Youth.]
(2) Now let us take the last two clauses together. “Continue stedfastly in prayer; be patient in tribulation.” If we
continue in prayer, does it follow that we shall be patient under trial? R. J. Campbell, in A Faith for To-Day, says: “I
well remember the curious feeling with which I once encountered a man who prayed long and earnestly for a
certain academic distinction—a distinction which could fall to one and one only. He was greatly chagrined and
disappointed, and inclined to reproach God, when the honour went to another instead of himself. The earnestness
of his prayers was unquestionable.” But not so did St. Paul conceive of prayer. His model was the Master who in
His agony said, “Thy will be done.” So the Apostle would have these Roman Christians put themselves on God’s
side in their praying.
And in all things he shall yield up his own will, saying and thinking in his heart, “Lord, I am as willing to be poor and
without all those things of which Thou hast deprived me as I should be ready to be rich, Lord, if Thy will were so,
and if in that state I might further Thy glory. It is not my natural will which must be done, but Thy will and the will of
my spirit. Lord, I am thine, and I should be Thine as gladly in hell as in heaven, if in that way I could advance Thy
glory. So then, O Lord, fulfil in me the good pleasure of Thy will.”2 [Note: Maurice Maeterlinck,
Ruysbroeck and the Mystics, 135.]
And with this spirit in prayer patience under trial will not be denied. “At this season the sun enters into the sign of
Libra, for the day and night are equal, and light and darkness evenly balanced. Even so for the resigned soul Jesus
Christ is in the sign of Libra; and whether He grants sweetness or bitterness, darkness or light, of whatever nature
His gift may be, the man retains his balance, and all things are one to him, with the exception of sin, which has
been driven out once for all.” And the more steadfast the prayer the more will the link be strengthened which binds
our soul to God, and the more grace we will receive to meet each need of life.
All trouble and anguish, loss and pain,
When they’ve done their task appointed,
Vanish and fade; it is joy that lasts.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-6-320.jpg)
![themselves comfortably warm on the bitterest day.
St. Paul looked at three things:—
1. He fixed his eyes on the Redemption of Christ.—In all the spacious reaches of the Apostle’s life the redemptive
work of his Master is present as an atmosphere in which his thoughts and purposes and labours found their
sustaining and enriching breath. Redemption was not degraded into a fine abstract argument, to which the Apostle
had appended his own approval, and then, with sober satisfaction, had laid it aside, as a practical irrelevancy, in the
stout chests of mental orthodoxy. It became the very spirit of his life. To him it was not a small device, an
afterthought, a patched-up expedient to meet an unforeseen emergency. The redemptive purpose lay back in the
abyss of the eternities; and in a spirit of reverent questioning the Apostle sent his trembling thoughts into those lone
and silent fields. He emerged with whispered secrets such as these: “fore-knew,” “fore-ordained,” “chosen in him
before the foundation of the world,” “eternal life promised before times eternal,” “the eternal purpose which he
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What a wonderful consciousness St. Paul has of the sweep and fulness of redemption. We know the variations of
the glorious air: “the unsearchable riches of Christ”; “riches in glory in Christ Jesus”; “all spiritual blessings in the
heavenly places in Christ”; “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering.” And what is the
resultant enfranchisement? Recall those wonderful sentences beginning with the words “But now.” It is a phrase
that heralds a great deliverance. “But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested.” “But
now being made free from sin, and become servants to God.” “But now are ye light in the Lord.” These represent no
thin abstractions. To St. Paul the realities of which they speak were more real than the firm and solid earth. And is it
any wonder that a man with such a magnificent sense of the reality of the redemptive work of Christ, who felt the
eternal purpose throbbing in the dark backward and abyss of time, who conceived it operating upon our race in
floods of grace and glory, and who realized in his own immediate consciousness the varied wealth of the resultant
emancipation—is it any wonder that for this man a new day had dawned, and the birds had begun to sing and the
flowers to bloom, and a sunny optimism had taken possession of his heart which found expression in an assured
and rejoicing hope?1 [Note: J. H. Jowett.]
2. St. Paul fixed his mind next on the reality and greatness of his present resources.—“By Christ redeemed”—yes,
but that is only the Alpha and not the Omega of the work of grace. “By Christ redeemed; in Christ restored.” St.
Paul’s mental and spiritual outlook comprehended a great army of positive forces labouring in the interests of the
Kingdom of God. Look at some of his auxiliaries: “Christ liveth in me.” “Christ liveth in me! He breathes through all
my aspirations. He thinks through all my thinking. He wills through all my willing. He loves through all my loving. He
travails in all my labours. He works within me ‘to will and to do of his good pleasure.’ ” That is the primary faith of
the hopeful life. But see what follows in swift and immediate succession. “If Christ is in you, the spirit is life.” “The
spirit is life!” And therefore we find that in the Apostle’s thought dispositions are powers. They are not passive
entities. They are positive forces vitalizing and energizing the common life of men. To St. Paul love expressed more
than a relationship. It was an energy productive of abundant labours. Faith was more than an attitude. It was an
energy creative of mighty endeavour. Hope was more than a posture. It was an energy generative of a most
enduring patience. All these are dynamics, to be counted as active allies, co-operating in the ministry of the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-8-320.jpg)
![Hope in sorrow is delight,
Hope is day in darkest night.
Hope cast upward is to where
Storms do never domineer;
Trust and hope will welcome thee
There to full security.1 [Note: Francis Beaumont.]
Our thought of future glory must have several elements in it if it is to nourish our hope as it nourished his.
(1) It must have an element of personality in it. It must be a hope which means future fulfilment to me. It must not,
like Buddhism, represent the loss of personality—annihilation—as the reward. It must not offer us even the stimulus
of the positivists. “You desire hope,” they say; “there is hope; we will grant immortality—an immortality of influence.
The good you do shall live after you.” No. There must be an immortality in the vision and communion of Him whom
to serve is eternal life.
(2) It must have an element of recovery in it. How we crave the recovery of lost friends! Is it all over when they
leave us? The heart refuses to think so. It clings to the thought of reunion. Christ is the pledge of that—Christ the
Uniter, who as on earth at the house of Jairus, at the bier of Nain, at the grave of Bethany, is the Joiner of parted
hands and sundered lives, delivering divided ones to each other. We crave also the recovery of lost energies.
Capacities that are checked by its ungenial conditions, aspirations that are thwarted by its narrow limits,
expenditures of effort and affection that are made void by its thankless receptions, we think of them all. Has God
created them only that they may be thrown away? Shall He not rather have respect to the work of His hands, and
perfect that which concerneth us? Our hope is in Christ, who not only pledges their recovery, but promises that they
shall be recovered by us, as the ultimate witnesses of His faithfulness, the ultimate sharers of His joy.
(3) It must have an element of catholicity in it. Hope, if it is to be true and complete, must embrace in its
comprehensive sweep not only good for ourselves, in the attainment of a personal immortality and the re-
establishment of personal ties, but good for the whole wide creation. It must include the purifying and the rectifying
of society, the evangelizing of the nations, and the transforming of nature itself. No expectation would be perfect
which does not blend with its pictures of individual and mutual blessedness the picture of a regenerate world, free
from the curse and crowned with the blessing, bathed in the glory of God most precious, the brightness of His
perfect purity, the beauty of His finished plan.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-10-320.jpg)
![Lo! crowned with unutterable calm
And robed in light, came up the day-star Hope,
The virgin mother of the Christ of Joy.
Clear were her eyes with innocence, and deep
With dreams. Her lips were full with mysteries.
A crystal globe she held, wherein were seen
New vistas unimaginably fair.
Her presence seemed a kiss of God, which all
Rose up to take. In the diffused light
Of her adorable simplicity
Each man threw down his habit of disguise
And stood before his fellows, candid, brave,
Yet wearing weakness meekly, as a babe
Will wear it.1 [Note: Anna Bunston, The Porch of Paradise, 12.]
II
Patient in Tribulation
St. Paul is his own best commentary on his own counsels. His purposes were frequently broken by tumultuous
shocks. His plans were destroyed by hatred and violence. His course was twisted here, diverted there, and
wrenched a hundred times from its appointed goings by the mischievous plots of wicked men. The little churches he
had founded were in chronic disturbance and unrest. They were often infested with puerilities, and sometimes they
were honeycombed by heresies which consumed their very life. And yet how sound and noble his patience! With
what fruitful tenderness he waits for his lagging pupils! His very reproofs are given, not with the blind, clumsy blows
of a street mob, but with the quiet, discriminating hand of a surgeon. This man, more than most men, had proved
the hygienic value of endurance, and he, more than most men, was competent to counsel his fellow-believers to
discipline themselves to patience in tribulation.
i. Tribulation](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-11-320.jpg)
![What is tribulation? Tribulation is comprehensive enough. It denotes every possible loss, cross, trouble that can
enter into the mind of man; whatever we passively suffer, whatever we actively endure.
Let us look at tribulation, then, in some of its different aspects. “Patient in tribulation”? Yes. But make sure first of all
that the tribulation is real, not fancied. Did we ever try to estimate the proportion in which the fanciful, the fictitious,
the imaginary ills in life stand to the actual? Is it not the case that many a man makes his own sorrows, and that the
things we anticipate, but which never happen, have more in them of calamity and burden than what we are forced
in Providence to endure? Real tribulation we can divide into two kinds—that which comes to us from others, and
that which comes from ourselves.
1. Tribulation from without.—This kind of tribulation has both a positive and a negative side. Take the positive first—
that is, actual suffering caused us by others. This kind of tribulation was most immediately in the mind of the Apostle
Paul when he wrote the words first to the little Roman Church. Dark CLOUDS were gathering, threatenings of
coming trouble. Days of persecution were at hand. Nero, hardening himself in vice, would soon need some one
upon whom he could charge his guilt, and wreak his spite; no suffering would be too cruel with which to afflict the
Church of God. To-day persecution does not take the same form. It is not so much bodily as mental persecution.
The young man of to-day who follows Christ has no fear of death, imprisonment, or injury in any way to his body,
but if he be thoroughgoing he is still persecuted—persecuted by jeers and laughter and even by calumny.
One of our bishops, when he was a London incumbent, was at one time deeply distressed by the persistent
calumnies of a certain obnoxious parishioner. He wrote for advice to a high legal luminary, who was also a very
religious man. His answer was laconic; it was a quotation: “ ‘Jesus stood before the governor. And when he was
accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing, insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.’
Dear So-and-so, let the governor marvel greatly.”1 [Note: Basil Wilberforce.]
There is a kind of negative tribulation which also comes from without. It is the disappointment that others cause us
—the things we have to do without. Some glowing purpose has been suddenly frustrated; some bit of found work
has been rudely broken. We suffer profound disappointment. And disappointment is apt to kindle irritation, and
when that fire begins to burn much valuable furniture is in danger of being consumed.
One of the greatest crises in Principal Rainy’s life was when the House of Lords delivered judgment against the
United Free Church. Rainy had given the strength of his life to promoting the union between his own Church and
the United Presbyterian Church, and now it seemed as though he had only brought his own Church into grave
trouble. He was in the House of Lords when judgment was given. After the decision he took Mr. Haldane’s arm and
passed out with him. He was his guest in London. Mr. Haldane says that on the way home he never spoke. When
they reached home he sat down and without any bitterness or resentment spoke, and “the one expression of regret
that fell from his lips was that he was old.”
Loitering progress is tribulation of an allied kind. Things are walking, and we want them to run; or they are running,
and we want them to fly. We hear one and another say: “Things don’t go fast enough for me”; or “Things are too
slow for me.” And we become irritated, and then irritable, and we lose our patience, and in losing our patience we](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-12-320.jpg)
![Of Thy vast plan, for us create
With zeal a patient heart.1 [Note: J. H. Newman.]
2. Tribulation from within.—Quite as much of our tribulation is internal; it is not occasioned by others. Such trouble
may be physical, as St. Paul’s own “thorn in the flesh.” Or it may be mental and spiritual. There is no one who does
any thinking at all but has entered the dark, cold, chilling circle of apparently insoluble mystery. It may be the
burdensome presence of immediate and palpable realities, such as the presence of suffering and pain. Or it may be
those problems lying upon the borderland, or well within that mysterious realm where we seem to have neither eyes
nor ears, hands nor feet: the mystery of God, the mystery of Providence, the mystery of Jesus Christ—His
incarnation, His resurrection, His glorification, His relation to sin and hope and human endeavour and the veiled to-
morrow; and all the great pressing problems of human birth, and human life, and human destiny. What shall we do
with them? Or, what shall we not do with them? Let us make it an essential in all our assumptions that a
prerequisite to all discovery is patience in tribulation. Do not let us deal with them as though they were Christmas
puzzles, to be taken up at odd moments and cursorily examined, and then thrown aside again in irritation and
impetuous haste.
Dr. Jowett says, “I am amazed to observe how hastily men and women drop these things; they ‘cannot be bothered
with them,’ and so they retreat into a perilous indifference or into a fruitless agnosticism. George Eliot dropped her
vital faith in the course of eleven days. Robert Elsmere dropped his vital faith with almost equal celerity. I heard
from one young fellow who was burning all his boats and refusing to sail these vast, mysterious, glorious seas, and
all because he had read a little pamphlet of not more than fifty pages from cover to cover!”
O why are darkness and thick CLOUD
Wrapped close for ever round the throne of God?
Why is our pathway still in mystery trod?
None answers, though we call aloud.
The seedlet of the rose,
While still beneath the ground,
Think you it ever knows
The mystery profound](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-14-320.jpg)
![But can you to his childish brain
Make aught of coming manhood plain?
Let heaven be just above us,
Let God be e’er so nigh,
Yet howsoe’er He love us,
And howe’er much we cry,
There is no speech that can make clear
The thing “that doth not yet appear.”
’Tis not that God loves mystery.
The things beyond us we can never know,
Until up to their lofty height we grow,
And finite grasps infinity.1 [Note: Minot Hudson Savage.]
ii. Patience
That which passes muster for the spirit of patience is sometimes only constitutional amiability, or lymphatic
indifference and stagnation.
1. Let us look first, then, at this spirit—the spirit of indolence. Perhaps its most frequent cause is a want of
sensitiveness. The person is not finely developed, and so does not feel the tribulation, unless it is very material
indeed—or at least does not feel it to anything like the same extent as his more sensitive brother. To the superficial
onlooker he seems to be bearing his trial with patience; but he makes no progress, his capacity for sympathy is still
dormant. Or his apparent patience may be the result of mere idleness.
Browning in The Statue and the Bust teaches the paltriness of this kind of patience. From mere indolence the
“Bride of the Riccardi” did not leave her husband and flee to the “Great Duke Ferdinand” whom she loved. It was no
thought that she would be committing a sin that deterred her, and so her patience was worthless. She says:—](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-16-320.jpg)
![How strive you? De te, fabula!
2. But there is a finer spirit—the spirit of stoicism—which animates some. It also, however, is a spirit of stagnation.
It is no more than a surrender to the inevitable.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever Gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud,
Under the bludgeonings of chance,
My head is bloody but unbowed.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the MASTER OF my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.1 [Note: W. E. Henley.]
3. The spirit of progress. Wherein, then, lies the difference between the Christian spirit of progress and this old
pagan spirit of stoicism?
(1) Take the two attitudes towards death. Seneca, like a Stoic, argues thus: “Death is universal, all men have died;
death is inevitable, we must die. It is no good for any man to complain about the inevitable and the universal. It is
better for us simply to submit to what we cannot alter.” Now here stands St. Paul, face to face with death. It is not a
pleasant death, any more than it was a pleasant life. But St. Paul says, To me to die is gain. I have a wish to depart](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-19-320.jpg)
![and be with Christ, which is far better. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. If the earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a house, builded of God, eternal in the heavens.
Such was the patience of Lazarus after his resurrection when “his heart and brain moved there “in glory, and “his
feet stay here.”
“How, beast,” said I, “this stolid carelessness
Sufficeth thee, when Rome is on her march
To stamp out like a little spark thy town,
Thy tribe, thy crazy tale and thee at once?”
He merely looked with his large eyes on me.
The man is apathetic, you deduce?
Contrariwise he loves both old and young,
Able and weak—affects the very brutes
And birds—how say I? flowers of the field—
As a wise workman recognizes tools
In a master’s workshop, loving what they make.
Thus is the man as harmless as a lamb:
Only impatient, let him do his best,
At ignorance and carelessness and sin—
An indignation which is promptly curbed.1 [Note: Browning, Epistle of Karshish.]
(2) Now if we have this spirit of patience in tribulation our pilgrim journey will be furthered; for to Christian patience
there are two sides, a passive but also an active. We usually think of patience as a passive virtue, resignation, calm
waiting for something to happen, as in Shakespeare’s classic lines:
She sat like patience on a monument](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-20-320.jpg)
![St. Paul is addressing Christians, and so he does not simply say “pray.” He takes it for granted that they pray. But
what he fears in them is a relaxing of their efforts, a losing of their first zeal in prayer, and so his exhortation is
“Continue stedfastly in prayer.” Do not let the strength of your prayerful spirit escape, and do not let your acts of
prayer, your special seasons diminish or grow less strenuous. It is an exhortation to hold fast.
Let us look at the prayerful spirit; and then at occasions of prayer. It is almost impossible to separate them, for they
act and react the one on the other.
1. The prayerful spirit.—We cannot fulfil the Apostle’s exhortation even if we keep our regular seasons of prayer
unless we have the prayerful spirit, the spirit of harmony with the will of God. It is the aspiration after all good, the
wish, stronger than any earthly passion or desire, to live in His service only. It is the temper of mind which says in
the evening, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”; which rises up in the morning, “to do thy will, O God”;
and which all the day regards the actions of business and of daily life as done unto the Lord and not to men
—“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” The trivial employments, the
meanest or lowest occupations may receive a kind of dignity when thus converted into the service of God. This is
the life of prayer, or rather the life which is itself prayer, which is always raised above this world, and yet is always
on a level with this world; the life which has lost the sense of consciousness of self, and is devoted to God and to
mankind, which may almost be said to think the thoughts of God, as well as do His works.
2. Acts of prayer.—But the prayerful spirit cannot exist unless special acts of prayer are practised. A passive desire
to live in the atmosphere of prayer is dangerous, unless it finds its proper activity in definite exercises of prayer. We
shall succeed in maintaining the spirit of constant prayer only when we foster it by stated periods of devotion.
If a man is right, and puts the practice of praying in its right place, then his serving and giving and speaking will be
fairly fragrant with the presence of God. The great people of the earth to-day are the people who pray. I do not
mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about
prayer; but I mean those people who take time to pray. They have not time. It must be taken from something else.
This something else is important. Very important, and pressing, but less important and less pressing than
prayer.1[Note: S. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Prayer, 12.]
3. Such continuance will not be without its effects. Its effects will be twofold.
(1) The effect on the man who prays.—No one denies that prayer has a subjective effect. It has
an intellectual effect. Thus it has been observed that persons without natural ability have, through the earnestness
of their devotional habits, acquired in time powers of sustained thought, and an accuracy and delicacy of intellectual
touch, which would not otherwise have belonged to them. The intellect being the instrument by which the soul
handles religious truth, a real interest in religious truth will of itself often furnish an educational discipline; it alone
educates an intellect which would otherwise be uneducated.
It has also a moral effect. Habitual prayer constantly confers decision on the wavering, and energy on the listless,
and calmness on the excitable, and disinterestedness on the selfish. It braces the moral nature by transporting it](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-22-320.jpg)
![into a clear, invigorating, unearthly atmosphere; it builds up the moral life, insensibly but surely remedying its
deficiencies, and strengthening its weak points, till there emerges a comparatively symmetrical and consistent
whole, the excellence of which all must admit, though its secret is known only to those who know it by experience.
It has a social effect. Prayer makes men, as members of society, different in their whole bearing from those who do
not pray. It gilds social intercourse and conduct with a tenderness, an unobtrusiveness, a sincerity, a frankness, an
evenness of temper, a cheerfulness, a collectedness, a constant consideration for others, united to a simple loyalty
to truth and duty, which leavens and strengthens society.
It is not too much to say that prayer has even physical results. The countenance of a Fra Angelico reflects his spirit
no less than does his art; the bright eye, the pure elevated expression speak for themselves It was said of Keble
that in his later years his face was like that of an illuminated clock; the colour and gilding had long faded away from
the hands and figures, but the ravages of time were more than compensated for by the light which shone from
within.
(2) The effect on those prayed for.—The subjective effect of prayer does not cover the whole ground. Prayer has
also an objective effect. A man may say, “I can quite understand the good of praying for oneself; I can quite see
that, according to God’s will, these gifts of grace are to be worked for by prayer, like the gifts of God in nature; but
where is the evidence that there is the slightest good in praying for others?” He might even take this line—he might
say, “It is presumptuous for me to imagine that I can affect the destiny of another soul! It is against what I read of
the struggle for existence by each individual in nature. It is unfair, for what is to happen to those for whom no one
prays? And where is the evidence that intercession for others does any good at all?”
Gilmour of Mongolia said: “Unprayed for, I feel like a diver at the bottom of a river, with no air to breathe; or like a
fireman with an empty hose in a blazing building.”
For nearly twenty years it was the daily practice of Cardinal Vaughan’s mother to spend an hour—from five to six in
the afternoon—in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament asking this favour—that God would call every one of her
children to serve Him in the Choir or in the Sanctuary. In the event all her five daughters entered convents, and of
her eight sons six became priests; even the two who have remained in the world for a time entered ecclesiastical
seminaries to try their vocations.1 [Note: J. G. Snead-Cox, Life of Cardinal Vaughan, i. 11.]
4. The encouragement.—Be sure that no true prayer remains unanswered, though thousands of prayers remain
ungranted. He who alone knows all the things we have need of sees fit again and again to refuse the thing we ask,
or to deny even the most unselfish of requests, and to delay satisfaction of the purest desires on behalf of those
whose sins or sorrows we have carried to His Throne of Grace. And yet, assuredly, all such prayer enters into His
ears, and all such prayer is duly answered, if not granted, by Him. Do we not sometimes discover, it may be long
after, how, in ways we little dreamt of, through channels of which we knew nothing, the blessing for which we
pleaded in vain was vouchsafed at last? And when there is no such discovery, where the refusal of the good we
asked seems absolutely decreed and final, is it not our wisdom to leave all in the Father’s hands, and believe that
what we know not now we shall know hereafter? No disclosure which awaits us behind the veil could surpass in](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-23-320.jpg)
![interest the revelation of what has been achieved for ourselves and others by genuine yet ungranted prayer.
Two brothers freely cast their lot
With David’s royal Son;
The cost of conquest counting not,
They deem the battle won.
Brothers in heart, they hope to gain
An undivided joy;
That man may one with man remain,
As boy was one with boy.
Christ heard; and will’d that James should fall,
First prey of Satan’s rage,
John linger out his fellows all,
And die in bloodless age.
Now they join hands once more above,
Before the Conqueror’s throne;
Thus God grants prayer, but in His love
Makes times and ways His own.1 [Note: J. H. Newman.]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-24-320.jpg)
![righteously, and godly, and have their conversations as become the Gospel of Christ: and such as these,
being in necessitous circumstances, are to be communicated to; for not all, or any of the saints, but
only such as are in "necessity", are here pointed at; it is not communicating to the saints, but to their
necessity, which is recommended. It is the will and pleasure of God, that some of his dear children
should be in strait circumstances of life, be reduced to want and distress, partly to try their own graces,
their faith and trust in God, and dependence on him; and partly the graces of others, the charity,
liberality, and beneficence of those who have of this world's goods: and who are the persons that are to
"communicate", not words only, saying, be warmed and filled, and give nothing; but their substance,
they are to deal their bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and give a portion to as many as are in
need: and these acts of giving and receiving, are one way by which the saints have communication with
each other, and which is suggested by the word "communicating" here used; for fellowship does not lie
merely in private conversation, and in sitting down together at the Lord's table, but in "communicating
to one another such things" as are needful, as for the soul, so for the body. Some copies read,
"communicating to the memories of the saints"; not making images of them, and praying to them, but
speaking well and honourably of them, and imitating them in what they did well; see Pro_10:7.
Given to hospitality; or, as it may be rendered, "pursuing", or "following after love to strangers";
which is properly hospitality: respect is to be shown not to such only who are members of the same
community with us, but also to such of the people of God, that may be of another country, or of some
distant parts of our own, not before known by us; who by persecution, and distress of some sort or
another, or by some providence or another, are obliged to remove from their native place. These we are
to love, and show our love to, not only by directing and advising, but, if need be, by giving them food
and raiment, and lodging them: this is a duty incumbent on ministers of the Gospel, and on private
members, and on all who are in any capacity to perform it; and which should be done cheerfully, and
without grudging; and what persons should use, inure, and give themselves to, yea, should seek after,
and call to objects of it; as Abraham and Lot did, who thereby entertained angels unawares, and is
what the apostle here means by pursuing and following after it.
HENRY, “ A liberal love (Rom_12:13): Distributing to the necessities of saints. It is but a mock love
which rests in the verbal expressions of kindness and respect, while the wants of our brethren call for
real supplies, and it is in the power of our hands to furnish them. [1.] It is no strange thing for saints in
this world to want necessaries for the support of their natural live. In those primitive times prevailing
persecutions must needs reduce many of the suffering saints to great extremities; and still the poor,
even the poor saints, we have always with us. Surely the things of this world are not the best things; if
they were, the saints, who are the favourites of heaven, would not be put off with so little of them. [2.]
It is the duty of those who have wherewithal to distribute, or (as it might better be read) to
communicate to those necessities. It is not enough to draw out the soul, but we must draw out the
purse, to the hungry. See Jam_2:15, Jam_2:16; 1Jo_3:17. Communicating - koinōnountes. It intimates
that our poor brethren have a kind of interest in that which God hath given us; and that our reliving
them should come from a sense and fellow-feeling of their wants, as though we suffered with them.
The charitable benevolence of the Philippians to Paul is called their communicating with his affliction,
Phi_4:14. We must be ready, as we have ability and opportunity, to relieve any that are in want; but we
are in a special manner bound to communicate to the saints. There is a common love owing to our
fellow-creatures, but a special love owing to our fellow-christians (Gal_6:10), Especially to those who
are of the household of faith. Communicating, tais mneiais - to the memories of the saints; so some of
the ancients read it, instead of tais chreiais. There is a debt owing to the memory of those who through
faith and patience inherit the promises - to value it, to vindicate it, to embalm it. Let the memory of the
just be blessed; so some read Pro_10:7. He mentions another branch of this bountiful love: Given to
hospitality. Those who have houses of their own should be ready to entertain those who go about
doing good, or who, for fear of persecution, are forced to wander for shelter. They had not then so
much of the convenience of common inns as we have; or the wandering Christians durst not frequent](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-49-320.jpg)
![them; or they had not wherewithal to bear the charges, and therefore it was a special kindness to bid
them welcome on free-cost. Nor is it yet an antiquated superseded duty; as there is occasion, we must
welcome strangers, for we know not the heart of a stranger. I was a stranger, and you took me in, is
mentioned as one instance of the mercifulness of those that shall obtain mercy: tēn philoxenian
diōkontes - following or pursuing hospitality. It intimates, not only that we must take opportunity, but
that we must seek opportunity, thus to show mercy. As Abraham, who sat at the tent-door (Gen_18:1),
and Lot, who sat in the gate of Sodom (Gen_19:1), expecting travellers, whom they might meet and
prevent with a kind invitation, and so they entertained angels unawares, Heb_13:2.
JAMISON, “given to hospitality — that is, the entertainment of strangers. In times of persecution,
and before the general institution of houses of entertainment, the importance of this precept would be
at once felt. In the East, where such houses are still rare, this duty is regarded as of the most sacred
character [Hodge].
CALVIN, “13.Communicating to the necessities, (394) etc. He returns to the duties of love; the chief of which is
to do good to those from whom we expect the least recompense. As then it commonly happens, that they are
especially despised who are more than others pressed down with want and stand in need of help, (for the benefits
conferred on them are regarded as lost,) God RECOMMENDS them to us in an especial manner. It is indeed
then only that we prove our love to be genuine, when we relieve needy brethren, for no other reason but that of
exercising our benevolence. Nowhospitality is not one of the least acts of love; that is, that kindness and liberality
which are shown towards strangers, for they are for the most part destitute of all things, being far away from their
friends: he therefore distinctly recommends this to us. We hence see, that the more neglected any one commonly is
by men, the more attentive we ought to be to his wants.
Observe also the suitableness of the expression, when he says, that we are to communicate to the necessities of
the saints; by which he implies, that we ought so to relieve the wants of the brethren, as though we were relieving
our own selves. And he commands us to ASSIST especially the saints: for though our love ought to extend itself
to the whole race of man, yet it ought with peculiar feeling to embrace the household of faith, who are by a closer
bond united to us.
(394) There is here an instance of the depravation of the text by some of the fathers, such as [Ambrose ], [Hilary ],
[Pelagius ], [Optatus ], etc., who substituted µνείας monuments, for χρείαςnecessities, or wants: but though there
are a few copies which have this reading, yet it has been discarded by most; it is NOT FOUND in the Vulgate,
nor approved by [Erasmus ] nor [Grotius ]. The word was introduced evidently, as [Whitby ] intimates, to
countenance the superstition of the early Church respecting the monuments or sepulchres of martyrs and
confessors. Thefact, that there were no monuments of martyrs at this time in Rome, was wholly overlooked. — Ed.
MACLAREN, “STILL ANOTHER TRIPLET
Rom_12:13 - Rom_12:15.
In these verses we pass from the innermost region of communion with God into the wide field of duties in relation to
men. The solitary secrecies of rejoicing hope, endurance, and prayer unbroken, are exchanged for the publicities of
benevolence and sympathy. In the former verses the Christian soul is in ‘the secret place of the Most High’; in those
of our text he comes forth with the light of God on his face, and hands laden with blessings. The juxtaposition of the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-50-320.jpg)
![[Erasmus ] was mistaken in the meaning of the verb γεῖν to bless; for he did not perceive that it stands opposed to
curses and maledictions: for Paul would have God in both instances to be a witness of our patience, and to see that
we not only bridle in our prayers the violence of our wrath, but also show by praying for pardon that we grieve at the
lot of our enemies when they willfully ruin themselves.
15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who
mourn.
Barclay, “We are to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep. There are
few bonds like that of a common sorrow. A writer tells of the saying of an American negro
woman. A lady in Charleston met the negro servant of a neighbour. "I'm sorry to hear of your
Aunt Lucy's death," she said. "You must miss her greatly. You were such friends." "Yes'm," said
the servant, "I is sorry she died. But we wasn't no friends." "Why," said the lady, "I thought you
were. I've seen you laughing and talking together lots of times." "Yes'm. That's so," came the
reply. "We've laughed together, and we've talked together, but we is just 'quaintances. You see,
Miss Ruth, we ain't never shed no tears. Folks got to cry together before dey is friends."
The bond of tears is the strongest of all. And yet it is much easier to weep with those who weep than it
is to rejoice with those who rejoice. Long ago Chrysostom wrote on this passage: "It requires more of a
high Christian temper to rejoice with them that do rejoice than to weep with them that weep. For this
nature itself fulfils perfectly; and thee is none so hard-hearted as not to weep over him that is in
calamity; but the other requires a very noble soul, so as not only to keep from envying, but even to feel
pleasure with the person who is in esteem." It is, indeed, more difficult to congratulate another on his
success, especially if his success involves disappointment to us, than it is to sympathize with his sorrow
and his loss. It is only when self is dead that we can take as much joy in the success of others as in our
own.
BARNES, “Rejoice with them ... - This command grows out of the doctrine stated in Rom_12:4-5,
that the church is one; that it has one interest; and therefore that there should be common sympathy
in its joys and sorrows. Or, enter into the welfare of your fellow-Christians, and show your attachment
to them by rejoicing that they are made happy; compare 1Co_12:26, “And whether .... one member be
honored, all the members rejoice with it.” In this way happiness diffuses and multiplies itself. It
becomes expanded over the face of the whole society; and the union of the Christian body tends to
enlarge the sphere of happiness and to prolong the joy conferred by religion. God has bound the family
of man together by these sympathies, and it is one of the happiest of all devices to perpetuate and
extend human enjoyments.
Weep ... - See the note at Joh_11:35. At the grave of Lazarus our Saviour evinced this in a most
tender and affecting manner. The design of this direction is to produce mutual kindness and affection,
and to divide our sorrows by the sympathies of friends. Nothing is so well suited to do this as the
sympathy of those we love. All who are afflicted know how much it diminishes their sorrow to see
others sympathizing with them, and especially those who evince in their sympathies the Christian
spirit. How sad would be a suffering world if there were none who regarded our griefs with interest or
with tears! if every sufferer were left to bear his sorrows unpitied and alone! and if all the ties of
human sympathy were rudely cut at once, and people were left to suffer in solitude and unbefriended!](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-62-320.jpg)
![agreement in opinion on all subjects). Mind not high things, but condescend to (literally, being led away
with) men of low estate. It is a question whether τοῖς ταπεινοῖς should not be understood as neuter, so as to
correspond with τὰ ὐψηλὰ ; the meaning thus being that, instead of being ambitious, we should let ourselves be
drawn willingly to the lowlier spheres of usefulness to which we may be called. The main objection to this view is
that the adjective ταπεινὸς is not elsewhere APPLIED
conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide (in the sense of take forethought for) things
honest (or fair, or honourable) in the sight of all men. This is a citation from Pro_3:4, where
the LXX. has, Προνοοῦ καλὰ ἀνώπιον Κυριόυ καὶ ἀνθρώπων . We are not only to do what we know to be right in
the sight of God, but also to have regard to the view that will be taken of our conduct by other men; we must not
give any just cause for our good being evil spoken of (cf. Pro_3:16 and 1Pe_2:12).
CHARLES SIMEON, “SYMPATHY RECOMMENDED
Rom_12:15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
AS creatures, we have many duties to perform towards our Creator: and, as members of one universal family, we
have duties also towards each other. We all participate one common lot. The present state is subject to great
varieties of good and evil; and all in their tarn experience occasional alternations of joy and sorrow, of elevation and
depression. In these successive changes, we naturally look for some to sympathize with us. We expect, that they
who are partakers of humanity, should feel some interest in our affairs: and, if we find no one that has a heart in
unison with our own, we seem to ourselves as outcasts from the human race. Now the dispositions which we
expect to find exercised towards us, we are called to exercise towards others. The joys and sorrows of others
should, as it were by sympathy, be made our own: we should “rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them
that weep.”
That this grace may be more cultivated amongst us, we will endeavour to shew,
I. The nature and extent of Christian sympathy—
Sympathy is that feeling of the mind whereby we ENTER into the concerns of others as if they were our own. Not
that we are to interfere with others as “busy-bodies in other men’s matters;” but we should have such a friendly
disposition towards them, as to participate both in their joys and sorrows, and to have corresponding emotions
excited by them in our own minds. This is a duty incumbent on every child of man: “Let no man seek his own, but
every man another’s wealth [Note: 1Co_10:24.]:” And again, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man
also on the things of others [Note: Php_2:4. See also Heb_13:3.].”
Now,
1. There is scope for the exercise of this grace in reference to men’s temporal concerns—
[Are any afflicted in mind, or body, or estate? We should be ready to act towards them as Job’s friends did under his
afflictions: “they met by appointment, to mourn with him and to comfort him; and they were so overwhelmed with his
sorrows, that they were incapacitated for any active exertions in his behalf for the space of seven days and seven](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-66-320.jpg)
![nights [Note: Job_2:11-13.].” This silence of theirs has been misconstrued by many, as if the time so spent had
been occupied in uncharitable reflections, to which they dared not give vent. But those who have been conversant
with scenes of woe, and have been suitably impressed by them, will be at no loss to ACCOUNT for the effect
produced: lighter sorrows would soon have called forth observations of some kind, either from the sufferer or his
friends: but such overwhelming griefs as his, astonished, stupified, and silenced all: and in proportion as our
sympathy is deep, will be the reverential awe with which we shall approach the sufferer, and the tender caution with
which we shall address him.
It may be said, that such feelings well became them, as friends of the afflicted saint; but that it is unreasonable to
look for any such emotions towards a stranger, and still more towards an enemy. To this we answer, that, though
friendship will of course heighten our feelings, and more exquisite sensations will be excited in us by the sight of a
suffering saint, who is as a member of Christ’s body [Note: 1Co_12:25-26.], than would be called forth towards one
who stood in no such relation to Christ, yet our compassion should be deep and tender towards all. The good
Samaritan has shewn us how we should act towards any one, even though he should be of a nation that is hostile
to us [Note: Luk_10:30-37.]: and David has shewn us how we should conduct ourselves towards him, even though
he were our bitterest enemy: “When they were sick,” says he, “my clothing was sackcloth; and I humbled my soul
with fasting: I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that
mourneth for his mother [Note: Psa_35:13-14.].”
In like manner we should be prepared to rejoice with those who are brought into circumstances of a more pleasing
nature. We see an example of this in the friends of Elizabeth. It was reckoned a great affliction to a woman to be
barren: and such had Elizabeth been, till she was arrived at an age when she had no reasonable expectation of
ever seeing her shame removed. But it pleased God in his mercy to visit her, and to give her a son in her old age:
and when she was delivered of the child, her friends and relations came from every quarter to congratulate her on
the happy event [Note: Luk_1:57-58.]. This was a fruit and evidence of their love: and wherever love is, it will be
sure to operate in this manner: we shall not be indifferent to the happiness of others, but shall find our own
augmented by every accession of happiness to our neighbour: and, if “a man who has recovered his straying
sheep,” or “a woman who has found her lost piece of money,” call upon us for our congratulations [Note: Luk_15:4-
6; Luk_15:8-9.], we shall feel real delight in the exercise and expression of our most benevolent affections.
Such is the disposition which we should cultivate towards all the sons and daughters of affliction; for in the exercise
of it we perform a most important duty towards them, as members of one common family; and at the same time we
resemble our common Parent, of whom it is said, that “his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel,” and, that “he
delighteth also in the prosperity of his servants.”]
2. But the most urgent calls for it are in reference to men’s spiritual concerns—
[The joys or sorrows which arise from the things of time and sense are comparatively of little consequence: but
those that are connected with the eternal world are of infinite importance. Are any of our fellow-creatures mourning
by reason of their sins, which have grown up unto heaven, and are a load upon their conscience too heavy for them
to bear? How should we pant after an opportunity to make known to them the glad tidings of salvation through a](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-67-320.jpg)
![crucified Redeemer; that so we may “give unto them the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness!” Are any in danger of being “turned away from their steadfastness?” How should we burn with
holy impatience to ascertain their state, and to “establish their hearts [Note:1Th_3:5.]!” In a word, we should so feel
with all the members of Christ’s mystical body, as to be able to say with the Apostle, “Who is weak, and I am not
weak? who is offended, and I burn not [Note: 2Co_11:29.]?”
Nor should our compassion be withheld from those who are insensible of their guilt and danger: on the contrary,
they on this very ACCOUNT require it so much the more. Like Paul, we should “have CONTINUAL heaviness
and sorrow in our hearts for our brethren’s sake [Note: Rom_9:2.];” and, like our blessed Lord, we should weep
over them, though we knew that they were just ready to imbrue their hands in our blood [Note: Luk_19:41.].
If, on the other hand, any return to their Father’s house, how should we rejoice over them, and join in the pious
festivities of prayer and praise [Note: Luk_15:24; Luk_15:32.]! If afterwards they advance in the divine life, our joy
and exultation should be proportionably increased [Note: 1Th_3:6-10.]. The angels in heaven are not indifferent
spectators of such events [Note: Luk_15:7;Luk_15:10.]; and should we? No: next to the salvation of our own souls,
we should pant after, and delight in, the spiritual welfare of all around us.]
Such is the nature, and such the extent, of Christian sympathy: the value of which, however, will be better seen, if
we consider,
II. The benefits resulting from it—
It is of incalculable use,
1. To him by whom it is exercised—
[The heart of man by nature is selfish: but grace expands it; and, by interesting it in the behalf of others, gives
scope for the exercise of better feelings. The man whose cares and pleasures centre all in self, has his happiness
extremely contracted, at the same time that it is also of a low and sordid character. But the man who has learned to
sympathize with others, derives pleasure from all around him, and makes all the happiness he beholds his own.
The smiles of universal nature, the shining of the sun, the verdure of the fields, the cheerful aspect of the different
tribes and orders of the animal creation, all diffuse a peace and serenity through his mind, and draw forth into
exercise the principles of benevolence within him. The comforts also with which the various classes of his fellow-
creatures are favoured, inspire him with a sense of gratitude to the great Source of all. The accounts which from
time to time he hears of the wider spread of religion, and the consequent augmentation of happiness in the world,
fill him with joy, and stir him up to the delightful employment of prayer and praise. Thus his sources of happiness
are greatly multiplied, whilst the sensations of it are purified and REFINED .
If it be said, that by sympathy with the afflicted his pains are also multiplied; we answer, that in appearance they are
so, but that in reality they are not. True it is, that many things which others behold without emotion, create within
him a sensation of grief: but it must be remembered, that the grief of sympathy does not corrode, like other grief: on](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-68-320.jpg)
![the contrary, it induces what, if it did not sound too paradoxical, we would call, a pleasurable pain. The sigh of pity
and the tear of love may, in this respect, be compared with the sighs and tears of penitential sorrow: they diffuse a
sweetness over the mind, as being evidences of the operation of a gracious principle, which God approves: whilst
at the same time they reconcile a man to all his own personal trials, which always appear the lighter, in proportion
as he is conversant with the trials of those around him.
Thus the very exercise of sympathy has its own reward.]
2. To those towards whom it is exercised—
[The sympathy of a friend does not at all affect the causes of sorrow; but it most materially affects its pressure upon
the mind. It is as if a person took hold of a load which almost crushed us with its weight, and bore a part of it
together with us. The very opening of our griefs is itself somewhat of a relief to a burthened soul: and the beholding
of another, under the influence of love, participating with us our sorrows, and making them his own, wonderfully
assuages the pain we feel. The sense we have of his kindness operates as a balm to heal our wounds. By the love
we experience, our thoughts are diverted from the troubles we endure; and are turned for a season into the more
pleasing channel of reciprocal affection, and of gratitude to a gracious God. Thus, by means of sympathy, the
sorrows of the afflicted are greatly lightened.
On the other hand, the joys of any person are by the same means greatly increased. By every fresh congratulation,
they are revived in the mind from time to time: the fire, which, for want of such stirrings, would have languished, is
resuscitated; and oil is poured, as it were, upon the flame.]
But these things are rather matters of experience than of abstract discussion: to be known and understood, they
must be felt.]
3. To the Church at large—
[Where these amiable feelings are displayed in full force and activity, the cause of Christ is greatly promoted. The
beauty and excellence of Christianity is seen. Men cannot, or will not, judge of it from its principles; but they cannot
help judging of it from the effects which they behold. The persons who beheld our blessed Lord at the tomb of
Lazarus, were struck with his sympathy in this particular view: “When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews also
weeping who came with her, he groaned in his spirit, and was troubled: and, on his coming to the grave, Jesus
wept. Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved him [Note: Joh_11:33-36.]!” So, when persons behold Christians
participating with others freely in their joys and sorrows, they are constrained to say, Behold how these Christians
love one another; yea, and not one another only, but all around them, strangers and enemies, as well as friends!
The prevalence of such dispositions goes further to silence gainsayers, and to win souls, than all the most laboured
arguments of learned theories: religion speaks to them here in a language which they cannot but understand and
feel.]
Here, in conclusion, we are constrained to observe,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-69-320.jpg)
![1. How poor and inefficacious is the religion of the world!
[The world’s religion consists almost entirely of forms, of forms without either life or power. Certainly Christianity,
even as professed by the world, has advanced the cause of general benevolence: but that benevolence extends
not to the concerns of the soul. A worldly Christian can see thousands perishing in their sins, and not stretch out a
hand to their relief, nor utter one sigh on their account: and, as for all experimental religion, whether of joy or
sorrow, he derides it as the fruit of a weak or distempered imagination. The character of such persons may be seen
in the elder brother in the parable, who, when solicited to join in the festivities occasioned by his brother’s return,
vented his spleen in unkind reflections, both on the prodigal who had returned, and on his father who had received
him to his arms. The most benevolent of worldly men has not a string in his heart that is in unison with one who is
cast down with penitential sorrow, or that is exalted with the joys of faith. No: his principles rise not so high: his
convictions are only intellectual; and they can never be productive of what is spiritual. Even in their moral effects
they operate to but a small extent: but, in respect of spiritual sympathy, they bear no fruit at all. O, brethren, see
from hence how poor and defective that religion is which generally passes under the name of Christianity: it is
Christianity without Christ, in its principles; it is Christianity without love, in its effects. It boasts itself to
have PROCEEDED from the Sun of Righteousness; but it has neither the light nor heat that proceed from his
glorious rays: it is a shadow without a substance; a name without a reality. If it proceeded really from Christ, it would
make us to resemble him in our spirit and our conduct.]
2. How lovely and operative is the religion of Christ!
[Sympathy is of the very essence of Christ’s religion: “Bear ye one another’s burthens,” says the Apostle, “and so
fulfil the law of Christ [Note: Gal_6:2.].” Yes: he has taught us this both by precept and example: he bids us “love
one another, as he has loved us [Note: Joh_15:12.].” And how has he loved us? He pitied us in our fallen state, and
came down from the bosom of his Father to seek and save us. And during the whole of his abode upon earth, but
more especially in his last hours, “he bare our infirmities, and carried our sorrows [Note: Isa_53:4. Mat_8:17.].” And
at this present moment we are authorized to say, that “he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities
[Note: Heb_4:15.],” and that there is neither a benefit nor an injury that we receive, but he feels it as done
immediately to himself [Note: Mat_25:4. Act_9:4. Zec_2:8.]. Such is the effect which the Gospel produces upon all
who receive it in spirit and in truth. Let a sense of Christ’s love to us be duly impressed on our hearts; and it will
immediately excite in us a love to all mankind, though in a more especial manner to the household of faith. See,
with your own eyes, brethren; What is it that has given birth to Bible Societies, and Mission Societies, and to
numberless other institutions that respect the welfare of men’s souls? It is the Gospel: the Gospel, faithfully
administered, and affectionately received. Such ever was, and ever will be, the fruit of faith; for “faith worketh by
love.” Seek ye then to become possessed of a true and living faith: and know, that the more entirely you live by faith
on the Son of God, as having loved you, and given himself for you, the more you will drink into his spirit, and be
transformed into his blessed image: nor will you fix any other bounds to your sympathies, than he has affixed to his
[Note: Here open and recommend any Charitable Institution, as affording an occasion for the exercise of this
virtue.].]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-70-320.jpg)
![16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be
proud, but be willing to associate with people of low
position.[ ] Do not be conceited.
Barclay, “We are to live in harmony with one another. It was Nelson who, after one of his great
victories, sent back a despatch in which he gave us the reason for it: "I had the happiness to command a
band of brothers." It is a band of brothers that any Christian Church should be. Leighton once wrote:
"The mode of Church government is unconstrained; but peace and concord, kindness and good will are
indispensable." When strife enters into any Christian society, the hope of doing any good work is gone.
We are to avoid all pride and snobbishness. We have always to remember that the standards by
which the world judges a man are not necessarily the standards by which God judges him.
Saintliness has nothing to do with rank, or wealth, or birth. Dr James Black in his own vivid way
described a scene in an early Christian congregation. A notable convert has been made. and the
great man comes to his first Church service. He enters the room where the service is being held.
The Christian leader points to a place. "Will you sit there please?" "But," says the man, "I
cannot sit there, for that would be to sit beside my slave." "Will you sit there please?" repeats the
leader. "But," says the man, "surely not beside my slave." "Will you sit there please?" repeats
the leader once again. And the man at last crosses the room, sits beside his slave, and gives him
the kiss of peace. That is what Christianity did; and that is what it alone could do in the Roman
Empire. The Christian Church was the only place where master and slave sat side by side. It is
still the place where all earthly distinctions are gone, for with God there is no respect of persons.
BARNES, “Be of the same mind ... - This passage has been variously interpreted. “Enter into each
other’s circumstances, in order to see how you would yourself feel.” Chrysostom. “Be agreed in your
opinions and views.” Stuart. “Be united or agreed with each other.” Flatt; compare Phi_2:2; 2Co_13:11.
A literal translation of the Greek will give somewhat a different sense, but one evidently correct.
“Think of, that is, regard, or seek after the same thing for each other; that is, what you regard or seek
for yourself, seek also for your brethren. Do not have divided interests; do not be pursuing different
ends and aims; do not indulge counter plans and purposes; and do not seek honors, offices, for
yourself which you do not seek for your brethren, so that you may still regard yourselves as brethren
on a level, and aim at the same object.” The Syriac has well rendered the passage: “And what you think
concerning yourselves, the same also think concerning your brethren; neither think with an elevated or
ambitious mind, but accommodate yourselves to those who are of humbler condition;” compare
1Pe_3:8.
Mind not high things - Greek, Not thinking of high things. That is, not seeking them, or aspiring
after them. The connection shows that the apostle had in view those things which pertained to worldly
offices and honors; wealth, and state, and grandeur. They were not to seek them for themselves; nor
were they to court the society or the honors of the people in an elevated rank in life. Christians were
commonly of the poorer ranks, and they were to seek their companions and joys there, and not to
aspire to the society of the great and the rich; compare Jer_45:5, “And seekest thou great things for
thyself? Seek them not;” Luk_12:15.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-81-320.jpg)
![GILL, “Be of the same mind one towards another,.... Which is not to be understood of the
sameness of their judgment, or of their agreement in sentiments, espousing the same doctrines,
observing the same ordinances, and in the same manner, and attending to the same form of discipline;
but of their having the same love, and being of the same accord and affection to one another,
entertaining the same good opinion, or a better, of others than of themselves; and so the Syriac version
renders the passage, "what ye think of yourselves, think also of your brethren": think of one another, as
equally interested in the love of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, blessed with the same spiritual
blessings in him, and called in the same hope of your calling; and do not think of one another, as being
one richer or wiser than another, do not value yourselves upon that:
mind not high things; be not highminded, do not think too highly of yourselves, and despise others;
meddle not with, nor grasp at things too high for you, that are out of your reach, and beyond your
capacity; nor seek great things for yourselves, as riches, honours, &c. nor covet great company:
but condescend to men of low estate; or "to low things"; be content with mean and low things in
life, and disdain not to take notice of and converse with, men in a low condition, whether in things
temporal or spiritual; who may be poor in this world, be very ignorant and illiterate, as to general
knowledge and learning; be men of mean parts and abilities, of very small gifts, and be weak in faith
and experience; condescend to their weaknesses, bear their infirmities, and become all things to them
for their good, and God's glory: consider the apostle is writing to citizens of Rome, who might be
tempted to look upon themselves above others, and to look disdainfully upon others, as citizens too
often do on country people, as if they were below them, as persons of low life to them:
be not wise in your own conceits; see Pro_3:7. This is attended with bad consequences, spoils a
man's usefulness, prevents his improvement in knowledge, tempts him to reject all counsel and advice
given him, and to treat his fellow creatures and Christians with haughtiness and insolence, and
exposes him to the scorn and contempt of men: or "be not wise by or with yourselves"; imagining you
have all the wisdom, and others have none; or keeping it to yourselves, what wisdom you have
communicate it to others; the Ethiopic version reads, "say not, we are wise"; see Job_12:2.
HENRY, “A united love: “Be of the same mind one towards another (Rom_12:16), that is, labour, as
much as you can, to agree in apprehension; and, wherein you come short of this, yet agree in affection;
endeavour to be all one, not affecting to clash, and contradict, and thwart one another; but keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Phi_2:2; Phi_3:15, Phi_3:16; 1Co_1:10; to auto eis allēlous
phronountes - wishing the same good to others that you do to yourselves;” so some understand it. This
is to love our brethren as ourselves, desiring their welfare as our own.
(6.) A condescending love: Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate, Rom_12:16.
True love cannot be without lowliness, Eph_4:1, Eph_4:2; Phi_2:3. When our Lord Jesus washed his
disciples' feet, to teach us brotherly love (Joh_13:5; Joh_13:34), it was designed especially to intimate
to us that to love one another aright is to be willing to stoop to the meanest offices of kindness for the
good of one another. Love is a condescending grace: Non bene conveniunt - majestas et amor -
Majesty and love do but ill assort with each other. Observe how it is pressed here. [1.] Mind not high
things. We must not be ambitious of honour and preferment, nor look upon worldly pomp and dignity
with any inordinate value or desire but rather with a holy contempt. When David's advancements were
high, his spirit was humble (Psa_131:1): I do not exercise myself in great matters. The Romans, living
in the imperial city, which reigned over the kings of the earth (Rev_17:18), and was at that time in the
meridian of its splendour, were perhaps ready to take occasion thence to think the better of
themselves. Even the holy seed were tainted with this leaven. Roman Christians, as some citizens do](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-83-320.jpg)
![upon the country; and therefore the apostle so often cautions them against high-mindedness; compare
Rom_11:20. They lived near the court, and conversed daily with the gaiety and grandeur of it: “Well,”
saith he, “do not mind it, be not in love with it.” [2.] Condescend to men of low estate - Tois tapeinois
sunapagomenoi. First, It may be meant of mean things, to which we must condescend. If our condition
in the world be poor and low, our enjoyments coarse and scanty, our employments despicable and
contemptible, yet we must bring our minds to it, and acquiesce in it. So the margin: Be contented with
mean things. Be reconciled to the place which God in his providence hath put us in, whatever it be. We
must account nothing below us but sin: stoop to mean habitations, mean fare, mean clothing, mean
accommodations when they are our lot, and not grudge. Nay, we must be carried with a kind of
impetus, by the force of the new nature (so the word sunapagomai properly signifies, and it is very
significant), towards mean things, when God appoints us to them; as the old corrupt nature is carried
out towards high things. We must accommodate ourselves to mean things. We should make a low
condition and mean circumstances more the centre of our desires than a high condition. Secondly, It
may be meant of mean persons; so we read it (I think both are to be included) Condescend to men of
low estate. We must associate with, and accommodate ourselves to, those that are poor and mean in
the world, if they be such as fear God. David, though a king upon the throne, was a companion for all
such, Psa_119:63. We need not be ashamed to converse with the lowly, while the great God overlooks
heaven and earth to look at such. True love values grace in rags as well as in scarlet. A jewel is a jewel,
though it lie in the dirt. The contrary to this condescension is reproved, Jam_2:1-4. Condescend; that
is, suit yourselves to them, stoop to them for their good; as Paul, 1Co_9:19, etc. Some think the original
word is a metaphor taken from travellers, when those that are stronger and swifter of foot stay for
those that are weak and slow, make a halt, and take them with them; thus must Christians be tender
towards their fellow travellers. As a means to promote this, he adds, Be not wise in your own conceits;
to the same purport with Rom_12:3. We shall never find in our hearts to condescend to others while
we find there so great a conceit of ourselves: and therefore this must needs be mortified. Mē ginesthe
phronimoi par' heautois - “Be not wise by yourselves, be not confident of the sufficiency of your own
wisdom, so as to despise others, or think you have no need of them (Pro_3:7), nor be shy of
communicating what you have to others. We are members one of another, depend upon one another,
are obliged to one another; and therefore, Be not wise by yourselves, remembering it is the
merchandise of wisdom that we profess; now merchandise consists in commerce, receiving and
returning.”
JAMISON, “Be — “Being”
of the same mind one toward another — The feeling of the common bond which binds all
Christians to each other, whatever diversity of station, cultivation, temperament, or gifts may obtain
among them, is the thing here enjoined. This is next taken up in detail.
Mind not — “not minding”
high things — that is, Cherish not ambitious or aspiring purposes and desires. As this springs from
selfish severance of our own interests and objects from those of our brethren, so it is quite
incompatible with the spirit inculcated in the preceding clause.
but condescend — “condescending”
to men of low estate — or (as some render the words), “inclining unto the things that be lowly.”
But we prefer the former.
Be not wise in your own conceits — This is just the application of the caution against high-
mindedness to the estimate we form of our own mental character.
VWS, “Condescend to men of low estate (τοሏτοሏτοሏτοሏςςςς ταπεινοሏταπεινοሏταπεινοሏταπεινοሏςςςς συναπαγόσυναπαγόσυναπαγόσυναπαγόµενοιµενοιµενοιµενοι)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-84-320.jpg)
![Rev., to things that are lowly. Τοሏς ταπεινοሏς to the lowly may mean either lowly men or lowly
things. The verb literally means being carried off along with; hence yielding or submitting to, and so
condescending. Compare Gal_2:13, and see on 2Pe_3:17, in which passages it has a bad sense from the
context. According to the original sense, the meaning will be, being led away with lowly things or
people; i.e. being drawn into sympathy with them. Farrar suggests letting the lowly lead you by the
hand. Meyer, who maintains the neuter, explains: “The lowly things ought to have for the Christian a
force of attraction, in virtue of which he yields himself to fellowship with them, and allows himself to
be guided by them in the determination of his conduct. Thus Paul felt himself compelled to enter into
humble situations.” On the other hand, Godet, maintaining the masculine, says: “The reference is to
the most indigent and ignorant and least influential in the Church. It is to them the believer ought to
feel most drawn. The antipathy felt by the apostle to every sort of spiritual aristocracy, to every caste-
distinction within the Church, breaks out again in the last word.” Condescend is a feeble and
inferential rendering, open to construction in a patronizing sense; yet it is not easy to furnish a better
in a single word. The idea, then, fully expressed is, “set not your mind on lofty things, but be borne
away (ᅊπό) from these by the current of your Christian sympathy along with (σύν) things which are
humble.”
In your own conceits (παሜ ᅛαυτοሏπαሜ ᅛαυτοሏπαሜ ᅛαυτοሏπαሜ ᅛαυτοሏςςςς)
Lit., with yourselves; in your own opinion. See Rom_11:25, and compare Act_26:8, “incredible
with you,” i.e., in your judgment.
CALVIN, “16.Not thinking arrogantly of yourselves, (395) etc. The Apostle EMPLOYS words in Greek more
significant, and more suitable to the antithesis, “ thinking,” he says, “ high things:” by which he means, that it is not
the part of a Christian ambitiously to aspire to those things by which he may excel others, nor to assume a lofty
appearance, but on the contrary to exercise humility and meekness: for by these we excel before the Lord, and not
by pride and contempt of the brethren. A precept is fitly added to the preceding; for nothing tends more to break that
unity which has been mentioned, than when we elevate ourselves, and aspire to something higher, so that we may
rise to a higher situation. I take the term humble in the neuter gender, to COMPLETE the antithesis.
Here then is condemned all ambition and that elation of mind which insinuates itself under the name of
magnanimity; for the chief virtue of the faithful is moderation, or rather lowliness of mind, which ever prefers to give
honor to others, rather than to take it away from them.
Closely allied to this is what is subjoined: for nothing swells the minds of men so much as a high notion of their own
wisdom. His desire then was, that we should lay this aside, hear others, and regard their counsels. [Erasmus ] has
rendered φρονίµους arrogantes — arrogant; but the rendering is STRAINED and frigid; for Paul would in this
case repeat the same word without any meaning. However, the most appropriate remedy for curing arrogance is,
that man should not be over-wise in his own esteem.
(395) The first clause is omitted. The text of [Calvin ] is, “Mutuo alii in alios sensu affecti ;” τὸ αὐτὸ εἰς αλλήλους
φρονοῦντες “Itidem alii in alios affecti — Feel alike towards on another,” [Beza]; “ entirely united in your regards for
each other,” [Doddridge ]; “ of the same disposition towards one another,” [Macknight ]. The verb means to think, or
to feel, or to mind, in the sense of attending to, or aspiring after a thing. It is used also in the next clause, evidently
in the last sense, minding. There is no reason why its meaning should be different here; it would then be, “ the
same things towards one another,” that is, Do to others what you expect others to do to you. It is to reduce to an
axiom what is contained in the former verse. We may indeed give this version, “ the same, or alike towards one
another,” that is, sympathize with one another: and this would still be coincident in meaning with the former verse;
and it would be in accordance with the Apostle’ mode of writing.
But another construction has been given, “ the same of one another,” that is, Regard one another alike in dignity
and privilege as Christians, without elevating yourselves, and viewing yourselves better than others. This would
well AGREE with the sentence which follows.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-85-320.jpg)
![The two following clauses are thus given by [Doddridge ], “ not high things, but condescend to men of low rank,” —
and by [Macknight ], “ not care for high things; but associate with lowly men.” The word ταπεινοῖς is NOT FOUND
in the New Testament to be applied to things, but to persons. “” is perhaps the best rendering of συναπαγόµενοι
which literally means to withdraw from one party in order to walk with another: they were to withdraw from those
who minded high things, and walk or associate with the humble and lowly. “ cleave to the humble,” is the Syriac
version. — Ed.
Beet, “*Let there
be, in the breast of each, one thought and purpose touching all the
others.' The context implies that this one thought must be * accord-
ing to Christ,' XV. 5. This oneness of purpose is the true and only
source of real Christian harmony. ot minding, etc: suggested by
the same mind. The high things, ' Do not seek to have to do with
great matters : and think nothing which will advance the kingdom
of God too small for your attention.' Prudent ^ etc. To take to our-
selves credit for prudence is to betray ignorance. For we are wise
only so long as we are guided by the presence and wisdom of God.
Apart from His guidance, all human prudence is folly in disguise.
MACLARE , “STILL ANOTHER TRIPLET
Rom_12:16.
We have here again the same triple arrangement which has prevailed through a considerable portion of the
context. These three exhortations are linked together by a verbal resemblance which can scarcely be preserved in
translation. In the two former the same verb is employed: and in the third the word for ‘wise’ is cognate with the verb
found in the other two clauses. If we are to seek for any closer connection of thought we may find it first in this-that
all the three clauses deal with mental attitudes, whilst the preceding ones dealt with the expression of such; and
second in this-that the first of the three is a general precept, and the second and third are warnings against faults
which are most likely to interfere with it.
I. We note, the bond of peace.
‘Be of the same mind one toward another.’ It is interesting to notice how frequently the Apostle in many of his letters
exhorts to mutual harmonious relations. For instance, in this very Epistle he invokes ‘the God of patience and of
comfort’ to grant to the Roman Christians ‘to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,’ and
to the Corinthians, who had their full share of Greek divisiveness, he writes, ‘Be of the same mind, live in peace,’
and assures them that, if so, ‘the God of love and peace will be with them’; to his beloved Philippians he pours out
his heart in beseeching them by ‘the consolation that is in Christ Jesus, and the comfort of love, and the fellowship](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-86-320.jpg)
![railing; nor evil deeds for evil deeds, one ill turn for another; nor the evil of punishment for the evil of
fault, unless it be by persons, who under God have an authority to inflict it; as the civil magistrate, who
"is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil", Rom_13:4; but private
revenge is what is here forbidden:
providing things honest in the sight of all men. The Vulgate Latin reads, "not only in the sight
of God, but also in the sight of all men"; and the Alexandrian copy reads, "in the sight of God and in
the sight of men", which clause seems to have crept in here, out of 2Co_8:21. The words are not to be
understood of a man's providing things honest, decent, and commendable, as suitable food and
raiment for his family, in the sight of all men, to the honour of religion, and the credit of his
profession, which is right to be done; but of a provident, thoughtful, and studious concern, to do
everything that is laudable and of good report among men. The Syriac version renders the words alter
this manner, טבתא דתעבדון לכון נתבטל ,אלא "but be careful to do well", or exercise beneficence before all men;
either restraining it to acts of beneficence, even to them that do us ill, in opposition to rendering evil to them; or
applying it to all offices of humanity, and every good work, which are to be done in the sight of men; not merely
to be seen of them, and in a vainglorious way, in order to obtain their esteem and applause, as did the Pharisees;
but to avoid offence; to put, to silence, by well doing, the ignorance of wicked men; and to shame them that
falsely accuse the good conversation of the saints; and to recommend the Gospel and true religion, and win men
over to it thereby, and give an occasion to them of glorifying God.
HENRY, “To do them no hurt (Rom_12:17): Recompense to no man evil for evil, for that is a brutish
recompence, and befitting only those animals which are not conscious either of any being above them
or of any state before them. Or, if mankind were made (as some dream) in a state of war, such
recompences as these were agreeable enough; but we have not so learned God, who does so much for
his enemies (Mat_5:45), much less have we so learned Christ, who died for us when we were enemies
(Rom_5:8, Rom_5:10), so loved that world which hated him without a cause. - “To no man; neither to
Jew nor Greek; not to one that has been thy friend, for by recompensing evil for evil thou wilt certainly
lose him; not to one that has been thine enemy, for by not recompensing evil for evil thou mayest
perhaps gain him.” To the same purport, Rom_12:19, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. And why
must this be ushered in with such an affectionate compellation, rather than any other of the
exhortations of this chapter? Surely because this is intended for the composing of angry spirits, that
are hot in the resentment of a provocation. He addresses himself to such in this endearing language, to
mollify and qualify them. Any thing that breathes love sweetens the blood, lays the storm, and cools
the intemperate heat. Would you pacify a brother offended? Call him dearly beloved. Such a soft word,
fitly spoken, may be effectual to turn away wrath. Avenge not yourselves; that is, when any body has
done you any ill turn, do not desire nor endeavour to bring the like mischief or inconvenience upon
him. it is not forbidden to the magistrate to do justice to those that are wronged, by punishing the
wrong-doer; nor to make and execute just and wholesome laws against malefactors; but it forbids
private revenge, which flows from anger and ill-will; and this is fitly forbidden, for it is presumed that
we are incompetent judges in our own case. Nay, if persons wronged in seeking the defence of the law,
and magistrates in granting it, act from any particular personal pique or quarrel, and not from a
concern that public peace and order be maintained and right done, even such proceedings, though
seemingly regular, will fall under this prohibited self-revenging. See how strict the law of Christ is in
this matter, Mat_5:38-40. It is forbidden not only to take it into our own hands to avenge ourselves,
but to desire and thirst after event that judgment in our case which the law affords, for the satisfying of
a revengeful humour. This is a hard lesson to corrupt nature; and therefore he subjoins, [1.] A remedy
against it: Rather give place unto wrath. Not to our own wrath; to give place to this is to give place to
the devil, Eph_4:26, Eph_4:27. We must resist, and stifle, and smother, and suppress this; but, First,
To the wrath of our enemy. “Give place to it, that is, be of a yielding temper; do not answer wrath with](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-101-320.jpg)
![wrath, but with love rather. Yielding pacifies great offences, Ecc_10:4. Receive affronts and injuries,
as a stone is received into a heap of wool, which gives way to it, and so it does not rebound back, nor go
any further.” So it explains that of our Saviour (Mat_5:39), Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also. Instead of meditating how to revenge one wrong, prepare to receive
another. When men's passions are up, and the stream is strong, let it have its course, lest by an
unseasonable opposition it be made to rage and swell the more. When others are angry, let us be calm;
this is a remedy against revenge, and seems to be the genuine sense. But, Secondly, Many apply it to
the wrath of God: “Give place to this, make room for him to take the throne of judgment, and let him
alone to deal with thine adversary.” [2.] A reason against it: For it is written, Vengeance is mine. We
find it written, Deu_32:35. God is the sovereign King, the righteous Judge, and to him it belongs to
administer justice; for, being a God of infinite knowledge, by him actions are weighed in unerring
balances; and, being a God of infinite purity, he hates sin and cannot endure to look upon iniquity.
Some of this power he hath trusted in the hands of the civil magistrates (Gen_9:6; Rom_13:4); their
legal punishments therefore are to be looked upon as a branch of God's revengings. This is a good
reason why we should not avenge ourselves; for, if vengeance be God's, then, First, We may not do it.
We step into the throne of God if we do and take his work out of his hand. Secondly, We need not do it.
For God will, if we meekly leave the matter with him; he will avenge us as far as there is reason or
justice for it, and further we cannot desire it. See Psa_38:14, Psa_38:15, I heard not, for thou wilt
hear; and if God hears what need is there for me to hear?
(2.) We must not only not to hurt to our enemies, but our religion goes higher, and teaches us to do
them all the good we can. It is a command peculiar to Christianity, and which does highly commend it:
Love your enemies, Mat_5:44. We are here taught to show that love to them both in word and deed.
JAMISON, “Recompense — “Recompensing,” etc. — (See on Rom_12:14).
Provide — “Providing”
things honest — “honorable”
in the sight of all men — The idea (which is from Pro_3:4) is the care which Christians should
take so to demean themselves as to command the respect of all men.
VWS, “Provide (προνοούπρονοούπρονοούπρονοούµενοιµενοιµενοιµενοι)
The A.V. uses provide in its earlier and more literal meaning of taking thought in advance. This
has been mostly merged in the later meaning of furnish, so that the translation conveys the sense of
providing honestly for ourselves and our families. Better, as Rev., take thought for. The citation is
from Pro_3:4, and varies from both Hebrew and Septuagint. Hebrew: And thou shalt find favor and
good understanding in the eyes of God and man. Septuagint: And thou shalt find favor and devise
excellent things in the sight of the Lord and of men. Compare 2Co_8:21. Construe in the sight of all
men with the verb, not with honorable. Men's estimate of what is honorable is not the standard.
CALVIN, “17.Repaying to no one, etc. This differs but little from what shortly after follows, except that revenge is
more than the kind of REPAYING of which he speaks here; for we render evil for evil sometimes, even when we
exact not the requiting of an INJURY , as when we treat unkindly those who do us no good. We are indeed wont
to form an estimate of the deserts of each, or of what they merit at our hands, so that we may confer our benefits
on those, by whom we have been already obliged, or from whom we expect something: and again, when any one
denies help to us when we need it, we, by returning like for like, as they say, do not help him in time of need, any
more than he assisted us. There are also other instances of the same kind, in which evil is rendered for evil, when
there is no open revenge.
Providing good things, etc. I no not disapprove of the rendering of [Erasmus ] “ preparing,” ( Provide parantes ;) but](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-102-320.jpg)
![I prefer a literal rendering. As every one is more than justly devoted to his own advantage, and provident in avoiding
losses, Paul seems to require a care and an attention of another kind. What is meant is, that we ought diligently to
labor, that all may be edified by our honest dealings. For as purity of conscience is necessary for us before God, so
uprightness of character before men is not to be neglected: for since it is meet that God should be glorified by our
good deeds, even so much is wanting to his glory, as there is a deficiency of what is praiseworthy in us; and not
only the glory of God is thus obscured, but he is branded with reproach; for whatever sin we commit, the
ignorant EMPLOY it for the purpose of calumniating the gospel.
But when we are bidden to prepare good things before men, (396) we must at the same time notice for what
purpose: it is not indeed that men may admire and praise us, as this is a desire which Christ carefully forbids us to
indulge, since he bids us to admit God alone as the witness of our good deeds, to the exclusion of all men; but that
their minds being elevated to God, they may give praise to him, that by our example they may be stirred up to
the PRACTICE of righteousness, that they may, in a word, perceive the good and the sweet odor of our life, by
which they may be allured to the love of God. But if we are evil spoken of for the name of Christ, we are by no
means to neglect to provide good things before men: for fulfilled then shall be that saying, that we are counted as
false, and are yet true. (2Co_6:8.)
(396) “Providentes bona ;” προνοούµενοι καλὰ “procurantes honesta — providing honest things,” [Beza ]; “ things
reputable,” [Doddridge ]; “ things comely,” [Macknight ]. The participle means to mind beforehand, to prepare, to
provide, and also to take care of or to attend to a thing. “ to things honorable” may be the rendering here. The
adjective καλὸς means fair, good; and good in conduct as here is not “” but just, right, or reputable, as [Doddridge ]
renders it. The word “” does not now retain its original idea of honorable. — Ed.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Recompense to no man evil for evil.
Non-retaliation
I. What evils are we not to recompense?
1. Not to hate others because they hate us (Mat_5:44).
2. Not to curse others because they curse us (2Sa_16:10; Mat_5:44).
3. Not to defraud others because they defraud us (Lev_19:13; 1Th_4:6).
4. Not to speak evil of others because they speak evil of us (Tit_3:2; 1Pe_3:9).
5. Not to neglect our duty to them because they do it to us.
(1) Praying for them (1Ti_2:1).
(2) Pitying their miseries (Rom_12:15).
(3) Helping them in their necessities (Gal_6:10).
II. Why not?
1. It is contrary to the rule (Mat_7:12).](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-103-320.jpg)
![definition is ‘till seventy times seven,’ the two perfect NUMBERS multiplied into themselves. So I think that this
injunction absolutely prescribes persistent, patient peacefulness, and absolutely proscribes our taking up the
position of antagonism, and under no circumstances meeting hate with hate. It does not follow that there is never to
be opposition. It may be necessary for the good of the opponent himself, and for the good of society, that he should
be hindered in his actions of hostility, but there is never to be bitterness; and we must take care that none of the
devil’s leaven mingles with our zeal against evil.
There is no need for enlarging on the enormous difficulty of carrying out such a commandment in our daily lives.
We all know too well how hard it is; but we may reflect for a moment on the absolute necessity of obeying this
precept to the full. For their own souls’ sakes CHRISTIAN MEN are to avoid all bitterness, strife, and malice. Let
us try to remember, and to bring to bear on our daily lives, the solemn things which Jesus said about God’s
forgiveness being measured by our forgiveness. The faithful, even though imperfect, following of this exhortation
would revolutionise our lives. Nothing that we can only win by fighting with our fellows is worth fighting for. Men will
weary of antagonism which is met only by the imperturbable calm of a heart at peace with God, and seeking peace
with all men. The hot fire of hatred dies down, like burning coals scattered on a glacier, when laid against the crystal
coldness of a patient, peaceful spirit. Watch-dogs in farmhouses will bark half the night through because they hear
another barking a mile off. It takes two to make a quarrel; let me be sure that I am never one of the two!
19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for
God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will
repay,"[ ]says the Lord.
Barclay, “We are to keep ourselves from all thought of taking revenge. Paul gives three reasons for that.
(a) Vengeance does not belong to us but to God. In the last analysis no human being has a right to judge
any other; only God can do that. (b) To treat a man with kindness rather than vengeance is the way to
move him. Vengeance may break his spirit; but kindness will break his heart. "If we are kind to our
enemies," says Paul, "it will heap coals of fire on their heads." That means, not that it will store up
further punishment for them, but that it will move them to burning shame. (c) To stoop to vengeance is
to be ourselves conquered by evil. Evil can never be conquered by evil. If hatred is met with more
hatred it is only increased; but if it is met with love, an antidote for the poison is found. As Booker
Washington said: "I will not allow any man to make me lower myself by hating him." The only real
way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.
BARNES, “Dearly beloved - This expression of tenderness was especially appropriate in an
exhortation to peace. It reminded them of the affection and friendship which ought to subsist among
them as brethren.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-123-320.jpg)
![and private revenge; for he who, with a malevolent mind and desirous of revenge, seeks the help of a magistrate,
has no more excuse than when he devises means for self-revenge. Nay, revenge, as we shall presently see, is not
indeed at all times to be sought from God: for if our petitions arise from a private feeling, and not from pure zeal
produced by the Spirit, we do not make God so much our judge as the executioner of our depraved passion.
Hence, we do not otherwise give place to wrath, than when with quiet minds we wait for the seasonable time of
deliverance, praying at the same time, that they who are now our adversaries, may by repentance become our
friends.
For it is written, etc. He brings proof, taken from the song of Moses, Deu_32:35, where the Lord declares that he
will be the avenger of his enemies; and God’ enemies are all who without cause oppress his servants. “ who
touches you,” he says, “ the pupil of mine eye.” With this consolation then we ought to be content, — that they shall
not escape unpunished who undeservedly oppress us, — and that we, by enduring, shall not make ourselves more
subject or open to the INJURIES of the wicked, but, on the contrary, shall give place to the Lord, who is our only
judge and deliverer, to bring us help.
Though it be not indeed lawful for us to pray to God for vengeance on our enemies, but to pray for their conversion,
that they may become friends; yet if they proceed in their impiety, what is to happen to the despisers of God will
happen to them. But Paul quoted not this testimony to show that it is right for us to be as it were on fire as soon as
we are INJURED , and according to the impulse of our flesh, to ask in our prayers that God may become the
avenger of our injuries; but he first teaches us that it belongs not to us to revenge, except we would assume to
ourselves the office of God; and secondly, he intimates, that we are not to fear that the wicked will more furiously
rage when they see us bearing patiently; for God does not in vain take upon himself the office of executing
vengeance.
(397) Many have been the advocates of this exposition, [Chrysostom ], [Theophylact ], [Luther ], [Beza ],
[Hammond ], [Macknight ], [Stuart ], etc. But there is no instance of the expression, “ give place,” having this
meaning. In the two places where it occurs, it means to give way, to yield. See Luk_14:9; Eph_4:27. Then to give
place to wrath, is to yield to and patiently to endure the wrath of the man who does the wrong. Some have
maintained that the meaning is, that the INJURED man is to give place to his own wrath, that is, allow it time to
cool: but this view comports not with the passage. The subject is, that a Christian is not to retaliate, or to return
wrath for wrath, but to endure the wrath of his enemy, and to leave the matter in the hand of God. With this sense
the quotation accords as much as with that given by [Calvin ]. Not a few have taken this view, [Basil ], [Ambrose ],
[Drusius ], [Mede ], [Doddridge ], [Scott ], etc. — Ed.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.
Avenge not yourselves
The prohibition urged by such considerations as--
1. Our own peace and happiness. There is nothing so wretched as the harassing disquietudes of angry and
revengeful passions. The spirit of revenge is like the shelving rocks in the bottom of the deep, which cause the
waters to boil in the foaming whirlpool--the spirit of forgiveness and love keeps the soul “Calm and unruffled as a
summer sea.”
2. Self-partiality unfits us for measuring correctly the amount of injuries done to ourselves, and consequently the
amount of vengeance due. No man is a proper judge in his own cause.
3. We are very incompetent judges of the motives by which others are actuated. We may inflict “vengeance” where
there ought to be approbation and grateful reward.
4. When we do exceed in our vengeance, what is the consequence? All such excess is injury. This injury calls for
revenge in return. Thus there is no prospect but of perpetuated wrong, and interminable hostility. Thus there is
wisdom in the interdiction--Divine wisdom in Deity retaining the right to recompense in His own hands. He, and He](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-128-320.jpg)
![occupy the mind and heart with positive truth and goodness, and the will and hands with active service. A rusty
knife shall not be cleaned so effectually by much scouring as by strenuous use. Our lives are to be moulded after
the great example of Him, who at almost the last moment of His earthly course said, ‘Be of good cheer: I have
overcome the world.’ Jesus seeks to conquer evil in us all, and counts that He has conquered it when He has
changed it into love.
20On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed
him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In
doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[
]
BARNES, “Therefore, if thine enemy hunger ... - This verse is taken almost literally from
Pro_25:21-22. Hunger and thirst here are put for want in general. If thine enemy is needy in any way,
do him good, and supply his needs. This is, in spirit, the same as the command of the Lord Jesus
Mat_5:44, “Do good to them that hate you,” etc.
In so doing - It does not mean that we are to do this “for the sake” of heaping coals of fire on him,
but that this will be the result.
Thou shalt heap ... - Coals of fire are doubtless emblematical of “pain.” But the idea here is not
that in so doing we shall call down divine vengeance on the man; but the apostle is speaking of the
natural effect or result of showing him kindness. Burning coals heaped on a man’s head would be
expressive of intense agony. So the apostle says that the “effect” of doing good to an enemy would be to
produce pain. But the pain will result from shame, remorse of conscience, a conviction of the evil of his
conduct, and an apprehension of divine displeasure that may lead to repentance. To do this, is not only
perfectly right, but it is desirable. If a man can be brought to reflection and true repentance, it should
be done. In regard to this passage we may remark,
(1) That the way to promote “peace” is to do good even to enemies.
(2) The way to bring a man to repentance is to do him good. On this principle God is acting
continually. He does good to all, even to the rebellious; and he designs that his goodness should lead
people to repentance; Rom_2:4. People will resist wrath, anger, and power; but “goodness” they
cannot resist; it finds its way to the heart; and the conscience does its work, and the sinner is
overwhelmed at the remembrance of his crimes.
(3) If people would act on the principles of the gospel, the world would soon be at peace. No man
would suffer himself many times to be overwhelmed in this way with coals of fire. It is not human
nature, bad as it is; and if Christians would meet all unkindness with kindness, all malice with
benevolence, and all wrong with right, peace would soon pervade the community, and even opposition
to the gospel might soon die away.
CLARKE, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him - Do not withhold from any man the offices of mercy](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-148-320.jpg)
![forgiveness, but as the result of it; secondly, that perhaps no aggravation of his guilt was the point
contemplated, but the salutary stinging into life of his remorse hitherto sleeping” (“Essays on the
Poets”).
CALVIN, “20.If therefore, etc. He now shows how we may really fulfill the precepts of not revenging and of not
repaying evil, even when we not only abstain from doing injury but when we also do good to those who have done
wrong to us; for it is a kind of an indirect retaliation when we turn aside our kindness from those by whom we have
been INJURED . Understand as included under the words meat and drink, all acts of kindness. Whatsoever then
may be thine ability, in whatever business thy enemy may want either thy wealth, or thy counsel, or thy efforts, thou
oughtest to help him. But he calls him our enemy, not whom we regard with hatred, but him who entertains enmity
towards us. And if they are to be helped according to the flesh, much less is their salvation to be opposed by
imprecating vengeance on them.
Thou shalt heap coals of fire, etc. As we are not willing to lose our toil and labor, he shows what fruit will follow,
when we treat our enemies with acts of kindness. But some by coalsunderstand the destruction which returns on
the head of our enemy, when we show kindness to one unworthy, and deal with him otherwise than he deserves;
for in this manner his guilt is doubled. Others prefer to take this view, that when he sees himself so kindly treated,
his mind is allured to love us in return. I take a simpler view, that his mind shall be turned to one side or another; for
doubtless our enemy shall either be softened by our benefits, or if he be so savage that nothing can tame him, he
shall yet be burnt and tormented by the testimony of his own conscience, on finding himself overwhelmed with our
kindness. (398)
(398) [Calvin ] has in this exposition followed [Chrysostom ] and [Theodoret ]. The former part no doubt contains the
right view; the following verse proves it, “ evil with good.” The idea of “ coals of fire” is said to have been derived
from the PRACTICE of heaping coals on the fire to melt hard metals; but as “ coals of fire” must mean “ coals,”
as indeed the word in Pro_25:22, whence the passage is taken, clearly means, this notion cannot be entertained. It
seems to be a sort of proverbial saying, signifying something intolerable, which cannot be borne without producing
strong effects: such is represented to be kindness to any enemy, to feed him when hungry and to give him drink
when thirsty, has commonly such a power over him that he cannot resist its influence, no more than he can
withstand the scorching heat of burning coals. Of course the natural tendency of such a conduct is all that is
intended, and not that it invariably produces such an effect; for in Scripture things are often stated in this way; but
human nature is such a strange thing, that it often resists what is right, just, and reasonable, and reverses, as it
were, the very nature of things.
It is not true what [Whitby ] and others have held, that “ of fire” always mean judgments or punishments. The word
indeed in certain CONNECTIONS , as in Psa_18:13, has this meaning, but in Pro_25:22, it cannot be taken in
this sense, as the preceding verse most clearly proves. There is no canon of interpretation more erroneous than to
make words or phrases to bear the same meaning in every place. — Ed.
21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with
good.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-151-320.jpg)
![promulgated by the wisest philosophers. In extent it equals the New Testament. It is quite a mistake to say that our
Lord inculcated sublimer morals than ever had been revealed before: he only removed the false glosses by which
the commands of God had been obscured, and enforced the observance of those commands by motives of a
higher nature. Still however it must be confessed, that the New Testament brings the sublimer precepts more
clearly into view, and expatiates upon them in a more authoritative and convincing manner. This appears in the
injunction before us, which is as concise, as comprehensive, as forcible, as words could express it.
In discoursing upon this precept we shall endeavour to mark,
I. Its import—
The “evil” here spoken of does not relate to sin, but to suffering; and comprehends all those injuries, whether real or
imaginary, which we are called to endure. In reference to this, two questions arise:
1. When may we be said to be overcome by it?
[We are not overcome by evil merely because we are crushed by it; for St. Paul, when “pressed out of measure by
his troubles in Asia,” “thanks God for ENABLING him always to triumph in Christ [Note: 2Co_1:8; 2Co_2:14.]:”
and declares that while “we are ACCOUNTED as sheep for the slaughter, we may be more than conquerors
[Note: Rom_8:36-37.].” But we are then vanquished by it, when we are diverted by it from the path of duty.
Suppose on ACCOUNT of the trial being exceeding heavy, we are tempted to doubt whether it can, or will, be
overruled for our good: then we are vanquished; because we question the truth of God, who has said, that
“all things should work together for his people’s good:” our faith has failed, and we are overcome.
Suppose the injury done to us has irritated and inflamed our minds, so that we give way to anger and impatience:
then also we are overcome; because we ought to “possess out souls in patience [Note: Luk_21:19.],” and to “let
patience have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing [Note: Jam_1:4.].”
Suppose, though no particular vehemence shew itself at the time, we yet are induced to harbour secret resentment
in our minds against our enemy: then we are overcome; because we should love our enemies [Note: Luk_6:35.],
and be more concerned for the evil which they do to their own souls, than for any thing which they do, or can do, to
us.
Suppose, either through the fear of evil, or through actual distress, we are induced to relax our zeal in the Lord’s
service, or to make any sinful concessions, then also we are vanquished: for we SUBMIT to sin rather than to
suffering; we have failed in our integrity; we are overcome. We should value a good conscience more than life itself
[Note: Joh_12:25.]; and when we make shipwreck of it, we shew that our enemy has gained the victory over us.
If we hold fast our faith, our patience, our love, our integrity, then are we conquerors, even though we die in the
conflict: but if in any of these respects we fail, then are we overcome, even though we crush our adversary, and](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-158-320.jpg)
![defeat his more immediate projects.]
2. How are we to overcome it—
[We gain a victory over it in part, when we do not suffer it to injure our souls. But we must not be contented with
such a negative triumph; we should endeavour to overcome the hostility of our enemy; and this can be effected only
by returns of good. “If he curse, we must bless; if he despitefully use us and persecute us, we must pity him and
pray for him [Note: Mat_5:44.].” “If he hunger, we must feed him; if he thirst, we must give him drink;” with all the
tenderness and compassion that we would to a querulous and untoward infant [Note: ø þ ì é æ å means, ‘Feed him
as an infant.’ Rom_12:20.]. We shall in this way “heap coals of fire upon his head,” to melt him into love
[Note: Rom_12:20.]. It is true, many are so obdurate, that no returns of good can ever dissolve their hearts: yet the
effect of such persevering kindness, is inconceivably great, and will sometimes extort confessions of our innocence,
even from the most infuriated enemies. We can scarcely find in the annals of the world a more cruel or inverate
enemy than Saul; yet David’s repeated exercises of forbearance and kindness towards him constrained him to
confess his own wickedness, and the distinguished excellence of the person whom he persecuted
[Note: 1Sa_24:10-11; 1Sa_24:16-18; 1Sa_26:21.]. Such a victory as that is greater than the most successful warrior
could ever boast: and we should aim at similar conquests: we should strive, not to crush our enemy by force, but to
overcome his enmity by love.]
We cannot dismiss such an important precept as this without endeavouring more distinctly to set before you,
II. Its excellence—
The moment that the precept is presented to the mind we cannot fail of admiring its simplicity, and, at the same
time, its depth. But that our views of it may be more distinct, we observe,
1. It counteracts all our evil propensities—
[When we are injured or insulted, what a tumult of passion is apt to arise in our breast; and how ready are we to
render evil for evil! If we forbear avenging ourselves at the time either by word or deed, we still feel a disposition to
retaliate, and are ready to wreak our vengeance upon our adversary by private complaints of his conduct, though
from prudence or timidity we do not maintain a contest with him to his face. Long and bitter are the resentments of
many, even while they appear to be reconciled, and perhaps delude themselves with the confidence that they have
forgiven their enemy. But this precept lays the axe to the root of all secret animosity as well as open hostility. It goes
not to the act merely, but to the principle; it requires that all the enmity that is in our hearts should be slain; and that
love alone should reign there. Were this once effected, there is not an evil in the soul which would not have
received its death wound: for “love is the fulfilling of the law.”]
2. It assimilates us to Jesus Christ—
[To what an extent has our blessed Lord carried this principle! When we were his enemies, yea, when the whole](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-159-320.jpg)
![universe were up in arms against him, he did not execute upon us the vengeance we deserved, but came down
from heaven to convert and save us. And by what means did he propose to save us? Was it by a mere act of
power? No: it was by bearing our sins, and dying in our stead. What astonishing love was this! But further, when he
had come into the world, and his people with one voice had put him to death, still, so far from bearing resentment
against them in his heart, he, after he had risen from the dead, commanded that his Gospel should he preached
first of all in that city where he had been crucified, and that the offers of salvation should be first made to the very
people who had imbrued their hands in his blood [Note: Luk_24:47.]. And how glorious were the triumphs of his
love! By the very first sermon that was preached in his name, three thousand of his enemies were convinced of
their wickedness, and brought to repentance. Similar to this was the mercy he vouchsafed to the persecuting,
blaspheming Saul: he appeared to him in the midst of his mad career, and, by this transcendent act of love,
changed a bitter and cruel enemy into a holy and active Apostle. Thus he overcame evil with good; and in
proportion as we imitate his conduct we shall be transformed into his likeness.]
3. It would make a very heaven upon earth—
[What a very hell is this world, where the passions are let loose, and men are left to perpetrate all that is in their
hearts! Even under the restraint of wholesome laws there are so many quarrels generated, and so many
resentments harboured, that there is scarcely a society or a family in which real harmony prevails. But if this
precept were universally obeyed, how different a world would this appear? From the combating of evil with love,
there would soon be no evil to contend with: for certainly they who rendered nothing but good unto their enemies,
would never render evil to their friends; or if any unintentional evil were done, the very remembrance of it would be
quickly lost in returns of love. O blessed state! When shall the happy time arrive, when “the wolf and the lamb shall
thus dwell together, and the child shall have no ill to fear when playing on the hole of the asp, or of the cockatrice
den?” Surely this may well be called, “The reign of Christ upon earth;” for it will be the brightest image of heaven, or
rather heaven itself come down on earth.]
As a further improvement of this precept, we shall.
1. Guard it—
[We are not to imagine that this precept requires us to renounce our civil rights; for St. Paul, on proper occasions,
asserted his rights as a Roman citizen [Note: Act_16:37; Act_22:25;Act_25:10-11.]: nor does an obedience to it
preclude the exercise of legitimate authority; for the magistrate would have been invested with power to no
purpose, if he were not allowed to exercise it in the support of virtue and the punishment of vice [Note: Rom_13:4.].
Parents, masters, ministers, must exercise the authority committed to them. It is the vindictive disposition that is
forbidden, and the unwearied exercise of love that is inculcated — — —]
2. Enforce it—
[Many arguments will arise in our corrupt minds against the discharge of this sublime and self-denying duty. ‘The
persons who have used us ill, do not deserve kind treatment; and the exercise of CONTINUED kindness to them](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-160-320.jpg)
![will only encourage them to proceed in their injurious conduct; whereas a proper display of spirit on our part will
tend to intimidate and restrain them.’ This may appear to be just reasoning; but it is directly contrary to God’s
command. We are not to consider what others deserve to suffer, but what we are required to do. As to the use that
others will make of our kindness, that is no concern of ours; we have only to obey God, and leave all events to him.
To yield, to turn the left cheek to him that smites us on the right, and to return good for evil, may sound to us as
“hard sayings;” but they are the path of duty, of honour, and of happiness — — —]
3. Give directions for the performance of it—
[Get a deep sense of YOUR own vileness.—When you are thoroughly sensible how many talents you owe to
your Heavenly Master, you will not very readily take your fellow-servant by the throat for the few pence that he may
owe to you.
Contemplate frequently the mercy which Christ has vouchsafed, and is daily vouchsafing, to you.—How will this put
you to shame, when you feel the risings of anger or revenge against even your bitterest enemy! Surely you will fall
upon your knees before God, and pray for grace to “forgive others even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you:”
and that not thrice, or “seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Be much in prayer to God for the ASSISTANCE of his Holy Spirit.—Without his aid you can do nothing: but there
is nothing so great, which you shall not be able to do through Christ strengthening you [Note: Php_4:13.].]
GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE, “The Polemics of Christianity
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.—Rom_12:21
This description of Christian warfare, of what may be called the Apostle’s rule of “polemics” or “doing battle,” is well
worthy of its place at the close of his great summary of Christian duties. “Be not overcome of evil”—“be not
conquered by evil” (so we might more faithfully render it)—“be not conquered by evil, but conquer evil by good.”
The Apostle here, as so often elsewhere, has before his mind THE IMAGE of the Christian soldier. Nothing
shows more completely how in his time, peaceful as it was, the military character of the Roman Empire filled the
whole horizon of the ordinary thoughts and topics of men than the Apostle’s constant allusions to the armour—the
sword, the shield, the helmet—the battle, the conquest, the triumph. They show this, and they show that he did not
shrink from using these images, even for the most peaceful, for the most solemn, for the most sacred purposes;
they show that he was not in his Epistles a different man from what he was in common life; that the sights and
sounds which filled his eyes and ears in the world around him were not forgotten when he took the parchment
scroll, and bade his companion write down at his dictation the words which were to comfort and strengthen, not the
Roman Christians of his own time only, but the whole Church of God for ever.
We shall deal with the subject in two parts. Let us take them in the order of the text.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-161-320.jpg)
![I. The Power of Evil.
II. The Power of Good.
I
The Power of Evil
i. What is Evil?
1. We should observe in the first place the immediate object of St. Paul’s prohibition. What is the particular form of
evil against which he directs this warning? It is the evil of giving way to a spirit of revenge. This prohibition does not
mean that no power of correction is committed to man. In the opening verses of the very next chapter we are told
that an earthly ruler is “the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” Distinguish
between administration of punishment for offences against the law of God or man and infliction of chastisement
through personal anger or some personal offence. The Son of Man, who never avenged Himself, by word or deed,
upon those who injured or insulted Him, yet, on occasion, took upon Himself the office of avenger, visiting with His
severest condemnation the profaners of His Father’s Temple, and upbraiding with the bitterest censure the
hypocrisy and essential worldliness of the religious leaders of His day. As is the Master, such must the servants be.
Let us reserve our indignation (a gift of God) for the condemnation of sin. Let us bear with meekness whatever
slights or insults are aimed at ourselves.
Christianity is reproached because it has brought little that is new into the sphere of morals. That is quite a
gratuitous impeachment. Our Lord’s method of dealing with evil, for instance, is startlingly new. Before He came the
world knew no other way of treating evil than by reprisal and retribution; pains and penalties were the only remedies
known to the rulers and judges of the earth. The Incarnation disclosed to the world a new and an amazing thought:
for the mailed fist it substituted the pierced hand. Henceforth error and unrighteousness were to be antagonized by
knowledge, long-suffering, sympathy, and forgiveness. On these lines our Lord taught, and thus personally He dealt
with the provocations of His contemporaries. His disciples drank in His spirit, imitated His example, and taught His
doctrine. The contrast between the truculent systems of the ancient world and the mild programme of the Gospel is
complete. “Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, Resist not
him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” The originality of this
ethic is incomparable.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson.]
2. But there is an extended APPLICATION to the words of the text. The inspired maxim includes all forms of evil,
and there is no form of evil by which we are to allow ourselves to be overcome. What, then, is evil? How can we
define it? Evil, like good, is one of those very wide and comprehensive words which, when we want to put our ideas
into shape and order, urgently require definition, and which, nevertheless, by reason of their very width and
comprehensiveness, almost refuse to be defined. But let us go to the root of the matter. What is evil in its root?
Simply this. It is unregulated desire. Desire is that quality in men which corresponds to gravitation in the physical
bodies, which, while all is well with us, keeps us moving around our true centre, the Being of beings—God. Sin is
the free concentration of desire upon some other centre than God, that is, upon some created being; and just as if,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-162-320.jpg)
![in the heavenly spheres, a planet could get detached from its true orbit—from loyal revolutions around its proper
sun—and could thus come within the range of other and counteracting attractions, the effect would be vast and
irretrievable disaster, so is it in the moral world. Sin is this disorder in the governing desires of the soul, followed by
a corresponding disorder in its outward action.
3. Evil is the work not of God but of the creature. God could not directly have created evil without denying Himself.
Evil is a result of the abuse of God’s highest gift to created beings—their free will. Evil is the creature repudiating
the law of its being by turning away its desire from Him who is the source, the centre, the end of its existence. If it
be urged that God, in making man free, must have foreseen that man would thus abuse his freedom, it must be
replied that God’s horizons are wider than ours, and that we may not unreasonably believe that He foresaw, in the
very cure of evil, a good which would more than compensate for its existence—that, as the Apostle puts it, if sin
abounded grace would much more abound.
Every one knows that microbes are a cause of disease. It is a great wonder, seeing that there are so many
microbes about, that we keep as well as we do. But the reason why we keep well has been explained. In Pasteur’s
laboratory in Paris a Russian physiologist named Metschnikoff has found out the secret, and he tells us how it is
they are not so deadly as otherwise they might be. He has proved that certain cells contained in the blood, now
called phagocytes, commonly known as the white corpuscles of the blood, have the power of independent motion.
That is to say, they not only travel with the blood as it flows through the arteries and veins, but they can go
anywhere in the body if they so choose. These phagocytes wander about in the blood, even make their way inside
the tissue, and, wonderful to relate, they pursue, devour, and digest these deadly disease-producing microbes.
They are like guardian angels of the body. Now there is something very similar going on in our spiritual life. St. Paul
said: “When I would do good, evil is present with me.” We have all felt like that, and we all have the same war going
on in our inmost being. When we disobey God, we always know what we ought to do—there is the good voice
struggling to warn and crush the bad tendency. Conscience is a fine phagocyte. Listen to it always, and the deadly
microbe of wrong-doing will soon be overtaken and slain. Your soul’s life will thus become healthy, strong, and
noble.1 [Note: J. Learmount.]
ii. The warning
“Be not overcome of evil.” Those words contain at once a warning of danger and an encouragement to resistance.
They assume, as all Scripture does, that there is such a thing as evil, that it is around us, that contact with it is
inevitable, that defeat and ruin by it are not impossible. It would be a shallow and a false philosophy, it would be a
treacherous and apostate religion which should attempt to conceal this from us, or to tell us that the hard, narrow,
up-hill path to heaven is smooth, and easy and strewn with roses. To our first parents the school of evil was
Paradise itself. Esau was bred in the noble simplicity of the patriarch’s tent; the sons of Eli within the curtains of
God’s bright sanctuary; Manasses in the pure palace of a royal saint; Judas among the chosen ones of the
heavenly Kingdom, and in daily intercourse with the Son of God Himself. Yet what became of them? Esau grew into
a coarse, sensual hunter; the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; Manasses was a foul apostate; and for Judas, the
thief, the traitor, the son of perdition, it were better that he had not been born. So it is God’s will that man should be
liable everywhere to the possibilities of evil. But—“resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
1. Now, with regard to the particular case in point, St. Paul meant that we are overcome by evil whenever we yield](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-163-320.jpg)
![to revenge, or become indifferent to the good and the welfare of those who do us wrong. If we say (or even think),
“It’s no concern of mine. Let him reap as he has sown, let him look after himself, for to his own master he stands or
falls,” we forget that, in a real sense, we are all our brothers’ keepers; not the keepers of their consciences—and we
may not presume to dictate to them what they should believe, or what they should do—but we are their keepers in
the sense that we are bound to help them, and “as we have opportunity,” to “work that which is good” toward them;
and above all things to aid them in the conquest of their faults, whatever they may do to us.
What is it to be overcome of evil? Generally speaking it is just to suffer evil to lead us into evil. Evil for evil, we say;
that is, revenge wrong by wrong. We have an example of this in the history of Tamerlane the Great, king of the
Tartars, who reigned over the greater part of Western Asia some six hundred years ago. In the battle of Angora,
which was fought in the year 1402, he defeated and took captive Bajazet, the king of the Turks. At first he treated
the fallen monarch with great consideration and showed him much kindness. One day, however, entering into
conversation with him, he asked, “Now, king, tell me freely and truly what thou wouldst have done to me had I fallen
into thy power.” Bajazet, who had a most fierce and implacable disposition, answered, “Had God given unto me the
victory I would have enclosed thee in an iron cage and carried thee about with me as a spectacle of derision to the
world.” Then Tamerlane, in a flame of passion, said, “Thou proud man, as thou wouldst have done with me, even so
shall I do with thee.” And he was as good—or should I say as bad?—as his word. A strong iron cage was made,
and Bajazet was for three years carried about in the train of his conqueror, until at last, hearing that he was to be
borne into Tartary, he struck his head violently against the iron bars and so put an end to his miserable existence.
Now we see in this story how the conqueror became the conquered; the victor was changed into the vanquished.
For Tamerlane was overcome of evil. His character would have appeared much nobler had he said to Bajazet, “I will
treat thee much better than thou wouldst treat me: thou wouldst expose me to shame, but I will advance thee to
honour.”1 [Note: J. Aitchison.]
2. There are, however, other evils to which this maxim applies. We are not to be overcome of evil as we see it in
society, in the tendencies at work around us; neither are we to be overcome by it as it exists within ourselves, in the
habits we may have formed. Are we not all at times the victims of these? It may be the outbreak of a fiery temper, or
the querulousness of a discontented soul, the suspiciousness of an uncharitable heart, the jealousy of a selfish
spirit, the rashness of ungenerous judgment, or the sordidness of a worldly nature.
3. Now who of us will not admit that he has at some time or other been overcome by such things? Yes, this is part
of the warfare. We may have been “overcome,” but we are never to be beaten by them, or to despair of the
conquest of such faults. St. Paul says nothing about the length of the contest, but in the ultimate issue we must be
the victors, not the vanquished. Sin gets into our lives, and it is a blessed thing for us that, even after sin has
conquered us, it is possible for us by God’s mercy to conquer it in the end. We may lose a battle but need not lose
the war, for we can repent. What is repentance? Being sorry for sin? No, not exactly. It means thinking again.
“Second thoughts are best,” says the proverb. And repentance means “second thoughts.” Whenever we sin we
think foolishly and wickedly; we deceive ourselves. When we repent we think better of it; we think wisely and rightly.
And when by a foolish, wicked thought we allow sin to conquer us, we still can by means of repentance—the
second wise thoughts that God always gives to those who will take them—drive out sin again.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-164-320.jpg)
![Some time ago a little girl went into a room where a table was laid for dinner. Among other things there was a plate
of oranges. The little girl felt tempted to take one of these, and she let herself be conquered by the wicked thought.
She walked up to the table and took one, and then, not knowing that she was being watched all the time, went out
of the room. But in a few minutes the one who was watching saw her come back. She walked quickly to the table
and put the orange she had stolen back in its place, saying as she did so “Sold again, Satan!”2 [Note: J. M.
Gibbon.]
II
The Power of Good
“Overcome evil with good”—is this possible and practicable? Certainly. And no other method of overcoming evil is
either possible or practicable. We may suppress it by force, but it remains evil still; it is not overcome. We may
deprive it of its power of action, but it still exists; it is not overcome. We may frighten or flatter it into submission, but
we do not thereby conquer it. We may shut our eyes to its presence, and imagine that it has ceased to be, but for
all that it is powerful still, as we may soon find to our cost. Evil is overcome only when he who has been overcome
by it renounces it and allies himself with good.
i. Good must win
1. God is the perfect goodness, and every good influence comes from God, therefore, however great the force of
evil, good is always stronger than evil. But this is not all. The idea of God as the embodiment of abstract goodness
will not materially help us in the battle of life. Sin is evil, and we feel its presence; and we need more than a mere
ideal of abstract goodness to overcome the evil. But God has not left us thus blindly to feel after the good. “Where
sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly.” We shall be able to lay hold of the power of goodness by
recognizing that the peculiar self-utterance of God is Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ is the embodiment of a
universal sonship, and therefore that the overcoming principle is in us and in all men, and, being Divine, is
ultimately irresistible.
2. It is not enough to rely on the good within ourselves; we must look to the good without ourselves. What that
highest good is, we all know. But do we sufficiently remember how in the thought of that highest good, in the
communion with God in Christ, lies not only our peace and safety, but our victory over evil? In earthly warfare, we
know well that, however courageous may be the host, they must have a leader in whom to trust. And so it is in our
spiritual warfare; we must have the example and the encouragement of the just and good who have gone before
us. But, above all, we must look to Him who is called “Jesus”—that is, our “Joshua,” our Conqueror, our victorious
Leader, the Captain of our salvation, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
It is told of the Emperor Constantine, that he, the founder of the first Christian Empire, the first of Christian
sovereigns, was converted to the faith of Christ by a vision which appeared to him at the head of his armies—a
vision of a flaming cross, in the centre of which was written, in almost the very same Greek words as the Apostle
here uses: “In this conquer,” or “By this conquer.” The story itself is encompassed with doubt, but in a figure it
conveys to us a true lesson. “In this conquer” should still be our motto. “In this,” in the Cross of Christ, the highest
“good” which God has revealed to man, “in this conquer.” Conquer, because the Cross of Christ shows us what is
God’s love to His creatures. Conquer, because it shows us what is the highest call of man. Conquer, because it](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-165-320.jpg)
![shows us the strength and the firmness, the gentleness and mercy, the suffering and the victory in which, and
through which, we too are to be victorious.1 [Note: A. P. Stanley.]
Rise, O my soul, with thy desires to heaven,
And with divinest contemplation use
Thy time where time’s eternity is given,
And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse;
But down in darkness let them lie:
So live thy better, let thy worse thoughts die!
And thou, my soul, inspired with holy flame,
View and review with most regardful eye
That holy cross, whence thy salvation came,
On which thy Saviour and thy sin did die!
For in that sacred object is much pleasure,
And in that Saviour is my life, my treasure.
To thee, O Jesu! I direct mine eyes,
To thee my hands, to thee my humble knees;
To thee my heart shall offer sacrifice,
To thee my thoughts, who my thoughts only sees.
To thee my self, my self and all I give;](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-166-320.jpg)
![To thee I die, to thee I only live!2 [Note: Sir Walter Raleigh.]
3. The greatest force in the world is good influence. It is encouraging to the weak and erring to know that they may
overcome their weaknesses, that there is a power which may be instilled into their lives, giving them strength to
resist all the overtures of the Evil One, and to battle against all his assaults. To all those who will let good influence
be their guardian angel victory is secured. Right always wins—first, last, and always right is victorious.
Blessed influence of one true loving human soul on another! Not calculable by algebra, not deducible by logic, but
mysterious, effectual, mighty as the hidden process by which the tiny seed is quickened, and bursts forth into tall
stem and broad leaf, and glowing tasseled flower. Ideas are often poor ghosts; our sun-filled eyes cannot discern
them; they pass athwart us in thin vapour, and cannot make themselves felt. But sometimes they are made flesh;
they breathe upon us with warm breath, they touch us with soft responsive hands, they look at us with sad sincere
eyes, and speak to us in appealing tones; they are clothed in a living human soul, with all its conflicts, its faith, and
its love. Then their presence is a power, then they shake us like a passion, and we are drawn after them with gentle
compulsion, as flame is drawn to flame.1 [Note: George Eliot, Janet’s Repentance.]
Thou must be true thyself,
If thou the true wouldst teach;
Thy soul must overflow, if thou
Another’s soul wouldst reach.
The overflow of heart it needs
To give the lips full speech.
Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world’s famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.2 [Note: Horatius Bonar.]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-167-320.jpg)
![ii. How Good overcomes Evil
We may divide the evil which we have to combat into three classes. (1) There is personal evil, that is evil in
ourselves. (2) Then there is the evil of which the text particularly speaks, evil in our neighbour—we might call
it domestic evil. (3) And, lastly, there is the evil in the world at large. We may characterize it as public evil. All these
forms of evil are to be overcome with good.
1. Personal evil.—How shall I overcome evil in myself? I shall overcome it by emphasizing, PREDICTING , calling
into operation the good. I will overcome the natural with the spiritual, the temporal with the eternal, the phenomenal
with the real; where I find an evil tendency in myself I will instantly call upon the opposite tendency in the Christ
nature within me and accentuate it.
(1) Now all personal evil begins in thought, therefore evil thoughts will be overcome by good thoughts. “Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honourable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things.” “These things”—is this our way? Is it not rather our unhappy habit to revolve in our thought
and imagination whatsoever things are painful, humiliating, ugly, and discouraging? We shall never overcome evil
by this fellowship with sin and sadness. We overcome the evil in the good. The cardinal matter is to fix our thoughts
and affections on things above, not on things on the earth; we cannot even think of these things without being
blessed. The thought of beauty leaves a stain of sweet colour on the soul; to think of greatness is to grow; to muse
on purity is to suffer a sea change into the whiteness and preciousness of the pearl.
That useless thoughts spoil all; that the mischief began there; but that we ought to be diligent to reject them as
soon as we perceived their impertinence to the matter in hand, or to our salvation; and return to our communion
with God.1 [Note: Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, 13.]
You remember that terrible touch in one of our Lord’s sternest parables, about the evil spirit returning to the house
whence he came out, and finding it “empty, swept, and garnished”—then goeth he and taketh to himself seven
other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse
than the first. What does that “empty, swept, and garnished” mean? It means that if the heart is not pre-occupied
with good, it will be invaded by evil. The labourer who stands idle in the market-place is ever ready to be hired in
the devil’s service. The worm of sin gnaws deepest into the idle heart. But preoccupy your heart with good;
preoccupy your time with honest industry, and you are safe.2 [Note: F. W. Farrar.]
She walks—the lady of my delight—
A shepherdess of sheep.
Her flocks are thoughts. She keeps them white;
She guards them from the steep.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-168-320.jpg)
![She feeds them on the fragrant height
And folds them in for sleep.
She roams maternal hills and bright,
Dark valleys safe and deep.
Into that tender breast at night
The chastest stars may peep.
She walks—the lady of my delight—
A shepherdess of sheep.
She holds her little thoughts in sight,
Though gay they run and leap.
She is so circumspect and right;
She has her soul to keep.
She walks—the lady of my delight—
A shepherdess of sheep.1 [Note: Alice Meynell.]
(2) Let us concentrate our efforts on the good. We overcome the evil in the good. We shall not overcome our
personal defects by dwelling upon them, tormenting ourselves on ACCOUNT of them, dealing directly with them,
or by attempting singly to uproot them. To overcome this or that failing, we must think of it as little as possible, and
as much as we can about the corresponding virtue; weaken the bad side by strengthening the good. Let us frankly
recognize whatever grace has done for us, and by fostering it drive out the evil. Cherish the good thought, forward
the generous impulse, follow out the upward-seeking desire; starve the roots of bitterness, smother them, choke
them, drive them out by flowers of grace, fruits of light, and plants of God’s right-hand planting.
Mr. Kay Robinson, the naturalist, describes a competition witnessed by him in the fields. Owing to a peculiarity of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-169-320.jpg)
![weather, the poppies had managed to get a start of an inch or so in the matter of height over the wheat and barley,
and the obnoxious flowers were just beginning to burst into bloom that would have converted the stunted grain into
lakes of scarlet, when down came the rain; in a single day and night the wheat shot up above the poppies, and for
the rest of the season the poisonous things were overwhelmed in a wavy sea of prosperous green and yellow gold.
A similar competition is going on between our good and our bad qualities; it is a rivalry between the wheat and the
tares as to which shall get on top and smother the other. What is the true course to adopt whilst this struggle
proceeds? It is to concentrate ourselves on the corn.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson.]
2. In dealing with domestic evil—that which we see and deplore in our immediate neighbourhood—the text must
furnish guidance. The faults and follies of husband, wife, children, companions, servants, neighbours occasion
frequent and sincere distress. How are these lapses to be effectually combated? Not by good advice even, much
less by scorn and contempt. Verbal censure and social penalty do not largely avail against the evils which trouble
our environment; the effectual remedy is unspeakably more costly. Our guilty neighbours must see in us the virtues
they lack. Embodied excellence is to do the whole work of rebuking and charming, dispensing with eloquence,
whether sacred or profane.
On the walls of a chamber of great beauty in the Alhambra this sentence is inscribed: “Look attentively at my
elegance, and thou wilt reap the advantage of a commentary on decoration.” The variety, loveliness, and harmony
of the architecture of that chamber are themselves a commentary on decoration and render literary criticism and
description superfluous. In like manner the fine character and blameless doing of the Christian are a commentary
on nobleness, rendering argument and expostulation unnecessary. Offending neighbours see “how awful goodness
is, and virtue in her shape how lovely,” and words can add nothing to this incarnation of the true and
beautiful.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson.]
On his first entry upon the field of responsible life, he had formed a serious and solemn engagement with a friend—
I suppose it was Hope-Scott—that each would devote himself to active service in some branch of religious work. He
could not, without treason to his gifts, go forth like Selwyn or Patteson to Melanesia to convert the savages. He
sought a missionary-field at home, and he found it among the unfortunate ministers to “the great sin of great cities.”
In these humane efforts at reclamation he persevered all through his life, fearless of misconstruction, fearless of the
levity or baseness of men’s tongues, regardless almost of the possible mischiefs to the public policies that
depended on him. Greville tells the story how in 1853 a man made an attempt one night to extort money from Mr.
Gladstone, then in office as Chancellor of the Exchequer, by threats of exposure; and how he instantly gave the
offender into custody, and met the case at the police office. Greville could not complete the story. The man was
committed for trial. Mr. Gladstone directed his solicitors to see the accused was properly defended. He was
convicted and sent to prison. By and by Mr. Gladstone inquired from the governor of the prison how the delinquent
was conducting himself. The report being satisfactory, he next wrote to Lord Palmerston, then at the Home Office,
asking that the prisoner should be let out. There was no worldly wisdom in it, we all know. But then, what are people
Christians for?1 [Note: Morley, Life of Gladstone, iii. 419.]
Nothing more entices charity than to be first in the exercise of it. Dost thou desire to be loved? Love then.2 [Note:
Augustine, De Catech. Rud.]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-170-320.jpg)
![I have read a story of a certain Chinese Emperor, that he was informed that his enemies had raised an insurrection
in one of his distant provinces. On hearing this he said to his officers, “Come, follow me, and we will quickly destroy
them.” He marched forward, and the rebels SUBMITTED upon his approach. All now thought that he would take
his revenge, but were surprised to see the captives treated with mildness and humanity. “How,” cried the first
minister, “is this the manner in which you fulfil your promise? Your royal word was given that your enemies should
be destroyed; and, behold! you have pardoned them all, and even caressed some of them.” “I promised,” replied
the Emperor, “to destroy my enemies. I have fulfilled my word; for see, they are enemies no longer; I have made
friends of them.”3 [Note: F. H. Robarts.]
There is a power for victory in the simple might of goodness. It was with this power that Dr. Arnold overcame lying
at Rugby. “It is no use,” they said, “telling a lie to the Doctor, he always believes you.”
Old books tell us of a place in Arabia where roses grow so thickly that when the wind blows over them it gets so full
of the sweet smells as to kill the lions in the desert beyond. Of course that is not true as a fact. There is no such
place in Arabia. But it is true as a parable. You can kill lions with roses.4 [Note: J. M. Gibbon.]
Be good at the depths of you, and you will discover that those who surround you will be good even to the same
depths. Nothing responds more infallibly to the secret cry of goodness than the secret cry of goodness that is near.
While you are actively good in the invisible, all those who approach you will unconsciously do things that they could
not do by the side of any other man. Therein lies a force that has no name; a spiritual rivalry that knows no
resistance. It is as though this were the actual place where is the sensitive spot of our soul; for there are souls that
seem to have forgotten their existence, and to have renounced everything that enables them to rise; but, once
touched here, they all draw themselves erect; and in the Divine plains of the secret goodness the most humble
souls cannot endure defeat.1 [Note: Maurice Maeterlinck.]
3. The effectual way to subdue public evil is the strategy of the text.
(1) We do not really overcome evil by substituting one evil for another, or by setting one evil to drive out another.
Scientists neutralize one kind of microbe by introducing another, and sometimes, it would seem, they introduce one
disease to expel another; but manœuvres have little place in the moral world. Statesmen will attempt to end an evil
practice or institution by introducing it in a different shape, as the Siamese are said to domesticate spiders to drive
out cockroaches; the profit of such devices, however, is generally dubious. Whatever the endless shifts and
compromises of politics may be worth, they do not belong to the invincible strategy whenever they propose to
vanquish evil by evil. Christianity implies a profounder process.
Your fire will not put out your companion’s fire; rather will they combine, and make a bigger and hotter blaze. Good
arguments are best pressed home by soft words, and a righteous cause will be better pleaded with meekness than
with passion. You remember how Jephthah’s roughness to the Ephraimites, who were angry because they were not
asked to help in the battle against their country’s enemies, exasperated them further, and led to a terrible strife
between brethren, in which thousands of lives were lost. And, on the other hand, you remember how the wise](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-171-320.jpg)
![Gideon treated the same Ephraimites on a similar occasion; how he spoke gently to them, and made flattering
excuses, and so pacified them that they gladly gave their help against the common foe.2 [Note: H.
Macmillan.]
The African is now appreciating the fact that there is industrial work for him to do, that he is needed for the work,
and able to do it. The missionaries had lately to refuse over one hundred and twenty who wished to be trained as
carpenters. We are told that in Ngoniland education is to-day as much PRIZED as in Great Britain. The Ngoni
lived as wolves among sheep till they were tamed by the messengers of Jesus Christ. “Give me a Gospel for an
assegai,” one of them said to the missionary, “as the love of war has been taken out of my heart.”1 [Note:
James Wells, Stewart of Lovedale, 145.]
(2) We shall not overcome evil by the representation of it. Ghastly things are represented in art on the plea that they
will disgust. The stark expression of naturalism in literature is excused on the ground that its loathsomeness is
discredited by being described. And the drama pictures vice and violence with moral design. No mistake can be
greater. Wickedness at once repels and fascinates, too often in the end proving contagious and destructive. It is
infectious to represent evil, often dangerous to talk of it, and even an injustice to ourselves to figure it in fancy. The
morbid element in life must be dealt with in art and literature; but it ought to be described, delineated, and
dramatized with utmost reticence.
To make our idea of morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination and to introduce into our
judgments of our fellow-men a secret element of gusto. If a thing is wrong for us, we should not dwell upon the
thought of it; or we shall soon dwell upon it with inverted pleasure.2 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, A Christmas
Sermon.]
The fabled basilisk was said to perish if it saw itself in a mirror; it could not survive the sight of its own hideousness.
Evil is not killed in this way. It feeds on the vision. With regard to the spirit of terrible cruelty which marked the
Renaissance in Italy, Symonds traces it to the influence of the fiendish atrocities of the tyrant Ezzelino. “In vain was
the humanity of the race revolted by the hideous spectacle. It laid a deep hold upon the Italian imagination, and
by the glamour of loathing that has strength to fascinate, proved in the end contagious.”3 [Note: W. L.
Watkinson.]
An artist one day visited a friend of his, an undergraduate at Oxford. As he looked round upon the walls of his
young friend’s rooms, and saw the gross and sordid prints and photographs, the artist’s heart went out in eager
longing to purify the thought and sanctify the passion of his young friend. A day or so afterwards, a beautiful picture
came addressed to the Oxford undergraduate with a little note enclosed from his artist friend: “Hang this up in your
room, it will banish the chorus girls and the jockeys.” And it did!1 [Note: W. S. Kelynack, in The Young
Man, March 1911.]
(3) Evil is not overcome by denunciation. It is surprising how much efficacy is supposed to go with denunciation.
Real, constructive, aggressive good is of far greater significance than eloquent invective; such invective has its
place, but it must be accompanied by active practical effort, or it effects little more than summer lightning.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-172-320.jpg)
![Carlyle, in his review of Elliott, the Corn-Law Rhymer, has a most instructive passage. “We could truly wish to see
such a mind as his engaged rather in considering what, in his own sphere, could be done, than what, in his own or
other spheres, ought to be destroyed; rather in producing or preserving the True, than in mangling and slashing
asunder the False.” But denunciatory rhetoric is so much easier and cheaper than good works, and proves a
popular temptation. Yet it is far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness.2 [Note: W. L.
Watkinson.]
VA DYKE, “THE BATTLE OF LIFE
Romans xii. 21 : Overcome evil with good.
The Battle of Life is an ancient phrase
consecrated by use in Commencement
Orations without number. Two modern
expressions have taken their place be-
side it in our own day: the Strenuous
Life, and the Simple Life.
Each of these phrases has its own
significance and value. It is when they
are overemphasized and driven to ex-
tremes that they lose their truth and
become catch-words of folly. The sim-
ple life which blandly ignores all care
and conflict, soon becomes flabby and
invertebrate, sentimental, and gelati-
5
iw316026
O THE BATTLE OF LIFE
nous. The strenuous life which does
everything with set jaws and clenched
fists and fierce effort, soon becomes
strained and violent, a prolonged ner-
vous spasm.
Somewhere between these two ex-
tremes must lie the golden mean: a
life that has strength and simplicity,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/romans12verses12-21commentary-150419221148-conversion-gate02/85/Romans-12-verses-12-21-commentary-173-320.jpg)
Uploaded byGLENN PEASE
Romans 12 verses 12 21 commentary
This document provides commentary on Romans 12:12-21 from multiple scholars and biblical experts. It discusses three key points: 1) "Rejoicing in hope" - Christians should find joy and optimism in their hope of eternal life and glory, rather than in earthly pleasures, which allows them to endure hardship. 2) "Patient in tribulation" - Believers should meet difficulties, including persecution, with courage and fortitude, knowing Christ helps them. 3) "Continuing instant in prayer" - Persevering in prayer strengthens faith and hope, and gives strength to patiently endure trials. Prayer is essential to living the Christian life.
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Romans 12 verses 12 21 commentary
- 1. ROMA S 12VERSES 12-21 COMME TARY EDITED BY GLE PEASE 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Barclay, “We are to rejoice in hope. When Alexander the Great was setting out upon one of his eastern campaigns, he was distributing all kinds of gifts to his friends. In his generosity he had given away nearly all his possessions. "Sir," said one of his friends, "you will have nothing left for yourself." "Oh, yes, I have," said Alexander, "I have still my hopes." The Christian must be essentially an optimist. Just because God is God, the Christian is always certain that "the best is yet to be." Just because he knows of the grace that is sufficient for all things and the strength that is made perfect in weakness, the Christian knows that no task is too much for him. "There are no hopeless situations in life; there are only men who have grown hopeless about them." There can never be any such thing as a hopeless Christian. Barclay, “We are to meet tribulation with triumphant fortitude. Someone once said to a gallant sufferer: "Suffering colours all life, doesn't it?" "Yes," said the gallant one, "it does, but I propose to choose the colour." When the dreadful affliction of complete deafness began to descend on Beethoven and life seemed to be one unbroken disaster, he said: "I will take life by the throat." As William Cowper had it: "Set free from present sorrow, We cheerfully can say. `Even let the unknown tomorrow Bring with it what it may, It can bring with it nothing But he will bear us through.'" When ebuchadnezzar cast Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the burning fiery furnace he was amazed that they took no harm. He asked if three men had not been cast into the flames. They told him it was so. He said, "But I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods" (Dn.3:24-25). A man can meet anything when he meets it with Christ. Barclay, “We are to persevere in prayer. Is it not the case that there are times in life when we let day add itself to day and week to week, and we never speak to God? When a man ceases to pray, he despoils himself of the strength of Almighty God. o man should be surprised when life collapses if he insists on living it alone. BARNES, “Rejoicing in hope - That is, in the hope of eternal life and glory which the gospel produces; see the notes at Rom_5:2-3.
- 2. Patient in tribulation- In affliction patiently enduring all that maybe appointed. Christians may be enabled to do this by the sustaining influence of their hope of future glory; of being admitted to that world where there shall be no more death, and where all tears shall be wiped away from their eyes, Rev_21:4; Rev_7:17; compare Jam_1:4. See the influence of hope in sustaining us in affliction more fully considered in the notes at Rom_8:18-28. Continuing instant in prayer - That is, be persevering in prayer; see Col_4:2; see the notes at Luk_18:1. The meaning of this direction is, that in order to discharge aright the duties of the Christian life, and especially to maintain a joyful hope, and to be sustained in the midst of afflictions, it is necessary to cherish a spirit of prayer, and to live near to God. How often a Christian should pray, the Scriptures do not inform us. Of David we are told that he prayed seven times a day Psa_119:164; of Daniel, that he was accustomed to pray three times a day Dan_6:10; of our Saviour we have repeated instances of his praying mentioned; and the same of the apostles. The following rules, perhaps, may guide us in this. (1) Every Christian should have some time allotted for this service, and some place where he may be alone with God. (2) It is not easy, perhaps not possible, to maintain a life of piety without regular habits of secret devotion. (3) The morning, when we have experienced God’s protecting care, when the mind is fresh, and the thoughts are as yet clear and unoccupied with the world, when we go forth to the duties, trials, and temptations of the day; and the evening, when we have again experienced his goodness, and are about to commit ourselves to his protecting care, and when we need his pardoning mercy for the errors and follies of the day, seem to be times which commend themselves to all as appropriate seasons for private devotion. (4) Every person will also find other times when private prayer will be needful, and when he will be inclined to it. In affliction, in perplexity, in moments of despondency, in danger, and want, and disappointment, and in the loss of friends, we shall feel the propriety of drawing near to God, and of pouring out the heart before him. (5) Besides this, every Christian is probably conscious of times when he feels especially inclined to pray; he feels just like praying; he has a spirit of supplication; and nothing but prayer will meet the instinctive desires of his bosom. We are often conscious of an earnest desire to see and converse with an absent friend, to have communion with those we love; and we value such fellowship as among the happiest moments of life. So with the Christian. He may have an earnest desire to have communion with God; his heart pants for it; and he cannot resist the propensity to seek him, and pour out his desires before him. Compare the feelings expressed by David in Psa_42:1-2, “As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee O God. My soul thirsteth for God for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God;” compare Psa_63:1. Such seasons should be improved; they are the “spring times” of our piety; and we should expand every sail, that we may be “filled with all the fullness of God.” They are happy, blessed moments of our life; and then devotion is sweetest and most pure; and then the soul knows what it is to have fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, 1Jo_1:3. (6) In addition to all this, Christians may be in the habit of praying to God without the formality of retirement, God locks upon the heart; and the heart may pour forth its secret desires to Him even when in business, when conversing with a friend, when walking, when alone, and when in society. Thus, the Christian may live a life of prayer; and it shall be one of the characteristics of his life that he prays! By this he shall be known; and in this he shall learn the way to possess peace in religion: “In every joy that crowns my days, In every pain I bear. My heart shall find delight in praise, Or seek relief in prayer. “When gladness wings my favou’d hour,
- 3. Thy love mythoughts shall fill, Resign’d when storms of sorrow lower, My soul shall meet thy will, “My lifted eye, without a tear. The gathering storm shall see. My steadfast heart shall know no fear, That heart shall rest on thee.” CLARKE, “Rejoicing in hope - Of that glory of God that to each faithful follower of Christ shall shortly be revealed. Patient in tribulation - Remembering that what you suffer as Christians you suffer for Christ’s sake; and it is to his honor, and the honor of your Christian profession, that you suffer it with an even mind. Continuing instant in prayer - Προσκαρτερουντες· Making the most fervent and intense application to the throne of grace for the light and power of the Holy Spirit; without which you can neither abhor evil, do good, love the brethren, entertain a comfortable hope, nor bear up patiently under the tribulations and ills of life. GILL, “Rejoicing in hope,.... Of the glory of God, than the hope of which nothing can make a believer more cheerful in this world; the saints' joy is therefore called the "rejoicing of the hope", Heb_3:6. This is placed between serving the Lord, and being patient in tribulation; for nothing tends more to animate the people of God to a cheerful serving of him, or to make them more patient under afflictions, than a hope of being for ever with the Lord: patient in tribulation; whilst the saints are in this world they must expect tribulation; their way to heaven lies through it; and it becomes them to be patient under it, not murmuring against God, on the one hand, nor reviling of men, on the other. Continuing instant in prayer: prayer is needful at all times, but especially in a time of tribulation and distress, whether inward or outward. This should be made without ceasing; saints should watch unto it with all perseverance; men should pray always, and not faint; never give out and over, or be discouraged. This advice is rightly given and placed here, to teach us that we are to go to the throne of grace continually for fresh supplies of grace, and strength to enable us to exercise the grace, and perform the duties exhorted to both in preceding and following verses. JAMISON, “Rejoicing, etc. — Here it is more lively to retain the order and the verbs of the original: “In hope, rejoicing; in tribulation, enduring; in prayer, persevering.” Each of these exercises helps the other. If our “hope” of glory is so assured that it is a rejoicing hope, we shall find the spirit of “endurance in tribulation” natural and easy; but since it is “prayer” which strengthens the faith that begets hope and lifts it up into an assured and joyful expectancy, and since our patience in tribulation is fed by this, it will be seen that all depends on our “perseverance in prayer.”
- 4. CALVIN, “12.Rejoicing inhope, etc. Three things are here connected together, and seem in a manner to belong to the clause “ the time;” for the person who accommodates himself best to the time, and avails himself of the opportunity of actively renewing his course, is he who derives his joy from the hope of future life, and patiently bears tribulations. However this may be, (for it matters not much whether you regard them as connected or separated,) he first; forbids us to acquiesce in present blessings, and to ground our joy on earth and on earthly things, as though our happiness were based on them; and he BIDS us to raise our minds up to heaven, that we may possess solid and full joy. If our joy is derived from the hope of future life, then patience will grow up in adversities; for no kind of sorrow will be able to overwhelm this joy. Hence these two things are closely connected together, that is, joy derived from hope, and patience in adversities. No man will indeed calmly and quietly submit to bear the cross, but he who has learnt to seek his happiness beyond this world, so as to mitigate and allay the bitterness of the cross with the consolation of hope. But as both these things are far above our strength, we must be instant in prayer, and CONTINUALLY call on God, that he may not suffer our hearts to faint and to be pressed down, or to be broken by adverse events. But Paul not only stimulates us to prayer, but expressly requires perseverance; for we have a continual warfare, and new conflicts daily arise, to sustain which, even the strongest are not equal, unless they frequently gather new rigor. That we may not then be wearied, the best remedy is diligence in prayer. PULPIT, “In hope rejoicing; in tribulation enduring; in prayer CONTINUING communicating to the necessities of the saints (i.e. Christians); given to (literally, pursuing) hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. In Rom_12:14 the form of the admonition passes from participles to direct imperatives, a positive command of Christ being adduced. In Rom_12:15the gentler admonitory form of in the infinitive is taken up, passing to participles, as before in Rom_12:16. GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE, “For the Battle Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing stedfastly in prayer.—Rom_12:12. 1. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing stedfastly in prayer. At first sight they are three separate injunctions. Let some whose lot has fallen in pleasant places rejoice; let others whose lot is dark suffer patiently; let still others devote themselves to continual prayer. Or musing on the exhortations the idea may come to us that they are a descending scale. If I have faltered more or less In my great task of happiness; If I have moved among my race And shown no glorious morning face; If beams from happy human eyes Have moved me not; if morning skies, Books, and my food, and summer rain
- 5. Knocked on mysullen heart in vain:— Lord, Thy most pointed pleasure take And stab my spirit broad awake; Or, Lord, if too obdurate I, Choose Thou, before that spirit die, A piercing pain, a killing sin, And to my dead heart run them in!1 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Underwoods.] And if pain fails to waken my heart fully to God, let me cling humbly and continuously to prayer. Let me not fail of prayer so that at the end my spirit may be attuned to God’s, and my life be not in vain. 2. But St. Paul, when he wrote these words, addressed them to the Christians of the Roman Church for whom he foresaw persecution in the near future, even if they were not suffering from it at this very time. And he would have them practise hope and patience and prayer in their persecution, and all at the same time. The old physicians tell us of two antidotes against poison, the hot and the cold, and they dilate upon the special excellence of each of these; in like manner the Apostle Paul gives us first the warm antidote, “rejoicing in hope,” and then he gives us the cool antidote, “patient in tribulation.” Either of these, or both together, will work wonderfully for the sustaining of the spirit; but it is to be observed that neither of these remedies can be taken into the soul unless it is mixed with a draught of prayer. Joy and patience are curative essences, but they must be dropped into a glass full of supplication, and then they will be wonderfully efficient.1 [Note: C. H. Spurgeon.] 3. St. Paul’s primary meaning in the word which is translated tribulation in our English version was persecution. But let us take tribulation in its usual sense of every kind of trial through which a man may have to pass. With this meaning let us see the dependence between the clauses and the possibility of the Christian following the three injunctions at the same time. (1) “Rejoice in hope; be patient in tribulation.” This is an utter impossibility to the man whose hope is of this world, and who looks for mere ordinary happiness. To him tribulation is the supreme obstacle to hope and joy. If he suffers he cannot be joyful; he loses his hope. But for the man who is full of Christ’s hope all is different. “Hope, which comes to all, outwears the accidents of life, and reaches with tremulous hand beyond the grave and death.” The Christian’s hope alters his idea of tribulation. Poverty, that is tribulation enough. But the monk embraces a life of poverty and self-denial of his own free-will.
- 6. Nuns fret notat their convent’s narrow room; And hermits are contented with their cells. Poverty has lost its grimness. It wears a smiling face. But, further, though the tribulation may remain very real the Christian accepts it—nay, welcomes it—as helping him on his way. And because of his great abiding hope the tribulation is dwarfed. People may lay down their lives with cheerfulness in the sure expectation of a blessed immortality; but that is a different affair from giving up youth, with all its admirable pleasures, in the hope of a better quality of gruel in a more than problematical, nay, more than improbable, old age.1 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Crabbed Age and Youth.] (2) Now let us take the last two clauses together. “Continue stedfastly in prayer; be patient in tribulation.” If we continue in prayer, does it follow that we shall be patient under trial? R. J. Campbell, in A Faith for To-Day, says: “I well remember the curious feeling with which I once encountered a man who prayed long and earnestly for a certain academic distinction—a distinction which could fall to one and one only. He was greatly chagrined and disappointed, and inclined to reproach God, when the honour went to another instead of himself. The earnestness of his prayers was unquestionable.” But not so did St. Paul conceive of prayer. His model was the Master who in His agony said, “Thy will be done.” So the Apostle would have these Roman Christians put themselves on God’s side in their praying. And in all things he shall yield up his own will, saying and thinking in his heart, “Lord, I am as willing to be poor and without all those things of which Thou hast deprived me as I should be ready to be rich, Lord, if Thy will were so, and if in that state I might further Thy glory. It is not my natural will which must be done, but Thy will and the will of my spirit. Lord, I am thine, and I should be Thine as gladly in hell as in heaven, if in that way I could advance Thy glory. So then, O Lord, fulfil in me the good pleasure of Thy will.”2 [Note: Maurice Maeterlinck, Ruysbroeck and the Mystics, 135.] And with this spirit in prayer patience under trial will not be denied. “At this season the sun enters into the sign of Libra, for the day and night are equal, and light and darkness evenly balanced. Even so for the resigned soul Jesus Christ is in the sign of Libra; and whether He grants sweetness or bitterness, darkness or light, of whatever nature His gift may be, the man retains his balance, and all things are one to him, with the exception of sin, which has been driven out once for all.” And the more steadfast the prayer the more will the link be strengthened which binds our soul to God, and the more grace we will receive to meet each need of life. All trouble and anguish, loss and pain, When they’ve done their task appointed, Vanish and fade; it is joy that lasts.
- 7. The seer, withvision anointed, Beholds the flash of a rising dawn, Though the midnight skies are gray Patience, poor soul, with the present pain— There cometh a better day. I Rejoicing in Hope There are those who stigmatize Christianity as a religion of sorrow. They tell us that, like a bitter wind, it withers the flowers, that it says of laughter, It is mad, and of mirth, What doeth it? They contrast it, still ignorantly, with the gay and careless humanism of the ancient world. They dare to say— Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from Thy breath. We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death. But this is not Christianity after the mind of the Apostle Paul. “Rejoice in hope,” he says to the Roman Christians. It would be difficult to find a more decided expression of optimism. The cheery tone is never absent from St. Paul’s speech. The buoyant and “springy” movement of his life is never changed. The light never dies out of his sky. Even the grey firmament reveals more hopeful tints, and becomes significant of evolving glory. The Apostle is an optimist, “rejoicing in hope,” a child of light, wearing the “armour of light,” “walking in the light,” even as Christ is in the light. Nor was this Apostolic optimism a thin and fleeting sentiment begotten of a cloudless summer day. It was not born of sluggish thinking or of idle and shallow observation. The first chapter of this Epistle to the Romans contains as dark and searching an indictment of our nature as the mind of man has ever drawn. Let us rehearse the appalling catalogue, that the radiance of the Apostle’s optimism may appear the more abounding: “Senseless hearts,” “fools,” “uncleanness,” “vile passions,” “reprobate minds,” “unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful.” With fearless severity the Apostle leads us through the black realms of midnight and eclipse. And yet in the subsequent reaches of the great argument, of which these dark regions form the preface, there emerges the clear, calm, steady light of this optimistic text. What was the cause of this courageous and energetic optimism? What can we do to imitate it? We can choose what we will look at. We can choose our atmosphere like the people of Italy who in frosty weather will be seen sitting in the market-place by their stalls with a dish of embers, which they grasp in their hands, and so make
- 8. themselves comfortably warmon the bitterest day. St. Paul looked at three things:— 1. He fixed his eyes on the Redemption of Christ.—In all the spacious reaches of the Apostle’s life the redemptive work of his Master is present as an atmosphere in which his thoughts and purposes and labours found their sustaining and enriching breath. Redemption was not degraded into a fine abstract argument, to which the Apostle had appended his own approval, and then, with sober satisfaction, had laid it aside, as a practical irrelevancy, in the stout chests of mental orthodoxy. It became the very spirit of his life. To him it was not a small device, an afterthought, a patched-up expedient to meet an unforeseen emergency. The redemptive purpose lay back in the abyss of the eternities; and in a spirit of reverent questioning the Apostle sent his trembling thoughts into those lone and silent fields. He emerged with whispered secrets such as these: “fore-knew,” “fore-ordained,” “chosen in him before the foundation of the world,” “eternal life promised before times eternal,” “the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What a wonderful consciousness St. Paul has of the sweep and fulness of redemption. We know the variations of the glorious air: “the unsearchable riches of Christ”; “riches in glory in Christ Jesus”; “all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ”; “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering.” And what is the resultant enfranchisement? Recall those wonderful sentences beginning with the words “But now.” It is a phrase that heralds a great deliverance. “But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested.” “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God.” “But now are ye light in the Lord.” These represent no thin abstractions. To St. Paul the realities of which they speak were more real than the firm and solid earth. And is it any wonder that a man with such a magnificent sense of the reality of the redemptive work of Christ, who felt the eternal purpose throbbing in the dark backward and abyss of time, who conceived it operating upon our race in floods of grace and glory, and who realized in his own immediate consciousness the varied wealth of the resultant emancipation—is it any wonder that for this man a new day had dawned, and the birds had begun to sing and the flowers to bloom, and a sunny optimism had taken possession of his heart which found expression in an assured and rejoicing hope?1 [Note: J. H. Jowett.] 2. St. Paul fixed his mind next on the reality and greatness of his present resources.—“By Christ redeemed”—yes, but that is only the Alpha and not the Omega of the work of grace. “By Christ redeemed; in Christ restored.” St. Paul’s mental and spiritual outlook comprehended a great army of positive forces labouring in the interests of the Kingdom of God. Look at some of his auxiliaries: “Christ liveth in me.” “Christ liveth in me! He breathes through all my aspirations. He thinks through all my thinking. He wills through all my willing. He loves through all my loving. He travails in all my labours. He works within me ‘to will and to do of his good pleasure.’ ” That is the primary faith of the hopeful life. But see what follows in swift and immediate succession. “If Christ is in you, the spirit is life.” “The spirit is life!” And therefore we find that in the Apostle’s thought dispositions are powers. They are not passive entities. They are positive forces vitalizing and energizing the common life of men. To St. Paul love expressed more than a relationship. It was an energy productive of abundant labours. Faith was more than an attitude. It was an energy creative of mighty endeavour. Hope was more than a posture. It was an energy generative of a most enduring patience. All these are dynamics, to be counted as active allies, co-operating in the ministry of the
- 9. Kingdom. And sothe Epistles abound in the recital of mystic ministries at work. The Holy Spirit worketh! Grace worketh! Faith worketh! Love worketh! Prayer worketh! And there are other allies robed in less attractive garb. “Tribulation worketh!” “Godly sorrow worketh!” St. Paul never mentions the enemy timidly. He never seeks to underestimate his strength. Nay, again and again he catalogues all possible antagonisms in a spirit of buoyant and exuberant triumph. However numerous the enemy, however towering and well-established the iniquity, however black the gathering CLOUDS , so sensitive is the Apostle to the wealthy resources of God that amidst it all he remains a sunny optimist, “rejoicing in hope,” labouring in the spirit of a conqueror even when the world was exulting in his supposed discomfiture and defeat. 3. And, thirdly, he fixed his thoughts on the wonder of the glory to come.—Can we safely exile this thought from our moral and spiritual culture? We know that this particular contemplation is largely absent from modern religious life, and we know the nature of the recoil in which our present impoverishment began. “Let us hear less about the mansions of the blest, and more about the housing of the poor!” Men revolted against an effeminate contemplation which had run to seed, in favour of an active philanthropy which sought the enrichment of the common life. But we have lost immeasurably by the uprooting of this plant of heavenly contemplation. We have built on the erroneous assumption that the contemplation of future glory inevitably unfits us for the service of man. Were Richard Baxter’s labours thinned or impoverished by his contemplation of “the saints’ everlasting rest”? When we consider his mental output, his abundant labours as Father-confessor to a countless host, his pains and persecutions and imprisonments, we cannot but think he received some of the powers of his optimistic endurance from contemplations such as he counsels in his incomparable book. “Run familiarly through the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem; visit the patriarchs and prophets, salute the apostles, and admire the armies of martyrs; lead on the heart from street to street, bring it into the palace of the great King; lead it, as it were, from chamber to chamber. Say to it, ‘Hear must I lodge, here must I die, here must I praise, here must I love and be loved. My tears will then be wiped away, my groans be turned to another tune, my cottage of clay be changed to this palace, my prison rags to these splendid robes’; ‘for the former things are passed away.’ ” Hope, though slow she be, and late, Yet outruns swift time and fate; And aforehand loves to be With remote futurity. Hope is comfort in distress, Hope is in misfortune bliss,
- 10. Hope in sorrowis delight, Hope is day in darkest night. Hope cast upward is to where Storms do never domineer; Trust and hope will welcome thee There to full security.1 [Note: Francis Beaumont.] Our thought of future glory must have several elements in it if it is to nourish our hope as it nourished his. (1) It must have an element of personality in it. It must be a hope which means future fulfilment to me. It must not, like Buddhism, represent the loss of personality—annihilation—as the reward. It must not offer us even the stimulus of the positivists. “You desire hope,” they say; “there is hope; we will grant immortality—an immortality of influence. The good you do shall live after you.” No. There must be an immortality in the vision and communion of Him whom to serve is eternal life. (2) It must have an element of recovery in it. How we crave the recovery of lost friends! Is it all over when they leave us? The heart refuses to think so. It clings to the thought of reunion. Christ is the pledge of that—Christ the Uniter, who as on earth at the house of Jairus, at the bier of Nain, at the grave of Bethany, is the Joiner of parted hands and sundered lives, delivering divided ones to each other. We crave also the recovery of lost energies. Capacities that are checked by its ungenial conditions, aspirations that are thwarted by its narrow limits, expenditures of effort and affection that are made void by its thankless receptions, we think of them all. Has God created them only that they may be thrown away? Shall He not rather have respect to the work of His hands, and perfect that which concerneth us? Our hope is in Christ, who not only pledges their recovery, but promises that they shall be recovered by us, as the ultimate witnesses of His faithfulness, the ultimate sharers of His joy. (3) It must have an element of catholicity in it. Hope, if it is to be true and complete, must embrace in its comprehensive sweep not only good for ourselves, in the attainment of a personal immortality and the re- establishment of personal ties, but good for the whole wide creation. It must include the purifying and the rectifying of society, the evangelizing of the nations, and the transforming of nature itself. No expectation would be perfect which does not blend with its pictures of individual and mutual blessedness the picture of a regenerate world, free from the curse and crowned with the blessing, bathed in the glory of God most precious, the brightness of His perfect purity, the beauty of His finished plan.
- 11. Lo! crowned withunutterable calm And robed in light, came up the day-star Hope, The virgin mother of the Christ of Joy. Clear were her eyes with innocence, and deep With dreams. Her lips were full with mysteries. A crystal globe she held, wherein were seen New vistas unimaginably fair. Her presence seemed a kiss of God, which all Rose up to take. In the diffused light Of her adorable simplicity Each man threw down his habit of disguise And stood before his fellows, candid, brave, Yet wearing weakness meekly, as a babe Will wear it.1 [Note: Anna Bunston, The Porch of Paradise, 12.] II Patient in Tribulation St. Paul is his own best commentary on his own counsels. His purposes were frequently broken by tumultuous shocks. His plans were destroyed by hatred and violence. His course was twisted here, diverted there, and wrenched a hundred times from its appointed goings by the mischievous plots of wicked men. The little churches he had founded were in chronic disturbance and unrest. They were often infested with puerilities, and sometimes they were honeycombed by heresies which consumed their very life. And yet how sound and noble his patience! With what fruitful tenderness he waits for his lagging pupils! His very reproofs are given, not with the blind, clumsy blows of a street mob, but with the quiet, discriminating hand of a surgeon. This man, more than most men, had proved the hygienic value of endurance, and he, more than most men, was competent to counsel his fellow-believers to discipline themselves to patience in tribulation. i. Tribulation
- 12. What is tribulation?Tribulation is comprehensive enough. It denotes every possible loss, cross, trouble that can enter into the mind of man; whatever we passively suffer, whatever we actively endure. Let us look at tribulation, then, in some of its different aspects. “Patient in tribulation”? Yes. But make sure first of all that the tribulation is real, not fancied. Did we ever try to estimate the proportion in which the fanciful, the fictitious, the imaginary ills in life stand to the actual? Is it not the case that many a man makes his own sorrows, and that the things we anticipate, but which never happen, have more in them of calamity and burden than what we are forced in Providence to endure? Real tribulation we can divide into two kinds—that which comes to us from others, and that which comes from ourselves. 1. Tribulation from without.—This kind of tribulation has both a positive and a negative side. Take the positive first— that is, actual suffering caused us by others. This kind of tribulation was most immediately in the mind of the Apostle Paul when he wrote the words first to the little Roman Church. Dark CLOUDS were gathering, threatenings of coming trouble. Days of persecution were at hand. Nero, hardening himself in vice, would soon need some one upon whom he could charge his guilt, and wreak his spite; no suffering would be too cruel with which to afflict the Church of God. To-day persecution does not take the same form. It is not so much bodily as mental persecution. The young man of to-day who follows Christ has no fear of death, imprisonment, or injury in any way to his body, but if he be thoroughgoing he is still persecuted—persecuted by jeers and laughter and even by calumny. One of our bishops, when he was a London incumbent, was at one time deeply distressed by the persistent calumnies of a certain obnoxious parishioner. He wrote for advice to a high legal luminary, who was also a very religious man. His answer was laconic; it was a quotation: “ ‘Jesus stood before the governor. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing, insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.’ Dear So-and-so, let the governor marvel greatly.”1 [Note: Basil Wilberforce.] There is a kind of negative tribulation which also comes from without. It is the disappointment that others cause us —the things we have to do without. Some glowing purpose has been suddenly frustrated; some bit of found work has been rudely broken. We suffer profound disappointment. And disappointment is apt to kindle irritation, and when that fire begins to burn much valuable furniture is in danger of being consumed. One of the greatest crises in Principal Rainy’s life was when the House of Lords delivered judgment against the United Free Church. Rainy had given the strength of his life to promoting the union between his own Church and the United Presbyterian Church, and now it seemed as though he had only brought his own Church into grave trouble. He was in the House of Lords when judgment was given. After the decision he took Mr. Haldane’s arm and passed out with him. He was his guest in London. Mr. Haldane says that on the way home he never spoke. When they reached home he sat down and without any bitterness or resentment spoke, and “the one expression of regret that fell from his lips was that he was old.” Loitering progress is tribulation of an allied kind. Things are walking, and we want them to run; or they are running, and we want them to fly. We hear one and another say: “Things don’t go fast enough for me”; or “Things are too slow for me.” And we become irritated, and then irritable, and we lose our patience, and in losing our patience we
- 13. lose the veryspirit and instrument of progress. How true this is in our relationship to little children, and especially to little children who are not highly gifted, and who have the misfortune to be dull-witted and slow. How fatal is the mistake to become impatient with them. To become impatient is to deprive them of the very atmosphere they require for journeying at all; impatience never converts dull-wittedness into quick-wittedness, and the teacher or parent who becomes impatient is robbing the child of its heritage, increasing its load of disadvantage, and making its little pilgrim journey prematurely dark and hard. O comrade bold, of toil and pain! Thy trial how severe, When sever’d first by prisoner’s chain From thy loved labour-sphere! Say, did impatience first impel The heaven-sent bond to break? Or, couldst thou bear its hindrance well, Loitering for Jesu’s sake? O might we know! for sore we feel The languor of delay, When sickness lets our fainter zeal, Or foes block up our way. Lord! who Thy thousand years dost wait To work the thousandth part
- 14. Of Thy vastplan, for us create With zeal a patient heart.1 [Note: J. H. Newman.] 2. Tribulation from within.—Quite as much of our tribulation is internal; it is not occasioned by others. Such trouble may be physical, as St. Paul’s own “thorn in the flesh.” Or it may be mental and spiritual. There is no one who does any thinking at all but has entered the dark, cold, chilling circle of apparently insoluble mystery. It may be the burdensome presence of immediate and palpable realities, such as the presence of suffering and pain. Or it may be those problems lying upon the borderland, or well within that mysterious realm where we seem to have neither eyes nor ears, hands nor feet: the mystery of God, the mystery of Providence, the mystery of Jesus Christ—His incarnation, His resurrection, His glorification, His relation to sin and hope and human endeavour and the veiled to- morrow; and all the great pressing problems of human birth, and human life, and human destiny. What shall we do with them? Or, what shall we not do with them? Let us make it an essential in all our assumptions that a prerequisite to all discovery is patience in tribulation. Do not let us deal with them as though they were Christmas puzzles, to be taken up at odd moments and cursorily examined, and then thrown aside again in irritation and impetuous haste. Dr. Jowett says, “I am amazed to observe how hastily men and women drop these things; they ‘cannot be bothered with them,’ and so they retreat into a perilous indifference or into a fruitless agnosticism. George Eliot dropped her vital faith in the course of eleven days. Robert Elsmere dropped his vital faith with almost equal celerity. I heard from one young fellow who was burning all his boats and refusing to sail these vast, mysterious, glorious seas, and all because he had read a little pamphlet of not more than fifty pages from cover to cover!” O why are darkness and thick CLOUD Wrapped close for ever round the throne of God? Why is our pathway still in mystery trod? None answers, though we call aloud. The seedlet of the rose, While still beneath the ground, Think you it ever knows The mystery profound
- 15. Of its ownpower of birth and bloom, Until it springs above its tomb? The caterpillar crawls Its mean life in the dust, Or hangs upon the walls A dead aurelian crust; Think you the larva ever knew Its gold-winged FLIGHT before it flew? When from the port of Spain Columbus sailed away, And down the sinking main Moved towards the setting day, Could any words have made him see The new worlds that were yet to be? The boy with laugh and play FILLS OUT his little plan, Still lisping, day by day, Of how he’ll be a man;
- 16. But can youto his childish brain Make aught of coming manhood plain? Let heaven be just above us, Let God be e’er so nigh, Yet howsoe’er He love us, And howe’er much we cry, There is no speech that can make clear The thing “that doth not yet appear.” ’Tis not that God loves mystery. The things beyond us we can never know, Until up to their lofty height we grow, And finite grasps infinity.1 [Note: Minot Hudson Savage.] ii. Patience That which passes muster for the spirit of patience is sometimes only constitutional amiability, or lymphatic indifference and stagnation. 1. Let us look first, then, at this spirit—the spirit of indolence. Perhaps its most frequent cause is a want of sensitiveness. The person is not finely developed, and so does not feel the tribulation, unless it is very material indeed—or at least does not feel it to anything like the same extent as his more sensitive brother. To the superficial onlooker he seems to be bearing his trial with patience; but he makes no progress, his capacity for sympathy is still dormant. Or his apparent patience may be the result of mere idleness. Browning in The Statue and the Bust teaches the paltriness of this kind of patience. From mere indolence the “Bride of the Riccardi” did not leave her husband and flee to the “Great Duke Ferdinand” whom she loved. It was no thought that she would be committing a sin that deterred her, and so her patience was worthless. She says:—
- 17. If I spendthe night with that devil twice, May his window serve as my loop of hell Whence a damned soul looks on Paradise! I fly to the Duke who loves me well, Sit at his side and laugh at sorrow Ere I count another ave-bell. ’Tis only the coat of a page to borrow, And tie my hair in a horse-boy’s trim, And I save my soul—but not to-morrow. And he on his part argues:— Yet my passion must wait a night, nor cool— For to-night the Envoy arrives from France, Whose heart I unlock with thyself, my tool. Be sure that each renewed the vow, No morrow’s sun should arise and set
- 18. And leave themthen as it left them now. But next day passed, and next day yet, With still fresh cause to wait one day more Ere each leaped over the parapet. I hear you reproach, “But delay was best For their end was a crime”—Oh, a crime will do As well, I reply, to serve for a test, As a virtue golden through and through, Sufficient to vindicate itself And prove its worth at a moment’s view! The counter our lovers staked was lost As surely as if it were lawful coin: And the sin I impute to each frustrate ghost Is, the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin, Though the end in sight was a vice, I say You of the virtue, (we issue join)
- 19. How strive you?De te, fabula! 2. But there is a finer spirit—the spirit of stoicism—which animates some. It also, however, is a spirit of stagnation. It is no more than a surrender to the inevitable. Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever Gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud, Under the bludgeonings of chance, My head is bloody but unbowed. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the MASTER OF my fate, I am the captain of my soul.1 [Note: W. E. Henley.] 3. The spirit of progress. Wherein, then, lies the difference between the Christian spirit of progress and this old pagan spirit of stoicism? (1) Take the two attitudes towards death. Seneca, like a Stoic, argues thus: “Death is universal, all men have died; death is inevitable, we must die. It is no good for any man to complain about the inevitable and the universal. It is better for us simply to submit to what we cannot alter.” Now here stands St. Paul, face to face with death. It is not a pleasant death, any more than it was a pleasant life. But St. Paul says, To me to die is gain. I have a wish to depart
- 20. and be withChrist, which is far better. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. If the earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a house, builded of God, eternal in the heavens. Such was the patience of Lazarus after his resurrection when “his heart and brain moved there “in glory, and “his feet stay here.” “How, beast,” said I, “this stolid carelessness Sufficeth thee, when Rome is on her march To stamp out like a little spark thy town, Thy tribe, thy crazy tale and thee at once?” He merely looked with his large eyes on me. The man is apathetic, you deduce? Contrariwise he loves both old and young, Able and weak—affects the very brutes And birds—how say I? flowers of the field— As a wise workman recognizes tools In a master’s workshop, loving what they make. Thus is the man as harmless as a lamb: Only impatient, let him do his best, At ignorance and carelessness and sin— An indignation which is promptly curbed.1 [Note: Browning, Epistle of Karshish.] (2) Now if we have this spirit of patience in tribulation our pilgrim journey will be furthered; for to Christian patience there are two sides, a passive but also an active. We usually think of patience as a passive virtue, resignation, calm waiting for something to happen, as in Shakespeare’s classic lines: She sat like patience on a monument
- 21. Smiling at grief. Butthe word has an active side, even in our common speech, as in the phrase “a patient investigator,” implying untiring industry. It carries with it the idea of fortitude and high courage, willing to suffer, to endure, working out great ends undiscouraged, without repining or fretfulness. The rock upon which the water drops, abides amidst the flux of the tides of the water, and is firm; but the camel, patient, moving across the thirsty desert, scenting by its wondrous instinct the oasis, or the city that is afar, is patient—endures. (3) And, lastly, let us note that there are stages in Christian patience. We must begin with the true perspective and the feeling towards God of children to a Father, but after that we must sedulously cultivate the grace, advancing from step to step. Trustful acceptance of the will of God as the best possible for us—how difficult it is. But there are those who have risen to a still greater height and who not only accept the tribulation with patience, but feel actual joy in it. Dr. Griffith John has told us that one day, when he was surrounded by a hostile Chinese crowd, and violence was used, he put up his hand to his smitten face, and when he withdrew it, and saw it bathed in blood, he was possessed by an extraordinary sense of exaltation, and he rejoiced that he had been “counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” David Hill records a similar experience of unspeakable ecstasy, when his hand hung limp from a brutal blow. But, indeed, the witnesses are multitudinous; they can be found in every corner of the great fields of service, suffering men and women, wearing their scars like medals, feeling as though there had been conferred upon them some heavenly title and degree, and stepping out in the assured companionship of the once crucified but risen Lord. III Continuing Stedfastly in Prayer The essence of prayer consists in drawing nigh; in other words, holding communion. The simplest and best test of a good prayer is: Did we draw nigh? Did we enter God’s Presence? Were we conscious that God was very nigh? Many times we have said our prayers but have never prayed; and this because our hearts were far from God. At other times, perhaps, we said no words but we entered the Presence with longing hearts. We looked, we thirsted, we wanted, and so we very truly prayed. Prayer is intercourse; it is praise; it is congratulation; it is adoration of the Infinite Majesty; it is a colloquy in which the soul engages with the All-wise and the All-holy; it is a basking in the sunshine, varied by ejaculations of thankfulness to the Sun of Righteousness for His light and His warmth. In this larger sense, the earlier part of the “Te Deum” is prayer as much as the latter part; the earliest and latest clauses of the “Gloria in Excelsis” as truly as the central ones; the “Sanctus” or the “Jubilate” no less than the Litany; the “Magnificat” as certainly as the fifty-first Psalm.
- 22. St. Paul isaddressing Christians, and so he does not simply say “pray.” He takes it for granted that they pray. But what he fears in them is a relaxing of their efforts, a losing of their first zeal in prayer, and so his exhortation is “Continue stedfastly in prayer.” Do not let the strength of your prayerful spirit escape, and do not let your acts of prayer, your special seasons diminish or grow less strenuous. It is an exhortation to hold fast. Let us look at the prayerful spirit; and then at occasions of prayer. It is almost impossible to separate them, for they act and react the one on the other. 1. The prayerful spirit.—We cannot fulfil the Apostle’s exhortation even if we keep our regular seasons of prayer unless we have the prayerful spirit, the spirit of harmony with the will of God. It is the aspiration after all good, the wish, stronger than any earthly passion or desire, to live in His service only. It is the temper of mind which says in the evening, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”; which rises up in the morning, “to do thy will, O God”; and which all the day regards the actions of business and of daily life as done unto the Lord and not to men —“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” The trivial employments, the meanest or lowest occupations may receive a kind of dignity when thus converted into the service of God. This is the life of prayer, or rather the life which is itself prayer, which is always raised above this world, and yet is always on a level with this world; the life which has lost the sense of consciousness of self, and is devoted to God and to mankind, which may almost be said to think the thoughts of God, as well as do His works. 2. Acts of prayer.—But the prayerful spirit cannot exist unless special acts of prayer are practised. A passive desire to live in the atmosphere of prayer is dangerous, unless it finds its proper activity in definite exercises of prayer. We shall succeed in maintaining the spirit of constant prayer only when we foster it by stated periods of devotion. If a man is right, and puts the practice of praying in its right place, then his serving and giving and speaking will be fairly fragrant with the presence of God. The great people of the earth to-day are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time to pray. They have not time. It must be taken from something else. This something else is important. Very important, and pressing, but less important and less pressing than prayer.1[Note: S. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Prayer, 12.] 3. Such continuance will not be without its effects. Its effects will be twofold. (1) The effect on the man who prays.—No one denies that prayer has a subjective effect. It has an intellectual effect. Thus it has been observed that persons without natural ability have, through the earnestness of their devotional habits, acquired in time powers of sustained thought, and an accuracy and delicacy of intellectual touch, which would not otherwise have belonged to them. The intellect being the instrument by which the soul handles religious truth, a real interest in religious truth will of itself often furnish an educational discipline; it alone educates an intellect which would otherwise be uneducated. It has also a moral effect. Habitual prayer constantly confers decision on the wavering, and energy on the listless, and calmness on the excitable, and disinterestedness on the selfish. It braces the moral nature by transporting it
- 23. into a clear,invigorating, unearthly atmosphere; it builds up the moral life, insensibly but surely remedying its deficiencies, and strengthening its weak points, till there emerges a comparatively symmetrical and consistent whole, the excellence of which all must admit, though its secret is known only to those who know it by experience. It has a social effect. Prayer makes men, as members of society, different in their whole bearing from those who do not pray. It gilds social intercourse and conduct with a tenderness, an unobtrusiveness, a sincerity, a frankness, an evenness of temper, a cheerfulness, a collectedness, a constant consideration for others, united to a simple loyalty to truth and duty, which leavens and strengthens society. It is not too much to say that prayer has even physical results. The countenance of a Fra Angelico reflects his spirit no less than does his art; the bright eye, the pure elevated expression speak for themselves It was said of Keble that in his later years his face was like that of an illuminated clock; the colour and gilding had long faded away from the hands and figures, but the ravages of time were more than compensated for by the light which shone from within. (2) The effect on those prayed for.—The subjective effect of prayer does not cover the whole ground. Prayer has also an objective effect. A man may say, “I can quite understand the good of praying for oneself; I can quite see that, according to God’s will, these gifts of grace are to be worked for by prayer, like the gifts of God in nature; but where is the evidence that there is the slightest good in praying for others?” He might even take this line—he might say, “It is presumptuous for me to imagine that I can affect the destiny of another soul! It is against what I read of the struggle for existence by each individual in nature. It is unfair, for what is to happen to those for whom no one prays? And where is the evidence that intercession for others does any good at all?” Gilmour of Mongolia said: “Unprayed for, I feel like a diver at the bottom of a river, with no air to breathe; or like a fireman with an empty hose in a blazing building.” For nearly twenty years it was the daily practice of Cardinal Vaughan’s mother to spend an hour—from five to six in the afternoon—in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament asking this favour—that God would call every one of her children to serve Him in the Choir or in the Sanctuary. In the event all her five daughters entered convents, and of her eight sons six became priests; even the two who have remained in the world for a time entered ecclesiastical seminaries to try their vocations.1 [Note: J. G. Snead-Cox, Life of Cardinal Vaughan, i. 11.] 4. The encouragement.—Be sure that no true prayer remains unanswered, though thousands of prayers remain ungranted. He who alone knows all the things we have need of sees fit again and again to refuse the thing we ask, or to deny even the most unselfish of requests, and to delay satisfaction of the purest desires on behalf of those whose sins or sorrows we have carried to His Throne of Grace. And yet, assuredly, all such prayer enters into His ears, and all such prayer is duly answered, if not granted, by Him. Do we not sometimes discover, it may be long after, how, in ways we little dreamt of, through channels of which we knew nothing, the blessing for which we pleaded in vain was vouchsafed at last? And when there is no such discovery, where the refusal of the good we asked seems absolutely decreed and final, is it not our wisdom to leave all in the Father’s hands, and believe that what we know not now we shall know hereafter? No disclosure which awaits us behind the veil could surpass in
- 24. interest the revelationof what has been achieved for ourselves and others by genuine yet ungranted prayer. Two brothers freely cast their lot With David’s royal Son; The cost of conquest counting not, They deem the battle won. Brothers in heart, they hope to gain An undivided joy; That man may one with man remain, As boy was one with boy. Christ heard; and will’d that James should fall, First prey of Satan’s rage, John linger out his fellows all, And die in bloodless age. Now they join hands once more above, Before the Conqueror’s throne; Thus God grants prayer, but in His love Makes times and ways His own.1 [Note: J. H. Newman.]
- 25. MACLARE , “ANOTHERTRIPLET OF GRACES Rom_12:12. These three closely connected clauses occur, as you all know, in the midst of that outline of the Christian life with which the Apostle begins the practical part of this Epistle. Now, what he omits in this sketch of Christian duty seems to me quite as significant as what he inserts. It is very remarkable that in the twenty verses devoted to this subject, this is the only one which refers to the inner secrets of the Christian life. Paul’s notion of ‘deepening the spiritual life’ was ‘Behave yourself better in your relation to other people.’ So all the rest of this chapter is devoted to inculcating our duties to one another. Conduct is all-important. An orthodox creed is valuable if it influences action, but not otherwise. Devout emotion is valuable, if it drives the wheels of life, but not otherwise. Christians should make efforts to attain to clear views and warm feelings, but the outcome and final test of both is a daily life of visible imitation of Jesus. The deepening of spiritual life should be manifested by COMPLETER , practical righteousness in the market-place and the street and the house, which non-Christians will acknowledge. But now, with regard to these three specific exhortations here, I wish to try to bring out their connection as well as the force of each of them. I. So I remark first, that the Christian life ought to be joyful because it is hopeful. Now, I do not suppose that many of us habitually recognise it as a Christian duty to be joyful. We think that it is a matter of temperament and partly a matter of circumstance. We are glad when things go well with us. If we have a sunny disposition, and are naturally light-hearted, all the better; if we have a melancholy or morose one, all the worse. But do we recognise this, that a Christian who is not joyful is not living up to his duty; and that there is no excuse, either in temperament or in circumstances, for our not being so, and always being so? ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway,’ says Paul; and then, as if he thought, ‘Some of you will be thinking that that is a very rash commandment, to aim at a condition quite impossible to make constant,’ he goes on-’and, to convince you that I do not say it hastily, I will repeat it-“and again I say, rejoice.”‘ Brethren, we shall have to alter our conceptions of what true gladness is before we can come to understand the full depth of the great thought that joy is a Christian duty. The true joy is not the kind of joy that a saying in the Old Testament compares to the ‘crackling of thorns under a pot,’ but something very much calmer, with no crackle in it; and very much deeper, and very much more in alliance with ‘whatsoever things are lovely and of good REPORT ,’ than that foolish, short-lived, and empty mirth that burns down so soon into black ashes. To be glad is a Christian duty. Many of us have as much religion as makes us sombre, and impels us often to look upon the more solemn and awful aspects of Christian truth, but we have not enough to make us glad. I do not need to dwell upon all the sources in Christian faith and belief, of that lofty and imperatively obligatory gladness, but I confine myself to the one in my text, ‘Rejoicing in hope.’
- 26. Now, we allknow-from the boy that is expecting to go home for his holidays in a week, up to the old man to whose eye the time-veil is wearing thin-that hope, if it is certain, is a source of gladness. How lightly one’s bosom’s lord sits upon its throne, when a great hope comes to animate us! how everybody is pleasant, and all things are easy, and the world looks different! Hope, if it is certain, will gladden, and if our Christianity grasps, as it ought to do, the only hope that is absolutely certain, and as sure as if it were in the past and had been experienced, then our hearts, too, will sing for joy. True joy is not a matter of temperament, so much as a matter of faith. It is not a matter of circumstances. All the surface drainage may be dry, but there is a well in the courtyard deep and cool and full and exhaustless, and a Christian who rightly understands and cherishes the Christian hope is lifted above temperament, and is not dependent upon conditions for his joys. The Apostle, in an earlier part of this same letter, defines for us what that hope is, which thus is the secret of perpetual gladness, when he speaks about ‘rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.’ Yes, it is that great, supreme, calm, far off, absolutely certain prospect of being gathered into the divine glory, and walking there, like the three in the fiery furnace, unconsumed and at ease; it is that hope that will triumph over temperament, and over all occasions for melancholy, and will breathe into our life a perpetual gladness. Brethren, is it not strange and sad that with such a treasure by our sides we should consent to live such poor lives as we do? But remember, although I cannot say to myself, ‘Now I will be glad,’ and cannot attain to joy by a movement of the will or direct effort, although it is of no use to say to a man-which is all that the world can ever say to him-’Cheer up and be glad,’ whilst you do not alter the facts that make him sad, there is a way by which we can bring about feelings of gladness or of gloom. It is just this-we can choose what we will look at. If you prefer to occupy your mind with the troubles, losses, disappointments, hard work, blighted hopes of this poor sin-ridden world, of course sadness will come over you often, and a general grey tone will be the usual tone of your lives, as it is of the lives of many of us, broken only by occasional bursts of foolish mirth and empty laughter. But if you choose to turn away from all these, and instead of the dim, dismal, hard present, to sun yourselves in the light of the yet unrisen sun, which you can do, then, having rightly chosen the subjects to think about, the feeling will come as a matter of course. You cannot make yourselves glad by, as it were, laying hold of yourselves and lifting yourselves into gladness, but you can rule the direction of your thoughts, and so can bring around you summer in the midst of winter, by steadily contemplating the facts-and they are present facts, though we talk about them collectively as ‘the future’-the facts on which all Christian gladness ought to be based. We can carry our own atmosphere with us; like the people in Italy, who in frosty weather will be seen sitting in the market-place by their stalls with a dish of embers, which they grasp in their hands, and so make themselves comfortably warm on the bitterest day. You can bring a reasonable degree of warmth into the coldest weather, if you will lay hold of the vessel in which the fire is, and keep it in your hand and close to your heart. Choose what you think about, and feelings will follow thoughts. But it needs very distinct and CONTINUOUS effort for a man to keep this great source of Christian joy clear before him. We are like the dwellers in some island of the sea, who, in some conditions of the atmosphere, can catch sight of the gleaming mountain-tops on the mainland across the stormy channel between. But thick days, with a heavy atmosphere and much mist, are very frequent in our latitude, and then all the distant hills are blotted out, and we see nothing but the cold grey sea, breaking on the cold, grey stones. Still, you can scatter the mist if you
- 27. will. You canmake the atmosphere bright; and it is worth an effort to bring clear before us, and to keep high above the mists that cling to the low levels, the great vision which will make us glad. Brethren, I believe that one great source of the weakness of average Christianity amongst us to-day is the dimness into which so many of us have let the hope of the glory of God pass in our hearts. So I beg you to lay to heart this first commandment, and to rejoice in hope. II. Now, secondly, here is the thought that life, if full of joyful hope, will be patient. I have been saying that the gladness of which my text speaks is independent of circumstances, and may persist and be CONTINUOUS even when externals occasion sadness. It is possible-I do not say it is easy, God knows it is hard-I do not say it is frequently attained, but I do say it is possible-to realise that wonderful ideal of the Apostle’s ‘As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.’ The surface of the ocean may be tossed and fretted by the winds, and churned into foam, but the great central depths ‘hear not the loud winds when they call,’ and are still in the midst of tempest. And we, dear brethren, ought to have an inner depth of spirit, down to the disturbance of which no surface-trouble can ever reach. That is the height of attainment of Christian faith, but it is a possible attainment for every one of us. And if there be that burning of the light under the water, like ‘Greek fire,’ as it was called, which many waters could not quench-if there be that persistence of gladness beneath the surface-sorrow, as you find a running stream coming out below a glacier, then the joy and the hope, which co-exist with the sorrow, will make life patient. Now, the Apostle means by these great words, ‘patient’ and ‘patience,’ which are often upon his lips, something more than simple endurance. That endurance is as much as many of us can often muster up strength to exercise. It sometimes takes all our faith and all our submission simply to say, ‘I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it; and I will bear what thine hand lays upon me.’ But that is not all that the idea of Christian ‘patience’ includes, for it also takes in the thought of active work, and it is perseverance as much as patience. Now, if my heart is filled with a calm gladness because my eye is fixed upon a celestial hope, then both the passive and active sides of Christian ‘patience’ will be realised by me. If my hope burns bright, and occupies a large space in my thoughts, then it will not be hard to take the homely consolation of good John Newton’s hymn and say- ‘ Though PAINFUL at present, ‘Twill cease before long; And then, oh, how pleasant The conqueror’s SONG !’ A man who is sailing to America, and knows that he will be in New York in a week, does not mind, although his
- 28. cabin is contracted,and he has a great many discomforts, and though he has a bout of sea-sickness. The disagreeables are only going to last for a day or two. So our hope will make us bear trouble, and not make much of it. And our hope will strengthen us, if it is strong, for all the work that is to be done. Persistence in the path of duty, though my heart be beating like a smith’s hammer on the anvil, is what CHRISTIAN MEN should aim at, and possess. If we have within our hearts that fire of a certain hope, it will impel us to diligence in doing the humblest duty, whether circumstances be for or against us; as some great steamer is driven right on its course, through the ocean, whatever storms may blow in the teeth of its progress, because, deep down in it, there are furnaces and boilers which supply the steam that drives the engines. So a life that is joyful because it is hopeful will be full of calm endurance and strenuous work. ‘Rejoicing in hope; patient,’ persevering in tribulation. III. LASTLY , our lives will be joyful, hopeful, and patient, in proportion as they are prayerful. ‘Continuing instant’-which, of course, just means steadfast-’in prayer.’ Paul uttered a paradox when he said, ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway,’ as he said long before this verse, in the very first letter that he ever wrote, or at least the first which has come down to us. There he bracketed it along with two other equally paradoxical sayings. ‘Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks.’ If you pray without ceasing you can rejoice without ceasing. But can I pray without ceasing? Not if by prayer you mean only words of supplication and petition, but if by prayer you mean also a mental attitude of devotion, and a kind of sub-conscious reference to God in all that you do, such unceasing prayer is possible. Do not let us blunt the edge of this commandment, and weaken our own consciousness of having failed to obey it, by getting entangled in the cobwebs of mere curious discussions as to whether the absolute ideal of perfectly unbroken communion with God is possible in this life. At all events it is possible to us to approximate to that ideal a great deal more closely than our consciences tell us that we ever yet have done. If we are trying to keep our hearts in the midst of daily duty in CONTACT with God, and if, ever and anon in the press of our work, we cast a thought towards Him and a prayer, then joy and hope and patience will come to us, in a degree that we do not know much about yet, but might have known all about long, long ago. There is a verse in the Old Testament which we may well lay to heart: ‘They cried unto God in the battle, and He was entreated of them.’ Well, what sort of a prayer do you think that would be? Suppose that you were standing in the thick of battle with the sword of an enemy at your throat, there would not be much time for many words of prayer, would there? But the cry could go up, and the thought could go up, and as they went up, down would come the strong buckler which God puts between His servants and all evil. That is the sort of prayer that you, in the battle of business, in your shops and counting-houses and warehouses and mills, we students in our studies, and you mothers in your families and your kitchens, can send up to heaven. If thus we ‘pray without ceasing,’ then we shall ‘rejoice evermore,’ and our souls will be kept in patience and filled with the peace of God. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Rejoicing in hope.
- 29. I. What isit to rejoice? 1. Negatively-- (1) Not to have the senses pleased. (2) Nor does it consist in the imagination. 2. Positively; it consists in-- (1) The removal of sorrow from the heart (Psa_42:5). (2) The soul’s content and satisfaction (Luk_1:47). II. What is hope? It consists in-- (1) The belief of good things to be had (1Pe_1:13). (2) The expectation of them (Psa_42:5). (3) Making use of all lawful means for obtaining them (Heb_10:23-25; Est_4:14). III. What is it to rejoice in hope? To rest satisfied with the expectation of the good things God has promised. 1. An interest in Christ (1Pe_1:8; Rom_8:32-34). 2. The pardon of sin (Psa_32:5). 3. The love of God (Rom_5:1). 4. The working together of all things for our good (Rom_8:28). 5. Continual supplies of grace (2Co_12:9). 6. A joyful resurrection (1Co_15:19-20).
- 30. 7. The enjoymentof God for ever (Psa_42:2). IV. What grounds have we to hope for these things, so as to rejoice in it? 1. The faithfulness of God (Tit_1:2). 2. His power (Mat_19:26). 3. The merits of Christ (2Co_1:20). Conclusion: Rejoice in hope. 1. Otherwise you dishonour God by mistrusting His promises (Rom_4:20). 2. You dishonour religion by accusing it of uncertainties. 3. You deprive yourself of happiness. 4. The more joyful in hope, the more active in duty. 5. Rejoice in hope now; in sight hereafter. (Bp. Beveridge.) Rejoicing in hope I. The source of this joy--Hope. 1. Glorious. 2. Certain. II. Its nature.
- 31. 1. Sweet. 2. Solid. 3.Spiritual. 4. Purifying. III. Its expression. 1. Lively. 2. Practical. 3. Constant. IV. Its importance to-- 1. Ourselves. 2. The Church. 3. The world. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Rejoicing in hope 1. Hope is an instinct of the soul. “Thou didst make me to hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.” As an instinct-- (1) It implies the existence of a prospective good, and the possibility of coming into its possession. (2) It is one of the strongest and most operative forces in our nature. Hesiod tells us, that the miseries of all mankind were included in a great box, and that Pandora’s husband took off the lid, by which means all of them came abroad, but hope remained still at the bottom,
- 32. 2. The realworth of this instinct to man depends upon the direction it takes. (1) “Wrongly directed, it is a fawning traitor of the mind.” The goodly scenes it spreads out to the soul turn out to be a mere mirage. False hopes are like meteors that brighten the skies of the soul for a moment, only to leave the gloom more intense. They are mere blossoms on fruitless trees, pleasing the eye for the hour, then fading away and rotting into dust. Few things are more distressing than the loss of hope. Longfellow compares it to the “setting of the sun.” Solomon speaks of it as “the giving up of the ghost.” (2) Rightly directed, is among the chiefest of our blessings. It is that which gives sunshine to the sky, beauty to the landscape, and music to life. Such is the hope of which the apostle here speaks. Two things are essential to a “joyous hope.” I. A right object. 1. It must not-- (1) Be selfish. So constituted is the soul, that the hope that is directed exclusively to its own happiness never satisfies. Down deep in the soul is the feeling that man has to live for something greater and nobler than himself. (2) Be incapable of engaging all our powers. (3) Less lasting than its own existence. Man can never be fully happy whose hope is directed to the transient and the dying. 2. That which will give a joyous hope is moral goodness--assimilation to THE IMAGE of God. II. A certain foundation. Unless a man has good reason to believe that the object he hopes for is to be gained, he cannot rejoice in his hope. Three reasons for believing that a soul, guilty and depraved, can be brought into possession of true goodness, and restored to the very image of God, are-- 1. The provisions of the gospel. The life and death of Christ, the agency of the Spirit, and the disciplinary influences of human life are all divinely appointed methods to re-create the soul and to fashion it into the very image of God. 2. The biographies of sainted men. History abounds with examples of bad men becoming good. 3. The inward consciousness of moral progress. The man who has got this hope is conscious that he has made some progress, and that the steps he has taken have been the most difficult. His past efforts are aids and pledges
- 33. to future success.(D. Thomas, D.D.) Patient in tribulation. I. what are tribulations? What-soever-- 1. Is HURTFUL to us. 2. Vexeth us. II. What is it to be patient? 1. Not to murmur against God (Exo_16:3). 2. Nor despair of deliverance (Psa_42:5). 3. Nor use unlawful means to get out of them. 4. To rest satisfied with them (1Sa_3:18). 5. To be thankful for them (Job_1:21-22; 1Th_5:18). III. Why are we to be patient? 1. They come from God (2Sa_16:10-12; Psa_39:2). 2. Are no more (Lam_3:39), but less than we deserve (Ezr_9:13). 3. Impatience does not heighten them. 4. By patience we change them into mercies as in Job, Joseph, David.
- 34. Conclusion: Be patient. 1.No afflictions but others have borne (1Pe_4:12; 1Pe_5:9). 2. Christ has undergone more than we can (Rom_8:29; 1Pe_2:23; 1Pe_4:13). 3. God knows how to deliver us (2Pe_2:9). 4. By patience you make a virtue of necessity. 5. Will do you much good by them (Heb_12:6-8). (Bp. Beveridge.) Patient in tribulation I. Tribulation is unavoidable in this life. 1. Ordained of God. 2. For wise purposes. II. Should be borne with patience. 1. Not indifference. 2. But in silence. 3. Without repining. 4. With resignation. III. The reasons.
- 35. 1. God iskind. 2. Life is but a probationary state. 3. Consolations are provided. 4. The results are glorious. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Patient in tribulation Some have floated on the sea, and trouble carried them on its surface, as the sea carries cork. Some have sunk at once to the bottom, as foundering ships sink. Some have run away from their own thoughts. Some have coiled themselves up in stoical indifference. Some have braved the trouble, and defied it. Some have carried it, as a tree does a wound, until by new wood it can overgrow and cover the old gash. A few in every age have known the divine art of carrying sorrow and trouble as wonderful food, as an invisible garment that clothed them with strength, as a mysterious joy, so that they suffered gladly, rejoicing in infirmity, and, holding up their heads with sacred presages whenever times were dark and troublous, let the light depart from their eyes, that they might by faith see nobler things than sight could reach. (H. W. Beecher.) Patient in tribulation All birds when they are first caught and put into the cage fly wildly up and down, and beat themselves against their little prisons; but within two or three days sit quietly on their perch, and sing their usual notes with their usual melody. So it fares with us, when God first brings us into a strait; we wildly flutter up and down, and beat and tire ourselves with striving to get free; but at length custom and experience will make our narrow confinement spacious enough for us; and though our feet should be in the stocks, yet shall we, with the apostles, be able even there to sing praises to our God. (Bp. Hopkins.) Continuing instant in prayer.-- I. What is prayer? 1. The hearty desire.
- 36. (1) Mental (1Sa_1:13;Eph_5:10). (2) Oral (Joh_17:5). 2. Of necessary things. (1) Spiritual, for the life to come. (a) Sense of sin (Luk_13:3). (b) Faith in Christ (Luk_17:5). (c) Pardon of former transgressions (Psa_51:9). (d) Subduing present corruptions (Psa_19:12; Psa_91:13; Psa_119:133). (e) The continual influences of His grace and spirit (Psa_51:10; Luk_11:13). (2) Temporal, for this life (1Ti_4:8; Pro_30:8). 3. From God. (1) God alone is to be worshipped (Mat_4:10). (2) God alone understands our prayers (Isa_63:16). (3) He alone can answer them (Psa_65:2). (4) He commands us to call to Him (Jer_33:3; Psa_50:15). (5) Christ directs us to pray to Him (Mat_6:9). See the error of Papists, who pray to the Cross. To the Virgin Mary, etc. St. Roche for the plague. St. Apollonia for the toothache. St. Eulogius for horses. St. Anthony for hogs. St. Gallus for geese, etc. II. Why should we pray? 1. God hath commanded it (1Th_5:17).
- 37. 2. Encouraged uswith a promise (Psa_50:15; Mat_7:7). 3. Made it the condition of all promises (Eze_36:37). 4. It is part of Divine worship. 5. Hereby we give glory to God. (1) Of omnipresence (Psa_139:2-3). (2) Of omniscience (Psa_139:7). (3) Of omnipotence. 6. All blessings are sanctified by it (1Ti_4:5). 7. Only by this we acknowledge our dependence upon Him. III. How should we pray. 1. Before prayer, consider (Psa_10:17). (1) Who is it you go to pray to (Exo_34:6). (2) What you have to pray for (1Jn_5:14). (3) How unworthy you are to ask or receive (Gen_32:10). (4) That Christ is interceding for you (Eph_3:12; Heb_7:25). 2. In prayer. (1) Pray with that humility, reverence, and submission, as becomes a sinful creature (Gen_18:27; Luk_18:13; Ezr_9:6). (2) Utter nothing rashly before Him, nor mingle stories with petitions (Ecc_5:1-2). (3) Let every petition proceed from the heart (Joh_4:24).
- 38. (4) Pray onlyin the name of Christ (Joh_14:13-14; Joh_16:23; Heb_7:25). (5) Let your affections and apprehensions go together (1Co_14:15). (6) Pray in faith (Mar_11:24; Jam_1:6). (7) Without wrath (1Ti_2:8; Mat_6:14-15). (8) For others as well as for yourselves (1Ti_2:1; Eph_6:18). (9) To the right end (Jam_4:3). (10) Add praise to prayers (Php_4:6; 1Ti_2:1). (a) Praising God is all that He expects for His mercies. (b) It is the best sacrifice we can offer (Psa_69:30-31). (c) It is the work of Heaven (Rev_7:9-10; Rev_19:1). 3. After prayer. (1) Consider what you have prayed for. (2) Expect it (Psa_5:3). (3) Use means for obtaining it. IV. When should we pray? Or how continue instant in prayer (Eph_6:18; 1Th_5:17). 1. Be always in a praying frame. 2. Take all occasions of praying. 3. Never faint in prayer (Luk_18:1; 2Co_12:8-9). 4. Make prayer your daily exercise.
- 39. (1) We mustserve God daily (Luk_1:75). (2) The sacrifices of the Old Testament were daily (Num_28:3; Act_3:1). (3) Christ directs us to ask our daily bread (Mat_6:11; Mat_6:33). (4) The saints in all ages prayed daily (Psa_55:17; Psa_119:164; Dan_6:10; 1Ki_8:48; Luk_2:37). (5) The heathen and the Turks do it. (6) We need daily mercies. (7) We receive them. 5. Objection. I have oft prayed, but am never heard (Job_21:15). (1) However, we are bound to serve God. (2) If we get no good it is our own fault. (a) As to the matter (1Jn_5:14). (b) Means (Jam_1:6). (c) End, of prayer (Jam_4:3). (3) Perhaps you never expected it. (4) Or have not used the right means for it. (5) You have not prayed long enough (2Co_12:9; Luk_18:1). (6) Though you have not received that required, you have other mercies (2Co_12:9). (7) You may be answered, and not know it. Conclusion: Continue instant in prayer. 1. Otherwise ye live in continued sin. 2. Prayer is the most honourable work.
- 40. 3. The mostpleasant (Psa_84:10). 4. The only way of getting real mercies (Jam_1:5). 5. Right praying is a sign of a true convert (Act_9:11). (Bp. Beveridge.) Instant in prayer Prayer is the natural duty of religion. Its observance is as natural as conversation between men. The Scriptures urge a constant and careful performance, then, not only as a duty, but a privilege. The subject suggests an inquiry as to-- I. The matter and subject of prayer. 1. Generally, it is to petition God to bestow upon us all that is good, and to deliver us from all that is evil: the pursuit of virtue, the direction of our affairs, immortal happiness. 2. Particularly, our own individual requirements, according to our particular weaknesses and difficulties, should form the groundwork of our petitions. II. The specific directions of the apostle--“Continuing instant.” We are not to make it a mere formal duty. It is to be the constant effort and breath of our very existence. We are hereby taught-- 1. That worldly duties are not inconsistent with heavenly thoughts. 2. That God may be worshipped at all times. 3. That religion is not a thing to be put off till we have leisure and opportunity. III. The contrast which this direction affords to all false systems. We are taught that God is worshipped by the mind and thoughts, and not by external observances. How different to heathen worship! Even the Jews’ religion was, to a great extent, formal. (J. Jortin, D.D.)
- 41. Instant in prayer Whena pump is frequently used, but little pains are necessary to have water; the water pours out at the first stroke, because it is high. But if the pump has not been used for a long while, the water gets low, and when you want it you must pump a long while, and the water comes only after great efforts. It is so with prayer; if we are instant in prayer, every little circumstance awakens the disposition to pray, and desires and words are always ready. But if we neglect prayer it is difficult for us to pray; for the water in the well gets low. (Felix Neff.) Instant in prayer doesn’t exactly mean that we should be praying every instant, though we can be doing that also, but not if we are to think a prayer, or speak a prayer, for how could we then be getting on with other things that need all our attention at the time? But there are prayers that are not spoken or even thought of. You have seen the mariner’s compass. When the ship is tossing about, the compass trembles and swings to and fro, but it always comes back and points straight to the north. That’s where it wants to go to; every time it points to the north it seems to pray, “Let me go there!” Now why is this needle so constant about this wish to go northward? Because it has got in it a spirit that belongs to the distant Pole, and so, even while it is busy in telling the sailors how to steer, it is itself always turning to the north, because its life lies that way. So we may be very busy about other things, and need to fix all our attention upon them; but if our heart is right with Jesus, we shall be always wanting to do things for His sake, and do them right; and that big wish that is always in the heart is a continual prayer. (J. R. Howat.) Instancy in prayer I. The import of the injunction. This is indicated by the employment of the word in other Scriptures (e.g., Act_1:14; Act_2:42; Rom_13:6; Act_8:13; Act_10:7; Eph_6:18) . These show the meaning of the word; steadfastness or perseverance as a habit. In this sense the passage has many parallels (Eph_6:18; Php_4:6; 1Th_5:17). In the widest sense, therefore, the injunction lays upon us-- 1. The habitual maintenance of a prayerful spirit. 2. The embracing of opportunities for prayer.
- 42. 3. The improvementof occasions of prayer. You will find these everywhere, in the commonest experiences of every day. 4. Watchfulness. II. Considerations by which the injunction may be commended and enforced. 1. What a mighty power of restraint would such an “instancy of prayer” exercise! 2. What a spiritual elevation! 3. What peace amid conflicting cares! 4. What strength! (J. M. Jarvie.) Prayer, daily As those who keep clocks wind them up daily, lest the weights should run down, and the clock stop; so we must set apart some portion of every day for meditation and prayer, lest our hearts should so far descend, through the weight of the cares of this world, that our course in godliness should be hindered and stopped. (Cawdray.) Prayer hindered, not defeated For so I have seen a lark rising from his bed of grass and soaring upwards, singing as he rises, and hopes to get to heaven, and climb above THE CLOUDS ; but the poor bird was beaten back with the loud sighings of an eastern wind, and his motion made irregular and inconstant, descending more at every breath of the tempest than it could recover by the liberation and frequent weighing of his wings, till the little creature was forced to sit down and pant, and stay till the storm was over; and then it made a prosperous flight, and did rise and sing, as if it had learned music and motion from an angel, as he passed sometimes through the air about his ministries here below. So is the prayer of a good man. (Jeremy Taylor.) Prayer, nightly
- 43. It is saidof that good old man, John Quincy Adams, that he never went to his rest at night until he had repeated the simple prayer learned in childhood--the familiar “Now, I lay me down to sleep.” Perpetual prayer I. What is here required? 1. Continuance in personal and secret prayer primarily. In these times Christ’s saying is reversed. Men seem to say, If you pray openly, the Father will reward you in secret. And if a man have a taste for prayer meetings and none for private prayer, he should give up the prayer meetings until he recover the taste for secret prayer. 2. Paul speaks of continuance in the sense of importunity and perseverance. “Instant,” means earnest, pressing, and urgent. The precept implies the danger of non-continuance--of a lack of earnestness and urgency. Now this danger arises from-- (1) Scepticism about prayer. Men are often tempted to ask, “What profit shall we have if we pray to Him?” Then we may be beset by unbelief as to God’s hearing our prayers in particular. (2) Indifference. Men do not care to pray. There is no very pressing want; no very urgent danger. The man is looking simply on the surface of his life. II. Why is this requirement made? Habitual prayer-- 1. Keeps in habitual exercise the first principles of our religious life, etc. You cannot pray without bringing into exercise faith, trust, hope, and love. Now these principles are not intended to be within us like gems in a casket, but are like muscles. Work them, and they will be strengthened; give them nothing to do, and they will shrink, and when you want them, they will not be in a state to serve you. 2. Keeps a man face to face with God. This is the right position. We never see any matter as we ought to see it, except we look God in the face about it. 3. Recognises the two great blessings of the Christian economy. And what are these? (1) The mediation of Christ. (2) The ministration of the Holy Ghost.
- 44. 4. Is theconstant use of the highest agency which Christians can employ. What has prayer done? Conquered the elements, healed the diseased, restored life, etc. Prayer moves the band which moves the world. 5. Is second only to ceaseless praise in the loftiness and in the sacredness of the habit. 6. Is in harmony with God’s present method of government. The basis of that government is atonement, i.e., an embodied supplication for mercy. (S. Martin.) Prayer unceasing Fletcher’s whole life was a life of prayer; and so intensely was his mind fixed upon God that he sometimes said, “I would not move from my seat without lifting up my heart to God.” “Wherever we met,” says Mr. Vaughan, “if we were alone, his first salute was, ‘Do I meet you praying?’ And if we were talking on any point of divinity, when we were in the depth of our discourse he would often break off abruptly and ask, ‘Where are our hearts now?’ If ever the misconduct of an absent person was mentioned, his usual reply was, ‘Let us pray for him.’” Constant, instant, expectant I. Instant. The Greek word means “always applying strength in prayer”; “blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee.” Brooks saith that the word is a metaphor taken from hunting dogs, which will never give up the game till they have got it. Prevalent prayer is frequently spoken of in Scripture as an agony--“striving together with me in your prayers,” and as “wrestling.” We must go with our whole soul to God or He will not accept us. We are to pray as if all depended upon our praying. How are we to attain to this urgency? 1. Let us study the value of the mercy which we are seeking at God’s hand. Whatever it is that thou art asking for, it is no trifle. If it be a doubtful thing, lay it aside: but if thou art certain that the blessing sought is good and necessary, examine it as a goldsmith inspects a jewel when he wishes to estimate its worth. 2. Meditate on thy necessities. See thy soul’s poverty and undeservingness. Look at what will happen to thee unless this blessing come. 3. Endeavour to get a distinct consciousness of the fact that God must give thee this blessing, or thou wilt never have it. 4. Eagerly desire the good thing. Stand not before God as one who will be content whether or no. There are times when you must say, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”
- 45. 5. Now comesthe tug of war; you are to plead with all your might. Gather up all your faculties to see whether this thing be a matter of promise or no. When you have found the promise, plead it by saying, “Lord, do as Thou hast said.” If you do not seem to prevail with one promise seek out another and another, and then plead, “For Thy name’s sake, for Thy truth’s sake, for Thy covenant’s sake”; and then come in with the greatest plea of all, “For Jesus’ sake.” 6. Still there is one thing more wanted, and that is strong faith. You cannot be instant in prayer, nay, you cannot offer an acceptable prayer at all except as you believe in the prayer-hearing God. II. Constant--“continuing.” GO BACK to the hunting dog. We saw him rushing like the wind after his game, but this will not be enough if it only lasts for a little; he must continue running if he is to catch his prey. It is a sign of failure in the iron trade when the furnaces are blown out; when business flourishes the fire blazes both day and night; and so will it be with prayer when thesoul is in a flourishing state. If prayer be the Christian’s vital breath, how can he leave off praying? “That is difficult,” says one. Who said it was not? All the processes of the Christian life are difficult; but “the Spirit helpeth our infirmities.” Prayer must be CONTINUOUS , because-- 1. It is so singularly mixed up with the whole gospel dispensation. 2. It is connected with every covenant blessing. 3. It has been connected with every living spiritual experience you have ever had. 4. There is no time when we can afford to slacken prayer. 5. Such remarkable gifts are vouchsafed to importunity. 6. The continuance of our instancy in prayer is the test of the reality of our devotion. Earnest men of business cannot afford TO OPEN the shop and do a little occasional trade, and then put up a notice, “The proprietor of this shop has gone out for an excursion, and will resume his business when he feels inclined to.” Beware of spasms of prayer. III. Expectant. It is not in the text verbally, but it must be there really, because there will be no such thing as instancy or constancy unless there is an expectation that God can and will give that which we seek. Go back to our dog again: he would not run at so great a rate if he did not expect to seize his prey. If some people looked out for answers to prayer they might soon have them, for their prayers would be answered by themselves. I was reminded of that by a little boy whose father prayed in the family that the Lord would visit the poor and relieve their wants.
- 46. When he hadfinished, his little boy said, “Father, I wish I had your money.” “Why so?” “Because,” he said, “ I would answer your prayers for you.” I like better still that story of the good man at the prayer-meeting, who reading the list of prayers found one for a poor widow that her distress might be relieved, so he began to read it, but stopped and added, “We won’t trouble the Lord with that, I will attend to that myself.” The Lord might well say to us, “Thou sayest, Thy kingdom come; arise and help to make My kingdom come!” I shall close by recommending to all of you one simple but very comprehensive prayer. It was offered by a poor man in Fife, and it was copied out by the Duchess of Gordon, and found among her papers when she died. “O Lord, give me grace to feel my need of Thy grace! Give me grace to ask for Thy grace! Give me grace to receive Thy grace! And when in Thy grace Thou hast given me grace, give me grace to use Thy grace!” (C. H. Spurgeon.) 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Barclay, “The Christian is to be given to hospitality. Over and over again the New Testament insists on this duty of the open door (Heb. 13:2; 1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:8; 1 Pet. 4:9). Tyndale used a magnificent word when he translated it that the Christian should have a harborous disposition. A home can never be happy when it is selfish. Christianity is the religion of the open hand, the open heart, and the open door. BARNES, “Distributing - The word used here denotes having things in “common” κοινωνοሞντες koinōnountes. It means that they should be communicative, or should regard their property as so far common as to supply the needs of others. In the earliest times of the church, Christians had all things in common (Notes, Act_2:44), and felt themselves bound to meet all the needs of their brethren. One of the most striking effects of Christianity was to loosen their grasp on property, and dispose them to impart liberally to those who had need. The direction here does not mean that they should literally have all things in common; that is, to go back to a state of savage barbarity; but that they should be liberal, should partake of their good things with those who were needy; compare Gal_6:6; Rom_15:27; Phi_4:15; 1Ti_6:18. To the necessity - To the needs. That is, distribute to them such things as they need, food, raiment, etc. This command, of course, has reference to the poor. “Of saints.” Of Christians, or the friends of God. They are called saints as being holy (ᅋγιοι hagioi), or consecrated to God. This duty of rendering aid to Christians especially, does not interfere with the general love of mankind. The law of the New Testament is Gal_6:10, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith.” The Christian is indeed to love all mankind, and to do them good as far as may be in his power, Mat_5:43-44; Tit_3:8; 1Ti_6:18; Heb_13:16. But he is to show particular interest in the welfare of his brethren, and to see that the poor members of the church are provided for; for,
- 47. (1) They areour brethren; they are of the same family; they are attached to the same Lord; and to do good to them is to evince love to Christ, Mat_25:40; Mar_9:41. (2) They are left especially to the care of the church; and if the church neglects them, we may be sure the world will also, Mat_26:11. Christians, especially in the time of the apostles, had reason to expect little compassion from the people of the world. They were persecuted and oppressed; they would be embarrassed in their business, perhaps thrown out of occupation by the opposition of their enemies; and it was therefore especially incumbent on their Brethren to aid them. To a certain extent it is always true, that the world is reluctant to aid the friends of God; and hence the poor followers of Christ are in a special manner thrown on the benefactions of the church. (3) It is not improbable that there might be a special reason at that time for enjoining this on the attention of the Romans. It was a time of persecution, and perhaps of extensive distress. In the days of Claudius (about a.d. 50), there was a famine in Judea which produced great distress, and many of the poor and oppressed might flee to the capital for aid. We know, from other parts of the New Testament, that at that time the apostle was deeply interested in procuring aid for the poor brethren in Judea, Rom_15:25-26; compare Act_19:21; 2Co_8:1-7; 2Co_9:2-4. But the same reasons for aiding the poor followers of Christ will exist substantially in every age; and one of the most precious privileges conferred upon people is to be permitted to assist those who are the friends of God, Psa_41:1-3; Pro_14:21. Given to hospitality - This expression means that they should readily and cheerfully entertain strangers. This is a duty which is frequently enjoined in the Scriptures, Heb_13:2, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby many have entertained angels unawares;” 1Pe_4:9, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” Paul makes this especially the duty of a Christian bishop; 1Ti_3:2, “A bishop then must ...be given to hospitality;” Tit_1:8. Hospitality is especially enjoined by the Saviour, and its exercise commanded; Mat_10:40, Mat_10:42, “He that receiveth you receiveth me, etc.” The waver of hospitality is one of the charges which the Judge of mankind will allege against the wicked, and on which he will condemn them; Mat_25:43, “I was a stranger, and ye took me not in.” It is especially commended to us by the example of Abraham Gen_18:1-8, and of Lot Gen_19:1-2, who thus received angels unawares. It was one of the virtues on which Job particularly commended himself, and which he had not failed to practice; Job_31:16-17, “If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof, etc.” In the time of our Saviour it was evidently practiced in the most open and frank manner; Luk_10:7, “And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give.” A remarkable instance is also mentioned in Luk_11:5. This virtue is no less common in eastern nations at present than it was in the time of Christ. It is eminently the virtue of oriental nations, of their ardent and open temperament. It springs up naturally in countries thinly settled, where the sight of a stranger would be therefore especially pleasant; in countries too, where the occupation was chiefly to attend flocks, and where there was much leisure for conversation; and where the population was too sparse, and the travelers too infrequent, to justify inn-keeping as a business. From all these causes, it has happened that there are, properly speaking, no inns or taverns in the regions around Palestine. It was customary, indeed, to erect places for lodging and shelter at suitable distances, or by the side of springs or watering places, for travelers to lodge in. But they are built at the public expense, and are unfurnished. Each traveler carries his own bed and clothes and cooking utensils, and such places are merely designed as a shelter for caravans; (see Robinson’s Calmet, art. Caravanserai.) It is still so; and hence, it becomes, in their view, a virtue of high order to entertain, at their own tables, and in their families, such strangers as may be traveling. Niebuhr says, that “the hospitality of the Arabs has always been the subject of praise; and I believe that those of the present day exercise this virtue no less than the ancients did. There are, in the villages of Tehama, houses which are public, where travelers may lodge and be entertained some days gratis, if they will be content with the fare; and they are much frequented. When the Arabs are at table, they invite those who happen to come to eat with them, whether they be Christians or Muslims, gentle or simple.” - “The primitive Christians,” says Calmet, “considered one principal part of their duty to consist in showing hospitality to strangers. They were in fact so ready in discharging this duty, that the very
- 48. pagan admired themfor it. They were hospitable to all strangers, but especially to those who were of the household of faith. Believers scarcely ever traveled without letters of communion, which testified the purity of their faith, and procured for them a favorable reception wherever the name of Jesus Christ was known;” (Calmet, Dict.) Calmer is also of opinion that the two minor epistles of John may be such letters of recommendation and communion; compare 2Jo_1:10. It may be added that it would be particularly expected of Christians that they should show hospitality to the ministers of religion. They were commonly poor; they received no fixed salary; they traveled from place to place; and they would be dependent for support on the kindness of those who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. This was particularly intended by our Saviour’s instructions on the subject, Mat_10:11-13, Mat_10:40-42. The duty of hospitality is still binding upon Christians and all people. The law of Christ is not repealed. The customs of society are indeed changed; and one evidence of advancement in commerce and in security, is furnished in the fact that inns are now provided and patronized for the traveler in all Christian lands. Still this does not lessen the obligations to show hospitality. It is demanded by the very genius of the Christian religion; it evinces proper love toward mankind; it shows that there is a feeling of brotherhood and kindness toward others, when such hospitality is shown. It unites society, creates new bonds of interest and affection, to show kindness to the stranger and to the poor. To what extent this is to be done, is one of those questions which are to be left to every man’s conscience and views of duty. No rule can be given on the subject. Many men have not the means to be extensively hospitable; and many are not placed in situations that require it. No rules could be given that should be applicable to all cases; and hence, the Bible has left the general direction, has furnished examples where it was exercised, has recommended it to mankind, and then has left every man to act on the rule, as he will answer it to God; see Mat_25:34-46. CLARKE, “Distributing to the necessity of saints - Relieve your poor brethren according to the power which God has given you. Do good unto all men, but especially to them which are of the household of faith. Instead of χρειαις, necessities, some ancient MSS. have µνειαις, memorials; distributing to the memorials of the saints, which some interpret as referring to saints that were absent; as if he had said: Do not forget those in other Churches who have a claim on your bounty. But I really cannot see any good sense which this various reading can make in the text; I therefore follow the common reading. Given to hospitality - Την φιλοξενιαν διωκοντες, pursuing hospitality, or the duty of entertaining strangers. A very necessary virtue in ancient times, when houses of public accommodation were exceedingly scarce. This exhortation might have for its object the apostles, who were all itinerants; and in many cases the Christians, flying before the face of persecution. This virtue is highly becoming in all Christians, and especially in all Christian ministers, who have the means of relieving a brother in distress, or of succouring the poor wherever he may find them. But providing for strangers in distress is the proper meaning of the term; and to be forward to do this is the spirit of the duty. GILL, “Distributing to the necessity of saints,.... Or "communicating", as many versions render the word; "distributing" more properly belongs to the officers of the church, the deacons, and communicating to the members of it in common. All men in general are to be relieved that are in want, even our very enemies, and particularly such as are our own flesh and blood, nearly related to us, aged parents, &c. and especially they that are of the household of faith, here called "saints"; and indeed, such only come under the care and notice of a church: and they are such, whom God has set apart for himself, has chosen in his Son, that they should be holy; whom Christ has sanctified, or whose sins he has expiated by his blood; and to whom he is made sanctification; and in whose hearts a work of grace and holiness is wrought by the Spirit of God, which is the sanctification of the Spirit they are chosen through, as a mean to eternal salvation by Christ; and in consequence of this, they live soberly,
- 49. righteously, and godly,and have their conversations as become the Gospel of Christ: and such as these, being in necessitous circumstances, are to be communicated to; for not all, or any of the saints, but only such as are in "necessity", are here pointed at; it is not communicating to the saints, but to their necessity, which is recommended. It is the will and pleasure of God, that some of his dear children should be in strait circumstances of life, be reduced to want and distress, partly to try their own graces, their faith and trust in God, and dependence on him; and partly the graces of others, the charity, liberality, and beneficence of those who have of this world's goods: and who are the persons that are to "communicate", not words only, saying, be warmed and filled, and give nothing; but their substance, they are to deal their bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and give a portion to as many as are in need: and these acts of giving and receiving, are one way by which the saints have communication with each other, and which is suggested by the word "communicating" here used; for fellowship does not lie merely in private conversation, and in sitting down together at the Lord's table, but in "communicating to one another such things" as are needful, as for the soul, so for the body. Some copies read, "communicating to the memories of the saints"; not making images of them, and praying to them, but speaking well and honourably of them, and imitating them in what they did well; see Pro_10:7. Given to hospitality; or, as it may be rendered, "pursuing", or "following after love to strangers"; which is properly hospitality: respect is to be shown not to such only who are members of the same community with us, but also to such of the people of God, that may be of another country, or of some distant parts of our own, not before known by us; who by persecution, and distress of some sort or another, or by some providence or another, are obliged to remove from their native place. These we are to love, and show our love to, not only by directing and advising, but, if need be, by giving them food and raiment, and lodging them: this is a duty incumbent on ministers of the Gospel, and on private members, and on all who are in any capacity to perform it; and which should be done cheerfully, and without grudging; and what persons should use, inure, and give themselves to, yea, should seek after, and call to objects of it; as Abraham and Lot did, who thereby entertained angels unawares, and is what the apostle here means by pursuing and following after it. HENRY, “ A liberal love (Rom_12:13): Distributing to the necessities of saints. It is but a mock love which rests in the verbal expressions of kindness and respect, while the wants of our brethren call for real supplies, and it is in the power of our hands to furnish them. [1.] It is no strange thing for saints in this world to want necessaries for the support of their natural live. In those primitive times prevailing persecutions must needs reduce many of the suffering saints to great extremities; and still the poor, even the poor saints, we have always with us. Surely the things of this world are not the best things; if they were, the saints, who are the favourites of heaven, would not be put off with so little of them. [2.] It is the duty of those who have wherewithal to distribute, or (as it might better be read) to communicate to those necessities. It is not enough to draw out the soul, but we must draw out the purse, to the hungry. See Jam_2:15, Jam_2:16; 1Jo_3:17. Communicating - koinōnountes. It intimates that our poor brethren have a kind of interest in that which God hath given us; and that our reliving them should come from a sense and fellow-feeling of their wants, as though we suffered with them. The charitable benevolence of the Philippians to Paul is called their communicating with his affliction, Phi_4:14. We must be ready, as we have ability and opportunity, to relieve any that are in want; but we are in a special manner bound to communicate to the saints. There is a common love owing to our fellow-creatures, but a special love owing to our fellow-christians (Gal_6:10), Especially to those who are of the household of faith. Communicating, tais mneiais - to the memories of the saints; so some of the ancients read it, instead of tais chreiais. There is a debt owing to the memory of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises - to value it, to vindicate it, to embalm it. Let the memory of the just be blessed; so some read Pro_10:7. He mentions another branch of this bountiful love: Given to hospitality. Those who have houses of their own should be ready to entertain those who go about doing good, or who, for fear of persecution, are forced to wander for shelter. They had not then so much of the convenience of common inns as we have; or the wandering Christians durst not frequent
- 50. them; or theyhad not wherewithal to bear the charges, and therefore it was a special kindness to bid them welcome on free-cost. Nor is it yet an antiquated superseded duty; as there is occasion, we must welcome strangers, for we know not the heart of a stranger. I was a stranger, and you took me in, is mentioned as one instance of the mercifulness of those that shall obtain mercy: tēn philoxenian diōkontes - following or pursuing hospitality. It intimates, not only that we must take opportunity, but that we must seek opportunity, thus to show mercy. As Abraham, who sat at the tent-door (Gen_18:1), and Lot, who sat in the gate of Sodom (Gen_19:1), expecting travellers, whom they might meet and prevent with a kind invitation, and so they entertained angels unawares, Heb_13:2. JAMISON, “given to hospitality — that is, the entertainment of strangers. In times of persecution, and before the general institution of houses of entertainment, the importance of this precept would be at once felt. In the East, where such houses are still rare, this duty is regarded as of the most sacred character [Hodge]. CALVIN, “13.Communicating to the necessities, (394) etc. He returns to the duties of love; the chief of which is to do good to those from whom we expect the least recompense. As then it commonly happens, that they are especially despised who are more than others pressed down with want and stand in need of help, (for the benefits conferred on them are regarded as lost,) God RECOMMENDS them to us in an especial manner. It is indeed then only that we prove our love to be genuine, when we relieve needy brethren, for no other reason but that of exercising our benevolence. Nowhospitality is not one of the least acts of love; that is, that kindness and liberality which are shown towards strangers, for they are for the most part destitute of all things, being far away from their friends: he therefore distinctly recommends this to us. We hence see, that the more neglected any one commonly is by men, the more attentive we ought to be to his wants. Observe also the suitableness of the expression, when he says, that we are to communicate to the necessities of the saints; by which he implies, that we ought so to relieve the wants of the brethren, as though we were relieving our own selves. And he commands us to ASSIST especially the saints: for though our love ought to extend itself to the whole race of man, yet it ought with peculiar feeling to embrace the household of faith, who are by a closer bond united to us. (394) There is here an instance of the depravation of the text by some of the fathers, such as [Ambrose ], [Hilary ], [Pelagius ], [Optatus ], etc., who substituted µνείας monuments, for χρείαςnecessities, or wants: but though there are a few copies which have this reading, yet it has been discarded by most; it is NOT FOUND in the Vulgate, nor approved by [Erasmus ] nor [Grotius ]. The word was introduced evidently, as [Whitby ] intimates, to countenance the superstition of the early Church respecting the monuments or sepulchres of martyrs and confessors. Thefact, that there were no monuments of martyrs at this time in Rome, was wholly overlooked. — Ed. MACLAREN, “STILL ANOTHER TRIPLET Rom_12:13 - Rom_12:15. In these verses we pass from the innermost region of communion with God into the wide field of duties in relation to men. The solitary secrecies of rejoicing hope, endurance, and prayer unbroken, are exchanged for the publicities of benevolence and sympathy. In the former verses the Christian soul is in ‘the secret place of the Most High’; in those of our text he comes forth with the light of God on his face, and hands laden with blessings. The juxtaposition of the
- 51. two suggests thegreat principles to which the morality of the New Testament is ever true-that devotion to God is the basis of all practical helpfulness to man, and that practical helpfulness to man is the expression and manifestation of devotion to God. The three sets of injunctions in our text, dissimilar though they appear, have a common basis. They are varying forms of one fundamental disposition-love; which varies in its forms according to the necessities of its objects, bringing temporal help to the needy, meeting hostility with blessing, and rendering sympathy to both the glad and the sorrowful. There is, further, a noteworthy connection, not in sense but in sound, between the first and second clauses of our text, which is lost in our English Version. ‘Given to hospitality’ is, as the Revised margin shows, literally, pursuing hospitality. Now the Greek, like the English word, has the special meaning of following with a hostile intent, and the use of it in the one sense suggests its other meaning to Paul, whose habit of ‘going off at a word,’ as it has been called, is a notable feature of his style. Hence, this second injunction, of blessing the persecutors, comes as a kind of play upon words, and is obviously occasioned by the verbal association. It would come more appropriately at a later part of the chapter, but its occurrence here is characteristic of Paul’s idiosyncrasy. We may represent the connection of these two clauses by such a rendering as: Pursue hospitality, and as for those who pursue you, bless, and curse not. We may look at these three flowers from the one root of love. I. Love that speaks in material help. We have here two special applications of that love which Paul regards as ‘the bond of perfectness,’ knitting all Christians together. The former of these two is love that expresses itself by tangible material aid. The persons to be helped are ‘saints,’ and it is their ‘needs’ that are to be aided. There is no trace in the Pauline Epistles of the community of goods which for a short time prevailed in the Church of Jerusalem and which was one of the causes that led to the need for the contribution for the poor saints in that city which occupied so much of Paul’s attention at Corinth and elsewhere. But, whilst Christian love leaves the rights of property intact, it charges them with the duty of supplying the needs of the brethren. They are not absolute and unconditioned rights, but are subject to the highest principles of stewardship for God, trusteeship for men, and sacrifice for Christ. These three great thoughts condition and limit the Christian man’s possession of the wealth, which, in a modified sense, it is allowable for him to call his own. His brother’s need constitutes a first charge on all that belongs to him, and ought to precede the gratification of his own desires for superfluities and luxuries. If we ‘see our brother have need and shut up our bowels of compassion against him’ and use our possessions for the gratification of our own whims and fancies, ‘how dwelleth the love of God in us?’ There are few things in which CHRISTIAN MEN of this day have more need for the vigorous exercise of conscience, and for enlightenment, than in their getting, and spending, and keeping money. In that region lies the main sphere of usefulness for many of us; and if we have not been ‘faithful in that which is least,’ our unfaithfulness there makes it all but impossible that we should be faithful in that which is greatest. The honest and rigid contemplation of our own faults in the administration of our worldly goods, might well invest with a terrible meaning the Lord’s tremendous question, ‘If ye have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who shall give you that which is your own?’
- 52. The hospitality whichis here enjoined is another shape which Christian love naturally took in the early days. When believers were a body of aliens, dispersed through the world, and when, as they went from one place to another, they could find homes only amongst their own brethren, the special circumstances of the time necessarily ATTACHED special importance to this duty; and as a matter of fact, we find it recognised in all the Epistles of the New Testament as one of the most imperative of Christian duties. ‘It was the unity and strength which this intercourse gave that formed one of the great forces which supported Christianity.’ But whilst hospitality was a special duty for the early Christians, it still remains a duty for us, and its habitual exercise would go far to break down the frowning walls which diversities of social position and of culture have reared between Christians. II. The love that meets hostility with blessing. There are perhaps few words in Scripture which have been more fruitful of the highest graces than this commandment. What a train of martyrs, from primitive times to the Chinese Christians in recent years, have remembered these words, and left their legacy of blessing as they laid their heads on the block or stood circled by fire at the stake! For us, in our quieter generation, actual persecution is rare, but hostility of ill-will more or less may well dog our steps, and the great principle here commended to us is that we are to meet enmity with its opposite, and to conquer by love. The diamond is cut with sharp knives, and each stroke brings out FLASHING beauty. There are kinds of wood which are fragrant when they burn; and there are kinds which show their veining under the plane. It is a poor thing if a Christian character only gives back like a mirror the expression of the face that looks at it. To meet hate with hate, and scorn with scorn, is not the way to turn hate into love and scorn into sympathy. Indifferent equilibrium in the presence of active antagonism is not possible for us. As long as we are sensitive we shall wince from a blow, or a sarcasm, or a sneer. We must bless in order to keep ourselves from cursing. The lesson is very hard, and the only way of obeying it fully is to keep near Christ and drink in His spirit who prayed ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ III. Love that flows in wide sympathy. Of the two forms of sympathy which are here enjoined, the former is the harder. To ‘rejoice with them that do rejoice’ makes a greater demand on unselfish love than to ‘weep with them that weep.’ Those who are glad feel less need of sympathy than do the sorrowful, and envy is apt to creep in and mar the COMPLETENESS of sympathetic joy. But even the latter of the two injunctions is not altogether easy. The cynic has said that there is ‘something not wholly displeasing in the misfortunes of our best friends’; and, though that is an utterly worldly and unchristian remark, it must be confessed not to be altogether wanting in truth. But for obedience to both of these injunctions, a heart at leisure from itself is needed to sympathise; and not less needed is a sedulous cultivation of the power of sympathy. No doubt temperament has much to do with the degree of our obedience; but this whole context goes on the assumption that the grace of God working on temperament strengthens natural endowments by turning them into ‘gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.’ Though we live in that awful individuality of ours, and are each, as it were, islanded in ourselves ‘with echoing straits between us thrown,’ it is possible for us, as the result of close communion with Jesus Christ, to bridge the chasms, and to ENTER into the joy of a brother’s joy. He who groaned in Himself as He drew near to the grave
- 53. of Lazarus, andwas moved to weep with the weeping sisters, will help us, in the measure in which we dwell in Him and He in us, that we too may look ‘not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.’ On the whole, love to Jesus is the basis of love to man, and love to man is the practical worship of Christianity. As in all things, so in the exhortations which we have now been considering, Jesus is our pattern and power. He Himself communicates with our necessities, and opens His heart to give us hospitable welcome there. He Himself has shown us how to meet and overcome hatred with love, and HURT with blessing. He shares our griefs, and by sharing lessens them. He shares our joys, and by sharing hallows them. The summing up of all these specific injunctions is, ‘Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’ BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Distributing to the necessity of saints. I. Who are the saints? 1. All that truly believe in Christ are sanctified. 2. All that profess to believe in Him (Php_1:1; Col_1:2; Rev_7:9). II. What necessities? That they need our-- 1. Advice. 2. Prayers (1Ti_2:1). 3. Estates. III. What is it to distribute? 1. To give them freely. 2. To communicate with, because Christians (1Co_12:26-27). IV. Who ought to give.? 1. Every one is to be willing to give (2Co_8:13). 2. They only are actually to give, who have anything of their own to give (1Jn_3:17; Isa_61:8). 3. Hence men of a lower estate are bound to give too something (Eph_4:28). V. How much is every one bound to give? 1. In general, bountifully (2Co_9:6).
- 54. 2. Proportionably toour estates (1Co_16:2). 3. More than we spend on our lusts. 4. As much as is not necessary for ourselves (2Co_8:14). 5. Sometimes what is necessary (2Co_8:3). VI. How ought we to give ? 1. Out of a sense of duty, not for vainglory (Mat_6:1-2). 2. Out of love and pity to our brother (1Co_13:3). 3. Willingly (2Co_8:10; 2Co_8:12). 4. Cheerfully (Rom_12:8; 2Co_9:7). 5. Readily, without delay (Pro_3:27-28). 6. Thankfully (1Ch_29:13-14). 7. For a right end. (1) Not for praise from men. (2) Much less salvation from God. (3) But for His honour (Pro_3:9). Conclusion--Repent of your neglect of this duty. Perform it for the future. Consider-- 1. The law of God commands it. 2. The law of nature (Mat_7:12). 3. God hath made it our brother’s due, and so we rob him unless we give. 4. A blessing is connected with it (Act_20:35). 5. Hereby we imitate God (Mat_5:48; Luk_6:36). 6. Unless we give we have no love for God (1Jn_3:17). 7. Nor true religion (Jam_1:27). 8. What we have is not our own, but God’s, to be laid out according to His will (Luk_16:12; 1Ch_29:11). 9. Yet Himself will REPAY us what we have so disbursed (Pro_19:17). 10. Hence this is the way to lay up our treasures in heaven (1Ti_6:17-19; Mat_6:19-20). 11. It is the best way to prosper and sanctify what ye have here (Pro_28:27; Deu_15:7-11).
- 55. 12. You shallbe judged according to your performance or neglect of this duty (Mat_25:34-42). (Bp. Beveridge.) Liberality to Christian brethren I. Specially needed. II. Specially claimed. III. Specially rewarded. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Expressions of Christian love I. Benevolence. 1. To the brethren. 2. To strangers. 3. To enemies. II. Sympathy. 1. With the happy. 2. With the sorrowful. III. Unity. 1. In Christian feeling. 2. This requires humility in aim, in thought. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Given to hospitality.-- Hospitality
- 56. I. Implies-- 1. Ourindifferency about the world. 2. Willingness to communicate what we have to others (1Ti_6:17). 3. Our supplying strangers as well as others with necessaries (1Pe_4:9). II. Reasons. 1. A priori. We should do to others as we would have them do to us (Mat_7:12): 2. A posteriori. Because of the good we may get by it. Some have entertained angels (Heb_13:2; Gen_18:3; Gen_19:2); and prophets (1Ki_17:10-16; 2Ki_5:8-27; Mat_25:43). (Bishop Beveridge.) Christian hospitality I. Its trials. 1. The whim and eccentricity of the guest. There are a great many excellent people whose temperament makes them a nuisance in any house where they stay. On short acquaintance, they will keep unseasonable hours, have all the peculiarities of the gormandiser or the dyspeptic, and in a thousand ways afflict the household which proposes to take care of them. Added to all, they stay too long. Gerrit Smith, the philanthropist, asked at his breakfast table, on the day when he hoped that the long-protracted guests would depart, “O Lord, bless this provision, and our friends who leave us to-day!” But there are alleviations. Perhaps they have not had the same refining influences about them that you have had. Perhaps it is your duty, by example, to show them a better way. Perhaps they are sent to be a trial for the development of your patience. Perhaps it is to make your HOME the brighter when they are gone. When our guests are cheery, and fascinating, and elegant, it is very easy to entertain them; but when we find in them that which is antagonistic to our taste and sentiment, it is a positive triumph when we can be “given to hospitality.” 2. The toil and expense of exercising it. When you introduce a foreign element into the domestic machinery, though you may declare that they must take things as they find them, the Martha will break in. The ungovernable stove, the unmasticable joint, the delayed marketing, the difficulty of being presentable, etc. Yet we may serve God with plate, and cutlery, and broom, just as certainly as with psalm-book and liturgy. But you are not to toil unnecessarily. Though the fare be plain, cheerful presidency of the table and cleanliness of appointments will be good enough for anybody that ever comes to your house. I want to lift this idea of Christian entertainment out of a positive bondage into a glorious inducement. Suppose it were announced that the Lord Jesus Christ would come to town this week, what woman in this house would not be glad to wash for Him, or spread for Him a bed, or bake bread for Him? He is coming. “Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these, My brethren, ye have done it to Me.” II. Its rewards. 1. The Divine benediction. When any one attends to this duty, God’s blessing comes upon him, upon his companion, upon his children. 2. The good wishes and prayers of our guests. I do not think one’s house ever gets over having had a good man or woman abide there. George Whitefield used to scratch a text on his window, and in one case, after he left, the
- 57. whole household wasconverted by it. The woman of Shunem furnished a little room for Elisha, and all the ages have heard the consequences. On a winter night my father entertained Trueman Osborne, the evangelist, and that, among others, was the means of saving my soul. How many of our guests have brought to us condolence, and sympathy, and help! It is said of St. Sebald, that in his Christian rounds he used to stop for entertainment at the house of a poor cartwright. Coming there one day, he found him and his family freezing for the lack of fuel. St. Sebald ordered the man to bring some icicles and throw them on the hearth; whereupon they began to blaze immediately, and the freezing family were warmed by them. How often have our guests come in to gather up the cold, freezing sorrows of our life, kindling them into illumination, and warmth, and good cheer. He who opens his house to Christian hospitality, turns those who are strangers into friends. Some day you will be sitting in loneliness, watching a bereavement, and you will get a letter, and there you will read the story of thanks for your Christian generosity long years before, and how they have heard afar off of your trouble. When we take people into our houses as Christian guests, we take them into our sympathies for ever. In Dort a soldier stopped at a house, desiring shelter. At first he was refused admittance, but when he showed his credentials he was admitted. In the night-time two ruffians broke in, but no sooner had they come over the door-sill than the armed guest met them. There are no bandits prowling around to destroy our houses; but how often our guests become our defenders. We gave them shelter first, and afterwards they fought for our reputation, for our property, for our soul. 3. We shall have hospitality shown to us and to ours. In the upturnings of this life, who knows where we may be thrown, and how much we may need an open door? There may come no such crisis to us, but our children may be thrown into some such strait. Among the Greeks, after an entertainment they take a piece of lead and cut it in two, and the host takes one half and the guest the other as they part. These are handed down from generation to generation, and after awhile perhaps one of the families in want or in trouble go out with this one piece of lead and find the other family with the corresponding piece, and no sooner is the tally completed than the old hospitality is aroused, and eternal friendship pledged. So the memory of Christian hospitality will go down from generation to generation, and the tally will never be lost. (T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.) Bless them which persecute you-- Never curse, but only bless your persecutors 1. From virtues towards suffering brethren, the apostle now passes to the spirit to be maintained towards persecutors. 2. All wrongs are hard to be endured; and the Christian knows that he ought not to suffer for righteousness’ sake, and that his persecutors are deserving of punishment. If, therefore, he can secure protection by an appeal to legal authority, he ought to make that appeal. But when there is no such appeal then comes in the temptation, not simply to lodge an appeal with the great supreme Judge, but to invoke His interposition to smite the persecutor with a curse. The feeling that I am wronged is strengthened by the conviction that my wrong is detrimental to God’s kingdom, and therefore an INJURY to the race. Punishment, therefore, would be agreeable to strict justice, but would it also be good for me to invoke or for God to inflict? Not so, says the apostle. Not so, says Jesus. “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are made of,” etc. Therefore “bless them which persecute you,” etc. 3. The command and example of our Lord aught to be decisive for all Christians (Mat_5:43-48). But why ought we thus to act towards persecutors? I. The persecutor usually is but resenting what he conceives to be a wrong, not only against himself and society, but against his religion and his God. There are, no doubt, men who avail themselves of the opportunity afforded by the prevalence of the persecuting spirit to give effect to their private hatreds, or to enrich themselves by unrighteous plunder. And others are stung into persecuting activity because the Christian’s holy conversation rebukes their iniquity. But real persecutors are moved by zeal for what they conceive to be religion. It may be a false religion, as idolatry or an incomplete religion, as Judaism, or a corrupted religion, as Romanism; but whatever the special character of the religion whoso interests are supposed to be in danger, it will be that which is generally regarded as being true. This it is which gives such relentless and terrible earnestness to persecutors. They verily think with
- 58. themselves that theyought to do these things; and that they are doing God service. This, of course, will not avail to justify their conduct; but it furnishes one reason why we should bless those who persecute us. For they are impelled by conscience, and by their apprehension of what is due from them to society and to God. II. The time for the cursing has not yet come, but is kept back, in order that if possible the INJURIOUS men may be brought to a better mind. God was more wronged by men than we can ever be. Yet He not only exercised a marvellous forbearance, but, out of earnest pity for the offenders, spared not His own Son in order to bring back the guilty race. We have been saved, and therefore these people who are still without hate us. But God loves them still, and His purpose is to save them, and He requires of us to do what we can to accomplish this desirable result. III. Real persecutors are usually men who are worth winning. They are men whose force of character and power of aggressive work would be of immense service in the cause of truth and righteousness. Hence Saul is far more likely to become a chosen vessel of the Lord than his prudent master Gamaliel. And though every persecutor is not a Saul, yet if he is earnest of persecution he is a man of more than ordinary power for service in the cause of Christ. Therefore curse him not, but only bless him still. IV. There is much more hope of the conversion of earnest persecutors than might at first appear. There is small hope of those who can listen to the gospel and go away as indifferent as when they came. But the man who persecutes earnestly, feels strongly, and thinks vigorously; and when his violence has somewhat abated his wrath, and he begins to feel in what an unpleasant business he is engaged, he is almost sure to think of some other aspects of the question. The truth may then begin to scintillate within his soul, growing brighter as he pursues the meditation, till, by the grace of the Spirit of truth, his heart relents, his conscience begins its work of self-accusation, and he is won. Maintaining, as we do most firmly, the miraculous character of Saul’s conversion, that does not hinder us from admitting the probability that the spirit in which Stephen died, and in which others less noted submitted to the fiery persecution, may have made a profound impression on the zealot’s mind. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Men learned to live and die in the spirit of our text, and the exhibition of such a spirit has availed to save myriads. Conclusion: Whatever the result of such self-denial here, it will not fail of its reward hereafter (Mat_5:11-12; Heb_12:2). (W. Tyson.) Blessing persecutors When the trial of Sir Thomas More was ended, and he was judged guilty of death, being asked if he had anything to say, he replied: “ My lords, I have but to say that, like as the blessed apostle St. Paul was present at the death of the martyr Stephen, keeping their clothes that stoned him, and yet be now both saints in heaven, and there shall CONTINUE friends for ever, so I trust, and shall therefore pray, that though your lordships have been on earth my judges, yet we may hereafter meet in heaven together, to our everlasting salvation: and God preserve you all, especially my sovereign lord the king, and grant him faithful counsellors.” (H. O. Mackey.) Blessings on persecutors At Samatave (Madagascar) on the eve of the bombardment by the French, all the natives, from the governor downwards, were at a prayer-meeting, and there were no prayers for the lives of their enemies, and no cries for vengeance upon them. Prayers for a righteous vindication, for guidance, for faith to trust where they could not see, and for eventual peace and goodwill were the only petitions of the much-injured Malagasy. (G. Shaw.)
- 59. How to treatpersecutors The text teaches us-- 1. Wilt-do you no good. Is revenge sweet? Yes; if the triumph of devils over a soul taken captive is sweet. 2. Will do you harm. It will only inflame those passions which Christ came to stamp out. 3. Will INJURE your persecutors. It will only incense them in their persecuting work. II. How we should always treat our persecutors. “Bless them that persecute you.” The word is twice used. All our treatment of persecutors must be in harmony with it. God, Christ, the Spirit, and the angels are saying to you, “Bless your persccutors!” But how? 1. With your pity, i.e., the pity which can weep over the erring ones (Luk_19:41). All who are antagonistic to Christianity need, if they do not deserve, it. 2. With your patience. They may see their folly by and by, and repent of it. Christ had patience with Saul, the champion of persecutors. And since the “chief of sinners” was converted, do not despair of any. 3. With your prayers (Mat_5:44). In proportion as we can pray for God to bless our bitterest enemies are we Christlike (Act_7:60). 4. With your pardon. There is no force in the universe so mighty and God-like as that of forgiving love. 5. If need be, with the blessings of your purse (Rom_12:20). No persecutor can stand that long (1Pe_3:9). “It is hard,” you say. Yes; but, like every other difficult thing, it becomes easy by practice and perseverance. The lesson is only to be learnt at the Cross. (E.D. Solomon.) 14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Barclay, “The Christian must meet persecution with a prayer for those who persecute him. Long ago Plato had said that the good man will choose rather to suffer evil than to do evil; and it is always evil to hate. When the Christian is hurt, and insulted, and maltreated, he has the example of his Master before him, for be, upon his Cross, prayed for forgiveness for those who were
- 60. killing him. There hasbeen no greater force to move men into Christianity than this serene forgiveness which the martyrs in every age have showed. Stephen died praying for forgiveness for those who stoned him to death (Acts 7:60). Among those who killed him was a young man named Saul, who afterwards became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles and the slave of Christ. There can be no doubt that the death scene of Stephen was one of the things that turned Paul to Christ. As Augustine said: "The Church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen. Many a persecutor has become a follower of the faith he once sought to destroy, because he has seen how a Christian can forgive." BARNES, “Bless them ... - see the note at Mat_5:44; compare Luk_6:28. Bless, and curse not - Bless only; or continue to bless, however long or aggravated may be the injury. Do not be provoked to anger, or to cursing, by any injury, persecution, or reviling. This is one of the most severe and difficult duties of the Christian religion; and it is a duty which nothing else but religion will enable people to perform. To curse denotes properly to devote to destruction. Where there is power to do it, it implies the destruction of the object. Thus, the fig-tree that was cursed by the Saviour soon withered away: Mar_11:21. Thus, those whom God curses will be certainly destroyed; Mat_25:41. Where there is not power to do it, to curse implies the invoking of the aid of God to devote to destruction. Hence, it means to imprecate; to implore a curse from God to rest on others; to pray that God would destroy them. In a larger sense still, it means to abuse by reproachful words; to calumniate; or to express oneself in a violent, profane, and outrageous manner. In this passage it seems to have special reference to this. CLARKE, “Bless them which persecute you - Ευλογειτε, Give good words, or pray for them that give you bad words, καταρασθε, who make dire imprecations against you. Bless them, pray for them, and on no account curse them, whatever the provocation may be. Have the loving, forgiving mind that was in your Lord. GILL, “Bless them which persecute you,.... It is the lot of God's, people in this world to be persecuted by the men of it, in some shape or another, either by words or deeds; either by reviling and reproaching them, and speaking all manner of evil of them; or by hindering them the free exercise of religious worship, by confiscation of their goods, imprisonment of their persons, by violently torturing their bodies, and taking away their lives; under all which circumstances they are taught to bless them; that is, to pray for them, that God would show them their evil, give repentance to them, and the remission of their sins; which is the order Christ gave to his disciples, Mat_5:44; and encouraged to an observance of, by his own example, Luk_23:34; and has been followed herein by his disciples and apostles, Act_7:60 1Co_4:12. Moreover, by "blessing" may be meant, giving them good words, mild and soft answers, "not rendering evil for evil, railing for railing", 1Pe_3:9; but, on the contrary, blessing, in imitation of Christ, who, "when he was reviled, reviled not again", 1Pe_2:23, "bless", and curse not: to have a mouth full of cursing and bitterness, Rom_3:14, is the character of an unregenerate man, and what by no means suits one who names the name of Christ; for blessing and cursing to proceed out of the same mouth, is as absurd and unnatural, as if it should be supposed that
- 61. a fountain shouldsend forth sweet water and bitter, or salt and fresh, Jam_3:10. The imprecations upon wicked men, used by David and other good men, are no contradictions to this rule; since they were made under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and were predictions of God's vengeance, which in righteous judgment should fall on them, and are not to be drawn into an example by us. HENRY, “ In word: Bless those who persecute you, Rom_12:14. It has been the common lot of God's people to be persecuted, either with a powerful hand or with a spiteful tongue. Now we are here taught to bless those that so persecute us. Bless them; that is, First, “Speak well of them. If there be any thing in them that is commendable and praiseworthy, take notice of it, and mention it to their honour.” Secondly, “Speak respectfully to them, according as their place is, not rendering railing for railing, and bitterness for bitterness.” And, Thirdly, We must wish well to them, and desire their good, so far from seeking any revenge. Nay, Fourthly, We must offer up that desire to God, by prayer for them. If it be not in the power of our hand to do any thing else for them, yet we can testify our good-will by praying for them, for which our master hath given us not only a rule, but an example to back that rule, Luk_23:34 - Bless, and curse not. It denotes a thorough good-will in all the instances and expressions of it; not, “bless them when you are at prayer, and curse them at other times;” but, “bless them always, and curse not at all.” Cursing ill becomes the mouths of those whose work it is to bless God, and whose happiness it is to be blessed of him. JAMISON, “Bless — that is, Call down by prayer a blessing on. them which persecute you, etc. — This is taken from the Sermon on the Mount (Mat_5:44), which, from the allusions made to it, seems to have been the storehouse of Christian morality among the churches. CALVIN, “14.Bless them, etc. I wish, once for all, to remind the reader, that he is not scrupulously to seek a precise order as to the precepts here laid down, but must be content to have short precepts, unconnected, though suited to the formation of a holy life, and such as are deduced from the principle the Apostle laid down at the BEGINNING of the chapter. He will presently give direction respecting the retaliation of the INJURIES which we may suffer: but here he requires something even more difficult, — that we are not to imprecate evils on our enemies, but to wish and to pray God to render all things prosperous to them, how much soever they may harass and cruelly treat us: and this kindness, the more difficult it is to be practiced, so with the more intense desire we ought to strive for it; for the Lord commands nothing, with respect to which he does not require our obedience; nor is any excuse to be allowed, if we are destitute of that disposition, by which the Lord would have his people to differ from the ungodly and the children of this world. Arduous is this, I admit, and wholly opposed to the nature of man; but there is nothing too arduous to be overcome by the power of God, which shall never be wanting to us, provided we neglect not to seek for it. And though you can hardly find one who has made such advances in the law of the Lord that he fulfills this precept, yet no one can claim to be the child of God or glory in the name of a Christian, who has not in part attained this mind, and who does not daily resist the opposite disposition. I have said that this is more difficult than to let go revenge when any one is INJURED : for though some restrain their hands and are not led away by the passion of doing harm, they yet wish that some calamity or loss would in some way happen to their enemies; and even when they are so pacified that they wish no evil, there is yet hardly one in a hundred who wishes well to him from whom he has received an injury; nay, most men daringly burst forth into imprecations. But God by his word not only restrains our hands from doing evil, but also subdues the bitter feelings within; and not only so, but he would have us to be solicitous for the wellbeing of those who unjustly trouble us and seek our destruction.
- 62. [Erasmus ] wasmistaken in the meaning of the verb γεῖν to bless; for he did not perceive that it stands opposed to curses and maledictions: for Paul would have God in both instances to be a witness of our patience, and to see that we not only bridle in our prayers the violence of our wrath, but also show by praying for pardon that we grieve at the lot of our enemies when they willfully ruin themselves. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Barclay, “We are to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep. There are few bonds like that of a common sorrow. A writer tells of the saying of an American negro woman. A lady in Charleston met the negro servant of a neighbour. "I'm sorry to hear of your Aunt Lucy's death," she said. "You must miss her greatly. You were such friends." "Yes'm," said the servant, "I is sorry she died. But we wasn't no friends." "Why," said the lady, "I thought you were. I've seen you laughing and talking together lots of times." "Yes'm. That's so," came the reply. "We've laughed together, and we've talked together, but we is just 'quaintances. You see, Miss Ruth, we ain't never shed no tears. Folks got to cry together before dey is friends." The bond of tears is the strongest of all. And yet it is much easier to weep with those who weep than it is to rejoice with those who rejoice. Long ago Chrysostom wrote on this passage: "It requires more of a high Christian temper to rejoice with them that do rejoice than to weep with them that weep. For this nature itself fulfils perfectly; and thee is none so hard-hearted as not to weep over him that is in calamity; but the other requires a very noble soul, so as not only to keep from envying, but even to feel pleasure with the person who is in esteem." It is, indeed, more difficult to congratulate another on his success, especially if his success involves disappointment to us, than it is to sympathize with his sorrow and his loss. It is only when self is dead that we can take as much joy in the success of others as in our own. BARNES, “Rejoice with them ... - This command grows out of the doctrine stated in Rom_12:4-5, that the church is one; that it has one interest; and therefore that there should be common sympathy in its joys and sorrows. Or, enter into the welfare of your fellow-Christians, and show your attachment to them by rejoicing that they are made happy; compare 1Co_12:26, “And whether .... one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.” In this way happiness diffuses and multiplies itself. It becomes expanded over the face of the whole society; and the union of the Christian body tends to enlarge the sphere of happiness and to prolong the joy conferred by religion. God has bound the family of man together by these sympathies, and it is one of the happiest of all devices to perpetuate and extend human enjoyments. Weep ... - See the note at Joh_11:35. At the grave of Lazarus our Saviour evinced this in a most tender and affecting manner. The design of this direction is to produce mutual kindness and affection, and to divide our sorrows by the sympathies of friends. Nothing is so well suited to do this as the sympathy of those we love. All who are afflicted know how much it diminishes their sorrow to see others sympathizing with them, and especially those who evince in their sympathies the Christian spirit. How sad would be a suffering world if there were none who regarded our griefs with interest or with tears! if every sufferer were left to bear his sorrows unpitied and alone! and if all the ties of human sympathy were rudely cut at once, and people were left to suffer in solitude and unbefriended!
- 63. It may beadded that it is the special duty of Christians to sympathize in each other’s griefs: (1) Because their Saviour set them the example; (2) Because they belong to the same family; (3) Because they are subject to similar trials and afflictions; and, (4) Because they cannot expect the sympathy of a cold and unfeeling world. CLARKE, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice - Take a lively interest in the prosperity of others. Let it be a matter of rejoicing to you when you hear of the health, prosperity, or happiness of any brother. Weep with them that weep - Labour after a compassionate or sympathizing mind. Let your heart feel for the distressed; enter into their sorrows, and bear a part of their burdens. It is a fact, attested by universal experience, that by sympathy a man may receive into his own affectionate feelings a measure of the distress of his friend, and that his friend does find himself relieved in the same proportion as the other has entered into his griefs. “But how do you account for this?” I do not account for it at all, it depends upon certain laws of nature, the principles of which have not been as yet duly developed. GILL, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice,.... Not in anything sinful and criminal, in a thing of nought, in men's own boastings; all such rejoicing is evil, and not to be joined in; but in things good and laudable, as in outward prosperity; and to rejoice with such, is a very difficult task; for unless persons have a near concern in the prosperity of others, they are very apt to envy it, or to murmur and repine, that they are not in equal, or superior circumstances; and also in things spiritual, with such who rejoice in the discoveries of God's love to their souls, in the views of interest in Christ, and of peace, pardon, and righteousness by him, and in hope of the glory of God; when such souls make their boast in the Lord, the humble hearing thereof will be glad, and will, as they ought to do, join with them in magnifying the Lord, and will exalt his name together: and weep with them that weep; so Christ, as he rejoiced with them that rejoiced, at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, wept with them that wept, with Mary at the grave of Lazarus. The design of these rules is to excite and encourage sympathy in the saints with each other, in all conditions inward and outward, and with respect to things temporal and spiritual; in imitation of Christ their great high priest, who cannot but be touched with the infirmities of his people; and as founded upon, and arising from, their relation to each other, as members of the same body; see 1Co_12:26; HENRY, “ A sympathizing love (Rom_12:15): Rejoice with those that do rejoice, and weep with those that weep. Where there is a mutual love between the members of the mystical body, there will be such a fellow-feeling. See 1Co_12:26. True love will interest us in the sorrows and joys of one another, and teach us to make them our own. Observe the common mixture in this world, some rejoicing, and others weeping (as the people, Ezr_3:12, Ezr_3:13), for the trial, as of other graces, so of brotherly love and Christian sympathy. Not that we must participate in the sinful mirths or mournings of any, but only in just and reasonable joys and sorrows: not envying those that prosper, but rejoicing with them; truly glad that others have the success and comfort which we have not; not despising those that are in trouble, but concerned for them, and ready to help them, as being ourselves in the body. This is to do as God does, who not only has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants (Psa_35:27), but is likewise afflicted in all their afflictions, Isa_63:9. JAMISON, “Rejoice with them that rejoice; and weep — the “and” should probably be omitted. with them that weep — What a beautiful spirit of sympathy with the joys and sorrows of others is here inculcated! But it is only one charming phase of the unselfish character which belongs to all living
- 64. Christianity. What aworld will ours be when this shall become its reigning spirit! Of the two, however, it is more easy to sympathize with another’s sorrows than his joys, because in the one case he needs us; in the other not. But just for this reason the latter is the more disinterested, and so the nobler. CALVIN, “15.Rejoice with those who rejoice, etc. A general truth is in the third place laid down, — that the faithful, regarding each other with mutual affection, are to consider the condition of others as their own. He first specifies two particular things, — That they were to “with the joyful, and to weep with the weeping.” For such is the nature of true love, that one prefers to weep with his brother, rather than to look at a distance on his grief, and to live in pleasure or ease. What is meant then is, — that we, as much as possible, ought to sympathize with one another, and that, whatever our lot may be, each should transfer to himself the feeling of another, whether of grief in adversity, or of joy in prosperity. And, doubtless, not to regard with joy the happiness of a brother is envy; and not to grieve for his misfortunes is inhumanity. Let there be such a sympathy among us as may at the same time adapt us to all kinds of feelings. SBC, “ I. Christians do not enough bear in mind the duty of cheerfulness. An open and lively countenance, a free and joyous manner of address, are considered rather as happy accidents, than as results which every Christian ought to aim at as part of his spiritual life. It is astonishing, if you look through the New Testament Scriptures, how many passages you will find recommending this suavity and urbanity of manner, as a grace to be sought for and to be attained by believers in Christ. The temptation of all seriously thinking men is to slide into shadow and put on gloom. To rejoice with the rejoicing requires some of that healthy and manly vigour of character which can afford to despise the taunts of men, and go its own way in the light of God; some of that hearty and thorough Christianity which does not live by its newspaper, but by its Bible and its conscience. When shall the world find among us a joy better than its own, and say to us, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is among you"? II. But now let us pass to the other side of our duty of sympathy—to weep with those that weep. The words here bear no mere formal meaning. They imply that entire oneness, which not a transient fit of compassion, not a tear starting at passing or hearing of a scene of misery, will satisfy; but which requires a man really to enter into and give himself to the companionship and tending of sorrow; in other words, to show active sympathy with the suffering, and endeavour to share and diminish their troubles. Nothing can be conceived more opposed to the natural selfishness of man, nothing less in accordance with the common maxims and practice of the world. It is by no means an easy thing effectually to weep with them that weep. Yet it is the duty of us all as Christians, and one the exercise of which is of very blessed use to us. And therefore we are not to turn our faces away from sorrow, not to avoid it as if it were something detrimental to us; but to feel it an obligation laid on us by Him whom we follow, a portion of our aiming at His holy example, a chosen bond of union with Him in one Spirit, to weep with them that weep. H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. vii., p. 85. Rejoicing and Weeping with Men. I. Our first remark on this twofold duty is that it is one which requires constant watchfulness and activity. The joys and sorrows of men around us are so constant and varied, so multitudinous and changeful, that if we are to keep up a sympathy with them we must be always wakeful. And what can be better fitted to waken men up than the joys and sorrows of their fellow-men? One of the chief elements in working out your own salvation is to forget yourself and enter into the joys and sorrows of others. II. The text presents a task that seems to some impossible to carry out by one and the same person, at least in the same period. The mistake here lies in the idea that to sympathise with the sorrowful one
- 65. must himself beof a sorrowful mood, and that to be in sympathy with the joyous one must himself at the time be joyous. It is not sadness that is sympathetic, but love, benevolence. And love will take to itself the grief of the sufferer, though itself it is full of joy. It is the sympathy of a joyous, radiant spirit that helps the sorrowful, provided only it is able to enter into true accord with the sorrow. You have seen a bright day of sunshine hiding its brilliancy now and again behind clouds, and even chequering its course with rain. It is such days that have rainbow. It is not the clouds that are the main thing, but the sun shining through the clouds. Sunshine is the grand requisite for meeting either the happy or the sorrowful. III. The earnest endeavour to perform this twofold duty will be found an effective quickener of life and a key to all the secrets of religion. One who is intent on doing both of these will find the need for much earnest prayer. Many a cry will spring from the depths of his heart as he finds himself hard and envious and selfish. And the broken heart will find that the true way to grow sympathetic is thinking much of Christ, looking to Christ, and drawing hope and confidence from Him, drawing courage and love from Him. J. Leckie, Sermons at Ibrox, p. 109. Reference: Rom_12:15.—H. J. Wilmot Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 167. Romans 12:15-16 Sympathy and Condescension. I. The first part of the text is a call to sympathy. But notice what St. Paul meant by sympathy, how he describes it. (1) It is an old remark that it is more difficult to rejoice with them that rejoice than to weep with them that weep. Let us endeavour, in little matters, within our own doors first of all to be glad when another is glad, to feel another’s as our joy, to be not willing only but thankful that another should have, even though that other’s gain may be outwardly our own loss. (2) "Weep with them that weep." The first requisite of all human consolation is sympathy, fellow-feeling, the appreciation of the calamity whatever it be, in its breadth and in its depth. Of all the designations which a human being under Christ’s teaching can acquire, none is so valuable, in the estimate of a truly Christian ambition, as this, A son of consolation. II. "Condescend to those things which are lowly." Is it not just the neglect of this rule which makes the chief evil of what is called society? It is a constant pursuit of high things; a struggle to rise one step higher, and then one yet higher, on the ladder of ambition, whatever its particular ambition be; it may be of rank, it may be of fame, it may be of fashion, it may be of excitement generally; most often it is, in some shape or other, the ambition of distinction; but whatever the particular aim, it is briefly to be described as a minding of high things, and the proper remedy for it is that here described by St. Paul, Condescend to things that are lowly. There is a narrowing effect as well as a widening in the pursuit even of Divine knowledge, if that knowledge be chiefly intellectual. How many a man has ended his course a doubter or a disbeliever, mainly, we may well believe, for this reason, that he never forced himself to condescend to the humble, never discovered that the true way to knowledge is through love! If he had learned to condescend to things lowly, he would have entered at length, with a true insight, into the things which transcend knowledge. C. J. Vaughan, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter, p. 21. PULPIT, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another (denoting mutual good feeling and unanimity of sentiment; not, of course,
- 66. agreement in opinionon all subjects). Mind not high things, but condescend to (literally, being led away with) men of low estate. It is a question whether τοῖς ταπεινοῖς should not be understood as neuter, so as to correspond with τὰ ὐψηλὰ ; the meaning thus being that, instead of being ambitious, we should let ourselves be drawn willingly to the lowlier spheres of usefulness to which we may be called. The main objection to this view is that the adjective ταπεινὸς is not elsewhere APPLIED conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide (in the sense of take forethought for) things honest (or fair, or honourable) in the sight of all men. This is a citation from Pro_3:4, where the LXX. has, Προνοοῦ καλὰ ἀνώπιον Κυριόυ καὶ ἀνθρώπων . We are not only to do what we know to be right in the sight of God, but also to have regard to the view that will be taken of our conduct by other men; we must not give any just cause for our good being evil spoken of (cf. Pro_3:16 and 1Pe_2:12). CHARLES SIMEON, “SYMPATHY RECOMMENDED Rom_12:15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. AS creatures, we have many duties to perform towards our Creator: and, as members of one universal family, we have duties also towards each other. We all participate one common lot. The present state is subject to great varieties of good and evil; and all in their tarn experience occasional alternations of joy and sorrow, of elevation and depression. In these successive changes, we naturally look for some to sympathize with us. We expect, that they who are partakers of humanity, should feel some interest in our affairs: and, if we find no one that has a heart in unison with our own, we seem to ourselves as outcasts from the human race. Now the dispositions which we expect to find exercised towards us, we are called to exercise towards others. The joys and sorrows of others should, as it were by sympathy, be made our own: we should “rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” That this grace may be more cultivated amongst us, we will endeavour to shew, I. The nature and extent of Christian sympathy— Sympathy is that feeling of the mind whereby we ENTER into the concerns of others as if they were our own. Not that we are to interfere with others as “busy-bodies in other men’s matters;” but we should have such a friendly disposition towards them, as to participate both in their joys and sorrows, and to have corresponding emotions excited by them in our own minds. This is a duty incumbent on every child of man: “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth [Note: 1Co_10:24.]:” And again, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others [Note: Php_2:4. See also Heb_13:3.].” Now, 1. There is scope for the exercise of this grace in reference to men’s temporal concerns— [Are any afflicted in mind, or body, or estate? We should be ready to act towards them as Job’s friends did under his afflictions: “they met by appointment, to mourn with him and to comfort him; and they were so overwhelmed with his sorrows, that they were incapacitated for any active exertions in his behalf for the space of seven days and seven
- 67. nights [Note: Job_2:11-13.].”This silence of theirs has been misconstrued by many, as if the time so spent had been occupied in uncharitable reflections, to which they dared not give vent. But those who have been conversant with scenes of woe, and have been suitably impressed by them, will be at no loss to ACCOUNT for the effect produced: lighter sorrows would soon have called forth observations of some kind, either from the sufferer or his friends: but such overwhelming griefs as his, astonished, stupified, and silenced all: and in proportion as our sympathy is deep, will be the reverential awe with which we shall approach the sufferer, and the tender caution with which we shall address him. It may be said, that such feelings well became them, as friends of the afflicted saint; but that it is unreasonable to look for any such emotions towards a stranger, and still more towards an enemy. To this we answer, that, though friendship will of course heighten our feelings, and more exquisite sensations will be excited in us by the sight of a suffering saint, who is as a member of Christ’s body [Note: 1Co_12:25-26.], than would be called forth towards one who stood in no such relation to Christ, yet our compassion should be deep and tender towards all. The good Samaritan has shewn us how we should act towards any one, even though he should be of a nation that is hostile to us [Note: Luk_10:30-37.]: and David has shewn us how we should conduct ourselves towards him, even though he were our bitterest enemy: “When they were sick,” says he, “my clothing was sackcloth; and I humbled my soul with fasting: I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother [Note: Psa_35:13-14.].” In like manner we should be prepared to rejoice with those who are brought into circumstances of a more pleasing nature. We see an example of this in the friends of Elizabeth. It was reckoned a great affliction to a woman to be barren: and such had Elizabeth been, till she was arrived at an age when she had no reasonable expectation of ever seeing her shame removed. But it pleased God in his mercy to visit her, and to give her a son in her old age: and when she was delivered of the child, her friends and relations came from every quarter to congratulate her on the happy event [Note: Luk_1:57-58.]. This was a fruit and evidence of their love: and wherever love is, it will be sure to operate in this manner: we shall not be indifferent to the happiness of others, but shall find our own augmented by every accession of happiness to our neighbour: and, if “a man who has recovered his straying sheep,” or “a woman who has found her lost piece of money,” call upon us for our congratulations [Note: Luk_15:4- 6; Luk_15:8-9.], we shall feel real delight in the exercise and expression of our most benevolent affections. Such is the disposition which we should cultivate towards all the sons and daughters of affliction; for in the exercise of it we perform a most important duty towards them, as members of one common family; and at the same time we resemble our common Parent, of whom it is said, that “his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel,” and, that “he delighteth also in the prosperity of his servants.”] 2. But the most urgent calls for it are in reference to men’s spiritual concerns— [The joys or sorrows which arise from the things of time and sense are comparatively of little consequence: but those that are connected with the eternal world are of infinite importance. Are any of our fellow-creatures mourning by reason of their sins, which have grown up unto heaven, and are a load upon their conscience too heavy for them to bear? How should we pant after an opportunity to make known to them the glad tidings of salvation through a
- 68. crucified Redeemer; thatso we may “give unto them the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness!” Are any in danger of being “turned away from their steadfastness?” How should we burn with holy impatience to ascertain their state, and to “establish their hearts [Note:1Th_3:5.]!” In a word, we should so feel with all the members of Christ’s mystical body, as to be able to say with the Apostle, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not [Note: 2Co_11:29.]?” Nor should our compassion be withheld from those who are insensible of their guilt and danger: on the contrary, they on this very ACCOUNT require it so much the more. Like Paul, we should “have CONTINUAL heaviness and sorrow in our hearts for our brethren’s sake [Note: Rom_9:2.];” and, like our blessed Lord, we should weep over them, though we knew that they were just ready to imbrue their hands in our blood [Note: Luk_19:41.]. If, on the other hand, any return to their Father’s house, how should we rejoice over them, and join in the pious festivities of prayer and praise [Note: Luk_15:24; Luk_15:32.]! If afterwards they advance in the divine life, our joy and exultation should be proportionably increased [Note: 1Th_3:6-10.]. The angels in heaven are not indifferent spectators of such events [Note: Luk_15:7;Luk_15:10.]; and should we? No: next to the salvation of our own souls, we should pant after, and delight in, the spiritual welfare of all around us.] Such is the nature, and such the extent, of Christian sympathy: the value of which, however, will be better seen, if we consider, II. The benefits resulting from it— It is of incalculable use, 1. To him by whom it is exercised— [The heart of man by nature is selfish: but grace expands it; and, by interesting it in the behalf of others, gives scope for the exercise of better feelings. The man whose cares and pleasures centre all in self, has his happiness extremely contracted, at the same time that it is also of a low and sordid character. But the man who has learned to sympathize with others, derives pleasure from all around him, and makes all the happiness he beholds his own. The smiles of universal nature, the shining of the sun, the verdure of the fields, the cheerful aspect of the different tribes and orders of the animal creation, all diffuse a peace and serenity through his mind, and draw forth into exercise the principles of benevolence within him. The comforts also with which the various classes of his fellow- creatures are favoured, inspire him with a sense of gratitude to the great Source of all. The accounts which from time to time he hears of the wider spread of religion, and the consequent augmentation of happiness in the world, fill him with joy, and stir him up to the delightful employment of prayer and praise. Thus his sources of happiness are greatly multiplied, whilst the sensations of it are purified and REFINED . If it be said, that by sympathy with the afflicted his pains are also multiplied; we answer, that in appearance they are so, but that in reality they are not. True it is, that many things which others behold without emotion, create within him a sensation of grief: but it must be remembered, that the grief of sympathy does not corrode, like other grief: on
- 69. the contrary, itinduces what, if it did not sound too paradoxical, we would call, a pleasurable pain. The sigh of pity and the tear of love may, in this respect, be compared with the sighs and tears of penitential sorrow: they diffuse a sweetness over the mind, as being evidences of the operation of a gracious principle, which God approves: whilst at the same time they reconcile a man to all his own personal trials, which always appear the lighter, in proportion as he is conversant with the trials of those around him. Thus the very exercise of sympathy has its own reward.] 2. To those towards whom it is exercised— [The sympathy of a friend does not at all affect the causes of sorrow; but it most materially affects its pressure upon the mind. It is as if a person took hold of a load which almost crushed us with its weight, and bore a part of it together with us. The very opening of our griefs is itself somewhat of a relief to a burthened soul: and the beholding of another, under the influence of love, participating with us our sorrows, and making them his own, wonderfully assuages the pain we feel. The sense we have of his kindness operates as a balm to heal our wounds. By the love we experience, our thoughts are diverted from the troubles we endure; and are turned for a season into the more pleasing channel of reciprocal affection, and of gratitude to a gracious God. Thus, by means of sympathy, the sorrows of the afflicted are greatly lightened. On the other hand, the joys of any person are by the same means greatly increased. By every fresh congratulation, they are revived in the mind from time to time: the fire, which, for want of such stirrings, would have languished, is resuscitated; and oil is poured, as it were, upon the flame.] But these things are rather matters of experience than of abstract discussion: to be known and understood, they must be felt.] 3. To the Church at large— [Where these amiable feelings are displayed in full force and activity, the cause of Christ is greatly promoted. The beauty and excellence of Christianity is seen. Men cannot, or will not, judge of it from its principles; but they cannot help judging of it from the effects which they behold. The persons who beheld our blessed Lord at the tomb of Lazarus, were struck with his sympathy in this particular view: “When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in his spirit, and was troubled: and, on his coming to the grave, Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved him [Note: Joh_11:33-36.]!” So, when persons behold Christians participating with others freely in their joys and sorrows, they are constrained to say, Behold how these Christians love one another; yea, and not one another only, but all around them, strangers and enemies, as well as friends! The prevalence of such dispositions goes further to silence gainsayers, and to win souls, than all the most laboured arguments of learned theories: religion speaks to them here in a language which they cannot but understand and feel.] Here, in conclusion, we are constrained to observe,
- 70. 1. How poorand inefficacious is the religion of the world! [The world’s religion consists almost entirely of forms, of forms without either life or power. Certainly Christianity, even as professed by the world, has advanced the cause of general benevolence: but that benevolence extends not to the concerns of the soul. A worldly Christian can see thousands perishing in their sins, and not stretch out a hand to their relief, nor utter one sigh on their account: and, as for all experimental religion, whether of joy or sorrow, he derides it as the fruit of a weak or distempered imagination. The character of such persons may be seen in the elder brother in the parable, who, when solicited to join in the festivities occasioned by his brother’s return, vented his spleen in unkind reflections, both on the prodigal who had returned, and on his father who had received him to his arms. The most benevolent of worldly men has not a string in his heart that is in unison with one who is cast down with penitential sorrow, or that is exalted with the joys of faith. No: his principles rise not so high: his convictions are only intellectual; and they can never be productive of what is spiritual. Even in their moral effects they operate to but a small extent: but, in respect of spiritual sympathy, they bear no fruit at all. O, brethren, see from hence how poor and defective that religion is which generally passes under the name of Christianity: it is Christianity without Christ, in its principles; it is Christianity without love, in its effects. It boasts itself to have PROCEEDED from the Sun of Righteousness; but it has neither the light nor heat that proceed from his glorious rays: it is a shadow without a substance; a name without a reality. If it proceeded really from Christ, it would make us to resemble him in our spirit and our conduct.] 2. How lovely and operative is the religion of Christ! [Sympathy is of the very essence of Christ’s religion: “Bear ye one another’s burthens,” says the Apostle, “and so fulfil the law of Christ [Note: Gal_6:2.].” Yes: he has taught us this both by precept and example: he bids us “love one another, as he has loved us [Note: Joh_15:12.].” And how has he loved us? He pitied us in our fallen state, and came down from the bosom of his Father to seek and save us. And during the whole of his abode upon earth, but more especially in his last hours, “he bare our infirmities, and carried our sorrows [Note: Isa_53:4. Mat_8:17.].” And at this present moment we are authorized to say, that “he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities [Note: Heb_4:15.],” and that there is neither a benefit nor an injury that we receive, but he feels it as done immediately to himself [Note: Mat_25:4. Act_9:4. Zec_2:8.]. Such is the effect which the Gospel produces upon all who receive it in spirit and in truth. Let a sense of Christ’s love to us be duly impressed on our hearts; and it will immediately excite in us a love to all mankind, though in a more especial manner to the household of faith. See, with your own eyes, brethren; What is it that has given birth to Bible Societies, and Mission Societies, and to numberless other institutions that respect the welfare of men’s souls? It is the Gospel: the Gospel, faithfully administered, and affectionately received. Such ever was, and ever will be, the fruit of faith; for “faith worketh by love.” Seek ye then to become possessed of a true and living faith: and know, that the more entirely you live by faith on the Son of God, as having loved you, and given himself for you, the more you will drink into his spirit, and be transformed into his blessed image: nor will you fix any other bounds to your sympathies, than he has affixed to his [Note: Here open and recommend any Charitable Institution, as affording an occasion for the exercise of this virtue.].]
- 71. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Rejoicewith them that do rejoice. The Christian’s joy and grief There are some who only rejoice over their own happiness, only weep at their own miseries. They are ruminating animals--always chewing the cud of their own private joy or grief. If they are in good health, if they are getting on in business, if the world smiles upon them, they are happy. If they are unwell, or poor, or in bad reputation, they are miserable, a thoroughly selfish man would grieve more over an attack of dyspepsia, or the loss of a five-pound note, than over the destruction of a nation, or the ruin of a world. Note-- I. The Christian’s joy. 1. He rejoices in all the happy lower creatures. “God looked upon all that He had made, and behold it was very good.” In this the Christian man is a follower of God as a dear child. “He prayeth well, who loveth well, both man and bird and beast,” etc. 2. He rejoices in all the pure human joys of his fellow-men, like Him who attended the wedding-feast of Cana of Galilee. 3. He rejoices in the progress of the kingdom of God. Every conversion, every time of hallowed fellowship, every act of kindness, all tidings of good being done in any part of the world, fill his heart with joy. II. The Christian’s grief. He grieves-- 1. Over the special sins and sorrows with which he is brought into contact. 2. Over the sin and sorrow of the world, when he “enters into the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings.” The more shallow any nature is, the less capacities it has for joy and grief; the finer and deeper a nature, the more sensitive it is to both. A racehorse is more sensitive both to pleasure and pain than a dray-horse. The Christian has both a deeper joy and a deeper grief than others, because he lives a deeper and a wider life, because his heart trembles into sympathy with human gladness and sorrow all over the world. (R. Abercrombie, M.A.) The cordial interest in the EVENTS that befall our fellow-creatures
- 72. I. What weare to do, and how we are to be disposed, for taking a cordial interest in the prosperous or adverse contingencies of our fellow-creatures. 1. Would we rejoice with the joyful and weep with the sorrowful, or, would we take a cordial interest in the good and ill that happens to other persons, we should before all things seriously consider in what a variety of ways mankind are connected together, and how great an influence the happiness or the misery of one has upon the happiness or the misery of others. We should therefore call to mind how many things we possess in common, and how much more important these things are than those whereby we are distinguished from each other. We have all the same rational, immortal nature, the same origin and the same destination. We are likewise obnoxious to the same wants, infirmities, passions, errors, follies, and failings, and the greater or less degree in which we are obnoxious to there evils, depends not so much on our behaviour and our deserts, as on the circumstances in which the Ruler of the world has placed us. Can or should differences weaken or dissolve the ties of affinity and the social benefit that connect us all together? Are there not similar discrepancies even between the children of one father, who were born and brought up in the same house? 2. Would we farther rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep, would we take a cordial interest in the good and ill that happens to others; we must understand the good and the ill that befalls them, that which occasions them joy or sorrow. We must therefore pay attention not only to what passes among our friends or acquaintance, or in the place and the country where we happen to live, but likewise to what is going forward in the rest of the great world, in order to form just and lively conceptions of it. How many opportunities and motives will then occur to the Christian philanthropist to rejoice with them that rejoice, and to weep with them that weep, as he perceives here the light of knowledge, of the sciences, and of true religion making progress, and there still THE CLOUDS of ignorance, of superstition and error, hanging heavily over a country; if he here see courage, liberty, generous sentiments, there pusillanimity, bondage, and a servile disposition prevail; if he in this place hear a happy people rejoicing in the blessings of the harvest, or the vintage, and yonder another groaning beneath the sword of the destroyer or under the arrows of pestilence. Is he, however, unable or unwilling to travel in his imagination so far; yet vivid representations of what passes in his place, among his neighbours, in his district, will warm his heart to charity, and one while inspire him with joy, at another bring tears into his eyes. 3. In order to this we must thirdly take a real interest in the good and ill that befall others. We must consider their joys and sorrows, their prosperous or disastrous adventures not as objects irrelative to us, and about which it would be absolute folly in us to be either glad or sorry, because we, perhaps, can discern only an exceeding remote connection, or even none at all, between their situations and ours. II. How we should express and evince, both in word and deed, our cordial participation in the good and ill that befall others.
- 73. 1. That wemay rejoice with them that rejoice, we should not disapprove, not condemn, not scare away their joy, if it be but rational and innocent, by dark looks and churlish gestures, not censure it as being incompatible with virtue and godliness. 2. Neither should we kill nor diminish the joy of others by requiring that it should always be exactly proportionate to the value of the objects at which they rejoice, and indeed to the worth that we attribute to them. Joy is a matter of sensation, and the feelings admit not of being rigidly restricted to those regulations which cold-hearted philosophers lay down for them. 3. Would we rejoice with them that rejoice, let us rather put ourselves in their situation, view the good and agreeable that happens to them, as it were with their eyes, and in this respect too become all things to all men. 4. Would we be of the number of such as rejoice with them that rejoice, we should show it in action or by works. We should try to promote the satisfaction and happiness of others by all manner of means. We should procure them encouragements, opportunities and means for the enjoyment of a harmless and genial pleasure, according to their inclinations, their circumstances, their wants, and capacities. 5. Parallel duties lie on us in regard to the afflicted and unhappy. Throw no violent obstruction in the way of that flood of tears which relieves their heart; rather mingle your tears with theirs. Have indulgence and compassion for them, even though the expression of their grief be really excessive. (G. J. Zollikofer.) Fellowship in joy Sympathy is a duty of our common humanity, but far more of our regenerated manhood. Those who are one in the higher life should show their holy unity by true fellow-feeling. Joyful sympathy is doubly due when the joy is spiritual and eternal. Rejoice-- I. With the converts. 1. Some delivered from lives of grievous sin. All saved from that which would have ruined them eternally, but certain of them from faults which INJURE men in society. 2. Some of them rescued from agonising fear and deep despair. Could you have seen them under conviction you would indeed rejoice to behold them free and happy. 3. Some of them have been brought into great peace and joy. The blissful experience of their first love should
- 74. charm us intosympathetic delight. 4. Some of them are aged. These are called at the eleventh hour. Rejoice that they are saved from imminent peril. 5. Some of them are young, with years of happy service before them. 6. Each case is special. In some we think of what they would have been, and in others of what they will be. There is great gladness in these new-born ones, and shall we be indifferent? II. With their friends. 1. Some have prayed long for them, and now their prayers are heard. 2. Some have been very anxious, have seen much to mourn over in the past, and feared much of evil in the future. 3. Some are relatives with a peculiar interest in these saved ones. Parents, children, brothers, etc. 4. Some are expecting, and in certain cases already receiving, much comfort from these newly saved ones. They have already brightened the family circle, and made heavy hearts glad. Holy parents have no greater joy than to see their children walking in the truth. Do we not share their joy? III. With those who brought them to Jesus. The spiritual parents of these converts are glad. The pastor, relative, teacher, or friend, who wrote or spoke to them of Jesus. What a joy belongs to those who by personal effort win souls! Endeavour to win the same joy for yourself, and meanwhile be glad that others have it. IV. With the Holy Spirit. He sees-- 1. His strivings successful. 2. His instructions accepted. 3. His quickening power operating in new life. 4. The renewed mind yielding to His Divine guidance.
- 75. 5. The heartcomforted by His grace. Let us rejoice in the love of the Spirit. V. With the angels. 1. They have noted the repentance of the returning sinner. 2. They will henceforth joyfully guard the footsteps of the pilgrim. 3. They expect his life-long perseverance, or their joy would be premature. He is and will be for ever their fellow- servant. 4. They look one day to bear him home to glory. The evil angel makes us groan; should not the joy of good angels make us sing in harmony with their delight? VI. With the Lord Jesus. His joy is proportioned-- 1. To the ruin from which He has saved His redeemed ones. 2. To the cost of their redemption. 3. To the love which He bears to them. 4. To their future happiness, and to the glory which their salvation will bring to Him. Conclusion: Do you find it hard to rejoice with these newly baptized believers? Let me urge you to do so, for you have your own sorrows, and this communion of joy will prevent brooding too much over them. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Fellowship in joy Mr. Haslam, telling the story of his conversion, says, “I do not remember all I said, but I felt a wonderful light and joy coming into my soul. Whether it was something in my words, or my manner, or my look, I know not; but all of a sudden a local preacher, who happened to be in the congregation, stood up, and putting up his arms, shouted out in Cornish manner, ‘The parson is converted! the parson is converted! Hallelujah!’ And in another moment his voice was lost in the shouts and praises of three or four hundred of the congregation. Instead of rebuking this
- 76. extraordinary ‘brawling,’ asI should have done in a former time, I joined in the outburst of praise; and to make it more orderly, I gave out, ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow,’ which thepeople sung with heart and voice, over and over again.” Sympathy 1. Sympathy, it may be said, is an accident of temperament, and cannot be a duty. There are those who cannot help being distressed by the troubles of others, and being made happier for the happiness of others. On the other hand there are those who are naturally cold and cannot help it. But the same objection might be urged against other duties. Indolence and intemperance may be largely the result of hereditary tendencies, but as industry and temperance are manifest duties it is unsafe to regard their opposites merely as diseases. Some children are naturally docile and affectionate, others the reverse; but to be obedient and loving are duties and their opposites grave faults. Some have naturally a kind disposition, others have a bad temper. And yet good temper is not a mere fortunate accident, nor is a bad one a mere constitutional calamity--it is a vice. So while some men find it easier than others to rejoice, etc., sympathy is one of the great moral virtues. 2. There is nothing about it in the Ten Commandments, but in the Christian code it stands side by side with justice, truthfulness, etc. It is not merely an ornament of character, but as essential a part of Christian life as worship. The obligation must not be so qualified as to be practically suppressed. There are people with whom it is easy to sympathise, but as it is our duty to be honest to all, the obligations of sympathy are equally general. This precept is only an application of the great commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” The duty arises from the discovery that has come to us through Christ of the intimacy of our relations to all mankind. All men are dear to the heart of God, and therefore they must be dear to us. 3. We owe sympathy to other men because it is an effective means of contributing to their moral perfection, and because by withholding it we inflict on them grave moral inquiry. In men and women who have many admirable qualities there are grave defects of temper and spirit. They remind one of noble trees that require warmth and sunshine, but which have been discouraged by gloomy skies, and chilled, tormented, by cold, harsh winds. We may not be able to do much to recover those who are morally lost, but we may all do something to lessen the hardness and add to the moral grace of those with whom we live. Sympathise with a man in his prosperity and you do much to protect him from its perils. If you know that a man is carrying on his business on dishonourable principles, whether he is getting richer or poorer, you are bound to refuse him your moral approval. But if you begin to have hard thoughts of him, and if he feels that you have no delight in his honest prosperity, you are not only unjust to him, you may do him serious moral harm. If you are cold to him because he is richer than you, he will be cold to you because you are poorer than he is. If you think of his wealth with discontent, he will think of it with exaggerated complacency. There is always danger that when a man gets rich he will cease to have a brotherly heart towards other men; it is the duty of his old friends to do what they can to save him from that, not by preaching to him, unless they are sure they can preach well, but by rejoicing with him in his riches. The same law holds in relation to success in public life, etc. So when trouble comes upon men your sympathy may lessen the bitterness of their grief, and may prevent them from yielding to a hard resentment against God and the whole order of the world. But remember that what they want is not your ingenious philosophy, but just a touch of your heart.
- 77. 4. Some peoplehave what is called the gift of sympathy, and a charming gift it is, but it is necessary to distinguish between the gift and the grace. Sympathy with misfortune may be followed by no endeavour to lessen it, and sympathy with joy may be followed in an hour by a sarcasm or a sneer. 5. If it is a duty to give sympathy, it is also a duty to receive it. By rejecting it we harm the person who offers it, for we CHECK the growth of a form of moral perfection. It is a sin to discourage a man who wants to be truthful; it is also a sin to discourage the man who wants to show that he shares our trouble or our gladness. And we wrong ourselves, for we confirm our unbrotherly selfishness. 6. This sympathetic spirit has not really to be created even in those whose natural temperament is unsympathetic. It is in our heart somewhere, and would show itself if it had a fair chance. But it must be cultivated, and it is only by a deliberate effort to measure the magnitude of a great trouble, and to realise some of the innumerable elements of misery in it, that some of us can ever come to feel adequate sympathy with it. And a similar effort is necessary to sympathise perfectly with a great happiness. But self-discipline is not enough. If we abide in Christ we may come to have that sensitiveness to suffering which moved Him to compassion when He saw the blind, etc., and which made Him weep over the grave of Lazarus; and we may come to have that sympathy with common joys which prompted Him to change water into wine. (R. W. Dale, LL.D.) Benefit of sympathy Every man rejoices twice when he has a partner of his joy. A friend shares my sorrow, and makes it but a moiety; but he swells my joy, and makes it double. For so two channels divide the river, and lessen it into rivulets, and make it fordable, and apt to be drunk up by the first revels of the Syrian star; but two torches do not divide, but increase the flame. And though my tears are the sooner dried up when they run on my friend’s cheeks in the furrows of compassion, yet, when my flame hath kindled his lamp, we unite the glories and make them radiant, like the golden candlesticks that burn before the throne of God, because they shine by numbers, by light, and joy. Human sympathy Though the lower animals have feeling, they have no fellow-feeling. Have not I seen the horse enjoy his feed of corn when his yoke-fellow lay a-dying in the neighbouring stall, and never turn an eye of pity on the sufferer? They have strong passions, but no sympathy. It is said that the wounded deer sheds tears; but it belongs to man only to “weep with them that weep,” and by sympathy to divide another’s sorrows, and double another’s joys. When thunder, following the dazzling flash, has burst among our hills, when the horn of the Switzer has rung in his glorious valleys, when the boatman has shouted from the bosom of a rock-girt loch, wonderful were the echoes I have heard them make; but there is no echo so fine or wonderful as that which, in the sympathy of human hearts, repeats the cry of another’s sorrow, and makes me feel his pain almost as if it were my own. They say, that if a piano is struck in a room where another stands unopened and untouched, who lays his ear to that will hear a string
- 78. within, as iftouched by the hand of a shadowy spirit, sound the same note; but more strange how the strings of one heart vibrate to those of another; how woe weakens woe; how your grief infects me with sadness; how the shadow of a passing funeral and nodding hearse casts a CLOUD on the mirth of a marriage party; how sympathy may be so delicate and acute as to become a pain. There is, for example, the well-authenticated case of a lady who could not even hear the description of a severe surgical operation, but she felt all the agonies of the patient, grew paler and paler, and shrieked and fainted under the horrible imagination. (T. Guthrie, D.D.) Law of sympathy As in the electric shock every one feels the same shock who holds the same chain; or as in the singular acoustic law by which several instruments have a sympathetic vibration, so that, if one note be struck violently on one, there will be a faint vibration on the other; or like the still more delicate and mysterious tracery of nerves which run throughout the whole human body, the meanest member cannot suffer without all the members feeling with it. Sympathy I want to tell you how, a few years ago, I got up sympathy with a family in Chicago, where I was living. It is very unhealthy in the summer, and I attended the funerals of a good many children. I got hardened to it, like a doctor, and could go to them without sympathy. One of my little scholars was drowned, and word was sent by the mother that she wanted to see me. I went. The dripping body was there on the table. The husband was a drunkard, and was then in the corner drunk. The mother said she had no money to buy a shroud or coffin, and wanted to know if I could not bury Adeline. I consented. I had my little girl with me then. She was about four years old. When we got outside she asked: “Suppose we were poor, pa, and I had to go down to the river after sticks, and should fall in and get drowned, and you had no money to bury me, would you be sorry, papa?” and then she looked up into my eyes with an expression I had never before seen, and asked: “Did you feel bad for that mother?” I clasped her to my heart and kissed her, and my sympathy was aroused. My friends, if you want to get in sympathy with people, consider how you would feel in their place. Let us, working for the Master, have compassion on the unfortunate, and sympathy for those who need our sympathy. (D. L. Moody.) The demands of Christian sympathy 1. Joy and sorrow are the two chief elements of life. They often meet in the one event; what is sorrowful to one is joyful to the other. They are often very near each other in this life of uncertainty and change. An hour beyond the present time may transfer us from one to the other. Often the morning is bright, but the evening dull and cloudy and vice versa. 2. Joy and sorrow modify each other, and life requires both to make it complete. Continual sorrow would make men
- 79. sad and sour;and perpetual joy would make men too light in character, and disqualify them as the comforters of the afflicted; but by their co-operation they make men more fit in this world to work and sympathise. The sweet makes the bitter tolerable; and the bitter imparts a kind of tonic quality to the sweet. Confining ourselves to the latter clause, we shall view calamities-- I. Through some of their causes. 1. A willing ignorance of law. Many fevers, explosions, shipwrecks, etc., arise from ignorance of the laws of things; and there is no excuse for our ignorance of most of them. 2. Presumption. Repeated transgression of law, because it has often happened hitherto without any calamity, often costs men dearly. 3. Mercenary selfishness and ambition. From a love of money sanitary improvements are neglected; and in our mines means of safety are neglected because there is a little expense in the introduction of them. 4. Careless indifference. We by custom become used to things, and act carelessly; where others, unused to the same things, are timid and careful, and often save themselves. II. Through some of their harrowing distresses and results. Calamities, by reason of their frequent occurrence, lose their impression upon us. Like the loss of life in times of war, they become things of little power because of their frequent occurrence. However we view and feel them, it is clear that the results from them are grave and glaring. 1. They reduce our estimate of human life. We value our own life above all things, and the simplest duty of religion is, to do to others as we would that others should do unto us. We too often reverse this, and by blindness and selfishness make human life the meanest of all things. 2. They harden men religiously. People are amazed that they do not change the heart and life of men. But can the widow melt into TENDERNESS of religious emotions when she broods over her great loss and hard lot, and all the while attributes it to the carelessness of others? Can the orphan be made more religious when he thinks of the way his nearest friend in life has been taken away? If they attribute their calamities to God do they present Him in that amiable character as to attract the heart in love to Him? 3. They diminish the goodness and enjoyment of life. 4. They increase the burden of society. Who are to provide for the widows and the fatherless?
- 80. 5. But thedistress of such calamities to the immediate individuals themselves is beyond language to describe. III. On Christian ground and in Christian light. Christianity-- 1. Brings out the purest and the noblest sympathies of the soul to meet and comfort distress. All done to the distressed under its influence is done by love, hence it is both pleasurable and lasting. It leads the afflicted to an ever-living Father, to the sympathy and love of a Saviour, and the comfort of His Spirit; it brings them into fellowship with all the good; and gives a hope of a heaven of happiness after the sorrows of life will end. 2. Teaches men to make earthly things subordinate to the want and support of persons in their woes and sorrows. 3. Makes it a part of Christian life to assist the needy and ameliorate the woes of men. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” is its first and last teaching. 4. Is catholic and impartial in its aid and comfort to distress and misery. It asks no questions as to nationality, rank, sect, and creed; it VIEWS ALL as human creatures in want and distress. 5. Lessens the misery of humanity. It does this to the mind of men by its spiritual provisions, and to their bodies and outward wants by making all material things subordinate to human want and woe. 6. Unites men so closely to each other as to make them responsible for the good and comfort of one another. IV. Through their lessons to us. Calamities as these teach us-- 1. To be more submissive and satisfied with the ordinary ills and misfortunes of life. 2. The necessity of studying the laws of human life more, and understanding them better. 3. That we are so nearly related to one another that the life and interest of all are very much in the hands of each other. 4. That great calamities all result from the repeated neglect of small things. 5. To do all we can to comfort and help those in distress. (T. Hughes.)
- 81. 16Live in harmonywith one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[ ] Do not be conceited. Barclay, “We are to live in harmony with one another. It was Nelson who, after one of his great victories, sent back a despatch in which he gave us the reason for it: "I had the happiness to command a band of brothers." It is a band of brothers that any Christian Church should be. Leighton once wrote: "The mode of Church government is unconstrained; but peace and concord, kindness and good will are indispensable." When strife enters into any Christian society, the hope of doing any good work is gone. We are to avoid all pride and snobbishness. We have always to remember that the standards by which the world judges a man are not necessarily the standards by which God judges him. Saintliness has nothing to do with rank, or wealth, or birth. Dr James Black in his own vivid way described a scene in an early Christian congregation. A notable convert has been made. and the great man comes to his first Church service. He enters the room where the service is being held. The Christian leader points to a place. "Will you sit there please?" "But," says the man, "I cannot sit there, for that would be to sit beside my slave." "Will you sit there please?" repeats the leader. "But," says the man, "surely not beside my slave." "Will you sit there please?" repeats the leader once again. And the man at last crosses the room, sits beside his slave, and gives him the kiss of peace. That is what Christianity did; and that is what it alone could do in the Roman Empire. The Christian Church was the only place where master and slave sat side by side. It is still the place where all earthly distinctions are gone, for with God there is no respect of persons. BARNES, “Be of the same mind ... - This passage has been variously interpreted. “Enter into each other’s circumstances, in order to see how you would yourself feel.” Chrysostom. “Be agreed in your opinions and views.” Stuart. “Be united or agreed with each other.” Flatt; compare Phi_2:2; 2Co_13:11. A literal translation of the Greek will give somewhat a different sense, but one evidently correct. “Think of, that is, regard, or seek after the same thing for each other; that is, what you regard or seek for yourself, seek also for your brethren. Do not have divided interests; do not be pursuing different ends and aims; do not indulge counter plans and purposes; and do not seek honors, offices, for yourself which you do not seek for your brethren, so that you may still regard yourselves as brethren on a level, and aim at the same object.” The Syriac has well rendered the passage: “And what you think concerning yourselves, the same also think concerning your brethren; neither think with an elevated or ambitious mind, but accommodate yourselves to those who are of humbler condition;” compare 1Pe_3:8. Mind not high things - Greek, Not thinking of high things. That is, not seeking them, or aspiring after them. The connection shows that the apostle had in view those things which pertained to worldly offices and honors; wealth, and state, and grandeur. They were not to seek them for themselves; nor were they to court the society or the honors of the people in an elevated rank in life. Christians were commonly of the poorer ranks, and they were to seek their companions and joys there, and not to aspire to the society of the great and the rich; compare Jer_45:5, “And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not;” Luk_12:15.
- 82. Condescend - συναπαγοµενοιsunapagomenoi. Literally, “being led away by, or being conducted by.” It does not properly mean to condescend, but denotes a yielding, or being guided and led in the thoughts, feelings, plans, by humble objects. Margin, “Be contented with mean things.” To men of low estate - In the Greek text, the word here is an adjective ταπεινοις tapeinois, and may refer either to “people” or to “things,” either in the masculine or neuter gender. The sentiment is not materially changed whichever interpretation is adopted. It means that Christians should seek the objects of interest and companionship, not among the great, the rich, and the noble, but among the humble and the obscure. They should do it because their Master did it before them; because his friends are most commonly found among those in humble life; because Christianity prompts to benevolence rather than to a fondness for pride and display; and because of the influence on the mind produced by an attempt to imitate the great, to seek the society of the rich, and to mingle with the scenes of gaiety, folly, and ambition. Be not wise ... - Compare Isa_5:21, “Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.” See the note at Rom_11:25. The meaning is, do not trust in the conceit of your own superior skill and understanding, and refuse to hearken to the counsel of others. In your own conceits - Greek, “Among yourselves.” Syriac, “In your own opinion.” The direction here accords with that just given, and means that they should not be elated with pride above their brethren; or be headstrong and self-confident. The tendency of religion is to produce a low estimate of our own importance and attainments. CLARKE, “Be of the same mind - Live in a state of continual harmony and concord, and pray for the same good for all which you desire for yourselves. Mind not high things - Be not ambitious; affect nothing above your station; do not court the rich nor the powerful; do not pass by the poor man to pay your court to the great man; do not affect titles or worldly distinctions; much less sacrifice your conscience for them. The attachment to high things and high men is the vice of little, shallow minds. However, it argues one important fact, that such persons are conscious that they are of no worth and of no consequence in Themselves, and they seek to render themselves observable and to gain a little credit by their endeavors to associate themselves with men of rank and fortune, and if possible to get into honorable employments; and, if this cannot be attained, they affect honorable Titles. But condescend to men of low estate - Be a companion of the humble, and pass through life with as little noise and show as possible. Let the poor, godly man be your chief companion; and learn from his humility and piety to be humble and godly. The term συναπαγοµενοι, which we translate condescend, from συν, together, and απαγω, to lead, signifies to be led, carried, or dragged away to prison with another; and points out the state in which the primitive Christians were despised and rejected of men, and often led forth to prison and death. False or man-pleasing professors would endeavor to escape all this disgrace and danger by getting into the favor of the great, the worldly, and the irreligious. There have not been wanting, in all ages of the Church, persons who, losing the savour of Divine things from their own souls by drinking into a worldly spirit, have endeavored to shun the reproach of the cross by renouncing the company of the godly, speaking evil of the way of life, and perhaps sitting down in the chair of the scorner with apostates like themselves. And yet, strange to tell, these men will keep up a form of godliness! for a decent outside is often necessary to enable them to secure the ends of their ambition. Be not wise in your own conceits - Be not puffed up with an opinion of your own consequence; for this will prove that the consequence itself is imaginary. Be not wise, παρ’ ᅛαυτοις, by yourselves - do not suppose that wisdom and discernment dwell alone with you. Believe that you stand in need both of help and instruction from others.
- 83. GILL, “Be ofthe same mind one towards another,.... Which is not to be understood of the sameness of their judgment, or of their agreement in sentiments, espousing the same doctrines, observing the same ordinances, and in the same manner, and attending to the same form of discipline; but of their having the same love, and being of the same accord and affection to one another, entertaining the same good opinion, or a better, of others than of themselves; and so the Syriac version renders the passage, "what ye think of yourselves, think also of your brethren": think of one another, as equally interested in the love of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, blessed with the same spiritual blessings in him, and called in the same hope of your calling; and do not think of one another, as being one richer or wiser than another, do not value yourselves upon that: mind not high things; be not highminded, do not think too highly of yourselves, and despise others; meddle not with, nor grasp at things too high for you, that are out of your reach, and beyond your capacity; nor seek great things for yourselves, as riches, honours, &c. nor covet great company: but condescend to men of low estate; or "to low things"; be content with mean and low things in life, and disdain not to take notice of and converse with, men in a low condition, whether in things temporal or spiritual; who may be poor in this world, be very ignorant and illiterate, as to general knowledge and learning; be men of mean parts and abilities, of very small gifts, and be weak in faith and experience; condescend to their weaknesses, bear their infirmities, and become all things to them for their good, and God's glory: consider the apostle is writing to citizens of Rome, who might be tempted to look upon themselves above others, and to look disdainfully upon others, as citizens too often do on country people, as if they were below them, as persons of low life to them: be not wise in your own conceits; see Pro_3:7. This is attended with bad consequences, spoils a man's usefulness, prevents his improvement in knowledge, tempts him to reject all counsel and advice given him, and to treat his fellow creatures and Christians with haughtiness and insolence, and exposes him to the scorn and contempt of men: or "be not wise by or with yourselves"; imagining you have all the wisdom, and others have none; or keeping it to yourselves, what wisdom you have communicate it to others; the Ethiopic version reads, "say not, we are wise"; see Job_12:2. HENRY, “A united love: “Be of the same mind one towards another (Rom_12:16), that is, labour, as much as you can, to agree in apprehension; and, wherein you come short of this, yet agree in affection; endeavour to be all one, not affecting to clash, and contradict, and thwart one another; but keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Phi_2:2; Phi_3:15, Phi_3:16; 1Co_1:10; to auto eis allēlous phronountes - wishing the same good to others that you do to yourselves;” so some understand it. This is to love our brethren as ourselves, desiring their welfare as our own. (6.) A condescending love: Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate, Rom_12:16. True love cannot be without lowliness, Eph_4:1, Eph_4:2; Phi_2:3. When our Lord Jesus washed his disciples' feet, to teach us brotherly love (Joh_13:5; Joh_13:34), it was designed especially to intimate to us that to love one another aright is to be willing to stoop to the meanest offices of kindness for the good of one another. Love is a condescending grace: Non bene conveniunt - majestas et amor - Majesty and love do but ill assort with each other. Observe how it is pressed here. [1.] Mind not high things. We must not be ambitious of honour and preferment, nor look upon worldly pomp and dignity with any inordinate value or desire but rather with a holy contempt. When David's advancements were high, his spirit was humble (Psa_131:1): I do not exercise myself in great matters. The Romans, living in the imperial city, which reigned over the kings of the earth (Rev_17:18), and was at that time in the meridian of its splendour, were perhaps ready to take occasion thence to think the better of themselves. Even the holy seed were tainted with this leaven. Roman Christians, as some citizens do
- 84. upon the country;and therefore the apostle so often cautions them against high-mindedness; compare Rom_11:20. They lived near the court, and conversed daily with the gaiety and grandeur of it: “Well,” saith he, “do not mind it, be not in love with it.” [2.] Condescend to men of low estate - Tois tapeinois sunapagomenoi. First, It may be meant of mean things, to which we must condescend. If our condition in the world be poor and low, our enjoyments coarse and scanty, our employments despicable and contemptible, yet we must bring our minds to it, and acquiesce in it. So the margin: Be contented with mean things. Be reconciled to the place which God in his providence hath put us in, whatever it be. We must account nothing below us but sin: stoop to mean habitations, mean fare, mean clothing, mean accommodations when they are our lot, and not grudge. Nay, we must be carried with a kind of impetus, by the force of the new nature (so the word sunapagomai properly signifies, and it is very significant), towards mean things, when God appoints us to them; as the old corrupt nature is carried out towards high things. We must accommodate ourselves to mean things. We should make a low condition and mean circumstances more the centre of our desires than a high condition. Secondly, It may be meant of mean persons; so we read it (I think both are to be included) Condescend to men of low estate. We must associate with, and accommodate ourselves to, those that are poor and mean in the world, if they be such as fear God. David, though a king upon the throne, was a companion for all such, Psa_119:63. We need not be ashamed to converse with the lowly, while the great God overlooks heaven and earth to look at such. True love values grace in rags as well as in scarlet. A jewel is a jewel, though it lie in the dirt. The contrary to this condescension is reproved, Jam_2:1-4. Condescend; that is, suit yourselves to them, stoop to them for their good; as Paul, 1Co_9:19, etc. Some think the original word is a metaphor taken from travellers, when those that are stronger and swifter of foot stay for those that are weak and slow, make a halt, and take them with them; thus must Christians be tender towards their fellow travellers. As a means to promote this, he adds, Be not wise in your own conceits; to the same purport with Rom_12:3. We shall never find in our hearts to condescend to others while we find there so great a conceit of ourselves: and therefore this must needs be mortified. Mē ginesthe phronimoi par' heautois - “Be not wise by yourselves, be not confident of the sufficiency of your own wisdom, so as to despise others, or think you have no need of them (Pro_3:7), nor be shy of communicating what you have to others. We are members one of another, depend upon one another, are obliged to one another; and therefore, Be not wise by yourselves, remembering it is the merchandise of wisdom that we profess; now merchandise consists in commerce, receiving and returning.” JAMISON, “Be — “Being” of the same mind one toward another — The feeling of the common bond which binds all Christians to each other, whatever diversity of station, cultivation, temperament, or gifts may obtain among them, is the thing here enjoined. This is next taken up in detail. Mind not — “not minding” high things — that is, Cherish not ambitious or aspiring purposes and desires. As this springs from selfish severance of our own interests and objects from those of our brethren, so it is quite incompatible with the spirit inculcated in the preceding clause. but condescend — “condescending” to men of low estate — or (as some render the words), “inclining unto the things that be lowly.” But we prefer the former. Be not wise in your own conceits — This is just the application of the caution against high- mindedness to the estimate we form of our own mental character. VWS, “Condescend to men of low estate (τοሏτοሏτοሏτοሏςςςς ταπεινοሏταπεινοሏταπεινοሏταπεινοሏςςςς συναπαγόσυναπαγόσυναπαγόσυναπαγόµενοιµενοιµενοιµενοι)
- 85. Rev., to thingsthat are lowly. Τοሏς ταπεινοሏς to the lowly may mean either lowly men or lowly things. The verb literally means being carried off along with; hence yielding or submitting to, and so condescending. Compare Gal_2:13, and see on 2Pe_3:17, in which passages it has a bad sense from the context. According to the original sense, the meaning will be, being led away with lowly things or people; i.e. being drawn into sympathy with them. Farrar suggests letting the lowly lead you by the hand. Meyer, who maintains the neuter, explains: “The lowly things ought to have for the Christian a force of attraction, in virtue of which he yields himself to fellowship with them, and allows himself to be guided by them in the determination of his conduct. Thus Paul felt himself compelled to enter into humble situations.” On the other hand, Godet, maintaining the masculine, says: “The reference is to the most indigent and ignorant and least influential in the Church. It is to them the believer ought to feel most drawn. The antipathy felt by the apostle to every sort of spiritual aristocracy, to every caste- distinction within the Church, breaks out again in the last word.” Condescend is a feeble and inferential rendering, open to construction in a patronizing sense; yet it is not easy to furnish a better in a single word. The idea, then, fully expressed is, “set not your mind on lofty things, but be borne away (ᅊπό) from these by the current of your Christian sympathy along with (σύν) things which are humble.” In your own conceits (παሜ ᅛαυτοሏπαሜ ᅛαυτοሏπαሜ ᅛαυτοሏπαሜ ᅛαυτοሏςςςς) Lit., with yourselves; in your own opinion. See Rom_11:25, and compare Act_26:8, “incredible with you,” i.e., in your judgment. CALVIN, “16.Not thinking arrogantly of yourselves, (395) etc. The Apostle EMPLOYS words in Greek more significant, and more suitable to the antithesis, “ thinking,” he says, “ high things:” by which he means, that it is not the part of a Christian ambitiously to aspire to those things by which he may excel others, nor to assume a lofty appearance, but on the contrary to exercise humility and meekness: for by these we excel before the Lord, and not by pride and contempt of the brethren. A precept is fitly added to the preceding; for nothing tends more to break that unity which has been mentioned, than when we elevate ourselves, and aspire to something higher, so that we may rise to a higher situation. I take the term humble in the neuter gender, to COMPLETE the antithesis. Here then is condemned all ambition and that elation of mind which insinuates itself under the name of magnanimity; for the chief virtue of the faithful is moderation, or rather lowliness of mind, which ever prefers to give honor to others, rather than to take it away from them. Closely allied to this is what is subjoined: for nothing swells the minds of men so much as a high notion of their own wisdom. His desire then was, that we should lay this aside, hear others, and regard their counsels. [Erasmus ] has rendered φρονίµους arrogantes — arrogant; but the rendering is STRAINED and frigid; for Paul would in this case repeat the same word without any meaning. However, the most appropriate remedy for curing arrogance is, that man should not be over-wise in his own esteem. (395) The first clause is omitted. The text of [Calvin ] is, “Mutuo alii in alios sensu affecti ;” τὸ αὐτὸ εἰς αλλήλους φρονοῦντες “Itidem alii in alios affecti — Feel alike towards on another,” [Beza]; “ entirely united in your regards for each other,” [Doddridge ]; “ of the same disposition towards one another,” [Macknight ]. The verb means to think, or to feel, or to mind, in the sense of attending to, or aspiring after a thing. It is used also in the next clause, evidently in the last sense, minding. There is no reason why its meaning should be different here; it would then be, “ the same things towards one another,” that is, Do to others what you expect others to do to you. It is to reduce to an axiom what is contained in the former verse. We may indeed give this version, “ the same, or alike towards one another,” that is, sympathize with one another: and this would still be coincident in meaning with the former verse; and it would be in accordance with the Apostle’ mode of writing. But another construction has been given, “ the same of one another,” that is, Regard one another alike in dignity and privilege as Christians, without elevating yourselves, and viewing yourselves better than others. This would well AGREE with the sentence which follows.
- 86. The two followingclauses are thus given by [Doddridge ], “ not high things, but condescend to men of low rank,” — and by [Macknight ], “ not care for high things; but associate with lowly men.” The word ταπεινοῖς is NOT FOUND in the New Testament to be applied to things, but to persons. “” is perhaps the best rendering of συναπαγόµενοι which literally means to withdraw from one party in order to walk with another: they were to withdraw from those who minded high things, and walk or associate with the humble and lowly. “ cleave to the humble,” is the Syriac version. — Ed. Beet, “*Let there be, in the breast of each, one thought and purpose touching all the others.' The context implies that this one thought must be * accord- ing to Christ,' XV. 5. This oneness of purpose is the true and only source of real Christian harmony. ot minding, etc: suggested by the same mind. The high things, ' Do not seek to have to do with great matters : and think nothing which will advance the kingdom of God too small for your attention.' Prudent ^ etc. To take to our- selves credit for prudence is to betray ignorance. For we are wise only so long as we are guided by the presence and wisdom of God. Apart from His guidance, all human prudence is folly in disguise. MACLARE , “STILL ANOTHER TRIPLET Rom_12:16. We have here again the same triple arrangement which has prevailed through a considerable portion of the context. These three exhortations are linked together by a verbal resemblance which can scarcely be preserved in translation. In the two former the same verb is employed: and in the third the word for ‘wise’ is cognate with the verb found in the other two clauses. If we are to seek for any closer connection of thought we may find it first in this-that all the three clauses deal with mental attitudes, whilst the preceding ones dealt with the expression of such; and second in this-that the first of the three is a general precept, and the second and third are warnings against faults which are most likely to interfere with it. I. We note, the bond of peace. ‘Be of the same mind one toward another.’ It is interesting to notice how frequently the Apostle in many of his letters exhorts to mutual harmonious relations. For instance, in this very Epistle he invokes ‘the God of patience and of comfort’ to grant to the Roman Christians ‘to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,’ and to the Corinthians, who had their full share of Greek divisiveness, he writes, ‘Be of the same mind, live in peace,’ and assures them that, if so, ‘the God of love and peace will be with them’; to his beloved Philippians he pours out his heart in beseeching them by ‘the consolation that is in Christ Jesus, and the comfort of love, and the fellowship
- 87. of the Spirit-’that they would ‘fulfil his joy, that they be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind’; whilst to the two women in that Church who were at variance with one another he sends the earnest exhortation ‘to be of the same mind in the Lord,’ and prays one whom we only know by his loving designation of ‘a true yokefellow,’ to help them in what would apparently put a strain upon their Christian principle. For communities and for individuals the cherishing of the spirit of amity and concord is a condition without which there will be little progress in the Christian life. But it is to be carefully noted that such a spirit may co-exist with great differences about other matters. It is not opposed to wide divergence of opinion, though in our imperfect sanctification it is hard for us to differ and yet to be in concord. We all know the hopelessness of attempting to make half a dozen good men think alike on any of the greater themes of the Christian religion; and if we could succeed in such a vain attempt, there would still be many an unguarded door through which could come the spirit of discord, and the half-dozen might have divergence of heart even whilst they profess identity of opinion. The true hindrances to our having ‘the same mind one toward another’ lie very much deeper in our nature than the region in which we keep our creeds. The self-regard and self- absorption, petulant dislike of fellow-Christians’ peculiarities, the indifference which comes from lack of imaginative sympathy, and which ministers to the ignorance which causes it, and a thousand other weaknesses in Christian character bring about the deplorable alienation which but too plainly marks the relation of Christian communities and of individual Christians to one another in this day. When one thinks of the actual facts in every corner of Christendom, and probes one’s own feelings, the contrast between the apostolic ideal and the Church’s realisation of it presents a contradiction so glaring that one wonders if Christian people at all believe that it is their duty ‘to be of the same mind one toward another.’ The attainment of this spirit of amity and concord ought to be a distinct object of effort, and especially in times like ours, when there is no hostile pressure driving Christian people together, but when our great social differences are free to produce a certain inevitable divergence and to CHECK the flow of our sympathy, and when there are deep clefts of opinion, growing deeper every day, and seeming to part off Christians into camps which have little understanding of, and less sympathy with, one another. Even the strong individualism, which it is the glory of true Christian faith to foster in character, and which some forms of Christian fellowship do distinctly promote, works harm in this matter; and those who pride themselves on belonging to ‘Free churches,’ and standing apart from creed-bound and clergy-led communities, are specially called upon to see to it that they keep this exhortation, and cultivate ‘the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’ It should not be necessary to insist that the closest mutual concord amongst all believers is but an imperfect manifestation, as all manifestations in life of the deepest principles must be, of the true oneness which binds together in the most sacred unity, and should bind together in closest friendship, all partakers of the one life. And assuredly the more that one life flows into our spirits, the less power will all the enemies of Christian concord have over us. It is the Christ in us which makes us kindred with all others in whom He is. It is self, in some form or other, that separates us from the possessors of like precious faith. When the tide is out, the little rock-pools on the shore lie separated by stretches of slimy weeds, but the great sea, when it rushes up, buries the divisions, and unites them all. Our Christian unity is unity in Christ, and the only sure way ‘to be of the same mind one toward another’ is, that ‘the mind which was in Christ Jesus be in us also.’
- 88. II. The divisivepower of selfish ambition. ‘Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to things that are lowly.’ The contrast here drawn between the high and the lowly makes it probable that the latter as well as the former is to be taken as referring to ‘things’ rather than persons. The margin of the Revised Version gives the literal rendering of the word translated ‘condescend.’ ‘To be carried away with,’ is metaphorically equivalent to surrendering one’s self to; and the two clauses present two sides of one disposition, which seeks not for personal advancement or conspicuous work which may minister to self-gratulation, but contentedly fills the lowly sphere, and ‘the humblest duties on herself doth lay.’ We need not pause to point out that such an ideal is dead against the fashionable maxims of this generation. Personal ambition is glorified as an element in progress, and to a world which believes in such a proverb as ‘devil take the hindmost,’ these two exhortations can only seem fanatical absurdity. And yet, perhaps, if we fairly take into ACCOUNT how the seeking after personal advancement and conspicuous work festers the soul, and how the flower of heart’s-ease grows, as Bunyan’s shepherd-boy found out, in the lowly valley, these exhortations to a quiet performance of lowly duties and a contented filling of lowly spheres, may seem touched with a higher wisdom than is to be found in the arenas where men trample over each other in their pursuit of a fame ‘which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’ What a peaceful world it would be, and what peaceful souls they would have, if Christian people really adopted as their own these two simple maxims. They are easy to understand, but how hard they are to follow. It needs scarcely be noted that the temper condemned here destroys all the concord and amity which the Apostle has been urging in the previous clause. Where every man is eagerly seeking to force himself in front of his neighbour, any community will become a struggling mob; and they who are trying to outrun one another and who grasp at ‘high things,’ will never be ‘of the same mind one toward another.’ But, we may observe that the surest way to keep in CHECK the natural selfish tendency to desire conspicuous things for ourselves is honestly, and with rigid self-control, to let ourselves be carried away by enthusiasm for humble tasks. If we would not disturb our lives and fret our hearts by ambitions that, even when gratified, bring no satisfaction, we must yield ourselves to the impulse of the continuous stream of lowly duties which runs through every life. But, plainly as this exhortation is needful, it is too heavy a strain to be ever carried out except by the power of Christ formed in the heart. It is in His earthly life that we find the great example of the highest stooping to the lowest duties, and elevating them by taking them upon Himself. He did not ‘strive nor cry, nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets.’ Thirty years of that perfect life were spent in a little village folded away in the Galilean hills, with rude peasants for the only spectators, and the narrow sphere of a carpenter’s shop for its theatre. For the rest, the publicity possible would have been obscurity to an ambitious soul. To speak comforting words to a few weeping hearts; to lay His hands on a few sick folk and heal them; to go about in a despised land doing good, loved indeed by outcasts and sinners, unknown by all the dispensers of renown, and consciously despised by all whom the world honoured-that was the perfect life of the Incarnate God. And that is an example which His followers seem with one consent to set aside in their eager race after distinction and work that may glorify their names. The difficulty of a faithful following of these precepts, and the only means by which that difficulty can be overcome, are touchingly taught us in another of Paul’s Epistles by the accumulation of motives which he brings to bear upon his commandment, when he exhorts by the tender motives of ‘comfort in Christ, consolation of love, fellowship of the
- 89. Spirit, and tendermercies and compassions, that ye fulfil my joy, being of the same mind, of one accord; doing nothing through faction or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself.’ As the pattern for each of us in our narrow sphere, he holds forth the mind that was in Christ Jesus, and the great self-emptying which he shrank not from, ‘but being in the form of God counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but, BEING FOUND in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death.’ III. The divisive power of intellectual self-conceit. In this final clause the Apostle, in some sense, repeats the maxim with which he began the series of special exhortations in this chapter. He there enjoined ‘every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think’; here he deals with one especial form of such too lofty thinking, viz. intellectual conceit. He is possibly QUOTING the Book of Proverbs {Pro_3:7}, where we read, ‘Be not wise in thine own eyes,’ which is preceded by, ‘Lean not to thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him’; and is followed by, ‘Fear the Lord and depart from evil’; thus pointing to the acknowledgment and fear of the Lord as the great antagonist of such over-estimate of one’s own wisdom as of all other faults of mind and life. It needs not to point out how such a disposition breaks Christian unity of spirit. There is something especially isolating in that form of self-conceit. There are few greater curses in the Church than little coteries of superior persons who cannot feed on ordinary food, whose enlightened intelligence makes them too fastidious to soil their dainty fingers with rough, vulgar work, and whose supercilious criticism of the unenlightened souls that are content to condescend to lowly Christian duties, is like an iceberg that brings down the temperature wherever it floats. That temper indulged in, breaks the unity, reduces to inactivity the work, and puts an end to the progress, of any Christian community in which it is found; and just as its predominance is harmful, so the obedience to the exhortation against it is inseparable from the fulfilling of its sister precepts. To know ourselves for the foolish creatures that we are, is a mighty help to being ‘of the same mind one toward another.’ Who thinks of himself soberly and according to the measure of faith which God hath dealt to him will not hunger after high things, but rather prefer the lowly ones that are on a level with his lowly self. The exhortations of our text were preceded with injunctions to distribute material help, and to bestow helpful sympathy. The tempers enjoined in our present text are the inward source and fountain of such external bestowments. The rendering of material help and of sympathetic emotion are right and valuable only as they are the outcome of this unanimity and lowliness. It is possible to ‘distribute to the necessity of saints’ in such a way as that the gift pains more than a blow; it is possible to proffer sympathy so that the sensitive heart shrinks from it. It was ‘when the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul’ that it became natural to have all things common. As in the aurora borealis, quivering beams from different centres stream out and at each throb approach each other till they touch and make an arch of light that glorifies the winter’s night, so, if CHRISTIAN MEN were ‘of the same mind toward one another,’ did not ‘set their minds on high things, but condescended to things that were lowly, and were not wise in their own conceits,’ the Church of Christ would shine forth in the darkness of a selfish world and would witness to Him who came down ‘from the highest throne in glory’ to the lowliest place in this lowly world, that He might lift us to His own height of glory everlasting. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Be of the same mind one towards another.
- 90. Unity I. What itimplies. 1. One spirit. 2. One aim. 3. One way. II. How to SECURE it. 1. Suppress ambition. 2. Be condescending to inferiors. 3. Be modest in the expression of your own opinion. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Mind not high things I. What high things? 1. Negatively--not the highest or heavenly things (Col_3:1-2; Mat_6:33). 2. Positively--of this world (Jer_45:5). Great-- (1) Riches (Timothy 6:19); (2) Honours;
- 91. (3) Power andplace (Act_5:36); (4) EMPLOYMENTS ; (5) Pleasures. II. How not mind them? Not so as-- 1. To think of them (Psa_1:2). 2. To desire them (Col_3:2; Psa_73:25). 3. To hope for them. 4. To admire them (Luk_21:5-6). 5. To labour after them (Joh_6:27; Mat_6:33). III. Why not mind them? 1. They are below you. (1) As ye are rational creatures. (2) As believing Christians. 2. You have higher things to mind (Php_3:20). 3. Minding of earth and heaven both is inconsistent (Mat_6:24; 1Jn_2:15). Conclusion: Mind not high things. Consider they are-- 1. Uncertain. 2. Inconstant (Pro_23:5). 3. Unsatisfying (Ecc_1:8; Ecc_4:8).
- 92. 4. Dangerous (1Ti_6:10). 5.Momentary (Luk_12:20). (Bp. Beveridge.) Mind not high things I. The import of this prohibition. It forbids-- 1. Pride. 2. Assumption. 3. Foolish ambition. II. Its importance. These evils are-- 1. Very offensive to God. 2. A source of misery to ourselves. 3. A cause of serious evil both in the Church and the world. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Condescend to men of low estate. Condescension I. The conduct enjoined. A behaviour--
- 93. 1. Humble. 2. Affable. 3.Condescending. II. Its excellencies. It is-- 1. Magnanimous. 2. Christlike. III. Its importance. It is essential to the Christian character. IV. Its motives. Differences of condition are accidental, temporal, designed to afford opportunity for the development of this spirit. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Considerateness towards inferiors Knowing how anxious the troops in Cabul would look for their letters, Captain (afterwards Sir Henry) Lawrence and his wife--because the Government could not afford a post-clerk!--would sit up half the night sorting them, after the multiform duties of revenue collector, engineer, commissariat officer, and paymaster, had been discharged. But this was only one instance out of many of Lawrence’s exquisite regard for others. (H. A. Page.) Be not wise in your own conceits.-- I. As to rational wisdom or knowledge. 1. Of natural causes.
- 94. (1) You knownot the first constitution of them (Job_38:4-6). (2) Nor God’s present disposal of them (Act_17:28). (3) Nor their own working and nature. 2. Future events (Jam_4:13-14.) (1) You know not the causes that must concur to produce them. (2) Nor whether God will set them on work or no, or hinder them (Jam_4:15; 1Co_4:19). 3. The providences of God (Psa_139:5-6). (1) To the evil (Psa_73:3; Psa_73:22). (2) To the good. 4. The intrigues of state (Pro_20:3). 5. The spiritual estate of others (Mat_7:1). (1) You know not your own condition (1Co_2:11). (2) There is no way in the world whereby to know others. 6. The interpretation of Scripture (Mar_12:24). (1) PROPHECIES (Act_8:30-31). (2) Mysteries (Rom_11:33). (3) Difficult places (2Pe_3:15-16). 7. Determination of theological controversies. 8. Be not then wise in your own conceits. (1) It is a sin (Isa_5:21; Pro_3:7).
- 95. (2) You arenot wise (Job_11:12). (3) This will hinder you from true wisdom (Pro_26:12). But-- (1) Have low thoughts of your own knowledge. (2) Labour each day to know more-- (a) Of God; (b) Of Christ (1Co_2:2). II. As to practical wisdom. 1. Wherein? (1) We must not conceit ourselves to be saints (1Ti_1:15; Isa_65:5; Luk_18:11). (2) Nor that we are holier than others. (3) Nor that we perform duties aright. (a) Beading the Scripture. (b) Praying (Jam_4:3). (c) Hearing (Act_2:37). (d) Mediation (Php_3:20). (4) Nor that we exercise graces aright. (a) Repentance (2Co_7:10). We may repent of some sins, not of all: and our repentance in proportional to none of our sins. (b) Faith. It may be only historical, or partial (Joh_1:12), or upon wrong grounds--education, not Divine testimony (1Jn_5:10), or, not on Christ only (Php_3:8-9).
- 96. (c) Love. Wedo not love God with all our hearts (Mat_22:37), nor constantly. (d) Trust. It may be only for spirituals (1Pe_5:7), and not with all our heart (Pro_3:5). (e) Thankful-nest. Not proportional to our mercies, or not for all things (1Th_5:18). (f) CHARITY . It may be from wrong principles (Mat_6:1-34.), or in a wrong manner (Rom_12:8). 2. Why not thus conceited of ourselves? (1) We know not our own hearts (Jer_17:9). (2) We are too apt to have too high thoughts of ourselves. (3) This will keep us from looking after true holiness. 3. Uses: Be not wise in your own conceits. (1) Many have been mistaken (Mat_7:22). (2) The less holy you are, the more you are apt to conceit yourselves to be so. (3) These conceits of holiness are not consistent with true grace (Jam_4:6). (4) Therefore, so long as you conceit yourselves to be holy, you may conclude yourselves to be sinful. (5) You shall not be judged by your own conceits, but by the law of God. 4. Directions. (1) Oft consult your own hearts (Psa_4:4). (2) Compare your actions with God’s laws. (3) Still remember what a fearful thing it is to be mistaken in a thing of this weight. (Bp. Beveridge.) Be not wise in your own conceits
- 97. I. The conductcondemned 1. An undue estimate of one’s own opinion. 2. The immodest expression of it. II. Its prevalence. Even among Christian professors. III. Its origin. 1. Ignorance. 2. Pride. IV. Its impropriety. 1. It is offensive to others. 2. It destroys unity. 3. It is utterly opposed to the Spirit of Christ. 4. It exposes a man to merited humiliation. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Be not wise in your own conceits I. The temper described. The persistent assertions of your own-- 1. Opinions.
- 98. 2. Judgment. 3. Plans. II.Its folly. It assumes-- 1. That you have nothing to learn. 2. That you are incapable of ERROR . 3. That you are wiser than everybody else. III. Its evil. 1. It offends others. 2. Generates strife. 3. Is inconsistent with the Christian spirit. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Self wisdom v. Divine wisdom The text repeats the warning of 11:25, and recalls Pro_3:7. But it is not to be understood of speculative opinion. It refers to the practical “prudence” which guides men in business and in the ventures and contingencies of life. It might be rendered--“Become not prudent by yourselves.” The accepted translation is unfortunate, suggesting a sense the word never bears. Note-- I. The special danger Christians are in with respect to this prudence. 1. It is the result of a natural instinct. The general source of it is the tendency to make “self” the measure and end of everything. The selfish man is short-sighted and self-opiniated; or he gives undue weight to the maxims of earthly prudence.
- 99. 2. It isconfirmed by the general opinion and practice of men. The proverbs of the world are for the most part mercenary; the moralities of heathen philosophy, so far as practical, are but a REFINED selfishness. 3. The nobler life of man is thereby prevented. In modern times the recognition of the independence of all nations in regard to the highest interests has been wondrously fruitful. For a man or a nation, therefore, to shut out wilfully the consideration of others, and to “become prudent, merely for or by itself,” is for it to lose its place in the commonwealth of knowledge, civilisation, and true progress. 4. The gravest dangers threaten within the sphere of religion. How common is the error “Save yourself” as a religious duty. Let us beware lest we have but exchanged the honest “competition” of the marketplace for a “consecrated selfishness” baptized with the name of Christ! The Gentile converts were in danger of despising the “cast off” Jews, and of thinking the grace of God was henceforth to be their own monopoly. Paul warned them against the error (Rom_11:33-36). Because of similar prejudices, missions to the heathen have been obstructed. Only when we rise to the height of this conception of Christianity can it be a perfect salvation for ourselves as individual Christians. II. How this danger is to be averted. 1. By constant and prayerful study of the Word of God. 2. By considering the examples of holy men, especially of Christ Himself. 3. By remembering that we are all members of the body of Christ, which is His Church. The good of all men is to be sought. Each must labour towards the universal ends of Christ’s kingdom as a “member in particular.” 4. By giving heed to the voice of God’s Spirit within us. It led Peter and Paul to wider fields of usefulness. The “mind of Christ” will ever lead us to deny ourselves, and take up our cross and follow Him. But in so doing we shall discover a Diviner wisdom. In losing our life we shall find it. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” etc. (St. John A. Frere, M.A.) 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
- 100. Barclay, “We areto make our conduct fair for all to see. Paul was well aware that Christian conduct must not only be good; it must also look good. So-called Christianity can be presented in the hardest and most unlovely way; but real Christianity is something which is fair for all to see. BARNES, “Recompense - Render, give, or return; see the note at Mat_5:39. This is probably one of the most difficult precepts of Christianity; but the law of Christ on the subject is unyielding. It is a solemn demand made on all his followers, and it “must” be obeyed. Provide - The word rendered “provide” means properly to “think” or “meditate beforehand.” Make it a matter of “previous thought,” of “settled plan,” of “design.” This direction would make it a matter of “principle” and fixed purpose to do what is right; and not to leave it to the fluctuations of feeling, or to the influence of excitement. The same direction is given in 2Co_8:21. Things honest - Literally, things “beautiful,” or “comely.” The expression here does not refer to “property,” or to “provision” made for a family, etc. The connection requires us to understand it respecting “conduct,” and especially our conduct toward those who injure us. It requires us to evince a spirit, and to manifest a deportment in such cases, that shall be lovely and comely in the view of others; such as all people will approve and admire. And the apostle wisely cautions us to “provide” for this, that is, to think of it beforehand, to make it a matter of fixed principle and purpose, so that we shall not be overtaken and excited by passion. If left to the time when the offence shall be given, we may be excited and off our guard, and may therefore evince an improper temper. All persons who have ever been provoked by injury (and who has not been?) will see the profound wisdom of this caution to “discipline” and “guard” the temper by previous purpose, that we may not evince an improper spirit. In the sight of all men - Such as all must approve; such that no man can blame; and, therefore, such as shall do no discredit to religion. This expression is taken from Pro_3:4. The passage shows that people may be expected to approve a mild, kind, and patient temper in the reception of injuries; and facts show that this is the case. The Christian spirit is one that the world “must” approve, however little it is disposed to act on it. CLARKE, “Recompense, etc. - Do not take notice of every little injury you may sustain. Do not be litigious. Beware of too nice a sense of your own honor; intolerable pride is at the bottom of this. The motto of the royal arms of Scotland is in direct opposition to this Divine direction - Nemo me impune lacesset, of which “I render evil for evil to every man,” is a pretty literal translation. This is both antichristian and abominable, whether in a state or in an individual. Provide things honest - Be prudent, be cautious, neither eat, drink, nor wear, but as you pay for every thing. “Live not on trust, for that is the way to pay double;” and by this means the poor are still kept poor. He who takes credit, even for food or raiment, when he has no probable means of defraying the debt, is a dishonest man. It is no sin to die through lack of the necessaries of life when the providence of God has denied the means of support; but it is a sin to take up goods without the probability of being able to pay for them. Poor man! suffer poverty a little; perhaps God is only trying thee for a time; and who can tell if he will not turn again thy captivity. Labour hard to live honestly; if God still appear to withhold his providential blessing, do not despair; leave it all to him; do not make a sinful choice; he cannot err. He will bless thy poverty, while he curses the ungodly man’s blessings. GILL, “Recompence to no man evil for evil,.... Neither evil words for evil words, railing for
- 101. railing; nor evildeeds for evil deeds, one ill turn for another; nor the evil of punishment for the evil of fault, unless it be by persons, who under God have an authority to inflict it; as the civil magistrate, who "is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil", Rom_13:4; but private revenge is what is here forbidden: providing things honest in the sight of all men. The Vulgate Latin reads, "not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men"; and the Alexandrian copy reads, "in the sight of God and in the sight of men", which clause seems to have crept in here, out of 2Co_8:21. The words are not to be understood of a man's providing things honest, decent, and commendable, as suitable food and raiment for his family, in the sight of all men, to the honour of religion, and the credit of his profession, which is right to be done; but of a provident, thoughtful, and studious concern, to do everything that is laudable and of good report among men. The Syriac version renders the words alter this manner, טבתא דתעבדון לכון נתבטל ,אלא "but be careful to do well", or exercise beneficence before all men; either restraining it to acts of beneficence, even to them that do us ill, in opposition to rendering evil to them; or applying it to all offices of humanity, and every good work, which are to be done in the sight of men; not merely to be seen of them, and in a vainglorious way, in order to obtain their esteem and applause, as did the Pharisees; but to avoid offence; to put, to silence, by well doing, the ignorance of wicked men; and to shame them that falsely accuse the good conversation of the saints; and to recommend the Gospel and true religion, and win men over to it thereby, and give an occasion to them of glorifying God. HENRY, “To do them no hurt (Rom_12:17): Recompense to no man evil for evil, for that is a brutish recompence, and befitting only those animals which are not conscious either of any being above them or of any state before them. Or, if mankind were made (as some dream) in a state of war, such recompences as these were agreeable enough; but we have not so learned God, who does so much for his enemies (Mat_5:45), much less have we so learned Christ, who died for us when we were enemies (Rom_5:8, Rom_5:10), so loved that world which hated him without a cause. - “To no man; neither to Jew nor Greek; not to one that has been thy friend, for by recompensing evil for evil thou wilt certainly lose him; not to one that has been thine enemy, for by not recompensing evil for evil thou mayest perhaps gain him.” To the same purport, Rom_12:19, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. And why must this be ushered in with such an affectionate compellation, rather than any other of the exhortations of this chapter? Surely because this is intended for the composing of angry spirits, that are hot in the resentment of a provocation. He addresses himself to such in this endearing language, to mollify and qualify them. Any thing that breathes love sweetens the blood, lays the storm, and cools the intemperate heat. Would you pacify a brother offended? Call him dearly beloved. Such a soft word, fitly spoken, may be effectual to turn away wrath. Avenge not yourselves; that is, when any body has done you any ill turn, do not desire nor endeavour to bring the like mischief or inconvenience upon him. it is not forbidden to the magistrate to do justice to those that are wronged, by punishing the wrong-doer; nor to make and execute just and wholesome laws against malefactors; but it forbids private revenge, which flows from anger and ill-will; and this is fitly forbidden, for it is presumed that we are incompetent judges in our own case. Nay, if persons wronged in seeking the defence of the law, and magistrates in granting it, act from any particular personal pique or quarrel, and not from a concern that public peace and order be maintained and right done, even such proceedings, though seemingly regular, will fall under this prohibited self-revenging. See how strict the law of Christ is in this matter, Mat_5:38-40. It is forbidden not only to take it into our own hands to avenge ourselves, but to desire and thirst after event that judgment in our case which the law affords, for the satisfying of a revengeful humour. This is a hard lesson to corrupt nature; and therefore he subjoins, [1.] A remedy against it: Rather give place unto wrath. Not to our own wrath; to give place to this is to give place to the devil, Eph_4:26, Eph_4:27. We must resist, and stifle, and smother, and suppress this; but, First, To the wrath of our enemy. “Give place to it, that is, be of a yielding temper; do not answer wrath with
- 102. wrath, but withlove rather. Yielding pacifies great offences, Ecc_10:4. Receive affronts and injuries, as a stone is received into a heap of wool, which gives way to it, and so it does not rebound back, nor go any further.” So it explains that of our Saviour (Mat_5:39), Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Instead of meditating how to revenge one wrong, prepare to receive another. When men's passions are up, and the stream is strong, let it have its course, lest by an unseasonable opposition it be made to rage and swell the more. When others are angry, let us be calm; this is a remedy against revenge, and seems to be the genuine sense. But, Secondly, Many apply it to the wrath of God: “Give place to this, make room for him to take the throne of judgment, and let him alone to deal with thine adversary.” [2.] A reason against it: For it is written, Vengeance is mine. We find it written, Deu_32:35. God is the sovereign King, the righteous Judge, and to him it belongs to administer justice; for, being a God of infinite knowledge, by him actions are weighed in unerring balances; and, being a God of infinite purity, he hates sin and cannot endure to look upon iniquity. Some of this power he hath trusted in the hands of the civil magistrates (Gen_9:6; Rom_13:4); their legal punishments therefore are to be looked upon as a branch of God's revengings. This is a good reason why we should not avenge ourselves; for, if vengeance be God's, then, First, We may not do it. We step into the throne of God if we do and take his work out of his hand. Secondly, We need not do it. For God will, if we meekly leave the matter with him; he will avenge us as far as there is reason or justice for it, and further we cannot desire it. See Psa_38:14, Psa_38:15, I heard not, for thou wilt hear; and if God hears what need is there for me to hear? (2.) We must not only not to hurt to our enemies, but our religion goes higher, and teaches us to do them all the good we can. It is a command peculiar to Christianity, and which does highly commend it: Love your enemies, Mat_5:44. We are here taught to show that love to them both in word and deed. JAMISON, “Recompense — “Recompensing,” etc. — (See on Rom_12:14). Provide — “Providing” things honest — “honorable” in the sight of all men — The idea (which is from Pro_3:4) is the care which Christians should take so to demean themselves as to command the respect of all men. VWS, “Provide (προνοούπρονοούπρονοούπρονοούµενοιµενοιµενοιµενοι) The A.V. uses provide in its earlier and more literal meaning of taking thought in advance. This has been mostly merged in the later meaning of furnish, so that the translation conveys the sense of providing honestly for ourselves and our families. Better, as Rev., take thought for. The citation is from Pro_3:4, and varies from both Hebrew and Septuagint. Hebrew: And thou shalt find favor and good understanding in the eyes of God and man. Septuagint: And thou shalt find favor and devise excellent things in the sight of the Lord and of men. Compare 2Co_8:21. Construe in the sight of all men with the verb, not with honorable. Men's estimate of what is honorable is not the standard. CALVIN, “17.Repaying to no one, etc. This differs but little from what shortly after follows, except that revenge is more than the kind of REPAYING of which he speaks here; for we render evil for evil sometimes, even when we exact not the requiting of an INJURY , as when we treat unkindly those who do us no good. We are indeed wont to form an estimate of the deserts of each, or of what they merit at our hands, so that we may confer our benefits on those, by whom we have been already obliged, or from whom we expect something: and again, when any one denies help to us when we need it, we, by returning like for like, as they say, do not help him in time of need, any more than he assisted us. There are also other instances of the same kind, in which evil is rendered for evil, when there is no open revenge. Providing good things, etc. I no not disapprove of the rendering of [Erasmus ] “ preparing,” ( Provide parantes ;) but
- 103. I prefer aliteral rendering. As every one is more than justly devoted to his own advantage, and provident in avoiding losses, Paul seems to require a care and an attention of another kind. What is meant is, that we ought diligently to labor, that all may be edified by our honest dealings. For as purity of conscience is necessary for us before God, so uprightness of character before men is not to be neglected: for since it is meet that God should be glorified by our good deeds, even so much is wanting to his glory, as there is a deficiency of what is praiseworthy in us; and not only the glory of God is thus obscured, but he is branded with reproach; for whatever sin we commit, the ignorant EMPLOY it for the purpose of calumniating the gospel. But when we are bidden to prepare good things before men, (396) we must at the same time notice for what purpose: it is not indeed that men may admire and praise us, as this is a desire which Christ carefully forbids us to indulge, since he bids us to admit God alone as the witness of our good deeds, to the exclusion of all men; but that their minds being elevated to God, they may give praise to him, that by our example they may be stirred up to the PRACTICE of righteousness, that they may, in a word, perceive the good and the sweet odor of our life, by which they may be allured to the love of God. But if we are evil spoken of for the name of Christ, we are by no means to neglect to provide good things before men: for fulfilled then shall be that saying, that we are counted as false, and are yet true. (2Co_6:8.) (396) “Providentes bona ;” προνοούµενοι καλὰ “procurantes honesta — providing honest things,” [Beza ]; “ things reputable,” [Doddridge ]; “ things comely,” [Macknight ]. The participle means to mind beforehand, to prepare, to provide, and also to take care of or to attend to a thing. “ to things honorable” may be the rendering here. The adjective καλὸς means fair, good; and good in conduct as here is not “” but just, right, or reputable, as [Doddridge ] renders it. The word “” does not now retain its original idea of honorable. — Ed. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Non-retaliation I. What evils are we not to recompense? 1. Not to hate others because they hate us (Mat_5:44). 2. Not to curse others because they curse us (2Sa_16:10; Mat_5:44). 3. Not to defraud others because they defraud us (Lev_19:13; 1Th_4:6). 4. Not to speak evil of others because they speak evil of us (Tit_3:2; 1Pe_3:9). 5. Not to neglect our duty to them because they do it to us. (1) Praying for them (1Ti_2:1). (2) Pitying their miseries (Rom_12:15). (3) Helping them in their necessities (Gal_6:10). II. Why not? 1. It is contrary to the rule (Mat_7:12).
- 104. 2. Hereby wedo ourselves more injury than they did. 3. Yea, and more than we can do them. Conclusion: Consider-- 1. None can hinder us without God (Isa_45:7). 2. Injuries patiently borne are both occasions of virtue. 3. It is better to bear an injury than to cause one. 4. We must follow the Saviour’s example (1Pe_2:23). 5. It is one of the noblest virtues of a Christian to live above injuries. (Bp. Beveridge.) Retaliation is-- I. Natural. II. Foolish. It-- 1. Fails to accomplish its own end. 2. Makes matters worse. III. Unjustifiable. Because it is-- 1. To take the law into our own hands. 2. To assume the prerogative of God. IV. Unchristian. Because-- 1. Opposed to the Spirit of Christ. 2. Inimical to our own moral development. 3. Utterly forbidden. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
- 105. I. How provide? 1.Think of them (1Ti_4:15). 2. Intend them (Psa_17:3). 3. Endeavour them (2Pe_1:5). 4. Practise them (1Jn_3:18). 5. Continue the practice of them (1Co_15:58; Rev_2:25-26). II. What honest things? 1. Towards God. (1) Love to His person (Deu_6:5). (2) Faith in His words (1Jn_5:10). (3) Trust on His promises (Heb_13:5-6). (4) Fear of His threatenings (Amo_3:8). (5) Obedience to His precepts. 2. Towards men. (1) To our superiors, subjection (Rom_13:1). (2) To our inferiors, humility. 3. To all: (1) Truth (Lev_19:11). (2) Equity (Lev_19:35-36). (3) Love (Mat_5:45). (4) Honour (1Pe_2:17). (5) Prayers (1Ti_2:1). III. How in the sight of all men. 1. So as to make open profession of our religion (Rom_1:16).
- 106. 2. To manifestour integrity in it unto all (2Co_8:21). IV. Why in the sight of all men? 1. Negatively. Not to gain credit for them (Mat_6:1). 2. Positively. (1) To stop others false accusing us (1Pe_3:16). (2) To be an example to others (1Co_11:1). (3) For the glory of God (Mat_5:16; 1Pe_2:12). V. Use. Provide things honest, etc. Hereby you will-- 1. Keep your conscience void of offence towards God and men (Act_24:16). 2. Excite others to virtue (Jam_5:20.) 3. Be an honour to religion. 4. Be certain of God’s blessing here (Psa_39:12). 5. Be entitled to heaven hereafter. (Bp. Beveridge.) Providing things honest in the sight of all men I. The import of this precept. 1. Not merely live honestly. 2. But pay attention to things approved and beautiful in the estimation of men. 3. This implies a regard not only for general consistency, but a respect for the amenities of life. II. Its importance, 1. The Christian is the highest style of man. 2. Should be inferior to none in moral and social excellence. 3. Should recommend his profession. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
- 107. Getting an honestliving I. Provide. Such is the message of the whole Bible. Right through industry is commended, idleness anathematised. Need we remind you of Solomon? Paul is quite as good in his way. “If any man will not work, neither shall he eat.” Starve them out! Summary procedure, but salutary. Again, “if any provide not for his own, especially of his own house, he hath denied the faith,” etc. Yes; for it is part of “the faith once delivered unto the saints” that we should “provide.” 1. It is well that we have to do so. No man is to be pitied on account of it. A fine thing is work. It braces the soul like iron, quinine, or water, the body. An experienced African traveller says, “ We sicken more from inactivity than from malaria.” 2. Provide. What? “Things”-- (1) Necessary. Our absolute wants are to be met. (2) But luxuries come under the phrase before us. Used in moderation they are not sinful. If they were, God would not set us so bad an example as to give them to us. What is the blush on the apple and the bloom on the peach, the fragrance of the rose and the music of the falling wave? Luxury. The oak not only affords us wood, but adorns the landscape; nor does it yield an inch less wood because it is a thing of beauty. Even so, we shall not be worse, but better, if we have a few good pictures on our walls and ornaments on our tables, if we enjoy the last tale or the newest poem. The infinite Father gives His children toys as well as tools. 3. Don’t expect others to provide for you; do it yourself. We should cultivate a manly spirit of independence and self- help. According to a certain gage, every man has three fortunes, a head and a pair of hands; would that all made a diligent use of these fortunes. “God helps those that help themselves,” and we should refuse to aid any others. II. Provide. Things honest. How may we do that? Nobody will have much difficulty in finding out, if he wishes to make the discovery. There are sundry practices which may well be looked at in the light of the text. 1. It is not an uncommon thing for men to get into debt when they know they have small chance of paying. We are well aware of the mode in which this is palliated. When a mob of rioters were about to attack a flour-mill, Luther stood between it and them. “Master, we must live,” they cried. “I don’t see that: you ‘must’ be honest,” answered the brave reformer. Existence, precious though it be, is not to be bought at any price. But men are seldom, indeed, called to make such a desperate sacrifice. “Trust in the Lord, and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and, verily, thou shalt be fed.” “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” etc. Encouraged by these assurances, let none of us compromise his integrity. “Owe no man anything.” Rather than involve himself in debt Lord Macaulay sold the gold medals which he had won at Cambridge. 2. Sometimes goods are sold for what they are not. We occasionally speak about “getting goods under false pretences,” but are they never got rid of under false pretences? What is the meaning of the common caution, “Beware of spurious imitations”? Think, also, of adulteration. How shamefully is the public sometimes imposed on in what it eats and drinks. 3. It is possible for persons in situations to be lax in their notions of their duty to their employers. If I engage to serve another for a given amount of remuneration for a certain period, I thereby sell him my time, my energy, my talent, and if I withhold it I am not honest. III. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Not only be honest, but let your honesty be seen. As Bengel remarks in connection with our text: “A gem should not merely be a gem; it should be properly set in a ring, that its
- 108. splendour may meetthe eye.” “In the sight of all men.” 1. For our own sakes. In the long run he is trusted who is trustworthy; integrity wins confidence. If I deal with a man and he deceives me, I mentally put a black mark against his name, and warn others of him. Thus his unrighteousness INJURES him, as, indeed, it ought to do. More money is to be made by going straight than by going crooked. 2. For the Church’s sake. Nothing is so prejudicial to the interests of religion as lack of uprightness in men professing to be godly. Such monstrosities remind one of what a traveller saw in a Russian church--to wit, a fellow devoutly counting his rosary with one hand and picking a pocket with the other. Robert Burns wrote, “An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” He was right. (T. R. Stevenson.) Honourable dealing A young man in a dry-goods store in Boston was endeavouring to sell a customer some goods. He had a quantity on hand which he much desired to dispose of, as they were not of the freshest style; and the man seemed inclined to take them. When the goods had been examined, and the bargain was about to be concluded, the customer inquired: “Are these goods the latest style?” The young man hesitated. He wanted to sell the goods, and it appeared evident that if he said they were the latest style, the man would take them. But he could not tell a lie, and he replied: “They are not the latest style of goods, but they are a very good style.” The man looked at him, examined some other goods of later style, and said: “I will take those of the older style, and some of the new also. Your honesty in stating the facts will fasten me to this place.” The man not only sold his goods, and kept a good conscience, but he also retained a customer, whom he might never have seen again if he had not spoken to him the exact truth. There is no permanent gain in falsehood and deception. Righteousness and truth are a sure foundation. (“The Christian,” Boston, U.S.A.) An honest man Robert Burns wrote, “An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” He was right. A man who is honest all round, honest towards God, and honest towards his fellow-creatures, is the noblest work of God, When urged by his wife not to allow his conscience to stand in the way of fortunes Milton said, “I am resolved to live and die an honest man,” Let us say the same, “Come gain or loss, come evil report or good report, come weal or woe, I am resolved to live and die an honest man.” Verses 18. If it Be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.-- Live peaceably with all men I. If possible. By maintaining a spirit-- 1. Upright. 2. Meek. 3. Peaceable. II. If not possible. 1. Leave your cause in God’s hands. 2. Show kindness to your enemies.
- 109. 3. So shallyou secure a noble conquest. (J. Lyth, D.D.) How to live at peace with all men I. Watch over yourself. 1. Do not retaliate. 2. Be honest. 3. Cultivate a peaceable spirit. II. Commit yourself to God. 1. Instead of avenging yourself let Him undertake your cause. 2. Retribution is His prerogative. 3. He will certainly defend the right. III. Conciliate your enemies. By kindness. You will thus achieve a noble conquest over evil in yourself, and subdue enmity by love. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Peace with all men I. Is not always possible. 1. Some are unreasonable. 2. Others contentious. 3. With many it is impossible to be at peace without sacrificing conscience. II. Should be maintained as far as possible--by 1. Patience. 2. Prudence. 3. Conciliation.
- 110. III. If impossible,cannot be sought without advantage. The attempt secures-- 1. Peace of conscience. 2. The approbation of God. 3. And consequently Divine interposition in our favour. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Peaceableness I. The general import of the exhortation. 1. That we should have a hearty love and value for peace as far as it may be obtained. 2. That we studiously direct our conduct so as may be most likely to reach this end. II. What is implied in the qualifications added. 1. It is evidently intimated that it is not always possible or in our power to reach the desirable end of peace. Those who “seek peace and pursue it,” according to the exhortation (Psa_36:14) yet sometimes find that it flies from them. (1) Sometimes this falls out in common life, through the perverse humours and unreasonable obstinacy of those with whom we have to do. There are people in this world so captious as to take offence without any foundation. (2) Sometimes it is not morally possible to be at peace with men, because they will not be at peace with us, unless we will violate a good conscience. Peace, though so desirable a blessing, is not to be purchased at any rate. For instance-- (a) Neither truth nor holiness are to be sacrificed to peace. That would be to sacrifice our peace with God and with our own consciences for the sake of peace with men, which for certain would be much too dear a bargain. (b) Nor should we decline any service we are capable of, to the interest of Christ or of our country, for fear of some people’s offence. Christian courage should extinguish such fears. 2. This addition greatly enforces the precept, when it may consist with higher obligations. We must not venture everything for peace, but we should esteem it worth a great deal of pains and self-denial. If we can compass it by any means that are fit for us to use, we should endeavour it. 3. It is implied, farther, that we shall have reason to be content, though we should miss our aim, if we have performed our part. Then the breach of peace may be your affliction, but it will not be your sin. III. The extent prescribed for our aim in this matter: “Live peaceably with all men.” 1. We should endeavour to live peaceably with all men at large, as far as we have any concern with them. Setting aside the consideration of their religion or their virtuous character, we are obliged by the dictates of nature, and of Christianity too, to study peace with them as our fellow-creatures; and to this end--
- 111. (1) We shouldbe careful to behave inoffensively to all--to “give no offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God” (1Co_10:32), that, if possible, we may prevent any difference from arising. (2) We are equally concerned, in order to peace, not to be quick in taking offence. Many people might soon have received proper satisfaction for an injury done them if they had not themselves overrated it and carried their resentment beyond all regular bounds, till they made a small breach wide and most difficult to be healed. (3) We should be desirous to regain peace as soon as possible whenever a difference actually arises. The implacable are reckoned among the greatest sinners (Rom_1:31). 2. We should endeavour to cultivate a more peculiar peace and harmony with all our fellow Christians as such. IV. The importance of a peaceable spirit in Christianity. It is many ways recommended in the gospel; as-- 1. By showing us the great evil of an unpeaceable spirit. It is the fruit of carnality, or of an undue ascendant which some fleshly motive or other hath over us (1Co_3:3). 2. By representing a peaceable disposition in a very advantageous light. It is one of “the fruits of the blessed Spirit” (Gal_5:22). It is mentioned as one principal thing wherein the spiritual kingdom of God, or true religion in the hearts of men, consists (Rom_14:17). Christ saw fit to make it the subject of one of His beatitudes (Mat_5:9). 3. By the lively expressions of such a temper in the example of Christ. He was, on the one hand, a pattern for observing the proper limitations to be attended to in all pursuits after peace; He ever preferred truth and duty to it, an obedience to His Father to the pleasing of men; and so must we. But, on the other hand, as far as was consistent with His higher engagements He ever showed a strong disposition to peace. 4. By the account it gives us of the heavenly world, as a state of perfect love and harmony, where there are no jarring notes and affections. When a good man dies he “enters into peace” (Isa_57:2). By way of reflection, then-- 1. This may be sufficient to vindicate Christianity from the reproaches which have been cast upon it for the animosities that have abounded among Christians. The precepts, the patterns, the principles of Christianity, all lead another way; they directly lead to peaceableness. 2. This may be a proper subject of trial and self-examination. If we make no conscience of this duty of peaceableness, we have not yet entered into the spirit of true Christianity. 3. Let us all, as we are exhorted in the text, cultivate and exercise a peaceable and healing disposition. This is the likeliest way to dispose others to be at peace with us. (J. Evans, D.D.) The duty of living peaceably I. Live peaceably when possible. All that disturbance of man’s peace which springs from our lower nature we are bound everywhere to restrain. Let me mention some provocatives from which we may and should abstain. 1. Offensive language. Many that have great power of speech do not feel that God’s law is to regulate the use of their tongues. There are Christian heads of families who shoot across the table from day to day words which stir up
- 112. the worst feelingswhich men can have. Many and many a household has no chimney which carries away the smoke of these conflicts, and the smoke falls down, leaving harm where it rests. As much as lieth in your tongue, then, live peaceably with your wife, your children, your servants, and your fellow-men. 2. Provoking carriage. A man can look as well as speak speech. A nod of the head, a lifting up of the eyes, a shrug of the shoulder, the whole manner, is as powerful as speech. We have no right to be provoking in our attitudes. 3. An unconscious, and still more, an intended, insolent conduct of pride toward men. Frequently the very presence of a man who is filled with a spirit of self-importance is an insult. The duty of humility is not simply a duty of the closet. 4. Selfishness. The ten thousand jealousies and envies which are current in business circles arise from inconsiderate selfishness. 5. The untrained disposition of jocosity. I mean all forms of teasing, jesting, irony, sarcasm, wit, which are indulged in at another’s expense, and which are not “convenient.” Ordinarily, this is practised where the victim has no power of resistance. You often see persons pulling little children’s hair, saying things that stir up little children’s feelings; exposing things that they do not want to have known, in order to see the flush on their cheeks; or creating a laugh at their expense. Saying disagreeable things in a calm and ironical way is inexcusable There is a teasing which is pleasant, and causes nobody suffering; but teasing for the sake of making other people uncomfortable is fiendish. 6. The habit of contradiction and argument. We know what it is to be a “bully.” We see men boasting of their strength, and saying provoking things in the hope of getting into a quarrel with their fellow-men. There are men who may be called logical bullies. If you say anything, they dispute it. Argument leads to disputation speedily, and disputation to quarrelling, and quarrelling to ill-will. 7. Scandalmongering. There are men who have an intuition for discovering faults in others. They see them as quick as lightning; and they tell of them wherever they go. There are men who are vampires, feeding on their fellow-men in this way. And the amount of ill-will that is created in a neighbourhood by tale-bearers is astounding. The only excuse which men give for thus reporting things that are evil in regard to others is that they are true. But you have no right to report anything evil of a man, even if it is true, unless you have a benevolent purpose. Every man has his train of infelicities. But as they sprung from him they ought not to be carried far away from him. A scandal-monger is like one who carries contraband goods; and the partaker is as bad as the thief. 8. Indiscreet frankness. Telling men unpleasant truths about themselves, telling them what other people have said about them--this is generally unwise. Blurting out the truth about people into their faces is impolite. There is an impression that if a man has a truth he should let it fly, hit where it may. A doctor might as well scatter his drugs through the community, as a man tell all he knows about people indiscriminately. Truth, being a medicine, instead of being thrown about heedlessly, and with brutal barbarity, is to be administered with care and discretion. 9. Indiscreet urgency in religious teaching. There are many religious persons who go about with an incisiveness and pertinacity which annoy and vex people, and introduce an element of disquiet by which more harm than good is done. II. There are times in which you cannot live peaceably. 1. There are cases in which, when you are commanded by the law to do evil, you will be obliged to resist, and make great disturbance. And there are a great many other cases where, in your business relations and social connections, you will be placed in circumstances in which the interest of others pushes you toward the commission of evil, but in which you must not do it. A river complains to the rock on its bank of the noise which it is making. Why does the rock make the noise? Because it will not budge, and the water will. So that it is the water, and not the rock, that makes the noise. The rock stood there, and had a right to stand there; and if the water would beat against it and make a noise, it was not the rock’s fault. The man who is free from wickedness is accused by wicked men of making all the turmoil and excitement, but he does not. You recollect that when the tyrant had vexed and annoyed Israel through years of misrule, and the prophet had attempted to see that the laws were obeyed, and that the welfare of the people was maintained, the king said to him, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?”
- 113. 2. Christian virtuesometimes stands in the way of men’s pleasure. Sometimes it happens that an individual is solicited to taste wine which conscientiously he cannot touch, and he stirs up great resistance by refusing. 3. Those who are called to teach unwelcome truths must make up their minds not to live peaceably. No man can preach the truth faithfully without offending men. Our Master could not do it. The apostles could not. 4. You cannot attempt to oppose men’s worldly interests for the sake of public morality, for the reformation of the community, for the purification of the ballot, without rousing up an immense amount of anger. But somebody must do these things. No Christian man has a right to see the city in which he lives go down like Sodom and Gomorrah and put out no hand or voice to save it.CHRISTIAN MEN are bound to be “lights” and “salt.” (H. W. Beecher.) Christians exhorted to live peaceably I. The duty here enjoined. The expression may be taken-- 1. For the actual enjoyment of peace with all men: in which sense he only lives peaceably, whom no man molests. This cannot be here intended, because-- (1) So to live peaceably is impossible in consequence of-- (a) The contentious, unreasonable humour of many men. There are some that, like so many salamanders, cannot live but in the fire, and so long as there be such, how can there be undisturbed quietness? God must first weed the world of all ill dispositions before a universal peace can grow in it. (b) The contrary and inconsistent interests of many men. There is nothing which men prosecute with so much vigour as their interest, and the prosecution of contrary interests must needs be carried on by contrary ways, which will be sure to thwart one another. (2) What is the matter of duty ought to be in the power of him to whom it is enjoined. But it is not in my power to enjoy peace with all men, since this depends upon their behaviour towards me. If a man will be my enemy, I cannot prevent him. 2. Wherefore it is clear that the text is to be understood for a peaceable behaviour towards all men; in which case he lives peaceably by whom no man is molested. It consists therefore in-- (1) A forbearance of hostile actions. In a way of-- (a) Prevention, i.e., abstinence from an injurious invasion upon the rights of another, whether as to his person or estate. (b) Non-retaliation (1Co_13:7). Fire sometimes goes out as much for want of being stirred up as for want of fuel. He who affronts his brother breaks the peace; but he who repays the ill turn perpetuates the breach. And perhaps the greatest unquietness is not so much chargeable upon the injurious as the revengeful. A storm ruins nowhere but where it is withstood and repelled. (2) A forbearance of injurious, provoking words. Rabshakeh broke the peace with Hezekiah as much by his railing as by his army. Men resent ugly words with more acrimony than they would stabs. And the reason is, because a wound directs an evil only to a man’s person, but an ill word renders him miserable as far as he is known. Besides, it HURTS him so as to put the reparation absolutely out of his power; for it lodges his infamy in other men’s
- 114. thoughts, which hecannot come at so as to rectify them. II. What are the measures and proportions by which it is to be determined. “If it be possible,” i.e., morally, lawfully possible (Gen_39:9; 2Co_13:8). Where, then, the breaking of the peace is not unlawful, there the maintaining of it ceases, to be a necessary duty. Apply this to-- 1. War. (1) Is it lawful? Yes, if in a good cause, viz.-- (a) Defensive; in order to repel an evil designed to the public; and therefore is an act of self-preservation. (b) Offensive; for revenging a public injury done to a community, and so is an act of justice. And further, the Baptist, Christ, and the apostles judged the employment of a soldier lawful. (2) When and where ought it to be judged so? When those with whom we are at peace-- (a) Declare that they will annoy us unless we mangle our bodies (1Sa_11:2). (b) Declare war with us, unless we renounce our religion, as in the case of the Armada. (c) INJURE us as a nation so as to blast our honour, which honour is as necessary to the welfare and support of a nation as its commerce. (d) Declare war with us unless we will quit our civil rights. 2. Self-defence. (1) If a man has no other means of escape it is lawful from-- (a) The great natural right of self-preservation, which is as full in individuals as in public bodies. (b) That place where Christ commands His disciples to provide themselves swords. To have allowed them the instruments of defence, and at the same time to have forbid the use of them as unlawful, had been irrational. (c) The suffrage of the civil law. (2) What are those things which may be thus defended. (a) Life. For where it is lawful to live, it is lawful to do all those things without which life cannot be preserved. (b) Limbs. For who knows but the loss of a part may bring the destruction of the whole? (c) Chastity. For this is as irreparable as life itself; and to lose one’s life is indeed a misery, but it is no dishonour. (d) Estate or goods. Before I pass on I shall add that whatsoever is lawful for a man to do for himself, is lawful for him to do for his neighbour; for we are commanded to “love our neighbour as ourselves.” (3) The conditions required to legalise such a defence of ourselves and fortunes. (a) That the violence offered be so apparent, so great and pressing, that there can be no other means of escape.
- 115. (b) That allpossibility of recourse to the magistrate for a legal protection be taken away. In which case the law leaves every man to his own natural defence. (c) That a man designs merely his own defence, without any revenge towards the person who thus invades him. 3. Litigation. This is allowable when it is to secure the execution of justice in the proper acts of it between man and man. If Christianity prohibits all pursuit of a man’s right at law, then its observance unavoidably draws after it the utter dissolution of all government and society. He that has the strongest arm, the sharpest sword, the boldest front, and the falsest heart, must possess the world. Yet since men are too prone to stretch their just allowances beyond their bounds, note those conditions that are required to warrant men in their law contentions. (a) That a man takes not this course but upon a very great and urgent cause. Every little wrong and trespass is not a sufficient warrant for me to disturb my neighbour’s peace. (b) That a man be willing, upon any tolerable and just terms, to agree with his adversary, rather than to proceed to a suit. (c) Supposing great cause and no satisfaction, that the INJURED person manage his suit by the rule of charity, and not with any purpose to revenge himself upon his adversary. III. The means conducible to our performance of this excellent duty. 1. A careful suppression of all distasteful, aggravating apprehensions of any ill turn or unkind behaviour from men. It is the morose dwelling of the thoughts upon an injury that incorporates and rivets it into the mind. 2. The forbearing of all pragmatical or malicious informations. “He that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.” The reporting what such a one said or did is the way to kindle such heart-burnings between persons, as oftentimes break forth and flame to the consumption of families, courts, and perhaps at length of cities and kingdoms. 3. That men would be willing in some cases to waive the prosecution of their rights. As-- (1) When the recovery of a right seems impossible: prudence and duty then call upon a man to surcease the prosecution of that, and rather to follow peace. (2) When that right is but trivial, but the recovery of it troublesome and contentious. That which being lost makes a man not much the poorer, nor recovered, much the richer, cannot authorise him to enter into the din of a long contest. (3) When a recompense is offered. (4) To reflect upon the great example of Christ, and the strict injunction lying upon us to follow it. We shall find that his whole life went in constant recession from his own rights, in order to the peace of the public. 4. Not to adhere too pertinaciously to our own judgments of things doubtful in themselves in opposition to the judgment of those who are more skilful in those things. IV. The motives and arguments by which this duty may be enforced. 1. The excellency of the thing itself. “Peace” is a Divine title (Rom_15:33; Isa_9:6). The first message that was sent from heaven upon Christ’s nativity was message of peace (Luk_2:14). His whole doctrine is called “the gospel of peace,” and “the word of peace” (Rom_10:15). The last legacy that He bequeathed to His disciples was peace (Joh_14:27). Peace is the work of the Holy Ghost in the hearts of believers (Gal_5:22), and both the effect and
- 116. reward of pietyis peace (Rom_15:13). 2. The excellency of the principle from which it proceeds. It is from a pious, generous, and great mind. Little things are querulous; and the wasp much more angry and troublesome than the eagle. 3. The blessing entailed upon it by a peculiar promise (Mat_5:9). Note two instances of this blessing that attend the peaceable in this world. (1) An easy, undisturbed, and quiet enjoyment of themselves. (2) Honour and reputation. Their report survives them, and their memory is blessed. (R. South, D.D.) Peaceable living not always possible The wisest men, the best men, the most thoughtful men, the men who are most studious of peace, may have contention forced upon them. Lot could not live peaceably with the inhabitants of Sodom--to his great credit. Moses could not live at peace with Egypt, when he saw his people oppressed. It would have been a shame if he could. Samuel could not live at peace when the king, despotic, arrogant, fractious, was misleading the people. David could not live at peace with Saul--Saul would not let him. The prophets could not live at peace with the idolatrous people whom they were sent to instruct and rebuke, and who would not be corrected nor reformed. Jesus could not live at peace. The most genial, and gentle, and meek, and merciful, and loving of all beings was He; and yet it was impossible that He should live at peace with His own countrymen, in His own time. Therefore you find it said, “If it be possible.” In this great quarrelsome world it is not made obligatory on a man to be at peace with his fellow-men anyhow. The command begins with the implication that it is not always possible. The qualification is, “as much as lieth in you.” You may be at discords; but see to it that you do not produce them. Let them be the result of other men’s misconduct, and not of yours. (H. W. Beecher.) Peaceableness Here is-- I. The preface--“If it be possible.” Which words may be looked on-- 1. As limiting the command. (1) “If it be possible”; for it may be impossible (Mat_18:7). Because of-- (a) other’s malice (Jam_4:1). (b) Our own conscience (Act_24:16) in reproving others; in standing for the truth. (2) “As much as in you lies.” (a) That we do not disturb the peace ourselves. (b) Nor give occasion to others to do it. 2. As strengthening the command, so that we are to perform it to the utmost of our power.
- 117. II. The command.“Live peaceably with all men.” Here is-- 1. The command. What is it to live peaceably? (1) Give offence to none (Mat_18:7). (2) Pass by others’ offences to you (1Co_13:7). (3) Construe things in their best sense (1Co_13:5). (4) Part with something of your own right (Gen_13:8-9). (5) Have a care of those passions that cause strife (Jam_4:1). (a) Anger (Eph_4:26; Eph_4:31). (b) Envy (Jam_3:14). (c) Pride (Pro_13:10). (d) Hatred and malice (1Jn_3:15). (e) Implacableness (Rom_1:31; Psa_130:5-7). 2. The extent--“To all men” (Heb_12:14). 1. To superiors (Rom_13:1; Mat_17:27). 2. Inferiors. 3. Equals. Conclusion: Consider-- 1. Ye know not where the least strife may end. 2. It disturbs you as much as others (Luk_21:19). 3. If you live in peace, God will be with you (1Ki_11:1-43; 1Ki_12:1-33; 1Ki_13:1-34; 2Co_13:11). (Bp. Beveridge.) Irascible persons not to be provoked In the Jardin des Plantes we saw a hooded snake in a most unamiable condition of temper. There was a thick glass and a stout wire between us, and we did nothing but look at him, yet he persisted in darting at us with the utmost vehemence of malice, until the keeper requested us to move away, with the advice that it was not well to irritate such creatures. When one meets with an irascible person, on the look out to pick a quarrel, ill-conditioned, and out of elbows with the whole world, it is best to move on, and let him alone. Even if he can do you no harm, and if his irritation be utterly unreasonable, it is best to remove all exciting causes of provocation, for it is never wise to irritate vipers. You do not on purpose walk heavily across the floor to teach a gouty man.that you have no respect for his TENDER feelings since he ought not to be so susceptible; neither should you vex those afflicted with a bad temper, and then plead that they have no right to be so excitable. If our neighbours’ tempers are gunpowder, let us not play with fire. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
- 118. 18If it ispossible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Barclay, “We are to live at peace with all men. But Paul adds two qualifications. (a) He says, "if it be possible". There may come a time when the claims of courtesy have to submit to the claims of principle. Christianity is not an easy-going tolerance which will accept anything and shut its eyes to everything. There may come a time when some battle has to be fought, and when it does, the Christian will not shirk it. (b) He says, as far as you can. Paul knew very well that it is easier for some to live at peace than for others. He knew that one man can be compelled to control as much temper in an hour as another man in a lifetime. We would do well to remember that goodness is a great deal easier for some than for others; that will keep us alike from criticism and from discouragement.” BARNES, “If it be possible - If it can be done. This expression implies that it could not always be done. Still it should be an object of desire; and we should endeavor to obtain it. As much as lieth in you - This implies two things: (1) We are to do our utmost endeavors to preserve peace, and to appease the anger and malice of others. (2) We are not to “begin” or to “originate” a quarrel. So far as “we” are concerned, we are to seek peace. But then it does not always depend on us. Others may oppose and persecute us; they will hate religion, and may slander, revile, and otherwise injure us; or they may commence an assault on our persons or property. For “their” assaults we are not answerable; but we are answerable for our conduct toward them; and on no occasion are we to commence a warfare with them. It may not be “possible” to prevent their injuring and opposing us; but it is possible not to begin a contention with them; and “when they” have commenced a strife, to seek peace, and to evince a Christian spirit. This command doubtless extends to everything connected with strife; and means that we are not to “provoke” them to controversy, or to prolong it when it is commenced; see Psa_34:14; Mat_5:9, Mat_5:39-41; Heb_12:14. If all Christians would follow this command, if they would never “provoke” to controversy, if they would injure no man by slander or by unfair dealing, if they would compel none to prosecute them in law by lack of punctuality in payment of debts or honesty in business, if they would do nothing to irritate, or to prolong a controversy when it is commenced, it would put an end to no small part of the strife that exists in the world. CLARKE, “If it be possible - To live in a state of peace with one’s neighbors, friends, and even family, is often very difficult. But the man who loves God must labor after this, for it is indispensably necessary even for his own sake. A man cannot have broils and misunderstandings with others, without having his own peace very materially disturbed: he must, to be happy, be at peace with all men, whether they will be at peace with him or not. The apostle knew that it would be difficult to get into and maintain such a state of peace, and this his own words amply prove: And if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably. Though it be but barely possible, labor after it.
- 119. GILL, “If itbe possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably,.... Or be at peace, seek after peace, pursue it, and cultivate it: with all men; with those that we are immediately concerned with, in a natural relation; so husbands should live peaceably with their wives, and wives with their husbands; parents with their children, and children with their parents; masters with their servants, and servants with their masters; and one brother, relation, and friend, with another: and so with all we are concerned with in a spiritual relation, as members of Christ, and in the same church state; such should be at peace among themselves, 1Th_5:13; peace should rule in their hearts, Col_3:15, and they should study to keep "the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace", Eph_4:3, yea, with all we are concerned in a civil sense; saints should live peaceably in the neighbourhood, towns, cities, and countries, where they dwell, and show themselves to be the quiet in the land; should pray for the peace of the place where they are; and do all that in them lies to promote it, by living themselves peaceably and quietly, in all godliness and honesty; yea, they should live peaceably with their very enemies, "if it be possible"; which is rightly put, for there are some persons of such tempers and dispositions, that it is impossible to live peaceably with; for when others are for peace, they are for war; and in some cases it is not only impracticable, but would be unlawful; as when it cannot be done consistent with holiness of life and conversation, with the edification of others, the truths of the Gospel, the interest of religion, and the glory of God; these are things that are never to be sacrificed for the sake of peace with men: the apostle adds another limitation of this rule, "as much as lieth in you"; for more than this is not required of us; nothing should be wanting on our parts; every step should be taken to cultivate and maintain peace; the blame should lie wholly on the other side; it becomes the saints to live peaceably themselves, if others will not with them. HENRY, “A love that engages us, as much as lies in us, to live peaceably with all men, Rom_12:18. Even those with whom we cannot live intimately and familiarly, by reason of distance in degree or profession, yet we must with such live peaceably; that is, we must be harmless and inoffensive, not giving others occasion to quarrel with us; and we must be gall-less and unrevengeful, not taking occasion to quarrel with them. Thus must we labour to preserve the peace, that it be not broken, and to piece it again when it is broken. The wisdom from above is pure and peaceable. Observe how the exhortation is limited. It is not expressed so as to oblige us to impossibilities: If it be possible, as much as lies in you. Thus Heb_12:14, Follow peace. Eph_4:3, Endeavouring to keep. Study the things that make for peace. - If it be possible. It is not possible to preserve the peace when we cannot do it without offending God and wounding conscience: Id possumus quod jure possumus - That is possible which is possible without incurring blame. The wisdom that is from above is first pure and then peaceable, Jam_3:17. Peace without purity is the peace of the devil's palace. - As much as lieth in you. There must be two words to the bargain of peace. We can but speak for ourselves. We may be unavoidably striven with; as Jeremiah, who was a man of contention (Jer_15:10), and this we cannot help; our care must be that nothing be wanting on our parts to preserve the peace, Psa_120:7. I am for peace, though, when I speak, they are for war. 2. To our enemies. Since men became enemies to God, they have been found very apt to be enemies one to another. Let but the centre of love be once forsaken, and the lines will either clash and interfere, or be at an uncomfortable distance. And, of all men, those that embrace religion have reason to expect to meet with enemies in a world whose smiles seldom concur with Christ's. Now Christianity teaches us how to behave towards our enemies; and in this instruction it quite differs from all other rules and methods, which generally aim at victory and dominion; but this at inward peace and satisfaction. Whoever are our enemies, that wish us ill and seek to do us ill, our rule is to do them no hurt, but all the good we can. JAMISON, “If it be possible — that is, If others will let you.
- 120. as much aslieth in you — or, “dependeth on you.” live peaceably — or, “be at peace.” with all men — The impossibility of this in some cases is hinted at, to keep up the hearts of those who, having done their best unsuccessfully to live in peace, might be tempted to think the failure was necessarily owing to themselves. But how emphatically expressed is the injunction to let nothing on our part prevent it! Would that Christians were guiltless in this respect! CALVIN, “18.If it be possible, etc. Peaceableness and a life so ORDERED as to render us beloved by all, is no common gift in a Christian. If we desire to attain this, we must not only be endued with perfect uprightness, but also with very courteous and kind manners, which may not only conciliate the just and the good, but produce also a favorable impression on the hearts of the ungodly. But here two cautions must be stated: We are not to seek to be in such esteem as to refuse to undergo the hatred of any for Christ, whenever it may be necessary. And indeed we see that there are some who, though they render themselves amicable to all by the sweetness of their manners and peaceableness of their minds, are yet hated even by their nearest connections on ACCOUNT of the gospel. The second caution is, — that courteousness should not degenerate into compliance, so as to lead us to flatter the vices of men for the sake of preserving peace. Since then it cannot always be, that we can have peace with all men, he has annexed two particulars by way of exception, If it be possible, and, as far as you can. But we are to conclude from what piety and love require, that we are not to violate peace, except when constrained by either of these two things. For we ought, for the sake of cherishing peace, to bear many things, to pardon offenses, and kindly to remit the full rigor of the law; and yet in such a way, that we may be prepared, whenever necessity requires, to fight courageously: for it is impossible that the soldiers of Christ should have perpetual peace with the world, whose prince is Satan. PULPIT, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto wrath. The thought in Rom_12:19 seems to follow from what precedes. It may sometimes be impossible to he at peace with all; but at any rate, do not increase bitterness by avenging yourselves. Give place unto wrath ( τῇ ὀργῇ ), has been taken by some to mean that we are to give scope to the wrath of our enemy, instead of being exasperated to resist it (cf. Mat_5:39, etc.). But there has been no particular reference to a wrathfuladversary. Another view is that our own wrath is intended, to which we are to allow time to expend itself before following its impulse; δότε τόπον being taken as equivalent to data spatium in Latin; and this interpretation suits the usual sense of δότε τόπον . It is not thus implied that the falling of Divine vengeance on our enemy should be our desire and purpose, but only this—that, if punishment is due, we must leave it to the righteous God to inflict it; it is not for us to do so. And this interpretation suits what immediately follows. For it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will REPAY , saith the Lord (Deu_32:35, freely from the Hebrew, but with the words ἐκδίκησις and ἀνταποδώσω as found in the LXX. The fact that the same form of quotation occurs also in Heb_10:30 seems to show that it was one in current use). But (so rather than wherefore, as in the Authorized Version) if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. This whole verse is from Pro_25:21, Pro_25:22, where is added, "and the Lord shall REWARD thee." What is meant by the "coals of fire," both in the original and in St. Paul's citation, has been much discussed. Undoubtedly, the expression in itself, in view of its usual significance in the Old Testament, suggests only the idea of Divine vengeance (see Psa_18:12; Psa_120:4; Psa_140:10; and especially 2 Esdras 16:53. Cf. also Psa_11:6; Hab_3:5); and this especially as it occurs here almost immediately after "Vengeance is mine." Hence Chrysostom and other Fathers, as well as some moderns, have taken it to mean that by heaping benefits on our enemy we shall aggravate his guilt, and expose him to severer punishment from God. But it is surely incredible that the apostle should have meant to suggest such a motive for beneficence; and the whole tone of the context is against it, including that of Pro_25:21, which follows. Jerome saw this, writing," Carbones igitur congregabis super caput ejus, non in maledictum et condemnationem, ut plerique existimant, sed in correctionem et poenitudinem." But if the "coals of fire" mean the Divine judgment on our enemy, there is nothing to suggest a corrective purpose. The view, held by some, that the softening effect of fire on metals is intended, is hardly tenable. Heaping coals of fire on a person's head would be an unnatural way of denoting the softening of his heart. More likely is the view which retains the idea of coals of fire carrying with it, as elsewhere, that of punishment and the infliction of PAIN , but regards the pain as that of shame and compunction, which may induce penitence. This appears to be the most generally received view. It is, however, a question whether any such effect is definitely in the writer's view. He may mean
- 121. simply this: Menin general desire vengeance on their enemies, expressed proverbially by heaping coals of fire on the head. Hast thou an enemy? Do him good. This is the only vengeance, the only coals of fire, allowed to a Christian. Then follows naturally, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. MACLAREN, “STILL ANOTHER TRIPLET Rom_12:17 - Rom_12:18. The closing words of this chapter have a certain unity in that they deal principally with a Christian’s duty in the face of hostility and antagonism. A previous injunction touched on the same subject in the exhortation to bless the persecutors; but with that exception, all the preceding verses have dealt with duties owing to those with whom we stand in friendly relations. Such exhortations take no cognisance of the special circumstances of the primitive Christians as ‘lambs in the midst of wolves’; and a large tract of Christian duty would be undealt with, if we had not such directions for feelings and actions in the face of hate and HURT . The general precept in our text is expanded in a more complete form in the verses which follow the text, and we may postpone its consideration until we have to deal with them. It is one form of the application of the ‘love without hypocrisy’ which has been previously recommended. The second of these three precepts seems quite heterogeneous, but it may be noticed that the word for ‘evil’ in the former and that for ‘honourable,’ in these closely resemble each other in sound, and the connection of the two clauses may be partially owing to that verbal resemblance; whilst we may also discern a real link between the thoughts in the consideration that we owe even to our enemies the exhibition of a life which a prejudiced hostility will be forced to recognise as good. The third of these exhortations prescribes unmoved persistence in friendly regard to all men. Dealing then, in this sermon only, with the second and third of these precepts, and postponing the consideration of the first to the following discourse, we have here the counsel that I. Hostility is to be met with a holy and beautiful life. The Authorised Version inadequately translates the significant word in this exhortation by ‘honest.’ The Apostle is not simply enjoining honesty in our modern, narrow sense of the word, which limits it to the rendering to every man his own. It is a remarkable thing that ‘honest,’ like many other words expressing various types of goodness, has steadily narrowed in signification, and it is very characteristic of England that probity as to money and material goods should be its main meaning. Here the word is used in the full breadth of its ancient use, and is equivalent to that which is fair with the moral beauty of goodness. A Christian man then is bound to live a life which all men will acknowledge to be good. In that precept is implied the recognition of even bad men’s notions of morality as correct. The Gospel is not a new system of ethics, though in some points it brings old virtues into new prominence, and alters their perspective. It is further implied that the world’s standard of what Christians ought to be may be roughly taken as a true one. CHRISTIAN MEN would
- 122. learn a greatdeal about themselves, and might in many respects heighten their ideal, if they would try to satisfy the expectations of the most degraded among them as to what they ought to be. The worst of men has a rude sense of duty which tops the attainments of the best. Christian people ought to seek for the good opinion of those around them. They are not to take that opinion as the motive for their conduct, nor should they do good in order to be praised or admired for it; but they are to ‘adorn the doctrine,’ and to let their light shine that men seeing their good may be led to think more loftily of its source, and so to ‘glorify their Father which is in heaven.’ That is one way of preaching the Gospel. The world knows goodness when it sees it, though it often hates it, and has no better ground for its dislike of a man than that his purity and beauty of character make the lives of others seem base indeed. Bats feel the light to be light, though they flap against it, and the winnowing of their leathery wings and their blundering flight are witnesses to that against which they strike. Jesus had to say, ‘The world hateth Me because I testify of it that the deeds thereof are evil.’ That witness was the result of His being ‘the Light of the world’; and if His followers are illuminated from Him, they will have the same effect, and must be prepared for the same response. But none the less is it incumbent upon them to ‘take thought for things honourable in the sight of all men.’ This duty involves the others of taking care that we have goodness to show, and that we do not make our goodness repulsive by our additions to it. There are good people who comfort themselves when men dislike them, or scoff at them, by thinking that their religion is the cause, when it is only their own roughness and harshness of character. It is not enough that we present an austere and repellent virtue; the fair food should be set on a fair platter. This duty is especially owing to our enemies. They are our keenest critics. They watch for our halting. The thought of their hostile scrutiny should ever stimulate us, and the consciousness that Argus-eyes are watching us, with a keenness sharpened by dislike, should lead us not only to vigilance over our own steps, but also to the prayer, ‘Lead me in a plain path, because of those who watch me.’ To ‘provide things honest in the sight of all men’ is a possible way of disarming some hostility, conciliating some prejudice, and commending to some hearts the Lord whom we seek to imitate. II. Be sure that, if there is to be enmity, it is all on one side. ‘As much as in you lieth, be at peace with all.’ These words are, I think, unduly limited when they are supposed to imply that there are circumstances in which a Christian has a right to be at strife. As if they meant: Be peaceable as far as you can; but if it be impossible, then quarrel. The real meaning goes far deeper than that. ‘It takes two to make a quarrel,’ says the old proverb; it takes two to make peace also, does it not? We cannot determine whether our relations with men will be peaceful or no; we are only ANSWERABLE for our part, and for that we are answerable. ‘As much as lieth in you’ is the explanation of ‘if it be possible.’ Your part is to be at peace; it is not your part up to a certain point and no further, but always, and in all circumstances, it is your part. It may not be possible to be at peace with all men; there may be some who will quarrel with you. You are not to blame for that, but their part and yours are separate, and your part is the same whatever they do. Be you at peace with all men whether they are at peace with you or not. Don’t you quarrel with them even if they will quarrel with you. That seems to me to be plainly the meaning of the words. It would be contrary to the tenor of the context and the teaching of the New Testament to suppose that here we had that favourite principle, ‘There is a point beyond which forbearance cannot go,’ where it becomes right to cherish hostile sentiments or to try to injure a man. If there be such a point, it is very remarkable that there is no attempt made in the New Testament to define it. The nearest approach to such
- 123. definition is ‘tillseventy times seven,’ the two perfect NUMBERS multiplied into themselves. So I think that this injunction absolutely prescribes persistent, patient peacefulness, and absolutely proscribes our taking up the position of antagonism, and under no circumstances meeting hate with hate. It does not follow that there is never to be opposition. It may be necessary for the good of the opponent himself, and for the good of society, that he should be hindered in his actions of hostility, but there is never to be bitterness; and we must take care that none of the devil’s leaven mingles with our zeal against evil. There is no need for enlarging on the enormous difficulty of carrying out such a commandment in our daily lives. We all know too well how hard it is; but we may reflect for a moment on the absolute necessity of obeying this precept to the full. For their own souls’ sakes CHRISTIAN MEN are to avoid all bitterness, strife, and malice. Let us try to remember, and to bring to bear on our daily lives, the solemn things which Jesus said about God’s forgiveness being measured by our forgiveness. The faithful, even though imperfect, following of this exhortation would revolutionise our lives. Nothing that we can only win by fighting with our fellows is worth fighting for. Men will weary of antagonism which is met only by the imperturbable calm of a heart at peace with God, and seeking peace with all men. The hot fire of hatred dies down, like burning coals scattered on a glacier, when laid against the crystal coldness of a patient, peaceful spirit. Watch-dogs in farmhouses will bark half the night through because they hear another barking a mile off. It takes two to make a quarrel; let me be sure that I am never one of the two! 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[ ]says the Lord. Barclay, “We are to keep ourselves from all thought of taking revenge. Paul gives three reasons for that. (a) Vengeance does not belong to us but to God. In the last analysis no human being has a right to judge any other; only God can do that. (b) To treat a man with kindness rather than vengeance is the way to move him. Vengeance may break his spirit; but kindness will break his heart. "If we are kind to our enemies," says Paul, "it will heap coals of fire on their heads." That means, not that it will store up further punishment for them, but that it will move them to burning shame. (c) To stoop to vengeance is to be ourselves conquered by evil. Evil can never be conquered by evil. If hatred is met with more hatred it is only increased; but if it is met with love, an antidote for the poison is found. As Booker Washington said: "I will not allow any man to make me lower myself by hating him." The only real way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend. BARNES, “Dearly beloved - This expression of tenderness was especially appropriate in an exhortation to peace. It reminded them of the affection and friendship which ought to subsist among them as brethren.
- 124. Avenge not yourselves- To “avenge” is to take satisfaction for an injury by inflicting punishment on the offender. To take such satisfaction for injuries done to society, is lawful and proper for a magistrate; Rom_13:4. And to take satisfaction for injuries done by sin to the universe, is the province of God. But the apostle here is addressing private individual Christians. And the command is, to avoid a spirit and purpose of revenge. But this command is not to be so understood that we may not seek for “justice” in a regular and proper way before civil tribunals. If our character is assaulted, if we are robbed and plundered, if we are oppressed contrary to the law of the land, religion does not require us to submit to such oppression and injury without seeking our rights in an orderly and regular manner. If it did, it would be to give a premium to iniquity, to countenance wickedness, and require a man, by becoming a Christian, to abandon his rights. Besides, the magistrate is appointed for the praise of those who do well, and to punish evil-doers; 1Pe_2:14. Further, our Lord Jesus did not surrender his rights Joh_18:23; and Paul demanded that he himself should be treated according to the rights and privileges of a Roman citizen; Act_16:37. The command here “not to avenge ourselves” means, that we are not to take it out of the hands of God, or the hands of the law, and to inflict it ourselves. It is well known that where there are no laws, the business of vengeance is pursued by individuals in a barbarous and unrelenting manner. In a state of savage society, vengeance is “immediately taken,” if possible, or it is pursued for years, and the offended man is never satisfied until he has imbrued his hands in the blood of the offender. Such was eminently the case among the Indians of this country (America). But Christianity seeks the ascendancy of the laws; and in cases which do not admit or require the interference of the laws, in private assaults and quarrels, it demands that we bear injury with patience, and commit our cause unto God; see Lev_19:18. But rather give place unto wrath - This expression has been interpreted in a great variety of ways. Its obvious design is to induce us not to attempt to avenge ourselves, but to leave it with God. To “give place,” then, is to leave it for God to come in and execute wrath or vengeance on the enemy. Do not execute wrath; leave it to God; commit all to him; leave yourself and your enemy in his hands, assured that he will vindicate you and punish him. For it is written - Deu_32:35. Vengeance is mine - That is, it belongs to me to inflict revenge. This expression implies that it is “improper” for people to interfere with that which properly belongs to God. When we are angry, and attempt to avenge ourselves, we should remember, therefore, that we are infringing on the prerogatives of the Almighty. I will repay ... - This is said in substance, though not in so many words, in Deu_32:35-36. Its design is to assure us that those who deserve to be punished, shall be; and that, therefore, the business of revenge may be safely left in the bands of God. Though “we” should not do it, yet if it ought to be done, it will be done. This assurance will sustain as, not in the “desire” that our enemy shall be punished, but in the belief that “God” will take the matter into his own hands; that he can administer it better than we can; and that if our enemy “ought” to be punished, he will be. “We,” therefore, should leave it all with God. That God will vindicate his people, is clearly and abundantly proved in 2Th_1:6- 10; Rev_6:9-11; Deu_32:40-43. CLARKE, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves - Ye are the children of God, and he loves you; and because he loves you he will permit nothing to be done to you that he will not turn to your advantage. Never take the execution of the law into your own hands; rather suffer injuries. The Son of man is come, not to destroy men’s lives, but to save: be of the same spirit. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. It is the part of a noble mind to bear up under unmerited disgrace; little minds are litigious and quarrelsome. Give place unto wrath - ∆οτε τοπον τᇽ οργᇽ· Leave room for the civil magistrate to do his duty, he holds the sword for this purpose; and if he be unfaithful to the trust reposed in him by the state, leave
- 125. the matter toGod, who is the righteous judge: for by avenging yourselves you take your cause both out of the hands of the civil magistrate and out of the hands of God. I believe this to be the meaning of give place to wrath, οργᇽ, punishment; the penalty which the law, properly executed, will inflict. This is well expressed by the author of the book of Ecclesiasticus, 19:17: Admonish thy neighbor before thou threaten him, and, not being, angry, Give Place to the Law of the Most High. Vengeance is mine - This fixes the meaning of the apostle, and at once shows that the exhortation, Rather give place to wrath or punishment, means, Leave the matter to the judgment of God; it is his law that in this case is broken; and to him the infliction of deserved punishment belongs. Some think it means, “Yield a little to a man when in a violent passion, for the sake of peace, until he grow cooler.” I will repay - In my own time and in my own way. But he gives the sinner space to repent, and this longsuffering leads to salvation. Dr. Taylor, after Dr. Benson, conjectures that the apostle in these directions had his eye upon the indignities which the Jews, and probably the Christians too, (for they were often confounded by the heathen), suffered by the edict of Claudius, mentioned Act_18:2, which “commanded all Jews to depart from Rome.” Upon this occasion Aquila and Priscilla removed to Corinth, where Paul found them, and dwelt with them a considerable time. No doubt they gave him a full account of the state of the Christian Church at Rome, and of every thing relating to the late persecution under Claudius. That emperor’s edict probably died with him, if it were not repealed before, and then the Jews and Christians (if the Christians were also expelled) returned again to Rome; for Aquila and Priscilla were there when Paul wrote this epistle, Rom_16:3, which was in the fourth year of Nero, successor to Claudius. GILL, “Dearly beloved,.... This affectionate appellation the apostle makes use of, expressing his great love to them, the rather to work upon then, and move them to an attention to what he is about to say; which they might assure themselves was in great tenderness to them, for their good, as well as the glory of God: moreover, he may hereby suggest to them, not only that they were dear to him, but that they were greatly beloved of God, that they were high in his favour and affection; and this he might him unto them, in order to melt them into love to their fellow Christians and fellow creatures, and even to their enemies, and never think of private revenge: avenge not yourselves; this is no ways contrary to that revenge, a believer has upon sin, and the actings of it, which follows on true evangelical repentance for it, 2Co_7:11, and lies in a displicency at it, and himself for it, and in abstaining from it, and fighting against it; nor to that revenge a church may take of the disobedience of impenitent and incorrigible offenders, by laying censures on them, withdrawing from them, and rejecting them from their communion; nor to that revenge which civil magistrates may execute upon them that do evil; but this only forbids and condemns private revenge in private persons, for private injuries done, and affronts given: but rather give place to wrath; either to a man's own wrath, stirred up by the provocations given him; let him not rush upon revenge immediately; let him sit down and breathe upon it; let him "give" ,אתרא "space", unto it, as the Syriac, which may signify time as well as place; and by taking time his wrath will, subside, he will cool and come to himself, and think better on it: or to the wrath of the injurious person, by declining him, as Jacob did Esau, till his wrath was over; or by patiently hearing without resistance the evil done, according to the advice of Christ, Mat_5:39; or to the wrath of God, leave all with him, and to the day of his wrath and righteous judgment, who will render to every man according to his works; commit yourselves to him that judgeth righteously, and never think of avenging your own wrongs; and this sense the following words incline to,
- 126. for it iswrittenfor it is writtenfor it is writtenfor it is written, Deu_32:35; vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lordvengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lordvengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lordvengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord; vengeance belongs to God, and to him only; it is proper and peculiar to him, not to Heathen deities, one of which they call δικη, "vengeance"; see Act_28:4; nor to Satan, who is of a revengeful spirit, and is styled the enemy and the avenger; nor to men, unless to magistrates under God, who are revengers and executioners of his wrath on wicked men; otherwise it solely belongs to God the lawgiver, whose law is broken, and against whom sin is committed: and there is reason to believe he will "repay" it, from the holiness of his nature, the strictness of his justice, his power and faithfulness, his conduct towards his own people, even to his Son, as their surety; nor will he neglect, but in his own time will avenge his elect, which cry unto him day and night; and who therefore should never once think of avenging themselves, but leave it with their God, to whom it belongs. HENRY, “In deed (Rom_12:20): “If thine enemy hunger, as thou hast ability and opportunity, be ready and forward to show him any kindness, and do him any office of love for his good; and be never the less forward for his having been thine enemy, but rather the more, that thous mayest thereby testify the sincerity of thy forgiveness of him.” It is said of archbishop Cranmer that the way for a man to make him his friend was to do him an ill turn. The precept is quoted from Pro_25:21, Pro_25:22; so that, high as it seems to be, the Old Testament was not a stranger to it. Observe here, First, What we must do. We must do good to our enemies. “If he hunger, do not insult over him, and say, Now God is avenging me of him, and pleading my cause; do not make such a construction of his wants. But feed him.” Then, when he has need of thy help, and thou hast an opportunity of starving him and trampling upon him, then feed him (psōmize auton, a significant word) - “feed him abundantly, nay, feed him carefully and indulgently:” frustulatim pasce - feed him with small pieces, “feed him, as we do children and sick people, with much tenderness. Contrive to do it so as to express thy love. If he thirst, give him drink: potize auton - drink to him, in token of reconciliation and friendship. So confirm your love to him.” Secondly, Why we must do this. Because in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Two senses are given of this, which I think are both to be taken in disjunctively. Thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head; that is, “Thou shalt either,” 1. “Melt him into repentance and friendship, and mollify his spirit towards thee” (alluding to those who melt metals; they not only put fire under them, but heap fire upon them; thus Saul was melted and conquered with the kindness of David, 1Sa_24:16; 1Sa_26:21) - “thou wilt win a friend by it, and if thy kindness have not that effect then,” 2. “It will aggravate his condemnation, and make his malice against thee the more inexcusable. Thou wilt hereby hasten upon him the tokens of God's wrath and vengeance.” Not that this must be our intention in showing him kindness, but, for our encouragement, such will be the effect. To this purpose is the exhortation in the last vers, which suggests a paradox not easily understood by the world, that in all matters of strife and contention those that revenge are the conquered, and those that forgive are the conquerors. (1.) “Be not overcome of evil. Let not the evil of any provocation that is given you have such a power over you, or make such an impression upon you, as to dispossess you of yourselves, to disturb your peace, to destroy your love, to ruffle and discompose your spirits, to transport you to any indecencies, or to bring you to study or attempt any revenge.” He that cannot quietly bear an injury is perfectly conquered by it. (2.) “But overcome evil with good, with the good of patience and forbearance, nay, and of kindness and beneficence to those that wrong you. Learn to defeat their ill designs against you, and either to change them, or at least to preserve your own peace.” He that hath this rule over his spirit is better than the mighty. JAMISON, “avenge not, etc. — (See on Rom_12:14).
- 127. but rather giveplace unto wrath — This is usually taken to mean, “but give room or space for wrath to spend itself.” But as the context shows that the injunction is to leave vengeance to God, “wrath” here seems to mean, not the offense, which we are tempted to avenge, but the avenging wrath of God (see 2Ch_24:18), which we are enjoined to await, or give room for. (So the best interpreters). VWS, “Give place unto wrath (δόδόδόδότετετετε τότότότόπονπονπονπον τሀ ᆆργሀτሀ ᆆργሀτሀ ᆆργሀτሀ ᆆργሀ) Wrath has the article: the wrath, referring to the divine wrath. Give place is give room for it to work. Do not get in its way, as you will do by taking vengeance into your own hands. Hence as Rev., in margin, and American Rev., in text, give place unto the wrath of God. Vengeance is mine (ᅚµοᆳ ᅚκδίᅚµοᆳ ᅚκδίᅚµοᆳ ᅚκδίᅚµοᆳ ᅚκδίκησιςκησιςκησιςκησις) Lit., unto Me is vengeance. The Rev. brings out better the force of the original: Vengeance belongeth unto Me. The quotation is from Deu_32:35. Hebrew, To me belongs vengeance and requital. Septuagint, In the day of vengeance I will requite. The antithesis between vengeance by God and by men is not found in Deuteronomy. Compare Heb_10:30. Dante, listening to Peter Damiano, who describes the abuses of the Church, hears a great cry. Beatrice says: “The cry has startled thee so much, In which, if thou hadst understood its prayers, Already would be known to thee the vengeance Which thou shalt look upon before thou diest. The sword above here smiteth not in haste, Nor tardily, howe'er it seem to him Who, fearing or desiring, waits for it.” “Paradiso,” xxii, 12-18. Compare Plato: Socrates, “And what of doing evil in return for evil, which is the morality of the many - is that just or not? Crito, Not just. Socrates, For doing evil to another is the same as injuring him? Crito, Very true. Socrates, Then we ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to any one, whatever evil we may have suffered from him.... This opinion has never been held, and never will be held by any considerable number of persons” (“Crito,” 49). Epictetus, being asked how a man could injure his enemy, replied, “By living the best life himself.” The idea of personal vindictiveness must be eliminated from the word here. It is rather full meting out of justice to all parties. CALVIN, “19.Avenge not yourselves, etc. The evil which he corrects here, as we have reminded you, is more grievous than the preceding, which he has just stated; and yet both of them arise from the same fountain, even from an inordinate love of self and innate pride, which makes us very indulgent to our own faults and inexorable to those of others. As then this disease begets almost in all men a furious passion for revenge, whenever they are in the least degree touched, he commands here, that however grievously we may be INJURED , we are not to seek revenge, but to commit it to the Lord. And inasmuch as they do not easily admit the bridle, who are once seized with this wild passion, he lays, as it were, his hand upon us to restrain us, by kindly addressing us as beloved The precept; then is, — that we are not to revenge nor seek to revenge INJURIES done to us. The manner is added, a place is to be given to wrath. To give place to wrath, is to commit to the Lord the right of judging, which they take away from him who attempt revenge. Hence, as it is not lawful to usurp the office of God, it is not lawful to revenge; for we thus anticipate the judgment of God, who will have this office reserved for himself. He at the same time intimates, that they shall have God as their defender, who patiently wait for his help; but that those who anticipate him leave no place for the help of God. (397) But he prohibits here, not only that we are not to execute revenge with our own hands, but that our hearts also are not to be influenced by a desire of this kind: it is therefore superfluous to make a distinction here between public
- 128. and private revenge;for he who, with a malevolent mind and desirous of revenge, seeks the help of a magistrate, has no more excuse than when he devises means for self-revenge. Nay, revenge, as we shall presently see, is not indeed at all times to be sought from God: for if our petitions arise from a private feeling, and not from pure zeal produced by the Spirit, we do not make God so much our judge as the executioner of our depraved passion. Hence, we do not otherwise give place to wrath, than when with quiet minds we wait for the seasonable time of deliverance, praying at the same time, that they who are now our adversaries, may by repentance become our friends. For it is written, etc. He brings proof, taken from the song of Moses, Deu_32:35, where the Lord declares that he will be the avenger of his enemies; and God’ enemies are all who without cause oppress his servants. “ who touches you,” he says, “ the pupil of mine eye.” With this consolation then we ought to be content, — that they shall not escape unpunished who undeservedly oppress us, — and that we, by enduring, shall not make ourselves more subject or open to the INJURIES of the wicked, but, on the contrary, shall give place to the Lord, who is our only judge and deliverer, to bring us help. Though it be not indeed lawful for us to pray to God for vengeance on our enemies, but to pray for their conversion, that they may become friends; yet if they proceed in their impiety, what is to happen to the despisers of God will happen to them. But Paul quoted not this testimony to show that it is right for us to be as it were on fire as soon as we are INJURED , and according to the impulse of our flesh, to ask in our prayers that God may become the avenger of our injuries; but he first teaches us that it belongs not to us to revenge, except we would assume to ourselves the office of God; and secondly, he intimates, that we are not to fear that the wicked will more furiously rage when they see us bearing patiently; for God does not in vain take upon himself the office of executing vengeance. (397) Many have been the advocates of this exposition, [Chrysostom ], [Theophylact ], [Luther ], [Beza ], [Hammond ], [Macknight ], [Stuart ], etc. But there is no instance of the expression, “ give place,” having this meaning. In the two places where it occurs, it means to give way, to yield. See Luk_14:9; Eph_4:27. Then to give place to wrath, is to yield to and patiently to endure the wrath of the man who does the wrong. Some have maintained that the meaning is, that the INJURED man is to give place to his own wrath, that is, allow it time to cool: but this view comports not with the passage. The subject is, that a Christian is not to retaliate, or to return wrath for wrath, but to endure the wrath of his enemy, and to leave the matter in the hand of God. With this sense the quotation accords as much as with that given by [Calvin ]. Not a few have taken this view, [Basil ], [Ambrose ], [Drusius ], [Mede ], [Doddridge ], [Scott ], etc. — Ed. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. Avenge not yourselves The prohibition urged by such considerations as-- 1. Our own peace and happiness. There is nothing so wretched as the harassing disquietudes of angry and revengeful passions. The spirit of revenge is like the shelving rocks in the bottom of the deep, which cause the waters to boil in the foaming whirlpool--the spirit of forgiveness and love keeps the soul “Calm and unruffled as a summer sea.” 2. Self-partiality unfits us for measuring correctly the amount of injuries done to ourselves, and consequently the amount of vengeance due. No man is a proper judge in his own cause. 3. We are very incompetent judges of the motives by which others are actuated. We may inflict “vengeance” where there ought to be approbation and grateful reward. 4. When we do exceed in our vengeance, what is the consequence? All such excess is injury. This injury calls for revenge in return. Thus there is no prospect but of perpetuated wrong, and interminable hostility. Thus there is wisdom in the interdiction--Divine wisdom in Deity retaining the right to recompense in His own hands. He, and He
- 129. alone, can infalliblyappreciate the amount of culpability; and can alone, therefore, apportion the punishments. (R. Wardlaw, D.D.) The sinfulness of private revenge I. What this revenge is that is so sinful and dishonouring to God, whose province alone vengeance is. 1. There is a public and authoritative revenge, belonging to such as are invested with a lawful authority. This is necessary, and is done by the authority of God. Thus the magistrate has power to revenge wrongs in the state (Rom_13:4), Church-rulers in the Church (2Co_10:6), and MASTERS IN families (Gen_16:6). And persons wronged seeking redress from those to whom the public revenge belongs is a lawful thing (Luk_18:3). 2. There is a private and personal revenge which is sinful, viz., that-- (1) Taken by those in authority, out of ill-will to the wrongdoer. They are revengers to execute (Rom_13:4) not their own wrath, but God’s. (2) Sought from those in authority, which is neither necessary for the public good, nor the amendment of the offender, nor the safety of the parts HURT . Let those take heed who fly to their law pleading on every trifling occasion, just to gratify their own passion (Mat_5:40). (3) Taken by those not in authority nor acting in a public capacity, but at the command of their passion. (a) By words. The tongue is as real an instrument of revenge, as the hands, swords, or spears. (b) By deeds (Pro_26:29). (c) By omission of duty owing to the offending party, contrary to Rom_12:20. Besiegers may revenge themselves as much by starvation as by storming. II. The sinfulness and dishonour to God in this revenge. 1. It is directly opposite to the love of our neighbour, the fundamental law of the second table (Lev_19:18). 2. It is unjust violence, as assuming and exercising a power which God never gave us. And as unjust violence ever was so it will ever be highly dishonourable to God the Judge and Protector of all (Gen_6:11). Men are not left like beasts, among whom the stronger command the weaker; but God has set laws for both. 3. It cannot reach the true ends of revenge, which God hath settled, viz., the amendment of the party offending (Rom_13:14), the public good (Deu_19:20), and the safety of the wronged (1Ti_2:2). Private revenge only irritates the party smarting by it, gives a scandalous example to others, and involves the revenger and others in much trouble. 4. It is void of all equity: for in it a man is accuser, judge, and executioner, all in his own cause. Who would reckon that fair in another’s case? 5. It is an invading of authority, a taking out of their hand what God has put in it. Therefore the apostle immediately subjoins the duty of subjects and magistrates (chap 13.). Family revengers invade the Master’s authority; Church- revengers the authority of the Church-rulers; and civil revengers the office of the magistrate.
- 130. 6. It isan invading of the authority of God (Psa_94:1; Nah_1:2). He only is fit to have it in His hand: for He is omniscient; we know little, and are liable to mistakes; He is without passions, we are ready to be blinded by them: He is the common Father and Judge of all, most just and impartial, we are prejudiced in our own favours. III. Practical improvement. 1. We may hence take occasion to lament-- (1) The state of human nature in general. (2) The state of our nature in particular so ready to revenge. 2. It serves to reprove-- (1) Those who allow themselves in scolding those who they conceive have wronged them (2Sa_16:7- 8; Mat_4:31; Mat_5:22). (2) Those who end their quarrels in blows and fightings (Mat_26:52; Gal_5:19-21.) (3) Those who are sure to do an ill turn to those who have wronged them, if it lie in their power. (4) Those who make no conscience of doing their duty to those who have wronged them, but carry towards them as if their offence loosed them from all bonds of duty to them, and so satisfy their revenge (Mat_5:44-46). 3. Revenge not yourselves, but rather give place to the wrath of your adversary. To press this, I offer the following motives. (1) This is true excellency and bravery of spirit. (a) In this ye will resemble the spirit Jesus was actuated by (1Pe_2:23 : Luk_23:34). “Ye shall be as gods” was the height of ambition that men aspired to very soon. Behold an allowable way how we may be like our Lord! (b) Ye will show a generous contempt of the impotent malice of an evil world (Luk_21:19). The moon retains her brightness though the cur barks at her. (c) Ye will show yourselves MASTERS OF your own spirit (Pro_16:32). (d) Ye may overcome him that wrongs you (Rom_12:20). (2) Consider the wrong done to God by your revenging yourselves. Ye impeach-- (a) His justice, as if He, like Gallio, cared for none of there things. (b) His wisdom, saying in effect that God’s method of vengeance is not fitted to reach the end. (c) His veracity, and refuse to believe His word, that He will repay. (3) Revenge is a most ensnaring thing. It is a sacrifice to passion, and involves the soul in guilt sometimes past remedy. (4) It is inconsistent with peace with heaven and pardon (Mat_6:15).
- 131. 4. Objections: (1) TheScripture saith “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” Answer: That was the law, the execution of which was committed to the magistrate, and does not belong to private persons. (2) If we put up with one injury, we will get more. Answer: Verse 20 says not so. (3) It is not manly not to revenge affronts and wrongs. Answer: It is childishness. It is brutishness; anger a dog, and he will be ready to fly at your face. It is foolishness (Ecc_7:9). Was David not manly that revenged not himself on Saul? Saul says otherwise (1Sa_24:18-21). (4) How then should we do in the ease of affronts and wrongs? (a) Arm yourselves with meekness and patience. (b) Learn to bear with one another, and to be always ready to forgive (Col_3:13; Mat_18:21-22). (c) In matters of weight, where redress is necessary, apply to those for it who are vested with authority for that end (chap. 13:4). Only do it not from a spirit of revenge. (d) Where redress is not to be expected, put the matter in the Lord’s hand, and wait for Him (Pro_20:22). (e) Live by faith, keeping your eye on Christ the fountain of strength, the pattern of meekness, and on the judgment to come, when justice shall be done to every one. (T. Boston, D.D.) Revenge, a noble A letter from Lady Frederick Cavendish, written in answer to a request of the Rev. S. Lloyd, who had asked permission to dedicate to her a sermon upon the assassination of the Chief Secretary, said: “The Dublin disclosures do indeed teach the awful lesson contained in the last verse of the third chapter of 2 Samuel. You will, I am sure, forgive me if I beg you, before sending the MS. to the printers, to look through it first, with the special view of seeing if there is any word that could be turned into a desire for vengeance. You will readily understand how I must shrink from any such feeling. I would rather, as far as I reverently may, adopt the Lord’s prayer on the Cross--‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ The law, I know, must take its course, for the sake of the unhappy country itself. I pray that neither the unspeakable greatness of my sorrow nor the terrible wickedness of those men may ever blind either myself or any of the English people to the duty of patience, justice, and sympathy in our thoughts, words, and deeds with regard to Ireland and its people at large.” Revenge, meanness of Revenge is a cruel word: manhood, some call it; but it is rather doghood. The manlier any man is, the milder and more merciful, as Julius Caesar, who, when he had Pompey’s head presented to him, wept, and said, “I seek not revenge, but victory.” (J. Trapp.) Revenge, punishment of On him that takes revenge, revenge shall be taken; and by a real evil he shall dearly pay for the goods that are but airy and fantastical. It is like a rolling stone which, when a man hath forced up a hill, will return upon him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion. (Bp. Taylor.)
- 132. The Christian’s conductunder injury I. The occasion is common--arising out of 1. Human depravity in general; or-- 2. The hatred of wicked men to that which is good. II. The duty is plain-- 1. Bear with patience. 2. Yield to the wrong. 3. Leave it to the judgment of God. III. The reason is cogent. Vengeance-- 1. Is the prerogative of God. 2. Will certainly be executed. (J. Lyth, D.D.) “Avenge not yourselves” “What?” will be the reply, “when our memory is smarting with the sense of injury; when our neighbour has transgressed all the laws of God and man towards us, are we to show him that mercy which we do not receive? Are our hands to be tied by religion, while his are at full liberty? What security would there be then remaining for our property or our persons; and to what end are we to be mocked by these gifts of strength, or courage, which we are forbidden, even in self-defence, to employ?” 1. In answer to these objections, we may remark, first, that to repel or resist an injury is not forbidden. Self-defence is a very different tiring from revenge. The latter cannot plead necessity. 2. But, secondly, it is not only our duty to do our enemies no harm, we must if they need our assistance be reader to do them good, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.” And, strange as it may seem, this is the wisest as well as the most Christian course we can pursue. In the first place, by these acts of kindness we make our own task easier of combating our resentment and extinguishing every spark of malice in our hearts. Again, in point of safety, this is the best and surest course. If we are apprehensive of future injuries from our enemy, what method so likely to indispose him to mischief? But lastly, if it fall to conciliate him, there is One, at least, a mighty friend, a powerful defender, whose assistance we gain. God is on the side of the merciful. It is true, besides, that there is nothing to a proud temper so painful as to owe an obligation to an enemy. (Bp. Heber.) On conduct under wrongs
- 133. I. It isan important question, whether the object of revenge be really an enemy. Wrong may exist nowhere but in our own erring fancy, or diseased acuteness of feeling. II. But if the conduct of our neighbour have given us substantial HURT , another necessary question will next arise:--was the injury which he inflicted intentional? It is not impossible that we regard as a deliberate affront that which was intended as an act of the warmest kindness. How often are the affectionate warnings of a wise counsellor construed by a headstrong youth into an assumption of superiority? III. Suppose now that there exist both injury and malevolence; it yet remains for our attentive recollection, whether we were not, ourselves, the first aggressors? Did not our adversary inflict the wound in self-defence? in resistance of our improper deportment? IV. But indeed, in point of prudence, whether we ourselves were the original aggressors or not, a retorted offence is new matter of provocation, and almost infallibly ensures a reiterated blow. It may be that the wrath of the foe has spent itself in the first assault. He may have been satisfied; he may have forgotten you. What folly then will it now be to rekindle that flame which had died away of itself. V. In the next place it deserves continual remembrance, that revenge is not by any means our province. God alone is qualified to apportion the measure of retribution, because He alone has a full and exact view of the injury. Add to this, that there is something exceedingly preposterous and presumptuous in one sinful being’s becoming the judge and executioner of another. VI. If, however, it should be pretended, that thus wholly to transfer the exercise of recompense to the Almighty, or to His established vicegerent, is an effort of principle too difficult to be at all times expected from frail humanity, various and weighty considerations yet remain for overcoming an inclination to revenge. Hardly the most violent would deem resentment equitable, if the aggression, after inflicting a momentary pain, shall in the course of events, or by a combination of circumstances, have in any degree conduced to the advantage of the sufferer. That calumny which has humbled us in the opinion we had falsely conceived of ourselves, and reduced our mental stature to its just dimensions; any substantial injustice which has furnished us with experience of the deceitfulness of the world and introduced us to an acquaintance with true religion, ought surely to soften, even to dispel our ill-will towards the individual who hath been the unconscious bestower of these spiritual benefits. VII. This view of the subject suggests another of similar nature; I mean the propriety of regarding the wound we have sustained as having proceeded originally from God; and him whom we call our enemy as no more than the weapon of Divine justice which chastises, or of Divine goodness which seeks our amendment. The injury, viewed in this light, is invested with an air of sacredness, and anger appears to border on rebellion and impiety. VIII. Reflection on the present condition of our enemy will further be highly useful in appeasing a vindictive disposition. Without any retributive severity on our part, he may already be sufficiently punished. Malignity is unhappiness.
- 134. IX. Or shouldour adversary be a stranger to these delicate sensations, it will be yet well to remember, that the more destitute he is of virtue, so much the more is he an object of Divine displeasure. Shall we seek to overwhelm misery by adding the venom and lash of our malevolence to the sting of conscience, or the blow of Heaven? And even if all things in the present world go on smoothly with him, ought we not next to reflect that this enjoyment is probably but temporary? It may only be a gleam of sunshine, preparatory to a terrible storm. X. Yet if, in open defiance of all these cogent arguments, we will surrender ourselves to the inward fiend, and proceed to retaliate; we must not forget, when contemplating the present, or the probable recompense of our adversary’s injustice, that by this measure we render ourselves liable to all the same evils. We contract the internal disquietude and self-torment belonging to a malignant temper; we involve ourselves in the hazard of receiving present correction from above. XI. This leads us on to that great evangelical motive, which is more weighty and persuasive than all those that have preceded it: “if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you yours.” Who is he that shall look this plain proposition in the face, and continue for another moment to foster rancour against an enemy? XII. For practising the sacred, we may say emphatically, the Christian duty, which the various reasons now collected recommend, concluding motive presses itself upon our regard, in the examples held forth by Scripture. Among these the leading one is that of God Himself; and it is brought forward by our Lord, indeed, when enjoining the love of enemies (Mat_5:23-24). Even under the Jewish dispensation instances of this virtue, as prompted by the native impulse of a pious or tender disposition, are not wanting. Joseph wept on the necks and amply provided for the wants of his unkind brethren. David forgave Saul for his inveterate and unprovoked hatred. (J. Grant, M.A.) Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. I. Vengeance is the prerogative of God. He claims it-- 1. As the Supreme Ruler. 2. As the fountain of law. 3. As the Judge of all. II. Will inevitably be exercised upon evil doers, 1. This is essential to moral government. 2. Is affirmed by Scripture. 3. Abundantly sustained by example.
- 135. 4. Will beterribly demonstrated in the last day. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Vengeance belongs to God A person happened to complain in the hearing of a pious man of some conduct which had been manifested towards him by his neighbours, and concluded by saying that he had a large portion of vengeance in store for them. “You have stolen it, then,” was the answer; “for I know it does not belong to you of right, because God says, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.’” (Clerical Library.) Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him.-- Kindness to an enemy is I. Beautiful in its exhibitions. II. Magnanimous in its spirit. III. Christian in its suggestion. IV. Triumphant in its results. (J. Lyth, D.D.) The triumph of Christian love I. Is possible over the worst enemy. II. Is secured by kindness. 1. Treat him gently. 2. Minister to his need. 3. Especially seek his salvation. III. Is completed by patience. 1. These coals of fire may melt his heart.
- 136. 2. Must awakenshame. 3. And if he repent not will attract the just vengeance of God. (J. Lyth, D. D.) In so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.-- Does that mean that thou shalt be taking the most effectual means of melting him into a state of penitences--“As artists melt the sullen ore of lead, By heaping coals of fire upon its head”? or is there an allusion to the melting of wax; or to the hardening of clay; or to the practice of throwing firebrands upon the heads of besiegers of cities? Possibly there may have been no conscious reference to any one of these things. For, altogether apart from any such references, fire is frequently employed in Scripture as the symbol of any strong passion, or of the instrument by which it finds expression or works out its purposed result. “Our God is a consuming fire.” “Upon the wicked He shall rain snares,” etc. But the fire of God which descended to consume His people’s offerings was a token, not of kindling wrath, but of gracious acceptance. By a coal of that, the trembling prophet was purged from sin, and stood in assured favour. Love also, as well as anger, is as fire: the coals thereof are coals of fire, the fire-flame of Jehovah (Son_8:6). The Lord Jesus baptized His people with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And obviously these coals of fire, heaped upon the head of an adversary, are not coals of burning vengeance, but coals of fervent love, the fire-flame of Jehovah, adapted to melt down his hardness, and to win him for ever to virtue and to God. And if the result be really accomplished, you will have conquered an enemy, won an adoring friend, and saved a soul from death. (W. Tyson.) How to overcome an enemy I once took a nugget to a gold-melter to be assayed. A friend in the trade explained to me that it was not enough to subject the metal in the crucible to the greatest heat from under the pot: this would only heat the gold to the furnace-heat, but could not melt it into fluid, until the charcoal was put on the top of the crucible as well as under it; and then it would be molten. “Thus,” said he, “the Christian is bidden to soften down and subdue his hardest adversary in the Scriptural metaphor taken from our trade--‘If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for, in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,’ i.e., effectually melt and overcome him.” (J. B. Owen.) Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.-- Overcoming evil with good I. The import of the precept. 1. How evil may overcome us. 2. How we may overcome it. II. The excellence of it. 1. It counteracts our evil propensities. 2. Assimilates us to Christ.
- 137. 3. Promotes onearth the happiness of heaven. (J. Lyth, D.D.) Overcoming evil with good In the year 1818, Tomatoe, the king of Huahine, one of the South Sea islands, embraced the gospel. Some of the heathen islanders resolved on the destruction of him, and of those who, with him, had become followers of Christ. The enemy laid their plan, and had purposed to burn to death those whom they seized. But the plot was discovered; the small band of Christians were on the shore in readiness to meet their foes as they leaped from their canoes, and soon gained a complete victory. And now these heathens looked for nothing but death, and that a cruel death. How great, then, was their surprise when the Christians assured them that they meant not to touch a hair of their head, because Jesus had taught them to treat kindly their bitterest foes! They went further--they prepared a sumptuous feast, and asked the captives to sit down and partake. Some of these were so amazed as to be unable to taste. At last one of them arose (one of the heathen leaders), declared himself no longer a follower of helpless idols, stated his cruel intentions had he been successful, but that this utterly unlooked-for kindness of the Christians had fairly overcome him, so that he could only admire their humanity and mercy. The result of all was that in a few days every idol in the island had been cast away; for the heathen, melted by all this kindness, joined the Christians. Overcome evil with good The text sets before us two things, and bids us choose the better. You must either be overcome of evil, or you must yourself overcome evil. The words remind me of the Scotch officer who said to his regiment, “Lads, there they are: if ye dinna kill them they’ll kill you.” Overcome, or be overcome. There is no avoiding the conflict; may we be as ignorant of what it is to be vanquished as the British drummer boy who did not know how to beat a retreat. With regard to the evil of personal injury-- I. The common method is to overcome evil with evil. “Give him a Roland for his Oliver.” “Give him as good as he sends.” “Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.” “Be six to his half dozen.” I might go on with a score of proverbs all inculcating the sentiment of meeting evil with evil. 1. This is a most natural procedure. You need not train your children to it; they will of their own accord beat the post against which they stumble. But to which part of us is it natural? To the new nature or the animal in us? “Good for evil is Godlike; good for good is man-like: evil for good is devil-like; evil for evil,”--what is that? Beast-like. Surely we cannot allow the lower part of our triple nature to dictate to our heaven-born spirit. That returning evil for evil looks like rough and ready justice I admit, but is any man prepared to stand before God on the same terms? 2. It is very easy. If you make it a rule that nobody shall ever treat you with disrespect without meeting his match, you need not pray God to help you. The devil will help you, and between the two the thing may be very easily managed. But is that which is so easy to the very worst of men the right procedure for those who ought to be the best of men? 3. By many it has been judged the more manly course. Years ago a gentleman felt it necessary to wipe out an insult with blood. The spirit of Christianity has by degrees overcome this evil, but even now to be gentle is considered to be unworthy of a man of spirit. Now there is but one model of a Christian man, and that is the man Christ Jesus, and whatever is Christly is manly. Hear, then, how He rebukes John for calling for fire to consume the Samaritans, and Peter for assaulting Malchus, and His prayer for His murderers. 4. It does not succeed. Nobody ever overcame evil by confronting it with evil. Such a course increases the evil. When a great fire is blazing it is a strange way of putting it out to pump petroleum upon it. And what is worse, when we assail evil with evil it injures us most. Our enemies are not worth putting ourselves out about, and ten minutes of a palpitating heart, and of a disturbed circulation, causes us greater real damage in body than an enemy could inflict in seven years. Let us not so please our foes. Evil for evil is an edged tool which cuts the man who uses it: a kind of cannon which is most dangerous to those who fire it, both in its discharge and in its recoil. If you wished to destroy your enemy it would be wise to make him a present of it.
- 138. 5. It doesnot bear inspection. If we cannot pray about it, or praise about it, or think about it on our death-bed, let us let it alone. II. The Divine method of overcoming evil with good. 1. This is a very elevated mode of procedure. “Ridiculous!” says one; “Utopian,” cries another. Well, if it be difficult I commend it to you because it is so; what is there which is good which is not also difficult? Soldiers of Christ love those virtues most which cost them most. 2. It preserves the man from evil. If evil assails you, and you only fight it with good, it cannot HURT you, you are invulnerable. If a man has slandered you, but you never return him a reproachful word, he has not hurt your real character; the dirt which he has thrown has missed you, for you have none to throwback upon him. The very thing your enemy wants is to make you descend to his level, but, as long as you remain unprovoked, you vanquish him. Believe me, you are provoking your adversary terribly if you are quite calm yourself, you are disappointing him, he cannot insert his poisoned darts, for you are clad in armour of proof. 3. It is the very best weapon of offence against the opposer. William Ladd had a farm in one of the states of America, and his neighbour Pulsifer’s sheep were very fond of a fine field of grain belonging to Mr. Ladd, and were in it continually. Complaints were of no use, so one morning Ladd said to his men, “ Set the dogs on those sheep, and if that won’t keep them out, shoot them.” After he had said that, he thought to himself, “This will not do. I had better try the peace principle.” So he countermanded the order, and rode over to see his neighbour about those troublesome sheep. “Neighbour,” said he, “I have come to see you about those sheep.” “Yes,” Pulsifer replied, “I know. You are a pretty neighbour, and a rich man, too, and going to shoot a poor man’s sheep!” Then followed some strong language, but Ladd replied, “I am sorry for it; but, neighbour, we may as well agree. It seems I have got to keep your sheep, and it won’t do to let them eat all that grain, so I came over to say that I will take them into my homestead pasture and I will keep them all the season.” Pulsifer looked confounded, and, when he found that Ladd was in earnest, said, “The sheep sha’n’t trouble you any more. When you talk about shooting, I can shoot as well as you; but when you speak in that kind way I can be kind too.” The sheep never trespassed on Ladd’s lot any more. That is the way to kill a bad spirit. It is much the same as when a certain duke proclaimed war against a peaceful neighbour, who was resolved not to fight. The troops came riding to the town, and found the gates open as on ordinary occasions. The children were playing in the streets, and the people were at work; and so, pulling up their horses, the soldiers inquired, “Where is the enemy?” “We don’t know, we are friends.” What was to be done under the circumstances but to ride home? So it is in life, if you only meet evil with good, the bad man’s occupation is gone. 4. Sometimes it is the means of the conversion of evil men. Some years ago a wicked sailor was engaged in tarring a vessel, and there came along an old Christian man. One of the sailor’s mates said, “Jack, you could not provoke that man.” Jack was quite sure he could, and it became the subject of a wager. The wicked fellow took his bucket of tar, and threw it right over the good old man. The old man turned round and calmly said to him, “Christ has said that he who offends one of His little ones will find that it were better for him that a mill-stone had been tied about his neck, and that he were cast into the sea: now, if I am one of Christ’s little ones, it will be very bad for you.” Jack slunk back dreadfully ashamed of himself. What was more, the old man’s quiet face haunted him; and those tremendous words broke him down before the mercy-seat. He asked and found pardon; he sought out the old man, confessed his fault, and received forgiveness. Now suppose the old man had turned round on him, who could have blamed him? But then there would have been no triumph of grace in the Christian, and no conversion in the sinner. 5. It reflects great honour upon Christ. When one of the martyrs was being tortured the tyrant said to him, “And what has your Christ ever done for you that you should bear this?” He replied, “He has done this for me, that in the midst of all my pain, I do nothing else but pray for you.” Ah, Lord Jesus, Thou hast taught us how to conquer, for Thou hast conquered. Conclusion: Everything that is admirable may be said of this method of overcoming evil with good. 1. A Christian man is the noblest work of God, and one of his noblest features is readiness to forgive. The Emperor Adrian, before he reached the throne, had been grievously insulted. When he had attained the imperial purple he
- 139. met the manwho had used him ill. The guilty person was, of course, dreadfully afraid of his mighty foe. Adrian cried out, “Approach. You have nothing to fear; I am an Emperor!” Did this heathen feel that his dignity lifted him above the meanness of revenge? Then let those whom Christ has made kings unto God scorn to render evil for evil. 2. Good for evil is congruous with the spirit of the gospel. Were we not saved because the Lord rendered to us good for evil? 3. This spirit is the Spirit of God, and he that hath it becomes like to God. (C. H. Spurgeon.) On revenge I. The revengeful man is overcome by various evils, 1. By his passions, which subdue his reason. He becomes the author of slavery to himself, and is his own tyrant. 2. An angry man is not only enslaved by his passions, but he is frequently overcome by his adversary. Fury and rage generally defeat their own designs, by taking men wholly off their guard, and leaving them open to the attacks of their more wary opponents. 3. A revengeful passionate man is in danger of being overcome in a yet worse sense; he is in danger of being hurried into such crimes as will not only affect his peace and reputation at present, but will hazard his eternal happiness hereafter. II. Some considerations to enable men to subdue a revengeful temper, and to prevent the ill effects of it. 1. He who finds himself naturally addicted to passion ought to guard perpetually against the first tendencies to resentment in his mind. 2. It will probably be of use to the persons for whose service this discourse is intended, to let them know the opinion of wise men concerning this spirit of revenge. And, in their sense, it is owing to a littleness of mind, while they who have studied human nature have observed that men of the weakest capacities are generally most liable to it. This is the concurring opinion both of ancient poets and philosophers; and hence it was, no doubt, that a great man observed, “that the vulgar wrote their injuries on marble, but their benefits on sand.” It was also finely said by Cicero, that “Caesar forgot nothing but injuries”; and a distinguished person among the moderns, when his memory was appealed to for the support of an invidious story, replied, “he remembered to forget it.” III. Let me endeavour to exhort you to study and be reconciled to your own true interest. 1. Whenever you meet with anything shocking in the common behaviour of life, whenever you are alarmed by unpremeditated offences, remember your own frailties, remember your God, infinitely indulging to these frailties; and from these motives be forbearing, forgiving to others. 2. Happy is the man who can attain to this mastery of morality, and gain that command of passion and superiority of judgment which is necessary to carry him on sweetly through all the ruffles of human life. The possessor of such a temper may be said to have in him the virtue of the load-stone, he wins the affections of others to himself, draws them insensibly to his own point, and leads them, by degrees, into the same good-natured disposition he enjoys. 3. This amiable temper does not only conciliate the goodwill and esteem of men towards us, but peculiarly entitles
- 140. us to thepraise of being formed after the image of God. (J. Smedley, M.A.) Charity and kind offices, the best conquest over an enemy The advice is short, comprised in a few words; but it is withal full and instructive, and carries a great deal of good matter in it. The apostle’s manner of wording the thing is observable; for there is a particular force and beauty in the very expression. Being sensible that the forgiving an injury or the not revenging it is commonly looked upon as a kind of yielding to an adversary (which is what the pride of human nature is most averse to), he prudently anticipates the thought, and gives it quite another turn, insinuating that all desire of revenge is yielding and submitting to an enemy; is as much as confessing that he has disturbed us to that degree, that we are no longer able to command our temper and to be really masters of ourselves. Overflowing with rage and resentment upon such occasions is betraying a littleness of mind, and proclaiming our own defeat. I. Be not overcome of evil. Suffer not any affront to get the better of you. 1. Let not any affront or injury have the superiority over your reason, considering yourself now only as a man, without taking in the additional consideration of your being a Christian also. A passionate furious warrior neither sees an advantage nor knows how to use it; while he is all fire, and no conduct, he does but expose his forces, and at length becomes himself an easy prey to the enemy. But a man of cool and steady courage, who does nothing precipitately, he is the man that maintains his ground, and comes off victorious in the end. 2. But further, to advance to a yet higher consideration, put the case thus: Suffer not any affronts or injuries to get the better of your piety, or of your duty towards God. God permits us not to revenge, or resent our own wrongs. This is no more than every MASTER OF a family will demand; that any disputes in his family among his servants be decided by him, and left to his censure and correction. But a question here arises by the way, whether, after a man has referred his cause to God, laying aside all thoughts of revenging himself, he may then pray to God to avenge him, or may take pleasure in observing that the Divine vengeance has fallen down upon his adversary. Much may be pleaded on both sides. What seems to me to come nearest to the truth, is as follows: The peace of the world is much concerned in this--that we never avenge ourselves but refer all vengeance to God. This is the main thing; and if this be carefully observed, we may be the less solicitous about the rest. There is a just pleasure which a good man may take, in seeing the Divine vengeance fall upon very bad men, because such men are enemies to mankind; and so rejoicing in their fall is rejoicing in the public goeth And for the same reason it may not be improper, in some cases, to beg of God to curb or punish them, in such a way as His wisdom shall see proper. And it is of such cases as these that I understand some Scripture-imprecations, if they be really such; which, besides, were pronounced by persons extraordinarily commissioned to imprecate, as from God. As to private injuries, in which the public is very little or not at all concerned, there, as I conceive, is no room left for rejoicing in the Divine judgments upon the adversaries; first, because we are very uncertain whether those judgments are brought upon them on any such account as we might fondly suppose; and next, because, as we are all sinners, we know not whether we ourselves are not justly liable to the same or greater. 3. Having shown how we ought not to suffer any offence or injury to get-the better of our piety towards God, I have but one step more to advance; namely, not to suffer it to prevail over our charity towards man. This article I make distinct from the former, inasmuch as not taking revenge upon an adversary is one thing, and doing him kind offices is another. I say then, let not any injurious usage of an enemy prevent our doing him good. II. Overcome evil with good. This implies all the kind offices towards an enemy which we are capable of doing, consistent with our own safety, or with our obligations to others. Our blessed Lord’s instructions upon this head may serve as a good comment upon this part of the text (Mat_5:44-45). 1. The overcoming evil with good, may be understood of conquering an enemy by kindness, so that he may cease to malign us; for then the evil is overcome, as it is put an end to. Such a conduct contributes much to the peace of society, and to the general good of mankind, which is alone sufficient to recommend if with every wise and
- 141. considering man. Andthat it may not be suspected that there is anything of tameness or mean-spiritedness in this conduct, the advantage in point of dignity and esteem really lies on the side of the good-natured and peaceable man. There is a greatness of mind shown in being above little piques and childish altercations. There is triumph and conquest seen in the command a man has over his own temper and passions. 2. That there is yet another kind of conquest to be obtained, by persevering in doing good against evil. For though you do not thus conquer the man’s pride or ill nature, yet you conquer your own passions. There is a kind of contest and emulation in such a case which shall be first weary and vanquished, the malice and iniquity of one, or the patience and goodness of the other. He who abides in doing good against evil may be said to be a person of invincible kindness and generosity, unconquerable love and charity. 3. I know but one objection of any moment against this conduct, which is this: that it may seem to give too much encouragement to malicious men to persist in their iniquity, and may also strengthen their hands against ourselves to do us the more mischief. To which I answer that, were it really true that it carried this single inconvenience with it; yet, so long as there are innumerable conveniences on the other side, more than sufficient to counterbalance it, this single difficulty ought to be no objection against it. But I have this thing to add further; that the principles which I have been maintaining do not oblige a man to lay himself open to his enemy, or to give himself up into his power. He may do him kind offices, without making a friend or a confidant of him; may oblige and serve him without running into his arms. The Scripture bids us be kind and generous; and yet bids us also beware of ill men, and not to deliver ourselves up thoughtlessly into their hands. Love and charity are one thing, easiness and folly another. (D. Waterland, D.D.) Wrath conquered by love A very good man once said, “If there is any one particular temper I desire more than another, it is the grace of meekness; quietly to bear ill-treatment, to forget and forgive; and at the same time that I am sensible I am injured, not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.” But this sentiment, be it remembered, could be learned only from heaven. It did not belong to the systems of heathen philosophy. At the dawn of the age of mercy, a Pliny said, but had learned the sentiment from that very religion he affected to despise, “I esteem him the best good man, who forgives others, as though he were every day faulty himself; and who at the same time abstains from faults, as if he pardoned no one.” But it was One from heaven who came down in all the amiableness of God, and taught the world principles of kindness; that to forgive is possible, and that the meek are blessed. I. When may it be considered that one is overcome of evil? This is a calamity that may doubtless happen to the good man, but is a matter of every day’s occurrence to the multitudes of the ungodly. I remark, then, that a man is overcome of evil-- 1. When ill-treatment excites the angry passions, and produces harsh and ill-natured language. This unhappy result was perhaps the very design of the onset. The foe has gained his whole object, and his antagonist is vanquished. 2. One is still more completely overcome of evil, when he settles down into confirmed hatred of the offender. By suffering anger to rest in his bosom, he becomes in God’s esteem a fool. 3. One is overcome of evil when he indulges designs of revenge. We suffer ourselves to be driven from the delightful duty of doing good to all men, the only post where we can be happy. 4. We are overcome of evil, when the ill-treatment of one leads us to suspect the friendship of others. Our apprehensions are the very demons that break the tie of friendship, and dissolve the bonds of brotherhood. They beget distance, caution, jealousy, and neglect, and the result is abandonment and hatred. 5. We are more yet completely overcome of evil, when abuse begets habitual sourness of temper. 6. One is overcome of evil, when he attempts unnecessarily a public vindication of his character. I say
- 142. unnecessarily, for itcannot be denied that a good man, without his wish, may be forced into such a measure. Often is this the very object which some malicious foe would accomplish. II. How may we save ourselves from the shame and injury of being thus vanquished? 1. He who would designedly injure us does himself a greater injury. There is in nature, or rather in the Divine purpose, a principle of prompt and powerful reaction. Let one attack your character, and sure as life he hurts his own. Let him spread an ill report, and that report will recoil upon his own reputation. Or would he merely disturb your peace, let him but alone, and his own peace is injured more than yours. God can give you a peace that nothing can disturb. If you must unjustly suffer, God can support you and comfort you, but this He will not do for the man who wrongs you. Now if the man who intended to injure us has wounded himself, then we should pity him, and pray for him, and not study a duplicate revenge. 2. If we resist evil we are invariably injured. The foe is the more courageous, the more fierce and prompt the repulse he meets with. He exhibits now a prowess that he could never have summoned, had he coped with mere non-resistance. A slanderous report is repeated and magnified, because it has been wrathfully contradicted. 3. It will calm us in an hour of onset to feel that wicked men are God’s sword. 4. It will be a timely and sweet reflection, for a period of abuse, that ill-treatment is among the all things that shall work together for our good. 5. It should ever be our reflection in the hour of attack, that to be like Christ we must not resist evil 6. Finally, there is the direct command of God. No precept can be more binding than the text. A Christian is but a pardoned rebel, and may not avenge himself. And all others may well fear to be vindictive, lest wrath come upon them to the uttermost. With the same measure that we mete, it shall be measured to us again. III. How may we overcome evil with good? 1. To do this will require the sacrifice of bad passions. The unrenewed heart has a keen relish for revenge. 2. If one treats us unkindly we must treat him well. If he defame, let us say the kindest things possible of him. If he hurt our interest, let us advance his. If he will not oblige us, we must do kindnesses to him. If he deals reproach, we must practise no retort. (D. A. Clark.) How to conquer evil (children’s sermon):--One of our most familiar proverbs tells us that “two blacks do not make a white,” which means that whether other people do right or wrong, we must always try to do right. We must try to conquer badness by goodness. I. Overcome evil tempers with good temper. Some one is very cross with you. Your natural impulse is to be just as cross in return. But to do that is to own yourself beaten, and no Englishman likes to be defeated. Besides, it will be like pouring oil upon the flame of the angry person. Then try the opposite plan. Return a smile for a frown; courtesy for rudeness. It will not be long before you win the day. There was once a quarrel between the wind and the sun. Each claimed to be the strongest, and one morning they agreed to put their powers to the proof. A traveller had just set out well wrapt up in a warm overcoat, and the wind challenged the sun to see which of them could make him take off his coat. So it swept down from the N.E.,
- 143. and howled pastthe poor traveller; but the harder it blew, the closer he buttoned his coat, and at last the wind gave up in despair. Then the sun began to peep out, and as the wind fell, and the sunshine became, more powerful, the traveller loosed first one button and then another, until his coat was quite unfastened. And the sun kept on shining until the traveller took his coat right off. Then the wind acknowledged that the sun was mightier. It is just so in our lives. If one meets you who wears a shabby coat of ill-temper, your frowning won’t make him lay it aside. But, if you meet him with a smile, he will soon throw it away in disgust. II. Overcome evil words with good words. In olden times the sword was the principal weapon in war, and soldiers used to learn to do very wonderful feats. They would split a splinter as it stood erect upon the table, or divide an apple upon your hand without letting the edge of the sword touch your palm. But the hardest feat was to cut through a down pillow. In the sieges of those days soldiers used great battering rams to knock down the walls. But those who were inside used to let down bags of chaff and beds, and the strokes, which would have made a breach in the solid walls, fell quite harmlessly upon these soft cushions. Both the sword and the ram found soft things to be the hardest to penetrate. The best defence against the weapons of anger is not harshness, but gentleness. A little boy was one day playing where there was an echo. “Hallo!” he shouted. “Hallo!” said Echo. “Who are you?” he asked. “Who are you?” was the reply. And he fancied that some other boy was mocking him, and became very angry. “Why don’t you come out?” he cried. “Come out!” answered Echo. Quite exasperated, he shouted, “I’ll fight you!” and the voice replied,: “Fight you!” Then the little fellow ran home and told his mother that there was a boy in the forest who mocked him and made fun of him and threatened to fight him. And his wise mother, who knew all about the echo, smiled, and said, “Run out again and shout, ‘I love you,’ and see what answer comes.” So the child ran out and shouted “I love you,” and Echo replied, “I love you.” Is it not a beautiful lesson? If you make faces before the mirror, you see all the ugly looks reflected on its bright surface. And so the people around us often reflect our own temper and speech. “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” III. Overcome evil deeds with good deeds. This is what the apostle especially refers to in our text. There was a publichouse where many young men used to gather on the Lord’s day, and an old man named William Haywood was grieved to see so many treading the path of the destroyer. So he used to take his stand outside the windows, sing “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow”; and then, with earnest pleading, warn the revellers of their folly and sin, and point them to Christ. This made these wild young fellows very angry, and one day one of them, who had filled a pail with foul water, came behind him and emptied it on his head. They thought that would anger him beyond endurance, and that he would be ashamed to talk to them any more. But no. The old man exclaimed: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name!” And then, falling on his knees, he prayed for the reckless men. They were melted by his words, and slunk away; and the ringleaders became devoted Christians. Oh! if boys and girls would learn this lesson, what happy homes there would be! In most cases it seems to be quite otherwise. A brother and sister come to words about a mere trifle, and words lead to blows, and perhaps for many days these foolish children will spite one another, and make each other miserable. (G. H. James.) Evil overcome A delegate of the Christian Commission, passing among the wounded at Gettysburg, said to a wounded confederate officer, “Colonel, can I do anything for you?” “No!” was his defiant reply. The offer was repeated, after a time, with like result. The air became offensive from heat and wounds. The delegate offered to put cologne on his handkerchief. The officer, bursting into tears, said, “I have no handkerchief.” “You shall have one,” said the delegate, wetting his own, and giving it to him. The subdued rebel said, “I can’t understand you Yankees: you fight us like devils, and then you treat us like angels. I am sorry I entered this war.” The power of good over evil 1. Christianity, it has been said, is deficient in the masculine virtues. Our answer is that in this chapter you have a
- 144. the world: thevirtue of hatred. We are to abhor what is evil. Christianity is not deficient in contending power. She recognises that there is an enemy to be fought, and she is determined to contend against it. 2. But it may be said, “Hatred of evil is not victory over it; and it is an imbecile kind of virtue which contents itself with indignation and does not apply itself to some remedy.” The apostle gives the remedy. Because we abhor evil we will not therefore be overcome by evil; we will not ally ourselves with any evil, even though we imagine that the alliance will give us a transient victory over it. The only weapon wherewith we will encounter it is good. 3. But is it possible to overcome evil with good? I. The teaching of all our experience is that this is the best method of encountering evil. There are two methods by which we may oppose evil; the one is the method of impulse, the other of reflection. In the first heat of virtuous indignation, we are inclined to cry out, “Away with such a fellow from the world; it is not fit that he should live.” But that is only making the alliance, for the moment, with the evil, to overcome it. Now the other method is far better. It says, “I will not meet persecution with violence, falsehood with falsehood. Against falsehood I will present truth, against violence righteousness.” Let me appeal to the simplest spheres within the experience of man. 1. Take the physical sphere. The ancient theory regarding disease was that the element of evil must be expelled at all costs, and the result of medical treatment was the utter weakening of the patient, his death often, in the endeavour to secure his cure. But a milder and a wiser spirit has gradually grown up, and men have come to see that they must support, by every means, the life within the man. Give the patient vigour, and the natural forces will cast off the evil. 2. How do you deal with your children? Are you trying to teach them to excel in any particular art by pointing out their faults and failures? You know that is not the way to success. You may criticise if you will; but the spirit of criticism has never educated any one. The spirit of appreciation, the spirit of imitation--these are the secrets of power. 3. It is true also in moral matters. There are three great enemies which assail us in the three different periods of our life. (1) The child has its enemy--the spirit of energetic force which is longing for some occupation. How long will you deal with the child whose mere animal restlessness has become troublesome to you? Do you believe in the virtue of teaching him to sit still? No; you give him something to do. You withhold him from the evil by giving him the good. (2) Later comes the other passion. The energy begins to show itself in attachments and enthusiasms to hero worship, or the worship of womanhood. Are you going to meet that with the everlasting “Nay”? If so, you create a miserable failure, because you give no fair opportunity for the sweet and ennobling attachments of life; you forget to overcome the evil by giving it the good. (3) Later on, life has lost the elasticity of youth, and you have reached the time when your great desire is quietude. There comes upon you sorrow and bereavement and loss, and your cry to kindly friends, who gather round you with their fussy sympathy, is, “Let me alone that I may bewail myself a little.” The man of sorrow who has felt the vacant chaff well meant for grain that his fellows have flung as something to satisfy the hunger of his sorrow--do not tell him to forget, to cease to grieve; tell him that sorrow is the dowry of God upon the heart that can love, and that there is no experience of God that is not in itself the promise of some new power; and, therefore, the opportunity of some wider usefulness. Give him occupation; tell him of the activities of sympathy which are really the natural result and desires of the heart that sorrows truly, and his soul will wake up; he will see the life that he thought useless is useless no longer. You overcome, then, the evil by the good. 4. It is true also in the religious world. Israel’s evil was idolatry. The prophets spoke and the prophets failed; and at last came the terrible penalty--the Exile, which purged out the old leaven. But there was no positive element in their religious life. When they returned they did not worship gods, but they idolised themselves, and Phariseeism grew upon the ruins of the overthrown idolatry of the past. Then came God manifest in the flesh, and men have since found in Him who is to be loved and reverenced, that there was the good that was to expel the evil.
- 145. II. It isirrational to suppose that we can overcome it in any other way, for this reason:--There are three elements in the consideration; and he who seeks for mere antagonism to kill the evil-- 1. Forgets the man. For what is your idea about evil? Is it a thing that is so part of man’s manhood that his very individuality is concerned in it, or is it like a disease? The truth is that the evil is in the man; and hence your aim is not to kill the man, but rather to deliver him from the power of evil. To meet, therefore, evil by violence, by the spirit which makes an easy alliance with the very wrongs which are denounced of God, fails of its purpose, for it kills in its attempt to cure. 2. Forgets the law. If we have any faith in the moral order of the universe, our answer to every temptation to meet evil with evil is this, “I grant it might answer to-day; but am I sure it would answer in the long run?” Our Master was tempted for the great gain to do the little wrong. But His answer was No! and that must be ours. And why? Because the laws that govern the world are the laws of righteousness. It is never worth while to do evil that good may come. (1) This is written large upon the history of the world. You never can carry on the progress of the world if you, at every provocation and delay, impatiently grasp hold of the law, and subvert the very principles on which the world has been built. (2) It is written large in the story of the Church. Whenever she followed the arms of the enemy it turned against her; her right hand forgot her cunning; she became the travesty of her former self--no longer in gorgeous array, going forth conquering and to conquer, but livid with the power of that evil with which she became incorporated. You cannot challenge the victorious and eternal laws of God, and you can only meet and overcome the evil by the good. 3. Forgets God; for suppose we are tempted to make use of some transient evil to achieve some great good. The little falsehood, the little elasticity of conscience, declares that you do not believe that God is eternally good, and that you believe in the energy of evil more than in the energy of good. But the Cross tells us that victory lies in the hands of him who will use the Divine weapons and eschew the carnal ones; by that Christ overcame evil with good. (Bp. Boyd Carpenter.) The Christian and his adversaries There are-- I. Adversaries of the gospel. It is a mistake to say that these are now more numerous or formidable than they were. The “higher criticism,” the antagonism of modern science to the Bible, etc., only present in a 1. We are overcome with evil if we indulge in a spirit of mere antagonism. Those against whom we have to contend need the gospel, and have the same right to a share in its provision as ourselves. A spirit of self-righteousness may dispose us to look down upon them, and a feeling of uncharitableness may lead us to provoke them with our denunciations. We may be more anxious to overwhelm an adversary than to win a soul. We forget that Christ bears with them, and so our zeal becomes unchrist-like. 2. But we are not less overcome with evil if we speak in a tone which betrays an indifference to the truth. Desire to win the champions of error, the effort to do them more than justice, must not degenerate into a latitudinarian charity. To shrink from the faithful exposure of error, lest the feelings of some should be wounded, to talk as though
- 146. sincerity were everything,this is to abuse liberty, and thus to be overcome with evil. 3. There is a more excellent way, and that is to overcome error by confronting it with the truth. The effort of the Christian should not be always to meet objections, but rather to exhibit the gospel in its own simplicity. Many a heart, perplexed by the adversaries’ subtleties, and bewildered by our best answers, would be won by a faithful proclamation of the truth. MACLARE , “STILL ANOTHER TRIPLET Rom_12:19 - Rom_12:21. The natural instinct is to ANSWER enmity with enmity, and kindliness with kindliness. There are many people of whom we think well and like, for no other reason than because we believe that they think well of and like us. Such a love is really selfishness. In the same fashion, dislike, and alienation on the part of another naturally reproduce themselves in our own minds. A dog will stretch its neck to be patted, and snap at a stick raised to strike it. It requires a strong effort to master this instinctive tendency, and that effort the plainest principles of Christian morality require from us all. The precepts in our text are in twofold form, negative and positive; and they are closed with a general principle, which includes both these forms, and much more besides. There are two pillars, and a great lintel coping them, like the trilithons of Stonehenge. I. We deal with the negative precept. ‘Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto wrath.’ Do not take the law into your own hands, but leave God’s way of retribution to work itself out. By avenging, the Apostle means a passionate redress of PRIVATE wrongs at the bidding of personal resentment. We must note how deep this precept goes. It prohibits not merely external acts which, in civilised times are restrained by law, but, as with Christian morality, it deals with thoughts and feelings, and not only with deeds. It forbids such natural and common thoughts as ‘I owe him an ill turn for that’; ‘I should like to pay him off.’ A great deal of what is popularly called ‘a proper spirit’ becomes extremely improper if tested by this precept. There is an eloquent word in German which we can only clumsily reproduce, which christens the ugly pleasure at seeing misfortune and calls it ‘joy in others’ disasters.’ We have not the word; would that we had not the thing! A solemn reason is added for the difficult precept, in that frequently misunderstood saying, ‘Give place unto wrath.’ The question is, Whose wrath? And, plainly, the subsequent words of the section show that it is God’s. That quotation comes from Deu_32:35. It is possibly unfortunate that ‘vengeance’ is ascribed to God; for hasty readers lay hold of the idea of passionate resentment, and transfer it to Him, whereas His retributive action has in it no resentment and no passion. Nor are we to suppose that the thought here is only the base one, they are sure to be punished, so we need not trouble. The Apostle points to the solemn fact of retribution as an element in the Divine government. It is not merely automatically working laws which recompense evil by evil, but it is the face of the Lord
- 147. which is inexorablyand inevitably set ‘against them that do evil.’ That recompense is not hidden away in the future behind the curtain of death, but is realised in the present, as every evil-doer too surely and bitterly experiences. ‘Vengeance is mine, I will REPAY , saith the Lord.’ God only has the right to recompense the ungodly and the sinner as well as the righteous. Dwelling in such a system as we do, how dares any one take that work into his hands? It requires perfect knowledge of the true evil of an action, which no one has who cannot read the heart; it requires perfect freedom from passion; it requires perfect immunity from evil desert on the part of the avenger; in a word, it belongs to God, and to Him alone. We have nothing to do with apportioning retribution to desert, either in private actions or in the treatment of so-called criminals. In the latter our objects should be reformation and the safety of society. If we add to these retribution, we transcend our functions. II. Take the POSITIVE ,-Follow God’s way of meeting hostility with beneficence. The hungry enemy is to be fed, the thirsty to be given drink; and the reason is, that such beneficence will ‘heap coals of fire upon his head.’ The negative is not enough. To abstain from vengeance will leave the heart unaffected, and may simply issue in the cessation of all intercourse. The reason ASSIGNED sounds at first strange. It is clear that the ‘coals of fire’ which are to be heaped on the head are meant to melt and soften the heart, and cause it to glow with love. There may be also included the burning pangs of shame felt by a man whose evil is answered by good. But these are secondary and auxiliary to the true end of kindling the fire of love in his alienated heart. The great object which every Christian man is bound to have in view is to win over the enemy and melt away misconceptions and hostility. It is not from any selfish regard to one’s own personal ease that we are so to act, but because of the sacred regard which Christ has taught us to cherish for the blessing of peace amongst men, and in order that we may deliver a brother from the snare, and make him share in the joys of fellowship with God. The only way to burn up the evil in his heart is by heaping coals of kindness and beneficence on his head. And for such an end it becomes us to watch for opportunities. We have to mark the right moment, and make sure that we time our offer for food when he is hungry and of drink when he thirsts; for often mal-a-propos offers of kindness make things worse. Such is God’s way. His thunderbolts we cannot grasp, His love we can copy. Of the two weapons mercy and judgment which He holds in His hand, the latter is emphatically His own; the former should be ours too. III. In all life meet and conquer evil with good. This last precept, ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good,’ is cast into a form which covers not only relations to enemies, but all CONTACT with evil of every kind. It involves many great thoughts which can here be only touched. It implies that in all our lives we have to fight evil, and that it conquers, and we are beaten when we are led to do it. It is only conquered by being transformed into good. We overcome our foes when we win them to be lovers. We overcome our temptations to doing wrong when we make them occasions for developing virtues; we overcome the evil of sorrow when we use it to bring us nearer to God; we overcome the men around us when we are not seduced by their example to evil, but attract them to goodness by ours. Evil is only thus transformed by the positive exercise of goodness on our part. We have seen this in regard to enemies in the preceding remarks. In regard to other forms of evil, it is often better not to fight them directly, but to
- 148. occupy the mindand heart with positive truth and goodness, and the will and hands with active service. A rusty knife shall not be cleaned so effectually by much scouring as by strenuous use. Our lives are to be moulded after the great example of Him, who at almost the last moment of His earthly course said, ‘Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.’ Jesus seeks to conquer evil in us all, and counts that He has conquered it when He has changed it into love. 20On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[ ] BARNES, “Therefore, if thine enemy hunger ... - This verse is taken almost literally from Pro_25:21-22. Hunger and thirst here are put for want in general. If thine enemy is needy in any way, do him good, and supply his needs. This is, in spirit, the same as the command of the Lord Jesus Mat_5:44, “Do good to them that hate you,” etc. In so doing - It does not mean that we are to do this “for the sake” of heaping coals of fire on him, but that this will be the result. Thou shalt heap ... - Coals of fire are doubtless emblematical of “pain.” But the idea here is not that in so doing we shall call down divine vengeance on the man; but the apostle is speaking of the natural effect or result of showing him kindness. Burning coals heaped on a man’s head would be expressive of intense agony. So the apostle says that the “effect” of doing good to an enemy would be to produce pain. But the pain will result from shame, remorse of conscience, a conviction of the evil of his conduct, and an apprehension of divine displeasure that may lead to repentance. To do this, is not only perfectly right, but it is desirable. If a man can be brought to reflection and true repentance, it should be done. In regard to this passage we may remark, (1) That the way to promote “peace” is to do good even to enemies. (2) The way to bring a man to repentance is to do him good. On this principle God is acting continually. He does good to all, even to the rebellious; and he designs that his goodness should lead people to repentance; Rom_2:4. People will resist wrath, anger, and power; but “goodness” they cannot resist; it finds its way to the heart; and the conscience does its work, and the sinner is overwhelmed at the remembrance of his crimes. (3) If people would act on the principles of the gospel, the world would soon be at peace. No man would suffer himself many times to be overwhelmed in this way with coals of fire. It is not human nature, bad as it is; and if Christians would meet all unkindness with kindness, all malice with benevolence, and all wrong with right, peace would soon pervade the community, and even opposition to the gospel might soon die away. CLARKE, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him - Do not withhold from any man the offices of mercy
- 149. and kindness; youhave been God’s enemy, and yet God fed, clothed, and preserved you alive: do to your enemy as God has done to you. If your enemy be hungry, feed him; if he be thirsty, give him drink: so has God dealt with you. And has not a sense of his goodness and long-suffering towards you been a means of melting down your heart into penitential compunction, gratitude, and love towards him? How know you that a similar conduct towards your enemy may not have the same gracious influence on him towards you? Your kindness may be the means of begetting in him a sense of his guilt; and, from being your fell enemy, he may become your real friend! This I believe to be the sense of this passage, which many have encumbered with difficulties of their own creating. The whole is a quotation from Pro_25:21, Pro_25:22, in the precise words of the Septuagint; and it is very likely that the latter clause of this verse, Thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, is a metaphor taken from smelting metals. The ore is put into the furnace, and fire put both under and over, that the metal may be liquefied, and, leaving the scoriae and dross, may fall down pure to the bottom of the furnace. This is beautifully expressed by one of our own poets, in reference to this explanation of this passage: - “So artists melt the sullen ore of lead, By heaping coals of fire upon its head. In the kind warmth the metal learns to glow, And pure from dross the silver runs below.” It is most evident, from the whole connection of the place and the apostle’s use of it, that the heaping of the coals of fire upon the head of the enemy is intended to produce not an evil, but the most beneficial effect; and the following verse is an additional proof of this. GILL, “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him,.... These words are taken from Pro_25:21, and to be understood, as a Jewish (o) writer observes, ,כמשמעו according to "their literal sense"; though some of the Rabbins explain them in an allegorical way, of the corruption of nature. The Alexandrian copy and some others, and the Vulgate Latin version, reads "but if"; so far should the saints be from meditating revenge upon their enemies, that they should do good unto them, as Christ directs, Mat_5:44, by feeding them when hungry, and giving drink unto them when thirsty: if he thirst give him drinkif he thirst give him drinkif he thirst give him drinkif he thirst give him drink; which includes all offices of humanity and beneficence to be performed unto them: the reason, or argument inducing hereunto is, for in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his headfor in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his headfor in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his headfor in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head; not to do him hurt, not to aggravate his condemnation, as if this would be a means of bringing down the wrath of God the more fiercely on him, which is a sense given by some; as if this would be an inducement to the saints to do such acts of kindness; which is just the reverse of the spirit and temper of mind the apostle is here cultivating; but rather the sense is, that by so doing, his conscience would be stung with a sense of former injuries done to his benefactor, and he be filled with shame on account of them, and be brought to repentance for them, and to love the person he before hated, and be careful of doing him any wrong for the future; all which may be considered as a prevailing motive to God's people to act the generous part they are here moved to: in the passage referred to, Pro_25:21, "bread" and "water" are mentioned as to be given, which include all the necessaries of life: and it is added for encouragement, "and the Lord shall
- 150. reward thee". Thesense given of this passage by some of the Jewish commentators on it agrees with what has been observed in some measure; says one (p) of them, "when he remembers the food and drink thou hast given him, thou shall burn him, as if thou puttest coals upon his head to burn him, רע לך מעשות ,וישמור and "he will take care of doing thee any ill";'' that is, for the time to come: and another of them observes (q) that "this matter will be hard unto him, as if thou heapest coals on his head to burn him, בשתו ,מרוב "because of the greatness of his shame", on account of the good that he shall receive from thee, for the evil which he hath rendered to thee.'' This advice of showing kindness to enemies, and against private revenge, is very contrary to the dictates of human nature, as corrupted by sin. The former of these Julian the emperor represents (r) as a "paradox", though he owns it to be lawful, and a good action, to give clothes and food to enemies in war; and the latter, to revenge an injury, he says (s), is a law common to all men, Greeks and Barbarians; but the Gospel and the grace of God teach us another lesson. JAMISON, “if thine enemy hunger, etc. — This is taken from Pro_25:21, Pro_25:22, which without doubt supplied the basis of those lofty precepts on that subject which form the culminating point of the Sermon on the Mount. in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head — As the heaping of “coals of fire” is in the Old Testament the figurative expression of divine vengeance (Psa_140:10; Psa_11:6, etc.), the true sense of these words seems to be, “That will be the most effectual vengeance - a vengeance under which he will be fain to bend” (So Alford, Hodge, etc.). Rom_12:21 confirms this. VWS, “Feed (ψώψώψώψώµιζεµιζεµιζεµιζε) See on sop, Joh_13:26. The citation from Pro_25:21, Pro_25:22, closely follows both Hebrew and Septuagint. Shalt heap (σωρεύσωρεύσωρεύσωρεύσειςσειςσειςσεις) Only here and 2Ti_3:6. Coals of fire Many explain: The memory of the wrong awakened in your enemy by your kindness, shall sting him with penitence. This, however, might be open to the objection that the enemy's pain might gratify the instinct of revenge. Perhaps it is better to take it, that kindness is as effectual as coals of fire. Among the Arabs and Hebrews the figure of “coals of fire” is common as a symbol of divine punishment (Psa_18:13). “The Arabians call things which cause very acute mental pain, burning coals of the heart and fire in the liver” (Thayer, “Lexicon”). Thomas De Quincey, referring to an author who calls this “a fiendish idea,” says: “I acknowledge that to myself, in one part of my boyhood, it did seem a refinement of malice. My subtilizing habits, however, even in those days, soon suggested to me that this aggravation of guilt in the object of our forgiveness was not held out as the motive to the
- 151. forgiveness, but asthe result of it; secondly, that perhaps no aggravation of his guilt was the point contemplated, but the salutary stinging into life of his remorse hitherto sleeping” (“Essays on the Poets”). CALVIN, “20.If therefore, etc. He now shows how we may really fulfill the precepts of not revenging and of not repaying evil, even when we not only abstain from doing injury but when we also do good to those who have done wrong to us; for it is a kind of an indirect retaliation when we turn aside our kindness from those by whom we have been INJURED . Understand as included under the words meat and drink, all acts of kindness. Whatsoever then may be thine ability, in whatever business thy enemy may want either thy wealth, or thy counsel, or thy efforts, thou oughtest to help him. But he calls him our enemy, not whom we regard with hatred, but him who entertains enmity towards us. And if they are to be helped according to the flesh, much less is their salvation to be opposed by imprecating vengeance on them. Thou shalt heap coals of fire, etc. As we are not willing to lose our toil and labor, he shows what fruit will follow, when we treat our enemies with acts of kindness. But some by coalsunderstand the destruction which returns on the head of our enemy, when we show kindness to one unworthy, and deal with him otherwise than he deserves; for in this manner his guilt is doubled. Others prefer to take this view, that when he sees himself so kindly treated, his mind is allured to love us in return. I take a simpler view, that his mind shall be turned to one side or another; for doubtless our enemy shall either be softened by our benefits, or if he be so savage that nothing can tame him, he shall yet be burnt and tormented by the testimony of his own conscience, on finding himself overwhelmed with our kindness. (398) (398) [Calvin ] has in this exposition followed [Chrysostom ] and [Theodoret ]. The former part no doubt contains the right view; the following verse proves it, “ evil with good.” The idea of “ coals of fire” is said to have been derived from the PRACTICE of heaping coals on the fire to melt hard metals; but as “ coals of fire” must mean “ coals,” as indeed the word in Pro_25:22, whence the passage is taken, clearly means, this notion cannot be entertained. It seems to be a sort of proverbial saying, signifying something intolerable, which cannot be borne without producing strong effects: such is represented to be kindness to any enemy, to feed him when hungry and to give him drink when thirsty, has commonly such a power over him that he cannot resist its influence, no more than he can withstand the scorching heat of burning coals. Of course the natural tendency of such a conduct is all that is intended, and not that it invariably produces such an effect; for in Scripture things are often stated in this way; but human nature is such a strange thing, that it often resists what is right, just, and reasonable, and reverses, as it were, the very nature of things. It is not true what [Whitby ] and others have held, that “ of fire” always mean judgments or punishments. The word indeed in certain CONNECTIONS , as in Psa_18:13, has this meaning, but in Pro_25:22, it cannot be taken in this sense, as the preceding verse most clearly proves. There is no canon of interpretation more erroneous than to make words or phrases to bear the same meaning in every place. — Ed. 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
- 152. BARNES, “Be notovercome of evil - Be not “vanquished” or “subdued” by injury received from others. Do not suffer your temper to be excited; your Christian principles to be abandoned; your mild, amiable, kind, and benevolent temper to be ruffled by any opposition or injury which you may experience. Maintain your Christian principles amidst all opposition, and thus show the power of the gospel. They are overcome by evil who suffer their temper to be excited, who become enraged and revengeful and who engage in contention with those who injure them; Pro_16:22. But overcome evil with good - That is, subdue or vanquish evil by doing good to others. Show them the loveliness of a better spirit; the power of kindness and benevolence; the value of an amiable, Christian deportment. So doing, you may disarm them of their rage, and be the means of bringing them to better minds. This is the noble and grand sentiment of the Christian religion. Nothing like this is to be found in the pagan classics; and nothing like it ever existed among pagan nations. Christianity alone has brought forth this lovely and mighty principle; and one design of it is to advance the welfare of man by promoting peace, harmony, and love. The idea of “overcoming evil with good” never occurred to people until the gospel was preached. It never has been acted on except under the influences of the gospel. On this principle God shows kindness; on this principle the Saviour came, and bled, and died; and on this principle all Christians should act in treating their enemies, and in bringing a world to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. If Christians will show benevolence, if they will send forth proofs of love to the ends of the earth, the evils of the world will be overcome. Nor can the nations be converted until Christians act on this great and most important principle of their religion, “on the largest scale possible,” to “overcome evil with good.” CLARKE, “Be not overcome of evil - Do not, by giving place to evil, become precisely the same character which thou condemnest in another. Overcome evil with good - however frequently he may grieve and injure thee, always repay him with kindness; thy good-will, in the end, may overcome his evil. 1. Thomas Aquinas has properly said: Vincitur a malo qui vult peccare in alium, quia ille peccavit in ipsum. “He is overcome of evil who sins against another, because he sins against him.” A moral enemy is more easily overcome by kindness than by hostility. Against the latter he arms himself; and all the evil passions of his heart concentrate themselves in opposition to him who is striving to retaliate, by violence, the injurious acts which he has received from him. But where the injured man is labouring to do him good for his evil - to repay his curses with blessings and prayers, his evil passions have no longer any motive, any incentive; his mind relaxes; the turbulence of his passions is calmed; reason and conscience are permitted to speak; he is disarmed, or, in other words, he finds that he has no use for his weapons; he beholds in the injured man a magnanimous friend whose mind is superior to all the insults and injuries which he has received, and who is determined never to permit the heavenly principle that influences his soul to bow itself before the miserable, mean, and wretched spirit of revenge. This amiable man views in his enemy a spirit which he beholds with horror, and he cannot consent to receive into his own bosom a disposition which he sees to be so destructive to another; and he knows that as soon as he begins to avenge himself, he places himself on a par with the unprincipled man whose conduct he has so much reason to blame, and whose spirit he has so much cause to abominate. He who avenges himself receives into his own heart all the evil and disgraceful passions by which his enemy is rendered both wretched and contemptible. There is the voice of eternal reason in “Avenge not yourselves: - overcome evil with good;” as well as the high authority and command of the living God. 2. The reader will, no doubt, have observed with pleasure the skill and address, as well as the Divine wisdom, with which the apostle has handled the important subjects which he has brought
- 153. forth to viewin the preceding chapters. Nothing can be more regular or judicious than his plan of proceeding. He first shows the miserable, wretched, fallen, degraded state of man; next, the merciful provision which God has made for his salvation, and lastly, the use which man should make of the mercies of his God. He shows us, in a most pointed manner, the connection that subsists between the doctrines of the Gospel and practical piety. From the beginning of the first to the end of the eleventh chapter he states and defends the grand truths of Christianity, and from the beginning of the twelfth to the end of the epistle he shows the practical use of these doctrines. This is a point which is rarely considered by professors; multitudes run to the Epistle to the Romans for texts to prop up their peculiar system of doctrine, but how few go to this sacred book for rules relative to holy life! They abound in quotations from the doctrinal parts, but seldom make that use of them which the apostle makes in this chapter. “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, etc.” Now we learn from the use which the apostle makes of his doctrines, that whatsoever teaching comes from God leads to a holy and useful life. And if we hold any doctrine that does not excite us to labor after the strictest conformity to the will of God in all our tempers, spirit, and actions, we may rest assured that either that doctrine is not of God, or we make an improper use of it. He that knows God best, loves and resembles him most. GILL, “Be not overcome of evil,.... Neither of the evil one, Satan, who is very busy to stir up the corruption of nature to an hatred of enemies, and to seek revenge; but give no place nor heed unto him, resist him, and he will flee from you, Jam_4:7; "put on the whole armour of God", Eph_6:11, whereby you may defend yourselves, that he cannot touch you: nor of the evil of sin that dwells in you; "for whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage", 2Pe_2:19; nor of the evil of the man that has done you an injury, as you will be, if you return evil for evil, or take any steps and measures to avenge yourselves; for then not you, but he that has done you the wrong, will be the conqueror: but overcome evil with good; overcome the evil man, and the evil he has done you, by doing good to him, by feeding him when hungry, by giving him drink when thirsty, by clothing him when naked, and by doing other offices of kindness and humanity to him; which is most likely to win upon him, and of an enemy to make him your friend: and if not, however it will show that you are conquerors, yea, "more than conquerors", Rom_8:37, through the grace and strength of him that has loved you, over Satan, over the corruptions of your own hearts, and over the malice and wickedness of your enemies. HENRY, “In deed (Rom_12:20): “If thine enemy hunger, as thou hast ability and opportunity, be ready and forward to show him any kindness, and do him any office of love for his good; and be never the less forward for his having been thine enemy, but rather the more, that thous mayest thereby testify the sincerity of thy forgiveness of him.” It is said of archbishop Cranmer that the way for a man to make him his friend was to do him an ill turn. The precept is quoted from Pro_25:21, Pro_25:22; so that, high as it seems to be, the Old Testament was not a stranger to it. Observe here, First, What we must do. We must do good to our enemies. “If he hunger, do not insult over him, and say, Now God is avenging me of him, and pleading my cause; do not make such a construction of his wants. But feed him.” Then, when he has need of thy help, and thou hast an opportunity of starving him and trampling upon him, then feed him (psōmize auton, a significant word) - “feed him abundantly, nay, feed him carefully and indulgently:” frustulatim pasce - feed him with small pieces, “feed him, as we do children and sick people, with much tenderness. Contrive to do it so as to express thy love. If he thirst, give him drink: potize auton - drink to him, in token of reconciliation and friendship. So confirm your love to him.” Secondly, Why we must do this. Because in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his
- 154. head. Two sensesare given of this, which I think are both to be taken in disjunctively. Thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head; that is, “Thou shalt either,” 1. “Melt him into repentance and friendship, and mollify his spirit towards thee” (alluding to those who melt metals; they not only put fire under them, but heap fire upon them; thus Saul was melted and conquered with the kindness of David, 1Sa_24:16; 1Sa_26:21) - “thou wilt win a friend by it, and if thy kindness have not that effect then,” 2. “It will aggravate his condemnation, and make his malice against thee the more inexcusable. Thou wilt hereby hasten upon him the tokens of God's wrath and vengeance.” Not that this must be our intention in showing him kindness, but, for our encouragement, such will be the effect. To this purpose is the exhortation in the last vers, which suggests a paradox not easily understood by the world, that in all matters of strife and contention those that revenge are the conquered, and those that forgive are the conquerors. (1.) “Be not overcome of evil. Let not the evil of any provocation that is given you have such a power over you, or make such an impression upon you, as to dispossess you of yourselves, to disturb your peace, to destroy your love, to ruffle and discompose your spirits, to transport you to any indecencies, or to bring you to study or attempt any revenge.” He that cannot quietly bear an injury is perfectly conquered by it. (2.) “But overcome evil with good, with the good of patience and forbearance, nay, and of kindness and beneficence to those that wrong you. Learn to defeat their ill designs against you, and either to change them, or at least to preserve your own peace.” He that hath this rule over his spirit is better than the mighty. JAMISON, “Be not overcome of evil — for then you are the conquered party. but overcome evil with good — and then the victory is yours; you have subdued your enemy in the noblest sense. Note, (1) The redeeming mercy of God in Christ is, in the souls of believers, the living spring of all holy obedience (Rom_12:1). (2) As redemption under the Gospel is not by irrational victims, as under the law, but “by the precious blood of Christ” (1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19), and, consequently, is not ritual but real, so the sacrifices which believers are now called to offer are all “living sacrifices”; and these - summed up in self-consecration to the service of God - are “holy and acceptable to God,” making up together “our rational service” (Rom_12:1). (3) In this light, what are we to think of the so-called “unbloody sacrifice of the mass, continually offered to God as a propitiation for the sins both of the living and the dead,” which the adherents of Rome’s corrupt faith have been taught for ages to believe is the highest and holiest act of Christian worship - in direct opposition to the sublimely simple teaching which the Christians of Rome first received (Rom_12:1) - (4) Christians should not feel themselves at liberty to be conformed to the world, if only they avoid what is manifestly sinful; but rather, yielding themselves to the transforming power of the truth as it is in Jesus, they should strive to exhibit before the world an entire renovation of heart and life (Rom_12:2). (5) What God would have men to be, in all its beauty and grandeur, is for the first time really apprehended, when “written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on the fleshy tables of the heart,” 2Co_3:3 (Rom_12:2). (6) Self-sufficiency and lust of power are peculiarly unlovely in the vessels of mercy, whose respective graces and gifts are all a divine trust for the benefit of the common body and of mankind at large (Rom_12:3, Rom_12:4). (7) As forgetfulness of this has been the source of innumerable and unspeakable evils in the Church of Christ, so the faithful exercise by every Christian of his own peculiar office and gifts, and the loving recognition of those of his brethren, as all of equal importance in their own place, would put a new face upon the visible Church, to the vast benefit and comfort of Christians themselves and to the admiration of the world around them (Rom_12:6-8).
- 155. (8) What wouldthe world be, if it were filled with Christians having but one object in life, high above every other - to “serve the Lord” - and throwing into this service “alacrity” in the discharge of all duties, and abiding “warmth of spirit” (Rom_12:11)! (9) Oh, how far is even the living Church from exhibiting the whole character and spirit, so beautifully portrayed in the latter verses of this chapter (Rom_12:12-21)! What need of a fresh baptism of the Spirit in order to this! And how “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,” will the Church become, when at length instinct with this Spirit! The Lord hasten it in its time! CALVIN, “21.Be not overcome by evil, etc. This sentence is laid down as a confirmation; for in this case our contest is altogether with perverseness, if we try to retaliate it, we confess that we are overcome by it; if, on the contrary, we return good for evil, by that very deed we show the invincible firmness of our mind. This is truly a most glorious kind of victory, the fruit of which is not only apprehended by the mind, but really perceived, while the Lord is giving success to their patience, than which they can wish nothing better. On the other hand, he who attempts to overcome evil with evil, may perhaps surpass his enemy in doing INJURY , but it is to his own ruin; for by acting thus he carries on war for the devil. VBC, “Retaliation. I. We must read this verse first in direct contrast with the prohibition, "Be not overcome of evil." The immediate subject of both is that of injuries and their treatment. As to be overcome of evil is to let evil master us, so that it shall subdue and lead captive, instead of merely oppressing and overwhelming us; so to overcome that evil with good is to bring into conflict with injury, not anger, not sullenness, not revenge, but the very opposites and contraries of all these—patience, and meekness, and forbearance, and charity—and this so earnestly, so skilfully, so persistently, that they shall vanquish the evil, shall make it ashamed of itself, and repentant and reconciled, insomuch that the saying shall be verified, Whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Darkness shone upon is darkness no more; evil kindled by a coal from the altar becomes the good which it sought to overbear. II. Evil, St. Paul says, is never vanquished by evil. Satan casts not out Satan, nor does the wrath of man ever work out God’s righteousness. Evil must be conquered by good. View the saying in two aspects. (1) In reference to truth and error. Not in a spirit of strife and debate, not in a spirit of disdain or defiance, not in a spirit of superiority or self-confidence—in none of these tones ought any earnest believer to address himself to the separatist from his faith. That were indeed to assail evil with evil. There is one way and but one to the mind of the unbeliever, and that way is through the heart. Not by negatives, but by positives; not by meeting this evil in hand-to-hand warfare, but by bringing into the field a wholly new and unexpected ally, by appealing to his sense of want, and then by showing how Christ has in Him the very food and remedy and rest wanted. It is thus, if at all, that the unbelief will find itself believing. (2) Sin and holiness. No might is really equal to the might of evil save the one mightier than the mightiest, which is the love of Christ constraining. Bring this good into the war with thine evil, and thou shalt overcome yet. C. J. Vaughan, Sundays in the Temple, p. 212. I. The most important and deepest part of the truths that are wrapped up in this great maxim of St. Paul is that the very genius of Christianity itself is a positive, not a negative. It is a life, not a code; a spirit, not a set of rules; a new impulse, not a mass of prohibitions. It is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. It is, above all, the spirit of life and of freedom, not of death and bondage. Now religion very often presents itself to the young in a very opposite light. Its commands appear to be exclusively "Thou shalt not." And this aspect of Christianity is of course a necessary one; but it is very far from complete. It is preparatory; it is the law, not the gospel; it is the
- 156. schoolmaster that bringsmen to Christ, not Christ Himself. "I am come," says Jesus Christ, "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." It was not to destroy and stunt and cripple energies, not to discourage action, not to repeat the old commands, Touch not, taste not, handle not, but to inspire new energy and new life, to give a new direction to the burning desire for action that flames in young souls; in a word, to give life. Fill your soul with new life, give it vent in action, and thou shalt not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. It is not only by avoiding sin, it is by actively doing what is good, that we make progress in holiness. Sin is not fought, it is expelled. II. Surely there is a lesson here for all who have eyes to see Who are they who are ever ready with unhelpful grumbling, with pessimism and self-righteousness? Is it not those who have as yet no notion of the positive method of the Christian life, who have no other idea of dealing with the ever-existing evil of the world, except to proclaim that it is the duty of some one else to repress it, and to hug themselves in blind Pharisaism? How far this is from the spirit of Christ! His was the spirit of inspiration to positive action. His life was not one of self-denial so much as of activity; not of repression, but of expression. It was not His sinlessness, it was His holiness that was the example to the world; and holiness is not merely absence of sin, but the presence of an abounding, overflowing goodness; and here lies its power and its contagiousness. J. M. Wilson, Sermons in Clifton College Chapel, p. 311. Sometimes it has been said that Christianity is deficient in what are called the masculine virtues. The world would give it credit for meekness, for gentleness, for purity; but the world finds fault with it because it lacks that energetic force which is seen in a strong antagonism and in a power of combat with the difficulties of life. They are inclined to say, "Such courage is of a passive order. You can suffer, but you cannot contend." Our answer would be that in this twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans you have a catalogue of Christian virtues, and amongst them is given one virtue which, I imagine, does not find a place even in the catalogue of the virtues of the world. It is the virtue of hatred. We are to abhor what is evil. Christianity will link her lot with goodness, and as in happy wedlock she will live in her sweet home where goodness dwells; but when she goes forth to the world she can put on the armour of entire abhorrence and determined antagonism; she can abhor that which is evil, or, precisely because she loves the Lord, she has learned to hate evil. And hence it follows that the spirit of undying antagonism to evil is indeed a Christian spirit, and is surely one of the masculine order. I. The consent of all our experience may lead us to believe that we can overcome evil with good. Are you trying to overcome your children’s faults in the spirit of fault-finding? You know it is not the way to success. The spirit of approbation, the spirit of appreciation, the spirit of imitation—these are the secrets of power. The spirit of Christianity carries us to things that are noble. It raises us to the stature of the fulness of Christ: that is to say, we shall be able to give expression to our nature, and that expression will reflect the image of God. To deal with it otherwise is simply suicidal; it is looking at the work and the energies of God’s creation as though it were less than He meant it to be. II. It is irrational to suppose that we can overcome evil in any other way. The laws that govern the world are the laws of righteousness—the laws of good; and you and I, if we believe in them, must believe that it is never worth while to do evil that good may come; it is never worth while to sacrifice a great moral principle, even to achieve a great good. Bishop Boyd Carpenter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 17. I. Evil in its root is simply unregulated desire. Desire is that quality in us men which corresponds to
- 157. gravitation in thephysical bodies, which, while all is well with us, keeps us moving around our true centre, the Being of beings—God. Sin is the free concentration of desire upon some other centre than God—that is, upon some created being; and just as if, in the heavenly spheres, a planet could get detached from its true orbit, from loyal revolutions round its proper sun, and could thus come within the range of other and counteracting attractions, the effect would be vast and irretrievable disaster, so is it in the moral world. Sin is this disorder in the governing desires of the soul, followed by a corresponding disorder in its outward action; and in this disordered desire there lies something beyond, namely, a contradiction of the moral nature or essence of the one necessary being of God. Moral truth is in its principles as distinct from their application, just as eternal and just as necessary as mathematical truth. It is like mathematical truth, eternal, and therefore it is a law of the life of the one eternal Being Himself, since, otherwise, it would be a co-eternal principle independent of Him. And sin is thus the contradiction of God arising from disorder in those governing desires of the soul which were intended by Him to keep us men in our true relationship and dependence upon Him. II. "Be not overcome of evil." It is not then a resistless invader, it is not invincible; for it is not the work of an eternal being or principle. Strong as it is, it is strictly a product of created wills. As Christians, we know evil to be both hateful, and not invincible. It is our duty to abhor it; yet it is also our duty, and within our power, to overcome it. Simple decision, perfectly courteous but unswervingly determined will, will carry the day. Evil may talk loudly, it may bluster; but at heart it is always a coward, and it skulks away at the show of a strong resistance. It may be hard work at first; but in the end purity and straightforwardness and charity and reverence will win the battle; opposition will die gradually away into silence, silence into respect, respect into sympathy, and even into imitation. "Thou art of more honour and might than the hills of the robbers." H. P. Liddon, Penny Pulpit, No. 504. HAWKER, “Romans 12:21 REFLECTIONS Precious Lord Jesus! in the unceasing view of thee, and thy living sacrifice, through the mercies of Covenant-love, oh! may I be enabled to come daily, hourly, to the throne of grace, and present myself in thy holiness, for acceptance before God, as the reasonably service of thy redeemed. And do thou Lord, grant me grace, to be daily, hourly, weaning from a world, from which I am momently departing, that I may no longer be conformed to it, but transformed, by the renewing of my mind, in the unceasing renewings of the Holy Ghost. Yes! thou dear Lord! through thee I shall prove my membership in Christ, and with his Church, in the exercise of all those sweet graces thy servant Apostle hath enumerated. And do thou, my honored Lord, so help me on by thy gracious, unceasing manifestations, through the whole of my walk and conversation while here below, that I may daily feel my need of thee, and daily act every grace upon thee, and by thee. Surely, Lord! grace is kept alive by grace received from my Lord. And, if my Lord will give my poor soul out of his rich fulness, grace for grace, then will his grace be manifested in all my life and conversation. Living upon Christ, walking with Christ, and receiving from Christ, then will all the fruits and effects of his grace be holiness, and Christ my portion forever. CHARLES SIMEON, “OVERCOMING EVIL WITH GOOD Rom_12:21. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. THE writings of the Old Testament exhibit a system of morals incomparably superior to any that was ever
- 158. promulgated by thewisest philosophers. In extent it equals the New Testament. It is quite a mistake to say that our Lord inculcated sublimer morals than ever had been revealed before: he only removed the false glosses by which the commands of God had been obscured, and enforced the observance of those commands by motives of a higher nature. Still however it must be confessed, that the New Testament brings the sublimer precepts more clearly into view, and expatiates upon them in a more authoritative and convincing manner. This appears in the injunction before us, which is as concise, as comprehensive, as forcible, as words could express it. In discoursing upon this precept we shall endeavour to mark, I. Its import— The “evil” here spoken of does not relate to sin, but to suffering; and comprehends all those injuries, whether real or imaginary, which we are called to endure. In reference to this, two questions arise: 1. When may we be said to be overcome by it? [We are not overcome by evil merely because we are crushed by it; for St. Paul, when “pressed out of measure by his troubles in Asia,” “thanks God for ENABLING him always to triumph in Christ [Note: 2Co_1:8; 2Co_2:14.]:” and declares that while “we are ACCOUNTED as sheep for the slaughter, we may be more than conquerors [Note: Rom_8:36-37.].” But we are then vanquished by it, when we are diverted by it from the path of duty. Suppose on ACCOUNT of the trial being exceeding heavy, we are tempted to doubt whether it can, or will, be overruled for our good: then we are vanquished; because we question the truth of God, who has said, that “all things should work together for his people’s good:” our faith has failed, and we are overcome. Suppose the injury done to us has irritated and inflamed our minds, so that we give way to anger and impatience: then also we are overcome; because we ought to “possess out souls in patience [Note: Luk_21:19.],” and to “let patience have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing [Note: Jam_1:4.].” Suppose, though no particular vehemence shew itself at the time, we yet are induced to harbour secret resentment in our minds against our enemy: then we are overcome; because we should love our enemies [Note: Luk_6:35.], and be more concerned for the evil which they do to their own souls, than for any thing which they do, or can do, to us. Suppose, either through the fear of evil, or through actual distress, we are induced to relax our zeal in the Lord’s service, or to make any sinful concessions, then also we are vanquished: for we SUBMIT to sin rather than to suffering; we have failed in our integrity; we are overcome. We should value a good conscience more than life itself [Note: Joh_12:25.]; and when we make shipwreck of it, we shew that our enemy has gained the victory over us. If we hold fast our faith, our patience, our love, our integrity, then are we conquerors, even though we die in the conflict: but if in any of these respects we fail, then are we overcome, even though we crush our adversary, and
- 159. defeat his moreimmediate projects.] 2. How are we to overcome it— [We gain a victory over it in part, when we do not suffer it to injure our souls. But we must not be contented with such a negative triumph; we should endeavour to overcome the hostility of our enemy; and this can be effected only by returns of good. “If he curse, we must bless; if he despitefully use us and persecute us, we must pity him and pray for him [Note: Mat_5:44.].” “If he hunger, we must feed him; if he thirst, we must give him drink;” with all the tenderness and compassion that we would to a querulous and untoward infant [Note: ø þ ì é æ å means, ‘Feed him as an infant.’ Rom_12:20.]. We shall in this way “heap coals of fire upon his head,” to melt him into love [Note: Rom_12:20.]. It is true, many are so obdurate, that no returns of good can ever dissolve their hearts: yet the effect of such persevering kindness, is inconceivably great, and will sometimes extort confessions of our innocence, even from the most infuriated enemies. We can scarcely find in the annals of the world a more cruel or inverate enemy than Saul; yet David’s repeated exercises of forbearance and kindness towards him constrained him to confess his own wickedness, and the distinguished excellence of the person whom he persecuted [Note: 1Sa_24:10-11; 1Sa_24:16-18; 1Sa_26:21.]. Such a victory as that is greater than the most successful warrior could ever boast: and we should aim at similar conquests: we should strive, not to crush our enemy by force, but to overcome his enmity by love.] We cannot dismiss such an important precept as this without endeavouring more distinctly to set before you, II. Its excellence— The moment that the precept is presented to the mind we cannot fail of admiring its simplicity, and, at the same time, its depth. But that our views of it may be more distinct, we observe, 1. It counteracts all our evil propensities— [When we are injured or insulted, what a tumult of passion is apt to arise in our breast; and how ready are we to render evil for evil! If we forbear avenging ourselves at the time either by word or deed, we still feel a disposition to retaliate, and are ready to wreak our vengeance upon our adversary by private complaints of his conduct, though from prudence or timidity we do not maintain a contest with him to his face. Long and bitter are the resentments of many, even while they appear to be reconciled, and perhaps delude themselves with the confidence that they have forgiven their enemy. But this precept lays the axe to the root of all secret animosity as well as open hostility. It goes not to the act merely, but to the principle; it requires that all the enmity that is in our hearts should be slain; and that love alone should reign there. Were this once effected, there is not an evil in the soul which would not have received its death wound: for “love is the fulfilling of the law.”] 2. It assimilates us to Jesus Christ— [To what an extent has our blessed Lord carried this principle! When we were his enemies, yea, when the whole
- 160. universe were upin arms against him, he did not execute upon us the vengeance we deserved, but came down from heaven to convert and save us. And by what means did he propose to save us? Was it by a mere act of power? No: it was by bearing our sins, and dying in our stead. What astonishing love was this! But further, when he had come into the world, and his people with one voice had put him to death, still, so far from bearing resentment against them in his heart, he, after he had risen from the dead, commanded that his Gospel should he preached first of all in that city where he had been crucified, and that the offers of salvation should be first made to the very people who had imbrued their hands in his blood [Note: Luk_24:47.]. And how glorious were the triumphs of his love! By the very first sermon that was preached in his name, three thousand of his enemies were convinced of their wickedness, and brought to repentance. Similar to this was the mercy he vouchsafed to the persecuting, blaspheming Saul: he appeared to him in the midst of his mad career, and, by this transcendent act of love, changed a bitter and cruel enemy into a holy and active Apostle. Thus he overcame evil with good; and in proportion as we imitate his conduct we shall be transformed into his likeness.] 3. It would make a very heaven upon earth— [What a very hell is this world, where the passions are let loose, and men are left to perpetrate all that is in their hearts! Even under the restraint of wholesome laws there are so many quarrels generated, and so many resentments harboured, that there is scarcely a society or a family in which real harmony prevails. But if this precept were universally obeyed, how different a world would this appear? From the combating of evil with love, there would soon be no evil to contend with: for certainly they who rendered nothing but good unto their enemies, would never render evil to their friends; or if any unintentional evil were done, the very remembrance of it would be quickly lost in returns of love. O blessed state! When shall the happy time arrive, when “the wolf and the lamb shall thus dwell together, and the child shall have no ill to fear when playing on the hole of the asp, or of the cockatrice den?” Surely this may well be called, “The reign of Christ upon earth;” for it will be the brightest image of heaven, or rather heaven itself come down on earth.] As a further improvement of this precept, we shall. 1. Guard it— [We are not to imagine that this precept requires us to renounce our civil rights; for St. Paul, on proper occasions, asserted his rights as a Roman citizen [Note: Act_16:37; Act_22:25;Act_25:10-11.]: nor does an obedience to it preclude the exercise of legitimate authority; for the magistrate would have been invested with power to no purpose, if he were not allowed to exercise it in the support of virtue and the punishment of vice [Note: Rom_13:4.]. Parents, masters, ministers, must exercise the authority committed to them. It is the vindictive disposition that is forbidden, and the unwearied exercise of love that is inculcated — — —] 2. Enforce it— [Many arguments will arise in our corrupt minds against the discharge of this sublime and self-denying duty. ‘The persons who have used us ill, do not deserve kind treatment; and the exercise of CONTINUED kindness to them
- 161. will only encouragethem to proceed in their injurious conduct; whereas a proper display of spirit on our part will tend to intimidate and restrain them.’ This may appear to be just reasoning; but it is directly contrary to God’s command. We are not to consider what others deserve to suffer, but what we are required to do. As to the use that others will make of our kindness, that is no concern of ours; we have only to obey God, and leave all events to him. To yield, to turn the left cheek to him that smites us on the right, and to return good for evil, may sound to us as “hard sayings;” but they are the path of duty, of honour, and of happiness — — —] 3. Give directions for the performance of it— [Get a deep sense of YOUR own vileness.—When you are thoroughly sensible how many talents you owe to your Heavenly Master, you will not very readily take your fellow-servant by the throat for the few pence that he may owe to you. Contemplate frequently the mercy which Christ has vouchsafed, and is daily vouchsafing, to you.—How will this put you to shame, when you feel the risings of anger or revenge against even your bitterest enemy! Surely you will fall upon your knees before God, and pray for grace to “forgive others even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you:” and that not thrice, or “seven times, but seventy times seven.” Be much in prayer to God for the ASSISTANCE of his Holy Spirit.—Without his aid you can do nothing: but there is nothing so great, which you shall not be able to do through Christ strengthening you [Note: Php_4:13.].] GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE, “The Polemics of Christianity Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.—Rom_12:21 This description of Christian warfare, of what may be called the Apostle’s rule of “polemics” or “doing battle,” is well worthy of its place at the close of his great summary of Christian duties. “Be not overcome of evil”—“be not conquered by evil” (so we might more faithfully render it)—“be not conquered by evil, but conquer evil by good.” The Apostle here, as so often elsewhere, has before his mind THE IMAGE of the Christian soldier. Nothing shows more completely how in his time, peaceful as it was, the military character of the Roman Empire filled the whole horizon of the ordinary thoughts and topics of men than the Apostle’s constant allusions to the armour—the sword, the shield, the helmet—the battle, the conquest, the triumph. They show this, and they show that he did not shrink from using these images, even for the most peaceful, for the most solemn, for the most sacred purposes; they show that he was not in his Epistles a different man from what he was in common life; that the sights and sounds which filled his eyes and ears in the world around him were not forgotten when he took the parchment scroll, and bade his companion write down at his dictation the words which were to comfort and strengthen, not the Roman Christians of his own time only, but the whole Church of God for ever. We shall deal with the subject in two parts. Let us take them in the order of the text.
- 162. I. The Powerof Evil. II. The Power of Good. I The Power of Evil i. What is Evil? 1. We should observe in the first place the immediate object of St. Paul’s prohibition. What is the particular form of evil against which he directs this warning? It is the evil of giving way to a spirit of revenge. This prohibition does not mean that no power of correction is committed to man. In the opening verses of the very next chapter we are told that an earthly ruler is “the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” Distinguish between administration of punishment for offences against the law of God or man and infliction of chastisement through personal anger or some personal offence. The Son of Man, who never avenged Himself, by word or deed, upon those who injured or insulted Him, yet, on occasion, took upon Himself the office of avenger, visiting with His severest condemnation the profaners of His Father’s Temple, and upbraiding with the bitterest censure the hypocrisy and essential worldliness of the religious leaders of His day. As is the Master, such must the servants be. Let us reserve our indignation (a gift of God) for the condemnation of sin. Let us bear with meekness whatever slights or insults are aimed at ourselves. Christianity is reproached because it has brought little that is new into the sphere of morals. That is quite a gratuitous impeachment. Our Lord’s method of dealing with evil, for instance, is startlingly new. Before He came the world knew no other way of treating evil than by reprisal and retribution; pains and penalties were the only remedies known to the rulers and judges of the earth. The Incarnation disclosed to the world a new and an amazing thought: for the mailed fist it substituted the pierced hand. Henceforth error and unrighteousness were to be antagonized by knowledge, long-suffering, sympathy, and forgiveness. On these lines our Lord taught, and thus personally He dealt with the provocations of His contemporaries. His disciples drank in His spirit, imitated His example, and taught His doctrine. The contrast between the truculent systems of the ancient world and the mild programme of the Gospel is complete. “Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” The originality of this ethic is incomparable.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson.] 2. But there is an extended APPLICATION to the words of the text. The inspired maxim includes all forms of evil, and there is no form of evil by which we are to allow ourselves to be overcome. What, then, is evil? How can we define it? Evil, like good, is one of those very wide and comprehensive words which, when we want to put our ideas into shape and order, urgently require definition, and which, nevertheless, by reason of their very width and comprehensiveness, almost refuse to be defined. But let us go to the root of the matter. What is evil in its root? Simply this. It is unregulated desire. Desire is that quality in men which corresponds to gravitation in the physical bodies, which, while all is well with us, keeps us moving around our true centre, the Being of beings—God. Sin is the free concentration of desire upon some other centre than God, that is, upon some created being; and just as if,
- 163. in the heavenlyspheres, a planet could get detached from its true orbit—from loyal revolutions around its proper sun—and could thus come within the range of other and counteracting attractions, the effect would be vast and irretrievable disaster, so is it in the moral world. Sin is this disorder in the governing desires of the soul, followed by a corresponding disorder in its outward action. 3. Evil is the work not of God but of the creature. God could not directly have created evil without denying Himself. Evil is a result of the abuse of God’s highest gift to created beings—their free will. Evil is the creature repudiating the law of its being by turning away its desire from Him who is the source, the centre, the end of its existence. If it be urged that God, in making man free, must have foreseen that man would thus abuse his freedom, it must be replied that God’s horizons are wider than ours, and that we may not unreasonably believe that He foresaw, in the very cure of evil, a good which would more than compensate for its existence—that, as the Apostle puts it, if sin abounded grace would much more abound. Every one knows that microbes are a cause of disease. It is a great wonder, seeing that there are so many microbes about, that we keep as well as we do. But the reason why we keep well has been explained. In Pasteur’s laboratory in Paris a Russian physiologist named Metschnikoff has found out the secret, and he tells us how it is they are not so deadly as otherwise they might be. He has proved that certain cells contained in the blood, now called phagocytes, commonly known as the white corpuscles of the blood, have the power of independent motion. That is to say, they not only travel with the blood as it flows through the arteries and veins, but they can go anywhere in the body if they so choose. These phagocytes wander about in the blood, even make their way inside the tissue, and, wonderful to relate, they pursue, devour, and digest these deadly disease-producing microbes. They are like guardian angels of the body. Now there is something very similar going on in our spiritual life. St. Paul said: “When I would do good, evil is present with me.” We have all felt like that, and we all have the same war going on in our inmost being. When we disobey God, we always know what we ought to do—there is the good voice struggling to warn and crush the bad tendency. Conscience is a fine phagocyte. Listen to it always, and the deadly microbe of wrong-doing will soon be overtaken and slain. Your soul’s life will thus become healthy, strong, and noble.1 [Note: J. Learmount.] ii. The warning “Be not overcome of evil.” Those words contain at once a warning of danger and an encouragement to resistance. They assume, as all Scripture does, that there is such a thing as evil, that it is around us, that contact with it is inevitable, that defeat and ruin by it are not impossible. It would be a shallow and a false philosophy, it would be a treacherous and apostate religion which should attempt to conceal this from us, or to tell us that the hard, narrow, up-hill path to heaven is smooth, and easy and strewn with roses. To our first parents the school of evil was Paradise itself. Esau was bred in the noble simplicity of the patriarch’s tent; the sons of Eli within the curtains of God’s bright sanctuary; Manasses in the pure palace of a royal saint; Judas among the chosen ones of the heavenly Kingdom, and in daily intercourse with the Son of God Himself. Yet what became of them? Esau grew into a coarse, sensual hunter; the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; Manasses was a foul apostate; and for Judas, the thief, the traitor, the son of perdition, it were better that he had not been born. So it is God’s will that man should be liable everywhere to the possibilities of evil. But—“resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” 1. Now, with regard to the particular case in point, St. Paul meant that we are overcome by evil whenever we yield
- 164. to revenge, orbecome indifferent to the good and the welfare of those who do us wrong. If we say (or even think), “It’s no concern of mine. Let him reap as he has sown, let him look after himself, for to his own master he stands or falls,” we forget that, in a real sense, we are all our brothers’ keepers; not the keepers of their consciences—and we may not presume to dictate to them what they should believe, or what they should do—but we are their keepers in the sense that we are bound to help them, and “as we have opportunity,” to “work that which is good” toward them; and above all things to aid them in the conquest of their faults, whatever they may do to us. What is it to be overcome of evil? Generally speaking it is just to suffer evil to lead us into evil. Evil for evil, we say; that is, revenge wrong by wrong. We have an example of this in the history of Tamerlane the Great, king of the Tartars, who reigned over the greater part of Western Asia some six hundred years ago. In the battle of Angora, which was fought in the year 1402, he defeated and took captive Bajazet, the king of the Turks. At first he treated the fallen monarch with great consideration and showed him much kindness. One day, however, entering into conversation with him, he asked, “Now, king, tell me freely and truly what thou wouldst have done to me had I fallen into thy power.” Bajazet, who had a most fierce and implacable disposition, answered, “Had God given unto me the victory I would have enclosed thee in an iron cage and carried thee about with me as a spectacle of derision to the world.” Then Tamerlane, in a flame of passion, said, “Thou proud man, as thou wouldst have done with me, even so shall I do with thee.” And he was as good—or should I say as bad?—as his word. A strong iron cage was made, and Bajazet was for three years carried about in the train of his conqueror, until at last, hearing that he was to be borne into Tartary, he struck his head violently against the iron bars and so put an end to his miserable existence. Now we see in this story how the conqueror became the conquered; the victor was changed into the vanquished. For Tamerlane was overcome of evil. His character would have appeared much nobler had he said to Bajazet, “I will treat thee much better than thou wouldst treat me: thou wouldst expose me to shame, but I will advance thee to honour.”1 [Note: J. Aitchison.] 2. There are, however, other evils to which this maxim applies. We are not to be overcome of evil as we see it in society, in the tendencies at work around us; neither are we to be overcome by it as it exists within ourselves, in the habits we may have formed. Are we not all at times the victims of these? It may be the outbreak of a fiery temper, or the querulousness of a discontented soul, the suspiciousness of an uncharitable heart, the jealousy of a selfish spirit, the rashness of ungenerous judgment, or the sordidness of a worldly nature. 3. Now who of us will not admit that he has at some time or other been overcome by such things? Yes, this is part of the warfare. We may have been “overcome,” but we are never to be beaten by them, or to despair of the conquest of such faults. St. Paul says nothing about the length of the contest, but in the ultimate issue we must be the victors, not the vanquished. Sin gets into our lives, and it is a blessed thing for us that, even after sin has conquered us, it is possible for us by God’s mercy to conquer it in the end. We may lose a battle but need not lose the war, for we can repent. What is repentance? Being sorry for sin? No, not exactly. It means thinking again. “Second thoughts are best,” says the proverb. And repentance means “second thoughts.” Whenever we sin we think foolishly and wickedly; we deceive ourselves. When we repent we think better of it; we think wisely and rightly. And when by a foolish, wicked thought we allow sin to conquer us, we still can by means of repentance—the second wise thoughts that God always gives to those who will take them—drive out sin again.
- 165. Some time agoa little girl went into a room where a table was laid for dinner. Among other things there was a plate of oranges. The little girl felt tempted to take one of these, and she let herself be conquered by the wicked thought. She walked up to the table and took one, and then, not knowing that she was being watched all the time, went out of the room. But in a few minutes the one who was watching saw her come back. She walked quickly to the table and put the orange she had stolen back in its place, saying as she did so “Sold again, Satan!”2 [Note: J. M. Gibbon.] II The Power of Good “Overcome evil with good”—is this possible and practicable? Certainly. And no other method of overcoming evil is either possible or practicable. We may suppress it by force, but it remains evil still; it is not overcome. We may deprive it of its power of action, but it still exists; it is not overcome. We may frighten or flatter it into submission, but we do not thereby conquer it. We may shut our eyes to its presence, and imagine that it has ceased to be, but for all that it is powerful still, as we may soon find to our cost. Evil is overcome only when he who has been overcome by it renounces it and allies himself with good. i. Good must win 1. God is the perfect goodness, and every good influence comes from God, therefore, however great the force of evil, good is always stronger than evil. But this is not all. The idea of God as the embodiment of abstract goodness will not materially help us in the battle of life. Sin is evil, and we feel its presence; and we need more than a mere ideal of abstract goodness to overcome the evil. But God has not left us thus blindly to feel after the good. “Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly.” We shall be able to lay hold of the power of goodness by recognizing that the peculiar self-utterance of God is Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ is the embodiment of a universal sonship, and therefore that the overcoming principle is in us and in all men, and, being Divine, is ultimately irresistible. 2. It is not enough to rely on the good within ourselves; we must look to the good without ourselves. What that highest good is, we all know. But do we sufficiently remember how in the thought of that highest good, in the communion with God in Christ, lies not only our peace and safety, but our victory over evil? In earthly warfare, we know well that, however courageous may be the host, they must have a leader in whom to trust. And so it is in our spiritual warfare; we must have the example and the encouragement of the just and good who have gone before us. But, above all, we must look to Him who is called “Jesus”—that is, our “Joshua,” our Conqueror, our victorious Leader, the Captain of our salvation, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is told of the Emperor Constantine, that he, the founder of the first Christian Empire, the first of Christian sovereigns, was converted to the faith of Christ by a vision which appeared to him at the head of his armies—a vision of a flaming cross, in the centre of which was written, in almost the very same Greek words as the Apostle here uses: “In this conquer,” or “By this conquer.” The story itself is encompassed with doubt, but in a figure it conveys to us a true lesson. “In this conquer” should still be our motto. “In this,” in the Cross of Christ, the highest “good” which God has revealed to man, “in this conquer.” Conquer, because the Cross of Christ shows us what is God’s love to His creatures. Conquer, because it shows us what is the highest call of man. Conquer, because it
- 166. shows us thestrength and the firmness, the gentleness and mercy, the suffering and the victory in which, and through which, we too are to be victorious.1 [Note: A. P. Stanley.] Rise, O my soul, with thy desires to heaven, And with divinest contemplation use Thy time where time’s eternity is given, And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse; But down in darkness let them lie: So live thy better, let thy worse thoughts die! And thou, my soul, inspired with holy flame, View and review with most regardful eye That holy cross, whence thy salvation came, On which thy Saviour and thy sin did die! For in that sacred object is much pleasure, And in that Saviour is my life, my treasure. To thee, O Jesu! I direct mine eyes, To thee my hands, to thee my humble knees; To thee my heart shall offer sacrifice, To thee my thoughts, who my thoughts only sees. To thee my self, my self and all I give;
- 167. To thee Idie, to thee I only live!2 [Note: Sir Walter Raleigh.] 3. The greatest force in the world is good influence. It is encouraging to the weak and erring to know that they may overcome their weaknesses, that there is a power which may be instilled into their lives, giving them strength to resist all the overtures of the Evil One, and to battle against all his assaults. To all those who will let good influence be their guardian angel victory is secured. Right always wins—first, last, and always right is victorious. Blessed influence of one true loving human soul on another! Not calculable by algebra, not deducible by logic, but mysterious, effectual, mighty as the hidden process by which the tiny seed is quickened, and bursts forth into tall stem and broad leaf, and glowing tasseled flower. Ideas are often poor ghosts; our sun-filled eyes cannot discern them; they pass athwart us in thin vapour, and cannot make themselves felt. But sometimes they are made flesh; they breathe upon us with warm breath, they touch us with soft responsive hands, they look at us with sad sincere eyes, and speak to us in appealing tones; they are clothed in a living human soul, with all its conflicts, its faith, and its love. Then their presence is a power, then they shake us like a passion, and we are drawn after them with gentle compulsion, as flame is drawn to flame.1 [Note: George Eliot, Janet’s Repentance.] Thou must be true thyself, If thou the true wouldst teach; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another’s soul wouldst reach. The overflow of heart it needs To give the lips full speech. Think truly, and thy thoughts Shall the world’s famine feed; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful seed; Live truly, and thy life shall be A great and noble creed.2 [Note: Horatius Bonar.]
- 168. ii. How Goodovercomes Evil We may divide the evil which we have to combat into three classes. (1) There is personal evil, that is evil in ourselves. (2) Then there is the evil of which the text particularly speaks, evil in our neighbour—we might call it domestic evil. (3) And, lastly, there is the evil in the world at large. We may characterize it as public evil. All these forms of evil are to be overcome with good. 1. Personal evil.—How shall I overcome evil in myself? I shall overcome it by emphasizing, PREDICTING , calling into operation the good. I will overcome the natural with the spiritual, the temporal with the eternal, the phenomenal with the real; where I find an evil tendency in myself I will instantly call upon the opposite tendency in the Christ nature within me and accentuate it. (1) Now all personal evil begins in thought, therefore evil thoughts will be overcome by good thoughts. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honourable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” “These things”—is this our way? Is it not rather our unhappy habit to revolve in our thought and imagination whatsoever things are painful, humiliating, ugly, and discouraging? We shall never overcome evil by this fellowship with sin and sadness. We overcome the evil in the good. The cardinal matter is to fix our thoughts and affections on things above, not on things on the earth; we cannot even think of these things without being blessed. The thought of beauty leaves a stain of sweet colour on the soul; to think of greatness is to grow; to muse on purity is to suffer a sea change into the whiteness and preciousness of the pearl. That useless thoughts spoil all; that the mischief began there; but that we ought to be diligent to reject them as soon as we perceived their impertinence to the matter in hand, or to our salvation; and return to our communion with God.1 [Note: Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, 13.] You remember that terrible touch in one of our Lord’s sternest parables, about the evil spirit returning to the house whence he came out, and finding it “empty, swept, and garnished”—then goeth he and taketh to himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. What does that “empty, swept, and garnished” mean? It means that if the heart is not pre-occupied with good, it will be invaded by evil. The labourer who stands idle in the market-place is ever ready to be hired in the devil’s service. The worm of sin gnaws deepest into the idle heart. But preoccupy your heart with good; preoccupy your time with honest industry, and you are safe.2 [Note: F. W. Farrar.] She walks—the lady of my delight— A shepherdess of sheep. Her flocks are thoughts. She keeps them white; She guards them from the steep.
- 169. She feeds themon the fragrant height And folds them in for sleep. She roams maternal hills and bright, Dark valleys safe and deep. Into that tender breast at night The chastest stars may peep. She walks—the lady of my delight— A shepherdess of sheep. She holds her little thoughts in sight, Though gay they run and leap. She is so circumspect and right; She has her soul to keep. She walks—the lady of my delight— A shepherdess of sheep.1 [Note: Alice Meynell.] (2) Let us concentrate our efforts on the good. We overcome the evil in the good. We shall not overcome our personal defects by dwelling upon them, tormenting ourselves on ACCOUNT of them, dealing directly with them, or by attempting singly to uproot them. To overcome this or that failing, we must think of it as little as possible, and as much as we can about the corresponding virtue; weaken the bad side by strengthening the good. Let us frankly recognize whatever grace has done for us, and by fostering it drive out the evil. Cherish the good thought, forward the generous impulse, follow out the upward-seeking desire; starve the roots of bitterness, smother them, choke them, drive them out by flowers of grace, fruits of light, and plants of God’s right-hand planting. Mr. Kay Robinson, the naturalist, describes a competition witnessed by him in the fields. Owing to a peculiarity of
- 170. weather, the poppieshad managed to get a start of an inch or so in the matter of height over the wheat and barley, and the obnoxious flowers were just beginning to burst into bloom that would have converted the stunted grain into lakes of scarlet, when down came the rain; in a single day and night the wheat shot up above the poppies, and for the rest of the season the poisonous things were overwhelmed in a wavy sea of prosperous green and yellow gold. A similar competition is going on between our good and our bad qualities; it is a rivalry between the wheat and the tares as to which shall get on top and smother the other. What is the true course to adopt whilst this struggle proceeds? It is to concentrate ourselves on the corn.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson.] 2. In dealing with domestic evil—that which we see and deplore in our immediate neighbourhood—the text must furnish guidance. The faults and follies of husband, wife, children, companions, servants, neighbours occasion frequent and sincere distress. How are these lapses to be effectually combated? Not by good advice even, much less by scorn and contempt. Verbal censure and social penalty do not largely avail against the evils which trouble our environment; the effectual remedy is unspeakably more costly. Our guilty neighbours must see in us the virtues they lack. Embodied excellence is to do the whole work of rebuking and charming, dispensing with eloquence, whether sacred or profane. On the walls of a chamber of great beauty in the Alhambra this sentence is inscribed: “Look attentively at my elegance, and thou wilt reap the advantage of a commentary on decoration.” The variety, loveliness, and harmony of the architecture of that chamber are themselves a commentary on decoration and render literary criticism and description superfluous. In like manner the fine character and blameless doing of the Christian are a commentary on nobleness, rendering argument and expostulation unnecessary. Offending neighbours see “how awful goodness is, and virtue in her shape how lovely,” and words can add nothing to this incarnation of the true and beautiful.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson.] On his first entry upon the field of responsible life, he had formed a serious and solemn engagement with a friend— I suppose it was Hope-Scott—that each would devote himself to active service in some branch of religious work. He could not, without treason to his gifts, go forth like Selwyn or Patteson to Melanesia to convert the savages. He sought a missionary-field at home, and he found it among the unfortunate ministers to “the great sin of great cities.” In these humane efforts at reclamation he persevered all through his life, fearless of misconstruction, fearless of the levity or baseness of men’s tongues, regardless almost of the possible mischiefs to the public policies that depended on him. Greville tells the story how in 1853 a man made an attempt one night to extort money from Mr. Gladstone, then in office as Chancellor of the Exchequer, by threats of exposure; and how he instantly gave the offender into custody, and met the case at the police office. Greville could not complete the story. The man was committed for trial. Mr. Gladstone directed his solicitors to see the accused was properly defended. He was convicted and sent to prison. By and by Mr. Gladstone inquired from the governor of the prison how the delinquent was conducting himself. The report being satisfactory, he next wrote to Lord Palmerston, then at the Home Office, asking that the prisoner should be let out. There was no worldly wisdom in it, we all know. But then, what are people Christians for?1 [Note: Morley, Life of Gladstone, iii. 419.] Nothing more entices charity than to be first in the exercise of it. Dost thou desire to be loved? Love then.2 [Note: Augustine, De Catech. Rud.]
- 171. I have reada story of a certain Chinese Emperor, that he was informed that his enemies had raised an insurrection in one of his distant provinces. On hearing this he said to his officers, “Come, follow me, and we will quickly destroy them.” He marched forward, and the rebels SUBMITTED upon his approach. All now thought that he would take his revenge, but were surprised to see the captives treated with mildness and humanity. “How,” cried the first minister, “is this the manner in which you fulfil your promise? Your royal word was given that your enemies should be destroyed; and, behold! you have pardoned them all, and even caressed some of them.” “I promised,” replied the Emperor, “to destroy my enemies. I have fulfilled my word; for see, they are enemies no longer; I have made friends of them.”3 [Note: F. H. Robarts.] There is a power for victory in the simple might of goodness. It was with this power that Dr. Arnold overcame lying at Rugby. “It is no use,” they said, “telling a lie to the Doctor, he always believes you.” Old books tell us of a place in Arabia where roses grow so thickly that when the wind blows over them it gets so full of the sweet smells as to kill the lions in the desert beyond. Of course that is not true as a fact. There is no such place in Arabia. But it is true as a parable. You can kill lions with roses.4 [Note: J. M. Gibbon.] Be good at the depths of you, and you will discover that those who surround you will be good even to the same depths. Nothing responds more infallibly to the secret cry of goodness than the secret cry of goodness that is near. While you are actively good in the invisible, all those who approach you will unconsciously do things that they could not do by the side of any other man. Therein lies a force that has no name; a spiritual rivalry that knows no resistance. It is as though this were the actual place where is the sensitive spot of our soul; for there are souls that seem to have forgotten their existence, and to have renounced everything that enables them to rise; but, once touched here, they all draw themselves erect; and in the Divine plains of the secret goodness the most humble souls cannot endure defeat.1 [Note: Maurice Maeterlinck.] 3. The effectual way to subdue public evil is the strategy of the text. (1) We do not really overcome evil by substituting one evil for another, or by setting one evil to drive out another. Scientists neutralize one kind of microbe by introducing another, and sometimes, it would seem, they introduce one disease to expel another; but manœuvres have little place in the moral world. Statesmen will attempt to end an evil practice or institution by introducing it in a different shape, as the Siamese are said to domesticate spiders to drive out cockroaches; the profit of such devices, however, is generally dubious. Whatever the endless shifts and compromises of politics may be worth, they do not belong to the invincible strategy whenever they propose to vanquish evil by evil. Christianity implies a profounder process. Your fire will not put out your companion’s fire; rather will they combine, and make a bigger and hotter blaze. Good arguments are best pressed home by soft words, and a righteous cause will be better pleaded with meekness than with passion. You remember how Jephthah’s roughness to the Ephraimites, who were angry because they were not asked to help in the battle against their country’s enemies, exasperated them further, and led to a terrible strife between brethren, in which thousands of lives were lost. And, on the other hand, you remember how the wise
- 172. Gideon treated thesame Ephraimites on a similar occasion; how he spoke gently to them, and made flattering excuses, and so pacified them that they gladly gave their help against the common foe.2 [Note: H. Macmillan.] The African is now appreciating the fact that there is industrial work for him to do, that he is needed for the work, and able to do it. The missionaries had lately to refuse over one hundred and twenty who wished to be trained as carpenters. We are told that in Ngoniland education is to-day as much PRIZED as in Great Britain. The Ngoni lived as wolves among sheep till they were tamed by the messengers of Jesus Christ. “Give me a Gospel for an assegai,” one of them said to the missionary, “as the love of war has been taken out of my heart.”1 [Note: James Wells, Stewart of Lovedale, 145.] (2) We shall not overcome evil by the representation of it. Ghastly things are represented in art on the plea that they will disgust. The stark expression of naturalism in literature is excused on the ground that its loathsomeness is discredited by being described. And the drama pictures vice and violence with moral design. No mistake can be greater. Wickedness at once repels and fascinates, too often in the end proving contagious and destructive. It is infectious to represent evil, often dangerous to talk of it, and even an injustice to ourselves to figure it in fancy. The morbid element in life must be dealt with in art and literature; but it ought to be described, delineated, and dramatized with utmost reticence. To make our idea of morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination and to introduce into our judgments of our fellow-men a secret element of gusto. If a thing is wrong for us, we should not dwell upon the thought of it; or we shall soon dwell upon it with inverted pleasure.2 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, A Christmas Sermon.] The fabled basilisk was said to perish if it saw itself in a mirror; it could not survive the sight of its own hideousness. Evil is not killed in this way. It feeds on the vision. With regard to the spirit of terrible cruelty which marked the Renaissance in Italy, Symonds traces it to the influence of the fiendish atrocities of the tyrant Ezzelino. “In vain was the humanity of the race revolted by the hideous spectacle. It laid a deep hold upon the Italian imagination, and by the glamour of loathing that has strength to fascinate, proved in the end contagious.”3 [Note: W. L. Watkinson.] An artist one day visited a friend of his, an undergraduate at Oxford. As he looked round upon the walls of his young friend’s rooms, and saw the gross and sordid prints and photographs, the artist’s heart went out in eager longing to purify the thought and sanctify the passion of his young friend. A day or so afterwards, a beautiful picture came addressed to the Oxford undergraduate with a little note enclosed from his artist friend: “Hang this up in your room, it will banish the chorus girls and the jockeys.” And it did!1 [Note: W. S. Kelynack, in The Young Man, March 1911.] (3) Evil is not overcome by denunciation. It is surprising how much efficacy is supposed to go with denunciation. Real, constructive, aggressive good is of far greater significance than eloquent invective; such invective has its place, but it must be accompanied by active practical effort, or it effects little more than summer lightning.
- 173. Carlyle, in hisreview of Elliott, the Corn-Law Rhymer, has a most instructive passage. “We could truly wish to see such a mind as his engaged rather in considering what, in his own sphere, could be done, than what, in his own or other spheres, ought to be destroyed; rather in producing or preserving the True, than in mangling and slashing asunder the False.” But denunciatory rhetoric is so much easier and cheaper than good works, and proves a popular temptation. Yet it is far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness.2 [Note: W. L. Watkinson.] VA DYKE, “THE BATTLE OF LIFE Romans xii. 21 : Overcome evil with good. The Battle of Life is an ancient phrase consecrated by use in Commencement Orations without number. Two modern expressions have taken their place be- side it in our own day: the Strenuous Life, and the Simple Life. Each of these phrases has its own significance and value. It is when they are overemphasized and driven to ex- tremes that they lose their truth and become catch-words of folly. The sim- ple life which blandly ignores all care and conflict, soon becomes flabby and invertebrate, sentimental, and gelati- 5 iw316026 O THE BATTLE OF LIFE nous. The strenuous life which does everything with set jaws and clenched fists and fierce effort, soon becomes strained and violent, a prolonged ner- vous spasm. Somewhere between these two ex- tremes must lie the golden mean: a life that has strength and simplicity,
- 174. courage and calm,power and peace. But how can we find this golden line and live along it ? Some truth there must be in the old phrase which speaks of life as a battle. o conflict, no char- acter. Without strife, a weak life. But what is the real meaning of the battle i What is the vital issue at stake ? What are the things worth fighting for? In what spirit, with what weapons, are we to take our part in the warfare i There is an answer to these questions THE BATTLE OF LIFE J in the text: Overcome evil with good. The man who knows this text by heart, knows the secret of a life that is both strenuous and simple. For here we find the three things that we need most : a call to the real battle of life; a plan for the right campaign; and a promise of final victory. I. Every man, like the knight in the old legend, is born on a field of battle. But the warfare is not carnal, it is spiritual. ot the east against the west, the north against the south, the "Haves" against the "Have-nots"; but the evil against the good, — that is the real conflict of life. The attempt to deny or ignore this conflict has been the stock in trade of every false doctrine that has befogged and bewildered the world since the 8 THE BATTLE OF LIFE days of Eden. The fairy tale that the old serpent told to Eve is a poetic sym- bol of the lie fundamental, — the theory that sin does not mean death, because
- 175. it has noreal existence and makes no real difference. This ancient falsehood has an infinite wardrobe of disguises. You will find it pranked out in philo- sophic garb in the doctrines of those who teach that all things are linked to- gether by necessity of nature or Divine will, and that nothing could ever have happened otherwise than just as it has come to pass. Such a theory of the universe blots out all difference be- tween good and evil except in name. It leaves the fence-posts standing, but it takes away the rails, and throws everything into one field of the inevi- table. THE BATTLE OP LIFE 9 You will find the same falsehood in a more crude form in the popular teachings of what men call " the spirit of the age," the secular spirit. According to these doctrines the problem of civilization is merely a problem of ways and means. If society were better organized, if wealth were more equally distributed, if laws were changed, or perhaps abol- ished, all would be well. If everybody had a full dinner-pail, nobody need care about an empty heart. Human mis- ery the secular spirit recognizes, but it absolutely ignores the fact that nine- tenths of human misery comes from human sin. You will find the same falsehood dis- guised in sentimental costume in the very modem comedy of Christian Sci- ence, which dresses the denial of evil 10 THE BATTLE OP LIFE in pastoral garb of white frock and
- 176. pink ribbons, likean innocent shep- herdess among her lambs. ''Evil is nothing/' says this wonderful Science. " It does not really exist. It is an illu- sion of mortal mind. Shut your eyes and it will vanish." Yes, but open your eyes again and you will see it in the same place, in the same form, doing the same work. A most persistent nothing, a most pow- erful nothing! ot the shadow cast by the good, but the cloud that hides the sun and casts the shadow. ot the " silence implying soimd," but the dis- cord breaking the harmony. Evil is as real as the fire that bums you, as the flood that drowns you. Evil is as real as the typhoid germ that you can put under a microscope and see it squirm THE BATTLE OF LIFE II and grow. Evil is negative, — yes, but it is a real negative, — as real as darkness, as real as death. There are two things in every hu- man heart which bear witness to the existence and reality of evil : first, our judgments of regret, and second, our judgments of condemnation. How often we say to omrselves, "Would that this had not come to, pass ! " How often we feel in regard to our own actions, "Would that I had done differently!" This is the judgment of regret; and it is a silent witness of the heart to the conviction that some things are not inevitable. It is the confession that a battle has been lost which might have been won. It is the acknowledgment that things which are, but are not right, need not
- 177. 12 THE BATTLEOF LIFE have been, if we and our fellow-men had seen more clearly and followed more faithfully the guiding star of the good. And then, out of the judgment of regret, springs the deeper judgment of condemnation. If the failure in duty was not inevitable, then it was base. The false word, the unjust deed, the foul action, seen as a surrender to evil, appears hateful and guilty. It deserves the indigpaation and the shame which attach to all treason. And the spirit which lies behind all these forms of disloyalty to the good, — the spirit which issues in selfishness and sensu- ality, cruelty and lust, intemperance and covetousness, — this animating spirit of evil which works against the Divine will and mars the peace and order of THE BATTLE OF LIFE I3 the universe is the great Adversary against whom we roust fight for our own lives and the life of the world. All around us lies his dark, secret kingdom, tempting, threatening, as- saulting the soul. To ignore it, is to walk blindfold among snares and pit- falls. Try, if you will, to shut it out, by wrapping your heart in dreams of beauty and joy, living in the fair re- gions of art or philosophy, reading only the books which speak of evil as if it did not exist or were only an- other form of goodness. Soon you will be shaken out of the dream into the reality. You will come into con* tact with evil so close, so loathsome, that you cannot deny it. You will see that it has its soldiers, its servants, its
- 178. emissaries, as ardentand enthusiastic .14 THE BATTLE OF LIFE in its cause as if they were serving the noblest of masters, it inspires literature and supports newspapers; now intelligent and cultured, drawing the arts into its service; now coarse and vulgar, with pictures that shock the taste as much as they debase the conscience. It wins adherents and turns them into advocates. It organ- izes the dealers in drunkenness and debauchery into powerful societies for mutual protection. It creates lobbies and controls legislatures. It corrupts the government of great cities and rots out the social life of small towns. Even when its outward manifestations are repressed and its grosser forms resisted, it steals its way into men's hearts, eating out the roots of human trust and brotherhood and kindness^ THE BATTLE OP LIFE 1 5 and filling the air with gossip and spite» envy, malice, and all uncharita- bleness. I am glad that since we have to live in a world where evil exists, we have a religion which does not bandage our eyes. The first thing that we need to have religion do for us is to teach us to face the facts. o man can come into touch with the Divine personality of Jesus Christ, no man can listen to His teaching, without feeling that the distinction between good and evil to Him is vital and evierlasting. The choice between them is to Him the great choice. The conflict between them is to Him the great conflict
- 179. Evil is theone thing that God has never willed. Good is the one thing that He wills forever. Evil is first 1 6 THE BATTLE OF LIFE and last a rebellion against His will. He is altogether on the side of good. Much that is^ is contrary to His will. There is a mighty strife going on, a battle with eternal issues, but not an eternal battle. The evil that is against , Him shall be cast out and shall perish. The good that overcomes the evil shall live forever. And those who yield their lives to God and receive His righteous- ness in Christ are made partakers of everlasting life. This is the teaching of Jesus : and I thank God for the honesty and virility of His religion which makes us face the facts and calls us to take a man's part in the real battle of life. II. But what is the plan of Cam- paign which Christianity sets before us? In what spirit and with what THE BATTLE OF LIFE 1 7 weapons are we to enter the great conflict against the evil that is in the world ? The natural feeling of the heart in the presence of evil is wrath, and the natural weapon of wrath is force. To punish crime, to avenge wrong, to put down wickedness with a strong hand, — that is the first impulse of every one who has the instincts of manhood. And as this is natural, so it is, also, within a certain sphere needful, and to
- 180. a certain extentuseful. Armies and navies exist, at least in theory, to pre- vent injustice among nations. Laws are made to punish wrong-doers. Courts, police-forces, and prisons are maintained to suppress evil with power. But while we recognize this method 1 8 THE BATTLE OF LIFE of dealing with evil as useful to a certain extent and necessary within a certain sphere, we must remember that it has its strict limitations. First, it belongs to the state and not to the individual. When the private man assumes to punish evil with force he sanctions lynch-law, which is a ter- ror to the innocent as well as to the guilty. Then we have the blood-feud and the vendetta, mob-rule and an- archy. Second, the suppression of evil by force is only a temporary relief, a pro- tection for the moment. It does not touch the root of the matter. You send the murderer out of the world by a regulated flash of lightning. But you do not send murder out of the world. To do that you must reach THE BATTLE OF LIFE 1 9 and change the heart of Cain. You put the thief in prison, but when he comes out he will be ready to steal again, unless you can purify his con- science and control his wilL You as- sault and overthrow some system of misgovemment, and "turn the rascals
- 181. out/' But unlessyou have something better to substitute, all you have done is to make room for a new set of ras- cals, — a new swarm of mosquitoes with fresh appetites and larger capaci- ties. Third, the method of fighting evil with force on its own ground often has a bad effect on those who follow it Wrestle with a chimney-sweep, and you will need a bath. Throw back the mud that is thrown at you, and you will have dirty hands. Answer Shimei 20 THE BATTLE OF LIFE when he curses you and you will echo his profanity. Many a man has en- tered a crusade against intemperance and proved himself as intemperate in his language as other men are in their potations. Many a man has attacked a bad cause with righteous indignation, and ended in a personal squabble with most unrighteous anger. o, my brother-men, the best way to iight against evil is not to meet it on its own ground with its own weap- ons. There is a nobler method of war- fare, a divine plan of campaign given to us in the religion of Christ. Over- come evil with good. This is the secret of the battle of life. Evil is potent not so much because it has command of money and the " big battalions," but because it has control THE BATTLE OF LIFE 21 of the hearts of men. It spreads be- cause human hearts are lying fallow and ready to welcome the seeds of all
- 182. kinds of weeds.It persists because too much of what we call virtue is negative, and selfish, and frost-bound, — cold storage virtue, — the poor piety which terminates in a trembling anx- iety to save our own souls. The way to counteract and conquer evil in the world is to give our own hearts to the dominion of- good, and work the works of God while it is day. The strongest of all obstacles to the advance of evil is a clean and gen- erous man, doing his duty from day to day, and winning others, by his cheer- ful fidelity, to serve the same Master. Diseases are not the only things that are contagious. Courage is contagious. 22 THE BATTLE OF LIFE Kindness is contagious. Manly integrity is contagious. All the positive virtues, with red blood in their veins, are conta- gious. The heaviest blow that you can strike at the kingdom of evil is just to fol- low the advice which the dying Sir Wal- ter Scott gave to his son-in-law, Lock- hart : " Be a good man." And if you want to know how, there is but one perfect and supreme example, — the life of Him who not only did no evil, but went about doing good. ow take that thought of fighting evil with good and apply it to our world and to ourselves. Here are monstrous evils and vices in society. Let intemperance be the type of them all, because so many of the others are its children. Drunken- ness ruins more homes and wrecks THE BATTLE OF LIFE 23
- 183. more lives thanwan How shall we oppose it ? I do not say that we shall not pass resolutions and make laws against it. But I do say that we can never really conquer the evil in this way. I hold with Phillips Brooks that " all prohibitory measures are negative. That they have their uses no one can doubt That they have their limits is just as clear." The stronghold of intemperance lies in the vacancy and despair of men's minds. The way to attack it is to make the sober life beautiful and happy and full of interest Teach your boys how to work, how to read, how to play, you fathers, before you send them to college, if you want to guard them against the temptations of strong drink and the many shames and 24 THE BATTLE OF LIFE sorrows that go with it. Make the life of your community cheerful and pleas- ant and interesting^ you reformers, pro- vide men with recreation which will not harm them, if you want to take away the power of the gilded saloon and the grimy boozing-ken. Parks and play- grounds, libraries and music-rooms, clean homes and cheerful churches, — these are the efficient foes of intem- perance. And the same thing is true of gambling and lubricity and all the other vices which drag men down by the lower side of their nature because the higher side has nothing to cling to, nothing to sustain it and hold it up. What are you going to do, my brother-men, for this higher side of human life ? What contribution are you going to make of your strength, your
- 184. THE BATTLE OFLIFE 2$ time, your influence, your money, your self, to make a cleaner, fuller, happier, larger, nobler life possible for some of your fellow-men? I do not ask how you are going to do it. You may do it in business, in the law, in medicine, in the ministry, in teaching, in litera- ture. But this is the question : What are you going to give personally to make the human life of the place where you do your work, purer, stronger, brighter, better, and more worth liv- ing? That will be your best part in the warfare against vice and crime. The positive method is the only effi- cient way to combat intellectual error and spiritual evil. False doctrines are never argued out of the world. They are pushed back by the incoming of the truth as the darkness is pushed 26 THE BATTLE OF LIFE back by the dawn. Phillips Brooks was right It is not worth while to cross the street to break a man's idol. It is worth while to cross the ocean to tell him about God. The skilful fencer who attacks your doubts and drives you from comer to corner of unbelief [and leaves you at last in doubt whether you doubt or not, does you a certain service. He gives you exercise, takes the conceit out of you. But the man who lays hold of the real faith that is hidden underneath your doubt, — the silent longing for God and goodness, the secret attraction that draws your heart toward Jesus Christ as the only one who has the words of everlasting life, — the man who takes hold of this buried faith and quickens it and makes you dare to try to live
- 185. THE BATTLE OFLIFE 2J by it, — ah, that is the man who helps you indeed. My brothers, if any of you are going to be preachers, remem- ber this. What we men need is not so much an answer to our doubts, as more nourishment for our faith. The positive method is the only way of victory in our struggle with the evil that dwells in our own nature and be- sets our own hearts. The reason why many men fail is because they thrust the vice out and then forget to lay hold on the virtue. They evict the un- clean spirit and leave a vacant house. To cease to do evil is important, but to learn to do good is far more impor- tant. Reformation never saved a man. Transformation is the only way. And to be transformed, a man must wel- come the Spirit of Good, the Holy 28 THE BATTLE OF LIFE Spirit, into his heart, and work with Him every day, doing the will of God. There are two ways of fighting fever. One is to dose the sick people with quinine and keep the fever down. The other is to drain the marshes, and pu- rify the water, and cleanse the houses, and drive the fever out. Try nega- tive, repressive religion, and you may live, but you will be an invalid. Try positive, vital religion, and you will be well. There is an absorption of good that guards the soul against the infection of evil. There is a life of fellowship with Christ that can pass through the
- 186. furnace of theworld without the smell of fire on its garments, — a life that is full of interest, as His was, being ever about His Father's business ; a life that THE BATTLE OF LIFE 29 is free and generous and blessed, as His was, being spent in doing good, and refreshed by the sense of God's presence and approval. Last summer I saw two streams emptying into the sea. One was a sluggish, niggardly rivulet, in a wide, fat, muddy bed; and every day the tide came in and drowned out that poor little stream, and filled it with bitter brine. The other was a vigor- ous, joyful, brimming mountain-river, fed from unfailing springs among the hills; and all the time it swept the salt water back before it and kept itself pure and sweet; and when the tide came in, it only made the fresh water rise higher and gather new strength by the delay; and ever the living stream poured forth into the 30 THE BATTLE OF LIFE ocean its tribute of living water, — the symbol of that influence which keeps the ocean of life from turning into a Dead Sea of wickedness. My brother-men, will you take that living stream as a type of your life in the world? The question for you is not what you are going to get out of the world, but what you are going to give to the world. The only way to meet and overcome the inflowing tide of evil is to roll against it the outflowing river of good.
- 187. My prayer foryou is that you may receive from Christ not only the watch- word of this nobler life, but also the power to fulfil it Footnotes: Or reasonable Or in agreement with the Or willing to do menial work Deut. 32:35 Prov. 25:21,22