Ecclesiastes 10:1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking smell… Among the Jews oil rendered fragrant by being mixed with precious drugs was used for many different purposes. With it priests and kings were anointed when they entered upon their offices; guests at the tables of the rich were treated to it as a luxury. It was used medicinally for outward application to the bodies of the sick, and with it corpses and the clothes in which they were wrapped were besprinkled before burial. Very great care was needed in the preparation of the material used for such special purposes. Elaborately confected as the ointment was, it was easily spoiled and rendered worthless. It was, accordingly, necessary not only to take great pains in making it, but also in preserving it from contamination when made. If the vase or bottle in which it was put were accidentally or carelessly left open, its contents might soon be destroyed. A dead fly would soon corrupt the ointment, and turn it into a pestilent odor. So, says the Preacher, a noble and attractive character may be corrupted and destroyed by a little folly - an insignificant-looking fault or weakness may outweigh great gifts and attainments. It is not a case of the unthinking multitude taking advantage of a foible, or inconsistency, or little slip, to depreciate the character of one raised far above them in wisdom and honor, in order to bring it down to their level; of envy leading to an unjust and ungrateful sentence being pronounced upon an almost faultless character. But the warning is that deterioration may really set in, the precious ointment be actually changed into a disgusting odor, the wisdom and honor be outweighed by the little folly ("outweigh," Revised Version). The same teaching is given in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians St. Paul warns his readers that their toleration of a heinous sin in one of their members was poisoning the whole spiritual life of the Church (Ecclesiastes 5.). The fervor of their religious emotions, the hatred of sin and love of holiness which had led them to separate themselves from heathen society, the aspirations and endeavors after purity and righteousness which naturally follow upon an intelligent and earnest acceptance of Christian truth, were all being undermined by their omission of the duty that lay upon them, that of isolating the gross offender, and of expelling him from their community if he gave no signs of penitence and amendment. They might themselves be orthodox in belief and unblamable in conduct, but this sin would soon, if unchecked, lower the whole tone of the community, and nullify all the good that had been attained to. "Know ye not," he said, "that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" It was impossible to allow the fault to remain and to keep the evil influence it exerted within bounds; it would spread like infection, and be persistent until it had corrupted the whole community. And what is true of a society is true of an individual. The fault which shows itself in a character is not like a stain or flaw in a marble statue, which is confined to one spot, and is no worse after the lapse of years, but like a sore in a living body, which weakens and may destroy the whole organism. One cause why the evil influence spreads is that we are not on our guard against it, and it may grow to almost ungovernable strength before we are really convinced that there is any danger. We can recognize at once great errors and heinous vices, and the alarm and disgust they excite, prepare us to resist them; but little follies and weaknesses often fill us with an amused contempt for them, which blinds us to their great power for evil. The dead body of the fly in the vase of ointment is so insignificant a source of corruption, that it surprises us to discover that the fermentation it has produced has tainted the whole mass. Weight for weight, there is an enormous disproportion between the precious fluid and the wretched little object which has corrupted it; yet there is no ignoring of the fact that the mischief has been done. In like manner does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor; an uncorrected fault spreads its influence throughout a whole character and life. How often has the lesson been brought home to us, both in our reading of histories and biographies and in our own experience, of the widespread mischief done by a small foible or weakness! - "The little rift within the lute That by-and-by will make the music mute." So numerous are the sources from which danger arises, that a long list might be made of the little sins by which the characters of many good men and women are often marred - indolence, selfishness, love of ease, procrastination, indecision, rudeness, irritability, over-sensitiveness to praise or blame, vanity, boastfulness, talkativeness, love of gossip, undue laxity, undue severity, want of sell-control over appetites and passions, obstinacy, parsimony. Such are some of the follies which outweigh wisdom and honor - which stamp the character of a man as unworthy of that respect which his gifts and graces would otherwise have secured for him. Numerous though these follies are, they may be reduced to two great classes - faults of weakness and faults of strength. I. FAULTS OF WEAKNESS. This class is that of those which are largely negative, and consist principally in omission to give a definite and worthy direction to the nature; e.g. want of self-control, love of ease, indolence, procrastination, indecision, selfishness, heartlessness. That these are faults which create widespread mischief, and excite a general contempt for the characters of those in whom they appear, will scarcely be denied by any, and illustrations of them are only too abundant. Want of self-control over appetites and passions led David into the foulest crimes, which, though sincerely and passionately repented of, were most terribly avenged, and have for ever left a stain upon his name. Love of ease is the only fault which is implied in the description of the rich man in the parable (Luke 16:19), a desire to be comfortable and avoid all that was disagreeable, but it led him to such callous indifference to the miseries of his fellows as disqualified him for happiness in the world to come. A similar fault stained the character of that young ruler who came running to Christ and asked, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" From his youth up he had obeyed the commandments, and his ingenuous, sweet character and disposition attracted the love of the Savior. But his love of the world made him unwilling to practice the self-denial needed to make him perfect. He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions (Mark 10:17-22). His cowardice that led him to make "the great refusal" was the dead fly that corrupted the precious ointment. A very striking illustration of the deterioration of a character through the sin of weakness and indecision is to be found in the life of Eli. He was a man possessed of many beautiful qualities of mind and spirit - gentle, unselfish, devoid of envy or jealousy, devout and humble; but was "a wavering, feeble, powerless man, with excellent intentions but an utter want of will." His parental indulgence led him to exercise no restraint over his children, and the consequence was that when they grew up their conduct was grossly scandalous and depraved. His authority and power as a ruler were not used to check the evils Which in his heart he loathed, and so his folly outweighed all the wisdom and honor he possessed. His good qualities have not preserved his memory from contempt. For contempt is the feeling instinctively excited in those who witness moral weakness and indecision. This is the sting of the rebuke addressed to the Church of Laodicea, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:15, 16). In Dante's description of the lower world special infamy is attached to this class of offenders - that of those who have never really lived, who have never awakened to take any part either in good or evil, to care for anything but themselves. They are unfit for heaven, and hell scorns to receive them. "This miserable mode the dreary souls of those sustain who lived without blame and without praise. They were mixed with that caitiff choir of angels, who were not rebellious nor were faithful to God, but were for themselves. Heaven chased them forth to keep his beauty from impair; and the deep hell receives them not, for the wicked would have some glory over them. They are unknown to fame. Mercy and judgment disdain them. Let us not speak of them, but look and pass." II. FAULTS OF STRENGTH. This class includes those faults which are of a positive character, and consist largely in an abuse of qualities which might have been virtues, For these are not open vices by which characters otherwise good are depraved, but insignificant, unsuspected sources of danger. The very strength of character by which men and women are distinguished may lead, by over-emphasis, into very offensive deterioration. Thus firmness may degenerate into obstinacy, frugality into parsimony, liberality into extravagance, lightheartedness into frivolity, candor into rudeness, and so on. And these are faults which disgust and repel, and cause us to overlook even very great merits in a character; and not only so, but, if unchecked, gradually nullify those merits. We may find in the character of Christ all the virtues which go to make up holiness so admirably balanced that no one is over-prominent, and, Therefore, no one pushed to that excess which so often mars human excellence. Over against the sterner and more masculine qualities of mind and spirit we find those that are gracious and tender, and both within such limits as render his a faultless and perfect example of goodness. His tender compassion for the sinful did not lead him to condone their faults or to lower the standard of holiness for their sake. His righteous indignation against sin did not show itself in impatience, censoriousness, or irritability, as he met it from day to day. "His tender tone was the keen edge of his reproofs, and his unquestionable love infused solemnity into every warning." Two practical lessons may be drawn from our text. The first is that all human excellence is exposed to risk. It is not sufficient to have attained to a certain measure of righteousness; there needs also to be care against declining from it. The ointment carefully distilled must be guarded against corruption. And the second is that the danger often springs from insignificant and unsuspected quarters. The dead fly, carried by some stray breeze into the unguarded vial, is the center of a fermentation which in a very short time will destroy the value of all its contents. - J.W. Parallel Verses KJV: Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. |
    |