(W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)

1. When we fortify ourselves in sin, by human refuges and supports (Isaiah 28:15, 16; Isaiah 30:1, etc.; Obadiah 1:3, 4).

2. When we look for that rest in the creature, which is only to be found in God (Jeremiah 9:23, 24).

3. When we seek to please men more than God. Not as Moses, Daniel, Peter.

4. When we use unlawful means to rid ourselves of trouble (Jonah 1:2, 3).

5. When we form our religion by the opinions of men instead of God's Word (Matthew 15:1-9; Galatians 2:11-13).

6. When we lean on ourselves instead of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:3-7).

II. THE WRETCHEDNESS OF SUCH A DISPOSITION AND CONDUCT.

1. God will take out the enjoyment of what he possesses (Ecclesiastes 6:1, 2).

2. The object of his hope shall be removed, or turned against him (Psalm 41:9).

3. God will leave him to his own corruptions and Satan's temptations (Hosea 4:17).

4. Guilt shall make him a torment to himself. Judas.

5. When blessings come, he shall not perceive them (Luke 19:41-44; Acts 13:38-41).

6. Death shall snatch him from his enjoyments (Luke 12:1, etc.; Acts 12:1, etc.) .

(H. Foster.)

2. He that maketh flesh his arm is cursed also in the short-lived nature of his ground of confidence. How often does man, in the very noonday of his journey through life, feel his heart sink within him on finding that the distant places, which in the morning of life he had looked forward to as fresh and beautiful, are but as the parched heath or thirsty sand; he thinks of the days of boyhood, when an untried world promised happiness and security, and sighs on learning the hard lesson, that neither is to be had on this side of the grave.

3. Deceitfulness is moreover part of that curse which those may expect to reap, and that abundantly, who trust in man and make flesh their arm. Put God out of the question; let there be no recognition of any other than human obligations, and you have no security in the faithfulness of the nearest or dearest friend.

4. There is a curse also in the bitterness of disappointment. This is what makes the wretched old worldling like the parched heath; friends, or children, or other relatives, have either died or forsaken him, or his riches have slipped out of his hands and flown away; all his worldly plans and schemes have failed; he has no love of God in his heart to bear him up against so many cruel disappointments, and the bitterness of his spirit has therefore increased day by day, till he is completely soured; he feeds on his morose temper, and in turn it preys upon him; the curse eats into his vitals, drying up every little show of better feeling which would have kept his heart still green and salt; he hates and suspects everyone; the world is looked upon by him as one great lie, and of the truth he knows nothing; or the things wherein he foolishly expected to find happiness, have proved incapable of affording it, even while he had them in his possession.

(C. O. Pratt, M. A.)

1. Those who do not realise their dependence on God for all true happiness, but think it lies in worldly gain.

2. Those who trust in man and make flesh their arm, and neglect to fix all dependence on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. Those who depend on a form of godliness without the power, and, excepting a little animal sympathy, remain cold as ever.

II. HOW THESE RESEMBLE THE HEATH IN THE DESERT.

1. In barrenness and deformity.

2. In being desolate, forsaken, and unblest.

3. While the holy land is refreshed with dew from heaven, the desert remains parched as before.

4. Showers falling on desert heath only promote the growth of deformed shrubs; and the influence of heaven falling on this class calls forth a more fatal resistance of the Holy Spirit.

5. The heath cannot be made fruitful; and all God's visitations fall unregarded on many.

6. It is plain that, while many obey the Gospel call, others remain desolate and uncheered by any heavenly influence.

(E. Griffin, D. D.)

I. THE ONE IS IN THE DESERT; THE OTHER BY THE RIVER. The poor little dusty shrub in the desert, whose very leaves have been modified into prickles, is fit for the desert, and is as much at home there as the willows by the water courses with their rush vegetation in their moist bed. But if a man makes that fatal choice, of shutting out God from his confidence and his love, and squandering these upon earth and upon creatures, he is as fatally out of harmony with the place which he has chosen, and as much away from his natural soil as a tropical plant amongst the snows of Arctic glaciers, or a water lily in the Sahara. You, I, the poorest and humblest of men, will never be right, never feel in native soil, with appropriate surroundings, until we have laid our hearts and our hands on the breast of God, and rested ourselves on Him. Not more surely do gills and fins proclaim that the creature that has them is meant to roam through the boundless ocean, nor the anatomy and wings of the bird witness more surely to its destination to soar in the open heavens, than the make of your spirits testifies that God, none less or lower, is your portion. As well might bees try to get honey from a vase of wax flowers as we to draw what we need from creatures, from ourselves, from visible and material things. Where else will you get love that will never fail nor change nor die? Where else will you find an object for the intellect that will yield inexhaustible material of contemplation and delight? Where else infallible direction for the will? Where else shall weakness find unfailing strength, or sorrow adequate consolation, or hope certain fulfilment, or fear a safe hiding place?

II. THE ONE CAN TAKE IN NO REAL GOOD; THE OTHER CAN FEAR NO EVIL. (See R.V., ver. 8.) "He cannot see when good comes." God comes, and I would rather have some more money, or some woman's love, or a big business. So I might go the whole round. The man that cannot see good when it is there before his nose, because the false direction of his confidence has blinded his eyes, cannot open his heart to it. You are plunged, as it were, in a sea of possible felicity, which will be yours if your heart's direction is towards God, and the surrounding ocean of blessedness has as little power to fill your heart as the sea to enter some hermetically sealed flask dropped into the middle of the Atlantic. Turn to the other side. "He shall not fear when heat cometh," which is evil in these Eastern lands, "and shall not be careful in the year of drought." The tree that sends its roots towards a river that never fails does not suffer when all the land is parched. And the man who has driven his roots into God, and is drawing from that deep source what is needful for his life and fertility, has no occasion to dread any evil, nor to gnaw his heart with anxiety as to what he is to do in parched times. Troubles may come, but they do not go deeper than the surface. It may be all cracked and caked and dry, "a thirsty land where no water is," and yet deep down there may be moisture and coolness.

III. THE ONE IS BARE; THE OTHER CLOTHED WITH THE BEAUTY OF FOLIAGE. The word translated "heat" has a close connection with, if it does not literally mean, "naked," or "bare." Probably it designates some inconspicuously leaved desert shrub, the particular species not being ascertainable or a matter of any consequence. Leaves, in Scripture, have a recognised symbolical meaning. "Nothing but leaves" in the story of the fig tree meant only beautiful outward appearance, with no corresponding outcome of goodness of heart, in the shape of fruit. So I venture, here, to draw a distinction between leafage and fruit, and say that the one points rather to a man's character and conduct as being lovely in appearance, and in the other as being morally good and profitable. This is the lesson of these two clauses — Misdirected confidence in creatures strips a man of much beauty of character, and true faith in God adorns soul with a leafy vesture of loveliness. "Whatsoever things are lovely, and of good report" lack their supreme excellence, the diamond on the top of the royal crown, the glittering gold on the summit of the Campanile, unless there be in them a distinct reference to God.

IV. THE ONE IS STERILE; THE OTHER FRUITFUL. The only works of men worth calling "fruit," if regard be had to their capacities, relations, and obligations, are those done as the outcome and consequence of hearts trusting in the Lord. The rest of the man's activities may be busy and multiplied, and, from the point of view of a godless morality, many, may be fair and good; but if we think of him as being destined, as his chief end, "to glorify God, and (so) to enjoy Him forever," what correspondence between such a creature and acts that are done without reference to God can there ever be? At the most they are "wild grapes." And there comes a time when they will be tested; the axe laid to the root of the trees, and these imperfect deeds will shrivel up and disappear. Trust will certainly be fruitful. There we are upon pure Christian ground which declares that the outcome of faith is conduct in conformity with the will of Him in whom we trust, and that the productive principle of all good in man is confidence in God manifest to us in Jesus Christ.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

1. His intellect is rooted in God's truths.

2. His sympathy is rooted in God's character.

3. His activity is rooted in God's plan.

II. He is blessed WITH MORAL FRESHNESS AT ALL TIMES. He has permanent beauty. There are two reasons why the most beautiful evergreen tree in nature must fail.

1. Because it is limited in its own essence. No tree has unbounded potentialities; though it live for centuries it will grow itself out, exhaust all its latent force. Not so with the soul. It has unending powers of growth.

2. Because it is limited in its supplies. The river at its roots may dry up; the nutriment in its soil it may exhaust. Not so with the soul; its roots strike into the inexhaustible fountain of life. Its leaf shall be green, — ever green.

III. He is blessed WITH MORAL CALMNESS IN TRYING SEASONS. The position of such a tree is independent; its roots have struck deep into the eternities, and it defies the storms of time.

IV. He is blessed WITH MORAL FRUITFULNESS WITHOUT END (Galatians 5:22). A good man is ever useful, an ever productive tree to the hungry, an ever welling fountain to the parched, an ever burning lamp to the benighted.

(Homilist.)

II. AND HERE IS GOD REVEALED THAT HE MAY BE TRUSTED. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord." Does trust need power? Here is the Almighty. Lo, He sitteth upon the throne of the universe and all things serve Him. Does trust demand the unchanging, the everlasting? Does trust need wisdom? Here is all that my want can ever desire. But these attributes, whilst trust demands them all and whilst they make trust blessed, do not win my trust. My heart needs more. And blessed be God, a great deal more is given. Trust needs love. And yet one thing more is needful to perfect trust. Trust is born of fear: and fear is born of sin. How can I who have sinned against God draw near to Him? Till that question is answered God is but a terror to me. Love may pity: love may weep: but true love cannot hush up and hide my sin. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. My sin is not hidden. It is brought out into the very face of heaven and hell: and there its penalty is met and satisfied. Have you found this blessedness?

(M. G. Pearse.)

1. The object.

(1)He who always was.

(2)He whose being is in and of Himself (Acts 17:25-28).

(3)He who gives being and fulfilment to His Word (Exodus 6:1-4; Jeremiah 23:7, 8).

(4)He who is our kinsman by incarnation (Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Isaiah 28:16; 1 Timothy 3:16).

2. The disposition of the heart toward this object. "Trusteth Me," i.e. —

(1)Knows.

(2)Approves.

(3)Relies on.

(4)Waits for.

II. THE BLESSEDNESS, OR PRIVILEGES, OF SUCH A MAN.

1. He shall lay faster hold on God and religion.

2. He shall not feel the weight of trials.

3. He shall hold fast his profession when others drop off.

4. He shall be sustained in old age and death.

5. He shall not cease from yielding fruit —

(1)Under trials;

(2)In death;

(3)To eternity.

(H. Foster.)

1. This duty implies positively an entire resignation to the wisdom, a dependence on the power, and a firm assurance of the goodness and veracity of God.

2. Negatively this duty implies that we should withdraw our confidence from all inferior beings; and in order to this we must begin at home, put off all trust in ourselves, our parts, abilities or acquisitions, how great or how many soever they may be.

II. CONSIDER WHEN THIS TRUST IS GROUNDED AS IT OUGHT TO BE, or what conditions are required on our part to assure our confidence in the favour and protection of God. The most important qualification for a successful performance of these duties, is a sincere obedience to the laws of God, an unfeigned devotion of the heart to His service, a steady adherence to the faith, and a purity and holiness of life agreeable to the precepts of our religion.

III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF HIM WHO CAN THUS TRUST AND HOPE IN THE LORD. He relies on a wisdom who sees the utmost consequence of things, on a power which nothing can obstruct, on a goodness of infinite affection to his happiness, and who has bound Himself by promise never to fail these who trust in Him. If this God be with us, who or what can be against us? But if He be angry, all our other dependencies will profit us nothing, our strength will be but weakness, and our wisdom folly; every other support will fail under us when we come to lean upon it, and deceive us in the day when we want it most.

(John Rogers, D. D.)

II. WHEN OUR CONFIDENCE IN GOD IS WELL GROUNDED. Our confidence must rise or fall, according to the progress or defects of our obedience. Conscious of right intentions, and approved by our own heart, we may approach the throne of grace with superior assurance. If our heart in some degree condemn us, we may have our intervals of diffidence and apprehension; but, if, unreclaimed, we go on still in wickedness, and persist in determined disobedience; should we then trust in God, it were, in the most literal and criminal sense, to hope against hope. Till we repent, and return to duty, we can have no expectations of favour, no confidence in our Maker; nor can we lift up our eyes to heaven with any hopes of mercy and forgiveness there.

III. THE HAPPINESS RESULTING FROM A WELL-GROUNDED DEPENDENCE ON GOD. He whose conscience speaks consolation, and bids him confide in his God, confides in a wisdom which sees the remotest issues of all events, on a power which ordereth all things, and on a goodness which ever consults the well-being of His creatures. And though this gives him no absolute insurance against evils, no privilege of exemption from calamities and afflictions; yet he feels the weight of them much abated by internal consolations. He acquiesces in all the dispensations of heaven, submits with humble resignation to the severities of providence; assured that God alone can know what is best, what is most expedient in his present circumstances, and what most instrumental to his future felicity. In the darkest night of affliction, some light will spring up, some beam of joy dart upon his mind, from this consideration, that the God whom he serves is able to deliver, and in His own good time will deliver him out of all his troubles, or reward him with joys unspeakable in His own blissful presence.

(G. Carr.)

1. We owe it to the supremacy of the Divine nature.

2. Entire resignation to God's wisdom and will.

3. Entire withdrawal of our trust from all inferior things.

4. Sincere acceptance of Christ as our Saviour.

5. Sincere effort to live a holy and pious life.

II. THE BLESSEDNESS WITH WHICH GODLY TRUST IS CROWNED. This may be seen by contrast with the unbeliever.

1. The objects of the unbeliever's trust are uncertain and insignificant; the believer's, certain and glorious.

2. The one inadequate and perishing; the other, all-sufficient and abiding.

3. The one bears a burdened conscience and a character ill at ease; the other enjoys peace and rest.

4. The one regards God as his foe, and resembles the inferior objects of his trust; the other regards God as his friend, enjoys His protection and fellowship and resembles Him.Learn —

1. Not to be deluded by inferior things.

2. Seek this blessing by submission to God's will in a crucified Saviour.

(E. Jerman.)

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

     5020   human nature
     5490   refuge
     5864   futility
     5973   unreliability
     6166   flesh, sinful nature
     8032   trust, lack of
     8224   dependence
     8331   reliability
     8354   trustworthiness
     8616   prayerlessness
     8710   atheism
     8820   self-confidence
     8825   self-righteousness, and gospel

Jeremiah 17:5-6

     4817   drought, spiritual
     8705   apostasy, in OT

Jeremiah 17:5-8

     4357   salt
     8023   faith, necessity

A Soul Gazing on God
'A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.'--JER. xvii. 12. I must begin by a word or two of explanation as to the language of this passage. The word 'is' is a supplement, and most probably it ought to be omitted, and the verse treated as being, not a statement, but a series of exclamations. The next verse runs thus, 'O Lord! the hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed'; and the most natural and forcible understanding of the words of my text is reached …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Two Lists of Names
'They that depart from Me shall be written in the earth'--JER. xvii. 13. 'Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'--LUKE x. 20. A name written on earth implies that the bearer of the name belongs to earth, and it also secondarily suggests that the inscription lasts but for a little while. Contrariwise, a name written in heaven implies that its bearer belongs to heaven, and that the inscription will abide. We find running throughout Scripture the metaphor of books in which men's names are …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Heath in the Desert and the Tree by the River
'He shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited...He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.'--JER. xvii. 6, 8. The prophet here puts before us two highly finished pictures. In the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Nation's Duty in a War for Freedom.
(Preached March 28th, 1813.) TEXT: JEREMIAH xvii. 5-8, AND xviii. 7-10. MY devout hearers! Through an extraordinary occurrence we find the order of our discourses on the suffering Saviour interrupted, and our to-day's meeting devoted to a very different subject. How deeply have we all been moved by the events of the last weeks! We saw march forth from our gates the army of a people nominally allied to us, but our feeling was not that of parting with friends; with thankful joy did we feel at last …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

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

Severinus in Germany.
As the Lord ever sends his angels when there is most need of help, so in the midst of the desolation and destruction which ensued on that irruption of the barbarians by which the Roman empire was broken in pieces after the death of Attila, the great desolator and exterminator, (A. D. 453,) He sent to the aid of the oppressed people of Germany, on the banks of the Danube, in their sore need, a man endowed with an extraordinary energy of love. His whole appearance has in it something enigmatical. As …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Trust of the Wicked, and the Righteous Compared. Jer 17:5-8
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

But in Order that we Fall not Away from Continence...
10. But in order that we fall not away from Continence, we ought to watch specially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil, that we presume not of our own strength. For, "Cursed is every one that setteth his hope in man." [1838] And who is he, but man? We cannot therefore truly say that he setteth not his hope in man, who setteth it in himself. For this also, to "live after man," what is it but to "live after the flesh?" Whoso therefore is tempted by such a suggestion, let him hear, …
St. Augustine—On Continence

Epistle i. To the Roman Citizens.
To the Roman Citizens. Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to his most beloved sons the Roman citizens. It has come to my ears that certain men of perverse spirit have sown among you some things that are wrong and opposed to the holy faith, so as to forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day. What else can I call these but preachers of Antichrist, who, when he comes, will cause the Sabbath day as well as the Lord's day to be kept free from all work. For, because he pretends to die and rise …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

"And if any Man Sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,",
1 John ii. 1.--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,", &c. There is here a sad supposition, but too certain, that any man may sin, yea, that all men will sin, even those who have most communion with God, and interest in the blood of Christ. Yet they are not altogether exempted from this fatal lot of mankind. It is incident even to them to sin, and too frequently incident, but yet we have a happy and sweet provision, for indemnity from the hazard of sin,--"we have an advocate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"For what the Law could not Do, in that it was Weak through the Flesh, God Sending his Own Son in the Likeness of Sinful Flesh,
Rom. viii. 3.--"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." For what purpose do we meet thus together? I would we knew it,--then it might be to some better purpose. In all other things we are rational, and do nothing of moment without some end and purpose. But, alas! in this matter of greatest moment, our going about divine ordinances, we have scarce any distinct or deliberate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Appendix xvii. The Ordinances and Law of the Sabbath as Laid Down in the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud.
The terribly exaggerated views of the Rabbis, and their endless, burdensome rules about the Sabbath may best be learned from a brief analysis of the Mishnah, as further explained and enlarged in the Jerusalem Talmud. [6476] For this purpose a brief analysis of what is, confessedly, one of the most difficult tractates may here be given. The Mishnic tractate Sabbath stands at the head of twelve tractates which together from the second of the six sections into which the Mishnah is divided, and which …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Fourth Commandment
Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it. Exod 20: 8-11. This …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The First Part
Of the Apocalyptical Commentaries, according to the Rule of the Apocalyptical Key, on the First Prophecy which is contained in the Seals and Trumpets; with an Introduction concerning the Scene of the Apocalypse. As it is my design to investigate the meaning of the Apocalyptical visions, it is requisite for me to treat, in the first place, of that celestial theatre to which John was called, in order to behold them, exhibited as on a stage, and afterwards of the prophecies in succession, examined by …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Moral Depravity.
In discussing the subject of human depravity, I shall,-- I. Define the term depravity. The word is derived from the Latin de and pravus. Pravus means "crooked." De is intensive. Depravatus literally and primarily means "very crooked," not in the sense of original or constitutional crookedness, but in the sense of having become crooked. The term does not imply original mal-conformation, but lapsed, fallen, departed from right or straight. It always implies deterioration, or fall from a former state …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Inward Witness to the Truth of the Gospel.
"I have more understanding than my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my study; I am wiser than the aged, because I keep Thy commandments."--Psalm cxix. 99, 100. In these words the Psalmist declares, that in consequence of having obeyed God's commandments he had obtained more wisdom and understanding than those who had first enlightened his ignorance, and were once more enlightened than he. As if he said, "When I was a child, I was instructed in religious knowledge by kind and pious friends, who …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue...
12. But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some [2650] who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." [2651] It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which …
St. Augustine—On Patience

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

Jewish views on Trade, Tradesmen, and Trades' Guilds
We read in the Mishnah (Kidd. iv. 14) as follows: "Rabbi Meir said: Let a man always teach his son a cleanly and a light trade; and let him pray to Him whose are wealth and riches; for there is no trade which has not both poverty and riches, and neither does poverty come from the trade nor yet riches, but everything according to one's deserving (merit). Rabbi Simeon, the son of Eleazer, said: Hast thou all thy life long seen a beast or a bird which has a trade? Still they are nourished, and that …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Secret of Its Greatness
[Illustration: (drop cap G) The Great Pyramid] God always chooses the right kind of people to do His work. Not only so, He always gives to those whom He chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work He will one day call them to do. That is why God put it into the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to bring up Moses as her own son in the Egyptian palace. The most important part of Moses' training was that his heart should be right with God, and therefore he was allowed to remain …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Division of Actual Grace
Actual grace may be divided according to: (1) the difference existing between the faculties of the human soul, and (2) in reference to the freedom of the will. Considered in its relation to the different faculties of the soul, actual grace is either of the intellect, or of the will, or of the sensitive faculties. With regard to the free consent of the will, it is either (1) prevenient, also called cooeperating, or (2) efficacious or merely sufficient. 1. THE ILLUMINATING GRACE OF THE INTELLECT.--Actual …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual