1. To give the understanding to know and contemplate the Divine perfections. The understanding is the leading faculty in the human soul.

2. To offer Him the will. Every man possesses a self-determining power.

3. To surrender the affections to Him. This giving of the heart must be done, in an entire dependence on Divine aid; promptly, cheerfully, entirely, perpetually.

II. THE REASONS FOR COMPLYING WITH THE REQUEST.

1. Gratitude.

2. Fidelity. You have promised to do it, resolved to do it.

3. Justice. Every human being is emphatically the property of the Most High. God is the absolute, unalienable proprietor of all. In demanding your heart He asks for that to which He alone has right.

4. Safety. This depends on being in the holy keeping of God.

5. Self-interest. Here your duty and interest go hand in hand. Inferences:(1) That nothing will be acceptable with God where the heart is withheld.(2) That God uses all conceivable methods to induce men to give Him their hearts.(3) Everything in religion, on the part of man, must be voluntary.

(R. Treffry.)

1. By man's actions. Man's actions in his unregenerated state prove that his heart is not under the control of the Divine. Man in this condition has no sympathy with the truths, realities, principles, and pleasures of the blessed gospel of God.

2. By the experience of the good of all ages.

3. By the testimony of God's Word.

II. GOD DESIRES POSSESSION OF THE HUMAN HEART. This desire of God —

1. Is founded on judicial ground. It is only right that God should have the heart. We are not our own; He who made us has an inalienable right to all we have and are. "He bought us with the precious blood of Christ."

2. Is founded on filial relation — "My son, give Me thine heart." God and man are near relations; man is the offspring of the Divine.

3. Is founded on God's love to man. God's love to man prompted Him to make this appeal. He desires his heart that He may enlighten it with His Spirit, cleanse it with the blood of His Son.

III. GOD DESIRES A WILLING POSSESSION OF THE HUMAN HEART — "My son, give Me thine heart." God says, "Give Me thine heart" wholly, voluntarily, unreservedly, gratefully, and believingly.

1. That God does not exercise compulsion on man's will — " Give Me thine heart." God recognises man's free agency.

2. The dignity of man recognised by God. Man's consent is necessary.

3. The glory of the Divine character. If God would compel man to serve Him and surrender to Him his heart, his service would not render any glory to God; the service would be void of virtue.

(J. O. Griffiths.)

I. WHY DOES GOD MAKE ANY REQUEST OF MAN? God loves a voluntary offering, a willing surrender from such a creature as man. A man is able to disobey. God is pleased when man yields Him a hearty and willing obedience.

II. WHAT IS THE REQUEST GOD MAKES OF MEN. "Give Me thine heart." Heart is another name for the affections, and the affections are as essential a part of every man as his intellect or his will. God says, "Give Me thy supreme love." Here is a demand which few men comply with, which none in their natural state comply with. Men will give God everything except their hearts. This is a request concerning which some people stand in doubt whether they ought to comply with it.

III. WHY DOES GOD MAKE THIS REQUEST OF MAN?

1. Because the heart is the most valuable thing we have.

2. Where the heart is given, everything else will follow.

3. The heart can never be happy until it is given to God. So that God makes this request not for any selfish reason, but in the greatest goodness, and the most God-like loving-kindness.

IV. HOW DOES GOD MAKE THIS REQUEST OF MAN? In various ways. He does it by all the comforts of our present life. He does it by experience of the sorrows of life. In the Cross of Jesus this request is uttered.

(Francis Tucker, B.A.)

1. Its nature. "Thy heart" — the centre of thought and life.

2. Its extent. Includes the will, strength, love.

3. Its reasonableness.

II. THE OBSTACLES.

1. Its singularity.

2. The tendency of human nature — to flee from, instead of drawing nigh to Him.

3. The world's temptations.

4. The influence of Satan.

III. ENCOURAGEMENTS.

1. God's love.

2. God's invitation.

3. Our desolate condition.

IV. HELPS.

1. Earnestness.

2. Carefulness.

3. Jealous regard.

4. Prayer, and the means of grace.

(Homilist.)

1. Men do not naturally give their hearts to God.

2. God will not force us to comply with the demand.

3. To give the heart implies —

(1)That we heartily renounce all that God has forbidden.

(2)A hearty belief in the fulfilment of all the promises.

(3)That we seek and cleave to God constantly as our portion.

II. ENFORCE the text.

1. It is just and right.

2. Our interest requires it.

III. NOW, WHAT ANSWER will you give my Lord to the text?

1. "Oh," say some, "I gave it long since. I am only sorry I did not give it before, and sorry I have so often backslidden in heart; but to whom shall I go?"

2. "Yes," says another, "I desire and endeavour to do it; but what a struggle for life!" Do not despair; lift it up as thou art able, and "if darkness endure for a night, joy shall come in the morning"; the Lord is nigh thee; He can loosen thy heart. Look up — the day of redemption draweth nigh.

3. "Yes," says another — "my heart? Do you desire that? Ask for my money, my tongue, my voice, my feet, my hands, anything and everything but that. It is otherwise engaged." My Master has not left a power in my commission to compromise it; He will not take aught else.

4. "Yes," says another, "by His help I will; it is right. I cannot be safe without, and it is kind He seeks it. But when? Tomorrow — to-night is impossible; in a very short time I will." I doubt thou wilt perish for ever!

(J. Summerfield, M.A.)

1. Nothing less is worthy the acceptance of Him who knows the most hidden purposes of the mind.

2. God alone can satisfy the heart.

3. None but God can renew or sanctify the heart, and thereby prepare it for the holiness of heaven.

II. IN WHAT MANNER THIS NECESSARY COMMAND CAN BE COMPLIED WITH.

III. THE HAPPY EFFECTS THAT WILL FOLLOW FROM A PROMPT AND UNIVERSAL OBEDIENCE. The morality of the gospel is founded on the basis of gratitude and the efficacious principle of love to God. A sense of His pardoning love and favour will be the completion of our wishes, the source of our joys, and the very foretaste of heaven.

(John Grose, M.A.)

II. HOW REASONABLE IT IS TO GIVE GOD OUR HEART. If a fellow-creature is entitled to our affections because of his moral excellences, how much more God, who possesses these excellences in infinite perfection!

III. HOW BLESSED IT IS TO GIVE GOD OUR HEART.

IV. HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO GIVE GOD OUR HEART. Without giving the heart to God all our works are only varnished sins, splendid vices, pleasing abominations. And further, it is the giving of the heart to God that prepares us for a better world.

V. HOW WE MAY BE ENABLED TO GIVE GOD OUR HEART.

(Miles Jackson.)

I. THE NATURE, EXTENT, AND REASONABLENESS OF THIS COMMAND. It implies a clear and enlightened understanding of the things of God, especially the gospel method of salvation. The command is reasonable in view of the relations of God to us.

II. DIFFICULTIES IN MAKING THIS SURRENDER. Such as affect the young. Temptations of young manhood. Trials and evils of school experience. Entering business. Forms of recreation. Directions:

1. Be in earnest.

2. If you have given God your heart take care what goes in and what comes out of it.

3. Look well to whom beside you give any share of your heart.

4. Beware of carelessness in secret devotion.

5. Keep up attendance on holy ordinances.

(Daniel Moore, M.A.)

1. He created that heart. And His request tells us at once of God's right and of man's freedom.

2. He has bestowed, and is bestowing, continually upon it His care. Home and friendships, and the myriad bright hopes of life, testify that we have a Father in our God. God has been watching over your life, arranging with His wisdom and forethought and love the interests of your soul, and for all this care and anxious fatherhood, He asks this return, "My son, give Me thine heart."

3. He has provided redemption for it. We are not our own, we are bought with a price. In asking for the heart God asks for that which controls the life — for your love, your supreme love, your undivided love. God does not want your service without your heart. Reasons why your heart should be given to God now:

(1)Because God alone can justify it.

(2)Because of the ten thousand snares which it will save you.

(3)Because the longer the gift is delayed the less probable is it that it will be ever given at all. Let it be a definite act; on your part a solemn consecration.

(Henry Wonnacott.)

II. THE MANNER OF YIELDING UP THE HEART TO GOD. It is here expressed by a way of giving.

1. Give it cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7).

2. Presently (2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 4:7).

3. Give it; do not lend it only. Many lend their hearts under a sermon, like those in Ezekiel 33:32. God is pleased to call that a gift which indeed is a debt (Romans 8:12; Romans 12:1).

III. TO WHOM THE HEART MUST BE GIVEN.

1. Not to the creature (Matthew 10:37).

2. Not to the world (2 Timothy 4:10; 1 John 2:15).

3. Not to Satan (Ephesians 2:2).

4. Not to sin (chap. Proverbs 1:10).

5. Give it to Him who gave Himself for thee (Galatians 2:20).

IV. THE GIFT ITSELF. "The heart."

1. Not the outward man only, not the body only: God dwells not so much in these temples as in broken and contrite spirits. He doth not here ask for the shell, but the kernel; not for the casket, but for the jewel.

2. Not in appearance, but in reality.

3. Not a part, but the whole. God is like the true mother (1 Kings 3:26).

4. Give thine heart, i.e., all the powers and faculties of thy soul.To conclude:

1. Because it is His due. He is the maker, the purchaser (1 Corinthians 6:20); the spouse (Hosea 2:19).

2. It is pleasing and acceptable to Him. He asks it; it is all thou canst give Him. It is a comprehensive gift. He that gives the heart will give all things (Romans 8:32).

3. All performances without the heart will be rejected (Amos 5:21, 22).

4. Give thine heart to God: if it be a hard heart, He will make it new (Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 36:26).

(T. Hannam.)

(T. Christlieb, D.D.)

I. EXPLAIN THE PRECEPT IN THE TEXT.

1. It implies the exercising of love to God. To love, and to give the heart, signify the same thing.

2. It implies loving God for what He is in Himself. Men may love God for His favours, without loving His true character.

3. It implies loving God supremely. He is the Supreme Being, He possesses supreme natural, and moral excellences; and to love Him for these is to love Him supremely.

II. THE REASONABLENESS OF COMPLYING WITH THIS DIVINE INJUNCTION. Consider —

1. That we are the offspring of God.

2. He is infinitely worthy of the love of all mankind.

3. The conduct, as well as the character, of God makes giving Him our hearts reasonable.

4. This will afford us the highest happiness that we are capable of enjoying.

5. There is really nothing to hinder us from thus giving our hearts. Improvement:(1) It is reasonable that all men should be really religious.(2) Not reasonable to think hardly of God if He rejects services when hearts are withheld.(3) It is reasonable to exhort men to exercise supreme love to God immediately.(4) Every scheme of religion which keeps hearts from God is unreasonable.(5) It is most unreasonable to withdraw hearts from God when they have once been given.

(N. Emmons, D.D.)

I. WHO HAS THE GREATEST CLAIM TO YOUR HEARTS? Consider the equity and reasonableness of the demands of God, your Creator and Redeemer. Contrast with the pretensions of the devil, the world or the flesh.

II. WHERE MAY YOU BESTOW YOUR HEARTS WITH THE GREATEST ADVANTAGE?

1. Suppose that the world and the flesh are able, at present, to make good their specious promises, what will come when the transitory pleasures are passed away?

2. Even with regard to this life, the advantage is far from being so much on their side as they would make you believe. The insinuations that religion will make you unhappy are mere calumnies that stand confuted by a thousand experiences to the contrary. The devil, the world, and the flesh promise you indeed riches, honour, and abundance of pleasures, but they promise what it is not in their power to give.Motives urging to the immediate surrender of the heart to God are —

1. This will be particularly acceptable to God and the Redeemer.

2. It will be singularly comfortable and advantageous to yourselves.

3. If you refuse God your hearts now, perhaps hereafter it will be too late to offer them.

4. Consider what the refusal of your hearts to God implies in it.

5. Think how you will answer your refusal at the great day.

(John Oakes.)

(A. Mursell.)

I. WHAT IT MEANS TO GIVE GOD OUR HEARTS.

II. WHY WE SHOULD GIVE OUR HEARTS TO GOD.

1. Because He has the best right to them.

2. Because He can make the best use of them. He can make them new. He can make them clean. He can make them happy.

(R. Newton, D.D.)

I. GOD ASKING SOMETHING. God who is continually giving to us all, is here asking for something.

II. FROM WHOM HE ASKS IT. Not from any' one great, but from us.

III. WHAT HE ASKS. We could not give Him the things we have, for they are His already. He asks for yourself.

IV. WHY HE ASKS IT. This you may learn from the name He gives you. "My son." You are even by nature precious to God.

( C. A. Salmond, M.A.)

I. THE DIVINE REQUEST.

1. Sincerity. A man is said to be sincere when he engages his heart in any work. And God asks for sincerity. He will not be satisfied with a bare profession.

2. Earnestness. When a man is in earnest about anything we say his heart is in it. So when God asks for the heart He means us to be in earnest. He hates indifference.

3. Entire devotion. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," etc.

4. Delight. Whatever a man engages his heart in he is said to delight in. Some men set their heart upon earthly things, and find in them their chief delight.

II. THE NATURE OF THE REQUEST. "My son, give Me."

1. It is an affectionate request. All God's wooing breathes forth an air of affectionate regard for the welfare of man.

2. It is a reasonable request.

(Homilist.)

2. There is the presence of a desire to serve the object of its affection. Love is tireless in ministry. It is always giving itself away.

3. It desires union with its object in thought, if not in body. Love never journeys unaccompanied by love.

4. The chief characteristic of love is its unselfishness. Is your love for God unselfish, or do you love Him only as a means of securing His favour? Your duty is to set yourself to apprehend God. To know Him is to love Him, and your not loving Him shows that you do not know Him. The question which concerns your highest happiness, here and hereafter, is not touching technicalities of creed, of ceremony, of intellectual interpretation of selected passages out of God's Word. The supreme question is, Do you love God?

(W. H. H. Murray.)

II. CONSIDER ON WHOM YOU MAY BESTOW THEM WITH THE GREATEST ADVANTAGE. And here I must confess that the world and the flesh have more to say for themselves than under the former head. Right and title they have none at all; but they promise you much in the way of interest and advantage. Under their guidance, they tell you, you will enjoy a life of pleasure and ease, free from the restraints of religion; you will have unbounded liberty of conduct, and withhold your eyes from no joy; whereas religion is an irksome and melancholy service.

1. I will suppose, for the sake of argument, that the world and the flesh are able to make good all their promises. Delightful prospect! Yes, but how long is it to last? You are to enter into another world, and to appear at the bar of God, there to give an account of your conduct. Had you given your hearts to God, He would now have opened the kingdom of heaven to you, and given you a share in its everlasting pleasures. Your choice has been different, and you now reap the fruits of it. Is it, then, worth while to purchase the short-lived pleasures of sin at so dear a rate as this?

2. Supposing, therefore, that the world and the flesh were able to make good those promises by which they estrange your hearts from God, even then it would be the height of madness to listen to them. But this is far from being the case. On the contrary, the ways of religion will be found to be eminently ways of pleasantness, as well as its end peace. There is nothing truly desirable, even in this life which the servants of God are not as likely to partake of as any other persons whatsoever. Religion is friendly to health, and, generally speaking, to reputation. The idea, therefore, that religion tends to make men unhappy is a mere calumny. The truth is, the devil, the world, and the flesh promise you what it is not in their power to give. For even the good things of this life are distributed by the providence of God, and without His leave you cannot enjoy the meanest comfort. But if you give your hearts to God, He will certainly bestow as much of those things upon you as His wisdom knows to be best for you. Since, then, the cause of piety has thus plainly the advantage, you will be inexcusably blind to your own interest if you give not your hearts to God. Thus, if God spare your lives, you will be fitted to be eminently useful in the world; or if you die at an early age, you will be prepared to meet death, and to bid it welcome. Consider what the refusal of your hearts to God implies. You in effect say, "I dislike His service; I disown His title to me; I can place my affections on better objects; I desire to have nothing to do with God." This is the plain language of your conduct.

(Christian Observer.)

(Church of England Magazine.)

     4841   narrowness

Proverbs 23:27-28

     5977   waiting

The Afterwards and Our Hope
'Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. 18. For surely there is an end and thine expectation shall not be cut off.'--PROVERBS xxiii. 17, 18. The Book of Proverbs seldom looks beyond the limits of the temporal, but now and then the mists lift and a wider horizon is disclosed. Our text is one of these exceptional instances, and is remarkable, not only as expressing confidence in the future, but as expressing it in a very striking way. 'Surely there is an end,' says our Authorised Version, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Portrait of a Drunkyard
'Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30. They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 33. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 34. Yea, thou shalt be as …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Three Important Precepts
A sermon (No. 2152) intended for reading on Lord's Day, July 13th, 1890, delivered by C. H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, on Lord's Day Evening, June 22nd, 1890. "Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way."--Proverbs 23:19. The words are very direct and personal; and that is what I wish my sermon to be. My soul is more and more set upon immediate conversions. I have no voice with which to play the orator; I have only enough strength to be an earnest pleader …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Buying the Truth
A sermon (No. 3449) published on Thursday, March 11th, 1915; Delivered on Lord's Day evening, June 26th 1870, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "Buy the truth, and sell it not."--Proverbs 23:23. John Bunyan pictures the pilgrims as passing at one time through Vanity Fair, and in Vanity Fair there were to be found all kinds of merchandise, consisting of the pomps and vanities, the lusts and pleasures of this present life and of the flesh. Now all the dealers, when they …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

The Heart: a Gift for God
A sermon (No. 1995) intended for reading on Lord's Day, December 11th, 1887. at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "My son, give me thine heart."--Proverbs 23:26. These are the words of Solomon speaking in the name of wisdom, which wisdom is but another name for the Lord Jesus Christ, who is made of God unto us wisdom. If you ask "What is the highest wisdom upon the earth?" it is to believe in Jesus Christ whom God has sent--to become his follower and disciple, to trust him …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

All the Day Long
A sermon (No. 2150) delivered on Lord's Day Morning, June 22nd, 1890, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off." {end: or, reward}--Proverbs 23:17, 18. Last Lord's-day we had for our texts two promises. I trust they were full of comfort to the tried people of God, and to souls in the anguish of conviction. To-day we will …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Buying the Truth
"Buy the truth, and sell it not."--Proverbs 23:23. JOHN Bunyan pictures the pilgrims as passing at one time through Vanity Fair, and in Vanity Fair there were to be found all kinds of merchandise, consisting of the pomps and vanities, the lusts and pleasures of this present life and of the flesh. Now all the dealers, when they saw these strange pilgrims come into the fair began to cry, as shopmen will do, "Buy, buy, buy--buy this, and buy that." There were the priests in the Italian row with their …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

The Secret Walk with God (ii).
He that would to others give Let him take from Jesus still; They who deepest in Him live Flow furthest at His will. I resume the rich subject of Secret Devotion, Secret Communion with God. Not that I wish to enter in detail on either the theory or the practice of prayer in secret; as I have attempted to do already in a little book which I may venture here to mention, Secret Prayer. My aim at present, as I talk to my younger Brethren in the Ministry, is far rather to lay all possible stress on …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

How those are to be Admonished who Sin from Sudden Impulse and those who Sin Deliberately.
(Admonition 33.). Differently to be admonished are those who are overcome by sudden passion and those who are bound in guilt of set purpose. For those whom sudden passion overcomes are to be admonished to regard themselves as daily set in the warfare of the present life, and to protect the heart, which cannot foresee wounds, with the shield of anxious fear; to dread the hidden darts of the ambushed foe, and, in so dark a contest, to guard with continual attention the inward camp of the soul. For, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Secondly, for Thy Words.
1. Remember, that thou must answer for every idle word, that in multiloquy, the wisest man shall overshoot himself. Avoid, therefore, all tedious and idle talk, from which seldom arises comfort, many times repentance: especially beware of rash answers, when the tongue outruns the mind. The word was thine whilst thou didst keep it in; it is another's as soon as it is out. O the shame, when a man's own tongue shall be produced a witness, to the confusion of his own face! Let, then, thy words be few, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Comforts Belonging to Mourners
Having already presented to your view the dark side of the text, I shall now show you the light side, They shall be comforted'. Where observe: 1 Mourning goes before comfort as the lancing of a wound precedes the cure. The Antinomian talks of comfort, but cries down mourning for sin. He is like a foolish patient who, having a pill prescribed him, licks the sugar but throws away the pill. The libertine is all for joy and comfort. He licks the sugar but throws away the bitter pill of repentance. If …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Of Internal Acts
Of Internal Acts Acts are distinguished into External and Internal. External acts are those which bear relation to some sensible object, and are either morally good or evil, merely according to the nature of the principle from which they proceed. I intend here to speak only of Internal acts, those energies of the soul, by which it turns internally to some objects, and averts from others. If during my application to God I should form a will to change the nature of my act, I thereby withdraw myself …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Distinction Between Exterior and Interior Actions --Those of the Soul in this Condition are Interior, but Habitual, Continued, Direct, Profound, Simple, and Imperceptible --Being a Continual
The actions of men are either exterior or interior. The exterior are those which appear outwardly, and have a sensible object, possessing neither good nor evil qualities, excepting as they receive them from the interior principle in which they originate. It is not of these that I intend to speak, but only of interior actions, which are those actions of the soul by which it applies itself inwardly to some object, or turns away from some other. When, being applied to God, I desire to commit an …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

The Annunciation of Jesus the Messiah, and the Birth of his Forerunner.
FROM the Temple to Nazareth! It seems indeed most fitting that the Evangelic story should have taken its beginning within the Sanctuary, and at the time of sacrifice. Despite its outward veneration for them, the Temple, its services, and specially its sacrifices, were, by an inward logical necessity, fast becoming a superfluity for Rabbinism. But the new development, passing over the intruded elements, which were, after all, of rationalistic origin, connected its beginning directly with the Old Testament …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Of Preparation.
That a Christian ought necessarily to prepare himself before he presume to be a partaker of the holy communion, may evidently appear by five reasons:-- First, Because it is God's commandment; for if he commanded, under the pain of death, that none uncircumcised should eat the paschal lamb (Exod. xii. 48), nor any circumcised under four days preparation, how much greater preparation does he require of him that comes to receive the sacrament of his body and blood? which, as it succeeds, so doth it …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

A Sermon on a Text not Found in the Bible.
MR. JUSTICE GROVES.--"Men go into the Public-house respectable, and come out felons." My text, as you see, my dear readers, is not taken from the Bible. It does not, however, contradict the Scriptures, but is in harmony with some, such as "WOE UNTO HIM THAT GIVETH HIS NEIGHBOUR DRINK." Habakkuk ii. 15; "WOE UNTO THEM THAT RISE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, THAT THEY MAY FOLLOW STRONG DRINK."--Isaiah v. 11. "TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES LEST AT ANY TIME YOUR HEARTS BE OVERCHARGED WITH SURFEITING AND …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

The Cavils of the Pharisees Concerning Purification, and the Teaching of the Lord Concerning Purity - the Traditions Concerning Hand-Washing' and Vows. '
As we follow the narrative, confirmatory evidence of what had preceded springs up at almost every step. It is quite in accordance with the abrupt departure of Jesus from Capernaum, and its motives, that when, so far from finding rest and privacy at Bethsaida (east of the Jordan), a greater multitude than ever had there gathered around Him, which would fain have proclaimed Him King, He resolved on immediate return to the western shore, with the view of seeking a quieter retreat, even though it were …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

"Who Walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the Flesh,"
Rom. viii. 4, 5.--"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh," &c. If there were nothing else to engage our hearts to religion, I think this might do it, that there is so much reason in it. Truly it is the most rational thing in the world, except some revealed mysteries of faith, which are far above reason, but not contrary to it. There is nothing besides in it, but that which is the purest reason. Even that part of it which is most difficult to man, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Some General Uses from this Useful Truth, that Christ is the Truth.
Having thus cleared up this truth, we should come to speak of the way of believers making use of him as the truth, in several cases wherein they will stand in need of him as the truth. But ere we come to the particulars, we shall first propose some general uses of this useful point. First. This point of truth serveth to discover unto us, the woful condition of such as are strangers to Christ the truth; and oh, if it were believed! For, 1. They are not yet delivered from that dreadful plague of …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Christian Faith
Scripture references: Hebrews 11; Matthew 9:29; 17:20; Mark 10:52; 11:22; Acts 2:38; 3:16; 10:43; 16:30,31; Romans 1:17; 5:1; 10:17; Galatians 2:20. FAITH AND PRACTICE Belief Controls Action.--"As the man is, so is his strength" (Judges 8:21), "For as he thinketh in his heart so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). "According to your faith be it unto you" (Matthew 9:28,29). "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). The Scriptures place stress upon the fact that …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

The Acceptable Sacrifice;
OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART: SHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT. BEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. WITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN LONDON. London: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn, will inform the reader of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Exod 20: 7. This commandment has two parts: 1. A negative expressed, that we must not take God's name in vain; that is, cast any reflections and dishonour on his name. 2. An affirmative implied. That we should take care to reverence and honour his name. Of this latter I shall speak more fully, under the first petition in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be thy name.' I shall …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Opposition to Messiah Ruinous
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel T here is a species of the sublime in writing, which seems peculiar to the Scripture, and of which, properly, no subjects but those of divine revelation are capable, With us, things inconsiderable in themselves are elevated by splendid images, which give them an apparent importance beyond what they can justly claim. Thus the poet, when describing a battle among bees, by a judicious selection of epithets …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2