prove them.-Ver. 13. All things that are reproved, are made manifest by the light. LX. Of not hearkening to reproof. Prov. x. 17. He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction, but he that refuseth reproof erreth. xii. 1. Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge, but he that hateth reproof is brutish. xv. 10. Correction is grievous to him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die.-Ver. 12. A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him, neither will he go unto the wise. xxix. 1. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Isa. xxix. 20, 21. The terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught. Hos. iv. 4. Let no man strive, nor reprove another; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. Luke iii. 19, 20. Herod being reproved by John, for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils he had done, shut up John in prison. John iii. 20. Every one that doeth evil hateth the light; neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 2 Pet. i. 7. Add to godliness brotherly kind ness. LXIII. To give comfort. Job xxix. 25. Job said, I sat as one that comforteth the mourners. Isa. xl. 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. 2 Cor. i. 4. God comforteth us, that we may be able to comfort them that are in trouble. ii. 7. Ye ought to forgive and comfort him, [the offender,] lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up of too much sorrow. 1 Thess. iv. 18. Comfort one another. v. 11. Comfort yourselves together. Ver. 14. Comfort the feeble-minded. Instances of comfort. Shewn by Joseph, Gen. 1. 21.-By Job's friends, Job ii. 11 — xlii. 11. 1 FRIENDSHIP. LXIV. Friendship, and faithfulness therein. Job xix. 21. Have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me. Cho vi. 14. Prov. vi. 3. Make sure thy friend. xvii. 17. A friend loveth at all times; and a brother is born for adversity. xviii. 24. A man that hath friends, must shew himself friendly; and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. LXI. Gentleness, Gal. v. 22. The fruit of his own goodness; but a faithful man who xx. 6. Most men will proclaim every one the Spirit is gentleness, goodness. James iii. 17. The wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, &c. Examples. Isa. xl. 11. Christ will gently lead those that are with young. 2 Cor. x. 1. I beseech you by the ness of Christ. gentle 1 Thess. ii. 7. We [the apostles] were gentle among you. 2 Tim. ii. 24. The servant of the Lord must be gentle. Tit. iii. 2. KINDNESS. LXII. To show kindness commanded. Rom. xii. 10. Be kindly affectioned one to another. can find? xxvii. 9. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart; so doth the sweetness of a man's friend, by hearty counsel. friend forsake not, neither go into thy brother's Ver. 10. Thine own friend and thy father's is a neighbour that is near, than a brother house in the day of thy calamity; for better far off. Ver. 17. Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. John xv. 13. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 1 John iii. 16. Acts xv. 26. LXV. Unfaithfulness in friendship. Job vi. 14. To him that is afflicted, pity should be 1 Cor. xiii. 4. Charity suffereth long, and shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the kind. 2 Cor. vi. 4. Approving ourselves as the ministers of God.-Ver. 6. By pureness, by kindness, &c. Eph, iv. 32. Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted. Col. iii. 12. Put on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, &c. fear of the Almighty.-Ver. 27. Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend. Ch. xvi. 2.—xxi. 34. xvi. 20. My friends scorn me, but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. xvii. 5. He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail. xix. 14. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.-Ver. 19. All my friends abhorred me, and they whom | I am holier than thou: these are a smoke in I loved are turned against me. Ps. xxxviii. 11. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off. xli. 9. Mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Iv. 12-14. If it was an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it. But it was thou, a man, mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in company. Ixix. 20. I looked for comforters, but I found none. lxxxviii. 18. Lover and friend thou hast put far from me. Prov. xiv. 20. The poor is hated even of his own neighbour, but the rich hath many friends. xix. 4. Wealth maketh many friends, but the poor is separated from his neighbour. Ver. 6, 7. xxii. 24. Make no friendship with an angry man. xxv. 19. Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble, is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint. xxvii. 14. He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him. Lam. i. 2. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. Mic. vii. 5. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide. Zech. xiii. 6. I was wounded in the house of my friends. Of bearing with one another's weaknesses in matters of religion. Rom. xiv. 1. Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. xv. 1. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 1 Cor. xiii. 7. Charity beareth all things, endureth all things. Gal. vi. 1, 2. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. FORBEARANCE. LXVI. Forbearance. Forbearing to judge one another on account of differences. Isa. lxv. 2. 5. A rebellious people, which walketh in a way not good, after their own thoughts; which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for my nose. Ixvi. 5. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word. Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake. said, Let the Lord be glorified; but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. Compare Matt. v. 11. Luke vi. 22, 23. Matt. vii. 1, 2. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. (Luke vi. 37.) For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Ver. 3-5. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. John viii. 7. Jesus said, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone. Rom. ii. 1-3. Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest dost the same things. We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth, against them that commit such things. Thinkest thou, O man, which judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? xiv. 2-4. One believeth that he may eat all things; another who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not, judge him that eateth. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Ver. 5. One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike: let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Ver. 10. Why dost thou judge thy brother or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.-Ver. 12, 13. Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more. Gal. vi. 5. Every man shall bear his own burden. 1 Cor. iv. 5. Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come. James iv. 11, 12. He that judgeth his brother judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; who art thou that judgest another? See 1 Cor. v. 10. 13. See those that despised Christ, Luke xvi. 15. | trine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a See also the proud Pharisee. Ch. xviii. 11. GOOD EXAMPLE. LXVII. Setting good example. Matt. v. 16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Col. iv. 5. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without. 1 Thess. iv. 12. Neh. v. 9. 1 Tim. iv. 12. Be thou an example of believers. OF ENTICING OTHERS. LXVIII. Of enticing others, and being enticed to sin. Jer. xx. 10, 11. My familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him. But the Lord is with me; therefore they shall not prevail. Prov. i. 10. If sinners entice thee, consent thou not. (Ver. 11 to 14.) Ver. 15. Walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path. xxviii. 10. Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit. Hab. ii. 15. Woe to him that giveth his neighbour drink, and maketh him drunken, &c. Rom. xiv. 13. Let no man put a stumblingblock, or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Ver. 21. 1 Cor. viii. 9. 12, 13. 2 Cor. xi. 29. 1 Tim. v. 22. Be not partaker of other men's sins keep thyself pure. Rev. ii. 14. I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doc stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Numb. xxv. 1. See False Teachers deceive the people: Commandment Fifth. Instance, Neh. vi. 13. LXX. Ingratitude. Instances. Gen. xl. 23. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him. Judg. viii. 35. The children of Israel did not shew kindness to the house of Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel. Ps. xxxv. 12. They rewarded me evil for good, to the spoiling of my soul. (Ps. xxxviii. 20. cix. 5.) Ver. 13. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. Ver. 13, 14, 15. 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. But in my adversity they rejoiced. Ps. cix. 4, 5. Prov. xvii. 13. Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 5. 12.-xxv. 21. Jer. xviii. 20, 21. Eccl. ix. 14, 15. Prov. xxi. 17. He that loveth pleasure shall | xx. 1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is be a poor man; he that loveth wine and oil, raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is shall not be rich. not wise. xxiii. 1-3. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee; and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat. Ver. 20, 21. Be not amongst winebibbers, amongst riotous eaters of flesh. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. xxviii. 7. He that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father. xxiii. 29, 30. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. Ver. 31-33. Look not on the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright; at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an ad Xxx. 22. The earth cannot bear a fool when der. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, he is full of meat. and thy heart shall utter perverse things. Ver. 34, 35. Matt. xxiv. 48-51. If the evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Luke vi. 25. Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger. xxi. 34. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. Rom. xiii. 13, 14. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness: But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 1 Cor. vii. 31. Use this world as not abus ing it. ix. 25. Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.-Ver. 27. I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away. Phil. iii. 19. Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things. 1 Thess. v. 7, 8. They that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day, be sober. Tit. ii. 12. Live soberly, &c. 1 Pet. iv. 4. The wicked think it strange that ye run not to the same excess of riot. 2 Pet. i. 6. Add to knowledge temperance. ii. 13. They shall receive the reward of unrighteousness that count it pleasure to riot in the day-time; spots they are, and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings. Jude 12. Feeding themselves without fear. See Amos vi. 6. II Drunkenness; the evils thereof. Prov. Isa. v. 11. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them.-Ver. 22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. Ch. lvi. 12. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink, and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. 1 Cor. v. 11. I have written to you, If any one that is called a brother, be a drunkard, with such a one not to keep company, nor to eat with him. vi. 10. Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal. v. 19. The works of the flesh are these, adultery, &c.-Ver. 21. Drunkenness, revellings, and such like they that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Ver. 23. Eph. v. 18. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. IV. Of making others drunk. Esther i. 3. 5. King Ahasuerus made a feast unto the nobles and princes, and to all the people that were present.-Ver. 7. And gave them drink, &c.-Ver. 8. The drinking was according to law, none did compel ; for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure. Hab. ii. 15. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!-Ver. 16. Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered, the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. See 2 Sam. xi. 13. Isa. lvi. 12. Unhappy instances of drunkenness.-In Noah, Gen. ix. 21.-In Lot, Gen. xix. 32.— Nabal, 1 Sam. xxv. 36.--Elah, 1 Kings xvi. 9, 10.-Benhadad, 1 Kings xx. 16 to 22. See Wicked ministers, their drunkenness. Also, Magistrates perverting judgment more, but rather let him labour, working with through drunkenness. SLEEP. V. Sleep. Prov. vi. 9-11. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. xx. 13. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. xxiii. 21. Drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. xxvi. 14. As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. LABOUR COMMANDED. VI. Labour commanded, and promises to the laborious, the diligent and industrious. Gen. iii. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. Exod. xx. 9. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. Prov. x. 4. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 1 Thess. iv. 11, 12. We beseech you, that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands: That ye may walk honestly towards them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. 2 Thess. iii. 10-12. We commanded you, That if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy-bodies. Now them that are such, we command and exhort, by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. Ver. 14. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. 1 Tim. v. 13. OF THE SLUGGARD. VII. Of the sluggard, the slothful and idle. See several of the foregoing texts, where these persons are compared with the diligent, &c. Prov. vi. 6-8. Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise: which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. x. 26. As vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him. xii. 11. He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread; but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. Ch. xxviii. 19. xv. 19. The way of the slothful man is as Ver. 24. The hand of the diligent shall bear a hedge of thorns, but the way of the rightrule; but the slothful shall be under tribute.eous is made plain. Ver. 27. The slothful roasteth not that which xviii. 9. He that is slothful in his work, is he took in hunting; but the substance of a brother to him that is a great waster. diligent man is precious. xiii. 4. The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. Ver. 11. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished; but he that gathereth by labour shall increase. xiv. 23. In all labour there is profit; but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. xxi. 5. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty, only to want. xxii. 29. Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men. xxxi. 27. A good wife eateth not the bread of idleness. Eccl. v. 12. The sleep of a labouring man is sweet. xi. 6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand. Rom. xii. 11. Be not slothful in business. Eph. iv. 28. Let him that stole steal no xix. 15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.— Ver. 24. A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth. Ch. xxvi. 15. xx. 4. The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. xxi. 25. The desire of the slothful killeth him, for his hands refuse to labour. Ch. xiii. 4. xxii. 13. The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. Ch. xxvi. 13. There is a lion in the way, a lion is in the streets. xxiv. 30-32. I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and lo! it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well, and looked upon it and received instruction. Eccl. x. 18. By much slothfulness the |