86

PURITY OF LIFE-QUIET.

unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee: and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground: for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. [Gen. iii. 17-19.

I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Isai. xiii. 13. The Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabi- . tants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

[See Nation Cursed.]

PURITY OF LIFE.

[Isai. xxvi. 21.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. [Matth. v. 8.

He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. [Prov. xxii. 11.

If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty; if thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

[Job, viii. 5, 6. Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. [2 Cor. vii. 1, 2.

QUIET.

Better is a handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. [Eccles. iv. 6. Whoso hearkeneth to me shall be in quiet. [Prov. i. 33.

[See Peace.]

RASHNESS-REBUKE-RECONCILIATION-RELIGION. 87

RASHNESS.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few.

[Eccl. v. 2.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin.

Ye ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.

REBUKE.

[Eccl. v. 6.

[Acts, xix. 36.

Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour and not suffer sin upon him." [Lev. xix. 17.

If thy brother trespass against thee rebuke him; and if he repent forgive him. [Luke, xvii. 3. He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.

[See Reproof.]

RECONCILIATION.

[Prov. xxviii. 23.

If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee: leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. [Matth. v. 23-24.

RELIGION.

Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. [James, i. 22-27.

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [Matth. iv. 17. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. [Matth. ix. 13.

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance.

[Luke, xv. 7.

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. [Isai. i. 16-18. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye

[Ezek. xviii. 31, 32.

Return ye every man from his evil way, and amend your doing, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers; but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. [Jer. xxxv. 15.

If ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt; then will 1 cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. [Jer. vii. 5-7. Except ye repent, ye shall perish. [Luke, xiii. 5. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. [Acts, iii. 19. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. [2 Cor. vii. 10.

REPROOF-RESIGNATION.

89

But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. [Ezek. xviii. 21, 22. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. [John, viii. 7-11.

REPROOF.

As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

A reproof entereth more into a wise

dred stripes into a fool.

He that refuseth reproof erreth.
He that hateth refroof is brutish.

[Prov. xxv. 12, 11. man than an hun[Prov, xvii. 10.

[Prov. x. 17. [Prov. xii. 1.

He that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

[Prov. xiii. 18. He that hateth reproof getteth [Prov. xv. 5, 10, 32.

He that regardeth reproof is prudent. reproof shall die: but he that heareth understanding.

RESIGNATION.

And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house and there came a messenger unto Job, and said, the oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them; and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge

of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burnt up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house : and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. [Job, i. 13-21. They cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. [Ps. cvii. 28.

The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. [Ps. ix. 9. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. [Ps. xxii. 24.

Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. [Ps. xxviii. 1, 2.

Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. [P8. xxii. 11.

RESTITUTION.

If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour: or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and