As he nears the end of the Epistle, the apostle, with a deeper solemnity of tone, repeats the charge he has given to his young disciple.

I. THE NATURE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHARGE. "I charge thee... that thou keep the commandment without spot and without reproach."

1. The commandment is the Christian doctrine in its aspect as a rule of life and discipline.

2. It was to be kept with all purity and faithfulness - "without spot and without reproach" so that it should be unstained by no error of life, or suffer from no reproach of unfaithfulness. He must preach the pure gospel sincerely, and his life must be so circumspect that his ministry should not be blamed by the Church here or by Christ hereafter.

II. THE SOLEMN APPEAL BY WHICH THE CHARGE IS SUSTAINED. "I give thee charge in the sight of God, who keepeth all things alive, and Christ Jesus, who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate." The apostle, having referred to Timothy's earlier confession before many witnesses, reminds him of the more tremendous presence of God himself, and of Christ Jesus.

1. God is represented here as Preserver, in allusion to the dangers of Timothy in the midst of Ephesian enemies.

2. Christ Jesus is referred to as an Example of unshaken courage and fidelity to truth in the presence of death.

III. THE CHARGE IS TO BE KEPT WITHOUT SPOT OR REPROACH TILL CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. "Until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ." He was to be "faithful unto death," yea, even unto the second advent.

1. It is according to apostolic usage to represent the end of Christian work as well as Christian expectation as terminating, not upon death, but upon the second advent. The complete redemption will then be fully realized.

2. It is not to be inferred from these words that the apostle expected the Lord's coming in his own lifetime. The second Thessalonian Epistle, written many years before, dispels such an impression. The words in ver. 15, "in his own times," imply a long succession of cycles or changes.

3. The second advent is to be brought about by God himself. "Which in his own times he shall manifest, who is the blessed and only Potentate, King of kings, and Lord of lords." This picture of the Divine Majesty was designed to encourage Timothy, who might hereafter be summoned to appear before the little kings of earth, by the thought of the immeasurable glory of the Potentate before whose throne all men must stand in the final judgment.

(1) He who is possessed of exhaustless powers and perfections is essentially immortal - "who only hath immortality" - because he is the Source of it in all who partake of it; for out of him all is death.

(2) He has his dwelling in the glory of light ineffable - "dwelling in light unapproachable, whom no man ever saw or can see."

(a) God is light (1 John 1:5). He covereth himself with light as with a garment (Psalm 104:4); and he is the Fountain of light.

(b) God is invisible. This is true, though "the pure in heart shall see God" (Matthew 5:8), and though it be that without holiness "no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). God is invisible

(α) to the eye of sense,

(β) but he will be visible to the believer in the clear intellectual vision of the supernatural state.

4. All praise and honor are to be ascribed to God, "to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." The doxology is the natural ending of such a solemn charge. - T.C.

When earnest Christians realize that they are about to leave the world, they are concerned that those who will fill their places should be loyal to the principles they have tried to maintain. The "commandment" which the young evangelist was to keep must be taken, in its broadest sense, as referring to the great principles of righteousness and truth which Christ Jesus had embodied and maintained. Although of celestial origin, this commandment would not appear to men "without spot," if its representatives were men of blemished reputation. Two motives to such steadfastness are suggested in the Verses before us: the one being drawn from the example of Christ, the other from the greatness of God.

I. THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST is suggested in the allusion made to —

1. His good confession before Pontius Pilate. It is well for us when we either suffer, or compel, all the incidents of life to lead our thoughts back to Christ. It was partly in order to make this possible that the details of His life and ministry are so fully given in the Gospels. Temptations, troubles, friendships, joys, conflicts, all that go to make up our experience, find counterparts in Him. He witnessed a good confession, though He knew the price of it would be agony, shame, and death! There was a difference, however, between the Lord's confession and Timothy's or ours. Timothy "confessed" the good confession, Christ Jesus "witnessed" the good confession. Christ "witnessed" because He was identified with the truth He confessed, and was the source of every such confession after. Timothy "confessed," for his confession was responsive and secondary, and found. its inspiration in that of his Lord.

2. Christ's achieved victory is another source of encouragement to His faithful followers. The Cross of Calvary was the immediate result of our Lord's good confession; but that was not its final result. God, who quickeneth all things, has raised Him from the dead, and amongst the glorified and redeemed He already appears as Prince and Saviour. The victory of Christ is the encouragement and inspiration of all who are engaged in the conflicts of truth with error, of holiness with sin. Notice how this description of the expected appearing of Christ leads to the noble doxology which celebrates —

II. THE GREATNESS AND GLORY OF GOD, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." If He be for us, who can be against us? Timothy is fittingly reminded that —

1. God is eternal. All time is at His disposal.

2. God is the blessed and only Potentate. If you substitute for "blessed" its synonym in modern English, you get the beautiful truth, that ours is a happy God — full of joy in Himself, the source of joy to all His creatures.

3. "God quickeneth all things." He can so quicken us that out of sadness and difficulties and torpor He can raise us to newness of life.

4. God is incomprehensible — as yet to us — in Himself and in His doings; "dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto." It is a beautiful thought, that He is not hidden from us through absence of light, but through excess of light. Therefore, amid the gradual development of His purposes, we have only to witness a good confession, leaving all the results to Him.

5. God is Almighty, "the only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords," the King of those who reign, the Lord of those who rule. All authority is in His hands. Let us not lose sight of Him to whom in this passage the great apostle ascribes honour and power everlasting. We too often regard ourselves as the rulers of the world, and forget our absolute dependence; but, in relation to the blessed and only Potentate, we are far more insignificant than insects are in relation to us.

(A. Rowland, LL. B.)

One figure stands at the centre of man's history and dominates over it all — the figure of Christ. Now, there is no way to be securely and perfectly this except for him who takes Christ as his King, Would you resist temptation, would you be pure, kind, contented, truthful, honest? Well, then, enroll yourself with deliberate purpose as Christ's soldier, His scholar, His servant, His subject. Christ our King! What kind of a king is He? His kingdom is not of this world. To understand Him you must lay aside altogether your notions of earthly sovereignty. From the Cross He has reigned. The throne of Solomon had its golden lions and ivory steps, and gorgeous was the jewelled chair of Byzantium; but the throne of the King of kings was a cross of shame. And, strange to say, the World, in its penitence, in its satiety, in its remorse, has turned away from its own petty potentates, has dropped its weapons, has torn the garland from its brow, has fallen low upon its knees before the Son of Man on His instrument of torture. It has gazed on Him in the faded purple of mockery, and in His crown of thorns, and nations have said, in awe-struck whispers, "Behold your King!" Yes; and kings themselves have bowed down before that throne of sorrows. When Henry IV. of Germany cowered before the thin old Pope at Canossa; when Barbarossa received upon his neck the foot of the proud potentate; when our own Henry

II. was scourged by monks before the shrine of Canterbury; when John received back his crown from Pandulf; when Godfrey refused to wear a crown of gold where his Saviour had a crown of thorns; when Rudolf of Hapsburg, not finding the sceptre in the temple of his coronation, seized upon the crucifix and swore that that should be his sceptre; when the most ancient crown of Europe was made, not of gold, but of iron, and that iron hammered, as men believed, out of a nail of the true cross — what was this but the homage of earthly kings to a Diviner royalty! Yes; and no power on earth has ever been able to resist Christ. Tell it out among the heathen that the Lord is King! Greece despised Him, and Greece glimmered into a dream; but the Cross remains. Rome hated Him, and Rome has crumbled into the dust; but the Cross remains. Philosophy rejected Him, and philosophy has sunk into impotence; but the Cross remains, Is ire your King? Or will you choose in His place some vile and worth less tyranny, some evil spirit, some despotic and besetting vice? Three centuries ago the Spaniards were besieging the little town of St. Quentin, on the frontiers of France. Its ramparts were in ruins, fever and famine were decimating its defenders, treason was gliding among its terrified population. One day the Spaniards shot over the walls a shower of arrows to which were attached little slips of parchment, promising the inhabitants that if they would surrender, their lives and property should be spared. Now, the governor of the town was the great leader of the Huguenots, Gaspard de Coligni. As his sole answer he took a piece of parchment, tied it to a javelin, wrote on it the two words, Regem habemus — "We have a king", and hurled it back into the camp of the enemy. Now that was true loyalty, loyalty in imminent peril, loyalty ready to sacrifice all. But who was that king for whom, amidst sword and flame, amid fever and famine, Coligni was defending those breached and battered walls? It was the weak and miserable Henry II. of France, whose son, Charles IX., was afterwards guilty of the murder of Coligui and the infamies of St. Bartholomew. Have you a king? Is Christ your King? All, if He be, He is not a feeble, corrupt, false, treacherous man like Coligui's master, but a King who loves you, who died for you, who pleads with you even now on the right hand of the Majesty on High. Is Christ your King? If you are selfish and frivolous; if you are a better and a gambler; if you are a whisperer and one who delights in lies; if you are a fornicator or a "profane person, as was Esau"; if you worship Mammon; if your god is your ledger and you mind earthly things; if you are double-tongued, shifty, stingy, worldly — say not that Christ is your King. Is Christ your King? If in sincerity and truth you will take Christ for your King and Captain I promise you two things. First, I promise you security. Principle is a noble thing; but in the fatal mirage of the passions principle is lost sight of, and amid the glamour of temptation principle not only loses something of its pristine splendour, but it becomes as if it were not. And the other blessing which Christ will give you is joy.; for .Christ says," Peace I give you, My peace I leave with you; not as the world giveth give I unto you." "Not as the world giveth!" There has been a joy in dungeons and on scaffolds passing the joy of the harvest. Christ does not delude as Satan does with promises as. "Serve me, and you shall be rich."

(Archdeacon Farrar.)

1. Jesus is a King in His own eternal and essential right. He is the Creator of all things; He is the Preserver of all things; He is the sovereign Lord and Proprietor of ell things. But, then, He is a King in another sense, and it is to that, that allusion is here made.

2. He has a mediatorial kingdom which was given Him by the Father as a recompense for His great and glorious undertaking on behalf of our world: and thus He is a mediatorial King. Now, in this view of the subject as a mediatorial King, and having mediatorial kingdom committed to His care, trust, management, and government, we may observe that this kingdom was small in its origin. At its first rising after His resurrection and ascension, the dimensions were small.

3. But, then, there is a third kingdom: if I may so speak, another kingdom within this kingdom — a kingdom in the hearts of His beloved people. "The kingdom of God," it is said, "is within you." It is in vain for men to pretend that they are the subjects of Christ merely because they are so outwardly.

4. I say He is a very bountiful Sovereign in whom you have trusted. He has promised to give everything which He possesses that He can give, and that His subjects can receive. He has made a covenant with them which is well ordered in all things and sure. "All things are yours."

5. Observe, again, He is a tender-hearted and sympathizing Sovereign. He feels for all His subjects; for every one of you, and for the meanest subject that He has; so that everything which concerns them concerns Him. There is no trial which presses sore on the mind which He does not feel, and in which He does not participate.

6. Then, observe, He is a condescending Sovereign. He entreats you to come to His bosom — to make known to Him your every concern. Solomon has this expression, "In the light of the king's countenance is life." There is doubtless here an allusion to the language of his royal Father: the father said, "Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us." So he says again, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." Then again it is said, "In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

(W. Wilkinson.)

I. Consider WHAT THE EYE ITSELF IS, THE POOR IMPLEMENT OF WHICH WE DEMAND SO MUCH. A ball of clay and mortality, it can act only on what is material and corruptible like itself. It is limited to a certain province even among these surrounding things. How delicate an organ it is, that is yet capable of taking in the broad scenes of the ocean and the land, and reaching as it were the stars at their immeasurable distances! At very short intervals of time it must be shut up within its fringes from the very light that it lives by; and when it is in its utmost vigour, the direct flash of a single sunbeam is more than it can bear. A tear dims it. A mote takes away from it every capacity but that of pain. A spark destroys it for ever. It cannot penetrate even the thin veils of outward nature. The true light may shine inward, though the body be dark. The soul sees otherwise and more nobly than through that narrow window. Is it through these lenses of flesh — so easily distempered, so often giving false pictures, so soon to perish — is it through these that we would gaze on the King Eternal?

II. Think, further, WHO HE IS WHOM WE ASK TO BE THUS MANIFESTED TO US. The very idea of God absolutely excludes the possibility of His being an object of sight. He is a pure Intelligence, circumscribed by no form, bounded by no space, and to be communicated with only through the Spirit which Himself imparts. But the unconvinced may say: This is not what we seek, or have ever imagined. But we would lay our eyes upon some undeniable signs and representatives of the Almighty Providence. Yet the Scriptures tell them, and their own religious reason tells them, that they are actually surrounded with just such signs and representatives in the natural creation. It is His spirit that gives it life. It is His wisdom that gives it law. It is not, however, with such as these, they may reply, that we are satisfied. We would have testimonies strictly miraculous, transcending all the powers of nature, and thus exhibiting an immediate connection with the Almighty One. The Scriptures and our religious reason then take up the word again and say: Foolish and slow of heart! unless ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. It does not seem, then, that there is the virtue you fancy in the spectacle that you ask. And why should there be? Why should transient visions and strange occurrences impart a steadier trust than the perpetual marvels of this glorious world, and the eternal chain of decrees and providences that can be held but in one sovereign hand? One thing more may be urged by those who withhold or utter faintly the ascription in the text, "To whom be honour and power ever lasting," because "no man hath seen nor can see Him." They may say, It is not even such wonders as you have alluded to that we crave. They are for the individual only, or at most have their chief concern with but a tribe or a generation of men. We would have a supernatural sign that should be permanent and universal. It should be for all eyes. To this suggestion we need not call on the Scriptures for a reply. It demands an open impossibility, and is inconsistent with itself. Whatever should be thus associated with the works of nature must necessarily be regarded as one of them, however marvellous and inexplicable it might appear. We can scarcely conceive of anything more wonderful than is somewhere or other already presented. From what has been said, I hope it has been made clear, that no one has cause for objection or mistrust because the Lord is invisible, for it is inconceivable how He should be otherwise. "To Him, whom no man hath seen or can see, be honour and power everlasting." "What we adore under the affection of our senses," says an old writer, "deserves not the honour of so pure a title. Nor is it strange that we should place affection on that which is invisible. All that we truly love is thus." The soul itself — is it not invisible, like its Source? To be born as we are, animal and moral beings, into two states at once — to dwell in a world like this we inhabit of pale reflections and shadows, where what is the most real is the least obvious — and at the same time to think the outward shape everything, and the secret intelligence and power that makes all to be what it is, nothing — this is to want the very sense that best becomes and exults us. The Scriptures, with a beautiful boldness of expression, speak of "seeing Him who is invisible." And when they thus speak, their meaning is twofold — to acquaint ourselves with him and to rejoice as in His presence. "He that doeth evil," says John, "hath not seen God." But" Blessed are the pure in heart," it is for them that the double privilege is reserved of knowing and enjoying Him.

(N. L. Frothingham.)

The atheist never saw God, and therefore knows not how to believe such a being; he cannot comprehend Him. He would not be a God, if He could fall within the narrow model of a human understanding. He would not be infinite if He were comprehensible, or to be terminated by our sight. How small a thing must that be which is seen by a bodily eye, or grasped by a weak mind! If God were visible or comprehensible, He would be limited. Shall it be a sufficient demonstration from a blind man, that there is no fire in the room, because he sees it not, though he feel the warmth of it? The knowledge of the effect if sufficient to conclude the existence of the cause. Who ever saw his own life! Is it sufficient to deny a man lives, because he beholds not his life, and only knows it by his motion? He never saw his own soul, but he knows he hath one by his thinking power. The air renders itself sensible to men in its operations, yet was never seen by the eye. If God should render Himself visible, they might still question as well as now, whether that which was visible were God, or some delusion. If He should appear glorious, we can as little behold Him in His majestic glory, as an owl can behold the sun in its brightness; we should still but see Him in His effects, as we do the sun by its beams. If He should show a new miracle, we should still see Him but by His works; so we see Him in His creatures, every one of which would be as great a miracle as any can be wrought, to one that had the first prospect of them. To require to see God is to require that which is impossible (1 Timothy 6:16).

(S. Charnock.)

Paul, Philemon, Pilate, Timotheus, TimothyEphesusAlive, Bar, Charge, Christ, Command, Confession, Creatures, Enjoin, Faith, Giver, Gives, Giveth, Maketh, Making, Noble, Orders, Pilate, Pontius, Presence, Preserves, Profession, Quickeneth, Sight, Testified, Testify, Testifying, Testimony, Witness, Witnessed1. Of the duty of servants.
3. Not to have fellowship with newfangled teachers.
6. Godliness is great gain;
10. and love of money the root of all evil.
11. What Timothy is to flee, and what to follow.
17. and whereof to admonish the rich.
20. To keep the purity of true doctrine, and to avoid godless ideas.

1 Timothy 6:13

     1355   providence
     2585   Christ, trial
     6645   eternal life, nature of

1 Timothy 6:11-14

     7944   ministry, qualifications

1 Timothy 6:13-14

     8405   commands, in NT
     9105   last things

The Conduct that Secures the Real Life
'Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.'--1 TIM. vi. 19. In the first flush of the sense of brotherhood, the Church of Jerusalem tried the experiment of having all things in common. It was not a success, it was soon abandoned, it never spread. In the later history of the Church, and especially in these last Pauline letters, we see clearly that distinctions of pecuniary position were very definitely marked amongst the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

One Witness, Many Confessors
'Thou . . . hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, 14. That thou keep this commandment. . . .'--1 TIM. vi. 12-14. You will observe that 'a good confession,' or rather 'the good confession,' is said here to have been made both by Timothy and by Christ. But you will observe also that whilst the subject-matter is the same, the action …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

August the Thirty-First the Real Gains and Losses
"Godliness with contentment is great gain." --1 TIMOTHY vi. 6-16. And so I must go into my heart if I would make a true estimate of my gains and losses. The calculation is not to be made in my bank-books, or as I stride over my broad acres, or inspect my well-filled barns. These are the mere outsides of things, and do not enter into the real balance-sheet of my life. We can no more estimate the success of a life by methods like these than we can adjudge an oil-painting by the sense of smell. What …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Temporal Advantages.
"We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."--1 Tim. vi. 7, 8. Every age has its own special sins and temptations. Impatience with their lot, murmuring, grudging, unthankfulness, discontent, are sins common to men at all times, but I suppose one of those sins which belongs to our age more than to another, is desire of a greater portion of worldly goods than God has given us,--ambition and covetousness …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Fighting Holiness
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.' (1 Timothy vi. 12.) My object, in announcing 'Fighting Holiness' as my subject, is to make it quite clear that a Full Salvation does not mean a hot-house emotionalism or glass-case sanctity, but a vigorous, daring, aggressive religion, on the lines of the Saviour's words, 'The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force'. If this text, 'Fight the good fight of faith', means anything at all, it means you must …
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

A Plain Description of the Essence and Attributes of God, Out of the Holy Scripture, So Far as Every Christian must Competently Know, and Necessarily Believe, that Will be Saves.
Although no creature can define what God is, because he is incomprehensible (Psal. cxliii. 3) and dwelling in inaccessible light (1 Tim. vi. 16); yet it has pleased his majesty to reveal himself to us in his word, so far as our weak capacity can best conceive him. Thus: God is that one spiritual and infinitely perfect essence, whose being is of himself eternally (Deut. i. 4; iv. 35; xxxii. 39; vi. 4; Isa. xlv. 5-8; 1 Cor. viii. 4; Eph. iv. 5, 6; 1 Tim. ii. 5; John iv. 24; 2 Cor. iii. 17; 1 Kings …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Final Settlement of the Church by St. John
A.D. 67-100 It seems probable that most of the Apostles had entered into rest before the Destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70, and that St. John the Divine was the only one of the Apostolic body who long survived that event. [Sidenote: St. Peter began to found the Church, St. John completed its foundation.] To St. Peter, one of the "pillars" of the Church, it had been given to begin the great work of laying the foundation of the Mystical Temple of God; to St. John, the other of the two, was allotted …
John Henry Blunt—A Key to the Knowledge of Church History

Spoken in Antioch in the Old Church, as it was Called...
Spoken in Antioch in the Old Church, as it was called, while he was a presbyter, on the subject of the calamity that had befallen the city in consequence of the tumult connected with the overthrow of the Statues of the Emperor Theodosius, the Great and Pious. And on the saying of the Apostle, "Charge them that are rich that they be not high-minded," 1 Timothy vi. 17. And against covetousness. 1. What shall I say, or what shall I speak of? The present season is one for tears, and not for words; for …
St. Chrysostom—On the Priesthood

Exposition of St. Paul's Words. --1 Tim. vi. 20.
Exposition of St. Paul's Words.--1 Tim. vi. 20. [51.] Such being the case, when I think over these things, and revolve them in my mind again and again, I cannot sufficiently wonder at the madness of certain men, at the impiety of their blinded understanding, at their lust of error, such that, not content with the rule of faith delivered once for all, and received from the times of old, they are every day seeking one novelty after another, and are constantly longing to add, change, take away, in religion, …
Vincent of Lérins—The COMMONITORY OF Vincent of Lérins

A More Particular Exposition of 1 Tim. ...
A more particular Exposition of 1 Tim. vi. 20. [53.] But it is worth while to expound the whole of that passage of the apostle more fully, "O Timothy, keep the deposit, avoiding profane novelties of words." "O!" The exclamation implies fore-knowledge as well as charity. For he mourned in anticipation over the errors which he foresaw. Who is the Timothy of to-day, but either generally the Universal Church, or in particular, the whole body of The Prelacy, whom it behoves either themselves to possess …
Vincent of Lérins—The COMMONITORY OF Vincent of Lérins

Continuation of the Exposition of 1 Tim. ...
Continuation of the Exposition of 1 Tim. vi. 20. [60.] But let us return to the apostle. "O Timothy," he says, "Guard the deposit, shunning profane novelties of words." "Shun them as you would a viper, as you would a scorpion, as you would a basilisk, lest they smite you not only with their touch, but even with their eyes and breath." What is "to shun"? Not even to eat [502] with a person of this sort. What is "shun"? "If anyone," says St. John, "come to you and bring not this doctrine. What doctrine? …
Vincent of Lérins—The COMMONITORY OF Vincent of Lérins

The Light of Glory.
Having, in the foregoing chapters, endeavored to form an idea of heaven's happiness, we must now endeavor to understand something of the different degrees in which each one of the blessed enjoys that unspeakable beatitude. It is an article of faith that every one in heaven, except baptized infants, is rewarded according to his own personal merits, acquired in this life by the assistance of God's grace. Baptized children, who die before they reach the age of discretion, are admitted into heaven, in …
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

Wherefore Even they which Having Relinquished or Distributed their Former...
33. Wherefore even they which having relinquished or distributed their former, whether ample or in any sort opulent, means, have chosen with pious and wholesome humility to be numbered among the poor of Christ; if they be so strong in body and free from ecclesiastical occupations, (albeit, bringing as they do so great a proof of their purpose, and conferring from their former havings, either very much, or not a little, upon the indigence of the same society, the common fund itself and brotherly charity …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

How Servants and Masters are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 6). Differently to be admonished are servants and masters. Servants, to wit, that they ever keep in view the humility of their condition; but masters, that they lose not recollection of their nature, in which they are constituted on an equality with servants. Servants are to be admonished that they despise not their masters, lest they offend God, if by behaving themselves proudly they gainsay His ordinance: masters, too, are to be admonished, that they are proud against God with respect …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

How the Poor and the Rich Should be Admonished.
(Admonition 3.) Differently to be admonished are the poor and the rich: for to the former we ought to offer the solace of comfort against tribulation, but in the latter to induce fear as against elation. For to the poor one it is said by the Lord through the prophet, Fear not, for thou shalt not be confounded (Isai. liv. 4). And not long after, soothing her, He says, O thou poor little one, tossed with tempest (Ibid. 11). And again He comforts her, saying, I have chosen thee in the furnace of …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Conflict and Comfort.
"For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ."--COL. ii. 1, 2. Although he was in prison the Apostle was constantly at work for his Master, and not least of all at the work of prayer. If ever the words …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

"But Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God," &C.
Matt. vi. 33.--"But seek ye first the kingdom of God," &c. O "seekest thou great things for thyself," says God to Baruch, (Jer. xlv. 5) "seek them not." How then doth he command us in the text to seek a kingdom? Is not this a great thing? Certainly it is greater than those great things he would not have Baruch to seek after, and yet he charges us to seek after it. In every kind of creatures there is some difference, some greater, some lesser, some higher, some lower; so there are some men far above …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Letter Xlvii to the Brother of William, a Monk of Clairvaux.
To the Brother of William, a Monk of Clairvaux. [74] Bernard, after having made a striking commendation of religious poverty, reproaches in him an affection too great for worldly things, to the detriment of the poor and of his own soul, so that he preferred to yield them up only to death, rather than for the love of Christ. 1. Although you are unknown to me by face, and although distant from me in body, yet you are my friend, and this friendship between us makes you to be present and familiar to …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

A Few Sighs from Hell;
or, The Groans of the Damned Soul: or, An Exposition of those Words in the Sixteenth of Luke, Concerning the Rich Man and the Beggar WHEREIN IS DISCOVERED THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF THE DAMNED; THEIR CRIES, THEIR DESIRES IN THEIR DISTRESSES, WITH THE DETERMINATION OF GOD UPON THEM. A GOOD WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BETIMES, AND TO SEEK, BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, TO AVOID, LEST THEY COME INTO THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT. Also, a Brief Discourse touching the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

"For to be Carnally Minded is Death; but to be Spiritually Minded is Life and Peace. "
Rom. viii. 6.--"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." It is true, this time is short, and so short that scarce can similitudes or comparisons be had to shadow it out unto us. It is a dream, a moment, a vapour, a flood, a flower, and whatsoever can be more fading or perishing; and therefore it is not in itself very considerable, yet in another respect it is of all things the most precious, and worthy of the deepest attention and most serious consideration; …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Age of the Apostles (Ad 33-100)
The beginning of the Christian Church is reckoned from the great day on which the Holy Ghost came down, according as our Lord had promised to His Apostles. At that time, "Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven," were gathered together at Jerusalem, to keep the Feast of Pentecost (or Feast of Weeks), which was one of the three holy seasons at which God required His people to appear before Him in the place which He had chosen (Deuteronomy xvi. 16). Many of these devout men there converted …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

"But we are all as an Unclean Thing, and all Our Righteousnesses are as Filthy Rags,"
Isaiah lxiv 6, 7.--"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags," &c. This people's condition agreeth well with ours, though the Lord's dealing be very different. The confessory part of this prayer belongeth to us now; and strange it is, that there is such odds of the Lord's dispensations, when there is no difference in our conditions; always we know not how soon the complaint may be ours also. This prayer was prayed long before the judgment and captivity came …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

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