The apostle, after his manner, expands his idea beyond the immediate occasion that led to it.

I. THE GAIN OF GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT. "But godliness with contentment is great gain."

1. Godliness is a gain in itself, because it has "the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Godly men come into happy and thriving circumstances, for they are taught to pursue their callings with due industry, foresight, and perseverance.

2. Godliness, allied to contentment, is great gain.

(1) This does not mean that contentment is a condition necessary to the gainful character of godliness, but is rather an effect of godliness and part of its substantial gain. It is a calm and sedate temper of mind about worldly interests. It is God's wisdom and will not to give to all men alike, but the contented mind is not disquieted by this fact.

(2) The godly man is content with what he possesses; submits meekly to God's will, and bears patiently the adverse dispensations of his providence. The godly heart is freed from the thirst for perishing treasures, because it possesses treasures of a higher and more enduring character.

II. THE REASON FOR THIS SENTIMENT. "For we brought nothing into the world, because neither are we able to take anything out of it."

1. We are appointed by God to come naked into the world. We may be born heirs to vast possessions, but they do not become ours till we are actually born. Rich and poor alike bring nothing into the world.

2. This fact is a reason for the statement that we can carry nothing out of the world. It is between birth and death we can hold our wealth. The rich man cannot carry his estates with him into the grave. He will have no need of them in the next life.

3. There could be no contentment if we could take anything with us at death, because in that case the future would be dependent upon the present.

4. The lesson to be learned from these facts is that we ought not eagerly to grasp such essentially earthly and transitory treasures.

III. THE TRUE WISDOM OF CONTENTMENT. "But if we have food and raiment, with these let us be satisfied." These are what Jacob desired, Agur prayed for, and Christ taught his disciples to make the subject of daily supplication. The contented godly have these gifts along with God's blessing. The Lord does not encourage his people to enlarge their desires inordinately. - T.C.

I. SEEK THE BLESSEDNESS OF GODLY CONTENTMENT.

1. No doubt contentment apart from godliness is a good thing. Seneca and , and other pagan philosophers, were never tired of singing its praises; and , when he walked through the streets of Athens, and saw around him the evidences of wealth, art, and culture, exclaimed, "How many things there are which I can do without."(1) To some this feeling of contentment with their present condition seems constitutional. There are men and women who have an easy-going disposition, which makes the best of everything.(2) Others again are content, not so much from happy temperament, as from the fact that the lines have fallen unto them in pleasant places, and they have a goodly heritage. Belonging to the rich and leisured classes, they have no temptation to win a position, or to make money, by unworthy means, for these are already theirs without effort.

2. It is not contentment, however, which is inculcated here so much as "godliness with contentment." Many a man has been content without being godly, who might have been saved had his content been disturbed and destroyed.

II. ENTERTAIN A LOWLY ESTIMATE OF YOURSELVES. "We brought nothing into this world." Of all God's creatures, the human child is most helpless, most dependent upon kindly care; and one of the lessons taught by the coming of an infant into the home is the lesson of human dependence. What have we, indeed, through life that we did not receive? The very powers which enable us to win position or wealth are as much Divine gifts as the wealth itself. No one here has reason for boasting or pride, but only for reverent gratitude to Him who has crowned us with loving-kindness and with tender mercy.

III. ESTIMATE JUSTLY THE VALUE OF EARTHLY THINGS. However precious worldly things may seem, it is certain "we can carry nothing out" of the world when we leave it. It is a narrow bed which will form the last resting-place even for the owner of a province or the ruler of a nation.

(A. Rowland, LL. B.)

You know that all the waters in the world run towards the sea. The little stream which you watch trickling through the green meadow runs on till it joins another stream, and this again to a third, and so on, and it grows larger and broader and deeper till it becomes a river, on which ships may ride, and down which they may sail to the great ocean. The heart and mind of a godly person all turn towards God as the waters flow towards the sea; he loves Him above all other things, admires Him above all other persons, trusts to Him above all other hopes, and values Him above all other joys.

(E. Garbett, M. A.)

I. WHAT IS MEANT IN SCRIPTURE BY "GODLINESS"? It frequently means the gospel. As in this same first Epistle to Timothy (1 Timothy 3:16), "Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness." In other passages godliness means, as the word actually means in the old Saxon, Godlikeness, or a likeness to God; because the object of the revelation of Christ in the gospel is to show us the character of God in the person of a man, and thereby set us a pattern for us to copy — and by offering grace to all, by which they may be able to copy that pattern, to make them Godlike by making them like Christ.

II. NOW THE EFFECT OF THIS GODLINESS IS IN THE TEXT STATED TO BE "CONTENTMENT" — "godliness with contentment" — that is, religion with the contentment which it always brings forth. Let us now, in examining this part of our subject, endeavour to learn how true religion produces contentment.

1. It teaches us to know God. The ideas which men are able to form of God's character, by observing His works, and without the help of revelation, are not such as to produce contentment. His works show the extent of His power; and the order and harmony of them, His own knowledge and perfection. But to know this will not produce contentment. We must know God's moral character for this. Now the Bible reveals God to us as a God whose name is "Love"; as a God whose goodness and mercy are as great as His power and wisdom. Thus the Bible reveals the Eternal God as the kindest friend of sinful man. And when this, which the Word of God thus discovers, is believed in the heart, then contentment must be produced, and will increase as the knowledge of God's character and the assurance of His love increase. For the Christian thus reasons: Is God all-wise? then surely He knows what is best for me. Is He as good as He is wise? then surely He will give what is best for me.

2. But, secondly, the Scripture teaches us to know ourselves, and thus leads us to contentment. Discontent always springs from pride and an overweening conceit of our own value and excellence. We are all by nature high-minded, and esteem ourselves at more than we are worth. Thus, true religion, by humbling a man, tends to produce contentment, for it shows him and makes him feel that he deserves nothing, so that every thing he has is more than he deserves; since he who values himself at nothing will count everything he receives to be above his value, and therefore a call on him for gratitude. And this contentment, the blessed fruit of godliness, were it spread through the world, were it growing in every heart, would set the foundations of the earth in course again, and bring into order what sin has thrown into confusion. It would teach men to keep to their place and to fulfil its duties. It would cut up all covetousness by the root, while it would give no check to honest industry and proper care to provide for our own household. It would put an end to that diseased love of change, and restless, excited spirit, which is continually agitating the mind of those who are in the world as the winds ruffle the unstable ocean.

(W. W. Champneys, M. A.)

He was not content to call godliness gain, but he calleth it great gain; as if he would say, gain, and more than gain; riches, and better than riches; a kingdom, and greater than a kingdom. As when the prophets would distinguish between the idol-gods and the living God, they call Him the great God; so the gain of godliness is called great gain. The riches of the world are called earthly, transitory, snares, thorns, dung, as though they were not worthy to be counted riches; and therefore, to draw the earnest love of men from them, the Holy Ghost brings them in with these names of disdain, to disgrace them with their loves; but when He comes to godliness, which is the riches of the soul, He calleth it great riches, heavenly riches, unsearchable riches, everlasting riches, with all the names of honour, and all the names of pleasure, and all the names of happiness. As a woman trims and decks herself with an hundred ornaments, only to make her amiable, so the Holy Ghost setteth out godliness with names of honour, and names of pleasure, and names of happiness, as it were in her jewels, with letters of commendation to make her be beloved. Lest any riches should compare with godliness, He giveth it a name above others, and calleth it great riches, as if He would make a distinction between riches and riches, between the gain of covetousness and the gain of godliness, the peace of the world and the peace of conscience, the joy of riches and the joy of the Holy Ghost. The worldly men have a kind of peace and joy and riches. But I cannot call it great, because they have not enough, they are not contented as the godly are; therefore only godliness hath this honour, to be called great riches. The gain of covetousness is nothing but wealth; but the gain of godliness is wealth, and peace, and joy, and love of God, and the remission of sins, and everlasting life. Therefore only godliness hath this honour, to be called great gain.

(H. Smith.)

The godly man hath found that which all the world doth seek, that is, enough. Every word may be defined, and everything may be measured, but enough cannot be measured or defined, it changeth every year; when we had nothing, we thought it enough, if we might obtain less than we have; when we came to more, we thought of another enough; now we have more, we dream of another enough; so enough is always to come, though too much be there already. For as oil kindleth the fire which it seems to quench, so riches come as though they would make a man contented, and make him more covetous.

(H. Smith.)

Such a commander is contentation that wheresoever she setteth foot an hundred blessings wait upon her; in every disease she is a physician, in every strife she is a lawyer, in every doubt she is a preacher, in every grief she is a comforter, like a sweet perfume, which taketh away the evil scent, and leaveth a pleasant scent for it.

(H. Smith.)

Once it was remarked to Lord Erskine that a certain man dying had left £200,000, whereupon he replied, "That's a poor capital to begin the next world with." Truly it was so, for if, on the other hand, the man had given it away in charity he would thus have really laid it up as treasure in heaven, where in a certain sense he would have possessed and enjoyed it, whereas in this case he left it all behind him on earth when he died, and thus really lost it.

At Andermatt, in Switzerland, recently, some workmen were repairing a wall that runs round the old churchyard when they suddenly came upon several skeletons, and on disturbing them there fell from the lower jaw of one, two gold coins of the reign of Charles VIII. of France, at the end of the fifteenth century. Further search revealed the presence in the bony hand of the skeleton of a piece of linen rag in excellent preservation, and on unfolding the rag the men brought to light ten silver coins of the sixteenth century, of the time of Francis I. of France. There is no means of knowing how the money came to be in so strange a place. It may have been placed there by superstitious friends of the dead, or death might have suddenly come upon a man who was carrying his money in that way. One thing, however, is certain, the money had not been used by him. When we see how men scheme, and labour, and hoard, it would seem that they have forgotten that it is of no use beyond the grave.

We are told that when Alexander, the conqueror of the world, was dying, he gave orders that at his burial his hands should be exposed to public view that all men might see that the mightiest of men could take nothing with him when called away by death. The same lesson was taught us by Job when he said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither." A mouthful of earth will one day stop the cravings of the most covetous. This makes the hoarding up of wealth so vain an occupation. He who died the other day worth three millions and a half, is now as poor as the beggar whom he passed in the street. "I would not mind dying," said a miserly farmer, "if I could take my money with me!" but when he ceased to breathe he left all behind him. What folly it is to spend all one's time in gathering a heap to leave it so soon.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

Mahmoud, the first Mohammedan conqueror who entered India, when a mortal disease was consuming him, ordered all his costly apparel, and his vessels of silver and gold, and his pearls and precious stones, to be displayed before him. In the royal residence at Ghuznee, which he called the Palace of Felicity, he drew from this display, wherewith he had formerly gratified the pride of his eye, a mournful lesson, and wept like a child. "What toils," said he, "what dangers, what fatigues, both of body and mind, bays I endured for the sake of acquiring these treasures, and what cares in preserving them! and now I am about to die and leave them."

(Dictionary of Illustrations.)

A gentleman was once talking to Thomas Mann, a pious waterman on the river Thames, and having ascertained that he never laboured on the Sabbath, and was dependent on his labour for a living, he said, "Well, as your gains have been so small, you could not lay much up. Have you not been anxious, as you have proceeded in life, lest, from the very nature of your employment, exposed as it is to danger and to all weathers, you should be laid up by illness, and have nothing to support you?" "No, sir; I have always believed in God's Providence. I think I am just fitted for the situation which He has appointed to me, and that what He has fixed is best. I am, therefore, satisfied and thankful. I endeavour to do the duty which daily falls to me, and to be careful of my earnings: I have always had enough, and I have no fears about years to come." "Yet, my friend," said the gentleman, "if illness were to come, and you had not a provision made for the supply of your need in helpless old age, ought not this to give you some uneasiness?" "No, sir, that is not my business. Future years are not my business. That belongs to God, and I am sure that, doing my duty in His fear now, and being careful in what He intrusts to me, He will supply my need in future in that way which He shall think best." The gentleman then said, "We have heard that teaching the poor to read has a tendency to make them discontented with the station in which Providence has placed them. Do you think so?" "No, sir; quite the contrary. All that I have read in the Bible teaches me to be content with the dispensations of Providence, to be industrious and careful. A Christian cannot be an idle or an ungrateful man."

I. I AM TO EXPLAIN GODLINESS. This consists in two things.

1. It consists in a godly heart. Godly signifies godlike. Those who have a heart after God's own heart are godly, and bear His moral image, in which man was at first created, and to which every renewed person is restored by the special influence of the Divine Spirit. The Spirit in regeneration enstamps the moral image of God upon the heart, which consists in righteousness and true holiness. There is nothing in which men so nearly resemble God as in a godly heart.

2. Godliness implies not only a godly heart, but a godly life. All men will live according to their hearts.(1) A sincere consecration of themselves to God. Those who mean to live a godly life, give themselves away to God in an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten.(2) The godly not only devote themselves to God, but pay a sincere and habitual obedience to the intimations of His will.

II. THAT THIS GODLINESS WILL PRODUCE CONTENTMENT.

1. Godliness leads those who possess it to realize that God always treats them as well as they deserve. They live under an habitual sense of their unworthiness in the sight of God.

2. The godly are sensible that God always treats them according to their prayers, which reconciles them to the Divine dispensations towards them.

3. That it leads men to live by faith in the perfect wisdom and rectitude of the Divine government. The godly believe that the hand and heart of God are concerned in all the events which actually take place.

III. THAT GODLY CONTENTMENT WILL PRODUCE GREAT GAIN; or rather, that godliness with contentment is great gain.

1. That godly contentment gains all the good in this world. Those who are contented after a godly sort, enjoy all the things that they possess, and they actually possess as much as they desire to possess; which affords them complete contentment. The contented person is in just such a situation as He, all things considered, desires to be in.

2. That those who possess godly contentment, gain not only this world, but the world to come. Contentment here prepares them for contentment there. Godliness here prepares them to enjoy godliness there.Improvement:

1. If godliness produces contentment, then those have reason to doubt of the sincerity of their religion who do not derive contentment from it.

2. If godliness produces contentment, then none can be contented who are destitute of godliness.

3. If godliness be so gainful as we have heard, then none can be godly too soon.

4. If godliness be so gainful as we have heard, then there is no danger of being too godly.

5. If godliness be so gainful as has been represented, then the godly have good reason to pity the ungodly.

6. If godliness be so gainful as has been represented, then the godly ought to do all they can to lead others to be godly. Godliness is benevolence, and benevolence wishes well to all mankind.

(N. Emmons, D. D.)We brought nothing into the world. —

There is a sense in which the text is true, and there is a sense in which it is not true.

I. THERE IS A SENSE IN WHICH IT IS TRUE. It is true that we can carry nothing of our material possessions out of the world. We must leave behind our homes, our business, our property, our very bodies. This is —

1. A fact the most obvious.

2. A fact the most practically disregarded.

II. THERE IS A SENSE IN WHICH IT IS NOT TRUE. There are certain things which we did not bring with us, but which we shall carry away with us.

1. Our memories. We came without recollections, we shall carry thousands away.

2. Our responsibilities. We came without responsibilities, we shall carry loads away.

3. Our characters. We came without a character, we shall carry one away.

4. Our true friendships. We came without true friendships, we shall carry many away.

5. Our true sources of spiritual joy. Powers of holy meditation, hopes of approaching good, communion with the Infinite Father, etc., and all these we shall carry away with us.

(The Homilist.)

I. CONSIDER MAN'S DEPENDENCE AND MORTALITY. Everything that we possess and enjoy is not so much a gift as a loan. Strength to labour, and the reward of our labour, all worldly possessions and happiness, are merely for a time. They are only lent to us during our life, to be returned at our death. We often hear of a man having only a life interest in certain property. But who has more than a life interest in any worldly possessions? But, as the text reminds us, we shall have to go out of this world.

II. CONSIDER MAN'S MORAL AND SPIRITUAL NATURE, AND CONSEQUENT ACCOUNTABILITY. We brought much with us into this world, and we shall carry more out.

1. We brought a spiritual nature with us into this world, or, rather, we came into this world spiritual beings. Man is not a body, but a spirit. We have bodies, we are spirits. The universal consciousness of man testifies to the fact that he possesses a life higher than that of the brutes. Into the heavenly kingdom there cannot enter anything that defileth. "Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

2. We brought a moral nature with us into this world, or, to speak more correctly, we came into this world moral beings. Things affect us, not merely as pleasurable or painful, but as right or wrong.

3. We shall carry out of this world what we did not bring with us into the world. We must all carry with us the record of our life.

4. Besides the record of our life, which we must carry with us out of the world, we shall be blessed or condemned for what we leave behind us in the world. All of us will leave behind an influence which will live long after we are forgotten.

(A. F. Joscelyne, B. A.)

I. Let us consider THE NECESSITIES OF NATURE. These are few, and simple, and easily satisfied. For we should distinguish between real and artificial wants. In reference to happiness, a man only has what he can use. If he possesses a thousand pounds which he cannot use, it matters not, as to the benefit he derives from it, whether it be in his coffer or in the bowels of the earth.

II. We should do well to consider THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE CREATURE. When we see men dissatisfied with what they have, and all anxiety and exertion to amass an abundance of this "world's goods," we should imagine that there was a superlative excellency in these things, and that our happiness absolutely depended upon them. Happiness is an eternal thing. "A good man shall be satisfied from himself."

III. To induce you to be satisfied with such things as you have, consider Your UNWORTHINESS. You murmur because you have not more — but should you not be thankful for what you have? If a man owes you a debt, you ought to have your demand; and if you do not receive the whole, you may justly complain. But it is otherwise with a beggar who asks alms. How much more therefore are we bound to say, with Jacob, " I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies"! Cease complaining, Christian.

IV. Observe WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY IN POSSESSION OR IN REVERSION. When I view the Christian — when I see him blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places — when I see him a son of God, an heir of immortality — loved with an infinite love; redeemed by the blood of the everlasting covenant; called out of darkness into marvellous light. Oh why do not these blessings absorb us! Once they did. When we were first induced to seek them-we thought of nothing else. We then said, If I succeed and obtain these — how willingly can I leave everything else!

V. Consider THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. Suppose now a voice from heaven were to assure you that a little was best for you. You answer, I would try to acquiesce. And cannot God speak by actions as well as words?

VI. Consider HOW MUCH SAFER YOU ARE WITH LITTLE THAN WITH MUCH. Honey does not more powerfully attract bees than affluence generates temptations. Did you never see men ruined by prosperity? Have you duly considered the duties as well as snares of a prosperous condition? "Where much is given, much will be required."

VII. Consider THE BREVITY OF YOUR CONTINUANCE UPON EARTH, WHERE ALONE YOU WILL NEED ANY OF THESE THINGS. "What is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away!" And how much of this fleeting period is already consumed! There may be but a step between you and death. Now if time be short, your trouble cannot be long. Were you ever so prosperous, it is only the sunshine of a day — the evening shades are beginning to spread, and will hide all your glories from your view. Read the verse before the text: "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."

(W. Jay.)

Paul, Philemon, Pilate, Timotheus, TimothyEphesusClothing, Content, Covering, Ourselves, Raiment, Roof, Satisfied, Suffice, Sustenance, Therewith1. 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 6:3-10

     5871   greed, response to

1 Timothy 6:6-8

     5874   happiness
     8203   character
     8809   riches

1 Timothy 6:6-10

     4966   present, the
     5929   resentment, against people

1 Timothy 6:7-10

     5890   insecurity

1 Timothy 6:8-10

     8810   riches, dangers

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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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