Proverbs 13:15
Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the faithless is difficult.
Sermons
A Sound IntellectHomilistProverbs 13:15
Personal ResponsibilityThe Congregational PulpitProverbs 13:15
The Course, Act, and Punishment of SinGeorge Lester.Proverbs 13:15
The Hard Way of SinC. G. Wright.Proverbs 13:15
The Hardship of SinSketches of Four Hundred SermonsProverbs 13:15
The Rough RoadJ. E. Whydale.Proverbs 13:15
The Way of Transgressors HardJ. T. Davidson, D.D.Proverbs 13:15
The Way of Transgressors is HardProverbs 13:15
Warning Against Transgressors' WaysR. Newton, D. D.Proverbs 13:15
The Wisdom of Docility, Etc.: a Sermon to the YoungW. Clarkson Proverbs 13:1, 13, 18
The Value of the Divine WordE. Johnson Proverbs 13:13-17














I. REVERENCE AND IRREVERENCE FOR THE DIVINE WORD. The "Word" is any revelation man receives of God, whether through nature, oracles of the prophets, or in his immediate consciousness. The last, in the deepest sense, is the condition of all other revelations. Irreverence is shown either when men are deaf and indifferent to the Divine voice, or when they suffer it to be out-clamoured by other voices - of passion, policy, etc. The result is that he who thus sins is "pledged" or forfeited to the Divine Law, here personified or regarded as a superhuman power. Hence appears the truth from this figure, that in disobedience our freedom is lost. On the contrary, reverence and obedience receive a certain reward: "Glory, honour, and peace to every man that worketh good" (Romans 2:10).

II. THE DOCTRINE OF THE WISE. (Ver. 14.) The teaching that is founded on Divine revelation is a source of life, and a safeguard against the snares of death (comp. Proverbs 10:11).

III. THERE MUST BE RECEPTIVITY TOWARDS THIS. DOCTRINE. The Word must be "mixed with faith in those that hear." The favour of God is free in one sense, i.e. is no earned result of our conduct; but it is conditional in another, viz. it depends on our compliance with his will. The contrast to the life in the light of God's favour, watered by vital nourishment from the springs of truth, is the "way of the faithless," which is "barren," dry, as in "a dry and thirsty land where no water is."

IV. PRUDENCE AND GOOD COUNSEL MUST BE ADDED TO REVERENCE. (Ver. 16.) Thougtfulness is Deeded in studying the evidences, the substance, the applications of religion. And in the practical conduct of life how necessary! for more errors are committed for want of judgment and discrimination as to time, place, and circumstances, than for want of true and right purpose. The man destitute of tact pours folly abroad; temper, vanity, caprice, are exposed in all that he does and says.

V. FAITHFUL AND UNFAITHFUL MINISTRY. (Ver. 17.) The wicked messenger prepares misfortune both for his master and for himself; while the faithful servant will amend even his master's mistakes. Applied to sacred things, every Christian should consider himself a messenger, an apostle in however humble a sphere, of God and his truth. And "it is required of stewards that they be found faithful." - J.

Good understanding giveth favour.
Homilist.
I. THE NATURE OF A SOUND INTELLECT. A good understanding must include four things.

1. Enlightenment. The soul without knowledge is not good. A good understanding is that which is well informed, not merely in general knowledge, but in the science of duty and of God.

2. Impartiality. A good intellect should hold the balance of thought with a steady hand.

3. Religiousness. It must be inspired with a deep sense of its allegiance to heaven.

4. Practicalness. It should be strong and bold enough to carry all its decisions into actual life. "A good understanding have all they that do His commandments." Thus it appears a good understanding is tantamount to practical godliness.

II. THE USEFULNESS OF A SOUND INTELLECT. The greatest benefactor is the man of a good understanding. The thoughts of such men as these are the seeds of the world's best institutions, and most useful arts and inventions. The man of good understanding is the most useful in the family, in the neighbourhood, in the market, in the press, in the senate, in the pulpit, everywhere.

1. No favours so valuable as mental favours. He who really helps the mind to think with accuracy, freedom, and force, to love with purity, and to hope with reason, helps the man in the entirety of his being.

2. No one can confer mental favours who has not a good understanding. An ignorant man has no favour to bestow on souls. "Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge the wing with which we fly to heaven" (Shakespeare). Let us, therefore, cultivate a sound intellect. "I make not my head a grave," says Sir T. Browne, in his quaint way, "but a treasury of knowledge; I intend no monopoly, but a community in learning; I study not for my own sake only, but for theirs that study not for themselves; I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less. I instruct no man as an exercise of my knowledge, or with an intent rather to nourish and keep it alive in mine own head than beget and propagate it in his; and, in the midst of all my endeavours, there is but one thought that dejects me — that my acquired parts must perish with myself, nor can be legacied among my honoured friends."

(Homilist.)

But the way of transgressors is hard
I. THE COURSE OF SIN.

1. A disposition to regard life as a matter of circumstances. Personal freedom is, however, never nullified, personal responsibility never suspended. The track and trend of a man's life is largely within his own determination.

2. The text speaks of "a way," i.e., a trodden path. It refers to a course that is chosen, and persisted in. It is the habit of the sinner's life — a much-frequented track.

3. Sin indulged in soon becomes sin confirmed. How soon a track is made across the soft earth. The "dearest idol" was once a plaything, a diversion.

4. This is the sure and certain tendency of sin. "Wild oats" mean a harvest of thorns. It is a cruel thing that is done, when men speak lightly of what is wrong.

II. THE ACT OF SIN.

1. Sin is one: a great, awful unit. But sin is viewed under various aspects. Here the idea is that of one who deals treacherously, one who deceives, or deceives himself.

2. This is the quality of sin committed in Christian lands. Sin "against light and love." This is sin which makes pity impossible, save with God, and with such as the Godlike.

III. THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN. All sin is visited with punishment. The "pleasures of sin" are but "for a season." The punishment comes. The present punishment of sin is here emphasised; if that is not enough to drive you from the way of the transgressor, what of the death-bed, of the judgment-seat, of the never-dying worm? Where, then, is salvation? Look at what is suggested by one and another.

1. Retirement; a life of seclusion and penitence.

2. A firm stand against the encroaching sin.

3. Altered associations. These are the proposals of policy, or human calculations. God's proposal for salvation is an absolute and unconditional forsaking.

(George Lester.)

Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.
But who believes this? None who set their opinion against the testimony of revelation.

I. WHAT IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY THE WAY OF TRANSGRESSORS? Transgressor is but another name for sinner. Transgression supposeth either something done that was forbidden or something omitted that was commanded.

II. THE DOCTRINE OF THE TEXT RESPECTING THIS WAY. It is not rendered harder than it ought to be, through undue severity in God.

1. The kindness of God renders it difficult either to shun or to resist the light.

2. It is sometimes necessary for the Divine Being to carry Himself with some severity against daring and obdurate sinners, for a warning to others.

3. Jehovah's efforts to save render those who finally abuse His goodness singularly criminal. Improvements:

(1)How much sinners are deceived in this "way of the transgressors"!

(2)What madness will it be for any to continue in it!

(3)It will be impossible for any to be saved who will not quit it.

(4)What a mercy that we may yet do so!

(5)While we are in the way with the Lord, let us humble ourselves before Him, let us return to Him, and sue for His salvation.

(Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)

In regard to a large class of sins, retribution follows in the present life. Sin never pays. It means sorrow, distress, pain, whether that pain follows immediately or after a while. The point of the text is, that retribution follows now, in this present world. The earliest steps of vice seem pleasant; if it were not so, it would offer no temptation. To yield to lower appetites and passions is so easy, so natural, so inviting. But the wilful do not go far without being brought to a very different conclusion. "The way of transgressors" turns out to be rough and hard. I might endeavour to deter you from evil courses by telling you of the judgment to come; but what I wish to impress is that there is a day of reckoning even here. Look at the misery which intemperance brings; which licentiousness brings; which gambling brings; which fraudulent dealing brings. Then let this be the hour of your final, and ever-to-be-remembered decision for God and righteousness.

(J. T. Davidson, D.D.)

Four losses, caused by transgression, which help to make the way hard.

1. The loss of a good conscience.

2. The loss of character.

3. The loss of usefulness.

4. The loss of the soul.When we go into the way of transgressors, we do not know that we shall ever have an opportunity of repenting and believing in Jesus. And no matter what part of the transgressors' ways we may have walked in, we shall find it a hard way, because it will be sure to bring the loss of heaven to us.

(R. Newton, D. D.)

I. The way of the sinner is a hard way, BECAUSE IT IS UNPROFITABLE — hard work and poor pay — the devil is a hard lord and a mean paymaster.

II. It is a hard way, BECAUSE IN THE END IT IS USUALLY A FAILURE. Most men see only the present, and when summer is here one feels it must never end; but winter comes on at last.

III. It is a hard way, BECAUSE OPPOSED TO ALL THE STRONGER PRINCIPLES THAT PREVAIL IN LIFE AND DESTINY. The transgressor braves the mighty current of that eternal river which has swept on its bosom every being borne down to the shoreless sea of the judgment of God. Examples: Absalom, Judas, Pharaoh. No use fighting against God.

IV. It is a hard way, BECAUSE IT IS AN UNHAPPY WAY. Conscience and all the better self rebel — opposed to all one's highest associates and surroundings.

V. A hard way, BECAUSE IT ENDS IN ETERNAL RUIN — no opportunity to repair the damage. A hard life here, and hereafter eternal ruin!

VI. THE ONLY EASY WAY IS THE WAY OF OBEDIENCE — the life that now is and the life that is to come. Turn from your hard master and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light.

(C. G. Wright.)

I. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY A TRANSGRESSOR? One who breaks a law or violates a command.

II. THE PAINFUL PATH. The R.V. says, "But the way of the treacherous is rugged." The way of wickedness is difficult and dangerous to travel as a rugged road. How true; young people may not think so; but old men will tell you the prophet knew what he was saying when he uttered the words, "They weary themselves to commit iniquity." says, "Virtue is easier than vice." Mr. H. W. Beecher used to tell of a man in America "who had the habit of stealing all his firewood. He would get up on cold nights and go and take it from his neighbours' woodpiles. It was ascertained that he spent more time and worked harder to get his fuel than he would have been obliged to if he had earned it in an honest way, and at ordinary wages." And this is a type of thousands of men who work a great deal harder to please the devil than they would have to work to please God. It is easier to be sober than intemperate, honest than dishonest, etc.

III. THE WAY IS HARD; FOR IT IS FREQUENTLY A PATH OF SORROW AND SUFFERING. "As certain serpents before they strike their prey fix their eyes upon it and fascinate it, and then at last devour it, so does sin fascinate the foolish sons of Adam — they are charmed with it, and perish for it." "Woe unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil to themselves."

IV. THE WAY IS HARD; FOR IT IS THE WAY OF BITTER RECOLLECTIONS.

(J. E. Whydale.)

The Congregational Pulpit.
I. MAN IS CONSTITUTED TO AVOID TRANSGRESSION. This is taught by —

1. Physical science.

2. Moral consciousness.

3. Common experience.

II. MAN IS PUNISHED FOR EACH TRANSGRESSION.

1. Each sinful act increases sinful desire.

2. Each sinful act weakens spiritual strength. As the sinful desire weakens, the power of resistance diminishes. A reed that has been overcome by the rushing torrent finds it more difficult to stand erect before the next.

3. Each single act is living in the memory.

III. MAN IS PUNISHED BY AN ETERNAL LAW WHICH CONDEMNS TRANSGRESSION.

1. This is a law additional to, but in harmony with, his constitution.

2. This is a law to be satisfied only by atonement.

(The Congregational Pulpit.)

A murderer's last words are seldom very edifying, as it often happens that they are merely the expression of conviction that the speaker, in spite of his crimes, is going straight from the scaffold to heaven. The dying words of James Tracy, executed in Chicago, are, however, an exception to the rule. They deserve the careful attention of young people who think that it is a fine thing "to see life," by which they generally mean vicious life. Tracy said, "I do not believe any man who has known a life of virtue can ever be contented with a life of vice. The farmer who has spent his life on his farm, never seeing more of the world than the road to market, or more of society than the village congregation, is happier than the 'sporting man' who gets his money easily but questionably, and sees society in its wildest dissipation. I hope that my fate may prove a warning to young men who are cheating themselves with the idea that there can be any peace, happiness, or prosperity in a crooked life." Perhaps the readers of immoral novels and young people attracted by the pleasures of vice will heed the solemn statement of a man who was qualified to speak with authority, even though they despise the same warning given in the Bible.

People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Approval, Behaviour, Destruction, Faithless, Favor, Favour, Gets, Giveth, Grace, Harsh, Procureth, Produces, Ruin, Sense, Transgressor, Transgressors, Treacherous, Understanding, Unfaithful, Wins, Wise
Outline
1. a scoffer does not listen to rebuke

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Proverbs 13:15

     5861   favour, human
     8355   understanding

Proverbs 13:15-22

     6024   sin, effects of

Library
The Tillage of the Poor
'Much food is in the tillage of the poor.'--PROVERBS xiii. 23. Palestine was a land of small peasant proprietors, and the institution of the Jubilee was intended to prevent the acquisition of large estates by any Israelite. The consequence, as intended, was a level of modest prosperity. It was 'the tillage of the poor,' the careful, diligent husbandry of the man who had only a little patch of land to look after, that filled the storehouses of the Holy Land. Hence the proverb of our text arose. It
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Poor Rich and the Rich Poor
'There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing; there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.'--PROVERBS xiii. 7. Two singularly-contrasted characters are set in opposition here. One, that of a man who lives like a millionaire and is a pauper; another, that of a man who lives like a pauper and is rich. The latter character, that of a man who hides and hoards his wealth, was, perhaps, more common in the days when this collection of Proverbs was put together, because in all ill-governed
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Practical Methods of Studying the Old Testament
[Sidenote: The various methods of approach] The Old Testament may be studied as literature, as history, as the record of an important stage in the evolution of religion, as the revelation of God to the race, or as a practical aid to the individual in living the true life. Each angle of approach calls for different methods and yields its correspondingly rich results. Studied in accordance with the canons of modern literary investigation, a literature is disclosed of surpassing variety, beauty, and
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The Song of the Redeemed
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou ... hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ... T he extent, variety, and order of the creation, proclaim the glory of God. He is likewise, ^* Maximus in Minimis . The smallest of the works, that we are capable of examining, such for instance as the eye or the wing of a little insect, the creature of a day, are stamped with an inimitable impression of His wisdom and power. Thus in His written Word, there
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Heavenly Footman; Or, a Description of the Man that Gets to Heaven:
TOGETHER WITH THE WAY HE RUNS IN, THE MARKS HE GOES BY; ALSO, SOME DIRECTIONS HOW TO RUN SO AS TO OBTAIN. 'And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.'--Genesis 19:17. London: Printed for John Marshall, at the Bible in Gracechurch Street, 1698. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. About forty years ago a gentleman, in whose company I had commenced my
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

"And this is his Commandment," &C.
1 John iii. 23.--"And this is his commandment," &c. There are different tempers of mind among men, some more smooth and pliable, others more refractory and froward. Some may be persuaded by love, who cannot be constrained by fear. With some a request will more prevail than a command. Others again are of a harsher disposition. Love and condescension doth rather embolden them, and therefore they must be restrained with the bridle of authority. It would seem that the Lord hath some regard to this in
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Second Sunday after Easter
Text: First Peter 2, 20-25. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21 For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

How is Christ, as the Life, to be Applied by a Soul that Misseth God's Favour and Countenance.
The sixth case, that we shall speak a little to, is a deadness, occasioned by the Lord's hiding of himself, who is their life, and "the fountain of life," Ps. xxxvi. 9, and "whose loving-kindness is better than life," Ps. lxiii. 3, and "in whose favour is their life," Ps. xxx. 5. A case, which the frequent complaints of the saints manifest to be rife enough, concerning which we shall, 1. Shew some of the consequences of the Lord's hiding his face, whereby the soul's case will appear. 2. Shew the
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

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

"But if Ye have Bitter Envying and Strife in Your Hearts, Glory Not," &C.
James iii. 14.--"But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not," &c. It is a common evil of those who hear the gospel, that they are not delivered up to the mould and frame of religion that is holden out in it, but rather bring religion into a mould of their own invention. It was the special commendation of the Romans, that they obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which they were delivered, (Rom. vi. 17) that they who were once servants, or slaves of sin, had now
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"But Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all These Things Shall be Added unto You. "
Matth. vi. 33.--"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." The perfection even of the most upright creature, speaks always some imperfection in comparison of God, who is most perfect. The heavens, the sun and moon, in respect of lower things here, how glorious do they appear, and without spot! But behold, they are not clean in God's sight! How far are the angels above us who dwell in clay! They appear to be a pure mass of light and
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Having spoken of the general notion of blessedness, I come next to consider the subjects of this blessedness, and these our Saviour has deciphered to be the poor in spirit, the mourners, etc. But before I touch upon these, I shall attempt a little preface or paraphrase upon this sermon of the beatitudes. 1 Observe the divinity in this sermon, which goes beyond all philosophy. The philosophers use to say that one contrary expels another; but here one contrary begets another. Poverty is wont to expel
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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