II.IT INTRODUCES TO GOOD SOCIETY.

III.ITS CHEERFUL PROSPECT.

IV.ITS JOYFUL TERMINATION.

(J. W. Bray.)

II. OF RELIGION, AS SHE STANDS OPPOSED TO HER RIVALS, THE MOST OBVIOUS AND DISCRIMINATING ADVANTAGES ARE THESE.

1. Her impartiality and easiness of access.

2. The comfort and certainty which attend her in possession.

3. The beneficial consequences of the pursuit which she directs.

4. The supreme beauty and importance of the objects to which she looks.

(C. Symmons, B.D.)

I. RELIGION DOES NOT CONSIST IN MERE BELIEFS ABOUT GOD, OR IN THE OBSERVANCE OF RELIGIOUS RITES. Not that these are of no importance, only that they must not be put as substitutes for true religion. Since Comte's day there has been a tendency to confound religion with morality. The two things are distinct, though inseparable.

II. RELIGION IS NOT ALWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH TRUE BELIEFS. The intellectual beliefs of a man's religion can only be approximations to the truth more or less remote; rites and ceremonies are obligatory so far as we find them serviceable to our own spiritual culture, and beneficial to the community as acts of social worship. The value of religion consists in its affording satisfaction to the most imperative demands of our nature; in its power to soothe and console the mind under bitterest griefs; and in the bright hopes which it inspires for the life to come. The refinement and elevation of character among the vast majority of our race have been mainly owing to the sanctions created or intensified by religious emotion. Not one of human sorrows can be so adequately, so bounteously compensated for as by religion. Stoicism, the privilege only of the few, can only be enjoyed by turning the heart to stone. Epicurism, the resource of spiritual dipsomaniacs, is a remedy more degrading than suicide. Philanthropic enthusiasm, noble in itself, and demanded from us by religion, will only act as an anodyne, leaving the heart, in the intervals of its influence, face to face with its inconsolable misery. But religion reconciles us to all forms and degrees of sorrow. It turns every event that seems hostile into the act of a Faithful Friend. Religion reigns over the entire man — not content with the outward polish of the manners, but purifying at their source the principles and motives of all right conduct.

(C. Voysey, M.A.)

1. From the eternal distinction which subsists between virtue and vice. In man there is a moral sense which approves or disapproves antecedently to the operation of reason.

2. From the internal and exquisite satisfaction which obedience to religious precepts affords, and the excruciating misery which a violation of them always produces in the human breast.

3. The observation in the text is displayed with the greatest force at the hour of death. Religion, immortal, is the never-failing friend of man.

4. The paths of wisdom lead to happiness, while a vicious course of life terminates in infamy and ruin.

(A. Stirling, LL.D.)

(Joseph Parker, D.D.)

1. By practising virtue we gratify the highest powers of our natures.

2. Virtue, in the very idea of it implies health and order of mind.

3. By practising virtue we gain more of the united pleasures, arising from the gratification of all our powers, than we can in any other way. The course most conducive to happiness must be that which is most agreeable to our whole nature.

4. Much of the pleasure of vice itself depends on some species or other of virtue combined with it.

5. Virtue leaves us in possession of all the common enjoyments of life, and it even improves and refines them. This effect it produces by restraining us to regularity and moderation in the gratification of our desires.

6. Virtue has peculiar joys such as nothing else can give — such as the love of the Deity, peace of conscience, a sense of God's favour, the hope of future reward. Now consider some peculiar qualities of this happiness.

(1)It is more permanent than any other happiness;

(2)more independent;

(3)more pure and refined;

(4)it continues with a man even in affliction.Inferences:

1. How wrong is it to conceive of religious virtue as an enemy to pleasure.

2. What strong evidence we have for the moral government of the Deity.

3. What reasons we have for seeking virtue above all things.

(R. Price, D. D.)

II. THE PRACTICE OF RELIGION KEEPS US IN PERPETUAL PEACE AND SAFETY. Religion preserves a settled tranquillity in the mind, and prevents disquieting fears and the tumults of unruly passions. It engages the kindness of Providence, and gains the good-will of men. It heightens every enjoyment, and effectually comforts in every trial.

(T. Newlin, M. A.)

(R. Wardlaw, D.D.)

I. THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF RELIGION HATH A MIGHTY EFFECT TO REMOVE THE PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF DISQUIETUDE. If the mind be easy and cheerful, it is not of essential consequence what our outward circumstances may be.

1. Religion removes doubt and uncertainty. The knowledge and experience of religion sets a man in a good measure free from anxieties, allays the ferment in his breast, and restores an agreeable composure to the mind. How pleasant is the assent which the mind gives to the truth, when it has the ready concurrence of the will, and the firm support of personal experience!

2. Religion removes the sense of guilt. Men attempt by various ways to relieve themselves of uneasy thoughts, but religion alone frees from guilt and its fears.

3. Religion removes the restlessness and turbulency of unsanctified passions. It strikes at the root of our corruptions, and forbids them rule and tyrannise in the heart.

II. THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF RELIGION ARE ATTENDED WITH POSITIVE JOYS AND PLEASURES.

1. The discoveries of religion afford the highest entertainment to the understanding.

2. Its hopes and comforts possess the heart. What a blessing is peace of conscience! And the sense of God's favour; and a firm faith in Divine Providence; and communion with God; and the hope of eternal life! There is a solid satisfaction in the temper and conduct religion recommends; in the duties of devotion and worship.

(S. Stennett, D.D.)

I. PLEASURE IS, IN THE NATURE OF IT, A RELATIVE THING. So it imports a peculiar relation and correspondence to the state and condition of the person to whom it is a pleasure.

II. THE ESTATE OF ALL MEN BY NATURE BECOMES CHANGED. It is more or less different from that estate into which the same persons do, or may, pass by the exercise of that which the philosophers call virtue, and into which men are much more effectually and sublimely translated by that which we call grace; that is, by the supernatural overpowering operation of God's Spirit. A man, while he resigns himself up to the brutish guidance of sense and appetite, has no relish at all for the spiritual, refined delights of a soul clarified by grace and virtue. The Athenians laughed the physiognomist to scorn who, pretending to read men's minds in their foreheads, described Socrates as a crabbed, lustful, proud, ill-natured person; they knowing how directly contrary he was to that dirty character. But Socrates bade them forbear laughing at the man; for that he had given them a most exact account of his nature; but what they saw in him so contrary at the present was from the conquest that he had got over his natural disposition by philosophy. True pleasure is that of the mind, which is an image, not only of God's spirituality, but also of His infinity. Religion belongs to it in reference —

1. To speculation, as it sustains the name of understanding.

2. To practice, as it sustains the name of conscience. Religious pleasure never satiates or wearies; it is in nobody's power, but only in his that hath it. So that he who hath the propriety may be also sure of the perpetuity. The man never outlives it, because he cannot outlive himself. Then it follows that to exhort men to be religious is only in other words to exhort them to take their pleasure — a pleasure made for the soul, and the soul for it — suitable to its spirituality, and equal to all its capacities.

(R. South, D.D.)

I. FROM ITS PLEASURE AND DELIGHT.

1. In the work of grace and regeneration wrought in the heart.

2. Even grace, the more it is improved, carries a delight and pleasurableness in it.

3. There is a great pleasingness in all the duties and exercises of religion.In prayer, reading the Scriptures, communion of the saints, sacraments, Sabbaths, etc. Religion does indeed cause some kinds of grief and sorrow, such as godly sorrow for sin. And when we say that the ways of spiritual wisdom and grace are ways of pleasantness we do not mean it of the mad mirth of the world, which consists in nothing but vanity and folly, and luxuriancy of spirit.

II. FROM ITS TRANQUILLITY AND QUIET. Religion is the business of peace, and carries peace along with it.

1. With God, the peace of reconciliation.

2. With ourselves, the peace of assurance.

3. With one another, the peace of communion. The more godliness, then, the more pleasure in godliness.

(T. Horton, D.D.)

I. THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION ON THOSE OBJECTS WHICH ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MOST CONTRIBUTORY TO THE PRESENT HAPPINESS OF MANKIND.

1. The prolongation of life. Piety inspires that moderation in all things which is equally favourable to the faculties of the body and the mind. It exerts a tranquillising influence on all our emotions. Involved in the prolongation of life is the preservation of health. The good man regards health as a talent entrusted to him.

2. The possession of reputation. Piety promotes esteem: a good man commonly lives down at last the enmity which his virtues had at first excited.

3. The acquisition of property. To the attainment of moderate wealth piety is favourable.

II. THE PRESENT EFFECTS OF RELIGION WHICH BELONG TO THE STATE OF THE MIND.

1. Belief in the good Governor of all things.

2. Harmony with this Best of Beings.

3. Free access to this Almighty Friend.

4. The most essential elements of piety are all favourable to happiness. These may be stated as adoration and benevolence.

(R. Hall.)

1. One cause of unhappiness is guilt.

2. Another is fear.

3. The influence of unholy tempers.

4. Insatiable thirst after creature enjoyments.

II. RELIGION PRODUCES HAPPINESS BY OPENING UP NEW SOURCES OF COMFORT AND ENJOYMENT IN THE MIND OF MAN. The world, and the good things of the world, are enjoyed in a new way. There is the testimony of a good conscience; an assurance of Divine favour; the Spirit of adoption; the enjoyment of communion with God in His ordinances; a persuasion of the truth of God's promises; and a solid, well-grounded hope. It is true that some professors of religion are not happy under the influence of their opinions and views. Some profess religion who do not enjoy the life and power of it. Some are double-minded, and try to serve two masters. Some live, as it were, under the law. Some are constitutionally inclined to discouragement and despondency, labouring under the disadvantages of a debilitated and nervous state of body. In conclusion, religion comes well recommended to you. There are two heavens offered you, one here and one in glory.

(J. Entwisle.)

I. THE POSSESSION OF CHRISTIAN GRACES. The great thing which distinguishes a Christian is "having the Spirit" (Romans 8:9). The Spirit is the author of a new and Divine life in the soul of the believer. Every grace is implanted in his soul, the exercise of which is as natural and pleasant to the new nature as the due exercise of our senses is to the natural man. These graces are knowledge, faith, repentance, hope, love.

II. THE ENJOYMENT OF CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. Such are —

1. Peace with God through faith in the blood of Christ.

2. Sacred joy in the redemption wrought for him.

3. Adoption into the family of God.

III. THE PERFORMANCE OF CHRISTIAN DUTIES. Such as prayer, praise, reading and hearing the Word, the Lord's day. As all these are good and pleasant in themselves, so they appear to greater advantage if compared with the pleasures of the world. They are certainly far more solid and satisfying, far more rational and noble, and, above all, far more durable. There is far more pleasure in religion now than there is in sin, and we are sure that it will end better.

(G. Burder.)

I. EVINCE THE TRUTH OF THIS DECLARATION. The religious man is delivered by religion from those causes of solicitude, terror, and affliction which are the principal sources of the miseries of mankind; the experiences, helps, and consolalions to which, in proportion as men are not religious, they are strangers.

1. The most grievous of all distresses is the sense of unpardoned guilt. From this the religious man is set free. He looks up to God, through Christ, as to a reconciled Father. The burden is removed from his soul, and he goeth on his way rejoicing. Every token of grateful obedience which he is enabled to render overspreads his heart with gladness. As he advances in religion he advances in happiness.

2. Another distress arises from the immoderate fear of falling away from God under future temptations. The religious man fears for himself. But his fear is not an overwhelming terror. It is a fear which excludes all dependence on his own strength. It is a fear which produces humility, caution, vigilance, meditation, and prayer. But it is not a fear which brings anguish; it is not a fear which urges to despondence.

3. The religious man is delivered from corroding anxieties as to the events which may befall him during the residue of his life.

4. He is also delivered from the fear of the last enemy, Death.

5. There yet remain various circumstances which attend the religious man in the ordinary course of his life, and contribute no small accessions to the daily amount of his happiness. By the integrity and kindness of his conduct he is often placed beyond the reach of those who may be desirous of injuring him. His domestic life is a source of happiness. His friends will be found tender and faithful. The general temper of his mind is cheerful serenity. From the common bounties of providence he derives higher satisfaction than other men.

II. APPLY THE INSTRUCTION WHICH MAY BE DRAWN FROM THE TEXT.

1. Address those who are decidedly wicked.

2. Those who are wavering between the paths of religion and the paths of guilt.

3. Those who are religious.

(Thomas Gisborne, M.A.)

(Francis Taylor, B. D.)

1. The way of religion is the way of truth.

2. The way of God's commandments.

3. The way of faith, not of sense.

4. The way of holiness.

5. The way of irreconcilable opposition to the devil, the world, and the flesh.

6. The way of spiritual worship.

7. The straight and narrow way.

8. The way of universal obedience.

9. The good old way.This way is the way of wisdom, because —

1. God has directed the children of men into this way.

2. The Lord Jesus leads His people in this way.

3. The Spirit determines men to enter and walk in this way.

4. Jesus Himself took this way.

5. It is the way most agreeable to right reason.

6. It is the only way to happiness, here or hereafter.

II. THE WAYS OF RELIGION ARE THE MOST PLEASANT AND PEACEFUL WAYS. To whom are the ways of religion pleasant?

1. To those who have the art of walking in them.

2. To those who habituate themselves to close walking with God. Consider —

3. The testimony of the saints who, in all ages, have given this for their verdict of the ways of God.

4. That pleasure, innocency and holiness arrive always together at their height.

5. That religion, so far as it does prevail, frees us from the cause of our woe.

6. That God directs and assists His servants by His Spirit.

7. That the Lord binds upon His saints the walking in His ways with the softest and sweetest ties imaginable, the answering of which must needs create a pleasure in the doing thereof.

8. There is a sweetness interwoven with the Christian walk.

9. There is a transcendent pleasure at the end of the way.Religion, then, brings a calm into the soul which no other thing can do. It gives a rest and satisfaction that can nowhere else be found. It breaks the reigning power of lusts and corruptions, which cause the soul much uneasiness. It brings the soul to the accomplishment of its desires. It brings into a state of resignation to the will of God. The pleasures of religion are of such an elevated nature that all others seem but low and grovelling in comparison of them; such as the victory over lusts and corruptions; the approbation of one's own conscience;the assurance of God's acceptance; the joy of doing good to others; communion with God; assurance of the Lord's love and eternal salvation. Such pleasures are refined and pure; they satisfy without loathing or disgust; they are ready, and near at hand; and lasting. Religion helps a man to draw the greatest possible pleasure from created things,

III. PEACE ALSO IS TO BE ENJOYED IN THE WAY OF RELIGION. A sevenfold peace.

1. With God.

2. Of conscience.

3. Of heart by the soul's rest in God.

4. Of mind.

5. With the creatures of God.

6. As prosperity.

7. Peace eternal.What peace can any one have in the way of sin? What peace is there to a man who is a stranger to the Mediator of peace? What peace so long as stinging guilt remains in the conscience, unsatisfied desires in the heart, and lusts reigning within?

(T. Boston, D.D.)

I. ALL PLEASURE ARISETH FROM AN ATTEMPERED SUITABLENESS AND HARMONY THERE IS BETWEEN THE FACULTY AND THE OBJECT. Where there is any disagreement, either in contrariety or in excess, the result is not pleasure but torment.

1. The pleasures which religion brings are not such as do immediately affect the body, the drossy and earthy part of man.

2. Religion, as it doth allow, so it adds a sweetness and relish to the lawful comforts of this present life. Experience proves that sobriety and temperance bring more true pleasure than excess and riot. A constant fear of God, and a conscientious obedience to Him, give a seasoning to all our earthly enjoyments. A good conscience is a continual feast.

3. The chief joys which religion gives are internal and mental. And these are incomparably beyond the delights of sense.

II. THIS PURE AND SPIRITUAL PLEASURE ARISETH IN THE MIND FROM THREE THINGS.

1. A congruity and suitableness in holy and religious actions to the rules and principles of right reason. There are three general principles of natural religion.(1) That God is loved and feared above all, and the revelations of His will to be credited and obeyed.(2) That we ought to govern ourselves with all temperance and sobriety, in the use of the comforts of this life.(3) That we ought to demean ourselves towards others with the exactest justice and equity. Where our actions do correspond with these principles of reason, there must arise an intellectual joy and complacency.

2. The comfortable reflections of our own consciences upon holy and religious actions. Self-reflection is sweet and comfortable to a true Christian.

3. The hope and expectation of the eternal reward of our obedience.

4. That must be most pleasant which calms all our perturbations and disturbances, and fits us to enjoy both God and ourselves in a sedate composure.

III. COMMON OBSERVATION AND EXPERIENCE WILL BE CITED TO DISPROVE ALL THESE SPECULATIONS CONCERNING THE PLEASURE OF RELIGION. It is pleaded that, in actual fact, many of the votaries of religion are miserable and melancholy. In answer we say —

1. The joys of religion are not loud and tumultuous, but grave, solid, and serious. "True joy is a severe thing." It lies deep and recondite, in the centre of the soul, and fills it with calm thoughts, sedate affections, and uniform peace and tranquillity.

2. If, at any time, the religious man be really sad and dejected, this is not to be imputed to religion, but to the want of it, either in himself or others.

3. Even the tears and sorrows of a true, pious Christian have a more solid joy in them than all the noise and extravagant jollity of wicked men. There is a sweetness even in mourning, when it is filial and ingenuous. Tears are a solace, and grief itself an entertainment.

IV. WHAT THEN IS TO BE SAID OF THE MORTIFICATIONS AND SELF-DENIALS WHICH RELIGION REQUIRES? — ARE NOT THESE UNPLEASANT? Is there nothing in these things that is difficult to be done, and grievous to be borne?

1. It is true that there are many things in religion which are difficult and laborious, but this does not argue them to be unpleasant and grievous. The whole Christian life is warfare; in it there must be strain and discipline.

2. We must keep in mind that there is a twofold nature in every Christian — his corrupt and his Divine nature. Two contrary parties are struggling within him. The rigorous duties of religion are only so to the corrupt and sinful inclinations; they are a joy and pleasure to the renewed and sanctified nature.

3. The severities of religion are far more difficult and distasteful at our first entrance upon a holy life than they will be when we are confirmed and habituated in it.

4. The severities of religion are no more nor greater than what we are content to undergo in things of another nature. The sinner meets with far more trouble in the ways of sin than the most strict and holy Christian can do in the ways of obedience. The complaints against the rigours of religion proceed only from mistakes and prejudices.

(Bp. E. Hopkins.)

1. The testimony of those who have made trial of wisdom's ways, and agree in assuring us that they are. ways of pleasantness and peace.

2. The experience of those who have but the lowest measure of this wisdom; these can show the painfulness of the ways of sin and folly.

3. The fact that wisdom's ways lead to the enjoyment of the Divine favour, and our walking in them is the only foundation upon which we can have confidence toward God.

4. The pleasures which accompany sincere religion; that is, which arise from the testimony of an approving conscience. Compare the pleasures of religion with the pleasures of sense.(1) The gratifications of sense are common with us to the brutal kinds.(2) The pleasures of this world are but precarious; we can have no sure hold on them.(3) Those only can be accounted the greatest, the noblest, and in all respects the most valuable comforts, which support and relieve the mind in its greatest need.

(J. Abernethy, M. A.)

1. Wisdom is of itself delectable and satisfactory, as it implies a revelation of truth and a detection of error to us; as it satisfies our best desires, by enriching our minds with excellent and useful knowledge, directed to the noblest objects, and serviceable to the highest ends.

2. Wisdom disposes us to acquire and to enjoy all the good and happiness we are capable of.

3. Wisdom frees us from the company of anxious doubt in our actions, and the consequence of bitter repentance.

4. Wisdom begets in us a hope of success in our actions.

5. Wisdom prevents discouragement from the possibility of ill-success, and makes disappointment tolerable.

6. Wisdom makes all the troubles, griefs, and pains incident to life easy and supportable, by rightly valuing the importance and moderating the influence of them.

7. Wisdom always has a good conscience attending it.

8. Wisdom confers on its possessor a facility, expert readiness, and dexterity in action which is a very pleasant and commodious quality.

9. Wisdom disposes us with judgment to distinguish, and with pleasure to relish, wholesome things.

10. Wisdom acquaints us with ourselves, our own temper and constitution, our propensities and passions, our habitudes and capacities.

11. Wisdom procures and preserves a constant favour and fair respect of men, purchases a good name, and upholds reputation.

12. Wisdom instructs us to examine, compare, and rightly to value the objects that court our affections and challenge our care, merely regulating our passions and moderating our endeavours.

13. Wisdom preserves order, the parent of peace; and prevents confusion, the mother of iniquity, strife, and disquiet.

14. Wisdom discovers our relations, duties, and concernments with respect to men, as well as the natural grounds of them.

15. It acquaints us with the nature and reason of true religion, affording the most convincing arguments to persuade us to the practice of it.

16. Wisdom attracts the favour of God, purchases for us a glorious reward, and secures to us a perpetual felicity. All these things are sources of satisfaction and delight.

(Isaac Barrow, D.D.)

I. THE WAYS OF RELIGION ARE WAYS OF PLEASANTNESS.

1. There is a pleasure in the duties immediately relating to God; such as love, faith, reliance, resignation, hope, prayer, and thanksgiving. These are all apparently cheerful duties, and when duly performed, must be attended with the highest satisfaction.

2. There is a pleasure in those occupations in which a virtuous and religious man will be frequently employed.

3. There is a pleasure in that behaviour towards others, and that manner of prosecuting our worldly affairs, which ever accompany a religious disposition.

4. There is a pleasure in performing our duty to ourselves, as it relates to the body and to the passions.

II. THE WAYS OF SIN ARE NOT WAYS OF PLEASANTNESS.

1. No man can be happy who acts against his conscience.

2. Those who feel no remorse of conscience may have shaken off some fears, but then they have lost the greatest comfort of life, which is hope.

3. Every action contrary to reason and religion is, if not always, yet certainly for the most part, hurtful even in this life.

III. THE OBJECTIONS WHICH WICKED MEN MAKE TO THESE PROPOSITIONS.

1. They say they do find pleasantness in their self-gratifications.

2. Sinners object that good men, who affirm from their own experience that there is pleasure in righteousness, are grave dissemblers, who conceal the real state of their minds: that really they sacrifice their present ease and satisfaction.

3. Sinners say that the pleasures of a pious mind, if there be such, arise from a strong fancy, from fanaticism and enthusiasm.

4. Sinners say experience shows these boasted pleasures of religion not to be very common amongst Christians.

5. Sinners may object that some duties of Christianity are harsh and disagreeable, as repentance, self-denial, and mortifications, and that therefore the ways of religion cannot be ways of pleasantness.

(J. Jortin, D. D.)

(Joseph Parker, D.D.)

I. EXPLAIN THE STATEMENT OF THE TEXT. Wisdom is the fear of the Lord, doing the commandments of God, or in other words, religion. It is not merely said that religious ways lead to pleasantness; they are the ways of pleasantness in the abstract. Religion does not merely make people happy, religion is happiness. There is no way in which true wisdom requires us to walk which is not a way of peace; not only is there peace in the end, there is peace by the way.

II. CONFIRM THE STATEMENT OF THE TEXT. Remember the character of God. He wills the happiness of His servants now, and not merely by and by (1 Timothy 4:8). Godliness has the "promise of the life that now is."

III. ACCOUNT FOR THE STATEMENT OF THE TEXT. Religion in every one of its exercises is happiness.

1. Take it in its most general character — as consisting in the love of God and our neighbour. The atmosphere of love is the atmosphere of heaven. There is more happiness in loving than in being loved.

2. Every one of the "fruits of the Spirit" is an ingredient of happiness — love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

3. Consider the happiness naturally attendant on the Christian's occupation, the pursuit of everlasting glory.

4. The happiness of a good conscience, and so the consciousness of peace with God.

(F. F. Trench, M.A.)

(A. B. Grosart.)

(J. Halsey.)

I. THE LIFE OF TRUE WISDOM LAYS ITS FOUNDATIONS IN PEACE.

1. Its beginning is the "fear of the Lord."

2. When in harmonious relations with God, men finds the elements and forces of his inner life take their due posts of subordination and supremacy. Though there is conflict, yet the higher principles govern, the Diviner forces sit upon the throne.

3. The life being thus charged with Divine force cannot be governed by external circumstances.

4. It can know no anxieties touching the issues of the future.

5. Such a life enters into peace as far as possible with all men. Through the universalising of this wisdom the kingdom of peace shall come.

II. ON THIS FOUNDATION OF PEACE, AND ON THIS ONLY, CAN TRUE HAPPINESS BE REARED.

1. There can be no true happiness except that which springs from e harmonious life.

2. There can be no full happiness except for such. That which comes from some by-play of the life must be meagre and partial.

(John Thomas, M.A.)

I. THE NATURE AND DESIGN OF RELIGION. It was revealed to show us the way of salvation; to guide our feet into the paths of peace; to exalt us to happiness here and to glory hereafter.

1. Consider the doctrines she reveals. Their direct tendency is to banish the fears of guilt, to console, and to animate with joy the fearful heart.

2. Consider the precepts which religion enjoins. Are they not perfective in our nature, and directly conducive to felicity?

3. Consider the promised aid she imparts. A gracious Comforter continually surrounds the godly man, who imparts every needful grace.

4. Consider the glorious rewards she reveals. To every desire of the heart she opens the most unbounded delights — delights commensurate to the widest wishes of the soul, and endless as eternity.

II. THE NATURE OF THAT PLEASURE ENJOYED BY THOSE WHO WALK IN THE WAYS OF RELIGION. The subduing of our desires and appetites is necessary to e course of piety; but even self-denial and the Cross become sources of pleasure.

II. THE DUTIES WHICH RELIGION ENJOINS HER VOTARIES TO OBSERVE.

1. The joys of prayer and praise.

2. The joys resulting from the sacred services of religion.

3. From meditation on the Scriptures.

4. From observance of the Divine commandments. Such are the pleasures, the delightful feelings, and peaceful satisfactions which result from walking in the ways of religion; and what enjoyments are comparable to these?

(D. Malcolm, LL.D.)

I. THE ABSOLUTE VIEW THAT MAY BE TAKEN OF THE PLEASURES TO BE FOUND IN CHRIST'S WAYS.

1. The excellence of Christ's ways themselves. As wisdom's ways, there must be a fulness in them of all that is desirable. We are, in them, conversant with God and Christ, heaven and glory, things spiritual and sublime, holy and good. We are called to have exalted thoughts and estimations of the Lord Jesus, and to delight in Him. It may be said this is only showing the fairest face of religion. There is something to be suffered as well as to be enjoyed in Christ's ways. But nothing we have to suffer can compare with what is to be enjoyed; and the very sufferings bring to us their own joys.

2. The suitableness of these ways to a renewed mind. However good in themselves, if not suitable to our taste and relish, they cannot afford us any pleasures. An unregenerate, carnal temper has no relish for Christ's ways. When regenerate, spiritual, and holy objects, acts, and exercises become agreeable. A renewed mind has a new relish. It delights "in the law of God after the inward man."

3. A sense of the Divine favour and acceptance in Christ's ways, and of our own interest in the great and blessed things we meet with there.

4. A lively hope of the happy and eternal issues of Christ's ways. Who can rate the joy that results from strong and assuring expectations of a blessed and glorious immortality.

II. THE COMPARATIVE VIEW THAT MAY BE TAKEN OF THE PLEASURES TO BE FOUND IN CHRIST'S WAYS. They are to be preferred to all others. The pleasures of the mind are more excellent than all the pleasures of sense; and the pleasures of religion are superior to the pleasures of mind. When the gracious soul has most to do with God through Christ, in a way of holy communion with Him, of contemplation and adoration of Him, obedience to Him, delight in Him, and hope of His glory, it is inexpressibly more pleased and better entertained than it possibly can be with the finest speculations and most evident demonstrations of reasons and philosophy. 1 There is more worth and dignity in the pleasure of Christ's ways than in all sensitive enjoyments. There is a true greatness of soul in the contempt of sensual pleasures any farther than they are necessary to the support of this present frail life, and a contentment without them, even when what is necessary for their support is providentially withheld from us.

2. There is more solid satisfaction in this pleasure than in all sensitive enjoyments. The pleasures of the sense rather cloy than satisfy.

3. There is more continuance in this pleasure than in all sensitive enjoyments. The pleasures of sense are all precarious, uncertain, and perishing things. The pleasures of Christ's ways are of an abiding nature: "durable riches" (Proverbs 8:18). The good man is satisfied from himself. Believers carry their happiness about them, they carry it within themselves; no bitternesses of the present life can destroy this pleasure. It is true that real Christians are not always rejoicing; but this is not due to any defect in the objects of their pleasures, or in their state and principles, but to their not living and acting up to them. Improvements:(1) Let there be self-reflection, as to what you have found in Christ's way.(2) Let all your taste for pleasure put you upon seeking that which is to be found in Christ's ways.

(John Guyse.)

II. THE FEELINGS OF CHARITY AND BROTHERLY LOVE WHICH RELIGION ALWAYS INSPIRES. As God has given to one object beautiful colours, and to another grateful odours, He has annexed exquisite feelings of happiness to the performance of every benevolent action. It is impossible to do good to others without feeling happy from it. The conviction which religion inspires, that a man is not born for himself alone, and the habit which it inculcates, of attention to the interests and feelings of mankind, induces at last that state of calm and permanent satisfaction which the words of Solomon describe. Nothing is more grateful than general love, produced by a long tenor of courtesy, of justice, of active kindness, and of modest respect.

III. THE COMFORTS DERIVED FROM THE FUTURE RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE OF RELIGION. A man of proper feeling always suffers from observing the striking disproportion that exists in this world between happiness and merit. It is the severest trial of human patience to witness the respect, honour, and prosperity of bad men. These sad scenes are tolerable to the religious man alone, from that final order and regularity with which he knows they will hereafter be concluded. Wherever he looks, justice in its most perfect shape terminates his view; all guilt is detected, all innocence is brought to light; at the conclusion of all things a never-failing Judge gives to every thinking soul the good and the evil which is its due. Pleasure, then, is gained by being the lord and master of our own hearts, by binding our passions in links of iron; by adapting worldly hopes and fears to the nature of worldly things; by obeying God, by trusting to His providence, by expecting His judgments.

(Sidney Smith.)

1. Wisdom's "way" is, first, a high way. It is always reaching up out of littleness, it ranges at loftier levels, it is above party views, it is a large-minded thing, it is always nearer heaven than earth. And this is very "pleasant," to be so free and independent of man's estimates and human judgments, to move in a pure, calm elevation of soul, beyond the common distractions, where the strife, and the noise, and the din, and the confusion does not come.

2. And wisdom's "way" always has one fixed mark. It throws lesser things aside as it goes, and it goes straight to a goal, and that goal is the glory of God. And this singleness of aim gives a strength to a character; it gives unity to the whole man, and that unity is "pleasantness."

3. And wisdom's "way" is a way of usefulness. It always puts usefulness first — before pleasure, before profit. It is a "way" of work. They who work there are always serving, always ministering. Each one has his mission — either he comforts, or he advises, or he teaches. But now let us leave the wider track, and go down to one or two of the more secluded "paths." For to all it is not always given to walk in "ways of pleasantness," but none who really look for it shall ever miss the "path of peace." There is a going out in a man's heart from its deepest places to Christ. He tells Jesus something which has been long a hidden burden in his mind. And Christ listens to him, and he feels it. And in the little "path" of that secret confession there is a "peace" which no words can tell. And now there is an avenue open between that soul and God. It was an avenue long closed; but now it is open. And an act of faith travels along to the Cross, and brings back a message of pure love, "Your sins are forgiven." I am quite sure that there is no "peace" worth the name — no "peace" for a moment to be put side by side with the "peace" of the simple feeling — "I am forgiven."

(J. Vaughan, M.A.)

     4526   tree of life
     5481   proverb

The Secret of Well-Being
'My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments. 2. For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4. So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. 7. Be not wise …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gifts of Heavenly Wisdom
'My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction: 12. For whom the Lord loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. 13. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 16. Length of days is in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

October the Twenty-Eighth Pleasantness and Peace
"Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." --PROVERBS iii. 13-26. In the ways of the Lord I shall have feasts of "pleasantness." But not always at the beginning of the ways. Sometimes my faith is called upon to take a very unattractive road, and nothing welcomes me of fascination and delight. But here is a law of the spiritual life. The exercised faith intensifies my spiritual senses, and hidden things become manifest to my soul--hidden beauties, hidden sounds, hidden scents! …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Question Lxxxi of the virtue of Religion
I. Does the Virtue of Religion Direct a Man To God Alone? S. Augustine, sermon, cccxxxiv. 3 " on Psalm lxxvi. 32 sermon, cccxi. 14-15 II. Is Religion a Virtue? III. Is Religion One Virtue? IV. Is Religion a Special Virtue Distinct From Others? V. Is Religion One of the Theological Virtues? VI. Is Religion To Be Preferred To the Other Moral Virtues? VII. Has Religion, Or Latria, Any External Acts? S. Augustine, of Care for the Dead, V. VIII. Is Religion the Same As Sanctity? Cardinal Cajetan, …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

A Sermon on the Boat Race.
In finding illustrations for our teaching at the river-side, we shall be in good company, for that manly preacher, Paul, had seen wrestlers and race-runners. It is true that then, athletics had not been disgraced by betting; and it is only of very late years that the struggle on the Thames has been polluted by gamblers. There are not a few who read our paper, who will be on the lookout to know as soon as possible, whether DARK OR LIGHT BLUE has won. For ourselves we care not, but we are anxious …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

Let Then the Saints Hear from Holy Scripture the Precepts of Patience...
11. Let then the Saints hear from holy Scripture the precepts of patience: "My son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand thou in righteousness and fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation: bring thine heart low, and bear up; that in the last end thy life may increase. All that shall come upon thee receive thou, and in pain bear up, and in thy humility have patience. For in the fire gold and silver is proved, but acceptable men in the furnace [2647] of humiliation." [2648] And in another …
St. Augustine—On Patience

Christ Teaching Liberality
If we should attempt to mention all the parables which Jesus spoke, and the miracles which he performed, and the many other lessons which he taught, it would make a long list. As we have done before we can only take one or two specimens of these general lessons which Jesus taught. We have one of these in the title to our present chapter, which is--Christ Teaching Liberality. This was a very important lesson for Jesus to teach. One of the sad effects of sin upon our nature is to make it selfish, …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

Of Self-Surrender
Of Self-Surrender We should now begin to abandon and give up our whole existence unto God, from the strong and positive conviction, that the occurrence of every moment is agreeable to His immediate will and permission, and just such as our state requires. This conviction will make us resigned in all things; and accept of all that happens, not as from the creature, but as from God Himself. But I conjure you, my dearly beloved, who sincerely wish to give up yourselves to God, that after you have made …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Abandonment to God --Its Fruit and Its Irrevocability --In what it Consists --God Exhorts us to It.
It is here that true abandonment and consecration to God should commence, by our being deeply convinced that all which happens to us moment by moment is the will of God, and therefore all that is necessary to us. This conviction will render us contented with everything, and will make us see the commonest events in God, and not in the creature. I beg of you, whoever you may be, who are desirous of giving yourselves to God, not to take yourselves back when once you are given to Him, and to remember …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Letter xxxi (A. D. 1132) to the Abbot of a Certain Monastery at York, from which the Prior had Departed, Taking Several Religious with Him.
To the Abbot of a Certain Monastery at York, from Which the Prior Had Departed, Taking Several Religious with Him. [50] 1. You write to me from beyond the sea to ask of me advice which I should have preferred that you had sought from some other. I am held between two difficulties, for if I do not reply to you, you may take my silence for a sign of contempt; but if I do reply I cannot avoid danger, since whatever I reply I must of necessity either give scandal to some one or give to some other a security …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Epistle Cvi. To Syagrius, Ætherius, virgilius, and Desiderius, Bishops .
To Syagrius, Ætherius, Virgilius, and Desiderius, Bishops [65] . Gregory to Syagrius of Augustodunum (Autun), Etherius of Lugdunum (Lyons), Virgilius of Aretale (Arles), and Desiderius of Vienna (Vienne), bishops of Gaul. A paribus. Our Head, which is Christ, has to this end willed us to be His members, that through the bond of charity and faith He might make us one body in Himself. And to Him it befits us so to adhere in heart, that, since without Him we can be nothing, through Him we may …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Tenth Commandment
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.' Exod 20: 17. THIS commandment forbids covetousness in general, Thou shalt not covet;' and in particular, Thy neighbour's house, thy neighbour's wife, &c. I. It forbids covetousness in general. Thou shalt not covet.' It is lawful to use the world, yea, and to desire so much of it as may keep us from the temptation …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Child Jesus Brought from Egypt to Nazareth.
(Egypt and Nazareth, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 19-23; ^C Luke II. 39. ^a 19 But when Herod was dead [He died in the thirty-seventh year of his reign and the seventieth of his life. A frightful inward burning consumed him, and the stench of his sickness was such that his attendants could not stay near him. So horrible was his condition that he even endeavored to end it by suicide], behold, an angel of the Lord [word did not come by the infant Jesus; he was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 17), …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

In Death and after Death
A sadder picture could scarcely be drawn than that of the dying Rabbi Jochanan ben Saccai, that "light of Israel" immediately before and after the destruction of the Temple, and for two years the president of the Sanhedrim. We read in the Talmud (Ber. 28 b) that, when his disciples came to see him on his death-bed, he burst into tears. To their astonished inquiry why he, "the light of Israel, the right pillar of the Temple, and its mighty hammer," betrayed such signs of fear, he replied: "If I were …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

An Appendix to the Beatitudes
His commandments are not grievous 1 John 5:3 You have seen what Christ calls for poverty of spirit, pureness of heart, meekness, mercifulness, cheerfulness in suffering persecution, etc. Now that none may hesitate or be troubled at these commands of Christ, I thought good (as a closure to the former discourse) to take off the surmises and prejudices in men's spirits by this sweet, mollifying Scripture, His commandments are not grievous.' The censuring world objects against religion that it is difficult …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

How those are to be Admonished with whom Everything Succeeds According to their Wish, and those with whom Nothing Does.
(Admonition 27.) Differently to be admonished are those who prosper in what they desire in temporal matters, and those who covet indeed the things that are of this world, but yet are wearied with the labour of adversity. For those who prosper in what they desire in temporal matters are to be admonished, when all things answer to their wishes, lest, through fixing their heart on what is given, they neglect to seek the giver; lest they love their pilgrimage instead of their country; lest they turn …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

"Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Christ hath left us his peace, as the great and comprehensive legacy, "My peace I leave you," John xiv. 27. And this was not peace in the world that he enjoyed; you know what his life was, a continual warfare; but a peace above the world, that passeth understanding. "In the world you shall have trouble, but in me you shall have peace," saith Christ,--a peace that shall make trouble …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." All men love to have privileges above others. Every one is upon the design and search after some well-being, since Adam lost that which was true happiness. We all agree upon the general notion of it, but presently men divide in the following of particulars. Here all men are united in seeking after some good; something to satisfy their souls, and satiate their desires. Nay, but they …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How the Whole and the Sick are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 13.) Differently to be admonished are the whole and the sick. For the whole are to be admonished that they employ the health of the body to the health of the soul: lest, if they turn the grace of granted soundness to the use of iniquity, they be made worse by the gift, and afterwards merit the severer punishments, in that they fear not now to use amiss the more bountiful gifts of God. The whole are to be admonished that they despise not the opportunity of winning health for ever. …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

How to Make Use of Christ for Steadfastness, in a Time when Truth is Oppressed and Borne Down.
When enemies are prevailing, and the way of truth is evil spoken of, many faint, and many turn aside, and do not plead for truth, nor stand up for the interest of Christ, in their hour and power of darkness: many are overcome with base fear, and either side with the workers of iniquity, or are not valiant for the truth, but being faint-hearted, turn back. Now the thoughts of this may put some who desire to stand fast, and to own him and his cause in a day of trial, to enquire how they shall make …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

"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

"But it is Good for Me to Draw Near to God: I have Put My Trust in the Lord God, that I May Declare all Thy
Psal. lxxiii. 28.--"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works." After man's first transgression, he was shut out from the tree of life, and cast out of the garden, by which was signified his seclusion and sequestration from the presence of God, and communion with him: and this was in a manner the extermination of all mankind in one, when Adam was driven out of paradise. Now, this had been an eternal separation for any thing that …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning