The two clauses of this verse remind us of the two main emotions of the human breast, of their diverse nature, and their common association. Sorrow ever treads at the heels of joy. The sigh and the laugh may be heard at once. Scarce has prosperity brightened one threshold than adversity overshadows another. As in the plagues, there is light in Goshen and darkness in Egypt. If every house were painted to reveal the condition of the inmates, what startling contrasts would be seen side by side! It is of little use to try and measure the sum of happiness and of misery, to calculate which preponderates in life; better is it to adapt ourselves to these two prevailing states, and by appropriate words and deeds to evince our sympathy both with those who mourn and those who exult, not shrinking from distress nor envying the fortunate. Many reasons concur in recommending the apostle's injunction.

I. GOD HAS MADE MAN A SOCIAL BEING. He is the "God of the families of Israel." The Law commanded convocations, social observances; the people encamped not as individuals, but as households and tribes. Besides the appetites and affections that concern ourselves personally, there are others which respect our fellows and cannot be gratified without their presence. Love, gratitude, pity, all suppose their existent objects, so that the moral constitution of man exhibits the social capacities with which he has been endowed. There is a basis for sympathy in our physical nature. The appearance of one man acts and reacts on his companions. The mirthful induces merriment in the company, and the entrance of a gloomy countenance damps the spirits of a whole party. Infants are quickly affected by the attitude of those near them; and the lower animals are prone to frisk and leap when their masters are glad, and to be depressed by their melancholy. To shut one's self up in solitude, to take no notice of the circumstances of others, is therefore to sin against the laws of our being.

II. JESUS CHRIST HAS PROVIDED FOR THESE SOCIAL INSTINCTS IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS CHURCH. He has instituted a community of believers, united for mutual counsel and support. One by one we resort to the Saviour for individual teaching and healing, but "those that are being saved" are "added to the Church," and the visibility of the fact assists in that redemption from selfishness which is the essence of sin. "Bear ye one another's burdens" is the recognition of our unity. The limb which shares not in the thrill of pain or pleasure is on the way to atrophy, disunion, death. Love and service to the Head of the body bind the members together as an organism, and love ministers to trouble and enhances joy. Such sympathy cannot, however, be restricted to the members of the Church. Family ties lead to efforts for the salvation of outsiders, and a desire for the glory of the Lord and the enlarging usefulness of his kingdom prompts to imitation of his beneficence who came to lighten our woes and to augment our gladness.

III. OUR DEVELOPMENT UNTO PERFECTION DEMANDS THE CULTIVATION OF SYMPATHY. It was not "good" for Adam to be alone. A high pitch of civilization cannot be reached or maintained in isolation. Left to ourselves, we grow careless of refinement or progress. To shut ourselves up like flowers that close their petals at the rude blast, to crawl inside our shell, and, closing the aperture, to dwell simply on our own satisfactions and uneasinesses, is the pleading of mistaken self-love that overreaches itself and misses the pure happiness of sharing others' delights and of doing good. Spiritual growth is not attainable any more than physical strength by a life within-doors. Avoid the heat and the icy wind, and health suffers by too-great confinement. What lessons may be learnt from the successes and misfortunes of our neighbours! Their lot may be ours soon; it were well to be wise betimes. To look on others is to gaze at a mirror that reflects our own image.

IV. THE FULFILMENT OF THIS PRECEPT WOULD MATERIALLY LIGHTEN THE WRETCHEDNESS OF THE WORLD. The savageness of unrestricted competition vanishes where a due regard is paid to the happiness or suffering of our companions. Nothing like a visit from the employer to the homes of his servants, or a sight by the speculator of the misery his unjust gains have entailed, to abate the fierceness of greed and to remedy grievances and wrongs. The world sorely needs brotherly kindness. Then would men and nations realize that what elevates one raises all, what depresses one truly enriches none. We may note that obedience to the latter clause of the text is perhaps more needful than compliance with the former. The distressed require help, the prosperous can do without it. But any separation of the two duties weakens both. It is not always easy to congratulate a fortunate compeer, any more than to assist the unlucky. No doubt we like to bask in the sunshine, and to withdraw from gloom. But the "elder brother" refused to join in the household felicitations, and the Levite and the Pharisee "passed by" the wounded traveller. Guard against the mere indulgence of passive sympathy. The rejoicing and mourning of the text imply an active sympathy, and action forms habits of good will and benevolence as Butler has described. Copy the Redeemer. No ascetic or misanthrope was he, who multiplied the innocent gaiety of the marriage feast, and mingled his tears with those of the weeping sisters of Lazarus. Even a hearty grasp of the hand adds to joy, and a moistened eye comforts those that mourn. The poorest in point of worldly goods may be rich in God-like sympathy. Many a man has been saved from utter despair by the knowledge that another was interested in his welfare. - S.R.A.

I. WHAT IT IMPLIES.

1. One spirit.

2. One aim.

3. One way.

II. HOW TO SECURE IT.

1. Suppress ambition.

2. Be condescending to inferiors.

3. Be modest in the expression of your own opinion.

(J. Lyth, D.D.)

I. WHAT HIGH THINGS?

1. Negatively — not the highest or heavenly things (Colossians 3:1-2; Matthew 6:33).

2. Positively — of this world (Jeremiah 45:5). Great —

(1)Riches (Timothy 6:19);

(2)Honours;

(3)Power and place (Acts 5:36);

(4)Employments;

(5)Pleasures.

II. HOW NOT MIND THEM? Not so as —

1. To think of them (Psalm 1:2).

2. To desire them (Colossians 3:2; Psalm 73:25).

3. To hope for them.

4. To admire them (Luke 21:5, 6).

5. To labour after them (John 6:27; Matthew 6:33).

III. WHY NOT MIND THEM?

1. They are below you.

(1)As ye are rational creatures.

(2)As believing Christians.

2. You have higher things to mind (Philippians 3:20).

3. Minding of earth and heaven both is inconsistent (Matthew 6:24; 1 John 2:15). Conclusion: Mind not high things.Consider they are —

1. Uncertain.

2. Inconstant (Proverbs 23:5).

3. Unsatisfying (Ecclesiastes 1:8; Ecclesiastes 4:8).

4. Dangerous (1 Timothy 6:10).

5. Momentary (Luke 12:20).

(Bp. Beveridge.)

I. THE IMPORT OF THIS PROHIBITION. It forbids —

1. Pride.

2. Assumption.

3. Foolish ambition.

II. ITS IMPORTANCE. These evils are —

1. Very offensive to God.

2. A source of misery to ourselves.

3. A cause of serious evil both in the Church and the world.

(J. Lyth, D.D.)

I. THE CONDUCT ENJOINED. A behaviour —

1. Humble.

2. Affable.

3. Condescending.

II. ITS EXCELLENCIES. It is —

1. Magnanimous.

2. Christlike.

III. ITS IMPORTANCE. It is essential to the Christian character.

IV. ITS MOTIVES. Differences of condition are accidental, temporal, designed to afford opportunity for the development of this spirit.

(J. Lyth, D.D.)

Knowing how anxious the troops in Cabul would look for their letters, Captain (afterwards Sir Henry) Lawrence and his wife — because the Government could not afford a post-clerk! — would sit up half the night sorting them, after the multiform duties of revenue collector, engineer, commissariat officer, and pay. master, had been discharged. But this was only one instance out of many of Lawrence's exquisite regard for others.

(H. A. Page.)Be not wise in your own conceits. —

I. AS TO RATIONAL WISDOM OR KNOWLEDGE.

1. Of natural causes.

(1)You know not the first constitution of them (Job 38:4-6).

(2)Nor God's present disposal of them (Acts 17:28).

(3)Nor their own working and nature.

2. Future events (James 4:13, 14.)

(1)You know not the causes that must concur to produce them.

(2)Nor whether God will set them on work or no, or hinder them (James 4:15; 1 Corinthians 4:19).

3. The providences of God (Psalm 139:5, 6).

(1)To the evil (Psalm 73:3, 22).

(2)To the good.

4. The intrigues of state (Proverbs 20:3).

5. The spiritual estate of others (Matthew 7:1).

(1)You know not your own condition (1 Corinthians 2:11).

(2)There is no way in the world whereby to know others.

6. The interpretation of Scripture (Mark 12:24).

(1)Prophecies (Acts 8:30, 31).

(2)Mysteries (Romans 11:33).

(3)Difficult places (2 Peter 3:15, 16).

7. Determination of theological controversies.

8. Be not then wise in your own conceits.

(1)It is a sin (Isaiah 5:21; Proverbs 3:7).

(2)You are not wise (Job 11:12).

(3)This will hinder you from true wisdom (Proverbs 26:12).But —

(1)Have low thoughts of your own knowledge.

(2)Labour each day to know more —

(a)Of God;

(b)Of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:2).

II. AS TO PRACTICAL WISDOM.

1. Wherein?

(1)We must not conceit ourselves to be saints (1 Timothy 1:15; Isaiah 65:5; Luke 18:11).

(2)Nor that we are holier than others.

(3)Nor that we perform duties aright.

(a)Beading the Scripture.

(b)Praying (James 4:3).

(c)Hearing (Acts 2:37).

(d)Mediation (Philippians 3:20).(4) Nor that we exercise graces aright.

(a)Repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). We may repent of some sins, not of all: and our repentance in proportional to none of our sins.

(b)Faith. It may be only historical, or partial (John 1:12), or upon wrong grounds — education, not Divine testimony (1 John 5:10), or, not on Christ only (Philippians 3:8, 9).

(c)Love. We do not love God with all our hearts (Matthew 22:37), nor constantly.

(d)Trust. It may be only for spirituals (1 Peter 5:7), and not with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5).

(e)Thankful-nest. Not proportional to our mercies, or not for all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

(f)Charity. It may be from wrong principles (Matthew 6.), or in a wrong manner (Romans 12:8).

2. Why not thus conceited of ourselves?

(1)We know not our own hearts (Jeremiah 17:9).

(2)We are too apt to have too high thoughts of ourselves.

(3)This will keep us from looking after true holiness.

3. Uses: Be not wise in your own conceits.

(1)Many have been mistaken (Matthew 7:22).

(2)The less holy you are, the more you are apt to conceit yourselves to be so.

(3)These conceits of holiness are not consistent with true grace (James 4:6).

(4)Therefore, so long as you conceit yourselves to be holy, you may conclude yourselves to be sinful.

(5)You shall not be judged by your own conceits, but by the law of God.

4. Directions.

(1)Oft consult your own hearts (Psalm 4:4).

(2)Compare your actions with God's laws.

(3)Still remember what a fearful thing it is to be mistaken in a thing of this weight.

(Bp. Beveridge.)

I. THE CONDUCT CONDEMNED

1. An undue estimate of one's own opinion.

2. The immodest expression of it.

II. ITS PREVALENCE. Even among Christian professors.

III. ITS ORIGIN.

1. Ignorance.

2. Pride.

IV. ITS IMPROPRIETY.

1. It is offensive to others.

2. It destroys unity.

3. It is utterly opposed to the Spirit of Christ.

4. It exposes a man to merited humiliation.

(J. Lyth, D.D.)

I. THE TEMPER DESCRIBED. The persistent assertions of your own —

1. Opinions.

2. Judgment.

3. Plans.

II. ITS FOLLY. It assumes —

1. That you have nothing to learn.

2. That you are incapable of error.

3. That you are wiser than everybody else.

III. ITS EVIL.

1. It offends others.

2. Generates strife.

3. Is inconsistent with the Christian spirit.

(J. Lyth, D.D.)

The text repeats the warning of Romans 11:25, and recalls Proverbs 3:7. But it is not to be understood of speculative opinion. It refers to the practical "prudence" which guides men in business and in the ventures and contingencies of life. It might be rendered — "Become not prudent by yourselves." The accepted translation is unfortunate, suggesting a sense the word never bears. Note —

I. THE SPECIAL DANGER CHRISTIANS ARE IN WITH RESPECT TO THIS PRUDENCE.

1. It is the result of a natural instinct. The general source of it is the tendency to make "self" the measure and end of everything. The selfish man is short-sighted and self-opiniated; or he gives undue weight to the maxims of earthly prudence.

2. It is confirmed by the general opinion and practice of men. The proverbs of the world are for the most part mercenary; the moralities of heathen philosophy, so far as practical, are but a refined selfishness.

3. The nobler life of man is thereby prevented. In modern times the recognition of the independence of all nations in regard to the highest interests has been wondrously fruitful. For a man or a nation, therefore, to shut out wilfully the consideration of others, and to "become prudent, merely for or by itself," is for it to lose its place in the commonwealth of knowledge, civilisation, and true progress.

4. The gravest dangers threaten within the sphere of religion. How common is the error "Save yourself" as a religious duty. Let us beware lest we have but exchanged the honest "competition" of the marketplace for a "consecrated selfishness" baptized with the name of Christ! The Gentile converts were in danger of despising the "cast off" Jews, and of thinking the grace of God was henceforth to be their own monopoly. Paul warned them against the error (Romans 11:33-36). Because of similar prejudices, missions to the heathen have been obstructed. Only when we rise to the height of this conception of Christianity can it be a perfect salvation for ourselves as individual Christians.

II. HOW THIS DANGER IS TO BE AVERTED.

1. By constant and prayerful study of the Word of God.

2. By considering the examples of holy men, especially of Christ Himself.

3. By remembering that we are all members of the body of Christ, which is His Church. The good of all men is to be sought. Each must labour towards the universal ends of Christ's kingdom as a "member in particular."

4. By giving heed to the voice of God's Spirit within us. It led Peter and Paul to wider fields of usefulness. The "mind of Christ" will ever lead us to deny ourselves, and take up our cross and follow Him. But in so doing we shall discover a Diviner wisdom. In losing our life we shall find it. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," etc.

(St. John A. Frere, M.A.)

Paul, RomansRomeAgreement, Air, Along, Associate, Common, Conceit, Conceited, Conceits, Condescend, Content, Estate, Estimation, Full, Harmony, Haughty, Humble, Low, Lowly, Mind, Minding, Opinion, Position, Proud, Respect, Sympathy, Towards, Willing, Wisdom, Wise, Yourselves1. God's mercies must move us to offer ourselves.
3. No man must think too well of himself;
6. but everyone attend to the calling wherein he is placed.
9. Love, and many other duties are required of us.
19. Revenge is especially forbidden.

Romans 12:16

     5765   attitudes, to people
     5783   agreement
     5813   conceit
     5886   individualism
     5888   inferiority
     5961   superiority
     7025   church, unity
     7032   unity, God's people
     7925   fellowship, among believers
     7943   ministry, in church
     8210   commitment, to God's people
     8356   unselfishness
     8803   pride, evil of

Romans 12:9-21

     6690   mercy, response to God's

A Reasonable Service
TEXT: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."--Romans 12:1. There is perhaps no chapter in the New Testament, certainly none in this epistle, with which we are more familiar than this one which is introduced by the text; and yet, however familiar we may be with the statements, if we read them carefully and study them honestly they must always come to us not only in the …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

January 16. "Prove what is that Good, and Acceptable and Perfect Will of God" (Rom. xii. 2).
"Prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. xii. 2). There are three conditions in which the water in that engine may be. First, the boiler may be full and the water clean and clear; or, secondly, the boiler may not only be full but the water may be hot, very hot, hot enough to scald you, almost boiling; thirdly, it may be just one degree hotter and at the boiling point, giving forth its vapor in clouds of steam, pressing through the valves and driving the mighty piston …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

July 22. "He that Ministereth Let us Wait on Our Ministering" (Rom. xii. 7).
"He that ministereth let us wait on our ministering" (Rom. xii. 7). Beloved, are you ministering to Christ? Are you doing it with your hands? Are you doing it with your substance and with what you have? Is He getting the best of what is most real to you? Has He a place at your table? And when He does not come to fill the chair, is it free to His representative, His poor and humble children? Your words and wishes are cheap if they do not find expression in your actual gifts. Even Mary did not put …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

April 6. "As we have Many Members in one Body, So we Being Many are one Body in Christ" (Rom. xii. 4, 5).
"As we have many members in one body, so we being many are one body in Christ" (Rom. xii. 4, 5). Sometimes our communion with God is cut off, or interrupted because of something wrong with a brother, or some lack of unity in the body of Christ. We try to get at the Lord, but we cannot, because we are separated from some member of the Lord's body, or because there is not the freedom of His love flowing through every organic part. It does not need a blow upon the head to paralyze the brain; a blow …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

First Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 1-6. 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Second Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 6-16. 6 And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; 7 or ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry; or he that teacheth, to his teaching; 8 or he that exhorteth, to his exhorting; he that giveth, let him do it with liberality; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Third Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 16-21. 16 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Sunday Before Lent
Text: First Corinthians 13. 1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

November the Twenty-Eighth How to Fight Evil
"Overcome evil with good." --ROMANS xii. 9-21. For how else can we cast out evil? Satan cannot cast out Satan. No one can clean a room with a filthy duster. The surgeon cannot cut out the disease if his instruments are defiled. While he removed one ill-growth he would sow the seed of another. It must be health which fights disease. It will demand a good temper to overcome the bad temper in my brother. And therefore I must cultivate a virtue if I would eradicate a vice. That applies to the state …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Sacrifice of the Body
'I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.'--ROMANS xii. 1. In the former part of this letter the Apostle has been building up a massive fabric of doctrine, which has stood the waste of centuries, and the assaults of enemies, and has been the home of devout souls. He now passes to speak of practice, and he binds the two halves of his letter indissolubly together by that significant …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

A Triplet of Graces
'Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.'--ROMANS xii. 11. Paul believed that Christian doctrine was meant to influence Christian practice; and therefore, after the fundamental and profound exhibition of the central truths of Christianity which occupies the earlier portion of this great Epistle, he tacks on, with a 'therefore' to his theological exposition, a series of plain, practical teachings. The place where conduct comes in the letter is profoundly significant, and, if …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Another Triplet of Graces
'Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.'--ROMANS xii. 12. These three closely connected clauses occur, as you all know, in the midst of that outline of the Christian life with which the Apostle begins the practical part of this Epistle. Now, what he omits in this sketch of Christian duty seems to me quite as significant as what he inserts. It is very remarkable that in the twenty verses devoted to this subject, this is the only one which refers to the inner secrets …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Still Another Triplet
'Be of the same mind one toward another. Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to things that are lowly. Be not wise in your own conceits.'--Romans xii. 16 (R.V.). We have here again the same triple arrangement which has prevailed through a considerable portion of the context. These three exhortations are linked together by a verbal resemblance which can scarcely be preserved in translation. In the two former the same verb is employed: and in the third the word for 'wise' is cognate with …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Transfiguration
'Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.'--ROMANS xii. 2. I had occasion to point out, in a sermon on the preceding verse, that the Apostle is, in this context, making the transition from the doctrinal to the practical part of his letter, and that he lays down broad principles, of which all his subsequent injunctions and exhortations are simply the filling up of the details. …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Sober Thinking
'For I say, through the grace that is given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.'--ROMANS xii. 3. It is hard to give advice without seeming to assume superiority; it is hard to take it, unless the giver identifies himself with the receiver, and shows that his counsel to others is a law for himself. Paul does so here, led by the delicate perception which …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Still Another Triplet
'Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 14. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.'--ROMANS xii. 13-15. In these verses we pass from the innermost region of communion with God into the wide field of duties in relation to men. The solitary secrecies of rejoicing hope, endurance, and prayer unbroken, are exchanged for the publicities of benevolence and sympathy. In the former verses the Christian …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Many and One
'For we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.'--ROMANS xii. 4, 5. To Paul there was the closest and most vital connection between the profoundest experiences of the Christian life and its plainest and most superficial duties. Here he lays one of his most mystical conceptions as the very foundation on which to rear the great structure of Christian conduct, and links on to one of …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Grace and Graces
'Having then gifts, differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8. Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.'--ROMANS xii. 6-8. The Apostle here proceeds to build upon the great thought of the unity of believers in the …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Love that Can Hate
'Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10. In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honour preferring one another.'--ROMANS xii. 9-10 (R.V.). Thus far the Apostle has been laying down very general precepts and principles of Christian morals. Starting with the one all-comprehensive thought of self-sacrifice as the very foundation of all goodness, of transformation as its method, and of the clear knowledge of our several powers …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

"Members one of Another. "
"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."--ROMANS xii. 5. There are some moral and spiritual truths which it seems to be almost impossible to impress upon the practical life of the world, although they meet with a sort of universal acceptance. Men agree with them, they re-echo them, they applaud them; they do everything, in fact, but exhibit them as the moving, inspiring, and guiding truths of their daily practice. And among these I fear we must still class …
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

Constant, Instant, Expectant
Prayer is to be exercised in all things, for from its position in the present context we are taught that it is not without prayer that we proceed to "distribute to the necessities of the saints." Because we have prayed for them we are ready to befriend them by deeds of love. If we have not been accustomed to pray for the brethren, we shall not be "given to hospitality"; much less shall we "bless them which persecute us." prayer is the life-blood of duty, the secret sap of holiness, the fountain of …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 25: 1879

Jowett -- Apostolic Optimism
John Henry Jowett, Congregational divine, was born at Barnard Castle, Durham, in 1864, and educated at Edinburgh and Oxford universities. In 1889 he was ordained to St. James's Congregational Church, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and in 1895 was called to his present pastorate of Carr's Lane Congregational Church, Birmingham, where he has taken rank among the leading preachers of Great Britain. He is the author of several important books. JOWETT Born in 1864 APOSTOLIC OPTIMISM[1] [Footnote 1: Reprinted by permission …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10

The True Nonconformist.
A Communion Sermon, Delivered Sept. 16, 1866, In The First Presbyterian Church, Troy, N. Y. Rom. xii, 2. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." By itself, this command is ambiguous. Common sense testifies that, in very many things, every Christian must, more or less, conform to the world. Many of the world's customs are not only harmless, but salutary, beautiful, …
Rev. Marvin R. Vincent.—Amusement: A Force in Christian Training

Second Address.
I beseech yon therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.--ROM. xii. 1,2. I have been thinking about the word in the text, "that"--"that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God." This advance in …
Catherine Booth—Godliness

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