outlines and suggestive comments.
He that is wise will not be doing or dealing in anything unless he know what it is wherein he dealeth, and unless he deal so as he knoweth that he should. He knoweth that a man is known by his dealing. He knoweth that others look on his dealing, and therefore he looketh so to it as that they may know him to be wise by it. But a fool will be dealing, although by dealing he uncover his nakedness. The shame of his folly shall be spread abroad as wide as his dealings are heard of.—Jermin.
Observes circumstances, and deports himself with discretion; thrusts not himself into unnecessary dangers; carves not a piece of his heart but to those he is well assured of. See an instance of this prudence in Ezra, chap. viii. 22; in Nehemiah, chap. ii. 5. He calls it not the place of God’s worship—such an expression might have disgusted the heathen king—but the place of his father’s sepulchres. In Christ, when He was tried for His life; in Paul, who lived two years at Ephesus, and spake not much against the worship of their great goddess Diana (Acts xxiii. 6, and xix. 10).—Trapp.
Fools might be esteemed half-wise if they had sense enough to keep their folly to themselves.—Lawson.
Wide is the sphere for trading with this responsible talent. In the family economy (Judges xiii. 8–12; chap. xiv. 1; xxxi. 27). In the church; in a wise accommodation to circumstances (Gal. ii. 2); in the conviction of gainsayers (Tit. i. 9); in forbearing with the prejudices of the weak (Acts xv. 22–29); in the exercise of Christian admonition (Rom. xv. 14).—Bridges.
main homiletics of verse 17.
A Social Link.
I. An important link in human society—a messenger. This link may or may not be important in himself. He may belong to the highest or to the lowest stratum of human life. He may be a princely ambassador, or he may be a telegraph boy. The link which holds two bodies together may be of great intrinsic value. It may be of wrought gold, and much skill may have been expended on its workmanship; but what it is in itself is not of so much importance as what it is as a link. Its beauty and costliness will not avail much if it gives way when it is subject to strain, and thereby causes loss and vexation to its owner. The link that holds the cable to the anchor is not in itself worth much; but when it holds an ironclad off a rocky coast, there hangs upon it half a million of money, and the sorrow or joy of many human hearts for years to come. Untold loss or gain depend upon whether that ring of iron can bear the strain or not. So it is with a messenger. He may be a person of great intellectual powers, and of great social importance, or he may not have either. But he is always of value in his relative position. Like the link in a cable, he always holds in his keeping more than he is. He may be the bearer of the secrets of one who has hanging upon his will an army of many thousands, and a nation of as many millions may be interested in the message which he bears. Whether he be a prince or peasant is of no importance in comparison with the fact that he bears a message.
II. The one all-important qualification in a messenger—faithfulness. No greater praise can be given to a man than to say that he is faithful, yet nothing less will make him worth anything in human life. All men’s hopes for time and eternity rest upon the faithfulness of God. This is the sheet-anchor of humanity that He is “a faithful Creator” (1 Pet. iv. 19). That He is faithful that promised (Heb. x. 23). It is for faithfulness, not for success, that He gives the “well done” (Matt. xxv. 21), to His servants. In a messenger it is the one thing needful, and its importance is increased in proportion to what hangs upon his message. Life or death may depend upon it, and often not the fate of an individual merely, but the destiny of a nation. An unfaithful messenger “falleth into mischief himself.” He who betrays his trust injures himself. He goes down in the moral scale. He loses his reputation, and is not trusted again. If the link in the cable gives way, it is itself broken. But this is not all, not the worst. He is the cause of mischief falling upon others. How true is this in social life. A message, coloured in its delivery, to gratify some selfish purpose, may divide men who would have been friends, if it had not been for the third person. And its omission, through carelessness, may bring about a like mischief. And it is also true in national relationships. The ambassador, who is entrusted to express a nation’s will, may be a fruitful source of mischief if he is negligent or unwary when war and peace hang in the balance. Millions of hearts may be made sad by an under or over statement of facts. “But a faithful messenger is health,” or “healing.” He is health in himself. A faithful messenger, apart from his official or representative character, is an embodiment of moral health, and when he is entrusted to make peace where there has been war, he is “healing.” He may be only a counsellor of peace between individual men who have been at strife, or he may be the bearer of terms of peace between hostile nations. But, whether in the one case or the other, the faithful discharge of his duties will bring healing: for all real peace must be founded on a truthful statement of facts. This verse is especially true of an ambassador of Christ. He who is truly sent of God will be faithful in the delivery of his message, and will thus bring healing to many. He will “not walk in craftiness, nor handle the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commend himself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” And so he will be the means of bringing moral health (2 Cor. iv. 2; 1 Cor. vi. 11).
outlines and suggestive comments.