+I. The natural man has no desire for immortality.+--He has not been
seized with the earnest and real wish for a future life; but he is
entirely bound by this world in all his thoughts, aims, and wishes:
he identifies life and existence altogether with this world, and life
out of this world is a mere name to him. He is shut up within the
walls of the flesh and within the circle of its own present aims and
projects.
+II. The spiritual man has a strong desire for immortality,+ and it
is the beginning and foundation of the religious life he leads here.
Every field of action becomes unimportant and insignificant compared
with the simply doing good things, because in that simple exercise of
goodness lies the preparation for eternity.
+III. The natural and spiritual man are divided from each other by
these distinctions+--one has the desire for everlasting life, the
other has not. The success of the one perishes with the corruptible
life to which it belongs; the success of the other endures for all
ages in the world to come.--_J. B. Mozley._
_The Law of Retribution._
I. +We see the justice of God--His bounty and severity.+--His bounty
in recompensing men above their deserts; His severity in punishing
sinners according to their deserts.
II. This doctrine, that we shall drink such as we brew, reap such as
we sow, and that men have degrees of felicity or misery answerable to
their works, +will make us more careful to avoid sin.+
III. +It serves as a comfort against inequality;+ whereas the wicked
flourish and the godly live in contempt, the time shall come when
every one shall reap even as he has sown.
IV. +It crosses the conceit of those who promise to themselves an
impunity from sin and immunity from all the judgments of God,+
notwithstanding they go on in their bad practices.--_Perkins._
Ver. 9. _Against Weariness in Well-doing._--1. There is the
prevailing temper of our nature, the love of ease--horror of hard
labour. 2. The reluctance and aversion are greater when the labour is
enjoined by extraneous authority--the imperative will of a foreign
power. 3. In the service of God there is a good deal that does not
seem for ourselves. 4. There is a principle of false humility--what
signifies the little I can do? 5. The complaint of deficient
co-operation. 6. In the cause of God the object and effect of
well-doing are much less palpable than in some other provinces of
action. 7. Yet the duty expressly prescribed is an absolute thing,
independently of what men can foresee of its results. 8. There is the
consciousness and pleasure of pleasing God. 9. What relief has man
gained by yielding to the weariness? 10. Our grave accountableness is
for making a diligent, patient, persevering use of the means God has
actually given us.--_J. Foster._
_Apathy one of our Trials._--1. Because, as in everything else, so in
our spiritual growth, we are inevitably disappointed in much of our
expectations. 2. The temptation to weariness is no sign at all that
the man so tempted is not a true servant of God, though this very
often is the first thought that enters the mind. It is no sin to feel
weary; the sin is to be weary--that is, to let the feeling have its
way and rule our conduct. 3. We expect a kind of fulness of
satisfaction in God's service which we do not get nearly so soon as
we fancy that we shall. 4. You are quite mistaken to your belief that
former prayers and former resolutions have been in vain and have
produced no fruit because no fruit is visible. 5. In due season we
shall find that it has been worth while to persevere in trying to
serve Christ.--_Dr. Temple._
_Well-doing._
+I. Contrasted with fruitless profession.+--It is possible to have a
clear notion of Christian truth and to talk well, and yet be idle and
useless.
+II. Contrasted with mistaken standards.+--It is easy to do as others
are doing; but are _they_ doing well? Practice must be guided by holy
precepts.
+III. Contrasted with wrong motives.+--Many are careful to do what is
literally the right thing, but they do it with base motives. The
correct motives are--love (2 Cor. v. 14), gratitude (Ps. cxvi. 12),
compassion (2 Cor. v. 11), desire to imitate Christ. All well-doing
is humble and self-renouncing.--_The Lay Preacher._
_"Reap if we faint not."_--The image is agricultural.
+I. Points of resemblance.+--1. The material harvest is of two
kinds--weeds and golden grain. 2. The spiritual harvest is of two
kinds--corruption and everlasting life. 3. A combination of agencies.
(1) For the material harvest seed, soil, and elements work with the
efforts of the farmer. (2) For the spiritual harvest the seed of the
Word and the power of God must co-operate with man's agency. 4. As to
difficulties. (1) The season may be too wet, too dry, or too hot, or
an army of insects may attack the growing grain. (2) The foes of the
spiritual harvest are the world, the flesh, and the devil.
+II. Points of contrast.+--1. The material harvest is annual, the
spiritual eternal. 2. There are seasons so unfavourable that all the
efforts of the farmer prove in vain; the spiritual harvest will never
fail. 3. The drouth of one year may be made good by next year's
abundance, but eternity cannot compensate for what was lost in time.
+III. Encouragements.+--1. "Our labour is not in vain in the Lord."
2. "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not." 3. The harvest
will be glorious and eternal.--_Homiletic Monthly._