unfortunrito that many young men in the present clay seem to despise all intellectual pursuits, nnd confiue the attention of their leisur'} moments to idle amusements or at 'best to athletics. They fall to see the mental death that they are conrting. But infinitely worse are they who turn from the moral side of wisdom-the fear of the Lord-and purnue the folly of godlessness, for this is soul-death. II. THE SIMPLE MAY HAVE wrsooM. Here is the encouragement for the third class of the simple. It is for children, for weak minds, and for uneducated people. 1. Mental improvement is attainable. Where there is a will to rise, the young man under most disadvantageous circumstances will find the means to cultivate self-education. 2. ~ highest wisdom is spiritual. This wisdom is not like Greek philosophy-only open to intellectual culture. It is the truth of God that may be revealed to "ha.bes and suck- lings" (Matt. xxi. 16), and yet it is the highest truth. To be spiritually wise we need not be mentally clever. What is wanted is a sincere love of truth, a pure heart, and a childlike teachableness. 3. Tlie gospel brings wisdom to the simple. That gospel was scoffed at for its apparent simplicity. Yet it was indeed the wisdom as well as the JlOWer of God (1 Cor. i. 24). Christ comes to us as the eternal Wisdom incarnate. The simple may know him, and when such receive Christ they receive the Light of the world· and a loftier wisdom than was ever reached by the sages of antiquity or can ever be attained in the cold light of science. Ver. 9.-Plain words. The words of wisdom are here described as "plain worrls." This expression has been so often abused that it is almost as important to see what it does not mean as to consider what it does mean. I. WHAT THE EXPRESSION DOES NOT MEAN. 1. Lack of grace. A mistake arising from the confusion of two meanings of the term "plain" has been pointed out by Archbishop Whately, and yet it is often repeated. "Plain" means smooth, simple, easy, intelligible; "plain" also means bare, unadorned, unbeautiful. The two mean- ings are quite distinct. But some have thought that a plain sermon must be a sermon wanting in all grace of style and beauty of illustration. 'l'his is an inappropriate use of the word "plain." The words of Christ were plain, i.e. clear and simple; yet they were very beautiful and full of living illustrations. The duty to be pin.in is no excuse for slovenliness of speech. 2. Intellectual feebleness. Some people insist on having a "simple gospel" in a way that leads one to think they would condemn all vigour of thought. They forget that the teaching of St. Paul, which they admire so much, teemed with the highest intellectuality, and that he regarded the truth of the crucified Christ as the wisdom of God, and only as falsely mistaken for foolishness by the Greeks. It is the charm of the highest thinki11g that it can simplify difficulties. We sometimes fail to detect the great intellectual power of a writer just because this has been so perfect as to disguise all effort and make the result of processes of thought clear; while the laboured attempts of weaker minds induce us to mistake obscmity for pro- fundity. Auy subject looks simple in the hands of a master. 3. Rudeness and offensiveness. Disa)!.reeable people make a virtue of being plain-spoken when they are really harsh and inconsiderate. 'rhere is no unkindness about the plain words of the Bible. 'l'he Christian teacher should remember the admonitions, "Be pitiful, be courteous." II. WHAT THE EXPRESSION DOES MEAN. 1. It signifies that the words of wisdom are intelligible. The first obje~t of revelation, of course, i~ to rc,;c:al. The first object of speech is to declare thoughts. It is the neglect of this simple point that has given an excuse for the sarcasm that "words were invented to conceal thoughts." The first duty of the speaker is to be plain. Afterwards he may be ornate if he will. But when the decorations of speech encumber its free movement and prevent it from accomplish- ing its practical ends, they are altogether encumbrances. And when intellectual power is wasted on a mere display of its own exercise, or confined to inventing difficulties and making obscure what was originally clear and simple, this also is misdirected. The Divine wisdom of the Bible claims to be intelligible. It is true that many people find great difficulties in its pages, and all of us must confess that they are not to be fully measured and sounded. But (1) they who 11pproach them in a right wny, having a spiritual mind, so necessary for the discernment of spiritual things, will bJ able to 11I1deretand the main, most important truths of Christianity; and (2) whatever disputes 170 THE PROVERBS. [oH. VIII, 1-36,
ma_y be 1:ais~d ~bout the mea~ing of the more abstract doctrines, the directions of duty ano the md1cat1ons of the thmgs we are to do for our soul's welfare are plain; indeed the_ obscurit:l_' of religious ~ubjects varies propor~io':'ately ,vith their abstractness, wit~ their separat10n from our life and duty. 2. It s1gm6es that the words of wisdom indi- cat.c a plain a.'fld simple course of action. They are "right," or rather "straight to· thos~ th~t ~nd knowl~dge." ·we are not calle~ to any complicated course of action,./ The rntncac1eg of casuistry are not to be found m the Book of Proverbs nor anywher~ else in the Bible. The way of duty is simple and straightforward. ,