Ver. 16.-The fal,l of a good man. I. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR A GOOD MAN TO FALL. 1. Hr:re -is a warning against presumption. " Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed ~est he fall" (~ Cor._ X. 1~). No one is so p~rfect as to be impeccable. Peter, who little expected 1t, failed m the moment of trial. 2. He is a warning against wrong .iudgments. If a good man stumbles it is commonly thought that he proves himself to have been a hypocrite from the first. No notion could be more unwarrant- able. It is possible that the former life was honest and true ~nd up to its profession, but that a sudden change for the worse has occurred through y1eldina to overpowering temptation. The citadel was honestly guarded; but in an unwary ~oment when the custvdian was sleeping, or careles~, or weak, it fell before the assaults of' the ever- watchful foe. This may even he repeated many times. We can scarcely think of a really good man lapsing utterly from the right way as many as seven times and as often returning to it. But some measure of sin is committed many times. 'l'here is not a Christian who does not fall into numerous sins. II. IF A GOOD MAN FALLS BE IS LIKELY TO RISE UP AGAIN. We need not now discuss the thorny doctrine of "final perseverance." Without retreating into the tangled thicket of a priori dogmatics, we may discover certain plain and practical considerations which will encourage us to believe in the recovery of the lapsed. 1. The bent of a good man's life is towards goodness. He is a just man. Righteousness is characteristic of him. It is his ha.bit. His fall is an event, his righteousness is his life. He is not the less guilty in his sin. He cannot shake it off and disown it, fortifying himself against the charge of it under the guise of his habitual righteousness. A long career of goodness is no excuse for a single wrong deed. Nevertheless, beneath and behind the sin into which the man has been surprised are the general tone and temper of his life. This will make his fall an agony. One look from Christ, and the shame- faced disciple goes out to weep bitterly (Matt. xxvi. 75). The Christian who has been surprised in an hour of weakness will be in the greatest distress afterwards. He can have no rest till he is forgiven and restored. Hence there is a hope for him which we cannot cherish on behalf uf the bad man who has had no experience of the better way and who has no inclination to follow it. 2 . .A good man may return. There is danuer in despair. The miserable penitent fears that he may have committed the unpardou.able sin, forgetting that his very grief is a proof that that dark eternity of guilt Las not yet been reached. God is long-suffering and merciful. Seven times the poor man falls; seven times he is forgiven and restored by his compassionate Lord. 3. The grace qf God assists recovery. Indeed, without this it were impossible. But with it who shall despair? On the other hand, after a wicked man has indulged in sin he refuses to open his heart to Divine grace. 'I'he one means by which he might climb up uut of his deep ruin is rejected by him. In conclusion, we may gather from a consideration of this subject that the first essential is the character of a man's life, rather than that of isolated and perhaps exceptional deeds. God notes every deed, and not one can 11;0 unavenged. But the fundamental question is-How does a man live in the main? is the set of his life towards goodness? does he habitually face the light or the darkness? '!'hough with many stumbles and shameful bruises, is he, on the whole, going up, not down? If so, he is one of God's sons. Ver. 19.-.A needless trouble. I. THERE IS A TEMPTATION TO BE DISTRESSED AT THE PROSPERITY OF BAD :MEN, 1. It is unjust. This was an ancient source of per- plexity and trouble of mind. While good_ me~ often suffer! bad m~n are. often exceptionally free from the world's ills. This pams us as a frightful ~1sc?rd m the pRalm of life. It raises doubts as to the presence, or the power, or the Justice of God. If the just Lord is in our midst and is almighty to rule, why does he permit such a condition of society? 2. It is hurtful. Prosperity confers power. 'I'hus great resource~ are at the disposal of bad men, who are able to expe~d thcffi: in extensive scherots of wickedness. A successful Napoleon can deluge a contment with blood, and OH. XXIV. 1-34.] THE PROVERBS. 467
bring misery into thousands of households. The triumph of bad men not only enables them to inflict eufferin~ to a frightful extent; it ![ives them exceptional opportunities for spreading the infectious malaria. of their sin. When a. bad man prospers he con- taminates bis trade, lowers the character of business generally, and tempts bis emplCY1Jlfs to do wrong on a scale that is proportionate to bis enterprises. 3. It seems to be enviable. Sin looks like a. short cut to success. It is hard for a good man who resists temptations to be rewarded with distresses which he would have escaped if he bad yielded. II. IT JB FOOLISH TO BE DISTRESSED AT THE PROSPERITY OF BAD ME::<!'. 1. Prosperity is infinitely inferior to character. '.l'be great question is not as to what a man has, but as to what he is. It is far more important to be upright and holy in life than to be rich, successful, and happy in one's circumstances. Surely he who values true good- ness will feel that it is a. pearl of great price-the cost of which would not be com- pensated for by all the wealth of the Indies. 'fherefore to envy the prosperity of the wicked is to turn aside from the higher possession which may be enjoyed in poverty and adversity. 2. The prosperity of the wicked is delusive and unsatisfactory. It professes to give pleasure, but it cannot afford real happiness, for it has nothing in it to respond to the deeper cravings of the soul. He \vho feasts upon it is like a. man who would fill himself with chaff a.nd saw-dust. In his very satiety he is miserably hungry.,. Full, he yet starves. Or worse, he is like one who drinks madly of salt water, and is plunged into an agony of thirst in consequence. If, as may happen, however, he feels a measure of satisfaction, this oan only be by deadening his higher nature. Such a. state is delusive and more terrible than open complaining. 3. This prosperity is short- lived. "The candle of the wicked shall be put out" (ver. 20). The psalmist who was 11larmed at the prosperity of the wicked saw another picture when he came to consider their end. He who would share the purple and fine linen of Dives on earth must also share his bed of fire after death. It is only the short-sighted, cnrthly minded man who will much envy the prosperity of the wicked. A deeper-thinking man will dread it, and be well satisfied if he has the true blessedness of life eternal.