The memory of the just.
It is a fact that the name of the good man is fragrant, and that long after his departure there lingers in the memories and hearts of men a sense of loss, a feeling
"Which is but akin to pain
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain;"
a feeling of tender regret not unmingled with sacred joy and reverent gratitude, This fact is—
I. A STRENGTH TO THE JUST MAN WHILE HE LIVES. "What has posterity done for us?" asks the cynic. "The idea of posterity has done great things for us," replies the moralist. That idea and the hope to which it gives birth have done much to fortify virtue, to establish character, to enlarge and ennoble the good man's life. That thought has been fruitful of earnest work, and has helped men to gird themselves for heroic suffering. Good men have been better, noble lives have been nobler, because we care to be tenderly remembered and kindly spoken of when we are no longer among the living.
II. A COMFORT TO THOSE WHO MOURN HIM.
1. It is true that the more admirable and loving a man is, the greater is our loss when he is taken from us.
2. But it is also true that they are blessed who lose the worthiest and the best.
3. For the sorrow we feel at such loss is a very sacred thing; it comes from God himself; it can be borne with simple and pure resignation; it is unembittered with the most painful regrets; it works for the renewal and purification of our spirit and character.
4. And it is attended with a very precious mitigation; we have a pure and holy joy in the recollection of what the departed one was, what he did, how he laboured and triumphed, how many hearts he comforted, how many lives he brightened, what he was to ourselves. And these remembrances bring sunshine over the shadowed fields; they sweeten the bitter cup; they give "the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."
III. AN INSPIRATION TO ALL WHO KNEW HIM. For the completion of a true and godly life is an inspiration.
1. It is another proof that goodness can triumph over every obstacle and persevere to the end.
2. It is an unspoken, but not inaudible summons, saying, "Follow me."
3. It is a thing of beauty as well as worth; and it attracts all who have an eye to see as well as a heart to feel.
Proverbs 10:8, Proverbs 10:10, Proverbs 10:11, Proverbs 10:14, Proverbs 10:18-21, Proverbs 10:31, Proverbs 10:32
The service of speech, etc
"Man is a talking animal," we say. But if we are distinguished from the brute creation by the mere fact of speech, how truly are we divided from one another by the use we make of that human faculty! To what height of worthiness one man may rise, and what inestimable service he may render, but to what depth of wrong another man may fall, and what mischief he may work, by the use of his tongue!
I. THE SERVICE OF SPEECH. "By our words" we may do great things, as our Master has told us, and as his apostle reminds us (see Matthew 12:37; James 3:9).
1. We may give deep and pure gratification (Proverbs 10:32; and see Ecclesiastes 12:10). We may speak (or read) words which shall be
2. We may follow in the footsteps of the Divine. For "the mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom" (Proverbs 10:31). We may utter in the ears, and may thus convey to the minds and hearts of men, the truths which are nothing less than the wisdom of God. Thus we may be speaking to others the very thoughts and making known the will of God. We ourselves may be, on our scale and in our sphere, like the Lord whom we serve and follow, "the Wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24, 80).
3. We may enrich the life of our fellow men. "The tongue of the just is as choice silver" (Proverbs 10:20). And surely fine thoughts, brilliant images, sound principles, sustaining truths, elevating conceptions of God, charitable ideas of men,—these are more enlarging and enriching than many pounds of silver or many piles of gold.
4. We may nourish the soul. "The lips of the righteous feed many" (Proverbs 10:21). Their words are spiritual bread which "strengtheneth man's heart," and makes him able to watch, to work, to battle, to endure. They are the wine which gives new life when he is ready to perish (Proverbs 31:6), which restores him in the languor of doubt and difficulty, and fills his soul with hopefulness and energy.
5. We may thus contribute to the true and real life of men. Our mouth will be "a fountain of life" (Proverbs 10:11, Revised Version). Whithersoever the river of Divine wisdom, of Christian truth, runneth, there will be that spiritual upspringing which is the true life of man.
II. THE MISCHIEF OF ITS ABUSE. The abuse of the power of speech, the talking which is idle and vain, is a great and sore evil.
1. It brings the speaker into contempt; he is thought and spoken of as "a prating fool" (Proverbs 10:8, Proverbs 10:10), and he comes under the contempt of the wise.
2. It involves men in sin. "In the multitude of words," etc. (Proverbs 10:19). The man that is ever speaking with little forethought is sure to violate truth and righteousness before many hours have passed.
3. It works mischief of many kinds (Proverbs 10:14 and Proverbs 10:18). It is sure to end in slander, in the robbery of reputation. The mouth of the foolish is "a present destruction" (Revised Version). The habit of bad speech, especially if it be that of falsehood, or lewdness, or profanity, is a "present destruction,"