Charles Simeon
THE ONLY TRUE AND SUFFICIENT GROUNDS OF BOASTING
I. The prophet first removes the false and insufficient grounds of boasting:
"Let not the wise man
boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches."
It is by no means to be imagined that earthly things are to be utterly disregarded, or that we are now called to forsake our several occupations—this would be wild enthusiasm indeed.
Wisdom is highly necessary
in religious concerns and in every department of social life:
it capacitates us for instructing others;
it enables us to make improvements in arts and sciences;
it qualifies us for superior usefulness in the government.
In the same way true godliness gives a deserved pre-eminence to all who possess it. A lack of godly wisdom (especially in a seat of learning) is deservedly attended with proportionable ignominy.
Power also is desirable; inasmuch as it may be used for the preservation of due order in society and most beneficially employed in punishing vice and rewarding virtue.
Nor are riches to be disregarded, for they afford us many opportunities as well of encouraging industry, as of relieving the necessitous; and they give full scope for the exercise of our most benevolent affections.
Each of them has its peculiar
uses; and each is a precious talent capable of the highest improvement. Yet
they lay no solid foundation for boasting; and the prophet's injunction is
that we should not boast in them; by which he means, that we
are:
not to esteem them too highly,
nor to regard them as the principal objects of our pursuit,
nor to place our chief happiness in them,
nor to make them our trust and confidence.
Indeed what is there in our wisdom wherein to boast? The more knowledge we possess, we are only more fully convinced that we know nothing in comparison with what is yet veiled from our eyes. Besides, the wisest counsels are often frustrated for lack of power to carry them into execution; and though we excelled even Solomon himself—disease or accident may reduce us in a moment to a level with the brutes!
What is there in human power? To have it is great temptation to exercise it in an unfitting manner and for selfish ends; it universally stirs up opposition in those who are subjected to our authority, and creates much trouble and anxiety to ourselves in the dispensing of it.
And what is there in human riches? They often generate in our hearts covetous and debased tempers, for it is seldom that our "riches increase, but we immediately set our hearts upon them!" They often make us proud, overbearing, and oppressive. Yet all the wealth of the Indies can furnish us with very little more than food and clothing. There are so many thousand ways in which we may become impoverished, that Solomon observes of riches, "they make themselves wings and fly away."
What ground then is there for boasting in any, or all, of these human attainments?
We should not boast in human wisdom; for it is limited in its extent, defective in its operations, and uncertain in its continuance.
We should not boast in human might; for the very possession of it is dangerous, and the exercise of it vexatious to ourselves and others.
We should not boast in human riches; for they are defiling in their influence, contracted in their uses, and precarious in their tenure.
Besides, in the hour of death all our thoughts perish, all of our rank and dignity are annihilated, and all of our wealth is transferred to another owner.
And in the day of judgment,
not all the wisdom, might, or riches, that ever were possessed by man will
be sufficient to bribe our Judge, withstand his power, or elude his search!
II. Let us proceed then to consider the true and sufficient ground of boasting:
"Let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight!"
This knowledge as far excels all other attainments, as God, the object of that knowledge, surpasses all created excellencies. But it is not every knowledge of God that lays a foundation for boasting.
It is not the knowledge that there is a God—for that is common to the evil angels as well as the good.
It is not the knowledge of God from the works of creation—for that comes as much under the observation of heathen as of Christians.
But it is a knowledge of God as
revealed in the inspired writings! This is strongly intimated in those two
expressions in my text, "understands" and "knows"—which are designed to
teach us, that it is only in a practical and experimental
knowledge of God that we are to boast. Or in other words, such knowledge as
makes us:
stand in awe of his majesty,
tremble at his threatenings,
and seek a saving interest in his love and favor.
Several reasons might be offered for boasting in the saving knowledge of God, rather than in the aforementioned human possessions or attainments. I will assign three which will comprehend them all:
First, because the saving knowledge of God is not subject to any of those defects which are almost inseparable from human wisdom, might, and riches.
Human attainments are above the reach of far the greater part of mankind. Saving knowledge of God is equally attainable by all.
Human attainments too often debase the mind. Saving knowledge of God invariably elevates and ennobles it.
Human attainments leave us
still longing for something unpossessed. Saving knowledge of God . . .
supplies all the needs,
satisfies all the desires,
and fills all the capacities of our immortal souls.
Human attainments, through the depravity of our nature, often become means and instruments of pride, oppression, and avarice. Saving knowledge of God changes the proud, tyrannical and avaricious man into the image of God in righteousness and true holiness.
Human attainments are destroyed at death. Saving knowledge of God is perfected at death.
Again we may boast in this saving knowledge of God, because it transcends all their excellencies.
Human wisdom may enable us to discharge the duties of civil life with advantage.
But the saving knowledge of God
rectifies our judgments about things of far greater importance. It makes us
both see and feel . . .
the evil of sin,
the beauty of holiness,
the vanity of time,
and the importance of eternity.
Saving knowledge of God teaches
us that which is indeed the very essence of wisdom—to pursue the best
ends by the fittest means: to seek a crown of glory by:
a renunciation and abhorrence of every known sin,
a firm reliance on the Savior's merits,
and a uniform obedience to his commands.
Human power also may be
improved for the good of the community; but the saving knowledge of God
endues us with power for better purposes! It renders us . . .
mighty to resist temptations,
mighty to subdue our evil tempers,
mighty to mortify our lusts and passions,
mighty to endure the bitterest afflictions,
and mighty to vanquish the united forces of the world, the flesh, and the
devil.
Human riches, too, it is
granted, are highly beneficial; but the saving knowledge of God imparts
more profitable riches:
we are rich in time and eternity too,
it brings us forgiveness of sin,
it fills us with a peace which passes all understanding,
it entitles us to all the blessings which God himself can bestow!
Once more. We may boast in this saving knowledge of God, because it comprehends and unfolds to our view wisdom, power, and riches that are indeed infinite.
The text particularly directs
us to consider God as exercising:
kindness (to his friends),
judgment (to his enemies),
and righteousness or justice (in the distribution both of his rewards and
punishments).
Now this is a view of God which we have only in the Gospel of Christ. In his dealings towards the fallen angels, we behold only his judgments; but in his dealings with man we behold the exercise of mercy and kindness, because he accepted the mediation of his Son on our behalf. The Apostle directs us therefore to look for the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The intent of the types and prophecies in the Old Testament, as well as the historical and epistolary writings in the New, is to hold forth Jesus Christ as that illustrious person in whom the Father would be glorified. He therefore, as being "the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person," is the proper object of our boasting; and so inestimable is the saving knowledge of Him, that Paul (the most learned of the Apostles) counted all things as rubbish and loss in comparison with it.
The saving knowledge of this our incarnate God comprehends and unfolds to our view—wisdom, might, and riches that are indeed infinite.
In God, as shining forth in the person of his Son, we behold INFINITE WISDOM. In the person, work, and offices of our Lord, are contained mysteries—which, though hidden from all eternity in the bosom of the Father—were displayed with the fullest evidence upon the cross! It is true that the doctrine of a crucified Savior was "to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness; but," says the Apostle, "to those who are called, it is the wisdom of God;" or, as he elsewhere terms it, "the wisdom of God in a mystery." So indeed it is; for it reconciles things which, to unhumbled, unenlightened people, would appear contradictory and absurd.
It shows us how sin may be punished, and yet the sinner saved; and this too not only without sanctioning sin or dishonoring the law, but in such a manner as to bring more honor to the law, than if it never had been broken, and to manifest more indignation against sin, than if the offender had endured its deserved penalty!
It shows us also:
how the divine perfections unite and harmonize in the great work of
redemption;
how God may pardon those whom he had threatened to destroy, without any
violation of his Word;
and how he may restore rebels to peace, without any infringement of the
demands of His justice.
Or, as the Psalmist beautifully expresses it, how "mercy and truth may meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other!"
It shows us further (which is astonishing indeed) mercy displayed in a way of punishing sin, and justice in a way of pardoning it! Yes, more mercy than if the whole world had been pardoned without any such atonement, and more justice than if the whole human race had been, like the fallen angels, their predecessors in iniquity, cast into the depths of Hell!
INFINITE POWER is manifested in our adorable Redeemer. Jesus Christ is called by the Apostle "the wisdom of God and the power of God," because that, when mankind had destroyed themselves, and not a combination of all created powers could effect their deliverance—His own wisdom and own arm brought salvation. He sustained the dreadful weight of their iniquities in his own body on the tree, and ransomed an apostate world by his own most precious blood!
To all appearance, he "was
crucified through weakness;" he fell as a sacrifice to . . .
the envy of the priests,
the treachery of Judas,
the cowardice of Pilate,
and the rage of an incensed populace!
Yet by that very fall he bruised the serpent's head and triumphed over principalities and powers.
He submitted also to an imprisonment within the grave. Yet soon burst the gates of death, by which it was not possible that he should be detained, and showed himself to be "the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead."
INFINITE RICHES are manifested in our adorable Redeemer.
How glorious, how unsearchable were the riches of the Father's love, which rather than we should perish—bestowed, not an angel or archangel, but his only-begotten Son, yes, gave him up for rebels, to the most bitter, ignominious, and accursed death of the cross!
How rich was the Son's
compassion . . .
to obey that law which we had broken,
to humble himself that we might be exalted,
to endure the penalties which we had incurred,
and to die that we might live forever!
What unbounded and astonishing mercy!
Inasmuch then as this saving knowledge of God is not subject to the defects that are in human wisdom, power, and riches, but transcends their excellencies, and comprehends them all in the highest degree—we may and ought to boast in it. We cannot value it too highly, we cannot seek it too earnestly, we cannot contemplate it with too exalted joy, or trust in it with too confident assurance.
This was evidently the sentiment of the Apostle when he said:
"I am determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified!"
"God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Here it will be proper to observe the manner in which Jeremiah, the inspired writer, prefaces his exhortation in the text, "This is what the Lord says!" The voice of the world is quite different. Those who are esteemed the wisest in the world hold up human wisdom, power, and riches, as the grand, if not the only, objects worthy of our pursuit!
All people are following these
with unabated ardor;
all their affections are set upon them;
all their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, are excited alternately
by these, as the loss or acquisition of them shall give
occasion.
These are the things most envied and admired; and, if obtained, these fleeting worldly trinkets are ever made the ground of their boasting.
But the saving knowledge of God and of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ is deemed scarcely worthy their attention.
If it were at our option to be the wisest, greatest, and richest person upon earth, but at the same time destitute of this saving knowledge; or to be endued with it, but at the same time live in a state of poverty, baseness, and ignorance—how few would show themselves like-minded with God in this matter! Indeed, how few seek this saving knowledge at all, or even give it the least place in their thoughts!
On the contrary, the generality treat it with contempt; and too many seem to think that to boast in God is foolishness! But (as says the Apostle) "let God be true, and every man a liar!" That is, let the whole universe combine to extenuate the guilt of neglecting God, and to exalt human wisdom, power, and riches, as the chief good of man—their opinions are of no avail. For "This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight!"
God will amply and eternally reward those who boast in Him, and will assuredly execute judgment upon those who idolize the world!
While therefore we pay a just
attention to those things which God allows, and the interests of society
require us to pursue—let us take shame to ourselves for having preferred
the perishing things of time and sense, to a saving acquaintance with
God. Let us fear lest we be left to take the fruit of our choice, and to
have our portion only in this life. Let us receive the united testimonies of
reason and revelation; and, in compliance with their dictates, let us . . .
prize above all things,
follow with unwearied assiduity,
and supremely delight ourselves in,
the knowledge of this Savior; that through him we may be . . .
mighty in subduing our evil habits,
rich in faith and good works,
and wise unto salvation!
So shall we have cause to boast here, and be partakers of everlasting felicity in the world to come!
Romans 16:25-27, "Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him--to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen."
Jeremiah 9:23-24.
"This is what the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom,
or the strong man boast of his strength,
or the rich man boast of his riches.
But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and
righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD."
The following analyses of the two above verses are added
, to show how easily the short sermon skeletons may be formed into entire sermons.I. We shall remove the false and insufficient grounds of boasting.
Wisdom, Power, and Riches, are highly esteemed among men. And, if rightly improved, they certainly are valuable blessings.
Wisdom enables a man to conduct his own affairs with discretion. It qualifies him also for instructing his fellow-creatures. It may lead a person to make many valuable discoveries. Thus it may profit individuals and the community at large.
Power is also useful for the preserving of order in society. It may be improved to suppress vice, and encourage virtue.
Riches too may serve for the rewarding of industry. Or they may be employed in relieving the necessitous.
None of these things therefore ought to be depreciated.
But they are by no means proper objects of boasting.
To boast in anything, is:
to value it highly,
pursue it eagerly,
and seek our happiness in it.
But we must not thus boast in human wisdom.
The wisest of men now that they know but little.
Their best concerted plans often lack power to accomplish them.
Disease or accident may soon reduce them to a level with the beasts.
Nor should we boast thus in human power.
It is a source of temptation to those who are invested with it.
It often indisposes a man to comply with reasonable restraints.
It generally excites opposition in those who are subjected to it.
Nor are human riches at all more worthy objects of our boasting.
Wealth is very apt to produce covetous and corrupt tempers.
It frequently renders its possessors proud and oppressive.
At best, it can furnish us with little more than food and clothing.
And we are liable to be deprived of it in a thousand ways! Proverbs 23:5.
To boast therefore in any of these things would be absurd!
Who that considers what
human wisdom really is, would ever boast in it:
so limited as it is in its extent;
so defective in its operations;
and so uncertain in its continuance?
Or who would boast in human power, the possession of which is so dangerous, and the exercise of which is so vexatious to themselves and others?
Or who would boast in human
riches, which are . . .
so defiling in their influence,
so contracted in their benefits,
and so precarious in their tenure?
If to this we add, that all these things perish and depart at death, and are utterly useless in the day of judgment—we can have no doubt but that the prohibition in the text is as reasonable as it is decisive.
Having removed these common but
insufficient grounds of boasting, we shall,
II. Propose true and sufficient grounds of boasting.
The saving knowledge of God in Christ Jesus is the only object of boasting.
The knowledge that there is a God, is not the knowledge here spoken of.
Nor is it the knowledge of God as He is seen in the works of creation.
But the saving knowledge spoken of in the text is a view of him in redemption.
It is in the Gospel alone, that God's saving kindness to his people appears.
In the Gospel also, especially He denounces his judgments on his enemies. Mark 16:16.
And in the Gospel He displays equally his unspotted righteousness. Psalm 85:10.
Not that a speculative knowledge even of this will suffice.
The words "understand and know"
imply a practical and experimental saving knowledge. This is a
just ground of boasting to all who possess it.
Application.
1. The saving knowledge of God is free from all the defects which are found in human grounds of boasting.
Human grounds of boasting render the mind base and groveling. The saving knowledge of God elevates and ennobles the mind!
Human grounds of boasting never satisfy the soul. The saving knowledge of God affords it perfect satisfaction! "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare!" Isaiah 55:2.
Human grounds of boasting may become sources of deceit, tyranny, and avarice. The saving knowledge of God always changes us into God's holy image! 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Human grounds of boasting end with our present existence. The saving knowledge of God is perfected at death.
2. The saving knowledge of God transcends all the excellencies that are human grounds of boasting.
The saving knowledge of God imparts more excellent wisdom.
It rectifies our judgments about more important objects.
It teaches us to seek the best ends by the fittest means.
The saving knowledge of God endues us with more excellent power.
It renders us mighty to mortify our lusts and sinful passions, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
It qualifies us to conflict with all the powers of darkness, Ephesians 6:11-12.
The saving knowledge of God conveys to us more excellent riches.
It puts into our hands "the unsearchable riches of Christ".
It makes us eternally rich! Ecclesiastes 7:12.
3. The saving knowledge of God
comprehends the human grounds of boasting in the highest degree:
WISDOM.
This saving knowledge of God unfolds the deepest mysteries, Colossians 2:2-3.
It shows how sin may be punished, and yet the sinner saved!
It shows how mercy is
exalted in punishing, and justice in rewarding.
POWER.
The salvation of a ruined world is a marvelous display of power.
Hence Christ is called "the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God".
We have no idea of almighty
power, until we know the redeeming God.
RICHES.
Infinite are the riches of divine grace.
In the glorious mystery of redemption, they are all contained.
The saving knowledge of God exhibits them all to our view, Ephesians 2:7.
In this we cannot possibly boast too much.
We cannot possibly set too high a value on this saving knowledge! 1 Corinthians 2:2.
We cannot pursue it with too much earnestness.
We cannot delight in it with too exalted joy.
Let us therefore seek to know
God as He is revealed in the Gospel.
Let us take encouragement from that declaration of our Lord in John 17:3,
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom you have sent!"
Let the fixed purpose of our hearts resemble that of the Apostle in Galatians 6:14, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!"