Proverbs 11:14
For lack of guidance, a nation falls, but with many counselors comes deliverance.
Sermons
The Value of AdviceA. MacEwen, D.D.Proverbs 11:14
The Pricelessness of IntegrityE. Johnson Proverbs 11:3-5, 8-11, 19, 20, 28, 31
Social Sins DenouncedE. Johnson Proverbs 11:12-15














I. THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL SIN. It dissolves mutual bonds of confidence, corrupts and disintegrates the social order and stability. In the mixed condition of human character and society there are elements of weakness and elements of strength. Our speech about others and behaviour to them tends either to bring out their weaknesses, so promoting discontent, suspicion, and distrust, or it. tends to bring out their good qualities, so promoting genial confidence and good will.

II. SOME EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL SINS. Great stress, as usual, is laid upon the tongue.

1. There is contemptuous talk about our neighbour. The art of depreciation is cruel to others, and moreover is, as the text says, senseless. What good can come of it? Of Byron's poetry the great Goethe said, "His perpetual fault finding and negation are injurious even to his excellent works. For not only does the discontent of the poet infect the reader, but the end of all opposition is negation; and negation is nothing. If I call bad bad, what do I gain? But if I call good bad, I do a great deal of mischief. He who will work aright must never rail, must not trouble himself at all about what is ill done, but only do well himself. For the great point is, not to pull down, but to build up; and in this humanity finds pure joy."

2. Still worse is open slander (ver. 13). Secret detraction is like an arrow shot in the dark, and does much secret mischief. Open slander is like the pestilence that rages at noonday. It sweeps all before it, levelling the good and bad without distinction. A thousand fall beside it, and ten thousand on its right hand. They fall, so rent and torn in their tender parts, as sometimes never to recover the wounds or the anguish of heart which they have occasioned (Sterne).

3. Independent counsels (ver. 14) are another source of social mischief. As when there was no king in Israel, and when every man did that which was right in his own eyes, and the people became the prey of their enemies (Judges 2:19, seq.; Judges 17:6; 21:25). The spiritual forces in a nation, the intelligence and honest patriotism of its rulers, are ever of more importance than wealth, fleets, or armies.

4. Rash undertakings. (See on Proverbs 6:1, seq.) To promise more than there is a reasonable prospect of performing; to enter imprudently into bargains, covenants, or treaties, not easy to abide by, yet involving disgrace and dishonour if broken. The serious penalties which follow acts of imprudence should instruct us as to their real sinfulness, The good intention is marred by the hasty or thoughtless execution.

III. SOME SOCIAL SAFEGUARDS.

1. Seasonable silence. (Ver. 12.) As we are not to believe all we hear, so neither are we to speak all we know; to be cautious in believing any ill of our neighbour, and to be cautious in repeating what we do believe, are alike duties.

2. Kindly desire. "The honest man's ear is the sanctuary of his absent friend's name, of his present friend's secret; neither of them can miscarry in his trust" (Bishop Hail).

3. Fulness of counsel. (Ver. 14.) The "multitude of counsellors" implies association, conference, and cooperation. By the exchange of ideas we enrich, define, classify, or correct our own. The same subject needs to be looked at from opposite points of view, and by minds of different habit; and the just medium is thus arrived at.

4. Caution. (Ver. 15.) Especially with reference to the incurring of responsibilties. To fetter or lose our freedom of action is to deprive ourselves of the very means of doing further good. One of the acts of benefaction is to contrive that neither the doer of the kindness shall be hampered by excessive responsibility nor the recipient of it by excessive obligation.

5. As the foundation of all, intelligence and love - the inner light which fills the intellect with illumination and the heart with glowing affection. These are the sources of truth in friendship, safety in counsel, general usefulness to society. - J.

Where no counsel is, the people fall.
Kings and rulers stand in special need of counsel. When a ruler is surrounded by good counsellors he and his people are safe. We can trace this truth in the rise and fall of nations. God's advice is one of our most valuable helps, and the text tells us not to neglect it. Man is apt to go astray. His judgment is sometimes misled; while his affections are corrupted, and his will is ungoverned.

I. WHY DO WE NEED ADVICE? The first reason is found in the peculiar nature of the evils to which we are exposed. Sin has a strangely deluding influence over those whom it tempts. Here there is scope of need for wise counsels, which may enforce the neglected voice of conscience. Advice is also necessary in consequence of special circumstances in which we are placed. We are involved in difficulties from which others are required to rescue us. "Where no counsel is, the people fall."

II. WHERE ARE WE TO SEEK ADVICE? We should not ask for it except when we really require it. To be ever at a loss what to do unless we are "advised" is a characteristic of a life that is usually spent to little purpose. The secret of a useful course through the world lies in a measure of self-reliance. At other times when advice is sought there is a foregone conclusion, and a man only wishes to have his own views confirmed. Out of its proper place advice, instead of being a help, is almost a hindrance to a right decision. It is not safe to go indiscriminately to all sorts of people with a statement of our difficulties, and entreaties for advice in dealing with them. This disposition is the evidence of a weak mind and an irresolute will. There is no real safety in the counsel sought in the confessional. Supreme wisdom comes to us with greatest force when it flows through the channel of hearts bound closely to our own.

III. HOW TO TAKE ADVICE. The danger of resenting counsel, when it is unpleasant, is one with which we are all more or less familiar. Those who give advice should always be pure of their warrant to do so. But the more experience a man has the less disposed he will be to give advice unsought. Men are rarely careful enough in their way of giving disagreeable advice. There is a spirit and a manner in some counsels which it is not in human nature to bear. But we must take care lest we be displeased with others whose advice we get, simply because we dislike it. All are not good counsellors who try to lead, and we cannot too carefully test the words of advice which, on every hand, are spoken to us. When we are in doubt as to their value, we must weigh them in the balance of God's sanctuary; and if they speak not according to His law, it is because there is no truth in them. The Great Adviser is always interested in us. Reliance on help from above is verified by the experience of all good men.

(A. MacEwen, D.D.)

People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Abundance, Advice, Advisers, Counsel, Counsellors, Counselors, Counsels, Deliverance, Direction, Fall, Falleth, Falls, Guidance, Guides, Helping, Multitude, Nation, Safe, Safety, Suggestion, Sure, Victory, Wise
Outline
1. On Deception

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Proverbs 11:14

     5608   warfare, strategies
     5779   advice
     5780   advisers

Library
The Present Recompense
Chester Cathedral, Nave Service, Evening. May 1872. Proverbs xi. 31. "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner." This is the key-note of the Book of Proverbs--that men are punished or rewarded according to their deeds in this life; nay, it is the key-note of the whole Old Testament. "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers; the countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil, to root out
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

The Waterer Watered
A sermon (No. 626) delivered on Sunday Morning, April 23, 1865, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "He that watereth shall be watered also himself."--Proverbs 11:25. The general principle is that in living for the good of others, we shall be profited also ourselves. We must not isolate our own interests, but feel that we live for others. This teaching is sustained by the analogy of nature, for in nature there is a law that no one thing can be independent of the rest of
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Withholding Corn
A sermon (No. 642) delivered on Sunday morning, July 30, 1865, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it."--Proverbs 11:26. If I dared, I should always preach upon the comfortable promises and gracious doctrines of God's Word. I find it most delightful and easy work to expatiate upon those themes of revelation which abound in sweetness, and are full of savor and preciousness
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

The Soul Winner
A sermon (No. 1292) delivered on Thursday evening, January 20th, 1876, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."--Proverbs 11:30. I had very great joy last night--many of you know why but some do not. We held our annual meeting of the church, and it was a very pleasant sight to see so many brethren and sisters knit together in the heartiest love, welded together as one mass by common sympathies,
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Soul Winning
A sermon (No. 850) delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "He that winneth souls is wise."--Proverbs 11:30. The text does not say "he that winneth sovereigns is wise," though no doubt he thinks himself wise, and perhaps in a certain grovelling sense in these days of competition he must be so; but such wisdom is of the earth and ends with the earth; and there is another world where the currencies of Europe will not be accepted, nor their past possession be any sign
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

To Win Souls Requires Wisdom.
Text.--He that winneth souls is wise.--Proverbs xi. 30. THE most common definition of wisdom is, that it is the choice of the best end and the selection of the most appropriate means for the accomplishment of that end--the best adaptation of means to secure a desired end. "He that winneth souls," God says, "is wise." The object of this evening's lecture is to direct Christians in the use of means for accomplishing their infinitely desirable end, the salvation of souls. To-night I shall confine my
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

A Wise Minister Will be Successful.
Text.--He that winneth souls is wise.--Proverbs xi. 30. I PREACHED last Friday evening from the same text, on the method of dealing with sinners by private Christians. My object at this time is to take up the more public means of grace, with particular reference to the DUTIES OF MINISTERS. As I observed in my last lecture, wisdom is the choice and pursuit of the best end by the most appropriate means. The great end for which the Christian Ministry was appointed, is to glorify God in the salvation
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

How to Preach the Gospel.
Text.--He that winneth souls is wise.--Proverbs xi. 30. ONE of the last remarks in my last lecture, was this, that the text ascribes conversion to men. Winning souls is converting men. This evening I design to show, I. That several passages of Scripture ascribe conversion to men. II. That this is consistent with other passages which ascribe conversion to God. III. I purpose to discuss several further particulars which are deemed important, in regard to the preaching of the Gospel, and which show
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

How those are to be Admonished who Decline the Office of Preaching Out of Too Great Humility, and those who Seize on it with Precipitate Haste.
(Admonition 26.) Differently to be admonished are those who, though able to preach worthily, are afraid by reason of excessive humility, and those whom imperfection or age forbids to preach, and yet precipitancy impells. For those who, though able to preach with profit, still shrink back through excessive humility are to be admonished to gather from consideration of a lesser matter how faulty they are in a greater one. For, if they were to hide from their indigent neighbours money which they possessed
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Sanctions of Moral Law, Natural and Governmental.
In the discussion of this subject, I shall show-- I. What constitute the sanctions of law. 1. The sanctions of law are the motives to obedience, the natural and the governmental consequences or results of obedience and of disobedience. 2. They are remuneratory, that is, they promise reward to obedience. 3. They are vindicatory, that is, they threaten the disobedient with punishment. 4. They are natural, that is, happiness is to some extent naturally connected with, and the necessary consequence of,
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus

George Muller, and the Secret of His
POWER IN PRAYER WHEN God wishes anew to teach His Church a truth that is not being understood or practised, He mostly does so by raising some man to be in word and deed a living witness to its blessedness. And so God has raised up in this nineteenth century, among others, George Muller to be His witness that He is indeed the Hearer of prayer. I know of no way in which the principal truths of God's word in regard to prayer can be more effectually illustrated and established than a short review
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

The Publication of the Gospel
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it [or of the preachers] P erhaps no one Psalm has given greater exercise to the skill and patience of commentators and critics, than the sixty-eighth. I suppose the difficulties do not properly belong to the Psalm, but arise from our ignorance of various circumstances to which the Psalmist alludes; which probably were, at that time, generally known and understood. The first verse is the same with the stated form of benediction
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

We Shall not be Curious in the Ranking of the Duties in which Christian Love...
We shall not be curious in the ranking of the duties in which Christian love should exercise itself. All the commandments of the second table are but branches of it: they might be reduced all to the works of righteousness and of mercy. But truly these are interwoven through other. Though mercy uses to be restricted to the showing of compassion upon men in misery, yet there is a righteousness in that mercy, and there is mercy in the most part of the acts of righteousness, as in not judging rashly,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Thoughts Upon Worldly-Riches. Sect. Ii.
TIMOTHY after his Conversion to the Christian Faith, being found to be a Man of great Parts, Learning, and Piety, and so every way qualified for the work of the Ministry, St. Paul who had planted a Church at Ephesus the Metropolis or chief City of all Asia, left him to dress and propagate it, after his departure from it, giving him Power to ordain Elders or Priests, and to visit and exercise Jurisdiction over them, to see they did not teach false Doctrines, 1 Tim. i. 3. That they be unblameable in
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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