From the just we learn justice; from the charitable we catch an infection of charity; from the generous we receive the instinct of generosity. But yet there is another, not less powerful than any, which deserves special mention. So, too, by living in the presence of God and, as it were, in the courts of heaven, we shall assuredly learn something of a heavenly tone, and shake off some of that coarse worldliness, that deeply ingrained selfishness, that silly pride and conceit which now spoils our very best service. S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION (vers. The text, however, itself, is its own guard. Luke 12:7 says, If that Being has gone down into these depths of human depravity, and seen it with a more abhorring glance than could ever shoot from a finite eye, and yet has returned with a cordial offer to forgive it all, and a hearty proffer to cleanse it all away, then we can lift up the eye in adoration and in hope. xviii. : The fact that God is always present and knows every minute trifle in our lives, and that His unerring judgment will assuredly take count of every detail of our character and our conduct, neither exaggerating nor omitting, but applying absolute justice; this truth is one of those which lose force from their very universality. And lest the presence of God should be too much for us, Christ has taken human nature on Him, and has provided that He will be always with us as long as the world shall last. 6. 6. vi. OURSELVES. "(Archbishop Temple. To refute some popular errors of human life. That of a prayerful seeking of the Divine guidance (ver. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love ." - 1 John 4:18 ESV. (2)Unseen world.(3)Everywhere. II. the regular habit of reading the Bible at a fixed time, the occasional reminders of ourselves that God is looking on, these are our chief means of learning to remember His presence. He is in (1)Heaven. Our relation toward such a God should be 1. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. solely via the power of the Holy Spirit. cxxxviii. 1. v. 22). Faith In Perfection | The Charles Spurgeon Sermon Collection The word, "me," in the text, cannot be appropriated by any man, unless he, in some respects, resembles the character of David, who penned this psalm. Before the Searcher of hearts all mankind must appeal to mere and sovereign mercy. The Spurgeon Library | Faith in Perfection And this perpetual though not always conscious sense of God's presence would, no doubt, if we would let it have its perfect work, gradually act on our characters just as the presence of our fellow-men does. But if that knowledge whereby man knows himself is mysterious, then certainly that whereby God knows him is far more so. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. the regular habit of reading the Bible at a fixed time, the occasional reminders of ourselves that God is looking on, these are our chief means of learning to remember His presence. We have the help of Almighty God! 24).(W. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? "Come, and let us return to the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us. xlix. Hoyt, D. D.)God's knowledge of manW. iii. 15. Ps. ID. Those who live much in a court acquire courtly manners. Patience under trial and strength in adversity thrive under the all-seeing eye. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. AugustineOf Holy Virginity. Get a grip at this, thou troubled one, and by a personal faith say, "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." Chapter i. Hear my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my petition. S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. I will ask you three questions suggested by the words themselves, and according to your answer to these three questions, shall be Charles Haddon SpurgeonSpurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859Question of the Contemplative LifeI. Now carry this confidence into everything. S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. He professes his confidence in GodDictionary of Bible ThemesPsalm 138:86708predestination8125guidance, promise8441goalsPsalm 138:7-81265hand of GodLibraryFaith in PerfectionIn the opening, I must remark that this is not the heritage of all mankind. Psalm 138: God Will Perfect That Which Concerns Me When I was young, I used to make a lot of wishes using wishing bones or when blowing out my birthday candles. For he who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exhibit the highest things. 23:1) I confess all my sins and iniquities, cleanse me with your blood, Lord Jesus . This is the communion with Him, and with Christ, which unquestionably helps the struggling, the penitent, the praying, more than anything else. If God makes your son His son also, what do you lose or what does he himself lose? Nay, more, this process of self-inspection may go on indefinitely, and the man grow more and more thoughtful, and obtain an everlastingly augmenting knowledge of what he is and what he does, so that it shall seem to him that he is penetrating so deeply into those dim and shadowy regions of consciousness where the external life takes its very first start, and then he may be sure that God understands the thought that is afar off, and deep down, and that at this lowest range and plane in his experience he besets him behind and before.II. 19 III. A Consolatory Letter to the Parents of Geoffrey. "Come, and let us return to the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us. David praises God for the truth of his word4. GOD ACCURATELY AND EXHAUSTIVELY KNOWS ALL THAT MAN KNOWS OF HIMSELF. Justice, in this reference, is out of the question. The Coming Andrew MurrayThe Ministry of IntercessionForasmuch as Each Man is a Part of the Human Race1. And this perpetual though not always conscious sense of God's presence would, no doubt, if we would let it have its perfect work, gradually act on our characters just as the presence of our fellow-men does. Were man to scale the azure vault overhead, it would only confront him with the Divine personality; were he to sound unimaginable depths in the other direction, the result would be the same. We have received with the utmost gratification the letters of your Fraternity, which have reached us somewhat late by the hands of Donatus and Quodvultdeus, our most reverend brethren and fellow-bishops, and also Victor the deacon with Agilegius the notary. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever: forsake not the works of Your own hands." Psalm 138:8 I HAVE selected this text, or, rather, it has been given to me to furnish a motto for the whole year to all the believing family of God now present. 2. (Weekly Pulpit. v. 22). "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thy right hand shall save me."--PS. G. T. Shedd, D. D.)God's presenceArchbishop Temple. Wherefore a few witnesses, which the Lord deigns to suggest to my mind, I proceed to mention, from out the teaching of Christ concerning humility, such as perhaps may be enough for my purpose. This is the communion with Him, and with Christ, which unquestionably helps the struggling, the penitent, the praying, more than anything else. And though we thought that we had suffered loss from the tardiness of their coming, yet we find gain from their more abundant charity; seeing that from this delay in point Saint Gregory the Greatthe Epistles of Saint Gregory the GreatThe Coming Revival"Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"--PS. There is no cry so pitiful as "Nothing to live for." That of a prayerful seeking of the Divine guidance (ver. 2. )God and ourselvesW. vi. St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. lxxxv. To reprove some prevalent impieties in human conduct.(1)Atheism.(2)Indifferentism.3. So that whenever we are on the point of doing or saying anything cowardly, or mean, or false, or impure, or proud, or conceited, or unkind, the remembrance that God is looking on shall instantly flash across us and help us to beat down our enemy. To start saving items to a SermonFolder, please create an account. He compasseth man's path, and his lying down, and is acquainted with all his ways. He must be prepared for the Kingdom that has been prepared for him Saint Bernard of ClairvauxSome Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of ClairvauxThat the Ruler Should be Always Chief in Action. GOD ACCURATELY AND EXHAUSTIVELY KNOWS ALL THAT MAN MIGHT, BUT DOES NOT, KNOW OF HIMSELF. vi. iii. To Dominicus, Bishop. 1, 2. There is, therefore, nothing wrong in our forgetting that we are in the presence of God any more than there is anything foolish in our forgetting that we need air to breathe or light to see by, or that if we fall we may hurt ourselves: just in the same way as we very often, and quite rightly, forget that we are in the company of men who will take notice of our faults. If we had such a window we should pray for shutters, and should keep them closed.God omniscientWeekly Pulpit. Those who live much in refined and educated society acquire refinement insensibly. There is the full assurance that He will be at work still in order to complete that which He has commenced. Justice, in this reference, is out of the question. So that whenever we are on the point of doing or saying anything cowardly, or mean, or false, or impure, or proud, or conceited, or unkind, the remembrance that God is looking on shall instantly flash across us and help us to beat down our enemy. To Dominicus, Bishop. We have received with the utmost gratification the letters of your Fraternity, which have reached us somewhat late by the hands of Donatus and Quodvultdeus, our most reverend brethren and fellow-bishops, and also Victor the deacon with Agilegius the notary. Cultivate a loving affection for Him.(Homilist. I will ask you three questions suggested by the words themselves, and according to your answer to these three questions, shall be Charles Haddon SpurgeonSpurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859Question of the Contemplative LifeI. AugustineOn the Good of MarriagePrayer Out of the Deep. Don't forsake the works of your own hands. If God makes your son His son also, what do you lose or what does he himself lose? Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? )PeopleDavid, PsalmistPlacesJerusalemTopicsAbandon, Accomplish, Age, Chief, Complete, Concerneth, Concerns, David, Endures, Endureth, Eternal, Everlasting, Fall, Forever, Forsake, Fulfil, Fulfill, Hands, Kindness, Love, Loving, Lovingkindness, Loving-kindness, Mercy, Musician, O, Perfect, Psalm, Purpose, Steadfast, WorksOutline1. 7 ad 3m II. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon Him; He also will hear their cry, and will help them.--Psalm cxlv. "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me;" not, "I will perform it myself. 15. 23, 24). Thomas AquinasOn Prayer and The Contemplative LifeEpistle Xlvii. The Lord told David he should be a king. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thy right hand shall save me."--PS. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? v. 14), the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised (cf. The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon Him; He also will hear their cry, and will help them.--Psalm cxlv. We become unconscious of everything by long use. Those who are always hearing pure and high principles set forth as the guides of life learn to value and to know them even faster than they can learn to live by them. the regular habit of reading the Bible at a fixed time, the occasional reminders of ourselves that God is looking on, these are our chief means of learning to remember His presence. You are listening to the voice of Bill Johnson from a sermon given some years ago, and Johnson is poisoning his flock with the heretical doctrine of kenosis. He then that has no care to keep peace refuses to bear the fruit of the Spirit. (Isa. Self-consciousness has been the problem of the philosophic mind in all ages; and the mystery is not yet unravelled. Pastor James F. Wright Sermon on Ephesians 4:30-5:2 v. 14), the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised (cf. Hilary of PoitiersThe Life and Writings of St. Hilary of PoitiersPsalmsThe piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. We cannot live long with men without catching something of their manner, of their mode of thought, of their character, of their government of themselves. cxxxviii. 24).(W. 6. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius John Edgar McFadyenIntroduction to the Old TestamentLinksPsalm 138:8 NIVPsalm 138:8 NLTPsalm 138:8 ESVPsalm 138:8 NASBPsalm 138:8 KJVPsalm 138:8 Bible AppsPsalm 138:8 ParallelPsalm 138:8 Biblia ParalelaPsalm 138:8 Chinese BiblePsalm 138:8 French BiblePsalm 138:8 German BiblePsalm 138:8 CommentariesBible Hub, (4)In the dark as well as the light.3. I will ask you three questions suggested by the words themselves, and according to your answer to these three questions, shall be Charles Haddon SpurgeonSpurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859Question of the Contemplative LifeI. 7. The brilliant searchlight sweeping the broad ocean and revealing even the smallest craft on its surface is but a faint type of the Eternal Light from which no sinner can hide his sin. For those that are at variance are to be admonished to know most certainly that, in whatever virtues they may abound, they can by no means become spiritual if they neglect becoming united to their neighbours by concord. This is a prayer which you and I may well bring before God, whose workmanship we are. That of a prayerful seeking of the Divine guidance (ver. Before the Searcher of hearts all mankind must appeal to mere and sovereign mercy. lxxxv. His communion is unbroken. OURSELVES. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. If God makes your son His son also, what do you lose or what does he himself lose? And, without doubt, it is only as we are confident in the Lord that we render effective service and become channels of blessing to others: which God grant we may! Differently to be admonished are those that are at variance and those that are at peace. He has suffered thus, partly from a certain obscurity in his style of writing, partly from the difficulty of the thoughts which he attempted to convey. That of welcoming the Divine searching (vers. And this will generally be just when we are tempted to do wrong, or perhaps just when we are actually beginning to do it: some secret sin of which no one knows or dreams perhaps, some self-indulgence, which we dare not deny that God condemns. March 3rd, 2023. "(Archbishop Temple. If you look at it, you will see that there is in its bowels a full description of a true Christian. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made John CunninghamThe Ordinance of CovenantingIntroduction. lxxxv. Play Audio! Our personal salvation depends on our answer to that question and our commitment to that answer. In my trouble I will call upon the Lord, and complain unto my God; so shall He hear my voice out of His holy temple, and my complaint shall come before Him; it shall enter even into His ears.--Ps. The thought will flash across us that God sees us. 12), while the devil was exulting against us;--then God, in His loving-kindness, not willing man made in His own image to perish, said, Whom shall I send, and who will go?' iii. PHILIPPIANS 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. sighs one troubled heart, "I fear I shall fall into many sins between here and heaven." But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. 18 " Ep., cxxx. How priceless the blood of Calvary, in which the saints have "washed their robes and made them white"! Nor did God create these each by himself, and join them together as alien by birth: but He created the one, Hear my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my petition. Be comforted in every time of trouble. (1)There is the error that supposes that formal worship can be of any real worth. Enter your email address and we will send you a link to reset your password. The worst has been seen, and that too by the holiest of beings, and yet eternal glory is offered to us! It is a simple question of time; a simple question whether it shall come here in this world, where the blood of Christ "freely" flows, or in the future world, where "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin."(W. We do not agree with Momus, neither are we of his mind who desired to have a window in his breast that all men might see his heart. vi. Into providence. We could never discharge our duties properly if we were to be perpetually distracted by the consciousness of what was around us: and, above all, we might be daunted by the perpetual thought of the presence of God, and so be paralyzed instead of helped. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration St. This is living with God. 1. v. 14), the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised (cf. "I am, as Thy creature, wholly dependent on Thee; without Thee, faith must die, and hope expire; without Thee, love must decay and perish. Verse 17: And I was on trial, alone, because nobody else came to stand by me, but Jesus stood by me and strengthened me. Nor did God create these each by himself, and join them together as alien by birth: but He created the one St. Like the air we breathe, like the light we see, it involves a mystery that no man has ever solved. What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord? - Olive Tree Blog