xlix. 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. To Dominicus, Bishop. The separate, personal thinking of God toward every one of us.(1)Innumerable.(2)Constant.II. He compasseth man's path, and his lying down, and is acquainted with all his ways. Hence Paul Leo the GreatWritings of Leo the Great, Sense in Which, and End for which all Things were Delivered to the Incarnate Son. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." God is really at work on our behalf. Thomas AquinasOn Prayer and The Contemplative LifeEpistle Xlvii. "God is a Spirit," etc. Like the air we breathe, like the light we see, it involves a mystery that no man has ever solved. David wasnt saying how I wish the Lord will perfect that which concerns me like how you could say how I wish theres no work tomorrow, how I wish theres no school tomorrow, how I wish I could speak French, or how I wish someone will just write a cheque of 5million in my name. A wish doesnt necessarily have anything to do with God nor is a wish based on faith in God, because it isnt usually directed to God or addressed to God. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers. He never could have known anything about dying, for on his face were no tokens of pain or struggle, nor was there any reason to believe that he ever awoke till he lifted up his eyes amid the cherubim. iii. 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? The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made John CunninghamThe Ordinance of CovenantingIntroduction. Put your hope in God. Thomas AquinasOn Prayer and The Contemplative LifeEpistle Xlvii. Rom. But in almost every case the dazzling rays of a searchlight frustrated the attempt, and the fugitives' vessel was captured by the Americans. xviii. 18, 19. 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. 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. Though the transgressor is ignorant of much of his sin, because, at the time of its commission, he sins blindly as well as wilfully, and unreflectingly as well as freely; and though the transgressor has forgotten much of that small amount of sin, of which he was conscious, and by which he was pained, at the time of its perpetration; though, on the side of man, the powers of self-inspection and memory have accomplished so little towards this preservation of man's sin, yet God knows it all, and remembers it all. 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. xlix. God has made us so. Did the Almighty pause in the middle of creation and leave His work unfinished? : 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. S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love ." - 1 John 4:18 ESV. GOD ACCURATELY AND EXHAUSTIVELY KNOWS ALL THAT MAN MIGHT, BUT DOES NOT, KNOW OF HIMSELF. His discourse, the first which He delivered to His disciples at greater length, began from this. And are not temptations everywhere, and so many of them subtle and strong, and before which many souls have fallen? Hear my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my petition. Therefore the first natural bond of human society is man and wife. 18, 19. Gregory to Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage [1454] . For it is written, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace (Gal. That of adoring and constantly thoughtful reverence (vers. A Consolatory Letter to the Parents of Geoffrey. 100:4-5) When Moses boldly pleaded with God, "Please, show me Your glory," he was asking to see God for who He really is. If there is a creator of the universe, He must also be its sustainer: He cannot press material forces into service and go and leave them, as we do a windmill to draw water, for all force depends upon Him for its existence. His discourse, the first which He delivered to His disciples at greater length, began from this. He prophesies that the kings of the earth shall praise God7. 6. We must understand that everything in life has a spiritual ear. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. But in almost every case the dazzling rays of a searchlight frustrated the attempt, and the fugitives' vessel was captured by the Americans. If you look at it, you will see that there is in its bowels a full description of a true Christian. In the day when I cried Charles KingsleyOut of the DeepWherefore a Few Witnesses, which the Lord Deigns to Suggest to My Mind32. This is the communion with Him, and with Christ, which unquestionably helps the struggling, the penitent, the praying, more than anything else. He will revive us."--HOS. He was saying I am certain, I am confident, I have no doubt in my mind that God will perfect that which concerns me. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. 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. This is living with God. "But are you not afraid? (4)In the dark as well as the light.3. vi. Cultivate a loving affection for Him.(Homilist. The faith of that Centurion He on this account chiefly praised, and said St. 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. : While the Americans were blockading Cuba, several captains endeavoured to elude their vigilance by night, trusting that the darkness would conceal them as they passed between the American war-ships. His discourse, the first which He delivered to His disciples at greater length, began from this. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? 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. 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. 2. The right state of mind plainly is to have the thought of God's presence so perpetually at hand that it shall always start before us whenever it is wanted. The right state of mind plainly is to have the thought of God's presence so perpetually at hand that it shall always start before us whenever it is wanted. For if God's exhaustive knowledge of the human heart waken dread in one of its aspects, it starts infinite hope in another. He may be an uncommonly thoughtful person, and little of what is done within his soul may escape his notice; nay, we will make the extreme supposition that he arrests every thought as it rises, and looks at it; that he analyzes every sentiment as it swells his heart; that he scrutinizes every purpose as it determines his will; even if he should have such a thorough and profound self-knowledge as this, God knows him equally profoundly and equally thoroughly. Like the air we breathe, like the light we see, it involves a mystery that no man has ever solved. Forasmuch as each man is a part of the human race, and human nature is something social, and hath for a great and natural good, the power also of friendship; on this account God willed to create all men out of one, in order that they might be held in their society not only by likeness of kind, but also by bond of kindred. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration St. Having trouble logging into your account? )God all-seeing:In the mythology of the heathen, Momus, the god of fault-finding, is represented as blaming Vulcan, because in the human form, which he had made of clay, he had not placed a window in the breast, by which whatever was done or thought there might easily be brought to light. PowerPoint Sermons. Gregory to Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage [1454] . PROVERBS 23:18 It is a fearful distinction (Genesis 28:17). 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?' "I dwell with him that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive the heart of the contrite ones."--ISA. Before the Searcher of hearts all mankind must appeal to mere and sovereign mercy. To reprove some prevalent impieties in human conduct.(1)Atheism.(2)Indifferentism.3. To Dominicus, Bishop. S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? Now, as we thus in thought gaze upon the man, and. He compasseth man's path, and his lying down, and is acquainted with all his ways. S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 13). 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. 1, 2. You shall be kept and perfected by the Lord in whom you trust. It began in election; and when does it end?