to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass? Sermons
Passing from the thought of the joy of creation, when the morning stars sang together, we find our thoughts directed to the sea in its power and pride, first formed by the hand of God, and ever reined in by his commanding voice. I. GOD'S POWER OVER WHAT IS MOST GREAT. The sea strikes our imagination chiefly because of its vastness. It only consists of water, which, when we see it in the trickling rill or hold it in the cup, is one of the most simple and seemingly harmless things in nature. But in gathering volume it gains strength. The little rill swells into the roaring torrent. The water of the sea grows into a tumult of awful forces before which the strongest man is helpless. To the ocean Byron says - "Man marks the earth with ruin - his control
Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deed, nor cloth remain
A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,
When, for a moment, like a drop of rain,
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown." Yet the sea is under God's complete control Nothing is too strong for God. No might can escape his authority. Kings and emperors, men of genius and men of vast resources, are all subject to the present rule, and must all answer to the final call of God. II. GOD'S ORDER IN WHAT IS MOST TURBULENT. Nothing looks so wild and lawless as the sea in a storm. In the mixing of the elements, when the wind shrieks among the waves, and the waters leap up madly to the sky, we seem to be back in the confusion of Old Chaos. Yet we know that the raging sea is as truly under the laws of nature as the fields with their growing crops. Every drop of water is as absolutely obedient to law as the stars in their orderly courses. God rides upon the storm. He rules over the unruly. Wild tempests of human passion, the fury of the despot and the rage of the people, are all watched and controlled by God. When black clouds gather and angry waves rise on the sea of human life, let us remember that there is One who rules over nations and cities as well as over the wild forces of nature. III. GOD'S RESTRAINT OF WHAT IS MOST CHANGEFUL. The waters threaten to invade the land. But there is a limit to their progress. Each wave that tries most eagerly to outrun its predecessor is compelled to break and fall back in confusion, hissing with vexation as it is dragged down among the pebbles. The tide rises, higher and yet higher; but it has its limit. God gives man a certain scope for freedom. He can rise and fall like the wave, and ebb and flow like the tide. Sometimes he seems to have a very long leash. But it is not endless, and God has hold of it. At the right moment he will draw it in, and then all man's pride will be of no use. Our life is like the shifting tide, like the restless wave. We are wearied with its incessant changefulness. It is like the sea crawling up on the beach, and creeping back again, moaning on the shore night and day without intermission. There is monotony even in the changes. That is just the point to be noted. They are all limited and under restraint. So is it with those of life; they are limited and restrained by the providential care of our Father. - W.F.A. To cause it to rain on the earth. We shall work out a parallel between grace and rain.I. GOD ALONE GIVETH RAIN AND THE SAME IS TRUE OF GRACE. We say of rain and of grace, — God is the sole author of it. He devised and prepared the channel by which it comes to earth. He hath "divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters." The Lord makes a way for grace to reach His people. He directs each drop, and gives each blade of grass its own drop of dew, — to every believer his portion of grace. He moderates the force, so that it does not beat down or drown the tender herb. Grace comes in its own gentle way. Conviction, enlightenment, etc., are sent in due measure. He holds it in His power. Absolutely at His own will does God bestow either rain for the earth, or grace for the soul. II. RAIN FALLS IRRESPECTIVE OF MEN AND SO DOES GRACE. Grace waits not man's observation. As the rain falls where no man is, so grace courts not publicity. Nor his cooperation. It "tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men" (Micah 5:7). Nor his prayers. Grass calls not for rain, yet it comes. "I am found of them that sought Me not" (Isaiah 65:1). Nor his merits. Rain falls on the waste ground. III. RAIN FALLS WHERE WE MIGHT LEAST HAVE EXPECTED IT. It falls where there is no trace of former showers, even upon the desolate wilderness; so does grace enter hearts which had hitherto been unblest, where great need was the only plea which rose to heaven (Isaiah 35:7). It falls where there seems nothing to repay the boon. Many hearts are naturally as barren as the desert (Isaiah 35:6). It falls where the need seems insatiable; "to satisfy the desolate." Some cases seem to demand an ocean of grace; but the Lord meets the need; and His grace falls where the joy and glory are all directed to God by grateful hearts. Twice we are told that the rain falls "where no man is." When conversion is wrought of the Lord, no man is seen: the Lord alone is exalted. IV. THIS RAIN IS MOST VALUED BY LIFE. 1. The rain gives joy to seeds and plants in which there is life. Budding life knows of it; the tenderest herb rejoices in it; so is it with those who begin to repent, who feebly believe, and thus are just alive. 2. The rain causes development. Grace also perfects grace. Buds of hope grow into strong faith. Buds of feeling expand into love. Buds of desire rise to resolve. Buds of confession come to open avowal. Buds of usefulness swell into fruit. 3. The rain causes health and vigour of life. Is it not so with grace? 4. The rain creates the flower with its colour and perfume, and God is pleased. The full outgrowth of renewed nature cometh of grace, and the Lord is well pleased therewith. Application — Let us acknowledge the sovereignty of God as to grace. Let us cry to Him for grace. Let us expect Him to send it though we may feel sadly barren, and quite out of the way of the usual means of grace. () Wherein there is so man. A distinguished naturalist, who is a Fellow of the Royal Society, describes how such a mistaken idea was corrected in his experience. Once he was pushing his way through a dense and tangled thicket in a lone and lofty region of Jamaica. Suddenly he came upon the most magnificent terrestrial orchid, in full bloom, which he had ever seen. It was a noble plant, crowned with the pyramidal spike of lily-like flowers, whose expanding petals seemed to his ravished gaze the very perfection of beauty. Then he began to reflect how long that exquisite plant had been growing in a wild, unvisited spot, every season filling the air around with its glory, and yet it could never have met a human gaze before. "To what purpose is this waste?" he asks himself. But ere long the true reply entered his mind. "Speak not of waste! Can man alone admire beauty? Can man alone exult in it? Surely the eye of the Lord rests with delight on the perfect work of His hands, on the apt expression of His own sublime thought!" People Job, SatellitesPlaces UzTopics Bud, Cause, Desolate, Destruction, Dry, Forth, Grass, Green, Ground, Herb, Produce, Satisfy, Seeds, Shoot, Spring, Sprout, Tender, Waste, WastelandOutline 1. God challenges Job to answer
4. God, by his mighty works, convinces Job of ignorance
31. and weakness
Dictionary of Bible Themes Job 38:1-41 5273 creativity Job 38:22-30 4854 weather, God's sovereignty Job 38:22-35 1305 God, activity of Job 38:25-27 4460 grass
5939 satisfaction Job 38:25-28 4293 water
4816 drought, physical Library August 11 Evening
Where is the way that light dwelleth?--JOB 38:19. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.--As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.--The Father . . . hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily PathMay 24. "Where is the Way Where Light Dwelleth" (Job xxxviii. 19).
"Where is the way where light dwelleth" (Job xxxviii. 19). Jewels, in themselves, are valueless, unless they are brought in contact with light. If they are put in certain positions they will reflect the beauty of the sun. There is no beauty in them otherwise. The diamond that is back in its dark gallery or down in the deep mine, displays no beauty whatever. What is it but a piece of charcoal, a bit of common carbon, unless it becomes a medium for reflecting light? And so it is also with the other …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth The Tragic Break in the Plan.
The Jerusalem Climate: the contrasting receptions, Luke 2. the music of heaven, Job 38:6, 7. Luke 2:13, 14. pick out the choruses of Revelation, the crowning book.--the after-captivity leaders, see Ezra and Nehemiah--ideals and ideas--present leaders--Herod--the high priest--the faithful few, Luke 2:25, 38. 23:51. The Bethlehem Fog: Matthew 1 and 2. Luke 2. a foggy shadow--suspicion of Mary--a stable cradle--murder of babes--star-students--senate meeting--a troubled city-flight--Galilee. The …
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus God's Restraining Power.
(New Year's Day.) TEXT: JOB xxxviii. 11. "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." THESE words are taken from a sublime discourse, which -- is put by the writer in the mouth of the Highest Himself, the Creator and Preserver of the world. In it He answers Job out of the whirlwind, when he had complained, though reverently and humbly, that the Lord did not allow men to find Him; that, moreover, He gave no account of His matters to them, and that therefore …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher The Joy of the Lord.
IT is written "the joy of the Lord is your strength." Every child of God knows in some measure what it is to rejoice in the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ must ever be the sole object of the believer's joy, and as eyes and heart look upon Him, we, too, like "the strangers scattered abroad" to whom Peter wrote shall "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet. i:8). But it is upon our heart to meditate with our beloved readers on the joy of our adorable Lord, as his own personal joy. The …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory The Evil of Sin visible in the Fall of Angels and Men.
1 When the great Builder arch'd the skies, And form'd all nature with a word, The joyful cherubs tun'd his praise, And every bending throne ador'd. 2 High in the midst of all the throng, Satan, a tall archangel, sat, Amongst the morning stars he sung [1] Till sin destroy'd his heavenly state. 3 ['Twas sin that hurl'd him from his throne, Grov'ling in fire the rebel lies: "How art thou sunk in darkness down, "Son of the morning, from the skies!" [2] 4 And thus our two first parents stood Till sin …
Isaac Watts—Hymns and Spiritual Songs The Old and New Creation.
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns Whether it was Fitting that the Gathering Together of the Waters Should Take Place, as Recorded, on the Third Day?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was not fitting that the gathering together of the waters should take place on the third day. For what was made on the first and second days is expressly said to have been "made" in the words, "God said: Be light made," and "Let there be a firmament made."But the third day is contradistinguished from the first and the second days. Therefore the work of the third day should have been described as a making not as a gathering together. Objection 2: Further, the earth …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether this Name "Father" is Applied to God, Firstly as a Personal Name?
Objection 1: It would seem that this name "Father" is not applied to God, firstly as a personal name. For in the intellect the common precedes the particular. But this name "Father" as a personal name, belongs to the person of the Father; and taken in an essential sense it is common to the whole Trinity; for we say "Our Father" to the whole Trinity. Therefore "Father" comes first as an essential name before its personal sense. Objection 2: Further, in things of which the concept is the same there …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether it is Proper to the Rational Nature to be Adopted?
Objection 1: It would seem that it is not proper to the rational nature to be adopted. For God is not said to be the Father of the rational creature, save by adoption. But God is called the Father even of the irrational creature, according to Job 38:28: "Who is father of the rain? Or who begot the drops of dew?" Therefore it is not proper to the rational creature to be adopted. Objection 2: Further, by reason of adoption some are called sons of God. But to be sons of God seems to be properly attributed …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica 'The End of the Lord'
'Then Job answered the Lord, and said, 2. I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can he withholden from Thee. 3. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. 4. Hear, I beseech Thee, and I will speak: I will demand of Thee, and declare Thou unto me. 5. I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. 6. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Being of God
Q-III: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES PRINCIPALLY TEACH? A: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q-IV: WHAT IS GOD? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is, 1: Something implied. That there is a God. 2: Expressed. That he is a Spirit. 3: What kind of Spirit? I. Implied. That there is a God. The question, What is God? takes for granted that there …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Whether There Can be any Suitable Cause for the Sacraments of the Old Law?
Objection 1: It would seem that there can be no suitable cause for the sacraments of the Old Law. Because those things that are done for the purpose of divine worship should not be like the observances of idolaters: since it is written (Dt. 12:31): "Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God: for they have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth." Now worshippers of idols used to knive themselves to the shedding of blood: for it is related (3 Kings 18:28) that they …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica The Careless Sinner Awakened.
1, 2. It is too supposable a case that this Treatise may come into such hands.--3, 4. Since many, not grossly vicious, fail under that character.--5, 6. A more particular illustration of this case, with an appeal to the reader, whether it be not his own.--7 to 9. Expostulation with such.--10 to 12. More particularly--From acknowledged principles relating to the Nature of Got, his universal presence, agency, and perfection.--13. From a view of personal obligations to him.--14. From the danger Of this …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul The Blessed Privilege of Seeing God Explained
They shall see God. Matthew 5:8 These words are linked to the former and they are a great incentive to heart-purity. The pure heart shall see the pure God. There is a double sight which the saints have of God. 1 In this life; that is, spiritually by the eye of faith. Faith sees God's glorious attributes in the glass of his Word. Faith beholds him showing forth himself through the lattice of his ordinances. Thus Moses saw him who was invisible (Hebrews 11:27). Believers see God's glory as it were …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 They Shall be Called the Children of God
They shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 In these words the glorious privilege of the saints is set down. Those who have made their peace with God and labour to make peace among brethren, this is the great honour conferred upon them, They shall be called the children of God'. They shall be (called)', that is, they shall be so reputed and esteemed of God. God never miscalls anything. He does not call them children which are no children. Thou shalt be called the prophet of the Highest' …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 "This Then is the Message which we have Heard of Him, and Declare unto You, that God is Light,"
1 John i. 5.--"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light," &c. Who is a fit messenger to declare this message? Can darkness comprehend the light, or apprehend it? Or can those that are blind form any lively notion of light, to the instruction and persuasion of others? Truly, no more can we conceive or speak of God, who is that pure light, than a blind man can discourse on colours, or a deaf man on sounds. "Who is blind as the Lord's servant?" And …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning The Eternity of God
The next attribute is, God is eternal.' Psa 90:0. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.' The schoolmen distinguish between aevun et aeternum, to explain the notion of eternity. There is a threefold being. I. Such as had a beginning; and shall have an end; as all sensitive creatures, the beasts, fowls, fishes, which at death are destroyed and return to dust; their being ends with their life. 2. Such as had a beginning, but shall have no end, as angels and the souls of men, which are eternal …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity On the Animals
The birds are the saints, because they fly to the higher heart; in the gospel: and he made great branches that the birds of the air might live in their shade. [Mark 4:32] Flying is the death of the saints in God or the knowledge of the Scriptures; in the psalm: I shall fly and I shall be at rest. [Ps. 54(55):7 Vulgate] The wings are the two testaments; in Ezekiel: your body will fly with two wings of its own. [Ez. 1:23] The feathers are the Scriptures; in the psalm: the wings of the silver dove. …
St. Eucherius of Lyons—The Formulae of St. Eucherius of Lyons That Deep Things Ought not to be Preached at all to Weak Souls.
But the preacher should know how to avoid drawing the mind of his hearer beyond its strength, lest, so to speak, the string of the soul, when stretched more than it can bear, should be broken. For all deep things should be covered up before a multitude of hearers, and scarcely opened to a few. For hence the Truth in person says, Who, thinkest thou, is the faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord has appointed over his household, to give them their measure of wheat in due season? (Luke xii. 42). …
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