Grace that stops mouths from speaking in sin opens them for singing praise

"So act, O Lord; so act, O merciful Lord. Command what cannot be fulfilled. Rather, command what can be fulfilled only through thy grace so that, since men are unable to fulfill it through their own strength, every mouth may be stopped, and no one may seem great to himself. Let all be little ones, and let all the world be guilty before God."

Augustine of Hippo

Love grows, perhaps the greater

“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."
J.R.R. Tolkien

Recently we have seen why Christ confirms two commandments; that we love the Lord our God with all our heart mind and soul and strength. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it. Love your neighbour as yourself.

When we forget our God, we no longer love our neighbour. When we forget our neighbour, we no longer love our God. Both things are going to bring a world of grief. But in this world, true love grows perhaps the greater.

Summary of Matthew 7:1-20

"As a brother the Christian hates hypocrisy, criticizes himself and seeks to give constructive moral support to others. As an evangelist he prizes the gospel pearl so highly that he refuses to expose it to scornful rejection by hardened sinners. As a lover of all men, he is resolved to behave towards them as he would like them to behave towards him. As a child he looks humbly and trustfully to his heavenly Father to give him all the good gifts he needs. As a traveller on the hard and narrow way, he enjoys fellowship with his fellow pilgrims and keeps his eye on the goal of life. As a champion of God's revealed truth, he heeds Christ's warning to be watchful for false teachers who would pervert it and so ravage Christ's flock."

John Stott, "The Message of The Sermon on The Mount", p 203-204

Weeping may last but a night, BUT joy comes in the morning

If we are prosperous, we devour God’s blessings without feeling that they are his, or, at least, we indolently allow them to slip away; but if any thing sorrowful or adverse befall us, we immediately complain of his severity, as if he had never dealt kindly and mercifully with us. In short, our own fretfulness and impatience under affliction makes every minute an age; while, on the other hand, our repining and ingratitude lead us to imagine that God’s favor, however long it may be exercised towards us, is but for a moment. It is our own perversity, therefore, in reality, which hinders us from perceiving that God’s anger is but of short duration, While his favor is continued towards us during the whole course of our life. Nor does God in vain so often declare that he is merciful and gracious to a thousand generations, long-suffering, slow to anger, and ready to forgive. And as what he says by the prophet Isaiah has a special reference to the kingdom of Christ, it must be daily fulfilled,

“For a small moment have I afflicted thee, but with everlasting mercies will I gather thee,” (Isa 54:7.)

Our condition in this world, I confess, involves us in such wretchedness, and we are harassed by such a variety of afflictions, that scarcely a day passes without some trouble or grief. Moreover, amid so many uncertain events, we cannot be otherwise than full of daily anxiety and fear. Wherever, therefore, men turn themselves, a labyrinth of evils surrounds them. But however much God may terrify and humble his faithful servants, with manifold signs of his displeasure, he always be-sprinkles them with the sweetness of his favor to moderate and assuage their grief. If they weigh, therefore his anger and his favor in an equal balance, they will always find it verified, that while the former is but for a moment, the latter continues to the end of life; nay, it goes beyond it, for it were a grievous mistake to confine the favor of God within the boundaries of this transitory life. And it is unquestionably certain, that none but those whose minds have been raised above the world by a taste of heavenly life really experience this perpetual and uninterrupted manifestation of the divine favor, which enables them to bear their chastisements with cheerfulness. Paul, accordingly, that he may inspire us with invincible patience, refers to this in 2Co 4:17,

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.”

In the meantime, it is to be observed that God never inflicts such heavy and continued chastisements on his people, without frequently mitigating them, and sweetening their bitterness with some consolation. Whoever, therefore, directs his mind to meditation upon the heavenly life, will never faint under his afflictions, however long continued; and, comparing them with the exceeding great and manifold favors of God towards him, he will put such honor on the latter as to judge that God’s goodness, in his estimation, outweighs his displeasure a hundred-fold. In the second clause, David repeats the same thing figuratively: Weeping will lodge in the evening, and rejoicing shall come in the morning He does not simply mean, that the affliction would be only for one night, but that if the darkness of adversity should fall upon the people of God, as it were, in the evening, or at the setting of the sun, light would soon after arise upon them, to comfort their sorrow-stricken spirits. The amount of David’s instruction is, that were we not too headstrong, we would acknowledge that the Lord, even when he appears to overwhelm us for a time with the darkness of affliction, always seasonably ministers matter of joy, just as the morning arises after the night.

Jean Calvin - Commentary on Psalm 30:5

What kind of man do I want to be?

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?

The one whose way of life is blameless,

who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from their heart;

whose tongue utters no slander,

who does no wrong to a neighbour,

and casts no slur on others;

who despises a vile person

but honours those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,

and does not change their mind;

who lends money to the poor without interest;

who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things

will never be shaken.

Psalm 15

As I am trying to think through whether I keep studying, I must not forget (whatever decision I make) what kind of man I would like to be at the end of my life.

You just have to live differently from them.

"Now some of you standing here this morning find God's words easy, but others may find them harsh. What can I say? I can only appeal to what is truly Christian in you.

If you truly believe, hope, love something that's decidedly, markedly different from the Gentile Pagans, then you have no other choice.

You just have to live differently from them.

And you will just have to get used to the fact that your Faith, Hope and Charity set you apart from the unholy customs of those Gentile Pagans."

Augustine of Hippo, Sermons to the People, Sermon CXCVIII (New Years #2)

What God has spoken in these last days

"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:1-3

The heir of ALL THINGS... died!
The one through whom the universe was made... died!
The radiance of God's glory... died!
The exact representation of God's being... died!
The sustainer of ALL THINGS... died!

FOR YOU!