1. His works are perfect in relation to the beginning and original of them — His own everlasting purpose. Men often bring forth works by guess, by their purpose, so no wonder it answer not their desire; but known to Him are all His works from the beginning, and so He doth nothing in time but what was His everlasting pleasure. Often we purpose well, and resolve perfectly, but our practice is a cripple — execution of it is maimed and imperfect; but all His works are carved out and done just as He designed them, without the least alteration; and, if it had not been well, would He have thought on it so and resolved it beforehand?

2. His works are perfect in relation to the end to which He appointed them. It may be it is not perfect in itself — a blind eye is not so perfect as a seeing eye: nay, but in relation to the glory of His name, who hath a purpose to declare His power by restoring that sight, it is as perfect. And in this sense all the imperfection of the creatures and creation, all of them are perfect works, for they accomplish the end wherefor they were sent; and so the night declares His name, and utters a speech as well as the day, the winter as the summer, the wilderness as the fruitful field; for what is the perfection of the creature but in as far as it accomplishes His purpose as the Maker of it? And therefore all His work is perfect, for it is all framed in wisdom to His own ends, in number, measure, and weight; it is so exactly agreeing to that, that you could not imagine it better.

3. Again, His work is perfect if we take it altogether, and do not cut it in parcels and look on it so. Letters and syllables make no sense till you conjoin them in words, and words in sentences. Even so it is here: if we look on the day alone, the light of it being perpetual would weary us, the night alone would be more so; but the interchange of them is pleasant. Day and night together make a distinct language of God's praise. So God has set prosperity and adversity the one over against the other; one of them, it may be, seems imperfect; nay, but it is a perfect work that is made up of both. Spots in the face commend the beauty of the rest of it. If you would, then, look upon God's work aright, look at it in the sanctuary's light, and you shall say, "He hath done all well."

4. Entertain this thought in your heart, that He hath done all well; let not your secret thoughts so much as call them in question. If once you question, you will quickly censure them. Hold this persuasion, that nothing can be better than what He doth.

5. Let this secretly reprove your hearts, the perfection of His works stains our works. Oh, how imperfect are they! And which is worse, how bold are we to censure His and absolve our own! If He have a hand in our work, yet these imperfect works are perfect in regard of Him; as we have a hand in His perfect works, yet His perfect works are imperfect in regard of us.

(H. Binning.)

1. If any man turn from his iniquity, and flee unto My Son as the City of Refuge, he shall live. Iniquity shall not be his ruin, although he hath done iniquity. Oh! "who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity?" Is not this complete mercy? And on the other hand, whosoever continueth in sin, though he appear to himself and others never so righteous, shall not he die in his iniquity? Is there any iniquity in this, that he receive the wages of his works, that he eat of the fruit of his own ways, and drink of his own devices?

2. This way of the Lord is equal and right in itself, but it is not so to everyone; the just man shall walk in it, and not stumble — as in an even way; nothing shall offend him (Hosea 14:9). Yet, equal and straight as it is, many other transgressors shall fall therein; they stumble even in the noonday and highway, where no offence is. By all means embrace the Word, and be satisfied with it, when you do not comprehend His work; it teaches as much in general as may put us to quietness. All His ways are judgment; just and true in all His ways is the King of saints. If I do not comprehend how it is, no wonder, for He makes darkness His covering; He spreads over His most curious pieces of workmanship a veil of darkness for a season. Therefore let us hearken to His Word, and believe its sentence on His work, when reason cannot comprehend it.

(H. Binning.)

II. THAT THIS PERFECTION BELONGS TO GOD. And this I shall endeavour to prove.

1. From the dictates of natural light. Natural light tells us that truth and faithfulness are perfections, and consequently belong to the Divine nature; and that falsehood and a lie are imperfections, and to be removed from God.

2. From Scripture. The Scripture doth very frequently attribute this to God (2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 25:10; Psalm 31:5; Revelation 3:7; Revelation 6:10; Psalm 15:3; Psalm 16:7). And the Scripture doth not only in general attribute this perfection to God, but doth more particularly assure us of His sincerity and truth and faithfulness. Of His sincerity, that He deals plainly with us and speaks what He intends, that His words are the image of His thoughts and a true representation of His mind. And as the Scripture assures us of His sincerity, He of His truth and faithfulness in the accomplishment of His predictions and performance of His promises.I come now to the last thing I proposed, to make some use of this doctrine.

1. If God be a God of truth, then this gives us assurance that He doth not deceive us, that the faculties which He hath given us are not false, but when they have clear perceptions of things, they do not err and mistake.

2. If God be a God of truth, then there is reason why we should believe whatever we are satisfied is revealed to us by God. A Divine revelation is a sufficient ground for the most firm assent; for this very thing, that anything is revealed by God is the highest evidence, and ought to give us the most firm assurance, of the truth of it. Hence it is that the Word of God is called the Word of truth, yea, and truth itself: "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).

3. If God be a God of truth, and faithful in performing His promise, then here is a firm foundation for our hope and trust.

4. The truth of God is matter of terror to the wicked.

5. Let us propound to ourselves the truth of God for our pattern and imitation. Would you be like God? be true and faithful.

(Abp. Tillotson.)

(H. Binning.)

(H. Binning.)

1. We are to consider God, not only as the Maker and Preserver of men, but as their Governor also. He who made man has an unbounded right to prescribe laws for his conduct, and to enforce the laws by rewards and punishments; and in so doing He consults the good of His creatures as well as His own glory.

2. God is just in punishing disobedience to His holy law.

3. If we consult the Scriptures we shall find that God has displayed His justice, in many awful instances, by the punishment of sinners.

4. But the most affecting display of Divine justice was made in the sufferings and death of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

(G. Burder.)

1. In this view, justice must be contemplated as rising out of the very existence of Deity. Justice exists necessarily and infinitely in the glorious Godhead.

2. It may be viewed as operating within the Divine Being itself, distinctly from every prospect of the future existence of a universe of creatures, in such ways as these: in a righteous valuing and honouring of the distinct preciousness of other Divine excellencies, such as power, holiness, goodness, etc.; in a fair arrangement, union, and well-adjusted harmony of all the other Divine perfections; and in the mutual acknowledgments of the equal rights, dignity, and relations of each of the Three Persons in the Godhead.

II. LET US THINK OF THE NATURE OF MORAL GOOD AND EVIL, AS FOUND IN CREATURE AGENTS, WHICH IS THE PROPER OBJECT OF JUSTICE.

1. Such agents possess the natural image of God, in spirituality, in intelligence, in capacity of choice, in voluntary activity, in discernment of good and evil. These things are necessary to the existence of either moral good or moral evil. It may be asked, What is the meaning of these words?

2. Moral good and evil are opposite qualities of such creatures, as to their dispositions and actions.

3. The chief moral good and evil must be found in the dispositions and actions of the creature towards God Himself. Here must be the greatest, the noblest beauty, or the foulest deformity, the richest flavoured sweetness or the most poisonous bitterness.

4. There is a wide range of good and of evil, in disposition and in action, relative to man made in the image of God.

5. There is a general importance in all moral good and evil, even in their most ordinary and tranquil movements; for they are the acts of a creature endowed with the natural image of the great God, to whom also these acts and qualities have an ultimate reference.

6. In connection with these things we have to think of the vast multitude of moral agents, men and angels, whom we know with certainty, and of the vast variety of circumstances and events, and also the long flight of ages, before the final judgment; besides the numberless worlds of intelligent agents which may lie behind an impenetrable veil of obscurity and uncertainty. And thus we have some view of that awful, wide-extended, moral empire, the direct object of the cognisance and procedure of Divine justice, and of which everyone who now thinks on this subject is an interested and important part.Application —

1. How contrary to this whole doctrine of the justice of God is that spirit of frivolous, presumptuous ease and gaiety which generally reign in the world!

2. Let us consider the majesty and power of the justice of God as the guardian attribute of all the other excellencies of Divinity.

3. Who can sufficiently estimate the preciousness of deliverance from the wrath to come by the sufferings and blood of Jesus, the Son of God?

III. THE NATURE OF THIS GLORIOUS JUSTICE AND OF ITS EXERCISE RESPECTING GOOD AND EVIL.

1. His penetrating and transcendently perfect inspection of moral good and evil (Isaiah 3:8; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Revelation 1:14).

2. His approbation of moral good, and His complacency and delight therein.

3. His honouring and rewarding moral goodness.

4. Let us think of the aspect and procedure of this great Judge against moral evil, by rejection, disapprobation, and vengeance.Application —

1. In review of the things spoken on this subject, the glorious justice of Jehovah, it is of importance to notice the place which this excellency holds among the other perfections of Deity. It is, in some respects, a consequence of the general rectitude of the Divine Being and of some other particular excellencies of God. But it is specially to be remarked that to justice belongs the high character of the guardian attribute, both in relation to the glory of all that is Divine, and in reference to the rights and interests of created beings among one another.

2. It demands our most serious consideration, that it is not without very great difficulty that an apostate creature can attain genuine and powerful views of the attribute of justice.

3. How solemn are the exercises of an awakened believing soul, making express application to God for reconciliation and peace by the blood of Jesus!

4. How perfect is the glory of the sacrifice and righteousness of Jesus, the Son of God!

(John Love, D. D.)

II. HIS OWN WORD SHOWS IT (Jeremiah 9:24; Psalm 19:9; Psalm 145:17; Acts 17:31).

III. HIS COMMANDMENTS TO MEN PROVE IT. The qualities He requires in them are those which exist in Himself, and the end of man's obedience is to be likened to his Maker.

IV. HIS DEALINGS WITH MEN SHOW IT. To them He declares Himself to be eminently holy and just; that He will by no means clear the guilty, and that He will finally render to every man according to the things he has done.

V. THE NECESSITY OF HIS VERY NATURE SHOWS IT. It is utterly impossible that a being holy, good, and wise as the Deity should be indifferent to the actions of His creatures, or that having given a law for their guidance, He should be indifferent as to the measure of their obedience to it. What, then, do we mean when we speak of the justice of God? It means that He will execute His whole law; that He will fulfil His word, and render to everyone according to his works. To make this justice perfect, as all the attributes of God must be supposed to be, it will descend to every particular in our conduct; nothing will be too small to be noted; nothing can be concealed from Him; nothing will be overlooked by Him. To make it consistent with the spiritual character of His nature, and with that spiritual holiness which He requires in His people, it will extend to every thought, to every purpose, to every hidden wish of the heart, as well as to every work and to every action.

(H. Raikes, M. A.)

     1035   God, faithfulness
     1065   God, holiness of
     1075   God, justice of
     1100   God, perfection
     1125   God, righteousness
     1155   God, truthfulness
     1205   God, titles of
     1240   God, the Rock
     4915   completion
     5409   metaphor
     5490   refuge
     5953   stability
     6025   sin, and God's character
     6183   ignorance, of God
     6708   predestination
     8252   faithfulness, relationships
     8310   morality, and creation
     8321   perfection, divine
     8331   reliability

Deuteronomy 32:1-4

     8236   doctrine, purpose

Deuteronomy 32:3-4

     4354   rock
     5493   retribution

Deuteronomy 32:3-14

     4450   fruit

Their Rock and Our Rock
'Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being Judges.' DEUT. xxxii. 31. Moses is about to leave the people whom he had led so long, and his last words are words of solemn warning. He exhorts them to cleave to God. The words of the text simply mean that the history of the nation had sufficiently proved that God, their God, was 'above all gods.' The Canaanites and all the enemies whom Israel had fought had been beaten, and in their awe of this warrior people acknowledged that their …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Memento Mori
I propose this morning, as God shall help me, to lead you to consider your latter end. May the Holy Spirit bend your thoughts downward to the tomb. May he guide you to the grave, that you may there see the end of all earthly hopes, of all worldly pomp and show. In doing this, I shall thus divide my subject. First, let us consider Death, secondly, let us push on the consideration by considering the warnings which Death has given us already; and then, further, let us picture ourselves as dying,--bringing …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Religion --A Reality
Now we will grant you this morning that much of the religion which is abroad in the world is a vain thing. The religion of ceremonies is vain. If a man shall trust in the gorgeous pomp of uncommanded mysteries, if he shall consider that there resides some mystic efficacy in a priest, and that by uttering certain words a blessing is infallibly received, we tell him that his religion is a vain thing. You might as well go to the Witch of Endor for grace as to a priest; and if you rely upon words, the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8: 1863

At a Public Fast in July, First Sabbath, 1650. (257)
At A Public Fast In July, First Sabbath, 1650.(257) Deut. xxxii. 4-7.--"He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment," &c. There are two things which may comprehend all religion,--the knowledge of God and of ourselves. These are the principles of religion, and are so nearly conjoined together, that the one cannot be truly without the other, much less savingly. It is no wonder that Moses craved attention, and that, to the end he may attain it from an hard hearted deaf people, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jeremy Taylor -- Christ's Advent to Judgment
Jeremy Taylor, born in Cambridge, England, in 1613, was the son of a barber. By his talents he obtained an entrance into Caius College, where his exceptional progress obtained for him admission to the ministry in his twenty-first year, two years before the canonical age. He was appointed in succession fellow of All Souls, Oxford, through the influence of Laud, chaplain to the King, and rector of Uppingham. During the Commonwealth he was expelled from his living and opened a school in Wales, employing …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Vol. 2

a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet
We shall now, in conclusion, give a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet. After an introduction in vi. 1, 2, where the mountains serve only to give greater solemnity to the scene (in the fundamental passages Deut. xxxii. 1, and in Is. 1, 2, "heaven and earth" are mentioned for the same purposes, inasmuch as they are the most venerable parts of creation; "contend with the mountains" by taking them in and applying to [Pg 522] them as hearers), the prophet reminds the people of …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Appendix xvi. On the Jewish views About Demons' and the Demonised,' Together with Some Notes on the Intercourse Between Jews and Jewish Christians in the First Centuries.
IT is not, of course, our purpose here to attempt an exhaustive account of the Jewish views on demons' and the demonised.' A few preliminary strictures were, however, necessary on a work upon which writers on this subject have too implictly relied. I refer to Gfrörer's Jahrhundert des Heils (especially vol. i. pp. 378-424). Gfrörer sets out by quoting a passage in the Book of Enoch on which he lays great stress, but which critical inquiries of Dillmann and other scholars have shown to be …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Justice of God
The next attribute is God's justice. All God's attributes are identical, and are the same with his essence. Though he has several attributes whereby he is made known to us, yet he has but one essence. A cedar tree may have several branches, yet it is but one cedar. So there are several attributes of God whereby we conceive of him, but only one entire essence. Well, then, concerning God's justice. Deut 32:4. Just and right is he.' Job 37:23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Truth of God
The next attribute is God's truth. A God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he.' Deut 32:4. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.' Psa 57:10. Plenteous in truth.' Psa 86:15. I. God is the truth. He is true in a physical sense; true in his being: he has a real subsistence, and gives a being to others. He is true in a moral sense; he is true sine errore, without errors; et sine fallacia, without deceit. God is prima veritas, the pattern and prototype …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Finding
Heinrich Suso Deut. xxxii. 10 Now have I seen Thee and found Thee, For Thou hast found Thy sheep; I fled, but Thy love would follow-- I strayed, but Thy grace would keep. Thou hast granted my heart's desire-- Most blest of the blessed is he Who findeth no rest and no sweetness Till he rests, O Lord, in Thee. O Lord, Thou seest, Thou knowest, That to none my heart can tell The joy and the love and the sorrow, The tale that my heart knows well. But to Thee, O my God, I can tell it-- To Thee, and …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

viii
We have not treated the Latin Church after that fashion. There is not a hymn of real merit in the Latin which has not been translated, and in not a few cases oftener than once, with the result that the gems of Latin hymnody are the valued possession of the Christian Church in all English-speaking lands. One does not proceed far without making some discoveries which may account, to a certain extent, for the neglect of Greek hymnody by those men who are best qualified to pursue the study of it. The …
John Brownlie—Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church

The Call of Moses
There is a great deal more room given in Scripture to the call of men to God's work than there is to their end. For instance, we don't know where Isaiah died, or how he died, but we know a great deal about the call God gave him, when he saw God on high and lifted up on His throne. I suppose that it is true to-day that hundreds of young men and women who are listening for a call and really want to know what their life's mission is, perhaps find it the greatest problem they ever had. Some don't …
Dwight L. Moody—Men of the Bible

Perhaps There is no Book Within the Whole Canon of Scripture So Perplexing and Anomalous...
Perhaps there is no book within the whole canon of Scripture so perplexing and anomalous, at first sight, as that entitled "Ecclesiastes." Its terrible hopelessness, its bold expression of those difficulties with which man is surrounded on every side, the apparent fruitlessness of its quest after good, the unsatisfactory character, from a Christian standpoint, of its conclusion: all these points have made it, at one and the same time, an enigma to the superficial student of the Word, and the arsenal …
F. C. Jennings—Old Groans and New Songs

Epistle cxxvii. From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory .
From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory [89] . To the holy lord, and father in Christ, the Roman [pope], most fair ornament of the Church, a certain most august flower, as it were, of the whole of withering Europe, distinguished speculator, as enjoying a divine contemplation of purity (?) [90] . I, Bargoma [91] , poor dove in Christ, send greeting. Grace to thee and peace from God the Father [and] our [Lord] Jesus Christ. I am pleased to think, O holy pope, that it will seem to thee nothing extravagant …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

God's True Treasure in Man
'The Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.'--DEUT, xxxii.9. 'Jesus Christ (Who) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people.'--TITUS ii. 14. I choose these two texts because they together present us with the other side of the thought to that which I have elsewhere considered, that man's true treasure is in God. That great axiom of the religious consciousness, which pervades the whole of Scripture, is rapturously …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gospel Feast
"When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"--John vi. 5. After these words the Evangelist adds, "And this He said to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Thus, you see, our Lord had secret meanings when He spoke, and did not bring forth openly all His divine sense at once. He knew what He was about to do from the first, but He wished to lead forward His disciples, and to arrest and …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Necessity of Regeneration, Argued from the Immutable Constitution of God.
John III. 3. John III. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. WHILE the ministers of Christ are discoursing of such a subject, as I have before me in the course of these Lectures, and particularly in this branch of them which I am now entering upon, we may surely, with the utmost reason, address our hearers in those words of Moses to Israel, in the conclusion of his dying discourse: Set your hearts unto all …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Lix. The Preacher and his Hearers.
22nd Sunday after Trinity. S. Matthew xviii. 23. "The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants." INTRODUCTION.--I have been a good deal abroad, over the Continent of Europe, and whenever I am in a little country inn, I make a point of going into the room where the men are smoking and drinking wine or beer, and hearing their opinions on the politics of the day, and of their country. Now, my experience tells me that in country taverns in France, and …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Jewish Dispersion in the West - the Hellenists - Origin of Hellenist Literature in the Greek Translation of the Bible - Character of the Septuagint.
When we turn from the Jewish dispersion' in the East to that in the West, we seem to breathe quite a different atmosphere. Despite their intense nationalism, all unconsciously to themselves, their mental characteristics and tendencies were in the opposite direction from those of their brethren. With those of the East rested the future of Judaism; with them of the West, in a sense, that of the world. The one represented old Israel, stretching forth its hands to where the dawn of a new day was about …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He Associates with Malchus
[Sidenote: 1095.] 1. Our Malachy, born in Ireland,[134] of a barbarous people, was brought up there, and there received his education. But from the barbarism of his birth he contracted no taint, any more than the fishes of the sea from their native salt. But how delightful to reflect, that uncultured barbarism should have produced for us so worthy[135] a fellow-citizen with the saints and member of the household of God.[136] He who brings honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock[137] …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Christian's God
Scripture References: Genesis 1:1; 17:1; Exodus 34:6,7; 20:3-7; Deuteronomy 32:4; 33:27; Isaiah 40:28; 45:21; Psalm 90:2; 145:17; 139:1-12; John 1:1-5; 1:18; 4:23,24; 14:6-11; Matthew 28:19,20; Revelation 4:11; 22:13. WHO IS GOD? How Shall We Think of God?--"Upon the conception that is entertained of God will depend the nature and quality of the religion of any soul or race; and in accordance with the view that is held of God, His nature, His character and His relation to other beings, the spirit …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

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