Peace Is Not to Be Placed in Men
True peace and happiness can only be found in God, and not in human relationships or earthly comforts.
Thomas a Kempis preaches about finding true peace and love in God alone, emphasizing the importance of rooting our affections in the eternal Truth rather than in temporary human relationships. He highlights the need to detach from earthly comforts and desires, striving for humility and self-emptying to make room for God's grace to work in our hearts. Kempis teaches that true love and strength come from God, and any excessive attachment to created things hinders our spiritual growth and corrupts the soul.
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THE VOICE OF CHRIST
MY CHILD, if you place your peace in any creature because of your own feeling or for the sake of his company, you will be unsettled and entangled. But if you have recourse to the ever-living and abiding Truth, you will not grieve if a friend should die or forsake you. Your love for your friend should be grounded in Me, and for My sake you should love whoever seems to be good and is very dear to you in this life. Without Me friendship has no strength and cannot endure. Love which I do not bind is neither true nor pure.
You ought, therefore, to be so dead to such human affections as to wish as far as lies within you to be without the fellowship of men. Man draws nearer to God in proportion as he withdraws farther from all earthly comfort. And he ascends higher to God as he descends lower into himself and grows more vile in his own eyes. He who attributes any good to himself hinders God's grace from coming into his heart, for the grace of the Holy Spirit seeks always the humble heart.
If you knew how to annihilate yourself completely and empty yourself of all created love, then I should overflow in you with great grace. When you look to creatures, the sight of the Creator is taken from you. Learn, therefore, to conquer yourself in all things for the sake of your Maker. Then will you be able to attain to divine knowledge. But anything, no matter how small, that is loved and regarded inordinately keeps you back from the highest good and corrupts the soul.
Sermon Outline
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I
- The Dangers of Placing Peace in Men
- The Ever-Living Truth as a Source of Peace
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II
- The True Nature of Friendship
- The Importance of Grounding Love in God
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III
- The Need to Withdraw from Earthly Comfort
- The Importance of Humility in Receiving God's Grace
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IV
- The Importance of Annihilating Oneself
- The Role of Self-Conquest in Attaining Divine Knowledge
Key Quotes
“Without Me friendship has no strength and cannot endure.” — Thomas a Kempis
“Love which I do not bind is neither true nor pure.” — Thomas a Kempis
“If you knew how to annihilate yourself completely and empty yourself of all created love, then I should overflow in you with great grace.” — Thomas a Kempis
Application Points
- You should strive to be dead to human affections and wish to be without the fellowship of men.
- You should learn to conquer yourself in all things for the sake of your Maker.
- You should empty yourself of all created love to allow God's grace to overflow in you.