Pressing Soul
The sermon 'Pressing Soul' emphasizes the importance of having a heart open to receive God's love and desire, leading to holiness and union with Christ.
Mary Wilder Tileston preaches about the manifestation of God's love through sending His Son for us to live through Him, emphasizing the need for us to receive God's love to find true freedom and peace. The sermon also highlights the spirit of prayer as a longing for God's presence and a desire to be united with Christ in one spirit, stressing the importance of opening our hearts to God's eternal desire to dwell within us. Additionally, the sermon touches on holiness as the beauty of the Lord that we can obtain by longing for His presence and responding to His call.
Text
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
1 JOHN 4:9
THY love to me, O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest,
And set my spirit free.
HORATIUS BONAR
THE spirit of prayer is a pressing forth of the soul out of this earthly life, it is a stretching with all its desire after the life of God, it is a leaving, as far as it can, all its own spirit, to receive a spirit from above, to be one life, one love, one spirit with Christ in God. For the love which God bears to the soul, His eternal, never-ceasing desire to enter into it, and to dwell in it, stays no longer than till the door of the heart opens for Him. For nothing does, or can keep God out of the soul, or hinder His holy union with it, but the desire of the heart turned from Him.
WILLIAM LAW
Holiness is the beauty of the Lord God or hosts. Thou canst not separate the one from the other. To have it, thou must have Him. Nor will it be hard to obtain either; for He longs to enter into thy being. Thy longing is the faint response of thy heart to His call.
F. B. MEYER
Sermon Outline
- The Love of God
- The Spirit of Prayer
- The Desire of the Heart
- Holiness and the Beauty of God
- Holiness is the beauty of the Lord God
- To have holiness, one must have God
Key Quotes
“For the love which God bears to the soul, His eternal, never-ceasing desire to enter into it, and to dwell in it, stays no longer than till the door of the heart opens for Him.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“Holiness is the beauty of the Lord God or hosts. Thou canst not separate the one from the other. To have it, thou must have Him.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“Nor will it be hard to obtain either; for He longs to enter into thy being. Thy longing is the faint response of thy heart to His call.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- To experience God's love and holiness, one must have a heart open to receive Him.
- The desire of the heart turned from God keeps Him out of the soul.
- God longs to enter into our being and desires a union with us.