Finding Christ as our Peace

24 MAY

And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. Micah 5:5

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Isaiah 9:1-7

How can we venture to believe the promise that in times of trouble, eventually all will be quiet and secure? Micah assures us, “this man” shall be our peace. We should thus be satisfied with the protection of the king whom God the Father gives us. Let the shadow of that king suffice us, for we shall be safe enough from all trouble.

We now see in what sense the prophet calls Christ the peace of His people, or of His church. God calls Christ His peace because He will drive far away all hurtful things. He will be armed with strength and invincible power to check all the ungodly, that they may not make war on the children of God or prevent them in their course, if they would cause any disturbances.

Christ is our peace in another way; for He reconciles us to the Father. What would it serve us to be safe from earthly annoyances if we were not certain of being reconciled with God? Unless our minds are sure of the paternal benevolence of God, we must necessarily tremble at all times, even if no one causes us any trouble. Even if all men were our friends and applauded us, our condition would still be miserable. We would surely struggle with restlessness unless our consciences were pacified with the sure confidence that God is our Father.

Christ can be our peace in no other way than by reconciling God to us. At the same time, the prophet promises that we shall lie safely under the shadow of Christ, so that we fear no evil. For though Satan furiously assails us, and the whole world becomes angry with us, we shall fear nothing if Christ keeps and protects us under His wings.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION:

The only real hope for peace in our world is for men and women to find peace with God. If the human race were to turn to Christ, we would soon find our world full of peace. Let us pray, then, for the Prince of Peace to reign in our world.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Finding Safety in the Church

3 MAY

And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 13:9

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 10:19-25

The Holy Spirit admonishes us not to conclude that people are true members of the church because most of them seem to excel other people. For just as the chaff lies above the wheat and suffocates it, thus hypocrites bury the sons of God, whose number is small. Hypocrites also shine forth in their own splendor, and great numbers of them seem to make them exclusively worthy of the title of the church.

Hence let us examine ourselves, searching whether we have the living root of piety and faith, which are those interior marks by which God distinguishes His children from strangers, or hyprocrites.

This passage also teaches nothing is more formidable than to be separated from God's flock. We cannot hope for safety unless God collects us into one body under one head. When we safely reside in Christ alone, we cannot be separated from Christ without falling away from all hope of safety. Christ will not and cannot be torn from His church that He is joined to by an indissoluble knot, as the head is to the body. Hence, unless we cultivate unity with the faithful, we are also cut off from Christ. Nothing, then, is more fearful than to be separated from God's people, and therefore from Christ.

Psalm 106:4 says, "Remember me, O God, in Thy good will towards Thy people: visit me with Thy salvation." When the author of the psalm prays this way, he acknowledges that we will have true and solid happiness when the Lord embraces us along with the rest of the faithful. For God's good will toward His people is that fatherly kindness by which He embraces His elect.

If God thinks us worthy of His fatherly favor, then we may be truly confident of safety.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: 

In a day when many Christians are focused only on their own individual relationship with God, this passage reminds us of the importance of the church. The church is not just a means to advance our own walk with God, but a divinely appointed institution. Connecting with the church is therefore not an option, but a requirement for true believers.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Is Faith the Condition of the Covenant of Grace?

Yea, but you will say to me, peradventure though works be not the condition of the covenant; yet, we hope you will yield, faith is the condition of the covenant.

I answer, beloved, I beseech you observe me warily in this, for I am now upon a nice point, and I shall desire to go as evenly as the Scripture will guide me in it. I must needs tell you directly, and according to the truth, that, faith is not the condition of the covenant.

"He that believes shall be saved, he that believes not shall be damned." Is not faith here the condition of the covenant? 

I answer, There is no person under heaven shall be saved till he have believed. This I grant; yet this will not make faith to be the condition of the covenant. For, first, consider faith as an act, our act, and as we do it, so I say it is a work; our act of believing is a work. If therefore we perform the condition that is a work for the enjoyment of the covenant, then the covenant doth depend upon a work; but it doth not depend upon a work, for the text saith, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly," &c.

You will say, In that text, believing is required to the justifying of the ungodly.

I answer, An ungodly person, after he is justified, believes: but you must understand it, it is not the faith of the man that simply and properly justifies, but it is Christ in whom he believes; believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly: it is He that justifieth, that is Christ. It is not believing that justifies. Mark well that phrase; Him that justifieth. Justification is an act of Christ, it is not an act of faith.

But you will say, It is an act of Christ by faith.

I answer, Then Christ justifies not alone. Is faith Christ Himself? If not, then Christ must have a partner to justify, but Christ alone doth it. Nay, I say more, Christ justifies a person before he believes; for, he that believes is justified before he believes; for I ask you, whether in justification a man must believe a truth of a falsehood? You will say, he must believe a truth; then say I, it is a truth that he is justified before he believes it; he cannot believe that which is not, and if he be not justified, that he may believe it, he then believes that which is false. But he is first justified before he believes, then he believes that he is justified.

But what then serves faith for?

I answer, It serves for the manifestation of that justification which Christ puts upon a person by Himself alone: that you by believing on Him, may have the declaration, and manifestation of your justification. Mark what the apostle saith, whereby you shall find the true use of faith, that is not the condition, without which we receive no benefit from Christ; but rather it is the manifestation of that which is already done, and received. Heb. xi. 1, the apostle saith, "Faith is the ground of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." I pray you observe the apostle's expression, there is abundance of light in it. Faith is the evidence of things, it is not the being of things; and it is the evidence of things not seen. A man is justified, and that by Christ alone, but it is not known to him, it is an unseen thing. Well, how shall he see this, and know that it is so? The text saith "Faith is an evidence;" faith gives evidence to this thing, faith makes it known; by faith we come to apprehend it; by faith we come to rejoice in it, as we apprehend it to be our own. It is true, indeed, Christ has honoured faith admirably; but let us take heed we do not over-honour it, to give the peculiar reserved prerogative of Christ Himself unto it: if faith were a concurrent thing with Christ, and Christ did justify a person alone, what would follow?...

As we stand thus, I say, it is not faith that justifies, neither wholly, nor in part; but Christ alone freely for His own sake, considering a person is ungodly, so He justifies him.

Beloved, let me tell you, though faith itself cannot thus be called our righteousness; yet in respect of the glory that God ascribes to it, that it seals to men's souls the fulness of righteousness, how can you consider a person a believer, and withal ungodly? When men are believers, they cease to be ungodly: but if they are not justified till they believe, Christ doth not justify the ungodly, but the godly; and then that truth which I have delivered, Rom. iv. 5, cannot hold the current, "That we must believe on Him that justifies the ungodly;" but rather, we must believe on Him that justifies the righteous. But as I said, we do not believe that we may be justified; but we do believe, and truly believe, when we are, and because we are justified. So that still stands firm, we are not in covenant, we partake not of the covenant, by any condition we perform, till which performance the covenant cannot be made good unto us; but we are in covenant, and Christ makes us to be in covenant, for His own sake, without any condition in the creature, "Shewing mercy to whom He will shew mercy;" without anything, I say, the creature is to do, to this end, to partake of the covenant.

Tobias Crisp

Christ Alone Exalted, I:90-93

Calling on Christ for His Gifts

8 APRIL

And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom, and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. Isaiah 11:2

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Proverbs 4:1-13

Christ did not come empty-handed but was well supplied with every gift so that He might enrich us with them, the prophet tells us. He shows that the gifts of the Spirit are laid up in Christ, first, generally; and second, particularly, that we may go to Him to obtain whatever we want.

The Messiah will enlighten us with the light of wisdom and understanding, impart counsel to us in difficulties, make us strong and courageous in battle, and bestow on us the true fear of God, which is godliness. In short, He will communicate to us all that is necessary for our life and salvation. The prophet includes all gifts here; it would be excessively foolish to attempt to conceal those that do not belong to this enumeration.

He shows that these gifts dwell in Christ so they may be communicated to us. We are called His fellows (Ps. 45:7) because strength proceeds from Him as the head to the individual members. In like manner Christ causes His heavenly anointing to flow over the entire body of His church.

Hence it follows that those who are altogether barren and dry have no interest in Christ and falsely glory in His name. So whenever we feel lack any of these gifts, let us blame our unbelief; for true faith makes us partakers of all Christ's benefits. We ought, therefore, to pray to the Lord to prevent the lust of the flesh from ruling in us, that Christ may wholly unite us to Himself. We should also observe that we ought to ask all blessings from Christ alone, for we are mistaken if we imagine that anything can be obtained from the Father any other way.

John Calvin 

FOR MEDITATION: How amazing to think that believers may take part in all of the benefits provided in Christ! And yet our expectations often fall far below what God is willing to give us. Let us storm the throne of grace to obtain these gifts through Christ and to better appreciate the fullness of His promises.

365 Days With Calvin 

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Did Christ Die for You?

Probably you have been told at some time or other that God loves you and that Christ died for you. You may then have even decided that things cannot be so bad. True, the Bible talks about punishment for all those who do not believe in Christ, but if God loves everyone and if Christ died for everyone, then there really is no need to worry, is there?

Did you know that it is not necessarily true that Christ died for you? The Bible teaches very clearly that Christ did not die for everyone, but only for those who were given to Him by His heavenly Father (e.g., John 10:11; Ephesians 5:25).

When Christ died on the cross some two thousand years ago, He died to pay for the sins of those whom His Father had given Him. He took their place and died because He was suffering the punishment for their sins.

That means that if Christ died for you, all your sins are taken away and there is no reason any more for God to be angry with you or to punish you. It would be wonderful to know that, would it not?

But if Christ did not die for you, then there is no hope for you. Then you are doomed to suffer the punishment for your own sin. The story of how Jesus suffered and died will show you what that means. He was left in darkness and was forsaken of God. So will you be punished by God forever if Jesus Christ did not die for you.

Perhaps you do not realize what a terrible thing that is. The Bible says that the punishment for sin is both eternal darkness and fire that is never quenched. It is to be hated by God forever and to be thrown out of His presence (Matthew 13:49-50; 25:30, 46).

The only way of being delivered from such punishment is by the death of Jesus on the cross. Only if Jesus suffered your punishment will you be saved from it.

But how do you know whether or not Christ died for you? How does anyone know?

There are three things that will be true if Christ died for you.

First, you will see that you are a sinner and will be sorry before God for all the iniquities that you have committed against Him and against others. The Bible calls this repentance.

Second, you will want Jesus to be your Saviour and, by the grace of God, will trust in Him. You will believe that He is the Son of God, that He did die for sins, and (most wonderful of all) that he died for you too!

Third, you will seek to live a new life of obedience to the Triune God—a life that shows true thankfulness to Him for such wonderful salvation.

The Bible, therefore, commands you and every one else to repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ, and insists that you obey God, not your wishes, in all things.

We would like you to think about these words from the Bible:

"For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:17-18).

Source:

http://www.cprf.co.uk/pamphlets/didChristdieforyou.htm#.VR3VgY6kzMw 

Assurance of His Protection

19 MARCH

The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Psalm 110:2

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 2

It is astonishing that though the whole world has united to oppose Christ's kingdom, the church has continued to spread and prosper. David here encourages the godly not to be dispirited by the foolhardy attempts of those who presume to introduce discord and disorder into the kingdom of Christ, for God will use His invincible power to maintain the glory of His sacred throne.

When our minds are agitated by various commotions, let us confidently rest, knowing that no matter how much the world rages against Christ, they will never be able to hurl Him from the right hand of the Father. Moreover, because He does not reign on His own account but for our salvation, we may rest assured that we will be protected and preserved from all ills under the guardianship of this invincible King.

Doubtless our condition in this world will include many hardships, but God's will is that Christ's kingdom should be encompassed with many enemies, His design being to keep us in a state of constant warfare. Therefore it becomes us to exercise patience and meekness, and, assured of God's aid, boldly to consider the rage of the whole world as nothing. 

This passage also tells us about the calling of the Gentiles. If God had not told us about the extension of Christ's kingdom to the Gentiles, we could not today be regarded as His people. But since the wall is broken between Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:14), and the gospel promulgated, we too have been gathered into the body of the church, and know that Christ puts forth His power to uphold and defend us.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: Although believers are troubled by worldly enemies or by internal discord and disorder, we can be assured that the church of Christ will be restored to peace. We can look to heaven, confident that God will not allow evil to triumph but will uphold and defend His bride. How does this comfort us here and now?

365 Days With Calvin 

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke