Inciting God’s Wrath

6 MAY

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ezekiel 15:6

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Matthew 3:7-12

As often as we are favored with God’s gifts, by which we approach Him and overcome the world, we ought also to remember what we were before God took us up. Acknowledging our original condition will erode all arrogance and prevent us from being ungrateful to God.

But that is not sufficient; we must also recognize that not only has God’s free grace raised us to such a height, but it also sustains us. Thus our continued state of grace is not because of our efforts but depends only on His will. Remembering our origin ought to humble us but also impress on us the sense of our infirmity. From this we learn that we cannot persevere unless God daily, yes, even momentarily, strengthens us and follows us  with His favor.

Finally, if God afflicts or chastises us with His rod, we should know that He chooses this means to beat out of us the foolish confidence by which we deceive ourselves. We thus ought to diligently weigh the meaning of the phrase “the wood of the vine is useless when it is torn up,” especially when dry. For although profane nations perish, yet it is not surprising that God’s judgments will be even more severe toward the reprobate who are members of the church and have been enriched with spiritual gifts, yet who persist in unbelief.

The punishment of such ingratitude will make us an example to others, so that whole world may be astonished at such dreadful signs of God’s anger. The Jews will become such objects of God’s wrath that they will cause hissing and abhorrence in the nations around them. They will be an astonishment and curse to the profane nations.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION:

The judgments that God will exact on those who belong to His church but are not true members are a terrifying prospect! The discipline that He uses to humble our pride is to be welcomed. It may be painful, but it reminds us that we owe everything to God’s grace.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Disciplined to Obedience

26 MARCH

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word. Psalm 119:67

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 12:5-11

Experience demonstrates that when God deals gently with us, we often break into rebellion. Since even a prophet of God who strays needs to be corrected by forcible means, discipline is assuredly needful for us when we rebel.

The first step in obedience is the mortification of the flesh, which does not come naturally to people. So, not surprisingly, God brings us to a resistant, even when it seems to be tamed, it is no wonder to find God repeatedly subjecting us anew to the rod.

This is done in different ways. He humbles some by poverty, some by shame, some by disease, some by domestic distress, and some by hard and painful labors. He applies the appropriate remedy to the diversity of vices to which we are prone. It is now obvious how profitable is the truth of David's confession. The prophet speaks of himself even as Jeremiah (31:8) says of himself that he was "as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke," setting before us an image of the rebellion that is natural to us all. 

We are very ungrateful indeed if the fruit that we reap from chastisements does not assuage or mitigate their bitterness. So long as we are rebellious against God, we are in a state of the deepest wretchedness. The means He chooses to bend and tame us to obedience is His chastisements.

The prophet teaches us by His own example that God gives evidence of His willingness that we should become His disciples by the pains he takes to subdue our hardness. We should then at least strive to become gentle, and, laying aside all stubbornness, willingly bear the yoke that He imposes upon us.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: If the afflictions we experience have a blessed end - our sanctification (Heb. 12:11) - shouldn't we learn to become thankful for them? Rather than simply enduring them with a stiff upper lip, we should be praising God that He did not leave us to ourselves. Are you facing afflictions today? If so, how can you shift your perception of them to offer thanks to the Lord for them?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke