Your COMPASS for the Journey on the PATH of Discipleship: July 3-9, 2011
Posted by Isaac Butterworth | Filed under Compass, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation
Your COMPASS for the Journey on the PATH of Discipleship is a daily resource designed to help you find direction in your walk with Christ. This week, after having taken a short detour, we are returning to John Flavel’s study of our union with Christ. The book, The Inner Sanctum of Puritan Piety, by J. Stephen Yuille is our primary resource. The theme this week is the evidence of our union with Christ.
Sunday, July 3, 2011 CHRIST’S PURPOSE FOR HIS BRIDE
Compass:
Ephesians 5:25-27 ‘…Christ loved the church….’
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Map:
Notice three details in these verses from Ephesians: (1) Christ unites himself to his bride (the church) so that he might ‘make her holy’ and cleanse her. The act of making her holy is positive; that of cleansing is negative. He cleanses his bride from her sin. (2) Christ accomplishes this cleansing ‘by the washing with water through the word.’ This means, of course, that God’s Word is the means by which the church’s cleansing is effected. (3) Christ’s goal in cleansing and sanctifying his bride is to present her to himself ‘without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.’
Journey:
Let’s remind ourselves today that it is Christ who cleanses us and makes us holy and that he is the one who will present us to himself ‘without…blemish.’ This is not our achievement but his; therefore, the glory is his. Let us be sure, then, to glorify him by spending time in the Word of God, which is his method of choice in preparing us for ‘the wedding supper of the Lamb’ (Revelation 19:9), that great day when he will present us to himself.
Monday, July 4, 2011 FRUIT UNTO GOD
Compass:
John 15:8 ‘…showing yourselves to be my disciples.’
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Map:
John Flavel is firm in his conviction that union with Christ results in ‘fruit unto God.’ He writes: ‘There are no barren branches growing upon this fruitful root.’
Journey:
The implication of this is obvious: If we are not Christ-like, then we have no reason to think that we are one with him. Flavel warns that there is a ‘difference between those [on the one hand] who, by profession and common estimation, pass for Christians among men, though they have no…union with Christ [other than] an external adhesion to him in the [surface] duties of religion, and those [on the other hand] whose union with Christ is real, vital, and permanent, by the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ in their souls.’ It makes sense for us to follow the instructions of the Apostle Peter, who said, ‘Be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure’ (2 Peter 1:10). Over the next several days, we will focus on this process.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 SELF-EXAMINATION
Compass:
1 John 3:24 ‘…This is how we know….’
Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Map:
Flavel divides this verse into three parts: (1) There is something to be tested, namely, that ‘he lives in us.’ We must determine ‘whether,’ in Flavel’s words, ‘we stand in Christ as dead branches in a living stock, which are only bound to it by external…bonds that hold them for a while together, or whether our souls have a vital union…with Christ.’ (2) There is the trial of this union: ‘by the Spirit he gave us.’ That is, all those who are one with Christ possess the Holy Spirit. (3) There is the certainty of this trial: ‘This is how we know.’ Although our union with Christ is a mystery, ‘it is discovered by the effects thereof.’
Journey:
Flavel identifies seven such effects, the first of which is a convicting Spirit. Flavel says, ‘In whomsoever the Spirit of Christ is a Spirit of sanctification, to that man or woman he hath been, more or less, a Spirit of conviction and humiliation.’ I need to ask myself, ‘Am I wounded in my heart for my sin?’ If so, that is the work of the Spirit.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 A QUICKENING AND LOVING SPIRIT
Compass:
Luke 6:43-45 ‘Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.’
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
Map:
Flavel says that our union with Christ is evident by its effects, and he names seven of these effects. The first one, which we looked at yesterday, is a convicting Spirit. Two other effects are: a quickening Spirit and a loving Spirit. Having been born again, our affections are rightly ordered, meaning that our love is set upon God. Not only that, but we love what he loves and hate what he hates.
Journey:
Our love for God (and our love for other things in God) is not motivated by what we receive from him but by who he is. True love is focused on an object’s goodness, not on any perceived personal benefits derived from it. Let us examine ourselves at this point.
Thursday, July 7, 2011 A MORTIFYING AND OBEYING SPIRIT
Compass:
Romans 8:12-14 ‘…Put to death the misdeeds of the body….’
12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Map:
The fourth effect of our union with Christ is a mortifying Spirit. ‘Wherever the Spirit of God dwelleth,’ Flavel writes, ‘he doth in some degree mortify and subdue the evils of the soul in which he resides.’ In continuity with a Spirit of mortification, by which we ‘put to death the misdeeds of the body,’ there is a fifth effect of our union with Christ, namely, an obeying Spirit. Echoing Romans 8:14, Flavel writes, ‘Those to whom the Spirit of grace is given are led by the Spirit.’ Having an obedient Spirit does not mean that we obey God in order to gain his favor; it means that we obey as evidence of his favor.
Journey:
Stephen Yuille writes: If we desire to obey God and delight in doing so, we can be certain that the Holy Spirit dwells within.
Friday, July 8, 2011 A PRAYING AND HEAVENLY MINDED SPIRIT
Compass:
Colossians 3:1-2 ‘…Set your hearts on things above….’
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Map:
The sixth and seventh effects of our union with Christ, according to John Flavel, are a praying Spirit and a heavenly minded Spirit. Flavel asks: ‘Doth the Spirit of God bring thee often upon thy knees? Art thou one of the generation of seekers? Art thou one of God’s suppliants? …When thy heart is big with grief, whither dost thou go?’ In tandem with a praying Spirit is a heavenly minded Spirit. ‘Wherever the Spirit of grace inhabits,’ Flavel says, ‘there is an heavenly, spiritual frame of mind accompanying and evidencing the indwelling of the Spirit.’
Journey:
If we have a desire to pray and if we are inclined to what is heavenly, then we can be sure that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 ASSURANCE
Compass:
Romans 8:15-16 ‘The Spirit…testifies with our spirit….’
15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Map:
We have looked this week at seven ‘effects,’ which we might see as the essence of assurance. The Apostle Paul writes, ‘The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.’ How does the Spirit do this? According to Flavel, there are two ways: (1) ‘objectively, i.e. by working those graces in our souls which are the conditions of the promise [for example, conviction of sin, repentance, and faith in the sufficiency of Christ]’ and (2) ‘effectively, i.e. by irradiating the soul with a grace-discovering light, shining upon his own work.’
Journey:
The questions to ask ourselves in light of all this are: (1) Have I seen my need of God’s grace, offered in Christ? and (2) Am I overtaken with wonder by how marvelous – how ‘amazing’ – God’s grace is?
Photo Credit: White Doves in Flight by David Campbell
