Your COMPASS for the Journey…on the PATH of Discipleship: June 5-11, 2011
Posted by Isaac Butterworth | Filed under Discipleship, Puritans, 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, the COMPASS continues with an exploration of the heart of redemption. Your guide is the seventeenth century Puritan pastor, John Flavel. The book, The Inner Sanctum of Puritan Piety, by J. Stephen Yuille is being used as a resource.
Saturday, June 11, 2011 REVIEW
Stephen Yuille, in his book, The Inner Sanctum of Puritan Piety, summarizes the benefits of being one with Christ. Yuille writes: ‘Because of our union with Christ’s person, we partake of the blessings of his prophetic office: He has become to us wisdom. Because of our union with Christ’s person, we partake of the blessings of his priestly office: He has become to us righteousness. Because of our union with Christ’s person, we partake of the blessings of his kingly office: He has become to us sanctification and redemption.
Compass:
1 Corinthians 1:30 (KJV) ‘…Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…redemption.’
Map:
The fourth blessing of union with Christ is redemption. For Flavel, this is the completion of the Spirit’s work in us for which we live in hope. Flavel says that redemption marks our release from ‘defiling corruptions’ (the part of us that is ‘ruptured’ or broken), from ‘sinking sorrows,’ from ‘entangling temptations,’ from ‘distressing persecutions,’ from ‘pinching wants,’ from ‘distracting fears,’ and from ‘deluding shadows’ (the vanities of this world).
Journey:
When God has completed his work of redemption in us, we will enter a state of ‘substantial good.’ Ask yourself whether you think much about eternity. If not, you may want to begin periodically reflecting on the ultimate blessings God has in store for you. This way you will cultivate a growing sense of hope, looking forward to the day when you can be all that God created (and re-created) you to be!
Tomorrow: REVIEW
Thursday, June 9, 2011 CHRIST, OUR SANCTIFICATION
Compass:
1 Corinthians 1:30 (KJV) ‘…Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…sanctification….’
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
Map:
The third blessing that results from our union with Christ is sanctification, the process by which God makes us holy. The process is one in which we are crucified with Christ and raised with him. Flavel says: ‘As [Christ] died for sin, so the Spirit, applying his death to us in the work of mortification, causes us to die to sin…. And as he was quickened by the Spirit, and raised unto life, so the Spirit applying unto us the life of Christ, causeth us to live, by spiritual vivification.’
Journey:
Read slowly Colossians 2:20-3:17. Afterwards, make a list of the things you need to mortify (put to death) and the things with which you need to clothe yourself.
Tomorrow: CHRIST, OUR REDEMPTION
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 CHRIST, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
1 Corinthians 1:30 (KJV) ‘…Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…righteousness….’
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
Map:
The second of the four blessings that flow from Christ is righteousness. The term ‘righteousness,’ of course, refers to justification (right standing with God). Flavel says that justification consists of two parts: (1) the pardon of sin, by which God charges our sin to Christ; (2) God’s acceptance of us as righteous, by which God credits Christ’s righteousness to us. Since the Son of God took upon himself human flesh, he could become the Prophet that imparted to us God’s wisdom (yesterday’s topic), and he could become the Priest who mediates between God and us by removing our condemnation.
Journey:
When we pray ‘in Jesus’ name,’ we are acknowledging that Christ is our mediator with God. God listens to us because Jesus has reconciled us, sinners all, to his holy and righteous Father. Rehearse this truth in your mind the next time you pray.
Tomorrow: CHRIST, OUR SANCTIFICATION
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 CHRIST, OUR WISDOM
Compass:
1 Corinthians 1:30 (KJV) ‘…Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom….’
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
Map:
Stephen Yuille points out that, in 1 Corinthians 1:30, the Apostle Paul identifies four blessings (or privileges) that flow from Christ to all those who are one with him. The first of these is wisdom. According to John Flavel, Christ becomes to us wisdom in two ways: (1) he improves for our sake those ‘treasures of wisdom’ that are in him, and then (2) he imparts his wisdom to us by the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
Journey:
Do you notice in this verse that all the initiative is with God? Christ becomes our wisdom through the activity of the Father. Our part is to recognize the value of what we have been given and to position ourselves to receive it. One way of doing this is by means of regular Bible reading.
Tomorrow: CHRIST, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Monday, June 6, 2011 YOURS IN CHRIST
Compass:
1 Corinthians 3:21-23 ‘All things are yours….’
21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
Map: John Flavel wrote: ‘Thy union with [Christ’s] person brings interest with his properties along with it. Whatever he is, or hath, it is for thee.’
Journey:
How would you rate your appreciation of your inheritance in Christ? Do you value all that is yours in him? Colossians 3:11 says, ‘Christ is all, and is in all.’ What steps can you take to treasure Christ in your heart?
Tomorrow: CHRIST, OUR WISDOM
Sunday, June 5, 2011 BENEFITS OF UNION WITH CHRIST
Compass:
Psalm 103:1-5 ‘…Forget not all his benefits….’
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Map:
John Flavel, a Presbyterian pastor who lived in the seventeenth century, says that our union with Christ is ‘a door opened to let in many rich blessings to the soul.’ Psalm 103 speaks of the benefits of knowing Christ. If you read it closely, you will see a number of benefits listed: forgiveness, healing , redemption, compassion, satisfaction, and renewal.
Journey:
Can you think of other benefits (or blessings) that belong to you because you belong to Christ? List them; then thank God for each of them.
Tomorrow: YOURS IN CHRIST
Photo Credit: Sunset in Sweden by Per Ola Wiberg
June 5, 2011 at 4:52 pm
I only found days 5 and 6.
June 11, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Thanks for your comment, Ivajean. What may have happened is that the other days’ entries may not have been posted yet. I have been posting day by day. This week (June 12-18), all the entries are published together. Let me know if you have any problem with the site. Thank you for being one of my readers.