John Calvin

Posted by

0

HOW GOD BRINGS ABOUT HIS PURPOSE IN AFFLICTION

[T]he whole soul, ensnared by the allurements of the flesh, seeks its happiness on the earth. To meet this disease, the Lord makes his people sensible of the vanity of the present life, by a constant proof of its miseries” John Calvin (ref#113, p465)

“He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity” (Job 36:15 ESV).

“[O]ur suffering is never purposeless, blind, unfair, or random. [I]n the midst of adversity he is working out his gracious plans for us (2 Cor 4:17-18). [T]he Savior is the only innocent one to ever suffer” Bob Kauflin (ref#199, p132).

“When difficulty exposes the weakness of your resolve and the limits of your strength, you do not have to panic, because he will endure even in those moments when you don’t feel able to do so yourself” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Jan 12th).

“[God’s children] were kept walking humbly with [Him], and this was the secret of their safety. God can bring His servant from the loftiest height to the lowest depth of adversity, yet love him still with an unchanged and deathless affection” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Nov 14th).

“In your distress you called and [God] rescued you, [He] answered you” (Ps 81:7 NIV).

If I don’t buffet my body GOD will do it for me through His discipline.

“Bright is the oasis that blooms in the wilderness of sand. When the Israelites provoked the Most High by their continued idolatry, He punished them by withholding both dew and rain, so that their land was visited by a sore famine. But while He did this, He took care that His own chosen ones would be secure. If all other brooks are dry, yet will there be one reserved for Elijah; and when that fails, God will still preserve for him a place of sustenance; No, not only for one, because the Lord did not have simply one ‘Elijah,’ but He had a remnant according to the election of grace, who were hidden by fifties in a cave; and though the whole land was subject to famine, yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from Ahab’s table, too, by His faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah. Let us from this draw the inference: come what may, God’s people are safe” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, July 6th AM).

“Great tempest, great calm; God proportions the comfort to the affliction” Pasquier Quesnel (ref#333, p225).

Posted by

0

SUFFERING – WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE

“The heavenly Physician takes care of the well-being of all his patients; he gives some a milder medicine and purifies others by more shocking treatments, but he omits no one; for the whole world without exception, is ill” John Calvin (ref#313, p53-54).

“[Let] no one be moved by afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this” (1 Thes 3:3 ESV).

“God has appointed who shall suffer. Suffering comes not by chance but by the will and appointment of God. We are apt to forget God when affliction comes, and to think it strange that those that fear God should suffer (1 Pet 4:12). God has appointed when they shall suffer. The people of God, are not in the hands of their enemies, but in the hand of God. God has appointed where this, that, or the other good man shall suffer. Moses and Elias, when they appeared on the holy mount, told Jesus of the suffering which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the place assigned for Christ to suffer. God has appointed what kind of sufferings this or that saint shall undergo at this place, and at such a time. God said He would show Paul beforehand how great things he should suffer for His sake (Acts 9:16)” John Bunyan (ref#225, Oct 17th).

[God’s] eye is upon you; he has appointed bounds both to the degree and the duration of the trial; and he does and will afford you such supports, that you shall not be tried beyond what you are enabled to bear. I doubt not but your conflicts and sorrows will in due time terminate in praise and victory, and be sanctified to your fuller establishment in the truth” John Newton (ref#322, p167).

“Our sufferings as to the nature of them, are all written down in God’s book; and though the writing seems as unknown characters to us, yet God understands them very well” John Bunyan (ref#225, Oct 17th).

Posted by

0

GOD’S PURPOSE IN AFFLICTION

“God loves to show off his greatness by being an inexhaustible source of strength to build weak people up. His exuberance in delighting in the welfare of his servant is the measure of the immensity of his resources” John Piper (ref#220, p186).

“[A]ll afflictions are God’s rod, and therefore there is no remedy for them other than God’s grace” John Calvin (ref#164, March 17th).

“If God intended for all the days of your life to be easy, they would be. No, in grace, he intends for your days to be his tools of refinement” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, April 22nd).

“Our sins have been forgiven. We’ve been bought by the blood of the Savior. We’ve become part of God’s family, destined to become like Christ. God is now using our trials to accomplish his good and redemptive purposes in us (Romans 8:28-29)” Bob Kauflin (ref#199, p131).

“In the upbuilding of His work the Lord does not always make everything plain before His servants. He sometimes tries the confidence of His people by bringing about circumstances which compel them to move forward in faith. Often He brings them into strait and trying places, and bids them advance. It is at such times, when the prayers of His servants ascend to Him in earnest faith, that God opens the way before them and brings them out into a large place” Ellen G. White (ref#331, p357).

“Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do” (Jer 9:7 ESV).

“[H]e will purge them of their sin” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p1391).

“He that suffers for righteousness’ sake suffers by the order and design of God. It is not what enemies will, but what God wills, and what God appoints, that shall be done” John Bunyan (ref#225, Oct 17th).

Posted by

0

CONDITIONS THAT CREATE TRIBULATION

“If everything proceeded according to [our] wishes, [we] would not understand what it means to follow God” John Calvin (ref#313, p52).

“[I]f a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many” (Ecc 11:8 ESV).

“The trial exposed their true colors” (2 Cor 8:1-4 MSG).

“[H]ard suffering goes with this job” (Acts 9:15-16 MSG).

“[Y]our life is hard right now. You are being called to do difficult things. You are called to say no to feelings of discouragement and the desire to quit. You are called to persevere, doing the same good things over and over again until they become second nature to you. You are called to work with others who are going through the same hardship and you are called to submit to the wise commands of your Savior King. You will face hardship tomorrow and the day to follow, but your hardship will not last forever. Yes, there will be moments of comfort along the way—times of rest, healing, and retreat—but they will be followed by more hardship. You must face these repeated hardships because the place where you are is not your destination. No, it is a place of preparation for the final destination that is to come. Preparation is hard, but you and I aren’t ready, so we need to be made ready for the final place that will be our home” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Dec 19th).

“A Christian never falls asleep in the fire or in the water, but grows drowsy in the sunshine” John Berridge (ref#333, p281).

Posted by

0

AFFLICTION ENDEARS OUR SOUL TO GOD

“Behold God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding. He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives the afflicted their right. He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous” (Job 36:5-7 ESV).

“In no way does God more effectually comfort those that are cast down than by drawing them to Himself” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Nov 18th). “The LORD helps [the righteous] and delivers them; because they take refuge in him” (Ps 37:40 ESV).

“[A]ll the children of God are destined to be conformed to him. Hence it affords us great consolation in hard and difficult circumstances, which men deem evil and adverse, to think that we are holding fellowship with the sufferings of Christ; that as he passed to celestial glory through a labyrinth of many woes, so we too are conducted thither through various tribulations” John Calvin (ref#113, p458).

“The hardships that you are facing are the tool of his exposing, forgiving, liberating, and transforming grace” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Feb 19th).

“Has the Lord been leading you away, severing ties, and breaking up your calm; disappointing you here, and thwarting you there? Amazed, you have asked, ‘Lord why this?’ And the only reply has been the comfort He speaks to your weary, desolate heart” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, March 30th).

“For [God] will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul [he] will replenish” (Jer 31:25 ESV).

“[L]et the brother who is in lowly circumstances [poor and afflicted] be glorying in his exalted position [namely, in the midst of trials which teach him patience]” (James 1:9 Wuest).

Posted by

1

AFFLICTION ENDEARS THE SOUL TO JESUS

“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, [God’s] way to finding yourself” (Matt 16:24-26 MSG).

“Jesus answered, that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I have conquered the world” (John 16:31-33 MSG).

“In the days of his flesh [Jesus] offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Heb 5:7-9 ESV).

“[T]he whole body of the faithful, so long as they live on the earth, must be like sheep for the slaughter, in order that they may be conformed to Christ their head” John Calvin (ref#113, p468).

“Have you ever thought of the sympathy of Christ? Have you ever thought of Him as bearing that cross with you, entering into its distinctiveness and its minutest circumstance? ‘Then why, if so tender and sympathizing, does He place this cross on me?’ Because of His wisdom and love. He sees that you need that cross. The preciousness and tenderness of Jesus are learned in the dark hour of suffering” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Aug 4th).

“God will take care of everything you need in the glory that pours from Jesus” (Phil 4:18-20 MSG).

Posted by

0

LOOK NOT TO YOURSELF

“The divine life in the soul of man is indestructible; it cannot perish. The seed that grace has implanted in the heart is incorruptible; it cannot be corrupted. Trials, conflicts, storms, and tempests are far from impairing the principle of holiness in the soul. They only deepen and strengthen it, and tend to its growth” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, July 11th).

“Sure, you’ll face difficulty, God is prying open your fingers so you’ll let go of your dreams, rest in his comforts, and take up his call” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Feb 1st).

“[T]he only thing which made it necessary for our Lord to undertake to bear the cross, was to testify and prove his obedience to the Father; whereas there are many reasons which make it necessary for us to live constantly under the cross. Feeble as we are by nature, and prone to ascribe all perfection to our flesh we readily estimate our virtue above its proper worth, and doubt not that, whatever happens, it will stand unimpaired and invincible against all difficulties. Hence we indulge a stupid and empty confidence in the flesh, and then trusting to it wax proud against the Lord himself; as if our own faculties were sufficient without his grace. This arrogance cannot be better repressed than when He proves to us by experience, not only how great our weakness, but also our frailty is. Therefore, he visits us with disgrace, or poverty, or bereavement, or disease, or other afflictions. We thus learn to invoke his strength” John Calvin (ref#113, p458).

“It is so easy to groan about the difficulties of life. It is so easy to be dissatisfied. Why are these things so easy? Well, they’re easy because sin still causes us to make it all about us. Because sin really is selfishness at its core, we all still tend to shrink our worlds down to the small confines of our wants, our needs, and our feelings. If you put yourself in the center of your world, you will find plenty of things to complain about. Combine the hardships of life in this fallen world with the self-centeredness of sin and you have a recipe for disaster, or at least a miserable life of discontent. [A]ll your grumbling is ultimately grumbling against [God]” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Apr 25th).

“[T]he Lord dealt with me, I was rich, and He impoverished me. I was exalted, and He laid me low. He did not drain only one cup and dash solely one vessel, but many. He emptied me ‘from vessel to vessel.’ Happy will you be if the result of all this empting and humbling is the filling and enrichment of your soul with larger communications of grace and truth from Jesus” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Apr 18th).

“In grace, he leads you where you didn’t plan to go in order to produce in you what you couldn’t achieve on your own. He isn’t so much working to transform our circumstances as he is working through hard circumstances to transform you. [You are] blessed with the heart-transforming grace of difficulty” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Feb 1st).

Posted by

0

AFFLICTION – TO CHASTEN THE SOUL

“[T]he whole soul, wrapped up in carnal delights, seeks its happiness on this earth. To counteract this, the Lord by various and severe lessons of misery, teaches his children the vanity of the present life” John Calvin (ref#313, p68).

“Virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed; for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue” Lord Francis Bacon (ref#333, p123).

“We suffer a serious loss when we dwell so much in the region of present clouds, and so little in the meridian of future glory. We look too faintly beyond the midnight of time, into the daylight of eternity. We are slow of heart to believe all that is revealed of the bliss that awaits us, and do not sufficiently realize that in a little while—oh, how soon!—the day will break, the shadow will flee away, and we shall bathe our souls in heaven’s full, unclouded, endless light” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Feb 2nd).

“Afflictions quicken us to prayer. They are useful, and in a degree necessary, to keep alive in us a conviction of the vanity and unsatisfying nature of the present world” John Newton (ref#322, p173).

“Trial is part of the education given in the school of Christ, to purify God’s children from the dross of earthliness. It is because God is leading His children that trying experiences come to them. Trials and obstacles are His chosen methods of discipline, and He is appointed conditions of success” Ellen G. White (ref#331, p524).

“All your heaven-blessed trials, all your sanctified temptations, all the covenant transactions of God with you in the way of afflictive providences, are designed only to fit you more perfectly for your inheritance” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Feb 28th).

“[H]e does not afflict to destroy or ruin us, but rather to deliver us from the condemnation of the world” John Calvin (ref#313, p54).

Posted by

0

KNOWING WE ARE DUST

“If we are truly [God’s] in this world, we are ready to come down and humble ourselves, to be misunderstood, to be laughed at and treated with scorn and derision, in a sense to be crucified—certainly in spirit, perhaps even in body” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p523).

“[E]ven the greatest saints, though realizing that they can only be strong in the grace of God, and not in themselves, are nevertheless more sure than they ought to be of their own bravery and persistence, unless [God] leads them by the trails of life into a deeper knowledge of themselves. This proud idea induced even David to say: “As for me, I said in my prosperity, ‘I shall never be moved.’ By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed” (Ps 30:6-7 ESV). Though in prosperity many saints have flattered themselves with perseverance and patience, yet they learned that they had deceived themselves when adversity broke down their resistance” John Calvin (ref#313, p48).

“God chooses to exercise his children with continual conflict, so that they may flee with alarm to hide themselves under his wings, where they may abide in peace” John Calvin (ref#164, March 30th).

“It is by feeling our utter insufficiency, either to perform duty or to withstand our enemies, that the Lord takes occasion to show us the suitableness, the sufficiency, the freeness, the unchangeableness of his power and grace” John Newton (ref#322, p182).

God’s Presence Makes Glad

When I can sit at Jesus’ feet,

And he anoints my head,

Such peace ensues, so calm and sweet,

I think my foes all dead.

My simple heart then fondly dreams,

It will see war no more;

Too firm to shrink my mountain seems,

And every storm blows o’er.

Then Jesus sends a trying hour,

This lurking pride to quell;

My dead foes rise with dreadful power,

And drag me down to hell.

Now faints my heart within me quite,

My mountain disappears;

All grace is vanished from my sight,

And faith seems lost in fears.

At length my Lord, with sweet surprise,

Returns to loose my bands,

Brings kind compassion in his eyes,

And pardon in his hands.

I drop my vile head in the dust,

And at my Lord’s feet fall;

His grace is now my song and boast,

And Christ my All in All.

     John Berridge (ref#224, Song #336)

Posted by

0

COMING TO GOD AS BEGGARS

“[L]et me know how fleeting I am” (Ps 39:4 ESV)!

“To suppose mercy without supposing misery, or pity without calamity, is a contradiction. Men must be sensible that the law is against them and that the wrath of God abides. They must be sensible that they are not worthy that God should have mercy on them. They come to God as beggars” Jonathan Edwards (ref#229, p56).

“It becomes us to be humbled into the dust; yet our grief, though it cannot be too great, may be under a wrong direction; and if it leads us to impatience or distrust, it certainly is so” John Newton (ref#322, p180).

“[Oh, T]hat I may know and love thee above all things; and above all things loathe and abhor myself. Grant that I may be so ravished in the wonder and love of thee, that I may forget myself and all things, feel neither prosperity nor adversity, may not fear to suffer all the pains of this world. Oh! Let me find thee more inwardly and verily present with me than I am with myself” Herny Scougal (ref#321, p144).

“[W]e are naturally prone to attribute everything to our human flesh, unless we have, as it were, object lessons of our stupidity, we easily form an exaggerated notion of our strength, and we take for granted that, whatever hardships may happen, we will remain invincible” John Calvin (ref#313, p47).

God Our Refuge

Dear Refuge of my weary soul,

On thee, when sorrows rise,

On thee, when waves of trouble roll,

My fainting hope relies.

[To thee I tell each rising grief,

For thou alone canst heal’

Thy word can bring a sweet relief

For every pain I feel.]

But O! when gloomy doubts prevail,

I fear to call thee mine;

The springs of comfort seem to fail,

And all my hopes decline.

Yet, gracious God, where shall I flee?

Thou art my only trust;

And still my soul would cleave to thee,

Though prostrate in the dust.

[Hast thou not bid me seek thy face,

And shall I seek in vain?

And can the ear of sovereign grace

Be deaf when I complain?

No; still the ear of sovereign grace

Attends the mourner’s prayer;

O may I ever find access

To breathe my sorrows there!]

Thy mercy-seat is open still;

Here let my soul retreat;

With humble hope attend thy will,

And wait beneath thy feet.

A. Steele (ref#224, Song #136)