Our Lord and King

      

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee:” ~ Zechariah 9:9

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” ~ Isaiah 9:6

"God has more care of His saints than to leave the government of them on their own shoulder.  Is not her King in her? 

He is a King to gather them, a King to govern them, a King to defend and save them: to save them from their temporal enemies, the sons of violence, the men of this evil world; from their spiritual enemies, to save them from their sins.

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” ~ Matthew 1:21

It is a mercy to be under government and to be under protection.  What would become of us if there were no king in Israel?  When there is no king, all are kings; there are more kings than men.  Satan will be a king; every lust will be a lord, and there will be as many kings as there are devils and sins.  Where would our unruly hearts carry us?  How easily would our wily and potent enemies ruin us!  What tyranny would sin exercise within!  What cruelty we would suffer from without! Where we would wander! What peace, what order, what stability! Where would our counsel, protection, and salvation come, were there no lord over us?

It is a mercy to be under any government; but to be under such a government as this, to be under such a King?  Such a wise and potent King, such a meek and merciful King, such a holy and righteous King?  Oh, what a wonder of mercy!

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” ~

Zechariah 9:9   

He is just, having salvation. As a Priest He has purchased it; as a King He bestows it.  He comes not to get, but to give; not to give laws only, but to give gifts unto men. And He gives like a king, palms, crowns, and thrones.  He gives salvation to His people by the remission of their sins.  Oh, how unthankful, how foolish is this rebellious world! We are impatient of subjection! We shake off the yoke! We groan under duty and under discipline! We will not have this man to rule over us! But then who will save you?

“It is hard to be a Christian! There are strict laws, severe discipline, and no liberty! Woe is me. I am so limited and hedged in on all hands that there is no liberty left me to be miserable.  If I will be His, I must be happy.”

Is this your complaint? Let fools inherit their own folly, but let Israel rejoice in Him who made them; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King, for the Lord takes pleasure in His people and will beautify the meek with salvation.

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.” ~ Psalm 24:9-10

Yea, the Lord our righteousness, He is the King of glory.  The Lord is our Judge; the Lord is our Lawgiver; the Lord is our King – He will save us.  Praise ye the Lord! 

Her King is in the midst of her; the Lord is her King, and He will save her.”

Alleine, Richard. Heaven Opened The Riches of God's Covenant. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 2000. 27-29. Print.

The best of men know not their own strength till they come to the trial.

“But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.” ~ Matthew 26:56

“Do not censure them, reader, in thy thoughts, nor despise them for this their weakness. Neither say in thy heart, Had I been there as they were, I would never have done as they did. They thought as little of doing what they did, as you, or any of the saints do; and as much did their souls detest and abhor it: but there thou mayest see whether a soul that fears God may be carried, if his corruptions be irritated by strong temptations, and God withholds usual influences.”

The best of men know not their own strength till they come to the trial. Little did these holy men imagine such a cowardly spirit had been in them, till temptation put it to the proof. Let this therefore be a caution for ever to the people of God. You resolve never to forsake Christ, you do well; but so did these, and yet were scattered from him. You can never take a just measure of your own strength till temptation have tried it. It is said, Deuteronomy 8:2 that God led the people so many years in the wilderness, to prove them; and to know them, (i.e. to make them know) what was in their hearts. Little did they think such unbelief, murmurings, discontents, and a spirit bent to backslidings, had been in them; until, their straits in the wilderness gave them the sad experience of these things.”

“Did the disciples forsake Christ, though they had such strong persuasions and resolutions never to do it? Then we see, that self-confidence is a sin too incident to the best of men. They little thought their hearts would have proved so base and deceitful, as they found them to be when they were tried. “Though all men forsake thee (saith Peter) yet will not I.” Good man, he resolved honestly, but he knew not what a feather he should be in the wind of temptation, if God once left him to his own fears.”

Flavel, John.
The Works of John Flavel. Vol. 1.
Cambridge: Universit Press,
1997. 349-55. 6 vols. Print.

Walking with Augustine to the City of God: Thus the Citizens of God are Healed

“It is said to the good who are growing in grace, and living in this pilgrimage by faith, “bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). In like manner it is said elsewhere, “Warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man” (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15). And in another place, “If a man be overtaken in any fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). And elsewhere, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26). And in the Gospel, “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). For this purpose, and that we keep that peace without which no man can see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14), many precepts are given which carefully inculcate mutual forgiveness; among which we may number that terrible word in which the servant is ordered to pay his formerly remitted debt of ten thousand talents, because he did not remit to his fellow-servant his debt of two hundred pence. To which parable the Lord Jesus added the words, “Do likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother” (Matthew 28:35).”

“It is thus the citizens of God are healed while still they sojourn in this earth and sigh for the peace of their heavenly country. The Holy Spirit, too, works within, that the medicine externally applied may have some good result. If He does not by His own inward grace sway and act upon the mind, no preaching of the truth is of any avail. But this God does, distinguishing between the vessels of wrath and the vessels of mercy, by His own very secret but very just providence. When He Himself aids the soul in His own hidden and wonderful ways, and the sin which dwells in our members, and is, as the apostle teaches, rather the punishment of sin, does not reign in our mortal body to obey the lusts of it, and when we no longer yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness, then the soul is converted from its own evil and selfish desires, and, God possessing it, it possesses itself in peace even in this life, and afterwards, with perfected health and endowed with immortality, will reign without sin in peace everlasting.”

“For the possession of goodness is by no means diminished by being shared with a partner either permanent or temporarily assumed; on the contrary, the possession of goodness is increased in proportion to the concord and charity of each of those who share it. In short, he who is unwilling to share this possession cannot have it, and he who is most willing to admit others to a share of it will have the greatest abundance to himself.”



*The City of God by Saint Augustine Translated by Marcus Dods, D.D. with an introduction by Thomas Merton, pages Book one pages 483, 484
1993 Modern Library Edition
Introduction copyright 1950,1978 by Random House, Inc.
ISBN 0-679-60087-6

Walking with Augustine to the City of God:One Falls Before Eating the Forbidden Fruit

"Our first parents fell into open disobedience because already they were secretly corrupted; for the evil act had never been done had not an evil will preceded it. And what is the origin of our evil will but pride? For "pride is the beginning of sin." And what is pride but the craving for undue exaltation? And this undue exaltation, when the souls abandons Him to whom it ought to cleave as its end, and becomes a kind of end itself. This falling away is spontaneous; for if the will had remained stedfast in the love of that higher and changeless good by which it was illumined to intelligence and kindled into love, it would not have turned away to satisfaction in itself, and so become frigid and benighted; the woman would not have believed the serpent spoke truth, nor would the man have preferred the request of his wife to the command of God, nor have supposed that it was a venial transgression to cleave to the partner of his life even in a partnership of sin. The wicked deed, then - that is to say, the transgression of eating the forbidden fruit - was committed by persons who were already wicked.”


“That "evil fruit" could be brought forth only by "a corrupt tree" (Matthew 7:18). But that the tree was evil was not the result of nature; for certainly it could become so only by the vice of the will, and vice is contrary to nature. Now, nature could not have been depraved by vice had it not been made out of nothing. Consequently, that it is a nature, this is because it is made by God; but that it falls away from Him, this is because it is made out of nothing. But man did not so fall away as to become absolutely nothing; but being turned towards himself, his being became more contracted than it was when he clave to Him who supremely is. Accordingly, to exist in himself, that is, to be his own satisfaction after abandoning God, is not quite to become a nonentity, but to approximate that.”

"And therefore the holy Scriptures designate the proud by another name, "Self-pleasers." For it is good to have the heart lifted up, yet not to one's self, for this is proud, but to the Lord, for this is obedient, and can be the act only of the humble. There is, therefore, something in humility which, strangely enough, exalts the heart, and something in pride which debases it. This seems, indeed, to be contradictory, that loftiness should debase and lowliness exalt. But pious humility enables us to submit to what is above us; and nothing is more exalted above us than God; and therefore, humility, by making us subject to God, exalts us. But pride, being a defect of nature, by the very act of refusing subjection and revolting from Him who is supreme, falls to a low condition; and then comes to pass what is written: "Thou castedst them down when they lifted up themselves." (Psalms 73:8). For he does not say, "when they had been lifted up," as if they were first exalted, and then afterwards cast down; but "when they lifted up themselves" even then they were cast down - that is to say, the very lifting up was already a fall.”

“And therefore it is that humility is specially recommended to the city of God as it sojourns in this world, and is specially exhibited in the city of God, and in the person of Christ its King; while the contrary vice of pride, according to the testimony of the sacred writings, specially rules his adversary the devil. And certainly this is the great difference which distinguishes the two cities of which we speak, the one being the society of godly men, the other of the ungodly, each associated with the angels that adhere to their party, and the one guided by and fashioned by love of self, the other by love of God."



*The City of God by Saint Augustine Translated by Marcus Dods, D.D. with an introduction by Thomas Merton, pages Book one pages 460, 461
1993 Modern Library Edition
Introduction copyright 1950,1978 by Random House, Inc.
ISBN 0-679-60087-6

Walking with Augustine to the City of God: Will and the Affections

"The character of the human will is of moment; because, if it is wrong, these motions of the soul will be wrong, but if it is right, they will be not merely blameless, but even praiseworthy. For the will is in them all; yea, none of them is anything else than will. For what are desire and joy but a volition of consent to the things we wish? And what are fear and sadness but a volition of aversion from the things which we do not wish? But when consent takes the form of seeking to posses the things we wish, this is called desire; and when consent takes the form of enjoying the things we wish, this is called joy. In like manner, when we turn with aversion from that which we do not wish to happen, this volition is termed fear; and when we turn away from that which has happened against our will, this act of will is called sorrow. And generally in respect of all we seek and shun, as a man's will is attracted or repelled, so it is changed and turned with these different affections. Wherefore the man who lives according to God, and not according to man, ought to be a lover of good, and therefore a hater of evil."

"The right will is, therefore, well-directed love, and the wrong will is ill-directed love. Love, then, yearning to have what is loved, is desire; and having and enjoying it, is joy; fleeing what is opposed to it, is fear; and feeling what is opposed to it, when, it has befallen it, is sadness. Now these emotions are evil if the love is evil; good if the love is good."

"According to the sacred Scriptures and sound doctrine, the citizens of the holy city of God, who live according to God in the pilgrimage of this life both fear and desire, and grieve and rejoice. And because their love is rightly placed, all these affections of theirs are right. They fear eternal punishment, they desire eternal life; they grieve because they themselves groan within themselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of their body (Romans 8:23); they rejoice in hope, because there "shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54).”

“In like manner they fear to sin, they desire to persevere; they grieve in sin, they rejoice in good works. They fear to sin, because they hear that "because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." (Matthew 24:12). They desire to persevere, because they hear that it is written "He that endureth to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 10:22). They grieve for sin, hearing that "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). They rejoice in good works, because they hear that "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 10:7).”

“In like manner, according as they are weak or strong, they fear or desire to be tempted, grieve or rejoice in temptation. They fear to be tempted, because they hear the injunction, "If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted" (Galatians 6:1). They desire to be tempted because they hear one of the heroes of the city of God saying, "Examine me, O Lord, and tempt me: try my reins and my heart" (Psalms 26:2). They grieve in temptations, because they see Peter weeping (Matthew 26:75); they rejoice in temptations, because they hear James saying, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations." (James 1:2)."

"And not only on their own account do they experience these emotions, but also on account of those whose deliverance they desire and whose perdition they fear, and whose loss or salvation affects them with grief or joy."

"But we must further make the admission, that even when these affections are well regulated, and according to God's will, they are peculiar to this life, not to that future life we look for, and that often we yield to them against our will. And thus sometimes we weep in spite of ourselves, being carried beyond ourselves, not indeed by culpable desire, but by praiseworthy charity. In us, therefore, these affections arise from human infirmity. So long as we wear the infirmity of this life, we are rather worse men than better if we have none of these emotions at all. For the Psalmist found fault with those of whom he said, "I looked for some to lament with me, and there was none" (Psalms 69:20). For to be quite free from pain while we are in this place of misery is only purchased at the price of blunted sensibilities both of mind and body. Called "impassibility" by the Greeks, if it be taken to mean a freedom from those emotions which are contrary to reason and disturb the mind, then it is obviously a good and most desirable quality, but it is not one which is attainable in this life. For the words of the apostle are the confession, not of the common herd, but of the eminently pious, just and holy men: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1John 1:8). When there shall be no sin in a man, then there shall be this "impassibility." At present it is enough if we live without crimes; and he who thinks he lives without sin puts aside not sin, but pardon. But if by apathy a condition be meant in which no fear terrifies nor any pain annoys, we must in this life renounce such a state if we would live according to God's will, but may hope to enjoy it in that blessedness which is promised as our eternal condition."

"Whence it already appears in some sort what manner of persons the citizens of the city of God must be in this their pilgrimage, who live after the spirit, not after the flesh - that is to say, according to God, not according to man - and what manner of persons they shall also be in that immortality whither they are journeying."





*The City of God by Saint Augustine Translated by Marcus Dods, D.D. with an introduction by Thomas Merton, pages Book one pages449, 452,453,454
1993 Modern Library Edition
Introduction copyright 1950,1978 by Random House, Inc.
ISBN 0-679-60087-6

Walking with Augustine to the City of God: Consequences of the Fall

“What was the first punishment of the transgression of our first parents?”

“For as soon as our first parents had transgressed the commandment, divine grace forsook them and they were confounded at their own wickedness; and therefore they took fig leaves and covered their shame, for though their members remained the same, they had shame now where they had none before. They experienced a new motion of their flesh, which had become disobedient to them, in strict retribution of their own disobedience to God. For the soul, revelling in its own liberty, and scorning to serve God, was itself deprived of the command it had formerly maintained over the body. And because it had willfully deserted its superior Lord, it no longer held its own inferior servant; neither could it hold the flesh subject as it would always have been able to do had it remained itself subject to God. Then began the flesh to lust against the Spirit (Galatians 5:17), on which strife was born, deriving from the first transgression a seed of death, and bearing in our members, and in our vitiated nature, the contest or even victory of the flesh.”

“For God, the author of natures, not vices, created man upright; but man, being of his own will corrupted and justly condemned, begat corrupted and condemned children. An thus, from the bad use of free will, there originated the whole train of evil, which, with its concatenation of miseries, convoys the human race from its depraved origin, as from a corrupt root, on to the destruction of the second death, which has no end, those only being excepted who are freed by the grace of God.”

“And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” ~ Romans 8:10-11

“Now we bear the image of the earthly man by the propagation of sin and death, which pass on us by ordinary generation; but we bear the image of the heavenly by the grace of pardon and life eternal, which regeneration confers upon us through the Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20-22, 54-57

“Those men who have been embraced by God’s grace, and are become the fellow citizens of the holy angels who have continued in bliss, shall never more either sin or die, being endued with spiritual bodies.”



*The City of God by Saint Augustine Translated by Marcus Dods, D.D. with an introduction by Thomas Merton, pages Book one pages 422,423,430,448
1993 Modern Library Edition
Introduction copyright 1950,1978 by Random House, Inc.
ISBN 0-679-60087-6

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;" Micah 6:8

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” ~ Romans 12:1

“If, then, the body, which, being inferior, the soul uses as a servant or instrument, is a sacrifice when it is used rightly, and with reference to God, how much more does the soul itself become a sacrifice when it offers itself to God in order that, being inflamed by the fire of His love, it may receive of His beauty and become pleasing to Him, losing the shape of earthly desire, and being remodeled in the image of permanent loveliness? And this, indeed, the apostle subjoins, saying,”

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” ~ Romans 12:2

“Thus man himself, consecrated in the name of God, and vowed to God, is a sacrifice in so far as he dies to the world that he may live to God.”


*The City of God by Saint Augustine Translated by Marcus Dods, D.D. with an introduction by Thomas Merton, pages Book one page 309
1993 Modern Library Edition
Introduction copyright 1950,1978 by Random House, Inc.
ISBN 0-679-60087-6