Some readers may be wondering why I keep mentioning God’s appointed means of Grace in my posts on the beatitudes, so I thought it a good idea to explain my rationale before I add any new beatitude posts.
Early on in my Christian walk, I became interested in clarifying the difference between walking in the “flesh” and walking in the “Spirit,” because I wanted to do my walk rightly, as I had already spent so many years wandering around, lost, looking for God in all the wrong places.
It took me several years to see that whenever I thought I was doing well in my walk, I seemed to fall into some kind of sin. Eventually, it began to occur to me that the Lord may be pulling away from me so that I would fall, because I was welling up with pride at those times. This happened so frequently, that I became convinced that I was correct. It was about that time that I became aware of God’s appointed means of grace via a Bible study I was involved in, the teacher pointed them out specifically and explained them. He didn’t contrast them with walking in the flesh or anything, but he made it clear that God does not just give grace for the Christian walk randomly; that grace was available via certain avenues appointed by God. The teacher mentioned the following scripture many times: Act 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. To state them differently: the hearing of preaching; associating with believers around the word of God (not talking about golf, hunting, or any secular concerns in the company of other believers at gatherings; but talking about Christ, struggles with sin…); taking the Lord’s Supper; and praying. There is no mention in Acts 2:42 of baptism, likely because it is a one-time act; nor is there of reading the word as a means of grace, but consider the following scripture and see if that is not what is indicated therein: 2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 2Ti 3:17 God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.
After I learned the aforementioned, I kept meditating on how I could apply this information to my daily walk. I eventually came to the understanding that I must humble myself and put myself under the means of grace that God had appointed for believers. In other words, I must go to church to hear the word preached; I must read the word; pray to God for enabling grace to walk with Him; I must participate in taking the Lord’s supper; and I must associate with other believers and discuss the word, my walk, my struggles…. The purpose for all of this, as I reasoned was that all these means of grace, appointed by God, humble a believer, for example: “Joh 16:8 And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” Or, ” Mic 6:8 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” And as I studied the beatitudes, I noticed that humility was the first point Christ made, He declared it a state of blessedness; that and mourning for sin seem to be the foundation for the Christian beatitude fruit, or the life of blessedness. Furthermore, I reasoned that if I submit myself to God’s appointed means of grace, then I am not trying to walk with Him via my own fleshly ways and means (like most of the current church is doing–making up their own ways to worship God and determining just how to conduct themselves; being wise in their own eyes which Proverbs says is worse than the state of a fool).
How does God’s discipline of us actually look in real life? For example, the Holy Spirit works through the reading of the word and preaching to convict of sin; He chastens wayward believers, instructs, guides (the Bible is full of examples of these things)…the Lord’s supper shows us that Christ died for our SINS and that by believing that we are sinners and partaking of His sacrifice, we are delivered from sin and the wrath of His Father against it. As we congregate with other believers, conviction is easily experienced therein. I have often felt conviction among the congregation of the Lord’s people at times when my heart has fallen asleep spiritually, or when I have backslidden; these same things have happened to me in prayer and Bible reading. So, based on all the above, it seems to me that partaking of God’s means of grace is essential to experiencing humility; that same humility that is required by Christ in the beatitudes–wherein He described His kingdom citizens; the very first words He used in describing them. It seems to me, therefore, that partaking of the means of grace that God has appointed is essential to the Christian life. Otherwise, one is walking in the flesh, by his own means, without God’s grace. One cannot overcome the forces of evil aligned against him without Christ’s strength. To have that, it is essential that we know our own weakness and helplessness; that is discovered by being intimately acquainted with our true state as God describes it in the pages of the Bible, from Genesis 3 on: we are fallen creatures (study chapter 6 of the Westminster Confession of Faith).
I hope you don’t get the impression that I am living the beatitude life; I am not. I find myself frequently praying such things as the psalmist: Psa 119:5 Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect Your decrees! Psa 119:6 Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with Your commands.
I have heard pastor Paul Washer say in numerous of his sermons that he hasn’t lived one day of his Christian life to the glory of the Lord thus far. I was grateful to hear him say such a thing, because the more I abide in God’s word, and the longer I am a Christian, the clearer it becomes that I have to say the same thing. I have also heard him talk about how the Lord is busy crushing his idols; I have seen it in my own life. And it seems that there is no end to them. I pray that there might be while I am on the earth? That has something to do with the topic of the next beatitude, purity of heart.
In closing, I want to note a verse from psalm 119 that I have come to consider very precious because it tells me that despite all the wonderful pleas, prayers…the psalmist uttered during that psalm, he closed it with this: Psa 119:176 I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten Your commands.
I hope that you can also find the hope to get back up after failing, by the comfort of verses like this one that are sprinkled throughout scripture.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
In the following 5 minute video, blogger Tim Challies recommends a book intended to help believers use God’s means of grace: Holy Helps For a Godly Life, written by Puritan, Richard Rogers. The book has been updated for today’s readers.
Challies also talks about his book club, Reading Classics Together that is aimed at providing encouragement for all involved to read books that are important to the Christian faith.