Augustine Quote (Peace)

"The peace which is peculiar to ourselves we enjoy with God by faith, and shall hereafter enjoy eternally with Him by sight. But the peace which we enjoy is in this life, whether common to all or peculiar to ourselves, is rather the solace of our misery than the positive enjoyment of felicity (Augustine City of God Book 19:27).

Various Distinctions to Help the Troubled Christian in Time of Temptation

There are some fundamental distinctions between the Christian and unbeliever.

(1) A child is never under the ultimate wrath of God.
(2) What may seem as the retaliatory wrath of God to us for our sin is but the loving paternal chastening of a father.
(3) The devil or other people may be the cause of our afflictions and not God--though he may be. Regardless this is within the bounds of God's sovereignty over our lot in life.
(4) The sin of a son is not the same as the sin of one who is not. Though a sin may be the same in name it is not viewed by the Father in the same way.
(5) The believer, far from being self righteous, has the most pure righteousness of all, an imputed righteousness, equivalent in degree to that of Christ's. Indeed because it is his. The unbeliever rests on his own righteousness which is no true righteousness at all.
(6) The devil's temptations are not our sins.
(7) A Christian has never or never will be a hypocrite. A "genuine" hypocrite is an unbeliever.
(8) The worst Christian is better than the best unbeliever.
(9)The dominion of sin is so removed to the point that it is not the new creature at all that sins (Romans 7:17).
(10) All things work to the good of the believer while all things work for the destruction of the unbeliever.
(11) The weakest good work and prayer of a child is accepted by God while the greatest good work and heart felt prayer of the wicked is not.
(12) The unbeliever can do no good. The believer can do no evil(Matthew 7:17).
(13) The unbeliever and believer alike owe a sin debt to both God and man that cannot be payed in and of themselves. The child's debt is forgiven on both accounts. The unbeliever's debt is continually incuring and remains unpaid. The Christian is under grace while the other is under law.
(14) The poorest Christian is richer than the wealthiest unbeliever.

Note: In the future I hope to elaborate on these points.

The Unhappy Life and the Happy Life

Positive thinking is good but some have found their lot in life to be that mostly of affliction, and almost of necessity they can not seem to attain too high of a degree in such thinking. Take Job for example, "If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,' I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent" (Job 9:27,28). What extreme torment of both soul and body Job was in! His condition was so severe that he loathed his very life "I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul (Job 10:1). His sufferings great as they were cannot compare with the sufferings of our Lord. "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" Hebrews 2:10).

On the other hand there are those that almost find themselves out to be the very exapmpe to Paul's exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, "Rejoice evermore." What a mystery that one should suffer while another does not in proportional comparison! What moderation and balance of thought and emotions must we keep! For the one it is seemingly impossible to keep up a Christian smile while for the other they may be at the very risk of thinking they are innocent when they are not. Paul, Peter, and James knowing how greatly and overwhelmingly pained one can be by persecution and sufferings were able to find with the aid of the Holy Spirit comfort and even happiness inspite of all of the bad things that happened to them as well as to other Christians. It is true that there can be peace obtained and even rejocing during hardships of Christians, while they undergo the threat of or actual outward persecution, bodily infermities, and spiritual torments.
What torment some saints go through wrestling with this perdiciment they find themselves in that they are to rejoice evermore!

So let us with job cautiously not forget that we are not innocent before God but at the same time have faith with Paul and "reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). There is place for a smile here! And with James let us "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations" (James 1:2). And with Peter let us "rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13).

True Happiness

It is possible to have a false senses of happiness. There are many roads with signs called "The Happy Life." All have their various allurements promising pleasure and joy that will lead to happiness. What is offered, however, is not true happiness but a base and corrupt form of it. Love only that which can truly make you happy. Love of anything which cannot make us happy is sin against God and consequently misery to us. Love God and what he commands. Hate what he does not allow. This is how true happiness is to be known and where it is to be found.

Contentment

"Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1Tim. 6:6)

But let us not be content with our Godliness, always seeking to advance in it.

Augustine Quote

"What tortuous paths! How fearful a fate for 'the rash soul' (Isa. 3:9) which nursed the hope that after it had departed fr0om you, it would find something better! Turned this way and that, on its back, on its side, on its stomach, all positions are uncomfortable. You alone are repose." (Augustine Confessions Bk. VI Pg. 110).

Positive Thinking

Let me say that I despise the movement, but would love to see a healthy form of "positive thinking" in the church. It will do us all much good. Especially those (and I am one of them) that have a problem with forgiving themselves and letting Satan steal their joy. Let us think along these lines: We are sinners, it is true. We have good reason and it is appropriate as long as we stay in the bounds of scripture, to give serious consideration to our sins. Let us not wallow in our sins, however, making more of them than Christ has done to them. To do so is sinful, the worst form of pride, blasphemous even, but rather let us rejoice in the God of our salvation. We have not began our salvation in the flesh neither can we finish it in the flesh. We have Christ's abounding love towards us, a covenant made in his very blood for our surety, infinite forgiveness, constant intercession, his Spirit sealed in us, sanctifying Word for us, and promise to us of his coming. Rejoice and be glad my friends. We have good reason to. God commands it: "Rejoice always!"