Philippians 4:7 "...the Peace of God, which passeth all understanding..." The peace that comes from Christ being revealed in the heart never goes away. Though this flesh we are in remains what it always was and always will be: our adversary, yet, there's a calmness of the awakened soul that never goes away. Peace may fade when our eyes are on the world, but He never leaves you. Our lives and the things of this world are the storm of sin that swirls around the soul constantly, sometimes with great force, but Jesus is like the eye of that storm, always there, and the closer we come to Him, the calmer we get. Jesus is the calm before the storm and the calm within the storm, the sinless center for His children. When the Spirit wakes us up to how sinful we are is when the storm begins, but then comes the Calm, Christ Jesus Who saved us, our Robe of Righteousness, "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the Garments of Salvation, He hath covered me with the Robe of Righteousness." (Isaiah 61:10) There's a feeling of calm in the soul that the words of men can't explain, a feeling of well-being and though it may fade, it never leaves once planted. No one can take it from you, try as they may. It's miraculous what the Word of God in the heart does to a sinner saved by Grace, "He maketh the storm a calm..." (Psalm 107:29)

Psalm 58:3 "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Some say, "You know, I am not a thief!" But, oh, yes you are! We all are. You have robbed God of His glory from the time you came forth from the womb because you came forth speaking lies. We all have. But, if you are the LORD's, He bought you with His precious blood, with His obedient suffering unto death, and He will cause you to see that. He will cause you to see that just going your own way is enough for Him to send you to hell but, "...He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him." (Isaiah 53:5) Now, this peace spoken of is not some subjective peace where people run around trying to feel at peace with God. No, the chastisement is what was required by God that would secure a legal peace by a legal justice before Him. What it would take for God to be just and declare us righteous before Him, what it would take for the price owed for sin to be paid: "And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven." (Colossians 1:20) In Heaven is God the Father and on earth are His elect in the flesh. We were reconciled to God by Christ, by the blood of His cross, which means His death. The chastisement that the children of God deserve, fell upon Him. And, notice: "...with His stripes we are healed." By Christ's obedient suffering unto death we were healed! If someone asked me when I was saved, do you know what I would tell them? I would say, "Some 2,000 years ago, when it pleased God to take my sin and put it to the account of the Savior and take His Righteousness and impute it to this poor sinner's account." I was not even there, I was not even born yet. That shows that Salvation is completely outside of myself, in Christ alone. Outside of anything I do, or did, or didn't do. Outside of anything I think, outside of anything I feel or anything I don't feel. But in time I was brought by His Spirit to see that I was a sinner for whom He died, to see the imputation of Christ's earned Righteousness applied to my account by the Father at the moment of Christ's death on the cross at Calvary. He is my Peace and Rest. We do not have to deal with a God that has to be satisfied again every day by what we do or don't do, it was finished at the cross and in Christ we rest!

Isaiah 42:1 "Behold My Servant, Whom I uphold; Mine Elect, in Whom My soul delighteth..." Who is this Servant of God in Whom God's soul delights? Of course, it's His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ, His Elect. What is it to be assured of being one of the chosen of God? It is to know Christ, God's Elect. When God by His Holy Spirit says to one of His own, "Behold My Servant," He provides the ears to hear Him as well as the eyes to see Him, Christ His Servant Who carried out the work of salvation on this earth, for His elect sinners. Only His redeemed will truly know Him at some point in their life. If you know Christ Jesus the LORD, God's Elect, you know you are one of His. You will know Him as the Truth of Scripture. The fact that you know Him as He is set forth in Scripture, is the evidence that you are His. Assurance, for the awakened sinner, IS CHRIST. We are awakened to the fact that He accomplished ALL that was necessary for us to live when He died on the cross. We are awakened to the fact that we did nothing to merit salvation, on the contrary, we earned condemnation before we were even born into this world, by our sin nature inherited from Adam, "For all have sinned..." (Romans 3:23) Each of us would have taken that fruit and ate, each of us would have preferred to be a 'god' by eating it, each of us would have believed God was the liar instead of Satan, " And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." (Genesis 3:4) So, in case you're trying to give yourself credit by thinking you would have done differently, you're just calling God a liar, again. When the Spirit awakens you, you'll know that you are the liar and God is the Truth. You'll know that He is Grace and He is Mercy. You'll know that even though no one deserved it, yet, it was His good pleasure to save a remnant, out of the Goodness of His Heart: Christ Jesus. So therein we know our Assurance: He is our Mercy and our Grace, He is God's Elect, He is Jesus Christ our LORD!

Zephaniah 1:7 "...the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a Sacrifice..." When the LORD's children speak of Salvation, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, they speak only of Christ Jesus the LORD. Salvation is synonymous with Jesus, the Sacrifice, Preparer of ALL things required to save His sinners, Accomplisher of ALL necessary to justify them. Anything prepared, worked by mere men, becomes an idol, an ungodly work. The earthly temple building in Jerusalem was a picture, a type of Christ to come, housing the written Scripture, so His earthly body housed the living, breathing, Word of God, Who would save His world with the beating heart prepared to shed His Righteous blood unto death on the cross, in His substitutional, sacrificial act of perfect obedience and love. He is the Kingdom of God incarnate, the Miracle prepared to bless His chosen ones, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34) He is our Continuing City, prepared for us to inhabit in eternity, "...He hath prepared for them a City," (Hebrews 11:16) "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek One to come." (Hebrews 13:14) He is the ONE HEART, prepared and given, "Thou wilt prepare their Heart," (Psalm 10:17) "And I will give them one Heart." (Ezekiel 11:19) He is our Kingdom, our Continuing City, our Heart, Christ Jesus our LORD!

Jeremiah 29:13 "And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your Heart." Christ must seek us first, and He will, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?" (Luke 15:4) He has His eye on us always, it's impossible that He lose any that are His, "...of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." (John 6:39) On our own, we would never seek the Truth because it exalts Him alone, not us. So then, what does it mean? How can a vile, depraved sinner with a lifeless heart seek the LORD? Well, it's only possible for those chosen sinners that have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, only then can they search the Scriptures and find Christ, the Truth, "And I will give them one Heart, and I will put a new Spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an Heart of flesh," (Ezekiel 11:19) "...when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all Truth." (John 16:13) This new Heart will seek and see Christ in all Scripture. This new Heart will see Christ in the Old Testament promises and pictures and types, and see Christ in the New Testament fulfillment by His finished work at the cross, in the death and resurrection of our Sinless Substitute. Christ said, "...when ye shall search for Me with all your Heart," the "when," is that appointed time that the Holy Spirit wakes the sinner, His Heart of flesh becomes our Heart of flesh. Only then will we seek and hunger after Christ Jesus the WORD, "...It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God." (Luke 4:4) With the Heart of Christ, by His Holy Spirit, we will seek and find and live by every Word of God by Christ Jesus our LORD!

Galatians 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." We hear a lot of people today talking about their offerings and their tithes, things they bring to a place of so-called worship. These are merely payments for something they want. The reason there is so much emphasis on it is because it is rooted in man's depravity and unbelief, which still holds to the notion that we have to DO something FOR God. This is the 'yoke of bondage' spoken of here. To stand fast in Liberty is to stand fast in Christ and His finished work. The Gift from God, given freely to His elect, setting them free from this bondage of trying to pay their sin debt with dung, and cover up their sinful flesh with filthy rags. Our nature is that of the Pharisees, "But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over Judgment and the Love of God..." (Luke 11:42) They thought themselves the judges of their fate, all the while passing over Christ, the True Judge, the Love of God. Instead of dropping at His feet in gratitude and looking to Him for all they could ever want or need, they desired to kill Him for raining on their self-righteous parade. This goes deep into the roots of idolatry. People in other countries outwardly offer up sacrifices and offerings with the hope that somehow it will pacify that god and give them a better harvest, or more children, or wealth, or health, or whatever they are looking for. The same goes on here, among self-proclaimed 'christians,' it just may be a little bit more polished, a little more hidden, but fundamentally it is still the same idolatry. They believe themselves to be worth something. They think they can buy Heaven with their own treasure and ignore Christ the True Treasure, "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but Righteousness delivereth from death." (Proverbs 10:2) Christ IS the Righteousness that delivers from death; our Liberty, our Treasure from God!

Acts 16:31 "Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," Salvation is like an umbrella under which are a large range of elements that makeup the Doctrine of Grace, which is Christ: "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by Grace ye are saved;)" (Ephesians 2:5) Election fits under this umbrella. Reconciliation. Redemption. Regeneration. Justification. Glorification. Sanctification. These are all under the umbrella of salvation by Grace. "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption:" (1 Corinthians 1:30) "Being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:" (Romans 3:24) The elect shall be saved, as God decreed in eternity, but, you see, there had to be an outworking of that salvation. So, as far as the time and place when we were declared just and holy before God, the time and place when that legal condemnation which we were born under from Adam was removed, it was there at the cross of Christ at Calvary, at the moment of Christ's death. That is what the Scriptures teach. Because of His obedient shedding of His precious blood unto death, even death on the cross, those for whom Christ died, are saved. Period. "...we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son," (Romans 5:10) So, you may say, "Don't we have to believe first in Christ to be saved?" No, dear friends, belief is not a condition of salvation! Christ fulfilled ALL the conditions, paid ALL the debt accrued. No, belief on Christ is given by the Holy Spirit, in time, as an evidence of salvation: "...and as many as were ordained to Eternal Life believed." (Acts 13:48) As many as God gave to Christ, would believe on Christ, not the other way around. When God causes one of His own to realize their lost estate, and to believe on His Son, and submit to Him as the Only Hope, as the Only Righteousness, then that belief makes it clear that they were chosen in Christ before time began and saved by His finished work, in time, on this earth, at the cross, for God's Glory: "I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." (John 17:4)

Job 34:29 "When He giveth Quietness, who then can make trouble?" Christ is our Peace, our Quietness. When enemies come after a true child of God, there will be Peace drawn from the Word written in our heart by the Hand of God. You can be sure of Him, the Man Who earned our rest, the Peace and Quietness of Israel, typified by David's son Solomon, "Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon [man of peace], and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days." (1 Chronicles 22:9) Solomon was a type of Christ Jesus to come, a Son of David, and THE Son of God, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:...and His name shall be called...The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end..." (Isaiah 9:6-7) Solomon's peace was only temporary but Christ's peace is for ever, "Then Judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and Righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of Righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of Righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." (Isaiah 32:16-17) His children are His "fruitful field" and His work bought peace between us and God, the battle won at His cross, "O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He hath done marvelous things: His Right Hand, and His Holy Arm [Christ], Hath gotten Him the victory." (Psalm 98:1) The Holy Spirit of Christ writes these " marvelous things " upon our hearts as David tells us, "All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by His Hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee..." (1 Chronicles 28:19-20) Victory, Peace, Quietness, Assurance, Christ ALONE!

Luke 8:25 "Where is your Faith?" Without the Spirit, people talk about a 'faith' that they believe they are responsible for manufacturing. It's an intangible feeling or state of mind they put themselves in, especially when dealing with the cares of the world. But that kind of 'faith' is the opposite of True Faith, which is Christ! The Faith that God gives, by His Spirit, is His Son in the flesh. He has substance, His flesh, yet He's God, Who is Spirit. He's not some intangible idea or mystical vapor. He's the evidence of the "unseen" God, "Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) Our Faith came to this earth in a body of flesh and blood, was tempted but NEVER sinned, "...in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus was perfect in all He did, living and dying for His children in perfect obedience to the Father. He bare our sins on the cross, shedding His blood unto death, earning the righteousness required to pay the price of our sin with His innocent blood, and to raise us all from the dead, in Himself. We are the recipients of Faith, He is the Gift of God to those chosen before time began, "For by Grace are ye saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the Gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8) Our Faith is Christ and Him crucified, the Grace of God in the flesh, Who was " given " to us and for us, and now sits in glory because the work is done, "...thy Faith hath made thee whole." (Mark 10:52)

Daniel 7:9 "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, Whose garment was white as snow..." Some preach that the sinful flesh of men is made " white as snow " while we're here in this wilderness, getting better and better by sinning less and less, but any who are truly the LORD's know that's not true. Our flesh will never 'get better,' and although it doesn't get worse, it seems that way to the awakened sinner because we're made to see the God-Man Who made His " garment " " white as snow " by perfect obedience unto death. "...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." (Isaiah 1:18). Christ is the Way our sins are changed from blood-shed red, the color of death, to pristine white, the color of Light and Life. His righteous flesh is the flesh God sees while we are here on this earth; we don't 'patch up' our sinful skin with our own works and some of His: "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment..." (Matthew 9:16). We mourn over our sin but rejoice in Him. We don't see His work on the cross as a path to sin freely. Our mouths are shut to our own progress, because there is none. We pray for Him to keep us from the evil of sin and to keep us looking to Him at all times: "...the Ancient of Days {the God-Man} Whose garment was white as snow..."

Colossians 2:14 "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." Justification is the legal act of God whereby He declares a sinner 'just' (perfectly righteous). It is clear from this Scripture that the believer's justification before God took place on the cross. All charges against us were paid in full by Christ shedding His innocent blood unto death. And those charges were not just dropped, set aside, or suspended, but paid for in full. Therefore, He fully accomplished forgiveness, redemption, and justification at that time, at the moment of His death on the cross at Calvary. Faith does not complete Christ's work, rather, it is by God's Gift of Faith (the revelation of Christ in a chosen sinner by the Holy Spirit) that they are led to embrace and enjoy, in their experience, what Christ has accomplished for them at the cross! The Peace of mind of the sinner is the result of this revelation of Who He is and what He accomplished for them. "If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." (Galatians 3:24) The justification of sinners from beginning to end was by the Grace of God (Christ), through His obedient life and death that earned a perfect righteousness, apart from any work, act of the will, or merit in the sinner. In Romans 3:24 we read, "Being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," the word 'freely' in the original means, 'without cause' which tells us it is wholly conditioned upon Christ alone. To make justification dependent in any way upon the sinner's willing, believing, actions, or inactions is to render the death of Christ vain. The chosen sinner's justification, and their resulting sanctification, was due to the pre-ordained, one-time, once-for-all, exclusive accomplishment of Christ in offering Himself unto death, a Just Payment for sin, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:10) God the Father accepted His Son's righteous payment, His Sacrifice of His own blood offered up unto death on behalf of those sinners chosen in eternity, and therefore immediately and simultaneously He imputed it to the account of all of His elect at the moment of His Son's death, in this dimension of time. "...Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:25) Christ and His righteous blood shed unto death, God's Only Way for sinners to be saved unto Life! Praise our Just Justifier!

Psalm 139:23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the Way Everlasting." When the LORD hides Himself from one of His own it causes great searching of the heart and how we need that heart exercised! Many times we are looking for a reason outside of ourselves as to why God does what He does. How we need these heart searchings that the LORD causes in hiding Himself. Some nights you lay there awake, your mind spinning and turning and there is a fretfulness; there may be fear; there might even be a sense of guilt, and dreadful unbelief. It's like someone taking a stick and churning a pot, and all of the filth coming to the surface. The LORD purposes these things that we might know our heart, but more so to know our need, that apart from the righteousness of the LORD Jesus Christ ALONE, we have no hope. That leads then to expose the sinfulness of sin, lest we ever think that somehow we have outgrown sin, as some preach 'progressive sanctification,' that somehow the heart becomes less and less sinful. Well, for the LORD's children, such is not their thought, and if they ever begin to think that way, God in mercy hides Himself to expose the sinfulness of their sin. The LORD hiding Himself also brings about an earnest longing for Him, and even restless seeking and fervent prayer after Him. We would not even pray were it not that He withholds for a season His presence, hides Himself. Just as water is vital to our survival in the flesh, so is the Water of the Word to the soul. Go for awhile without and pretty soon there develops a thirst. That is what the LORD is pleased to do, as we see in Psalm 42 verse 1, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the Living God:" What it brings us to, dear friend, is that we cannot live without Him. As one writer said of Christ, "His presence is heaven but His absence is hell!" Amen!