Chapter 43: The Rest believers have from Christ in outward afflictions discovered in four particular
and observes every circumstance with care. When God afflicts the wicked, He doesn't bother with proportion, nor does He seek to do them good by it. But when He sends affliction to believers in Christ,
He is careful to ensure that every drop is measured perfectly—timed exactly as He wills, and lasting no longer than necessary.
That Scripture in 1 Peter 1:6 is enough to quiet the soul in the face of any affliction: "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations."
Notice the comforting words: "for a season" and "if need be." It's only for a little while, and only if there is a need. This blessed parenthesis,
"if need be," is worth gold—it assures us that if there were no need, we would not experience even one moment of heaviness. This is what you must learn from this Scripture.
Wouldn't your soul find rest if, today, you could hear God speak through His Word, saying, "If I did not see that there was a need, you would never experience even a minute of sickness in your entire life"? That would surely give rest to your soul. And, even though there is a need, it is only for now, for a little while. The original text doesn't even use the word "season," but simply "a little now," and if there is a need. So, you can be assured that you will not experience even a brief period of heaviness unless there is a need for it. Truly, this provides great rest.
Chapter 43
The Rest believers have from Christ in outward afflictions discovered in four particulars more:
1. They shall be for good ends.
2. They shall be sanctified to the good of believers.
3. God is present with His people in Christ.
4. There is an abundance of present good in affliction.
Fifthly, Come to me, says Christ, and you shall have rest in your affliction, for your afflictions will serve very good purposes. God will never bring affliction upon you without gracious ends in mind. He has something in view, a purpose, that He aims to accomplish, more than you can imagine. The thought of this should bring great rest to the soul. We cannot always understand what specific ends God has in the trials of His people, but we must rest in the knowledge that He certainly has gracious ends.
Consider the current troubles in the nation, with many godly people suffering loss, being wounded, and enduring great hardship. We might think this is merely the result of the rage of wicked men. Yet, surely, God has gracious purposes in all this, and He is working to bring about something glorious, even if we cannot understand it now. Only those who are acquainted with the mind of Christ can be satisfied in knowing that when God brings trials, He has glorious purposes to accomplish. Why, then, should I not be willing to serve
God's ends, even through affliction? For what other reason was I made and brought into this world but to serve God and fulfil His purposes? If God has need of my affliction, so to speak, why should I not be at peace with it? My affliction can serve God's ends. This is what I profess—to be serviceable to God and His purposes. If your heart is right in this, then you must not dictate to God how He should bring about His purposes in your life.
Sometimes God will fulfil His purposes through your prosperity. At other times, He will do so through your affliction. Now, if your heart is truly gracious, you will be as willing for God to be glorified through your affliction as through your prosperity. This is what a gracious heart rejoices in. Therefore, if your heart is right, then when God takes away your estate and brings you into affliction, you can be at peace, knowing that God is being glorified through your lack. Though you may think God can be better served through your prosperity, know that He has glorious ends to accomplish and often uses the sufferings of His people to achieve them. This should bring rest and quiet to your spirit.
Sixthly, Come to me, says Christ, and you shall have rest in trouble and affliction—not only because you will be serving God's purposes but also because all your afflictions will be sanctified for your own good. God intends that your afflictions will have a sanctified use, and this is even more than the removal of the curse. Sanctification implies a mighty work of God in affliction, drawing good from it for your soul.
This is a vast subject, showing the sanctified use of affliction: the purging of corruption, the quickening of grace. Even if affliction only serves to try your faith, that alone should bring peace to your soul.
For the Scripture says that the trial of faith is more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7). The exercise of grace, especially the grace of faith, in affliction is of far greater worth than all the prosperity in the world. If God should give you a kingdom, it would not compare to the value of exercising faith in affliction. You may have lost your land, your house, and your goods, but God is now putting you in a position to exercise faith more than ever. Know that the exercise of one grace is more valuable than a kingdom, more precious than all worldly prosperity.
Friends may offer you comfort in your affliction, but do you feel that your affliction is being sanctified to your soul? Do you find your heart drawn closer to God? Are you seeing your heart more clearly, purging corruption, and being quickened in the ways of God? This will bring true rest to your soul. For as you have heard, sanctification is rest for the soul. Therefore, the sanctification of affliction must also bring rest to the soul.
Seventhly, God is with His people in times of affliction through Christ. You have the presence of God in your affliction—His gracious presence comes only through His Son. No one comes to the Father except through Christ, and likewise, the Father comes to no one in a gracious way but through Christ. God's gracious presence will be with His people in His Son. "I will be with you in the fire and in the water," He says, and that is enough for the soul to rest upon. Isaiah
43:2 declares, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame kindle upon you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour." So, God promises His presence to support His people. As you have heard, all the promises are "yea and amen" in Christ. They are all fulfilled in Christ, and thus, rest in affliction comes through Him.
Consider the rest found in Christ in times of sickness, as described in Psalm 41:3: "The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; you will sustain him on his sickbed." You may not be able to rest or feel comfortable when sick, but here is a promise that God will make your bed in your sickness, and even if the bed is hard, you can still lie in comfort if God makes it for you. God promises to make the bed of His people in times of sickness and trouble—what an expression of His love and tenderness toward them! If you find no rest, it is
because you have not embraced the promises or exercised faith in them. Such promises can bring rest to the soul when no other means of rest is available.
Likewise, consider the many comforting Scriptures for those suffering poverty. The Lord has special regard for the godly poor.
James 2:5 tells us, "Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith?" The Gospel is preached to the poor, and Jesus Himself was made poor so that through His poverty, we might become rich. If poverty troubles you, remember that Christ experienced poverty for your sake. Exercise faith in His poverty, for He had no place to lay
His head, and by doing so, you can find comfort in your own poverty.
Similarly, the Scripture offers comfort in times of dishonour.
Matthew 5:11 says, "Blessed are you when men shall speak all manner of evil against you falsely, for My name's sake." Peter echoes this, saying, "Blessed are you when you suffer reproach, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." All these promises, made to us in Christ during affliction, offer rest for the soul.
However, carnal hearts do not value the promises of the Gospel and dismiss them as poor comfort, but those who know God understand that the Gospel's promises bring abundant comfort and sweetness.
Eighthly, Christ brings an abundance of present good to the hearts of believers, which swallows up all the bitterness of affliction.
Consider this: if you had a small amount of vinegar, but a quart of the sweetest liquid were added to it, you would no longer taste the vinegar. In the same way, when a soul comes to Christ and exercises faith in Him, the present good that Christ brings is enough to sweeten all things and satisfy the soul. Christ sets up a light in the heart so that even in the midst of darkness, the soul has light.
Though surrounded by darkness, the soul finds such satisfying