The Rest of Christ. 2
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Second, it is the easing and tranquilizing of a burdened conscience. Only one who has been enlightened and convicted by the Holy Spirit can appreciate what this means. When one is made to cry out, "Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks their poison. God’s terrors are arrayed against me" (Job 6:4). When the curse of God's broken Law thunders in our ears, when we have an inward sense of Divine wrath, when the terrors of a future judgment and of eternal damnation fall upon the soul—then is there an indescribable anguish of mind. When a true Law-work is wrought in the heart by the Spirit—we are made to exclaim, "Your arrows have sunk into me, and Your hand has pressed down on me. There is no soundness in my body because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin" (Psalm 38:2, 3). So, too, when we first perceive the wondrous love of God for us and His abounding goodness unto us, and how vilely we have repaid Him—then we are cut to the quick—and "a wounded spirit who can bear"! But when by faith we come to Christ—all this is altered. As we view Him dying in our place and perceive that there is now no condemnation for us—the intolerable load falls from our conscience and a peace which passes all understanding becomes our portion.
Third, it is a rest from the dominion and power of sin. Here again it is only those who have been made the subjects of a work of grace that can enter into what is meant by this. The unawakened are utterly unconcerned about the glory of God, indifferent whether their conduct pleases or displeases Him. They have no concept of the exceeding sinfulness of sin and no realization of how completely sin dominates them at all times. It is only when the Spirit of God illumines their minds and convicts their consciences that they begin to see the awfulness of their state; and only then, as they endeavor to reform their ways, are they made conscious of the might of their inward foe and of their own inability to cope with it. In vain is deliverance sought from resolutions and endeavors in our own strength. Even after we are quickened and begin to understand the Gospel salvation, for a season (often a lengthy one) it is rather a fight than a rest. But as we grow more out of ourselves and are taught to live upon Christ as our sanctification, drawing our strength and motives from Him by faith, we obtain a comparative rest, by His grace, in this respect also.
Fourth, there is a resting from our own works. As the believer realizes more clearly the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ, that his Surety offered unto God a perfect satisfaction on his behalf which met every claim upon him, as he perceives by faith that Christ is "the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4), he is delivered experimentally from the law as a Covenant of Works and sees that he no longer owes it service in that sense. His obedience is no more legal but evangelical; no longer rendered out of fear, but from gratitude. His service unto the Lord is performed not in a servile, but in a gracious spirit—and what was formerly a burden is now a delight. He is no longer seeking to earn God's favor—but acts in the realization that the smile of God is upon him. So far from rendering him careless, this will spur him on to strive with might and main—to glorify the One who gave His own Son to be a sacrifice in his place. Thus, bondage gives place to liberty, slavery to worship, toilto rest, and the soul is enabled to repose on the unchangeable Word of Christ and to follow Him steadily through light and darkness.
There is also a FUTURE rest beyond any that can be experienced here, though most inadequate are our best conceptions of the glory awaiting the people of God.
First, in Heaven there shall be a perfect resting from all of our sin—for nothing shall ever enter there, which could either defile or disturb our peace. What it will mean to be delivered from indwelling corruptions, no mortal tongue can tell. The plague of their hearts is an occasion of constant grief to the saints—as long as they are left in this wilderness of sin—it is a burden under which they groan and from which they long to be delivered. The closer a believer's walk with the Lord, and the more intimate his communion with Him—the more bitterly he bewails that within him which is ever fighting against his endeavors after holiness. Therefore it was that the Apostle cried out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24). But blessed be God, we shall not carry this burden beyond the grave—the hour of death will free us from all indwelling evil.
Second, we shall be delivered from beholding the sins of others. No more shall our ears be offended, nor our hearts pained by those evils which flood the earth. Now, like it was with Lot in Sodom, we are grieved every day with the vile conversation of the godless. "Who that has any love to the Lord Jesus, any spark of true holiness, any sense of the worth of souls in his heart—can see what passes among us without trembling? How openly, daringly, almost universally, are the Commandments of God broken, His Gospel despised, His patience abused, and His power defied" (J. Newton). If that were the state of affairs almost two hundred years ago—what would this writer say were he on earth today, and witnessed not only the wickedness of the profane world—but also the hypocrisy and degeneracy of Christendom? As the believer beholds how the Lord of glory is dishonored in the house of those who pose as being His friends—how often is he constrained to say, "Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest" (Psalm 55:6). Before long this wish shall be answered.
Third, there will be perpetual rest from all outward afflictions, for in Heaven there is none to oppose and harass the people of God. No more shall the saint live in the midst of an ungodly generation, which when they do not actively persecute him—yet only reluctantly tolerate his presence. Though afflictions are needful for us in this present scene, and when sanctified to us are also profitable; nevertheless they are grievous to bear. But a day is coming when such tribulations will no longer be necessary, for all the dross shall have been purged from the gold. The storms of life will all be behind, and an unbroken calm shall be the believer's portion forever and ever! Where there shall be no more sin—there shall be no more sorrow!"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever!" (Revelation 21:4). Thank God that will be an eternal morning "without clouds."
Fourth, it will be a rest from Satan's temptations. How often he succeeds in disturbing the present rest of believers! How often they have cause to say with the Apostle, "Satan has hindered me!" He seeks in various ways to hinder them from attending the public means of grace, and if he fails in that, he seeks to unfit them while they are there. He seeks to hinder them when they are endeavoring to meditate on the Word or while engaged in private prayer. Like the miserable fiend that he is—the devil cannot bear to see one of Christ's people happy, and therefore he tries constantly to disturb their peace and joy. One reason why God permits this—is that they may be conformed to their Head: when He was here on earth the devil was continually hounding Him. It is sufficient then, for the disciple to be as his Master. Even when believers come to the hour of their departure from this world, their great Enemy endeavors to rob them of their assurance; but he can pursue them no further. Absent from the body, they are present with the Lord—forever out of the reach of their adversary.
Finally, they rest from unsatisfied desires. When one has really been born of the Spirit, he yearns to be done with sin forever, that never again there may be anything in his heart or life dishonoring unto the One who has redeemed him at such infinite cost. He pants for perfect conformity to the image of Christ, and for unbroken fellowship with Him. But such longings as these are not realized in this life. Instead, the old nature is left within the believer, and it is ever opposing the new, bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which is in his members (Romans 7:23).
But death affords him a welcome relief from indwelling corruptions, and he is made "a pillar in the temple of his God, and he shall go out no more" (Revelation 3:12). In the morning of the resurrection the believer's body shall be "fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21) and every longing of his soul shall then be fully realized. The change from grace to glory—will be as radical as the change from nature to grace!
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