Through the Refining Fires of Affliction to the New Life of Spiritual Spring:
REST, VESSEL. ~ “Requies, Vas.” ~ A VESSEL RESTS.
Has God Our Sovereign Savior allowed unfathomable pain in your life beyond human utterance? If so, take refuge in His paradoxical, great divine work of love and grace. When fiery afflictions come, He is our only hiding place.
Benediction: “Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” Jude 2
STANZA 11
•Desperate prayers are needed; none less suffice.
Meeting Specific Needs13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. James 5:13-18
“The Christian community should be devoutly engaged in intercessory prayer for the sick…Forgiveness is therapeutic to the body as well as to the soul…authentic godly confession to one another…can bring healing and renewed vitality to the soul.” (Reformation Study Bible Commentary: James 5:15-16) We must persevere with desperately needed prayers for all saints! 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:18-20 (James 5:13-18)
• To feed the yearning, to ease every cry.
Walk in Unity1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:2-6
The Corinthians’ Repentance2 Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.
5 For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. 6 Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. II Corinthians 7:2-7
Love for the Church14 Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. II Corinthians 12:14-15
“Christians have the responsibility to retain and express their unity through the Spirit’s fruit, which include humility, patience, and love.” (Reformation Study Bible Commentary: Ephesians 4:4-6) Even as Paul wrote with turmoil of soul to those he deeply loved in Corinth, so also should we acknowledge and speak to the vulnerability of others, yearnings and cries, as they are revealed to us, emulating Jesus: “‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.’” John 10:11 (Ephesians 4:2-6; II Corinthians 7:2-7; II Corinthians 12:14-15)
•None are the same, must wisely measured be.
Unity and Diversity in One Body12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. I Corinthians 12:12-31
The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:37-40
“Having established the unity of Christ’s church, Paul sets forth its diversity. Some scholars have commented that the Corinthians’ most fundamental problem was not their rejection of the church’s unity, but rather their failure to acknowledge its diversity…If the Corinthians denied the validity of certain gifts, they were really questioning God’s authority to distribute the gifts. Paul stresses unity, but not a uniformity that squelches valid forms of diversity in believers’ service to others.” (Reformation Study Bible Commentary: 2 Corinthians 12:14-20). We are to be merciful and loving toward others according to each one’s God-given contributions and needs—measured wisely—and whatever good we do to others, Christ counts it as good done to Himself. (I Corinthians 12:18-30; Matthew 25:37-40)
•Some knowable…light, some cloaked…heavy.
Seeing the Invisible16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Corinthians 4:16-18
Even through weakness and discouragement, and even lifelong distress—“a moment”, God glorifies Himself in the believer’s ministry. “These troubles are preparing a great reward for believers. Our faith and obedience in suffering pleases God, and He will not forget…The unseen world is what is most real and most important, the visible world is passing away.” (Reformation Study Bible Commentary: 2 Corinthians 5:17-18) Discerning and acting upon the unseen cloaked and heavy burdens by the Spirit’s prompting is to be the Christian’s focus. (II Corinthians 4:16-18)
