God's Vouchsafed Love in Health and Life

No Matter the Struggle or the Providence Finding Our Peace in Christ

Howdy,

For our last portion from this part of the Directory of Public Worship we are going to see that the DPW has two words to say depending on if the sick person gets better, or if they take a turn for the worse. I have said before that the questions we deal with in the Christian life take on different hues when we consider more deeply what the big words like salvation, providence, and redemption mean in the plan and purposes of God. We are never to operate in a head space where we are satisfied with a surface level understanding of the testimonies of Holy Scripture. We are like people who die of dehydration in a foot of pure standing water. There is nothing to be gained when we hunger and refuse to eat. When events happen in our lives we must always experience them with the assurance that the Lord who made the heavens and the earth is shepherding all of it to the glory of Himself, and we then benefit from that wisdom and grace.

It is not to downplay our role in these things nor to think then because of His sovereignty we are merely NPC’s in God’s first-person shooter. The depth of our relationship with Him was so great that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity came and laid down His life for us, and took it up again so that we might experience eternal life in Him. With all that being the case how much more as we experience the powerful love of God in healing our bodies, either by the ending of life on this plane that we might then know the fulness of life in the paradise to come or in the maintaining of our place here on the earth, should we then worship and praise Him in either circumstance. We often note that it is in personal suffering where the strength of our own faith witnesses itself to itself, as well as to the unbelievers which surround us. Building up the heart and soul in the richness of God’s mercy and love is largely the main calling of the pastor as he preaches and teaches the Scriptures on the Lord’s Day and in other venues. It is the primary responsibility of the elders as they visit and minister to the sick. To remind them of the goodness of Jehovah, to keep them grounded in His power and promise, for all matters great and small.

Here's the portion of the DPW for today:

That, if God shall please to add to his days, he would vouchsafe to bless and sanctify all means of his recovery; to remove the disease, renew his strength, and enable him to walk worthy of God, by a faithful remembrance, and diligent observing of such vows and promises of holiness and obedience, as men are apt to make in times of sickness, that he may glorify God in the remaining part of his life.

And, if God have determined to finish his days by the present visitation, he may find such evidence of the pardon of all his sins, of his interest in Christ, and eternal life by Christ, as may cause his inward man to be renewed, while his outward man decayeth; that he may behold death without fear, cast himself wholly upon Christ without doubting, desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, and so receive the end of his faith, the salvation of his soul, through the only merits and intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ, our alone Saviour and all-sufficient Redeemer.”

As noted the hope of truth is bound in the person and work of our Lord. As someone who reads the King James Bible on the regular there is a certain kind of comfort to be found in a portion of the older words, one’s like vouchsafe as mentioned in the opening paragraph above. A reason why that word means something is how it takes two words vouch and safe to communicate to the reader a grand idea of our peace in Christ. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as:

. . . means to grant, give, or allow something, often with a touch of graciousness or condescension. For example, "She vouchsafed him a smile" would imply she granted him a smile, perhaps in a way that wasn't entirely expected or required.

Take a second and read that definition again. Then meditate on how it applies to what the DPW is describing as our response to the providence of God. Our being vouchsafed and our own vouchsafing is grounded in the covenant of grace and the surety found alone in Christ Jesus. As believers in God our hope is built on nothing less than what is new born to us in the free gift and grant of faith, the imputation of His righteousness, and the knowledge of eternal life in Him. It is the very words of Christ given to us in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” and John 10:28-29, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”.

There is such a beauty in remembering that in life and death our peace can be found in two simple words: Christ Jesus. There is no other argument, there is no other plea. If the Lord grants you health, His name be praised. If the Lord in His providence has decided that your steps are to be numbered in this season, God be praised. We are able to say that not because of anything that is native to our hearts and souls, but purely by the gift and grant of faith provided by the spirit of God in our new birth. Keep your eyes focused on these things, and it will be added unto you.

In closing, these truths are why we must not forsake the gathering together of the saints on the Lord’s Day, or whenever opportunity provides itself for us to grow in grace. We need reminded of the goodness of God, because the devil and the world around us lives to destroy that hope in His providential love. Be at peace in life and death for they are not in your hands, but in the hand that prepared them. Our rock, our redeemer, our Lord, the surety of all things did most certainly vouchsafe Himself to you, both this day and forevermore. Amen.

A last word:

https://learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/gods-sovereign-favor

Blessings in Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Pastor, Bethany ARP Church