Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
Believers rejoice deeply in the living hope, the coming salvation and the inheritance kept in heaven for them, even while for a little while they feel grief and heaviness through many kinds of trials and temptations. The sorrow lasts only for the present season and comes only when it is needed, not by chance but by God's wise permission to purify them and fit them for immortality. Their faith being tested is more precious than perishable gold tried by fire, and when proved genuine it will be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. God allows Satan to tempt and try them so that faith, love, patience and obedience may be proved true, the heart may be revealed, hidden faults exposed, and character shaped after His likeness. They are therefore to look to Jesus, trust God's keeping power, be cheerful and speak faith, and wait patiently in submission until the cloud passes and the fire has removed only the dross.
Joy Amid Present Heaviness
Believers greatly rejoice in the living hope and salvation kept for them, in the undefiled inheritance reserved in heaven, even while for a time they feel grief and heaviness through many kinds of trials and temptations. This rejoicing holds for a limited season and when it is necessary, for the distress is temporary while the hope remains sure. The trials test faith, and faith proved genuine is more precious than perishable gold refined by fire, bringing praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
Their hope rests on Christ's resurrection and on being kept by God's power through faith for salvation ready to be revealed. Though they do not see Christ, they love Him and believe in Him, and they rejoice with deep and glorious joy too great for words as they receive the salvation of their souls. Those who have received Christ by faith therefore speak not with gloom but with deep rejoicing over the living hope and inheritance even while for a short time they feel sorrow under many trials.
This rejoicing is the strength of the Lord, springing from faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It gives life and vigor to mental powers and to spiritual life as Christ abides in the heart and shines light, so that invisible realities are seen correctly while living very near the end of this world's history.
The first chapter of First Peter, including this verse, points out the source of strength and is commended for careful study and practice. It shows that by Christ's sacrifice every provision has been made to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness, and that Christ's perfect character makes it possible to reach the highest standard of glory and virtue in Christian perfection. It calls for faithful labor together with God in the salvation of sinners and responsible exercise of entrusted talents, for watchfulness and prayer, for daily obedience to all the commandments of God and partaking of the divine nature amid spiritual warfare, and for willing obedience to the Spirit of truth that brings spiritual strength. It also awakens love for souls and calls those who greatly rejoice though in heaviness to walk in the light shining upon their pathway.
The verse comforts feeble, sick, and afflicted believers as rich food from God's living word, greatly strengthening and blessing hungry souls and showing God's love bestowed in large measure upon His chosen ones. It presents rejoicing alongside temporary heaviness caused by many trials, and shows that trial does not prevent receiving blessing from the Lord.
Temporary Needful Manifold Trials
The heaviness is only now, for a season, for a little while, and present sorrow, persecution, and loss of earthly comfort are temporary and will give way to peace and to the revelation of the Lord's glory. The hard-testing, proving time must be endured by preserving life, caring for health, living in accordance with God's law and the laws of life and health, and staying true and useful in service rather than throwing life away, since Satan triumphs if testing makes believers useless or causes death, and after it brighter days come. Painful trials for a time test perseverance on the way toward the heavenly reward and can bring discouragement, but God gives strength through Jesus to endure and overcome, so that the faithful may win the crown of eternal life. Even in darkness there is no need to despair, for trials serve purification and advancement, and walking and working with God brings joy, peace, hope, and victories while the soul is entrusted to His care.
The grief comes if need be, when necessary, and it is needful and purposeful, not accidental nor sprung from the earth, but permitted in God's providence to work out individually an experience of highest value, to purify and fit for immortality and to prepare to stand in the last days. The testing of faith through such trial is more precious than perishable gold refined by fire, and is meant to perfect Christian character and raise faith to meet the test rather than sink it, bringing praise, honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Affliction is permitted only when essential for present and eternal good, serving as discipline to expose hidden weaknesses, help overcome them, deepen piety, increase strength, purify, and prepare for service. Without trials people remain weaklings, so after instruction in duty, when special helps are removed, heaviness through manifold temptations becomes the test of character and the turning point of life, calling each one to decide for whole-souled service to God rather than following own devising, refusing light, and casting mind and heart into the scale of evil. So also those who greatly rejoiced expecting Jesus to come were for a season in heaviness through disappointment when He did not come, because He could not yet come and greater trials were needful to make them give up human errors and traditions, turn wholly to God's word, and be purified, made white, and tried unto eternal victory.
Manifold means many kinds, including difficulties, disappointments, persecutions, loss of comfort, bodily suffering, sickness, little home annoyances and disagreements, outward troubles such as a gale threatening tents, and the furnace of trial in reform and service. Test and trial come to every child of God for a season, testing the intensity of love and fidelity, and faith must overcome so that defeats become victories. In the work of needed reform and educating people in right lines, heaviness proves faith and love, patience and constancy, with God as Helper so that believers need not lie as helpless prey of the powers of darkness. Life is a brief season of trial in which many temptations test integrity and religious principles, requiring constant vigilance and trust in God. The trial of faith can come as hard outward trouble such as gale and powerful rain threatening to blow tents over and keeping men out through the night holding stakes firm, with Satan busy in the storm, yet believers can greatly rejoice with no complaint, finding the Sabbath most precious and knowing Jesus present. It can also come as earth-born difficulties and little home annoyances, disagreement, and perceived selfishness and unjust dealing, to be borne in Christ's spirit with meekness and self-control, driving the tried one to the Saviour with pity and prayer for the wrongdoer instead of seeking sympathy by talk of neglect and wrong, no longer living to self but for God and humanity. Being in heaviness through bodily suffering for a season is permitted to test faith, even when limbs require crawling from bed to change position, yet Christ stays close to comfort, and His presence brings encouragement, glad thankfulness, and strength to keep working despite affliction.
Heaviness can include terrible seasons when the powers of darkness gather about the soul, Jesus is hidden from sight, hope seems lost and fails, and despair seizes the soul, requiring sorrowful waiting until the cloud passes. The power of such trials is limited: Satan may test and distress, but Jesus and angels guard the trusting Christian, so the refining fire removes only dross and what is false and does not destroy the true metal or the faithful. In those dreadful hours safety is to trust and depend on the sole merits of the atonement and in helpless unworthiness to cast the soul upon the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, and those who do this will never perish. To be strong when light shines is no great thing; to wait patiently in hope when all is dark and clouds envelop requires faith and submission that swallows the will up in the will of God. It is wrong to sink into discouragement and merely cry for the trial to be removed; the need is to plead for patience to endure and grace to overcome and to rest simply on God's word. These trials severely test confidence, faith, firmness, and allegiance, especially in the time of trouble when Satan uses accusations over past sins to make God's people feel hopeless and unworthy and turn from God.
While each season of heaviness is temporary, warfare against fallen angels and testing of fitness for God's royal family continue as long as life in this world lasts. Every soul is engaged in warfare against fallen angels and is often in heaviness through manifold temptations, and everyone growing up into Christ and gaining mastery over temptation and sin will for a season be in heaviness because the powers of darkness oppose advance lest they become channels of light to the world. Every step heavenward is opposed by evil angels cooperating with evil men, yet no trial comes without power to stand under it, so it is of highest consequence to be prepared for manifold temptations rather than seeking easy places or following the majority. The conflict calls for engaging all the powers of the being in warfare while looking to the cross of Christ for grace and strength to conquer, and every growing soul will face times of earnest and long-continued struggle against the enemy that give strength and firmness of mind to resist when the works of Christ are done. The trial continues and faith is severely tried, but Christ gives strength to overcome to those who serve Him and are willing to do His will, and the trial of faith can be productive of great good if the tempted look to the Saviour by faith and maintain living connection with heavenly agencies, that they may be found unto praise and honor and glory at His appearing. The conflict tests whether a person is fit to belong to God's royal family and enter the mansions Christ has prepared.
Why God Permits Trials
God permits trial to come for a season upon every child through manifold difficulties, disappointments and temptations, and He permits Satan to tempt and try and test so that love and fidelity may be proved in their intensity and faith may overcome and be found unto honor and glory when the judgment sits and each is judged according to deeds done in the body. Faith in God turns defeats into victories, and the burden borne for Christ and the service rendered in complete surrender of the will to God's will measures love for Him, so the need is to encourage faith, talk faith and talk of Jesus, and not look on the dark side, since transformation of heart and character matters above all else. Temptation is part of Satan's attack against Christ through those Christ redeemed, and to resist is to join the Lord's battle, while to endure through God's sufficient grace makes faith more precious than perishable gold that will bring praise, honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Enduring cultivates patience, and the tempted must recognize helplessness, rely on Christ's strength, entrust the temptation to Him by faith through prayer, and receive power to overcome as He overcame, which brings victory, strengthens for future trials and prepares for what is to come, whereas yielding leaves weaker and more open to Satan. With every permitted temptation God makes a way of escape so none are tempted above what can be borne, He already knows every heart and motive yet allows the testing so trust and confidence in Him and obedience to His written word may be revealed, He magnifies His name, waits to bestow strength and grace on those who call, imparts divine strength to resist and escape the snare, and works all for good to those who love Him.
Trials test and prove, revealing the heart and the quality of faith and character, for until passing through the furnace no one knows self. They expose hidden weaknesses and defects, selfishness and ambition, susceptibility to temptation and misplaced self-confidence, and they show what power rules the heart, whether divine truth producing generosity or evil producing selfishness and pride. Those who willingly sacrifice for God in emergencies are honored with a share in His work, while those unwilling to deny self are likewise tested so their conduct is exposed before the One who reads the heart. Affliction is permitted only when essential for present and eternal good, serving as discipline to help overcome faults, purify, deepen piety, increase strength and prepare for service, and tribulation also drives to God those who would belong wholly to Him. Such testing can lead to self-examination, stronger faith, clearer moral understanding and lasting benefit, and it may be the providential means answering prayers for sanctification by purifying, bringing the will into harmony with God's will, developing living faith and conforming to Christ's image.
The heaviness is needful and purposeful, not sprung from the earth nor coming casually, but in God's providence to work out for each person individually an experience of highest value to stand in the last time at the appearing of Jesus Christ. God permits trials to form that experience, testing faith as more precious than perishable gold refined by fire, and the experience gained through affliction is worth its pain because it brings His children near to Him, reveals their weakness and His strength, teaches reliance on Him, and prepares them to meet emergencies, accept positions of trust and fulfill the purpose for which He gave their abilities. Every step heavenward is opposed by evil angels cooperating with evil men, yet no trial comes upon a saint without power to stand under it, so it is of highest consequence to be prepared for manifold temptations rather than seeking easy places or following the majority. Through trial people recognize their need of God and His help, are drawn closer to Him, and have precious qualities developed and tested for His service rather than destroyed.
The Lord permits trials of various kinds to call men and women to higher living and more sanctified service, and in His providence every good and great enterprise is subjected to trial to test the purity and strength of principles in those in responsibility and to mold and establish individual character after God's model, which is the highest order of education. Without these trials there would be continual falling away from Christ's likeness into scientific, fanciful human philosophy uniting with Satan's followers, while through obedience in supreme tests the faculties of mind are exercised, character grows toward perfection, and those true to right principles grow continually in knowledge as co-laborers with the great Master Worker, acting a glorious part by precept and example in carrying out His purposes and glorifying their Creator. Received with humility, such experiences make believers more spiritual, build spiritual strength, teach wholly to depend on Him, elevate and purify the soul, help work out God's will, and prepare to share Christ's sufferings and therefore His glory. The Lord permits trials to come to His loved ones in order that through trial they may have increased knowledge concerning the God of their salvation, be led to know Him and trust Him, and find them essential to resisting evil and to final victory, for He can overrule Satan's schemes to accomplish this purpose. Trials endured well develop steadfast character and spiritual graces, with faith, meekness and love often maturing amid hardship, revealing the character being formed and shaping servants for His use.
He brings everyone into trying positions to see if trust will rest in a power outside and above self, for everyone has undiscovered traits of character that must come to light through trial. He allows those who are self-sufficient to be sorely tempted so they may understand their helplessness, exposing selfishness, ambition, susceptibility and misplaced confidence, yet leading to self-examination, stronger faith and lasting benefit. Faith gains strength through trial while the Lord guides events.
Faith Refined Like Gold
The trial of faith is more precious than gold that perishes, even gold tried in the fire, and faith proved genuine will be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Believers can greatly rejoice in the salvation kept for them while for a little time and when needful they grieve through many trials, because those trials test that precious faith. Their hope rests on Christ's resurrection and the inheritance kept in heaven, and on being kept by God's power through faith unto salvation, so that though they do not see Christ they love and believe in Him with joy too deep for words as they receive the salvation of their souls.
The refining work burns away dross, impurity, roughness, earthliness, selfishness and every unchristlike trait, as by fire and by hammer and chisel and grinding wheel. It hews, squares, chisels, burnishes, polishes and fashions precious stones after the similitude of a palace, to fill a place in the heavenly temple. Such careful, thorough labor is not spent on useless material or worthless stone, but only on what is precious, forming God's image in the sufferer until Christ is fully revealed in him. The way may be dark and hard, yet endured with God's presence it purges away what is worthless, turns the heart toward Jesus and heaven, sweetens the bitter cup through patience, endurance and prayer, and brings honor and glory to God.
To be called to endure trial proves that Jesus sees something very precious to develop for the glory of His name. He does not prune brambles and does not cast worthless stones into His furnace, but puts valuable ore into the fire to prove its temper and to mold and fashion it for His work, as a blacksmith proves iron and steel. God limits Satan's power over this work and guards the trusting Christian, so the fire consumes only the dross and does not destroy the true metal. Satan may heat the furnace, test, distress and contend for usefulness or life, yet Jesus and angels watch, the trial is weighed and measured and made bearable with a way of escape, and what is meant to purify is not allowed to destroy or to hurt the faithful. Temptation itself is not sin nor a sign of divine displeasure, for Christ was tempted in all points and knows how to pity, deliver, communicate grace and strength, restrain the adversary, and bring the tried one forth with firmer faith and richer experience.
Those who bear trials well and share Christ's sufferings are drawn into closer fellowship with Him and made more spiritual, dependent, humble and grateful. Suffering with Him teaches the evil of sin and the preciousness of forgiveness, builds spiritual strength for service in His name, and prepares those who share His sufferings to share His consolation and glory and to reign with Him. Persecution and fiery trials are therefore to be accepted cheerfully rather than feared, with the final triumph in view. Heaven will be cheap enough even if obtained through suffering, and the keen, cutting heaviness through manifold temptations must be known for Christ's sake in order to be purified and fitted to receive the seal of the living God, pass through the time of trouble, see the King in His beauty, and dwell with God and holy angels. Every saint must pass through this refining before immortality, as earthly treasures and dearest attachments are taken away to supply more of God Himself, with the richest tokens of grace given in deepest sorrow to those who trust, endure pain without murmuring, and break forth into praise.
Meeting Trials by Faith
Believers in heaviness through manifold temptations must not sink beneath discouragement and trial but bear up under all afflictions and trust wholly in God, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of faith and trusting that He keeps the believing soul by His power through faith so the wily foe shall not overcome. Victory requires putting on the whole armor of God and being ready at any moment for conflict with the powers of darkness, maintaining living connection with heavenly agencies and resting in Christ's atonement and the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour. When temptations and trials rush in, they are to go to God and agonize with Him in prayer, for He will not turn them away empty but will give grace and strength to overcome and break the power of the enemy. In close relationship with Christ provision is made to serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness, and by always looking unto Jesus they are delivered from the devices of evil men and evil angels and break the bonds of sin and Satan. Temptation itself is part of Satan's attack against Christ through those He redeemed, and resisting it is joining the Lord's battle; the tempted person must recognize helplessness, entrust the temptation by faith to Christ, and receive power to overcome as He overcame, which cultivates patience and prepares for future trials.
The right response is to rejoice, be cheerful, encourage faith, talk faith and talk of Jesus, and speak words of courage to other souls, keeping thoughts as the outgrowth of holy principles and constantly looking and talking on the bright side rather than looking on the dark side. The believer may converse with Jesus by the side watching, saying the Lord is helper and shall not be moved, letting cheerfulness be seen in the countenance and sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit so all see in whom trust is placed. Murmuring and complaint make the bitter cup more bitter and may bring further trials until they accomplish their purpose, while patience, endurance, and prayer make the bitter cup sweet and allow it to produce its intended effect to the honor and glory of God. Having faith in God turns defeats into victories, and the burden borne for Christ's sake with complete surrender of the will to God's will is the measure of love for Him, so transformation of heart and character concerns believers more than anything else. Even when earthly treasures and dearest earthly attachments are taken away to supply more of God Himself, with the richest tokens of His grace given in deepest sorrow, the afflicted soul breaks forth into praise and thanksgiving instead of murmuring, leaning upon His arm in trust with heart and soul and voice.
In dark seasons when hope seems lost, Jesus is hidden from sight, and despair seizes the soul, believers must wait patiently in hope, trust God, and submit the will to God's will, seeking patience to endure and grace to overcome rather than simply asking or crying for the trial to end. Safety in those dreadful hours is to trust and depend on the sole merits of the atonement and in helpless unworthiness to cast the soul upon the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, and those who do this will never perish. To be strong when light shines on the pathway is no great thing; to wait patiently in hope when all is dark and clouds envelope requires faith and submission that swallows the will up in the will of God. Trials may come without God explaining their purpose, because explaining them could defeat their work of purifying and ennobling the heart, so faith must rest simply and fully on God's word.
Greatly rejoicing in heaviness requires constantly exercising genuine sanctifying faith that presses from light to greater light and from strength to greater strength until the believer is more than conqueror and complete in Christ, not having own righteousness but the righteousness which is by faith. Having a temptation is not sin, but yielding to it is, and the soul that rests with firm confidence in Christ and the power of His atonement can remain steadfast against temptation. Obeying God's word leads true followers to separate from worldly pursuits and gatherings sought for pleasure such as picnics, donations, shows and other gatherings, where there is no help for becoming more heavenly-minded or growing in grace. God's people in their short proving time must also preserve life, care for health, and live in accordance with God's law and the laws of life and health, staying true and useful in service rather than throwing life away, for Satan triumphs if testing makes them useless or causes death, and after enduring brighter days come. In this refining time those tested are either converted wholly and sanctified by obeying the truth or left with the world where they belong.
This world is an educating school to prepare believers to graduate to the higher school of heaven above, where eternal destiny is decided by present course of action. Temptations and the discipline of little things train the soul and develop character for the courts above, forming such characters as can be welcomed into the mansions Christ has gone to prepare. Trials may be the providential means by which prayers for sanctification are answered, as affliction purifies, brings the will into harmony with God's will, reveals the heart, and develops Christian character and living faith in conformity to Christ's image.
When believers are afflicted by the wrong course of others and are in trial or under temptation, Jesus knows it all, sees the tempted soul, and has warned beforehand so severe trials and departures from the faith need not surprise. The instruction is to contemplate and pray, not to become exasperated or let feelings of the natural heart control, not to cherish a spirit of retaliation, and not to let go of faith in Jesus. Believers are to commit their case wholly to Jesus who died for them, keep hold of His hand stretched out in pitying tenderness to every suffering child, entrust their souls to His care, and trust in Him in every trying hour under every adverse circumstance, for He is sufficient for the present hour of trial. To the broken and contrite heart and submissive spirit He imparts grace and soothing consolation, and walking and working with God in humility and sincerity brings joy, peace, hope, and victories even in times of darkness.
Sickness and bodily suffering for a season, even being laid aside at the very time testimony is greatly needed, is a trial of faith allowed as furnace fire meant to purify and refine. Even when limbs and body are afflicted so that movement requires crawling out of bed to change position, Christ is close beside to comfort, and without that comfort discouragement would come. Coming forth from the furnace purified and refined is cause to thank the Lord and not be discouraged, bringing encouragement and glad thankfulness, giving strength to keep working with the pen despite affliction and to do all one can where placed. Trials that bring heaviness for a time are also occasions when truthfulness and honesty shine and are highly prized, so they must be held fast even when suffering or fearing punishment.
Trials in History and End
Present heaviness is the trial of faith belonging to the final time, when temptations are greater than ever because Satan knows his time is short and very soon every case will be decided for life or for death. It comes in the very close of this world's history, in the closing days of probation, when iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold through the deceptive working of satanic agencies. It is rooted in the conflict between truth and error over the law of God that began as warfare against God's law in heaven when Satan sought to bring God to his own ideas and force a change of His government and was expelled, and now continues on earth as he persuades men to disloyalty, perverts judgment and justice, and tramples the law. It comes to all who believe in Jesus, especially the commandment-keeping people of God, because Satan opposes those who show love for God by keeping His commandments and seeks to discourage, grieve and hurt every loyal soul, pressing the idea that God is displeased in order to torture them into unbelief. In the time of trouble he uses accusations about past sins to make God's people feel hopeless and unworthy, hoping they will lose faith and turn from allegiance to God.
No one can keep himself in these days of great trial of faith; believers are kept by the power of God alone, revealed in a special manner to offset Satan's working through the children of disobedience, and are to rejoice in the Lord always with entire trust in the Lord Jesus as their only hope. They must not sink down beneath discouragement and trial but must bear up under all afflictions and trust wholly in the mighty God of Jacob, whose grace is sufficient for all trials. If trials are overcome and victory is gained over Satan's temptations, the trial of faith which is much more precious than gold is endured, leaving believers stronger and better prepared to meet the next trial; if they sink down and give way, they grow weaker and weaker, get no reward for the trial, are less prepared for the next, and are finally led captive by Satan at his will. Victory requires putting on the whole armor of God and being ready at any moment for conflict with the powers of darkness, and when temptations and trials rush in going to God and agonizing with Him in prayer, for He will not turn away empty but will give grace and strength to overcome and break the power of the enemy, so that enduring hardness as good soldiers of Jesus lets Israel move forward strong in God and in the power of His might. These words instruct believers in every age, especially those living near the end of all things, to remain steadfast in faith while rejoicing in the sure hope of their inheritance in the earth made new even while they face severe trials lasting only for a season and coming if need be.
Those who greatly rejoiced with gaze upward expecting Jesus to come were though now for a season in heaviness through disappointment when He did not come. Jesus could not yet come to earth, and they had to endure greater trials for His sake. The heaviness was needful to make them give up errors and traditions received from men and turn wholly to God and His word to be purified, made white, and tried. Those who endure that bitter trial will obtain an eternal victory. The Pilgrims' exile and persecution likewise show hardship accompanying faith while God permits trials to prepare His people for His purpose.
In their exile their faith and love grew stronger, their trials opened the way to religious freedom and a place of security, proving God does not forsake those who trust in Him. Huss's expected temptations, imprisonment, and possible death illustrate such a season of distress through many trials. He regarded suffering for truth as purification and sought patience and constancy in it, following Christ's example. Affliction serves to purify the righteous, strengthen the witness of their faith and godliness, and expose the character of the wicked, while faithful conduct condemns those who reject God.
Workers in God's cause will be brought into strait places, for God tests strength of faith and character and proves whether they will trust Him under difficulties. Those called to God's work are tested and proved in the furnace of trial, and until they pass through it they do not know themselves. When His stewards have done their duty fully with means and can do no more, heaviness and need do not permit sitting down at ease and letting missionary work come to a standstill, but require crying to God for help and earnestly seeking the Lord in faith. Tribulation also drives to God those who wish to belong wholly to Him.
The trial of faith can come as hard outward trouble such as a gale and powerful rain threatening to blow tents over at a stormy camp meeting and keeping men out through the night holding the stakes firm, with Satan busy in the storm. Though in heaviness through such manifold trials, believers can greatly rejoice, receiving such blessing that they have no word of complaint, finding the Sabbath day most precious and knowing Jesus is present among them. Others often cannot know the anguish or circumstances another endures, so those who have not faced the same trials should not assume they would bear them better or condemn someone whose endurance they cannot fairly judge. Even a fall can lead through humble fervent prayer, confession, and restitution to repentance and firmer standing when the heart has not been hardened by disregard of great light, as Peter became a better man after his fall.
Instruction on labor belonging with this verse teaches that the relation between physicians and their brethren is to be what God designed it to be. Medical missionary work is to be bound up with the gospel ministry and not made the body. God's chosen people out of the world are while living in the world not to be of the world but to remain forever separate from contaminating worldly influences and councils.
Believers rejoice deeply in the living hope, the coming salvation and the inheritance kept in heaven for them, even while for a little while they feel grief and heaviness through many kinds of trials and temptations. The sorrow lasts only for the present season and comes only when it is needed, not by chance but by God's wise permission to purify them and fit them for immortality. Their faith being tested is more precious than perishable gold tried by fire, and when proved genuine it will be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. God allows Satan to tempt and try them so that faith, love, patience and obedience may be proved true, the heart may be revealed, hidden faults exposed, and character shaped after His likeness. They are therefore to look to Jesus, trust God's keeping power, be cheerful and speak faith, and wait patiently in submission until the cloud passes and the fire has removed only the dross.
Joy Amid Present Heaviness
Believers greatly rejoice in the living hope and salvation kept for them, in the undefiled inheritance reserved in heaven, even while for a time they feel grief and heaviness through many kinds of trials and temptations. This rejoicing holds for a limited season and when it is necessary, for the distress is temporary while the hope remains sure. The trials test faith, and faith proved genuine is more precious than perishable gold refined by fire, bringing praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
Their hope rests on Christ's resurrection and on being kept by God's power through faith for salvation ready to be revealed. Though they do not see Christ, they love Him and believe in Him, and they rejoice with deep and glorious joy too great for words as they receive the salvation of their souls. Those who have received Christ by faith therefore speak not with gloom but with deep rejoicing over the living hope and inheritance even while for a short time they feel sorrow under many trials.
This rejoicing is the strength of the Lord, springing from faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It gives life and vigor to mental powers and to spiritual life as Christ abides in the heart and shines light, so that invisible realities are seen correctly while living very near the end of this world's history.
The first chapter of First Peter, including this verse, points out the source of strength and is commended for careful study and practice. It shows that by Christ's sacrifice every provision has been made to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness, and that Christ's perfect character makes it possible to reach the highest standard of glory and virtue in Christian perfection. It calls for faithful labor together with God in the salvation of sinners and responsible exercise of entrusted talents, for watchfulness and prayer, for daily obedience to all the commandments of God and partaking of the divine nature amid spiritual warfare, and for willing obedience to the Spirit of truth that brings spiritual strength. It also awakens love for souls and calls those who greatly rejoice though in heaviness to walk in the light shining upon their pathway.
The verse comforts feeble, sick, and afflicted believers as rich food from God's living word, greatly strengthening and blessing hungry souls and showing God's love bestowed in large measure upon His chosen ones. It presents rejoicing alongside temporary heaviness caused by many trials, and shows that trial does not prevent receiving blessing from the Lord.
Temporary Needful Manifold Trials
The heaviness is only now, for a season, for a little while, and present sorrow, persecution, and loss of earthly comfort are temporary and will give way to peace and to the revelation of the Lord's glory. The hard-testing, proving time must be endured by preserving life, caring for health, living in accordance with God's law and the laws of life and health, and staying true and useful in service rather than throwing life away, since Satan triumphs if testing makes believers useless or causes death, and after it brighter days come. Painful trials for a time test perseverance on the way toward the heavenly reward and can bring discouragement, but God gives strength through Jesus to endure and overcome, so that the faithful may win the crown of eternal life. Even in darkness there is no need to despair, for trials serve purification and advancement, and walking and working with God brings joy, peace, hope, and victories while the soul is entrusted to His care.
The grief comes if need be, when necessary, and it is needful and purposeful, not accidental nor sprung from the earth, but permitted in God's providence to work out individually an experience of highest value, to purify and fit for immortality and to prepare to stand in the last days. The testing of faith through such trial is more precious than perishable gold refined by fire, and is meant to perfect Christian character and raise faith to meet the test rather than sink it, bringing praise, honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Affliction is permitted only when essential for present and eternal good, serving as discipline to expose hidden weaknesses, help overcome them, deepen piety, increase strength, purify, and prepare for service. Without trials people remain weaklings, so after instruction in duty, when special helps are removed, heaviness through manifold temptations becomes the test of character and the turning point of life, calling each one to decide for whole-souled service to God rather than following own devising, refusing light, and casting mind and heart into the scale of evil. So also those who greatly rejoiced expecting Jesus to come were for a season in heaviness through disappointment when He did not come, because He could not yet come and greater trials were needful to make them give up human errors and traditions, turn wholly to God's word, and be purified, made white, and tried unto eternal victory.
Manifold means many kinds, including difficulties, disappointments, persecutions, loss of comfort, bodily suffering, sickness, little home annoyances and disagreements, outward troubles such as a gale threatening tents, and the furnace of trial in reform and service. Test and trial come to every child of God for a season, testing the intensity of love and fidelity, and faith must overcome so that defeats become victories. In the work of needed reform and educating people in right lines, heaviness proves faith and love, patience and constancy, with God as Helper so that believers need not lie as helpless prey of the powers of darkness. Life is a brief season of trial in which many temptations test integrity and religious principles, requiring constant vigilance and trust in God. The trial of faith can come as hard outward trouble such as gale and powerful rain threatening to blow tents over and keeping men out through the night holding stakes firm, with Satan busy in the storm, yet believers can greatly rejoice with no complaint, finding the Sabbath most precious and knowing Jesus present. It can also come as earth-born difficulties and little home annoyances, disagreement, and perceived selfishness and unjust dealing, to be borne in Christ's spirit with meekness and self-control, driving the tried one to the Saviour with pity and prayer for the wrongdoer instead of seeking sympathy by talk of neglect and wrong, no longer living to self but for God and humanity. Being in heaviness through bodily suffering for a season is permitted to test faith, even when limbs require crawling from bed to change position, yet Christ stays close to comfort, and His presence brings encouragement, glad thankfulness, and strength to keep working despite affliction.
Heaviness can include terrible seasons when the powers of darkness gather about the soul, Jesus is hidden from sight, hope seems lost and fails, and despair seizes the soul, requiring sorrowful waiting until the cloud passes. The power of such trials is limited: Satan may test and distress, but Jesus and angels guard the trusting Christian, so the refining fire removes only dross and what is false and does not destroy the true metal or the faithful. In those dreadful hours safety is to trust and depend on the sole merits of the atonement and in helpless unworthiness to cast the soul upon the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, and those who do this will never perish. To be strong when light shines is no great thing; to wait patiently in hope when all is dark and clouds envelop requires faith and submission that swallows the will up in the will of God. It is wrong to sink into discouragement and merely cry for the trial to be removed; the need is to plead for patience to endure and grace to overcome and to rest simply on God's word. These trials severely test confidence, faith, firmness, and allegiance, especially in the time of trouble when Satan uses accusations over past sins to make God's people feel hopeless and unworthy and turn from God.
While each season of heaviness is temporary, warfare against fallen angels and testing of fitness for God's royal family continue as long as life in this world lasts. Every soul is engaged in warfare against fallen angels and is often in heaviness through manifold temptations, and everyone growing up into Christ and gaining mastery over temptation and sin will for a season be in heaviness because the powers of darkness oppose advance lest they become channels of light to the world. Every step heavenward is opposed by evil angels cooperating with evil men, yet no trial comes without power to stand under it, so it is of highest consequence to be prepared for manifold temptations rather than seeking easy places or following the majority. The conflict calls for engaging all the powers of the being in warfare while looking to the cross of Christ for grace and strength to conquer, and every growing soul will face times of earnest and long-continued struggle against the enemy that give strength and firmness of mind to resist when the works of Christ are done. The trial continues and faith is severely tried, but Christ gives strength to overcome to those who serve Him and are willing to do His will, and the trial of faith can be productive of great good if the tempted look to the Saviour by faith and maintain living connection with heavenly agencies, that they may be found unto praise and honor and glory at His appearing. The conflict tests whether a person is fit to belong to God's royal family and enter the mansions Christ has prepared.
Why God Permits Trials
God permits trial to come for a season upon every child through manifold difficulties, disappointments and temptations, and He permits Satan to tempt and try and test so that love and fidelity may be proved in their intensity and faith may overcome and be found unto honor and glory when the judgment sits and each is judged according to deeds done in the body. Faith in God turns defeats into victories, and the burden borne for Christ and the service rendered in complete surrender of the will to God's will measures love for Him, so the need is to encourage faith, talk faith and talk of Jesus, and not look on the dark side, since transformation of heart and character matters above all else. Temptation is part of Satan's attack against Christ through those Christ redeemed, and to resist is to join the Lord's battle, while to endure through God's sufficient grace makes faith more precious than perishable gold that will bring praise, honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Enduring cultivates patience, and the tempted must recognize helplessness, rely on Christ's strength, entrust the temptation to Him by faith through prayer, and receive power to overcome as He overcame, which brings victory, strengthens for future trials and prepares for what is to come, whereas yielding leaves weaker and more open to Satan. With every permitted temptation God makes a way of escape so none are tempted above what can be borne, He already knows every heart and motive yet allows the testing so trust and confidence in Him and obedience to His written word may be revealed, He magnifies His name, waits to bestow strength and grace on those who call, imparts divine strength to resist and escape the snare, and works all for good to those who love Him.
Trials test and prove, revealing the heart and the quality of faith and character, for until passing through the furnace no one knows self. They expose hidden weaknesses and defects, selfishness and ambition, susceptibility to temptation and misplaced self-confidence, and they show what power rules the heart, whether divine truth producing generosity or evil producing selfishness and pride. Those who willingly sacrifice for God in emergencies are honored with a share in His work, while those unwilling to deny self are likewise tested so their conduct is exposed before the One who reads the heart. Affliction is permitted only when essential for present and eternal good, serving as discipline to help overcome faults, purify, deepen piety, increase strength and prepare for service, and tribulation also drives to God those who would belong wholly to Him. Such testing can lead to self-examination, stronger faith, clearer moral understanding and lasting benefit, and it may be the providential means answering prayers for sanctification by purifying, bringing the will into harmony with God's will, developing living faith and conforming to Christ's image.
The heaviness is needful and purposeful, not sprung from the earth nor coming casually, but in God's providence to work out for each person individually an experience of highest value to stand in the last time at the appearing of Jesus Christ. God permits trials to form that experience, testing faith as more precious than perishable gold refined by fire, and the experience gained through affliction is worth its pain because it brings His children near to Him, reveals their weakness and His strength, teaches reliance on Him, and prepares them to meet emergencies, accept positions of trust and fulfill the purpose for which He gave their abilities. Every step heavenward is opposed by evil angels cooperating with evil men, yet no trial comes upon a saint without power to stand under it, so it is of highest consequence to be prepared for manifold temptations rather than seeking easy places or following the majority. Through trial people recognize their need of God and His help, are drawn closer to Him, and have precious qualities developed and tested for His service rather than destroyed.
The Lord permits trials of various kinds to call men and women to higher living and more sanctified service, and in His providence every good and great enterprise is subjected to trial to test the purity and strength of principles in those in responsibility and to mold and establish individual character after God's model, which is the highest order of education. Without these trials there would be continual falling away from Christ's likeness into scientific, fanciful human philosophy uniting with Satan's followers, while through obedience in supreme tests the faculties of mind are exercised, character grows toward perfection, and those true to right principles grow continually in knowledge as co-laborers with the great Master Worker, acting a glorious part by precept and example in carrying out His purposes and glorifying their Creator. Received with humility, such experiences make believers more spiritual, build spiritual strength, teach wholly to depend on Him, elevate and purify the soul, help work out God's will, and prepare to share Christ's sufferings and therefore His glory. The Lord permits trials to come to His loved ones in order that through trial they may have increased knowledge concerning the God of their salvation, be led to know Him and trust Him, and find them essential to resisting evil and to final victory, for He can overrule Satan's schemes to accomplish this purpose. Trials endured well develop steadfast character and spiritual graces, with faith, meekness and love often maturing amid hardship, revealing the character being formed and shaping servants for His use.
He brings everyone into trying positions to see if trust will rest in a power outside and above self, for everyone has undiscovered traits of character that must come to light through trial. He allows those who are self-sufficient to be sorely tempted so they may understand their helplessness, exposing selfishness, ambition, susceptibility and misplaced confidence, yet leading to self-examination, stronger faith and lasting benefit. Faith gains strength through trial while the Lord guides events.
Faith Refined Like Gold
The trial of faith is more precious than gold that perishes, even gold tried in the fire, and faith proved genuine will be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Believers can greatly rejoice in the salvation kept for them while for a little time and when needful they grieve through many trials, because those trials test that precious faith. Their hope rests on Christ's resurrection and the inheritance kept in heaven, and on being kept by God's power through faith unto salvation, so that though they do not see Christ they love and believe in Him with joy too deep for words as they receive the salvation of their souls.
The refining work burns away dross, impurity, roughness, earthliness, selfishness and every unchristlike trait, as by fire and by hammer and chisel and grinding wheel. It hews, squares, chisels, burnishes, polishes and fashions precious stones after the similitude of a palace, to fill a place in the heavenly temple. Such careful, thorough labor is not spent on useless material or worthless stone, but only on what is precious, forming God's image in the sufferer until Christ is fully revealed in him. The way may be dark and hard, yet endured with God's presence it purges away what is worthless, turns the heart toward Jesus and heaven, sweetens the bitter cup through patience, endurance and prayer, and brings honor and glory to God.
To be called to endure trial proves that Jesus sees something very precious to develop for the glory of His name. He does not prune brambles and does not cast worthless stones into His furnace, but puts valuable ore into the fire to prove its temper and to mold and fashion it for His work, as a blacksmith proves iron and steel. God limits Satan's power over this work and guards the trusting Christian, so the fire consumes only the dross and does not destroy the true metal. Satan may heat the furnace, test, distress and contend for usefulness or life, yet Jesus and angels watch, the trial is weighed and measured and made bearable with a way of escape, and what is meant to purify is not allowed to destroy or to hurt the faithful. Temptation itself is not sin nor a sign of divine displeasure, for Christ was tempted in all points and knows how to pity, deliver, communicate grace and strength, restrain the adversary, and bring the tried one forth with firmer faith and richer experience.
Those who bear trials well and share Christ's sufferings are drawn into closer fellowship with Him and made more spiritual, dependent, humble and grateful. Suffering with Him teaches the evil of sin and the preciousness of forgiveness, builds spiritual strength for service in His name, and prepares those who share His sufferings to share His consolation and glory and to reign with Him. Persecution and fiery trials are therefore to be accepted cheerfully rather than feared, with the final triumph in view. Heaven will be cheap enough even if obtained through suffering, and the keen, cutting heaviness through manifold temptations must be known for Christ's sake in order to be purified and fitted to receive the seal of the living God, pass through the time of trouble, see the King in His beauty, and dwell with God and holy angels. Every saint must pass through this refining before immortality, as earthly treasures and dearest attachments are taken away to supply more of God Himself, with the richest tokens of grace given in deepest sorrow to those who trust, endure pain without murmuring, and break forth into praise.
Meeting Trials by Faith
Believers in heaviness through manifold temptations must not sink beneath discouragement and trial but bear up under all afflictions and trust wholly in God, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of faith and trusting that He keeps the believing soul by His power through faith so the wily foe shall not overcome. Victory requires putting on the whole armor of God and being ready at any moment for conflict with the powers of darkness, maintaining living connection with heavenly agencies and resting in Christ's atonement and the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour. When temptations and trials rush in, they are to go to God and agonize with Him in prayer, for He will not turn them away empty but will give grace and strength to overcome and break the power of the enemy. In close relationship with Christ provision is made to serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness, and by always looking unto Jesus they are delivered from the devices of evil men and evil angels and break the bonds of sin and Satan. Temptation itself is part of Satan's attack against Christ through those He redeemed, and resisting it is joining the Lord's battle; the tempted person must recognize helplessness, entrust the temptation by faith to Christ, and receive power to overcome as He overcame, which cultivates patience and prepares for future trials.
The right response is to rejoice, be cheerful, encourage faith, talk faith and talk of Jesus, and speak words of courage to other souls, keeping thoughts as the outgrowth of holy principles and constantly looking and talking on the bright side rather than looking on the dark side. The believer may converse with Jesus by the side watching, saying the Lord is helper and shall not be moved, letting cheerfulness be seen in the countenance and sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit so all see in whom trust is placed. Murmuring and complaint make the bitter cup more bitter and may bring further trials until they accomplish their purpose, while patience, endurance, and prayer make the bitter cup sweet and allow it to produce its intended effect to the honor and glory of God. Having faith in God turns defeats into victories, and the burden borne for Christ's sake with complete surrender of the will to God's will is the measure of love for Him, so transformation of heart and character concerns believers more than anything else. Even when earthly treasures and dearest earthly attachments are taken away to supply more of God Himself, with the richest tokens of His grace given in deepest sorrow, the afflicted soul breaks forth into praise and thanksgiving instead of murmuring, leaning upon His arm in trust with heart and soul and voice.
In dark seasons when hope seems lost, Jesus is hidden from sight, and despair seizes the soul, believers must wait patiently in hope, trust God, and submit the will to God's will, seeking patience to endure and grace to overcome rather than simply asking or crying for the trial to end. Safety in those dreadful hours is to trust and depend on the sole merits of the atonement and in helpless unworthiness to cast the soul upon the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, and those who do this will never perish. To be strong when light shines on the pathway is no great thing; to wait patiently in hope when all is dark and clouds envelope requires faith and submission that swallows the will up in the will of God. Trials may come without God explaining their purpose, because explaining them could defeat their work of purifying and ennobling the heart, so faith must rest simply and fully on God's word.
Greatly rejoicing in heaviness requires constantly exercising genuine sanctifying faith that presses from light to greater light and from strength to greater strength until the believer is more than conqueror and complete in Christ, not having own righteousness but the righteousness which is by faith. Having a temptation is not sin, but yielding to it is, and the soul that rests with firm confidence in Christ and the power of His atonement can remain steadfast against temptation. Obeying God's word leads true followers to separate from worldly pursuits and gatherings sought for pleasure such as picnics, donations, shows and other gatherings, where there is no help for becoming more heavenly-minded or growing in grace. God's people in their short proving time must also preserve life, care for health, and live in accordance with God's law and the laws of life and health, staying true and useful in service rather than throwing life away, for Satan triumphs if testing makes them useless or causes death, and after enduring brighter days come. In this refining time those tested are either converted wholly and sanctified by obeying the truth or left with the world where they belong.
This world is an educating school to prepare believers to graduate to the higher school of heaven above, where eternal destiny is decided by present course of action. Temptations and the discipline of little things train the soul and develop character for the courts above, forming such characters as can be welcomed into the mansions Christ has gone to prepare. Trials may be the providential means by which prayers for sanctification are answered, as affliction purifies, brings the will into harmony with God's will, reveals the heart, and develops Christian character and living faith in conformity to Christ's image.
When believers are afflicted by the wrong course of others and are in trial or under temptation, Jesus knows it all, sees the tempted soul, and has warned beforehand so severe trials and departures from the faith need not surprise. The instruction is to contemplate and pray, not to become exasperated or let feelings of the natural heart control, not to cherish a spirit of retaliation, and not to let go of faith in Jesus. Believers are to commit their case wholly to Jesus who died for them, keep hold of His hand stretched out in pitying tenderness to every suffering child, entrust their souls to His care, and trust in Him in every trying hour under every adverse circumstance, for He is sufficient for the present hour of trial. To the broken and contrite heart and submissive spirit He imparts grace and soothing consolation, and walking and working with God in humility and sincerity brings joy, peace, hope, and victories even in times of darkness.
Sickness and bodily suffering for a season, even being laid aside at the very time testimony is greatly needed, is a trial of faith allowed as furnace fire meant to purify and refine. Even when limbs and body are afflicted so that movement requires crawling out of bed to change position, Christ is close beside to comfort, and without that comfort discouragement would come. Coming forth from the furnace purified and refined is cause to thank the Lord and not be discouraged, bringing encouragement and glad thankfulness, giving strength to keep working with the pen despite affliction and to do all one can where placed. Trials that bring heaviness for a time are also occasions when truthfulness and honesty shine and are highly prized, so they must be held fast even when suffering or fearing punishment.
Trials in History and End
Present heaviness is the trial of faith belonging to the final time, when temptations are greater than ever because Satan knows his time is short and very soon every case will be decided for life or for death. It comes in the very close of this world's history, in the closing days of probation, when iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold through the deceptive working of satanic agencies. It is rooted in the conflict between truth and error over the law of God that began as warfare against God's law in heaven when Satan sought to bring God to his own ideas and force a change of His government and was expelled, and now continues on earth as he persuades men to disloyalty, perverts judgment and justice, and tramples the law. It comes to all who believe in Jesus, especially the commandment-keeping people of God, because Satan opposes those who show love for God by keeping His commandments and seeks to discourage, grieve and hurt every loyal soul, pressing the idea that God is displeased in order to torture them into unbelief. In the time of trouble he uses accusations about past sins to make God's people feel hopeless and unworthy, hoping they will lose faith and turn from allegiance to God.
No one can keep himself in these days of great trial of faith; believers are kept by the power of God alone, revealed in a special manner to offset Satan's working through the children of disobedience, and are to rejoice in the Lord always with entire trust in the Lord Jesus as their only hope. They must not sink down beneath discouragement and trial but must bear up under all afflictions and trust wholly in the mighty God of Jacob, whose grace is sufficient for all trials. If trials are overcome and victory is gained over Satan's temptations, the trial of faith which is much more precious than gold is endured, leaving believers stronger and better prepared to meet the next trial; if they sink down and give way, they grow weaker and weaker, get no reward for the trial, are less prepared for the next, and are finally led captive by Satan at his will. Victory requires putting on the whole armor of God and being ready at any moment for conflict with the powers of darkness, and when temptations and trials rush in going to God and agonizing with Him in prayer, for He will not turn away empty but will give grace and strength to overcome and break the power of the enemy, so that enduring hardness as good soldiers of Jesus lets Israel move forward strong in God and in the power of His might. These words instruct believers in every age, especially those living near the end of all things, to remain steadfast in faith while rejoicing in the sure hope of their inheritance in the earth made new even while they face severe trials lasting only for a season and coming if need be.
Those who greatly rejoiced with gaze upward expecting Jesus to come were though now for a season in heaviness through disappointment when He did not come. Jesus could not yet come to earth, and they had to endure greater trials for His sake. The heaviness was needful to make them give up errors and traditions received from men and turn wholly to God and His word to be purified, made white, and tried. Those who endure that bitter trial will obtain an eternal victory. The Pilgrims' exile and persecution likewise show hardship accompanying faith while God permits trials to prepare His people for His purpose.
In their exile their faith and love grew stronger, their trials opened the way to religious freedom and a place of security, proving God does not forsake those who trust in Him. Huss's expected temptations, imprisonment, and possible death illustrate such a season of distress through many trials. He regarded suffering for truth as purification and sought patience and constancy in it, following Christ's example. Affliction serves to purify the righteous, strengthen the witness of their faith and godliness, and expose the character of the wicked, while faithful conduct condemns those who reject God.
Workers in God's cause will be brought into strait places, for God tests strength of faith and character and proves whether they will trust Him under difficulties. Those called to God's work are tested and proved in the furnace of trial, and until they pass through it they do not know themselves. When His stewards have done their duty fully with means and can do no more, heaviness and need do not permit sitting down at ease and letting missionary work come to a standstill, but require crying to God for help and earnestly seeking the Lord in faith. Tribulation also drives to God those who wish to belong wholly to Him.
The trial of faith can come as hard outward trouble such as a gale and powerful rain threatening to blow tents over at a stormy camp meeting and keeping men out through the night holding the stakes firm, with Satan busy in the storm. Though in heaviness through such manifold trials, believers can greatly rejoice, receiving such blessing that they have no word of complaint, finding the Sabbath day most precious and knowing Jesus is present among them. Others often cannot know the anguish or circumstances another endures, so those who have not faced the same trials should not assume they would bear them better or condemn someone whose endurance they cannot fairly judge. Even a fall can lead through humble fervent prayer, confession, and restitution to repentance and firmer standing when the heart has not been hardened by disregard of great light, as Peter became a better man after his fall.
Instruction on labor belonging with this verse teaches that the relation between physicians and their brethren is to be what God designed it to be. Medical missionary work is to be bound up with the gospel ministry and not made the body. God's chosen people out of the world are while living in the world not to be of the world but to remain forever separate from contaminating worldly influences and councils.