Ver. 28.
And we know that all things work together for
good
There is a temporal good, and a spiritual good, and an eternal one.
Temporal good is what the men of the world are seeking after, and
generally have the greatest share of, and the saints the least; and
yet they have as much as is needful for them, and what they have,
they have with a blessing; and even sometimes afflictions work for
the temporal good of God's children: spiritual good lies in a
lively exercise of grace and a conformity of the soul to God; and
is what the men of the world least regard, and the saints most; and
sometimes afflictions issue in this sort of good, as they do also
in eternal good, for they work for us an exceeding weight of glory:
by "all things" may be meant, all beings good and bad: all good
beings eternal or created: eternal, as Jehovah the Father, all his
perfections, purposes, promises, provisions, and performances;
Jehovah the Son, as the mighty God, and as Mediator, all that he is
in himself, all that he has in himself, all that he has done, or is
doing, all his titles, characters, and relations; Jehovah the
Spirit, in his person, offices, and operations; these all have
worked together in the council of peace, in the covenant of grace,
and in redemption; and they do work together in sanctification, and
so they will in glorification, and that for the good of the saints:
all created ones, as good angels, good magistrates, good ministers
of the Gospel: all evil beings, as devils, persecuting magistrates,
heretics, and false teachers: all things, good and bad: all good
things, outward peace and prosperity, external gifts, the ministry
of the word, the administration of ordinances, church censures,
admonitions, and excommunications; all evil things, sin the evil of
evils: original sin, or the fall of Adam, which contains all other
sins in it, was attended with aggravating circumstances, and
followed with dismal consequences, yet has been overruled for good;
hereby a Saviour became necessary, who was sent, came, and wrought
out salvation; has brought in a better righteousness than Adam
lost; entitled his people to a better life than his was, and makes
them partakers of the riches both of grace and glory: actual sin,
inward or outward; indwelling sin; which is made use of, when
discovered, to abate pride, to lead to an entire dependence on
Christ, to teach saints to be less censorious, to depend on the
power and grace of God to keep them, and to wean them from this
world, and to make them desirous of another, where they shall be
free from it; outward sins, of others, or their own; the sins of
others, of wicked men, which observed, raise an indignation in the
saints against sin, and a concern for God's glory, and to look into
their own hearts and ways, and admire the grace of God to them,
that this is not their case; of good men, which are recorded, and
may be observed, not for example and encouragement in sin, but for
admonition, and to encourage faith and hope under a sense of it; of
their own, for humiliation, which issues in weakening the power of
sin in themselves, and the strengthening of the graces of others:
but from all this it does not follow, that God is the author of
sin, only that he overrules it to wise and gracious purposes; nor
should any take encouragement to sin, to do evil that good may
come; nor is sin itself a real good; nor is it to be said that it
does no hurt; for though it cannot hinder the everlasting salvation
of God's people, it does a great deal of hurt to their peace and
comfort; and that it is made to work in any form or shape for good,
is not owing to its own nature and influence, which is malignant
enough, but to the unbounded power and unsearchable wisdom of God:
all evils or afflictions, spiritual and temporal, work together for
good; all spiritual ones, such as the temptations of Satan, which
are made useful for humiliation, for the trial of grace, to show us
our weakness, our need of Christ, and to conform us to him, and
also to excite to prayer and watchfulness; the hidings of God's
face, which make his presence the more prized when enjoyed, and the
more desirable. Temporal afflictions, afflictions in body, name, or
estate, nay even death itself, all work together for the good of
God's people. The Jews tell us of one Nahum, the man Gamzu, who,
they say, was
F11 so called, because of everything that
happened to him he used to say, (
hbwjl wz Mg) , "Gam zu letobah", "this is also for
good": and they give instances of several misfortunes which befell
him, upon which account he used these words, and how they proved in
the issue to his advantage: agreeably to this is the advice given
by them,
``for ever (say they F12) let a man be used to say, all that
the Lord does, (dybe bjl)
, "he does for good".''
Now that all things do work together for good, the saints "know",
and are firmly persuaded of; both from the word and promises of
God, and from the instances of Jacob, Joseph, Job, and others, and
also from their own experience: and it is to be observed, that it
is not said that all things "have" worked together, and so they may
again, or that they "shall" work together, but all things work
together for good; they "now" work together, they are always
working together, whether it can be observed or not: prosperity and
adversity, whether in things temporal or spiritual, work
"together", and make an intricate woven work in providence and
grace; which will be viewed with admiration another day: one copy
reads, "God works together", or "causes all things to work together
for good"; and so the Ethiopic version, "we know that God helps
them that love him, to every good thing": and to this agrees the
Syriac version, "we know that to them that love God, he in
everything helps them to good"; and certain it is, that God is the
efficient cause, that makes all things work together for his
people's good. The persons to whom all things work together for
good, are described as such
that love God;
a character, which does not agree with all the sons and daughters
of Adam: love to God is not naturally in men; it is wrought in
the soul in regeneration, and is an evidence of it; it grows up
with faith, which works by it; without it, a profession of
religion is vain; and where it is once wrought, it lasts for
ever; it ought to be superlative and universal, constant, warm
and ardent, hearty and sincere: such who have it, show it by a
desire to be like to God, and therefore imitate him, by making
his glory the supreme end of their actions; by being careful not
to offend him; by delighting in his presence, in his people,
word, ordinances, ways, and worship; and by undervaluing the
world, and all things in it, in comparison of him; who is to be
loved for the perfections of his being, the characters and
relations he stands in and bears to his people, and on account of
the love with which he has loved them, and which is indeed the
spring and source of theirs. They are further described, as such
who are the called according to his purpose.
The called of God and of Jesus Christ; not to any office, or by
the external ministry of the word only, but by special grace;
from darkness to light, from bondage to liberty, from the company
of sinful men to fellowship with Christ, from a trust in their
own righteousness to a dependence on his, to grace here, and
glory hereafter; which is done according to the purpose of God:
the persons called are fixed upon by God; none are called but
whom God purposed to call; those who are called can assign no
other reason of it than the will of God; and no other reason but
that can be given why others are not called; the time when, the
place where, the means whereby persons are called, are all
settled and determined by the will, and according to the purpose
of God.