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A black messenger loaded with treasure!
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Multitudinous Thoughts and Sacred Comforts" #883.
"Blessed is the man whom you
chasten, O Lord." Psalm 94:12
It is not prosperity which is set forth as a mark
of blessedness. Adversity is the covenant spot,
and the choice mark of a favored child of God.
Therefore I should be thankful for being made
to smart beneath my gracious Father's hand.
Everything, as to our state of mind, depends
upon the way in which we regard the dealings
of God in his providence to us.
If our trouble comes to us as a curse, if indeed
our afflictions be the first drops of that tremendous
sheet of fire which will fall upon us forever from
an angry God, then trial is indeed an awful thing.
But if it true that out of God's love to us, we
are made to undergo the needful processes of
tribulation, to prepare us like winnowed wheat
for the peaceful garner, then will we accept our
sufferings with joy.
Welcome, O grief, if you are a black
messenger loaded with treasure!
Welcome, thrice welcome to my patient
spirit, O rod of the covenant, soul enriching
and sanctifying!
Here, beloved, is a consolation which revives
the fainting soul when ready to swoon amid
the heat and burden of oppressive thoughts.
Christian, all your adversities will have a happy
end. There is an end appointed when glory
shall be given to afflicted and poor saints.
A sight of the end makes us to judge
rightly of the whole matter.
All's well that ends well.
If the cup be not poison, but medicine, then
its bitterness shall be sweetness to me.
If the ploughing be not for a sowing of salt
beneath the curse of desolation, but for a
seedtime of grace with a harvest of bliss,
then plough on, O Lord, and though the
furrows tear my soul, yet be it so; the end
makes amends, and therefore may your
will be done.
Rejoice then, O you who are vexed with
multitudes of troublous thoughts, and let
the infallible faithfulness of your God
delight your souls.
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