Puritan gems on the blessings of affliction

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

 

Richard Baxter:

"Afflictions teach us to value the blessings of God which in prosperity we are apt to forget."

"God's afflictions are not to destroy us, but to wean us from the world and bring us closer to Christ."

"It is folly to doubt God's goodness because of His chastening rod, for the rod is in the hand of infinite love."

 

Thomas Brooks:

"Afflictions are but God's furnace to refine His gold."

"Christ's school of affliction, is the best school in this world."

"God would not rub so hard, if it were not to fetch out the dirt that is ingrained in our natures."

"Afflictions are God's medicines to cure His people."

 

William Bridge:

"As the winter prepares the earth for the spring, so affliction prepares the soul for glory."

"The greatest afflictions are less than we deserve."

"God empties us of worldly comfort to fill us with heavenly joy."

 

Jeremiah Burroughs:

"God's people are like gold—they are purified by fire."

"God does not strike as an enemy to destroy, but as a father to correct."

 

John Flavel:

"Sanctified afflictions are better than unsanctified prosperity."

"The furnace of affliction is where God polishes His jewels."

 

William Gurnall:

"God's wounds cure—sin's kisses kill."

 

John Owen:

"Afflictions quicken our desires for eternal things."

"Afflictions are blessings to the soul, though they seem bitter to the flesh."

 

Samuel Rutherford:

"Your afflictions are your Father's love-tokens."

"When I am in the cellar of affliction I look for the Lord's choicest wines."

Richard Sibbes:

"God breaks the cistern to drive us to the fountain."

"The fire does not destroy the gold, but only refines it."

"God's hammer breaks us in pieces, that He may fashion us into His own likeness."

"God squeezes the sins out of His saints by affliction."

"It is better to go limping to Heaven, than leaping to Hell."

 

Thomas Watson:

"A sick bed often teaches more than a sermon."

"God's rod is a pencil to draw Christ's image more distinctly upon us."

 

The Puritans consistently viewed affliction as a tool in our Father's loving hands for instructing, humbling, sanctifying, refining, drawing believers closer to Him, increasing their graces, shaping them into Christ-likeness, and preparing them for glory!