Such Lessons!
God's afflictions are a means of teaching us valuable lessons that will benefit us for eternity.
Thomas Brooks emphasizes that true blessing comes from God's chastening accompanied by divine teaching. He explains that afflictions, when used by God, can lead to a deeper loathing of sin, a greater desire to walk with God, and a longing for Christ. Brooks reassures that if God teaches us through our trials to become more humble, charitable, and spiritual, then those afflictions are acts of love. Ultimately, he concludes that God's love is evident in His willingness to teach us valuable lessons through our hardships, which benefit us for eternity.
Text
"Blessed is the man You chasten, O Lord, the
man You teach from Your law." Psalm 94:12
All the chastening in the world, without divine teaching,
will never make a man blessed. That man who finds
correction attended with instruction, and lashing with
lessoning--is a happy man.
If God, by the affliction which is upon you, shall teach you:
how to loathe sin more, and
how to trample upon the world more, and
how to walk with God more--
your afflictions are in love.
If God shall teach you by afflictions:
how to die to sin more, and
how to die to your relations more,
and how to die to your self-interest more--
your afflictions are in love.
If God shall teach you by afflictions:
how to live to Christ more,
how to lift up Christ more, and
how to long for Christ more--
your afflictions are in love.
If God shall teach you by afflictions:
how to mind heaven more,
how to live in heaven more, and
how to fit for heaven more--
your afflictions are in love.
If God by afflictions shall teach:
your proud heart how to lie more low,
your hard heart how to grow more tender,
your censorious heart how to grow more charitable,
your carnal heart how to grow more spiritual,
your froward heart how to grow more quiet--
your afflictions are in love.
When God teaches your thoughts as well as your
brains, your heart as well as your head, any of
these lessons--your afflictions are in love.
Where God loves, He afflicts in love; and wherever God
afflicts in love, there He will, sooner or later, teach such
souls such lessons as shall do them good to all eternity.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Necessity of Divine Teaching
- A. Chastening without teaching is not enough
- B. Correction must be accompanied by instruction
- II. The Purpose of Afflictions
- A. To teach us to loathe sin more
- B. To teach us to walk with God more
- III. The Benefits of Afflictions
- A. To teach us to die to sin and self-interest
- B. To teach us to live to Christ and lift Him up
- C. To teach us to mind heaven and live in it
Key Quotes
“That man who finds correction attended with instruction, and lashing with lessoning--is a happy man.” — Thomas Brooks
“Where God loves, He afflicts in love; and wherever God afflicts in love, there He will, sooner or later, teach such souls such lessons as shall do them good to all eternity.” — Thomas Brooks
Application Points
- We should seek to learn from our afflictions and allow God to teach us valuable lessons.
- We should trust that God's afflictions are in love and are designed to transform us into the image of Christ.
- We should be grateful for the opportunity to learn from our afflictions and to grow in our relationship with God.