The Furnace of Affliction by
William Nicholson Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have chosen you in the furnace
of affliction. Isaiah chapter 48 verse 10 The furnace of affliction is
divinely appointed. Afflictions are not the result
of chance or blind fate. Afflictions do not rise out of
the dust. Job chapter 5 verse 6. Afflictions
are not to be traced to secondary causes. Afflictions are not merely
the work of our enemies. Afflictions come from the moral
government of God. Without His permissive hand,
they would never take place. Without His restraining hand,
they would be overwhelming. Without His supporting hand,
they would be intolerable. Without His sanctifying hand,
they would never be blessed. Afflictions come by the wise
and gracious arrangement of God's divine providence. So that no
one would be disturbed by these afflictions, for you yourselves
know that we have been destined for this. 1 Thessalonians 3.3. Heed the rod and the one who
appointed it. Micah 6.9. As a furnace is prepared for
refining gold, so afflictions are appointed for the saints
who are compared to fine gold. Let us see here the high value
that God places upon His people, being chosen by the Father, redeemed
by the Son, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. They are His
precious gold. as his gold, they get tarnished
by the world and sin, and they must be subjected to the refining
process. The beauty of his grace must
be seen in them. Hence Jehovah seeks their spiritual
improvement. I will turn my hand against you,
I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your
impurities Isaiah chapter 1 verse 25 The design of God in choosing
us to suffer in the furnace of affliction is for our everlasting
good and for his glory. Regenerating grace implants in
us the seeds of immortality which require cultivation in order
to bring about maturity. The furnace is designed to develop
these principles and to fit us for higher enjoyment. Afflictions
scour off our rust, preserve us from sin, assimilate us to
Christ, who was a man of sorrows, makes us very humble and break
our haughty mind, show us the frailty of human life and the
vanity of the world. The people of God have the same
need of affliction that our bodies have of medicine that fruit trees
have of pruning that gold and silver have of the furnace that
iron has of the file and that the child has of the rod of correction
God's chastisements are blessings in disguise they are veiled mercies you