Those Puritans...
Hence it follows, that manifold and successive afflictions are no more than what is necessary for the best of Christians; the mortification of our lusts requires them all, be they never so many, 1 Pet. 1:5, "If need be, ye are in heaviness;" it is no more than need, that one loss should follow another, to mortify an earthly heart; for so intensely are our affections set upon the world, that it is not one, or two, or many checks of providence, that will suffice to wean and alienate them. Alas, the earthliness of our hearts will take all this, it may be much more than this, to purge them: the wise God sees it but necessary to permit frequent discoveries of our own weakness, and to let loose the tongues of many enemies upon us, and all little enough to pull down our pride, and the vanity that is in our hearts: Christian, how difficult soever it be for thee to bear it; yet the pride of thy heart requires all the scoffs and jeers, all the calumnies and reproaches, that ever the tongues or pens of thy bittersweet enemies, or mistaken friends, have at any time thrown upon thee. Such rank weeds as grow in our hearts, will require hard frosts and very sharp weather to rot them; the straying bullock needs a heavy clog, and so doth a Christian, whom God will keep within the bounds and limits of His commandments, Psalm 69:67, Daniel 11:35.
John Flavel
From The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel
The Method of Grace, Sermon 28
posted by Marcian @ 2:21 PM
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