John Calvin on SUFFERING AFFLICTION:

Thank you, David (over at the Thirsty Theologian blog) for sharing Calvin's thoughts on the subject of SUFFERING AFFLICTION - taken from "Sermons on the Beatitudes," by John Calvin (pictured here in the hands of our friend, Pastor Erik Raymond of Omaha); just recently published by The Banner of Truth.
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... our happiness and blessedness do not come from the world’s applause, of from the enjoyment of wealth, honors, gratification and pleasure. On the contrary, we may be utterly oppressed, in tears and weeping, persecuted and to all appearances ruined: none of that affects our standing or diminishes our happiness. Why? Because we have in view the ultimate outcome. That is what Christ would have us remember, so as to correct the false ideas we feed upon and which so muddle our thinking that we cannot accept his yoke. He reminds us that we must look further ahead and consider the outcome of our afflictions, our tears in the persecutions we suffer and the insults we bear. When once we see how God turns all of that to good and to our salvation, we may conclude that blessing will assuredly be ours, however contrary such things to our nature.
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