Afflictions Of God's People, By John Fawcett

Afflictions serve most effectually to convince us of the vanity of all that this world can afford, to remind us that this is not our rest and to stir up desires and hopes for our everlasting home. They produce in us a spirit of sympathy towards our companions in tribulation. They give occasion for the exercise of patience, meekness, submission, and resignation. Were it not for the wholesome and necessary discipline of affliction, these excellent virtues would lie dormant. Afflictions serve to convince us more deeply of our own weakness and insufficiency, and to endear the person, the grace, the promises, and the salvation of our Redeemer, more and more to our hearts. Thus we are taught to esteem His very chastisements as precious on account of the benefits we derive from them. John Fawcett (1740-1817) was a British theologian, pastor and hymn writer. Fawcett was con­vert­ed at age 16 un­der the min­is­try of George White­field. He at first joined the Meth­od­ists, but three years lat­er be­gan at­tend­ing the Bap­tist Church in Brad­ford, Eng­land. Hav­ing be­gun to preach, he was or­dained a Bap­tist min­is­ter at Wainsgate, York­shire. In 1772, he was in­vit­ed to Lon­don to suc­ceed J. Gill as pas­tor of the Car­ter's Lane Bap­tist Church. On the day of his de­part­ure, he had preached his fare­well ser­mon, the wa­gons were load­ed, and he was ready to go. But he was so over­come by the thought of leav­ing the con­gre­ga­tion he had come to love, that he can­celled his plans and stayed in Wains­gate. In 1793, Fawcett was in­vit­ed to become pre­si­dent of the Bap­tist Aca­de­my in Bris­tol, but he sim­i­lar­ly de­clined.