However harsh His hand may be – Thomas Brooks

(“A Heavenly Cordial” 1665)

None of God’s afflictions upon His people ever make any change or alteration of God’s affections towards His people.

However harsh His hand may be against them  yet His love, His heart, His favor, His affections are still one and the same to them.

When Munster lay sick, and his friends asked him how he felt? He pointed to his sores and ulcers, whereof he was full, and said, “These are God’s gems and jewels with which he decks His best friends; and to me they are more precious than all the gold and silver in the world!

God’s dear love to His people is not founded upon anything good in His people, nor upon anything good which is done by His people but only upon His own free grace and goodness!

What could move the holy God to love us, who are poor, worthless, fruitless sinners? This question is best resolved in these words, “He loves us because He loves us!” The root of His love to us lies in Himself! God’s love to His people is a lasting love, yes, an everlasting love! It is a love which never decays nor waxes cold. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3