Rare Pearls from the Sea of Affliction
Why Charles Spurgeon’s Quote Is More Biblical Than People Think
I have seen quite a few people claim that Charles Spurgeon’s stetement, “Those who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls,” is an unbiblical declaration. While it’s true this is not explicitly stated in the Bible, it is Biblical in principle. Spurgeon wasn’t inventing a new theology of suffering but simply illustrating what the Bible has said all along: that God turns suffering into sanctification.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
“We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.” (Romans 5:3–4).
Likewise, James wrote:
“Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:2–3).
In Matthew 13:45–46, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to “a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls.” Pearls in the Bible often symbolize priceless spiritual truths or the beauty of the kingdom itself. Spurgeon’s point fits perfectly: affliction is the deep water through which those “pearls” (patience, faith, humility, wisdom) are found.
Also, Spurgeon didn’t say “those who are thrown into the sea of affliction.” He said “those who dive.”
To dive is to yield yourself willingly to God’s working and to trust that beneath the waves of suffering, He has hidden treasures you could never find on the shore.
Hebrews 12:11 says:
“No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
Those who dive are the ones who allow themselves to be “exercised thereby.” They don’t flee the refining process. They let God do His work.
Affliction can drown us in bitterness, or it can deepen us, the difference is whether we dive in faith or are dragged unwillingly. The sea of affliction is dark, yes, but the diver who trusts God finds more than endurance. That diver finds treasure. To dive is to say, “Lord, if You have appointed this depth for me, I will meet You there.”
As Job said after his own sea of affliction:
“I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee.” (Job 42:5)