12 JANUARY (UNDATED SERMON)
The sitting of the refiner
‘And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.’ Malachi 3:3
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 12:5–11
I once heard a Welshman preach in his own native tongue. It was a sermon in which he got into the spirit of his subject, and spoke as one inspired. He used a very simple illustration when he said, ‘The mother has her dear babe upon her knee. It is time for washing; she washes its face. The little one cries; it loves not the soap; it loves not the water, and therefore it cries. Here is a great sorrow! Listen to its lamentations! It is ready to break its heart! What does the mother do? Is she sorrowful? Does she weep? No; she is singing all the while, because she understands how good it is that the child should suffer a little temporary inconvenience in order that its face, all smeared and foul, should become bright and beautiful again.
Thus does the great Father rest in his love, and rejoice over us with singing while we are sighing and crying.’ Ours is but a child’s sorrow, sharp and shallow, of which the greatest source is our own ignorance of the great designs of the Perfecter of men. The Lord pities our childish sorrow, but he does not so regard it as to stay his hand from his cleansing work. ‘Let not thy soul spare for his crying’, said Solomon; and our wise Father when he is chastening us does not spare us for our crying. What if the metal that is put into the furnace should feel when the crucible is hot, and should cry out, ‘Oh, take me out; the fire is too hot; I cannot bear it. I am dissolving; I am melting; take me out.’ Would the assayer regard the entreaties of the metal? Ah, no! The refiner sits still. Why should he be flurried? He knows what he is at, and he knows that his divine methods are wise and infallible. He is not hurting the silver, but doing it lasting service.
FOR MEDITATION: (Our Own Hymn Book no. 731 v. 2—John Mason, 1683)
‘His thoughts are high, His love is wise,
His wounds a cure intend;
And though He does not always smile,
He loves unto the end.’
Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 5), ed. Terence Peter Crosby, (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2010), 17.
The sitting of the refiner
‘And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.’ Malachi 3:3
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 12:5–11
I once heard a Welshman preach in his own native tongue. It was a sermon in which he got into the spirit of his subject, and spoke as one inspired. He used a very simple illustration when he said, ‘The mother has her dear babe upon her knee. It is time for washing; she washes its face. The little one cries; it loves not the soap; it loves not the water, and therefore it cries. Here is a great sorrow! Listen to its lamentations! It is ready to break its heart! What does the mother do? Is she sorrowful? Does she weep? No; she is singing all the while, because she understands how good it is that the child should suffer a little temporary inconvenience in order that its face, all smeared and foul, should become bright and beautiful again.
Thus does the great Father rest in his love, and rejoice over us with singing while we are sighing and crying.’ Ours is but a child’s sorrow, sharp and shallow, of which the greatest source is our own ignorance of the great designs of the Perfecter of men. The Lord pities our childish sorrow, but he does not so regard it as to stay his hand from his cleansing work. ‘Let not thy soul spare for his crying’, said Solomon; and our wise Father when he is chastening us does not spare us for our crying. What if the metal that is put into the furnace should feel when the crucible is hot, and should cry out, ‘Oh, take me out; the fire is too hot; I cannot bear it. I am dissolving; I am melting; take me out.’ Would the assayer regard the entreaties of the metal? Ah, no! The refiner sits still. Why should he be flurried? He knows what he is at, and he knows that his divine methods are wise and infallible. He is not hurting the silver, but doing it lasting service.
FOR MEDITATION: (Our Own Hymn Book no. 731 v. 2—John Mason, 1683)
‘His thoughts are high, His love is wise,
His wounds a cure intend;
And though He does not always smile,
He loves unto the end.’
Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 5), ed. Terence Peter Crosby, (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2010), 17.
12 JANUARY (UNDATED SERMON)
The sitting of the refiner
‘And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.’ Malachi 3:3
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 12:5–11
I once heard a Welshman preach in his own native tongue. It was a sermon in which he got into the spirit of his subject, and spoke as one inspired. He used a very simple illustration when he said, ‘The mother has her dear babe upon her knee. It is time for washing; she washes its face. The little one cries; it loves not the soap; it loves not the water, and therefore it cries. Here is a great sorrow! Listen to its lamentations! It is ready to break its heart! What does the mother do? Is she sorrowful? Does she weep? No; she is singing all the while, because she understands how good it is that the child should suffer a little temporary inconvenience in order that its face, all smeared and foul, should become bright and beautiful again.
Thus does the great Father rest in his love, and rejoice over us with singing while we are sighing and crying.’ Ours is but a child’s sorrow, sharp and shallow, of which the greatest source is our own ignorance of the great designs of the Perfecter of men. The Lord pities our childish sorrow, but he does not so regard it as to stay his hand from his cleansing work. ‘Let not thy soul spare for his crying’, said Solomon; and our wise Father when he is chastening us does not spare us for our crying. What if the metal that is put into the furnace should feel when the crucible is hot, and should cry out, ‘Oh, take me out; the fire is too hot; I cannot bear it. I am dissolving; I am melting; take me out.’ Would the assayer regard the entreaties of the metal? Ah, no! The refiner sits still. Why should he be flurried? He knows what he is at, and he knows that his divine methods are wise and infallible. He is not hurting the silver, but doing it lasting service.
FOR MEDITATION: (Our Own Hymn Book no. 731 v. 2—John Mason, 1683)
‘His thoughts are high, His love is wise,
His wounds a cure intend;
And though He does not always smile,
He loves unto the end.’
Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 5), ed. Terence Peter Crosby, (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2010), 17.
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