Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 285, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1913 — How Good Refines Us [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

How Good Refines Us

Br REV. JAMES M. GRAY. D D.

D-i. of Moody BUe imitate Chicago

TEXT—He shall sit aB a refiner and! purifier of silver.—Malachl 2:3.

The words refer l primarily to God’s future dealings' with the natlon> of Israel, when he! will come again# in the person of his sou, to purga them with judg-< ments, and restore them to fellowship with himself in the blessings of the Millenial age. Bub they may be employed profitably in the experience of every individu-

al Christian believer in the present time. God is refining and purifying every one of us who is truly his through faith in his dear son; - and the close of the old year and the opening of a new one, is a good time to consider some of the ways in which, he does.it, , , , 1. He refines us by the example of that son. He sets him before us in, his word as one who was always well-' pleasing in his sight Obedient to his earthly parents, faithful as a workman at his bench, content in povertyand obscurity, meek and lowly in. heart, kind and tender to his fellowmen, reviled, but reviling not again,, trustful, hopeful, loving, holy always and without sin—as we gaze upon him, in his inspired portraiture in the gospels, how we long to be like him, if we posses his spirit at all, what a refining and purifying power there i» in the story of his life! 2. He refines us by his providences.' How wisely, how patiently, and how lovingly God deals with us every one, and how universally is it true as David said, that his “gentleness” makes u» great (2 Samuel 22:36). “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Heb. .12:6), but think what this chastening has meant to all who have Berved him —Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Paul! But these are Joyous providences as well as grievous ones, and they are refining and purifying too. It was the great draught of fishes which Peter did not expect, that caused him to cry out: “Impart from me, for-I am a sinful man, Oh, Lord” (Luke 5:8). What do you know of this experience? 3. He refines us by his word. We recall the testimony of the psalmist, “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee,” (Psalm 119:11). The intercessory prayer of Christ for his disciples, “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” (John 17:17). The teaching of Paul to the Romans, where he says (6:17, 18) “God be thanked, that ye were' the servants of sin, but yet have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Where could we find a clearer statement of the refining power of the word of God? First, by nature, we were servants of sin. Then, we heard the word of God, “the form of doctrine,” as Paul calls it, the message of the gospel. This we obeyed, we believed in him of whom it spake, and we began to inquire about his will and to seek to do it. Immediately thereupon, and in so far, we became free from sin. No longer did it continue to hold the old power over us, but instead we became “servants of righteousness.” Like our holy exemplar, we could say, “I delight to do thy will, oh, God!” 4. He refines us by his spirit. The holy spirit is a divine person, the same as the father and the son, and he dwells within every true believer in Jesus Christ. “If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he Is none of his” (Romans 8.9). His office work in the believer is to sanctify him, to lead and guide him into all truth, and to take the things of Christ and show them unto him (Jphn 16:13, 14). Of course, this means that he uses the Bible, the word of God, and hence the necessity that in all ouy reading and study of that word, we be continually in prayer for the spirit’s aid. But,oh, what wonders he works In such, a case! “Be not deceived”; say* Paul to the Christians at Cornitb, “neither fornicators, nor idolaters, noi adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieveß, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shell inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but yc are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God" (1 Cor 6:9-11). What a testimony, and yet how often has it been repeated in the history of the saints from that day until this! Verily, God U a refiner and a purifier. Let us trust him. Let us obey his word. Let us follow the example of Jesus Christ, and “walk even as he walked.” Let us yield ourselves to his spirit, that he may be glorified iu us. Let the year that la just ahead of us, If we live, and if the Lord tarries, be one in which “Our gold shs.ll shine out with a riche* glow. As it mirror* a Form Who bends o’er the, Ate, unseen by a* With a look of ineffable love,”