ment, for there is no sin. Angels know nothing of it, for they know no sin. They see it afar off. They hear the sad story of earth. They witness the tribulations of the church, but that is all. For it is only where there is sin that there is chastisement. Its existence here is just God's voice, saying, " I have found iniquity upon the earth." Its infliction on an individual is God saying, " I have seen sin on thee." I do not take up the question as to particular trials being the result of particular sins in in- dividuals. In many cases we know that this is the case. In others it is more doubtful. And hence, though it is well in affliction to ask what special sin or sins God is pointing at, it is wrong in us to fix exclusively upon one or two, instead of turning our attention to the whole body of sin, and directing our efforts against that.
But chastisement supposes also a determi- nation on the part of God to get quit of sin. It is the expression of his hatred to it, and of his settled purpose to deliver from it. To purify us is what he seeks ; and this he is resolved to accomplish at whatever cost. It must be done, for he cannot look upon iniquity. And what is pain if it expel sin ? What is sorrow, if it 10
110 THE PURIFYING.
help to purge away the evil of our nature — a lifetime's accumulated dross.
There are several figures which God em- ploys for pointing out his designs in chas- tising us. Let us enumerate these.
1. It is a refining. The saints are " cho- sen in the furnace of affliction,"* and " when they are tried they come forth as gold."t The heat of the furnace burns out the dross and leaves the pure metal behind. It is iu the furnace that the flesh is destroyed and the old man gets his death-stroke. It is in the furnace that self-confidence is uptorn, unbelief is broken, and faith is strengthened, and puri- fied. Were it not for the furnace, what would become of our dross and alloy ? And then when the silver is in the crucible the refiner himself comes near. Hear how the Lord hath spoken concerning this ? " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, behold I will melt them and try them, for how shall I do for the daughter of my people."! " I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin."§ " When the Lord shall have purged the blood of Jeru-
• Is. xhriii. 10. t Job xxiii. 10. j Jer. ix. 7. § Is. i. 25.
THE PURIF5TING. Ill
ealem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of judgment and by the Spirit of burning."*
2. It is a sifting1. " Lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations like as corn is sifted in a sieve. "t We are God's corn, grown in his fields and gathered in by his hand. Yet we are coarse and rough grain. Many a sifting process must we pass through, in order to separate the coarser particles, that nothing but the finest may remain. Affliction sifts us. Per- secution sifts us. God has many a sieve, some finer and some coarser, and he makes us to pass through them according as we re- quire. He sifts the professing church, and many fall off. He applies a finer sieve, and many more fall off. He takes each church by itself, each congregation by itself, and sifts them, and many false brethren are discovered. He takes each believer and sifts him indi vidually and his coarser particles pass off. This process is repeated. He is winnowed and sifted again and again till the grain is ' purified.
3. It is a pruning. " Every branch that heareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring
* Is. iv. 4. r Amos ix. 9.
112 THE PURIFYING
forth more fruit."* We are the branches of the vine. Christ is the Father's vine ; the stem and root of all spiritual life. Over this precious vine the Father watches. His desire is that " the branch of the Lord should be beautiful and glorious ;" that this vine should yield its fruit in its season. Hence he not only waters it, but keeps it night and day. And he prunes it with the skill and care of a husbandman. He wishes to make each branch fruitful as well as comely, and he spares no pains : for " herein is He glorified if we bear much fruit." How much we owe to this heavenly pruning ! What rank, luxu- riant branches does it cut away ! What earthliness, what foolishness, what wayward- ness, what hastiness, what fleshly lusts, what selfish narrowness, are all, one by one, skill- fully pruned away by the vine-dresser's care- ful knife.
4. It is a polishing. We are "living stones," placed one by one, upon the great foundation stone laid in Zion, for the heavenly temple. These stones must first be quarried out of the mass. This the Holy Spirit does at conversion. Then, when cut out, the
* John iv. 2.
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