October 7

"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried." —Zechariah 13:9.

I GATHER that, though the days are ever so evil, God will have His chosen ones. There always is the third part, which He guards to be a praise to Himself. There always are the few in Sardis, who walk with Christ in white. I trust that I belong to the little flock.

I learn also that, though the members of His Church are insignificant, they are very precious. He compares them not to dull lead, but to white silver and yellow gold. He has Himself clothed them with their attractiveness. My Lord, I draw my silvery sheen and golden brightness from Thee alone.

But I see that, beloved as His people are, it is His purpose to try them. The lapidary uses every method to beautify the metals he prizes most. If the citizens of the world escape the sharpness of discipline, the citizens of the Kingdom cannot. He chastens me because He loves me.

And I find, too, that the sorrow may be very severe. Through the fire He brings His children—the quivering and scorching fire. Sometimes my very Christianity increases my trials. It brings me reproaches, anxieties, penitences peculiar to itself.

But I discover that afterward the chastening yieldeth peaceable fruit. Oh that blessed Afterward! The fire melts the dross in me; it kindles a new glow of life. In the North, sky and wind are sterner than in the South, and the soil is harder, and life is more difficult; and therefore the men of the North are stronger. What things seem to be against me are for me.