Malachi 3:3 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… Everything used in the erection of the Jewish temple was to be flawless and perfect. So it was with the gifts to be presented. The temple was the earthly picture of heaven. Those who enter there have come out of great tribulation, and been made white in the blood of the Lamb. Thus Malachi prophesies: "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." The purification of character is not an exceptional experience. Christian melting is a common necessity. We are all made perfect through suffering. There is a work to be done in us which involves pain and trial. We are not only sculptors working on a building, we are sculptures with living hearts and quivering nerves, to whom the furnace of trial is a needful thing. I. THE DIVINE HAND WHICH ARRANGES THE FURNACE. Fire is an element eve. which we have little control. Over the tribulation of which it is here the symbol, we have less control. We cannot set in order the moral procedure which issues in refined and energised character. Directly men begin to choose their discipline they become foolish and vain ascetics. At times we have all wished that there were no griefs and trials here. The furnace needs ordering for us all. It is much to know that our Father's hand is at work in all the events of our history. II. THE DIVINE EYE THAT WATCHES THE FURNACE. "He sits." A refiner of silver was asked, "Do you sit?" "Yes," he replied, "I must keep my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the silver remains too long under the intense heat it is sure to be damaged." A beautiful illustration, completed when the silversmith added, "I only know the exact instant when the purifying process is complete, by seeing my own countenance in the silver." Only when God sees His own image in the children is He satisfied. Therefore the Father "sits." We see not the Invisible Face behind the furnace, and we may be forgiven if we wonder at all the mysteries of pain and grief. III. THE DIVINE END IN ORDERING THE FURNACE. The beautiful Bible words have become hardened coins of traditional usage. "Sanctification" is one of the words that have become conventionalised; it has been narrowed to a cheerless type of goodness. Diversity of character gives room for manliness in spiritual life. Experience does not alter the groundwork of human nature. But in all cases tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. The end which our Father has in any special trial is often hidden from us. What furnace should we ever have chosen for our selves? The end will explain it all. All is to the praise of the glory of His grace, and never let us forget that His grace involves our good, and His glory our happiness too. IV. THE DIVINE GRACE THAT SUSTAINS US IN THE FURNACE. In most cases the furnace is gradually heated. There are beginnings of sorrow and gradations of trial, so that God gradually tempers our nature to the heat of the fire. Christian life is silver. It is not wood and hay and stubble to be burned; it is silver to be purified. (W. M. Statham.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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