Sword & Trowel 2016: Issue 1
laying bare of filthiness is necessary to the complete purification of the spirit. Farmers leave their fields fal- low for a season that the earth may gather strength for a richer crop, and so we may be under the Lord’s deser- tions for a while for our lasting profit. As the farmer returns to plough and sow and reap in that field, so will our blessed Master turn to us in mercy, and we shall know the Lord. In the day when all the saints shall glitter like palaces of gold, and be pure as temples of alabaster, they shall adore the infinite wisdom which defiled their fancied purity that they might be made truly holy, and stained their imaginary glory that they might shine in a splendour al- together divine. My friends, beloved of my soul, more dear than ever as years roll on, I do not ask trouble for any of you; but if there be no other way of renovating your spirits, you may on your own account cheerfully welcome the severest trials, when sent by Heaven, to visit your house. Whether we welcome them or not, the promise is sure to all the seed, ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation.’
Infallible wisdom
Let us most devoutly praise God that he does not consult our whims, or our fancies, as to how he should deal with us. We have a Father who does not spare the rod for our crying, knowing better than we do what is good for us. He does not ask us in which path we will go; he directs our steps according to his own wisdom, and not according to our folly. Surely we poor shortsighted creatures can even now feel that it is good for us to
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have infallible wisdom to direct us, and that it is our duty to give up our unbelief and all our questionings, and submit ourselves absolutely to the will of the unerring Father. All our misery springs out of our self-will. Self-love is the nest out of which the hornets fly in their ar- mies; would to God it were utterly destroyed. If self-will were slain, sor- row would lose its sting. The daily cross in itself is not heavy – as Jesus’ yoke, it is easy; but self-will makes our shoulders raw, and then the cross becomes very heavy to bear. Sweetly does the poetess sing —
Long plunged in sorrow, I resign My soul to that dear hand of thine, Without reserve or fear; That hand shall wipe my streaming eyes, Or into smiles of glad surprise Transform the falling tear.
When the spirit gets into a condi- tion of perfect acquiescence with the divine will, it flourishes equally in sunshine or shade. I pray God that we may be made willing to receive from him, with equal satisfaction, both that which seems to be evil, and that which is apparently good, and this may be an argument of which even our selfishness may feel the weight, that the period of humiliation is certainly succeeded by a deep and lasting exaltation of soul, and there- fore we may complacently endure the first for the sake of the second. The heart in disorder of grief shall be but a prelude for the spirit in fulness of joy and peace; therefore let us be of good courage, and trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.
From a Monday evening address in The Sword and the Trowel, June 1867.
On Returning to the Renovated Tabernacle
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