'And he shall gather the wheat
into his garner, but the chaff he shall burn up with unquenchable
fire.' God grant to each of you, that when that day comes to you,
there may be something in you which will stand the fire; something
worthy to be treasured up in God's garner, unto everlasting life.
But do not think that the baptism of fire comes only once for all to
a man, in some terrible affliction, some one awful conviction of his
own sinfulness and nothingness. No; with many--and those, perhaps,
the best people--it goes on month after month, year after year: by
secret trials, chastenings which none but they and God can
understand, the Lord is cleansing them from their secret faults, and
making them to understand wisdom secretly; burning out of them the
chaff of self-will and self-conceit and vanity, and leaving only the
pure gold of his righteousness. How many sweet and holy souls look
cheerful enough before the eyes of man, because they are too humble
and too considerate to intrude their secret sorrows upon the world.
And yet they have their secret sorrows. They carry their cross
unseen all day long, and lie down to sleep on it at night: and they
will carry it for years and years, and to their graves, and to the
Throne of Christ, before they lay it down: and none but they and
Christ will ever know what it was; what was the secret chastisement
which he sent to make that soul better, which seemed to us to be
already too good for earth.
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