October 29

"He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Mal. 3:3)

Our Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows the value of the refiner's fire. It is with the most precious metals that the assayer¹ takes the most pains, and subjects them to the hot fire, because such fires melt the metal, and only the molten mass releases its alloy² or takes perfectly³ its new form in the mould. The old refiner never leaves his crucible⁴, but sits down by it, lest there should be one excessive degree of heat to mar⁵ the metal. But as soon as he skims from the surface the last of the dross⁶, and sees his own face reflected, he puts out the fire.━Arthur T. Pierson

"He sat by at fire of seven-fold heat,

As He watched by the precious ore,

And closer He bent⁷ with a searching gaze

As He heated it more and more.

He knew He had ore that could stand the test,

And He wanted the finest gold

To mould as a crown for the King to wear,

Set with gems⁸ with a price untold⁹.

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,

Tho ' we fain would have said Him 'Nay¹⁰, '

And He watched the dross that we had not seen,

And it melted and passed away

And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,

But our eyes were so dim with tears,

We saw but the fire-not the Master's hand,

And questioned with anxious fears.

Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,

As it mirrored a Form above,

That bent o'er the fire, tho'unseen by us,

With a look of ineffable¹¹ love.

Can we think that it pleases His loving heart

To cause us a moment's pain?

Ah, no! but He saw through the present cross

The bliss¹² of eternal gain.

So He waited there with a watchful¹³ eye,

With a love that is strong and sure,

And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat,

Than was needed to make it pure. "

十月二十九日

「祂必坐下如炼净银子的。」 （玛三:3）

我们的父要我们完全圣洁，像祂自己圣洁一样。祂知道炉火的价值。我们都知道金属越贵重，化炼越费力━它们必须经过烈火，因为烈火能叫它们镕化；只有在镕化的时候，纔能把搀合在里面的杂质分别出来；也只有在镕化的时候，纔能把它们造成新的模型。老练的化炼师是一直坐在坩埚旁边，从不走开的，他惟恐热度一高就会叫金属受损。他把最后的渣滓从表面上撇去；一看见他自己的脸从其上反照出来，他就立刻把炉火熄灭.

━裴尔逊

祂坐在燃烧着七倍烈火的炉旁，

注视着祂所珍爱的金属受炼熬；

祂一面俯身仔细观察着，

一面加热炼炉使热度更高。

祂知道这金属经得起试炼，

需要把它炼成最纯的精金，

铸成一顶给万王之王戴的冠冕，

镶嵌着无价的宝石。

因此，祂把我们这些黄金放入火炉中，

虽然，我们很愿意祂说:「不用烧了」，

祂注意我们所不留意的渣滓，

把这些渣滓溶化销掉。

黄金愈炼愈精纯，光辉愈明亮，

但我们的泪眼亦模糊，

我们只看见烈火,不见主的手，

还带着焦虑所发出的询问。

然而,精金终于大放光彩，

映出我们所看不见的圣容，

祂带着不可名状的慈爱，

正凝神俯视着我们。

我们受此痛苦，

当然是不!祂慈心会高兴吗?

但祂却从目前的苦难，

看到了永恒的幸福。

因此，祂坐在那里等待，

带着坚定的爱，留神察看;

祂不会让祂的金子,

在所需之热度以外,受到更多苦痛。

1 assayer   

n.试金者，分析专家

参考例句：

• Death is the great assayer of the sterling ore of talent. 死亡是优秀才华的非凡检验者。 来自互联网

2 alloy   

n.合金，(金属的)成色

参考例句：

• The company produces titanium alloy.该公司生产钛合金。
• Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.青铜是铜和锡的合金。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 crucible   

n.坩锅，严酷的考验

参考例句：

• The alliance had been forged in the crucible of war.这个联盟经受了战争的严峻考验。
• Put the required amount of metal into the crucible.把适量的金属放入坩埚。

5 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

6 dross   

n.渣滓；无用之物

参考例句：

• Caroline felt the value of the true ore,and knew the deception of the flashy dross.卡罗琳辨别出了真金的价值，知道那种炫耀的铁渣只有迷惑人的外表。
• The best players go off to the big clubs,leaving us the dross.最好的队员都投奔大俱乐部去了，就只给我们剩下些不中用的人。

7 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

8 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

9 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

10 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

11 ineffable   

adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的

参考例句：

• The beauty of a sunset is ineffable.日落的美是难以形容的。
• She sighed a sigh of ineffable satisfaction,as if her cup of happiness were now full.她发出了一声说不出多么满意的叹息，仿佛她的幸福之杯已经斟满了。

12 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

13 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。