HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

“That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12).

They (heroes of faith who have gone before us) are calling to us from the heights that they have won and are telling us that what man once did man can do again. Not only do they remind us of the necessity of faith, but also of that patience by which faith has its perfect work. Let us fear to take ourselves out of the hands of our heavenly Guide or to miss a single lesson of His loving discipline by discouragement or doubt.

“There is only one thing,” said a well-known blacksmith, “that I fear, and that is to be thrown on the scrap heap.

“When I am tempering a piece of steel, I first beat it, hammer it, and then suddenly plunge it into this bucket of cold water. I very soon find whether it will take temper or go to pieces in the process. When I discover after one or two tests that it is not going to allow itself to be tempered, I throw it on the scrap heap and sell it for as little a cent a pound when the junk man comes around. And so today many good men and women are like that piece of metal that cannot or subjected to tempering and ends up on the scrap heap. God has been working on many of us for years and there are no results. We visit church well dressed and though we danced and rejoice the heart is nowhere near the hammer of the blacksmith. We are not tempered material and are thrown on the scrap heap. The sad thing is that we rejoice in offices in the church and we are already on the scrap heap.

“So I find the Lord tests me, too, by fire and water and heavy blows of His heavy hammer, and if I am not willing to stand the test, or am not going to prove a fit subject for His tempering process, I am afraid He may throw me on the scrap heap.” O, brethren, my fellow readers we are all going through this process and though we go through the water and the fire, there is another step and that is through the BLOOD. Hallelujah

When the fire is hottest, hold still, for there will be a blessed “afterwards reward”; and with Job, we may be able to say, “When he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold.”

Sainthood springs out of suffering. It takes eleven tons of pressure on a piano to tune it. God will tune you to harmonize with Heaven’s key-note if you can stand the strain.

Hold on my brothers and sisters, these trials and pain are for a reward. I am here today to encourage you not to give up. Even in the darkest hour or moment am encouraging you to hold on for there is still light at the end of the tunnel.

“Things that hurt and things that mar
Shape the man for perfect praise;
Shock and strain and ruin are
Friendlier than the smiling days.”