119. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross. He does not trifle with them, or handle them with kid gloves. No, he judges them to be the scum of the earth, and he puts them away from his church, and at last away from himself. They looked like precious metal, they were intimately mixed up with it, they were laid up in the same heap, but the Lord is a refiner, and every day he removes some of the wicked from among his people, either by making a shameful discovery of their hypocrisy or by consuming them from off the earth. As the metal is the better for losing its alloy, so is the church better for having the wicked removed. These wicked ones are of the earth, and they have no right to be with those who are not of the world; the Lord perceives them to be out of place and injurious, and therefore he puts them away, all of them. The process will one day be perfect; no dross will be spared, no gold will be left impure. Where shall we be when that great work is finished?
Therefore I love thy testimonies. Even the severities of the Lord excite the love of his people. If he allowed people to sin with impunity, he would not be so fully the object of our loving admiration.
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