Of all my past life, the sweetest, choicest portion has beyond degree been the two past years. Oh, what a time of mercy it has been to me!-a time of humbling, and a time of love. I believe that more joy has flowed through my heart in these two years of sifting, than all the joy from all sources put together during the preceding sixty years, and that fifty times over. I really knew not that so much of heaven could be engaged in this world of sin and sorrow, as I know now-for heaven is often in my little room. Blessed, blessed be God for the special gift of these two years. He has put me into a Nebuchadnezzar furnace, but He has been with me all through it.
If we consult the clear statements of the Word of God, and the uniform experience of the most advanced saints, there is no condition under heaven so blessed as to be in the fiery furnace, with the presence of Jesus sweetly enjoyed in it.