Refining Fire
1 Corinthians 3:11-14 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. Their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
The day of God’s judgment is coming sometime in the future
Martha, Lazurus's sister, knew about this day.
She put her hope in it!
Standing at Lazurus's tomb, when all hope seemed to be lost, the worst moment of her life, she looked to some future day for comfort.
She said to Jesus " I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
But Jesus's response to her reveals a truth that will change our lives!
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life."
Jesus was saying to her "I am the day"
When a holy God enters the room, His presence is a fire.
All of us are like Martha, waiting for and putting our hope in that day.
That day when all of the evil in the world, all of the pain and suffering, all of the anxiety-inducing events that steal our joy, are burned up in an instant...
Like Martha, we are missing something though.
We are missing something that is right in front of our faces!
Jesus!
The day!
The fire!
That same fire coming to the entire world in the future is available right now!
That day is approachable, right now, through God's grace, to anyone who is born again.
Do you have evil in your heart?
Are you going through pain and suffering?
Are you holding onto anxiety?
There is a fire that those things can not withstand.
Malachi 3:1-3 “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD.
"who will be able to stand and face Him when He appears?"
When we worship
When we pray
When we read The Word
When we wake up in the morning
When we seek God
Let us seek out this fire.
Before we speak
Before we act
Let us seek out this fire.
Submit your mind, your heart, and your soul to this fire so that you may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD!