The Refiner (2)

Context

the book of Malachi is written in a post exile time of Israel. They have joined back together, not all returned back to eachother, but this book is simply put as. Israel has enough religion to think they are saved but not a single ounce of heart that makes them saved. Remember you can know all the bible, you can preach the word, you can list off all the bible history. But if your entire heart isn’t in it, then it is all for nothing. The biggest battle today is the battle that fights in the 12 inches from your brain to your heart.

Malachi 3:1–3 ““Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.”

There was a man who visited a silver smith, This silversmith didn’t know who this man was but just wanted to teach him the ways of purifying silver. You take this dirty, silver that is mixed with lead. You place it in a crucible which is then heated up in a furnace. This man told the preacher “ you cannot place it on the edge of the fire but it has to be directly in the middle, where the heat is the hottest”. He then tells him that it has to be watched intently, has to have full attention. After the impurities float to the top they are then removed by the silversmith. The silver smith then lets it go through the fire one last time and looks down to it and says, Its done. The preacher asked how he knew it was done. The silver smith said, “ because look, I can see my reflection in it”

For the next 3 poins I want you to follow along with me as we learn about this refining process

God’s refining is purposful

This silver smith, if you haven’t guessed it is God, his refining is purposful. Once the metal is mined it’s dirty, Not by choice but because it was found within the earth. Just like us Genesis 2:7 “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” He sees the dirt and filth and he decides he needs what it is worth. The process of refining brings the value of the silver to its full extent. Just like how, When God decides to put us through this process he is just trying to bring our value to him to the full extent. A impure peice of silver is worth far less than the value of pure silver. To be refined is to be obident to God’s word and allow it to change you. When God puts us through the fire it’s for a reason we are to learn and grow sporitually from it. He could be testing you to see if you are faithful with convicciones. The holynspirit convicts you to see if you will be faithful or not. Lean into your convictions, one of my favorite quotes from a preacher said recently, Satan Is not scared of conviction, He’s scared you’ll actually change from the conviction. We live in a world that doesn’t lean into their convictions. They lean into what the world says, this is easier preached than done, because as I stand here today I am as guilty as anyone. Conviction refines us though, it allows God to make decsions. We are to deny ourselves every day and every descion. God Wants to refine us. We read here that the refiner paces as the silver refines. No, we see that the refiner stresses as the silver refines, No. We see that the refiner wanders off and comes back later, No. We see that the refiner SITS. To sit and watch is to be intional. We have his whole attention. The God of the universe and could spin everything we know to this day on the tip of his finger longs to be intintional with us. He sit and he watches and he’s patient. Waiting to watch the impurities rise to the surface. 1 Peter 1:7 “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The Process of our refining brings fourth our true faith in Him.

REFINING REQUIRES HEAT

Next we see the fire itslef. This fire is a precice fire. Not to hot not to cold. Just right to allow the impurities to rise and be removed. This church, is where a lot of christians quit allowing the purification to take place. We pray at the alter or in silence “ God purify me, use me, make me the person that you want me to be” I have been there. The only thing is, is when he puts you to the fire for refining you quit allowing him to refine you. You hide some of the impurities that don’t let them rise to the top. The second it comes to a sacrafice of something your not willing to give up, You quit being a christian. You start to make excuses of why you need to keep it in your life. “I need it for work, my family is okay with it, well.. according to science its actually healthy for you” all of these things are not from God. If God is putting you to the fire and you are not willing to give up what it is he needs you to remove, You are not the christian you think you are. Every day we should ask God to form us into more of the person he wants us to be. And be okay with the decision he makes. We are to allow him to put us to the fire. You ask me “ But But bryce, why would a God want to cause us harm, hes up there in heaven not caring” oh how you are so wrong. We serve a God who is willing to hop into the fire with us. If you don’t believe me go ask three hebrew boys in the furnace in babylon aobut that. Because 3 faithful boys, one fire equals 4? It sure does becasue my God is in the Fire with you . I will never leave the or forsake the. is what my God says. That means he won’t leave me when I am in the fire or when I am pure silver. He won’t leave me when I am at my mountain top or when I am at my lowest valley. He won’t leave me when I look like christ vs when I look like i have never been to church a day in my life.

and that is my point number 3

HE REFINES US TO LOOK MORE LIKE HIM

Lastly this morning as dawson comes up. I wanted to ask you, If the silver smith were to look down at his silver today. Would he see his reflection. Or was his patience in vain. Was his fire in vain. Was his attention in vain. When he looks down does he see a silver that looks exactly like when he dug it out of the ground. It says that once the refining is finished the silver smith looks down and knows its done because he can see a perfect reflection of the one who refined it. When we are refined we are refined to e more like christ. That what we are called to be to deny ourselves and take on the image of Christ. The process of refining is not about reflecting Christ through what we d, but allowing christ to be the silver smith and refine us himself. Its nothing what the silver does that gets it to pure silver but everything to do with what the silversmith does. So today I ask you again, if the silversmith were to look down at his crucible, would he see himself.