[God Is Love] The Furnace Refines Gold…
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June 08, 2014 |
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Senior Pastor of Manmin Central Church Dr. Jaerock Lee
He is God's servant of love and power who has awakened people of all nations by spreading the core of the gospel following the example set by the Lord in manifesting the fiery works of the Holy Spirit.
Manmin Central Church opened with only 9 adults and 4 children in 1982. Through the works of the Holy Spirit the church has grown to become a mega-sized church with approximately 10,000 branch and associative churches world-wide. Just as Jesus preached and confirmed the word by the signs that followed His teaching, Dr. Jaerock Lee confirms that the Bible is the truth by showing the power of God.
He has conducted many overseas crusades such as in Uganda, Japan, Pakistan, Kenya, the Philippines, Honduras, India, Russia, Germany, Peru, DR Congo, the U.S., and Estonia since 2000 and he has shown explosively powerful works as in the Uganda Crusade that was reported by CNN.
He also preached in Jerusalem at the Israel United Crusade 2009. He proclaimed Jesus is the Messiah and it was broadcast live to approximately 220 countries. He is dedicated to the Word and prayer to accomplish the providence of God who desires all people of all nations to be saved at the end time by proclaiming the gospel to the end of the earth and achieving the mission of the ministry to North Korea. www.drlee.or.kr
"The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests hearts" (Proverbs 17:3).
God sometimes allows us to undergo trials so that we can be made perfect by casting off the sinful natures in our hearts. Only when we become sanctified through trials that allow for us to cast off every form of evil can we have faith like pure gold.
Trials refer to many difficulties that we may meet with in the process of fighting against sins according to the Word of God. Moreover, there are tests for sanctified people so that they can receive blessings by passing them. No matter what, if we successfully pass them, our faith increases and we can receive blessings. Thus, it is important to overcome them with joy and thanks.
Romans 5:3-4 reads, "And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope." What is the reason God lets His loving children undergo trials and afflictions?
1. God tests the heart of men
Parents feel compassion for their children when they see them studying and even staying up late to finish. However, they can't study on their behalf and parent should not hinder them from studying. Instead they ought to encourage and help them study well.
Meanwhile, if a child goes astray, though it is heart-breaking, his parents may correct him even with punishment. Proverbs 13:24 says, "He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently."
In the same way, God doesn't just sit by and watch His beloved children fall into sins. He guides them to the right way; therefore when they don't follow Him, He allows trials to be given to them. Just as the refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, God tests hearts of people and leads them to be His true children who resemble His image. In other words, He helps them discover sinful natures in their hearts through trials and root them out.
The thing is, it is not hard to remove sinful natures from our hearts. Like a tree has fine roots, there are many forms of evil in the heart. However, if we first pull out obvious evil attributes that are like the major roots that seem relatively hard to root out, we can cast away other various forms of evil like the tree's fine roots without difficulties.
God who is perfect and holy wants His children to become perfect and holy as well. That is why He guides His children to grow perfect and increase their faith through tests of faith. If we are mature in faith through tests, we will receive the blessings of souls' prosperity, everything going well, and good health. Therefore, trials are blessings.
2. The reasons God tests heart of men
The first reason is for not living in the Word of God.
James 1:13 reads, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." Even though said in this way, many people say God tempts and tests them when they are faced with hardship, which saddens God.
God is the God of love who wants to give only good things to His children according to justice. Even an evil person wants to give his child good things as written in Matthew 7:11. The God of love never wants His children to suffer by giving tests and afflictions.
Then, why do some children of God suffer in hardship? This is because they are tempted by Satan due to their own greed and it causes them to have difficulties.
Nothing will be a problem if one is satisfied with what God gives him. But people want more with greed and do unrighteous. They sometimes deceive others for their own benefits and practice lawlessness by all possible means. If they have unrighteousness and greed in them, when Satan works on them, the attributes are revealed in action. Just as James 1:15 says, "Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death," they can't avoid going to the way of destruction.
Another reason God punishes His children is because they live in sin and evil. God's children must fight against sins even to the point of shedding blood to resemble God the Father who is holy. Since they haven't cast away sins, though they should have become sanctified, God can't help but allow them punishment. If you belong to this case, you must realize the depth of God's love that leads you rather than feeling discouraged about it.
Parents don't let their children go the wrong way because of their love for them. Even by punishing with a rod, they may lead the children to the right way. In the same manner, God punishes His children when they sin and allows trials to be given to them to keep them from going way of death. Hebrews 12:6 states, "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives."
Of course, God doesn't give punishment from the beginning. He gives warnings first and many times to give His children opportunities to turn back from sin and evil. When they sin, for instance, the Holy Spirit in them laments and they feel distressed. If they do not turn back even through the Spirit's lamentation, God still uses many ways to give them realization. But if they do not turn back yet, then, punishment or afflictions are given to them.
Hebrews 12:9-11 says, "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."
It tells us that God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. However, it doesn't mean God Himself gives us punishment though it says 'God disciplines us'.
In Genesis Chapter 3, the serpent that tempted Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was cursed so it came to go on its belly and eat dust all the days of its life. Here, the 'serpent' spiritually symbolizes Satan and 'dust' refers to men of flesh that were made of dust. It implies that Satan can bring out to men trials, afflictions, and diseases to the extent that they commit sins.
That is, God guides us to live in the truth by permitting afflictions and punishment for us when we live outside of His Word because He loves us. Because we can possess pure-gold-like faith after casting away evil through the process of refinement, He tests the hearts of men. It is to help them cast off evil and become perfect. Even if we are under a trial because of our own transgressions, if we believe we will be made precious ones through it and give thanks, then it will be changed into a blessing.
It is, secondly, because God wants to give them blessings.
If one wants to be a lawyer, he has to take and pass a bar exam. Although he is capable enough to be a lawyer, only when he passes the exam can he be a lawyer. Likewise, we also have to pass tests for answers and blessings to receive them.
When God wants to give someone a blessing, He allows for a test to see if he has the proper vessel for the blessing. This kind of test is not an affliction caused by one's own wrongdoing but a test for a blessing. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." It means that God allows you to be tested only in what you are able.
In such a case when God tests one to give him blessings and answers, He doesn't just let him be tempted. He provides the way of escape and causes all things to work together for good. This is because such persons have done nothing that causes tests to come. They just haven't received answers to their prayers.
That is why 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
3. Joseph came forth as pure gold through tests
Joseph the son of Jacob who was the father of Israel had a dream where he was lifted up very high when he was young. He cherished his dream and believed that God would surely let him achieve the dream. Contrary to the dream, however, he was sold as a slave into Egypt because of his half-brothers' jealousy.
Joseph was sold as a slave to the captain of the bodyguard to the Pharaoh of Egypt, but he worked faithfully. He became an overseer over the captain's house, and all that the master owned he put in Joseph's charge. One day, his master's wife tempted him but he refused. He was falsely accused by her and imprisoned. He who had been a lowly slave became an even more lowly man.
However, Joseph didn't lose heart even in the prison and worked diligently. He received favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. His physical conditions didn't appear to prosper, but God saw to it that he prospered in all he did (Genesis 39:2-3). This is because the blessings God had prepared for Joseph were unimaginably great.
All the trials Joseph underwent were in the process of leading him to the blessings that God had prepared. Through the works of God, while in the prison as a jailer, Joseph happened to interpret a dream of Pharaoh and as a result of God's works Joseph became the second ruler of Egypt after the Pharaoh. At the age of 30, Joseph had become the second ruler over all the land of Egypt.
The dream Joseph had received from God 13 years prior was accomplished. Here, we can understand that all the tests and afflictions Joseph went through seemed to make him lowlier, but those are the ways leading him to be lifted up and blessed.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God wants His loving children to become sanctified. That is why He allows them to endure trials so that they can find their sin and evil and throw them away. Moreover, He sometimes tests them to help them spiritually grow up and to give them blessings. Therefore, I urge you to pass through any kind of tests with joy and thanks. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will enjoy God-prepared blessings and glorify Him.
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