*BY GRACE WE RECEIVE * The Refiner’s Fire And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness (Malachi 3:3). / Have you never been on your knees and found that it seemed the heavens were brass, and your prayers did not get beyond the ceiling, and it seemed that the Lord did not hear? We read in 2 Chronicles 32:31: “Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.” The Lord knew what was in his heart, but Hezekiah did not. The Lord left him and allowed him to fall. The Lord taught Hezekiah the pride of his heart by withdrawing from him, not only His immediate presence, but He withdrew His restraining grace. See how this brought Hezekiah to cry before the Lord in Isaiah 38:14-16: “Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.” Hezekiah understood the withdrawing of the Lord. He understood that he had fallen and that the Lord had taken away His restraining grace and he understood that the Lord had taken away the smile of His face. He saw the Lord’s hand in this and that the Lord had brought him to this point. He saw that men live by these purgings in the furnace of affliction. His faith had not forsaken him. The Lord had prayed for him that his faith not fail, but he could not lay his hand out and touch the Lord. The Lord loves to hear the kind of prayer that Hezekiah prayed, when it comes from a truly humble and contrite heart. The Lord will not despise a humble and contrite heart. Our text says, “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.” The sons of Levi are the Pharisees. The Lord will take the Pharisee right out of the center of our hearts. That ugly monster I/ will be consumed in that furnace. The Lord will take the Jacob, the Job, the Peter, the David out of us, and will instill Jesus Christ in us. See the fruit of this chastening in Hebrews 12:11-15: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” We will not be Pharisees anymore. We will not have judgmental spirits. We will lift up the hands that hang down. We will start serving the Lord in the second table of the law, loving our neighbors as ourselves. We are to make straight paths, to walk according to the Word of God. By our walk of life, by our example, the lame, those who are spiritually struggling, won’t be offended by seeing us filled with bitterness. Let the lame be healed by observing our walk of life, our attitudes toward our neighbor. We are told to follow holiness, putting God first in our lives as the first table of the law commands, and peace with all men, the second table of the law. Upon these two commands hang all the law and the gospel. Without following peace with all men and holiness, in other words without following the first and second tables of the law of love, no man will see the Lord. That’s how important it is. The Lord brings us to this point by the furnace of affliction. The most abominable thing to the Lord is when our hearts are filled with bitterness. Many think that all we need is the blood of Christ to justify us so we can go to heaven. No one will be justified by the blood of Christ until they understand what it means to follow peace with all men and holiness. That work of sanctification, that work of the furnace, comes ahead of you and me experiencing justification. And if we never experience those two, and we claim justification, we are deceiving ourselves. These peaceable fruits of righteousness are the grace of God. It is by grace that we receive these. It is by the purging of the furnace. If we see one who seems to fail of the grace of God, we must go back to Galatians 6:1, and those who are spiritual should restore him. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, and if you have one person who is bitter, he can spread bitterness in the whole crowd. Amen.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 19:20:33 +0000
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