In The Hands of the Refiner

"When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted." Matthew 28:17

Our soul possesses the amazing ability to sense God. This sense of God, at times clearly felt although still immature in youth, is strengthened with proper spiritual upbringing and defines itself in a conscious faith–in the conviction that there is one God, the Creator of all, Who is solicitous toward men and all of nature.

If a person’s faith is alive and well, it is not restricted to a cold knowledge that God exists, but finds expression in striving after a relationship with Him. A believing soul is drawn towards God just as a plant is drawn to the sun. In turn, an active relationship with God further strengthens a person’s faith, so that his faith becomes for him a source of guidance, founded on personal experience. In some people, who are particularly gifted, faith grows into an illumining inspiration that transports them from the world of vanity and sin into the transcendent world of eternal truth.

The significance of faith in a person’s development lies in the fact that it gives proper direction to all his powers–to his intellect, his feelings and will; it likewise brings harmony to his inner world, For example, it gives the intellect clarity and the correct world view, it gives the will support and purpose, it cleanses and refines the senses. Faith directs a person away from base earthly interests and leads him into a realm of higher, holy experiences.

Faith and Will

Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20). These words of the Savior tell us that God offers each person the gift of faith. Man is free either to accept or to reject this gift.

The Lord pities those people whose doubt stems from spiritual weakness or inexperience rather than obstinacy. He helps those who seek the truth and suffer from doubt to acquire faith. For example, Christ had pity on the despairing father of the possessed youth, who cried out: Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief! (Mark 9:24), and healed his sick son. He likewise had compassion on Apostle Peter who took fright at the storm and began to sink. Giving Apostle Peter His hand, the Lord gently rebuked him, saying: O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt (Matt. 14:31). Nor did the Lord reject "doubting” Thomas, who desired personal assurance of the miracle of the Resurrection. Having satisfied Thomas by His appearance, however, the Lord did not praise him for believing on the basis of this material proof, but said to him, you believe because you have seen; blessed are those who do not see and believe. In other words, faith based on external experience has little value; this is actually not faith but ordinary knowledge. True faith is born of inner experience; it demands responsiveness and effort, and this is why it is worthy of praise.

We see the opposite of this searching faith in the Jewish scribes and Pharisees of Christ’s time. They obstinately refused to believe in Jesus Christ as the God-sent Messiah. Neither the fulfillment in Christ of the ancient prophecies, nor His countless miracles and rising of the dead, nor signs in nature, nor even the miracle of the Resurrection shook their unbelief. On the contrary, with each new miracle they became still more embittered and hostile toward Him.

Even if Christ was unable to inspire faith in those who did not want to believe, is it any wonder that in our time there are conscious and adamant atheists? They claim that they do not believe because they see no miracles. But the real reason for their unbelief lies not in a lack of miracles–these occur daily–but in a negative turning of the will. They simply don’t want God to exist.

The problem of unbelief is closely tied to the sinful spoilage of human nature. The fact is that faith demands a certain kind of behavior, a certain way of life. It puts a check on a person’s greed; it calls him to overcome his egoism, to exercise temperance, to do well, even to sacrifice himself. When a man prefers his passions over the will of God, and places his own good over the good of his neighbor, then he will do everything he can to repudiate whatever is beneficial to faith. The Savior indicated that an evil will is the chief cause of unbelief when He said: For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:20).

But if a man is capable of crushing faith in himself, he is also capable of strengthening it. Turning again to the Gospel, we find here striking examples of burning faith. There are the cases of the Roman centurion, the Canaanite woman, the woman with an issue of blood, the blind men of Jericho, and many others. The Lord called His listeners to imitate the faith of these people. Consequently, it lies within our power, with God’s help, to gather and direct our Spiritual powers towards a greater faith. Faith, like every good, demands effort. That is why a reward is promised for it: He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16).

Faith–the Key to God’s Treasury

Faith draws a person into a living relationship with God in heartfelt, concentrated prayer. During such prayer a person comes into contact with God’s almighty power, and then, according to the word of the Savior, everything becomes possible to him who believes: And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive, and, Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt. 21:22,

17:20). In other words, even the least faith can work wonders, provided it is complete and vigorous, like a seed.

One ought to be careful how one uses the mighty power of faith. In praying one should be less concerned about pressing one’s own desire and more about acquiring wisdom from God to know what to ask. After all, prayer is not only our speaking to God, but a conversation with Him and a conversation requires that one know how to listen. Turning to the Gospel accounts, we see that those people whose faith was particularly outstanding–as, for example, the Roman centurion, the Canaanite, the friends of the paralytic, and others–were strangers to all exaltation or pathos. On the contrary, they were very humble (Matt. 8:10, 13; 22:9). The combination of strong faith and a humble opinion of oneself are not accidental. A deeply believing person feels, more than anyone else, the greatness and almightiness of God. And the more clearly he feels this, the more keenly he is aware of his own poverty. The great wonderworkers as, for example, the prophets Moses and Elisha, the Apostles Peter and Paul and those like them were always distinguished by profound humility.

Faith–Active Love

What correspondence exists between faith and good works? The question is often asked, is faith alone sufficient for salvation, or is good works also necessary? The question is improperly expressed, because it originates in a warped understanding of faith. True faith extends not only over the mind but overall the powers of the soul, including the will. Protestantism has narrowed the understanding of faith, limiting it to a rational acceptance of the Gospel teaching, and declares: "Only believe, and you will be saved!" The error of Protestants, just as the Old Testament Jews, consists in the formal, legalistic understanding of salvation. The Jews taught justification by works of the law independent of faith, while today’s Protestants teach justification by faith alone, independent of good works. Christianity, however, teaches concerning spiritual rebirth: If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (II Cor. 5:17). Salvation is not only the resettlement of man in paradise, but the grace-filled state of his renewed soul; in the words of the Lord, the Kingdom of God is within a man (Luke 17:21).

Spiritual rebirth is not accomplished instantaneously. Christ’s words to those who believe, Thy faith has saved thee (Matt. 9:22), refer to that crucial inner break made by those who have turned from sin onto the path of salvation. Without this initial break in the way of thinking, any further amendment or spiritual progress is impossible. Naturally, after a person has chosen the right path he must begin walking on it. The New Testament epistles all speak about working on oneself and becoming more like Christ: We are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4). What is needed here is not abstract faith but that which acts through love (Gal. 5:6).

Apostle James firmly rises up against those who separate faith from good works, saying: If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble. Further the Apostle gives examples of righteous men and women of old, who proved their faith by their works, and he draws the following conclusion: Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?…For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:14-26).

Apostle Paul likewise does not recognize faith without its fruit: Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understanding all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing (I Cor. 13:2). Therefore, a correct understanding of faith dispels all doubt as to which is more important–faith or works. They are inseparable, like light and warmth.

How to Strengthen One’s Faith

We have already said that faith is a most precious gift. It gives us a correct world view, reveals the purpose of life, encourages us in hard times, gladdens the heart, empowers our prayer, and makes accessible God’s infinite mercies.

Sadly, however, a life of sufficiency and well being dispels faith. God’s goodness is forgotten. Active faith departs, and God’s great talent gets buried.

As faith grows dim a man’s inner condition becomes increasingly disordered: he loses clarity of thought and purpose of life, his spiritual strength leaves him, emptiness and ennui (Listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom) take possession of his heart, he becomes irritable and dissatisfied. After all, the soul cannot live without faith, just as a plant cannot live without light and moisture. No matter how intelligent and talented, in the absence of faith a person descends to the level of a dumb animal, even a beast.

In order to escape such a "shipwreck of faith" (I Tim. 1:19) one must seriously concern oneself with the renewal of one’s soul. How? We know that all talents require exercise: to preserve a sharp mind it must be engaged in mental work; fingers lose their flexibility if they are not exercised on a musical instrument; to remain limber the body requires gymnastic work-outs. If people expend so much energy and money to develop their physical abilities, should not we, Christians, work to acquire living spiritual experience?

To strengthen faith we must begin to live spiritually. Here it is necessary, first of all, to regularly read the Holy Scripture, to think about God, to take an interest in spiritual subjects. Then, one must try to serve God in concentrated heartfelt prayer, and also commune the Body and Blood of Christ Finally, one must try to live not for oneself alone but for the good of one’s neighbor, one’s church. The heart of one who loves is warmed by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Of course, in trying to lead a Christian life one cannot avoid warfare, trials and difficulties. It may even seem that the whole world is armed against the believer. It is important to remember that with God’s help all these trials will work for our spiritual growth.

Let us remember that faith is not only the fruit of our efforts; it is also the gift of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul testified to this in saying that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, kindness, faith (Gal. 5:22). Let us therefore ask God for faith, that great spiritual treasure, remembering the promise: Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matt. 7:7). Faith will bring us peace of soul, joy, and a foretaste of that already accomplished victory over evil, which gave the Apostles such consolation: this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith (I John 5:4).

She is the plan of God on earth; always in her Father’s eye: Cherished, mysterious, beautiful and potent beyond measure: King empowered and life infused. She emerges triumphant; limitless with potential; a harbour for the hopeless and an answer for the ages: The church resplendent – a bride for His Son.

She is the body of Christ on earth; born, like her Head, amidst tribulation, under jealous skies. Cradled in her innocence and guarded for His purpose. She grows in wisdom and stature with victory on her lips and freedom in her hands. Hers is an unstoppable cause. She embraces the world with dignity, honour and compassion; gives vision to the sightless and life to the dying.

She is the family of God on earth. Within her compass, the hungry find sustenance and the weary receive strength. She is a haven for recovering humanity, enthralled by grace. She invites the broken, the vulnerable and the outcast to be immersed in love. She stands imperfect but perfection resides within her. She is flawed but is washed with forgiveness. She has a treasury of faith and a wealth of belonging.

She is the house of heaven on earth: A representative, resolute to reconcile. The Word within her accepts the receptive but challenges the heartless. She is the ecclesia, called out to serve the world: Calling out to welcome in. Blood-washed and armed with testimony, the cross on her lips liberates the chained and offends the unchanging. Like her Master she is pursued and persecuted. Yet she rises with strength in her heart and fire in her soul.

She is the bride of Christ on earth; readying herself for the day when all eyes will be upon her. Prepared and presented before the Lord: The Lamb for whom the world waits, who comes like the rising sun, majestic and magnificent beyond description, while she dazzles with reflected glory. Spotless, perfect and mature, she bows low to cast her crowns and passionately worship Him. Her temporal focus becomes her eternal gaze. She is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

– by Robert Fergusson

In Luke 11:33–35, Jesus says, “Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live in wide-eyed wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning, so you don’t get musty and murky. Keep your life as well-lighted as your best-lighted room” (The Message).

The Miracle of the Christmas Story

Acts 17:25 says that God “gives all men life and breath.” Job 34:14–15 says that if God were to withdraw his breath from humankind, we would return to dust. In other words, every breath we take is a miracle. Because we’ve heard the Christmas story so many times, we forget the amazing miracle it was. God came to earth in the form of a man. We need to take time to get lost in the wonder of this miracle.

The Mystery of the Christmas Story

The fundamental mistake the religious leaders of Jesus day made was trying to force God to fit into their religious boxes (Matthew 23:23). Instead of being conformed to God’s image, they tried to recreate God in their image. What they ended up with was “God in a box.” Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, and instead of celebrating the amazing miracles, the leaders plotted to kill him. Why? Because he didn’t fit in their box. In his book Rumors of Another World, Philip Yancey says there are two ways of looking at the world.

"One takes the world apart, while the other seeks to connect and put it together.” He goes on to say, “We live in an age that excels at the first and falters at the second.” Similarly, there are two ways of approaching God. One approach takes God apart. We make God manageable and measurable. We reduce God to a set of propositions, seal-tight theologies, or divine formulas. We fall into the trap of reductionism. In the words of A.W. Tozer, we end up with a God who can “never surprise us, never overwhelm us, never astonish us, never transcend us.”

Albert Einstein said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” Experience the mystery of Christmas—the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God of all creation was born as a helpless little baby in Bethlehem.

~ Mark Batterson

Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’

He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

For two thousand years, the Church has held intact the fullness of Christ. The true Church has maintained this Faith in the face of almost indescribable persecution and suffering. Within the gates of Christianity is the totality of the New Testament Faith, the Apostolic Church.

By the mercy of God, this Faith has never been reduced or diminished. Nor has it been added to or altered. The Church is that one place that "zone of safety", if you will, where the God of the Scriptures (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) can be fully known, loved, and worshiped.

A great father of the Church, Saint John Chrysostom, a Bible teacher, and preacher of the fourth century brought and still brings thousands of people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through his writings. When Saint John Chrysostom met a person who wanted to commit himself to Jesus Christ and learn to know God, Saint John Chrysostom would agree to instruct him in the orthodox Faith, after which would come Holy Baptism and the anointing with oil to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Before his instruction began, the godly pastor would offer a prayer by which the person was entrusted to Jesus Christ as his Lord and King.

This prayer is still used today at the opening of the service of baptism:

"In Thy Name, O Lord, God of truth, And in the Name
of Thine Only-begotten Son, And of Thy Holy Spirit,
I lay my hands upon Thy servant, Who has been found worthy
to flee to Thy Holy Name; And to take refuge
under the shelter of Thy wings."

Let me ask you a sincere question: Are you willing to repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you want to learn to know Him, be cleansed of all unrighteousness, and live a life of holiness unto God? If so, a new life in Christ lies ahead for you. Your next step is to get to know a leader of a Church in your area who can guide you through a time of preparation and instruction in the Christian Faith, and then union with Christ in Baptism. If you need help with this, just send me an email.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Determine to follow Jesus Christ and learn to walk with Him on that path which leads to the knowledge of God. For Jesus Christ has promised, "The one who comes to Me, I will by no means cast out" (John 6:37). The door has been opened to you, and He will receive you as His disciple — now, TODAY is the acceptable time!

Genesis 1:26-27, “Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image (Heb. selem), according to Our likeness (Heb. demuth); and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

The image and likeness of God relate to one thing, the resemblance of God. It is most widely understood that the image and likeness do not resemble God in bodily form. The image and likeness of God can only reside in spiritual qualities, in man’s mental and moral attributes as a self-conscious, rational, personal agent, capable of self-determination and obedience to moral law. The divine likeness resembles God in the ability to think rationally, to form relationships with other human beings and with God, or with the exercise of dominion over creation. The image of God, defaced, but not entirely lost through sin, is restored in yet more perfect form in the redemption of Christ. Therefore, the image of God in which man was created, was in his spiritual, intellectual, and moral nature, in righteousness and true holiness.

In the New Testament, the teaching of Jesus indicates the value of human beings implicit in their being God’s image-bearers (Matt 6:26; 12:12). More important, Jesus himself perfectly images God in his life and ministry as he relates sinlessly to God, people, and nature. As the first Adam failed the satanic test, the second Adam passed with flying colors (Matt 4:1-11). Jesus did not forsake God as did Adam, but as the sin-bearer Jesus was forsaken by God (Matt 27:46) so that he might restore his people to harmonious relationships to God, neighbor, and nature.

It is primarily Paul who develops the New Testament teaching on the image of God. Paul sees Jesus as the one who preexisted in God’s form (morphe Php 2:6) and whose incarnation supremely imaged God (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15; cf. John 1:1, 14, 18; 14:9; Heb 1:3). Jesus’ work of redemption is both compared and contrasted to Adam’s work of rebellion (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:22). Those who believe in Jesus are renewed in the image (eikon) of God and are expected to live as renewed people (2 Cor 3:18; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:9-10). Their destiny is ultimately to be made like Jesus, to image him perfectly as he perfectly images God (1 Cor 15:49; Eph 4:13; Php 3:21). In this respect, Christians are like children who look up to their big brother and want to be like him (Rom 8:29). For the Christian, then, godliness is Christ-likeness.

For Paul salvation from start to finish, encompassing regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, is nothing less than new creation (Rom 8:18-30; 2 Cor 4:6; 5:17; Gal 2:20; 6:15; Eph 2:10; cf. John 3:5; 5:24). This new creation is not merely individual but corporate and cosmic as well. The salvation of individual believers places them into community with other believers whose destiny resembles that of the physical universes’ restoration (Rom 8:19-21; 1 Cor 15:24-28; Col 1:16; cf. Matt 19:28; Heb 2:5-8).

The community of believers in Jesus has already experienced image renewal and with perseverance, they hope for the consummation of that renewal. In the meantime the ethical obedience of the Body of Christ is not merely to be like God but to be like Christ, who has imaged not only an incarnate model for godliness but also a dynamic for attaining godliness through the Spirit (John 13:14; 1 Cor 11:1; Eph 4:32-5:2; Php 2:5; Col 3:13; 1 Thess 1:6; 1 John 3:3).