Through the Fire
"And I will bring the third part through the fire..." (Zechariah 13:9).
I hope and pray you are ready because the fire is already burning. We should not be surprised or alarmed at the turn of events within the Church in recent weeks, because both the prophets of the Old Testament and the writers of the New Testament explain to us graphically what is taking place. There is little doubt that the statement above refers to The Church of God in it's present state. It is often after the fact, when the prophecy has been fulfilled, that we understand the meaning of it. The "third part" referred to here seems most assuredly to be The Church of God after the reorganization at the Solemn Assembly on July 24, 1993.
Get ready then, dear hearts, the refiner's fire has already begun! Peter tells us that we should not think it strange that this fire is working in our day: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:12-13).
Fire plays a prominent role in many ways throughout the Bible, but the one we want to focus upon in this message is the fire which purifies and refines an individual and, collectively, the Church from it's impurities and imperfections. God is going to have a perfect Church not matter how much the devil resists it and hates the very thought of it, and it's going to take the refiner's fire to get it that way.
Zechariah told us we are going to be brought through the fire as the "third part." and Malachi tells us why and how it will be: "But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like a fullers' soap: 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" (Mal. 3:2-3). God wants pure gold, not a mixture of some kind, not an alloy, but 24 karat pure gold, and He is going to do whatever it takes to make it that way. Pure gold doesn't come by accident or happenstance. There is a refining process which produces it in it's purest form. Gold ore is formed in veins in the rocks. It is dug out of the rock or panned out of a stream. As ore is in it's most primitive form. It is not ready to be used until it goes through the refining process. First it has to be crushed, Does that awaken in you a remembrance of how God dug you out of the rough and began His refinement process on you? That is how He begins to make you pure gold. The crushing is not easy or pleasant. It makes us aware of how rough we are and how much we need to be refined. It breaks us into more manageable particles for the next step in the process. After the crushing comes the melting. Sometimes one resists the melting because the heat has to be turned on to get the crushed ore to melt. Melting separates the pure gold from the impurities and imperfections. It is not pure gold until all the impurities and imperfections are taken out. In a spiritual sense, melting must take place before the heart yields in obedience to God's refining process. As the heat increases, more and more of the impurities separate from the ore and come to float on the top. "The heat is on" is an expression that is interpreted to mean that one is pressured on all sides and the result is frustration and discomfort. The people of God in the this last stage generation are going to feel the heat until God gets us in the condition He wants us. We cannot finish the work without it. Individually and collectively as The Church of God we are going to have to experience enough of the intense heat of the refiner's fire to come forth as pure gold. That fire may be felt in many forms. The devil is coming at us from all sides and from within as well.
At the present time we are experiencing an unprecedented turmoil from within in the form of disruptive letters and commotions by those among us who are failing God and are trying to divert attention from themselves by pointing toward others with untrue and unfounded accusations. Although these attempts have not caused the disruption the perpetrators intended, they have created doubts, distrust and apprehensions in the minds of some who do not know the facts concerning each case dealt with. Such attempts are causing pain and heartaches to others when they are dealt with for creating divisions and disrespecting the government of the Church. All this is just a result of the reality of refining fire. Some of us may have been surprised and shocked, but we were warned by the writers of Scripture that they would take place.
There is another aspect of this process of refinement which should be mentioned here and that is the "skimming off" of the impurities. Regrettably, this is also a part of the refinement. If the impurities are left floating on the top they will again be mixed into the gold and make it impure. Impurities are not part of the gold, so they have to be removed from it. This, too, is a scriptural injunction. Those who will not be restored nor cooperate with the attempts to restore them must be removed as a last resort to save the wholesome quality of the Body of Christ, the Church.
God will not accept the Church in an impure, divided, disobedient, rampant condition.He has provided for it's perfection and He will require her to "make herself ready." Whatever it takes to bring this about He will apply it. Until it is in it's purest form, He will apply to the Church the same principles He applied to Israel to refine it: "And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace ; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore saith the Lord God; because ye are all become dross, behold therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire upon it, melt it; so I will gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. Yea, I will gather you and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and shall be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you" (Ezek. 22:17-22).
The Church of God today is not in the deplorable condition that Israel was at the time of Ezekiel's writing; but there is a need for spiritual refinement and there will be until we have reached perfection as God requires it. Lamentable, there are some among us who are not heart and soul with us. There will not be any in this condition when we reach perfection. Either they will be purged while among us by the refining fire of God , or they will be purged from among us. That is a decision which must come from them as we make sincere and compassionate attempts to restore them, and we must keep in mind the shortness of time and the urgency of the late hour.
Not only will we be refined by the fire of God, but our works must also stand the test of fire. That is why we must take heed to the quality of our work, lest it fail the test by fire and all of it be burned up and we be left with nothing but ashes. The apostle Paul explains this process: "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1 Cor. 3:12-15). Here Paul gives us a glimpse of the Judgment Seat of Christ. If we have made it that far we are saved for eternity, because this great and significant event comes about after the rapture of the Church. But before we begin to rejoice over the eternal joys of salvation-and there is reason enough to rejoice over this- consider now while you are still in the world and working for God how you are going to feel for eternity and about the reward of your labors done for Him.Will it be a bag of ashes or a diadem for your crown, or whatever worthy and appropriate reward you will receive for what you have done for Him while you had the opportunity? Whatever you receive for your labors will be with you for eternity, so what quality of work are you doing?
God is not through with the Church yet. He has not yet dealt with with His people in any previous generation or dispensation until they we all perfect-as one man-but this time His fires of refining and purifying will continue until they have accomplished their purpose, which could be well sooner than we may think. They may be intense, but the hotter they burn the sooner we will be pure gold. Oh, glory! Let us work with the Spirit and watch what God will do in this wonderful and exciting age.
(This article was originally published in the May 1996 issue of The Evening Light.)
