I shall come forth as gold #refinersfire #consumingfire

[0:00] What are we to do when the heat is applied in our life? The refiner's fire talks of the crucible of life. It's a profound metaphor, the refiner's fire.

[0:11] It's used to describe challenging or difficult experiences really of where God is refining a character, a man, a woman, put to that fire.

[0:38] The refiner's fire, it tells where God is doing a deep work inside the soul of a man. And Malachi 3 verse 3 tells us this of our Lord, 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.

[1:03] And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. The refiner's fire. It's telling here of this refining process. It's intense, it's consuming.

[1:15] And the fire is designed to separate the precious from the worthless. And just as metals are purified through fire, so too our character and faith goes through this testing.

[1:28] This process of refining. When we go through life's trials and challenges, we can see actually the fire's being applied, the heat is on. And it's like in a way to the work of a potter, as the word describes God as like a potter, likens him to a potter.

[1:46] He throws the work onto the wheel again, the work of his hands. He mars it. He reworks it, that clay, because it doesn't fit his plan.

[2:01] He's got to put it onto the wheel again, the potter's wheel. And that's what he does with us through life, isn't it? He shapes us, reshapes us, fashions us, as seems good to the potter to do.

[2:12] And he knows what he's making. So it's the same kind of analogy here. The potter has got this design in view, and he's making what he wants, the work that he has planned.

[2:24] And he takes that piece, and he mars it and pulverises it and presses it. He flattens it and folds it, and he stretches it and tears it.

[2:34] Sometimes he's got to throw that piece of clay back on the potter's wheel again and again. And it's like that with the work of the refiner, that he does this work over and over again, that the vessel will be made.

[2:51] The dross must be removed. The impurities, the raw material, needs work. And the potter sees that with the clay, the refiner sees that with the metal.

[3:03] The dross must be removed, taken away, the impurities, because that metal cannot be strong. Except the dross be removed.

[3:16] The raw material needs work. That which would spoil the master's design has to be removed. It must go. And so he must apply the heat again and again.

[3:29] The piece must go through the fire, that it be fitted for something worthy. When we think of perhaps some fine piece of jewellery, that you might wear some metal jewellery, it was made by the heat.

[3:44] This fine piece of jewellery was made by the heat. The finer has to use heat. Water cannot take the impurity away.

[3:55] You might take that raw material, that raw metal material, that's contaminated, and water cannot wash it away. Water can't take the impurity away. The refining fire must come.

[4:07] A melting must happen. The fire must do its work. Here's another example from Scripture, Proverbs 25, 4. It tells us, Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

[4:19] Take away the dross from the silver, there shall come forth a vessel, a completed work. His end product shall come forth for the finer or the jeweller.

[4:29] The dross must be taken away first, though. For that piece of silver to be shiny and fitting, it has to go through the fire first.

[4:40] The dross must be taken away. The silver vessel is of great price. We know through history, like for many long years, that people have always seen that those precious metals are to be sought after.

[4:57] And it's often royalty that has them, isn't it? The kings and queens, they must be made fitting for the king to use. And it's by applying the heat to the metal that the impurities float to the top.

[5:12] I know when Julie and I lived in Mount Isa, we used to sometimes go and visit the copper pour, they called it, where they would take this huge vessel that was on the back of a truck, and it was the slag, it was the dross, really, from the process.

[5:29] And they would have this great huge, like a huge bowl on the back of a truck, and they would tip it and pour it out. And it would explode as it might come into contact with water and such, and send forth all these huge sparks, and this huge eruption happened.

[5:48] And apparently you had to be careful, because where we would park to observe it, it was told us that sometimes the metal would shoot up in the air and land on people's cars and put a hole in your roof.

[6:00] And there's obviously danger that this sparking, this eruption of the dross could shower down on people watching. But it was a real graphic sight of this metal, this molten metal, and the refiner's fire has to melt the metal.

[6:20] And do you know what metal is used to connect the most important technology in the space shuttle? Gold. If you want to go from this jewellery grade of gold to really pure technology grade, you've got to turn up the heat.

[6:37] The hotter the fire, the purer the gold. So jewellery, apparently, is 99.9% at its best. Technology grade is 99.9999% pure.

[6:53] So they've got to turn up the heat. So for the space shuttle, or when there's some particular application, the gold has to be purified by more heat.

[7:05] The dross has no value. It's rubbish. They would just throw it away. It's scum. Removed. So that the molten metal is pure. And when you think of it, spiritually applying it for yourself, God's doing a refining in each one of us, isn't he?

[7:22] And God has chosen us, you and me, to be vessels. Vessels of gold and silver. So he wants to purify us like this precious metal, but sometimes we like this raw material that needs work.

[7:34] The dross must go. Here's an example how Paul exhorts young Timothy to Timothy 2, verse 20. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honour and some to dishonour.

[7:50] Paul's telling Timothy that he's vessels. Some vessels are of gold. Some vessels are of silver. Some vessels are just wood or clay. It reads on, And if a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work.

[8:10] So only the refining fire can remove the dross. When we think of our king, he wants us to be that vessel, doesn't he? A vessel of gold, of silver. He's purging out the dross and it's by the refining fire.

[8:24] So we'll explore some of that thought today of what that means, what that looks like. God is doing a good work in every one of us and we're all at different places. We're all subject to these processes.

[8:39] That the end result be that we're fitted to be vessels, meat for the master's use, prepared for him to use, vessels of honour. So when you go through life's fiery moments, God is doing something.

[8:56] God is doing something. We can't always fathom it in the moment but he is doing a work. We can learn to trust him, can't we? And so the dross must go. The dross must go.

[9:07] Why? Because it will spoil the beauty of the vessel. The dross has to be skimmed off. We must go through the refining process and removal of dross takes time.

[9:20] Likewise too, we can endure some trials that can take some process of time. But we can learn to endure the fire with joy as we surrender ourselves into the hand of our God.

[9:35] You see stories of missionaries, of ministries. I love reading autobiographies. I've got a whole bookcase or two full of Christian autobiographies and it's telling the way God has used them.

[9:49] It's often through those moments of refining that he's made them stronger and more fitting. And it's the same for you and me that we should let God have his way. Let God have his way with your life.

[10:01] And there might be some dross there. Realise that God's doing something to make you more of a shining Christian. A refined gold, silver quality Christian. A woman was observing this process of refining of silver.

[10:16] silver. She wanted to understand the process as she was presenting to a women's Bible study about this refining fire.

[10:28] And she went and visited a silversmith one day and observed the process that he went through. And she asked him this question, how do you know when the silver is fully refined?

[10:40] And he smiled at her and answered, oh that's easy when I see my image in it. So the image would be so reflective that the silversmith would see his own image in the product.

[10:56] And we could think for ourselves, does the master see himself in the silver of my life? A preacher sent me a text just the last few days.

[11:07] I trust all is well in the midst of the trials of the refiner's fire. You know, we're in some times of testing that can happen for all of us, can't it? When we're feeling like we're right in the thick of it, in the heat of it, we can trust that the refiner's doing something.

[11:25] Even though it might seem hard and difficult and pressing, we can trust the refiner's fire. What about you? Realise the value of your calling.

[11:36] God's doing something to make you stronger, to make you more fitting, to be a vessel, a vessel unto honour, unto his honour. And we have trials, all of us have, that God's purpose will be done in our life.

[11:50] We have trials that are removing that dross. God's doing something to improve, to be the betterment of us. And how so? He turns up the heat sometimes.

[12:01] And that can be hard when we have testing happen. He's removing the impurities of our life. He's helping us to trust him more. James talks about counting your trials as joy.

[12:14] Trials may not seem like a joyous moment when they're happening and some of our number have all kinds of pressing health challenges and struggles with their afflictions that they're sustaining at times from time to time.

[12:30] The pressures of life, it can overwhelm. People can feel very laden down. But when the trial is over, brother, sister, when the trial is over, there'll be a blessing.

[12:45] A blessing. Look what God has done. You can look back and say, look what God has done. Despite all of my inadequacy, he's removed some dross out of me, so that's a good thing.

[12:56] He's made me more like himself so that he can see his image reflected in me. But first, he's got to remove some things, doesn't he? And that's true for all of us. We've all got that sense where we're still a work in progress and there's still much more that can be done.

[13:13] That we draw closer, that we come to grow closer to him, our Lord. That our walk with him would be sweeter. That our witness would be even better. And his word tells us that he's building something.

[13:28] And we know Paul relates another analogy here of a building program, of the building project of our life, that we're laying on this foundation who is Christ.

[13:40] We're building upon it gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. And one day it tells us, 1 Corinthians 3, 13, every man's work shall be made manifest.

[13:54] For the day shall declare it. Speaking of, you would reckon, of the judgment seat of Christ, because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

[14:07] Some will have wood, hay, stubble. I like to think, to compare it to like a pile of ashes when the fire comes. There'll be wood, hay, stubble, just ashes.

[14:18] But some, there'll be gold, silver, precious stones. The fire will show what work it is. And for the meantime, our life is being put into the fire sometimes.

[14:35] It's to help you grow in those times of discomfort and pain. It's like a sifting, isn't it? Like a refining, a time of testing that's going on.

[14:46] What's God doing? He's strengthening you. He's making you firmer. He's making you more steadfast. He's making you stand stronger. and shaping you.

[14:59] What is He doing? He's making something that's beautiful. Something that's beautiful. I like this scripture in part, Ecclesiastes 3.11. He hath made everything beautiful in His time.

[15:11] God's doing something beautiful even in those arduous moments or seasons of your life. He's making gold. How? It's through the refinance fire.

[15:23] It's through the refinance fire. Don't shy away from it. because it's making you more like Christ in your attitudes and actions. God is doing the work. It's the refinance fire.

[15:34] It speaks of trials and tribulations. It's how we can grow. How our faith can get stronger. How we can transform and be more like Him. It's through adversities and tests.

[15:45] We see Isaiah 48.10 tells of this refining where the Lord says behold I have refined thee but not with silver I've chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

[15:59] They're the hardest times aren't they when you're feeling unwell, physically unwell, mentally. Just the whole of you can feel like you're in a furnace of affliction.

[16:10] But God is doing something even then, even there, in the worst of times. Now, as preachers we sometimes get phone calls from people that try to wangle their way out of something and try to get some kind of justification for their sin.

[16:37] And I had a woman contact me, message me, and she was arguing to try to justify why she should leave her husband. Why she should leave her husband.

[16:49] And one of the things she said was, well surely God wants us to be happy. God wants us to be happy. So why should I put up with this husband? He's a bit of a Jesus freak basically, was what she was saying.

[17:03] Trying to put the point, well, he's just too full on for God and I'm not like that, I just want to have a bit of a carefree way of living so I don't want to go that way.

[17:15] And she was trying to justify, well I'm not happy so that justifies me leaving the man. No. We don't go along with this kind of false idea, God wants me to be happy so if I'm not happy I leave the situation that doesn't make me happy.

[17:33] Now sometimes God wants you in the furnace of affliction, that's where he wants you, that's the place that you have to be because God is doing something. And as that dross is removed, the less the impurities, the more the shine.

[17:49] Think of your gold ring or gold jewellery, whatever you might have, it shines bright because it's been through the fire. The adversity exposes our weakness, it helps us to grow stronger.

[18:00] Trials purify our character, our faith. We see Psalm 66 10. The same theme, for thou O God has proved us, thou hast tried us as silver is tried.

[18:14] God is seeing what you're made of. So when you go through the unhappy times, God doesn't necessarily want you to be happy, but he wants you to be holy, he wants you to be right with him, he wants you to get your heart right, he wants that right, your character, your faith.

[18:33] And the purpose of the refiner's fire is purification and transformation. The fire transforms that raw metal into a valuable, usable material. It's the same with trials, isn't it?

[18:45] The trials are the making of you. God is seeing what you're made of. And those trials, they can mould us into better versions of ourselves.

[18:56] As we let God have his way, we let God shape us to who he wants us to be. It's the strengthening too. As we're going through the refiner's fire, it builds that resilience, that steadfastness, that endurance.

[19:12] We think of metals. If you had a sword, if we're back a few hundred years ago, when we had to have a sword, we'd want a sword that was going to endure, wouldn't we?

[19:23] We'd want a sword that isn't going to break. We'd want a sword that was hardened and tempered, made strong. It had to go through the fire. It had to go through the process of hardening of the anvil so that that sword could be strong.

[19:43] And we see that in the life of Job. He knew the refiner's fire, the challengers of Job, the most just man on all the earth. Yet he was afflicted, grossly afflicted.

[20:00] Job knew the refiner's fire, what it felt like, itching sores, everything gone that he had, all of his life that he'd saved up, all of his material possessions, all of his family, everything gone.

[20:16] And he says, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. God is helping you to grow, people.

[20:31] He's helping you to grow through those moments. Who knows whether Monday morning, something hits you from left field, and you think, what is going on?

[20:45] Yet will I trust him. Yet will I trust in him. God's helping you to grow. It's how he does it. It's always been how he does it. And just as fire refines metal, removing impurities, God does it for you and me.

[21:01] He helps us to be stronger for it. And we can learn to grow our faith through God's strength. Those difficulties help us as opportunities to grow. Job's faith passed the test, didn't it? Sure he had his moments when he kind of let it all hang out, and he was yelling out, oh, but yet his faith passed the test.

[21:23] And we can trust God too, that he's using whatever these situations that are going on to refine us. No matter what, I'm going to trust him. No matter what, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.

[21:37] That can be our heart, to have a resilience, to bounce back, to keep on going through all of the tests that we face, all of the obstacles, struggles, because we got his help, we can trust in him.

[21:51] And we'll be stronger too, at the end of it all, we'll look back and think, wow, he was making something good in my life, something beautiful was being done by the grace of God. Through all those struggles, now I can see what he was doing.

[22:05] Sometimes we may not see what he's doing, this side of glory, but sometimes we get those moments when we do look back and think, wow, he was doing something that is to his glory, and I can bless him for it.

[22:20] We'll be stronger for it, those struggles, those struggles of your life, those times where you had to overcome, where you've had to push through, where you've had to go through, where you've had to get out of your comfort zone and push yourself to step out, that's where spiritual growth happens, that's where personal growth happens, we're in the refiner's fire, that's the place.

[22:45] And I'm going through the tough times, really, it's helping us, and helping us too to have compassion for others. When we go through something horrendous, well, actually, there's someone that God wants you to minister to, that you can really help, you're going to be fully qualified to help someone else because of what you've been through, and we can support the others that are there in those places.

[23:09] The refiner's fire can be the place to build strength. Now, some of you might know Romy and Maria go down the gym, and that's why they're so fit and healthy. And we think in spiritual terms, there's an application here that the refiner's fire is a place to build strength.

[23:28] And just as your muscles grow stronger, they call it resistance training, don't they? Resistance training. You've got to push yourself harder and push yourself stronger such that your muscles can extend, that your muscles can increase.

[23:42] And those challenges that we face, it's like this resistance training. I like to think how in 1 Timothy 4 verse 7, in part it says, exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

[23:54] And this word exercise is gymnazo in the Greek. So you could transliterate it, go into the gym, get into the gym to increase yourself unto godliness, to exercise yourself.

[24:11] And that's what the refiner's fire is doing, isn't it? It's not this gym that we're building up spiritual muscles. And those difficult times can help us be stronger. As we face the refiner's fire, let's trust God's processes.

[24:25] He's doing something. Just as the metal trusts the refiner's hand, we can trust God's guidance. Because all things work for the good. Even in the midst of difficulties, the times of fire can help deepen our relationship with God, increase our strength, strength in our faith.

[24:43] And we can witness God's faithfulness in it all as well. That he is doing something. We can have a deeper trust, a deeper faith. Trials produce perseverance.

[24:55] Trials produce this patience, this persevering quality. Trials produce character. Trials produce hope. As Paul tells the Romans, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations.

[25:09] Actually, tribulations are something to get happy about and excited about and rejoice about. Knowing that tribulation worketh patience, patience worketh experience, and experience worketh hope.

[25:23] There's this chain reaction. Tribulation, patience, experience, hope. There's something good. Tribulation works on things, and they're good things.

[25:34] And those times that we're going through the refiner's fire could actually be a testimony of God's grace. Your transformed life, that you are a stronger believer for what you've had to cope with.

[25:45] We look back through history, through the records of men and women who've trusted God. We see through present days with the persecuted church.

[25:57] It's the making of them. It's their testimony. Here's a poem called The Refiner's Fire, and it's really about the making of a crown. The refiner's fire.

[26:09] He sat by the fire of sevenfold heat as he watched by the precious ore, and close sir he bent with a searching gaze as he heated it more and more.

[26:20] He knew he had ore that could stand the test, and he wanted the finest gold to mould as a crown for the king to wear, set with gems of price untold.

[26:31] So he laid our gold in the burning fire, though we fain would have said him nay, and he watched the dross that we had not seen as it melted and passed away, and the gold grew brighter, and yet more bright, and our eyes were so dim with tears as we saw the fire, not the master's hand, and questioned with anxious fear, yet our gold shone out with a richer glow as it mirrored a form above, that bent o'er the fire, though unseen by us, with a look of infinite love.

[27:08] Can we think that it pleases his loving heart to cause a moment of pain? Ah, no, but he saw through the present cross the bliss of eternal gain, so he waited there with a watchful eye, with a love that is strong and sure, and his gold did not suffer a bit more heat than was needed to make it pure.

[27:32] He's making a crown, a crown fit for a king, a crown with gems and jewels, and it's the fire that's the making of the crown. We see in James, James exhorts, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations.

[27:49] When you have all these horrible things happen, these trials that will come your way, he says, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. There's going to be a perseverance, you're going to be more resilient, you're going to be more forbearing, you're going to be more enduring.

[28:06] These trials that you faced, the testing of your faith is going to bring forth good fruit. God may use the furnace of affliction. Now, who wants that?

[28:17] God wants me to be happy. Sometimes it's the furnace, sometimes there's times of furnace, sometimes there's moments of the furnace, the furnace of affliction, yes, the furnace of affliction.

[28:33] God prepared Moses in the backside of the desert, didn't he? He was in the desert some 40 years. God was making the man Moses that he would be that leader, that governor that would stand strong after the 40 years in the wilderness.

[28:50] Joseph was in God's plan to be the saviour of his family, of millions, of others, but to prepare Joseph. God had to see that he was placed in this time of testing, times and times again of testing, as he was sold into slavery, into Egypt, placed in a dungeon.

[29:16] God was making the man through the furnace of affliction. And we could think of other cases too, and your life can be such a testimony of God's wonderful grace.

[29:27] Amen. 2 Corinthians 12, Paul cries out, Lord, deliver me from this thorn. And God says, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

[29:43] Paul says, most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. My grace, he says, my grace, my grace is sufficient for thee, for thee, for thee.

[30:00] Most gladly therefore I rather glory. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.

[30:16] None of us wants to go through any of that, do we? Through the bitter trials, the hardships of life, you know, think back as a younger man, what I had to go through to make a living, to get through the sacrifices that you make through life, the trials, the hardship.

[30:40] Someday we shall understand what we've been through and why it could be happening for you right now, that furnace of affliction, this could be real for you. One day you'll understand, God's doing it.

[30:52] It's like happened with the men and women of God, of history. God doesn't punish us willingly, he would rather spare us such pain, but the way to be free from the dross is the fire.

[31:10] It's the fire. 1 Peter 1, it tells us of Peter telling these folk, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.

[31:26] It reads on verse 7, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[31:37] So he's saying here for the moment, you've got this heaviness, heaviness, but it says your trial of your faith is more precious than gold.

[31:49] It's going to be such that there'll be praise and honour and glory at his appearing. For the timeless heaviness, manifold temptations, have you got some heaviness going on?

[32:00] God is making gold. God's making gold out of your life. Peter exhorts these folk in the midst of all kinds of trials to keep strong. God is making gold.

[32:11] Our faith will be greater, is of greater worth than gold. And it will bring praise and honour and glory. And then he reads on in 1 Peter 4 verse 12, Beloved, think it not strange, concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you.

[32:29] But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's suffering, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

[32:41] He's saying, think it not strange, when some fiery trial comes. It's not unusual, it's not out of the ordinary, this is not something that is to be unexpected.

[32:54] think it not strange, that some fiery trial is going to come to try you, as if it's some strange thing that happened to you.

[33:06] But rejoice, 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.

[33:17] So even when trials come and you're feeling what's going on, realise God's purpose in it. He's refining you, people.

[33:28] He's refining you, brother, sister. He's transforming you. He's making a fitting vessel for the master to use. That vessel that is going to be a vessel unto honour, he's making you such a vessel.

[33:42] He's making you like that gold crown. It has to go through the fire first. Trust God's refining process. God's refining its removing the dross, the impurities.

[33:54] The metal's useless without the impurities removed. The metal is faulty, it's lacking with the impurity.

[34:05] The dross has to go. So the fire must come. The fire must come first. He's refining. It's not to harm you, but to purify you.

[34:17] It's the making of you. Through the refiner's fire, God removes the dross of sin. We've got to surrender to God's refining process. We read of the word of our Lord, it tells of our Lord, our God is a consuming fire.

[34:36] A consuming fire, it's not always a pleasant thing, isn't it? But a consuming fire, when it's applied to the dross, that's a good thing. That's a good thing for us.

[34:47] So when we let God do his work to fit us for his service, that we be vessels unto honour, that you would be such a vessel, that you would be a shining Christian, shining for the glory of God, that you would reflect his image.

[35:06] Job 23, 10, Job says, but he knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

[35:17] When he hath tried me, Job 23, 10, when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. The refining process for the meantime can be painful and uncomfortable, but it's necessary.

[35:32] It's necessary. God wants me to be happy. No, wrong. It's not about you being happy. It's God pleased with you.

[35:45] It's God pleased. Are you a vessel unto honour? That's joy. That's joy. That we would please him, that we would come forth as gold unto the glory of God.

[35:57] That's what matters. We might have some temporary unhappiness as we would reckon it. Maybe it's the furnace of affliction. We need it.

[36:07] It's actually good for us. It's necessary. The trials, the temptations, the hardship, God promises to be with us through it all. He's doing a refining work.

[36:18] That's not to make light. Sometimes life is hard. Life is hard. Heaviness. Heaviness. Where will it stop?

[36:29] I'm so loaded down. Heaviness. But there's a special blessing. God will help you to bear it. There's a special blessing.

[36:39] It's God's purifying work. Our Lord says, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. There's a blessing in purifying. Titus 2, 14, it tells us who gave himself for us.

[36:54] Our Lord who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify, purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

[37:08] There's a sense where purifying is a good thing, isn't it? You can trust God's purifying work. And God will be with you when you're going through the fire, when we feel the heat. So, brother, sister, I know sometimes when I preach a message like this, you think, what's going to come to me next week?

[37:24] To test out whether I'm ready to practice what I preach here. I'm almost a bit worried. But no, there's a sense where whatever happens, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.

[37:37] God will be with you when you walk through the fire. There might be some fire next week, next month, next year. There might be some fire, but God will be with you through the fire. When we feel the heat in life, sometimes we can despair, we might doubt God.

[37:51] God, you want me to be happy, what's going on? Actually, for a season, there's the furnace of affliction. Know that God is working for your good. And the end result will be glory, glory to God.

[38:05] Just as the purified metals, they're going to shine brightly. Why? Because they've been through the fire. They'll emerge as vessels of honour. And it's the same for you and me, people.

[38:16] God's transforming you to be such a vessel, to be an instrument of God, to be used of him, to reflect his glory to your world. So let's endure, let's rejoice even in the heaviness.

[38:33] Let's know God's grace is for you. As you journey through life's trials, and look, for some of you, you've been there. You say, preacher, I can tell you about some trials I've been through.

[38:44] Brother, sister, we've all got certain things to bear, crosses to bear. Yeah. as you journey through life's trials, know that God is with you, and that there's a work he's doing by his grace.

[39:01] Know that he's making you into a vessel of honour. That's what matters, that you be a vessel of honour. And that vessel of honour might have to go through some unhappiness, as we would feel it, that he would be glorified, that the refiner's fire would do its work.

[39:17] I trust you know him today, that you know the saviour, that's what matters, most important. And then as a believer, know that he's with you.

[39:31] Trust his work. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your refining work. Lord, we don't always like it or appreciate it or realise the benefit. This side of glory, Lord, we may not even understand.

[39:44] On our deathbed, we may not understand some of the things, but one day we will. One day we'll know your plan, your hand in it all, even the worst of times, the hardest of times, the unhappiest of times, even in the furnace of affliction itself, that there you are with us, that you're doing your work, making us the person you want us to be, making us that chosen vessel unto honour.

[40:13] Lord, help us to see that, somehow see that, to realise that, that you're doing something, that we might have endurance through trial, that we might have even the heart of Job, yet will I trust in you, I will trust you, that our faith might even be stronger, that we'll even rejoice in it, that we'll even count it all joy, that we'll have such a counterintuitive way of dealing with life's stresses that will actually say, thank you, Lord, I can thank you that you help me in whatever's going on, that we can know a greater faith, we praise you, Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen.