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REFINED BY FIRE

Exploring the concept of true faith and the narrow path to salvation, based on Matthew 7:21-23 and 7:13-14. Examining forgiveness, identity in Christ, and overcoming temptations.

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REFINED BY FIRE

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  1. REFINED BY FIRE JoLynn Gower 493-6151 352-2458 jgower@guardingthetruth.org

  2. WORD FOR THE JOURNEY • Matthew 7:21-23  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROMME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' • Does: poieo: to perform (especially as a poet) • Practice: ergazomai: to perform or work • Matthew 7:13-14  "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

  3. DO YOU WANT TO BE WELL? • If God is sovereign over people, nations, and nature, why can’t or doesn’t He just “fix” all the bad happenings? • John 5:5-7  A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me." • It is possible to get your personal sense of worth from a sense of “victimhood” • Is our identity drawn from our problems? Is our identity in Christ?

  4. PASSING FOR FORGIVENESS • FORGIVENESS IS NOT ABOUT SAYING THAT SIN IS OK • 1 Corinthians 5:1-2  It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. • Mourned: pentheo: grieve, feel loss • Arrogant: physioo: proud; haughty • Tolerance for wrong-doing within the church is not good • Tolerance must not be used as an excuse for failure to confront sin in the body of Christ or as a substitute for forgiveness

  5. APPROPRIATE FORGIVENESS • Forgiveness of others; forgiveness of ourselves • Genesis 37:2-4 Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. • varicolored: pas: flat of hand or foot; tunic that reaches the hands or feet; by extension: many parts or many colors

  6. JOSEPH’S DREAMS • Genesis 37:6-8  He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had; for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.“ Then his brothers said to him, "Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. • Genesis 37:9-11 "Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

  7. TRAVELING TO SHECHEM • Genesis 37:14  Then he said to him, "Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. Genesis 37:23-24  So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;  and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. Genesis 37:27  "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him.

  8. TEMPTATIONS • Genesis 39:6-9  So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.  It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?" • Genesis 50:19-20  But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

  9. THE NATURE OF FORGIVENESS • Is a choice; the other person may not be sorry • Doesn’t mean that a forgiven person is forgiven by God • Who does forgiveness benefit? • Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” • 1 John 1:7-9 … but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. • Romans 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

  10. THE PRINCIPLE • Matthew 18:23-30  "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

  11. WHEN YOU AREN’T WRONG • John 19:6  So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, "Crucify, crucify!" Pilate said to them, "Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him." • Luke 23:33-34  When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. • Know: oida: to perceive; to assimilate within a value structure • THE WORLDLY PEOPLE WHO CRUCIFIED JESUS NEEDED A CHANGE IN THEIR VALUE STRUCTURE

  12. REFUSING TO FORGIVE IS SIN • Ephesians 4:31-32  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, for-giving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you • Colossians 3:12-13  So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;  bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. • Matthew 6:11-14  'Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'] For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

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