REFINED BY FIRE

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. THE GOD WHO IS SOVEREIGN • Sovereign: dunastes: all powerful ruler • We have seen enough about God’s heart, character, and attributes to believe that He is sovereign • Today, we turn our attention away from our refining to the God who is the sovereign refiner • Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. • Revelation 22:20-21  He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. • The Bible begins and ends with God, but nowhere tries to prove His existence

4. THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT GOD • Psalm 103:19-21  The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the LORD, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word! Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His will. • 3 heavens recognized by Israelites: 1. the area immediately surrounding the earth; the sky 2. the area farther out from the earth containing the sun and stars 3. the “third heaven” where God’s throne is • 2 Corinthians 12:2  I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven.

5. HEAVENLY HOSTS • Angels: malak: messengers • Hosts: tsaba: armies • Angels are created beings; people do not become angels when they die • Throughout scripture, God is called the LORD or God of hosts • Angels were created sinless; some of them have fallen, choosing to join forces with Satan • Jude 1:6-7  And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire

6. FALLEN ANGELS • 2 Peter 2:4-7  For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men • Luke 8:31 They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.

7. TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT • Genesis 6:1-4 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. • Nephilim: from naphal: fallen one • Revelation 9:11  They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.

8. GOOD ANGELS • Messengers who announce God’s information • Daniel 10:12-13  Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. • Ephesians 6:12-13  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

9. WHAT GOD CAN DO • God is omnipotent…omniscient…omnipresent… omnitemporal… • Deuteronomy 32:35-38 'Vengeance is Mine, retribution, in due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, and the impending things are hastening upon them. For the LORD will vindicate His people, and will have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their strength is gone, and there is none remaining, bond or free. And He will say, 'Where are their gods, the rock in which they sought refuge? Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, anddrank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, let them be your hiding place! • Deuteronomy 32:39  'See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

10. WORKING THINGS OUT • Romans 8:26-28  In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. • Acts 2:22-23 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

11. BEFORE THEY HAPPEN: 700 BC, 536 BC • Isaiah 45:1,4 Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand, to subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of kings; to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut…"For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me. • 2 Chronicles 36:22-23  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah—the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation through -out his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!’”