In this piece, we'll be looking at a very interesting topic that I believe the Lord wants to use to usher us into a great experience in His presence. We're looking at the Purifying fire.
So, we want to look at the word Purify. What does it mean? In the kingdom, fire is an important component that executes the will of God. Fire is synonymous with the execution of God's will. So, when we look at the Purifying fire. What is the meaning of the word Purify?
I want you to turn with me to Isaiah chapter 1, we want to look at the word Purify. Isaiah chapter 1:25, it says; “I will turn My hand against you and thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your alloy”. Now, if you look at the Scripture carefully from verse 24, you will see that God was speaking to a people and He was telling them the things He is going to do by His mighty hand.
When it got to verse 25, He said, I will turn My hand; it is a visitation, I will turn My hand against you and thoroughly purge. Now, if you look at this, the word purge and the word Purify, can be used synonymously. To purge is to Purify. When He used the word purge, He said I will purge away: so, the word Purify means to remove. God was saying here that I will purge away your dross.
Usually, when you mined for silver, silver comes with dross: those are the contaminations in silver. So, when God wants to bring out silver from any man in production, He wants to bring out silver in its purest state, that silver must be purged; it must be purified: meaning that all the contaminations on the silver must be removed.
So, He said I will thoroughly purge away your dross; He is saying I will remove contaminations from you and I will take away all your alloy. The first one, He said I will thoroughly: so what is called Purify? Purify is to remove contaminations. So, every time we come in contact with the word Purify, it means that if there are contaminations there, it should be removed.
So, what is the importance of this to us as followers of Jesus Christ? How does God get this job done in our lives; in this time and the dispensation of the Holy Spirit? Let us see the things God said He would do: because we must understand that when God speaks, God is speaking not as an advice; God is speaking as a matter of commandment because God is Judge. God is the Supreme Being. When God is speaking to you, it's not an advice; it's a command.
What are the things that God said He will do? Malachi chapter 3:2-3, “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver”.
Now, this is concerning what God has intended to do. For every generation that God wants to use, this is what He will do. For every people that God has determined to use, this is what He would do: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will Purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.”
Why does God Purify? God Purify so that they can offer to the LORD. Every time you see God show up anywhere in Scripture, as a Purifying fire or there is a feature of the fire of God; it is because there are a people that God wants to use. There is a man that God is visiting with fire as an introduction to how He is going to use that man. Every time the Purifying fire of God is introduced to a generation, to a people, to a nation, and to a person; it is so that you can offer, it is so that you can become, it is so that you can step into what God has prepared for you.
We are looking at what God intends to do. Zechariah chapter 13:9, “I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested”. The choice of God's word is intentional. He said I will bring the one-third; it is not everybody. So, the message is not for everybody; it is for a man somewhere, a woman somewhere, a nation somewhere, a people somewhere, and a generation somewhere that God intends to use.
He said and they will call on My name, and I will answer them. There is a similarity between Malachi chapter three and Zechariah chapter 13. He said I test them as gold is tested; when I take them through this experience, when they pass through My presence, when they pass through My Purifying fire: He said they will call on My name and I will answer them. I will say, this is My people, and each one will say, the LORD is my God”.
I will say, this is My people. I will say, this is My person. I will say, this is My son. I will say, this is My daughter. Why? I have caused them to pass through the fire and each one will say the LORD is my God. This is the intention of God for all of us, as many people as God has intended to use, as many people that God intends to pour out into, there must be a fire experience.
Another word we can use for the word God said in Zechariah chapter 13:9, He said I will bring the one-third through the fire. Another word we can use is baptism. I will baptize them in fire. So, if you have been hearing God, if God has been speaking to your heart, if God has been leading you in a particular direction; one of the important hallmarks: important things that will happen in your life, that you will know that the hand of God is upon you is that; He will take you through the fire. And that fire is what we are looking at, the Purifying fire. Why does God take us through this fire? What is God trying to get out of this experience?
I believe the Holy Spirit wants to answer the question in the hearts of some people. You have been asking God, God, why me? Why am I going through these experiences? Why are these things happening to me? What is the exact thing You are doing with my life; I don't understand it? Those are some of the questions the Holy Spirit wants to answer. Let us go to Proverbs chapter 17:3, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the hearts”.
If there is no relationship between the refining pot and the furnace, it won’t come before; but the LORD. So, the LORD; like the refining pot; the LORD like the furnace is the one that tests the hearts. It is not like God is going to pick you up and throw you into a literal fire, but the LORD will cause your heart to go through the fire. Like silver goes into the refining pot, your heart will go through the Purifying fire of the LORD.
For every one that will come out as silver: bright shining silver, for everyone that will come out in the hands of God as gold; God says that He is going to test the heart. It is important and essential for God to test the heart.
So, what is God doing when He test your heart? His plan is to Purify you. What is the Purifying process? The Purifying process is to remove dross, to remove contaminations from your heart. You can look at your heart and say, my heart is pure before God, my heart is right before God; but until the LORD test your heart, until that heart goes through the Purifying fire of God, you don't know what is there.
Isaiah chapter 6:1, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone!”
Isaiah saw something, and he knew there are still contaminations in this heart, there are still impurities in this heart. “Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal (Another word for life coal is fire. When a coal is dead, there's no fire in it. A life coal has fire within it.) which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. (That means; that altar is the altar of fire, for there to be life coals on it.) And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”
The seraphim flew to the altar, took a life coal. How does God purge His people? God purge His people through the fire. Except God is not interested in your life, that's when God will leave you the way you are. If God is interested in you, He will not leave you the way you are. You can come to God the way you are, you cannot remain in God the way you are; He must touch you. If God wants to use you, He must touch you. The touch of God is the Purifying experience. And see the experience of Isaiah here: there was something God was going to ask Isaiah to do, but what was the prerequisite? The prerequisite was that He must touch him.
Verse eight, Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, (after the Purifying experience, is deployment.) and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ God will not ask you to go when you are undone. It is when you are done, that God will ask you to go.
So, what is the responsibility that we have when we're in the presence of God? Lord, make me ready, Purify me. In Malachi chapter three, He said He will Purify the sons of Levi that they may offer; that they may go. God does not work haphazardly; He is a principled God: God of order. We saw the order in Isaiah chapter six here, God had to Purify Isaiah before He ask him to go, and it's the same thing with our lives. Many of us are asking, God use me. God, I want you to visit me. Lord, what you are doing in this season; don't do it without me. And God is asking, are you ready to go through the Purifying fire? Many of the prayers we pray, they have great implications; and God will not jump protocol for you because He didn't jump it for Jesus.
Let's see Jeremiah chapter 9:7, “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and try them (another word for try is test); for how shall I deal with the daughter of My people? I cannot deal with you when I've not refined you. I cannot deal with you when I have not purified you. I cannot deal with you when I've not purged you.
It's important we see the protocol of the purification process, so that as we are praying to God, we know the necessity that is laid on us; that we need, to go through the Purifying fire. Psalm chapter 66:10-11, “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.”
God cannot work on you and abandon you, no! He will bring you out. He said despite these experiences, you brought us out. The sign that God is the one taking you through is that you are not consumed by it. He said even though you pass through the fire, I will not cause it to burn you; through the water, it will not overflow you. Why? I'm the One that is causing you to go through it, I will bring you out.
Jesus, when He was sharing about the Beatitudes, mentioned something fundamental, so that we understand that the purification of God as a target. Matthew chapter 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Purify is from the word pure. When you Purify, the thing will become pure. Blessed are the pure in heart; they did not suddenly become pure in hearts, they were purified to be pure. Blessed are the pure in heart; those that have allowed God to work on them. Blessed are the pure in heart, what is their reward? Their reward is: they shall see God.
The Purifying fire is God's presence that works in our hearts so that we are acceptable before Him as vessels fit for the Master’s use. The Purifying fire is God's presence that works on our hearts; the target of God is our hearts. God is not planning to wash your head. So, if you follow people to the river, and they use soap to be washing your head, and they say they are praying for you, they are wasting your time. God's target is your heart! He wants to Purify your heart.
No wonder when they were asking Jesus, that Your disciples don't wash. And Jesus was looking at them in their ignorance. He said, what is it that contaminates a man? Is it his hand or his heart? The summary of what Jesus was saying is, you spend so much time washing your hands and your heart is contaminated. You don't know that it is what comes out of a man that contaminates a man.
Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of your heart flows the issues of life. The Bible didn’t say guard your hands, or your legs, or your head but he says guard your heart. So, when the heart of a man is contaminated, God can’t use him. When the heart of a woman is contaminated, God can’t use her. God said to Samuel, I have found David, a man after My heart; not a man with big head and tall body, but a man after My heart.
So, the heartbeat of God is for our hearts. If God can get our hearts right, He knows our lives will be right. He knows if He can purge and Purify our heart, our lives will become vessels fit for Him. And that's why He says, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. So, if you have been praying, Lord, I want to see you. Your prayer should not be Lord, I want to see you. Your prayer should be Lord Purify me; because if you are purified, you will see Him.
First Peter chapter 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery (fire) trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”
So, beloved, do not count it strange when you are going through the Purifying fire. When God wanted to introduce Himself to Moses, the Bible says and he saw a site: the bush was burning and it was not consumed. So, what was happening to the bush? It was being purified: that was the symbol of the Purifying fire. And Moses said, I will turn to see this great site; and when he turned, the bush was burning and it was not consumed and he heard a voice: remove your sandals; for where you are standing is a holy place.
When God purifies us, our lives will become a holy place. So, if you are praying that Lord, make me holy. The right prayer is Lord Purify me!! David prayed, Lord, search my heart, if there be any contamination, if there be any iniquity; because David knows that is the real deal. Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life.
First Peter chapter 1:6-7, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ”. So, when God is taking us through the Purifying fire, it is so that when we are found, after that experience, our lives must be to the praise, honor and glory of Jesus.
We have been talking about the Purifying fire. How did God institute this Purifying fire in this dispensation? Matthew chapter 3:11, John the Baptize said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”.
So, where is the location of our Purifying? Christ Jesus. Once you are baptized into Jesus, you are baptized into the Holy Spirit and fire. And that's why when Apostle Paul was praying that he may know Him. He said that I may know Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed, even to His death. The fellowship of His sufferings: is the fire experience, it is the baptism of fire.
So, Jesus has come to bring you and I, into the baptism of fire. God has made it possible that it is in Jesus, that we are baptized in fire. I don't know if some people have preached to you that all your problems will be solved, all your needs will be met, yes! God is good. The Bible says every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of light, it comes from God, it comes from above, and it comes from Christ Jesus. Yes! He has given us all things that pertain to life and to godliness, but this is also part of the package.
So, at that time, anyone that comes to John the Baptize is baptized by water unto repentance. Every one that comes to Jesus is baptized into the Holy Spirit and fire; so that they can become vessels that will offer to God: offerings in righteousness. That's why the Bible says, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. That's why in First Peter that we read, Peter kept saying, be encouraged; it is part of the package in Christ Jesus. If you are going through fiery trials; those fiery trials are your baptism of fire. And the essence, is so that you are purified; that when you are found, you are found in glory, you are found in honor, you are found in praise to Jesus Christ. So, our baptism is in Christ Jesus. This Purifying fire is available in Him. Once you come into Jesus, you have been enrolled; it is like going to school.
When you come to Jesus, you have enrolled for a baptism of fire. When you come to Jesus, you have enrolled for a baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Another interesting Scripture, First Peter chapter 5:10, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you”. The suffering in the kingdom is not the kind of suffering in the world. The suffering in the kingdom is a Purifying experience. That's the only suffering; and the Purifying experience does not take forever, it is for a while. So, don't let the devil afflict you and you think God is Purifying you: it is for a while. And you will know, because God said I will be there when you pass through the fire, when you pass through the water, I will not let it overflow you.
He said when you have suffered a while; He will perfect you, He will refine you as gold. Gold is the perfect state. He said I will take away the dross so that you are refined as silver: perfect! The reason we go through the Purifying fire is so that we can be perfect. Don't let anybody lie to you that you cannot be perfect. You can be perfect in Christ Jesus; haven gone to the baptism of fire. Every time Jesus appears, the fire becomes a Purifying fire.
When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were cast into that great fire, the fire was burning and God opened the eyes of king Nebuchadnezzar. He said, is it not three we threw into the fire? He said, I see four walking freely and the appearance of the fourth One is like the Son of Man. So, when Jesus comes into the situation, the fire becomes a Purifying fire. When they came out, no one was burnt, and not one tread of their clothes was burnt. The fire in Christ Jesus is a Purifying fire.
He said you will be perfect, established, strengthened and He will settle you. When you have gone through the Purifying fire, God says you will be perfect. Psalm 66 says, He will bring you out to reach fulfillment. Fulfillment is that place where you are perfect, you are established, you are strengthened and you are settled. That's fulfillment! So, if you saying God has promised you fulfillment; this is the definition of fulfillment: that place of perfection, that place of establishment, that place of strength, and settlement.
So, He doesn't take us through the Purifying fire to punish us. It is not God, if He's not going to bring you out to reach fulfillment. It is not God, if you are not coming out perfect. It is not God, if you're not coming out established. It is not God, if you are not coming out strengthened. It is not God, if you are not settled; because He's not a man that will lie, nor the son of man that He will repent.
Hebrews chapter 10:16, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds, I will write them.” Today, scientists are using laser to write; God is the Father of it. Because, how can something be written in the heart of a man and the person does not go through surgery? No open-heart surgery; that means there is a kind of fire that God uses, that bypasses human limitation, and writes laws, in the hearts of men: that's the Purifying fire. It is the kind of Kingdom surgery that writes the laws of God in the hearts of men.
He said, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds, I will write them: it is only God that can do that. And how does He do it? He does it by the Purifying fire. So, as you are going through those experiences, God is writing is laws in your heart. God is writing it in your mind. So, those experiences are not to break you. Those experiences are not to make you ask, where is God?
Apostle Paul said; let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. The only suffering permitted is the Purifying fire. The marks are not physical; the marks come as a result of the Purifying fire, where the laws of God is written on our hearts and in our mind.
The Holy Spirit is saying, God is taking you through a process to be patient and you think that the process is just going to come like that, no! He will unsettle you to settle you. He will make sure that you suffer a while, so that He will write those laws in our hearts: the Purifying fire, so that everywhere we go; we bear on us the marks of Christ. We bear within our members, the mark of Christ. How do we know that we belong to Him? We know we belong to Him because of His marks in us.
I don't know the prayer you have been praying, you want to see God. If you want to see God, He said, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. If your desire is to see God, then you will want to ask Him, Lord Purify me. If your desire is to be like that man that said, give me Scotland or I die. You want God to give you nations; ask Him to Purify you. If your desire is to carry God in your generation: that everywhere you go, they see God in you, then the prayer is; God, Purify me.
