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In continued heart of prayer. I have a thought on my mind. I don't know how uh long I'll dwell on it. Uh but I'm praying that the Lord will guide uh me and us together in this. Um it is uh I don't know how else to put it, but the thought that that if I had to put a singular term to it, um not that I have to, but if I had to, um it would be godly fire or the fire of God. And that's uh uh something that we've actually talked about of late in in the house there uh concerning the nature of fire. And maybe I'll start there. Naturally speaking, um and I believe this is a gift of God, is that God gave um God gave the ability for fire. And I don't want to dwell on that because that's not my my singular focus, but in a natural sense, uh fire has certain elements to it, uh both both in its composition, how it works, but also what it does. Um in a sense, uh there there's there are some things that natural fire requires. It needs oxygen, it needs fuel, and it needs heat. But without any of those, without those three, you don't, or spark of energy. You don't have, if you don't, without that, you cannot have fire. But with those three, you can generate fire, which produces more heat and light. But it goes beyond that because when when given to when with with the capacity that God gave man and with that ability in in nature, uh it is used for things. Um there's one aspect in particular that I'm gonna draw on that that natural fire is used for, is that it is used to purge and to refine. Um now it's used to cook, uh, and by the way, I don't want to I don't want to disregard this because I think there is a spiritual element in this as well, but there's something comforting about fire. There's something comforting about the light and heat that it gives off. Now, I want to just set that over to the side, and if we get back to it, I'll refer to that. But I want to dwell a little bit on the refining and the purging aspect of fire. In the Old Testament, there's uh you could go to a couple of different occasions. I won't take the time to go and read every scripture, uh, but there is we can go to find out about the refiners' fire. Uh how that, uh, if you're familiar with the practice, it is still done to this day. Uh, you may have silver or gold. And in order to ref to purify it, because uh, as you uh mine it, as you acquire it, it may have impurities in it. Um the coins that we have are have impurities put into it on purpose, uh, because the the more uh the more uh valuable metals in it, they you don't want to put too much of it in there for whatever reason. And so they in order to uh to make it uh less valuable, they put impurities into it, or they mix it with other metals. So, in order to purify it, in order to get to get what is not desired out of it, uh you bring the uh metal, the silver or the gold in my picture, or usually in the examples of the scripture, uh, to the refiner's fire. The refiner uh takes it, puts it into a vessel, uh uses the heat from the flame to build up enough heat to melt the metal. And then what the practice is is that you separate, usually either at the top or at the bottom, usually at the top, the impurities will rise, and then you scrape off the impurities off the top until, and here's the example that's often used in the scripture, is that the the refiner can look into the silver or the gold and see their own reflection like a mirror. At that point, you know you have purified the gold. You have purified the silver. And I want to I want to draw on that example because there's something that the Lord uses uh in that example to draw out with us. Uh but I want to uh I want to uh talk first about a little bit about the nature of the fire of God as opposed to the fire of nature. Uh the fire of nature is something that God put into nature, that gave man the ability to start it up, to put it out, or whatever. Uh but the fire of God is very different. In fact, uh what I just told you about natural fire is illustrated in contrast to God by one of the first examples we see of God using fire, and that is the fiery bush. When God talked to Moses, when God, the angel of the Lord, appeared to Moses in that burning bush, uh here's the thing: it was on fire, but it was not being consumed. There was something different about that fire. It did not require natural fuel, it didn't require natural heat, it didn't require oxygen for that matter. Because that fire was not burning by the nature that God put into creation. It was God Himself that was in that fire. So I want to draw some attention to the fact that when God uses fire, there's there's an aspect that has escaped my attention very often, is that very often in the scripture, fire is never fire, when it comes to the fire of God, is never portrayed in a bad way. It is never something that is to be uh to be looked down on. Now, it can come with judgment. We can see in the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, the fire of God coming down, possibly through the use of natural means, but regardless, it was God's judgment. For the same purpose or the same a category as what fire does in nature is that it consumes as it burns. It consumes and puts away that which is worthy to be burned. It consumes and puts away that which is worthy to be consumed. In fact, uh the apostle Paul in Hebrews, and I'll just uh uh turn to this real quick in the way of uh going to a scripture, in Hebrews chapter 12, uh that chapter, by the way, um follows uh in following chapter 11 and in that uh uh uh in that uh uh what you want to call the uh the roll call of faith, uh and and those that were uh uh uh identified in the Old Testament as uh those who walk by faith and not by sight, and bringing it down to uh the present day, uh at least in the days of the Apostle Paul, and down to us that we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witness that we ought to walk with patience, this the race that's set before us. That's how chapter 12 starts. Uh but then he goes into something uh regarding uh uh the mountain uh uh of God, or the mountain of the law, uh uh Mount uh Sinai, uh the the law that the uh excuse me, the mountain that the law of God was given on, in which it was a fearful thing. It was something that was not uh it was not enjoyable. Uh the entire occasion was a fearful uh occasion for the entire uh uh uh nation of Israel. Uh because when God spoke, he spoke uh not not out of gentleness, but out of power and of authority. Now here's the thing: there was nothing wrong with that. There was nothing bad with that, uh, but there was something fearful in that. And it's because when confronted by uh the voice of God, when confronted by the law of God, it caused fa it caused fear and trembling. Not because there was anything bad with the law, not because there was anything bad with God, it's because there's something bad with us. It's because in comparison, we're the fuel, so to speak. We're that which is worthy to be consumed. When met with the fire of God, what we would what we would have to come to the conclusion of is that we're what is worthy to be consumed by his wrath and by his judgment. And that's what was fearful about Mount Sinai, is that the law of God, and just the law of God, only the law of God, sets us against God. Because we are against God by nature, by practice, in our minds, in our hearts, in the deeds of our hands, where we where our feet takes us sometimes, uh uh and whether it's uh uh outwardly shown or as Christ Himself said, even if it's just in the thoughts and the intents of the heart, uh we are against God by nature and by practice. And therefore, if it is only by God, by law, and if it's only by justice, uh uh there is only fear to be had. But that was not what the law only taught. The law did not just simply say, you're worthy of condemnation, period. The law taught you're worthy of condemnation. God knows this, and he's made a way. He's made a path. But it's not something you can do, it is something he will do. And it's something he has done by the time the Apostle Paul writes these words. And so when in Hebrews chapter 12, starting in verse 18, for ye are not come unto the mount which might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and temptus. Because that fire was a fire that was uh that was full of the judgment against us. It says, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they heard, entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. In other words, when they heard it, they said, Please ask God to not talk to us anymore. That's when they sent Moses up there to be their intercessor, which, by the way, was a type and picture of Christ. For they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with the dart. That was the severity of the law on display with Mount Sinai. But ye are come unto Mountain Zion. Now, this was something that was that was portrayed in the Old Testament. In fact, there are elements of this already, even in the worship of the law. The fact that there was a tabernacle, and then later a temple, in which uh in which the people of God could come and approach unto God. Now, they weren't suffered to approach as a people, they were only suffered to approach through the high priest. Uh, but there was a there was a picture there. There was a picture that there was access to God. There was access to God through one. And through that one, the people would be heard, they would be covered, they would be, uh, they would be healed, they would be purged, they would be cleansed, they would be made whole. And so through that one, there was uh through the picture of this one, there was hope given in the law. But when the apostle Paul is writing this, it's not through types of pictures anymore. It's not through the type the hope that there would be a high priest to come uh that would that would uh offer up sin and purge us from our sin through the uh before the eyes of God. Uh it's already happened at the time that Apostle Paul is writing this. You are not looking for a day to come unto Mount Zion. You are in the day that you can come to Mount Zion, not uh not through a singular intercessor anymore. Uh there's a reason why the scripture says ye have been made priests and kings unto God. You have been made worthy. And uh the child of God, uh, even in the Old Testament, was always worthy. The same worthiness was there. But in the worship of God, it is now made manifest in the church of the living God that you have the blessed right to go directly to God because uh there should be no fear of Sinai anymore. There should be no fear of that burning fire anymore. Why? Because you have already been purged by the fire of God. You have already been refined by the fire of God now. There's another refining I want to get to in just a minute. Uh but but before the sight of God, before uh before his throne, before his judgment, you are already pure and silver refined in the refiner's fire. He has already looked into you and see his face. Because when he looks at you, he sees Jesus Christ. When he looks at you, you have the imputed righteousness glow uh shining back in the very uh eyes of God. When he sees you, he already sees Christ. You are already made pure because of the work of the high priest. Therefore, uh the apostle Paul can say, but ye are coming to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable comfort of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to the God, the and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Now, knowing that you have been purged by the work of Christ of all sin is one thing. But we're not yet as we shall be. As the apostle John says. You don't have to wait. There is not a waiting period to be able to lay claim to the fact that you are a child of God. That's not going to happen, that has happened. And we could go into the role of regeneration, but for the sake of the time, and we're not going to go back, we're not going to step over there. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. Now, God, if we go back to Romans 8, he already sees us as glorified. He already sees us in the work of Christ. That is done as far as God is concerned. We're on the side of time that we have not yet seen it come to pass with our own eyes. And that's what John is referring to. We are the sons of God now, and it doth not yet appear. We don't see it yet. We see impurities. We see the corruption. We see the flesh. We see and live in this world that is full of the things that are worthy to be consumed by the wrath of God. Both in us and in the world. Now, when I say in us, it's not because there's judgment against us for it, but we still see the effects of sin in our life. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So there's coming that day in which not only he will see his reflection in us, but we also will see his reflection. We will see him and know him as he is, and also be known with each other as he is right now. So that will be a time that we all will all, in my way of thinking, will all catch up to where Christ already is, already understanding how we are, but we're not there yet. And since we're not there yet, going back to the words of the Apostle Paul in Hebrews chapter 12, the whole reason the Apostle Paul is writing the letter to the Hebrews is because they have a problem. They're Jewish believers who left, or not left, but understood graduated to use that term from Judaism because what was the law? It was the schoolmaster to bring you to Christ. When you were brought to the point, when you've completed the degree, guess what? You get to be graduated. You get to move on. That's what that's what the church is. It is it is that part after the schoolmaster that brings you to Christ, and now you get to be in the understanding of Christ from that point forward. Well, these the these Jewish believers had accomplished had come to that point. They saw Christ for who he is, they understood that he is uh the fulfillment of the law, and they they worshiped him. And then problems started. Because guess what? Everyone here older than me knows this. And I'm pretty sure everyone here younger than me knows this, but I can guarantee you you know it more the older you get. Is that your problems do not end with understanding who you are in Christ. In fact, there's an aspect of it in which it only becomes more clear. I won't say it gets worse, but it becomes more clear. Because we're not there yet. We're here. And it's not a mistake of God, because you see, he will wait for the former and the latter reign. There's a scripture that refers to that. But basically he's saying he's gonna wait till every one of his is born, both naturally, or at least if not born naturally, but born spiritually, in this world before he wraps up the entire work. He will not cut it short for the sake of one, he will not lose one of his. He will wait until they're all accounted for. Until that day comes, we deal we have to deal with this world. But we don't have to deal with it absent of knowing who we are. And that's the beauty of the the truth of God. Now, here's the Apostle Paul talking to the Hebrews, and when they ran into these problems, guess what they decided? A lot of these decided, you know what? I am I am I'm getting it from my family, I'm getting it from my community, uh, they're they're haranguing me, they're they're assaulting me, uh, they're cutting me out of wills. This is this is not what I signed up for. I'm just gonna go back to to the to Jewish law. I'm just gonna, uh I know what I believe. That's okay, right? I'm just gonna go back and just pretend like that never happened. And then everything will be okay. And the apostle Paul is saying, I got news for you. There's a consequence. There are consequences to having known the truth and then laying it aside. In fact, there's an aspect in which it's better to have not known the truth, and I'm not saying it's a good thing to not know the truth, but it is better to have not known the truth at all than to know it and to refuse it. And I'm not saying that. It is far better, it is far better to know the truth, period. But if you're gonna know the truth of God, and then look him in the face and say, I'd rather not. No, thank you. Um I've got other things to do. That is not where you want to be. And that's where the apostle Paul grants is not writing the church or the the uh the uh Jewish believers in the book of Hebrews in order to uh in order to just give them a history lesson. He is trying to reinforce them, he's trying to encourage them to press on. Because using the examples of those that walked by faith before, using the example of the demonstration that Christ is superior in every aspect concerning uh everything he does when compared to the law. And so he says, so that ye refuse not him that speaketh, or see, this is verse 25 of Hebrews 12, see that you refuse him not that speaketh. For if they escaped not, who refused him that spake on earth. Now, this is the situation, this is why, this is why this is the seriousness. Now, is it true that John said, Now are we the sons of God? For every child of God, that is true. There is no changing that. There is no changing. No undoing the adoption of God through the through the work of Christ. There's no changing that. Have you ever been a disobedient child? I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands because I would expect everyone's hands to be raised at this point. Every single one of us has been a child disobedient to the will of our parents. Every single one of us. Now, the manner of that correction may have varied very widely. And it may have been more serious for some of us rather than others. But that correction only comes because you are a child. If you were not a child, one, you can't be disobedient to someone who has no authority over you. And two, if they did not care, they would not correct. Here, the example that the apostle gives concerns the correction of children. Now, that's further back. If you go back through 7 through 12, you'll see that the chastening rod of God. He's writing to the Jewish believers not because there is danger of them losing their relationship as child of God before God. Not being at home, not being uh with the father, not being where the wealth, where the where the comfort, where the joy of being with the father is. And I'm not talking about at all the natural wealth or the natural comfort of this world. There is great wealth and there is great comfort in the house of God for the child of God. Because we are in a corrupt world, because we are in a fallen world, because there's something in us that is of pure gold, as it were. It is of the nature of God, but we are surrounded by impurities. We are surrounded by corruption, and we have to deal with that every day. There is a place, Mount Zion, to go to. What was it that happened? If for no other reason, if you've ever seen the movie, that that that movie that has Charlton Heston in it about Moses in the Exodus, even that got this a little right. What happens when Moses comes down from Sinai? What is going on among the people of God? They have broken every law before within 40 days. So let us not get so high and mighty. It's not because the Israelites and the Jews were just such bad people that they couldn't even last 40 days. Because we would be right there with them by nature. By our human nature, it draws us away every day. And so they and what happened to some of them? There were thousands that fell that day. Did that stop them become children of God because they were, they they met judgment? No. But guess what? In that day, they lost something very precious. They lost. They lost their peace with God when they should have been rejoicing in their peace with God. It amazes me, and it's a parallel with the church today. God brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand so that he could basically, and this is my own way of putting it, hold them up with his hand to show all the world. Look at my people. This is who I am, because they show who I am by how they believe. And before 40 days was, they were acting just like everybody else. What was he going to show everybody as he held up Israel? People writing a false God that they were worshiping, saying, This be the God that brought us out of Egypt. Guess what? That is in parallel. That is why the church is in this world. That's one reason, one reason only, but one reason why this church is in this world is to be the visible picture for the other children of God in this world. This is where the people of God are found. We can go through all the declarations of what makes the church the church. One of the main signs, one of the one of the fundamental signs is the love of God that's found in it. But here the the Apostle Paul is saying, don't refuse the words of God that are given to you. You are not called to obey because it's something grievous. It's not something that was uh given to you in order to be a burden. This is this is a glory, this is him saying, look at my beautiful people, and you're one of them. You are one of the people that God says, look at them. Look at what is among them. Look at the love that is shed abroad in their hearts, look at their trust and reliance on me. This is as it should be, and that's what the church is being lifted, is lifted up as, as a light unto the world. Because what was one of the things that fire gives off? It is light, and there is a light in you that is burning by the very fire of God. Uh that He is the light of the world, and that light is in you. Uh it is not something you created, it is not something you sparked up on your own, it is not something you can uh inflame on your own. But again, uh I do know this: there is a fire in you that ought to be seen and uh and uh and declared in the in the the manifest works of God in you. And that's what the apostle Paul is saying. See that you refuse not him that speaketh, for if they escape not, who refused him, uh not who refused him that spake on earth, that is Moses and the things that happened in those days, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. In other words, if that was serious that day, how much more serious is it that we pay attention and listen to the words of the Almighty God who speaks to us, He who gave us the very words through the Word of God Himself, his mouth speaking on this planet, saying it is finished, and that the work of redemption is complete, and that our trust is to be in him, our comfort is to be in him, our guidance, our direction is to come from him. He is the head of the church. And I I'll say this much. I'm about this, I'm this far away from just being done with politics completely. I don't want to hear about any political party. I don't care. I don't worship the Democrats, I don't worship the Republicans, I don't worship a governor, I don't worship a president. My king is in heaven, and he's the one that owns me, and I worship him, and I look to him for my guidance and my direction. If you have to ask any man to go left or right in this world, you're talking to the wrong people. Go to God. Period. Seek his counsel and go with what is right in his eyes. Now, that was for free. Whose voice then shook the earth? But now hath he promised, he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shall not, I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. Now there is going to come a day. I believe there's an aspect of this already fulfilled. There's a shaking and a darkness and a covering that was prophesied by the law that was accomplished in the very days of Peter, in which he said that this is the day that was spoken of by Jeremy the prophet. The blood turning red. And it was the fulfillment of the law of God. In other words, that those things that the law of God were portraying and we're prophesying and being types and shadows of, they're done. They are completed in Christ. Fulfilled. We can learn a lot from them, and we ought to learn from them, but we don't look for them to happen anymore because they're done. But there is something yet to be done. There is a work that's going to be done, and we look forward to it. Now, uh we we don't, we should never rise up one day in dread, thinking, oh, today may be the end of the world. What we ought to think is rise up every morning in anticipation and hope. Saying, you know what? Today may just be the end of the world. Now, if you start saying that, you know, you're gonna sound crazy to some people. I have. I've said that to some people, and I have sounded crazy to them. Guess what? We don't have to worry about the end of the world because it's not gonna happen until God so chooses for it to happen. And guess what? When that time comes, it's done. You're not gonna stop it anyway. And when it happens, what is gonna happen with it? The return of Christ Himself. When that trump sounds, I don't know what it's gonna sound like, I don't know, uh, I don't know how loud it's gonna be, I'm pretty sure you're not gonna have to be convinced what it is. And I'm pretty sure even if you're deaf and cannot hear a word, you're gonna feel it. Because when he shouts, you will hear. And you will answer. And I have no doubt in my mind, I can't, I will say this, I cannot prove this beyond the shadow of a doubt by going to a scripture. But I have no doubt in my heart what it will be that he's shouting when he calls when he calls out. Because when you come to some scriptures, when you see the husband and the bride, he's going to be calling her home. He's gonna be shouting out, come home, come forward. Very much like he did with Lazarus when we said to Lazarus, he didn't just say, Lazarus, come alive. He said, Lazarus, come forth. He called Lazarus out of where he was. He's only calling us out of where we are. And this word yet once more signifying the removing of those things that are shaken. There's that time, there's a promise of the whole creation being shaken and removed from the way it is right now. That those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Now, this starts getting to a point I want to close on or start to close on. That those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Now, in this in this metaphor of the universe, of the creation of God being shaken and be basically shaken apart, he said there's some things that can't be shaken. There's some things that's not going to disappear. But guess what it's going to be? It's going to be those things that God established that are eternal. You know what one thing that will be that cannot be shaken? The church of God. When the earth shakes in that last day, it's not going to be the destruction of the church. It will be the final deliverance of the church. Because what does the Christ Himself say? On this rock, and it's not Peter that that's that rock. Peter is a stone, but that's the rock of Jesus Christ and the revelation by God the Father that he is the Christ. And that comes only to the living child of God. Upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It is built by God. And there's the aspect, there's a principle here. If I want to let me come back to it. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be removed. That's what I just said, the kingdom of God. Let us have grace. That's not mean go find grace. It means let us use the grace that God is giving us. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. Now, if you read that and you read about, let us serve God with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire, you might, and you would be justified in thinking, you might think and be justified in thinking that that's a warning. And it may be couched in a warning. In fact, there's an aspect in which it is a warning. But it is not a warning only. It is also an encouragement. Now let me ask you this. Do any of you have something in your life that you wish was not there? I saw one head nod, and I'm not gonna ask for any examples. If we're honest with ourselves and we start producing the list of who we are and who we want to be, we're gonna find things that we're we can improve. But we're also gonna find things that we wish were not there. Do you know that this is not the Apostle Paul saying, Boy, you better watch out. If you're not good with God, he's gonna burn you up. That is not what this is saying. But what he is saying is, guess what? He will purge. And it will hurt if there's so much in us that there's a lot to purge. In fact, the more, the longer that list is of what you don't want in your life, the more it hurts when it is removed. I'm not saying it's a bad pain. Sometimes that's is that is the pain you need in your life. I'll use the example of the prodigal son. The prodigal son found himself in a dire situation. He was penniless, spent all of his inheritance in riotous living, had no friends, because they were fair weather friends. As soon as he didn't have the money to spend, he didn't have friends to talk to. He was penniless, he was starving, he was working as a Jew in a swine pit. If you want to put yourself in probably the worst possible job you could have, he had it. And he was eating the stuff that he was feeding to the swine. That was not pleasant when he came to himself, and I wonder how that happened, I think there was he had a lot of help coming to himself. He had to abandon everything. Did he really have anything to abandon? No. What was he giving up by getting up out of that swine pit and going to back to his father's house? Was he actually losing anything? No. He was gaining everything. But guess what? To a person who is in that situation for whatever reason, because of our nature, it's the hardest thing in the world to simply get up and get out of the situation we're in when it's the worst situation we're in. Why? Because we have to admit we're wrong and we have to admit there's something better. And there's part of us that does not like to do that. It takes, there's a certain amount of pain in that. There's a certain amount of purging that is required for that to happen. And what Paul is saying here is not as not as that fearful thing, well, you know, just watch out for God, he'll burn you up. But it's like that which is in you that is pure. Why? He just finished saying something about a nature of the kingdom of God, a nature of this kingdom of God that cannot be removed. You realize the nature of God in you is never burnt away by the purging. It is only made better. You will never lose that that is good in you by the purging of God. See, our problem is that we like to mask it over. We like to, uh, like an old, if you've ever dealt with a hurricane lamp before, uh you you if you use it often enough, it builds up a soot on the inside. Guess what you gotta do? You gotta go in and clear out that soot. Does that soot change anything about the amount of light that the fire is giving off inside? Not a bit, but it but but it does mask it. And that's the that's our issue with uh the light of God in us, and the nature of God in us is that the impurities are built up to cover that which is inside us, and that the purging is that which cleans it off, so that that which is pure and holy in us kind of comes out the more. And the apostle Paul is saying, guess what? God has a solution for that. And you know what that solution is? Him. He is the consuming fire, he is that which purges, he is that which puts away that which is worst in us. It is not a warning, it is an admonition. Draw nigh to him, and he'll draw nigh unto you. And guess what happens in that? The purging of the consuming fire to take away that which is the worst in us. I want to uh briefly, I'll I'll I'll I'll turn briefly uh to 1 Corinthians. There are other there are so many other examples, but uh for the sake of time, we'll we'll we'll just go straight to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Um the apostle Paul is using several metaphors with the church at Corinth. And by the way, let me let me just give the briefest of summaries. If you're not familiar with the church at Corinth, uh I would encourage you to read the letters to the church at Corinth and the book of Acts concerning uh the Apostle Paul dealing with the church at Corinth. They were a largely a Gentile church. There were some Jews among them, but there was uh very much a Gentile church, and they were in a seat of idolatry. I mean, they were in an area that was probably worse than most about idolatry being around the area and under uh under certain persecution. And when you read the church at Corinth and you truly honestly read it, you may come to the thought, why is the apostle Paul greeting them as a church when they're not behaving much like a church? Because the Apostle Paul knows they are the saints of God who have lost their way in some ways. So we could take a lot of uh admonition and just how the apostle Paul is uh is addressing the church. Called Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Sostanes, our brother, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth. He had respect to who the sheep were and who the shepherd of the sheep is. And so that's a very important thing when we read the church at Corinth, or the letters of the church at Corinth. Now, chapter three, I'm gonna pick up in verse Verse 9. He's gonna use a metaphor about building. And if you've ever had to do any building, in Texas especially, if you've ever had a house built in Texas, you're gonna know it's a matter of Time before that foundation is going to shift. Because there just isn't much stable ground, at least in many parts of Texas. Now, when you have a good foundation to build on, however, that's not where the building stops. You have to start with a good foundation. That's not where it stops. You also have to be careful what you put on it. And that's what the Apostle Paul is going to draw on as an analogy. He says, verse 9, for we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. In other words, he taught them about Christ. Christ is the foundation. That's the foundation of the church, and our understanding of Christ is our foundation in this world. I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. In other words, we're all if if we take this illustration, Paul taught Corinth. Somebody taught you along the way. Somebody somewhere taught you about Christ, taught you about the finished work, talked to you about your redemption, talked about baptism, talked about all the things that are found in the Church of the Living God. Your pastor teaches you that, I know, as often as he can. Now, in teaching that, we take that, and then we're to build on it. But we're not to just put any old thing on this foundation. If you've ever seen some buildings in this world, you wonder what did people think when they put that together? You know, one, it doesn't even look safe to live in. Two, I don't know, what were they going with? What kind of idea were they portraying when they put this building together? Well, that's what the Apostle Paul is kind of saying. It's like, you have the foundation of Christ as the rock to live on. Take care what you put on it. Now there's two categories of things that Paul is about to address, of how we build on this foundation. And there's an aspect of it that ties back to what we just read in Hebrews chapter 12. For other foundation, verse 11, can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. In other words, there is no other foundation to build on. What does Christ Himself say? If you build on any other foundation, you're going to stumble. The waves are going to come, the building's going to come to ruin. So start with the right foundation. What is the foundation? Christ. And I will just add this. It is Christ and Him crucified. It is Christ and the finished work of redemption. It is Christ and knowing that your life is held in the hand of an Almighty God and that you cannot be lost because the work of Christ says so, not because our work says so. In fact, that's our only hope, because our work, it also says we cannot undo the work of Christ, because it's laid in the work of Christ. For no other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man build on this foundation, and here are two categories with six different things: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. Now, if you've ever been around fire at all, something should leap out at you immediately. One of those categories will not burn. The other three will burn fast. That's the two categories. If you build something with burning material, your building can burn. We all know this naturally speaking. But he says that's not our only choice on how we build on this foundation with stuff that is consumable. There's also gold, silver, and precious stones. Not only are these two natures in natures of burning, they also show the two natures that we have to deal with every day. One is our adamic human nature. The wood, hey, and stubble is typical of our sinful nature. It is that which is corrupt, it is that which is worthy to be consumed by the wrath of God, just as that which was fearful before the very uh uh the very law of God on Mount Sinai. But what about the other? That is that is uh that is typical, that is a picture of the very nature of God that is put in you. You are born not of angelic nature, you're not born of a better edemic nature, you are born of God. There is something in you that that has that nature, and what I was going to mention earlier is that you you know when you have fire, and you take a fire uh on a torch or something, you lift it from one fire, and you go over to another fire and you put that fire into that fire, you know what? You don't have two different kinds of fires anymore. You still have fire because they're of the same nature, it is the same thing. It may be it may be a different fuel, it may be a different uh uh it may even have a different color to it, but once you have one, when you move it from one to the other, all you're doing is moving something of the same nature from one place to another to join up together. And I believe there's a beautiful picture in that in the church. When we assemble together and uh our our our our uh our godly nature in us is unified in a brighter way, a city that is set on a hill that cannot be hid, so to speak. Uh but uh uh to to draw it back to this. When uh when you are when you uh build upon uh that uh that foundation of Christ with the nature that God has given you of uh what is the fruit of the spirit? Uh there are many analogies used in the scripture to to bring these pictures together. Uh, but another analogy is the fact that you are like a tree or a vine, and there is the fruit of the spirit in you. And that what is the fruit of the spirit, or what are the the gold, silver, and precious stone of the spirit of God in you? Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. These things are the the the and it's not just limited to those, but those are the the precious stones. Those are the the silver and the gold when you labor in love, when you labor in patience and understanding and not get so uh so caught up in self that you uh that you uh uh I'm starting to talk about myself right now. Uh that you that you uh uh that you uh uh uh walk away that you should not walk. That these things are uh are are ours to use because they are that which will not be consumed. Because what does Apostle Paul say? Every man's work shall be made manifest. In other words, it's going to be made obvious, it's gonna happen, something in life is gonna come your way, and it's gonna show you what kind of building you're building on, or what kind of building you are building on the foundation of Christ. If I'm putting a lot of my own works, if I'm putting my way, if I'm putting humanity and corruption and human thinking on the foundation of Christ, and then what happens? The fire of God comes, the consuming fire. Guess what's going to happen? 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 upon, built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. Now, does that mean God's gonna come, purge the work, put fire to the building, so to speak, find out that you've been using the proper material, and then write up a little check and say, ah, here's your reward for that. No, that's not the reward. Guess what the reward is? What you have been laboring in. The time and effort and sweat and tears that you've put in the patience and in the love and in the faith and in the hope and all of the other aspects of the Spirit of God, they are not only, they don't only remain, they're better than they were before. Because remember the illustration of the refiner? What do we live in? A world that is full of corruption, of impurities. When the consuming fire comes, guess what it consumes? The impurities from it. And so what you're left with is sight of the Spirit of God not only in you, but the understanding that has been brought out of you. That that you have honored God and you have demonstrated that you are a child of God with the very Spirit of God in you. That is a reward. That is something that is for you. It is for you to lay hold upon, to say that you have this, to understand that you are even closer to God now than you were before. In contrast, if any man's work shall if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. Because the things of the corruption of the flesh, the things of humanity, the impurities, they're not gonna last. They're not gonna hold up, they're not gonna hang around. They will be purged. And guess what's gonna happen? You won't have that to have any strength in anymore. But that is not the whole story. But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. If I only ever endeavor to heap on the foundation of Christ, and knowing that I am a child of God, knowing that God has redeemed me, and I go out and I just do whatever I want, there will come a purging. And I'm gonna lose all of it. I may not lose all the my bank account. That's not what God's talking about. What is the foundation? Christ. What are we putting on Christ? Our assurance, our trust, our hope, our confidence, everything that we know about him and us in him, and he and us, and uh, and uh the the things that we need him for, not just in the sense of eternal redemption. Uh we certainly need him for that, but we already also have that. If we now, indeed, the apostle John is right. Now are we sons. We don't have to worry about being sons. What we have to worry about is getting through this life sometimes is as not not as painless as possible, but as uh as joyful as possible to to rejoice even in the midst of tribulation, to look at what's going on around us and to know God has it in his hand, God has us in his hand. We can walk in patience, we can walk in in trust, we can walk in understanding in the work of God and not be fearful. There is no reason we should be looking at anything that goes on in this life and be trembling and worried, but we do. Why? Because we're looking at things built of wood and hay and stubble. It will be purged. And what does Paul said? Even in that, God is having mercy on you. Because you, that which is born of God in you, cannot be consumed. Why? Because it's of his nature. You will be preserved from it. It may not be painless, but it will be good for you. That's what the apostle Paul is trying to teach through the understandings of the fire of God. Now, we could go back to even the uh the apostle or the uh John the Baptist preaching to the saints there, where he talks about uh that uh I baptize you indeed with water. But that he that cometh after me shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and that he talks about that he is he's coming to purge the floor. There's a lot in that, but it's it's the same lesson is the fact that he is the purging, he is the fire, he is the removal all the way down, by the way. And I didn't mention this. You know what? I was told that this is not the best thing to do. And I'm gonna try to remember that. Uh I have a bad habit of finishing up over there. Uh that makes it harder for people that are listening or watching in. Um I didn't mention there is a there's another fire that's yet to come. Or actually, it's not yet to come. I believe it's still there. It's there and will remain there. I do believe in a burning, fiery hell. We call it hell. That very often the word hell is used in many contexts to refer to the grave or to other things. Um, but there is that final purging. By that I don't mean to give any thought that the people, the devil and his angels and those that are not gods, that are cast into the lake of fire, I don't believe they cease to exist, but it will be the final purging. It will be the final purging because that which is against God will be put away forever from him and from all of his people. That will be the final purging. But God always is a purging fire, and it's always to the benefit of the people of God, it is always to be looked on with regard to the outcome. I didn't draw, I didn't dwell a whole lot on the outcome as much as maybe I should have. But the fact that when God looks at you, I I have no doubt but that in the finished work of Christ, he sees his face in each and every one of you. How much then is it our pleasure, our confidence, our consolation, our peace, when God comes to us in here on this low ground of sin and sorrow, as it's called, and says, I saw myself in you today. I saw myself shining in you today. There are times, I know it is not as often as we as I wish it was, but I can tell you that. But there are times when God does come to you and say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Why? Because it's in you to do it. Because you have the gold, the silver, and the precious stone already in you. You don't supply that. The Apostle Paul never said that you're the one that supplies this gold, silver, and precious stone. It's there in you. But use it to build on the foundation of Christ and show the image of Christ in you. And by the way, when we I'm done. I don't want to go any further than that because I get quite sorry. One more sentence. I know that there's all we can say to sit right in the five.