Refined Through Trials: The Journey to Holiness
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. In Matthew 28, verse 20, this is Jesus' last words in this book. And he's telling the disciples to go. Make disciples of all nations. Baptize them. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then he says this. He says, Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And listen to the promise that he leaves us with. And be sure of this. I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [54:56]
2. "It's not easy. But we know that you are with us. We know that you are for us. And Lord, so I pray for your people today. And I just, I want to let you know today, people of God, that these altars are open. If you want to just come and step out, kneel before God this morning, please feel free to do that. But Lord, I pray for your people this morning, God. And I just thank you, Lord. I thank you, God, that no matter what, Lord, the fire is not meant to destroy us, Lord. It is meant to purify us. So that we can reflect you better." [57:46]
3. "What is happening? Why did I have to walk through this? But nonetheless, your will be done. Not mine. That's what Jesus said. So can we just begin to speak that? Lord, have your way. Let your will be done. Let your will be done in my life. Let it be done, Lord. Let it be done, Lord. I am not going to step out of the fire prematurely. Have your way to completion in my life, Lord. Whatever it is, whatever lesson I need to be taught, Lord God, I am open, I'm willing, Lord God. Lord, as things begin to rise to the surface in my heart and in my life, Lord, I give them to you right now. I surrender them to you right now, Lord. Whatever it is." [58:30]
4. "Pure gold cannot be tarnished no matter what atmosphere you put it in. So when you go through God's refining, His testing, you can no longer be tarnished by the world, by the atmosphere, by the world. Whatever situation you walk into, whatever situation you find yourself, whatever atmosphere you find yourself in, as you have gone through God's refining process, you can no longer be tarnished. You can no longer be affected. Those things are not going to stick to you." [32:16]
5. "We are called to be thermostats, not thermometers. Anybody could be a thermometer. Anybody can walk into a room and gauge the temperature of the room. But the authority placed in you when you begin to walk in the authority and you begin to carry His name, you begin to be an ambassador of Christ, you can walk into a room and literally change the temperature of the room because of the Holy Spirit that you are carrying inside of you." [33:57]
### Quotes for Members
1. "The refining process, what it's doing is it's separating. It's separating what is pure from that that is impure. What is holiness? Do you remember when we talked, we've been talking about holiness, right? To be holy is to be set apart. To be set apart. To be separated. So, really we can see here, in order to be holy as I am holy, this is what God says in his word, be holy as I am holy, be set apart, be separated, we have to go through the refiner's fire. It is the thing that is separating what is pure and holy in our life from that which is impure." [08:24]
2. "It's not a demon. It's just your flesh. It's your flesh. And here's the thing about that. You don't cast out the flesh. You crucify it. And we have to understand the difference. I'm not discrediting deliverance and the deliverance ministries that are really rising up now because it's necessary. I heard God said, my people need deliverance. But a lot of times, because the Bible is very clear about it, Jesus talks all the time about it. It's the flesh that we have to crucify daily, surrender to daily. And a lot of things that we deal, deal with in our life is not the demonic. It is the flesh that we need to crucify daily. And that's a huge part of the refining process where we give God access." [45:58]
3. "The refining shows us. Have you ever been through something, right, and all of a sudden something comes out, and you're like, where did that come from? Right? Because maybe you're in a sticky, maybe you're on the road or something. You know what I'm saying. And all of a sudden something comes out of you, and you're like, whoa. But guess what? It was always in there. The refining, the testing, the trying, it has things come to the surface. So that way God is showing us, hey, here's some things. Why? Because God will never forcibly take something out of your life. He doesn't do that. He doesn't force something out of you. It's up to us to say, oh, I see it now, God. I see these things that are coming to the surface that are impurities in my heart. And Lord, I give them to you. I put them on the altar before you, God. Take it, have your way in my life." [40:59]
4. "The Israelites are really an example for us to look at God's people then for us now, okay? Now, for us, the promised land, you got to understand this, is not a destination here on earth. We never arrive. We made it. The promised land, I believe, really speaks to our hope and glory, right? It really speaks to eternal life. It really speaks to heaven. But here's the thing about that. And Jesus, he talks about this, right? He says, you're not of this world, right? And then we get that saying, we're in the world, but we're not of the world, right? And it really comes from Jesus saying that to us. Like, listen, you are not of this world. Your home and your destination in heaven is where you belong, right?" [17:21]
5. "So, walking in the will of God is just that. It's walking in promise. It's living in promise. But here's the thing. You can be walking in promise. You can be the will of God, and you're still going to go through trials. You're still going to go through testing. No matter what, it's, in fact, you will. It's not you might. You will. And just because you are being refined, and you are being tested, you're being tried, that does not mean that you are not in the will of God. In fact, oftentimes, it's right where you need to be. And it's God's love that is allowing you to go through what you're going through, because he's refining you." [18:00]
6. "The process is the testing. The process is the wilderness, the desert. The process is the refining time. And our whole life here is really that process. Your whole life on earth is that process. It never ends. Like I said, that's what sanctification is, right? It's not a destination. It's not where you just say, I have been, I'm sanctified. I'm done. The Lord's work is complete in me here. No. It is a process, right? It's a process that we continually walk through. And that's why we're saying the pursuit of holiness is what we've entitled this series. It's a pursuit. It's something is the pursuit. It's the pursuit of becoming more and more like him." [19:09]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. In Matthew 28, verse 20, this is Jesus' last words in this book. And he's telling the disciples to go. Make disciples of all nations. Baptize them. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then he says this. He says, Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And listen to the promise that he leaves us with. And be sure of this. I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [54:56]
2. "It's not easy. But we know that you are with us. We know that you are for us. And Lord, so I pray for your people today. And I just, I want to let you know today, people of God, that these altars are open. If you want to just come and step out, kneel before God this morning, please feel free to do that. But Lord, I pray for your people this morning, God. And I just thank you, Lord. I thank you, God, that no matter what, Lord, the fire is not meant to destroy us, Lord. It is meant to purify us. So that we can reflect you better." [57:46]
3. "What is happening? Why did I have to walk through this? But nonetheless, your will be done. Not mine. That's what Jesus said. So can we just begin to speak that? Lord, have your way. Let your will be done. Let your will be done in my life. Let it be done, Lord. Let it be done, Lord. I am not going to step out of the fire prematurely. Have your way to completion in my life, Lord. Whatever it is, whatever lesson I need to be taught, Lord God, I am open, I'm willing, Lord God. Lord, as things begin to rise to the surface in my heart and in my life, Lord, I give them to you right now. I surrender them to you right now, Lord. Whatever it is." [58:30]
4. "Pure gold cannot be tarnished no matter what atmosphere you put it in. So when you go through God's refining, His testing, you can no longer be tarnished by the world, by the atmosphere, by the world. Whatever situation you walk into, whatever situation you find yourself, whatever atmosphere you find yourself in, as you have gone through God's refining process, you can no longer be tarnished. You can no longer be affected. Those things are not going to stick to you." [32:16]
5. "We are called to be thermostats, not thermometers. Anybody could be a thermometer. Anybody can walk into a room and gauge the temperature of the room. But the authority placed in you when you begin to walk in the authority and you begin to carry His name, you begin to be an ambassador of Christ, you can walk into a room and literally change the temperature of the room because of the Holy Spirit that you are carrying inside of you." [33:57]
### Quotes for Members
1. "The refining process, what it's doing is it's separating. It's separating what is pure from that that is impure. What is holiness? Do you remember when we talked, we've been talking about holiness, right? To be holy is to be set apart. To be set apart. To be separated. So, really we can see here, in order to be holy as I am holy, this is what God says in his word, be holy as I am holy, be set apart, be separated, we have to go through the refiner's fire. It is the thing that is separating what is pure and holy in our life from that which is impure." [08:24]
2. "It's not a demon. It's just your flesh. It's your flesh. And here's the thing about that. You don't cast out the flesh. You crucify it. And we have to understand the difference. I'm not discrediting deliverance and the deliverance ministries that are really rising up now because it's necessary. I heard God said, my people need deliverance. But a lot of times, because the Bible is very clear about it, Jesus talks all the time about it. It's the flesh that we have to crucify daily, surrender to daily. And a lot of things that we deal, deal with in our life is not the demonic. It is the flesh that we need to crucify daily. And that's a huge part of the refining process where we give God access." [45:58]
3. "The refining shows us. Have you ever been through something, right, and all of a sudden something comes out, and you're like, where did that come from? Right? Because maybe you're in a sticky, maybe you're on the road or something. You know what I'm saying. And all of a sudden something comes out of you, and you're like, whoa. But guess what? It was always in there. The refining, the testing, the trying, it has things come to the surface. So that way God is showing us, hey, here's some things. Why? Because God will never forcibly take something out of your life. He doesn't do that. He doesn't force something out of you. It's up to us to say, oh, I see it now, God. I see these things that are coming to the surface that are impurities in my heart. And Lord, I give them to you. I put them on the altar before you, God. Take it, have your way in my life." [40:59]
4. "The Israelites are really an example for us to look at God's people then for us now, okay? Now, for us, the promised land, you got to understand this, is not a destination here on earth. We never arrive. We made it. The promised land, I believe, really speaks to our hope and glory, right? It really speaks to eternal life. It really speaks to heaven. But here's the thing about that. And Jesus, he talks about this, right? He says, you're not of this world, right? And then we get that saying, we're in the world, but we're not of the world, right? And it really comes from Jesus saying that to us. Like, listen, you are not of this world. Your home and your destination in heaven is where you belong, right?" [17:21]
5. "So, walking in the will of God is just that. It's walking in promise. It's living in promise. But here's the thing. You can be walking in promise. You can be the will of God, and you're still going to go through trials. You're still going to go through testing. No matter what, it's, in fact, you will. It's not you might. You will. And just because you are being refined, and you are being tested, you're being tried, that does not mean that you are not in the will of God. In fact, oftentimes, it's right where you need to be. And it's God's love that is allowing you to go through what you're going through, because he's refining you." [18:00]
6. "The process is the testing. The process is the wilderness, the desert. The process is the refining time. And our whole life here is really that process. Your whole life on earth is that process. It never ends. Like I said, that's what sanctification is, right? It's not a destination. It's not where you just say, I have been, I'm sanctified. I'm done. The Lord's work is complete in me here. No. It is a process, right? It's a process that we continually walk through. And that's why we're saying the pursuit of holiness is what we've entitled this series. It's a pursuit. It's something is the pursuit. It's the pursuit of becoming more and more like him." [19:09]
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