SANDPAPER CHRISTIANS
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. When President Cleveland's second child was born, the doctor asked Cleveland for a scale to determine the baby’s weight. Cleveland searched through the house without success.
2. Finally, he remembered that he had an old scale in the basement that he had always used on his fishing trips. He got it and brought it upstairs.
3. Carefully, the doctor placed the infant on the scale and was amazed to learn that the newborn weighed 25 pounds!
B. TEXTS
1. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it”(Heb. 12:11). “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”(James 1:2-4).
2. “But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them as gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring Him offerings in righteousness.” Malachi 3:2-3.
C. THESIS
1. God's working in our lives is a risky business. The same forces that can shape our lives for good, if perceived wrongly, can also shape them destructively. So it is important to learn God's methods for perfecting us, the instruments he uses, the tools that can be misunderstood, and learn the perspective that can cause us to always walk in victory.
2. Title: Sandpaper Christians.
I. GOD’S PERFECTING WORK
A. AS REFINER
1. This is spoken of as one of the results of the coming of the Lord: he would test and try all things, destroy the false and the evil, and make those pure whom he permitted to remain. Wake Up! The Refiner has come! The Lord Jesus, when he came, sat as a Refiner, and tried His generation; His ministry tried their religion, their sincerity, and those who claimed to be followers of God, and He revealed the hollowness & hypocrisy of that day.
Since then, His gospel and his Spirit, his teaching, and the very fact of his existence have been a test, a trial, a standard of weights and measures among men. All things and al people are on trial.
2. If you watch the news, there always seems to be a crisis in the world somewhere. There is always a crisis because the Lord is sitting as a Refiner. All the leaders, the governments, the institutions, are being thrust into the furnace, and nothing ungodly will withstand the flame. Everything will be purified and refined; but all that is ungodly shall be dissolved away as dross.
3. When the Lord comes the second time, the trial will be still more intense. The Prophet warns, “Who shall abide the day of his coming? Who shall stand when He appears?”
4. So realize that whenever Jesus Christ draws near to You,
He comes in mercy to purify you – to drive all evil. Don’t be surprised, as Peter said, at your “fiery trials.” The greatest thing that God can do for us is to purify us into his own glorious holiness. Because Christ loved the church, “He gave himself for it, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” by the washing of water through the Word. This demonstrates the perfect love of Christ: whenever He comes into a person’s life, He comes as a Refiner.
5. If you are seeking the Lord at this time, I want you to understand what it means: you are seeking a fire which will test you, and consume a lot of what has been dear to you. We shouldn’t expect Christ to come and save us in our sins, he will come and save us from our sins. Remember, the Angel said, “They shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.”
6. As Hebrews said, Discipline (by parents) is often unpleasant. Solomon said, “Let not thy soul spare for his crying.” Our wise Father, when He is purifying us, must keep at it, even if it’s painful. What if the metal that is put into the furnace could talk, it might say, “Ow! Take me out; the fire is too hot; I can’t stand this! I am dissolving; I am melting; take me out.” Would the refiner pay attention to the cries of the metal? Oh, no! The refiner sits still. He knows what he is doing; He’s not hurting the silver, but doing it lasting service. He is not putting it through a needless process. He is taking the shortest way to a perfect end.
B. AS POLISHER
1. The Prophet Malachi takes up a different metaphor in Mal. 3:17; “And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him.” We are God's jewels; God adorns himself with us. God brings glory to himself by what he's able to do with us. Diamonds were once lumps of carbon & worthless, but put under great pressure and heat, the carbon became extremely valuable -- it formed diamonds. This is undoubtedly true of all gemstones.
2. But when found, they are still rough, uncut, unpolished. So they are put through a process of cutting/polishing, until after much time and grinding, they are ready to adorn a ring, a necklace, etc. Several common techniques are used in lapidary work: sawing, grinding, sanding, lapping, polishing, drilling, tumbling. If stones are put in a tumbler, they are tossed and grinded 24 hours a day for 10 days. When you open the barrel, the rocks, slurry and pellets will look like a funny tapioca, but once removed and washed, the polished beauty of the stones is clear, and all the trouble of the process is worth it.
II. THE INSTRUMENTS GOD USES
A. SITUATIONS & PEOPLE AROUND US
1. God has predestined our family members, our jobs, our circumstances, our troubles, afflictions, children, challenges, etc. to be the means of the polishing and cutting that perfects us into the Jewels that God wants us to become.
2. You must not run from your problems or try to throw off the yoke that God places on you, or kick against the pricks. We are to endure our trials, they make us stronger and perfect our character. It is our character that God is polishing, in order that we may grow into the full stature of Christ. Don't try to get rid of God's chisel or he will have to get a bigger chisel.
B. OUR FAMILY MEMBERS
1. Now, we expect that the world is going to be used to grind us, to test us and try our patience. It's harder to take it from family members. When we’re younger, our parents aggravate us. Later, our husbands or wives may take on that function. Later still, our kids put us to the test.
2. Many of life’s greatest lessons come at the hands of our children; in fact, we can learn a lot from them. For example: · Patrick, age 10, said, “Never trust a dog to watch your food.” · Michael, 14, said, “When your dad is mad and asks you, "Do I look stupid?" don’t answer him.” · Michael, wise man that he was, also said, “Never tell your mom her diet’s not working.” · Randy, 9 years of age said, “Stay away from prunes;” One wonders how he discovered that bit of wisdom. · Kyoyo, age 9, said, “Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time.” · Naomi, 15 said, “If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse.” · Lauren, age 9 said, “Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick.” · Joel, 10 years old, said, “Don’t pick on your sister when she’s holding a baseball bat.” and · Eileen, age 8 said, “Never try to baptize a cat.”
3. "As iron sharpens iron, so one spouse sharpens another"(Prov. 27:17) The process of perfecting can be painful. Don't divorce: endure God's perfection in your marriage. How will you ever be perfected if you climb off the operating table? Or if you climb out of the tumbler?
III. UNEXPECTED TOOLS, THAT CAN OFFEND
A. SANDPAPER IN THE CHURCH
1. An area where people are often offended over God's chisels or sand paper, is in the area of the church. Notice the parable of the weeds and wheat; both are in the church (God's field).
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' " 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn' "(Matt. 13:29-30).
2. I want you to notice several facts about people who attend church:
a. Christians are not perfect, just forgiven.
b. Christians are at different stages of development/perfecting.
c. Obviously, not everyone who attends church is a Christian. ("God has put all of the members in the body just as he determined.")
3. Do you think that God is big enough that he knows who to put in what church to perfect the saints that are there? Yes.
4. So there are in every Church Body “Sandpaper Christians” to perfect us.
B. OFFENDED BY CHRISTIAN SANDPAPER
1. Now this is an area of offense to many, because we expect to get better treatment from Christians than from people in the world. However, be aware that God said, "Let the two grow together until the harvest."
2. This means (and we are not being judges of who is and who is not a Christian) that we should expect there to be worldly-acting people in the church, and a). Not be surprised, b). Don't follow their example because they may be Weeds, and you don't want to be classified as a weed, and c). They may just be sandpaper Christians, -- immature, rude, novices, selfish people who might do or say things that aren't according to the Spirit of Christ.
3. And I am not saying it's okay to act that way; it's wrong!
C. RESPONDING TO SANDPAPER CHRISTIANS
1. Should you leave the church because there is a "Sister Sandpaper?" No!
a. You should pray for them.
b. If necessary, go to the pastor.
c. Never argue with a sandpaper Christian, or they will rub on you harder.
2. But understand that such types will always be in the church and in eternity, you who are mature will see that God allowed it for your perfecting.
3. "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." The Spirit of God in you is stronger than the selfish, immature spirit in them, so do not let them trouble you.
4. Instead, use it as an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus, for Jesus came for the ungrateful and the wicked and he gave his life for us.
5. Do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good(Rom. 12:17,21). There is no greater power in the world than love, for with it Jesus overcame all the hate and sin the world has ever devised. Love -- as children of God, for that is what you are. Don't be offended by sandpaper Christians; be mature and love them in spite of themselves.
D. REWARDS FOR BEING JOYFULLY BUFFETED
1. Daniel said that once the Righteous pass through their trials, that they will be good reflectors of God’s glory; “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever”(Dan. 12:3). The Lord Jesus described the outcome of the sifted wheat; “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear”(Mt. 13:43).
2. The result is, that the righteous become so pure (not by our own power, but by simple yielding), that we are like a diamonds, filled with the light of God’s glory; like Moses’ face on Sinai, we shine with His glory! And God shall place us as jewels in His crown, Trophies of Grace, to the glory of His Splendor!
IV. POWER OF YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST
A. HELPS YOU RISE ABOVE YOUR PROBLEMS
1. God has a great plan for you! You have unique gifts, talents, and abilities.
2. As a Child of God, you have power within you to overcome the world. “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Put your faith to work; declare the Word of God. Declare – by His stripes you are healed! Declare – perfect love casts out all fear! Declare – My god shall supply all my needs! Declare – I shall overcome the world.
3. Expect God’s best. Live with faith and expectancy.
B. HELPS YOU ACHIEVE GOD’S GOALS
1. YOU HAVE RESOURCES NORMAL PEOPLE DON’T HAVE! – God, Holy Spirit, angels, new nature, destiny, divine appointments, insight….
2. So YOU CAN DO THINGS NORMAL PEOPLE CAN’T DO!
3. Do you have a vision for victory in your life? Live at the divine level God has called you to live at.
C. YOUR IDENTITY WILL SHAPE YOUR LIFESTYLE
1. Your identity ought to determine what music you listen to, what books you read, what TV shows you watch, etc.
2. Your identity should determine your priorities, who you date, who you ultimately marry, etc.
3. Is what you’re doing moving you toward your God-given destiny?
4. If you’re a PEASANT, act like one. If you’re of ROYAL BLOOD –
a. destined to fulfill a historic role in the world,
b. Nobly born, with a noble name, Then rise to ACT LIKE IT! BE WHAT YOU ARE!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher entered Plymouth Church one Sunday to preach, and as the great orator placed his Bible on the pulpit he noticed a blank sheet of paper with the word "fool" written on it. Having a great sense of humor, he lifted the paper for all to see. Then his booming voice filled the church as he announced, "I have known many an instance of a man writing a letter and forgetting to sign his name, but this is the only instance I have ever known of a man signing his name and forgetting to write the letter."
2. Abraham Lincoln understood what it was like to face criticism. He is quoted as saying, "If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end."
B. ALTAR CALL
1. Don’t let people’s criticism slow you down. Turn it over to God and keep working for Jesus!
2. PRAYER
