Less = More
Prov 25:4-5
Remove the dross from the silver,
and out comes material for the silversmith;
remove the wicked from the king’s presence,
and his throne will be established through righteousness.
NIV
Isa 1:25
I will turn my hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.
NIV
The process of purifying silver:
The beautiful silver you see and the quality we all want our fine jewelry to be has an origin of a dark, dirty mine where the ore is tunneled out of the earth. When it reaches topside it is then crushed, amalgamated and smelted. Silver does not melt until it reaches 960.5 degrees Celsius. Through the melting the impurities are released and the pure silver is processed.
When we purchase an object made of silver we want it to be pure and polished. We demand quality in the silver w purchase but seldom apply the same standard to a far more important part of our life, our hearts.
The feel good society: Feel good about life and keep everything positive in the church.
God deals with us as a wise parent: Many times with a compliment and a pat on the back but other times he follows
2 Tim 4:2 2¡K. correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
The smelting removes the impurities of the silver as the correction and rebuke with patience removes the impurities of the heart.
Isa 1:25¡K"I will smelt away your dross as with lye, And will remove all your alloy.
God is taking away from us so we can be more. He is subtracting in order to add
A Look In the Mirror
Age 8: Looks at herself and sees herself as Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty.
Age 15: Looks at herself and sees herself as Cinderella/Sleeping
Beauty/Cheerleader or if she is fretting: sees fat/pimples/UGLY. (Mom I
can’t go to school looking like this!)
Age 20: Looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too/short/too tall,
too straight/too curly"- but decides she’s going anyway.
Age 30: Looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too
straight/too curly" but decides she doesn’t have time to fix it, so she goes
anyway.
Age 40: Looks at herself and sees "too fat/ too thin, too short/to tall too
straight/too curly"- but says: "At least I’m clean" and goes anyway.
Age 50: Looks at herself and sees "I am" and goes wherever she wants to.
Age 60: Looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can’t
even see themselves in the mirror anymore. Goes out and conquers the world.
Age 70: Looks at herself and sees wisdom, laughter and ability, goes out and
enjoys life.
Age 80: Doesn’t bother to look. Just puts on a purple hat and goes out to
have fun with the world.
Ill Church Growth toward revival. God often removes the impurities before he can enrich the church with more of Himself. When He turns up the heat the impurities within our own hearts come to the surface. We release part of who we are if we humble ourselves and change our heart to follow His direction. We in ourselves become less and in Him we are more.
When an individual refuses to change they often become disenchanted with that church and relocate to another or drop out of church all together. Pride will always stop spiritual growth.
In church attendance, less often will = more as God deals with the corporate church. When impurities are present in the silver it will not help to pile on more raw ore. When impurities are established, accepted behavior in a corporate church it will not help to add more people.
God tells you the truth:
To the person who is
ć Overextend financially God says reduce your indebtedness
ć Calendar busy and over scheduled God says stop scheduling so much
ć Overweight and lacks energy God says loose weight and get physically fit
ć Acquiring more to be happy God says give it all away
ć Inspiring to have more in life God says loose you life in Him.
Less = More
Oliver Wendell Holmes once attended a meeting in which he was the shortest
man present.
"Dr. Holmes," quipped a friend, "I should think you’d feel rather small
among us big fellows."
"I do," retorted Holmes.
"I feel like a dime among a lot of pennies."
God will never make a treaty with our secret pockets of sin. He will always insist that the impurities must go.
John 2:13-17
Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!"
NKJV
Jesus removed the things in the church that did not belong and then established the church has a place of prayer.
As a church body we want to be what God want us to be. He knows the way to revival. He understands the concepts of Baton Rouge and how we can make the greatest difference. He also knows what need to change in this church before we move into that spiritual level.
In every life devoted to him we must stop and ask:
Are there attitudes here that grieve the Lord?
Are there habits that need to be broken?
What are the impurities that must be removed?
Is there a desire to be more in ourselves instead of less?
What about prejudice or judgments toward others?
Has God tapped you on your heart and asked for change?
Mal 3:2-5
"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 launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and a 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.
"Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will is pleasant to the LORD, As in the days of old, As in former years. And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien--Because they do not fear Me, "Says the LORD of hosts.
NKJV
When we are humble and fear the Lord we will submit to the purifying process. When we are proud and self-sufficient we will rebel against man and God.
Ill Raising children¡K. When you notice your child is starting to pick up some ungodly actions you will investigate to understand how these aspect are being placed in the heart of your child. You will find an influence that will need to be removed of changed. The influence could be a friend, or music, or certain TV shows, or even be some member of the family. As a parent you will removed the influence and the child will protest greatly. You must subtract from your child¡¦s life in order for them to have more.
When you take the necessary action it will not make you popular. Just as we are unhappy when God starts cleansing our life by turning the heat up.
Prov 3:11-12¡KMy son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects
NKJV
God lets the bottom fall out from time to time so that our wrong reactions will surface. We see our lack of faith, hope and love.
The heat is turned up high so he can function as the refiner and skim the impurities off our life.
Why do bad thing happen to good Christian people¡K to remove the dross
Why is my life so difficult at times¡K? To skim to flecks of slag
Why has my prayer not been answered¡K to help us examine our life?
The ancient refiner knew he was finished with the silver and the heat could be turned down when he looked into the pot and could see his own reflection in the liquid sliver.
Rom 8:28-29¡KAnd we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, (even) to them that are called according to (his) purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained (to be) conformed to the image of his Son,
ASV
God will stop the refining process only when he looks into our heart and sees the reflection of His Son.
Altar to hear the Lord and come forward for refinement:
Note: I do not remember the sources of this sermon but still wish to thank the many sources who contribuited to the finial product
