Gold Tried in the Fire.....the Wayfarer 7/28/19

 Gold Tried in the Fire

7/28/19  

Revelation 3:15-22 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

¹⁶ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

¹⁷ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

²¹ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

²² He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Trial by fire has been recognized as a means of arriving at the truth by many ancient peoples and nations, giving additional drama and interest when viewed by the camera lens for various movies.

It was used by the catholic church as a means of determination of truth during the inquisition, all too often a murderous tool for the politics of the time, causing the death of many innocent, to include the famed Jean D'Arque later given sainthood by the very people who executed her. 

Here in these United states  it was the acceptable method used during the Salem witchcraft trials of such vile reknown, finally being rejected after having already having been used by those looking only to their own benefit in some capacity, political, or otherwise.

It has come to be a term describing a method of proof for whatever has been found needing to be proven.

Trial by fire is also a means of fining and refining precious substances, such as silver and gold, fire being used to burn of the dross, (impurities), that are found in those substances in their natural state when first mined.

It is only through this fining and refining that the purest of purity is reached, giving the resulting product that is  left far more value than ever held in a raw state.

The church is in the crucible daily, as the scandals of corruption and vile abomination fill the airwaves with reports demeaning the reason for its existence.

It is laid naked for all to see the hypocrisies of some, snatching away the hope of those having no realization of the reality of purpose  for which the true church exists.

It does NOT exist to line the pockets of those touting earthly riches to be had by buying a book written by someone whose own riches come from giving out false hope of those searching for those same earthly treasures of money, fame, glory of self or any other thing excluding the vast treasure of eternal life that exists beyond the grave once those treasures are left behind to decay, burned away leaving only the Truth of the life lived when standing in God's judgment.

All of the expensive suits, designer dresses and shoes that have been acquired rot in closets no longer opened by hands that are empty at that throne of judgment.

All of the fame and pride of accomplishment are held under the microscope of reality without meaning, as the only thing of importance is seen by the Creator for the vanity that it is.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

What is good and what is evil is to be judged, not by the standards of men, who defile the standards established by God, but rather than by God himself who gave His only begotten Son to clarify  just what those standards are so that men might have the possibility of resurrection to eternal Life rather than the death chosen by Eve when the lie was first given man.

Luke 8:15-18 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

¹⁶ No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

¹⁷ For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

¹⁸ Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

These words, given us by Christ himself, are NOT words of prosperity gospel but words of reminder of how worthless that prosperity gospel is when placed alongside the true rewards brought by Him, bought with His own blood.

Those buing into that prosperity gospel shall indeed find out just how blind, miserable, naked and without hope they are when the dross is separated from the gold that is being fined on that day of judgment.

Luke 3:8-10 King James Version (KJV)

⁸ Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

⁹ And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

¹⁰ And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?

WHAT SHALL WE DO THEN?

The only WAY to eternal life is through the TRUTH of Christ Jesus, through His message of redemption in return for repentance that assures the LIFE given us through the resurrection.

The gold being tried in the fire is the soul of every man, whether the message of love given by Jesus has been heard and held  in the heart of that soul with the importance given it by Him!

The rebuke given us by God, is given in love, a chance to make correction of lives lived temporarily in a temporary world so that what is left once that life is done leaves only the gold of who and what we were intended by God to be.

Without the refinement that comes through the demanded repentance, the dross will far  outweigh the gold.

The reason for hope, eternal life should be paramount to all else in the busy lives of men, as it will be once that busyness is left behind with the grave.

Despite  the falsity of the purveyors of prosperity, hope does remain, is extant for those who recognize the difference between the treasures so diligently sought by so many, and the true treasures that are found by so few despite its availability to all willing to meet the simple requirements given us by Jesus of redemption in turn for repentance.

It is in love  for all of mankind that I close this dissertation, a love that demands warning be given of consequence when the LOVE shown us by God through the sacrifice of His Son is ignored in favor of the sparkly trinkets  that would take the place of the gold available... if only the dross is allowed to be left behind as it must and will be.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen, and amen

the Wayfarer