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ReactorSTUDIES FROM BRETHREN IN CHRIST
SERMON MENU SELECTIONS12/26/2021 ~ Fire's Piercing Truth |
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🔥 FireAM1.mp3 (31m 37s) FireAM2.mp3 (30m 48s)
Darkness has thunderous echoing silence. Fire exemplifies qualities of truth, life, judgment, and God's own vengeance against disobedience. Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. ~ Psalms 104:4 Fire has always been a fascination and terror in the realm of life. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. ... ~ Exodus 3:2 God has used our sense of light and radiance to convey His power in truth’s delivery. It is His Spirit of truth that is undeniable. ... the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. ... ~ Exodus 9:23 Fire has often been a sign of punishment for rebelling against God’s will. Korah’s Rebellion in Numbers 16:1-40, and Arron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1-11 are a few other examples. "The light of the wicked indeed goes out, And the flame of his fire does not shine." ~ Job 18:5 No matter what stick one waves, if it has not faith in the Lord God, there is no point in its’ direction. When we are told to let our light shine before men, it is God who also sees, and if there is no shine, that light, or lack of it, will extinguish itself. "Is not My word like a fire?" says the Lord, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" ~ Jeremiah 23:29 The power of His word cannot be diminished by man as it comes to us by His Holy Spirit. ... the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, ... ~ Exodus 13:21 God’s light is our beacon home. How many take light for granted, and yet He brings the sun to light everyday. ... Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. ... ~ Exodus 19:18 The signs of God’s power and might over nature was and is best exemplified by fires presence. ... people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some ... ~ Numbers 11:1-2 God has used fire to punish those complaining against His will. The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts. ~ Proverbs 17:3 God tests each of our hearts on a most individual level. God is a miner looking for the gold in our hearts. Then he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time; and he said, "Do it a third time," ... ~ 1st Kings 18:34-35 Devotion is the key God looks for. ... let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. ~ 1st Kings 18:36 Fire has been and is a soul emancipator. A good way to remember that Elisha came after Elijah is the ‘a’ at the end of Elisha, for ‘After’. ... fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water ... ~ 1st Kings 18:37-39 450 prophets of Baal killed were killed the day Elijah proved them false. Death is the consequence in believing in false gods. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. ~ Deuteronomy 4:24 God wants our affection, and deservingly, as He is the Father of all creation. He has given His rod of truth to comfort us with His power in righteous judgments. ... His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; ... ~ Isaiah 66:15-16 Just because one says they are of the Lord does not mean they are. The wickedness of man declaring holiness in His name shall be struck down for the hypocrites they are; following themselves and not God. ... "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." ... ~ 2nd Kings 6:16-17 God will not abandon those who love and trust in Him. Though the flesh may find challenges, He waits just above the highest mountain. Once one sees God for who He is, it is hard to fathom how anyone could deny Him. ... our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us ... ~ Daniel 3:16-18 Many instances of His power of salvation are strewn across the corridors of time. Fire is a tool of His judgement as well as His salvation. God is our shelter in all circumstances. ... who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, ... ~ Daniel 3:28 Astounding events of the past changed the hearts of countless many who believed without question. Through all of our tribulations and problems, God is with us. This attitude of salvation involves unconditional trust, as it should be. "... there is no other God who can deliver like this." ~ Daniel 3:29 Nebuchadnezzar was a tool to expose man is only man, and God is God. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. ~ Isaiah 48:10 Certainly, each of us with any experience has been afflicted in one way or another. The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. You shall keep them, ... ~ Psalms 12:6-7 His word is the furnace of truth in our hearts. ... Whose fire is in Zion And whose furnace is in Jerusalem. ~ Isaiah 31:9 It was prophesized that truth and judgment would come out of Jerusalem. "Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, ..." ~ Malachi 3:1 As a light in every heart, He is coming. "... 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. ... ~ Malachi 3:2-3 It is man’s doubt that God exists or not that has caused him to fall away. God has never left, it is mankind that falls away to fabrications of his own making, to substitute for what He can never see. Can man see the core of a star or observe the most minute quantum of substance? Man is a tangible creature, while faith is higher than what can be observed in creation. Although, there are signs, to the truth of intelligent design, over man’s callous rejection of anything superior. Shame on the arrogance where we elevate ourselves above God. God does not force anyone to believe as He makes it a choice. What lights a soul is God’s song of life
God seeks those who desire to know Him. FireAM3.mp3 (31m 13s) FireAM4.mp3 (31m 52s) "... clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." ~ Matthew 3:11-12 Jesus baptizes us with the truth. Pentecost brought fire upon the heads of the Apostles, and later on a select few of the gentiles; It was an event of enlightenment. "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" ~ Luke 12:49 God has hope for each of us that we regain a sense of truth inside the womb of His creation. "... not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." ~ John 15:4-6 Associations are choices of preference. Unless we talk, pray, to God, there is no association. God’s desire is that we are in Him by the knowledge He has delivered. ... each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each ... ~ 1st Corinthians 3:13-15 Good works in Him will rise to endure the onslaught of judgment when fire clears the courtroom. Suffering is what it takes to be born, as the sense of appreciation is established. The rock of God is truth. "... send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." ~ Luke 16:24 The realm absent of God’s promise is a torment to the soul indeed. ... Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life ... ~ James 1:10-12 Life is a consequence of entropy. All things fade into the past. For us to take hold of the future, faith is an essential component, especially if we wish to seize eternal life. What we are receiving is greater than all the grass the world has ever grown. ... serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. ~ Hebrews 12:28-29 The fire of life is in the midst of the tree of life, and to eat of it brings eternal life. It is His word, His cry, His song, to return to His nurturing love. ... that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ... ~ 1st Peter 1:6-9 For the faithful, underlying all tribulation, is the hope on top of the joy of comfort, in His salvation. Some may say it is delusional, but ask, what is more delusional, man in his fading aspirations or God in His eternal grace? Salvation of the soul is what religion is all about. To get through the eye of the needle, truth has to be in us. "... It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. ..." ~ Matthew 18:8-9 It is hard to imagine identity without others in our lives; but that is exactly what will happen to those who deny Him, the Creator and giver of life. We all need to believe, a warning to awake to the nature of life, as it is shown by Him. If we are to only pursue our desires of lust and sin, we turn on the fires that will destroy us. ... See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. ... ~ James 3:5-6 So easily we bite one another yelling the madness of impulsive thoughts. Self-control is a main message the Bible conveys. No one doubts fire can do a lot of damage if not handled correctly with prudence. "... all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. ..." ~ Matthew 13:41-43 All will arrive at this journeys end. The sand will be left behind as our deeds will be assessed. Pray mercy will find us in His favor with more good than offensiveness. For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, ... ~ Hebrews 12:18 Out of desolation comes the hope for His light of life. To exist in the realm of creation is to be desired over all that could be dead. Through past events God has revealed good and evil among men and women. To disregard His truth is to repeat those same mistakes that led to social misery and destruction. Observing His ways brings about the best outcome for all. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. ~ 2nd Peter 3:7 The foundation of all reality is truth
The earth is a path to a destination of our own making. The foundation of God’s kingdom is truth. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; ~ Revelation 1:14 As Jesus gazes into each of us, all will be naked, and His judgment will be just, based in truth. ... Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. ~ Revelation 20:13-15 How dreadful where all strings come to an end. No pleading will be heard, with the most injurious judgment: rejection. The time is now; we must find the strength to affirm our faith without shame. Hate cares not for the truth of God, calling so many lies truth, and darkness becomes by this way, void of His light. By works we are either accepted or excluded, from the offering of His grace and mercy plan, of salvation from damnation. Those that claim we are not judged by our works have little understanding, as most certainly, God will judge accordingly by righteousness over evil. Ignorance or purposely oblivious attitudes will not exclude the truth of His proclaimed word which will exonerate or condemn each one of us. "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." ~ Revelation 21:8 On one side of the coin there is a never ending mountain, while the other holds a cliff to nowhere. ... in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. ... ~ 2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9 A pitiful or exuberant time is coming for all
Without genuine attempts to know God, how can any other result come about but casted out? Conditions have been set in stone for His eternal kingdom to rise. Pray we are there. ... Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality ..., are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. ~ Jude 1:6-7 Examples from the past set the truth of the present and destiny of the future. "... 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ...'" ~ Matthew 25:41 No diamond or gold bar can replace genuine love for what God is, and has done. Many choose to reject Him and perpetuate the cycle of evil that submerges the angry prematurely. One can sink into death before they die. For all God will come sooner than expected
As time fades our dreams in faith will warm our souls. Souls yearn to connect to something greater than lost. Darkness has no Great God in Heaven. |
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