August 29, 2022
“I know you know the truth.
There is no time to lose.
So put off for what you believe,
So put off for what you believe,
So put off for what you believe.
Put on, put on, put on for what you believe.”
-Flame
“The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:12).
“No one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames” (1 Cor 3:11-15).
We must burn up the straw clinging to us, before God does on the final Day. When the town wanted to save themselves from the forest fire, they burned all the straw and kindling around them in a path that caused the raging blaze to pass by them, for it had no fuel for moving forward into the town. In the same way, Jesus already took the blaze of wrath for those who hide in Him, and He is purging His city of all that can kindle–that which is sin, selfish ambition, deceitful motives, and all that is unclean. Only in Him can protection be found from the raging fires of God’s wrath against sin. And only in His purifying fires can full surrender be achieved to enable perfect peace in the midst of the storm of the Day of the Lord. As God’s fire burns into the core of our hearts, it’s all-the-more painful if we have things to lose–things of this earth that we’re clinging to. These can include ambitions, a sense of self worth apart from Christ, things, people, money, jobs, sports, status, etc. that are not fully surrendered to be used by Him or removed. Paul talks about these things when he speaks of “wood, hay, and straw.” The sooner we remove (“put off”) these materials that compose our life that are not fully built on and flowing with the will of God through Christ, the sooner we can “put on” and replace them with imperishable, eternal things that do not burn up in God’s purifying flames. These would include the solid-rock truths of Scripture and the gospel worked out in applications of what we believe, and the self-denying love that comes from the Holy Spirit working in us through and for Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. 29’For our God is a consuming fire’” (Heb 12:28-29).
“I [Jesus] have come to ignite a fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49).
“O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of their evil deeds’” (Jer 21:12).
“His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:17).
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43).
The Lord paved the way for this entry today, because He hit me square between the eyes with a major indiscrepancy in my life that has continued to be a source of tremendous lack of peace for me in the gospel. Over and over again for the past few months, I have battled to put it behind me and reestablish my feet on the solid rock of Scriptural truths. Then God arranges circumstances so that it feels as if a hurricane force wind has knocked me off the solid rock again, and I go sinking into the waves of the same fears and insecurities. Until I can fully put off these fears and fully sink my anchors into the truths of Scripture without any room for doubt, my peace will continue to be burned up by God’s purifying fires. But the fact that He continues to hit me with fresh blazes is a comfort to me–that He’s not done purifying me but is giving me more opportunity to further put off what is weakening my faith and put on what will secure me on the Rock of Christ.
The burning fires of God’s purification in His saints on the earth can feel like darkness. What a paradox that fire and darkness can coexist. It is a darkness that comes before the light of God’s truth floods in–a darkness that comes from the void left from what the fire consumed in our hearts. Then, as we grope around in brokenness, as we call out to God for understanding and renewal, He sends the light of His truth to rebuild us with the right materials. All praise to God in Christ Jesus!
Remember Tabitha’s rickety train ride? It ended at a submarine, into which she ventured. The submarine was very large and sunk deep into the dark waters of the sea. God defines the sea in Scripture as a metaphor for the earth’s devil-controlled system of power in which the nations have their commerce (Rev 13). While the saints store up their treasures in heaven, the nations of the sea live for the world. Jesus described the Great Tribulation as a time of testing in which that on which the nations depended would feel unstable: “On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea” (Luke 21:25).
Tabitha went into the submarine, but while the submarine was in the sea, it was protected from any violence that the sea might be churning up. Though Tabitha could feel movement from the sea and its darkness, she was still protected. What she felt from the sea that might cause her sea sickness or fear was not going to ultimately hurt her. This is a parallel metaphor to our discussion about the fire of God. The little fires of God’s sanctification that He causes to break out in our lives as Christians are not ultimately going to harm us for eternity. They will remind us of our neediness of Him, they will humble us, and they will make us “sea sick” (sick and tired of the worldly mindset). They will cause us to loath the darkness and long for the brightness of the Son.
On the other hand, those who despise the safety of Jesus Christ’s submarine will drown for eternity in the outer darkness, never to find the surface of God’s light or the comfort of solid ground.
“He [Jesus] marveled and said to those following Him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matt 8:10-12).
“Everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (Matt 25:29-30).
“If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9-11).
“Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness” (Jer 13:16).
*All Scripture is in the BSB (Berean Study Bible) translation unless otherwise noted.
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