11/3 Life

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For My Name’s Sake, I Have Refined You
1.[v.1-5] Refining Needed: “not in truth or right… you are obstinate”
2.[v.6-8] Extent to be Refined: “before birth you were called a rebel”
3.[v.9-11] Refiner’s Motive: “For my name’s sake… I have tried you in the furnace of affliction”​


For My Name’s Sake, I Have Refined You
(ISAIAH 48:1-11)
 
Pause & Reflect
 

1. What has God been teaching you through last week’s message? Read the texts once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
    who are called by the name of Israel,
    and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name.
3 “The former things I declared of old;
    they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
5 I declared them to you from of old,
    before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,
    my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
 

1. [v.1-5] *Biblical principle – [v.1-5] REFINING NEEDED: God’s people were double-minded, confessing Him as God yet not in truth or right. They were hard-hearted, with iron necks and brass foreheads, refusing to bow and closing their minds to His words. They were obstinate – stubbornly unchangeable to the core. You can confess God rightly, but still live untruthfully. We are a people whose mind and actions are constantly in tension. For this reason, Jesus Christ came to refine and purify us. We were all once like “Jacob” – deceiving, proud, self-centered – yet how is God calling you by the name of “Israel” – the one who overcomes/prevails with Him? The LORD’s desire is simple – He just wants His truth and righteousness to come upon you. Yet how do we complicate this with a double-minded heart? What is your iron neck and brass forehead, refusing to submit before the LORD and one another? How is our stubbornness, obstinate mind, getting in the way of the grace that God wants to pour out into you and through you for one another?

 
6 “You have heard; now see all this;
    and will you not declare it?
From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known.
7 They are created now, not long ago;
    before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel.
 

1. [v.6-8] *Biblical principle – [v.6-8] EXTENT TO BE REFINED: God’s people were always bent on giving credit to themselves for what God had spoken and done by Himself. Instead of being humbled by His word, they would say, “I knew them” already and I know better. This kind of nature is in every human being, even before birth. We are totally depraved – having no ability to hear or know God. This is how far, deep, and wide the refining and purifying work of Christ extends into life prior, life now, and life forever with Him. One quality of God that keeps repeating and is put in the spotlight is His ability to prophetically predict the future down to its finite details. The things that have yet to be heard or appear, the LORD can say and declare them as if it is done. What is the LORD saying and declaring to be done in your life, although you haven’t heard or seen it come to pass yet, according to His character and Word? How does this give us hope and a secure standing? Even before birth, we were hopeless. Yet even before birth, what was God doing for you?

 
9 “For my name's sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
 

1. [v.9-11] *Biblical principle – [v.9-11] REFINER’S MOTIVE: Since His people are helpless in themselves, unable to remedy their own condition, the LORD defers His anger by grace for the sake of His name. Since His name is stamped on His people as their Creator, He must ensure they will be refined and purified. The way God does this is through the furnace of affliction. God is like a refining fire that does not burn us, but warms us and restores us. As fire removes impurity in metals, Jesus removes impurity through affliction. The trials of life are an occasion for this fire of Jesus Christ. The LORD loves to guard His own name. It is His quality-control – everything stamped with His name will showcase His glorious grace to the praise of His name – guaranteed! How is God guarantee His grace, provision, presence through the furnace of afflictions in your life? How is the fire of affliction a real blessing in disguise? How can we stop asking “why” and starting glorying in the “with” – God with us through it all? Read together – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (ISAIAH 43:2); In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 PETER 1:6-7). Nothing going into the fire comes out the same as it was before the fire. How is Jesus calling you into His fire to come out more gloriously refined than before?

 

 
The central truth of this word was –
The LORD is a refining fire, fanning His flame through the afflictions of life. There, He reminds us that although our minds and actions always fall short to His truth and righteousness, He will never forsake us nor leave us. Instead, He brings His fire in Jesus Christ near – a fire that does not burn us up but refines us through and through. He has refined us, for His name’s sake! Although not fully realized yet, it is guaranteed as we all are stamped with the name of being His child by His grace. For the sake of upholding His saving name, He will lead you and bring you home.
– *How has the LORD spoken to you today through this?
 

Holy Spirit Moment
Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)