“Burn me beautiful, burn me lovely, burn me righteous, burn me holy.” Refiner—a song that stirs the spirit and reminds the Church that we are the kingdom. Who could sing such wild words unless you understood what they mean? Not everyone will understand. But as the King’s people, we desire purity.
Those words were exactly what I needed to hear this morning. I needed to be reminded that I am giving God my surrender to make me into the image of Christ, a true victor. I am willing. I want to be beautiful. I want to be lovely. I want to be righteous. I want to be holy—to the One whose eyes behold me. It takes a closeness and intimacy and a trust like no other. That’s what makes pure gold and is the secret ingredient. Only Christ infusing Himself into us can make us into the spotless bride—the kingdom people who will walk on the streets of gold in the city of gold, the New Jerusalem (1 John 1:9).
There is a gold so pure in heaven that it is clear, and the glory of God reveals everything, to the point that it’s translucent. There are no impurities anymore that must float to the top to be revealed and then removed. I believe that work by God’s very own hand is happening right now with His Church. The Goldsmith is at work refining the people of God. For the last three years I’ve heard the Lord say in the spirit, “Where are my True Believers?” He’s looking for His children with the clean hands and pure heart. He’s looking for the gold in His church. He’s not looking for perfection, but a heart set on Father’s will and a mind set on the fortitude of a warrior who leans on his sword, not falls on it. Too many will fall on it rather than fight with it, or trust in its power in the coming years.
When a person loves Jesus, Jesus burns everything out of us that taints us, everything we hold onto that is impure, everything that makes the people in the kingdom inauthentic, or not the genuine artifact. There’s black gold, rose gold, green gold and then there’s 24 carat pure gold. It doesn’t have copper or silver or some other metal added. It’s just pure gold and in heaven that means so clear that everything can be seen. Imagine the brilliance of that! The city is pure, the people are pure, the streets are pure and there is no sun because the Sun of Righteousness lights everything up and we will literally walk in His glory on those streets, all made possible only by His blood. No one is more beautiful, lovely, righteous or holy than Christ. To become like Him, worthy to enter into a righteous eternity where no darkness or evil exists, we live confessing to the One who is faithful and just to forgive.
When we speak of confession, some have a picture in their mind that we confess but then just keep going back to confess the same sin over and over. If we say “Hail Mary” enough times then we’re good, we’ve marked all the boxes, we’ve completed our duties, and our conscience is clean. But true confessions as believers in Christ are acts of repentance, where true desires to overcome sins, habits, addictions, and behaviors are the motives of the heart. Only God judges if there’s a genuine turning. Some could say a heart set on purity would also draw people to their knees and a longing for righteousness. That said, confession can be a powerful ritual if we approach His throne with a pure heart.
David Sliker wrote in his book The Triumph of Beauty—God’s Radiant Answer to the World’s Growing Darkness, “God is going to take the beauty that He possesses and impart it into His Church, so that the earth has a very clear and inarguable picture of who He really is, how He really loves and the kind of world that He wants to build with His people. Think of God’s labors to purify and nurture His people as a means of pleading His case with the nations of the earth (Jeremiah 25:31).” The Lord desires the nations and we are the answer; the Church who fears the Lord and actively pursues His righteousness. And we will be rewarded for it.
There is nothing more lovely to God than those who recognize His majestic beauty. To be a King of kings you must have overcome and conquered what no one else could, and judged righteously what no other king could ever attain. An unmatchable honor exists within Christ’s Kingship. We, as the Kingdom, recognize that He attained this title of “King of kings and Lord of lords,” found in the book of Revelation, because of His obedience to Father unto death. As we follow in His example of obedience to God’s authority, we too, will be honored and a crown will be prepared for us. We’ll be found beautiful in our own obedience unto death.
The relationship between the King and His kingdom is beautiful and lovely, but there are many crowns in His kingdom. I write this article to the True Believers who are going after the greatest crowns. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Once the Lord owns your heart it is impossible to go back or to only desire the least. I want all Father has prepared for me.
In II Chronicles 16:9 it says “For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” (WEB) However, the rest of that verse says this—“You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.” Isn’t it like so many of us to only remember the part of the scripture that we want to make us feel good? The lesson of this story is to rely on God, don’t shrink back. If he had not shrunk back and relied on someone other than God, King Asa wouldn’t have suffered this great loss—“At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, ‘Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Yahweh your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped out of your hand’” (WEB). His end was that he died in horrific pain from a foot disease. What a metaphor for allowing his walk with God to become unclean and his trust in God to be swayed.
We can’t be foolish in the culture ahead, a culture of lawlessness. The Lord wants to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him. It’s my prayer that the Lord would reveal where our heart is not perfect toward Him so that He could set us right, and someday we may receive the crown of righteousness or the crown of glory. The Holy Spirit is always waiting for us to seek counsel and request His help. We’re going to need to walk humbly with our God because there is ever-increasing wickedness, blasphemy, falsehood and apostasy in the church. Without the Helper and the Comforter we will lose hope. Without His wisdom we can become deceived.
I recently saw on social media an ad selling a bible and a book of witchcraft being sold as a set. It’s blatant wickedness. More and more retail outlets are succumbing to an LGBTQ agenda to keep certain consumers happy. I know a pastor that owns a night club and has a party van that says “for a good time call.” It’s going to be difficult to find retailers that haven’t ignorantly bought in to a demonic system. But, the compromised church, the shepherds that are causing their flock to err, not preparing them for what’s to come, speaking a half-baked Christianity that will never rise to its purpose for which it was created, or overcome their enemy—God help them.
This is why we need true shepherds to disciple the body of Christ because so many have lost the fear of the Lord or never really had it to begin with. “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly; not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away” (I Peter 5:2-4, WEB).
The crown of glory is not at all for the faint of heart, but for sober minded teachers of the Word. We risk stricter judgment than other believers. We have to be called to this, and seek to hear, and follow the voice of God. We can’t hold back saying what Holy Spirit says to say.
The Bible has strong words for leaders who don’t follow the leading of God and warn the people. To earn the crown of glory requires a humble position before God and others. It requires being alert and aware that the enemy prowls around seeking someone to devour and we have to resist. Often resistance means suffering, but it’s a suffering that is not exclusive to you or me, but to all the brave. Persecution will come as the modern day John the Baptist types rise as a collective voice.
The crown of righteousness is reserved for all believers who sacrifice their life for the kingdom of God, not only martyrs. They have run the race to win—“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. There is reserved for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). I believe these are the true saints of God that hold on until the end, that don’t give in to the pressures of life or the desires for worldly success or fame. They keep the goal of making Jesus’s name known their priority. Serving the King is our passion, the Truth being our north star. Some will be martyrs, but all victors who will wear the crown of righteousness would be willing to die for the cause of Christ.
It is an upside down kingdom to live contrary to the ways of the world or the comfortable church—to love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you and those who accuse you falsely. And yet, it is the way of Christ to be different than the world—to be humble, rather than prideful, to show mercy when mercy has not been shown to you, to forgive your brothers and sisters and hold nothing against them when you have been betrayed, to be willing to pierce the darkness with the Light of the Word, to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free, rather than desire people to die in prison from their crimes, to look upon a person with shame and offer them dignity, and to heal the demonized from the capture of the enemy.
My prayer—God, help us be holy as is instructed in Your Word, to be the image bearers of Your holiness. May we always long for Your sovereignty and live each day slaying demons, starting with our own. And may we declare Truth and forever lift the name above every name, Jesus. Holy Spirit, help us to fear God and no man. In Jesus Christ’s name, Amen.