Are We Willing to Have Our Faith Refined?
God is seeking a people who will trust him fully and allow their faith to be refined and tried by fire.
David Wilkerson emphasizes that God is searching for a faithful people who are willing to be refined and tested for His purpose. He illustrates this through the story of Gideon, where God reduced the number of soldiers from thousands to just 300, highlighting that He seeks those who are not fearful or doubting. The sermon stresses that God is not interested in numbers or outward appearances but in the quality of faith and readiness of His messengers. Wilkerson calls for believers to embrace the refining process, allowing God to shape them into effective tools for evangelism. Ultimately, the message is a call to trust God fully and be prepared for His work in the world.
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Beloved, God is searching for a people who will trust him fully. The Lord did not save us so we could bask endlessly in his goodness, mercy and glory. He had an eternal purpose in choosing each one of us and that purpose goes beyond blessings, fellowship and revelation. The fact is, God still reaches out to lost humankind, searching for a believing people he can shape into his greatest evangelistic tool.
God was searching for such a people in Gideon's day. When Gideon issued a call for volunteers to fight the Midianites, thousands of Israelites responded. But the Lord told Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands ... Proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart'" (Judges 7:2-3).
God was telling Gideon, "If anybody is afraid, tell him to go home now. I will not allow my army to be infected by fear." God was actually turning away volunteers for his army; at one point, some 22,000 doubters were sent home. Gideon eventually reduced the number of volunteers to 10,000 but God told him there were still too many and the Lord finally settled on 300 battle-tested soldiers.
This ought to tell us something. As the Lord seeks gospel messengers he can send out to the world, he is not going to recruit churches whose pews are filled with fearful, doubting, untested people. He will not look for powerful, efficient religious organizations or highly educated seminarians. God uses organizations and the highly educated, of course, but in themselves none of these has the resources needed to be God's tried and tested messengers.
So, what is needed to reach a lost and hurting world? God is seeking those who are willing to be tested, tried by fire, those whose faith he can refine and bring forth as pure gold.
Sermon Outline
- God's Eternal Purpose
- God's Requirements for His Army
- What is Needed to Reach a Lost World
- Faith that can be refined and tried by fire
- A willingness to be tested and purified
Key Quotes
“God was searching for such a people in Gideon's day.” — David Wilkerson
“God was telling Gideon, 'If anybody is afraid, tell him to go home now. I will not allow my army to be infected by fear.'” — David Wilkerson
“God uses organizations and the highly educated, of course, but in themselves none of these has the resources needed to be God's tried and tested messengers.” — David Wilkerson
Application Points
- We must be willing to have our faith refined and tried by fire in order to be effective messengers for God.
- God rejects fearful and doubting people; instead, he looks for battle-tested soldiers who are confident in their faith.
- Our faith must be purified and refined in order to reach a lost and hurting world.