Author: Warren Berkley

The Refiner

-author unknown-

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi.

As they were studying Chapter Three, they came across Verse Three which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse, that says, “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.” She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined? He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s the easy part–when I see my image reflected in it.”
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His
eye on you and will keep His hand on you and watch over you until He sees His image in you.

I am really perfectionistic about some things. But, keeping my office and desk neat doesn’t fall within that part of me. At the end of each day my desk is cluttered with the remnants of that day’s work.

Commentaries, notes, paper, pens, an empty coffee cup, keys, calendar, mail, some post-it notes and several of those little caps that you remove from plastic water bottles. I’m done as the day closes. Time to leave the office; the clutter can wait till tomorrow. Then tomorrow, I just add to it.

Periodically my good wife puts the pressure on. She does that by coming into my office and just doing the work. “Where does this go? Do you need this? When is the last time you opened this book? Why do you have 43 pens on your desk?” I comply and help. And at the end of that process, my office looks like this picture.

Sometimes our lives are cluttered with stuff we don’t need, or stuff we haven’t put in a proper place. The pure and undefiled religion of Christ is designed to enable us to get rid of what we don’t need and put everything in its place. As we receive with meekness the Word, follow Christ and serve others, order is brought into our lives that is part of our coping with difficulty. We can run the race without the weight (Heb. 12:1,2), and we can press on (Phil. 3:14).

^{Small But Wise}

²⁴ Four things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵ the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
²⁶ the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
²⁷ the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
²⁸ the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings’ palaces. – Prov. 30:24-28

Teaching the book of Proverbs this spring has sparked in me a renewed interest in these intriguing text messages from God.

The above text is written in a riddle/numerical format. In our modern manner of writing and communicating, we are not conversant with this form. But this isn’t difficult. Four images are put before us but there is really only one point. That one point is right on the page in front of us: “small but … exceedingly wise!” That’s it.

Ants, badgers, locusts and lizards do not compare in size to elephants or horses. That doesn’t make the smaller creatures inferior.

Now just pause there and consider what a powerful bit of wisdom that is. Small but not inferior. Small people, small churches, small audiences, small families – are not inferior to big people, big churches, big audiences and big families. Perhaps this isn’t really a profound theological discovery or a recently found moral truth. Yet this is something true and practical that deserves to be within our perspective.

Digging just a little deeper into the proverbial saying, each little creature is praised for some specific task or value. Ants team up to provide their food. Rock badgers have located good real estate in the cliffs. One locust may not intimidate a farmer or landowner, but when they unite and march in rank, look out! And, those little lizards (not the insurance spokesman). Here in the Rio Grande Valley, you cannot build a home that keeps lizards out. Even if you build a “kings’ palace,” they can get in.

Don’t be intimidated by your size. Don’t be discouraged if nobody knows or compliments the good you do. Do what God has equipped you to do. Do it with all your heart. Get past the words “big” and “small,” and just apply God’s wisdom to your life. -web

“There are three kinds of giving: grudge giving, duty giving, and thanksgiving. Grudge giving says, ‘I hate to,’ duty giving says, ‘I ought to,’ thanksgiving says, ‘I want to.’ The first comes from constraint, the second from a sense of obligation, the third from a full heart. Nothing much is conveyed in grudge giving since ‘the gift without the giver is bare.’ Something more happens in duty giving, but there is no song in it. Thanksgiving is an open gate into the love of God” (Robert N. Rodenmayer). 

Admonition is one of the languages of love.

“I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children” (1 Corinthians 4:14).

Peter Kreeft’s Argument Against Abortion:

There are only four possible situations: 

1. The fetus is a person and we know it. Abortion could not be acceptable.

2. The fetus is a person but we aren’t sure. Abortion could not be acceptable. 

3. The fetus is not a person but we aren’t sure. Abortion could not be acceptable because at best we would only be guessing. This would be like collapsing a skyscraper before you were sure all the people were out. At best it is irresponsible and only lucky if the fetus really is not a person. 

4. The fetus is not a person and we know it. This would be the only situation where abortion can be morally permissible. The problem is, no one can demonstrate that the fetus is not a person without just arbitrarily defining the fetus as a non-person. No one has ever proven the non-personhood of a fetus. Any benefit of the doubt must go to life.

Good Workers & Bad

2 Timothy 2:14-19

Warren E. Berkley

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are  Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” – 2 Tim. 2:14-19

Often, in Paul’s writings to Timothy and Titus, this word stands out: “Remind.” As these young men worked among Christians, they were charged to remind the brethren of truth previously heard and accepted. After the “trustworthy” saying in verses 11-13, and before another call to action and warning, the apostle says to Timothy: “Remind them of these things.” Forgetting is a spiritual hazard.

“…and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.” Not all controversy is bad. Not all attention to words is bad, obviously. But there was a certain tedious and dogmatic debate that not only contained no good for the hearer, the result would also be ruin.

Rather than that engagement, Timothy needs to do his best “to present” himself “to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” To present yourself to God is to give your life to Him for His keeping and to be under His authority. The goal is, to be “approved” and that will involve work or activity that is honorable, zealously in pursuit of a faithful use of God’s Word. Verse 15 is the positive imperative, followed by the negative: “avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.”

Talk that is disrespectful, irreverent, and that doesn’t lead people to God, is to be carefully avoided. Do not be the speaker or hearer when the content is irreverent babble. This kind of dialogue is like a lethal cancer, spreading “like gangrene.”

Hymenaeus and Philetus were two examples of men who had “swerved from the truth.” Paul exposes their specific error: “…saying that the resurrection has already happened.”

This section is of great value in telling us the difference between good workers and evil workers.

1. Good workers do not strive about words to no profit.

2. Good workers are diligent.

3. Good workers present themselves approved to God.

4. Good workers rightly divide the word of truth.

5. Good workers shun profane and idle babblings.

Here on earth, there are good workers and bad workers. But here is a blessed certainty: “God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity’.”   

If, in your experiences, you are discouraged by the likes of Hymenaeus and Philetus, take comfort in this promise, the Lord knows those who are his.

If you experience difficulty discerning who people really are – good workers or evil, take the same promise as your comfort: the Lord knows those who are his!

Send Me!

Isa. 6:8,9

“In the year King Uzziah died,” God “appeared” to Isaiah. The man was immediately struck by the holiness of God, confessed his sin and was forgiven.

God had a task that was urgent. He said to Isaiah, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us.” Isaiah responded, “Here I am! Send me.” Or, in older translations, “Here Am I. Send Me.”

Now, if you keep reading beyond verse 8, you discover this was no celebrity position or magnificent occupation from an earthly standpoint. In fact, people would not listen or be pleased with what Isaiah said.

His commitment was, “Here am I! Send me.”

A personal note here. I never read this without thinking of my father, who was in a men’s training class in the 1950’s. The preacher was teaching the men about various servant functions in the local church. He handed out cards to the men. The card on one side listed all the functions and there was place to check which one you would volunteer for.

I was seated next to my father and watched. He looked over the various functions, then wrote on the back of the card: “Here am I. Send me.”

What an impression that made on me. And at the time, I had no idea he was quoting Isaiah. Only later, when I was reading Isaiah, did I remember – that’s what my father wrote on the card to volunteer for various tasks in the local church.

But the expression takes me to another thought. What would people say today, in that circumstance?

Some might say, “here am I … but I’m just too busy.” Or, “here am I … but send someone else.” Or, “here am I … best wishes Lord.”

Isaiah becomes one of many examples in Scripture, of men and women who stepped up and out, on faith – to do whatever God might require.

“Here am I. Send me.”

Contrary Reality

There may be a gap between what we think we are and what we really are. I may think I am young, gorgeous, brilliant and wealthy. If I feed this self-image long enough, and if I get a little help from flattering friends, I may deceive myself into thinking this is real. Doesn’t change reality does it?

This is common, and especially in regard to religious profession. We may think we are religious over such a long period of time, we deceive ourselves into believing everything is all right. We do what we have always done and say what we have always said, carrying through life the assumption that we are saved. What we think doesn’t change contrary reality.

If your heart hasn’t been changed by the gospel of Christ; if your life is not really being lived in Him and according to His teaching, there is a gap between what you think (“I’m saved”) and how you are living (the contrary reality).

Or as James said: “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless,” and “…someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works,” (Jas. 1:26 & 2:18).