Beloved brethren,
Hearken to my words, for I speak this truth to you,
How long will you remain in your ignorance, not heeding the precepts of our Lord? I tell you the truth, as long as you continue to walk in the lusts of the flesh, you remain impure! Your fleshly thoughts are the trash of your soul, and your perverse desires corrupt your entire being.
Do you not recall the Holy Word spoken by the Teacher?
"Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart"
(Proverbs 26:23).
Take heed! The Lord tests the heart, and unrestrained desires of the flesh and their gratification are detestable before the Holy One. When your heart is corrupted by the whims of lustful cravings, your soul is plagued by the maggots of hell, and you become a living dead!
The prophet Isaiah says,
"I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities" (Isaiah 1:25).
Remember, brethren, the Lord is a consuming fire. He will purify you through His holy fire to refine you. Just as dross is removed from silver, your fleshly lustfulness will be removed from you. Even so, the silver is to be removed and separated from gold, and so you too will be refined by the Lord as gold is refined in the furnace.
He will refine you in the body and remove your fleshly dross, and your soul will become as white as pure silver. Even so, your soul will be refined from its sinful nature because of the body of death.
Then you will indeed become a perfectly refined being of body, soul, and spirit, a pure, unblemished, and perfect substance of the divine, conformed unto the very likeness of Christ Jesus, our Lord, and Maker.
As the prophet, Daniel says, "Many will be purged, purified, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand" (Daniel 12:10).
Therefore, my beloved brethren, let us conform to God's Holy Word, as spoken by His Apostle James, who says,
"Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21).
Let us heed these words and put aside all filthiness and wickedness. Let us receive the implanted Word with humility, which is able to save our souls. Let us not compromise with the patterns of this world, for we are called to be holy people, set apart for God's own purposes.
And if we see a brother or sister straying from the path, let us admonish them in love, for "whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins" (James 5:20).
May the Lord, in His great mercy, forgive us, and with His everlasting faithfulness and love, refine us like silver and gold. Let us be a people who are pure and holy, conformed unto the likeness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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