Purified by Pressure
by Justin Horton
July 10, 2022 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Isaiah 48:10, Jonah 1:1-10, Jonah 2:1-2, Isaiah 48:10, Jonah 2:5-6, Jonah 3:1-3, Revelation 21:21

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/justin-horton--purified-by-pressure
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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oh god is good amen god is good pastor asked me to preach yesterday so i'm here today i am joking he asked me a few weeks ago and as i'm sitting at home i'm learning all these concepts the vernacular and how god can move in my life and talk to me in certain ways that i have not seen before before i got to an altar for god to show me hey i'm speaking to you like this sometimes it comes from my wife sometimes it comes from a book sometimes just walks out and god just shows you what you need thank you pastor for this opportunity god is good there are things in life that we need to define ourself but not for others but for god and to be accountable in isaiah 48 verse 10 it says behold i have refined thee but not with silver i have chosen thee and the furnace of affliction y'all pray with me lord jesus right now let the holy ghost move lord let us be used by you touch this service today let the anointing be here today if it's not your will lord i'll let it not be done but your will be done today in the name of jesus in the name of jesus touch this service god right now church can we give him a handclap of praise in this place hallelujah hallelujah god we worship you jesus oh in the name of jesus you can be seated if you feel like to if you want to run the aisles i give you permission it says in isaiah 48 verse 10 refine what does it mean to be refined in the dictionary it says the free from impurities unwanted material to free from normal and perfection and to elevate if i can preach under this purified under pressure purified under pressure when i came in this morning they did not know my sermon that in on my notes they didn't have no idea of what i was going to preach about today but if you look behind me you see this beautiful diamond now ladies husbands you got some expectations to reach because that is probably worth more than some houses diamonds are formed under the conditions of intense heat and pressure that cause carbon atoms to crystallize forming what we known as diamonds true natural diamonds are found in the depth between 150 to 200 kilometers that is approximately 124 000 miles beneath the earth's surface you see coal is also made of carbon it contains a lot of impurities that make it impossible for a diamond to form some make it impossible to form other diamonds because of the impurities it says to refine is to reflect of the afflictions to imperfection to elevate from your impurities one of the most asked questions and the internet today is can we make diamonds out of coal can we make diamonds out of coal the answer is simply no if that's the case i got a whole pack of coal at home i'm about to leave if that was the case diamonds would not be worth what they're worth today coal is so far from impure that it will never become a diamond you see thankfully by the precious blood of jesus we are destined of life of a permanent impurity the life like the cole mentioned above and in fact that god's grace m2 purified through the pressure of life and the ability to withstand the heat now there's a common saying that some people say if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen that is saying it's been a long long here for years and many years i've heard it i've heard it from my grandmother it got hot in the kitchen during thanksgiving sometimes or just visiting just get out don't bother me just get out you see the conditions in which the diamonds are formed are not glamorous or comfortable they produce so much value but you might not see it from looking at it if we are obedient and stand firm regardless of our circumstances the pressure will produce everything god intends to be refined there are some people that walk the streets you look at them you're like what are they doing they didn't brush their hair they didn't brush their teeth they did not put on deodorant today it does not matter the conditions what they look like you don't know the value that they're worth one man in the bible that wasn't sure to be but could stand the pressure was jonah today you're probably thinking i'm gonna talk about jonah and the well i'm gonna go a little bit to the other side of the scripture to where it explains to where that oh it's not about the fish and jonah of chapter one verse one through ten y'all bear with me i promise you i'm getting somewhere now the word of the lord came unto jonah the son of a mighty saying arise go to nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness is come before me but jonah rose up to flee unto tarshish from the presence of the lord and went down to joppa and he found a ship going to tarshish he paid the fare therefore and went on down into it to go with them saying unto tarshish from the presence of the lord but the lord sent out a great wind into the sea and there were mighty tempest in the sea so that ship was likely to be broke then the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his god lowercase g and cast forth the wares and the way the ship into the sea to lighten it to them but jonah was gone down into the side of the ship and lay where he was fast asleep so the shipmasters came up to him as saying what meanest thou o sleeper arise come upon thy god if so be that god will think upon us that we perish not and then they said unto every one of the fellow come and let us cast lots that they may know of the cow who's caused this evil upon us so they casted lots and the lots fell upon jonah and they said unto him tell us we pray thee for those who cause this evil is upon us what is thy occupation and whence cometh thou what is thy country and with what people are though and he said unto them i am a hebrew and i fear the lord the god of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry land then where the men exceedingly afraid unto them and said unto them why hast thou done this for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the lord because he told them now the lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up jonah and jonah was in the belly of the fish for three nights you see the lord came to jonah saying go to nineveh but he at that time had some imperfections in his life he had at the time some afflictions that were bearing him he knew he was good for the job but he wasn't ready on his own time god wanted him then you see when he fled he fled away to tarshish not from the home city that he was in he did not flee from nineveh he fled from the area of joppa joppa was like a cozy place for jonah it might even refer to him as his comfort zone who in here has some comfort zones you can apply to you have some places this is me time i'm going to apply this and this is my zone i'm staying in that don't bother me in those precious times jonah was in his comfort zone he was a content where he was with god but god had some other plans he may have ever never prayed and asked god to give him but he had gotten frustrated like most of us do and he was tired of being in that point in life but when he was instructed jonah was not ready to step out of his comfort zone this pressure sent jonah to the great escape so you see likely unworthy of the call and unwilling to make sacrifices he let his own impurity and faults and fears drive him to a boat headed the opposite direction that god has done that there are some times in our lives where we pick up our own baggage and think we can drag ourselves into a place that we feel comfort zone into a place that we cannot be other than the place that we feel like we can be some people put it into work some poor people in terms of hobbies some people listen to music some people put into sleep some people put the medication addiction other things to plug in that god cannot use them because they are not ready for what god needs to do anyone else ever ran from god or plugged your ears because you were afraid of what he would say there are times in our life where we need to be willing to get ready and prepared for god's plan what jonah didn't know is that this was all part of god's plan the lord knew he would run unto a boat the big fish wasn't plan b jonah thought he was running from the pressure when he actually was running right into it during this time when he was at the fish inn he had a little talk with the lord the lord had put some pressure onto jonah to allow the impurities to get out of his system to be used and to have the right mindset to teach to speak to preach and have the work of jonah in this fish was jonah's pressure cooker and all the versions of the bible it tells us that jonah was swallowed up by a big fish it does not say a well or any other aquatic animal in the scripture some scholars today say it was a sea dog which is apparently a big shark which holds a human body it can fit the situation but to this day we will never know the earth is about 71 of water the ocean holds about 96.5 of the earth's water in the studies of oceanography you will find the levels of the ocean in which creatures mammals and even vertebrates are in each level down to the ocean floor if you can pop that diagram up please there is approximately five levels or five zones of the ocean the first zone is known as the sunlight zone which this zone goes about 200 meters down the second zone is known as the twilight zone which is from 200 to 1 000 meters down the third zone is known as the midnight zone which is 4 000 meters down the fourth zone is known as the abyss which goes down 600 meters six thousand meters down now the fifth zone is the zone that no human body or human form has went down to to the ocean floor we are known that today as the trenches this zone gets down deeper than six thousand to eleven thousand thousand meters down you see the trenches are anywhere from nine thousand feet to thirty six thousand feet for reference the human body cannot dive to a maximum of 60 feet the human body starts to crush when the body reaches 130 feet below the earth's water surface you see the surface without being in a submarine or in a case or even a fish the fish that explained in the bible reaching a depth the fish would only swallow up jonah would have been in the twilight zone this is about 200 meters or 656 feet below the surface jonah would have never survived the depth of without the fish did you know with the large fish like whales hold a certain amount of air in their stomachs at all times make it impossible making it possible for someone to breathe in the fish's stomach even being in the greatest depths of the sea most see the big fish that jonah was in as a punishment who in here thinks their self that god put them in a place for punishment there's a time in our lives where we feel like we are pressurized in a place where we feel like god cannot use us but yet the only place that they can see god is using you right then the way that he's doing it is making sure that these things that you are going through the impurities will not kill you these elements will not hurt you but yet in the fish there is oxygen the elements would have killed him if he was not in a place of protection he and his disobedience would have ultimately resulted in death the fish was not a punishment it was jonah's life preserver i am guilty of assuming trials in my life the consequences of my actions and punishments that i have deserved when in fact god is bringing us through to protect us for something much worse when we are using it to see something as we are painful uncomfortable unconventional to protect us from ourselves some see the big fish as jonas prison when in fact a place was preparation that jonah needed the time of concentration what better way to prop some conversation with god than being in the trenches of life and the desperate of his rescue when the people that ourselves are in the darkness of our lives when there's nothing around us but yet you see a fish coming your way you might as well get in because that's the only way you will survive before the pressure is on these trials or trenches we end up in will send us to the deepest level of god the send us in the deepest level of god they will help us shred our ego our pride and control and religious our plans for his plan none of us would have volunteered for the process but we often beg for the results dedication and concentration doesn't always feel good or smell pretty what you see is what you get but you got to realize the value of what you see sometimes it's messy and gross but it's always worth it sometimes you got to get dirty to clean the church's bathrooms sometimes you got to get down and vacuum the floor sometimes some kids put gum under the pews but yet there is a time of worship it's when you're doing the things for god it's when god can come in set forth and this is just your training process we are in the middle of the storm we are scared but we understand that our baby is facing these medical mountains but i can say today i have never prayed so hard and felt god's so close for this struggle there's a reason why things are put in your life the reason why there is detrimental things that can crush your heart and flees you would way to the world to lead into alcoholism to drug addiction it's anything that gets you distracted from what god is going to do but without the pressure you will not be here or who you are today god is so close to the struggles he is there with you in jonah 2 1-2 then jonah prayed unto the lord his god where in the belly and said i cried by reason of mine affliction unto the lord and he said heared me out of the belly of hell cried i and thou heard us my voice isn't it amazing how god sometimes puts you in the trenches but when you are done with the world you put yourself in an altar and god answers those by saying i have always been here it's the pressure that i'm here without the pressure you will not be here you will be six feet under god puts those for a reason there's another familiar word and the scripture that started in isaiah 48 and 10 says we refine into the furnace of our affliction and jonah refers to his own affliction as the belly of hell what is your affliction today what is making you getting that pressure cooker what's making you getting into the belly of the whale or belly of the fish that can take you into a place that god can use you and refine you or are you running away to tarshish to a place that is rocky and roady that the wind is blowing you away side to side and all you see is sea and you have no way to survive but yet you are about to go into the water asking god where are you affliction is defined as something that causes pain or suffering there's a reason why god went through pain and suffering for us it is understand and to comprehend the pressure that most beautiful diamonds are created it's in the depth of the sea that god chose us to find jonah and prepare him for his call you see just like the diamond thousands of miles away underneath the sea i mean underneath the earth's surface god uses him the diamond is formed it is all the impurities leak out all the inflictions that are there are gone at the end of the process it looks a little cloudy it looks a little rocky but it is worth so much it is worth so much in jonah 2 5-6 the waters come past me about even to my soul even to the soul the death closed me around about the weeds were wrapped about my head i went down to the bottom of the mountains the earth with her bars was about me forever hast thou brought up my life from corruption oh lord my god it is amazing that god can take you out of corruption and make you into your standing of the stronghold that god can use you and dedicate you and concentrate you into a place that where you need to be perhaps jonah knew he wasn't living a dedicated and concentrated as he should have yet he felt the weight and the burden of nineveh that he was unprepared in his own corruption there are times in our life where we are putting on the chains and the bondage ourself when god has prepared us for a nineveh but yet you won't let god use you because the pressure is not that heavy when we choose to run from god he found himself being freed from his impurities because you're just running away does not mean you're away from your impurities it doesn't mean you're getting away from your addictions it doesn't mean you're getting away from today's today's society it's because god knows the plan the fish in the story is often labeled as the villain anybody in here have a villain in their life someone they do not like or it can be your job it could be your work there's often something that can always be a villain or something against us but it was quite the opposite it was a simple safe place for god to keep jonah and when he was ready he was returned to dry land as a new man jonah found peace he found provision repentance a restoration and a smelly inside of the fish friends can i tell you today when you are in a place that you have no idea where you're gonna go if you're in a place that you feel like it's just hell around you it can be your home life for me growing up i did not have church i didn't have parents that came and took me to bed at night i had to do that myself there are times i didn't have a mattress to sleep on there are times when i was in a smelly belly that i can always be in and thinking like where is a god to save me today am i restorated am i inside of the fish am i being refined at the age of 10 11 and 12 there are so much imperfections that were being driven into my life that i did not understand that there was just going to be a bunch of coal in my soul because i did not understand the process i did not know jesus i did not know the lord's name i didn't know what church was i didn't know what baptism was but it was until then when i met my grandmother and here in tennessee that she took me to a church i learned the name of jesus and those impurities in my life were just there because my parents allowed it to be but it was at that moment when i set myself on the firm foundation of god that i allowed the coal to be turned into a diamond you see in the earthly standard we cannot turn the we cannot turn coal into a diamond but in jesus standard he can compress decompress turn you around defeat everything that comes against you put the heat against you whatever it might be and he turns the coal into a diamond there are some coals here sent today because you allowed the imperfections and the impurities to evaluate yourself as saying you're no good you're not ready but i tell you today if you allow yourself into the belly that god can let you into the worship the praise the altar the pressure the repentance the fish that you are refined into as i mentioned later free yourself from the imperfection god took control and turned your life into a place of value and jonah 3 1 through 3 and the word of the lord came up to jonah the second time saint arise and go into nineveh the great city and preach unto the preaching that i bid thee so jonah arose and went to nineveh according to the word of the lord now nineveh was an exceeding great city for three days journey it's pretty ironic how the lord allowed jonah in the belly for three days and it's funny how he prepared him for his imperfections to be perfected he allowed the impurities to be pure you see we might have a place in our life for myself i don't communicate well with sometimes i get things backwards that's why my beautiful wife the lord allows people in your life to direct you but when you are put under pressure by god to decompress those impurities and make them pure to let you understand that god is amazing to make you understand that god can change you he allowed three days in the belly because you have a three-day journey to nineveh why is that he gotta be three days strong because once he got to nineveh there's no turning back there at those times when he's in those three days traveling how many times he could have just turned around and went back his imperfections were gone the way he thought was gone the way he talked was gone i believe jonah was transformed completely between those three days with the lord's second command jonah had surrendered to god he was ready for service who in here is ready to be purified by god the sins of nineveh were not described in the bible but the city was widely known for the center the center of fertility cult worship and for its cruelty to the victims of warfare it was amazing how they chose that last song that god has never lost a battle at the end of the day at the end of the scripture it's all about war and we are the victors in this dirt jonah was no longer intimidated by the mission to nineveh he had experienced the trenches there are sometimes church where you're going to experience some dark times those times is when the trenches come up on your feet and into your ankles lord i need some service today i need some help today i need to be built up today because i cannot take this trenches no longer myself i need you to step in into a belly to where i can be pressurized my purity is gone so i can step forth for no longer to be and purified he had been to the depths with god some say he wrestled in his mind that there is none to be a victor over because you have god a life of obedience proved to be far greater than a life on the run who in here is running today who in here thanks to yourself that i can do this on my own who in here thinks that what god has called you to do i could wait i can i can wait a few more years i want to get these things done first i told my wife i said i'm the only one working right now she's a full-time mom i said baby i said what if god calls me to do something she said honey i think you'll talk to me first there are things in life we have no control over i said what if i'm calling a missionary she said you're not i said what if i'm called to evangelist them she said in the united states i can go with that but you see being obedient and having your help make can be a greater thing in your life while you're on the run because it might be that your spouse is not running it might be that you're running for god's call it might be that you're running from the afflictions because you don't want god to point those things out well let me tell you my friend god already knows what you're doing behind closed doors god already knows what you're doing when your eyes are shut god already knows what you're doing when you're not speaking to him the things you watch the things you do and the things you see a life of obedience proved to be far greater if you find yourself in the depths being afflicted or feeling the pressure of life i ask you that you search your own heart what has god calls you to do are you prepared to be obedient for the experience of the fish in your life the heat and the pressure must of the diamond must be he endured i think about my grandfather he passed in 99 of all the stories my grandmother has told me i've listened to her fervently and understanding that he was a hard worker he owned a bake shop right there in michigan with 21 raccoons hanging up he was a hunter he loved doing he was in world war ii and i talked to my grandmother i said who was he as a man she told me he was the strongest man i've known it is when the god is in your life the man in your life as your shepherd the strongest man you know and you're fleeing from him to the weakest points of life to understand that god is in mercy for you but god's love and mercy for both nineveh and jonah prevailed who is who is waiting to surrender whose soul weighs in the balance i've said it before and i've said it right now the way of your life and your miracle can be someone's salvation just because you're going through some afflictions and some problems medically mentally whatever they may be if there's home situations the afflictions and the pressure of the things that you are enduring are being for a reason because one day your diamond's gonna shine bright and god's gonna see that and the people that you see in life are gonna be like wow what happened to you well you got a couple hours i'm going to talk to you for a minute about god nineveh was full of lost souls and their opportunities for salvation was drowning but god's love and mercy both for nineveh and jonah prevailed who is waiting maybe the pressure you are feeling is where god has called you right now and he is purifying and preparing you to be used maybe the situation you are in because you have caught your running the wrong direction simply the fish situation because god is protecting you from the other things there are some times when you are in the darkness of the dark and you are finding yourself in the mind and not understanding why this anxiety and fear and depression is getting upon you well let me tell you my friends it is because god is putting pressure on you because you are an overcomer in his name there are things in life that he puts into you because you fall in love with jesus you might not fall but you might but you don't encourage yourself you got to pray and ask god to show you you cannot afford to miss out on the plan of god in jesus name in jesus name our reward for withstanding the pressure is more valuable than diamonds gold and pearls the bible says and one day these precious earthly treasures whoa are sidewalks and streets be decorated with and revelations 21 21 and the 12 gates and the 12 pearls ever served the gate several gate was one pearl and the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent glass every trial every temptation before you has prepared you for this moment to surrender to god to be obedient and to lean unto the call of your life and to watch god be part the waters for you in the book of revelations it describes the golden streets we've talked about this multiple times and the gates made our pearl it is funny how god uses the earthly values of us to use as things you're going to use to walk on things this ain't valuable these things ain't valuable because the valuable thing is the thing that is being pressured rise the thing that is being into the well to be used by him the streets of gold are just things that we walk on their trials are not punishments they're prison or prisons they are protection and preparation you are being purified under pressure you are being purified under pressure under pressure god is so good every temptation be obedient every run you better get a map because god's about to send you everywhere everything that you go through god is about to prepare you for the life i'm about to close brother rodney my coming as we live in our life today in 2022 we have to be obedient there are things that come against us there are things that fight against us there are people that come against us and with the obedience of god and with the pressure of being a diamond you remember there are so many comfort zones we can go into there are so many levels of the trenches that we can be upon but let me tell you my friends if you unplug from the world and plug into god the calling on your life is being a significantly better reward you might not find a dollar bill in your banking account you might not find food in the table you might not find gas in your tank but let me tell you my friends you have an earth a worldly experience here but the prize of heaven is much greater you are valued in his eyes don't let the temptation of peer pressure define you you are not being purified by the sins of the world you are being purified the pressure and the grace of god we need to be transparent we need to feel worthy for those who are feeling unworthy the things in life i did not feel worthy enough i did not feel worthy enough to be a dad because the lack that i had was not there i did not fail to be a friend or a brother because everywhere we went brothers were either aunts or uncles so there are times in my life where i take myself alone and i think about things my wife knows my cues and my my things i go through when i'm put myself alone i'm i'm quiet either there's two things around me i'm a deep thought or i'm really mad there are things in life that are going to get you some under pressure marriage can be some under pressure you got to be a person you got to step up kids can make you a lot under pressure but it's not that it's pressure it's protection it's when you are being purified under the god as an anointing to be pressurized into a place of protection not only for you but your family if it's for god it will all come about can we stand please god has been fighting me with this for about as when pastor talked to me but i had some notes about this before that being refined impurities unwanted material friends can i say there's gonna be some times when god is gonna want you to take away some things in your life now you might think it's a struggle but if you really define yourself is that worth going to heaven i mean worth going to hell the things you are holding on to is is it worth it is it worth the impurities just because you have you live a short life here in heaven just because you should live a short breath a coal is also made of carbon it contains so many impurities here on earth those impurities cannot be taken out but it's so funny how god has a sense of humor showing us how earthly things can be reversed in the spiritual world whatever situation may be whatever the impurities may be you're under pressure for a reason it says behold i have refined thee i who is i jesus he is the god of god for the i have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction there's a reason why he has put us in a furnace there's a reason why he has pressurized us the way the same reason you make glass you use sand you find staying at the beach it's pretty hot at the beach at this time of the year but it's amazing how your body can withstand some heat to prepare us for those afflictions to prepare us for things in life that we have no idea what's going to happen so church the question is what are your impurities what are things that you need to be under the anointing of god to refine you but not just for you your life your children your family your loved ones your future spouses the church to god is defining your life i just turned 30 last friday two fridays ago and i told myself as a young guy i said man where am i going to be at 30. i know 30 is young but i would never change a thing of what i'd done there are some afflictions i upon i put upon myself there are some things i did to myself but it's made me who i am today because i allowed god in those afflictions we all have our faults and failures but let me tell you something my friends there is a reward much greater much much greater god is amazing so right now can we lift up our hands lord jesus we love you right now god let the anointing of the power of the holy ghost teach us and to reach our hearts look out into a place of imperfection to perfection i know we can't be perfect lord god every day we can't be perfect as you god but let's be closer as christ like unto you jesus let us love you lord god let us be blessed unto you jesus let us be purified under the pressure of the anointing of god lord jesus we love you today we give you all the glory and all the honor in jesus name hallelujah