Volume 44 | Number 3 | May–June 2016

Inglés Español

But the Wise Shall Understand: Part Three
“Many Shall Be Purified, and Made White, and Tried”


By Dr. H. T. Spence

Trouble! What a word in the English language. It covers so many contexts and produces so many effects upon and in the life. As we observed in the last article, trouble is a term that can cause distress, worry, difficulty in living, vexation, affliction, pains, exertion, cares, bother, causing effort, disturbance, agitation, disquietness, restlessness, perplexity of the mind, ill-will, injury, feelings and emotions of illness, wickedness, and pressure. It is a term covering much of what man can experience in life.

The great variety of sources that bring us trouble include the Devil, the world, nature (insects, varmints, floods, drought), enemies, friends, family members (in various kinds of experiences), self and our own failures and sins, and (more directly) God. Trouble is a word that has been a constant companion with man down through the ages. As Job declared, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1).

From Whence Came Trouble?

The question may be asked, “From whence came trouble?” To answer the question, we must carefully review the beginning of time and search the Scriptures for trouble’s beginning. Creation’s account in Genesis 1 and 2 clarify that God made a perfect earth: “behold it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). When we read of the early description of the Garden of Eden, no trouble is found in this enclosure of delight; nothing disturbed or afflicted created life.

In Genesis 3, however, a serpent’s entrance from the field into the garden of delight initiated change. A conversation ensued, the woman listened, and soon disturbing words arose in the communication between the serpent and the woman. Can we say, “We are in trouble now!”? Did the Devil through the serpent bring the trouble? Or did man and woman bring the trouble by listening to words against the Word of God and not obeying the Word of God? Some may quickly respond, “God should be blamed for bringing trouble into the world. He should not have placed a tree of forbidden fruit in the garden.” But we must immediately respond that God placed the two trees (the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) in the garden to give man the liberty to use his will. For what purpose would God give man a will and then prohibit the free use of that will?

Perhaps we should acknowledge that trouble began when man made the choice to go against God’s Word. Adam’s disobedient use of his will brought forth sin in his heart and into the created world. Consequently, God had to alter the earth somewhat in order to make it compatible for this newly fallen man. According to Genesis 3:16, God added certain troubles or sorrows to the woman, especially in the context of birthing (and perhaps rearing) children. God also chose to curse the ground, for in sorrow man would eat of it all the days of his life.

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (3:18, 19).

Yes, trouble became part of man’s earthly existence. Man commenced the trouble himself, but God added to his trouble and difficulty for the good of man.

But oh, how trouble increased from the fall of Adam and Eve! Trouble is immediately seen in their home with a son refusing to listen to God’s Word about a proper sacrifice. There was trouble in Cain’s fallen countenance, trouble in his anger, and trouble from murdering his brother. Trouble eventually divided the home of Adam and Eve when Cain departed. Cain’s descendants will increase the trouble of sin in the earth.

After 1,656 years of human history, the malignant expansion and depth of man’s sin has multiplied trouble so much that we are brought to Genesis 6 and the days of Noah. Noah will be troubled with the necessity to build an ark for the saving of his home from the judgment of God. When the Flood finally came, there came great troubling of the earth and all of mankind.

The Troubles of Theodicy

Our heart continues to probe this subject matter of trouble. Although sinning man creates his own trouble through his sins, why does God permit or directly bring trouble to the righteous?

Early in the Bible, after the Flood, this question arose in the circumstances of the life of Job. Job, the oldest book in the Bible, deals with the theological question of theodicy, or “why do the righteous suffer?” From the opening of the book, it is made clear that Job was “perfect, upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” (Job 1:1). But as the book unfolds, God sent and permitted to be sent, great trouble to this perfect man. It came in the brutal destruction of his cattle, his possessions, and then his children. Trouble accelerated with an overwhelming attack on his body. Oh, how the trouble progressively escalated! Next, his wife turned against both him and his God. Finally, his own friends (who initially came to comfort him) became advocates of the Devil trying to explain Job’s trouble. To add to the trouble, through all of his suffering God was silent to this intensely-afflicted man Job. This in itself caused more trouble to Job.

Yes, the Book of Job becomes a most important book for the enigmas of trouble in the righteous man’s life. But there was a reason for even the trouble brought upon Job. James 5:11 speaks of the “end of the Lord” wrought in this experience of Job. Trouble in the hand of God is for a purpose or often for a variety of purposes.

The Trouble for the Jewish Nation

While in captivity, the Lord revealed to Daniel that seventy weeks of years were still determined against the Jew for troubles. The reason for such troubles is enumerated to him:

To finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy (Daniel 9:24).

The purpose of these prophesied troubles to the Jewish nation is something not expected—God meant these troubles for their good. God has an expected end in mind while permitting all of the aspects of trouble to come to the Jewish nation. Although the first sixty-nine weeks have been fulfilled (from the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the city of Jerusalem to the time of the cutting off of Messiah), the last and final week will be the greatest trouble the Jewish nation will face. This last week (the seventieth week) of trouble will finally turn the Jewish nation back to their Messiah. It will be marked by providential workings of purifying, making white, and trying by fire as mentioned in Daniel 12:10. These are figurative expressions given respectively for sifting, washing, and smelting.

The World Increasing in Trouble

The deepening of man’s sins throughout the earth is ever increasing the trouble on this planet. God’s own people are caught in the middle of the abounding trouble that mankind’s sins are bringing. We even receive the side effects of God’s troubling of the minds of world leaders; we receive the side effects of increased trouble upon creation, including droughts, famine, and other natural disasters. Though trouble and tribulation befall the wicked, the wicked never really profit from the intense tribulations; as trouble increases in their lives, they increase in their wickedness.

Trouble that appears in the end time of any age brings a twofold result. (1) Trouble results in the purification of the saints; trouble serves a precious end for the saints before God. (2) Trouble manifests the true character of the wickedness of the human heart; trouble has an adverse effect upon the wicked. Therefore, the End-time trouble is uniquely for the preparation of not only the earth but also for the saints. God will increase the troubles on the earth by bringing about the Great Tribulation, as Jesus the Lamb breaks the seals of a book that will lead to the restoration of the earth for man. The sealed book mentioned in Revelation 5 is a book unleashing trouble throughout the planet as never known before, in order to pave the way for Christ’s open coming in Revelation 19.

The End Time of Daniel’s Last Week will be filled with much trouble for the Jews, the worst they have ever known. But there is a purpose for this trouble. This trouble will lead the Jew to repentance; trouble should lead to repentance. We read in Zechariah 12:1, 2, 10–14 how the trouble will affect each of the Jewish families differently. The Great Tribulation is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. Daniel’s Last Week is not an end in itself but a means to the end of turning the nation of Israel to its true Messiah.

Troubles Throughout Christian History

Troubles have been clearly evident throughout the Church ages. Redemption began in the womb of trouble when our beloved Saviour came to a world of trouble. He met trouble as an infant and through His life’s ministry; it was trouble in God’s providence which drove Him to the Cross.

Trouble has been the appointment of the institutional Church through-out history. The Church was born in the crucible of trouble, and it has continued in the crucible of trouble. The spilling of the blood of martyrs became as seed bringing forth more into the Kingdom.

The Scriptures reveal that the End-time troubles will vastly increase upon God’s true saints. James 5:7 declares that Christ is waiting for the precious fruit to be revealed before His coming. The Rapture will occur at the height of the appointment of purifying trouble to God’s waiting and watching people. These providential troubles will bring forth fruit to Christ’s glory in the character of His Son.

Song of Solomon 6:11 brings a vivid description of Christ’s bride at the time of the End: “I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.” The Rapture may take place in the lowest hour in history for God’s saints. The greatest hour of testing, of purifying, of washing, and of trying will take place at the time of the End. The Shulamite went down “to see” the fruits of the valley. Oh, the valley life just before the Rapture.

Only troubles mingled with the grace of Christ can bring about the fruit needed for our Saviour:

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (James 5:7, 8).

The final fruit at Christ’s coming will be the product of great trouble. Such trouble will be filled with wars and rumors of wars; our own president has contributed to the intensifying of such trouble for our country. Forerunners of Antichrist, forerunners of the False Prophet must come to place the world in a posture of the finality of the Day of Man (as prophetically resolved in the Book of Daniel).

The End-time saints will be caught in this trouble. However, this trouble will be for the good of their souls, to produce the precious fruit. Godly character can only come through grace and suffering. It will take the greatest hour of suffering, tribulation, and troubles to bring about the precious fruit needed for the remnant of the End of the Church ages.

The Christians of the last Church age before the Rapture and the last world age before the coming of Antichrist will be constantly in the climate of the apostasy. It will be the worst of times; it will be the most difficult of times to live the Christian life. It will be the greatest testing time of the Church. My earthly father often said some of the greatest saints that have ever lived will be living just before the Rapture. Yet the best of men have some dross, which makes afflictions, yea, fiery trials, necessary for them. Even Job, the best of men, realized that at the end of his trial: “therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. . . . Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:3, 6).

The “End” Workings of the Gospel

The terms purified, made white, and tried presented in Daniel 12:10a signify all kinds of examination and trials. They can suggest the image of a founder trying metals to purge them of dross, or the image of a laborer winnowing grain to separate it from chaff, or the image of a fuller washing and scouring cloth to cleanse away dirt or oily spots. The privilege of these purgings unto whiteness are only available to the wise ones. They will understand the true end and purpose of trials, setbacks, and troubles; they will know why these things are permitted by God. These believers are the ones who are wise unto salvation.

Oh, dear reader, this is the end goal of the Gospel—to bring God’s saints to being completely purified. The End-time Church has greatly failed in its understanding that the “ends” of the Gospel are not attained until the Church is completely purified. The first aim of the Gospel is to gather men into the Church by repentance and faith. The second aim is to perfect them when they are in the Church. In this second aim, the evangelical church has grossly failed today.

Congregations of local churches are not going on unto perfection. What brought godly living in the past to the church has now been lost or left; carnality rules and reigns in the present-day churches; there is no concept of heart purity and perfection of living. The Church at one time in its early history lived by suffering; the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church. But the powerful Charismatic movement, yea, Neo-Pentecostalism of the 1930s and 1940s, declared that being poor and sick were signs of God’s disfavor and that God does not want his people living in troubles or sufferings, or discomforts, or the insufficiencies of life. The Laodicean Church Age moved into the world’s view of success and left the spiritual needs of life behind. It moved uptown and became friends with the Fortune 500 crowd. Churches today are looking to get out of troubles, out of poverty, out of the stigmas and mockings by the world. This kind of mind and heart concept of religious living is without holiness of heart and life. We must remember that when an individual is truly born again, the church has only begun what it has been divinely appointed to do—to bring the newborn believer to spiritual perfection through the message of the Gospel and the means of Christ’s redemption. Otherwise, the local church is not a Bible Church!

Purity only comes to the Christian through suffering. The inward work of holiness or sanctification can only come through the crucible of the cross, through the crucible of crucifixion, the affliction of Calvary. The only way character can come to a local church or to individuals is through the working of sufferings in trials brought upon the people and commingled with the Grace of God. Trouble in and of itself has no merit; but in the context of grace, troubles can work eternal benefit.

These ends are only attained by a lifelong process of purification. The act of conversion does not satisfy these ends. Though the life may be turned from sin to God, evil still lingers, old sins rise up again, and new temptations often prove too strong. This is why, even after the crisis of dealing with the sin nature, trials and troubles must come for an ongoing purifying of the life, making white the garments of character of Christ for the life. When Christians fail in the trying and testing of their troubles, no purging comes to the life. The failure was not the trouble itself but the improper response of the Christian to that trouble.

Tryings of life in God’s providence can bring purgings by making us think more humbly of ourselves, by causing us to ask whether we have brought this trial upon ourselves, and by showing us the inadequacy of self in the trial. These trials and troubles also make us dissatisfied with this world and therefore cause us to desire to be right in our relationship to the spiritual world and God. Such troubles are to lead us to feel and see the need of God, and so to seek to be conformed to the mind and image of Christ.

But we must be careful, for we could allow trouble to harden our heart in sin and result in complaints against providence. This is why we need the Spirit of God to enable us to profit by the holy influences of trials. This conception of the end of a trial should lead us to accept it with patient submission since it is sent not as vindictive punishment but as purifying chastisement. We are to seek grace in order to respond to the trial profitably. Remember, for God to prepare us for His glorious coming, the End Time will be given to tribulation.

As we have observed, the End Time, on the eve of the Rapture, will be the greatest hour for troubles and trials, in order to bring about the most precious inward fruit of the heart and nature and character of God’s remnant. Likewise, we should understand that each trial in one’s life will have its own end time, and one’s life will also have its own end time. The trials at the end of one’s Christian life will be the most important, and perhaps the greatest testings to resolve the Christ life within. We reiterate that the best of men have some dross ever making necessary afflictions, troubles, and fiery trials.

The key to trials is understanding that the trying is for the Christian life. The wicked will not understand, but the wise will understand. Paul declares in Hebrews 12:11, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Yes, “for many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.” It is through the End-time troubles that God is preparing the precious fruit for His Son, and for His children to one day soon be caught up through a Rapture out of the trouble.

Conclusion

“Many shall be purified, made white, and tried.” These words describe the order and steps of this end of purity of heart and life. The troubles bring about a purifying; they bring about a whitening, and they bring about a trying (of fire). Tribulations are intensely unique to each individual, so much so that perhaps no other individual would know what constitutes an individual’s greatest trial. That which would be a sore trial to one, would be as nothing to another. We may tell to others a few surface trials, but that which forms the trial of our soul we very seldom tell to anyone but God.

It is important to search the Scriptures to see if our peculiar trials are depicted there. If so, this can lead to great disclosures of light and truth for our trial. Trials should bring the holy soul to wider and keener spiritual vision. While tribulation is not loved, yet it shows the child of God his need of greater sympathy, compassion, and tenderness for others. Tribulation without being in the Holy Spirit will cause us to sour, harden, and embitter the heart and life. But if we are in the Spirit through these End-time trials, He will soften the speech and mellow the feelings and heart toward God and toward others. Once again we read in Hebrews, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (12:11).

The Troubles of the End Time, brought about by man and his sins, and brought through the providences of God, are vastly increasing, and are all falling upon the saints. This is God’s way of making ready His people, for “many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.”

In our next Straightway issue, we will witness three final aspects from Daniel’s final prophecies: (1) “The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand”; (2) “But the wise shall understand”; and, (3) “Blessed is he that waiteth.”

May God prepare us for what is ahead in our country and make us wise for these days with His wisdom.