Malachi 3
Embrace the Refiner’s Fire!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, October 26.
The final chapters of the last book of the Old Testament establish a prophetic bridge between Malachi and John the Baptist, a nearly half-millennium gap between the final prophets of the Old Covenant. Set in the historical context of corrupted worship in post-exilic Jerusalem, God declared that He would refine the priesthood to offer Him right sacrifices in Malachi 3:1-3:
“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.”
God’s refining fire has a purpose – to purify us as His vessels (Romans 9:16-24; Acts 9:15; 2 Corinthians 4:7-10; 2 Timothy 2:20-22). It was for this reason that God sent John the Baptist as the “Elijah who was to come” (Matthew 11:14), the messenger of Malachi 3:1 who would prepare the way for the Messiah, as heralded by Zacharias the priest in Luke 1:76-77, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” Through faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is God’s refiner’s fire to purify a new priesthood, one that would “present to the Lord offerings in righteousness” as foretold in Malachi 3:3 (cf. 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 1:6).
Seize the moment and embrace the refiner’s fire (1 Peter 1:6-7). God has a purpose for your life (Ephesians 2:8-10).
YOUTUBE:
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