He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.
In your Bible, if you read this verse, turn a couple pages to see who Malachi was talking about. The very first New Testament verse reads, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” According to Malachi, in about 400 years, the Messiah will come. I doubt he knew many of the details of his humble birth and humiliation on the cross. To those following him, he would sit as a refiner and purifier, teaching them how to live a Christlike life. He would also purify all who believe in him by removing their sin like fuller’s soap, making them white as snow. With that new life, his followers will worship him out of gratitude and offer themselves to them. We can put that to the test in real life.
Starting in January, Mike Polach will begin a new Men’s Ministry and he chose to call it, “The Refining Fire.” This new ministry will allow men to come empty handed to meet with other men and become vulnerable in each others’ presence. More importantly, they will be clay in the hands of the Refiner himself. The grubbiness and impurity of sin will be burned off and we will bring offerings of praise to the Lord, offering ourselves to him for his will. Imagine a church where all the men pour their lives into the Lord and into each other. Imagine a world like that. It must start somewhere. Let it start with you, then men and women will be like…
Gold or silver.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church