PASTOR’S CORNER
UNDERSTANDING THE REFINER’S MANDATE
UNDERSTANDING THE REFINER’S MYSTERY
REFERENCES: ROMANS 15: 15-16, MALACHI 3: 1-5, PROVERBS 27:21, ISAIAH 43: 21, ISAIAH60:2-3
The Refiner is a Person. He is the Holy Ghost, and He works His work of refining lives through us.
Therefore, when we say the Refiner’s Place Ministries, we are talking about the place where the Refiner works to transform the lives of men, the physical refiners.
As a refiner, there is a need to understand your assignment; to appreciate the reason why we do the things that we do.
Without this understanding, it is possible for someone to have been coming to this ministry for a long time, without enjoying the blessings of the covenant.
Rom 15: 15-16
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God. That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
You cannot give what you do not have; and you cannot have what is not given to you.
You cannot dispense grace until it is given to you. You cannot refine lives until you have been refined by the Holy Spirit. You can only set the standard that you have received from God.
As a refiner, I am called to minister Jesus Christ, that is, to transmit, not just Jesus, but the Jesus Christ to you.
Anyone can answer the name Jesus. However, the One you are called to transmit is Jesus Christ- the Anointed.
You cannot transmit the anointing you do not have. Therefore, in order to execute the refiner’s mandate, you must be anointed.
You cannot come to this ministry and expect it to be a place of social interactions; it is not a place where nominal praise, bible reading and powerless prayers are celebrated; it is not an alternative to clubs and associations.
The anointing is paramount, because it is one of the focus of our mandate- to transmit the anointed word of God.
The second mandate is to minister the good news of God. Again, you can only do so, when you have heard the good news yourself.
Therefore, it is not enough to have bible readings. Being articulate and charismatic is not the focus of the mandate. It is not enough to give the people the word of God.
Anyone can speak the word of God; even the devil. The focus is to feed the people with the word from God; the timely word for the hour; to broadcast what God is saying at this time.
What is the purpose of all these? It is to make the people acceptable to God.
The Gentiles needed this man.
You need a refiner.
God will not come down physically to transform your life. Instead, He sends a man to minister anointed words, and new things from Him to the people.
The refiner will only succeed in that assignment when his words are endorsed by the Holy Ghost. This means that, if the words he speaks are not backed up by the Holy Ghost, they did not come from God.
The power of God will endorse the words that proceed from the throne of grace; the words that reveal the mind of God.
That is why you are told to come as you are; that is fine. However, to remain that way is an insult against divinity, because it is our responsibility to refine your life.
Like gold, your true value will never be seen, and appreciated, until you are refined. Therefore, while you can come in as a lump of raw gold; covered up in traditions, religion, immorality, the occult, alcoholism, depravity; you shall be refined, transformed and made extremely valuable. You must be ready to submit to the process, letting go of the dross of your past. Then you will become acceptable to God.
When you are acceptable to God, your world, situations and circumstances will bow to you. However, when a man is not acceptable to God, devils, situations, people and challenges will walk all over him…
Mal 3: 1-5
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
The messenger is sent to prepare the way for someone else.
Jesus sent the disciples in twos to places He was to visit later.
Brethren, whenever God sends a man to you, it is to herald and prepare you for His coming.
Therefore, no one is permitted to be a god over your life. The refiner is merely a messenger sent by God to prepare the way for Him to be your friend.
You are prepared, cultured according to the Word, so that you can receive Him as your friend.
Once the way is prepared, God will come to you.
Every messenger of God is a covenant carrier.
But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap
The messenger carries two things: fire and soap. This is because, while there are those who need to be refined by fire, others need washing. There are yet others that need both refining by fire, and the washing.
The challenge many Christians face, is that of adjusting to the truth. Many are still stuck in the teachings of the past. Therefore, they are baffled, and sometimes offended by what they hear from the altar. Therefore, they struggle with the refining work of the messenger.
Some struggle to stay awake when the word is preached, but they will pray vigorously for hours.
Others enjoy the word, but will wonder at the idea of prayer that is energetic and warlike.
and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver
The vision is for every member of this ministry to sit as a refiner over his household.
Your household is crude, hidden under layers of demonic attachments. It is waiting to be refined and purified; to be declared as valuable.
You are the refiner, sent to refine and purify them.
That is why we prepare you for the assignment; sometimes having to go in harder, and deeper to take away the dross from your life, and to scrub the hardened layers of dirt off you.
and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
The focus of God is to purify the leaders first; so that they may minister in righteousness. Remember that you transmit what you have been given. It also means that the people will feed on what they are given.
Whatever the pastor, Sunday school teacher, choir minister transmit is what the congregation will feed on, and live by.
If they minister righteousness, the people will offer up righteous lives to God.
If they minister error, limitation will take over the lives of the people, and they will offer up corrupt lives to God.
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
This is the reason for God’s focus on the leaders. When they transmit righteousness to the people, their offering will be pleasing to God. They will be acceptable before Him because their lives and substance are products of righteousness.
When your life is pleasing to God, He will also please you. He will make all things work for your good, and woe betide those who hate you.
To those whose lives do not please God, note that trying to win Him over with fasting, prayers and giving will not work. As long as you live in unrighteousness, nothing you offer up to Him will be acceptable. Your life does not please Him; how then will He please you?
Consider that the value placed on crude oil is lower than that placed on its refined counterpart.
God wants to increase your value; and thereby increase your price.
You have been harassed, afflicted and oppressed by devils for so long because your value has not changed. Nothing has changed in your life.
Once it does; when you are cultured in the way of Christ; you will be accorded the fear and respect that your new value demands.
And I will come near to you to judgement, and I will be a swift witness…
A witness here is someone who testifies to what someone else is saying. This means that you have to say something for Him to
Bear witness to. That is why we encourage you to say the right thing in the Word and in prayer.
He will testify against these five sets of personalities.
…against the sorcerers
Sorcerers are those who practice witchcraft. You are called to deal with their ways, for they desire to manipulate and impose their will on lives and destinies. These are the powers that want to determine how your life will go.
When you are refined, you receive capacity to declare that they cannot limit you in destiny; and God will say ‘yes’.
…and against the adulterers
These are idolaters. They come to church, but in secret, they bow to strange gods. Under the guise of being prophets, they have declared evil judgement against the lives, marriages and destinies of many.
…and against false swearers
These are the hypocrites, found in the house of God. They claim to have received revelations from God for you, when in truth, they are false swearers.
…and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless
These are oppressors. They allow you to work hard, but do not allow you to enjoy your harvest, because they waste your wealth.
…and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
These are hijackers. They are those, who specialise in declaring that you are not permitted to receive what God has appointed for you, because you are a stranger to that blessing.
Their claim is that no one in your household, in your world, has achieved that blessing. Therefore, you must not access it.
When you say the right things, the Holy Ghost will testify for you. In doing so, He will testify against those that you are called to destroy.
When you are cultured in God, and refined, God will come to you. When He does, He will bear witness with you, against these five personalities.
Pro 27:21
As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
The praise of every man is inside him.
There is a divine endowment in your soul; but this has been covered up by the dross of this world.
As the fining pot, and furnace, so is this man for you.
These did not create the precious metals, but they had the mandate to bring out the beauty and value of the metals.
As fire refines gold, every man and woman under this mandate is called to bring forth the praise that has been lying low inside you.
When you begin to shine, God takes all the glory. The divine mission is accomplished.
Brethren, there is a man sent to you. His mandate is to scrub, wash, refine your life.
He is convinced that there is more to you than what can now be seen; and he knows that, until your true praise comes out, your value will not change.
If the value does not change, the price will remain the same.
You must therefore be ready to endure the purging process. It will be painful, but the gain is indisputable.
Allow the man to scrub your mind, your perceptions, your soul. Submit to the increase of your mental capacity, your ability to see, hear, and understand better…
Endure the refiner’s fire
Suffer through the fuller’s washing.
When it is all done, your value will increase; and so will your price.
Isa 43: 21
This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
The people I formed for Myself, that they may set forth My praise [and they shall do it] [AMP]
The devil did not form you. Witchcraft did not form you.
God formed you; and He did so for Himself.
The devil might have smuggled witchcraft into your life; but when you endure the refiner’s fire, it will all be burnt away.
God formed you to manifest His praise.
Your praise is God’s praise, lying inside you.
It will be revealed when you are refined.
When it is revealed, men will ask you how you became this new person. Then, you can declare unto them, ‘I was refined, and His praise was revealed in me’.
Isa 60:2-3
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
It does not matter how thick the darkness is; what matters is this: that the LORD rise upon you, that His glory is revealed upon your life.
This is the purpose for the refiner’s fire. It prepares you to receive the presence and glory of God upon your life.
Therefore, do not magnify darkness. No matter how thick it is, it is no match for the light. Thus, God called light out of darkness, and darkness could do no more than open up his mouth, astonished and confounded.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
They shall come to you. Men shall seek you out when they see your light, and the brightness of your rising.
This will be your reality when your life has been cultured by the Word.
Then, your value will change.
Then, your price will increase.
PRAYER POINTS
In the name of Jesus,
Fire to rise in glory; take over my life.
My life, receive sufficient power to showcase God’s power and praise.
Witchcraft powers, against my life; be wasted by fire.
Any waster over my harvest; I waste you by fire.
Any power that makes my life a stranger to the blessing of God; you are a liar. Be wasted by fire.
Any work of witchcraft over my life; I clear you out by fire.
Satanic system that interrupts the blessing of God against my life; I damage and destroy you by fire.
Holy Ghost, fill me up again.