Date: Thursday, 26th August, 2021
Ministering: Pastor Kayode Afolabi
We are in the season of healing where God is healing the diseases of souls. The first night the angel of God appeared during the 2021 Believers’ Convention in Nigeria, the angel did not only come to heal the body but he also came to heal souls. However, there is a heart disposition we must have to be able to receive this healing for our souls. For some, their healing will only take place in the world to come; but God is presently healing the souls of men that will qualify them to inherit Eternal Life even in the days of their flesh.
“Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour…” (Titus 1:1-2). God promised Eternal Life before the world began; it was His intention for man to attain Eternal Life before creation. He intends that man will attain this Life through preaching. This means both Everlasting Life and Eternal Life will be manifested through preaching. Since God has intended that we come into Eternal Life, we must give our lives completely to attaining this Life.
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Heb. 11:3). There are worlds (ages) that can only be seen through the eyes of faith. God had prepared dispensations before time began. Thus, it is no coincidence when we begin to hear that nations will be healed. God had intended before the world began that man would come into Life. Therefore, we ought to comprehend these words and prioritize them because God’s purpose for us transcends this present world. What God intends to do through a certain people who would live on the earth is to commit to them the conversations of the world to come. This knowledge should change our disposition and appetite towards the preaching that comes to us.
A good understanding of a profession in the natural changes one’s stature and reasoning, which is as a result of learning. Likewise, God is raising us in the learning of His Life and we appreciate this learning as we grow up spiritually. The world to come is a conversation to be heard in the days of our flesh; and those who would be relevant in that world must come to the realization of the process involved, even in the days of their flesh.
There is a curriculum we have to go through, which is the learning of Christ; and there is a reward for those who go through this curriculum well. Knowing what is required of us should change the posture of our hearts.
God would heal the nations (Rev. 22:2); but before then, we would see the sons of God emerge and preach the everlasting gospel. Yet, we must bear in mind that God’s purpose for us transcends this present world. There are some assignments God is committing to us whose demonstrations and expressions are not for this present but for the world to come.
The Lord wants to harvest a people whom He has worked on and purified. “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. [2] 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...” (Mal. 3:1-2). The Lord will appear first in us before He comes for us. Before the Lord heals the nations, He would first heal His people, whom He will raise priests and ministers.
The leaves of the Tree signify the Word of God, which will go into the depths of the soul and bring healing. The Lord is raising us to align with the Word of God, so we can be made leaves. The Word of God raises a people who will be able to accommodate the Lord.
There are two descriptions of the Lord in Malachi 3:1: Refiner’s fire and Fuller’s soap. As saints, we carry things that defile and we would not be able to accommodate the Lord in that state. Hence, we would be required to go through further processing in order to rid us of those things.
Silver is usually made in a crucible, heated to very high degrees; and the process is done twice. The prophet, Malachi, describes the Lord’s activity amongst His people in such a manner. A fuller’s soap is used to make something white and the process is usually done outside the city because of the smell. This tells us how the Lord is coming; He is coming to purify us in order to prepare us for what is coming.
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him…” (Heb. 2:3). 'Escape' in this scripture means that one cannot come into the intent of the New Covenant without hearing the Lord. Hence, we must trust the Lord to increase our capacity to receive Him. In the miracle Elisha performed with the woman who was in debt, just as vessels were being brought to contain the oil (2 Kings 4:1-7), God also wants to pour His substances into us.
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. [2] But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. [3] And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (Ps. 1:1-3). There is a kind of law that is coming to us in this season which we must make our delight and esteem more than our necessary meal. We must allow the realm of the spirit to become more real to us, such that we delight in the law of the Lord day and night.
God wants to raise us as leaves whose lives are one with the message of everlasting life. He wants to heal the gaps in our lives. May we cooperate with His appearance to purify and cleanse us, so we can become what He has desired for us.