Living in Light of His Love — Malachi 1-4

0:00 Let me just give you the genesis of this message. Prior to, Todd speaking a month ago, and I'm gonna review the June messages very briefly, I was had the thought, wouldn't it be nice if the Lord would send us a report card once in a while? And then I came across Malachi and I sort of regretted what I asked for. Are real life Malachi is a real life story, real life history of the uglier side of humanity and things that we need to be on guard for lest we fall into some of those same traps. So oh, by the way, today is Chris Schroeder's birthday.

0:47 If you need his number, can share with you to send him a text later. But like I said about technology, I always like to this maybe I subconsciously got it from Doug Torok, who's always reviewing what the others talked about. I guess I'll do it from memory. Give me a minute. Oh, here we go.

1:24 Actually, let's, maybe we should pray. Father, we do thank You for this time to be together. Thank You for a comfortable building to listen and speak and to and to listen to your voice. We pray that you help me as I speak and may all of us have ears to hear, the scriptures today. And we ask for your help in our lord Jesus name.

1:45 Amen. Malachi, we'll get to the reviews later. Malachi, in simplest terms, is how to live in light of God's love. And we'll get to it later. The first verse of Malachi after the introduction is absolutely precious.

2:08 One of the components of Malachi that I was reminded in these last two songs is the father son relationship. We can know Almighty God as a son. He can be like a father to us. In Malachi, there's 55 verses in Malachi. 20 times in the book, the Lord of hosts is used.

2:28 They need we need a good reminder of the holy God that we want to serve, that we should want to serve. Some of the outstanding texts, sometimes in my technological approach, I miss things. The first one I just referred to is chapter one verse two. I have loved you. And that's a covenantal love, not merely an affectionate love that God has for all, for his people specifically, but for all of mankind.

3:00 In chapter two, this is kind of guy humor, but it's in the Bible. I will spread refuse on your faces. I will spread and we'll develop that some more later. If I was going to be a movie rater, would definitely rate the scriptures PG-thirteen. Definitely parental guidance is helpful through the difficult portions of scripture and the graphic portions.

3:27 Chapter two, verse five, My covenant with him was one of life and peace. Isn't that what we would all desire? Peace in our life. When I surveyed various people, what stuck out to them from Malachi, I always got responses from chapter two about divorce or marriage. God says in chapter two, I hate divorce.

4:18 And then there's four hundred silent years before the coming of the Lord Jesus, the the living word. In the time of Malachi, this is probably two or three generations after the rebuilding of the temple, and that enthusiasm, to say the least, had faded, and they had fallen into some bad behavior. So just to review the last five speakers before me, I think they all kind of reinforced the subject teaching of Malachi. Beginning of June, Ray preached Christ. And one of the things he says is God does not fail us when we think he doesn't provide as we think we need.

5:03 And that was one of the problems of Israel in Malachi's day as his audience. They didn't feel that God was taking care of them or that he wasn't worth following. I appreciated the academic, the classroom scenario that Todd used of godly wisdom. His question, one of his questions was, are you enrolled in wisdom class, in wisdom's class? Chris Schroeder encouraged us to stand firm.

5:32 It's imperative to be true and steady and focused. And our inabilities, our shortcomings help demonstrate the Lord's provision for us. Jeremy had a great message on contending for the faith and reminded us that we have an enemy that's trying to destroy us, trying to trip us up, that is the devil. Last week, I think my biggest treat from Mandy's message was the reminder in John twelve twenty six. Jesus' words, if anyone serves me, let him follow me.

6:09 And where I am, there shall my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. The essence of Christianity is relationship, relationship with the Lord, not ritual. And Malachi's one of his rebukes to the Israelites was their rituals, which even the rituals were no longer working for them. I'd like to read, two Timothy three sixteen and seventeen.

6:39 All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate or complete, equipped for every good work. I would say Malachi falls under the area of reproof and correction and also some instruction in righteousness. So let's launch into the book. There's lots of questions. That was apparently Malachi's method to ask questions, both literal and hypothetical.

7:15 I also have to admit that some of the sarcasm pulled me in. I enjoy good sarcasm. And from the authors I surveyed, they all divide or mention that there's six oracles in the book of Malachi. Six oracles. I think in contemporary times, we might just call them memos, memos from above or memos from whoever's in authority over you.

7:50 And memos are usually not good. There's something to... You need to learn from. So there's six of them in the book. We're going to try to get through them all.

8:21 And God's response was, was not Esau Jacob's brother? Yet I have loved Jacob. But I hated but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness. Though Edom says, we have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins, thus says the Lord of hosts, They may build, but I will tear down. And men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.

8:57 Verse five. And your eyes will see this, and you will say, the Lord be magnified beyond the borders of Israel. So the Lord was reminding them that He loved them. And that's a great understanding for all of us to have. The Lord is on our side.

9:15 He loves us unconditionally. They felt like they were not being loved by the Lord, whether it was struggles of life, the agricultural challenges perhaps, or the enemies that were pestering them, or certainly the enthusiasm of the rebuilt temple had faded. So they were struggling and they were falling into sin. But the Lord reminds them that He loves them, And He demonstrates that by the story of Jacob and Esau. And there's a lot in this story that we're not going to talk about.

9:52 But Esau was the elder brother and would have had all the rights of the firstborn son. But God chose Jacob. Esau and his descendants, though, would be cursed. And they would always try to rise up and rebuild, but the Lord would keep them down because God had chosen Jacob carry forth his name and be the lineage from which the Israelites, part of the lineage from which the Israelites would, the nation would be formed. Esau, as we know, had made some bad choices, and those choices were going to stick with them.

10:31 Scriptures say he despised his birthright. He did not want what would have been his. And he became the founder of the his descendants are known as the Edomites, which were enemies to Israel. So the Lord's answer to them, have I not loved you, is demonstrated in his faithfulness to Jacob and the descendants. So maybe some applications in this first section are what makes us doubt God's love?

11:04 Challenges of life, frustrations of life or unexplainable tragedies, They can, but we must always remember that God is faithful and He always loves. And as we were reminded again this morning, never to forget Calvary, the absolute perfect illustration of His love. The second oracle or memo, as I might say, starts in verse six and runs through chapter two, verse nine. And this is a very grievous situation. The problem was that the priests who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders despised the name of the Lord.

12:20 That word despise is also used in Isaiah 50 three:three, where Christ of Messiah was despised and rejected of men. How inappropriate is that? In verse six, we see the illustration of father's merits honor from his son and a master from his servant. How much more does the Lord merit honor from us? So these priests were absolutely, despising the name of the Lord.

12:54 And they did this in a variety of ways. One of them was using blemished animals for the sacrifices. They would use the verse the blind and the lame and the sick for sacrifice instead of using the choice lambs for the Lord. That was what he instructed them to do. Also, they seemed to have the attitude that they were doing God a favor by worshipping Him.

13:26 And they resented. They resented that. Verse 11, not verse 11. They were wearied by it. Also related to that is that the priest misunderstood privilege of worship.

13:47 Look at verse 13, how tiresome. How tiresome. And they were using also using animals that they had taken by robbery. Apparently, were stealing animals for sacrifice. Completely a complete mess.

14:05 The Lord reminds them in verse 14 of chapter one. I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is feared among the nations. The Lord is to it will be feared among the nations, and it should start with us as those who have called upon His name. So what are some of the results or the lessons in here? For one thing, the priests were disqualified and their ministry was taken away.

14:35 Actually, had essentially surrendered it. And this is where it comes at verse three. Behold, I'm going to rebuke your offspring and I will spread refuse on your faces. They were also greatly shamed to be sent away and that refuse from the sacrifices from the offerings was taken outside the camp to be disposed of. And now they were going to be associated with that.

15:04 They should be taken outside the and sent away. But we see some bright spots in the latter part of this oracle in verses four to nine, talks about the history, the covenant with Levi. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave to them as an object of reverence so that he revered me and stood in awe in my name. True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness and he turned many from iniquity.

15:47 That was the job of the religious leaders, to guide the people, not to lead them into transgression. For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Again, we see the phrase the Lord of hosts. And then the rebuke in eight and nine of the condemned service. One of the New Testament truths is that all of us, we call it the priesthood of all believers, all of us have access to God.

16:21 We no longer have to go through a human mediator. We have complete access on our own. We can sit down in the quiet of the morning, open the word, just have communion with the Lord. Third oracle is really, really troubling. It was the problem of in my Bible, says spiritually mixed marriages and then divorce.

17:15 And they wanted to indulge the flesh. So not only did they forsake their own marriages, but they got into idolatry with the other women. And that was completely outside of God's will. Not only the divorce, but of course, the wickedness. And that was what Malachi was chastening them, was bringing to their attention.

17:48 And the consequence, of course, was disqualified worship. Even in that disintegrated society, there was some order because those men who had married the foreign wives would be not allowed to offer their sacrifices. So there was shame in that. And that's, I think, behind the meaning of chapter two, verse 13. You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and groaning, because even their ritualistic behavior was no longer acceptable.

18:24 In verses 14 to 16 well, let me read these verses and let the scriptures impact you directly. Yet you say for what reason? Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But not one has done so who has a remnant of the spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring?

18:55 Take heed then to your spirit and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. Verse 16, For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel. And him who covers his garment with wrongs, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to your spirit so that you do not deal treacherously. This whole scenario, I think, is one of graphic depiction of the effects of sin.

19:21 All of us, I think, know situations where divorces just wrecked families and brought havoc upon the children. One of the purposes of marriage is to raise godly offspring. And if the family is disintegrated, how is that possible? It's lost by example, and it's also lost by a father and mother being there together to raise the godly offspring. So this is another one of the things that Israel had fallen into, which, of course, is part of the problem of the North American churches, too.

19:59 It's a tragic tendency of the flesh when one walks away or wanders from God to get into some real, real difficult situations. First Peter two eleven is an application for for all of us to remember. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers, and that's in the context that our citizenship is in heaven, not in this earth, to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. We have seen too many tragic examples of Christian leaders who have been destroyed by the devil in this area of indulging the flesh and adopting other idols, as it were. Oracle number four is from chapter two, verse 17 to three, verse six.

21:40 It's an expression of despair and spiritual hopelessness. Well, the response was in verse three of chapter one, judgment is coming. And it would this is looking forward to looking way forward, but it's going to come with the Lord Jesus' incarnation, His life, His death and atonement, and then eventually the eternal state. But their judgment day is coming. In verse two, we see that and none will stand against him.

22:22 He will not be challenged or tested. His judgment will be swift and sure. There will be a spiritual renewal, in the Old Testament days. Did we see that? But it's coming.

22:40 It will be in the millennial reign, I believe. And the Lord will be pleased. Then the offering of Judah, verse four, and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in the former years. Again, in verse five, those who are evil will experience swift judgment. And we have in verse six, the reminder of the character of the Lord as he says, For I the Lord do not change, therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

23:21 If the Lord was going to bring swift judgment, and he did in certain instances throughout the life of the Israelites, but if he was going to bring it here, it would have been appropriate for Israel just to be eliminated. They were... They had fallen far from his calling for them. But notice that phrase, oh sons of Jacob. He had reminded them and he had explained to them in chapter one that was part of his calling for them, who they were identified with and through whom they would be blessed.

24:03 Oracle number five is much more encouraging. It's a call to repentance and blessing. There's also some rebuke here. But it's chapter three, verse seven through verse 12. And the Lord invites them to return to him.

24:23 From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. I don't see Wayne here this morning, but one of his favorite verses is Psalm 80 six:five. I'm going to read that for us. For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive in abundant and loving kindness to all who call upon thee.

25:03 And one of my favorites is in Isaiah chapter one. Actually, as harsh as Malachi is, Isaiah chapter one is, I think, even more harsh. But again, we see the heart of the Lord, verse 18. Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow.

25:26 Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. But we see the decision, decision point. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

25:43 The decision is ours, what we want our future to be, as all people have to make that decision. We were reminded in the first meeting, Luke 16, that rich man was content with his life until he realized it didn't work, that it was too late, and then he wanted to go back. But the decisions we make in this life, of course, will determine where we spend eternity. But here's where we have that statement, will a man rob God? They didn't even understand that.

26:19 They were so blinded by sin, He had to explain it to them. One of the I have in my phone lots of notes, and one of them is notable quotes. And I made a quote several years ago from J. D. Greer in regards to sin.

26:36 He said, sin blinds, then it binds, and then it grinds. I'm not sure which category they were in here. But sin is so insidious for the believer, even though we are sometimes blinded by it. And that's where it's helpful to have one another to help us see what we're blinded by. So God's answer to them was in the offerings.

27:04 They were not giving the tithes and offerings that he instructed them to do as his people. And one of the consequences of that was that the priests were deprived of their livelihood. They needed that was part of how the priests were provided for. For us I mean, not for us, not following the Lord and what he asks of us is, in a sense, robbing him as well. So we need to understand what he asks of us and then be faithful in it.

27:42 One of my verses I want to share was Hebrews eleven:six. Let me read it because I, that way I'll get it right. And without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Had this been on the minds of the Israelites, I think they would have done better.

28:42 And lastly is oracle number six. And here we see a little bit of backsliding, some naysaying in verses 13 to 15 of chapter three. They were I would label these people as they were religious without a relationship. And for them, it was service without really knowing the Lord. And so they thought it was now worth it and that their effort was in vain.

29:24 And they thought the wicked were actually better off because they seemed to be having a better life and they weren't being judged. But we know that even in our lives of service, when we don't think we see results and there's challenges and trials, we know that our labors in the Lord are never in vain. One Corinthians fifteen fifty eight is a reminder of that. Those of you that have read many missionary biographies know that there's lots of struggles in their lives, but they do not But they all count it worth the cost and consider it just part of what serving the Lord is, is part of the value of serving the Lord. But we also have a bright spot here, true followers of God in verses 16 to 18.

30:46 He values us. He's assembling His jewels. And we are those who distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him. True followers of God esteem His name. And in chapter four, in closing, God is just.

31:11 This is looking forward to the day of the Lord when everything will be right and true. And all who have rejected Him will receive their reward, or should I say lack of it, they will be judged. And those who have served Him will enter into His eternal joy. So I know this isn't a real pretty book to consider, but there's probably applications for all of us in some categories of faithful service to the Lord, hard attitudes and conduct and examples for others. So let's not miss it.

31:55 Let's pray. Father, we do thank you for your word. We know the scriptures can be pretty hard. And as we consider the Israelites, we can see ourselves in them too. They had they had your your calling, your equipping, your provision, and yet they went astray.

32:18 Father, we too can get astray in different ways. Help us to stay in your word so that we can get your report to us of how we're doing and what you how to serve you. Father, I thank you for this local body here that you've assembled and for how we can care for one another and serve each other and just pray that you continue to to use us until your son returns. And we pray in his name. Amen.