Malachi Week 4: Marital Fidelity
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
My name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here I hope you all had a good weekend especially the women who are on women's retreat I hope that was a blessing to you yeah some of you had a little more fun than others and I just want to let you know that my children are good at cleaning up toilet paper so we're going to be in Malachi 2: 10 through 16 this morning you can go ahead and turn there it's on page 467 our blue Bibles uh the text will be on the screen as.
Well as we walk this together as we're continue to walk through these different disputes that God has with his people through his Prophet Malachi I think Americans and Southerners are fairly okay with unsolicited advice and opinions uh for the most part like I think it like if I'm in the line at cookout somebody comes to me and says hey did you know that you can like upgrade your drink to a milkshake for a dollar more I welcome that I say B blessed and highly favored this is amazing that.
For $8 you can get a milkshake a cheeseburger and french fries and chicken quesadilla and sure the long-term Outlook isn't great but the short-term benefit is wonderful I appreciate anyone who's willing to give me such good news on opinions like that I think there's a lot of different areas that if someone were to speak into your life you'd welcome that and you'd be thankful that they pointed out something that was so helpful I do think it has its limits though there's a few different areas that.
If someone's looking over your shoulder and says hey this you go no uh uh mind your business like that's just I think there's a few different areas two in particular are money and romance right so if someone wants to speak into how you spend your money typical God American response is I made that money I'll I'll spend it how well please mind your business like if someone wants to come and speak into your marriage address speaking of your relationship you're like ah no I'm good you You' you've stepped over the line like I think that's kind of two general areas I think that we're not.
Okay with I mean if I'm honest like if someone want to helpfully come alongside me look at our budget and say I've looked at your budget and I have have a few suggestions on how you can cut costs here here and here that my gut instinct would be thank you for your opinion which is my stock way it's like my phrase for saying I'm I'm good with what you have said so some of you have heard me say that to you.
Now you know going forward if I say thank you for your opinion it's I'm good like I'm I'm moving on from this right I just think there's something in us that just doesn't want those two areas to be touched and Malachi says oh yeah well how about I talk about both of them uh intensely for a couple of chapters and that's what we're we're waiting into now is in the next few weeks uh we're going to look at God speaking into the marriages of the people and also the money and the finances of the people and he's coming.
For both of them so this week specifically in this third dispute we're going to see God speaking to the marriages of the people and there's a part of us that's going to want to say mind your business but Malachi is going to say do you belong to God okay then no I'm going to speak into this and I'm going to speak into the relationships amongst the people of God so we're going to see how God addresses the people and their marriages.
And then as the Church how we get to look at this and see how it applies to us today so let me pray for us then we'll walk through this together Heavenly Father we thank you for being able to come and worship you and sing praises to you offer up prayers of Thanksgiving to you and also that we get to receive your word God I pray that you'd help us receive it for it is a difficult word just as it was.
For the people of God thousands of years ago may you help us receive it and walk this out in faith and in Repentance and in worship and delighting in you ultimately because you were worthy of it we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so Chad finished up the second dispute last week where God is uh correcting the priesthood the priesthood at the time was uh conducting a charade they were they were simply going through the motions of worship it wasn't real true heart worship wasn't offering the sacrifices they were supposed to.
But they were facilitating this system and God calls out the priest priesthood for their failures and then he shifts into this third dispute picking up here in verse 10 have we not all one father has not one God created us why then are we faithless to one another profaning the Covenant of our fathers now other versions will say why do we deal treacherously or why do we betray one another that at the beginning of this dispute he is dealing with some of the the faithlessness that's happening to one another that he establishes very early on in Malachi that he is the.
Father of this nation he's the father of the Jewish people that means that they are the family of God and they should treat one another as family but they're not doing this like they are supposed to there's faithlessness happening towards one another and then he shifts this into two specific areas starting in verse 11 Judah has been faithless an Abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which he loves and has married the daughter of a foreign.
God may the Lord cut off from the tent of Jacob and any descendant of the man who does this who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts and the first area he's going to address is the intermarriages that have happened amongst the people of God they have married the daughters of foreign Gods now there are Skeptics that will lch on to this and see see your God is against interracial marriage your God is an ethnocentric God and that's completely misreading the text this has nothing to do with Jewish people marrying Persians this has everything to do with marrying someone who does not worship the one true.
God that is embedded into the Old Testament law this teaching that says you shall marry someone who also loves the Lord with all their heart with all their soul with all my you should absolutely enter into marriage only with those who have the same Faith this is in Deuteronomy 7 it's in multiple places but we're going to just see one in Deuteronomy 7 it says you shall inter you shall not intermar with them giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters.
For your sons for they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and he will destroy you quickly so it's this teaching of do not marry foreigners who worship foreign gods don't do this the people are far too weak in their faith they're far too weak to marry someone who doesn't share the same God I mean they this in Deuteronomy when they received that law that's just after.
God did this miraculous wonderful work bringing them out of Egypt that we got to walk through in Exodus last year and he brings them out and they immediately they're not even amongst the people of the the surrounding Nations it's just them and their God in the wilderness they worship a golden calf he says do not settle the land of Mary forn wives because you were far too weak to do this now the reason they would have wanted to do this and the reason why this was common at the time was.
If you're going to settle into a new area if you're going to be with people who are not of your own it was advantageous for you to marry off your daughters your Sons because that helped establish trade that helped establish treaties that helped establish covenants with other people so that you could live in peace with another and so that everyone could Prosper so there was a financial advantage there was a Prosperity advantage to actually marrying someone who worships a foreign God.
But it came at the cost of their own faith and the reason we know this is because of the whole rest of the Old Testament like the whole rest of the Old Testament is the people of God inter are Maring with the foreign people and worshiping their gods and setting up asholes and and making sacrifices to ba and giving child sacrifices sacrificing their own children to the God Malik all these surrounding Gods from around the surrounding Nations they get pulled into that worship I mean Nehemiah.
When he's addressing this which is really just before the the prophet of Malachi Nehemiah when he's addressing this uses Solomon as the prime example he says in Nehemiah 13 He says did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women among many nations there was no King like him and he was beloved by his God and God made him King over all Israel nevertheless foreign women made even him to sin and he says Solomon who was the wisest King we ever had Solomon who was a great king the the downfall of Solomon and ultimately the splitting apart of the Kingdom of Israel in Judah came down to the fact that he chose to.
Establish relationships with foreign countries foreign peoples by bringing in their daughters and marrying those wives and ultimately he worships their gods and he says if Solomon has fallen into this what shot do y'all have what are we thinking what are we doing here who you want to marry is not your free choice does not matter if you love them does not matter if you think it's going to gain you some financial advantage it's going to establish some treaty with a different people the most important aspect of who you marry is who they worship that is the most important aspect of marriage who they worship.
Because marriage is not just a two-party Covenant it's not just a two-party agreement it is a three-party covenant it is man wife and God and that's clear throughout the Scriptures God is the centerpiece of marriage and the reason why is because marriage ultimately is a picture it's ultimately a smaller picture the bigger picture which is God's love for his people the marriage reflects that bigger reality God's love for his people Ephesians 5 so beautifully teaches that when it begins with husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up.
For her that ultimately marriage is this picture of God's sacrificial love that God loves his people so much that he gave up his son to be crushed for his people that sacrificial love of God for his people gets to be reflected in marriage it is bigger than than ourselves and that is why from the Old Testament into the New Testament the teaching is the same when you get to First cor or second Corinthians 6 Paul teaches the same thing from the Old Testament in.
Verse 14 and following he sayso not be unequally yolked with unbelievers for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness or what Fellowship has light with Darkness what Accord has Christ with bellal that's another name for Satan what portion does a Believer share with an unbeliever what agreement has the temple of God with Idols we are the Temple of the Living God and he says don't be unequally Yol don't marry someone who is not a Believer don't marry someone who does not love Christ like you do and he has pretty Sharp Images here what partnership is righteousness with lawlessness fellowship with uh light with light versus Darkness Christ versus the evil one you're sons of.
God and if you're not in Christ the Bible says you're Sons and Daughters of Disobedience what what are we you don't have a share with them they don't love God they worship idols and this teaching gets pulled into the New Testament because the Covenant of marriage is not just man and wife it is man and wife and our covenant God now for us maybe you're single and you you desire to be married and maybe you've made a list of things that you value in a spouse maybe you're like I you know I want him to be financially secure and to have a good 10year plan or I want him to brush his teeth I I.
Want her to laugh at my jokes and her laugh not be annoying like I just I I don't know whatever that is for your list like I don't maybe you got a list of things where it's like I I want this and I want that I want this I want that I'm not going to compromise on this or that or this or that but let me tell you something if Jesus is not at the top of that list if at the top of your list isn't do do they love Christ and not just say they are a Christian.
But love him and display him with the fruit of the spirit that they they are committed to the people of God in the local Church that they he that he is uh or she is uh immersed in his word and loves him if that's not at the top of the list of whom you are going to marry then I'll just be honest you're doing it wrong that do they love Christ that is the most pinnical question so much so that if you have that as the question every anything else on the list is he tall enough is she is she fing the blank that those pale in comparison to Christ.
And so much so that that some of those other things become less important because it's not that this man loves Jesus and this woman loves Christ I don't care if he's not 6'2 he's worth that so have that as a category so deeply in your mind as you're thinking through this because what will inevitably happen is you'll start to justify who you want to marry you'll start to make compromises you'll say yeah he says he's a Christian and I mean you he got burned by the Church he's Church her from a few years ago.
But like you know he does want to read his Bible and you he kind of part goes hard in the weekend but like I don't know like I can probably win him over a little bit I can probably win her sway her a little bit over you know if you if we progress into this then I we know we I'll start reading the Bible with them we'll pray together like when we get married like I'll I'll get them involved in our community group it'll be fine we'll work we'll work it out.
And while God in his grace does sometime use spouses to lead their other spouse to Christ that does happen I would also say that that is very much a cautionary tale because it also goes arise so often and there's so many ways that if you choose to marry someone that does not love Christ where your values are ultimately going to be petted against theirs in ways that you didn't see coming I mean very practically when you go to raise children one day.
When you go to raise children one day and you want to raise them in the faith and you want to take them and bring them here on Sundays you want to uh let them be involved in kids City and in student Ministries it's going to be very hard if you've married someone who says Nah I think I'm going to take him hunting this Sunday I think that's more important is our father son experience so I'm going to take him hunting this Sunday it's going to be very hard.
When you're trying to uh teach the Gospel to your children and and help them know who Christ is and he or she is undermining that at every turn and I got a buddy whose whose wife left him and clean I mean just cleaned his clock and the divorce and took the kids and she recanted the faith and she absolutely done everything to seow doubt in in her in in her in those kids' Minds with not just him but with Christ and he gets them once every two weekends and he does everything he can to display Christ to them.
But that's a reality you need to Grapple with before you choose spouse do they love Christ deeply if not then you're going to be in a difficult situation now if that is your situation the Bible does give us a word on this gives us a helpful uh Scripture from 1 Peter 3 it says likewise wives be subject to your own husband so that even if some do not obey the word they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.
When they see your respectful and pure conduct so we do have some some wonderful wisdom here for what happens if you're in a marriage where someone doesn't believe the Gospel and I'll be honest this is this is even more difficult for women because we teach that that that men are supposed to lead in marriage therefore she's supposed to follow him in submission in marriage and if he doesn't value Christ that gets r really tricky it's very difficult but we have a word here that says you wi the moed by the conduct meaning that you make.
Jesus look good in the way that you live and the way that you love your husband the way that you show respect and the way that you that we have a word here that says you get to display Christ and I think this is also down the line applicable to husbands as well that if you are married to someone who's not a believer that you get to display Jesus make Jesus look good by how you love your wife and when you do this there will be opportunities.
For you you to declare who Christ is but that's difficult and the reality is is that if you are single you should not sign up for that and if you are married you should absolutely take the words of First Peter and run with it as a as a life Anthem I'm going to display Christ in my marriage to my children I'm going to display Christ in my marriage to my spouse I'm going to pray unceasingly for my spouse I'm going to I'm going to love them.
And when times are hard and we have different values and he doesn't want this she doesn't want this I'm going to surround myself with Christian Community my group is going to be praying for me my group's going to be praying for my spouse but I'm going to stay in this because of the second big thing that Malachi addresses and that is that divorce is actually not an option and that is the second part of this the second part of this dispute with the marriages of the people and that is divorce picking up in.
Verse 13 and the second thing you do you cover the Lord's altar with tears with weeping and graning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand so there this is a lament from the people like we're offering worship we're doing the we we doing the things we're bringing it to you you're not finding favor upon us oh God and they end up asking why verse 14 but you say why does he not why has.
God not shown favor on us in our worship why is God not uh shining upon us why the Persians still rule over us what is happening why oh Lord and it says but because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless though she is your companion and your wife by Covenant did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit and their Union and what was the one God seeking Godly Offspring.
So guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth for the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel covers His Garment with violence says the Lord of hosts so guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless all right that's a difficult text for various reasons that we're going to get to in a moment and it's vague at parts to kind of figure out what he's doing here let's start with the clearest implications from this text and what he's saying in.
Verse 14 he says because the Lord was witnessed between you and the wife of your youth to whom you've been faithless though she is your companion Your Wife by Covenant and what he just said was was a condemnation of the divorces that have happened amongst the people of God that you have been faithless to the wife of your youth you have divorced the wife of your youth that is what he's calling out here and then verse 15 it says did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit in their Union and he brings up that truth we just walked through it's a three-party covenant that my spirit was there.
When you join together I'm with you and you're breaking this apart this is Genesis 2 language the two became one flesh and God is with them in that Holy Union and you're breaking it apart that's not supposed to be and he goes on he says and what was the one God seeking Godly Offspring so guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth he says in this one flesh Union you're supposed to stay together you're supposed to have a Godly Offspring a Godly Legacy of faith that carries on from generation to generation to generation and this bless one flesh Union and here is where this gets.
Pretty difficult verse for the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel covers His Garment with violence says the Lord of hosts so guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless all right there's a lot going on here I want to be frank with you this is one of the most debated verses in the entire Bible okay so we got back up a little bit and understand how we get here.
So the Bible is translated mostly Greek and Hebrew a little bit Aramaic all right that's the original languages It Was Written in and they those Scriptures were recorded down and manuscripts the original manuscripts are lost to time however there's a very rich tradition of scribes copying down these Scriptures for thousands of years and it's guys there are more copies of the Bible around the world more manuscripts around the world than any other ancient document it's not even remotely close there's a rich tradition and what's crazy what's Wild is is that over 99% of all the different scripts and Scriptures that we have across the world from written in different centuries copy down and copy down.
And copy down over 99% of that when you line all of those words up they match every single I mean you I have a a community in Alexandria an ass syat Community here that wrote and recorded Scriptures for years and for years and for years when you line them up they line up like 99% just wonderfully dot for do Mark for Mark that's it's amazing the Holy Spirit has guided this for so long so wonderfully so reliably but every now.
Then every now and then you get two different texts and they say something different just a little bit so much so that's like actually they use this word here but this community used this word here but when you line them up together it's actually the exact same thing so we know that that's exactly what this means and there's a group of people that are huge Bible nerds called textual critics that devote their lives to these languages to make sure that we're understanding this is what the original text said we're able to trust our Bible.
So well but every now and then in the rarest of circumstances you're going to see two different textual Traditions that line up and you're going to go oh okay what's being said here is two different things and there's a whole like Rich tradition of how to figure out what was the original meaning what was the original thing saying and verse 16 is one of the RAR circumstances where it's like oh boy this is actually something where there's two different meanings here and I want to walk through them the.
First here is what we read in the ESV the ESV says for the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel covers her garment with violence says the Lord so what's being taught there and what's being displayed there is that when a man divorces his wife he shows a great Act of hatred towards his wife he shows a great lack of love a great hatred towards his wife and ultimately covers the Garment of violence and that's the euphemism.
For cruelty dishonoring her so that's one way to read this text then there's another way to read this text and I want to read a few different versions that capture this different idea starting with the nesb for I hate divorce says the Lord the God of Israel and him who covers His Garment with violence well that's different God hates divorce and he hates the man that that hatred is extended towards the man who covers his wife with a garment of violence who who ultimately dishonors her like this the ne captures that as.
Well I hate divorce says the Lord God of Israel and the one who is guilty of violence says the Lord who rules over all the NLT which is a which is a solid paraphrase of the Bible says for I hate divorce says the Lord the God of Israel and then it shifts a little bit it says to divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty so it moves a little bit away from God's hatred towards divorce to the man who does it to God's haes divorce and this act is a Act of hatred towards his wife.
Now God hating divorce and the man involved in it and this being an act of hatred towards her spouse are actually two different meanings and the rarest of circumstances in the Scriptures you got to figure out okay well which one because those are different and I'm not going to shock you here I'm not a textual critic scholar I know some of yall were thinking that like this guy he's just so wise no I'm nowh like that that is so far above my pay rate like I even.
If I tried really hard like I I was in classes with some of those guys in seminary and I was like I'm I'm I ain't doing that like I've got no business in being in classes with these guys so we're not we we're not skilled enough to look at this and go I you you know I based on the original language A or B okay and what happens is sometimes in these rare circumstances in the Bible what we'll do is okay.
Well I need to pick one and I want to go in my gut and I don't like the idea that God hates divorce and hates the one who's divorced so I'm I I don't I don't know about that I I'd rather go with the other option this is an act of hatred so what do you do in situations like this I think you first look at the context of the passage and kind of see what's clearly being taught and then you back away from the text and you take the text against the whole teaching of the Scriptures and you realize that actually I think both of those have truth to them I think.
If you look at the whole of the Scriptures I think you're going to see God does hate divorce and also it is an act of Cruelty towards the one who's involved so let's look at context directly and then we'll kind of back out a little more so one thing that's very clear from directly from Malachi divorce was not a part of the original plan for marriage there's a reason God used uses Genesis language here did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit and their Union in.
Verse 15 there's a reason that shows up this was not a part of the original design oh Jewish people you're doing this and you're not you're not you're not in line with how God originally designed this to be this beautiful Covenant is meant to last a lifetime it's meant to reflect something bigger than yourselves so so marriage is meant to be it it divorce is not a part of the original plan the second that's very clear from this context divorce and their context harmed women it harmed women.
Now some commentators will push this and they say well what's actually happening here is that the people of God when they settled back into the promised land they weren't like you know the elites they weren't part of the social you know they didn't have all the money and Prestige and what the some of these men were doing some of these Jewish men were divorcing their Jewish wives so they could marry Persian wives of Greater status to advance and I think that's a fine way to.
Look at this I don't know if you could really say that with certainty that that's exactly what happened here but what is clear is that divorce harmed women you can see that historically you can see it in the Scriptures it it it made them it it took them like back then it's not like that not not a lot of women could survive on their own without a husband that just that just was the reality so that harmed their ability to provide.
For themselves if they were widowed and and they divorc that stigmatized them stigmatized them greatly so they might not get remarried that that also meant that if they didn't have sons they didn't have social security because that was your Social Security back then if you didn't have sons you didn't have a way to provide for yourself so divorce harmed women it was indeed an act of Cruelty towards your wife and there was a lot of you see this being pulled all the way into the time.
When Jesus comes along of woman being divorced just for you know because she burnt the food I mean just some some heinous things that were happening happening so I think in the direct context you can see that very clearly but when you zoom out and you look at this in the context of the rest of the Scriptures I think it becomes pretty clear that God actually he does not like divorce this is not a part of his original plan and when.
Jesus is being challenged on this in Matthew 19 this is what he says so clearly he says verse 6 so they are no longer two but one flesh what what therefore God has joined together let not man separate and he's pretty plain with this let let no man separate this don't tear what has been brought together the marriage is meant to be a lifelong Covenant that God's ultimate desire is for that marriage to continue now I know when I say all of that some of you who know your Bible are like wait a.
Second though I I think the New Testament gives us like like two different two different uh reasons for a Biblical divorce and that is correct we've taught on this in the past this is not the first time we've taught on the subject matter and we've gone more into detail on our in our Matthew 19 sermon on this about some of these allowances there's the porn clause in Matthew 19 which is dealing with gross sexual immorality and then you've got in uh 1 Corinthians 7 abandonment by an unbelieving spouse these are two that we we've taught on in the past.
But I don't want to spend time in that because we've done this before and I'd point you to those sermons because m Malachi isn't nuancing here Malachi is speaking very plainly here he is arguing against divorce and the harm that it causes and that is a faithless act now I understand I understand that teaching that a is deeply unpopular in our culture and B is not done at a vacuum meaning it's not done in a neutral environment we don't have like we have pre-loaded experiences and opinions like I I get that I I I know it's deeply unpopular and the reason it's deeply unpopular is.
Because marriage in this culture is so much about happiness it's it is about your personal uh happiness and joy and that and that is the air that we breathe it's in all the the media that we consume it's in the stories that we live in that marriage is about personal happiness and when marriage fails to make you personally happy then get out move on you don't want to live a whole life that's not happy move on to something that brings you more happiness and that's the very air that we breathe in the context of the marriage that we understand in our culture.
Therefore preaching this right here makes that deeply unpopular and I also know it's not done in a vacuum if you're like me some of you are children of divorce and I mean my parents got divorced when I was four and two Christmases is pretty sweet but outside of that it kind of stinks it's pretty painful it's hard there's a lot of just of suffering that comes along with that for the years that follow and the years that follow into adulthood right and I'm also know that that some of you have walked through divorce and the pain of divorce and I understand how difficult this is and we don't approach this neutrally at all.
And while it is very difficult Malachi is not nuancing and I think it's for a reason it's to feel the force that really shows up in verse 16 for the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel covers her with a garment of violence says the Lord so hear this guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless we want our soul our spirit to be so United with Christ that he guards us from this Folly that he guards us from this path that he defends us that he keeps us guards us I mean we we want to embody what Ephesians 5 teaches to be.
A people that understands that God's his God's place in marriage in the first place but what that means is is that we have to trust God over our own cultural instincts over what we want we have to actually trust God and that is hard to guard ourselves in your spirit and to not be faithless requires trusting God's word when we don't want to because here's the reality if you get all of your romantic desires if you get to marry the man or the woman that you want to marry even though they don't love Christ.
And if you get to end the marriage that you don't want to be in if you get those things ultimately you will get what you want but you will engage in something that is faithless towards Christ and you miss the point all together and the plea from the Scriptures here is don't don't trade your faith in for a fiance don't trade your freedom in your faith in for some for a freedom that that ultimately will not satisfy don't do it It ultimately displays a level of unbelief where we just don't trust God's word I don't care what God's word says I don't care what the Bible says you don't know my situation you don't know.
How hard this is ultimately is a step of Faith to trust God and persevere in a marriage that is difficult ultimately for our good it is difficult to walk in singl and finally find someone who likes you and and and makes you feel good and then to have to look and see they don't belong to Christ and make that decision I can't be with this person it takes a faith to trust God that ultimately his word is better than our own desires and that's difficult it's very difficult I mean you ask pastors I I'm right.
Now I'm taking classes and I'm reading all these pastors who are in these counseling books and it's just like it's clear the most difficult situation that a pastor is probably ever going to face one of the most consistently difficult situations is going to be marriage and divorce hands down this is extremely difficult but we can trust him and we can believe that he is good and that what he holds out in front of us though we don't want it ultimately is good and we can as that text ends as this dispute ends guard ourselves and our spirit and not be faithless I want to end with going to 2 Thessalonians 3 and I want to.
Read this and I want to pray this over our Church because this passage has some some some connections and language to this difficult dispute that I think is helpful to receive I'm going to read this first and then we'll pray I'm going to pray this over Us 2 Thessalonians 3 3-5 it says but the Lord is faithful God is faithful y'all he's faithful towards us even when we are faithless he will establish you and guard you against the evil one that our.
God does he would defend us from the evil one who would love to Snuff out the flame of faith in our lives he will guard us verse four and we have a we have confidence in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do the things that we command that God has a confidence that ultimately we will walk in obedience even when it is difficult verse 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ may.
God direct our hearts towards his deep Abiding Love and the steadfastness of Christ so bow our heads and I want to pray this over us as we close out heavenly father with such a difficult teaching I pray that you'd help us have Open Hearts to receive this may we love you so deeply because you are faithful God you are faithful you are faithful despite of our desires in spite of our desires you are faithful may you establish us oh Lord may you guard us against the evil one who would love.
For us to end up in marriages that we should not be in who would love for us to choose our own instincts over trusting you may we do your will and keep your Commandments by trusting you with both our singleness but also with marriages that are the source of so much pain or may those who have been through divorce even divorce for unbiblical reasons may you direct our hearts to your love and to your steadfastness that we might even though we have failed even though we have suffered even though we've walked through some of those difficult moments of Our Lives.
When we persevere in faith even when in the past we may have acted faithlessly may we be a people who allow you into the most sensitive areas of our lives so that we may be faithful in all things and may you guard Us by the power of your spirit working in us that we might be faithful amen B's going to come up and we're going to take the Lord's Supper no doubt this sermon touches on some of the sorest regions of our souls and our stories and I just want you to.
Remember that our God is good he is worthy of our trust and our faith and in faith even when we have sinned even when we have misstep even when we have Str strayed from the path even when we've not obeyed God's word in faith Jesus gives the invitation come to the table that if you belong to Christ the table is open for you you don't have to come forth in shame but you can to come forth in the grace that covers you and the shame that was born on Christ on the cross.
Then the night that he was betrayed he took bread and he broke it and said this is my body that was broken for you and he took the blood he took the the the the cup which is the cup of the New Covenant he said this is my blood that was shed for you that is often you eat and drink this you Proclaim my death until I return so we get to come to the table no matter what your story is no matter where you are.
If if you believe and you belong to Christ you get to come to the table and Praise Jesus that even when we're faithless no matter what we're walking through even though when we're Sinners and we no matter what we're walking through that God's love is sufficient and his grace is enough so you get to come to the table and you get to take of this remember our savior whatever you're walking through through out of that Grace and that mercy and that kindness that.
Jesus shows us we get to ask Lord the difficult questions we get to ask him Lord what do you want for me what is faithfulness what is obedience and then we get to walk that together out as the Church if you're not a Christian we don't want you to take part in the Lord's Supper we want you to take part in Christ because he's worthy of it and trusting him is ultimately better than anything this world has to offer so when you are ready come to the table there's free in that back corner.
Malachi Week 3: Profaned Priesthood
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here uh excited to to get to study the word of the Lord this morning with y'all if you'll turn to Malachi chapter 2 we're working our way through the Book of Malachi and we are going to go verse by verse to this book and try to understand the message of this prophet and where we are in the the time of the life of the people of Israel is that they have returned from Exile they've returned from captivity uh in Babylon and they have rebuilt the temple and they have rebuilt the wall and they are under Persian Rule and the general feel of the people.
Of Israel at this time when you're studying this time period And when you're studying the prophets that are speaking to them is if you've ever been if you grew up in a town or been around a town lived in an area where they're used to be industry but there isn't anymore there used to be a textile Mill they used to build cars they used to have a coal mine but they don't anymore that's in general how Israel feels at this point they're people here and they're existing.
But that's kind of all they're doing it doesn't seem like there's a lot of life it doesn't seem like there's a lot of hope it doesn't seem like there's a lot of Joy they've returned but they're still under rule of the Persians they've rebuilt the temple but it's not like the temple they had they have a wall they have a city but it's not like the city they had in general the whole thing just feels like they're sleepwalking through existence and that's where we are and that's where Malachi takes up his prophetic message and he's the last prophet in the Old Testament to speak before we're going to.
See John the Baptist and Jesus several hundred years later and so he's correcting and speaking on behalf of God he has six disputes the first one is that God loves them but they don't feel it and they don't act like it and they don't seem to know it but he's correcting them that he loves them but they're not behaving correctly and then he starts correcting the priests and so we're picking up with that in Chapter 2 with the back half of his correction of the priests and what we're going to.
Look at this morning is we're going to take this we're going to understand it in its context we're going to try to understand what he's actually saying to the priest here but then we're going to try to see how we might apply this correction of the priesthood to us and we're going to see that when you translate the the idea of a priesthood into the New Testament it comes out in a few different ways and so we're going to take some time this morning to talk specifically to pastors and Church leadership.
So I'll be preaching to myself some this morning and boy am I going to give myself some amens I tell you and then I'll get real convicted no but preach to to pastors this morning and then to the Church in general because the Christian Church is a priesthood and then we're going to talk about Christ who is the great high priest and so we're going to walk through those three things after we try to understand understand it in its context.
If you will pray with me as we begin this morning God we're thankful for your word we're thankful for the spirit that indwells us that helps us to understand your word and leads us in obedience we ask that your Holy Spirit would move and work and convict and encourag this morning and that you would help us to understand rightly what this teaches so that we might live in fear and awe of you and that Christ might be glorified in Jesus name amen all right Malachi 2.
Verse 1 and now o priests this command is for you so he's about to give a command and we know who it's to it's to the the priest now this priesthood which is also going to be referred to as Levi in this chapter is the levitical priest it's a whole tribe of Israel that was blessed with the priesthood when they uh divvied up the land the Levites did not get a portion of the land they did not get an inheritance all the other tribes got an inheritance.
But Levi was scattered in little places all over and then they were given the care of the temple they were the ones who would stand as priests in service to the Lord and on behalf of the people and they would rotate so you would live wherever you lived kind of in one of the other tribes and then you would rotate to Temple service we see this in Luke with John the bapti his dad he rotates in and does his Temple service.
And then he goes back to where he lived and so that's how this would work and so we're talking to the priest or the Levites as he's going to call them later that's who he's correcting and what they're doing now is they had a temple they were performing their daily sacrifices and their Ministry but they were doing it halfheartedly it says this is the command if you will not listen if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name says the.
Lord of hosts then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings indeed I have already cursed them because you do not lay it to heart so the command it's kind of buried in the middle there is take it to heart to give honor to my name that's what the priests were supposed to be doing it was supposed to be genuine true love worship and honor to the Lord and it was supposed they were to take it to heart and they were to be the.
First ones they were the ones who didn't get an allotment their their inheritance was the Lord that's what it actually says he says I'm their inheritance that the blessing was him that they would have him that they would love him that they would know him that was Chief among it God's blessing was on the whole of Israel but he has this special portion for the Levites to get to minister to him and be in the temple they're the only ones who caner enter certain places they're the ones that get to serve him in this unique way they get to part participate and take part in some of the sacrifices and they were to be the.
First ones to honor the Lord have you ever gone with somebody to their mama's house or Grandmama's house it's like a group of friends and y'all are about to go in or you're dating them you're about to go in and they just stop and say okay hold up when we go in here you going to take your shoes off you going to take your hat off you going to say yes ma'am she's going to offer you food you're going to eat it you going to tell her it tastes good and the best is.
When they start telling you things you're not allowed to bring up like just fun like it's you're always just like I have questions they're like don't talk about LeBron James and he's just like why I want to now like what do why why can't I bring him up like they just pick things or they might tell you like a whole political party you're just not allowed to mention inside this house like just don't bring it up but the reason is that's their grandmother and they're taking the.
First step in honoring and if you don't want to they don't care you're going to or you're not going to be welcome in this house that's how it works they're they primary you ought to but if you're not going to they're going to make sure you do that's the way the Levites were supposed to be with the Lord we read last week where people are bringing lame sacrifices the the their legs don't work they're bringing uh goats that don't that aren't worth anything they're bringing blind sacrifices or ones that have SC abs and problems that they couldn't sell anywhere.
And when they're bringing them up there they should have brought a good one but when they got to the door the Levites should have said what don't get this out of here how dare you profane the name of the Lord with that they should be the ones who are taking it to heart to honor the Lord but they aren't and so he says if you won't I will curse your blessings and indeed I've already cursed them because you do not lay it to heart.
Now that cursing of Their Blessings is a broad we should understand that in a broad way because they're blessed to be the people to be the Levites to be the priests and there were certain blessings that came along with that that they got to participate in the sacrifices that they got to uh take in the tithes that they were provided for by the people of Israel and so he's saying in general the blessings over Israel are going to fall apart the blessings to your tribe are going to fall apart and one of the things that the Levites did was they pronounced blessings.
So that when you came and and there was a sacrifice then they would bless you they would speak on behalf of the Lord to send you out in in a blessing and he's saying I'm doing all of that your blessings are cursed it's going to work backwards now and then he says in verse three behold I will rebuke your Offspring rebuke is a sharp correction I will rebuke your Offspring and spread dung on your faces the dung of your offerings and you shall be taken away with it.
Now just to us that sounds just rough that's you don't want you don't want the Lord to say that to you and whenever you're in an issue and you're not doing well and the rebuke goes beyond you to your children like you want to get an argument amped up just bring people's kids involved like I mean he's going to rebuke the whole line of the Levites but when he says I'm going to put dung on your faces he's talking about a specific thing it says the dung of your offerings and you shall be taken away with it this is actually worse than it hits our ears.
But the Levites would have understood exactly what he was talking about when they had a sacrifice the dung as well as certain parts of the innards and the overall carcass there were parts that they kept and ate there were parts that they applied to the sacrifice and then there was a whole bunch of it that was called awful o f f a l awful and it was carried outside and burned and he says that's where you're going you're not going to be allowed in the temple you're not going to be the chosen people who get to be here you're going to be toted outside and burned you're going to be toted outside and cast out.
You're going to be part of the awful that's what I'm about to do with the tribe of Levi and for those who practice this Temple sacrifice daily to be told you're becoming a part of awful you're carried out that that hit them way harder than it just reads to us this is a significant rebuke he's saying I'm getting rid of the tribe of Levi I'm going to you're not going to get to participate in this way and this but then there.
Then he says something else that we have to try to figure out what he means because it it drastically changes how we're supposed to understand what he's saying to them when he says I'm going to cast you out in this way verse four he says I'm doing this so shall you know that I have sent this command to you that my Covenant with Levi May May stand says the Lord of hosts okay that my Covenant with Levi May stand he says I'm going to do this.
So that I can keep my Covenant well now it's really important for us to know two things what is the Covenant to Levi and is it a conditional Covenant or an unconditional Covenant is there an if there like if your parents said I'm going to take you to the zoo and then you were acting up and they said hold on I got to keep my promise to you it's like yeah but the promise was I'm going to take you to the zoo.
But if your parents said I'm going to take you to the zoo if you get your stuff done that's a conditional you see the difference between conditional and unconditional the question is is God going to keep this promise no matter what is he promising that I'm going to overcome your sin and make this good or is he saying I'm going to hold to my end of the bargain and cast you out because you failed it's important for us to know how is he keeping this Covenant we also need to know what is the Covenant to Levi what is the Covenant to the priesthood.
So look at verse 5 my Covenant with him was one of life and peace I gave them to him so it was a blessing the promise he made to him was of life and peace I gave them to him it was a covenant of fear and he feared me he stood in awe of my name so God's giving life and peace and the people of Levi are to fear God to respect him it's to where the way that like parents and children are supposed to work where there's life and peace and appropriate fear and respect like you should fear your parents you shouldn't.
Look under your bed for them at night like that kind of fear like they're going to get you but you should have respect and honor it should have been like that that's what he's saying that was the way the Covenant worked and we've got to go back to the uh further back in the Old Testament try to understand what is he referencing because there are certain covenants like the Mosaic Covenant it's very clear and it's a conditional Covenant if you do these things you'll be blessed.
If you don't you won't then there's covenants to to Abraham which is a blessing that he's going to carry out there's a covenant to David that he's going to carry out no matter what he's just going to do that so we've got to look and try to say what's he talking about there's a few places where it's hinted at and one place it gives us a little more clarity so Exodus 32:29 we just read this as we studied through Exodus this is.
When the golden calf happens he comes down they're having debaucherous party and Moses says who's with me and the Levites are part of his tribe they say we're with you and then he says get your sword and go kill people who have run away from the Lord and then he looks at him afterwards and he says today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord each one at the cost of his son and of his brother so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day this seems to be the.
First place where the Levites are being set apart for something specific then again a similar situation happens in numbers 25 and we're going to see a man named Phineas who the people were running from the Lord it says that he's jealous with the jealousy of the Lord which is he turns them back to them and he does this violently both of these situations are coming out of violence as people are running from the Lord but it says this November numbers 25 10-13 and the.
Lord said to Moses Phineas the son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy because they're supposed to love and worship and they were running after other things verse 12 therefore say behold I give to him my Covenant of peace and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the Covenant of a Perpetual priesthood.
Because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel and then we see this idea of this Covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 33 he says this thus says the Lord if you can break my Covenant with the day and my Covenant with the night so that day and night will not come at their appointed time then also my Covenant with David my servant may be broken so that he shall not have a son to Reign on his throne and my Covenant with the levitical priests my ministers all right Pop Quiz day and night still working all right that's what he anchors it to day and night get messed up.
Because we change the time yeah that's on us though day and night are still doing their thing just cuz your kids are waking up at 5:00 a I'm mad all right just you know they they don't anyway so what he says is it's an unconditional promise that he's going to work out in the people of Levi so when he says I'm going to cast you out that my Covenant May stand we should all say what how does that work I don't.
Okay and we're going to get to see later how he accomplishes that but that's what he's saying is that this you're going to pay but I'm going to keep my Covenant you're going to you've corrupted this you've messed this up but I'm going to keep it all right as he keeps going he's going to talk about what they should have been like and what they were like as priests and then he's going to talk about how they mess it up verse six true instruction was in his mouth.
So he already said it was a covenant of fear he feared me he stood in awe of my name meaning that they trusted the Lord they were following the Lord and then he says true instruction was in his mouth he's talking about not just Levi the person he's talking about the priests he's made this promise to these people so he's saying it like it's a singular person but he's talking about the whole tribe no wrong was found on his lips he walked with me in peace and uprightness he turned many from iniquity this is what the priesthood was supposed to.
Look like for the lips of a priest should guard knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of host but you have turned aside from the way you have caused many to stumble by your instruction you have corrupted the Covenant of Levi says the Lord of hosts and so I make you despised and abased before all the people in as much as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.
So what he says to the Levites say you were supposed to trust me love me fear me stand in all of me you were supposed to guard knowledge give instruction tell the truth function impartially you were supposed to be someone who speaks on behalf of the Lord and you've corrupted all of that and so now instead of being elevated you'll be debased and despised and that's what he's saying to the people who are currently in the time of Malachi serving as priests and running the temple without without fear of the.
Lord and without care now as we try to understand this passage and we try to pull it forward to kind of where we are we're going to take three ways to look at it there are some things from the priesthood that apply to those who are pastors teachers in the Church those who serve as Elders that that apply in that way there are some things that apply to the Church in general and there are some things that apply only to Christ we pastors.
Now do not stand in between we don't mediate between you and God that's not how it works that's how it worked then that they had to go to a priest to get but that's not how it works but there are some things that he mentions In this passage like teaching instruction that do apply as we try to understand what does it mean to be a pastor and what does that look like so our Church has four pastors myself Raz Bradley Matt Freeman Spencer KY we are all Elders as the official elder or overseers official New Testament term we just use Pastor it's one of the things you're supposed to do.
But it's never used as a title in the Bible but we have four pastors or four elders and we're all Pastor Elder we're the same thing so we don't have like a chief in charge pastor and other pastors we're just four pastors or Elders we have one Elder in training his name is Isaac Hill which means that we are working in a process to install him as an elder and we have seven men not including Isaac who's also going through Pastor development we have seven men who are in Pastor development which is we have men in our Church who said I'm interested feel like I may be called to be a pastor and we said.
Well we want to help you figure that out so they're in a thing called Pastor development we're trying to walk them through that and since it's a list of seven I wrote them all down so that I wouldn't just randomly forget one of them I know all of these people and could give you all their names but it would take me longer than it needs to Jeremy Powell Ryan Krebs Brett richer Chris Rocky Brian Petri George Garcia and Mike Goble are all in our pastor development process.
So as I speak on this part right now most of it applies directly to them but some of you will not be at this Church forever some of you will and bless your heart but you're going to serve you're going to belong here you're going to labor with us and you need to know what your pastors ought to look like in a little while we're going to say in front of our Church family uh in a little while Spencer said that was unclear and it would mean like could mean 10 minutes from.
Now uh in the next year or so we're going to say we're planning to install Isaac and if anybody has any reason why he shouldn't be installed you need to come talk to us we're going to give you time to do that but you need to understand what we're installing him to and what what he's called to and you need to know what to hold your pastors accountable to some of you are going to move you're going to get another job you're going to go to another school and you're going to have to go find another Church and bless your heart you need to know what pastors are supposed to.
Look like what that's supposed to to be so that's one of the reasons we're talking through this but we also need to try to understand this in connection to what this passage is saying so verse 5 my Covenant with him was one of life and peace I gave them to him it was a covenant of fear and he feared me he stood in awe of my name stepping into leadership in the Church should begin with fear and awe and that is usually by God's blessing and goodness where it starts you love the.
Lord you fear Him you respect the Lord you trust him you're in awe of the fact that he would redeem a sinner like you that's where it's supposed to start if you are trying to question whether or not you should be a pastor and you're trying to figure it out and it's not starting here and I'm not sure you should be a pastor if you're anchored in something other than how glorious our God is and how wonderful he is and how he redeems Sinners and is.
So good that's where it begins and he's going to this pairs well with what he says later if you look down it's not going to be on the screen but it's in your Bible if you have it I'll read it he says you've turned aside from the way you've caused many to stumble you've corrupted the Covenant he says you're showing partiality you see you're either going to passor from a position of fearing the Lord or you're going to Pastor from a position of fearing people there's a way to Pastor where it's not about him it's about you there's a way to Pastor where it's about fame or being loved or being appreciated being liked there's.
A way to Pastor where it's about y'all if I meet a per I'm a pastor if I meet someone and they say they're a pastor my immediate thought is you're either a really solid person or one of the worst people ever but that's usually I mean you can be a pastor because it's an easy Inside Job you can be a pastor because nobody really keeps up with your time I can walk out of the office and say I'm going to go work on sermon stuff and I could do whatever the heck I wanted to nobody's GPS tracking me.
But you ought to fear God because I'm GNA have to stand before him later that's terrible all of our pastors we're trying to hold each other we're trying to serve this Church but there's a way to Pastor where you love the Lord and you love the Church and you serve the Lord and you serve the Church and there's a way to Pastor where you're serving yourself and it's about you and the Lord have mercy on that day when you stand before him.
So this is where it begins and it ought to stay there but unfortunately too often it gets twisted and turns into something else and we've seen it we usually see it in high-profile cases where it's about money or it's about fame or it's about something else but it can happen at any level and it can happen in small ways even in someone who's doing fairly good things for a local Church it can happen in your heart there's a way to preach where it's really just about the way people respond rather than being faithful to the.
Lord and the Bible he keeps going verse six true instruction was in his mouth so we're going to walk through this section look at this true instruction was in his mouth and no wrong was found on his lips it means that good pastoring good Church leadership means you know your Bible you study your Bible you love your Bible that's the way to have true instruction and no wrong come from your lips is that you're not just talking about what you think or feel.
But you're talking about what the Bible says so you want your pastors to know their Bible you want your pastors to submit to their Bible and Pastors in our Church family we need to know and love our Bibles it's unacceptable for us not to says he walked with me in peace and uprightness Character Matters immensely for leading and shepherding in the Church it matters immensely that in in the New Testament it's going to show up 1 Timothy 3 Titus 1 Peter's going to talk about it in 1 Peter 5.
But some of the things that qualify for you for being a pastor doesn't list things like be smart which is good it doesn't list things like like you have to be the most talented the best that it says that you have to be have character and the truth is a lot of the pastors that we've seen that flame out are ones that their ability outpace their character and that's dangerous this is one of the reasons why we take installing someone into eldership in our Church.
So slowly because character doesn't show up in a resume it doesn't show up in an interview it doesn't show up when someone preaches Isaac preached recently and people told me they said he did a really good job and I think he did but one of the reasons why we didn't just several years ago say hop up there and preach and we'll see if you can be a pastor because that's like way down the list of things that really matter your Character Matters immensely Your Love of the.
Lord matters immensely your knowledge of Scripture matters that you would be someone who turns away from sin personally and takes very seriously that at the end of all this you want Jesus more than you want anything else there have been some pastors and Church leaders that we found out a whole bunch of stuff after they died there was no confession there was no repentance there was no hating of their sin we found it out later which means that they traded Jesus.
For Ministry and that's a terrible tradeit you want people if you're going to be a pastor and you want your pastors to be people who would trade in Ministry who would repent of sin confess things would walk away from it so that they might have Jesus because if I get to the end of this and all ever had was this Church but I don't get Jesus because I hid things and I ran from from being walking in the openness and I and I chose sin rather than repentance like how I might get disqualified someday.
Lord help keep me from that but if that happens may I choose repentance and Jesus over somehow fighting to hang out and get keep doing this in a way that turns my soul away from him and they chose uprightness he says and turned many from iniquity good pastoring involves telling people they're wrong good pastoring involves pointing to the Bible and saying this is sin around the time that we were walking through our Theology of sex series and Spencer was up here and he was walking through and he was going to a passage where he says do not be deceived and he was talking through sin and sexual sin and he was calling it out.
He was confessing and bringing you in on his story and repenting there were churches all around the US that were saying about that same issue it's not really that big of a deal it's not really sin there's a high-profile Church recently that said yeah it's not ideal it's not God's favorite but it's okay and the Church is meant to stand in the Bible and say this is what it says and this is what we hold to and if you want to be a pastor.
Because you want people to like you you will at some point have to choose say what the Bible says or be liked y'all there are times where we know we know y'all we love y'all there are times where we know all right about to take these people off we know some of the things you want to hear and some of the things you don't want to hear sometimes we're pleasantly surprised a lot of times we handle it really well but we also we know what we could get up I mean we could write like a a a sermon that y'all would all just be like yeah.
But it might not line up with the Bible we can avoid things or we can say them it's one of the reasons why we teach straight through books of the Bible so that we don't have to deal with that tension of not wanting to go to places and just secretly not go to them we just work our way through the Bible and then we go you know spener our paper rock scissors who's going to have to say it we don't do that.
But we have walked in before and said did I really pick this passage I picked this one like yeah you were amped up about it I don't know all right I lost my train of thought y'all say he turned many away from iniquity verse 7 for the lips of a priest should guard knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth that's one of the hopes of pastoring is that you would know your Bible you'd walk in wisdom and humility and you'd be genuinely helpful you you should you should be in a place where you want to talk to your pastors and ask some questions and try to get some instruction and some wisdom.
Some help it's one of the joys of pastoring where we get to help people think through things and work through things but that should be a thing that you would look for and desire and that it should happen that they'd be people who knew their Bibles knew uh had some wisdom could help you instruct and keep people away from sin and moving forward well in life then it says this for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts that's really interesting.
When you're reading this you read the commentaries on it this is the only place that priests are ever called messengers of the Lord of hosts that's a phrase that's only ever used for prophets people that spoke thus sayith the Lord and it's saying well this is true of those who worked in the priesthood and the reason is is because they knew their Bibles and they stood in place and said this is what God would have you you do this is what.
God would have you respond this is the type of sacrifice that you should have in this moment that they stood and spoke on behalf of the Lord and that is a weighty honor it's a Divine honor that I get to stand here and open the Bible and say this is what it says it's a Divine honor but I I got to take it seriously our Church needs to take it seriously pastors take it seriously if you're ever if those men if we're able to send them out we'd love to we'd love to send them out we'd love to plant churches we'd love to install some of them in our Church family and we'd love to.
Be men that take all of this very seriously and speaking on behalf of the Lord would be a weighty thing that was not flippantly done so he says you've turned aside you've run off chased sin and there's a way to do that in pastoring and James says that not many should be teachers because they'll be held to a higher standard and by God's grace he'll protect our Church family he'll protect our pastors we'll get to send more pastors out we'll get to plant more churches and we'll be Men of Integrity who fear the.
Lord and may He help us do that but priests in the Old Testament is not a onetoone translation to Pastors in the Church because the whole Church is now the priesthood there's no mediator between you and God except for Christ and so 1 Peter 2 says this you the Church are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that you may Proclaim that you may so we belong to him We're priesthood so that the Church that's the you there that you the Church May proclaim the Excellence of him excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light every Sunday we finish by saying you.
Are commissioned you're empowered by the spirit to go and do that proclaim the excellencies of him who's called you out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light that you get to do what Malachi is talking about to a a world that doesn't know him you get to know your Bible you get to hate sin and you get to tell people be reconciled to God so we all should take this call seriously and sometimes we say things like well I just don't know how to do that that doesn't exempt you learn how to do it start reading your Bible start practicing yall know we we practice I I practice this trying to articulate the Gospel in different.
Situations and not just it's something you work at and so if you're struggling with that we'd love to help you but we would love for our whole Church to be proclaiming the excellencies of him who called us out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light and taking seriously the opportunity to be Messengers on behalf of the Lord so that we might see more people come to know him and he is excellent and he did call you out of Darkness so we should tell people.
And if we don't know how to tell people we should practice and tell people and if you tell somebody and you didn't do it right go back to them later and say I didn't say that right round two but we should take it seriously but y'all we need to consider Christ because he is the great high priest of our faith and he's the one who perfectly accomplishes this and upheld the Covenant so we read earlier and he said because I'm going to keep my Covenant it's basically what he's saying I'm going to uphold my Covenant.
Therefore I'm going to do this how well how does he do that what what happens here how does he uphold the Covenant in the middle of their corruption and rejection which is a very pertinent question for everybody because we have all corrupted and rejected our place before the Lord as humans and there's an offer of redemption but one of the questions is how does he do that how does he offer Redemption what does he do first of all I want you to.
See that Jesus perfectly fulfills this he walks in awe verse five he works in awe of the Lord and fear of the Lord that's what he does when he's here true instruction is in his mouth he is the truth he speaks the truth when you read the words of Jesus you're reading truth and veracity that you can build your life off of he walked in peace and uprightness that Jesus never sinned he turned many from iniquity he guards knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth and he is the capital T messenger of the.
Lord of hosts the one who comes to Proclaim good news to us so Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of what the priesthood was meant to be and then Hebrews tells us this for the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp so Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood he's the one who becomes part of the awful and is carried out and cast out and rejected he didn't deserve to be he hadn't corrupted the Covenant.
But he took the punishment of the corrupted Covenant on himself so that he might uphold the Covenant and that's the Gospel news for us I didn't check but I don't think any of y'all are Levites but what you are are sinners who need someone to take what you deserve which is to be cast out none of us have the right to walk into the temple none of us have the right if it still existed to go into the most holy place we would be struck down we're not welcome there not only are we not welcome there.
Because we're not Levites we're not welcome there in our sin and our rejection and our rebellion of God but Jesus is the one who was cast out so that we might be brought in that's what it says that he might sanctify the people through his own blood he's the one who took the punishment we deserve so that we might be ordained Sanctified brought in and welcomed 133 verse 13 therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
So author of Hebrews says he did that so that we could belong to him let's go join him let's go join him and if you say well it'll be weird if I if I go if I take Serious this idea that I'm going to go bring this message that I'm going to go participate it people might not like me yeah let's bear the reproach he endured it might make some of my friendships weird let's bear the reproach he endured it it might make things awkward at the office I don't know.
If I can do that I just not sure if that's the place well let's barely reproach that he endured for this is why we would do that here we have no lasting City but we seek the city that is to come we're all called to represent the Lord by God's grace some of us are going to try to say I want to give fulltime energy and effort towards that in Mission work and in the Church but we're all called to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light and all of us are going to stand before.
For the king and may we be people who live in fear and awe looking forward to that City there's a way to Pastor that's about right here and there's a way to live our lives that's about right here it's about our place in this city but this isn't our city we've got one that's coming so may we live as a group of people who look forward to that and who our lives our decisions our wallets our time and makes sense as we stand before the.
Lord on that day you're standing before people right now which means that some of the things you're doing ought not make sense to them it should only make sense when you're standing before him we don't want to live in a way that makes sense now and makes no sense there so let's go to Jesus to be covered by his blood and to be welcomed that's done by him and then let's walk with him taking what whatever reproach comes looking forward to that City let's pray.
Lord help us have mercy on us move through your spirit so that we might look forward to that City that we might walk in fear and awe and that we might Delight in the fact that you are the one who upholds the Covenant you're the one who was cast out so that we can be brought in and so may we rejoice in your name and Praise Your Name Lord I pray for myself Spencer Matt Raz help us to fear you more than we fear people help us to turn away from sin and by your grace Keep Us Faithful and cover Us in Mercy in that day we stand before you.
God may you bless this Church that we would send out more pastors and more Church planners and more missionaries that would labor for you that would run from sin and in the day when we're choosing between hiding or running to you may we not hide so that at the end of all this we have you as our inheritance and not Ministry and not praise nothing but you and may that be true for our entire Church family that at the end of all of this we get.
Jesus or it's been a waste we ask this in your name and we thank you for your blood amen.
Malachi Week 2: The Charade of False Worship
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
So we are in our second week of the Book of Malachi as we finish the year off in this uh last prophetic book in the Old Testament we're going to be in Malachi 1: 5 through 14 which you can turn there and follow along with us as we walk through the text together uh we introduced this last week and we said that Malachi is made up of six different disputations these are six different disputes that God has with his people and we're in the.
Second disputation the second dispute that God has with his people and this one specifically is a rebuke of the sacrifices that the people of God were bringing to the Temple of the sacrificial system that was being practiced at the time now in order for us to understand what's happening in this rebuke you really need to understand the positive version what was actually the ideal version of what was supposed to happen and at times in the history of Israel did happen when it was actually a beautifully worshipful system.
So I want you to to imagine a levitical priest from the tribe of Levi who God has called into by the nature of the tribe that he was in and his Calling On this man's life to be a levitical priest his father was a Le a levite levitical priest his grandfather was levitical Priest he is carrying on this Legacy of being a priest who helps the people worship at the temple and every day he wakes up up and he's joyfully praising.
God to own the calling of being a priest and as he puts on his Priestly garments he's singing Psalms and and praising God that he gets to lead the people in worship and then he puts on his Priestly garments and he Praises Yahweh he Praises God then he walks out into uh the inner part the inner parts of the temple where he's going to facilitate worship where he's lighting incense where he's ready to receive these sacrificial offerings and he's praising God saying I get to help the people of.
God worship I get to help the people of God experience what it means to have a covering for their sin that our sin can be atoned for through sacrifice and he owns that beautifully and wonderfully and then in walks a man who's from the Judean Countryside and this man is a man who has a farm and on his farm he has all types of livestock and one day he looks at his livestock and he sees he's a bull the most wonderful beautiful strongest bull that he could sell on the open market.
For a lot of money and he looks at his Hired Hands and he says that bull right there that's the one that's the best of what I've got and that is what I'm going to take to the temple tomorrow we all go to the temple family work hands all of us are going to the temple to offer this bull as a burnt offering as a sacrifice for our sins and the next day he takes that bull with his family and his and his whole uh his people and they start walking towards the temple and they're singing Psalms of a sense these are the Psalms they would sing as they ascend towards the temple.
For worship and they arrive into the temple and he takes that bull and he brings it to that levitical priest joyfully celebrating this wonderful offering the best of what he has to bring to this priest who's joyfully worshiping saying is this what you've brought for sacrifice and he says yes it's the best of what I have to offer praise God this will be a wonderful burnt sacrifice that is what it was supposed to be and at times in the history of Israel that's what it was.
But that's not what it is when Malachi is prophesying that's not what's happening at the temple so what we're going to see and the second dispute that God has with his people is we're going to take a look at some of the corruption that had really seeped its way into the sacrifices some of the Corrupt Practices that were happening at the time as we look at this and their context we ultimately will see really the root of this corrupted worship and really how that root and I argue that rot still exists even.
Today so let me pray for us and then we'll walk through this together Heavenly Father we thank you for the good news of Jesus that claims us and saves us and sets us apart to worship you and to Delight in you and to glorify you and I pray that you'd help us see the gift that it is to worship our King and I pray that you would expose by the power of the word of God by the power of your word you'd expose the thoughts and intentions of our hearts and that we would receive your word and we'd walk this out in worship and repentance and faith and delighting in you.
Because you're worthy the other we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so verses uh 2 through 5 as we walked through that last week was the first dispute that God has with his people and what we saw if you weren't here last week is that God out the gate before he spends the rest of this book rebuking the people of God that out the gate he reminds them that I love you you are my people I love you oh people of Jacob oh people of Israel I love you that his Covenant Love begins this book and it's the foundation.
For what everything he's going to say next but he needs his people to remember I love you fiercely with this wonderful Covenant Love and out of that love that he has for his people he begins to rebuke him in the second dispute verse six a son honors his father and a servant his master if then I a father where is my honor and if I'm a master where is my fear says the Lord of hosts To You O priest who despise my name.
So he's speaking in terms that were very crystal clear to the people of God that would have absolutely understood this language and really the force of what he is saying he says Israel I am your father oh people of God I'm your I'm your father you are my son you are my child where's the honor that is due to me like they they understood the fifth commandment in ways that we just don't the type of Honor that a parent is is deserved he said where is my honor as your.
Father he used the language of servant and master which is language that was really uh familiar to them as an ancient near Eastern World they built into the very fabric of their economy and all the economies was this servitude system and he says Where is My Honor where's my fear where's my obedience where is this o Israel what you have shown is that you don't fear me you don't honor me you actually despise me which is a a sharp rebuke I mean.
If we if we received a rebuke like that like if your boss called you in the office and if your rev you laid out all your work for the year and then said you know by your work what I can so clearly see is that you hate me that you despise me that's what your work shows if you if you heard that I mean that would be the start of a very scary moment it's like oh okay you've got my attention.
Now let's talk like that's a strong rebuke and he says what you have shown is that you despise my name and this is ratcheted up even more for a culture that understands honor and shame more than we do so he calls them to account and it continues in verse 6 but you say how have we despised your name so he gives their their rebuttal wait wait how how have we despised your name they're incredulous wait you're saying that we don't honor we don't fear we don't how how have we despised your name oh.
God and then God continues in verse 7 by offering polluted food upon my altar but you say how have we polluted You by saying that the Lord's table may be despised verse 8 when you offer blind animals and sacrifice is that not evil and when you offer those that are lame or sick is that not evil so he answers them you've polluted the worship you've polluted the offerings and specifically you've done this by offering blind and lame animals for sacrifice now that's rooted in the Old Testament law right.
So Leviticus or Deuteronomy 15:21 says talking about sacrifices but if it has any blemish if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God Leviticus 22:22 says animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food offering on the altar so clearly in the law and you might wonder okay it's in the law sure.
But why why is that a big deal I mean it's a blood sacrifice it's an animal what does it matter what condition it comes in because it's going to be slaughtered the reason this is important and anytime we're approaching the Bible anytime we're approaching teachings it's try to understand why those teachings are in place in the first place okay and what is clear here is that it shows the heart behind the sacrifice what they are bringing shows the heart behind their worship.
Because sacrifices are supposed to be and this is going to blow our minds sacrificial it's supposed to cost it's supposed to cost you something and and this isn't costly worship at all I want you to imagine we get closer to Christmas and there's end of your Christmas parties I want you to imagine that your your boss says you know you guys have had a stellar year it's been a great year for the company I want to reward y'all with a Christmas party like the most epic Christmas party we've ever had.
And then you show up and it's a Christmas party that has wonderful food and wonderful drink it has a great band I mean it's just a night that you are certainly going to talk about in the office for years to come this I mean he's he's he's giv out Christmas gifts and bonuses all kindes of stuff this a wonderful Christmas party and he just tells them it's because I love youall we're taking some of our our profits this year and we're blessing you this is what you've earned congratulations.
And then the next week you get your paycheck and you look at your paycheck and it's about $1,000 left and you're like wait what you go to the accountant you say Hey listen I'm I'm short $1,000 and the accountant says oh yeah that's for the party it's it's everyone came out of their paycheck this year it's for the party your joy for for that gift that was being brought to you in the party is now wrath because you've been robbed you would have just taken the, that that's what's happening here it's it's the presentation of a sacrifice and it's not a sacrifice a blind animal is not sacrificial at all it's not a gift at.
All because that blind animal could not be sold for anything on the market it's worthless I mean if you try to go and take that blind animal and sell at the marketplace the moment that Ram like just rammed its head into the wall and fell over homeboy trying to buy it just lifts it up looks at his eyes and says it's blind this is worthless you're trying to Def me this means nothing it would be a deep dishonor and the people deep down they know this you know how they know this.
Because of how God really puts this into context in the very next phrase he mentions the Persian Governors so they're still ruled at this point by the Persians he mentions really the Persian Governors that were ruling over them he says with that blind offering that you're bringing present that to your Governor will he accept you or show you favor says the Lord of hosts he says try passing off these blind sacrifices try passing off these lame animals try passing that off to one of the governors one of the rulers who you can.
See try passing that off and see if that gift gets you anywhere be like trying to bring your Christmas gift in for your boss like a good a good boss who doesn't like do a bait and switch of the party like an actually good boss you bring in your Christmas gift and it's a half eaten tray of cookies and like a you know half open drank bottle of Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joe's that's like a week and a half old that's.
Now like not even barely cooking one and it's like here's your gift you'd never do that we'd never present that to somebody who has influence in our life no chance it would be a great dishonor your boss would get that and be like what in the world is this trash and I've got my eye on you it's just we would never he's saiding you would never present this blind animal to a governor to a governing official you would never try to pass this off as a gift how low the people of.
God must have thought of him must have thought of their God that they could try to present these animals with the appearance of sacrifice with the appearance of worship when really they're keeping the best animals for themselves they're keeping the best of what they have for themselves and God the God who brought them out of captivity the the God who's forgiven them the God who loves them sees this and he rebukes it and he continues in verse 9 he says.
Now entreat the favor of God that he may be gracious to us with such a gift from your hand will he show favor to any of you says the Lord of hosts verse 10 oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors that you might not candle fire on my altar in vain I have no pleasure in you says the Lord of hosts and I will not accept an offering from your hand so he continues this rebuke this charade the appearance of godliness and bringing worship.
God just says if just one of you priests if just one of you had a Zeal for me had a Zeal for the law had a Zeal for what is good which next week we'll spend the rest of this disputation we'll spend talking more about the priesthood but right here he's just like if just one of you had Zeal for my law and for me that you would stand up and you would shut the doors of the temple and say no one else comes in here that you D the Flames of sacrifice and say nothing else gets sacrificed in this altar.
If just one of you would stand up for righteousness just one of you had a Zeal to do what is good and would shut the doors but there's none among you that are doing this none of you are standing up to end this charade this farce this Bakery and God continues verse 11 for from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the Nations and in every place incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering.
For my name will be great among the Nations says the Lord of hosts so God reminds them who they're trying to con he reminds them who they're trying to trick I am the God God who amongst all the nations All Peoples from the farthest stretches of the Eastern sky where it rises to the farthest skies in the west where it sets everywhere across the world is what he's saying I will be worshiped incense will be offered that's the picture of worship worship will be offered amongst all the nations do you know who you're trying to con do you understand who you are trying to trick I'm the.
God over all peoples and one day you're going to see me worship among all the nations and you think that you can bring this type of charade before me what a travesty here is what the people fail to see God doesn't need their sacrifices God doesn't need their worship God doesn't need the temple he didn't need any of this God is inexhaustible he will be worshiped amongst the Nations he he doesn't need this worship but they believed they could bring their worst and pass it off as their best they belied they could come to the temple with this charade and it was all going to be good.
God says you don't know who you are worshiping you don't know who you are conning here and he continues in verse 12 but you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted and its fruit that is its food may be despised but you say what a weariness this is and you snort at it says the Lord of post which what he just said was is not only are you doing a charade not only is all this fake you're bored with it you're you're bored what a weary what how weary is this he's like you're bored with this Con and you even picture that like just day in day out the priest who.
Doesn't care about his calling just doing it it's a job just puts on his Priestly garments and walks out there and says all right what you got next um you that animal looks good yep B in there drop your money off of the the offering plate like if just day in day out just bored with it and God is incensed by this you're not only is a charade you're bored with it and then it gets worse he says you bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick and this you bring as your offering shall I accept that from your hand says the.
Lord so not only are these lame and blind animals and they're bringing their worst not only it's everyone just kind of bored with this charade there are even people who are bringing sacrifices that they took by force which means that the kind of people that had a field and they saw their neighbors Ram wander into their field and they said that's a nice one I'll take that for myself that'll be the one that I offer at sacrifice uh at at the next Temple Festival.
So I don't have to get rid of any of my own what a a great deal and the ram wanders in he takes it into his fold and his neighbor comes out and says have you seen my Ram it's about Yi it's got spots on it oh there it is oh you found it so oh thank you so much and he says nope it's mine now takes it by force and then thinks that he can go and offer that as a sacrifice to.
God it's like are you kidding me do you know who you're trying to con here shall I accept that from your hand says the Lord the this is how corruption had seeped into the people of God who either did not read the Torah did not read the law or read it and did not care but just said this is what we do we're going to continue bringing these sacrifices that's what we do and God ends this first half of the disputation the.
First half of the dispute in verse 14 he said cursed be the cheat who is a male in his flock and vows it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished for I am a great king says the Lord of hosts and my name will be feared among the Nations so God calls them cheats you have cheated me out of what is rightfully mine God owns everything everything belongs to God everything I mean we're very individualistic we're very you know capitalistic culture and I earn this no.
God gave this to you you are a steward we are stewards of what God has given us we are co- reigning with God on this Earth bringing Dominion to this Earth but that ain't yours it's God's and he and he's calling this out you've cheated God out of what he so rightfully deserves but I will get by Glory amongst the Nations and the Nations will fear me so that's the first half of this and you got to ask the question like what why why do they think they could do this what's going on in their brain.
When they're in their soul when they're actually doing this because we don't give there's not like further verses that explain exactly why they did this we can tell a little bit from the context and I think you could read into this and kind of see kind of the most plausible reasons but I think one of the big ones is is that bringing a sacrifice is costly it just is it costs money cost time cost the energy of your like it that it's costly.
So I think part of them really just love what they had and they they love this world they love Earthly treasures and being able to pass off a lame sacrifice was just easier I think it's also very possible that really they really wanted to do was to give the appearance of godliness to get the appearance of worship to we give the appearance of what it looks like to be a holy man of God a holy woman of God that they' pass this off.
Because they like the appearance without actual sacrifice without actual worship so next week what we're going to do is we're going to look at really the priests and their role in this but this picture that he ends with here in verse 14 is something we need to sit in because what happens sometimes is that we can read things like this and distance ourselves because it feels foreign to us cuz spoil alert next year between songs we're not going to bring out a ram and cut his throat like that's I know that's going to shock you.
But that's just not what we do here and there's a reason we don't do that first off be wildly weird uh second Jesus fulfilled that entire system so people wonder why why don't you why why does the Old Testament law not continue like it because is Christ Christ becomes the final sacrifice fulfilling that system like that the whole book of Hebrews helps poetically and wonderfully help helps capture this idea the reason we don't offer sacrifices is because Jesus was the final sacrifice that everything in this system this offering of unblemished rams and unblemished Bulls and unblemished uh pure offerings this is all meant to point.
For that was the main goal was a shadow of what was to come it was ultimately pointing forward to the unblemished perfect sacrifice of Christ when Christ comes fulfills this with his death on the cross and his blood is shed for the sins of the people for the rest of time we point back to the Spotless land that died in our place in Christ so that when we read this though it feels foreign because we're so far removed from it because we don't do this it feels ancient feels foreign and it's easy us to read this.
Look at the people of God and even have the mindset of how Wicked is this how broken were the people thinking they could do something like this which honestly is a little bit of a historical historical fallacy that's just what a lot of people do when they look back at history people look back at history and said I would have never done that back then I would have never I would have acted justly I'd have been a warrior for what is good and it's like probably not CU you're Sinner and your heart's Wicked and you're more influenced by the by the culture of the time just like every single human being.
For the last thousands of years so no you're not like some Star Spangled awesome example that would stand out no you're just you're just not and it's and we'll do that sometimes you just read this and just kind of separate yourself from it all and it doesn't do it reflectively we so the way that we should read this is to understand the truth of what's happening in this text and actually look at our own hearts and ask some questions of ourselves of what's happening in our hearts.
When we worship the God in what ways do We Worship the Lord that has the appearance of godliness but in actuality it profanes the name of our God like in what ways do we bear the name of Christ but our actions and the way that we live show something different in a way that God Says by the way that you are living it shows that you despise my name so the question here is how do we worship though not in the same form.
But actually has the same kind of substance and Same Heart that's the bigger question that's at play for us as we read this text now there are a few different words for worship in the New Testament a few different words in the Greek that help capture worship the the two main uses are a type of worship that is praise singing kind of prostrating yourself humbling yourself before God so the main use of worship in the New Testament is that picture this praising of.
God like the songs that we just sang okay that's the first main use of worship in the New Testament you see over and ever again is this humbling joyfully praising the Lord the second main use is service it's the type of Life Worship how we honor the Lord with our lives How We Worship the Lord with our lives and how we live our lives so praise and life and those are the two main uses of worship in the New Testament then we should.
Look at how they worship with the system ask those same questions of our own lives within those two categories and that's what I want to do for a moment I want to look at how we might have the same Folly the same error when it comes to praise worship and Life Worship so first how might we be a people that have the same sinful patterns that the Israelites did and how we praise and bring our praise and worship to God so some of us might worship boldly on a Sunday with hands hands raised singing loudly and what we're really doing is we're more worried about how people.
See us how they see us lift our hands and how they hear our voices that we know the words of this song and and and what we're doing there is we're more concerned about how we look as opposed to actually worshiping God for who he is and that makes us the center of worship this is a really big danger for those who lead in worship because one of the problems is is that when you lead in worship sometimes it can be.
So performative you can so Focus so much on on on the technical aspects and how you sound and if we're on beat and all the different technical aspects of worship it becomes performative that you lose the thread on what it's actually supposed to be helping lead the people of God in all of who Jesus is and worshiping our King for who he is I mean years ago Raz this is a quote that he loved I don't remember where it came from.
But basically the the idea that came out of it was is that if the all the electricity was taken out of the building could we still worship God like we're supposed to and it's like oh that's man so there's a performative aspect that gets in the way that we're not actually thinking and worshiping God like we're supposed to some of us go through the motions of Sunday worship sing the song and we listen to the sermon and the whole time it's happening the whole hour and 15 minutes it's happening or 90 minutes depending on who's preaching how many jokes he's got to tell and the whole time that's happening your mind is elsewhere you're thinking.
About things from the week last week you're thinking about things you got to do today you're thinking about things that are coming up and you go through this just check in the box and sing King of Kings cool pray all right sermon cool all right and then you're out and you're just going through the motions we're just going through the motions check in boxes as opposed to seeing what we have here as a gift a gift that God has given us that we get to come together with the people of.
God and worship him and Enlighten him for who he is because he's wonderful and he's worthy of it it's good for our souls to do that now way this can happen and less can happen in our Church because of how we giving but there can be a little bit of part of worship is I'm bring my offerings and I want to be seen as someone who gives I want to be seen as a giver which the offering plate could make that a bigger temptation.
But we've robbed you of that so you got to do it at these boxes in a way that would be more performative which doesn't happen as much but it's the heart behind it is I I want to be seen as someone who's generous who's seen as someone who brings their offerings before the Lord and it's not about actually sacrificially giving God joyfully this is what we're bringing to you but it's it's about being seen there's a lot of different ways this can play out the heart behind it is all there it's a charade it it it's checking the boxes it's being seen it's not actually worshiping like we're supposed to that.
Second category of Life Worship this honor and worship that we're supposed to have we're supposed to give to God in every aspect of Our Lives that's a bigger one that many of us fall into and it's especially hard because we're in the South and Southern Christianity is just I mean the overwhelming majority of people in the South will claim to be a Christian like people from the north move down here and they're like there are churches everywhere do you not see this this isn't normal and it's not there like more churches per capita in the South than almost anywhere in the world and what happens is is that Christianity is just who we are it's.
What we're supposed to do and what happens is is that anyone claims to be a Christian in the South and what happens if if there is any bit of regularity in Sunday worship that Sunday becomes the Pinnacle of what it means to be a Christian that this is it this is the height of it but it doesn't actually show up in the other aspects of life doesn't show up in the regular repentance and walking this out in community doesn't show up and reading the Scriptures and being convicted doesn't sing up in the prayers and humbling ourselves before the.
Lord and it's this life that says I'm a Christian but the rest of life doesn't back it up at all now the way this happens in the South profaning the name of the Lord claiming the name of the Lord and acting very different it shows up in business practices shows up in using the name of God to gain Social Capital with others or business Capital with others that's why when I see a Jesus fish on a bumper on a a business card I get a little nervous oh boy you know I I used to.
So many of you know this I did Real Estate uh by vocationally I was a pastor and a real estate agent for years and now I'm just full-time here I still have my license but uh for years my license at the same place is at a brokerage um and my brokerage I love like I just I love them it's a Rowdy group of people it's kind of known to be a Rowdy group of people they just they're they're good at what they do.
But they have fun and it's a Rowdy crew and I for years would go to the office and they knew I was a pastor and you know just some jokes that kind of come with that that they're fun but they really I think they appreciated me I'm not a moralist I don't tell people how to live I tell them who to live for I tell them about Jesus but I'm not going to tell them how to live so you can live your life do whatever you want and I and I operated in there.
For years and one of the things that I found incredibly frustrating is that there was uh another brokerage that really built their name off Christ they they kind of built their branding off of Jesus and what was wildly frustrating was they also had a reputation from some of their agents doing some shady stuff and I heard our guys talk about that brokerage and make fun of them oh yeah they're Jesus he real Christian over there and they did some of the most unethical things in the market and it just drove me nuts.
Because I had a bunch of Rowdy group of people but they did things ethically and right and as a Christian I'm there and I'm trying to represent Christ and I got agents across town just doing stupid foolish wicked things infuriates me that mess happens all over the place people that bear the name of Christ that use the name of Christ to advance their career or their their their their resume in a Christian culture and its wickedness and it profanes the name of.
God you must despise the name of God to practice like that so it can happen the way way that we live our lives in the business world how we work it can happen in the offerings that we bring to the Church so the money that we bring to the Church if it's if it's given off of stuff that's stolen from other people stolen from the government and what's owed to the government stolen from from any anyone or anything and we bring that and say.
God here's your gifts here's your offerings that aspect of our life has not been Sanctified it's not Jesus is working it show that's not worship that's a charade it's not breaking your heart to do what is actually good honestly with this category it's just it's anything that claims the name of Christ anything that simply that that simply has the appearance of godliness has the has Jesus slapped on top of it but actually is not backed up at all or maybe it's you're the kind of person that that has the mindset of I'm just I'm doing good.
So I can get into heaven and I'm just getting Kingdom credits through just claiming to be a Christian and doing the things and whatever but it actually isn't backed up by a life where the heart has been so sh so changed and captured by Christ that though we walk sometimes in sin and make mistakes that we're walking that out in Repentance and worshiping and delighting in him if it's not that then you're just going to the motion and you're checking boxes and it doesn't honor.
God there two main aspects of worship but it's praising here in a Sunday or the lives that we live it really shows our hearts that we're not all that much different than the Israelites whether it's we're doing it to be seen as holy I'm checking boxes so I can be seen as one of the good ones or if it's just the idea of of well it's just what we do we're seveners and we're Christians therefore we just we do the things.
When it's actually not a vibrant faith that costs a vibrant Faith where Jesus said says take up your cross and follow me to deny yourself and follow me that the moment that Christianity becomes you having to be someone who's repenting of sin or being obedient to his mission or being sacrificial with your life towards others or the moment There's an actual cost like I don't know about that that's a little overly religiously that's just a little bit too much for me it's just what we do and that's the heart.
But how we approach this and the reality is is our approach to God what what what what's really revealed in how we actually approach life is that sometimes the way that we the way that we that we live our lives earnestly for things that we can see for Governors that oversee us for for for employers that oversee us for the people that actually can bring the the change we can see in our lives that will do more earnestly for those worldly things than we will.
For God and it reveals what's happening in our hearts and it reveals that any of the practices that we bring here in a Sunday or in groups or whatever is more of a charade brothers and sisters Ecclesiastes is correct there is nothing new Under the Sun we we we repurpose and we repackage the same old practices the same old things we're just like the Israelites and there was a prophet that was raised up to help them see the error of their ways that Malachi is trying to help them.
See don't do this don't do this here don't don't don't engage in these practices and we have a better Prophet a better priest and our great high priest in Christ and a better King in Jesus who came and shed his blood for us and offer sacrifice blood to cover our sins and his perfect righteousness to stand for us and it invites us into that kind of faith we put all of our hope in Christ and then calls us into a worship that Romans 12:1 teaches I appeal you there appeal to you.
Therefore Brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as the Living Sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship though he place all of our hope in the finished work of Christ he changes us and then sets us apart to present Our Lives as a Living Sacrifice to God that we might lay down our lives to follow him and to worship him and to Delight in him and it would show up in all the different aspects of how we sing and how we live and what we do.
But I'll finish back with verse 14 when the Lord says cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it yet sacrifice to the Lord what is blemished for I am a great king says the Lord of hosts and my name will be feared among the Nations just remember God doesn't need this he do need this he's going to be worshiped amongst the Nations he's going to be glorified every knee is going to bow to him he doesn't need this this.
And if this ever becomes a charade if this ever if we ever the Church that preaches a Gospel and doesn't live if weever a Church that says all the right things but that doesn't actually back it up with our lives if all this just becomes checking boxes and just performative then man let's close the doors let's lock it up I'll go back to selling real estate I mean just we'll lock the doors we'll sell this building off that educational Wing you can make condos out of that thing this could be a nice little bar in and and and music venue I mean let's close up the doors and say move on.
Because God doesn't need a half-hearted people that are just going through the motions he wants a people who laid down their lives because we love him so deeply and we realize eternally what that he's worth it and we be a people that backed that up with our lives not as perfect people because we're going to make mistakes but where we see our sin we're confronted by the good news of the Gospel and we trust in him as our only hope and and we walk this out worshiping him and honoring him.
But if that ain't it we'll close the doors and move on but there are four Elders here that are never going to let that happen first their own lives and then as we lead forward we want to be a people who don't treat this as a charade but take the Lord seriously and the good news is God loves us enough to reveal this to us God loves us enough to be able to reveal what's happening in our hearts Stay With Me loves us enough to reveal what's happening in our hearts.
So that we can go to our community groups this week and confess sin and confess where we're falling short confess where we've treated this like a charade that we can be a people that actually are changed by Jesus and become better worshippers come better people who Delight in him but also there might be some of you where all this has ever been is going through the motions and all this has ever been is checking boxes and I want you to see.
See so clearly this morning God loves you enough to confront you and to call you into an actual real sacrificial faith in him don't treat this like a charade don't treat this as checkin boxes he's actually worth it and he's good and when you truly discover who our God is and you lay your life down for him you'll see that everything that comes after that is wonderful and is delightful and is worth it let me pray heavenly father I pray that you would help convict us of sin I pray that you'd help us.
Remember the good news of the Gospel that saves us so that we can be a people that actually worship you we can be a people that actually lay down our lives for you because it's good because we gain more of you because you died on a cross for our sins and you have a Heavenly home that await says and that's worth it it's worthy of Our Lives May we be a people that worship you not half-heartedly but truthfully in Jesus name amen man's going to come up and as we prepare to worship take a few moments to just breathe and pray.
Remember who this God is remember who he is and that he's worthy he will be worshiped amongst the Nations every KNE is going to conf is going to Bow every tongue is going to confess that he is Lord that is who our God is he's worthy of it so prepare your hearts to respond in worship but if you don't know him the invitation is there for you to actually know him and to surrender him and for this not to be something that you check off.
But to be a means of delighting in him because he's worthy of it.
Malachi Week 1: God’s Special Love
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. I know what you're thinking. Not one more week of theology of sex plus man. One week more. No, we are going to finish out the year in the book of Malachi.
My name is Spencer and I'm one of the pastors here and we're going to be that's in page 467, your blue Bibles. If you don't have a Bible at home, you can take that. We want you have a Bible that you can uh read at home. But we're going to be in the book of Malachi for the rest of the year. It is the final book of the Old Testament.
Uh, and it's often referred to as one of the minor prophets. Um, that doesn't it's not a statement of value on the prophet itself. Um, it doesn't mean anything other than just it has fewer words. They're the major prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Isaiah. And then this is in the minor prophets.
Four chapters packs a punch. And we're going to be on it to finish out the year. And we start off in verse one, chapter 1. The oracle, that's prophecy. The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
Now, [clears throat] like many of the prophets, it starts off with which prophet is speaking. This is Malachi. We don't really know much about Malachi. It's only mentioned one other time in the Bible. Some will try to argue that this actually isn't a prophet.
And Malachi just means my messenger. But most realize, no, this actually is a prophet. We just don't know much about him. Now we know that the book of Malachi is quoted throughout the New Testament. In the book of Luke, Jesus quotes Malachi.
We know Paul quotes Malachi. But what we can understand about the context of this prophet really comes from the writings itself. And when we look at kind of the writings and some of the language that's used in the book of Malachi, we can kind of tell where it shows up. Um, but it it shows up around the period after Ezra and Nehemiah. Some of the language is very very similar to those books which means that if it's coming after Ezra and Nehemiah it makes it the last prophetic words the last authoritative words of the old testament in the old testament period.
So this is the last uh words about 500 to 450ish BC there the last words before Jesus comes. So, it's an important prophet, especially as we head into uh the Advent and Christmas season coming up. So, in order to understand Malachi, I want to give a little context because we're jumping right into a part of the Old Testament. Might be helpful a little bit to have some history for where Malachi shows up. So, I'm going to go back a little bit before Malachi.
Um, hundreds of years before, really at the height of the kingdom of Israel, uh, David was king. Everything was going fairly well. Solomon was king. things were prosperous and well because of some of the sin that Solomon engaged in. God says, "I'm going to tear your kingdom in two." And after, it's not going to happen to you, but it's going to happen with your son.
And that's what happens that uh the kingdom splits and you have the northern kingdom, which is the 10 northern tribes minus Judah and Benjamin. And then you have the southern kingdom, which is Judah and Benjamin, the kingdom of Judah. So you have these two kingdoms. And the northern kingdom, Israel, quickly starts to reject the Lord. They start to engage in abominable practices like sacrificing their children to foreign idols, like setting up Asherapoles that they start engaging all types of corrupt practices and God brings judgment upon the northern kingdom for this.
Eventually the Assyrians come in and they basically decimate the very identity of the northern kingdom. I mean they they destroy it. There are some people that can trace their lineage back to these 10 northern tribes but they get mixed in with the surrounding nations and the northern kingdom is no more. Then you have the kingdom, the southern kingdom of Judah. It makes it a little bit longer.
It takes a little bit longer for some of these abominable practices to really infiltrate the kingdom of Judah. But eventually they engage in some of the very same things. And then God brings judgment upon the kingdom of Judah. The Babylonian Empire comes in, destroys, lays siege to Jerusalem, and takes the majority of the people back to Babylon, which is what Jeremiah was prophesying about, that they were going to spend 70 years in captivity. So, they spend 70 years not in their land amongst the people of Babylon.
And then finally, there's this anticipation, this excitement that they're finally going to get to go back. That's what Ezra and Nehemiah, when you read those books in the Old Testament, are describing when they start to resettle the homeland. You can read the book of Ezra and see how they're rebuilding the temple and the excitement that comes into them rebuilding the temple. You can read the book of Nehemiah and see that they're building the city walls. There's this excitement, anticipation for this period that it's going to be great.
But what happens in this period is lots of other sins. They have to address the fact that they intermarried with uh foreigners which was against the Old Testament law that when they're rebelling the temple they don't actually take the uh practices of temple sacrifice seriously and this becomes a problem and they start cutting corners that when you look at all the different aspects of the law that they're supposed to uphold one by one start to many of them start to fall by the wayside. But it's kind of antilimactic because there was this big hope that finally we've made it through judgment. Now we're back home and things are going to be better. There's going to be a new era where the Messiah comes in and he's going to make everything better.
It's going to be an exciting period of time. But they kind of fall into uh not some of the same practices that happened before. like they're not setting up astropoles and sacrificing their children to foreign idols, but they're basically just kind of going through the motions. They're kind of half-heartedly worshiping the Lord, just kind of getting by and disregarding and not taking seriously some parts of the law. You see that in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah.
And then it shows up here in Malachi because Malachi, God through his prophet is going to be addressing this uh this kind of faithless o uh half-hearted obedience amongst the people. And he's going to do it through six different disputations, six different disputes that God makes with his people. And that's what we're going to be seeing over the next couple of months are these six different disputes that God has with the people. And as we walk through the book of Malachi, what we're going to see is that there are a lot of parallels between what the people of God are engaging in and some of the half-hearted worship that is happening amongst the people of God and really our context as Christians in the south in America where there are churches all over the place down here that there's some similarities between us and the way that we kind of practice a cultural faith and the way that they were practicing their cultural faith.
We'll see next week that uh Malachi goes after them begrudgedly bringing offerings and not taking offerings seriously and their worship. And we'll see some parallels but between them and us and some of the ways that we don't take our worship seriously. We're going to see in a couple of weeks how God calls out the priesthood that he takes the priesthood to the woodshed for some of the ways that they are not taking uh the law seriously. And there's a lot of parallels between how uh Malachi, how the God is dressing the people in the priesthood and how the American pastor could be addressed today and some of the corrupt practices and some of the things that aren't taken seriously today.
You're going we're going to see in the coming weeks some uh uh God addresses the fact that uh the people had not taken their marital covenant seriously. That there are uh people that are not taking their marital covenant seriously. There's some bigger things that are happening there. But there some parallels even between us and the uh uh the American Church in that time period about how we don't take our marital covenant seriously. We're going to see some parallels between the fact that God was addressing some of the corrupt uh business practices, some of the neglect for the poor when it comes to money amongst the people of God.
And there are a lot of parallels even to our time and some of the ways that Christians conduct business today and a way that when you see a a business card that has the Jesus fish on it, you kind of hope and pray that they actually back that up and sometimes they don't. We're going to see the ways that we neglect the poor and some of the parallels between us. We're going to see how God addresses uh their lack of sacrificial giving that they were called to give tithes, which is a tenth of their income to the Lord and they were neglecting this. And in one of the disputes, God is addressing this. And we're also going to see how we also don't engage in that sacrificial sacrificial giving that God calls us to.
There are a lot of parallels between what God is addressing in the book of Malachi and how God could address us as well. And that's what we're going to see in the coming months as we walk through this. Now, it's a prophet. It's corrective in a lot of ways, and it's going to be heavy at times, and the people are going to be uh rebuked for a host of different things. before before God starts to correct some of the ways that they are half-heartedly worshiping the Lord, some of the half-hearted disobedience and obedience that's happening.
Before he does that, he has a simple message out the gate to his people. And it's this. I love you. I love you. He loves his people.
He wants them to understand his love, his covenant love for his people before he begins to rebuke the different things that need correction amongst the people of God. And that's what we're going to see today. We're going to see the wonderful covenant love that God has for his people, especially when circumstances may show us something different. that God's covenant love is real and it is wonderful no matter our circumstances. That's what we're going to see.
So, let me pray for us and then we'll walk through this first few verses together. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would help us have a posture to receive your word. That as we walk through this book over the next two months, that you would mold us and shape us and conform us into your image. But that comes through first believing the Gospel. We can't be a people that change without understanding your wonderful love and how you came for us first.
So help us believe that and help us receive your word and walk it out in faith and in obedience and repentance and in delighting in worshiping you. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. All right.
So verse one says, "The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi." Now, Israel at this point, just to for context, as we're going to be in the book of Malachi, we're not talking about northern southern kingdom anymore. This is from this point forward, Israel is all the people of God. So to Israel by Malachi, verse two, I have loved you, says the Lord. I have loved you. Now, we're going to see how that love is anchored in God's covenant love for his people in a moment some of the language that surrounds this.
But before he goes on to rebuke his people for their faithlessness, they need to hear this. They need to absorb this. I love you. And in verse six, as we're going to see next week, he uses the language of father and son.
This is the type of love that God has for his people. like a father and his children. He loves them and they need to absorb this and believe this. I mean, if you're a parent, you you understand this, right?
Like we as parents are called to discipline our children. I love I love my children and and I and I want them to be disciplined and I discipline them because I love them and also because I love you because if I did not discipline them, you would not like them. They would be unlikable. So, it's not just for the good of them, it's for the good of society, right?
We we're called to discipline. But when I discipline my children, like I I want them to know I love you so much. Like I I love you fiercely. I'm for you. I love you.
And they need this. They need to understand us out the gate. I have loved you, says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" So God says, "I loved you." But they seem to be questioning that love. I love you, but they're saying, "How?" How many of us have felt this?
How many of us have wondered that same kind of well, how I mean, sometimes you go through you're in the throws of suffering and you're just getting like pounded. It's just one thing after the next after the next after the next. Maybe a Christian in the most the kindest like not uh cliche way possible. They really genuinely just look at you and say God loves you. Don't forget that that God loves you.
And you might think really he's got a funny way of showing it because my like it's not good right now. My situation is bleak. My situation is like my life is miserable. He loves me. I just how well I I think many of us if we're honest feel this on some level at some point in our lives.
Maybe you feel this so deeply right now in this season like I just I can't see that. I can't feel that. I can't like I just hard for me to wrap my mind around how God could love me right now. And the people are here, the people that God is prophesying to in this period of time are feeling that. How does God love me?
And God wants to make it clear. I love you. And he couches this language in covenantal love language. That's what we see in verses 2-4. He says, "I have loved you, says the Lord.
But you say, how have you loved us?" God answers. It's not Esau, Jacob's brother, declares the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. I've laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to the jackals of the desert. If Edom says, "We are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins." The Lord of Hosts says, "They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called the wicked country and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever." So, if you're not familiar with that language, it's kind of jarring.
So, God's proving his covenant love by saying, "I love you, Jacob. I love you, descendants of Jacob." You know how you know this? I hated Esau. It's like what?
That's if you're not familiar with the story, if you're not familiar with the language here, it's like God has a beef with Esau. Okay, what's happening here? Context. Context. Context.
Context. That's your approach to the Scriptures in all the places. Context matters, right? That's for all of language, you guys. If I said dropping crumbs, I use that phrase, dropping crumbs.
Some of you might think children just getting crumbs everywhere cuz that's what they do. Or you might think, "Oh, Hansel and Gretle, I remember that story." Or you might be younger and think, "Oh, you're rich and you're dropping crumbs cuz you got money to spend." And that's you just you're dishing out, you buying things, you're dropping crumbs, which is what some of the young kids say. All right? Context matters. Who are they talking to?
The language that they're using, all of that matters when you approach the Scriptures. So when he says this, you got to clue in and say, "Wait, wait. What do you mean hatred?" Context matters. Hatred certainly could mean per personal animosity. That he could have personal hatred for Esau.
Okay, that's a possibility. I mean, you can't read the Psalms without seeing that God has some personal animosity towards the wicked, towards those who tread upon the poor, towards those who are violent towards others. That certainly is a possibility. But when you read this, you see this is actually covenantal language. This is a language of covenant love, acceptance of Jacob and covenant rejection of Esau.
That's what's happening here. And if you know the story of Jacob and Esau, the story basically is the the the promise to bless the nations came through Abraham. Abraham passes that down to Isaac. Isaac eventually passes that down to his one of his two sons and Esau's the older and if you read kind of the more likable one and then there's Jacob the younger and you would think Esau is going to maintain the blessing. Esau is going to maintain the it's going to go through him and that's what happened a lot with amongst the people.
The blessing goes to the older son. But God chooses by his sovereign choice, Jacob. And he gives covenantal acceptance and love towards Jacob. He rejects Esau. That's what's happening here.
That's what Paul when he quotes this passage in Malachi later on the book of Romans. That's what Paul is tapping into when he is trying to help the people of God understand it's by God's sovereign choice to whom he shows mercy and favor to. So this is covenantal language reminding them I chose you. I chose your descendants. I chose Jacob, Israel.
I chose y'all and I love you. I love you. I've rejected Esau and his descendants who are called the They have been rejected. I love you. Now, that's important for them to hear because right now that is somewhat hard for them to believe because the people of God have come back from exile.
They're coming back to the promised land. They're coming back with the hope to resettle their lands, their heritage. When they get back, the the descendants of Esau, have taken over vineyards. They've taken over parts of their land and they've gotten back and they're like, "You love us?
Our sworn enemy has taken parts of the land. Our sworn enemy is is all over our area. They're not in the kingdom of Edom anymore. They're now extended all the way here." So, they're doubting this covenant love.
[snorts] Now certainly certainly the people of God would have understood why this happened in their absence. Certainly they would have understood that because of what they did because their forefathers rejected God and and and committed all types of abominable practices and idol worship they rejected God. They earned judgment. I mean the prophet Jeremiah is making that clear over and over again. In Jeremiah chapter 9, it says, "Which was prophesied by Jeremiah, I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a layer of jackals, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant." That before this judgment comes from Babylon, Jeremiah is telling him, "This is what's going to happen." And he's making the point because you have rejected your God, you're going to become a a desolate land, a heap of ruins, a layer of jackals.
They knew that. They remember the prophet Jeremiah. So they understand that judgment is that this is this is why they're in the state that they're in. But the hope is it's like wait but but you still love us and we come back and still the land is not completely ours. So while they may understand this necessary judgment, it is hard for them to understand the the covenant love that God has for them because the land is not completely theirs.
And all they can see is their present circumstances. All they can see is what's right in front of them. And God is trying to lift up their eyes, trying to pick up their head a little bit, try to help them see what's about to happen. That's what God does with his people. He just gently, he lifts your head and says, "Look what I'm about to do.
Look at what I'm about to show you." And that's what's happening here when he says, "I have laid waste his hill country." I want you to hear the similarities between the what the prophet Jeremiah said of the temporary judgment upon his people and what he's about to with the same language apply permanent judgment to the He says, "I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert." Same language. If Edom says, "We are shattered, but we rebuild the ruins." So beatum says, "Oh, we're down for the count for now, but we're going to get back up off the mat." The Lord of Hosts says, "They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called wi the wicked country and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever." So this temporary judgment that happened to the people of God is going to permanently happen to the And that makes sense because what's about to happen to the is a group of uh nomadic people called the Nabotans are about to come in and they're about to completely uproot the They're about to come and completely take over the land of Edom and all the are going to shrink back and then eventually they're not going to have their own land and eventually they're not going to be their own people anymore. The reason you don't hear about the past Malachi and the New Testament is because they don't exist anymore. So God's judgment is about to come upon the and God is helping his own people see this. He's helping them see this is what's about to happen.
I have favor upon you. I love you, but all they can see right now is what's right in front of them. All they can see is their present circumstances and how things are right now. But God's trying to help them see, no, no, you need to understand what's about to happen. And that's how this first disputation, this first dispute ends in verse five.
Your own eyes shall see this and you shall say, great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel. So the people have questioned the goodness and the love and the favor of God. And God is lifting their eyes up and saying, "You're going to see this." Now, the way that's going to be immediately answered is what I just talked about. The fact that the are going to shrink back. They're going to take retake some of their vineyards, and the are eventually going to fall by the wayside.
And the God's power beyond the border of Israel and the land of Edom is going to be shown. So, they're about to see that. That's the immediate context. But like all the prophets of the Old Testament, that's not all that's happening. There's some immediate things that are being addressed, but also God is pointing forward to something bigger.
This is bigger than just Edom falling. This is bigger than God's power just happening there. The reality is is that one day God is going to send the Messiah and God is going to extend the work beyond the borders of Israel. And that prophecy from the Old Testament resounds into the New Testament. And that happens when Christ comes.
That when Jesus ultimately comes, God is going to work past the border. That his power is going to be made great beyond the border of Israel. And that's going to happen through Jesus going to the cross and his blood being poured out on behalf of his people and also the nations. That's going to happen when he rises from the grave and defeats the power of death by his resurrection. That's going to happen when the offer of salvation is made not just to the Jews, but to the Gentiles and to the nations.
This prophecy is going to be ultimately fulfilled when the people of God are called ultimately to a home that is past the border of Israel, but to an eternal home with God. That's where all of this is going. So, we as Christians get to read this and understand what's happening at the very beginning of this, what God's covenant love actually is because we got to see that embodied and fulfilled in Christ. And yet, many of us, if we're honest, [snorts] still can't really wrap our minds around that. Like, we still can't like we just we still can't fully realize that.
We can't fully see that clearly. And that shows up in how our lives reflect that belief, which we're going to see throughout the rest of the book of Malachi. That many of us are just going through the motions of faith and not actually displaying the type of obedience that believes the promises of God that believes God's redemptive work. That's what we're going to see throughout the rest of the book of Malachi. But for right here and what he's addressing, part of the problem for us is we just can't see past our uncircumstances.
We just can't see past what's right in front of us. Like we just we hear that God loves you. Don't you know God loves you? We just we we can't see it. It's just like I just [snorts] then why is everything so bad?
Like why is life so daggum hard? Like why is why are things so difficult? If God loves me, then what then why is what what's wrong with this picture? If we're honest, we feel that like just so deeply. We we feel that.
And if you're like, "No, I've never felt that. I'm I just I don't believe you. Like I just we all at some point like we we question the love of God." It's it's it's this side of the fall just a reality that plagues us that we just can't really believe when God says he loves us, that he really actually loves us. But he does. And we're we're stuck in the middle right now.
When we do the Lord's supper, we talk about how uh we're uh between the cross, the events of what Jesus did, his life, death, and resurrection that we celebrate when we come to the table. That this is what he has done for us. And we remember the the work of Christ by taking the Lord's supper. Remember what he did for us. But that also points forward to the day that he returns when he comes and he makes all things new and the kingdom is consummated.
meaning that heaven comes down to earth and he remakes everything and we live with God and we dwell and gaze upon his beauty for an eternity. That both of those are God's redemptive covenantal love. But we're stuck here between the two of them. And as we're here, life is just sometimes pounding us, throwing haymakers at our soul over and over and over again. And we just can't pick our heads up to see either of those clearly.
Like sometimes it just feels like we're on a ship in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of a storm that just won't end. And every day we go out, it's the same pounding waves and the same wind and the same gray skies. There's no break in the horizon and the lightning's crashing and we got no control over this. We're just a deck hand on a ship and we're just mopping, doing our job, or we're moving cargo around and we got no control. And every day we walk out and we see the same mess, the same situation.
And maybe the captain's telling us, "Yep, I'm telling you, the storm's going to break. Yep, there's we're going to make it through this, but we can't see that." We go out every day, every day, every day, every day. Same thing. And it just like, what is this?
Is it ever going to break? That's what life feels like sometimes. That's what our circumstances feel like sometimes. Whether it's your financial situation, whether it's your familial situation, whether it's fill in the blank, you just over and over and over again, it just [snorts] doesn't feel like it's going to end. But the reality is is that while it may be hard to believe sometimes because of our circumstances that God's covenant love is real, it is.
And faith is picking our heads up and realizing something beyond our own circumstances. It's picking our head up and realizing God did love me. The evidence of God's perfect love is Christ. that he did not leave us in the storm, but that he came from heaven to redeem us. God does love us.
But you you have to remember the work of the cross. You have to look back at that and realize that happened. Our God loves us so much that he did come for us. That he did die for us. That he did rise for us to offer us life and fulfillment and joy that is found in him and not in our circumstances.
That we have to look at that and believe that did happen. I'm going to bank my life on that reality while we also look forward and realize yes there will be a day when he does come back and there will be a day where the pains of this life and the sufferings of this life and the trials of this life are temporary and that is eternal. I believe that is going to happen. Faith is lifting our eyes and seeing both of those with open eyes. That's what we're called to as Christians.
And while that is hard, that is faith. It is trusting in what we cannot see sometimes. It's trusting that we what we cannot see that we could not see that. But I believe with all of my life, yes, Jesus loves me so much that he gave his life up for me. And I believe yes, Jesus is going to make all of this new.
This life is temporary. It is like a vapor. It is here for a moment and that is gone. And that what awaits me is ultimately better. But that takes lifting our eyes up beyond our circumstances and trusting in the covenant love of God.
So as we walk through Malachi the next couple of months, he's going to beat us up a little bit. Just being honest, it's it's going to get in our grill a little bit, but that's because God loves us. And while we might have a propensity to read the rest of this book and go, I'm going to take worship seriously. I'm going to start giving more. I'm going to fill in the blank in all the ways he's going to correct us.
That means nothing if we don't build it upon the covenant love of Christ and the faith that informs that obedience in the first place. So brothers and sisters, I don't know where you are in your life right now. I don't know what you're facing right now. I don't know what your circumstances are right now, but the invitation is to lift up your head and to see the work of the cross and the final work of Christ and to believe in something bigger than your own circumstances.
The band's going to come up and we're going to take the Lord's supper and you're going to have an opportunity to do that right now. That as we come to the table, we remember the work of Christ. And I want you to do that like I as you come as you're sitting in your seat before you come to the table. I want you to picture Jesus immense love for you. I don't know what your circumstances are.
I don't know what you're facing. I I don't know what life has for you right now, but I want you to see that he loved you so much that 2,000 years ago, he gave up his life for you. For you. And I want you to joyfully come to the table remembering that whatever you're facing right now, it's temporary.
It's temporary circumstances. That what awaits us is better. And as a people and the tension between those two realities, we lift up our eyes. We place our hope in that covenant love and faithfulness and not what's right in front of us. If you are not a Christian, if you've never surrendered to the covenant love of God, if maybe for you life has just been a mix of of works and and Sunday coming and being a part of a group, I maybe I don't know what your story is, but if you haven't actually put all of your hope in the covenant love of God and what he has done for us, please do not come to this table.
That would be a meaningless work. Don't come to the table. Come to Christ. Believe. Put your faith in the covenant love of God and what he has done for you.
And then come and talk to us and we'll walk you through what it means to follow Christ. What it means to place your faith in Jesus. And then you'll be ready to come to the table. But when you are ready, Christians, come. There's gluten-free in that back corner over there.
Let me pray for us as we prepare to take the Lord's supper. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the good news of the Gospel of your covenant love and faithfulness towards us. I pray that we would place our hope in you and not the circumstances, not the things that you can do in this life, but what you have done for us and what you will do for us because that is better than anything this life has to offer. It's better than health. It's better than riches.
It's better than anything this world has to offer. God, I pray that you would help us place our hope in you. And for some people, that's going to be placing their hope and your covenant love and what you've done for us for the first time. And I pray that you would bend their hearts towards you in faith. And I pray that for all of us who are sinners in need of a savior that we joyfully come to the table as men and women between the cross and the new heavens and earth.
We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.