|giv| Week 3: Faithless Complaints & the Faithful
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Spencer and I am one of the pastors here so we are in the final two weeks of walking through the Book of Malachi and we're also in our final weeks of our give Series so every year if you're new here we do a give Series where we pause to remember uh really the gift of Jesus and what it means to be in relationship with him uh we get so caught up in this season and really the materialism that gets attached to Christmas and every year we take a moment to reset.
Remember who this is about and what he causes to is being people that do not worship gifts or don't worship money or don't worship anything other than Christ and esteem him as as wonderful and great and we do that through a give project which you'll hear more about um as we close out today but uh we're going to continue to walk through the Book of Malachi and we are in chapter 3: 13-8 so you can follow along there you can also follow along your blue Bible uh that's all around you the page should be on the screen 4 608.
If I can read correctly from a distance but you can follow along as we walk through the text together uh we are in the Christmas season and uh that means that there are a lot of things that are happening one of them is uh Hallmark movies so yeah some of you excited uh 90minut easy digestible plots that are effortless right Netflix has gotten in the game like there you know there a story for you you know the the woman who is in the city and has the high powerered career.
But she goes to the countryside for Christmas and meets the guy and all of a sudden she has to choose between a career and the Man in the countryside and every time she chooses the countryside and the wonderful life you know what I'm talking about there's these revolving plots that happen that we're all so very used to there's one that happens quite a bit as well and it's the story of a of a dad who really is all in on his career he's traveling all the time he's working really hard.
But he's not present at home and at Christmas time he believes that he can buy his children's affection by buying them all the Christmas gifts in the world like this plot shows up in you know 90-minute movies it shows up all over the place it happens in real life as well and everyone who understands that story universally responds the same way Dad he doesn't want the gifts he wants you he he doesn't want the Christmas that you can provide he wants you he wants to go out back and throw the ball he wants to have time with you.
If you would just refocus and reenter your life in in a way that would see that your children are valuable and the little time that you have with them like we know that story and all of us are on the same page and saying dude slow down the gifts don't matter it's what you it's you are what matters and yet we don't apply that same logic to God God the Father we just don't we don't see that actually having a relationship with.
God the father and being with him is actually good that's where goodness is found it's not in the gifts that he can provide it's not in the life that he can provide it's not in the things that we want in this world it's actually found in him and we don't apply that same logic we so deeply understand when we're watching a movie to who our God is and we get so wrapped up especially in a season like this in what God can do.
For for us and defining that as goodness now we're not alone the Jewish people as we're going to see today we're also in the same boat confusing what is the goodness of God how is that displayed and really believing that that's bound up in the things that he can do for his people so we're going to see that we're going to see how that applies to us as we walk through another dispute that God has with his people in the Book of Malachi let we pray and we'll walk through this together heavenly.
Father I I pray pray that you would help us be present this morning that we might remember who you are that we might even some of us discover who you are that we might see you as wonderful and good and worthy of our worship not because of what you can do for us but because who you are and God I pray that you'd help us be present this morning to hear that and that we would not just be hearers of the word.
But we would be doers of the word we walk this out in faith and in Repentance and in worship and delighting in who you are in Jesus name amen all right so starting off in verse 13 your words have been hard against me says the Lord but you say how have we spoken against you you have said it is vain to serve God what is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts.
Now we call the Arrogant blessed evildoers not only Prosper but they put God to the test and they escape so if you've been walking with us in the Book of Malachi one of the things that you have seen over and over again in these disputes because each one of these sections of Malachi is a dispute that God has with his people and you see this God says this is what you've done here's the accusation here's what you've said here's what you've done people are like no not us how have we done this and that's what's Happening Here your words have been hard against me and they say.
Well how how have we spoken against you we wouldn't know never he said no You' have spoken hardly another version will say harshly another version uh will say arrogantly it's all capturing the same idea you have spoken arrogantly harshly hard words against the Lord and in verse 14 we see this harshness and really what's happening in this charge says what prophet is there in keeping his charge his charge the NIV I'm going to put the NIV which is another version of this up there.
Because I want us to see what's happening here it says you have said it is feudal to serve God what do we gain by carrying out his requirements so this is a little bit different than what we've read before where they're complaining or lamenting before God they're talking amongst themselves this we his language what God is describing is conversations that are happening amongst the people of God so what's happening is the people are complaining against the Lord together which is what happens you know people who are disgruntled seem to find each other.
If you've ever worked a job if you've ever been in an office or worked in a shop or wherever like the most disgruntled people just find each other and they complain about their boss they complain about their work they complain about fill in the blank and that's what's happened with the people of God is they they've some people have been finding each other to complain together against God so what are they complaining about what the content of their beef with God it starts in.
Verse 14 it says you have said it is vain to serve God what is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts so they're saying what is the point in worshiping God what profit is there what gain is there in worshiping God it's not going well for us what's the point of worshiping God this language of mourning is is is the type of lament worship they would bring before God what's the point in worshiping.
God it's not it's not giving us any gain that we can really see that we can really feel that we can really grasp and we saw a little bit of this earlier when the uh earlier with the dispute with the people of God when they were bringing their sacrifices before the Lord they were bringing uh bad sacrifices disobeying the law bringing blind animals and all types of animals that should not have been sacrificed going through the motions of worship and now they're just complaining about going through the motions of worship what is the point what is the profit what is the gain in worshiping.
God and it becomes a really self-centered self-interested approach to the Lord that God has not done me any good so what's the point in even serving him what's the point even going to the temple and offering worships what's the what's the point of even going to the synagogue and hearing the rabbi preach like what is the point what is the prophet and they continue this complaint in verse 15 it says and now we call the Arrogant blessed evildoers not only Prosper.
But they put God to the test and they escape so this is similar to what we've read earlier in Malachi they are mad that those who are not of the people of God that don't worship God are prospering so the Persians still roll over them at this point in history and they're mad about that when they come back to the promised land the their sworn enemies are taking have taken over parts of the promised land and they're mad about that and those people that don't worship.
God they seem to be doing well and we aren't are you going to show up for us oh God cuz we're not prospering and they are and they're not being punished and they're comparing themselves to the people that are around them which as I told my daughter last night is a miserable existence it's a miserable existence to compare yourselves to others in childhood it's miserable but it's also Miserable as as an adult consistently compare yourself to others one of the things that we're having to deal with with our oldest she's in the.
Third grade and and this has started to happen but she's got friends in her class that have phones and that's going to continue to happen and she's already kind of wondered wait a second why don't I have a phone and those conversations are going to continue to ramp up and they're going to be more and more like hey why don't I have a phone my friends have a phone why don't I have a phone and the comparisons are going to continue in that direction and one of the things is going to be difficult.
For her that we're going to have to have conversations with over and over again is to say listen I'm not their parents I'm yours you belong to me and we have made a decision that it's going to be a while before you get a phone especially a smartphone because we have basically a decade long case study on what that does to young girls so no we're you're not going to have a smartphone for a very long time and what she's going to inevitably what going to happen in her soul.
Because she's a human is is that's not good you're you're denying goodness and and what she doesn't see is no we aren't we're actually giving you goodness by not giving you this device that could warp you no but we do this it's so innate to who we are to compare ourselves to others to say oh no like I what are you holding back from me oh Lord that the others have that is good now that complaint needs some context for when that's being said in history I mean that that matters.
For any statement that's made in history I can make the statement right now that Germany is dominating influence in Europe I mean they are a dominating influence in Europe and they are because they're the most powerful economy in the EU if I said that in 1940 that's different that's a whole different ball game so context based on generational difference differences and time matters so when is this statement when is this complaint that they are saying being said and why does that matter.
So the complaint they're making against God here is a few Generations after the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah Malachi is one of the is the final book of the Old Testament and it's believed that happens just a few Generations right after the events of Ezra and Nehemiah and if you read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah what you will see when the people return from exile to the promised land is that there's this renewed fervor in love for.
God there's this renewed worship for God as they're rebuilding the temple and as they're rebuilding the walls and as they're uh reading the the law and rediscovering the Covenant there's this renewed fervor for God and with that renewed fervor for God is this expectation that things are going to get better and then it kind of doesn't by their standards they don't still Ru over their land things aren't seeming to be all that much better and we we we saw even last week uh that they aren't one of the things that chat B us through last week and the last uh dispute that.
God has with this people is that they're not actually giving to uh giving their tithes to the lord they're holding back from the Lord and part of that when you can of look into the context is that they probably don't have as much it's easy to to to give a tenth when you are prosperous a little bit harder when you are not so things aren't going well as they expected and the their enemies are ruling over parts of their land they just things aren't going like they want it to be and they're saying.
Well what's the profit of following God what's the point in worshiping God because it's just not getting better now I think that context is important for us and the Western American Church because I believe that we have similar complaints because what happens with us is that many of us will place our faith in Jesus get baptized or maybe we'll go through a season of rediscovery of God and loving his word and passionate maybe you get married you're like I want to actually take Faith seriously as a family or you start to have a kid you start to go I want to take.
God ser seriously we have these Mountaintop experiences where we're starting to have a fervor and a love for God and what happens is is that we believe the false narrative that if I'm just following God and I'm doing what I'm supposed to then things are just going to get better and then life hits you in the face repeatedly over and over again death loss betrayal debt joblessness the works and what happens when you get hit over and over again as you start to question is.
God good it is he because I'm just I'm getting destroyed left and right and I I is he good now the reason I think that question seeps in very easily I think there's there's a few different threads for that I think part of that is is that the American Prosperity Gospel is so rampant in Western American Church and we like to think of that as just the you know the C dollars of the world who are buying Jets those are the worst versions of it.
But it's way more than that it's this consistent message that shows up of be you got you follow God you'll be healthy you'll be be good you'll be fine your life will be good profit gain it's all over Instagram It's All Over YouTube it's all over just it's it it fuses its way to where the goodness of God ultimately is what he can do for you if he plac your faith in Jesus watch him work won't won't he won't he work I mean just over and over and over and over again it seeps its way in all different places I think that's part of the problem I think I think also part of the problem.
Is is that we just have this understanding that goodness is found in the things goodness is found in the substance material substance there's this material idea of just goodness is these things and therefore if God is good he must display his goodness with these things if he just gives me these things then he ultimately is good I think also we just very basically we lack a very biblical Theology of suffering the the the New Testament you cannot read the New Testament without understanding that there is a baseline theolog theological like you you are going to suffer and ultimately that is.
For your good that if you are called in Christ as a Christian you will suffer and it's actually seen as something that is good for us I mean James 1 says count it all joy count it all joy my brothers when you meet Trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing now it says can Joy my brothers when you meet trials.
When really important word meaning you are going to meet trials you are going to suffer and he's trying to help them count it as a joy because ultimately that suffering is going to produce steadfastness and as Roman says it'll have its full effect it be like I mean just it's just just I think we lack this and we're surrounded by so many bad ideas and bad philosophies of the day bad theology bad preaching dumb Instagram dumb Tik Tok I mean just we're surrounded by.
So many ridiculous detached from the Bible ideas and I love what Eugene Peterson once said he said all the water and all the oceans cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside that all the water and all the oceans cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside so yes we are certainly surrounded by so many bad ideas so many bad philosophies so many bad theology so many bad streams but the reality is is that we're we still have the ability to believe what is true we have his word we have the Holy Spirit that don't have to get inside the boat that don't have to get in we are responsible ultimately.
For discernment and filtering out all of that so we might actually believe what is true and some of that means you've got to realize that you might have some metaphorical people that are around that are complaining and giving you bad ideas Bad Company as First Corinthians says ruins good morals so I don't know what that is for you if that's seeping into your soul you might need to Source where that is and who that's coming from maybe it's people that you follow maybe it's things that you have heard maybe it's fill in the blank.
But there's a group of people in the promised land that are just complaining and they're complaining against God because they believe what is not true the goodness is found in what God can do for us in this life mostly materially but that's not the only people in the Promised Land when you get to verse 16 you see that then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another so there still are people who fear the lord who love him who realize that goodness is found in him that Delight in him.
For who he is and not for what he can do in prospering this life now there's still people that love God and that worship him and that fear Him and they're speaking together and this is what God says and some of this is in the time of Malachi and some of this is we're going to see is forward looking the Lord paid attention and heard them and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name they shall be mine says the.
Lord of hosts in the day when I make make up my treasure possession I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked between one who serves God and one who does not serve him so we get this picture of people who in the midst of their suffering are fearing God and I want to take a look at some of that forward-looking language that is.
For the people of God who persevere in faith so that first part it says the Lord paid attention and heard them and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name those who fear the lord are his they belong to him so much so that their name is written in a book of remembrance which is something that we see from the Old Testament into the new right we're walking through the book of Exodus in the last year we saw that Moses.
When he's pleading on behalf of the people he says in Exodus 32 but now if you will will forgive their sin but if not please blot me out of your book that you have written there's this idea of that those who remain faithful they're written and recorded in some book of remembrance The Book of Revelation completes this theme at the end of the story in Revelation uh chapter 3 it says the one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments and I will never blot his name out of the book of life I will confess his name before my.
Father and before his angels Revelation says and if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life he was thrown into the Lake of Fire there's this idea throughout the Scriptures that that those who are faithful those who trust God those who persevere they're written in a a book of remembrance a book of life there's a recording that is taken of them now for their time that makes a lot more visual sense for them because they were very used to it at the time Kings kept a record.
So Kings at the time both Jewish and non-jewish Kings they kept a record of who did what in the Kingdom that was good who did what in the Kingdom that was bad they kept a record of all of this so it's very picturesque for them that the God of the universe the king over all things keeps a record and keeps an account of who is faithful so he says God I I will remember I have a book of remembrance and you'll be written in.
And then I want to to see what he has to say about those in the book of remembrance verse 17 they shall be mine says the Lord of hosts in the day when I make up my treasured possession and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked between one who serves God and one who does not serve him so God says couple of things he says those who fear me those who are in this book of remembrance they are my treasured possession dude where his treasured possession that.
God holds his people dear to him he Treasures them he keeps them safe like if I if this week in our office is next door if Chad philli started a fire because I don't even know what he's doing back there sometimes if he started a fire and the building was going to burn down and I had to get some stuff out of my office I'd choose the most treasured possessions and it it would be very quick CU on my bookshelf there's a pocket Bible it's an old kjb pocket Bible it was my grandparents pocket Bible and that's a treasure possession I'd grab that and above that is I have a I have a signed copy.
Of one of wle Berry's limited edition poetry books which for very limited amount of people that's a big deal but it's it's one of the best authors of the last century he I got him to sign it a book fair I'd grab that I might even grab there's at the end of the bookshelf there's a picture it's of chett but it's of Chad looking at himself so like one day um one day I was at his office and he had this uh he was looking at his computer.
But his computer has two screens and one of them just had a screen saver which was a his profile picture on our website and he's looking at it so I snapped the picture because it looks like he's fawning over himself and I sent it to him it was a big kind of inside joke and then all of a sudden he like before he went on sabatical like printed it off and put it in a frame just you know cuz we listen we make jokes about each other all the time from the pulpit cuz we're fun we like to have fun.
But we are close we're good friends and he knew he's going to be gone for eight week so he put that picture up there for me to remember him and it's just like it's a good inside joke it stays up there so I probably wouldn't keep that I if I'm grabbing things maybe if I have the time but definitely the other two objects I'm grabbing those and the reason why I'm grabbing those objects it's because they're dear to me they're treasured and I want to keep them safe.
God he says I'm you're you're mine you're my treasured possession just think about that if you're in Christ God Treasures you he Treasures you and he will ultimately keep you near to him I love that language which that we a treasure possession and he goes on and he says and I will spare them like a man spares his son who serves him and this is the language of a father who loves his son father who loves his son and I mean not just giving trying to buy his affection at Christmas.
But just absolutely loves his boy and if you're a parent you get this you understand what it means to love your children and that you want to spare them suffering you want to spare them like that that's like I right now we're so I I read a book called coddling of the American mind years ago and I'm very convinced by the arguments in it not they're not Christians but very convinced the arguments in it one of the things they're critiquing is helicopter parenting.
So we're trying to grow in our family to not be the helicopter parents so my oldest is in the third grade and we're trying to allow her to have more free play in our neighborhood where we can't see her but that's very hard because I've seen a lot of dat line and it's just hard where for Christmas don't don't tell her but we're getting her a a a Garmin smart watch that allows her to message us send out a SOS signal.
If she's in trouble but has GPS tracking so I feel a little more comfortable less helicopter sending her out in the neighborhood to play with kids where I can't see her because it's good for her ultimately to have this free play that is going to be good for her to make her a better adult now the reason why that's hard for me and my wife is because we don't want her to get hurt we want to spare her that like we don't want our children to be hurt we want our children to be.
Okay and that's something that's so distinct to parents we love our children and God says I I'm going spare them like a man spares his son who serves him like I I'm going to like like like a God who loves his child that doesn't want his child to suffer that's how I see there people who fear me who love me and in the days ahead you will be my you're my treasured possession and I will spare you and when that happens everyone will.
See the distinction between those who trust in Christ and fear Him and the wicked who reject him and ultimately complain about him because they've misunderstood the goodness of God now that question lingers of okay well when that's prophesying this when when is that going to happen in this side of the Cross we know exactly when that was going to happen so I passages like Romans 8 which makes M Malachi 3:17 come to life Romans 8 says he who did not spare his son.
But gave him up for us all how will he not also with him gracious ly give us all things and the good news of the Gospel is that God loves his people so much that he did not spare his only begotten son that he had his son crushed on a cross to absorb the wrath for our sin that we deserve so that we might be spared so that we might become his treasure possession and so the Judgment might might not fall upon us.
But it might fall upon Christ so Malachi is pointing forward to that day when Jesus is not spared but those who trust in him are and as Romans says As Romans says how will he not graciously give us all things that if we're spared this judgment and more than that we're graciously given all things what are the all things and it's not Material in this life it's Christ in life with him so as Malachi and the complaint is what is the profit of keeping his charge what's the profit what's the gain what do I get you get everything you get everything that ultimately matters you gain him in life with him forever you get the.
Fruit of his righteousness credited to our account you get to behold his face and etern you gain everything that ultimately matters so what is it worth what's the profits worth everything as Paul so succinctly puts in Philippians 3 when he argues indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and for him the loss was reputation the loss was he suffered greatly physically he suffered in hunger he suffered in he suffered shipwrecks he suffered everything as I count everything as a loss.
Because the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish so all the things that you might cling to in this world and say that's good he says no it's garbage it's rubbish no where am I in order that I might gain Christ and be found him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from.
God that depends on faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in death and the Very things in this life that we're so tempted to believe that are ultimately good it's nothing it's fleeting it doesn't last it's not worth putting your hope in it the difference between those that do not know God and those who do is not bound up in the things that they have in this life it's bound up in who they ultimately worship and we have Christ and he's worth everything he's worth all the loss that you might suffer in this world he's worthy of it and he's better as.
We say every week he's better than everything else so that means that we we have to stop measuring the goodness of God and the things that we can get here and now and then all the different ways that we struggle with God because we are frustrated because of what he does not give us it means that we have to submit that in Repentance before the Lord and also believe that he is good regardless of anything that's added in this life now as we do give we get to do that every year as a reminder.
Because every year around this time we talk about this we talk about how there are things that Vive for our attention and our affection there's so many things that you can buy now on Amazon there's so many things you can level up to in life the next house the next truck the next whatever it is that you desire and when we don't get it we get frustrated we get discontent and maybe it's not even maybe it's not even a big truck maybe it's just the simple things like I don't want to be in pain anymore more I want relationally things to go.
Well for me I want my marriage to go well for me I want friendships to go well for me I want my job to go well for me there's so many things that we put value in in this life and when those are taken from us is when we start to shake our Fist and at least at give every year we get to address one of the big ones which is materialism it is money it is the things that we want to worship and lay our lives down.
For so we close out we're going to worship and then Isaac is going to come up here he's explain the next phase of our give project we're excited about and we're going to get an opportunity to actually in the coming weeks display that at least we don't love the things of this world so much so that we might give up a chunk of change a bit of our budget maybe bit of our regular giving so that we might submit our finances to the.
Lord and not love the things of this world that we so if we're honest deeply love but even more than that the hope would be is that we would not be like those who complained amongst the people of God who questioned God's goodness because he did not deliver in the ways that they wanted him to but we just be like the boy who gets his dad and just says I want him I don't want the things you can give me I just want want you and we'd be a people that whatever it is in this life that that we put value in we just put it away and say no I got you.
And if I got you I'm good let me pray heavenly father I pray that you'd help us submit to what is difficult teaching you help me submit to what is difficult teaching from your word there's so many things my heart strives to love above you but you're more beautiful you're more wonderful you're more satisfying and I pray that we believe that I pray that we' live like that's true that if there's anyone here that hasn't actually fully done that for the.
First time ever they haven't actually believed that you're ultimately better they would actually believe that they would have faith that you would give them Faith to believe that you are better the goodness is found in you and for the rest of us who are sinners trying to rid our elves of seeking the pleasures of this life may you help us in Repentance and in worship submit these things to you that we might see you as good in Jesus name amen.