malachi

1. M malachi “major” thoughts from a “minor” prophet

2. A Recap: Tithing and Finances • The Israelites of Malachi’s day had neglected to give their tithe, thereby causing the worship of God to suffer within the nation of Israel, bringing God great displeasure. • A New Testament pattern of giving directs us to give sacrificially, cheerfully and as a privilege rather than simply subjecting us to what often amounts to a 10% tithing tax.

3. The Confounding Words of Jesus “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division” (Luke 12:51).

4. Malachi 3:13 – 4:6 “You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.  A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the  Lordand honored his name. ”

5. “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes  under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

6. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lordcomes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

7. Our passage this morning presents us with a comparison between the unrighteous and the righteous within the people of Israel! • “Righteous remnant” - within the overarching title of God’s people, there remains within it, a grouping of people who will remain faithful to the commandments of God and to a consistent witness for Him. • How is one deemed righteous and another unrighteous? • God, through Malachi, makes it pretty clear that it is by examining one’s words that this division is enacted. • “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45) • Our speech regarding God is reflective of the posture of our hearts toward God.

8. God is offended by an ongoing use of harsh and offensive words against Him. • The predominant theme of this chatter is that there is a futility in serving God. • This group of people have started with the assumption that God no longer loves nor cares about them, resulting in looking out on the world around them, failing to see God at work, and concluding that since God is inactive, there is nothing to gain by serving him and honouring His commandments. • So, they offer God their leftovers, they treat their marriages with disdain, and they neglect to bring their tithes to God. • They also speak publically about the futility of serving God, publically bearing false witness against the God of the universe.

9. Even in this circumstance we see tremendous hope: there remains in Israel a group of people who “fear the Lord and honour his name”. • Having heard both the arrogant speech of the unrighteous and the humble, honouring speech of the righteous, God then responds. • God minces no words here … a day of action is coming. • In both cases, the day of the Lord will be a day of judgement, a day of division. • For some, they will be spared and will become God’s “treasured possession”; others will be like stubble, consumed in the fire of God’s judgment.

10. For the Israelite of Malachi’s time, the Day of the Lord would be a day when arrogant language would cease and God would judge between the righteous and the unrighteous. • The misapplication of this idea within Judaism was that all of ethnic Israel would be saved, while judgment would be meted out against the foreign nations that surrounded them. • Being ethnically Israelite would not be enough; action and behaviour would be considered.

11. For those who revere God’s name, a tremendous promise awaits – they will be healed by the sun of righteousness and they will frolic like well-fed calves, trampling evil underfoot. • The Israelites of Malachi’s day expected that when the Day of the Lord arrived, He would lead them in a military victory over their foreign oppressors. • All they needed to do was remember the Lord’s commandments and be on the lookout for Elijah – the messenger whom God would send in preparation of His arrival.

12. When Christ came some 2,000 years ago, He came not to judge but to purify for himself a people. • Through His ministry on earth, through his death and resurrection, and through the forgiveness of our sin, Jesus established the church as His “purified” people. • Though Christ came 2,000 years ago to purify for Himself a people, He is returning to one day judge humankind. • The message of Revelation: one day a clear division will be made between the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous will reap eternal life, while the unrighteous will reap utter destruction. • Amazingly, the entire prophecy of Malachi – both the purification and the judgment - is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, though it is protracted over the course of millennia.

13. When God initiates this type of division, it results in unity because, when we commit to following Jesus, God takes all those things that naturally divide us and unites us under one banner. • Those who have trusted in Jesus are one in Christ Jesus and for those who find themselves in Jesus, Romans 8:1 informs that “there is now no condemnation”. • By placing our faith in Jesus Christ, the division the Lord initiates will never be a concern because nothing in all of creation will “be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

14. Some Questions • What does your life smell like? • If we are to offer all that we are to God as a living sacrifice, what aroma will our lives produce? • We must open ourselves to allow God to do a work of division in our hearts; we must allow Him to purify us, dividing out the areas where sin resides, separating them from us. • When you consider your worship of God, does it emerge from an arrogant and entitled place, or from a place of reverence and a desire to bring Him glory, honour, and praise? • Today, have we revered God’s name by properly worshipping Him?