DATE: 2-22-26

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

A few weeks ago, we reintroduced an ancient practice to our worship services — a time of pastoral prayer. Where — each week — we’re being more intentional about praying for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and world. 

Today we’ll be praying for our friends in Bucyrus. This is their last Sunday with us — as their new pastor begins next week. We’ll pray for those who serve our community as emergency medical responders. We’ll pray for those who serve in the military. And we’ll pray for our Christian witness around the world as this is the first Sunday of Lent. 

Please join me in prayer.

Heavenly Father, what a gracious God you are. For every good and perfect gift comes from you — including the gift of fellowship with our friends in Bucyrus. And how thankful we are that they’ve found a pastor to lead them. May you bless them in the weeks and months ahead as they and their new pastor get to know each other. May you forge a sweet relationship between him and the elders. Spirit, may you unite the congregation together in a common purpose — and that purpose isn’t finished now that a pastor has been called — for the purpose you’ve called your church to — wherever she is found — is to go and make disciples of all nations. So may the arrival of their new pastor be the beginning of a new and fruitful season of making disciples of Jesus Christ. 

As we turn our attention to our local community, we lift up to you those who serve as emergency medical responders. Spirit of God, give them quick thinking, wisdom, and steady hands as they help those in need of their service. And we ask you to help them to not only live trying to save the lives of others — but may you help them to live life themselves. To live the abundant life that’s only possible through faith in Jesus Christ.

For our nation’s military — first — we thank you that they’re willing to serve us by protecting our freedom as a nation. As someone who’s served — the further I’m removed from my time in the military — the more I see how precious a thing it is to have others who are willing to give their life so that we can experience the freedoms we have in our country. Even the freedom to disagree with the decisions our military makes is a freedom they’ve secured on our behalf. May you protect them. May you give those in leadership wisdom from on high. And may all of us — no matter our political views — be grateful for those who protect the freedoms we have.

And — finally — as many Christians around the world participate in the season of Lent — the forty days between now and Easter symbolizing the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness before being tempted by Satan — may those who participate — and even those who don’t — recognize and respond to what Jesus accomplished on our behalf during those forty days. Jesus, thank you for denying yourself and overcoming the temptations you faced. The times that we’ve done the opposite are countless — and it’s only by your grace that we find forgiveness when we come to you in repentance and faith. 

May all of us — who believe in Christ — recognize what a gift it is to repent of our sins. What a gift it is to believe in Jesus Christ. What a good and perfect gift salvation is — and may we show the world what wonderful gifts these are — during Lent — and throughout the entire year.

And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. Learning from the younger brother of Jesus who believed that his older brother was the Son of God. And James seems to have taken Jesus at his word — for much of what we read in James — appears to be mini-sermons — explaining, illustrating, and applying what Jesus had taught. So there’s much wisdom for us to gain from what we find in this book — including what James has for us today.

So — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to James chapter one — we’ll be looking at verses sixteen through eighteen together today. We’re in James chapter one — beginning in verse sixteen. There we read…

James 1:16–18 ESV

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

This is going to be a very theological sermon. But the goal isn’t for this to just be a sermon for our minds — the goal is for this to be a sermon that penetrates our hearts. For what we’re going to discover today — about God and salvation — is meant to stir not only our minds — but is to excite our hearts as well. Let me explain what I mean.

If you were here with us last week — when we saw God’s purpose in the trials we experience in life — we uncovered a truth about where temptation comes from — and it was a sobering truth. For temptation — we saw — comes from within us — from what’s called our sin nature. In and of ourselves we’re not pure — we’re tainted by sin. It’s the condition we’re born in because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God in the Garden.

Yet we also saw how — one of the habits of our sinful hearts — is to find someone else to blame for the temptation we give into — for we stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that temptation comes from within us — so we look outside ourselves. And it’s quite common to throw blame right at God. But James told us that — not only is God not tempted by evil — he also doesn’t tempt us with evil. Meaning — the temptations we face don’t come from God.

We also learned that temptation — when given into — leads to sin. And sin always takes from us — ultimately taking away life — for sin — James tells us — leads to death. And — death — is the ultimate taking away from.

So — in arguing against the belief that God’s the one tempting us and — instead — arguing that temptation comes from within us — James now says…

James 1:16 ESV

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Don’t be deceived. That’s the only command in our verses. So — if you want to know what you’re to do today — this is it: Don’t be deceived. Don’t be misled from having a true and proper belief about where temptation comes from.

The Bible gives us many warnings about being deceived. For instance, why are we deceived? According to Jesus…

Matthew 22:29 NET

29 “You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.

While others will be deceived by…

Matthew 24:24 NLT

24 False messiahs and false prophets [who] will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.

Or — in a quite memorable way — Paul warns…

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV

33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

And the consequences for being deceived are severe.

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 ESV

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And none of us are above being deceived. In fact — especially those of us who believe in Jesus should remember how…

Titus 3:3 NIV

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

So…don’t be deceived! Don’t be fooled! Don’t blame God for tempting you to do evil when what’s to blame is the sin within you.

ON GOD

That’s the command James uses to transition us from last week’s text to our verses for today. And — now — he’ll show us how great God is. We’re in verse seventeen.

James 1:17 ESV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

In this verse we find incredible truths about God. We find that he’s generous, unchanging, and is light.

First, God is abundantly generous to us. James tells us this in saying that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” 

Now — when I read this verse — the question that came to my mind was, “What’s the difference between a good gift and a perfect gift?” And I don’t know that I discovered any great difference other than what’s pretty obvious: a good gift is something with positive qualities whereas a perfect gift — is just that — perfect — complete — without any deficiency.

Good gifts are something we humans can give. As Jesus says…

Matthew 7:11 ESV

11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Obviously Jesus is helping us to question something we so often doubt — something James is reiterating to us: Is God good? Will he be good towards me? 

What Jesus and James are saying is that — because our Father in Heaven is good — he only gives good gifts to his children. To stress his point — Jesus mentions how we humans — as imperfect as we are — have managed to figure out how to give good gifts to our children. And then he says — how much more so does your perfect God know how to give good gifts to his children?

Now the perfect gift — that James refers to — is something we’ll come back to. But our first truth about God is that he is gracious.

Second, God is unchanging. About God — James says — “There’s no variation or shadow due to change.”

Variation is a word that means “mutation or a change of position” — and change means a “turning around or reversing course.” So what great news! God doesn’t change. As Scripture tells us…

Malachi 3:6 ESV

6 “For I the Lord do not change…

And…

Hebrews 13:8 ESV

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

God doesn’t change — which means — when you read of God — in the Bible — you’re reading about who God is today — and who he’ll always be. God doesn’t waver in who he is — like we do. Who he is isn’t a response to anyone or anything else. 

• He’s not loving because we’re worthy of his love. He’s loving because he is love. 
• He’s kind because he’s kind. 
• He’s merciful because he’s merciful. 
• He’s just because he’s just. 
• He’s good because he’s good.

With God you get exactly who he says he is — every single time. That’s why we must take him at his word — which means you have to know his word. Let him tell you who he is — to do anything else — is the ultimate act of foolishness.

God is gracious. And God doesn’t change. And — third — he’s the Father of lights. As the apostle John also tells us…

1 John 1:5 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

God is light and in him is no darkness — which is why he’s the Father of lights. Light represents purity — holiness — being completely separate and untainted by evil. And God’s purifying light is so bright and powerful and holy that nothing can block — or interfere with — his light. Nothing stands between God’s light and where he wants it to shine — which is why his light never casts a shadow. For a shadow is what happens when something interrupts light — but nothing can stop God’s light from shining wherever he wants it to shine.

In his gospel — John begins his words about Jesus this way.

John 1:1–5 NLT

1 In the beginning the Word (that’s Jesus) already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John goes on to say…

John 1:9–14 NLT

9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn — not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. 14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

The Father of lights sent his Son — who is the light of the world — to shine the message of salvation — so that a world clothed in darkness might have hope.

God is gracious. God doesn’t change. And God is light.

ON SALVATION

But there’s one more truth about God that we discover in the next verse — verse eighteen — which is also where we’ll discover the perfect gift that God gives to his children.

James 1:18 ESV

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Here James focuses on the topic of salvation. But — before we get to salvation — let me explain what’s about to happen. A few weeks ago — I had some guys in my office — and I was showing them how I prepare my sermons — how I take a few verses — like our three verses for today — and end up with a sermon. 

Quite often — a lot of the work that I do in sermon preparation — is actually in my sermon — if you know what to listen for. But I’m going to make it even more clear for you all today as we talk about salvation. So imagine — if you will — that I’ve invited you into my office to show you how I prepare a sermon.

When I’m preparing a sermon — and this can apply to any time you read the Bible — but preparing a sermon is a time when I slow things way down. And while I’m reading the Bible passage — I’m constantly asking questions about the text. And when I tell you the questions I ask you’re going to think, “There’s no way it’s that simple.” I promise — it’s really as simple as what I’m about to tell you. Of course there’s an anointing by the Holy Spirit that makes what one person does — with this process — and spiritually multiplies it to be used for others through preaching — but any follower of Jesus can look at a text, ask the questions that I’m about to share with you, and better understand the Bible.

So here are the secret, mysterious, “got you on the edge of your seat” questions that I ask when I’m preparing a sermon. Are you ready? Got your pen and paper — or your notes app open? Here they are:

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• And how?

Anybody’s mind blown right now?

That’s right — who, what, when, where, why, and how — questions you learned to ask back in elementary school! Some of you can’t believe that what I’m saying is true — so let me show you.

Here’s our verse again — and then we’ll ask it some questions. About salvation — James writes…

James 1:18 ESV

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

So let’s ask a question: Who? Who’s will is James referring to? Who’s will is it for people to be saved? James writes…

James 1:18 ESV

18 Of his own will…

Who does the word “his” refer to? God the Father. How do we know? Because the Father is the last “who” referred to in our verses.

So look at what James is telling us: God is the one doing the action in our salvation. This is one way to describe God’s sovereignty in our salvation. God’s sovereignty means that God’s in control of all things. And what James is telling us is that — the act of salvation — is an act done to us — it’s not something we do. And — to prove his point — James uses a phrase that’s meant to bring to mind an illustration.

James 1:18 ESV

18 Of his own will he brought us forth…

The phrase “brought us forth” is the same phrase he used in verse fifteen when he said…

James 1:15 ESV

15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

So what does “brings forth” mean — what is James describing? He’s describing what theologians have called regeneration — or the new birth — or being born again. This is the moment where the Spirit of God gives life to our spiritually dead and stone-like hearts — awakening us to the truth of who Jesus is — leading to our repentance and faith. And — remember — this is of God’s own will and he’s the one bringing us forth — this is an act of God.

Now — I did say that — regeneration does lead to repentance and faith. Repentance is our turning away from sin and rebellion against God — and faith is our turning to Jesus — trusting in him alone for our salvation. Repentance and faith are our choice — we make the decision to repent and believe — this is what is called conversion. But prior to our repentance and faith is a work of God — where he transforms the condition of our heart — so that we can repent and believe in Jesus.

Here’s what Jesus had to say on this topic when he spoke to a man named Nicodemus.

John 3:1–8 NLT

1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

“You must be born again,” Jesus says. “And humans can’t do this — only the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.” For — just as sin “brings forth death” — God is the one who “brings forth spiritual life.”

Often — at this point — many people — including many Christians — have a strong reaction against the idea that God — according to his own will — is the one who brings forth new life in those who believe. This is why the illustration of giving birth is so helpful — because — in the illustration that Jesus gives — we’re the baby being born. 

The mom gives birth — the baby is born. No one says, “The baby gave birth to itself” — the mom gives birth. And James and Jesus both say that God is the one who gives spiritual birth to his people. We don’t spiritually birth ourselves — we can’t. But we do respond to the spiritual birth that God gives. And — just like a baby in the womb — there’s nothing that baby can do to stop itself from being born. It may fight. It may fuss. It may even turn itself around and force the doctors to do a C-section — but — it’s gonna be born. So too when it comes to God giving new life to his children.

OK. So God the Father is the “who” — and “what” he’s doing is giving us spiritual birth — but “how” — “how” does this new birth take place? Back to our verse again?

James 1:18 ESV

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth…

God the Father gives us new life by the word of truth. And what’s the word of truth? The word of truth is the Word that is truth. As the apostle Peter says…

1 Peter 1:23 NLT

23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

Notice how Peter uses the same born again language. And how being born again leads to a new and eternal life. And this new life is eternal because it comes from where? It comes from the eternal, living word of God. And what is the word of God?

That’s a bit of a trick question. For we learn in the Bible that the word of God is both Jesus — as we saw in the gospel of John — and Scripture. But — here — James is referring to the Bible — the written word of God. 

The Bible is God’s Word and it is both true and truth. And the message of salvation — what’s called the gospel — is found in this book. Yes — the gospel can be shared to a friend over lunch without a Bible present — but the message being shared comes from the Bible. And the message of the Bible is the means by which God brings forth new life and saves his people.

As you heard me say in a sermon a few weeks ago — God’s Word to us is his generosity on display — it’s one of his good gifts to us. And it’s a gift — not only to those who believe — but to those who’ve yet to believe.

Hebrews 4:12 NLT

12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

And what’s the result of the word of God being alive and powerful? One result is that…

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

And one way that God’s word accomplishes this purpose is when pastors…

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

And pastors are to rightly handle the word of truth because they’re called to…

2 Timothy 4:2 NLT

2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

And — through the preached Word — God calls people out of spiritual death and darkness — and into new life that’s found in his marvelous and saving light.

So God the Father uses the word of truth — the gospel — to give us new life. But why does God do this? Back to our verse one last time.

James 1:18 ESV

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Why does God save us? So that we’d be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. So what does that mean?

If you’re thinking, “OK, Josh. We get it. You’re laying all of the who, what, where, when, why, and how on pretty thick right now” — I’d encourage you to take note of how often you hear them in future sermons — or go listen to some past sermons if you’re up for it. For — not only am I preaching a sermon — I’m modeling for you how to read the Bible so that you get the most out of it when you do. And the sermons you hear should make you a better interpreter of the Bible when you read it — which is why I’m taking time to show you how to understand God’s Word when you read it.

So back to us being firstfruits of God’s creatures — what does James mean by that? It means that we’re God’s choice offering — meaning — God considers us the first of all of his creation. 

Paul uses the term this way in writing to Christians in Thessalonica.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV

13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

Notice — again — who’s doing the act of salvation here? God is. “God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved,” Paul says. The Bible’s quite consistent and clear when it comes to salvation. Yet I think firstfruits — in addition to meaning God’s choice offering — gets a bit clearer in its meaning — in another of Paul’s letters. In a section where he also writes about our salvation.

Ephesians 2:1–10 NLT

1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil — the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Though we were once spiritually dead because of our sins — living just like the rest of the unbelieving world as children of the devil — following the desires of our sin nature — subject to God’s wrath and just judgment like everyone else — “but God,” Paul says. There’s God in action once again. “But God” — this God who is abundantly generous, who never changes, and who’s sovereign — “but God, who’s rich in mercy and love, gave us life” — and he raised us up from the dead by the power of Christ’s resurrection. And this is all by grace — it’s undeserved — it can’t be earned — it’s a total and completely free gift from God to his people.

And now we get to the firstfruits part: Why did God do all of this? So that he can show the rest of his creation how gracious and kind he is towards his people. So that he can show all of his creation what he’s done — through Christ — for his beloved children. That’s what it means for his people to be his firstfruits. This is what it means for you — if you believe in Jesus. 

It means that God is lavishing his grace and kindness and favor and mercy and power and love on you — so that the world may know how generous he is — and will always be — to his people — for he is the unchanging God. To be God’s firstfruits means that you’re his masterpiece — and it means he has a specific plan for you — a life to live — a mission to accomplish — so that the world may know of his great and never-ending love for his people.

CONCLUSION

Friends, do you see where James has taken us today? As one person has said, “Far from enticing [us] to evil, God is the source of every good gift, one of the greatest of which is the new birth.”

When you hear me say, “God loves you” — know that this is what I mean by those three words. May you rest in God’s generous, unchanging, and saving love towards you. May you soak it in. May you embrace his love. May you enjoy him and his love for you. May you respond to his love. May you have hope because of his love. And may you show the world what it means to be loved by the God who saves. For he’s the giver of every good and perfect gift — and he is lavishing gifts on you so that the world may know how generous he is to his children. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Gracious and generous Father, we marvel at who you are. We’re in awe. We feel the holy weight of your love towards us right now — and it feels good.

Holy Spirit, may you take your word preached — and use it to give new life to some who are listening. And may you do so at this very moment. For that woman who came here today feeling hopeless — give her eternal hope. For that man who came here today feeling dead inside — may you raise him from the grave and give him new life. For that college student who’s been overwhelmed — may you draw them to the Prince of peace. Spirit, whoever they are — those who — according to God’s own will today is the day of salvation — may you give them life.

And — Jesus — this new life is only possible because you gave your life on the cross for our sins. The good and perfect gift of salvation is ours because you gave the good and perfect gift of your life on our behalf because of your eternal love for us. Thank you for loving us — and for proving your love for us on the cross. We pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / If you’ve responded, please stop by the Resource Center)

Whoever you are — Christian or not — may you respond to God’s generous, unchanging, and saving love towards you. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Malachi 1:1-5 (ESV)

DATE: 7-25-21

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us in person at our North Main campus or are joining us online — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

This is the final week of this year’s edition of our Finding Jesus series. This is a series where we look at different books in the Old Testament and see how the whole Bible is ultimately telling one story — the story of Jesus. In previous years we’ve looked at the books of Moses — the first five books of the Old Testament. We’ve looked at the Major Prophets — the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. And last year we looked at the first half of a group of books known as the Minor Prophets.

In these sermons I introduce you to a book of the Bible that you may or may not be familiar with. Then we do an overview of the book before focusing in on one section of it. And finally we discover a way to find Jesus in our book. Because — that’s our goal — to find Jesus — because the whole Bible is pointing us to him. 

And in this year’s edition of Finding Jesus — we’re looking at the final six books that are part of a group known as the Minor Prophets. And — today — we’ll be looking at the book of Malchi. So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to Malachi chapter 1.

We’ve already looked at the books of Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah. And — as we finish our time in the Minor Prophets — I hope that you’ll grow to know and love these books of the Bible and spend time in them — finding Jesus — and the joy that’s found only in him.

BACKGROUND OF MALACHI

So let’s take some time to get our bearings in the book of Malachi — and I hope you’ll see that Malachi is a book you’ll want to go read for yourself.

First, what do we know about Malachi? And one thing we know is that Malachi was a prophet — which means he spoke on behalf of God. His name means “my messenger” but — and how about this tidbit of Bible trivia — we’re not sure if Malachi is actually the prophet’s name — because — “my messenger” — or Malachi — can be a general title given to any prophet. But — in order to keep things simple — we’re going to consider Malachi to be the prophet’s name. And — other than him being the last prophet — before John the Baptist comes on the scene 450 years later — we don’t know much about him.

But to give you an idea of what’s going on in history — at this time — the Jewish people are divided into two nations. Originally there were the twelve tribes of Israel — each tribe descending from a son of Jacob — who was also named Israel. And these tribes eventually ask for a king. The first king was Saul. Next came David. Then David’s son — Solomon — became king. 

After Solomon, there’s conflict over who should be king and the nation ends up dividing. Ten tribes join together and keep the name Israel — they’re in the north — and two tribes join together and are named Judah — they’re in the south. 

And — for a while — neither Israel nor Judah experience external conflict — meaning war with other nations — but they have significant internal problems. Evil kings. Moral corruption. The people abandon God. Things are a big mess — which you can read about in the books 1st and 2nd Kings.

But here’s what’s crazy. The people of both Israel and Judah assume that the lack of external conflict — the fact they’re not at war with other nations — is because God approves of the way they’re living — they think “peaceful times” equals “God’s blessing.” But — remember — they’ve abandoned God and think that God approves of their behavior. So God sends in the Assyrians to make things clear to his people. 

The Assyrians come from the north and invade and conquer Israel. Down in Judah — things are better than things in Israel — but not much. 

They’re not conquered by the Assyrians — they’re just oppressed by them until the capital of Assyria — Nineveh — falls in 612 BC. Egypt comes in and overpowers Judah until the Babylonians defeat Egypt and conquer Judah in 587 BC.

Nebuchadnezzar is king of Babylon at the time — this is the same Nebuchadnezzar you may know from the book of Daniel. And — after conquering Judah — the Babylonians disperse many of the Jews — which begins the 70 years of living in exile that God had warned his people about — this is a consequence of their sin and rebellion against him. Then — around 520 BC — Babylon falls to King Cyrus who’s the leader of the Persian Empire. And — it’s during Cyrus’ reign — that groups of Jewish people begin returning to their homeland. 

Now — Malachi is alive around 100 years after the Jewish people begin returning home. The Temple’s been rebuilt under the leadership of Nehemiah and the great hope — of a New Jerusalem — a city that’s the center of the Kingdom of God — a place where evil and corruption has been eradicated — well — none of it’s coming true. Instead — corruption, rebellion, and evil are still in full force. 

And — add to all of this — the people are doubting God’s love for them. One scholar writes, “The people were discouraged by [the] hard economic realities [of] Persian dominance. Some of the people felt that the Lord did not really love them because of these factors. Many Israelites were showing their dissatisfaction with the Lord by bringing defective animals for sacrifices. Some even went so far as to assert that worshipping the Lord was drudgery and serving God was a waste of time.”

Look at how similar their thinking is to ours. 

Times of peace means that God loves us and is pleased with us. And — times of hardship — well obviously — hardship means that God doesn’t love us anymore so why even bother trying to please him, right? 

And what’s the result of them questioning God’s love? Well…God sends Malachi with a message for the people.

OVERVIEW OF MALACHI

So that’s the background of what’s going on. Now, let’s turn to the book itself. What’s the layout of the book? The book contains four chapters consisting of 55 verses. Yet — though short in length — it’s quoted quite frequently in the New Testament.

And what makes Malachi unique — is that it consists of several disputations — or debates — between God and the people. God will make a claim. The people will disagree with him. Then God will respond to their disagreement. And we find several of these debates in our book.

Now most of them come by way of questions and answers. In fact, the book has 27 questions that the prophet asks. And he asks the questions — in a way — so the people can conclude — for themselves — what the correct answer is to his questions.

In chapter 1 — which is where our passage is found — God declares his love for his people — which they question. We’ll look at these verses in a moment. Additionally — in chapter 1 — Malachi blasts the priests for allowing sacrifices to be presented to God that didn’t meet the requirements established in the Law. Basically, the people were apathetic in their worship of God — so they bring him less than stellar sacrifices — for which the prophet rebukes the people.

In chapter 2, Malachi rebukes the priests for their teaching. And he warns the priests that God’s going to curse them because their teaching is causing the people to stumble. 

Additionally, the prophet points out the marriage problems going on among the people — as many of the men are divorcing their wives and marrying non-Jewish women. And their new wives are leading the men to worship false gods. So there’s a marriage crisis among the people of God that’s also a spiritual crisis.

In chapter 3, we see how far the people have gone in dishonoring God. They accuse God of not being just — yet they’re robbing God with their finances. They also decide that — the sacrifice that worshipping God requires — just isn’t worth it. They’re not even trying when it comes to worshipping God — they’ve just given up. Yet — chapter 3 offers a glimmer of hope. Some of the people — not all, but a few — respond to the prophet’s message and repent of their ways.

Finally — in chapter 4 — Malachi mentions the coming Day of the Lord. The day when God will destroy all who oppose him and establish his Kingdom on earth. But — before this day — he will send one more prophet who will preach a message of repentance.

MAIN PASSAGE

Which leads us to the section of the book we’re going to focus on today. So let’s turn to our passage. Hopefully you’ve had time to find Malachi chapter 1. We’ll begin in verse 1. 

“The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. 2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4 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.’” 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!” (Malachi 1:1-5 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

How do you define greatness? Whatever your definition — have you noticed how we — as a society — admire greatness in others? We look up to others who are above average — maybe it’s their character, or their strength, or their abilities, or their accomplishments. And — though we can turn these people into idols — often — what we really admire is their greatness — we’re just in awe of it. 

Now — part of the reason why we’re in awe of greatness — is because — culturally — we have an underlying frustration with mediocrity. Thus, it’s been said, “When someone accomplishes something extraordinary, it catches [our] attention.”

For example — in sports — I’m sure you’ve heard the term GOAT. But did you know that GOAT has been used to refer to players since the early 1900s? But it started off meaning someone who lost the game for the team. But — now — what does GOAT mean? It means the greatest of all time. 

So if I ask, “Who’s the greatest basketball player of all time — who’s the GOAT?” You’d answer, _____. Or who’s the greatest female gymnast? Who’s the GOAT of NFL quarterbacks? Or who’s the greatest preacher of all time? 

Now — the reason why you all gave different answers — except — your obvious unity about who’s the greatest preacher — the reason for so many different answers is because we’ve watered down our definition of greatness. Just google the phrase “greatest of all time” and you’ll find that a lot of people are claiming the title of “greatest of all time” for all sorts of things. 

Leading one author to write, “We’ve all been overrun by a herd of goats. [And] we need to kill off some of these GOATS trampling through the internet. Not because of a surplus of actual greatness…but [because] the title ‘Greatest of All Time’ is being abused.”

Now — I want to be clear — there’s nothing wrong with greatness. In the Bible we find people who accomplish great things. 

But — where we can go wrong — is the slight shift from admiring the greatness — we see in others — to worshipping it or being envious of it. And society does this — it admires the greatness of others — all while ignoring the greatness of God. 

In fact, Paul highlights this idea in his opening words in Romans — a book we’ve been looking at for a few years now. Paul writes, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. 

So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.” (Romans 1:20-25 NLT) 

What Paul’s saying is that — though God is the Creator of everyone and everything — which is the epitome of greatness — humanity defines greatness by things God has created instead of defining greatness by the One who’s the Creator of all things. And — we Christians — can do this just as easily as anyone else. We have our own Christian celebrities  — people we’re in awe of. And it seems like many of these folks are being crushed under the weight of living up to our awe of their greatness — too many headlines keep making the rounds of folks stepping out of ministry — even away from the faith altogether — even though we were in awe of their greatness.

Yet — the gospel reminds us that — though we humans are the pinnacle of God’s creation — though we can do some amazingly great things — there’s only One who is the definition of greatness — God himself. 

Now — my hope — today — is that all of us will see the relevancy of God’s greatness in our lives. For God’s greatness directly affects all of us. For some of us — my hope is that we’ll stop fearing God’s greatness — fearing that he’s out to get you or control you — or out to make you miserable — maybe your fear is that God will use his greatness to do these kinds of things to you. I hope that you’ll see that God is using his greatness for your good — not for your ill. For others of us — I hope that — today — our definition of greatness will shift from being defined by what we do — to being defined by the One who loves us. 

And — in Malachi — we’re going to see a glimpse of what God’s greatness is like. And that his greatness is defined by something that most of us — if not all of us — will be agreeable with — his love.

THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD

Let’s begin back in verse 1.

“The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. 2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” ” (Malachi 1:1-2a ESV)

Right away we’re told that this is an oracle from the Lord. So — what’s an oracle? An oracle is a threatening message of judgment from God through a prophet. So an oracle isn’t news you want to hear. But — notice — how this oracle of judgment begins with words about God’s love. God tells the people — through Malachi — “I have loved you.” God — in these words — isn’t mentioning a present love that he has for them — nor a future love — he’s bringing to the people’s attention his past love for them. God’s wanting to bring to their mind all of the ways — throughout history — that he’s demonstrated his love for his people.

So let’s do that right now. We’re gonna see if we can make this work. If you’re at our North Main campus — or here at our County Road 9 campus — right now — I want you to speak up — if you’re joining us from home — maybe you’re watching this with your family or roommates — type in the chat — and give some examples of ways that God has shown his love to his people up to this point in history — up to this moment in Malachi’s day. Online — type in the chat — here or at NM — give some examples of ways that God has demonstrated his love to his people.

PAUSE

Here at County Road 9 I heard…EXAMPLES — if you’re at home or at North Main — I’m sure you had some other examples.

But now let’s make this personal — but I still want you to give me examples — at home, North Main, here at County Road 9 — what are ways in which God has demonstrated his love to you in the past?

PAUSE

Here at County Road 9 I heard…EXAMPLES — and again — if you’re at home or at North Main I’m sure you had other examples.

Here’s the point. Through Malachi — God tells the people that he’s demonstrated his love for them in the past. And how do they respond — what do the people do when God tells them that he’s loved them? They question his love, don’t they? 

In spite of God having demonstrated over and over and over again — his love for them — they question his love. 

Which makes me wonder how we’re responding to God’s love toward us. You just gave all kinds of examples of how God has demonstrated his love for you. 

• So how are you responding to his love? 
• Are you questioning whether or not he loves you? 
• Are you presuming upon his love? 
• Are you unmoved by his love? 
• Or are you floored by the fact that God — who has created everything — loves you?

GOD’S ELECTING LOVE

Now — in response to the people doubting his love for them — God brings up his relationship with Jacob and Esau. Back to verse 2.

““I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. ” (Malachi 1:2-3a ESV)

Here we find that — part of what it means that God’s love is great — is that his love for his people is an electing love. 

When the people question God’s love — “how have you loved us” — God replies with, “Jacob I loved. Esau I hated.” Now this is language that’s — understandably so — disturbing to our ears. In fact, some biblical scholars have suggested that God didn’t really hate Esau — he just had a “lesser love” for him. 

Now — even if that’s a better interpretation of what God’s saying — which I’m not sure that it is — at the very least — we see God loving Jacob in a way that’s different than with Esau. And what’s God’s reason for loving Jacob — in this way — and not Esau? 

It’s not what the men had done or would do — this is all spoken about Jacob and Esau before they were born — so this love isn’t something the two men have earned or unearned.

So what’s the reason for God loving Jacob and not Esau? And — again — the reason can be quite disturbing to our ears — because the reason is that it was simply God’s choice to love Jacob and not Esau. This is — what’s been called — God’s electing love. God’s choice in who receives his love and who doesn’t. And this is part of what it means to say that God’s love is great.

In Ephesians, Paul writes, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (Ephesians 1:3-5 NLT)

God loved his people and chose his people and decided in advance to adopt his people into his family — when? Before he spoke creation into existence. This is his great electing love.

In Romans we read, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:28-31 NLT).

Does your definition — of the greatness of God’s love — include his electing — his choosing to love — his people? All have sinned. All have rebelled against him. None deserve to be chosen and to be loved. Yet God has chosen to love his people. Is your understanding of the love of God this big — this great? 

As I said to a group of pastors and church leaders last month — “Yes — there are things about salvation that we do understand. But there’s much that’s a beautiful mystery.” And part of the beautiful mystery of salvation is God’s electing love for his people. 

But — please know that this isn’t a threat — God choosing to love us shouldn’t be seen as a threat. In fact — it should be exhilarating to the people of God. Because the salvation Christ accomplished on behalf of his people isn’t something any of us would desire without God first giving us the desire — that’s the greatness of God’s love for his people. 

He knows we wouldn’t desire his love. He knows we would reject the salvation Jesus offers to us without his divine help. And — in his great love — he helps his people — he guides his people — he leads us so we joyfully respond to his love. “We love God,” the apostle John says, “because he — God — first loved us.”

GOD’S SOVEREIGN LOVE

And this leads us to another aspect of God’s great love. Let’s go back to verse 2.

““I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4 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.’” 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!” (Malachi 1:2-5 ESV)

The aspect of God’s love — that we’ve come to now — something else that makes God’s love a great love — is the sovereignty of his love. In response to the people doubting his love, God asks them to consider what their lives would’ve been like if God wouldn’t have chosen them over Esau and his ancestors from Edom. 

As someone has said, “Israel needed to consider what her lot would have been if she, like Edom, had not been elected to a covenant relationship with [God]. Both Israel and Edom received judgment from God at the hands of the Babylonians…Yet God repeatedly promised to restore Israel (because of his covenant promises), but he condemned Edom to complete destruction, never to be restored.”

God wants the people to consider how hopeless they would be without his great love for them. They need his love — they should be desperate for it. They’re hope is in the fact that God loves them and has promised to never stop loving them. The only chance they’ve got is — not in their awesome love for God — for they’re a people who’ve loved many false gods — the only chance they’ve got is in God’s “never-ending, I won’t ever give up on you and will forever be faithful to you” love towards them. 

And — we see in Malachi’s words that one day — in response to God’s love for them — and in response to his judgement against their enemies — the people will say, “Great is the Lord!” One day — the people will recognize the greatness of God and his love for them — his sovereign and “am working out everything for your good” love for them. For God is sovereign over all of creation — and he loves his people with his great sovereign love. 

But to not recognize the sovereignty of God’s love — and how this defines the greatness of his love — not recognizing the sovereignty of God’s love leads us to having an attitude of complacency and self-centeredness. It leads us — like the people in Malach’s day — to question God, “You say you love me, but — tell me again — exactly how have you loved me?”

Yet — the people of God then — and the people of God today — have an opportunity to — instead of questioning his love — we have the opportunity to respond to God’s great sovereign and electing love. For God’s great love should…

• Humble us.
• And take away our presumptions about his love.
• His love for us should remove all reasons for us to boast about ourselves.
• His love helps us to see that salvation is nothing owed to us — but a gift from God.
• God’s great love should put an end to our self-reliance and cause us to recognize our desperate need for God’s presence in our lives every single moment of every single minute of every single day.
• And God’s great love — as one pastor has said — should “make us tremble with tears of joy [knowing] that [we] belong to this great God.”

Take an honest assessment of your life. This past week, how have you responded to the great love that God has for you? 

The pastor — who I just quoted — has illustrated how God’s love should impact the nitty gritty of everyday life. He said…

• “If we saw the greatness of God’s love for us, we wouldn’t be so greedy and covetous.
• If we saw the greatness of God’s love for us, our eyes wouldn’t stray after lustful images and thoughts.
• If we saw the greatness of God’s love for us, we wouldn’t get angry at our children so easily.
• If we saw the greatness of God’s love for us, we wouldn’t pout and get hurt so easily in our marriages.
• If we saw the greatness of God’s love for us, we wouldn’t worry about our looks so much.
• If we saw the greatness of God’s love for us, we wouldn’t get so discouraged with the evil and godlessness of our culture.”

FINDING JESUS

God’s love — as seen in his electing of his people and in his sovereignty over all things — God’s love — is a great love. And God’s great love is most clearly seen in his Son, Jesus Christ. 

As Alistair Begg has said, “The greatness of God is not revealed in his isolation from us, but is revealed in his intimacy with us.”

And Jesus is God with us. God didn’t remain distant. When we sinned and rebelled against him — in his great love — he came to earth to be one of us — to be with us — to love us. As John tells us, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” (John 1:14 NLT)

Jesus is the full display of God’s great love for us. And — by turning to him — and receiving the work of love that he accomplished on the cross — him dying for the sins of all who turn to him in faith — by turning to Christ — you find yourself embraced by the love of your great God. And his great love for you guarantees that you are now — and will forever be — one of his elect children — for he has chosen to love you. 

Loving you is his choice — loving you gives him great pleasure. And his love — being a sovereign love — means that — because he loves you — God is working out all things for your good. In love, he’s orchestrating all things to bring you to your eternal home — his forever home — where you will experience intimacy with your great God who loves you. 

What wonderful — hope-giving — news for the people of God. God loves you and his love for you is great. This news can be yours — today — if you turn to Christ — who gave his life — in love — for you. As we pray — I’m going to specifically pray that you will respond to God’s love for you. Let’s pray together.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you are great — there’s none greater. Forgive us for being in awe of the greatness of your creation while ignoring the greatness of you who has created all things. Your power is great. Your beauty is great. Your justice is great. Your holiness is great. Your love is great. Help us to remember that greatness is defined by you.

Jesus, without your great act of love for us — your life, death, and resurrection — we would be people who only know the great judgement of God. But — in love — in your great love for us — you experienced God’s judgement in our place. You paid for our sins in full. And you’ve blessed us with the rewards of the perfect life that you lived. What hope we have because of your great love for us.

Spirit of God, Many are in need of hope. Many are in need of joy. Many are in need of peace. Many are in need of healing. But — most importantly — all of us need to know and experience and respond to your great love for us. For those of us who have responded — increase our awareness of your love for us so we live with confidence — knowing that God loves us. And — for those who have not responded to your love — I ask that you would lead them. Guide them. Direct them. Open their eyes so they see the greatness of your love for them. And may they be in awe of you and humble themselves before you. Knowing that they don’t deserve your love — yet may they joyfully receive it and be forever changed by it. And we pray all of these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go knowing that God loves you. And his love for you is great. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Malachi 2:17-3:5 (ESV)

DATE: 12-30-18

It’s good to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And one thing I want you to know — and it doesn’t matter if it’s your first time with us or if you’re worshiping at our North Main campus — is that God loves you and I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

And we’re starting a new series this week. Just about a year ago, we took a few weeks to look at some topics that were — and still are — dividing our country. It turned out to be a series more popular than I anticipated and so we thought it’d be a good idea to revisit some similar themes as we’re about to begin a new year together. 

And we’re calling this series “Evil” — as there’s a dangerous tendency to call things good that God has said are evil. Where we blur the lines between good and evil, acquire a taste for evil, and even allow evil practices to become acceptable. And this can be just as true for the church as it is anywhere else — so we want to look at some ways that we’re exhausting God by calling good — things He’s said are evil — and what it means to experience the justice of God for doing so.

That’s what the imagery in the video you just saw was showing. Evil things — that some called good. Evil things — even done under the umbrella of the church. Evil things — that people did for God thinking their actions pleased Him.

And the idea behind this series is found in our text for today — which is Malachi chapter 2 — verse 17 — through chapter 3 — verse 5.

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

So if you have your Bible please turn with me to the Old Testament book of Malachi — chapter 2. We’ll begin in verse 17.  

And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text it in to the number printed on the bottom of the sermon notes sheet or you can submit it on the Gateway app.

RE-ANNOUNCE AND READ THE TEXT

Hopefully you’ve had enough time to find the book of Malachi. Here are the words found in Malachi chapter 2. Beginning in verse 17. 

“You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?” 1 Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. 5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 2:17-3:5 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

“Where is the God of justice?” I wonder how many of us have asked this question or something like it? Maybe you’re not so sure about the whole “God part” so you’ve just asked, “Where’s justice?” 

We wake up each morning — check the news on our phones — some of us still unfold an actual paper — but regardless of how we get the news — I don’t know about you — but most days I feel like I’m better off avoiding the news altogether as it just seems to be one story after another after another about evil and injustice happening in our world.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” And that sounds great and all — but sometimes it’s hard to see any kind of arc bending towards justice when you take a look around us. I mean — forget the trajectory of the world for a moment and just look at the trajectory of our country — what is going on? 

• Doesn’t it make you sick that we’ve got more and more women sharing stories of abuse? Abuse in Hollywood and in the church! 
• We’ve got racists spewing out words of hate in our country. 
• We’ve got unborn children being murdered in the womb. 
• We’ve got families sleeping on the streets. 
• There’s hopelessness all around us — physical hopelessness, emotional hopelessness, relational hopelessness, spiritual hopelessness — it’s all around us. So much for this being a Happy New Year’s message!

And in seeing all of these injustices — it makes a lot of sense — that out of fear or despair — that we’d cry out “Where is justice?” Or even, “God, where are you in the midst of all of this?” But we’ve got to be careful. 

A few months ago, Robert Bowers opened fire in a synagogue in Pittsburgh — killing 11 people. Found later, were multiple social media posts by Bowers showing his hate for Jewish people. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for his injuries during his exchange with the police. And working in the hospital was a Jewish trauma nurse who saw Bowers being wheeled into the emergency room. 

As a child, this nurse was often singled out because of his Jewish faith. Students would write, “Die Jew. Love, Hitler,” on paper and stuff the notes in his locker in high school. So this nurse sees Bowers being brought into his ER while yelling, “Death to all Jews!” 

OK — so — timeout. What’s the “just” thing to do in this scenario? Imagine that this guy’s being wheeled into the ER that you work in. Yeah he’s injured, but he’s being escorted by police because he just murdered 11 people of your faith — pure evil that this sick man has said was good. So what’s the just thing for this nurse to do? What’s justice look like here? What would you do?

Now some of us — if we’re honest — if you were the nurse — you’d go take a smoke break — I don’t even smoke, but suddenly I’ve got the urge to start a bad habit just so I don’t have to take care of this guy — justice. Some of us would be more honest and be like, “Let him die” and walk away. I mean — that’s justice, right — eye for an eye and all? Wouldn’t that be the ultimate of him “getting what he deserves?” 

But the nurse didn’t do that. The nurse said, “I chose to show him empathy.” And the nurse took care of a man who had just murdered people of his own faith.

OK — question. What is it about the way we think of justice — especially here in the US — that makes it so hard for us to think about justice in any way other than “getting what you deserve”? Because the nurse showing this guy empathy doesn’t sit well with us does it? It doesn’t feel like justice does it — the murderer getting treated for his wounds? Is justice always vengeful — is that all that it is? 

Now — if it is — it’s easy to blame God for not doing something to right all of the wrongs we see. But if justice is always “getting what you deserve” then we may be setting ourselves up for a very unhappy ever after — because most of us — dare I say all of us — ignore the ways in which we contribute to the injustices in our world — we’ve justified the reasons why we call things good that God has called evil. And — in doing so — we have no idea how we’ve set the scales of justice against us — if justice is only about getting what you deserve.

And — as bad as that scenario is for us — do you want to know an even worse place to be? The place where you’ve exhausted God’s patience — where — after all of this blame shifting and accusing God — and saying “Why haven’t you done something about all of these bad things that are going on” — after all of that — you find yourself at the end of God’s patience and at the beginning of His just — “I’m going to give you what you deserve” — judgment.

EXHAUSTING GOD (2:17)

That’s how our passage begins. “You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”” (Malachi 2:17 ESV)

Now let’s get an idea of what’s going on in this Old Testament book. The book of Malachi is set up like a courtroom. In the beginning, the nation of Israel is the prosecutor and do you know who’s the defendant? God is. The nation of Israel is putting God on trial and — just so you know — that never goes well. 

So what are their accusations against God? 

• They say He doesn’t love them. 
• That He’s not being a just God — He’s being unjust. 
• They accuse Him of not fulfilling His covenantal responsibilities — they say He’s broken His promises to them. 

And then — and the people really don’t have any say in the matter — God flips the scenario and puts Israel on trial. God’s like — “I’m done with your accusations against me. So let’s do this — it’s my turn.” And — FYI — that’s not a good spot to be in either — where God’s like — “I’m done. Let’s do this.” — that’s not gonna end well for you. 

And with the roles reversed — God is found innocent and guess who’s guilty? Israel is. The verdict is read. And though they’re guilty — we learn something about God’s justice that should surprise us. But we’ll get to that surprise in a moment. 

And so our verse — verse 17 — is right at the end of Israel’s accusations — this is the moment when God turns everything against them. This is what none of us want to experience — where God is done — where He’s exhausted with us — where He’s ready to serve us justice.

So how did they exhaust God — or even better — how do we exhaust God? First, we say that evil is good and that He approves of the evil. 

Now it’s easy to do what we constantly see the Israelites in the Old Testament do — and that’s this:  Evil is always out there. It’s in those people — it’s never in here — evil’s never among us — it’s always among them. Evil is somebody else’s problem — not ours — definitely not mine.

You see, God had given the Israelites clear instructions as to what was good and what was evil. He’s told them plainly that evil isn’t to be tolerated — it’s not to be welcomed — and it’s definitely not to be celebrated. Yet God’s people — let me say that again — God’s people are being found guilty of calling things that God has said are evil — good. And then they go even farther and say that God delights in those who do evil.

So let’s pause and talk about us — and by us — I mean us Jesus followers. So if that’s not you — you’re off the hook here — I want to talk to us Christians — like Malachi was talking to God’s people in his day. So if you’re not a Christian, sit back, get some popcorn, and enjoy the show.

Christian — what has God called evil that you’re calling good? Now stop. Because you’re already thinking about what someone else approves of — so stop that. Don’t let this be some abstract — “let me point the finger at someone else and not wrestle with how I do this” — kind of thing. Ask yourself, “What am I calling good that God has said is evil?” 

Doesn’t the question itself make you sick? If you have any sensitivity at all to God’s Spirit — I don’t know how it can’t make you sick because you know there’s evil junk that you both approve of and hate — you’re attracted to it and you despise it — all at the same time. 

I remember a pastor saying — and this shook me to my core — I heard him say, “How dare we find entertaining something Christ had to die for.” And — at first I was all like, “Legalism.” And then the more I thought about it, I was like, “That’s not legalism; that’s brutally convicting.” 

I don’t even have to get all that specific, do I? I don’t have to say this book is good and this one’s bad. This show’s good and this one’s bad. I don’t have to do any of that because if you have God’s Spirit in you He’s already bringing to mind some things you find entertaining that’s wicked and evil. 

What do you find entertaining that Christ had to die for? 

Sexual immorality? Murder? Hate? Taking the Lord’s name in vain? Racism? Abuse? Poverty? What evil has scratched your “I need to be entertained” itch? 

And then we say that God’s delighted in all of this — delighted in us. How sick are we? 

• We have this way about us where we’re so desperate to justify our evil behavior that we lie to ourselves and say that God’s shifted His moral compass to match ours. 
• Where we don’t have to change — what we do, what we value, what we approve of, what we call good and evil — “you don’t worry about any of that stuff because God loves you just the way that you are. I bet He’ll even change His standards for you — that’s how much He’s in love with you. So don’t worry about a thing — God loves you.” Doesn’t it all sound crazy stupid?
• Now God does love you, but don’t confuse His love for you as agreement with your definition of what’s right and wrong — of what’s good and evil. Our definitions are to align with His — not His with ours.

The second way we exhaust God is by questioning His character — by asking “where is the God of justice?” So we entertain ourselves with injustice and evil and then ask God why He’s not doing something about this whole mess. We don’t even connect our behavior with the evil and injustices happening in our country. Something else is to blame — not us — so why not blame God for not doing anything about it, right? That makes no sense whatsoever.

Now questioning God — itself — isn’t that unusual. For example, we find it in the Old Testament. In the book of psalms questions are asked like, “Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?” (Psalm 89:49 ESV)

“God, where’s Your love — cause I don’t feel it. I’m not experiencing it. I’m not sure where it’s gone, but it’s MIA right now.” That’s a pretty bold question to ask.

We also find, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1a ESV)

“God why have you left me? Abandoned me? Rejected me? I thought You were supposed to be faithful?” 

Let’s be honest — those are some pretty radical accusations against God.

But what’s so disturbing about our question — where is the God of justice — is that now we’re questioning God’s moral character. There’s an accusation — in this question — about whether or not God is morally corrupt. “Maybe You’re not so pure — so holy — so good — after all?” That’s hinted at in our question.

And after approving people who do things that He’s clearly said are evil — after we blur the lines between good and evil — we then question His character! Some of us even question His existence — “well if this is what’s going on in the world the only conclusion I can come up with is that God must not exist.” That’s what some people think.

But as CS Lewis said, “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing the universe with when I called it unjust?”

But most don’t think as deeply as Lewis did. Most of us just say “this is good and this is evil” without any standard to compare to. And because of evil in the world — many people throw out the idea of God all together. But here’s the thing:  If God doesn’t exist — calling evil things good and good things evil — doesn’t even matter. Who cares? Why get so angry over things you think are wrong? Everyone should do whatever they want — if there’s no God — there’s no judgment — so why should we care about justice? 

That was the state of people in Malachi’s day — and I think you can see how we’re not much different. Which leaves us with a question. Not “where is the God of justice” but “what is justice?” And if we keep reading, we find some clues about justice — we see that it’s coming — God isn’t idle or aloof — justice is coming — but it’s coming with a surprise.

THE COMING JUST ONE (3:1-4)

Let’s read in chapter 3. “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.” (Malachi 3:1-4 ESV)

Now it’s easy to miss — here — but the coming of justice — the coming of the just one — shows us something surprising about justice. When we think of justice we usually think of someone who’s done wrong and deserves a consequence — some kind of penalty — they deserve to be judged — we say “they deserve justice.” But that’s only one part of what justice is — the retributive side of justice. 

The other side of justice is the liberative side. An example would be justice for the person in slavery when they’re set free. Justice for the orphan when they’re adopted into a family. Justice for the victim when their story is finally heard and believed. 

One author has said this about God’s justice. “It is not uncommon to find God acting in the Old Testament to liberate those who have been held captive irrespective of whether they actually deserve that liberation, in which case the criteria for so acting are not found in the merit or demerit of that [person] but in the character — the gracious “rightness” — of God himself. In these settings, God is effecting the release of his people from imprisonment by an act of ‘judgment…’”

Here’s what’s being said. 

• Though — as we saw earlier — we put God on trial. 
• Though we say that evil is good and that God’s delighted with the evil things we call good. 

What we see — in these verses — is that though we deserve justice in the way we usually think of it — we should be “getting what we deserve” — you’d think we’d find everyone being promised death in these verses — or the mention of destruction — or even hell — but what we find — to our surprise — is that God sends someone who refines the people. He makes them clean. He purifies the offerings the priests bring so they’re acceptable before God — and not only acceptable — but pleasing to Him. The people get — not retributive justice — they experience liberating justice. And here’s the real shocker — they don’t deserve it!

But there’s another question asked here — but this time the question is for us — not for God — and it’s this:  “Who can endure the day of his coming” — the day of the coming just one? 

• What’s being asked is:  How do you know if you’re going to experience the retributive justice of God or His liberating justice? 
• How do you know if you’ll experience justice that leads to judgment or justice that leads to freedom?
• When you stand before God, what kind of justice is coming your way?
• Which side of the justice coin will you receive? Is there even any way to know with certainty which justice is coming your way? 

And the answer is yes. The way of experiencing God’s liberating justice is through the liberating work of Jesus.

CHRIST CONNECTION

For it’s through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that we find freedom from our enslavement to sin — freedom from our enslavement to calling evil things good — even freedom from our enslavement of questioning God’s moral character. Jesus came to set captives free from Satan, sin, death, and Hell. He came to cleanse His people of their sin — to make them sparkle like a bride on her wedding day in a spotless white gown. 

In the gospels, you find Jesus telling people to be watchful — to be prepared — for His return. He tells them it will be unexpected that — like in the days of Noah — people will be going about life with their plans as usual on the day of His return. But on that day, there will be a refining. A refining — not just of God’s people — but of all creation. A day of justice — both of the retributive and liberating kind. Those who haven’t put their faith in Christ will experience the retributive justice of God and those who have put their faith in Christ will experience the freedom of God’s liberating justice as the chains of sin and sorrow and death and mortality all release their hold on them — forever.

And this coming day will be the ultimate act of God’s justice. While Jesus was here on earth, He showed us that God is a just God. He showed compassion and mercy to those society had excluded — the lepers, women, the poor, and children. Jesus challenged unjust social practices in His day. He rejected the idea of ethnic superiority when He talked with a woman in Samaria. He gave dignity to those considered as second class citizens. He befriended those with addictions and those who sold their bodies for money. 

Jesus advocated for the oppressed. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, cast out demons, and even showed compassion towards those who said things like, “I believe you can do this, but help me to really believe.” Jesus showed many the liberating justice of God.

But know that Jesus confronted the powerful — whose power was money, or spiritual authority, or political — Jesus didn’t care. He confronted those who used their power to call evil good. He opposed those who thought God was on their side when they were ignoring God altogether. He confronted injustice wherever He found it. Jesus showed many the retributive justice of God.

So what does this tell us? It tells us that to speak of justice and yet — reject Jesus — is to dismiss the just one. And when it comes to God’s justice — and the Day of God’s justice that’s before every one of us — what makes for a “healthy” view of that day is to look to it with an assurance because of God’s grace as revealed to us in Jesus — who died for us while we were still sinners. When you look to the Day of God’s judgment with confidence in knowing that — through faith in Jesus — that day is bringing to you the fulfillment of God’s liberating justice because Jesus took God’s retributive justice for you on the cross.

Where We’re Headed (3:5)

Which is the justice we see in our last verse.

“”Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:5 ESV)

Not all will experience the liberating justice of God. Some will experience the swift judgment of God on the day of Christ’s return.

And what we’re going to do — in the rest of this series — is look at these different groups that are mentioned in this last verse and show how the gospel is the only answer that ends in freedom for someone on the Day of Judgment. 

We’re going to look at sorcerers — well kind of — we’re going to look at other religions. How does God’s justice relate to all of the religions in our world? How do people of other religions discover the liberating justice we’ve been talking about? We’ll look at that next week. 

In two weeks — we’ll look at God’s justice for the foreigners among us — that’s what the word sojourner means. Pastor Ben is going to help us see how God’s justice applies in this area of life. Then Pastor Ben will help us explore how God’s justice applies to the area of life. 

I’ll help us connect what the Bible has to say about God’s justice with lying — swearing falsely. Then we’ll wrap up this series, by looking at God’s justice for the adulterer. 

And listen — I know some of you are already marking your calendars so you miss that weekend — but I am praying especially for this week in the series as I want us all to see how God’s justice applies here — because there is freedom for the adulterer — we won’t ignore God’s judgment for the unrepentant — but my hope is that many who walk in shame because of this sin will find the freedom that Christ offers.

So that’s where we’re headed over the next few weeks.

CONCLUSION

God is just. We may question His justice. We may question His existence. We may question His ways. But what I hope we’ll see in this series, is that there’s much more to God’s justice than what we may first think. He is a just judge — but He’s also a liberating rescuer. God sent His Son to set captives free and I hope that freedom is what many of us will find as we explore God’s justice together. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your justice. It is more rich and complex than we give it credit. Your justice isn’t just about You giving people what they deserve — there’s a sweetness to Your justice as well — a freedom offered through it — a liberating power that sets captives free. Thank you for the freedom You offer to all of us through the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. Help us to walk in the freedom He’s made possible. Calling good what You have called good. Calling evil what You have called evil. And not confusing the two. Help us to be people concerned with justice in our world because we worship a God who is just. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go, walking in the liberating justice that Jesus offers. Amen.

God loves you. And I love you too. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Malachi 3:1-4 (ESV)

DATE: 12-6-20

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshipping with us in person at our North Main or Bowling Green campuses — or are worshiping with us online — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too. 

ANNOUNCEMENT

Before we get to the sermon, I need to give all of you an update on a few things as we continue to navigate life during a pandemic. Obviously, COVID cases are still on the rise in Hancock and our surrounding counties. In the past few weeks, close to 10 local churches in Findlay have reclosed their doors and moved back to online only. 

Though we’ve been blessed to not have an outbreak — due to one of our worship services — we’re seeing similar impacts on our ability to do ministry that local businesses and school districts have experienced. And that is an impact on our volunteer availability. 

Now I want to be clear. Our goal is to stay open for in person worship services for as long as we can. We know that things may happen that are beyond our control, but we’re wanting to make decisions now that will help us to continue in person worship services for as long as possible. 

So with that goal in mind — to remain open as long as possible — two weeks ago the elders granted permission to senior staff leadership to temporarily consolidate our campuses down to only our County Road 9 location until the COVID situation in Hancock and Wood counties improves. Now this is only meant to be a temporary consolidation — we’re committed to our North Main and Bowling Green campuses — and our local situation will continue to be monitored so we return to having all of our campuses open as soon as possible. 

Consolidating our campuses will allow us to pool our staff and volunteers so — if someone needs to quarantine — we have others ready to jump in and cover for them. We don’t want to find ourselves short-staffed or short-volunteered — and want to put ourselves in a position to keep in person worship services going even if more folks are temporarily unavailable to serve. 

So worship team, tech team, Kidway, youth, and so on — volunteers from our North Main and Bowling Green campuses — we want to encourage you to join us at our County Road 9 campus and help fill in our volunteer depth chart.

For now — we’ll be following County Road 9’s current worship service schedule of live in person worship services on Sunday mornings at 9 and 10:45am. Like now — masks will be required from the time you step into our building until you exit. Which — obviously — doesn’t apply to folks who have a medical exemption. 

This consolidation of campuses begins next weekend — Sunday December 13 — which also means that we currently plan to have in person Christmas Eve services only at our County Road 9 campus along with our livestream options.

One other thing to note. With Christmas Eve being on Thursday — this year — and our cleaning company being closed for the holidays — the weekend after Christmas Eve — December 27th — will be an online only weekend. The elders didn’t want to ask the staff to come in on Christmas day or on Saturday — their day off — to get the building cleaned and ready for in person worship services. So we’ll have one weekend — right after Christmas Eve — that will be online only and then we’ll resume our in person worship services at our County Road 9 campus on January 3 of the new year.

Thank you for your flexibility as we continue to navigate church life in these strange times. Like you, I’m hoping we’re nearing the end of this cycle of unpredictability. And your prayers are always appreciated for us as we make these decisions.

SERIES INTRODUCTION

So — like everything else about 2020 — Christmas is going to look a little different. We’ve just covered some of those changes. But there are lots of traditions we’ve grown accustomed to that — this year — we’re going to have some unorthodox substitutions for as we navigate what will hopefully be the only Christmas during a pandemic in our lifetime. 

And we all have a choice before us. We can complain about these temporary changes — especially the ones we don’t like — or we can have some fun and be joyful — and even thankful — in what will most likely be the strangest of Christmas seasons. And I’m hoping that you’ll join me and choose to have some fun and to be joyful and thankful this Christmas season. Because Christmas is a time — pandemic or not — that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. And our Savior’s birth is a reason for us to be filled with joy. 

And this year — as we celebrate the birth of Jesus — we’re looking at some Old Testament promises about Jesus that we might not think about when we think of Christmas. 

But I hope we’ll all have our understanding of who Jesus is — and what his birth means for us — expanded as we look at these promises. So let’s turn to our passage for today.

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

If you have your Bible please turn with me to Malachi chapter 3. We’ll be looking at verses 1-4. We’re in the Old Testament book of Malchi — chapter 3. Beginning in verse 1. 

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. (Malachi 3:1-4 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

One of the joys of the Christmas season is to drive around and see all of the decorations that people put up. Lights. Christmas trees. Nativity scenes. Some of you go all out and have those big blow up things on your front lawns.

But something we should all be aware of is how decorations and lights — on the outside of a home — can subtly deceive us into believing that things must be good behind the scenes in those homes. But deep down we know this isn’t true. 

• Obviously, Christmas lights don’t tell us whether or not a couple is on the verge of divorce. 
• A Christmas tree doesn’t mean that he or she isn’t enslaved to an addiction. 
• And a nativity scene on the front yard doesn’t mean the people in the home are really followers of Jesus. 

Now we know this — but it’s easy to convince ourselves that all of the lights, and trees, and gift giving — these things that make the Christmas season special — it’s easy to allow these outward things to cause us to think that things are pretty good — even — that we’re pretty good.

Now — part of the irony with this thinking — is that Jesus wouldn’t have needed to be born if things were pretty good here on earth. And he wouldn’t have needed to be born if we were pretty good ourselves. In fact, Jesus’ birth shows us that something not good has happened to us and to the world. 

So we must be careful to not allow the lights, and trees, and gifts, and holiday cheer to overshadow the reality that the world is in desperate need of something that only Jesus can provide. That we’re not — on our own — pure and good — but are people who need to be purified — who need to be cleansed by Jesus. Thus the birth of Jesus points us to our need to be cleansed — to be purified. 

And — as we’ll see in our text for today — the Christmas story shows us that Jesus came to be a purifying fire that cleanses us of all that keeps us from being the good, holy, and pure people we think we are. And it’s only when we respond — in faith — believing that the child born that first Christmas morning — the One who came to cleanse us of our impurities — is the One who will one day return to cleanse all of his creation and make it pure — it’s only when we respond to Christ in faith — that we’re made pure, holy, and good. And we either respond to him in faith now — being cleansed of our sins — or we’ll be removed from his presence for all eternity when he returns to purify all of his creation. 

A MESSENGER

But let’s return to our verses in Malachi and see how this promise is fulfilled in Jesus’ birth. Back to verse 1.

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. (Malachi 3:1a ESV)

If you’re familiar with the gospels, you probably can’t help but think of John the Baptist when you hear this verse. And the reason why is because three of the gospel writers tell us that John is this messenger.

I won’t take us to all three, but here’s what Matthew’s gospel tells us. “As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. 9 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 10 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’” (Matthew 11:7-10 NLT)

Obviously that’s a quote from our verse in Malachi. Now I bring up this connection between the messenger — in Malachi — and what Matthew tells us about John — so we’re all clear that our verses in Malachi are connected to Jesus. 

For if John is one who fulfills the messenger role — then Jesus is the one whom John prepared the way for. And this means we can learn something about Jesus from our verses. So let’s see what our verses tell us about Jesus.

THE LORD

Let’s begin in verse 1 again.

“Behold, I send my messenger (who we now know is John…), and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. (Malachi 3:1-4 ESV)

So here are a few things we learn about Jesus. First, we see that he is the Lord. Second, he will come to his temple. Third, he will be the messenger of the covenant. And — fourth — and this is where things take a bit of a turn — we have some questions that reveal something about Jesus: Who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand when he appears? 

And why are these questions being asked? Because he will come like a refiner’s fire — he will come to purify God’s people. And what will be the result of this refining — of this purifying? They will bring offerings — in righteousness — to the Lord. And these offerings will please him.

Now I want us to focus on this fourth observation — that Jesus is a purifying fire — but let’s not skip over the first three. So let’s look at them quickly. 

First, is Jesus the Lord? Yes. Paul writes this about Jesus. “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11 NLT)

So the New Testament agrees — it shows the fulfillment of this promise — Jesus is the Lord. 

Second, did he go to the Temple? Yes — many times. He was taken to the Temple — just after his birth — and two people — Simeon and Anna — both recognized the baby Jesus to be the Messiah — the Savior of the world. At the age of twelve, he went to the Temple and amazed the teachers of religious law with his understanding of the things of God. As an adult, he went to the Temple on different occasions — twice — cleansing the Temple of those who’d made a mockery out of the Lord’s house. So the New Testament agrees — it shows the fulfillment of this promise — Jesus did go to the Temple.

Third, was he the messenger of the covenant? Yes. And not only was he the messenger of the covenant, but he fulfilled our end of the covenant as well. A covenant is a legal agreement — think of it like a contract — between two parties. And we had failed our end of the covenant between us and God. Thus, in his great love for us, Jesus came to fulfill our end of the covenant. To do what we’ve failed to do. And what did he do? 

Well Jesus lived the perfect life we’d promised to live. He died the death we deserve for our failure to uphold our end of the covenant. And he paid for our sins — in full — as he defeated Satan, sin, death, and Hell with his resurrection. So the New Testament agrees — it shows the fulfillment of this promise — Jesus is the messenger and fulfiller of the covenant.

WHY WE NEED TO BE PURIFIED [WHITEBOARD ILLUSTRATION]

And I think an illustration will help us to understand why all of this is important. Last week, I used a globe — the first prop I’ve used in over a year — because the last two times I’ve used a prop — a certain staff member has been a klutz. 

If you remember the musical illustration — from a year ago — well it was really awkward when I went to press play and nothing happened because Shaun accidentally unplugged the power cable. Or the year before that — when I had a prop up here similar to this whiteboard and — right before I walked out on stage — Shaun — who had set the prop up for me — right before I walked out on stage — Shaun said, “I think something’s wrong with the prop. I think it’s broke or something.” And sure enough — the prop fell over in the middle of my sermon. All that to say, I’m a bit hesitant to use props these days. But I’ve been told that there’s no way that Shaun could have messed this one up.

So why do we need to be purified — that’s the question we’re answering. Have you ever been at a special event — maybe a company party or an awards event — a first date — and spilled something on your shirt? Maybe it was spaghetti sauce on your white shirt or blouse. Do you know that feeling of panic as you try to wipe it off while knowing the damage has been done and that no wiping away will solve the situation?

DRAW SHIRT

So here’s your shirt — I’m no artist — so play along. And I’ll use this red marker for the spilled spaghetti sauce. So now we’ve got an issue. And our first instinct — even though we know it won’t work — is to try and clean up our own mess. So we grab a napkin — that’s what this eraser represents — maybe you’re an overly prepared for the worst case scenario individual and you were carrying some OxiClean or one of those amazing cleaning products — in your purse — ready for any spill emergency. So you start frantically spraying and wiping. 

FAILED ERASER TIME

Now spiritually speaking — we think we can purify ourselves — cleanse ourselves of all of the stains that sin has left on and in us. So we take this eraser and start wiping away at the stains. And — right now — we’ve got a problem. Because it appears that this red marker isn’t a dry erase board marker but a permanent sharpie marker. Looks like Shaun has struck again! 

When I was in the Army, some soldiers taught me a way to remove permanent marker — soldiers are great at finding ways to get out of trouble. And their solution is actually a great picture of the promise in our verses.

I can try and erase all I want, but this permanent marker won’t come off with this eraser. Similarly, we can try everything in our power to remove the stain of sin from our lives. We try behavior modification. We try self-discipline. We try all kinds of things — but on our own — we accomplish nothing — the stain is still there. 

Thus Jesus was born as a baby — he became human — like us — because our end of the covenant needed to be fulfilled by a human. So Jesus lived the life we were supposed to live, experienced the death we deserve, and defeated the grave when he was raised from the dead — Jesus substituted himself in our place. And when we put our faith in him — we’re cleansed from all of our unrighteousness before God — the stain of our sins is permanently removed.

And similarly, to remove the stain of a permanent marker on a whiteboard, you don’t try to erase it away.

ERASE THE STAIN

What you do is use a substitute marker — a marker that when you write over the stain of the permanent marker — well it’s like a purifying fire or a refiner’s soap — and then the eraser can make the whiteboard clean again. 

Our sin is like this permanent marker, staining up our lives. And Jesus has come — as the Christmas carol Silent Night tells us — as “love’s pure light” — a purifying fire to cleanse us of our sin. 

THE PURIFYING FIRE

Which leads us to the purifying aspect of Jesus that we find in our verses. On the day when he comes — to purify all of creation from the stain of sin — the question is asked, “Who will be able to endure it?” Which should frighten us because no one will endure that day without God’s help. For this day of the Lord will be a day of fire. A fire of cleansing for those who’ve put their faith and hope in Christ alone. But a fire of judgment for those who’ve rejected Christ. 

You see, for those who’ve put their faith in Christ, Christmas is the initiation of Jesus’ work to satisfy the wrath of God against our sin which he did so on the cross. And Jesus’ resurrection marks the beginning of our new life that God’s people have been graciously given. A life that is holy and infinitely hopeful because we see Jesus — and all that he’s done — and respond with deep soul satisfying joy in him. Thus the future day of the Lord — though purifying — isn’t terrifying for those who are loved by God and who have responded to his love through faith in Christ.

As one pastor has said, “He [Jesus] is refining us. He is teaching us to trust him. He is drawing us away from our strength to his. He knows exactly how much heat to allow in our lives. He will never scorch us, but if we jump out of one cauldron because it’s too hot, he has others waiting. [Because] the [impurities] must be removed.”

But a warning — said in love to those who don’t have faith in Christ. The coming day of the Lord should be terrifying to you. For it will be a day of wrath — of judgment — the day when you will bow your knee to Jesus and declare that he is Lord — but will do so because you’ve been defeated — not because you’ve been rescued. Thus today is the day of your salvation. Don’t wait for another day to believe in Jesus. Believe in him today.

CONCLUSION

You see, the Good News for all of us — for the Christian and even for the non-Christian — for now — is that Jesus has come as a purifying fire. He could’ve come as a raging forest fire — a fire of judgment — but he didn’t. A refiner’s fire is used for a specific purpose — not for destruction — but to purify. 

And the reason why Jesus has come as a purifying fire — instead of the fire of judgement — and the reason why this is Good News for all people — is because it tells us that there’s still time to respond to his love. There’s time — right now — to respond to God’s love for you as displayed in the birth of his Son. 

And may we all know that God is so committed to his promises to his people that — today — none of us are consumed by his fiery judgment but are given the opportunity to be purified. 

But on the day of Jesus’ return — only those who have responded to God’s faithfulness will have the assurance that the fire of his judgment will pass over them because they have been sealed by the blood of the baby who was born on that holy night — bringing the purifying light to cleanse his people of their sins.

Do you see your need for Jesus to cleanse you of your sins? Him cleansing you is nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. He doesn’t reject those who come to him in faith knowing they need his purifying power. Jesus doesn’t deem people unwanted or unloveable because they’re stained by sin. He died to make you clean. He gave his life because he loves you. Thus you can come to him now and trust him to purify you. 

My hope for all of us — including you — is that you would rest in God’s infinite love for you. 

And for those who have put your faith in Christ, my prayer is that you would rest in God’s promise to you that nothing can separate you from his love. This is your assurance in a world that’s trembling from uncertainty. Certainty — God loves you. Christ being born shows you God’s love and Christ’s crucifixion shows you the commitment Jesus has in making you holy. Trust him and in his purifying love for you. Receive this promise of God. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, again we’re reminded of — and in awe of — your love for us. Though we’ve made promises to you — and have failed to keep them — you’ve kept all of your promises to us. Thank you for being a promise keeping God. 

Holy Spirit, may you call out to those who — right now — the day of Jesus’ return will be a day of defeat. And help them to respond to Christ, to believe in him, so that the day of his return will be the day of their rescue. 

Finally, to you — Jesus — we praise you and thank you for purifying us of our sin. You’ve done for us what we could never do for ourselves — though we’ve tried. We’ve tried to remove the stain of our sin and — sometimes — if we’re honest — we go back to trying to remove our sin without your help. Thank you for loving us and being patient with us and being so committed to us that you gave your life — in our place — so we could be purified and made right and holy before God. May we be amazed by your love for us. And we pray all of these things in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go trusting in Jesus’ power to purify you — resting in his love for you. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.