Malachi. One of the difficulties for someone
who promises he's going to do something and it involves the
word of God. The more you look into it, the more it's living
and active, and it becomes bigger and grows. We were looking at
Malachi because Malachi was the last of the prophets. Malachi
is a special and unique book in so many ways. One of them
of course is that it was the last of them. The other one is
that of all the books of the Bible, of course every word here
is the word of God, but in Malachi's sermon 47 of the 55 verses are
direct quotes from God, God speaking. And of course the other thing
that's unique about it is that Malachi asks these questions. Well, God asks these questions
through Malachi. And not only does He ask questions,
but He actually, in a sense, gives the answer and raises and
exposes what's on the hearts of these people. And it's just
remarkable, isn't it? The Old Testament finishes with
a sermon. Malachi is just a sermon, really.
The Old Testament era finishes with a sermon and the New Testament
era begins with a sermon. In Malachi chapter 3 we have
that great word, Behold. Behold. Look. And what does John
the Baptist begin his ministry with? Behold. Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world. And so Malachi is a man, as we
read in Chapter 1 last week, Malachi is a man who bears the
burden of the Word of the Lord, a burden because it is God's
Word, a burden because of the seriousness of it, the weightiness
of it. Eternal things hang on the reception
of this Word. So what I thought we might do
this evening is we just actually look I'll just read these last
two chapters of Malachi because it's beautiful just to hear the
sermon as these people, maybe only a generation after Nehemiah, Maybe not any longer, maybe even
closer to the days of Niyamara than that. But these people would
have heard this as a sermon from Malachi and there it was recorded
by God and it was their last word from God for 400 years. What a sermon this is to leave
with them. I'll just read the last two chapters.
And then we can look at some of the highlights of it. Behold,
I will send my messenger. Just count and make a note of
the shalls and the wheels. the promises of God in this remarkable
closing chapters of the Old Testament. Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord, whom
you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger
of the covenant, whom you delight in. Behold, he shall come, says
the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of
his coming? And who shall stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire
and like fuller's soap. He shall sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver. And he shall purify the sons
of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer
unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the
offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as
in the days of old, as in former years. And I will come near to
you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
and against the adulterers, against the false swearers, against those
that oppress the highling in his wages, the widow and the
fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right,
and fear me not. says the Lord of hosts. For I
am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers
you are gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return
unto me and I will return unto you, says the Lord of hosts.
But you said, wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God Yet
you have robbed me, but you say, wherein have we robbed thee?
In tithes and offerings you are cursed with a curse, for you
have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes
into the storehouse, and there may be meat in mine house, and
prove me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer
for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your
ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time
in the field, says the Lord of Hosts. And all nations shall
call you blessed, for you shall be a delightsome land, says the
Lord of Hosts. Your words have been stout against
me, your words have been hard, your words have been strong against
me, says the Lord. Yet you say, what have we spoken
so much against thee? You have said, it is vain to
serve God. And what profit is it that we
have kept his ordinance, that we have walked mournfully before
the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy.
Yea, they that work wickedness are set up. Yea, they that tempt
God are even delivered. Then they that feared the Lord
spoke often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard
it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them
that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. They shall
be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my
jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son that
serves him. Then shall you return and discern
between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves
God and him that serves him not. For behold, the day comes that
shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that
do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day that comes shall
burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, and it shall leave them
neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name
shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings,
and you shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. and
you shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under
the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says
the Lord of hosts. Remember you the law of Moses,
my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel,
with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day
of the Lord. And He shall turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children
to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
What remarkable words. As you probably were going through
that, you were struck like I was, how there is just a remarkable
contrast again and again between the amazing wickedness of men. They dare speak back to God. In fact, Malachi, the Lord begins
at the beginning of Malachi, doesn't he, and he says, They
say, where in have you loved us? There they are in 400 BC. How many thousands of years of
history of his love and his covenantal faithfulness have they witnessed?
You've got to remember, these people are the descendants of
the survivors. They are the descendants of the
descendants of the descendants of the descendants of those who
were chosen, chosen out of the world in the days of Noah, chosen
out of all the peoples of the earth to be made a family by
one man and one woman and one son and one son. and out of 12
sons. And God had planted these people
and multiplied them. He protected them and ground
them in Egypt. He brought them out with a strong
and mighty hand. And all those that remained here
were ones that had come back after 70 years of captivity. When that nation that was over
2 million people was reduced to 40,000 people, and that 40,000
people, a wicked and rebellious people, amongst them just a remnant,
needing strong words from Haggai and Zechariah, from Ezra and
Nehemiah, to do the things that God had promised. that he would
do, to do the work that God had not only promised to have done,
but had caused the hearts of the kings of those nations that
they were captive of to not only protect them, but to provide
all that they needed. And yet they looked to themselves
again and again and again, and they looked away from the Lord.
What a shocking question, isn't it? How have you loved us? What a great word that Malachi
begins this last section, isn't it? As Isaiah 65 says, I was sought
of them that asked not for me, and found of them that sought
me not. I said, Behold me, behold me,
unto a nation that was not called by my name. Behold him. Behold something new is happening,
something desirable, something sure, something certain, something
renowned. And he shall prepare the way,
this messenger, I shall send my messenger, the word messenger
of course is the word Malachi and the messenger of course is
the great Elijah, the great John the Baptist. He shall prepare
the way before me and the Lord whom you seek Some of them sought
the Lord, and shall suddenly come to his temple." Do you know
that great day when he finally came to his temple? How did he
come to his temple on that great day? How did he come? When he first
came to the temple, what was he? He was just a baby. He was just a baby. 8 days old,
just a baby. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just as
is Luke chapter 2. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that
he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And when he came by the Spirit into the temple and when the
parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the
custom of the law, then he took him in his arms and blessed God
and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according
to your words. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation."
He saw a baby. What was he seeing through? He
was seeing through God-enlightened eyes of faith. "...Mine eyes
have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the
face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the
glory of Thy people Israel." And Joseph and his mother marveled
at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them
and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, for a sign which
shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through
thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed. Malachi in these great sermons
is a revealer of the heart. of these people, isn't he? The
Lord Jesus is a revealer of our hearts. That's why I keep saying,
let's not play games with God. Go and deal with Him quietly
and honestly in your closet, but don't play games with Him. He sees our hearts. There's nothing
hidden from His sight. And there was one Anna, a prophetess
and daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asa. And she was of
a great age and lived with her husband seven years from her
virginity. And she was a widow of about
four score and four years, so she was very old, which departed
not from the temple but served God with fasting and prayers
night and day. And she coming in that instance
to give thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake a hymn to
all them that look for redemption in Jerusalem. and when they performed all things
according to the Law of the Lord they returned into Galilee."
He came suddenly, didn't He? And then as a man He came suddenly
into that temple and took that cord and cleansed that temple
of the thieves and robbers that were in it. He came as a 12 year
old boy. He came suddenly to the temple,
didn't He? He came in a sense unannounced by men. But He shall
prepare the way for men, and suddenly come into His temple,
even the messenger of the covenant." He is the one who reveals the
covenant. He is the one who is the mediator
of the covenant. He is the one who finishes the
covenant. All the promises in the covenant
are yes and amen in Him. He brings and completes and for
us, He brings the message of the Covenant, doesn't he? The
Covenant is the Covenant of Grace. The Covenant is the Covenant
in the Lord Jesus. Outside of that Covenant, outside
of Him and His blessings, there is no peace, there is no hope. And the messenger of the covenant,
this messenger, this covenant that this messenger brings is
for God's people a delight. We delight to proclaim the eternal
covenant, the covenant in his blood, the covenant of grace,
the covenant of peace. It's a delight. So there were
some in Malachi's day, as there were in Nehemiah's day, as there
were in Ezra's day, as there are throughout all the dark days
of history, there are God's people. They seek Him, they delight in
Him and they know that He shall come. But who may abide the day
of His coming? Who shall stand where He appears? for He is like a refiner's fire
and a fuller's soap." It's a beautiful image, isn't it? That He comes. Who can stand in that day? How
on earth can you stand in that day? Stand before the Lord of
Glory. stand before Him when He appears. What a remarkable gift of grace
to say, as the apostles did, that we actually look forward
to the day of His appearing. We speed its coming, not that
we can hasten it, but we delight. We look forward to the day of
His appearing, the day of His coming. Well he is like a refiner's
fire and like fuller's soap. I love the description of fuller's
soap. Fuller's soap is a soap that was used to remove stains
and spots and it's a soap that's used to whiten wool. What a great description of our
saviour and his refining. They stand, who shall stand?
It's good to notice in verse 3, he sits. He sits as a refiner,
untroubled, someone who's finished his work. A refiner and purifier
of silver. and He shall purify the sons
of Levi and purge them as gold that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness." Isn't it wonderful? The fire
of His refining, the fire of His purifying removes the dross
from the gold. and all that's left is more pure
gold. So neither fire, nor water, nor
air changes gold. But fire, all that fire does
is make it more pure. It makes it more pure. As Job
says, I am tested, I'm being tried, and when I've been tried
I shall come forth as The other thing that the fire does to gold
and the fire does to silver is it makes it malleable. It's ready
and fit to fit a mould, isn't it? It's ready to be reshaped. Reshaped in a sense almost effortlessly,
doesn't it? It's a great picture of what
our Lord will do. He will purify. He'll purify the sons of Levi,
that holy priesthood. He'll purify them. Isn't it a
wonderful thought that He will make these sons pure. Preserve my soul, says David,
for I am holy. O then my God, O Thou my God,
save Thy servant that trusts in You." How do God's people
get to be refined and get to be purified. In Acts 15 the Gentiles
according to Peter are purified by faith. He puts no difference in the
purifying between the Gentiles and the Jews purifying their
hearts by faith." It's a beautiful description, isn't it? God purifies
the hearts of His people by causing them to be trusting in Him. "'Come, let us reason together,'
says Isaiah, isn't it? "'Though your sins be escarred,
Yet they will be as white as snow. He will purify them, that
they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. What on earth has Nehemiah and
Ezra and now Malachi been dealing with? These offerings that are
done with mean spiritedness, without a sense of faith, without
a sense of honour to God. He says, where is my honour? And he says to the priests, you
despise my name. And here he promises, in the
midst of this darkness, which was the religion that Malachi
was living amongst, he has these remarkable promises. Then in
verse 4, then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant
unto the Lord, as in the days of old, as in the firmament,
Go back and remember Abraham. Go back and remember Abel. Go
back and remember Enoch. Go back and remember Noah. Go
back and remember these people. Go back and look. Look at how
God had saved and caused His people to be pleasant to Him
in the years gone by. Pleasant to the Lord that Christ
has taken away the guiltiness and the filthiness of the sins
of His own. We were by our sins in our father
Adam and by the sins that we commit in our own hearts we were
By custom and nature, our sins made us have spots like a leopard. It needs a full of soap to take
that away. It's like leprosy, isn't it? Sin. Only a complete cure would
do. Inward, hearts have to be purified, washed. refined and purified,
and then this offering shall be pleasant to the Lord. And
I will come near you to judgment, and I will be swift witness against
the sorcerers and against all of these others, false swearers,
those that oppress the highling in his wages, the widows and
the fatherless, and turn the stranger." And then the summary
of all wickedness. The summary of all wickedness
is in those few words towards the end of that verse, isn't
it? And fear me not. It's extraordinary as we go through
the scriptures and see how often The fear of the Lord is a great,
great gift from God. He says in Jeremiah 32, I will
make an everlasting covenant with them and I will not turn
away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me. You see, it's a grace
gift to fear God. I am troubled, more and more
troubled when I find that people have no fear, no reverential
awe of God, no fear. of blaspheme in his name, no
fear of being joined with those who despise him, no fear of those
who dishonour his name. And his name in the scriptures
is related to the person and the work and the offices of God. All of his activities in his
person as revealed, especially in redemption, and you challenge
them, you bear witness to me and bear witness in your own
lives, you challenge people and you challenge him and say this
is what God says about his son, this is what God says about himself,
this is what God says about how, in the words of Malachi here,
he is a refiner and a purifier. And they say, that's not my God. And we beg of them, we say, please
go ahead and read. Go and deal with God about this. You've heard a man speak. You've
heard someone quote the words of God. You go away to your closet
and talk to God about it. Deal with God. Read this book.
There is nothing more serious. And there is no fear, is there?
There is no, even an inkling of fear. How many of them come
back and say, I have thought about that, we need to talk,
this is serious. This is deadly serious what you
are saying about God, about who He is and what He has done and
what the Lord Jesus did on the cross. and the greatest display
of God's revelation of Himself. And in that very act of what
the Lord Jesus did on a cross, they want to say that it was
just something that He tried to do, it was an effort. You
see, fear of God is a grace gift of the Spirit, isn't it? It says
in Hebrews, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and godly fear. It's a grace gift. It's the beginning
of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Psalm 111 verse 10. And the promises
of God... are connected to fear in God,
aren't they? The eye of the Lord is upon those
who fear Him, Psalm 33, 18. The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear Him, Psalm 34, 9. Blessed is the man who
fears the Lord, Psalm 112, verse 1. The Lord will fulfil the desire
of those who fear Him. In fact you can scarcely find
any blessing which is not in some way connected with fear
of God. The other thing is of course
that rather than it being diminished as Christians go on in their
life, it seems to grow. And Paul is saying to the Philippians,
you work out your salvation with fear and trembling. He knew what
it was. to serve God with reverence and
Godly fear. He had seen God. He had seen
God work in the lives of people. He'd seen Him gather His people
together and He'd seen God exclude people. It becomes deeper and
stronger In Acts 9, the early church is described, then the
churches had rest throughout all Judea and Samaria and were
edified. How did they walk? Acts 9, 31. They walked in the fear of the
Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. The fear of the
Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit go hand in hand in God's
economy. And it's the confidence of God's
people, isn't it? In the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence, Proverbs 14, 26. So we have assurance and confidence
and enjoyment, and they are actually strengthened as fear is strengthened. It's an extraordinary thing how
the Word of God tips our world upside down and replants it on
a firmer and more sure foundation. Again and again when you read
in the scriptures the wickedness of the people who profess to
know God and you relate their activities and you find there
is no fear of God before their eyes. No fear of God. They don't fear Him. If they
don't fear Him, then all of these other activities flow out. In verse 6, there's a famous
verse, I'm sure you know it well, but it's lovely just to look
at it again, isn't it? I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. I am the Lord. It's one of the
great I am expressions in the scriptures, isn't it? It's saying
of course that God is God himself. He exists in himself and he existed
before the world was. Perfectly complete, perfectly
at peace, perfectly in communion with his son and with the Holy
Spirit. I often think that one of the
greatest verses that speaks of grace in all the scriptures is
in Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God. Everything that flows thereafter
is purely from the hand of God. What he's saying, of course,
is that he is God and we are not. He is God and He is self-existent. We are not, and our existence
is because of Him, and only because of Him. And we are accountable
to Him, we owe absolutely everything to Him. What a pathetic throne. What a pathetic throne that Satan
put us on in the garden. What a pathetic throne that we
think we sit on in this world today. I will. I'll do it my
way. I have the right. I have the
right to make calls on this issue and that issue. I have the right. I. And in every one of those situations
we are saying to God, I am self-existent and you are dependent upon me. Read about the exchange in Romans
1. It's a shocking thing. But the
other thing of course I think that is so evident is when God
says, I am the Lord. It means that his word is powerfully,
it's wonderfully and it's magnificently true. His word in a sense has
been, has existence and has power. and He sends it. He sends it
into this world and it returns to Him having done its work. What a great list of promises
the Old Testament finished with. What a remarkable list of promises
we have in the Bible. Someone counted them up and it
was over 2,500. I'm sure there were hundreds and maybe thousands
short if they had looked more closely around the verses. Has
he got one wrong? is there one word from God, one
single, and you find one instant in all of history or in all of
your life where God has been unfaithful. Men of this world
and men of this religious world might ask all these questions
that Malachi is full of. But God is true. Just as He is,
His word is. My covenant, says Psalm 89.4,
My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone
out of my lips. The strength of Israel. It's
called the strength of Israel. It's great to find Him, our strength. The strength of Israel will not
lie nor repent, for He is not a man that should repent. This is the I am, the great I
am God. I change not. Unchangeable in
his nature. Unchangeable in his purposes. Unchangeable in his covenant
promises. Was there ever a group of people
that were more deserving of the judgment of God than these people
here? How can you read Malachi and
not tremble at the way they spoke to God? And the way they question
God, how can you read Malachi and not think that in my own
heart, in my own life, and in my flesh, I do and say exactly
the same things over and over again. Why aren't we consumed? Why is this world waiting? I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. You see, there
are some sons and daughters of Jacob and they will never be
consumed. There are some sons and daughters.
Why is the sun shining today? Why might it shine tomorrow? Just one reason. I am the Lord, I change not.
There are some sons of Jacob, and hopefully many, but there
is a number of sons of Jacob, and they will never be consumed.
They will be refined, they will be purified. The offering of
Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant unto the Lord." Wonderful, isn't
it? Not consumed. not consumed by
the things of this world, not consumed by Satan's lies, not
consumed by our sins, not consumed by the judgment of God. I am
the Lord. I think we might finish there
folks. I think the weather is getting
the better of me, if you don't mind. Why don't we just finish
with a word of prayer.