Malachi chapter three, and I
want to read the first five verses. Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom
ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger
of the covenant whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of
his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire,
and like fuller's soap. And 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,
and as in former years. And I will come near to you in
judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against
those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and
the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right,
and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. Amen. May God bless
to us this reading from his word. When we come to the opening of
this third chapter in Malachi, we find that it is the Lord Jesus
Christ who is speaking. When we hear these words, behold,
I will send my messenger, it is our Saviour that is speaking. And I think it's interesting
that twice in this opening verse in the chapter, we hear the Lord
Jesus Christ saying, behold, behold. You remember that the
Lord often in his New Testament ministry said, verily, verily,
and by this means he was drawing attention to the importance of
those words which he was about to speak, and also the certainty
with which those things that were spoken had to be received
and accepted. And there is a sense in which
this usage here of behold carries the same import. If the Lord tells us twice in
one verse to behold, it's probably important that we pay attention
to what it is he is saying. Behold, he is saying, lay hold
on this. We sometimes use the word in
the sense of to look at or to see, to observe and to view,
to witness and to watch. But there is another dimension
to the word, which is picking up that sense of laying hold
upon, grasping, understanding. To take it as truth, to receive
the implications of it, to lay to heart the things that are
being said. to see not only is it an assertion
that God is making, that the Lord Jesus Christ is making,
but it's a promise. It's a promise that he is making
and therefore it is to be expected that there will be an imminent
fulfilment of that promise. just as a king would announce
his coming and his servants would go before him to prepare for
the arrival of the king. So Christ, our king, sends his
servant before his face that he might prepare the way for
his coming. It's interesting if we think
about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, just how many evidences
were given to us of the sheer scale and majesty of the coming
of the God-man into this world. It was accomplished in a mystical,
mysterious, miraculous way. The Lord God was conceived in
the womb of a virgin. Angels were sent to attest that
this great event had taken place. Wise men brought their gifts
of gold and frankincense and myrrh. There was a majesty about
this arrival in the world of the Lord Jesus Christ and yet
it was almost as if the whole of creation couldn't withhold
itself despite the fact that he came in such a low-key way. A wandering couple, far from
home, the child laid in a manger. And so we see the difference
and the contrast in the coming of our Saviour. But all of this
was planned. And the Lord Jesus Christ here
at the end of this period of prophetic writing was telling
the men and women of the age that soon he was coming, soon
I will be amongst you, and I'm going to send my messenger to
prepare the way. That messenger, of course, was
John the Baptist. And if you just turn over in
your Bible a few pages to Matthew chapter 11, you'll see there in verse 10, that Jesus was speaking concerning
John the Baptist, and the Lord Jesus Christ declares, this is
he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger before thy
face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. So there is
no doubt the Lord himself, having testified and promised of these
things in Malachi, through the messenger, that's what Malachi
means, the messenger brought this prophecy, and here the Lord
Jesus Christ is speaking that he is going to send a messenger,
and then again in Mark chapter 1 verse 2, We read, as it is
written in the Prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy
face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. There was no
doubt in the minds of these Gospel writers that John the Baptist
fulfilled this role. Here was the Lord God himself,
coming into his temple. Here was the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, and John the Baptist fulfilled this purpose. John's preparation of the coming
of Christ was in itself multifaceted. There were lots of dimensions
in which he was able to prepare for the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He pointed to Christ. He pointed
to him both metaphorically and physically. He preached Christ. He declared the glories of Christ
to his age and generation. He urged faith in Christ. And by baptising all who came
to him in a proper way, and particularly in the baptising of the Lord
Jesus Christ himself, we see that this worthy servant of our
Master and Saviour fulfilled this role of preparation for
the Lord. John the Baptist declared to
the people that Christ was in their midst. And what a wonderful
message he had to carry by so bringing that word to his generation. It's a wonderful thing to be
able to set the Lord Jesus Christ before needy sinners. And we
know from the gospel accounts that there were those of the
day who waited eagerly, anticipating the coming of the Lord. And here he is. Here he is. He has come amongst us. His messenger,
his disciple John the Baptist, who was preparing the way, had
come and announced him. And John, told of the coming
of Christ. Look at Luke chapter 3 and verse
15. Luke chapter 3 verse 15. Luke is giving an account of
the Lord Jesus Christ's life and he says in verse 15, And all men mused in their hearts
of John, whether he were the Christ or not. John answered,
saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one
mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy
to unloose. He shall baptise you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will
thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his
garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
and many other things in his exhortation preached he unto
the people. Do you see how much the language
of John the Baptist mirrors and parallels these words of Malachi
that we read together? How that the Lord Jesus Christ
was going to come like a fire and purge and gather his people
exactly as we have been reading in Malachi. I am absolutely certain
that there was that element of self-awareness on the part of
John the Baptist. He knew he was fulfilling this
prophetic ministry, and he knew that it was his responsibility
and privilege to be the harbinger, to be the messenger that had
come from Christ, to announce Christ, the coming King, and
to prepare the way for him. And I wonder if you noticed there
that little phrase about the people were in expectation. You see, there had been quite
a long time from the closure of the prophetic books of the
Old Testament until the coming of John the Baptist and the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, these things, as
Paul says, were not done in a corner. There was an awareness on the
part of the people that something important was about to happen,
that there was an expectation and an urgency in the minds of
many of those who were faithful to the Old Testament Scriptures,
who knew God, and who anticipated the fulfilment of these promises. And why should they not? Had
Malachi not written, Behold, Had Malachi not shown that the
very words of the Lord repeated, behold, there is something to
be grasped here, there is something to be understood, there is something
to be laid hold upon. And there was a people who were
eagerly expecting the imminent arrival of the Messiah, so much
so that they said, could it be, John? Could it be that this is
the one that we're looking for? And John fulfilled his obligations
of the servant perfectly. He said, oh no, it's not me.
Don't look at me. Look at the Saviour. Look at
the Lord. Look at He who will come into
His temple. And Simeon and Anna and others,
faithful men and women, waited upon the fulfilment of Malachi's
prophecy. Suddenly, Christ shall come. Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom
ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple. there was an urgency
about Malachi's language. And those like Simeon and Anna
and others who waited with this expectation were, as it were,
on tiptoe, wondering when it might be. Will it be now? Will it be soon? Is the Messiah
about to be revealed? And while John yet spoke, we
see that the messenger of the covenant arrived. Behold, I will
send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and
the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the
messenger of the covenant. This is the second messenger
that is spoken of in this verse. The first one was John the Baptist,
and now here is the messenger of the covenant. And what a beautiful
name that is for our saviour, Jesus Christ. This is the Lord. and the Lord shall come to his
temple. The Lord who is the messenger
of the covenant, that means that he is the manager, he is the
minister, he is the provider, he is the enabler, he is the
fulfiller of the covenant. Those covenant promises, that
covenant that had been established long before in the eternal dimension
where God himself and the triune persons had agreed to the salvation
of a people whom he loved eternally. That covenant was now about to
be seen in all of its glory. as the messenger of the covenant,
the bringer of the covenant, a revealer of the covenant, showed
these things to be so. God in past times, in divers
ways, had spoken by the prophets. But now in these last days, the
messenger of the covenant brought the fullness of the revelation
of God's purposes of salvation to his church and to his people. He shall come to his temple.
What a beautiful way of reminding us of the divinity of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He'll come to his temple. What
was the temple in Jerusalem but a building that had been built
and dedicated to the glory of God? Who could have said it's
mine but God? only God could come to his temple. And this was the temple to which
Jesus Christ came. He came to his temple, and it
is very interesting in the history of the ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ to note those occasions when Christ came to his temple. Of course, he was brought there
as a child, and that's where Simeon and Anna first realized
that there was someone special here in the form of this little
baby. And as those years passed and
the Lord began his ministry, so we discovered that he owned
that temple. He was the one that directed
men's minds to the proper usage of that temple for the worship
of God. It was his temple, the place
where the Lord Jesus Christ had high expectations. Matthew 21
we read of course of the occasion when he went in and he purposely
constructed a whip of cords and he went through that precinct
and he read and overturned the tables of the money changers
and the merchants. In Mark 11, verse 17, we read
these words, The Lord owned that temple. This is my house. and it is a house of prayer,
it is a house dedicated to the worship of God. And there is
a picture there, a picture of the fact that that temple which
was made of hands, that temple which was made of stone, with
all the grandeur that it had, relatively speaking, nevertheless
was a picture of that temple which is His church and people. More of that a little later.
But we have a lovely picture set before us here, as we see
the Lord Jesus Christ revealed as the messenger of the covenant. On so many levels, he is a suitable
messenger. He is the bringer of blessing,
the blessings of the covenant. that had been established and
ordained in the eternal mind were now being brought into view
for those for whom Christ came. The blessings are brought by
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the fulfiller of the promises. He is the Prince. That's another
word that can be interpreted from this word messenger, a prince. He is the prince that brings
the announcement of the blessedness of this covenant and that is
a covenant of peace. That was the Old Testament prophetic
name for this covenant, the covenant of peace. And so the Lord Jesus
Christ is the messenger of the covenant, is seen to be the Prince
of Peace. and in the context of the reconciliation
which he accomplished between God and man, that role of mediator
that he entered into, so we see him fulfilling these covenant
obligations and him establishing that peace and the blessedness
of the covenant amongst his people. He is the announcer of the New
Testament and he is the satisfier of every condition of acceptance
and reconciliation that would be demanded of his people. And we shouldn't be in any way
reluctant to describe our Lord as the angel of the covenant. Because while he was the eternal
God, and while he is not a created angel, nevertheless, angel is
another word for messenger. And as the angel of the covenant,
the Lord Jesus Christ serves. and ministers in those covenant
offices for his people. His dear people whom he loved,
he came as the angel of the Lord. He came as the mighty angel,
and he accomplished all that he was sent to do in the purpose
of God. This is our Saviour, and he is
the messenger of the covenant. The covenant promises of grace
and peace, of redemption and righteousness are all founded
upon the sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything
that we have in these covenant promises flow to us from our
messenger. They come to us in love because
Christ loved us. And it is his name and it is
his title that we see as we understand the glory of this covenant. He is Saviour in accomplishing
every obligation that was required of him. The covenant was an agreement,
if you like, a contract, a promise that was entered into. And God
said, I will commit these people into your hands. And the Lord
Jesus Christ said, I will do everything that is required to
bring them into your presence. Lord Jesus Christ entered into
this world as the messenger of the covenant to be the fulfiller
of the covenant and to satisfy everything that was required.
And we see him here identified as the messenger of the covenant.
Look at verse 1 again, chapter 3 of Malachi, The Lord whom ye
seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of
the covenant whom ye delight in. This is nice. This is nice. He whom ye seek
and he in whom ye delight. The hearts of the Lord's people
rejoice at the revelation of the messenger of the covenant. We seek him. We delight in him. We long to hear these things
which he has done. We long to know more about him. In all kingdoms and all nations
on the face of this globe, there are people who seek after the
Lord. and who delight in him. It might not appear that there
are very many at any one time in any one place, but rest assured,
they exist. They are around. They are in place. A people who
seek the messenger of the covenant. A people who delight in the messenger
of the covenant. and they are drawn to him, delighting
in him by their choice, by their desires, and out of a sense of
necessity, they long for Christ. And it's a blessed portion, it's
a sweet thought, it's a glorious truth that here is a people who
desire the Lord. 1 John 4, verse 19 says, We love
him because he first loved him. We love him because he first
loved us. And we seek him because he first
sought us. And we desire him because he
first desired us. We delight in him because He
first delighted in us. Can you imagine the Lord of glory,
the eternal Son of God, delighting in you, delighting in me, desiring
me? And yet He did. He loved us first. and we love him because he first
loved, desired, sought, and delighted in us. You know, we err greatly
if we imagine that our role in this world is to convince and
convert men to seek Christ, or even to teach men to desire Christ. We can't teach men to desire
Christ. John chapter 6 verse 45 says,
it is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. They seek him and they delight
in him. everyone that is taught of the
fire, throughout this world, in every nation, in every tribe,
in every people, wherever there is the presence of men and women
upon the face of this globe, the Lord has his people, and
he will teach them, and he will draw them, and they will seek
him, and they will delight in him. Isaiah 54 verse 13 is where
the Lord drew that promise of John 6, 45 from. There the prophet
says, all thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great
shall be the peace of thy children. They'll be taught. What will
they be taught? They'll be taught their need. They'll be taught
their want. They'll be taught their lack.
They'll be taught the need of their souls, and they will have
that need satisfied. This is the nature of our loving,
good, and gracious God. This is the benevolence of the
Lord. He creates a hunger and thirst
after righteousness, and He satisfies that craving. The people seek
Him and they delight in Him. We do not demur, we're not reluctant to
say to sinners, seek ye the Lord, or seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, call upon Him, because we know that
out there there is a people who are seeking him. We know that
out there there is a people who are desiring after him, and we
know that they will find him. They shall knock, the door will
be opened unto them. We rejoice to be numbered amongst
that number, and we long to see others coming and experiencing
the same things that we have found, for we delight in Him.
We have found Him to be the lily of the valley to our souls, to
be the bright and morning star, to be the fairest of 10,000.
In Song of Solomon, chapter one, verse two, It speaks about a
relationship between lovers, those who delight in each other. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine. In chapter
2, verse 3, as the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among the suns. I sat down under his shadow with
great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Have you known something of that
delight in Christ being satisfied in our communion together with
him when the messenger of the covenant comes to us and draws
near to us and reveals to us something of the blessedness
of that covenant of grace and peace and mercy to our souls? Teach me, Lord, to delight in
contemplation of my dear Saviour's offices, his person, his righteousness,
and his salvation. Look at verse 2. Who may abide the day of his
coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire
and like fuller's soap. He shall purify and he shall
purge. No, that's not right any longer. He has purified and he has purged. The Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished
all that we require. Yes, it is that we see he cleanses
and he clears his people from all guilt. He scrubs and he washes,
he purges and he purifies. He's like a refiner's fire and
he's like Fuller's soap. The Fuller was one who would
take soap or some sort of chemical If you're interested in knowing
what the chemical might be, look it up in Wikipedia. It's a little
bit disgusting. But it would be used to break
down the grease and the mud and to clean the wool. That was the
purpose of the fuller, was to scrub with these chemicals, with
this soap compound, in order that it might clean the wool
prior to and then after the wool was woven together. The name in the old country,
back over in Europe, was a walker. And anybody that has the name
Walker today, it is thought that their parents or their grandparents
or back in their family line were probably these washers of
wool that used the fuller's soap in order to cleanse the product. This is a picture from even all
these years ago that the Lord was showing to His people. He
would refine them. He would purify them. He would
purge them. He would wash them. He would
make them clean. And he has done. He has done. When this prophecy was given,
Malachi was talking about what would happen when the messenger
would first announce the coming king and then the messenger of
the covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, would arrive. He will
be like a refiner. He will be like a fooler. He
will be like a purger of his people's sins. And that is what
the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. It is so important
that we understand the cross, so important that we grasp that
the work of salvation was accomplished there at the cross. In Isaiah
chapter 1 verse 18, we read this verse, Let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. This is another one of those
verses given to the church that the free willers have hijacked
and run away with. This is our verse. This is for
you and this is for me. This is for the Lord's people.
The Lord says to us, come now, come now, let us reason together. Why is it that he has to say,
come and let us reason together? Because we don't feel clean.
Because we don't feel pure like wool. because we feel as if our
hearts are still dyed deep like crimson and red like scarlet
because we know what we are in this flesh. But the Lord has
to reason with us. He has to say, come, come, I
want you to look at something. I want you to behold something.
I want you to lay hold on something. I want you to see what the refiner
has accomplished. I want you to see what the Fuller
has done. I want you to see what the Walker
has done in the cleansing of this product and how that it
is purified, how it is white as snow. And this is the source
of our assurance. This is where our confidence
is drawn from. This is the Lord that is at work. This is our King who is at work
and he has brought us into this place of understanding the value
of his labours in the covenant. Our Saviour doesn't reason with
reprobates. but he comforts his distressed
people. The Lord sees no sin in Jacob,
and yet Jacob is well aware of the sin that is in his nature
and in his flesh. And so the Lord has to reason
with us in order to comfort and encourage and help us day by
day. His distressed children seek
him, and the Lord is pleased. to bring us once again to look
upon the Saviour on the cross and realise that the work is
done. The end of the matter. What was
the reason for the messengers coming? Well, look at verse three. he shall
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify
the sons of Levi, that is the sons of the covenant, and purge
them as gold and silver to this end, that they may offer unto
the Lord an offering in righteousness. That's the reason why the messenger
of the covenant came. He came in order that the people
of the covenant, the people who would be blessed as a result
of that covenant may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. That's the conclusion, that's
the end, that's the objective, the purpose that was in the mind
of God. The cause of the delight of the
spirits of just men made perfect is to worship God and to honour
Him. What could you never do? You could never please God, but
the Lord Jesus Christ has pleased God for us. What could you never
do? You could never honour God, but
the Lord Jesus Christ has honoured God for us. What could you never
do? You could never serve God, but
the Lord Jesus Christ has served God absolutely perfectly and
done all that was necessary for his people. So what has the Lord
Jesus Christ enabled us to do? to offer unto the Lord an offering
in righteousness. How do we offer in righteousness? Not by the works of these hands,
because flesh profiteth nothing. Not by our labour and our effort. Do you think that in any way
God needs us? Look at Luke chapter 17. Just turn with me quickly to
Luke chapter 17. Here's what the Lord says about
the labour of his people. Luke 17 and verse seven. Which of you having a servant
ploughing or feeding cattle will say unto him by and by when he
is come from the field, Go and sit down to meet. And will not
rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird
thyself, and serve me till I have eaten and drunken, and afterward
thou shalt eat and drink. Doth he thank that servant because
he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall
have done all those things which I commanded you, say, We are
unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our
duty to do. The Lord doesn't need us. The Lord doesn't take those things
of our hands as if they were in some way a recommendation
of us to Him. He doesn't take pleasure in these
things. What the Lord takes pleasure
in is the perfect, pure obedience and sacrifice of His Son. We offer our offering in righteousness
by coming before him with gratitude. This is the supreme service of
a saved soul. The highest form of worship available
to us as the people of God is to look to behold the crucified
Christ. and simply to say thank you. That's it. That's it. Not our
energies, not our service, not our labours, not our love, not
our faith. Our love, it ebbs and flows. It changes every day. Our faith
is up and it's down. This isn't a righteous offering
to God. The righteous offering was made
upon the cross. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the sacrifice for his people. He is the offering. And we come
and we say, thank you, Lord, for saving our souls. Psalm 35
verse 18 says, I will give thee thanks in the great congregation. I will praise thee among much
people. David the psalmist knew what
it was to stand amongst the crowd of the elect people of God, the
great congregation, and not offer anything of his hands or his
labour or his work or his commitment or his dedication, simply to
say thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. The highest pinnacle of our service
is to thank God for what he has done. Psalm 100 verse 4, enter
into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name. The Lord Jesus Christ announced
to his people by his servant Malachi, I will suddenly come
to my temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. and our Lord Jesus Christ is
coming again soon. He is coming again suddenly. He is coming again quickly. And we should be as expectant
as Simeon and Anna and those who populated the temple in those
days waiting upon the return of Christ. Three times in the
book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ says, behold, I
come quickly. Three times he tells us that.
Three times he's underlining it. He's putting it in bold. These are things that we are
to behold. Lay hold on this. I'm coming
quickly. And it's certain. And he's coming
to his temple. Then he declares in Revelation
22 in verse 20, He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I
come quickly. And John replies, Amen, even
so come, Lord Jesus. Surely I come quickly. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
back. This messenger of the covenant
is coming for his church. He is coming for his people.
Perhaps he'll take us in death. Perhaps he'll gather us into
glory with the rest of his church. But soon, very soon, and suddenly,
when we don't expect it, we will be here no longer. but we will
be there with him for all eternity, in heaven with our Lord. He will come into his temple. And as he came once to the temple
in Jerusalem, he will come to his church and to his bride,
whom Paul calls an holy temple in the Lord. What a morning that
will be. We seek Him. We delight in Him. The prophet tells us it is so. Song of Solomon 2 verse 8 says,
the voice of my beloved. Behold, he cometh, leaping upon
the mountains, skipping upon the hills. such is the speed
with which Christ is coming, leaping upon the mountains, skipping
upon the hills. My beloved speak and said unto
me, rise up my love, my fair one, and come away, for lo, the
winter is past, the rain is over and gone. the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.