Malachi chapter one and reading
from verse one. The burden of the word of the
Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, wherein hast thou
loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob. and I hated
Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the
dragons of the wilderness. Whereas Edom saith, we are impoverished,
but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, they shall build, but I will throw down. and they shall call them the
border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord
hath indignation forever. And your eyes shall see and ye
shall see the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. Perhaps it doesn't need to be
said, but I'll say it anyway, that we consider this book in
its entirety, the Holy Scriptures, to be God's Word. and we are just as ready and
desirous to accept the writings of the Old Testament prophets
as we are the writings of the New Testament apostles as being
the very Word of God. Inerrant continuing to be of
value and usefulness and for our instruction and for our discipline,
for our direction. The Word of God in its entirety
speaks to us all in these days. It is an enduring word. It is
an everlasting word. It is the word that speaks of
Jesus Christ. And you'll remember with me,
I'm sure, how it was that the Lord Jesus, and on the particular
occasion it was when he was walking on the road to Emmaus, Following
his death and the cross and resurrection, he encountered a couple of his
disciples walking back from Jerusalem to their home. And we are told
there that when the Lord drew nigh to these two people, that
he spoke to them how that all the scriptures starting at Moses
and the prophets spoke of him. So the Lord Jesus Christ personally
making reference to the Old Testament Scriptures declares to us in
these New Testament days that the Old Testament Scriptures
have to be interpreted and understood as speaking of Christ. There's history in the Old Testament.
There's prophecy in the Old Testament. There's prayers and there are
songs. There's the story of the rise
and fall of a nation, Israel. And yet, above and beyond, and
spiritually speaking, all of the narrative directs to this
one person and to his great work, the Lord Jesus Christ. When we
come to the book of Malachi, we are coming to the last book
in the Old Testament, and we are, as it were, on the very
eve of the New Testament beginning, with the coming of a man called
John the Baptist, who himself was directed of God to prepare
the way for the coming of Christ. But one thing we should mention
perhaps just at the outset is that this book of Malachi, although
it was the last of the Old Testament and, as it were, foreshadowed
that which was to occur in the New Testament, it brought us
to a hiatus. It brought us to a gap. A gap of around about 400 years,
perhaps 400 to 450 years, during which the Lord didn't speak at
all. And there was a gap, there was
this silence from God. The prophets had spoken. The
major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, those larger prophetic
books, and the minor prophets, the little difficult-to-pronounce
names that we get at the end of our scriptures, Haggai, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, and Malachi. These were small books, but they
all spoke about the imminent arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then there was a pause. And
it is as if there was an expectancy. It is as if there was a waiting. God had spoken. He had said what
was going to happen. He didn't need to repeat it anymore.
He had declared the way in which his servant would come. We're
going to touch upon that in a moment or two. But I just want to open
my remarks here with a look at the first verse in this chapter,
Malachi chapter one and verse one. And I hope I'm pronouncing
Malachi like you people pronounce it here. I had a conversation
with my wife. I said, will I pronounce it Malachi? Or will I say Malachi? Or here we are, Malachi. That's
how I say it. Is that how you say it? Good,
see this language problem that we have sometimes. Malachi, well
that's good. The burden of the word of the
Lord to Israel by Malachi. First thing I want to notice
is this, that this is the word of the Lord. It is God who is
speaking here. And you know, right at the very
outset, right at the very beginning of our thoughts, I need to tell
you that when God speaks, we need to listen. When God speaks,
we need to be quiet. We need to wait upon Him. And it is God who is speaking
here and we are told that this is the burden of the word of
the Lord. That's a strange phrase. Why
should it be termed a burden? Well, I think what the writer
here is saying to us is that when God speaks, he's not about
to waste words. He's going to speak and we need
to listen. We need to be aware of the importance
and indeed the weightiness of these things that the Lord is
saying. We need to be aware that these
matters are important. The world is full of voices.
From the wisdom of the philosophers to the claims and the promises
of the politicians, from the educationalists and the scientists,
everybody has their opinion. Everybody has their words to
speak, their message to convey. And it's like a cacophony, it's
like a clamouring that is out there. but the word of God transcends
them all. And we are to listen to what
God has said. He has revealed himself. He has
chosen to reveal himself in the written word. He has chosen to
reveal himself through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
the Old Testament, anticipating the coming of Christ. In the
New Testament, giving an account both of the life and of the teaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, as it says in
the book of Hebrews, God has spoken in these last days by
his son. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
revelation of God and these words that are written to us is God
speaking to us. He who is the eternal word has
brought this message to men and women and he is to be heard. God speaks about heaven and he
speaks about hell. He speaks about life and he speaks
about death. He speaks about glory and he
speaks about damnation. He speaks about eternal issues
that appertain to you and to me. And he tells us things that
only he knows. And therefore it is incumbent
upon us to listen to what he has to say, to hear this word
that he has spoken. The opinions of men are invariably
vain and foolish. The science of this world, it
alters and it changes. with every successive generation. The politicians of this world,
they come and they go. The educationalists, the philosophers,
they are just bringing their ideas and sooner or later somebody
else is going to come along and contradict them and change it
and then people's minds will go off in a completely different
direction. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And therefore, we need to hear
what he has to say. The weightiness, the significance
of this message is attested by Malachi's name. Okay? This is the book of Malachi. Malachi means messenger. And there is some debate as to
whether or not Malachi is actually a real name. Now we know that
other prophecies were written by men and bear their name, like
Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and again some of the lesser
prophets. But it's possible that this is
simply the burden of the word of the Lord by his messenger. Or equally, it is the man's name. Because we know again in scripture
that the Lord caused providentially people to have names that were
significant according to the role that they would perform
in the world. God is in control of even the
names of people. And so here is Malachi, the messenger,
bringing the message of God as a burden. And what I think is
interesting is that Malachi, the messenger, uses his name
a couple of times in these four chapters of his little prophecy. Turn over in your Bibles, just
a page, to chapter three, verse one. Chapter three, verse one. And there we find Malachi writes,
Behold, I will send my messenger, same word, 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,
same word. whom ye delight in. Behold, he
shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Okay, so here's Malachi,
the messenger, speaking about the words of God, the Lord of
hosts, and he is telling us that there are going to be two other
messengers. There is going to be the messenger,
I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before
me. Any ideas who that messenger might be? Okay, there we are,
John the Baptist. And he is going to prepare the
way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to
his temple, even the messenger of the covenant. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. So here is the messenger speaking
of the messenger of the messenger of the covenant. So, It shows
us something of the weightiness of this message. Here is Malachi
telling us that there is going to be a period of time, a silence,
and then John the Baptist is going to come and he will be
the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, the messenger of the
covenant. And This burden, therefore, that
is spoken of in verse one is the burden of the word that Malachi
fuels. The messenger He is the one who
is carrying this message to preach Christ. He is the one who bears
the responsibility of bringing to the people, the people of
Israel, we'll touch on that in a moment, the people of Israel,
the message of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
his role, as it were, to convey the gospel. Because that's what
the message of the Lord Jesus Christ is, it's the gospel. So
when we speak about Christ, we're speaking about the good news
concerning Christ, we're speaking about the gospel. So Malachi
was a gospel preacher. He preached Christ. He preached
about the coming messenger of the covenant. And he was teaching
the men and women of his day, of his age, to anticipate the
imminent arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ, who would himself
be forerun by another messenger, John the Baptist. And I think
it's interesting just to pause here for a moment and consider
the fact that Malachi refers to this as a burden, because
it is a burden to preachers. It's a burden to preachers to
bring the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because very often,
they feel the weightiness of that message. They appreciate
the significance of that message. They're fearful of running unsent. They know that it's an important
task that they have been given. Back to this point about the
weightiness, about the heaven and hell, about the grace and
damnation, about life and death. They are speaking to men and
women with eternal souls who might not be in church next
Sunday because the days of their life have come to an end. that
every single time they get up into a pulpit in order to bring
that message, that message of Jesus Christ, they know that
the souls that are before them are on the verge of eternity. And therefore it is a burden
to the preacher as he carries that message. But I want to say
this to you, perchance you misunderstand me. Though it is a burden to
bear the message, the message is no burden. The message of
the Lord Jesus Christ is not a burden. No, it's good news. It's a wonderful thing to hear
the Lord Jesus Christ preached to us. It's a wonderful thing
to have Christ lifted up in our presence, to be able to look
at Him and to see those things which He has done, hear those
things which He has said, be made aware of the significance
of the message, the revelation which he has brought. The Lord
Jesus Christ is no burden to men and women when they hear
that good news. Indeed, the Lord himself says,
come unto me, All ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light. there is a lightness about that
burden which Christ brings. And why is that phrase used?
Well, I'll tell you why it's used. It's used because the Lord
is drawing a parallel. He's drawing a parallel between
law and gospel. He's drawing a parallel between
works and grace. He is saying that when a man
looks to serve God by his own obedience, by his doing, it's
a weighty, weighty job that he is undertaking. If a man will
pursue righteousness with God by seeking to live properly before
God, by obeying the works of the law, by maintaining a moral
position, by endeavouring to stand upon the truth of Scripture
and do all these things, then he will find that that works. Obedience is like a huge millstone
around his neck which actually draws him down, weighs him down
and crushes him in the end. There's no peace in trying to
work for our salvation. Peace is found in trusting Christ. That is why his burden is easy. That is why he says, come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. I'll take your burden. I'll take that weight and I'll
give you in return a yoke that is light to bear. Faith in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, Malachi
tells us, is the messenger of the covenant. The messenger of
the covenant, we read it together in chapter three, verse one.
And that means that the role of messenger, I'm sure perhaps
many of you will be familiar with the other phrase that we
sometimes give concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is
prophet, priest, and king. And we understand that these
are offices that he has undertaken, that he has promised to fulfill
in accordance with his father's will who sent him into the world.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, a body thou hast prepared for me, and
the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world in order to do his
Father's will, willingly, voluntarily coming to reveal God. And in
these offices, these covenant offices of prophet, priest, and
king, the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills different roles. His prophetic
role is to declare the purposes of God. His priestly role was
to go to the cross and offer his own blood as a redemption
for sin and his kingly role is to rule in his church and ultimately
to be the all in all before God. So these are all aspects of the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ and this messenger of the covenant
speaks to us of this prophetic role that the Lord Jesus Christ
had in that he came and he revealed the purposes of God to us in
the gospel. And that is why the writer to
the Hebrews says that he has in these last days spoken unto
us by his son. In times past he spoke by the
prophets, in times past he spoke by angels, in times past he spoke
by picture and symbol, but now he has been very clear and he
has spoken to us with the fullness of revelation in the person of
his dear son, Jesus Christ. I want to continue in verse 1
just for a moment and to say that this is the burden of the
word of the Lord to Israel. To Israel by Malachi. Here is a spiritual message that
Malachi is bringing. And it is a spiritual message
that is woven throughout the whole of scripture, indeed throughout
the whole of world history. There is a unity in scripture. And this message of covenant
purpose is a message which God has declared from the earliest
times and is fulfilled in the person of Christ. The message
comes to Israel. It's a message to Israel. Now,
I hope you notice that, that it's not a message to the whole
world. It's a message to Israel. There's significance in the addressee. If I send you a letter, and I
put your name and address on the front of it and put it in
the postal service, you'd be a bit offended if somebody else
opened that letter, wouldn't you? Because it's your letter.
It's addressed to you. This is not a message to Egypt. This isn't a message to Ethiopia. There's no Eskimos mentioned
in this book. This is a message to Israel. Who is Israel? Well, is it the
people who live in the country called Israel? No, no, it's not
that. Is it the Old Testament people
that traveled through the wilderness? Well, no, it's not that either.
perhaps those to whom the Ten Commandments were given. Let
me read you what it says in Exodus. This is God speaking to Moses.
Moreover, he said, the Lord speaks, I am the God of thy father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. If you
know something of the history of the patriarchs, you will know
that Jacob had his name changed to Israel, okay? The God of Jacob. And Moses hid
his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said,
I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows. A couple of chapters further
on in Exodus 6, verse 6 and 7, it says here, Wherefore, say
unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring
you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will
rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a
stretched out arm, and with great judgments, and I will take you
to me for a people. and I will be to you a God, and
ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. So Israel wasn't
solely restricted to some national physical lineage. Israel is the
people who have the Lord as their God. He identifies himself not
in some genetic nationalistic role as far as the people are
concerned, but the people whom he shall redeem, the people whom
he shall deliver. And we understand from reading
these Old Testament passages that here we see type, here we
see symbolism, here we see metaphor, here we see images of the fullness
of the redemptive work of God. prefigured in the removal of
national Israel out of Egypt, but symbolical of that great
work of redemption, accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ on the
cross, by which he redeems his people from their sin and liberates
them from the burdens of condemnation for the sin that they have committed. So this is not Israel after the
flesh that we are to interpret here, but rather a spiritual
Israel. Those of whom the Lord said concerning
Nathanael, who are Israelites indeed. spiritual Israelites,
people who are redeemed by the grace of God, people whose sins
have been taken and laid upon the shoulders of their Redeemer,
the blessed Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. The spiritual Israel,
in fact, is a name for the church. And the true church of the Lord
Jesus Christ, every blood-bought child of God is true Israel. And therefore, if we believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, we read these words as appertaining
to us. It's your name that's on the
envelope. It's your letter. We read these things personally,
and we apply them to our own hearts. Turn with me in your
Bible, please, to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. I want to read a few verses there
from verse 6. Romans chapter 9. One of the
great chapters of the Word of God, indeed, is Romans chapter
9. But look with me, please, at
verse 6. This is the Apostle Paul who's
writing, he's writing to the church, spiritual Israel if you
like, that is in Rome. And he says, not as though the
word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Okay, so there's the physical
Israel, and then there's something else, there's something beyond
the physical Israel. There's a spiritual dimension
to this name. They are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. Okay, now you know the story
of Abraham and how there was Isaac and there was Ishmael.
But the seed came through Isaac. Ishmael was of the same genetics
as Abraham, but the promise didn't come to Ishmael, it came through
Isaac. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. Spiritual dimension,
the children of the promise. What's another word for promise?
Covenant. So this is the promises of God,
this is the covenant of God that is being spoken about here. The
children of the promise, or the children of the covenant, they
are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise,
at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not
only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by
her father Isaac, For the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. It's God that's
speaking. So what is he saying there? He's
saying that the promise came down through the line, but not
everybody that claimed the name Israel, the children of Israel,
were heirs of this promise. Where have we read that little
phrase, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
hated? Where have we read that before?
In Malachi chapter one. That's exactly where Paul gets
this message. That's the point that he's making
here. Here we find that this is the
testimony, both of the Old Testament and the New Testament, both of
the prophets and the apostles, that it is a distinguishing promise. It is a promise that is distinct.
It is targeted. It is addressed. It's Israel's
promise. And the promise comes to all
of those who are the true Israel of God, the people who believe. Israel are the children of covenant
peace. Israel are the people of the
promise. Those, as it were, like Jacob,
who wrestle and who prevail with God, not by their own strength,
but because God has given promises. God who cannot lie. God who's
not a man who can lie. God has given promises, first
to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob, and to all of that
lineage that come through those covenant purposes of God. He
has given promises that He will redeem them. He will bring them
out from under their taskmasters. He will bring them out from under
the domination of servitude that they are under with the Egyptians. Again, it's not the national
Egyptian people, but it's a type. It's a type of this world, and
the wickedness of this world, and the godlessness of this world,
such that those people who are brought by the grace of God,
by the work of the Holy Spirit, out from under that servitude,
are the people who have those blessings because of the promises
of God. Not because of their own goodness,
not because of their own attractiveness, not because they were smarter
than anybody else, not because they were the greatest nation,
but because God said, I will love you. And these, well these
are getting left behind. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And this teaches us about the
distinguishing purpose of God within the covenant. It is God's
own love. It is God's good pleasure that
brings these blessings to individuals in this world. There is a revelation
of salvation here in Malachi based upon distinguishing love
and sovereign grace, God's grace, God's grace to whomsoever he
will in this world. Now, that's not a popular doctrine. I tell you, my friend, the reason
why there are many, many churches all over the place is that this
doctrine of distinguishing sovereign love is not popular in these
days. And the vast majority of people
will say, no, it's up to men to choose God. The Bible says
it is God who chooses men. It is God who brings his gift
of grace, his gift of love to whomsoever he chooses, because
it's all done within this covenant purpose, and Christ is the messenger
of the covenant. This passage, drawn from the
history of Israel, understood in the Old Testament by this
man Malachi and others like him, attested by the Apostle Paul
in Romans chapter nine, speaks of the doctrine of Christ. Was
it just last week that we were thinking about the opening verses
of Galatians and we were told that Paul received his doctrine
From whom? From Christ. So if Paul received
this doctrine that he preached to the Romans in Romans chapter
nine from Christ, this is Christ's doctrine. This is the gospel
of Christ. God's love is an everlasting
love. So when God says, I loved Jacob
and I hated Esau, He is making a statement about his love and
his hatred towards the sons and daughters of this world. God's love is everlasting. I don't know whether you ever
have had the privilege of being able to say to somebody, I love
you. I love you. It's a wonderful
thing if you hear somebody saying to you, I love you. If that's
true, if you've ever had somebody that's told you they love you,
then you're a very fortunate and blessed person in this world. There are lots of people in this
world who are never loved by anybody. But if we've ever been
told, I love you, that's a rich and blessed thing. But that's
not what God says. God says, I have loved you. Past tense. Past tense. But remember who's speaking.
It is the unchangeable, immutable God. God who doesn't change.
And therefore if God says, I have loved you, it means something
more than I love you. It means I've always loved you. And I always will love you. Because
I don't change. My love is as immutable as I
am. I am the God that changeth not. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today and forever. So when he says, I have loved
you, he's speaking about a love which transcends time. a love
which stretches into eternity and is foundational to the very
character and nature of God himself. In Jeremiah chapter 31, verse
3, we can tell that the Old Testament saints understood this. The Lord,
Jeremiah writes in his prophecy, the Lord hath appeared of old
unto me saying, yea, I have loved thee. Same phrase, yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. So that tells us that God's love
is everlasting. But it also tells us that it
isn't just a neutral thing. That it's an enabling thing.
Because I've loved you. I've drawn you to myself. Because
I've loved you, I've drawn you. I've brought you to myself. So
this again is the covenant. Here is these promises that God
is saying to his people, I love you and I am gathering you to
myself. I am sending my messengers out
into the world with the gospel message of Jesus Christ. I am
sending men and women out into witness to their neighbours with
the message that will draw you to myself because I love you,
because I love you. There's an enabling power in
the love of God. We say sometimes, don't we, that
we love someone and maybe you love your wife or your husband
and you make some promises. You make some promises when you
get married on the basis of that love and you say that you will
stand by them through riches and poverty, through sickness
and health, for life and for death. And you mean it, you mean
it when you say it. But the reality is that we are
so weak when it comes to these things that we find ourselves
constantly beset with trials and problems and issues when
we try to do those good things for those that we love. Now imagine
that you had such power. that you could do anything for
the person that you loved. That's our God. That's our God
who is all-powerful. and he is accomplishing his purposes
in the lives of those that he loves. It is that love, Jacob
have I loved, that love which comes through covenant promise
and it is extended out. It comes to men and women, boys
and girls all over this world and the love of God is constraining
us. The love of God is reaching out. He sends his messengers, he sends
his preachers, he sends his gospel. He provides for us in the circumstances
of this world such that he will draw those that are his to himself. not one will be lost. Isaiah
55 verse 10 says this, for as the rain cometh down and the
snow from heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the
earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed
to the sower and bread to the eater. Okay, that's a picture
of nature right there. That's how God has ordained our hydraulic cycle, okay, that gives
us food to eat in this world. As these things happen, the rain
coming down and the flower coming to bud and the bread for the
eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth.
It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it. That's our God that's speaking. God's love is effectual. God's
love is everlasting. God's love is enabling. God's love endures forever. He is accomplishing his purposes
in time. that will stretch into eternity. He's gathering his people in
time through the preaching of the gospel, through the building
up of his church, so that he will be able to present that
body, that people, that gathering, that spiritual Israel, that true
people of God, those for whom Christ died, he will present
them faultless, blameless, before his glory in love. Turn with me to John chapter
17. I want to read you some verses there. The Lord here is speaking
to his disciples. He's speaking of his disciples. He's actually speaking to God.
This is what's sometimes called his high priestly prayer. He's
speaking to God on behalf of his disciples just before he
leaves and goes to heaven, or just before he goes to the cross,
actually, prior to his crucifixion. Look at verse 20, John chapter
17, verse 20. So who's he praying for? He's
praying for his disciples. But he goes on to say, John chapter
17, verse 20, neither pray I for these alone. Oh, okay, so there's
somebody else here getting brought into this prayer. but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word. So the disciples
were to go out, going into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature. They were to go out with this
message. And the Lord is praying here, not for the whole world,
but for those that will believe. You gotta distinguish here in
these words that are spoken. He's saying, I pray for these,
not these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on
me through their word, that they all may be one. As thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one. Righteous, brought together,
made righteous, bound up together in that love of God, in that
grace of God, in that mercy of God. The church triumphant, spiritual
Israel, the covenant people of God. I in them, thou in me. This is an extraordinary verse. Listen to what he says. I in
them, that is Christ in the church, thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me and hast loved them Jacob have I loved, covenant
promises, and has loved them as thou hast loved me. Now that's actually too much
for me to explain, right? I have to stop now. Because I
can't explain that. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ is
saying that God the Father loves me exactly the same as he loves
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what did he say about the
Lord Jesus Christ? He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. That means he's well pleased
in me. Now don't you ask my wife about my conduct. Don't you ask
the people that know me. Don't you ask my children about
what kind of dad I've been. Don't you ask my workmates about
what kind of colleague. Because my shortcomings are manifold. But God looks at me in Christ
and he says, good and faithful servant. He says, my beloved,
just as much loved as my son. Why? Because God has promised
and his promises are to be kept. These are wonderful verses. He goes on, verse 24, Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me, that is the people
that were committed in the covenant promises into the hands of Christ,
that he would preserve them, that he would save them, that
he would deliver them, that he would go to the cross on their
behalf, carry their sins in his body on the tree, suffer and
die for them, and ultimately bring them back to his father
as the trophy and prize of his atonement. These people, that
they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou
lovest me before the foundation of the world. Now if God loves
me, The same way that he loved Christ, and he loved Christ from
eternity, then here we have this consistency, this unity of message
from both the Old Testament, I have loved you with an everlasting
love, and the New Testament. that thou hast loved me and them
in me from the foundation of the world. This is God's covenant
love for his people and that love will not be thwarted. In Luke chapter 12 verse 32 the
Lord Jesus Christ says to his people, to those who believe
in him, fear not little flock For it is your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. This is the effectual, everlasting
love of God to his people. He will deliver us, he will bring
us to himself. Right, I'm nearly finished now,
so I just want to mention a couple of things from this last few
verses in that passage from Malachi. I want to show you something
there with respect to the hatred that God speaks about. We've
spoken about the love which he has to his people in Christ who
are under these covenant purposes, but he also speaks about a hatred. And I hated Esau and laid his
mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Paul tells us in Romans chapter
9 that this love and this hatred are spoken of before these children
were born while they were still in their mother's womb. Now that
means that the love and the hatred of God can't be anything to do
with the works of the person. Okay, because these children
hadn't been born, they're both in the womb and yet Though Esau
was the firstborn and might have expected to have the birthright
and the promises, God said, no, this is my choice, nothing to
do with the choice of man, nothing to do with the will of man. It isn't of him that willeth
or him that doeth, but of God who showeth mercy. So here he
is saying, I hated Esau. And I have laid his mountains
and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Esau!
was not one who was under the covenant blessings of God. And consequently, we discover
that Esau had no desire after the things of God. And that's
what we see being replicated in the world today. There is
a people for whom the gospel will prove to be life unto life,
and there are a people for whom the gospel will prove to be death
unto death. It's a double-edged sword, Paul
says. So when this message goes out, there will be people who
will say, no, no, no, not for me, not interesting, not interesting. I'll live and die and I'll take
my chances. Esau was a fornicator and he
was a profane man. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
16 tells us that. Fornication is sins that are
committed against your own body. Profanity is sin that is committed
against God. The word profane comes from an
old Latin word. In the United Kingdom, about
2,000 years ago in the United Kingdom, the Romans came. and
they invaded our country and they brought their religion and
they built their temples and they called those temples FANUM's. F-A-N-U-M, FANUM. It's the same
place that we get the word Fan, if any of you are football fans
or baseball fans, it's the same place that we get the word. You
get excited. It's a place where you get excited. It's a place
where you get turned on and you start to shout. Well, that was
the fanon. That was the temple where the
worship was made to the Roman deities. The profanums were the
things that happened outside the temple. They didn't want
anything to do with the gods of the temple and from that we've
taken the word profane. So someone who's profane, someone
who utters profanities are speaking against God and that's what Esau
was. He was a fornicator. He damaged
his self by his lusts and he was a profane man. He cursed
God. He spoke against God. He mocked God. He worshipped
himself. He pursued his own desires. He would have nothing to do with
the claims of God. And that was the sin of Eden,
of Esau. The dragons of the wilderness
speak of danger and fear, speak of hopelessness, speak of the
terrors of this world. And I sometimes think, how can
it be that men and women go through their lives failing to have anything
to do with God, being profane? How do you face your own mortality shaking your fist in God's face.
How do you step into eternity given the promises of God in
this book? Well I can only imagine it's
because their eyes have been darkened, it's because their
spirits are benighted, because there is a darkness upon them. The dragons of the wilderness,
well we could speak about the animals we could speak about,
snakes we could speak about, whatever it is. But the point
is this, that there is so much danger out there, so much temptation,
so much wickedness. Oh, the blessedness of trusting
in Christ. Oh, the blessedness of being
under his care, being wrapped around by his everlasting arms,
to be under his yoke, which is not a burden. but it is that
which is the possession of those who come to him in faith and
trust upon the sufficiency of his work upon the cross. There is an evidence of judgment
here. There is an active throwing down by God of all that man builds
up. And that's true whether you're
talking personally or whether you're talking socially, communally,
nationally. Nations come and nations go. I spoke about the Romans a little
bit earlier. You say, who? Yeah, right, 2,000
years ago. This world power that everybody
looked at and thought, it'll last forever. Well, it didn't. And some wild Germanic tribes
up from Northern Europe did for them. Because that's the way
of man. They try to build up, they try
to build their own structures, they try to build their own heritage,
they try to build their own power base. And God comes down and
he just blows it away. He just breathes upon it. And the power of God is manifested
in this. Look at verse five, and with
this I'm finished. Your eyes shall see and ye shall see the
Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel. That speaks
about conversion. It starts off in verse two. The Lord says, I have loved you
to Israel. And Israel said, how have you
loved us? When have you loved us? And the
Lord says, you'll see, you'll see. Your eyes shall see and
ye shall see the Lord will be magnified from the border of
Israel. the border of that spiritual
people, the border of the confines of that people that are the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the covenant people, the people of
promise, the people of his love, they will see. And that's the
wonderful thing about the gospel. When the gospel is preached,
men and women who are strangers to God, who have been hitherto
fornicators and profane, men and women, yet they will find
that the Lord's love extends to them also. And in the gospel
as it is preached, to men and women who hear, who have that
word applied to their souls, who have their eyes opened to
see the Lord Jesus Christ, they are granted the gift of faith. By grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, given,
granted, applied, bestowed by God the Holy Spirit into the
hearts and lives of one here and one there who are the recipients
of the love of God. who are the beneficiaries of
the promises of the covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
messenger of the covenant. He is the one who brings every
blessing of that covenant to his people. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the one of whom Malachi the messenger spoke. May we hear
that message tonight. As we think about these things
in the weeks that lie ahead, may the Lord be pleased to open
our eyes and our understanding that we may see from the borders
of Israel, that the Lord is to be magnified. Amen.