While studying the book of Malachi
this week, preparing this message, I believe the Lord gave me a
hymn, sums up the message of Malachi quite well. You sons
of Jacob, chosen race, our God's the God of sovereign grace. He
will perfect what he designed. Our God can never change his
mind. Though rocks dissolve and hills
remove and shaken are the skies above, though oft in Satan's
snares we're caught, our God's the same. He changes not. And though his saints unfaithful
prove, he loves us with an everlasting love. Our comforts often ebbs
and flow, but God no variation knows. This sacred truth, our
hearts shall cheer till all things temporal disappear. And in the
new creation's planes, we praise our God who cannot change. For I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not to consume. Turn with me to the book of Malachi
and just hold your Bible open on your lap while we look at
these four chapters together this evening. Haggai and Zechariah and Malachi
were prophets of the same era essentially. Haggai and Zechariah
were sent of God to preach to his people, to minister to them
while Jerusalem and the temple were being rebuilt after the
years of Babylonian captivity. Malachi, however, was sent as
God's messenger to his people after the worship of God had
been reestablished in Jerusalem. The temple was completed. The
sacrifices were again performed on schedule. The priesthood reestablished. The worship of God in all outward
appearance, at least, was reestablished in Jerusalem. And Malachi comes
on the scene, sent of God with his message. And as we go through
these four chapters, you'll see that Malachi is a prophecy of
two things, judgment deserved and grace sure. What a blessed
word. It is a prophecy of judgment
fully deserved. but of grace, sure and absolute. The prophecy of Malachi opens
with the children of Israel practicing religion as most people do most
of the time, half-hearted, just half-hearted. Most of those
who profess to know the Lord seem to have no knowledge of
him at all, though there was a remnant among the people who
truly worshiped him. As is always the case, wherever
you find the true, you find the false. If the Lord Jesus sows
the seed of his wheat in the field, you can be sure Satan
will sow tares in the same field. Whoever the Lord Jesus gathers
his sheep, you can be certain Satan will plant his goats. Wherever there is real gold,
there's always fool's gold. And that's the way it is in our
day. That's the way it was in Malachi's
day. And that's the way it shall be
until time shall be no more. Wherever there is true faith,
there is an imitation of faith. Wherever there is true worship,
there is an imitation of worship. Wherever there is a true altar
of God, there is the imitation of God's altar. Malachi was sent
in just such a time as this. Sent of God with God's message. In fact, his name means my messenger. We don't know anything else about
him. That's all. His name Malachi. My messenger. He was a man sent of God to God's
people at a time when he was needed, at a time God had prepared
for him, at a time God had prepared him to meet. He sent him to God,
God sent him to his people as his messenger. Oh, what an honor
for any man. God, make me your messenger. Pray for your pastor, will you?
As I seek to minister to your souls, that I may, every time
I stand before you, stand before you as God's messenger. If not, God give me grace to
quit pretending. God's messenger. Now, this prophecy
of Malachi is very unique for two or three reasons. Obviously,
first, this is the conclusion of the Old Testament scriptures.
This is God's last word to his people for 400 years. I wonder if Malachi knew that's
the way it was going to be. He's the last messenger from
God. by which God spoke from heaven to his people in his word
for 400 years. The next prophet to arise on
the scene is Elijah, John the Baptist, who comes crying, prepare
ye the way of the Lord. Malachi closed with a declaration
of repentance. That was the last word God gave
to Israel. And when John the Baptist came,
the first word of the new era was exactly the same, a message
of repentance. Malachi declared that the people,
the people whom God had chosen fully deserved his judgment but
promised his mercy. And John the Baptist came declaring
to a people who deserved his judgment, mercy sure in Christ
the Redeemer. The second thing that makes Malachi's
prophecy unique is that it was a message given in dialogue.
Now, I have to say something about this, because in recent
years, among some fools, what people call dialogue preaching
has become popular. Dialogue preaching, that's kind
of, it's just in case there was a possibility that something
we said might have offended. This takes all possibility out.
Two preachers stand, one here, one here. And one of them would
take one position on a text and the other one, another position
on a text and then talk back and forth and debate it and you
could decide which one had the best light on it. That's good
dialogue preaching. That's not the kind of dialogue
preaching Malachi did. Malachi raises questions and
gives answers. It's a dialogue, but the dialogue
is all on God's part. God inspires his servant to raise
the question, and then he gives the answer that the people would
give if they were honest, if they really spoke what they thought. He speaks as God's messenger,
and then he pronounces God's judgment concerning what those
people thought and what they said. He spoke directly as God's
messenger to men. He simply presents the message
in powerful, authoritative language. This man Malachi comes to speak,
not to please men, but to help them. Not for men, but for God
to men. Not as one who is hired by men
and depends upon them, but as one who is sent by God to men
with a message they must hear. And then third, this unique quality
is given in Malachi's prophecy, and that is that it is almost
entirely written as God speaking in the first person. Throughout
this book, almost every verse in it, God Himself is speaking. It is not Malachi speaking for
God, it is God Himself speaking. And speaking in such a way as
we do not see in other prophecies. Malachi simply is relating the
very Word of God, and don't misunderstand me, All the scripture is given
by inspiration and is the very word of God. But as Malachi presents
his message, he presents it in just this manner to the people
as the very word of God. His prophecy begins with a declaration
of God's distinguishing love, mercy and grace to his people. Look at chapter one. The burden of the word of the
Lord to Israel. What a way to begin a message. The burden of the word of the
Lord to Israel. I have people and preachers often
ask me if preaching gets easier as you get older. not have as much pressure, not
as tense, not as nervous. No, it gets worse. It gets worse. For one who recognizes that he
must stand to speak in God's stead to his people, to eternity
bound men and women, to speak a word that will be of eternal
consequence. I wouldn't have it any other
way, but if God speaks through these lips, what I've got to
say is of eternal consequence. That's called the burden. The
heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy weight of the word of the Lord. Sometimes I'll hear folks say
to me, you'd be amazed. I'll bet my tongue be six feet
long if I didn't bite it all the time. And I know y'all don't
think I bite it much. Fellows will say to me, you take
yourself too seriously. I bite my tongue. No, there's
nothing to me. There's nothing to me. But there
is dead sure something to what I'm doing. And don't you tell
me any jokes about it and expect me to laugh at them. I'm not
going to. You can joke about me or my mama. Don't joke about
this. This is called the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel
by my messenger. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet you say, what's so special
about that? Wherein hast thou loved us? God
says, I've loved you. And you say, wherein hast thou
loved us? And the Lord answers, was not
Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I love Jacob and hated
Esau. What on earth does that mean?
What does that mean, hated Esau? I loved Jacob, and I loved Esau
a little bit. I loved Esau, but I loved him a little less than
I did Jacob. That's not what it means. The word is, I hated
Esau. Hated Esau. We read this morning
in Luke chapter 14, our Lord demands that if you follow him,
you hate your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, yea,
and your own life also. What's he talking about? Is he
suggesting that we turn and do something evil to father, mother,
brother, sister, that we take our lives by suicide? No. What
he's saying is, if you follow me, you give no consideration
to anything or anyone else, not even your own life. Not if you
follow me. Not if you follow me. I hear preachers talking about
serving God, and they're going to do this after. I've got to
take care of this, and then I'm going to go. I'm gonna take care
of this, I'm gonna go. No, you're not gonna serve God
on your terms. It ain't gonna happen. You may pretend, but
you're not gonna serve God on your terms. I don't care who
you are. It's not gonna happen. Our Lord said, I love Jacob. Loved him. That means I'd do
everything for him. I'd do everything for Jacob.
Everything for him. You love somebody, you don't
have to tell him you'd do everything for him, you'd do everything
for him. You just love him. If you, oh, well, I hadn't, Joe
who? I hadn't thought about him in
50 years. What's that mean? I hated him.
Hadn't thought about him. Didn't give any consideration
to him. Never thought about doing anything for him. I ignored him. I've loved Jacob. I hated Esau. Read on. And his mountains and
his heritage. Waste I laid his mountains in
his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. I took that
which belonged to Esau and I made it a desolation. Whereas Edom
Esau 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 you shall say. The Lord will
be magnified from the border of Israel. Oh, what an opening
for this prophecy. Malachi says the Lord loved you.
And though you, you don't recognize his love and though you don't
understand the distinguishing character of his love, though
you think his love is nothing special, you're so indifferent,
so cold toward him. God says to Jacob, his chosen,
I loved you. And when I get done. You're going
to understand that the reason Esau is desolate and empty and
barren and Edom's borders are the inheritance of wrath and
your borders are the inheritance of mercy. It's because I loved
you and I hated Esau. God's love is special, distinct,
distinguishing love. He loves his elect. Everything
he does, he does for Jacob. That's exactly the meaning that
God, the Holy Spirit, gives to this statement in Romans chapter
9, as we read it this morning. Is that what we read? He said,
now, just in case you don't understand this, Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated. That means I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom I'll have
compassion. That means I'm going to make you my people who were
not my people. That means I'm going to call
you beloved who were not beloved. That means I will save my people
exactly as I purposed according to my will. The Lord hath appeared
of old unto me, and this is what he said, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. What does this mean? Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. It means that it is God and God
alone who makes you to differ from the reprobate. It is God
and God alone who makes you to differ from your neighbor. It
is God and God alone who makes you to differ from another. It
is altogether His work. This prophecy of Malachi was
given shortly after the time of Nehemiah. You read the book
of Nehemiah and you get the setting in which Malachi ministered.
And there is a description given here of the corruption that had
taken place in Israel. God's altar was despised. Men worshiped him half-heartedly.
Look at verse 6. A son honoreth his father, and
a servant his master. If I then be a father, where
is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is
my fear, saith the Lord of hosts unto you? Oh, priest. Priest. These sons of Levi, these
are the men responsible to constantly maintain the worship of God.
These are the men by God's law responsible to constantly take
care of the house of God. These are the men responsible
to continually give out the Word of God. He says, O you priest
that despise my name. Despise my name? The word means
to hold in contempt. And you say, wherein have we
despised thy name? Here it is. You offer polluted
bread on my altar. You're supposed to take that
table of showbread and keep fresh cakes of leaven on it all the
time. And you bring polluted bread. And you say, where have we polluted
thee? What does God care whether the bread is moldy or not? And that you say the table of
the Lord is contemptible. And if you offer the blind for
sacrifice, you take a lamb out of flock and get one blind, take
an ox and get one blind. Is it not evil? And if he offers
the lame and the sick, is that not evil? Oh, we've given the
Lord with sacrifice to the Lord. What was lame? What was sick?
What was about ready to die? What you couldn't sell in the
marketplace. Offer it now to thy governor. Take it to your
governor. See if he'll have it. Will he
be pleased with thee or accept thy person, saith the Lord of
hosts? Not only was God's altar despised,
his worship performed with half-heartedness, and that's a compliment, but
the children of Israel had embraced idolatry. Now, this is hard to
grasp. These people who had God's oracles,
God's law, God's order given them, embraced the worship of
idols. They did not, they did not say
we will not worship Jehovah. They did not deny that Jehovah
is God, but rather they embraced with the worship of God, the
worship of idols. Look at chapter 2 verse 10. Have we not all one father? Hath
not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously
every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of
our fathers? Judah hath dealt treacherously,
and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For
Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved. What is that? Judah profaned
the Lord's holiness? How does a man profane God's
holiness? Is a man going to make God corrupt?
No, no, no, no, no, no. Judah has profaned the sanctification,
the hallowedness, the holiness, the singularity of the Lord has
profaned him in denying that he alone is God, not denying
that he's God, denying that he alone is God. and hath married
the daughter of a strange God. The Lord will cut off the man
that doeth this, the master and the scholar out of the tabernacles
of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of
hosts. And this have ye done again, covering the altar of
the Lord with tears, with weeping, with crying out, insomuch that
he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with
goodwill at your hands. Yet you say, wherefore, because
the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth
against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, yet is she thy
companion, and the wife of thy covenant, and did not he make
one, yet had the residue of the spirit, and wherefore one? that he might seek a godly seed. Therefore, take heed to your
spirit and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting
away. You adulterers and adulteresses,
you have abandoned your wife and you've abandoned your solemn
covenant, your covenant of marriage made with God. Made with God. I made a covenant 40 years ago
with that lady right there. I promised before 500 witnesses
that I'd love her and cherish her and provide for her and care
for her until death do us part. But it was a covenant made with
somebody far more important than her. The covenant made with God. Covenant made with God. And the
Lord says, now you folks take that lightly. But I married you, and I ain't gonna put you away.
I'm not gonna put you away, no matter what. Oh, great goodness of our God. I hate putting away. And then
these people robbed God. Verse 8, chapter 3. Will a man
rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you
say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings? Ye are
cursed with a curse. For ye have robbed me, even this
whole nation. Bring ye in all the tithes into
the storehouse. that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts. If I
will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
The Levites were a people set aside by God, a tribe especially
ordained by God, set aside by God, given no heritage with the
children of Israel, no plot in the land of Canaan, because these
people were to live continually upon the things of God. They
were supplied and supported by the sacrifices and the offerings
and the tithes of the people. But in these days, the Levites,
the priests, chose in their preference to forsake the Word of God, and
the worship of God, and the things of God, and rather than living
upon the bounty of God's people, they went out and worked in the
fields. They went out and built houses for themselves. They went
out and secured their own livelihood. Well, boy, that's a good thing
to do. Oh, no. Oh, no. No. No, no. One of the great reasons why
those who preach the gospel are to live of the gospel, one of
the great reasons why gospel preachers are to be supported
in their livelihood by the generosity of God's people, why they and
their families will be taken care of is so that the word of
God and the preaching of the gospel be not neglected. when those who are responsible
to preach the gospel, responsible for guiding you in the word of
God, responsible for giving you direction from God day by day,
responsible for maintaining the worship of God in their generation,
when they neglect prayer and study, those who are robbed are God
and His people. God and His people. It was not
at this time in these deplorable circumstances that men looked
at and said, well, now, this is where things are. No, they
looked at the temple and they said, now, we've got it rebuilt,
and Jerusalem's rebuilt, Man, everything going great. Everything
going great. But they didn't have any idea how bad things
were. They contented themselves with
a form of godliness, denying the power thereof. And God sent
his messenger, a prophet. Not a socializing, tea-sipping
preacher. Not a community organizing preacher. A prophet. And I'll tell you
exactly what everybody thought about Malachi. I'll tell you
what everybody in town thought. Who does this old man think he
is? He doesn't get along with anybody.
He won't have anything to do with any of the other preachers.
He even rebukes the priest. Who does he think he is? He's
out of step. He's old-fashioned. He's a troublemaker. How are
we going to get rid of this man? Well, I'm afraid you're stuck
with him. He's called God's messenger. God's messenger. Malachi is God's
faithful servant. And you can't threaten him into
silence. or bribe him into silence. It's not going to happen. God's
messenger sticks his finger directly on the sore spot in his day. Wherever it is, I keep probing. Wherever I go, I keep probing.
I want to find the sore spot. And I'll tell you what I do when
I find the sore spot. I press and press and press and press
hard. Why? because you must know your
rebellion and your sin and your ungodliness. You must know that
which is done that dishonors God Almighty and dishonors his
gospel and dishonors his worship and you must be recovered. Now
Malachi gives his message by raising seven questions. Seven
questions about the condition of these people about which they
were just totally ignorant. They were just kind of sailing
along. They would do just fine until
Malachi messed things up. He says in chapter one, verse
two, wherein has thou loved us? And with those words in this
first chapter, Malachi identifies an insolent irreverence for God. an insolent indifference toward
God. Oh, wherein hast thou loved us? And the Lord replies. I often say jokingly, sort of
half jokingly, you can be glad I'm not God, or you can be dead
glad I'm not God. These thousands of years, God
has done nothing but good for Jacob. Nothing but good. What's so special about God's
love? What's He done so special for me? How is His love distinct
for me? And this whole religious age
in which we live, go call one of them. Call any preacher in
town and ask them, does God love His people or does He love everybody? Just ask them. Pick up the phone
and call them. Well now, you know God loves
everybody. Wherein hast thou loved us? I
love Jacob. Hated Esau. That just doesn't sound like
universal love to me, does it? That doesn't sound to me like
universal benevolence. That doesn't sound to me like God wants to
do something good for everybody. No, no. God loves Jacob. God loves Jacob. And in the midst
of this horrid indifference, in the midst of their horrible
irreverence, the Lord God says to his people, I have changed
my mind. You steal the objects of my love.
Oh, what a lover God is. What a great lover God is to
our worthless souls. Verse six, chapter one. Wherein have we despised thy
name? The Lord reminded Israel that
a son honors his father and servants honor their masters, but they
had no fear of him in their hearts. Oh, is this true of you, of me? God make us honors. We profess that we belong to
Christ, that we believe God, where is his honor? As I read
these verses in Malachi 1, I blush with shame. How often I honor
my God, that which is polluted and lame and sick and worthless. and with it pollute God's altar. Wherein have we polluted thee?
Verse 7. They offered animals that were
useless. Whenever you drive down the roads and
you're out in the country especially, and you see a church building
sitting somewhere that looks awfully strange. And you say,
why on earth would anybody put a church building there? I know
the answer. I'll guarantee you how that church
building got to be there. Some fellow was in the church
and wanted to be remembered. And he had a piece of ground
he couldn't raise corn on. and he couldn't raise cattle
low, and it's hard to get to. He couldn't do anything, but
he said, I'll give that to the church. We can build a church
building down there. I guarantee you. I used to preach
a place in West Virginia in down below Hinton and the church building. I ain't lying to you. The church
building was sitting on the river and the railroad ran right around
here. I mean, it was soppy, wet all
the time. And the railroad ran right behind
that thing. And as they came around, headed toward a bridge
or a road crossing somewhere up there, as they came around
the back of the pulpit, I'm talking 15, 20 feet behind the pulpit,
man, they'd let down on that whistle. And you just have to
stand there and wait. You stand and wait. Wonder how
they got that piece of property. You got it. took something worthless
and gave it to God. But before we get too scathing,
how often, my God, how often I give you the poorest of my
time and offer to that you that for which I have no other use. To do so, James, is to pollute
God's altar. It's exactly right. God, give me grace ever to give
you the best of my time, the best of my labor, and the best
of my gifts. Nothing else. Nothing else. I pray you, beseech God that
he may be gracious to us. In chapter two, Malachi reproves
these people for embracing idolatry. Verse 17, you have wearied the Lord with
your words. You say, wherein have we wearied
thee? When you say, everyone that doeth
evil is good in the sight of God. He that delighteth in them,
or where is the God of judgment? these priests led the people
to depart from God and to be married to idols. Now take the
word in its context. You say concerning those who
do evil, who are they? Those who worship Baal, Ashtaroth,
or their will, or their works, or themselves, those who mingle
the worship of God Almighty with the worship of other gods, those
who mix works and grace, those who mix the will of man and the
will of God. You call them good. You say God's
father of us all. And God says it's just not so.
Just not so. You profaned the holiness of
the Lord. Remember, Malachi is God's prophet. He doesn't speak in vague terms
that men could interpret just any way they wanted to. He says,
you have profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved and
hath married the daughter of a strange God. You remember how
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, I am jealous over you
with a godly jealousy. I'm fearful lest any should come,
any of Satan's messengers should come and rob you from the simplicity
that is in Christ Jesus. Oh, you profane God's holiness,
the simplicity, the singularity of Christ Jesus. We worship one
God. one Savior who has one doctrine,
one way of grace, one way of life, one way of salvation, and
He is everything. Any mixture is to marry the daughter
of idols. Verse 17, the faithful prophet
declares that the religion of these people is nothing but lip
service. That's a weariness to God. And then we get to chapter three. And the prophet points us to
our unchanging, faithful God and Savior. Oh. He tells us in verse one that
Christ, the messenger of the covenant, is going to come. That
one in whom God delights, he shall come. And when he comes,
He's going to set as a refiner and purifier, verses 2 and 3.
He's going to set over you as a refiner of silver and a purifier
of gold. Oh, he'll put you in the furnace,
but he's going to refine you. And the reason he's going to
do this, verse 3, is that you may offer to the Lord and offering
in righteousness. Then in verse four, he tells
us that our sacrifices in Christ will be acceptable and pleasant
to our God because of him who is our substitute, as in former
years. He said, you're going to be accepted
of me just like your daddy Abraham was when he awoke and drove away
the vultures from the sacrifices. And then in verse six, the Lord God It says, I don't
change. You put away the wife of your
youth for whatever reason you take a notion. And you've gone a whoring after
other gods. And you profane my holiness.
And you profane my name. And you profane my worship. But
I hate putting away. I'm not going to cast you off. Find the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Then in verse 7, chapter 3, even
from the days of your fathers, you've gone away from mine ordinances
and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return
unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But you said, wherein shall we
return? They didn't even know they'd
strayed. They thought they were doing God's service. And they
raised another question, where in have we robbed thee, verse
8? The Lord asked, will the man
rob God? And it's almost as though they've responded, why, that's
preposterous to think we've robbed God. Then in verse 13, he raises
the seventh question. What have we spoken so much against
thee? We come and worship you, and
we sing your praise, and we come rushing into your house. I know
we've got You've got to understand. Oh, we've got other things to
do besides worship you and all the way we grabbed us up a goat
out of the field It was you know, it's obviously couldn't get out
in the field very far as lame and laid down there sick We probably
had to kill it when we got home. But but we brought that thing.
We sacrificed it to you Don't tell us we've come profane your
name. We're here every day We're in if we profane your name And
then in verse 16 chapter 3 The Lord speaks of a faithful remnant,
a little remnant that feared God. They spoke often one to
another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And the book of
remembrance was written before him for them that feared the
Lord and that thought upon his name. Then Malachi leaps through
the centuries to the time of our Lord's second coming. And
he says in verse 17, and they, this remnant, these whose names
are written in the book of my remembrance, these who are truly
mine, these that I've chosen and will not abandon, they shall be mine, saith the
Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will
spare them. Oh, bless your name, my God,
for sparing this worthless sinner for Christ's sake. And then in
chapter four, he says Christ is going to come. The message
of the covenant, he's going to arise as the son, the son of
righteousness. This is how he will gather my
jewels. This is how he will gather those who are mine unto me. the
son of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings. Oh, son of righteousness, arise
upon our souls this night with healing in your wings to heal
our backsliding, our indifference, our coldness, inspire our hearts
with worship and praise and adoration and commitment to God our Savior. Amen.