Now we're going to look at Malachi
chapter 3 again. Life Sunday evening, I did not treat this
third chapter with the care and time that it deserves. And several of you, several,
said to me, after the service, why don't you go back and move
a little more slowly through those verses in Malachi 3, 1
through 6. So that's what we should do,
and that's what we will do tonight. In verse 1, in answer to the question asked
in the last part of verse 17. It says, where is the God of
judgment? Well, God speaks, the Lord God
speaks, Jehovah God. And he says, behold, I will send
my messenger. I will send my messenger and
he shall prepare the way before me. These are the words of our
Lord. in answer to the last question,
where is the God of judgment? And he says that he will come,
he will appear, but first, prior to his coming, I will send my
messenger, his forerunner, not a messenger of death, not a messenger
of vengeance, not a messenger of judgment, but a proclaimer
of good news. That's the reason I read that
Isaiah 53, how beautiful. Upon the mountain are the feet of those who bring
good news from a far country, from heaven. This is the good
news. My messenger will come first,
and if you'll turn to Isaiah 40, Isaiah talks about this messenger,
John the Baptist. He's a messenger of comfort.
He's a messenger of good tidings, good news. In Isaiah 40, verse
1, the Lord says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your
God. Speak ye to the heart comfortably
to Jerusalem and cry unto her, her warfare is accomplished,
her iniquities pardoned. She hath received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. This is the voice of him that
crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
straight in the desert a highway for our God. And every valley
shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and
the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh shall
see it together, the mouth of the Lord, the Lord hath spoken
it, I'll send my messenger." And then there's another passage
I want you to look at in connection with that statement, Matthew
11. Behold, I'll send my messenger to prepare the way before me,
my forerunner. Verse 9, our Master, our Lord
Jesus, is speaking here, verse 9, Matthew 11. What went ye out
to see? He's talking about these people
that went out to hear John the Baptist. What went ye out to
see? A prophet? Oh, I say to you,
more than just a prophet. He's my prophet. For this is
he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy
face. which shall prepare thy way before
thee." See, the Master is quoting exactly what I read from Malachi
a moment ago. Lord Jesus, read on. Verily I say unto you, among
them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist, notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom
of heaven greater than he. That's the reason I try to stress
and stress again and again. There are no degrees of glory.
We're sons of God. We're robed in the righteousness
of Christ. Christ is our reward. There's
no high and low. We're all God's children. It's like the children in your
home. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom
of heaven suffered violence. And the violent, those that are
active and seek first the kingdom of God, they take it energetically,
by force, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until
John. And if you receive it, this is Christ speaking. Now
listen to it. This is Elias, which was far to come. John the
Baptist is Elias. Now turn to Malachi again. Malachi. And move over to chapter
4. And the last two verses of the
book of Malachi, the last two verses in the book of Malachi,
which is the last two verses in the Old Testament. The last
two verses in the Old Testament. And 400 years from then till
Christ came. God didn't speak. by written
words, by the West recorded. Behold, verse 5, chapter 4, Behold,
I'll send you Elijah, the prophet, before the great, the coming
of the great dreadful day of the Lord. And he'll turn the heart of the
fathers to the children the children of their fathers, lest I come
and smite the earth with a curse." And that's the reason they asked
John the Baptist, are you Elijah? Because they knew that's the
last thing Malachi said at the end of his book, before that
great terrible day of the Lord, Elijah will come. And our Lord,
in Matthew 11, that I just read to you, told us the Scripture
fulfilled, John the Baptist is that Elijah. You know what he
said? You remember Matthew 11, verse 14? If you'll receive it,
he said, this is Elijah, which was far to come, which Malachi
talked about. So, back to my text now. Behold, I'll send my messenger,
John the Baptist. He will prepare the way before
me, my forerunner. Three things. three reasons why
John came. Number one, he came that the
scriptures might be fulfilled. What we're reading tonight was
fulfilled when John the Baptist came. I read from Isaiah 40,
I read from Malachi 3, Malachi 4, I read the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and when John the Baptist came, he came fulfilling
the scriptures. I'll send my messenger. Everything
our God does in the New Testament, he prophesied and promised in
the Old Testament. It's fulfilled in the New. John
the Baptist came that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Secondly,
John the Baptist came as a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what Brother Chuck read for us a moment ago in John chapter
1. Would you look back at it? Let
me refresh your memory a little bit. John chapter 1, he came
as a witness. While you're finding that, our
Lord named four witnesses the Father gave of who he is, who
Christ is. Number one, he said, John, that's
the first one he mentioned, John came, he bore witness of me.
The Father spoke from heaven, he bore witness of me. The works
that I do, which no other man has ever done or can do, they
bear witness of me, and the scriptures, they bear witness of me. Now
look at John 1, verse 6. That's what Brother Chuck read.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same
came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, capital L-I-G-H-T. That's a person. That all men
through him might believe. John was not that light. He was
sent to bear witness of that light. He was sent to what? Bear witness of that light. And
that was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world. And John the Baptist pointed to the Lord Jesus
and said, there's the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. I saw and bear witness, he said.
This is the Son of God. Now, he came to fulfill the Scripture. John came to fulfill Scripture.
John came to bear witness of that light, and thirdly, John
came to minister the ordinance of baptism. Now let's go to Mark,
chapter 1. Baptism. John came. He came baptizing. But he said, there's one standing
among you whom you know not. He baptizes with fire to the
Holy Ghost. But I do baptize. Our Lord asked
the Pharisees one time, said, John's baptism. John's baptism,
was it from heaven or earth? And they stood there and thought
a minute. They thought, now, he's got us. If we say his baptism
is from heaven, he's going to say, why weren't you baptized? If we say it's from earth, these
people are going to jump on us, because they know John the Baptist
is not of earth. God sent him. So they said, we
don't know. But I know, John's baptism from
heaven, God gave it to him. Now watch Mark 1, verse 3. The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make his path straight.
John did baptize in the wilderness, and John preached the baptism
of repentance. On two, now that word far. And
translated, that's all right, that's far, but unto is a slightly
better word. We're not baptized in order to
be forgiven. We're baptized because we've
been forgiven. That's baptism of repentance
unto the remission of sins. Now you'll see that in a moment.
All right. So John's baptism is called here
the baptism of repentance. Now listen to me. Why? Because John required baptism,
I mean, he required repentance before baptism. John's baptism was called the
baptism unto repentance, or baptism of repentance, because, number
one, he required repentance and faith before baptism. You say,
where'd faith come in? You can't have repentance without
faith. Repentance and faith are like
a sheet of paper. You've got to have two sides.
You don't turn from your idols unless you turn to God. And you
can't turn to God unless you turn from your idols. So those
people who repented and were baptized of John believed his
message that the Messiah was coming. That's why they were
baptized. John required baptism. He required
repentance and faith before baptism. And he required baptism as an
open declaration of repentance and faith. It's a declaration. John preached this. He preached
the Messiah's coming, prepare you the way of the Lord. He's
coming to redeem a people. And that men should repent of
their sins and believe his message of the Christ who's coming. And
upon that repentance and that faith, They should be baptized,
declaring publicly the free and full forgiveness of their sins
by the death, burial, and resurrection of that Messiah. John's baptism
is the baptism of repentance. It's a declaration. He required
repentance before baptism. So that's the three reasons why
John the Baptist came. He came, number one, to fulfill
Scripture. He came, number two, to bear
witness of Christ Jesus. He came, number three, to declare
baptism, that it's a declaration of something that has taken place,
something that has taken place, repentance, repent and be baptized,
repent and be baptized. You know, it says over here,
and I can't exactly remember where to find it, but I'll try
to quote it. The people came to the baptism of John. They
heard him preach and believed his message. And they knew they
were sinners and they had sinned against God. And they repented
and trusted and depended upon his promise that Christ was coming.
And they were baptized of John. And then the Lord said the Pharisees
would not come to the baptism of John because they the counsel
of God against them. They refused John's message.
What was John's message? Christ. They refused John's message
and would not submit to the baptism of John. See, they refused his
message. They refused the message of Christ. He's got the same
thing. I'm preaching Christ. He preached Christ will come.
I preach Christ has come. And that's why God sent him,
those three reasons. All right, let's go back to my
text now. Behold, I'll send my messenger, and I'll try to tell
you why, and he'll prepare the way before me. And the Lord himself,
Jehovah, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple. He shall suddenly come to his
temple. We read about that in two places.
I think I'll skip Hagia. It'll take me too long. Let's
go to Luke 2 and look at this scripture that Brother Bob read
on Sunday evening. Luke 2. You come to the temple. You know, the Temple of Solomon,
Bill, it was beautiful. It was just so absolutely magnificent
and majestic and beautiful. It was torn down and they rebuilt
it, they rebuilt the temple. And the Lord prophesied through
Haggai that the glory of this new temple would far exceed the
glory of Solomon's temple. And why? Because the Lord himself
is coming to this temple. The Lord was in the other one
in type and picture. The Lord was in the other tabernacle
in the Shekinah glory between the cherubims over the mercy
seat with a pillar of smoke and a cloud and all the tights. But this temple to which our
Lord Jesus Christ came in person, this is what he said. He said,
I'm going to shake all nations and the desire of all nations
will come. And I'll fill this house with glory," saith the
Lord. Oh, the glory that came in that temple. The silver is
mine, the gold is mine, saith the Lord, and the glory of this
latter house shall be greater than that of the former, saith
the Lord. In this place I'll send peace. Now go to Luke 2,
where you are now. And this baby, this root out
of dry ground, this tender plant in the arms of that mother, was
brought to that temple, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the messenger
of the covenant himself, came to the temple. That's some day. They didn't know it. Nobody knew
anything about it. But there's one fellow there
that did. A two, that Anna. But Simeon, here's in verse 25,
and behold, Luke 2, 25, there was a man in Jerusalem whose
name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, waiting for the messenger
of the covenant, waiting for the desire of all nations, waiting
for the priest like Melchizedek. And the Holy Ghost was upon him,
and God, verse 26, revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit that he
would not see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ, seen
him in person, with his eyes looked upon the Lord's Christ. He came by the Spirit of God
into that temple that day. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
you see they had a lot of laws about the baby had to be circumcised
when he was eight days old and then named him Jesus. And then
the mother, when, uh, after she'd given birth, she had to bring
turtledoves or a lamb or a sacrifice. And then when he's so old, they
bring another one. It's just these laws. Christ
fulfilled every law. And Simeon took him up in his
arms, and blessed God, and said, Now, Lord, Lord, now lettest
thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, mine eyes
have seen thy salvation." That's the full film of this
scripture, right? Behold, I send my message, and he'll prepare
the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly,
unannounced, unsought, unrecognized by that whole outfit, came to the temple. The messenger of the covenant.
See that word there, the messenger of the covenant? John's the messenger
of the messenger of the covenant. He's the messenger of the covenant.
Let me just give you a few things about this messenger of the covenant.
He's called in one place in the word the prince of the covenant.
But this is the covenant everlasting, not of works, but of grace. This
is a covenant of which he's the author. He's not only the messenger,
he's the author and the finisher of our faith. David said, the
Lord made with me a covenant. So this is his covenant. He's
the messenger of the covenant everlasting, the covenant of
grace, his covenant. Secondly, it's the covenant of
grace of which he's the surety. He's the guarantor. Christ is
the surety of a better covenant. He's the mediator. One God, one
mediator between God and men. Don't say that. in the way that a lot of people
do. There's one God, one Mediator between God and man. He's not
a Mediator between God and man. He's a Mediator between God and
men, men out of mankind, God and men. He's not everybody's
Mediator. He's a Mediator of this covenant. He's a Mediator
of those who end that covenant. He's the share to the covenant.
He's the Mediator of the covenant, and he's the shepherd. the shepherd
of the sheep of the blood of the everlasting covenant. And
not only that, but he's the prophet of the covenant, he came to announce
it. He said in Nazareth, the spirit
of God is upon me, he hath anointed me to preach this gospel to the
poor. He's our prophet. He's the priest
of that covenant. Let me read you something over
here in the book of Hebrews, chapter 7. He's the priest of
that covenant. has to have a priest with a better
sacrifice than these earthly priests. He says in Hebrews 7,
verse 25, verse 22 says, Jesus was made a surety of a better
covenant. And they truly were many priests,
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able to save
to the uttermost them that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. For such a high priest
became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
made higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those
high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then
for his people. This he did once. when he offered up himself. And he is the king of that covenant. The everlasting covenant is the
covenant of grace, of which he is the surety, the mediator,
and the shepherd, of which he is the prophet to proclaim it,
the priest to effect it, and the king to apply it. John 5, verse 21. The Father
raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth
whom he will. He's the King, he's the messenger
of the covenant. All right, let's go back to our
text. I have another question about verse 1. To whom is the
promise made, and to whom is the messenger of the covenant
sin. Let's read it and see if we can
find out. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he will prepare
the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek shall
suddenly come to his temple. The Lord whom you seek, the messenger of the covenant
in whom you delight. That's the one who's coming,
the one whom you seek and in whom you delight. So all of Israel was not looking
for the messenger of the covenant and the Redeemer, but some were,
some were. In Acts 2, verse 39, Peter tells
us for whom this promise is and for whom this prophecy was accomplished.
He said in Acts 2.39, the promise is to you and your children,
and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call. Samuel was looking for it. Adam was looking for it. Abraham
was looking for it. Moses wrote of it. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is the promise of the Father. to those who look for
him, to those who delight in him. Behold, he shall come. All right, let's look at verse
2. But who may abide the day of his coming? What does that
word abide mean? Well, it means receive, rejoice. Who's going to receive him when
he comes? Who's going to rejoice? Another word, though, that that
word abide means is comprehend. Who's going to comprehend who
he is? Who's going to comprehend, who's
going to understand why he came? Why he died such an ignominious
death? John chapter 1 that you read
a moment ago, let's look at it again. It tells us who shall
abide. his coming, and who shall comprehend
and understand his coming." Let's read it in John 1, verse 10 again. But he was in the world, and
the world was made by him, and they didn't know him. They didn't
comprehend who he is. He said to the disciples, whom
do they say that I, the son of man am. Notice how he asked Whom
do men say that I the Son of Man am? Or they say you're one
of the prophets, or John the Baptist, or Elijah. Whom do you
say that, he didn't say that I the Son of Man am. He said
whom do you say that I am. He says whom do men say that
I the Son of Man, the Son of Mary. the carpenter, whom they
say I am, and whom do you say that I am? They said you're the
Christ, the Son of the Living God. Well the world didn't abide,
understand, comprehend, and let's look at the next verse. And it
came and goes on, the Jews, the Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees,
lawyers, they received him not, they didn't abide his coming,
they didn't comprehend or understand who this man is. But, as many as received him, to them
gave he the privilege, the power, the understanding, the right
to become the sons of God. Even to those that believe on
his name. Now here's another clue, listen. Which were born? Well, everybody's born, no? Not
of blood, I'm talking about. Not of human conception. Not of natural genealogy. These
people were born not of the flesh, not of blood, nor the will of
the flesh, or the will of any group of men, or the will of man. These people
were born of God. I'll answer the question, who
shall abide, who shall receive, who shall rejoice, who shall
comprehend, who shall understand the day of his coming? Those
that are born of God. You. We see Jesus. We see Jesus. And then he says, well, who shall
stand when he appears? Who's going to stand? And the
word stand means to dwell. Who's going to dwell? Who's going
to continue to dwell in his presence? David asked that in Psalm 24. He said in Psalm 24, verse 3,
who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, into the presence
of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy presence and place?
He that has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up
his soul into vanity nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive
the blessing from the Lord, righteousness from the God of his salvation."
That's the person that's been made holy by Christ, which Paul
described for us in Colossians chapter 1. Read Colossians chapter
1, verse 1. Verse 20, verse 21, listen. And you that were at one time
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to
present you, to present you what David was saying with clean hands
and a pure heart. That's right, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in his sight. That who shall stand when he
appears, those that have believed, and received him, and loved him,
and rested in his mercy and his grace, born of God, quickened
by the Holy Spirit, brought to faith in the Son of God. Verse
2, he's like a refiner's fire. This messenger, the covenant,
this Lord who shall appear, who shall come and be received by
those who seek him and those who delight in him, those who
are born of God. But he's like a refiner's fire. Now, what is a refiner's fire?
Well, that's the man, the goldsmith, I guess you'd call him, who separates
the gold from the dross. He puts it in the fire, the refiner's
fire. separates the goal from the draw.
It separates truth from error. It separates the genuine from
the false. And that's what our Lord, when
he stands, when he comes, he separates those who believe and
those who do not believe. Those who love him and those
who do not love him. Those who are born of his spirit and those
who are not, he separates them. Wheat from the chaff. Wheat from the tares. He separates
them. He's like Fuller's soap. I told
you about that Sunday that it gets the spots out. Gets the
spots out. All right, let's look at verse
3. But now, now these two verses are talking about, verse 3 and
4, are talking about those people who welcome his coming, who comprehend
and understand who Christ is and what Christ did and why he
did it and where he is now, who dwell in his presence by faith,
who are redeemed by his blood. He said he relates to them also
as a refiner. and the refiner's power. Now
look at verse 3. And he, this messenger of the
covenant, shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. Now God's
children, if you look over in Malachi 3 verse 16, God's children
are called his jewels. When you think of jewels, you
think of gold, silver, precious stones. And here he says in Malachi
3, verse 16, they that feared the Lord, they feared the Lord,
they believed God, they loved the Lord Jesus and worshipped
him. They spake often one to another,
and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was written before him for them that feared the Lord, them that
called upon his name. You know, when Simeon talked
to Mary, he said, a sword's going to pierce your heart. Talking
about the death of Christ, her son. One God's son to whom she
gave birth. And a sword's going to pierce
your soul, your heart. Agony, sorrow. That the thoughts
of many hearts might be revealed. And that's where they're revealed
at Calvary. That's where the dross is separating the gold
and the counterfeit from the genuine and the error from truth. That's where
it's done. That's Calvary. That's what it
says here. These people's thought on him.
They thought on his name. Their thoughts were upon him,
not themselves, their work, religion, on him. And these people that
feared the Lord and thought on his name, verse 17, they'll be
mine, saith the Lord, of hosts in the day when I make up my
jewels, my special treasure. And I spare them as a man spares
his own son. That's how it is. They are my
children, my son, my spouse, they're my jewels. So Malachi
3 talks about He's a refiner and purifier of silver and gold
of his people. You know, when Paul was rebuking
the people about their preachers. He said, well we like Paul, and
others said, well I like Apollos, and others said, I like Cephas,
and others said, I don't like any of them, I like Christ, you
know. And he said, well I'm just, I'm just a messenger. He said, who is Paul? Who is
Cephas? Who is Apollos? We're just servants
of God by whom you believe. He said, we lay a foundation
which is Christ and people build on that foundation. Preachers
build on that foundation which is Christ. Now take heed, he
said, how you build. Take heed what kind of message
you preach and how you build. Because some people build wood,
hay, and stubble. And you don't want to fire this
to wood, hay, and stubble. A refiner's fire wood, hay, and
stubble Take heed how you build. Some build wood, hay, and stubble.
Some build gold, silver, precious stones. That's what this refiner
of purifier of silver is doing. He's not fooling with wood, hay,
and stubble. He's fooling with folks like
you, who are laid on the foundation of Christ, who are gold and silver
and precious stones. What's it doing in the fire?
To what? He is a purifier of self-righteousness
and gold. Listen, he shall purify the sons
of Levi. He'll purge who? Sons of Levi,
his people, his priests. He's made all of you kings and
priests to God, but he's not through with you. As long as
you're on this earth, he's going to put you in the fire. He's
going to sanctify you to purify you. He's going to purge you. He purifies the sons of Levi. He purges them like gold and
silver. And I told you Sunday night, as a
refiner and purifier of silver and gold, he prepares the fire. After these things, the Scripture
said, God did test Abraham and said to him, Take now thy son,
whom thou lovest, and get thee to the mount Moriah, and sacrifice
him there, till it shall burn off unto thee." Putting him in
the fire, isn't he? Putting him in the fire. That's
gold. That's one of his jewels. That's
his precious stone. Putting him in the fire. But
he's set by the fire. The reciter set. He sits, he's never away from
the fire. He observes his metal while it's
being tested, and while the dross is being burned away, while the
purifying process is taking place, and sits until it's finished.
And then he takes it out. And then he displays that treasure
for everybody to see it. He said, will be trophies of
his grace. He'll show forth the riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. The
judgment or the time in heaven is not going to be a declaration
of what we did for him, but what he did for us. You're not going to get a trophy.
You are the trophy. His trophy. That's right. And
he'll tell you another reason why he puts us in the fire. Listen,
that they may offer. unto the Lord, an offering in
righteousness. Our Lord never gets far away
from the fire. He purifies us and sanctifies
us by the means he ordains. His eye is upon us, his care
is over us, he never leaves us and he does us good. And then,
verse 4, shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasing
unto the Lord, as in the days of old. That's when it'll be
pleasing, when he gets us in the place and the shape where
we can do what we do for his glory, do what we do for his
praise. That's what it says over here
in Hebrews 13, talking about, listen to this, Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 verse 15. Now what we're talking about
here, when we come before the Lord and bring an offering, what
kind of offering is it, a sacrifice? Well, it's the services and duty
performed by his people in the name of Christ. It's observing
the table of the Lord. It's worshiping the Lord with
his people. It's exalting the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's the singing of his praise
and the preaching of his gospel and the helping of one another.
All of these things are pleasing unto the Lord if they're done
for his glory. Now, look at Hebrews chapter
13, verse 15. Thou held therefore thy Christ
Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that
is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name, but to do
good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased. God is well pleased. Now let's
go back to Malachi 3 and read that fourth verse again. Verse 3 said he sits as a refiner,
purifier of silver and gold, that he may purify the sons of
Levi, his people, his priests, that he may purge them of gold
and silver, get them in the place and in the state and in the spiritual
attitude that they can offer unto the Lord an offering in
righteousness, not in selfishness and covetousness and play and
show and foolishness, but in righteousness. That offering, that offering
of praise and thanksgiving and prayer and worship, that offering
of Judah and Jerusalem, saved people, saints of God, sons of
Levi, us, it would be pleasant to the Lord. As in the days of old, in ancient
years, like your We're singing that hymn while I go, come thy
long-expected Jesus, set thy people free. You're singing that
from your heart. That's as sweet to God as able
sacrifice. That's right. The offering of
his people is pleasant to the Lord as the offering in the days
of old, ancient times. That's as sweet and precious
to God. Your heart pays genuine, honest worship. is as precious
to God as a Passover lamb was sacrificed in Egypt. That's right. They brought that in faith. And
God accepted it. Put the blood on the door in
faith. That pleased God. But when you come in the name
of Christ, by the love of Christ, and faith in Christ, and giving
glory to Christ, God's well pleased. Just like that old tabernacle
when Abel went to the Holy of Holies and put the blood on the
altar in ancient times. God was pleased with Abel and
his sacrifice, had respect for Abel and his sacrifice. And he
never did, he wasn't ever pleased with that blood itself. It was
with the hearts of the people who came. Except no man's person. Has respect
to no individual because of what he's done, who he is, what he's
accomplished. It's his son. That's it. He's pleased. That's clear as
I can make. That's what that's saying. Now
verse 5 tells us he's going to judge sin. I'm not going to stay
on that much. Our time's gone. But verse 6,
I want to look at this. God is unchangeable in his judgment
and he's unchangeable in his mercy. unchangeable in his mercy. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Our confidence
never in ourselves or our faithfulness, it's in him and his grace in
Christ our Lord, never in ourselves. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Let me ask you
a question. Why are believers throughout
the latter part of the whole Old Testament referred to as
sons of Jacob. He calls the sons of Jacob dozens
and dozens of times. He calls himself the God of Jacob.
But I'll give you six reasons. Number one, God chose Jacob. 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." He chose him. Secondly, he gave him the inheritance. It was said to her, the elder
shall serve the younger. The birthright goes to the younger.
That's what I chose. So he chose Jacob, gave him the
inheritance. Number three, he loved him. For
he said, Jacob, have a love. Esau have a hazard. And then
fourthly, he revealed himself to Jacob. Took him out there
when he fled from his father's house and lay down in the field
on a pillar of rocks and God appeared to him. He said, I'm
the father, I'm the God of Abraham and Isaac and I'm Yochai. He revealed that ladder going
to heaven. That's Christ. Old Jacob lay there and watched
the angels Coming from the throne of God down here and going back
to the throne of God. The way to God. God revealed
to Jacob. You're son of Jacob. And then
God gave him a new name. Said to him one day, said, what's
your name? He said, Jacob. He said, won't be Jacob anymore.
Your name's Israel. You're a prince. You're son of
the king. And then fifthly, Jacob believed
God. And Jacob looked for Christ.
Because before Jacob died, he gathered his sons around him,
all twelve of them. And he blessed each one. And
he came to Judah. And he said, Judah, your land's
wealth. You know that. But the scepter
is not going to depart from you, Judah. The sallow comes. He believed Christ. And you're
a son of Jacob for the very same reason. Not that you were born
a Jew or a Gentile or a Catholic or a Baptist. You're a son of
Jacob because God Almighty chose you. God Almighty gave you the
inheritance and God Almighty loved you and He revealed Himself
to you and He gave you a new name. And you believe Him. And old
Joseph Hart wrote these words about that. He said, if ever
it could come to pass that a sheep of Christ might fall away, my
fickle, feeble soul, alas, would fall a thousand times a day.
Were not his love sovereign and free, he'd take it away from
me. No other hope have I beside. If God can change, then I must
die. But I look to Him to be supplied
with life, with will, with perseverance, and all, everything. I'm the Lord. I change not. You change. I change. But not
Him. Because I don't change You'll
never die Your sons of Jacob will never be concerned Well,
I'll tell you when you get I apologize again for preaching so long but
looks like the older I get the more wordy I get But you know,
that's not it. Maybe the older I get the more
beauty I see in these in these scriptures the more Christ and
He never get to the end. There's some he never Like crossing
the Pacific Ocean in a canoe, you never make it. You never
get to the other side. You always stay right here in
this good old deep water. All right, let's sing A Mighty
Fortress is our God. Number 36, A Mighty Fortress.