WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:06.339 Thanks so much, Johan, for reading. We're in this series in the book of Malachi. 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.259 The series is titled, as you'll see on the screen, Return to Me. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:15.679 And we didn't read it, but in verse 7 of chapter 3, that's where that comes from. 00:00:15.740 --> 00:00:20.960 If you see, God says there, return to me and I will return to you. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.760 That's where we're driving this morning, to that verse, return to me. 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:27.820 Do have Malachi chapter 2 and 3 open in front of you. 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:31.880 If you've got a pew Bible in front of you, it's page 961. 00:00:33.619 --> 00:00:35.719 Let me begin with a massive spoiler. 00:00:37.299 --> 00:00:43.000 If you haven't seen The Avengers, if you don't know what The Avengers is, it's really a comic book brought to life on the big screen. 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:46.500 The sort of famous Marvel comics, if you know them, turned into film. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:48.920 There are loads of them. I think there are over 30 films. 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:52.900 But the sort of central storyline is in this one series within them, The Avengers. 00:00:52.899 --> 00:00:58.399 And in 2018, The Avengers Infinity War came out. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:01.159 And if you've seen that film, you know exactly where I'm going. 00:01:01.259 --> 00:01:02.339 This is a massive spoiler. 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:05.039 I guess if you were going to watch it, you'd have seen it by now. 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:06.879 So here's how the story goes. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:07.319 Thanos. 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:09.420 You've got this collection of superheroes. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:16.219 And they're fighting to save the universe, to save it from the intergalactic bad guy, Thanos. 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:24.099 Thanos is trying to collect all these special stones that will allow him to reduce the population of the universe by half. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:28.539 He's literally trying to kill 50% of all of life. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:29.979 And here's the spoiler. 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:32.479 Thanos wins. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:32.600 Thanos. 00:01:33.820 --> 00:01:40.880 The film ends as he clicks his finger and half, randomly selected, half of all of life, vanishes into nothing. 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:46.920 And cut screen to him retired on some paradise planet, sipping a cocktail. 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:52.380 I remember sitting in the cinema with Katie, watching that film, and just thinking, are you kidding? 00:01:53.620 --> 00:01:55.020 The bad guy wins. 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:59.000 Not sure how to feel, because we're sort of not used to that in films, are we? 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.020 I appreciate this isn't always the case. 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:03.739 Some films do have Thanos-like winners. 00:02:03.899 --> 00:02:09.240 But more often than not, you watch a film, and throughout the film, the bad guy seems to be winning. 00:02:09.359 --> 00:02:13.900 But in the end, basically always, it ends up with good triumphing over evil. 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:17.479 And that storyline is really weird. 00:02:19.359 --> 00:02:22.919 Because the truth is, life isn't like that. 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:24.759 It just isn't. 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:28.800 Very often, as we look around us, in the world that we live in, the bad guys are winning. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.260 It's true in some pretty obvious ways. 00:02:32.880 --> 00:02:34.460 Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:41.860 The massive multinational companies that are destroying our planet and exploiting people and taking massive profits as they do it. 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:48.200 Politicians who seem heartless and ruthless and power-hungry, rising to the top. 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:51.240 Bad guys are winning all over the place. 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:53.260 Maybe closer to home. 00:02:53.260 --> 00:02:55.460 Maybe you've experiences of this at work. 00:02:56.280 --> 00:03:01.300 As cutthroat people are the ones getting promotions and bonuses in the inside line. 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:06.879 Maybe you're at school and there's that kid that just always seems to get away with it. 00:03:07.600 --> 00:03:10.900 No matter where you look, there is injustice everywhere. 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:17.080 Maybe this is something that's actually really very raw for you. 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:26.800 If someone has wronged you personally, or if you're sick or you're suffering, or someone you know and love is sick or they're suffering, 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:34.280 however you've experienced it, isn't the human heart just calling out for justice? 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:41.520 Marvel, the Avengers, at least in that one film, they got something right about life, I think, 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:46.159 because very often, as we look around us, the bad guy seems to be winning. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:53.199 And I guess then it would be very natural for us to ask, not least in a place like this, 00:03:53.259 --> 00:03:57.759 in a church where we preach about a powerful and powerfully loving God, 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:01.919 shouldn't we be asking, why would that God let this happen? 00:04:03.799 --> 00:04:08.979 If he is a God of justice, and the Bible says that he is a perfectly just God, 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:12.060 then why on earth would evil be prospering all around us? 00:04:12.079 --> 00:04:13.219 Have you ever asked that question? 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:19.279 Well, the people in Malachi's time, in our passage this morning, 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:22.000 essentially that is their question of God. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:25.819 Did you see it in verse 17 of chapter 2? 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:28.180 This is what they're saying. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.259 Have a look at chapter 2, verse 17. 00:04:30.740 --> 00:04:35.639 All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:39.300 Or, in other words, where is the God of justice? 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:41.779 Where is he? 00:04:42.539 --> 00:04:43.719 This is their question. 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.439 Why does the bad guy always seem to win? 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:50.039 And we'll see how God answers. 00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:54.740 But before we do, let's just see where we've been in this book so far. 00:04:54.740 --> 00:04:57.300 It's helpful, I think, to think about the book as a whole, 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:01.000 to see where this question that they're asking today comes from. 00:05:01.960 --> 00:05:05.620 It's helpful to see, actually, the other questions that they've been asking of God. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:10.519 If you've got Malachi open in front of you, the first one is in chapter 1, verse 2. 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:12.819 Chapter 1, verse 2. 00:05:12.900 --> 00:05:15.939 God tells the people that he has loved them. 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:19.180 How have you loved us? 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:20.899 They ask. 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:25.279 And God responds by pointing to the history of their nation. 00:05:25.420 --> 00:05:29.459 His choosing them, the descendants of Jacob, through no merit of their own. 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:30.459 He favours them. 00:05:30.540 --> 00:05:32.339 He gives them a good land to live in. 00:05:32.620 --> 00:05:33.740 He sees them prosper. 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:35.500 He has loved them. 00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:39.680 But despite his love for them, they have turned their back on him. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.840 See in chapter 1, verse 6, what God declares of them. 00:05:44.939 --> 00:05:48.280 It is you priests who show contempt for my name. 00:05:49.060 --> 00:05:51.480 And again, here's the next question as it comes. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:54.240 How have we shown contempt for your name? 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:57.860 And in verse 7, how have we defiled you? 00:05:59.620 --> 00:06:03.120 And then through the rest of chapter 1 and 2, God responds to those questions. 00:06:03.319 --> 00:06:04.199 This is what they're doing. 00:06:04.340 --> 00:06:06.879 And if you've been here over the last few weeks, this will be familiar. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:09.800 The priests are offering dodgy sacrifices. 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:12.420 They're engaged in dodgy teaching. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:14.600 And they're allowing dodgy marriages. 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:20.800 And what all of that points to is a deep-seated unfaithfulness to the God who loves them. 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:25.180 As they fail to live according to the way that he has given them to live. 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:28.379 It starts with the priests and it's spreading to the people. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.560 And so in our passage this morning, we come to their fourth question. 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:39.519 Malachi says, if you see it, that they have wearied the Lord with their words. 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:41.680 In other words, with their questions. 00:06:42.819 --> 00:06:44.100 And so comes another question. 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:45.459 How have we wearied him? 00:06:47.060 --> 00:06:49.300 And in some ways, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:50.439 As they ask all these questions. 00:06:50.540 --> 00:06:51.459 How have you loved us? 00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:52.699 How have we shown you contempt? 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:54.199 How have we defiled you? 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:55.560 Of course, this questioning is wearying. 00:06:55.560 --> 00:07:01.519 For it's as if they're saying, what difference does it make? 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:05.500 What difference does it make if we offer the right sort of sacrifices? 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:09.079 What difference does it make whether we teach false instruction? 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:13.019 What difference does it make whether we marry those who worship foreign gods? 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:14.379 What difference does it make? 00:07:14.699 --> 00:07:15.899 Where is the God of justice? 00:07:16.980 --> 00:07:20.060 This apparently just God is nowhere to be seen. 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:22.939 People get away with evil left, right and center. 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:25.139 So why would we bother doing those things? 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:28.120 Why would we bother living his way? 00:07:28.219 --> 00:07:29.719 What difference does it make? 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:33.480 Do you see they're questioning God's justice? 00:07:34.719 --> 00:07:38.720 And we've got to ask, is that really such an unusual question? 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:43.519 Doesn't part of you just sympathize with them a little bit? 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:49.199 Again, as we look around at a world where the bad guy often wins, where Thanos clicks his fingers, 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:53.019 as we look around at a world that is full of injustice, it's everywhere. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:57.859 Christian, don't you ever look around and ask, what difference does it make? 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:00.539 Why bother turning up to church on a Sunday? 00:08:01.979 --> 00:08:04.719 Why bother seeking out true biblical teaching? 00:08:04.859 --> 00:08:09.139 Why bother seeking to honor God with all of your life, including your sex and sexuality? 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:12.579 In all of that, have you ever thought, why bother? 00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:15.360 Why bother living faithfully? 00:08:15.479 --> 00:08:17.500 Why bother doing things his way? 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:26.300 Maybe there's a very specific sin that plagues you, a guilty secret that you hate but love to return to. 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:31.659 And every time there's that voice of temptation, what difference is it going to make? 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:32.740 Go on. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:35.580 It's not as though God's going to do anything about it. 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:38.000 But you've always gotten away with it before. 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:43.639 And right at the heart of that temptation and at the heart of that question, 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:46.379 it's the same as the question in Malachi's day, isn't it? 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:47.720 Where is the God of justice? 00:08:50.160 --> 00:08:51.580 Well, God responds here. 00:08:52.420 --> 00:08:53.600 And we'll see how he responds. 00:08:53.740 --> 00:08:55.420 He says, God's justice is coming. 00:08:56.540 --> 00:08:58.080 God's justice is complete. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:00.540 And God's justice is calling. 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:03.600 So first, God's justice is coming. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:07.159 Do you see the promise of chapter 3, verse 1? 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:09.779 It's actually loads going on in this verse. 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:10.860 Let's unpick it together. 00:09:11.460 --> 00:09:16.580 First, God says, I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me. 00:09:17.899 --> 00:09:20.279 The God of justice says he is coming. 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:23.820 But first, his messenger comes to prepare the way. 00:09:24.340 --> 00:09:26.700 Now, of course, if you've spent much time in church at all, 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:31.080 you might know how John the Baptist applies this language to himself in the New Testament. 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:34.560 In fact, I read that just earlier in our service, and we will get there. 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:38.240 But for now, as is the way with Old Testament prophecy, 00:09:38.500 --> 00:09:41.440 this is fulfilled in multiple ways. 00:09:41.780 --> 00:09:43.080 So let's see how that works. 00:09:44.180 --> 00:09:47.180 First, Malachi is the messenger. 00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:53.020 In fact, in your Bibles, in chapter 1, as Malachi's name is first mentioned there, 00:09:53.220 --> 00:09:57.520 you might have a footnote that says that that is actually what the name Malachi means. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:00.460 He's talking about Malachi here. 00:10:00.579 --> 00:10:04.460 Before we even think about John the Baptist, Malachi is the messenger, 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:07.139 and his message is exactly what we are reading. 00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:12.079 For the people of his day, he is preparing the way. 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:14.699 That's what this book is supposed to do for them. 00:10:15.699 --> 00:10:18.279 And notice what he is preparing them for. 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:21.519 He will prepare the way before me. 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:24.600 This is the very God of justice speaking. 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:27.519 Indeed, in the rest of verse 1, 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:37.399 Notice these two phrases. 00:10:38.460 --> 00:10:41.100 You are seeking and whom you desire. 00:10:41.820 --> 00:10:46.360 The one who is coming is precisely the God of justice that they are looking for. 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:47.639 Where is the God of justice? 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:50.299 Well, he is coming. 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:54.659 And he will be the messenger of the covenant. 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:57.960 In other words, as the Lord comes himself, 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.580 and his message is the fulfillment of all that has been. 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:05.519 All of his promises, often known as the old covenant, 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:09.539 his promises, and he comes with the beginning of something new. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.620 That is the new covenant, his new promises. 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:19.759 And in the Gospels, as we see John the Baptist apply that preparation language to himself, 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:25.100 it is so that the one who comes after him is the messenger of that covenant. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:29.379 The one who comes after him is the God of justice come. 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:30.639 It is Jesus. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:34.460 Now, of course, as we sit here this morning, 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:39.039 and with that same question at the heart of so many of our questions, 00:11:39.199 --> 00:11:40.620 where is the God of justice? 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:44.759 I think there's something pretty awkward here for us, isn't there? 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:48.360 We'll return to this, but isn't it just a little bit awkward 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:51.379 that the one that Malachi speaks of here has come? 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:56.860 That's the claim that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this, 00:11:57.299 --> 00:12:00.139 that he is the one for whom the messenger prepared the way, 00:12:00.439 --> 00:12:02.980 and that a little over 2,000 years ago he came. 00:12:04.299 --> 00:12:06.200 The God of justice has come, 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:09.439 and yet the question remains, doesn't it, for us, 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.139 where is the God of justice today? 00:12:12.980 --> 00:12:15.860 For we still live in a world where the bad guy often wins, 00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:17.860 where injustice is everywhere. 00:12:17.860 --> 00:12:20.279 If he's come, well, where is he now? 00:12:21.980 --> 00:12:23.679 And the Bible's answer is clear. 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:26.939 It is that the God of justice will come again, 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:30.919 because Old Testament prophecy has multiple fulfillments. 00:12:31.019 --> 00:12:32.480 It doesn't just happen once. 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:34.759 Jesus has come. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:37.080 Jesus will come again, 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:41.759 a great and final and decisive coming to execute complete justice. 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:44.939 If you're here this morning, 00:12:44.939 --> 00:12:49.100 and if you're not a Christian and you're asking that question, 00:12:49.100 --> 00:12:54.519 if you're asking how could these people in this place possibly believe in an all-powerful 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:56.320 and an all-loving God of justice, 00:12:57.100 --> 00:12:59.000 I mean, look around you in a world like this, 00:12:59.060 --> 00:13:00.220 where is their God? 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:01.680 If that's you, 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:04.879 then you need to know that the Bible doesn't shy away from that question. 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:09.700 It says that the world that we live in has an end in view, 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:13.700 that the God of justice is a just God, 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:16.060 that he has come, 00:13:16.780 --> 00:13:18.240 and that he will come again, 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:22.480 that he came and made a way for his justice to be done, 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:25.900 and that he will come with final justice. 00:13:25.899 --> 00:13:30.059 And for us as a church, 00:13:30.059 --> 00:13:32.439 as we ask what difference does it make, 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:34.519 as we ask why bother living faithfully, 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:36.600 well, this is why. 00:13:36.699 --> 00:13:38.819 It's because we know that he will come again. 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:40.779 The God of justice will come again. 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:45.199 And just as Malachi was the messenger preparing the way for his coming, 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:50.079 just as John the Baptist was the messenger preparing the way for his coming, 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:54.759 so too we, the church, are his messenger, 00:13:55.900 --> 00:13:57.660 preparing the way for his coming. 00:13:59.060 --> 00:14:01.080 Together, as we proclaim the gospel, 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:04.139 as we live lives of love, 00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:05.420 faithful to him, 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:07.040 as the world around us asks, 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:08.620 where is the God of justice? 00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:09.560 Well, we respond. 00:14:10.400 --> 00:14:13.320 We respond with the words of Revelation chapter one, 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:16.200 look, he is coming, 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:18.540 coming with the clouds, 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:21.039 and every eye will see him. 00:14:22.139 --> 00:14:23.980 I am the Alpha and the Omega, 00:14:24.139 --> 00:14:25.000 says the Lord God, 00:14:25.079 --> 00:14:27.539 who is and who was 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:29.299 and who is to come, 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:30.319 the Almighty. 00:14:31.939 --> 00:14:33.079 And so as a church, 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:34.480 we are his messenger. 00:14:35.419 --> 00:14:36.559 We point to him. 00:14:37.099 --> 00:14:38.000 This is our message. 00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:40.659 The God of justice is coming. 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:44.199 And as we work through the rest of the text, 00:14:44.219 --> 00:14:46.159 we'll see exactly what his coming means. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:47.219 For secondly, 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:49.980 his justice is complete. 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:54.259 If you have a look at verse two of chapter three, 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:57.740 do you see the two images that he uses to help us understand that? 00:14:58.179 --> 00:15:01.839 The image of refiner's fire and the launderer's soap. 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:05.120 Both of those things really carry exactly the same idea. 00:15:06.079 --> 00:15:07.740 Do you see the idea in verse three? 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:11.139 They refine and they purify. 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:13.259 Now there is a sense, 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:13.580 of course, 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:17.220 in which that is a very brutal and painful image. 00:15:17.779 --> 00:15:23.279 The intense heat of a fire hot enough to melt metal and separate out the impurity. 00:15:23.819 --> 00:15:29.980 The intense power of soap abrasive enough to clean the dust and the muck from pure sheep's wool. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:34.000 But it is also a simple and wonderful image. 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:35.860 It's a brutal and painful image, 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:38.159 but it is also a simple and wonderful one. 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:43.539 They burn away and wash away the dirty and impure, 00:15:43.659 --> 00:15:47.180 but they leave only what is clean and pure. 00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:50.000 In other words, 00:15:50.079 --> 00:15:51.620 God's justice is complete. 00:15:52.779 --> 00:15:55.299 It will leave behind a people for himself, 00:15:55.459 --> 00:15:57.479 a perfect and a holy people. 00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:01.399 And so creating in the rest of verse three, 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.319 men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:05.819 offerings in verse four, 00:16:05.979 --> 00:16:07.479 acceptable to the Lord. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:09.599 So the promise is that he will come, 00:16:10.179 --> 00:16:11.859 that he will clean up his people, 00:16:11.959 --> 00:16:14.979 that they'll no longer ask them what difference does it make? 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:18.300 They'll no longer ask what difference does living faithfully make. 00:16:18.379 --> 00:16:18.680 Instead, 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:22.720 they'll gladly offer themselves up in service to him. 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:28.539 Now you might imagine Malachi's readers feeling one of two things here. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.200 If they've been reading this book in a very superficial way, 00:16:32.420 --> 00:16:34.879 they might be feeling quite self-righteous. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:38.560 This is a message for those who need to be cleaned up, 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:40.060 and that's not really me. 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:44.779 But I suspect much more likely they'd be feeling deeply unrighteous. 00:16:44.980 --> 00:16:45.539 Uncomfortable. 00:16:46.539 --> 00:16:49.539 Aware that this is just aimed sharply at them. 00:16:49.700 --> 00:16:50.060 Indeed, 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:51.940 did you notice in verse two, 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:53.360 back in verse two, 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:54.000 the warning, 00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:57.320 who can endure the day of his coming? 00:16:58.340 --> 00:17:00.879 Who can stand when he appears? 00:17:02.379 --> 00:17:03.940 The implied answer, 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:04.680 of course, 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:06.620 is no one can endure it. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:08.940 No one can stand. 00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:10.980 It is, 00:17:11.100 --> 00:17:11.299 I think, 00:17:11.340 --> 00:17:13.500 a hint of what is to come in verse five. 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:14.240 See, 00:17:14.340 --> 00:17:15.000 in verse five, 00:17:15.080 --> 00:17:16.039 just very directly, 00:17:16.180 --> 00:17:16.500 he says, 00:17:16.580 --> 00:17:19.160 I will come to put you on trial. 00:17:20.620 --> 00:17:21.539 In other words, 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:21.920 reader, 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:24.580 don't think that you're exempt from this. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.140 God's justice is a complete justice. 00:17:28.140 --> 00:17:31.480 Your bad sacrifices, 00:17:31.780 --> 00:17:32.660 and bad teaching, 00:17:32.840 --> 00:17:33.740 and bad marriages, 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:35.840 they make all the difference in the world. 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:40.960 You're the ones in need of refining and purification. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.259 And God offers, 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:44.680 in the rest of verse five, 00:17:45.100 --> 00:17:48.059 a list of some of the things that they'll be on trial for. 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:49.059 You see, 00:17:49.120 --> 00:17:50.000 in the rest of verse five, 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:53.400 I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, 00:17:53.539 --> 00:17:54.180 adulterers, 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:55.019 and perjurers, 00:17:55.620 --> 00:17:58.360 against those who defraud laborers of their wages. 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.720 I guess that might seem like quite a random list of things. 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:08.880 But probably these things are things that are just especially in view in Malachi's day. 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:10.220 Sorcery, 00:18:10.300 --> 00:18:10.780 for example, 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:14.920 we know was a big deal in Babylon where they've just been in exile. 00:18:15.120 --> 00:18:19.660 So perhaps magical looking things that they might have seen and picked up there. 00:18:20.820 --> 00:18:21.300 Adultery, 00:18:21.420 --> 00:18:22.700 we've seen already in this book, 00:18:22.740 --> 00:18:25.300 is a big problem for Malachi and the people around him. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:27.740 And so I guess the others, 00:18:27.860 --> 00:18:28.800 things like perjury, 00:18:28.900 --> 00:18:30.460 which is lying in court, 00:18:30.560 --> 00:18:32.560 and the failure to pay a fair wage, 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:37.040 probably these things are just especially convicting for Malachi's readers. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:38.920 Indeed, 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:39.799 as he continues, 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.819 it's the mistreatment of widows and the fatherless and the foreigner. 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:45.779 Very often in the Bible, 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:46.819 these three groups, 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:49.819 they're the most vulnerable and neglected people. 00:18:49.819 --> 00:18:56.919 I guess that these are injustices then that Malachi's readers know they are guilty of. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:02.139 They know that there are ways that they have failed to care for widows and orphans. 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:06.639 They know that there are ways that they failed to offer justice to the foreigner. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:11.980 And so I think this whole section is designed to make them think, 00:19:12.060 --> 00:19:13.220 not self-righteously, 00:19:13.980 --> 00:19:16.020 not this message is for them over there, 00:19:16.080 --> 00:19:17.560 but it's designed to make them think, 00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:19.720 this is a message for me. 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:26.180 When we watch films and we're expecting the good guy to win, 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:29.839 because, well, lots of stories are like that, aren't they? 00:19:29.900 --> 00:19:31.539 We expect the good guy to win. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:37.600 Good stories, they have all these ups and downs where the bad guy gets all these little wins, 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:40.140 but we know that the good guy is going to win in the end. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.019 But again, the truth is that life isn't like that. 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:47.480 And not just because in real life, the bad guy often wins, though he does, 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:53.860 but also because the uncomplicated good guy doesn't exist in real life. 00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:58.720 There's no such thing as an uncomplicated good guy. 00:19:59.059 --> 00:20:03.200 In fact, the very best stories actually don't present a perfect person as their hero at all, 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:03.900 do they? 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:08.120 But a complicated and flawed sort of character in need of redemption. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:11.319 They're the best sort of stories, 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.400 and it's such an attractive storyline because it's real life. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:18.220 As we look around us and as we examine our own hearts, 00:20:18.700 --> 00:20:23.360 don't we know that we are all complicated and flawed sorts of characters in need of redemption? 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:29.500 Maybe you look at that list in verse 5 and declare yourself to be innocent. 00:20:30.140 --> 00:20:32.019 You're definitely not a sorcerer. 00:20:32.820 --> 00:20:35.900 You've never pursued that sort of intimacy outside of marriage. 00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:41.900 You've never told a lie in court, never failed to pay wages to someone working for you, 00:20:41.980 --> 00:20:45.740 or oppressed widows and orphans, or injustice for the foreigner. 00:20:46.259 --> 00:20:50.040 Maybe you look at that list and you do feel as though you're doing a pretty good job, actually. 00:20:50.620 --> 00:20:53.100 Feeling, if you're honest, quite self-righteous. 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:58.240 But the point of that list is not to be specific, 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:02.539 but to say, do you really live a faithful life? 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:06.039 Can we really say that we've lived absolutely faithful lives? 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:11.559 Are we a perfect and holy people not in need of this sort of cleansing? 00:21:13.140 --> 00:21:16.779 No, the Bible is very clear about what humanity is like. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:19.720 That there are ways that we all fall short. 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:22.299 That each of us has turned away from our Creator. 00:21:22.740 --> 00:21:27.480 That we are all complicated and flawed sort of characters in need of redemption. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:32.740 Even as we cry out, where is the God of justice? 00:21:33.539 --> 00:21:38.120 There are ways that each of us contributes to the injustice of this world. 00:21:39.120 --> 00:21:44.960 And so for complete justice to come, we too must face it. 00:21:46.660 --> 00:21:49.359 That's what Malachi seeks to convince his readers of. 00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:51.759 That each and every one of us must face it. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:56.599 That God's justice is coming and that his justice is complete. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:02.400 And yet, do you see the glimmer of hope at the end of verse 5? 00:22:04.700 --> 00:22:06.819 God says, do not fear me. 00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:11.819 Don't know about you, but that seems like quite a surprising thing to say, doesn't it? 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:13.480 In the context. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:15.859 I am coming to bring total justice. 00:22:16.120 --> 00:22:18.279 To burn away all of your impurity. 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:21.200 To scour away all of your uncleanness. 00:22:21.259 --> 00:22:23.400 I am coming to bring justice to you. 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:25.500 But do not fear me. 00:22:26.820 --> 00:22:27.880 It's strange. 00:22:28.780 --> 00:22:31.920 Why ought they not fear if this justice is coming? 00:22:33.600 --> 00:22:36.440 Well, we're just going to dip into next week's passage briefly. 00:22:36.540 --> 00:22:38.180 If you have a look at verse 6 with me. 00:22:39.860 --> 00:22:42.000 I, the Lord, do not change. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:45.660 So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:47.420 I see what God is saying here. 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:51.140 He says, you, that is, God's people, the descendants of Jacob. 00:22:51.580 --> 00:22:54.640 Just as he said in chapter 1, I have loved you. 00:22:55.300 --> 00:22:59.840 Through no merit of your own, though you deserve to be, you are not destroyed. 00:23:00.220 --> 00:23:02.580 For I continue to have mercy on you. 00:23:04.360 --> 00:23:05.700 But in verse 7, 00:23:05.700 --> 00:23:23.160 As he says to his people, 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:27.700 You have continuously abused my merciful and gracious love for you. 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:30.640 You have turned away from me and my law. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:32.299 And so return to me. 00:23:32.299 --> 00:23:35.980 Return to me and I will return to you. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:37.680 This is the call of God's justice. 00:23:38.779 --> 00:23:41.960 If you're here this morning and you have never heard that call, 00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:46.180 having turned away from God and what he says is good, 00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:48.059 if you've never turned back to him, 00:23:48.980 --> 00:23:53.279 you need to know this morning that this promise can be yours in Jesus. 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:58.440 Because he was the one who came, the God of justice, 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:01.940 the one for whom the messenger prepared the way, 00:24:02.299 --> 00:24:05.619 and he came in justice and in love. 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:10.139 So that the right punishment for all injustice could be paid. 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:12.899 And he paid it for you on the cross, 00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:15.759 dying in your place, rising again, 00:24:15.879 --> 00:24:18.359 so that now you might return to him. 00:24:18.940 --> 00:24:22.700 So that you might experience the lifelong process of refinement 00:24:22.700 --> 00:24:25.359 and purification that he offers in his word. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:29.019 Now let me just be very clear about how this works. 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:34.559 Christ died to justify the unjust. 00:24:35.619 --> 00:24:39.419 If you're here this morning and you feel like you're not good enough to be a Christian, 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:43.419 or you look at the person next to you or the person on the street 00:24:43.419 --> 00:24:44.419 and you think to yourself, 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:48.559 this person is living a life totally unworthy of the God of justice. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:52.139 Do you see this morning that you are absolutely right? 00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:56.379 That we all desperately need God's mercy? 00:24:57.720 --> 00:24:59.399 What you're hearing this morning, 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:02.839 it isn't for the unjust, the less than good, 00:25:02.919 --> 00:25:06.639 who are prepared to do a bit better to get more justice done. 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:12.500 No, instead it's for the unjust, broken, tired, humble souls 00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:15.359 who know that they're not good enough 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:17.799 and are prepared to stop pretending that they are. 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:21.160 And that is just brilliantly good news. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:23.740 At least it is for someone like me. 00:25:25.079 --> 00:25:28.240 Return to me and I will return to you. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:32.900 And if you're here this morning and you have followed Jesus, 00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:37.539 but you find yourself asking what difference does it make? 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:39.759 In your heart of hearts, 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:43.400 you know that there are ways that you continue to be turned away from him. 00:25:44.500 --> 00:25:48.440 If you feel yourself to be under the burden of a weight of guilt, 00:25:50.059 --> 00:25:52.460 see that he calls you to return to him, 00:25:52.759 --> 00:25:54.819 to find freedom and forgiveness. 00:25:55.819 --> 00:25:57.160 And that as we do that, 00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:00.359 his justice continues to be worked out in our lives. 00:26:01.019 --> 00:26:03.519 As by his spirit, he returns to us. 00:26:03.879 --> 00:26:05.240 And in his presence, 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:07.059 we are cleansed and purified 00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:10.119 and continue to become more and more like him 00:26:10.119 --> 00:26:11.899 in a lifelong process. 00:26:12.639 --> 00:26:14.779 Not so that we might earn a justification, 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:21.419 but so that we might live out of the justification already won for us on the cross. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:23.799 So that one day, 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:27.659 when Jesus returns to execute final justice, 00:26:28.139 --> 00:26:29.519 we might rejoice, 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:34.639 knowing that in Christ we have been and will be justified. 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:39.599 Return to me and I will return to you. 00:26:40.379 --> 00:26:41.920 God's justice is calling. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:45.200 In many ways, 00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:47.039 stories where bad guys win, 00:26:47.560 --> 00:26:50.340 films like Infinity War with Thanos clicking his fingers, 00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:56.440 in a world where stories like that seem more realistic in some way than the triumphant hero story, 00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:57.580 in other words, 00:26:57.620 --> 00:26:59.880 in a world where injustice reigns, 00:27:00.360 --> 00:27:02.580 the people of Malachi's day ask, 00:27:02.820 --> 00:27:04.420 what difference does it make? 00:27:04.420 --> 00:27:09.000 Why bother pursuing faithfulness to him 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.820 in a world where God is apparently absent? 00:27:13.120 --> 00:27:13.640 Answer, 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:16.400 God's justice is coming. 00:27:17.539 --> 00:27:18.900 God's justice is complete. 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:22.060 And God's justice is calling. 00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:25.300 Return to me, he says, 00:27:25.860 --> 00:27:28.400 and I will return to you. 00:27:31.220 --> 00:27:32.340 Let's pray together. 00:27:34.420 --> 00:27:37.620 Heavenly Father, 00:27:37.740 --> 00:27:41.539 we thank you so much that you are a God of justice. 00:27:44.900 --> 00:27:47.980 That as we cry out to you, 00:27:48.980 --> 00:27:50.380 you hear our prayer, 00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:56.200 that you see the injustices of this world and are grieved by them. 00:27:56.200 --> 00:28:01.860 And Lord, 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:02.500 we pray, 00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:04.319 God of justice, 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:05.019 come. 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:08.160 Lord, 00:28:08.220 --> 00:28:11.380 we're so grateful for all that Jesus has done for us, 00:28:12.180 --> 00:28:17.960 for the down payment of that promise of justice on the cross. 00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:28.140 And we declare now that we believe that he will come again to do justice once and for all. 00:28:29.819 --> 00:28:30.480 And Lord, 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:32.640 we hear your call to return to you. 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:35.440 Help us, 00:28:35.600 --> 00:28:37.460 we pray by your spirit to do that 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:42.100 and to live faithful lives as servants of you. 00:28:42.099 --> 00:28:44.959 In Jesus name. 00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:46.019 Amen.