WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.080 Well, tonight we are beginning a short series on the prophecy of Malachi. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:17.320 We can turn back to the very first verse that we have in the prophecy, the Oracle of the 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:21.800 Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. 00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:28.199 And we're calling our series Malachi Questions, and that will become a little bit more apparent 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:33.719 as we go through both the series, the sermon tonight and the series over the next couple 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:34.719 of weeks. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.679 I want to start by asking you all a question. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:38.679 And there it is. 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:44.200 What would you say is the majority view of Christianity in Britain today? 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:46.120 It's the kind of question that we often ask. 00:00:46.120 --> 00:00:47.560 I'm going to give you three options. 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:49.679 Here they are. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:53.840 One, that should be one, two, three, by the way, not one, one, one. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:56.320 One, a passionate follower. 00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:00.080 Two, a bitter enemy. 00:01:00.080 --> 00:01:03.560 Or three, not really that bothered. 00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:07.400 And I want you to imagine going up to somebody in the street, if you just went up to somebody 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:11.760 on the Royal Mile and you said, what do you think of Christianity? 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:15.920 I don't think they would be likely to say, I'm a passionate follower. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.480 And I actually don't think they're that likely to say, I'm a bitter enemy. 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:25.600 I think what they're most likely to say is, not really that bothered. 00:01:25.600 --> 00:01:34.120 And that's what makes Malachi an immensely relevant book for us today, because that's 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:41.359 exactly the kind of people that Malachi was prophesying to. 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:42.600 So who was he? 00:01:42.600 --> 00:01:48.880 Well, we don't know that much about Malachi, but we do know that he was a prophet. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:52.319 That basically means that he was God's spokesman. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:57.319 And his name actually means my messenger, which is a great name for a prophet, because 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:00.079 that's exactly what a prophet was. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:05.239 Many different prophets have appeared throughout the Old Testament prophesying in different 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:07.640 circumstances at different times. 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:09.719 But they all had one thing in common. 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:13.719 And when you ever think of the Old Testament prophets, I want you to remember this one 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:21.719 thing that they all have in common, all the prophets gave a message of judgment and salvation. 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:25.319 So you pick up any of these books, whether it's Malachi, Zechariah, or any of the other 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:26.719 ones, you'll see that pattern. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:30.400 They have strong words of judgment. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:36.300 They give people warnings that their behavior is going to lead them into trouble in terms 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:38.039 of their relationship with God. 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.120 But it's never just all bad news. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:46.360 There's always a message of salvation accompanying the message of judgment. 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:52.800 With the warning comes a word of hope. 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:59.759 Malachi, like all the prophets, came with God's message of judgment and salvation. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:01.520 When did Malachi live? 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:08.560 Well, no indication of date is given in the book, but it's almost certain that he lived 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.599 around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:17.560 That means that it's near the very end of the Old Testament period. 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:22.560 And the fact that it's the very last book is a bit of a giveaway in terms of that. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:27.039 In terms of summing up your Old Testament history, it's good to have a wee kind of framework 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:31.360 to think about how Old Testament history looks. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:34.480 I think one of the best ways to remember that is anybody wearing a pair of Nike shoes? 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:39.599 If you've got Nike shoes or a Nike jumper or anything like that. 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:45.560 So the Nike Tick is a helpful way of remembering Old Testament history because Old Testament 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:49.879 story is basically one of a backwards Nike Tick. 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:53.919 This might sound absolutely crazy, but what I mean is that in terms of the people's kingdom 00:03:53.919 --> 00:04:00.039 and in terms of their relationship with God, the general trajectory was down throughout 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:01.839 the period of the Old Testament. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.240 It's not a kind of story of success, it's a story of failure. 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:07.520 Things get progressively worse and worse. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:12.960 So you have the kind of glory days of David and Solomon up near the top and from there 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.400 everything just goes down. 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:17.879 The kingdom splits. 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:21.920 People are idolatrous again and again and every time there's a wee glimmer of hope, it doesn't 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.759 last long and they return to their former rebellious ways. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:31.639 And the low point comes in the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel when the kingdom is just wiped 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:40.159 out and the people are taken away in exile, which took place around 580 BC. 00:04:40.159 --> 00:04:46.680 But about 100 years or so after that, the people returned and there was a kind of glimmer 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:47.680 of hope. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:51.800 And that's why we've got a tick because it's down and then there's this like teeny wee 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:53.759 glimmer of hope at the end. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:59.240 The people are not independent, they're under foreign rule, but they're back in their own 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:04.199 land and they're starting to rebuild the nation. 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:09.120 Malachi comes in the wee glimmer of hope at the end. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:14.680 The people have returned from exile, but they're still a long way from being where they once 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:19.240 were or where they wanted to be. 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:20.240 So who was he? 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:21.240 He was a prophet. 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:22.240 When did he live? 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:23.240 It's kind of at the end of the Old Testament period. 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:24.240 What was his message? 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:29.240 Well, one of the key things in his message was that he challenged the attitudes of the 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:30.879 people of Israel. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:36.439 In particular, he challenged them in terms of their relationships, both with their relationship 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:44.480 with God and also their relationship with one another, particularly in terms of marriage. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:52.600 These people were not passionate followers of God, nor were they bitter enemies. 00:05:52.600 --> 00:06:03.720 Instead, they were just not that bothered and their worship had become very half-hearted. 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:08.080 Malachi is challenging them and we read through that in chapters one, two and three, and then 00:06:08.080 --> 00:06:15.080 coming into chapter four, we reach the message of hope where Malachi tells us that a Savior 00:06:15.080 --> 00:06:20.520 is coming and there's something to look forward to. 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:24.560 Right we're looking at chapter one and in many ways this chapter is focusing on their 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:29.680 relationship with God and I want us to look at that together. 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:32.000 In many ways, Malachi is a big of questions. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.039 That's why we've called our series Malachi Questions. 00:06:35.039 --> 00:06:37.639 Now normally that would imply a positive thing. 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:40.680 Questions are usually a brilliant thing. 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:46.359 So for example, if you are wanting to learn more about Jesus, questions are brilliant 00:06:46.359 --> 00:06:48.120 and please always ask. 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:50.759 And even if you've been following Jesus for a long time and there's something you're 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.560 not sure about, always ask. 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:55.840 It's brilliant to ask questions. 00:06:55.840 --> 00:06:58.759 If you're reading the Bible and you come to books like Malachi, which we don't tend to 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:01.360 read that often, always ask questions. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:05.240 If you read something you don't understand, questions are so important. 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:09.319 When you're pastoring people, helping somebody through a difficult time, trying to encourage 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:15.319 someone in their faith, questions are brilliant to find out where they are and what they need. 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:17.439 And the same is true in evangelism. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.839 If you're trying to share our faith, sometimes we can so easily think that when we have opportunities 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:25.360 to share our faith, we need to talk. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:32.399 And that's true, but it's also really good to ask people what they think, what they believe, 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.920 why they believe it, or what their thoughts are. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:43.000 Questions are a brilliant thing, but not always. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:48.079 And the questions in Malachi are not good questions. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:59.720 They're actually bad questions because they are questions that reveal a hard and cold mindset 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:02.639 among God's people. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:07.639 And we can see that by picking out the questions in chapter one. 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:11.600 Let me read verses one to eight again, and you'll see three questions highlighted. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:15.200 The article of the word of God of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. 00:08:15.200 --> 00:08:18.720 I've loved you, says the Lord, but you say, how have you loved us? 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:21.120 Is not Esau Jacob's brother, declares the Lord? 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.280 Yet I've loved Jacob, but Esau I've hated. 00:08:23.280 --> 00:08:27.640 I've laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert. 00:08:27.640 --> 00:08:31.000 If Edom says we're shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins, the Lord of hosts says, they may 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.120 build, but I will tear down. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.560 And they may be called the wicked country and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever. 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:41.759 Your own eyes shall see this and you shall say, great is the Lord beyond the border of 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:42.759 Israel. 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:45.559 A son on earth his father and a servant his master. 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:47.519 If then I'm a father, where's my honor? 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:49.039 And if I'm a master, where's my fears? 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:51.839 Says the Lord of hosts to you, oh priests who despise my name. 00:08:51.839 --> 00:08:55.519 But you say, how have we despised your name? 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.319 By offering polluted food on upon my altar. 00:08:58.319 --> 00:09:01.479 But you say, how have we polluted you? 00:09:01.479 --> 00:09:06.039 By saying that the Lord's table may be despised when you offer blind animals in the sacrifice. 00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:07.399 Is that not evil? 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:10.879 And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:12.439 Present that to your governor. 00:09:12.439 --> 00:09:14.559 Will he accept you or show you favor? 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:16.319 Says the Lord of hosts. 00:09:16.319 --> 00:09:17.439 There's our three questions. 00:09:17.439 --> 00:09:18.439 Have you loved us? 00:09:18.439 --> 00:09:19.759 How have we despised you? 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:21.039 How have you loved us? 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:22.959 How have we despised your name? 00:09:22.959 --> 00:09:25.120 How have we polluted you? 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:29.519 They're not questions of sincere inquiry. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:34.879 They're questions of disagreement and of confrontation. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:38.759 The first question is doubting God's goodness. 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:41.879 God has said to them that he loves them. 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:46.120 And yet their response is, how have you loved us? 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:51.879 And there's a suspicion of God's love probably arising from the fact that their nation was 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:54.080 so far from what they wanted it to be. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:58.039 That would have been the mindset then that because their nation has kind of fallen apart 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:03.519 and they're picking up the pieces of this mess, the kind of natural conclusion is, well, 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:10.159 God doesn't love us because everything's bad in our lives and they're suspicious of 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.840 God's goodness. 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:18.559 The second and third questions are doubting our badness. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.919 So when God points out their sin, their response is denial. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.559 How have we done that? 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:33.439 And we see that there's this kind of defensiveness and disagreement lying behind the questions 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:36.680 that the people are asking. 00:10:36.680 --> 00:10:43.320 And so Malachi 1 is recording for us this kind of conversation and dialogue that God is having 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:44.760 with his people. 00:10:44.760 --> 00:10:51.080 And that dialogue that we have is setting before us some very clear contrasts between 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:53.560 God and the people of Israel. 00:10:53.560 --> 00:10:59.520 And it's these contrasts that I want to unpack just a little bit this evening. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:09.039 Number one, we see a contrast between what the people meant to God and what God meant 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:12.199 to the people. 00:11:12.199 --> 00:11:18.199 The very first statement of this prophecy is that God loves the people of Israel. 00:11:18.199 --> 00:11:19.639 He says, I've loved you. 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:21.679 I've always loved you. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.759 And he's revealing what these people mean to him. 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:32.759 And that's what's emphasized by the contrast in verses two to five between Israel and Adam. 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:40.759 Now just to explain that a wee bit, you'll remember that Israel as the name for the nation 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:43.480 is actually named after one person. 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:47.319 The name Israel is the name that God gave to Jacob. 00:11:47.319 --> 00:11:49.559 And so the whole nation is named after Jacob. 00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:52.600 They're the Jacobites, the Israelites. 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:53.600 Jacobites? 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:55.600 That's kind of got Scottish. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:59.399 But that's the same name, same word. 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:03.680 They were the Israelites named after this one man. 00:12:03.680 --> 00:12:05.960 Jacob had a brother, Esau. 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:11.800 And from Esau there came a nation which was known as the Edomites. 00:12:11.800 --> 00:12:16.279 So Israel was the descendants of Jacob. 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:19.440 Edom was the descendants of Esau. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:22.560 And it's very easy to look at these verses and to think, well, it all sounds very harsh 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:24.639 on Edom. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:27.279 It says like God loves one and hates the other. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.439 And you think that seems a bit harsh. 00:12:30.439 --> 00:12:35.759 But the point being made here is not actually been made about Edom. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:40.879 The key point is that Israel is special to God. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:46.359 And among all the other nations, Israel is unique. 00:12:46.359 --> 00:12:51.000 The Israelites thought that the failure of their nation showed that God didn't love them. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:55.240 If you had stood at the history of Israel and Edom at this point, you would have thought, 00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:58.600 well, Edom, they're getting on far better than Israel are. 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:03.639 But the point being made is that the failure of the nation does not show that God didn't 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:05.159 love them. 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:10.639 God is saying that he's always loved them and he always will. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:17.559 And no matter how successful another nation might look, Edom or whoever, that success 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:19.000 will not last. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:21.840 You can see the Edomites are saying, well, we'll keep on rebuilding. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:23.340 We'll keep on going. 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:24.340 We'll be fine. 00:13:24.340 --> 00:13:25.340 We'll stand on our own forever. 00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:26.919 God is saying that won't happen. 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:31.679 And sure enough, Edom has long gone from the pages of history. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:37.600 But for Israel, it was so easy to think, oh, these other countries are doing better. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:39.200 God doesn't love us. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:42.600 We need to be like them. 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:46.320 Perhaps a clear example for us would be to imagine the Roman Empire. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:50.720 Do you imagine being an early believer in the early first century, you've got this massive 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:55.879 Roman Empire that doesn't really think anything of God at all, basically hates God. 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:57.080 They're dominating the world. 00:13:57.080 --> 00:13:58.080 They're really successful. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:02.760 And you could easily think, well, their gods must be better. 00:14:02.760 --> 00:14:03.879 We should join them. 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:12.920 And of course, history shows us that ultimately, that Roman Empire didn't last. 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:19.679 And for us today, it's so easy to think that we need to follow the successful looking crowd 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:23.240 that has no interest in Jesus. 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:27.679 History shows us that ultimately, that crowd will not last. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:30.919 To God, Israel was unique. 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:38.279 And of course, we must never forget that the doors were always open to other nations like 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:40.559 Edom to join the Israelites. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:45.439 It was never a closed shop, but the key point was that they couldn't stay Edomites. 00:14:45.439 --> 00:14:47.319 They had to come and join Israel. 00:14:47.319 --> 00:14:52.079 This chapter, like many others in the Old Testament, emphasizes that ultimately, all 00:14:52.079 --> 00:14:56.319 nations are to come and worship God. 00:14:56.319 --> 00:14:59.199 So the contrast isn't between nations and races as such. 00:14:59.199 --> 00:15:03.959 The key contrast is between those who are in a covenant relationship with God and those 00:15:03.959 --> 00:15:06.359 who aren't. 00:15:06.359 --> 00:15:09.519 Israel were chosen by God to be a light to the world. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:13.679 They were incredibly special to him. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.639 But these verses don't just show us what the people meant to God. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:21.079 They also show what God meant to these people. 00:15:21.079 --> 00:15:24.799 And the answer is not really that much. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.879 And that's revealed to us in their worship. 00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:35.159 So you remember that way back in the early Old Testament, when all God's requirements 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:38.319 were being set out, one of the things that was made very clear was that when you were 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:43.660 coming to bring a sacrifice to the temple to worship, you would take the best of your 00:15:43.660 --> 00:15:44.980 flock. 00:15:44.980 --> 00:15:48.200 You take the animal that was without blemish. 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:52.720 You would give God the very best. 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:59.520 But instead of doing that, in Malachi's day, the people were coming with the animals that 00:15:59.520 --> 00:16:02.560 were lame or sick or blind. 00:16:02.560 --> 00:16:07.040 In other words, the ones that weren't really worth very much. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:12.000 That meant that instead of their offerings being a sacrifice, in other words, something 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:18.240 that cost you that you had to give up, their offerings were more like a kind of disposal 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:24.079 system where they would just get rid of the stuff that they didn't want. 00:16:24.079 --> 00:16:29.039 It was a way of disposing of the leftovers. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:33.559 That meant that their worship was half-hearted. 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:39.679 They wanted to maintain an outward appearance of loyalty to God, but in reality, they weren't 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:45.919 that bothered about what God thought. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:55.359 And I have to ask myself, if Malachi was to look at my life, at my use of time, my use 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:05.319 of money, my ambitions, my priorities, at how I treat other people, would he say God 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:16.120 is getting the very best, or would he say that God is getting the leftovers? 00:17:16.120 --> 00:17:22.640 For me, it's all too often the leftovers, and I want that to change because God means 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:28.920 far more to me than that. 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:35.680 The second contrast we see is between what God wanted and what the people wanted. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:37.480 So what does God want in these verses? 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:41.440 Well, the answer is that God wants commitment. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:48.759 He wants a relationship with these people that is real and genuine, not one that's half-hearted. 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:53.680 In fact, verse 10 tells us that God would rather that they just stopped their worship 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:58.960 altogether instead of this kind of nominal half-hearted worship that we're doing. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:03.519 It says there, oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, shut the doors 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.920 of the temple, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:10.039 I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts. 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:14.319 I will not accept an offering from your hand. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:21.279 God's saying, I'd rather you just stop it altogether than this kind of false pretend 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:23.960 worship that you're doing. 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:29.119 All of this relates back to the fact that throughout the Bible, God's relationship with his people 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:31.879 is a covenant relationship. 00:18:31.879 --> 00:18:38.319 And if that means anything, it means that God wants a relationship that's grounded on utter 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:39.319 commitment. 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:44.119 That's why he says at the very start of this prophecy, I have loved you. 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:49.959 God is utterly committed to his covenant relationship with his people. 00:18:49.959 --> 00:18:57.799 He wants a relationship that has the greatest depth of commitment. 00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:03.879 The people, however, didn't want commitment. 00:19:03.879 --> 00:19:08.000 They wanted convenience. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:14.640 As we said, they offered any old animal and worshiping God became a convenient way of 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:20.160 getting rid of the poor stock that they had in their flocks. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:26.279 But even then, even with this kind of half-heartedness and even offering the kind of the weakest 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:31.359 of their animals, their worship of God was just a burden to them. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:36.640 Verse 13, but you say, what a weariness this is. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:41.759 And you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:49.040 For these people, worshiping God was a pain. 00:19:49.040 --> 00:19:55.800 And there is such a tragic irony here because in terms of Old Testament history, remember 00:19:55.800 --> 00:20:01.520 the backwards naiketik, in terms of Old Testament history, in terms of the relationship between 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:07.279 God and his people, the truth is, they were the pain. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:09.759 They were the ones who had constantly let him down. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:15.279 They were a nightmare, constantly disobeying God, repeatedly refusing to listen to him 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:21.319 and again and again wandering off to follow all the crazy ideas of the world around them. 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:28.200 And yet all the time, God remained utterly committed to them. 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:32.360 God was constantly faithful, trustworthy and reliable. 00:20:32.360 --> 00:20:37.440 He blessed them abundantly and he gave them extraordinary privileges. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:42.920 And yet to these people, God was a hassle. 00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:47.519 They just wanted convenience. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:52.920 And we need to be really careful about convenience ourselves. 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:59.519 Now in saying that, I'm not saying that following Jesus should always be inconvenient. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.840 Sometimes we can get that impression that the worse your life is, the better the Christian 00:21:03.840 --> 00:21:04.840 you are. 00:21:04.840 --> 00:21:05.840 It's not true. 00:21:05.840 --> 00:21:11.519 Being a Christian is an incredible joy and brings so many brilliant things. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:21.000 But at the same time, we must remember that commitment and convenience rarely go together. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:23.960 It's true in so many areas of life. 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:29.319 If you want to be really committed to your job, that will often inconvenience you. 00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:31.079 Same in marriage and parenting. 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:34.839 If you want to be really committed to that, sometimes it will be inconvenient. 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:39.920 Even with your health, if we want good health, that can be a bit of a pest sometimes having 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:44.359 to exercise and avoid eating the things that we shouldn't. 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:50.599 It's true in many areas of life and it's absolutely true in terms of our faith. 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:56.639 Convinience will often come at the price of convenience. 00:21:56.639 --> 00:22:03.719 Likewise, convenience will often come at the price of commitment. 00:22:03.719 --> 00:22:16.079 The key question is, ultimately, which of the two do you think is better? 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:19.559 So we see some great contrast here. 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:23.319 Contrast between what the people meant to God and what God meant to the people. 00:22:23.319 --> 00:22:27.319 Contrast between what God wanted and what the people wanted. 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:36.399 Thirdly, we see a contrast between who God really is and how the people actually treated 00:22:36.399 --> 00:22:37.799 Him. 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:43.960 The verses that we read give us several wonderful reminders about who God really is. 00:22:43.960 --> 00:22:48.279 We can see four examples in particular in terms of how God is described. 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:52.399 Verse six describes God as Father. 00:22:52.399 --> 00:22:59.559 He is the one who cares, who provides, who protects, and who loves His people. 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:02.480 And that rightly means He is worthy of honor. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:07.480 If I'm a Father, where is my honor? 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:12.720 In Old Testament culture, as is still true in many ways today, a Father was to be deeply 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:19.600 respected, and that is definitely true of God. 00:23:19.600 --> 00:23:22.160 Same verse tells us that God is master. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:26.400 He's the one who is in charge, who ultimately has authority. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.720 And that means that He is not to be treated flippantly. 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:33.440 Instead, He's to be feared. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:37.160 If I'm a master, where is my fear, says the Lord. 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:38.559 Now that word fear is important. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:40.759 It doesn't mean in the sense of being frightened. 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:46.279 It means in the sense of being reverent. 00:23:46.279 --> 00:23:56.079 Verse 11 tells us that God is the ruler of all nations, the one who is great among all 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:57.200 the nations. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:58.480 He alone is God. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:04.759 No matter where the sun rises, God is to be worshiped. 00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:09.559 And then in verse 14, we're told that God is a great King. 00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:15.240 Now Israel were all too aware of powerful kings in the world. 00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:20.079 Their nation had been destroyed by two of them in the previous centuries of Old Testament 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:21.079 history. 00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:27.359 Back in 722, the king of Assyria, Tiglath Pileser, came and destroyed the northern kingdom of 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:28.359 Israel. 00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:35.200 130 years later, in 586, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, another immensely powerful king came 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:39.200 and took the remainder of the people in the south away into exile. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:44.120 Now in the days of Malachi, they're under Persian rule. 00:24:44.120 --> 00:24:49.360 But Malachi is reminding them that ultimately these kings are nothing. 00:24:49.360 --> 00:24:52.960 God alone is the great king. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:58.640 His name will be feared among the nations. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:04.600 But that reality of who God is set before us in Malachi 1 stands in tragic contrast to 00:25:04.600 --> 00:25:08.000 how the people actually treated him. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:15.160 As we said, the people were half-hearted and fed up, and they gave God their leftovers. 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:20.680 And a very sharp comparison is given to us in verse 8, where God says, when you offer 00:25:20.680 --> 00:25:23.079 blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:26.200 And when you offer those who are lame or sick, is that not evil? 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:28.200 Present that to your governor. 00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:32.359 Will he accept you or show you favor, says the Lord of hosts. 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:39.439 In other words, I think God is saying, you wouldn't dare give animals like that to your 00:25:39.439 --> 00:25:44.519 governor if he was coming to visit you. 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:51.399 The people were far more concerned about impressing their Persian governor than they were concerned 00:25:51.399 --> 00:25:54.719 about honoring God. 00:25:54.719 --> 00:25:58.679 And again, there's this important application there because it reminds us that it can be 00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:09.759 very easy to do things to God that we wouldn't dare do to people around us. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:13.640 I think a great example of that is GDPR. 00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:19.960 Now, GDPR is probably going to send a shiver down everybody's spine. 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:25.840 For those of you who aren't familiar with GDPR, GDPR is General Data Protection Regulations 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:28.959 which came into force over the past couple of years. 00:26:28.959 --> 00:26:34.119 The UK government introduced all this legislation regarding how you store people's data, their 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:37.599 name, their address, their photo, anything to do with themselves. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:41.399 A massive pile of regulations. 00:26:41.399 --> 00:26:48.599 When GDPR was introduced, every congregation jumped to attention and rightly so because 00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:54.359 this was legislation which directly affected us as a church. 00:26:54.359 --> 00:26:57.199 And that was a really good thing because we needed to comply. 00:26:57.199 --> 00:27:03.719 The government of this country brought in new requirements and we complied straight away. 00:27:03.719 --> 00:27:09.479 And we are so grateful because many people poured hours and hours and hours into making 00:27:09.479 --> 00:27:11.479 that possible. 00:27:11.479 --> 00:27:16.439 It was absolutely the right thing to do. 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:24.640 But for 2,000 years, the governor of this church, Jesus Christ, has said, don't gossip, 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:33.360 be patient, don't judge, love your neighbour. 00:27:33.360 --> 00:27:41.440 And yet have we given these requirements the same attention? 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:43.960 And I'm not saying that to make people feel guilty. 00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:47.440 And I'm definitely not saying that things like GDPR should be neglected. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:55.120 I'm just looking at myself and praying, Lord, please help me remember who You really are. 00:27:55.120 --> 00:28:00.559 And if we remember that He is Father, that He is Master, that He is ruler of all nations, 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:06.720 that He is the great King, then I think that will help me and You remember that what really 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:11.720 matters is to prioritise what God wants. 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:18.880 And ultimately what God wants is a committed, genuine, real, covenant relationship with 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:26.559 us where He is our God and we are His people. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:33.519 And all of that brings us back to the questions that are being asked in this chapter. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:40.160 Remember we said that these questions reveal the attitude that the people had towards God. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:50.759 Remember we said, behind them lies a suspicion of God's goodness and a denial of our badness. 00:28:50.759 --> 00:29:00.759 These are seen in the contrasts that we've looked at where who God is is not recognised 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:04.000 and our failures are not acknowledged. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:08.120 A suspicion of God's goodness, a denial of our badness. 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:16.759 These two things have repeatedly ruined the relationship between God and humanity ever 00:29:16.759 --> 00:29:19.359 since Adam and Eve. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:24.199 You'll remember that in Genesis 3, what did the devil do? 00:29:24.199 --> 00:29:26.799 He made Eve question God's goodness. 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:32.439 He said, God's not really got your interests at heart when He's telling you to keep away 00:29:32.439 --> 00:29:34.679 from that tree. 00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:41.720 God's not really looking after you, He actually just wants to stop you from being like Him. 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:46.960 And then in the aftermath of the fall, we see straight away Adam tried to deny his own 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:53.240 badness and shift the blame onto Eve and ultimately onto God. 00:29:53.240 --> 00:29:58.720 Ever since these days, humanity has remained suspicious of God's goodness and has been 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:02.640 in denial about our badness. 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:11.600 We see it so often, we blame God for all the bad things and we talk ourselves up again 00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:14.080 and again. 00:30:14.080 --> 00:30:20.560 The result of that is that we tend to pull God down and we tend to kind of talk ourselves 00:30:20.560 --> 00:30:24.040 up as much as we can. 00:30:24.040 --> 00:30:25.759 I couldn't resist throwing a picture. 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:32.560 We've got a graph here of God and humanity and what we tend to do is talk God down and 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:34.319 we tend to talk ourselves up. 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:38.279 That's definitely what the people of Malachi chapter one were doing. 00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:42.000 They're saying, well, you haven't really loved us God and so they pulled Him down. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:47.599 And we haven't really polluted your sacrifices and we haven't really despised you in our 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:56.319 offerings and there's this kind of movement towards convergence. 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:00.440 And the result is that we have a kind of casual attitude towards God because He's not 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:03.000 really that far above us. 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:08.000 He's not that different to us. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:15.039 Humanity does this all the time but it's absolutely crucial that we recognize that we can't do 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.580 that. 00:31:17.580 --> 00:31:25.360 We absolutely cannot talk ourselves back into this kind of equality with God because one 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:32.079 thing that the Bible does not do is bring God down and bring humanity up. 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:36.279 The Bible does the exact opposite. 00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:41.719 The Bible puts God and humanity miles apart. 00:31:41.719 --> 00:31:50.399 God's standards are unchangeably high and humanity made in the image of God fell and 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:57.880 is now just nowhere near the standard we are meant to be at. 00:31:57.880 --> 00:31:58.880 That's what the Bible does. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:00.880 It doesn't bring God and humanity together. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:03.759 It puts them miles apart. 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:07.759 It's interesting that the universe actually does exactly the same thing. 00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:11.400 You look at the universe and you look at us with absolutely tiny and you look at the 00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:18.840 universe and you think if God is the creator of everyone and everything then He is massive 00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:21.720 and we are absolutely tiny. 00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:29.919 And that's exactly what the universe is there to do to show how great God is and to show 00:32:29.919 --> 00:32:32.439 how tiny we are. 00:32:32.439 --> 00:32:35.839 That's the theological truth that the Bible sets before us. 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:40.959 And it's crucial that we recognize the differences between these two graphs because graph one 00:32:40.959 --> 00:32:46.519 makes a relationship with God not really that big a deal because we're kind of at his level 00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:48.759 anyway with or without him. 00:32:48.759 --> 00:32:51.359 It's not going to make a huge difference. 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:57.119 Graph two makes our relationship with God the most important thing of all because without 00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:00.680 him we are nothing. 00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:07.119 In graph one, a relationship with God is not really that much. 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:13.680 In graph two, a relationship with God is an astounding privilege. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:24.320 In other words, graph one is a kind of cheap relationship that's no big deal. 00:33:24.320 --> 00:33:35.160 Graph two is a costly, priceless relationship that's an extraordinary privilege. 00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:44.080 Of course we have to ask which one's better, a cheap relationship or a costly one, a disposable 00:33:44.080 --> 00:33:53.080 relationship or an indescribably precious one. 00:33:53.080 --> 00:34:01.279 Make no mistake, God does not do cheap relationships. 00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:06.079 And he does not do disposable relationships. 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:16.719 What God wants is a costly, valuable, precious relationship. 00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:24.719 But you look at graph two and you think, well, the gap is so big, how can a relationship 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:26.759 be possible? 00:34:26.759 --> 00:34:29.159 Can we talk our way back up to that kind of level? 00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:30.320 No, we can't. 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:32.559 Can we work our way back up to that level? 00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:34.039 No, we've got no chance. 00:34:34.039 --> 00:34:37.280 There's a huge gap that we can't talk ourselves across. 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:40.880 There's a standard that God commands that we can never work our way up to. 00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:47.920 There's a worthiness that God requires that we can never, ever reach. 00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:58.200 In other words, there is a massive cost to bridging this gap. 00:34:58.199 --> 00:35:06.079 But the amazing truth about God is that in order to have a costly, precious, committed 00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:14.719 relationship with you, He pays. 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:25.759 The gap between us and God is massive, but Jesus steps into it and He covers all the 00:35:25.759 --> 00:35:26.879 cost. 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:31.440 Graph one needs a tiny Jesus. 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:38.039 Graph two needs a massive Jesus. 00:35:38.039 --> 00:35:41.559 And that's exactly what we have. 00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:50.720 And the fact that the Bible puts God and us miles apart shows you just how much Jesus 00:35:50.720 --> 00:35:52.800 will do for you. 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:59.200 And ultimately, that is what God means in verses like Malachi 1 verse 2 where he says, 00:35:59.200 --> 00:36:03.120 I love you. 00:36:03.120 --> 00:36:10.560 I love you to the point where I will pay the cost no matter what. 00:36:10.560 --> 00:36:19.680 God wants a costly relationship with you, but thanks be to God. 00:36:19.680 --> 00:36:22.760 He pays for it. 00:36:22.760 --> 00:36:27.320 And that's why the ultimate message of Malachi isn't that these Israelites were half-hearted, 00:36:27.320 --> 00:36:30.240 you need to pull your socks up and not be like them. 00:36:30.240 --> 00:36:37.400 The ultimate message of Malachi is that God's commitment to you is so great that He is going 00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:44.480 to send a Savior because God will not give up on you no matter how much it's going to 00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:47.000 cost Him. 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:53.119 And when we recognize that incredible love serving God stops being a weariness or a pain 00:36:53.119 --> 00:37:00.440 or a burden, it becomes an utter joy. 00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:05.960 God said to these Israelites in Malachi's day, I love you. 00:37:05.960 --> 00:37:13.000 They responded by saying, how? 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:18.599 God is saying to you tonight, I love you. 00:37:18.599 --> 00:37:26.480 And I hope and pray that you are saying in return, I love you too. 00:37:26.480 --> 00:37:30.760 Let's pray. 00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:44.600 Father, we confess that often we can be half-hearted, but we don't want to be because we recognize 00:37:44.600 --> 00:37:49.040 how much you have done for us in Jesus. 00:37:49.040 --> 00:37:54.040 And we thank you that He has come to pay the cost that we could never meet. 00:37:54.039 --> 00:38:01.759 And we thank you that your love for us is bigger and greater than we could ever grasp. 00:38:01.759 --> 00:38:04.759 And we love you too. 00:38:04.759 --> 00:38:09.159 And in all our weakness and feelings, we just want to go into a new week with a renewed 00:38:09.159 --> 00:38:13.800 commitment to love you and serve you and live for you. 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:18.079 We thank you for your incredible faithfulness. 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:22.840 And we pray that we would walk in your ways all the days of our lives. 00:38:22.840 --> 00:38:24.720 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:53.719 Amen.