WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.040 So with Malachi chapter 1 open in front of you, here's the game that's been in my mind all week as I've been thinking about this passage. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:15.480 One that if you're of a certain generation, you might remember this game from your youth. 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:23.219 It was a game that people used to play to guess if somebody loved them or not. 00:00:24.019 --> 00:00:26.900 These were simpler times. You would get yourself a daisy. 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:31.379 And one by one, you'd begin to pluck off the petals. 00:00:32.879 --> 00:00:36.179 And with each falling petal, you would say to yourself the rhyme. 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:40.159 They love me. They love me not. 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:44.019 They love me. They love me not. 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:47.060 They love me. They love me not. 00:00:47.099 --> 00:00:54.259 And whatever words were on your lips as that last petal fell, that word was your answer. 00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:56.239 Right? You've got the game in your mind. 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:01.179 Takes us straight to the question that's the heart of this passage today. 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:03.259 Ready for it? Really simple. 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:08.120 How do we know that the Lord loves us? 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:18.140 I cannot think, honestly, as the pastor of this church, I cannot think of a better question that we should spend the next 25, 30 minutes thinking about. 00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:21.320 How do we know the Lord loves us? 00:01:21.320 --> 00:01:31.299 As we step into another new year, how can we be sure of his unfailing commitment to us? 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:38.460 And how can we be sure of the trustworthiness of his promises? 00:01:38.459 --> 00:01:47.079 I cannot think of a better question for us to be getting our teeth into as a local church as we set out into 2023. 00:01:48.139 --> 00:01:51.699 Because here's the reality for many of us here today. 00:01:51.839 --> 00:02:00.899 Maybe for you, the jury is well and truly out as far as God's love and commitment to you is concerned. 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:10.700 Now, there are all sorts of reasons why we can become disillusioned and doubt God's love for us. 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:16.480 You may have returned to a really demanding job this week. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:24.560 One that calls for all out commitment for you and you just loved being away from it for a few days over Christmas. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:30.879 And you've returned to it this week and the weight of it has just hit you like a ton of bricks. 00:02:31.859 --> 00:02:37.699 Or perhaps it's the weight of worry that's associated with the cost of living crisis. 00:02:37.699 --> 00:02:43.419 That you managed to escape for a few days and it's returned with a vengeance in January. 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:46.519 I mean, this is a really, really tough month. 00:02:46.859 --> 00:02:51.519 It's little wonder that a week tomorrow is the day in our culture that we call what? 00:02:52.299 --> 00:02:54.379 We call it Blue Monday. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:00.619 And you think, Lord, I thought following you was about living life to the full. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:03.439 Maybe it's the church. 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:06.000 Maybe you see secularism on the increase. 00:03:06.679 --> 00:03:11.079 And yet the church in our nation, generally speaking, seems to be on the decrease. 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:16.280 And you think, Lord, I thought you said that you were building your church. 00:03:17.320 --> 00:03:19.120 Or maybe it's the loss of a loved one. 00:03:19.180 --> 00:03:22.320 Each year as you look at the empty chair around the Christmas dinner table, 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:29.040 it's like someone's ripped that bandage off of the wound, the wound that you desperately long would heal. 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:31.520 Do you even care, Lord? 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:35.340 You know, my uncle two days before Christmas, he died. 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:40.599 He had a stroke at home on the Wednesday. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:45.539 Recently retired, dearly loved, never came back, died on a Thursday night. 00:03:45.620 --> 00:03:49.879 For us as a family, Christmas from now on is about his death. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:56.379 And it reminded me of that deep pain that comes when you lose someone that you love. 00:03:56.379 --> 00:04:01.379 All sorts of reasons that we can ask this question in our minds. 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:06.560 Friends, I have got real raw skin in the game when it comes to this question. 00:04:06.699 --> 00:04:14.960 How do we know that the Lord loves us when life doesn't seem to turn out the way that you and I had planned it? 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:18.759 How do we know, Lord, that you love us? 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:22.939 And if anything of what I've said there has just clicked with you, 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:29.300 you've got to listen to what this passage is telling you and where it finds its ultimate fulfillment. 00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:34.740 Because it is precisely where Malachi's generation of God's people are at. 00:04:35.659 --> 00:04:39.319 They are asking, how have you loved us, Lord? 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:41.240 Have a look at the question that they're asking. 00:04:41.719 --> 00:04:44.560 The all-knowing Lord knows they're asking in their hearts at verse 2. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:45.659 Do you see it? Come with me. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:46.339 Look at it. 00:04:46.339 --> 00:04:55.159 And see just how deep the disillusionment has sunk down into their hearts like some kind of worm 00:04:55.159 --> 00:04:59.339 as it burrows its way endlessly into the core of an apple. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.479 They say not, do you love us, Lord? 00:05:03.139 --> 00:05:05.859 They say, how have you loved us, Lord? 00:05:05.939 --> 00:05:07.659 Do you see the bitterness in their question? 00:05:10.099 --> 00:05:12.479 The cynicism that's wrapped up in it. 00:05:12.599 --> 00:05:14.359 The anger that's wrapped up in it. 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:18.060 They do not believe this for a second. 00:05:18.660 --> 00:05:22.520 If the Lord were to walk into a bar in Israel in this day, 00:05:23.020 --> 00:05:24.639 the music would stop, 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:26.360 everyone would stare, 00:05:26.660 --> 00:05:30.319 and eventually someone would pipe up to remove the awkward silence 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:35.360 and say, you have got some nerve showing your face in here. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:46.680 Here is a generation who find themselves having returned from exile in Babylon. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:50.000 Babylon were defeated by the Persians. 00:05:51.080 --> 00:05:54.259 King Cyrus said, you can go home. 00:05:54.860 --> 00:06:00.819 So gradually God's people begin to make their way in waves to their homeland. 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:02.719 So they're back in their land. 00:06:03.099 --> 00:06:08.099 And what's more, by Malachi's time, they've managed to rebuild the temple. 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:09.360 And what does that mean? 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:13.879 It means that corporate life for God's people is back up and running again. 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:17.800 As they're doing the sacrificial thing, as they're doing the worship thing, 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:19.579 and together they're seeking the Lord. 00:06:19.579 --> 00:06:23.079 Which on paper you would think, doesn't it? 00:06:23.099 --> 00:06:25.279 It would sound like they're onto a really good thing. 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:29.719 Except in their minds, they're really not. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.300 Maybe think about it like this. 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:33.699 This is how I thought about it this week. 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:39.539 One of my favorite golfers is called Ian Poulter. 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:40.959 Right? 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.659 The fact that he's a golfer doesn't really matter for this illustration. 00:06:43.660 --> 00:06:45.860 But his nickname does. 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:48.740 They call him on tour. 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:51.060 They call him the postman. 00:06:52.340 --> 00:06:52.840 You want to know why? 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.480 Because when there's a big moment in golf, 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:57.700 when the chips are down, 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:00.520 when you need somebody to come through for you, 00:07:01.020 --> 00:07:03.960 he's the guy who always delivers. 00:07:05.440 --> 00:07:09.560 What a nickname to have in life, let alone in golf, 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:12.480 is the guy who always delivers. 00:07:14.340 --> 00:07:17.080 A Malachi's generation look at God, 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:20.260 and they say, you are the anti-postman. 00:07:21.380 --> 00:07:21.580 Right? 00:07:21.780 --> 00:07:23.939 You are the God who has promised, 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:27.460 and you are the God who has not delivered. 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:28.700 Right? 00:07:28.780 --> 00:07:29.560 Put yourself in their shoes. 00:07:29.660 --> 00:07:31.100 Okay, we're back in the land, 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:34.100 but the tempo that we've got is so unimpressive. 00:07:35.260 --> 00:07:36.920 And we're nothing when we look out 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:40.000 and we think about the grandeur and splendor 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:41.640 of the nations round about us. 00:07:41.700 --> 00:07:42.220 We're nothing. 00:07:42.220 --> 00:07:44.080 We're a laughingstock in their face. 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:45.640 And you said, God, 00:07:45.700 --> 00:07:50.340 you said that one day the nations would come flocking to this place 00:07:50.340 --> 00:07:53.800 and would glorify the God of Israel. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:56.440 That's not what happens. 00:07:58.100 --> 00:07:58.720 Where's that? 00:07:58.880 --> 00:07:59.800 We're trying to be faithful. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:03.060 We're trying to do the things that you asked us to do. 00:08:03.060 --> 00:08:06.079 We're trying to be faithful in obeying you. 00:08:06.280 --> 00:08:08.160 And they are idolatrous, 00:08:08.300 --> 00:08:10.300 and they are rebellious against you, 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:14.360 and yet they seem to be flourishing in their lives. 00:08:14.660 --> 00:08:17.240 Where is the justice that you said you would bring 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:20.959 to us on our enemies? 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:24.939 What's the point in trying to follow you 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:29.579 when all it seems to do is get us in a worse place 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:30.439 than when we started? 00:08:31.259 --> 00:08:32.059 What's the point? 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:33.259 You ever asked that? 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:34.759 You ever been there? 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:37.539 What's the point in trying to be faithful to the Lord? 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:42.819 Remember in my young trainee lawyer days, 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:43.919 what you do when you graduate, 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:45.679 you have this two-year internship. 00:08:46.439 --> 00:08:50.939 And honestly, it feels like a two-year episode 00:08:50.939 --> 00:08:52.319 of The Apprentice, right? 00:08:52.419 --> 00:08:55.079 It is who is going to get kept on at the end of this. 00:08:55.839 --> 00:08:58.679 And you soon discover that as well as working hard, 00:08:59.079 --> 00:09:00.500 what's going to set you apart 00:09:00.500 --> 00:09:02.819 and get you a slight edge in the game 00:09:02.819 --> 00:09:07.000 is if you can be seen as one who is partying hard, 00:09:07.620 --> 00:09:10.000 drinking hard, and joking hard. 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:13.599 And I remember looking after work nights out, 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:16.459 people coming in to work the next day with a hangover. 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:20.939 And instead of credibility in the eyes of the workplace, 00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:24.379 it going down, somehow it went up. 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:26.259 And you think to yourself, 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:27.860 what is the point in trying to be faithful? 00:09:27.939 --> 00:09:29.579 Am I wasting my time here? 00:09:29.899 --> 00:09:32.339 And I'm so thankful to God for my friend Colin. 00:09:32.479 --> 00:09:34.479 Colin was a trainee as well in the year below me. 00:09:35.339 --> 00:09:37.539 When I came to move on, didn't get kept on. 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:40.159 When I came to move on, remember Colin saying, 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:41.980 I've tried to play this game for a year 00:09:41.980 --> 00:09:44.519 and God's just been challenging me 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:45.600 that I shouldn't be doing it. 00:09:45.659 --> 00:09:47.600 And so what he did is every Wednesday night, 00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:49.060 he said, I'm going to leave on time 00:09:49.060 --> 00:09:51.279 and I'm going to get to the church prayer meeting. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:54.440 So he left our offices at Charlotte Square in the center. 00:09:54.560 --> 00:09:57.200 And what he did is he just walked up to St. Columbus 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:58.899 at the top of the Royal Mile and he prayed 00:09:58.899 --> 00:10:00.500 with his church family. 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:03.019 And we were both very aware 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:06.120 that that puts Colin at a disadvantage. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:11.059 Now, however that works out in your own field of life, 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:12.279 you get what I'm saying. 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:14.500 What is the point sometimes you think to yourself, 00:10:14.580 --> 00:10:16.419 what is the point of being faithful to the Lord? 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:19.340 Is it actually going to count against me? 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:21.740 Is it at the end of the day going to mean anything? 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.080 And Malachi's generation have concluded 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:26.679 that it's not. 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:28.959 That it's not. 00:10:29.379 --> 00:10:30.599 Their hearts have gone callous. 00:10:30.719 --> 00:10:32.339 Their affections have gone cold. 00:10:33.099 --> 00:10:35.679 Their religious life makes a mockery of the Lord. 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:39.359 Their moral life is an assault on his holiness. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:41.959 And they look at a world round about them 00:10:41.959 --> 00:10:46.199 and they think, if we can't beat them, join them. 00:10:48.839 --> 00:10:51.519 How can you say, God, that you love us? 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:54.439 How can you honestly sit there and say that? 00:10:56.679 --> 00:10:58.199 And maybe that's you here today. 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:00.519 And even a small way you're asking yourself, 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:01.679 does the Lord love us? 00:11:02.659 --> 00:11:05.479 And this letter is inescapably corporate. 00:11:06.359 --> 00:11:08.239 It's not me, it's us. 00:11:08.959 --> 00:11:09.379 Us. 00:11:11.099 --> 00:11:12.779 And the Lord's gracious answer, 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:14.199 and let's be honest, it is gracious. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:17.239 Never skip over that when it comes to us. 00:11:17.299 --> 00:11:20.000 God could have quite rightly left this generation 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.639 to go their own way. 00:11:21.859 --> 00:11:22.179 Couldn't he? 00:11:22.179 --> 00:11:27.139 But God's gracious answer is Malachi. 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:30.899 The one whose name means my messenger. 00:11:31.459 --> 00:11:32.359 And you see verse one, 00:11:32.439 --> 00:11:34.799 this guy comes on the scene in Israel with an oracle. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:35.919 You see that word? 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.419 Hebrew word there, more like our word burden. 00:11:42.019 --> 00:11:42.539 Burden. 00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:45.500 For God's heart in this book, 00:11:45.959 --> 00:11:48.959 as it expresses itself through his voice through Malachi, 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.940 is that his people would return to him 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:54.300 an obedience to his words. 00:11:55.019 --> 00:11:58.000 That is where life is going to be found for them. 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:00.519 Two reasons why God speaks. 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:04.620 First is to expose the short-sightedness 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:06.660 and folly of their question. 00:12:08.040 --> 00:12:09.180 Okay, God had said 00:12:09.180 --> 00:12:11.820 that you will be my people 00:12:11.820 --> 00:12:13.680 and I will be your God. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:15.799 It's the essence of the covenant. 00:12:16.099 --> 00:12:17.379 The word that was in Deuteronomy. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.120 I will be your God. 00:12:19.319 --> 00:12:20.519 You will be my people. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.199 And their lives are an absolute joke. 00:12:23.439 --> 00:12:25.699 And they have the audacity to suggest 00:12:25.699 --> 00:12:28.479 that the Lord is the one who should be in the dock 00:12:28.479 --> 00:12:30.799 for failing to deliver on his side of the covenant. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:34.239 And my friend Paul said 00:12:34.239 --> 00:12:36.039 that this is the equivalent of his son, 00:12:36.939 --> 00:12:38.279 the son who he raised, 00:12:38.859 --> 00:12:41.259 the son who he taught how to use a knife and fork, 00:12:41.259 --> 00:12:43.620 was there for when he split up with his first girlfriend, 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:45.700 was there for to help him with his homework, 00:12:46.100 --> 00:12:48.480 was there to ferry him to rugby practice and back, 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:50.259 was there to support him through university, 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:52.360 turning around on the phone one day and saying, 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:54.860 Dad, honestly, how have you loved me? 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:00.259 There is something breathtakingly insular 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:04.399 about how the people are treating the Lord in this book. 00:13:05.059 --> 00:13:07.399 When all they would really need to do 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:09.519 is take a history lesson 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:12.319 and look back through time 00:13:12.319 --> 00:13:15.159 and see how time and time and time again 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:17.240 they had got it wrong as a people 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:21.480 and how yet God has been relentlessly faithful, 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:23.340 patient, mighty, and just. 00:13:24.079 --> 00:13:25.199 But they don't. 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:28.240 I think this is maybe a really practical point 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:30.840 for us here as a church family. 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:34.559 The failure here is this generation, 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:36.259 the generations before them, 00:13:36.319 --> 00:13:38.500 have not passed on who the Lord is to them. 00:13:38.500 --> 00:13:42.039 Parents, this is our job with our kids. 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:42.919 Have you ever thought about this? 00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:45.220 This is our job with our children, 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:48.659 to tell them and pass on to them 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:50.200 who the Lord is, 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:51.340 how good he is, 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:52.759 how faithful he is, 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:54.679 and what he has done. 00:13:56.019 --> 00:13:59.039 It's one of the reasons why I love old hymns. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:02.959 Because of the wonderful thought 00:14:02.959 --> 00:14:06.939 that for centuries before we were even here, 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:11.360 God's people have been singing these words of praise. 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:12.939 I loved learning this last week 00:14:12.939 --> 00:14:14.939 when we were at a different church down in Bath. 00:14:15.339 --> 00:14:16.839 Finding out that Amazing Grace, 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:17.559 did you know this? 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:20.740 Amazing Grace is 250 years old this year. 00:14:21.339 --> 00:14:22.699 In fact, I think it was the 1st of January, 00:14:23.019 --> 00:14:25.860 250 years ago when they first sung it. 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:26.580 Do you know I love that? 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:27.980 Love that. 00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:30.779 250 years of God's people singing 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:33.659 through many dangers, toils and snares. 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:35.539 We have already come. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:38.700 Tis grace has brought us safe thus far 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:41.100 and grace will lead us home. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:44.300 250 years of that being the anthem of God's people. 00:14:45.379 --> 00:14:47.340 Saved by grace, not by their works. 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:49.960 Saved by grace because of who the Lord is. 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:52.159 You know, we've been reading the Pilgrim's Progress 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:54.240 with our children at night. 00:14:54.379 --> 00:14:56.139 This Children's Illustrated version of it. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:56.779 And I love it. 00:14:56.839 --> 00:14:57.480 Do you know why I love it? 00:14:57.500 --> 00:14:58.779 And you can do the QR code thing 00:14:58.779 --> 00:14:59.779 and check it out if you want. 00:15:00.079 --> 00:15:00.939 Do you know why I love it? 00:15:01.079 --> 00:15:04.039 For the simple reason it's reminded me who I am. 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:05.779 Who are we? 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:07.899 We're pilgrims. 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:09.539 And I can't say, what's a pilgrim? 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:10.240 Every night. 00:15:10.379 --> 00:15:11.120 Do you know what I say? 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:14.299 A pilgrim is someone who is journeying home. 00:15:15.459 --> 00:15:16.980 This is not our home. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:19.259 Our generation talk about, 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:20.980 have you bought your forever home? 00:15:21.059 --> 00:15:21.879 You heard that one before? 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:23.240 There's no such thing. 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:25.039 It's not here. 00:15:25.839 --> 00:15:26.799 Because of who the Lord is 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:27.899 and what he's called us to do. 00:15:28.579 --> 00:15:29.799 He's taken us home. 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:33.980 Reacquainted with the fact that I'm a pilgrim. 00:15:34.419 --> 00:15:35.439 And because of him, 00:15:36.439 --> 00:15:37.899 I've got confidence of the future. 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:38.600 Here's the thing. 00:15:38.679 --> 00:15:40.500 As you set out today on our, 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:42.480 in your life, our lives together. 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:43.439 Here's the truth of it. 00:15:44.219 --> 00:15:46.199 Where you and I will be in 10 years time 00:15:46.199 --> 00:15:47.839 is so uncertain. 00:15:49.139 --> 00:15:51.579 But where you and I will be in 100 years time, 00:15:51.580 --> 00:15:52.320 because of Jesus, 00:15:53.160 --> 00:15:53.680 is no. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:59.920 And that's something worth basing our lives upon. 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:02.280 That that future is untouchable. 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:06.199 But this generation before Malachi's generation, 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:08.639 I've not been passing on who the Lord is. 00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:11.199 But he is faithful. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:13.980 This is Rachel Jones in her wonderful little book, 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:15.839 Is This It? 00:16:17.439 --> 00:16:19.559 Subtext, what does it look like to be faithful, 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:23.100 following Jesus when life doesn't quite work out 00:16:23.100 --> 00:16:24.279 the way you thought it would? 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:25.319 And she's writing from her, 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:26.759 looking back in her 20s. 00:16:27.620 --> 00:16:28.679 But every generation, I think, 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:30.159 will click with what she's saying. 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:31.839 Free on Kindle right now, 00:16:31.899 --> 00:16:32.980 if that seals the deal. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:35.439 And click this or come to me afterwards 00:16:35.439 --> 00:16:36.279 and I'll get it for you. 00:16:36.319 --> 00:16:37.039 Here's what she says. 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:39.559 He might not take you on quite the route 00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:40.379 that you would plan. 00:16:41.199 --> 00:16:42.860 And how many of us know that to be true? 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:48.600 But he has intervened to set you on course 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:52.360 to the only destination worth heading to. 00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:56.419 Oh, the folly of grading the Lord's love 00:16:56.419 --> 00:17:00.060 purely on how life in front of our eyes 00:17:00.060 --> 00:17:01.899 we think it is going. 00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:05.660 Rather than zooming out and observing and remembering 00:17:05.660 --> 00:17:07.640 the panorama of God's promises 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:12.059 and his character of what he said is true. 00:17:12.059 --> 00:17:14.039 So that's what this generation are doing. 00:17:15.419 --> 00:17:18.259 It's the folly in questioning the Lord and who he is. 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:20.579 And secondly, secondly, why God speaks 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:22.720 is to address the heart of the question. 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:24.879 Because he is the Lord. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:25.339 Right? 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:26.440 When you see that in your Bible, 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:29.599 capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, 00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:30.259 it's a mouthful. 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:31.599 That's what that name means. 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:34.940 Yahweh, he is the Lord, the covenant God. 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:38.259 Makes a promise, keeps his promise. 00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:40.960 All-knowing, faithfully keeping, 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:42.480 steadfastly loving. 00:17:42.600 --> 00:17:43.799 This is who the Lord is. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:47.880 And this is a one-point sermon today. 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:49.779 The big proof of that for this generation. 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:52.559 God says, I chose you. 00:17:53.700 --> 00:17:55.740 That's how you know I love you. 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:57.519 That's how I've shown it. 00:17:58.120 --> 00:17:59.240 I've chosen you. 00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:01.319 It's not Esau, Jacob's brother. 00:18:01.420 --> 00:18:02.140 Do you see it in the text? 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:06.440 Verse 2. 00:18:07.100 --> 00:18:12.860 It's a reference to these two twins being born to Isaac and Rebekah 00:18:12.860 --> 00:18:14.800 that we read about in Genesis 25. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:17.560 I mean, read the text. 00:18:17.780 --> 00:18:19.520 And some of you, if you're doing this Bible in a year thing, 00:18:19.560 --> 00:18:20.900 you'll be up against it really soon. 00:18:22.040 --> 00:18:24.560 You ask yourself, who would be the brother who's going to carry on 00:18:24.560 --> 00:18:26.200 this line of promise? 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:30.460 The one that eventually Jesus is going to come from down the line. 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:31.420 Who is going to be the brother? 00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:35.539 And culturally, we'd fully expect it to be the older brother. 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:37.980 So it's to be Esau. 00:18:38.059 --> 00:18:42.559 But God says, no, I have chosen Jacob the younger. 00:18:44.340 --> 00:18:45.920 Not because Jacob is better. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:46.759 Get that in your minds. 00:18:46.840 --> 00:18:48.180 Not because he is better. 00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:51.440 Or God somehow looked down the line and saw his potential. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:56.240 No, you read the story and this man made some serious mistakes. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:57.640 The deceiver. 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:01.140 The guy who preferred Joseph. 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:05.000 It's not because Jacob was any better. 00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:08.400 It is simply because the Lord says so. 00:19:09.460 --> 00:19:10.779 Jacob I have chosen. 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:13.039 Esau I have hated. 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:16.259 Hated language there probably comes across stronger 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:18.140 in our English translations there. 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:20.039 It just means preference. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:24.039 I chose Jacob over Esau. 00:19:24.259 --> 00:19:25.519 I chose Jacob. 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:27.320 I set him apart for myself. 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:30.960 He and his line will be my special possession. 00:19:31.620 --> 00:19:35.539 To them I will make and keep my promises of forgiveness 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:37.900 and grace and love with them. 00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:43.160 And by implication, if God has chosen them, 00:19:43.259 --> 00:19:46.080 he has not chosen Esau. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:47.420 Right? 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:50.019 And Esau's descendants, and this is where you hit the text, 00:19:50.120 --> 00:19:50.740 verse 4. 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.019 Are the Edomites. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:57.019 The historic enemies of God's people. 00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:59.059 When you read through the Old Testament story 00:19:59.059 --> 00:20:02.740 and this people just make life really, really difficult 00:20:02.740 --> 00:20:04.000 for God's people. 00:20:06.340 --> 00:20:09.860 They almost represent a world that's in hostility against God 00:20:09.860 --> 00:20:10.620 and his ways. 00:20:11.080 --> 00:20:13.600 And God says he will ultimately defeat them 00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:17.700 and win the victory over them for his people. 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:22.360 You see, Malachi's generation are tempted to think that there is no difference 00:20:22.360 --> 00:20:23.120 between the two. 00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:27.019 There is no difference between the Lord's people and the people of the world. 00:20:27.360 --> 00:20:29.480 But God says that is not true. 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:35.799 And one day, ultimately, you will see that distinction for yourselves. 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:43.279 As God says he will finally and fully, rightly judge and condemn his enemies. 00:20:43.700 --> 00:20:51.139 And because of his grace, he will graciously save and pardon his people. 00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:55.060 How have you loved us? 00:20:55.860 --> 00:20:57.759 How has the Lord ultimately loved us? 00:20:57.820 --> 00:21:00.060 Friends, where would you look for your answer to that question? 00:21:02.060 --> 00:21:06.380 Ultimately, the fullest expression of God's love for his people 00:21:06.380 --> 00:21:12.860 and his unending commitment to us to see his promises home as he loves us 00:21:12.860 --> 00:21:17.620 comes in the life and the death of Jesus Christ. 00:21:18.460 --> 00:21:22.120 If you're in any doubt this morning, that's where you need to look to him. 00:21:22.120 --> 00:21:28.020 He is the perfect, visible demonstration of the love of God for 00:21:28.020 --> 00:21:31.680 and of the commitment of God to his people. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:38.779 The person that Puritan Thomas Goodwin, as he increasingly tried to wrap his head 00:21:38.779 --> 00:21:43.900 around the Jesus who he saw in the Gospels, he said of Jesus that he is like 00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:45.759 love covered over with flesh. 00:21:46.600 --> 00:21:47.360 Love that. 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:50.740 He is love covered over with flesh. 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:55.100 And let me just take you to one place in the Gospels. 00:21:55.220 --> 00:21:56.420 We can go anywhere. 00:21:58.320 --> 00:22:01.299 One of my favorite places is what Jesus does in John 13. 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:09.279 Oh, and if you haven't met Jesus, here is a wonderful place for you to start 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:10.560 trying to grasp who he is. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.700 John 13, the night before Jesus goes to the cross and dies. 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:14.880 What does he do? 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:16.980 What does he do? 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:20.720 And the text makes it clear, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.299 knowing who was going to betray him, what does he do? 00:22:23.620 --> 00:22:24.980 And this is Jesus to a T. 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:30.980 He fills a basin, towel over the shoulder. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.220 And he starts washing the disciples' feet. 00:22:34.900 --> 00:22:37.140 I mean, who would have come up with that? 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:41.880 One of these little things that convinces me that the Gospels are true. 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:43.240 Who would have come up with that? 00:22:44.560 --> 00:22:45.900 No, he washes their feet. 00:22:46.120 --> 00:22:50.779 Because before life is going to be for the disciples about serving Jesus, 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:55.220 first and foremost, it is about Jesus serving them. 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:58.799 And that's a wonderful truth for us to carry into this year. 00:22:58.900 --> 00:23:03.500 Before life is about serving him, it's about being served by him. 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:07.140 Jesus says to them, I need to make you clean. 00:23:07.140 --> 00:23:15.140 Symbolically, he's acting out what he was about to do for them as he is crucified on the cross, 00:23:15.320 --> 00:23:20.660 in their place for their sin, to win their forgiveness on the cross. 00:23:20.860 --> 00:23:25.400 Such is his love and commitment to the people the Father has given them. 00:23:25.820 --> 00:23:27.520 Jesus takes their shame. 00:23:28.340 --> 00:23:29.980 Jesus takes their sin. 00:23:29.980 --> 00:23:34.880 Jesus makes them perfect in the eyes of the Father because they're found in him. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:36.980 And he says, you are mine. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:40.180 And that's what it is to be a Christian, isn't it, ultimately? 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:42.160 We have been served by Jesus. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:44.480 Not because we were better than anyone else. 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:50.079 But simply because he loved us, because he loved us, because he loved us. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:54.819 And not everyone will be clean. 00:23:54.980 --> 00:24:00.939 And Judas stands there in that scene, presumably having had his feet washed by Jesus. 00:24:01.460 --> 00:24:03.139 And yet Jesus knows his heart. 00:24:03.740 --> 00:24:08.039 It's a heart that, although going along with the religious motions, has long since checked out. 00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:13.220 But Jesus' disciples, the ones who he will die for, 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:17.220 the ones who he will call to himself, what are they? 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:22.420 They're loved, chosen, known, adopted. 00:24:22.980 --> 00:24:24.059 That's what it is to be his. 00:24:25.100 --> 00:24:26.779 We did not go looking for him. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:27.940 We did not deserve it. 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:30.680 But this God came looking for us. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:34.100 Friends, if we try and answer that question, does God love us? 00:24:34.120 --> 00:24:40.579 If we try and answer it in terms of how we're feeling or in terms of how life is going, 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:43.360 it's little wonder that you and I get disillusioned. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:55.019 But the convincing proof of God's love for us is that he had boundless mercy and endless grace on us in Jesus Christ. 00:24:55.939 --> 00:24:59.659 And it's to him that we look to see that God loves us. 00:25:01.259 --> 00:25:03.139 Now just as we wrap this up and as we close, 00:25:03.299 --> 00:25:05.719 and maybe try and focus us on the application of this, 00:25:07.939 --> 00:25:11.179 do you know what our kids loved doing in the summer when we were in America? 00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:13.820 Here's what they loved. 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:16.560 They loved the water parks. 00:25:17.620 --> 00:25:23.580 And in particular in the water parks, they loved this thing called the lazy river. 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:25.759 I can't think of a more American thing, can you? 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:28.279 Lazy river. 00:25:28.539 --> 00:25:30.279 Really simple concept. 00:25:31.460 --> 00:25:33.220 You found yourself a rubber ring. 00:25:34.080 --> 00:25:35.980 You stepped into the river rapid, 00:25:36.080 --> 00:25:38.759 the one that would take you all the way around the circumference of the park. 00:25:38.759 --> 00:25:45.960 And you sat in the ring and you kicked back and you just watched life go by. 00:25:46.299 --> 00:25:47.460 Honestly, amazing. 00:25:47.700 --> 00:25:51.079 You just let the current take you. 00:25:52.359 --> 00:25:53.619 Oh, that was the American dream. 00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:57.420 Enjoying the sun, it gets too hot, you're in the water. 00:25:57.579 --> 00:25:59.779 Too cold in the water, you get to enjoy the sun. 00:26:00.019 --> 00:26:00.579 Loved it. 00:26:00.879 --> 00:26:02.559 But here's the thing I realized in the lazy river. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:04.259 I love drifting. 00:26:05.679 --> 00:26:09.919 And just how easy it is to coast. 00:26:13.779 --> 00:26:14.879 Question for you. 00:26:16.299 --> 00:26:21.099 When it comes to knowing the love of this God for us in Jesus, 00:26:21.099 --> 00:26:28.779 is our hearts natural drift towards savoring and living in light of it? 00:26:28.879 --> 00:26:34.000 Or is it to drift away, forget and neglect it? 00:26:35.799 --> 00:26:40.199 Now, if your honest answer is the answer that I give every day, 00:26:40.779 --> 00:26:43.359 then here are two great things as we close, 00:26:43.419 --> 00:26:46.419 as we head into this year, that are going to stop us drifting. 00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:50.360 Number one, the Lord has given us his word. 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:53.300 As we see in the weeks to come, 00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:56.580 one of the reasons that Malachi's generation are in the place that they're in 00:26:56.580 --> 00:26:58.460 is they've just stopped listening. 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:03.180 They've stopped wanting to hear the voice of the Lord. 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:07.100 The voice that corrects, the voice that assures, 00:27:07.820 --> 00:27:11.420 the voice that instructs, and the voice that reminds. 00:27:12.840 --> 00:27:14.920 Brothers and sisters, are you listening today? 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:20.220 Are we listening today to the voice of our loving Heavenly Father each day 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:24.320 as we have his ear in Christ reminding us who he is? 00:27:25.560 --> 00:27:28.580 What plans do you have to read his word this year? 00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:31.820 Maybe you could read it thinking individually. 00:27:32.100 --> 00:27:33.640 Maybe we could read it with somebody together. 00:27:34.019 --> 00:27:35.580 This is why we do this on a Sunday, 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:37.440 why our meetings are filled with his words. 00:27:37.740 --> 00:27:39.140 Because we just forget. 00:27:39.840 --> 00:27:41.120 We just forget. 00:27:41.820 --> 00:27:42.860 He's given us his word, 00:27:42.860 --> 00:27:44.840 and secondly, he's given us each other. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:46.759 Each other. 00:27:47.060 --> 00:27:49.980 Have you ever thought about the fact that one of the main goals of our meetings, 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:57.800 the main ambition here is that we would remember and savour and celebrate the gospel? 00:27:57.799 --> 00:28:01.559 Who our God is in what we sing, 00:28:01.559 --> 00:28:02.859 in what we read, 00:28:03.139 --> 00:28:05.139 in what we say to one another, 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:07.519 both before, during, and after the service. 00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:09.940 Honestly, there was a time in my Christian life, 00:28:09.940 --> 00:28:11.960 to my shame, 00:28:12.159 --> 00:28:13.440 where I honestly thought 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:15.779 that as I grow as a follower of Jesus, 00:28:15.779 --> 00:28:17.619 I will need this less. 00:28:17.619 --> 00:28:22.099 And oh, what a fool I was for thinking that. 00:28:22.179 --> 00:28:23.559 Because I've come to see, 00:28:23.779 --> 00:28:25.059 as I continue on, 00:28:25.099 --> 00:28:26.839 and even if you do this job, 00:28:27.179 --> 00:28:29.179 to see that I need this not less, 00:28:29.419 --> 00:28:31.039 I need this more. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:33.539 I need you in my life. 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:35.219 I'm so thankful for you. 00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:38.519 Some of you have got no idea the ways that you've encouraged me over the years, 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:41.719 as you've brought words and seas and God's word into my life. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:43.119 At certain points when I needed it, 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:43.539 I thought, 00:28:43.899 --> 00:28:45.179 thank you for God's people. 00:28:45.459 --> 00:28:46.559 Thank you for being you. 00:28:47.699 --> 00:28:49.119 We should be doing that to one another. 00:28:49.219 --> 00:28:52.399 And that's why it's so important that we choose a local church. 00:28:52.659 --> 00:28:54.199 We commit to a local church. 00:28:54.359 --> 00:28:55.359 For some of you this year, 00:28:55.419 --> 00:28:56.839 would it not be a wonderful ambition 00:28:56.839 --> 00:28:59.239 that you put down roots here 00:28:59.239 --> 00:29:00.579 and say, 00:29:00.699 --> 00:29:01.619 this is my family. 00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:04.919 This is the place where I'm going to grow as a follower and disciple of Jesus. 00:29:05.179 --> 00:29:06.679 I'm going to grow, not individually. 00:29:07.639 --> 00:29:08.839 I'm going to grow corporately. 00:29:09.879 --> 00:29:11.079 Because we need one another. 00:29:11.199 --> 00:29:12.759 And God, in his wisdom, 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:15.339 has given us each other in order to grow. 00:29:17.699 --> 00:29:18.599 He loves me. 00:29:19.699 --> 00:29:20.719 He loves me not. 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:21.399 He loves me. 00:29:22.019 --> 00:29:22.959 He loves me not. 00:29:23.459 --> 00:29:25.539 Let's close with the words of 1 John 4. 00:29:26.979 --> 00:29:30.259 This is the Bible's categorical answer to that question. 00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:33.119 This is how God showed his love among us. 00:29:33.939 --> 00:29:37.359 He sent his one and only son into the world 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:40.819 that we might live through him. 00:29:41.579 --> 00:29:42.639 This is love. 00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:44.279 Not that we loved God, 00:29:44.959 --> 00:29:47.779 but that he loved us 00:29:47.779 --> 00:29:50.139 and sent his son 00:29:50.139 --> 00:29:53.059 as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 00:29:53.159 --> 00:29:53.879 That is the gospel. 00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:55.920 So we're going to, 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:58.120 it's a wonderful transition into a time of communion. 00:29:59.040 --> 00:30:00.600 It's essentially what communion is, isn't it? 00:30:01.060 --> 00:30:03.380 Celebrating what our God has done for us. 00:30:03.980 --> 00:30:05.100 So why don't we just pray 00:30:05.100 --> 00:30:07.540 and then we're going to stand and sing again 00:30:07.540 --> 00:30:10.120 and then we're going to remember the Lord together. 00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:12.179 So let me pray. 00:30:13.679 --> 00:30:14.419 Heavenly Father, 00:30:14.519 --> 00:30:16.699 we thank you for what we thought about this morning. 00:30:16.859 --> 00:30:20.919 Your unending, ceaseless, abounding love for us in Jesus. 00:30:22.379 --> 00:30:24.719 And Lord, I pray for those of us here today 00:30:24.719 --> 00:30:26.479 who are doubting. 00:30:27.199 --> 00:30:28.359 For whatever reason, 00:30:28.500 --> 00:30:29.919 who are disillusioned, 00:30:30.099 --> 00:30:31.119 who are questioning. 00:30:31.619 --> 00:30:34.419 Lord, thank you that your word is full of invitations 00:30:34.419 --> 00:30:36.219 to come to you with our questions. 00:30:38.099 --> 00:30:39.679 But Father, I pray that by your spirit 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:42.480 dwelling amongst us and in us, 00:30:43.840 --> 00:30:45.060 that you would help us today 00:30:45.060 --> 00:30:46.900 to remember who you are 00:30:46.900 --> 00:30:49.779 and to celebrate who you are 00:30:49.779 --> 00:30:52.299 and to live in light of what you've done. 00:30:52.600 --> 00:30:53.420 Thank you, Lord, 00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:55.240 that we do not wake up tomorrow 00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:57.100 and think, does your love still apply? 00:30:58.160 --> 00:30:59.400 Thank you that in Jesus, 00:31:00.080 --> 00:31:02.299 the one who never changes, 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:03.380 the one that we thought the outset 00:31:03.380 --> 00:31:05.380 is the same yesterday, today and forever, 00:31:05.539 --> 00:31:07.539 that answer is always yes. 00:31:07.539 --> 00:31:10.539 So Father, be with us now, we pray, 00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:12.159 as we move to this time of communion. 00:31:12.639 --> 00:31:13.920 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:14.619 Amen.