Good morning, friends.
If you'd like to get your bubbles and turn back to Malachi,
we are on our third installment of our commitment series,
and we're sort of roughly halfway through Malachi.
Right from the start in Malachi,
we saw the glorious foundation of the relationship between God and his people.
It was right there, chapter 1, verse 2,
I have loved you.
And we unpacked that incredible statement that God's love is an electing love.
His love for them is unconditional love because he chose them before they'd done anything good or evil.
His love for them is a sovereign love because he wasn't tricked, he wasn't forced,
he wasn't manipulated to loving them.
His love for them was a free love because it's an abundant overflow of the immeasurable grace
that can never be bought, repaid, or earned in any way.
But Israel, as we saw from verse 2 of chapter 1,
they failed to see the greatness of God's love.
They failed to feel the greatness of God's love as well.
We've also seen that they failed to see and feel the greatness of the majesty of God
in chapter 1, verse 6.
The son honors his father and to slave his master.
If I'm a father, where is the honor due to me?
The fatherhood of God here in the first few verses of Malachi means that he loves me,
but it also implies that God is to be honored and revered and venerated.
Malachi wants us to see and feel that our Father in heaven has infinite authority in the universe.
He can wield any and all armies on the earth to accomplish his purposes among the nations.
He has myriads of unstoppable angels who do his bidding fallously and never fail in their errands.
He has appointed every star in the universe in its place,
and he holds it there by the power of his word,
or trillion upon trillion of them,
and he calls them by name, each one of them.
And so it is the sheer majesty of the fatherhood of God that Judah's missing.
And the sheer abundance of his mercy and grace that they're missing.
And so the outworking for this is that their view of themselves is big,
and their view of God is small,
and so therefore they are giving God the leftover of their lives
in careless worship and in the way that they treat other people.
Chapter 2, verse 17, where we're up to today,
reveals just how small their view of God is.
You have wearied the Lord with your words.
How have we wearied him, you asked?
By saying, all who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord,
and he is pleased with them.
Or, where is the God of justice?
They want a God of justice.
No doubt we can identify with that.
When aid money for war-torn countries is redirected towards guns and ammo,
we feel the injustice of that.
Or when a billionaire milks money out of poor people with dodgy schemes,
we feel the injustice of that.
When a criminal escapes conviction through illegal technicalities,
we feel the injustice of that.
And in those moments,
there is a right sense of justice stirred up within us.
But a sense of futility is often stirred up in those moments as well.
Will the perpetrators ever be brought to justice?
Will oppression ever end in this world?
And so, you see the cynical, unbelieving question in verse 17.
Where is the God of justice?
That question is tantamount to doubting the existence of God.
Their view of God was so diminished
that they were wondering if he even existed.
You see, the return from exile in Babylon
quickly turned to disillusionment for the people of God.
They had rebuilt the temple as instructed,
but where was God?
Where was God?
Zechariah and Ezekiel both said
that the Lord would return in a glorious fashion
and Israel, God's people, would be restored.
They would be on top of the world
as they were under David and Solomon.
And yet, the temple's built
and decade after decade after decade followed
and there was no supernatural event
marking the return of the Lord to his temple.
And so, we've done our bit.
God, you haven't done your bit.
It's a question of,
is he, in fact,
faithless to his covenant promises?
You see, the evidence to them on the surface
pointed to God forgetting his covenant promises.
There was famine, there was oppression,
life was really hard.
In fact, it was better back in Babylon
and they were fed up
and they were weary of it all.
It turns out, however,
that God had a greater reason for weariness.
2.17 again,
You have wearied the Lord with your words.
How have we wearied him, you ask?
By saying,
All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord
and he is pleased with them.
Or where is the God of justice?
You see, God isn't wearied
by the faithful prayers of the oppressed.
He is wearied by faithlessness and sin.
And we saw examples of that last week
in their careless worship
and their unfaithfulness in their relationships
with one another.
And so where's God?
Has he forgotten his covenant promises?
Is he going to turn up
and come to his temple
as Ezekiel and Zechariah said he would?
Verse 1 of chapter 3.
See, or quite literally,
listen up.
I will send my messenger
who will prepare the way before me.
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking
will come to his temple.
The message of the covenant
whom you desire will come,
says the Lord Almighty.
He's coming.
And it says there,
he's coming suddenly.
That has an ominous feel to it.
God says,
The Lord you are seeking
whom you desire will come.
He is committed to his covenant.
He is coming
and he tells his people
exactly how it's going to work.
We are told the Lord
will send his messenger ahead of him
to get things ready.
Malachi here is picking up
the imagery of the ancient kings
who would inform their subjects
that they were coming
for a state visit
and to give them time
in order to get things ready for them.
So they weren't taken by surprise.
And of particular importance
was the need
to prepare the way
for the royal procession
by removing anything
that gets in the way.
All the debris,
all the obstacles,
all the boulders.
And the messenger here
has the same function.
But they are spiritual
rather than physical obstacles
to the coming of this king
to his temple.
The forerunner
is to come in
and to warn the people
that the king is coming.
Prepare your hearts.
Prepare your lives.
And once the forerunner
has done his work,
then the king will follow.
The Lord,
who they are seeking
at the beginning of
chapter 3 verse 1,
is also
the messenger
of the covenant
whom they desire
at the end of
chapter 3 verse 1.
It's the same person.
So in these verses,
there's the messenger
preparing the way
for the Lord
who is also
the messenger
of the covenant.
Two people being referred to here.
As the messenger
of the covenant,
he will continue
the work
of the forerunner messenger.
There will be a synergy
between the two.
The difference is
that because
the messenger
of the covenant,
the second one,
is also the Lord,
that is the Lord of hosts,
the Lord Almighty,
he will speak
with unparalleled
authority.
He will not just
present the message
of the covenant.
He is the message
of the covenant.
He is the mediator
of the covenant.
He's the one
who will bring it in
to fulfillment
amongst the people
of God.
And so the message
here for
these cynical
people of God
is that the Lord
has not forgotten
his covenant.
It would have
seemed like
he had forgotten
it.
Things weren't
so great
in Israel
at that time.
And it would seem
that he had forgotten
it for another
400 years
after these words
when God
never said
a word
to them.
There was no message
for God,
from God
for 400 years.
and then
after four
centuries
we have
Mark chapter
1 verse 4
saying
John
came.
He doesn't
fill in all the
gaps for us.
He's assumed
we've got our
Bibles open
at Malachi
and at Mark.
It's not hard
to work out.
In verse 2
of Mark
chapter 1
he quotes
Malachi
chapter 3
verse 1.
I will send
my messenger
ahead of you
who will
prepare your
way
and in the
very next
verse it
says
John
came.
And John
is doing
what he's
famous for
doing.
Baptising
people.
Saying
wash
yourselves
before God
as a sign
of your
change of
heart.
It's time
to clean
up and
get ready
for the
one who's
coming after
me is
hot on
my
heels.
And
although
the crowds
gathered to
see the
spectacle of
John
possibly the
first time
in 400
years that
there's a
real prophet
on the
scene.
John
says in
verse 7
don't make
a fuss
about me
I'm the
curtain
raiser.
After me
will come
one more
powerful than
me.
It's so
powerful that
I'm not
even able
to step
down and
tie up
his
shoelaces.
And then
Jesus turns
up coming
out of
Galilee it
says to
be baptized
by John.
And you
see in
chapter 11
sorry verse
11 of
Mark 1
that God
confirms that
what John
has said
about the
greatness of
Lord Jesus
is true.
You are my
son.
The message
comes from
heaven in
whom I
love with
you I
am well
pleased.
And if we
are left in
any doubt
at all about
the sheer
majesty of
Jesus in
the following
chapters in
Mark's he
heals
paralytics the
lepers he
tells demons
to go and
take a hike
he tells the
storm to
shut up and
be quiet
tells the
waves don't
move.
He feeds
5,000 with
a cut lunch
and then
another 4,000
with another
cut lunch
after that and
it just
continues and
continues until
three days
after he's
dead he
comes out
of the
tomb.
The sheer
majesty of
Jesus controls
everything in
the world and
beyond the
world.
There is
nothing outside
of his
authority but
the big lead
up in all the
miracles of
Jesus displaying
his majesty
and then in
chapter 11 the
Lord comes to
his temple in
spectacular fashion.
It may have
taken four
centuries but
the Lord is
faithful to
his covenant.
The basis of
this covenant are
there with those
words Jacob I
have loved and
God has never
turned his back on
that covenant
promise.
His commitment to
his covenant of
love saw the
Lord Jesus who is
the messenger and
the mediator and
the fulfiller of
the covenant go to
the cross for the
sin of the world.
God so loved the
world that he
gave his one and
only son so that
whoever believes in
him will not perish
but have eternal
life.
The great
fulfillment of
God's sovereign
electing unconditional
free love is the
willing sacrifice of
the majestic Lord
Jesus on the cross
for the world.
God has never
turned his back on
his covenant of
love.
God's sovereign
of course when he
came though they
weren't looking for
him and so God's
being a little bit
ironic in Malachi 3
1 in saying that
they are seeking him
or that they desire
him.
He's being ironic
because frankly the
people in Malachi's
time as they were in
Jesus' time thought
that they were okay
with God and everyone
else is going to get
it in the neck.
Things aren't great
in Israel but deep
down we've got the
temple it dominates
the skyline.
Deep down you know
you're looking forward
to it.
God's promised it
that his kingdom is
going to be put back
together and his
enemies are going to
be judged.
That God himself is
going to come and he's
going to put everything
right.
He's promised it.
He's going to come in
judgment and God's
enemies are going to
get in the neck while
we the people of God
are going to get a
pat on the back.
Bring it on.
It's going to be a
real treat to finally
be on top and
everyone else
underneath.
Malachi 3
2 is a wake up
call to the people
of God who can
endure the day of
his coming who can
stand when he
appears for he
will be like a
refiner's fire or a
launderer's soap.
So thank you Chris
for bringing out that
yellow soap.
It brings back
memories of a teacher
who thought that
yellow soap can
clean on the inside.
And when I see it
still I can taste it.
I can still taste it
35 years later and
still remember the
bubbles coming out of
my nose.
It is awful stuff.
Don't ever do it.
You scar people for a
long time and it costs
a fortune in
counseling.
Notice that the Lord
Almighty is coming to
his temple.
the judgment of God
isn't starting out
there.
He's coming to his
temple and it says
here he's coming as a
refining fire.
He's coming in
judgment and no one
will be able to stand
their ground.
This is referring to
the people of God.
Not one will be able
to pass the penetrating
test of the Lord.
What a turn up for the
books.
They had this notion
that the Lord was
going to come and
that it would be a
blessing for them
rather than judge
judgment.
They were looking out
to their neighbors
and seeing them all
prosper while they
suffered and they
were asking the same
question of Asaph in
Psalm 73.
What good is it being a
person of faith?
Where is our God when
the nations prosper and
his people suffer?
God is going to be a
God.
And they want him to
come and they want him
to sort it all out, to
turn it on its head and
to crush them and to
lift us up.
Show the world that we
are your chosen people by
making us prosper and
everyone else suffer.
God is going to be a
God.
But that's not what's
happening here.
Instead they had to
learn that their smug
contentment, their
self-righteousness would
not survive under the
scrutiny of the God of
justice.
Judgment would begin with
the people of God.
But notice how Malachi
describes the judgment
of God's people.
Verse 3.
He will sit as a
refiner and purifier of
silver.
He will purify the
Levites and refine them
like gold and silver.
This judgment is a
refiner's fire.
It's not described as a
forest fire which
destroys indiscriminately.
It's not an incinerator's
fire that destroys
totally.
It's refinement.
It's a refinement at the
initiative of God from
his hand.
And the purpose of this
refinement, as we are
told there, is purity.
It melts the gold and the
silver and it separates the
impurities that would in
the end destroy the value
and the purity of the
precious metal.
And the Lord will come to
his people until he has,
that is, come to his
people to purify his
people in judgment until
the end of verse 3.
Men will bring offerings
of righteousness and the
offering of Judah and
Jerusalem will be
acceptable to the Lord.
The judgment of his
people will be for their
refinement.
That is, it is for their
holiness so that they can
actually come into the
presence of God.
It will result in them
loving and honoring and
worshiping God as they
should.
The spirit of faith and
devotion of the Lord that
used to be shown will
indeed be recaptured.
Unfortunately though,
verse 6 reveals that not
everyone will embrace the
refiner's fire.
there are those who refuse
to fear the Lord.
And so for them, the
coming of the Lord in
judgment was not a
threat, not something to
be concerned about.
They continued to
self-righteously pat
themselves on their backs
to their own detriment.
And if I can say this, I
think Malachi at this point
is being a pastor and
saying to his people,
come back, come back,
come back, embrace the
refining fires.
Because all that's left is
the all-consuming fire.
If you don't.
What we know this side of
the coming of the Lord
Jesus is that the
refining process was
ultimately done on the
cross by Christ.
God took action to
make us holy and
presentable to himself
through the Lord Jesus
atoning for the sin of
the world.
You see that in
Ephesians 5, verses
25 to 27, which says
this about Jesus' death
on the cross.
He loved the church and
gave himself up for her
to make her holy,
cleansing her by the
washing with water
through the word and
to present her to
himself as a radiant
church without staying
or wrinkle or any
other blemish, but
holy and blameless.
Oh, well, that's good.
I mean, it is good.
But don't be mistaken
with that verse.
It's easy to conclude
it's all done and
dust.
Thanks for loving me,
Jesus.
Now pure, no more
refining.
Interesting, the cross
of Christ 2,000 years
ago, while the
decisive moment was
in fact not the end of
the refinement matter,
that day of judgment
when the Lord will come
happened 2,000 years
ago and it continues
this side of eternity.
We are in the day of the
Lord right now.
The refining day of the
Lord.
1 Peter 4, you've got it
there on your sheet.
Notice it there, it says
it's time for judgment to
begin with the family of
God.
That's post-cross.
The refining process
continues for the
people of God.
And so I want to take
you to Hebrews 12.
It's a passage which
helps us to embrace the
refining fire in a way
that will cause us to
grow in holiness as
opposed to in smugness
rejected.
Hebrews 12 verses 5 to
9 says this,
And you have forgotten
that word of
encouragement that
addresses you as
sons.
My son, do not make
light of the Lord's
discipline and do not
lose heart when he
rebukes you because the
Lord disciplines those
he loves and he
punishes everyone he
accepts as a son.
Endure hardship as
discipline.
God is treating you as
sons.
For what son is not
disciplined by his
father?
The word discipline
here is meant to be
taken in the bigger
sense of training.
That's the bigger
overarching sense here.
It's the idea of
training.
Under that is subsets of
things like punishment.
But it's all within the
context of training of his
people.
And these verses here
encourage us to enter
into the hard times of
life by thinking of them
in terms of a training
experience given to us by
the loving, merciful,
covenant God.
God.
They come from his
hand to us.
He loves you.
He is treating you as
one of his children.
In other words, in your
pain, you are not being
treated like a slave.
You are not being treated
as an enemy.
In your pain, God is not
removed from it all
going, I wish I could do
something.
God is not a surgeon who
looks at a bad thing and
comes in and fixes it up and
makes it good.
He plans the incision.
He plans the whole lot
because you are his love
child.
And the issue is, will
you believe it?
Will you let the word of
God settle the issue for
you so that when the
suffering comes, you don't
turn on God and put him in
the dock and prosecute him
with accusations like,
where is the God of
justice?
He probably will not tell
you why it's your turn.
Or why it is happening
right now.
Or why there is so much
pain.
Or why it is lasting so
long.
But he has told you what
you do need to know.
It is the love of an
all-wise father to his
child.
Who never turns his back
on his covenant.
Will you trust him?
In everything that causes
pain.
From health issues, from
death of a relative, to
problems with the kids, or
your marriage, or I've lost
my job, or I've crashed my
car, or finances don't reach,
or that there's changing
church.
Everything.
Coming from the merciful hand
of God.
And verse 14 helps us to see
that this loving God has a
very good reason.
It says, make every effort to
be holy.
The picture in Malachi 3.3
of the refiner.
You notice it there.
It says the refiner sits
and concentrates all of his
tension.
That's what they used to do.
As the refining process is
happening, the fire is
happening, the refiner would
pull up his chair and he
would sit and watch the metal
being refined.
And particularly with silver.
And he would watch it and
watch it and concentrate all
of his concern.
And do you know when he
knows it's been, the fire's
over, the refining process
is done, and the purity has
been achieved?
Do you know when he knows?
It's when he's sitting there
and he can see his reflection
in the silver.
And that's the picture of
our God here.
That's the beauty of this
picture.
He sits all of his
attention until he sees his
reflection in his people.
And why is the reflection of
God, the holiness of God, so
essential?
Because at the end of verse
14 of Hebrews 12, without
holiness, no one will see the
Lord.
That's why it's essential.
Because the very foundation of
God's covenant is that he would
spend eternity with his people.
That's the goal.
And these verses assume that the
most important thing in this
life is not to be happy, it's not
to be comfortable, it's not to be
fulfilled.
It is to know God, to become more
dependent upon God, to allow him
to strip every aspect of self-
dependency from us, so that we
throw ourselves at our saviour's
feet and just say, glory, Lord
God Almighty.
My friends, I wish I could come
with a slightly different message,
but there is no painless path to
heaven.
It is no more possible to become
pure painlessly than it is to be
burnt painlessly.
Painlessly.
So my friends, let me just put on my
pastor's heart just for a moment.
If that is you right now, right now,
the temptation is to think that God
has forgotten you, that God doesn't
love you, that he's not committed to
his promises to you, that he doesn't
care about injustice.
Jesus, I just want to say, please do
not despise the Lord's discipline.
Have confidence in God.
The covenant promise is this.
The furnace of affliction that you are
currently going through is for
refinement.
It's not for your destruction.
The refining fires are not evidence
that God has abandoned his covenant.
Do not listen to the good intentioned
person who will say, but you're a good
person, or but you're a believer.
Why is this happening to you?
Do not listen to those good intentioned
people.
I want you to know the promise of
Malachi 3.6, I the Lord do not change,
so you, O descendant of Jacob, are not
destroyed.
That simply means that life in the
refining fire is a life of trust in the
unchanging, purifying love of God.
Secondly, I want you to learn the lesson
of verse 5, and fear God.
Fear that you might dishonor him by not
trusting him.
Fear the impulse to want to jump out
out of the refiner's fire of mercy into the
incinerator fire of judgment because it
looks cooler over there.
When you reject the refiner's fire, all
that is left is the all-consuming fire of
judgment.
And thirdly, take the long view.
Take the long view to the day when there will be no more pain.
Revelation 21 gives us the goal of what we are refined for.
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, now the dwelling of God is with men.
He can now be with them, and he will live with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death, no more mourning, or crying, or pain.
The old order of things has passed away, and the refiner's fire has been extinguished.
The purpose has arrived.
The goal is there.
That's it, my brothers and sisters.
And so if you're in the refining's fire right now, let me point you to that long-term goal.
Revelation 21, verse 7 says,
Amen.