I keep running into believers that seem to believe in God, but not His Word. They believe in His power, yet worry incessantly and live prayer-lessly. They believe in His goodness, yet presume on His grace by ignoring His holiness. They desire that He know them, care for them and love them, but not enough to consider carefully what He wants from them. They want the benefits of a relationship without the effort.” Do you know anyone like this? There is a positive message of hope to the one who does not grasp God’s priorities!
When I read the book of Malachi, I realize the problems are not new. In fact, the prophet of old said that the people were shocked when he called their issues to their attention. God spoke through him to tell the people that there were two essential wrongs that had to get their attention immediately:
They had No Appreciation of what He had done and was doing for them (1:1-5) - Their priority was on what made their lives seem better, not what God had done for them lately…
They did not appreciate God’s special covenant love and grace toward them. They were surprised at the claim that God was especially good to them. God made His case of COVERT and OVERT blessing:
a) My preferential treatment of your ancestors (2b).
b) Exceptional prosperity over your neighbors (3).
c) Holding down your enemies ability to grow stronger (4-5).
Left Over Giving (1:6-14) – Their priority was on keeping for themselves the best, as though God didn’t deserve their best.
They again seemed surprised when God claimed they were treating Him badly! (Malachi 1:6). He made the case that the bad treatment was expressed by:
a) Presenting inferior offerings before Me (1:7-8).
b) Ignoring your wrongs and seeking favor anyway (1:9).
c) Continuing to observe practices that are empty because your heart is not there (1:10), which has the effect of mottling the testimony of the Living God (1:11).
d) Treating My standards as though they are too difficult and burdensome (1:12-13).
e) Cheating Me from what is rightfully mine (1:14).
There it is. The first chapter of the prophet Malachi was a simple indictment that so called believers were cheating God and walking without any appreciation for all that he had done. They were the rebellious child, pilfering off the money in the bank of their now nursing home bound parent. Gone was the tenderness and sense of sacrifice. All they felt was greed – and that told the story of their hearts.
When I admit that God has become too small in my life, and I have become too large in my eyes – my pleasures, my needs, my wants – what can I do?
Funny you should ask, because that is the subject of the rest of the book! Malachi is given Eight Directives (Malachi 2-4) to “Getting them back on track”. How much these words are needed today!
- Directive One: Turn or face the Consequences (2:1-4). Face the real problem - all the others stem from it!
- Two: Remember the Past (2:5-7). Remember it wasn’t always cold in here.
- Three: Reflect on Consequences of Bad Leaders (2:8-9). Connect the dots between the results and their root causes.
- Four: Face the Symptomatic Issues of Rebellion (2:10-17). The issues aren’t the problem, but they point to it. They must be dealt with to get to the root problem.
Issue One: Intermarriage (2:10-12). Making relationships that were formed in DEFIANCE of God and His Word.
Issue Two: Unfaithfulness in Marriage (2:12-16). Using people in relationships God gave us.
Issue Three: Adjusting truth – ascribing wrong as right (2:17). Perverting the truth and right values.
- Five: A Time of Judgment is Set (3:1-5). Recognize the holiness of God, and His call to your holiness.
- Six: Conditions for Cleansing are Still the Same (3:6-15). Show me you live obedience more than self indulgence!
- Seven: Blessing of the Faithful Assured (3:16-18). Our greatest blessing in the future is God wrapping us in His love – any sacrifice is worth it!
- Eight: Ultimate Punishment of Hard Hearted Assured (4:1-3). You don’t have to stand in the judgment “cross hairs” of God.
The church of today finds itself in a quandary. In an effort to be clear on the nature of the Gospel, a free cleansing of sin through submission to Jesus, we try to extend grace to people and give them a chance to work out the issues in their lives. Our mission is to lead people into a growing relationship with Christ. Yet, our goal cannot be to hand out free passes to heaven that allow people to continue to live any way they choose. Growth comes from obedience. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “. . .it is only through obedience that you come to learn the truth.”
The close of the book offers God’s final call to the erring believer: Obey and Watch! (4:4-6). Obey my Word, and anticipate the literal fulfillment of what I have said will be in the end!
God is able to deliver you no matter what you did to contribute to a “fall”! Trust His Word enough to obey it even when you don’t see how it will work. Trust Him when you don’t grasp how it will pay off. Trust Him when you aren’t sure you have the strength to do it. Trust His Word… you will be glad you did!
A TV news camera crew was on assignment in southern Florida filming the widespread destruction of Hurricane Andrew. In one scene, amid the devastation and debris stood on house on its foundation. The owner was cleaning up the yard when a reporter approached him. “Sir, why is your house the only one still standing?” asked the reporter. “How did you manage to escape the severe damage of the hurricane?” “I built this house myself.” the man replied. “I also built it according to the Florida state building code. When the code called for 2 x 6 roof trusses, I used 2 x 6 roof trusses. I was told that a house built according to code could withstand a hurricane. I did, and it did. I suppose no one else around here followed the code.” When the sun is shining and the skies are blue, building our lives on something other than the guidelines in God’s Word can be tempting. But there’s only one way to be ready for a storm. (sermon central illust.)
