1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,280 Amen. You guys have heard the phrase 2 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:04,840 be careful what you wish for, right? 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:11,640 Well, years ago, one of my children who will remain 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,680 nameless was in need of some discipline from mom. 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:20,440 Dad's at work and mom is disciplining said child. 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,840 And the child did not like that at all, and in fact was very 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,320 resistant to the discipline that mom was dishing out. 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,600 And so said some things that the child shouldn't have said about 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,960 mom and towards mom. And then, you know, I want 10 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:39,920 daddy. Where's Daddy? 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,760 And so eventually I came home from work and was informed by my 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,800 wife about what happened and then talked to my child. 13 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,560 And the child that was hoping for dad to come and rescue them 14 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:59,560 from what was happening with mom turned out to not get what they 15 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,880 thought they might because they got discipline from mom. 16 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,360 And then dad came home and said, now you're going to get 17 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:07,760 disciplined because you do not treat your mom that way. 18 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:09,960 I will not let you talk to her that way. 19 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:12,680 And so now there is more discipline for you. 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,880 They thought Dad would come and bring mercy and kindness, and 21 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,240 turns out Dad came to administer justice. 22 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,000 Sometimes we have to be careful what we wish for. 23 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,240 Sometimes we want something, but we actually aren't seeing it 24 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,320 with a full and a clear picture. And we're going to be seeing 25 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:31,480 some of that in the book of Malachi today, in the verses 26 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,120 that I'm going to be preaching. I'm go ahead and open up to 27 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,080 Malachi chapter 2. If you don't have a Bible, grab 28 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,360 one from under the seat in front of you and open up there. 29 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,600 I want you to follow along with me and read along with me as I'm 30 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,600 teaching. But today we're going to see the 31 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,440 people of Israel are crying out to God kind of like that. 32 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,440 God, where are you? God come, where's your, where's 33 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,120 the God of justice, right? They're crying out to him, but 34 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,800 in their own lives, they're not living for God. 35 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,240 And So what they're asking for actually is maybe not what they 36 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,400 want. We'll get into that more here in 37 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:08,639 a moment. We're going to see today that 38 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,040 the God of justice will come again. 39 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,680 The God of justice will come again. 40 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:20,920 He will come in both refine his people, but he will also judge 41 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:24,800 evil. What kind of people are we going 42 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,680 to be as we wait for the God of justice to come again? 43 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:32,960 We've been preaching through the book of Malachi. 44 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:39,880 Malachi was an Old Testament prophet about 450 years or so 45 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:46,480 before Jesus, and he is calling out unfaithful living among the 46 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,600 Israelites as they had returned from exile. 47 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,880 And so he does that in the form of a bunch of disputes. 48 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:58,160 And so we are in dispute #4 of 6 and, and, and we see really 49 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,880 throughout the whole book, the kind of main message of Malachi 50 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:06,840 is he's calling weary people to come back to God, to honor God 51 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:12,960 through their faithful living. Let me give us a few moments of 52 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:17,640 silence. This is the time just to turn 53 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:19,760 and reflect to God. You might close your eyes. 54 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:24,240 You can even open your hands up and just reflect and pray. 55 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:26,680 Ask God what He has for you this morning. 56 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:28,680 Turn your hearts and your minds to Him. 57 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,720 I'm going to do the same. Take a little bit of time to do 58 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,080 that and then I'll read the text and teach through it. 59 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:05,880 All right, let's look at what the prophet Malachi says on 60 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,720 behalf of God, verse 17 of chapter 2, and I'm going to read 61 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:17,040 through verse 5 of chapter 3. You have wearied the Lord with 62 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,240 your words, but you say, how have we wearied him? 63 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:26,280 By saying, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the 64 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:31,960 Lord, and he delights in them. Or by asking, Where is the God 65 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:37,320 of justice? Behold, I send my messenger, and 66 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,160 he will prepare the way before me. 67 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,120 And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. 68 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,760 And the messenger of the covenant and whom you delight, 69 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,520 behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 70 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:55,320 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand 71 00:04:55,440 --> 00:05:00,400 when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, 72 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:05,520 and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and 73 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,840 purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and 74 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:13,320 refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring 75 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,840 offerings and righteousness to the Lord. 76 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,160 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to 77 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:24,280 the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. 78 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,440 Then I will draw near to you for judgment. 79 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:34,320 I will be a swift witness against the sorcerer's, against 80 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:39,160 the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those 81 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:43,440 who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the 82 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:47,920 fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner. 83 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:53,200 And do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 84 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,320 All right, let's jump back up to the top and start with verse 17. 85 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:02,280 This is the beginning. This is the beginning of this 86 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:07,120 dispute where we see God is being wearied, as the text says, 87 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,840 by the people's accusations against his injustice. 88 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,960 So verse 17 starts off, you have wearied the Lord with your 89 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,160 words. So let's figure out why is God 90 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:26,360 being wearied by the people? Well, mainly if I could sum it 91 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,840 up, I would say they're cynical complaints and they're false 92 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:31,640 accusations. Here's what they say in verse 93 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,920 17. Everyone who does evil is good 94 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,480 in the sight of the Lord and he delights in them. 95 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,240 So they're saying evil is prospering and, and, and it's 96 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,400 good to you, isn't it? God you, you like the evil that 97 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,600 these people are doing. God delights in evil, right? 98 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:51,760 Do you hear that? The cynicism in their voice and 99 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,560 they're complaining. And then they just outright ask 100 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:56,720 where is the God of justice, right. 101 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,520 And they're not asking it in like a kind of a pleading sense, 102 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,360 but you can tell in a, in an accusation like he's not here, 103 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,200 maybe he's not even real. They're complaining. 104 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,440 And, and I think there's a couple reasons why they're 105 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:14,160 complaining. One, probably because things 106 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,680 aren't really going according to plan, and we tend to do that 107 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:20,040 when things aren't going as we expected. 108 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,360 See that God's people had been exiled and then they got they 109 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,160 returned. And then about 80 years before 110 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,400 this, there was a guy named Haggai, one of the prophets, and 111 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,240 he prophesied some really promising things. 112 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,240 He promised that there would be treasures returned to the temple 113 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,560 and God's glory would come again and there'd be peace, right? 114 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:41,920 Things that sound really good now. 115 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,280 He used the phrase in a little while. 116 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,560 So you didn't exactly say when. But of course, they're probably 117 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:49,360 thinking, oh, man, that's coming. 118 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:50,760 When's it coming? And they're trying to do all the 119 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:52,160 right things to make that happen. 120 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:54,040 But it's not happened. Actually. 121 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:58,520 They're still being persecuted. There's still trouble and so 122 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,240 expectations. So they start complaining. 123 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:07,680 But also, it seems like to them there's no consequences for 124 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,840 evil. There's people getting away with 125 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:16,120 murder and adultery and taking advantage of people oppressing 126 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,080 others, right? And says, well, God must just 127 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:19,840 delight in them. He must say, well, that's fine. 128 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:23,200 So I'm going to let that happen. The bad guys are getting away 129 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,160 with it, right? Evil is prospering. 130 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,920 There's no justice. And so what's their conclusion? 131 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,680 The God of justice has gone missing. 132 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,440 Where is he? I know now, why is this so 133 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,679 wearying to God? I think this is an important 134 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:44,080 question for us to answer. It's so wearying because it is 135 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:48,720 so ridiculously and utterly untrue. 136 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:56,360 God is the God of justice. Justice is a part of who he is. 137 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,800 We could probably define justice something like this. 138 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:06,400 It's it's upholding or doing what is morally right or fair. 139 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,520 It is being impartial. It is not showing prejudice and 140 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,400 God is a God of justice. Let me drive this home with a 141 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,680 few different verses. So the first one is from Isaiah 142 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,320 chapter 30. Now just some quick context to 143 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,080 this verses. Isaiah is before these verses. 144 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:28,000 He's rebuking God's people because they're being faithless 145 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,960 and rebellious and they are lying and they are not listening 146 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,920 to God's instructions. And so he's been rebuking them. 147 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:40,160 But then he then he says, therefore the Lord waits to be 148 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,320 gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy 149 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,480 to you. For the Lord is a God of 150 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,440 justice. Blessed are all those who wait 151 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,800 for him. Could say a lot about this 152 00:09:53,800 --> 00:10:01,480 verse, but focus in on the Lord is a God of justice in the book 153 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:05,360 of Deuteronomy chapter 10. As God is giving instructions to 154 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,400 his people, here's what he says about himself. 155 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,440 Deuteronomy chapter 10 verses 17 and 18. 156 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:18,000 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of Lords, the 157 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:24,080 great, the mighty, the awesome God who is not partial and takes 158 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:30,000 no bribe, he executes justice for the fatherless and the widow 159 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:35,640 and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing and love 160 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:38,160 the sojourner. Therefore, for you or sojourners 161 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,120 in the land of Egypt, that's going to come up later in our 162 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,720 text. But key in on this God is not 163 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,760 partial. He takes no bribe. 164 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:52,360 He executes justice, especially for those who need justice, 165 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,040 those who were most likely to be taken advantage of, those who 166 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,640 needed help. God says no, no, no, no, I will 167 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,240 protect them and I don't show any partiality to them. 168 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,760 OK, one more. This is from Deuteronomy 16, so 169 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,320 a little bit later. And this one is God talking to 170 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,880 the people about how they should act justly, again in response to 171 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,720 who He is and His character. It says this in Deuteronomy 16. 172 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,960 You shall not pervert justice, you shall not show partiality, 173 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,280 you shall not accept a bribe. All the same things that he just 174 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,880 said he doesn't do. He says now you should do. 175 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,960 Why do you not accept a bribe? For a bribe blinds the eyes of 176 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,600 the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 177 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:42,080 Verse 20 Justice and only justice shall you follow, that 178 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,640 you may live and inherit the Lamb that the Lord is giving 179 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:50,920 you. God is a God of justice, and so 180 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,120 for them to be laying it on him and accusing him of all these 181 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,520 things, he that he is being wearied by it. 182 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,480 It is not right for them to be complaining the way that they 183 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:05,160 are with their cynicism and doubt of God, especially because 184 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:08,280 they are forgetful of their own injustices. 185 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,000 God is a God of justice, but they are wearying him with their 186 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,760 words and they ask the question, where is the God of justice and 187 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,880 and the rest of our verses is God essentially responding to 188 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:25,920 them And what does he say? Well, he says, I will come back. 189 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:30,520 You want to know where I am? I am coming back. 190 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,960 Look at verses verse one with me. 191 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,040 God's response. He says, behold, which just 192 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,520 means it's look, see, pay attention. 193 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:44,680 When you see that it kind of makes you pay attention and be 194 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:47,280 prepared for what's next. He says, behold, I send my 195 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:51,040 messenger and he will prepare the way before me. 196 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,640 So God is sending a messenger to prepare the way right to pave 197 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,880 the road, to make the path straight for what? 198 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:03,320 For God's coming rest of verse one says the Lord whom you seek 199 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:05,480 will suddenly come to his temple. 200 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,040 And the messenger of the covenant and whom you delight, 201 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,880 behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 202 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,560 So the Lord will come suddenly, right? 203 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:21,160 Unexpected, unanticipated, but a very clear way he's going to 204 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,280 come. And when he does, look what it 205 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:24,880 says in the beginning of verse 2. 206 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,480 Who can endure the day of his coming? 207 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:37,560 Who can stand when he appears? So when God comes, he's going to 208 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:40,120 send a messenger, then he's going to show up. 209 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,640 It's going to become the suddenly, and then it's going to 210 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,400 be intense. Nobody can stand, nobody can 211 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,200 endure. They're going to get what they 212 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,560 asked for when they said where is God? 213 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,360 But like that story I told the beginning, for some of them, 214 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,080 it's not a good thing when God is going to show up. 215 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,120 Now. It's comical to me the irony in 216 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:08,760 there. As God says, the Lord whom you 217 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:13,040 seek, right, the one in whom you delight, you're asking for me, 218 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,760 but are you really going to be happy when I get there? 219 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:21,720 They want justice, and that's a good thing to want justice to 220 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,480 see evil's prospering and it shouldn't be. 221 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,640 And God, Israel's not doing well and we don't want to be, but 222 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:30,520 they're neglecting their own injustice. 223 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,320 And we've been covering that in the last four weeks. 224 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,000 If you've been with us, where the last week we talked about 225 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:41,680 divorce and faithless marriages and, and marrying women who, who 226 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,280 worship other gods and are idolaters of other gods. 227 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:47,800 In the previous weeks we've talked about their offerings 228 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,480 being impure and dishonouring, kind of half hearted and casual. 229 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,160 The leaders, the Israel, the priests themselves are causing 230 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:00,600 people to stumble, right? So they're they're guilty and 231 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,880 yet they're asking for justice. And God says, I will come back 232 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,160 and I will both purify and judge. 233 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,600 God's going to bring these two complementary works, you might 234 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,560 say, of purification and judgement. 235 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,240 And so let's look at those two things now. 236 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:21,920 We'll start with God drawing near to refine them and purify 237 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,560 them. And then we'll see in verse 5 238 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,360 him drawing a year near to judge the unrepentant. 239 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:32,680 So look back at verse 2. God's going to tell us what he's 240 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,280 like. It says midway through verse 2, 241 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:40,360 he is like a refiner's fire and a fuller's soap. 242 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,880 I think, oh, the fuller's soap. That's a good analogy, right? 243 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,680 So let's unpack what this means because it's going to it's going 244 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:54,320 to help us understand what it's what God is like when he comes 245 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:59,280 back with his justice. And part of it is he is a 246 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:04,440 refining fire in fuller soap. So refiners fire, this is a fire 247 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:09,840 that you would purify metals in gold and silver we see in the 248 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,680 text. And so to purify gold or silver, 249 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,040 you had to heat it up until it liquefied. 250 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,360 And when it liquefied and it's on this intense fire, it burns 251 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,760 off some of the impurities, the stuff that's just not supposed 252 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,320 to be in there, and others of it would rise to the top. 253 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,440 And then you would you would skim it off and you would purify 254 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:33,720 the metal in that way. Just under 2000°F is, is the 255 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,960 melting point for gold. So you'd have a fire of about 256 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,480 2000°. That's the refiner's fire. 257 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:44,120 It's hot, but it's hot with an intention and with a purpose, 258 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:47,680 right? It's hot to purify, to take 259 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:52,560 these beautiful substances, gold and silver, and make them 260 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:58,200 better, to purify them. God is going to come and how's 261 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,280 he going to come? Like a refiner's fire, hot but 262 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,880 intentional to purify his people. 263 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:12,119 He's also like a fuller soap. I rely on the commentary to try 264 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:14,800 to figure out what that means, because I try to figure out what 265 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,000 a what's a fuller? And it said one who fulls. 266 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:23,599 So like, OK, I guess it's the person that does the laundry in 267 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:26,319 ancient Israel. So the fuller soap. 268 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,800 But what they would do, how they would clean their their clothes, 269 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,360 They would use this strong Lye soap Lye that they would clean 270 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:36,360 their clothes. Then they would hang them up on 271 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:38,760 the rocks and they would beat their clothes with a stick. 272 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,200 All right, Old, old fashioned washing machine. 273 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,320 You just beat your clothes clean, right? 274 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,800 The fuller soap, there's this strong soap that help cleanses, 275 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:49,920 that helps cleanse the clothes, right? 276 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,840 And this kind of an intense scene, beating your clothes, 277 00:17:53,880 --> 00:18:00,520 beating them clean, it's intense with a purpose to cleanse your 278 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,320 clothes, to purify them, right. This isn't this isn't like the 279 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:06,440 fire of a candle at your dinner table. 280 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:09,200 And this isn't washing your clothes and the washing machine 281 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,480 on the gentle cycle. But this is an intense cleaning. 282 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,960 That's why he says, who can stand? 283 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,280 Who can endure the day of his coming? 284 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,120 God's going to come back. And it's not going to be like, 285 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,760 oh man, like meeting some friends that you haven't seen in 286 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:30,920 a while. It's intense because of sin, 287 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:37,160 because we are impure, because when we compare ourselves to the 288 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:42,400 holy, pure, righteous God, we cannot stand against Him. 289 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,760 And fire purifies. It also burns. 290 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,880 It also judges. You might say we'll see that 291 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:52,000 next. But here it's purifying and we 292 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:53,360 need purified because of our sin. 293 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,120 None is righteous. No one is holy. 294 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,520 All have offended God, all have fallen short, and without God's 295 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,560 purification, none will stand before Him. 296 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:11,960 God's like a refining fire, a fuller soap to purify and to 297 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:14,320 cleanse. Now in the text he says he is 298 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,800 going to do this to the sons of Levi. 299 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:19,040 Now. Now, if you've been with us, 300 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:20,200 then you'll be familiar with this. 301 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:24,320 The sons of Levi, these were the chosen group of God's people of 302 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:28,960 Israel, one of the 12 tribes to, to, to lead the people to be the 303 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,720 priests, to be the ones that help the people get to God. 304 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,280 So he says he's going to purify them. 305 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:40,240 So he's not doing this to everybody, but the Levites are 306 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,200 going to be purified, he says his priests. 307 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:44,320 And then what are they going to do? 308 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,560 They're going to be able to bring offerings in righteousness 309 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:52,360 to the Lord, verse 3. And then all of Judah and 310 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:56,120 Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old. 311 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,600 So this cleansing is going to bring purity and they're now 312 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:02,960 able to actually bring offerings of righteousness. 313 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:07,000 Now notice they can't do that before that they haven't been 314 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,880 able to. You cannot bring pure, right, 315 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:14,160 good, true offerings to God as he deserves unless he first 316 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,760 brings cleansing and purity to you. 317 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,360 And we, we saw this last week, they were trying to bring him 318 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:21,680 offerings. And what did it say in the text? 319 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:23,880 It said God had no regard for them. 320 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,760 He turned his nose up. He rejected their offerings. 321 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:29,360 Why? Well, because they're trying to 322 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:36,000 give these offerings with with being faithless to their wives 323 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,040 of their youth and divorcing them. 324 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:40,040 And they're trying to bring these offerings while they're 325 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,320 also bringing in these other gods into the temple. 326 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,120 And God is like, this is profane. 327 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,120 So they need to be purified, but God does want pure worship. 328 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,120 This was from earlier in the series. 329 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,800 If you flip back to verse 11 from chapter 1, God says from 330 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,880 the rising of the sun to its setting, My name will be great 331 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,520 among the nations and in every place incense will be offered to 332 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,520 my name, and a pure offering for my name will be great among the 333 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:12,240 nations, says the Lord of hosts. God wants pure worship, but He 334 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,520 cannot have pure worship until He has pure people. 335 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,480 He needs to purify. He will come and he will purify. 336 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,880 Now, we probably should ask, OK, when, when is this happening? 337 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,280 Has this already happening? Well, there's been a partial 338 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,120 fulfillment. And a lot of the Old Testament, 339 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,640 especially the prophets, as we read it, it comes in layers or 340 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,960 horizons, as in its fulfillment. And sometimes it's clear to us 341 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,160 and sometimes it's not. And so we see there has been a 342 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:43,280 partial fulfillment and we can look to John the Baptist. 343 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,080 If you're familiar with John the Baptist, he came as a forerunner 344 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,440 to Jesus. He is the messenger that 345 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:55,280 prepared the way. So Malachi, which this word 346 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,800 messenger actually means Malachi. 347 00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:59,520 So there's a little play on words. 348 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,160 Malachi is a messenger himself, but he's talking about one who 349 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:03,920 come. It's John the Baptist. 350 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:06,920 And all, all the gospel counts of John say that he was coming 351 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:11,080 to prepare the way for Jesus. And John came and his message 352 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,480 was this repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. 353 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:19,360 Repent because 1 is coming who is amazing. 354 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:23,280 He's incredible. He's the Christ, he's the one 355 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:31,480 after John came then Jesus and Jesus is the Lord who we see in 356 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,400 these verses. So John came to prayer away. 357 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:40,800 Jesus comes to refine with the Spirit and with fire, both then 358 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:46,240 but also when he comes again. So John the Baptist said of 359 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:51,720 Jesus in Matthew chapter 3. He who is coming after me, 360 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,000 remember John's the messenger. Prepare the way. 361 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:58,520 He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I 362 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,840 am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the 363 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:08,480 Holy Spirit and fire. So Jesus did bring some partial 364 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:13,000 fulfillment of this. Through Jesus, we can be 365 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,080 purified through Jesus, through his Holy Spirit cleansing our 366 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:22,720 sinful hearts and making us new, we can have a relationship with 367 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,760 God again. This is what Jesus came to do. 368 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:31,920 John came before him. By repenting of your sins and 369 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,760 trusting in Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit. 370 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,360 He gives you a new heart and you can say you've been refined with 371 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:41,120 fire. Now we're not perfect, are we? 372 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,520 Even though we've been refined. So we're still being refined. 373 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:47,640 That's what the Bible calls sanctification. 374 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:52,040 When Jesus comes back again, we will be purified once and for 375 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:55,760 all and, and, and all of the impurities that are still in US. 376 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,640 Or you might think of us as gold, but gold still mixed with 377 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,920 lots of impure metals and dirt, and whatever gets mixed into 378 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,960 gold to make it impure, we still need to be purified completely. 379 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,560 But by trusting in Jesus, we become a piece of this gold or 380 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:17,000 this silver that He is refining with fire so that we can bring 381 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,200 pleasing offerings again to God. You cannot bring a pleasing 382 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:25,280 offering to God unless you come with Jesus, right? 383 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:29,560 It is by Jesus that we can now live for God and please Him and 384 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:37,680 make right offerings to Him. Now, not all people will be 385 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:42,440 purified. Some will still face 386 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:48,120 condemnation for their evil. So the Lord is drawing near to 387 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:52,040 refine and purify his children, but he's also drawing near to 388 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,720 judge the unrepentant. Let's look at verse 5. 389 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,560 It's the first part of it, Malachi writes. 390 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,560 He says, and speaking on behalf of God. 391 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:13,080 So the I here is God the Lord, and then I will draw near to you 392 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:18,120 for judgement. I will be a swift witness. 393 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:22,400 Pause there. God's coming for judgement. 394 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:28,360 God will come to judge. It is in his character to be a 395 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:34,520 God of justice, and he cannot stand by and not properly take 396 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,440 care of all injustices in the world. 397 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,760 And so he's just said, I'm coming again and I'm going to 398 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,440 refine and I'm coming again and I'm going to judge. 399 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,120 And you might say these are two sides of the same coin. 400 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:51,040 They're both judgment. One is to purify and one will 401 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:55,520 bring condemnation. He says he will carry it out 402 00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,000 swiftly against evil doers. He will be a swift witness. 403 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,480 So you might think he's the judge in the courtroom. 404 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,320 Now let's look at some of the injustices in Malachi's day. 405 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:07,400 I assume that is what is going on here. 406 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,080 That's why he lists some of these things that he sees 407 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:14,960 injustices maybe probably in the in the ungodly people around 408 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:16,520 them, the non Israelites around them. 409 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,200 But I think what he's talking about, he's addressing God's 410 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,560 people who are living in these ways. 411 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:28,400 And so here is what he says, some of the things that God is 412 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,440 going to judge and you'll see the word against. 413 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:33,680 And then he lists all these. Let's rifle through some of 414 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,120 these. He says, first, I will be a 415 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:39,040 swift witness against the sorcerers. 416 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:41,760 All right? Those that deal with other gods, 417 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,040 other spiritual beings, and you toy around with them and you 418 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,280 seek power from them or you seek to try to please them. 419 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:50,760 You're conjuring up evil spirits, whatever it might be, 420 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,960 that that is offensive to God. He is the one true God and he is 421 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,120 the only God that you need. God will be a swift witness 422 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:03,080 against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, right? 423 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,920 The unfaithful, the sexually immoral. 424 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,360 And that is a big broad category. 425 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:13,760 He says adulterers, and it is certainly included includes 426 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,080 that, but we can we see elsewhere in the Bible the 427 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,360 sexually immoral, those that do not live according to God's 428 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:26,320 standards for sexual purity. Sex is for a man and a woman in 429 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,280 marriage for life. That's the covenant. 430 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,120 That's the way God designed it to be. 431 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:35,120 God will come against the adulterers, the sexually 432 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:39,120 immoral, He says He will come against those who swear falsely, 433 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,880 are who swear falsely. You just say these liars. 434 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:44,600 This is why it's so important to tell the truth. 435 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,680 And if you're a parent, teach your kids to tell the truth. 436 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:50,560 And if you never got taught that, then learn to tell the 437 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:52,560 truth yourself. God's going to come against 438 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,720 those who swear falsely. If you think about this in kind 439 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:59,240 of a courtroom sense, these are people making false statements 440 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,080 in court, right? Perverting justice or 441 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:07,840 miscarrying justice. This is an offense against God, 442 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,800 and those that do it will not stand. 443 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,320 He will come as a swift witness against them. 444 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,200 Then he talks about these oppressors against those who 445 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:22,120 oppress, and they list 33 categories of people under this 446 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,040 the hired worker in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless. 447 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:32,640 God is going to come against any and all who oppress other 448 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:37,360 people. 1st the he talked about those that, that the hired hand, 449 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:39,440 right? This kind of a day laborer, they 450 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:41,080 need their money so they can go home and eat. 451 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:43,600 But people are not paying their wages. 452 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:45,480 They're not paying people what they owe. 453 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,240 It's evil. They're taking advantage of 454 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:53,000 vulnerable people, the widows and this day, and they were some 455 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,120 of the most vulnerable people in that community. 456 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,560 And the fatherless, right? Maybe it's orphans, maybe just 457 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:02,800 their dad. Their dad is not alive. 458 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,560 And so again, some vulnerable people that were being taken 459 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,680 advantage of. People are using their positions 460 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:15,400 of power to dominate, to make money and to disadvantage 461 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,480 others. And God says I am coming against 462 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:25,520 all who oppress. And then we probably could add 463 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,200 this last one in the same category of people who are, you 464 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:33,080 might say, easily oppressed, he says. 465 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:40,280 Against those who thrust aside the sojourner, the sojourner, 466 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:44,360 the traveler, you might think the refugee, someone from 467 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,000 another country, they don't belong, but they're seeking 468 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,960 refuge in a safe place and a safe haven. 469 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,600 And they are being thrust aside. Doesn't say exactly what. 470 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,160 They're not being welcomed, that's for sure. 471 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,280 Probably being mistreated and rejected. 472 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,000 People who are vulnerable and being taken advantage of. 473 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,400 This makes me think about immigration, right? 474 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:19,240 There's a hot button issue that we could talk about, but what 475 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,320 about you? And maybe you're not oppressing 476 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:27,240 people, but God loves the sojourners. 477 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:28,800 You remember that verse that was on the screen? 478 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:34,720 He loves the sojourners. And he says you Israelites love 479 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:39,160 the sojourner because you were sojourners, you were foreigners, 480 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,560 you were outsiders. And I rescued you and I brought 481 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:46,160 you into my family and you had nothing to offer and nothing to 482 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,760 bring except your dirty rags. But I loved you and I want you 483 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,520 to love the other people that come into your communities like 484 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:58,840 that too. And if you are a disciple of 485 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:03,680 Jesus, you got that way because God welcomed you into his 486 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,920 family, because you are an orphan, you are an outsider. 487 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:09,640 You are not a part of God's people. 488 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:13,280 I was not a part of God's people and he welcomed me. 489 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,160 And I was a stranger and an alien, an outsider and a 490 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:22,400 sojourner. And God says I am going to come 491 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:25,280 against the people who live like that. 492 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:33,920 Now the intention is these are the people who live this way. 493 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:40,400 If, if you have sinned in this way and then you need to repent. 494 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,520 If you live this, if you live this lifestyle, if you approve 495 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:52,120 of this lifestyle, be warned, God is coming again in judgment 496 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:55,400 and He will be a swift witness and you do not know when that 497 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,640 day is coming. He is coming back for this. 498 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,720 And if you die before he comes back, then you will just get 499 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:04,320 straight to the front of the line to meet Him for judgment. 500 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:09,880 And he's warning. Now why would people act like 501 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,120 that? Well, we are sinful and broken. 502 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,720 But I think he points at it at the very end of verse 5. 503 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,760 Look at verse 5. Then he says these these people 504 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:24,720 that he's against do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 505 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:29,480 So here's what happened. They stopped fearing God along 506 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,240 the way. Why would somebody act this 507 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:33,760 evil? Why would somebody oppress 508 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:36,200 people like this? And this isn't even half the 509 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:38,680 list, right? This is not an exhaustive list. 510 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,080 So you're like, OK, great. Well, I've not done any of those 511 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:41,840 things. What about this? 512 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:44,840 Are you, have you been greedy? Have you ever been violent? 513 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,240 Are you an idolater? Are you a drunkard, A thief, A 514 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:50,680 thief? A reviler? 515 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,280 Because there's plenty of other lists in the Bible that talk 516 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,680 about the sins of people that will not inherit the Kingdom of 517 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,400 God. So don't think. 518 00:32:58,400 --> 00:32:59,840 Well, I didn't make the list. No. 519 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:05,240 Why? If you don't fear judgment, if 520 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:09,920 you don't fear consequence for your evil, then of course you're 521 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,600 going to act this way. Let's say that the, the, the 522 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:16,800 Florida State Troopers Association went on strike. 523 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,880 How fast would you go on the Interstate if you didn't have 524 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:22,320 the threat of getting a ticket, right? 525 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:25,240 There's No Fear, right? If you don't fear God, then 526 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:26,680 great. Act however you want, do 527 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:28,600 whatever you want to do. And you might start saying, 528 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:30,000 well, God's not even real, is he? 529 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:32,160 You might be like these people. Well, I haven't seen him in a 530 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:33,960 while. God's probably he's not holding 531 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:35,400 these people accountable. He's not going to hold us 532 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:36,520 accountable. We might as well do what we 533 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:38,920 want. The pride and the arrogance, the 534 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:43,520 forgetfulness that God cares about justice. 535 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:48,600 God cares about people being violated and abused and taken 536 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:52,680 advantage of. Do not put that filth in your 537 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,520 mouth that accuses him of thinking otherwise. 538 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,920 God says I will come back and I will judge evil. 539 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,920 And, and we cannot see clearly. He can't. 540 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:14,679 We cannot see impartially. He can and He will care for the 541 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:18,040 oppressed, He will right the wrongs and He will uphold the 542 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,960 truth. Now for those of you that suffer 543 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,719 injustice and you have in your life and maybe you are right 544 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:32,719 now, it's painful and we ask the question, OK, when God, when are 545 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,719 you coming back? Because it doesn't feel like it. 546 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,560 It's OK to ask these questions and take them to God. 547 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:46,159 Just try to keep the cynicism and the accusation out of it. 548 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:50,400 Take them to God. He will come back. 549 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:53,159 It's when Jesus comes back again. 550 00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:55,280 There will be a final day of judgement. 551 00:34:55,719 --> 00:35:00,160 Jesus is alive, He is in heaven, and he is awaiting his time to 552 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,320 come back. When it's time, he will come and 553 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,720 he will purify and he will judge. 554 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:11,920 Malachi is issuing this warning to the people, a rebuke to them, 555 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:15,520 and a way to kind of call them back to God. 556 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:20,280 Come back to God. He's coming back again in 557 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,480 justice. Which kind of fire are you going 558 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:27,080 to face, the refining fire or the judging fire? 559 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,520 And I know most of you in this room are, are probably disciples 560 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:33,880 of Jesus. You have experienced the the 561 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,200 beginning of the refining fire in your heart as the Holy Spirit 562 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,840 has changed you and given you a new heart and you live for God. 563 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:44,520 And you are growing as painfully and slow as it feels like in 564 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:47,760 sanctification and in holiness. But others of you, you have not 565 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:52,520 put your trust in Jesus. You are still awaiting this 566 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,480 judgement with fire. You must repent. 567 00:35:57,040 --> 00:36:00,160 Repent of not fearing God. Repent of your ways. 568 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,600 Repent of saying it's OK, there's no consequences, He's 569 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:05,720 not coming back. Is God even real? 570 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:08,600 Turn away from that, turn to Jesus. 571 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,400 There is no other way you. There's no other way to offer 572 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:15,840 acceptable, pleasing offerings to God except through the holy 573 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:21,120 pure Son of God, Jesus. If you do not trust Jesus, if 574 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,680 you are unsure about that, then please don't leave today without 575 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,160 talking to someone. And there's lots of people you 576 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:29,840 could talk to. You could say, well, we need to 577 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,320 talk to the pastor. Sure, come talk to me. 578 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,760 Talk to one of our other pastors or talk to your friend or talk 579 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:38,200 to the person you met. Talk to somebody and tell them, 580 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:40,840 I'm not sure where I'm at with Jesus. 581 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:45,040 I want to know more about this refining fire because I don't 582 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,280 want God to be against me anymore. 583 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:55,120 And I say that in all the negative sense, right? 584 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,280 Feels like OK. Is it just out of fear? 585 00:36:57,440 --> 00:36:59,800 There should be some fear. If you come to God out of fear 586 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:04,360 of judgment, great. And know that coming to him is 587 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:08,120 brings you hope, it brings you life, it brings you forgiveness. 588 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,520 It is the greatest thing you could ever do in all of life, 589 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:16,200 and it will lead into eternity to turn and trust Jesus. 590 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:24,920 So we're waiting because he's not back yet. 591 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:28,560 Partial fulfillment, John the Baptist, Jesus. 592 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:32,080 But Jesus has not come back a second time yet. 593 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:36,040 So what do we do? What do we do in the meanwhile? 594 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:40,160 How do we live now? What about the injustice that we 595 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:44,120 face now and the difficulties and the troubles as we wait? 596 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:50,000 I want to finish with just three things to try to send you home 597 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,280 with, with all this on your mind. 598 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:57,320 The God of justice is coming again, both to refine his people 599 00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:00,440 and to judge evil. And so as one of his people, how 600 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,720 should we live? So I've got three kind of don'ts 601 00:38:03,720 --> 00:38:07,320 and do's. Don't doubt God's justice like 602 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:09,040 the people we're doing in Malachi's day. 603 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:12,160 Instead, cry out to God for justice. 604 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:17,560 Cry out to him in prayer. Seek his mercy and his help. 605 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:25,400 Cry out to God for justice. Jesus teaches us to pray in Luke 606 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,920 18 and he shares this parable. I don't have time to get into 607 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:31,920 the parable, but essentially here's what he says about the 608 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,480 parable. At the beginning of it he says 609 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:37,760 the parable is that you ought to always pray and not lose heart. 610 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,600 OK then he tells us a little bit parable about justice. 611 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:44,240 So go read it Luke 18 one to 8. But look at verse 7 and 8 how 612 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,000 Jesus complete concludes this parable. 613 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:52,240 He says, and will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to 614 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:58,600 him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 615 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:02,200 I tell you, He will give justice to them speedily. 616 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,800 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on 617 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:10,040 the earth? We are to cry out to Jesus, 618 00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:15,320 we're to cry out to God. Give us Justice Lord, night and 619 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:17,600 day. Do not lose heart and prayer and 620 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,000 crying out and he says, will he delay along over them? 621 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,320 He says, no, it's coming speedily. 622 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,960 And we think man, God, your timing and your speed is a lot 623 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:27,680 different than mine. It's true. 624 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:32,040 That's what Peter says one day is like 1000 for God and 1000 625 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,000 like for one, our God's timing and ours is just a little 626 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,680 different, but he will bring it. Right now Jesus question is what 627 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:40,040 will he find faith on earth when he comes back? 628 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:42,440 Because that's when he's bringing his justice. 629 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:48,120 Will you be faithful to him? In the meanwhile, cry out to God 630 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:51,760 for mercy and help. Secondly, don't slip into 631 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:54,320 faithless and unholy living again. 632 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:56,280 That's what these people in Malachi's day were doing. 633 00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:58,960 Jesus hasn't come back yet, OK, He's not back. 634 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,000 Let me just OK, it's probably not that big of a deal, right? 635 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,880 No, rather live your life as an offering to God. 636 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:07,800 Be holy and pleasing to the Lord. 637 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,800 So secondly, bring a pleasing offering to Him. 638 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:13,880 I thought about just making this the whole end of the teaching, 639 00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:16,520 just talking about holiness and holy living, but I think it's 640 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:18,960 going to come up in the next few weeks to the rest of the verses, 641 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:22,840 so I'll leave you with this. Romans 12/1 says this. 642 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:24,680 It should be on the screen as well. 643 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:29,160 I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God 644 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:34,880 to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and 645 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:37,920 acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 646 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:45,200 Paul is, is telling us we are the pleasing offering now, right 647 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:46,680 The the, the priests are going to come. 648 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:48,920 They're going to be bring an offering and it's an offering in 649 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:51,000 righteousness. He says that it's acceptable to 650 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,160 God. Well, we are that offering now. 651 00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:55,080 Our bodies are the living sacrifices. 652 00:40:55,080 --> 00:41:00,960 Our lives are to be lived for God, holy and acceptable to Him. 653 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:06,440 Live a holy life for God, fear the Lord and live for Him. 654 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,800 Let your life be an offering to Him and so examine your life. 655 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:15,320 Pursue holiness and godliness and righteous living as an act 656 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:23,280 of offering to God. Thirdly, don't get discouraged 657 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:27,240 by the suffering and the injustice that we see in the 658 00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:32,120 world and don't shrink back in fear of more of it happening. 659 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:36,080 Rather, we are to entrust ourselves to the one who judges 660 00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,320 justly. Or remember who your judge is. 661 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,600 And if you're a disciple of Jesus, you remember Jesus was 662 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:45,720 judged in your place. That's why you can be purified. 663 00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:48,160 That's why you are now righteous, because Jesus was 664 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:50,080 judged in your place. And So what do you need to do? 665 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,280 And trust yourself to the one who judges justly. 666 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:59,680 Last verses, first Peter 2, verses 19 and 20, Peter writes 667 00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:04,560 this is a gracious thing when mindful of God, one endures 668 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:06,600 sorrows while suffering unjustly. 669 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:10,080 What credit is it when you sin and you're beaten for it and you 670 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:13,520 endure, But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure. 671 00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:16,920 This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 672 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,320 So if sometimes, sometimes you get a beating and you deserve a 673 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:22,440 beating, he's like, don't that not something I'm talking about. 674 00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:26,440 He's like, But when you do good, when you do right, it's a 675 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:32,520 gracious thing in God's sight for you to endure unjust 676 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:37,680 suffering. You know why Jesus endured 677 00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:40,240 unjust suffering. Jesus did it. 678 00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:43,760 That's why in a few verses later, verse 23, he writes this. 679 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:48,600 When Jesus was reviled, he did not revile in return. 680 00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:52,920 When Jesus suffered, he did not threaten, but he continued 681 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:55,600 entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 682 00:42:55,840 --> 00:43:01,440 If Jesus could entrust himself to God while he went through the 683 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:06,000 path to Calvary, we can do the same. 684 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:10,600 We can try. We follow in Jesus footsteps. 685 00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:12,400 He's our model, He's our example. 686 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:15,880 And trust yourself to him who judges justly. 687 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:21,040 The God of justice will come again his people and to judge 688 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:23,280 evil. So let us be a people who live 689 00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:27,280 faithfully now and trusting ourselves to the just judge.