1 00:00:11,460 --> 00:00:18,140 So we are starting a brand new series today and we are over the 2 00:00:18,140 --> 00:00:22,340 next few weeks we're going to be going through the scroll of the 3 00:00:22,340 --> 00:00:26,540 prophet Malachi. Malachi, if you've got a Bible, 4 00:00:26,980 --> 00:00:30,460 it's at the very end of your Old Testament. 5 00:00:30,660 --> 00:00:33,980 So if you flip to on my Bible, I've got a page that says New 6 00:00:33,980 --> 00:00:37,320 Testament and the page before that is the last few verses of 7 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,280 Malachi. So if you find that we're going 8 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,320 to be in Malachi chapter 1 and we're just really going to be 9 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:48,800 doing the first 5 verses today. Now whilst you find that, let's 10 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:54,760 tell you a bit about Malachi. Malachi, the word Malachi, it 11 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,480 means my messenger and it comes from the Hebrew word malach, 12 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,480 which in your Old Testament is either translated messenger or 13 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,239 Angel. So every time in the Old 14 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,760 Testament you see the word Angel, the actual word is malak, 15 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,920 which means messenger and now Malachi. 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:17,720 He lived about 100 years after the Jewish nation returned from 17 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,760 exile from Babylon. If you remember the, the, the 18 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:25,240 story of the Kingdom of, of Israel in Judah, David is made 19 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,840 king of all Israel and he is the king that everyone loves. 20 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:32,960 And then his son Solomon becomes king after him. 21 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:35,080 And he's the one who's wise. He's the one who has all the 22 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,360 money and all the wives. And then his son Rhea Bowen 23 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,640 becomes king and he's less wise. Actually, he's an idiot. 24 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:46,760 And under his rule, the Kingdom splits into two and you have 25 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,320 the, the, the 10 tribes. You have 12 tribes that make up 26 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:55,920 Israel, 10 tribes split off and they form the northern Kingdom, 27 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,440 Israel. And you have two tribes, Judah 28 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,480 and Benjamin, who form the southern Kingdom, Judah. 29 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:07,680 And neither Kingdom, though Judah is slightly better, follow 30 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,880 God's law very well. Actually the northern Kingdom, 31 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,960 they just blow it completely. They, they are a chosen people, 32 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,880 chosen by God, but they choose to follow other gods. 33 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,200 Just like we've kind of been talking in our worship today, 34 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,040 God has chosen to to lavish his love upon you. 35 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,080 But as Ian brought right at the start, God doesn't force us to 36 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,600 follow him. So as he pours his love onto 37 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,360 you, how will you respond? Well, the northern Kingdom, they 38 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,160 responded awfully. And God through through 39 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,480 discipline brought the Assyrians who conquered the northern 40 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,200 Kingdom and dispersed them, destroyed the Kingdom, dispersed 41 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,000 the tribes to the four corners of the world. 42 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,120 Judah was saved. But then later on God raises up 43 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:59,960 a king called Nebuchadnezzar who leads the Babylonians in conquer 44 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:03,480 of Judah. And he leads the the Judeans, 45 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,680 the Jews off into exile. He moves them from where they 46 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:12,280 lived in Judah to Babylon. But whilst they're being LED 47 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,920 off, a prophet, Jeremiah says this is only going to be for 70 48 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:21,200 years and 70 years comes and goes and a new king comes King 49 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,440 Cyrus and King Cyrus, who's a Persian, he allows for the Jews 50 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,640 to go back home to go back to their own lands. 51 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:33,000 And then we have a story of in Ezra and Nehemiah of of three 52 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:39,000 different migrations back from from the Babylonian nation to 53 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,760 Judah. And this is where Malachi is 54 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:43,560 set. He set about 100 years after 55 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,200 that first that first return about the time at the end of 56 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:55,880 Ezra, Nehemiah and because and when when the when the people, 57 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,680 when the people they first started to return, when they 58 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,800 were given the good news that they could return home, they had 59 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,280 high hopes. They thought, we're going to go 60 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:05,640 back home. We're going to rebuild our 61 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:06,880 lives. We're going to rebuild 62 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:08,440 Jerusalem. We're going to rebuild the 63 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:09,840 temple. Everything's going to be 64 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:11,840 amazing. The Messiah is going to come. 65 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,000 He's going to rule and reign not just over Judah, but he's going 66 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,880 to unite the whole nation as it once was over David and extend 67 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,960 the borders to the fill the entire world and rule with peace 68 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:29,040 and justice. But 100 years on, that hadn't 69 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:36,400 happened and the people had started to get disillusioned. 70 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,800 You kind of read, if you read the end of Nehemiah, you see 71 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,600 basically the book ends with him being really cross with everyone 72 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,960 and how they're disobeying and rebelling against gods. 73 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:51,440 And it's to this unbelieving, rebellious generation that 74 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,320 Malachi, my messenger, God's messenger, is sent to the Jewish 75 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:02,840 people to reaffirm the fact that God truly loves them, that God 76 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:08,120 is for them, and to ask them to commit to their calling, to 77 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,560 follow him and to be faithful to the one true God. 78 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:14,640 So let's let's read. Hopefully you found Malachi one 79 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,360 by now. It's going to go up there. 80 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:27,120 And what on earth? It's not going to go up there 81 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,600 because that's all wrong. So I hope you will have a Bible. 82 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,440 That's not a bad thing is it? Let's do something novel and 83 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,920 read our own Bibles, right? I'm reading from the NIV so it 84 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,320 might differ from yours, but I'm going to read the first 5 85 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:44,680 verses. It says a prophecy, the word of 86 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,360 the Lord to Israel through Malachi. 87 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:54,320 I have loved you, says the Lord. But you ask, how have you loved 88 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,080 us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother to 89 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,880 kill as the Lord? Yeah, I have loved Jacob, but 90 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,600 Esau I've hated. I have turned his Hill Country 91 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:08,920 into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert 92 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,560 jackals. Edom may say though we have been 93 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:18,360 crushed and we will rebuild the ruins, but this is what the Lord 94 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,480 Almighty says. They may build up, I will 95 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,520 demolish. They will be called the wicked 96 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,720 land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. 97 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,080 You will see it with your own eyes, says the Lord great is the 98 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,880 Lord even beyond the borders of Israel. 99 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,880 Let's pray. Lord Jesus, I want to thank you 100 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:45,520 so much that you have spoken to us through our time of worship. 101 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:50,160 God, I want to thank you that you are a God who loves us, Lord 102 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:52,720 Jesus. And I just want to pray that you 103 00:06:52,720 --> 00:07:00,320 would reveal again today how much how how great your love is 104 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:03,280 for your people, how much you love us. 105 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:06,360 And I pray, Lord Jesus, as we I was we've already prayed during 106 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,800 our time of worship that you would you would you would help 107 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:14,520 shape us, you would help mould us so that we can be a people 108 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:19,280 who drop everything to say God, I want to follow you. 109 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:24,280 I want to give my all to you. I love you in return. 110 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,680 Amen, Amen. Let's see what slides I do have, 111 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,160 eh? Let's go with that one. 112 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,640 He says, I have loved you. This is how he starts this whole 113 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,480 prophetic words. I have loved you, says the Lord. 114 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,960 1/2 says Yahweh. Everyone say 1/2. 115 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,520 That's really good. Well done. 1/2. 116 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:53,160 Yeah. Yeah. 117 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:54,000 Well done. Go there again. 118 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:55,400 Yeah. I love it. 119 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,880 I love it. A half, a half 1/2. 120 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,400 It means loved. Everyone say it again. 121 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,360 That's great. You didn't think you knew 122 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:07,880 Hebrew. You know Hebrew now. 123 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,080 OK, that it means loved in Hebrew it well, it's how we 124 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:18,000 translate loved in the Bible and it it means the affection that 125 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,600 one person has for another. In some contexts it can mean 126 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,520 physical love. So let's see if you can do this 127 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,560 along with me. In Esther it says that the king 128 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:32,520 of Persia are halved are halved. Who did he halve? 129 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,120 Esther. It says that. 130 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,240 It says that Abraham take Abraham your son. 131 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:40,760 Sorry, Abraham take Isaac your son. 132 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:49,280 Whom you brilliant. It says that Jonathan had 1/2 133 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:54,960 for David like a brother. It said the Kingdom of Israel 134 00:08:54,960 --> 00:09:00,600 had 1/2 for David, their gloved king. 135 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:07,360 It says actually that the king of Tyre had 1/2 for David so 136 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:13,200 much that he gave, he helped King Solomon build the temple. 137 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,280 That was brilliant by the way. Well done, well done. 138 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:19,080 You don't need to keep doing that now, but well done. 139 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:25,160 In Deuteronomy 7, it says that God's affection for us is he so 140 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,760 that that's what what how we are described having a half, having 141 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,560 love for one another. But in Deuteronomy 7, it says 142 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:41,880 God chose, God chose to love the people of Israel not because of 143 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,800 anything they had done, but he chose to love them because he 144 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:51,520 chose to love their fathers. It says God had affection for 145 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:56,040 and he had affection, and the reason he chose Israel was not 146 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,960 because of anything they had done, but because he just chose 147 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,400 to love them. See, God loved them ultimately 148 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:09,520 because He is love, God. Love is a name for God, but it 149 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,560 also is an action. It's a thing that he does. 150 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:14,560 It's a thing that he chooses to do. 151 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,040 And God is everlasting. God is eternal. 152 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,440 There is no start, There is no end to God. 153 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,240 So therefore his love has no ending. 154 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,000 His love has no measure. There is no ending, no 155 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,640 beginning. His love just is. 156 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,920 And love isn't airy fairy kind of pie, pie in the sky kind of 157 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:38,800 stuff. Actually, when God inspired the 158 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:43,720 writings of Hosea, Hosea would write that God's love for his 159 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:48,480 people is like a husband for a wife or for a mother for a 160 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,480 child. It's one of the strongest 161 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,280 emotions that we can feel for one another. 162 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:04,120 God loves because he is love and He chooses to love you. 163 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:12,840 He chooses to love us. Deuteronomy 4 says because he a 164 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,200 halved because he loved your father's. 165 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,920 Therefore he chose their descendants after them and he 166 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,040 brought you out of Egypt with the with his presence, with 167 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,760 mighty power. What he's saying here, or 168 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:30,280 actually he's not saying here that because you are really 169 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,680 good, because you're really impressive, because you're 170 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:36,000 wonderful people, he's not saying any of that. 171 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,400 He's saying I chose to love you because I chose to love you. 172 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:43,280 You are loved because I chose to love you. 173 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:47,720 I am deeply committed to you, says the Lords. 174 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,440 But do you know that I feel that's kind of the message 175 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,560 that's come through our time of worship. 176 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,840 God says he loves you, but how do you respond to that? 177 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:06,760 Do you even believe it? Because the people that Malachi 178 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:11,360 are speaking to, God is saying you are my chosen people, I love 179 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,160 you. But their response is how they 180 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,320 don't believe it. They don't believe that God 181 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,840 loves them. They've become cynical because 182 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,000 it's been 100 years since they've come back from exile and 183 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,080 life doesn't look like how they imagined it to look like. 184 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:32,880 See, they are basing their criteria for God loves me on 185 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,200 what does my life look like right now? 186 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:38,880 Does it look like how I imagine it should look like? 187 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,080 No, Therefore God doesn't love me. 188 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:47,360 And that's really dangerous. It's really dangerous. 189 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,480 I mean, we are so tempted up with people to base reality out 190 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,920 of our feelings, how we feel. We feel good. 191 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,200 We feel like we've got what we want, therefore I am loved. 192 00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:01,640 We don't feel good. We didn't get what we wanted, 193 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,960 therefore I am not loved. It is so dangerous. 194 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:11,400 Our feelings are not reliable. Just like the ancient Jews, our 195 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,600 feelings are no more reliable, and they can be misleading. 196 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:19,600 Just think when you're tired. When you're tired, don't you 197 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,520 just feel more overwhelmed? Things that you would just take 198 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:27,080 in your stride, they just feel more overwhelmed, more 199 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,120 overwhelming. When you're stressed. 200 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:33,200 The little thing can feel like I just can't do this. 201 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,200 It's not real, but it's because of how you feel. 202 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,720 It's because of your physical reaction to the circumstances. 203 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,800 Sometimes you can be fine. You can be doing great all day 204 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,680 and then someone says something or you're put in a situation 205 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,520 which you've been in before and last time it didn't go well. 206 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:56,760 And so you're taken from that reality where you are to feeling 207 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,720 back to that past emotion, that past hurt, that past trauma. 208 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:07,680 It's real, but we cannot let it affect true reality. 209 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:13,760 How God, what God says about us when we when we don't have all 210 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:19,320 the information and we never have all the information, what 211 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:24,880 happens is we fill the gaps with our feelings and often our 212 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,160 feelings are wrong. Anyone watch traitors? 213 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:30,880 Anyone watch traitors? Yeah. 214 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:33,680 OK, We love traitors. We're not up to up to up to 215 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:35,760 speed because it comes on too quickly for us to watch. 216 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:38,080 But you know, it's traitors. You. 217 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:43,000 For those who don't know it, you have a group of people, a few. 218 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:47,880 A few of them are nominated as traitors, unbeknown to everyone 219 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,800 else, but no one knows who the traitors are, and even the 220 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,800 faithful have no idea who the other faithful are. 221 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,600 All you know, if you're in the game, is who you are. 222 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,480 You have no idea who anyone else is. 223 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,040 And at the end of every day, they have to get together and 224 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:09,080 they vote on who they think. Amongst them are the traitors. 225 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:13,160 They have no clue, but they go. But some of them are so 226 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,080 convinced because it's all on gut feeling. 227 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,680 And we were watching 1 the other day and and this, this woman, 228 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:20,760 she was like, you're a traitor because I don't like the way you 229 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,760 spoke to me. I was like, no, I mean, 230 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,320 obviously she's a really lovely person, but that is poor logic. 231 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:32,520 But we all do it, don't we? We fill in the gaps. 232 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,520 We fill in the gaps. I don't like the way you spoke 233 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:37,480 to me. Therefore you obviously don't 234 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,360 love me. God, I don't like where I am in 235 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,320 life. I should be healed by now. 236 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:45,240 I should have a better job by now. 237 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:47,600 I should have a family by now. I should have. 238 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:50,400 I should have. I should have and I don't. 239 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:55,120 And because I don't, you obviously do not love me. 240 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,480 But the truth is that Malachi wants to reveal to us through 241 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:06,800 Scripture is is God is for you. No matter what your 242 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,960 circumstances may currently be, God is for you. 243 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,600 He loves you. He loves to love you. 244 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:18,480 He wants you to know His whole purpose in creating you is that 245 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:24,360 you may dwell in, live in, rejoice in the fact that He 246 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,440 loves you. Dwell in His love so that you 247 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:31,080 may bask in the joy of knowing Him, so that you may let others 248 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,840 know that He loves you and He loves them as well. 249 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,320 Just think out of everything that is created, all the stars, 250 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:43,160 planets, moon, the earth, the the sea, the land, the the, the, 251 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,000 the, the plants, the fish, the birds, the animals. 252 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:50,400 And of everything that's created, God said I chose choose 253 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:55,280 to love people. I choose to love humanity. 254 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:57,360 That's what the story of the Bible is, that right at the 255 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,920 beginning God takes a man and a woman and he places them in a 256 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:05,599 garden paradise to love them so that they may join in this 257 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:09,400 perfect love that has been forever of Father, Son, and Holy 258 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,839 Spirit. They may join in in that love, 259 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,920 in paradise, and He pours into them, not so that they stay in 260 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,920 paradise, not that they stay where they are, but so they 261 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:25,680 might fill the whole earth with the glory and knowledge of His 262 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:30,480 love. But they fail as we all would, 263 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,160 as we all do. They fail to represent God. 264 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,320 They fail to show His. They fail to be faithful to Him, 265 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,920 to receive His love, to respond to his love. 266 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,120 Instead they rebel. And the consequences to that 267 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:49,200 rebellion, Romans 5 says, is because Adam sinned, death 268 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,480 enters the world. Now as as homework, I encourage 269 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:55,520 you all this week to read the book of Romans. 270 00:17:55,760 --> 00:18:00,120 I mean, Malachi or Romans there. There's hyperlinks all over the 271 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:03,120 place between these two books as Paul is writing Romans. 272 00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:05,200 He is, he is. He's just picking from Malachi 273 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,760 all over the place. And and it's Romans where it 274 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,400 says that because of Adam's sin, we all die. 275 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:20,640 Access to life has been removed. But because of God's great love, 276 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,560 he didn't leave us there. He doesn't leave us there. 277 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:28,880 He says that I will send a, a, a messenger, I will send someone, 278 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,920 I will send a Saviour to come and rescue you, to free you from 279 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,880 death, to bring you back into glory. 280 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,320 But the problem with humanity is that we continue to rebel. 281 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:42,160 We continue to turn away from God. 282 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,360 We continue to, to, to to go our own way. 283 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:48,800 And things get worse and worse and worse and worse until 284 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:54,280 creation itself is decreated. See our sin, it not only effects 285 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,520 us, it affects those around us and it create, it affects 286 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,360 creation. And it says in Genesis that that 287 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:06,080 the the world is then flooded, but God doesn't want us to be 288 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,600 wiped out because he loves us so much. 289 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:13,000 So he sends he sends a saviour in the form of Noah, that all 290 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,320 those who would believe in his message would be saved. 291 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,080 There's no other one who's going to make everything right. 292 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:24,520 No, you read the end of his stories, end up passed out drunk 293 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:27,960 in his tent in his son Ham as usurped control of the family. 294 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:36,960 It's not a good story. And so God pursues us, but we 295 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,280 continue to run away. Even in this new creation. 296 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:46,320 We continue to run away until we get to this, this place called 297 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,440 Babel where people are not only running away from God, they're 298 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:53,920 not only disobeying God, they say we want to be gods. 299 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:01,480 And in in Babel, God ultimately says enough's enough. 300 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,880 I'm washing my hands. And in the words of Romans one, 301 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:10,240 it says that he gave them over to their sinful desires and 302 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,920 lusts. I mean, that is a terrifying 303 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,720 prospect, but actually Paul tells us in the book of Romans 304 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:21,840 that God pursues us and pursues us and pursues us. 305 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:27,360 But if we keep rejecting him, if we keep ignoring him, if we keep 306 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:32,640 turning the other way, eventually he will let US have 307 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,120 the full consequences of what we deserve. 308 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:41,320 He will remove his restraining grace from us, not because he 309 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,440 hates us. Paul goes on to say in One 310 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:49,320 Corinthians 5 and Hosea 6. He doesn't remove his grace from 311 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:51,360 us to, to to because he hates us. 312 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:55,000 He removes it from us, as Jesus says in the Prodigal Son, so 313 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:59,680 that we may get to that place where we are wallowing pig's 314 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:06,280 muck eating slop and come to our senses and realise life is 315 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:10,840 better with Jesus than without. That's why he does it. 316 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,200 And let me say, if you're in a place right now where you are 317 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:19,400 feeling overwhelmed by guilt, that you are just so aware that 318 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,040 you've done stuff that you shouldn't have done, that you've 319 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:28,760 messed up, God may be letting you feel like that because he 320 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,920 wants you to run to him. He wants you to lay your burdens 321 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:39,040 upon him. But sadly, the nations of the 322 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:41,720 world, after Babel, they don't run to God. 323 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:44,920 In fact, they choose to make gods out of anything and 324 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,360 everything they can. But God doesn't leave them on 325 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:51,640 their own. God in love, He says, I'm going 326 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:55,960 to choose two people and I'm going to make a new nation out 327 00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:00,080 of them. So he grabs Abraham, Sarah, 2 328 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:05,080 Babylonians from ER and he says through you I'm going to make a 329 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,840 new nation supernaturally because they were too old. 330 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:12,120 He creates a new nation. They have Isaac, who then 331 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:15,120 actually can't have children of his own, and supernaturally he 332 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:20,080 has Jacob. God supernaturally creates a new 333 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:24,640 people, a people that he wants to love, a people that through 334 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:29,360 loving them, he wants to display his love to the entire world, so 335 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:34,080 the whole world would come and see and turn back to gods. 336 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,280 And he says to them, this is where we get to a Malachi 337 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,320 because the people of Judah are saying, God, I don't think you 338 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:49,360 love me, and God saying I love you, I love you. 339 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:55,000 So don't you know I chose you out of all the nations to be my 340 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,920 people? He says was not Esau Jacob's 341 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,920 brother, declares the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau 342 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,320 I have hated and I have turned his Hill Country into a 343 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,920 wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert 344 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:12,120 Jackal. Just pause there. 345 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,720 So God loves, God loves you. God loves all of us. 346 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,120 Who's this Edom Edom guy that he hates? 347 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,040 Is anyone asking that? Who's this Edom guy that God 348 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,720 seems to hate? Esau guy that he hates. 349 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:29,520 Sorry, Esau. Edom, same thing. 350 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,120 Who is he? Oh yes he is. 351 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,520 On the surface he is the brother of Jacob. 352 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:41,920 It says Edom, who is Esau may say that through although we 353 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,840 have been cursed, we will rebuild the ruins. 354 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,120 But this is what the Lord Almighty says. 355 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,680 They may rebuild, but I will demolish. 356 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:56,360 They will call, they will be called the wicked land, a people 357 00:23:56,360 --> 00:23:58,160 always under the raft of the Lord. 358 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,520 You will see it with your own eyes and say, great is the Lord 359 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,160 even beyond the borders of Israel. 360 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:11,000 So Esau, his nickname was Edom, and that's Edom. 361 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,960 Edom means red, and that's because at one point in his life 362 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:18,480 he decided to trade his birthright for some red lentil 363 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,480 Stew. And so he gets the nickname 364 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,760 Edom. And now when this is saying Edom 365 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,120 and Jacob, this is not talking about two brothers. 366 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:31,040 This is talking about the nations that came from them. 367 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:36,160 And so like we said, on face value, Edom is just the brother 368 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:39,520 of Jacob. But when we read Scripture, if 369 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,680 you read through the prophets, you see that Edom is more than 370 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:49,480 just the brother of Jacob. He becomes a symbol, a prophetic 371 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:55,080 symbol of the archetypical enemy of God and his people. 372 00:24:56,040 --> 00:25:00,480 He is an image of all who would, who would oppose God and His 373 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,720 will. Obadiah 110 tells us this. 374 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:09,560 Psalm 137 tells us that He is the the people who rejoice in 375 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,960 what God says is evil. And Malachi here 1/4. 376 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,440 It shows us that they are the proud who persist to build what 377 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:25,600 God said should not be built. And then Obadiah one Isaiah 34 378 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,560 and 63. The prophets make it very clear 379 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:35,320 that Edom is an image of the entire world, that all the 380 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:41,080 nations are Edom. Even the word Edom is a 381 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:46,840 linguistic pun. The in in Hebrew, Edom and Adam 382 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:51,280 are practically identical. And that's on purpose, because 383 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,720 when you say Edom, you're meant to think of Adam. 384 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,720 You're meant to think of the fallen, rebellious human race. 385 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:06,920 So does God hate everyone? Who is Edom? 386 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,880 Does God hate the nations? Does God hate everyone unless 387 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:14,400 they're an Israelite? No. 388 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:17,880 This is a this love and hate language. 389 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:25,520 It's a Hebrew idiom, and what it means is Jacob, Israel from all 390 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,000 the nations of the world. I chose to put my covenant 391 00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:33,000 through you. I chose to make myself revealed 392 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:35,560 through you. Not through Egypt, not through 393 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,800 Japan, not through Nigeria or Romania or Britain or America. 394 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:43,120 I chose to have myself made known through you. 395 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:51,080 God chose them so that they would follow Him, so that they 396 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,800 would be a light to the world. He, he chose them. 397 00:26:54,840 --> 00:27:00,320 He plucked them out of slavery. He did many signs and wonders 398 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,520 amongst them, LED them through the waters, LED them into the 399 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:05,840 wilderness. He fed them bread from heaven. 400 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,680 He took them to a mountaintop and taught them how to live. 401 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:15,160 But they rebelled. They chose to ignore God. 402 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,760 God said you're mine, I choose you. 403 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,800 And they said I don't want anything to do with you, God. 404 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:28,960 But 400 years later, the perfect Israelite entered the world. 405 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,320 The perfect Israelite entered into human history and he 406 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,640 performed many signs and wonders. 407 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:41,800 He went through the waters, He went into the wilderness, He 408 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:46,080 made bread come from heaven. He went up to a mountaintop and 409 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:50,120 taught people how to live Jesus Christ. 410 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:56,320 He was the perfect Israelite. He was the hope to all the 411 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,640 world. And on another mountaintop he 412 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:05,840 died so that all who believe in him could be added to this 413 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:10,520 chosen family. They could come and be and save, 414 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,560 be saved, that the curse of death could be lifted. 415 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:19,120 And from another mountain he ascended into heaven, declaring, 416 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:24,040 Go tell the world of this good news, that I am a God who does 417 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,800 not hate this world, but I love them. 418 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:30,080 And I long for them to come into my presence. 419 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,000 I long for them to come into my family. 420 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:36,720 It says in John 316. It says, For God so loved the 421 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:42,120 world, those who oppose Him, those who rejected him, those 422 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:47,320 who loved the ways of evil, You and me were all those and much 423 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:52,600 more that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes 424 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:56,360 in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 425 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,360 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the 426 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,320 world, but to save the world through him. 427 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:11,560 And see if for those who respond to God's love, those who respond 428 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:16,160 to him and say, I want to follow you, Lords, you are my Lord and 429 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,200 my Saviour. Paul goes on in the book of 430 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,400 Romans. He says it's like God picks you 431 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,440 up and if God is a tree, he picks you up. 432 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:30,080 You weren't part of that tree. And he picks you up and he 433 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,800 grafts you in and he places you in to his chosen family. 434 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:46,120 He says in Romans 9, he says in Romans 9, he says, I will call 435 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:57,000 them my people who are not my people, and I will call her my 436 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:02,640 loved who is not my loved one. And in the very place where it 437 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,680 is said to them, you are not my people, there they will be 438 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,120 called children of the living gods. 439 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:18,200 See, we were once all far off. We were once all far off. 440 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:23,160 None of us, as far as I know, are native Israelites. 441 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:27,120 So therefore, in the Old Testament worldview, you weren't 442 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,800 God's people. We were part of this far off, 443 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:37,080 not his. But but Paul quotes prophecy and 444 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:43,520 he says God through Christ has said those of us who were once 445 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:50,000 not his people through his great love are now his children. 446 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:57,080 If we turn and respond to him, we are called children of God. 447 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:02,000 So he tells us in the book of Romans that actually not all 448 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:06,000 Israel was Israel. He says that only those 449 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,160 Israelites who followed, who followed God, who followed 450 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,200 Yahweh, were true Israelites. And again, he uses his picture 451 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,680 of a tree, and he says the Israelites who chose to go 452 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,920 against Yahweh, who to follow Baal, to follow other gods, he 453 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:26,280 says they would be cut off. But those of the world who 454 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:31,680 choose to accept his love, who choose to follow him, they would 455 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:39,440 be grafted in to his family. Because he loves you, because 456 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:44,360 his desire has always been to have a family made-up of all 457 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:50,760 nations, made-up of all people. See, Yahweh through the act of 458 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:56,200 love from the beginning has been pursuing you, has been placing 459 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:02,400 his hand upon you and saying I want you, I want you, I want to 460 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:08,120 show my love to you. And he is calling your name, 461 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,320 every single one of you. He is calling your name. 462 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:17,320 Jesus said I am the Good Shepherd, and the sheep hear my 463 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:19,480 voice. And he's not whispering. 464 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,560 He's not whispering, he's shouting His name. 465 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:29,320 Will you respond? Will you choose to respond to 466 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:31,320 His love? Will you choose? 467 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:35,800 He doesn't force us to. But will you be a sheep and 468 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:41,360 respond to His great love and follow Him and hear Him? 469 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:47,600 Church, how will you respond to the love of God? 470 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,440 Will you continue on with your life as if nothing is different, 471 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,240 as if God is just a Sunday thing? 472 00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:01,200 Or will you follow the Shepherd's voice as He is 473 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:06,560 calling you, as He is choosing you and choosing to follow Him 474 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,760 is a daily thing. It's a daily thing every single 475 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:17,440 one of us has to do. See if you are here, if you are 476 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:21,840 listening to my voice right now, God is calling you. 477 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:26,160 God is saying I want you and you may be sitting there thinking, 478 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,200 well, I am a Christian. I do love Jesus. 479 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:33,480 He's saying come, there's more, there's more. 480 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:38,160 I want to use you. I want to be part of your life. 481 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,680 I want to be an everyday part of your life, not just a Sunday 482 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,520 part of your life. I have chosen you to be in my 483 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:48,360 family, not just for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning, but 484 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:52,240 to be in your life every single day so that so that you can have 485 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:56,240 a great time. Yes, so that more importantly, 486 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:01,400 the world out there can see that Jesus is good. 487 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:06,200 Israel was chosen so that the world, the nations around them, 488 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:10,360 would see how great their God was and come and be added to 489 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:16,120 their family. They failed in that, but Jesus 490 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:22,080 has called us now to go in the presence of the Holy Spirit and 491 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:27,120 declare how great His love is, how great His love is. 492 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:31,000 So how will you respond? How will you respond to His 493 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,560 love? I'm going to pray and end us 494 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:41,080 off, but I want you to ask God, how do you want me to respond? 495 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,400 How do you want me to respond? The the disciples and the 496 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:51,719 apostles throughout the New Testament, they're constantly 497 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:58,280 encouraging us to finish strong from now till the day we meet 498 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:05,560 Jesus in glory, to keep running after him, to keep going, not 499 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:10,480 not resting on how we met with him last year or last week even, 500 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:16,000 but keep going, church. Will you keep going? 501 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,280 Will you keep pursuing? Will you keep living in the love 502 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:25,640 that Christ has for you so that your life will be a reflection 503 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:30,160 of the glory of Christ Jesus? I'm going to pray. 504 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:36,000 Lord Jesus, I want to thank you that you love us so, so much. 505 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:46,320 The God that through Jacob you sent your son, you chose Israel 506 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:50,920 so that your Son would come. And Lord Jesus, through your 507 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,480 Son, through Jesus Christ, you have chosen us to be your 508 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:58,920 people, God, so that we can enjoy you, so that we can dwell 509 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,800 in your presence, so that we may reflect your goodness and glory 510 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:07,480 to the world out there. Lord God, I pray right now that 511 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:12,160 you would challenge us, that you would challenge us. 512 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,800 You would show us how much you love us. 513 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,160 Look, God, right now You would clear the misty lenses that 514 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:24,320 we're looking through. Lord Jesus, that you would help 515 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:28,680 us to make that decision to in all things follow you. 516 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:33,120 Look, I pray that if there's things in anyone's life right 517 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,560 now that they are holding back from you, you would reveal that 518 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:40,480 right now to them and they would choose to drop that, to let it 519 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:46,000 go and follow you. Jesus, to hear the sound, I love 520 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:52,400 you and respond to you in love and obedience. 521 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,840 Lord Jesus, I thank you for how good you are to us. 522 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,160 Amen, Amen. Over the next few weeks, we as a 523 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:04,480 people, we're going to be looking through what it means to 524 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:09,200 be a chosen people. God has chosen his church. 525 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,120 We are his chosen people. And over the next few weeks, 526 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:16,840 we're going to look at what does it mean to live a life according 527 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,960 to being a chosen man and woman Family Church of God.