“his Coming”

Malachi 3:1-12 “His Coming”

I. THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING - 1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,

response to the question in 2:17 Where is the God of judgment?

A. The Warning - 1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:- John the Baptist fulfilled this prophecy -

Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Rev 11:3 I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth

B. The Waiting - and the Lord - Isa 26:8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

C. The Watching - whom ye seek

D. The Waking - shall suddenly come to his temple, - unexpectedly.

1 Thess. 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

II. THE PURPOSE OF HIS COMING -

2 But who may abide the day of his coming? He Comes to:-

A. Purify The Saints - 2 he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:

1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

In the Law of Moses, three ways for cleansing: water, fire, and blood.

Fire purifying metals. Soap and water of cleansing. Eph 5:25 Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word

B. Punish The Sinners - 5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,

1. The Sorcerers - multitudes are turning to the occult today

2. The Adulterers - Adultery is a violation of the marriage covenant.

Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. - 1 Cor 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

3. The False swearers - And against swearers to a falsehood, Liars

4. The Oppressors - Those Who Exploit Others

C. Proclaim The Sovereign - 6 For I am the LORD, I change not;

III. THE PREPARATION FOR HIS COMING

2 But who may abide the day of his coming?

7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.

A. The Invitation - Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. - 7 But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

They denied that they had ever left God

B. The Investigation - 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.

C. The Invigoration - 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

1. The Curse Removed - 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

2. The Covenant Restored - 10 and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.